Web-Legos

The Tablet (iPad) Stylus: A review of three options

2012-01-21T11:49:00.001-05:00

Steve Jobs was famously anti-stylus. The whole point, if you will, of the iPhone was that the stylus was superfluous to the experience. And on the iPhone, which I use to set down the initial words of this essay, exceeds that goal. But there's iPad. The younger, bigger brother to the game changing smartphone uses the same iOS UI, and is fully functional, no sticks required to make the thing

Dear Domino's (wherein I make a suggestion or two)

2012-01-17T17:30:00.000-05:00

Dear Domino's, When you rolled out your new and improved pizza last year, the Mrs. and I decided to give it a try. We love it, especially your thin crust. The sauce is delicious, the cheese flavorful, the veggies look like vegetables on the pizza and not processed vegetable cubes that went through some manaiacal auto-dicer, and the crust is crispy and delicious. It's almost perfect; and

On the meaning of a single snow flake

2012-01-04T17:27:00.000-05:00

Furtive flurry: you're not quite snow unbidden, wandering, tumbling messenger. Are you a harbinger or a trickster, lonely visitor? As I watch you skitter and flit on the breeze I note you lack snow's purpose. You lack snow's purpose as you dance from Heaven to earth sent from those, those hexiform souls on high, that crystalline

Wherein I claim my blog on Technorati

2012-01-04T16:43:00.000-05:00

My goal in writing has always been to get my words out there to as many people as I can convince to read, and to that end, Technorati as one option. Thusly I paste in my claim code so that my words might find greater purchase on the ever-shifting icy slopes of Mt. Internet. WZUJBC3HWWT9 So noted.

For the love of tamales

2011-12-30T11:13:00.000-05:00

When the Mrs. and I started dating our favorite place to go for dinner was Efrain's Taqueria in Hagerstown. Efrain's wife, Hannah, made the best tamales east of the Mississippi. They had a golden hue and a savory flavor to them that no other tamale I've encountered since could match. We loved those little corn-flour husk-wrapped meat-filled cakes de cielo that Efrain's catered our

Wherein I'm not sure if I'm clever about cars

2011-12-03T12:50:00.001-05:00

The alternative might very well be true. I've never been a car guy; I like to drive, and I like to go fast, but beyond the basics that every man needs to know (tire changing, what a carburetor looks like, the proper way to make sure the other guy know you're flipping him the bird) I never got too much into cars. But I can change my own light bulbs. My driver's side tail-light --

Wherein I offer McDonald's some free advice

2011-10-31T20:35:00.000-04:00

There are many things to consider when running a business, and everyone knows that McDonalds has a corporate secret sauce that rivals the creamy goodness on a big Mac. Unfortunately it doesn't always trickle down to their front line store staff. There is one store in Hagerstown that has consistently failed to get right my coffee order since they began offering their mcCafe espresso-based drinks.

Soon... a poem for All Hallow's Eve

2011-10-27T17:15:00.000-04:00

I was visited by the Angel of Death this morning, I almost ran him over in the rain. He was crossing the street, I was turning left into the gas station. As I stopped to refuel he approached me; You have a tail light out, he said. I know, I need to get that fixed, I promised. Then he said something I think was about the weather I didn't, I couldn't understand, and that he drives a truck. I'm

Gifts for my nephew

2011-10-18T17:30:00.000-04:00

My nephew is a huge fan of all things Mario, and had a nice collection of plush figures started. For his birthday a month or two ago I was told he'd like to add to his collection. Ever the obliging uncle I took to Amazon and acquired his desires. What follows are the reviews for each of the items that I purchased, all of which he was beside himself with joy to receive: Yoshi! How long

You always hurt the one you love: My 2 years with an iPhone 3Gs

2011-10-13T17:10:00.000-04:00

Note: I wrote this in the Summer of 2011, awaiting the release of the newest iPhone model that will succeed, but never replace, my iPhone 3Gs and well before Steve Jobs left us. As a young child I argued with my Commodore acolyte friend that Apples were superior to his beloved brand, even though I had my own Commodore at home. Decades passed, and eventually I acquired a second-hand iPod.

September's Rent - a poem

2011-10-11T17:27:00.000-04:00

It is Autumn and the year grows weary; even the Sun wakes later. He rises robed in luminescent clouds, braced against the chill morning air. Likewise Mother Earth feels it in her bones as she settles back and draws her resplendent cloak about her: Gold, brown, orange, crimson Soon she'll pull on her white winter blanket, a little better for slumber. Yet first she turns her leaves and

Always look up when opening a window (a poem)

2011-09-25T15:23:00.000-04:00

It was the end of September, when October's first blush can be seen if you're looking for it when I realized that all crockery exists in a state of not-yet-broken. We were Fall cleaning when the apple-red doumbeck was knocked loose, bounced off my head as if I was a rhythmic Sir Isaac, shattering on impact with the floor. The year was 1997 when I bought the drum. I was young, poor and dressed

