Solipsism Gradient

Yes, we have progress. We’re taking a few days off, visiting friends, to commemorate… expect a post on the evils of premature optimization when we get back on Sunday.

So, it’s 6-6-6 in whatever date ordering you prefer, and this is supposedly the Number of the Beast. Or perhaps not. Do I care? Not really…

…it’s my birthday, however. This specific birthday is my 37th (in hexadecimal of course )and it’s a rare one, in that I’m not away on a trip. Last year my birthday present was a surprise, all right: I was at the WWDC keynote and listened to Steve Jobs announce the Mac-Intel switch. Later in the day I tripped on a San Francisco sidewalk and, fortunately, suffered no serious harm.

Hopefully, today will bring no serious surprises either way, and I’m looking forward to the positive ones that this year’s WWDC will bring. More details in a month or so…

I just posted several new pictures to my Flickr page, and will continue to post at least 8 or 12 a day. With encouragement from a few pro photographer friends, I’ve actively looked for interesting angles during the last trip, and it seems to have worked well.

Also, here’s my updated World66 status:

Photos

Just got back home…

Return trip was over Punta del Este (great place) and Santos and Rio de Janeiro (hot, impossible carnival days). More as soon as I get organized.

Posted by Rainer Brockerhoff (away):
We’re back in Buenos Aires, on the way home. All’s fine and I’ve lots of pictures to post later.

I’ve also made excellent progress working on XRay 2. Most of the infrastructure is now in place and part of the plug-in architecture too. More on that next weekend when I get back.

Posted by Rainer Brockerhoff (away):
From the southernmost Internet Cafe on this continent, in Ushuaia (Argentina). One of the least expensive too, it’s US$1/hour.

Montevideo proved to be very nice, if windy. The ship then went south to Puerto Madryn, where we saw a few sea lions, and then even further down through the Strait of Magellan to Punta Arenas, where we saw zillions of penguins on Isla Madalena. Then west into the Pacific Ocean, and back southeast to Ushuaia. Photos will be forthcoming when we come back.

Tomorrow the trip goes back up to Buenos Aires; more from there.

Posted by Rainer Brockerhoff (away):
From an Internet Cafe at the Buenos Aires port. Very hot and nothing to report, other than we’re doing fine… tomorrow, Montevideo and then (finally) southwards into colder regions. More anon.

Early tomorrow we’ll leave for a 22-day cruise, on the Costa Romantica. The itinerary will be Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, several stops down the South American coast (including one on the Falklands), to Ushuaia, and back.

There’ll be very little opportunity to get online, so posting will tend asymptotically to zero… we’ll be back around Feb. 24th.

I’ll take my trusty iBook and hopefully I’ll get lots of work done on XRay 2…