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Geek Patrol has published an interview with, well, me at geekpatrol.ca. I said a lot in that interview, so I've not much to say here and now. 🙂

Kati and I went shooting today. I was a bit suspicious that Miss Boca Fashion Plate could hold her own, but she performed rather well. Kati's shots are from 10-15 feet, mine are at about 30-35. She didn't fire less rounds: she just missed the paper a bit more frequently. 🙂

To those who think that shooting a handgun accurately is easy, I offer the above proof. Take ten big steps away from a wall and turn around. 35 feet is not that far - dart throwers are probably more accurate from that range than I am (currently) with a handgun.

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I've previously hinted that PulpFiction 1.0.1 would be available soon. In our efforts to massively improve the speed, fix some bugs, and add some nifty features, we've hit a few snags - things that take a little longer than we imagined - and are so bound by our perfectionism that we can't officially release 1.0.1 in its current state.

Most developers might call the work we're doing enough to warrant a 2.0 or 1.5 moniker, or at the very least 1.1, but we're sticking with (for now) calling this PulpFiction 1.0.1. Instead of making you wait even longer, however, we're instituting a rolling release plan. Every few days the first URL listed below will contain an updated 1.0.1 build. You're free to use these as you see fit with the understanding that they are betas and may act erratically or poorly. We encourage you to send us bug reports through the site and to test.

We think you'll at least appreciate the speed boost. The ability to choose your own fonts. The enhanced "mark all read" functionality (hold the option key and click the toolbar). The ability to view the linked content instead of the content of the feed. And much more. Hmm, come to think of it, maybe this will be a 1.1 release… 🙂

We've updated the stylesheet format, and you can download any of our current themes for 1.0.1 by getting the second URL:

Updated (a few times per week) beta of PulpFiction 1.0.1: http://freshlysqueezedsoftware.com/downloads/PF101b.zip

Registration codes will continue to work and by tomorrow we hope to have the feature in place which will reset demo periods to provide a new 15 days.

Question: What is the single most important lesson that any religion teaches us?

My Answer: That there is something bigger than us.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

I am quitting Coca Cola cold turkey. I've read enough bad stuff lately about diabetes and cancer (and artificial sweeteners) that I've decided that, though not quite as serious and not nearly as harmful to people nearby, my excessive consumption of Coke is like smoking.

I have a 2L in my fridge that I have to finish first, and I'll have the occasional Coke at restaurants now and then (when milk isn't on the menu). I'm not the biggest fan of water, so what are suitable alternatives? Fruit juices seem a likely choice, correct? They still have sugar, but they're natural sugars. That makes a difference, does it not?

Coke is inexpensive - cheaper than water, most of the time - so that's going to be tough to overcome. I'll pay more for better stuff, but I'm not going to go excessive. Gatorade, perhaps? I don't know. More expensive but well within the "worth it" range, I suspect.

Question: What reasons do you have for unsubscribing from a blog?

My Answer:
1. Boredom - the content is not interesting.
2. Lack of time - it's precious.
3. Similar to other sites - see reason #2.
4. Slow update frequency - no sense keeping them around…
5. Changed interests - I'm no longer interested in the main topic

I never, ever unsubscribe because I disagree with the author(s). An upcoming interview with me contains this snippet:

I read a lot of blogs by women because they tend to look at things differently, and I read a lot of blogs by people with whose opinions I almost always disagree: I don't see much point in reading blogs by people that agree with you. I read a lot of Windows blogs, a lot of Linux blogs, because I like to see what we (Mac users) could be doing better.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

I visited the Delray Shooting Center today to look at handguns. I had a price range in mind: $400-$700, and I knew what I liked: a grip-heavy black or silver non-composite name brand 9mm. I ended up going with the CZ 75 B. The shop owner kept calling it a Beretta, though I'm not certain of the particulars of branding here.

The CZ 75 B is used by many European and Russian military forces, while our own country prefers the CZ 75 BD model.