My gift to you

2011-09-16T18:40:00.000-04:00

On this my 35th birthday and the start of my vacation I offer you, dear reader, a glimpse into my mind. You've ben warned. After just over a year (since I began my awesome job down in DC) I recently ended my hiatus from the morning crossword puzzle, finding it to be a fun way to get the brain working before I hit the office every morning. This morning, as it is with many, I

Haiku I have tweeted in the past year or so

2011-09-15T17:30:00.000-04:00

I searched through a timeline of my tweets for "haiku". I found the below works, collected here for your possibly second installment of enjoyment. Some observations: Apparently my mind is desperate for escape while commuting, because these were all composed during and half are explicitly about travel. I am unable to remember the proper number of on per line for haiku. I believe

Crisis of faith

2011-09-09T19:18:00.000-04:00

My kingdom for a horse of veracity. The elected leaders of the free countries of this earth are empowered not only by the laws they uphold and create, but also by the faith of those who have sent them to do these things. The faith that a person elected will come together with the other elected representatives of the people to wisely consider all sides of an issue before laws are

One of these things is not like the other...

2011-09-03T12:43:00.000-04:00

I posted via Instagram (and subsequently Twitter & Facebook) the following image, taken on the train on my way to work yesterday morning:One of these things is not like the other "One of these things is not like the other" I stated. And because I want to practice my drawing I offered to draw something of the correct guesser's choosing. A vigorous (for one of my posts) discussion

Wherein I acknowledge a re-design of this site

2011-08-31T17:30:00.000-04:00

Hi. Normally I'm writing about something, and then I put those words on this site for you to read. This time I will put together a few words to comment on the site itself. It's not something I do often, but a re-working such as this deserves the aforementioned few words of mention. The previous site design was reaching for and yet completely missing the point of

Wherein I wax superstitious

2011-08-26T14:32:00.000-04:00

Football season is nigh upon us, friends, that glorious span of the year where Sunday afternoon is held as sacred as Sunday morning (or Friday night, Saturday at some point, or Tuesdays, depending on your faith or devotion to Domino's pizza specials). I watched the ultimate in pigskin onanism (don't look it up, mom) last night; the televised pre-season game*. It was like that first

How much bracing will I need in 12x earth g?

2011-08-12T06:30:00.002-04:00

For a blog called "Web Legos*", I almost never mention the actual plastic bricks that were and are my favorite toy. A story comes along occasionally that reminds me of this sad fact (my posting paucity, not the favoriteness of the toy). In this case two of my favorite things (arguably 3), one of them legos*, collide in one event, and so I am compelled to mark the event herein. They are

Re-Commission the Enterprise: A not-so-modest proposal

2011-08-10T17:15:00.003-04:00

Looking at a Network World slide show for some uses for the retired Space Shuttles I had an idea; something hinted at in the presentation, but not explicitly stated by its author. To wit: we must return the Enterprise to service. Enterprise was built to show that the shuttle’s design could safely glide back to earth and land, and she did that wonderfully. Concept proven she was partially

When customer service goes right

2011-07-22T22:47:00.000-04:00

If you're reading this, odds are you are aware of my need to write. I've also been told by some people that I can be clever, but I'm just trying to get by. Since I've also had no luck with getting traditionally published, I write this blog, I keep a journal, and I've come to find writing reviews for products purchased a nice outlet for some of my irreverence that would be less well suited

Wherein I offer an idea for ebooks

2011-07-20T07:48:00.003-04:00

If I were Oprah, eBooks would be my new favorite thing. For a list of their virtues, look anywhere on the Internet; you'll find such a list several times over. Promise. These are why eBooks are my favorite thing, and as a voracious reader, I consume them the way my dog consumes food: as often and in as large a quantity as I am able. As much as I love them, I've identified two problems with

Goodbye Borders

2011-07-19T17:17:00.000-04:00

As much as it is possible to love a large chain store that homogenizes tastes across our vast nation, I have loved Borders. The store combined the best of variegated selection with the feel of a local one off bookstore. Not only for me, but for my marriage, Borders has been a favorite place for the Mrs. and I to go when we want to get out of the house. Maybe we find a nice new book, maybe

Twitter: Nesting in the Corporate Environment

2011-06-28T17:25:00.002-04:00

A few short years after Twitter was no more than a fad for celebrities to comment on their lunch and ensuing aftermath, the micro-blogging service has grown into a valuable source for news, information, and entertainment. I resisted Twitter at first, I really did. I tell myself I did so because I wasn't sure what I would do with it, but it was really because my chosen username was unavailable.

Metro's Rockville Bomb Scare

2011-06-14T15:03:00.001-04:00

My Observations It's been just over a year that I've been riding the Metro, or as I affectionately hashtag it seemingly daily "#WMATA" (Washington Metro Area Transit Authority). In that year I've been on trains holding in tunnels, hot cars, mildewy cars, and more cars that smell of human waste than I care to recount. I've skipped stations, missed stops, and had problems with my SmarTrip card.