PROLOGUE
I wasn't planning on doing a running dialog. I was working on something else and using my slingbox to watch the awards. Then I felt obligated to make some comments about the Catherine Heigl appeareance, and didn't stop. I backfilled comments on what happened before that.
The keen observer may detect that I'm not a big fan of the oscars. I love movies. I like to watch them, comment on them, discuss them (at a shallow level) and add them to my DVD collection. I even have a site for that purpose. But, at the same time, I'm not real big on people celebrating themselves. A lot of it is really pretentious and meaningless. As you'll see later, I lost a lot of respect for Cate Blanchette in a span of about 2 minutes. Additionally, we have to listen to the opinions of people (often political), when I'm not interested in their opinions. You're an actor. Act. If you want be political, be a politician. Or, at least respect that the oscar show is an entertainment soap box, not a political one, and choose the proper venue to exercise your american right to speak your mind. (Incidentally, there wasn't too much of that this year).
I make fun of a lot of things. I found the soldiers in Iraq bit particularly annoying. Its a matter of perspective. Maybe that was the highlight of their tour, in which case, good for them. If they got enjoyment out of it, they deserved it. No foul. But, the way I see it is: "Hey, we're over here getting shot at and bombed every day. Do you think maybe you can melt down that statue into a flat plate so I can wear it under my shirt? That'd be awesome. If not, have fun clapping each other on the back and celebrating how awesome you all are." Of course, the converse of that is that they're fighting so that we can carry on with our daily lives in a normal fashion. The normal fashion includes the Oscars, but if something now seems so much less important, shouldn't it be treated as such?
I understand that this is huge for the people winning the awards, and I'm happy for them. But, you don't need to wear an 8 thousand dollar gown to a show that's trying to convince us to go green. How green is a convention center filled with thousands of people that have spent the last year creating massive movies? What's the electric bill for tonight alone nevermind all of the work and energy that lead up to it over the course of the hundreds of movies that made the event possible?
When I'm done with this blog, I'll probably go watch some TV or play some XBOX 360. Or maybe I'll surf the web and read the latest on AintItCoolNews. I'll mentally record some material for banter with the guys at work tomorrow. But, I'll always remember that its trivial, and I won't pretend its anything more than that. I certainly won't get on stage and high-five myself for winning a race in Burnout Paradise, nor will I thank God or my family for my computer skills.
Lastly: This is a rant. I typed it as it happened via our DVR. I'm going to give it one cleanup pass to fix whatever typos I happen to notice, but I'm not going to fundamentally change a single thing. It'll be a mess. Roll with it. I made one huge mistake that I'm really tempted to correct, but I won't.
Now, on to the 80th Annual academy awards.
Opening special effects... that was neat.
Opening monologue.. i'm a huge Jon Stewaret fan, but not funny.
Jennifer Garner - I'm not going to enjoy this show at all. I like Jennifer Garner, too, but everything about this is so pretentious. This will probably drive me mad.
Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway... .mildly amusing.
Catherine Hiegel - So you're nervous... so what? There's no need to share that with us. ACT like you're not nervous. The music starts up during the acceptance speech again.. what was the award again?
John Stewart introduces the first musical. He's singing enchanted himself... not funny. Now Amy Adams is in character. I'm really annoyed already, and she's only sung about 8 words. I'm impressed that the actress can sing her own part, though. It doesn't make it any less tolerable, just a little more respectful. Gina just fast forwarded through the rest of it. Thank god.
Flashback to Cateherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas... who cares.
Back from the commercial. A few more jokes. Not funny still. Here comes The Rock to introduce the special effects award. He's reflecting on his Raiders of the Lost Ark experience... tolerable.
Nominees: Golden Compass, Pirates of the Carribean at Worlds End, Transformers.
My vote: Transformers (didn't see golden compass though)
Crap. Golden Compass won.
Gina fast forwarded through the acceptance speech.
Cate Blanchett, double nominee is there to present Art Direction.
Shot of Harrison Ford and Ally McBeal. Its good to see those kids gettig along.
American Gangster, Atonement, Golden Compass, Sweeney Todd, There will be Blood
I haven't seen any of these movies. I would like to see American Gangster and There Will Be Blood.
I have no opinion on this award.
Uhhhh... was too busy typing. Who won? Fastforward through the acceptance speech. Flash of Johnny Depp... probably Sweeney Todd, then.
Jon Steward kissing up to Cate Blanchette... waiting for the bad joke. There it is... Cate was a pitbull. Double-whammy.... now she's playing Jon Stewart.
Flashbacks to previous presenters. Interesting. Yay. Cuba Gooding Jr won in 1997... way to keep your compsure. Everyone claps politely (in flashback), then standing O, trying to get him to shut up.
Enter jennifer Hudson. Not what I was expecting because Jennifer Hudson is not Kate Hudson, and I was expecting Kate Hudson. Not that there's anything wrong with Jennifer.... its just that Kate came to mind.
Nominees: Casey Affleck in Jesse James, some complicated name in No Country for Old Men, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson's War. (I never got to that either). Hal Holbrook in into the Wild. I only saw NO COUNTRY, so no preference here. Hey, the kid in INTO THE WILD is the kid from Speed Racer, right? Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton. He's always good. I'll change my vote to him just because he usually deserves it. The guy with the complicated name won for NO COUNTRY. Javier? Gina's not fast forwarding through this. Can we infer anything from that? Either she's out cold or is interested in this guy. He's speaking fast in spanish. Previously he made a hair cut joke which, while I didn't laugh, I at least considered laughing.
Fast forward through commercials.
Better luck this time Jon. Lets see what happens. He just proclaimed that Javier had a moment, and now he's translating the spanish. "I believe he told his mother where the library is". Impomptu? yes. Funny? Sorry. Now for a salute to binoculars and periscopes. This is.... educational? Useful? I don't know. Seems pointless. There's a writers joke in there somewhere, but I find it pointless. BAD DREAMS : AN OSCAR SALUTE. Everyone's waking up. Fantastic. Are the writers REALLY back to work? If so, what are they doing?
The star of August Rush, Kerri Russel. Oh oh, another nominated song. Is she going to sing too, or is Amy Adams the exception? Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah... talk more talk more talk more talk, now a performance of RAISE IT UP. Now would be a good time to fast forward. If I have to sit through the entire song, I can't be held responsible for my actions. Ok, there we go. Fast forwarded... stopped a little early, more fast forwarding.
Jon applauds. Wait for it... complimenting an 11 year old singer.
Now for academy awared nominee... Owen Wilson??? What was he nominated for? Playing the same character in the most consecutive movies? He's presenting live action short film.... he playing it straight. Maybe he's nervous about not having Vince Vaughn or Will Ferrell around. They introduced all of the short movies, but I wasn't paying attention. LE MOZARD DES PICK POCKETS won. Fast forward through the speech.
Oh boy. The bee from THE BEE MOVIE is presenting. It sounds a lot like Jerry Seinfeld. Unfunny clips of movies that have bees. Waiting for tommy boy..... There's rushmore. The Swarm. No Tommy Boy. I guess there weren't actually bees in there, just an emulation of them. Presenting short film (not live action). A few foreign movies that I can't keep up with, but the aimation is interesting in all of them. Peter and the Wolf looks like its form the 1950s.... hey, it won? Must've been a good movie despite barbaric animation. (I only saw a quick clip, but it looked like old school stop motion). Fastforward through the speech.
More flashbacks of previous presenters. We might've just skipped an award, but I'm not sure.
More clips for best supporting actress. Hey, there's jennifer hudson again. Looks like she won something somewhere along the way. Alan Arkin presents. Wasn't he in Jerky Boys? What happened there... "Golden age is still alive...". Here's one of Cate Blanchett's first nomination. She's playing Bob Dylan. Isn't Bob a guy? I'll check IMDB. Ruby Dee in American Gangster. Never heard of her and I didn't see the movie. Good luck. She's staring gape mouthed at her own performance. A girl from atonement.... didn't see it either, but she looks like she's good at repeating the same line over an over. Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone. I did see that. She played boston white trailer trash very well. "Its really Haa(r)d being a motha". Woman from Michael Clayton... missed the name. Do people still wear pearl necklaces, or is she eccentric? She looks familiar... was she the queen in NARNIA. She was excellent in that (if it was her). Her name is Tilda Swinshon and she just won. Assuming she was in Narnia, I concur. Awkard and stuttering at the microphone... comparing the statue to her agent. Sure, say "buttocks". Its ok. We won't judge you. Music should start any second now... i have the feeling she'll keep going anyway. Thanking 45 people at a leisurely pace. Batman and Robin joke. I like her.... saying George Clooney still dresses up as batman every day. She beat the music. That was a pleasant win.
More clips from previous awards. Jessica Alba is coming up after the commercials. Fast forward. Oh yes. Fast forward. Keep going. I don't want an acura. I'm not painting my house. Ok, here's Jessica Alba. God what died on her chest? Some purple monstrosity... it may be eating her alive. Jessica had the honor of presenting the SCIENTIFICAL TECHNICAL awards. She's blasting through the winners. Lets make sure they feel good about themselves even though the academy couldn't skip some bad jokes and make room for them in the prime time show. Oh, Jessica's pregnant. I forgot about that. Jon was kind enough to remind me. Cate is pregnant too. Coincidence? Probably.
Josh Brolin and James McAvoy(?) are presenting now. Apparently they've been practicing. They're doing famous lines. Now he's apoogizing to Jack Nicholson for a bad impression. That was good... not forced, not pretentious. The nominees for something are ATONEMENT, AWAY FROM HER, DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY, and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, THERE WILL BE BLOOD. Looks like its a music award. No preference here. NO COUNTRY won. While they do their thing: Sarah Polley directed one of the nominated movies. Good for her. Isn't she in her mid to late 20s, thereabouts? Excellent work. Acceptance speech... not fast forwarding. Gina must be snoring. These guys are awkward, but handled it well.
Now for the president of the academy of.... something something and something. What's this all about? Tip: Never start a story with "A lot of people ask me...". This guy seems down to earth, which I always like to see. He's calm and collected, comfortable at his task. Now we're getting a tutorial of how the academy works. This is cool. I've always been curious. I'm not sure if a 2 minute clip will satiate my thrist for knowledge, but we'll see. Now they're making jokes about how they choose their winners. Now clips to previous jokes about academy voting. PWC does the ballot counting. The president just got a door slammed on his face.
Back to Mr. Stewart. "That was amazing". Well said, sir. Well said. Political joke about super delegates. Welcome Mylie Syrus? Who's she? Oh boy, another song from enchanted. Maybe this is a disney girl. She's well composed though a little rehearsed... never stopped to take a breath. Ok there's singing now. Why aren't we fast forwarding? I should call my mother-in-law to see if she can stop by and see if Gina's ok. I couldn't possibly stop blogging long enough to go check for myself. If a commercial comes on and she doesn't fast forward, I'll probably have to call 911. I think this song is an Al Quaeda torture technique. Ok, good, we're fast forwarding. Not far enough, but I appreciate the effort. Will this ever end?
Commercials. Fast forward. The superman chic is in a Loreal commercial. I just read she's going to be in the wolverine movie, i think? was that it?
Jon Stewart. Jessica Alba is pregnant. Cate Blanchett is pregnant, and so is Nicole Kidman. "The baby goes to.... Angelina Jolie". Ok, that was funny. "Its tough to get 17 babysitters on oscar night".
