I've been using MetroPCS for some time now, due to their $25/mo no contract, unlimited calling plan. It used to be $40, and that was good too, but at $25 it's hard to beat.

I like simple phones that are actually phones. Maybe i'm old-fashioned, but these semi-trucks that people whip out of their pockets with menus that look like they're from outer space don't seem to me to be an ideal phone. I also have a computer that is a phone, but i leave my mac at home.

MetroPCS is really annoying though. First it was the text spam. When i finally got bothered enough, i googled and found that it was the metro apps. Disabling some option took care of that. The second issue, which gets me every month, is automatic payment. I almost always forget to pay bills. I sit down once a month to pay my credit cards (which requires a bit of planning), but almost everything else is automatic. Two things are not, my water bill and my phone bill.

I live in an apartment building managed by Hartman and Tyner. I pay for electric bills to Detroit Edison through the local utilities comp. Heating and water is grouped together, and they split the bills in between the tenants. (They used to do that, i believe, they might have individual metering now.) It used to be that water was free, but they decided to have us pay 1/3 of the bill. That is handled by Yes Energy Management which adds a customer fee or two. Bills can be paid via the mail. or together with the rent at Rent Payment.

Rent Payment works if everything is in order. If anything is not, such as a credit card expiry made a card unusable, they won't tell you about it, and you find out when you get charged a $25 late fee (which increases every few days) and warning from the local office. Payment can be set to automatic, and they have gotten a little better about knowing when your lease starts and ends and required amount to pay.

The water bill is different. The amount shows up if i log in, but there is no way to pay it automatically. When i asked the local office why it wasn't, the response was that since the amount changes per month, it isn't possible. That seems bogus to me, as my electric bill changes every month and DTE has no such issues. So, i usually forget to pay it until i get a warning from the local office.

MetroPCS is the other problem. They text me when it is time to pay. At that point, by the time i get home and remember to do it, my phone has been suspended. Because it is suspended, i couldn't login to my account on their website, meaning i had to make a payment by typing in all the information. Only after the account was active could i get back into the account.

One month i actually setup everything, or so i thought. Apparently, the payments are still not automatic, but at least i can login to my account now. I went through the motions to make a payment, though i completed it (maybe even twice), but my phone is still not working.

I am sick of MetroPCS. I realized that i don't actually want the cheapest service. I want the cheapest convenient service. I'm ready to switch, anyone got any ideas?

A team member from Chenai asked me why a script which EXECUTEd a PACKAGE i wrote wasn't working. First thing i did was run it myself via SQL*Plus, which is did splendidly, i might add. :) First thing accomplished, it's not a problem in QA, it's the script.

Logged onto the app server and sure enough received the same error. Copied the file and started to change things. Having seen this file before, i was able to skip all the variables and right to the code. The code looked okay..maybe it should be tested on the db server itself to mimic what that script was doing.

Logging on to the server reminded me that the password had changed. No idea what it was changed to, but it wasn't required anymore, so i didn't care. That was a problem here. Luckily, there are those variables.

The variable and variable handling take up probably most of the script. The variables themselves are loaded from files, which may include other files. Ultimately, usernames and passwords are in a script under ~/etc...easy enough.

Trying the first set, then realized that was the db login itself. I made sure the db user could indeed EXEC that PACKAGE via SQL*Plus, and it could. But that wasn't the server login. Looking again, there was a server login, which failed. I checked and double-checked. Something was wrong.

That was it, no more assumptions, just check which server it was connecting to straight. Sure enough, it was set to the server we were migrating to, but is not for general use yet. The TNS name pointed to it as well. Duh! Is your computer plugged in?

--

When writing this, i hit [ctrl]-[e] 2 or 3 times to go to the end of the line. Between my mac at home and just being on a Linux box, switching back to windows shortcuts takes a second. After switch back from Google, i found my window empty, luckily, i had Lazarus installed.

Posted a few comments on this Ask Slashdot article yesterday. Come back, and they've disappeared. They've not been deleted - I can still access them, from the recent comments area of my profile - and they've not been downmodded either. Not a Beta issue, as I'm not currently on it.

??????

In middle of redacting a VIEW that deals with groups, members, and precedence, i fixed a bug, and explained a line in greater detail with (what i think is) the correct logic. (The actual COLUMN name has been shortened):

-- Match this record:
                        -- To match INDIVUDAL, check P_ as C_ will be NULL (INDIVUDALs have no children).
                        -- To match GROUP, check C_ for the children; parents can be ignored.
                        -- (Note: Checking the NULL child or irrelevant parent should not be a problem.)
                      AND PHC_1.C_ IN (PHC_2.P_, PHC_2.C_)

Some comments just seem wrong.

Having a free moment, i decided to search for something on eBay when the following message popped up on my screen:

Please enable JavaScript

Our new search experience requires JavaScript to be enabled. Please enable JavaScript on your browser, then try again.

To use our basic experience which does not require JavaScript, click here.

