So there’s this hurricane. It’s kind of a big deal—currently forecast to be nearly as large as Katrina, if not her equal, and currently on a beeline for Houston/Galveston. Dr. Masters of the Weather Underground projects damage in the tens of billions of dollars as a result of a massive storm surge and damaging Category 4 winds at landfall.

I don’t expect to update dsandler.org a whole bunch; instead I’ll be posting to Twitter over the course of the next few days as E and N and I shelter in place down in Sugar Land with the in-laws. We’re likely to be slightly closer to the center of the storm, but on much higher ground, with access to more resources (larger vehicles, a generator, more people to watch the Boy, etc).

With any luck, this will be just another Adventure to tell and re-tell. “You know, you lived through a major hurricane, when you were just two months old…”

Source: Weather Underground

It had become clear to me that I have grown to depend on coffee’s (sometimes uncontrollable) capacity to power my brain. Ever since I started drinking coffee (my freshman year at Rice), it has been a perennial companion. We even threw a couple of parties—under the moniker “Devil Mug Café”—in honor of its awesome and terrible power:

Coffee giveth, but coffee taketh away. It has exacerbated my predisposition to anxiety and panic. It makes Erin not want to kiss me. And when I try to give it up, it fights back. I’m unsettled by the degree to which I appear not to function without it.

For more than ten years, coffee has been by turns my friend (making me the best version of myself) and my enemy (making me the worst version of myself). Its companionship is mercurial and destructive. Erin has therefore dubbed coffee my bad friend. (I tend think of it more as a seductress, but I can see how she might not share that characterization.)

On a related note, I am now officially looking for other, less-harmful habits to pick up. Ideally: something that will give me the feeling of inner warmth and cerebral industriousness without the unpleasant side-effects of 200 mg of caffeine. Tea is perhaps an option, but it must be reasonably decaffeinated (as anyone who was present at Pei Wei two weeks ago will attest—stupid iced green tea!).

My (non-bad) friend Jeremy has proposed “weekend coffee” as a way to enjoy its effects on occasion without developing a mind-bending tolerance for them, but I fear I would find my bad friend on the couch long after the weekend is over. Recidivism is a potent risk with such a strategy.

However, as the father of a three-month-old, Jeremy also offered a word of warning: once our baby arrives, I may need my bad friend more than ever. Coffee, it is said, is the third parent.

Chris has written up an excellent summary of our TapeDeck development experience, from the first sparks of an idea in September through our April betas and finally to the release in May.

At some point I’ll scan my early sketches and add them to the historical record. For now, I’ll leave you with an early about box for TapeDeck (and since I love about-box easter eggs, you can find this in the shipping app, along with some others).

Chris Liscio and I just unveiled our top-secret Mac application project of the last few months: TapeDeck. While Chris is on the ball with his own blog post commemorating the release, here I am with a lot to say and no time to say it. I’ll write up something more “official” over at the toastycode blog over the weekend.

For now, I’ll just collect press and links over the course of the next few days here at dsandler.org.

Update 5/10: TapeDeck is the top featured Staff Pick on Apple’s Mac OS X Downloads site:

When this happened to Cuckoo a couple of years ago, it meant a huge jump in users and lots of great feedback. Very exciting.

New $25 audio recording app, a joint production of SuperMegaUltraGroovy and Toastycode. The gimmick is that it’s modeled after an ’80s era cassette deck. It uses a library for recording management — no interaction with the file system necessary — but you can easily send clips to iTunes or email. Worth a download just to watch the tape spin while you record.

—John Gruber, Daring Fireball: TapeDeck 1.0

Every once in a while, an application comes out that just works. It’s so intuitive that anyone can pick it up and use it. A new app from SuperMegaUltraGroovy Software (FuzzMeasure) and Toasty Code [sic] (LCD Scrub, Cuckoo, and Pyrotheque) is just that kind of app. Tape Deck isn’t bloated with features or totally unnecessary eye-candy, and best of all, anyone who has ever used a tape recorder will be able to use it right away.

—Jeff Smykil, Ars Technica: Quick Look: Tape Deck, simple audio recording on the Mac.

The real question is: does the UI help or hinder TapeDeck? I’ll have to spend more time using TapeDeck to fairly answer that, but at first blush this app is great fun to use (especially if you remember using tape recorders like these).

—Scott McNulty, The Unofficial Apple Weblog: TapeDeck 1.0

All the familiar stuff is there — the clicks, whirrs and pops of a real cassette deck recorder. They even threw in that sped-up sound that plays when you fast-forward or rewind a real tape recorder while holding down the play button.

—Eliot Van Buskirk, Wired Listening Post: Even Luddites Will Enjoy Recording with TapeDeck

The release note that the software takes extensive advantage of Leopard technologies with rich animation in TapeDeck’s user interface: “Live level meters, rotating cassette spindles, live search, and UI sound effects make TapeDeck truly fun to use,” the company added.

—MacNN: TapeDeck 1.0 quickly, simply records audio

TapeDeck carries with it some retro charm — it’s designed to look like a cassette tape deck, and even operates like one, complete with a tape deck-style interface. It’s designed to quickly capture recordings, stored as “tapes,” recorded directly to MP4-AAC audio. TapeDeck is aimed at users who want to make band recordings, practice speeches or capture lectures, according to the developers.

