I will be starting up a new project over at http://ctmiller.net early this winter. Please head over and subscribe if you’d like to know more when the time comes.

I bring you my final podcast episode, a discussion with my good friend J.C. Hutchins. It’s about a lot of things, but mostly, it’s about change.

Thanks, everyone.

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Unquiet Desperation is going to be shifting focus in the month of July. I’ve been using this as a personal blog for years, but I find that I want to take the time to explore new things here, and split some of my other interests off into other areas.

Unquiet Desperation: The Blog

I’ve said that I want to write essays, and my goal for this site will be to host those essays. The areas I want to cover here are:

1. Exploring living a simpler life in a rapidly-changing technological society
2. Using creative disciplines and ingenuity to make sense of and enhance the world around us
3. Examining the creative process in relationship and as a reaction to the pressures of daily life
4. Touching on the care of the soul via aesthetic experience

Unquiet Desperation: The Podcast

The renewed focus of the podcast will keep the exploratory tone of past incarnations, while veering sharply away from the well-worn geekly tropes.  I envision it as monthly exploration of a single topic, via essay, interview, music, or whatever else suits. The first episode of the new podcast will drop in late July.¹

Geeky Topics Live In The Secret Lair

The Secret Lair is a perfect outlet for  discussions about the entertainment, geekdom, and other topics I like to tackle. They belong there, not here.

Internet Memes, Video, Short Posts, Etc are Trinkets

Sure, I like to pass things along as much as the next guy. Those items will move to my Tumblr, Trinkets in a Coffee Can.

Programming Discussion

I consider this part of my personal creative life. Essays on programming will live here, as will topics in other creative disciplines, like writing or brewing.

* * *

Along with all of this, I’m working with Mick Bradley on a new look and feel for the site, and I’m looking forward to unveiling that once we’re done.

I will be restructuring categories and such over the new month, so if you see weirdness in the feed, please excuse it. It should only be temporary.

I want to thank everyone whose feedback and friendship have inspired and enabled me to gather this focus, especially Kris Johnson, Thomas Gideon, Mur Lafferty, J.C. Hutchins, David Moore, Jay Lynn, John Cmar, Natalie Metzger, Mick Bradley, and, my ever-patient wife, Cathy.

See you all when I return from my vacation. Try not to wreck the place while I’m gone.

-Chris

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1. This will include the contributions of all the folks who have sent me audio already.

I’ve taken the plunge and contracted the talented Mick Bradley to help me create a look and feel that I can be happy with. We’re just in the planning stages, but so far, I’m happy with where things are going. This new theme is just something I’m playing with. I’ve found that I have a deep and abiding disdain for most WordPress themes. I’m hoping we can come up with something a little different.

He’s recommended that I upgrade to WP 3.0, and I’ll probably do that once I back everything up.  Ahhh, the bleeding edge, how I view thee with suspicion and trepidation…

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1. Please update your address books to use christopher [at] ctmiller [dot] net as my email address. (Some of you have a different ctmiller.net email address for me. That’s cool. Keep using that one.)
2. If you have me on Google Chat or follow me on Google Reader, connect with or subscribe to the above email address instead.
3. If you’re sharing Google Docs with me, please share them with the above email as well.

Amazingly, this has nothing to do with my recent paranoia. I’m just trying to consolidate things and get organized.

Thanks!

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Exploring Django Part One, or, I Made a Half-Monkey/Half-Pony To Please You

In this first part of a three-part talk, Evil Overlord Chris Miller will show all the budding Evil Masterminds who attend how to get started with the Python-based Django web application framework. Topics covered will include:

1. URL Mapping for Fun and Profit,
2. Templating Engines for the Faint of Heart, and
3. Girding Thy Loins With The Power of Data Models.

Souls of the innocent will not be provided — expect to bring your own and some to share with the class.

Seating is limited to 30 people for this event, so register early!

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To that end, I’m looking for volunteers to be interviewed about various topics over the next year for the show. My plan is to pick ten to fifteen topics and then select people from this pool to discuss the topics with. The subject matter will be far reaching. Some examples of shows I’ve thought of thus far:

1. Art in  a Recession
2. How Did You Meet your Significant Other?
3. The Topography of Local Myths
4. Software Developers are the new Auto Workers
5. What did you want to be when you grew up? Knowing yourself now, how do you  think that would have worked out?

The interviews would take place on Skype, and would be recorded for use in the show.

If you are interested, please fill out this form. By signing up, you’re simply giving me permission to contact you about doing an interview. There is no obligation at all.

