BBB: Breslin's Blog from Barrie

Speak up Breslin

2012-01-10T10:20:00.001-05:00

Ok, it's time to either start blogging again or give up on it altogether. So I thought I'd post a couple of reminders to myself of things I hope to blog about in the near future...

Recently got a Bell Turbo hub to use at our new home in rural Ontario. Learning about this great but also not-so-great technology.
Rant about adobe install this and adobe install that almost every other day!! Irritating. (or did I do that already?)
The blog is now hooked to Google+ in some way - let's see how that works out. Haven't used G+ much yet. I guess there will never be a hook to Facebook eh? Ha ha.
Smart phones and tablets - everywhere!! I still don't have one. There's too much hype and the big ISP's are gouging the hell out of everyone. They must be laughing all the way to the bank. Should I jump on the band wagon?
Will have to think of more topics to add to this list.

Cheers!

Logitech squeezebox products...

2011-03-30T17:41:00.002-04:00

Ever since I found out about Slim Devices I thought their Squeezebox Player was one of the coolest products for audio playback. I bought my squeezebox player right around the time when Slim Devices was acquired by Logitech. My player is a great addition to my stereo system and provides direct access to my entire CD collection along with access to the multitude of Internet radio stations.

A short while ago I was reviewing another of their cool products, the Squeezebox Boom which is like a network enabled boom box. This would provide music in another room with the same great access to all that audio. So today I was thinking about going ahead with this purchase so I go to the Logitech website (which sucks as bad as so many other poorly designed websites) and lo and behold, the Boom product is no longer there. The closest thing I could find is this "Squeezebox Radio" product that has just one speaker!! WTF!! Are we returning to the days of monaural audio from tinny little speakers!

Next thing I do is try to find some contact link to ask them whether this "Radio" thing has stereo output or not. As is typical these days, these companies make it as hard as possible to contact them. Basic product information - totally unavailable. I call their 1-800 number and ask the person about it and they don't have a clue, so they forward me to their support people (who apparently are in Halifax Nova Scotia btw), and sure enough, this thing has only one speaker and the Boom product has been discontinued. Very disappointing! He did hint that some new product will be out in the future but can't say when. Not so useful.

Really makes you wonder how these product decisions are made. I guess it's a typical big company now with the usual inefficient politics and decision making.

So, I guess we have to live without full music access from the bedroom until I find a viable alternative product (or a used Squeezebox Boom).

Humidifier installation on your furnace? What to watch out for.

2011-01-22T15:23:00.001-05:00

It really amazes me how some (not all) tradespeople can be so incompetant at what they are supposed to be specializing in. The example in this case is a recent humidifier installation that we had done here at our home in Barrie. Up until now we had been using one of those portable humidifiers that you have to keep filling with water that has a noisy fan running regularly. So Heather decided it's time to get a decent humidifier installed on the furnace. After calling around various places here in Barrie she settled on one that seemed reasonable and were installing Trane humidifiers which we think (hope?) is a good brand.

After some initial scheduling delays these two rather young guys show up to install the humidifier. Ok, so this time we didn't get the old guy that's been doing it for 30 years and probably can install one in his sleep. So these kids start working away and I go and check on them every now and then. The first snafu we find out about is that they are unable to install the outdoor temperature thermostat that the sales guy told Heather was a good feature on this slightly more expensive model. The "kids" thought it wasn't really necessary until I told them we were paying extra for this feature. "Well, we don't have the wire to run the length to the outside wall, and there's all sorts of special conditions for where the thermostat can go." Give me a break.

So I tell them if they aren't going to install it then either they come back another time to do so or we get a break on the price since we're not getting what we were sold. They said no problem we'll work it out. So this issue has yet to be resolved. The sales guy is supposed to call us this week to make the adjustment.

The kids finish up the install which seemed to go ok. I got them to re-route the drain hose along a better path to the floor drain. They did a quick test and things seemed ok. So we signed the invoice with a note about the outdoor thermostate not being installed and off they went.

Shortly after they left it dawned on me that they hooked the power for the water solenoid valve directly to the AC power coming into the furnace. DOH!! This means the water will run continuously as long as the humidistat wants to humidify the house. No way José. Having had one of these installed properly at our previous residence I know that the water valve should only be open when the furnace is running. So I called them up and left a message for the guy saying it's not wired properly. Heather spoke to him later when I was out and he tried to give her a line about it being ok and it's supposed to be that way. Total bullshit.

