Say Hello to Tagada.




A New Member of the Family.

Originally uploaded by bluemarvel.

There was a slight tingle at the base of my neck. My spidey-sense was kicking into overdrive as I made my way home for lunch. As I pulled in the driveway and looked at the front door, the tingles turned to sheer excitement as I saw a package had arrived.

The new Mac Mini has arrived!

Earl and I have been talking about buying either a gaming console or a computer for our home entertainment system. We’re fortunate enough to have a pretty big flat panel television and it was just begging to have a computer attached to it, affording us the opportunity to play games, archive some stuff off of the satellite and browse the web from the luxury of our sofa with a really big monitor.

Overtime pay has been cooperative in the sense that we were in the position to make the purchase, so I went ahead and embarked on the excitement of purchasing a new Mac through the online Apple Store. Few things excite me more!

It has been dubbed “Tagada“. Why “Tagada”, you ask? Good question, let me tell you. Being a very proud geek, we have more computers than your average household. I would bet to say that we have more computers than all the people that live in the apartment complex down the street put together. And being as eccentric as I am, I like to keep the computers names based on a theme. Since computers are my playground, then it’s appropriate for them to be named after amusement park rides.

The server in the basement is “scrambler”.

My PowerBook is “tempest“.

The studio Mac Mini is “himalaya”.

The linux computer is “trabant”.

The little server in the basement is “ticketbooth” (since it gives out authentication tokens to the others).

And it goes on and on from there. Thankfully, Earl has learned to be patient. Tonight, I fire Tagada up for the first time. If you need me, I’ll be parked on the couch playing Sim City.

16 August 2006 by Geek 0

Spin Again.

I just realized I had just emptied the dishwasher during my lunch hour. I find this most shocking. I always avoid the dishwasher during lunch hour.

What’s kind of freaking me out even further is that I considered starting a load of laundry before heading back to work, but luckily I remembered that the washer (2 1/2 years old) is making some really odd grinding noise that sounds like the bearings are shot. Anyone want to bet when the damn thing starts spitting grease on our clothes? I can’t even shout out grease. When the washer started making the beginnings of it’s odd rumbling noise a couple of weeks ago, I did some research to see how much it would cost to fix it. Apparently, you buy a whole bunch of preassembled parts from Frigidaire, gut the washing machine except for the door and the cycle selector knob and then put it all back together with the aforementioned new parts.

Said parts and labor would be $100 more than a new washing machine.

But I don’t want to buy a new washer. This one is only 2 1/2 years old and they don’t make this model anymore, so the dryer that’s stacked on top would become an orphan. I wonder if I can bolt that to the wall somehow.

So it’s a crapshoot as to when it’ll finally give out. In the meantime, I only run it while we’re home in fear of it otherwise breaking down, scaring the crap out of the cat and flooding the downstairs of the house.

Such adventure.

15 August 2006 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Keep It Real.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m enjoying “Who Wants To Be A Superhero?” on Sci-Fi this summer. It’s a reality show about an initial group of 12 superheroes that, in true reality show style, are being weeded down to the last one standing, who will win his or her own Sci-Fi movie and have their character featured in Stan Lee’s latest comic. It’s an interesting show in that there are many twists and turns, plus there’s groovy costumes and great cheesy special effects thrown in for good measure.

It’s “Big Brother” with a Super Geek twist.

Unfortunately, it’s a little too “Big Brother” for me, in that more than half of the contestants on the show are struggling actors with acting credits behind their name.

That sucks.

Everyone expects a reality show to be somewhat scripted. It has to be, because television producers are terrified to let anything happen on their own; ratings and ad revenue are both conquered best in a controlled environment. I understand that and I accept that.

What I don’t understand is the need to populate these “reality shows” with a bunch of actors. There are a ton of supergeeks out there that would love the opportunity to dress up in their favorite spandex outfit and prove to the world that they are a superhero. These folks would keep it real all the way. They’d get their 15 minutes of fame, show off a little bit in front of the family and friends and then quietly fade back into their secret batcave and continue to silently better the world, a little stronger and a little more able because of their experience on television.

Is it unreasonable to ask that producers use real people in their next round of reality shows? I don’t think so. Come on guys, let’s keep it real.

And yes, I’ll still watch the show, but since I’ve looked up the contestants on imdb, the fun has kind of disappeared. Small wonder YouTube has become so popular. It’s the only place you can find reality television.

14 August 2006 by Geek 0

Food, Glorious Food.

The world wide web is an amazing thing. With a simple click of a mouse, you can find yourself with all sorts of information on any given topic. And since its a web, it can keep up with my scatterbrained way of thinking, the pages can follow right along as I jump from topic to topic.

