Mildly Regarded

ZumoDrive, my new gig

2009-11-27T16:21:00.000-08:00

About two months ago I made the tough decision to depart PowerReviews to join a small startup called Zecter. Zecter's flagship product is ZumoDrive, a cloud drive for all your internet connected devices. A lot of friends and family have been asking what it is, exactly, and how it works. So I thought I'd just write about how Kjersti and I use it.

The best way to think of ZumoDrive is as a repository for all your stuff: documents, music, photos, movies, etc. The repository appears as a local drive on all your computers once you install the software, just like plugging in a USB stick or external hard drive. But it's so much more than simple storage like an external hard drive.

For one thing, it's a single drive that can be "plugged in" to multiple machines at the same time, all the time, no matter where those machines are. When Kjersti adds a new file to ZumoDrive on her computer, I get a notification and can see it on my computer within seconds. I really like this idea of having a "single source of truth" for all our important data. I don't have to keep track of which computer a file is on. I don't have to worry about losing any of my data if one of those devices dies or gets lost or something. And when I replace my old computer with a new one, I don't have to worry about migrating everything over (have you ever tried to do this by burning CD-Rs or DVD-Rs?!).

I think the value that ZumoDrive provides just for online backup is pretty substantial in itself. For instance, when you edit a document in your ZumoDrive, it saves revisions, so you can revert to any past version. Say goodbye to all the Report (Copy).doc, Report (Final version).doc silliness. Accidentally deleted a file? Just go to the recycle bin on the ZumoDrive site and restore it. And if you lose your laptop, or your house burns down along with all your computers, external hard drives, and USB sticks, your stuff is safe in the cloud! In fact, since we use Amazon's S3 service, your data is ensured to be stored in 3 different earthquake zones, so it's a hell of a lot safer than any external backup disk. Just because you have an external hard drive, doesn't mean your stuff is safe. In fact, by getting a second hard drive, you've doubled the probability of one of them dying. Don't delude yourself into thinking your data is nice and backed up on that external hard drive!

ZumoDrive appears as a local disk to your computer. For example, on Windows you'll have a Z: drive. This means all your desktop applications, like iTunes, Word, Excel, iPhoto, Picasa, etc. already know how to store stuff on your ZumoDrive, because for all it knows it's a regular drive! You don't have to worry about manually uploading files you save from these applications, it's done for you. ZumoDrive also works well when you're not connected to the internet. Just keep saving stuff to it as usual, and when you go online again, ZumoDrive will start uploading automatically in the background.

Going along with the "single source of truth" idea, your ZumoDrive is effectively unlimited storage. It doesn't matter if your computer only has 30 GB available but you want to store 400 GB. ZumoDrive treats your local disk as a cache. It will stream content from the cloud on-demand and store it in the cache as needed. And it will do its best to intelligently pick your most used files to keep in the cache. But even if a file is not in the cache yet, this doesn't mean you have to wait for the whole thing to be downloaded. Depending on the type of file, it can most likely be streamed. Like if you start playing a song in iTunes, after we fetch the first few kilobytes, the music can start playing. Sort of like a YouTube video. The song can start playing within a second even if it will take a minute or so to download the whole thing. This technique generalizes to all types of files, too, not just music and videos.

Putting your music collection onto ZumoDrive is probably one of the most killer use cases. With our music on the ZumoDrive, Kjersti and I can share our collection, instead of each having our own overlapping set of music on our laptops. If she downloads a new song, I can play it instantly! But the best part about this isn't when we're on the laptops, but the iPhones. With the ZumoDrive iPhone app, we can both access the whole music collection all the time -- even though it's bigger than either of our iPhones have space for! I hate having to sync my iPhone with iTunes and pick and choose which songs I want on it. I just want everything to be available. And if I buy a new song, I don't want to have to wait until I sync again for it to appear on my iPhone. With the ZumoDrive app, I can just stream the music instantly (as long as I have an internet connection). Oh, and if my connection sucks because I'm on EDGE instead of 3G or something, the ZumoDrive server will automatically "downsample" the music to a lower bitrate so it will download faster.

The mobile aspect of ZumoDrive is definitely one of the best parts. With all these netbooks and tablets and smartphones coming out, you're very likely very soon to have several internet connected devices where you'll want to access your documents, photos, music, etc. You don't want to have to keep copying stuff around to each of the devices! And even with software to take care of all this syncing, you have to pick and choose what content you want to go on what devices. In fact, DropBox (probably the best of the sync solutions out there) doesn't even have this "selective sync" functionality yet, although it is their most requested feature. So if one of your computers doesn't have enough free space to hold all the content in your dropbox, you're SOL. Not even something you have to think about with ZumoDrive.

I already mentioned how cool it is to have access to my whole music collection from our iPhones... Well, the same goes for photos. We've got a fairly large collection of photos from over the years, taken with our digital camera or phones. I had them all organized in folders on my hard drive, and had been manually backing them up (cuz once you lose your photos you can't get them back!). I was also uploading them to Flickr to share with friends and family, but it's been so long since I've done that because it's such a pain. I have to wait forever for it to upload, then go through and add titles and captions. And usually the upload fails part of the way through and I have to start over, but make sure not to re-upload duplicates. When I installed Zumo, I just dragged all my photos in and voila, they're backed up. Maybe I want to share an album? Just right click on the folder and get a link that I can paste into an email or IM. When someone opens the link they get a nice view on the web where they can watch a slideshow. Or they can download the whole album as a zip, or individual photos. It's so much easier than Flickr! This photo album feature is fairly new, as well, and we'll be improving on it.

Oh, and Kjersti takes a lot of pictures with her iPhone these days, and for a while she was emailing the photos to herself. But with the ZumoDrive iPhone app, I showed her that she can just upload the photo directly to ZumoDrive from the iPhone. I love this feature because when she takes a picture of Garbanzo at the dog park, I get a Growl notification on my computer at work and can see it instantly. :)

I mentioned the sharing aspect, but this goes even further. When you right-click on a file or folder in your ZumoDrive you can do a couple of things. You can "get link" which will generate a hyperlink you can share with anyone (even if they don't have a ZumoDrive account). Or, you can share the file or folder with another ZumoDrive user. Just enter their email address and they'll get a notification. Once they accept the share, the folder will show up in their Z: drive as well. Now you can collaborate on a project without having to email files back and forth!

So this is has gotten pretty long. It just goes to show how useful ZumoDrive is and how many ways there are to use it. It's been under heavy development for a while and has gotten fairly stable. I would recommend it to anyone. You can get 1 GB for free, so there's no harm in trying it out. In fact, 1 GB might be enough for you, but probably not after you start adding your media content. But like I described above, music and photos are some of the best use cases for ZumoDrive, so you're missing out. Upgrade to a larger drive and pay monthly, you can downgrade at any time.

Okay, there's one last feature I want to tell you about. It's been in the works for quite a while, and we are getting ready to release it. I've been using it for a couple of months now and I love it. It's called folder linking. This enables you to link any folder on your computer with ZumoDrive. For instance, instead of moving all my music into the Z: drive, I just right-clicked on my existing Music folder and added it as a linked folder. Now it shows up in ZumoDrive under /Linked Folders/Greg's Computer/Music. I can still get my music on my iPhone and share with Kjersti and everything. I didn't even have to configure iTunes to keep its music in a different location. It just works.

So if I seem pretty busy these days, this is why. We're hard at work making ZumoDrive better. It helps that we are some of its most avid users. We also talk quite a bit with our users on the ZumoDrive forums, so if you have any issues or questions or suggestions, head on over there. You'll get a response from one of us within a day or two.

Thanks for reading!

Other People

2009-07-13T22:39:00.001-07:00

I want to try to write on my blog more. Hold me to it.

