I’ve discussed Ron Paul’s platform before. In his case, the situation is reversed: foreign policy is the only plank in his platform that sticks out from an otherwise run-of-the-mill Libertarian platform. Elizabeth Warren, on the other hand, seems to be so level-headed about so many things. She’s so down-to-earth and seems to understand the causes—rather than symptoms—of America’s problems.

And then you read the National Security / Foreign Policy Issues by Elizabeth Warren page on her web site and you’re... [More]

There exist a few gargantuan time-wasting and mind-numbing web sites that scoop up hours of attention like a whale does krill. Facebook, with its coterie of applications (like Farmville and Mafia Wars, though I fear my lack of experience here is showing), is the undisputed king, but Twitter also looms large. The carcasses of others, like MySpace or Friendster, twist far off in their wake, drifting slowly down on gentle currents that carry them deeper into obscurity. Others, like LinkedIn and... [More]

I haven’t watched any of the debates in anything approaching their entirety but as a frequent viewer of both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, I have seen clips from many of them. Though the words falling from the candidates’ mouths are often reprehensible, pandering and self-serving, even they aren’t the primary cause of the feeling of horror these debates engender. No, that feeling is primarily caused by the hooting, hollering and booing that comes from the audience and not the noises... [More]

Observe and Report (2009) — 2/10

Seth Rogan stars as a bipolar mall cop. It’s as bad as it sounds. Written and directed by someone named Jody Hill, it’s hard to believe that the ordinarily quite genial Rogan was in this movie for any reason other than that he lost a bet. None of Rogan’s fellow mall cops are in any way endearing. His quote-girlfriend-unquote is appalling and nothing recommends this film.

Cowboys & Aliens (2011) — 5/10

Daniel Craig stars as an alien abductee from the old... [More]

Even the official Academy Awards web site isn’t allowed to show trailers and clips from the official nominees. Score one for the studios?

So it’s another dreary Saturday (weather-wise) and I’m trying to make my way through this article, List of Pardons Included Many Tied to Power by Campbell Robertson (NY Times).

It tells of a traffic accident:

“Scotty Plunk, the driver of the truck, was killed. The driver of the Toyota, 19-year-old Joel Vann, had been drinking so much that he did not remember the accident.”

Plunk killed by teenage drunk driver, Vann. The story is about why Haley Barbour—notoriously corrupt governor of Mississippi—pardoned him.

“It is... [More]”

These are some thoughts I had as a read through the State of the Union 2012 – Transcript by Barack Obama (C-Span) (PDF).

The Synopsis[1]

1. The U.S. military is the awesome.
2. Soldiers are better than civilians.
3. American businesses have been wayward, but should be forgiven and paid to come home.
4. Americans are wicked smart and more enterprising than anyone else on the planet, but they have been chronically undereducated and under-trained
5. College costs too much; college tuition loans will kill us all
6. We need more fossil... [More]

1. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) — 9/10
2. The Wolfman (2010) — 6/10
3. Lonely Hearts (2006) — 7/10
4. OSS 117: Le Caire, nid d’espions (2006) (fr) — 7/10
5. Brooklyn’s Finest (2009) — 8/10
6. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) — 8/10
7. There Will be Blood (2007) — 6/10
8. Nothing But the Truth (2008) — 8/10
9. Dogville (2003) — 9/10
10. Antichrist (2009) — 8/10
11. La Belle Noiseuse (1991) (fr) — 7/10
12. Invictus (2009) — 7/10
13. You Don’t Know Jack (2010)... [More]

This graphic Geeks versus Non-Geeks when Doing Repetitive Tasks (How-to Geek) illustrates quite nicely how programmers approach the world of problem-solving.

The chart does not show just much time must be spent before the programmer wins, that being dependent on the complexity of the task. The probability that the task will recur is also highly relevant, as automation of a smallish, one-time task is useless. Neither of those things will stop a determined programmer, though, who will automate no matter... [More]

Guy patien[t]ly waits for elevator and gets on said elevator (YouTube)

But still … can that possibly be real?

