Darn Whippersnappers!
So not too long ago I was browsing a bookstore and flipping through the computer books section. Of course it had a varied selection of O'Reilly books - the ones with the woodcut animal drawings on the covers. These are classics for computer nerds - you can expect a certain level of quality from such a book. And then I noticed with a fair amount of disgust a new line called "Head First" books that are some sort of stylistic cross between the "Dummies" design and some marketing droid's impression of what slacker Starbucks consumers look like. And I was even sadder to realize that these are also O'Reilly books. Yuck, yuck and double-yuck.
I can only assume that somebody decided the animals weren't going to appeal to a new generation of script kiddies wending their way through what passes for college these days. (Java as a primary instructional language? Pfeaugh! In my day you grokked pointers or you washed out. And probably ended up in marketing creating book covers to annoy me.)
Keep your fresh trendy faces off my reference books. And stay off my lawn!technorati tags:books, OReilly, HeadFirst
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So not too long ago I was browsing a bookstore and flipping through the computer books section. Of course it had a varied selection of O'Reilly books - the ones with the woodcut animal drawings on the covers. These are classics for computer nerds - you can expect a certain level of quality from such a book. And then I noticed with a fair amount of disgust a new line called "Head First" books that are some sort of stylistic cross between the "Dummies" design and some marketing droid's impression of what slacker Starbucks consumers look like. And I was even sadder to realize that these are also O'Reilly books. Yuck, yuck and double-yuck.
I can only assume that somebody decided the animals weren't going to appeal to a new generation of script kiddies wending their way through what passes for college these days. (Java as a primary instructional language? Pfeaugh! In my day you grokked pointers or you washed out. And probably ended up in marketing creating book covers to annoy me.)
Keep your fresh trendy faces off my reference books. And stay off my lawn!
technorati tags:books, OReilly, HeadFirst
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Worst Birthday Present Ever.
So Friday we went to trim the cat's nails and Heisenberg had one that seemed swollen and had some dirt matted into his fur. He wasn't very happy to let us mess with this claw, and we cleaned it a bit and let him go. Over the weekend we checked it both days and it continued to be swollen, and the claw itself seemed like it might be discolored. He's broken a claw before - badly enough that it had to be removed so this didn't seem impossible. So Monday morning I had to call the vet and schedule him an appoinment. And both of our cats utterly transform in hissing, spitting balls of fury when they go to the vet, so they have to get sedated. So I got to drive on the freeways in rush hour traffic (to drop him off) and then had to leave him all day. Karin brought him home, but he was still all dopey - his hind legs didn't even work when he first came home, and it was several hours before he could walk even vaguely straight. So we ended up rescheduling dinner at Forbes Mill for Tuesday so we could keep an eye on him (and make sure Schrödinger didn't beat on him while he was defenseless and smelled like the vet).
In the end he's fine though - it's apparently just a minor infection. He's got some antibiotics and a pain pill he gets twice a day, and he looks a tiny bit undignified with two toes shaved. But he bounced back and was fine by Tuesday morning.
Still would have rather he just didn't observe my birthday at all though . . . .
technorati tags:cat, Heisenberg, vet
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So Friday we went to trim the cat's nails and Heisenberg had one that seemed swollen and had some dirt matted into his fur. He wasn't very happy to let us mess with this claw, and we cleaned it a bit and let him go. Over the weekend we checked it both days and it continued to be swollen, and the claw itself seemed like it might be discolored. He's broken a claw before - badly enough that it had to be removed so this didn't seem impossible. So Monday morning I had to call the vet and schedule him an appoinment. And both of our cats utterly transform in hissing, spitting balls of fury when they go to the vet, so they have to get sedated. So I got to drive on the freeways in rush hour traffic (to drop him off) and then had to leave him all day. Karin brought him home, but he was still all dopey - his hind legs didn't even work when he first came home, and it was several hours before he could walk even vaguely straight. So we ended up rescheduling dinner at Forbes Mill for Tuesday so we could keep an eye on him (and make sure Schrödinger didn't beat on him while he was defenseless and smelled like the vet).
In the end he's fine though - it's apparently just a minor infection. He's got some antibiotics and a pain pill he gets twice a day, and he looks a tiny bit undignified with two toes shaved. But he bounced back and was fine by Tuesday morning.
Still would have rather he just didn't observe my birthday at all though . . . .
technorati tags:cat, Heisenberg, vet
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Video Bits
Couple of video bits to call out. First on the humor front: Writers of Lost
I still think Lost isn't doomed, but this is funny anyway. (I saw it from Violent Acres.)
Second, I was excited to see Merlin Mann (from 43 Folders, or the Phone Guy videos) launch his video podcast: The Merlin Show. But then I was a little surprised to see the first real episode show up as fifteen minutes. Yikes! I was expecting Ze Frank, not Adult Swim lengths. So I let it pile up last week - I was continually rebooting TinyGod into XP so even if I wanted a break I couldn't easily get at the videos on the Mac side of the fence. But I finally got around to watching that episode (an interview with Jonathan Coulton - download it here), and really enjoyed it. It's a good 15 minutes, but I need to figure out a good "automatic download from iTunes and stream to the 360 solution". TVersity I'm sure but I want an automatic feed that just makes it happen.
Anyway, lots of good stuff in that episode about the creativity vs. deadline dichotomy and how Thing a Week affected that.
(And while I'm talking about Jonathan Coulton - if you haven't seen Spiffworld's music videos (using World of Warcraft) check 'em out. Either Code Monkey or Skullcrusher Mountain would be my suggestions.
technorati tags:JonathanCoulton, MerlinMann, Lost, videos
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Couple of video bits to call out. First on the humor front: Writers of Lost
I still think Lost isn't doomed, but this is funny anyway. (I saw it from Violent Acres.)
Second, I was excited to see Merlin Mann (from 43 Folders, or the Phone Guy videos) launch his video podcast: The Merlin Show. But then I was a little surprised to see the first real episode show up as fifteen minutes. Yikes! I was expecting Ze Frank, not Adult Swim lengths. So I let it pile up last week - I was continually rebooting TinyGod into XP so even if I wanted a break I couldn't easily get at the videos on the Mac side of the fence. But I finally got around to watching that episode (an interview with Jonathan Coulton - download it here), and really enjoyed it. It's a good 15 minutes, but I need to figure out a good "automatic download from iTunes and stream to the 360 solution". TVersity I'm sure but I want an automatic feed that just makes it happen.
Anyway, lots of good stuff in that episode about the creativity vs. deadline dichotomy and how Thing a Week affected that.
(And while I'm talking about Jonathan Coulton - if you haven't seen Spiffworld's music videos (using World of Warcraft) check 'em out. Either Code Monkey or Skullcrusher Mountain would be my suggestions.
technorati tags:JonathanCoulton, MerlinMann, Lost, videos
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Sage Advice
Karin got this box of cookies from a student, which is actually a pretty decent from-the-kid present. Beats last year when a kid gave her a box of "Chicken in a Biskit" crackers and a strawberry flavored wine cooler. :-)
We had actually eaten several before I read the text. I guess I need to "polish my eyes" more. If you have trouble reading it in this picture it says:
No more hurry, no more busy, just take it easy. You can feel the taste if you stand quite still usually. Polish your eyes, open your mind, enjoy relish of free in the sky, release your heart and fly. Now follow your feeling. The flavor is so delicate that you can find.Come on guys, let's enjoy relish of free in the sky!
technorati tags:cookies, Engrish, humor
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Karin got this box of cookies from a student, which is actually a pretty decent from-the-kid present. Beats last year when a kid gave her a box of "Chicken in a Biskit" crackers and a strawberry flavored wine cooler. :-)
We had actually eaten several before I read the text. I guess I need to "polish my eyes" more. If you have trouble reading it in this picture it says:
No more hurry, no more busy, just take it easy. You can feel the taste if you stand quite still usually. Polish your eyes, open your mind, enjoy relish of free in the sky, release your heart and fly. Now follow your feeling. The flavor is so delicate that you can find.Come on guys, let's enjoy relish of free in the sky!
technorati tags:cookies, Engrish, humor
Blogged with Flock