Below are the most recent 25 friends' journal entries.

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Monday, December 21st, 2009
domesticmouse	5:22p	I can has passport now? As part of kitting up for my (now officially accepted) talk at the Wave Mini-Conf for LCA in Wellington, I've applied for a passport. According to the gov't, it's now in process. So I should probably start paying for things like conference fees and what not. Blerk. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
journaladdict	4:17a	Anyone know where to go to get real free ringtone downloads for a mobile phone? I have gone through my list of ringtones on my phone and they are all sorely lacking in a christmas themed one :( Thanks in advance. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, December 20th, 2009
domesticmouse	9:51a	Charlie Stross on Nexus One Charlie writes an interesting piece on the upcoming Google Phone. Gadget Patrol: 21st century phone This is the first chunk of commentary I've seen that states that this is the start of a war between Google and AT&T. I mean, this is a generational war that has been on the books since '04, there has been no doubt it was going to happen. It's just that now is the first time I believe that AT&T has realised that it is in an existential crisis. In totally unrelated news (hah) I'm noticing the geeks are starting to play opening up network kit. So yeah, i give Cisco five years. And oddly enough, that's about as long as I give AT&T. (Comment on this)
domesticmouse	9:16a	I haven't laughed this hard in ages Seventy minutes of Phantom Menace film critique. Fucking brilliant. Here, have the first installment: (Comment on this)
Saturday, December 19th, 2009
intothedepths	3:35p	I am such a geek Just watched all of the new Doctor Who episodes and now I`m going to watch Torchwood (1 Comment |Comment on this)
andpuff	11:24a	Christmas music Because I work at home and am no longer forced to listen to Christmas music from about mid-November on, I find myself enjoying it a lot more. We even almost went into the carol service at the United Church this year but decided at the last minute that we couldn't cope with the extended sermon. This particular minister tends to take advantage of a full house to go on at length to people he usually doesn't get to pontificate to. If I want to be pontificated to, I'll watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. But I digress. Of all the Christmas music I own, these are my three favorite CD's, the ones I'd take to a desert island -- given a player and somewhere to plug in.  These are all CD's I'll just put on and let run, at no point leaping for the controls to skip past that one song that shouldn't have been included -- usually involving Santa, mistletoe, and Grandma's unexpected passing under the hooves of a reindeer.  Every song on these CD's is a part of my personal holiday celebrations. Heather Dale: This Endris Night Twelve Medieval and Renaissance Christmas songs, all pre 1700, including songs in French, Latin, and my absolute favourite version of The Huron Carol ever in Huron, French, and English. The beloved and I heard Heather sing The Huron Carol in a little coffee house/bookstore in Camden East, Ontario, and I can still recall that moment with absolute clarity. Since I can't recall yesterday with absolute clarity, that's saying something. I always have an extra copy of this CD around at Christmas time because it's the perfect gift for those last minute "omg we're exchanging gifts?" situations. You can't go wrong giving beauty. heatherdale.com CDBaby The Steve Carlson Band: An Auld School Christmas I love Steve Carlson's music just generally, whether it's just him and a guitar or with his whole band.  He's been described as jazzy, bluezy, funky, soulish-rock sort of... okay, mostly that's me describing him.   iTunes can't seem to make up their digital mind and CD baby has an 'if you like funk rock" sidebar.  There's eight songs on the CD and right now, at this moment, my favourite is Steve's version of Auld Lang Syne woven together with Stand by Me.  Favourites are subject to change without notice.  Steve's got a smokey whiskey voice that I, personally, find very sexy and he's a kick ass guitarist.  Also, the band has great brass. CD Baby iTunes Quartette: It's Christmas The Quartette in specific is made up of Cindy Church, Colleen Peterson, Sylvia Tyson, and Caitlin Hanford This is theroetically a country CD but don't let that scare you away.  I love country and in my opinion there's only two songs out of the twelve that might give a non-country lover trouble and, even if you were scarred as a child by your uncle doing a terrible rendition of A Boy Named Sue their versions of O Come, O Come Emmanuel and What Child is This are worth the price of the CD. These four women not only have beautiful voices on their own but sing amazing harmonies. iTunes So what rocks your musical Christmas boat? Current Music: Run Run Rudolph, The Steve Carlson Band (45 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, December 18th, 2009
