Kevin's Ramblings: January 2008 Archives

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January 31, 2008

PHP Documentation

PHP "people" don't really know how to document things very well. At least, not when compared to Perl people. Generally, I've always found documentation by Perl people to be good, fairly complete, and looks like it's written by a technical person. At the very least, there is usually a good example in it which you can "just use", for the most part. Some PHP documentation I have been having to read (outside the PHP manual) looks like it's written by people who have never actually read documentation. Incomplete, silly errors, and a big PITA to actually read all the side-documentation to figure out what they are talking about.

When you are documenting "How to do X", don't say you need to understand Y, which points you to W. Explain how to do X without needing to know Y and W, and refer people to Y and W to "learn more", rather than a pre-requisite.

Posted by Kevin at 4:07 PM | Comments (0)

Lost

LOST IS BACK!! w00t w00t!

Screw you striking writers.. as long as Lost (House, Prison Break and the Sarah Conner Chronicles) are on, strike all you want!

Posted by Kevin at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)

January 28, 2008

Home design shows

I've liked home design shows (I also like MMA, just have to throw some testosterone in here) since they came on the air some time ago. Mainly because I like ideas, projects, etc... Even though I may not do what they teach on the shows, I would keep it in mind, or think "I can do this, because I saw them do that." We've used some things we've seen taught on these shows over the years.

But, is it me, or have these shows gone totally downhill? Not only do they not really teach you how to do things as much (they mainly say what they are doing), but the shows themselves are so obnoxious. The hosts are horrible, with their fake "I'm so happy!!!" personalities, horrible senses of humor (Eric Stromer is a perfect example), and the camera effects are like things a high schooler does in their After Effects 101 class.

To the producers of these shows... they aren't cute, they aren't funny and they are becoming unbearable to watch. I'm more than happy to watch your shows when I can learn something, or get a good idea. But, stick to the basics of what these shows were born from: good ideas and making someone feel like they can also do it. Keep away from these fake chipper personalities, and all of a sudden everything is done and you don't learn a thing. Put it this way.. if you can watch the first 5 minutes to see the "before" and the final 5 minutes to see the "after" and in-between is just fluff, you'll lose your audience.

Posted by Kevin at 9:46 AM | Comments (0)

January 27, 2008

Why all the Brits?

Why in the world do we seem to have so many Brits hosting TV shows these days? Do we not have qualified people who are American to host game shows and clip shows?

Posted by Kevin at 9:38 PM | Comments (0)

January 25, 2008

This is news!

Heath Ledger's masseuse not licensed in NY

Oh.. my.. god.. you're... kidding?!?!?! Please, tell me this isn't so. First, an actor I don't care about dies.. now this?!?! What's this world coming?!!

Posted by Kevin at 11:57 AM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2008

Rudy's plan.. not so good

Giuliani fights political fall in Florida - CNN.com

It was a pretty bad move for Rudy to ignore the other primaries. He put all his eggs in one basket, and polls show it may bite him in the ass. I'm no politician, but I do know you can't visit every home in a state to talk to people. I also know that taking part in primaries gets you free air-time in the media, and helps rally people around you. So, while Rudy was in the Sunshine State, everyone got to see more of McCain, Romney and Huckabee. Now, his leads has fallen, and he may be lucky to take 2nd or 3rd in the FL primary.

On a side note, anyone who pays attention knows that "9/11" is constantly coming out of Rudy's mouth. So much so, that it's pretty annoying and is on the cusp of being a drinking game during debates. I thought this Daily Show clip was pretty funny.

Posted by Kevin at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)

Don't offend them Muslims!

FOXNews.com - Three Pigs Story Judged 'Offensive to Muslims'

“The idea of taking a traditional tale and retelling a story is fine, but it should not alienate parts of the workforce. Judges would not recommend this product to the Muslim community in particular.”

I'm offended that Muslims are so easily offended, frankly.

Posted by Kevin at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)

January 23, 2008

New Ink?

