Case Wi-Fi Makes Slashdot

Case 's large Wi-Fi rollout for the beginning of the new school year has made Slashdot . Every suite on the south side of campus (6 people live in a suite) has a WAP in it. The WAP is enclosed in a grey box on the ceiling, but we disassembled the box shortly after moving in so that we could take a look at the equipment. In addition to a Cisco Aironet WAP, the box also contains a linear directional antenna, to bathe the suite in Wi-Fi goodness.

Case has also started posting stickers with a Wi-Fi logo on them in the public spaces where wireless is available.

Power Mac G5 Developer Note

The Power Mac G5 Developer Note has been posted. Here's an interesting tidbit:

Power supply: The Power Mac G5 computer comes with either a 450 W or 600 W power supply.

600W power supply? Wow.

Back to School

I'm back in Cleveland. Classes started yesterday, and I moved in over the weekend. It's been really good to see Jason, Phil, and all of my other friends. I've also been hitting all of the Cleveland dining spots I missed in North Carolina. On Saturday I ate lunch at Skyline Chili and dinner at Chipotle. Sunday dinner was at Phnom Penh (yum, spicy pad thai). Tonight we stopped off at Gilly's to get some muffins.

iPod Carrying Case

I decided to order a carrying case for my iPod for back-to-school. Previously, my iPod was primarily used while sitting at my desk at work, so it wasn't in much danger of getting banged up. Now that I'll be using it while walking across campus, I'll need more protection, so I ordered the PodPaq014 . It looks like a capable and rugged case. I may also get some new headphones for my iPod. The included earbuds are fine when you are not moving around much, but, when walking or running, they tend to fall out. I'll probably get some headphones with ear clips, like the w.ear headphones .

iCal

I've decided to try switching from Entourage to iCal for scheduling. My scheduling needs aren't very complicated, and iCal is prettier and has better Internet sharing features than Entourage. Also, when Panther comes out, I may make the switch from Entourage to Mail.app, so this will give me a head start on that transition. As an example of some of the cool things possible with iCal, I set up WebDAV on my server, and you can now subscribe to my calendars. I also set up PHP iCalendar, so you can view my calendars via a web interface.

Power Mac G5

I ordered a dual 2GHz Power Mac G5 today. Stock configuration with the addition of a Bluetooth module. I want to upgrade the RAM to 1GB, but I'll buy the memory from Crucial , since Apple's memory prices aren't very good. Estimated ship time for the Power Mac is 7-10 weeks, but I'm hopeful that it won't take that long. I'd really like to have it by mid-September.

Case Logo Unveiled

The new logo for Case has been unveiled . It's not too bad. The university's front page hasn't been updated with the new logo yet. Anyone out there on campus yet? Have all the signs been updated with the new branding?

UPDATE: Professor Drushel has posted a parody of the new logo.

My URIs Are Cool

Thanks to a timely pointer from Jason , all of my old "permalinks" will continue working, even though I've changed my archive path. w00t!

Archive Paths

I modified my blog archive paths to make them more meaningful, as suggested by Erik. Yes, this has broken everyone who linked to one of my posts. Yes, I know that cool URIs don't change , but I don't think it's worth the effort to try to make all the old links to my site work. At around 90 entries, this site is still in its infancy, and hopefully this will be the last time I change archive paths.

Wiki Integration

After my recent post about wanting a combination blog and wiki, I spent a few hours Googling for a suitable solution. I think I have come upon a good solution for me. In CPAN , there is a module named Text::WikiFormat . This module takes some wiki-formatted text and returns the corresponding HTML. You can pass several options to the module, such as the URL to use as the prefix for wiki word links.

Using Text::WikiFormat, you can write a MovableType plugin that formats your posts. There are some details on how to do this at SixLog . I have written a formatter that simply passes my entry text to Text::WikiFormat, with a prefix URL of http://www.uncledirtae.com/wiki/index.cgi? . Now, any use of wiki words on my blog will autolink to the corresponding wiki node.

Two problems remain. First, my hosting provider has an old version of the Text::WikiFormat installed, which seems to have some bugs. I have asked them to upgrade the module, which I expect to happen in short order. Also, Kung-Log doesn't seem to support custom MovableType formatters very well, so I am still trying to figure out how I can continue to use Kung-Log with my new formatter.

Shaolin Soccer

Shaolin Soccer comes out next Friday. It looks like it's going to be a really funny movie. It's unfortunate that it's dubbed (and possibly edited), but I'll still go see it. Watch this trailer to see what I'm talking about.

I'm Blogging This

While reading an article on O'Reilly's MacDevCenter.net, I saw an ad for a new official O'Reilly t-shirt . It reads "I'm blogging this". Haha, I might have to get one of those.

Case

It appears that the new official short name for Case Western Reserve University will soon be Case. This will be the name used in most university communication. Case.edu is already up, and supposedly a new logo to replace the old CWRU sunrise/sunset logo (called the "turkey butt" logo by President Hundert) will be unveiled on August 15th. Overall, I think this is a positive move, as Case is more recognizable and memorable that CWRU. It should also help prevent the problem of being variously called Case, Case Western, and Case Western Reserve by media outlets.

For those of you affiliated with Case, you can read the cwru.general newsgroup for additional discussion.

Blog + Wiki

In light of some recent experiences with WikiWikiWebs , I'm beginning to wonder if MovableType is really what I want in a weblog tool. I think I'd actually prefer a hybrid wiki. The wiki would identify each node as either a regular wiki entry or a weblog post (essentially a wiki entry tagged as being a "journal entry" and with an associated timestamp). The front page would still list weblog posts in reverse chronological order, and there would still be a weblog post archive, but other than that, it would be a regular wiki.

There are certainly people playing with this idea already, for example, Martin Fowler's Bliki . However, I haven't seen any packaged solutions a la MovableType. Has anyone seen such a thing, or would I have to roll my own?

Peopleware

I got Peopleware on two Saturdays ago and finished the book the following Monday. Peopleware is the best software project book ever. I'm especially glad that I read the book while on co-op, because having that industry background to apply the book against made it even more interesting and relevant. Nearly every major problem with the software project I'm working on is addressed by Peopleware. This is the kind of book that you want to ask a potential manager if they've read. If they've read it and agree with it, then you are probably on to a good thing. If you are currently working on a software project and your manager hasn't read this book, run, don't walk, to the nearest bookstore and buy a copy for them. As Joel says , this is not just a book that every manager should read, it is a book that every manager should read every year.

Moving

I love traveling, but I hate moving. Specifically, all of the administrative and physical work involved in moving. In the next week and a half, I have to call all the utility companies and cancel my service, close my local bank account, move everything out of my apartment, and finish all of my projects at work. Then I've got a week to move to Cleveland and start classes. Yar.

Oh well, I'm really looking forward to seeing all of my friends at CWRU again, so I suppose there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

XHTML and CSS

OK, I have something to admit: I am woefully ignorant of XHTML, CSS, and other modern web standards. Being unable to author elegant web pages today makes you practically illiterate. Realizing this, I have decided to bring myself up to speed. I'm currently reading HTML and XHTML: The Definitive Guide and Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide on O'Reilly Safari . I've also been experimenting with the design for this weblog, so if anything looks messed up or makes your eyes bleed in the next few days, I apologize. One thing I've completed is making this site validate as XHTML 1.0 Transitional, thanks to some help from Brad Choate .

If any of you web design gurus have book or site recommendations to help me along, leave a comment.