Engineer
Got a Christmas card from some colleagues in Egypt on my return to the office today. It was addressed to Eng. John Tolva. Eng. for Engineer, an honorific I’ve never seen in the West but which is always given in Egypt to (I think) graduates of science-related or engineering-related programs. I like this. It seems more logical to award prefixes based on the type of degree than the level attained, doesn’t it? Imagine a world where everyone was addressed by the job or role they performed.
“Bricklayer Jones, so nice to see you today!”
“You as well, Seamstress Diaz! Say, here comes Ambulance Chaser Franklin.”
There’s a certain LEGOland quality to the division of labor and labelling, but I think I could like it.
Cord-free
My guess is that the biggest complaint about the iPod and portable music players is the headphone cord. You do have to wonder about outtake footage from the famous iPod silhouette commercials — dancers getting entangled, accidentally ripping the earbuds out violently, cursing, storming out from in front of the chroma screen.
The cord is a particular pain in the ass for me, especially in the winter when I am bundled tightly with the cord wrapped into my scarf and the iPod buried deep in my coat. Add to that the hassle of basically undressing to make it through the metal scanners at my security-obsessed office building. So, it was a special treat to receive a pair of Plantronics 590a stereo Bluetooth headphones for Christmas. There are a few of these on the market now and because of the lack of devices that support the A2DP Bluetooth profile (or lack Bluetooth support at all, like the iPod), Plantronics includes a dongle that hangs off the headphone jack and pairs with the headphones. Conveniently, if a phone call comes in to your Bluetooth phone while you are listening to music you can easily switch over and talk. There is a small, clear telescoping tube that you can pull out as a microphone boom. When not in use it is hidden away. Actually the physical design of the headset is the nicest thing about it. Slightly retro with robotic-looking hinges, the 590a inverts to sit in its charger and pulses red and blue to indicate status.
This morning was the first real-world test: the L train commute to work. The headphones worked great on the walk to the station, hugging my hat over my ears. Waiting for the train, the flashing blue light on the headset (indicating a strong pairing) literally lit up dark train platform. A bit too bright, I’d say. I can only imagine how annoying this will be to fellow flyers on an airplane. About 20 minutes into the trip the headphones started to drop occasionally, at first for only a millisecond and then for a second or two at a time. Worrisome. That’s basically a showstopper. I’m wondering if it has to do with Bluetooth interference from other devices on the train.
And so I embark on a time-honored post-holiday tradition: contacting tech support.
UPDATE: It did have to do with Bluetooth interference, but from my own phone. I unpaired the phone and the drops stopped. In fact, I re-paired it and the drops have not returned. Interesting. This bit of sleuthing was no thanks to Plantronics tech support which gets a D- for a crappy attitude and absolutely no clue about the dropouts. “Just return it for a new one,” they said. That’s the consumer electronics version of “um, have you tried rebooting?”
Rose-colored glasses
The city of Austin is throbbing in anticipation of the Rose Bowl. I don’t follow college football closely at all and can’t claim to be even moderately knowledgeable about matters that generate so much trash-talking and inanity. Still, it is hard to avoid the interesting aspects of this matchup that have little do to with football. There’s a tempting blue state-red state analogy to be made what with the celebrity photo-ops on the Trojan sidelines while most Longhorn fans are, let’s face it, Bush-loving conservatives. (I spotted not one, not two, but three copies of Sean Hannity’s latest book being read in the waiting area for a charter flight out of Austin to Ontario, CA today.) That kind of facile, polarizing thinking does make sports matchups more fun, I suppose, but ultimately it rings just as hollow as all the post-election talk of two Americas. For instance, on NYE Austin held its first ever “First Night” parade and fireworks celebration — easily one of the most eclectic, left-leaning public spectacles I’ve participated in. Yet, nearly everyone — including the freakiest of the paraders — was adorned in burnt orange or celebrating UT in some way. I’d like to see Texas win, but I can just hear Rush Limbaugh or the conservative blogosphere reading more into a Longhorn national championship than is warranted. Some tripe about west coast vs. heartland values. (Maybe they already have?)
And thus you have the first and likely last post about football on Ascent Stage for 2006. Go Cubs!
Two-Oh
It may not look like much, but Ascent Stage has undergone a major revision this past week. I only just got around to addressing the corrupt database issue from a while back and in the process took care of just about everything else that was bugging me about the site this whole year. So, in no particular order, here’s what’s new:
- Browse by Topic category is back from the dead (the corrupt db killed it).
- Browse by Date no longer sucks (as bad).
- Movable Type has been upgraded to 3.2 — there are more features, of course, but the best is what seems to me to be faster rebuilds.
