Dave's Stuff

ComicCon Day 1

2008-07-24T20:54:00.000-07:00

We're in San Diego for ComicCon 2008. This is day 1 of 4, and man, it is already packed with geeks, geeks, geeks. Our very first taste was when we walked to the shuttle bus stop from our hotel -- there were about 10 people at the bus stop, including one fully dressed Batman. The bus pulled up right as we arrived, and it was one of those huge charter buses. I just stopped where I was, ready to get on the bus, when a girl standing there said, "Back of the line's that way" -- I was at first aghast and was about to argue that no one lines up for a bus, and even if we did, I was pretty sure all 10 of us would get a decent seat, but then I remembered that you don't argue with geeks about pointless stuff, and just got behind the other people.

On the ride back from the convention center, another geek lecture broke out (fortunately not involving me) about how the Simpsons was to "thank" for all other animated prime-time shows now (as if they are so great). What I couldn't understand was who the geek lecturing about this was talking to, since I'm pretty sure if you're at ComicCon, you're fairly familiar with the Simpsons.

I got a lot of pictures, and of course will take many more, check here for the photoset.

The only real activity today besides picking up our badges was to see my old college friend Kevin Dilmore talk with other Star Trek authors including Wil Wheaton about, well, Star Trek books.

We did a quick sweep through the exhibition hall, where I met Ben and Ralph from the Dharmalars podcast.

At dinner, I wondered how many geek-on-geek love affairs start at ComicCon (I indicated this by putting my arms out as wide as possible and rocking back and forth ... Laurel said, "What's that?" and I said, "Fat people hugging."), where so many people finally feel like they can finally be themselves, probably leading some of the mostly-male attendees to come out of the closet. I started writing a musical about it -- one of the songs is called "You're the Only Man I'd Let Open the Mylar Bag Protecting My Heart."

(I'll just point out for the record that I'm here with my wife of 10 happily married straight-as-can-be years.)

Ayn, drop by for coffee anytime!

2008-07-21T12:48:00.000-07:00

I took the Politopia Quiz and it generated the above map showing that I'm pretty close in philosophy to Ayn Rand. Duh.

My first iPhone app: Beacon

2008-07-21T00:04:00.000-07:00

It's actually my third, but it is the first one I've finished ;-)

Beacon is an app that does one thing; puts your location on the web for others to view it. That's it. No muss, no fuss, no setup, and no buttons, even! You just start it, wait for the phone to get a location fix, and go do other stuff with your phone.

The neat thing about it isn't really the app that runs on the phone, but the "beacon" file that it creates for the web. It is in KML format, which means that sites like Virtual Earth (or even that other google maps thing) can read, for example, this link will show my very latest beacon on VE.

So you can click that link anytime to find out when the last time I updated my beacon was, and where I was when I did it. It isn't quite so good as constant tracking, but we're getting there.

My favorite commercial ever

2008-07-15T23:49:00.001-07:00

You really can get anything on them internets, even this classic Target ad featuring the drummers of Cheap Trick and the Donnas.

Live and learn ...

2008-07-13T22:32:00.000-07:00

The pen I bought at the Portland Pen Show was a total ripoff -- although I was happy with it until I found that out.

The guy had it tagged $50 and like a complete nimrod, I just handed him the cash and didn't barter, which I realized two seconds later I should have done (and which everyone else was doing).

Turns out, I still would have felt like a fool, unless I talked him down to $13, which is the price of the same pen, completely new, on eBay (and although this pen I bought was "never used" it shows some discoloration, most likely from being outside of its box).

Oh well, at least the ink I bought was a good deal, and I just had to buy something to justify the trip.

Still, this is all child's play compared with the $1000+ Dostoyevsky pen (or rather, full set, although I've seen that for sale exactly nowhere) and $400 pencil I want.

Pen show

2008-07-13T19:55:00.001-07:00

Pen show
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

I really did go to the Portland Pen Show.

I left Seattle at 9 a.m. and got to Portland at noon ... which I thought was plenty of time before the 1 p.m. seminar on "Journaling" that I wanted to go to. Unfortunately, it was shifted to 11 a.m., so I missed it. Oh well.

