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CmdrTaco becomes An Old(er) Man 339

Posted by Hemos from the it's-payback-time dept.
So, over the years, Rob, as only true friends do, has managed to cause my inbox to explode over the years. Now, it's payback time. That's right, our very own CmdrTaco is turning 30 today. I highly encourage you to drop him an e-mail at (remove the spam parts) maldaSPAM@SPAMslashdot.org. And of course, birthday presents of single malt scotch can be sent c/o of me. I'll...uh...make sure he gets them.
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CmdrTaco becomes An Old(er) Man

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  • The only way to properly celebrate would be to send him belated e-congratulations to hemos at slashdot.org. Show the love. He'd do it for you. No I'm not kidding.

    Hmm, seems Taco was right. :-P

    Birthday presents of single malt scotch can be sent c/o of me. I'll...uh...make sure he gets them.

    Ok. But are you sure this label is going to work?
    To:
    VA Software Corporation (OSTG)
    Slashdot.org
    c/o ME
     
    46939 Bayside Parkway
    Fremont, CA 94538

  • wha? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:02PM (#15302029)
    Who is CmdrTaco?

  • Oy vey. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Distinguished Hero ( 618385 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:03PM (#15302035) Homepage
    "So, over the years, Rob, as only true friends do, has managed to cause my inbox to explode over the years."

    How long does it take to proofread a ~30 word post?
  • heres looking for 30 hurays!

  • 30 is old? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Billosaur ( 927319 ) * <wgrother@@@optonline...net> on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:06PM (#15302064) Journal

    Listen Sonny, you've got no idea what old is! Why, when I first learned to program, I had to carry my punch cards in a paper bag through the snow, on foot, 10 miles, uphill, in both directions! We didn't have these fancy keyboards -- we had to use a telegraph key. Monitors! Feh! We had to use an Etch-a-Sketch!

    Anyway, Happy Brithday.

    • bah, 10 miles! back in my day it was 20 each way with no shoes!
    • Heh heh. You jokingly suggest that in the old days people had to use a telegraph key instead of a keyboard to program. The humorous truth, though, is that it was actually worse than that: they had to enter binary data using a parallel set of toggle switches.

    • Re:30 is old? (Score:3, Funny)

      by plover ( 150551 ) *
      Punch cards? Luxury! We used to dream of someday being able to use punch cards. We used to have to punch out
      HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
      on paper tape and string them around the math room!

      Happy Birthday, Rob! From someone far older than you!

    • Re:30 is old? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by dav1ross ( 662068 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @02:17PM (#15302712) Homepage
      "Anything that is in the world when you're born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. Anything that's invented between when you're fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things." -- Douglas Adams

  • Terribly ob quote (Score:5, Funny)

    by rueger ( 210566 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:06PM (#15302065) Homepage
    I for one welcome our new paunchy middle aged slash/overlords....

  • Hmmm... (Score:2, Funny)

    by osmodion ( 716658 )
    So now we're going to slashdot CmdrTaco?

  • Is your palm blinking red, Taco? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Kyrene ( 624175 ) * on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:06PM (#15302075)
    Renewal! Renewal! Renewal!

  • 30 is easy ... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by joeyspqr ( 629639 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:06PM (#15302076)
    ... feels like 29. now, when you turn 31 you start thinking ... 'holy maturity Batman, I've been 30 for a year!'

  • Why put anti-SPAM measures in the email address?? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by rachit ( 163465 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:07PM (#15302082)
    You want his email inbox to be flooded don't you?

  • Let me be one of the first to congratulate you Rob! You guys have a great team and built up a great website. Hopefully the dupes, spelling mistakes wont go up as you get older! Hey I'm allowed to dream am I not :p
  • ...but I'll wait for the dupe of the article and then consider it ; )

  • Nice.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by FortKnox ( 169099 ) * on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:09PM (#15302113) Homepage Journal
    30 years old and still making (good?) money from a college project. Life can't get much easier than that.

    And 30 feels the same as 29 I assume....?
  • If you can make it to my house, you're welcome to all the Springbank you can drink.

  • You lucky bum (Score:5, Funny)

    by nizo ( 81281 ) * on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:10PM (#15302127) Homepage Journal
    Wow, I wish I was 30 again.


    It is all downhill from here by the way. At least until you hit 40, when it is more of a "plunging off a cliff" aging process; just think of your 30s as the hill before the plunge. I can see the edge of the cliff already.....

    • If you're Calvin, this would be a great time to philosophize on the meaning of life and the socio-political ramifications of our day-to-day cultural biases and the actions we take because of them.
    • Actually, once you hit 40, even though it's still downhill, everything else seems more like uphill... a very steep uphill...

