Rants and musings, without care for substance.
Mar 16th, 2010 by Alex
In reference to problems with configuration management (CM).
Me: It’s one problem with CM.
Me: Processes of processes defining processes.
Me: Meantime, nothing gets done.
Coworker: You sir have just described the entire Government.
Three sentences. Not too shabby.
Mar 15th, 2010 by Alex
Having received the 2010 Census paperwork this weekend, I have a few thoughts.
Your answers are confidential. This means the Census Bureau cannot give out information that identifies you or your household. Your answers will only be used for statistical purposes.
I have no doubt that the household counts are to be used for statistical purposes, but why ask for the residents’ first and last names? I can’t conceive of a statistically relevant reason for doing so, unless the Department of Commerce is going to be analyzing the prevalence of particular names; I can only hope that we aren’t pissing away our tax dollars on something so trivial when there are bigger things afoot.
The answers you give on the census form cannot be obtained by law enforcement or tax collection agencies. Your answers cannot be used in court. They cannot be obtained with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
How exactly are fines levied, then? By definition, the Census Bureau can’t share the information necessary to fine an individual. They can’t send a file over to the Department of Justice for prosecution, nor can a fine be tacked onto your taxes through the Internal Revenue Service. I’m honestly curious about this one. Maybe I’ll find out…
Practically speaking, with an endeavor this large I suspect that the Census Bureau will have their hands full with collection long before tabulation is anywhere near complete. Coordinating thousands of employees and temporary contractors, dealing with GPS reception problems, lost laptops and other hardware failures, etc. The list goes on. All within the nine months they’re given.
I believe in enumeration as provided for in Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution. I am wary of the loose language in 13 USC § 141 (emphasis mine).
(a) The Secretary shall, in the year 1980 and every 10 years thereafter, take a decennial census of population as of the first day of April of such year, which date shall be known as the “decennial census date”, in such form and content as he may determine, including the use of sampling procedures and special surveys. In connection with any such census, the Secretary is authorized to obtain such other census information as necessary.
I feel — perhaps cynically so — that such broad language as applied to the collection of personal data — while a statistician’s wet dream — is a short half-step away from something more Orwellian.
Therefore, I will happily provide the number of residents living in the household. No lies. The omission of gender and ethnicity shouldn’t be relevant to “the amount of government money [our] neighborhood receives” in any case. If that means the Department of Commerce is going to fine me, so be it. That $100 fine will be the cost of my civil disobedience.
Mar 14th, 2010 by Alex
After weeks of build time and rehearsals, Rock N’ Roll Revival XXI opened this weekend. After four completely sold out shows, I find myself singing along and humming the tunes. The show has come together nicely, just as it always does. So far, we’ve received nothing but positive feedback.
Now that I’m more of an adviser there isn’t much hands on work for me after the set is constructed and all the equipment is installed. I spent most of my time up in the sound booth beside the front-of-house console.
I got to watch and listen — with a sense of pride — in awe as our students put on one hell of a show.
The booth (despite having an unobstructed view of the stage) isn’t the best place for photos, since the spotlights tend to wash out the vocalists. It isn’t as noticeable when you’re sitting in the seats, but through a camera’s lens it is much more jarring. You can either fiddle with white balance settings or try to snag something before the spotlights open up.
In addition I ventured out of the booth a few times, taking advantage of my access to take a few pictures that wouldn’t be seen otherwise.
Four more shows to go.
Mar 13th, 2010 by Alex
If you don’t eat meat, you might want to skip this one.
Over the past week, my coworkers and I made four treks to BBQ Dave’s for lunch. We ate a lot of meat, so much that I didn’t need much dinner. It would have been five days, but the rain started up on Friday. Dave’s primary business is catering, but he serves lunches most days. By lunch, I mean meat. You can find Dave’s truck and trailer-mounted grill/smoker setup parked on the side of the road near the Savage MARC station, on Dorsey Run Road just south of MD-32.
