Author: bob

I helped a lady carry her luggage down the escalator this morning. She told me she had a hernia condition and that I was very kind and which way does she go to get to the airport. I said, “Blue line, this platform.” I’m a nice guy right? Wrong. She walked down to the end of the platform, I stayed somewhere near the middle, then I proceeded to watch her get on the next Orange line train, without making an effort to stop her. So, I’m a jerk. (Someone else told her so she managed to get off the train in time.)

The coolest thing Georgia Tech has ever done: hooking the laundry machines up to the Net. Too bad they just bought some company’s software instead of rolling it themselves.

Accenture (aka Andersen Consulting) is (still) running an ad campaign sporting Tiger Woods (“Be a Tiger” – PDF). Who sees these and thinks, oh hey, Accenture will do to my IT infrastructure what Tiger Woods did for the PGA? Also regarding the linked ad: I didn’t know golf normally involved so much theory. But, yes, Stephen Hawking himself has written several papers on the composition of bunkers (“Hawking Sand”) and their impact on the dynamic subspace domain of score gradients. Of course the real story here is that they are trying to make an impression on the decision makers, who play golf four days a week. Hire us for your consulting work and you can pretend you are good at this ridiculous “sport.”

My favorite unix utility is dd. Most recently, it saved all of my music on my multitracker’s dying hard drive. What did I do before unix, copy /b?

I hate the April 1st internet scene. Except for this awesome tutorial — that one is cool.

I don’t know why, but the demise of the Crystal City Underground (where I work) fascinates me. Perhaps it’s because the place is dominated by the most marginal of retail stores yet the least worthwhile seem to be the ones with the most staying power. Since the last update, the following stores have left: B. Dalton, Kraven’s deli, The Dutch Lady, Like On TV, the store that sold earrings to prostitots, and whatever used to be between the Village Cobbler and The Engraving Store. Mad About Bears and Puppet Heaven: both still around. I marvel at the demographics that make Taco Bell an unsustainable business while any place that sells statues of dogs is a guaranteed hit.

The best part about Coinstar, after fattening your wallet with bills and the satisfyingly loud noise of money-meets-machinery, is all the reject change that the device spits out. I can’t help but wonder what story lies behind the migration of 22 euro-cents from the Old World into the penny tray of whichever stateside cash register housed them before they wound up in my pocket. The river of money is a marvelous thing. And I got a wheat penny too.

Well now that Tech’s been knocked out I don’t have to care about the tourney anymore. Good luck NC State!

Last weekend I finished up painting my bedroom. I’m not really happy with the color though: I was expecting something a little darker or more silvery than I wound up with. Something a bit more masculine. The color Hemingway might paint his bedroom between killing a bull and drinking a tumbler of rum straight up. But instead I have this light pastel blue. So I may just repaint it another color while I still have all my furniture moved out. What does the bluesterror readership think?

Here is my living room. I like it except for the clash with the existing wallpaper.

Now 23-14. Told you I suck. Best games of yesterday were the upsets of Syracuse and Kansas, and the best shot of the night was Vermont’s Sorrentine’s three ball from another zip code. Tech won! ACC is undefeated in the first round. After watching Duke struggle in the first half against Delaware St. before pulling away, it occurs to me that they are a much weaker team without the helping hand of ACC officiating. Too bad I picked them. If they both make it, the UNC game will be interesting.