    • Re:You lucky bum (Score:5, Insightful)

      by kfg ( 145172 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:35PM (#15302362)
      At least until you hit 40, when it is more of a "plunging off a cliff" aging process. . .

      Nonsense, life doesn't even begin until 40, at least if you've done it right.

      The fastest average "nonstop" (the clock never stopped) speed by bicycle across America, 15.3 mph, was set by a 43 year old nuclear engineer.

      A 25 mile time trialist who competed in the American national championships from his teens into his eighties reported ( and could back it up with race results) that every year he could get stronger and faster . . . until he hit 65, at which point he started losing about a minute a year no matter how he trained.

      Bear in mind that even ten years after "plunging over the cliff" of 65 he was still healthier, stronger and faster than most 20 year olds.

      If you "plunge over the cliff" at 30 or 40 I'm afraid it ain't age that's done it. You have, very simply, "let yourself go."

      50 is the new 30.

      KFG
      • Or maybe your record-setting 43 year-old is a genetic freak, just like Lance Armstrong and 100 year-old smokers are.

      • 30s and 40s are better than 20s (Score:5, Insightful)

        by GuyMannDude ( 574364 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @02:01PM (#15302567) Journal

        Nonsense, life doesn't even begin until 40, at least if you've done it right.

        I'm only 35 now (will be 36 this summer) but already I'm starting to believe kfg's assessment. All my life, I've heard this crap about how the 20s are the best years of your life and 40 is when everything goes to hell. I now believe that's a bunch of crap. Actually, I believe that common perception is probably true for common people. For geeks like us, I think the 30s and 40s are much better than our 20s.

        Maybe my experience was a little more extreme than most people's since my 20s were dominated with grad school in an institute with a terrible male-female ratio, but I look back on my 20s and think of them as years where I was busy building up my capabilities. My ability to take care of myself. My ability to cook things other than spagetti and ramen noodles. My ability to prove myself capable of independent, in-depth research. All along I thought I knew what I was going to do when I finished my dissertation (become a professor) but that turned out not to be correct at all.

        Now midway through my 30s, I've got a much stronger sense of who I truly am and what my strengths are. I'm still struggling to develop new capabilities and broaden my horizon, but I'm starting to take a little more time to appreciate what I've built so far. Financial decisions that I made back in my 20s because I thought they were the right thing to do are starting to pay off for me now. I'm still very busy but I'm starting to see things in a broader scope than I did when I was so fixated on one or two things in my 20s.

        I imagine that my 40s is when I'll truly be content. By then, I imagine I'll be pretty damn comfortable with the person I turned out to be. I'll be able to see how everything fits together in my life much better.

        People think of 40s as "over the hill" largely because of physical issues. Yeah, perhaps its true that if you don't take care of yourself that age will start to catch up with you then. But if you eat right and exercise, I think your 40s can be some of your best active years. You shouldn't still be putting in 60-hour weeks in your 40s so you'll have more time for exercising, spending time with the family, and just plan enjoying life. Regarding sports, you might have to take a few more days of layoff between workouts or slow down a bit on the court, but you will find that your increased understanding of tactics, planning, and strategy will make up for it. Yes, even for stuff like weight-training. You'll start to realize that going into the gym 4-6 days a week and blasting your muscles to failure every time in a pathetic attempt to put a half-inch on your arms in time for summer just isn't the smartest approach.

        Like kfg says, your 40s should be the best years of your life if you've done it right (e.g., made careful financial decisions, ate healthy, gotten plenty of non-destructive exercise, not completely dedicated yourself to your job). That's how I see it anyhow.

        GMD

        • Truly an insightful post. I am 43 year-old geek and can concur than many of the things you say are, indeed, true.

          The upside of 40's: you're comfy, you're kinda settled, you're kinda content in a Maslow's Hierarchy kinda way.

          The downside: You have the $$$ and the desire to do the Geek Projects you've always wanted (damn you "Make" magazine), but you don't have the time. Family, friends, a fuller life all conspire to get in your way.

          Life is great at 40 - but you'll need naps. Really.

      • Re:You lucky bum (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Like2Byte ( 542992 ) <<Like2Byte> <at> <yahoo.com>> on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @02:13PM (#15302666) Homepage
        I've got some anecdotal information to back that up. I ride mountain bikes, a lot. Let me stress that. A lot!

        I thought I was in pretty good shape for a 34 year old (at the time). My troop of riders went to Long Island to ride our bikes with some friends of friends. There was this one guy, we called him "Sarge," that was 62 or 63 y.o. He was the fastest thing on two wheels I ever saw (besides the amateur MTB Racers, that is). He whooped the pants off of us youngins.

        So, I'd say, the parent post hangs true. I've experienced it (from the 'younger' point of view). Kind of puts some things into perspective.

    • is that we all work in such an ageist occupation. 30+ years at the coalface means nothing nowadays. Oh, yes, and I can't make love quite as often as I used to!