Judy Dench and Halle Berry. I REALLY hope the make some James Bond jokes. Hey, that's not them. Its the SUPER BAD guys running their lines. This might be funny.... Ok, its funnyish. They're arguing about who should play Halle Berry. Best sound editting: Bourne Ultimatum... i saw that! No Country... I saw that too! Ratatoille... there goes my win streak. Didn't see it. There will be blood. Didn't see it. Transofmers.... Once again, I vote for Transfomers. Once again, it didn't win. Bourne Ultimatum is a good alternative though.
Tranformers should win technical type awards. Its nearly flawless. I really like Bourne Ultimatum too, but the sound isn't a real memorable part of it. Acceptance speech. "Golly, I drew a blank". "Gee wiz, me too. Boy, we're awkward. Hey, we were lying about drawing a blank, but blew it." Here comes the music. Get off the stage. Go. Get off the stage. Here's non-halle and non-judy dench again. More variations of the same joke. Now for sound mixing: Bourne Ultimatum again, No Country, Ratatouille, 3:10 to Yuma, Transfomers. I'll vote for transformers, but will expect BOURNE to win again. The winner is.... Bourne. 3 people making their way to the stage. I can't wait. The bourne trilogy is excellent.... I give all 3 of them highest ratings. One guy wants to kiss non-halle berry. The guy on the right can't stand still. Fast forwarding....
Best actress flashbacks, some emotional memories. The real halle berry... shut up! Its a statue. Your an actress. Save the world, then cry. Until then, pretend you're a professional.
Forest Wittaker presents. Good Morning Vietnam was a good movie. I haven't seen VANTAGE POINT yet. He's talking about Marlon Brando. Finally, the best actress nominees. Cate Blanchette in Elizabeth. She should win everything she gets nominated for. Now she's grimacing at her performance. Judy Christi in Away from Her.... never heard of it. She doesn't grimace at herself. The next one is a foreign name in a foreign film. I'd love to type it in, but I only know american words. She smiles at her own performance. Well done. Laura Linney in the Savaages. I didn't hear of this either. She mentioned B26. I don't know what B26 is, but District B13 is a blast. Ellen Paige in Juno. I really want to see Juno.... looks and sounds like a cool movie. The actress seems very good from what I've seen. The foreign lady got it. Cate Blanchette just burst into an excited onslaugh of applause. I've lost a lot of respect for her in the last 2 minutes... really fraudulent. Polite appluse would've been sufficient. If you don't want to win, stop showing up. Acceptance speech... "you rocked my life..." fast forward.
Oh, they're playing the WII. Jon and... Jemiah? Who's she? Ooops, the cameras are on... feign shock. That was funny... WII on a 40 foot screen is good stuff.
Colin Farrell is presenting something. Loved his work in scrubs. He's making floor cleaning recommendations to the maintenance staff. Now he's introducing.... oh no, here we go again... another song. "Falling Slowly" from the movie Once. I'm watching this via a slingbox, so I can choose to go fastforward myself, but that might break my rhythm. Should I risk it, or is Gina going to get on the ball and fast forward? I guess she likes this song, so I'll use this time to talk about my cold. Its fresh on my mind because I just finished coughing. I've had it since wednesday of last week (i think). At first it was a sore throat, which sucked. I thought it would pass after that. Since then, I've been slightly congested and blowing my nose a lot. But, honestly, I don't mind too much. I'd prefer to not have it, but its better than a sore throat. I can deal with blowing my nose. Ok... a little fast forwarding. Not much. Back to the program.
Jack Nicholson is presenting. I think that's an automatic standing ovation. Jack loves the movies. They entertain, they offer hope, they give us dramas, they take us to places we've never been. He seems bored. They inspire us, challenge us, and despite our differences they are the common something with humanity.... yadda yadda... I kept up pretty good for a while there. The best picture nominees... Flashbacks to previous awards. The first several are black and white. My monitor is broken in the lower right corner (see previous post) so I can't see the years, but I think they're showing every year. I could reduce the size of the window, but then how would I type? Hey, we're into the color movies now. Oh wait, more black and white. How'd that happen? Color again. THE BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER KWAI... that was good. BEN HUR... we once watched the 2nd 1/2 not realizing we missed the first 1/2. Awkard. Oliver... I think I remember that. Patton. French Connection. Godfather. Sting. Godfather Part 2. Cuckoos Nest... that was great. Rocky. Annie Hall. Deer Hunter. Kramer Vs. Kramer. Ordinary People. Chariots of Fire. Ghandi. Terms of Endearment. Amadeus. Out of Africa. Platoon. The Last Emperor. Rain Man. Driving Miss Daisy. Dances with Wolves. Silence of the Lambs. Unforgiven. Schindlers List. Forrest Gump. Brave Heart. English Patient. Titanic. Shakespeare in Love. Americal Beauty. Gladiator. Beautiful Mind. Chicago. LOTR:ROTK. million dollar baby, crash, departed..... now..... ummmm..... Rene Zellwegger. The nominees: Bourne... really? I liked it, but doesn't seem like best picture caliber. DIVING BELL. Heard of it. Into the Wild. No Country. There will be blood. Hopefully Bourne. Wow!!!!! It won?!!?!?! That's amazing. I never would've thought that as a best picture. It doesn't seem academyish. I gave it a 5 and loved it. Fast forward.
Is this the end of the show? I thought that was usually the last award. Jon's bonding with the orchestra.
I guess its not over. Nicole Kidman, start of a new untilted film, is presenting. Is she really pregnant? I watched TO DIE FOR a couple weeks ago. Good movie. Ok, enough with the chit chat. Lets get on with it. Its an award for Robert Boyle, an art guy for 7 decades over 100 films. He's 98 now. My office just got hot.... or maybe its been hot all along, but I was so engrossed with blogging that I didn't notice it. I definitely have to turn the fan on. Pardon me. Ok, I'm back. They're still showing the clips from Robert's body of work. This award seems unfair. He's the only nominee... how's can he possibly lose? This is a gimme if I ever saw one. Oh, I see. Its an honorary oscar. I'd like one of those. Obligatory standing ovation... he's 98. Sure, flaunt how easy it is for you stand. Make it uncomfortable for him. Now he feels like he has to stand too. He's hardly hanging on... lets wrap up the clapping so he can do his thing. He's still sharp as a tack (assuming he has always been.) Well spoken, thanking people, reflection, etc. Oops... a little stammering. Hang in there Robert. He's talking about people I never heard of, which is understandable. Talking about a guy named Hitch, and his wife (was there something going on between those 2?). They're showing a balcony of people who are presumably his family. He has this whole speech memorized... unless there's a teleprompter that I don't see, but he's looking around, so I don't think so. There's Harrison and Ally again. How does that happen? Is that Viggo? Seriously, the next time you have a big fight scene, wear some clothes. Then we can watch it. Eastern Promises was more disturbing than Borat. Speech is over... I feel another standing O coming on. Well, we can't see it. They're going to a commercial. Fast forward.
Jon Stewart. Bring it. Laughing at himself. Technical glitch; restart the show. Not funny. Here's Penelope Cruz with some linguistic jokes. She speaks four languages. Maybe she should perfect one. Well, maybe not. The accent is part of her presence I suppose. She's introducing foreign movies... is this a foreign movie award? I think they're all war based, so obviously nothing from France. Oh, a dancing movie from russia. The COUNTERFEITERS won. I think I heard an article about that on NPR. A bunch of people were "recruited" by the Nazis to make foreign currency. It was an interesting story. I'll have to rent it.
Patrick Dempsey from enchanted to introduce another song, also from Enchanted. That's 3 from Enchanted and one from something else. I don't need to hear this. Cut to commerical, please. I'd prefer one of the PC/MAC commercials over this, which is desperate. Ok, fast forward. Nice. Polite applause.
John Travolta is going to present... what... best song finally, or are they going to drag it out more? He's dancing. Swell. Really flex your acting muscle there. Its one of his favorite categories. Good to know. That will really help me make important future decisions. Recap of the painful nominees. Oh, there was another non-enchanted. AUGUST RUSH. My bad. Hopefully one of the non-enchanted wins. I don't care which. ONCE won. That's good. Now I don't have to do one of these things: #&$(*@ to mask my true feelings. I did it anyway, but the difference is that I chose to do it. I didn't have to do it. Its all about choice, people. Get out there and vote. Go Obama. If a repulican has to win, I'm voting for McCain. He seems honorable.
Jon Stewart just called the previous guy arrogant. That's my type of humor. Someone illegally parked a boeing. Jon Travolta came back on stage to collect his keys so he can move it. Eh. It was ok.
Fast forward through Mr. Spieldberg and commercials. Bringing out someone to say thanks... she didn't get an opportunity to do it earlier. That's nice. Its her first win, and she didn't get to speak, so rectify the situation. I approve. Of course, if this is what she said the first time through, we'd probably fast forward, but the preamble made it interesting.
Cameron Diaz.... I remember her. She managed three words before bumbling. Her air head is unusually anchored, or am I just stereotyping her from charlies angels? She's presenting cinematography. Is this show ever going to end? Jesse James, Atonement, Diving Bell, No Country, There Will Be Blood. I'll vote for no country. The cinematography is what made it good. It was an intersting movie, but really not about anything. All the good guys die and the bad guy lives. Whoopty Doo. There Will Be Blood won. Previously nominated for Good Night and Good Luck. I haven't seen that yet either.
Here's Hilary Swank to present something. Million Dollar Baby is worthy. The Next Karate Kid is not. Oh, the dead-person list. Lets see if Heath gets a standing O even though he essentially killed himself. So far, I don't know anyone... polite applause. You'd think I'd recognize someone by now, but I don't. The kid from HOOK is dead???? That's sad. How'd that happen? Its been a bad year for young actors. Karate Kid cinematographer. God Father editor. GLORY cinematographer (I think that was glory, anyway). Heath Ledger. The last one. What about Brad Renfro? Did I miss it?
Update: The kid from Hook, RUFIO, is not dead according to IMDB. It must've been covering someone else involved with Hook, but I only saw the image of Rufio. My bad. Sorry if I scared you.
Amy Adams presenting. At least she's not singing. She's presenting musical scores. Atonement, Kite Runner, missed one, Ratataouille, 3:10 to Yuma. The non-loser: Atonement. Fast forward. Fast Forward.
Jon Stewart. Tom Hanks is presenting. Jon Stewart is giving him a hard time. Kudos. Goody... politics. Satellite feed from Baghdad. Swell. I was too busy typing and deleting stuff to notice what the award is for. At first I thought the Iraq thing was a useless stunt, but at least they're introducing nominees. The academy awards and people in Iraq are the exact opposite. If you're in Iraq, how meaningless is the academy awards? Sure, that's what they're defending, but if you get shot at for a living do you want to participate in the presentation of a statue for acting? The award is for documentaries. Gina's going a little nuts with the fast forward. I think we missed some stuff.
Commerical.
We're back. The next presenter is Harrison Ford, so make a car joke. Clever. Indiana Jones Music. I'm giddy. "Movies are made of ideas, and picture, and words." I'm pretty sure he's in a coma. Ally should go get him. This is the best screenplay. Juno, Lars and the Real Girl (that looks disturbing), Michael Clayton, Ratatouille, Savages (that was nominated for something else too). The oscar goes to : Diablo Cody for Juno. Excellent. Oh, this is going to be ugly. She's already in tears. Poor choice of tattoos. I say that primarily because we can see it. "This is for the writers". Please. She's keeping it together ok. Dropping some names. Quick cut to the actress applauding. Now to the director looking like he's really concentrating on the speech. Thanking the family, losing it, running off stage.
