August 31, 2001 - Vaycay
It's the last day of the month. Whee.
I'm getting the hell out of the Midwest and heading to the Pacific Northwest for the extended weekend.
Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria, French Beach and who knows where else?
When I get back I'll probably archive this month's journal and do some redesign work.
One of the few perks of being an Internet Weather Guru is the viewer mail.
We get fan mail, hate mail, requests for help with schoolwork, spam, the works.
But the very best messages contain weather photos.
Jason from New Ulm, Minnesota sent
this beautiful cloudscape to Channel4000.
Now if I could just get the viewers of the TheHawaiiChannel
to stop sending smug little island paradise photos this winter...
August 29, 2001 - Lost and Found
The amazing Arah Bahn found the Nederlander weather link:
Het weer in Nederland op dit moment
August 27, 2001 - Zoom! Flash! Kapow?
I am such a sucker for Flash navigation that zooms!
For example, here's how you get to Uzès, a quant little French village my mom visited on her last vacation.
Or, perhaps you're interested in ski areas in North America?
(Apologies to Bill C., who warns that this is still a work in progress...)
I can no longer find it, but I used to have a bookmark for a fantastic Netherlands weather map done in Flash Generator.
I believe it was simply titled "Het Veer" or such. Let me know if you find it. Thanks.
For example, here's how you get to Uzès, a quant little French village my mom visited on her last vacation.
Or, perhaps you're interested in ski areas in North America?
(Apologies to Bill C., who warns that this is still a work in progress...)
I can no longer find it, but I used to have a bookmark for a fantastic Netherlands weather map done in Flash Generator.
I believe it was simply titled "Het Veer" or such. Let me know if you find it. Thanks.
August 24, 2001 - Friday Music
So it's a tired old Friday at the shop.
But Leon is cheering us up by playing selections from Wesley Willis, Chicago artist and musician.
Is this some kind of archetype come to life?
Did George Dawes Green model the Romulus Ledbetter character,
played by Samuel Jackson in The Caveman's Valentine,
based on exposure to Wesley Willis? Or someone like him?
But Leon is cheering us up by playing selections from Wesley Willis, Chicago artist and musician.
"he's mad, you know."Apparently Wesley suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.
Is this some kind of archetype come to life?
Did George Dawes Green model the Romulus Ledbetter character,
played by Samuel Jackson in The Caveman's Valentine,
based on exposure to Wesley Willis? Or someone like him?
"I have brain typhoons."I have included a link to an mp3 file of Cut The Mullet (2.8 MB) here today.
"do something about your mullet; get out the hair clippers, jerk."
August 22, 2001 - Everyone Loves a Fair
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It's that time of year... again.
Where else can you get a deep-fat-fried candy bar on a stick? Tomorrow the Minnesota State Fair begins and lasts until everyone in the tri-state area is just plain sick on cheese curds and corn dogs. For the third consecutive year, WCCO has a web cam at their booth. Maybe one of these years, we'll be able to plumb enough bandwidth to stream video? Every year I swear I'm going to boycott the fair, and every year I get sucked in to the maelstrom. |
August 21, 2001 - Winter is on its way...
So the National Weather Service finally bowed to years of pressure and fixed the wind chill formula.
What once was this:
I still prefer the Canadian measure of watts per square meter, or is that metre?
And I'm disappointed that the proposed standard of "Frostbite Index" was not used.
Regardless, it's still going to be a cold winter here in the Twin Cities.
What once was this:
Wind Chill °F = 91.4 - (0.474677 - 0.020425 * V + 0.303107 * sqrt(V)) * (91.4 - T)
Wind Chill °F = 35.74 + 0.6215 * T - 35.75 * V ^ 0.16 + 0.4275 * T * V ^ 0.16
Where T is air temp °F and V is wind speed mph.
I still prefer the Canadian measure of watts per square meter, or is that metre?
And I'm disappointed that the proposed standard of "Frostbite Index" was not used.
Regardless, it's still going to be a cold winter here in the Twin Cities.
August 20, 2001 - Ahoy and avast!
I'm sorry, but what century is this anyway?
Pirate attacks, in this day and age?
You'd think they would have brandished cutlasses or raised a skull and crossbones at very least...
The next time I'm at sea, I'm bringing cannons.
Pirate attacks, in this day and age?
You'd think they would have brandished cutlasses or raised a skull and crossbones at very least...
The next time I'm at sea, I'm bringing cannons.
August 14, 2001 - Bork! Bork! Bork!
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Everything has been very Swedish recently...
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So I finally got the Saab back from the Crazy Swede Mechanic.
Actually, I think he's of Dutch extraction, but I don't think that fact mitigates the weirdness... Going to Swede Hollow is always an adventure; You never know what Erich is going to do or say, nor what he's going to fix or charge you. Hidden underneath Highway 52, and behind someone else's shop, you'd need a spirit guide just to find the place. He's got this sign in the garage that reads "Parking for Swedes Only." He always leaves little coffee-flavored candies in the car. Sometimes he offers me an iced coffee. In addition to repairing your car, he shares wisdom with you. It's not just a tuneup; it's a bildungsroman. Repaired or Replaced:
Along with my father, I did all the work on my three Fords for a total of over half a million miles. But there is no time for that now, and the Saab is no Escort; it's not like you're going to be able to work on it without a lift, a computer, and a satellite uplink. Still, I've got no major complaints. After 100,000 miles, the car is running like a dream. I will need to get the heater core fixed before winter, though, so it's back to Swede Hollow. Or somewhere else if I'm in a hurry... |
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But why fight it? I'm listening to Gjallarhorn's Sjofn in the car.
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August 10, 2001 - When Underwater Animals Attack
Just what is it with the spree of recent aquatic misphas and underwater animal attacks? Sharks in Florida, unknown fish in Ontario. Weird.
Something about this story I need to know: did they drink the beer?
Incidentally, I've given up on PICO as an HTML editor, and I've "upgraded" to Cold Fusion Studio. Who knows, if this continues, soon I'll be trying to get a copy of Dreamweaver...
Something about this story I need to know: did they drink the beer?
Incidentally, I've given up on PICO as an HTML editor, and I've "upgraded" to Cold Fusion Studio. Who knows, if this continues, soon I'll be trying to get a copy of Dreamweaver...
August 8, 2001 - Morman versus the Urban Automobile
I have a love-hate relationship with my own car, which I've learned is
relatively common for Saab owners. While I enjoy driving cross-country, I hate
driving anywhere near population density. More and more I am convinced that
the automobile and the city don't mix. This probably makes me an eco-freak
or something, but I'm not
alone. I still would rather bike than drive, and it's getting easier to do that in Minneapolis.
August 6, 2001 - Mind the (Click) Gap
Not really a surprise...
The suspicions are confirmed, but the situation is far worse than thought. Men are twice as likely as women to hog the TV clicker and channel surf, according to a recent independent survey commissioned by AT&T Broadband.The rest is here on Businesswire.
August 3, 2001 - Embeddables
So in addition to wasting time with Flash, I've been wasting time with
Image Magick. Here's the weather for Des Moines:
August 2, 2001 - Bird, Bird, Bird; Bird is the
Word
Meet Salty(TM):
Flash is silly, but cool. What else can I say?
Flash is silly, but cool. What else can I say?
August 1, 2001
After who knows how many years, I finally got around to directing the DNS
somewhere. So here I am. The site is hosted on an old SGI Indy, and my
editor is
PICO, believe it or not.
I know you're jealous.
Yes, the minimalist design is intentional. However, like any other web
site, I'm sure it will become some gargantuan, hideously-overdeveloped
nightmare. Until then...
Stuff on the right: