A problem that has been plaguing me for some time now is running Firefox with multiple tabs open. Given my workload and the number of ideas floating around in my head this may range anywhere from 20-90 tabs… it’s not something I’m proud of but it’s just how things turn out. To me tabs are a staging area for work, a To Do list, a To Read list, and an account of what I’m interested in on a given day. I don’t really like bookmarks–I’ve basically given up on Del.icio.us and while I do still drag bookmarks to my desktop they tend to accumulate into a huge mess, finding their way into folders which are dropped in other folders as the pile grows.

This shouldn’t be a problem since I am good about taking the time to manage and cull my tabs. It’s just that when I get to busy to address some of them the number of open ones opens. So if I don’t have the time to do some reading then the stack grows. My problem happens when Firefox crashes, something that has been occurring more and more lately.

I used to think it was my old computer, but about a year ago I upgraded to a quad-core system with 4GB of RAM. It runs Windows Vista, but is otherwise a very capable machine. Quad-core, 4GB, 10K RPM hard drive, P45 chipset… should be able to handle a few webpages right? Not exactly.

For me crashes happen every day, multiple times a day, but only in Firefox (3.5.3), my main browser. I also run Google Chrome, which practically never crashes and is also open all the time (though rarely with more than 8 tabs). The problem with crashing with 80 tabs open, aside from the frustration, is that it takes at least 5 minutes to get everything loaded again, sometimes more, during which all my system’s network bandwidth is being consumed by the browser. Sessions are logged out and occasionally work is lost.

The question I have is why? It’s not the computer, even if Firefox is eating up 25% of the processor and 1GB of RAM, it’s not that bad. It could be my OS, it could be Firefox. Or maybe a combination of the two. It’s very hard to say.

I have examined my browser extensions, which can be a major source of instability. The active ones include: FireFTP, MenuEditor, Session Manager, and Tabs Mix Plus, all of which are up-to-date. I’ve removed a few that I found to impact stability (including Google Gears), but the crashes have continued. And they are rarely violent, surprising crashes, instead Firefox just seems to slow down, blip in and out, and then die. I get the crash manager, and then I can restore my session, and in a few minutes I’m back.

So far I have just figured that Firefox is the issue. The browser has had memory leakage issues in the past and it seems like they continue in one form or another. Running all those pages, include most of which has some sort of Flash and rich media on them, just takes a toll, the performance degrades, and a restart is needed, just like with a Windows computer after a week or two. This isn’t exactly scientific but it seems to sums things up.

I need to investigate running my workload on Ubuntu and OS X, so I can see if the OS is the issue. If not, then I’ll know it’s Firefox. Or maybe today’s computer just can’t run 80 tabs at once consistently and I need to wait for some sort of future technology, a neural net processor or something like that.

Got any fixes or ideas? Post them below.

A cat, named Minnie, which I am rather allergic too.

Nineteen-year-old Johnny (Vincent Spano) is a charismatic but ruthless gangster, running the mob’s drug trade in Alphabet City — New York’s toughest neighborhood, on the lower East Side of Manhattan.

(oh wait, there’s more)

But when Johnny’s bosses order him to torch the building where both his mother and sister live, Johnny refuses. Now a marked man, he must find a way to protect his family and get out of Alphabet City before the mob takes him out … for good!

Brilliant.

After using Google’s Picasa for a while, I’ve decided to (finally) start using Flickr. I’ve loved the site since day one, but I haven’t used it much for sharing photos. I’ve preferred Picasa’s integration into my Google contacts for very selective photosharing, and while that is still the case Flickr is just too good not to use. It’s great for photos that are OK for public consumption (like cat photos) where I think Picasa is still the way to go for more private stuff (family gatherings, etc) just because so few people that I share images with are on Flickr while many of them have Gmail accounts. I’m still avoiding putting too many images on Facebook, because I (like most people) have too many non-friend contacts to make it a good place for photosharing.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/salcangeloso/

Ping me if you know me. (Good litmus test–do you have my phone number).

btw- That is my gf’s new cat. Most of my Flickr photos at the moment are of her (the cat).

I have been trying to get outside, away from the computer, more as well. It’s a struggle, but it seems prudent, especially given the season.

View the fruits of my labor:

http://friendfeed.com/salcan?format=atom

http://www.geek.com/users/SalCan/

Here it is- a tour of NYC’s finest coffee establishments. No it’s not by me (I wish I had the patience to collect my thoughts on the matter) but I just stumbled on a great virtual tour collected over at Man Seeking Coffee. In this case, I’m just the curator.

