Saturday, February 07, 2004


Hacking Las Vegas

Whickety whackRecently read the entertaining non-fiction tome Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions. The entire story can be found in abridged form online at the Wired site.

For six years in the 1990s, Lewis was a principal member of the MIT Blackjack Team, an infamous cabal of hyper-geniuses and anarchistic whiz kids who devised a method of card counting that took the gaming world completely by surprise. Funded, in part, by shadowy investors and trained in mock casinos set up in classrooms, dingy apartments, and underground warehouses across Boston, Lewis and his gang used their smarts to give themselves an incredible advantage at the only truly beatable game in the pit. A baby-faced card-counting team possessed with impressive mathematical skills — here was a novelty that turned blackjack into an arbitrage opportunity. Their system was so successful, it took nearly two years before the casinos began to catch on — engaging in a cat-and-mouse war with the well-trained MIT conspirators.

To the casinos, there's no difference between legal card counters like Lewis, who use their brains to beat the game, and the brash, increasingly high tech cheaters who steal tens of millions of dollars from the resorts every year. In response, the casinos have developed equally sophisticated means of identifying, tracking, and eliminating their enemies: i.e., anyone who doesn't consistently lose.


Hacking Las Vegas

True Majority

Blackhawk Down"B" pointed me to this presentation from TrueMajority, which makes some simplified comparisons between the size of the Pentagon's budget and federal spending in other areas, such as K-12 education and 'world hunger'.

Left unstated are basic facts such as the current system for funding K-12 eduction. That's right, it's not federally funded. Your property taxes, already frighteningly large in most places, pay for the vast majority of public education. One need only examine the per-student spending levels in successful and failing systems (e.g., Sycamore and Cincinnati Public Schools, respectively) to recognize that throwing money at the problem simply is not enough. More important -- by far -- is family involvement in and commitment to education and, at root level, the integrity of the family structure. As CPS's funding has increased, its performance has worsened based upon various, published metrics. If you want to burn money, the CPS example is instructive. It's just not as simple as cutting a check.

Solving world hunger is -- similarly -- never as easy as simply throwing money and food at the problem. Witness the occurrences in Somalia where warlords took over control of the food supply. The Clinton Administration's poor handling of the situation led to the disastrous events depicted in Blackhawk Down. Food distribution and economic well-being are promulgated by open, democratic and free societies, not by proxy and not by hoping that the money we spend will be put to good use by dictators and corrupt governments.

Left unstated in this little presentation is the single most important historical event brought about by the buildup of our military infrastructure: the fall of the Soviet Union. Democracy is slowly, inexorably sweeping over the Soviet Republics, bringing freedom and economic health to lands that have seldom seen such vigor. The promise of a democratic Iraq -- brought about by nothing less than a massive investment in our military -- gives hope to a Middle East that is open, free, financially successful, and integrated with the rest of the world.

If a simplistic, 'feel good' world view makes you feel better, by all means, join up with Ben Cohen and his compatriots. If, however, you suspect that there are true bad guys in the world... that they mean us irreparable harm... and that the only thing they understand is brute force -- then investigate the matter more deeply. After all, the bad guys would never, ever nuke us, would they?

The root causes -- and solutions -- to the problems we face are never as simplistic as they appear. For as Santayana said, "Those who do not remember their history are doomed to repeat it."

Pontiac - hot and bothered

you know the drill...How many years has it been since a GM product got you 'hot and bothered'? The Pontiac Solstice may be just the vehicle to get you in a GM frame of mind.

"...Perhaps most attractive, however, is the price: a Solstice at $19,995 buys you, in the words of Hunter, a vehicle that offers 4wheel disc brakes, Bilstein shocks, 18 inch wheels, as standard. Significant downgrades will likely be confined to fabric interior material and no power windows..."

2006 Pontiac Solstice

Friday, February 06, 2004


WMD Breakthrough

Today's Wall Street Journal has an exceptional op-ed column on WMDs. The Iraq war threw a massive monkey-wrench into the Islamabad-Pyongyang-Tehran-Tripoli nuclear parts network. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of the Pakistani nuclear program, described the network in his tell-all interview on Pakistani television.

Further, the Journal points out that President Bush's post-9/11 Proliferation Security Initiative (much ridiculed by Clinton-era "experts") resulted in the interception of centrifuge parts destined for Libya. Shortly thereafter, Gadhafi cried "uncle" and Iran's leadership invited the IAEA in for inspections.

"All of this anti-WMD progress contrasts dramatically with what took place during the late 1990's, when the U.S was supposedly just as worried about nuclear proliferation. We now know that those were the years when Mr. Khan spread his nuclear wares, when Gadhafi gathered his centrifuges, when Iraq kick out U.N. inspectors, and Iran deceived the world, and when North Korea was preparing to enrich uranium even while it negotiated new new 'disarmament' deals with the Clinton Administration. One obvious conlusion is that none of these proliferators believed the U.S. or U.N. were serious about confronting them. And at the time they were right."

