Inspired by my friend Paul's "What I use" page on his site, I figured I'd post a quick summary of the tools and software I use on a regular basis. Computers My main machine is a new 27" quad-core iMac, with 8GB of memory and a 1TB hard drive. My main home laptop is an older MacBook (white) with a Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM and a 160GB HD. My work desktop is a Dell Precision workstation with two quad-core Xenon processors and 16 GB RAM. It's got dual Dell 27" displays. My work lap... [Read More]

I've been pretty buried at work lately, and haven't had a chance to keep this site up to date... but I will be back soon. In the mean time, I do maintain a list of stories that have piqued my interest here: http://www.google.com/reader/shared/jrjdotorg... [Read More]

Congressman Eric Massa (D-NY) is sponsoring a bill that is being discussed in the press as providing the Federal Trade Commission with "veto" rights on ISP bandwidth caps. I theory, this sounds great... but as is so often the case, reality is a bit more complex.   The bill doesn't just restrict bandwidth caps-- it basically puts ISPs at the same level of regulation as public utilities and telephone companies. To some degree, this is warranted-- Internet connectivity has become an essential serv... [Read More]

I was sitting in a cafe yesterday, and I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation between two women in their mid 30’s. They were discussing the economy, and were being a bit over-dramatic about the impact it’s having on their families. My favorite quote: “Bill and I decided that we should have the maid come every other week, and we’re reducing the nanny to 30 hours a week.” So sad… I almost shed a tear. We often forget how stupid we sound when we say things like this—I have a page from the back of an... [Read More]

Last night was one of the strangest experiences I've had since I relocated to the Seattle area a decade ago. I had been working late, and was headed home after 10pm. Behind me, I saw the view everyone hopes not to see while driving: a police cruiser with the lights flashing. While looking for an appropriate spot to pull over, I glanced down at the speedometer—I was going exactly 1mph under the posted limit. This is going to be a long post, so I'll put the officer's statements in blue, and my own in red t... [Read More]

A profoundly unpopular Republican President, widely viewed as a massive failure by the populace is succeeded by a charismatic Democrat just as the country peers down the precipice of a deep and prolonged recession, following a historic crash in the stock markets. Unemployment is soaring, and deflationary forces rear their ugly head. The new President promises to put Americans back to work with sweeping public works projects, and leverages new technology to reach out to the citizenry weekly with his messa... [Read More]

  MSN Encarta published an excellent list of the “10 Weirdest Inauguration Day Blunders” My favorite: Richard Nixon ordered Pigeon repellent to be spread along the parade route—it was supposed to make the birds itch and hence not nest in the streets. Instead, the birds ate the repellent and the parade route was covered with dead birds. An omen? Perhaps. On a more serious note… I was moved by the Inaugural address—while less of a soaring oratory than I might have expected, I thought it struck exactly t... [Read More]

In the last few months, I’ve had a large number of contacts get ahold of me because they were concerned about their job security, and wanted my advice on how best to proceed. It reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend much earlier this year—I thought I would share in the hopes that it will be relevant some of the techies out there who are concerned about where their next paycheck is going to come from. These are tough times—and now is the time to reconnect with your professional network and st... [Read More]

A little levity in honor of a crazy market, I thought I’d share my top-10 twitter comments about the economy over the last few months. For more, http://www.twitter.com/jrj Without further ado… 10 The Good News: We're all going to be millionaires! The Bad News: A loaf of bread is going to cost $229,000.00. Inflation is a bitch.  (10/29/2008) 9   I think we might want to consider declaring this Dow Jones character mentally incompetent due to bipolar disorder. (10/30/2008) 8    Went to the bank to final... [Read More]

CNBC had the following commentary: Silver looks attractive to Graham Bibby, managing director at Richmond Asset Management, as he believes it is slightly undervalued. He explains his investment rationale for this precious metal, as well as gold. I agree with all of this, except “slightly” undervalued. Silver is at historical lows relative to gold, and the situation has changed in significant ways in the last few years such that I strongly believe that the short-term volatility in the precious metal i... [Read More]