Events

Here's a hint: the problem is between chair and receiver. Bruce Schneier linked today to this excellent essay on the unseen dangers of mobile phones: About four seats away is a gentleman (on this occasion pronounced 'fool') with a BlackBerry mobile device and a very loud voice. He is obviously intent on selling a customer something and is briefing his team. It seems he is the leader as he defines the strategy and assigns each of his unseen team with specific tasks and roles. Eventually, he starts to...

My colleague Cameron Beatley sent me this handy chart: Quick Guide to Programming Languages The proliferation of modern programming languages (all of which seem to have stolen countless features from one another) sometimes makes it difficult to remember what language you're currently using. This handy reference is offered as a public service to help programmers who find themselves in such a dilemma. Task Shoot yourself in the foot. Comparison C You shoot yourself in the foot. C++ You accidentally create...

This made me laugh.

Ah, the Peter Principle rears its ugly head once again, in its purest form. MSNBC is reporting that a Costa Mesa, Calif., middle school has suspended students for viewing a Web page. They're also trying to expel the student who put up the page (internal links mine): A middle school student faces expulsion for allegedly posting graphic threats against a classmate on the popular myspace.com Web site, and 20 of his classmates were suspended for viewing the posting, school officials said. Police are...

I just started reading The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery, which contains a fairly good overview of climate change and how we're making it happen. It's important to understand that climate change has happened rapidly throughout history, meaning changes of 2-4°C (4-7°F) have occurred over decades rather than millennia. So, having started that book yesterday, I'm warmed (so to speak) by this morning's Washington Postarticle on the shrinking Antarctic ice sheet: The Antarctic ice sheet is losing as much as...

Andy Borowitz today jokes about a hypothetical Bush visit to reality: For Mr. Bush, the visit to reality, while brief, was still significant because it represented his first visit to the real world since being elected President in 2000. "The President deserves a lot of credit for making this visit to reality," one aide said. "He doesn't have a natural constituency here."

The AP reported today that the President, Secretary Chertoff, and other officials were clearly warned about the likelihood of levee failures three days before Bush went on television claiming otherwise: Bush didn't ask a single question during the final government-wide briefing the day before Katrina struck on Aug. 29 but assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared." Six days of footage and transcripts obtained by The Associated Press show in excruciating detail that while...

Like the journeymen of old, I have packed up my tools and traveled far from home to practice my craft. Unlike the journeymen of old, I can go home every weekend. So, I have a new cube, a new team, and a room at the nearby Extended Stay America. As I get settled, I'll write more on a few subjects familiar to the thousands of other software developers who find themselves in similar circumstances: Work/Life balance when your life is there, you're here, and you bill by the hour (i.e., the importance of...

I'm in Nashua, N.H. starting a new project tomorrow, so I'm too pooped to write about anything interesting today. Anne reports that Heather (below), from Saturday's adoption event, is still available, though her brothers Harrison and McCartney have new homes.

We went to the PAWS adoption event in Winnetka yesterday, and came this close to stealing the puppies. McCartney would have been one of them: