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Vadim Spivak › Comments
Just pre-ordered a Canon S90 while waiting on line for tacos at La Super Rica in Santa Barbara :)
jerobins, Derrick, Benjamin Golub and 6 other people liked this
That should replace "If we can place a man on the moon" as the new baseline in technological progress.
- Mark Trapp
Mmmm we loved La Super Rica.
- Benjamin Golub
good call s90 looks awesome - thinking of getting one before snowboard session to replace my much loved but nuked after two seasons on the slopes sd870is
- mike "glemak" dunn
I am SO psyched about this camera. Gary's FF post sold me on it: http://friendfeed.com/gburd.... If the line at Super Rica weren't so long, I might not have gotten around to reading the review :)
- Ana
yeah that was a post by ken rockwell - really well done and much more down to earth than what you'll ultimately find on dpreview though i bet they rate this camera high (except for the missing hd video which they'll ding them on but i tend to agree w/ ken)...
- mike "glemak" dunn
i so love la super rica...
- reza
I didn't know la super rica was so widely known outside of santa barbara :)
- Vadim Spivak
Just pre-ordered one too. I wasn't in line at La Super Rica though :(
- Benjamin Golub
I like Skype. Beats the hell out of GSM roaming for things like making restaurant reservations :)
Jeanette Bosman, Benjamin Golub and Vadim Spivak liked this
I just used Skype for the same reason while in Europe on my last trip. Also, Skype on the iPhone over wifi is really nice.
- Vadim Spivak
from iPhone
Scala or Clojure?
NaHi and Amit Patel liked this
Scala
- Rob Schonberger
ECMAScript 5
- Bill Strathearn
Scala
- Vadim Spivak
from iPhone
Clojure if you want to have a secret weapon
- Robert J Berger
Scala, IMHO. It enables all the same sorts of functional patterns you might like from Lisp/Clojure, but without the dynamic typing baggage. So I believe you're much more likely to see good Scala tools than Clojure ones -- the Scala Eclipse plugin has a way to go yet, but it's coming along, and at least most of the stuff you'd want from your tools is theoretically tractable.
- Joel Webber
Hallvord R. M. Steen - Most expensive javascript ever? - http://my.opera.com/hallvor...
Derek Collison liked this
"This single statement, apparently written by some sub-contractor they had outsourced admin interface programming to, cost them millions of NOK in lost sales."
- Vadim Spivak
from Bookmarklet
Why doesn't Python have a switch statement?
Joe Beda (), Paul Buchheit, Alex Scoble and 3 other people liked this
This seems to bother me about once per week.
- Cristo
Because the python developers can't agree on a good implementation of it, and while if/elif/else is inefficient for the coder, it does the job. The only place where it performs differently is fall through cases, and, of course, that's where a fair amount of the disagreement comes from.
- The Letter M
You can always do something like this: http://simonwillison.net/2004...
- Vadim Spivak
Marty, using iif/elif/else reminds of when I was first learning programming, and I hadn't figured out how to use case/switch statements. It formats badly and requires retyping the condition over and over. Frankly, it flies against the whole readability of Python philosophy. I just don't understand what's so hard about getting to an agreement, other than pure stubbornness.
- Cristo
Vadim, yeah, I've tried all the psuedo-switch statements, and they are all clumsy and unreadable. I think you either make it all data-driven, or you use if/elif/else even though it's ugly.
- Cristo
I'm not really sure, honestly. In 3103, ( http://www.python.org/dev... ) Guido lists a bunch of different alternatives, with some pros and cons. I'd guess that it really boils down to "we couldn't find one that was Pythonic enough."
- The Letter M
The pseudo switches also make the fall-though and default handler even more difficult to use (EDIT: more difficult to implement, not use).
- The Letter M
On 3103, I think Alternative 1 would have been fine. It seems to have no big downside. The indenting argument against it seemed weak.
- Cristo
I agree. But you see that they'll never come to a consensus where the only downside to that structure was "You have to indent two levels deep."
- The Letter M
YouTube - Wolfram|Alpha Status Update - http://www.youtube.com/watch...
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Interesting video.. that's a lot of hardware (http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2009...) processing 80qps.
- Vadim Spivak
from Bookmarklet
What's your Gamertag?
Shey, Jamaican of FF, Kol Tregaskes and James Todd liked this
Mine is unto.
- DeWitt Clinton
Figure if I had some friends on xbox I might play those games sometime. Is CoD World at War worth picking up?