Later I pulled out the installation instructions for the humidifier and sure enough it says to either hook the power to the accessory terminals on your furnace or to install a special current sensing relay. A quick look over the furnace wiring diagram shows there are humidifier terminals right on the furnace control board just for this purpose.

I cringe to think of all the poor customers these guys have installed for whose hot water is running straight down the drain while their furnace is sitting idle. What a waste of money.

So if you have a humidifier on your furnace you can do this simple test. When the furnace is not running turn your humdistat all the way up and then go to the furnace a watch the water drain line at the bottom of the humidifier. If water starts trickling down the drain hose then your humidifier is not wired correctly. You can probably save a lot of money on your water bills (even more if the humidifier is connected to a hot water line) by having someone that knows what they're doing come and change the wiring that powers your humidifier.

I'll let you know how it goes with trying to settle these outstanding issues with our installer. If you're in the Barrie area and want to know which company not to call for furnace work contact me and I'll tell you who these not so competent installers work for.

Cheers.

Retirement planning...

2010-11-13T10:28:00.000-05:00

How does one decide when the right time is to consider changes in your lifestyle directed towards achieving some level of relaxed independence from regular work and income? Unless you're a lottery winner or one of the lucky ones with a guaranteed income pension plan, it's not an easy thing to decide. For many Canadians the 9 to 5 job is the only way to survive while maintaining a reasonable standard of living for you and your family. But as you get closer to those "senior" years, you start to think about the tradeoffs and whether you're getting the best value for those many hours invested working to earn that paycheque.

Another important factor that will often come into this calculation is the issue of health. If, like myself, you've had a brush with a major health concern, you find that priorities begin to shift. You quickly realize that the end of the road is coming into view and you wonder whether the road you're on is the one you really want to choose. There are all those other side streets passing you by on the journey and all it takes to turn onto one of them is will power.

Well, let me tell you, change is not easy. I think most of us realize this. It's also extremely hard to imagine how it's possible to switch from a regular income lifestyle to one with little or no regular income. So how does one go about it? Well, I don't have the answer to that question yet. But I can tell you a bit about how my wife and I are going to at least attempt to get the process started.

We're thinking (or hoping?) this will be a process that unwinds over a period of two or three years. Our current situation is that we have two properties, our home and our cottage in the country. The plan is to find a way to combine the two properties into one in order to both reduce expenses and to eliminate the cost in time and effort required to maintain both properties. There are three initial steps to this starting portion of the plan:

Sell the cottage in order to obtain capital for step 2.
Purchase a new home that has the properties and expenses that we fell are right for us for the forseeable future.
Slowly move and adjust to the new home and eventually sell our current house.

The hope in this initial part of the plan is that we end up in a situation where we're living in a place that we're very happy with and our expenses are reduced to a reasonable level. Naturally it's also preferrable if there is some leftover capital from the sale of the two properties to add to the retirement fund. If we achieve this then the likely next steps are to reduce the workload to part-time or to switch jobs completely to something local and more appropriate to a relaxed slower pace of life.

The recent world financial situation has affected many of us by reducing the funds available for retirement. This has no doubt affected the retirement plans of thousands if not millions of people. We're hoping that a slow but well thought out transition plan will help us to achieve our retirement goals. So, barring a lucky lottery win, all this plan requires a great deal of patience and a lesser amount of will-power than what would be required for a more drastic lifestyle change. So think about where you want to be 5 to 10 years down the road and then come up with a plan to get you there. If you don't start soon you'll find that another 10 years has gone by and you're still stuck on the road you didn't want to be on.

And in the meantime, if you know anyone that wants to buy a nice cottage please point them in our direction: http://paul.breslin.ca/Cottage/

Cheers.

Real-estate prices in Canada - somewhat insane

2010-09-15T22:30:00.000-04:00

I recently read a news article in a major Toronto newspaper about real-estate prices in Canada and how they're somewhat inflated and due for some correction. The article went on to give some rather bizarre and technical reasons for current high real-estate prices. When I read this I thought - you must be nuts - a classic case of over analysis and academic pontificating. Why are prices high? Just look at how many real-estate agents are out there churning the market. It's unbelievable, the number of agents and properties for sale. How can this many agents make a living unless the prices remain as high as possible in order to support the commissions paying these people. It's in the agents best interest to push prices as high as possible and to get as many properties listed as possible.

As population pressures continue it's possible that real-estate will continue to see inflationary price pressure. But let's not fool ourselves - if you've watched the market as I have you can only conclude that the prices are not sustainable. Artificial pressure from agents looking to keep the goose laying the golden eggs can only last so long.

