2005 May

So, now that I’ve got my gripes and games out of the way…

GUT REACTION: I’m now a PSP owner, and I can say (without a doubt) that this is singlehandedly the best portable gaming experience I’ve ever… experienced. I’d even go as far as to say that the PSP runs circles around regular ol’ consoles – but let me wait until the newness wears off. I haven’t been this excited, intrigued by a handheld video game system since Sega’s Game Gear was released in the early ’90s. What do both of these have in common? Mighty impressive screens (for their respective years).

Read more on PSP – The PlayStation Portable…

David Geller was on his way home for the weekend, and he offered to stop by and let me ride on his brand-new Segway. Yes, a Segway – THAT Segway. I've seen one roll up and down our street a few times in the past, so I know there's more than a few in Seattle. When I was younger, I wished that I had duck feet – but Dean Kamen hasn't invented a Flapway as of yet. Still, Segways are so out-of-this-world expensive, that I just couldn't justify owning one.
That said, riding a Segway is a lot of fun – and this video proves it. I wondered if they'd ever come down in price, but David remarked that we wouldn't want any ol' idiot riding these things around, eh? Perhaps they'll have a Department of Segway Licensing soon. Wasn't too difficult to do – much easier than I thought it would be. Thanks, David – Ponzi's next! Segway rides for everyone at Gnomedex, BTW, according to Mr. Geller.

Read more on My First Time on a Segway…

What are we memorializing – or who? It's a holiday weekend here in the US, and many families have gone on a three-day vacation. Monday is Memorial Day, and some would argue that the original meaning of the holiday has been lost. I'm doing nothing other than catching up on a pile of tasks throughout this entire break (lest something else come up), but I haven't really paid attention to the overly-commercial nature of Memorial Day. Lockergnomie H. Robert Lewis weighs in:

Read more on Remembering Memorial Day?…

Oh, this is a fun Friday… I've got nothing better to do than to sit around the house and wait for the phone guy to show up and install a few lines for the show. This is almost like waiting for Godot – only a lot more exciting. We should be able to start taking live callers next week, but I'm not convinced that today will be the final chapter in this volume of the ever-lengthening story.
Instead of giving us the requested 6 lines, they originally gave us 8. This had been done over a month ago, leaving us to our own devices until I called the business center and asked what was going on (as they only took care of us up to the d-mark, without installing any jacks inside). They doubled their efforts immediately – literally. For some unknown reason, the 8 lines were ordered for residential service, and this new Qwest business rep added an additional 6 – bringing the total number of phone numbers to 14. We only wanted 6, but didn't know the rep screwed up until the technician was on-site Wednesday.
The original set of 8 lines weren't going anywhere, and we needed the jacks installed properly to interface them with our call routing system. That, and we only wanted 6 lines – not 8. So, chaos ensued for the entire afternoon, as I was bounced from one department to the other. First, residential service… then business service… then residential business service (no joke). I finally landed on Kim's desk, and she helped me through this phone trauma. It was very painful, with blood and tears spilt before all was said and done.
Long story short, we'll soon have a fancy new toll-free number that you're bound to remember. Any guesses as to what that number might be?

Read more on Waiting for Qwest…

Based on my VoIP gotcha, Lockergnomie David Scott…

The technical problems you mention seem significant enough to make me question the reliability of VoIP – at least in your situation. There are other considerations. Does the phone work when you lose power? Most VoIP does not. How are you going to call the power company to let them know you're in the dark? You do point out a 911 problem with VoIP but there is more. Can your local 911 operator know where the call is originating? Some land-lines are hard to locate their origins and cell and VoIP often isn't locatable with many 911 systems. With cell phones the phone must have GPS and the 911 center be equipped to use the GPS signal on your phone or the 911 center has to be able to use triagulation with cell towers to appoximate your location.

Read more on VoIP Floats…

I love how everybody whines when they don't get their way – it's human nature. So, for all of you who unsubscribed from my RSS feed because it wasn't the way you wanted it (even though you're not the one providing it or paying for it), then you won't ever know that I considered going back to full feeds. Not because of WHY you complained, but that you DID complain – and I think it's kinda funny that everybody else will enjoy what you've decided to leave behind… because this entry *GASP* is a full entry in the feed. Did you know that, or were you one who cut off his/her nose to spite your face? ;) I still believe that 90% of the galaxy still doesn't understand the argument – and they don't care.

Read more on Kiss My ASCII…

Because Sony decided to skip the software part of things with their PSP (wisely, as seldom do hardware companies ever produce great software for Windows), a few independent coders are taking a crack at PSPifying their conversion utilities:

Read more on New PSP Video Tools…

So, does this mean I'm finally going to be in a non-tech magazine? Will I have to do something silly again, like rent my forehead instead of my chest? Are they going to make a Bloggywood Squares game show next? Can I be Center Square? Will having inserted an obscure Monty Python reference into the excerpt for this blog entry win me anything?
I turn on the television, I keep seeing “blogs” featured on midday political news roundtables. I listen to the radio, I hear the word “podcasts” mentioned as alternatives for archives. Seems that counter-culture is quickly becoming culture. That begs the question: what IS next? What more can we do with blogs, other than blog about blogging and blog about blogging about blogs? They used to be uber-cool and super-rare, but now everybody has one – and I believe its uniqueness has disappeared because of such ubiquity. That, and they seem to bring out the worst in everybody. Most blog comments are nothing but… and I quote…

Read more on Blogebrity…

During my senior year in high school, our school was chosen to house a GOES-TAP computer terminal. There were eight others just like it, sitting in other high schools around the country. GOES-TAP was a weather service. With the system, you could basically be your own forecaster. Since I was keenly interested in becoming a weatherman early on in life, it seemed like a natural fit. I already had Mike Lozano's autograph, but had not yet helped him establish an Internet presence (which would happen years later). Other kids would gather around the sportscasters, but as you very well know, I wasn't born with that gene.
Anyway, this ol' computer was fantastic – but nobody knew how to use it. The manuals and documentation were incomplete, and the software was seemingly difficult to use and understand. We students had no idea why it was sitting in our physics classroom, nor did we know we were part of a select group of schools in the GOES-TAP program. One day, it was announced that the science department was looking for individuals to demonstrate how to use this system. When my turn came, I knocked their socks off. They said there was some sort of mystery prize involved.
I won an all-expenses paid trip to New Orleans for a week (January 1991) to help demonstrate this system at the American Meteorological Society's annual convention.
Alas, being a forecaster was not in my future. However, with a Davis Vantage Pro2 Wireless Weather Station, I'm one green screen away from broadcasting my predictions to the world. I was given a unit to test, and tested it I have. The package comes with proprietary software, but the UI is rather inelegant, and it requires a USB connection (which makes no sense, as the transmitter sends the signal wirelessly to the unit – why can't this particular unit send the signal to a computer wirelessly, too?). Regardless, it's great to have a very accurate readout of measurements sitting on my desk. More impressive is its tracking features. Since turning it on a few weeks ago, I've measured 3.34″ of rainfall on my deck. Ooooooooooh… couple that with WeatherBug Plus on my desktop, and I'm always going to know more than the weatherfolks on TV.
Tomorrow's weather will be… mostly impressive.

Read more on Weather Man…