Best actor, director, and picture is coming up. Clearly I messed something up earlier because I thought they already did best picture and bourne won. What award was that then? Thankfully this is just a rant and not a historical document, because I'm messing up everything.
Oh oh. We lost the end of it. The DVR stopped promptly at 11:30. Oh, gina found the rest of it in real time. We're ok. Don't panic.
Daniel Day Lewis won best actor. I didn't see it, but he's always good. Gangs of New York was excellent.
I'm still bothered about the best movie mishap. What was that other award for? God! Maybe I have a minute to jump over to IMDB... hold please. It won sound editting. Maybe that was it. How in the name of all that is holy did I get that mixed up? Apparently I shouldn't multi-task. That supports my theory that Bourne, while a great movie, doesn't seem nominee'ish. Stay tuned. If it wins again, I'll delete this paragraph with extreme prejudice.
Oh, hey, maybe they showed all of the best pictures, then jumped back to the other award and I missed the transition. That could be it. (I don't care enough to watch it again.)
Flashback to previous winners of best director. Martin Scorcese, last year's winner, is presenting. No Country For Old Men won. The coen brothers are back. I missed most of their first appearance, but seems funny.
Denzel is presenting now. Where's Billy Crystal through all this?
Best picture nomieens: Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood. Bourne isn't in there. NO COUNTRY won. I disagree. I saw it, and thought it was a good looking movie, but nothing spectacular. The plot left me unfulfilled.
I think we're just about done. Jon Stewart is thaking us. Good night.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Monitor problem
Yesterday I brought home 2 wide screen monitors from work. Imagine my excitement.
I plugged them in and fired them up, and quickly saw that the right one was damaged as shown in the picture below. During our morning meeting, Chris asked how the monitor was. I responded to the affect of "it looks like it got hit by a baseball". Naturally, Chris assumed that I was playing baseball in the house, so I had to explain that "looks like it got hit" and "got hit" are two entirely different things. I don't think I convinced him.
In order to clarify the extent of the damage, I photographed the damage and sent the email that follows the image.
For the purposes of demonstration, I have attached a photo of the monitor problem discussed during our morning congregation. Though it is not clear in from the mere photo, a spider web of cracks starts at the center of the black hole and extends outwards, its fingers entwining themselves with the fabric of the screen. One may observe a parallel between that and the effect of professional baseball on our every day lives. The closer you are to baseball ,the more it affects your life as symbolized by the greater density of cracks. For those that are less involved, the cracks are fewer, but ever present. It is for that reason that I have elected to title this piece "The Baseball Effect".
The point has been raised that while I refer to the black hole as a "baseball", the screen was not actually hit by a baseball. I concede the point with the caveat that in art you must be able to think in the abstract. When Vincent Van Gogh drew the Mona Lisa, did he actually know a person name Lisa, or is she an imaginary figure that represents the best of what he saw in people as a whole? When Michael Jackson created the thriller video, was he trying to express to us that we really need to be careful about dancing zombies, or was he using that as visual conduit to some deeper meaning? These questions may not be answered, but still must be asked. Was my monitor hit by a baseball? The scientist in me says no, but the artist and philosopher think "perhaps".
I plugged them in and fired them up, and quickly saw that the right one was damaged as shown in the picture below. During our morning meeting, Chris asked how the monitor was. I responded to the affect of "it looks like it got hit by a baseball". Naturally, Chris assumed that I was playing baseball in the house, so I had to explain that "looks like it got hit" and "got hit" are two entirely different things. I don't think I convinced him.
In order to clarify the extent of the damage, I photographed the damage and sent the email that follows the image.
Email: 2/21/2008, 10:07am
For the purposes of demonstration, I have attached a photo of the monitor problem discussed during our morning congregation. Though it is not clear in from the mere photo, a spider web of cracks starts at the center of the black hole and extends outwards, its fingers entwining themselves with the fabric of the screen. One may observe a parallel between that and the effect of professional baseball on our every day lives. The closer you are to baseball ,the more it affects your life as symbolized by the greater density of cracks. For those that are less involved, the cracks are fewer, but ever present. It is for that reason that I have elected to title this piece "The Baseball Effect".
The point has been raised that while I refer to the black hole as a "baseball", the screen was not actually hit by a baseball. I concede the point with the caveat that in art you must be able to think in the abstract. When Vincent Van Gogh drew the Mona Lisa, did he actually know a person name Lisa, or is she an imaginary figure that represents the best of what he saw in people as a whole? When Michael Jackson created the thriller video, was he trying to express to us that we really need to be careful about dancing zombies, or was he using that as visual conduit to some deeper meaning? These questions may not be answered, but still must be asked. Was my monitor hit by a baseball? The scientist in me says no, but the artist and philosopher think "perhaps".
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
HD-DVD Really Dead - The Regret
It comes as no surprise that HDDVD is officially dead. Toshiba sent out the announcement this morning.
I'm actually ok with it. I would've preferred that HDDVD won, but I only chose HDDVD because I hate Sony.
I've been looking at Blu-Ray players, sporadically, for the last couple weeks. Yesterday, we went to Circuit City to see if there were any specials. (Their selection was abysmal, and we walked out a few seconds later). Then we went to Best Buy for the same reason, then BJs. That, combined with my online research and conversations with some unbiased folks, has led me to an unfortunate conclusion.
It looks like I have to buy a PS3. I haven't bought a SONY product since 1992. Whenever I've needed anything, it was easy to find a non-Sony choice. There have always been plenty of choices for VCRs, DVDs, TVs, Gaming Consoles, etc. There was never a good reason to violate the ban and buy Sony, nor did I ever want to.
But this is different. It seems that PS3 is the only logical choice for a BLU-RAY player. Not only is it BLU-RAY, but it is also a gaming console. I'm not willing to to spend 1 or 2 hundred dollars more for a lesser competing product.
I'm dissapointed about it because it violates a 16 year embargo, but that's the only reason I'm dissapointed. I don't feel like I'm selling out or giving up. Its just that in this unique case, its the smart thing to do. Unless Sony issues me an apology or a refund for the VCR that started this whole mess, then I will continue to avoid Sony products.
My wife bought a PSP a few months ago. Its obvious that she has absolutely no respect for the sanctity of marriage. The DS is a perfectly suitable alternative, yet she chose the PSP. She's an american and can make her own choices, but you can imagine not only the dissapointment, but the hurt, that this inflicted on our relationship. The PS3 is different because there is not a reasonable alternative.
So, its nearly certain that I will purchase a PS3 in the not so distant future. Its just a matter of determining the appropriate version, and finding one. Then the ugly deed will be done.
I'm actually ok with it. I would've preferred that HDDVD won, but I only chose HDDVD because I hate Sony.
I've been looking at Blu-Ray players, sporadically, for the last couple weeks. Yesterday, we went to Circuit City to see if there were any specials. (Their selection was abysmal, and we walked out a few seconds later). Then we went to Best Buy for the same reason, then BJs. That, combined with my online research and conversations with some unbiased folks, has led me to an unfortunate conclusion.
It looks like I have to buy a PS3. I haven't bought a SONY product since 1992. Whenever I've needed anything, it was easy to find a non-Sony choice. There have always been plenty of choices for VCRs, DVDs, TVs, Gaming Consoles, etc. There was never a good reason to violate the ban and buy Sony, nor did I ever want to.
But this is different. It seems that PS3 is the only logical choice for a BLU-RAY player. Not only is it BLU-RAY, but it is also a gaming console. I'm not willing to to spend 1 or 2 hundred dollars more for a lesser competing product.
I'm dissapointed about it because it violates a 16 year embargo, but that's the only reason I'm dissapointed. I don't feel like I'm selling out or giving up. Its just that in this unique case, its the smart thing to do. Unless Sony issues me an apology or a refund for the VCR that started this whole mess, then I will continue to avoid Sony products.
My wife bought a PSP a few months ago. Its obvious that she has absolutely no respect for the sanctity of marriage. The DS is a perfectly suitable alternative, yet she chose the PSP. She's an american and can make her own choices, but you can imagine not only the dissapointment, but the hurt, that this inflicted on our relationship. The PS3 is different because there is not a reasonable alternative.
So, its nearly certain that I will purchase a PS3 in the not so distant future. Its just a matter of determining the appropriate version, and finding one. Then the ugly deed will be done.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Leia's inappopriate noises
We have a dog name Leia. Gina tries to deny that she was named after a character in a famous science fiction saga, but how many other Leia's have you heard of?
There's no delicate way to say this, so I'll get right to it. Leia has recently become a farter. I don't know if that's normal in the canine world or not, and normally I wouldn't be interested. Its well known that all animals fart; from the majestic armadillo all the way down to the carnivorous palm tree. Its just what animals do. God not only grants them the freedom to fart, but he expects them to. He encourages it. Its his way of saying "be free my child, be free.".
Actually, I just made most of that up as I often do. I am not privy to the opinions of the big g. I can only make logical assumptions based on personal observations and, to be honest, experience.
But that's really all out of scope of what I'm trying to express. The point of this is not how Leia farts, but how she reacts to it. She'll lie on the tile, comfortable while pondering complex issues of her day. "Should I drink water, then clean myself in public, or smell that dog's butt then bark at the wind? When are those stupid humans going to bed? I'd really like to pee in the hallway." Then, the silence is broken by a sound reminiscent of someone twisting a balloon in their hands. That's where normalcy ends. As soon as the fart induced squeak reaches the peak of its cresendo, she jumps up and panics. She tries to run, but her legs move too fast and she can't get traction. By the time she can get traction, she's not longer startled so she stops, then lies back down, perhaps to ponder the experience.
She does this everytime. Its as if she can't relate the loud noise bouncing off the walls with the odd vibrating sensation emerging from beneath her tail. She reflexively panics every time.
One one hand, I laugh, for I am human and humans are fundamentally flawed. On the other hand, I'm sympathetic. I want to protect her from the big-bad-fart. But how can I protect her from that of which I can't protect myself?
There's no delicate way to say this, so I'll get right to it. Leia has recently become a farter. I don't know if that's normal in the canine world or not, and normally I wouldn't be interested. Its well known that all animals fart; from the majestic armadillo all the way down to the carnivorous palm tree. Its just what animals do. God not only grants them the freedom to fart, but he expects them to. He encourages it. Its his way of saying "be free my child, be free.".
Actually, I just made most of that up as I often do. I am not privy to the opinions of the big g. I can only make logical assumptions based on personal observations and, to be honest, experience.
But that's really all out of scope of what I'm trying to express. The point of this is not how Leia farts, but how she reacts to it. She'll lie on the tile, comfortable while pondering complex issues of her day. "Should I drink water, then clean myself in public, or smell that dog's butt then bark at the wind? When are those stupid humans going to bed? I'd really like to pee in the hallway." Then, the silence is broken by a sound reminiscent of someone twisting a balloon in their hands. That's where normalcy ends. As soon as the fart induced squeak reaches the peak of its cresendo, she jumps up and panics. She tries to run, but her legs move too fast and she can't get traction. By the time she can get traction, she's not longer startled so she stops, then lies back down, perhaps to ponder the experience.
She does this everytime. Its as if she can't relate the loud noise bouncing off the walls with the odd vibrating sensation emerging from beneath her tail. She reflexively panics every time.
One one hand, I laugh, for I am human and humans are fundamentally flawed. On the other hand, I'm sympathetic. I want to protect her from the big-bad-fart. But how can I protect her from that of which I can't protect myself?
Friday, February 08, 2008
They lost?!?
It's been almost a week. Its time to come clean.