Most mutable commercial - Ford Fiesta

2010-09-15T22:19:00.001-04:00

Every now and then there's a commercial on TV that makes you just jump for the remote to hit the MUTE button. Well we have a current favourite "most mutable commercial" - It's the recent Ford Fiesta commercial with the most obnoxious music that just irritates you beyond comprehension. HIT THAT MUTE BUTTON - FAST.

Bell Canada ExpressVu loyalty department tells blatant lies...

2010-08-09T19:36:00.000-04:00

Wow, these big companies just get worse and worse. They just don't give a damn. We had another recent episode with Bell trying to get a receiver activated. They wanted to charge us more money to get a new smart card for this perfectly good receiver. We complained to their loyalty department and spoke with someone who claimed his name was Oscar and he even gave us his employee number. He said he would credit our account for the amount of the card and send the card to us. Well two weeks later we call to find out why the card has not arrived and they have no record of it whatsoever. Even the employee number he gave us was invalid.

Is it some natural tendency for large corporations to become more and more arrogant and careless? Capitalism really is not working these days. Perhaps the activists are right.

Google images new interface...

2010-08-05T22:01:00.000-04:00

Is it just me or does the new google images interface really suck!!

Futility?

2010-04-26T21:23:00.002-04:00

I thought of something today (surprise!!). When considering what you've acheived over any given period of time you have to realize that the amount that you can get done is finite. However, the amount that you don't get done is really infinite. So, percentage wise, the total acheivement always evaluates to zero!

Sounds like the perfect logical excuse for a life of total leisure. ;^)

Cheers.

Update...

2010-04-14T20:44:00.004-04:00

Wow, another two months with no blogging. Well, at least readers here don't have to wade through tons of drivel. So, what's been happinging? As mentioned before, the new puppy has been occupying a lot of our time. Here's a fairly recent picture of Keiko.

In the picture she's about five months old, but now she's just over 6 months. She's turned out to be a very calm and gentle dog and we're very happy with her.

Bought a new laptop recently. Got a Gateway with an i3 processor. Runs Windows 7 which is a big improvement over XP (so far). Still have to get around to installing Linux for dual boot. I reserved some space on the 500Gb hard drive just for this.

Heather will be participating in the 2nd annual Barrie Spring Art Tour and we've been planning and preparing for this. The website is pretty well done with all the info so check it out at: www.barriespringarttour.ca.

Sam reports that she has had a paper accepted at the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention taking place in Scotland this summer. So she's been planning a trip to Scotland, Wales and Ireland, I believe. Other than that she's working away at her Master's thesis.

We're planning a trip to Western Canada this spring to visit some old friends and travel in the mountains. Haven't been out there for many years so it will be great to see the Rockies once again and even better to catch up with some folks we haven't seen for god knows how long.

Also been house shopping a bit. Looking to merge home + cottage into one property for a long term simplification. It's starting to be a burden to own two properties and try to keep up with maintenance and improvements on both. We're not sure if we'll be able to find the ideal new place so one alternative we're considering is to purchase a property and build a new house from scratch. This will be a lot of work but it might be worth it. Anyway the jury is still out on that issue so we'll have to wait and see what happens.

That's all for now. Cheers to all.

Microsoft Automatic Updates Wreak Havoc Again

2010-02-08T12:49:00.001-05:00

This time my wife got nailed by Microsoft's arrogant obnoxious and irritating habit of forcing security updates down our throats. Several hours of work in Excel were lost because she was away from her computer for a short time and Microsoft decided to reboot her machine without permission. SCUMBAGS!!!

Man does that piss you off or what!!!

GMAC Finance - Stole our money.

2010-02-01T10:15:00.002-05:00

Ok, we recently had the pleasure of paying off the final balance of our car loan with GMAC Financial Services. However, two days after paying off the balance in full, the scumbags go ahead and take another full monthly payment from our bank account. I'VE BEEN ROBBED!! Of course you call them and they say they'll give the money back, but it takes 10 to 15 days. Grrr.

These big corporations are so quick to take your money but when it comes to giving it back, it's like pulling teeth. So today I called and complained that the money still has not been refunded. They're saying one more week. Man I'm pissed off.

I'm willing to bet that they do this to thousands of customers all the time and they're making a LOT of money robbing peoples banks accounts and getting away with it.

