Roblog

My brain knows more than I do

2010-03-08T04:01:34Z

I was doing some menial task at work on Friday - data entry, essentially - when I went to enter the name of "Cain, Nicole". It was supposed to resolve into an email address as part of the process. I moved on and went back to check my work, and realized I it hadn't resolved into a proper email address. I had typed in the wrong name: "Cain, Valerie". It took me a minute to recognize where this came from - Valerie was someone I had worked with in 1995. I would not have come up with her name if you asked me, but there it was, and I had typed it. It brought back a flood of the names of people that I had worked with back then, people who I had not thought of in years. I spent a few minutes trying to satisfy my curiosity about some of them. Many were on LInkedIn. So now I'm considering adding them to my network on LinkedIn to see if I might be able to meet them again. They were the group where I had my first "real" job after college, so there is a fondness I have for that job and the people that worked there. I'm not sure what I'd say to them, but it feels like it would be "neat" to say hi. But I have not yet made the plunge yet of connecting with them. We'll see if I do before our next trip back to the north east this summer, where I would have the opportunity to see them.

Donna's Font

2009-10-27T12:48:08Z

----- Facebook users should go to my actual blog to see a more legible version of this note -----

This weekend I completed the first pass at designing a font based on my wife’s printing. I turned out pretty well for not spending any clean-up time on it yet, but there are a few things I still need to fix:

The letter spacing is not refined
There are no braces characters
There are no accented characters (except for the n-tilde)
I may need to tweak the relative line thicknesses (so that all the characters looks like they were drawn with the same pen)

I also haven’t yet decided if I will go through the trouble of creating kerning pairs; if I can figure out how to do it in Fontforge, I probably will.

Even in its current state, Donna’s font is much more usable than the font I created based on my daughters’ 4-year-old printing, since it has all characters represented on a keyboard (except for those braces). It seems a little small, so I may need to tweak that, too.

Umbrella past warranty

2009-10-27T00:28:03Z

----- Facebook users should go to my actual blog to see a more legible version of this note ----- My favorite umbrella has been a large, black golf umbrella. It is big enough to cover me in the rain even if the wind is blowing a bit. Even after the tab that keeps it closed fell out, I just used the Velcro strap to wrap around it to keep it closed. Recently, one end cap snapped off of the rib (so that the fabric wasn’t taut right there), but it was still perfectly functional. This past week, however, I had to put “large umbrella” on my birthday list because it broke in a new way. At first, I didn’t realize it had a new flaw when I grasped it tightly in a rain storm last week while walking from my car to my building downtown. I quickly realized something was amiss, though, when I felt water dripping onto my head even though it was completely under the umbrella. Looking up I noticed my umbrella now had a sunroof! The “wind cap” that is the extra disk of fabric that sits on the very top of the umbrella and overlaps the larger umbrella fabric had separated from the main umbrella fabric and was happily flapping in the breeze. This left an opening right in the middle of the umbrella, rendering it somewhat less useful as a rain repellent. I tried to spin the umbrella around so that the wind would blow that flap of fabric down instead of up, but the swirling wind around the buildings downtown made this impossible. I tried gluing the cap back onto the umbrella, but it did not hold. It really needed to be sewn to repair it properly, but given my lack of sewing skills and its other signs of age, I didn’t bother to try that repair. So for the next month or two, I’ll be using my emergency backup umbrella I keep at my desk at work: a Houston Astros umbrella I got at a game this past year. It’s actually a fairly decent umbrella for being free, but it’s not nearly the size of the umbrella its replacing.

A few new pictures

2009-10-26T12:12:08Z

I posted a few new pictures to my picture catalog yesterday. Enjoy!

