Over a week ago my wife and I moved around our apartment - make office bedroom and vice versa. Part of that was breaking down my killer media setup - 1970's Pioneer Stereo

Awww, yeah you know what I'm talking about. And my killer Philips one notch above bargain priced DVD player, my needs-to-be-replaced 20" CRT television and... My late 90's high end Sony VCR. This is when it occurred to me. I own all of 6 movies on VHS and the last time I used the VCR may have been 2002. So it's time for the VCR to go... Now I have to figure out what to do with it. Do people still buy these things?

Jonk asked me to write up this portion of a dog and pony show I do from time to time.  It’s the bit where I pretend to be a source control expert and tell other people what to do.  I’m usually pretty successful, but only because I am quick with a witty response while I compose a more suitable (read plausible but not necessarily correct) answer.

Today’s subject, “why we branch when we release” is some thinking around the problem – How do I release code and still have the ability to move forward on the next feature and yet not lose the ability to patch the release if I need to.

Let's break this down to the component requirements so we can be sure to address them all:

• a simple source control process around releasing code
• easy ability to continue development of new code after releasing
• ability to patch on released code and re-release without worrying about new development, after the release, will be included

With those requirements in mind let's discuss what the "normal" development process looks like from a source control perspective.

I was reading my buddy Ben's blog, the person who is responsible for me blogging, and I realized that I hadn't ever linked over to him. Let me just publicly say thank you, this has been a really great addition so my life, and something I've come to cherish. I've also added him to the blog-roll

Ben has some really great stuff about greenify-ing his home. I try and make him a daily read.

Mashable has a post Star Trek Comes To Joost, Nerds Rejoice!. I will confess I will probably be checking this out, much to the chagrin of my wife.

Joost just made some folks in the United States very happy as they are now serving up the entire original series of Star Trek (ST:TOS to those in the know).

If you haven't checked out Joost it's time. I was in on the early beta and watched a bunch of their National Geographic shows - I don't have cable and I really miss the The Learning Channel and the Discovery Channel. Their content is really becoming pretty compelling. They apparently (according to their site) have 408 channels, but that looks a lot like several flavors of different channels. Now all I need is a media PC and a 32" flat panel - why 32"? That's about all my apartment will handle.

Real Information about the location of Dave and Busters in Scottsdale is here.

First let's be clear, I have so little traffic that I am grateful for each and every one of you who visits. For my public image let's just say there are still enough of you that I could send you all an email and not entirely hate my life. That being said, I don't have control over what google.com analytics tells me my traffic is coming from. Welcome Asia and Europe and Canada!

You'll probably remember a bit ago I blogged about Dave and Busters Phoenix, and then I blogged about how I seem to be picking up a lot of traffic from that. And by a lot I mean enough that I am noticing. So In my last post I set out to create a truly useful post about Dave and Busters in Phoenix so that those poor souls who ended up here looking for real information would find it.

So, based on the graphic, it looks I've made a few waves in Arizona. This leads me back to my earlier idea... what if I just wrote a blog about really specific directions to places (e.g. the Duane Reade at 7th Avenue and 14th Street)? Would I pick up specialized search traffic? Who knows. I'm sure all the SEO people are laughing at me now - they've long since figured it out.

I find all this pretty interesting. Oh, and by the way, I've moved up on the google search results for "dave and busters phoenix" I appear to be number 5!

Oh, and here is a link to Jonk's blog. Cause he's a good guy. And Welcome back Noam . Where the heck is my link on your site?

Yeah, I wish that meant what it sounds like. But in this case, I'm taking what was my office/tv room (9'6" x 9'6") and swapping it with my bedroom (8'6" x 15'0"). So the small square room that was my office, and jam packed with stuff (i.e. boardgames), will become the bedroom and vice versa. At this point (9:45 PM Sunday) the former office is clear of furniture, all of which having been moved to the former bedroom. We've washed the walls using a TSP Substitute to get the gunk off and get them ready to take paint; sanded the door and window frame; sanded the spackling I did earlier today and am now ready to put on the first coat. The color, Princess Ivory. I know it sounds a little sissy, but I'm looking for something light and warm, it's a small room after all. We have to finish by tomorrow so we can move the furniture (bed and dresser) out of the living room.

Same drill. A lot of folks I know are having Babies either now or in near future. This (Coast Innovations Itzbeen Baby Care Timer) was also in Wired (still cleaning out desk). It seems pretty cool and useful. I have no children here or on the way so "seems" is the best I can do. I decided however to send one to my sister who had a baby (my niece) in mid October. I'll get the inside scoop.

