http://www.crazyontap.com Providing the Internet with a daily dose of nuts. 30 Jul 10 05:16:41 GMT FruitShow 0.2 http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78907&Posts=4 xampl: I need to send out a new password (this is for one of my side projects) when people forget their password.

I don't want to send out something impossible to type correctly, like I10Ov8HBeQQ2, so I'm thinking to send out two dictionary words separated by some random digits:
camera52laptop
table235gorilla

but I want to increase the complexity while still making it easy to remember & type.  Don't want someone using a rainbow table attack against me (there is now at least one cloud-based password cracking service available out there.)

So I was thinking to randomly capitalize the first character in a syllable:
cameRa52Laptop
Table235gorilLa

The trouble is how to identify the start of a syllable.  I've looked for wordlists that have them already separated out, but haven't found any.

Programmatically, some rules seem to be the first consonant in front of a vowel, or first letter in a word as likely candidates.  But given the vagaries of English, I'm sure it'll get it horribly wrong and just get laughed-at on TheDailyWTF. ;)

Any suggestions?]]> 30 Jul 10 02:36:22 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78899&Posts=0 Water Cooler v2: I'm feeling inspired by this thread.

http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78877&Posts=11

So, here's another improvisation.




Hi,

We are global leaders in software productivity and platforms area. We have been best in this area for the last 11 years. Our total headcount is over 4000 and we are having all facilities, especially railway station at 14 km distance from our office and airport at only 56 kms away.

Every person in our company has more than 3 years experience....so our total experience in engineering is mre than 12,000 man years (3 X 4,000).

We are currently manufacturing software products only. We are leaders in financial domain, healthcare domain and telecom domain. Our customer wants an application to do lots of calculations in the financial domain. I need help to know how to build such applications. If you have experience in this financial department, please help with your invaluable suggestions at gurmeet.singh@somefreeemailservice.com...

Your suggestions and entries must be in financial domains and in keeping in mind we are using the Distributed Agile platform for our development purposes by using the flagship product Tomatocity*. Please help by sending teh codez. Our deadline is 2nd August 2010. Your entries should reach before this. So...Please send it fast.

Sweet Regard

Yours Respectively,

Gurmeet Singh



* Where Tomatocity would be some lousy internal website hosted on their intranet that is a straight out of the box deployment of an open source project management tool licensed under GPL. Tomatocity will be highly customized to the extent it will have a company-specific <title> for each page.]]> 30 Jul 10 01:19:12 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78896&Posts=4 ASDF: <rant>
This week was an emotional roller coaster. First thing Monday, the VP calls me into his office, tells me that the design phase is over, they're going in another direction for implementation, my last day is Friday. OK, that's life in the big city, literally.

Can I spend the week in knowledge transfer? Sure, I say. I'll eat shit for $680/day I say to myself, that's $3400 more than my pride is worth.

I'm gracious in the transition, and people keep coming to me expressing shock and sorrow. Cool. I go into great detail about my code and data structures, and why I did what I did. The VP sat in on the sessions, OK, fine.

Damned if the VP doesn't surprise me again this morning, calling me into his office first thing. I'm thinking, OK, here's the badge, the door won't hit me in the ass. Good news he says, we want to keep you. You'll work in another department, doing something else, but I was so impressed with your work that I don't want to lose you.

Happy ending this time, but I gotta find a stable "permanent" job with a stable company. This is killing me.
</rant>]]> 30 Jul 10 01:10:20 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78891&Posts=16 Water Cooler v2: There was ADO.NET and that wasn't enough, as if. I spent countless hours when I could do real life things, to learn Linq to objects, and Linq to SQL, and now there's the ADO.NET entity framework, but that's okay because I get to the bottom of things using reflector and can appreciate the similarities at least in the public interface of the model generated by the two (Linq to SQL vs. ADO.NET entity framework).

But now, there's this new beast called Linq to Entities, whatever on God's green earth it is.

And oh, don't forget the new shiny way to build websites easily with as little code as you can get away with, with ASP.NET MVC. And don't worry, there's version 2 already shipped and we're busy working on version 3. We know you want it. Surprise, surprise! You're gonna love this. Even though it sits on top of the ASP.NET engine, it has nothing in common in terms of the programming model. It is a whole new paradigm. No post backs, no view state, no server controls, no HTML abstraction. Power to you!

And, to build things in it, you must be good and learn jQuery like mommy's little good boy (okay, this is one thing that I actually like over the ugly thing that we call JavaScript, but even then, it's another thing to learn).

And of course, we assume you already know those things like CSS, XML, some XSLT, and XHTML. Yeah, I do, but everything's changing so rapidly. The CSS you knew earlier (even until v2) isn't what people use now. It looks real ugly these days with all those nested psedo-classes and boxed/floating/ugly what-nots.

All this to display "Hello, World!" from a database on a Web page. What's the world coming to?

And the chipmunks will jump at anything that's nicely branded and packaged.

