Why wait to register for Eclipse Day at the Googleplex?

Ms. Wise and Mr. Grumpy were chatting over some tea:

Ms. Wise: Mr. Grumpy, aren't you excited for Eclipse Day at the Googleplex 2010?

Mr. Grumpy: No. Grump.

Ms. Wise: No? But Mr. Grumpy, why not?

Mr. Grumpy: Grump. I don't have any money.

Ms. Wise: But it's free!

Mr. Grumpy: Grump. I don't know when it is.

Ms. Wise: Wait, I can tell you: it's

Thursday, August 26, 2010
9:00am - 5:00pm
And it's at the Googleplex!

Mr. Grumpy: Grump. Nobody interesting is presenting.

Ms. Wise: Now I know you're being silly, Mr Grumpy. We've got Chris Aniszczyk. He's like the voice of Eclipse. And there's Xavier Ducrohet from Google, who's going to tell us about the new tools in Android development (I hear The Android is very hot these days.) There's a speaker from Tasktop -- they bring us Mylyn, and Ed Merks -- he's like Mr. EMF. (Does EMF stand for Ed Merks' framework?) And of course, Wayne Beaton, who at least once jumped into an icy river. He's so crazy, who knows what he's going to say? Honestly, the list goes on and on.

Mr. Grumpy: Grump.

Ms. Wise: And did you see the Ignite session on the schedule?Just when you can't imagine getting any more useful information - blamo!

Mr. Grumpy: Grump. I want to go to Google for the food.

Ms. Wise: Mr. Grump. Oh, Mr. Grumpity Grump. Google is providing lunch! And did I say the event was free?

Mr. Grumpy: Grump. I don't know where to register.

Ms. Wise: Listen, Grumpton McGrumpinator. it's right there at http://wiki.eclipse.org/Eclipse_Day_At_Googleplex_2010. It's as easy as sending an email.

Mr. Grumpy: Grump. Those are all good points.

Ms. Wise: Then will you attend?

Mr. Grumpy: No. Grump.

Ms. Wise: But, Mr. Grumpy. Senior Grumhold Grumbling Grumpillious Grumper. Why? Why won't you attend?

Mr. Grumpy: Grump. Because Robert Konigsberg isn't presenting this year.

Ms. Wise: Oh ... yeah. Yeah. I forgot about that. Grump.

---

Don't be like Mr. Grumpy!  This is our best slate of speakers yet. Go attend Eclipse Day at the Googleplex 2010. Mention my name for 10% registration discount and a chance to win a new car!*

* New car is speck-sized and only available in invisible. It may or may not be an actual car. It may only be a firm handshake.

UpdateThis compelling story is now a full motion picture! Enjoy.

How I bought a car and did not get screwed

Update 13:37 EST: added additional comment about the fear of soliciting bids.

One of the most important things I needed to do doing my leave of absence this summer was buy a new car. This was the first time I was going to be the sole buyer (the first two times with the aid of my father and stepfather) so I opted for competitive bidding.

There's a good chance you've seen the fantastic Ignite Talk called How To Buy a New Car (embedded at the bottom of this post.) I resolved to use the techniques in the video to purchase my next car. Here are my notes.

Selecting the car

The first important pieces of advice on buying a new car are

• Spend two full weekends selecting your car
• Narrow it down to exact model and features

Thanks to New Jersey Blue Laws, car dealerships are closed on Sundays, so "Two full weekends" can also mean "Four full Saturdays." But instead I did an incredible amount of research online. IMHO the two best starting points for buying a new car are Consumer Reports (paid subscription -- worth its weight in gold) and US News and World Report.

Long story short, this turned out to be an emotionally difficult process, and even resulted in selecting an entirely different vehicle the day before the purchase. It was a good decision in the end, but could be its own blog post.

Soliciting Bids

Once we selected the vehicle, I found the eight closest dealers. Here are the two tools I needed:

1. A sticky note on the monitor that said:
   
   You Will Feel Like An Asshole.
   
   This was a reminder from the Ignite Talk. "If you don't feel like an asshole, you're not doing it right! 'Why don't you want to sign this form? Everyone signs it!' I could refer to the note while soliciting bids"
   
   
2. A notebook.
   
   Before starting any calls I dedicate one page per dealer, and initialized each page with
• Dealer Name
• Dealer Phone
• Dealer City
After talking with a salesperson I added the salesman's name and additional phone phone number, if it was offered.
3. A spreadsheet.
   
   Even though most of the information between the notebook and spreadsheet were the same, having two formats was useful.
   

I used a background color in the final column to indicate the color of the car being offered. In the example above, the second offer included all sorts of extras I didn't care about, but I used them for reference.