Dad-turned-inventor Greg Sheldon engineered the Itzbeen multitool to track all those baby-care details that can escape your sleep-deprived mush-brain. Last feeding, nap, diaper change — it's all there on the backlit display. It has a light to ease late-night navigation and a right/left breast indicator to remind Mom which side last served up the goods.

Those of you that I know who are having babies soon or just had one, please don't buy yourself one, you'll rob me of my best gift idea. I promise to have it at your place on Day 1 home from the hospital.

Shawn, resist the baby Gadget. Jonk, that goes for you too

I'm sure someone is thinking I'm just doing product plugs to drive traffic to my amazon affiliate setup. My response is, "yeah, bite me".

I am once again cleaning out my desk and came across this page that I ripped out of Wired. I've been looking for a decent BBQ option that doesn't take up too much space in my apartment and is easy to deal with. I'm putting it here so I can recycle the paper.It's called the Sagaform BBQ Metal Bucket Grill 10.60-dia..

This is unbelievingly cool. Flickr has begun a collaboration with the Library of Congress called the Flickr: The Commons. The stated goal being:

Back in June of 2007, we began our first collaboration with a civic institution to facilitate giving people a voice in describing the content of a publicly-held photography collection.

The key goals of this pilot project are to firstly give you a taste of the hidden treasures in the huge Library of Congress collection, and secondly to how your input of a tag or two can make the collection even richer.

This needs little introduction if you just click through and check out the rich library of images. I'm thinking some flickr widget-ing is in order to explore these beautiful photos.

In case you're curious the Library of Congress has as blog.

Thanks to foo for pointing me to TechCrunch.

Everyone needs a curling sweater. In fact, with any luck, this blog may be providing coverage of the 2008 U.S. Club National Championships in Mankato, Minnesota in March! My mother-in-law's team is in them. Go T-Dawg!

I was out bid... I am crushed. The bidding started at $20, I had it for $25 with a max price of $40, and it went for $41... Did I mention I am devastated?

Sometimes on my way to work I'll swing some tunes or a podcast. And sometimes the podcasts are tunes. While I am not an Apple fanatic I do own an iPod Nano - old school. And in fact that is the only thing I think iTunes does well is their podcasting.

So, let me start by sharing the two music podcasts I keep up with:

Both are great sources of tunes and I've heard more than one great song that has lead to further discovery of a band. Today the tune that caught my ear was Walcott, Insane Mix #2 (5.6 MB so take it easy on my server) which I heard on KEXP Song of the day. It's a great way to get up to speed on the way to work.

Love to hear what people are into or discovering music wise. Please leave a comment and/or a link to some stuff you listen to.

I don't know if I've mentioned it before but you've probably figured out that I have an amazon.com affiliate account. So when you see a link on my site to a product on Amazon I get a percentage (4% currently). But I logged in to check my clicks and found the following:

So, let it not be said that I have shame, and if all it takes is 7 more items to score me another 2% - sure. Here are the last 7 items I bought from Amazon

But seriously, if you're thinking about buying something from Amazon and like what you see here, think about clicking through on one of my links and making your purchase, it doesn't cost you anything - and I'm up to 6%. So, by now you're probably wondering how much I have made of the affiliate program - well I'll tell you: $ 0.48. Yep, I'm rolling in it.

Um yeah...there is nothing there. I think I might just delete (if I can) my profile.

I am in love. Over the weekend my wife and I were all snuggled in enjoying a sleepy Saturday. Earlier I had gone out to have some keys made and stopped at my local Deli, Heliopolis, which has the best beer selection in Astoria, and picked up some of their Smuttynose Robust Porter. We had a couple of this magical elixir and just wanted more and more. The stuff is so good - I am having one right now.

Actually, everything I've had from theSmuttynose Brewery is fabulous. This includes their Old Brown Dog Ale, their Smuttynose IPA, and their Smuttynose Hanami Ale (which may be the only fruit flavored beer I like). Additionally, their Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale beat out the Dogfish Head Pumpkin Ale in my Pumpkin Ale-off this fall.

A friend of ours moved to New Hampshire whom we have yet to visit. I'm thinking a trip may be in order.

I've fired off an email to them asking where their beer is sold in New York City. I'll publish their response here. But in the mean time, if you find yourself picking out beer and see some Smuttynose you can't go wrong. Or, if you can't wait... they do have an online store for all your merchandise needs - sorry no beer.