I was doing some research at work this morning on a Sonicwall firewall. I had mistakenly typed “sonic wall” into Google, instead of putting the name of the manufacturer as one word. While the search results did lead me to my desired location, it also led me to Sonic: America’s Drive In, one of the coveted “My Favorite Places To Eat” in the country. Since I am trying to eat healthy this week for the 999,987th time (I think my odometer is getting to roll over), naturally my eyes were glazed over with the thoughts of hamburgers, fries and Frito Pie. So I took a small detour on the web and visited the Sonic site. That in turn reminded me of our trip out west this past May, which led me to think about where else we had enjoyed wonderful meals. As a result, I did a little more googling, the Sonicwall firewall long forgotten and ended up on wikipedia, where I promptly found the recipe for Cincinnati Chili.

So, in an effort to try to enjoy my healthy barley soup for lunch, I’m going to post the recipe for Cincinnati Chili to be used at a later date. Now that I think about it, I don’t recall really enjoying the Cincinnati Chili all that much, but when you’re hungry, you’re game for anything.

Bon Appetit!
~~~~~

Cincinnati chili
3 3 onions, chopped
6 6 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons 45 mL cooking oil
4 pounds 1.8 kg ground beef (chuck works well)
1/3 cup 80 mL chili powder
2 tablespoons 30 mL sweet paprika
2 teaspoons 10 mL powdered cumin
1 teaspoon 5 mL ground coriander
1 teaspoon 5 mL ground allspice
1 teaspoon 5 mL dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon 3 mL cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon 3 mL ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon 1 mL ground mace
1 1 bay leaf
3 cups 720 mL water
1 can (16 oz) 450 g tomato sauce
2 tablespoons 30 mL wine vinegar
2 tablespoons 30 mL molasses
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper
In a large pot, sauté onions and garlic in oil over medium heat, stirring frequently, until onions are soft. Add beef and stir until lightly browned. Add spices (except the bay leaf) and continue to cook for another minute or two, still stirring. Add bay leaf, water, tomato sauce, vinegar, and molasses.
Simmer, uncovered, for two hours, stirring occasionally. Add more water if necessary, keeping the meat barely covered; chili should be thickened but still soupy enough to be ladled. Discard bay leaf and season with salt and pepper.

14 August 2006 by Food. 1

Blogoversary: Better Late Than Never.

Well, my blog is five years and nine days old. Here’s the very first entry:

August 4, 2001

Well here I am trying to maintain an on-line journal. I hope to do this once or twice a week to let curious people know what the heck is going on with our life.

Today Earl and I went along with my sister and her fiancée to the Pulaski Field Days. For those unfamiliar with the “field days” concept, it’s a town carnival sponsored by the local fire department to raise money. There’s amusement rides, chicken BBQs and other food, a parade, games and much other merriment. It’s also like Old Home Days, as you tend to run into people you haven’t seen in a long time. Well this year I ran into a few of my old teachers from my school days, and it was wonderful to see them. As well as some old classmates. I have said for years that I never see anyone from my particular class. And I mean NEVER! Well for once I saw someone I graduated with and a bunch of others that hung out as part of “the band clique”. And Jen and Jody won two stuffed animals on the games.

My dad is a private pilot and has built his own airplanes as well. Tonight was also the first night that I’ve ever flown in his new Acro Sport. WOW! It’s an open cockpit bi-plane (four wings instead of two) that cruises at about 110-120 MPH. He used to have a Piper J-5A from the 40s that cruised along at 80 MPH, so this one is really a rush. You get to wear the old aviator’s helmet and goggles and everything in this!

My dad has aviator fuel for blood, and he’s happiest when he’s flying or working on his airplane. We used to fly a lot together, it was nice doing it again today. I imagine that I’ll become a private pilot someday as well.

Hmmm, it seems some things never change.

14 August 2006 by Geek 1

Beach Bliss.

There’s little more that can make me happier in the summer than a weekend at Southwick Beach State Park. The weather was picture perfect with a nice breeze blowing off the lake and the daytime temperature around 70. The water was actually warmer than the air, which made swimming that much more fun.

Earl and I hiked down through adjacent Lakeview yesterday, walking about four miles along the beach before turning around and heading back to the state park. It was the furthest I had ever been down the beach from Southwicks and the walk was very relaxing. There were a few sunbathers scattered here and there but for the most part it was Earl and I and Mother Nature. We decided to take advantage of the desolation and go swimming without bathing suits. 38 years old, a native of the area and it was my first time skinny-dipping in Lake Ontario! Whoo hoo!

Last night we watched the sun go down over the lake and then settled in front of a blazing campfire. I made my traditional batch of popcorn over the hot coals of the fire and it came out pretty good. At least it didn’t resemble a piece of charcoal when I dumped it out onto the plates.

This morning we were up around 8:30 a.m. and off the site by 10:00. NYS wants you off the site by 11:00, we figured we’d give them an hour. We’re now settled back home for the afternoon, catching up on chores and getting ready to tackle the work week.

13 August 2006 by Fun and Games Dept 1

Southwick Beach State Park.

Earl and I have set up camp for the weekend at my favorite state park in New York State, Southwick Beach State Park. “Southwicks”, as the locals refer to it, is located on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario, about 20 miles south of Watertown. It’s one of the few state parks in Upstate New York to have real, all-sand beaches, complete with sand dunes and dune grass. It’s one of only a handful of places in the eastern United States where you can get a real sunset over the water, just as if you were watching over the Pacific. Looking out on Lake Ontario (and probably the other Great Lakes) is like looking out onto the ocean. It’s kind of cool.

