January, 4, 2004 archives

some random ramblings of an insomniac. it happens every once in a while. sometimes i can attribute it to thoughtlessly consuming caffeine, and sometimes it just happens. (i started this at 3am or so after tossing and turning for a couple of hours.)

one of the things i started mentally composing as i tried to get to sleep (before i gave up) was something on licensing. working for mysql ab, i occasionally come into contact with licensing discussions, and they all inevitably turn into someone trying to game the system. i’ll short-circuit most of what i was going to say and just say that i fully support tim o’reilly’s concept of “freedom zero”.

speaking of gaming the system, this opinion piece from the los angeles times by a historian about the process of drafting a european constitution totally fails to acknowledge how much better people have become at doing that in the last 200 years, and the impact that has. it seems to me that people have become perhaps too digital in their moral and ethical thinking and how they talk about it. they flip a bit here and there and nestle deeply into the nooks and crannies of the rules rather than deal honestly with the fuzziness and how much intentions really do matter.

speaking of morality and ethics, one of the great things about having showtime is getting to watch penn & teller: bullshit! the show about cold reading is just brilliant. i’m looking forward to catching up on the rest of the first season, and the start of the second.

dead like me is another one i’m enjoying. i’m a bit conflicted on catching up with the various hbo shows — i’d like to try to keep watching the various series in order. it looks like season 4 of the sopranos will get replayed soon, so i’ll be able to catch up on that before the new season starts in march. i’m waiting for them to start replaying the wire from the start. i did jump into the middle of curb your enthusiasm with the recent mini-marathon, and will probably watch the last episodes of sex and the city even though i’ve only seen the first two seasons. not to turn into too much of an hbo advertisement, i also liked angels in america. and cathouse 2: back in the saddle.

pet sounds by the beach boys really is as good as they say. it seemed a little odd to me to see it at or near the top of many best-of-the-20th-century lists, but it makes more sense now that i’ve actually absorbed the whole album.

i really dislike safari’s habit of doing the little spinny-stall thing about two seconds after every page load.

i finally ran my phone and ethernet cables to my desk around the walls of my apartment instead of across the floor. i was going to do it up the wall and over the ceiling (tied to some electrical conduit), but gave that up after running it about four feet up the wall, realizing how ugly it looked, and double-checking to find out i actually had long enough cables to go around the wall.

i’m on the verge of ordering a loaded herman miller mirra. it’s a good chunk of change for a chair, but i do spend an awful lot of time in my office chair, and my current one just isn’t healthy. i tried to take the chair for a test drive at the design within reach in pasadena, but they didn’t have any on-hand (and the herman miller store that happened to be next door was closed, so all i could do was window-gawk). i was able to hit a trader joe’s on the way back from pasadena (love that gold line) and stock up on quality flour, fake cheese, and too many nuts.

i’m thinking of moving my banking and brokerage accounts to td waterhouse. cheaper trades, and the banking services all look good. i’d also get a $1 atm reimbursement and free bill payment service. i would also get a boatload of airline mileage.

it will be interesting to see how long i can maintain this rolling boil of upheaval in my life. it certainly makes things more interesting, and not always in a chinese-curse sort of way.