Chewing the Cud (Posts about Fun)

Life Update

James Aimonetti — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:38:18 GMT

Updated the blog to run 3.3.1 - lot of cobwebs around these parts. Hopefully I can be more proactive in blogging about things going on at work, and perhaps starting to write about what I'm up to personally (not that I have much of that right now). Maybe my Google stats will jump over the 0.3 hits I average! Dare to dream!

You get paid for this?

James Aimonetti — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:08:37 GMT

Spotted in some high-priced "expert"'s code:

switch ($retcode)
{
    case -1:
    case -3:
        if ($retcode==-1)
            log("SOME_CODE", "SOME MSG");
        else
            log("SOME_OTHER_CODE", "SOME OTHER MSG");
...

More Erlang+Emacs

James Aimonetti — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:10:03 GMT

I have found that Distel's built-in shell launcher wasn't cutting mustard as I needed to start shells with various flags and didn't see an easy way to accomplish this using what Distel provided. Digging around the Erlang mailing list, I found an elisp function that allowed me to pass flags to the shell. Place this snippet in your .emacs file after you've required erlang and distel:

(defun erl-shell-with-flags (flags)
  "Start an erlang shell with flags"
  (interactive (list (read-string "Flags: ")))
  (set 'inferior-erlang-machine-options (split-string flags))
  (erlang-shell))

;; map Ctrl-c Ctrl-z to the new function
(global-set-key "\C-c\C-z" 'erl-shell-with-flags)

Now when you start the erlang shell, a "Flags: " prompt will be presented. Simply add flags as you would on the command line and the shell will start up. Great for when you need multiple shells with different snames, names, cookies, etc…

Satire or Reality?

James Aimonetti — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:06:03 GMT

(Not mine, but can't find original source either) For Immediate Release Washington, DC - President Barack Obama and the Democrat controlled Congress is considering sweeping legislation that will provide new benefits for many Americans. The Americans With No Abilities Act. AWNAA is being hailed as a major legislative goal by advocates of the millions of Americans who lack any real skills or ambition. 'Roughly 50 percent of Americans do not possess the competence and drive necessary to carve out a meaningful role for themselves in society,' said California Senator Barbara Boxer. 'We can no longer stand by and allow People of Inability to be ridiculed and passed over. With this legislation, employers will no longer be able to grant special favors to a small group of workers, simply because they have some idea of what they are doing.' In a Capitol Hill press conference, House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pointed to the success of the U.S. Postal Service, which has a long-standing policy of providing opportunity without regard to performance. Approximately 74 percent of postal employees lack any job skills, making this agency the single largest U.S employer of Persons of Inability. Private-sector industries with good records of non-discrimination against the Inept include retail sales (72%), the airline industry (68%), and home improvement 'warehouse' stores (65%). At the state government level, the Department of Motor Vehicles also has an excellent record of hiring Persons of Inability (63%). Under The Americans With No Abilities Act, more than 25 million 'middle man' positions will be created, with important-sounding titles but little real responsibility, thus providing an illusory sense of purpose and performance. Mandatory non-performance-based raises and promotions will be given so as to guarantee upward mobility for even the most unremarkable employees. The legislation provides substantial tax breaks to corporations that promote a significant number of Persons of Inability into middle-management positions, and gives a tax credit to small and medium-sized businesses that agree to hire one clueless worker for every two talented hires. Finally, the AWNAA contains tough new measures to make it more difficult to discriminate against the non-abled, banning, for example, discriminatory interview questions such as, 'Do you have any skills or experience that relate to this job?' 'As a Non-abled person, I can't be expected to keep up with people who have something going for them,' said Mary Lou Gertz, who lost her position as a lug-nut twister at the GM plant in Flint, Michigan, due to her inability to remember 'rightey tightey, lefty loosey.' 'This new law should be real good for people like me,' Gertz added. With the passage of this bill, Gertz and millions of other untalented citizens will finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. Said Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL): 'As a Senator with no abilities, I believe the same privileges that elected officials enjoy ought to be extended to every American with no abilities. It is our duty as lawmakers to provide each and every American citizen, regardless of his or her inadequacy, with some sort of space to take up in this great nation and a good salary for doing so.

Uncle-fied

James Aimonetti — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:10:27 GMT

I'm proud to announce the newest addition to the Aimonetti family. Brosef Jeffrey and Steffi have a new son, Leon Jeffrey Michael! He was born this morning, weighed 8 lbs 8 oz, and was 21 inches in length. He, Mom, and Dad are all doing wonderful! Very exciting to have the first nephew aboard. See the first pictures at my flickr page.

Announcements

James Aimonetti — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:31:41 GMT

Thought I'd go ahead and announce, mainly to myself, that I will be working through SICP. The rub…doing it in Javascript. Seems as though most other languages are covered (I know Erlang is taken) and since I am doing an increasingly large amount of Javascript, coupled with the eventual prevalence of server-side Javascript, I figured it best to start getting intimate. What I like about this task is that since SICP has been so widely covered on the web, I have many resources to aid in better understanding the material (and it is some thick material). Anyway, I've begun chapter one and will post the chapters, as well as excerpts I find interesting, in no pre-defined timeframe. Oh yeah, and I'm engaged.

Portland is fun

James Aimonetti — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:47:42 GMT

While the weather has not cooperated and given me many sunny days yet, I have been enjoying exploring the cyber-presence Portland has, in particular the Craigslist offerings. Today, however, brings a new entry in the NW Nerdery: a movement to rename 42nd Ave to Douglas Adams Blvd. The site, rename42nd.org, is making a serious effort to have the 42nd Ave renamed in honor of Douglas Adams, most notable for authoring the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. My inner geek smiles wide for this effort and hope they succeed. If you are a Portlander, support the movement. I know I am…

Pambiche

James Aimonetti — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 13:43:39 GMT

While highlights abound on the Portland tour, one in particular deserves mention. I've dined at some pretty sweet places and eaten some fairly exotic foods. While they've all been good and memorable, I found that a little Cuban place in Portland has taken the top spot in my dining history. What's amazing about Pambiche is the unassuming atmosphere surrounding the restaurant. Walking up to, I had no idea what I was about to experience. Sadly, I was only able to eat there once while in the city, so I can only speak to one dish, Ajiaco. Described as a "one pot meal that comes brimming with a variety of tropical roots and vegetables, corn dumplings, creole seasoned pork and beef", this tasty meal was unlike any other food I'd tasted. Very subtle flavors and aromas with each spoonful pleased my tastebuds and tummy. And while Cuban food is not traditionally spicy, Pambiche had a homemade spicy sauce which complimented the dish wonderfully. I am not a food critic so it's hard to do the experience justice. Next time Portland dining is available, head over to 2811 NE Glisan and taste it firsthand. I plan on doing just that!

Airplanes!

James Aimonetti — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 12:46:01 GMT

It has been a while since a good time wasting game came across my browser. This one is fun, but once you learn the secret, it's less challenging and more luck to get the super high distances. Throw a paper airplane and see where you stand. Me, I'm currently 5608 globally with a distance of 114.452m. [Update 6/19/2007 5:31 CST] 114.717m for a global ranking of 2766.

Pi Day 2007

James Aimonetti — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 23:23:17 GMT

Happy Pi Day (3-14, duh). Search pi for sequences of numbers, like your birthday, SSN, phone number, etc here. The page also has a good bit of Pi trivia.