December 2009

There were 42 posts published in December 2009 (this is page 4 of 5).

Lock your screensaver using your phone

blueproximity_conlogo

I’ve often wondered what it would take to have my PC know who I am without having to type in my password every time. Typing passwords is so second millennium! There should be a better way.

Today I found that there is. My friend Tarus mentioned a Mac app called AirLock that will activate and deactivate your screensaver using a Bluetooth-equipped phone. I thought that was pretty cool, so I went searching for a Linux app that does the same.

I found it, and it’s called BlueProximity. The good news is that it’s been in Ubuntu for over a year. Simply type

sudo apt-get install blueproximity

…and you’re all set.

This of course made me wonder if my $WORK could replace all the proximity card readers at the entrances with Bluetooth sensors. Why should I carry a badge if I’m always carrying my mobile phone? And why couldn’t this take the place of my car keys or door keys, for that matter?

In a nice coincidence, I got a Bluetooth headset from woot.com last week for a net price of $0. It’s only been a few days since I turned on Bluetooth on my phone. Now I have two cool things to use with it!

A good wintry weekend

Had a great weekend, as usual filled with lots of stuff.

Friday evening was spent getting the kids to their respective lessons (Travis for piano, Hallie for horse riding). Saturday morning had the whole family at Lions Park to help guide development of the new playgrounds at Lions Park and Lockwood.

After lunch on Saturday, I spent the afternoon getting some media training as part of the Operation Free group I’ve been working with. It was very informative and will help me deliver my message, no matter what the audience. I skipped out on having dinner with the group, though, as I already had dinner plans.

Dinner was, of course, a celebration of Kelly’s birthday, and we joined many friends at 18 Seaboard for the occasion. The food was great (as always) and the company even better. It was great seeing all our friends making connections with other friends. That’s one of the best things about getting to know so many people.

Sunday we didn’t have anything scheduled, so we used the time to get things organized around the house. Kelly helped the kids pick out toys they no longer played with for donation to a local charity. I tackled my messy desk and shelves and also sorted through our videotape collection. In-between we found time for playing a “bowling” game with Travis, Mad-libs with the whole family, and after-dinner Christmas carols, complete with flute, guitar, and bells. We’re getting better, even!

It was a good wintry weekend.

Bookstore envy

Yesterday I had the opportunity to pop into Quail Ridge Books and Music in the Ridgewood Shopping Center. I was only there for 10 minutes. It was enough time to browse the magazine rack and enough time to develop a strong desire for such a business to open near our home in East Raleigh. While we have a Borders two miles away at Six Forks and Wake Forest Road, there’s nothing like an independent bookstore.

It’s sad to say that I’ll probably never see it happen.

No-go for snow

Looks like all we’ll get Saturday night is rain. Latest forecast discussion:

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT…
MODELS HAVE REALLY ACCELERATED THE TIMING OF BOTH THE COASTAL LOW AND THE UPPER WAVE PASSAGE THE PAST COUPLE OF MODEL RUNS…WITH THE NAM THE ONLY MODEL KEEPING PRECIP ACROSS THE AREA AFTER 00Z SUNDAY. IN FACT THE GFS…GEM AND THE EC NOW HAVE THE SURFACE LOW APPROXIMATELY 500 MILES EAST OF THE DELAWARE/MARYLAND SHORE…WITH THE UPPER WAVE CLOSE BY. IN SHORT…THE FASTER TIMING RESULTS IN LESS TIME FOR TEMPERATURES TO REACH VALUES THAT FAVOR DENDRITIC GROWTH. THUS DON`T EXPECT MORE THAN A FEW FLAKES ACROSS THE NORTHERN TIER BEFORE PRECIP COMPLETELY SHUTS DOWN…MAKING THIS
A NONE [sic] EVENT.

No snow but it will still be cold enough to finish off my tomato plants. Bah!

A real danger to driving safety

older-driver

I’ve been thinking more about the recent N.C. ban on texting while driving, specifically how utterly useless the law is. It got me thinking that if our legislators were serious about making the roads safer, perhaps they would pass a law requiring older drivers to submit to additional screening as they get older. Such a law might have saved the life of a 42-year-old motorcyclist as well as the life of a six-year-old girl getting off her school bus.

