Posts

First of all, if you haven’t checked out Google Maps yet, I suggest that you do so. It’s very nifty. Its only downside is that it doesn’t support Opera yet, but I’m sure it will eventually.

If you look at the area surrounding our future house with most mapping services, including Google’s, you will see that Berry Corner Rd. comes southwest past Ten Schoolhouse Rd., and then curves around onto Ayers Rd. That curve is where my parents’ driveway ends. What you do not see on that map is that Berry Corner Rd. continues, eventually connecting (and ending) at Mcgilpin Rd. in Sturbridge. You do not see it on that map because the road has never been paved, and has not been maintained in any way for a Very Long Time. It is on this segment of Berry Corner Rd. that our house will be built on. Apparently, most maps have forgotten that it exists.

I got to be on a Jury today. It was a nice experience, to see justice administered by the community, and helps one appreciate what’s so special about the freedom we have in this country.

We found the defendant Not Guilty, in case anyone was curious.

How Microsoft Lost the API War is an interesting article on the future of computing and some things Microsoft’s done right and not done right. I found it a particularly interesting perspective, and probably very on target. Some of you may find it interesting, too.

I am tired, sore, and exhausted from judging Grand Prix Boston over the weekend. I now have the back of my head and my name up on Wizards’ site. (The picture is from the beginning of the day Saturday, despite the time of the entry they have, and I had not yet been issued my Judge shirt.) It was very fun and a good experience.

The latest email propaganda from Bill Gates talks about how Microsoft is committed to interoperability, and how wonderful Microsoft is for interoperating with other systems.

I just somehow find it hard to believe since the web browser they produce is the least compliant of all recent remotely-popular web browsers. They don’t follow the standards that they helped write. That doesn’t give me confidence in their ability to interoperate with other systems.

I feel like it’s been a while since my last post, and I want to post something, but I’m not sure what. So, random disconnected thoughts follow.

I’m judging at Magic’s Grand Prix Boston this weekend (and I got confirmation today that I will in fact be judging this event). I’m very excited.

Hopefully, we’ll be meeting with our builder next week to go over the house project and put together a contract, or at the very least start the building permit application.

Whee… The government is giving back some of the money that it’s taken from me over the past year.

And for those who don’t know, free federal tax e-filing online is available from http://www.taxfreedom.com/. Some people can get free MA tax e-filing too from http://www.statetaxfreedom.com/, although even if you can’t most people can use the state telefile system.

The bad news: We’re getting only 2 gallons per minute from our well.
The good news: That’s good enough since it’s 500 feet down. There will be roughly 600 gallons sitting in the well, which should be a good enough reserve for us even if it replenishes relatively slowly.

So, the well-drilling people are going to sign the water-is-okay form, which was the last thing blocking our building permit. Assuming we get that okay (and it may take a month or so), then we can start construction in the spring, right on time.

Well, ‘s recently posted with a meme about his Interest list. I’m not sure that my interest list is complete, so I’m going to adapt this somewhat. Please take a look at my Interests in my user info. Then,

• If there are any that seem odd or interesting to you, ask about them and I’ll try to explain them.
• If there’s anything not there that you think should be, mention it to me and I’ll think about adding it.
• If there are other comments about my interests list, feel free to post those, too
• Feel free to post something along these lines in your journal if you see fit.

So, the tournament organizer had emailed me a couple weeks ago asking what my availability for judging the prerelease this weekend was. I figured that this meant that they were planning on me being there. Apparently, the TO kinda dropped the ball and didn’t need me after all. (This would have been okay if he told me ahead of time, but being told at the event was kinda disappointing.) So, Jessi and I played in a flight each, and came home before the snowstorm. It now looks like the forecast is for up to 3 feet if we’re unlucky, so I think I’m just as happy to be back home. Plus, to make it up to me, the TO gave me $5 off the entry price and promised that I could judge at the Grand Prix in two weeks. I’m looking forward to helping judge a high-level event like a Grand Prix.