The ongoing conversation
Work, technology, games, books, and the things that catch my attention.
You can find any number of lists of “facts” in the Internet. Weird facts, fun facts, pointless facts, interesting facts. And just like you’ve heard before, just because your read it on the Internet doesn’t mean it’s true. Here are some corrections to some “facts” I’ve seen on these lists: The quack of a duck […]
The return of my ice rules for RoboRally: There are two unofficial RoboRally boards available online that feature Ice. “The Ice Rink” includes rules for inertia. “The Cold Room” features a much nicer graphic, but the “spin chart” is not yet available (and, given the time spent coming “ASAP”, unlikely to become available, but it […]
I came across a SQL function I was not familiar with: decode. I looked it up and immediately replaced it with a CASE statement (in addition to other code cleanup). I’m afraid I don’t understand the existence of Oracle SQL’s decode() function: decode(expression, search, result [, search , result]… [, default] ) seems functionally equivalent […]
Just a quick plug here for my son’s electronic music output as “The Official Insomniac”. Go check him out on SoundCloud at https://soundcloud.com/the-official-insomniac. October 1, 2026, update: His electronic music presence is no longer there. Nothing to see here, move along. —jhunterj
January is no time to make resolutions. Yes, there’s the promise of a new year (unless you’re on the Chinese calendar. Or Hindu calendar. Or Jewish calendar. Or etc.), and you’re likely to be filled with optimism and ready to commit. But it’s an awfully distracting time of year too, and that optimism may lead […]
I’m decidedly “meh” on The Hobbit (which I saw last night). I enjoyed the first third or so and liked some of the changes, but the battle set-pieces did not engage me, and I was just waiting for the end from about the troll scene on. I might even skip the next two in the […]
I always knew I’d end up blogging about grammar and style here. I wasn’t planning to get there right away, but one of my favorite sites, Lifehacker.com, just ran an article titled “The Most Common Grammar Gaffes Writers Make (and How To Avoid Them)”. Now, in the fine tradition of such lists everywhere, they broke […]
Sunday Meme Day again: Have you ever: Q: Kissed someone on your friends list? Five or six of them… Q: Been arrested? No Q: Do you like someone? You kids get offa my lawn! Q: Held a snake? Yes Q: Been suspended from school? No Q: Sung karaoke? Yes Q: Done something you told yourself […]
That is, you can hear me shout “Puking” and say other words and phrases coined by the Bard if you go the the multimedia exhibition “Meme: Culture in Transmission”, guest curated by Susan Byrnes. The exhibition is in the Herndon Gallery in South Hall at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Back in October, Chris […]
So I’m trying to get going with AdSense, but I’m circling the drain with this pair of messages. If I try to get started with AdSense, it says: Step 1: Select your Google Account You are currently signed into the Google Account <my Google account>, which is already in use with AdSense. We only support […]