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The Mac App Store is here and I've downloaded Twitter (yay Tweetie 2.0! Boo that it doesn't do anything with the tweet: JavaScript!).

There seem to be three ways to handle the transition:

1. Here's a decent way to handle it: charge customers for the next version now at a discount. If they want to get their apps through the App Store (in turn helping you to become a higher rated developer), great.
2. Let the customers decide what they want to do, largely because you're unsure yourself, and see where things shake out.
3. Go back on your word and lie to your customers, angering them and immediately causing irreparable harm to your brand and company.

In my case, with the software we're going to be releasing towards the end of the month, we're doing nothing. We're going to use our existing channel because the software will eventually be $50 and $500, and $15 and $150 is too big a cut for what Apple's going to do, particularly given that there are no coupon codes, no customer data, etc.

When the plumber came and started the installation of our three new toilets, he left three quarter turn valves from Hodes Co with me to install later on.

I got brave, read up quickly on how to install compression fittings ((They seem like they could just slide right off the darn pipes! But they don't, so…)), and installed them today. Spiffy! Our old ones tended to leak very slowly when turned off, so these not only look shinier but they work really well, too, and they standardize our quarter-turn valves among the house's toilets.

Plumbing always seems like something you don't want to mess with, but if you shut the water off and don't twist your pipes too hard or something, there's very little you can't do. I'm becoming fairly well versed in basic home repairs. Our next big project may be to replace some countertops and the other matching parts on the smaller bathroom vanities…

I'm looking for a Ruby on Rails developer with some design skills to build out version 2.0 of a site, namely taking it from "something we can use" to "something others can use."

The project is a small one that shouldn't take very long and has a budget with a comma in it, but discussions will have to take place before I can say exactly how much that is. 🙂 I can explain more later, and interested developers should get in touch with me via email or IM. Contact info is on the right.

I'm of a scientific mind, and I've never seen a good study that says vaccines cause autism. I've seen countless studies that say they do not, so I'm inclined to believe that vaccines do not cause autism.

But those who say autism is caused by vaccines say that big pharmaceutical companies are behind it all, and I like a good conspiracy theory as well, so while I lean one way I still think the idea is open for debate.

The indisputable facts are that autism is one the rise, and I'm curious to know what that reason is. 1 in 150 (or 100!) are simply unacceptable numbers, and the U.S. taxpayer is going to be under a significant burden if we reach a point of having millions of low-functioning autistic adults.

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One of my favorite xkcds of all time, http://xkcd.com/838/:

The ice wasn't great and the Penguins didn't adjust.

The Capitals continued to display their lack of class in celebrating like they'd won the Stanley Cup, going so far as their coach literally saying "This is as close to the Stanley Cup as we've gotten." Uhm, yeah…

It's a two-point game. A great spectacle, and fun to watch about 30% of the time (the percent that NBC used a standard camera instead of the craptastic other shots they used), but still just a regular-season game. Pens are still near the top of the standings in the NHL overall and things are looking up with Jordan Staal back in the lineup.

I ordered a Winter Classic Pens toque that is on backorder. Should keep my head warm while snowblowing. 😉

If you've seen this GIF before:

Then this video might be funny to you, as well as this: http://www.jamesvandermemes.com/.

I can't help but notice that something's been lost, though:

For awhile now I've known that Costco carries Mexican Coke. There's no Costco in Erie - just a Sam's Club. Well just about a week ago, I discovered that Sam's Club is now carrying Mexican Coke. I'm not sure if it's a limited-time thing ((It probably is. Which will be sad. Please please please don't let it be temporary!)) or what, but I bought a case and enjoyed a bottle or two over the holidays.

Wikipedia's List of Common MIsconceptions is a good read for everyone. I know most of them, and some are "common sense" if you have a little knowledge and time to think about the concept (like the idea of a black hole having no more sucking power than the star that was there before it - we measure "gravity" from the center of mass, after all).

And then there's the really stupid ones like this:

Humans have more than five senses. Although definitions vary, the actual number ranges from 9 to more than 20. In addition to sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing, which were the senses identified by Aristotle, humans can sense balance and acceleration (equilibrioception), pain (nociception), body position (proprioception or kinesthetic sense), and temperature (thermoception). Other senses sometimes identified are the sense of time, itching, pressure, hunger, thirst, need to urinate, and need to defecate.