On most weekdays, Dave has a single main item on the menu. There are no sides. There might be drinks, but I didn’t notice anyone buying any. There’s BBQ sauce and seasonings, napkins, utensils, and meat. When he’s out the day’s meat he packs up and leaves, so get there early (as in, before noon).
His menu advertises Half Smokes ($2.25) and Kielbasa ($5) daily, but now and then he’ll mix up the menu a bit. It all depends on weather and availability. If you’re in doubt or really want something particular, give him a call at 240-535-6785 before heading over.
On Monday, there was Pulled Pork and Kielbasa.
It might be served on a sub roll (as many of Dave’s lunches are), but this is not your typical shredded pork sandwich; there were huge chunks of pork that I had to pull at and tear with my teeth. The pork was tender, slightly dry around the edges, but encrusted with spices that stay with you for a while. I liked that it was dry, rather than pre-soaked in BBQ sauce; letting me put on as much or as little BBQ sauce as I wanted. Highly recommended.
On Tuesday, there was Beef Brisket.
One of the office favorites, a mess of sliced beef brisket (just shy of a quarter-inch apiece) infused with a smokey flavor. A little bit of excess fat, but nothing compared to the quantity you get. The sub roll is just a delivery device and mechanism to absorb any grease from the fat; I ate each slice with my hands, dipping in the BBQ sauce. Recommended.
On Wednesday, there were Pork Chops and Smoked Meatballs.
I didn’t have these, but they sit atop the same sized sub rolls. I couldn’t get over how large these things were.
The smoked meatballs were a change from the regular menu, so I figured I’d give ‘em a try. I wasn’t disappointed. While they’re probably just frozen meatballs, they’ve been smoked and were simmering afterward in a rich BBQ sauce made with Dave’s spice rub. Not a traditional BBQ meat per se, but the way I figure a heck of a lot better than a Subway sub, and a nice change from the raw meat lunches of Monday and Tuesday. There must have been twenty meatballs on the roll. I actually managed to eat this one like a sub, except that I still had about ten fallen meatballs in the container when I was through. The sauce completely soaked through the roll, making it all the more delicious. Highly recommended.
On Thursday, there was mixed Chicken (whole breasts, drumsticks, thighs, etc) and Half Smokes.
Having never tried a half smoke, I had to try it. It’s like a hot dog, but bigger, spicier and more coarse (like a sausage). My first thought is that it would be good topped with a sweet chili (similar to how Ben’s Chili Bowl serves it, though I’m not sure if Ben’s chili is sweet). It was good, but not so good that I’d go out of my way for it. But I’d take it over a typical hot dog any day. Worth trying.
The boneless chicken breast had to weigh at least a pound. Encrusted with rubbed seasonings, it was tender and juicy. The smoke flavor wasn’t as persistent as some of the other days, but it was noticeable (especially on the blackened skin). Delicious, but so large that I couldn’t finish it. In retrospect, I should have had Dave butterfly the thing and stick it on a roll; I could have made two sandwiches out of it. Recommended.
Additional pictures of BBQ Dave’s setup can be found on Flickr.
Mar 12th, 2010 by Alex
From time to time, I lose touch with the people who use my server. People change email addresses, get jobs in faraway cities, move on to new social circles, etc. No worries there. Yet their digital resources remain, taking up disk space and bandwidth that others could be using.
Photo archives are a big culprit, mostly because the Internet doesn’t forget. Just because there aren’t new pictures being uploaded doesn’t mean that the old pictures aren’t being accessed. In many cases, images are hot-linked from various web forum posts. Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing if the user is still active on those forums or if they’re MIA there too.
Some people suggested that I just remove the photos entirely. That results in a lot of broken images, and it doesn’t help me determine if the user is alive or not. I was thinking of using mod_rewrite to redirect requests for images to an image of my choosing, perhaps a graphic with “MIA” in text. Nothing flashy or ugly. Or perhaps just redirect them to this page.
How would you deal with this situation? Tough 404 love? Patience? Technically savvy image manipulation?
Mar 10th, 2010 by Alex
Today marks the six year anniversary of this blog.
No formal remarks, but instead a few thoughts about getting past the half-decade mark.