I’ll be reading through most of his blog this week, and I thought some of the posts were too good not too link to. Additionally I’ve been meaning to put something together along these lines,  and these select posts do the jobs nicely. It’s also interesting that these articles are from a non-New York’s perspective so he doesn’t have the issues that locals might encounter (favoring places within walking distance of your apartment/place of work, preferring certain baristas, skipping certain locations because you don’t hang out in that area, etc). Finally, I agree with a lot of what he has to say, otherwise I would just make my own list without the links…

MSC’s reviews of my favorite spots:

• Abraço Espresso – Amazing place. My go-to place for espresso and pour-over drip coffee. Also has good food and cortados. As MSC points out, it’s small and often very busy.
• Gimme Coffee – I’m a big fan of the Mott Street location. My favorite spot in Soho/NoLiTa.
• Ninth Street Espresso – Their cafe at 9th and C was the first coffee place in NYC that I really loved. They’ve expanded since then, but they still do a great job.
• Cafe Grumpy – I haven’t been to the Brooklyn location yet, but the one in Chelsea is excellent. Definitely the best in the neighborhood.

MSC’s reviews of Sal-approved spots (all are good-to-very good):

• La Colombe (Church Street) – A nice spot, though a bit out of the way. A good place to stop for a macchiato. They have a new Soho location though, so I probably won’t make it down here too much any more.
• Kaffe 1668 – An up-and-coming spot that I’ve been to only a few times. Has potential to be one of NYC’s best, despite the less-than-ideal location. They have WiFi, two Clovers, and two beautiful Synesso Cyncra espresso machines.
• Joe the Art of Coffee – I like the Waverly location, though it’s insane on the weekends. Always has top-notch pastries.

MSC’s reviews of solid NYC spots not my picks though (OK-to-good places that I like, but won’t go out of my way to stop at):

• Think Coffee – A good spot, but it tends to be overrated. The Mercer street location is deep in the heart of NYU.
• Everyman Espresso – An awkward space, but the espresso is pretty good.
• Mudd Coffee – Good stuff, but not my favorite. The truck can be very convenient if you are in the area.

Notable, and could be very good, but I need to research more:

• Grey Dog
• Jack’s Stir Brew
• OST Cafe
• Blue Spoon – New and not open on Sundays. I’m thinking it will be good, but no Kaffe 1668.
• National Cafe and Espresso Bar – just opened on Rivington next to Freeman’s Alley. I went once and had a great time. Barista is super cool and the espressos were solid.
• El Beit
• Simon Sips – I’ve only been once, but I had a good experience. I got a deal on some Counter Culture coffee beans too.

Ones MSC skipped that come to mind (I am sure that I’m leaving some out). Not particularly notable:

• Aroma Coffee -  on Houston St.
• Porto Rico Roasters in Essex Street Market
• Oren’s
• Bean’s – in the East Village

“If you try to collect rainwater, well, that water really belongs to someone else,” said Doug Kemper, executive director of the Colorado Water Congress. “We get into a very detailed accounting on every little drop.”

It turns out that the issue is a lot more complex than one person collecting water from their gutters for a garden. Large scales water collection (say for an entire community) could cause some serious interruptions in the water cycle and have major effects on people downstream.

Anyway, it’s an interesting article and while it’s only a short introduction to the complexities of water politics, it’s worth checking out.

Because it is a game within a game I have not been able to find any guides for the game, so here are some notes that I have put together. You won’t necessarily need them but in case you want to do the best that you possibly can without a ton of grinding, they’ll probably help.

[This mini-guide is a work-in-progress. It is woefully inadequate at the moment.]

FAQs

1. How to I revive a dead character?
Naga pint (item) or Imup (spell)

2. How to I get mana back?
Stay at an inn or use elixir.

–

What items do:

Naga Pint: Revives a dead character

Burrito, Drumstick, and jerky: restore hitpoints (in order, more to less)

Uni-tear: about 50 hit points given to every character

Wild herb: Recover 100 hit points for every character

Orbs: Help you fight the guadias.

Red cow: Wakes up a sleeping character.

Grim coin: Instantly kills some enemies.

Naga wing: Returns you to the main city (Centraan).

Incense:

Titaniun, Silver, :

Holy Key, Demon Key, Dark Soul: Allow to you progress in the game, by opening doors or getting past guards.

