I think I've admitted this once before on this blog, and maybe it pins me as a true computer geek, but I keep a personal journal and I write it in XML Docbook using Emacs. :)

For the longest time my journal has been in a state of disarray as I moved it between various computers and networks. What was once a nicely organized set of files became a scattered mess. Well, now I've got it all back into shape again. In fact, I've updated my older SGML files to XML and everything validates and I've got a shell script that transforms it all into a nice PDF file. So my journal finally "compiles" again!

Maybe you think I'm crazy to write a journal in docbook, but it makes sense to me. You see, I've been keeping a personal journal for about 10 years now. Not just a diary, but a general collection of thoughts, ideas, muses, sketches, etc. Anyway three years ago I decided to try to type my journal rather than hand write it in notebooks. When I started writing it I realized that I didn't want to type the whole thing and save it in some proprietary file format (i.e.- MS Word) that would some day become obsolete, thus rendering my personal records unreadable. So initially I just wrote it up as plain text. But after a while I recognized the value of adding some sort of markup to distinguish between entries and chapters. So after investigating a couple different schemas, I decided on docbook. It's a bit overkill, but it works and it means that my writings will be accessible by me for the forseeable future.

Anyway, having everything in place is a big deal for me. In some sense it kinda feels like my life has finally settled back down again after a rollercoaster year or two.

Back from the beach with a nasty sunburn. Even wore a shirt and used sunscreen lotion. I just can't win with the Sun. That's probably one of the reasons I'm a pasty white computer geek.

Off to the beach for two weeks!

Well, at six months Maeli has already made her media debut.

Two Pittsburgh Post-Gazette photographers took shots of Maeli yesterday while she was with her mother and grandfather as he sold root beer at Market Square. The photo was published in today's "Local" section of the newspaper.

Since I now drive back and forth between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia now each week (yep, about 5 hours each way) I've been taking advantage of my Audible membership. I've finished four books now and I recommend them all:

• 1776
• Freakonomics
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
• The World Is Flat

They are all excellent and each deserve their own review.

Last day at Sony Electronics today. Last week marked my fifth year here -- I started as an intern just a month after my missionary tour in Taiwan. At the time I never anticipated that I would stay here this long, but then again, I didn't anticipate most of what would happen over the last five years.

Finally got that terrarium set-up. We've now got 4 Fire-Bellied Toads, a couple of White Cloud minnows and two dozen crickets living with us.

More photos are in the gallery.

Slashdot has picked up an article comparing Blockbuster and NetFlix's DVD rental services. Thought I'd add my own two cents to the debate by saying that I love Netflix. We've had it for a month or two now and the service and return rates are excellent. We dropped cable TV when we signed up and both Jenny and I have been very happy with that decision. There have been one or two times when I've caught myself thinking "oh, it'd be nice to just see what's on TV tonight", but that's been the extreme exception, not the rule. And when I do have a moment or two that I would have spent watching TV I now spend it working on hobbies, open source projects, books, my PSP, or just spending time with Jenny and Maeli -- all of which, I have to say, I enjoy much more than wasting time watching a sitcom.

To be honest, the only thing I really miss is the fact that I don't have any high definition content. I'm looking forward to the day when I can rent HD movies either in the mail or over the net. Now if only Netflix would start offering that download service they mentioned...

Today is a sad day. It's the last day for the "O" -- the Original Hot Dog Shop in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood. I spent plenty of late nights picking up fries or pizza from there and while I'm no longer living in the city, it will be sorely missed.

After five years, I'm leaving Sony Electronics. I've picked up a contract with Siemens Medical where I will continue to work with Eclipse RCP based applications. As Siemens is located near Philadelphia and I'm still located in Pittsburgh, I'll be on site a few days a week and telecommute the rest. The commute will be long but my wife and I believe it's a great opportunity for us. The contract will last while I'm finishing my MBA at Point Park after which I'm sure some other adventures will turn up.

As requested, I've uploaded new photos of Maeli into the gallery. If anyone wants to make prints of these, send me an email and I'll forward you a higher resolution copy. Enjoy!

Just cancelled our digital cable. We're still using cable for internet service (just upgraded that in fact), but we've switched to Netflix for our movies and television.

We never watched a lot of cable TV anyway. The only series we regularly followed were The Simpsons and re-runs of Seinfield. However, both Jenny and I love a good movie and with NetFlix we've got thousands of them available not to mention all those TV series on DVD now too.

We debated between Blockbuster and Netflix for a while. Truth be told, Blockbuster has a better deal, especially when you consider the in store rentals. But there's a Netflix distribution center nearby, so I've heard the service is fast and there's just something about rewarding the innovator in the field with my dollars instead of a company which pulls a bait and switch on late fees.

I just got back from watching Serenity. I wasn't a Firefly fan before, but I think I am now. That movie was great!

For the last week or two I've turned into one of those people who actually open the credit card offers I get in the mail. This month I'll be consolidating or eliminating most of my existing debts. So I'm considering closing my old credit card accounts and opening a new account with some sort of rewards program. The idea is to get as many of my re-occuring bills all on one single card to simplify things and in theory I should be racking up reward point rather quickly. Jenny and I aren't sure which rewards scheme to go with, so if anyone has any serious suggestions, I'd love to know.

So I just signed up for an account at Audible.com. I figure I have up to 3 hours of new commute time a week due to my MBA classes, though I'll probably listen to NPR for at least half of that. I decided to try filling the other half with a few audio books, so I'm uploading 1776 to my iPod now. I'll let you know how it goes.

So tonight I start my accelerated MBA program at Point Park. Over the weekend I started reading the first few chapters of my textbooks -- yep, homework already. These two books would have cost $225 if bought new. I found them on half.com for $89 and they're both in mint condition.

I often wear headphones at work. Not only does listening to my iPod help me focus on my code, but the headphones also block out a number of really disturbing noises. For example, I can often hear computer monitors or televisions (on but not playing anything) and sometime plain ol' lightbulbs (the dimmer lights are the worst). I have a Treo AC charger that if plugged in but not connected to the Treo emits a very high pitched ring. Drives me nuts.

Of course, no one else I know can hear these things. They just look at me like I'm crazy. I've had the same experience with sensing electricity. In one case it turned out there was a short circuit in the apartment and we had an electric current running through the plumbing which explained why the power would go out when someone turned on the iron while the shower was running. No one else could feel the slight shock I would get when turning on the faucet.

I'm not sure what to do with these superpowers but I'm kinda interested in finding out how many other individuals can hear unusually high frequencies or are unusually sensitive to electric current. Or maybe I'm just crazy afterall. :-)

I'll be starting an accelerated MBA program at Point Park University at the end of the month. Classes are two evenings a week for a year. I think it's crazy that I can get an MBA that quickly though I'm really not interested in committing any more time to it than that at this point in my life.

