Brilliant explanation of regular expressions

This probably means nothing to you unless you have a certain degree of dealing with computer software as a part of your daily life. I found this page about regular expressions very lucid. I thought I would share.

Back

So, let's start off with the obligatory comment about how long it's been since I wrote anything. Now, with that out of the way, I can relate a bit of what's been going on for the last week-plus. Hm. Seems that time went by, but not a lot was accomplished. At least not by me. Oh, that's right! It's springtime! It's really strange how the nights can seem so long when you wake up at 3:30 or 4 in the morning, and you lay there as still as you can, obsessing about all the things you didn't get done during yesterday and how much more there is to do today. You lay still and don't get up because you don't want to wake up your spouse. You feel tired all day, then lay awake at bedtime. You stare at the keyboard and screen, willing your fingers to press some combination of useful keys instead of just reloading the Slashdot home-page for the thirty-eighth time that hour. You go to meetings and click on the 'remind me later' button on the reminder pop-up windows. Seems like I have one that's now fourteen days overdue. I think that's a personal best (worst?) for active inactivity. I actually knocked off a couple of committments today that have been dragging behind me for at least a week. Of course I totally failed to get one moderately critial test deployed out to production, and I haven't even pretended to do work on getting the next revision of bug tracking deployed. That one's actually been slipping since January. At least the fog is lifting now. I think I'm through the worst of it. Let's see where I am this time tomorrow.

And I Thought I Was Being Clever

So, I thought that I'd come up with a clever turn of phrase this morning in the shower. I was contemplating fairness, equality, liberty and the rights of citizens in the U.S.A., and I was thinking about bosses and workers, and the different jobs that we all do well, and the different abilities that we all bring to those jobs. My mind lit upon the phrase "all men are created equal." I got to thinking that we aren't. If we were, there would be no need for laws preventing discrimination, since there'd be nothing to discriminate against. Different people are good at different things, most importantly, different people have differing levels of ability in treating others with respect and in doing no evil.

That led me to what I thought was original (and I only wound up re-proving Ecclesiastes):

All men are created evil.

Perhaps it's pessimistic, but we are all born of a baser nature. As babies, we're fairly innocuous, but that's only because we don't have a lot of control over our actions at first. Just think about the last two-year-old you met. Terrible twos, indeed. The child discovers the freedom to do what it will, and so it does exactly that, heedless of the consequences to itself or others. Only through learning restraint and consideration and that actions have consequences do we have any hope of that little monkey growing up into an actual human being.

What a Long Week

So, another cycle of coding and testing is nearing its end. Kind of a long slog with a bunch of nagging gnats of problems buzzing all around. No 8 alarm fires to put out this week, although there were a few 'teetering over the edge' moments. I was rather ashamed that yesterday I completely spaced out about being home to get the girls from our nanny. I had swapped shifts with my wife and had gone in early, so I was supposed to go home early. Unfortunately, I got absorbed in running a test and forgot about the shift change. I came out of my fog a bit before 5:30 to call Jennifer at home and let her know I'd be a little bit late, and as I picked up the phone I realized that I was supposed to be home. Ugh. I tried calling our nanny on her cell, but she was probably playing with the girls somewhere where she couldn't hear her phone. Jennifer was gracious enough to head home from work. Very embarrassing.

Who Am I: Twenty-Five Words Or Less

Husband: Jennifer; Father: Eloise, Lucy; Idea Person; Multiple-Endeavor-Wannabe, Dilletante; Reader; Ex-gambler; Ex-alt.drunken.bastard; Former Roommate; Future ...

Connections, Death and More Death

Starting off with something fun. I got my first email as a result of this stuff I'm writing. Very exciting. I'd give details, but I'd like to respect the privacy of the correspondent. Suffice to say that it could very easily mesh in with adolescent fantasies that I haven't entertained since... oh, well... adolescence. No. Not exactly in the way that you think.

