R(d)andom Thoughts

"To really stand for something, you must make difficult decisions, mostly about what you don’t..."

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:44:33 -0700

“

To really stand for something, you must make difficult decisions, mostly about what you don’t do. We don’t ship products like that, we don’t stand for employees like that (“you’re fired”), we don’t fix problems like that.

It’s so hard to stand up, to not compromise, to give up an account or lose a vote or not tell a journalist what they want to hear.

But those are the only moments where standing for something actually counts, the only times that people will actually come to believe that you in fact actually stand for something.

”

- Seth Godin (link). Hmm. Quoting a lot of Seth lately.

Don't Estimate TOO Accurately

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:21:34 -0700

Seth Godin’s latest blog entry reminds me of elementary school arithmetic. I got a lot of answers wrong in the “estimating” unit of math class, because my estimations were too accurate, and didn’t match what the “correct” estimate was in the answer key.

"I don’t try to pick turns in any kind of an industry in terms of buying stocks. I just like to..."

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:32:16 -0700

“I don’t try to pick turns in any kind of an industry in terms of buying stocks. I just like to buy them when I think they’re cheap relative to their long-term earning power.”

- Warren Buffett (http://www.clusterstock.com/2008/8/that-awesome-warren-buffett-cnbc-interview)

Don't be an idiot like me, update RubyGems

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 14:39:15 -0700

Don't be an idiot like me, update RubyGems: This helped reduce my Advil bill for this month.

No Further Clarification Needed: Blockbuster CEO is a Complete Idiot

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:55:15 -0700

No Further Clarification Needed: Blockbuster CEO is a Complete Idiot: “I’ve been frankly confused by this fascination that everybody has with Netflix”

Carly and I were going through our travel photos the other day -...

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:52:10 -0700

Carly and I were going through our travel photos the other day - and came across this one and had a good laugh. Would you like bong sauce with that Mekong weed?

Doesn’t this just say it all?

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:34:31 -0700

Doesn’t this just say it all?

CTV Buys Rights to Hockey Night in Canada Theme Song...

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:09:24 -0700

…in perpetuity.

And they’re patting themselves on the back like they are some sort of heroes, now that we can listen to the theme on CTV and TSN instead of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada.

I think someone should tell them to get a clue. It’s a sad day for Canadians, with 40 years of HNIC history which will now never be the same.

If CTV think they are “heroes” for this, and that they’ve “saved” the theme song - I think someone needs to hand them a Clue Stick™.

Thanks for nothing, CTV.

This Just In: Toronto Mayor is an Idiot

Tue, 27 May 2008 10:21:33 -0700

In a bold move that proves once again the denseness of some Canadian politicians, mayor David Miller announces a plan to make all handguns illegal in Toronto (exclusions for law enforcement). See article here.

Maybe someone forgot to tell David Miller that the gangs that are walking around shooting people on the streets don’t care so much what laws they’re breaking.

Effectively, what this ‘ban’ does is:

Piss off a ton of law-abiding citizens who legally own and safely store hobby firearms.
Give criminals one more law to break (that they don’t care about) that the police don’t have the power or ability to enforce.

I have an idea. How about making some reformation to the justice system so that the police actually have the power to put gang members behind bars. And I’m not talking behind bars for two weeks with a satellite TV and a slap on the wrist while someone coos to the lovely gang banger - “Please don’t do that again, sweetheart. It’s just not nice” - while they wait for their inevitable discharge - I’m talking real jail-time.

Give me a large Tuna fillet, and 5 minutes alone with the Toronto mayor and I’ll bet he’ll have forgotten all about the city’s gun problems, and Cloverleaf will be the next thing on the “to ban” from Toronto list.

Can we get a dose of common sense over here, please?

What Hath Java Wrought

Wed, 14 May 2008 09:00:38 -0700

What Hath Java Wrought: Insightful. Accurate.

Tech Support for Broken Rogers Call Forwarding

Fri, 09 May 2008 08:48:17 -0700

Dan: I activated call forwarding on my phone yesterday, but it doesn't work, I keep getting a "Command Error" problem.
Tech Support: Let me see here...
Tech Support: I can fix that, but I have to talk to Customer Service. Our $3/month call forwarding is broken right now, so I have to put you on our $2/month call forwarding, it'll work exactly the same, but it's $1 cheaper.

While Mocking JBoss Logging

Wed, 07 May 2008 09:32:45 -0700

Bryan: "Oh hai, I found a shiny thing"
Bryan: "Look! I allocated some memory!"
Dan: "Look! I logged something!"
Dan: "Look! I logged something about logging something!"
Bryan: aaaiiieee... down the infinite loop of metalogging...
Bryan: "Ouch. My brain hurts now. Let's log some stuff about obscure object instantiations."
Dan: (that you neither configured, know about, or care about)
Dan: "Instantiated JdbcJmxOdbcMetaDataConfigurationLoggerInstantiatorProxy$1 and configured it for use"
Bryan: Wow... your buzzword-fu is strong.
Bryan: I had to brace myself for a minute.

Coast Capital Savings has some of the best advertising...

Thu, 01 May 2008 17:08:00 -0700

Coast Capital Savings has some of the best advertising I’ve seen in a long time.

Photo

Thu, 01 May 2008 06:55:16 -0700

"Be fearful when people are greedy and greedy when people are fearful."

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:47:00 -0700

“Be fearful when people are greedy and greedy when people are fearful.”

- Warren Buffet

Garlic

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:20:00 -0700

Dan: You can pretty much make anything awesome by rubbing it with garlic.
Nick: Truer words are rarely uttered.

All I Need Is A Programmer

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:28:47 -0700

All I Need Is A Programmer: This is gold.

'Mocking Hash' in Ruby

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:02:33 -0700

'Mocking Hash' in Ruby: This is hot.

“NOTE: We’re sorry. There are no Shaw services available...

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 08:31:39 -0700

“NOTE: We’re sorry. There are no Shaw services available in your area.”

That’s weird, considering I got to your web site using Shaw’s High Speed Internet, and also happen to have a Shaw Digital Phone. Good grief.

Lunch - April 7th

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:09:25 -0700

Sweet red peppers grilled in a little bit of olive oil, stacked on top of slices of aged white cheddar, piled with blackforest ham on an ever-so-lightly-oven-toasted kaiser.

Glory.