Darth Tater

For those of you with disposable income, young children, and an proclivity for things Star Wars, I present to you Darth Tater:



I need this . . . but which daughter to give it to?

That's no moon . . .

. . . It's a space station.

NASA - Aeneas on the Edge

Wait, it is a moon. Sorry, my mistake. Move along, move along.

I love space exploration. But I hate paying for it. It's a personal problem I am trying to deal with. I know there's no money in privately funded exploration, so if I want it to happen government has to do it. But what is the real point? Can't that money remain in my pocket so I can invest it or spend it or give it away?

I'm torn between my fiscal conservativeness and my drive for cool science.

It's my problem. I'll deal with it. But I wish there was a 12-step group for me.

Caller ID Counts

You really have to be careful when you answer the phone; who you are talking to matters.

I'm at the office and the phone rings. I glance at the display and see the it's my home and answer, "Well, hellooooo there."

Silence. {"Odd," I think}

"Hello?" A man's voice. {!?!?!?}

"Aaron?" {Why is a man who knows my name calling me from my house?}

"Yes," I say. {Not police personnel, they would ask for "Mr. Klenke." Not a voice I recognize.}

"The virtual directories you wanted?" {Virtual directories? Oh! Scott!} Look, not glance, at phone display. The last four numbers match my home number. All others are different.

I finish the call as relief infuses me.

1. The family is ok
2. I didn't say anything that might me . . . inapproriate in a business environment.

Lesson learned: Look at the whole number, just in case

I really need to find a modelling company. Even with the snot she's beautiful.

A day at the Houston Zoo

DrunkenBlog: Collateral Damage: A talk with Desicanuk and Nessence

DrunkenBlog: Collateral Damage: A talk with Desicanuk and Nessence

DrunkenBatman interviews two of the players in an beta OSX distribution. It's interesting how he tries to humanize these two guys who say that they didn't know they were doing anything wrong.

I've talked to two of these young men and I think they made mistakes but being sued by Apple may be a little much.

Houston In January.And this is after it cooled down from mid-afternoon. Sorry DrunkenBatman.

The Family Christmas photo - taken at some falls in Washington over Thanksgiving. I'm the lone male.

SAFEclear - A Traffic Incident Response Program

SAFEclear - A Traffic Incident Response Program

There's a new program that started in Houston this week called SafeClear. The goal is to remove vehicles off the highways to prevent more accidents and rubber-necking and thus, improve traffic flow.

The deal is that a disabled vehicle will be towed off the highway after six minutes. Minimum towing fee would be $75 to take it off the highway or five miles. After that normal towing fees take effect. If you can't pay, the car is impounded at $124 per day. and if you can't afford the impound fee . . . I guess you lose your car. All because you maybe ran out of gas or had a flat that the nearest service station would have patched for free.

Reports say that the volume is much higher that expected, people are waiting more than an hour and that traffic has not significantly improved.

I looked for the number of tows on the SafeClear site and Houston Transtar and the Mayor's Office of Mobility. Not surprisingly, I did not find any data concerning tows. And the Mayor's Office of Mobility site was a little thin with any information.

Mayor White says that volume should drop as more people understand the program and make sure that their cars are road ready.

I have my doubts.

Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) Home

Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) Home

I think Microsoft has done an excellent job of handling security. They are a huge target with a complex system with a user base filled with people don't care about security; they just want it to work.

But the application doesn't seem to have any more features than what's already out there. So for those of us who know about the need for security and already have something in place this doesn't offer anything.

In fact, I always have concerns when MS integrates more non-OS functions into my OS. (And for the record, I don't know how far it does). I like the idea of a third party looking out for me.

Update: a good review of Giant AntiSpyware, the product whose aquisition became MS AntiSpyware