You know what's annoying? Other People. I know, that's a negative and general thing to say. But I mean it in the sense of, not you... Other People. Here are some examples:

You know when you go to a movie and there's that guy with his group of friends? I think there has to be at least four of them. And he has some clever quip he wishes to share with the group... Only, he really wishes to share it with the whole theater, to impress the group. Sometimes, to impress the whole theater. So he doesn't tell his joke, he announces it. Like, "Wait a minute. This isn't Transformers!!" Har har. I mean, I can sort of respect someone who has the guts to come up with something funny and read the crowd to see if the general sentiment is there and put on a mini-performance. But it's kind of pathetic when he just halfway does it, like, starts out loud and then tapers off cuz he's nervous. And then -- this is when it gets really bad -- he announces it again, like, Hmm, nobody heard me the first time. And sometimes his friends -- probably the ones closest to him -- will, out of embarrassment, laugh louder than usual, to kinda help him along and to join in on the performance, and draw some more attention to their darling little clan.

Or you know when you get off the train or the plane or whatever, and that person is walking in front of you, veering left and then right so you can't pass them, taking up the whole width of space? Usually an older person who's sort of lost and kinda snappy about it... And they just stop there. Like right at the end of the jetway or right on the train platform. Totally oblivious. And they often have one of those bags with wheels that they drag behind them, like right below your field of vision, just in the perfect place to trip you up as you collide into their bubble. And then there's this chain reaction, people piling up behind you, everyone annoyed. Now here's where it gets bad: you get stuck in a vacuum. Just like when you're behind that semi truck in the right-hand lane on the highway, and the cars behind you start passing and you can't gain enough speed to make your move into the other lane. But it's worse, cuz now you're tripping over a bag and you don't have that windshield of anonymity. You can't vent your frustration by yelling in the privacy of your own car. All you have is the exasperated sigh, as you try to maneuver past this idiot who can't decide if they're going this way or that way. They're usually trying to avoid making eye contact or acknowledging you. So, as a defense mechanism, they get annoyed with you! Usually right after you let out the sigh. Like, "Ooh, EXCUSE ME FOR BEING IN YOUR WAY!" Well, yeah, you're in my way! Move. Oh, and often it mixes with the first kind of Other Person, where they decide to say loudly enough for everyone around them that, "This airport layout is totally stupid!"

Or you know those busybodies who like to tell you how to do something. Complete strangers! This happens a lot when you have a puppy. I'm sure it's a million times worse when you have kids. People feel entitled to tell you what you ought to be doing. I hate this because often it's a matter of opinion. But even when it's not, you're unsolicited little factoid puts me in the position of doing one of three things: 1) saying, "Yes, I know that," 2) saying, "No that is false," or 3) thinking, I've never heard that before, thanks, but since you're a stranger, I'm skeptical. 67% chance you're not being helpful, and 100% chance you're putting me off. But like I said, usually it's an opinion anyway. Now, no two opinions are the same, and as a corollary of that law I'm not going to agree with you. So now I'm in the position of indulging you or telling you I disagree. I never asked for this! Opinions are like ass holes: everybody's got one and most of them stink! And they should be kept to yourself when you're out in public.

Anyway, there are a lot of things about Other People that are annoying that I could write about all night. But this is probably enough cynicism for one post.

The Zen of Redjinski

2009-03-29T19:17:00.000-07:00

I draw inspiration from my turtle. Russian tortoise, actually. Redjinksi Tortinov. Redji for short.

Kjersti and I have had him for as long as we've been married. And it took some time for him to really trust us and reveal his personality. At first he was cautious and private. Naturally, after a mysterious life of surviving in the cruel confines of a small Seattle pet store with other creatures. But now in our third year, he's let down his guard. And here's what I've learned about him.

He sees something he wants and he goes for it. Most of the time it's a long haul to get to it, but once he embarks he doesn't turn back. He doesn't get distracted. He doesn't get demoralized. He'll march and march. He'll take a break and look around. Many times he'll be interrupted. We'll pick him up and play with him. Or we'll put him back in his Rubber-Maid terrarium where he'll bask in the artificial UV light. And he'll dig. He'll scratch and scrape and try to dig himself out. Because he was on a mission before. And he still is.

Hours, days, or even weeks later we'll let him out. And he'll just continue on his mission. He'll march and march. Slow and steady. He'll finally get to where he's going, and he'll conquer it. He'll climb up the log and nosedive off the other side. He'll do that again and again. He'll go spelunking under and behind the furniture. He'll find every passageway through a pile of blankets. He'll bury himself in the mess of cords behind the TV. When we pull him out, he'll grab onto the cords and won't let go. And once you get him untangled and set him down, he'll head right back for it. Tenacious turtle.

This weekend we were camping in Half Moon Bay. We always take him camping with us. He loves to explore. You have to keep an eye on him, but at the same time, you can trust him with himself. He's not reckless. He knows when to hunker down. Any sudden movements, and he'll react lightning fast, pulling his head into his shell. If he feels exposed he'll head for the closest patch of whatever he can hide in. And that's why you have to keep an eye on him. He's the best hider I've ever seen. He can hide in plain sight.

One time we were camping in Washington at Mt. Ranier. We wanted to go brush our teeth at the restrooms, so we left him on top of a very large stump that was about 4 feet high. There's no way he could get off... When we came back he was gone! He slid right down the slightly sloped side of the stump on his shell and started marching toward whatever he was fixated on. We should've known. We know him better now.

On our way down to California from Seattle he figured a way out of the cardboard box we kept him in. Basically, during the car rides, he would scratch and scratch and scratch away at the corner. Not in a panic. Not like, "I just gotta get out of here!!" But calmly and rhythmically. He barely did any damage on the first day, so we thought nothing of it and got used to the sound of his scratching. But by the end of the week, he had gotten one arm through, and was starting to use his strength to tear the box at its edge. He would've gotten out, even if it took him months.

But that's Redji. He's focused, he's slow, and he's steady. He's quick to react. He knows when to march forward, when to take a break, and when to take cover. Most of all, he's persistent persistent persistent.

I Want to be a Republican

2009-02-21T13:33:00.000-08:00

I want to be a Republican. I mean, I want to. Make government small: more efficient, less wasteful. Entrust the market to do what it does best. Keep government out of our personal lives. Strong national defense. I mean, it sounds good. Sign me up!

Maybe it's the idealist in me.

The pragmatist in me knows that smaller government doesn't necessarily mean more efficient or less wasteful. I mean, we have to build roads, right? Or should private business have done that? What about the mail? Military? Schools? Health care? Police? Emergency services? Social programs? Surely there's just a single "right answer" to all these! Either they're all government or not, right? Damn, I guess it's not that simple.

The pragmatist in me knows that the market can't just go unregulated. I mean, look what happens. So, we have to have some regulations? How much regulation? Damn, this is getting hard. I was hoping for a one-size-fits-all philosophy of a free market that was always the best answer, no matter the circumstances. I think it works in theory! I guess it's not that simple.

The pragmatist in me knows that there's not really a clear line dividing my personal life and everything else. I mean, I should be able to have all kinds of dangerous weapons and booby-traps on my property, right? Wait, that affects other people. Unwary neighbors or kids who could foreseeably stumble upon my AK-47. Hm. I guess it's not that simple.

Strong national defense, that sounds good! Don't fuck with us!! USA! USA! USA! I love those awesome fighter jets and bombs I see on the history channel. Wait, what's that you say? This costs money? Shoot, that contradicts my other goal of small, efficient government. Wait, you say there's more? A huge force can't solve every international problem? But the terrorists hate us! Let's go drop bombs on them. I know what you're going to say. It's not that simple. Grrr!

I hate it when things aren't simple! It's so much easier to just believe in what I hear on the radio and see on bumper stickers, and not really think about it!

OK. I know, I know... Just because there are tradeoffs doesn't mean I shouldn't join up and help our country strive for these goals in general, even if it's not simple or one-size-fits-all. But the party seems so far removed from these ideals. They were in charge for a while. Let's see... Smaller, less wasteful government? Hmm, they haven't done a very good job there. Acknowledge that the market can't be completely unregulated, and figure out what minimum regulation is necessary, and enforce it? Fail. Keep government out of our personal lives? Prop 8. Epic fail. Strong national defense? We're spread so thin fighting an unnecessary war they started, we're probably at the weakest we've been in a long time. Thanks republicans, but the other party seems like a better fit right now.