(Emphasis ours). I would love to see an Albright, Feinstein, Gore, Schumer or other apologist for Clinton's failed (and some would say deadly) policies to address this op-ed piece... point-by-point.

Stephen Thaler's Creativity Machine

Whickety whack dammit!"T" pointed me to an exceptional article on mod'ed neural nets and the startling inventive breakthroughs that resulted. This amazing technology points to a radically improved strategy for artificial intelligence and, frankly, scares the heck out of some folks. Imagine Terminator III-style intelligence.

"Technically, Stephen Thaler has written more music than any composer in the world. He also invented the Oral-B CrossAction toothbrush and devices that search the Internet for messages from terrorists. He has discovered substances harder than diamonds, coined 1.5 million new English words, and trained robotic cockroaches. Technically.

Thaler, the president and chief executive of Imagination Engines Inc. in Maryland Heights, Mo., gets credit for all those things, but he's really just ``the man behind the curtain,'' he said. The real inventor is a computer program called a Creativity Machine.
"

Stephen Thaler's Creativity Machine

Google Adwords, Chapter 33

"When business turned south last year at Corrugated Metals in Chicago, it turned to Google, the Internet's No. 1 search site. Co-owners Ken and Tom Carlton spent $200 a month to get an ad for their business to pop up when someone searched for "roll forming," a process that turns metal into different shapes.

"Within days," says Ken Carlton, the ad "generated millions and millions of dollars in sales. ... I shudder to think of where we'd be ... without Google." Sales for the 26-employee firm are up 35%.
"

For Google, many retailers eagerly jump through hoops

Thursday, February 05, 2004


A very public incident with Coach Knight

I'm a big RMK fan. Happened across this set of articles detailed Chancellor Smith's side of the story. Interesting reading.

"Richard Butler and I had finished lunch at Market Street (United) on 50th and Indiana and as we were about to leave at approximately 12:35 pm noticed the Athletic Director, Gerald Myers standing at one of the lunch venues looking upward at a menu. Richard and I approached him and began a casual conversation. Gerald and I specifically talked about the Lady Raider's game yesterday afternoon and he indicated he was surprised that I did not fly home with the team. I responded that I had actually driven to Austin because of other engagements scheduled during the weekend.

I expressed to Gerald my appreciation for Coach Knight's approach to the game (post our January 2, 2004 meeting in my office) and demeanor, specifically to include asking the student section to refrain from distateful chants during our game with the University of Texas. Gerald stated that it is great why don't you tell him yourself he has had a couple of "rough" days and he would enjoy the positive feedback. I asked Gerald to share my comments with Coach Knight. Gerald stated that Coach Knight was in fact at the salad bar in Market Street and recommended that I tell him myself. I followed Coach Myers to the salad bar as he had requested and at his insistence...
"

Chancellor Smith's 'A Public Incident with Coach Bob Knight'

Need help with a resume or cover letter?

Whick.. whick.. whickety whackFrom JOS comes this link to Resumagic's excellent examples: resumes and cover letters for a variety of functions, roles and approaches.

Resumagic: Resume Samples

Wednesday, February 04, 2004


MSFT vs GOOG, chapter 17

"Microsoft has opened up a beta version of its long awaited MSN search engine. However, don't expect anything radical just yet as it still appears to be based on the existing d Inktomi results of its current MSN search.

The MSN search beta is not in a state to challenge Google at the moment. It seems quite slow and the majority of results are still coming from Inktomi. Although rumoured to exist, in some simple searches we applied we could see no sign of any results from MSNBot.

The system seems to be in some sort of flux at the moment with some sections - such as directory listings or sponsored links down the side appearing and disappearing with each search - even for the same search term. However, some parts at least seem to be consistent...
"'

                            BadBlue Rank

Search phrase On GOOG On MSFT

Easy file sharing 3 1
Free file sharing 5 9
Excel sharing 1 1
free personal web server 5 2 *

* #1 is Microsoft's PWS, which isn't in Google's top 20...

MSFT betas its long-awaited search engine

Spyware double agents

"Web surfers battling 'spyware' face a new problem: so-called spyware-killing programs that install the same kind of unwanted advertising software they promise to erase."

Spyware cures may cause more harm than good

The Forgotten Infiniti

Whick... whick... whickety whack!Route 128 in 1992. A black M30 zoomed by my underpowered Miata. "Whoa", I thought, "nice looking ride." The M30 has disappeared into the fog of history, but its memory lives on.

"Complementing the new Q45 "flagship" sedan from Nissan's luxury division was the entry-level M30 coupe, also introduced for 1990. Essentially an Americanized version of the Nissan Leopard, sold in the Japanese market, the M30 was intended as a temporary stopgap, until a brand-new model could be developed...

