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5.28.2007
More in time, but before I go to bed, I finally finished my first 2000 piece puzzle. Previously, 1000 had been my limit.

Debating if/when I should start one of the 2500 piece ones around here.

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5.27.2007
For some reason last night I got to thinking about movie theatres in Racine. No idea why, but I had the urge to write about them. Of course, there were probably many more before my time, but this is what I remember.

The Park - This one has been closed the longest, and as such, I remember the least about it. If I'm remembering my anecdotes correctly, this is where I saw my first movie - Annie. The last I knew, the marquee was still there, so it isn't hard to find.

Rapids - I believe this was one of the three original Marcus theatres in Racine. Two screens. I think this may have been the most pedestrian of the three. For some reason I want to say I saw Charlotte's Web there. Closed several years ago (see below). Not sure what the building is these days.

Durand (?) - I can't remember what the name of this one was, just where it was located. Durand Ave, in front of Zayre. I think it was pretty similar to Rapids. Another Marcus theatre. Two screens. I think it closed around the same time as Rapids. First the building was split in half, side by side (one half being Rogan's), and then after a few years it was reconfigured and split front and back (I think Blockbuster and a water bed store were/are there).

Westgate - The nicest of the three original Marcus theatres in town. I seem to remember the two screens being very large (two aisles) and the curtains opening as the movie was starting. At some point (I want to say when Marcus purchased Regency and closed the other screens) Westgate was expanded to 5 screens, which had the effect of shrinking down the two existing screens a bit. I remember seeing lots of movies here. I still can't believe Justin convinced them he had called about a Star Wars ticket when we found out it was sold out. I don't know the details, but Westgate finally closed in the past few years.

Regency - The mall theatres. Not owned by Marcus originally, I believe they bought the theatres around the time they closed Rapids and "Durand". Originally six screens, now eight (I could have sworn it was more at one point, but I'm not sure). A little "cheap", especially compared to Westgate. Apparently it is now "Regency Value Cinemas".

Renaissance - The newest complex in Racine. Thirteen screens. Can't say I've ever been.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.

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5.23.2007
I solved a stumper of a problem with my Mac last night. For about a year and a half, I've had a problem where I sometimes get nothing but a grey screen when I turn it on. After some searching and troubleshooting, I discovered that there's a known problem with USB hubs in Apple Studio Displays. Unfortunately, since the USB connects using the same (ADC) connector as the video, I had no way to simply "unplug" it.

I don't use my Mac as much as I used to (mainly just for audio and graphics these days), so I've taken to either leaving it on or unplugging the monitor when I'm not using it (seems to help). I got pretty miffed last night, though, when I still couldn't boot up, and the monitor had been unplugged for a day. Long story short, after several reboots (and lots of swearing), I discovered I could boot by using an older version of the Mac OS ROM. Problem (hopefully) solved.

Oh, I guess I had another minor victory recently. A few months ago we picked up a CD player for cheap from SVdP. It seemed to work fine, except that on some discs it could simply not track accurately. It would play a few seconds, and then skip to later in the song or even to another track. Frustrated, I took it apart and cleaned the lens. No luck. After more frustration and head scratching, I noticed several pots on the circuit board. One was labeled "TRACKING GAIN" and one was "FOCUS GAIN". I cranked both up a bit, popped in a CD, and voila, perfect playback.

One story making the rounds is that municipal Wi-Fi isn't living up to its promises:
And Lompoc isn't alone. Across the United States, many cities are finding their Wi-Fi projects costing more and drawing less interest than expected, leading to worries that a number will fail, resulting in millions of dollars in wasted tax dollars or grants when there had been roads to build and crime to fight.
[...]
"They are the monorails of this decade: the wrong technology, totally overpromised and completely undelivered," said Anthony Townsend, research director at the Institute for the Future, a think tank.
That sure seems to be the case around here. There's an antenna at the end of the street, but I'm lucky if I can even get a signal while on the front lawn; inside the house is out of the question. If coverage can't even extend halfway down the street, what's the point?

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5.21.2007
One thing I've been thinking about a bit is it seems like these days I'm less likely to jump on the bandwagon or call something stupid. I don't know if that's growing up, apathy or something else, but I think back to a few years ago when I was pretty quick to jump on various political stories. These days I just feel like I don't care, or at least don't have anything to add. From time to time I find myself writing a response to a post on one of the forums I frequent and then getting distracted. When I come back later I often just think "ah, not worth it" and end up discarding it.

Oh, I went though and made the thumbnails on my photos significantly larger - I really think it makes the albums look nicer. Although looking now I think they are making the pages a little wider than I'd like. Maybe I'll go back and tweak a little.

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5.11.2007
I just saw this:
"There is broad awareness of smoking as a unique public health concern due to nicotine's highly addictive nature, and no parent wants their child to take up the habit. The appropriate response of the rating system is to give more information to parents on this issue."
I wonder if that's the case. Do you think some parents *want* their children to smoke? "Here, Billy, taste the cool menthol."

Not a whole lot going on. More photos, this time from Allen (again) and Olbrich (again).

I keep thinking about things to post, yet I never seem to get as far as actually posting.

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The Simpsons Archive

Vital stats:
DOB 2/16/79. I'm a web developer at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. I like lots of old music, including The Who. I spend a lot of time working with computers. And my favorite TV show (when I actually decide to watch TV, that is), obviously, is The Simpsons.

Education:
In May 2002 I officially graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a BS in computer science. In 1997 (man that seems like a long time ago) I graduated from Washington Park HS. Yes, I know, that site isn't very impressive, and no, I haven't touched it for several years.

WFS Logo

WFS:
One of the best experiences I have ever had was on a trip called Western Field Studies. This is a 33 day adventure throughout the western United States. Students travel on a school bus to national parks, monuments, forests, and places of historical interest and camp out (in tents or under the stars). I was a part of trip 25, which took place in the summer of 1996. A first for WFS was we took along a laptop computer and kept up a web site. That link will take you to the 1996 site, where there is a link to the current site.