philnicholas.com

I can’t remember where I found it, but I ran across a fascinating time-based graphic depicting the growth of WalMart.

Ever since taking the “Presenting Data and Information” course from the venerable Edward Tufte, I’ve been interested in information and statistics presentation (eventually contributing my minoring in visual communications). Representing numbers and data visually is very hard, especially when the goal of visual presentation (i.e., to demonstrate how the data relates to itself) often gets lost in our desire for glitzy over-production of whiz-bang PowerPoint.

So this brings us to the site FlowingData.com. Check it out, and don’t miss their 5 Best Data Visualization Projects of the Year.

OK, have to rebuild a ColdFusion 5 site for CF7 (convert modules to components. update HTML and CSS, blah blah). Yup, it’s late-night programming-o-rama for Phil.  There is only one approved food for midnight geeking…

Nachos Bel Grande a la Taco Bell.

Well, maybe not.  Wow. But still, I only do my best coding on the worse junk food. I’d have lost my career long ago if Hostess Donettes (chocolate of course) didn’t exist, but a box of Ding-Dongs will do a pinch.

A developer at work has a sign: “Programmer: An organism the converts caffeine into code.”  Yup.

I’m hittin’ da’ Bell.  G’nite all.

OK, so last night we build a computer for my friend, Tim. (Yes, I builld computers, by hand, from scratch.) For a few hundred bucks in new parts, a spare copy of WinXP Pro, plus an old LCD and video card I had laying around unused, I threw together a sweet little system as a belated Christmas gift to his family.

One of my yeah-like-if-I-really-had-the-time plans has been re-rip all the CD’s in my collection. Over time, I’ve ripped hundreds of CDs to MP3 using various apps; MusicMatch (remember them?), WinAmp (blech!) and various versions of iTunes. The bit rated has varied over the years, too. So this has left me with thousands of music files from various sources, with varying volumes and tonal qualities. Listening through my music library is like watching late night TV where the program is normal volume and then some blaringly loud commercial with crappy sound quality comes on and you find yourself diving for the remote to avoid hearing loss.

No more. I’m re-ripping it all in iTunes at 196K bite rate. This will likely be the last time I have to do this, so it’ll have to last.

The next headache, of course, is singling out all my purchases iTunes music and consolidating it into the new media library.

S&G Carpet comes on Friday to measure my condo for “hardwood”, er, laminate. I’m likely goind with WilsonArt, either Zen Cherry or Shogun Cherry (a little darker and more red).  Remember, I need something to contrast with the maple cabinets with the honey glaze.

I don’t think I’ve been sick twice in such a short period since I was a kid!  In late October I was out of work for over a week (completely unheard of) and now I’m getting the same stuffy nose mess going on.  A cold.  Again. Time to hit my super immune cocktail: Ester-C, chelated zinc with copper, and echinacea.