Author: ryan

Jason is now a man with a mission. However, in typical Jason fashion that mission doesn’t come with a mission statement.

The next version of the Linux kernel, which is the software that this web server is running, is nearing its production release. Here’s an excerpt from Linus Torvald’s release announcement:

Btw, I tried to come up with a good name for this release. But the fact is, that as Scott Adams has so often pointed out, you can’t do much better than “weasel” when it comes to funny. Ever since the “greased weasel” series of kernel releases I have been stuck for a good name.

This release is tentatively called the “stoned beaver” release (beavers are _almost_ as good as weasels, as I’m sure Scott Adams would agree).

If you feel strongly about the issue, please send your votes and ideas to “feedback@beaver-overlord.com”, I’m sure somebody will find your insight fascinating.

Thank you in advance.

One can only imagine the meetings at Microsoft tomorrow morning where high ranking executives will be forced to say “stoned beaver” with a straight face.

Greg just added a new update on the Galapagos. I may try and get another trip together for May 2005, so if you’re interested or know someone who might be drop me a note and I’ll keep you in the loop. If you need details, the trip would be very similar to the last trip, although there are no guarantees of snorkeling with orcas this time around (as Greg would say, “it’s a crapshoot”).

I was writing to an old friend from work today about places in the world that I still want to visit. While trying to remember how to spell “Lechuguilla” Caverns I stumbled on this page (and this one) which has some absolutely amazing photos. Lechuguilla is high on the list of places to visit before I die, but it’s also very difficult to get access to.

A few of the other places on my list (since people ask a lot) are:

• Australia and New Zealand – This one will be a trip that lasts several months some day, but I’m waiting to first meet exactly the right travel partner.
• The Himalayas – The dream is to spend a few months trekking in Nepal, Pakistan, and/or Tibet with just a backpack and a camera.
• Pribiloff Islands, Alaska – If you’ve ever seen a picture of a puffin or a walrus, there’s a good chance it was taken here.
• Polar Bear National Park, Manitoba – I need to do some research to find out if there’s a lesser known place in which polar bears can be seen, otherwise Manitoba will be the spot to visit.
• McNeill River Sanctuary, Alaska – Highest concentration of grizzly bears in the world.
• Turkey – A girl I met on a train in Greece in 1998 put this one on the list.

There are hundreds of others; throw a dart at a map and you’ll hit something interesting. Easter Island, Machu Picchu, Siberia, Africa, the Great Wall of China, and so many others. Plus, there’s no doubt that I’ll return to the Galapagos, Alaska, and Europe. One lifetime isn’t enough.

progress (n) – Steady improvement, as of a society or civilization

Thousands of years ago primitive humans lived in caves. Their diets consisted of whatever they could scrounge up, and their social lives were little more than grunts directed at one another.

irony (n) – Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs

Today I work in a small room with no windows. Occasionally I wander out to pick out whatever items might be left in the vending machine (yesterday it was a pack of mini cookies and some snack mix). I don’t know the names of most of my co-workers, but I mutter a hello when passing them in the halls.

I’m not complaining, especially not with only forty-four days remaining until I leave for Antarctica, but it is amusing when you step back and think about things a bit.

Picture from CNN of the World Beard and Moustache Championships. I wish I was funny enough to be making that up. One can only hope that the winner is crowned Mr. Chester A. Arthur.

While trying to figure out who the heck Barry LePatner is (the guy quoted at the top of this page) I stumbled across this gem:

“Sometimes when you connect the dots you get a picture. Other times you just have a bunch of dots.”

Obviously tonight I’m in the “bunch of dots” category, but I’ll leave it as an exercise for the reader to determine whether those dots are drawn with crayon or finger paint. And for anyone wondering, Barry LePatner apparently is the author of The Role of Failure in Successful Design.

Apparently I didn’t get the memo stating that I would be spending tonight lying in bed, completely unable to fall asleep. I did, however, receive the memo stating that tomorrow I’m going to be exhausted and will spend the day feeling like monkey turd.

I was all excited for the weekend — JB and I were going to grab some lawn chairs, sandwiches, and water balloons and go up into the hills to watch the fires. Then God showed up and decided that it should snow in October in Los Angeles. Understand that the temperature was in the nineties earlier in the week, but as soon as the weekend arrived it dropped fifty degrees and poured rain and snow. Now, this freakish weather is all good for the people whose homes were saved, but there would have been a sort of fiendish joy in watching houses built in once-remote canyons go up in flames. Oh well, in another six months the rains will be here and houses will be washing downhill in mudslides. Never a boring moment in this town.

Absolutely brilliant.

Score! Bought a five piece chicken strips at Burger King, yet when I opened the package six tasty chicken pieces greeted me. There is a God! And yes, today was a very slow day.