Aloof Schipperke

Johnson's Law

2006-12-31T13:55:00.000-08:00

Hehe...

Those that know me have heard me refer to Johnson's Law.

Now you can own the t-shirt! :-)

Tags:

humanity humor

The long tail of the web world

2006-10-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

Hitwise has an interesting report, US - Top 25 Popular Websites. The report lists the percentage of 'visit' market share.

Site #1 (MySpace) clocks in at 4.9%, while #25 (AOL Mail) garners a 'mere' 0.26%. The total market share for all 25 sites is roughly 33%. The total market share for the top 10 is just over 28%.

I'm struck by several things when looking at these numbers.

The biggest gorilla in the zoo has less than 5% of the pie.

The market share drops quite fast, with #25 at one quarter of one percent.

The top ten sites are the only ones with more than 1% market share.

My understanding is that Hitwise measures a specific list of markets, so it's distinctly possible that it's missing some significant segments - who knows. Also, we are talking about statistics. Thar be dragons. Still, the overall curve is hard to deny. Most of the web is in the tail!

I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader to think of popular web sites not listed in the Hitwise top 25.

Tags:

longtail

hitwise

www.aloofschipperke.com lives!

2006-10-12T18:40:00.000-07:00

As if the world needs another domain. :-)

Take a peek at www.aloofschipperke.com. It's the primary web site for all things Aloof!

I can't believe I didn't do this earlier. I wonder about me sometimes. :-)

Tags:

aloof schipperke

www.johnsonpigs.com resurrected

2006-10-12T18:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got around to resurrecting www.johnsonpigs.com. It doesn't have any of its previous content, but I expect that to change, now that we have a Johnsonpig Schwag Cafepress store.

Tags:

johnsonpig

IBM researchers: Single molecule stores data | CNET News.com

2006-08-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

One step closer to molecular computers.

Fun with Asset Databases

2006-07-13T21:45:00.000-07:00

The New York Times is carrying a story on various absurdities found in the National Asset Database.

As an IT Architect, I am no stranger to 'asset databases', as they are a common element in architecture frameworks. Frankly, I generally find them maddening, for reasons made clear in the article.

The New York Times article presents an excellent cautionary tale on the dangers of a naive asset database implementations. Perhaps naive is too harsh, I'll let you be the judge. Having said this, database content based on inconsistant or incomplete definitions typically results in a database full of invalid data. The fact that the asset database is used in threat calculations brings the problem to an entirely new level. At best, it can result in a plethora of humorous and ridiculous examples of perceived risks. At worst it can result in fundamentally flawed input into calculations used for critical decisions related to national security.

Here's the bottom line. Are you an technology architect, designer, or coder? If so, bookmark the New York Times article. The next time you see an asset dictionary slapped up on the table, pull out the article and ponder your next steps. The rest is up to you.

Tags:

architect

databases

security

New Scientist Tech - Bacteria made to sprout conducting nanowires

2006-07-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

This is astounding - definitely worth a read.

It's not hard to envision this evolving to a larger scale.

RIF

2006-06-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

Reduction in Force
Layoff
The Big Boot
We are no longer in need of your services

It's all good...

Aloof Schipperke Schwag

2006-06-23T20:15:00.000-07:00

The Aloof Schipperke chooses not to even notice your intense interest in this most excellent schwag...

On Bullshit

2006-06-17T16:07:00.000-07:00

I just read 'On Bullshit', a book written by Harry G. Frankfurt. My copy was given to me by a friend, Michael Petiford. I was intrigued, as Michael doesn't recommend books to me too often.

I was doubly intrigued after seeing the book for the first time. It's an unassuming looking little book, measuring about 3" by 5". It is approximately 70 pages, with a largish size font for the text.

I was triply intrigued by the title, 'On BullShit.' I was hooked. I sat down the next day and read it.

'On Bullshit' presents an academic level exploration on the concept of bullshit. I was originally going to list several of the areas of bullshit exploration, but instead decided to simply encourage any reader that has read an academic paper to read this book. I haven't had so much fun reading a scholarly work in years.

Tags:

book
review

Wired 14.06: The Rise of Crowdsourcing

2006-06-10T16:52:00.000-07:00

Wired 14.06: The Rise of Crowdsourcing

If you aren't into photography, you probably aren't familier with the world of stock photography. Regardless, the article at Wired is worth a read.

There are lessons to learn here. The mechanics at play are also present in other industries. I can imagine this happening to lots of industries as digitial technology continues to amplify our ability to create and deliver products.

Jacked Up

2006-03-23T06:16:00.000-08:00

Jacked Up
Originally uploaded by Aloof Schipperke.

Fun with 1:18 scale. My wife bought me a set of 1:18 scale car mechanic tools.

Evelyn

2006-03-23T06:14:00.000-08:00

The Hypnotizer
Originally uploaded by Aloof Schipperke.

She's such a poser.