Honestly, it doesn't feel like programming anymore. I am beginning to forget how we used to write some code to connect to a database and there was mostly just one way, now that I am seeing more and more ways (actually wizards) of doing the same thing.]]> 29 Jul 10 23:59:15 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78884&Posts=5 xampl: this guy wins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeNLMN_RqSI]]> 29 Jul 10 21:27:53 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78880&Posts=3 Full name: http://mobile.venturebeat.com/2010/07/28/android-wallpaper-app-that-steals-your-data-was-downloaded-by-millions/]]> 29 Jul 10 20:39:30 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78877&Posts=14 Bored Bystander: http://discuss.joelonsoftware.com/default.asp?biz.5.827885.0

>> Incorporating in US for non-residents.
>> hi Men,

>> We are are going to run the service that can be useful for sofware developers. There is no company yet but we are going to have one.

>> Are there something important to know for such start-up?

I am in awe. Just in awe.

Bos == Flowers for Algernon, the business edition.]]> 29 Jul 10 20:19:03 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78869&Posts=7 not CC: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/world/europe/30moscow.html?hp

"Oymyakon in Eastern Siberia is considered one of the coldest places on Earth, with winter temperatures dropping to as low as minus 90 degrees. On Thursday, the thermometer also read 90 degrees. Plus 90. In the evening."]]> 29 Jul 10 19:15:44 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78868&Posts=8 xampl: While they weren't perfect, this paper says they prevented things from being any worse than they are.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/business/economy/28bailout.html?_r=1

Without the policies, unemployment would have been 16.5 million instead of 8 million people.]]> 29 Jul 10 18:58:28 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78863&Posts=7 Morons: So I billed him for training that I usually would have done as a courtesy.

Made me feel better, it did.]]> 29 Jul 10 17:36:01 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78856&Posts=25 anon for this: I work in an IT department at a company that produces widgets....was hired in as a programmer and now doing everything under the sun.  I'm responsible for not just coding and database stuff, but pretty much all support in the department (networking, tech support, dealing with vendors and making sure they do their job, and so on).  So I not only have my own work to do but there is always the possibility of getting blamed for other people's screw ups. 

I haven't been able to sleep good all year.  They did some lay offs late last year and there were rumors of lay offs all year until recently - when a good portion of our department was eliminated.  I can't seeem to sleep anymore than 5-6 hours anymore, which isn't enough.  I have no problems falling asleep.  I'll wake up after only sleeping 5 hours and not be able to get back to sleep.  I feel more run down these days.  After the 3rd or 4th day of the week, I don't really have much energy in the tank.  I eat right, workout a few times per week, etc.  But I often don't have the energy to workout esp toward the end of the week. 

I've also tested my blood pressure and it's higher after work.  If I test it after being off a few days, it's in the normal range.

There are the office politics...there is another guy that trying to push his work onto me as if I don't have enough to do.  There are issues betwen the remaining sysadmins and the programmers who are now expected to be sysadmins....since we are taking over for their friends who were let go (and who were already trained for the job).

Management contributes to the problem because they do not set clear boundaries on who is responsible for what....and this creates tension between the few staff members that are left.  They don't care how it's done or who does it, they just want it done while they surf the internet.

I was sorta burnt out before all of the lay offs began but now it's affecting my sleep habits.  Vacation time isn't really an option....I just had a week off not too long ago and now it's more difficult to take vacation with little backup coverage.  Also we are on call 24/7 on certain days.

Anyone have experience with job burnout?  What symptoms did you have and what did you do about it?  What can I expect over the long term if I stay on this course?  I'd hate to switch jobs but wondering if that is the only choice.]]> 29 Jul 10 16:31:51 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78853&Posts=2 not CC: The Israelis and Egyptians have no humanity:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxaDmAyt84g

http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3922441,00.html]]> 29 Jul 10 15:51:24 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78849&Posts=0 lorb: http://www.smh.com.au/world/mother-charged-with-killing-eight-babies-20100729-10y3i.html?autostart=1

'she did not want any more children and did not want to see a doctor to get contraception'.

Definitely bizarre.]]> 29 Jul 10 15:25:24 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78848&Posts=6 not CC: http://www.salon.com/news/media_criticism/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2010/07/29/media_ignore_wikileaks

Horrible revelations about our government and by extension, our nation, and the reaction is: radio silence.

There're no grabbing pictures, there's no compelling narrative, so we don't give a shit.

How fucked up is that?]]> 29 Jul 10 15:19:47 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78830&Posts=13 Mr.Clean: If I run my fingers through my hair vigorously, I can always get 3 or 4 hairs to fall out.

How long before I just shave my head?]]> 29 Jul 10 11:28:03 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78818&Posts=1 __monty__: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZa7hU6tP_s

Don't have a lawnmower but otherwise, yes, that's my life :)]]> 29 Jul 10 09:26:50 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78813&Posts=24 Spaceloid: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-28/fallen-soldiers-families-denied-cash-payout-as-life-insurers-boost-profit.html

Un-fucking-believeable.]]> 29 Jul 10 08:06:05 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78796&Posts=13 CC: The answer is YES! Most CERTAINLY!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/business/economy/28leonhardt.html?src=me&ref=general

BTW, in case you're not aware, Kindergarten teaching typically only requires an elementary education certificate from the community college, which takes a year or so to get.]]> 29 Jul 10 04:52:59 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78788&Posts=2 CC: Ouch, forgot to remove the names of the field agents that were providing us with intelligence.