What you see pictured is the (single) room where all the "action" was happening, with about 20 vendors showing off their various pens. I ended up buying a Harley Davidson fountain pen for $50 and a $6 box of ink refills for it.

Then I left and went to both Powell's Books and Powell's Technical Books, buying nothing, to my friend Traci and Clinton's house (they weren't home) and finally to Rose's Deli on 23rd for a great rueben sammich.

Then back home, which took an extra hour because of bad traffic in Olympia.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, best overheard quote of the day, at Powell's Books: "Don't you think it smells like BO in here?" Yes, yes, it does.

PENI5

2008-07-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

I found out really late (but fortunately not TOO late) about the Portland Pen Show. I considered heading down to Portland tonight and getting a room at the convention hotel, but they are fully booked, so tomorrow I'll just head down I-5 on my motorcycle to check it out, hence the title -- what did you think it meant?

Certifiable!

2008-07-11T22:13:00.001-07:00

That's right, I can puts apps on the iPhone now!

New iPhone -- or close enough for me!

2008-07-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

I just got the new iPhone 2.0 firmware. Within minutes of the flawless update, I was able to enter my Microsoft information and within seconds was sending and receiving my work email on the iPhone -- finally, after a year, I'm able to do the one thing that I missed from Windows Mobile! The new iTunes app store is pretty incredible, too -- I predicted spending a lot of money on apps, but so far all I have are the free iTunes remote, the free eBay app, and the $10 Super Monkey Ball game.

Laurel and I have just been sitting here in wonder at all the little new things we're discovering on the phone as we go ... I'm thinking that the 3G phone can wait, now, but eventually I'll want the faster speed, better GPS, and extra storage. But certainly don't need that right away!

You miserable hippies

2008-07-01T00:29:00.001-07:00

You miserable hippies
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

Here's what so dumb about "green" (my least favorite color) -- we get new coffee cups at Microsoft and they are so ineffective at blocking heat that you have to use a sleeve, wasting even more resources -- wake up, recycling is bull****. Not only that, but our new spoons will melt if used to eat soup (or stir coffee). Wow.

Amazon opens a Motorcycle Store (with a Harley section)

2008-06-30T22:23:00.000-07:00

Awesome! I still wouldn't want to work there.

Glad I waited, for once

2008-06-30T21:52:00.001-07:00

Waited, couldn't afford it, whatever ... I was hoping to get a Nikon D3, but waiting has paid off to the tune of $2000 savings thanks to the impending release of the Nikon D700 (that's 10 times better than my current D70) ... still can't really afford it, but I should be able to snag one before the Nikon D7000 comes out.

It's nice to be wanted

2008-06-29T17:08:00.000-07:00

Just saw Wanted. It is like Matrix without the computers or Fight Club
with the better of the Pitt/Jolie choice.

Fastports!

2008-06-25T19:59:00.000-07:00

We sent off for our passports on Friday afternoon. We got them back today! That's amazingly fast -- so quick, in fact, that I wasn't even able to track their progress online (it takes five days before the tracking data is online). Despite having a new electronic chip in them, the new passports are otherwise much cheaper looking and feeling than the old ones.

Mum & Ms

2008-06-24T19:57:00.001-07:00

Mum & Ms
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

M&Ms custom-printed with my face and my Mum's face!

Past ports

2008-06-20T16:03:00.001-07:00

Since Laurel and I are going to San Diego next month, I figured we could take a day to go across the border to Mexico. Laurel pointed out that our passports expired the week before that. Oh no! Time to get some new ones (US passports, that is; my Belgian passport under the name Xavier St. Cloud is valid until 2011).

