Camping and Conversation

Going to pick up Mike in Edmonton, then heading to Chitek Lake for Camping and Conversation with LT and whoever else stays at the cabin this weekend.

- Peace

Linux a hit: Frozen Bubble

My daughter was quite impressed with the games that come with her Linux install: Frozen Bubble has become quite the hit. For those without a Linux box there is a Java Port in progress.

- Peace

D.a.v.i.d. K.i.n.g.

One of the poems my daughter wrote at school this year.

Dances like a monkey
Always has answers
Video game geek
Intellectual and funny
Definitely super crazy

Knows so much
Interesting and weird man
Never ever un-embarrassing
Going to mountain bike

The never ever un-embarrassing line comes from the fact that I sang along with the Christmas carrols at Wal-Mart.

- Peace

The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master

I'd read some interesting articles with the authors over the past few years, so I had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately I was underwhelmed. Lot's of interesting ideas, but most of them require significant research before being usable. If you're a senior developer then this book will make you think, but I'd hesitate recomending it to fresh grads: too many cool neat ideas, not enough time spent talking about when they are appropriate.

I'm not sure this book would be a big help on the road from Journeyman to Master.

- Peace

Religion is ...

... when God leaves the room and people make up rules to fill the space -- Bono

- Peace

The Joy of Tech!: A Brief History of the Internet

Can anything escape the black hole of spam?

- Peace

Belonging

I've just started, The Search to Belong: Rethinking Intimacy, Community, and Small Groups , which is based on the concept of the four spaces of belonging, and so far it seems like an interesting book.  Alot of it so far has to do with debunking the current theories of small groups.  Namely that they're the be-all and end-all of church life.  Basically, he's arguing that there are other ways to experience a significant sense of community within the church apart from small groups.  In fact, the other ways are actually necessary as ends in themselves not just as stepping stones to small group involvement.

Personally I'm finding it is helping me think through my various relationships, both their significance to me and the way I interact within them.  He's helping me see the importance of all my relationships not just my intimate ones.  That's good considering that's what he's trying to accomplish in this book.  I'm also discovering I'm most comfortable in the personal space, which is good to know. 

Begbie Falls near Revelstoke

Back in in June Wayne and I took our bikes to Revelstoke to do some trail riding. One of the trails took us to Begbie Falls and Wayne took some awsome pictures. The trails is about 2.5 km of fire road riding, fast and easy, but plenty of rocks, and about half a km of hiking to get close to the falls.

I'm just starting to experiment with blogger's new photo blogging features :)

- Peace

Slashdot Poll: Do You Sneeze When Exposed to Bright Light?

answer yes I do, I inherited it from my dad. My daughter does it too. It's funny how few people know this happens, when I explain it's a known condition people look at me like I'm crazy.

It's known as Photic Sneeze Reflex, and it happens to me when I'm in a dark building and then come into bright sun light unless I have my sun glasses on.

- Peace

2nd Annual Road Trip to Chitek Lake

LT is hosting his 2nd Annual Camping Trip and Mike and I are going up on Friday July 30 and coming back on Aug 2. Anyone from the Calgary/Edmonton/Chitek Lake corridor that would like a ride just let me know. I have room for 2 more.

- Peace

Snow Banks in July

On the way to work this morning, as I passed Anderson Road, there was what looked like snow banks. They had to plow the roads after last night's hail storm. I live just 5 km south and we had a wind, rain and lightning, but no hail. Other parts of the city got flooded out.

Weather in Alberta is just wild.

- Peace

Great Penguins! German Linux, Australian Wine

My old Dell PII 300 from 1997 had been running Win2000 for the last three years or so, but my daughter had got one too many viruses and when I cleaned them out the machine became unusable. I got the Win2000 disk from work, was told we were covered at home, but don't work there anymore so I can't re-install.

I've been insterested in Linux since my first Java app ran on it in 1998, but I've never had a reason to switch, other than just cause.

Now I have a dead Win2000 machine and it's too old for XP and I don't want to go buy a new Win2000 disk.

