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Rock Star alter egos are growing in numbers
"You're forming a fake band -- that's what you do," says Sadri, calling the game "the best part of karaoke, adding in a drummer and guitars."
The Magpie Developer
Jeff Atwood is one of the best programmer/writers around. I love reading his stuff, some I agree wholeheartedly with, other stuff we disagree, but this post is about a dead-on as they come. This idea has been floating in my head for a long time, but it is hard for me to conceptualize it in words, Atwood does a brilliant job at it. Must read for any developer.
Andy Olmsted's Last Blog Entry.
(Warning: Pretty rough) No matter how you feel politically about the war, this reminds you that each number people throw around as statistics is a human life. This is extremely well written, and pretty rough on your soul towards the end, but something everyone should read. Its a shitty situation all around, but there is always a human face behind the statistics and I want to make sure I never forget that.
LSU scared of the prospect of some Moreno action?
Photos of Abandoned Swimming Pools
9 Things You Didn't Know About Rockband.
Drinking stories that put yours to shame
Via Keith


To preserve his body during the voyage home, the second-in-command stored Nelson's body in the ship's vat of rum and halted all liquor rations to the crew. Not a bad idea, but when the ship reached port, officials went to retrieve Nelson's body and found the vat dry.



Disregarding good taste (in every sense), the crew had been secretly drinking from it the entire way home. After that, naval rum was referred to as Nelson's Blood.
making vodka pills in 24 hours
Recently, Chef Fabian was experimenting further with the Adria/Torreblanca technique of making 'vodka pills.' I use this word to describe the process of making liquid-filled candies by pouring flavored alcohol syrups into cornstarch and letting it set until a hard outer shell forms.
Strategy Letter VI - joelonsoftware.com
As a programmer, thanks to plummeting memory prices, and CPU speeds doubling every year, you had a choice. You could spend six months rewriting your inner loops in Assembler, or take six months off to play drums in a rock and roll band, and in either case, your program would run faster. Assembler programmers don’t have groupies.

Entire Article is Dead On. A must read for anyone in the software biz.
Mystery illness strikes after meteorite hits Peruvian village




 
 
 
 


(Thursday, October 27)

So I have my backup hard drive with me here at the office today (which means I have ALL my music with me) so I decided to listen to the whole Zeppelin Discography today. Which got me thinking which Zeppelin album I would say is the best. The first thing that comes to mind is Zoso/IV/Runes/'old man with sticks' (for those that don't know zeppelin, that�s actually the same album, it kind of doesn�t have a name). In thinking about it more, i think that may just be the Zepplin album that had the most influence on me. When I bought it I was a big geeky D&D'er and reader of Tolkien/Weis Hickman/Salvatore/Lovecraft (as opposed to now where I am a big geeky EQ2'er and reader of Tolkien/Weis Hickman/Salvatore/Lovecraft). So I really love Zoso, BUT in saying that I actually think that Houses of the Holy maybe my darkhorse for the win. I really love every song on the album, and it all kind of meshes well. I think Over the Hills and Far Away ranks up there with Ramble On and Black Dog as Zeppelin�s best singles. So my dear readers. What is the best Zeppelin Album in your opinion?



Brainstorm it:

Perhaps it is my fond memories of a group-sing karaoke version of "Whole Lotta Love" that I once participated in, but I'd have to go with LZ II. What Is and What Should Never Be, Heartbreaker, Living Loving Maid, Moby Dick,... really every song on that album is great. Great guitar riffs, more rock/blues fusion, and the nod to Tolkein on Ramble On that really puts it over the top. I spent a big chunk of my high school years singing and playing air guitar along with this one. Of course, as Homer Simpson once said, Jimmy Page is "one of the greatest thieves of American black music that ever walked the earth", but that doesn't taint the band's catalogue for me. Really any album could go here except Coda, and that one doesn't really count...

I would say IV as well... but since that is the only Zeppelin album I have, I'm kinda biased.

I'm gonna agree with Houses of the Holy...I love that album. "D'yer Mak'er" (although I can't pronounce it) and Over the Hills(..) are classic.

Yeah, I just checked the track listing for Houses of the Holy, and I would have to put it at the top as well. Great songs, plus that freaky-ass cover art.
 Your Thoughts?







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Travis - The Boy With No Name
Travis is back. I wouldn't say I hated 12 memories, it was meant to be very political, I just thought it went a little overboard and was somewhat preachy. Then when the greatest hits CD came out to be honest I was really hoping it didn't mean the end to one of my favorite brit bands. Boy With No Name is everything they were capable of. Supurb CD all the way through. Every song is brilliant. Big Chair is probably my favorite song and the opening to the CD on 3 Times is as good as it gets in music imho.
Pop! Why Bubbles are Great For The Economys (Gross)
One of the better economic books I have read in while, where the author gets their premise across in a well written, clear and concise manner. Basically Gross believes that the infrastructure left over after economic bubbles, provides companies with the ability to move forward (maybe more than the original bubble did). Not a hard read, I would definitely suggest it for a day and the beach/lake.
Feist - The Reminder
I CANNOT GET "I feel it all" OUT OF MY HEAD. Period. Great album, angelic voice.
Catan - Xbox Live Arcade
I am hopelessly addicted to this board-turned-video game on the xbox360. I had never played the board game but had seen it being played in some comic shops growing up. Click the Pick and play the demo, it isn't the 360 interface, but same game.
Arctic Monkeys - Favorite Worse Nightmare
No Sophomore slump here. Just as good (if not better) than Whatever they Say.
Beautiful Evidence (Tufte)
Tufte reads like a text book, most people would say bleh, but the information about "information" that he can deliver is top notch. My first Tufte book was "A Visual Display To Quantitative Information" and it was extremely well done, albeit confusing at time. I think beautiful Evidence is a little easier of a read (I am still only half way through it) and a little easier for myself to understand the ideas he is presenting..
Fountains of Wayne - Traffic and Weather
Fountains of Wayne are the Gods of pop music. If Welcome Interstate Managers was a collection of short stories in song form, then Traffic and Weather is an even better collection with more humor. I already feel like CNN has the hottest female anchors, imagining them throwing their lust around like the Title track to the CD makes it even better.
Game of Thrones (Martin)
I started this book assuming it was going to be a high fantasy novel. Elfs, Dragons, Magic and the like. It isn't. It IS fantasy but more surrounding the politics and cunning of a few high ranking families. Incest, Murder, Intrigue, unscrupulous midgets. It has it all and more.

 
Disclaimer The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in anyway.
© Copyright 2003-2007, Eric Thompson