Write like a 4 year old

2009-09-26T14:52:36Z

------ Facebook users should go to my actual blog to see a more legible version of this note ------ I just finished a fun project. Using the free FontForge program, I meticulously traced some letters I had my daughters draw when they were 4 years old. I had imagined creating a font based on their writing back then, but did not complete the project. Recently, for some reason, I got the urge to complete them - so I did! Elena4yo.ttf Amanda4yo.ttf As fonts, these are both rather incomplete. The lower case letters are identical to the upper case letters, and there are no numbers, punctuation, or symbols. I did artificially create a period and comma for both, but that's it. Although this is all consistent with how they wrote at the time, it makes actually using the font a little less practical. Next, I'm going to see if Donna wants me to create a font based on her writing, and when the girls turn 8, I'll do another font based on their writing.

The most hated 11-year-old in Calculus

2009-09-19T19:06:28Z

actual blog to see a more legible version of this note ---- I was always a high achiever academically in school, and my favorite subject was math. I got into a “fast math” program that taught Algebra I and II in middle school. I loved it, and I now wish I remembered the long-hand way to compute square roots I learned in that class. The next year, as a freshman in high school, I took geometry (typical for a 9th grader) and pre-calculus (decidedly not typical). The end result was that by the time I was a sophomore in high school, I had run out of math classes to take at my high school (pre-calc was as far as my small school went). The solution we came up with was for me to take evening math classes as a local college.]]> Now, I need to set the stage here a little bit. First off, I was small for my age and looked very young. As a 10th grader, I looked more like an 11-year-old than the 15-year-old I was. I was also not yet old enough to drive, so my mom had to drop me off and pick me up for the classes. I was also very engaged in my classes (well, except maybe history and English). I had not yet learned that adults tend to only participate if they have to, and don’t offer any answers that they think might be wrong. I didn’t mind speaking up in class and asking the teacher questions about our work. Finally, this being an evening class at a small, local college, everyone else in the class was taking it because it was a requirement to get their degree. Generally, these were engineers (from DuPont) working towards their masters degree in their chosen field. Assuredly, none of them had the passion for the subject I did. So one evening, as the class was wrapping up, the teacher was going over our homework assignments for the next class. One of the problems had to do with the slopes of tangent lines on a parabolic curve. The teacher happened to mention that parabolic mirrors are very useful in the real word, because incoming light rays would all be reflected back to a single point (the focus). I thought this was really cool, and I asked about that in class. I don’t recall exactly what I said, or the subsequent discussion the teacher and I had (while the rest of the class remained silent), but the end result was that the teacher added to our homework: we were to prove that parabolic curves actually do focus parallel light rays to one point. This sounded like a fun challenge to me. I couldn’t wait to get started on it. But even I realized that adding to the homework assignment would not be universally celebrated. Indeed, I was the only student who thought this was a good idea. The class was dismissed and I went to my mom's car, as she was waiting for me in the parking lot. Since then, as I think about that event as an adult, I imagine what those other classmates must have told their spouses and families when they returned from class that evening. Surely having a little kid in their Calculus class, showing frequent exuberance for the subject, was a curiosity or maybe even an amusing addition to the class. But the evening I added an analytical assignment to their homework, I doubt I was quite as entertaining. My wife is taking evening classes towards her doctorate now, and so I am acutely aware of how precious her time is. I don’t recall receiving any direct animosity from my classmates that evening, which I’m sure was a testament to their good nature. So to all my classmates I burdened with an additional assignment, I apologize. I hope the personal time I cost you was balanced by the pleasurable satisfaction you felt upon solving an interesting math problem. But probably not.

My favorite doctor's note

2009-08-09T03:32:02Z

Almost 2 years ago, I had a bad car wreck that totaled my Saturn Ion. Amazingly, I had no serious injuries, save for some severe dizziness a few days later. It was so bad that I went to the doctor that day. The diagnosis was there was nothing permanently damaged, but that if I wanted an MRI, the doctor would be willing to order that procedure. I said that as long as it got better, an MRI seemed unnecessary to me. That's where I thought we left it, but a week or so later, I got the following letter in the mail. I ignored the letter, but have found it quite amusing ever since. Forgetting to have an MRI of your brain seems like evidence right there that you really need the MRI of your brain. I wonder what the person who filled out that note thought my state of mind was, and if they thought the note was going to be helpful.

