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Monday, 5 May 2008

1646 - The Current TV segment is up Jean Nagy followed me around ROFLcon for two days with a video camera for Current TV. The segment is now running on the network, and you can see it online. I'm really happy with it. Go take a look. current mood: pleased

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1150 - Throwing my helmet into the ring I've entered myself into nomination for the LiveJournal Advisory Board. Please look over my nomination message, and if you agree that I should represent the users on the board, post your support by adding a comment - but keep it short. From the LJ news entry announcing the opening of nominations: We ask that you keep your comments on the nomination posts to "I support this nomination" or something to that effect; be kind to those who will need to count the "supports", please. If you're feeling really supportive, you can add one of the banners in the news post to your LJ, too. Thanks! current mood: geeky

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Sunday, 4 May 2008

1043 - Yummy good stuff meme Via tonyfox: ( 20 questions about food ) current mood: full

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Saturday, 3 May 2008

1957 - New icon Thanks to film2edit, I now have an icon to hang on airplane-related postings. Whee! current mood: happy

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Monday, 28 April 2008

0748 - ROFLcon Wow. If you've been watching the geekier side of the net, you've no doubt heard of ROFLcon. Everyone seems to think I'm one of the biggest names who went. I was constantly mobbed by people wanting a picture, or an autograph, or just a word or three. Just about every media outlet that sent someone - G4, CNN.com, the BBC, the CBC, the Boston Globe, Martin Sargent's Internet Superstar, Rocketboom, Make Magazine, the list goes on - wanted at least a few words, if not a full-blown interview. A filmmaker is doing a story for Current TV, and followed me around with a camera and an assistant for the entire time. All of this attention leaves me mildly bemused, as I really don't think of myself as an Internet superstar. I'm just a geek who made a costume that caught people's eye. The con itself was fantastic. Everything went off without a hitch (well, after they fixed the minor detail that I wasn't on the guest list at registration - fixed by someone with a pen who filled out a nametag on the spot). The organizers did a fantastic job, even after having to switch venues at the last moment because they'd overflowed the first one. I made a point of telling them how impressed I was, and I'll repeat it here. The coverage I've seen has been very positive. I'm really pleased by the Rocketboom story; they did a very nice job. There's been no "let's make fun of the fat guy in spandex" factor that was so prevalent when things first started happening. Along with Matt Harding of wherethehellismatt.com fame, I did an hour-long panel on surviving Internet fame. That was a lot of fun. I'm told the entire thing will show up on YouTube soon; when it does, I'll link to it. I'm wasted. It was all a lot of fun. Even so, being on stage for two days straight took a lot out of me. On top of that, yesterday was a long travel day: I went to Logan Airport at 8 AM, flew to Minneapolis, swapped suitcases, and flew to Atlanta, arriving at the hotel just before midnight. I'm going down to Eastman today to visit the airplane factory, have a class tomorrow, then back home Wednesday. I'll work from there a couple of days, and then I have no idea what I'm doing next week. current mood: exhausted

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Thursday, 24 April 2008

1403 - Penguicon and the OSBP controversy I made my usual trip to Penguicon this year. Had a blast, hung out with neat folks, stayed awake entirely too much, went home tired. Penguicon is one of the few events I'll move heaven and earth to go to every year. I've been to every one, and plan to continue that. Unfortunately, a controversy over the actions of a few may irreparably harm it: the Open Source Boob Project. theferrett's posting is here. There are lots of folks commenting on it; the one I saw a pointer to with links to many of them is friends-locked, so I can't link to it. I'm not going to attempt to comment on it. Everyone else is doing that, and there's nothing I could say that hasn't been said over and over already. What I'm very, very afraid of is that this controversy will spill over onto the con itself. This would be a terrible shame, as the con isn't responsible for the events in question (hell, I didn't know it had been going on until afterwards), and there's no other con in the world quite like it. Given my experiences with another SF con, if Penguicon dries up and blows away, I'll probably drop out of the scene entirely. I don't know how to keep Penguicon from that fate. Suggestions? current mood: sad

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Saturday, 5 April 2008

0812 - Words meme I grew up in Houston, and lived there until my forties... 1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks: creek or bayou 2. What the thing you push around the grocery store is called: grocery cart 3. A metal container to carry a meal in: lunchbox 4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in: skillet 5. The piece of furniture that seats three people: couch 6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof: gutter 7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening: porch 8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages: Coke (even if it's Pepsi) 9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup: pancakes 10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself: po-boy 11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach: bathing suit 12. Shoes worn for sports: tennis shoes 13. Putting a room in order: clean up 14. A flying insect that glows in the dark: lightning bug (although I never saw one until I came to Minnesota) 15. The little insect that curls up into a ball: doodle bug 16. The children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down: teeter-totter 17. How do you eat your pizza? with my hands unless it lacks sufficient structural integrity 18. What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff? a garage sale 19. What's the evening meal? dinner 20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are? the basement (though, again, I never had one until I came to Minnesota) 21. What do you call the thing that you can get water out of to drink in public places? water fountain (via yakko and a cast of thousands) current mood: awake

