February 27, 2005
sunday
batya took molly to a birthday party and i took aaron on a 2 hour walk. aaron went to sleep about 45 minutes into the walk but i continued since i was with friends
aaron's now consuming bananas and pasta.
February 25, 2005
movie
"shaun of the dead" is an excellent movie. see it todaaaay....argh...urgh...aaaaarggghh!
:)
February 22, 2005
more soggy postings
it's wet again in la. the basment is flooded again.
this time we're not using the heat in the house until the water dries up in the basement. it's a little nippy in the house but a sweater and some sweats are the cure for that ailment.
the kids haven't noticed yet
February 20, 2005
February 19, 2005
aaron
aaron climbed into the bath tonight with his fresh pjs on. it was amusing
he's eyeing his sleeve because he's wondering if the water is remove-able via a sucking action. he discovered it was. note the orange crayon marks behind him.
pictures
let's try posting some pictures
a rose in the backyard
the kids at the park
molly in a plane!
aaron clowning about with markers
-jack
weekend
it's raining in la - since friday. hopefully it won't swamp the house too much.
the rain kept us up for about an hour and a half last night. it sounded like hammers on the roof.
the kids are taking it well. they're a bit stir crazy but they're keeping it together.
aaron's getting to be quite the character. he colors on everything around him. at times he'll back up from the current project, eye it and then continue. he's only 20 months young.
batya has to fly to a family funeral tomorrow night. she's back late tomorrow night
February 18, 2005
url discussions
from:
http://farfetched.blogspot.com/2005/02/url-features.html
"Computers should record all operations on URLs. For example, I should have a list of URLs that I've emailed (along with the recipient and date), that I've instant-messaged, or printed, or transferred, or mentioned in any document."
i pointed out that beagle - http://www.planetbeagle.org - has a lot of this built in.
dead parrot!
from boingboing:
Cory Doctorow: Monty Python's Dead Parrot sketch has come to life and moved to Israel, wehre it is the subject of intense litigation:
An indignant Israeli is suing a pet shop that he says sold him a dying parrot, reports the Ma'ariv newspaper. Itzik Simowitz of the southern city of Beersheba contends the shop cheated him because the Galerita-type cockatoo not only failed to utter a word when he got it home, but was also extremely ill. Mr. Simowitz adds that the shop owner assured him the parrot was not ill but merely needed time to adjust to its new environment.
February 17, 2005
work
work's been eating up quite a bit of time. i've been keeping busy with training and new projects starting up.
i've caught up with 'carnivale', 'battlestar', and 'Justice League'
February 16, 2005
hack a mac
The MacHack papers are here:
http://www.adhocconference.com/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi/PastShows/Papers
new google toolbar
from :
http://google.blogspace.com/archives/001571
SpellCheck: Whenever users type into a web form (including web-based email, discussion forums, and intranet web applications), SpellCheck instantly reviews and suggests corrections. The AutoFix option enables users to automatically check and correct all the text they're entering with one click.
AutoLink: Whenever users see a U.S. address on a web page, one click on AutoLink automatically links the address to an online map. For example, if users are reading a review of a new restaurant, clicking on AutoLink will turn its address into a link to a map, complete with directions. AutoLink also links package tracking numbers to pages displaying that package's delivery status and other useful information, such as Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) and Publication ISBN numbers.
WordTranslator: This feature translates words from English web pages into one of 8 other languages. Hover the cursor over a word and Google Toolbar's WordTranslator feature displays the word in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Japanese, or Korean.
International verison coming soon.
February 13, 2005
marriage class
the second class of a 4 part marriage class just concluded at my home. the class focuses on what men, who have already been married for a while, might need a refresher on and overall approaches and philosophies to a successful marriage. it does not hand out a set of tools or mantras by which to run your marriage.
i'm attending the class for the first time. i've learned more about my marriage and myself then 5 years of marriage and two kids ever taught me.
if anyone in the greater los angeles area would like to attend please email me.
February 08, 2005
trip thoughts in closing
M$ clearly puts on a good show. Their catering service was top notch and was very prompt, courteous, unassuming, and descrite. They served coffee/decaf coffee (starbucks), tea (tazo/starbucks), water, and soda at all times.
They had two snack breaks, one energy bar / trail mix in the am with fresh juice, and then candy and cookies in the PM.
They also served lunch, and breakfast.
The round table discussion was the best part of the afternoon. Several customers were able to direct their concerns and issues to the board of MAPICS, M$, and AMR people. I was vocal and drew some applause at times with my attempts to be humorus.
Some how a free trip turned into $140 worth of cabs and shuttles. I'll submit it and we'll see.
corperate view of obsticles to chinese takeover
1) Lack of clean water supplies. water coming out of factories is cleaner then the waster coming in
2) Lack of clean air. 60% of the cities have poor air quality.
3) Lack Safe and Stable Food Supply. Lack of USDA and disease of fowls. 25% of the Chinese population is allergic to chicken and eggs. The intake of antibiotics causes the allergic reaction.
4) Lack Reliable Power Supply. Costs 2x per kilowatt hour what other countries cost. power grid equal to entire grid of Europe needs to be put in place. Fossil fuels will be relied upon.
How to compete:
1) Speed time to market. China overwhelms most issues with labor.
2) Cut costs. China lacks management talent and cost management.
3) Exceed customer expectations. Chinese managers believe it takes years to develop relationships.
4) Improve data visibility.
5) Manage the global enterprise.
China has the largest number of failed ERP implementations in history. The Chinese government mandated/pushed for digitization.
The 2008 Beijing Olympics are the "beginning of the new China". Then the 2010 World Fair. The coming out of the new china.
logged in from M$ wifi lan
[jcate@7 norge ~]$ finger jcate
Login: jcate Name: Jack Cate
Directory: /arpa/hm/j/jcate Shell: /usr/pkg/bin/bash
On since Tue Feb 8 17:25 (UTC) on ttypp from 131.107.53.30
Mail last read Sun Feb 6 22:24 2005 (UTC)
No Plan.
[jcate@8 norge ~]$
continued presentation issues at M$
i should have offered to take up my mac
at microsoft
check the moblog - http://system23.textamerica.com - for pix.
the morning was spent without slides/presentations. amusing for microsoft.
February 06, 2005
moblog
quick reminder - http://system23.textamerica.com - i've got my moblog going again
ruby on rails
this tutorial is well worth the read:
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2005/01/20/rails.html?page=1
skype
i used skype for mac os x tonight to chat with a friend in japan. it works amazingly well. i'll be paying for skype out shortly.
seattle
i'm staying on the eastside. at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue. Hope they have my res when I check in.
There's dinner with the other conf attendees and then an evening session. I get in around 5:45 and the dinner starts at 6:30.
If you're around drop me an sms or email.
back at it
i'm back at it - i'll try and keep this up to date as i can.
work - still working on the erp system upgrade. the erp system vendor was purchased by another, larger, erp vendor. moving to a new vpn t1 system from qwest with more bandwidth in la. hopefully that will solve some of the slow ttl times on thw WAN right now. going to seattle tomorrow to M$. I'll post pix as I get them. it's an AMR / M$ exec summit. it may be horrible. hopefully they'll have kosher food, i did ask for it.
home - water damage repair starts this week with the family room wall being first in line for repair. one of the exterior walls has a hole in it going straight through to the exterior stucco. i think the water spigot on the outside of the wall is leaking. the den's roof needs a new coat of paint after the leakage in the basement. the water collected and then vaporized into the house. casuing mold and cracks. lots of fun