The thoughts of Andrew Becherer on software, life and Tacoma.

In a Slashdot thread on young jailed computer criminals user sm62704 coined the term cyberglar. Oh my God, that is horrible. On the upside the feds might like it. Cyber, cyber, cyber, cyber.

I’m attending the OpenWeb Vancouver 2008 conference. Today was excellent. I’ll be posting summaries of the talks I attended later. Now I need to seek out food.

I really needed to upgrade Wordpress. It doesn’t take long but it always seems to get stuck in the queue. A post by Scott Berkun is just what I needed to get me motivated. the upgrade was smooth and took less than 20 minutes. Much like Scott I highly recommend Wordpress. I have found no better blogging solution that self hosted Wordpress.

Ah, the many and varied are the places I drink beer. Let’s get to the list:

1. Doyle’s Public House

Imports, imports, imports! This is the Tacoma pub at which I have always felt most comfortable. It has a nice mix of people and I enjoy watching the crowd change over time. Rumor has it they should have WiFi by tomorrow.

2. The Parkway Tavern

This is where I go for microbrews and WiFi. The only bar in town I can walk in to and reasonably expect to find an Oatmeal Stout on tap.

3. The Swiss Tavern

Free pool non Sunday, need I say more?

4. The Spar

The best fish and chips and a killer location. You can always find me here on the 4th of July.

5. Magoo’s

One of the better foosball tables in town and a really nice jukebox.

6. Top of Tacoma Bar

I like to order beer and whiskey here. Last time I went in they had Georgetown Brewing Company 9lb Hammer. If it were closer to my house I would be here a lot. Lucky Mc Kinley Hill people.

7. Monsoon Room

Most people go here for fancy cocktails. I go here for a reliable source of Maritime Pacific Brewing Company Nightwatch.

8. The Ale House

Lots of taps, lots of TVs and a number of pool tables.

9. Engine House No. 9

Top notch Scotch Ale.

10. Meconi’s Pub

Free Games!

11. Wow’s Etc.

The best breakfast in town and they won’t flinch when you ask for tomato juice and MGD.

12. The Harmon

I have often arranged “meetings” with UWT professors and student groups at the Harmon. I like their porters.

13. Indochine

The redeeming quality of this restaurant is that their happy hour generally fell during a class break at UWT. You won’t find me here much anymore.

14. Ida’s

Beer Pong.

15. The Mandolin Cafe

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Raison D’etre (in a bottle) in a laid back atmosphere.

This post is about computers, or rather where to buy the bits and pieces of which computing systems are composed. Using the stores on this list you will be able to procure not only the state of the art but items that were the state of the art a decade ago. If your idea of geeking out is ordering a new MacBook Pro from the UW Bookstore you may not belong in many of these places. However if you enjoy debating the merits of the OpenBSD’s packet filter, PF, versus iptables of Linux or you know how to make your own DB9 Null Modem Cable but are too lazy to get around to it then you will feel right at home.

1. PC Club and CompuCare

These guys go together because they are adjacent and pretty much interchangeable for me. Their S. 38th St locations are convenient and they carry a lot of the stuff one might require. This is a spot you can go to get a usb/serial adapter, IDE cables of all lengths and sizes as well as various other bits and pieces. Unfortunately their stock is far from comprehensive so we may have to leave the city limits for the stuff we need.

2. INFOTECH SYSTEMS

This is my go to spot for cables and other widgets. Recently I had a need for a DB9 Serial Null Modem Cable, a CompactFlash to IDE Adapter and several 1 FT Cat 5 cables. The prices here are great on many things and ok on others. Cables and other accessories are priced extremely well. Networking hardware is priced about average. Warning take cash or a debit card with a PIN, INFOTECH will add a surchage for using Visa or MasterCard. They call it a discount for using cash, I call it stupid.

