Month: March 2006

Some of you may know of this frightening shot of Doc Searls mouth.

Well, move over Doc! I just learned at the dentist this morning that my bridge has to come out, as the foundation teeth that hold it in place (it’s a permanent plate) are…well, failing is the polite way to say it.

I have had the bridge for 20 years, so this is is no surprise to me, and one of the reasons that I have avoided seeing a dentist for so long.

I also learned that it could cost up to $25,000 to have the cadillac of replacements.

Or $10,000 if I want a job that will have to be fixed in another 10 years.

Or $1,000 if I don’t mind feeling like my grandparents, putting my teeth in a glass by the bed every night.

Well, you guessed it: damn the self-image! I am going for the removable partial plate.

And how did I get into this mess in the first place? It’s simple: I ran a complex, real-time experiement that clearly demonstrated the force required to remove teeth. The components included:

• One bicycle
• One truck
• One asphalt roadway

In order to complete the experiment, the bicycle had to precisely clip the bumper of the truck. This was difficult to perform, as the bicycle was moving at high speed and the truck (which would not be able to see the bicycle until the last minute) had to swerve very precisely in front of the bicycle…and rider.

The MythBusters would have been proud.

So, unlike many Canadian men (and women), I lost my teeth in a cycling accident, not as a result of an on-ice altercation or an attempt to be Gump Worsley.

So, if you meet me in the future, ask me to pop out my teeth.

I might just do it.

Technorati Tags: dentist, dental plate, dental bridge, doc searls, dentures, gump worsley, hockey

Over the last two days, the Gawker Media sites measured by GrabPERF have shown significant degradation during peak hours.

Live data can be viewed here.

Most folks who read the affected blogs in feed readers will likely not notice the problem. However, no reason for the degradation has been released.

UPDATE: Gawker posted on the performance issue this afternoon [here]. Apparently there was a fermentation-related incident near one of the servers and specialist teams are working to resolve the issue — I hear they brought in these guys.

[NB: Beating a server does not make it go faster, Nick.]

Technorati Tags: GrabPERF, Web Performance, Gawker, Wonkette, LifeHacker, Defamer, Gizmodo, Gawker Media

It was December 1978.

My family had travelled to the big city of Calgary for our annual Christmas shopping expedition.

There were five of us crammed into a hotel room: Mom, Dad, my two younger brothers and me.

In an attempt to bribe us and keep us quiet, they let us watch this travesty against a modern mythology.

Some would say this is the event that scarred me and made me the man I am today.

I still need therapy to cope with the night terrors the memory of this event brings to me.

The Star Wars Christmas Special was so bad, that George Lucas sttempted to suppress it for more than 20 years.

I was reminded of the existence of the show last Christmas when NPR listed the show in some anthology of doomed Christmas specials — I remember less about that interview than I do of the special itself.

I am in awe that someone has released this again.

I know I will scream in horror when I watch it.

Via: Good Morning Silicon Valley

Technorati Tags: Star Wars, Christmas Special, bad tv, exploitation, YouTube, George Lucas

I heard (via TechCrunch and Om Malik and PubSub) that there is some … transition at PubSub.

Now, I have a soft spot in my heart for PubSub, because Bob Wyman was the first person to really notice and appreciate the things I was doing at GrabPERF. I wonder what the future holds for this team.

Frankly, I would agree with Michael Arrington’s comment that PubSub is a likely acquisition target. They do offer a very interesting service, but as a standalone offering, the opportunities are becoming increasingly narrow. As part of a larger Social Web/Web 2.0 firm with a broad range of products, PubSub’s technology could become the glue that holds the various parts together.

Update: Salim Ismail, the now retired CEO, posts his own comments here.

Technorati Tags: PubSub, blog search, Web 2.0, management, acquisition

Old is such a relative thing.

Where I grew up, in the British Columbia Interior, an old building is one that dates from between 1860 and 1900.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, you might see some buildings from the 1840s, maybe some Spanish ones that are older.

In Massachussetts/New England, there are some buildings that date from the 1620-1640.

In the UK, the new church in a village may have been constructed in 1610, to replace the one built in 1078.

In Cairo or Jerusalem, people don’t blink when you say that you live in a house built in 948 AD.

Old is so relative…and so fleeting.

Technorati Tags: old, age, historic

I have now launched the GrabPERF Site Statistics Index. The current members are:

• StatCounter
• SiteMeter
• ShinyStats
• OneStat

If you know of or represent a firm that I have missed, please drop me an email or a comment.

Technorati Tags: GrabPERF, Web performance, StatCounter, SiteMeter, OneStat, ShinyStats, Site Statistics, Web Analytics, performance index

Matt threw a bunch of hardware at Ping-O-Matic this morning.

I think this is an improvement.

UPDATE: Anecdotally, I know that Ping-O-Matic is faster, because Performancing is done so much faster now.

Technorati Tags: Ping-O-Matic, Pingomatic, GrabPERF, Web Performance

Patrick McGoohan created the amazing character of “Number Six” a year before I was born. But sitting here in my beautiful home in Massachusetts, I understand the feelings that the character must have experienced.

The premise, for those who don’t know the show, is that Number Six is a top agent for an unnamed spy agency who resigns for reasons that are never clear. He is then suddenly kidnapped and placed in this remarkably serene village by the sea, where all his needs are fulfilled. However, this comes at a price: he is no longer free.

I live that every day.

I have had people say that this view is extreme.

But it is also true.

I am free to go about my business in any way I chose, but the US government or my current employer can revoke my status at any time.

Then I am free to return to Canada poor, but free.

It is crazy to think that borders mean so much. Working on the internet has made boundaries meaningless to me. I have contacts all over the US, and around the world. But I am trapped by borders.

Now, I know that this may not always be the case. One of the senior executives at the company I work for is also Canadian, but with a Green Card. He has complete freedom to go where he wants, and do what he wants, and work for whomever he wants.

I miss that freedom.

The life of a “guest worker” is starting to wear on both Samantha and me. We are concerned that our eldest may be discriminated against in later life simply because he is Canadian. We are also worried about what may happen to our youngest because he is a US citizen.

They are simply our children. How can we raise them in such an atmosphere of uncertainty?

Samanatha is going to Victoria to visit her parents in April. When she comes back, I know that the distance between where we are (Massachusetts), and where we want to be (Washington, Oregon, British Columbia) will need to be bridged.

I know that we must return to the West Coast.

But here I am, trapped in the netherworld that the “guest workers” inhabit.

I cannot recommend this experience to anyone. A job in the US seems like a good idea, but consider the costs.

You will be trapped by a job, be trapped in a job, and be chained to one job.

That is the compromise you have to accept.

I can no longer accept it.

I am NOT a number…

Technorati Tags: h-1b, guest worker, green card, canada, the prisoner, management, outsourcing

I had an interesting exchange with David Parmet earlier today that involved self-promotion and promotion of causes that mean something to us personally.

Well, isn’t that the geek way? Lay low, do the “cool” things, and let the marketing folks make the buzz? I am no good at going out there and saying “LOOK AT ME!”; not my style.