I just invented a new term to go along with loose typing and strict typing: slatternly typing.
You heard it here first, unless you heard it somewhere else before.
20120418
20120126
20090515
20081113
closest book meme
- Grab the nearest book.
- Open it to page 56.
- Find the fifth sentence.
- Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
- Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.
"Taking Burgundy and Provence peaceably by marriage, he proceeded to make Italy the fulcrum of his new empire."
The quote comes from
20080728
well, that went by fast
I arrived in Mexico City, to live, four years ago to the day. These four years have been a lot better than the preceding four were, and, the occasional grumble notwithstanding, I would be lying if I said that this place hasn't treated me pretty well overall.
20080619
20080527
virtual kidnapping
I just received a phone call. Here's a transcript, translated into English:
"Dad?"
"Who is this?" [I don't have any children, so I assumed it was just another wrong number. I get lots of those.]
"Dad? [crying] Two men kidnapped me. [crying] Dad?"
Realizing that it was a scam, I hung up.
Fake calls like these are common in Mexico, although I'd never received one until today. My wife's uncle received one a few months ago; unfortunately he was taken in.
Quite chilling, even though nothing happened—to me. I hope the people with the adjacent phone numbers weren't duped.
"Dad?"
"Who is this?" [I don't have any children, so I assumed it was just another wrong number. I get lots of those.]
"Dad? [crying] Two men kidnapped me. [crying] Dad?"
Realizing that it was a scam, I hung up.
Fake calls like these are common in Mexico, although I'd never received one until today. My wife's uncle received one a few months ago; unfortunately he was taken in.
Quite chilling, even though nothing happened—to me. I hope the people with the adjacent phone numbers weren't duped.
20080414
That history meme
I've run that command line showing my most frequently used commands a few times. Maybe I've held off from posting because the results would be embarrassing. I also noticed that its results differ wildly, because only when you close a shell is its history saved.
One command remains constant, though:
Update: Benjaman Weber reminds me that you can make your history be saved more often by setting
One command remains constant, though:
mw@quill:~> history | awk '{a[$2]++ } END{for(i in a){print a[i] " " i}}' | sort -rn | head -n 1
297 ls
Update: Benjaman Weber reminds me that you can make your history be saved more often by setting
PROMPT_COMMAND='history -a'.
20080404
Packaging Day ][
I've neglected to mention it here until now, but here it is: the second openSUSE Packaging Day is today. Tomorrow too, because it's really a pair of packaging days, not just one.
So if you're interested in having your favorite program available for openSUSE, please do join in!
So if you're interested in having your favorite program available for openSUSE, please do join in!
20080109
20071217
Making a hash of it
The Economist recently ran an article titled Making a hash of it. Neither the article nor the actual story is news, of course. What surprised and impressed me was the relative depth of the coverage of the subject, which is very rare in the mainstream media.
It's true that The Economist oversimplified what hashing functions do and understated how difficult it is to find collisions. Still, for people who don't program, writing a program to find a one-in-one-thousand collision is no more or less baffling than finding a one-in-one-hojillion collision. So, even if such simplifications make more technically astute readers cringe, the simplifications were necessary for the majority of its readership.
For those for whom simplified discussion of hash collisions is too esoteric, I offer you instead this link to a story about the rights of poop-eating worms.
It's true that The Economist oversimplified what hashing functions do and understated how difficult it is to find collisions. Still, for people who don't program, writing a program to find a one-in-one-thousand collision is no more or less baffling than finding a one-in-one-hojillion collision. So, even if such simplifications make more technically astute readers cringe, the simplifications were necessary for the majority of its readership.
For those for whom simplified discussion of hash collisions is too esoteric, I offer you instead this link to a story about the rights of poop-eating worms.
20071206
No El Guapo for me when I'm in Massachusetts in a few weeks
I just found out that El Pelón, my favorite taquería (outside of Mexico, anyway), burnt down. I used to eat there a lot, when I worked in the Ximian office in the Fenway.
(There's more info on some livejournal community page, but they ruined it by adding a lolcat image. I won't link to it. Lolcats are not funny.)
Oh well. I be extra sure, now, to not miss another of my old haunts in Boston, Pino's.
(There's more info on some livejournal community page, but they ruined it by adding a lolcat image. I won't link to it. Lolcats are not funny.)
Oh well. I be extra sure, now, to not miss another of my old haunts in Boston, Pino's.
20071130
20071116
packaging day
On November 30 through December 1, members of the openSUSE GNOME and KDE teams will be holding a packaging day. If you would like to contribute by picking off packages on our wishlists (here's the GNOME wishlist and here's the KDE one) this would be a great chance to do so.
People with all levels of experience are welcome, although you'll probably benefit most if you have some prior experience compiling software by hand (eg, the usual ./configure; make; make install steps).
More information is available on the wiki.