—Peter Cohen, Macworld.com: TapeDeck audio recorder debuts

Mit TapeDeck steht ein neues Programm zum einfachen Erstellen und Verwalten von Audio-Mitschnitten bereit:Im Stil eines Kassettenrecorders aus den 80er Jahren kann TapeDeck in verschiedenen Qualitätsstufen aufnehmen. Anschließend lassen sich die “Kassetten” beschriften und in einer Art Schublade verwalten. Man kann das Programm als typischen Vertreter der sogenannten “Delicious Generation” brandmarken, denn es bietet eine ansprechende Oberfläche, aber einen recht begrenzten Funktionsumfang. Ob das den Preis von 25 Dollar rechtfertigt, muss jeder für sich entscheiden.

—Hendrik Auf’mkolk, MACNOTES.DE: TapeDeck: Schnelle Audio-Aufnahmen

TapeDeck [1.0 - 1.5 Mo - Mac OS 10.5 - US - 25$] n’est pas le plus sophistiqué des enregistreurs audios et on doit même trouver moins cher. Mais il a le look et il fait le bruit d’un vieux lecteur de cassettes. Le fonctionnement est hyper simple, comme l’est un lecteur de K7… Le choix des formats audios est lui aussi très simple, c’est m4a ou rien. Mais on peut varier la qualité. On peut également envoyer ses fichiers directement vers iTunes ou en pièce jointe de Mail. La démo enregistre des sessions de 15 mn puis ce délai se réduit.

—Florian Innocente, MacGeneration: TapeDeck 1.0 : le bon bruit du lecteur de K7

[Note: Apparently K7 is French shorthand for “cassette.” I get it now, but I had to look it up.]

Mac software bloggers sharing the love: Daniel “Punkass” Jalkut; Brent Simmons; Gus Mueller.

Searches: Twitter posts containing “tapedeck”; Technorati search for “tapedeck”

Update 6/3/08:

You need another program to edit and “finish” a recording, so why do I like it so much? TapeDeck’s interface wisely capitalizes on the familiar, in sharp contrast to the over-powered applications I’m used to seeing in the audio world. Creative types can distribute a tune or audio blog moments after pressing STOP. I can capture and organize business notes with a minimum of fuss before and after. That’s “excellent” to me.

—Matthew Glidden, Inside This Particular Macintosh: TapeDeck 1.0

I can’t remember exactly when I got it; during my tenure at Be, I think. It replaced a much more traditional leather computer bag that I received as a gift (but that quickly became a chew toy for our furry roommates). It’s stylish black messenger-style laptop bag; it’s always had some niggling design flaws, but all in all it has served me well for years.

Those years have come, I think, to an end.

So I’m in the market for a new bag—in all likelihood another messenger-style shoulder bag. Here’s where you come in, dearest lazyweb: I’m looking for personal recommendations. “I’ve been using the Timbuk2 Laptop Messenger, and the small is too small.” “The Waterfield is worth the money.” “This simple JanSport is better than all those fancy messenger bags.” That kind of stuff. (Basically what Dan Benjamin did a couple of months ago.)

Suggestions are welcome in the comments below or tweeted to @dsandler.

Update:

I now present, for archival purposes, the long-awaited Dan = Doogie page.

I pretty much gave up reading for pleasure some time in high school (probably right around the time I was forced to read The Grapes of Wrath); I’ve probably read a dozen novels in the last thirteen or fourteen years. Now I read internet crap (news, essentially) and technical material, things found online and most easily consumed via LCD screen.

Except, for some reason, research papers. I can’t read research online. It doesn’t sink into my brain in any meaningful way unless I kill a tree and curl up with a stapled, 2-up duplexed printed copy and a highlighter or two. (I haven’t yet figured out why this is; perhaps my technique is broken—see below.)

And yet there are plenty of lovely PDF readers for the Mac: Skim (which I do use for LaTeX preview), Papers (winner of an Apple Design Award), and so forth. Clearly some people are able to consume journal articles and conference proceedings electronically, else there would be no demand for such tools.

So I ask: How do you consume your research or other non-reference technical material? Online or offline? More to the point: is there some refinement to my reading technique that will allow me to use a different medium (ideally, an electronic copy plus PDF annotation)? Or am I doomed to my pulpy ways?

Tonight’s entry: Supermodels and the mortgage crisis.

These two problems are related in that they both stem from the message being pushed on Americans that anything is possible. That’s the American dream, isn’t it? That anyone can do anything in America. With respect to physical appearance, girls seem to have internalized the message, from shows like America’s Next Top Model and Extreme Makeover, that it’s not only possible but desirable and easy for any woman to be ridiculously gorgeous. Clearly too many Americans literally bought into the idea that they could own homes, without regard to the realistic limits of their income.

Related: Don’t buy stuff you cannot afford.

(Source: NYT election map, 9:55 PM CST)

(Note that I Twittered from the caucus and will continue to be opining/snarking/groaning there as the results come in tonight.)

+

=

(With apologies to @rands.)