I've been itching to get a new tattoo. I just can't decide what, or where. My current tattoos are in places I don't get to see (back and thigh), so I'd like something somewhere that I can see. I'm not sure if I want my arm/shoulder, or something on my leg extending from my thigh down to the knee (I'd see it when wearing shorts, at least).

I also don't know what I'd want. I considered a portrait of Kyla. But, finding someone I trust to do a good portrait may be hard. Or, something which tells a story. Not sure, I guess it'll come to me.

Posted by Kevin at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2008

Current Candidate Summary

I watch debates, interviews, etc... and here's how I sum up the candidates for anyone not paying attention. Here's how I think they would sum themselves up in a quote.

Republicans:

Guliani: "I was the mayor of NYC during 9/11. Really, I was the mayor of NYC."
Romney: "I, like a greek god, saved the Olympics."
Paul: "Welfare state.. did I say 'welfare state' enough?"
Thompson: "You're not Reagan enough."
Huckabee: "I did good in Arkansas."
McCain: "I backed the surge when nobody else did, and will keep giving this creepy grin after everything I say. *grin*"

Democrats:

Edwards: "Working class!! Oi Oi Oi!"
Obama: "Even though during every election people say there needs to be change, I will bring change. Like everyone else did, but different. Sort of a change in the way change is usually changing things. I.. will.. bring.. change"
Clinton: "I have experience, and my speech writers will tell you what it is."
Gravel: "Hello? Anyone there?"
Kucinich: "I'm here Gravel!"

Posted by Kevin at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)

Netflix: New Releases

I think Netflix recently made their New Releases section less useful. They used to have a "Releasing This Week" section, where I could see, well, what was releasing this week. I'd usually add things to my queue in there, since I would think "Oh, yeah I wanted to see that!" Now, it's just some Ajax horizontal scrolling thing which isn't of much use to me. I'm lucky if I remember the name of a movie I wanted to see 6 months ago when it was in the theater, let alone what they may categorize the genre as (is it more comedy than action? More thriller than drama?).

Am I missing it? Did they move it? I just want to know what's being released this week.

Posted by Kevin at 9:47 AM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2008

RIP Edmund Hillary

Everest legend Edmund Hillary dies - CNN.com

In 1953 this guy summited Mt. Everest, being the first (known) man to do so and return. That's pretty bad ass. Not having the oxygen tanks we do now, and the climbing equipment. The loss of a living legend.

Posted by Kevin at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)

January 8, 2008

Awesome night away

As my birthday gift, Suzy gave me (us) a night away at a local inn. It was a "romance package". It was great!!

The room was great. It was a 2 story loft, with the bedroom (king bed) on the loft. Jacuzzi tub, wooded view and very nicely decorated. Also, there were chocolates and a chilled bottle of champagne waiting for us.

First, we started with an hour long full body massage. This was the first time I've ever had a massage, aside from maybe a trainer during my wrestling days. This was much different than that! :-) I was honestly a bit tense, and spent about 1/4 of the time thinking "She's getting pretty close to my junk". But, overall it was great, and I was super relaxed when it was over. I'd probably do it again, but skip any upper thigh stuff.

After some relaxing, we headed off to dinner. The inn has a very nice restaurant. It's a top-notch restaurant for the area, in fact. Dinner was fantabulous, and we ate way too much. The room we ate in had the fireplace going, great lighting, and a great atmosphere.

The next morning, after breakfast, we came back home. It was truly a great night, and it was very nice to be away without "being away".

Posted by Kevin at 9:47 AM | Comments (0)

January 2, 2008

Sylvia Browne 2007 Prediction Redux

Last year I started journaling how ~~fraud~~ psychic Sylvia Browne does on her predictions for the coming year. Since I've seen her on another year of Montel giving the same answers over and over ("Yes, they are happy", "Yes, they are around you"), I thought I'd do it again. So, here's how she did:

1. On TomKat: "I see them staying together two more years. Two more years. They'll have a boy, and that's the end of it."

Well, we don't know yet.

Hits: 0 Misses: 0 Unknown: 1

2. On Brangelina: "They're not gonna last, either."

Still together.

