Wikipedia embraces it's share of odd ideas. One is that it's articles must reach a certain level of "notability".
To this, I would only point out the following categories apparently meet that strict standard:
I'm sure they allow only the most notable fictional aardvarks.
I want one so bright that it casts its own shadows. So bright old people and little children have to look away.
It needs to be so impressive every Taliban, Al Qaeda, and Iran mullah craps their pants simultaneously. It needs to be so amazing that the Nobel Prize committe can say "that's why we gave Obama the Peace Prize", and even Limbaugh will say "Yeah, ok. That's cool."
Which is worse: adware, or crippleware?
Oh, I know: let's have both!
Seen on Google news: Study: Twitter is 40 percent 'pointless babble'
What would we do without studies?
... from 7.10. Alliterative Alligator, or whatever.
Good things:
Update: never mind!
When I originally posted this, I had the System Monitor running, because I wanted to watch how much RAM I was using. It turns out that when I closed the System Monitor program, my CPU usage dropped down to ~0-3% when idle. Much, much better. (But how does System Monitor use 50% of my CPU? Yikes!)
Bad thing:
Unfortunately, the CPU usage may be a deal breaker—I'm running on a 863MHz CPU, so I don't have a lot of cycles to spare. I started thus just too early to get 9.04. Based on this story on 9.04, I think I'll try that to see if it's as much an improvement as people were saying.
I was pretty happy with the responsiveness on 7.10 (only upgraded because my old box died); if 9.04 isn't a noticable improvement, I'll probably go back to 7.10 just to get my cycles back for myself...
(Also, why isn't there a general 'Linux' topic choice? Seems like there's one for most every other OS...)
I saw one of those "there's an app for that" iPhone commercials tonight, targeting college students, One of the examples was
Looking for the cheapest place to buy your text books? There's an app for that!
Which got me thinking—what if you're looking for a cell phone that won't break your budget, and isn't as much a status symbol as it is a useful piece of communication technology.
I wonder if there's an app for that?
They will now be known as 'SyFy'.
By changing the name to Syfy, which remains phonetically identical, the new brand broadens perceptions and embraces a wider range of current and future imagination-based entertainment beyond just the traditional sci-fi genre, including fantasy, supernatural, paranormal, reality, mystery, action and adventure.
Translation: they have no idea what their "brand" is actually about, and are desperately casting about for answers. So... more 'ghost hunters', vampires, and NBC cast-offs.
Here (caution: annoying slide show + wedged-in ads). Like the previous entry I did on the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums, I see some odd choices.
Talking Heads
The most glaring misstep is the choice of Talking Heads' True Stories. This is their worst album. Anything would be better, even Little Creatures or Naked.
If you haven't got it already, go get Remain In Light. If you've got that and want more, go back to their first album (Talking Heads: 77) and start working forward.
Elvis Costello
They choose Imperial Bedroom. His first three albums (My Aim Is True, Armed Forces, and This Year's Model) are all much, much better.
The Beatles
I've never been a big fan of Rubber Soul. This list seems (sometimes) to try to avoid the cliche picks (like Sgt. Pepper or Abbey Road, for The Beatles). But how about A Hard Day's Night? 30 minutes of pop genius, from back when pop songs were all Rock was about.
Pink Floyd
Esquire picks Animals. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, A Saucerful of Secrets, Meddle, The Dark Side of the Moon, and Wish You Were Here are all solidly better works.
Miles Davis
Sketches of Spain is very good, but... the only reason not to pick Kind Of Blue is if you're avoiding the cliche choice (and if so, why is Who's Next on the list?)
Missing Stuff
Chicago - Chicago Transit Authority. Back before they drifted off into soft-rock love songs, Chicago made one album that really rocks.
Brian Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy. Eno is perhaps best known for his production work (Talking Heads and U2, among others). Tiger Mountain is one of the albums he did that make people want him to produce their albums.
King Crimson - Red. Putting the rock in progressive rock.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery is the cliche choice. Their first self-titled album is another good choice.
Blondie - Blondie. Back before they did disco ('Heart of Glass') and reggae ('The Tide is High'), they did some very nice new wave.
Simon and Garfunkel - Bookends. Best folk-rock ever.
When I opened
The bad news is, I mostly lost patience with the
Frankly, the thought of wading in to any discussion to find something worth modding up fills me with the profound desire to go find something, you know, productive to do. I suppose what this really means is I should find that place in the preferences where it says "I am willing to moderate" and change it back to no.
