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Last night, I rented the classic Alfred Hitchcock film "Vertigo." This was my first time seeing "Vertigo", and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The best part of the film is inclusion of dozens of famous locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. But I was most surprised to see the story end in San Juan Bautista, the town where I went to elementary school. San Juan Bautista is a very small town located between Gilroy and Hollister. But even more amazing was the footage of the main characters driving through a grove of eucalyptus trees, popularly referred to as the "Avenue of the Trees" (Google Maps), located on Highway 101 only a couple of miles from my family's home in Aromas. Very few people have heard of Aromas, even among those living in Monterey County; so, it's wonderful to know that Hitchcock chose to feature this relatively unknown area in his film. Consider that the film was made before Highway 101 existed. San Juan Bautista was reached by traveling on the two-lane State Route 82. The eucalyptus trees give the impression of driving through a tunnel - perpetually dark, eerie, and are in strong contrast to the barren, rolling hills that pervade the area. I completely understand why Hitchcock chose to include them in the film.

An inaccuracy in the route traveled is that the grove doesn't lie on the route from San Francisco to San Juan Bautista; the grove lies about 1 mile beyond the Highway 156 cut-off for San Juan Bautista and Hollister. The grove lies on the Highway 101 route to Monterey or Salinas in the South.

Posted by Scott at 1:09 PM | Permalink

Natalie & I made an important & difficult decision this week: to not buy a house for at least a year. This came after saving diligently for over a year so that we would have enough money for at least a 10% down-payment on a home. This is non-trivial task in the Bay Area, where the median prices hover around $600,000-$800,000, depending on the neighborhood.

Our decision came after having made an offer on a home in the Glenview neighborhood of Oakland. The home was priced at $575,000. It featured two bedrooms, a garage, a nice little back-yard, and was in a good school district. We offered $605,000, or slightly more than 5% of the asking price. Thinking we had a solid offer, we sat back and waiting to hear from the sellers. The conclusion was, as you might imagine, that our offer was rejected. Not only that, ours was the lowest offer, and the winning offer was for a price of more than $100,000 over asking price. It's impossible for me to reason why someone would pay such a huge sum of money for shelter.

We're now in the process of looking to rent a 2 bedroom house in the same neighborhood for roughly half the price of a mortgage required to own. We figure we can continue to save the money left over after paying for rent, while keeping our savings liquid and safe from the volatility of the housing market. We also are free from the worries of home repair & seismic strengthening, which is a persistent issue among the 80 year-old homes in our Oakland neighborhood.

Any time I need some encouragement in my decision to rent, I look at the blog on Patrick.net. The moderator includes many arguments for why renting makes better sense in over-inflated markets like California. The blog also includes links to current articles about the housing & credit crises. I think that the condition of credit in the U.S. is very poor because the housing bubble has made it easy for people to become over-extended and short on cash. The savings rate in the U.S. is one of lowest among all industrialized nations. We are very proficient at personal spending, which leaves little money left over for investment and entrepreneurial endeavors. My outlook on the financial future of the U.S. is bleak, though I'm not ready to suggest people start buying gold.

Posted by Scott at 11:24 AM | Permalink

For many years, I've been fascinated by the potential for consumer applications of the Global Positioning System (GPS). In 2003, I bought a handheld Garmin eTrex Legend GPS receiver to track the positions of wireless access points located during war-driving expeditions. The GPS receiver was connected to a laptop computer over a serial cable, and the wireless scanning program would sample the current location any time a wireless access point was detected. This resulted in range of coordinates for all access points discovered. Feeding the data into a mapping program produced an overlay of the access points on a street map, complete with circles indicating their effective range. Pretty cool stuff back then, but most people have the sense to lock down their access points in 2007, so war-driving is a waste of time except to learn how saturated an area is with wireless technology.

Hand-held GPS receivers for outdoor activities are old-hat, but GPS receivers in cars are becoming hugely popular. Newer receivers operate with such precision that they even know which lane of traffic the car is in. This was not possible in years past due to selective-availability ("dithering") purposely introduced by the DoD to reduce the precision of GPS readings in non-military receivers. The DoD discontinued the practice of dithering in 2000. Also, the 3-dimensional mapping capabilities of car GPS receivers have improved greatly. They can present road and point-of-interest features on a moving map generated in real-time.

So, I really want for Natalie & I to get a GPS receiver for the car. We, like a lot of couples, sometimes get frustrated by inaccurate or limited driving directions. It would be much more convenient to have a mapping device that allowed us to enjoy the scenery while driving instead of agonizing over when the next turn is. The major obstacle has been the price-point: a Garmin Nuvi 350 is currently selling for $450 on Amazon. This is a lot of money to spend on a tech-gadget. I've been putting the heat on Natalie for us to get a GPS receiver, and with the travel plans we're developing for the summer, I might be able to convince her soon. One can hope!

Posted by Scott at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

After working for EMC Documentum a little over a year (November 2005), I've decided to move on to a different job. I'm mostly looking for a workplace with higher energy and a chance to do more development. With Documentum, I've mostly been supporting a component of the product that was designed and developed a year before I joined. It's much more fun to be part of the complete product lifecycle (design, develop, support). I also have been working mostly in isolation, which isn't any fun.

So, I've accepted an engineering position with MobiTV, a company based in Emeryville. It's only a 15 minute drive from where we live, and has the energy and up-side of a software start-up. Their product (mobile & Internet video) is in a very hot segment of the market. I'm very excited!

Posted by Scott at 2:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Natalie & I watched the docu-film "An Inconvenient Truth" for the first time last night. I've been interested in effects of climate change from increasing levels of carbon and other greenhouse gases, and I think that the film did a good job of presenting the issue in a format that most people can understand and identify with. However, I've seen several episodes of the PBS program "Nova" that provided more detailed explanations of the problem.

One of my favorite episodes of Nova addressed the study of air quality levels during the days following September 11, 2001, when all commercial air traffic in the United States was grounded. It offered the scientific community the chance to study the effects of an absence of air traffic on climate. The results were astonishing. Throughout the country, air temperature decreased noticeably in comparison to historical records held for the last 30 years. The conclusion drawn was that air traffic causes a discernable rise in atmospheric temperature. This is due to condensation trails (con-trails) that emerge from the exhaust of jet-powered airplanes. The con-trails act like a blanket that traps heat generated from surface activity or reflected sunlight.

