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2013-05-21 16:31:08 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

I needed a quiet place to eat last night, so I found a small market at Howard and Spear (I think), got a beef piroshki and small fruit salad for $5.83 (in SF!) and sat and ate and enjoyed the quiet just south of Pier 14.

I hadn't realized how long it's been since I've just been alone near the water.  Don't get me wrong; I'm certainly missing my family and my co-workers (yes, because my co-workers are that awesome) while I'm at +ICSE 2013, but some quiet time was definitely appreciated. 

2013-05-21 16:04:47 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

May 20th Morning Break.  It's a good thing that the extra morning break locations start tomorrow, because there's quite the shindig happening here in the Seacliff Foyer...

2013-05-21 15:50:10 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

This awesome #icse2013  Student Volunteer, Uwe Pohlmann, achieved the rank of Supreme Lunch Ticket Collector Inspector General yesterday, when he energetically and yet politely managed to hold the line against the massive influx of hungry attendees, at a very tenuous and awkward entry point.  Congratulations, Uwe!

2013-05-21 01:14:41 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

DropBox + G+ a different way.... bear with me.  Yes, I could post these privately to me, but this way I get to 1) remind you all about how awesome our SV team here is and 2) potentially get comments and suggestions and feedback on my options :)

2013-05-20 22:46:54 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Testing this DropBox thing.  Apparently this..IFTTT thing doesn't work with G+ yet?  So we're looking at options for the +ICSE 2013 page.

In the meantime, this is part of our awesome Student Volunteer team at the registration desk :)

2013-05-20 18:40:24 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

The face behind the magically updating signs that
+Chris Lewis liked so much...Jennifer Worrell, one of our excellent University of Washington assistants.  #icse2013

2013-05-20 03:57:50 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Day 2 of Workshops/Co-Located Events at +ICSE 2013!  Today went very smoothly, because we learned a lot yesterday -- mostly about crowd dynamics, crowd control, and how to delicately balance wanting to make sure that the attendees and organizers are well supported without being so flexible that we can't actually get everything else done.  I've got some really excellent Student Volunteers here -- without whom, we'd go crazy!  Props to Joanne Atlee , +Thomas Zimmermann, +Gail Murphy, and the rest of the team!

Pictures will be coming soon!

2013-05-19 18:34:16 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

+ICSE 2013 Page now online!  We'll get this linked up to  http://2013.icse-conferences.org/ in just a little while....

2013-05-18 02:59:34 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Achievement Unlocked:
ICSE 2013 Registration Opens On Time.

Props to all the awesome Student Volunteers who finished stuffing the registration packets 1.5 hours before the deadline!  You rule!

2013-05-18 02:58:13 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

I can't get over how good the auto-enhancement is. When I looked at this picture (from the hallway window outside my room) on my camera, the Ferry building was entirely shadowed and hard to make out.  This is much closer to what I was seeing!

2013-05-18 02:56:35 (9 comments, 0 reshares, 17 +1s)

This will likely be the one and only "bathroom selfie" that I ever do, but my hotel room bathroom mirror has a freakin television in it!!!  My thought process started off with "Who....?", progressed to "Why......?" and then eventually got to "Well, I suppose...." -- I clearly don't plan on using it much, but I just had to snap and share :)

(Oh, and thanks G+ Photos Team for the auto-enhancing.  The original picture didn't look nearly as good). 

2013-05-14 05:42:39 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

I've hit the point on the ICSE 2013 Student Volunteer planning (of which I am the Chair) where I'm no longer freaking out about how much is left to plan -- that part's mostly done -- now it's all about proactive damage control, playbooks, mass communication of the details so they don't have to ask me in person (because I'm telling you, I just don't Scale That Way), and so on.

I don't think I ever before truly appreciated how transferrable some of the experience I've had creating, supporting, and maintaining some of Google's core Test Infrastructure pieces have been before I started doing this Student Volunteer Chair work.  It's really hard to sustain management of a system when there's only a few of you to do it if you don't figure out a way to make sure that people can still go on vacation, or more importantly, take care of sick family... more »

2013-04-28 01:18:59 (0 comments, 3 reshares, 5 +1s)

2013-04-28 01:10:26 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

See?  Blue photos.  Ah well.  Maybe I'll have to look into some of that photo processing software at some point.  In the meantime, this gives you a rather tinted sense of the courtyard behind the probably-city-council-building in Santa Cruz.

2013-04-28 01:08:30 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

We went to the Santa Cruz Mineral and Gem Show today.  On the way there and back, we walked through the courtyard behind the city council (I think) offices that we'd never seen before, having never parked in that area.  It was a beautiful courtyard, but as it turns out whenever I'm in shade, my cell phone camera only takes extremely blue pictures.  *sigh*.  These, however, I got to take in the sun, and while it's not a +Dave Besbris-quality flower picture, the flowers themselves are still pretty awesome.

Also, I got some Agate.  And some if-I-had-a-better-memory-I'd-tell-you-the-name-but-it-sure-is-pretty-ite.  I'll find some sunlight tomorrow and see if I can get a non-blue picture of it.

2013-04-27 03:13:25 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

I can't say that this is my favorite version/performance of this song, as I prefer the slightly more subdued album version, but that doesn't mean it isn't still an amazing song.

2013-04-20 15:45:30 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

RUN-DMC - Walk This Way

2013-04-20 15:37:23 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 8 +1s)

2013-04-09 15:58:14 (3 comments, 2 reshares, 4 +1s)

I watched this bit again before showing it to a friend today. It really doesn't matter how many times I see it; it's still one of my favorite bits.

I'm not alone in this; even though I've never looked up Taxi on YouTube before, this was the first suggestion after I'd typed "taxi what". Seriously.