Last weekend I hosted a bachelor party for my brother Tracy (we had a LAN party) who got married in DC on Thursday and held a reception yesterday for which I was the best man. All the family travelled to DC on Tuesday when Jenny and Hanna (Tracy's fiance) visited the Mormon DC temple for the first time and Jenny, Maeli and I were "sealed." Wednesday we toured downtown DC before the Tracy and Hanna's wedding ceremony on Thursday. On top of all that work at Sony has been busier than usual for the last couple of months and will remain so until September (at least) as we develop and roll out the next generation of an internal system I work on.

After quite a hiatus, I'm returning to role playing. Back in the day, I played a lot of Palladium's RPGs -- mostly RIFTS. Now I'm attempting to start up a D&D; campaign with a group of mostly new players. I haven't done anything with the new 3.0 or 3.5 editions outside of play Neverwinter Nights so this will be an experiment for all of us.

As it turns out, I have a few third edition books which I bought a few months before 3.5 came out. I intended to start up a campaign then but never got around to it. So, since then, 3.5 is out and now I'm wondering if it would be worth shelling out the cash for some new books or stick with what I've got. Since none of us have much experience with either 3.0 or 3.5 to begin with, I'd rather move staight to the newest edition were it not for the expense. Well, it's not just the money, it's more a question of if it's worth getting the new books. After all, it's not like we can't play with just third edition material. And even after reading a number of articles about 3.5, I'm still not sure why it's any better than what I've already got.

Anyway, we'll be starting out with myself as Dungeon Master and three players (Jenny, Joe and Tracy). To make everything easier we'll start with an adventure published by WoTC: Wreck Ashore. From there, who knows? I've got plenty of ideas and materials. Hopefully I'll put some of it online.

Oh, and while I'm on the subject, let me add one gripe I've had with the D&D; system (what's a blog without gripes?): the magic system. What's with the number of spells per day thing, huh? Why not sure a reasonable point system like D&D; does for psionics? The whole spell limit per day always seemed to cripple magic classes to me. But hey, maybe I'm just biased or just don't get it yet or something.

Someone posted a copy of The Tale of Eric and the Dread Gazebo on Slashdot today in response to the Child's Play article (which is pretty funny too). Anyway, it's been a long time since I read the Gazebo story and it's still as hilarious today as it ever was. Read on below for a reprint.

The Tale of Eric and the Dread Gazebo

by Richard Aronson [[email protected]]

In the early seventies, Ed Whitchurch ran "his game", and one of the participants was Eric Sorenson. Eric plays something like a computer. When he games, he methodically considers each possibility before choosing his preferred option. If given time, he will invariably pick the optimal solution. It has been known to take weeks. He is otherwise, in all respects, a superior gamer.

Eric was playing a Neutral Paladin in Ed's game. He was on some lord's lands when the following exchange occurred:

ED: You see a well groomed garden. In the middle, on a small hill, you see a
gazebo.

ERIC: A gazebo? What color is it?

ED: [pause] It's white, Eric.

ERIC: How far away is it?

ED: About 50 yards.

ERIC: How big is it?

ED: [pause] It's about 30 ft across, 15 ft high, with a pointed top.

ERIC: I use my sword to detect good on it.

ED: It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo.

ERIC: [pause] I call out to it.

ED: It won't answer. It's a gazebo.

ERIC: [pause] I sheathe my sword and draw my bow and arrows. Does it respond
in any way?

ED: No, Eric, it's a gazebo!

ERIC: I shoot it with my bow. [roll to hit] What happened?

ED: There is now a gazebo with an arrow sticking out of it.

ERIC: [pause] Wasn't it wounded?

ED: OF COURSE NOT, ERIC! IT'S A GAZEBO!

ERIC: [whimper] But that was a +3 arrow!

ED: It's a gazebo, Eric, a GAZEBO! If you really want to try to destroy it, you
could try to chop it with an axe, I suppose, or you could try to burn it, but I
don't know why anybody would even try. It's a @#$%!! gazebo!

ERIC: [long pause. He has no axe or fire spells.] I run away.

ED: [thoroughly frustrated] It's too late. You've awakened the gazebo. It
catches you and eats you.

ERIC: [reaching for his dice] Maybe I'll roll up a fire-using mage so I can
avenge my Paladin.

At this point, the increasingly amused fellow party members restored a modicum of order by explaining to Eric what a gazebo is. Thus ends the tale of Eric and the Dread Gazebo. It could have been worse; at least the gazebo wasn't on a grassy gnoll. A little vocabulary is a dangerous thing.

The above is Copyright © 1989 by Richard Aronson. Reprinted with permission. The author grants permission to reprint as long as all copyright notices remain with the text.

Just got back from this year's Sony holiday party. Mike Rayburn, "the world's funniest guitar virtuoso," provided the entertainment. He was hillarious! :)

Maeli had her first run in with Santa.

Maeli's photos are online (finally) in the gallery!

So, for those who haven't heard the whole story...

Maeli was born last Tuesday at 5:43 in the morning. Jenny went into early labor at 4:00 am Monday with contractions coming on every 10 minutes. That lasted until late evening when the contractions began to come every 5 minutes. By 2:30 am Tuesday, Jenny's water broke and we we off to the hospital again (we had gone in earlier on Monday).

Things got much more interesting when we got into the hospital. Four people checked her (including the midwife and the doctor) and said that while it felt like the baby's head was down, it also felt very weird. A sonogram was ordered and we found that the baby was breech. At that point Jenny was already 5+ centimeters dialated and in active labor, so an emergancy c-section had to be performed.

I was able to hold Jenny's hand in the operating room as they pulled our little daughter from the womb. Jenny was extremely exhausted at this point (24 hours of labor and now major surgery) and on some heavy medication. She was also feeling a bit high and was rather talkative on the operating table. As they were performing the surgery, Jenny asked me to sing to her, so I softly sung in Chinese. Then she wanted to sing "Joy to the World" with me and we did just as Maeli was being born. It was a moment of extremes.

We spent most of last week in the hospital. Jenny and Maeli came home Friday afternoon and we've spent a wonderful quiet weekend together. We've had plenty of family and friends drop by to visit and help out with things around the house as we all recoup, too.

Maeli is an absolute joy. She's a breath of fresh air. Despite a few nights of less sleep already, I feel younger and more rejuvinated than I have since I came home from my missionary service in Taiwan. Certainly there have been a few moments of physical or emotional exhaustion over the last week, but holding my daughter in my arms wipes it all away.

In case you were wondering about the name, it's based on the chinese word for "beautiful" (mei-li). Technically, that's not a chinese name, but it sounds wonderful in English and, well, she is beautiful.

Maeli and Jenny are home now.

Still don't have all the photos uploaded yet. You'll have to give me a day or two.

Maeli Rose Farr entered the world this morning at 5:43 A.M. weighing 6 pounds 12 ounces. Jenny and I are excited and exhausted. More photos and news will follow.

