Thu 30 Aug 2007
A fascinating article about an article describing how catastrophic events for the insurance industry (caused, in turn, by a catastrophic natural disaster, e.g. earthquake in Tokyo) can be absorbed by the global stock market, like a drop in the ocean: $400 billion in $60 trillion, for example.
Proof, if it were needed, that I know absolutely nothing about money.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/oreilly/radar/atom/~3/149674849/securitizing_ri.html
Thu 30 Aug 2007
I missed the xscreensaver screensavers so ubiquitous on Linux; it isn’t too hard to find them all compiled for the Mac.
Once downloaded, simply copy and paste the *.saver files into the Library/Screen Savers folder in your home directory.
That’s a pretty nice way to install things, by the way…especially after last night’s rant.
Thu 30 Aug 2007
An early start this morning. Mountain View isn’t too easy to explore without a car but it’s nice enough, in a middle-of-nowhere kind of way (can you call the middle of Silicon Valley the middle of nowhere, though?).
Plans are afoot for a trip to Sequoia National Park on Saturday which should liven up after-work time no end, along with a sojourn in San Francisco afterwards…this being Labor Day weekend, there’s plenty of time for everything.
Wed 29 Aug 2007
New job, new setup.
Google provides the option of either a Mac or Thinkpad laptop for all its engineers. Well, although I adore the T41, I wasn’t so enamoured with the T60. Anecdotal reports of weird hardware problems tallied with my own experiences – in short, they just don’t make Thinkpads like they used to. Having heard so many wonderful things about OS X, I reasoned it was time to try something new.
The MacBook Pro is a wonderful thing to behold. Silver and thin, it sports a widescreen display and boots in seconds. The trip-proof magnetic power connector is genius. First impressions are second to none.
However, the problems quickly became apparent:
Well, because of the first three points I have to use an external mouse. In that case, what’s the point of having a laptop? The keyboard problems effectively rule out doing any development on this machine (or remotely, via this machine, i.e. from home). All the other points just make the whole Mac experience a bit of a chore. I love the wireless network support and magic power connector but otherwise I’m extremely underwhelmed. I’d just like to do some work now.
All is forgiven, Thinkpad – if it had the build quality of the T4x series then the T60 would be perfect. As it is, it remains the laptop for me.
Mon 27 Aug 2007
Dublin to San Francisco with British Airways (Dublin-London actually operated by Aer Lingus) via Heathrow.
I must fly Sundays more often – although I’ll have to contend with launching straight into work the following day, the airports were a dream. I’d heard murderous things about Heathrow but today – a bank holiday weekend in the UK, no less – it’s absolutely fine. There’s just a lot of walking.
British Airways are as nice as I’d heard, too. Seats are comfortable, even in economy class and even though I didn’t get an aisle seat. The pilots and air stewards actually talk to us (not read) and tell us things. They’ve got vocabulary; they’re witty. It’s nice. For instance, taxi-ing at SFO, the pilot explains which plane is currently blocking our way (the outbound 747 on this route) and why (the road is simply too narrow at this point).
Little touches like this just make it so much more enjoyable.
(Also, they can fly. We barely feel the touchdown; contrast with my return from Tokyo, where it felt like the wheels nearly broke off when we touched the ground.)
A quick (though not necessarily short – it’s 35 miles or so) taxi ride later and I’m settled into the apartment, ready for work the next day. I’m told the weather will be like this again tomorrow, guaranteed…
Sun 26 Aug 2007
It’s off to California tomorrow for a few weeks for some much-needed training.
From a geek perspective, it’s very exciting: the delights of the Googleplex are legendary, from the canteens through espresso machines through courtesy buses to the more notable employees (who amongst them have invented Python, Apache and the internet).
From a traveller’s perspective, it’s also very promising. I spent one day in San Francisco a few years ago and have always wanted to return. Although I’ll be based in Mountain View, some 35 miles to the south-east, the two are reasonably well connected by American standards so I suspect I’ll be spending more than one weekend in the big city.
Six weeks is quite a long time to be away from the comforts of home but considering that it’s all expenses paid (and then some), that I’ll be very busy and that the destination is sunny California, I think the time will fly.
Sat 18 Aug 2007
They like bronze statues in Dublin.
One of the better is the relatively new Famine Memorial on the north quays, just in front of the IFSC on the lovely restored river front. Or, more accurately, the newly designed river front – I don’t think it was ever as nice as this in the bad old days.
Sat 18 Aug 2007
There’s a Viking ship in town; it arrived Tuesday morning at the O’Casey Bridge (where Tubridy was doing his usual fine job of interviewing the crew) and was transported that evening by crane to the wonderful Collins Barracks museum.
A short ride on a ludicrously over-crowded Luas brings us directly to the museum (just like a real city!) where big crowds are enjoying ship, associated craftery in a marquee in the square and the museum’s normal exhibits.
Apart from the ship (which really doesn’t take long to see since it’s only the one deck – I suppose it was designed 1,200 years ago), the new military history wing has opened. This vast exhibition covers Irish involvement from medieval times through the Easter Rising, First World War, War of Independence and participation in UN peace-keeping missions. Everything!
You could spend a whole afternoon soaking up just this. Real tanks and suspended planes wouldn’t look out of place in the Smithsonian. It’s a big wing…it’s a big museum! The biggest barracks that there ever was, in fact, if I remember the tour guide from my first visit here correctly. Military history and the existing exhibitions still occupy only half the building space, as far as I can see.
As if all these weren’t enough, we also stumble upon:
Collins Barracks keeps growing and keeps getting better. Surely it’s the best Irish museum…and it’s all free. Not for the first time, I resolve to return again for a full day this time.
Thu 16 Aug 2007
Well, I’m back from Japan a couple of weeks. I’ve started the new job, re-commenced complaining about Irish weather and life is good generally – however, I’ve still yet to blog about some of my wacky holiday adventures.
In retrospect, it was one hell of a trip and I did an awful lot…while an extra day or two at the end would have been very welcome, three weeks was actually long enough to see all the major cities and sights while still providing an excuse to return at some future date for another couple of weeks.
While I’m curious to see just how much mileage I got from my Japan Rail Pass, such stats and figures can wait for another time; for now, I’ll provide links (and placeholders) to everything I did and simply observe how the amount of blogging was inversely proportional to both the “craziness” of the city I was in at the time and amount of jet lag.
Here we go…:
Day 1, Thursday 5th:
Day 2, Friday 6th:
Day 3, Saturday 7th:
Day 4, Sunday 8th:
Day 5, Monday 9th:
Day 6, Tuesday 10th:
Day 7, Wednesday 11th:
Day 8, Thursday 12th:
Day 9, Friday 13th:
Day 10, Saturday 14th:
Day 11, Sunday 15th:
Day 12, Monday 16th:
Day 13, Tuesday 17th:
Day 14, Wednesday 18th:
Day 15, Thursday 19th:
Day 16, Friday 20th:
Day 17, Saturday 21st:
Day 18, Sunday 22nd:
Day 19, Monday 23rd:
Day 20, Tuesday 24th:
Day 21, Wednesday 25th:
Day 22, Thursday 26th:
Mon 6 Aug 2007
In today’s “on this day” column on Wired, the bombing of Hiroshima.
A bit strange now having seen both cities…52 years later both of these cities are thriving and have much more to see than just their atomic bomb museums (although these are, of course, well worth seeing).
