I got tired of the issues with running [Typo](http://www.typosphere.org/typo/) on [Textdrive](http://www.textdrive.com) and converted this blog to [WordPress](http://www.wordpress.org). The main problem is that the Rails process was being killed by the server for using too much memory. I tried various tricks to reduce the memory usage or restart the process when it disappeared and none of them helped. It didn’t help that the web site has been down for a while. I liked Typo in general, I liked that it was written in Ruby and was easy to develop for, and I was hopeful that development would pick up.
I don’t like that WordPress is written in PHP. But it sure made it easy to get installed. I used [Stuart Johnston’s migration script](http://ctrlclick.co.uk/articles/2006/06/26/automatic-migration-from-typo-to-wordpress/) to convert the posts. The number of plugins and themes is the biggest advantage to WordPress. I used the [PHP Markdown](http://www.michelf.com/projects/php-markdown/) to write posts in [Markdown](http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/). I am using the [ScribbishWP](http://pittcrew.net/geekblog/scribbishwp) theme which is a port of the [Scribbish](http://quotedprintable.com/pages/scribbish) Typo theme which I played around with.
I think I maintained all the permalinks so old links should keep working. The older posts are in Textile and aren’t being rendered correctly. All the images and uploads should be working. I am keeping the old blog available at [http://znark.com/typo/](http://znark.com/typo/) for now.
I have another animal story. This afternoon, I looked over and saw a small grey shape moving across the floor. It was a mouse. It quickly disappeared and I couldn’t find it after searching.
Tonight, watching a movie in the dark, I saw a dark shape. I turned on the light and saw the mouse sitting out in the open. I dropped an upside-down bucket on it while I figured out what to do. I scooped it in the bucket and dropped it outside uninjured but a little scared.
At work, they have started handing out larger monitors to people. Last Friday, I replaced my 17″ LCD with a 20″ Dell LCD and went from 1280×1024 to 1600×1200 in the process. The increase in resolution and display size is very nice; it is now possible to get two terminals open at once. The Dell 20″ has some nice features like rotating to portrait mode, sliding up and down, USB ports on the monitor, and attaching speakers to the bottom.
The eventual plan is to for all of the programmers to get two 20″ monitors. Until then, some people have been taking the leftover smaller monitors and setting up dual-head displays. I don’t know if two smaller monitors or one big one is better. I think the dual monitors give more space but it is less usable.
I got a printer this weekend as my Christmas present to myself. I got a [Canon PIXMA MP600](http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=116&modelid=13800), a multifunction color inkjet. The multifunctions have gotten cheap enough recently that there isn’t much point in getting something else. I wanted to be able to scan and print photos.
The copier function came in handy today. I also used it to print addresses on envelopes. And write the first paper letter in a long time. I am planning on printing labels for Christmas cards and maybe some photos for including in them.
Google just released [Google Maps for the Treo](http://www.google.com/gmm/treo). It is a Palm application which downloads the map over the Internet. It has a simple and usable interface that can use the scroll pad and keyboard for most operations. It can search for addresses and display driving directions. It can also show satellite view and traffic info for major highways.
The lag of downloading the maps can be a little annoying when scrolling to new areas. And since it uses the images, the space and time is larger. Zooming in and out seems to download new images. It requires Internet access so it won’t work outside of cell phone range. I have been having with [Mapopolis](http://www.mapopolis.com) which keeps crashing on me and isn’t usable with the keyboard. But it can work offline with maps and addresses stored on the card. And it GPS which can show the current position and do dynamic directions. A mixture of the two which worked smoothly, downloaded maps as needed, and showed your current position would be perfect.
I suppose I should announce that I didn’t get the job at Google. Some of the interviews didn’t go that well. i struggled with some of the technical and puzzle questions. I guess it is good that I don’t have to make a decision about moving and changing jobs.
The weird thing is that I didn’t have any hesitation telling everybody at work once I found out the news. And the people at work were pretty understanding about doing the interview and being not quite good enough. The other weird thing is that a few days after I found out, I saw [this comic](http://www.xkcd.com/c192.html) from one of my favorite web comics.
I have started using [Google Reader](http://www.google.com/reader/). The new interface works pretty well. It works even better with the [Greasemonkey](http://greasemonkey.mozdev.org/) script [Google Reader Optimized](http://userstyles.org/style/show/1236) to simplify the interface and increase the size of the reading area. The mobile interface is especially nice. It works better than all of the programs I have tried. The only thing I don’t like is reading long articles. I would prefer if only the summary or first few paragraphs were displayed with a link to the rest of the article.
I flew to San Jose on Tuesday night and then flew back on Wednesday night for an interview at Google on Wednesday. I didn’t find out until Friday that they wanted an in-person interview and until Tuesday morning when I would be flying. A recruiter from Google had contacted me a few weeks ago after finding my resume in their archives from when I interviewed there five years ago. It sounded like Google is hiring tons of developers and expanding greatly which is impressive for a company of 10,000 people.
I also had dinner with some friends, Doug and Liza, while I was there. I drove out to their house in Benicia and got to see their baby daughter Morgan.
I setup wireless in my parent’s house today. I actually brought along my Linksys WRT54G from home. It was the one I had flashed with DD-WRT and was using as a bridge.
There are at least a dozen wireless networks visible from their house up on top of a hill. There is an open and unfiltered one close enough to use. There is one for the school across the street. There is free one for [Socal Free Net](http://www.socalfreenet.org/) unusably far in Carmel valley. Half of them are using the default SSIDs: “linksys”, “default”, “NETGEAR”. There does seem to be some correlation between openness and default settings.
I am (mostly) in San Diego this week for vacation. I went to [Torrey Pines State Beach](http://www.torreypine.org/) today, the one nearest to my parent’s house in Del Mar. The weather was sunny and warm. Not warm enough for shorts but warm enough for sandals. The water was probably to cold to swim in. I really like coming to San Diego in the winter when the weather is nicer than Portland. All the sun makes a big difference to my mood.