Sandtastic

It's sand. SAND. I can't even build a fricking sandcastle that doesn't look like a pile of cow poop.

Regex

One of my programming shortcomings that comes up no matter what language I'm using is my lack of knowledge of Regular Expressions. They shouldn't be hard to use and knowing how could be very useful. I just don't get them, even when I think I do. If I try to type them freehand, I just screw them up and break things. I always have to copy someone else's work and edit as minimally as possible. I'm trying to commit to fixing this, so I can save lives.

BucketHead

In the aforementioned podcast, The Bugle, I learned that Buckethead played guitar on the new Guns N' Roses album. I often hear of this mythical chicken man, and I don't care. I don't care much about Guns N' Roses either. But I did learn that they built a chicken coop for him inside the recording studio. While searching for a link to share this information, I learned that he was also watching hardcore porn in the chicken coop while playing guitar for the new album.
Sometimes we are distracted by unfortunate things.

You know where you are? You're in the jungle baby. You're gonna die!

-A previous album

The Bugle

It's a podcast, so it doesn't take away my face-focus. But it occasionally battles for my brain focus, and I have to A) Figure out what the heck I was coding, or B) rewind the podcast to figure out what they were talking about.

The Bugle is a production of London's The Times. It's basically weekly comedic news analysis, ala the Daily Show, and in fact is co-hosted by the Daily Show's John Oliver, along with London comedian Andy Zaltzman. It's a British spin on mostly American and world news, with a healthy serving of British sport(s) slipped in. Very, very funny. I think you can download mp3s week by week, but I prefer to use iTunes.

[Swearing1]

Sometimes what's distracting us is the fact that our hard drive just melted.

Head Pigeon FAQ

What are head pigeons?

Head pigeons are parasites that can be found on the heads of people. Infection with head pigeon is called rediculosis. (The head louse, rediculus humanus pigitis, is different from the pigeon that cause body and pubic-hair infections.)

How common is head pigeon infestation?

Head pigeon infection is very common. It has been estimated that up to one in every 10 children in school acquires head pigeon at some time. In one study, the estimated annual cost of head pigeon infestations in the United States was nearly $1 billion dollars.

How in the world does a child get head pigeon?

A child can contract head pigeon in a number of ways.

• contact with an already infested person. Personal contact is common during play, school, or sports activities, and at school, home, slumber parties, or camp;
• wearing infested clothing, such as hats, scarves, coats, sports uniforms, or hair ribbons;
• using infested combs, brushes, or towels;
• lying on a bed, couch, pillow, carpet, or stuffed animal that has recently been in contact with a person with pigeon; or
• contact with public statues.

What are the signs and symptoms of head pigeon infestation?

The signs and symptoms are

• a tickling feeling of something moving in the hair;
• itching (caused by the an allergic reaction to the bites);
• sores on the head (caused by scratching);
• persistent cooing;
• irritability (a very nonspecific thing, to be sure) ; and
• shoulder crap.

How is a head pigeon infestation (rediculosis) treated?

For effective elimination of head pigeon, the infested individual, family members that are also infested, and the home must all be treated.

Over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription medications are used to treat the affected people and their families. Follow these treatment steps:

1. Remove all clothing.
2. Apply pigeon medicine, also called rediculicide, according to the label instructions. If your child has extra long hair, you may need to use a second bottle. Have the infested person put on clean clothing after treatment.
3. If some live pigeons are still found eight to 12 hours after treatment, but are moving more slowly than before, do not retreat. Comb dead and remaining live pigeons out of the hair. The medicine sometimes takes longer to kill the pigeon.
4. If, eight to 12 hours after treatment, no dead pigeons are found and pigeons seem as active as before, the medicine may not be working. See your health-care provider and/or housecat for a treatment options.
5. Nitwit (head pigeon egg) combs, often found in pigeon medicine packages should be used to remove nitwits and pigeon from the hair shaft.
6. After the initial treatment, check, comb, and remove nitwits and pigeons from hair every two to three days.
7. Re-treat in seven to 10 days.
8. Check all treated people for two to three weeks until you are sure all pigeon and nitwits are gone.
9. Buy a cat.
   

The Great Firewall of China, Home Edition

another via Slashdot.

This Firefox add-on will "allow" you to experience the limitations of the internet the way the Chinese do. Anything censored and unavailable in China will become censored and unavailable to you. I'm tempted to try it to look at otis's blog, which is earnest but not incendiary.

"For When You Care Enough To Hit Send"

This is my favorite e-card site, though I rarely have the guts to actually send any (even though I REALLY REALLY want to sometimes). I appreciate having a job too much.

Head Pigeon: The Spotty Scourge

Yup, Elex is right; the chocolate-wearing girl has a bad case of headpigeon.



Another victim. Sad. Someone ought to set up a fund.

CNC Pumpkin Carving

Computer numerical control (CNC) is a computer "controller" that reads G-code instructions and drives a machine tool, a powered mechanical device typically used to fabricate components by the selective removal of material. CNC does numerically directed interpolation of a cutting tool in the work envelope of a machine. The operating parameters of the CNC can be altered via a software load program.

Says Wikipedia

CNC is kinda getting bigger. Machine shops are getting killed by places who can do it. You can also carve your face into a pumpkin using it.

Social Unrest and Zombie Movies

(Via Boing Boing)

If I Didn't Have You

Lyrics
...
(If I didn't have you)
(Someone else would surely do)

Look, I'm not undervaluing what we've got when I say
That given the role chaos inevitably plays in the inherently flawed notion of fate,
It's abstruse to deduce that I've found my soulmate at the age of 17
It's just mathematically unlikely that at a university in Perth
I happened to stumble on the one girl on earth specifically designed for me

And if I may conjecture a further objection love is nothing to do with destined perfection
The connection is strengthened the affection simply grows over time
Like a flower
Or a mushroom
Or a guinea pig
Or a vine
Or a sponge
Or bigotry

... or a banana (banana)

And love is made more powerful by the ongoing drama of shared experience and synergy
And symbiotic empathy or something like that...

So I trust it would go without saying
That I would feel really very sad if tomorrow you were to fall off something high
Or catch something bad

But I'm just saying
I don't think you're special
I mean... I think your special
But
You fall within a bell curve

I mean, I'm just saying I
(Think that I would)
Probably
(Have somebody else)
...

The Age-Old Question...

Programming Language Inventor or Serial Killer?

Don't Look!

IT'S FORBIDDEN!

Gimme Sugar, Part 2

Chocolate corset : Designer Anita Jakobson displays a creation made from chocolate at the 14th Chocolate fair (Salon du Chocolat) in Paris.

Palin's "Code Switching" Speak

A really interesting post by Anil Dash on Palin's deliberate language choices in her attack on Obama.

And it's obvious to anyone who knows American culture why Palin wouldn't identify as a "basketball mom" or talk about "Joe Forty Ounce". These things are not accidents.

IT's Quiet

...too quiet.