chaos theory

Damn. Glenn Beck found me out.

Sean — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:59:18 +0000

Siblings.

Sean — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:31:18 +0000

Siblings., originally uploaded by packetrat.

More fun with Yahoo IM robot scams

Sean — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:11:41 +0000

lianabonetti

7:31

is there anything you want to do?5yvwhpbf7h

Sean Gallagher

10:33

I would like to write a 500-word essay on how Yahoo Messenger has become infested with webcam-phishing robots.

lianabonetti

10:33

Hello there!!!

Sean Gallagher

10:34

Are you familiar with the Turing test?

lianabonetti

10:35

Nice to here from you

Sean Gallagher

10:35

I see you are. Let’s play.

lianabonetti

10:35

soo what are you doing right now???are you alone or busy????

Sean Gallagher

10:36

I am busy, but I am alone. My business is being alone and busy.

lianabonetti

10:36

I not doing much im actually bored of chating around will you like to join me

Sean Gallagher

10:37

I would, in fact, be curious to see what sort of enticement you are trying to lead me into like a lamb for the slaughter. What is your favorite color?

lianabonetti

10:37

IDK any ideas???

Sean Gallagher

10:37

I think it might be beige.

lianabonetti

10:37

weeelll hmm…

Sean Gallagher

10:39

I know! I will send you a check, which you can cash, and then send me part of the money as a money order. And you can keep the rest! That would be fun.

lianabonetti

10:39

Im in the mood to be a bad girl maybe we can talk naughty to each other..like what are you wearing right now???…

Sean Gallagher

10:43

I am wearing a chicken mask.

lianabonetti

10:43

Really well im in little shorts and tank top .. its not much im kinda hot right now and i look cutie in it.

Sean Gallagher

10:44

I somehow suspect you are not, in fact, wearing anything but several lines of script. But I find well-written script attractive. Also, I love fraud!

lianabonetti

10:44

I got new thongs too that i bought at the mall and there the cuttest little things…expenseve too…

Sean Gallagher

10:50

Expenseve is an interesting choice of mispellings. As is cuttest.

lianabonetti

10:50

Lol so you wanna see me try them on ???it would be real sexy..lol

Sean Gallagher

10:53

The quick red fox jumped over the lazy dog.

lianabonetti

10:53

Are you alone??? I dont wanna anyone else to see im kinda shy…but ur okay besides..

Sean Gallagher

10:53

Are we not all alone, in the end?

lianabonetti

10:53

Yeah i im kinda horny im in the mood right now..lol

Sean Gallagher

10:54

I would prefer not to engage in chat if you have horns.

lianabonetti

10:54

Im gonna put cam up hold on…ill put something sexy and ill put my cam on and you can judge it for me and tell me wich one is the best???

Sean Gallagher

10:55

Oh, here comes the denouement, eh? Where you attempt to lure me off to a malicious website and Russian hackers infiltrate my computer and make it part of their evil zombie botfarm?

lianabonetti

10:56

kk, lemme see, okay go herehttp://tinyurl.com/hotdixi make sure you accept my free cam chat invite on the left hand side, it expires in 10 mins to be free, click it k?

Sean Gallagher

10:57

Oh, it’s a tinyurl link! Oh, my.

lianabonetti

10:57

Its http://tinyurl.com/hotdixi and remeber the time limit!!!

Sean Gallagher

10:59

I’m sure you’re lovely.

But I do not accept time limits.

lianabonetti

10:59

yup, you gotta put in your info so the system can verify your age, got it?

yea cc is just to verify your age, don’t worry it won’t charge you are on the free cam session, u got in before the 10 mins expired. you in?

Sean Gallagher

10:59

My age can only be verified by God.

I have no credit card.

lianabonetti

10:59

nice, k don’t keep me waiting, im burning up in here!! might have to take off more clothing

welcome to the 21st century… might wanna move out of mom’s house and catch up on current times!

Sean Gallagher

11:00

So silly. My Mom’s house is in the 21st Century. Plus, I like her drapes.

lianabonetti

11:00

k let me know when you get in so We can invite you directly to my cam sesssion.

Sean Gallagher

11:01

I would prefer to invite you to my cam session.

At http://doyouthinkImanidiot.com

lianabonetti

11:01

k, you in yet babe??

sweet k

Sean Gallagher

11:02

Are you going to look at my webcam?

I need your credit card # to verify your age.

lianabonetti

11:02

when u login click LIVEWEBCAMS k?

yup

Sean Gallagher

11:03

Okay, give me your credit card #

lianabonetti

11:03

Sean Gallagher

11:03

Can you speak portugese too?

lianabonetti

11:04

Sean Gallagher

11:04

I have a thing for chat robots that speak portugese.

Still waiting for your credit card info.

I have this skateboard I want to buy for my cat.

11:08

Well, you’re no fun anymore. Thank you for failing the Turing test!

Some crows… papercasting.net 2.0

Sean — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:49:59 +0000

Some crows… « papercasting.net 2.0.

Fun with webcam-chat-phishing Yahoo robots.

