According to the job postings at iRobot, my vacuum cleaner is programmed in LISP and running Linux. I revisited Lisp last year, but I didn't have much time to devote to it.
- posted by Jason6fg @ 10:42 AM

 
Third times the charm...
I've been wanting to run YAC (yet another caller id program) on the home network, and get Tivo in on the action. The first two internal (PCI) modem I tried were cheap - an AOpen for $20 and a Creative Modem Blaster for $25. Had to return both because they didn't support caller ID. Traded up to a US Robotics for $35+tax. Now things work and it's been fairly cool so far. Tomorrow is the day I'll probably pop Tivo open and insert a wireless networking card...

We went to Vancouver last weekend. That was a nice change of pace. Reed turns 5 in 2 weeks, so we're getting ready to spoil him some more. Batman is the big deal nowadays.
My freelancing job is winding down a bit -- it's gone from 60 hour weeks to 10 hour weeks, so that gives me a little extra time to hack & learn things (like Tivo) before I jump into another freelance job or interview for something a little more permanent.
- posted by Jason6fg @ 7:59 PM

 
I was wondering how long it would take....

Newsweek: Sending jobs offshore to countries like India seemed like a sure bet. Now, some firms are having second thoughts.
- posted by Jason6fg @ 11:58 AM

 
ok, that was weird...
Thanks to everyone that called (or thought of calling) the Funky Monkey. We made it into the Top 10 for the local band show (Garage Monkey, Sunday nights). Well, to be a little more exact, we were #1! Visqueen was a close 2nd, and Underride was in there somewhere but I don't have the details. Wow. I'm not big on competing in local music, but having people call in for local music in general is a good thing -- it let's the radio folk know there's interest in local music and they'll be more likely to continue the show.
- posted by Jason6fg @ 11:41 PM

 
most livable
This weekend I taught myself ‘Let’s Go to Bed’ (Cure), ‘Disco Man’ (Damned), and ‘Sheila Take a Bow’ (Smiths). I fixed the keyboard amp that doubles as a 2nd bass amp. The speaker wasn’t blown, the cross over stopped working. I snipped the wires and sent them directly to the speaker, leaving the horn & tweeter out of the loop. It sounds OK for acoustic guitar so I guess it’s not missing too much high end. Also “fixed” the power connector jack for the bass effect pedal I got on a Ebay a few months back. We’ll see how well it’s fixed at tonight’s practice.

Finally got ProTools MBox installed on the notebook computer… I couldn’t find the CD or manual (as the license number), but I used my Digi001 license number to do a successful download & install of the software from DigiDesign.com.

I got the MidiMan usb drivers installed on the notebook computer. This means that I can now back up my amplifier settings to the notebook for safe keeping. I dropped the amp (Johnson JM150) loading into a gig in Portland a year+ back and lost all my custom settings, so this is good insurance in case that happens again.

There’ll be some tax return money soon – it’s a toss up between getting the fret board fixed on my ‘99 Carvin, or looking into a Marshall practice amp. I like the Marshall sound, but I’m curious if their cheaper solid state amps really deliver. Tubeless amps were awful in the late 80s/early 90s, but I haven’t tried one recently… I’ve been playing my ’82 Carvin more than ’99.

Got the motorcycle started – I thought there was a problem with the battery, but Reed had hit the kill switch the last time he played on it. It needs a tire and it’s 24k service, so I dropped it off at Renton Motorcycles on the way to work. That place is huge! I didn’t have time to browser, but it looks like they had a lot (imagine a home depot gutted and then filled with motorcycles).

Within a block or two you have a motorcycle superstore, an Ikea, a Cineplex and a Keg. Not my typical preconceived notion of Renton. Speaking of which, Tacoma beat Seattle and Portland for ‘Most Livable’ (next contest is after 2009).
http://www.tribnet.com/news/story/4824644p-4763724c.html

- posted by Jason6fg @ 11:00 PM

 
sweet
Tacoma is the most stressful city in the country according to the "Sperling Stress Index" :

http://houseandhome.msn.com/Move/TheMostandLeastStressfulCities.aspx
- posted by Jason6fg @ 2:39 PM

 
One thing I liked about RedHat Linux was the ability to specify a background image to use in a command prompt window.

Is there something similar for Windows XP or do I have to write it myself? I checked out DesktopX, Windows FX, Microsoft's Tweak UI, etc...

- posted by Jason6fg @ 1:39 PM