So, I’m probably 60% complete, in terms of lines of code, working on a script to parse data out of a bunch of HTML pages, but I’m probably 90% complete in terms of time spent. I’ve figured out the basic form of the regular expressions I need to use, now I just need to write more of them — easy as pie!

So, of course, I want to change my approach now to something more “elegant,” rather than creating a regexp for each piece of data I want to extract, I want to create a sort a more generic parser that will extract all the fields in the documents, and let me easily query to get the pieces I want. It will be cool to figure out how to do it, even suboptimally. It’s also going to take me probably another day, or more likely, two more days.

The right thing, in this case, is to just finish the damn script the way I started it and be done with it. Sigh.

Update: I ended up splitting the difference because I was having trouble getting things to work with my original approach.

North Dakota is loosing population. South Dakota’s population is growing in absolute terms, but shrinking relative to the entire population of the US. South Dakota’s legislature is confronting the issue. They are banning abortion and, no doubt, lining their pockets with contributions from right wing pressure groups.

I am, once again, abandoning my attempt to use my linux server to share my HP Deskjet 880c among the Windows computers in my house. I find CUPS, the common unix printing system ( trademarked by “Easy Software”), uncommonly unintuitive and impenetrable. Or, if not CUPS itself, then the way it is deployed on Ubuntu/Debian.

Maybe the next time I experience a trancendent state of bliss I’ll try setting it up again. For now though, I don’t need the aggravation.

So, Steve Jobs has all but succeeded in selling Pixar to Disney. Time will tell if this goes down the similarly to when he sold NeXT to Apple, and then routed out much of the existing leadership and took control.

What I’m wondering is what I’m sure a lot of other people are wondering: What happens with Apple? It’s not news that Apple is already been becoming more of a consumer electronics and entertainment company.

I have to wonder if the switch to Intel chips isn’t a step towards divesting the computer part of the business in preparation for a merger of the remainder of the company with Disney. At the very least, it will make it easier for Apple to rely on 3rd parties to do more and more of the design and manufacturing of Macs.

It’s really about time, too. The time where it was really necessary for vertical integration between operating systems software and personal computer hardware is past. On the other hand, vertical integration between media devices, operating systems, applications software and media is clearly at hand if we ever hope to see this stuff working smoothly together.

I mean, come on, as just one example, converting DVDs for viewing on both the iPod and the various microsoft personal media center devices basically requires the use of 3rd party software of uncertain legality.

That said, there are plenty of good reasons for Apple not to merge with Disney, one of them being that it leaves them in a better position to do partnership deals with other content companies.

I guess we’ll see in a few years, won’t we.

What I really love about wide screen HDTVs is that there isn’t much widescreen HDTV content, so the sets stretch everything, making everyone on TV look much “thicker.” As a result borderline anorexic celebrities look much more like average americans. Perhaps we’ll see a dip in various body image disorders for a while until the content catches up with the technology. Of course, at that point, we’ll be able to see just how “lousy”:http://www.tvpredictions.com/celebritieshdtv120305.htm “a lot”:http://us.gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/victorias-secret-show-gets-hd-diss-140942.php “of these people”:http://digg.com/movies/Hollywood_worried_about_how_Celebrities_are_viewed_in_HD “really look”:http://www.geekfun.com/2005/12/05/virutal-makeup-for-celebs-in-the-hdtv-age/.

I have a new camera, and I am once again annoyed with the available tools for downloading the photo files from my camera and organizing them on my computer.

What I want is pretty simple, I think:

# Automatic download of images when I hook up the camera or compact flash card
# Ability to automatically download both JPG and RAW (CR2) files
# Automatic organization into folders by shooting date
# Preservation of filename from camera
# The option of storing those folders on a network volume
# Ability to quickly and annotate one or more files at a time with captions and keywords.
# Metadata storage in-file so it is available to other image management applications
# Index of metadata for fast searching
# Fast generation of high quality thumbnails
# Fast scrolling of thumbnails when browsing images
# Option of a flat view of directory hierarchy when browsing images
# Nondestructive “tweaking” of images (levels, color balance, crop, sharpening)
# Easy export of images at arbitrary file sizes and quality levels for e-mail, etc

I’m happy to use more than one application to get all these features, as long as it makes sense in terms of work flow. I don’t mind using one app to acquire the images, another to organize, another to make basic tweaks as long as the transitions fit with my workflow. I don’t want to have to go back and forth between different apps, saving ever time.

So far, I haven’t found anything that works quite right. Continue reading →