Open Letter to the Residents: Give It Up!

It pains me to say this, here on a blog with so much information and adulation of the great anonymous band The Residents. But there comes a time in each group's life when it becomes unmistakably clear that it is time to hang it up. Some groups, most notably The Rolling Stones, can't seem to bring themselves to quit in the face of increasingly ridiculous recordings and past their prime posturing.

Unfortunately, The Residents have joined their ranks. Their last couple of recordings, such as the utterly horrid "Animal Lover", have been abominable. Their latest, "The Way We Were", is, if possible, even worse. The release contains a CD and DVD of the "What is Music?" performances that The Residents put on in Australia. Many fans wondered if the show would make it to the US. After hearing this CD and suffering through the DVD, you'll be glad it didn't. The arrangments of the songs are completely uninspired. Only the backing band, most notably guitarist Nolan Cook, sound like they were actually present for the performances. Molly Harvey's vocals are feeble, and Homer Flynn, aka Mr. Skull, one of the two remaining original band members and "leader", is nothing compared to how he sounded years ago when the group had something unique to offer.

So, after 33 years in the music business, I'd say it's time for them to call it quits. Everyone who cares knows who the "anonymous" band members are (and who the original members no longer present were), we've all grown tired of $40 "limited edition" releases that totally suck, and fresher sounds are waiting to be heard.

If The Residents still have a sense of humor, they should quietly disappear, without a trace, back into the obscurity from which they came so long ago.

Microsoft MVP Award 2006

I don't generally toot my horn. But there's an old saying, if you don't toot your own horn no one else will.

So, I'd like to announce here that I've been named a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for 2006 for my speciality of Windows embedded and mobile device programming. This marks my 6th year in the program since my first award in 2001.

If you are interested, details of the MVP program can be found here.

Embedded Systems Conference 2006 Silicon Valley

I just received word that I will be presenting again this year at the Embedded Systems Conference Silicon Valley. This time the conference is being held at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, CA, April 3- 7 2006. I will be presenting the session Embedded Applications Programming With Windows CE. Details of the conference can be found here. The abstract for my talk can be found here. I will make my proceedings paper, slides, and sample code available on my blog once they are ready.

I found last year's conference to be extremely informative, with sessions covering a wide range of timely embedded systems prgramming and design topics. The trade show floor is also a great venue for learning about the latest offerings from the leading vendors in the embedded systems space. So, if you can make it, you won't be disappointed.

Harriet Miers

I rarely rant, but this issue warrants it. George Dumbo-Ya Bush nominates his Texas crony Harriet Miers to succeed Sandra Day O'Conner on the Supreme Court. She's got zero judicial experience. That should be enough to bring the Democratic leadership out of its collective deep sleep. Yet Harry Reid, my so called Senate minority leader, actually endorsed this gal.

So I decided to write to the idiot, and to register as an independent to boot. Just in case you're interested, here's the email I sent to Reid, with a cc: to his cohort Nancy Pelosi:


I am mad as hell that the Democratic party, MY party, refuses to stand up to George W. Bush and his inane supreme court nominations. I am especially incensed that you endorse Harriet Meirs as Sandra Day O'Conner's replacement. You even went as far as saying that you'd be OK with a justice with no experience as a judge! Be the first to know that after years of rolling over and playing dead when it comes to the war in Iraq and now the bastardization of the highest court in the land, I am abandoning my 25+ year membership with the party and regisitering tomorrow as an independent.

You and the rest of the Democratic members of Congress should be ashamed with how you have let the American people down. As the minority, you have nothing more to lose. Start fighting for me, or get the hell out of the way.


I've got no illusions that either Reid or Pelosi will read my email. But I felt what I wrote had to be said.

2005 MVP Summit - Update

I obviously didn't manage to post every day. The Microsoft guys kept us busy morning to night, so there really wasn't a spare moment. It was all worthwhile, however, as the Windows CE and Windows Mobile teams provided a ton of information about upcoming platforms and features. Being an NDA event, I can't provide too many deatils. But suffice it to say that the kinds of things you'll be able to build and the types of applications you'll be able to write will be like nothing you've done before.

On the desktop and web development front, we saw a lot of new Windows Vista ("Lornhorn" to the rest of us) features, Avalon and Indigo capabilities for rich user interfaces and service based software, and ASP.NET features that will make web development more productive.

All in all, the 2005 MVP Summit was a huge success, and well worth attending.