The Boston Herald has a nice article on red and blue state economics:

The blue states remain the engine of the American economy. All in all they produced $5.4 trillion in goods and services in 2001, the last year for which reliable data is available.

That's about $700 billion more than the red states, according to the government's Bureau of Economic Analysis.

John Ashcroft:

"The danger I see here is that intrusive judicial oversight and second-guessing of presidential determinations in these critical areas can put at risk the very security of our nation in a time of war..." (via Yahoo News)

There's a reason we have checks and balances in this country. It bothers me when an administration considers them "dangerous."

Picked this up from BoingBoing and LawGeek

Jenny's father sells home-made soda pops at local farmer's markets and fairs during the summer. Tonight I finally got around to setting up a website for him at www.shutak.com.

Photos and styling are all mine. The text comes from one of his recent brochures. Editing was done in Dreamweaver and Photoshop, which was really overkill for this site, but it gave me a chance to practice with those apps. I haven't tested it for all browsers yet but at least it's valid HTML and CSS.

Anyway, if you like root beer, he's got some really tasty stuff!

Oh, and don't miss the cute photo of Jenny. :)

William finally offered a short bio that is now included on the JadeTower about page.

I just got a forwarded email from a family member. I was astonished at how intolerant its message was. Normally I just ignore these sorts of things, but this time I decided I would respond. For background information, the original email and its history can be found at Snopes as well as other copies scattered around the internet. One blogger has already written a response. Read on if you want mine...

Note: this was originally written as a direct response to the person who forwarded me the message. After writing it, I decided I would post it on my blog instead.

This article is silly. No, it's embarrassing. Let me go through it line by line.

“I celebrate Christmas, but because it isn't celebrated by everyone, we can no longer say Merry Christmas.”

First off, no one is making anyone stop saying “Merry Christmas.” Where is it a law or policy?

"IMMIGRANTS, NOT AMERICANS, MUST ADAPT."

Well, we certainly didn't feel the same when the Europeans came over and took the land from the native Americans, did we? This is just blindly intolerant. It's a dangerous idea that the world revolves around me and that I should not have to change when my environment changes. Should the Mormons in Utah say that people moving to Utah should have to abide by all the Mormon standards if they want to live there? Should Catholics say the same in other areas where they live? This sort of thinking is what divides people: us versus them. The immigrants versus the natives. The believers versus the non-believers. The whites versus the blacks...

Is it too much to ask that you love your neighbor? That you perhaps extend a tolerant and understanding heart? That you let him or her live as they will, rather than forcing upon them your own standards?

"I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. "

So we should be offensive?

"Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Americans. However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the "politically correct" crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others."

Patriotism is a weapon which can be just as dangerous as guns, missiles, and bombs. Nationalism can breed blind faith which hides facts and truth. The Germans felt very patriotic in supporting the Nazis. So, while I love my country, I do not trust in patriotism. In fact, I am very leery of it.

"This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity."

Really? Where the proof in that? It seems to me that America is stronger than ever. If immigration is hurting America, it certainly hasn't done a very effective job.

One of the great strengths of America, in my opinion, is that we are a land without the historical baggage of a singular culture. We don't have ethic groups waging civil war to gain independence or political liberty within the US because the country is tolerant of differences. We allow anyone the opportunity to be involved. We don't have an official policy of suppressing minorities. Our allegiances to this country do not lie in the color of our skin, or the language we speak, or our religion or holidays. Our allegiance lies in our belief in the basic laws and principles of freedom, democracy, and liberty.

"As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom."

Our culture has changed over the years. It started out as British, French, and Spanish colonies. Thankfully, we have grown beyond that. Let's not quit growing. Let's not start fearing the future and the unknown. Let's not be afraid to continue to grow and change.

"We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!"

This is so arrogant; I'm not sure what to say. You know, I wouldn't mind this mindset so much if Americans didn't also expect the world to speak English even when we visit them in their countries.

"'In God We Trust' is our national motto."

"In God We Trust" wasn't the national motto until the McCathy period during which the Congress passed a resolution in an attempt to distinguish the United States from the "Godless Communists." The motto had been in use in the US since the civil war, however. A better history can be found at:

http://www.usscouts.org/flag/sealmotto.html

and

http://www.treas.gov/education/fact-sheets/currency/in-god-we-trust.shtml

"If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture."

Because God is all about telling people to find a new home if you don't agree with the believers.

Notice that there is no reference to what God or who's God. There's a reason for that.

"We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from"

We are happy with the status quo and are afraid to change. Yep, that's the definition of "conservative." I'm glad I share this country with such loving and accepting fellow citizens.

"This is OUR COUNTRY, our land and our lifestyle."

Which we took by force, by the way. I hope we learned our lesson then.

"Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion and we will allow you every opportunity to do so."

Thanks, I'm doing so right now.

"But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great American freedom, THE RIGHT TO LEAVE."

Uh, wait. I'm allowed to express my opinion but if you don't agree with it I should leave? Hmmm. That doesn't sound like the spirit of the first amendment to me. Moreover, why don't YOU leave?

"If you agree -- pass this along; if you don't agree -- delete it!"

No, I think I want to respond instead of ignore this insulting representation of Americanism, thank you.

"I figure if we all keep passing this to our friends (and enemies) it will also, sooner or later get back to the complainers, lets all try, please"

Why? Because you actually, honestly believe it's better for those with whom you disagree with leave the country rather than stay? I'm sorry, but I'm not a push over.

Ben Hyde has been thinking about election cartograms which lead me to more great maps (well, cartograms to be precise).

I am inheriting a 55 gallon aquarium tank from my father. I'd like to turn it into a semi-aquatic terrarium. Trouble is, I'm not sure what species of amphibians I would like to populate it with. And of course, I'd love to house more than one species, such as frogs and newts (or frogs and salamanders or frogs and geckos or ... ), but that can be disasterous.

One of my current favorites are Dart Frogs (Dendrobatidae) but they prefer a tropical terrarium instead of a semi-aquatic terrarium which I would much rather have. I love the idea of a small waterfall and little pool with some white clouds or neon tetras. So if I insist on semi-aquatic, then I may have to go with some other frog species or with salamanders or newts. Jenny definitely wants frogs though.

Over the next month or so I'm going to be doing a lot of planning and researching. If anyone has experience in semi-aquatic terrariums or suggestions, please let me know!

Read on for an update...

Update:

After spending most of the day researching, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with dart frogs. Apparently it isn't too crazy to have a pool of water in a dart frog terrarium.

However, I still need to do a lot of researching. I'm probably going to get an extra smaller tank (10 to 20 gallon) to use initially while I setup the larger tank. Don't want to tackle too much at once.

I'm really excited about this idea. :)

The Incredibles is incredible. Great, fun movie. Pixar does it again.

PlayStation2 -- $150
Hard Drive -- $100
Network Adapter -- $60
Wireless Connector -- $80

Playing Final Fantasy XI with friends around the country -- Priceless.

