My Twitter feed...

I also created a new way to follow me via my twitter feed.

Apparently there is a site called twitterfeed.com that allows you to add the title of any RSS feed you want as posts to your twitter feed.

So, for those of you (uncle bill...) who follow me on twitter, you will be updated every time I add a post to any of my three blogs.

I guess it ensures that I always keep updating my twitter feed...

So, in the event that anyone wants to follow me using twitter... which seems most useful if you either always stay connected to an instant messaging client or have unlimited text messaging on you cell phone plan... I'm not sure if they have email updates or not...

Anyway, you can follow me on twitter, and always know when I update a blog, or write some random thing in twitter...

for everyone else who simply likes reading my blog, there are feeds on the right side of my blog for both of my other blogs... plus my twitter feed.

FYI: a feed is an RSS feed... it means Really Simple Syndication... AKA news feed... or in other words a list of stuff that can be read by a program called a feed reader. Almost any mail program you use on your computer will support news feeds... if you want to subscribe, you can use an igoogle home page... or google reader (like me).

The easiest way to get started from right here on this page would be to click the posts button under the Subscribe to section on the right. Then you can click Atom to just get the URL to add into any mail program... or click Add to Google or + My Yahoo... Then it will want you to sign in or create an account to add the feed to.

I guess if you want help doing it you could always email me... I could help walk you through the process if you have issues.

ok, I'm off to bed.

Good night!

Later,

SteveO

Setting up a web cam... maybe.

So, I was thinking that I might set up a webcam.

The technicality is that it seems too complicated... at least the way I want to set it up.

So, here is how I think I'm going to do it (this weekend...)

I will set up a ftp server and Apache web server on my desktop pc.

I have an app on my laptop that will upload image webcam.jpg to my desktop every 30 minutes via FTP.

I will use cron to run a small shell script on my desktop every 25 minutes and rename the images as so:

webcam04.jpg becomes webcam05.jpg...
webcam03.jpg becomes webcam04.jpg...
webcam02.jpg becomes webcam03.jpg...
webcam01.jpg becomes webcam02.jpg...
webcam.jpg becomes webcam01.jpg...

Then in apache I will create an a simple web page that will display all six images.

which requires me to: make one shell script, configure two servers, write one web page, configure camorama on my laptop, and configure port forwarding on my router.

the down side is then I will have 3 computers running constantly in stead of only 2...

I would have the laptop connected to my TV upload images to my FTP server, but then the camera would be in a bad spot to watch Jaani during the day... then it would be looking at my couch. I would rather have it set up to watch the front door or something...

So, I need a little more planning. I suppose the whole process would be a lot easier if I just paid for image hosting at a site that offered FTP access... or if I had Conduit sync a local folder with picasa and then had an album in picasa for my webcam... but I don't know if I really want that or not yet.

Anyway, a little more thought is needed, but I think it's about time I got back into the whole webcam thing. The other idea I had is to just have a live stream via shoutcast... like I did for a while in high school... that way I could have live video and sound, but you could only watch things in real time... which I kind of like the idea of having pictures spread across the past 3 hours better. Oh well, I'll think of something.

Just keeping everyone posted with my plans... lets see if I actually get around to it.

Later,

SteveO

Work... how it should be.

Ah yes, the wonderful part of writing code... and waiting an hour or more for it to compile. That is the fun part of my job, when I get to do whatever I want, and get away with it.

So, work is good.

Things are slow at the moment because a different team is compiling, but it's always fun to find little comics from the web and use them to keep me sane.

I got this one from xkcd.com. They have an excellent collection of geeky comic strips that are just awesome!


ok, that's it then.

Later,

SteveO

A Murder-Suicide in Redmond?

I thought it was really weird today that there were a bunch of cop cars driving erratically when I was walking into work from the transit center... well, it turns out that there was a Murder-Suicide in the apartment complex across the street from my office building.

As far as I could tell, all I saw was a bunch of emergency response people, but my cube mate actually lives in the complex. He didn't hear anything, but he had to walk around to the opposite side of the complex.