Hits: 0 Misses: 1 Unknown: 1

3. On J. Lo: "I think she wants to have one [baby], but there's something wrong there."

Nothing wrong, J. Lo announced she's prego in Nov.

Hits: 0 Misses: 2 Unknown: 1

4. On Mel Gibson: "I don't think we're gonna hear much from him. I think after this episode and this movie, I think he's gonna back up, and we're not gonna hear from him for a couple years."

From what I've heard, he's pretty much been around, and done various public appearances. He just hasn't gone on an anti-semetic rampage or done anything tabloid worthy. Well, he told a Mayan expert to "fuck off", I think that was in '07.

Hits: 0 Misses: 3 Unknown: 1

5. On beanpole Nicole Richie: "Is gonna end up in the hospital.
... It is, it's sad, but she's just really abused herself terribly. I mean, this is serious. We’re not talking about some little, "let's go and check you out."

Nope. She went to jail for a few hours, but that's not the hospital. I'm not "open" enough to generalize those to "any institution" as she may want.

Hits: 0 Misses: 4 Unknown: 1

6. On Liz Taylor: "You know, I'm really worried about her. How do I put this? Her life force is flickering... The thing that bothers me about her is -- see, you always have to -- and I know some of you have seen this. You always have to worry when somebody starts giving up, do you know what I'm saying, or they don't are anymore. I've seen people overcome cancer, heart trouble, diabetes, everything. If they fight. You get someone at any age that doesn't fight anymore, they don't care. They feel their life's over. You can be rest assured it will be."

Liz is alive, kicking, and out in public.

Hits: 0 Misses: 5 Unknown: 1

7. She said an "amino acid" will be found to put AIDS into remision.

Bzzzzzzt

Hits: 0 Misses: 6 Unknown: 1

8. She said depression would be linked to diet.

Keep eating your McDonalds.

Hits: 0 Misses: 7 Unknown: 1

9. On some weather: "We're going to have glaciers melting off at a rapid speed that we've never seen before. We're gonna have tornadoes hit"

Tornadoes hit, as always. And, not in anywhere unusual. The glaciers melting is pretty common knowlege, and if Global Warming wasn't in the news constantly around this time last year, maybe I've give her a 1/5 point. But, saying the glaciers are melting at a fast pace is a pretty easy prediction.

Hits: 0 Misses: 8 Unknown: 1

10. "Yeah, volcanoes erupting everywhere."

No they didn't. No major eruptions in '07, and not "everywhere".

Hits: 0 Misses: 9 Unknown: 1

11. "The East Coast is going to have one of the mildest winters that you've ever seen."

Well, it was pretty mild last Winter. But, the National Weather Service "predicted" this before Sylvia did. And, she made this "prediction" during winter, so what the NWS said was already coming true (they predicted it before winter). This winter, which part of is in 2007, isn't mild. We've had over 2' of snow since mid-December. I need to give this one a miss, since prediction what the NWS already said isn't really predicting anything.

Hits: 0 Misses: 10 Unknown: 1

12. She said there would be great flooding in the South.

Bzzzzzt.. they are having a drought. Sort of an anti-prediction.

Hits: 0 Misses: 11 Unknown: 1

13. Montel: Major catastrophe here in North America? Do you seen one coming?
Sylvia: Yeah, see, I've always been worried. Now, I told you this, I think, last year. I've always been worried about a tsunami hitting New York.
Montel: Hitting New York?
Sylvia: Hitting New York.
Montel: New York?
Sylvia: New York, New York.

Nope. No tsunami in NYC or any of NY. And, no major catastrophe.

Hits: 0 Misses: 12 Unknown: 1

14. "And I'm not worried about terrorists attacks, some of these things coming in through the docks and things. But nothing horrible like 9/11 or something like that. It makes me so crazy because they elevate, and then everybody gets frantic. I don't see any planes or anything like that, no. The only thing that I do see is, I'm worried about trucks, and I'm worried about trains."

Luckily, a miss.

