Stupid Cool--DOS on a Mac in a JVM?!?

I just played a game of Donkey Kong on my MacBook in a browser window that was emulating [Free] DOS through a JVM. Hu? Give it a try yourself.

I also enjoyed the FAQ section. There has been a myth for sometime now that Java is slow. Well, from the authors (Emphasis added by me.):

How fast is JPC?
...Moreover, we have seen that in some circumstances a HotSpot JVM can outperform gcc-compiled C, so we believe a lot more is possible.

Why Java?
Basically, Java turns out to be ideal for this kind of project: it's robust, it works across many platforms, it's built with security in mind and, with HotSpot, it can run about as efficiently as natively compiled code...

Take that C and C++!

The Rise and Fall of 3athlete

In the early 2000's, I was a triathlete. I few in love with the sport right away. It allowed me to stay competitive after my swimming years and I wasn't half bad. Being a tech-geek, I registered a domain name and started a quasi-blog/slashclone related to triathlon. And in November of 2000, 3athlete was born.

As the injuries added up and I fell out of love with the sport in late November of 2002, I killed 3athlete with prejudice. I simply turned it off one day and walked away. It was no longer fun.

A few months later, as spring made an appearance, I wanted to keep track of triathlon news. Since very few sites had an RSS feed, I had to create my own. With some perl scripts to parse html, a mysql database to store all the strings, and a php front end, I accidentally launched the next version of 3athlete with a few hours of coding.

3athlete grew over the years into a 50k hit/hour site. Many of these hits were to my RSS feeds (every page on 3athlete had an RSS feed) or from spiders, but it was sill interesting scaling a large volume website. The 3athlete volume was laughable compared to my day job, but for "shared" hosting, performance was top notch.

All was rosy, but as web 2.0 blossomed, my interest in the project dwindled and more triathlon sites had native RSS feeds, 3athlete started to become irrelevant. While I had a core dedicated following, there was limited growth and I had no desire to integrate social features into 3athlete to improve its relevance. Due to these factors, 3athlete essentially turned into a link farm.

So, with little fanfare, I killed 3athlete yet again. It is possible I will launch something again in the future, but for now, I should really concentrate on the half-baked, yet useful, *.racechecklist sites.

about: Jed

Don't you love it when people talk shit on a blog yet you have know idea who the hell they are? Well, below is my subtle attempt to describe who I am and why I have an opinion or insight into something:

Note: This will be continuously updated--in theory.

Work:
I am currently an Engineering Lead and Release Manager at Sun Microsystems in the Content Management Engineering group. We build, support and maintain the code, applications and infrastructure that enable content authoring, management, distribution and delivery for Sun's high volume websites such as Sun.com and Java.com. Oh yeah, and we also make sure a consistent brand is maintained across multiple locales and venues utilizing content reuse and repurposing. In short, my friends and family have no idea what I do.

I even have an abandoned blog at Sun!

Previously, I worked at Interwoven Inc as a Senior Consultant for web content management doing some of the same things, but limited to just the CMS side of the house. Hmm, I wonder who one of my clients could have been.

Related tags: Content Management | Sun Microsystems

Glory Days
I am a former swimmer. Some might say a great swimmer. I would say I was good enough since it got me through college. After my "retirement" from swimming, I hit the triathlon circuit and quickly learned my soft tissue was not meant for running. The name "twothirds" comes from my typical effort during a triathlon. I would lead for the first two-thirds of the race and quickly falter during the run. Good times! (For the record, I did win one race.) As I have slipped further away from my glory days as a swimmer, I have become a glorified rec-cyclist that likes to bike commute to work as a way of staying sane.

Related tags: Cycling | Bike Commuting

Education
I hold a BS from Providence College in Computer Science and Management. I graduated Cum Laude and number one in my major. For the record, I was the only person in my major--I worked the liberal arts charter of my school and followed the "individualized" major option. I rock! For me, this was a cross country trip from California to Rhode Island. I strongly recommend this for anyone going to college. Run away from home and find out what life is like somewhere else out of your comfort zone. If not for my Providence experience, I would have no idea you drink from a bublah', griders are subs, and the mafia really does exist.

Home
I have lived in California, Rhode Island and Connecticut, but most of my time has been in Santa Clara, CA. I fled the state for College, yet ended all of two miles from my parents house. I have owned a house since 2000, and have been on a home improvement binge over the past year. Once something starts to look nice, all the old crap starts to look really bad. Recently I have:

• installed new windows
  
• replaced the blinds
  
• installed composite wood *cough*, err, laminate floors
  
• refreshed a bathroom
  
• painted 1/2 the house
  
• torn out shower doors

Well, while I may not have done some of these things first hand, I have paid for everything.