PixVue

2006-01-31T19:40:00.000-08:00

PixVue is a metadata editor. I found it while searching through dpreview.

It wedges into the right-click menu in the Windows file explorer. From there, you can edit metadata and manage PixVue.

It updates IPTC/XMP data directly. I like this feature. It avoids yet another program-specific database, the usual interoperability problems, and the associated backflips in the workflow.

It also adds a 'My Gallery', where you can drag and drop selected files into virtual folders. I haven't played with this feature, but it looks interesting.

I ran across a few display quirks when updating the explorer window, but this are minor annoyances when compared to how easy it becomes to update image metadata.

You might want to give it a try if you want/need to manage your metadata, particularly keywords.

Topics:

Ice Climbing

2006-01-28T12:25:00.000-08:00

Combining the best of art, climbing, artic hell, and idle hands.

IceWall

Topics:

Fish Fry

2006-01-26T20:31:00.000-08:00

Lots and lots of angel fish fry.

Angel Fish Eggs

2006-01-21T09:22:00.000-08:00

Fish Eggs Tight
Originally uploaded by Aloof Schipperke.

The image points to a Flickr page with a pointer to a wider shot.

RC Car Camera

2006-01-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

RC Car Camera 2
Originally uploaded by Aloof Schipperke.

Take a wireless camera, some rubber bands, and some careful engineering - voila!

New Camera

2006-01-05T07:40:00.000-08:00

pics-of-new-camera 001
Originally uploaded by Aloof Schipperke.

w00t!

One of the best pictures I've taken with my cheapo HP digital camera: a picture of my new Olympus E-300.

A New Year

2006-01-05T07:23:00.000-08:00

may this year be better than the last.

Storing Internet Media

2005-11-22T09:20:00.000-08:00

My nephew David turned me on to Flickr. It works quite nicely for storing, navigating, viewing, and tagging pictures. Flickr is well worth a look.

Flickr only does pictures, so I went hunting for a decent place to store other media types. I was primarily interested in finding liberal storage, minimal upload constraints, a zippy web UI, the ability to feed off rss for pictures from other folks, and a promising API for future projects. Oops - forgot to mention one more critical feature: no cost.

I've found two that look particularly promising. They don't meet all my criteria, but they seem workable enough - we'll see...

Google Video provides storage with a very liberal policy on size and upload frequency (i.e. no real limits). On the minus side, they use a flash player to display videos, making it hard to use them as a storage mechanism.

Ourmedia is another promising candidate. Like Google Video, they are rather liberal in their upload constraints. They use Internet Archive for storage, so I imagine disk space is not a problem. My primary gripe with the site is the painfully slow performance. On the plus side, they also support audio, pictures, and text uploads. They also avoid the use of flash for viewing the videos, so you aren't locked into their web UI.

2005-04-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

My nephew David shows me Picasa awhile back. The package is now owned by Google, so I thought I would look at any early features that link Picasa to Google and friends. This is a blog posting made from within Picasa.

My Schipperke won't play fetch

2004-12-19T06:56:00.000-08:00

My schipperke won't play fetch. It's always confused me. She'll follow the ball as I play with the other dogs. She'll even lean towards me as if to anticipate my tossing of the ball. She'll gladly take the ball if it's handed it to her, only to scurry off to a corner, frustrating the other dogs (they dare not take it from her). Don't even think of tossing the ball to her. She'll simply watch it bop her on the nose, look up at you, and walk away with a hurt feeling in her eyes.

This particular quirk has confounded me for some time. She's actually a very playful dog. She likes to be held. She likes to have her belly rubbed. She particularly likes to push back with her feet while on her back, prompting me to grab her feet and rock her back and forth. She loves this game.

Still, it seems like a dog should want to play fetch.

Another quirk, this one more concerning, is that sometimes when I reach to pet her, she hops back, only to come back waiting for me to reach out for her. My first reaction was that this was part of a suspicious streak common in skippies. She does it less often with my wife, so I haven't been too worried.

Well, the other day I figured it out - she likes to play chase - alot! Alot!

I'll reach for her. She'll lurch back. I'll wave me hands in a big scary gesture, and make like a monster, coming after her. The next several minutes are spent taking turns chasing each other around the house, culminating in a huge round of hugs and happy dog.

So the other day, I came up with a new game to play with our dogs. I get the tennis balls out, toss them out across the floor. I play soccer with the other dogs while Zim and play chase with each other. The other dogs are happy as I kick the bright yellow balls around the room, scurrying around to catch the balls. Zim is happy as long I can maintain a good game of chase while all this mayhem is going on.

After a good round of this game, the dogs are happy, and Zim happily comes up and sits next to me on the couch, content that her owner finally figured out how to play a good game of chase.

Humidor Cluster

2004-12-08T19:12:00.000-08:00

Humidor Cluster

Not much attention is given to clusters in the case mod world. My own Uberschwein project is a cluster, as is this project. I like how he created a compact package for the cluster. Nice job Jeffrey!

