(Hat tip: jwz)
Friday, November 18, 2011
This is what democracy looks like.
(Hat tip: jwz)
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Today's Lessons
Right tool for the right job.
Don't force it.
Steel wool is greater than Scotch Brite.
Saws-alls are awesome.
Wear safety glasses.
Plumbing is hard but not impossible.
Fix it sooner rather than later.
Don't force it.
Steel wool is greater than Scotch Brite.
Saws-alls are awesome.
Wear safety glasses.
Plumbing is hard but not impossible.
Fix it sooner rather than later.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Jimmy Bott
The good thing about Bott was that you didn't have to worry about him sneezing in a foxhole and betraying your position like Sanchez did in the Winter of '22. Boy that day sucked! He didn't fall asleep on watch duty either.
Of course, it was weird that only he whirred a bit instead of breathing, but at least it wasn't any louder than any of the rest of us. He'd carry some of your gear for you, too, if you had a blister or just need a break.
On the downside, he weighed at least half a ton, so it was a real son of a bitch to drag him back to cover whenever he got shot. Bott always had point, so that was probably more often than was really fair, but he never seemed to mind.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Test post. If you're reading this on Blogger, then it was posted normally. If you're reading this on LJ, it's been cross-posted from Blogger.
It also contains a link, which hopefully came through.
Love,
Me.
It also contains a link, which hopefully came through.
Love,
Me.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
The Netflix Breakup
A thought on the Netflix split:
Netflix may be planning to go head-to-head with the content industry. They have already butted heads over the pricing and distribution timing of DVDs. Netflix, in the past, would buy retail DVDs for new releases because they were available before the DVDs that the studios were willing to sell to the rental market (both physical and through the mail). Netflix has since come to varying different agreements with the cartel companies about this practice, so they don't really do it any more.
Now, I think that Netflix may have spun off the DVD business to protect it from a similar strategy on the streaming side. With the media companies holding almost all the cards on streaming rights (recall that there's no compulsory licensing like there is for radio, internet streaming, and other public performance of music), Netflix may be planning to go at the industry more directly.
I suspect that they may buy and rip DVDs and then offer this content for streaming on a strictly one-for-one basis. This would be a format and time shifting strategy par excellence. I.e., Netflix will buy enough DVDs to own a copy for each one that is simultaneously being streamed (just as they have been doing for DVDs that are actually out via mail). When you go to stream a video, there may be some delay in availability, but, if they do their purchasing correctly using the data and predictive software that we know they must have, it will be a much shorter delay than the DVD ship-watch-return-reship cycle. In fact, they should have enough information to show reasonably accurate predictions of when your desired movie can start with minute precision.
The content industry will hate this with a white-hot passion, but it's starting to look like a viable strategy to me. If the DVD business is spun off, then there's less assets to go after if the strategy fails in court. Additionally, if the strategy does fail in court, Qwikster can just spin the old streaming strategy back up as a separate entity.
Consumers may not like this strategy very much, but they might be willing to trade instant watchability for catalog depth with a small delay. Right now, as best as I can tell, the Netflix streaming catalog is actually shrinking. The loss of the Starz content is going to kill them if they don't do something quick, and I think the above is what they're going to try.
An alternative version of this strategy would be that Netflix is looking to show off the content industry's intransigence with regard to license costs and demands in order to goad Congress into developing compulsory licensing for video content, too. I'm less sanguine about this option, but I suspect it's been considered.
Netflix may be planning to go head-to-head with the content industry. They have already butted heads over the pricing and distribution timing of DVDs. Netflix, in the past, would buy retail DVDs for new releases because they were available before the DVDs that the studios were willing to sell to the rental market (both physical and through the mail). Netflix has since come to varying different agreements with the cartel companies about this practice, so they don't really do it any more.
Now, I think that Netflix may have spun off the DVD business to protect it from a similar strategy on the streaming side. With the media companies holding almost all the cards on streaming rights (recall that there's no compulsory licensing like there is for radio, internet streaming, and other public performance of music), Netflix may be planning to go at the industry more directly.