Sean — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:12:25 +0000

nina.skies 9:01: nina.skies wants your attention!
Sean Gallagher 9:02: nina.skies wants your attention!
nina.skies 9:03: Hello there!!!
Sean Gallagher 9:03: Hello there. What can I do for you?
nina.skies 9:03: how are you doing????
Sean Gallagher 9:03: I am fine!!!! Who is this???
nina.skies 9:04: soo what are you doing right now???
Sean Gallagher 9:04: I am working on an investigative report on IM phishing.
nina.skies 9:04: I not doing much im actually bored of chating around would you like to have some fun???
Sean Gallagher 9:05: This is a robot, isn’t it.
nina.skies 9:05: IDK any ideas???
Sean Gallagher 9:06: This is definitely a robot

[block user nina.skies]

Tech buzz from the veterinarian

Sean — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:02:31 +0000

Mooch got his ear pierced today. A centimeter-wide hole in his right ear is testament to a bite from something–I’m guessing another cat, but maybe something he was trying to eat. In any case, as the vet talked with me and looked at Mooch’s extensive medical history, he remembered that I had been an editor at Ziff Davis, and was a a tech journalist. So he took the opportunity to rave about his Palm Pre.

He was most excited about the “home brew” applications he had installed, which required him to get to the Linux command line on the Pre. And how he had installed a hack of the GPS and the networking on the Pre that allowed him to remote login to his Pre, and fetch the GPS location of the phone if he had lost it.

He let me look at his for a few minutes, because–surprise–I have been so deep in the world of defense tech lately, I haven’t even had a chance to look at a Pre on a store shelf, let alone evaluate one. And yes, after a cursory examination of the Pre, even with its microscopic keys, the Pre has moved up on my list of potential replacements for my Blackberry 8700c. (I absolutely loathe screen-typing on the iPhone–I need physical feedback, being a touch typist.)

That is, if I ever get free of AT&T, what with every other member of my family on an AT&T phone, and two of them on iPhones.

Staring 45 in the face

Sean — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:41:49 +0000

Caterpillar on the grape

Sean — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:24:17 +0000

Caterpillar on the grape, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Mr. Fuzz dines on grapeleaf salad.

Sean — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:14:06 +0000

Mr. Fuzz dines on grapeleaf salad., originally uploaded by packetrat.

I went out to retrieve the paper the other morning, and saw this caterpillar working through a broad grapeleaf on my handrail. He was a leisurely diner, and still there when I returned with my camera.

M is for Manhole

Sean — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:58:53 +0000

M is for Manhole, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Jones Falls under Jones Falls (Expressway)

Sean — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 23:26:21 +0000

_MG_6361, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Bustin’ out bricks

Sean — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:14:57 +0000

Bustin’ out bricks, originally uploaded by packetrat.

You can’t wall over Baltimore’s red-brick soul, apparently.

Sunrise on the Hereford Water Tower

Sean — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:12:34 +0000

Sunrise on the Hereford Water Tower, originally uploaded by packetrat.

The mists of soccer-tryout

Sean — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:11:40 +0000

The mists of soccer-tryout, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Arriving just before 7 am at Hereford School (after getting up at gods hour in Hampden) to drop off my son for soccer tryouts, we discovered tryouts didn’t start until 8– and the field was barely visible.

Cavy love

Sean — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 01:37:17 +0000

Cavy love, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Small Mammals, in the house

Sean — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 01:36:04 +0000

Hyrax, originally uploaded by packetrat.

We got brief relief from the sun at the zoo in the Small Mammal House, where this hyrax was demonstrating the leg-dangle chill with the 100-yard stare. I often wonder how even small mammals can deal with the boredom and stress of being in the same space all day long, every day. And then I look around my office….

Spineless

Sean — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 01:32:43 +0000

cuttlefish, originally uploaded by packetrat.

The place to be last Saturday in DC was the National Zoo, and apparently everyone got the memo. We tried to slip into the Invertebrates exhibit, but anyone with an endoskeleton could not move around much. That bit of over-strained air-conditioning and claustrophobia inducing closeness came quickly to an end.

However, we did get a chance to say hello to the cuttlefish before we dashed off to see the vertebrates outside.

Great Moments in Education: a 5th graders’ Black History Month “Wax Museum”

Sean — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 18:52:33 +0000

Last night, as we were driving back from a day at the Smithsonian, I heard laughing from the back seat. Jonah and Zoe were listening to Jonah’s iPod, and he had found a recording I had made of him while driving home from school 4 years ago. I had Paula plug his iPod into the stereo, and we discovered it was a recording of me interviewing him about his experience with his St. Pius X School Black History Month Presentation (MP3 linked-beware of poppy, crappy audio).

Some background: Apparently, rather than taking a bunch of kids from a mostly-affluent, mostly-caucasian Catholic elementary to Baltimore’s National Great Blacks in Wax Museum, the 5th grade teacher decided to have the students act as the school’s very own “wax museum”. Each of the students was supposed to dress as a particular African-American figure, and stand at their desk in the classroom as students from the other grades filed through. They were then supposed to give a minute presentation when someone pressed their hand with a finger, like they were some animatronic display.

This, as you might imagine, didn’t go very well. One of the students got in trouble for presenting as Ray Charles, and including information on his drug problems. Another (a boy) wanted to be Oprah, but wasn’t allowed to. One student dressed as George Washington Carver brought a basket of peanuts, which visiting students lined up to take (and which triggered an allergic reaction in one student–something that didn’t get reported in this interview). And 8th graders used the exercise as an opportunity to abuse the 5th graders, squeezing their hands hard instead of pressing their “buttons”.

