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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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(Tuesday, July 31)
Dos - Culver City Dub Collective
(9 out of 10)
I have been on a Huge Dub kick here lately, mostly because I have been doing a massive amount of coding. When I get really into the code I usually either listen to Miles, Mingus, Coltrane or some combination of them (anything pre-"Bitches" for miles, after that he gets a little too odd for me).
That was until a few years ago when I picked up the Laika Come Home (Gorillaz Vs Space Monkeys) and started to explore Dub and some of the "west african" stuff that Albarn did post-Blur (Mali Music) and while I listened to that for awhile, I just happened to pick up a Trojan Records compilation from Best Buy a few years back and that is when I started listening to more of the Dub/Electronic (think boards of canada) side of Reggae than Reggae itself. I listened to it a decent amount for about 6 months or so then fell back into the pure jazz while coding (I had a coworker who used to let me rip from his insanely extensive collection about 5 years or so ago and he had extremely good taste) so I had plenty to listen to. About 2 or 3 months ago I started to get back into dub again and have been more on the electronic side of it. to make a long story short I picked up Dub Side of the Moon (Floyd in Reggae/Dub) and Radiodread (OK Computer in Reggae/Dub) and started listening to them and started to explore a little more and found Culver City Dub Collective. I had heard The Cave off a Jack Johnson surf compilation recently so I picked up their EP a few days ago and totally got into it, and they had their first full length album "Dos" come out today. It is pretty much amazing to me. Very mellow and absolutely the best programming music for me personally.
Check it out if you are looking for something laid back with your morning coffee/tea if you really can't use any coding musak. I would say it is more jazz than anything, but you can hear the reggae in it also. It is available on iTunes so if you want to hear 30 secs of stuff you can for each song. Certainly worth $10. I have a friend that just moved out to LA where these guys are based (Culver City, orly?) and I am hoping he reads this and go checks them out. If I lived out there I would.
Labels: dub, music
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(Friday, July 20)
You can't stop the Cole Train Motherfu..!
"The suit accuses Epic of a number of misdeeds, including fraud, negligent misrepresentation, intentional interference with contractual obligations, breach of warranty, and unjust enrichment. Silicon Knights is seeking to have the contract between itself and Epic Games declared null and void and be refunded all of the money it spent to license Unreal Engine 3. The developer also wants to be awarded punitive damages for the offenses it alleges Epic committed. Finally, the studio is asking that Epic be forced to surrender all profits garnered by Gears of War as a result of misconduct."
Bold mine.
Yowsa.
Silicon Knights sues Epic Games - Xbox 360 News at GameSpot
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(Tuesday, July 17)
Come a long way from Tecmo Bowl....
Since 2003, every year there is a right of passage that starts to get me pumped about football season: The yearly NCAA purchase. For 2002 - 2006 it was for the PS2, last year and this year it has been for the 360. It is weird, some years the gameplay itself will change dramatically, other years the actual gameplay doesn't change that much they just add new features to the menus (season mode, dynasty, cut scenes, replay etc). So I downloaded the demo last week for the 360 and played the core game it really felt like barely anything had changed in the gameplay except the way to navigate in the play calling UI. Regardless I knew I was still going to get the game (they had me at season 1) so my annual pilgrimage after work to pick up the newest version came today and I brought the game home.
So I start setting up my dynasty for this year, a few new features here and there for recruiting; player callups, promise system, etc. I started playing around with setting up a non-online game. If there is any hint I can give to any new x360 owner that wants to play a sports game online the night they get the game is - Don't do it. Period. It doesn't matter if it is the day the game came out and you just KNOW noone has played the game yet and can be decent, The 'Great Law of Videogame Balance' says that you will get obliterated for an entire 4 quarters then find out it is a 11 year old if you try to play online the first night the game is out. Disgraced, the loss will leave a bad taste in your mouth when you play the game the next time.
There is also a few other cool new features I notice like realistic weather for location and night is now done by Weather Channel which is amazingly BA. They can tell you the temp/conditions right now in Big Bend if you want to play a game there right at this moment. if we ever get a snow here in Atlanta again, the first thing I am going to do is login and setup a UGA/GT match and to verify weather.com's temps. You can also get a lot more news and such via espn.com on the ticker at the bottom which is pretty cool.
So usually my first game in any new NCAA title is a little UGA/GT match up just so I can get some practice against a team that I know won't be a challenge. I started up a game, selected my teams and began to play decent (I am a little rusty). At about the 2nd quarter I started to try to figure out how to change my audibles when I saw the EA movie/picture highlight section of the config. I checked into it and low and behold you can save movies of any play during the game (and take pics). Then I look further and see that you can also upload it to easports.com and login and view them. Interesting I say, i wonder if they went all the way and made these movies embedable! That would rock if I could show people kick ass plays, and I found out that you can... to a point. As of now you can download a .FLV of your movies (5 at a time max), while I think you can just embed that I went ahead and found a wrapper online to wrap around it for controls, so this is actually pretty damn cool. Here is absolutely the best play of the night from my UGA/GT game:
The Setup:
At this point in the game I am pretty down. There is only about 42 seconds to go in the game and I was leading 15-12 and they scored with the 2 point conversion. So with 41sec left in the game they kick off to me, I am losing 20-15. The return on the kick sucked ass and subsequently put me on my 27. So I decide to go the long haul down the field, and this play happened:
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
For those that don't understand what the above shows when you click on it, it isn't a demo of the game. That is the actual movie of a play from my game I played tonight. I was in control of Stafford (QB) and I threw to Goodman (#85) in that play.