• Large capacity double-column magazine
• Comfortable grip in either hand
• All steel
• Dual action mode of operation
• Highly accurate
• Long service life
• Highly reliable. Combat tested in inclement weather
• The slide stays open after the last cartridge has been fired
• Three-dot sight system for better aiming in poor visibility
• Suitable for combat shooting

The gun will be used for target shooting at the same shooting center where it was purchased. I may carry it with me when I travel at 4am to go fishing, though that's highly unlikely.

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Question: What is and how do you feel about stem cell research?

My Answer: I'm not sure what it is exactly, which is part of the reason I'm asking the question. My current understanding (due to change in the next 30 minutes, no doubt) is that stem cell research involves the use of undifferentiated cells for the creation of new cells. These undifferentiated cells come from "donated" embryos that will not be put into a uterus for development and birthing. These undifferentiated cells can be used, scientists hope, to create a liver, or nervous tissue, or such. There exist 60 or so pre-existing stem cell lines, which should negate the need for further "harvesting" of stem cells from "donated" embryos. If my current understanding is at least close to accurate, then I support scientists who wish to pursue stem cell research with the existing stem cell lines. I do not know how I feel about scientists who wish to harvest and create new lines.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

If you're interested in being an affiliate of Freshly Squeezed Software, please IM me (and introduce yourself). Affiliates can offer our products for sale on their site and get a cut (5-10%) of the sale. Currently I've set up Booklet, iWipe, iChem, and Rock Star as being available for affiliates. I'll add our other products once I determine whether this is worthwhile (for us and the affiliates).

Even if you're not likely to become an affiliate, what are your thoughts? 10% of PulpFiction is $2.50, and my hope is that even the smaller sites could generate enough income to pay their hosting or blogging fees each month.

If you wish to get a sneak peek at what we're finishing up for release by Friday (tentatively), you can download this file:

http://freshlysqueezedsoftware.com/downloads/PF101b1.zip

I've posted the changelog in the extended entry. Two things of imporance:

1. Back up your database file.
2. Submit any remaining bugs via email (erik @ the domain above) or via IM (iacas on AIM, and please introduce yourself). Please do not use this post for bug reports or feature requests.

We've changed the styles as well. I've uploaded all that we have at PF101b1-styles.zip.

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Question: How many chats can you handle at one time?

My Answer: Ten or so, but any more than six and some of them are probably being neglected. If the girl calls, then that number quickly drops to zero. I consider email to be worth two chats in and of itself, so if I'm doing that too, then eight, four, and negative two are my answers. 🙂

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Today for Father's Day I used Remote Desktop to tap into my parents' computer. I built a quick, simple web page for my dad and left it open for him in Safari. Of course, my mother gave him the presents I'd bought a few weeks ago, and I called later in the day.

Remote Desktop is interesting. I'm so tempted to just peek in on my parents from time to time, not because I care what they're doing but because I care how they do it. They could be like my own little usability lab. "Here mom, try this" and then I silently watch as she tries to figure it out.

But that'd be wrong, and I don't do that. I'll stick to creating lame little greeting card web pages.

Question: What are good names for a boy?

My Answer: I like the name Reece. I like the names Aidan Reece, too. I like names that a) can't be abbreviated or shortened (nicknames), b) are somewhat unique (i.e. no "Doug"s), c) don't bring up bad memories of people I've known (impossible for you to know I realize), and d) go well with my last name and the child's middle name.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

It's interesting how you can be so destroyed and yet so built up again by one person. It's amazing the power your own imagination can have, and what distance can do to two people. The seed of doubt, a joke taken the wrong way, and a random comment here or there can burn down a town, but fearing that they will almost assuredly ends it. It's incredible how we'll sacrifice something good in order to save ourselves the eventual pain we're sure is coming to us, regardless of the facts in front of us. It's even more incredible when we find the way past all of that garbage.

I'm not in any of those situations, or I'm in all of them. I don't really know, and I may never figure it out. I think a lot of it is that I can't imagine someone else feeling about me the way I feel about her, regardless of how many times I'm shown or told.

Anyone who's not me really can't read anything into this. This is as personal as this blog will ever get.

Question: What's the longest phone conversation you've ever had?

My Answer: Eight hours, and it was fairly recently.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.