Month: November 2002 blog archive
rasmus - 27 Nov 2002

In this interview with Rasmus Lerdorf, creator of PHP, the interviewer asks why people should use PHP over ASP. Rasmus responds, “The [ASP] software alone could cost you over $300,000 for that, compared to $0. In this economy, this is significant.” Even in a great economy, $300,000 is still significant.

Categories: Technology
watch band aid - 26 Nov 2002

While soaring through the air to grab the rim of a basketball hoop, my watch fell off. I picked it up and attempted to latch it but a pin had popped out. After crawling around on the floor for a few minutes, I found the pin. I fastened the band again but it was very […]

Categories: Technology
poor grammar ain’t funny - 23 Nov 2002

This site is the #1 search result for funny lists and as a result I get a continual stream of new submissions. I’ve noticed a few common mistakes that could easily be avoided if people understood the correct usage. Here are a few pitfalls to be aware of. They’re is the contraction of they are. […]

Categories: Language
memories - 21 Nov 2002

A Microsoft engineering effort called “MyLifeBits” is aiming to record every memory and experience in an individual’s lifetime. The rationale is that people have difficulty remembering details of their memories and posterity could learn more about their ancestors. That’s a cool idea, but…everything?

Categories: Technology
can it be true? - 20 Nov 2002

The Museum of Hoaxes has put together two tests (one and two) of hard-to-believe photographs that you may have seen circulating. There’s a chance that the museum is pulling our leg, but the answers seem credible to me. I guessed 7 correctly on the first one and 6 on the second.

Categories: Entertaining
meteor drip - 19 Nov 2002

I arose at 2:45am to witness what was hailed as the “Last Great Meteor Show for Decades”. We began stargazing at about 3:45am but the meteors were few and far between. It wasn’t a failure, as we managed to see several meteors and Jason was lucky enough to see one with a long tail as […]

Categories: Journal
world domination - 15 Nov 2002

Just what the doctor ordered for the super villian in need. A place to buy their supplies.

Categories: Entertaining
storm in the sky - 13 Nov 2002

I don’t know much about the Leonid Meteor shower but if it’s anything like the one I saw a few months ago it’s worth the effort to see it. If you start looking skyward from the night of November 18th until the early morning of the 19th you may just get to make a few […]

Categories: News
peter and the wolf - 13 Nov 2002

When I was a child I used to love listening to Peter and the Wolf (on a vinyl record) while following along in the book. I was listening to a CD of the music at work and discovered that I’m not the only one who enjoyed listening to it as a kid. The only difference […]

Categories: My Thoughts
altavista has new look - 11 Nov 2002

I rarely use Altavista to search the web but I often use babelfish to translate, so it’s of some interest to me that they have added some new features. The list is not very impressive and as far as I can tell they didn’t do anything to improve babelfish, so their efforts were nugatory. The […]

Categories: Search engines
invincible - 10 Nov 2002

Robert X. Cringely shares his thoughts about Microsoft and Wal-Mart’s dominant positions in their respective markets. He claims they can lose, but can’t be beaten.

Categories: Technology
all that jazz - 09 Nov 2002

I went to my first NBA game, held at the Delta Center where the Jazz beat the Hawkes 110-97. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t much different from college games that I’ve seen. In fact, the magic show during halftime was the most entertaining event of the night. In spite of […]

Categories: Journal
glad to be bumped - 07 Nov 2002

Last December I was in the Logan airport waiting to board a plane to Salt Lake City. The desk attendants announced that the flight was overbooked and the asked for volunteers to be bumped to the next flight. I leapt to my feet, raced to the desk and apprised them of my willingness to be […]

Categories: Travel
fight for pooh - 06 Nov 2002

I was home for lunch a few days ago, turned on the TV and began watching Winnie the Pooh. Their antics made me laugh out loud and I was genuinely entertained even though I’m not the intended demographic. Maybe if the granddaughter watched the show more she would learn that greed and selfishness are wrong. […]

Categories: News
opera 6.10 released - 06 Nov 2002

Opera 6.10 for Linux is out.

Categories: Web browsers
save water - 04 Nov 2002

Australia is parched thanks to one of the worst droughts in a century. In order to conserve water, Victoria’s Environment Minister Sherryl Garbutt recommended that people ‘find a sympathetic friend’ and shower together. I just don’t see that happening. Even if it did, water conservation would not be a very likely outcome.

Categories: News
paper in flight - 03 Nov 2002

The paper airplane simulator is fairly realistic and very entertaining. Below are my records (after about 100 tries). Distance: 99.82 feet (I can’t manage to break 100) Max altitude: 66.17 feet Revolutions: 2.36 times Time aloft: 9.4 seconds

Categories: Entertaining