Y’all may have noticed some squirrelly behavior on MT.Net today. I chose to upgrade the Drupal database that hosts this site. As to be expected it was not a smooth upgrade. I spent time here and there chasing down missing tables and hacking SQL everywhere.
I think things are stable now (at least as stable as anything on MT.Net can be, ha). Holla if you find something out of place.
I used to have this CD but it walked off some time ago. I miss it.
Puzzlin’ Evidence
Talking Heads
You got the CBS…!
And the ABC…!
You got Time and Newsweek!
Well, they´re the same to me!
Now don´t you wanna get right with me?
(Puzzling Evidence)
I hope you get ev´rything you need
(Puzzling Evidence)
Continue reading
Two days does not a trend make, but I’m really encouraged by the difference I’m seeing in my commute since the new stretch of I-540 opened from Capital Boulevard to U.S. 264. Today I cruised down Capital Boulevard, getting to work in fourteen minutes, half the time it normally takes! I was amazed to make such good time. My evening commute is just as dramatically better.
The big difference is the drastic drop in truck traffic. Trucks heading east to Knightdale (or as the truckers called it, “Nightmaredale”) and U.S. 64 used to pile onto Capital for a slow crawl down to 401 or the Beltline, where they would inevitably be in the far right lane and need to merge left to get on the inner Beltline. The Beltline end of Capital was always a mess as a result.
Now trucks heading east roll right past Capital, making it driveable again. In fact, traffic moves better for commuter traffic than weekend traffic does, since the traffic lights aren’t apparently synched on the weekends.
Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so I expected smooth traffic then. Tuesday must have been Stupid Driving Day, where in spite of the I-540 opening there were multiple accidents all down Capital. Today is the first real test of the new traffic and so far it looks good. I thought I’d be the last one to crow about a new slab of concrete but this one was obviously long overdue.
[Update:] Welcome News and Observer readers!
This just in from the National Weather Service. Could freezy stuff be on the way?
A CHANCE OF SOME SLEET OR FREEZING RAIN THURSDAY MORNING
TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO DROP TO BETWEEN 28 AND 32 DEGREES TONIGHT
AND CONTINUE TO AROUND DAYBREAK THURSDAY. A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE
WILL DEVELOP NEAR THE GEORGIA-SOUTH CAROLINA COAST EARLY THURSDAY
CAUSING MOIST AIR TO FLOW NORTHWARD INTO CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA.
THIS WILL CAUSE AREAS OF PRECIPITATION TO DEVELOP FROM SOUTH TO
NORTH…STARTING NEAR THE SOUTH CAROLINA BORDER BY DAYBREAK AND UP
TO THE VIRGINIA BORDER BY 11 AM. Continue reading
The N&O did a story today on parenting-focused blogging. It ran in this morning’s Life, Etc. section with a nice quote from Kelly. No mention of the Hallie And Travis page, though. Kelly decided she didn’t want it in the article. That doesn’t stop me, though!
North Raleigh blogger and mom Kelly Swanson Turner says friends and family with young children often look for help on her blog, where she writes about her son and daughter.
“Friends will hit parenting roadblocks and say, ‘I wonder if there’s anything on the blog about it and look it up,’ ” she says.
Its kinda nice being married to a celebrity. I could get used to this!
Continue reading
Whole Lotta Things
Southern Culture On The Skids
Well I hate a good daydream ’cause once its gone
the taste in my mouth seems to linger on
Rub my eyes, looking down at my shoe
said man there’s a lotta things I’d like to do
Whole lotta things that I’d like to do
Lot in this world that I’d like to do
Well I never had sex in a hurricane
Or ran around naked in the pouring rain
never been to New Guinea
or built an igloo
but that don’t mean that I wouldn’t like to
Continue reading
We spend half our lives trying to tame our emotions and the other half trying to free them.
I was happy to see this morning that Google has released a version of Google Earth for Linux.
I’m fortunate not to need to boot to Windows often but using Google Earth has always been one reason. Now I can have that Earthy goodness using Linux too. Mondo cool, man.
I’m glad to see that one of the biggest Linux-using companies on the planet is releasing Linux versions of their amazing apps.
I’ve added gphoto2 to my Linksys NSLU2 (a.k.a. “the Slug”) running Openslug. I’ve also used gphoto2 to control my Nikon D50 camera. Thus, I have a networked digital camera which I can manipulate from anywhere on the network. The one thing I can’t do is adjust the zoom on my D50 (or pan or tilt for that matter), but nearly everything else can be controlled remotely.
So . . . my idea of building a Linux-powered balloon is one step closer to reality. I’m not about to hang my $600 camera off a balloon that hasn’t been thoroughly tested, of course, but I now have a few key pieces with which I can take aerial photos.
I also added a USB 2.0 hub to the mix, allowing for other periphials to be tacked on. This is where I’ll add my USB GPS for location and altitude info. I am also considering a USB barometer which will provide even more accurate altitude information. I also need something to transmit telemetry: perhaps a packet-radio link hooked to a small amateur-radio HT. I could add a self-contained APRS unit to the payload but I’d really like to have the Slug be able to feed the telemetry.
Eventually I’d like to explore means of making the balloon neutrally-buoyant. That way I could hold an altitude and have more control. That would be good for photographing the landscape or cities.
Perhaps I’ll start a wiki on this and let others contribute. Anyone interested?
I had another great night of sleep last night, waking up naturally around 5:30 and dozing happily until 6:30. It helped that the wife and son who used to have fevers don’t anymore. They slept better, too.
Whatever magic is in these pills – the antibiotics or steroids – something is working wonderfully. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I haven’t woken up so refreshed in probably twenty years! Once again I felt ready for some exercise this morning (though today I chose to snooze).
Its amazing how I used to accept my poor sleeping and tiredness during the day as normal. I’d been tired so long I forgot what normal was. I also didn’t fully appreciate how the little health issues can affect the bigger issues.
Now to see how I can make this last. Looks like a big part of my “health” goal this year is on the way to being resolved.