Southwicks has a camping area right on the beach. Unfortunately, because these sites are so popular, you can’t book them through the traditional NYS State Park reservation system. Instead, you must participate in a lottery at the beginning of the year and hope that your lucky number comes up so you can get the coveted “Supersite”, one of the very few sites on the beach that have a tree.

We’re not on the beach this trip but instead we are situated in “D” area, back in a beautiful wooded area on a corner site, another coveted site among the pop-up and RV crowd.

To the south of Southwicks along the beach is the Lakeview Wildlife Management area, which is run by the New York State Department of Conservation. The presence of the area means there’s no development at all for quite a few miles along the lake, affording beach lovers with miles and miles of nothing more than water, dunes and sand. In the more remote section of this beachfront is an informal nude beach, which has a little bit of a gay thing going on. It find it a little humorous that I grew up not too far from here and had no idea of the existence of this out of the way expression of personal freedom, perhaps I would have furthered my transition to adulthood a little sooner than college.

Earl and I are have just returned from cleaning ourselves up and getting ready for the day’s activities. We have a nice little lunch planned and then a considerable hike mapped out along the beach and the dunes. We’ve stocked up on sunblock, hats and towels and are anxious to enjoy this little piece of “ocean” that’s only missing the salt.

12 August 2006 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Liquid Situation.

By now everyone has heard about the new security precautions in place for those flying, with one of the new precautions being that you can’t bring liquid onto an airplane. While the necessity of this new precaution is easily questioned, many passengers are complying by throwing out their liquid personal belongings before going through security checkpoints. Apparently some folks in New Jersey at Newark International Airport decided they couldn’t live without their Maybelline or whatever and stocked up on the items they had just thrown out by stopping in one of the airport convenience boutiques, intending on bringing the items on the plane.

Now, I’m not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but the idea of the security checkpoints is to screen for items that can’t be brought on the plane. Bully for them for thinking they made the passenger concourse a safer place by giving up their makeup and whatnot, but I’m pretty confident the new rules applied to the actual airplane as well. Apparently they were quite shocked when they couldn’t bring their newly purchased items on the plane.

11 August 2006 by Why. 1

It’s O.k.

There are times when I often wonder if I’m doing enough in the world to contribute to the human experience. My job basically focuses on technology and I wonder if I am using my tech powers for the greater good. I think the Universe gave me some hints today about how I’m doing.

This morning I had three internet trouble calls in a row. For the most part it was pretty mundane, routine stuff. The first caller was a man who was waiting for an important software patch to be e-mailed to him. He had thought out servers had swallowed the attachment when actually Outlook Express was denying him access to it because it might be a virus that would be detrimental to the welfare of his Windows system. He assured that it wasn’t, I showed him how to get what was rightfully his, and then he asked me, “Why does Microsoft do that, anyway?” I gave him a brief explanation of the what and why of Microsoft’s thinking and then pointed him in the direction of Mozilla Thunderbird (a free, open-source alternative to Microsoft Oulook Express). He downloaded and installed it while I was on the phone with him and he made the comment that it seemed easier to use. He then thanked me for the information.

My second caller was an elderly woman who was having difficulties getting her e-mail, as she was concerned that she wasn’t getting any from anywhere. I took a peek at her mailbox and saw about 300 messages for viagara and the whatnot, and a few scattered e-mails from someone with the same last name. I relayed the information to her and she perked up and said “those are from my son in Iraq!” I became SuperTech and rid her of the spam, which was clogging up her mailbox and she was able to download the messages from her son. I then went in and adjusted her spam quarantine settings so that she wouldn’t get so many viagara e-mails. “What am I going to do with viagara?” she asked. She told me how much she appreciated my help and went on her way.

The third caller was another elderly woman who told me that she was 80 and didn’t really have much to do but read recipes and search for stuff on Google. She couldn’t get her ancient computer to dial in like it has since it was new seven (!) years ago, so I walked her through her dial-up settings, airing out my rusty knowledge of Windows 95 along the way. Like the previous caller, she was concerned about the spam she was receiving, her comment being “Why would I want to date a black man? I don’t mind that they’re black, but I’m 80 and I can’t keep up with them!”. I sort of chuckled and cranked up her quarantine settings, hoping to thwart of her electronic suitor. I told her to give it a whirl and call back if she had “fur diff else close EOB” (which in trouble ticket talk is shorthand for “further difficulties or we’ll automatically close the ticket at the end of the day”). She called and asked for me about thirty minutes later exclaiming with glee that she was able to dial in and get the recipe for the apple bundt cake she was making for the girls when they come over to visit this weekend. I told her I appreciated the follow up and to have a great weekend. She said, “You too J.P.!”

So I guess I made at least three people smile today. And it feels good.

11 August 2006 by Spiritual Stuff. 0

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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