..."Sonar Suspension II," also borrowed from the Maxima, used an ultrasonic sensor mounted beneath the radiator to "read" the road surfaces and adjust shock absorber damping accordingly. A cockpit switch let the driver choose soft, medium, or firm damping mode...

...Despite suffering from "cowl shake," a typical bane of convertibles that have been transformed from coupes, the open-air version of the M30 has its own charms. The automatic convertible top is quick and easy to use, but fitting the rubber molding of the tonneau cover is laborious and time consuming.
"

The Infiniti M30

Tuesday, February 03, 2004


Dealing with Investors

Whickety whackI´ve started to code an application driven by passion and an idea I thought was good. A year after starting I shared it with a very specific beta tester that succeeded using it in his very competitive field of work. Mine is a sports video analysis product and he won a Bronze Panamerican medal saying "half of it is yours". I also showed it to big players in several sports and a few ones asked to buy when it was at sub-alfa stages showing a lot of interest. So, to make it short, yesterday came a guy that knew about my work asking about partnering to create a firm to market this seriously. I really need some advice in what to be alert of. In the past I told someone to try to seek investors to do the selling while I coded and it was a nightmare I had to cut before all my prospects wanted to kill him (and me...).
How much is worth someone´s work 3 years from starting with a product? How have you dealt with this kind of situation?
"

JOS Thread: Dealing with Investors

Sushi Verite

"Do you like sushi? Do you hate paying £5 for a tiny little bento box from high-end supermarkets? Do you want to have an anime-and-sushi geekfest but balk at the cost of the food? Sushi is really easy to make, and fairly inexpensive if you're keeping it simple. Read on to find out how you can impress your mates and fill your house with anthropomorphic anime catgirls (well, maybe not) with your very own home-made sushi! "

Sushi How-To

LeaseBoyzToyz Update

I asked LBT for some references and whether they would execute a "real" lease assumption (i.e., through the bank or leasing company). Answers: yes, they would (and did) provide four references (!) and no, they won't assume a lease at this time. My response:

[Sir], thanks for the note. At this time I'd feel most comfortable having a lease assumption through [Bank]. One reason for this is that there are no references to your company on Google (i.e., no links to your site). That would indicate to me your business is somewhat young. While you are performing a valuable service, given my unfamiliarity with your organization, I would probably only proceed based upon a "true" lease assumption.

If that becomes possible, just let me know.

Regards, Doug


You, my dear reader, will be the first to hear any news on this front.

Monday, February 02, 2004


No, I'm the real John Kasay

The Sports Guy (a.k.a., Bill Simmons, a writer for the Jimmy Kimmel show and ESPN) has a funny article about the Kimmel bit featuring their impostor John Kasay (kicker for the Panthers) taped on Superbowl's Media Day.

Everyone agrees. Sal gets dressed in his Kasay outfit. Please keep in mind, he's wearing a dark jersey with the wrong socks. Every other member of the Panthers is dressed differently. So, we race down there, set up the cameras, and then Paul and I mill around Sal like we're talking to him. People start walking by us, taking an extra-long look -- almost like they're shopping or something -- and then walk away. Some even recognize him from the show. We finally get a nibble with a local TV station, then some radio guy falls for it hook, line and sinker. And so it begins.

Over the next 45 minutes, we end up roping in a handful of people, with Sal giving crazy answers like, 'I'll let you in on a little secret: I have a metal left foot, the league has no idea,' and 'I don't care about the game, I'm just here for the strippers.' And since we have something already pre-arranged for a beginning and ending with ESPN's NFL set and Trey Wingo, all we need is some sort of interaction with Kasay for a button in the middle, to show this was obviously a prank.

Poor Kasay has his own interview spot in the stands; he's talking to reporters with no idea what's happening on the field. Sal sneaks up there, barges into the pack and screams, 'Guys, this man is an impostor! I'm the real John Kasay!'.

Initially, Kasay seems fairly amused by the whole thing -- after all, Sal's wearing a different colored jersey, his pants are too small, and he doesn't look anything like him. Then they have this exchange:

   Kasay (smiling): "Yeah, yeah, you can tell by his build, he's a real athlete."

   Sal: "I'll tell you one thing, I would never wear my socks like that."

For some reason, this sets Kasay off.



ESPN.com - Page2 - Mighty Kasay strikes out

What's up with these guys?

Whickety whack HTML skillzI was contacted by the classy sounding business LeaseBoyzToyz... and they're apparently interested in assuming my G35 lease. However, they don't seem to assume it through the normal channels (i.e., officially taking ownership of the lease through the bank or leasing company)... but instead use their own home-brew contract. I sent them back a quick note asking why they don't perform a normal lease assumption... and asking for the contact information for a couple of other happy customers. Due to the groundswell of requests, I'll keep you posted on this crucial data.

10:20pm Update

Odd... I did an inlink search for LeaseBoyzToyz and -- new record -- there's not a single link on the entire web to their site. Nor a reference on Usenet. Hmm... I'll keep digging.

