links.lmorchard.com

November 2008

96 bookmarks saved in November 2008

Quetzalcoatal: A public service announcement

http://quetzalcoatal.blogspot.com/2008/11/public-service-announcement.html
"If your code will be seen by the world at large, one of your first tasks should be to write documentation. Document all functions as soon as you write them (before is also helpful). Provide samples on how to use code as soon as you finish a module (or earlier, if possible). Do not wait until your 5.0 release. Do not wait until your 1.0 release. Do not even wait until your 0.5 release. Do it as you write your code. The sooner, the better."
#coding #comments #documentation #mozilla #opensource #programming
archive.org #11709

Evolving Web: Why I Plurk, Again

http://ourfounder.typepad.com/leblog/2008/11/why-i-plurk-again.html
"In this thread, the context starts with a pesky cat looped cartoon and ends with a discussion of non-attachment. What @mitten dubs the “kitteh paradox” after Brian defines the core issue – happiness is transitory if you are attached to a certain definition of happiness (cereal or sitting on the table)."
#cats #conversation #conversations #plurk #socialmedia
archive.org #11708

Acekard 2 Review - GBAtemp.net

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=79368
"the acekard 2 is an acekard RPG - without the built-in memory or open-source firmware. The interface is by far the best of any cart available. Fast, responsive, 25 image skinning, many settings tweak able through "glabalsettings.ini", after using it for a couple minutes you'd think it was the winner of this flashcart race hands down. Thats not necessarily the case. Its still lacking quite a few features touted by its competition, such as real-time save, in-game guide, slow-motion, and integrated expansion cart support. However, if those features aren't a requisite in your purchase, the acekard 2 is definitely a winner."
#acekard #ds #gaming #hardware #homebrew #ninendo #reviews #wishlist
archive.org #11703

Bad Hacks

http://www.badhacks.net
"If you came here hoping to find a well executed difficulty hack for Super Mario World, a lovingly crafted graphics hack of Zelda 3 or maybe an accurate translation of a Japanese RPG, prepare to be disappointed. This site solely caters for crass mutilations that nobody else wants to deal with. Expect foul language, warped logic, and crude 8-bit nudity. Prepare to journey into worlds crafted by the mentally disturbed and chronically lazy. You have been warned."
#emulation #funny #gaming #hacks #nes #nintendo #pr0n #retro #roms
archive.org #11701

Sarah Palin Turkey Incident: Does TV Interview While Turkeys Are Slaughtered In The Background (VIDEO)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/20/sarah-palin-holds-news-co_n_145375.html
I'm definitely not a Palin fan, but this non-story is stupid. I'm squeamish about it, but how the hell do you think the turkey gets on the table? I bet reactions to turkey slaughter help divide people into tribes even better than "You betcha" and "Joe sixpack" verbal cues. I wouldn't be surprised if it were a bit intentional ... "Some videos you just have to see to believe. On Thursday, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin appeared in Wasilla in order to pardon a local turkey in anticipation of Thanksgiving. This proved to be a slightly absurd but ultimately unremarkable event. But what came next was positively surreal. After the pardon Palin proceeded to do an interview with a local TV station while the turkeys were being SLAUGHTERED in the background!!"
#agriculture #huffington #interview #palin #politics #thanksgiving #turkeys
archive.org #11697

The Phrasebook Pattern

http://ootips.org/yonat/patterns/phrasebook.html
Not unlike templates for (X)HTML? "The Phrasebook pattern is a technique to separate expressions in one language (e.g., SQL) from the main code that is written in another programming language (e.g., Perl). This is done by keeping the expressions in a separate file – the phrasebook. Any specific expression is generated by finding the appropriate entry in the phrasebook and substituting application parameters into it. This separation makes maintenance easier both for the main application code and for the foreign language code."
#perl #phrasebook #scripting #sql #webdev
archive.org #11693