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Wednesday, 2 April 2008

2154 - I'm on South Park! ...well, sort of. They included me among a group of Internet celebrities in episode 1204, Canada On Strike. I didn't know this in advance; bronxelf_ag001 IMed vakkotaur while it was on, and we caught the last little bit of it. We're going to tape it when it comes on again in a couple of hours. I really wish they'd asked me to do the voice. I'm told (I haven't heard it myself, yet) that they gave me a Minnesota accent, which, as anyone who's heard me speak will tell you, is about as wrong as it gets while still remaining within the American spectrum. I'll have to watch the whole thing. I'm not a fan of South Park, but I'll make an exception for this one. If you're interested, check out the rerun schedule on the Comedy Central website. It'll be available to watch on the net for free in a month. I complained about the voice on the South Park forum for the episode...it'll be interesting to see what turns up there. Update, 3 April: The episode's now available online (make sure to select Canada on Strike). I'm waiting for it to buffer so I can watch. current mood: surprised

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Tuesday, 1 April 2008

2134 - Finished the airplane design I finally had a moment to finish the design of N55ZC's wings and horizontal stabilizer, to go along with the fuselage and paint I'd already done. ( Picture inside. ) I'm pretty sure this won't be an issue aerodynamically, and it completes the look. I finally have the can of paint Krylon sent to replace the one we'd bought that didn't spray, and I'll be sending a sample of the color I want to the manufacturer tomorrow. Update, 29 April 2008: For those of you who came here from urlesque.com, the airplane I'm buying is an AMD Zodiac XLi. I'm scheduled to pick it up at the factory in Eastman, Georgia on June 2. It'll be very well equipped, as well as being customized to my specifications. The Zodiac is the best choice for a light sport aircraft that'll serve as a cross-country cruiser; if you're looking at LSAs, give the Zodiac a close look. current mood: artistic

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1957 - ping bronxelf_ag001 You might be interested in this posting. I am, too, but because of the other set they announced. current mood: happy

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Friday, 28 March 2008

2238 - Hands off! Some of the folks who inhabit the MetaFilter talk board MetaTalk have just now discovered that the founder of MetaFilter, Matt Haughey, is going to ROFLcon. This isn't too noteworthy. What is is this comment: And yeah, I will totally grab the Tron Guy's package for a photo if I can. posted by mathowie at 6:13 PM on March 27 [3 favorites] "mathowie" is the founder himself, Matt Haughey. All I can say, Matt, is keep your hands off - or else I'll de-rez you. current mood: amused

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Thursday, 27 March 2008

1442 - Had a nasty scare This morning, a message came across a mailing list related to light sport aircraft that I'm on that said AMD, the maker of the Zodiac I'm buying, went out of business. I tried contacting everyone I could think of. No answer at the factory. My sales rep wasn't in yet. Finally, a different distributor told me that there was no problem, and a little bit later, I got someone at the factory, who told me there was no problem at all. Whew. For a while there, I was really scared... current mood: relieved

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Wednesday, 26 March 2008

1943 - Need(ed) more practice My gig today ended earlier than I expected, and the weather cooperated, so I went flying. Specifically, I spent an hour bouncing around the traffic pattern with an instructor in a 1967 Piper Cherokee 180C at Fairmont Municipal Airport. I was pretty rough at the beginning, but got progressively better as I went along. The last couple of approaches were pretty well dialed in, and the landings were quite acceptable - not greasers, but not the kind of severe "WHAM!!!" I was committing the first day in the Zodiac, either. I finished the hour a bit tired, but pleased. I'm going to do that a couple more times, my schedule permitting, before I head for Georgia to take delivery of my Zodiac. Between that, and time with the factory pilots, I should have the rust knocked off by the time I fly away with the airplane. current mood: satisfied

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1737 - What's wrong with this picture? I was reading the Minneapolis Star-Tribune web site with PithHelmet disabled (because no new version is yet available for Safari 3.1), and suddenly my window went away and I got a dialog box. I don't remember what it said, but when I clicked on OK, I got redirected to: ( this page. WARNING: huge image... ) Now, what's wrong with this picture? xponlinescanner.com has the honor of being the very first domain I'll drop into my local DNS caching server and pointed to 127.0.0.1 (which, for those of you who aren't computer geeks, effectively turns it off). In general, I don't do that, but these folks have earned being an exception. current mood: irritated

