bigideas4hosting

April 12, 2005 by Eric Richardson

Is it just me, or does Bob Hertzberg's bigideas4la need some new ideas for service? Yesterday and today I've gotten a SERVFAIL error from the site's listed DNS servers. :

[eWorld (eric@bit)-([Tue April 12 10:25am])]
~: dig www.bigideas4la.com @208.185.250.115

; <<>> DiG 9.2.4 <<>> www.bigideas4la.com @208.185.250.115
;; global options:  printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: SERVFAIL, id: 2737
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

Perhaps big ideas should start with even a little work on keeping the host entries working correctly.

A Screenshot

April 11, 2005 by Eric Richardson

screenshot

It's been a long time since I posted a screenshot. This one's actually from the first four desks of my workstation here at work, but I wanted to point out that three of the four backgrounds are photos. Two of them (the second and fourth desks) I took, and one that Jonah posted on LA Blogs. I love how all three work with the transparent terminals on top.

Just Another Friday

April 11, 2005 by Eric Richardson

Sometimes I just have to sit back and wonder how it is that I ended up in my life out here in LA. Friday afternoon was one of those times.

It all started when I wanted to buy a pirate hook.

I wasn't sure where to do that. So I emailed Jon Regardie at the Downtown News and asked if anyone around the newsroom knew where I might pick one up. Oddly, he did. — Continue Reading...

The Fun of Self-Help Technology

April 07, 2005 by Eric Richardson

Being that I'm somewhat in love with technology, it would seem to me that I should like things like the self check-out machines at the Central Library. But I don't. They're hard to use.

Today, though, the line for regular check-out was long and I didn't feel like waiting, so I thought I'd go through with it. — Continue Reading...

UP to Test Hybrid Locomotive

April 06, 2005 by Eric Richardson

From the San Jose Business Journal:

The Union Pacific Railroad's switching yard in smoggy Fresno has been picked as the place the Omaha, Neb.-based company will test its first hybrid diesel-electric locomotive.

... It is expected the hybrid will cut air emissions by 80 percent to 90 percent and reduce diesel fuel use by 50 percent to 80 percent compared to a conventional diesel-powered switching locomotive, the company says.

The locomotive is built by Railpower Technologies. Apparently I missed the LA Times story from March 16th talking about one of these locomotives in LA. Here we find that the engine can switch cars around the yard for at least eight hours on battery power.

My favorite line, though:

The locomotive is the world's largest and heaviest hybrid land vehicle currently in production, Union Pacific says.

Not much competition at that size, I don't think.