jpreardon.com

I’ve had a general policy of not making New Year’s resolutions in the past, but I’m going to break tradition this year. I do fairly well with deadlines and milestones, and the start of a new year makes for a great deadline/milestone.

Here are my resolutions in no particular order:

• Less Procrastination: I want to stop squandering the limited time I have on this planet and be more productive. My best work does not happen in the 11th hour of a project, whatever it might be, therefore I will make every attempt to start (and finish) early on whatever I am working on.
• Be a better person: This is a nebulous resolution at best. If I were asked the question “how can you become a better person” I’m not sure I could answer it directly. However, I will strive to answer that question each day through my actions.

Now for two more de rigueur resolutions:

• Smoking: What smoker’s year end list would be complete without this one? Well, I don’t think I’ve personally ever made it to point to quit smoking in a new year, but 2005 will be different.
• Weight: I didn’t wait for the new year to finally heed my doctor’s advice this year, but I’ve still got a few more pounds to go before attaining my goal.

I doubt I will be revisiting these subjects in this space until next year, if ever. However, if you know me and see me slipping on any of these, please feel free to call me on it by giving me a liberal amount of shit.

Happy New Year!!!

Aaron at startsandfits raises some valid concerns about the effectiveness of the monthly Critical Mass rides here in New York. Namely, does the increased awareness of cyclists outweigh the damage done to the cyclists’ image in some people’s eyes?

This is a tough question to answer. In the past several months, Critical Mass has become the target of increased attention from the city’s administration and the police department. The city’s sometimes overzealous attempts to quell the ride have spawned a fair amount of media attention as well. One would think that this increased attention is good for the cause, but is it really?
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One of the undesirable side effects of being without my primary computer for several days was lack of podcasts. I had very few new podcasts on my iPod when my G4 crashed, so the podcast well ran dry quite quickly. Coverville, Evil Genius Chronicles and The Daily Source Code were sorely missed. Today, iPodderX has been busy downloading podcasts from the last couple of weeks.

This post would not be complete without at plug for iPodderX. This software has come a long way in just a few months. The latest version is very stable and makes for easy podcast enjoyment on the Mac. Additionally, August and Ray, the developers behind iPodderX, will be donating all sales proceeds to the Red Cross International Response Fund until January 8th.

In addition to pointing to an abundance of information about Sunday’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, worldchanging is also working with Architecture for Humanity to raise money to help in the reconstruction effort. Here is some information from worldchanging:

We are formally teaming up with Architecture for Humanity to promote the Architecture for Humanity/ Worldchanging Tsunami Reconstruction Appeal.

AfH has a long, honored tradition of doing astoundingly cutting-edge work. They will be applying 100% of the money raised for this project to the reconstruction itself, with zero overhead costs. Please consider making a donation.

We’d like to raise US$10,000. That would be enough to make a concrete impact in the lives of a number of people: to, for instance, build a new medical clinic (though the precise project will be chosen after consultation with local NGOs, as is usual with AfH projects).

[Update: Just to be absolutely clear, since the question was asked, this fund will be administered by AfH, with some input from the Worldchanging staff -- none of the money, however, will be used by either organization for overhead or other expenses. 100% of the money raised will go the impacted communities.]

This is a very worthwhile cause, please consider making a donation today.

forevergeek has instructions for speeding up Firefox page loads. This tip is quick and easy to implement and users of fast network connections will get noticeably faster page loads.

via hack a day

Most overheard cellphone conversations are quite boring, but sometimes you hear a real nugget…

Overheard in the American Airlines terminal at LaGuardia, 7:15 AM:

Yeah, I’m in line waiting to get on the plane. Hey, next time you ask me to carry a gift for you, make sure it doesn’t have any blades in it!

Perhaps they should bring back the two questions to remind people of what they should and should not be carrying :)

Merry Christmas!

A judge has stopped the city from requiring a permit for Critical Mass rides. This is a familiar story, we will have to see if the city rolls out the red carpet for riders on New Year’s Eve or sticks with the orange netting that has been the norm for the past couple of months.

via Gothamist

Is there anyone out there who doesn’t have a Gmail account yet? Perhaps. Maybe you are looking for a gift for that special someone, how about a Gmail account!

Whatever your motives, I have some extra Gmail invitations. If you would like one, leave a comment on this post explaining, in 256 words or less, how you will change the world with your new Gmail address. In the spirit of the holiday season (even those holidays that have already past) extra points will be given for explanations that somehow include Hanukkah Harry, Sinterklaas, or the Grinch. Good luck.

Imagine for a moment that you’re sitting aboard a plane at a refueling stop en route to Vienna from Sydney. To kill some time, you send a text message to your spouse telling her that the plane has been hijacked by Islamic terrorists. Pure comedy right? Apparently this type of joke isn’t such a knee-slapper in Austria where an Italian man was arrested for sending such a message.

The impressive part of this story is that authorities in Australia, Italy, Kuala Lumpur and Austria were able to mobilize very quickly to address this threat. Within twelve minutes they had contacted the pilot of the aircraft and ascertained that there was no hijack in progress. As for the joker who sent the message, he was later freed since he really meant no harm by his prank. No charges were filed.

via engadget

Came home from a nice diner last night, turned on my Power Book G4, and it greeted me with a black screen and three ominous tones. Ugggggggh! Of course, the plan was to do loads of work today, instead I am headed to Tekserve to see if I can get my poor Powerbook repaired.

Update:

Two updates actually: First, Tekserve repair is closed on Sunday, and yes, I could have gleaned that from their web site. Second, Tekserve repair on Monday afternoon feels a lot like the DMV; a two hour wait with a lot of frustrated people milling around.

Conclusion: Logic board problem, 1 week to ten days to fix. Bummer.

Update II:

It is 30DEC and the Mac is back and I couldn’t be happier! I found a few complaints about Tekserve, but I have to say, based on this experience, they do a good job. They fixed my computer within the period of time they originally estimated, and everyone I dealt with in the store was pleasant. My only complaint is about the wait, which was nowhere near as bad tonight as when I dropped off. Waiting is probably to be expected when they are one of the only games in town the biggest city in the country. Note to self: Go to Tekserve early in the morning as opposed to in the afternoon or evening.