Let me know when you're ready for me to take you seriously again. More hip-hop is a good start! And don't forget about the one-armed midgets...

Religulous

2008-10-04T23:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight Kjersti and I went and saw Religulous -- Bill Maher's documentary film about religion and how ridiculous it is. I liked it. I thought it was incisive, compelling, and frankly cathartic. Ten years ago -- maybe even five years ago -- I wouldn't have been able to openly admit that I liked this movie. It would have been "social suicide" as one ex-mormon in the movie described it (he was talking about actually leaving the church, which is obviously a much bigger deal, but you know what I mean). I don't claim to be an ex-mormon. I've never been religious. But in a very religious place in a very religious country, to be openly appalled by religion is not really something you can do in front of all your family and friends. Usually it doesn't seem worth it. You'll never change someone's mind. And you have to really ask if you want to be responsible for changing someone's mind.

The movie reminded me of how lonely I've been my whole life. I'm not trying to win sympathy points here, I don't feel bad for myself at all. I'm proud of who it's made me. But being an atheist is lonely, especially in Utah. Even though there are a lot of us out there, it's offensive and unacceptable to so many people. You really have to get to the point where you can come out of the closet and forget what anyone else thinks. You have to be willing to say -- at least in your head -- "fuck off" to someone who doesn't really want you to be yourself. People ought to root for others to be themselves; forget those who don't. Something as simple as openly being yourself is very empowering, and it's taken for granted by everyone in many ways.

Anyway, I was talking about being alone. Or feeling alone. But there was one statistic in the movie which I found quite encouraging. About 16% of Americans don't want to be affiliated with any religion. According to the CIA via Wikipedia, about 4% are "none" and 12% are "unaffiliated". There are way more of us than Mormons. Way more of us than Jews. Way way more of us than Muslims. More of us than there are gays. How come it seems so unacceptable to be nonreligious?

The movie also goes on to point out how detrimental religion truly is to humanity. Religion has done more harm than good throughout history and continues to today. I'm willing to have that argument with you, but I'm not going to elaborate in this post because giving a single example just doesn't do the magnitude of it justice. There's an endless stream of examples.

Another thing that struck me in the movie is the common argument styles of every religious person Bill talks to. It's something I've seen so many times. I'll try to generalize it here. The pattern goes something like, "I believe [insert something unprovable] because it's true and I know it's true in my heart because of [insert some anecdote here that very thinly implies the point they're trying to make]. Therefore it's true and you just don't understand because you're not one of us." The problem is, in everyday conversation, especially with people you know, you have to just let this mess of asinine logic go unchallenged because it's just that: asinine. To call out the flaws in their argument is tantamount to calling them stupid. But even if you take that risk and point out that they're just believing something silly based purely on faith, they get very defensive. Now you're offending them. Now you're talking about something you're not allowed to talk about. And there's the rub. You cannot reason with these people when you get to this level. It's not an even playing field. You're playing the game by the rules of rationality -- they're playing by a very different set of rules. Now you're talking past each other and it's futile.

At the end, Bill calls on people like me to not give up on this exercise in apparent futility because it's really not all for nothing. The more we can open up people's eyes to the world we live in, the better it is for all of us. People who are certain about their religion are dangerous; especially when they reach positions of power where they apply their beliefs blindly to things as important as public policy. Sound familiar? We cannot let that happpen again.

Anyhow, I've come a long way from hiding my true self. I hope people like me can continue forward with this march and be fairly represented in the country and the world. But at this point, it just feels like we're not part of the dialogue.

My honest dream is to one day be an openly atheist politician, but any time I start that thought experiment I give in to cynicism.

Abraham Lincoln is my Favorite President

2008-09-09T01:13:00.000-07:00

I have a countdown clock on my computer that says "56 days". In 56 days those of us who are willing and allowed will cast our votes in the presidential election. So far I've split my voting age in two very different locales -- ultra conservative, 5 electoral votes Utah; and fairly liberal, 55 electoral votes California. In either place it's hard to believe that my vote can really make a difference. Any rational observer knows how each of those electorates will go. But, although a single vote never matters, every single vote does.

In April 2000 I got the right to vote. In November that year I voted for Al Gore and Joe Lieberman. I watched the ensuing debacle through the TV -- as much of an information junky, CNN-aholic then as I am now. In 2004, while attending a convention for an engineering honor society as the Utah chapter president and delegate, I watched John Kerry and George Bush debate on TV in a hotel room with 50 other bright engineering students from around the country. It was an interesting time for me -- it seemed like everything was changing. I broke up with my girlfriend of 3 years, the software I had poured a summer's worth of energy into was being deployed to 40+ restaurants, the Red Sox won the World Series, and the country that was polling strongly for change -- for Kerry -- suddenly decided on "four more years" of Bush. Again I was hooked to the TV.

Amongst all the information, misinformation, disinformation, and plain old noise that flowed through 24-hour live cable news channels during those times, I remember one constant: John McCain. John McCain slaughtered Bush in some early primaries, and should have been the Republicans' nominee. Except that he failed to defend himself against the awful tactics of Bush and Rove when they insinuated -- and somehow convinced Republican voters in South Carolina and other states whose primaries followed -- that McCain had fathered an illegitimate child with a black woman. An outright lie, obviously, but apparently a picture of McCain with his Bangladeshi adopted daughter Bridget was enough to scare voters into believing that Bush exemplified their Christian values better than McCain. Like I said, McCain should have been the nominee. Gore should have been the president. Bush should have gone back to Texas. And in 2001, McCain should have become a Democrat; he seriously considered it.

I remember in 2004, McCain was flirting with the left again. This time with his friend John Kerry. There was talk that he would be Kerry's runningmate. But due to the apparently now-confirmed rumors that McCain wanted to bid for the Republican nomination again in 2008, he reportedly turned down the offer.

If you've read this far, you probably think I support McCain for president. But I have to tell you, as much as I wanted him to beat Bush in 2000, I never wanted him to be president or vice president. And that's more true today than ever. Too little, too late, too old. I think he has sold out what little credibility he had as a "maverick". It's not just an Obama campaign talking point, it's a fact that McCain has spent the past 8 years in the Senate voting with George Bush 95% of the time. That's piss-poor judgment in my book. He stands opposed to my beliefs and positions on so many important issues for this election. And on a personal moral basis, I think he is reprehensible. He struggled through school, not because he was slower than the other kids, but because he was a bully and all around ass hole; he graduated in the bottom 0.5% of his class; he was a "hotdog" pilot -- and a bad one at that. Yes, at no fault of his own he was captured by the enemy and tortured as a POW -- his perserverance and survivorship are inspirational, and his dedication to public service thereafter is admirable. But while he was gone, his wife Carol was crippled in a car accident. When he returned a celebrity, what did he do? He hooked up with a rich, blonde heiress to a Beer distribution fortune -- a woman 18 years younger than him... in a bar... while still married. He divorced his disabled wife -- a woman who mothered his 3 children; a woman who waited years in agony while he was imprisoned across the world; a woman who endured her own adversity and needed him more than ever when he returned.

I could go on and on, but it's not just that I don't support John McCain; I wholeheartedly support Barack Obama. I think a lot of people are nervous about electing someone with so little experience, but I maintain that it's exactly what we need. The conservatives are trying to tell me that they'll effect change -- but they don't get it. For one thing, "change" -- the word, the definition, the spirit -- directly contradicts "conservative" -- the word, the definition, the spirit. They don't want change, they want to tap into all the excitement around impending change. The Republicans' change is like Microsoft's Zune -- they're copycats and they're getting it all wrong anyway.