Contrary to my previous post, the Patriots actually did lose the superbowl. I tried to justify it by stating that they won by -3. However, that actually makes it worse, because the giants won by +3, which means they won by 6 points more than the patriots won by. I guess its better to admit that they lost by 3.
I can say with all sincerity that Giants won it, and I'm sort-of happy for them. If 6 guys can't take down your quarterback, and your receiver can catch with his helmet, then gosh darn it, you deserve to win. That really was the play of the game... If they managed to either sack him or prevent the reception, I think the outcome would be different. But, that's what its about. They managed to do it, and the Patriots couldn't stop it.
A few weeks ago I stated that the Giants are my second favorite team. Sure, I'm presently aggravated with them, but my position holds. They came out in week 17 and went for the KO. Last week, they pulled it off.
Before the game, I read a quote somewhere from one of the patriots in the offensive line. It was something like: "If we do poor, they call us old. If we do well, they call us experienced." Well, this week you're old. Last year they got the big guns for the receivers. This year, I bet they get some younger guys up front. They held it off all season, but in the superbowl, they might as well have stepped aside.
You win some, you lose some. Its a crappy way to end the season, but there you go. The wife and I were just out with a couple friends, and another guy commented on a Red Sox logo. Then he proclaimed "18 and O!". I like that approach. We don't have to say 18-1, we can say 18-0 because, its accurate. They were 18-0. It reminds me of Jimmy Fallon's t-shirt in Fever Pitch: "Boston Red Sox - 1918 World Champions!"
I love it when the patriots win, but don't care too much when they lose. Does that make me a bad fan? When they lost AFC Championship last year, I thought "That's what you get for throwing 5 interceptions". This loss isn't as easily identifiable. "That's what you get for getting out played". It was harder to take because of what was on the line, but its time to move on.
The thing that bothers me the most is that this loss defies math. I thought for sure they were using the fibonnacci sequence to guide their destiny: Win a superbowl, miss the superbowl. Win two superbowls, miss two superbowls. Win three superbowls.... that's as far as I got. Unfortunately, this should have been the first win of three, so math has proven to be unreliable.
Contrary to my previous post, the Patriots actually did lose the superbowl. I tried to justify it by stating that they won by -3. However, that actually makes it worse, because the giants won by +3, which means they won by 6 points more than the patriots won by. I guess its better to admit that they lost by 3.
I can say with all sincerity that Giants won it, and I'm sort-of happy for them. If 6 guys can't take down your quarterback, and your receiver can catch with his helmet, then gosh darn it, you deserve to win. That really was the play of the game... If they managed to either sack him or prevent the reception, I think the outcome would be different. But, that's what its about. They managed to do it, and the Patriots couldn't stop it.
A few weeks ago I stated that the Giants are my second favorite team. Sure, I'm presently aggravated with them, but my position holds. They came out in week 17 and went for the KO. Last week, they pulled it off.
Before the game, I read a quote somewhere from one of the patriots in the offensive line. It was something like: "If we do poor, they call us old. If we do well, they call us experienced." Well, this week you're old. Last year they got the big guns for the receivers. This year, I bet they get some younger guys up front. They held it off all season, but in the superbowl, they might as well have stepped aside.
You win some, you lose some. Its a crappy way to end the season, but there you go. The wife and I were just out with a couple friends, and another guy commented on a Red Sox logo. Then he proclaimed "18 and O!". I like that approach. We don't have to say 18-1, we can say 18-0 because, its accurate. They were 18-0. It reminds me of Jimmy Fallon's t-shirt in Fever Pitch: "Boston Red Sox - 1918 World Champions!"
I love it when the patriots win, but don't care too much when they lose. Does that make me a bad fan? When they lost AFC Championship last year, I thought "That's what you get for throwing 5 interceptions". This loss isn't as easily identifiable. "That's what you get for getting out played". It was harder to take because of what was on the line, but its time to move on.
The thing that bothers me the most is that this loss defies math. I thought for sure they were using the fibonnacci sequence to guide their destiny: Win a superbowl, miss the superbowl. Win two superbowls, miss two superbowls. Win three superbowls.... that's as far as I got. Unfortunately, this should have been the first win of three, so math has proven to be unreliable.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
The patriots win the superbowl to go 19 - 0!
Wow, what a game. That was a real nail biter... that was worse than the ravens game.
I thought it was over when the giants led by 3 with 1 second left, but somehow the patriots pulled it off. They always do. They just don't know how to lose.
The game was a lot closer than I expected. I thought they'd win by 10, not -1, but the important thing is that they won. A win is a win is a win. The points don't matter. They have once again re-cemented their position as this centuries new dynasty.
I wanted to provide you a link to Patriot Superbowl #42 Championship T-Shirts, etc, but they haven't come online just yet. I'll keep watch and let you know as soon as the vendors get on the ball. I'm sure they'll be available at the victory parade.
Congratulations to all.
I thought it was over when the giants led by 3 with 1 second left, but somehow the patriots pulled it off. They always do. They just don't know how to lose.
The game was a lot closer than I expected. I thought they'd win by 10, not -1, but the important thing is that they won. A win is a win is a win. The points don't matter. They have once again re-cemented their position as this centuries new dynasty.
I wanted to provide you a link to Patriot Superbowl #42 Championship T-Shirts, etc, but they haven't come online just yet. I'll keep watch and let you know as soon as the vendors get on the ball. I'm sure they'll be available at the victory parade.
Congratulations to all.
New Blog Alert
Greetings
I created a new blog at http://hamletcode.blogspot.com.
I'll post all technical content there instead of continuing to pollute this one with both tech and non-tech.
I created a new blog at http://hamletcode.blogspot.com.
I'll post all technical content there instead of continuing to pollute this one with both tech and non-tech.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Part 3 of the flood trilogy
Greetings
The flood wasn't important enough to warrant all of these posts, but I don't have anything better to talk about.
In conclusion, here is the last flood post. This is the email sent to friends and family.
Greetings I worked from home yesterday. I had a conference in West Palm Beach at 6:30. I left my house at 5:30 to make sure I could find the place, etc. I was gone for about 3 to 3.5 hours.
During that 3 hours, Boynton Beach (where we live) got between 10 and 12 inches of rain. I didn't know this. I was in a conference listening to a bunch of geeks talk about microsoft products. (Bless them all, every last one of them, including the microsoft products. All hail microsoft. But I digress.). When I got back to the community, I thought it was suspcious that the gate was open. I thought it was more suspicious that the streets and lawns of the main road had been replaced by a lake. And when I say "lake" I'm not being overdramatic in describing a puddle. We're really talking about a lake for as far as the eye could see (assuming you don't have bionics). I just sat there sort of dumbfounded for a few minutes. I called gina and asked her to look out front. Naturally, she was afraid of the rain and was hiding under the coffee table, but I persuaded her to grab her teddy bear and go to the door. She quickly confirmed my suspicion: the house was now on the paved shore of a newly introduced body of water. Huh.
(Side bar: I proposed that we call it lake of jay, but that was lame, so it was rightly rejected. Alternatives are still under consideration.)
I parked my car a few miles away at my brother-in-law's house and got a ride back to the gate. Then I trekked through the water back to the house. Fortunately, it was just water. I feared there maybe some distateful...shall we say, "material", which would've prompted me to stay at a hotel for the night. I walked on the high parts whereever possible. At its lowest, it was well over my ankle. At its worse (remember, of the high ground) it was up to my knee.
Anyway, it was unusual, so thought I'd share. I love rainstorms and, of course, I happened to be gone for the biggest rainstorm that has probably occurred since we've lived her. Bogus. And it was dark, so I couldn't get any good pictures. More bogus. Thankfully, the water only made it about 1/2 way up the driveway. Most of you have never seen our community so I can't really describe it 500 words or less. You're just going to have to trust me. It was odd.
By this evening, the waters had mostly receeded. Then it rained again, and things started to backup into big puddles, but nothing like what happened yesterday. Good times. The cleanup should be fun.
More info here: http://jayallard.blogspot.comThere are some links and a couple of posts about it. I don't really have much else to talk about, so I'm going to milk this for all its worth. Please mark your calendar for the first annual "flood rememberance" ceremony, tentatively scheduled for 1/22/2009.
The flood wasn't important enough to warrant all of these posts, but I don't have anything better to talk about.
In conclusion, here is the last flood post. This is the email sent to friends and family.
Greetings I worked from home yesterday. I had a conference in West Palm Beach at 6:30. I left my house at 5:30 to make sure I could find the place, etc. I was gone for about 3 to 3.5 hours.
During that 3 hours, Boynton Beach (where we live) got between 10 and 12 inches of rain. I didn't know this. I was in a conference listening to a bunch of geeks talk about microsoft products. (Bless them all, every last one of them, including the microsoft products. All hail microsoft. But I digress.). When I got back to the community, I thought it was suspcious that the gate was open. I thought it was more suspicious that the streets and lawns of the main road had been replaced by a lake. And when I say "lake" I'm not being overdramatic in describing a puddle. We're really talking about a lake for as far as the eye could see (assuming you don't have bionics). I just sat there sort of dumbfounded for a few minutes. I called gina and asked her to look out front. Naturally, she was afraid of the rain and was hiding under the coffee table, but I persuaded her to grab her teddy bear and go to the door. She quickly confirmed my suspicion: the house was now on the paved shore of a newly introduced body of water. Huh.
(Side bar: I proposed that we call it lake of jay, but that was lame, so it was rightly rejected. Alternatives are still under consideration.)
I parked my car a few miles away at my brother-in-law's house and got a ride back to the gate. Then I trekked through the water back to the house. Fortunately, it was just water. I feared there maybe some distateful...shall we say, "material", which would've prompted me to stay at a hotel for the night. I walked on the high parts whereever possible. At its lowest, it was well over my ankle. At its worse (remember, of the high ground) it was up to my knee.
Anyway, it was unusual, so thought I'd share. I love rainstorms and, of course, I happened to be gone for the biggest rainstorm that has probably occurred since we've lived her. Bogus. And it was dark, so I couldn't get any good pictures. More bogus. Thankfully, the water only made it about 1/2 way up the driveway. Most of you have never seen our community so I can't really describe it 500 words or less. You're just going to have to trust me. It was odd.
By this evening, the waters had mostly receeded. Then it rained again, and things started to backup into big puddles, but nothing like what happened yesterday. Good times. The cleanup should be fun.
More info here: http://jayallard.blogspot.comThere are some links and a couple of posts about it. I don't really have much else to talk about, so I'm going to milk this for all its worth. Please mark your calendar for the first annual "flood rememberance" ceremony, tentatively scheduled for 1/22/2009.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Waterfront Update
Late this afternoon, the waters had finally receeded enough so that I could see the street in all directions. Then it started raining again, and everything got backed up again, though not nearly as bad. Rather than a torrential flood, it was merely a big puddle.
The streets and lawns are a mess. All of the debris floated up then landed in what I assume to be random locations. Someone's going to need a broom.
We're not in a flood zone, so I don't have flood insurance. I should probably look into it. Maybe it will be cheap because its not a flood zone. The water was a good 10 feet from the garage door, but it was still alarming. What if I was napping in the driveway?
Last night, I was walking through it (before I dropped the car off) to see if it was low enough anywhere to reasonably drive through. Bill was hanging out in the driveway, so I called him over. He came prancing through the water like he didn't know it was there. This is a dog that hates the pool, but for some reason walking into a flood is ok. Silly dog. Anyway, it was fun watching him run around in it. He gave up quickly and headed back to the house via our neighbor's lawn.
Sun Sentinel Flood Watch report
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-boyntonfloods0122,0,561434.story
10 - 12 inches in 3 hours??!!