Some notes about soliciting bids:

• I called eight dealers. Only five dealers called back.
• Only one dealer complained about competitive bidding. He wanted me to call the other dealers and come back to him with a price. "Why are you haggling over one or two hundred dollars?" Just let me know your best price. Feeling like an asshole, I insisted he participate with all the other dealers. This dealer did not call back with a price.
• One dealer gave me sticker price, and so was clearly not interested in competing.
• Some dealers failed to give FINAL prices. Whenever a dealer gave a price, I would ask: "Is this the number I would put on a check?" Some dealers said "No", some more than once. I felt like an asshole sending them back for a new price. That meant I was doing it right.
• Update: Starting this process was probably the most frightening part of the whole thing. I wasted about 45 minutes with additional preparation and dawdling, some of which was useful, but was mostly a delay tactic. I chose a dealer location as my first one and shaking, started the call. That the salesperson gave me no trouble boosted my confidence and the remaining process was worry-free.

Closing the deal

From the five bids, one bid was $500 less than the next lowest, and I was set to close with that dealer. I brought an iPod and a book, prepared for the waiting game that was closing the deal. I also prepared for the deal to fail. Amazingly, everything went according to plan, with the exception of $60 all-weather floor mats. I caved on that last item -- the next lowest bid was $500 more, so fighting over $60 didn't make sense. (The next lowest bid was $500 more, but it had more add-ons, such as a cargo net. Even without all the add-ons the next lowest bid was $350 more.)

Truth in advertising

The Lifehacker post introducing the video is called Buy a car without getting screwed." That's accurate. After all, the post isn't titled "By a car and screw the dealer." In the end I got a fair price (independently verified by a friend who does not believe in competitive bidding.)

Downloading Eclipse via Bittorrent == Community (Helios edition)

Tomorrow is the public release of Eclipse 3.6, a.k.a. Helios. I reminded you last year why I prefer downloading via bittorrent. It bears repeating.

Those of us that have become Friends of Eclipse are eligible to download it today. Like last year, I'm using the bittorrent links. (If you're not a Friend of Eclipse, you'll have to wait until Wednesday.)

But here's why using bittorrent to get your Eclipse distribution is a contribution to the Eclipse community:

• Downloading by bittorrent means you can seed many other users.
• This gives the rest of the community faster access than a standard download.
• For extra credit, download more distributions than you need, providing even more seeds. For instance, I don't use Windows, but many people do. I can make a difference for those users, too.
• Any bandwidth you contribute so someone else can download Eclipse results in less bandwidth required by the Eclipse Foundation. In other words, you're saving money for the Eclipse Foundation. 
• It gives me a chance to do another 48-hour analysis.

So, please, download via bittorrent. And, really, have you made your donation to become a Friend of Eclipse? Please don't make me get Ira Glass to ask you.

Third Anniversary with Maggie

Three years ago we adopted Maggie. Today is our third anniversary. It took about a month for us all to get in a comfortable rhythm. Now after three years we can't imagine what life would be like without her. (I recognize that it's a little odd for some people for a dog to be treated like a member of the family. Case in point: Act Two of the This American Life episode titled True Urban Legends. Alas, I'm digressing.)

In celebration of this day, we took her to the beach and ran her in to the ground.

She's so tired that not even the lure of a stuffed squirrel can keep her from sleeping.

Thanks, you good, sleepy, dog.

Ruler Off Target

I bought a wooden 12" ruler from Target.

I like rulers for drawing straight edges on paper.

Does this ruler look like you can use it to draw straight edges?

This pen has some straight edges. Does this ruler look like it draws straight edges?

I made some ad-hoc graph paper against which I could mark the path of the ruler's edges. (I couldn't use standard rectangular graph paper on an 8.5x11" sheet since the ruler was 12", so I made one this using GIMP.)

My measurements were made by placing the corners of the ruler edges along the center long line and drawing the path. The short lines help identify the degree of error.

A good ruler would not deviate from the center long line.

Let's see what path the inches edge makes.

Can you see? Perhaps a close-up would help:

Here's the path of the centimeter edge.

Here's a closer look:

Looks like the centimeter side goes about an eighth of an inch off target. Well, I can't be certain - I measured that with my arc-y ruler.

Where did it come from?

Too bad. I don't blame the Chinese manufacturer for this crappy construction. I blame Target for accepting it.

And to be clear, the reason I dislike this so much is that people buy their school supplies from Target. How many students have rulers that just suck? A student can't understand geometry when their tool is this bad. Will a poor student have the money to replace it?

Playing with GoPro HD

I'm tinkering with the GoPro HD camera a friend loaned me for the day. It's got a minimal interface, which is great, but it is still hard to tell when it's on, which isn't so great.

Yes, the painting dripped and created my t-shirt.

It also has a mount that will fit bicycle handlebars. I can't wait to see how it records that video.