It's a bacon kind of week.
First, the Bacon Flowchart
And, for the even more geeky bacon lover, the Unified Theory of Bacon
Enjoy!
Friday, December 21, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
The joy of bacon
I love bacon, so when a friend sent me a link to J&D's Bacon Salt, I immediately placed an order (as did a couple of my coworkers).
Of course, bacon love CAN go much too far.
Of course, bacon love CAN go much too far.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Mitchell Report
So, the Mitchell Report on performance enhancing drugs in baseball was released.
A couple of big "new" names were mentioned (although if anyone was actually surprised by Roger Clemens, then you aren't paying attention).
Mostly though, the players named range from journeymen to "who is that?"
My favorite on the list was Chuck Knoblauch and his alleged use of HGH. A once very good player who in his last couple of years completely lost the ability to throw the ball straight - which was good for fans sitting along the first base line hoping for a souvenir, but not so good for the outcome on the field.
At first, I was surprised he was a juicer, and then I ran across this picture of his early, pre-HGH days, which made it all clear:
(With apologies to Eddie Gaedel)
A couple of big "new" names were mentioned (although if anyone was actually surprised by Roger Clemens, then you aren't paying attention).
Mostly though, the players named range from journeymen to "who is that?"
My favorite on the list was Chuck Knoblauch and his alleged use of HGH. A once very good player who in his last couple of years completely lost the ability to throw the ball straight - which was good for fans sitting along the first base line hoping for a souvenir, but not so good for the outcome on the field.
At first, I was surprised he was a juicer, and then I ran across this picture of his early, pre-HGH days, which made it all clear:
(With apologies to Eddie Gaedel)
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Karen, you rat fink
So, I started this silly blog - just dipping my toe into the waters, not really figuring on telling anyone about it until I hit my stride a little bit. Then along comes Karen.
I link to her blog, she checks her stats, and finds me out. OK, just one person, fine.
Then she spills the beans to Krista. So now 2 people know it's here.
The pressure may just be too much.
Damn you Karen.
:-)
I link to her blog, she checks her stats, and finds me out. OK, just one person, fine.
Then she spills the beans to Krista. So now 2 people know it's here.
The pressure may just be too much.
Damn you Karen.
:-)
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Silly thing I bought on Woot!
Purchased during yesterday's Woot!-off. Behold the Tokyo Flash Men’s Star Performer Watch.
Read the description here.
Completely impractical, and more than a little ridiculous, which is exactly what made it so irresistible.
ESPN.com is hiring
ESPN is a cool place to work, and the ESPN.com team has several open positions we're looking to fill.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/jobs
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/jobs
Friday, December 7, 2007
Working at ESPN.com
I recently started a new job at ESPN.com. I'm what they call a "Technical Producer". It's basically a web developer, primarily focused on the front end development - engineers provide an API into the back end systems, designers provide, well, the design, and various editorial contributers provide the content elements. Producers glue it all together to make the pages you see on the site.
In my 12 years building web sites, I have become a bit of a jack of all trades. I started my career doing graphics and layout, and over time got into the programming end of things - from designing and building databases to writing the software to architecting applications, etc. I've even done a little systems administration - the hardware and software maintenance end of things.
I have always liked having some contact with all aspects of a site, so being a Producer is just the right fit for me.
There are a lot of cool things about working at ESPN. It's just nice to have the domain be something I'm interested in - in this case sports. I spent several years in the insurance industry, and no matter how much I liked the people, etc., it's still insurance that I was talking and thinking about all day, and it's just not as interesting to me as sports.
The coolest part though is working on a site that is so high profile and high traffic. According to Neilsen NetRatings, ESPN.com gets in the neighborhood of 20 million unique visitors per month.
It is safe to say that ESPN.com gets more traffic in an average month (and probably less time than that) than the combined lifetime traffic of every other site I have ever worked on. Amazing stuff.
This makes it exciting to work on for a couple of reasons. The first is just an ego thing - "holy crap, a lot of people are going to see my work". This is both really cool, and a little intimidating. I certainly take a couple of extra minutes to look over my code before I put it into production.
The second reason is from a purely geeky perspective. This type of traffic means a very specialized infrastructure to make it work. It's not just a matter of buying more servers - there is some pretty nifty technology involved in making a site like this run, and some very smart people involved in running it.
It's a cool environment, with cool people, doing cool work, and I'm more than a little excited to be a part of it.
In my 12 years building web sites, I have become a bit of a jack of all trades. I started my career doing graphics and layout, and over time got into the programming end of things - from designing and building databases to writing the software to architecting applications, etc. I've even done a little systems administration - the hardware and software maintenance end of things.
I have always liked having some contact with all aspects of a site, so being a Producer is just the right fit for me.
There are a lot of cool things about working at ESPN. It's just nice to have the domain be something I'm interested in - in this case sports. I spent several years in the insurance industry, and no matter how much I liked the people, etc., it's still insurance that I was talking and thinking about all day, and it's just not as interesting to me as sports.
The coolest part though is working on a site that is so high profile and high traffic. According to Neilsen NetRatings, ESPN.com gets in the neighborhood of 20 million unique visitors per month.
It is safe to say that ESPN.com gets more traffic in an average month (and probably less time than that) than the combined lifetime traffic of every other site I have ever worked on. Amazing stuff.