Apparently it was an estranged husband... the lady murdered was staying with a friend and the husband came over... just to help ease anyone's mind, this is the first murder in Redmond in the past eight years... so, needless to say it is a rare occurrence, but it is too bad.

On the topic of the news, I would have a link to a news story about the earthquake in California today, but the news stories basically tell you it was a 5.8 and no real damage was done.

The Blue Angels landed in Seattle yesterday.

and that's about it for now.

Later,

SteveO

Who reads this crap?

So, I was looking over the data that I have been collecting from Google Analytics, and it turns out that not everyone who reads my blog lives in the United States... sort of. I was looking at the data, and I came up with these numbers.

• United States 433
• United Kingdom 5
• Australia 4
• Singapore 3
• Spain 2
• Japan 2
• Sri Lanka 2
• Italy 2
• India 2
• Germany 1

Honestly there is one thing about the data that should be expressed though... nearly 100% of all people from outside the US bounce... that means they stay for very short periods of time... typically they stay for a period of time less than five seconds.

So, really they just find my page either from it coming up in a search result, or by using blogger's little link at the top of every blog that sends people to the "next blog"... or in other words some random blog.

So, here is some food for thought.

Later,

SteveO

Renton River Days!

So, after all the time I've lived in Renton, I finally got around to going over to Renton River days! It's an event sponsored very heavily by Ikea that takes place every year.

I wasn't actually going to go... I actually was just watching the parade go by as I sat at Jet City helping a friend unlock his Iphone. After we got it unlocked, we went over to the library to test out the Wifi on the phone. We hung out a little bit in the library, and looked at what books they had on the shelves, and then as we were leaving I ran in to some friends who were on their way to the festival.

Shortly after taking this picture I actually started talking to some kid who is currently going to school at BCC and was wondering where to look for a job. I told him about my experiences as a contract worker at Microsoft, and told him what I thought about the whole situation. I think he was happy about talking with me, and with a little luck he will learn a little from my mistakes too.

Anyway, Jaani and I are doing well, and things are good. The weather is nice and I can't say I have any complaints.

So, that's all for now.

Later,
SteveO

what happened over last weekend?

I know I sort of promised to update my blog last Sunday... in stead I started a new blog, and tried to keep myself from forgetting about my other blog (3 in total...)

Also, I added RSS feeds (over on the right side) for my other two blogs...

I mostly forget about the Frizzle Tech blog... and the Frizzlfry Web Watch is a place for me to post all the videos and stuff I find on the web so I don't spam this space with random stuff I find online.

So, that has been keeping me a little busy because I needed to link all three blogs with Google Webmaster tools and Google Analytics. This way I can know things like:

• My peak activity for this blog was on June 25th when 82 people viewed my blog for some reason.
  
• Only 500 people have visited sense I started recording stats in April.
• 60% of the people who read my blog link to it from Ababsurdo.com.
• 2 people from Australia have read a blog posting... I could look up the day and time too.
• Most people read my blog in the evening.
• and even more useless stuff.

Anyway... also this past weekend I went to Mt Si with Evelyn, Babli, and Jaani. Jaani was a little winded because of the heat, and Babli was fine. I was also suprised that not only could Ev keep up with me, but because she has been working out every day she was making hard for me to keep up with her. Well, I guess it shows you what working out a little can do.

Anyway... other than that I went grocery shopping yesterday... I got a bunch of food for lunches.. more "emergency food" that will never expire... and I guess I shouldn't forget food for me to eat every day. (and Ice cream and oreos too...)

Oh, I also met a few new people that live around the block from me. It's nice to have people close by that are pretty cool and they have a dog that gets along with Jaani. At least that way when I'm just hangin around the house bored I know I have somewhere I can go and not have to leave him all alone.

well, that's my story. I forgot to upload a picture from Mt Si (again...), but I am sure I'll think of some sort of picture in a day or two.

That's all for now folks!

Later,

SteveO

JibJab: Time for Some Campaignin'

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

Time is almost up!

for those of you in the know... Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is scheduled to be taken down tonight at midnight... however there is a rumor spread by the Dr Horrible Myspace site that the 3 part mini-mini series will be up longer than originally announced... because they can do that.