If you have an auto loan with these guys, do you self a favour. As soon as it's paid off, put a stop payment on your bank account. You'll save yourself a lot of frustration and stop these scumbags. (Of course this means the banks make more money with stop payment fees. Us regular Joe's get stiffed left, right and centre.)

Websites hacked - I feel violated

2010-01-29T09:20:00.004-05:00

Well I found out yesterday that most of the websites I maintain on a shared hosting account were hacked and some illegal code was added to the end of almost every main page. It turned out that most of my ftp accounts had been somehow used to download, modify and upload the web pages.

The code that was illegally added was a frame reference to the "tryads.biz" domain which is registered to some low-life named "Egor Torberg" in St. Petersburg, Russia. This guys hacked into our ftp accounts from the IP address: 205.234.132.12 which resolves to "tuscon.servershost.net". Either this dickhead is in the US or he's hopping through a server in Tuscon to avoid tracebacks.

The fact that this low-life somehow found out the account id's for all of my ftp accounts, and possibly the passwords as well, makes me rather concerned about the security of my account information at my hosting provider. I've already made them aware of this but I think I'll have to emphasize my concerns. I'm worried about my email account integrity now as well.

Watch out for these Internet scumbags and shut them out whenever possible.

Ubuntu installer not so great...

2009-12-14T20:50:00.002-05:00

I've been digging for information on how to install Ubuntu onto an external USB drive. Although there seems to be a fair bit of experience documented it all seems to be focused on creating some kind of minimal install on a smaller USB pen drive. I don't want to install on a little USB key, I want to install on a partition of a large 320 Gb drive.

I grabbed a copy of the Ubuntu 9.1 ISO image and burned it onto a CD. Upon booting off the CD the installer only seems to recognize my first main drive and doesn't show me any other drives as options for installing. So I quit the installer and Ubuntu boots up in it's stand-alone live CD mode. Ok, maybe I can do it from here. Some more reading shows that I can do "fdisk -l" to show my drives... sure enough they're all there including my USB partitions. Then I found out about the utility in the System menu for creating a bootable USB drive so I run that. Ok, great it shows all the drives and partitions. I select the partition I want to use and the "make bootable" button is not enabled, so I assume I need to format the partition. Ok, no problem, push the "Format" button... Oops error (I don't remember what the error message was).... so the error dialog has an "Ok" button on it so I push "Ok".... The error comes up again.... Oh Oh... I start to worry now that something bad is happening. So instead of "Ok" I close the whole application and then restart it... Lo and behold... my USB drive partitions are gone and it shows only the entire USB drive as one partition. Scumbag software has gone and repartitioned the entire drive and possibly even formatted it as FAT32.

Lord save me from software developers that can't create foolproof software!! I'm so lucky that I didn't have anything important on that drive. Otherwise I'd be really pissed. I'm also lucky that it didn't touch the other USB drives on my system.

I thought Linux might be ready for prime time and I'd heard that Ubuntu was one of the best, but as I found about 10 years ago when I tried Linux, the developers are likely ultra-geeks that still haven't mastered the skills required to make systems usable by normal people. Sigh.

I've since found yet another set of instructions for installing onto an external drive. I might give it one more try but I'm not optimistic given this first failed attempt.

December already...

2009-12-07T07:41:00.003-05:00

Hey, more than a month with no blog entries. Clearly I'm not much of a blogger.

One thing that's been occupying us for the past couple of weeks is our new puppy. We recently adopted a rescue puppy who was born in Attawapiskat (reference). Her new name is "Keiko" and we found her via PetFinder.com. She was rescued by and adopted from Moosonee Puppy Rescue and she's a very attractive, smart and well behaved puppy. Here's Keiko at about 7-8 weeks of age:

We encourage anyone looking for a new pet to consider rescuing an animal instead of purchasing from a breeder. There are not enough homes for the pets that are already amongst us and so breeding simply makes the problem worse instead of helping.

So, we've been going through the trials and tribulations of puppy training. Luckily Keiko is a fast learner and we're looking forward to a long and rewarding relationship with her.

Even as I type this she's causing some trouble trying to jump on the couch and challenge me into some play time. Time to take her for a walk.
Cheers.

Amazing Hubble Photo...

2009-10-29T10:00:00.002-04:00

Many of the photos from space are simply awe inspiring...

Prostate Cancer - be gone!