Some things in life money can't buy, for everything else there's, well, money.

A collection of election results maps:

Links go to the sites and blogs where I found the maps.

Harper's magazine has suggestions for those seeking a safe haven following the election results. Picked up the link from BoingBoing.

Myself, well, I was already planning on leaving the country within the next year or two, so I suppose now I just happen to have a better excuse. :)

So I finally rented and watched Super Size Me, a documentary on the effects of fast food, McDonald's in particular.

I am never eating fast food again.

Not that I eat fast food very often now. But every, oh, six months or so, or maybe a year, I forget my lesson from last time, or I rationalize getting a hamburger and fries because I'm on the road and hungry.

I think I'd rather starve now.

In all honestly the documentary's results are not all that astonishing. What do you expect when you eat McDonald's for a month? But nevertheless, it makes me very grateful for Jenny who insists on wonderful homemade organic meals and further convinces me I need to stop any and all fast-food rationalization.

If you haven't seen it yet, check it out.

My mother is an administrator at a local assisted living facility. All day today her staff has been taking residents to the voting booths. I just got off the phone with her and was surprised to hear that one of her residents had been denied a provisional ballet:

The lady in question had recently moved to the area from Florida. She had registered to vote but her name was not on the roles. She was told she could not vote. When she asked about a provisional ballet she was also denied.

Upon returning to the assisted living facility, the resident informed my mother who printed copies of the PA state law which requires provisional ballets be provided to all who request one. She then returned to the polling place and spoke with the individual running the polls at this location. She showed her the PA law and stated that they were required to provide a provisional ballot.

"... so she should be given a provisional ballot"

"Yeah, I guess, but her vote probably won't count anyway."

"That doesn't matter. You have to give her a ballot."

"Okay fine. Bring her over."

It boggles my mind that any poll staffers would act this way. If my mother had not insisted on getting a provisional ballot for this elderly lady, she would have been denied.

Luckily, Jenny and I voted early and everything went smoothly despite long lines. Jenny was the 400th voter at our little polling station. The staffers told us they usually don't have 400 voters until late evening. It was 11:00 am when we voted.

Well, I'm ready to vote tomorrow. I just finished spending some time going over each race and each candidate. It's a really nice feeling knowing that when I walk into the polls tomorrow I know who I am voting for and why. Interestingly enough, I ended up with the following results:

4 Republicans
2 Democrats
1 Libertarian
1 Green

I didn't expect to vote for so many Republicans and would like to have voted for more Libertarians but I honestly feel that I'm voting for the best candidate in each race. I know a lot of people will be going to vote tomorrow because of the presidential election, but I hope they don't ignore the other local votes so close to home and take seriously each vote cast.

In an interesting turn of events The Economist throws its support behind Kerry instead of Bush:

After three necessarily tumultuous and transformative years, this is a time for consolidation, for discipline and for repairing America's moral and practical authority. Furthermore, as Mr Bush has often said, there is a need in life for accountability. He has refused to impose it himself, and so voters should, in our view, impose it on him, given a viable alternative. John Kerry, for all the doubts about him, would be in a better position to carry on with America's great tasks.

Well written and worth the read.

It's that time of year again, and for the first time -- seeing that this is the first time I've had a non-trivial paycheck -- I've passed my sixteen digits onto my local public radio station. This year they aren't giving out any of those silly thank-you gifts; instead, you can submit a paragraph that they'll share with their listeners. Here's mine:

"In an increasingly corporate world, it's easy to forget the value sharing things rather than divvying out on a pay-per-use or enjoy-by-ad basis. Public Radio remembers this and should be rewarded for trying to make our communities more pleasant."

So, support the public good like Public Radio or Wikipedia. It probably counts more than your vote.

November is National Novel Writing Month and I'm thinking about taking it up, or at least doing some sort of other regular writing such as:
- Doing a daily blog entry
- Spending more time on my own personal journal
- Spending time each day writing documentation for one of the OSS projects I'm on

I figure even if I'm not up for writing a novel in November there are plenty of other activites I can do (most of which I've been meaning to do anyway) to not only join in on the spirit of the month but polish my rusty writing skills as well.

The quote was brought up in the debates tonight, so for the record, here is when Bush said he was not concerned:

" Q But don't you believe that the threat that bin Laden posed won't truly be eliminated until he is found either dead or alive?"

"THE PRESIDENT: Well, as I say, we haven't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don't know where he is. I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run. I was concerned about him, when he had taken over a country. I was concerned about the fact that he was basically running Afghanistan and calling the shots for the Taliban. "

"But once we set out the policy and started executing the plan, he became -- we shoved him out more and more on the margins. He has no place to train his al Qaeda killers anymore. And if we -- excuse me for a minute -- and if we find a training camp, we'll take care of it. Either we will or our friends will. That's one of the things -- part of the new phase that's becoming apparent to the American people is that we're working closely with other governments to deny sanctuary, or training, or a place to hide, or a place to raise money."

"And we've got more work to do. See, that's the thing the American people have got to understand, that we've only been at this six months. This is going to be a long struggle. I keep saying that; I don't know whether you all believe me or not. But time will show you that it's going to take a long time to achieve this objective. And I can assure you, I am not going to blink. And I'm not going to get tired. Because I know what is at stake. And history has called us to action, and I am going to seize this moment for the good of the world, for peace in the world and for freedom. "

From March 13, 2002 Press Conference

My 10 year old cousin Benjamin passed away this last week in an accident at his home. I've been away the last few days visiting the family an attending the funeral.

"Fascism is an extreme right-wing ideology which embraces nationalism as the transcendent value of society. The rise of Fascism relies upon the manipulation of populist sentiment in times of national crisis. Based on fundamentalist revolutionary ideas, Fascism defines itself through intense xenophobia, militarism, and supremacist ideals. Although secular in nature, Fascism's emphasis on mythic beliefs such as divine mandates, racial imperatives, and violent struggle places highly concentrated power in the hands of a self-selected elite from whom all authority flows to lesser elites, such as law enforcement, intellectuals, and the media."

-- Ben Tripp paraphrasing Mussolini's diary

"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power."

-- Benito Mussolini (from Encyclopedia Italiana, Giovanni Gentile, editor).

And corporatism is where we are headed in the US.

Personally I believe not only in the separation of church and state, but also the separation of commerce and state. There are cases in which government can be an effective tool to handle negative externalities in an economy such as the tragedy of the commons, but above and beyond this, government intervention in support of or against commerce is bad policy.

Jenny and I are heading down to Shenandoah for the weekend. For those in the US, hope you have a happy Labor Day!

I know I'm not the first to lament about this but it really bothers me when language is hijacked. There are plenty of examples of this, but the one that caught my attention today was the word "liberal." I bumped into a link to the book Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed: A Small Lesson in Conservatism and I just cringed. A more correct title would be something like, "Help! Mom! There Are Socialists Under My Bed: A Small Lesson in Laissez-Faire Capitalism."