–

What Spells do (from Gamespot):

Green character (the tank):
Level 3: Warp (Warp to Towns and Dungeons)[1]
Level 10: Funko (Reduce Encounter Rate) [3]
Level 11: Ragua (Low-Damage to all enemies) [3]
Level 15: Fasta (Increase Field Movement Speed) [2]
Level 20: Chero (+5 STR & SPD) [6]
Level 28:  Healt (Heals ~70 HP for all) [16]

Orange character (the healer):
Level 2: Heala (Heals ~40 HP) [2]
Level 3: Prota (+10 DEF) [4]
Level 4: Megra (Low-Damage) [3]
Level 9: Healo (Heals ~60 HP) [9]
Level 10: Getup (Cures Sleep) [2]
Level 12: Degra (Mid-Damage) [4]
Level 13: Healy (Full HP) [8]
Level 15: Dropu (Steal) [5]
Level 17: Dynow (Instant Death Spell) [6]
Level 20: Imup (Revive) [24]
Level 24: Fegra (Heals ~70 HP for all) [16]

Purple character (the sorceress):
Level 2: Megra (Low-Damage) [3]
Level 3: Dormi (Sleep) [2]
Level 4: Heala (Heals ~30 HP) [2]
Level 7: Movit (+10 SPD) [4]
Level 8: Zegda (Mid-Damage to All) [5]
Level 10: Healo (Heals ~60 HP) [5]
Level 11: Degra (Mid-Damage) [4]
Level 12: Weaki (Lower Enemy Stats) [8]
Level 13: Hitta (+10 STR) [4]
Level 14: Healy (Full HP) [8]
Level 16: Harda (+10 DEF to all) [6]
Level 17: Magda (Heavy Damage to All) [7]
**Level 21: Metamega (Massive Damage) [6]
Level 25: Imup (Revive) [24]

Twitter is about two things: who follows you and who you follow. Because you have control over the latter, let’s start with that.

There are basically four type of people that you can follow:

1. People you know (friends, family, coworkers, etc.)
2. People you have to follow (your boss, clients, etc.)
3. People who you find interesting that you don’t know (often top Twitterers)
4. People you follow because they follow you

If you follow all four of these types, your Twitter feed is probably so full of posts that it is too overloaded to do anything aside from browse now and then. If you’ve spent any time analyzing your Twitter usage you’ve probably started to trim back on types 1 and 2, and ruled out 4 altogether. (Remember just because you like someone in real life does not mean that their Twitter feed is worth following.) This trimming probably helped cut down on the “Having lunch with @myfriend” and “dude, I hate Mondays” and “#myfirstjob” tweets, but it didn’t stop them altogether.

Those types of things are just a distraction. If you are using Twitter as a distraction, great, or if you want to use it to talk to buddies, that’s cool too, but if you want it to be a professional tool what value are you getting (as a follower) or instilling (as a poster) from these?

But Twitter would be boring without this stuff, right? And how else could we better get to know our associates without them telling us how awesome their last jog was or how cold it is outside?

Before we get too far, I’d like to point out why I’ve been hesitant to get too involved in Twitter. It’s about distractions (which should be kept to a minimum) and persistent tasks. For me, a persistent task (more accurately, a persistent tab) is anything that I keep open all the time and check in on frequently. These include email and RSS, but then all the other things that we check in on all day long, like web site comments, your work chatroom, Google chat, and so on. The more of these you have, the less you can concentrate on the task at hand, especially once you get into ones where you can spend lots of time using each day, like Friendfeed, Facebook, and MySpace.

So is Twitter worth the time investment and the fact that using it means that you will have one more tab open all day long everyday (or a desktop client/iPhone app)? It must be to some people, but I’m guessing a lot of people just enjoy the distraction.

So who is getting real value from Twitter right now?

1. Anyone with a large number of followers
   If you are kicking out your thoughts and links to, say, 5000 people multiple times a day, there is clear value in that for you.
2. People using it to gain access
   All of a sudden we have a way that is faster and less formal to get in touch with CEOs, thought leaders, (internet) celebrities, etc., and you have a better chance of getting a response than an email.
3. People expanding personal brands
   … though you generally had to have one already- we aren’t seeing Twitter celebrities
4. Brands looking to gain access to people
   NYtimes, CNNbreaking, NPR, Woot, etc

Are you on that list? If you are not, then you are really just using it to stay connected. I prefer my RSS reader for that sort of thing, but that’s just my personal preference.

So while there are undeniably ways to get value from Twitter, it’s not clear to me that a whole lot of people are getting a good return on their time investment. I’m going to keep thinking things over, but it seems like that same time is better spent on something like Friendfeed or working on my blog  (which, like so many others, has gotten much quieter since Twitter and similar services became popular).