Slightly Off KIlter

Normal is overrated

  • ETech Con – Day Three

    This was the third (and last) day of the O'Reilly Emerging Technologies Conference. Still a winner. We didn't attend even one session that didn't make us think and give us something to discuss. No session that we attended was boring or uninteresting, nor was any session exactly what we thought we expected. I think this… Continue reading

  • ETech Con – Day Two

    More interesting talks at Day Two of the O'Reilly Emerging Technologies Conference. We made it to the first keynote (scheduled for 8:30 am) after a 1-hour drive through some nasty rain. Yuch!. The first speaker was Alan Kay, inventor of SmallTalk, who gave a well-attended talk on User Interface history, entitled Daddy, Are We There… Continue reading

  • Emerging Technologies

    Day One of the O'Reilly Emerging Technologies Conference. Fun stuff. We went to a talk on Biological Computer Models – how to use ideas from "swarms" (e.g. ant colonies, bees, wasps…) such as "simple rules" and "bottom-up modeling" to make new and different computer systems. When Southwest Airlines applied these models to their air cargo… Continue reading

  • We saw a squirrel!!!

    We had a grey squirrel on our porch rail this morning! Rich told me last night he had seen one yesterday. I was hoping it would come back. We'll have lived here 15 years in May and this is only the second time I've seen a squirrel closer than a mile from the house –… Continue reading

  • Space Station Science

    I've found another cool web site. This one is part of science.nasa.gov. The site I discovered today (with the assistance of a mailing-list friend 😉 is Space Station Science: Picture of the Day. You can subscribe to get the latest nifty info and picture in your mailbox, daily. I love the web. Here's an excerpt… Continue reading

  • I’ve been dreaming

    Under "normal" circumstances, I wish I didn't dream much. It's not that I have "bad" dreams exactly. It's more that my dreams are so… busy! Very High Production Values to my dreams – lots of action, lots of people, crowded sets. Lots of COLOR. When I wake up from a dream I am tired. I… Continue reading

  • Easter Sunday

    Today is Easter Sunday in the western Christian (Gregorian) calendar. Eastern Christian churches that follow the Julian calendar tend to celebrate Easter on a different date. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox (the paschal moon) — unless that full moon falls on the equinox, in… Continue reading

  • Purrrrrrr

    As is often the case, Mezzaluna was lying across the foot of the bed this morning when I woke up. I leaned down to stroke her tummy and rub her chin. She was (again, as is often the case) purring. Mezzaluna has an incredible motor. I lay my ear on her chest and let all… Continue reading

  • Private manned spaceflight

    A private manned spaceflight program was unveiled Friday at a desert airport where it has been in secret development for two years. A rocket plane, dubbed SpaceShipOne, and the White Knight, an exotic jet designed to carry it aloft for a high-altitude air launch, were shown off in a hangar at Mojave Airport by famed… Continue reading

  • Crunchy Mornings

    The furkids get a crunchy treat every morning after breakfast (Whiskas tartar control tuna flavor). The ritual goes like this: We all troop downstairs after everyone has finished breakfast. Mezzaluna, who usually finishes early, is sitting tucked into the corner by the bookcase, waiting. Squirrel keeps a close eye on Vickimom (many backward glances and… Continue reading