Trapped in the Waste Management Smoking Patio

2009-08-05T00:11:08Z

http://www.robreid.com/weblog/. It is much more readable there. --- Today I’ll tell you the tale about when I got trapped in the Waste Management Smoking Patio. I call it “Trapped in the Waste Management Smoking Patio”]]> I ate lunch on my own today and decided to venture down into the tunnels as I often do. I found a seating area at which to eat my dumplings – a place in the Lamar tunnel I’ve eaten at before. There is a opening in the ceiling into the lobby of the building above, and I could hear the programmable piano playing as it often does. All the times I had eaten there, I had never known what building it was. Since I was alone for lunch today, I decided to find out. There was an elevator right there next to the eating area, so I walked over and pressed the button. I noticed the small sign that said “card access required”, but I figured that was for after hours. If it wasn’t, the elevator wouldn’t work for me, right? After waiting a little for the elevator, its doors opened. I walked into the empty elevator and pressed “1” for the main floor. The elevator didn’t move at first, but I didn’t think much of it since many elevators connected to the tunnels are very slow. After about 4 seconds it started its ascent. As I exited the elevator on the first floor, I passed someone entering the elevator. I was actually a little concerned at this point. The small delay before the elevator moved for me combined with the fact that someone on the first floor was waiting for the elevator made me suspect that it was card access only. I only got up to the first floor because she called the elevator to her. So I quickly looked around and saw my building out the windows. I could exit the building and then figure out which one I had been in. As I left the building I saw the little “card access required for re-entry” by the door again. I didn’t pay it any mind, since I wouldn’t need to re-enter. I would just head for the safety of my building. Just outside the building there were several large raised beds with bushes, trees, and flowers in them. There were small gaps between them where I could easily walk through. There were some patio tables and chairs in this area, too, with some people eating lunch, and some people having a smoke break. I headed for the nearest gap between the building and a large raised bed. There was a small gate spanning the gap between the building and the bed. It was about 3 feet tall, but no obvious way to open it. Hm. I walked around – casually – to another gap to find my way blocked again by a similar gate. The final gap I saw had, predictably, another gate. Now I realized my full predicament. I had inadvertently gained access to the building and walked out into the outdoor smoking area, which was not designed for egress but not so secured that they could leave the card readers off of the reentry doors. I was trapped. I could easily climb over the low gates, but I’d prefer not to have to explain to some security guard why I was clambering out of the smoking area without any valid reason to be in the building in the first place. I decided I’d have to get back into the building. Yes, I was going to gain access to the building again, just so I can exit it properly. I sat down – casually – and fiddled with my leftover eggroll as I observed the area. There were three doors back into the building. I saw everyone badge in as they re-entered the building. The middle door closed very, very slowly. I could see people walking toward the nearest door from down the hall before they came out. I was starting to smell of smoke. So I now had my plan: if anyone used the middle door, I would walk to it and re-enter the building before it closed. If anyone left the smoking area through another door, I would – casually – follow them as far behind as I felt comfortable and still be able to catch the door before it closed. It seemed like there was about one person exiting or entering every minute or so, and it wasn’t long before someone at a table near me was packing up. I watched her approach the nearest door (not the slow middle door), so I got up and followed her. Casually. I grabbed the door before it closed and walked back into the building. I can now see that I’m on the other side of the secure electronic turnstiles. All the elevators are on this side of the turnstiles. I briefly entertained the idea of taking one to some random floor, but instead I head toward the turnstiles. I walk right through them and out the main door, to freedom. I could now see what building I was eating under and subsequently trapped outside of. It was the Waste Management building. That was a lot of effort to go through to satisfy my curiosity, but at least I can say it has been satisfied.