Change isn't easy to make happen. I think that the ingredients for the kinds of change I want are summed up in Obama and what he represents. As a Washington outsider and Democrat, Obama is better equipped to change the course of our country than anyone I can dream up. Everything about him is different than the status quo -- his heritage, his upbringing, his background, his career, his beliefs. And yet he is not radical. He is not way out in left field. He is practical and center. He's an intelligent pragmatitist. He's calm and consistent. He's a moderate, like me. He's smart and educated and demonstrates the ability for intelligible, deep thought. He's an inspirational orator and writer who knows how to express that thought. He's a good communicator. And he's in line with me on almost every issue.

Anyway, I feel very strongly about this election. As usual, I'm hooked to the TV and internet. I look at the polls in each state almost every day. I read the comment threads on blogs and watch almost every political show I can -- even Fox News. I feel pretty confident that Obama will win this election since everything is trending in that direction. But if there's one thing I've learned in both presidential elections I've participated in, it's that anything can happen.

56 more days.

Fact: Barack Obama is a lawyer, Illinois state legislator, and 2 year member of congress.

Fact: Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer, Illinois state legislator, and 2 year member of congress; and then the leader of one of the most important periods of change in US history.

Ripping and Tagging Radio Paradise

2008-06-29T23:31:00.000-07:00

Kjersti was out of town this weekend, so I spent some time tinkering with my MythTV. We moved a few weeks ago, and I haven't had the time to figure out why it was apparently not able to pick up the new cable listings. I decided to just do a fresh install of the newest Mythbuntu, based on Ubuntu Hardy Heron. After the usual headaches I got it working.

I was listening to Radio Paradise -- my favorite internet radio station -- and was remembering iLog, this little program I wrote when I worked at Sizzling Platter back in Utah. Basically, I'd sit at my desk coding all day, usually listening to Radio Paradise, and I'd hear a song I liked. So I'd keep this little text file open all day and write down the artist and title so I could ~~download~~ purchase the song later. I did this enough that I thought it'd be cool if I had a hotkey for it so I wouldn't have to alt-tab away from Visual Studio. iLog was a .NET/C# program I wrote to sit in the background as a Windows Daemon. When I pressed Control-Shift-G, it would "grab" the song and record it. Then, at the end of the day, it would email me all the songs.

Anyway, I took this a step further this weekend. I went and used my $200 Apple Store gift card and got a LaCie 500GB external hard drive and hooked it up to my Myth box. There's enough space there for about a year's worth of straight 128 kbps Radio Paradise MP3, so purely as an exercise, I set up my Myth box to save Radio Paradise to LaCie for me.

Turns out, it's not too hard to rip an internet radio stream with StreamRipper, which has a nice Linux CLI client. It will automatically split up the files and put the artist and title in the file name. Basically, it buffers the current song to an "incomplete" folder and saves it out when its done. As far as I can tell, it doesn't write any ID3 tags for you. It looks like you can set up rules and such in its configuration files, but I didn't want to dive into all that. Instead, I wrote a Ruby script that will

Parse out the artist and title from the file name and write it to the MP3 using the handy id3lib-ruby library.
Scrape Amazon for the album name and cover art, and again add those tags to the file.
Move it to LaCie (symlinked at /home/greg/music).

Here's the code (syntax highlighting done with Spotlight):

 1 #!/usr/local/bin/ruby
 2
 3 require 'rubygems'
 4 require 'id3lib'
 5 require 'open-uri'
 6
 7 rip_dir = '/home/greg/ripstream/Radio_Paradise'
 8 save_dir = '/home/greg/music'
 9 global_genre = 'Eclectic Rock'
10
11 Dir.new(rip_dir).each do |file_name|
12         if file_name =~ /\.mp3$/ then
13                 puts
14                 puts "Processing #{file_name}"
15
16                 file_path = rip_dir + '/' + file_name
17                 tag = ID3Lib::Tag.new(file_path)
18                 parts = file_name.split(/ \- /)
19
20                 tag.artist = parts[0]
21                 tag.title = parts[1].gsub(/\.mp3$/, '')
22                 tag.genre = global_genre
23                 tag.update!
24
25                 puts "Artist: #{tag.artist}"
26                 puts "Title: #{tag.title}"
27                 puts "Genre: #{tag.genre}"
28
29                 search_term = "#{tag.artist} #{tag.title}".gsub(/[^\w ]+/, '').gsub(/[ ]+/, '+')
30                 results_page_url = "http://www.amazon.com/s/?field-keywords=#{search_term}"
31                 results_page = ''
32                 open(results_page_url) { |s| results_page = s.read }
33                 results_page_match_data = /<a href="(.+?)"><span class="srTitle">(.+?)<\/span><\/a>/.match(results_page) if results_page.length > 0
34                 if results_page_match_data then
35                         tag.album = results_page_match_data[2]
36                         tag.update!
37                     
38                         puts "Album: #{tag.album}"
39
40                         product_page_url = results_page_match_data[1]
41                         product_page = ''
42                         open(product_page_url) { |s| product_page = s.read }
43
44                         product_page_match_data = /registerImage\(\"original_image\",.\"(.+?)"/.match(product_page) if product_page.length > 0
45                         if product_page_match_data then
46                                 image_url = product_page_match_data[1]
47                                 if /\.jpe?g$/.match(image_url) then
48                                         tag << {
49                                                 :id => :APIC,
50                                                 :mimetype => 'image/jpeg',
51                                                 :picturetype => 3,
52                                                 :data => open(image_url).read
53                                         }
54                                         tag.update!
55
56                                         puts "Image URL: #{image_url}"
57                                 end
58                         end
59                 end
60
61                 FileUtils.mv(file_path, save_dir, {:verbose => true})
62         end
63 end

I run StreamRipper all the time in a screen session and crontab this script to tag and move files once a day. I'll build up a nice collection in no time. The only annoyance is that StreamRipper seems to overshoot the end of the file sometimes. So many of the files start a few seconds into the song and likewise others play a few seconds of the next song that was played. However, this isn't that big of an issue because StreamRipper at least tags a sequence number in the "track number" frame of the MP3, so if you play them in order, it just melds together (and you can also appreciate Bill Goldsmith's artistic mixing). Also, there's probably some options to tune the StreamRipper configs to fix this.

Now I just need to get me one of them fancy new iPods that shows the album art, color and all.

"You Shouldn't Not Write For So Long"

2008-05-04T12:23:00.000-07:00

I've been neglecting my blog for about a month now it seems. Time flies. It's sort of sad that I've been waiting for something worthy enough to write about to happen. Lots has happened, but some of it I can't write about. The rest of it I'm too lazy to write about. There are really general concepts I could pontificate about, but I'm trying to avoid that. For now, I'll just stick to writing about crap that happened in the past (partly because most laws have a statute of limitations).

My senior year at the U I was at the computer lab in the engineering building working on my senior project. I got there at about 4pm and parked in the lot I must've parked in hundreds of times. I must not have been paying much attention to the rental chain link fence around the lot that was there during construction. I was paying especially little attention to the little bitty sign that said,

No parking after 5pm during construction. Lot closes.

Or you know, something to that effect. So when I came out of the lab after working for about 4 hours I realized mine was the only car left. I thought that was odd since the computer lab was still full of dorks working on their projects. Then I realized that the one exit had been closed off with a sliding chain link gate, completing the circuit of the fence that now fully enclosed the lot. Damn.

I imagined the worker whose job it was to lock the padlock. I imagined him getting a kick out of the fact that some poor moron wasn't gonna get to his Jeep until the morning. I imagined that he was gonna be the one to open the gate in the morning and that he was so excited to stand by and watch me run to my car, thanking him for my freedom, as he laughs to himself. Clearly I couldn't have it that way. Something about being a Nelson or a Locke or the combination thereof does not allow such things.

I called Kjersti on my cell phone and told her that my car was locked in. She was like, "what are you going to do?" I said, "hmmm, I'll call you back."

I tried to do the right thing. I looked for phone numbers on the signs. The only one I could find was for the rental fence company. So I gave it a shot. They laughed at me. Then I called the campus police, but they redirected me to the parking and transportation department, who forwarded me to someone else in the department, who forwarded me back to the same person, who finally forwarded me to a voicemail. So I gave in to the Nelson instinct and took matters into my own hands.

