It's been a long time since I've updated this. Feh. I've spent a great deal of time getting my research code working, with good results. Data is pouring in, and I should be finished with my dissertation by October of this year.

I am just managing to stay abreast of the changes pjf has made and is making to Finance::Quote. Pretty much, I am content with it, since it "Just Works" with the scripts I use to update my stock portfolio price in Quicken.

I have removed Linux from my B&W G3, since neither LinuxPPC nor the Yellow Dog distros were particularly compelling. I installed Darwin BSD, and shortly thereafter, the OS X Public Beta. I am very impressed. I have been using the international build (2E14) that was shipped to developers in October as my sole operating system for almost 4 months.

I got XFree 4 installed about a month ago, and with the use of Torrey Lyon's Xmaster app, I can now run all the Linuxy things I need without dual-boot. How's that for service?

Long time since my last update. I've been "heads down" at work for the past month. Sadly, I don't feel like I have much to show for it. I have a Langevin dynamics scheme implemented now. God(dess) only knows if its working correctly. It appears that "working" is a platform dependent thing. Yes, on Compaq Alphas - No, on IBM Power3's.

Been giving a lot of thought to doing an analysis of the employer/employee relationship in terms of a social contract. The inspiration for this was my reading of Death March, Edward Yourdon and Your Money or Your Life, by Joe Dominguez.

Still, its probably a waste of time.

I'll probably continue to be "heads down" at least for another 2-3 months. Unfortunately, this means no hacking on Finance::Quote for some time. Sorry, Paul.

Ahhh. I'm back from the image analysis short course and a short vacation. Now, I must figure out why my indenter code is crashy-crashy on multiple processors. I am definitely not feeling any MPI love right now.

Paul did some nice work on Finance::Quote, making it more modular. I don't think this has made release yet, but if you're following this package, check it out from the CVS tree at sourceforge.

Helped a co-worker install LinuxPPC 2k on his G4 today. As expected, BootX failed miserably. I got yaboot up and running for him, and he appears to be happy.

But then, I'd be happy with a 500Mhz G4 too. :)

Work

Finishing up a presentation on O(N) methods for density functional calculations. Exams just around the corner...

I'll be heading to Raleigh, NC in a week or so to make my annual showing at a short course on image analysis and computer-aided microscopy. It'll be a nice change of pace.

Hacked an Open Firmware script to get "nice" dual-boot capabilities on my Yosemite G3. It works. Updated my online notes on configuring yaboot for SCSI hds.

Finished up the error-checking for the tiaacref routine in Finance::Quote