Maybe Julian can send their widows a nice card.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/world/asia/29wikileaks.html]]> 29 Jul 10 03:38:26 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78787&Posts=4 India loves Japan: finally, the wifi only model is USD 139.

http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireless-Reading-Display-Graphite/dp/B002Y27P3M/ref=amb_link_353611822_4?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=gateway-center-column&pf_rd_r=1JG0GSJ87Y2PNJYQAC4H&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1271001842&pf_rd_i=507846]]> 29 Jul 10 03:34:42 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78770&Posts=14 CC: if you have a masters whatever you do don't put it on your resume. cover that shameful indulgence up and never let anyone hear of it.

http://activevoice.charlesbivona.com/?p=165

In this article, the protagonist can not find a job until he sees a savvy career counselor who tells him to grammatical errors to his resume and remove half his education. Then, he finally gets an interview and has this conversation:

Inteviewer: “I learned all I needed to know in high school, ya know. I wanted to make money.” He leaned back in his smug lumbar-supporting executive chair.

I agreed with him. “Yeah, I just graduated to make my mom happy,” I smirked. “I barely made it through, and I’d never go back.”

And it worked.]]> 28 Jul 10 21:21:52 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78763&Posts=1 CC: Safari 5.0.1 is out and has an extensions framework like Firefox has had, and there are tons of extensions already available, several of which are actually useful, such as a HTML/CSS validator, ad block, ruler, and a gizmo called coda that lets you draw and type on top of a web page and then email it to someone.]]> 28 Jul 10 20:30:42 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78760&Posts=14 Morons: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100728/us_nm/us_usa_fed_mortgages]]> 28 Jul 10 19:31:24 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78755&Posts=8 Bluebeard: But Steve Yegge has returned to remind me

http://www.timecube.com/]]> 28 Jul 10 18:56:08 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78750&Posts=6 CC: So this is the #1 test used to prove a defendant had marijuana and not incense or sage, and has been used to convict millions of people of drug crimes.

http://www.alternet.org/investigations/147613/has_the_most_common_marijuana_test_resulted_in_tens_of_thousands_of_wrongful_convictions/?page=entire

One problem though - it gives a positive result for incense, sage and just about anything.]]> 28 Jul 10 18:20:01 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78743&Posts=36 . for this: Our department recently laid off some people and we have a skeleton crew.  One of my co-workers went on vacation.  They asked if I'd work the extra day.  Being salary, I do not get paid for any work over 40 hours. :(  Should I make an issue of it and ask for another day off or just suck it up?]]> 28 Jul 10 16:53:59 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78742&Posts=2 SaveTheHubble: http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2010/07/blogger-finger.html

Yay, Steve is blogging again!  With a funny story about great pain which has been overcome.  Check it out.]]> 28 Jul 10 16:39:04 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78738&Posts=31 Lurker Indeed: http://richarddawkins.net/articles/493276-faith-healing-in-oregon-a-picture-worth-a-thousand-words]]> 28 Jul 10 16:06:10 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78737&Posts=9 trollop: That dam is full, doing a fine job as it traps a 10,000yr flood:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10695272

but if it overtops there's going to be a hell of a lot of garbage lost to the recycling effort:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/photo/2010-07/28/13419437_31n.jpg

That's a ship in there.]]> 28 Jul 10 15:57:15 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78734&Posts=18 muppet: http://failblog.org/2010/07/26/epic-fail-photos-parenting-fail-31-6/]]> 28 Jul 10 15:44:10 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78731&Posts=25 India > Japan: Why are people so proud when saying "Playing devil's advocate here...bla bla bla".]]> 28 Jul 10 15:41:07 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78730&Posts=6 muppet: "Find Gas Station"

"Hiding Gas Stations"

"Find Nearest Gas Station"

"Hiding Gas Stations"

"Son of a Bitch.  Find Fast Food"

"Showing Schools."

"GO FUCK YOURSELF."

"Showing Nearest Lodging."


Har.]]> 28 Jul 10 15:37:06 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78723&Posts=14 work to live: How much vacation time do you take in the summer?

I normally get about 3 weeks, but since our workload has been heavy, I've only taken a week so far this year.  We have a  couple of guys won't take their vacation time that often, so if you do take it, then you look like a slacker.  There was the same deal at my last job....if you wanted to take a vacation or a few days off, the boss would act like it's a big deal (like "how could anyone want to spend time away anywhere else other than this windowless building?")  Are most IT work environments like this?]]> 28 Jul 10 14:46:00 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78722&Posts=1 CC: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/7/28/888292/-Anonymous-1,-Oregon-Tea-Party-0

lol]]> 28 Jul 10 14:29:20 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78717&Posts=17 FrakBuccaneer: I got the digital download last night and played the first 3 missions. So far not bad, but not great either. I've never played the original - I was more of a casual C&C guy - so I didn't have any specific expectations going in. The acting in the cutscenes is crappy, and the story is standard sci-fi fare. It's not horrible though, and I'm sure I'll have some fun whenever I try multiplayer.