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpflooding0123pnjan23,0,840793.story
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/01/23/s1c_flooding_0123.html
http://www.wpbf.com/news/15118241/detail.html
There's probably 100 more, but you get the idea.
The streets and lawns are a mess. All of the debris floated up then landed in what I assume to be random locations. Someone's going to need a broom.
We're not in a flood zone, so I don't have flood insurance. I should probably look into it. Maybe it will be cheap because its not a flood zone. The water was a good 10 feet from the garage door, but it was still alarming. What if I was napping in the driveway?
Last night, I was walking through it (before I dropped the car off) to see if it was low enough anywhere to reasonably drive through. Bill was hanging out in the driveway, so I called him over. He came prancing through the water like he didn't know it was there. This is a dog that hates the pool, but for some reason walking into a flood is ok. Silly dog. Anyway, it was fun watching him run around in it. He gave up quickly and headed back to the house via our neighbor's lawn.
Sun Sentinel Flood Watch report
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-boyntonfloods0122,0,561434.story
10 - 12 inches in 3 hours??!!
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpflooding0123pnjan23,0,840793.story
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/01/23/s1c_flooding_0123.html
http://www.wpbf.com/news/15118241/detail.html
There's probably 100 more, but you get the idea.
DvdFriend - Create Account
I took a break from the "other" project so that I could add the "Create Account" functionality to DvdFriend. I've put it off for a long time because I really just had not desire to do it. Its a page with some fields and some validations. Its painfully boring at this point.
The validations are minimal. When you create an account, it should send you a verification email, but it doesn't. Additionaly, it should validate your email address. It doesn't. Why not? Because I'm still not in the mood.
Even though its a meager, at least its in there.
Chris requested a link for "MY REVIEWS" so that he can see what he's done. That would be a good feature.
I started a BROWSE page recently, but didn't have time to finish it before deploying this version.
The validations are minimal. When you create an account, it should send you a verification email, but it doesn't. Additionaly, it should validate your email address. It doesn't. Why not? Because I'm still not in the mood.
Even though its a meager, at least its in there.
Chris requested a link for "MY REVIEWS" so that he can see what he's done. That would be a good feature.
I started a BROWSE page recently, but didn't have time to finish it before deploying this version.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Unexpected Waterfront Property
I was supposed to go to the office on Wendesday, but that's not happening, so I had to inform the team. Email follows.
Greetings
So I went to a MVC overview in West Palm last night. I left my house at 5:30. The MVC stuff was interesting. I learned a lot, met some people, ate some pizza, and was feeling pretty good about the universe in general.
I was whistling pleasant Disney tunes as I approached my community. The birds were singing. Animated animals greeted me and smiled. It was darn-near utopia. What could go wrong, right? Nothing! It would take something truly awful to ruin this little slice of heaven. Then I passed the threshold of the community and learned that all of the pleasantness was merely a coverup to mask a tragedy that had befallen my abode and all those around it: Complete flooding (well, not really). I have reason to believe this scenario was orchestrated by god himself in response to an unfortunate code bug I wrote in 1986. I was new to programming. It was pascal. I thought he would forgive, but he didn't. Instead, he waited all these years and finally cast his fury upon me. At last, I have been smote.
Fortunately, the flooding only made it 1/2 way up the driveway, so neither my paper-mache howitzer collection, or my gremlins, are at risk. But, the roads are unpassable. I had to park at my brother-in-laws house, get a ride back, then swim home. I'm seriously considering giving myself a tetnus shot, but that would require more courage than I have readily available.
I have 3 regrets about this whole thing:
- I love a good rainstorm. Why did I have to be in West Palm for the doozy of all rain storms? Yet another facet of god's cruel joke. Had I not been in West Palm for MVC, my car would be safe in the driveway. (So maybe microsoft is to blame for inventing mvc?)
- Why does it have to be dark at 9pm? I'd love to get some pictures. Maybe it will still be there by the morning.
- they should have just called it Struts.net instead of MVC.net
So, I'm writing to report that due to transportation difficulties, I won't be in Wednesday as planned. Lets make it Thursday instead. Unless there's an earthquake in my driveway or a worse-than-usual firestorm in my bathroom, it should work out just fine.
Question? Comments?
Greetings
So I went to a MVC overview in West Palm last night. I left my house at 5:30. The MVC stuff was interesting. I learned a lot, met some people, ate some pizza, and was feeling pretty good about the universe in general.
I was whistling pleasant Disney tunes as I approached my community. The birds were singing. Animated animals greeted me and smiled. It was darn-near utopia. What could go wrong, right? Nothing! It would take something truly awful to ruin this little slice of heaven. Then I passed the threshold of the community and learned that all of the pleasantness was merely a coverup to mask a tragedy that had befallen my abode and all those around it: Complete flooding (well, not really). I have reason to believe this scenario was orchestrated by god himself in response to an unfortunate code bug I wrote in 1986. I was new to programming. It was pascal. I thought he would forgive, but he didn't. Instead, he waited all these years and finally cast his fury upon me. At last, I have been smote.
Fortunately, the flooding only made it 1/2 way up the driveway, so neither my paper-mache howitzer collection, or my gremlins, are at risk. But, the roads are unpassable. I had to park at my brother-in-laws house, get a ride back, then swim home. I'm seriously considering giving myself a tetnus shot, but that would require more courage than I have readily available.
I have 3 regrets about this whole thing:
- I love a good rainstorm. Why did I have to be in West Palm for the doozy of all rain storms? Yet another facet of god's cruel joke. Had I not been in West Palm for MVC, my car would be safe in the driveway. (So maybe microsoft is to blame for inventing mvc?)
- Why does it have to be dark at 9pm? I'd love to get some pictures. Maybe it will still be there by the morning.
- they should have just called it Struts.net instead of MVC.net
So, I'm writing to report that due to transportation difficulties, I won't be in Wednesday as planned. Lets make it Thursday instead. Unless there's an earthquake in my driveway or a worse-than-usual firestorm in my bathroom, it should work out just fine.
Question? Comments?
Friday, January 18, 2008
Dog Food
I made 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I was hungry.
75% of the first sandwich is all I could eat before completely losing interest.
So, I shared 1.25 sanwiches amongst three dogs resulting in approximately 0.416 sandwiches per dog.
I say "approximately" to allow for an error of margin, but that's just a formality. In actuality, I was very careful about distribution of the 1.25 sandwiches. Thanks to modern technologies, I'm confident that the distribution wasn't only fair, but was also accurate. I used the latest industry tools for weighing, measuring, and cutting the remaining sandwich parts.
I intentionally neglected to consider the weight of the dogs. (There was not a dog-weight-to-sandwich-mass ratio in my calculations.) I figure they all deserve just as much regardless of their size. The important part is the joy of eating them rather than the nutritional value.
Leia ate hers in two swallows. She doesn't chew things when she doesn't have to. I don't think she fully appreciates what she's eating; she just wants to eat.
Fred actually chewed his, but did so in one sitting.
Bill took his allotment back to his pillow and laid it out. He then nosed it around and ate it in chunks. He's always been a connoisseur of fine dining, so his behavior didn't surprise me. (To be honest, I lied about nosing it around. He just dropped it.)
The "crumbs" remain an issue. I think I'll just throw them away. I've already done enough math for one day.
75% of the first sandwich is all I could eat before completely losing interest.
So, I shared 1.25 sanwiches amongst three dogs resulting in approximately 0.416 sandwiches per dog.
I say "approximately" to allow for an error of margin, but that's just a formality. In actuality, I was very careful about distribution of the 1.25 sandwiches. Thanks to modern technologies, I'm confident that the distribution wasn't only fair, but was also accurate. I used the latest industry tools for weighing, measuring, and cutting the remaining sandwich parts.
I intentionally neglected to consider the weight of the dogs. (There was not a dog-weight-to-sandwich-mass ratio in my calculations.) I figure they all deserve just as much regardless of their size. The important part is the joy of eating them rather than the nutritional value.
Leia ate hers in two swallows. She doesn't chew things when she doesn't have to. I don't think she fully appreciates what she's eating; she just wants to eat.
Fred actually chewed his, but did so in one sitting.
Bill took his allotment back to his pillow and laid it out. He then nosed it around and ate it in chunks. He's always been a connoisseur of fine dining, so his behavior didn't surprise me. (To be honest, I lied about nosing it around. He just dropped it.)
The "crumbs" remain an issue. I think I'll just throw them away. I've already done enough math for one day.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Blog readers? / New Side Project
It has come to my attention that there are actually people out there who read this blog. They are an elite few. Vadim said he found it by searching for something else altogether. Interesting.
Anyhoo, some people left comments and I have not, to this point, acknowledged them. That's primarily because I didn't see them, and I didn't receive email notifications. Notifications were sent, but I didn't get them because of my spam blocker. That's been resolved.
So, comment away.
Speaking of comments, Chris has requested a DvdFriend feature that would allow him to respond to people's reviews. Neutral and negative comments about certain comic based movies inspire him to educate non-believers in the errors of their ways. In the old site, you could leave comments. On the new one, you cannot, but I'll get there. Its a good suggestion. He also mentioned how he has his blockbuster and facebook linked together, and he'd like to do something similar with DvdFriend. I didn't completely follow because I was thinking about a cheeseburger, but I'll follow up. It sounded like an interesting idea. However, a cheeseburger was more important at that particular moment.
On Monday, I had a meeting that secured a side project. As usual, the hobby site will take a back seat to actual work. The upcoming project is pretty big, though I hope I can still pick away at DvdFriend. It really needs a CREATE PROFILE page, but I'm bored to death with doing those. When I need a break from the other thing, maybe I can commit to doing that. (Maybe commit? That sounds like a non-commitment)
The side project is an update to a system I originally built 6 years ago. Since then, I've been occasionaly recruited to add new features. (Those who know me know the project I speak of)
Over the last couple days, I've been working on setting up a development vm including:
- vb 6.0 (for the vb stuff)
- vs 2005 (for the .net 1.1 stuff)
- vs 2008 (for the .net 2.0 and, possibly 3.0 stuff if the project requires new code)
- Sql 2005. This was supposed to be sql 2000, but the install keeps hanging and I can't connect. The application is a SQL 2000 application, so I'll just lower the db compatability, assuming that the 2005 install works)
It started off as an asp/vb COM+ app, but has evolved over the years. Each time somethine new comes out, I use it for new development. The new project involves changes to the foundation of the app, so I will most likely be coding in asp and vb.
That's about it.
So the DVDFriend community is now active with three people. World dominations starts with three people, so we're on the right track.
Anyhoo, some people left comments and I have not, to this point, acknowledged them. That's primarily because I didn't see them, and I didn't receive email notifications. Notifications were sent, but I didn't get them because of my spam blocker. That's been resolved.
So, comment away.
Speaking of comments, Chris has requested a DvdFriend feature that would allow him to respond to people's reviews. Neutral and negative comments about certain comic based movies inspire him to educate non-believers in the errors of their ways. In the old site, you could leave comments. On the new one, you cannot, but I'll get there. Its a good suggestion. He also mentioned how he has his blockbuster and facebook linked together, and he'd like to do something similar with DvdFriend. I didn't completely follow because I was thinking about a cheeseburger, but I'll follow up. It sounded like an interesting idea. However, a cheeseburger was more important at that particular moment.