Good stuff EA. Web integration is awesome. Labels: NCAA2008
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(Monday, July 16)
Ultratato Magnus
Lime with Beer Bottle:
Large Potato with Beer Bottle:
Ultratato Magnus with Beer Bottle:
Another comparison shot. If anyone is wondering I caught it on a spinnerbait trolling around the citrus area. It really didn't put up to much of a fight, although it did spin some line for itself a few times.
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(Tuesday, July 10)
Boldy into the 4G....
Over the last several weeks, we've been taking a closer look at whether and how Google might participate meaningfully in the auction. As part of that look, we've consulted with spectrum auction experts and conducted various game theory scenarios. Our analysis has confirmed that, under the originally proposed rules, the existing national wireless carriers are likely to prevail in the bidding process against a potential new entrant like Google. While we remain interested in the possibility of participating in the auction, it's clear that the incumbent carriers have built-in advantages that will prove difficult to overcome (particularly the economic and operational barriers to entry for a company like ours, and the relatively greater value and usefulness that spectrum brings to existing carriers).
What would happen if one or some of the existing national wireless carriers win this valuable spectrum at auction? They would probably use it to protect their existing business models and thwart the entry of new competitors -- both understandable actions from a rational business perspective. Beyond the loss of a valuable public resource, however, that outcome would not bring us any closer to fostering much-needed competition in the broadband market, or providing innovative new web applications and service offerings.
Too much is at stake for the federal government to let that happen. Late yesterday, we filed a letter urging the FCC to take concrete steps to make sure that regardless of who wins the spectrum at auction, consumers' interests are best served.
While I support Google on this and honestly hope they get a piece of that 700mhz spectrum and give the average consumer more options for mobile data dispersal, I am starting to get sick of the whole "woe is me" in regards to the do-no-evil-G. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind, if they are to succeed in attaining this part of the spectrum that they would not do everything they can to protect whatever business they build on it in a few years when another part of the spectrum goes up for auction. You couldn't call them hypocrites until they actually do start to wall of whatever it is they would build, but it would be naive to think they wouldn't play that card in the future, had they already had that leverage.
Google Public Policy Blog: The promise of open platforms in the upcoming spectrum auction
Labels: google
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Flight of the Conchords
I have a feeling it probably won't be on for a second season, because 99% of America will think it is the stupidest show they have ever watched, but I think it rivals BBC office as the best uncomfortable humor I have seen in while. I watched the first 4 episodes tonight and I think I cried laughing at each one. Absolutely hysterical. I think Episode 3 (Monkey) might be the best out of the first 4, but you can watch the 4th episode online at HBO. There is a clip to one of the songs below. Great show. The premise is that the show follows around two Kiwi's living in New York trying to get their digital folk band going. Absolutely hysterical.
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(Monday, July 9)
Batch #7 - Summer Ale
We bottled my 7th batch yesterday and I am extremely excited about this one. Minus the Steam Beer recipe, most everything I have brewed so far has been dark amber ales, this was my first lighter beer and it smelled pretty damn good when bottling it. I wanted something that was very similar to Sam Adams Summer Ale, but with a little more flavor.
Here is the recipe I ended up going with:
Crushed Grains:
1/2 lb Wheat Malt
1/2 Lb 2-Row
Malt Extract :
7.5 lb Wheat Extract
60 min start Total
Bittering Hops:
1oz Hallertau
45 mins in :
1/2 oz Paradise Seeds
1/2 oz Spalt
3 Tblspn Fresh Lemon Zest (~3 regular size lemons)
55mins in/Finishing Hops:
1/2 oz Spalt
Yeast:
White Labs:
Belgian Wit
Labels: HomeBrew
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(Thursday, July 5)
William's Humbling Windmill
Over the last 3 weeks we have purchased a crib, dresser and bookcase for the baby's room. With all three of these items we have had an extraordinary amount of cardboard boxes to tear down. I needed to cut them all up and get them in some kind of order for the recycling pickup, so I cut them all down into about 3' or 4' squares and stacked them in the garage, this morning me and Lindz took them all (and about 2 other recycle bins full of our normal recyclables) out to the curb for pickup. Since our the recycling truck seemingly comes at random times we had to do it early this morning. I stayed up kinda late last night working on some code, so I wasn't in the best mood getting up and taking it all out (even though in total it may have only been like 15mins of work).
So I came into work today and saw this story about Will Kamkwamba in Malawi who built and put up his own windmill from sticks lashed together along with a bike wheel and handmade fan blades. He is using this device coupled with some basic electrical knowledge to provide lighting in his home and to charge batteries for his neighbors to use. You can read all about him on his blog and see him in action on his Flickr pool below.
After reading his blog and then thinking about how much I hated getting up to do only 15mins of work to recycle this morning, I feel like an ass.
And I should.
William Kamkwamba's Malawi Windmill Blog
William Kamkwamba's Flickr Photo Pool
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(Wednesday, July 4)
Are you LadyKiller271? ARE YOU LADYKILLER271!!?!
10 out of 10.
Awesome, Awesome movie. First movie I have seen in probably a good 5 or so years that truly lived up to the hype. I was worried all the badass special FX would be shown in the commercials and trailers. Not a chance.
The movie was so good after the show I went out to the parking lot of the movie theater and sat in my car for a good 10 mins, asking it to transform or just give me some kind of signal it was sentient. A windshield wipe.. anything.
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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. |
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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. |
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Feist - The Reminder
I CANNOT GET "I feel it all" OUT OF MY HEAD. Period. Great album, angelic voice. |
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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. |
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Arctic Monkeys - Favorite Worse Nightmare
No Sophomore slump here. Just as good (if not better) than Whatever they Say. |
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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.. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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 |
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