Despite what ones personal feelings about proper government, I find it a tragedy that such a wonderful word as liberal has become a slur. In the US, even the so-called left wing Democrats tend to avoid it. And don't even get me started on the horrible misappropriation of the word conservative. We've completely negated the original meanings of these words in the political spectrum. Its just such a shame to see beautiful words become the casulties of our ignorance.

I try to avoid using the "left wing/right wing" anology so common in our politics. I prefer a political compass view of the landscape, though any attempt at an ontological model of social politics will fall short of completely expressing the true nature and complexities of the situation. Nevertheless, that is no excuse for hijacking the language. There are other perfectly good words to use.

Dave McMullan is a good friend of mine and former roommate. On September 1, 2004 he will be enter the LDS Mission Training Center to prepare for a proselyting mission to Quezon City in the Phillipinnes.

I've set him up with a blog here at Jadetower that will relay his letters and messages from Asia to the rest of the world. If you're interested, pop on over to Bahala Na and follow along!

I just got my first look at my first child's face.

Jenny and I had a ultrasound today. I've uploaded some shots of the sonograms which show the baby's face. If you haven't heard yet, we're expecting the little one to appear around this Thanksgiving in November.

I'm back online. From home that is.

Finally got the DSL set up. Now I just have to finish rebuilding my computers.

Well, Jenny and I moved in and are getting unpacked. Actually at the moment, I'm getting things unpacked and Jenny is in New Mexico. An old roommate and friend of hers is back in the States from Australia and so she's out west for a week. So I get to go back to my evil ways of working late and eating unhealthy snack food. :)

The new house is great though. Two floors with a basement and one car garage. I've got most of the boxes out of the first floor, but it will be a little while before I have the second floor finished.

And in related news it looks like it will be June 10th before my DSL is set up, so I'm not going to have internet connectivity at home until then. Oh well, gives me plenty of time to fix the place up!

Well, Jenny and I are moving over the next couple of days which means for all intensive purposes I'm going offline until next week. I'll see all of you on the other side!

This eye infection certainly has knocked me for a loop, though Jenny
is happy I'm taking a few days to slow down and take care of myself.
The truth of the matter is that I don't have much choice. Most of the
time my eyes hurt too much to see.

Anyway, I thought I'd take a moment to give a general update about
Jenny and I and our move...

We'll be moving from the Bloomfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh where
I've lived for the last couple of years to Delmont, PA -- a small town
about an hour or so east of Pittsburgh. We'll rent a duplex there and
move in this next weekend (Memorial Day weekend). Today I finished
arranging the new utilities though we still have a lot of packing to
do. Also, we're still looking for someone to take over the current href="http://www.jadetower.org/apt.html">lease.

I'm going to have to rebuild my network once I move. Right now all
I've got it my work laptop. We thought about getting cable internet
after moving, but DSL was cheaper and we don't watch much TV anyway.
However, it will take about a week for the DSL to be activated, so
next week I'll have to survive without internet (at home at least).

I'll also have to survive without Jenny. She'll be flying out to
Texas and then driving to New Mexico to visit some old friends. So
I'll have to decorate the new place by myself that week.

Other than that things are going alright. I have another doctor's
visit tomorrow, so I'll be home from work again. Hopefully I'll be
able to open my eyes for more than a few minutes at a time my then!

I'm blind. At least temporarily. Sunday morning I woke up having accidentally fallen asleep with my contact lenses in. My eyes were hurting so I decided to take the lenses out and rest again for a little while. I woke back up an hour later to my eyes stinging that within a few hours I found myself in the hospital emergancy room. Apparently my irises are inflamed and I'm developing a bit of an infection in one eye.ful

So I'm somewhat out of commission right now. Hopefully this will clear up in time for Jenny and I to move this weekend.

Wedding Photos are finally available. I'll be putting up photos from our trip to Florida too. Sorry about the wait!

Jenny and I are moving Memorial Day weekend from Pittsburgh to Delmont, a small town about an hour away from here. The new duplex we'll be living in is closer to my work and a little bigger than our current apartment. I'll be writing more about the move in the future, but for now, if anyone in the Pittsburgh area is looking for a nice three bedroom apartment for sublet or lease, let us know!

Indeed Aaron has. Make the price of entry low enough and you'll be surprised what you can get people to do. I'm very glad for the space to include some of my musings. Primarily, I plan to focus on my research on programming languages, systems, and user interfaces. I suppose it would be best to start by outlining my long term research goals, but that will need to wait until another day. Until then, I'm just glad to be here.

Jenny and I are off to Florida today for a week. It's a sort of late-honeymoon/vacation thing. Actually, I call it a honeymoon and she calls it a vacation. :)

Sometime soon we'll have all those wedding pictures uploaded to my site. Sorry for the delay!

Fifty entries now.

I should plot out the scale of blog entries to date because it would look rather logarithmic -- I used to post one a month and now it's at least a couple times a week. Adding my site to weblog aggregators like Planet Apache, Component Planet and JavaBlogs has encouraged me. It has given me not only a larger audience, but a larger community to participate in.

I now have a little memo on my PDA that I use to collect various ideas I want to eventually blog about. Some make it here. The computer programming ones find their way here rather easily. I'd like to start adding more varied content though -- more articles about politics, ethics, religion, some scientific computing, and life in general. You know, non-controversial issues on which I can express my infinite wisdom... :)

In other site news, I started a new style sheet for the gallery and I'll be doing more work on the wiki too.

I got a new CD from my local public radio station WYEP last week. I finally had a chance to listen to it, and, wow, Jem's debut full-length album Finally Woken is excellent. It's pop with a great beat and some electronica thrown into the mix, but that description doesn't do it justice. If you're looking for some cool new music, check it out!

Other reviews I found:

E! Online

Rolling Stone

Tastes Like Chicken

I'm getting married!

Last week I asked Jenny Shutak to marry me and she accepted. We're opting for a very small wedding with just family, though we'll be having a bit of an open house at her parents' on the evening of April 10th after the ceremony. We invite our family and friends who will be in the area to stop by and share in our celebration!

[ Jenny and Aaron in New York for New Years 2004]

Jenny Shutak and I started dating last fall soon after she returned to the area from Washington State where she went to college. Interestingly enough I went to High School with her older sister Meghan and my younger brother knew her brother Joey but Jenny and I had never met. Upon returning from Washington, she met my parents at our local church ward. When she asked about other people her age and local activities going on in the church, they referred her to me. Before long we were a couple and traveling across the country together.

Jenny is a wonderful friend -- bringing joy, laughter, and love into my life. It is a blessing and honor to know I will share my life with her.

If you'll be in the area around April 10th, send me an email or give me a call!

Jenny, I love you.