Decent diversion for the price, I guess.]]> 28 Jul 10 13:56:35 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78715&Posts=8 df: Got a three month trial in a new vehicle. Had never listened to it before.

Enjoyable. I like coffee house, the blend, 20 on 20, Area (some techno mix station), a couple of the classical stations, the jazz stations, spa and watercolors. Nice to have that selection. My car plays MP3s as well, but I always find someone else's mix far more enjoyable than my own.

The one thing that makes me change channels, though, are the unbelievably bad DJs. Only a few stations feature them, like 20 on 20 and even occasionally the classical stations, but they are HORRENDOUS. It's like bad college radio from a bad college on the bad side of town with the bad students. Terrible.]]> 28 Jul 10 13:35:20 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78708&Posts=16 muppet: I hadn't heard about the Mazda2 until you mentioned it, but looking briefly at it online, it's a little too small looking for our purpose.

We need SOME cargo space and a decent back seat area.  The Fit has a CAVERNOUS back seat area (it gives up some trunk and some driver leg-room for it in fact) and my 5' daughter has about a foot between her knees and the back of the front passenger seat.

The Fit is excellent for us.  I like it more and more.

The only thing I'm bummed about is that we were surprised to learn AFTER DELIVERY that the Fit doesn't actually have XM radio installed.  Every other Honda with the navigation system has XM, but not the Fit.  WTF?  The Fit is primarily marketted to 20-something hipsters, who have disposable income and are very likely to pay for something like Sirius/XM radio.  You'd think XM/Sirius would be PAYING HONDA to put the radio units in a car like that.

But apparently not.  The Civic has it.  The Insight has it.  The Fit, even fully loaded, does not.  It's BS.]]> 28 Jul 10 12:18:51 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78692&Posts=8 Rick in BC: WTF Daily is really funny.]]> 28 Jul 10 08:47:32 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78683&Posts=7 Rick in BC: Amazon + Facebook = ?

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/07/27/amazon-friends-facebook-for-product-preferences/]]> 28 Jul 10 07:13:54 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78680&Posts=25 Rick in BC: Sigh. Unfortunately geeks like me still fall for this trap once in a while.

http://al3x.net/2010/01/09/dont-be-a-hero.html]]> 28 Jul 10 06:49:00 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78678&Posts=29 Rick in BC: So Japanese products were once cheap, but now equivalent or superior in quality compared with domestic stuff.

Who says Indians products can't improve, beside perhaps Bored Bystander?]]> 28 Jul 10 06:13:34 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78661&Posts=14 Fan boy: Anyone know how to make sure a project in VS 2010 gets converted properly to ASP.Net 4?  One of my web projects insists on using ASP.Net 2, yet others use 4.  It has be baffled.]]> 28 Jul 10 01:54:36 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78660&Posts=11 Fan boy: At least it feels like it to me.  I'm converting a few solutions from VS 2008 to VS 2010. Here are some of the experiences:

1. The dev team at M.S. obviously uses integrated source code control.  If you have the project files read-only, then VS 2010 will refuse to overwrite the read-only flag, and will revert the file back to the unchanged state.

2. I had several problems where my projects would not compile. I had to exit VS 2010, then re-enter, then it would compile cleanly.

Many parts of VS 2010 seem faster and better. But I'm looking forward to the first service pack, so it will be ready for prime-time.]]> 28 Jul 10 01:52:30 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78657&Posts=9 CC: The protective order has been lifted now that Laura Dekker has complied with the court's requirements. Also her mom has given up and agreed she can do it - probably as a result of hearing about Jessie doing it successfully.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0727/14-year-old-Laura-Dekker-has-Dutch-court-s-and-her-mom-s-permission-to-sail-around-the-world

So... here we go again.]]> 28 Jul 10 01:03:36 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78646&Posts=15 Morons: "half of all Americans surveyed have tried a free web app like Twitter, zero percent of them would be willing to pay to use Twitter or a similar service."

"Consumers really want free content without advertising," says Cole, "but ultimately they understand that content has to be paid for one way or another."

ROTF!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mashable/20100726/tc_mashable/would_you_ever_pay_for_twitter_study]]> 27 Jul 10 21:01:40 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78642&Posts=14 Morons: Want to stop a check? 30$ every six month.. till the end of time.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Stop-Payment-Now-Stop-It-nytimes-185872181.html?x=0&.v=1]]> 27 Jul 10 19:58:22 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78640&Posts=2 Bluebeard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AhU12zC8fc

Well, if you're trying to promote your new single, that is. Almost a million views, all trying to get a view of her in tight top, waving her sword around.]]> 27 Jul 10 19:14:20 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78638&Posts=13 Bluebeard: For some reason, CoT always has a self-appointed loon who hangs around for a few months, posts furiously and then slips off to early retirement. We've had Denman, Dr Horrorwitz, Michael B... and now CC. How long will he last before he explodes like a Spinal Tap drummer?]]> 27 Jul 10 18:41:52 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78634&Posts=30 muppet: If you are attracted to her, you are a deviant.

