Author Archives: skierpage

About skierpage

As you might guess, my site is mine. My Schema.org info is at .

computers: browser-based efforts

Posted on 2011-11-28 by skierpage

I wrote a year ago that when it comes to computers, I want to be browser-based — since I’m doing most of my work in the browser, let me do nearly all my work in the browser. Boot 2 Gecko … Continue reading →

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cars: progress in eco, not in design

Posted on 2011-11-19 by skierpage

Toyota’s 2012 high mpg warpath, Subaru’s best mpg all-wheel drive car. Continue reading →

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music: Jeff Beck grinds cats

Posted on 2011-11-19 by skierpage

I watched Jeff Beck: Performing this Week… Live at Ronnie Scott’s, and I’m hugely impressed but not quite thrilled. The man doesn’t play guitar, he plays Stratocaster; the whammy bar and volume knob are integral to his right hand technique … Continue reading →

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music: Quincy Jones on respecting musical styles

Posted on 2011-10-28 by skierpage

I borrowed Q on Producing from the library. As the pretentious banner “THE QUINCY JONES LEGACY SERIES” across the top hints, it’s terrible, sycophantic hagiography woefully short on details of actual music production. But there are a few nice quotes. … Continue reading →

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computers: reporting bugs in a sea of versions and projects

Posted on 2011-10-27 by skierpage

Someone’s post When is a bug report useful? inspired me to comment. I have two great ideas in here bug systems should be aware of my distribution, version, and related packages software projects should provide a way to test drive … Continue reading →

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cars: 1990s slant-nose beauties

Posted on 2011-09-30 by skierpage

I’ve seen a few Ferrari 458s on the road. It’s a strange, intense-looking car in person. In a debate on its beauty someone brought up the Ferrari F355. For sure the F355 is a beautiful car. It’s such a smooth … Continue reading →

Posted in cars, design | 1 Comment

How to”sign” documents so you can junk your Fax machine

Posted on 2011-09-12 by skierpage

Fax machines use a terrible scanner to send a grainy image of a page down a phone line, it’s last century’s technology that needs to die. And what is on that page? 99.7% of the time, it is something that … Continue reading →

Posted in software | 2 Comments

movies: recent Woody Allen

Posted on 2011-08-19 by skierpage

Woody Allen’s recent Midnight in Paris is a fun trifle, stroking the audience’s ego with its 1920s Paris fantasy imagined by an intellectually lightweight author. Literally nothing’s at stake in this well-fed easygoing fantasy. It’s an echo of the far … Continue reading →

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music: Little Feat’s Waiting for Columbus

Posted on 2011-08-06 by skierpage

I had this live double album and sold it because I wasn’t that big a fan. But I heard a friend’s copy and had to buy it again. “All That You Dream” has one of the greatest intros ever (video … Continue reading →

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music: Led Zeppelin, conscious bloat versus generosity

Posted on 2011-07-11 by skierpage

This funny moment-by-moment review of a single Led Zeppelin song in concert nails the problem people have with them: “conscious bloat”. But one man’s bloat is another’s inspired riffing. You could just as well label all dance music = mindless repetition, … Continue reading →

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