Recently I got a new digital camera: a Sony cybershot. Just a 2 megapixel, but it's really nice -- incredibly small and has a crystal clear LCD. I'm not much of a photographer, but with this I might actually carry my camera around.

Also, I don't think I ever put together an entry about my TV (maybe in an old iteration of my blog). I have a 32" Sony widescreen CRT. I love it. I don't watch a lot of TV (I don't have cable or satellite yet) but I love it for DVD's and video games (PS2). I also have a Sony DVD dream system (one of the compact versions) that provides wonderful surround sound. All in all, a very nice entertainment center.

Oh and one last word, when I got my treo 600 I said I wasn't quite sure about the camera. Well, I take that back now. While it's nothing to compare to the cybershot (the treo has no flash for example) it makes nice small shots perfect for something like this blog. Read on for the photos of my tech toys... :-)

Sony 32" widescreen TV and DVD Dream System

Cybershot U Digital Camera (and a shot of my old mini-disc player)

Sony 60 CD Changer Stereo

I've finally updated the main body of my website. I've dropped the Forrest generated site since I wasn't updating it frequently. I still really like Forrest but I decided to better utilize the wiki instead.

Also, there is now a real Gallery section. I've only got one album loaded so far, but others should find their way on the site within a week or two. This means some older image links may be broken -- another thing I'll have to adjust. Also, the current style of the gallery is somewhat out of sync from the rest of the site, so I'll be doing some customization there too.

Finally, I've put together an "about" section with a link from the front page. This was originally intended for the "Foundation" section, but with the wiki taking precidence, I couldn't justify using Forrest for just this one page.

One last comment -- usually I write my web sites via some XML --> HTML code generation process like Forrest, Docbook, or Maven. Now I only have two regular HTML pages (the index and about page). While it was still easy to edit these pages in emacs (or vi), I decided to fire up Dreamweaver which I still haven't used since buying a copy in December. Well, I now understand why everyone loves this app. My editing was minimal in the extreme but Dreamweaver was still a pleasure to use. I can definitely see why web designers prefer this tool.

Enjoy the site!

So, where have you been?

My luck has got to turn soon...

Just got into a small auto accident. No one was injured. I was borrowing my girlfriend's Jeep at the time since my car has been declared a total loss by the insurance. There was some damage to the Jeep; however the other guy ended up with a huge gash in his driver's side door. We both think it was the other one's fault and we certainly didn't see each other until it was too late.

Anyway, my mantra lately has been "Worse has happened. Worse yet still will."

I got a phone call last night informing me that the Pittsburgh police found my car. I don't know if they have any suspects and I have to go to the city auto pound to pick up the vehicle sometime today. I suppose I have less of a reason to get a Mini Cooper now...

I had been considering buying a new car anyway and I still may take advantage of a great deal on a used Corolla. As for new cars I was looking at, it mainly came down to the Acura RSX versus the Mini Cooper. I don't think I'll get either anytime soon, but if you have any thoughts on either of these cars (or want to recommend something similar) let me know!

There was an auto show in Pittsburgh this last week. Here's a shot of a concept car I saw there:

Hmmm....

It appears my car has been stolen. If anyone sees it, let me know. It's a 1990 white Pontiac Bonneville. Or at least that's what it was. Say what you will, it was a great deal and a good car. I've been thinking about getting a new vehicle. Looks like I don't have much choice in the matter now.

Posted in memory of my car. Thanks for all the good rides.

In addition to the Gameboy, I also got another tech toy recently: a Treo600 smartphone...

I had an older Sprint PCS phone for almost three years and while the battery was starting to give me issues, in general I still liked the phone. My only real complaint was that I knew that when that fateful day of switching phones would come, I would have to manually move all of the phone numbers stored in my current phone into the new one. I only wanted to do that once. So at the top of the feature list for any knew phone I might consider was the ability to store or synch contact information with a PC or PDA. This way I would never have to worry about losing both my phone and my contact list.

In January my younger sister was considering getting a cell phone herself and wanted to take advantage of a new plan offered by Sprint. My contract had ended long ago but I didn't want to renew under a new plan until I found a phone I liked and could at least keep my off-peak time of 8:00 PM (most plans at the time had off-peak hours starting at 9:00 PM). Well, Sprint was offering a package with off-peak hours starting at 7:00 PM and for the same amount of money I was already paying each month, I could get more minutes. I was also considering getting a smart phone and the treo600 looked very enticing. To make a long story short, I got the Treo and a new plan and my sister ended up piggy backing onto mine. All in all we ended up with a great deal.

So what about the Treo? I really like it. It's an impressive combination of phone and PDA. I had previously owned a Handspring Visor PDA and then a Sharp Zaurus, but the Treo would easily satisfy my PDA needs. As for being a phone, well, it takes a couple of days to get used to the buttons -- though usually I end up looking up numbers from the 'favorites' buttons or the contact list. I don't really use the camera very much and would have gladly traded it for a higher resolution screen. I am really starting to get spoiled by having constant access to the internet and my email. Smartphones will definitely give traditional PDA's a run for their money.

About a month ago I got a used Gameboy Advance which eventually found its way into the hands of my girlfriend. I allowed that to happen mostly to give me an excuse to buy a new Gameboy Advance SP (the clam-shell design). I used to play more video games in the past (both on the PC and PS2) but anymore there seems like less and less time. This is one reason why I love my Gameboy. The games are generally quick to start up and easy to turn off. I can take it with me and get a little further in my latest adventure when I have a free moment. Moreover, the Gameboy has a huge library of titles including many classics like Dragon Warrior and Super Mario Brothers. I have to admit, it's become one of my favorite toys.

Currently I have the following games:

• Dragon Warrion III


• Dragon Warrior Monsters 2: Tara's and Cobi's Journey


• Golden Sun


• Final Fantasy Tactics Advance


• Sword of Mana


• Super Mario World


• Super Mario Brothers III

If you have any suggestions, let me know!

Driving across the country with Jenny leaves one with the feeling that
all is right in the world. This is of course not true, but road trips
allow the luxury of ignoring the stress of daily life and the hum
of news and events. Instead the world exists only as a strip of
concrete about twenty feet wide and infinitely long bordered by the
sometimes slowly sometimes rapidly changing landscape. The rhythm of
the journey is punctuated by each location's tempting call to stay and
linger only opposed by the allure of the next mile.

The adventure began in Washington. Jenny flew out from Pittsburgh to
the north west about two weeks earlier than I. She tied up loose ends
and gathered up her belonging scattered across the state, tokens and
reminders of her college days there. I arrived on the scene just as
she was saying her goodbyes. The day after I flew in, we said goodbye
to the state of Washington by visiting many of the places in which she
had lived. We drove north to the Olympic National Park and hiked a
couple of miles through the forest -- still amazingly lush even in
January. We then took a ferry to Seattle and enjoyed an exquisite
meal before returning to Centralia. The next day we said goodbye to
her many friends there who turned out for a large meal hosted by the
family we were staying with. Clearly many would miss her.