2009-10-25T09:13:00.003-04:00

Well, earlier this summer I was diagnosed with early stage "low risk" prostate cancer. Those annual (well, almost annual) physical exams paid off (in a way) because the last one showed a slightly elevated PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) level. So, sometime thereafter a prostate biopsy (a rather painful procedure) resulted in the bad news.

This is where the learning and decision making starts. You have to try to figure out what a "Gleason score" is and understand the various cancer stage rankings that are used. Fortunately there is a lot of online information available about prostate cancer. If you're in this situation I would urge you to educate yourself about the disease and the treatment options. Each person is different and your options will depend greatly on your age and your prognosis / test results.

In my case my doctor outlined three basic options:

"Watchful waiting" which is a term used to describe the "do nothing" option. This choice is actually quite appropriate for some people in certain situations.
"Radical Prostatectomy" which is the complete removal of the prostate gland by surgery.
"Brachytherapy" which involves implanting tiny, radioactive capsules (called "seeds") into the prostate gland.

So for me the decision to go with a Radical Prostatectomy was driven by a few key factors:

My father died from cancer which originated from his prostate.
Given my age (currently 53) my thinking is that the younger I am the better I'm able to deal with the surgery and recover afterwards.
The thought if living with the knowledge that you have cancer slowly (or not so slowly) growing inside you and risking having it spread beyond the treatable stage seemed foolish to me. Again my age was a factor in avoiding the possible long term growth of the cancer.

The brachytherapy option was not considered a good choice for my early stage disease because it apparently eliminates the option of performing other treatments such as a prostatectomy thereafter.

So it has now been just over five weeks since my surgery and I'm feeling quite good (almost normal). Just about every aspect of the surgery and the after effects has been better than my prior expectations. I now consider myself to be somewhat better educated about the prostate gland and issues and treatments for prostate cancer.

One thing I think may be worth mentioning is the fact that there seems to be an unbalanced amount of information online about the minimally invasive "robotic prostatectomy". The robotic prostatectomy will likely become more available and pervasive over time but it is not an option in many cases depending on where you live. In my case my surgery was a "radical retropubic prostatectomy" which means it is "open" surgery through a large incision in your lower abdomen. Although the less invasive technique may result in faster recovery times and less discomfort, from my reading one of the most important factors (in both options) is the experience and skill of the surgeon performing the procedure. In my case I was offered my surgery within about one month of my diagnosis and my doctor has performed the procedure more than 500 times. To me the option of eliminating my cancer quickly and having it done by an experienced doctor was compelling and very comforting.

So my post operative pathology results indicate that I am now cancer free. Wow!!! It feels good to know this and I can now continue my life with a much greater peace of mind. If you're in your 50's (or 40's with family history) please consider an annual physical including a PSA blood test. It can mean a longer happier life expectancy.

Touchpad scrolling problem - solution revealed

2009-09-28T17:25:00.002-04:00

I've been pissed off many times by the fact that the scrolling on my touchpad just stops working all of a sudden. I couldn't figure out what was causing it to stop working. Sometimes it would just start working again on it's own and other times I would just reboot my machine to fix it.

Well, other people have discovered that watching online flash videos in full screen mode is what triggers the problem. And the weirdest thing is that it can be fixed by hitting the spacebar twice!! Is that bizarre or what. Software!! It really makes you wonder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdnLQ5gPqVc

Miscellaneous update...

2009-09-08T20:12:00.002-04:00

Well, we're back in Barrie after spending 10 days up at the cottage. Heather had been staying there since the beginning of August - rough life eh? Lot's of chores happening at the cottage - Finishing the renovations in the master bedroom, fixing some drainage problems in the new pump room before winter comes, had 18 tons of crushed gravel deposited on the driveway to eliminate the mud puddles. Of course in between chores there was plenty of wine, guitar playing, canoeing and general relaxation. Overall a great vacation. I think we had only one surprise rain shower during the entire week.

Found out today that Sam will be receiving another nice grant for her masters work for this coming year. Great news since this should avoid any financial worries for her while she finishes her thesis and decides what to do the following year.

At home we're doing some small landscaping jobs and I'm bottling and brewing more wine to keep us fueled for the near future. Heather will be thinking about starting up her art classes again and getting settled back into the home studio.

Jim called last night to tell us about the space station flyby with the shuttle docked so we went outside just after 8pm last night and sure enough there it was like a bright star moving across the sky as scheduled. Will try to catch it again tonight. If you want to try to see it check out: http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/index.html and click on "Sighting Opportunities".

