Do you work with office nazis? The kind of people who abhor slacking off and “unapproved” software like AIM, MSN Messenger, etc. If so, you need to check out Meebo. It’s a cool web front-end for AIM, YahooIM, Jabber, GoogleTalk, etc. Very cool.
06
Dec 05
There’s a lot going on
Don’t mistake my lack of updates for inactivity. Truth is, there are a lot of changes in store for me over the next month, which I will appraise you of in due course. You can count on that.
The photo here was taken on the road back from Dallas at 6:10am. When I stayed with Jody this weekend I ended up taking her little gate clicker with me and didn’t realize it until I got home late Sunday night when I was emptying out my pants pockets. It opens all the doors and gates in the complex, which is built like a fortress since it’s in the ghettofabulous part of downtown Dallas. When I called the apartment office about it, they said they didn’t have a temporary one she could borrow nor could they give her a temporary gate code, so I had to drive back up to Dallas after work yesterday to let her in after she got off her night job. Then we went to bed and I got up this morning at 5:00am so I could be back in Austin for work. So, that’s like two trips to Dallas and back since Thursday. It’s nothing but a thang anymore since I’ve gotten so used to driving long distances. Although I would have rather not made the trip, there’s no use getting bent out of shape by something you caused with your own stupidity. I just wish the coffee I got from Racetrac didn’t taste like a charred Incan mummy.
01
Dec 05
Wacky Wednesday
Kyle and I met up at Highland Lanes last night to bowl a few frames. Every Wednesday, Highland Lanes here in Austin has unlimited bowling (including shoe rental) for $5 a person. Incidentally, have you ever looked at the word “Wednesday” and thought that n shouldn’t be there? Why is it there? Turns out that Wednesday is named after the Norse god, Odin otherwise known as Woden or Wotan.
Unlike many of the other days of the week, this day did not correspond roughly with the Roman designation for the day. (The Roman’s named Wednesday for the messenger God – Mercury – In Romanian, the day is still known as miercuri). The early Scandanavians and Germans believed that Odin was the chief God of Asgard and as such deserved to have a day of the week named for him. The Anglo-Saxons used the word, Wodnesdaeg.
23
Nov 05
Love You Forever
The Book: “Love You Forever†by Robert Munsch, Illustrations by Sheila McGraw Read it online… it’s short. My mom bought this for me several years ago. Aww.
23
Nov 05
More Flash goodness
I’ve been working on some Flash elements for the company website, which we’re redoing. I love trying to do stuff in Flash because I’m visual and it’s more like playing than the work I do in HTML and CSS, etc. I also love working in Flash because I always have to learn how to do something new. Here is a simple animated navigation I’m working on right now. I didn’t design the buttons, just the behaviors and how they animate. In other words, I don’t like the button icons.
23
Nov 05
The 11-Year Quest to Create Disappearing Colored Bubbles
The 11-Year Quest to Create Disappearing Colored Bubbles “Kehoe grew up in a stoic Irish house, but Sherri came from a big, raucous Italian clan. During Kehoe’s first Christmas with his future in-laws, the grandmas and cousins and kids all gathered in the living room to play Pictionary. The game was boisterous and hilarious, and Kehoe couldn’t believe what a blast he had. That night he left with a new calling—to, as he puts it, “solve the problem of how to have fun.”
23
Nov 05
I love the holidays
I love seeing my family and spending time with people I care about. I love the stress of it and the break from routine, the familial nosiness, seeing how everyone has changed over the intervening year. I love to see everyone laughing and teasing each other, my aunts and grandmother baking and cooking, and on the other side of my family, my dad and uncle cooking and roasting. I love playing dominos, drinking coffee, and watching movies, everyone packed in like sardines.
To everyone within shouting distance, have a Happy Thanksgiving. Spend time with your tribe.
22
Nov 05
Who’s your daddy?
Do you know where your surname comes from? Usually surnames are derived in a few standard ways, and up until a couple hundred years ago they were not fixed as they are today in our modern era of bureaucratic record-keeping.
Occupation surnames Before we had surnames, you might have been known by what you did in the community, like “Robert Stockbroker”.
- Baker – the guy who makes the bread
- Cooper – the barrel maker
- Wright – one who makes something
- Kellogg – literally, the guy who kills the hogs
- Smith – the blacksmith, foreign equivalents for the same name: Schmidt (German, Danish), Ferraro (Italian)
Patronymics, using your father’s name as your surname This was popular in western europe until surnames became fixed, which is why it is popular today in western culture.
- England: father’s name + son. Jackson, Jefferson, for example.
- Scotland: Mac + father’s name. MacDonald, McCarthy, for example.
- Spain: father’s name + ez. Hernandez, Rodriguez, for example.
- French: illegitimate children were often given the surname form Fitz + father’s name. Fitzgerald, or Fitzpatrick, for example.
Toponymics, or place names Most people have surnames based on where their ancestors came from. This is actually the type of surname I have since at least one of my ancestors probably came from a place named Sybaris (destroyed by their neighbors) hence my surname, Sivori, or “one from Sybaris”. Other examples include:
- Woods – from the woods
- Heath – someone who lives out on the moores.
- Thorpe – the guy from town
Descriptive surnames Let’s say you have red hair. In the old days, you may have had the last name of Reid, Ross, Rossi, Roth, Rousseau, Russell, etc. all of which describe you as being red or having red hair. Other examples include:
- Grant – a tall man
- Armstrong – a guy with strong arms
- Brown – a guy with brown hair