So, I started wondering about how a rise in ocean levels might affect the San Francisco Bay Area where we live. There are a couple of good websites (i.e. Future Sea Level) devoted to the issue, one of which includes a Google Maps "mash-up" that shows the effects of varying increases in the sea-level on the Bay Area. Low-lying areas like Alameda and Emeryville will be inundated with only one-meter rise in sea level. This has led me to believe that purchasing property set upwards from the coast is a wise idea. Such areas include the Eastern sections of Berkeley, Oakland, and San Leandro. The liklihood of such a catastrophe occuring encourages the consideration of environmental factors that have been ignored during times of relative calm. These are basic things, like ensuring protection from flooding, locating reliable sources of drinking water, and establishing contigency plans for transporation through risk-prone areas.

I found "An Inconvenient Truth" to be very informative, though a lot of the material was not new. I agree with the conclusion that businesses and the environment need not be mutually exclusive; however, the businesses that yield a profit might not be the same business currently profiting from the mining of oil, coal, and other fossil fuels. The lobbying powers of these traditional energy providers are the real reasons why fuel-efficient technologies have been slow to develop in the United States.

Posted by Scott at 9:24 AM | Permalink

I've accumulated a lot of coins over the years, and the least useful coins (typically pennies) have piled up and become unmanageable. Then, Natalie told me about a feature of the Coinstar coin redemption (hallelujah!) machines found in many grocery stores where no fee is exacted if the coin value is put towards a gift card with a major retailer, including Amazon.com, Starbucks, and others.

So, with Christmas rapidly approaching, we decided to cash in the container of coins sitting in the back-seat of my car in exchange for an Amazon.com gift card for purchasing gifts. Until now, it had been providing me with occasional parking-meter funds and worked as a reward for someone determined enough to break into my car. We didn't expect to get much out of it, perhaps $60-$75.

Drum roll, please.... No, we cashed in $171.82 in change! Here's the break-down:

• Dollars: 1


• Quarters: 225


• Dimes: 522


• Nickels: 544


• Pennies: 3517

This is a great deal for anyone who enjoys buying from Amazon.com, as is the case with Natalie & I. However, it really sucks for people who resort to Coinstar as a means of subsistence. Redeeming coins for cash results in a nearly 9% service fee, which is just ridiculous. It's like a worse form of check-cashing. I don't think it's a coincidence that we needed to travel to a sketchy part of Oakland to use the Coinstar system at FoodMaxx.

In any case, we're excited about the fact that we can buy a good amount of gifts without dipping into our savings. On a related note, it looks like America is getting ready for another killer year of holiday shopping with "an increase of 5 percent in sales to $457 billion during the holidays."

Posted by Scott at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I take great efforts to make sure that my communications on-line are secure. I believe that the choice of having secure or non-secure communications is what attracts criminals interested in stealing personal information for financial gain. Criminals are inherently lazy; otherwise, they would earn a living through legal means. So, it's no surprise that they would exploit the laziness of their victims.

I use the following measures when on-line in order to avoid leaking private information:

• Use the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol when accessing computer systems remotely. SSH can employ military-grade encryption ciphers and can tunnel non-secure application protocols over its secure channel.
• Use a Virtual Network Computing (VNC) session tunneled through an SSH connection so that my non-secure network traffic (i.e. web browsing) travels only over my trusted network that's hosting the VNC server. This is a great way to keep prying ISPs and employers from monitoring the network traffic of their users. While they may be legally entitled to this information, I'd rather only give them undecipherable SSH traffic :)
• Don't use free web-mail services for my personal e-mail. While services like GMail are enticing, they offer little privacy to their users. Instead, I use the e-mail services provided by my web-hosting provider. I access their e-mail servers using IMAP and POP tunneled through, yes, and SSH connection. SSH is a god-send. I store all of my e-mail using Thunderbird on my Mac Mini at home.

There are other measures I follow, too, but these are some of the techniques I use most often.

Still, this does not make me safe from identity theft. Since most identity thieves are lazy, employing an attack on my computers or network is probably too time-consuming or difficult for them. They're more likely to take the easy route and just read discarded financial statements in my trash.

Natalie & I have been using a cheap $30 shredder to securely dispose of our sensitive documents. However, the motor recently burned out when I tried to shred a CD. Yes, I know, most $30 shredders are incapable of shredding 3 pages of 20 lb. paper, let alone a CD. But, still, I tried. Oops.

So, we're now in the market for another shredder. I'd like to find one capable of shredding CDs & DVDs so that we don't suffer from a repeat of my last mistake. I'm currently eyeing the Fellowes Powershred PS-77Cs. It's available on Amazon for $105.99 with free shipping. It r0x0rs.

On a related note, I am tired of buying cheap crap. This attitude began last summer when Natalie & I were suffering through a heat-wave that crashed on Northern California. We do not have air conditioning in our apartment, nor did we have a fan at the time. So, I walked to the local ACE Hardware and sought out a portable fan to get move some air. Prior to heading to ACE, I thoroughly researched fans on Amazon and the Internets at large. The Vornado manufacturer of fans received top reviews. So, I dropped $90 on a 3-speed free-standing Vornado fan at ACE. Natalie was not easily convinced that any fan is worth $90. But, here it is November, and the fan is still in the living room and is used several times every week. The quality, durability, and style of the product have made it a good buy. I'd rather spend an extra $40 on a product that is guaranteed for life than on one that is likely to break or be cumbersome to operate.

Posted by Scott at 2:18 PM | Permalink

Natalie and I have been visiting open houses for the last two months with the goal of buying a home in the San Francisco East Bay in Fall 2007. Our experiences have shown that the housing market is saturated with properties whose owners are trying to capitalize before the bubble bursts. In my opinion, the primary factors contributing to a dramatic drop in home prices and increased inventory are high consumer debt, fears of rising interest rates, and the climax of the housing market after 5 years of irrational exuberance.

The California real estate market has long been an expensive investment option. Most homeowners will cite "inflation hedge" and "pride of ownership" as being reasons for owning property. Unfortunately, neither of these have been true for the last couple of years in the Bay Area. Inflation was hardly a concern in 2000 when the Fed began lowering the prime lending rate; however, temptation to borrow has driven property owners to perform expenseive rennovations and treat their homes like ATMs with the aid of home-equity loans. Pride of ownership is just that, but with so little disposable income remaining available after paying bills, one's pride is severely weakened.

Reliance on home-equity loans might be explained by the fact that the U.S. has the lowest domestic savings rate of any industrialized country in the world. Germany claims a strong domestic savings rate of 10.6%. The domestic savings rate in the U.S. is a mere -0.5%. Once an individual, company, or nation has a net-worth in the red, their ability to borrow is severely diminished. How much longer will it be until companies are deemed a credit risk simply because they reside in the U.S.?

Rumours of people making small fortunes in the real estate market have lured many people with inadequate incomes to invest in a market that has been grossly over-valued. Many of these people resorted to the more affordable Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) which may be adjusted at higher interest levels in a couple years. Unless their incomes rise enough to accomodate higher mortgage payments driven by higher interest rates, many people may need to foreclose on the properties or resort to renting. Rental rates have been dispproprionately cheaper than mortgages over the last couple years. Our rent is roughly half what a comparable mortgage might cost.

I am very grateful for our ability to purchase a home in the near future; however, my confidence in the market is low. The Federal Reserve is left with a complex dillema: raise interest rates to thwart inflation at the risk of killing the real estate market, or keep interest rates low to foster economic development but with a higher rate of inflation. Either way, I think that much of California and the country are in store for some hard times.

Information elsewhere on the web hints at this outcome. However, I'm a pessimist, so it's natural for me to arrive at such a dire conclusion :)

• "U.S. Housing Crash Continues"
• "House Price to Rent Ratios Just Too Peaky"

Posted by Scott at 6:00 PM | Permalink

While upgrading my Movable Type installation, I figured I'd exeriment with some new site themes. The one I settled on is called 'Stevenson', and is what you're currently viewing (most likely). It's a little jazzier than the old-skool 'Vicksburg' theme circa 2004, and looks good on the Safari and Firefox browsers in Mac OS X. Please let me know if you have difficulty viewing any of the content!

Posted by Scott at 11:24 AM | Permalink

Last Wednesday, Natalie and I went to a book-signing event that our friend Evany was holding in North Berkeley. While at the bookstore, we browsed the diverse collection of books for sale. I don't think I've ever seen so many interesting titles in such a small, general-purpose bookstore.

I purchased the book "To Engineer is Human," a title that I recall some of my college-friends majoring in civil engineering reading. I began reading it just last night, but am already gaining insight into why engineering disasters occur. Mostly, they're due to a series of mistakes or design considerations made in the interest of completing the project on-time and on-budget. Engineers are constantly faced with the problem of deciding what constitutes an adequate level of safety: it's possible to make a structure 1000-times safer than is adequate, but it may destroy some design aesthetics and have a exorbitant price-tag. So, engineers aim for 'safe, but not too safe."

It might distress a lot of people to learn that the planes that carry them cross-country, or the bridges that suspend their car a quarter-mile over the ocean are not constructed with absolute safety. But human beings routinely disregard safety in the interest of accomplishing goals and choose to accept or ignore associated risks. We exceed the speed limit while driving, run with scissors, and drink water out of the tap. All because we feel comfortable with the risks.

So, why are engineered structures expected to have high standards of safety built-in? Mostly because they are complex in their processes and materials, and because they are often intended to solve problems previously unattainable. Their complexity increases the level of risk. But why are they complex? I don't think it's due strictly to the number of steps - there are plenty of products made consistently-well with a high number of steps involved. Rather, I think it's the number of steps involving compartmentalized, highly-trained individuals. Most engineers are highly-trained, and highly-skilled. Reliance on this category of knowledge-workers makes the project more complex and risky. I believe that engineering is a characteristically-human field: our determination to conquer the unknown is largely what has driven the advancement of civilization.

Posted by Scott at 2:47 PM | Permalink

Natalie and I will be leaving for the Hawaiian island of Kauai on Tuesday for our wedding on Friday, June 30th! Time feels like it has been moving several times (?) faster than usual. It has a weird resemblance to the last week of high school, when something that seemed like it was going to take forever to complete came to an abrupt end. Of course, I've had a lot of great experiences since high school and expect the same to be true after getting married!

Natalie is agonizing over which shoes to wear during the ceremony, and I have some clothing vagaries to be resolved. But we're mostly ready to doo-dis :)

We'll be staying in Princeville, Kauai, from Tuesday through Monday. Kauai is notorious for unpredictable weather conditions, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that everything turns out well! On Monday, we will fly from Kauai to Maui where we'll be staying at the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua. Our stay in Maui will last until Saturday, and ought to be filled with fun, sun, and other Hawaiian cliches! We're tot-excited, though it would nice if we both had more vacation time available. We'll be gone for nearly two weeks, which is the most that we can afford since neither of us has much vacation-time accrued at our new jobs. I need to make vacation-time a point for negotiation in the future.

Oh, and my Dad and I will probably get some golf in while on Kauai. We played last weekend in Santa Cruz, and neither of us managed to get sun-burned!

Posted by Scott at 9:09 AM | Permalink

I was looking at my credit card statement on-line and saw this image on the entry-page advertising how I can add another user to my credit card. What makes me laugh/vomit is the teenage daughter demanding a credit card from her father who reluctantly hands it over. As if she's saying "Daaahd, comeonand givemeacredit caard." And then the Dad says, "Ok, Breanna, just try to keep your spending under $2000 per month." Then Breanna says "Whatever."

Posted by Scott at 3:13 PM | Permalink

I came across an article that I deeply resonated with while looking at the RSS feed for Merlin Mann's 43 Folders site. Some of Merlin's best points included the brilliance of the Gillette Mach 3 razor, the importance of using a shaving brush, and the love-hate relationship a man has with shaving.

I've been using the Mach 3 razor since switching from an electric razor. My experience with electronic razors (what I used until age 24) has been very poor: they've given me a crappy, uneven shave, and probably contributed to my acne as a teenager. However, changing to a safety razor wasn't easy. I had to learn to shave with the grain (in my case, from top to bottom), use lots of water, and not be fanatical about getting every bit of facial hair gone (over-doing it can lead to cuts and irritation).

At present I have my shaving routine down to a science. And the Mach 3 does an excellent job, though the $9/month spent on replacement blades seems excessive considering the simplicity of their construction. But that explains why Warren Buffett has long been an investor in Gillette - so long as they don't do anything stupid, Gillette will continue to make money hand-over-fist from men and women who continue to replace their razor blades and supplies.

