Koplowicz.com

I remember the early "dot-com" days in 1999 and 2000.  It was an exciting time, and as a college student I had front row seats: a new computer, high speed internet access, plenty of free time, and surrounded by fellow students with a loose set of morals, especially when it came to things like pirating mp3's.  No one really knew what the internet would turn into.  One very popular technology was Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP.  Back then, it meant a website with a telephone keypad that let us make free long distance calls.

I just played one of the most fun games I've experienced in a long time.  It's only half finished, it's open source, and they want you to subscribe to a subversion repository.
My relationship with SVN is similar to the Republicans' relationship with public health care.  Not friendly.  So, I found someone who maintains their own Ubuntu-compatible repo for the game.  It took about five minutes to download and install.  The interface isn't terribly intuitive and there's no tutorial, but I managed to start a new single-player game.

I recently blogged about the imminent release of Froyo, a.k.a. Android OS 2.2, for the Motorola Droid on Verizon.  The rollout has begun, but it will take another week or two for it to reach all phones.  I got sick of waiting, so I downloaded the update myself, and then followed up with the big prize: Flash.  Here's how I did it, followed by my first impressions.

Thumbs Up

That's right, I'm an official Starcraft 2 beta tester.  I don't have as much time to burn as I did with Starcraft 1 (to say nothing of Warcraft, WCII, or WCIII), but I spared a few minutes to poke around.  Many things I like, but some I don't.

I just found out that the caterer from our wedding is being prosecuted by the Federal government for hiring illegal aliens.  In response, I want to give this caterer my highest praise.  If you need any kind of event catered in the San Diego area, I highly recommend The French Gourmet.

Baby Einstein: Meh

Experts don't like Baby Einstein.  I know parents who swear by it, but the reason child development experts don't is because you're not supposed to be plugging your kid into the TV, no matter how sophisticated it is.  During his formative years, your kid needs to be doing things interactively.  No matter how awesome the Baby Einstein video is, it's not interactive and therefore takes time away from something better.  For these reasons, I never allowed Baby Einstein into the house.

Until now.