- Trackbacks are off for the time-being — still searching for a way to prevent trackback spam as I have done with comments (which remain open). Ideas?
- There is now a merged RSS feed for the main blog and the marginalia, thanks to Feed Digest.
- My account at Last.fm, the site which catalogs my music played and powers the sidebar, has been upgraded. Those of you who listen to the streaming radio from Last.fm (which would be — checking — exactly no one to date) can expect it to be faster now.
- There is now an actual error page for 404 Not Found.
It is not properly catching errors yet, but it does exist. - There is now a consolidated Archives page as well as a single page listing every post to date.
- Site code has been cleaned and modularized. You care not at all, I know. But the general de-crufting makes me feel good.
- Search results and comment previewing are (finally) formatted properly.
- I am using Library Thing to catalog my recent reading in the sidebar. Eventually I’d like to write reviews for the books that end up in the margin, but for now I am still cataloging my library.
- For you usability folks, I’ve changed link colors slightly to better differentiate visited from unvisited.
- I added the now-standard RSS feed icon to denote subscribable feeds.
- Lots of other stuff that would bore you even more than the above, if that is possible.
There are some deep links that are broken still and I’ve not fully tested in IE or Safari, but for the most part the ship is seaworthy.
So, enough with the housekeeping. Time for 2006 content.
Resolutions in review
Twelve months has passed since I outlined twelve resolutions towards my betterment. So, let’s do the numbers.
- Learn how to conjugate Italian verbs in a tense other than the present.
Sort of. I know more verbs than this time last year and I got a chance to flex my conjugator (ahem) on a trip to Rome, but the tense thing. I’m still stuck in the present. (Or, in translated Italian: I stick in the present.) - Get a goddamn backhand.
Done. No more do I run a half-court’s width to ensure forehands. I am whole. - Fall in love with NASA again.
I admit, I did. Michael Griffin instills confidence, the Chinese provide the neo-cold-war competitive impetus, and there’s even a presidential mandate to skedaddle out of low-earth orbit, for what that’s worth. Marsward. - Be nice to political bloggers.
Pretty much. Easy now that the screaming and yeah-what-they-said cross-link lovefest has died down after the elections. I’d love to know how many political blogs withered in 2005 with no election fodder to chew on. - Learn to match beats when remixing.
Believe it or not, yes. The DJ console helps, of course, but I did have to figure it out. - When home, watch only high-definition television programming.
I have failed. TiVo, being standard-def (and crappy at that), is the culprit. Plus The Daily Show isn’t in high-def, so right there I’m screwed. - Convert all old mix tapes to MP3.
No, and ain’t going to happen either. However, I did complete the digitization of all my old vinyl LP’s! So I consider this complete in spirit if not in letter. - Become able to change my son’s diaper with one hand.
Can be done, but is not advised as it takes three times as long and often results in fecal matter where you don’t want it. - Avoid LAX like the Black Death.
Not done. Could have routed myself differently I s’pose. Ah, well. - Avoid the Black Death.
Plague-free, baby! - Get to know my nephews better.
Uh, well. I know them better than I did this time last year. Mostly because more time has passed, but hey whatever works. - Figure out how to make my own oak switches for the Russian Baths.
Regretfully, no. And I should be practicing since they are closed for a bit. Bad John bad.
Not bad, then. I completed 7, got 2 half-done, and only blew 3. I made significant gains from the half-year review, that’s for sure. Now to come up with a few for ’06 …
Tradition
The full family rarely convenes at my parents’ house for Christmas Day any more. With our own families now and out-of-town in-laws it just doesn’t happen as often as it used to. So it is heartening to see that some traditions stand the test of time.
My mother decorates the main bathroom with hundreds (perhaps thousands) of little Santa figurines that she has found over the years. It is actually a little terrifying. Like urinating in the woods at night and knowing you’re being watched by dozens of glowing animal eyes. But one item that is always present is a set of letter blocks that spell CHRISTMAS. Inevitably at some point in the merriment someone scrambles the block into this lovely anagram. Has been going on for years. Ah, tradition.
Already know you’ll be unhappy with your gifts?
If so, have I got some deals for you, Ascent Stage-reading faithful!
Audiotron 100 – Perfect condition. Loved intensely from uncrating to ceremonial disconnection from the mothership A/V center. Still the only networked media player that requires no server-side software. Works with any operating system. It scans your local network for MP3, WMA, and WAV files and lets you access them via the front panel, remote, or a web interface. It even has a PDA interface which is rare among networked media units. And because I’m honest with my blog readers: the only reason I am selling it is because my media is so iTunes-bound that I purchased an Airport Express and no longer need it. $100. Shipped free.