On Monday, I had a meeting that secured a side project. As usual, the hobby site will take a back seat to actual work. The upcoming project is pretty big, though I hope I can still pick away at DvdFriend. It really needs a CREATE PROFILE page, but I'm bored to death with doing those. When I need a break from the other thing, maybe I can commit to doing that. (Maybe commit? That sounds like a non-commitment)
The side project is an update to a system I originally built 6 years ago. Since then, I've been occasionaly recruited to add new features. (Those who know me know the project I speak of)
Over the last couple days, I've been working on setting up a development vm including:
- vb 6.0 (for the vb stuff)
- vs 2005 (for the .net 1.1 stuff)
- vs 2008 (for the .net 2.0 and, possibly 3.0 stuff if the project requires new code)
- Sql 2005. This was supposed to be sql 2000, but the install keeps hanging and I can't connect. The application is a SQL 2000 application, so I'll just lower the db compatability, assuming that the 2005 install works)
It started off as an asp/vb COM+ app, but has evolved over the years. Each time somethine new comes out, I use it for new development. The new project involves changes to the foundation of the app, so I will most likely be coding in asp and vb.
That's about it.
So the DVDFriend community is now active with three people. World dominations starts with three people, so we're on the right track.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
DvdFriend Updates - Library
I've been working on other projects for a couple months now. I put both on hold last night so that I could work on DvdFriend for a bit.
Chris T has offered a lot of feedback on what the site should be able to do. Fortunately, most of the stuff he has come up with is stuff that the old site could do. Once it gets rebuilt in the new site, it should be better than the orignal.
LIBRARY / RATINGS
When you click a product, you go to the product page where it shows you all of the ratings, reviews, prices, and summary information. There's a new section that allows you to:
- Change your rating (if you already have one)
- Add a rating (if you don't have one)
- Edit or Write a review (depending if you have one)
The ADD A RATING isn't perfect. It brings you to the EDIT REVIEW page rather than offering the drop down list. This is because that in order to create a rating, you have to specify the rating type such as MOVIE, BOOK or XBOX 360. Products in DvdFriend don't have product types. They're ambiguous. That's good because it allows me to bind anything to anything. Its bad for situations like this where I would like to do something specific.
There's an EDIT PRODUCT page in the admin side of the site. I'm going to work on that (eventually) and add some default information.
You'll also see there's a LIBRARY section. Here, you can select what formats of the product you own. DVD, HD-DVD, BLU-RAY, BOOK, XBOX 360, etc. This list is too long, but will work for now. Once the concept of PRODUCT TYPE exists, the list will adjust contextually.
When you click a checkbox in the library section, it uses ASP.NET AJAX to save the call automatically. This isn't anything fancy; its just an update panel.
XBOX 360
By request, I added an XBOX 360 entry and an image, so now we can review and sell games. I added some prices. They went in as DVD. I'll change those to XBOX when I feel less lazy.
REVIEW SOMETHING
There used to be a REVIEW SOMETHING link and a SEARCH link in the menu bar. The search sucked because when you found a product, you wouldn't have a way to write a review or rating. So, then you'd have to go to the REVIEW SOMETHING page and search again. Lame. Really, that was just due to the fact that the product page was incomplete. It was lacking a lot of functionality. That functionality is now in there, so it should be a better experience.
I got rid of the REVIEW SOMETHING link altogether. I used to need that so that I could add non-product related entries, such as news items, rants, etc, but I haven't used it much, so I don't need it. If/when I do need it, I'll add it to the admin site.
NEXT STEPS
Now that the library stuff is in there, I need to make it more available. I'm picturing a BROWSE page that will allow you to look at products different ways. Immediately, it would be nice to list all of the HD-DVDs so you can just go down the list and click those that are in your library.
Once people have items in their library, the next logical step is to share the list with friends and co-workers. In the old site, this was called DVD COMMUNITIES. I'll have to start rebuilding that.
Also, I think its about time to open up the site. I currently enable users on an individual basis because I haven't finished all of the signup stuff. I should probably make that a priority.
In the meantime, if you would like to be able to login to the site to set ratings or write reviews, let me know.
Chris T has offered a lot of feedback on what the site should be able to do. Fortunately, most of the stuff he has come up with is stuff that the old site could do. Once it gets rebuilt in the new site, it should be better than the orignal.
LIBRARY / RATINGS
When you click a product, you go to the product page where it shows you all of the ratings, reviews, prices, and summary information. There's a new section that allows you to:
- Change your rating (if you already have one)
- Add a rating (if you don't have one)
- Edit or Write a review (depending if you have one)
The ADD A RATING isn't perfect. It brings you to the EDIT REVIEW page rather than offering the drop down list. This is because that in order to create a rating, you have to specify the rating type such as MOVIE, BOOK or XBOX 360. Products in DvdFriend don't have product types. They're ambiguous. That's good because it allows me to bind anything to anything. Its bad for situations like this where I would like to do something specific.
There's an EDIT PRODUCT page in the admin side of the site. I'm going to work on that (eventually) and add some default information.
You'll also see there's a LIBRARY section. Here, you can select what formats of the product you own. DVD, HD-DVD, BLU-RAY, BOOK, XBOX 360, etc. This list is too long, but will work for now. Once the concept of PRODUCT TYPE exists, the list will adjust contextually.
When you click a checkbox in the library section, it uses ASP.NET AJAX to save the call automatically. This isn't anything fancy; its just an update panel.
XBOX 360
By request, I added an XBOX 360 entry and an image, so now we can review and sell games. I added some prices. They went in as DVD. I'll change those to XBOX when I feel less lazy.
REVIEW SOMETHING
There used to be a REVIEW SOMETHING link and a SEARCH link in the menu bar. The search sucked because when you found a product, you wouldn't have a way to write a review or rating. So, then you'd have to go to the REVIEW SOMETHING page and search again. Lame. Really, that was just due to the fact that the product page was incomplete. It was lacking a lot of functionality. That functionality is now in there, so it should be a better experience.
I got rid of the REVIEW SOMETHING link altogether. I used to need that so that I could add non-product related entries, such as news items, rants, etc, but I haven't used it much, so I don't need it. If/when I do need it, I'll add it to the admin site.
NEXT STEPS
Now that the library stuff is in there, I need to make it more available. I'm picturing a BROWSE page that will allow you to look at products different ways. Immediately, it would be nice to list all of the HD-DVDs so you can just go down the list and click those that are in your library.
Once people have items in their library, the next logical step is to share the list with friends and co-workers. In the old site, this was called DVD COMMUNITIES. I'll have to start rebuilding that.
Also, I think its about time to open up the site. I currently enable users on an individual basis because I haven't finished all of the signup stuff. I should probably make that a priority.
In the meantime, if you would like to be able to login to the site to set ratings or write reviews, let me know.
Friday, January 04, 2008
The Death of HD-DVD?
Oh crap.
I spent $500 on the HDA1 HD-DVD player when it first came out. My goal was to be the coolest kid on the block, though I didn't go door to door to confirm. Not too long later, Microsoft created the HD-DVD drive for the XBOX 360. Once again, I rushed out to get it. $179.
Since then we have ammassed a pretty good collection of HD-DVDs. In fact, 8 of them came in today due to a BUY 1 GET 1 FREE sale at Amazon. I ended up with Dante's Peak to round out the bunch, which I'm not proud of.
Ah, heck... why not. Here's the list of 8
- Fearless
- Breach
- Meet the Fockers
- Dante's Peak
- Knocked Up
- Assualt on Precinct 13
- Traffic
Dante's Peak is easily the weakest of the bunch, but the special effects should be pretty good in HD. Meet the Fockers was a hesitant choice, but its funny.
Anyhoo, I'm going to guess that we now have approximately 20 HD DVDs. That's a few bucks.
So, I'm invested. I knew there was a format going on, and due to my rabid hatred of Sony, I backed HD-DVD. I doubt my investment in the technology caused any perceivable ripples, but I did my part.
I never agreed with the "lets see who wins" approach to the format war. HD-DVD players got pretty cheap, especially if you own an XBOX. Rather than wait for a winner, people should jump in the ring and fight. A lot of people can't due to the cost, so we'll leave them alone, but if you're a technology nut with the means of picking one, then pick one.
Ah, the War. At the beginning of the summer, it felt like that BLU-RAY was winning. By the end, it felt like HD was winning. Paramount and Dreamworks signed exclusively with HD-DVD. Michael Bay made a ruckus about this, then retracted his comments the previous day. (That was actually kinda cool. He didn't try to pass it off as misunderstood, or something lame. He put it down as a rash remark, and moved on.)
Somewhere along the way, there were some stories stating that Blu-Ray wasn't going to allow adult movies. If that turned out to be the case, then I'm confident that HD would've won. The adult industry is a billion dollar industry. (Or more. Maybe less. I don't know. I'm obviously just making up numbers as I go.). Say what you will and object all you like, but porn drives industry.
I have been a little bit envious about Blu-Ray. I would like to get Spiderman 3 on Blu-Ray, for one. The Incredibles would be something special too. The standard "Resident Evil: Extinction" dvd came in today... The Blu-Ray version would be better. But, that's the way it goes. You pick a side and you get the good and the bad, and you miss out on some of the good. I'm ok with it.
Warner Bros supported both formats, until now. Today they announced that they will drop HD-DVD in May. Most of the "analysts" say that that's the end of the format war. It will be over in a matter of weeks at the most. I don't know if that true or not. I'm not familiar with the qualifications of the said "analysts", but I'm the trusting sort so I'll assume they know what they're talking about.
Christmas just passed. I know of one co-worker who got an A3 for Christmas. Another one is going to buy one this weekend, though maybe he'll change his mind now. I don't know. Either way, it feels like then beginning of the end of an era, and I don't know that his purchase (or lack thereof) will have an impact either way. C'est la vie. (I don't know what that means for sure, but it seems to be contextually accurate).
If this is the end of the format war, then lets make it a quick end. They're saying days or weeks. Let it be so.
Supposing that Blu-Ray does win, how does that affect moi? As already covered, I'll have to buy a Blu-Ray player. I won't buy a PS3 because I still rabidly hate sony. Nor will I buy a sony Blu-Ray player for the same reason. There are enough others to choose from.
I just jumped onto CircuitCity.com to look at the prices on Blu-Ray players. Then I realized it doesn't matter, so I stopped looking. If Blu-Ray wins, we'll have to buy a player, so it doesn't matter what they cost. If the time comes, it comes. Lets give it some time and see if the analysts are worth their salt. (Again, I don't know what that means. Is salt a currency?)
The focus of my website will have to change somewhat, too. When I add movies to the database, I have to choose an image. My current priority is HD-DVD, BLU-RAY, STANDARD. I'll have to reprioritize. (In a related story, I also have to change the site to store images per product format rather than per product.)
And that's it. Damn Warner Bros. If this were an actual war, they'd be the French. (I know I'm not being fair to Warner Bros or the French, but that's ok. This is a rant. I'm not required to be fair, accurate, or even cohesive. Be grateful that I'm using complete sentences.)
The end.
I spent $500 on the HDA1 HD-DVD player when it first came out. My goal was to be the coolest kid on the block, though I didn't go door to door to confirm. Not too long later, Microsoft created the HD-DVD drive for the XBOX 360. Once again, I rushed out to get it. $179.
Since then we have ammassed a pretty good collection of HD-DVDs. In fact, 8 of them came in today due to a BUY 1 GET 1 FREE sale at Amazon. I ended up with Dante's Peak to round out the bunch, which I'm not proud of.
Ah, heck... why not. Here's the list of 8
- Fearless
- Breach
- Meet the Fockers
- Dante's Peak
- Knocked Up
- Assualt on Precinct 13
- Traffic
Dante's Peak is easily the weakest of the bunch, but the special effects should be pretty good in HD. Meet the Fockers was a hesitant choice, but its funny.