Thanks!

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I’ll be at:

• PyCon: Feb 17-21 in Atlanta, GA
• Balticon 44: May 28-30 in Balimore, MD
• GenCon: Aug 6-8 in Indianapolis, IN
• Con on the Cob: Oct 14-17 in Hudson, OH. This one will be something special…Kris and I have a Clever Plan we’ll talk about in coming months.

If you’re going to be at any of these, drop me a line and let’s find some time to meet up.

Also, the latest episode of TRICKSTERS has been posted on The Secret Lair. Remember the girl on the doorstep from last week? Yeah. There’s more to her than meets the eye.

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Then, the NanoMonkeys went silent, the domain was taken over by one of the less savory outfits on the web, and the podcast passed into legend, never to be heard again…

…until now.

Starting on 10-31-2009, The Secret Lair will present encore episodes from those original shows, releasing one a day for the month of November. Subscribe to the main feed, and you too can join the madness.

For more information and to subscribe, visit The Secret Lair.

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First…I’m taking a hiatus from development on Podiobooks.com.

The reason is simple: I lack the time to do the PB 2.0 project justice. It kills me to admit that. When we started PB five years ago, I had two small kids, a simple 40 hour a week job, and my wife was not working. Now, I have a 12, 9, and 4 year old with all the commitments that follow from that, plus my wife is working full time, playing in two bands, teaching violin and fiddle, and I am working full time and filling in as Mr. Mom. It has become impossible to find the time to truly lead the project. Those things, combined with some recent health developments, have put the whammy on many of my personal projects. The PB2 project will go on (we are looking for new leads right now), and Evo and the PB2 team will continue driving it. It will grow and flourish, and I cannot wait to see where it goes next.

Second…Michelle and I will be recording the final Shadowdance podcast tonight. The reasons there are similar: my personal schedule and Michelle’s schedule no longer match up quite as well. She’s writing books, appearing on television and traveling, and I have my family and my career to look after. Also, my opinions on the subject matter of the show have changed, and I feel disingenuous continuing to give advice on a subject that I do not fully embrace. More on this in a future post.

For the record, The Secret Lair is still going strong: Kris and I will continue with our fun until the men in white coats come after us to take us away.¹ In fact, we just released Episode 29, chock full of goodness from the likes of Dr. John Cmar, Natalie Metzger, Jay Lynn, and our special guest, Mick Bradley.

So, that’s the news. How’s your day?

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1. If they can get past the giant squid and the rabid zombie poodles.

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Why are we leaving?

We’ve found that L.A. is just not for us. L.A. seems like a great city if you’re single or a couple. There are a lot of things to do, if you’re into the night life scene. We’re not really, and with the kids, it’s hard to get out much.  The main reasons we’re leaving are:

• The schools are atrocious. The worst schools I’ve ever had the misfortune to step inside. I’ve never seen a state so proud of something so completely abyssmal.
• It’s too damn expensive. You cannot even USE the car insurance you pay ($260/mo for our cars), because if you are in a single fender bender, the cost will double.  It’s why there are so many beaten-up cars on the road. You’re basically throwing money away. And rent…don’t get me started about rent.
• Crime / safety. The LAPD helicopters were over our apartment complex last week for the thrid time in as many months.
• Too many goddamn people.
• We miss proper seasons, a city we can nagivate without reams of maps, proper forests and parks (The Cleveland Metroparks are AMAZING, and should not be taken for granted), our friends and family.

Where will we be living?

We’re settling in with my inlaws in Shaker Heights until we find a place. We’ll likely be renting for a bit, but if we find the right house at the right price, we might buy. Where is yet unknown.  We’ll be working that out.

Will there be a party celebrating our return?

I have it on good authority that there will be.

Will you be going to Origins?

I’m going to try, yes.

May I follow along with your Grand Adventure?

I’ll be writing about the trip across county, much as I did when we moved out here. You’ll be able to follow along from the comfort of your own home.