But I do loathe shaving. It's the part of my morning routine that I hate the most. It's time-consuming, requires close attention at a time when I'm just waking up, and is extremely repetitive. Maybe I should grow a beard. Hmmm...

Posted by Scott at 2:20 PM | Permalink

I've been reading the international best-seller "The Da Vinci Code" in anticipation of the up-coming film. I had tried reading the book in 2003, but bailed out after about 200 pages. I get hooked by story lines through the usual literary devices: character development, intrigue, etc. For some reason, "The Da Vinci Code" didn't hook me, although it has hooked millions of people world-wide.

Although I was raised with an awareness of the Bible and Christian beliefs, I have never considered myself a Christian. This is mostly because I have had difficulty believing the stories in the Bible. And, I tend to look at religion with the same skepticism I apply to the rest of the world. I have long believed many of the theories that "The Da Vinci Code" proposes: that Jesus Christ was a mortal man, and that the stories in the Bible have been distorted by the Church to suit their interests.

I suppose that for someone who has long assumed that the Bible has the same form today as it did a millenia ago, "The Da Vinci Code" puts forth some ground-breaking material. But for me, it's simply adding twists to what I always thought of as collection of stories. I think this is why the book didn't have the same shock-factor for me as it did for many Christians.

I think that the primary difference between stories and scripture is that stories permit customization, but scripture is gold. Their mission is often the same: to entertain, educate, and inspire. But how is scripture made?

Posted by Scott at 10:19 AM | Permalink

Last Sunday, I had lunch with 4 friends I haven't seen since I was attending U.C. Davis. In 2001. Five years ago(!). In a random "what-are-you-up-to" e-mail recently exchanged between Jeff and I, it came to be known that we live a mere 4-5 blocks away. What's more, my old roommate Conrad lives only a couple houses away from Jeff, so he is equally close!

So, Jeff, Conrad, and two other guys (Yang, Naoki) from our Computer Science program met up for lunch on Sunday. It was great to catch up and hear what people are doing since obtaining their Bachelors or Masters degrees. I am fascinated with the broad range of jobs open to people studying Computer Science. There are the obvious software engineering jobs; but, also the not-so-obvious jobs dealing with computer/network security, configuration management, industrial control systems, etc.

I think that undergraduate Computer Science programs do a good job of providing students with the skills to work in a variety of jobs in the field. But it is up to the students, upon graduating, to decide how they want to apply their new skills in a way that serves society best. It's much like a parent providing their child a moral foundation upon which the child can build a structure composed of experiences influenced by their moral beliefs.

A problem I've seen with computer-related jobs is that fine-grained skills quickly become obsolete. Programming languages come and go, design tools are replaced, and application frameworks are eternally subject to popularity trends. But in the end, the basics rarely change. Just as it takes commitment to stay morally-grounded, it takes commitment to stay keen on the underlying concepts of one's trade.

Posted by Scott at 9:50 AM | Permalink

Not long ago, Natalie and I were dining with her friend Jeff and his girlfriend. At one point, Jeff asked me if I have any food cravings or indulgences. I paused for a few seconds before answering, but couldn't think of a single thing I crave. He refused to believe that there is nothing I crave. But, honestly, I crave nothing. It made for an awkward conversation, since everyone else at the table was able to rattle off their biggest cravings.

I have been fortunate enough to have a high metabolism and thin physique throughout my life, though it does pose occasional problems (I need to eat at least every 3 hours). So, I eat pretty much anything I want without feeling guilt. I understand that most people don't have this luxury. And I think it is those people who crave food. Cravings can be seen as by-products of deprivation. When you deny yourself nothing, you crave nothing. I think it's a variation of the saying "absence makes the heart grow fonder."

Yesterday, Natalie posed a similar question to me: "which do you prefer, saltine crackers or wheat rounds?". Knowing that I enjoy most food equally-well, I had to respond "Which one is closer?". I go for the low-hanging fruit; or crackers, as they may be.

Posted by Scott at 2:57 PM | Permalink

Natalie's friend Evany recently released her book "The Secret Language of Sleep", which I ordered off Natalie's wishlist just earlier today. Evany's website features a questionnaire that determines the ideal sleep position for you. Mine is: the tetherball. I recall Natalie saying that she obtained the same result. So, I guess it's just meant to be for us to be together - our sleep positions are compat! I'd hate to think of the alternative...

Find your own pose!

Posted by Scott at 2:48 PM | Permalink

Last Sunday, my Dad & I went to the first MAKER Faire, which was held at the San Mateo Fairgrounds. The location was really convenient, as it was took just a short drive from Oakland over the San Mateo to get to the event. There was a really good turn-out, and a broad range of displays. Some were interesting, others I could have done without.

One of the highlights was seeing the cast of the television-show "Myth Busters". Adam, a.k.a. "The Orange Guy" (Natalie's doing), was present. He is actually an acquaintance of Natalie's sister, Jill, which I find very amusing. I'm a big fan of the show, and think it reflects the creativity and ingenuity in the San Francisco Bay Area. I don't think the show's cast did much except pose for photos and participate in Segway Polo. My Dad and I found the polo event a bit obnoxious, as there were two people participating in the game who compete in an actual Seqway Polo league. I called it "a sport for geeks of privilege."

The display I enjoyed most was the Autonomous Light Air Vehicles (ALAVs). I had seen videos from the designer's website a couple months ago and was really excited by the concept and implementation. At the ALAV booth, the blimps were set free and allowed to roam about the hall. It was a very peaceful and intriguing presentation. I would love to create something similar to this project.

Posted by Scott at 10:27 PM | Permalink

I'm in the process of looking for a suit to wear in the wedding ceremony Natalie & I are having in Kauai this June. Finding clothing for me has long been a problem due to unusual dimensions (tall, skinny). Prior to meeting Natalie, I usually wore loose-fitting clothes that could be found anywhere; however, now I dress in better-fitting clothes which are naturally more difficult to find.

A couple of weeks ago, Natalie & I were in San Francisco looking for suits at several department stores in the Union Square area. The only suit we found that was to our liking was an $1800 Prada suit in a perfect shade of "taupe". Unfortunately, a suit at that price is out of reach for me at this time.