Sunday, February 01, 2004


Sunday morning and SCO still in the DNS

"We had expected that SCO might take www.sco.com out of the DNS in the run up to the MyDoom DDoS payload in order to keep the denial of service http traffic off the Internet. So far, though, www.sco.com still resolves and receives http requests, though closing the connection without sending a response.
That said, the sco.com hostmaster is reserving his options, with the TTL set to just 60 seconds at time of writing.

% host www.sco.com
www.sco.com has address 216.250.128.12
% dig www.sco.com
www.sco.com. 60 IN A 216.250.128.12
% telnet www.sco.com http
Trying 216.250.128.12...
Connected to www.sco.com.
Escape character is '^]'.
Connection closed by foreign host.


Contrastingly, www.microsoft.com's performance is as normal. Microsoft has chosen to leave the hostname still resolving to a set of 8 ip addresses in Redmond, rather than point it at Akamai's content distribution network, with their TTL set to just under an hour...
"

Netcraft: Sunday morning and www.sco.com is still in the DNS.

Saturday, January 31, 2004


Most popular...

...security tools?

Pete's blog - linked at right - pointed me to Insecure's Top 75 Security Tools list. No surprises... ethereal, snort, nessus, tcpdump, hping2 are all in the top ten. L0phtcrack - which once would have made the top 10 - has dropped a bit since it's "gone commercial".

...web sites?

A thread on JOS points out that if you do a Google search on "www", the results are the most popular web sites... Google Search: www. However, I think that the results are really "the most inlinked" web sites. Witness Real.com at #11. I have no reason to believe that Real is the 11th most popular site on the web. But it might be the 11th "most inlinked" site, given that so many sites provided content that can only be delivered to RealPlayer-equipped systems.

If Dick Vitale was a hacker...

Typical Announcer: "Strickland resets the offense..."
Hacker Dick: "Strickland REBOOTS the offense, babee!"

TA: "Leach blocks Davis' shot..."
HD: "Leach says ACCESS DENIED to Davis!"

TA: "Kline picks off the pass intended for Hill..."
HD: "Kline ISSUES AN INTERRUPT on Hill's toss!"

TA: "Wright drains a long three..."
HD: "Wright's writes three thousand lines... AND IT COMPILES FIRST TIME!"

TA: "Brown can't inbound the ball in five seconds... turnover..."
HD: "Brown EXCEEDS HIS QUANTUM and it's Indiana's ball, babee!"

TA: "Wright picks Hill's pocket..."
HD: "Wright EXPLOITS HILL'S VULNERABILITY!"

TA: "Ewing converts a dunk at the other end..."
HD: "Ewing EXECUTES A FLUSH COMMAND right in Davis' face!"


Thursday, January 29, 2004


Tufte on Columbia Disaster

Edward Tufte, an acknowledged expert on the visualization of data, has created an intriguing analysis of the key slides related to the Columbia space shuttle disaster.

"The 3 reports concerning the possible tile damage on the Columbia prepared by the Boeing engineers have become increasingly important as the investigation has developed. The reports provided the rationale for NASA officials to curtail further research (such as photographing the Columbia with spy cameras) on the tiles during the flight..."

Click for Tufte Site

Click for Tufte Site

Tufte on Columbia Evidence—Analysis of Key Slide

Signs your company has hired a bad developer

"1. Uses AOL for his home email/internet access

2. Doesn't know the difference between an IP address and a MAC address

2a. When you mention a MAC address, he thinks you're talking about Apple computers

3. Was previously unaware that you could have more than one monitor connected to a computer

3a. Asks if multimonitor setups can be used on all video cards by using some sort of y-cable

4. Tries to impress you by mentioning how much time he's supposedly spending at home each night, learning to use a certain programming language. Problem is, he was hired because he supposedly knew this stuff already. But now he's "busting his tail" to learn it. From scratch. And he wonders why you're not impressed. To be fair, this is a fault of my company's hiring practices (which I'm not involved with) as much as it is his fault.

5. Wears a Java shirt even though he can't code in Java (this is not the language I'm referring to in #4)

6. Has breath that smells like a plate of wet tuna fish that's been left in the sun for a while and possibly urinated on. I'm sorry, I know programmers sometimes have little hygiene problems, but if venturing within ten feet of you is a problem, that's taking things too far.

7. Keeps talking to you even though you have donned headphones for the express purpose of ignoring him. No, I DON'T feel like walking you through the "Hello, World" example chapter, you cluess pile of dung.

8. You're building an n-tiered application, and you explicitly and repeatedly inform him that he'll be working on the presentation tier ONLY. He spectacularly fails to understand this, and pesters you with suggested database designs (that suck). Trust me, he's not knowingly overstepping his bounds here. He's absolutely failing to *comprehend* his bounds because he does not understand the concept of separation between the presentation, business logic, and data layers.
"

Signs Your Company Has Hired A Bad Developer

Auto Performance

AutoSite has a detailed analysis of automotive performance achieved by compiling all of the major reviewers and their road tests. The linked page describes the stats gleaned from the major reviews of the Infiniti G35 Coupe and Sedan. The Sedan is surprisingly quick compared to the Coupe (6.1-6.2 for 5AT Sedan vs. 5.75-5.9 for 6MT Coupe).