Sources: Daisies, Eli Stone and Dirty Sexy Canceled - E! Online

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b69940_sources_daisies_eli_dsm_canceled.html
Damn. The crappy new Knight Rider continues on, yet shows like Pushing Daisies and Wonderfalls get cancelled. ""I think the writers’ strike did it," Chenoweth (Daisies' Olive Snook) tells us tonight of the cancellation. "I think that the ratings for all the shows are poor this year, and it’s not what the networks were hoping for. I’m not sure why ABC decided to ax our show. I know they don’t own us, so I know that probably has something to do with it, but who knows?""
#cancelled #pushingdaisies #sad #television #tv
archive.org #11692

Burger King Has Dropped Their Wallet | So Good

http://www.sogoodblog.com/2008/11/19/burger-king-has-dropped-its-wallet
"It appears that in the last few days, there are a handful of bloggers who, by finding wallets on the ground, have unwittingly stumbled across the latest under-the-radar Burger King promotion. The fast food chain has dispensed agents across major U.S. cities (indications are it’s just been Chicago and Orlando so far ) to “lose” wallets. However, when unsuspecting passersby find these wallets and open them, they discover an interesting message"
#advertising #burgerking #funny #lost #marketing #viral #wallets
archive.org #11690

Bob Sutton: The Auto Industry Bailout: Thoughts About Why GM Executives Are Clueless And Their Destructive “No We Can’t” Mindset

http://bobsutton.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/11/the-auto-industry-bailout-thoughts-about-why-gm-executives-are-clueless-and-their-no-we-cant-mindset.html
"In short, my view is that if GM can’t figure out ways to get their managers and executives to understand the experience of owning a car for the average person, if they can’t get rid of those jets, and if they can’t reduce the number of brands, and if they can’t make a host of other changes required to make them competitive, than my answer is “no, you can’t have our money.” "
#automotive #autos #bailout #business #detroit #economy #failure #gm #industry #michigan #strategy
archive.org #11689

Herman Miller Review: An Exoskeleton Is Fused To My Spine, And I Love It

http://io9.com/5081474/an-exoskeleton-is-fused-to-my-spine-and-i-love-it
"A network of lightweight interfaces has been stuck to my back for the past few weeks, receiving information about the slightest movement of my spine. My new Herman Miller Embody chair is like an exoskeleton, supplementing my body's own structural integrity. While I sit and blog about our future space exploration, it's awesome to have a high-tech command chair. Click through for chair spoilers."
#chair #ergo #ergonomics #furniture #hermanmiller #sowant #spine #want
archive.org #11688

getDowntown Blog»Blog Archive » Talking Telecommuting with L.M.Orchard

http://blog.getdowntown.org/2008/11/20/talking-telecommuting-with-lmorchard
"But for a more local perspective, I thought I’d interview a telecommuter in our own community. There are all kinds of telecommuters out there, from moms that telecommute in the evenings so they can watch their kids, to workers who want a day of quiet time away from the office. Then are folks like Les Orchard (pictured here). Les lives in Michigan (Livonia to be exact) and telecommutes for Mozilla (located in California)."
#annarbor #link:rel=me #michigan #mozilla #self #telecommuting
archive.org #11686

Moka Pot Stove (INeedCoffee.com)

http://www.ineedcoffee.com/08/moka-pot-stove
"I found a solution at ZENSTOVES.COM which describes a number of options for making alcohol stoves yourself out of recyclable and readily available materials. ... The small stove has been modified slightly make it specific for brewing. A stove made for boiling water will heat up the mokka pot too quickly and the brew just won't be what it should be. ... I made a stand out of an empty coffee can and some coat-hanger wire. Light the stove, place the stand over top, and put the mokka pot on top. In the magical three minutes, I have a fresh pot of mokka pot espresso to enjoy! With practise, I have found just the right ammount of fuel so that it extinguishes itself shortly after the coffee is ready."
#alcohol #camping #coffee #hacks #stove
archive.org #11685