- DeWitt Clinton
finiteloop. Haven't used it in over a year, but if I start again, I will look you up.
- Bret Taylor
notsle
- Caleb Elston
@kfury had a good thread earlier today about guided tours in CoD, which is great because it makes the gaming more social. I play WoW because @marijke plays with me. And I'd love to try left 4 dead, but from the reviews it sounds like it all but requires co-op.
- DeWitt Clinton
TerminusEldorado (on sony network) :)
- James Todd
AmEricaJoy
- EricaJoy
The Mad Penguin
- Bill Strathearn
just so ninja
- Johnny Worthington
PSquad32... I suggest picking up Gears of War 2 :)
- Patrick Lightbody
My gamertag is kfury. I've been playing CoD:WaW for a few days now. If you're a CoD4 fan, the engine and controls are pretty much identical, but you're using WWII era weaponry and have entirely new (and fantastically detailed) maps. I found the weaponry clunkier to use, but now I'm appreciating it as part of the challenge. It's also nice playing with people who aren't already working on their 6th Prestige.
- Kevin Fox
@kfury - I ordered WaW last night. To avoid it landing on the huge stack of other games that I never play, I'm going to try and get a FF group together on xbox live to play sometime.
- DeWitt Clinton
revrunJones
- Joshua Allen
I added everyone here except for Bill because the name seems borked. Did you know you can add friends over the web interface? I have to hand it to the XBL team, they are doing things right.
- DeWitt Clinton
Oops. I didn't know this was an XBL thread. My tag is for PS3. IBM cell processors for life.
- Bill Strathearn
Why'd you pick the PS3 over the 360? You're the only person I know who made that choice.
- DeWitt Clinton
I also picked the PS3 over the 360.. mostly because of the Blueray support
- Vadim Spivak
LOL. I'm also one of the only people I know without a Wii. I guess it was a mixture of affinity for desktop sized super-computers and an aversion to all things from Microsoft. In all fairness, both platforms are super fun to play.
- Bill Strathearn
I thought I'd buy a PS3 for either metal gear or gran turismo, but not yet. I've been very impressed with Microsoft's execution all around on the 360 and XBL, except for the heat/noise of the box itself.
- DeWitt Clinton
I also have the dubious distinction of being one of a dozen or so owners of a HD-DVD player. I bought one after receiving the Planet Earth series on HD-DVD as a present. Oh well...
- DeWitt Clinton
i went w/ a ps3 after hearing of significant amount of xbox h/w failures. blue ray was also very attractive. motor storm, which came w/ the package i bought was great eye candy. i haven't looked back :) got little big planet for my son for christmas ... assuming i can keep it hidden, and i don't get tempted myself :)
- James Todd
bitfaker
- Hao Chen
E.g., if half of the cars in the HOV lane have only one occupant, doesn't that reward the malefactor and penalize the law-abiding?
Joel Webber, MikeAmundsen, Vadim Spivak and Tyson Key liked this
This example is interesting to me because it takes a scarce resource -- traffic lanes -- and designates its use specifically for a certain class of people (those with 2 or more people in the car). Doing so, however, takes that resource away from the general population, creating a net decrease in availability for everyone else. This alone isn't problematic. But when law-breakers, knowing that the rule will not or can not be enforced, take advantage of this newly presented opportunity to claim more than their share of the resource, the group of law-breakers, on average, benefit, while the law-abiding, on average, suffer.
- DeWitt Clinton
Taking for granted that the lanes are not enforced (I'm not sure that's true?) I think the HOV lane still encourage carpooling which is a benefit in reducing the total number of cars on the road on and off the highway as well as any environmental benefits - so while I see your point, I think there remains benefit. Although enforcement would help all around.
- felix
Sure, a net decrease in total cars, but likely a net increase in total car-hours due to congestion from loss of available capacity.
- DeWitt Clinton
I tried cheating one time because I was stuck in traffic and seriously late picking up my son from school. A police car in the 2nd lane correctly detected me, even though I have tinted windows, sun shades, and car seats. Ticket: $400. They do enforce, they can only get a small percentage of cheaters.
- Ray Cromwell
@Ray, sorry to hear that. I'm sure there are exceptions when people do get caught. My point is more general, though: When these and similar laws are legislated, they frequently fail to provide for sufficient enforcement capability, which has the ultimate effect of penalizing those who respect the law just because they feel they should, and reward those who know they can get away with breaking it. I see this every day in the HOV lanes on 101 as violators fly by me at 80 mph.