Rediscovering iTunes Radio

2009-07-18T04:09:15Z

A few months ago, I was moved at work from sharing a conference room (which afforded a certain amount of privacy) to what is called a “trading bench”. This is basically one step down from cubicles, in that I’m sitting at a long desk with people on either side of me. I have some desk space and a low (3’) wall facing me. Although I can do my work OK, I have no space to personalize and little-to-no privacy. To block out some nearby conversations, I’ve started occasionally using my headphones. I’d been bringing in my CD collection, a few at a time, to rip onto my work computer so that I can listen to music when I need to block out the background chatter. For whatever reason, I stumbled upon the iTunes Radio Stations, which are a large listing of streaming audio from various internet sites. This is really nice, since I can listen to and discover new songs in categories of my choosing. I tend not to listen to NPR at work, since that actually distracts me from what I’m supposed to be doing, but I do listen to pop music, guitar instrumentals, and a SomaFM station called Lush which is what I’ve been listening to a lot recently. It seems to be the right balance between being entertaining and ignorable.

Camera Notoriety

2009-07-17T00:48:26Z

My camera is dangerous. I love my (still new) Nikon D60 DSLR, and I’m still using it whenever I can. I finished my stint as my daughter’s swim team photographer this week, and I continued to get compliments on the photographs I took every week. In fact, the swim team organizers are looking for someone to bring an LCD projector so they can show the pictures during the swim party this weekend. And this past weekend, I took a few pictures at a “water day” event at my family’s church. There were only a few people there, but I had my camera with me and tried to get some good splashy action shots. About half of them were good enough to share, and after posting them to my Picasa album, I get several compliments. Water pictures are especially dramatic with my new camera. The good optics combined with the low latency of the shutter release (so that I can take a picture precisely when I want to, and not 2 seconds later) allow me to get people’s faces with abstract water blobs seemingly floating in air. It’s the kind of shot you can’t get with a typical point-and-shoot digital camera. People just don’t realize that it’s not actually that hard with the right equipment (which I now have). Granted, I do color-correct the photos, only show people the good ones, and crop almost all of them (cropping photos correctly makes a huge difference), but it still isn’t difficult. So the dangerous part is that I like taking pictures with my new camera, but when I do people are really excited about the results. I foresee being asked to be the official/unofficial photographer for future events. That’s not all bad, but I don’t want it to feel like a burden or that I’m obligated to be the photographer for every event. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find the right balance. In the mean time, I’ll enjoy taking photos and the ego trip I get from all the effusive compliments afterwards.

New pictures

2009-07-16T04:32:26Z

I uploaded a small set of pictures from my recent trip to PA, NJ, and DE to my website. Check them out here: http://www.robreid.com/pictures/search.php?collID=60

Worrisome Spam

2009-07-03T15:04:24Z

I just resolved a rather worrisome case of spam in my blog. As opposed to unwanted comments showing up in each entry (which is a manageable problem), There were spam links appearing directly in each blog entry! Specifically, every end-of-paragraph on the page had a spam link added to it. After much searching, I realized that only the actual outputted HTML pages were affected - the database entries and Movable type code was unaffected. So simply rebuilding the pages fixed it. But that's very troubling, since that means the actual HTML pages were changed on my site! That implies someone gained access to my files on my web host and changed them. Indeed, when I check the other sections of my webpage, they have the same type of spam inserted in their text! This is going to take some time to correct, and I have no idea how this happened in the first place. Perhaps I need to change my site's password, if indeed it has been compromised. Still, if my site was compromised like that, I wonder why I didn't see entire pages replaced with spam ads, instead of just adding a small link to the end of each paragraph. Ah well, for now, I'm going to start cleaning up may pages and making sure I have a clean backup. Wish me luck...