A while ago, I saw that the local library had a copy of Core Java Volume 1: Fundamentals, 8th Edition, so I checked it out and have been reading through it (the US$55 cover price makes me hesitant to go buy a copy of my own)
On page, 461, there is (among a raft of others), this particular method documented on the javax.swing. JOptionPane class:
static int showOptionDialog(Component parent, Object message, String title, int optionType, int messageType, Icon icon, Object[] options, Object default)
There are (at least) a couple problems here:
Didn't anyone with some experience with encapsulation review this API design? Seriously, how much better would it be to have something like this:
- class DialogConfig {
- public boolean internal; public Component parent;
public Object message;
public String title;
public int optionType;
public int messageType;
public Icon icon;
public Object[] options;
public Object default;}
Then, you can write code that looks like this:
DialogConfig dc = new DialogConfig();
dc.internal = false;
dc.parent = parent;// . . . etc . . .
JOptionPane.showOptionDialog(dc);
You get the benefit of 1) documenting by name, in the code, all the configuration parameters, and 2) only one method to deal with instead of many.
From now on, this is a rule, ok?
Encapsulation is a useful tool. Never ever write a function with more than four parameters.
At fspi.blogspot.com. There will also be a new, (somewhat) less generic name for my power algorithm than "Algorithmic Power Ranking". Right now, I'm thinking DMPI ("Dave's Multiplicitave Power Index").
There's a few posts over there now, and traffic should be pretty light between now and August. But c'mon over and check it out.
Ryan Grant doesn't have a contract, and is looking for a longer, far more lucrative deal than minimum tender.
On one hand, his performance last season (5.1 yards per carry, 4.8 yards per catch) deserve more than minimum tender. On the other hand, he hasn't even started for a whole season yet, and there were at least two games (@ Chicago and the Championship game) where he got shut down pretty decisively.
Hopefully this is just a bit of negotiating strategy, and the Packers will get Grant's contract squared away ASAP. The last thing Aaron Rodgers needs is to take the field with the same gaping hole the Packers called a running game for the first half of last season.
This article lists some players the Packers might sign as backup for Aaron Rodgers:
Quinn Gray
I like him. I haven't seen anything more than highlites of the games he played in, but from what I can tell, he looked very decent in replacement of Garrard for the Jaguars. The bad news, at least for the Packers, is that he's probably got a decent shot at a starting job for teams like the Raiders or 49ers.
Tim Rattay
In the one game he had significant playing time in 2007, he was terrible (12/25 for 159 yards, 0 TDs and 3 INTs).
He might be an OK 3rd stringer, but why not just get Craig Nall for that?
Kelly Holcomb
He started 3 games for the Vikings last year, all losses, including the 0-34 shutout at Green Bay. His numbers aren't noticably better than Rattay's, either. He's also couldn't beat Tarvaris Jackson out of the starting job, which doesn't look good on his resume.
Gus Frerotte
Another guy with terrible numbers, plus he's not even 2 years younger than Favre. Pass. Please.
Byron Leftwich
Leftwich didn't look good last year at Atlanta, but I'm willing to chalk that up to lack of experience with the system and players, along with a miserable environment. He could be a good second choice if the Packers can't get Gray.
Daunte Culpepper
Even before he messed up his knee, Culpepper stopped looking like a top-level QB as soon as he stopped having Randy Moss to throw to. Since he's come back from the knee injury, he hasn't even looked much like a mid-level QB.
Trent Dilfer
See comments on Gus Frerotte
I'll add one more of my own, not mentioned in the article:
Maybe I'm being overly picky, but I would like to see the Packers get a backup that at least has a chance to be productive if Rodgers gets injured (or just can't make it as a starter). Except for Gray and Leftwich (and possibly Nall), I don't think any of these guys are worth more than a 3rd string spot on the roster.
Even before he announced it, I knew Brett Favre was going to retire soon. He'll be 39 next October, and there's just so many more hits he could take. But, especially after last season -- proving he could still put up numbers as good as 10 years ago -- I really wanted one more season.
But when I heard him say he was "mentally tired", I knew he was right. More and more in my own life, I see that success (and failure) begins in your thoughts, your plans, your attitude.
Yeah, Favre still has what it takes to take on most teams in the league and send them home with a 'L'. He could come back, and almost certainly lead the Packers to another winning season, probably another division crown. But if he's spent by the time they get to the playoffs... why bother? He's had 13 winning seasons. With Favre, the Packers have won their division 7 times, and qualified as a wildcard 4 other seasons. He's won 12 playoff games. Like he said, there's not much point in coming back except to win another Super Bowl.
The fact is, Brett Favre doesn't owe Packer fans anything. He's given us 16 seasons -- some glorious, a few heartbreaking, all memorable. Now, all that's left to do is say thanks, and bon voyage. May his time after the Packers be as wonderful as it was with them.
"Ninety percent of baseball is half mental." -- Yogi Berra
