The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century

A Good Neal Stephenson Quip

Post author By Joey deVilla
Post date June 27, 2005
2 Comments on A Good Neal Stephenson Quip

Me and Neal Stephenson at a booksigning for Quicksilver.

I make it a point to check out the Teresa and Patrick Neilsen Hayden’s blog, Making Light, on a fairly regular basis. There’s always something interesting to read there, and my dendrites always feel a little bushier after a visit.

Making Light has an interesting set of quotes at the bottom of its left sidebar, and this one by Neal Stephenson — who probably rolls his eyes at the “dark prince of hacker fiction” that got pinned on him — caught my eye and tickled my brain (and will probably annoy some of my friends with hippie-ish tendencies):

For a Westerner to trash Western culture is like criticizing our nitrogen/oxygen atmosphere on the grounds that it sometimes gets windy, and besides, Jupiter’s is much prettier. You may not realize its advantages until you’re trying to breathe liquid methane.

Music

In the Summertime

I’ve got a number of projects on the go, both work- and life-related, so posting may be a little light for the next couple of weeks.

Since it’s turning out to be a bright and sunny summer (at least here in Accordion City, anyway — hopefully my friends in Alberta will see sunnier weather), you might do well to get away from the computer more often and enjoy life away from monitors and keyboards. To help, I’m including a seasonal ditty: Mungo Jerry’s In the Summertime [4.5MB, MP3]. It’s from the seventies, but it most reminds the summers of 1998 and 1999, when I was a self-employed consultant programmer working out of my business partner Adam’s apartment at the top of St. George Street.

There’s a rhyming couplet in this song that always takes a number of people by surprise, especially if they grew up in the 1980s or later:

If her daddy’s rich, take her out for a meal
If her daddy’s poor, just do what you feel

It’s practically neo-con make-out music!

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Roger Moore’s Fantabulous Eyebrows

Post author By Joey deVilla
Post date June 27, 2005
No Comments on Roger Moore’s Fantabulous Eyebrows

So….hypnotic… [Flash required]

Toronto (a.k.a. Accordion City)

Fanfare, or the Lack Thereof

Post author By Joey deVilla
Post date June 23, 2005
5 Comments on Fanfare, or the Lack Thereof

Got this in an email from a friend, and thought it was a much better approach than the standard jeering and booing.

Subject: Fw: turn your back

Hi guys and girls:

You know that this year, as in previous ones, the Conservative Party will participate in the Pride Day Parade. Usually, they get booed and what not by the people, but we were thinking of doing something more symbolic:

When you are watching the Parade this year and you see the Conservatives approaching, remain silent, turn your back on them and let them pass by. No applause, no insults, NOTHING. Do not even look at them over your shoulder. Invite people around you to do the same.

That’s what they want to do with us in Parliament, turn their backs on us, so let’s make them feel the same, ignored, left out. Let’s give the media a nice picture: Conservatives members and supporters parading among a forest of backs and a loud silence.

Please, do it, show them how you feel. And pass this e-mail along to as many people you might think could participate in this.

P.S.: Of course, when the Conservatives are gone, remember to turn around again and enjoy the rest of the parade, hahaha! Happy Pride!!!!

Geek It Happened to Me

Tech Support / How to be Potty-Mouthed in Quebecois French

Post author By Joey deVilla
Post date June 23, 2005
1 Comment on Tech Support / How to be Potty-Mouthed in Quebecois French

Last night was an unsuccessful round one of me versus the D-Link

wireless router belonging to my friend Leesh’s parents. Normally,

Leesh’s husband, my old University buddy George would handle this, but he lives in New York. I’m all too happy to lend a hand to my best man’s in-laws.

For the technically inclined, it keeps timing out before getting an IP

address from Rogers Cablesystems’ DHCP server. I know it’s not a

problem at Rogers’ end, because the ‘net is accessible if you simply

run cat-5 directly from the cable modem to the computer works. The

firmware in the D-Link is up-to-date, too.

Earlier this year, I hooked up a Linksys wireless router to my Mom’s

Rogers cable broadband service without any problems; it just worked. I may bring mine over to Leesh’s parents’ place this Sunday and see if it works.

By sheer coincidence, I have a free trial of Roger’s cable braodband

service at my current house. I’ve taken the D-Link home to noodle with

it in the meantime.

Speaking of cable modem difficulties, those of you who are familiar

with the nuances of swearing in Quebecois French will probably enjoy this

recording of an irate cable modem subscriber unloading much bile upon a

poor tech support rep at Quebec cable provider Videotron [576KB, MP3, language warning if you speak Quebecois French]. Even if you can’t understand a word, this guy’s mile-a-minute delivery of venom is priceless.

(Need a Quebecois swearing guide? Try here and here.)

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