- DeWitt Clinton
My solution is to avoid 101 between 5 to 9am and 3 to 7pm :)
- Vadim Spivak
@DeWitt, I agree and it irritates me to see so many lawbreakers fly by me on 85 in MV (already narrow). I'd prefer they do away with HOV and just add a gas tax. Of course, I feel the same way about recreational drugs, and many other laws that harm society and can't be adequately enforced
- Ray Cromwell
+100 to a gas tax. Screw HOV lanes, cap-and-trade systems and all that crap. Spend the gas tax on energy research, and provide temporary tax breaks for the poor and certain industries to avoid a shock.
- Joel Webber
Joel: the idea behind the cap-and-trade system is to limit global oil usage to a certain level and then let the market allocate it and set an efficient price. The revenue from permits could be used for payroll tax breaks, for example, to offset the increased burden on the poor.
- Jim Norris
NOVA had a PBS special recently on CA AB32 and how if the government subsidized CFL and insulation retrofitting for poor and lower middle class, it could cut CO2 by a large fraction. When solar retrofit hits $5k with tax credits, I might consider it for my house. They mentioned in studies, for most people, the trigger point is 2-3 year payback.
- Ray Cromwell
i wonder how many of the malefactors are former law abiders who got sick of watching the other malefactors :) i just shifted my schedule to leave for work at 9 and leave from work at 7 or later to avoid the whole mess altogether
- Karl Rosaen
@Jim: I agree that a cap-and-trade system is a step in the right direction, but it's still kind of flawed, because it there's no incentive to drop emissions below a certain level, and because the allocation of credits is subject to political manipulation (look at Europe's system, which accomplishes approximately squat). OTOH, a straight-up tax would create a largely unbounded incentive to lower emissions, and is harder to manipulate. The Economist has been saying this for ages, and I'm inclined to agree.
- Joel Webber
Joel, can't help to link to http://www.theonion.com/content... :) I agree with you (and The Economist) about this, but a cap and trade system is a heck of a lot better then nothing. I think it ends up being a less efficient version of the carbon tax (with the bonus of not having the word "tax" in it so it is politically feasible)
- Karl Rosaen
@Karl: I know you're right about this -- there's something like zero chance that we'll get anything with the word "tax" in it, and a well-run cap-and-trade system might not even be that much less efficient. I'm just ranting... :P
- Joel Webber
Marketcircle: iPhoney - http://marketcircle.com/iphoney...
Atul Arora and Brian Sullivan liked this
"Looking for a way to see how your web creations will look on iPhone? Look no further. iPhoney gives you a pixel-accurate web browsing environment—powered by Safari—that you can use when developing web sites for iPhone. It's the perfect 320 by 480-pixel canvas for your iPhone development. And it's free." And open source.
- DeWitt Clinton
from Bookmarklet
This one seems pretty accurate, but I don't have a real iPhone to compare with. I'm also using the Android emulator to (accurately) see what things look like in mobile webkit.
- DeWitt Clinton
Ha. I forgot all about the iPod touch sitting next to me. I guess I can test this directly after all.
- DeWitt Clinton
Why not use the MobileSafari on the iPhone simulator?
- Vadim Spivak
Didn't know about that, thanks! And I totally forgot that the iPhone SDK was open for free to all now. Somehow it was stuck in my head that you need to pay to be in the developer program to use the SDK.
- DeWitt Clinton
Downloading the SDK now. Comes in at 1.6GB. Wonder if that includes XCode and the other tools I already have installed.
- DeWitt Clinton
Unfortunately yes. It's one of the few times I'm happy I have a 16Mb comcast connection :)
- Vadim Spivak
I'm on Speakeasy DSL -- love the static IP, their superb support, and perfect uptime -- but they max out at 200 KB/s download speed in my neighborhood. That said, I'm still sorely tempted to put in a Comcast Blast Only line at $66.95 a month. I would traffic shape at the router and keep the DSL line up for backups and incoming requests. I keep trying to justify it and talk myself into it by saying this is my career, and a small price to pay for the time saved, but still...
- DeWitt Clinton
Civic Literacy Report - Civics Quiz - http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resourc...
Only got a 25/33 :( .. Sadly that's better than the average score of an elected official (44% - http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/2008...).
