Ordered

Filed under: General Thoughts

It’s fitting that the quote on my homepage’s title bar, as I started to post this, was “Against stupidity the very gods themselves contend in vain”.

People who know me know well that I’m a geek, and as such I have many of the canonical traits that define ‘geek’. I’m oriented towards strict, quantitative judgments and I prefer things that fit neatly into categories.

I’d like to show you two lists, as seen on a site called Coding Horror:

Now, I ask you: Which of those two seems like a better approach to the problem of sorting lists?

Here’s the thing, now that you’ve answered the question. The comments on the post that advocated the same sorting approach that I’m sure you picked were… distressing to me as a software developer who is concerned with human factors and real-world usability. Comments like this:

This attitude is the very worst of my profession, and to everyone that has ever seen a list sorted like column ‘A’, above, I apologize on behalf of the nerds that did the work, who to this day probably still think that you’re wrong.

/me cries

Filed under: Internet and Media

I was going to resist…

I’ve got more consoles now than I’ve had in my life (Char with her PS2, PS1, and GC, me with my Xbox and Wii) but god damn it, this Bioshock demo is going to suck me in, I just know it.

Of course it’s coming out for the PC, where I have to reboot to play.

I think I might run Windows for a while. Just until the shakes end.

Or I’ll buy a goddamned 360, not because I believe in it as a platform, but because playing the sequel to System Shock 2 is, actually, worth $700 to me. Yes, it was that good.

Also:

Filed under: Asides and Humour

Recursive Epigrams Can Unfortunately Result in Silly, Idly Vexatious Entertainment.

That is all.

Morning thoughts

Filed under: General Thoughts

… Mostly, how I want a cup of coffee. Trivialities, everywhere.

I’ve had a geeky week, so far, consisting of (wait for it…) re-organizing my $HOME dir on the school, work, and home systems to, well…

It’s geeky and it involves subversion, one of the most useful tools in any programmer’s arsenal.

School has started back up, for those who are doing it, and I’ve made arrangements to take a course come January, and come May. This will have the benefit of allowing me to pursue part time work with the company I’m interning at, and maybe not be living from paycheque to paycheque (or at least not so obviously) while I finish the degree.

I keep reading the stuff Simon posts and thinking… I should start talking about that on here. The problem is that, like what he writes, my interests are a bit difficult to communicate. Would it mean anything to anyone to hear that I tracked down a bug in some data to XML serializing code that was causing the character set on e-mail messages to be misrepresented?

I thought not. But it was nifty.

Update

Char makes a good point, below. I really should have mentioned something I got in the mail — Notice that I’ve been invited to join a school Honour Society, as well as a “Hey, remember us when you’re looking for work” letter from IBM’s Giant Department of Automatically-Generated Form Letters to Anonymous Students (lovingly abbreviated as GDAGFLAS at ‘ole Big Blue).

So there, it’s noted.

Percolating desire

Filed under: General Thoughts

It’s been trickling its way through my consciousness for a while now that I want an Apple computer.

Yes, yes… New toys, etc…

(Warning! Geek talk ahead!)

The fact of the matter is, especially as I use Linux on my laptop more and more, I’m feeling more comfortable with the Unix/Linux OS setup for day to day use. I’ve even been wondering how well it would work on my desktop, which is — for those that don’t know my preferences as well — a revolutionary event. Still, I’m finding fewer and fewer issues with it that I am unable to handle, and those that are concerns are becoming less important.

Still, with regards to my main desktop, due to its ubiquity there’s certainly good reason to keep a Windows box running around the house. Also, I just spent a stupid amount of money on it, so it’d be awfully foolish to just up and toss it.

However, when it comes to mobility, I haven’t been running windows since December, and frankly I don’t miss it. Char does, but I think I may have worked around the last major objection she had to the Linux by getting MS Office working on the box. It’s amazing what some people can code up if they try. The thing is, though, that I’d like to give Char this laptop full time — put Windows back on it, tune it and make it hum, and then just leave it completely. The problem with that is that having a laptop makes school phenomenally easier. The school lab systems are alright, but they’re… dirty, a lot of the time, and they’re often occupied. I’m not a fan. Having a laptop makes it possible, if not always easy, to work at school.

So, in that vein, I intend to save up for an Apple Powerbook. Not the ultra-high-end one, because I just don’t need that in a laptop. But the 15” powerbook is reasonably-powered and, if not cheap, plausibly attainable with some scrimping. In a year or so, anyway. I don’t expect this to happen overnight. And I have commitments to honour with regards to saving up a down payment on a house. But I’m putting this on the table as a savings goal so that I can prod myself with it every once in a while.

Dear lord…

Filed under: General Thoughts

My god… Apparently the powers that be at new line cinema have decided to grant my fondest wish about LOTR: Theatrical, all-day marathon of the extended versions of the first two movies, followed immediately by the first screening of The Return of the King.

Only downside? No theatres in Edmonton on that list yet… Who wants to start lobbying with me? I’m so all over that!

(via MeFi)

Mobility rocks my lazy ass!

Filed under: General Thoughts

I gots a laptop!

Okay, colour me fourteen shades of enthused about this. It’s not quite the godbox i drool over, but it’s mobile, it’s powerful, it’s colourful, and it’s ours!

If i needed another sign that Char’s the gal for me, the fact that she was as enthusiastic about this as i am was more than enough confirmation for me… Can’t go wrong - geek chick and cute, to boot!

Studying too hard

Filed under: General Thoughts

Char informs me that i have an interesting habit. When, as often happens, i fall asleep before she does, apparently when she finally turns off the lights, i tend to roll over and hug her in my sleep, occasionally mumbling something semi-coherent.

Last night, she tells me that i rolled over, wrapped my arms around her, and in a tone that she describes as “seductive”, i said: “I want to remove your exponents and solve your equation.”

Moving day

Filed under: General Thoughts

Not out of the house, but from one room to another. Ever moved three computers, two desks, a table, a shelving unit, and about 300lbs of assorted junk? And it was the computers that were the worst, by far. Both Char and i underestimated the time requirements here - it took waaaay longer than we planned for.

Think of it this way. Three computers, approximately 5-7 cables each, all tangled. Buried under/over desk legs, table legs, wrapped around each other, lying in slithering pools on the floor.. Well, not actually slithering, but you get the idea, i’m sure. It wasn’t a lot of fun.

On the plus side, the new room arrangement allows me (relatively) easy access to the back side of the server and firewall, and to the main system, all the while keeping that damned 17” far enough away from the new 19” that i can use the cursed things at the same time. This is a good thing, i think… More digital stuff makes me a happy boy

And, i have the soothing sound of fans again - it’s been 12 hours - i was going into withdrawal.