If this was just a brute force technique I wouldn’t care about it so much, but after watching this video on how to pick a Masterlock combination lock by testing only 100 combinations (out of 64,000 possible) I’m very interested in knowing math-wise why this works. (via Digg)
Yahoo! Pipes – What A Great Idea
Yahoo! proves once again that there’s still innovation left in them, this time with Yahoo! Pipes. Yahoo! Pipes lets a user define a pipe, which is a way to customize the web to your needs. A simple example would be “take the latest articles in New York Times and find related pictures on flickr”. The number of possibilities is enormous. Here’s an article about 5 ways to use Yahoo! Pipes.
I’m really impressed with the idea. This can be used to create very nice, dynamic content by users. You can also check out the main Yahoo! Pipes website for some selected pipes. (via Digg)
Why You Should Care About RSS
I wrote before about Google’s RSS reader (previous post link) but I always wanted to educate about RSS. I just couldn’t find the right way to explain it, so that it will be perfectly clear how anyone can use RSS for consuming content faster and better. Luckily for me, Download Squad (main website link) took the time to write an article called “why do you care about RSS?”, which does the explaining work. They include both sides – the reader and the website owner, which is also nice.
Don’t Wash Dishes… Create Them (Video)
The Dishmaker, still in development, is a device that creates dishes out of acrylic material so that when you’re done eating from them you can place them back in the machine for re-use, without the need to wash them. Watch the video – it’s actually a cool idea. I only wish they would somehow apply this to laundry.
Software Engineering Proverbs
Here’s a nice collection of software engineering proverbs. Some of them are so true, some are just funny. Most of them are both. (via Digg)
I Only Care About The Company That Much
This has happened to me more than a few times. A problem is found in code that I’m responsible for on a customer’s site. There’s always rush and there’s always concern. This is good. While I have concern for my employer’s name and reputation, one of the first things I do is go check if the problem was caused by something that I did. When I tell colleagues that I’m happy it wasn’t my fault, the usual response is “it doesn’t matter. The customer thinks we [the company] suck.”
Well, I only care about the company I work for that much. I truthfully care more about whether or not my code, which I wrote with my own 10 fingers, is responsible for the problem. Not only do I think this is a good thing, I also think this is the better approach. Employees who claim they “see the big picture” may consequently think they can write crappy code and get away with it thinking that, as long as things work, it’s ok.
Sonic Bomb Alarm Clock
If you’re a heavy sleeper, and when I say heavy I mean as in airport-traffic-sleepy kind of heavy, then you should take a look at the Sonic Bomb Alarm Clock. It not only makes a sound at 113 decibels (adjustable), it also shakes your bed. (via Digg)
Usless Account, A Place To Get A… Useless Account
Useless Account is one of those places on the Internet where people do a lot of work just to get a joke through. In this website you can get an absolutely useless user account and “…Impress your friends with your ability to tab through form fields and arrow through saved field values!”. What a great value for a useless account. (via TechCrunch)
World’s Funniest Commercials Video
If you need a good laugh, here’s a 45 minute show of the world’s funniest commercials. (via Digg)
Ace Is In Heat
Ace (my cat) is in heat. I previously didn’t want to have her spayed because I really didn’t want to have her go through an operation. Also, all the pro-spaying reasons are to spare us, humans, from pain, not cats. But now that she’s in heat I think I’ll actually spare her some agony if I do get her spayed. It’s amazing to see how primal her behavior is during this period. She’s constantly howling in hope to attract male cats and she’s also overly friendly – rolling on the floor and begging for attention – something which she usually only does when I come back home after a day’s work.
Most of the time I feel sorry for her because she seems so miserable. I even tried to look for ways to calm her down and make this experience less painful for her. Some things, like petting her and giving her a lot of attention, I happily do. I actually like the very friendly version of Ace. But some things, like this advice on how to calm a cat in heat by inducing an orgasm with a Q-tip I won’t do. Thinking about it makes me nauseous. I can handle the howling and being woken up 3 times every night to calm her down.
I noticed that distracting Ace sometimes works, even if it is for short periods. If I give her some of her treats or play her favorite game of chasing plastic bottle caps then she forgets about the howling and later on she might actually take a nap and give me one or two hours of peace and quiet.
I already talked with the vet and once Ace is after this period I’ll get her spayed. Apart from being the responsible thing to do, I think it will really make her life better.