February 1, 2010 · Filed under Entertainment, Technology
I was working with Windows Server 2008 when suddenly Windows Explorer crashed and restarted itself without rebooting the computer, presumably avoiding the Blue Screen of Death.
It reminded my of when I worked at Microsoft where the opinion unsurprisingly and almost-universally held was that “Microsoft is Awesome”. This opinion is divergent from general consensus, but that’s not the point. The point is that I deliberately said, “almost-universally” – not “universally”. This is because this one guy on my team would always say with a sly smile, “Whoever designed Windows Restart is genius. It’s one feature that fix all problem. I want to work on Restart team.”
The really crazy thing is, there actually is a Restart Team.
January 27, 2010 · Filed under Entertainment
Everyone knows Apple is releasing a Tablet PC, or, as I like to call it, “A Giant Fingerprint Magnet”. I’m as excited as anyone else about this, but I have my concerns over the 
usability of such a product. It’s not as convenient as an iPhone, and not as useful as a MacBook Air. That said, I trust Apple to do a better job at this than anyone else could manage.
While I haven’t yet looked at the new Apple iPad that was announced today while I was distracted by ancillary things like my job, I’m just going to go ahead and state this for the record: when I look at the Lexicon of Things Frank Can’t Stand, I see listed at number one the following item:
- Do Not Touch My Computer Screen. Doing so is not acceptable as it will leave a fingerprint that I will fixate on for several hours until it annoys me enough that I have to go clean my screen. What’s wrong with just pointing? Just point, don’t touch.
So, while I openly admit that Apple will do an awesome job with this product and that before long, I’m sure I will catch the bug and buy one, I’m really not sure how well I’m going to be able to deal with it.
December 14, 2009 · Filed under Dutch, Entertainment
The New Yorker this week ran a very troubling comic. Have a look, but resist the temptation to jump to conclusions:
It’s content, generalization, and motives are highly offensive, however transparent. Lets review.
- Just because the kid is holding his finger in a crack doesn’t mean he’s Dutch. That would make most of the guys in New York and San Francisco Dutch, and that’s not probable.
- The kid is obviously dressed in Lederhosen. Lederhosen are German. There is the matter of Germany having occupied the Netherlands. It is not OK to confuse invaders with the invaded. That’s like calling Europeans…I mean, that’s like calling Romans…, I mean that’s like calling Turks…Well, maybe it is conventional to confuse invaders with the invaded, but it still not OK, and it still pisses me off.
- I’m going to assume this comic is poking fun at the kid who stuck his finger in a dike to plug a hole. Dikes hold back water, so his intent was to keep water from leaking through the dike. So why is the kid holding his finger in a wall? Is he heroically trying to keep air from escaping from China into Mongolia? If so, he has the small matter of the air moving freely across the top of the wall to worry about first. This kind of misplacement of priorities is atypical of the Dutch and more prominent in Belgians. But Belgians don’t wear Lederhosen.
Based on the above observations, I can only assume the comic’s intent is to deliberately start a war between The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Of the three, only Germany has a history of aggressiveness, so my only conclusion can be that this is the work of a Neo-Nazi bent on world domination.
Suffice it to say, I’m very disappointed in the New Yorker for not seeing through this obvious trick.
December 13, 2009 · Filed under Beene, Doggs, Entertainment, Seattle, Smackimus
Well, Michelle is in India, so it’s just me and the maminals. The Doggs really hate it when they’re home alone with me because they get ignored all day while I sit behind my computer or play music. Not today, though. I loaded the Doggs into the truck and made for Disco Park.
It was cold and windy, and the dogs were as polar opposite as usual.
The coast and the mountains looked amazing as the weather started rolling in.
November 10, 2009 · Filed under Entertainment
I know it’s been a while since Halloween, but there’s something I simply must get off my chest: Seattle sucks at Halloween.
Sure, we’ve got our cool things, like the Greenwood Reaper, but for the most part, kids don’t get into Trick or Treating the way we did when we were kids. Growing up, we owned the streets on Halloween. It was chaos. For one night, we didn’t have look both ways before crossing, and we just swarmed all over the place. It was awesome.
Seattle, for a city so fiercely independent and which largely turns it’s nose up to malls and shopping centers, inexplicably Trick or Treats primarily at stores the weekend before Halloween. Since this year fell on a Saturday, we expected a pretty good turnout. Nope. Nuthin. The kids Trick or Treated at the stores on Greenwood and disappeared by nightfall. And, even while they were out at the stores, the parents all looked like their kids were on the verge of a wholesale kidnapping. “Don’t speak to strangers! Don’t let go of my hand! Don’t breathe air you don’t recognize!”
Seriously. Kids, unite. Rise up. Take Halloween back. And come check out our totally awesome pumkins.
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