I suspect that they may buy and rip DVDs and then offer this content for streaming on a strictly one-for-one basis. This would be a format and time shifting strategy par excellence. I.e., Netflix will buy enough DVDs to own a copy for each one that is simultaneously being streamed (just as they have been doing for DVDs that are actually out via mail). When you go to stream a video, there may be some delay in availability, but, if they do their purchasing correctly using the data and predictive software that we know they must have, it will be a much shorter delay than the DVD ship-watch-return-reship cycle. In fact, they should have enough information to show reasonably accurate predictions of when your desired movie can start with minute precision.
The content industry will hate this with a white-hot passion, but it's starting to look like a viable strategy to me. If the DVD business is spun off, then there's less assets to go after if the strategy fails in court. Additionally, if the strategy does fail in court, Qwikster can just spin the old streaming strategy back up as a separate entity.
Consumers may not like this strategy very much, but they might be willing to trade instant watchability for catalog depth with a small delay. Right now, as best as I can tell, the Netflix streaming catalog is actually shrinking. The loss of the Starz content is going to kill them if they don't do something quick, and I think the above is what they're going to try.
An alternative version of this strategy would be that Netflix is looking to show off the content industry's intransigence with regard to license costs and demands in order to goad Congress into developing compulsory licensing for video content, too. I'm less sanguine about this option, but I suspect it's been considered.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Who's afraid of the big, bad Starbuck?
Boarding my flight today to O'Hare, the TSA was there with their latest bomb-sniffing gadget. They pulled aside every economy-class passenger with a drink and waved their new toy around the lid. Someone asked them what they were checking for, and the agent responded: "Explosives." Mind you that these were all folks who had been screened already and had bought their drinks inside the security perimeter.
What I learned about what the TSA thinks from today's experience:
The latter seems to reflect a movie-plot style threat: Since terrorists can't get explosives in through the front door, they co-opt a pre-cleared airport employee and get them to hand off the goods to a co-conspirator once he's cleared security. It's not all that far-fetched. The security screening of airport staff is notoriously poor. But the idea clearly shows a lack of thinking on the part of the TSA.
Once you've got a guy on the inside, there's no need to try to use a difficult to handle, under-powered liquid explosive. Your guy on the inside is free to hand-off a couple of pounds of C4 or RDX or what have you to his buddy who's going on the flight. They can do a bag swap in the Starbucks or neighboring bathroom stalls much easier than they can make the exchange as a couple of water bottles in plain view of everyone.
*Sigh*
What I learned about what the TSA thinks from today's experience:
- Terrorists only fly coach
- Security is so bad that airport employees are now a danger
The latter seems to reflect a movie-plot style threat: Since terrorists can't get explosives in through the front door, they co-opt a pre-cleared airport employee and get them to hand off the goods to a co-conspirator once he's cleared security. It's not all that far-fetched. The security screening of airport staff is notoriously poor. But the idea clearly shows a lack of thinking on the part of the TSA.
Once you've got a guy on the inside, there's no need to try to use a difficult to handle, under-powered liquid explosive. Your guy on the inside is free to hand-off a couple of pounds of C4 or RDX or what have you to his buddy who's going on the flight. They can do a bag swap in the Starbucks or neighboring bathroom stalls much easier than they can make the exchange as a couple of water bottles in plain view of everyone.
*Sigh*
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Do not think you can escape them.
Jay is out of town at a wedding, so I used his tickets, his really good tickets, and went to the UT football game today. I ended up going by myself, but I was among friends.
I'm not a particularly Rah-Rah or full of team spirit and whatnot during the normal part of my existence, but that shit is infectious. My hands are sore from clapping and my voice is raw from cheering. I stood. I hooked'em. I chanted "Texas!" with the cheerleaders to which the other side of the stadium screamed "Fight!" I sang the fight song when we scored. I booed at bad calls. And when the game was over, victorious, we all sang the school song.
Football, American football, is a violent sport that permanently damages the lives of many of its players, but boy is it fun to watch in person. I'm left conflicted as usual. And hot and sweaty and stinky.
I'm not a particularly Rah-Rah or full of team spirit and whatnot during the normal part of my existence, but that shit is infectious. My hands are sore from clapping and my voice is raw from cheering. I stood. I hooked'em. I chanted "Texas!" with the cheerleaders to which the other side of the stadium screamed "Fight!" I sang the fight song when we scored. I booed at bad calls. And when the game was over, victorious, we all sang the school song.
