Asymptomatic

There must be intelligent life down here

Habari Gone Awry
February 16, 2008

We’ve been working on rolling out Habari 0.4 for months, since 0.3 came out really. There are a lot of great changes in 0.4. The bad part is that nobody can get motivated enough to release 0.4, or they have a personal agenda to include certain features to be in 0.4 before its release in spite of long discussions about “release early, release often”. It’s so many things that separately are insignificant but together leave 0.4 floundering and gasping on the shore instead of spawning like it should.

For example, let’s talk about the logo just briefly as an example of where we’re spending pointless effort. The logo was the very first thing that the community attacked, and the best that anyone came up with in rebuttal was a capital letter “H”, some remixed clipart, and RKO-style radio transmission rings. Whereas what we have now has history, mystique, prints well in black and white, and functions fairly well as a Habari brand icon. So why are we even talking about this?

Just Waiting For Pizza
February 15, 2008

I’ve had so much to say over the past two weeks, and no desire at all to write about any of it. It seems like I should do a dictation or something, and have my secretary write out my blog posts for me. Perhaps I will look into a service soon – I’ve always thought that my blog entries would sound better if I read them instead of writing them. In any case, here’s a brief summary of topics of things that I should have written about but didn’t.

I got a shave two weeks ago - a real one in a barber’s chair with a straight razor. I actually did write about this, but I wasn’t near the internet when I did it, and I’m not sure where my notebook is at the moment. I’m sure that post will appear when I finally stumble across the notebook bag.

How to Choose a Good Web Host
February 01, 2008

Man, this week has been difficult. We’ve had a few server issues with work clients, and I’ve been playing around with my own servers, and it’s just been a mess that I’m hoping will be in the past come next week. But I’ve learned some lessons, and I figure I might as well pass them on because people are apparently still buying hosting from really bad places.

What do I need? This is the most basic question you need to start asking yourself before you even hunt for hosts. Having some idea of your demands, both from a technical perspective and a logistical perspective can save you some pain in the future. Here are some really basic considerations:

Downingtown School Strike is Absurd
January 30, 2008

Abby has been home with me for the past two days because the teachers a Downingtown Schools can’t come to an agreement with their administration over how much money they should be making. We’re lucky that Abby is very low-maintenence and that I’m able to be “at work” with her at home so that there’s someone to keep an eye on her. Still, this teacher’s strike is absolutely absurd, and I’ll be happy to wait out the full state-allowed 23 days of strike to see a reasonable agreement reached - one that likely doesn’t assent to the teachers’ demands.

The teachers are asking for raises over 5 years totalling 23.75%. The board is offering them 18% over 4 years. It seems like a large gap, but think about this: It’s an 18% raise in pay. That’s higher than the average cost of living raises here. It’s more raise than I’ve seen in 8 years. It’s more than generous, but apparently it’s not enough. An opinion article in the Daily Local News expresses my sentiments quite well.

Abbyana Jones and the DVD of Doom
January 28, 2008
movies Abby

On a whim and a wish to watch something with the kids that was not yet another animated film (not that I dislike them, but they seem all that the kids will tolerate in entirely) I threw in a copy of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I’m not sure I expected them to really watch the whole thing, but being that Indiana Jones was a favorite of mine over the years, I had hoped they would enjoy it as much as I do. As it turns out, my hopes have come true.

Tonight when we were out to dinner, I suggested to Abby that we pop some corn and watch another Indiana Jones movie. Her eyes flew wide open in shock, as she was surprised to learn that there was another movie!