Asymptomatic

There must be intelligent life down here

Pebble Watch Review
February 07, 2013
Pebble watch

Pebble watchLast year I pledged to the Kickstarter campaign for the Pebble watch, almost without thinking.  You see, I'd written on the topic of watch computing before, and how I think it's an almost natural progression for the interface to portable personal storage and computing power.  I was pretty excited to see someone start down the path of that integration innovation, so I "threw my money at them".  Last week my watch arrived, and now that I've had a chance to play with it, I wanted to write up this simple review and first impression.

The watch build feels pretty crappy.  I've gotten more satisfaction from old-style calculator watches from the 80's.  I used to own (probably in a drawer somewhere) a watch that could control my TV with IR, and it had a more solid-feeling build than the Pebble.  (Ah, the dorm days of changing the lobby TV from ESPN to MTV while the jocks were all huddled around a game...)  It's not really that the Pebble feels fragile, but its plastic body and rubber watch band have more the feeling of a dime store timepiece than something that you'd spend money on for its technological features.

Describe Me In Three Words
January 25, 2013
self interests

I've been considering lately what I'm all about -- what makes me unique among humans in general, and peers in specific.  I've established a sort of test in my head for what would qualify.

I would like it to be possible to succinctly define me (even if obviously an incomplete definition) using 3-5 activities I am known to participate in that make me relatively unique among peers.

Narration Factor
January 15, 2013
voiceover movies books reading

I saw the new Hobbit movie recently (what is the actual title of that multi-part film?) and something interesting struck me. I've known the opening words to The Hobbit well enough that I'd recognize them if someone spoke them, and the words in the film are (at least in part) some of those.  What I didn't expect was hearing them spoken differently than how I read them in my head.

Particularly, when Gandalf remind Bilbo who he is, he says the line, "I am Gandalf, and Gandalf means me!" When Ian McKellen says the words, there is a discernible pause between "means" and "me", such that the audience is led to a particular conclusion about the spoken words.  When I read the book, I hear Gandalf proclaiming that Gandalf is his name and everyone should know it, by golly!  When I watch the movie, I get the impression that Gandalf is perplexed that Bilbo should have any other impression of what Gandalf means.  The difference is subtle, surprising, and caused by a mere pause in the narration.

Raingutter Regatta
January 14, 2013
scouts raingutter regatta

Riley's raingutter regatta boatOn Saturday, Riley participated in the culminating event of our last week of creative effort, the Raingutter Regatta.  The Regatta is an event for cub scouts that involves using a boat-shaped block of balsa wood, a dowel mast, a plastic sheet for a sail, and a few extra plastic and metal pieces to build a breath-powered boat that can be propelled down the length of a rain gutter filled with water.

The race itself consists of two gutters placed side-by-side, filled half-way with water.  Two competitors' boats are placed at one end of the raceway.  When the signal is given, each competitor blows on his boat's sail in an attempt to push it toward the finish line.  Each scout must use only his breath to push the boat, unless the boat is capsized or stuck, in which case the scout may right or unstick the boat without moving it down the track with his hands.  The first boat to arrive at the end of the track wins the heat.

The Programmer's Toolbox
January 13, 2013
code IDE editors

After reading an article on Hacker News I found myself once again perplexed by self-proclaimed "programmers" who insist upon a minimal toolset to accomplish their work.  

Jeremy Morgan, the guy who wrote the original article about the tools he uses, is clearly a Windows programmer.  His tools indicate not only that he runs Windows, but that he writes code that is intended to be deployed on Windows.  For Windows developers, some tools are necessary for the trade.  Specifically, a compiler that will produce a Windows binary application is a tool that must be in the box to accomplish your job.  But beyond what's required for producing working code/applications for different platforms, there seems to be a trend among vocal "coders" to use the least invasive tools for the job.