I walked over to the union and grabbed the manager's toolkit, walked back to the lot, and started disassembling the gate. People walking by chuckled to themselves and then tried to pretend like they didn't see anything. I unbolted the hinges and knocked the whole thing over. I made an opening more than big enough to fit my car through. Then I drove out, back to the union, and returned the tools. I didn't bother to reassemble the fence.

I called Kjersti back and told her what happened. She was thrilled but worried I'd get in trouble.

I drove home thinking about the same imaginary worker, who was now bound to show up for work in the morning to say to himself, "touché... touché...". I also thought about my dad and this piece of metal he keeps in his desk; half of a link of a very thick chain. It's from way back when he and my mom were dating. They worked at the phone company downtown together. My mom parked her car illegally, apparently enough times that this time she got a barrel chained to her wheel. She called my dad that night in a panic. He brought his hacksaw.

Like I said, it's in my blood.

Facebook Hates Me

2008-04-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

I finally got back the ability to request friends, after over a month of having that "privilege" disabled on my account. I had to go back-and-forth with a representative at Facebook over email, who assured me that their system is very sophisticated and secret but agreed that it was mistaken this time.

Today's my birthday, and a few friends have posted messages on my wall to wish me a happy birthday. So I was going through each post and responding to the each person individually. On the third or fourth I got this message:

Warning! Your account could be disabled.
You are using this feature to spam other users. Continued misuse of Facebook's features will result in your account being disabled. If you have any questions or concerns, you can visit our FAQ page here.

Once again they're wrong. Their sophisticated system of spam detection apparently works like this:

if count(wall posts authored since five minutes ago) > 1
then soundTheAlarm();

Note that I wasn't posting the same message to each person. Not copying and pasting a single message. Each one was different.

What's funny about this one, like the last one, is that the messaging leaves no room for false positives. It doesn't say, "You may be using this feature to spam users." It doesn't say, "You're probably using this feature to spam users..." It says, "You are using this feature to spam other users..."

I'm not. Get it together Facebook.

Chung Chung!

2008-03-30T22:42:00.000-07:00

I am kind of a Law & Order junkie. I have my MythTV programmed to record every Law & Order that's on TV. Law & Order must be pretty popular, because back when I had cable, it was on about twelve different channels at any given time of the day. It would fill my DVR to capacity on a daily basis; the poor machine was relegated to record endlessly -- hourly tuning into NBC, TNT, USA... These words have been uttered through my TV more than any others:

In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.

I'm lucky that Kjersti enjoys the show too (or pretends to), and that I don't have to hear sighs of disappointment when I start flipping through the recordings. Tonight it was hard to find an episode we hadn't already seen. We started two or three and read the synopses of a few others before we finally found a Criminal Intent we hadn't seen. I don't like the spin-off series as much. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. The original is by far the best, although Detective Goren in CI is a fascinating character.

My favorite character of all time is Jack McCoy. For like 10 years he was the Executive Assistant District Attorney; the lead prosecutor; the ruthless knight out to fight against the scum of the Earth. He'll promise justice to the victims' family and deliver on that promise. He's a workaholic and will take cases personally if they involve child abuse or racism or something he finds particularly offensive. He'll humiliate the guilty defendant and their lawyer during all stages of the process. At the end of the show, the defense will deliver their closing statement... They'll be very compelling and you'll worry as you see jurors nodding. But Jack invariably destroys the competition with his closing words, which are always delivered lucidly and unequivocally. To him, the laws of murder and manslaughter are unambiguous. Right and wrong are black and white. He's passionate and he rarely loses. He's since been promoted to District Attorney, but he still micro-manages some of the cases. He has a hard time letting go of the executive prosecution role.

That role has been taken by a new character, Michael Cutter, whom I'm really starting to like as well. He has a similar fierceness to him. His eyes are almost as intense as McCoy's.

Besides my secret fantasy to be a prosecuting attorney, I like the show because each episode is basically a self-contained story. Despite the character development I described just now, the show really does not depend on having followed the series. You don't need to watch them in order. (There's a bad pun in there somewhere around the word "order" but we had enough of those at Martin's party last night). They don't usually delve into the personal lives of the characters, except on SVU which is one of the reasons I don't like that series as much. That and Detective Stabler looks like a thumb and Ice-T just isn't that great of an actor.

The format of the show is basically: crime scene, investigation, trial. Likewise you see: victims, detectives, prosecutors. There are often a few red herrings at the beginning but usually you know who the perpetrator is by the middle of the show. The only constant characters are the cops and state lawyers. The criminals, victims, judges, etc. are always a mix of guest stars and corny but attractive young unknown actors. Probably one of the most annoying things about the show is how these side characters are so unrealistic at times. I mean in terms of their interactions with the police. I mean, the cops show up to ask questions and they're always busy doing something. Like a business man who makes the detectives follow him from his office to whatever meeting he's going to; or the woman who just has to do her laundry while they're asking her questions; or the student who cuts the detectives off to say they have to get to class. They're always on the move. Busy with some mundane task. I'm pretty sure if some homicide detectives were asking me about someone I know who was murdered, I'd invite them in to sit down, or just show up a little late for class.

I once heard the creator Dick Wolfe on NPR talking about how the episodes are "ripped from the headlines". And how they literally base some of the stories on solely the headlines of current events. That always adds another interesting element to the show. (I think we've seen two episodes about deadly chemicals in chinese manufactured toothpaste and mouthwash.) But since the writers base everything on just a headline, the plot always diverges from the actual story.

Overall, it's one of my favorite TV shows. And has been since I was about 12. One Wednesday night in high school TR called me and I let it go to voicemail. He left a message saying, "Hey Greg, you're probably watching Law & Order, but when you get this..." You were right, TR. Sorry I missed your call!

Union Reunion

2008-03-16T21:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight we got together with Nick Kuwada, his girlfriend, and a couple of their friends for Nick's birthday. Nick and I go back to high school (maybe middle school?). We also went to college together at the University of Utah where we both worked at the student union as building managers. It was a fun, crazy job. Just to share some samples of the many things we did there:

Shifts from 4pm to anywhere from 11:30pm to 3am (sometimes the whole night if there was a LAN party).
Given way too much responsibility / free reign over the building.
Bringing lawn chairs onto the roof and inviting girls to watch the sun set over the Great Salt Lake.
Covering the information desk, the "rec desk" (where they sold candy and rented out pool tables), and the bowling alley when they needed a break. There was a girl whose name neither of us could remember, but she would ask for a break about every 15 minutes. I hated working when I saw her name on the schedule.
Coordinating events including but not limited to:

Magic The Gathering tournaments
All-night LAN parties
High School Dances
Bahai Club
Campus Crusade for Christ
A Bangladeshi Wedding that went way too late. (I sat in the kitchen waiting and waiting and waiting for hours. I didn't have the heart to kick them out.)
The Canadian olympic team's rowdy parties in 2002
LDS president Gordon B. Hinckley talks
Blackalicious, The Shins, Macy Gray concerts
The Objectivist Club, the leader of which started stalking me when she found out my middle name is Rourk