Six years of rants and musings, without care for substance. Longer still if you count the predecessors to this site; technically, I’ve been blogging since June 9th, 2002. I found it hard to believe, but computers are mercilessly accurate when it comes to recording dates. Somewhere along the line I started writing occasional posts with substance, or so the search engines would indicate.
Things have evolved a bit since the inception of this blog. There aren’t as many rants. There’s still some silliness and quite a bit of unnecessary punctuation and the occasional run-on sentence that does nothing useful except to disguise my true feelings and love toward proper grammar. There’s more imagery, for sure, as I’ve taken a greater interest in photography of late. More technical articles, too. Less opinion about MySpace and more about the American Community Survey. I’ve discovered that I like including imagery with my posts, to make my long-winded books a little less like textbooks and more like picture books. A lot of pictures of hunger-inspiring food, according to some of my coworkers.
I’ve found that you can’t garner readership with gimmicks, contents, or giveaways, though they are fun (and no I haven’t forgotten that I still owe you a beer, DJ) and occasionally do win people over. Instead, I’ve come across a better way. Do what you do, and folks might decide to take interest. I don’t tend to focus on any one area, which probably makes this thing painful for people thinking about following me; one day I’ll be making sense and the next spouting what sounds like technical gibberish. The only consistent thing is that I keep going. Like someone famous once said, “post frequently and post often, but if you can’t, do try to maintain some ’semblance of routine.” Regardless of frequency, continuing is its own routine.
I’ve found that more of my coworkers read than I had thought, despite keeping a relatively low profile. Family too, for that matter. I’ve given up hiding it. In fact, I’ll proudly admit that I’m a blogger (and not the cop-out “I’m a writer” bit either). I’m always surprised to hear “oh, I read about that on your blog.” It feels like a miniature version of fame. It doesn’t happen all that often, but when it does it’s an odd feeling. Flattering and unexpected, so thanks to all you lurkers who have kept me on my toes with your live in-person comments.
Going forward, there’s no guarantees. I love to write, but only when I’m inspired. Sometimes that’s often, other times my mind is completely dry. But for now, I have no intention of stopping.
Mar 8th, 2010 by Alex
I own and operate the server that hosts this blog.
In the world of NearlyFreeSpeech.net, Amazon S3, Rackspace Cloud, all of which are more fault tolerant, why would I bother running my own?
Because it allows me, my close friends and family to do whatever the heck we what. It gives us options.
So long as I’m technically capable of doing it and I’m not going to get arrested or sued, it’s cool with me. Personally, I like having a shell prompt at my disposal that isn’t tied to or restricted by my home ISP. I also like helping young and aspiring people set up an Internet presence without having to dump a lot of money into it; nothing sucks more than having to pay for hosting on a project that just doesn’t pan out, at least here the costs can be minimized.
Best of all, the users here all trust each other. No one is going to go rummaging through their data.
The server has moved around a bit in the last ten years, mostly to accommodate physical moves of its maintainers. For a few years it lived in dorm rooms and on-campus apartments, leeching bandwidth from RIT (and at one point mirroring content for College Humor, back when it was in its infancy). When I moved to Maryland the server was the very last thing to be packed, powered down mere minutes before being transported 402 miles by car before being booted up atop a video editing rack at an Annapolis-based media company. After a year or so I moved the server again, this time into the basement of a coworker. And there it’s been for the last couple years, without issue. It’s happy there.
Since the move to Maryland, bandwidth has a monetary cost associated with it. So does power. So I ask the folks who use the server to pitch in if they can. A few cases of financial hardship aside, most everyone does. It isn’t the cheapest thing out there, but it isn’t expensive either; some users just have a basic hosting configuration, while others really milk it for all they can. I think most people are content to pay a little more to have their data on a system whose owner they know and trust.
This server represents the commons. A community. Compared with a commercial hosting provider, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Mar 8th, 2010 by Alex
After staying up entirely too last on a school night, I have a few thoughts about the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. I have to ignore the sets for the most part, since I’d be drooling all over the keys for the duration.
