First rule of baby-sitting
First rule of baby-sitting, originally uploaded by xt1.
Remember to bring along some cool toys/distractions when sitting.
Add comment September 30th, 2006
Archive for September, 2006
Gambling for Work
After a long hard day of conferencing, the DevNet/SuperOffice team treated everyone to a free drink (just the one mind you), a magic show, and then gambling: blackjack, roulett, and Texas hold’em poker (where the real action was).
Can you tell who thought he was doing well here? And what did Tone (our QA lead) say to him to make him so happy and confident?
(I won the last hand with a pair of queens - it was everyone all in).
Jens also did really well on the roulette table. He scored a big win apparently. I scored an 8:1 bet - and I can tell why people lose themselves in it. I just suddenly felt a certainty that 7 was going to come up - and damned if it didn’t show up on the next spin. Freaky!
The magician came back to hand out the prizes at the end - SuperOffice employees weren’t allow to participate, so we had to give our hard-earned chips away to the partners and customers there. A blind auction ensued, with second-last prize (a bag of crisps) going for two million, while the last prize (an Xbox 360) went for just over a million.
A hardy few climbed back up to the sky-bar for a nightcap, but I collapsed into bed a bit after midnight.
Add comment September 20th, 2006
SuperOffice Expander World
SuperOffice Expander World, originally uploaded by xt1.
The big day is finally here. Expander World is our developer conference. There are seventy people here - all building solutions on top of the SuperOffice platform. It’s a wonderful thing to see and meet so many people who are enthusiastic about what you work on.
Next year will be even better.
Add comment September 18th, 2006
Work-Time Fun
The people who run the SuperOffice DevNet site are called BV Network. They invited a bunch of their partners out for an evening of fun and guns. We took part in something called CounterStrike Live - indoor paintballing with AK-47 and M4 replicas. CounterStrike is something of an legendary online game - tense and unforgiving, it requires tactics and coordination for a team to succeed. The rules are simple: terrorists have a bomb that must be placed at one of two or three locations. The counter-terrorist squad must stop them. The question then becomes whether to split up or to defend one location.
Playing online is one thing, actually crouching and opening a door when you don’t know what is on the other side is much more exciting!
Paintballing outdoors is fun, but the long sightlines and open terrain can make the game trench-warfare. Indoor paintball tends to get messy because the larger blobs of paint soon cover everything like a slip-n-slide. The smaller pellets used here are less messy, so the floor isn’t as slippery. The indoor setting makes for a much closer playing field, so the tension ratchets up. Line of sight is usually broken by a door or wall. Office corridors are long, natural shooting galleries.
All in all - great fun. Much thanks to BV Network for inviting Per Arne and myself. The only downside is that the adrenaline high keeps you bouncing around till way past your bedtime.
Add comment September 12th, 2006
Rubicon
Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic
by Tom Holland
An easy-to-read history of ancient Rome that focuses on the Republic and how it is gradually taken over by the men who swore to protect it. One thing that makes it easy to read is the way it traces the inter-relationships between the many players. The elite were famously interbred, and this balance of power ensured stability. The rise of plebian power and the rise of the empire go hand in hand. The military history and the expansion of the Empire is documented well, as well as the reasons for the expansion: Caesar’s need for cash, Marius’s pride, and Pompey’s vanity.
There are many tempting parallels to the fate of today’s mightiest republic, but the author cautions against reading too much into surface similarities. The Romans were very different from us - their moral system, their ethics worked differently.
However, the little anecdotes and histories of how Rome united the countryside explain the ancient roman’s view of themselves as better than other civilizations. This inflated self-view goes a way towards explaining things like this recent news article. Some aspects remain unchanged after two millenia it would appear.
Add comment September 10th, 2006
Blind Spot
Blind Spot: the Secret History of American Counterterrorism
by Timothy Naftali
340 pgs + 40 pgs notes and index
A fascinating look at history behind the scenes, from the start of the fore-runner to the CIA during WW2 up to and including Sept.11.2001. The first two thirds of the book focus on the gradual rise of terrorism as a distinct area of concern within the US government and the White House. The last third of the book focuses on the new free-agent terrorism of the 90s and the reaction to bin Laden. The notes are extensive and show the associate professor’s thoroughness. Very few things are unattributed or unsourced, which makes it a credible study.
What makes it fascinating is the glimpse into way governments and the public reacted to terrorism in the 60s and 70s. Planes were being hijacked every three weeks in 1968 - mostly to Cuba, and this continued into the 70s. Most of these were resolved through negotiations or paying ransom.
Reading this so close to the anniversary serves as a useful counterweight to the wave of dramatizations and propaganda that are being churned out (at least Stateside) right now.
The conclusion we can draw from the various attempts at fighting terrorism though the last thirty years is that military attacks on a non-state entity don’t deter terrorists from striking back. Denying them funding and bases to operate from do work. Diplomacy and covert actions work better than military strikes. The only way to win in the long run is to make suicide bombing a less attractive prospect.
The paperback edition has a second afterword written in 2006 where progress and the diversion into Iraq is discussed. The FBI’s new information sharing system is mentioned in passing as a positive development. Alas it has failed.
“How much harder are we making this for ourselves?”
Much it appears.
Add comment September 10th, 2006
Wonderful Internet
Tonight the internet has given me:
- Bill Maher’s creative solutions to the war on terror
- some spam.
- a chance to loan $50 to someone who needs it.
- political analysis
- personal stories involving cats and food
- five minutes of bizarre japanese hidden-camera hi-jinx involving a button, a rocket-chair, a sauna, and a ski-slope.
- the latest Battlestar Galactica web-episode.
TV gave me - thirty minutes of Nytt på nytt and a mediocre TV movie with Mandy Patinkin.
Which of these two media has a future?
1 comment September 9th, 2006
House is Back
Of frubjous day! The new season of House has begun, and our favorite ascerbic asshole of a doctor is back - a more humane and understanding asshole this time, but still an asshole.
And TVRSS is the future - television delivered right to your desktop. They need to figure out a simple way for me to pay for the pleasure, but this is so utterly, totally the right way to enjoy this.
Add comment September 8th, 2006
Design vs Usability: Fight!
I had a short presentation yesterday in front of what seemed like all the software designers and usability gurus in Oslo.
The topic was obviously something near and dear to both designers and usability experts: how to get along with each other. Or (more likely) the title was like blood in the water: people wanted to see blood, to see the other side crushed, and here I was preaching peace, love and understanding.
They took it surprisingly well - they laughed at my misrepresentations and exaggerations. Several people were nice enough to buy me beer after the talk.
One thing that seems obvious after listening to the discussion is that the stereotypes are alive and well, even in the enlightened group that showed up at Scuba Bar last night.
1 comment September 7th, 2006
Nina Paley’s Sitayana
There are many possible responses to being dumped by a boyfriend.
Animating a three-thousand year old indian legend and setting the story to 1920s jazz and blues numbers is definitely one of the more creative responses.
Check out the amazing results.
Add comment September 7th, 2006