Speaking of weddings, there was another building on campus that would "borrow" us from time to time to manage after hours events. The Alumni House. I once spent three hours picking up rice in the cracks in the pavement, because the bride insisted on throwing rice, and I was worried about the birds. Another time the mother of the bride came and found me sleeping upstairs. I thought the door was locked: "Oh, we couldn't find you. We need help with the DVD player." *yawn*... "Ok, I'll be right there. Just let me put my shoes on."
The building was a very strange 1950s experiment in postmodern architecture. There was this one wing that had a second floor, except it was called the third floor, and it didn't have an elevator. But there were classrooms up there, so legally it had to be accessible. So they retrofitted a wheelchair lift on the stairs. Problem was, it ran on batteries which, when fully charged, could either get you all the way up or down, but not both. So if you went up you had to wait four hours to come back down. I usually tried to reschedule people to other rooms, but sometimes you couldn't and several times I was verbally abused by obese women on rascals. But they were right. If there was a fire or something...
One time there was a LAN party and a high school dance at the same time. The gamers liked to put their Alienware computers on these maintenance carts we had and push them the party room. To get to the party room you had to go through the ballroom, where the dance was. Mixing both extremes of the teenage social spectrum is entertaining, to say the least. We ended up having to sneak the geeks through the back hallway, like a hidden passageway.
Speaking of hidden passageways, there were tunnels in the boiler room downstairs that went to other buildings. One time I spent my whole shift spelunking... Past the "Danger Asbestos" signs, past the rat droppings... Only to come out on the other side of the boiler room!
Outside of the boiler room was rape alley. So called because sometimes we'd find strange men back there, and it was very dark, and a female employee finally insisted that they install lights and give us pepper spray on our massive, prison warden keychain.
We had keys to everything, including the back rooms of the food court, where I would go to get condiments, fountain soda, and packs of paper bowls and plastic spoons for my Easy Mac.
They had these parties we were supposed to manage put on by a student volunteer group that would go until 4am, Crimson Nights. Seemed like there was always some kind of gang fight or violence of some sort. I must've helped fill out about ten police reports.
I'd disable the BIOS passwords and remove the Windows passwords on the nice office desktops that belonged to my boss and her boss... And we'd install Warcraft 3 and play all night, often locking ourselves in the office and telling everyone else we were too busy to give breaks.
I never liked kicking people out, but I was good at it. Homeless guys who booed at me when I turned off the History Channel and told 'em we were closing. The weird guy who would sexually harass the girls at the rec. desk. Cranking on the lights at the high school dance that was going too late. They were all no problem. The worst: the student government. They'd have their little meetings where they'd play government. I was always told to never let them go past 11pm, that it was a problem. Usually around 11:45pm I'd finally tell them to leave. It would go like this. I'd walk in and tell them they had to leave in 15 minutes, they were already late. They'd look at me like, "who does this guy think he is? I'm student body president." I'd come back and tell them to take their little UN nameplates and leave the building. Usually they were in disbelief and would scoff at me, because I interrupted some very important legislation. Then I'd call the person at the information desk on my walkie talkie and tell them to call security. Then they'd leave.

Anyway, I could go on listing things but I realized this probably isn't as exciting to read as it is for me to remember. Despite all the adventure, I mostly did homework, read books, and watched Strongbad Emails. But it was a great job.

Life Lesson

2008-03-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

In 7th Grade I had this teacher Mrs. Green. One day, at the end of January, she told us that for the month of February she was going to bring a basket of candy every day. Enough for all of us! Obviously, we thought that was pretty awesome. But she went on to say that we could only have one piece for the whole month. I knew there was a catch! But it sounded sort of like a riddle, so I was excited.

Later that week, on the first of February, she came to class with a big ol' basket of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. About ten kids took one. I love peanut butter cups, but I was wise enough to wait. After all, there was a whole month of options coming.

On the following day she brought Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies. Mmmmm... One of my favorites. But I had some at home, so I felt comfortable letting this one go. Only two or three kids took one this time. I think everyone was starting to catch on. Several kids who had taken a Reese's the day before got upset when it was reiterated that they only got one for the whole month, and they had already chosen. Some of them didn't understand the "rule" when they chose the Reese's. I think some kids cried. Losers who didn't listen, I thought.

Valentine's day came, and I was pretty excited about the prospect of something really good. The options so far had all been about equal in my mind. I was holding out for that king size Butterfinger or a giant bag of jelly beans or an entire cake to myself or... The possibilities were endless! Mrs. Green's class was the final class of the day, and I was so excited all day about what the candy was going to be. It was Valentine's, it must be something really good! Boy was I mistaken. She brought the basket out and it looked empty! She reached in and took out one of those stupid little hearts. You know, those little chalky ones that say, "Be Mine" or whatever? Yeah, no one went for that. We all had like a hundred that day already. She must think we're idiots!

Eventually we got to the last week of the month. Most people who were left were like me, trying to hold out for the possibility -- what we thought was a certainty -- that the last day would be like the grand finale. For many days in a row, no one took anything! All of us who had patiently waited were surely to be rewarded. But really, our expectations were growing. Could anything really exceed our imaginations? Most of the class had already chosen something and eaten their candy. They just watched as the rest of us greedily held out for something better. It was interesting that some were apparently happy with their decision and defended it to the end. If someone was hungry one day and took a 3 Muskateers, they were sure to explain over and over that 3 Muskateers is their favorite candy bar. We have a need to feel like we made the right choice. Ambiguity and uncertainty are difficult to handle.

End of the month. The last day. Boy, I had missed some good opportunities. The previous week she overheard a big debate in the hall about whether she was going to bring the big one on the last day. Everyone who was left, including me, were like celebrities. We were being watched and analyzed so closely. After class I'd literally get interviewed about why I decided not to go for the Starbursts. "Because the big one's coming..." Oh, I was so certain of myself...

Milky way. That was it! Not a king size Milky Way. Not even a regular size Milky Way. Not even a "fun size" Milky Way. On the last day she brought a basket full of miniature Milky Ways! We're talking those little tiny half-a-bite ones that barely give you a taste -- barely a hint of a Milky Way.

All of us remaining -- I think only three or four of us -- got up and slowly walked to the front and reached into the basket -- shoving our hands deep at that final glimmer of hope that there was something really good buried in there. I took the candy and set it in the middle of my desk and stared down at it for the entire period. I hated it. I wanted to smash it. Finally, on the bus home, I unwrapped it and savored it. I took really small bites to make it last. I convinced myself that I made the right decision. And to this day, Milky Way is and always has been my favorite candy bar.

Interesting fact: if you turned down the first 7 options and then took the next candy that was better than any of the previous ones, you'd have roughly a 37% chance of getting the best one. And you can't do any better.

Rain

2008-02-19T21:27:00.000-08:00

Last week I was listening to Blind Melon's No Rain because it was depressingly sunny outside and I wanted the rain to come back. Remember that little girl in the bee costume? I even brought my umbrella to work on a perfectly sunny day; and endured a lot of ridicule for it. Wishful thinking. Well, today I got my wish and right now it's pouring!

I've always loved the rain. I'm sorry that my blog has taken such a sappy direction. Love, nostalgia, etc. But some people are liking it and that's all I've got right now, so we'll see where this goes. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, rain...

I like the way rain sounds from inside a tent. Or against a window. We don't get to hear rain like that, here, though. We just hear cars outside violently swishing through puddles on California Street.

Since it was raining, Kj and I decided to go for a walk. Like I said, I like the rain, but it seems like most people don't. I think you're not supposed to like the rain, or something. You're supposed to dread it like, "Oh man... it's gonna rain!" And everyone around you is supposed to groan in agreement. I think it's related to the "Good, how are you?" effect. Or facing the door in elevators. It's a social norm and it's best to not be a weirdo.

But here I am, defiantly declaring my weirdoness. A friend and I used to go downtown and face the wrong way in elevators too. People do not like that!

You know who has a good reason for hating rain? A turkey. Wait no, that's one of those conventional absurdities. It's not true. Like how eskimos have a thousand words for snow. I bet turkeys actually like the rain. It's a shower. We take showers for granted.

But you know who really has a good reason for hating rain? An earthworm. Those poor things. To them, rain is a catastrophic flood of their otherwise peaceful and quiet subterranean homes. Worms really dread the rain. They say to each other, "Oh worm... It's gonna rain! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!" Do worms run? Slither? Wiggle? I guess they wiggle.

So they wiggle out onto the sidewalk: perhaps the second worst place on earth for an earthworm. How many worms have you squished with your bike tire? You're probably blissfully unaware of 99% of them. And I don't know about you, but I pulled literally dozens of worms apart as a kid. Have you ever baited a fishing hook with a live worm? Of course you have. Everyone has. What a horrible thing to do! You should be ashamed.