AutoSite Performance

Wednesday, January 28, 2004


The case of the missing linker

Joel points out that .NET is missing a linker. No big deal, given the obvious requirement for the .NET runtime. Or is it? As usual, Joel is batting 1.000 on the issue of trying to develop client-side, application software.

Amazon Review Saga, Part 36

In late-breaking news of critical importance, Amazon's content filter issued a "pass" on my revised review of Confidence. Apparently, the phrase making love set off the alarm klaxons and caused an overzealous editor to wrongfully excise an entire two paragraphs from the review. Once I changed the offending snippet to making time... the entire review passed muster. Wheee!

Obscure Superheroes

Whickety WhackHere's a pretty obscure superhero... Matter-eater LAD. I don't believe I saw too many comic books featuring him when I was growing up.

My reco is "decaf"

The highly excitable "T" writes:

"WTF? I can't believe you just compared Windows XP to THE defacto standard in windowing technology, X-Windows-- especially when the root of your rant
only applies to the fat-ass bloated Linux window managers that the uneducated miscreants of the linux world now associate with 'X-Windows.' So, here's a quick history lesson for you and your Windows XP Fan-Boy minions:

In 1984 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) formed Project Athena. The goal was to take the existing assortment of incompatible workstations from different vendors and develop a network of graphical workstations that could be used as teaching aids. The solution was a network that could run local applications while being able to call on remote resources. They thus created the first operating environment that was truly hardware and vendor independent - the X Window System. Over the subsequent 20 years, the X Consortium, along with MILLIONS of open source developers and commercial partners, built X-Windows into a highly streamlined, fast and extensible windowing environment.

They did such a good job, in fact, that it has become the basis for almost ALL modern windowing systems to date. Starting back in the late 80's with Sun Microsystems and Silicon Graphics, Inc, X-Windows STILL holds the record for most user interfaces in-use, in existence-- and that doesn't even count all the Microsoft Windows versions which clearly stole the X-Windows architecture and technology back in 1992 with the release of Windows NT. Oh and, FAN-BOY, I forgot to mention that all the highly-acclaimed Apple computing interfaces since 1988, including the much-loved Next Operating System (now the basis for OS X) are 100% genuine X-Windows engines underneath the covers. What system do all the graphical
power houses use again?

So next time you go on a performance rant, do a little research, and at least verify that you are ranting on comparable products. Your comparison was similar saying "my Ferrari F-60 Enzo, while towing a 46-foot tractor trailer, just doesn't have the power to match my Nissan-Z wanna-be stripped down Infinity Sedan..." Yeah, well, Duh! Lose the bloat and try that test again, and I think you will be unpleasantly surprised, and embarrassed, by the results. Oh, and if you need some help reconfiguring your test, let me know-- I have an 8 year old nephew who frees up about 3 o-clock everday, and I'm sure he would be happy to set you up.
"

Let's see, where do I begin? I believe I was contrasting Visual Studio with the equivalent Linux representatives (say, Visual Slickedit under Gnome or KDE). Obviously, Gnome and KDE are the two leading X-based GUI's for **ix world. At some point, blame for poor performance must fall in either of the higher level layers (say, Gnome) or the lower level Windowing engine (X). Or perhaps a combination of the high- and low-levels.

Bottom line is that my original rant still stands: where is the X-based IDE that will handle my incessant, rapid-fire [Alt] keystrokes without choking the menuing system?

Corollary: if Gnome and KDE couldn't get X right... who can? Who will? And, if those guys couldn't get it right (remember, they're "fat-ass bloated... window managers"), what does that say about X itself?

And another minor rant regarding RedHat keyboard handling: why can't Gnome or KDE handle the numeric keypad in a standardized way? It seems that handling of the rightside keypad -- in navigation mode -- is left to the application. Huh? SlickEdit takes care of numeric keypad navigation (say, PgUp, PgDn) while most other apps ignore it. For someone who changes machines a lot and relies heavily upon that keypad -- this is a pretty serious annoyance.

Tuesday, January 27, 2004


Toys You Had As a Kid That Would Be Outlawed Today Due to Potential Injury

Great thread on the normally... uhmmm... controversial FC discussion board.

I had a Tonka Dump Truck. Completely fabricated from the sharpest metal Tonka could find. It could take a finger off if not handled properly. No f--kin' way that baby makes it into the store today.

Stretch Armstrong, the kind filled with jelly. If around now, some hypo allergenic, ADD f--k wad would eat it and his tard parents would look to sue the korean manufacturer. The whole thing would be on a 20/20 segment hosted by John Stossel.

