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Monday, February 01, 2010
Important Assurance from NASA
I just read an interesting release from NASA about how the ISS is now wired for Web access. I think that's great! It also immediately had me thinking about how awesome WoW in space would be, but that's a different discussion.
What I want to highlight is this sentence: "Astronauts will be subject to the same computer use guidelines as government employees on Earth." Read between the lines and it's basically NASA assuring The American People that at no time will any of Our Nation's Space Heroes be viewing any sort of pornographic material while in Outer Space. Thank god someone's thinking of The Children.
Posted at 7:30:43 AM - link
Friday, January 22, 2010
hiking to work, much?
Microsoft has a beautiful campus in Redmond. It's verdant--in many places, downright wooded--and full of meandering paths and buildings in a variety of styles. What it isn't, is particularly rugged. There's really no need to step off of an immaculate sidewalk or path onto raw earth.
Given this, imagine my surprise when I stumbled on a trail of muddy boot-tracks leading down the hall and into the Men's Room. I find myself wondering two things. First, who would track all of that mud into an office building on a day without a drop of rain? Second, where the hell did all of that mud come from? Seriously, we're on the third floor of a building surrounded by the aforementioned immaculate paths and walkways. Who gets mud on their boots at the Redmond campus? And then, once their boots are sufficiently-encrusted, how do they manage to get up to the third floor with enough still caked on there to leave a clear trail? I'm imagining an engineer traipsing through a flower bed, taking off his boots before entering the building, riding the elevator up to the third floor, and then putting the boots back on in time to stomp out of the elevator and down the hall.
Posted at 4:33:44 PM - link
Thursday, December 03, 2009
sleep deprivation is a funny thing
I haven't been sleeping well for about a week, and this morning the weirdest thing happened. I saw an older gentleman walking down the street holding a wood-handled umbrella behind his back. At first glance, I was convinced of two things: 1) it was actually an AK-47 and 2) I could still get the headshot.
Seriously.
Posted at 8:25:26 AM - link
Monday, November 09, 2009
i got lost
I'm sitting in my new office now, in Microsoft building 27. It's more-or-less set up, with just a few of the sillier things still missing.
I'm not proud of it, but I did find myself standing in the hallway of the wrong building, computer tower in-hand, wondering where I was. Let's never talk about it again, mkay?
Posted at 9:51:29 AM - link
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
yeah, another one with a spider in it
Sometimes these things end up under the bed:
I tried some different things with this one, although it may not be obvious. Not all of it worked out, but hey.
Posted at 10:05:31 PM - link
Monday, October 26, 2009
the proper display of priceless artworks
Now that I regularly produce works of unparalleled artistic vision, I need a place to serve them. You know, cuz the hits will totally take down this meagre web site. About the only option I've found so far is to upload them to Flickr as private images. Then at least I get URLs, different sizes, some modicum of security, and various tagging and cataloging options. Are there other sites out there that would be worthy to host my corpus? I didn't really like the 'vibe' that I got from DeviantArt.
Posted at 9:03:18 AM - link
Friday, October 23, 2009
office move ii: electric movaloo
i'm apparently _not_ in a broom closet. you have no idea how relieved i am.
Posted at 10:27:17 AM - link
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
more like annual FUN
Moments after I graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara with my bachelor's degree, my name was added to a list, a list from which it would never, and will never, be removed. Every year, people from UCSB call every single person on this list and ask them for money. It's called the Annual Fund and, at the moment, I wish I could hate it to death.
The first year it was kind of novel. They called me and congratulated me on graduating (why, thank you! I declare, however did you know?) and tried to disguise the begging as an entreaty to support “all of the programs that I used as a student.” Programs like AS Notes, tutoring, and many other essential services. None of which I ever used as a student. But whatever, I was working full-time for a NASA lab, living at home with almost no expenses, and I had money to give. So I gave.
I gave the following year, as well, with an offhand “just put me down for what I gave last year.” Big spender!
The following year I found myself back in Santa Barbara, pursuing my Masters. I was a little surprised when I received the call again, begging for more money. I was paying for my own education again, and I wasn’t quite as financially secure, so I made some excuses on the phone. I think I ended up giving, anyway, but it wasn’t as positive a conversation.
Same thing, the following year.
Then, another year later, I got the annual fund call that has really soured me to them. Not only did they ask for money, but they proceeded to perform a little song and dance about how they needed TWICE as much money, overall, as the previous year, so they were asking that each alumnus give twice as much money. I called bullshit. For one thing, every year their list of dupesalumni grows longer, so the assertion that needing to double the bottom line means doubling everyone’s contribution is complete nonsense. I gave what I gave the previous year, and got off the phone pretty pissed.
Last year they called and when I requested the same number as usual, they didn’t object. There’s probably a little note next to my name now: asshole.
Now we come to this year. It’s time to give again, and the calls have started in earnest. Circumstances have changed, though, and I don’t feel comfortable giving right now. Of course, I haven’t had the chance to tell them this because they have called, every night for several weeks, right around 8 o’clock, and don’t leave a message. It’s not the time in the evening when I want to talk to a stranger about opening my wallet. In fact, I’m usually sitting down to dinner and don’t hear the phone ring. What I do hear, later, is the insistent beep of my phone, informing me that I have a missed call. Every time I hear that beep now, I see a little bit more red. Woe be to them if I actually hear the phone ring while I'm eating dinner. It has gone on long enough that I will pick it up and I won't be in a giving mood.
Here’s a little open note to the UCSB Annual Fund:
Ohai UCSB Annual Fund!
Please stop calling me at 8pm. You’ll never get what you want. Seriously. Never. It’s not that I’m avoiding you, it’s just that it feels a little too telemarketer to call at a time when I’m statistically likely to be home and having dinner, and then not leave a message. You always act like we’re such good old friends once we get on the line, so why not leave a message? My other friends do.
If I ever actually hear the phone ring, sometime when I’m not trying to relax after a long day at work, I’ll pick up and we’ll have a nice chat about our collective Current Economic Situation and you can try to convince me that deducting this amount from my taxes will really help me this year. Really!
Until then, my hatred for you grows with every Missed Call beep from my phone that interrupts an episode of How I Met Your Mother.
Your friend,
Erik
Posted at 10:50:13 AM - link
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Saturday, October 17, 2009
office move
I found out recently that I'll be moving offices for my first time at Microsoft. I have to admit that it has me a little nervous. Since I started just over two years ago, I've been in a building that's widely regarded as one of the nicer buildings on campus. The offices are spacious with high ceilings, the halls are wide, and there's plenty of parking. I'm sure that my new office will be great, but there's always that nagging feeling of fear. Like maybe I'll end up jammed into a broom closet, or something:
Posted at 7:39:45 PM - link
Sunday, October 11, 2009
baconflagration
Here's a drawing of my house exploding with bacon:
I'll let Thomas explain it. Or he could not, and just leave me looking like a mad person.
Posted at 7:22:49 PM - link
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