Watched last Sunday's "The Contender" last night. Very moving episode. I think most anyone who cares already knows the story about Najai Turpin. Therefore, I'm not going to be spoiling much if I talk about the trust fund that's been set up for Anyae, his daughter. I have mixed emotions on the matter. On the one hand, her father set out to prove himself so that he could provide a better life for his offspring. Admirable, noble and heartwarming, as anyone would agree. On the other hand, he failed within the rules of the game, and as a result of what may have been his reaction to that failure, his daughter may be financially better off than even if he'd won the tournament. So, the mixup of my emotions are with respect to rewarding his suicide by providing for his daughter. From a game-theoretic perspective, his final move in the meta-game was probably optimal if he sought to provide only financially. What tears at my heart is that this young girl will be missing her father for the rest of her life, which creates a chasm that cannot be filled by any amount of college education.

In other death-related news, the whole Terry Schaivo thing sickens me. While I can understand the desire to keep someone you love around, I can't understand keeping someone around whose brain has been mostly replaced by spinal fluid, as I heard in a radio report featuring a doctor, and which I had to go Google for something to verify it being true. The relevant excerpt is:

Over the span of this last decade,
Theresa's brain has deteriorated
because of the lack of oxygen it
suffered at the time of the heart
attack.   By mid 1996, the CAT
scans of her brain showed a severely
abnormal structure.   At this
point, much of her cerebral cortex is
simply gone and has been replaced
by cerebral spinal fluid. Medicine
cannot cure this condition.

Having had my mother attempt suicide about fifteen months ago and be left in a highly deteriorated mental state from anoxia, I was greatly saddened at her passing, but was at the same time relieved. I knew that one of her greatest fears was to be trapped in a non-functioning body. I was incredibly angry at her initial decision to succumb to whatever despair and depression moved her to attempt to take her own life. I have somewhat resolved that anger and have felt it reduce to a simmering pool of frustration. As much as she annoyed me at times with odd questions, a lack of understanding of just what the hell I do for a living (even though she professed understanding), and a really unusual sense of interior design, she was my mom, and it was her birthright to annoy me. Not something she was born to, but because she bore me. I miss her, and I love her, and I remember her, and I'm glad that she got what she wanted in the end, even though that means I no longer have her.

Internet Humor That Actually Made Me Laugh

Got the following from a friend in an email, and unlike almost all other email humor that I've received, I have neither: 1. seen this before, nor 2. failed to chuckle. I pass it on in the hopes that you, too, will also fail to not chuckle.

What Makes 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?

Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?

We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%.

How about achieving 103%?

What makes up 100% in life?

Here's a little mathematical formula that might
help you answer these questions:

If:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z is represented as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1819 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then:

H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

and

K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But,

A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

And,

B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T
2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103%

AND, look how far ass kissing will take you.

A-S-S-K-I-S-S-I-N-G
1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118%

So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty
that, while Hard work and Knowledge will get you
close, and Attitude will get you there, it's
the Bullshit and Ass Kissing that will put you
over the top.

Passport Nonsense

So, as a family, we're going up to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada this June to celebrate the birthday of one of my wife's aunts. In order to take our two daughters, we decided to get passports. It's possible that we could have gotten away using just birth certificates for them when visiting the 52nd state, but we thought we'd play it safe and just get the passports.
The documents were readily available for download and printing. So far, so easy. Then, it turns out that since Feb 2004, both parents have to show up, or provide a notarized statement from the non-present parent that it's ok for the present parent to apply for a passport. Well, my wife has a notary available at work, so that wasn't too onerous. You also have to have the child present. Very understandable, and it turned into a tiny adventure bringing the girls to the Post Office. Being the U.S. Post Office, passport processing is only available between the hours of 10am and 3pm. Ok, fine. I'll work from home first thing in the morning and then take the girls in. We get there a few minutes after 10, and discover that the 'passport lady' is on break. Hrm. Only available between 10am and 3pm. Already on a break. Fine. About 10:26 (by the clock on the wall), passport lady returns. The documents and website talk about how you can use Visa, Mastercard, check or money order to pay the fees. Well, unless you apply at a Post Office, where you can only pay by check or money order. I had brought a check, but you have to have a separate check for each application. I had to buy a money order. The ninety cents was trivial, but especially annoying on top of the $40 passport fee, $30 execution fee and a brand new $12 'security surcharge'. At least we'll get the passports back via Priority Mail instead of plain old First Class. So, now we wait 6 weeks.