The original plan was to drive back from Washington to Pennsylvania
in her Jeep Wrangler (filled to the brim) via such convenient and direct
stops as Santa Cruz, California, Phoenix, Arizona, and Okalahoma City,
Okalahoma. Okay, so perhaps we were taking the long way
home, but we had people to see and places to be along the way. However,
just before we left for California we learned that our stop in Phoenix
was not to be, so we took off without quite knowing what direction we
might take after Santa Cruz.

We spent one rainy day in sunny California visiting Jenny's sister,
Angela. While there we got a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean, once again
found ourselves in the woods, and in a cafe downtown met Richard,
otherwise known as the man with dreadlocks down to his toes. In
addition to telling us some rather amazing stories about never wanting
to brush his hair again, Richard also gave us better directions out of
California than MapQuest.

Since we no longer needed to stop in Phoenix, we had considered
changing our course from a NIKE swoosh across the country into more of
a straight shot across the Midwest. However, to our surprise, from
Santa Cruz to Pittsburgh, there isn't much difference in distance or
travel time between venturing south on highway 40 versus the northern
route through Utah on 80. Seeing that it was January and that we were
returning to a land recently visited by heavy snow falls, we decided
to stay south and enjoy the warmth of the desert as long as it would
last. Besides, it would still give us the chance to visit Jenny's
uncle in Okalahoma.

When you're crossing the country in a Jeep Wrangler you quickly notice
two things: one, the car just simply isn't going to go any faster
than seventy miles per hour no matter how much gas you give it and
two, you finally have time to tell the long version of every
story. Each day Jenny and I ended with little voice left after
yelling story after story to one another over the rush and roar of the
road. We turned out to be well suited as traveling companions.

Santa Cruz to Okalahoma took two days. In that time we
transitioned from the mild warmth of the desert winter to the stiff
cold winds of the plains. Our most dangerous moment came when,
against our better judgment, we stopped at Denny's for a bite to
eat. Now, I have nothing against Denny's per say. In fact, I've
enjoyed plenty a wonderful meal there in the past. For whatever
reason, this was not one of them. But soon both Denny's and Arizona
were behind us (Arizona in general was gorgeous) and after
a full course of New Mexico and a dash of Texas we rolled into
the driveway on her uncle's farm.

Though it was already very late, in classic country fashion they fixed
us up some hot chocolate and heated some spaghetti before saying good
night. The next morning we awoke to the bright and brisk air of
Okalahoma. Before taking up our journey again, we had a chance at a
decent breakfast and a visit with Jenny's cousins living just down the
road (I got the feeling that everyone lives just down the road in
Okalahoma). As in Santa Cruz, it was hard for us to leave the
comfort of family for the rough ride ahead. Yet now home was in
sight, well, it was still twelve hundred miles away, but when you
start in Seattle, that counts as "in sight" and so we began the last
phase of our trip home.

Now let me just say that the United States is big. I've seen quite a
bit of it as this was not my first road trip across the country. I
remember when I lived in Taiwan that when asked about America somehow
or another I always ended up emphasizing how big everything is there.
The roads are bigger, the cars are bigger, the houses are bigger
(perhaps not taller though -- Taiwan residences tend to be stacked
rather high on top of one another), goodness, even the people are
bigger there. That sense of vastness can overwhelm you when you have
the chance to drive each mile and watch town after town, person after
person, life after life, slip into the rear view mirror. The slow
addition of so much land and so many lives indelibly leaves one with a
sense of awe at the sheer size of the nation, and in extension (if one
is quick enough to observe it) the world and space ad infinitum.

Road trips also tend to cause even computer geeks to wax philosophical
when attempting to capture the movement of life one sees when glancing
up from the glow of the laptop computer and out the window at the
blurred collage of trees and gravel and light posts and mountains.
There goes another one of those green highway signs. And we actually
passed that semi-truck (usually it's a challenge for the Jeep to pass
anything that isn't already stationary). The sun is setting behind us
and the road ahead has turned from a line of grey rock leading to the
horizon to a trail of white and red lights marching into the darkness.
And just how many billboards are there? It appears I can't even
cross the country with the radio off and escape commercials. And
interestingly enough, right now, I don't think either of us knows
exactly where we are, but we know where we're going and that's all
that we're concerned with. It's thoughts like that that cause even
computer geeks to find the meaning of life scribbled in the road
between those yellow lines and white dashes.

After traveling two thousand some miles we decided it was time for a
break and a treat. Rather than race through Saint Louis like we had
so many other cities, we drove downtown and found a nice restaurant
where we could recover from the Denny's episode. The food at Caleco's
more than made up for prior trauma and thankfully no one stole Jenny's
bike from the rack (this was a constant concern of ours --
Jeep's provide about as much security as the Homeland Defense team).
So with that we looked through the city's silver arch and on to home.

I am convinced that somewhere between Saint Louis and Indianapolis we
crossed an ocean and ended up in Antarctica. I suppose the Atlantic
froze since all our bottled water certainly did. As we traveled through the
winter wonderland, Jenny and I questioned the sanity of humanity to
live anywhere so cold. But sure enough, the world had changed colors
from green to red to brown to stark white. Through the ice and
covered under a foot or more of snow lay the lands of Illinois,
Indiana, Ohio and just beyond, Pennsylvania.

We had one last stop before we could enjoy the joys of unpacking the
vehicle. My boyhood home, Wheeling, West Virginia, lay between us and
Pittsburgh. Most of my mother's family still lives there and it just
so happened to be the week of my grandmother's birthday. We would
miss the surprise party held in a cabin in Oglebay Park, but we could
still visit with my relatives for a short time before returning.

The end of a journey always comes like the waking from a dream. A few
years ago when I flew home from Taiwan, I saw the two years of my life
there slowly fade away as I caught each plane and said goodbye to each
friend along the way. Eventually I was just me, not some global traveler
or foreign missionary, just me. Suddenly I was driving home as if I
had never left. Likewise, Jenny and I quickly found ourselves in
familiar territory, driving home just as if it had been any other day
and any other trip. It seemed hard to believe that just a few days
ago we were wearing t-shirts in the desert.

During our travels it was easy to be struck by the variety of scenery
and life just beyond the floating guard rail. However, one also
notices a number of constants that bind this country together.
Somehow we all agreed on the color of highway signs and that rest
stops should be spaced just far enough apart that you always regret
not stopping at the last one. Regardless of the fact that you asked
for all the vegetables, Subway employees universally ask,
"even the peppers?" And no matter what language it is Americans speak
or with what accent, we all call it English.

In addition to returning to over 1400 emails and a pile of bills (hey,
I'm mailing them today), I return knowing I lived through one of those
events in life I will later recall as the "good ol' days."
Such moments are not always so adventurous, but they each carry common
themes and feelings of being somehow more real than all the other days
which add up unnoticed. I haven't taken such a long vacation in three
years and it's funny to think that when I finally got around to it, I
flew all the way across the country for the sole purpose of coming
back home again.

