I noticed that Walmart has all the X-Files seasons¹ on sale for (and around) 89.99 dollars (tax included), which I thought was an expensive proposition if you think about it that there are 10 seasons. You do the math. On preview, Amazon.ca has them on sale for $112.- (tax included).

Earlier this week, the local newspaper featured a fictional account of the avian flu hitting Truro. I will not reveal the end, but I bet that the Dutch consulate may want to exchange a word with the newsroom regarding the first paragraphs. Personally, I don’t believe fictional stories should be part of the frontpage. That is, unless it’s a blog.

¹ Actually, I was looking for FireFly

Yesterday, I concluded my search for some code and (particularly) database schemas and gave in to the fears that it was a lost cause. A couple of years ago, I started a PHP framework for a game that I don’t dare to mention here because only mentioning the intention to build such a game does make a certain company go after their (well-protected) trademarks.

Anyways, after a frantic search that ended up with me (legitimately) breaking the password for the root account of one of my oldest linux servers [after 3 years I forget passwords too, yes], I gave up and considered the data: (warning Web 1.0 HTML code ahead! If you don’t have a Web 1.0 compatible browser, please consider downloading Mosaic)

gone

Next time, I do these kinds of things, remind me to make snapshots of code. Actually, I already do that (I rescued plenty of code from the Binary Heaven recently) but in the case of the previously mentioned framework, well, I guess I did forego that. I’ll probably start recoding that stuff, if I can make some time. Before you know it, I’ll end up becoming a millionaire. You heard it here first.

Somewhat related: Looking for other webbased stuff around, I found Merchant Empires: a game that actually seems to look good for a ‘turn-based browserbased’ game. But for heaven’s sake, it runs on a mix of C, Python, PHP and Postgres (I like Postgres). Man, I’d love to run that on my home-server, but that wouldn’t really bring a-uh-yes-crowd… unless I started providing free Wi-Fi around and… and… You could also try to buy lottery tickets. Bonne chance!

Earlier, we dropped in at the local computer grocery chain to look for that (fairly priced) LCD monitor I wanted to buy for the Wife. We were looking at an Acer 17 inch one, to discover that the display showed a lot of ‘ghosting’: pixels that appeared at spots where they were not supposed to be. The deal was off: if it was a demo model it shows that the screen will not stand the test of time. If it wasn’t a demo model, the question remains why would someone buy an LCD monitor of this low quality. Any experts?

I decided to buy a wireless mouse and a ‘memory-gel enhanced’ mousepad (Allsop)1. I’ve been using a ‘gel’ mousepad for years and I swear by them: the one from Fellows (plain gel/rubber/plastic) I considered to be superb. Upon entering the house and trying the new mousepad, I discovered it hurt my wrist within minutes. Buying a ‘memory-gel enhanced’ mousepad is a grave mistake. I can imagine memory foam being good for the sleep, but for the wrist you need the gel to support it, not to give in to the shape of your arm. After all the idea of the gel is to keep that wrist as straight as possible and (secondly) the cushion is there to support the wrist when you grab and move the mouse. Only a ‘gelly’ cushion does that right. Memory ‘enhanced’ gel does not.

Stay clear from that.

Today’s the first anniversary of the death of my mother, an event that did not pass by without that thought about that early morning when the phone rang. It was too short. As a matter of fact, upon returning to Canada exactly a week before her death, I expected it to be a longer battle. I lived in an ‘Oprah’ world too. Cancer kills.

News have been covering Turkey’s (and Romenia’s) struggle to contain the avian flu strain H5N1 (WHO updates). Wikipedia is on it too (note their traditional disclaimer for current events). It’s a question of when the virus will start sharing (and swapping) genes with the human flu variant. A fatality rate of 51%. Experts are worried about the stockpiling of Tamiflu, a drug that may not even provide sufficient protection against the avian flu.

Not so related, at work I ended up coding something amazingly brilliant, to discover that during all that coding, my mind was actually somewhere else. It’s like having one part of the brain doing overtime.