Coomey.net - The Man

Happy New Year

nospam@example.com (Shawn Coomey) — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 22:03:54 -0500

Happy New Year to everyone. Have a great Ought-Seven.

Life with a MacIntel

nospam@example.com (Shawn Coomey) — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 11:15:54 -0500

It's been about two weeks now that I've been using my new MacBook Pro. There are some definite upsides as well as downsides to life after the PowerPC to Intel switch.

The Good:

I can play World of Warcraft.
Not necessarily Intel related. I've got a couple of co-workers who are rabid players of this MMORPG and got me into playing. Addictive.
Virtualization
Because of the Intel architecture, I can run Parallels. This enables me to run other x86 native operating systems withinb virtual machines at about 95% native speed. No dual booting with Boot Camp necessary. Currently I have both Windows XP as well as Ubuntu Linux 6.10 running alongside Mac OS X. This stuff is just amazing.
Horsepower
Remember the day that RISC vs. CISC mattered? When Apple had commercials showing the Intel bunny guys getting toasted by the PowerPC? Those days really are over. The Core2Duo blazes.

The Bad:

Intel Compatability
Sure, Apple has done a more than admirable job of making PowerPC applications and libraries work on the new Intel hardware with Rosetta (seriously, it's damned seamless), but there is a definite performance hit when using it and there are a number of big software omissions that have yet to be Universal-ized. For instance, I am currently trying to build a PHP development environment on the MacBook, and everything works except for one thing: Oracle. Oracle provides the Instant Client libraries for Mac OS X, but only as PPC binaries! No Intel or univeral available. This means you absolutely cannot build PHP against them for OCI8 support, which is a prerequisite for me. Come on Oracle, get with the program. Thank the gods I can just build it all in my Linux VM.

I got a MacBook Pro

nospam@example.com (Shawn Coomey) — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 12:54:25 -0500

At work. It's sick. Now I can do things like this:

Greetings from Phoenix, AZ

nospam@example.com (Shawn Coomey) — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 01:53:56 -0400

You may be wondering what the beautiful stuff behind the ugly thing in the picture is. Well, that would be the GRAND-MOFO-CANYON BEEYOTCHES!

The Grand Canyon was on my mental top ten list of places I had to see before I got put in the ground. Scratch the GC off the list. What can I say? Stupid camera phone pictures just can't do it justice. I got to watch the sun set over the canyon. Awesome sight. Anyone who has seen it before knows what I mean.

Phoenix, AZ... what can I say about this town? Well, to be honest, the terrain really reminds me of the pictures I've seen on the news of Baghdad... minus the IED's. The people are relatively friendly, there are burrito stands on every corner, and gas was $2.30/gal. I didn't really get to see all that much of it since I was at the Gartner Open Source Software Summit during pretty much all of my time here, but I don't feel like I am missing out on that much. I've learned really quickly that once you've seen on cactus, you really have seen them all.

A boy and his dog

nospam@example.com (Shawn Coomey) — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 12:40:17 -0400

Those of you who have heard me talk about my co-worker Dave Kimball know that I speak wih absolute reverence about the man. He is easily one of the funniest human beings I've ever had the pleasure to cross paths with. He's a real salt of the earth type of guy. Hell, he spent 24 years in the Marine Corps, part of that as a drill instructor at Parris Island.

One of the best things about Dave is his story telling ability. He's always got an outrageous tale about what he did to recruits at basic training, or what it was like to fight in a war with a gun that had no bullets, or having to support a girl's entire family in the Phillipines. The stories never end. And when they are told with Dave's unique and endearing speaking cadence, it's all the better.

So today, Dave was telling us a story about a day in the life of the relationship between his crazy cat and crazy dog. I had my PDA on hand and surreptitiously recorded it for posteriy... and the results, while short, are a hoot.

Warning, Dave drops a few F-bombs, so be aware.

Happy birthday to Andy Dickson

nospam@example.com (Shawn Coomey) — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 13:05:23 -0500

Who turns a whopping 32 years old today. Get your order in for Cialis now, buddy.

Greetings from the Big Apple

nospam@example.com (Shawn Coomey) — Sun, 06 Nov 2005 16:02:34 -0500

Just arrived in NYC for the SOA/Web Services conference I'm attending. Gotta love the shoebox you get for a room here at the La Quinta (La Cucaracha) Hotel.

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My closet/living space. (QTVR)

Kicking Ass, Taking Names.

nospam@example.com (Shawn Coomey) — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 18:03:59 -0400

In the past 24 hours the stock price of Cubist shares has been up 25% due to the fact that our Phase III trials of Cubicin in the treatment of endocarditis and bacteremia were positive, and we will be filing an sNDA with the FDA for approval to use it in these indications. It means lots more sales of our already well-selling flagship drug. Ooo-rah. Go Cubist.Growth Around the Corner? (Motley Fool)

Me Toasted Oats and Marshmallows!

nospam@example.com (Shawn Coomey) — Tue, 11 May 2004 08:23:43 -0400

I've officially been at my new job for one week. So far, so good. I'm sure that will change rapidly, but at least it's not Cubist.

Last night one of my cats killed a mouse and tried desperately to bring it inside. It's funny to see him with just mouse feet and a tail hanging out of his mouth while trying to meow. He ended up just leaving the lifeless rodent outside. It was gone when I woke up.

The zoo wasn't hiring... Oh wait, it was.

nospam@example.com (Shawn Coomey) — Thu, 13 Nov 2003 23:54:15 -0500

The unthinkable has happened. I have re-joined the work force by accepting an offer from Cubist Pharmaceuticals. My official title is Web Developer/Junior Systems Administrator. Yup, that's a sysadmin job. I am really exited about that part of the job because it's something I've never really formally done in the past. I've got a lot to learn in that arena, but I can't wait to start. As a bonus, my direct supervisor is a fantastic guy who will (no doubt) get me on my feet in no time. HP-UX, here I come.

As you probably noted, I will be working every day with my brother Chris. God help the IT department. Maybe we can get Billy in there and watch the overall productivity plummet like a stone in a pond.

Special thanks to Chris, Tony Murabito, Mike Geldart, and Kelly Schmitz for all they've done for me over the past few months to get me hired.

Roughing Up The Suspect

nospam@example.com (Shawn Coomey) — Wed, 18 Jun 2003 13:32:31 -0400

I spent some time at the Concord District Court today. I fought a speeding ticket I got back in April. I had been traveling down a side street off of Rte. 2 in Acton to try and avoid traffic. Up around a corner I go, when suddenly...the fuzz. I looked down at my speed. Thirty-five. So I'm thinking since this a 25 zone, he's gonna bag me. Sure enough he pulls me over. I was hoping for maybe a warning, you know. One of those olde tyme Irish street cop "Git outta here, lad, before I change me mind!" hair-tousle-and-let-you-go type situations. Not quite. He wasn't really a dick or anything. In fact I don't recall him saying much of anything when he handed me my ticket for $175. Yeah, it said I was doing 45 in a 25. On top of that there was a $25 "Massachusetts Head Injury Fund" surcharge or whatever. WTF? If I'm gonna pay twenty-five bucks, I better damn well get my money's worth of hacking someone in the head with a hatchet. I mean, $25 ought to at least pay for quick swipe at some chump's melon using an old board with a rusty nail in it.

Well anyway, I told them I was doing 35, not 45 and the Magistrate said "I'll give you the minimum fine of $75, then." Sounds good to me. I neglected to ask whose head I get to hideously disfigure, though. I guess I'm probably better off.

C$