Meanwhile, the 5th grade teacher hung out in the hallway, doing God knows what.

This exercise in insanity lasted more than two hours. When I asked him if he had learned anything, Jonah said, “That I never want to do Black History Month at St. Pius again.”

Crow

Sean — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:20:01 +0000

Crow, originally uploaded by packetrat.

“Chandelier”

Sean — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:47:28 +0000

Singing for his supper

Sean — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:10:52 +0000

Singing for his supper, originally uploaded by packetrat.

tag team

Sean — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:00:57 +0000

tag team, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Starling Mob corners the suet market

Sean — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:59:31 +0000

IMG_2716, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Hello, fledgie

Sean — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:57:10 +0000

Hello, fledgie, originally uploaded by packetrat.

1st wave starling fledgeling, perched on my window suet feeder.

Farmer’s Market Asparagus

Sean — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:35:00 +0000

_MG_2217, originally uploaded by packetrat.

…here’s the present.

Sean — Sun, 24 May 2009 15:26:15 +0000

…here’s the present., originally uploaded by packetrat.

I brought you a present…

Sean — Sun, 24 May 2009 15:25:36 +0000

I brought you a present…, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Mooch demands attention to his trophy

mantises!

Sean — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 02:56:53 +0000

mantises!, originally uploaded by packetrat.

stop

Sean — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:03:12 +0000

_MG_9189, originally uploaded by packetrat.

this explains the banking crisis

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:16:02 +0000

this explains the banking crisis, originally uploaded by packetrat.

“Retro Space Heater”…

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:13:28 +0000

"Retro Space Heater"…, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Hooray for Bargains

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:10:45 +0000

Hooray for Bargains, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Hooray for Bargains

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:10:45 +0000

Hooray for Bargains, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Tite Shoe

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:09:15 +0000

Tite Shoe, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Because a porch is like a living room…

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:50:51 +0000

Because a porch is like a living room…, originally uploaded by packetrat.

I know we do a lot of things on front porches in Hampden. But I’ve got to admit, this is the first time I’ve seen taxidermy on one.

Someone always has to ruin the pattern.

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:45:33 +0000

Someone always has to ruin the pattern., originally uploaded by packetrat.

Setup for next Jackass stunt.

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:44:20 +0000

Setup for next Jackass stunt., originally uploaded by packetrat.

Funny, I don’t see Bam around…

Mooch at the door

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:43:03 +0000

Mooch at the door, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Our steady customer, back for more.

A handmade digital valentine

Sean — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:58:04 +0000

The jersey wall of misfit toys

Sean — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:35:23 +0000

The jersey wall of misfit toys, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Megabus and the Ogre that sang

Sean — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 03:24:26 +0000

today, I rode the Megabus with P and Z from White Marsh, .MD to Manhattan. The double-decker discount bus fills seats on the internet with pricing based on demand, so. For about 30 dollars each today we were able to be to Penn Station In NY by around 9:30. That required us to be up at 5 am, but sacrifices must be made for value.

Sacrifices were made to some other god at the musical we went to see iin .Manhattan. “Shrek”, now a stage musical, officially opens tomorrow. And it, as the Big Bad Wolf said in one ensemble set, is a hot tranny mess.

Yes. The Big Bad Wolf apparently watches Project Runway.

The musical was entertaining for Z. But at a time when we’re taking the discount shuttle to go to NY for a day trip because it’s the closest thing to a vacation we can afford, it would have been nice if it had been a bit better done. Some scenes worked, others were AWFUL. I guess we got our money’s worth just from the entertainment of watching things go awry.

I will leave the full review to the critcs, or at least until later as I am typing this on a crackberry while hurtling down I-95 …it was a good day on the whole, and there were some talented people getting a paycheck there, so I guess it was a win all around. But the show was best when it focused on the two leads, and worst when it broke out the puppets.–the Dragon in particular.

Nesting, flocking, and the solitary geek

Sean — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:04:31 +0000

i have now been a telecommuter for almost 15 years – nearly three times as long as I’ve spent in “traditional” work environments. Sure, I’ve spent time in the office on each of those jobs–some more than others. But it’s always been clear to me that I have been operating at a handicap by not physically being in the office–both professionally and psychically. The benefits to my family have usually outweighed those–we haven’t had to move from Baltimore, where we can afford to live comfortably (relatively speaking) and the kids have had stability; I haven’t had to deal with daily commutes, and have had more time to participate in my family’s life (at least until the last couple of years), and there have been other direct and indirect lifestyle benefits.

But I’ve been going out of my fucking mind.

My current company is at least geographically relatively close, compared to previous employers — a 75-mile drive, an hour-and-a-half commute off peak. I spend most Mondays in the office just so people know I exist. It’s certainly less of a grind than my last corporate gig, where I spent nearly every other week flying to New England, and the folks at the office park Sheraton knew me by name. That job drove me to the edge, to dark places I never want to go again, with the lost hours in airports, on Southwest, on the 128 to Needham, in a bad hotel restaurant, in cubeland trying to figure out why things were so fucked and what it was exactly I was supposed to be doing since nobody knew I existed even when I was there.

