Thinking aloud: Azure, AWS, DevOps, cars and opinion from Alex Neihaus

  • National Grid improved nothing after Irene; continues to tell people nothing during crises

    Since at least Mark Twain, people have accepted that crappy weather and New England go together. Now, thanks to UK-based National Grid (can you picture “British” and “advanced engineering” together or “UK” and “superior service” on the same bill?), “third-world power distribution grid” and New England have come to be linked in people’s minds. In…

  • Want to build a good software company? Squeeze four people into an office for one

    I’ve been working with a new startup for the last few months (which explains my silence here). This company is crammed into a single office. There are usually three people working in the office…and when I’m there, I make four. I work from on a small “piece” of an Ikea desk, kindly lent to me…

  • Verizon: Who designed your websites and mobile apps?

    I’ve just been through a “process” of making my FiOS DVR accessible from Verizon’s website and their mobile apps for Android and iOS. You know what I mean about a “process” and a cable company: thousands of reboots of this thing or that — hours spent restoring my settings on this device or that after…

  • So long, Mr. Edison. It was great seeing you.

    Years ago when we were hunting for a condo to rent in Singapore, I noticed that the ceiling light fixtures hadn’t been installed in the kitchen of a newly constructed unit we looked at. When I asked the agent why, she said that the landlord was waiting to see if a Japanese or American expat…

  • Take THAT, Best Buy

    Just yesterday, as my wife and I were going through the Sunday papers, I ran across an ad for HDMI cables from Best Buy. As you can see from the snippet from their weekly ad, they have a house-branded 6ft “high speed” HDMI cable for $60. I mentioned to my wife that I knew this…

  • “Mister Softee” is the funniest episode of television ever made

    Do you know who this Red Sox first baseman is? Does this still image bring back unimaginable pain from the long lost 80s? Does Bill Buckner encapsulate for you the pre-21st century course for the Olde Towne Team? What if you could laugh it off, courtesy of a brilliant crew of comedic writers and actors…

  • Another old-school moment

    I’m on vacation on the Cape. We’re having a blast. But this isn’t about the fact that we walked along the beach at dusk and had it all to ourselves or the fact that it’s so quiet and peaceful at our undisclosed location that I never want to leave. Instead this post is about WordPress…

  • My 3rd of July, or how I nearly got pwned

    Well, now that it’s over, I can finally talk about it. I got up Sunday morning, July 3rd, salivating over all the cholesterol-laden meats I was gonna burn…er…grill that day in celebration of the holiday. I was looking forward to my weekend breakfast of imported Nestle 2-in-1 coffee sachets (I prefer the Indonesian version) and peanut…

  • Turn left…Brake NOW!…SLOW DOWN!!

    I realize that recent posts on this blog have veered wildly from maudlin to manic. But, hey that’s life, ain’t it? Today’s news is that Massachusetts has minted another new driver, who models her newly printed learner’s permit here. Having thought through this process in detail in my mind, I realized she’d want to try…

  • Do you use the Internet? Then you gotta read this.

    It’s Memorial Day and a little rainy here, so I pulled out the iPad to catch up on tech news. And I stumbled on to a piece of proposed legislation that scared the bejesus out of me. The so-called PROTECT IP act (S.968), now fortunately placed on hold in the US Senate by the same…

  • A big moment

    Tricia and I are pictured here (click the thumbnail for a larger image) with Sarah, our newly minted cum laude graduate of Simmons College with a BS in Nursing. Sarah graduated last Friday, after four years of intense work in a highly competitive, demanding academic and clinical program. We are bursting with pride, as you…

  • Purportedly extinct dinosaurs sing

    Ok, I really need your help. You guys gotta help me figure out if I’m listening to the pop music equivalent of nearly extinct dinosaurs or if I am really hearing a vibrant revival of the music and bands of the 70’s and 80s. I need to know if it’s just me experiencing some kind…