First post from the new iPad

September 2nd, 2010

Pretty cool so far. Although I did have to do the “error code 9808″ dance

Blocking content by country is SO LAME

July 8th, 2010
Sony blocks video on youtube due to copyright

Sony blocks video on youtube due to copyright

LAME.

I wanted to see the original clip of “Hitler reacts…” and was … BA BOWN … denied.  Even when there are like 102789 parodies out there.

Lotus Notes and the case of the hovering Mouse cursor

July 7th, 2010

Tell me that isn’t annoying.

Ella has been accepted at the local Kindergarten

June 28th, 2010

Ella has been accepted at the Kindergarten in our Neighborhood!  This is fantastic news, because it has been a long process.

First, we found out late that we all kindergartens are managed by the State, and as such, require a detailed application form.  This, however, turned out to be easy for us; you could say we are professional form submitters at this point.  In fact, we were complemented on having the form filled in so completely, and on time (most people are late, or submit incomplete forms, and the system is designed such that they get feedback on what is missing, and a chance to correct mistakes.)

The admission is based on points; you get points for various things, such as your marital status, your family status and so on.   Points are also awarded based on where you live, which is good, since that is the only thing we got points for.

Then, all the submissions are collated, and The List is posted.   The List tells you where you are in descending points order on the waiting list.  There are only so many positions in each school.

We missed out by 6 places.

We were very disappointed, but made sure to keep in contact with the Principal of the kindergarten.   She is a very nice lady, known to all the parents in the complex, and she helped us through the entire process.

She informed us that what would happen next is a round of appeal, and then a final version of The List is released.  Then, the accepted children have a week or so to pay the fee, and after that, one more final version of The List is released, as well as another list which tells you where else you may apply to send your child.

The Principle told us to not panic, and that “Things may still go in your favour”.

Well, we found out late last week that they have indeed gone in our favour.  A couple days after we attended the End of Year Concert for the Kindergarten (which was fun, funny and sureal) the Principal called and said that she would create an extra place for us.

So now we can relax until September, which is when school starts.

Hacking ticketmaster

June 16th, 2010

IEEE Spectrum:

On March 1,  four guys behind a Nevada-based start-up, Wiseguy Tickets, were indicted in New Jersey on 43 counts for fraudulently buying and selling over 1.5 million tickets online

To achieve this goal, Wiseguys deployed a nationwide computer network that opened thousands of simultaneous Internet connections from across the United States; impersonated thousands of individual ticket buyers; and defeated online ticket vendors’ security mechanisms.

That may be why their websites suck so badly.

Bobby Tables

June 16th, 2010
Exploits of a Mom

xkcd: Exploits of a Mom

Second Breakfast

June 16th, 2010

We have started referring to the snack at around 10 or 10:30 as second breakfast.  Not to be confused with elevenses, this is the little meal you have at work with your first coffee.

You can see this happening everywhere, and the term “second breakfast” is very convenient.  At the old building, there was a very good little Cerveceria in the ground floor, where you could get tostado con tomate, aciete y jamon.

Nowadays, this consists of people cramming into little vending machine vestibule and having a sandwich brought from home.  And when one of the two vending machines is broken, it’s best to avoid this time due to the lines.

eProductivity and GTD

June 10th, 2010

Ok, I’ve never been a big fan of Lotus Notes, especially since we were stuck on version 6 for so long.  For a couple years, I took an Outlook break, and I’m also hooked on Gmail.

The upgrade to version 8 is a huge relief.

My good friend Toby put me onto the book by David Allen, “Getting Things Done”, which is a productivity system that really seems to work.  During my stint with Outlook, I started using the GTD add-in, and loved it so much that the idea of giving it up when I moved back into the Lotus world was a real bummer.

Then I found eProductivity, the GTD solution for Lotus Notes.  It is a replacement of the standard mail template.  I have installed it on my company laptop, without having any special privileges (or permission), and I have had no problems at all with replication or interaction with other corporate applications.  This is a significant statement considering the standard of our IT deparment, and the quality of our internal applications.

Luckily for me, I was an early Beta tester of the 1.x version, and just recently was selected for the 2.x Beta program.

Anyone who is interested should check out the Getting Started Video, and then download the trial template.  They have done a very good job of the trial template – it will copy a sample of your inbox, and guide you through the GTD process of emptying it.

When is NaN.NaN.NaN?

June 4th, 2010
When is NaN.NaN.NaN?

When is NaN.NaN.NaN?

Trying to select the or results in the pop-up calender dissapearing, and the curious “Not a Number” date appearing.

Summary: it is not possible to enter a date using the pop-up calender  for other than the current month.

The case of the stolen Gizmodo iPhone

June 4th, 2010

I only have one question.

How the hell do you forget a brand new, super ultra top secret phone, in  a bar?

Wouldn’t you be like, totally worried about someone either seeing, seeing you use it, grabbing it?

Hell, I have a POS BB, and I dont let it leave my sight. (Not because it is any good, but because getting it replaced would take forever, and I’m pretty lost without it)