But I digress.

There is a great deal of what I do that is best done in isolation, with no interruptions. I find that I write best in the dark hours, when the house is quiet, and there are no interruptions– or at least that’s when I am *able* to write. But the inspiration for writing has to come from a more social world, and my brain needs other people to engage it sometimes.

That became clear to me when I stood up and guided a session at the recent SocialDevCampEast here in Baltimore, and then participated in several more. Part of it is ego, and part of it is just plain human need — I like the feedback that comes with gettting up and talking and thinking on my feet, and I like talking about things I’m passionate about. As solitary as I am most of the time, I am a social animal, and given my usual isolation, I find that I need approval and acceptance all the more so when I get the opportunity.

In other words, I’m a needy, egotistical serial loner. Quite the personality profile.

But, as it turns out, a lot of other very smart people are also needy, egotistical serial loners looking to be more social. One of the conversations at SocialDevCampEast was about co-working.

Dave Troy, who I used to occasionally co-guest with on the Marc Steiner Show (on what was then WJHU, along with Eric Monti) , is leading ab effort to bring co-working in the style of Philadelphia’s Indy Hall to Baltimore. Co-working, for the uninitiated, is a social approach to independent info-working, providing the professional and creative benefits of networking and idea bouncing for those who might itherwise spend the day talking to their cat.

So far, the Beehive group has been meeting at Blue House, a Fells Point coffee shop, and doing Tuesday and Thursday “jellies”-sessions where people loosely show up and work in each other’s company and leech off the establishment’s wifi. But plans are in the works for an actual shared space in Canton.

I, unfortunately, have yet to get to a jelly. But I think I’ll be trying to frequent the shared space when it opens, being as it beats driving to Falls Church for a day in the office.

Mayor Dixon does not look amused

Sean — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:08:11 +0000

Mayor Dixon does not look amused, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Lucky penny

Sean — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 12:40:33 +0000

Lucky penny, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Lucy the cat,

Sean — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 03:07:14 +0000

DSCN0709.JPG, originally uploaded by packetrat.

See previous post.

Lucy.

Sean — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 02:57:55 +0000

Last Thursday, Lucy passed out of this world, and to wherever cats go when they slip from their mortal coil.

She was part of our family for 12 years, and a constant companion of mine. She would curl up on my feet while I worked, and would burrow into the crook of my arm at night. She would climb on my chest and rub her head against my bearded chin. She was our first pet as a family, but it was always clear that she was mine. My wife, P., used to refer to her as my “girlfriend.”

A few weeks back, Lucy started showing less and less interest in food, until she wasn’t eating at all. I started feeding her, despite her protests, by hand, pushing food into her mouth with a syringe. When I had to travel on business, P. took over the hand feeding, and I hoped that whatever was causing the loss of appetite would pass. I scheduled a vet visit for when I got back.

But she was 15 years old, and had been in declining vigor for some time, and I knew when I got dropped off at the airport that things were probably not going to resolve happily.

When I returned on Wednesday, it was clear she was in trouble. She hadn’t eaten on her own, and her skin was jaundiced. I took her to the vet the next morning, alone, trying to steel myself.

Her liver had shut down. There was no telling, really, what had caused the loss of appetite without sending out bloodwork, and maybe a thyroid test, and several days of hosptitalization. The vet told me even then, the outlook was probably grim, and that her quality of life would suffer dramatically no matter what the outcome.

Plus, it would likely cost over $3000.

I was being asked to make a choice between Scylla and Charybdis. “It wouldn’t be the wrong decision to have her put to sleep,” the vet said, softly.

I assented. The vet left me with Lucy for a few minutes, and I cried some more. I pulled myself back together before they took her out of the room to catheterize her, leaving me with the paperwork to sign authorizing everything, and a number for a pet memorial service to set up cremation.

I could have brought her home for a day of goodbyes. But it was clear that would put everyone else in the family through even more emotional turmoil. I called my wife at work and told her what was going on, trying to stay calm, but failing.

She came back in, catheter in her forepaw. “She was very good,” the technician said, as she put Lucy down on a fresh blanket on the table. An assistant stood by as I called the memorial service and gave them my credit card number. And then they all left me with her.

I cried. A lot. There’s no getting around that. I pulled her into my lap and held her, with minimal protest from her, and cried. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. I stroked her ear, then put her back down on the blanket on the table when it was clear she was uncomfortable with this sort of attention. She never stopped purring, though.

I stroked her ear. She purred. The vet came in to see if I was ready. I asked for a few more
minutes. I got them. Finally, I assented, and the vet began the procedure. First, a “twilight” anesthetic to put her in a relaxed state…her eyes dilated, and her purring faded slowly. Then the overdose of anesthetic….”She is no longer with us,” the vet said, after what seemed like seconds.

I was left alone with her. “You can stay as long as you need to,” the vet said. “Just turn out the light when you leave, so we know.”

I stayed another 15 minutes or so, stroking her, looking into her darkened eyes, and then quietly gathered up the cat carrier, turned off the light, and left.
wooden

Yesterday, I picked up her ashes from the vet’s office. They were in a small box engraved with flowers, with a brass plate to affix with her name engraved. And there was a card with a poem that made me weep again when I read it. I took her home, and put her on a picture shelf.

