Hacking:

The search for Iñigo Serna continues -- while my email to him doesn't bounce, it doesn't get answered either, and all of his listed co-collaborators on gCAD say he hasn't been heard from for at least six months.

When exactly is a project considered abandoned? And what's the protocol for trying to hack on it when the maintainer isn't reachable?

Work:

It looks like we're close to a decision on 3D MCAD software, and it will probably be Solid Edge. A pity it's proprietary and Windows-based, but this is one of those areas (like raph said ) where free software just hasn't entered with workable results. (Anyone who knows of a free 3D modeller usable for Real World(tm) engineering work, please let me know ASAP.)

Life:

I hate the Christmas rush.

Snow and ice storms are incredibly beautiful. Until you have to drive to work through the aftermath.

I just finished reading Wendell Berry's Fidelity: Five Stories. It's fantastic. I love Berry's essays and poetry, but these are the first short stories of his that I've read. Great stuff, a good stretch of the literary muscles after many, many O'Reilly books, and wonderfully angst-free. :^)