Natural Harvest - A Collection of Semen-Based Recipes by Fotie Photenhauer (Book) in Cooking

http://www.lulu.com/content/4956212
"Once you overcome any initial hesitation, you will be surprised to learn how wonderful semen is in the kitchen. Semen is an exciting ingredient that can give every dish you make an interesting twist. If you are a passionate cook and are not afraid to experiment with new ingredients - you will love this cook book!"
#books #cooking #donotwant #food #humor #semen #wtf
archive.org #11684

"Superbad" Move for Sony, Netflix, and Microsoft

http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2008/11/19/superbad-move-for-sony-netflix-and-microsoft.aspx
"Just as Microsoft is rolling out open availability of Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) movie streaming through Xbox 360 consoles this morning, Sony is pulling out as one of the few major studios to back Netflix's digital push.Sony has played along, offering up even some of its more recent hits like Superbad, Across the Universe, and Spider-Man 2 through the ambitious Netflix broadband-pitched offering. Well, now it's pulling out, but only on the Xbox. It will still stream online through Netflix's other partners."
#dicks #netflix #sony #streaming #vod
archive.org #11681

TiVo Looks for a Bigger Slice With On-Demand Pizza Deal

http://www.redherring.com/blogs/25514
What they don't mention is that it takes over 30 minutes just to painstakingly enter an order using the user interface for this particular TiVo app. "Customers simply select the desired cheesy comestible, click "I want it" enter a delivery address and hey pesto, just 30 minutes later, the pizza arrives and the cash exchange takes place. Getting up to open the door will still have to be done manually, for now."
#dominos #pizza #tivo
archive.org #11678

Why Obama Should Keep His BlackBerry - BusinessWeek

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2008/11/why_obama_shoul.html?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_news+++analysis
"Obama comes into office as the first President both knowledgeable about and comfortable with the technology that runs today's world. This is actually an important and promising development and the worst thing we can do is try to force him into a technology-free cocoon in the name of security or whatever. Mr President-elect, if you want to keep that BlackBerry, please do so. Besides, we don't want a new President going through his difficult first weeks in office suffering from BlackBerry withdrawal."
#blackberry #email #internet #mobile #obama #politics #president #security #technology
archive.org #11676

Trying to set my old ripped up mattress on fire. How to prevent the house from burning too? - Yahoo! Answers

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081109084236AATOP5U
"I finally got a new mattress so I want to get rid of my old one. Its too heavy to carry downstairs so I was going to burn it right in the room. How do I prevent from the whole house burning down? I set it in the middle of the room and away from the walls and the walls are covered in foil. Should this be good enough?"
#answers #fire #mattresses #yahoo
archive.org #11675

Pushing Daisies: Six Ways Pushing Daisies Made Your Inner Nerd Cry Tears of Geeky Joy

http://io9.com/5089795/six-ways-pushing-daisies-made-your-inner-nerd-cry-tears-of-geeky-joy
"Nerds are renowned the world over for our extensive knowledge of possibly useless trivia, our obsessive devotion to our favorite books and films, and our resulting difficulties communicating with non-nerds. Thanks to modern internet culture, however, these days everyone is a nerd. And nowhere is that more evident than in these great moments from troubled urban fantasy show Pushing Daisies — where our hero is a Jedi wannabee slash zombie rights activist, and our Japanese-speaking heroine reads everything in sight."
#nerd #pushingdaisies #television #tv #youmustwatchthisshow
archive.org #11674

Facebook | Photos of You

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?id=506748201&op=1&pid=1187519&subj=516463201&view=all
"In this photo: Ryan Doherty (photos), Leslie Michael Orchard (photos | remove tag), Laura Thomson (photos), Neil Lee, Lars, Mike Morgan (photos), Justin Scott (photos), Bouncy Ball, Wil Clouser (photos), Austin, Other Bouncy Ball"
#facebook #mozilla #photos #webdev
archive.org #11667

Nebraska fears rush to drop off kids before haven law change - CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/14/nebraska.safe.haven/index.html
"All but six have been older than 10, according to a Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services analysis. The safe haven law was meant to protect infants, but there is no age limit under the current law. Five of the abandoned children were brought to Nebraska from out of state. Parents have traveled into Nebraska from Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Florida and Georgia. "
#abandonment #children #nebraska #parenting #sad #safehaven
archive.org #11661

