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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, January 11)

Beer Buying on Sunday. Call Your Local Rep!


SB 26 would let voters in individual cities and counties decide whether to put supermarkets and convenience stores on equal footing with bars and restaurants, which can already sell beer and wine on the Christian Sabbath.

Georgia is one of only three states that forbid the practice, and polls indicate strong consumer support for lifting the ban. The industry also argues that Sunday has become the No. 1 shopping day at many of its stores.


I worked the customer service counter of a large grocery store chain for 3 years in high school and college. I can't begin to explain the faces of out of state shoppers who would come into to buy alcohol on Sunday when I told them "You can't buy alcohol on Sundays in Georgia". Some people honestly would ask me to repeat myself a couple of times cause they thought I was joking.

Honestly I never really thought about the law until I was legal and we started doing our grocery shopping on Sundays. I can't tell you how many times I curse this state knowing I have to stop back by on my way home from work to get some brew because I can't buy it on Sunday. It is the stupidest f'ing law on Georgia's Books. I don't understand why the hell we still have it. If you feel the same way please let your rep/senator know about it. As the article states, I am sure there is already a coalition of preachers ready to pounce on this, but it really doesn't do anyone any good. I have heard stories of alcoholics drinking vanilla extract or scope just to get their high on a Sunday when they can't buy alcohol. Generally these people are not insured one would think and I am sure we all end up paying for the medical bills after someone attempts to drink vanilla extract or scope (via higher insurance premiums, state paid taxes, the whole 9)*. Even though this is just beer and wine, that would be a step forward in my opinion.

Please note: After this gets passed we are coming for you S. Truett Cathy and the Chick-Fil-A board of directors, there will be a Sunday night when I get to sit down in front of my TV for a pro football game and eat Caesar Chicken Wrap with waffle fries and a freshly-acquired Sam Adams Damn it.


* Of course I don't want them out on the road either, but this law does nothing to stop drunk driving on Sundays.


Brainstorm it:

But it's the lord's day Eric. Pfft. You can't drink on Sundays. You have some kinda nerve.

Seriously, I agree, this is the most retarded law I can possibly think of. And I don't know what sort of revenue would be generated by taxing liquor sales on a Sunday, but I KNOW it wouldn't be some paltry amount. They could use that money for schools, roads, Sonny Perdue's comb-over, whatever. But it'd be added revenue for the state.

State senator emailed :)
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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