And here I am now, all worked up again having recounted her passing. Today was a day of thanks, and I am thankful that I had her for so long, and terribly sad at the hole she left behind. The other cats here — including Pixel, the 12-week old kitten we rescued from the streets last month — have big pawprints to fill.

Fall has fell

Sean — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 21:05:11 +0000

_MG_7007.JPG, originally uploaded by packetrat.

googlement

Sean — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:17:27 +0000

I’m listening to a speaker from Hampton Roads Transit sing the praises of Google Transit. Last night, the folks from Alabama’s Homeland Security showed off Virtual Alabama, a statewide geospatial application built on Google Earth, which incorporated county data and aerial imagery with utility, law enforcement, school district and other data to create an all-seeing first responder’s application–allowing users, for example, to overlay sex offender data on school bus routes.

Government, especially local and state, loves the word free. And Google’s geospatial and other data standards have made them even more dear to them, since local government data has been locked up in GIS and other databases that would cost millions to integrate independently.

Also, it’ll make the transition to googlement that much easier when the googleplex takes over the world.

government 2 dot oh

Sean — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:19:12 +0000

I am at the Government Leadership Summit today in Williamsburg, where I just moderated a panel on Intellipedia, a MediaWiki-based wiki that the us intell community is using to share data.

And as I type this on my Blackberry, folks from the Navy, State Department and GSA are talking about blogging. You wouldn’t think there would be so much regulation standing in the way of government talking to itself–let alone the public–via Web 2.0 tech. Procurement, congressional oversight, policy and administrative rules are all tooled against direct communication.

*and an edit from a real computer*

After taking in the whole conference, and looking at what 3 cups of coffee and a crackberry wrung out of me, I figured maybe I should expand on the buzziness above.

I had been away from covering government stuff for almost 15 years before this January. And as much as things have changed, the people in government IT largely haven’t. The average age of the Federal IT workforce is 47, according to a factoid I heard yesterday–which I’m going to have to get a cite for, but based on the folks I’ve seen at various events, it seems on target. Unlike the commercial world, there has long been a culture of risk-avoidance, and resistance to change is embedded in both the regulations and culture. One person I spoke to talked about how regulations are to the point that government employees now have to basically break them in order to get anything done.

Another problem is that there’s a dependency on contractors to do much of the deep technical work in government IT, and contracts are generally driven by specifications from within government. Cross pollination of new ideas — and a flow of fresh blood into the Federal IT gene pool– is something that hasn’t been made easy by the way the government does business.

No Va

Sean — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:38:22 +0000

So, the Woodrow Wilson Bridge is now my nemesis

berryblogging

Sean — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 16:20:22 +0000

It’s been a while since I posted here, mostly because, well, hell, I’ve been busy.

But now, I have a Blackberry.

And those trapped moments are now bloggable.

Return from the Wilderness

Sean — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 02:14:20 +0000

OK, I haven’t been gone, really. But let me just say that when you work at home like I do, and things go wrong with one part of the work/life balance, it all goes to shit.

I have no one to blame, really, but myself. Just because you can do a job doesn’t mean that you should take the damned thing. And sure, the first six months were filled with energy, ego-stroking attention, and other good things.

But the travel killed me. It really did. And the more I travelled, the less I slept, the less energy I had, the more introverted I became, the more useless to pretty much every freaking person in the universe I became. I imploded.

Unfortunately, I denied much of it up until the end. And then one day, WOOSH, it crushed me into a little tiny ball and spit me out.

I should have seen it coming. But few trapped inside the event horizon can see beyond it. Thankfully, the collapse freed me from the things that had prevented me from seeing the problem — a problem that, admittedly, I’ve struggled with before. I had fallen down the not-writing rabbit hole again, and it took all my creativity and ability to think rationally along with it.

And now I have emerged. Well, I emerged last month, really, but I’m still sorting my shit out.

And here’s what I’ve sorted so far:I have to write to live. It has to be the center of my daily existence — it can be for work, or for myself, but I have to write every day. It isn’t a luxury; it’s essential to my sanity.

Call me “Timon” and I’ll claw your eyes out.

Sean — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 01:10:15 +0000

Call me "Timon" and I’ll claw your eyes out., originally uploaded by packetrat.

porcupine sleeping on the job at the National Zoo

Sean — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 01:09:01 +0000

porcupine sleeping on the job at the National Zoo, originally uploaded by packetrat.

pika pika (er…degu degu?)

Sean — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 01:08:58 +0000

As CS points out in comments, these don’t have visible tails, so I’m guessing these were actually degus and the display plate was wrong, or I just remembered it wrong.

pika pika, originally uploaded by packetrat.

pika

Sean — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 01:07:28 +0000

pika, originally uploaded by packetrat.

albino cockroach king

Sean — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 01:06:05 +0000

albino cockroach king, originally uploaded by packetrat.

At the National Zoo’s invertebrate exhibit.

Looking Back: Science Fair Projects Gone Wrong, March 2003

Sean — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 14:26:48 +0000

Ninjas love pesto

Sean — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:14:13 +0000

Ninjas love pesto, originally uploaded by packetrat.