I just heard a radio performance by the band Belle and Sebastian on a KEXP prodcast. The male lead singer for the band said that he often gets compliments on his suit blazers, most of which he buys in Japan because they are designed for a smaller, more snug fit. Unfortunately, I think that if I were to fly to Japan in order to buy a suit for our wedding, the cost of travel might exceed the cost of the Prada suit I admired. Sigh.

Posted by Scott at 11:36 AM | Permalink

I'm a big fan of the O'Reilly publication MAKE, which is a quarterly print magazine featuring DIY projects for the technology-inclined. Over the weekend of April 22-23, the Make Faire will be showcasing lots of displays from Makers around the world. The event will be held at the San Mateo fairgrounds, located in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I'm totally excited about the event! I'm looking forward mostly to displays related to robotics and wireless communications. Members of the Discovery Channel show "Myth Busters" will be at the event, which should provide some good entertainment value, too. I can't wait!

Posted by Scott at 7:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I recently added my profile to the MySpace website after having heard about the site through every media outlet in existence. It's a lot like Friendster...a lot. But one of the distinguishing characteristics is that it allows members to customize the appearance of their profile pages to include music, photos, and HTML styles (background images, fonts, colors, etc.) Unfortunately, the majority of the profile pages employing custom styles are completely unusable. It's like browsing the web in 1997 all over again - blinking text, backgrounds that obscure text, and fonts that are impossible to read. I think it is funny how people will shun usability in the pursuit of a "unique" design.

I really thought that the web-at-large had moved beyond the use of horrible user interfaces through the spread of blogs which focus more on the content than the delivery mechanism. It is as though the teenagers or "young people" using MySpace are using a different World Wide Web than Internet veterans like myself. Sort of like the range of printed material aimed at different generations: comic books, novels, newspapers, etc. Does this mean I'm getting old?

Posted by Scott at 9:45 AM | Permalink

One of my favorite things about living in a large city is the accessibility of great (and sometimes not-so-great) live music. Last Saturday, Natalie and I spontaneously decided to go to a live show at the Bottom of the Hill club in San Francisco. The last time I was there was for the San Francisco Pop Fest in 1999, but that's another story.

We dared to take my car, despite its recent sputtering/timing/non-cooperative tendencies (to be taken care of this week) so that Natalie could be wild and crazy while I played the part of the "responsible boyfriend". There were four bands on the bill (in order of appearance): Lemon Sun, Hijack the Disco, Tartufi, and Scissors for Lefty. We agreed that Lemon Sun had a very energetic performance that was reminiscent of Interpol. Hijack the Disco consisted of two guitarists and a drummer. Their musical compositions were very good, but they were desperately in need of a singer/lyricist because their lyrics were awful. The last band we heard was Tartufi, which was very good. Interestingly, all three bands had guitar strings break and subsequently delayed the performance. That's a pretty amateur thing to have happen during a show.

The crowd was interesting to observe, too. There was an older Persian woman belly dancing to Lemon Sun, which was...unexpected. Oh, and the usual suspects were there, too: couple that talks throughout the entire set, couple that is making out throughout the entire set, and unusually tall-guy who blocks people's view.

We had a really good time going out as it was a refreshing departure from our recent schedule of wake-up, work, and sleep. Oh, and it made for a great lazy day on Sunday while we participated in the All-American activity of watching the Super Bowl. Go SeaPhig's!

Posted by Scott at 11:15 AM | Permalink

Natalie and I visited Monterey on Sunday and Monday to close up some lose ends since we left in November/December. While driving from Oakland on Sunday afternoon, we decided it would be a good idea to get some drinks from Starbucks. I mean, how long could it take? For us - long time.

We took 4 exits over a 60 mile span looking for Starbucks near Highway 101, but had no luck. To make matters worse, we are both very familiar with the route and have each driven it dozens of times. We eventually settled on going to the location in Gilroy that we typically visit while driving between Monterey and the Bay Area. All told, we spent over 45 minutes looking for a Starbucks during a trip that should take only 90-120 minutes. So much for instant gratification!

Once in Monterey, we had a good time visiting our old neighborhood and catching up with friends. We went by our old apartment building to determine if any improvements had been made since we left. The clothes dryer had been missing the lint trap for about 1 month when we left, and we were certain that the building would have caught fire and burned to the ground by now. No such luck - they had installed brand-new washer and dryer units, and threw on a couple more layers of paint onto the existing 20-30 layers. Our apartment was run by slum-lords, and I think that the fact it was Natalie and my first place together is the only thing that over-shines the squalor of it all.

We took some fun photos around town, including one of our favorite bar, Alfredo's. It was where Natalie and I went with some of her friends on her birthday right around the time we met. Naturally, we've got a lot of personal attachment to the place.

We also drove by the house I was living in when Natalie and I began dating. Meow!

Posted by Scott at 8:43 PM | Permalink

I began working for EMC Documentum in November, 2005, in Pleasanton, California. My previous job was with SRA International as a government contractor in Monterey. I am now completely aware of why people from the San Francisco retreat to Monterey on the weekends. Simply put, it's a rat race up here.

Monterey is an extraordinarily beautiful area. Unfortunately, the real cost of living is much more expensive than neighboring area, including the S.F. Bay Area. The lack of technology jobs in the area severely restricted my opportunities.

So, we've since moved to a beautiful apartment in the Oakland/Piedmont area. I have no complaints about our current living arrangement, but I can't help comment on the growth trends I've seen in the Bay Area since moving. The office I work at is located in Pleasanton, which is a booming part of Alameda County. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of single family homes and condominiums being built on what once served at ranchland. It's simply astonishing and revolting to look at. Fortunately, my evening commute takes me back to the less-densely populated Oakland/Berkeley area; however, I see thousands of cars trapped in gridlock as they travel from the business hubs of the Bay Area (S.F., Oakland, Berkeley, Walnut Creek) to the suburbs of Pleasanton, Dublin, and Livermore.

I think that it is human nature to screw up the first time. Initial construction or development is the byproduct of short-term thinking designed to address an immediate concern. It is hard to understand what your requirements will be like 20, 50, or 100 years into the future. I frequently encounter similar situations in software development. Only when presented with an existing infrastructure and the need to expand is an engineer forced to sit down and contemplate their choices. This process of screwing up initially and then performing repairs is timeless.

