Doug's World

Back on the cellular grid

Doug — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:37:37 +0000

That’s right, I have a cell phone again. I picked up a burgundy faux-leather Blackjack II this week. I’ll have it for less than 30 days, then I’m going quisling, which is sort of like when that commander in Apocalypse Now “goes native,” rising up out of dark cold water at night, with spectacular makeup and lighting. More on that later as it develops.

I was finally able to get my cell messages today. Sorry to those who’ve been trapped in the phone for a while. It was fun listening to the messages, starting with the one from the drowning phone its ownself. (Speaking of which, Megan observed that my British accents always sound like my Indian accents. As she has observed before. Perhaps it’s true.)

OK, I need to focus. Need to make this one survive, like, a month. Both the first one and the last one made it that far, so I’m optimistic. I can do it!

What plant is this?

Doug — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:55:49 +0000

That’s right, it’s another installment of Doug and Megan’s brown-thumb show, “what plant is this?”

Today’s entry is about four feet tall, slender, green, smoothshaven, with a swollen head and spike hair. We have a bunch of them.

Dealing with the heat

Doug — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:20:53 +0000

It’s been a record-tying weekend for heat in the Seattle area. Fish and Ike are dealing with it the best they can, from padded chair or cardboard box as usual …

The return of in-flight wireless?

Doug — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:07:23 +0000

SAS totally misled me about in-flight wireless access. On my first international business trip with Microsoft, I had wireless access while cruising over the North Atlantic (albeit rather briefly). So I assumed this was the beginning of a broad industry trend, and soon we’d have wireless internet access on all flights. But then, to my horror, Boeing pulled the plug on its Connexion system a year later, and there has been no in-flight internet connectivity ever since.

Until this week: American Airlines is testing a new in-flight wireless system. Yes!

There goes the neighborhood

Doug — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:45:35 +0000

Email from a Yahoo employee

Doug — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:21:49 +0000

This is worth reading, just for the writing.

Awareness of recent Yahoo news makes it even funnier.

Poor Jerry Wang, he’s on thin ice in the real world, and now he’s been fired from his temp job in the parallel universe of Fake Steve.

(Mom, I should tell you that Fake Steve link has quite a bit of profanity. You have been warned. :-))

Will Muqtada al-Sadr be the next John Hancock?

Doug — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:28:07 +0000

Probably not, but here’s some food for thought from the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America:

… The history of the present King of Great Britain [King George] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States … He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people … the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within … He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people … He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our Legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power … He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws … For depriving us in many case, of the benefit of Trial by Jury; For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offenses … He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers.

Hat tip to Tom Englehardt for pointing out some interesting parallels.

PCC Parking Lot

Doug — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:27:01 +0000

Had a few minutes to kill while Megan was in the PCC on the way home from work today, and realized I hadn’t taken an HDR photo in like a week …

Parkour

Doug — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:45:19 +0000

I learned a new word today: Parkour. Here’s a video of some typical parkour action …

The Beastie Boys soundtrack includes the line “if you play Defender, I could be your hyperspace.” Gotta love that.

London, Briefly

Doug — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:17:39 +0000

I did something this week that I’ve never done before. I traveled to another country, and didn’t bother to bring a camera. So no photos to share.

The reason I didn’t bring a camera was that I knew it was going to be an extremely short and busy trip. And I was right. I landed at Heathrow late Monday afternoon, met with colleagues in the evening, went to a meeting in the morning, and was back at Heathrow Tuesday afternoon to fly home.

When I stepped onto the Northwest A300 for my return flight, the flight crew teased me. “Hey, we just dropped you off yesterday, you can’t go home yet!” “Could you do this every day? We sure need the business.”

I have some more meetings in London next month, but they’re spread out over a few days. Watch for photos of London then. Meanwhile, I’ll just say that I found the tube trains convenient, and I love the way everyone says “cheers.” It’s a little thing, but it’s so … I don’t know, cheerful.