2013-04-08 22:11:45 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Incredible Time-Lapse of the Earth

This video will give you a different perspective. Seeing things from high above teaches us to be humble and thankful.

Let's all try to preserve this precious little planet!

(Watch full-screen and turn on your speakers!)

2013-04-06 04:58:00 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

No More Cancer Drugs for Seniors on Medicare
Life gets crazier everyday.
#fail   #ridiculous  

2013-04-05 02:40:16 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

That moment when you realize that your migraine has gotten to the point where it is really too painful to keep working, but you really have to get things done, so you just work anyway while squinting your eyes to keep the light out...

That was earlier today.  Now I'm home waiting for my headband-shaped ice pack to cool down again.

I'm not sure if learning to use a screen reader would help either, because usually the ear on the same side of the head as the headache has sharp spiky pain going on at the same time, so I'm not too sure my hearing's all that great with a migraine either.

2013-04-02 03:08:08 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 6 +1s)

This one was a nice find....

2013-03-31 02:40:12 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

+Dave Besbris unintentionally derailed my train of thought while I was out shopping for baking/dessert supplies today.  Yeast...check.  Gelatin...check.  Oh hey, there's marzipan...hmmmmm, I wonder if I could make that into a recognizable squirrel shape....hmm......Ack!  Powdered suger...check...

2013-03-31 01:27:54 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

The girls found this on yoyomax12's YouTube channel and were immediately like "Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy can we make these???!!!!!"  So I said "Probably".

Answer: Yes, yes we can.

2013-03-31 01:26:25 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

Don't focus on the fact that I do no postprocessing on my pictures.  Focus instead on what kind of animal is looking out of that car's window at me.

2013-03-17 18:40:01 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

Thanks to everyone who tuned in to our Hangout On Air where we talked about the role of Software Engineer in Test at Google. You can watch the recording below.

If you're a student who's graduating this year and you're interested in the role of Software Engineer in Test, you can apply online at google.com/students/swenewgrad. If you're an industry candidate, you can apply online at http://goo.gl/8leFv.

#SEThangout  

2013-03-17 00:29:33 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 15 +1s)

Heading out...the only full length mirrors in this house are in my kid's rooms. You can tell this isn't a frequent occasion...

2013-03-08 02:12:49 (20 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

+Mary Smith is awesome.  I haven't been able to play +Zombie Lane much in the last couple of weeks, and she still thinks to give me cement, which she'd said she would a while back, and now I don't call, I don't write, and she still comes through.  Thanks Neighbor!!

2013-03-04 07:32:28 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

This would have been a picture of the Salmon with Curry Sauce from Jasmine Garden in SF, but it was too yummy to just look at.

2013-03-03 08:49:15 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Finshed the Nashkel Mines.  Somewhere between there and killing off Greywolf, I found an unidentified bolt.  Took it back and got it identified -- it's a bolt of polymorphism that...yes....turns the humanoid that it hits into a squirrel.

Maybe that's why +Dave Besbris liked this game so much.  Or did the squirrels come after?

2013-03-02 05:55:14 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

I'll leave you for the night with this one....

2013-03-02 05:43:32 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Video quality isn't great but the sound is awesome.

2013-03-02 05:30:16 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

I'd admittedly not been following Tony MacAlpine since Freedom to Fly, back in the day but holy cow he's still going strong...  Oh and look!  Steve Vai!

2013-03-02 05:15:19 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

And then there was more....

2013-03-02 05:00:47 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Here's something for you as you settle into the night......

2013-03-02 02:15:00 (4 comments, 4 reshares, 11 +1s)

Public service reminder that the sun is not at the center of the universe and is actually moving.

2013-03-02 02:08:49 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

:-)

2013-02-25 03:21:15 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

ISS flyover!  From my deck.

2013-02-23 04:28:12 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Really neat demo of reversible laminar flow.

They've also got an instructable to make the apparatus used in the experiment here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Turning-Back-Time-with-Reversible-Laminar-Flow/

2013-02-23 04:08:42 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition is now downloading.

2013-02-21 15:29:42 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Yesterday morning.  The solar panels as a half-carport have the nice side effect of preventing the frost from forming on the front part of the cars...

2013-02-21 06:45:17 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

#ifihadglass  I wouldn't forget your name three times within the first ten minutes of when you told it to me.

2013-02-21 06:44:34 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

#ifihadglass  I would be able to capture all those family moments that right now I just have to try to remember, because the phone is in my pocket, screenlocked, and not already in camera mode...

2013-02-21 05:56:02 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Good any time.

2013-02-19 15:27:51 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 7 +1s)

Today, +David Archer and +STEM Women on G+ shared some things about Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, the first person to earn a Ph.D. from Radcliffe College, and later the chair of Harvard's department of Astronomy. However, her work is largely unknown today – and having just spent an hour reading through some of it, this is something which needs to be fixed.

Her most critical work was actually her Ph.D. thesis in 1925, in which she calculated the chemical composition of the stars. (http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1925PhDT.........1P/0000001.000.html – thanks to +Rajini Rao for finding the link. Be warned, it's long!) The use of spectroscopy to determine which elements are present in the stars had started in the 1860's (and had led to the discovery of Helium), but figuring out how much of those elements is present was much more complicated. The idea is simple: each element(and e... more »

2013-02-19 01:28:12 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Yes, I just pre-loaded this. 

2013-02-20 06:01:17 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

2013-02-18 17:46:45 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

A few more ex-trees pix that finished uploading yesterday.  I couldn't get over the base/roots of this tree, which because of where it is aren't being reclaimed by the forest (it's at the edge of the amphitheater space).  The result is a lot like driftwood...just really, really, enormous driftwood.

2013-02-18 04:14:26 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

Some of the trees -- and ex-trees -- at Big Basin State Park (California)