Food and Drink
At one point in my life I would have been content with a Natty Light and some Pasta Roni. Things have changed a bit and I know the difference between a Hanger and Skirt Steak, enjoy bloody ass expensive beer from Belgium and abhor cheap wine. I can also cook some mean protein dishes (steak, fish, etc), so I am highly critical of bad expensive cuisine. If I can cook it better, I overpaid.

Mac/Apple
I own a MacBook, but I am not an apple zealot. In fact, I spend most of my time trying to make my desktop look like a Solaris workstation. OS X is nicer than MS Windows--I'll give it that.

Status
Sorry ladies, I am single but have a girlfriend.

Corporate Jed -- CMS Talk

A few months ago, it sounded like a great idea to present a topic at a Content Management Conference. With deadlines looming and no visits from a muse, I am nearing the panic phase. It just might be time to crack open that bottle of Absinthe I smuggled back from Europe.

I have been asked to promote my talk, so here goes nothing...The LISA Forum USA, from April 10-12 in San Francisco, is designed to deliver a 360-degree view of what it takes to integrate globalization into your organization’s business processes – the specific...

Eh--screw the generic blurb--not really my style. Please check the box if this applies to you:

I deal with Content Management Issues
I need to think on a global enterprise scale
I wonder how others deal with the universal complex issues of content authoring, management and distribution to multiple locales and channels while retaining a consistent brand and message
I have some money in my budget to blow on a conference

If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, you might want to attend my talk at the LISA Forum USA in San Fran. As a bonus, you might find out who sucks as DST.

More Search Term Fun

Rama turned me onto 103bees for search term tracking. The site is a bit annoying with its 24-hour session timeout, but it does a better job of tracking search terms than most log analyzers. My recent searches include:

Some of the more interesting terms:

living with a pot smoker
what cream for sore ass?
how to phone tap

And some of the more common terms:

matrix screensaver mac
alton brown smoker
flower pot smoker
litespeed teramo

For the record, I do not live with a pot smoker, my ass generally does not need cream, and I am not a phreaker.

B Street & Vine Review

The food menu looks interesting, the Jazz band is a nice touch, and I like the concept of a wine bar in San Mateo, but B Street and Vine misses the mark. During a recent visit I only came for the wine, but I left unsatisfied. I am tempted to go back and try the food, but if I want a good glass of wine, I'll stick with one of the local restaurants. A few comments on the downers...

Stemware
The stemware is really bad. My red wine glass would have been better served as a water glass due to the thickness of the crystal. Also, it appears they only had one generic red and one white wine glass. They really need to match the glass to the varietal in addition to slimming the crystal.

Wine Menu
The wine menu was disappointing. At a wine bar, I want to experiment with great wine that is either hard to find or cost prohibitive at the bottle price. While I assume they have some hidden gems, nothing really jumped out at me, or maybe the menu just lacked inspiration. One critical faux paux was their Zinfandel selection, or lack there of. Considering this is one of the more popular grapes, if not "the grape" of California, you would expect a broad selection. Their selections--Ravenswood (yack!).

Temperature
My [red] wine was about 75 degrees. It should be served in the 60 degree range. It was hot that day, but that problem is easily solved with a wine cooler. No sense in drinking good wine if the subtle notes cannot make an appearance.

In short, there are not that many flaws, but the few flaws really are deal breakers if you are seeking a high quality wine experience. On the other hand, if you hate Merlot just because of the movie Sideways, B Street & Vine might be the place for you.

PS: Check out Pride Mountain Merlot if you think they all suck. You will change your opinion.

Showering Alone--Shower Dooor Removal

I have not showered alone for quite some time.

Noooo--stop thinking kinky.

For as long as I can remember, my shower doors have been a borderline biohazard with god-knows-what growing in and around them. Whoever installed them really sucks at caulk!

Since this past weekend was clean up week, I decided to rip 'em out and see what happens. After all, what's the worst that can happen? If things go horribly wrong, I can fix the problem with money and get a new bathroom.

First, a picture of the before


In addition to the gnarley shower doors, the caulking around the tile was also in piss-poor shape. The previous owners probably caulked over mildew which promptly spawned more mildew. I should really create a list of all the dumb shit they did to my house, but I digress...

The door removal was not too bad. For the most part, it was as simple as:

• Removing the doors from the frame
  
• Removing all support screws. (None of them were rusted--Yeah!)
  