3. REPC

REPC bills itself as, “the oldest and largest computer retail recycler in the Pacific Northwest.” As such you can find gems from years past at their Seattle and Tukwila locations. It has been awhile since I visited but as I recall the Seattle location had scads of old Sun hardware. This is the place to go to look for obscure and obsolete hardware.

4. PCRecycle

PCRecycle is a dependable source for working used hardware. If you need Pentium III or Pentium 4 era hardware at reasonable prices this is a reliable source. They also have good prices on accessories like mice and networking cards. They used to have a Tacoma location but I think it is a Teriyaki restaurant now. In their Tacoma location they had wall on which they hung all manner of PCI and ISA cards. There were graphics cards, network cards, modems, hollywood mpeg decoder cards and more. The used cards ranged from $2 to $5 as I recall. It was great!

5. UW Surplus

UW Surplus can be really hit or miss. Their prices have inflated over the last 4 years as more people have become aware of this treasure trove. They are the most reliable source of PowerPC era Apple Macintosh hardware. Lately they have been selling the lampshade style iMacs for $200. They have piles of G3 and G4 towers. Once a month UW Surplus has an auction at which they sell the really cool stuff. This is the place to go for a pallet of Pentium 4’s, a pile of DEC Alphas, your own server rack, a laser, a drill press, a geiger counter or other wacky items.

I’m sure we all have them, things we have always meant to do. I have a lot of them. I keep lists of them. These are my Tacoma ones, or at least the ones closest to Tacoma

1. View the Tacoma Metro Parks Rhododendron Garden in Bloom

I like nature. I’m kind of a fan, actually. In a former life I used to hike every weekend. Rhododendron remind me of my childhood home, the Commonwealth of Kentucky. As such I have always intended to view the Tacoma Metro Parks Rhododendron Garden at Point Defiance. According to Tacoma Metro Parks, “The nearly five-acre site was established in 1968 in cooperation with the Tacoma Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society, which continues to provide support. The garden contains more than 500 plants, including 198 cultivated varieties and 75 species of rhododendrons.”

Why I have not in the 5+ years I have been living here is a mystery to me. Perhaps this year is my year of the the rhododendron.

2. Visit the Tacoma Art Museum

I’ve been to the other two other prominent Tacoma museums on multiple occasions. What is is that keeps me away from the Tacoma Art Museum? It is not the cost. Adult admission is a very reasonable $7.50. Perhaps I should get off my duff and see the current exhibition “A Couple of Ways of Doing Something.” I have always felt the daguerreotype was underrated.

3. Attend a 100th Monkey Party

Hopefully by this point everyone who reads Tacoma blogs has heard of the 100th Monkey. If not visit the website for some background. Basically it is a sort of chaotic art party with heavy community building overtones.

I really have no excuse. I have been fully aware of the 100th Monkey since its inception and have always thought it sounded cool. I would like to make it seem fate has always intervened but that is not the case. While sometimes there have been scheduling conflicts but not always. The next 100th Monkey is tomorrow, March 26 2008 at 7:30 PM. Maybe you will see me there?

4. Run the entire length of Ruston Way

Sometimes I run, then I wheeze and cough followed by some jogging and some collapsing. Once I have completed this dramatic cycle I always feel very good about myself. Sometimes I manage the courage to do this 3 or even 4 times in a week. Always I run from my house, near N. 30th and Union, northeast toward and past the Northwest Baptist Seminary. It is not that I have some special attachment to the Northwest Baptist Seminary but I always seem to run past it.

When I think of running I always imagine myself swiftly and gracefully moving down Ruston Way in the sunshine with whitecaps out on Commencement Bay. I have run on Ruston Way once. It was cold, grey and rainy. It is not cold, grey and rainy today. Perhaps I should dig out my running shoes?