Football, American football, is a violent sport that permanently damages the lives of many of its players, but boy is it fun to watch in person. I'm left conflicted as usual. And hot and sweaty and stinky.
Consistency.
Our side is down. Way down.
Familiar names--McCoy--Shipley--take the field. Brothers of legends.
Our attack is wearying.
Our defense holds. Surge after surge.
Texas! Fight! Texas! Fight!
Familiar names--McCoy--Shipley--take the field. Brothers of legends.
Our attack is wearying.
Our defense holds. Surge after surge.
Texas! Fight! Texas! Fight!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
C++ is hard.
map<int,int> a;
... put stuff in a ...
int loc=foo(some,data);
for(int i=0; i<a[loc]; ++i)
{
...do some stuff..
}
for(map<int,int>::iterator it=a.begin(); it!=a.end(); ++it)
{
... do some other stuff ...
}
The above code has at least one(!) big potential bug in it:
If the value of
loc is not one of the values already stored in a, then the map will create an entry automatically using the default constructor for the value type (a zero in the case of integers). This is potentially disastrous for the loop that iterates over the map. It's also annoying to try to find when debugging!A safer method would be to use
map::find to return an iterator to the element you want or map::end if it doesn't exist. So much for syntactic sugar! A straight replacement for the code is too ugly for my taste, but I found a reasonable workaround using std::copy.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Use Makes Master
Awhile back, I learned to tie my shoes correctly. It turns out that I'd been doing it wrong all these years.
The basic shoe bow is, in some ways, 3/4ths of a Granny Knot or a Square Knot, depending on how you tie it. If you pull the loose ends of each side of the bow all the way through the knot, you get one or the other depending on how you started. A Granny Knot is a considerably poorer knot that the Square and can work itself apart much more easily leading to untied shoes. Double knotting can help, but if you've been tying Granny Bows the whole time, doubling the knot can compound your problem.
While buying a pair of shoes recently, I was told: "UR DOIN' IT WRONG!"
Since then, I've been slowly trying to retrain myself to time my shoes properly. This is harder than it seems. Three decades of shoe tying are hard to overcome.
The basic shoe bow is, in some ways, 3/4ths of a Granny Knot or a Square Knot, depending on how you tie it. If you pull the loose ends of each side of the bow all the way through the knot, you get one or the other depending on how you started. A Granny Knot is a considerably poorer knot that the Square and can work itself apart much more easily leading to untied shoes. Double knotting can help, but if you've been tying Granny Bows the whole time, doubling the knot can compound your problem.
While buying a pair of shoes recently, I was told: "UR DOIN' IT WRONG!"
Since then, I've been slowly trying to retrain myself to time my shoes properly. This is harder than it seems. Three decades of shoe tying are hard to overcome.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Waffle House Density
People per Waffle House.
I ate at the Waffle House outside of Columbus for breakfast the first morning. It was my first WH experience. The food was fine, but the thing I noticed was that the combined weight of the 10 or so employees was near on a ton and a half. Most of the customers were thinner. It was kind of disgusting.
I tried the Denny's in Texarkana the next morning, but besides the rail thin short-order cook, the situation was not much improved. There's a saying about not trusting skinny chefs, but I did OK. I presume that Denny's has made a science of short-order cookery.
I ate at the Waffle House outside of Columbus for breakfast the first morning. It was my first WH experience. The food was fine, but the thing I noticed was that the combined weight of the 10 or so employees was near on a ton and a half. Most of the customers were thinner. It was kind of disgusting.
I tried the Denny's in Texarkana the next morning, but besides the rail thin short-order cook, the situation was not much improved. There's a saying about not trusting skinny chefs, but I did OK. I presume that Denny's has made a science of short-order cookery.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Day 3 Roundup
Unicorn successfully brought all the way home. In the end, no virgins were sacrificed. Texarkana to Austin: ~7 hours with a stop at Czech Stop in West, TX. The countryside while considerably more familiar is much less interesting. Though the bridges over Lake Ray Hubbard were a nice surprise. I didn't think there was any surface water left in Texas.
I'm also happy to report that my road bike fits in the back with plenty of room to spare. I was a bit worried that after all of this, that I'd still be taking the front wheel off at the very least. There's probably room for 2 with strategic stacking/packing.