Bow & arrows. Arrows had easily-removed suction cup ends for putting other kids eyes out.

Jarts! aka "Lawn Darts", those things were deadly!

How about building models? Like ships, planes, aircraft. Do you think any parent today would let model glue into the house?

Air blasters. Ingenious guns you would pump and fire. They would shoot a blast of air in the form of a torus that was amazingly stable and could travel across a room. Of course, it only took kids about 10 minutes to figure out they could also fire rocks, nails, etc.

This thing called, I think, the Flexy Racer. It was a sled on wheels and you could steer it somewhat but I don't recall it having brakes.

And a Mattel creation called Crispy Critters. You baked gel in these bug molds. The sadistic part was you could slam them out of the hot molds into someone's hand and you'd end up with the burn mark of a bug. God!

A slinky. Certainly doubles for a garotte.

Wait a minute--wait a minute--Bangsite! Evil smelling granular crap that came in a kind of a toothpaste tube. (I think it was calcium carbide.) Mixing Bangsite with water made an explosive gas. Rich kids had Bangsite cannons, heavy cast iron things that were relatively safe to use. The rest of us took a metal baking soda can and punched a nail hole through the bottom. This turned the can into a three-man, crew-served weapon. One kid tipped some Bangsite into the can, spat on it, jammed the lid on, and placed the can on the edge of the curb. Second kid put his foot on the can to brace it. Third kid applied the match to the nail hole. KAF--KINGBOOM! with a burst of flame, and the lid goes flying clear across the street. I still cannot believe that my parents knew I was doing this, and let me.

The Green Machine. You would steer with these two levers between your legs. Hit a curb hard enough and those babys were burying themselves into your n-ts-ck.

All Aluminum snow sleds. On a good hill you could go upwards of 60+ MPH. F--king things are banned now.

The rocket you filled with water, and then pumped it full of air! Too many kids let it fly with their head in the way.

I'm now remembering how much fun it was slapping someone with those bright orange Hot Wheels track strips!

Wrist Rockets? Basically a sling shot that wraped around your wrist and used heavy rubber tubes as the bands, You could also buy ball bearing like ammo. This thing was basically a .38 Cal and was deadly.


Toys You Had As a Kid That Would Be Outlawed Today Due to Potential Injury

Monday, January 26, 2004


Bummed @ Amazon

I'm a little bummed out at Amazon... an editor there censored part of my review of the movie Confidence. If you check my Jan. 24 blog entry, you'll see the full review. Since they've never edited a single one of my previous 56 reviews, I'm wondering what was objectionable. If anyone has any ideas, fire me an email.

Okay... it's a few minutes later (8:01PM). I justed edited the review and changed the possibly objectionable phrase "making love" to "making time". Hmmm. We'll see if it makes it through the content filters this time. And I'll be certain to keep you --- my faithful reader -- up-to-date on this momentous news.

Camera-phone scam

Got this email from Rick: "Keep a watch out for people standing near you at retail stores, restaurants, grocery stores, etc., that have a cell phone in hand. With the new camera cell phones, they can take a picture of your credit card, which gives them your name, number, and expiration date. Identification theft is one of the fastest growing scams today, and this is just another example of the means that are being used. So... be aware of your surroundings."

Snopes validates this -- at least in the sense that it isn't an out-and-out hoax -- although most phone-cams don't have the necessary resolution. However, the newer, high-end phones will have the capability of in-store ID theft... so watch your back.

Buying Cars at eBay

I'm so whickety whack at HTML that if you click on this picture, absolutely nothing will happen!  Well, I'd make something happen, but I'm too tired to copy the URL from autos.msn.com.  Mad... simply MAD HTML skillz!Speaking of Rick, he's one of the few people I know who bought a car on eBay. Buying his '99 911 Cabrio in a transaction brokered by the 'bay probably saved him $6 or $7K.

Anyhow, eBay is now buying German auto classifieds site mobile.de to solidify its position as a market-maker for all things automotive. Look for more acquisitions in this space. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if LeaseTrader or Swapalease were next on the block.

2005 Porsche 997

There's no text here, just go about your businessHere's a "spy pic" of the reputed, forthcoming Porsche 997 from the excellent AutoSpies site. Reaction. Reaction. Still waiting for my reaction. Hasn't changed alot since '99, has it? That's why I'm still of the opinion that Porsche is wavering on the precipice. Not a lot of vision, when you can hardly tell which year model you're looking at -- and the Japanese competitors are pounding on the castle walls.


Sunday, January 25, 2004


Why Sun is getting Dusted, Reason #723

Sun has had, what, 8 or 9 years to get a good IDE for Java together. We're still waiting. I've used what I think might be the best Linux-based environment -- Visual SlickEdit under X -- and, while powerful, is far from as usable as Visual Studio. Part of that is X. It's just not as snappy as it needs to be to compete with XP. Example: if you're a long-time VS maniac and hit Ctrl+F, then S in rapid-fire succession to save your file, you'll be sorely disappointed. The keyboard processing/menu handling just can't handle the quick keystrokes. Eclipse has plenty of well-documented warts. Bottom line is that I haven't found anything that compares to Visual Studio.

