645 days

Well, it was a sad moment, but it had to happen. While I was in Des Moines for that meeting, I walked over to our office there and (with permission) shutdown Parallel to bring it home.

Picking up the server was a surreal experience. First of all, it was an all-indoor five-block walk from the conference center to our Des Moines offices. You can do that in some places in Chicago for a block or two, but I think Des Moines has a lot more passageways and hamster tubes than Chicago. I and four coworkers walked into the reception area in an office where nobody knew me by sight. Someone from that office had called ahead to let them know I was coming, but all they had was my name.

The receptionist he talked to was on break, but her substitute called her and confirmed it was OK. A third person walked me back to the server room and let me in, where I walked right up to a server, logged in, shut it down, unplugged it, and walked out the front door carrying it. If I had done all that without someone calling ahead, it really would have been a scary thing.

The final uptime was 645 days and about 9 hours running continuously without a reboot. The server is now resting comfortably at my house. I only need a few small tidbits off it before it can be repurposed or retired.

In some ways, it's sad to see old hardware that has been working well come to the end of its cycle. In this case, Parallel served two full cycles - once as someone's desktop computer, once as a webserver. Fear not, because Parallel may yet ride again! Since it's been so dependable so far, I may give it a third life as a firewall/router/web filter for Jen & Eric.

Catching up...

Wow, eight days since my last post? That may not seem like much, but a lot has been going on that I really should have blogged.

I'll put a quick bullet list here, then put separate posts for each topic later.

• We're pregnant. Due date is August 17. We know it's not twins and have two rounds of baby pix. We don't have enough room in this house for a third child, so we're investigating moving.
• We've all been sick in various ways and degrees for the last two weeks. Right now it's my turn.
• I'm in the doghouse big-time because I have a business trip to Orlando next month and I decided we can't afford to bring the family, what with buying a new house. Hopefully she'll forgive me if we end up in the house of her dreams.
• Ethan cut his hair at school with art scissors again, so he's one of those weird kids who got a buzz cut just when the weather finally got cold. Or maybe he's one of those kids with weird parents who gave him... At least he looks good in a buzz cut.
• Ethan, Emma and I went sledding, which was fun until Ethan collided with another kid. Both kids went to the emergency room. Definitely more information in another post.
• The war on spam took a turn for the worse as spammers have started sending email from addresses in my domain. Now I'm getting spammed with non-delivery reports from legitimate email servers all over the world. Fear not, I have a way to strike back.
• Today is the day: I'm cutting off the email subscription to my blog right after this post publishes. For future updates, come read me on the web at http://www.toomuchblue.com/blog, or subscribe to the Atom feed at http://www.toomuchblue.com/blog/atom.xml
• For that matter, I've made some improvements to the layout of my blog, and I'm eager for comments.
• Ethan is in an indoor soccer league, and seems to be a natural for goalie.
• I found a couple more interesting websites on the development process. It'll take a little longer for me to get these out, because I'd like to talk about each one as I post it.

That pretty well hits the high points.

Art Buchwald's farewell

Legendary op/ed columnist Art Buchwald has died at 81. It's not surprising to me that he had the forethought to write one final column to be published after his death. That just seems like the kind of guy he was.

I think of a song lyric, "What's it all about, Alfie?" I don't know how well I've done while I was here, but I'd like to think some of my printed works will persevere -- at least for three years.

I know it's very egocentric to believe that someone is put on earth for a reason. In my case, I like to think I was. And after this column appears in the paper following my passing, I would like to think it will either wind up on a cereal box top or be repeated every Thanksgiving Day.

So, "What's it all about, Alfie?" is my way of saying goodbye.

Whichever way his opinions may have slanted, I've always seen him as the traditional, almost stereotypical journalist. Well-chewed cigar hanging out of his mouth while banging out his column on a manual typewriter; giving the editor as much grief as he gets in return; gettin' it done, column after column.

I haven't read anything he wrote in some time, but I remember reading him and enjoying his work. The world will not be the same without him.

Yup

We got snow alright. This layer is 10 hours worth. I may finally get to take the kids out on the three-seated inner tube we got last year for Christmas.

Monday laugh

This is going to be another 10-minute post. It has to be.

First, two cool pictures. I mentally categorize these as "image responses". Both were created for the express purpose of being included in a post on a web forum. Both made me giggle when I saw them.

Forums tend to be about just about everything that anyone anywhere can think to write about. I do mean anything. This image is for those situations, and also when the speaker is quoting someone who, frankly, doesn't really carry any weight with the listener. I hear they're coming out with version 1.2 soon.

I'm especially fond of this bunny. You see some strange stuff on forums. Not everyone speaks English, and not everyone who speaks English can write coherently. Every time I think of this picture I have to suppress a grin. I must admit I have even suppressed the urge to include this in an email reply on many occasions. (Be warned: now that I've shown it around, you may be next!)