I also know that Linux gets hyped quite a bit, so I didn't want to waste a bunch of time on it. I googled Linux bootable CD and found out about KNOPPIX:

a bootable CD with a collection of GNU/Linux software, automatic hardware detection, and support for many graphics cards, sound cards, SCSI and USB devices and other peripherals. KNOPPIX can be used as a Linux demo, educational CD, rescue system, or adapted and used as a platform for commercial software product demos. It is not necessary to install anything on a hard disk. Due to on-the-fly decompression, the CD can have up to 2 GB of executable software installed on it.

Downloaded it, burned to CD (from my PC) and put it in the near dead dell. It booted, found the sound card and anounced it was 'Starting the boot sequence', then brought up the K Desktop [GUI] Environment. It also found my router and net connection and I was able to browse the web. I didn't need to tweak a single setting. I'm doing this post from Mozilla 1.6 on the old Dell. Works just fine.

Next step will be to get data off this machine, free up some serious disk space and then install a full version of Linux. Running KNOPPIX have given me hope that it's worth the time and effort. If you'd like a no risk way to give Linux a try KNOPPIX is the way.

For those who don't know TUX, the penguin is the official Linux mascot.

Wayne and Annemarie had invited me over for supper again, and I saw a billboard for Little Penguin Wine today. I checked out their web site and liked their Wine Pairing Tips. I picked up a bottel of their Cabernet Sauvignon, dry but smooth with a very pleasing taste. Went great the BQ Chicken.

What can I say I've a good run of luck with Penguins!

- Peace

Wired 12.07: The Trillion-Barrel Tar Pit

Interesting story on Alberta's tar sands projects, and the challenge of getting oil out of muck.

Not quite alone

Wayne and Annemarie had me over for supper last night, providing good food and good companionship. Much needed and much appreciated :)

- Peace

Sick and alone

OK so I start to feel like I'm on the road to recovery and I come down with the worst cold I've had in ages, and its triggering my Asthema as well. Sarah is in Edmonton vistiting a friend and Kim and the dog left today for Sask. I could use one of Mike's blues riffes right about now!

- Peace

Criminal Assault in Canada

Not I did not get assaulted. I did however tell a young woman at the ctrain station to put out her cigarette, cause I had gotten a good lung full of smoke and you can't smoke within three meters of a bus stop / LRT station in Calgary. Anyway I tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention, and some guy (in his late fifties) starts telling me that it was assault, cause he knows what he's talking about and you can't touch a stranger. I told him he didn't have a clue and I would love him to find a transit officer so he could be proved wrong.

But just to be sure I double checked with Google when I got home and found this:

Thus spitting at someone would constitute [assault], whereas tapping someone on the shoulder to get their attention would not.

I love Google, I love being right. Course I let this guy get way under my skin and should have been way more Christ like that I was. So I was right, and yet handled it wrong. Sigh.

- Peace

Careless Driving and other things

I got a message from a member of the Calgary Police that the guy who hit me last monday has been charged with careless driving.

Driving a vehicle on a roadway without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for persons using the roadway, is considered careless driving. This results in a court appearance, six demerit points against your licence and up to a three-month licence suspension from the courts.

I also had an MRI today to see if he did any long term damage to my head.

But my worries have been put in perspective, one of the guys I grew up with at Brunswick Street Baptist Church passed away from brain cancer last week. Not sure what to say, other than it feels very odd to have someone I grew up with die. I guess that means I'm all grown up now.

- Peace

Catch Up

I was in Edmonton this weekend for my sister's wedding. I hope to have photos to share, as all the wedding photos were taken on high end digital cameras. So you'll see me in a tux.

Made it back to work yesterday, still sore but I was able to be productive.

Both rims on my bike will need to be replaced, as will the pedals, other than that the bike seems in good shape, better than me.

- Peace

Recovery Update

Ok so I've been home since Tues. Mostly just getting sleep, parts of me still really hurt. Tons of road rash. Yuck.
Thanks for your words and prayers.

- Peace