In software engineering, and traditional architectural engineering, there are patterns that aid designers in their work. Patterns represent ideas that are known to work well. Good engineers rely heavily on patterns for a myriad of reasons: they reduce the workload, serve a common language among engineers, and reduce risk. What bothers me about the growth in the Pleasanton area is how closely is mirrors the growth of the Pleasant Hill & Walnut Creek areas in the 1950's. Those areas reserved little real estate for commercial ventures. Fifty years later, the majority of residents are left commuting ridiculous distances to work, spending less time with their families and friends, and feeling less connected to the cities in which they live. I have a strong feeling that the Pleasanton area is going to face a similar fate.

I feel extremeley fortunate to be living in the Oakland area. It is simply beautiful and home to a diverse population. I could work in the Oakland/Berkeley area if I chose. Sure, I can't afford a 2500 square-foot home here, but I'm enjoying my time renting.

Posted by Scott at 3:48 PM | Permalink

I came across a post on BoingBoing referencing some Motorola advertisements from the 1960's portraying homes of the future. Most of the homes are truly fantastic to look at, but they are completely impractical and idealistic. Some of the recurring themes I noticed in these images and others like them are the enormous glass windows, serene natural settings and sparse, clean living spaces. It's like the huge windows are used to emphasize the contrast between the primitive and modern. Looking out through those windows is as engaging as staring at a television screen.

Posted by Scott at 11:08 AM | Permalink

Our cat, Iphigenia, seems like the bah-humbug type throughout the year. But during the holidays he gets in a really festive mood. Here's to a great holiday season and a wonderful new year!

Posted by Scott at 10:49 AM | Permalink

With the recent move up to the San Francisco Bay Area, I am amazed at all that has happened in the last year. I quit working for the 3D Marketing start-up, returned to DMDC, had two of my friends die in unrelated accidents in a two month period, proposed to Natalie, quit DMDC, found a new job in Pleasanton, and moved to Oakland.

It seems that a lot of changes in a small time-frame can cause me to forget important events that occurred not so long ago. A couple of them - the death of Fateh Kausar and Jason Liao - keeps coming to my mind regularly.

Fateh was a brilliant, daring and compassionate friend. He would do anything for a thrill (hiking out on the edge of the waterfall at Yosemite...). And he would do anything for a friend. But some times the two would collide and produce unfortunate events. On one occasion, we were at work and decided to go out for coffee. Fateh drove his car up to the entrance of the building and everybody began to get into the car. He heard one of the rear doors slam shut, so he thought that everyone was inside. I was in the process of getting in and still had my door open. He started to accelerate with me only partially in the car! Everyone else started to yell at him to stop, which he did within a few seconds. No harm came of it, but his interest in thrilling himself and his passengers conflicted with his concern for the well-being of others. I think he spent 5-10 minutes apologizing to me, while I assured him that it wasn't a problem. Natalie and I were on vacation in Kauai when we heard that he had lost control of his car while driving back to work on Friday after attending Muslim prayer. I will always miss Fateh's sense of humor and adventure.

Also, Jason Liao has been entering my mind a lot. I can't believe that, tomorrow, it will have been a year since his passing. Jason and I had met a couple of times since he returned to the Monterey Bay area to work for CTB McGraw Hill. That night, I met him and a group of his coworkers at a restaurant called "Hula's" for dinner and drinks. Everyone was having quite a lot of drinks, and I assumed that Jason would be taken care of, both through his own good judgement and the concern of his coworkers. I left them at around 9:30 that night and headed home. I was disturbed to find out that Jason had died in a solo car accident later that night while driving in his Corvette in Marina. That event will always be with me.

I came upon an excerpt of the obituary posted in the Monterey Herald:

"Liao, Jason H., 25, passed away as a result of a car accident on December 11. Born on February 17, 1979 in Monterey, he attended North Monterey County High School and graduated from UC Berkeley with a BS degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 2000. He was a CAD engineer with PMC Sierra in Santa Clara. He recently moved back to the Monterey area and began his work for CTB McGraw Hill in custom contract. Jason will be remembered as a thoughtful, joyful, loving person and with a sence of humor. He will be missed by his mother Bih, father Shu, brother Kenneth of San Jose, grandmother Su-Fong Wu of Fremont and many loving relatives. Funeral services will be held at The Paul Mortuary, 390 Lighthouse Avenue, Pacific Grove, at 4:00 p.m. Saturday, December 18."

So, I think that this time of year will always be a time for remembrance for me. I think that's a good thing.

Posted by Scott at 7:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The move to Oakland is virtually finished, as we transported most of the contents of our apartment to our new apartment in Oakland last weekend. The experience was interesting, since we had a few mishaps with the moving vehicle. I say "vehicle" because we had a van at first, which would have been much too small to hold all of our things. Here's a picture of the original van:

Natalie had chosen to get a van when making the reservation with U-Haul through their website. I was a bit suprised when we were told the van was ours. The following day we returned to the U-Haul location to see if we could exchange the van for something - well, anything - bigger. After 2.5 hours of waiting among some interesting characters, we were given the keys to a larger truck which actually cost less money and was due back in 3 days rather than on the following day. Go figure. However, the truck was a total piece of junk. It had a problem with carburator or something because the engine would stutter really bad pretty much all the time. But we needed a truck, so we took it.

The loading of the truck was fairly easy. With the help of one of our friends, Glenn, it took only about 1.5 hours for the bulk of the furniture to be loaded. We then proceeded to a local British pub, The Crown & Anchor, where I got seriously drunk off two beers and a double-shot of tequila.

I paid the price for the shot of tequila the following day when we awoke at 5:30A to drive to Oakland in hopes of avoiding the Thanksgiving weekend traffic. Plus, the truck didn't instill a lot of confidence in us. It proved to be a good idea to leave early since the truck topped out at 55 mph on flat ground. Fortunately, it got us there safely and on-time.

I've got just one thing to say after all of this: U-Haul is America's Moving Adventure!

Posted by Scott at 10:27 AM | Permalink

Natalie and I are in the process of packing the contents of our Monterey apartment in preparation for tomorrow's move to Piedmont/Berkeley/Oakland. Moving sucks. We've been coming up with axioms of moving while lifting, boxing and moving stuff:

• You always have more stuff than you think. If think you have a one-bedroom apartment, figure on getting supplies for a two-bedroom apartment.
• You always have more stuff than you need. In the process of moving, you will find things that you haven't used in months or, in some cases, years. This will help you question the importance of things. Also, it ties in with some of the suggestions I've learned from David Allen's book "Getting Things Done." Having a weekly review process for my work materials helps me reduce clutter in a short period, while reducing the overall review time. Fifteen minutes of organizing per week is infinitely better than 2 hours per month.
• More to come...