Printer Apoptosis

2009-06-25T12:31:53Z

My printer died last week, but not from a usual cause. When we put in a fresh cartridge of black ink, an error message appeared on the printer’s screen saying that a part internal to the printer has exceeded its service lifetime and that Epson service must be called. I am not one to cave in to any piece of computer hardware’s demands, so I did some searching online. Apparently, this (Epson Stylus Photo RX700) and many other models of Epson printers have a waste ink pad that collects the ink that is cleaned off of the print heads. After a pre-determined number of cleanings, the printer is programmed to report an error so that the waste ink pad can be replaced. This makes some sense. After all, it won’t do any good cleaning print heads if the cleaning pad is full of ink. But as it was, the printer literally would not print anything until this error was cleared. I tried some tricks that were referenced on various sites I found, but no combination of key presses I tried cleared the error. The printer still refused to function at all. Replacing the waste ink pad was apparently something Epson did not intend for the typical user to do, since it’s not easy to get at and requires special software to reset the internal counter to indicate that the waste pad has been replaced. So I used the online Epson help page, which advised me to call a (non toll-free) number for service. My wife did this, and got a foreign service desk that had a really bad delay in the line, making it very difficult to have a successful conversation. After struggling through the call, the official recommendation she got was to buy a new printer. What?!?! “Buy a new printer”? The printer decided to stop working, not because anything was really broken, but because something might become broken someday (maybe) with continued use? And the official response was to buy a new printer? That is ridiculous and unacceptable. Certainly, it’s not uncommon in the computer industry to design a product with “planned obsolescence”, but this was not only planned, but pre-programmed into the printer to have it commit suicide after a set amount of use. I’m still flabbergasted by the whole thing. My wife got a “loyalty code” from the foreign service representative that supposedly would give us a good discount on another Epson printer. I didn’t even check to see what the discount was. After all, how many cleanings would any other Epson printer allow me before it decided I needed to buy a new printer again? So I did actually take their advice and bought a new printer. But not an Epson. I got a Canon PIXMA MP980. It’s a really nice printer with all the features I liked in my Epson, and it came with a $100 rebate at the Fry’s I bought it from. It’s slightly smaller, can still scan slides and film, and matches the style of my computer better. It actually has some new features, too, like duplex printing and the ability to print borderless prints from my Mac. I’m happy with my printer purchase, but my previous good will and good experience with Epson products has disappeared. Right now, I’m not sure I will ever buy another Epson product again.

Accidental Water Drop Crown

2009-06-24T12:20:25Z

One of the pictures I took at my daughter’s last swim meet had a really interesting splash effect. Most of the pictures that turn out well have a lot of water splashing and you can recognize who the swimmer is. In this case, it appears that two water drops of about the same size collided in midair to produce a “crown”. Look closely in the upper-left area of this picture and you might see a small water drop that looks like a flower. http://picasaweb.google.com/glenshiregators/Meet3VsAshtonVillage#5350348430115133794 I’ve seen this effect in pictures where people use strobe lights to try to capture water droplets striking a surface, but I never imagined I’d see this shape at the local pool. Neat!]]>

My First Photographer Gig

2009-06-24T00:29:42Z

I’m still really enjoying my DSLR camera (Nikon D60), and I use it at the slightest provocation. So I can’t claim to have been too upset when, while at my daughter’s first practice swim meet, two people separately came up to me to ask if I would be the team’s photographer. I suppose I was the parent that had the most serious-looking camera. Although I wasn’t looking to be out in the heat for all that long, I was eager to test my photography skills at the swim meets. I asked a lot of questions about what they expected of me: what kinds of pictures do you want (action shots, pictures of individuals), what are you going to do with them (ready for printing, or just online viewing), how should I provide them for use, etc. I needn’t have been so concerned. Previous years were just a few snapshots, and in fact last year there were no pictures of the meets at all. Logistically, I set myself up quickly to manage the pictures. I created a new iPhoto library for Glenshire Gators photos, and I have the Picasa account to which I can upload the photos. I thought about trying to annotate the photos with the people in them, but I don’t know any of the team members currently, and I doubt I will be able to recognize them in their swim goggles and swim caps. So I’ll just upload the pictures without annotation, but after I’ve cropped and otherwise cleaned-up the pictures. It’s been going quite well. I end up with about 100 pictures at each meet, and I’m getting better about what looks good. I like getting shots of swimmers just entering the water, and timing pictures of front crawl where you can see their faces are very dramatic when it turns out. Closely cropping the picture is best, too, so I often am at maximum zoom (12x). You can see how I’ve done by checking out the Picasa page: http://picasaweb.google.com/glenshiregators/ Any picture from 2009 is one I’ve taken.