Why do they just lie there on the sidewalk? Maybe those are just the dumb ones. Maybe the smart ones are hidden in the grass.

If those dumb ones happen to survive the storm on the pavement -- with its barrage of bicycles, sadistic kids, and baitless fishermen -- they're still totally screwed! Because the sun will come out. And what happens when the sun comes out? They get fried! Right onto the sidewalk! They melt into a 2-dimensional shadow of a worm.

Kjersti pointed out to me on our walk tonight that the one redeeming, enviable quality about a worm is that it can split into two worms. That it can not only survive some of those trials I described, but it can double its own population in the process. Maybe the smart half can wiggle its way to the lawn.

Confession: One time I sent away my hard earned allowance for a Sega Genesis game called Earthworm Jim. It never came. I checked the mail every day, literally for months. To this day I haven't played the game. Don't ever send cash in the mail. Especially to some fly-by-night catalog in the back of a videogame magazine.

Too Many Friends?

2008-02-17T23:25:00.000-08:00

Today I was going through the guest list for our upcoming Leap Year Game Night party, and I noticed that I wasn't friends with Marco... Or at least Facebook didn't reflect that real-world fact that we are friends. Naturally I clicked "Add to Friends"... And one of those fancy Facebook DHTML overlays came up and animated a very curious message:

You have exceeded the limit for adding friends!
You are temporarily blocked from adding friends. Block times vary depending on the feature and scale of abuse. Blocks cannot be lifted.
Misuse of Facebook's features may result in your account being disabled.

If you have questions or concerns, you can visit our FAQ page here.

Click here to go home.

Huh? You can't put a limit on friendship! Damn you Facebook! First it threatens me. Then it tells me to go home. Nice touch. I'm taking my ball with me!

I clicked on the FAQ, and it says, "Facebook has determined that you are using a feature at a rate that is likely to be abusive." What? It was one person. One single click. So what are those limits? Well, to that, the FAQ says, "Unfortunately, Facebook cannot provide any specifics on the rate limits that we enforce." Hmm... If you had good abuse prevention, you would be able to disclose it, right? "But then people could get around it!" you might say. Well, not if it's good! Come on Facebook, get to work! I'm not abusing anything.

Sorry Marco, we'll have to wait for Facebook to trust me again before the world knows we're friends.

Mail

2008-02-15T22:33:00.000-08:00

Don't you like getting stuff in the mail?

There's something about getting something in the mail. You know when you get home and you kind of relax a little bit and maybe eat dinner? Then you check your email for the ten-thousandth time that day and there's nothin new or interesting. Then maybe you go check up on some of your favorite blogs. Maybe you check out Facebook to see if you got anything significant. Then you remember, "Hey, the mailbox! Good ol' mail! There'll be somethin' cool there waiting for me!" But how often is any of that really all that thrilling? It's always such a let-down. We're always chasing that feeling. We're such attention addicts.

With email you get mostly spam. Even if the obvious spam is filtered out pretty well, you still get newsletters, or order updates, or bill reminders, or whatever other impersonal messages.

It's not unlike snail mail, where you get newsletters, catalogs, solicitations, or bills. What sucks about opening real mail as opposed to email, though, is that you're in no mood to act on anything. You just want to get something cool and be done with it. You're not going to look at that bill right now. It'll get lost in the pending pile along with those 1099 forms you'll wish you could find later in April.

With blogs, well, the central ego of those isn't you... it's the writer. No thrill there.

From time to time on Facebook you get a wall post, or a message, or a funny BFF Toaster review of you. But usually it's just impersonal crap like, "So-and-so was duped into sending you a notification using our spammy app! Click here to be forced to install it before you and your friend know what you've done!"

Remember the old days when it was just the mailbox and the landline?

There was no caller-ID. You'd answer every call hoping it was the girl from your class who told you she liked your shirt. It was always someone asking for your mom. The worst was when they thought you were her! My mom's friend Barbara did that to me all the time. What a demasculating thing to do to a 12-year-old.

You'd get off the school bus, or walk home from school, and go to the mailbox hoping that neato toy you spent your paper route money on finally came. Or your Nintendo Power magazine. Or a letter from your remote friend. Or a postcard from your grandma. Hell, at that age, you were excited about anything that came addressed to your name! Even if it was crap!

Sometimes you'd be expecting something special or just hoping for something out of the blue, so you'd check the mail. Then check again. Then again. Then just sit on the porch waiting for the postman. You'd try to figure out when it is that he usually comes, and you worry that maybe your residence didn't get any mail that day! You'd wish that every car sound you heard was the mail truck.

The worst was when you'd be waiting for something on a Saturday. No school to keep you busy all day. You just gotta distract yourself and check the mail later. But maybe he'll come early today! How many strolls to the mailbox have you taken on a single Saturday? The worst is that if it doesn't come.... you have to wait until Monday! Or worse, Tuesday if there's a holiday.

Have you ever had someone get the mail and put it in a drawer somewhere and not tell you! Grrrr....

What about when you get home from a long vacation and you go pick up the mail at the post office that's been piling up... What an orgy of torn envelopes and papercuts that always is!

Sometimes you'd be waiting for a package. The UPS man would come like Santa dressed in brown. You'd hear the big truck coming around the corner all the way from the basement. How disappointing was it when he stopped at a neighbor's house instead? Bastards!

Anyway, today I got something pretty awesome delivered to me. UPS brought my new Wii. It had all the stuff that gets ya so excited: the eye-less Amazon smirk on the box, the smell of new plastic and electronics, earlier-than-expected delivery. And all the nostalgia that comes from the words "Nintendo", "Mario", and "Press Start".

I also got a post card. Now this one was particularly creepy because the handwriting on it looked way too familiar. It was my name, that's for sure. And my address. It was handwritten, that's always cool. But something was off. Who wrote this? Let's see... Who's it from? This should be exciting!

Ah damn it. It's from the dentist. And it's MY HANDWRITING! Argh. I feel so violated. I guess I should make my appointment. Thanks a lot.

The rest of the mail was junk, bills, and prospectuses. To the pending pile and the recycling bin.

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T23:35:00.000-08:00

Today I was at work, and everyone was asking me what I was gonna do for Valentine's Day. Everyone seemed pretty disappointed when I informed them of our agreement to basically do nothing. Not that we don't want to celebrate our cheesy love. We just didn't want to waste our money and time buying stupid gifts. Also, as usual on Thursday, Kj had school and wasn't going to be home until 9pm.

But what always happens to me is I catch the Valentine's fever. I decided today that I would finally get that laptop Kjersti's been wanting. The one she's been using is old and bulky and has absolutely no battery life, and is Windows. She hasn't taken it to school, I think because she's embarrassed of it.

So I left work a few minutes early and stopped at the Mac store near the office. I told the guy what I wanted: a white Macbook with a ComboDrive. He started giving me the whole spiel about all the different options. He wasn't a very good salesman. He was just giving me the same old line he gives everyone. But I had just told him I wanted a Macbook! Just give it to me and charge my credit card and be done with it. I had to interrupt him a few times to convince him that I did indeed want to buy a Macbook. I had a train to catch and it was annoying that he was preachin' to the choir.

#1 Rule of Sales: Don't sell to someone who's already sold.

Once I finally convinced him that I wanted the very computer I had come in the door requesting, he rung it up. He didn't try to sell me Microsoft Office or anything else. What a disappointing salesman.

Anyway, that's not the point...

The point is I got Kj a Mac. Now we're both Mac people. Tomorrow we're getting a Wii. We're so chic. We're thinking about starting an independent film festival and putting out our first folk album.

Anyway, Kj didn't follow the rules either! She bought chocolates and champagne.

We had a nice Valentine's night once she got home. I surprised her with the laptop. She got me drunk. We ordered pizza and watched Lost. Perfect.

Interesting fact: My great grandfather had the last name Falentine.