So, don't tempt fate... if you want to see Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog do it now! Just in case they are so Horrible that they would say they might keep it up, but then take it down just to be cruel.

that's a quick update... I'll be back with more about my weekend later tonight.

Later,

SteveO

New You Suck at Photoshop!

Episode #11 Smart Objects


Episode #12 Measurement Log

Friday! song of the day...

The Final Countdown (Cello and Orchestra)

Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

So, my latest totally awesome video that everybody needs to see is Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.
It's not a blog, but it's really funny. It stars Neil Patrick Harris (aka Doogie Howser, M.D.) and is a hilarious three act mini-mini web series. (also the #1 download on itunes for the day.)

I say check it out and don't forget that act 3 comes out this Saturday (7/19/08).

so, that's it for now.


Later,

SteveO

Wedding album is up.

I posted the pictures from Susie's wedding HERE. I finished geo-tagging these pictures first because I didn't really have to remember where I took all the pictures. There were only three location... However, there are still a few that I didn't comment on... and the comments I put in under the pictures aren't really thought out. But the pictures are there.

It was a fun time, and choosing which pictures to put up was a real challenge (considering many pictures I had 2 or 3 copies of from three different cameras.)

I organized my album for my trip out, but I still haven't made it public/listed. I suppose if you could guess the totally systematic name I had for the album (2008MISummer) you might be able to find the album... but I will make it public once I at least get all the pictures geo-tagged.

So... Jaani and I went for a hike yesterday morning. We went up to Mt Si to hike the Little Si trail. It was very enjoyable. We went early (left here around 8am) so we could hike up, hang out at the top and eat lunch, then walk back down before noon. It was really nice, but when I got up there, I realized I had left my camera at home... So I will have to get some more Mt Si pictures some other time.

Now, I'm going to relax until things cool off outside. It's about 81 degrees and sunny today, with a cool breeze (8mph) off of Lake Washington to the North. Visibility outside is about 10 miles, but I can see Mt Rainier perfectly clear. My thermometer inside tells me it's about 77.9 degrees. With a 9pm sunset, that gives me about 6 hours until it's really cool outside.

I have been spending a lot of time at Jet City lately. The land owner is tearing down the building in the middle of August, which means the shop will close at the end of the month. With a little bit of luck Mike (one of the baristas currently at Jet City) will get his coffee shop opened up by then. Otherwise I might have to go to Big Foot, or B&J's, or one of those other little coffee stands... perhaps I'll just have to start walking across the street to get my coffee... or maybe that cupcake shop... without Jet City, there are just too many other coffee shops to choose from... I don't know what I'll do... I mean... I have 10 coffee shops within walking distance, but I really don't know how I would be able to choose from all of them.

Anyway... I guess if my worst problem is that I have too many coffee shops to choose from, I must be doing something right.

So, that's all for now. I quick update, and some pictures to look through.

If you missed the link above, the pictures are here.

Later,

SteveO

New and improved cube!

So, we got this new guy while I was out of town, and he ended up with two monitors, but no computer that accepts two monitors. I have one computer that can use two monitors, and two computers on a KVM switch that can share the new (to me) third monitor (on the right).

I suppose that technically things would be a little better if I had a second wide screen monitor, but for now things are great!

I can work on both my mail and test machines at the same time... (View bugs on one screen, Test Cases on another screen, and then test Zune on the third.

Anyway, that's what is new... the Apartment is the same (still a mess)... Jaani is doing good (and his hotspot should be gone when I get home)... and it looks like I might even have enough money next week for my car payment (thanks to the 4th of July being a paid vacation)... so yea...

I just started uploading some of my pictures yesterday from the wedding, but I won't make the album public until it is uploaded, screened, commented on, and Geo-tagged... so in other words I might have it done by this weekend.

so, that's all for now.

Later,

SteveO

Back in Seattle

Hi everybody! I'm back in Seattle safe and sound. I will finish uploading pictures from the wedding and my trip, then once I'm done Geo-tagging everything I'll post the status up here. All I have today is a link to a music video Flobots - Handlebars which is up on YouTube. anyway... more will come later... probably closer to the weekend.