House Reorganisation

It all started when the kids asked if they could have their toy room on the same floor as their bedrooms (where the library is now). We though about it, and decided that it was a good idea; we would get our family room back :-)

So on Monday, Pene came over and helped haul furniture all over the house:

• move the furniture from the family room to the living room.
• tidy/vacuum the family room.
• move the furniture, and TV/VCR from our bedroom TV watching area to the family room.
• tidy/vacuum the bedroom.
• move the books and bookshelves from the library upstairs to the bedroom. Wow, I have a lot of books.
• tidy up the rest of the old library.

It was 34°C outside, and the A/C wasn’t keeping up, which made the move a little more complicated. At this point we ran out of time and energy, so we went out to a very nice Mediterranean buffet called Jerusalem for dinner.

Photos From the Range Visit

Frank TCGN took me out shooting on the weekend. Here are some pictures from the event:

Not shown: my 5 1/4" harddrive with a hole through it.

Vacation Results

Well, today’s the last day, and it’s been pretty good. I accomplished a few things around the house; I fixed the central vacuum, and the shower, and the bathroom sink, and did a whole bunch of tidying and cleaning, and saw a movie, and yes, even slept alot. I had time to work on web pages a bit, and catalog more of my books (and even read some of them!).

Firearms, Part I

A long time ago, Anita was in a play that involved waving guns around. The director, trying for authenticity, took the cast to a firing range to get some real experience. Ever since then, I’ve wanted to try.

I’ve finally got the chance; my friend Frank TCGN is taking me out to his range for some experience. I’ll let you know how it goes…

Vacation

Finally, I’m on vacation!! I’m planning do to a bunch of stuff around the house, see a couple of movies, sleep, and generally relax. It has been too long since I’ve had any downtime (and these days, a vacation with the family does not necessarily count as “downtime” :-).

Web Services Security

Security In Web Services: An Evolving Threat Model

an interesting article on the security threats that large web service providers are currently dealing with; all unusual in that they’re not the classic “break in and do something”, but attempts to engineer the system in other ways.

I liked this comment:

“[Manber]’s considering changing the registration test to a simple arithmetic problem. It won’t stop the mass registrations, but he might be able to get the abusers to perform distributed computing tasks for him.”

Argh - No Vacation

My employer is suffering from the tech implosion. So we’re bending over (almost literally) to close deals with customers.

Thanks to a high-profile deal, the vacation that I had planned for next week is cancelled, and I’ll be busy adding a new feature to my certificate authentication framework.

On the plus side, I might be travelling to San Diego in a week…

Kids

Charlotte: “Mummy, he should say please take me home!”

Kids

Gareth (at age 3): “That guy’s an idiot!” (pause) “I’m helping daddy drive from the back seat.”

Hydrogen

Finally we know Why the earth floats in space!

Update: The Vancouver sun article has been deleted, so Here’s a link to Google instead.

Scientists have discovered vast quantities of hydrogen gas, widely regarded as the most promising alternative to today’s dwindling stocks of fossil fuels, lying beneath the Earth’s crust. The discovery has stunned energy experts, who believe that it could provide virtually limitless supplies of clean fuel for cars, homes and industry.

The Daily Commute

Three related articles describing a Palestinian daily commute.

It gives a new perspective on my rush hour traffic complaints.

Kids

Gareth: “Mummy, are we downtown?”

Mummy: “Yes…”

Gareth: “Holeee! It’s just like in the song!”

IPv6

I geek out about a new network technology.