Who gets so pissed at an elevator that

will
not
show
up
GOD
DAMMIT

—Why is the world against me? On this too, God?—

that he just rams the doors until he DEFEATS THE STUPID ELEVATOR.

Just this one time, he’s won.

THERE.
THAT WILL SHOW THEM.

Who’s
B
o
o
o
o
s
s
.

7 more of the world’s most brilliantly pointless street flyers (happy Place). Some are pretty original; some are kinda mean; some are kinda lame.

I laughed at these:

Have you seen this bird? Because they are everywhere.

I finished this Garfield puzzle

Reward for Eddie

The detail is too good not to be true:

“Black manx, white markings on belly. no tail. Six years old. Red collar w/tags. Overweight. Mews all day / night demanding attention. Won’t stay off countertops. Eats directly from unattended plates, knocks glasses/bottles/vases onto floor. Various expensive ailments. Doesn’t do tricks or anything... [More]”

The article Obama signs defense bill, pledges to maintain legal rights of U.S. citizens by David Nakamura (Washington Post) tells of how the NDAA was signed into law by what appeared to be a reluctant President Obama,

“Obama initially had threatened to veto the legislation. In a signing statement released by the White House on Saturday, Obama said he still does not agree with everything contained in the legislation. But with military funding due to expire Monday, Obama said he signed the bill after Congress made last-minute... [More]”

1. Tell Me No Lies: Investigative Journalism that Changed the World (2005)
2. The Sirens of Titan (1959)
3. Die Welle (de) (1981)
4. Covering Islam (1981)
5. Holidays on Ice (1997)
6. L’étranger (fr) (1942)
7. The Liar (1991)
8. Identity and Violence (2006)
9. The Prince (1513)
10. Oil! (1927)
11. Summer Crossing (1950)
12. Picasso at the Lapin Agile (1993)
13. The Stars’ Tennis Balls (2000)
14. Unseen Academicals (2009)
15. The Enchantress of Florence (2008)
16. Just After Sunset (2008)
17. Profits Over People (1999)
18. Die Zeit-Maschine (1895) (de)
19. Against... [More]

1. Machete (2010) — 6/10
2. The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) — 9/10
3. Network (1976) — 9/10
4. L’illusioniste (2010) — 9/10
5. The Magic Christian (1969) — 6/10
6. The Infidel (2010) — 7/10
7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010) — 3/10
8. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: the Lightning Thief (2010) — 6/10
9. Ip Man 2 (2010) — 8/10
10. Contagion (2011) — 6/10
11. Everything Must Go (2010) — 8/10
12. Buried (2010) — 8/10
13. 127 Hours (2010) — 7/10
14. Barton Fink (1991) — 9/10
15. Inside Job (2010) — 9/10
16. He Was a Quiet Man... [More]

The Republican field has to be very thin—and very unbalanced—indeed for Ron Paul to rear out of the crowd of candidates as the voice of sanity. The man is possessed of a strong Libertarian bent that he uses like the proverbial hammer: all he sees are nails. Gay marriage? Let the states decide; let people have the freedom to be as bigoted as they want to be. Can’t afford insurance? Die in the street and try again in the next life (if you happen to be Hindu and believe that sort of thing,... [More]

1. Talking Funny (2011) — 8/10
2. Milk (2008) — 7/10
3. Half-baked (1998) — 5/10
4. Funny People (2009) — 6/10
5. See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) — 8/10
6. Due Date (2010) — 6/10
7. Cargo (2009) — 8/10
8. The King’s Speech (2010) — 7/10
9. Rien à Déclarer (2010, fr) — 8/10
10. Tree of Life (2011) — 7/10
11. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) — 6/10
12. Horrible Bosses (2011) — 8/10
13. The Eiger Sanction (1975) — 6/10
14. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) — 7/10
15. Charlie and the Chocolate... [More]

Rollins was addressing an Australian audience, but the pricing totally applies to Switzerland as well.