domesticmouse	3:39p	Palm in browser IDE Palm has released a development environment for WebOS: Project Ares Open Beta The most amusing part for me is that the code editor is based on Bespin. This means that it works in Safari, Mozilla and Chrome. Notice something missing? Yeah, quite. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
domesticmouse	10:38a	Even Apple is making web apps for the iPhone Daring Fireball: PastryKit A JavaScript toolkit from Apple that does it's level best to ship native feel iPhone applications as a Web Application. Being the odd person I am, I want to port this to GWT... (Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
intothedepths	4:13p	I Hate Myself I see your face Every night Dear brother I see the Way you look at me With accusation In your eyes Every night. Things fall apart Since you left I hate myself For what I did I can`t believe I never saw this coming in I can`t believe How much I miss you No happiness No Fear No tears Just nothingness It was all just an accident That`s what my parents said It`s what was believed Believed by everyone Except me I gave you Whatever you wanted Not what you need I can`t believe That your gone And there is No one left But me I can`t believe that I left you To leave me All alone Alone So alone And it`s No one`s fault But me I hate myself For what I did I can`t believe I never saw this coming in I can`t believe How much I miss you I gave you what you wanted Not what was needed I may as well have Stuck the needle in myself God damn help me They found you In your room Skin as white as snow Eyes and mouth open The needle was Still in your arm I hate myself I did this I killed my younger brother My one true good friend Now I`m all alone It`s all my fault God damn this God damn me If I wasn`t such a fucking coward I would just take my life Instead I fade away To nothingness (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
domesticmouse	8:12a	I have no idea how accurate this is... Some rumourage on the upcoming Nexus One Google phone puts it at $99 for long term Google users, with a strong push towards using VoIP. If this pricing is correct, then Google has decided to gut their competitors in the phone market with savage cross subsidisation. This is a $800 dollar phone that they are giving away for $100. Apple and Nokia should be worried about this, and so should AT&T. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
domesticmouse	7:55p	Oh goody. So the government has decided it is important to teach everyone about the importance of pushing all of your traffic over tunneled redirection services. Lame. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/15/2772467.htm (Comment on this)
Monday, December 14th, 2009
intothedepths	10:06p	Still Standing Let me tell you a story About two friends One girl One boy And their life story Not long ago In a small town in the middle of nowhere Were two lost souls That found each other The two lost kids They didn`t have too much And they never asked for nothing They just played the game And shoot up shit Ain`t no sunshine when your low I`m low People tell me life`s a game I`m not playing Bitches don`t mean a thing no more I took my blows and I`m still standing You see there wasn`t much To do in this one hores town The only thing to do was drink it Smoke it or shoot it up And fuck. And that`s what Wendy and Mark just did Evey goddamn chance they got Like rabbits Even though they didn`t have their own place Fucking in Marks car Jumping into windows in the dead of night Fucking all night Fucking during lunch in the stalls Well we know where this is going And it wasn`t too long before she said "I`m pregnant". Oh man what was Mark to do? So god damn glad I wasn`t in his shoes 16 years old Just barely a man But if you get it up Stick it in and blow You deal with the consequences Aint no sunshine when your low Im low People tell me life`s a game I`m not playing Bitches don`t mean a thing no more I took my blows and I`m still standing Now I know it wasn`t all Mark`s fault After all it takes two Wendy wasn`t an angel. After all she spread her legs for this To happen Thoughts spilled through her head Of what to do "Keep it? Abort it? Tell my mom about this? Tell me God, what must I do?" She kept the child and moved in with him Now two 16 year olds Not finished school What do they do? Now Mark got a job At the factory Working afternoon shifts Doing hard work Always in a sweat Never seeing friends Not even on weekends After all with him Wendy and a mouth