Your life or your Lupins! Dennis Moore

Blast from the past.  Monty python skit with Dennis Moore

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH5OnkzI6fo

Bought a few new creatures for our tank - Goodbye to our clown

We just recently purchased:

Flame Angel: http://www.centralpets.com/animals/fish/saltwater_fish/swf1904.html
Finger Leather Coral: http://www.centralpets.com/animals/fish/saltwater_inverts/swi1705.html
Mushroom Coral: http://www.centralpets.com/animals/fish/saltwater_inverts/swi1715.html
Green Button Polyps: http://reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/button_polyps.htm

Sadly, our clown severely injured the Flame Angel and several of the coral when introduced into the tank.  After 2 years of having our clown, we decided it was best to take it to the store and let them re-sell it to someone else.

Existing inhabitants:

Yellow Tang: http://www.centralpets.com/animals/fish/saltwater_fish/swf2271.html
Pajama Cardinal: http://www.nano-reef.com/fish/?fish=2
Royal Gramma: http://www.reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/royal_gramma.htm
Green/White Sponges: http://reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/sponges.htm
Mexican Turbo Snails: http://www.freshmarine.com/turbo-snail.html

Dependency on Technology - Bad Translation for Chinese Restaurant

Putting their faith into a web based translation software, a Chinese restaurant created a sign to welcome additional English speaking customers.   The english name?  "Translate Server Error"

http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2008/07/then-well-grab.html

The comments below the article are quite funny as well. ;)

Rally - Greasemonkey script to restore the "Green Boxes" on iteration printout

Coincidentally, after a co-worker of mine asked Rally about how to print the green boxes when generating an iteration report, Rally changed the way status is rendered on their HTML report. It will no-longer show green boxes and instead increase the border size of the boxes.   This bothered me a little as the green boxes (shading) shows up better on the printer that I use than trying to decipher the status from an increase of 1 pixel border on some boxes.

I created this Greasemonkey script for firefox to restore this previous functionality to Rally's printouts.

// ==UserScript==
// @name           Color Boxes
// @namespace      jason-rally-color-status
// @include        https://rally1.rallydev.com/slm/sc/print/processReportDialog.sp
// ==/UserScript==

var allDivs, thisDiv;
allDivs = document.evaluate(
    "//td[@class='selected']/div",
    document,
    null,
    XPathResult.UNORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE,
    null);
for (var i = 0; i < allDivs.snapshotLength; i++) {
    thisDiv = allDivs.snapshotItem(i);
    thisDiv.setAttribute('style', 'color: white; background-color: green;');
}

Quest for the ultimate keyboard - IBM ThinkPlus Ultranav keyboard

As I discussed in a prior entry http://www.sharpee.com/wordpress/?p=6 , I had been looking for my 'perfect' keyboard.   Mainly my qualification had been response / comfort / and a trackpoint which led me to two products (Endora / IBM).

I had purchased the IBM ThinkPlus Ultranav Keyboard from Provantage http://www.provantage.com/lenovo-31p8950~7IBDO03F.htm and received it within a few days.   Upon trying it out I noticed that both the Trackpoint left click and "L" buttons were not working well.  Provantage does not handle repairs / returns for this product so I had to call IBM directly.

Pytomation - Python Serial test went as planned

Im starting to test out the framework for my new home automation software this weekend and got Python-serial library working.   I was able to retrieve the registers from the UPB PIM interface in a proof-of-concept program.

I was toying around with using Mono (Opensourced .NET implementation) and tried a pilot program with that as well.  Sadly, the state of Mono's serial library is still broken from the years ago I first tried it.  The lack of seeming interest in testing that System.IO library is echoed in my interest in pursuit of this option.

Python-Serial Docs - http://pyserial.wiki.sourceforge.net/pySerial

Pytomation project page: http://pytomation.wiki.sourceforge.net/

37 MPG in my Del Sol

After a bit of trouble in the beginning with the IACV which has since been replaced, I finished off a tank of gas clocking in at 37.1MPG on the Del Sol.  The little 1.6L engine has a bit of trouble keeping up with my previous driving style, thus instead of 5th I use 4th gear way more than I should.   For the last couple of weeks I have been making a concerted effort to use 5th gear and take a slower approach to work and back.   This had made for an uneventful (aka safer), yet more economical driving experience.  I may get in the habbit of this from now on ;)

Im guessing I can push the boundary still by leaving the roof on the car during my commutes, but I am still too attached to feeling the wind and glancing at the sky.  Maybe this winter I will best my record.