Who doesn't know that? I think we all do, but we get caught up in saying "five senses" because that's what we're taught in kindergarten or something.

Also, I knew the cooking ones, and it's disappointing how many times chefs/hosts on cooking shows on TV will talk about searing in the juices or burning off the alcohol.

Gee, didn't the same thing happen last year? Yep. Here's the new pricing.

We're still on the old "Total Choice Plus" at $61.49. We pay $10 for HD access, $7 for DVR, and $3 for Whole-Home DVR service. We pay $5 each for a Leased receiver and a Primary leased receiver. We're still getting a credit of $15 (24 months of free HD access and $5 for having a Primary Leased Receiver. Taxes are $4.22. Prior to the $15 discount and taxes, the bill is $91.49.

I'm fairly certain that if I could get the local channels, Golf Channel, and FSN I'd do it.

Anyway, new pricing says:

Total Choice Plus: $64.49 (+$3), receivers run $6 (+$1 apiece), and the rest remains the same… I think, for a hit of $5 additional. I don't know what "PLUS DVR" and "PLUS HD DVR" are, but they seem more expensive. I think they may have been plans that were available at one point between the "Total Choice" series and the current base packages.

Anyway, pffft. At least we saved some money switching to 1 Disc on Netflix.

Seriously? A special edition car made after a video game, complete with hood decals and whatnot?

I could see wanting one (or being given one) if you wrote the game or were somehow involved in its creation, but who on earth would want to buy a car because they like a video game?

Please don't answer that question. The answer is probably frightening.

Earlier this year Carey noticed a little spot on our ceiling in our living room. I investigated and couldn't find much of anything - perhaps the stain had always been there and we'd just not really noticed?

At Christmas the stain was a little worse, and so with the help of Rich and Stan we looked around in the bathroom that was directly above. The spot was just over the toilet, and the sink and tub were both bone dry, so that wasn't the likely issue.

I was set to replace the toilets myself but Carey insisted on a plumber. I removed the toilet downstairs to see how difficult it might be, but gave up when I didn't have shims. It's not that hard to install a toilet, but since it only takes 20 minutes it's probably worth paying someone to do it in the upstairs bathrooms.

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I've been reading that using Google's DNS servers can cause slow-downs with some types of traffic. Hmmmm… not cool.

Anyway, as a precaution should I encounter this, I tried to find my Time-Warner (Roadrunner, NE Ohio section) DNS setttings and, well, I have no idea what they are.

I spent a good five minutes looking for them. Perhaps I was having a bad day. 🙂

I did find 24.92.226.11 and 24.92.226.12. Those are for commercial customers. I also found 24.25.5.60 and 24.25.5.61, but likewise, they're for the "Business Class" customers.

Edit: Derr, the ones provided to me by default are 209.18.47.61 and 209.18.47.62

The problem with having Christmas a day early is that on Christmas day, you've got nothing to do. You can't go out to eat, you can't shop, you can't call people and chat because they're celebrating their Christmas…

No worries, though - I'm going to start in on my Vince Flynn book Term Limits.

For various scheduling reasons, we're having Christmas a day early this year at our house. It will allow the most people to be here and everyone's off, so why not? And, on the off chance (i.e. Brandon forgetting to bring his dip) that someone forgets something, stores are still open to sell it to us.

I still hauled the strobes up so we got nice Christmas pictures. It's completely normal now and everyone is used to it.

Nat handed out her usual presents from the school Christmas sale. This year, the inside joke (we told her later at night) was that she'd gotten her new cousin Parker a miniature stuffed lion. The problem is it was stuffed with catnip and was labeled as a cat toy. We made several jokes about "Santa Claws" and other things of a feline variety. Nat found it funny and pointed out that it was for sale in the baby section of the toy sale, so… she wasn't the only one to make a mistake.

No dinner. Just buffet style snacks all day - cheese trays, meatballs, cookies, etc. You know, all the healthy stuff. 🙂