Anyhoo, I'm going to guess that we now have approximately 20 HD DVDs. That's a few bucks.
So, I'm invested. I knew there was a format going on, and due to my rabid hatred of Sony, I backed HD-DVD. I doubt my investment in the technology caused any perceivable ripples, but I did my part.
I never agreed with the "lets see who wins" approach to the format war. HD-DVD players got pretty cheap, especially if you own an XBOX. Rather than wait for a winner, people should jump in the ring and fight. A lot of people can't due to the cost, so we'll leave them alone, but if you're a technology nut with the means of picking one, then pick one.
Ah, the War. At the beginning of the summer, it felt like that BLU-RAY was winning. By the end, it felt like HD was winning. Paramount and Dreamworks signed exclusively with HD-DVD. Michael Bay made a ruckus about this, then retracted his comments the previous day. (That was actually kinda cool. He didn't try to pass it off as misunderstood, or something lame. He put it down as a rash remark, and moved on.)
Somewhere along the way, there were some stories stating that Blu-Ray wasn't going to allow adult movies. If that turned out to be the case, then I'm confident that HD would've won. The adult industry is a billion dollar industry. (Or more. Maybe less. I don't know. I'm obviously just making up numbers as I go.). Say what you will and object all you like, but porn drives industry.
I have been a little bit envious about Blu-Ray. I would like to get Spiderman 3 on Blu-Ray, for one. The Incredibles would be something special too. The standard "Resident Evil: Extinction" dvd came in today... The Blu-Ray version would be better. But, that's the way it goes. You pick a side and you get the good and the bad, and you miss out on some of the good. I'm ok with it.
Warner Bros supported both formats, until now. Today they announced that they will drop HD-DVD in May. Most of the "analysts" say that that's the end of the format war. It will be over in a matter of weeks at the most. I don't know if that true or not. I'm not familiar with the qualifications of the said "analysts", but I'm the trusting sort so I'll assume they know what they're talking about.
Christmas just passed. I know of one co-worker who got an A3 for Christmas. Another one is going to buy one this weekend, though maybe he'll change his mind now. I don't know. Either way, it feels like then beginning of the end of an era, and I don't know that his purchase (or lack thereof) will have an impact either way. C'est la vie. (I don't know what that means for sure, but it seems to be contextually accurate).
If this is the end of the format war, then lets make it a quick end. They're saying days or weeks. Let it be so.
Supposing that Blu-Ray does win, how does that affect moi? As already covered, I'll have to buy a Blu-Ray player. I won't buy a PS3 because I still rabidly hate sony. Nor will I buy a sony Blu-Ray player for the same reason. There are enough others to choose from.
I just jumped onto CircuitCity.com to look at the prices on Blu-Ray players. Then I realized it doesn't matter, so I stopped looking. If Blu-Ray wins, we'll have to buy a player, so it doesn't matter what they cost. If the time comes, it comes. Lets give it some time and see if the analysts are worth their salt. (Again, I don't know what that means. Is salt a currency?)
The focus of my website will have to change somewhat, too. When I add movies to the database, I have to choose an image. My current priority is HD-DVD, BLU-RAY, STANDARD. I'll have to reprioritize. (In a related story, I also have to change the site to store images per product format rather than per product.)
And that's it. Damn Warner Bros. If this were an actual war, they'd be the French. (I know I'm not being fair to Warner Bros or the French, but that's ok. This is a rant. I'm not required to be fair, accurate, or even cohesive. Be grateful that I'm using complete sentences.)
The end.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Patriots 38, Giants 35
What a game.
The Giants definitely came out swinging. They never let up, and they were winning for a good portion of the game. The starters played the entire game.
For a while there, it wasn't looking good for Patriot fans. But, even then, I would rather lose a ligitimate game then win a gimme. It would've sucked, but I would've been the right way to do it. The Giants did their part; they tried their hardest.
As hard as a game as that was, it was never really that bad. When they were down by 12, there was still plenty of time left to play, so no real concerns. The worst game of the season was the Ravens. Sure, there were other close calls, but the Ravens was the biggest nail biter by far.
Go Pats. Go Giants. (The Giants are my new second favorite team. They stepped up in a big way.)
The Giants definitely came out swinging. They never let up, and they were winning for a good portion of the game. The starters played the entire game.
For a while there, it wasn't looking good for Patriot fans. But, even then, I would rather lose a ligitimate game then win a gimme. It would've sucked, but I would've been the right way to do it. The Giants did their part; they tried their hardest.
As hard as a game as that was, it was never really that bad. When they were down by 12, there was still plenty of time left to play, so no real concerns. The worst game of the season was the Ravens. Sure, there were other close calls, but the Ravens was the biggest nail biter by far.
Go Pats. Go Giants. (The Giants are my new second favorite team. They stepped up in a big way.)
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Patriots and Giants
The big game is less than 3 hours away. The patriots are going for legendary status.
There has been a lot of talk about wether or not the two teams are going to show up to play. There are playoff advantages for the Giants if they take it easy. Technically, this game doesn't mean anything to them. Technically, it doesn't mean anything to the Patriots either other than the opportunity to be the first team in 35 years to have a perfect season. They say that its meaningless if they don't go all the way, but I disagree. Clearly that would be a better season, but regardless, no one has gone 16 and 0, not to mention all of the records that are about to be broken.
I hope that both teams show up to play. Obviously I want the Patriots to beat the Giants handily, but I'd rather that it wasn't a gimme. I want the Giants to come out swinging, and for the Patriots to beat them toe-to-toe.
I heard a quote somewhere that the Giants coach stated that it is not his responsibility to beat the patriots. 15 other teams have tried. If that quote is at all accurate, then I disagree. Its not his responsibility to stop them, but it his responsibility to try just like every other team has tried. 20 years from now, do you want to look back at this team and think that maybe you could've stopped them if only you tried? This is a key moment in football history. Don't roll over.
Jay's Prediction: Patriots 28, Giants 10. *
* - Jay's prediction is based on wild guessing.
There has been a lot of talk about wether or not the two teams are going to show up to play. There are playoff advantages for the Giants if they take it easy. Technically, this game doesn't mean anything to them. Technically, it doesn't mean anything to the Patriots either other than the opportunity to be the first team in 35 years to have a perfect season. They say that its meaningless if they don't go all the way, but I disagree. Clearly that would be a better season, but regardless, no one has gone 16 and 0, not to mention all of the records that are about to be broken.
I hope that both teams show up to play. Obviously I want the Patriots to beat the Giants handily, but I'd rather that it wasn't a gimme. I want the Giants to come out swinging, and for the Patriots to beat them toe-to-toe.
I heard a quote somewhere that the Giants coach stated that it is not his responsibility to beat the patriots. 15 other teams have tried. If that quote is at all accurate, then I disagree. Its not his responsibility to stop them, but it his responsibility to try just like every other team has tried. 20 years from now, do you want to look back at this team and think that maybe you could've stopped them if only you tried? This is a key moment in football history. Don't roll over.
Jay's Prediction: Patriots 28, Giants 10. *
* - Jay's prediction is based on wild guessing.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Death of an XBox
After approximately 1 year and 10 months, it finally happened. My treasured XBox 360 has died.
Thankfully, it didn't suffer long. It crashed a couple times, and I knew that was the beginning of the end. Finally, after a particularly dramatic crash and a reboot, the three red lights started flashing.
Even though I knew it was coming, it didn't make it any easier. My good friend Mike, who has lost 2 XBoxs in the past, was quick to console me and offered advice on how to get on with my life. It started with a call to Microsoft, and will some day end with acceptance.
Over the next several hours, I have some tough decisions to make. It may take 3 or 4 weeks for the good folks at Microsoft to get a new XBOX 360 to me. Do I patiently wait that long, or do I give in to the great Halo 3 tempation and buy a new one?
I'll be honest. Everyone is expecting me to buy a new one. Its impractical. Its a waste of money. Some may even call it childish, but here I am, thinking about it. Verbalizing it. About to sleep on it. What will tomorrow bring? A trip to best buy, or quality time with my Nintendo DS? Or will I spend the day reading non-fiction thereby bettering myself as a human being? Place your bets.
There are 3 versions of the XBOX 360 available. The least dumb choice would be to buy the cheapest version, but in my time of grief, it is easy to consider upgrades.
The arcade version costs $280. As a general rule, I generally don't consider the minimal offering.
The premier model costs $350 and comes with 2 games whose combined worth is $120. $350 - 120 suggests that I'm only spending $220 on the acutal console. logical, right?
The elite model cost $450 and comes with 2 games and a 120gb drive. The games are worth $120, and the drive is worth $180. $450 - ($180 + $120) = $150. A console for $150 sounds perfectly reasonable, doesn't it? Seriously?
Oh, did I mention that the Elite is black? Oh yes. Black. That's old school. No more prissy white xbox 360 glaring at me from the entertainment center. Heck no. Its time to dare to be different.
Do you get the feeling I'm talking myself into anything?
That's it for tonight. Dawn is just a few hours away, and I have a lot to think about. I'm going to need some hot pockets.
Thankfully, it didn't suffer long. It crashed a couple times, and I knew that was the beginning of the end. Finally, after a particularly dramatic crash and a reboot, the three red lights started flashing.
Even though I knew it was coming, it didn't make it any easier. My good friend Mike, who has lost 2 XBoxs in the past, was quick to console me and offered advice on how to get on with my life. It started with a call to Microsoft, and will some day end with acceptance.
Over the next several hours, I have some tough decisions to make. It may take 3 or 4 weeks for the good folks at Microsoft to get a new XBOX 360 to me. Do I patiently wait that long, or do I give in to the great Halo 3 tempation and buy a new one?
I'll be honest. Everyone is expecting me to buy a new one. Its impractical. Its a waste of money. Some may even call it childish, but here I am, thinking about it. Verbalizing it. About to sleep on it. What will tomorrow bring? A trip to best buy, or quality time with my Nintendo DS? Or will I spend the day reading non-fiction thereby bettering myself as a human being? Place your bets.
There are 3 versions of the XBOX 360 available. The least dumb choice would be to buy the cheapest version, but in my time of grief, it is easy to consider upgrades.
The arcade version costs $280. As a general rule, I generally don't consider the minimal offering.
The premier model costs $350 and comes with 2 games whose combined worth is $120. $350 - 120 suggests that I'm only spending $220 on the acutal console. logical, right?
The elite model cost $450 and comes with 2 games and a 120gb drive. The games are worth $120, and the drive is worth $180. $450 - ($180 + $120) = $150. A console for $150 sounds perfectly reasonable, doesn't it? Seriously?
Oh, did I mention that the Elite is black? Oh yes. Black. That's old school. No more prissy white xbox 360 glaring at me from the entertainment center. Heck no. Its time to dare to be different.
Do you get the feeling I'm talking myself into anything?
That's it for tonight. Dawn is just a few hours away, and I have a lot to think about. I'm going to need some hot pockets.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
DvdFriend Site Update
Greetings
Site development has been on a hiatus for several weeks; some of it involuntary, and some of it just laziness. I had a bunch of side work to do for one client, and I built a prototype for another. (Lets see if that prototype turns into actual work).
Anyhoo, I've been able to work on DvdFriend quite a bit this week.
Pricing
- Pricing - PREVIOUSLY: I created the APIs to retrieve the data from the vendor sites and update the DvdFriend database. There's a EDIT PRODUCT page that uses that technology to do the initial parsing.
