(ivory tower) General abstract nonsense...

Finally, an explanation of why, in attempting to learn Haskell, I couldn't grok monads!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_abstract_nonsense

Yes, I know it's not meant to be insulting, but it's too funny to ignore the coincidence of "General Abstract Nonsense" being used to describe concepts in Category Theory, which is where monads come from. And yes, I know that the real explanation is that I'm too stupid (in math at least) to ever be able to manage the level of abstraction required to get it. But hey, I'm smart enough to know how stupid I am -- that's gotta count for something right?

[PS: On a related note, did you know there is something called Pointless Topology? I wonder if they get paid extra for coming up with this sort of stuff ;-)]

(PHB,funny) cleaning up the office...

You may need to read the whole article at http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Office-Supply-Amnesty.aspx in order to understand the humour in the following comment that was posted in response, at http://thedailywtf.com/Comments/Office-Supply-Amnesty.aspx#217428
:

----- start quote -----

Dear all,

We spend a lot of money each year on managers - a lot of this is
unnecessary expenditure as they spend their time micromanaging
employees to no measurable savings.

Please check the office for any unused managers and dispose of them in
some appropriate way. This exercise should also help to tidy up the
offices which are starting to look trashy in some areas.

Hoping I will get you co-operation in this

Regards,

----- end quote -----

(WEP,funny) accuracy in reporting

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/13/furse_lse_comment/

Quote: "To a Reg reader, Accenture will be associated in the context of technology with the words “screw up”, “late”, and “over budget”."

I need to find this reporter and take him to lunch. Or at least buy him a beer. The sad part is, no other mag will dare to make such a blunt statement :-)

apple idiocy

two examples coming so close to each other... what's going on?

(1) http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2008/09/apple_declares.php

Quote: "Some people," the patent application observes, "have taken it upon themselves to remove the sensor from the special pocket of the [iPod-linked] Nike+ shoe and place it at inappropriate locations (shoelaces, for example) or place it on non-Nike+ model shoes." Oh my God: Geeks are ripping the sensors out of their sneakers and sticking them on their shoelaces! Unleash the shoe nazis!

This is the kind of guy they're targeting with this monumental stupidity: http://podophile.com/2006/07/14/shoe-hacker-nikeipod-sport-kit-shoe-mod/

I like the last line of this blog post, just before the comments: "It used to be cool to be an Apple fanboy. Now it's starting to be embarrassing."

On the slashdot thread about this (at http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/13/2114214 ), I particularly liked these two comments:

http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=963229&cid=24996107 and
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=963229&cid=24996553

(2) For those of you who like the iPhone, here's an example of how much of a stranglehold Apple has on what you can do with it (apart from all the things you cannot do, as in http://www.michaelrobertson.com/archive.php?minute_id=242 and elsewhere):

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/13/1924215

The slashdot summary is pretty brief:

DaveyJJ sends news of yet another rejection of an iPhone app by Apple, with perhaps a chilling twist for potential developers of productivity or utility apps. John Gruber of Daring Fireball writes: "Let's be clear: forbidding 'duplication of functionality' is forbidding competition. The point of competition is to do the same thing, but better." Paul Kafasis (co-founder of Rogue Amoeba Software) makes the point that this action by Apple will scare talented developers away from the iPhone platform. And Dave Weiner argues that the iPhone isn't a "platform" at all: "The idea that it's a platform should mean no individual or company has the power to turn you off."

(movies) not very good at this...

My personal boycott of the Bacchan family for rejecting the beautiful Rani Mukherjee (and marrying the one actress I totally totally can't stand) might have to go on a short vacation. If reports are to be believed I may have to watch The Last Lear.

So let's see... I bought a Sony product in December 2006, despite the rootkit boycott (there's an account of it somewhere on this blog; use the search box), I don't check if it's a Sony movie before going (and anyway my wife decides what movies we watch!) so I probably watch Sony movies all the time, I have already seen 3 movies in a Reliance-owned (motto: we don't even treat our own brother right; who the fsck are YOU?) theater and since it's the closest to where I live, I'm sure there'll be more.

And now this.

Damn it, I'm not very good at this boycott stuff... :-(

(funny) what exactly does beta mean?

Completely lifted from http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=962865&cid=24989951 (it's short enough, and funny enough, and I hope the author won't mind if he finds out!)

