This is an old page from Rod Begbie's blog.
It only exists in an attempt to prevent linkrot. No new content will be added to this site, and links and images are liable to be broken. Check out begbie.com to find where I'm posting stuff these days.
This is good: The underlying goodness of OpenID, used in a way which completely hides itself from the user.
Why I’m glad I’m not in Boston. (Though the arc of Dunkin Donuts coffee is making me somewhat “homesick”)
Soda Streams are back. Back. BACK! Sold with an ecological twist (less recycling and less vehicular transport than cans or bottle of soda), it’s actually pretty tempting.
Best Zero Punctuation in a while, not least for introducing me to the phrase “triple-cunted hooker”.
Man, those ReactOS developers have really done a stellar job of replicating the Windows NT fundamentals.
(Okay, not really their fault! I chose to "upgrade" their demo VM when VMware prompted me. If you don't do that, it works OK)
(Also, the video is sped up by Flickr. Bug reported here.)
Man, those ReactOS developers have really done a stellar job of replicating the Windows NT fundamentals.
As a former Somervillain, this makes me very happy.
The games on this list that I’ve played have all been top-notch, so I’ll have to sample a few more.
Anyone want to hazard a guess at what I was looking at that garnered these recommendations?
* A pink camera
* A PD James novel
* Headphones
* Twin pack of nipples
A scorecard for tracking President Obama’s campaign promises. A great idea.
Essential reading if you write webapps.
Mark Pilgrim is updating Dive into Python for the new version of the language. Farewell, chapter on SOAP Web Services. You will not be missed.
Merlin Mann recaps a disappointing year for @ylnt. Snare, Baby on a Dog, and The Fishstick: all lost money. :(
Stunningly detailed gigapan photo of the inauguration.
A HUGE favour to ask of you all: Virgin is going to donate $25,000 to a Boston area charity. Could you take 60 seconds out of your day to register on this site and vote for the good folks at ImprovBoston? They do amazing things building an artistic community in the greater Boston area. Thanks!
100 t-shirts in each design are sold, priced from $1 to $100.
“If you lose your shit, the technogeeks will not help you. They will giggle at you and make fun of your not understanding the fundamental principles and engineering of client-server models.”
My new business cards. Yes, my title is "Senior Sheep Herder".
In tribute to Tony Hart, the BBC News magazine profiles the music for “The Gallery”. An iconic ditty for any member of my generation.
Oh, what I wouldn’t give to be “13th Bullet Bulletproof”…
SF sunset, as seen from the Slide rooftop.
Portraits of Obama’s transition team. Someone should make a map of these portraits to their fictional “The West Wing” counterpart.
I love some of the artwork we have created around here. See also the presidential seal currently for sale on SuperPoke Pets.
Good riddance to President Gore! “Of course, the biggest disappointment was Gore’s failure to handle Hurricane Katrina properly. Not only did the massive evacuation of New Orleans prove a costly and time-consuming overreaction, since the levees - fortified in 2003 - held up fine.”
This sounds fantastic. Starting next month, the CA Academy of Sciences will be hosting weekly drinking & mingling & science events! Booze, DJing, penguins and a planetarium? Sign me up!
Form the possessive of nouns by adding ‘s, just an apostrophe, just an s, a semicolon, a w, an ampersand, a 9, or anything. “My wifesd*porcupine hot pix for u.”
Clyde is aging, and stairs are not his strong point. (You try dragging 70lbs on little stumpy legs!) He made his way up from the beach masterfully, though.
Part of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, one of my favourite places in SF is Fort Funston, especially on a 60ºF sunny Sunday like today. It's a fantastic place to take Bacon & Clyde. They run around off-leash with lots of other dogs in a lovely sandy area next to the Pacific.
My absolute favouritist thing to do in SF on a sunny day: Fort Funston with the bassets.
As ever, Stephen Green of “Christian Voice” teeters perilously on the brink of self-parody, arguing that the Atheist Bus Campaign banners breach advertising regulations on grounds of… evidence.
Roald Dahl’s excellent “The Twits”, 140 characters-or-so at a time. It’s only just started, so you can still catch up. Tremendously happy-making.
Brilliant piece of viral marketing by BK. People will happily sell out their friends (and plaster BK’s name across their friend feeds) for a $3 hamburger.
Newly opened gourmet ice cream store in the Mission. “Balsamic caramel” and “Pistachio-bacon” are both calling my name.
I’ve often been sneery at the unmitigated hokum that is “The Secret”, but this review might have convinced me to open my mind to it.
Full details on yesterday’s Twitter hack. Twitter’s admin interface was available offsite to all their admin users, one of whom has a weak password, plus their monitoring didn’t notice a dictionary attack going on. Oops.
The bitter payoff of the final paragraph is epic. I can only dream of being able to compose something so perfectly pointed. I’d probably have gone with “Fuck yous all. kthxbai”
I’m stopping using my old PGP key (0×8C80C35F). It’s been active for 12 years, and I had set it to expire later this year, so I’m retiring it now.
In its place is 0×1A5FFE23 which I will use for personal purposes for the next five years. It has been signed by 0×8C80C35F (as well as the CACert root key), so should be considered trustworthy. Almost all personal mail from me shall be signed with this key.
PS. I am not being rubber-hosed as I type this.
And with that message, following a hard drive crash, the cash and effort spent building myself a RAID server two years ago pays for itself. (Assuming it makes it to 100%, natch)
Update: Exactly 100 minutes later, it reached 100%, and my FLACs and MP3s are secure once more. Hurrah!
This is an archive of groovmother.com, the old blog run by Rod Begbie — A Scottish geek who lives in San Francisco, CA.
I'm the co-founder of Sōsh, your handy-dandy guide for things to do in San Francisco this weekend.
