Another Word for Nerd

When Apple’s 802.11n-capable Airport Extreme router came out early last year, I picked one up in anticipation of eventually replacing all my wireless networking gear with 11n-capable stuff. At the time I was running Linksys WRT54GL routers running DD-WRT firmware, and doing WDS in order to bridge networks in two rooms together without running Cat5 down the hallway.

I bought the new Airport Extreme router, and one of the 802.11g Airport Express units, and set up WDS between them. Throughput was just a bit slower than it had been with my highly-tweaked WRT54GLs, but I could live with that because “eventually Apple will come out with 11n Express hardware”.

Back in March, Apple finally came out with the 11n Airport Express units. I rushed out and bought one, only to get it home and discover that Apple does not support using WDS in 802.11n mode; it has to be run in “G-compatible” mode. In other words, having 802.11n hardware on both sides of the connection makes NO difference at all in throughput, and gives no advantage over having 802.11g hardware.

I just finished ripping out all of the Apple wireless gear, and replacing it with three brand new WRT54GLs running DD-WRT v24. I reasoned that if I’m going to be limited to 802.11g speeds between rooms, I might as well have it on the best, most-tweakable hardware available - stuff that I have complete control over via SSH and a web interface, instead of being forced to use a proprietary management GUI.

I sold one 802.11n Airport Extreme (non-GigE version) and two 802.11n Airport Express units to a friend for $175, which was just enough to pay for the WRT54GLs from NewEgg with free shipping.

Hurricane season is coming up, so I ordered a few “Super-Bright 9 LED Heavy-Duty Compact Aluminum Flashlight” from Amazon in black, blue, and gunmetal colors. They were only $5.50 each, so I ordered five of them to qualify for free shipping.

The package arrived today, and I proceeded to de-blister-pack all of them.

Click for bigger pictures.

Then I noticed the disclaimer on the back:

I think these may qualify to be the World’s Most Dangerous Flashlight, and an example of overkill on a warning label. I blame California.

The teaser trailer for the movie adaptation of Alan Moore’s Watchmen graphic novel is up for viewing.

I first read Watchmen about ten years ago, and am and glad that the director is sticking EXACTLY to the graphic novel. This was long considered as one work that could never properly translate to the big screen, but it appears to have been pulled off.

Surely I can’t be the only person who noticed the similarity of the App Store icon to the Masonic emblem.

Speaking of Freemasonry, I’m trying to find if anyone I know is a member so that I can inquire about joining. My grandfather was a Master Mason; he wanted me to get involved when I was younger but I never had the time.

One of the things I inherited from him (other than the money that paid for my college education) was this Masonic watch fob. I had been in line to also inherit his Masonic ring, but some unscrupulous “friends” of his talked him into rewriting his will in their favor when he wasn’t of sound mind towards the end.

I just read that George Carlin has passed away at the age of 71 from heart failure. I remember spending hours in front of my mother’s stereo listening to her Bill Cosby and George Carlin 8-tracks, and then buying a lot more of his works when I was in college.

The humor of Carlin and Dennis Leary let me laugh at the world during my formulative years, and the works of Bill Hicks tempered them once I got out into the “real world”.

Rest in peace, George. Give em hell up there.

$199 plus a new 2-year contract, plus $10 more a month? No thanks, I’ll stick with my iPhone 1.0. If it was just $199 for a new phone, with the same price plan I’m paying now ($71/month total) and no contract extension, I’d consider it.

EDGE data speeds are fine for anything that I might need to do on the Internet from the phone (face it, it’s not a laptop replacement) and cell-tower pseudo-GPS is good enough for me so far. All of the other new features will be available on my current iPhone when firmware 2.0 comes out anyway.

Even if you don’t agree with the current war in Iraq, don’t forget to stop for a moment today and remember those who served and gave their lives so that you could live in the United States of America.

You never expect to wonder what people you knew eleven years ago were up to, and then all of a sudden find them prominently in the news, in not a good way.

I guess I know now what Stacey’s been up to since I last saw her in 1997. It’s sad, because she was a struggling young single parent (but a good person) back then.

Warning: Political opinions ahead.

I had $29 bouncing around in PayPal, and for a week or so had been debating what to buy.. Gun stuff, books, etc. - but hadn’t been able to decide on what to spend it on. Last night I finally spent it on stuff from store.barackobama.com.

This year is the first time that I’ve ever donated money or contributed to a political party, because this is the first year that I’ve seen a candidate that actually offers hope for the future. I’d previously donated $10.01 to his campaign back in February, and will be donating more before November.

In 2004, I switched parties and voted for Kerry simply because he was running against Bush. In 2008, I’m voting for the candidate that can pull us out of this mess.

I sit and think about getting older.

I turn 34 later this year. Everything between age 21 now has just been a blur. Too much of being a workaholic. Too much waking up on a Thursday and thinking “The week’s gone by already?” Too much time spent not accomplishing anything that really matters in the long run other than paying bills and getting by.

I’m seven years older than my parents were when they had me.
I never thought that I would own a house - but now I’m in my *second* home.
I’m making four times what I did in my first “real job” at ioNET in 1995.

I never thought that I would find someone to spend my life with who could put up with my quirks, hobbies, and tendency to be a workaholic. I’ve been with Amy for TEN YEARS now - a third of my life - and we’ve been married for seven of those years.

I don’t “feel” like an adult. I still feel like a kid who is “managing to get by”.
Does this ever change? Do you ever grow older and finally feel “grown up” and mature?