5. Establish a Sunday Ritual

When I lived in Lexington, Kentucky nearly every Sunday would start with coffee and a paper on the roof of my house, a massive 1907 construction by the daughter of the great compromiser Henry Clay. I would snack through the day and have supper at the Ramsey’s, a bastion of down home southern cooking. When I lived in Charleston, SC every Sunday started with a walk along the Cooper River on the decommissioned Charleston Naval Station I called home. I would see foxes, all manner of birds and the occasional rattlesnake. When I lived in New Orleans every Sunday started with cafe au lait, beignets, the New York Times and a bench in Jackson Square.

For some reason, I am unable to fathom, I cannot establish a Sunday ritual in Tacoma. It could be the declining roll of newspapers in my life and society in general. It could be the overwhelming number of Tacoma coffee houses that serve world class coffee. It could be the fact that I move at least once every 12 months. I don’t know the reason but I simply seem unable to establish a Sunday Ritual in Tacoma.

I finally got around to reading the Exit133B post “DB: Buying Local” and subsequent comment brouhaha. Following in the footsteps of such noted Tacoma luminaries as Daniel Blue and RR Anderson (I swear my check is in the mail) I decided to declare this “Official Unofficial Tacoma Week of Lists.” I know this runs directly contrary to RR’s insistence that we “Make love, not lists!” As this initiative’s purpose is to further strengthen the industrial list complex I have chosen an especially authoritarian, establishment topic for my first list, vegetarian restaurants. This list is neither comprehensive nor fair.

 1. Quickie Too

If you can ignore this restaurant’s notorious Seattle connections you will discover the most satisfying vegetarian fair in the South Sound. For all of you omnivores out there imagine the most satisfying, mouth watering hamburger possible. Now cover said burger with a delicious BBQ sauce. Now imagine through some feat of modern ingenuity this burger did not contain any saturated fat, transfats, hormones, antibiotics or any of the other things we take for granted in the modern food supply chain. What you have left is “The BBQ Burger” and it is awesome. The beans and rice that come on the side are really good and they have an excellent selection of sodas (the Boylan’s Red Birch Beer is my personal favorite).  Even committed carnivores will walk out of Quickie Two having satisfied their hunger.

 2. Masa

I’ve written about Masa before. Ben is still the benchmark by which all of my other bartenders are judged. As such I can’t really comment on their table service as I always dine in the bar. Their happy hour menu is hard to beat. They have, what I believe is, the best guacamole in town. When I go, which is most Sunday evenings, I generally gorge myself on guacamole, veggie tacos and Negro Modelo.

3.  Two Koi

What is a sushi restaurant doing on a vegetarian restaurant list? Sure, for most people, sushi conjures up images of moist, glistening raw fish. Few people notice all of the raw, steamed or pickled vegetables on the menu. A meal can be made of edamame, seaweed salad, vegetable rolls, kappa maki and avocado rolls. Two Koi is my late night destination for vegitarian fare.

4. Puget Sound Pizza (aka PSP)

When I get a hankering for pizza a trip to PSP is in order. They will, without hesitation, prepare their vegetarian pizza without cheese and will even remind you to request no butter on the crust (for all the vegans out there). When you order a pizza like this at other pizzarias you will often e extremely disappointed. What is delivered from the kitchen is often a burnt crust and a few limp pieces of onion and green pepper swimming in a sea of marinara. PSP does it right. The pizza is covered with zuchini, red onion, green pepper, black olives, jalapeño peppers and more. A PSP vegan pizza and a pitcher of Deschutes Black Butte Porter is one of my favorite lunches.

5. Pretty Much Every Thai Place

Tacoma has no shortage of Thai restaurants and I have to specifically call out the East and West Cafe Proctor and Silk Thai. Vegans have to be a little more careful at Thai restaurants because they often use chicken stock in the majority of their sauces. The upside is that most Thai restaurants are used to dealing with vegetarians so inquiries about ingredients generally do not cause the server to flee into the kitchen. Excellent vegan friendly dishes generally include Viet Curry and Tom Yum Soup.