See also: larger version, Acorn source (?).

If you’re living in a state where you’re eligible to vote in the Democratic primary, and you haven’t quite made up your mind—maybe the candidates seem too close for it to really matter, or maybe you’ve picked a side sort of by default—please take about 20 minutes and watch this presentation by Larry Lessig, Stanford law professor (and, incidentally, such a gifted public speaker that he’s essentially defined an entire presentation style). It’s tremendously powerful, and worth spending the time on, regardless of which side you end up coming down on.

Update, 1/12:

Fig. 1.   5cm of forthcoming awesomeness.

This has been a part of our Big Plans since pretty much the very beginning—almost exactly ten years ago—and while it’s taken us a little longer than we’d hoped to get here, in the end I think we’re just that much more thankful and excited.

Baby-o is due in July, so everyone please wish for a cool Houston summer.

Hi. I don’t know if you remember me—I blog here occasionally.

November was particularly bad: two posts were all I had time or inclination to write. It had a little to do with big conference paper deadline, but can be chiefly attributed to the “C” Exam.

C EXAM – Deadline: 7^th semester

You must pass a private oral examination in your area of research. Each area has a formal or informal syllabus listing topics and material covered. The exam normally takes 1.5 to 2 hours. It covers both basic material, such as that from a 400-level course, and more advanced material, such a solving a problem in current research.

Your discipline/department/sorority/paramilitary outfit might refer to this cherished tradition of institutionalized hazing as quals or comps (although I suppose comps are typically written, and “quals” can sometimes refer to preliminary breadth exams).

The moniker is peculiar to Rice CS; as I understand it, the “C” is a vestige of an earlier 3-exam sequence, including “A” and “B.” (The “B” exams, mnemonically enough, were breadth exams; I have no idea what the “A” covered.) The other two exams were phased out in the 80s and 90s, as they were largely redundant with classwork and were found by grad students and advisers alike to be generally annoying. (Oh, maybe that’s what the “A” stood for.)

Like any sufficiently diagnostic test, the qualifying exam is intended to be difficult. What makes it special, however, is that it is also intended to be unpleasant. It has been said (by my adviser, no less) that the exam doesn’t even really begin until the questioning careens into material that you are uncomfortable with. To get an idea of why this is bound to happen, let’s take a look at the entire range of topics that are fair game on your quals:

Now consider the fact that you (most likely) have a finite amount of time to prepare, and a similarly finite capacity for retaining information thus acquired. The winning strategy is to spread your studying across the entire spectrum of topics, lingering on things you’re not really familiar with (say, topics from the operating systems course you took ten years ago) to ensure even topic coverage. The histogram of your exam preparation will probably look something like the following:

Now let’s overlay the final curve: the topics actually discussed during oral questioning by your exam committee, who are free to choose areas in which they are particularly knowledgeable (or have recently researched):

Each question is likely to begin in shallow areas in which the examinee has some comfort. But, unlike a static question on a written test, the oral exam rewards a correct answer with a harder question. With no way to anticipate the course of questioning, eventually every hopeful PhD candidate will end up in deep water.

In the end, I passed. My committee scolded me for not having deeper knowledge, but were pleased that I was able to reconstruct from first principles the things I ought to have known. (Computer scientists will note this as a classic time/space trade-off: when one resource is tight, compensate with the other.)

Now that I’m out from under this rock I have plenty to catch up on, including some research, a couple of personal software projects, and a handful of queued blog entries. In the interest of public service, I’ll close with a bit of advice for students preparing for quals. It is twofold:

1. You cannot possibly hope to study sufficiently for your quals.
2. But, by all means, try.

Subject: Gas odor

A gas line has been broken in the new college construction area. The fire department has been called and is on the scene. In the meantime, the fresh air intake to Duncan Hall has been shut down. Environmental Health and Safety is monitoring the situation and advises that, despite the odor in the building, the gas concentration is lower inside than out. We expect that the leak will be capped soon, if it hasn’t already been, but I imagine that it will take some time for the gas to dissipate.

We drove up and down Nasa Road 1 to chase them. Not knowing where they were headed, we ducked into some subdivision (which we have since been unable to find on the map—Brigadoon Estates, maybe?) just in time to see a few of them passing low—including this guy:

We offered him coffee; he said he’d really love some, but if he touched (anything in contact with) the ground he’d be disqualified.

2005’s Sunday morning launch was cancelled due to a storm that tore through the balloon crew camps. Weather wasn’t a problem the following year, as you can see from my roll of photos from the 2006 event.

This year, however, commitments with family and friends took priority. We’ll be back in ‘08, for sure, but in the meantime here are some of the best photos already posted to Flickr by other photographers (who made it to yesterday’s launch):

More in the Ballunar Flickr group’s photo pool.

I’ve hit the end of yet another mini-Moleskine (quadrille, natch), and find myself facing a dilemma: Go with the portable-yet-cramped solution I’ve been using for everyday notes for a couple of years now, or try out this new fat one (5×8½″)?

Your personal experiences, suggestions, and (as usual) unbridled mockery are welcome here, or over on the photo page. Your choice.

Update: more hott Moleskine photos inside.