[d] enclosed in brackets

Version 6.3 now, and I like it.

If you haven't noticed the new look, please get something checked. I put a new theme on because the old one wasn't ready for v6. I'm actually working on a new one, and it's coming along quite nicely. For some reason, it's easier when you RTFM. Odd.

In other news, I'm going on vacation as of the end of work today (less than an hour). Definitely necessary, and it'll be nice to be able to sleep past 5:30 again.

I posted this on plurk, but wanted to open it up a little more.

Any suggestions on a 1st sock pattern...? I'd like to do toe-up, and have two skeins of Järbo Garn Mini Raggi and size 3 dpns (if that helps).

In looking around, I've seen a lot of different patterns. The part I'm stuck on (which is pretty much how things go for me) is the casting on for the socks. Do I use Judy's magic cast on? Or this one on wiseNeedle?

Once I've figured that out, I think I'm just going to do plain stockinette through to the heel and standard ribbing through to the top. They're for me anyway (my wonderful wife got the yarn and needles for me), so I thought I would start simple... and toe-up, unless there's a compelling reason to start cuff-down instead.

Now that I think about it, any suggestions for the pattern, cast-on, heel, or other parts would be greatly appreciated. I've heard that socks are an addictive project, but I'm willing to find out how true that is.

I signed up for another service. (wait for shocked looks to fade)

It's lifestream.fm, and so far I like it. This started from mentioning that I was posting to about 10 different places - I actually got one reply, and she mentioned that she used this service. The idea is what I wanted to do here, but a) haven't tried too hard, and b) haven't looked that much into it. For example, the following shows the last seven updates for my lifestream page - and there are definitely some duplicates from using ping.fm, but that's ok:

I like that I can see what I've been doing in all those places I post various types of content to (and hope I'm not spamming by doing so). Sure, it's not a really new idea, but it works and it's usable. What else are people using, and how do you keep track of what's going on?

We needed a system to monitor our phone system and do some basic reporting. Simple, right?

All it needed was some basics... and it needed to have Windows XP. Easy enough, I've done a few (150+) installs of Windows, this just isn't the imagewe normally use. This time it was using the actual CD and install it. I forgot how awful Windows is right out of the box, and how much of a pain it is to work with before you're "ready to go."

Step 1: Install from CD. It went normally, and I even got to put in the CD key! Ick. Once that was done, I found that there were no drivers for the video, audio, USB, or ETHERNET. Great, no way to get to the Internet. Even better is that it offers to go online to look for drivers. Better still is the nag screen for the activation, which tries to have me go online.

I was able to get some updates on one of my other systems, and copy/install them to the PC. No luck on all three... I had to "reinstall" the already non-existant driver and try three different places to get it working. Once that was done, I restarted and was able to get to the Internet.

Step 2: Patches, patches, patches (insert "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" reference here). I was able to get to Windows update and get the latest version of... the updater. RESTART. Come back up, then connect again, and install SP2 - I will admit, that went smoothly as far as the install. RESTART... into 640x480 4-bit ugliness. wtf. Windows offered to adjust my monitor settings though. Sure, thanks... but it did *nothing*. I had to go into the Device Manager and update the drivers for the video, audio, and USB. It worked, oddly enough, with only a little fighting. Dont't worry though, I had to restart before any of it really worked correctly.

Step 3: Getting SP3. That's where I am now. It failed once (after taking almost 15 minutes of "verifying files"), and I really hope it works this time.

All of this makes me appreciate the OSS (open source software) I use, and how far it's come along.
</rant>

Wow, I hadn't realized how long it's been since I posted... anything.

I've been around though, don't worry. Of course, I only have a half-dozen readers, so I'm not too worried - I talk to most of them on a regular basis. Here's what I've been working on lately:

Ubuntu
I have a desktop and laptop running Xubuntu Hardy Heron (8.04), and another desktop running Ubuntu Hardy Heron Server. The more I use Ubuntu, the more I like it. It just seems like there's a lot more that I can do with less work... compared to Windows. This isn't going to turn into a review, but check it out - you can run it as a Live CD (no install needed), or even install it like a program in Windows.

del.icio.us
If you check out my del.icio.us page, you can see what I've been bookmarking. I've added something at the end of this post to show the last fivepages I've bookmarked.

dropcase.com
It's time for another upgrade, and I'm making the move into version 6.2 of Drupal. I'm a little lacking in the updates category, but nothing serious... it's more a matter of getting more functionality and usability in place. I also want to do a total redesign, but I'm not sure where to start.

aStore
So I decided to play around with Amazon's aStore, just to see how it works. Don't worry, I'm not trying to push anything (although I won't stop anyone from getting something either), I just want to know what people think of it in general. Does anyone else use affiliate links for Amazon? I'm still not sure how I feel about them.

