These are my annotated tweets for the week of 7 September 2008. Follow my microblog on Twitter at http://twitter.com/conrad_halling, then come here for the expanded version.
Tropical Storm Hannah
2008-09-07: We had lots of rain (although not as much as originally predicted) but no damage from the passing of tropical storm Hannah.
Programming With R
2008-09-07: I’ve been reading Software for Data Analysis: Programming With R. At last, I understand functional programming as implemented by R.
2008-09-08: More systems administration today on our Linux box. I compiled and installed R 2.7.2 after compiling and installing external prerequisites.
Software for Data Analysis: Programming With R was written by John M. Chambers, the principal designer of the S programming language, of which R is a dialect. For me, at least, this book replaces the old S Programming by W. N. Venables and B. D. Ripley, which did not cover R adequately. Chambers provides a good explanation of how functional programming works, and this made it instantly clear to me why I was writing some of my code incorrectly; I was not following the functional programming paradigm.
Star Stryder Banned By Google
2008-09-08: I can’t find Star Stryder’s web site using Google, but Yahoo has it. For once, Yahoo has a better search engine than Google.
It turned out that Star Stryder’s site had been hacked, and Google had banned her site because of the keywords present in the hacked material. Now that she has cleaned up her site, she has to wait for Google to review it and re-enter it into their indexes, which could take weeks.
I enjoy Star Stryder’s blog, podcasts, and tweets.
BBEdit Upgrade
2008-09-09: 9 days after paying $30 to upgrade BBEdit to 9.0, I got an email saying that since I was a recent buyer of 8.5, my free upgrade was ready.
Well, BBEdit is still worth it.
iPod touch or iPod nano?
2008-09-09: Decisions, decisions…. Do I buy the new iPod touch or the new iPod nano? I’m disappointed, though, that there’s no new MacBook Pro.
I need a new iPod once my iPod mini dies (and its battery lasts only about six hours now), and my wife needs a new MacBook Pro for her business.
Documentation for RPM Package Management
2008-09-10: Neighbors woke me up by being noisy, so I’m reading documentation about the RPM package management software. Good documentation is sparse.
It’s easier for me to compile from the source code than it is to use RPM. I need to figure this out so I can save time.
Scary Intersection in Cambridge
2008-09-10: The intersection of Sidney St. and Mass. Ave. in Cambridge is scary now that the reconfiguration is finished. Someone is going to get hurt.
I was watching this intersection while sitting outside with friends at The Asgard. Many drivers were running red lights and making illegal turns or going straight ahead in the right turn only lane. This is not to mention the foolhardy bicyclists, who typically break every traffic law while riding.
I Live Too Close To My Neighbors
2008-09-13: It’s 3:49 am. Who are all these people driving up our street, parking, slamming car doors, and talking loudly? Hey! I know where you live!
Get off my lawn!
Jobs at 454
2008-09-13: Received from a friend who just started a new bioinformatics job at 454: A list of 40 open positions there. I already have a good job….
Beatles on iTunes — When?
2008-09-13: What happened to all those rumors about the Beatles’ catalogue becoming available on iTunes? Still not there…. It’s OK — I own the CDs.
I’ve owned the Beatles on vinyl, cassette tapes, and now CDs.
Berkeley Alumni
2008-09-13: I went for a long walk in the city today wearing my Berkeley T-shirt. I was greeted by two strangers, Berkeley alumni. “Go Bears!” indeed.
The Berkeley Alumni Association is really big on the football games. I hated the football games because on game day students couldn’t park on campus. Since I worked in lab every Saturday, on game day I’d have to take BART instead of drive.