on the way He even worked seven days a week Ain`t no sunshine when your low I`m low People tell me life`s a game I`m not playing Bitches don`t mean a thing no more I took my blows and I`m still standing Now in time The baby came to be A little boy So innocent Mark loved that child With all his heart So much so that Wendy got jealous Alone all day just Her and the baby No one came to visit Not even her parents. She just stayed at home and Stared at the idiot box Waiting till Mark finished work Come in Crawl in more like it He`d look at the baby Touch his cheek Kiss him on the forehead And then head off to sleep Yeah Wendy had it a bit bad No one to kiss touch make her cum Let alone say she`s loved It wasn`t too long Before she strayed To the neighbor next door She was told he was a good lay It was She felt better now She felt loved Saw him every afternoon Yes she did While the baby slept Ain`t no sunshine when your low I`m low People tell me life`s a game I`m not playing Bitches don`t mean a thing no more I took my blows and I`m still standing Now I`m sure you can guess what`s next I know I sure fuckin`did Mark felt sorry He fet bad He had a wife and kid He never saw So he wanted to spend some time With her and him And show Wendy how much he loved her He took the evening off His boss didn`t mind After all Mark was never late He was always such a good boy He went ome around four o`clock He found his wife in bed Ain`t no sunshine when your low I`m low People tell me life`s a game I`m not playing Bitches don`t mean a thing no more I took my blows and I`m still standing Well the shit hit the fan Mark raised his hand Slapped Wendy full across the face "How could you do this? You bitch. I cared for you I fed you. Put the clothes on your back This is how you repay me? You slut" And with that he found his gun Shot her. Shot him and then looked at his son Crying away He picked him up Held him tight and rocked him to sleep Set him down in the crib Mark told the baby "It`s best this way" Mark took that gun Placed it under his chin Asked God to forgive him And pulled the trigger. Ain`t no sunshine when your low I`m low People tell me life`s a game I`m not playing Bitches don`t mean a thing no more I took my blows and I`m still standing Now I I know you want to know The baby`s fine Adopted And doing fine Living out of town Moved to the city He was too young to remember a thing And two other things I know »You mother fuckin` wanna know Is there are a morel? Well shit if I know Which brings me to the second part Did this happen I really don`t give a fuckin` shit what you think But yes Ain`t no sunshine when your low I`m low People tell me life`s a game I`m not playing Not playing no fuckin`more No No fuckin`more more more Bitches don`t mean a thing no more I took my blows and I`m still standing (Comment on this)
intothedepths	8:24p	and she really does have such an innocent face love the song (Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
domesticmouse	11:24a	Saved by my MP3 player... One of the unfun things about being in this game is the recurring state of depression. On the downside are the facts that some mornings I can't be bothered getting out of bed, my apartment looks like a bomb hit it on a permanent basis, and the friends who can put up with me can be counted on one hand with fingers to spare. On the upside, I can do things others can't. I can take in more information, and synthesize and an understanding of it. I can see the overview while others are stuck in the details. I can figure out where and how to change a large system to get the results I want. I've never held down a position long term without pissing off a lot of people. I'm not sure if it's the fact that I use anger to get through when nothing else works, or the fact that I can see and understand things they can't. And, honestly, I don't much care. All I know is that my MP3 player, loaded with cranky angsty females with guitars gets me through. That, and a bottle of pain. So if you see me, walking down the street alone, understand there is a reason. And leave me be. It's best for both of us. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, December 13th, 2009