Swiss Bundesrat 2011

To the joy of the technically literate everywhere—and those interested in the rights of citizens to some form of cultural commons—the Swiss Bundesrat (pictured above) have emerged as unlikely heroes for their recent confirmation that file-sharing no big deal, some downloading still OK by Timothy B. Lee (Ars Technica).

“A new report by the Swiss government argues that unauthorized file sharing is not a significant problem, and that existing Swiss law—which allows for downloading copyrighted content for personal use—is... [More]”

Lord knows that Slavoj Žižek doesn’t need me to come to his rescue, but I wanted to point out that the article Slavoj Zizek and Harum Scarum by Hamid Dabashi (Al Jazeera) uses comments that Žižek made about “capitalism with Asian values” as a springboard from which to launch an entirely-too-long and under-researched article against Orientalism. A noble cause, no doubt, but using Žižek’s name as a modern-day proponent of Orientalism is laughable. The man is many things, but an Orientalist he is not. He often goes on and... [More]

When asked about new, proposed sanctions on Iran that would likely stop their export of 4 million barrels of oil per day—primarily to Europe—Newt Gingrich delivered an answer from his fantasy world (found in Gingrich Urges War with Iran and Skyrocketing Oil Prices by Juan Cole (Informed Comment):

“[…] the fact is we ought to have a massive all-sources energy program in the United States designed to, once again, create a surplus of energy here, so we could say to the Europeans pretty cheerfully, that all the various... [More]”

1. My Life in Ruins (2008) — 6/10
2. Crimson Tide (1995) — 8/10
3. Grown Ups (2010) — 2/10
4. United 93 (2006) — 4/10
5. True Crime (1999) — 8/10
6. A Few Good Men (1992) — 8/10
7. Do The Right Thing (1989) — 9/10
8. Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) — 4/10
9. Deep Impact (1998) — 2/10
10. Dogma (1999) — 7/10
11. Plastic Planet (2009) — 7/10
12. The Tourist (2010) — 5/10
13. Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) — 3/10
14. Ghost Busters (1984) — 8/10
15. Blazing Saddles (1974) — 10/10
16. The Fifth Element (1997) — 10/10
17. Tears... [More]

Attn: language prudes.

There is a lot of swearing for emphasis and for style. Especially what I will only in this warning refer to as the F-word.[1] Read no further if you’re too sensitive to stand it without writing me an email about what a shame it is that even otherwise eloquent people can no longer communicate without cursing. I submit that this implies a lack on your part in understanding that cursing is an essential part of eloquence and that anyone attempting to write while explicitly... [More]

tl;dr: Encodo Systems AG has moved from Perforce to Git and has written a manual for getting started for other users or companies looking to make the leap. It’s available for free at Encodo Git Handbook.

In the beginning, there was Microsoft Visual SourceSafe. And it was not good.

In 1994, I started working for a small software company. Source control was a structured network share until I started moving projects into Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, which was slow and balky and feature-poor,... [More]

This article was originally published on the Encodo blogs and cross-published here.

The GenericObject in Quino had recently undergone a performance overhaul, as documented in the article, Improving performance in GenericObject…but we weren’t finished yet.

I’m going to assume that you read the overview on “How Data Objects are Implemented” and understand what the GenericObject actually is. In the other article, we optimized performance when creating objects in-memory and when loading and... [More]

This article was originally published on the Encodo blogs and cross-published here.

Quino is Encodo’s metadata framework, written in C#/.NET 4.0. Since its inception four years ago, we’ve used it in several products and the code base has been updated continuously.

However, it was only in a recent product that one of the central features of the framework came under scrutiny for performance issues. It turned out that reading and writing to Quino data objects was a bit slower than we needed it... [More]

The article, Abbas to Seek Palestinian Statehood at the U.N. Next Week (Truthdig) describes the (relatively) momentous decision approaching the U.N. in the next week.

“Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced that he would seek recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations Security Council next week, a move that intensifies already considerable tensions in one of the Middle East’s most intractable conflicts. By approaching the U.N. directly, Abbas will circumvent... [More]”