2003 October

Lockergnome has officially relaunched. I'd like to thank the academy, Jason, and Chance.

For years, I've struggled to define my path. People ask what I “do” for a living, and it's difficult to give them a specific title. Writer? Entrepreneur? Geek? They just don't work, because I've always done things differently. To put a finer point on it, here's what someone just called me: a technical Renaissance man for the 21st century. Hopefully, I can get that to fit on my next business card. Everything is suddenly starting to make more sense; it's amazing what a fresh perspective can provide… and clarity is only the beginning. The foundation is forming, and I'm ready to build. Could you hand me that electric hammer? Thanks.

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(a) kicking ass; and (b) kicking my ass. Regular Lockergnome operations were suspended last week while we did a little spring cleaning. Turns out, there's more dust under the couch than previously anticipated. That, and we've decided to go out and buy new pieces of furniture. Oh, yes… and it's not spring. I've been so caught up in the maze of my personal and professional lives, that I completely forgot about the hour gain this weekend. I look out the window now and see California smoke, but those fires rival these which are burning in my own little world. “I'd drown apart from that which I learned to live without.” My poetry is back with a vengeance.

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I officially declare this day: Happy Friday! It's your duty to be thrilled about something in your life, and then put those feelings into action. Pants optional. Me? I'm gonna carve a pumpkin, watch a holiday movie, and then take the pumpkin to bed with me – in no particular order. Oh, don't worry – I'll blow out the candle beforehand. There will be absolutely NO funny business going on over here, either. Unless the movie happens to be a comedy. Methinks I'm out of candles, too. I wonder if glow sticks would work just as well? That way, I won't have to worry about starting any unnecessary fires. Flamage in bed = bad.

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Today, I know the beauty of an unanswered question. It taunts those who don't have the right algorithm – and it can't be hacked. Even with a map on the floor, there is no direction. Regardless, the only way to hold onto something is to let it run free. And so I will – aimless with focus. Depth… is impossible to understand. But even if you could, would you want to? Even if you wanted to, could you? In a word: yes.

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Finally, Apple designs software that looks just as nice on Windows as it does on OS X. I finally installed QuickTime on my primary system, after seeing that they squished the horrid ClearType rendering issue that plauged previous 6.x versions. iTunes? iLike a lot. Is it gonna make me return my 60GB Nomad Zen? Nope; I like stuff that supports WMA. Plus, with the ER-6 Isolator Earphones, just about any portable jukebox sounds great. Is it gonna make me wanna sign up for Apple's music service? Nope; I've got hundreds of CDs sitting on my bookshelf, ready to rip. Is this release gonna make me any less pissy about the recent changes over at EMusic? Nope. Sorry, had to throw that in there. Unfortunately, there's no “end all, be all” digital entertainment service out there. Dammit!

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Here we are, in the middle of October already, and I have no idea what I'm going to “be” for Halloween. I haven't even had time to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas yet! I'll be headed to Las Vegas a month from today for both APCUG and Apachecon. They've each asked me to present my position on RSS, so I'll be happy to oblige. Maybe I'll dress up as an orange XML button on the 31st? Nah, that's too friggin' scary. What about Gozer? Or a Doozer? Or a menu like the Chooser?

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I've had it running for about a week now, and find it very difficult to give it anything beyond a “D+” as a grade. It's noticably slower than Outlook 2000, and (beyond the high-color icons) brings with it ghastly UI changes. Maybe YOU appreciate being able to view the subject line of a message from across the room, but I don't. Maybe YOU think it's wonderful to toggle certain features (lest you care to suffer the unusable alternative), but I don't. IMHO, the only saving grace of Outlook 2003 as a non-Exchange PIM is Search Folders – but that's only because I'm a NewsGator junkie. I'm severely disappointed with this release, and will not recommend it without caveats (as you will discover in one of my future CPU articles). Piss poor job on this one, Microsoft. Someone needs to develop a TweakUI to clean up your mistakes and oversights immediately, and I'll be happy to offer dozens of suggestions.

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There's nothing quite like a reinstallation of Windows to blow a perfectly good weekend. Not that I would have spent my time doing anything other than playing with software and catching up on my favorite news feeds. That's not the point. The point is: I'm thinking of dumping NVIDIA in favor for ATI. However, I'm not up for sinking another $500 on a video card that'll do what I need it to do. Sure, most of my time is spent on the desktop, but 2D acceleration is every bit as important as 3D speed. That Raedeon 900 XT is lookin' mighty fine, but not until or unless I can find a buyer for the Ti-4600. I'm completely unmotivated to do anything about it right now. For that, I'd like to blame the carbs.

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Okay, things have been way too friggin' crazy lately. It's time to take off my trousers and celebrate a long-overdue, pointless, pantless day. Yes, No Pants Friday is in full effect. If you don't join me, I'm sending Sprocket to your house to hump your leg. Should I go as far as to prove it to the world? Well, so as not to drive traffic away immediately, check out my iSight by clicking the regular cam thumbnail over there in the sidebar. Let your hair down and just enjoy my tighty whities for a few minutes. But not for too long because… well, that's just freaky, dude.

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It's Wednesday on this yellow blog, and all my inspirations are flowing in another direction. Northeast, if it matters. Life walked up to me the other day and poked me in the eye. It asked me to surrender all of my time. To its credit, I was given a choice: either do that, or join a spiritual commune and move to a compound in Texas by week's end. As soon as they let us use pens or keyboards, I promise I'll write. The Leader says we'll have better food when our alien saviour makes his return. Well, they're serving a fresh bowl of fruit punch, so I'd better let you go. On second thought, I think I'll skip the drink and give my time to life. [BTW, all I'm trying to say is that I'm very busy with other things right now.]

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