I generally support the efforts of the AARP but they were dead wrong in opposing this bill. I hope that Rep. Ric Killian and the rest of General Assembly gets bold enough to pass this bill during the next session.

Snow this weekend?

Looks like snow is a possibility this weekend. This came from today’s NWS forecast discussion (emphasis mine):

THE FORECAST BEGINS TO GET REALLY INTERESTING LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND SATURDAY EVENING WHEN MID-LEVEL CAA ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER WAVE STARTS TO SPREAD INTO THE AREA FROM THE WEST…WITH CAA IN THE LOW-LEVELS KICKING IN AT THE SAME TIME AS LIFTING OFFSHORE LOW REINFORCES THE LOW-LEVEL NELY FLOW. A NARROW BAND OF HEAVIER PRECIP IS POSSIBLE AS THE 850 LOW LIFTS ACROSS THE AREA…WITH MODELS SHOWING STRONG 850-500MB FRONTOGENESIS ACROSS THE AREA. PROXIMITY OF THE FRONT AND LOW TO THE COAST WILL BE A DETERMINING FACTOR IN BOTH THE WESTWARD EXTENT OF PRECIP AND THE STRENGTH OF THE LOW-LEVEL CAA SURGE…BUT MODELS ARE IN REMARKABLE AGREEMENT WITH SHOWING THE ENTIRE COLUMN COOLING BELOW FREEZING ACROSS THE NORTHERN/NORTHWEST PIEDMONT SATURDAY EVENING BETWEEN 21 TO 00Z…TRANSLATING EAST ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH DAYBREAK SUNDAY. BUT AS IS ALWAYS THE CASE…IT WILL BE A FINE LINE/NARROW WINDOW BEFORE THE INVADING COLD/DRY AIR SURGE COMPLETELY DRYS THE DENDRITIC GROWTH ZONE. GFS IS VERY QUICK TO DRY OUT THE COLUMN…WHILE THE NAM IS A LITTLE SLOWER…MAINTAINING DEEP MOISTURE AND LIFT WELL ABOVE THE -15 TO -18C LAYER. THIS FITS WELL WITH P-TYPE TRENDS AS WELL. IN SHORT…AREAS ACROSS THE NORTHERN PIEDMONT AND NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN COULD SEE SOME MEASURABLE SNOWFALL SATURDAY EVENING AND SATURDAY NIGHT.
 Continue reading →

Satellite

Satellite
Elvis Costello

She looked like she learned to dance from a
series of still pictures
She’s madly excited now, she throws her hands
up like a tulip

She looks like an illustration of a cocktail party
Where cartoon bubbles burst in the air,
champagne rolls off her tongue
Like a second language
And it should have been her biggest night
The satellite looks down on her as she begins
to cry

All over the world at the very same time people
sharing the same sorrow
As the satellite looks down her darkest hour is
somebody’s bright tomorrow
Continue reading →

Bobby Bowden retires

Bobby Bowden

Bobby Bowden

The news is all over the sports world that Florida State University head football coach Bobby Bowden has coached his last season. It was inevitable (and made moreso by the team’s recent foundering) but it’s still a sad day for college football.

I grew up a Florida State fan and have always thought Bowden was the epitome of a college football coach. There will certainly never be another one like him. As Birmingham News sports columnist Kevin Scarbinsky pointed out:

Bear Bryant didn’t build Ala­bama from next to nothing. Joe Pa­terno didn’t start Penn State from virtual scratch. Bobby Bowden turned Florida State from a former girls’ school into a national football power.

Thank you, Bobby Bowden.

Phone bill rises 25%

vitelity

Last summer I bragged about our cheap home phone bill of $8 per month. I did the math today and was alarmed to see our bill has risen a steep 25%. That’s right: it’s now $10 per month!

It seems the addition of e911 service is the main culprit. It added $1.50 per month per DID to our bill. It’s a small price to pay for the convenience of 911 service, though, so I’m not complaining!