KickIdle.com Blog

Since we’re in Montgomery, looks like a good time to run to lunch!

Step One: Awesome Snowflake Pictures
Step Two: Hovering Robotic Kill Vehicle OF DEATH!!!
Enjoy!

It’s sad but true that so many people in America have no real experience outside of their culture. For a family in Houston, this manifested itself as policy harassment when their house was broken into. When I was a kid, I pretty much bought the “cops are your friends” line. And even when I was a young adult, I more or less trusted the police, even though I was dimly aware that there were bad apples out there.
But the sad truth is, the vast majority of people in general are plain ‘ole afraid of people different than them. And when you put people in a position of power, that fear needs to be confronted and addressed on an institutional level. Unfortunately, with sheriffs’ offices having a hard time affording bullet resistant vests, I don’t foresee a jump in sensitivity training anytime soon.
Link via Clint.

Ars Technica has an article on why multi-core processors are going to lose out in the long run. This type of parallel programming problem was talked about in some of my senior level classes at Virginia Tech. The real problem is that there’s only so many problems that fit the parallel programming model. After you start stretching the model, you’re basically into the realm of “solution looking for a problem” and you can’t get the performance benefits you’d naively expect. So it sounds like all the fun research will be in memory buses for the next few years.

So, as part of my planning for heading back to Alabama, I think I’ll take a bunch of my camera equipment with me. My friends Mark & Lisa have a Nikon DSLR that they’re thinking about buying some extra lenses for and last time I was down we talked about some of the options. I figure I can bring mine down and maybe we can hang out one evening and check them out.
Also, I’ve unexpected come into possession of a Sigma 400mm f/5.6 lens. While I was talking to Mom about teleconverters, she dug this lens out and said “Oh, I’m not using this anymore, so you’re welcome to it if you want.” ORLY? So it’s not a superb piece of optical work like my Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR, but it’s free and it seems to work pretty well. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to try it out while I’m in Alabama and see if I can capture some wildlife with my DSLR instead of the Casio EX-F1.
In other preparations, I have about ten pounds of mail to go through. :-/ (Note: If you measure you’re mail in pounds, you’re probably doing it wrong. lol) So I guess that will be occupying a huge chunk of my time before I leave. I want to run down to the post office today and see if they have a check for me. I got an invoice into work this week, but it was kinda late and I don’t know if they’ll have paid it this week or next.
Other random updates – I got a Visioneer Road Warrior scanner. After a few failed attempts at calibrating it, I finally got it working. I got it on sale from Staples.com for $149 and for the money I think it’s worth it. The quality is hardly on par with a flatbed scanner, but let’s face it – I bought this thing to scan receipts and submit expense reports. Mission Accomplished. So if you’re a road warrior that is looking for something like this, I’d say “do it”.
Well, also on the to-do list before leaving is to get the Christmas tree out of the attic for Mom. So I guess I’ll go try to pull the boxes out of there with or without Dad. Wish me luck!

Since I’m currently “not working” I took Kukulah (the family dog) into town with me today. One of our favorite walking spots is the Winchester Green Circle – a small walking trail along the west side of town. At this particular point it cuts through a wetland around Abrams Creek and gives access to some nice views and the occasional bird sighting. Always a relaxing interlude in the day’s activities.

Winchester Green Circle, originally uploaded by Daniel Hagan.

Later, I met with Li-Tao down at BW3s for some wings and hanging out. Unfortunately, the wings were a little over cooked tonight – they were much better a lunch last week. And apparently I’m more sensitive to spice today too, since I was having a hard time finishing my Mango Habanero wings. Li-Tao and I talked about possibly going in on some rental property together. Something to investigate further tomorrow.