Finally, I made two interesting discoveries this morning:

• The details of Apple's new iPhone
• How little some people are impressed by the iPhone (warning, language)
• Uncyclopedia, a spoof on Wikipedia, wherein I found the above mockery of the iPhone.

Oh, uh, I guess that's three things.

This cannot pass

I should be downstairs already, but this story turns my stomach.

Rice appeared before the Senate in defense of President Bush's tactical change in Iraq, and quickly encountered Boxer.

"Who pays the price? I'm not going to pay a personal price," Boxer said. "My kids are too old, and my grandchild is too young."

Then, to Rice: "You're not going to pay a particular price, as I understand it, with an immediate family."

I have to agree with the author of the editorial:

It's hard to imagine the firestorm that similar comments would have ignited, coming from a Republican to a Democrat, or from a man to a woman, in the United States Senate. (Surely the Associated Press would have put the observation a bit higher than the 18th paragraph of a routine dispatch from Washington.)

Dateline: Des Moines

As I write this, I'm sitting in a hotel room in Des Moines, IA, for an all-hands meeting. Luckily, our meeting is only a few blocks away from the frenzy from the inauguration of Iowa's new governor.

I took a picture out the window when I got here.

I thought this was a bridge over a river, but the morning reveals that it is actually the highway. I guess I should have noticed that when I got here, since we came across that bridge. If you have Google Earth, you can match up these pictures with my exact location.

I only have a few minutes, so here's some quick hits on things that are on my mind.

• The President's speech was very good. He did good to accept responsibility for the problems. I think the plan can work, mostly because it allows our troops to do what they are trained and capable of doing. The new role he's calling for from the Iraqis is also very important.
• This version of the speech would also have been quite acceptable.
• I found one thing about Nancy Pelosi I like, along with several more noteworthy things I don't like.

Enjoy it while it lasts

Looks like winter may finally be upon us, and the predictions of this being a very hard winter may yet come true.

"Those who think that winter 2006-2007 is going to remain mild are in for a shock," said Bastardi. "Winter is likely to come with a vengeance. A week from now, we'll start seeing truly cold air across much of the country, and we expect this change to last."

Added Bastardi, "Whether we end up with seasonably cold weather, or something far worse, remains to be seen. There are indications that this winter could parallel severe winters of the past. Even should we not see an extremely cold and snowy conclusion to winter, you can be sure that by the end of the month, when those in the Northeast are shoveling out their driveways and sidewalks, the mild weather we're experiencing now will be a distant memory."

A monday laugh

This video is highly recommended by the Council on Things You Shouldn't Be Doing When You Have A Train To Catch, Because You Know It Won't Be Waiting Around For You, Don't You Know.

Just in case you aren't one of the 321,413 people who have already seen it at this point, it's a video of someone's dad at a comedy club. Someone's dad with a very distinctive laugh -- more entertaining than the comedian's schtick, in fact.

Kid's eye view

It's been a while since I posted a picture of Trish that wouldn't get me slapped later. This was looking out a hole in a McDonalds playplace during a late drive home.

Mouth sores lead to Alzheimer's?

A recent study suggests the gene that is the best indicator of Alzheimer's Disease also makes it easier for you to get herpes.

The latest work, announced today, shows a link between a gene and herpes simplex 1, or HSV. The form of the ApoE gene called ApoE-4 is the leading known risk factor for Alzheimer’s. And HSV is the form of herpes that causes cold sores around the mouth. More than 80 percent of Americans are infected with HSV.

The researchers, at the University of Rochester Medical Center, found that ApoE-4 effectively puts out a welcome mat for the herpes virus, allowing it to be more active in the brain.

“The data suggest that ApoE-4 may support the ability of HSV to be a more virulent pathogen,” said Howard Federoff, lead author of the research published online in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.

...

Ruth Itzhaki of the University of Manchester has conducted several studies showing a correlation between herpes and Alzheimer’s. Patients suffering from the dementia disease who also have the ApoE-4 form of the gene also have more herpes DNA in the brain regions that are affected by Alzheimer’s, she found. And people with the ApoE-4 version of the gene who have HSV are more likely to get Alzheimer’s than those who lack either the gene version and the virus.

Also, other scientists have found that people who frequently break out in cold sores are more likely to have the gene that makes them more vulnerable to Alzheimer’s.

Just in case those mouth sores you get weren't bothersome enough, now you can stay up at night worrying about getting Alzheimer's Disease. No need to thank me. I'm here to help.

[via Drudge Report]

Invasion!

The invasion has begun!

PASADENA, Calif. -- Members of the 501st Legion, a group of International Star Wars fans dressed as storm troopers march in the 118th Tournament of Roses Parade.

So, were these the bad-guy Storm Troopers from episodes 4-6, or the good-guy Storm Troopers from episodes 1-3?