After watching this thing from start to finish (and some previews in the middle), I realized there are quite a few movies that I haven’t gotten around to seeing yet. Up, Inglourious Basterds, The Blind Side, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Bounty Hunter, The Hurt Locker, Up in the Air, and Sherlock Homes. I’ve got my work cut out for me.
And then there was Nine, which I don’t think I’d ever heard of.
All in all, not a bad night.
Mar 7th, 2010 by Alex
The collection calls have stopped. As I suspected, it was a simple case of my phone number being on the wrong paperwork.
On Wednesday I decided to try calling Terry from the surgeon’s office during business hours. She hadn’t returned my call from a few week’s earlier, so on Monday I had left a more brief message. Little did I know at the time, but she had left another voicemail for me a few hours earlier. Classic phone tag.
Me: I’m calling in reference to [patient name].
Terry: Are you a family member or friend?
Me: Neither, but I am receiving their collection calls. I realize you might not be able to disclose much, but if you were calling in reference to a billing matter and you subsequently referred the account to collections, you’ve got the wrong number.
(short pause)
Terry: The only calls you should be receiving at this point are from me or Transworld Systems.
Me: They are the ones that are calling my cell every day. I haven’t been available to take their calls yet and they keep going to voicemail.
(short pause)
Terry: I had them take your number off their list yesterday. The calls should stop by tomorrow.
Me: Oh, that’s great. Thanks.
The call was more pleasant than I expected. More importantly, the calls stopped when she said they would.
Mar 5th, 2010 by Alex
Exactly one week from today, the doors open for Rock ‘N Roll Revival XXI. Every year there is a theme, sometimes unofficial and sometimes more public. This year it’s public. “Welcome to the Jungle” is this year’s theme, despite the lack of Guns N’ Roses on the program. We’re expecting record attendance. Already five of eight shows are completely sold out. In celebration of the show turning legal drinking age, here’s a sneak peek.
There’s flora and fauna.
There’s all sorts of lighting effect madness happening. There’s more intelligent lighting hanging than I’ve ever seen in the facility. And we’re finally back to using Lycian spots. You might just need your sunglasses.
Not to leave out the audiophiles, there’s a pretty sweet system that we flew in last weekend. What follows is the best visual representation that I could manage with my camera, where the sound invades your consciousness. Or something.
So, what’s on the aural agenda? For one, there’s a band. More than a dozen pieces, some of which shown here.
And a few specials, too.
Next up, the voices. With approximately forty songs this year, we’ve got a lot of vocalists.
There would be pictures of the dancers, but they’re too damned fast for me in low light.
Tickets are still available by mail at the door. Sadly, the in-person evening sales were discontinued this year. Nor can tickets be purchased online. Nevertheless, the following dates aren’t sold out yet:
I’ve seen both acts twice now. And so far, it looks good. The song list is solid. The band has got it down. And in addition to the surprisingly good vocals, some of these performers have got serious stage presence.
Oh, and the finale is seriously rocking. Fist in the air and headbanging rocking.
It’s going to be one for the books.
Mar 4th, 2010 by Alex
As seen in production code.
$TEN_MB = 8 * 1024 * 1024;
I guess ten was just a little bit too much?
Mar 3rd, 2010 by Alex
The night air of Philadelphia was brisk, but walking down South Street it felt unseasonably warm. Jacket unzipped, we were on a mission for pizza and cheese steaks. Approaching 4th Street, the smell emanating from the grease exhaust fans outside Jim’s Steaks was heavenly. Unfortunately the line was well out the door and almost into the street; my hosts estimated the wait to be 30-35 minutes. We had a party to get to, so we kept walking… just across the street, to Lorenzo and Sons.
The cost is $2.75 for a slice. No wait whatsoever. They ask you if paper plates are okay. I guess they’ll give you cardboard to place the slice on, if you think you need more support. Paper plates are fine, thanks. The slice is bigger than the paper plate. Bigger than my whole head. They’ve got to fold it over just so it fits.