Osmos wheel :: roue orbitale - orbital wheel :: GlobeHolding

2004-12-05T20:27:00.000-08:00

Osmos wheel :: roue orbitale - orbital wheel :: GlobeHolding

This is great! Hubless wheels. Just look in the gallery. Nothing else to say.

VGA over Cat5

2004-12-05T16:41:00.000-08:00

VGA over CAT5

Ever wanted to use structured wiring for other signals? You can use baluns to do it. This link references a vga balun, but there are others. The connectors referenced here aren't cheap, but sometimes that doesn't matter.

I'm thinking of using something similar at home, but I'll probably be hunting down a way to build them myself.

Virtual Bubblewrap - Pop Now! Pop bubble wrap online - since 1996

2004-12-05T11:08:00.000-08:00

Virtual Bubblewrap - Pop Now! Pop bubble wrap online - since 1996

I found this one on boingboing.

Stress relief is an important part of System Administration. Here's an alternative to ballistic techniques. :-)

An Introduction to Cluster Ballooning

2004-12-04T07:28:00.000-08:00

An Introduction to Cluster Ballooning

I saw this on slashdot.

It only goes to show what you can do with clusters. :-)

My schipperke - a pretty good picture

2004-12-03T17:54:00.000-08:00

schipperke_security.jpg (JPEG Image, 648x487 pixels)

Here's a picture of my schipperke, Zim.

David Monaghan took the picture and did the photo manipulation for the final product.

It's surprising difficult to take good pictures of a schipperke, due to the hair. It's an intensely deep black color, with seemingly no highlights of other colors. Outdoor lighting seems to work better than others. Interestingly, David took the picture using a digital camera set for indoor lighting. The picture came out with a blue tint, but was adjusted in post-production. The final picture still has a slight blue tint, but the subtle tones in the fur are nicely visible.

A Joyous Return from a 4-day Weekend

2004-11-29T18:27:00.000-08:00

Ok, so here is how it works. I spend a very nice 4-day weekend at home. Since I didn't want to be cheated out of one ounce of the weekend, I didn't end up getting to sleep until 1am. Ok, so Monday morning arrives. I drag my butt out of bed, and somehow manage to navigate to work. How that works is still a mystery.

I arrived at work a 6:45am, or so. I somehow manage to handle a user problem related to a duplicate IP address. I think the same mysterious part of my brain that handled the morning commute is somehow at play here, but I was too tired to ponder it at the time. I manage to catch up on my email, then I checked my calendar for the day.

Egad! I got two all-day meetings with out-of-town visitors. Neither group has a solid agenda for the day, but it's ok with me if it's ok with them. I spend all day bouncing between two all-day meetings. One would think that this little bit of excitement would be enough to vanquish my fatigue...

But no... For some reason the lights seemed slightly dimmer than I remembered. I'm sure it was all in my mind, but this is a pale consolation when you're praying for something that stops you from outright sawing logs right there in the meeting. Don't get me wrong - the topics in the meetings were all important to at least some portion of the attendees, but none of the early-morning material was relevant enough to lift me out of my fog.

Oh ya - I forgot to mention the coffee. How can four 16-ounce coffees not do *something* to remove the stupor?!? It's probably some type of plot. If I drank that many mugs of my home-brewed coffee I'd be bouncing off the walls. As is, it probably only prevented me from falling sound asleep in the meetings.

At any rate, I survived the day, to make it home. But wait! No no - seriously - wait until you hear this. I get home only to find my wife sound asleep. Even the sound of four dogs barking with glee was not enough to wake my wife upon my arrival. So I grabbed a beer and posted this blog entry.

They unbroke the recent copyright bill

2004-11-28T08:38:00.000-08:00

Wired News: A Kinder, Gentler Copyright Bill?: "Digital rights groups said while there is still cause for concern in
the bill, it is a vast improvement over the previous version."

Yea! It almost restores your faith in humanity and government to see things like this. This could have been catastrophic to digital media.

ResellerRatings.com

2004-11-27T10:04:00.000-08:00

ResellerRatings.com - Customer Reviews of Online Stores and Compare Prices

Most of my purchases are done online, particularly computer hardware. ResellerRatings is an excellent way to confirm the service provided by online electronics vendors.

2004-11-27T07:18:00.000-08:00

Hah! You thought this blog was orphaned, didn't you? Go ahead, admit it. You wanted it to be stale, didn't you. It would serve to reinforce your world view of bloggers, wouldn't it? Well, wouldn't it?!? Go ahead, answer the question - wouldn't it!!!!!!

Oh wait... ok...

I feel better now. Ok, take a deep breath...

Ok, I'm definitely better now.

2003-04-20T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting link on using blogs for NOCs.

2003-04-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

I just installed pocketblog on my ipaq. It seems workable.

2003-04-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

The canonical "first post" to the blog.