I Know…
...this web site is way out of date. I'm working on a replacement that is less of a blog and more of an aggregator. It's slow going due to my lack of free time lately, but it will be here one day. Meanwhile, try the links in the header for more up to date Kevin data.
What's going on? We're attempting to sell our house and move closer in to Portland. At the moment, we're making some minor updates and interviewing realtors. We have not found a house to buy, and we haven't even narrowed down a specific location yet. Right now it's all about selling.
Spring Beer & Wine Festival
We're heading over to the Spring Beer & Wine Festival this afternoon. I prefer the spring event because it's indoors and much less crowded than the summer or winter ones. Walking Man brewery has a couple of interestingly named beers at the fest: Streetwalker Malt Liquor and Big Black Homo. I may have to try them based on the names alone.
ID3 Tag Parsing
I've been working on a project to read and update ID3 tags on my music collection. An ID3 tag is the meta data embedded in mp3 files that contains artist and other information. My initial goal is to batch update the "genre" field in my mp3 files. I've written a simple .Net forms application to do this. I found a really good library created by Novell called TagLib Sharp. The library makes it super easy to read and write ID3 tags.
TagLib.File tagFile = TagLib.File.Create(filePath);
Tag tagId3v2 = tagFile.GetTag(TagTypes.Id3v2);
if (tagId3v2 != null) tagId3v2.Genres = genreArray;
Tag tagId3v1 = tagFile.GetTag(TagTypes.Id3v1);
if (tagId3v1 != null) tagId3v1.Genres = genreArray;
tagFile.Save();
The UI is pretty lame, but it works...
Dr. Dobb’s Journal
I've been subscribing to Dr. Dobb's Journal for at least 10 years. It has always been my favorite technical magazine because of it's diversity of topics and brain-stirring articles. I got a letter in the mail last week saying that they were ceasing production of the full magazine. Instead, they will offer a Dr. Dobb's Report stuffed into issues of InformationWeek. I'll have to spend more time on their web site, as it looks like they have some good content on there.
Weight Loss Status
In my first full week of using Weight Watchers Online, I lost 2 pounds. I pretty much hit my weekly point allowance exactly. My goal this week is to end up 5 points below my allowance.
As for my review of the online experience, I'd say it's a little better than a spreadsheet. Granted, there are features that I don't use yet like forums and recipe searches. Still, the fact that I'm paying a monthly fee helps with motivation.
Weight Watchers
I joined Weight Watchers Onlineмебели пловдив today. I had success with them about 5 years ago when I got skinny and stayed that way until I met my wife. Something about being married makes one forget to be healthy. I had actually written my own Weight Watchers type web application a couple of years ago, but I didn't use it well. Now that I'm paying $17 a month, I think I'll stick to the plan. It is day one, so I've got a ways to go. I haven't used the WW site long enough to give an analysis, but as a software developer I will be viewing it with a critical eye. At some point I'll write some sort f review of my experience with their online tools.
Astros
Spring training is here for Major League Baseball. I'm not sure what to think about this season. Things aren't looking bright for my favorite team, the Houston Astros. They are projected to be the worst team in baseball in 2009. Based on last year's performance and our current roster, that projection could be accurate. Maybe I should follow the more geographically appropriate Mariners, but their season isn't looking much better. Nor is Bren's former home team, the Royals.
More Love for Last.fm
It's been a while since I've written about music, so here I go. My latest purchase is the new Morrissey album, Years of Refusal. I really like it. I would even say it's one of his best solo albums to date. Sure, his voice has flattened out with age, but he makes up for it with his usual clever lyrics and well composed music from his band. This album is very rock n' roll and has some catchy tunes. On a related note, I was browsing through a Portland Monthly magazine yesterday and they had a column with local alternatives to national bands. Their suggestion for Morrissey fans was M. Ward. I'm familiar with the name, but I've never given him a listen. I think I will.