It reminds Pocket Ninja of wasabi, only oilier — so he can use it to sustain himself *and* pick locks.

Ninjas Don’t Mind Knockwurst

Sean — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:13:10 +0000

Ninjas Don’t Mind Knockwurst, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Pocketninja with a fan

Sean — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:12:51 +0000

Pocketninja with a fan, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Ninjas need choclolate too

Sean — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:12:19 +0000

Ninjas need choclolate too, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Ninja infiltrates Wegmans Garden Department

Sean — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:11:55 +0000

Ninja infiltrates Wegmans Garden Department, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Snoh Boh Man

Sean — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 17:24:11 +0000

DSCN1654.JPG, originally uploaded by packetrat.

the perfect Hampden snowman, if I do say so myself.

Really Big Apple

Sean — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 18:16:08 +0000

Really Big Apple, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Vermont Curry?

Sean — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 18:15:34 +0000

Multimedia message, originally uploaded by packetrat.

No comment.

Sean — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 18:14:52 +0000

No comment., originally uploaded by packetrat.

At Han Ah Rheum.

hello dali

Sean — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 16:05:11 +0000

hello dali

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

A little bit of phun with photobooth on my new iMac.

Food on the couch

Sean — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 22:26:58 +0000

Food on the couch

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

the tableau on the sofa at Atomic Pop, Benn and Rachel’s new store

Mud & Metal

Sean — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 22:24:55 +0000

Mud & Metal

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

A display at the new location of Hampden’s arts & crafts shop

Expired

Sean — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 22:24:00 +0000

Expired

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Amtrak sucks

Sean — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 23:22:42 +0000

Amtrak sucks

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

“All Reserved Train”, my ass. There aren’t enough seats; they must be short a car.

Stand Back

Sean — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 22:20:11 +0000

Stand Back

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Now Boarding

Sean — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 22:19:49 +0000

Now Boarding

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Track 3

Sean — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 22:19:07 +0000

Track 3

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Newark, thou art Hell. I’m at Newark Penn waiting for a train home, after slogging back from Somers, NY in a rental car to EWR and having to travel north one stop (for *$7*, for chrissake) on NJT to catch an Amtrak that’s a half hour late.

beware

Sean — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 22:15:30 +0000

beware

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Double negative

Sean — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 22:14:49 +0000

Double negative

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Um….. yeah.

Extra Fish

Sean — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 17:27:53 +0000

Extra Fish

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Flying Tigers

Sean — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 17:26:26 +0000

Flying Tigers

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Knoebels Bling

Sean — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 17:25:25 +0000

Knoebbels Bling

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Uh…. yeah.

Free ride for the brass-ring snatcher

Sean — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 17:23:31 +0000

Free ride for the brass-ring snatcher

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

J. scored the carousel brass ring and a free ride yesterday during our farewell to summer at Knoebels.

Kindergarten Commences

Sean — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 23:14:28 +0000

Kindergarten Commences

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

…and for that matter, school of all sorts. ZoÃ« has her first full day of Kindergarten on Tuesday, and P, K & J are back to the full grind. I’m the only one not lugging a bag of books to school in this house.

Baltimore’s own Web 2.0 and blogging extravaganza

Sean — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 22:58:14 +0000

Come sign up to help make Foosball Camp, the ad-hoc technology and web meet-up in Baltimore on December 8, 9, and 10, a reality, fellow Balti-bloggers.

Special Letters Unit

Sean — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 20:36:17 +0000

All your snakes are belong to us

Sean — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 18:06:13 +0000

Seizures = fun?

Sean — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 13:01:05 +0000

Fun!

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Fresh Start

Sean — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 02:20:45 +0000

I started a new job today. The old job had become something of an exercise in co-dependency, with no prospects of improving, and I had to stop being an enabler.

Once I gave my notice, it was like a gauze that had shrouded the world had been removed. The world seemed brighter somehow, its hues intensified by the absence of bullshit.

Quitting a job is one of the few empowering moments most people get in their lives — they are able to demonstrate their worth to an employer by denying him of it. It’s even more empowering when you leave to take a job where you can finally feel you’re getting the chance to show what you’re capable of, rather than what someone just needs you to do five days a week.

The new job is almost revolutionary in the ways it is different. Here’s hoping I still feel that way in a year.

Global warming? What global warming?

Sean — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 16:30:37 +0000

Global warming? What global warming?

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

I have left the building

Sean — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 15:47:52 +0000

I have left the building

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Don’t ship chocolate swag in summer

Sean — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 15:46:19 +0000

Don’t ship chocolate swag in summer

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Salesforce.com sent me a press release that arrived on a 100-degree day. Enclosed–something brown and molten.

Mean Motor Scooter

Sean — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 01:46:04 +0000

Mean Motor Scooter

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Something’s in the air

Sean — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 02:38:46 +0000

bird on wire redux

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Patiently, I am waiting. There’s been a shift in the wind, and I can feel an uplift coming. I just have to wait a little longer…

Beaux Arts and Indigo

Sean — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 01:42:55 +0000

Beaux Arts and Indigo

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Got booty?

Sean — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 01:40:20 +0000

Got booty?