Bad news for would-be competitors. There is some cool shiznit in Whidbey, the forthcoming VS release. Number one on the list is the refactoring menu. How many times have you wanted to pull an inline chunk out of your code and slam it into a method? Or expose a class member as a property? These common refactoring tasks -- and more -- are integrated into Whidbey's Refactoring gadget.

Code snippets are another neat addition. Imagine finding some sample code, copying it to the clipboard, pasting it into the right place in your project, and filling in the necessary changes... automatically? That's what a code snippet purports to do. There are some other cool features as well, but some of them simply play catch up with other IDE's (cheez, how long did it take to export IDE settings for import onto another machine?). Anyhow, you make the call:

Visual Studio .NET Whidbey Release.

Jack LaLanne is my hero

One word describes Jack LaLanne: Awesome.

"...At 89, the 5'4" LaLanne has a 46-inch chest, a 31-inch waist and can still do 100 push-ups without turning so much as light pink. His 90th birthday is coming up in September, and he wants to celebrate by swimming the 30 miles from Catalina Island to Long Beach, Calif., underwater, using air tanks. It'll take about 22 hours...

'We have no pride, no discipline in this country!' rants LaLanne. 'We're serving junk food in schools! People think they can eat anything and just sit on their big, fat butts! Athletes are selling their souls to advertise crap that they know is no good for kids -- milk and cheeseburgers and candy! Why can't people see that it's killing them! Any stupid ass can die! Living is hard! You've got to work at living!'

He's not a fan of the Atkins diet: 'It's a gimmick! All that meat! You need whole-grain bread and cereals!'
Or dairy products: 'Am I a suckling calf? No other creature uses milk after they wean.'
"

SI.com - Rick Reilly: Jumping Jack's Still a Flash

RTFM or, rather, UG


I will use Google before asking dumb questions!


Build your own model plane!

It's fun, entertaining and easy to do. Well, actually, I just came across this nicely illustrated (but certainly inhumane) set of instructions... read, enjoy, but please don't do this without the written consent of your engines.


Saturday, January 24, 2004


The World's Most Dangerous Geek

Justin Frankel, inventor of Winamp, Gnutella and many other cool apps is a true programming "god". Rolling Stone's profile of Frankel is an excellent overview of his recent years, playing the part of rebel in the AOL corporate infrastructure.

"The most dangerous man in music is ready to rock. It's Saturday night in San Francisco as Justin Frankel, gangly and bed-headed, ambles through the warehouse garage he aptly calls his "playground." He has come here, as he often does, to screw around on his drums or his Moog or electric guitar. But first he needs his fog machine..."

The most dangerous Geek alive

Confidence

Click here to see the Amazon page for Confidence, so yes, I'm whickety whack at HTMLSaw the DVD Confidence last night and wrote up this Amazon review:

This watered-down "thriller" is the spawn of an unholy union: _Reservoir Dogs_ and _Usual Suspects_. Possessing neither the chilling terror of Dogs nor the mind-twisting plot of Suspects, _Confidence_ follows a formulaic approach in describing the aftermath of a grift gone bad.

Edward Burns is the leader of a motley group of con-men who have made their way to LA, having perfected a team approach to grifting. Their con takes place in a low-brow bar and when the "mark" witnesses a murder in the establishment - and the cops head in - the money is left behind in the confusion. Of course, the murder never really took place and the witnesses in the bar are in on the scam - as are the pair of crooked cops who show up. Problem is, this mark had money that belonged to the "King" - and when one of the gang gets capped in the head, Burns is forced to deal with the problem by having a sit-down with the King.

The King, head of a nonsensical, "independent" criminal enterprise, is played unconvincingly by Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman - as a Dennis Hopper-type prone to violence - simply doesn't fit the bill, given that any 16-year-old high-school football player could wipe the floor with Mr. Hoffman. Burns never changes his persona during the entire movie - whether making love to a female pickpocket (Rachel Weisz) that conveniently shows up in his life - being threatened by a large firearm point at his nose - or in his day-to-day life, planning the scam that will pay back the King and give the group their final retirement score.

I could go on, but why bother. You can probably guess how it all turns out. The sad truth about this flick is that the talented actors are abused by a story that is simplistic, silly and completely unbelievable. If you've got nothing better to do on a rainy evening, certainly give it a watch. But expect to be underwhelmed, given the ability of a cast that has a lot more to offer than what you'll see here.


What your car says about you

This is a long-running viral email but still rings true. Like it or not, your car does say a lot about who you are. Or rather, who you think you are. Or who you might want to be someday ("Sean Connery, can I please borrow the Aston-Martin?").