Electronic Drum Kit Shirt - Geek Gift Guide 2008 by ExtremeTech

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2334678,00.asp?kc=ETRSS02129TX1K0000532
"This 100% cotton, black shirt includes a drum kit decal with seven, yes seven, different drum graphics and sounds. All you do is tap on these drum graphics and you're well on your way to your first T-shirt drum solo. The included speaker requires four AAA batteries and sits in a pouch on the inside. The speaker's volume can be adjusted on the fly, a good thing because those neighbors of yours are seconds away from calling the cops. "
#clothing #drums #gadgets #rocking #tshirts #wishlist
archive.org #11660

Fraiche Yogurt - homemade organic fresh and frozen yogurt

http://www.fraicheyogurt.com
"Fraiche is a homemade, organic fresh yogurt and frozen yogurt café located in downtown Palo Alto. All of our European-style yogurts are made from scratch, in-house using local Clover organic milk and a special probiotic-focused culture. Our fresh yogurts are the basis for our frozen yogurt. So, whether you feel like fresh or frozen yogurt, you'll still enjoy the same health benefits."
#california #food #frozenyogurt #paloalto #tovisit
archive.org #11658

MAKE: Blog: The Visible Hand

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/11/the_visible_hand.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890
"The DIY mindset celebrated in this magazine must again become an essential life skill, rooted once again in necessity and practicality. Our future security lies in knowing what we’re capable of creating, and how we can adapt to change by being resourceful."
#creation #diy #hacking #hacks #make
archive.org #11654

The Digital Book: Paper's Last Hurrah

http://gizmodo.com/5081875/the-digital-book-papers-last-hurrah
"While Sony Readers and Amazon Kindles take to the scene, one paper lover, in celebration of the Blood on Paper exhibition (something we've never heard of but have a pretty good idea what it's about), released this USB copy of The New Machiavelli. Photographed page by page, those who think its contents might resemble Google Book Search would be dreadfully wrongWe thoroughly enjoy that his hands are in each shot. That's what the fancy Kindle has been missing all this time!"
#books #ebooks #for:jm3 #ocr #scanning
archive.org #11650

FriendFeed Nails IM Integration, May See Huge Increase in Use - ReadWriteWeb

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/friendfeed_nails_im_integratio.php
"Popular online activity-monitoring service FriendFeed just announced IM integration and the way they implemented it is really smart. I'm now getting an IM every time someone comments on one of my items in FriendFeed, and I can reply with a comment on that very same item from inside my IM client. It's a great way to keep on top of conversations and keep them flowing. "
#friendfeed #im #socialsoftware
archive.org #11647

ASCII by Jason Scott: When the BBS Broke Free

http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/000744.html
"Consider for a moment, if you will, how much computer you're seeing in this shot. Each of those machines is a fully set up PC compatible, with the attendant costs of memory, hard drive, and internal cards. They are all connected to modems (some of which you can see stacked on top) and all of this collection of hardware are plugged into the masses of power strips along the back. The room was obviously never designed for these computers - it has a regular carpet and those power strips are ad hoc. Consider how much effort was expended to make this system even work, to keep it all running, to make it function, to administer the software. This was a hell of a way to make a buck."
#bbs #communication #hardware #modems #social
archive.org #11642

Beware of the Dog | JoeDog / Siege

http://www.joedog.org/JoeDog/Siege
"Siege is an http regression testing and benchmarking utility. It was designed to let web developers measure the performance of their code under duress, to see how it will stand up to load on the internet. Siege supports basic authentication, cookies, HTTP and HTTPS protocols. It allows the user hit a web server with a configurable number of concurrent simulated users. Those users place the webserver "under siege." "
#http #load #performance #scalability #testing #utilities #webdev
archive.org #11641