 6. Paldo World and East Asia Supermarket 

Ok, so these are not actually restaurants but every vegetarian in Tacoma needs to know about them.  Paldo World and East Asia Supermarket wil completely change the way you eat at home. Once you realize you don’t have to pay Metropolitan Market prices for young coconuts, lemongrass, oyster (and other) mushrooms and other “exotic” ingredients your home cooking will get much more creative. I especially enjoyed discovering the Korean and Japanese varieties of staple foods like zucchini, cucumber, hot peppers and green beens. East Asia Supermarket is cheaper, sometimes an inconceivable amount cheaper, but Paldo World has higher quality produce.

A short drive up north and a couple of benjamins will secure you entrance to the International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media on Sunday, March 30th through Wednesday, April 2. The schedule looks really good. I would especially like to see “BLEWS: Using Blogs to Provide Context for News Articles.” BLEWS deserves its own post. Conference topics include:

• Link-PLSA-LDA: A new unsupervised model for topics and influence of blogs
• Competing to Share Expertise: the Taskcn Knowledge Sharing Community
• Finding Influencers and Consumer Insights in the Blogosphere
• What Elements of an Online Social Networking Profile Predict Target-Rater Agreement in Personality?
• Spontaneous Inference of Personality Traits from Online Profiles
• The Psychology of Word Use in Depression Forums in English and in Spanish
• Thin Slices of Online Profile Attributes, Kristin Stecher, Scott Counts
• Document Representation and Query Expansion Models for Blog Recommendation
• Polling the Blogosphere: a Rule-Based Approach to Belief Classification
• International Sentiment Analysis for News and Blogs
• Wikipedian Self-Governance in Action: Motivating the Policy Lens
• A Large-Scale Study of MySpace: Observations and Implications for Online Social Networks
• Space Planning for Online Community
• Recovering Implicit Thread Structure in Newsgroup Style Conversations
• A Social Network Based Approach to Personalized Recommendation of Participatory Media Content
• Wikipedia as an Ontology for Describing Documents
• On TREC Blog Track
• BLEWS: Using Blogs to Provide Context for News Articles
• Exploring Social Media Scenarios for the Television
• The Politics of Sourcing: A Study of Journalistic Practices in the Blogosphere

There is a lively conversation going on over at the Tacoma Urabanist. The topic is the next Sound Transit package and some Tacoma neighborhood groups’ insistence that it include a street car network for Tacoma. We will put aside for a moment the fact that the plan has to be finalized by Sound Transit in a week and that this kind of lobbying needed to occur before the first ST2 package was announce or at least shortly after it failed.

Sound Transit has protection for each of the participating areas called subarea equity. This divides the area from Snohomish County to Pierce County into 5 regions. These regions include:

• Pierce County
• South King County
• North King County
• East King County
• Snohomish County 

Sound Transit may only spend in each region what it is able to raise in that region. This would prevent the dollars being spent on starting the southward migration of the lightrail from Seatac to Tacoma that is in initial ST2.1 proposal details from being used instead to extend light rail from Seattle all the way to the Redmond Microsoft campus (Sound Transit will fall just a few miles short). The Microsoft campus light rail expansion is much more popular than the southward light rail expansion but would not be good for South King County where the tax dollars are. (BTW the light rail extension in South King County will be good for Pierce County).

If we want a citywide streetcar network anytime soon we need to do what Seattle did. We will need to get the City of Tacoma to raise money and to get money from both the state and the federal government to build it. Maybe we need to look at some of our other priorities (i.e. sacred cows). Who wants a refurbished Murray Morgan bridge more than a street car from downtown Tacoma to TCC via "the best route" ™?

(I don’t have time to write about the pros/cons of express bus service and Sounder commuter rail that are being challenged in the comments section but you can check it out for yourself.)

This is a test of the Google Documents post to weblog feature. This is only a test. I discovered the post to weblog feature of Google Documents at bavatuesdays via lifehacker.

note: Google Documents does not post a title and can only fully publish not publish a draft. Until it can do either of those two items I don’t really see myself using it.