<p>I went to the <a href="http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2007/02/seattle-conference-on-scalability.html">conference last year</a> and have been anxiously awaiting the speakers and session list for this year. It’s <a href="http://services.google.com/events/seattle_scalability2008">out</a> and my RSVP has been confirmed.</p>

<p>I just released version 0.4 of <a href="http://code.google.com/p/pysmug/">pysmug</a> and I’m pretty happy with the additional functionality.</p>

<p>I finally found a non-trivial reason to implement a Python <a href="http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0318/">decorator</a>. I make extensive use of Python keyword arguments in the <a href="http://code.google.com/p/pysmug/"><code>pysmug</code></a> API and map those spellings to SmugMug keyword arguments. The algorithm for converting a Python spelling to a SmugMug spelling is pretty straight forward and easily wrapped up in a function. Originally, the first line of every function required…

<p>When we lived in Chicago, my wife and I would spend hours in the <a href="http://www.garfieldconservatory.org/display_houses.htm">Fern Room</a> at the <a href="http://www.garfield-conservatory.org/">Garfield Park Conservatory</a> during the depths of winter as a cheap way to get some heat and humidity. Now we live in the PNW, where we have ferns everywhere, and I don’t look at them the same way anymore. After two days of pruning and a number of piles of refuse, we have finally removed…

<p>While I hammer away at <a href="http://code.google.com/p/erlsmug/">erlsmug</a> and try to figure out why it’s so much slower than <a href="http://code.google.com/p/pysmug/">pysmug</a> and <a href="http://pycurl.sourceforge.net/">PycURL</a>, I’m ready to release version 0.4 of pysmug.</p>

<p>I just <a href="http://lifehacker.com/387380/turn-your-point+and+shoot-into-a-super+camera">read</a> about <a href="http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK">CHDK</a> and I need to try this out. Since my SD500 appears to be supported and it’s been relegated to either taking movies or entertaining my daughter’s desire to be a photographer I’ve little to lose.</p>

<p>My daughter loves ice cream too, having devoured an ice cream sandwich the very first time she ever saw one. Since one of the joys in my life is sharing ice cream with my family we have it quite frequently, sometimes at home and sometimes at <a href="http://www.moraicecream.com/">Mora</a> as a treat. If you find yourself at Mora, skip the vanilla (though it’s my favorite flavor theirs is nothing special) and try one of the more unusual varieties (my current choice being banana…

<p>I travel for work and so I have to submit expenses and I usually try to coax the tiny little receipts through my HP AIO scanner. I save the scans as PDF but since I don’t run any OCR software they’re basically just photos saved in the PDF document. This step of the expense report process takes a long time.</p>

<p>From Doug Lea on the <a href="http://gee.cs.oswego.edu/dl/concurrency-interest/">concurrency-interest</a> mailing list, the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Art-Multiprocessor-Programming-Maurice-Herlihy/dp/0123705916">The Art of Multiprocessor Programming</a> is finally available:</p>

<p>On Monday, we ventured off-island to see the tulips in bloom at the <a href="http://tulipfestival.org">Skagit County Tulip Festival</a>. We took the “whoa-boat” (daughter speak for ferry) to Seattle and drove up to Mt Vernon where we met my uncle. We drove together to the <a href="http://www.tulips.com/">RoozenGaarde</a> display garden skeptical about the weather since reports were calling for storms starting mid-morning.</p>