Scoble is talking about Thin vs Fat clients again. I have to agree with him on this one, I commute 3 hours or so each day and having things rely on being connected is like a kick in the groin with spiked boots to me. I want to open several dozen websites and read them on the way home. Firefox is ok with this as long as I don’t shut down my PC, but explorer wins out by far when it comes to offline viewing. To the firefox developers: don’t empty the cache when I disconnect, OK?

At work we rely on a web-based support case system, which is great when the net is working, but when the connection drops out (or someone drives a tractor through a cable), suddenly I can’t work.

I can see the attraction in thin clients, but using tha laptop when I commute means that I have to go for the offline RSS aggregator, which I leave running overnight, then grab when I leave so I can read everything on the way to work.

RodeoClown: Loves the idea, but has to commute.

So today is the day of birth for two people who have influenced my life.

First (and most importantly) is the woman I share my life with. Jennifer, turning a grand old 22 years today. I love you Jennifer, and I hope you have a wonderful day (I hope Mat starts behaving for you too…) I’ll see you tonight beautiful.

Secondly, Andy, the guy I used to sit next to at work. Happy 27th birthday dude (oh, and I have your copy of Pikmin safely hidden at work in my drawer if you come visit again and I’m not around). Andy is a good one for discussing deep thoughts with. Thoughts involving ninjas, pirates, giant robots with energy swords, and politics. Although I disagree with him on some (many…) things, he is still a great person to nut things out with.

Lastly, the late Chris Wich, who would have been celebrating his 24th birthday today. You are missed, Chris. Update: (I have been informed that Chris’ birthday was the 30th of August, not the 29th. Sorry.)

RodeoClown: wishes it was his birthday also (because then he’d have two sets of birthday presents each year)!

The definition via These Infinite Spaces.

-RodeoClown: has some black friends.

This morning we had the boy in bed with us, grumping it up, when I figured that’d I’d get him some food and see if he was hungry. So I got up and started getting dressed and Jen said “are you going to get him some P-E-A-R?”.

Mat suddenly perked up and said “Pear!”, and hurried out of bed to follow me and get some pear.

Kinda cool.
Kinda scary.
I don’t know if we’ll be able to continue having secret conversations like this. Maybe I’ll have to start trying to learn Swahili again.

RodeoClown: Has a kid who knows how to spell…

Background: Whilst enduring the daily hassle that is Sydney’s rail system, I ended up trapped between someone who wanted to leave their seat and an aisle full of people who were waiting to leave the train. I suggested to Beth (who I see on the train from time to time – she works in the building across the road from mine) that perhaps the entire side of the train should be a door, so everyone who wanted to get off the train could do so simultaneously, greatly reducing the time and inconvenience of the current system. She suggested that, perhaps, too many people would fall into the gap between the train and platform. “Maybe have doors that fold outwards, to become a ramp covering the gap?” was my response. Then it hit me, cannons would provide a far more convenient way to get people to their workplaces.

The Pros:
– Arrive at your exact destination, rather than having to walk from the station (just make sure the window is open…).
– No more sardine-like carriage packing (unless you take my alternate cannon plan: firing packed train carriages to their destination).
– Everyone gets a window seat (effectively, in reality you get a full view of the entire journey).
– No more delays due to broken-down trains.
– You can leave whenever you are ready.

The Cons:

…Nope, can’t think of any.

-RodeoClown: Reinventing public transport for the new millenium.

Read this It’s fantastic. I think I want to buy Jason Kotecki’s book, I read his blog and I would definitely subscribe to his newsletter.

Why should adults have to be all ‘grown up’. It stinks.

-RodeoClown

OK, tonight we had some fine dining with my parents and one of my sisters. Chicked Kiev, with roast potato and sweet potato. Yum.

Mum provided the dessert, which included creme caramel and lemon meringue pie. Delicious.
I’m looking for a new bank account at the moment, and hopefully I’ll find something soon, as I hate the commonwealth bank.

Not much else to say. Played some good puzzle pirates, ready for bed soon.

-RodeoClown