Buick Park Avenue - I am older than 34 of the 50 states.
Cadillac Eldorado - I am a very good Mary Kay salesman.
Chevrolet Camaro - I enjoy beating up people.
Datsun 280Z - I have a kilo of cocaine in my wheel well.
Geo Storm - I will start the 11th grade in the Fall.
Geo Tracker - I will start the 12th grade in the Fall.
Honda del Sol - I have always said, half a convertible is better than no convertible at all.
Isuzu Impulse - I do not give a rip about J.D. Power or his reports.
Jeep Wrangler - I am fiercely independent, just like all my friends with Jeeps.
Mazda Miata - I do not fear being decapitated by an eighteen-wheeler.
Nissan 300ZX - I have yet to complete my divorce proceedings.
Peugeot 505 Diesel - I am on the EPA's Ten Most Wanted List.
Plymouth Fury - I like driving an air-conditioned sofa that can carry your car in my trunk as a spare.
Pontiac Trans AM - I have a switchblade in my sock.
Porsche 944 - I am dating big haired women that otherwise would be inaccessible to me.
Rolls Royce Silver Shadow - I think Pat Buchanan is a tad too liberal.
Subaru Legacy - I have always wanted a Japanese car even more inferior than Isuzu.
Volvo 740 Wagon - I am frightened of my wife.
Volvo 240 - Other drivers are unsafe. Let me go ahead and pull out in front of this guy to slow him down


My Car Speaks For Itself

Friday, January 23, 2004


What's an MBA Really Worth?

"It will cost more than $100,000 to earn a degree at an elite business school. Just one problem: There's little real evidence that it will enhance your career... After college, Tad Glauthier didn't have much of a career plan. He knocked around for a while as a ski instructor, then as a TV sitcom stand-in. But when he decided at the age of 28 that it was time to get serious, he applied to one of the most revered career-building institutions in capitalism: Stanford's Graduate School of Business. 'I thought B-school would catch me up,' he says...

What's an MBA Really Worth?

Thursday, January 22, 2004


Linux @ Amazon

Amazon's heavy reliance on Linux is described in this article from News.com. The most interesting part - at least, for my addled brain - covers the scalability of the backoffice commerce infrastructure, to wit:

"Amazon uses a message-based system in which one server, such as a machine that just logged a customer order, sends messages to other machines, such as those that take care of billing or shipping... With tasks handled by the next available system in a large pool, the design can easily expand to meet demand..."

If I interpret this correctly, Amazon isn't using the expected, high-tech web-services approach. Rather, they're on the traditional big-iron bandwagon: relying upon a messaging infrastructure (e.g., Tibco) and a straightforward API (say, JMS) to drive critical transactions.

Web services are for real - I've seen them used too often to think otherwise - but it's instructive to look at an Amazon for a sanity-check on how huge shops operate.

Welcome to the world of RFID

"First, consider what per-product RFID does to the checkout queue. Instead of having to wait for a shop assistant to swipe each product across a barcode reader by hand, you would simply roll your cart through a set of RFID readers. ..

...One area of privacy that would be hard to resolve is the ability to determine from outside a house what a person owns (at least, the things which have RFID tags). Imagine a gym that drives around the neighbourhood detecting those families that have a few too many Twinkies in the pantry in order to send a salesperson to their door...
"

Welcome to RFID

Thanks, Pud

From FC's message board, Move Titles that sound like you're taking a [crap] [Caution: adult readers only, please!].

Wednesday, January 21, 2004

The Case Against Extreme Programming

Given that XP has maxed out at 9 of 10 on the hype-meter lately, a certain level of 'backlash' is to be expected:

"XP is a symbiotic process: that is, you really need to do all of XP or none at all. There’s no in-between (with the possible exception of unit tests). The theory is that each of its individually flawed practices reinforces each other to produce something stronger... Unfortunately, as we will explore in this article, this can also work in the other direction - stop doing one practice and the chain unravels. In the real world it proves difficult to adhere to the XP practices for the duration of an entire project."

Software Reality

Scripters Paradise - not .NET?

One thing I love about PHP and Perl is the ability to slam together quick-and-dirty command-line scripting. Yes, you can build huge, n-tier apps with either (witness SourceForge or Slashdot)... but scripting as the glue for infrastructure makes a lot of sense. Thus, this missive about .NET and scripting...

"What about the scripters? Due to the benefit of my experience and a job and
supervisor that provide time for personal development, I'm slowly making the switch to ASP.NET. But what about the dozens of scripters at my (and countless other) workplace(s) whose responsibilities cover a variety of IT niches (desktop support, server admin, IT education, etc). They do not have the time or the background to move to an event-driven, object-oriented, significantly more complex development environment. But they still need to produce simple, procedural, functional web-based database applications. I'm talking here about HTML forms that post or retrieve data for editing.

So what is the problem? Where is the procedural .NET!?! Where is the scripter's version of .NET!?! My colleagues are giving up on Microsoft after years of effort to consolidate on the MS platform...
"

DannyBoyd