• Breaking the caulk seal with a putty knife and hammer
  
• Removal of frame
  
• Eight-hours of scraping caulk from the tile and tub with a putty knife and blade!
  
• Twenty minutes with a sander
  
• A complete re-caulk around the tub

Yeah, the caulk removal got old real fast. About 2/3 of the way through the job, I whipped out the orbital sander and risked scratching the tub. Surprisingly, the sander shaved everything off without issue.

While most of the job was smooth sailing, there were some blemishes hidden under the shower door frame. Some of the porcelain(?) exterior of the tub shell was chipped and the bare steel(?) was exposed. Since this bathroom should be redone in the next year or two, I decided not to worry about it too much and epoxied any trouble spots. While it looks like someone stuck a wad of gum to the tub, it is 1000% better than taking a shower with a colony of microorganisms.

The door frame screw holes are also a bit of an eye-sore--those got the epoxy treatment as well. But again, I rather deal with visual issues than mold and mildew.

Wealth == Quality of Garbage?

Is wealth a measure of one's garbage? If so, South Park Ln is doing pretty good for itself. I would have snapped more pictures, but quite frankly, I was a bit scared by all the scavengers. I do not think they are the type of people who like their picture taken. (Click pic to see full res version with some scavengers in the background.)

Some of the gems seen this weekend include:

• Hot tub
  
• Piano
  
• Uprooted plant with soil still intact. (Promptly scavenged by mid-day)
  
• Jet Ski
  
• Scavenge of my old biohazard shower door frame within 10 minutes (scrap-metal is big buck$)
  

Going mobile...

Sweet. I am mobile

It's Throw Shit on the Street Weekend!!

Santa Clara has an annual clean up program. During this clean up, you can throw just about anything (especially the kitchen sink) in front of your house and they'll pick it up on Monday. It is both frightening and fascinating to see what crap your neighbors throw away. This is also a weekend you don't want your kids playing on the streets. There are more than a few unpolished rummagers lurking.

I'll try and snap pics of the more intersting treasures.

Dear Phone Company

Dear PacBell SBC ATT,

If you are going to request I fill out a trouble report on the web, please let me know your service is down before I enter all my data.

PS: Why does my phone break once/year? Is POTS really this difficult? Time for VOIP?

Bike to Home Season 2007--Haiku Style

An update to this post....

Since I have a history of stupid human tricks, I let pride give it to me up the ass and road home. I have summarized the experience with a haiku:

Cycling home today
Pain throughout the arms and legs
And my ass hurts too

I thought the stats this morning were pitiful. Well...

• 16.99 Miles
  
• 1:03:05 ride time (Uff)
  
• 15.86 MPH (Uff++)
  

Bike To Work Season 2007

Bike to work season has officially kicked off today. With the warm spring-time weather and sunset bordering 6PM, there is no better time than the present to kick start a greener and healthier lifestyle. I have not been on a bike since November, so the riding was a bit slow and painful. The real question is will I bike home? Common sense says take the train; my pride tells me to ride home.

Today's pitiful stats:

• 16.96 Miles
  
• 59:45 ride time
  
• 16.97 MPH Avg
  
• 26.3 MPH Max Speed
  
• Total Odometer at 2019 miles (Just how far will I go this year?)

Cytosludge

What happens to Cytomax after ~3 months of fermentation in a water bottle? You get Cytosludge!



Yeah--really bad picture. I thought it was just residual water in the bottle and imagine my shock when the green sldge came oozing out. Thankfully, the cell phone cam caught some of its essence.

MacBook Finally Healthy?

The MacBook is finally healthy for the first time since mid-summer. The top-cover was replaced the other day and my mouse button gives the proper feedback. I am still mulling over the extended warranty plan which is ~$250. Incidentally, the mouse click repair would have set me back about that same amount of money if I was not under warranty still.

Yet Another Webhost

I have switched to yet another webhost. I was previously using a VDS solution from godaddy, but since I killed off 3athlete, I no longer require a dedicated host. (3athlete was kicked off more than a few shared webhosts.) I was happy with the VDS plan from godaddy, but...

• I hate playing sysadmin and have no time to keep track of security updates
  
• Managing mailservers is a pain, so I had a separate provider just to handle mail
  
• Since I am no longer serving 50,000+ hits/hour, $30/month is way to much to pay

So far I have been happy with dreamhost. In addition to all the standard bells and whistles such as multi-domain hosting, ssh access, DNS management, etc, they also throw in some very nice to have goodies such as SVN hosting and webdav access. I just hope they do not pull a neureal on me.