Off to the WSOP
Posted by mep | Filed under wsop
Well, Friday morning I push off to Vegas to play some WSOP events.
I’m excited about logging some serious poker hours. I’m not going to get wiggy and put the entire roll into one, say a 5k, event. That’s a bit too much of a lottery ticket mentality.
There are a lot of events to pick from, but i’ll probably opt for a $200 or $300 satellite/event either at The Rio, or another card room. My main goal is to find a way to play the 10k main event next month. I’ll keep the blog updated with what’s going on as it relates to my WSOP trip.
Because of the event, I’ve added a new wsop category on the blog. you can get directly to it via: this link
As far as being prepared goes, i’m well rested, in shape, mentally fit, rid myself of bad habits, full of focus, quite happy and have found quite a bit of patience.
I brought a ‘TV shirt’…just in case
adding your netflix queue via RSS
Posted by mep | Filed under java, tech
I’ve been messing with XSLT a good bit and decided I needed a small project to work some muscles to their fell extent. When i found that NetFlix offers a number of RSS feeds for their users, I decided to add my NetFlix Queue to my site.
I could have found a taglib and added a new page to display the feed, but that seemed like the messy way. Since I use the Spring Framework, it was pretty easy to get it working very fast.
All it took was 2 xslt files a new movies jsp page, a transformation class/bean with a simple date based cache and a bunch of wirings in the servlet.xml file. Its set up so the RSS file will only be fetched from NetFlix and transformed no more than once per 24 hours and on server restarts. Having the transformation cached means i’m fetching the html via a cached pojo.
Kind of sweet and neat little project. I thought about doing a step by step how to – but i really don’t have the time. I’ll get around to refactoring a few things in the future, then maybe i’ll do a better writeup. But now, I’m off to better uses of my time.
review: Saeco Incanto
Posted by mep | Filed under life
we in the technical community understand the issues involved with troubleshooting a product (new or existing).
I unpacked the new espresso machine and followed the instructions strictly. Within 3 minutes of filling with water, adding whole beans, priming the pump and pressing the one shot button, i received what most would consider a decent, full shot of espresso. it was watery and weak, but with nice crema. I tossed that one way (who would drink the first shot anyway?) and made a few more, same results. most would stop there and call the new machine a success. I needed to press on. Was it the machine, the bean, the grind, grinder or, most likely, some combination of them. Time to simplify. lets remove the bean, grind, built in grinder and test the machine is its most basic mode. Thank god someone created a way to use preground coffee to make a shot. I pulled out my trusted standby of preground espresso, dropped it into the preground slot, listened as the machine tamped without a grind and pulled a shot that was about 85% of perfection. The machines’ ability to put out a shot is beyond doubt. I’ll have to play around with bean and grind. I have no doubt that i’ll get it just the way i like it. It’s par for the course to mess around with bean and grind on a new machine. I’m happy with the purchase and the resulting product, as will anyone that comes over and has a cuppa my finest. Just don’t ask for drip coffee, i’m likely to bite you!
Needless to say, but you know it’s going to be a long night when your pulling shots of espresso at 9:30pm on a Wednesday, but a guy has to do what a guy has to do…and there is no such thing as a shot that does not get sipped a bit before tossing it down the drain.
Thursday morning was a real test. I played with the frothing device the previous night and had no issues, thought getting used to it would take some time. I put a cup on the machine top to get warm, frothed some milk and pulled a shot with preground coffee. when you put them all together in the right way, you get a latte. A fine latte, worthy of being served under my roof. Off to the couch where i unfolded the New York Times and spent the next hour in pure bliss, sipping, reading, smiling.
I can say without a doubt that the Saeco 00065 Incanto Rapid Steam SBS Fully Automatic Espresso Machine is a winner.
new espresso machine
Posted by mep | Filed under java, life
it’s with great sadness that I say that i have ‘retired’ my 10+ year old La Pavoni esressso machine. It has been a work horse for over a decade, but sadly, it’s seems to constantly be in the fritz. I’ll take it apart and try to get it back in prime condition over the next few months…then either use it at the office or sell it on eBay (or give it to my first born??). For a initial cost of $550, it ended up costing under $50 a year to run. I guess it falls into the ‘durable good’ category of appliances.