(special thanks to robotskirts for the awesome “How far is Ohio?” graphic, originally from Superpoop.com)

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Additionally, Mahalo has great election result pages for every state.  Check out the full list:

• Alabama Election Results 
• Alabama Exit Polls
• Alaska Election Results 
• Alaska Exit Polls
• Arizona Election Results
• Arizona Exit Polls
• Arkansas Election Results
• Arkansas Exit Polls
• California Election Results
• California Exit Polls
• Colorado Election Results
• Colorado Exit Polls
• Connecticut Election Results 
• Connecticut Exit Polls
• Delaware Election Results 
• Delaware Exit Polls
• Florida Election Results 
• Florida Exit Polls 
• Georgia Election Results 
• Georgia Exit Polls
• Hawaii Election Results 
• Hawaii Exit Polls
• Idaho Election Results 
• Idaho Exit Polls
• Illinois Election Results
• Illinois Exit Polls
• Indiana Election Results 
• Indiana Exit Polls
• Iowa Election Results 
• Iowa Exit Polls
• Kansas Election Results 
• Kansas Exit Polls
• Kentucky Election Results 
• Kentucky Exit Polls
• Louisiana Election Results 
• Louisiana Exit Polls
• Maine Election Results
• Maine Exit Polls
• Maryland Election Results 
• Maryland Exit Polls
• Massachusetts Election Results 
• Massachusetts Exit Polls
• Michigan Election Results 
• Michigan Exit Polls
• Minnesota Election Results 
• Minnesota Exit Polls
• Mississippi Election Results 
• Mississippi Exit Polls
• Missouri Election Results 
• Missouri Exit Polls
• Montana Election Results 
• Montana Exit Polls
• Nebraska Election Results 
• Nebraska Exit Polls
• Nevada Election Results 
• Nevada Exit Polls
• New Hampshire Election Results
• New Hampshire Exit Polls
• New Jersey Election Results
• New Jersey Exit Polls
• New Mexico Election Results 
• New Mexico Exit Polls
• New York Election Results 
• New York Exit Polls 
• North Carolina Election Results 
• North Carolina Exit Polls 
• North Dakota Election Results 
• North Dakota Exit Polls
• Ohio Election Results 
• Ohio Exit Polls
• Oklahoma Election Results 
• Oklahoma Exit Polls
• Oregon Election Results 
• Oregon Exit Polls
• Pennsylvania Election Results 
• Pennsylvania Exit Polls
• Rhode Island Election Results
• Rhode Island Exit Polls
• South Carolina Election Results
• South Carolina Exit Polls
• South Dakota Election Results 
• South Dakota Exit Polls
• Tennessee Election Results
• Tennessee Exit Polls
• Texas Election Results 
• Texas Exit Polls
• Utah Election Results
• Utah Exit Polls
• Vermont Election Results 
• Vermont Exit Polls
• Virginia Election Results 
• Virginia Exit Polls
• Washington Election Results 
• Washington Exit Polls
• Washington DC Election Results
• Washington DC Exit Polls
• West Virginia Election Results 
• West Virginia Exit Polls
• Wisconsin Election Results 
• Wisconsin Exit Polls 
• Wyoming Election Results 
• Wyoming Exit Polls

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We didn’t publicize it because we thought that the majority of the folks who used the site would want a customized feed on a schedule. Initially, that was the case, but as we’ve grown, we’ve had more and more people stymied by the system, looking to subscribe via a regular RSS feed.

Now they can.

On every book page, we’ve enabled the “auto-discovery” of the default feed of every book. Hit a book detail page and look up in the bar where you’d type a new URL. See that small icon on the right hand side (I assume it’s there for IE users)? If you click it, it will give you the RSS feed for the book as-is. You can’t change the delivery time or any of the cool features of our custom feed (and that’s still there, same place on the page), but you can quickly subscribe to a book and follow along.

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Not so, good reader. There are two reasons for my silence. The first is that I’ve been traveling: went to the Google I/O conference in San Francisco then to Santa Monica for Codejam V at the Mahalo Mothership. For more about my views on how Google I/O went, check out the interview with me over at the Command Line Podcast.

The second is that we’ve decided to move to Los Angeles. This one…well…it’s huge. We’re looking to get the house on the market as soon as humanly possible, which means that we’ve been painting, patching, and handling all the stuff we’ve been putting off for a while. It’s a tough market out there for selling a house, and we’re hoping to have it done soon so that we can be in L.A. by Sept 1. Too optimistic? Maybe. So far, things have fallen into place every step of the way, and we’ve been incredibly lucky to have a our families and friends helping us out as we prepare. The insanity of all of this is the reason I’ve been off the interwebs for a bit. There’s simply not enough time in the day anymore.

For those of you who know the area, we’re looking to settle in Sherman Oaks. My good friend Nicole took me on a tour of the neighborhood while I was out there last week, and I really liked the feel of the place. If you know anyone looking to rent a three-bedroom house out there, hook me up.