19 Months

2008-02-09T00:38:00.001-08:00

Today (Feb 8th, 2008) Kjersti and I have been married for 19 months. Every month on the eighth we go to Chili's to celebrate. I'm not sure why we chose Chili's. We both like the food, I guess. I always get the same thing. Kj usually gets something different every time. I think we like it because it's nothing special. I think we like to feel like we don't need to do something fancy special to celebrate. We always have a great time even if a baby is crying or something. Plus Chili's is always the same, which helps us reflect on how we've changed since the last time, like Holden Caulfield's favorite indian statues at the museum. Also we both like to people-watch and usually there are some interesting characters at Chili's.

Anyway, I thought I'd write a little (or a lot) about how Kj and I met and how we came to be married. Most people don't really know the story. I think our parents don't really know the story. Some people think we started dating at a long distance and were engaged within six months. Some people think we have been together since high school. Truth is, both groups of people are sort of right.

My senior year of high school -- at Brighton High School in Sandy, UT -- I took this German exchange student to the Christmas dance. A group of us all went to dinner, and then to the dance. Kjersti was with my friend Pete. That's when we met. We didn't talk to each other much, but we stared at each other a lot.

I had this architecture class that year. I had senioritis so I had a hard time taking the class seriously. In fact, since it was right after my lunch I usually didn't come at all. But one day I was there because it was snowing outside and I couldn't get my Geo out of the parking lot, so I ate in the lunch room and went to class. I had "A" lunch, and Kjersti had "B" lunch, which meant she went to lunch when I went to class. Anyway, my teacher was her track coach. She and her friend needed a microwave to heat up something, and they knew Mr. Wiscomb had one in his classroom, so they came in. I sat right next to the door and when I saw her come in I -- well, I don't want to get too corny -- but this was the first time I'd seen her since the dance.

She and her friend walked to the back room and tried not to disturb the class too much while Whiskey was lecturing. A few seconds later I stood up and followed her into the back room and went right up to her and said, "How you doin?" or something equally cocky (I was a senior, after all). So we started dating a little bit, nothing really serious.

Then I graduated. That summer we continued to date off-and-on. I think we were both dating other people too, which in retrospect is kind of stupid. I don't think people should date multiple people at the same time if they really really like one of them. But then again we were in high school. Fall came and I went to college (but I still lived at home). Kjersti and her family moved to Idaho and that kind of ended everything. However, we emailed each other from time to time.

Years went by. Five, to be exact. I did my computer science and math degrees; Kjersti finished high school and started college in southern Utah. She went to France for six months. Strangely, while she was in France we started emailing again. Shortly after she got back from France I emailed her and asked her if she was ever going to be in Salt Lake. She came up during the Christmas break and stayed with a friend. We went on a group date... we immediately hit it off again. I felt more like myself than I had in the past 5 years.

Once again, I was a cocky senior. This time in college. I was applying for graduate school and working full-time at a programming job. Kjersti lived three and a half hours away, was going to school and working full-time with disabled people. We'd take turns driving to see each other every week. Sometimes I didn't show up to work on Monday morning cuz I couldn't get myself to leave. Shortly after we started dating again I got an acceptance letter from Stanford. It was kind of bitter sweet because I had to go and I knew it would separate us again. But we had the summer so we just had as much fun as we could.

We did a lot of stuff that summer, but maybe I'll leave those stories for other posts. September came way too fast, and I packed my Jeep and she came with me to help me move-in at Stanford. Then she flew home and I was all alone. I couldn't stand it. I was losing her again. We made a deal to talk to each other every night at 10pm. And we did. Sometimes for hours.

October came and Kjersti's 22nd birthday was approaching. I flew back to Utah to celebrate it with her. I had a few presents sent to her -- she told me once in high school that she really wanted a globe, and somehow she still didn't have one. I brought the ring with me in my pocket. I got a reservation at the Zion National Park lodge (pretty close to where she was living). On her birthday we went and hiked up to this beautiful place called Angel's Landing, which I recommend if you ever go to Zion. At the top there were all these people, so we just sat down and ate wheat thins and took in the view. I was so nervous. I wanted us to be alone and all these people were around. I felt idiotic for not thinking about that. At this point I was certain she was going to say no. Eventually the sun started going down, so people left to hike back down. Finally we were alone. Some cheesy stuff happened that ended with her saying, "Yes!", jumping on me, and almost sending us both tumbling off the cliff. A random guy showed up at that moment, took a picture of us, and left. Then we hiked down in the dark, which was kind of dangerous.

Anyway, we got engaged in October and she wasn't going to graduate until June. So we continued the long distance relationship, but it felt so much better knowing we were both committed to this thing. June came, the wedding was planned for July, and I got an internship at Microsoft in Seattle. Once again, she came out and helped me pack up the Jeep and move up there. Then she flew home. A month later I took a week off my internship, flew in the night before the wedding, got a wedding license barely before the office closed, and the next day we were finally married. :) We got a moving truck for all the stuff we both still had in Utah and drove it up to Seattle. Finally, we both lived in the same city, which hadn't happened since high school! We had a great time in Seattle, I finished up my internship, Kjersti enjoyed not having to go to school or work or anything. We rented a trailer, moved back to Stanford, and immediately left for a honeymoon in Japan. I finished my masters degree and started work at PowerReviews in April of 2007. Life has been great ever since!

So this post was pretty long. I'm sure no one will read it all the way through, but now when people ask me to clarify how Kjersti and I met, I can just send them here.

And for anyone who's interested: here's the video that played at our wedding. Baby pictures and all that cute stuff.

Addy

2008-02-07T22:58:00.000-08:00

What if you could send a package to an email address? Or an OpenID? What if you went to an OpenID provider such as claimID.com and entered your physical mailing address? And what if I sent mail to claimID.com/yourname and the post office pinged claimID.com to resolve the physical adddress? What if you didn't need to tell Amazon your shipping address, you just needed to sign in with your OpenID? And what if you moved tomorrow, and you changed your address on your claimID profile, and all your mail just went to the right place? What if you had one communications identity -- online and off -- that you had complete control over?

This is an idea I've been throwing around in my head for a long time. At one point I was calling it Addy. It's something I've discussed with Martin. It's something I've told a lot of people about. It's something I'd like to build but I don't know where to start. But I know where I want to get: getting a letter from my grandma addressed simply to addy.com/grourk.

Gravitron

2008-02-06T19:32:00.001-08:00

I guess I'm finally breaking down and starting a blog. Well, I don't guess it... I am. I say, "I guess" a lot. And "basically". But that's not the point.

Basically, I guess the point is I haven't started a blog yet... Mostly because they're called "blogs". That word is fairly ugly, but I guess it's here to stay. The only word that's worse is "blogger". No wait, there's another one: "blogosphere". How many real words were slammed together to make that one?

For some reason the word "blogosphere" reminds me of this ride that used to be at The 49th Street Galleria -- which was this very strange place in Murray, UT that had miniature golf, a carousel, a bowling alley, arcades, a big staircase, and lot of green felt "carpet". It also had this ride called the Gravitron. Basically, it was a giant wheel oriented horizontally. You'd get inside and strap yourself to the outer wall. Then it would spin, and the centrifugal force would push you agains the wall. We used to unstrap ourselves during the ride and try to maneuver ourselves so we'd be upside down, then try to get back on our feet before it slowed to a stop (or else you'd fall on your head). Or we'd try to keep our arms out in front of us as long as we could until they gave out and we hit ourselves in the face or chest.

The 49th Street Galleria was later renamed the Fun Dome, which is a very dumb name because the building didn't resemble a dome in the least. I think it's now a community college of some sort.

Anyway, the ride was torn out after a short time. I think mostly because a lot of people threw up, and it would fly everywhere and hit everyone in the face. EVERY TIME. I never barfed, though.

Actually, I went for ten years without throwing up ever. Contrary to my reputation, I didn't start drinking until I was 22. Here's another interesting fact: centrifugal force does not exist.

Well, this concludes my first post. I may or may not do this again.