Stupid DRM handcuffs | D'Arcy Norman dot net

http://www.darcynorman.net/2008/11/05/stupid-drm-handcuffs
"That’s me in the DVD. But because the MPAA makes software companies bend over to protect their content by baking DRM into the apps that ship with my computer, I’m prevented from doing legitimate things with my own content. Thankfully, there are ways around it (Jing was more than happy to capture a screenshot - I’m sure the MPAA attack dogs will be closing that hole ASAP)."
#drm #dvd #osx #screenshots
archive.org #11640

Defining Bush's "Mandate"

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2001
"Winning 51 percent of the popular vote in Tuesday's election , Bush administration officials were quick to declare that the results constitute a "mandate" for Bush's second term. This interpretation of the election caught hold in the mainstream media-- a sign perhaps that White House spin was triumphing over the actual numbers recorded on Election Day. "
#2004 #bush #mandate #obama #politics
archive.org #11636

ThinkGeek :: Dough-Nu-Matic

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/kitchen/a2d2
"One day, when aliens come to visit our backwater planet, they will ask the representatives from Earth to provide them with examples of the finest culinary delights humanity has to offer. One representative steps forward with a fresh pot of Jamaican Blue-mountain coffee. Another proudly hands over a bottle of Bordeaux. A third unwraps a huge block of dark chocolate. Finally, the last ambassador opens a box of a dozen hot fresh doughnuts."
#awesome #doughnuts #food #wishlist
archive.org #11634

Mojo Web Framework

http://mojolicious.org
"Back in the early days of the web there was this wonderful Perl library called CGI.pm , many people only learned Perl because of it. It was simple enough to get started without knowing much about the language and powerful enough to keep you going, learning by doing was much fun. While most of the techniques used are outdated now, the idea behind it is not. Mojo is a new attempt at implementing this idea using state of the art technology. "
#frameworks #mojo #perl #webdev #webframeworks
archive.org #11633

Mark Maynard - it’s the company you keep

http://markmaynard.com/index.php/2008/11/04/it_s_the_company_you_keep
"I know a lot of you out there don’t plan to vote for Barack Obama. I can accept that. As much as I think America desperately needs the hope for a better future that he embodies, I can admit that he’s deficient in certain areas. And, I can see how his charisma and celebrity status might put some people off. I get all that. And I don’t want to change your mind. What I would like to convince you of, however, is that you shouldn’t reward McCain and Palin, who have, over the course of this campaign, appealed to the basest elements in our nature, with your vote. They have lied, engaged in race baiting, and even gone so far as to infer that their opponent - a United States Senator - is a terrorist, and a threat to our nation. I have to think that a majority of Republicans find that kind of behavior reprehensible. ... It is no longer a party of ideas. It has become the last refuge of anti-intellectuals, and fear mongers. It is the party of Sarah Palin."
#dishonesty #ignorance #intolerance #mccain #palin #politics #republicans
archive.org #11631

Weave 0.3 Prototype Server « Tapestry

http://tobyelliott.wordpress.com/2008/10/29/weave-03-prototype-server
"Feedback on the 0.3 API announcement went well, so it’s time to release a prototype of the server. The code is available from the weaveserver repository along with instructions for setting up a copy of the server and the local user creation API if you want to use that."
#apis #labs #mozilla #weave #webdev
archive.org #11630

Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need | Amanda Scott's Blog: Barack in Jacksonville, FL: "Tomorrow"

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/amandascott/gGg8Cv
"Tomorrow, you can put an end to the politics that would divide a nation just to win an election; that tries to pit region against region, city against town, Republican against Democrat; that asks us to fear at a time when we need hope. ... Tomorrow, at this defining moment in history, you can give this country the change we need. "
#election #fear #hope #obama #politics #presidential
archive.org #11629

Charlie's Diary: A revolting proposition

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2008/11/a_revolting_proposition.html
"Here's a good diagnostic test for whether a proposed law is bigoted: if it applies to a group of people, replace the subject group in question with "Jews" or "Blacks", and see how it reads. If Adolf Hitler or the Grand Cyclops would approve, then it's a fair bet that there's something fishy about it. In the case of Proposition 8, how would you vote if it read, "Only marriage between Christians is recognized in California"? Or "Only marriage between white-skinned people is recognized in California"? "
#california #marriage #prop8
archive.org #11627