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Wednesday, 19 March 2008

2117 - Here's what I think the airplane should look like I finally got a copy of the GIMP for OS X that doesn't require installing 59 other packages to get running. With that, I could add the graphics to the airplane design on my laptop. ( Here's the picture. ) The design goals here are twofold: Leave no doubt in anyone's mind that it's the Tron Guy's airplane, and still remain simple and clean. I think I've balanced the two. I haven't quite figured out what I can do with the wings and horizontal stabilizer; I'll talk to the manufacturer before I do that part of it, since there are aerodynamic considerations involved. current mood: artistic

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Monday, 17 March 2008

1722 - Officially ordered It's official. I sent in the deposit for my Zodiac today. The aircraft is scheduled to be delivered on or about June 1. current mood: jubilant

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Sunday, 16 March 2008

1256 - What, me design? Part of the attraction of the Zodiac to me is that I can completely specify the paint and interior. The downside of that is that I have to actually do the design. I know what I want it to look like; it's getting that on paper (well, in an image file) that's the fun part, for small values of "fun". Even so, I've managed to beat Photoshop into submission enough to get started on the design: ( Preliminary design pictures inside. ) I'm going to simply send the .PSD files these images came from to the manufacturer, tell them that's what I want it to look like, and let them translate to paint and vinyl graphics. I'm not entirely sure the green matches the Tron costume, but it's close enough, and I'm not expecting an exact match in any event. current mood: artistic

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Friday, 7 March 2008

0716 - "Elder statesman of modern memehood"?! I've been going back and forth with the folks organizing ROFLcon, a gathering of Internet celebrities and those who study them. I was the first person who agreed to come when they were setting things up, and I've been following their progress ever since. It's looking like a really interesting event. I'm going to be giving a panel there on surviving Internet fame. I think I've got a few things to say on that particular subject. Well, more than a few. The ROFLcon announcement of that panel has a line in it that I'm not sure I believe, but I'll go along with it for the ride: "Three years pretty much makes Jay an elder statesman of modern memehood[...]" While I'll admit to being an alter kacker (that's Yiddish for "old fart"), elder statesman may be putting the case a bit strongly. The phenomenon of Internet fame certainly predates me; OTOH, four years (not three) is a long time in the world of the Internet. (Yes, it's really been four years since the costume first hit the net. Time flies, and all that.) If you read the comments on the announcement entry, you'll also see one from Ben Stein. No, not that Ben Stein. This one's a producer for Current TV, who will have someone following me around both days of the conference and making a segment for them on me. The segment will be available online as well as on their cable and satellite channel. They do good work; I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out. current mood: awake

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Thursday, 28 February 2008

1836 - Picked a plane I just realized that I posted that last entry without explaining what was going on. When I last wrote, I'd flown the Sierra but not the Zodiac. I corrected that deficiency this past Monday and Tuesday. I got 3 hours in it, and a freshly signed off biennial flight review, and a real humbling. Unlike the Sierra, the Zodiac's controls are very light and responsive, so much so that it demands a different way of flying. The first flight was terrible, all the way around; I made 4 arrivals (I won't dignify them by calling them landings) that were all dropped in from a few feet up, and was never really in control of the aircraft. The second flight was different because, instead of using my hand and arm to fly as I did the first day (and as I've always done on other aircraft), I planted the side of my hand firmly on my thigh and used just the forefinger and thumb to fly. That made all the difference in the world. Based on that, I'm convinced that I'll be able to fly the Zodiac well, with enough practice. I've been working with a sales rep to put together a specification sheet and list of options, and that process is about done. At that point, I'll have a firm price quote that I can take to lenders and insurance companies, and when I put down a deposit, I'll have formally ordered the aircraft. I'm currently being quoted a delivery date of May 10. That means I'll probably fly to the Dayton Hamvention from the factory, after getting several hours of instruction in my airplane, then down to Texas to show it off to friends and family, then over to Huntsville for RCFM, then home. Whee. This assumes the weather cooperates, something not at all assured. I've got a general paint design in mind that will leave no doubt it's the Tron Guy's airplane, and an N-number already reserved for it: N55ZC, after my ham radio callsign K5ZC. (N5ZC was already taken.) It's going to be a new adventure for me. I'm really looking forward to it. current mood: pleased

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1100 - Timely fortune cookie From the Mongolian barbecue place I hit for lunch yesterday: You shouldn't overspend at the moment. Frugality is important. Considering I was going back and forth with the Zodiac sales representative with the quote for my airplane, which is coming in a bit above $130K, that was amusing. For that $130K, I'm getting an extremely well equipped aircraft that's about as capable as a light single can get... current mood: amused

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