People with all levels of experience are welcome, although you'll probably benefit most if you have some prior experience compiling software by hand (eg, the usual ./configure; make; make install steps).
More information is available on the wiki.
20071018
You gotta know what a CRUMPET is to understand CRICKET!
20071001
Biking in the DF
Yesterday, Alma and I went bike riding along some of Mexico City's largest streets. We were able to do this because they were closed to regular traffic during much of the day.
The route we took is barely visible at MUÉVETE EN BICI. Unfortunately, the map is very low res, and zooming in won't help.
We picked up the trail at the junction of División del Norte and Churubusco, went through a stretch of Patriotismo, and then went through parts of Condesa, Roma (where the stopped for a brunch of barbacoa), and the Zona Rosa. From there we picked up the Paseo de la Reforma towards the Centro Histórico, rode along the edge the Zócalo, skirted Merced, and went on to areas where I've never been on foot (and much less on a bike) and don't really know. When time ran out -- the streets were only closed from 7am till 2pm -- we were close to the Palacio de Deportes. There we got on the Metro and went home under someone else's power.
Along the route, there were police protecting every major intersection and most if not all of the minor ones too.
It was a great way to spend the day, although I wish we'd started earlier, or, better yet, that it went until later in the day. It was very nice to see Mexico City from a new perspective. It was kind of like being in a car, yet without the traffic and all that the traffic entails. And it was kind of like being on foot, except we were going much faster. I won't say that Mexico City would become paradise if everyone got out of their cars and started walking or cycling, but it sure would be a lot nicer. Seeing the surrounding mountains clearly would be a daily occurrence instead of a rare treat, and there would be much less noise. For many people, daily commutes would be substantially shorter. I am not joking about this last point.
Biking here is usually a harrowing experience. But not yesterday.
Here's a picture of me by the Ángel of Independencia.
The route we took is barely visible at MUÉVETE EN BICI. Unfortunately, the map is very low res, and zooming in won't help.
We picked up the trail at the junction of División del Norte and Churubusco, went through a stretch of Patriotismo, and then went through parts of Condesa, Roma (where the stopped for a brunch of barbacoa), and the Zona Rosa. From there we picked up the Paseo de la Reforma towards the Centro Histórico, rode along the edge the Zócalo, skirted Merced, and went on to areas where I've never been on foot (and much less on a bike) and don't really know. When time ran out -- the streets were only closed from 7am till 2pm -- we were close to the Palacio de Deportes. There we got on the Metro and went home under someone else's power.
Along the route, there were police protecting every major intersection and most if not all of the minor ones too.
It was a great way to spend the day, although I wish we'd started earlier, or, better yet, that it went until later in the day. It was very nice to see Mexico City from a new perspective. It was kind of like being in a car, yet without the traffic and all that the traffic entails. And it was kind of like being on foot, except we were going much faster. I won't say that Mexico City would become paradise if everyone got out of their cars and started walking or cycling, but it sure would be a lot nicer. Seeing the surrounding mountains clearly would be a daily occurrence instead of a rare treat, and there would be much less noise. For many people, daily commutes would be substantially shorter. I am not joking about this last point.
Biking here is usually a harrowing experience. But not yesterday.
Here's a picture of me by the Ángel of Independencia.
20070925
ginger ale
On Sunday, Alma and I brewed a small batch of ginger ale. We roughly followed the directions at http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Ginger-Ale. We deviated from the recipe a little bit in using limes instead of lemons. Hey, we're in Mexico — what do you expect?
It finished brewing this morning (by our estimation). We let it refrigerate during the day, and just now opened and tried it. It was pretty good.
Next time, we'll probably use fewer limes, so it's less citrusy; more ginger; and more yeast, so it comes out fizzier.
Not bad at all for a first try!
It finished brewing this morning (by our estimation). We let it refrigerate during the day, and just now opened and tried it. It was pretty good.
Next time, we'll probably use fewer limes, so it's less citrusy; more ginger; and more yeast, so it comes out fizzier.
Not bad at all for a first try!
20070919
a humble suggestion
Let's change today, Talk Like A You-know-what Day, into a mere hour.
Seriously. Talk Like A Pirate Hour: it's the new hotness.
Seriously. Talk Like A Pirate Hour: it's the new hotness.
20070917
frantically moving to gnome 2.20.0
We openSUSE GNOME people are updating what will become openSUSE 10.3 to GNOME 2.20.0.
So far, it's proving to be rather light work, and really not all that frantic, although we do intend to finish this update very soon. The mail Gary sent last week has the details.
The fine work done by the GNOME release team makes this relatively easy, so many thanks to them.
So far, it's proving to be rather light work, and really not all that frantic, although we do intend to finish this update very soon. The mail Gary sent last week has the details.
The fine work done by the GNOME release team makes this relatively easy, so many thanks to them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)