Palin suggests Chronicle withheld Obama remarks

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/02/MNTL13SU6S.DTL
Just like Troopergate, she counts on morons to just believe without question or follow-up. So tired of the exploitation of fear and willful ignorance. "Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, in a campaign appearance Sunday, criticized comments about coal technology that Sen. Barack Obama made to The Chronicle editorial board in January, and suggested that the newspaper withheld the information from the public - even though the interview has been posted on the newspaper's Web site since it was given."
#cleancoal #coal #interviews #news #obama #palin #sfchron
archive.org #11626

ATARI SDrive

http://raster.infos.cz/atari/hw/sdrive/sdriveen.htm
"The SDrive is a device that connects to Atari XL/XE's serial (SIO) port and simulates an Atari floppy disk drive with full read/write access to programs and data stored on a SecureDigital flash card (SD)."
#atari #flash #hardware #oldschool #retro #sd
archive.org #11625

The diskette that blew Trixter’s mind « Oldskooler Ramblings

http://trixter.wordpress.com/2008/09/28/the-diskette-that-blew-trixters-mind
"The manual for Mental Blocks claims that, for both C64 and IBM, you put the diskette in label-side up. I thought that had to be a typo, since every single mixed C64/IBM or Apple/IBM diskette I have ever seen is a “flippy” disk where one side is IBM and the other side is C64 or Apple — until I looked at the FAT12 for the disk and saw that tons of sectors in an interleaved pattern were marked as BAD — very strange usage."
#badsectors #c64 #commodore #disks #filesystems #gaming #geek #hacks #ibm #pc #retro #vintage
archive.org #11624

Pushing Daisies: Why Pushing Daisies Is The Best TV Show You're Not Watching

http://io9.com/5072618/why-pushing-daisies-is-the-best-tv-show-youre-not-watching
All of you bastards out there need to start watching this show. "I wish that headline wasn't true, but the ratings back me up; not enough people are watching ABC's Pushing Daisies. Bryan Fuller's secretly twisted yet romantic detective show may bring the dead back to life on a regular basis, but it also goes out of its way to prove Isaac Newton and Stan Lee right every week as well. Hilarious, more cynical than you might expect and with the best ensemble cast on television right now, we're giving you four reasons why it's time to put your preconceptions aside and get onboard the Pie Wagon before it's too late."
#entertainment #pushingdaisies #shows #television #tv
archive.org #11621

Kids Halloween Candy Code

http://www.cockeyed.com/archive/candy_code/candy_code.html
"Growing up in the Bowling Green neighborhood of Sacramento, I was taught how to read and mark houses with the Halloween Candy Code. For kids with an early curfew these codes were invaluable. Once we tagged a house, our peers could use our marks to reap the best full-size chocolate bars while avoiding Chex mix and dried apricots."
#candycode #communication #halloween #hobocode #icons #nifty
archive.org #11618

In Defense of Marriage - Anil Dash

http://dashes.com/anil/2008/10/in-defense-of-marriage.html
"It's fun! It doesn't have to be full of bullshit and drama like your single life. It reduces your sense of obligation. It's so much less work to go out. The Ball and Chain is for Losers. Married people are hot and getting hotter. You can just say "screw everybody else" sometimes. You can have sex whenever you want. You become less of an asshole."
#anniversary #california #civilrights #marriage #politics #prop8 #wedding
archive.org #11616

No Opera Mini for the iPhone | Hardware 2.0 | ZDNet.com

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware?p=2901
Yikes. This is really making me hope that Android or Palm linux phones grow up fast. "It seems that the engineers at Opera developed a version of Opera Mini that would run on the iPhone (and the iPod touch), but this browser will never see light of day because Apple rejected it from the App Store."
#appstore #browsers #business #competition #iphone #opera #operamini #webdev
archive.org #11615