She's also fucking nuts.  There is absolutely nothing to recommend this woman.

Assholes.]]> 27 Jul 10 17:44:13 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78629&Posts=34 CC: High Frequency Trading is how the markets are rigged. Those involved in in know how it works and how they are fucking us over fraudulently.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/200478-hft-goldman-and-how-to-save-free-markets

Anyone involved in HFT is a sociopath. All HFT scamsters should be arrested and imprisoned for life.]]> 27 Jul 10 17:06:00 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78626&Posts=7 muppet: We bought a bunch of "Make Way for Noddy" DVDs for the baby since she's established a routine of going to sleep to that show before bedtime, and they've pulled it off the air.

The problem is, the PBS branded DVDs have a FUCKING 3 MINUTE MANDATORY COMMERCIAL INTRODUCTION that cannot be fast forwarded or skipped and plays every time the DVD is accessed even if you leave it in the player over night.

This is obviously a ridiculous imposition and my 11 month old certainly doesn't want to sit through a 3 minute commercial that's not her show.

Is there a DVD ripping package out there for either Mac (preferably) or Windows that is either inexpensive or free?  Free/Open Source is preferred IF IT WORKS WELL but I'd pay for a decent product.

I want to rip all the episodic content off the disc to play on my TiVo's network streaming feature.  I don't care about preserving the menus or other features of the DVD.]]> 27 Jul 10 16:56:11 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78622&Posts=4 eek: ok so, what's the latest rec for decent windows AV software, free or reasonable priced? AVG?]]> 27 Jul 10 16:25:36 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78619&Posts=15 JoC: ...is a very good movie.

But I think it might bring on similar feelings as the supposed Avatar anxiety.

It would be a really cool fantasy world to live in.]]> 27 Jul 10 16:01:51 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78611&Posts=2 Rick in BC: I suppose one never trust his or her parents then.]]> 27 Jul 10 14:55:15 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78609&Posts=4 Fan boy: My local city has some bonds that will be retired in 2012. The city is having an election item to ask the population to have the portion of the property taxes for debt service converted to a general operations property tax.  This will allow greater flexibility in the use of property tax funds.

They are not proposing raising taxes.  Yep, no no taxes. Just that the bond pay off will continue forever, long after the bonds are gone.]]> 27 Jul 10 14:28:19 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78604&Posts=5 CC: So the Mac Pro and iMac have been updated.

Weird thing is that some of the models seem to remain exactly the same features and price, they've just added more options. For example CoreDuos on the iMacs have been replaced with i3s, but the i5 and i7 models are not changed at all.

On the MacPros, the same models and prices as before with Nehelem processers are still available, but they've added 6 core Westmere options, assuming you think that $4999 is a reasonable base price for a computer.]]> 27 Jul 10 13:32:04 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78602&Posts=9 Morons: http://www.flickr.com/photos/morons_cot/4834391456/

I'm just not in the mood to do real work...]]> 27 Jul 10 13:14:03 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78600&Posts=5 muppet: http://www.ewg.org/bpa-in-store-receipts/release]]> 27 Jul 10 12:13:56 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78596&Posts=12 muppet: I've never needed to put my kid on a plane alone, and I can't foresee any circumstance in the future where I will be forced to, either.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38419995/ns/travel-news/

DUH.  You send your 9 year old across the country by himself.  What sort of thing do you THINK is going to happen?]]> 27 Jul 10 11:33:26 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78592&Posts=10 muppet: I have to complete the ATI-TEAS, or ATI Test of Essential Academic Skills.  This is basically a GED style test with a little more oomph.  I'm not sweating it too much except MAYBE for the basic chemistry portions.  I know advanced chemistry better than I remember the lists of rote-memorization rules you learn at the outset.  Still, that shouldn't reduce my score by much.

The next thing I have to do is either complete a "Computer Literacy" course, or pass a "Computer Literacy" test.  My current profession of 12 years notwithstanding.  I may be forced to take the fucking course because the test will be one of those dumb Flash programs that show a simulated Excel or Word interface and give you a task, and woe unto you who does not memorize the precise path through the menus to create a pivot table without any trial and error whatsoever, just like real life.]]> 27 Jul 10 11:11:35 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78570&Posts=5 CC: I wonder this some times.