NOW: The next step is to update the prices automatically on a periodic basis. When the page loads, it checks when the price was last updated. If it was over a day, it needs to get fresh pricing. It needs to do it in the background, though. I don't want the page to hang for 5 or 10 seconds as it hits the vendors. Additionaly, if hundreds of people are hitting hundreds of pages, I don't want it to process all of those remote requests at once.
I spent more time on this then I needed to. I could've slapped together a quick solution to satisfy the immediate need. Instead, I created a ThreadQueue api that allows for great reuse for future needs. Basically, its just a queue. You stuff things on the queue. You then assign a delegate to the queue, and tell it how many can be processed at once. The object takes it from there. It will start up to x number of threads which process the queue. When each thread finishes with a work item, another thread is started that handles the next one. Neat. (It uses the thread pool, so the same threads are used repeatedly.)
Its a neat object. I spent the extra time on it so that I can make it distributable. I'll finish it up and make it available somewhere.
So anyway, when the page loads, it checks to see if the prices need to be refreshed. If so, it queues the items that need to be refreshed. The page shows the prices, but displays "refreshing" beneath them. A tooltip tells you what's going on, and suggests that you refresh in a few seconds. (Later, I'll wrap this up in an update panel and have it refresh automatically. 1 thing at a time.)
There's one problem, though. I only have about 50 prices in the DB. The original DB, which has all of the pricing, is sitting on the hard drive on my shut-down home computer. I get home tomorrow and leave again Saturday morning. I'll see if I can run the conversion somewhere in that window.
Alas, the moral of the story is that pricing is now FULLY functional. I just have to repopulate the data.
Admin Product Editor
The product page editor is where you assign vendor product ids to the product. Once I have the product ID, I can refresh the pricing whenever I need to. Currently, that's done just by dragging-and-dropping the url from one browser to the editor page. That's a pain, but there aren't many options. IE7 really locks down things like cross-frame scripting. I looked at creating a windows form program where that wouldn't be an issue, but the IE control constantlly crashes under XP PRO SP2. So, at the time I did what I could and just added a textbox. You paste the url, and it will parse out all of the information.
That's handy for updating products on a one-by-one basis. But, it needs a way to deal with things in mass. It needs to tie into lists of products that need pricing.
I created a view that assembles all products + all product types + all vendors and indicates if pricing exists for each one. It also specifies if any reviews or ratings exist for that product. From that view, I can now create child views that provide specific useful information.
The first one is "products with reviews and without pricing". Now I can run a quick query and see which products people have reviewed but don't have prices. I can display the list of the left side of the page and work through them one by one. (They'll probably be ordered by recent review date so that the most recent stuff can be updated).
The editor page has a button that launches a search in the vendor site. I use that as a starting point, then browse to the particular product I want. I then paste (or drag) the url to the parent page.
That's a step in the right direction, but its annoying.
Solution!
At last, I came up with a great solution. As I said, there are all types of security things that prevent me from doing this the way I used to do it. Finally, I worked out something that isn't blocked by security.
You can create an IE Favorite that has javacript in it.
IE: instead of http://www.dvdfriend.us (or anything else), you can create a favorite for
javascript:alert('hello');
Each time you click the favorite, it gives you an alert box.
I created this one
javascript:alert(document.location.href)
Once that worked, I was cautiously optimistic that I could solve my problems.
The next test was this:
javascript:document.location.href='http://mymachine/test.aspx?url=' + escape(document.location.href);
That javascript redirects to a specified page and passes the URL of the current page to it. So, the final URL is something like
http://mymachine/test.aspx?url=www.blogger.com
(That's a simplified version. The full url is actually escaped within the parameter. I omitted the special chars)
This is the big test. If security was going to interfere, this would be the place. It didn't!
Once that worked, I knew I as home free.
Here's how the pricing editor works:
- Go to the Edit Product page
- Select the item you want to get pricing for (IE: Transformers / HD-DVD)
- The button redirects to VendorProxy.aspx
The proxy page saves the product id and the product type id as cookies
It then redirects to the search results page for the vendor passing TRANSFORMERS as the search keyword
- I select the TRANSFORMERS HD DVD that I was looking for.
- I then click a favorite on my link bar. It takes the url of the current page and passes it to my VendorProxyReturn.aspx page.
- The VendorProxyReturn page:
- gets the product id and product type id out of the cookie
- gets the url out of the querystring
- uses those three pieces of information to get the pricing
- Redirects back to the edit product page. The pricing is now populate for that item.
I've been doing this pricing stuff since 1999 or 2000. I've had many solutions over the years, and some have been very good but required a lot of code that wasn't 100% reliable due to the intricacies of each vendor. This solution, while not the most robust, is the simplest and easiest.
From a admin user perspective:
- click the button which opens the search results page for that vendor
- find the product
- click the favorite link
Done!
Its really cool. I'm thrilled that I finally found something that works. Another key advantage of this is that its something I'm comfortable letting other admin users use.
Product Type Images
DvdFriend is very movie centric, obviously. But, it supports all types of products. Its currently setup XBOX games and books too. The problem is that the main page is dominated by movies. If I suddenly drop in a book review, how do you know it's a book review?
I added icons to indicate the product type. There's a journal type thing for a book, and everything else is a film reel. (I'll find a good game icon when I need it). I think it looks pretty good on the page.
These changes are all live on http://www.dvdfriend.us
What's Next?
I'd like to start putting in ratings for tv shows. I have to build a product hierarchy, which doesn't exist yet. When I built this version of the DB, I kept it very flat. Previous incarnations became to complicated due to the hierarchies. Flat is simple. I can use other objects to build a hierarchy as needed, such as with TV shows, but not force it where it's not needed.
Site development has been on a hiatus for several weeks; some of it involuntary, and some of it just laziness. I had a bunch of side work to do for one client, and I built a prototype for another. (Lets see if that prototype turns into actual work).
Anyhoo, I've been able to work on DvdFriend quite a bit this week.
Pricing
- Pricing - PREVIOUSLY: I created the APIs to retrieve the data from the vendor sites and update the DvdFriend database. There's a EDIT PRODUCT page that uses that technology to do the initial parsing.
NOW: The next step is to update the prices automatically on a periodic basis. When the page loads, it checks when the price was last updated. If it was over a day, it needs to get fresh pricing. It needs to do it in the background, though. I don't want the page to hang for 5 or 10 seconds as it hits the vendors. Additionaly, if hundreds of people are hitting hundreds of pages, I don't want it to process all of those remote requests at once.
I spent more time on this then I needed to. I could've slapped together a quick solution to satisfy the immediate need. Instead, I created a ThreadQueue api that allows for great reuse for future needs. Basically, its just a queue. You stuff things on the queue. You then assign a delegate to the queue, and tell it how many can be processed at once. The object takes it from there. It will start up to x number of threads which process the queue. When each thread finishes with a work item, another thread is started that handles the next one. Neat. (It uses the thread pool, so the same threads are used repeatedly.)
Its a neat object. I spent the extra time on it so that I can make it distributable. I'll finish it up and make it available somewhere.
So anyway, when the page loads, it checks to see if the prices need to be refreshed. If so, it queues the items that need to be refreshed. The page shows the prices, but displays "refreshing" beneath them. A tooltip tells you what's going on, and suggests that you refresh in a few seconds. (Later, I'll wrap this up in an update panel and have it refresh automatically. 1 thing at a time.)
There's one problem, though. I only have about 50 prices in the DB. The original DB, which has all of the pricing, is sitting on the hard drive on my shut-down home computer. I get home tomorrow and leave again Saturday morning. I'll see if I can run the conversion somewhere in that window.
Alas, the moral of the story is that pricing is now FULLY functional. I just have to repopulate the data.
Admin Product Editor
The product page editor is where you assign vendor product ids to the product. Once I have the product ID, I can refresh the pricing whenever I need to. Currently, that's done just by dragging-and-dropping the url from one browser to the editor page. That's a pain, but there aren't many options. IE7 really locks down things like cross-frame scripting. I looked at creating a windows form program where that wouldn't be an issue, but the IE control constantlly crashes under XP PRO SP2. So, at the time I did what I could and just added a textbox. You paste the url, and it will parse out all of the information.
That's handy for updating products on a one-by-one basis. But, it needs a way to deal with things in mass. It needs to tie into lists of products that need pricing.
I created a view that assembles all products + all product types + all vendors and indicates if pricing exists for each one. It also specifies if any reviews or ratings exist for that product. From that view, I can now create child views that provide specific useful information.
The first one is "products with reviews and without pricing". Now I can run a quick query and see which products people have reviewed but don't have prices. I can display the list of the left side of the page and work through them one by one. (They'll probably be ordered by recent review date so that the most recent stuff can be updated).
The editor page has a button that launches a search in the vendor site. I use that as a starting point, then browse to the particular product I want. I then paste (or drag) the url to the parent page.
That's a step in the right direction, but its annoying.
Solution!
At last, I came up with a great solution. As I said, there are all types of security things that prevent me from doing this the way I used to do it. Finally, I worked out something that isn't blocked by security.
You can create an IE Favorite that has javacript in it.
IE: instead of http://www.dvdfriend.us (or anything else), you can create a favorite for
javascript:alert('hello');
Each time you click the favorite, it gives you an alert box.
I created this one
javascript:alert(document.location.href)
Once that worked, I was cautiously optimistic that I could solve my problems.
The next test was this:
javascript:document.location.href='http://mymachine/test.aspx?url=' + escape(document.location.href);
That javascript redirects to a specified page and passes the URL of the current page to it. So, the final URL is something like
http://mymachine/test.aspx?url=www.blogger.com
(That's a simplified version. The full url is actually escaped within the parameter. I omitted the special chars)
This is the big test. If security was going to interfere, this would be the place. It didn't!
Once that worked, I knew I as home free.
Here's how the pricing editor works:
- Go to the Edit Product page
- Select the item you want to get pricing for (IE: Transformers / HD-DVD)
- The button redirects to VendorProxy.aspx
The proxy page saves the product id and the product type id as cookies
It then redirects to the search results page for the vendor passing TRANSFORMERS as the search keyword
- I select the TRANSFORMERS HD DVD that I was looking for.
- I then click a favorite on my link bar. It takes the url of the current page and passes it to my VendorProxyReturn.aspx page.
- The VendorProxyReturn page:
- gets the product id and product type id out of the cookie
- gets the url out of the querystring
- uses those three pieces of information to get the pricing
- Redirects back to the edit product page. The pricing is now populate for that item.
I've been doing this pricing stuff since 1999 or 2000. I've had many solutions over the years, and some have been very good but required a lot of code that wasn't 100% reliable due to the intricacies of each vendor. This solution, while not the most robust, is the simplest and easiest.
From a admin user perspective:
- click the button which opens the search results page for that vendor
- find the product
- click the favorite link
Done!
Its really cool. I'm thrilled that I finally found something that works. Another key advantage of this is that its something I'm comfortable letting other admin users use.
Product Type Images
DvdFriend is very movie centric, obviously. But, it supports all types of products. Its currently setup XBOX games and books too. The problem is that the main page is dominated by movies. If I suddenly drop in a book review, how do you know it's a book review?
I added icons to indicate the product type. There's a journal type thing for a book, and everything else is a film reel. (I'll find a good game icon when I need it). I think it looks pretty good on the page.
These changes are all live on http://www.dvdfriend.us
What's Next?
I'd like to start putting in ratings for tv shows. I have to build a product hierarchy, which doesn't exist yet. When I built this version of the DB, I kept it very flat. Previous incarnations became to complicated due to the hierarchies. Flat is simple. I can use other objects to build a hierarchy as needed, such as with TV shows, but not force it where it's not needed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)