Origami isnt a thing- its a specification: UMPC

Microsoft has completed the third and final week of their “buzz manufacturing” around something called Origami. As I suspected, the “Origami” isn’t a product that Microsoft is making. Instead, its a new platform spectication- the “Ultra Mobile PC” (UMPC). This isn’t a “Microsoft Only” show…no, their old buddies from Intel are also involved in the specification.

Continue reading Origami isnt a thing- its a specification: UMPC

Irene is tired but fine- one hip down…

Irene made it through her hip surgery just fine. Irene was courageous and seemed quite calm: I’m so glad she was strong. The only downside in the process thus far was not knowing what was going on after they wheeled her away into the “no admittance” surgery prep area at around 10:00 am. I asked at the surgery admitting area at around noon, but they had no information for me other than what ward Irene was going to end up in after surgery- they basically told me to go sit in the waiting area like a good boy, and the doctor would come talk to me later. Later came and went…until around 2:45 PM, when I saw a bed go wheeling by with Irene on it. I followed (no one said boo to me) and all was well.

Continue reading Irene is tired but fine- one hip down…

Vicarious world travelling: chasing ship registries for fun

I mentioned in one of my gallery photo entries that I sometimes take pictures of ships so I can research them later on. Actually, this is something I can’t really call a “passion” or a “hobby”: I’ve checked into ship backgrounds a couple of times, and found it kind of interesting.

The first time I did this, I didn’t have a photo to work from. My wife and I were staying downtown at the Fairmont Waterfront one night as a special treat. Right outside the front door of the hotel is the Canada Place cruise terminal, and docked next to it was an unusual looking ship with what looked to me to be some sort of robotic submarine on its deck. The ship also had a Christmas tree on its deck, and that also intrigued me. I tried to memorize its name…Maersk something. Maybe Maersk Defender?

How does a fragmented name turn into real information on the ship? Read on…

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Argh…comment spam, and delayed comment approvals

My apologies to folks who have posted here in the last several days and never say their words of wisdom appear on the site. I’m calling out here to Daren (who commented on my Linksys/Linux connection failure item), James Lynch (who commented on my NSLU2/ Linux Samba post), and my very own sister, Connie, who probably didn’t post exactly where she wanted to but I love her anyway.

Continue reading Argh…comment spam, and delayed comment approvals

Stupid hands…

I’ve been trying very hard to learn the piano now for something like three years. I can make a ton of excuses for why its so hard for me:

  • I never learned to play any kind of musical instrument as a child…although I tried a couple (ukelele, recorder, a Casio keyboard I bought)
  • I never even tried to learn to read music
  • I’m over 40 years old, and everyone knows that having one foot in the grave makes it hard to concentrate

Continue reading Stupid hands…