Posted by Scott at 9:50 PM | Permalink

For the last week, I've been staying with my sister in Walnut Creek while Natalie and I completed our apartment hunting. We found a fantastic 900+ square feet apartment in the Oakland-Grand Avenue-Piedmont area that we will be moving our possessions into later this week.

In the meantime, I've been commuting on Interstate 680 from Walnut Creek to Pleasanton for my new job at EMC Documentum. The job has been going great, and the commute isn't too bad; however, it's a far cry from the 10-15 minute cruise from Marina to Monterey when I was working at the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC). My new commute takes roughly 45-60 minutes during rush hour when it would normally take about 25-30 minutes during off-peak hours. I hate inefficiency, and this one is particularly offensive. It's been a good opportunity for me to rediscover National Public Radio (NPR), which I used to listen to regularly when carpooling from Capitola to Marina. It's one of the most thought-provoking media outlets on radio, in my opinion.

So, I've been considering the different commuting options from our new apartment to work. Since we'll be in the Piedmont area, I can ride BART from the MacArthur station to the Dublin/Pleasanton station. This is a 44 minute journey, which is respectable. However, there are some logistical problems that remain.

First, the MacArthur station is about 2.5 miles from our apartment which means that I will need to get to the station by car. Natalie can drop me off, or I can drive myself if there is available parking. Lastly, MacArthur doesn't have a good reputation for safety. So, leaving a car there during the day and part of the night might be a bad idea.

A lesser problem is getting from the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station to my workplace. There is a municipal bus line that takes about 10 minutes to travel between the BART station and my office park. I consider this a safe, convenient solution for getting between the BART station and work.

So, there are three discreet legs of my journey from home to office if I use public transportation. This complexity might result in my just driving from home to work, since it is a reverse commute and takes about 35-40 minutes by car. I regret making this decision since I am a fan of mass transit.

So, I'm spending an unusual amount of time considering commuting variables. None of these problems existed when I was working in Monterey, or from home as an independent contractor. I've heard that the population explosion in the East SF Bay Area (Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek, etc.) occured only after the BART lines were installed. Before then, it was impractical to live in those areas and commute to SF and beyond. But now, it's just a matter of driving to a BART station and getting on board. BART has contributed to suburban sprawl. And when sprawl begins to overrun the systems that spurred it's growth in the first place, what happens next? Traffic jams, poorly connected transportation systems, and frustration.

Posted by Scott at 8:31 AM | Permalink

Natalie and I will be moving up to the Bay Area soon, and so we've been scouring Craigslist and similar on-line classifieds for places to call home. I've lived in Monterey, Capitola and Davis and have never had as much difficulty finding a place as we are having now. I think the volume of places available is overwhelming, and the variability in quality among places is disheartening. Call me crazy, but shouldn't a two-bedroom listing actually have two bedrooms?

So, we found what could very well be the "perfect" apartment for us while in Piedmont/Berkeley on Friday. Hopefully our applications will go through and we'll be out of our current apartment that's managed by a bunch of slum-lords. I'm not too familiar with the Piedmont area, except that I know it's got some incredible old homes. I just need to keep flexing my skills at work and some day, maybe, I can own one of those homes.

Speaking of long shots, I got a call from an old co-worker of mine named Peter. He was in the midst of switching jobs in the South Bay because his previous company was purchased and broken up by a competitor. Listening to him describe the situation, I was amazed that he was so excited about the chaos and evil infecting his previous employer. I think he's just one of those people who will always put their money on the "high risk, high reward" bets. I don't think I'm one of those people, but I admire those who are.

Posted by Scott at 8:39 AM | Permalink

My last day working for SRA will be Friday, November 4, 2005! I've accepted a Senior Software Engineer position with EMC Documentum in Pleasanton, CA. This means we'll be relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area soon. My first day of work is November 14, and I'm excited about having a week off to unwind.

I'll be working on the core of the Documentum product. This means doing lots of Java development with technologies I've come to love: J2EE, XML, Web Services, etc. I'm also excited about the opportunity to work on a commercial product. It will likely differ from my previous work on projects covered under a low-risk government contract. It has been difficult to embrace change while working in an environment that opposes anything new and uncertain. I'm thrilled about the significance of this change in direction!

Posted by Scott at 10:30 AM | Permalink

I love coffee. I've been amazed by the variability in taste since I began buying coffee beans rather than pre-ground coffee. It's incredible how something as simple as the type of grinder used can make-or-break a cup of joe. But that's exactly what I discovered recently when Natalie bought me a Capresso conical burr grinder for my birthday.

It's widely known that blade grinders produce an uneven grind. Some beans get ground more finely than others since they incur more contact with the blades. It's a very unpredictable exercise. But burr grinders operate on one bean at a time, grinding each with precisely the same fineness. The grinder also has a large effect on the oil content of the grounds, which ultimately affects the flavor of the coffee. With a blade grinder, a lot of the bean's oils are expended as heat due to excessive contact with the blades. But with burr grinders, more of the oils are retained in the grounds because the beans make minimal contact with the burrs.

So, with my new grinder I have been able to experience a much richer, complex cup of coffee from my trusty drip machine. I can't wait to experiment with espresso! Unfortanately, the kitchen in our apartment is too small to support keeping the espresso machine on the counter permananently.

Posted by Scott at 9:47 AM | Permalink

Natalie enjoys pointing out the facial contortions of guitar player during live performances. She refers to it as a "guitar-face" and says that I even have a guitar-face when I'm playing at home. Hmm...

Well, I came upon a blog entry about a musician who uses facial recognition software to modify the sound of his guitar while playing. So, a guitar-face would actual be part of the performance and not just something to laugh at!

Posted by Scott at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I just finished watching the movie "The Village" on DVD with Natalie. It's an amazing tale! I don't want to completely give it away, but the story-line is unbelievable. It reveals a lot about the power of human emotion, and how it's inseparable from pleasure and pain. The basis of the story is that of members of an isolated village who are afraid to venture into nearby woods because of the "evil" that lurks there and in neighboring towns. But the evil forces they seek to exclude are present in every member of their own village. Analogies can be drawn to our own nations, cultures, etc. After watching the movie, I felt stronger and less fearful of differences or adversity. I'll highly recommend the movie to anyone!