Photos and QuickTime movies of the trip will soon be available on
the website. Look for a new article and new photo galleries later
this week!

Well I knew it was going to happen sometime, but it appears my weblog has finally been spammed. I've deleted the offending comments and will be making adjustments to the site over the next day or two. I'd rather not go to the extreme of banning comments all together, so if you have suggestions, let me know.

One good resource for MT users: Concerning Spam

The day was starting to wrap up at work when I recieved a telephone call at my desk.

"Are you a Steeler's fan?" the woman asked me.

"Sure, sorta." I replied. Quite honestly, I'm not that big of a sports fan. I enjoy a good game, but I'd much rather be out playing myself than watching others have all the fun.

The woman on the phone proceded to tell me I had won the grand prize for the recent United Way fund drive at Sony Electronics -- a weekend trip with the Pittsburgh Steelers! When I finally got around to asking when the game was, she told me it was _this_ Sunday. Uh oh. I'm supposed to be in Washington D.C. this weekend for my last roommate's wedding reception. She told me I'd get the rest of the details soon and left me scrambling to figure out how I was going to pull everything off.

Well, to make that long story short, despite the planned reception, a hurricane, and a number of other misadventures, I found myself Saturday night on a plane with a friend and the Steelers headed to the Cincinnati game. Read on for more details and photos...

One thing that consistently amazed me was the transportation. Just how quickly and how organized the Steelers moved around. For example, after the game, I was sitting in the bus waiting for the team. It was around 4:00 P.M. We still had to drive to the airport, get on the plane, and fly home. The amazing thing was that by 7:00 PM that evening, I was sitting in my own apartment in Pittsburgh. Now that's fast.

Of course it helps when you have a police escort to and from the airport and you have a chartered plane waiting for you.

(still need to finish this)

Images at:

http://jadetower.org/images/camera/steelers/
(warning: thumbnails are small, but the originals are HUGE!)

One of the main mantras of open source development (perhaps more specifically extreme programming) is "release early, release often." The basic idea is to get your product out to your users as soon as possible and as often as possible in order to generate rapid feedback cycles. In many situations this works well, but it's hard, especially for perfectionist like myself. Read on for more musings...

Recently I discovered a bit of a link between why I am not blogging as much as I would like and why I'm not releasing (or contributing) to open source software as much as I like. It's all about the idea of 'release early and release often' which is apparently really hard for me. I suppose I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I like things polished before I present them to others. For example, I want my code to be not only functional, but often beautiful too (in that logical, mathematical sense). Even at my work place, I tend to burn a lot of cycles over gettings things 'just right' before I release the works to everyone else.

I'm discovering more and more that I need to let go and focus more on releasing my work early rather than holding on to it until I feel it's finished. One reason is because, for me, it's never quite finished. Another reason is that as long as I hold on to my work, it's not benefiting anyone else. So I need to calm down, humble myself, and offer up my efforts to the public sooner.

The same goes for blogging. Too often I sit around thinking about what I want to write, but never actually posting it because I end up wanting to write a proper thesis. I suppose I'm too tied to the phrase:

If you're going to do something, do it right.

Which for me often meant really completing a project before releasing it, or polishing an article before publishing it. However, in open source development, and increasingly so many other forms of work and expression, releasing to the public is not the same as finishing a project.

That's not to say that this is an excuse for shoddy work -- that you can always fix it later in any situation. I still believe there are times when you need to do that polishing and deliver a final product. When you finally ship that new massive online role-playing game, the product should be well past beta.

So there's certainly a balance to find. I suppose my thoughts today turn to recognizing that I'm a little to hesitant to release a beta, to just get something out there for users to look at. Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions for overcoming this bad habit?

A friend (Enoch) and I went camping in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley over the recent Fourth of July weekend. We had a great time (despite some rain) and I'm determined to go back and do some real backpacking. Read on for more details and some images.

Shenandoah Vally is located on the western edge of Virginia and runs North to South for almost the entire length of the state. The image from above shows a view into the park from one of the many outlooks on Skyline Drive, the highway the runs through the park.

We spent most of our time there hiking to several of the waterfalls:

I also have a couple short video files of the waterfalls:
White Oak Canyon 1 [avi]
White Oak Canyon 2 [avi]
White Oak Canyon 3 [avi]
[For some reason the avi's don't seem to play. If you're having trouble (or not) let me know. I'll try to covert them to mpegs soon.]

Just finished the Silmarillion by J R R Tolkeen. Wow. If you enjoyed the Lord of the Rings, the Silmarillion offers lore and adventure rich and deep. Why should you read the Silmarillion? Read on.

Reading the Silmarillion is often compared to reading the Old Testament. Now, I've read the Old Testament and while the beginnings of the Silmarillion can sometimes be about as exciting as Leviticus, the initial effort is quite worth it. With each passing chapter you delve further into the magesty of Tolkeen's creations. It is indeed a tragedy that these stories never saw the treatment they so deserve.

I finally understand the story of Beren and Luthien and the sad tale of Turin Turambar. These tales rival the greatest legends our civilizations have ever produced. So if you're looking for something to read, I would highly recommend the Silmarillion (though you should start with the Lord of the Rings if you haven't yet).

Well, here's my second shot at a blog. I finally broke down and decided to use Movable Type (MT). I must say, it's a nice system. Eventually it would be nice to implement this sort of thing in Java. Cocoon would be a nice framework for a personal blog system like this.

Oh, and until I get some more articles up here on the front page, the web site might look a little broken. Perhaps I'll take the time and look at the templates and fix it. If not, just bear with me while I get started.

Anyway, mostly this first entry is an test for me. I'll try to start posting more interesting entries in the future. The PostNuke site was nice, but not well suited for just a blog. And even MT isn't exactly what I'm looking for. Someday I'll just have to write my own web-based publishing system I guess. (If anyone has a favorite blog system or CMS system, you should post a comment). What I should do is start putting together links on CMS systems. Perhaps in the wiki site.

Work on JLCP is going well. We've got 0.5.1 coming up and all sorts of plans for the later releases. JavaOne is soon, so we'd better hurry. The big issue right now is developing a sort of "intermediate" layer that will tie all our various modules together.

Also, the wiki site here at JadeTower has started to get some use. Mostly I've got programming links there, but I think it could become a great resource. Definitely a nice way to hash out some ideas before putting them up on the site proper. Check it out and feel free to contribute.

One section on the site is for Scientific Computing. I'm currently finishing my degree in this area (should graduate Decemeber 2003) and I thought it would be nice to sort of "summarize" a lot of the things I've studied. There really aren't a lot of good well written undergraduate texts in this area, so hopefully I could eventually create a nice web resource.

Yep, the grand schemes I always have at the beginning of the summer.