Harmon-Kardon HK3720 – Basic but powerful stereo receiver. No video bells and whistles but a great stereo receiver. Used faithfully as a second unit for whole-house audio, now not needed because my new receiver supports multiple zones. $150. Also shipped free (and that sucker is heavy).
Roku HD-1000 Photobridge – The only networked media receiver that I know of that supports component video out. Perfect for displaying high-res digital slideshows. Also supports MPEG-4 for your ripped DVD viewing pleasure. Does music too and supports custom apps. Reason I’m selling: new receiver supports photo viewing, though not networked. This makes me sad, but I have to draw the line somewhere. $110. Of course, shipped free.
Sony 100 CD Changer – Old but sturdy mega-jukebox. Optical out, plus album title display field. Reason: have not played a CD in years. $50. Shipping alone might cost as much, but for you, dear readers, it is free.
My thanks – It has been a fun year. Thanks for reading everyone! Free. Immediate download.
Contact me if you are interested.
Thrice blessed
Well, it looks like my youngest son was right when he assumed the West African stance that anticipates the coming of a new sibling. (Confused? Here’s the story on that.)
That’s right, we’re expecting a new baby. Number three. Due May 27, a mere two days after our 10th wedding anniversary, causing us to continue to wonder just what in the hell we did with all our time prior to the arrival of the midget squad. I seem to recall thinking I was busy back then. Ha.
There’s mixed opinion on the man-to-man parenting of two children versus the zone defense of three. I’m of the mind that it can’t be worse than having two kids to run after. The transition from one mostly risk-averse toddler to a sibling who’d rather be juggling knives as he sets flame to a puddle of paint thinner was rough. But now that we’ve mastered the art of not allowing them to kill themselves, us, or others we’re somewhat nonplussed by the challenge of a third. Can’t be that bad. Right? Right?
The kids don’t know yet. We can hardly announce an activity that is more than an hour in the future if we want any kind of peace from the is-it-time-yet questioning, so we’re deferring until Mommy’s rotundity is unavoidable. It’ll be interesting to see the reaction. Happiness, befuddlement, anger, fraternal plotting? I’m certain there’ll be plenty of post fodder from their commentary on the matter.
As an aside, I need better blog categories. Seems so cold to add this announcement to “Genealogy”.
Pre-holiday musings
Small enough to fit in your stocking.
(1) Is it me or is Firefox 1.5 not ready for prime time? Memory usage spikes, random shutdowns, and of course the obligatory extension-busting. Still the best by far, but couldn’t it be, um, better?
(2) There will be one extra second in 2005, owing to a miniscule slowdown in the Earth’s rotation. Is it time to decouple our timekeeping from geophysics and just use our atomic clocks? And what are you planning to do with the extra time?
(3) There are seven (colored) lines on the Chicago L transit system. There are seven notes in major, minor, and modal musical scales. There are 144 stations currently in operation, a number easily divisible by the 12 tones of the Western chromatic scale. If this isn’t begging for some kind of orchestral arrangement where actual train cars passing through stations over time trigger notes, then I don’t know what is. See also: Projects 2006.
(4) I’m headed to Istanbul early next year. Suggestions on what to see, what to eat, where to smoke the hookah?
Winter dreaming
Holy mackeral it was cold today! Not a day for Christmas shopping up and down State Street. (‘Course, when is?) I’m going to my happy place. Right. Now. Damnit.
Here’s me in 2003 outside Barile, Italy, where Horace composed part of his Odes, excerpted below. In the background is the extinct (yeah, right) volcano Vulture. In the foreground is my belly filled with lovely Aglianico del Vulture wine.
In childhood’s days, on trackless Vultur,
beyond the borders of old nurse Apulia,
when I was tired with play and overcome
with sleep,
the doves of story covered me o’er with
freshly fallen leaves, to be a marvel to all who
dwell in lofty Acherontia‘s nest and Bantia‘s
glades, and the rich fields of Forentum in the dale —
how I slept safe from bears and black
serpents, how I was overspread with sacred
bay and gathered myrtle, with the gods’ help a
fearless child.
Mission Elapsed Time: 20:00:21:06:42:40
I went back through it this blog (and my Flickr account) on its 20th anniversary, retracing digital footprints made on what feels like a different planet. Here are some highlights.
The Terror Tourist
A roughly monthly exploration of places in horror fiction — real or imagined, geographical or psychological — culled from The Heavy Leather Horror Show.
Subscribe to the podcast or the email newsletter or just read through the archives posted here.
The Ampcamper
How I hauled myself, two teens, an 80 lb dog, and a whole load of crap 4000+ miles across six states in twenty days using an electric vehicle. And survived to tell the tale.