    • Ob. Quote (Score:4, Funny)

      by Random Utinni ( 208410 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:46PM (#15302455)
      Value this time in your life kids, because this is the time in your life when you still have your choices, and it goes by so quickly.
      When you're a teenager you think you can do anything, and you do.
      Your twenties are a blur.
      Your thirties, you raise your family, you make a little money and you think to yourself, "What happened to my twenties?"
      Your forties, you grow a little pot belly you grow another chin. The music starts to get too loud and one of your old girlfriends from high school becomes a grandmother.
      Your fifties you have a minor surgery. You'll call it a procedure, but it's a surgery.
      Your sixties you have a major surgery, the music is still loud but it doesn't matter because you can't hear it anyway.
      Seventies, you and the wife retire to Fort Lauderdale, you start eating dinner at two, lunch around ten, breakfast the night before. And you spend most of your time wandering around malls looking for the ultimate in soft yogurt and muttering "how come the kids don't call?"
      By your eighties, you've had a major stroke, and you end up babbling to some Jamaican nurse who your wife can't stand but who you call mama.

      Any questions?
    • Actually, it's not ALL downhill after 30 anymore, but for a reason peculiar to the times we live in: there's a crossover point for anyone under around 70 years-old where exponentially advancing technology [wikipedia.org] will slow, stop, then reverse the biological aging disease.

      Just don't get hit by a bus until then and most of us have a good shot at becoming biologically then non-biologically immortal (or none of do [gmu.edu]).

  • What's the geek version of the bumps? Maybe it's slashdotting his sit.... oh wait, I see a slight problem... How do we slashdot slashdot..?

  • Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:13PM (#15302153)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Happy Birthday! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Hartree ( 191324 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:13PM (#15302154)
    Congratulations Taco, you now join Hemos as just another old fart.

    Of course, you're still both just rotten kids to all of us 40 somethings! :)

  • Happy and Sad (Score:5, Funny)

    by prakslash ( 681585 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:13PM (#15302158)
    I am happy for Taco and sad for myself.

    As a guy many years older than him, it is depressing to see my hardworked, carefully thought-out story submissions heartlessly rejected on a regular basis by a bunch of barely 30-year old millionaire kids.

    But that is the way of things I guess.

  • Dupes (Score:5, Funny)

    by bcmg150 ( 913270 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:14PM (#15302162)
    And next week, I'll send him another birthday greeting!
  • I hit 41 yesterday.

  • Happy B'day!!! ZOMG!!! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Winlin ( 42941 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:16PM (#15302183)
    Hope you get , like, loads of Ponies!!!

  • 24 hours too late (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:16PM (#15302194)
    This was posted on DIGG on Tuesday morning!
  • HAH! CmdrTaco is ancient! Not like us 29 year 364 day old people!

  • Spam-proofed (Score:3, Interesting)

    by noidentity ( 188756 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:18PM (#15302206)
    "maldaSPAM@SPAMslashdot.org"

    Argh, I'm just not figuring this out. I've got the malda part, but am having trouble with the last part. I keep getting "slashdot.org" but I've never heard of that before. This SPAM stuff just confuses me.

    On a serious note, are spammers really thwarted by foobar_AT_barbaz.com (apologies to the person with that e-mail address) and foobarNOSPAM@NOSPAMbarbaz.com? I mean, really, s/_AT_/@ isn't exactly rocket science.
  • with someone as high profile as Rob Malda, you'd think you don't have to put a spam filtered e-mail up, since he probably gets thousands of spam messages a day anyway, which are probably fairly well filtered.

  • Accolades... (Score:2, Funny)

    by sheepoo ( 814409 )
    Happy Birthday to you,
    Happy Birthday to you,
    Happy Birthday dear Taco,
    Happy Birthday to you

  • Little does Hemo know (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jayhawk88 ( 160512 ) <jayhawk88@gmail.com> on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:22PM (#15302250)
    ...that malda[at]slashdot.org has been blackholed to /dev/null for years now. Rob is much to busy polishing his monocle to answer email.

    Wait a minute, that's not right...

  • Only 30??!! (Score:3, Funny)

    by fobbman ( 131816 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:23PM (#15302254) Homepage
    I guess that maybe the "OMG P0N13S" stories from April Fools Day weren't so tongue-in-cheek.

  • Who knew I shared the same birthday as The Taco? He's 4 years older than I, but woo! I have a new "Who do you share birthday's with?" answer!

    Happy Birthday CmdrTaco!
  • There'd better not be a dupe for this! /Happy B-day, Rob.

  • Email keeps getting rejected? (Score:5, Funny)

    by digitaldc ( 879047 ) * on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @01:28PM (#15302306)
    Happy Birthday CmdrT!