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

We’re on the train from NYC. Zoe scored some Pirate’s Booty at the Whole Foods at Union Square, and she’s willing to share.

bloo crabs at Han ah Reum

Sean — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:35:46 +0000

bloo crabs at Han ah Reum

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

wave your claws in the air like you just don’t care… Look out! The TONGS are back!

Butt chunks

Sean — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:34:51 +0000

Butt chunks

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Somebody in marketing must have spent minutes coming up with that name.

Assorted fruit aspic

Sean — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:34:00 +0000

Assorted fruit aspic

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

uh….

Vegetable balls

Sean — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:33:09 +0000

Vegetable balls

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

mmmmm, crunchy.

Pepper

Sean — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:32:27 +0000

Pepper

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Han Ah Reum is like a food museum.

Empire

Sean — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 11:52:59 +0000

Empire

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

yeah, yeah, I have a camera phone now. Yeah, yeah, I’m an idiot with it.

Appetizer

Sean — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 11:52:04 +0000

Appetizer

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

…to dinner in NYC, Monday night at the Black Duck in Flatiron.

Bird(s) on a wire

Sean — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 11:50:13 +0000

This is my van.

Sean — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 11:46:39 +0000

This is my van.

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

…and don’t even think about moving it.”

mooch on roof

Sean — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 11:45:19 +0000

mooch on roof

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Roland Park Presbyterian

Sean — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 11:44:07 +0000

Roland Park Presbyterian

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Poolboy returns, burnt

Sean — Tue, 30 May 2006 02:03:11 +0000

Poolboy returns, burnt

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Stylest

Sean — Fri, 26 May 2006 01:02:54 +0000

Stylest

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

The Ash Wednesday EZ-Pass lane

Sean — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 14:02:00 +0000

Sean on Ash Wednesday

Originally uploaded by ryanaraine.

I was in NY for work on Ash Wednesday. As I was uptown around noon, I figured I’d catch noon mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. When I got there, I saw that the church had set up an express lane, labelled “Ashes Only”.

Here I am back at the office, as captured by Ryan Naraine.

“Remember that thou art from ashes, and to ashes thou shalt return.” Ash Wednesday is the most existential of the church’s rituals.

Happy boy.

Sean — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 03:03:43 +0000

For “Entrances to Hell”

Sean — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 02:41:30 +0000

For "Entrances to Hell"

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Be Mine

Sean — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 04:56:54 +0000

(Via papercasting.net 2.0.)

A Monday Night Tradition

Sean — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 04:56:27 +0000

A Monday Night Tradition:

(Via papercasting.net 2.0.)

To whoever knocked down my snowman: next time…

Sean — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 04:55:16 +0000

To whoever knocked down my snowman: next time…: “

”

(Via papercasting.net 2.0.)

Working in a blog mine

Sean — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 15:17:01 +0000

I’ve been a little busy. You know, putting up a fleet of new sites for my day job powered by RSS and weblogs. These new sites were hand-crafted with XSLT and convert RSS feeds into dynamic content. It took about three days of development and design work to pull them together, and about 15 minutes each to deploy.

The only problem now is teaching my colleagues the finer points of blog style.

Fly Away Squid

Sean — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 03:42:49 +0000

OK, does anyone else find it vaguely creepy casting that Jeff Daniels, who was cast as the father of Anna Paquin in Fly Away Home, is sleeping with her in The Squid and the Whale? I can see the trailer mash-up coming… especially the quick cut from Anna Paquin as a child with Daniels, to her uttering her line in “Squid”: “I always wondered what it would be like to f*** you.”

Steve Jobs wants to bankrupt me

Sean — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 00:30:17 +0000

How do you know when you have a problem?

When you just got a nice, shiny, black Video iPod for Christmas, and have a house with no less than five functional computers in it (plus an ailing Titanium PowerBook), and find yourself trying to figure out how to squeeze a preorder for a MacBook Pro into your budget.

Sure, three of the computers in my house were bought by my employer. Sure, P.’s iBook isn’t nearly as fast as the new Intel Duo-based systems will be. (And, btw, I remember the last time Apple did something with the name, “Duo” – it wasn’t pretty. I had to pry mine out of its dock once when the engaging motor failed in the locked position.) Still, as someone with more computing resources on each floor of his house than it took to support all of the Apollo missions combined, I find it disconcerting that I am drooling over computerporn again.

Maybe that’s why Apple’s stock price is doing so well.

Working in a blog mine

Sean — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 03:20:19 +0000

I haven’t blogged much lately for a very specific reason–I’m now building blogs at work. The first of my efforts is here.

It’s less a pure blog and more of a mash-up of blog and aggregation portal. I’m using XSL transformations and RSS feeds to create a topical site that combines a regular blogger with all of the “traditional” editorial coverage we do on a topic. And, much to my chagrin, it’s all based on .NET.

One down, nine to go. This month.

Art-deco Cyclops

Sean — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 01:06:59 +0000

DSCN1540.JPG

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

I look at this, and I hear….“EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!”

big wheels

Sean — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:50:22 +0000

DSCN1533.JPG

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Choo Choo

Sean — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:49:26 +0000

DSCN1532.JPG

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

If you need anything, just whistle

Sean — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:45:18 +0000

DSCN1571.JPG

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Train in Vain

Sean — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:44:44 +0000

DSCN1573.JPG

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

On the parking lot sidings of the B&O museum

Happy New Year.