Hits: 0 Misses: 13 Unknown: 1

15. Polio and Whooping Cough are making big comebacks because of people who think vaccines are not good for you

Nope.

Hits: 0 Misses: 14 Unknown: 1

16. Bush will bring the troops home

Nope again.

Hits: 0 Misses: 15 Unknown: 1

17. More states will approve gay marriage, not just civil unions.

Still no.

Hits: 0 Misses: 16 Unknown: 1

18. 8 years and we will have a black president.

We'll see in 7 more years. It certainly won't be this next election.

Hits: 0 Misses: 16 Unknown: 2

19. FEMA will be investigated, people will go to jail for stealing money.

Hmmm.. wasn't FEMA being scrutinized during this "prediction"? Actually, haven't they been being scrutinized and investigated since Katrina? This would be the same as saying "MBL will be investigated" as a prediction for '08. So, I'll take the "prediction" as "people will go to jail for stealing money." I'm not aware of this happening, so it's a miss.

Hits: 0 Misses: 17 Unknown: 2

20. Property is the best investment now, buy now, because its going down but will go back up next year.

When property prices are down, of course it's a good investment. But, this is unknown since we don't know when prices will go back up. I'm not sure if she meant "next year" as '07, or '08. If it was '07, she's wrong. But, with a 0% hit rate so far, I'll assume she meant '08.

Hits: 0 Misses: 17 Unknown: 3

21. More spirituality next year, bad press for Evangelicals, they are misusing money, buying lots of things for themselves.

Not aware of this. I'm sure it's true, but no onslaught of bad press. "More spirituality" is pretty hard to measure.

Hits: 0 Misses: 18 Unknown: 3

22. Cure for insulin dependent diabetes end of next year, major breakthroughs happening.

Not that I'm aware of.

Hits: 0 Misses: 19 Unknown: 3

23. Gas prices will go down in February.

I looked around, and saw nothing about this happening. I didn't recall it happening, and couldn't find anything saying it did.

Hits: 0 Misses: 20 Unknown: 3

So, those are the things I had noted from last year. I'm sure I missed some, but it's a good sampling. Out of these 23, 3 were 'unknown' since they weren't really 2007 things. Out of the other 20, 0 were correct. That's a 0% success rate. With a margin of error of +2/-2, you could give her %2, which is still pretty crappy for a "psychic" with about 50 books out, and sad followers.

Sylvia generally gives vague predictions. Weather ones, by time she gives them, the NWS has already said. The only specific-ish ones are usually about celebs. But, some of those could be done by just knowing that world, and how people are (for example, J. Lo wanting a baby. She's not getting younger, of course she may want a baby). Here are some specific things which Sylvia missed, which could have actually done some "good" if she predicted them:

- The drought in the South. (See #12)
- The VTech shooting
- The collapse of the bridge into the Mississippi. Maybe if she told less fat people on Montel to check their thyroids and said "XYZ bridge should be looked at" it'd be nice.
- The mortgage "crisis". Or, at least told people 2 years ago "Don't get ARMs or unconventional loans."
- Pakistan being a place of crisis. I'd have given her a point if she was somewhat vague about Pakistan.
- Lead paint in toys coming from China.
- Pats being undefeated. Or, even saying ANY team AFC would be undefeated.
- The return of the Russian Bear bombers.

Is this playing armchair psychic? Not really. There were plenty of specific, major, events in '07. She did have a share of blunders, like telling the parents of Shawn Hornbeck he was dead on Montel. As we all know, that was wrong.

Another year of Sylvia is to come. I wish Montel would stop giving her a platform (to sell her books), and wake up to the fact that of the predictions we can know about, she has a pretty low rate of accuracy for a "psychic".

Posted by Kevin at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)

USPS Insufficient Postage

A few weeks ago I wondered if you could "beat" postage by sending something with no postage, and the sender/arrival address being the same. Well, pseudo-ironically, this was tested by accident. Someone, who I won't mention *cough*Alan*cough* sent me a New Years card. But, didn't include enough postage. So, my postman put an envelope in my mailbox asking me to put $.17 in it.