My new machine arrived today at the office. I can’t wait to get it home and put it thru its paces. I decided to turn to a super automatic this time. My manual La Pavoni was nice, but I’m ready for the push button experience. push one button, it grinds, doses, moistens, tamps and draws. I’m looking forward to the increased PSI that should produce a wonderful shot of espresso. My morning lattes should be even better than they ever have been. The new machine is a Saeco 00065 Incanto Rapid Steam SBS Fully Automatic Espresso Machine. Time will tell if it’s a good purchase
google apps – me so happy
Posted by mep | Filed under tech
do you own a domain, host your own content but really would like someone else to deal with the hassles of mail…we Google comes to the rescue – again. Google Apps does the job just fine – and it’s free.
I decided to experiment with one of my domains. I signed up with Goggle for their “Small Business” offering. I went thru their simple verification process (create the html file they ask for on the domain your supposed to own – then hit a button for google to confirm) and changed my MX record from me to them. about 30 minutes later, i was up and running. It’s like google mail but email generated comes from you@yourDomain.tld, not yourname@gmail.com.
They have other offerings – but for me, i’m more than happy to offload MX service to google using their free service. I’m going to keep testing it – but i can see the day when every domain i own/run will have it’s MX records pointed at google. Since 95% (95+) of my mail related traffic is spam anyway, i’d be happy to shut off port 25 for incoming mail.
why we do what we do
Posted by mep | Filed under life, tech
Mark Fletcher wrote about the 15 Startup Commandments of a software/internet startup.
What he wrote serves a double purpose. For everyone that does not really understand why some geeks do what they do, go back and read his words. it’s in our blood. it what gets me up in the morning. it IS us…at least some of us.
Now please stop telling me it’s important to have my home phone plugged into an answering machine.
Opening Day – again
Posted by mep | Filed under sports
How nice it is to be at the office and hear the words: “can you go to the game tonight – opening day”
Indeed I can, and did, score some free tickets to Padres opening day. Back to back season openers for me – and not even needing to pay for the tickets – sweet.
Binions – still with me
Posted by mep | Filed under poker
I hit Las Vegas last weekend to play some No Limit poker tournaments. One of the stops was Binions downtown. I tossed the keys to the Valet and played a $105 No Limit tournament to 5th place. I left Binions to go play some more tournaments, then drove the 300+ miles home.
I found the valet stub on my windshield almost a week later – proving that Binions, and poker, is with you long after your done with it.
how to lose a customer in 180 days
Posted by mep | Filed under poker
i just got the email below from a poker establishment. I’ll log in and transfer any money i might have, but i’ll never play a hand there again:
morons. seems to me like it’s a perfect “terms and conditions” for a crack addict.
==============================================
Dear
Our records indicate that your account has become inactive.
An inactive account is any account that has not logged in for 180 consecutive days. Inactive accounts are subject to a $5 administrative fee, which has been deducted from your account balance on 17-Mar-2007.
*TERMS & CONDITIONS If you do not access your Account by “logging on” to your Account using your Account name and password for any period of 180 days, then after those 180 days (the “180 day grace period”) your Account (and any related account with any ESP) will be deemed “Inactive”. If your Account becomes Inactive, then the Company is entitled to charge you an administrative fee (the “Inactive Account Fee”). The Inactive Account Fee shall be deducted from your Account Balance at the end of each calendar month in accordance with the Inactive Account Fee Schedule.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our Customer Care team is available 24/7.
Sincerely,
winning races
Posted by mep | Filed under Uncategorized, poker
in poker there are many situations that come down to races. any pair to two overcards. ie: AQ vs JJ, 89 vs 22, etc. the pair is a slight favorite…but not by much. in the real world, it’s a coin flip.
In the long run, one should go 50/50 with the races. I’ve lost about 14 race situations in a row…until last night. My pair finally held up against 2 overcards.
funny how returning to the mean can make one feel good. Winning the SNG meant little to me, winning a race for once made me feel damn good.