Cafe Bucky

[ramblings from JetBlue flight 100...]

AirBornAgain (something of an update, but by no means one of those Christmas Letters) near-February 2005, somewhere over the Midwest… soundtrack of Frank Black. I’m being nomadic again. In some ways, I feel as blurred as the fellow off to the left, stepping back into Times Square. It’s nice to get out of California for a while – off to NYC for a couple of weeks, There is a continuing sense of “where the heck do I really live?!”, but I’m gettin’ used to it. On the cyberspace level, it’s not important. On the level of meat, I’m probably picky about where I’m going to spend my time. Life’s too short to waste in some generic tract sameness. Actually, some of my motivation to get my butt back to NYC is that I was jealous of my family, because they got to go through the Blizzard of ‘05. I’ve got to get to NYC and throw some snowballs before they all melt. I’ve had my fill of burritos, so now it’s time for H&H Bagels. And a nice Pastrami Sandwich. Umm, pa-stra-mi. D’oh!

And I really miss my family (camped out in NYC). My daughter is an up and coming writer. Don’t mark my words,
but watch for hers. My wife is becoming an honest-to-goodness NYC Photographer. They’ll be a creative inspiration (like I really
need another one, but on another hand, their pursuits take a different form, which is great, because it will
assure I don’t get into some thinking-rut).

And it’s a working trip. I declare my UWS apartment to be Metaliq’s East Coast office.

I’m always wrestling with how to converge all of my tech-related interests. A typical day has me thinking about ActionScript, OOP & Design Patterns, Mac minis and how to use one for a PVR, how to network the East and West coast abodes that much better, how to hook up my digital piano to GarageBand, how to get that one crystal moment where everything just works. That’s a danger of wanting to do so many projects – always got to reel in and say “nope, focus!”. It’d be really cool to not have to sleep. Oh, and there’s Photography, Guitar, and Writing.

You ever get this: you want to stay up and work on all sorts of projects, but once you go to sleep you don’t
want to rush waking up? Yeah. Me too.

One thing that I am really looking forward to in the next couple of weeks is simply not having to commute. Although driving is one of the funnest, bestest things in the world, traffic just sucks the life out of me. What a frikken waste of time (and that, my friends, is putting it oh-so-mildly)

So it’s Snow Time! Wake up, brew a pot and code time! Time to get something done in those two hours
I could be driving. Cool things are afoot in the land of Flash, and I’ll have more to say on that, uh, when
I am cleared to talk.

I’m also looking forward to seeing the Christo “Gates” in Central Park. I’ll post some photos, if it’s not
so cold that my camera freezes up. Wouldn’t that be wierd if the cold temperature made for slower
shutter speeds, so that you couldn’t get a sharp photo in Winter? Just sayin’, man.

There’s no grand point to my ramblings, other than to say that Air trips are always a sort of “reset” for me.
It’s when I think about all of the little threads, and what to do with them. Add this, snip that. It’s
always different to write in the air. Perhaps it’s the “more uninterupted time” aspect.

(Soundtrack has now mutated into Thievery Corporation, which will forever remind me of
the Winter of ‘04 in my subletted space on 68th street, with the freezing draft sneaking in around the window air conditioner,
but otherwise great vibe)

It’s time for cafes. Time for walks. Time for the subway. Time to spend 2 minutes putting on snow
clothes, and another one taking them off. It’s time for that bit of sensory stimulation that New York
is so good at. It’s also time to crank out a lot of work, and I’m all set.

Got flash? zoomquilt.nikkki.net

I have updated my resume, if only to reflect what I have been doing lately. It had gotten out of date. You can find it at: resume.daniel.org.

Some of the new things I have been up to lately:

• much more work with XML
• learning all about Flash and ActionScript 2.0. Making extensive use of OOP in AS. I don’t put code on the Stage.
• Studying the GoF (Gang Of Four) Design Patterns book
• Did tech review of an upcoming book by Molly Holzschlag for Prentice Hall.

It has been great to shake off a little dust, and to be on a steep learning curve again. Flash represents a sort of “coming full circle” form of programming for me, in the sense that I went from X11 (1989-1994, events), to the Web (1994-2004, stateless), to ActionScript (back to event driven).

I’m in California, wishing I was in NYC. I’m missing the Blizzard of ‘05. Even my cats get to experience it. What the heck am I doing in Cali!

Over on the Gothamist, there’s a photo of the Fairway market on Broadway from this morning. Scads of experienced New Yorkers stocking up for the storm. Wow, a line out to the front door! My family and I go to this market all the time, so I can just imagine. (and everyone bundled up takes up 30% more space :-)

Stay warm, New Yorkers. This’ll make up for all of those unseasonably warm December days…

Spotted on Gizmodo: Qualuudinous iPod World Video

No, I haven’t bought a Mac mini, but I can sure see its appeal to large audience.

It’s high time that Apple addressed the huge market of potential Mac users that have been sitting on the fence. For $500, the lower end Mac mini will serve the needs of many who just want to check their email, IM, browse the web, and do some spreadsheet and writing stuff.

For $500, they wll be getting a Mac that’s fast enough to handle everyday tasks, and won’t have to worry so much about all of the Windows-targeted spyware/malware/virulent strains.

For $500, they can reuse their USB keyboards and mice, and any industry standard monitor out there (VGA resolution up to 1920 by 1080!). No problem going to a DVI monitor, or a regular TV.

For $500, they’re also getting Panther & iLife.

Not bad! Not bad at all! It makes me wonder why Apple took so long to do this. On the other hand, let’s be glad they did. .. .And they did it with style! It’s going to be easy to tote this along in a backpack or messenger bag.

A couple of nits to pick:

* only 256 meg of ram? man, that’s pretty slim. I wonder how many users will get turned off to Macs the first time their machine starts swapping memory out to disk. I predict that a fair number of users will say “heck with warranty”, and upgrade the memory themselves (Apple charges way too much for memory).

* no audio line in?! Really? This means that someone that wants to play guitar through GarageBand will have to go through a USB device. There’s enough space on the back of the mini for the jack. What gives?

Aside from that, I hope Apple sells a million of these. I expect to see them popping up in cars, tucked alongside TVs, sitting on kitchen counters, and sprinkled throughout schools. Great stuff, Apple.

I wish I were going to MacWorld SF. I’ll miss the keynote. Perhaps I’ll get a hall pass for Thursday.

And Now, for My Grand Prediction! I’ll predict something that nobody has posted!

Ready?

(drum roll….)

Apple will finally introduce…

here it comes …

A Two Button Mouse!

and! and! they’ll even give it a scroll wheel!

(okay, stop laughing now, I don’t think they’ll do this either)

I agree with about half of the predictions going around. Won’t say which half though :-)

After my Starbucks Everywhere post, I don’t want to leave the impression that I only patronize Big Corporate Coffee. I’m down with the local purveyors. Deaf Dog in Petaluma is one my fave fixes.

That cup reads “Joe To The World”.