Monthly Archives: May 2008

Howard Warshaw was kind enough to send me a copy of the documentary Once Upon Atari. It’s a collection of interviews with some of the programmers, artists and managers who were in Atari’s consumer games group in the late 70s … Continue reading →

Cause or effect? I can’t decide whether (a) bad people simply like using certain technologies in bad ways, or (b) the technologies themselves are toxic, causing brain damage and moral decay in anyone who uses them. Data-bearing technologies seem particularly … Continue reading →

Some Lego-based games I would definitely look forward to: Lego Alien.  Ability to play Ripley, Hicks, Newt, Ash, and (of course) the Alien in its various stages of development. Lego World of Warcraft.  Well, why not?  (Depending on your current video … Continue reading →

Busy busy busy busy.  So: One line summaries today. Comcast: When you call a customer and give a pitch about how neat it would be to get phone service over IP, please make sure the static and flanging on the … Continue reading →

I’d forgotten about this power outage in Auckland.  link.  (From comments on this article on repairing a high voltage power line in the LA area.  Link.  [via Hacker News]). I can’t think of anything in the world of Software Engineering … Continue reading →

I am still procrastinating on that Disneyland wrap-up. (I tweaked my back a bit on one of the rides. One of the nice things about having a real office is that you can close the door and lie down for … Continue reading →

“XML is like violence: if it doesn’t solve your problem, you’re not using enough of it. ” (from a discussion of the misuse of XML — is there any other use of XML than abject obfuscation? from http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001114.html ) “If we … Continue reading →

I have fond memories of visiting my dad’s office when I was ten or eleven years old. He was a scientist, doing ecological studies for NASA and various universities, and “Going to the lab” with him on Saturday mornings was … Continue reading →

Thomas Disch has a blog!  link And a new book, apparently.  The blog is hilarious. If you haven’t read his book Camp Concentration, go do that.  (I didn’t like 334 or On Wings of Song much, but CC is worth it). … Continue reading →

[ not related to my current job, which is a lot of fun, but I know people who've been here... ]  Our IT’s got a hard-on for some God-damned new firewall They’ve got us all on lockdown and we can’t run … Continue reading →