Here is a web site put together by autistic persons:

http://www.neurodiversity.com/main.html

Here is a video and youtube channel by a profoundly autistic woman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn70gPukdtY]]> 27 Jul 10 05:38:36 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78565&Posts=11 CC: http://www.mercedejohnston.com/]]> 27 Jul 10 04:51:17 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78558&Posts=9 Fan boy: I received my property tax evaluation for next year from the county today. They think my house is worth $10K less this year, and bumped the taxes up $120 per year. I'm now at $1,900 for a home valued at $250K.

This isn't my home. I'm renting it from the government, now at $160 per month.]]> 27 Jul 10 02:49:49 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78552&Posts=2 CC: Good thing they are using prison slave labor since those guys can't sue them and they don't have any health care coverage rate increase.

http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/epa-whistle-blower-people-working-near-spill-are-hemorrhaging-internally_07242010]]> 27 Jul 10 00:18:56 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78546&Posts=21 muppet: So, we're back to being a two car payment household again.

Not a huge fan of that, but I AM a fan of two newish, reliable cars.  The station wagon is already out of warranty.  I don't need TWO cars out of warranty and one with high miles.

I went for the gold plated rims and spinners as well as pimp dice and park bench spoiler.

We got rooked a bit on the sticker but we got a good value for the trade and the financing is practically free at 0.9%]]> 26 Jul 10 22:34:27 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78545&Posts=3 xampl: broke, fat, and stoned.

>> Those among the first decade of boomers - now at retirement age or within 10 years of it - may find that a combination of unhealthy living and unwise personal finance decisions will leave them in rough shape after age 65.<

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/07/26/597864/boomers-grow-old-and-not-gracefully.html]]> 26 Jul 10 22:22:23 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78539&Posts=5 Full name: http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/major-flaw-found-in-apples-safari-browser/]]> 26 Jul 10 20:54:02 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78524&Posts=1 eek: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727704.900-all-power-to-the-wind--it-cuts-your-electricity-bills.html?page=1]]> 26 Jul 10 16:51:39 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78521&Posts=9 CC: Sheesh. 66.9MB of plugins and 31.7MB of libraries.

It's nuts.]]> 26 Jul 10 16:29:31 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78520&Posts=13 Tim: I have a friend who has been telling me that this is a great time to buy land with interest rates being the lowest in history.  He owns a parcel that he can pay off, but instead of paying it off, he plans to buy another parcel and pay interest on both.  I told him he would probably be better off paying off what he has instead....but he disagreed saying that the prices will jump and there will be another boom eventually which is when he plans to sell (he has 30+ years before retirement).  Does it really make sense to buy raw land if you cannot pay for it in cash?]]> 26 Jul 10 16:27:19 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78518&Posts=21 dot for this: And those remaining get twice as much work...and everyone is stressed out and miserable.  Your job is a little bit more secure because they've done all of the cutting that they could.  Assuming that the company is not in danger of going out of business, do you stay where you are at or start looking for something else?  I've been told by friends "you're lucky to have a job" and "it's better to stay put in this economy" and "wait until things improve before you start looking".  Is that the case or would you start looking?]]> 26 Jul 10 16:12:06 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78517&Posts=36 triple-dot: Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Not too many Torontonians here, but are you aware of any (preferably C++) good opportunities in high frequency trading in Toronto? I am tapping my network, but I figured I would ask here anyway.

The bright side is that now it will be *that* much easier to justify staying up late at night to play Starcraft 2 tomorrow. Oooh, yeah! :)]]> 26 Jul 10 15:56:45 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78516&Posts=16 Io: Philosophy - have you tried reading it?

I know i tried - somewhere in my university (final) years. I started out ambitiously and directly borrowed Immanuel Kant - Critique of Pure Reason from the library.

With a little bit of shame i have to admit this was one (self-inflicted) task which exceeded my capabilities :P

From what i recall, I think i managed to get over the first three pages. The rest laid abandoned at the bottom of my drawer until i had to return the book to the library. And at some later point, i think i even tried to read some short-resume of the stuff discussed in there, but don't ask me anything on what i remember.

It was some colleague of mine, also a student of Technical University, who put it into a nice frame of words: "How the fuck can you read something of the least 200 pages without even a single formula?".]]> 26 Jul 10 15:44:10 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78511&Posts=9 FrakBuccaneer: http://newsok.com/teen-accidentally-shot-in-leg-at-gun-show-sunday-morning/article/3479504

"Police are considering the shooting to be accidental, and no arrests are expected."

How about fucking CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE!?!?!]]> 26 Jul 10 15:09:33 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78504&Posts=17 CC: "Them indians are lying to you and you are all a bunch of suckers! Also, that emperor? He's nude as well."

http://www.cio.com.au/article/354363/why_35_tablet_will_never_exist/?rid=-154]]> 26 Jul 10 13:44:57 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78502&Posts=6 Morons: "
“That’s the headhunter mentality,” says Diamond. After all, if you bring in an unemployed candidate who may well have come to the employer on his own, you’re not “adding value.”