It's been over two months since we were in Newfoundland and I still haven't completed my photo album but much of it is done, so for a preview check it out here: http://picasaweb.google.com/paul.h.breslin/Newfoundland2009# I'll be trying to finish it off over the next month or two.

Till next time. Cheers!

Cell Phones in Newfoundland

2009-08-14T00:00:00.002-04:00

Forgot to mention - if you have a Rogers cell phone plan and you want to travel in Newfoundland, you might as well leave your phone at home. Rogers coverage is basically restricted to St. John's as far as I know. Bell phones seem to work across the entire province. So dump Rogers and go with Bell (or Bell supported carriers).

St. John's, Newfoundland

2009-07-16T08:17:00.002-04:00

Recently spent some time in St. John's and traveling around Newfoundland. Going to St. John's almost seems like stepping back in time to a simpler less crowded and busy world. A small town feel where you can get around the entire downtown area by walking alone.

Driving in St. John's, especially in the central part of town, can be a challenge. A bit of a tangled web of streets, many of which are one-way. Intersections where five or six streets come together and only certain turns are allowed. Many of the streets seem to change their names along the way so finding directions on a map can be a bit frustrating. Luckily most drivers in St. John's seem to be patient and less hurried than in the big cities and traffic is not as heavy. This makes it much easier on the tourist newbie trying to find his or her way.

There are many great scenic areas near St. John's. The closest being Signal Hill and it's surrounding area. A great view of the St. John's harbour from there and great hiking trails for exercise and amazing views of the coastline. Just south of St. John's is Cape Spear with it's lighthouse and more amazing coastal views. Northwards has Middle Cove with a cool rock beach and many other small towns and villages continuing up the peninsula.

One other attraction is the availability of locally brewed beer including those brewed right in the village of Quidi Vidi in St. John's. I developed a strong affinity for their 1892 traditional ale.

Overall a great place to visit and a gourgeous province to travel through and see.

April/May update...

2009-05-15T07:27:00.004-04:00

Wow, a whole month with no blog entries. Well, I guess you could say it's a good thing that life is full enough to not be wasting time blogging. The weather here in Ontario has been a bit wild. We had a late snow storm back in April and since then the temperatures have been going up and down like a yoyo.

Had a nice visit with Mom at Maura's place on Mothers day. See the pics on picassa. Larry was in top form playing "bunghole" (I almost beat him) , manning the BBQ and as usual playing and singing some tunes. Nice to see little Jimmy home from school for the summer. His guitar playing is impressive. Made me say I wished I could go back to school full time.

Spent some cash on a new camera recently. Upgraded from my reliable (and lovable) D50 to a shiny new Nikon D90. Have to learn all the great new features. The three best reasons for upgrading (so far): Bigger display screen, much improved low-light shooting capability, and higher resolution. The D90 feels about exactly the same size as the D50 and is similar enough that a D50 user can just pick it up and use it. I'm glad the shutter is a bit quieter for shooting in public or quiet spaces (although it still makes a fair "click"). So I'm looking forward to shooting thousands of pics with this camera. Especially when we go to Newfoundland this summer to visit Sam.

Found out my cousin John has a blog. Check it out at johnbreslinsblog.blogspot.com. He's been traveling around Europe recently in his cool camper van. Looks like a great way to go on vacation. Heather and I might try this someday.

Cheers for now.

Microsoft Automatic Update - Up Yours

2009-04-15T06:28:00.003-04:00

Ok, Microsoft just gave me another reason to switch to Mac or Linux for my next machine. I keep automatic updates set to ask me before installing and yet just this morning my machine is bogged down dead slow running Windows Update and next thing I know it's asking me to restart my machine. So Microsoft is saying to me take this update and shove it up your computer. So I say to them take your crappy slow irritating OS and shove it where the sun doesn't shine.

Favourite Zen Proverbs

2009-04-05T17:09:00.002-04:00

I have two favourites that can be used to help maintain a certain amount of sanity in a somewhat insane world. The first has been with me for some time and helps to remind one that everything (and we really mean everything) in the world is in it's natural state no matter how much we may think it isn't. The second one is a fairly recent acquisition on my part and is almost a corollary or a metaphor of the first. Here they are in all their simplicity:

Everything is as it should be.
The snow falls, every snowflake in it's proper place.

Great news for Python developers.

2009-04-02T13:38:00.002-04:00

Eliminating the global interpreter lock in Python will open the door (wider) for high-performance applications written in Python. Can't wait for this to be solid.

Link: Google searches for holy grail of Python performance