Now I need to get the Texas state inspection, proper insurance, and the front license plate hung. It has Pennsylvania inspection now, but a) the lousy sticker is peeling off from the heat, and b) I have 3 days to get it done, anyway. Insurance on the Subaru covers 5 days from pick up, so I've got two days left on that. I have the front license bracket and screws, but I'm not going to drill the front bumper myself. So, tomorrow morning, I'll head over to State Farm and to the local Toyota dealer. Hopefully the latter will want my business.
I'm also happy to report that my road bike fits in the back with plenty of room to spare. I was a bit worried that after all of this, that I'd still be taking the front wheel off at the very least. There's probably room for 2 with strategic stacking/packing.
Now I need to get the Texas state inspection, proper insurance, and the front license plate hung. It has Pennsylvania inspection now, but a) the lousy sticker is peeling off from the heat, and b) I have 3 days to get it done, anyway. Insurance on the Subaru covers 5 days from pick up, so I've got two days left on that. I have the front license bracket and screws, but I'm not going to drill the front bumper myself. So, tomorrow morning, I'll head over to State Farm and to the local Toyota dealer. Hopefully the latter will want my business.
Day 2 Roundup
Apparently, if your seat is comfortable enough, you can sit in it for 13 hours with only a few breaks. I crossed 5 states (barely) yesterday: Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas. I made it a few hundred yards into my home state before stopping for the night. There's a La Quinta just across the border on State Line Rd. Not as nice as the Hampton Inn from last night, but it was half as much. I'll move a substantial fraction of the way back to Arkansas just by going to breakfast. I'll try not to cross back over.
Unfortunately, doing this much driving means I didn't do much stopping, and that I did precisely no sightseeing, which is too bad. I drove through some beautiful and unfamiliar country yesterday. All of it green and lush and full of life. Much of the time was spent alternating between narrow, green-walled canyons of beautiful tall trees allowed to grow close to the highway and broad lush fields of corn and soy and some horses munching on Kentucky Bluegrass. Someday it will be worth doing this drive again but stretching it out so that we can stop and see some sights.
Today is the easy part: 7 hours, Texarkana to Austin, through mostly familiar country. The colors will shift rapidly to brown and yellow as I enter the droughtier part of the state. The long familiar East Texas hills and pine forests will temporarily replace the broad, flat flood plains of Arkansas, but soon I'll return to the central plains of Texas.
I promised pictures, but I've not taken any. Maybe next time.
Unfortunately, doing this much driving means I didn't do much stopping, and that I did precisely no sightseeing, which is too bad. I drove through some beautiful and unfamiliar country yesterday. All of it green and lush and full of life. Much of the time was spent alternating between narrow, green-walled canyons of beautiful tall trees allowed to grow close to the highway and broad lush fields of corn and soy and some horses munching on Kentucky Bluegrass. Someday it will be worth doing this drive again but stretching it out so that we can stop and see some sights.
Today is the easy part: 7 hours, Texarkana to Austin, through mostly familiar country. The colors will shift rapidly to brown and yellow as I enter the droughtier part of the state. The long familiar East Texas hills and pine forests will temporarily replace the broad, flat flood plains of Arkansas, but soon I'll return to the central plains of Texas.
I promised pictures, but I've not taken any. Maybe next time.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Day 1 Roundup
From the Pitrsburgh airport I had a nice, if not long, cab ride to the UHaul place with Kevin. It was in his hood, and he knew almost exactly where it was. Driving a 14' moving van as a one-way rental felt a little ridiculous to me, but having confirmed that none of the rental car companies were interested in helping me out, I got over myself.
Pennsylvania 28 was a nice country road. It followed the Alleghney River for the first hour or so--nice semi-mountainous road through some beautiful forest and pasture land.
I drove out of the rain somewhere around New Bethlehem and had great weather from there on out.
Ron and Pete and I had a good laugh about my mode of transport, and then we got down to business. We returned the UHaul, put the plates on, and turned me loose. I'd really like to thank Ron for coming in on his day off.
The DuBois Diner had a great burger and fries, and it looked exactly like you're imagining it. Down to the counter and the waitress saying "Hon'".
