Sydney Apple Store: We have an official opening date. Thursday, June 19th, 5pm.

Tragedy
Last night the Snook and I were having fun watching a silly Bollywood film. It was long though, so halfway through we paused and took a break. While the Snook was microwaving some popcorn, I idly opened my laptop to see if I had any email. There was a one line message from my brother Anthony, sent from his mobile phone. My stepbrother Josh was killed in a car accident. “Oh shit.” I immediately tried to ring my Dad’s house but the line was busy. I didn’t manage to get through to them until this morning. By then I saw that the story was in the local paper. They’re… holding up as best they can. It’s just so random and stupid and unfair. I hate that I’m not there to help them out. It just sucks to know that people you love are really, really hurting, and there’s nothing you can do or say to make it better.

Edited to add: The obituary‘s up, less than 24 hours after the accident.

Hooray! It looks like the restrictions on knitting needles on airplanes may be lifted!

Christian Heilmann got name-checked on Daring Fireball today. It’s a little weird to realize that the kilt-wearing guy whose job I saved seven years ago is now, like, a bigtime international name in web development.

Remember Weezer’s awesome YouTube-inspired music video? Here’s an explanation of ten of the memes it references, along with the original videos. How had I never seen “Evolution of Dance”? When he started jumping up and down to House of Pain, I just lost it…

Understanding Model-View-Controller. Very useful little essay explaining the MVC design pattern for those of us trying to take our programming skills to the next level.

Twilight Saga
My cousin Jenny IMed me yesterday. “Do you know anything about twilight?” she said. “Uh… you mean that gas they give you at the dentist?” I guessed. “No! It’s a series of books about teenage girls in love with sexy teenage vampires. I’m obsessed.” Sounds very Buffy, right? She raved about it for ten minutes. Then she went for the clincher: “They’re coming out with a movie on the first book in December and CEDRIC DIGGORY is playing the vampire!” Hoo-yah, sign me up! I went out and got the first book at lunchtime, and I’m already a hundred pages in. Don’t be put off by the fact that it’s in the “Young Adult” section; they’re quite thick books and they’re very well-written. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go read my book and SQUEEEE some more…

If there are any American expats out there who need to register to vote or request a postal ballot, get yourself over to VoteFromAbroad.org. You answer some questions, print out a form, and mail it off. Easy peasy! (And since people keep asking me, yes, dual citizens get to vote in both countries.)

When it rains, it pours. I left my umbrella on the train Tuesday morning, so I quickly went to buy another one. It was blue and pretty and it kept me dry for 48 hours. Then the wind blew it inside out and broke two of its ribs. Now I need another umbrella. Can somebody in Sydney point me to an umbrella that won’t break but is small enough to carry every day? (I refuse to carry a golf umbrella, and I give dirty looks to everyone who does.)