andpuff	2:47p	However... Some thoughts about that depression meme that's going around. Since it does ask for age and gender, I wonder if it takes into account that interrupted sleep, weight gain, memory loss, inability to concentrate, and mood swings are also symptoms of menopause and changes the scores accordingly. It's rather surprising how many health professionals don't get that out of the way first. If a woman's over forty-five, it's the first thing I'd consider -- as your body adjusts to lower estrogen levels, life can become a physical and mental roller coaster. Dear lord, the lack of sleep alone can account for the weight gain and the mood swings and the inability to concentrate. Primary source research; I don't remember the last time I slept through the night. If I had to work outside the house, I'd be on HRT so fast it'd make your head spin. When the beloved used to work in group homes, there was a woman under their care who'd suddenly starting having health problems right out of the blue. She wasn't sleeping, she'd wakeup three or four times a night soaked in sweat, she was forgetting how to do things she'd known how to do for years, and was violently moody. They couldn't figure out what was wrong. So I asked how old she was. (I did volunteer work with the client at the therapeutic riding stable) She'd just turned fifty. I said, "You think she might be in menopause?" Hadn't occurred to any of them. And some of them were in their fifties. Some of them were having the exact same symptoms. ("I am NOT in menopause!" "Honey, if you're sweating like a duck, odds are good you're a duck." "I am NOT a duck!" "It's a meta... never mind.") And guess what? She was. Once they knew what the problem was, they could start dealing with it. (To the extent that their drastically reduced budget allowed but that's another story.) There's a 100% guarantee that 51% of the population will be going through an estrogen adjustment with varying symptoms to varying degrees. And apparently the other 49% is doomed to endure an enlarged prostrate and erectile dysfunction. No wonder everyone's depressed... (40 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, December 12th, 2009
intothedepths	10:02p	Looking For Dawn Can you hear it? Can you feel it? Chilling through your bones? The writing is on the wall again The war is upon us There is no escape Stay and die Escape and die another day No escape Only for today Run as far as you can Run as quick as you can Don`t look back Don`t turn your head Just keep looking ahead No time To pick up mementos Just go You hear the bombs go Smell the flesh That burns ear the screams of terror In the darkness of the night Don`t stop and fight Don`t stop to help Don`t stop out of fear Just go Time is not on your side Time is just a fleeting moment A term that has been overused Time after time Just move Get out the door And run for your life And pray you live To see the dawn Once more (Comment on this)
intothedepths	8:43p	Stay here Stay here Stay here with me Stay here Remember with me The world can wait I say to you again Stay with me Ignore what everyone says Stay with me Today Stay with me With our baby Stay here with us Forget about every Other thing Stay here with me Remember the way we were? Stay here Don`t open the door The world can wait Remember the way we were before? So young and free Not a care in the world It was just you and me Stay here with me Remember how it used to be Stay here Don`t walk out That door You do And I will leave Stay here Recount with me Let me hold you in my arms And I will feel so free Stay here with me No one else matters so much It always has been you and me Don`t walk out That door You do And I will leave Just stay with me (Comment on this)
domesticmouse	8:12p	One for the ADHD members of the audience... Now we know why Ritalin works Interesting. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
domesticmouse	10:52a	First flight of the season... I've booked my flight to ballina on the 23rd. I've delayed booking a return flight until i've figured out if I am returning from ballina or brisbane. I'll figure that out later. Next up is booking flights, accommodation and conference fees for linux.conf.au in wellington. I've volunteered to be part of the Wave mini-conf. Oh, and I should probably put together a slide deck too. I'm currently figuring out how much to cover. My aim is to give a tutorial on working the underlying tech of Wave. BufferedDocOp 101, if you will. I'm thinking of putting together a webapp that consists of a single document under management, and a front end that consists of a canvas acting as a editable text area. (Comment on this)
domesticmouse	7:38a	WebSocket Chrome is in the process of spinning up WebSocket support. This is truly exciting to me, as it enables taking interactive web apps to the next level. The traditional problem with faking interactivity with hanging sockets is that you are looking at 2k of headers per request. When you are sending an update per key stroke, the S:N is insane. The flip side of WebSocket is that we are again going to raise the stress on the server side infrastructure. Just as moving to AJAX increased the complexity of the server farm, WebSockets do the same. To put it mildly, if your language choice means you need a process per connection, WebSockets are going to be a world of pain for you. But we have no choice on this one, people are addicted to interactivity. It's baked into Maslow's hierarchy of needs. (Comment on this)