    In honour of this gracious occasion, I will prepare the following:

    SPAM(TM) Tacos [hormel.com]

    Servings: 4
    Prep Time: 30 minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes


    Ingredients
    - 1 SPAM® Classic (12-ounce) can cut into 1/2-inch cubes
    - 12 small new potatoes sliced 1/8-inch thick
    - 1 Anaheim chile chopped
    - 8 corn taco shells
    - 2 cups torn romaine lettuce
    - shredded cheddar cheese
    - chopped tomato
    - sour cream
    - salsa
    - standard keyboard & internet connection

    Directions
    In skillet over medium heat, combine SPAM®, potatoes, and chile. Cover. Cook 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until potatoes are tender. Fill each taco shell with about 1/4 cup SPAM(TM) mixture and 1/4 cup lettuce. Top with cheese, tomato, sour cream, and salsa. Eat while posting, emailing, or whatever!
  • You can send me lots of beer and vodka and I'll make sure Taco gets it. Trust me.
  • CmdrTaco becomes An Old(er) Man
    And now he's even older.
    And now he's even older.
    And now he's even older still...
  • *ahem* *ahem*

    Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to express my dearest congratulations for our founder, CmdrTaco.

    (And now that it's been said...
    I'm older than Taco!! Yay!!!!! :D I'm 31 in 2 months! woo hoo!!! :D *whistles*
    )

    *ahem ahem*

    (puts on tuxedo)

    Thank you very much for allowing me to contribute. Have a nice day.
  • I remember when I hit 30...30 freaking years ago!!I thought it was over. Then I slammed into 40. All is lost! When I careened over 50, I was a living fossil. No hope here. I am now on the verge of 60 and staring at my own mortality. 30 years old today. Damn you, senorTaco, damn you....
  • (tough guy) Old Man, you seek the Spell of Mastery!

    (old man mubling) ... you have come to late, my efforts have already met with success....

    (tough guy) If that is the case, you must be stopped!

    (old man) (mumbles some more)

    *lightning* ...

    You may mod this OT, but those of us over 30 know EXACTLY what I'm talking about...
  • Never trust anyone over 30!

    (er wait, I'm over 30...)

    Never trust anyone over 40!

    (Uh oh, I'm 41...)

    Never trust anyone over 50! Those bastards always keepin' us down! Down with The Man! I'm keepin' it real.

  • I turn 40 tomorrow, Kid! :)
  • never realized it before - we share a birthday.

    Happy birthday, Rob

  • How about some Cola (Score:2, Interesting)

    by scristian2 ( 830788 )
    Or some Cola Light and Mentos for next experiment. PS: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6807159483 537170629 [google.com]
  • I'm amused that all of the 'related stories' are about Hemos.

    Happy Birthday Cmdr. I didn't get you anything, but if you want you can go watch duckpins [cmdrtaco.net].

  • ... but turning 31? For whatever reason, that caused me to have a meltdown.

    But that water has long since been under the bridge.

  • Shameful, really. (Score:4, Funny)

    by RobTFirefly ( 844560 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @02:15PM (#15302689) Homepage Journal
    He's been CmdrTaco for over ten years. Shouldn't he have made Captain by now?

    Happy birthday Rob, benevolent overlord with snazzy first name!

  • Happy Birthday Sir! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by OldHawk777 ( 19923 ) * <oldhawk777.gmail@com> on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @03:46PM (#15303475) Journal
    Mr. CmdrTaco a very Happy Birthday to you Sir.

    May you enjoy life as much as Ollie.
    May you prosper as well as Spock.
    May you never give a moose FARQs.

    The drugs of my youth in the "1960s".
    Compare poorly with my drugs today.
    You got some great drugs to look
    forward to when you get to your
    sextities as your body, mind and
    spirit slip into "dang dumb ass",
    why did I pass that up.

    Yep, you always regret more what you
    passed up, then what you fucked up.
    Then the drugs really help you forget.

    Well, I guess you best get on with
    your life. By the time you get to 137yo ..?

    What was I saying ... Happy Birthday Sir!
    > You chose well, so choose well.

    J.D.10101

  • 30 (Score:3, Funny)

    by SlashSquatch ( 928150 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @03:48PM (#15303497) Homepage

    I got married at 30 also.

    Now I'm 32 and I've been married 357 years.

  • Happy B-Day M8! (Score:3, Funny)

    by roman_mir ( 125474 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2006 @04:44PM (#15303925) Homepage Journal
    I guess in Soviet Russia your birthday celebrates you and

    OOG PASSING OUT AT YOUR BIRTHDAY PARTY WHEN HE SEES

    Nataly Portman naked and petrified pouring hot grits down your pants, she knows that

    All your base are belong to us!

    So again, Happy Birthday and may you always get the

    Frist Psit.

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