malvasia bianca

I’ve finally finished converting dbcdb from Java to Ruby. I’ve been using the Ruby version of the tool to write the database for about four months, but I’d still been using the Java version to write the web pages. Nothing too deep going on here; I was actually done with everything but the indexes as […]

And now to some actual content from Agile Open California. As I mentioned before, I hosted a session called I Don’t Like Pair Programming, since the topic had been on my mind after our team meeting the previous week. The title isn’t really accurate: I usually enjoy pair programming when I’m doing it, but my […]

My favorite bit from my employer’s counterclaim in the NetApp case: COMPLAINT PARAGRAPH 3: NetApp is a pioneer in the design of data storage systems marketed throughout the United States and abroad and continues to innovate new advances in data storage technology. NetApp’s patents cover a host of advanced features found in NetApp’s award-winning Data […]

I spent Monday and Tuesday at the first Agile Open California. I learned several things there, which I hope I’ll find time to blog about over the next couple of days, but I want to start by talking about the format. Actually before getting into the format, I want to talk about the setting. It […]

We took Miranda to her first opera yesterday, a performance of Die Zauberflöte. The costumes were absolutely stunning; they were designed by Gerald Scarfe, had gorgeous vibrant colours, were very inventive and amusing, and a pleasure in every way to watch. (I wish I could find some good photos online, but my searching didn’t turn […]

My brain would seem to be rooting for the Rockies now. Which surprises me, given that I lived in Boston for nine years; I guess this is what happens when the Red Sox have recently won a World Series, have too much money, beat the Indians, and are up against a team that’s been an […]

I just discovered that CD Baby is now selling mp3s. Nice to see mp3 purchase options opening up like this; also, I like both the fact that they list up front how much of the sale price goes to the artist and that the amount is 91%. Of course, discovering this wasn’t enough to get […]

I had not realized until listening to the radio today that the Diamondbacks’ best hitter is, in fact a pitcher. Only 60 ABs, but still: a .333 average, .683 slugging, 1.032 OPS isn’t shabby at all. The announcers were saying that he’d gone 4-4 twice this season, once with 2 HRs and the other time […]

I got a look at my school district’s new report card. Most of the items are now grouped under the heading “Lifelong Learning Skills”; specifically, the group contains the following entries: Listens in class Follows directions Works independently Works neatly Completes work on time Accept [sic] responsibility Respects classmates Respects authority Uses time wisely Communicates […]

Deterministic and probabilistic software product management. Pen tricks. I’ve been doing what he calls “the helicopter” for decades (though in a slightly different way); obviously I have more to learn. Beautiful movies. (Sorry about its non-embeddable nature, and for all the talking and the fact that it’s an ad; I couldn’t find anything else to […]

Following Steve Yegge’s recommendation, we just finished watching Last Exile; it, like Haibane Renmei, is excellent. It took a little longer to get into the story this time, but somehow we slipped from “hmm, pretty interesting, nice mix of computerized and hand-drawn graphics” to “just how many days to we have to wait until the […]

One advantage Amazon’s new mp3 store has over iTunes: if there’s a song I like, I can just link to it. I believe that the iTunes store is addressible via URLs, but it’s not the same: the URL isn’t sitting there at the top of my browser window, and even if it were, I couldn’t […]