culann.com

Just a quick advisory note - I’m going to be trying to stick to something of a schedule on the blog for the next bit, alternating daily between technical posts (like my ongoing Code Virtues series) and everything else. Tomorrow’s the next technical post, so keep your eyes peeled.

I appear to have something of a problem related to this blog (and to blogging in general, I guess): when I’m working on a post, my worst perfectionist tendencies emerge. For an example, I’ve got four posts in various states of completion hanging out in my admin interface at this very moment - one of which is kind of time-sensitive, so that if I don’t get it out soon will be either old hat or way behind the times.

…

So I’m thinking it might be better for me to be working on that, to complete it to at least some minimally satisfactory level, rather than continue with the self-flagellation here. Off I go then…

So I just did something fun - I took the 2005 MIT Blogging Survey. Yes, it’s another one of those memes that floats around the blogging world every once in a while, but this time it’s For Science (and who can resist Science?)

If you keep a blog, go take a peek - it only takes a few minutes, and you can proudly display a nifty banner on your site when you’re done!

Updated the sidebar image again (yay for weekly updates!). This time, it’s a photo of something I didn’t know was in Rome. As people may know, Mussolini was a bit obsessed with the Roman Empire. During his reign, he had a series of giant maps created and installed just up the road from the Colosseum. The four maps show snapshots of Europe and the surrounding regions at four distinct times in the history of the Empire, from the founding of Rome to its greatest extent (under Trajan, in the first century CE). These two maps are the later pair.

I didn’t realize this at the time, but Mussolini also had a map of the “new” Roman Empire installed - the one he intended to rule over. Thankfully, it never came to pass.

‘Nother new sidebar image today. This time, it’s the statue of Laocoon and his sons from the Vatican’s enormous collection of classical art.

For those not in the know, Laocoon was a Trojan priest who warned his fellow townspeople against bringing the Trojan Horse into the city. The gods sent two sea serpents to silence him and his sons as punishment for his foresight. This statue is one of my favorites, and has been ever since I first saw it as a photo in a book of mythology when I was little; it was a real treat to be able to see it in person last year.