Accretion Disc Blog

Month: October 2009

  • Budget Day at Church

    Today we’re working on the 2010 budget. It’s mostly the same as 2009’s, but we’re going to try to find places to cut. The biggest problem with the budget is our bookkeeping. It’s good enough to keep checks from bouncing, but not so good I feel wonderful using this year’s actuals as a basis for […]

  • Installing Ruby on Snow Leopard

    Thanks to my helpers at Google and Hive Logic, I was able to install Ruby on Snow Leopard. It amazes me that so many Rubyists use the Mac, because it’s always a pain in the neck to get it set up right. You have to decide whether to use the stock version, or one from […]

  • Robotic Spiders? Sign me up!

    In a couple of years, the doctor will tell me that I’m old enough for a colonoscopy. When that happens, I hope this new technology is ready: A new way to scan for diseases, including cancer of the stomach or colon, using a remote contol ‘spider pill’ camera with moving legs, has been hailed by […]

  • Seven Pounds

    I watched Will Smith’s Seven Pounds. It’s a pretty interesting movie. “Interesting” is such a weak word, I know — but I can’t pick a better one. I certainly can’t say the movie’s a feel-good joyride. How about “thought-provoking?” Smith’s character is “Ben Thomas,” a man struggling under a burden of guilt, and, apparently, trying […]

  • Give Me Back My Legions

    I finished Harry Turtledove’s Give Me Back My Legions. It’s a novelization of the Varian Disaster — the defeat of Rome by German forces under Arminius at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. It’s certainly an interesting topic, and Turtledove has produced a readable book. It’s not really a great book, however. It’s chief flaw […]

  • More Car Troubles…

    Today’s problem can’t be fixed with WD-40. Or even a can of brake fluid. It’s some kind of clutch trouble. At 115K, I suppose it’s due. But these repairs are getting tedious. Later: well, the guy at the shop bled the lines, then (garbled) then bled them again. Now he wants me to drive it […]

  • Fixed my car today

    With WD-40, no less! The ignition has been getting stickier and stickier. Yesterday I almost couldn’t get my key back out of it. So this morning, I gave it a shot of “the wonder drug that works wonders,” et voila! A good thing. My car just turned 15 years old, and in the last couple […]