Knitting
Yes, knitting. There are two projects to start on: first, I'm getting ready to embark on the road to socks. I've been reading up on them and trying to find a pattern, and I think I'm going to go toe-up this time, so I can get a feel for how much yarn I need. Project #2 is a muffler for my wife. She got me some really nice yarn for it, and I want to make sure to do it justice...

Everything Else
Yes, very vague, but true... and if you'd like to know, feel free to ask. Between work and home with two kids and three cats (and my wonderful wife, of course), I wonder how I have time to get anything started, much less completed...

I love Rube Goldberg setups, and I found this video on John C. Dvorak's blog (this post specifically):

Has anyone else made something like this, or have favorites they can share? We had a project to make one of these when I was in high school (Physics), and it wasn't nearly as cool as this...

Who should I use for OpenID?

I'm not even completely sure that I'm going to use it, but I want to check it out. I know there are a bunch of providers for it, but who do I choose? Technically I already have one from my Flickr account, but is that what I want to use?

For anyone thinking, "Just RTFM." - I am. I've been on the OpenID site, and I've listened to the Security NOW! Netcasts about it as well.

While reading up on this, I signed up for MyVidoop. It looks like it's pretty well covered, and was listed on the OpenID list of providers. I wonder what Steve Gibson thinks of it...

Do you use OpenID? If so, who with?

For starters, it was really nice last week, but I didn't get a chance to go outside much... Now I'll probably have plenty of time this week, but it's pouring right now. whee.

So I've been trying to figure out how I want to write, and when's the best time for to write. So far it's sporadic in frequency... I just need to get the ideas down and write them out later. The Twitter-esque posting style (140 characters or less) has been useful, and especially with services like hellotxt and ping.fm to get the word out to multiple places. Of the two, I like them both about the same - it depends on what I want to do. If I want to post from mobile-land, the easiest seems to be using my ping.fm super-secret email address (I don't have a data plan).

I think another thing that would help me write here is a place to quickly write up the post, including formatting. I've been trying out Nvu, but not sure if I like the way it puts the code. Maybe a couple more posts and I'll get the hang of it. I'm actually writing this post in it, and it's nice that I can keep working on an offline copy, in case I don't have a connection (although that happens fewer and farther between).

Any suggestions, on either writing or applications to try out?

I could write out the content by hand (as I pretty much have been for the past 12 years), but I'd rather have something else do some of the legwork (offline, I have Drupal and its lovely modules to do the rest).

New Hampshire and Massachusetts, to be more accurate. Now that it's springtime, we get a wide range of weather. It's been cold(er) in the mornings when I leave for work, usually in the low 40s or upper 30s (F, 0 to 5 or 6 C)... so I have the heat on until I'm almost at work, then gradually make it cooler.

By the time I get out of work in the afternoon, it's been in the upper 70s F (upper teens to lower 20s C), so I have to put the AC on for the ride home. Does anyone else have that kind of weather where they are?

I guess that's better than the summer or winter, where you're either melting or frozen solid. It's beautiful weather in any case, and maybe I'm just sad because I can't be outside in it during the week...

...to say the least. Ick. Who else has seasonal allergies?

I'm not entirely sure, but mine always seem to start when the oak trees start bloomin' (I'm in the Northeastern US). The worst is when it's in full swing, but I can tell when it's about to start. It's usually just a little itch in one eye, then both, then a feeling like a tickle in my throat and ears, then BAM. Time for the... well, I don't have a prescription, but I take either Claritin or sometimes Benadryl or Sudafed (if I don't have Claritin).

Any of those is ok (I started with the Claritin yesterday), but I don't like the medicine-head feeling and the cottonmouth from allergy medications. I had a trial prescription for Allegra a few years ago... maybe I should look into that again.

Although I could just look up allergies on WebMD (or JFGI, or wherever else), but I'm looking for "real people" suggestions. I've heard that taking a teaspoon of local honey every day will help (and even if it doesn't work, it's tasty anyway).

Luckily, mine are only seasonal at the beginning of spring...