As the tech-sector recruiter put it, “We’ve been trained to tell the customer that the candidate they’re looking for isn’t looking for them — that they’re having a great time working with their current employer, and the only way to find them is to hire us.”
"

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/jobs/the_scarlet_5m4ohHxe3FwLi3ol4nCzcK/2#ixzz0unJY6Oo9]]> 26 Jul 10 13:23:27 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78499&Posts=10 Morons: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/internet_protocol_crisis_looms_l6zOFvCOxHkAFVUVtdEouO]]> 26 Jul 10 13:07:42 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78465&Posts=4 John Aitken: Were you shopping with your family just before 7:00p at the MetroTown Stupidstore?  Thought I recognized you, and considered hailing you, but I wasn't sure it was you and I was in a hurry to try to get to another store before it closed.]]> 26 Jul 10 06:26:09 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78460&Posts=0 Bot Berlin: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/07/2010726352170386.html]]> 26 Jul 10 05:42:46 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78454&Posts=6 Rick in BC: CC vs everone else. Who should i believe?]]> 26 Jul 10 04:56:25 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78437&Posts=43 CC: Chinese artist takes bath in cleaning supplies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjVmDSQCKNs

Cringe worthy.

I think it must be fake stuff in some of the bottles though since he pours both toilet bowl cleaner (HCl) and drain cleaner (sodium hydroxide) in there and there is no explosion.]]> 26 Jul 10 01:55:26 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78430&Posts=5 Full name (cell phone): Still stuck in Baltimore, thank you Amtrak]]> 26 Jul 10 00:30:27 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78423&Posts=3 CC: This guy's plan was so ridiculous as to be impossible, but because he was totally insane, years of hard work resulted in success.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mC43CddkLQ

He build an island out of plastic bottles, then covered it with bamboo and dirt so he could plant fruit trees there. Now he floats around on his island, growing his own food and living without need of money or electricity.]]> 25 Jul 10 22:45:51 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78419&Posts=7 el: See NYT or Guardian front pages...]]> 25 Jul 10 22:01:36 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78416&Posts=4 xampl: Tons of plot holes and plot twists for no apparent reason, but still worthy entertainment. 

Pay full price to see it.]]> 25 Jul 10 21:42:54 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78410&Posts=33 CC: Augusta State University told a student that she would be expelled from college if she does not renounce her Christian belief that homosexuality is a sin. This has resulted in a lawsuit.

http://chronicle.com/article/Augusta-State-U-Is-Accused-of/123650/

Should publicly funded universities be allowed to dictate what personal religious beliefs of their students are acceptable?]]> 25 Jul 10 20:34:27 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78398&Posts=3 Bot Berlin: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/24/business/media/24mag.html

Everyone poopoo Murdoch's idea for charging for content.  Now CondeNest/Wired might be doing this.]]> 25 Jul 10 18:02:28 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78388&Posts=13 Scott: I posted something at BoS that as an afterthought touches on job ad requirements.

The gist is that NO ONE on the planet earth matches 100% of the "requirements" in 90% of job ads. Since GOOD developers are literalists, this practice ensures that no good developers will apply to such an ad. They'll instead get liars, desperate people, sociopaths, fakers, posers, and those who don't care. And then complain about the low level of development skill.

There's not really a low level of development skill though is there? After all these companies obviously have other developers and are developing products. The problem is in the job ad process.

I thought I'd go into more depth here.

First my experience from the hiring end.

Office staff in the US was honest but unskilled locals. Their key traits were they were willing to work at my company in the boon docks because they already lived there, and they were able to show up on time and attempt to do some sort of work. It took a lot of training for all of them.

What job requirements did I advertise? None. Hired by asking a friend who was a teacher which students who graduated high school were looking for work, drug free, and hard working. After the first hire, I was then informed by the locals as to who is the best each year just in case I was hiring.

Then I had the web developer guy. He still does the web. He is in eastern europe and had approached me years ago when he was in college. He was using my product already. I had him do some small things as a test and he was good, so I gave the site over to him completely and now I pay him a standard average western salary, which enables him to live extremely well in his home town, and is high enough that other companies offers don't interest him. It would be a huge pain to replace him. As far as I know, he spends 2 hrs a month working and the rest of the time partying, traveling, or who knows what. I don't care. He is a box I deposit money into and get a good web site out in return, which is continually improving.

What job requirements did I advertise? None. I don't even know what his degree is in, what school he went to, what his grades are, or what languages he knows. Don't care either. Why would I care about what technical skills he has? He gets things done. I assume if he finds he needs to learn a new language he spends a couple hours learning the syntax and then gets to work.

Then the difficult hire was the guy who knew enough about optimization and math and usability to work as a peer and replace myself eventually. This was a very difficult hire that took years. Since there were less than a dozen people world wide with the necessary skills, which really were absolute requirements, advertising on job boards would have been completely useless. I recruited him specifically. In the end it took Adobe laying him off (because they are retarded) to get him. I still had to pay through the nose, but previously he wasn't going to leave there for nothing, he was married to Adobe. Adobe betrayed his love though and that gave me my opening.