A Very Busy Day

Well. Yesterday, too. Didn't get a chance to post. Got some chicken wire, hardware, screws and a circular saw over the course of yesterday and today. Still working on the raised-bed garden for the kids. I actually picked up a $99 cordless tool set at Target Saturday night and used it Sunday to cut some old redwood deck boards extracted during our backyard remodel. I got exactly what I paid for with respect to the tool kit. I guess a cordless circular saw isn't something that you want to be picking up on the cheap. I could cut through a maximum of 100" of 2x6 per hour-long battery charge. This is not a lot. I would have thought that it would do more on a charge.
In any case, I'll put up a picture or two after I get the thing built.

Blogs and ads and spam and Tesla

Just saw something on slashdot about people googlebombing 'online poker' to point to wikipedia. This was apparently in an effort to fight back against comment spam about this topic. I guess I'm ambivalent about comment spammers, since I don't seem to have any comments at all.
In other news, I found a really cool catalog. I saw the print version at a friend's house this weekend and went prowling over the website. I ordered a print copy. If you like gadgets, toys, tools and freaky inventions, you might want to, too. Don't be too put off by the website. It's kind of corny.

Missed a day

I guess it happens to all of us, even those with the best of intentions. You miss a day. Could be you get busy, could be you're slacking off.
Since nobody appears to be reading other than yours truly, it's probably not an issue. Regardless, yesterday was the culmination of an anxious, hectic and stressful week or two or three. We finished testing the latest version of the website without undue stress, panic or performance problems. Phew! (I did mention that I'm Web QA manager for Netflix, didn't I?)
In other news, I appear to be hooked on The Contender. I was initially shy of watching the show at all after hearing reports of the death of a contestant. However, my wife taped it, we watched it, and it's very compelling television. After reading the NYT article referenced above, I'm not as reluctant to support the show... that along with the fact that I liked the first episode so much. Happy weekend all.

Hilarious Jack Chick Parody.

Ia! Cthulhu F'tagn!

First, a supposedly illegal backup of the objectionable parody, followed by the page where the parody used to live.

Ah, to be young and foolish (or would that be Elder and insane) in R'lyeh again.

Explanatory Exposition

Montcalm Software used to be my consulting business. I would build applications, administer systems and databases and generally mitigate messess others had gotten into. Now I work for Netflix as manager of the Web QA group. I'm currently looking for someone with skills in e-commerce scalability testing. Drop me a line if you're interested in hearing more, or look at our jobs page for current openings.
Otherwise, it's kind of same old same old. A little progress here, a little progress there. Nothing drastic or dramatic.

Tone.

I don't know that I generally like the recent tone of what I'm writing. It seems bitter, peevish, complacent, whiny and generally awful.
I'll try to look on the bright side from now on.

Whadda ya know, someone was actually HELPFUL!

Ace really is the place with the helpful hardware man. Back in December, I had someone come out to fix a leaky faucet on my bathroom sink. They replaced the stem (after taking 4 weeks to get the part), but they didn't have the little plastic sprockety thing that joins the stem to the handle. I have a perfectly not-leaky faucet and no ability to use it. Now it's been many more weeks, and I can't get those jokers to call me back and let me know when I'll be able to use my faucet. We've actually got another leaky faucet, but I'm certainly not going to give them the business. We're still holding on to the check paying them for the work they've done to date. The check is in an envelope and stamped and ready to go. Fortunately for me, I'd forgotten to drop it in the mailbox because that very night when I turned on the faucet, I was greeted by an exploding fountain of water jetting out from inside the faucet handle. Someone else from that plumbing company came out and finished tightening down the new stem body. That's when he kidnapped my sprockety thingys. Repair people generally seem to suck.