The drive from DuBois, PA to Columbus, OH was pretty and perfect the whole way. I don't think I'd like the winters much, but the Ohio countryside is as beautiful and pastoral and you can imagine. Every half mile was like a scene from John Scalzi's Flickr stream.
In any event, it's time to check out, and head across the highway for breakfast at the Waffle House. The Highlander is basically perfect and awesome. I'm making better than 30 mpg out here on the highway, which is more than I expected. It's so full of gadgets I've been squeeing a little. It's not all economy driving, though, it's got power and a nice exhaust note when you need it. I've got a few niggles with the nav system, but I'm sure some more poking around will help me sort those out. I keep finding stuff I didn't know I'd bought!
Today: Nashville, or maybe Little Rock. I'll try to update today from my lunch stop--maybe with some pictures.
Pennsylvania 28 was a nice country road. It followed the Alleghney River for the first hour or so--nice semi-mountainous road through some beautiful forest and pasture land.
I drove out of the rain somewhere around New Bethlehem and had great weather from there on out.
Ron and Pete and I had a good laugh about my mode of transport, and then we got down to business. We returned the UHaul, put the plates on, and turned me loose. I'd really like to thank Ron for coming in on his day off.
The DuBois Diner had a great burger and fries, and it looked exactly like you're imagining it. Down to the counter and the waitress saying "Hon'".
The drive from DuBois, PA to Columbus, OH was pretty and perfect the whole way. I don't think I'd like the winters much, but the Ohio countryside is as beautiful and pastoral and you can imagine. Every half mile was like a scene from John Scalzi's Flickr stream.
In any event, it's time to check out, and head across the highway for breakfast at the Waffle House. The Highlander is basically perfect and awesome. I'm making better than 30 mpg out here on the highway, which is more than I expected. It's so full of gadgets I've been squeeing a little. It's not all economy driving, though, it's got power and a nice exhaust note when you need it. I've got a few niggles with the nav system, but I'm sure some more poking around will help me sort those out. I keep finding stuff I didn't know I'd bought!
Today: Nashville, or maybe Little Rock. I'll try to update today from my lunch stop--maybe with some pictures.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Next time I'll go for the Camry
I thought it would be a good idea to replace my somewhat aging Subaru with a nice hybrid SUV. If you don't want a giant gas-guzzler, you've got to get the Toyota Highlander Hybrid. This sounded great to me, but finding one practically requires virgin sacrifice. After some weeks of search, I found one in DuBois, PA, did my bit to help the Japanese economy, and bought one.
Thus the saga begins.
DuBois is a long way from anywhere. 3 hours from Buffalo, NY, and 2 hours from Pittsburgh. My car transport broker, after an initial but rebuffed success, spent 3 and a half weeks trying to find someone to drive through there and pick it up. With our trip to Europe looming, making me worried that it would arrive while we were gone, last night I canceled their search, and booked a flight to Pittsburgh planning to one-way rent a car to get me to DuBois. Unbeknownst to me, the Enterprise car rental joint in DuBois, the only car rental establishment near DuBois, doesn't accept one-way rentals. Fortunately, Uhaul does.
So now I'm sitting at the Austin airport waiting for my 6AM flight to DFW and from there to Pittsburgh. once there, I'll catch a taxi to the Uhaul dealer, drive up to DuBois, and grab the car.
Watch this space for updates on the trip. I'll try to update a little at stops and meals along the way.
Thus the saga begins.
DuBois is a long way from anywhere. 3 hours from Buffalo, NY, and 2 hours from Pittsburgh. My car transport broker, after an initial but rebuffed success, spent 3 and a half weeks trying to find someone to drive through there and pick it up. With our trip to Europe looming, making me worried that it would arrive while we were gone, last night I canceled their search, and booked a flight to Pittsburgh planning to one-way rent a car to get me to DuBois. Unbeknownst to me, the Enterprise car rental joint in DuBois, the only car rental establishment near DuBois, doesn't accept one-way rentals. Fortunately, Uhaul does.
So now I'm sitting at the Austin airport waiting for my 6AM flight to DFW and from there to Pittsburgh. once there, I'll catch a taxi to the Uhaul dealer, drive up to DuBois, and grab the car.
Watch this space for updates on the trip. I'll try to update a little at stops and meals along the way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)