11.13.07
Posted in life at 1:14 am by mridley
I don’t have time to write anything profound and interesting but I thought I’d publish a little follow-through/daily update. I found a problem in my post on using wp-amazon in newer versions of word press so I fixed that. Also after getting into Mona Lisa Overdrive I have discovered that I really probably should have read Count Zero first, as I’m probably missing some information I’m supposed to have. It doesn’t hurt the story though; the book stands on it’s own.
This whole trip to California has been kind of a mess, so I’ve started a little write up on the fiasco that has been my travel logistics. Because, after a certain point it’s just funny. At least the work part of the trip is going well. And that’s what really matters.
I’ve taken some pictures while I’ve been out here. Nothing that great, mainly buildings and roads and stuff. But they are buildings and roads that I have stories from when I lived here to accompany them. Hopefully I’ll get around to putting all that online when I get home.
I have found the time zone difference is inconvenient from a cell phone minutes perspective. My free nights and weekends don’t go so far when my nights don’t start until 10 PM Eastern time. Or more accurately, Eastern time free nights starts at 4 PM my time. I do think it would be a handy innovation for cell phones to audibly indicate, say for example by their ring tone, what rate plan the call falls under. Perhaps the Google Phone will tackle that one. Or perhaps not.
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11.11.07
Posted in books at 4:28 pm by mridley
Although my current reading selection is listed as Swann’s Way, in truth I haven’t had much time to spend on “serious reading” so I haven’t picked that book up in ages. I do still read however. I stopped by Barnes and Noble in California last night and picked up Mona Lisa Overdrive. I’ve just read a few pages, but so far it’s not a bad read. Very much in the style of Neuromancer, which is understandable given that I think Mona Lisa Overdrive is a something of a sequel. The middle book in the trilogy is Count Zero which I have not read.
You’d think I would read them in order. But alas, you’d be wrong. I don’t think there is much character or plot overlap between them. They’re simply set in the same universe.
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Posted in tech at 4:20 pm by mridley
I use the excellent wp-amazon WordPress plugin to insert Amazon associate links into this site. Unfortunately the version from the web site hasn’t been updated in a long time and it doesn’t work in the newer releases of WordPress. In looking at the support form I found a link to this patch.
I followed these instructions and lo and behold it worked. Posted as a public service to other WordPress users.
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Posted in life at 3:48 pm by mridley
I’ve again let this site go for a month without an update. I transitioned from my contract with the U.S. Courts and am now working for an up and coming network storage vendor. It’s an interesting direction for me, as it’s a level three customer technical support role. Although I have done customer technical support in the past, the last time was at Silicon Graphics which I left in 1999.
For the past 8 years after that I’ve been doing UNIX infrastructure work. Some of it has been managed services work that is customer facing but there’s a difference between maintaining customer owned infrastructure and strict product technical support. It’s going to be an interesting challenge.
One of the perks of the job is that I will be working from home. I’m not entirely sure where that’s a perk or not, since I suspect that will also lead to my working additional hours but I’ll just have to wait and see how that unfolds. I started the job last week and so I have been in California for the past week, returning home next Friday.
Being back in Silicon Valley brings back a lot of memories, since I lived here for almost 6 years. I’ve taken some pictures that I’ll post when I get back home. I’m glad this job is keeping me mentally occupied so that I’m not tempted to dwell too much in the past. Seeing some of the places I used to hang out makes me somewhat nostalgic, but not eager to move back. Besides, I have a busy life at home.
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