Posted by Scott at 10:24 PM | Permalink

In case you haven't heard, my girlfriend Natalie and I are now engaged! Yay!

Posted by Scott at 9:52 PM | Permalink

About 2 months ago, I purchased a new acoustic-electric guitar for use in the beginning-guitar class I'm taking at Monterey Peninsula College (MPC). I had asked Natalie's Dad for suggestions, and one of the guitar manufacturers he mentioned was Ovation. After doing some more research, I began to appreciate Ovation's interest in producing unorthodox, technologically-advanced guitar designs. I found a model I liked (Celebrity CC057) and bought the guitar and hardshell case online for about $380. I've been extremely pleased with the quality of workmanship and range of features. It's much more enjoyable to play and listen to than my old Yamaha dreadnought (need to sell it, ASAP). Here are a few photos I took yesterday of the beautiful finish on the Ovation guitar.

Posted by Scott at 8:43 AM | Permalink

I found a great tutorial for Movable Type while searching the web. I'm looking to customize the appearance of this blog as part of a site-wide overhaul.

Posted by Scott at 1:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I occasionally read the 43 Folders website with the goal of finding new organizational gems. Today the gem came in the form of a link to another website when the author described their adaptations of the Hipster PDA.

First, they used a "pocket briefcase" for holding index cards. This seems like a great idea, and appears similar to how cell phone cases wrap the phone but still allow the user to interact with the device. I've been using a large paper clip to hold my index cards together. While it works well for the most part, occasionally the clip will slip off the cards and contribute to card chaos.

Second, they had all kinds of patterns printed on 3x5 cards using the standard printer configurations on their Mac. I recall seeing "3x5 card" as a paper layout on my Mac. I'll have to try printing out calendars or grid paper soon.

Posted by Scott at 1:10 PM | Permalink

It's that time of year, again. I am now facing the ominous chore of having my taxes prepared for 2004. I was self-employed for 6 months while working on a software start-up. Hopefully my dilligence in record-keeping and quarterly estimates will pay off!

Posted by Scott at 8:56 AM | Permalink

It's been about a month since I began augmenting my thought- and behavioral processes to adhere to the suggestions in the book "Getting Things Done". I mentioned it in my previous post. Here's a list of the things that have managed to stick:

• Use a Tickler file for mailing oneself reminders and documents on a particular date in the future.
  
• Use a calendar only for firm appointments, and not for tasks that are time-independent.
  
• Use manilla file folders. I hold everything in file folders - project documentation, support documentation, task lists, calendar, etc.
  
• Buy a labeler. Now. I have the Brother PT-65, which is inexpensive (~$35) and easy to use. It has been useful for labeling all of my folders in a consistent and professional looking manner.
  
• Think in terms of actions. If you're not, you aren't doing anything.
  
• Have a means for recording actions at any time, and integrating those actions into a central database of actions that drive your day.
  

Once again, buy "Getting Things Done." It's a wonderful book that offers an effective system for organizing your life.

Posted by Scott at 4:13 PM | Permalink

I've been MP3 encoding my CD collection for over 6 years, and have almost exclusively used a Linux application called Grip to handle the digital audio extraction and encoding processes. Grip is great. It uses the incredible CDParanoia for CD Digitial Audio (CDDA) extraction. CDParanoia considers the non-trackability of CD tracks while extracting audio, which results in an audio file free of pops or clicks (except those done intentionally). And Grip can be configured to use any number of audio encoders, from MP3 to Ogg Vorbis. My favorite MP3 encoder has long been Lame. It uses a very efficient encoding algorithm that results in the best sounding MP3's I've encountered.

Posted by Scott at 11:55 AM | Permalink

Photos of my handywork:

Posted by Scott at 2:45 PM | Permalink

I recently moved within the city of Monterey and requested that SBC transfer my phone and DSL service. It was pretty uneventful aside from wiring issues in the new apartment, which resides in a 70-80 year old Victorian. SBC fulfilled their duties by providing service to the demarcation line. Aside from that, the wires connecting the service to the apartment jacks were lost in a rat's nest of grimy antique cables. Therein lies the problem.

So, I improvised an interim solution consisting of a severed phone extension cable with the red and green wires connected to our posts in the demarcation service box. But the phone line is currently run out of a living room window, which is too unsightly for my girlfriend. Therefore, I need to trace our cables in the mess this weekend (or sooner).

I looked online for different tone/probe kits for cable testing and settled on a really nice Fluke IntelliTone tester; however, the price tag (~$160 USD) was hard to swallow for a tool I'll use no more than once or twice a year. Thankfully, my Dad was able to borrow an analog tone/probe kit from work. Otherwise, the Fluke product would make a great solution.

Posted by Scott at 12:35 PM | Permalink

Last Friday, my friend Jason Liao passed away in a tragic car accident in Marina, CA. I had dinner with him earlier that fateful night. Jason was working at CTB/McGraw Hill in Monterey as an engineer. He loved all aspects of engineering, having received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from U.C. Berkeley. He also loved autocross and Corvettes. Why must what we love be our greatest weakness?

Jason was a caring, sincere and brilliant person. He jumpstarted my interest in UNIX by introducing me to Linux when we were still in high school. We watched Linus Torvalds speak at Berkeley in 1996 as undergrads. We rafted the mighty Cache Creek with Nic Farrell and Aaron Rowden. I watched Jason persevere throughout a rough-and-tumble economy, and emerge with an optimistic outlook. Jason could reason and maintain a balanced perspective under any circumstances.

Jason: thank you

Posted by Scott at 4:14 PM | Permalink

I was reminded of the Lomo camera craze while reading a Wired News article on the use of antique radio equipment for playing songs off an iPod or other digital music source. Technology is moving towards providing a unified vision of the world. Which is better: Monet's oil painting of a sunflower, or a high-resolution 6 mega-pixel digital image of the same scene? Is a painstakingly digitally mastered studio recording of your favorite band more enjoyable than a concert performance? Randomness is something we're losing in the never-ending chase for greater precision.

Posted by Scott at 8:58 AM | Permalink

Posted by Scott at 12:53 PM | Permalink

This is my first blog post using MovableType, looks nice!

Posted by Scott at 1:24 PM | Permalink