Sean — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 03:41:27 +0000

A week late, but, hey, I’m lucky to be blogging at all.

So, big changes come with the new year. I’m now the point of the spear for my company’s weblog and Web 2.0 strategy, which basically means that I’m no longer managing editorial products–I’m writing the code to drive them, or dictating the architecture of how they’re put together. Hopefully, this means I’ll get to do some interesting writing as well.

On the personal front, well…

I’ll try to catch up on everything here over the course of this week. When I’m not in NYC, that is.

babysitting

Sean — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 01:34:55 +0000

ok, here’s how weird my life is. I’m sitting on my couch right now, with a baby sacked out on me…my ex-wife’s baby. P. and I are sitting while my ex and her husband are at a company holiday party.

organ

Sean — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 01:06:43 +0000

organ

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

the flower girl, in her cape

Sean — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 01:05:25 +0000

the flower girl, in her cape

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Fixed OPML

Sean — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 22:14:24 +0000

…by downloading a fresh copy. Not exactly the fix I was looking for…

By “fixed”, I mean I am now able to post to my thus-far experimental blog at blogs.opml.org.

fin

Sean — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 17:51:33 +0000

fin

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

fish eye

Sean — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 17:49:16 +0000

fish eye

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

scales

Sean — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 17:47:16 +0000

scales
Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Rescue wounds

Sean — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 17:46:30 +0000

Rescue wounds
Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Giver of Grief

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 14:08:12 +0000

Giver of Grief
Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Desi escaped Tuesday night when he got spooked by the storm and the wind blew the door open. He didn’t go far, but I looked for him almost all of Wednesday, and when I spotted him Wednesday night he was scared and cold. He took a nice piece out of my hand when K. and I finally coaxed him out from under a neighbor’s porch.

Clash of the seasons

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 14:07:11 +0000

Clash of the seasons
Originally uploaded by packetrat.

what a view

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 14:06:31 +0000

what a view
Originally uploaded by packetrat.

On Guard

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 14:05:48 +0000

On Guard
Originally uploaded by packetrat.

mystery object

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 14:01:50 +0000

mystery object

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

formstone

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 13:59:08 +0000

formstone

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Dents

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 13:58:31 +0000

Dents

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Waiter, my water is frozen

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 13:57:04 +0000

Waiter, my water is frozen

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Fault lines

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 13:40:06 +0000

Fault lines

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Flickr Fragfest

Sean — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 20:09:40 +0000

Freakin’ Flickr. Obviously , they’re having growing pains today. I was in the midst of uploading a morning photo walk’s results (a stroll through Hampden alleys on trash day with Mooch the Cat), and the Uploadr app crapped out. As it turned out, it was the server that crapped out– I went up to try to fix things, and Flickr’s AJAX / Flash interface informed me that they had lost track of my data for the moment.

Podcast-o-rama

Sean — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 17:15:05 +0000

I’m testing the podcast capabilities of the OPML editor.
But apparently, the “Add Link” capability doesn’t work with the Wordpress workspace. So, I’ll manually add it :my test podcast.

Fragging with Dave

Sean — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 16:43:33 +0000

So, I’m messing with Dave Winer’s latest blog tool effort, OPML, and his Wordpress interface. I’ve got it working now. If you’re a fan of outline-based editing, or a FrontierScript freak, or someone who likes to screw around with new tech, this is a big deal. Of course, you’ve actually got to plumb the depths of the comments on the support blog to figure out how to get the thing to work, but this should be no surprise to folks who’ve worked with, say, Radio in the past.

Another side benefit: OPML is licensed under GPL.

On the somewhat ironic side: while my interface to Wordpress is working fine after a few tweaks, I haven’t been able to get my OPML blog on Dave’s host to update for days.

Sean — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 16:12:30 +0000

Wigety widget

Sean — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 16:12:22 +0000

I just installed the RapidMetaBlog widget, a weblogging widget for Mac OS X Dashboard. It’s a bit better behaved than the Blogger widget I built.

Catharsis Day

Sean — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 03:17:08 +0000

OK, today totally ran me through the ringer.

It was P.’s birthday today. But one of our housecats managed to escape last night when a gust of wind blew a door open, so I spent a good amount of time gnashing my teeth over that. Plus, there’s some whacked shiznit going down at work, which basically puts me in the position of delivering some very bad news to some folks.

At the end of the day, the cat was recovered (but I got some lacerations of the hand in the process). So at least karmically things are on the upswing. Plus I get to keep my job. W00t.

Driven to distraction

Sean — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 16:51:27 +0000

Work has been all about coding lately, rather than writing. All you have to do is look here to see what I’ve been coding: the new blog platform for my day job. It’s a work in progress.

hung well?

Sean — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 14:22:11 +0000

hung well?

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

After a rousing mass and a pancake breakfast at church (cooked with bottled water, as a watermain blew), I grabbed prints of some of my “urban desolation” photo collection and went over to Holy Frijoles in Hampden. We’re having a Baltimore Flickr Group photo exhibit there through December, with a reception on November 22. That’s a Tuesday.

(Maybe we should do a Blogger meetup at the reception?)

See no Weevil

Sean — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 13:41:26 +0000

See no Weevil

Originally uploaded by packetrat.