Finally, I’m dropping a little something into my podcast feed this week. J.C. Hutchins interviewed me for his Ultracreatives series. We had a great time, and I think it’s my favorite interview to date. I got to talk about a number of things that I rarely touch on in my blog or the shows I produce, so it was a real treat.

More on the move as it develops. Otherwise…it’s good to be back.

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This morning C.A.’s wife, Kelly, passed away unexpectedly. Our hearts, thoughts, prayers and deepest condolences are with C.A. in this difficult and tragic time.

If you have ever thought about donating to any of the podcasts that I produce, I’d ask that you please visit the donation site established by Mae Breakall and give what you can to help C.A. cover the expenses that tragic events like these always incur.

(originally posted by Kris Johnson at The Secret Lair)

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In Jason’s words:

We’re looking for a really killer Systems Engineer here in Los Angeles to work at our very cool factory in Santa Monica where they will make their own hours (provided they at least make it in for the free staff lunch every day at noon , get whatever equipment they want, soak in stock options in the next big thing, and work with a team of totally kick-ass no BS developers who are KILLING it every day.

Interested? Get the details on Jason’s blog: Systems Engineer, Los Angeles.

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We’re having a little Refresh gathering tonight at the Winking Lizard in Lakewood at 7:30pm. There’s no set topic, other than tech in Cleveland and how we can improve it. Come join us!

Winking Lizard 14018 Detroit Ave. Lakewood, OH 44107-4522 Phone: 216.226.6693

View on Upcoming.com.

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photo credit: S.Hanski

For the last few years, this blog has had three different domains that point to it. The main url has been http://www.ctmiller.net/chris/wp for a long time, and I’ve been redirecting http://www.unquietdesperation.com and http://chris.ctmiller.net to that.

This is about to change.

I’m moving everything to http://www.unquietdesperation.com as soon as I can. This is going to take a day or so, I believe, but within the week, the ctmiller.net url will be redirecting to unquietdesperation.com.

I’ll be asking for your help. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that your links and feeds that point to the old url will continue to work. But if you have an issue, please drop me a line: christopher [[at]] ctmiller.net.

Thanks!

UPDATE: Well…what I thought was going to take a few days took me about 3 hours. It looks like the move is done. Please contact me if you have any issues with the site, feeds, or podcast.

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When: Today. Palm Sunday. March 16th, 2008.

But when specifically: Depends on your time zone. 1PM EST, 10AM PST, 6pm GMT.

What: Buy Jack Wakes Up in print from Amazon.com.

How much:$14.99 for 268 pages. You can’t afford not? to buy it.

Why: Because every author that makes a successful move to print is another notch in our collective lipstick case. Or feather in our cap. Or jewel in our crown. Or some other metaphor I’ve not added. And by “collective” I mean us as supporters of new adventures in the new world of publishing we’re trying to help create and influence. You are part of that us.

No, really why: Look, I’m not getting rich off the affiliate link to Amazon on this or any other book. It may sound like kumbaya bullshit, but this is about collective support. I could go with more metaphors, like a tide rises all boats, but I’m over my quota.

And if you aren’t yet convinced, listen to a few episodes of Jack Wakes Up for free. Then go buy the book. I’d tell you to listen to the whole thing, but there isn’t time if you want to help Seth rush the charts. So buy it now, and listen later. Money well spent. casino bonus offertbonus pour casino 770code bonus casino 770le supermarché casino en lignecasino en ligne francaiscasino gratuites en francaisjeu gratuitesno deposit required casino bonuscasino et jeuxblack jack gratisblog casino en lignecasinos en lignecode bonus casino770casino en ligne bonusjeux casino pour enfantsjeu craps gratuiteslogiciel video pokerjouez au casinogambling crapscasino netjeu du casino gratuitesplay slots onlinecraps onlinebonus gratuits casinowww jeu de casinojeu slots en ligne gratisslot machine 98telecharger jeu casino gratuitesrègles jeux casinojeu black jackblack jack downloadbonus casino playtechcasino poker gamesle casinowww casino cafeteria frcpayscom2 online casinojeu keno en ligne gratuitesjeux du casinojeu video casinole casino gratuites sans téléchargementjeux casino poker gratuitesslots royale casino,casino slots,all slots casinojeux de casino francaisjeux casino bonusjeux de casino sur internetplay free baccarat onlineinternet casinole casino français gratuitescasino blackjackcasino et bonus

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Thanks to the hard work and patience of Natalie Metzger, The Secret Lair now has a logo and banner!

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