Sprinkle with black pepper, garlic powder, and oregano. Take you slice into a dead-end room with mirrors on all sides. No chairs. Just a ledge to place your plate. You have to fold the slice, turning it into a not-so-miniature strombolli. There’s just no other way to do it. It tastes like a white pizza, but w/ tomato sauce. I don’t know how to explain that, but it’s delicious and hits the spot.
Mar 2nd, 2010 by Alex
I wake up naturally. The aroma of cheese steak remnants is everywhere, my head three feet away from the living room table where the morning’s festivities ended.
This is not a bad way to wake up.
Feb 27th, 2010 by Alex
Over the past six days I’ve received as many collection calls from Transworld Systems. I’ve missed most of these calls, but strangely they continue before the voice mail prompts and have been recorded.
This is an important message from Transworld Systems. The law requires that we notify you that this is a debt collection company. This is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose. Please call David Beakler back today at toll-free 1-877-294-4662. When calling us back, the reference ID is 18482550. Thank you. Goodbye.
All calls have been made to my cell phone. All calls reference the same point of contact (David Beakler) and reference ID (18482550). All of them are automated, utilizing one of three different synthesized voices (an American female, badly encoded male, and European female).
The messages themselves vary slightly in content, but seem to correspond to the voice synthesis used. The badly synthesized male voice usually says that the call is “about a personal business matter” while the European female voice relays the toll-free number a second time.
Until this morning, the different voices were used with unique telephone numbers. Now it seems that things are being mixed up a bit.
02/22/2010 14:06 EST, 877-294-4662, American female
02/23/2010 17:52 EST, 866-273-0169, poorly encoded male
02/24/2010 11:04 EST, 866-376-5647, European female
02/24/2010 08:18 EST, 877-294-4662, American female
02/25/2010 08:06 EST, 866-273-0169, poorly encoded male
02/26/2010 08:09 EST, 866-376-5647, American female
So, here’s the problem. I don’t have any debt.
I pay my bills. I haven’t been missing any bills that I was expecting. To the best of my knowledge all of my insurance claims have gone through without a hitch. I haven’t received any communications or correspondence from my providers, all of whom have my home address and telephone number. I would think that most providers (be it a doctor, lab, whatever) would make an attempt to contact me directly before turning the bill (and percentage of the account) over to a collector. Frankly, there aren’t any bills that I’ve had that are big enough to warrant turning half over to a collector.
There is a second possibility, however. Over the past month, I’ve received two calls for someone else. Both from medical institutions. I chalked it up to a miss-dialed number the first time, but when a woman from a surgeon’s office called and left a long message I figured that the patient had recorded the wrong phone number on his paperwork. I called the surgeon’s office back and left a message explaining that her message did not reach her intended recipient, thinking that the patient might not be getting important test results. I offered to provide more information if she cared to call me back, but she never did. Now I’m thinking that the patient intentionally used a different phone number to help skip out on the bill. I’m pretty sure he didn’t use my name on the paperwork, since the second call from the surgeon’s office references his name specifically.
So, what to do?
Return the calls and try explaining to the collection agent that they’ve got the wrong person? I’m sure they’d heard that before. Or just call and verify the source of the debt? I have no intention of forking over my personal information until I’m sure they’ve got the right person; they’ve already got my phone number, so there’s no harm in calling back from that (rather than a pay phone). Or is there? Or do I just ignore the calls entirely?
Any ideas, Internets?
Feb 26th, 2010 by Alex
Whoever is operating the fortune cookie machine is asleep at the switch. Lately I’ve been getting cookies with multiple fortunes. Whenever you get duplicates, you want to believe that it’s more applicable.
In Cookie #1, there were three fortunes. All the same.
“People find it difficult to resist your persuasive manner.”
In Cookie #2, there were four. Two of each.
“You will be showered with good luch.”
“People find it difficult to resist your persuasive manner.”
I’m not a big fan of mice. There were five of the other, so I’m going with that. Perhaps the source of my flabbergastation at the office will be affected.
Technology & MSG
Rants and musings, without care for substance.
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