Friday, December 11th, 2009
intothedepths	12:28a	Smile Sometime I look back At things That I lived though And a smile appears Remembering the good times Forgetting the bad life Never forgetting what I had And I always shared With you... Always together Always and forever Thats what you said And I did too... Looking back now I see how naive And young we were We`re not together Not now or forever But I will always Think of you Every day Every night I will always Think of you As my shining light It`s been so long A generation has gone And you... I smile when I think of you (Comment on this)
domesticmouse	10:19a	An addendum, of sorts The new GWT2.0 release is what I'd traditionally recognise as a 3.0 release. GWT1.0 was skittish, it had a lot of potential, but it had a lot of missing parts that made it easy to fail to deliver. GWT1.5 was a traditional 2.0 release, it contained a filled in version of the 1.0 vision, it delivered on a lot of the initial promise, but the feature set growth over GWT1.0 was conservative. GWT2.0 contains three game changers. The first is one I've been waiting for - the ability to debug in multiple browsers. Being able to debug an interface using the java debug tooling of my IDE in IE, FF, Safari and Chrome is simply must have functionality. The second is a tech I've been watching in incubation - UiBinder. Now that i've looked through the Mail sample app, I can see how UiBinder fixes the missing modularity of HTML and CSS. The UiBinding tooling that ships with Google's Eclipse tooling makes developing for HTML and CSS almost VB6 easy. But the killer feature of GWT2.0 was unvieled on the night - SpeedTracer. SpeedTracer enables us devs to finally see why our web applications are sluggish. Is it html parsing, layout, or js runtime that is killing us? SpeedTracer shows us a breakdown of where we are burning, and thus enables us to fix it. Snappy WebApps ftw. This release, in my eyes, is the death of desktop applications. Sure, it's taken ten years of solid engineering to deliver on Netscape's promise, but the operating system is now just a collection of device drivers. WebApps are now the easiest way to target all the major platforms that we must hit with our software - Windows, OSX, and iPhone - in a timely and effective manner. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
domesticmouse	9:28a	Something I've learned recently... For the longest time I've been the guy that got projects out of trouble. They'd hand me a pile of burning dog shit, and I'd sort it out. I always believed that projects failed during implementation, and that better choices of technology would lead to success... What I've learned on this project is that by the time software projects start implementing, they've already failed. I was brought onto this project a year early, so as to have time to deal with the pain that is main frame integration. What I witnessed astounded me: Business: We want an environment that allows our claims advisors to work concurrently on claims. Project Lead: Concurrent access is impossible. We'll deliver a CRUD claim system instead. At this point, with this simple re-statement of requirements, this entire project has already failed. With this new point of view, I've realised a bunch of things. Firstly, and most importantly, normal people want communication platforms. This is the reason that IT fails. This is the reason why RDBMs are fail. And this is why desktop application development is fail. Nothing IT delivers is about helping people communicate. The first players in the IT industry who realise this are going to win, and win big. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
domesticmouse	11:36a	Ahh, sanity. Looks like the team has realised that the architect isn't enforcing project wide consistency, so they are now routing information flow around him. This is going to break a few people, the architect especially. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
domesticmouse	4:53p	Confluence fail It's amusing watching the guys in the team fight with confluence's yellow clashing edit warning, after spending serious amounts of time trying to convince people that Wave's OT library is actually worth learning, including a couple of the engineers on the Confluence team. I think I've finally hit the point where I don't care what people think, I'm just going to implement what I feel is needed. No need to justify if there is a market - I know there is one. Watching the business people around me flail uselessly with Confluence is enough proof that the market leading commercial wiki software is completely failing it's intended market. (Comment on this)

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