We were able to fill out most of the forms on the internet, and then they print out all nice and typed, but you still need to staple pictures to the forms. We took our own pictures at home, but they printed out poorly, so we went to Bartell's drugstore to use the Kodak Photo Center to print them instead. They came out great, for only 63 cents. But despite knowing we needed to staple the pictures, and not knowing if we had any staples at home, we left the store with just the photos. We got home, and sure enough, no staples in the stapler. So we go back out, figuring we'd get staples on the way and took everything we needed to go straight to the post office and send our passport applications -- except the stapler itself. So I went into Bartell's again and bought a stapler. We're driving off when Laurel notices that the stapler didn't come with staples. So now we have a stapler with us with no staples, a stapler at home with no staples ... so I stop at the Safeway we happen to be near; no staples for sale. Back to Bartell's for trip #3 (and you know how fun that can be if you've ever been there) ... finally, we had everything together, and got our applications sent off before the last mail pickup of the day. We should have them back in plenty of time for our trip!

MST3K @ Comicon

2008-06-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

From Joel's blog:

The big MST3K 20th anniversary panel coming up at Comicon next month, Well sir, we’re all gonna be there! The Panel discussion is Friday night and we’ll be in the dealer room on Saturday to meet you and sign things and say “bite me”.

And Laurel and I will be there. Huzah!

Close Encounters

2008-06-14T01:10:00.001-07:00

CloseEncounters.jpg
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

I rented Close Encounters of the Third Kind since it features Devils Tower, where I was recently. I was scanning through the credits and a name caught my eye -- check out who did the "ufo photography"!

Touchdown!

2008-06-13T13:23:00.001-07:00

Touchdown!
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

Thanks to my friend Randy for suggesting that I take advantage of one of Microsoft's newest perks -- the Seattle "Touchdown" space. You basically reserve a cubicle that has power plugs, network taps, and wireless access to the main corporate network, and then do your work from there. It's in a great near-downtown location with lots of incredible views. It doesn't quite match up to working from home (where pants aren't required) but it is a nice change of scenery and a very quiet space for just getting work done.

Another week to worry about work!

2008-06-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

I had previously misread a chart in the Microsoft employee handbook and thought that you needed to hit your 13th anniversary before being granted an extra week of vacation time. It turns out that the chart was just confusing and you actually get it on your 12th anniversary, which I just had.

So now I have an extra week "off" to worry about work, check work email, wonder what's happening back in the office, etc. Fun!

(Saving my Mum the trouble of typing a comment since she can't remember her blogger logon: "Visit us for that week!")

Patent #3 Granted!

2008-06-08T12:20:00.000-07:00

If you happened to need a "system and method for providing dynamic location information," you gotta come to me (or, well, Microsoft). Patent 7383316 was granted on June 3! The only way you find out about this is that there is some company that tries to sell you a commemorative plaque, but Microsoft supplies one of those free of charge. This will be my third!

Data driven

2008-06-06T16:33:00.000-07:00

Some data from the drive:

Total miles: 2523
Total gas: 86.7 gallons
Average price per gallon (all premium): $4.13
MPG: 29.1
No. of gas stops: 27
Total trip cost, including all gas, food, lodging, and misc like park entry fees (but not including any wear and tear on the bike): $1457.22

Home

2008-06-06T15:51:00.001-07:00

I just got home -- I'll post some stats in a while, but for now, I'm unpacking and trying to warm up -- the last 80 miles were nothing but pouring, freezing rain.

Testing Outback's "No Rules" policy

2008-06-05T19:21:00.000-07:00

Although Outback claims to have "no rules," of course that can't be literally true. I tested the limits and have this report.

Broken rule	Result
No shirt/no shoes	No problem!
No pants	Take-out orders only
Saying "put another shrimp on the barbie"	You get a BBQ shrimp (staff too young to understand any Crocodile Dundee references)
Ordering in a thick, fake, loud German accent	Other patrons leave
When waiter sits down at table, say sarcastically "Oh please, make yourself right at home"	Spit in food
Eat half a bloomin' onion	Charged for whole thing
Eat a whole bloomin' onion	Instant heart attack

Outback

2008-06-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

I am having dinner at the Outback Steakhouse near my hotel. They have no rules here, but somehow that feels just right.

In addition, they have very little parking.

I always get the Alice Springs Chicken, and tonight shall be no exception.