---- quote ----

When MS uses the word Beta, they really mean pre-alpha. Release is Beta. If you want a release quality MS product you need to look for the discontinued tag.

Google is simpler, they got beta, beta and beta. One works, one doesn't, the other works for everyone except you and just when you became totally dependent on it, they kill the project.

Linux has Beta and RC. RC is solid but out of date so nvidia doesn't have drivers for it anymore, beta is solid but nvidia doesn't have drivers for it yet.

Solaris has only one version, more solid and sensible then a rock, it is labelled "Giving your accountant a heart attack".

(movies) "A Wednesday" -- absolutely awesome movie

I am half inclined to watch it again; if I manage to find the time I probably will. The movie shows you things which you wish would happen, although deep in your heart you know this is pretty difficult.

Some comparatively mundane comments:
- absolutely no songs, hero/heroine junk -- very nice
- Anupam Kher shines
- Naseeruddin Shar outshines :-)

And for anyone who thinks Amitabh has the best voice, listen to Naseeruddin Shah in this movie. The timbre of his voice, the diction/accent -- just terrific. Don't get me wrong, Amitabh is pretty good, but this guy has him beat.

(open source,funny) film versus digital: nice analogy used to illustrate the open source model

http://advice.cio.com/bernard_golden/designing_a_new_software_distribution_process

"Honestly, if you proposed the film work-flow today, you'd be taken to the city square and hung. Imagine I told you we're going to shoot on superexpensive cameras, using rolls of celluloid made in China that are a one-time use product susceptible to scratches and that can't be exposed to light. And you can't even be sure you got the image until they're developed. And you have to dip them in a special fluid that can ruin them if it's mixed wrong. People would think I was crazy."

and

...imagine I told you "Someone is going to create a software product, spend as much selling it to you as you pay the first year, refuse to let you try it enough to determine whether it will really work in your environment, keep the internal code secret and not let you examine it, forbid you from publishing benchmarks so that its performance can be compared to other products, charge 20% of the initial price each year for maintenance whether you need it or not, and potentially pull it from the market due to internal business reasons with no possibility for you to do anything about it. Oh, and by the way, if they do keep in the market, they may come up with mandatory upgrades requiring additional fees." People would think I was crazy.

(life) Some parents...

So there was this event we took our daughter to today, and while there
we saw a small boy (maybe 7 years old), crying for his father. I
asked him if he knew his dad's mobile number, and he did, and so I
called him.

He said he was outside somewhere so I told him to come back and pick
up his kid. After about 10 minutes I got tired and called him again;
this time the guy sounded positively put off that I was bugging him,
so I told him look your kid is crying so please hurry up.

He came in a minute or two later, a short, fat, fellow, scowling at me
(or his kid?) He walked up to his kid, took his arm, and walked off.
I started to say something, and he said "meere na call chesindi?" (are
you the person who called?), I said yes, and he just walked off.
Never mind a word of thanks, I got the feeling that he was pissed off
that I had disturbed him.

For some reason, he seems to have mistaken this event for a free
"creche" for the day, the miserable jerk. I pity the poor kid; God
knows how often he gets left alone like this. Why bring him at all if
you don't want to spend the time?

(life) Chandamama kids day

And now for something personal...

(what you don't think I have a personal life?)

My wife and I took our daughter to the Chandamama kids day that
happened today. They had probably a couple of thousand kids (wild
guess) and 4 events -- English debate, painting, story-telling, and
clay modelling. My daughter took part in the last 2 and got a
consolation prize for story-telling.

But the real point is, this thing was organised so well, it defies
description. They made ample arrangements for chairs for parents to
sit. The competitors were separated from their parents just
sufficiently to ensure that the parents don't try to "encourage" their
kids in any way, but you could see them all the time. They did not
expect the kids to bring **anything** -- they supplied every single
item that you could need. You basically walked in, that's it. And it
was all free.

They must have passed out thousands and thousands of cups of drinking
water, free of course, to everyone who attended (I estimate a few
thousand easily). The food, though not free, was very decent and not
at all expensive. And as befits what is (now) essentially a Chennai
company, the curd-rice was perfect :-)

I guess I need to buy some Chandamama issues for the next few months,
or maybe even subscribe. It's not a bad mag for kids that age, and I
know I grew up with the Telugu one (the only way we could keep up with
Telugu while living in Bihar!), so I'm not sure why we don't,
currently, buy it regularly.