The "basic experience which does not require JavaScript" seems fine to me, so i clicked on the link and the same page and modal error message came up.

Even without the non-working old-experience link, there is something wrong with using a modal window to tell me that i can't appreciate the experience.

If you ask me what version of FF i'm using, you're already a lost cause.

Hey, Slashdot was instrumental in finding Twue Wuv for me, so I couldn't possibly leave it forever. The 14 day comment limit, however, is unfortunate for those of us who stop by only every 6-9 months. :^)

I have read your updates and am interested in your lives and would love to leave a comment expressing as much.

So, hey, Red5, congratulations on the marriage and baby and stuff! And all the other babies that have happened in the past 5 years or so for everybody else! And marriages! And diplomas! And new jobs! And sorry/congrats about the divorces!

Just spotted that people are stuffing comments into various stories here for the sole purpose of complaining about the /. Beta.

Maybe it's because I only occasionally visit here, but are people really that hung up on the current design?

Hell, I can remember when /. didn't even bother with any testing, period, just shoved changes straight onto the production servers. Fun times. (Not)

Having looked at the Beta, it seems to me a damn sight cleaner that some news sites I can think of*. Ok, the comment view controls could use some refining, but that's the whole point of beta-testing, right?

(*I still have nightmares about pre-2000s ZDNet. Makes the current design look almost pleasant by comparison.)

This morning i went to put gas in the car. I switched gas stations because i don't like answering three-million questions before being able to start the gas pumping. Sheesh, ask if if i want a receipt after it starts, why waste so much precious time (in the freezing weather)!

So, i went to a Valero station as they tend to be a little cheaper. They are not on the corner either, making them harder to get to; i'll see if i continue going there. A couple cents a gallon isn't something to get inconvenient over.

Anyway, on the pump there was a sign, "Please pre-pay before pumping".

Last week i overheard part of a conversation. Someone asked, "what's that in celsius, -40?"

And behold, i chuckled.

I use Google Voice to ring my cell phone and office phone (amongst others). The problem is, the office phone picks up after two rings. It's a Cisco CP-7942G, an ip phone. The time to ring setting is global. Seriously?!

So, the office phone picks up first. This isn't usually a problem, because i am by the office phone during the hours i set Google Voice to use it. But yesterday, for example, was a Monday that i was not in the office, it still picked up first because i forgot to turn it off.

Been playing Battle Monkeys.

Learning what each icon does and proc-order is important, but i haven't seen it explained in detail in one place. So, i decided to place a start, here, so as to have it somewhere:

Each Item can be used once. When used, the icon disappears.

Names appearing on four-part screen before game starts are colored based on rank.

Players can have between 1 and 100 Health.
        - If avatar receives health that would give it more than 100 Health, it is set to 100 Health.
        - If avatar receives damage that would give it less than 1 Health, it is removed from the game.

Avatars take turns:
        - By default, turns are taken in order, from left to right. (i.e. avatar with lowest ranking to highest ranking)
        - Order of actions can change the order of turns, which becomes the new order for subsequent rounds.

If two avatars qualify for an action as a result of a rule, the avatar affected is chosen at random. (Perhaps it is in the same as turn order, that round.)

If an action applies to more than one turn, it is also applied to the current turn.
        - Therefore, even though an action is shown as "+2", the board will show it as if it was 3.

Order of actions on a turn is:
        - Push (Where applicable)
        - Mace (If player is still in Mace from previous turn)
        - Poison (If player is still in Poison from previous turn)
        - Debonus
        - Health, Full Health, Shield, Vanish, Extra Jump
        - The rest (including new Mace and Poison)

Order is very important. For example:
        - An avatar in Poison with 10 (or less) Health, has no recourse for more health.
                - (If all other other avatars are in the same predicament, and go first, player can still win.)
        - Being in Mace and landing on Mace, means Mace actions twice on that turn.
        - An avatar in Poison that lands on a Vanish square, applies Vanish after the poison.
                - So, the damage received from Poison will not affect Vanish.
                - Poison on the next turn will affect Vanish.

All icons have a color:
        Green Health to self
        Red Damage to self
        Blue No Health or Damage to self or others.
        Yellow (potential) Damage to others

Push (event) - Avatar is moved off the current square.
          - When more than one avatar lands on the same square, a die is rolled for each.
                - The same number will not appear on more than one die.
                - The avatar with the highest number applies Push to each of the other avatars.
        - Push moves the avatar to an adjacent square. The avatar receives 10 damage.
        - An avatar on an edge square may land off the board. That avatar receives 100 damage.
        - If as a result of Push, an avatar lands on a square occupied by another avatar:
                        - In Single Player mode, the process runs again, for the new square.
                        - In Multiplayer mode, both avatars occupy the same square:
                                - The avatar that landed on the square first treats the square normally.
                                - The other avatar does not make use of the square, but can receive damage.