This makes it exciting to work on for a couple of reasons. The first is just an ego thing - "holy crap, a lot of people are going to see my work". This is both really cool, and a little intimidating. I certainly take a couple of extra minutes to look over my code before I put it into production.
The second reason is from a purely geeky perspective. This type of traffic means a very specialized infrastructure to make it work. It's not just a matter of buying more servers - there is some pretty nifty technology involved in making a site like this run, and some very smart people involved in running it.
It's a cool environment, with cool people, doing cool work, and I'm more than a little excited to be a part of it.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
PC Building
I have long been a big fan of building my own computers. It's a great way to make sure you get a system configured precisely for your needs, and is nearly always cheaper (usually substantially cheaper) than a pre-built system of similar specs and quality. It's by far the best bang for the buck when buying a computer.
It is also (usually) a fun project, and not nearly as complicated as some might expect. It's largely a matter of gathering the right parts, and plugging them in.
Which isn't to say it's always easy. Troubleshooting after the build can be a pain if something isn't working quite right. One thing motherboard manufacturers haven't really made big strides in is useful feedback about WHY a system isn't booting up. Beep codes and the like are a blunt tool at best. With today's technology, it would seem possible, and fairly cheap, to embed a small speaker and a give some spoken feedback, like "I can't find a video card' or "your processor is not functioning". If a greeting card can talk, why not a motherboard?
The other occasionally tricky part of building a system is making sure the parts are all compatible. This is most often an issue when it comes to processor and motherboard combinations. There are a vast number of processor models available, in a number of different form factors (slot types). None of it is terribly intuitive - and it's getting worse.
I am in the midst of a build for my father in-law. I ordered an Intel motherboard, and an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. I thought I had been fairly careful to make sure the motherboard and processor would work together - the motherboard supports Core 2 Duo processors, was the right slot type, etc. Of course, I somehow missed a detail somewhere, and after getting everything assembled, it wouldn't boot - I couldn't even get any beep codes.
Sure enough, after a trip through Intel's compatibility tool on their web site, the processor doesn't work with the motherboard. WTF? I now realize the one spec I missed that didn't match up - the processor front side bus speed. Otherwise, there is no intuitive indication that these parts don't mesh.
So, now I have to decide which piece to send back to NewEgg for a swap. Counter-intuitively, the same speed processor with the slower front side bus speed is actually more than $100 more expensive, and I don't want to drop down the speed too much. So, I can swap the motherboard instead, and, it seems, maybe even save some money, but it's much more disassembly to do - it's virtually like tearing down the whole system and starting over. It only takes an hour or so, but still...
I do wish Intel would come up with a naming scheme that person can comprehend without reading every line of specs and messing with a configuration chart to figure out. Is it really THAT hard? Bah.
Anyway, time to browse NewEgg and figure out my next move. I was hoping to have this thing built before the weekend, and with NewEgg's astonishingly fast shipping (really, if you need computer stuff, buy it from them, always. They simply rock. Cheap and fast.) I may be able to pull it off.
It is also (usually) a fun project, and not nearly as complicated as some might expect. It's largely a matter of gathering the right parts, and plugging them in.
Which isn't to say it's always easy. Troubleshooting after the build can be a pain if something isn't working quite right. One thing motherboard manufacturers haven't really made big strides in is useful feedback about WHY a system isn't booting up. Beep codes and the like are a blunt tool at best. With today's technology, it would seem possible, and fairly cheap, to embed a small speaker and a give some spoken feedback, like "I can't find a video card' or "your processor is not functioning". If a greeting card can talk, why not a motherboard?
The other occasionally tricky part of building a system is making sure the parts are all compatible. This is most often an issue when it comes to processor and motherboard combinations. There are a vast number of processor models available, in a number of different form factors (slot types). None of it is terribly intuitive - and it's getting worse.
I am in the midst of a build for my father in-law. I ordered an Intel motherboard, and an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. I thought I had been fairly careful to make sure the motherboard and processor would work together - the motherboard supports Core 2 Duo processors, was the right slot type, etc. Of course, I somehow missed a detail somewhere, and after getting everything assembled, it wouldn't boot - I couldn't even get any beep codes.
Sure enough, after a trip through Intel's compatibility tool on their web site, the processor doesn't work with the motherboard. WTF? I now realize the one spec I missed that didn't match up - the processor front side bus speed. Otherwise, there is no intuitive indication that these parts don't mesh.
So, now I have to decide which piece to send back to NewEgg for a swap. Counter-intuitively, the same speed processor with the slower front side bus speed is actually more than $100 more expensive, and I don't want to drop down the speed too much. So, I can swap the motherboard instead, and, it seems, maybe even save some money, but it's much more disassembly to do - it's virtually like tearing down the whole system and starting over. It only takes an hour or so, but still...
I do wish Intel would come up with a naming scheme that person can comprehend without reading every line of specs and messing with a configuration chart to figure out. Is it really THAT hard? Bah.
Anyway, time to browse NewEgg and figure out my next move. I was hoping to have this thing built before the weekend, and with NewEgg's astonishingly fast shipping (really, if you need computer stuff, buy it from them, always. They simply rock. Cheap and fast.) I may be able to pull it off.
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