bohnsack.com

A case stockpiled in my pantry:

Highly recommended.

I solved an extremely vexing problem today with the help of strace. It's a very powerful tool. Strange mysteries revealed, opaque binary blobs become transparent, impossible complexities grokked in fullness, etc. Highly recommended.

I highly recommend the super hot green chile at Taco Sal. It is elite.

Today was my first day commuting to work via bicycle, and I'd have to consider it a success. With Richard as my guide and companion, I started the journey to work at 6:30 AM under very comfortable 50° F weather conditions. I made it to work, got changed out of my Lycra^®, made some green tea with Stevia, slouched back in my Aeron, and was reading slashdork email by 7:00; Sweet! Even an unconditioned rider would have found the morning ride pleasant: Quiet, cool, and most importantly all downhill.

Coming home was a little different story ~ 75° and all uphill. No matter -- I got it done today and will become more powerful with time. My assent crested at the intersection of Indian School and Camino de la Sierra a few blocks east of my street. From this highpoint, it was big-ring-only for the few remaining blocks to my front door. Screaming down Indian School, one is presented with an incredible vista. You can see for a hundred miles. The City of Albuquerque, Mount Taylor, Ladron Peak, etc. are all there. It is truly an awesome view -- the kind of view that gets a mind thinking very powerful thoughts. These thoughts run wild in a mind fueled by the kind of chemicals that are released naturally during a 30-minute uphill climb. Highly recommended.

Here's some ideas for next year after July's RAGBRAI:

1. Tour de Kota (South Dakota)
2. CANDISC (North Dakota)
3. GRABAAR (Wisconsin)
4. SAGBRAW (Wisconsin)
5. Enchanted Circle Bike Tour (New Mexico)

In other bike touring news, I've received my new bike and will begin using it to commute to work starting next week. I already have a commuting pannier, but I'm considering an Arkel setup for touring.

And then, of course, there's the ultimate in bicycle touring over at Adventure Cycling.

Lest we forget its glory, I must again point out that Beef's soundboard is one of the greatest things ever created by man. If you've never played with it, I highly recommend that you do so. If you already have, I'd suggest that you pay another visit.

I was very excited to learn today that Hogan's Heros is now out on DVD!

Eventually, I'll put all these photos into this category, but my obsession may shift to Ladron peak any day now.

Again with the backyard theme:

I agree. Vietnamese 2000, is fine ABQ dining! A little high on the carbs, but whatever.

Yesterday with clouds:

Tonight with a clear sky:

and then there are these photos from September which are actually, well, good.

As part of the University of Washington's 2005 CSE Colloquia Series, a video of a very interesting talk by Jeff Dean from Google is available. It's highly recommended for those interested in distributed computing and Google internals.

A slashdork discussion is also available.

From the talk: a paper on the Google File System.

I registered for the Run for the Zoo 5k today. It's on May 1st. We'll see what happens. The last time I ran competitively was probably fifteen years ago.

There are many other upcoming New Mexico races.

In other news, I find this overview of the papal transition facinating.

Abolish daylight saving time!

I did a fair amount of work on my ECE536 final project today. The proposal is here and a work in progress can be played with live on the web here.

I'm trying to wrap this thing up well before the deadline.

It's not the most elite project in the world, but it should more than meet "A" requirements for the class.

Today started out as a very good day. Sunny, dry, and just above 50 Fahrenheit, the weather was just about perfect. Blessed with these wonderful conditions, I set out to do some yard work, as the grass needed mowing, the roses needed trimming, and the sprinkler system needed a beginning of season test.

I got the roses taken care of in short order. Next came the lawn's first mowing of the year. I have one of those "I love the Earth and am a closet hippie"-style push mowers that's kind of dull, so this was much easier said than done:

After I got today's workout out of the way by running that beast over my lawn, it was time to test the sprinkler system.

Sometimes I feel a slight tinge of guilt about having a sprinkler system. Where I'm from, sprinklers were only for the rich. You were either a doctor, an attorney, a very successful business person, or you didn't have a sprinkler system. It was that simple. Apparently, I'm now so rich that not only can I afford to pour gallons of precious water over my outdoor plants, while living in a desert, I can do it automatically with a computer. But hey... we just went through the wettest New Mexico winter in recorded history, so dump away. Right?^*

Knowing that someone who voted for George W. Bush isn't allowed to feel this kind of guilt, I dug out the user's manual for my ancient, but retro-cool 1977 Johns-Manville KCS-6B/9/12E automatic irrigation controller, typed in an arcane sequence of keystrokes, and started circuit #1 in manual mode.

You know your consumer electronic device is damn old, when terms like "solid state" and "seven segment display" are used prominently as marketing devices:

During tests, circuits #1 and #2 performed within spec:

Circuit #3 was a different story. Water spewed everywhere, when I turned it on. Not coincidentally, this circuit waters what used to include a bunch of shrubs that I've recently had removed:

Circuits #3's breakage would be bad enough, but when tested, none of the backyard sprinklers would even turn on. That's right, the whole backyard sprinker system is broken! Awesome.

You might be asking yourself how all this breakage could have occurred over winter, but there's no question in my mind. The guy who removed a number of ugly Junipers from my yard in exchange for way too much money did an incredible amount of damage to my sprinkler system.

Q: Am I pissed?
A: You bet. I don't have time for this, especially when I paid for the privilege.

Q: Am I going to publicly ridicule this landscaping "professional" in a Google-accessible forum?
A: Not until after I negotiate with him for the damage. If he makes it right, I'll thank him publicly.

^* In all seriousness, I really do plan on xeriscaping every last bit of my yard over the course of the next few years. Grass and water-hungry plants may look nice, but they're irresponsible in the desert, despite this year's wet winter. Further, I'm of the opinion that desert-friendly plants actually look better and more natural in Albuquerque yards next to our SW-style homes. For me its just a matter of time. I want to make the change, but I don't have the time to coordinate it right now, and I'm not enough of a tree-hugger to put water conservation ahead of work, school, and other stuff that I feel is way more important.

From Patrick Ruffin via Ace:

A new Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll has good news for proponents of fixing Social Security, with a solid 60% majority endorsing the freedom to invest. Just look at the crosstabs...

Full story

Good news. I was starting to worry.

I'm putting some of my photography equipment up for sale to help fund the purchase of a new Canon 20D.

I'll be selling my 10D (6.29 MPixels - 3072x2048) along with a BG-ED3 Battery Grip, two batteries, and a Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Autofocus Lens. I'm hoping to get more than $800 for the kit:

The bidding starts at $800. I guess I'll take it to Ebay if I don't get any interest here.