Health (heart, green) - Player receives 35 - 45 health

Lava (8 pointed star with outline, red) - Player receives points 35 - 45 damage

Extra Jump (up arrow with line through it, blue) - Player receives 4 (turns) to Extra Jump.
        - During Extra jump, player can move 4 squares (instead of the usual 3.)

Vanish (8 lines in circle around dot, blue) - Player receives 2 (turns) to Vanish.
        - Vanish ends prematurely if player takes any damage.
        - If player stays in Vanish for 10 turns, player receives Ninja Achievement.
        - During Vanish player becomes untargetable and avatar is not shown (mace and shield are)

Mace (mace, yellow) - Player receives 2 turns to Mace.
        - Players in Mace target all targetable avatars within one square of player.
        - Target receives 35 damage.

Shield - (double-lined shield, blue) - Player receives 2 turns to shield.
        - Players in Shield (and not in Sleep) are protected from all damage except Smackdown and Push.
        - Player in Shield can still receive Sleep.
        - If player is also in Sleep, Shield is not active, but does consume a turn.

Sleep (Zzz, blue, targeted) - Target receives 1 (turn) to Sleep.
        - Sleep end prematurely if target takes any damage.
        - Target is avatar closest to player.
        - During Sleep target does not consume any square's icons.

Debonus (encircled x, blue) - All avatars other than player are put in normal state. (Does not affect Health.)

Poison (skull with two injectors through it, yellow, targeted) - Target receives 2 (turns) to Poison.
        - During poison, player receives 10 damage.
        - Target is Avatar with highest health.

Meteor (circle with 3 circles inside of it, and 3 triangles outline of it, yellow, targeted)
        - Target receives 30-35 (usual), 40 ("Big"), or 50 ("Epic") damage.
        - If target has a shield, target takes no damage.
        - Target is avatar that player received the most damage from.
        - If no other avatars are targetable, player becomes target, even if in Vanish.

Lightning (lightning bolt, yellow, targeted) - Targets receive 30 damage.
        - All targetable avatars (other than player) receive 30 damage.

Shotgun (rifle, yellow) - Avatars in the row or column of player receive 40 damage.
        - Avatars with Shield or behind an avatar in Shield (relative to player), are exempt.

Shockwave (circle with 2 jagged outlines, yellow) - Avatars within 3 squares of player receive damage.
        - Avatars within 1 square receive 40 damage, within 2 receive 30 damage, within 3 recieve 20 damage.

Special (star with outline, white) - Special changes by avatar type.
        - Monkey - No special. (Icon is still consumed.)
        - Chimp - Banana bombs.
                - Avatars in every column other than player's column receive 45 damage.
                - Avatar in Shield, or behind an avatar in Shield (relative to bottom of field) are exempt.
        - Baboon - Smackdown (targeted) - Target receives 45 damage.
        - Orangutang - Full Health
                - Player's Health set to 100, even if game is Special: No Health.
                - Player receives 3 (turns) to Shield.
                - If player is in Poison, it is removed.
        - Gorilla - Machine Gun (targeted) - Avatar receives 75 damage.

Berserker (clenched fist, blue) - Player receives 3 turns to Berserker.
        - During Berserker all received damage from player, except Push, is doubled.
        - Initial damage of each Poison is doubled. Subsequent damage is not.
        - Special: Berserker triple damage causes triple damage instead of double.

I was asked by a not very technical friend, who was asked by another, to help them track where their son is going on the Internet. They are not technical at all, but they suspect their son may be visiting inappropriate websites, and if so, they want to talk to him, but first they want to capture the urls surreptitiously to see if their concerns are valid.

Well, truthfully, i do not know what to suggest. I searched and found OpenDNS which seems to have some services that allow URL monitoring (no timestamp thopugh). What would you suggest?

More on the stupid code:

Some_Func, which is called at the end, INSERTs the new batch number to the log TABLE and includes an EXCEPTION block catching DUP_VAL_ON_INDEX and OTHERS.

IOW, this PROCEDURE makes a best guess at what the batch number will be, writes it to a bunch of files, and only then attempts to put it into the log. If putting it into the log encounters any errors, it logs that and exits without any record in the log of the job! The job currently takes about an hour or two to run. Seriously, what were they thinking?

The current situation can be remedied via a SEQUENCE. As long as noone breaks the rule that all ids be popped off it (which can be enforced by removing rights to the TABLE and forcing all writes to go through a stored PROCEDURE) everything will be fine until the SEQUENCE runs out of numbers.

Of course, this entire approach is just plain wrong. The correct way to log a run with a generated number which is used in the output, is to start by logging first. This garantees the number is recorded and lets others job easily use a further number. This is basic stuff.

To use a SEQUENCE (or even the MAX() hack), INSERT the number, and find out what it is, just use the RETURNING clause:

INSERT INTO Log(Id, Name) SELECT Log_SEQ.NEXTVAL, 'Moo' FROM Dual RETURNING Id INTO Batch;

What is the the cheapest health insurance for an individual? The only thing it has to cover is the Obamacare tax.