Monthly Archives: July 2011

Events

Two weeks to Chaos Camp!

6 Comments

In just two weeks I’ll be pitching my tent at the 2011 Chaos Communications Camp in Finowfurt, Germany, just outside of Berlin.

Chaos Communications Camp is a five day outdoor camp for “hackers and associated life-forms.”  There are talks, workshops, and many opportunities to socialize with fellow hackers, as well as enjoy the paradise that is a summer camp with showers, high-speed internet and AC power to every tent.  (This is definitely my kind of camping!)

Here’s a short video about the last Chaos Camp in 2007, to give you a taste of what it’s all about:

At Camp this year, I’m giving a workshop on building a simple Geiger Counter (more details about this project to come) in the Hardware Hacking Tent on Thursday and Saturday.

PCBs are due Friday, I’m still tweaking the circuit design, there is code to write…  Many last minute preparations. Fun!

If you’re going to Camp, I’ll see you there. If not, there is probably still time to book a flight. 🙂

Uncategorized

I was not prepared for this.

5 Comments

Still really warm here.

People said that it gets hot here.

I thought that I understood hot. “I’ve lived in hot places before”, I said to myself.

Sure, Sacramento gets pretty warm in the summer. Maybe one or two weeks of 100+ weather in August.

But never have I experienced anything like this.

In January, we had snow one week and 70 degree weather the next. By February it was in the 80s, March and April in the mid-90s. By May, we had our first 100 degree day, and I suspect that it has only dipped below 100 briefly a couple times since.

The house AC has been running constantly, I’m scared to open the power bill every month, the lawn is dead (we’ve had just over 4 inches of rain so far this year), and I pretty much hide indoors anytime before midnight.

I guess the good thing is that unlike last August, when we first moved to Austin, the temps have been dipping down into the 70s at night. I remember when we first moved here, it was 100+ during the day and 95 at night.

That was rough.

Amusingly, when it’s this hot for this long, you do sort of get used to it. Kylie and I have gone out a few times lately and said to each other “wow, it’s nice out tonight”, then checked the weather:

95 degrees.