Daniel Von Fange

From the Treo

I'm testing out posting from my brand new Treo. Movable Type's ability to do both desktop and web based posting is one of the resons I swiched. Being able to post from anywhere I go is going to be great.

Movable Type

I'm switching over to Movable Type for this site, since I really think having comments would be fun and exciting. I'll probably have to write a script to handle importing all of my old entries. The real decision is wether to programing my importer in PHP or Ruby .

Spam Fooled

I just posted my email address on this site - not having it was just an oversight actualy. But you will notice that I have posted it completely in the clear, with no encryption or anything to keep it away from spambots. The reason is simple - I don't have any more problems with spam.

With about ten website with my name and email address on then plus four years of using the internet, I get a lot of spam. But I only see about two spam emails every day. My email client, Apple Mail correctly sorts the rest of it right off into the junk mail box. It's liberating not to have to worry about my email addy. Macs Rule!

Screen

I just tried out Screen, metioned over on Freshmeat in this article. Screen is awesome at easing work on remote hosts, and will be something I use from now on. No longer do I have to have multiple SSH windows open to track error logs.

Life at Sea

I'm adjusted to living on the Constallation at last. I usualy get up about two hours before the rest of the family and then over the course of breakfast make about seven more aquintances. I grab a book or occasionaly my laptop and head down to the ship's library for an hour of reading or programming Grobots. Next I move up to one of the ship's lobbys to listen to an hour of harp playing, while I read or code, then back to down to the library for more reading or coding. After lunch, I may check and reply to my emails, read the latest tech news at scripting.com. I hang out for a little bit with a older man who teaching Sextant classes to passengers in trade for free travel. After sucking up some navigational learning, it's back to reading or code, until supper with the whole family.

When the last bit of chocolate desert is polished off, it's time for about two more hours of reading or coding in the library. Often Bosco, the Indian librabian who knows no fear of stangers, will start a converstion with a passenger or two, and then we will have a sparkling little salon in the libraby for the rest of the evening. Around ten pm, it's back to the room for an email check followed by sleep. Pretty close to the perfect vacation for my tastes.

Afternoon at Sea

After spending a lazy morning, I made up for my inactivity in the afternoon. A family Monopoly game ( I was the first out ) was followed by a classical piano concert in the main theater, followed by a start at learning a new programing language, Ruby, followed by a formal dinner while the family watched a movie (and since two other tables full of people did not show up, there were two waiters serving my self and one couple at a smaller table - talk about personal service!), followed by a sunset over the Algerian hills, followed by more Ruby programming, followed by a concert by Doug Cameron, followed by a half hour of listening to a harp being played in the lobby. A great day!

First Glimpse of Europe

Well, here I sit in the Lisbon International Airport, having survived a sleepless nightime transatlantic flight. No matter how I twisted or turned, the fact remained - I was too tall to fit. A nice bed on a cruise ship will feel so nice, but we still have five more hours to go.

Every vehicle zipping around the airport is so different in design. For the most part they are shorter, and look like they have tiny engines under the hood. A Dodge Ram or a Ford F-150 pickup would look like weight lifter here. And the quantity of special purpose trucks at the airport is astounding. I've never seen busses with liftting bodies to allow hadicap visitors to enter the plane.

Every one drives fast around the planes. I'd say it's at least twice as fast as the fastest someone dares in the US. Plus they never stop at intersections marked "Stop", they just zip into to the traffic, weave through airplanes, and generaly just race around. Needless to say the view out the airport windows is much more entertaining here.

So far this trip, I've managed to remeber every piece of metal in my pockets, and I've made it through security with out a hitch everytime. When I step through the detectors, and nothing squals I feel like I've just won a little victory.

Lisbon was beautiful from the air, all the houses and buildings are painted the same color, and in the rosy dawn the city had a surreal appearence.