What job requirements did I advertise? None. But the requirements were really specialized though right? Yes, but only in terms that I knew he could do the work. As far as his SPECIFIC skills, I don't really know. What languages does he know? Perl? Ruby? J? Haskell? I still don't know and don't care. He is able to work on our code base that is in C and C++. I'm sure if the code base was an Ada he'd be able to deal with that as well.

I really don't give a fuck about any specific skills. I care if someone can do the job, or is able to pick up enough quickly themselves to do so. Any technical details can be learned in a weekend. The hard part is knowing how to build stuff at all.

The job ads on Joel's board, and probably at other places like monster or whatever (haven't checked in many years) only tell you one thing - that companies doing hiring are run by dumbasses who know nothing about technical talent.]]> 25 Jul 10 16:31:07 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78380&Posts=10 df: I'd pay to work on a farm for a couple of days. Get up early, shovel cow dung or whatever, etc.

The experience would have to be diverse and interesting (e.g. not "walk down a row of corn and detassle for 9 hours"), but not cushy and soft.

I doubt I'm alone. There are people who would probably like to flip burgers and make pizzas, serve tables, wash dishes, etc...but only as a tourist.

The whole "you're a rich girl" thing -- it's different (and enjoyable) because it isn't a long term thing.

Where's the market to buy employism?]]> 25 Jul 10 14:04:19 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78354&Posts=10 Unemployed Programmer: Times are tough and I need the extra cash. I got a TV, computer, found a box of old silver coins he had in a closet, and a handgun. I probably could have gotten more but this was my first job and I was nervous.

What are you guys doing to make ends meet?]]> 25 Jul 10 06:16:52 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78346&Posts=11 Rahul: Lots of good books on general management, but specifically for IT management in corporate environment, I haven't found it yet. Any suggestion?]]> 25 Jul 10 04:22:21 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78343&Posts=1 sierra: after numerous reviews I read and live ppl's opinions, I decided to go with the new Xbox.
Any takes?]]> 25 Jul 10 03:41:05 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78325&Posts=3 CC: Excited about the possibilities of viral marketing, such as has successfully been done by Old Spice, Coca Cola hired a group of young edgy advertising men to create a modern campaign that would appeal to hip youngsters.

How it worked was like this. In order to get a chance to win valuable prizes, users (including small children) gave over their Facebook passwords to CocaCola Corporation representatives, who then used automated software to post insulting updates to the people's Facebook status, including references to notorious Scat Porn film 2 Girls 1 Cup.

http://www.thebigmoney.com/blogs/c-tweet/2010/07/23/should-coke-execs-be-more-hip-online-porn-references]]> 24 Jul 10 23:17:15 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78315&Posts=6 CC: Thank goodness. I've known Whorf was right, despite all his detractors over the years. This proves it.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703467304575383131592767868.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_5]]> 24 Jul 10 18:18:23 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78310&Posts=11 CC: Unpaid prison laborers are working without safety equipment to clean up toxic chemicals.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/07/23-9

Warden received a nice check though.]]> 24 Jul 10 16:57:10 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78308&Posts=17 CC: Christine Saunders decided to sleep with 1000 men. It took her 10 years, but she did it.

http://celebgalz.com/christina-saunders-1000-lovers-christina-saunders-updates-photo/

Now she says she is tired of sex and wants to marry a man who will take care of her as a lady and love her for her mind and personality, not because he just wants sex from her.]]> 24 Jul 10 16:44:34 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78307&Posts=17 df: What do you do?

Saw a thing on the weather network that did the standard "get out of an clearings....but don't stand under trees". That always struck me as weird as in cases where you need the advice, the only non-opening options are under trees.

There needs to be a better analysis of this. e.g. Standing under a lone tree in the middle of a golf course seems unwise. Standing under a cluster of trees in a forested area at the edge of a clearing seems wise.]]> 24 Jul 10 16:25:58 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78306&Posts=0 Billy the Fish: No. Not what you lot do every day on here.

Discussion of roleplaying game systems and settings, and playing RPGs. I know a few of play "in real life" and out of the blue I remembered http://www.phoenyx.net/ It's changed a lot since I was last involved some years ago, but they still have a couple of games going by the look of it.]]> 24 Jul 10 16:24:01 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78297&Posts=6 Bluebeard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYFqXPUgeog

and

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Pilot+survives+crash/3318131/story.html]]> 24 Jul 10 14:06:23 GMT http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=78294&Posts=14 df: If you want to see some screwed up stuff, read the reviews on Lego.com-

http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=6117&cmp=afc-csena&hqs=6117

"Stick with 'pick-a-brick'...you can get EXACTLY what you want, without a 'mixed bag' of so-so windows and doors. Might be fine for younger builders who don't really care what their windows and doors look like but, for older builders who ARE picky about that sort of thing, this set is really a waste of money."

(Just one sample of many similar)

By "older" I don't think they mean 9. I think they mean like 29. There apparently exists a lot of very serious adult Lego builders.

But yeah, the windows and doors kit should be fine for my 5 year old.]]> 24 Jul 10 13:16:40 GMT