Month: November 2006

We can rebuild him

I was working in the faculty lab when and overheard someone laboring to complete “we can fix him? repair him?” I was starting to get annoyed, so I corrected her: “We can rebuild him; We have the technology.”

I was right, of course, but the other faculty were kind of shocked that I  knew the phrase, considering my age. I admitted that was too young, and grew up without cable, but I’ve made up for lost time thanks to the Family Guy. They had no idea what I was talking about. Needless to say, they were kind of creeped out. I was younger than most of their kids.

Most of my friends have an uncanny ability to remember small snippets of TV show dialog. Hopefully all of the worlds problems can be solved with quotes from the Simpsons.

Maps to drool over

Yesterday I attended a talk on U of O’s upcoming Atlas of Yellowstone. It’s still in the early development and fund-gathering stages, but if it’s as lovely as their Atlas of Oregon, I’ll want to get a copy. The atlas is made from the compiled work of students, faculty, park representatives and data from a variety of sources. Some of the data is a proxy when the “perfect” data source isn’t available, and some is directly from the individual subject area experts form the Park Service.

One of the things I’m most impressed by with the the atlases is the consistency of color and style used in all the maps, charts and data. The consistency is great – but the color ramps, gradients, etc. are all so delicious that it’s hard not to blatantly “borrow” them.

Additionally, the Infographics lab also showed their beta of the new campus map. I wonder how difficult it would be to create a comparable tool for PSU. Especially one that didn’t require the various commercial software titles. It’s hard to beat the flash interface though. Vectors > Raster.

Installed Windows

I spent way too long trying to figure out the best way of making my installation of new windows sound like I had installed the operating system.

  • “I installed windows yesterday”
  • “I installed the latest windows..”
  • “The new windows provided a challenging install”

Yup… dumb. But so much quieter than the 93 year old double-hung, single-panes that we replaced.

Flurry

If one were to look at the periodicity of posts lately, they’d probably notice long stretches with nothing, a flurry of posts, then nothing again. I feel like I should apologize, but that’s just the midwest in me.

Mom’s back to work now too, so Ella is spending her days (long ones, at that) with my parents. This is wonderful, and I love them and can’t imagine anyone better for my daughter. It’s also saddening because it’s time that we’re not spending with her, and going back to work has been the hardest part so far. (I didn’t have to carry her for 10 months)

I took the day off and wanted to go to a Mommy Matinee with Ella, but got overwhelmed with a case of the too muches. Instead of seeing Jackass 2, we hung out on the couch, made noises, fended of pets, and read statistics. Ella’s swing seat was starting to get a little sluggish, so after 3 hours of reading, we walked over to get some batteries and grabbed a glass of Brother Thelonius during the break in the rain. Ella is getting big enough that she hung her head out of the sling the entire walk and seemed to really enjoy the crimson leaves, the chaos of the grocery store, and the shadows at Concordia Ale House. I paid up front so when she started pooping, we were able to beat a hasty, if stinky retreat.