Weather Forecast: Foggy With Widely Scattered Change Orders

Son of a bungholes did it! Finally got some clear weather for the landscape company to get back to work on the backyard, and they tear off the deck boards, and I get the news that we should replace the joists and ledger. Let's just add another 2.5% to that project cost, shall we? I've been waiting for this other shoe to drop. Not only was this whole project supposed to be completed last July (and we're coming up on the anniversary of the start date in April), but it's been a hard fight to keep the cost down to anywhere close to the original contract price. If these jokers were half as good at actually getting stuff done as they are at presentation and blowing smoke up my behind about delays, we'd have been done last summer.

Stinking nice day

So, I head out today to have lunch, and it's a really nice day. Started off a litle foggy/cloudy this morning, and so I thought, "Oh Crap. Is it going to turn to rain? Are those so-and-so's working on the backyard going to slack off again?" As it turns out, the fog and clouds burn off and leave a spectacularly blue day. Hopefully, there will be PROGRESS on the backyard when I get home. So, I head out today to have lunch and see this beautiful blue sky.
I eat lunch, and I start to head back to work, but I don't head directly back. I wander by Home Depot instead and browse the selection of all-in-one battery powered tool kits. I've been itching to get a circular saw for quite a while, and could use one in constructing a small raised bed vegetable patch.
So, I look at the various options, Makita, Porter-Cable, and Ryobi. I chicken out. I do want to put together that garden bed, though. Now that I've finished the puppet theatre (armed with only a coping saw, a chisel, a bunch of screws and some 1x2's and slats. Maybe I'll take a picture of it), I need a new weekend project.

Google Ads

So, I've posted a couple of bits related to gambling, including a well-linked post to the WSOP and talking about playing texas holdem. This has led to a series of ads on the right all about texas holdem and gambling. Of course, by the terms of AdSense, I'm not supposed to click on the ads. What if I'm actually interested in what they might be offering? That kind of stinks. Am I supposed to write about things I have no interest in so I'm never tempted to accidentally click on ads that appear in my journal?

Warning: Time Sink Ahead

Baby name popularity has never been so much fun, or captivating or time-wasting.

Once a year, whether I need it or not

So, you see, I used to play a lot of poker. Usually Texas Hold'em. Usually lower limits. I'd play tournaments whenever I'd have the time for them. I hung out with a great group of people that I'd met through rec.gambling.poker.Then I got married and part of my commitment to that relationship was to give up gambling.
Well, I gave it up for the most part. I have a longstanding dream to play in "The Big Dance," aka the $10k no-limit hold'em event at the World Series of Poker. The closest I've come is going out 19th at a supersatellite when they paid 11 seats (and they paid some cash to finishers 12 thru 18). Stupid pocket 7's. In any case, now that I've mostly given up on gambling, I still take one swing at the fences per year. My strategy is that I get an afternoon to play in an inexpensive local tournament that would lead to some kind of local freeroll that would result in getting a seat at The Big Dance. This year's excursion happened two weeks ago at The Oaks Cardroom in Emeryville, CA. It was a bit of a comedy of errors (maybe more on that later), but suffice to say that I busted out far short of the top three (which would have given me a stack in the freeroll in June, which I might have been able to translate into a WSOP seat). Better luck next year, I suppose. If you multiply it out, if there are 120 people in the qualifying tourney, and the freeroll has 100 folks, then the actual WSOP Final has 3,000 entrants, I'm only 36 million to 1 against winning the WSOP in any given year. That's actually much better than the odds of winning the California lottery (41MM:1).