- Vadim Spivak
IntelliJ IDEA has a great QuirksMode plugin that looks for cross browser issues: http://www.jetbrains.com/idea...
Peter Hoffmann and Vadim Spivak liked this
I knew Vadim would like that... :)
- Derek Collison
Too bad they don't have an Emacs version ;)
- Vadim Spivak
That would make me switch!
- Derek Collison
They have an emacs key-mapping to select from built in, probably won't feel the same but may save time.
- Jesse Kuhnert
Put A Vertical Strip of YouTube Videos on Your Web Page - http://www.google.com/uds...
Derek Collison, Muge Cerman, Aram Zucker-Scharff and 3 other people liked this
Tried it http://stevegarfield.com/Site... Only hearing audio. Now chatting with Google to see why.
- Steve Garfield
from twhirl
@Steve - let me know if you don't get an answer and I can try and help debug.
- DeWitt Clinton
fixed. http://stevegarfield.com/Site... Needed to make space for the video
- Steve Garfield
from twhirl
Nice! I love the video bar.
- DeWitt Clinton
It would be nicer if you did not have to leave space underneath for it. Can't it overlay on top of the page?
- Steve Garfield
from twhirl
It tries to overlay, but only within the existing frame. Is there a specific reason why the widgets are running within their own iframes?
- Vadim Spivak
@vadim Apple's iWeb application put the widget in a frame.
- Steve Garfield
from twhirl
I'll take a look at walking up the frame hierarchy when it's on the same domain. Usually iframes are not on the same domain for security reasons.
- Vadim Spivak
Google Hosting YUI Files on ajax.googleapis.com » Yahoo! User Interface Blog - http://yuiblog.com/blog...
Derek Collison, Elias Torres and DeWitt Clinton liked this
"Google has been hosting some of the popular AJAX libraries for awhile, and we’re pleased to announce that YUI has now been added to that roster. Now, you can choose between yui.yahooapis.com and ajax.googleapis.com when you evaluate your hosting options for YUI files. We’ve added Google as an option in the CDN section of the Dependency Configurator; it’s easy to configure your implementation and switch the generated URLs from one source to the other."
- Vadim Spivak
from Bookmarklet
Just bought a few things on Backcountry.com Ended up getting a great deal. Thanks guys! http://www.steepandcheap.com/ is fun too :)
Vadim Spivak liked this
I got almost all my ski gear there 2 years ago.
- Vadim Spivak
Does anyone have a web host suggestion other than Dreamhost? They can't get private server to work for me and I'm beginning to think I might jump.
Let me know what you find. I've been thinking the same thing. When they accidentally double-bill their entire customer base for a year's services I like a little more maturity than "Oops, heh. Funny story: We pressed the wrong button."
- Kevin Fox
Anecdotally, I've heard good things about Laughing Squid.
- Jennifer Dittrich
Slicehost has been great for me (you mentioned you want a private server, this is a VPS). They just got bought by Rackspace which I'm not thrilled about but they promise the same level of customer support (which has been absolutely awesome).
- Benjamin Golub
Google App Engine. It is free for small sites, which is true for all private servers, and it is a lot easier to use than most hosting services in my experience.
- Bret Taylor
I use both dreamhost and slicehost, and I am happy with them both. I think that the customer service has been great at both. @Bret - Google App Engine might work for some things, but if you want to have wordpress or something like that, and have lots of control, then I think a VPS is the right way to go.
- Robert Felty
I switched from Dreamhost to ANHosting - have been extremely happy. [edit]: sorry private server would have to head to their parent - midphase.com
- Paul Arterburn
slicehost.com, great service, cheap prices, super stable
- Bart Teeuwisse
from twhirl
I was thrilled to get enough blog traffic to need a private server, but they've bungled the setup seriously. I can't configure my server and they've not fixed it for a week! And it's fairly expensive. I'll look at slicehost/rackspace since I want/need a highly custom wordpress install.
- Stephen Foskett
Linode http://www.linode.com/...
- DJ Weezy
+1 for linode (fast, affordable, and very flexible)
- Vadim Spivak
Still having dreamhost problems but not sure I want my own root access provider. Anyone offer dreamhost-like non-root service?
- Stephen Foskett
Application to INS sent on 1/28/08. Just got it back today saying that I am not a perm resident, even though I have the card. Sheesh.
That sucks :( I haven't met a single person who had a pleasant experience with the INS.
- Vadim Spivak
Idea stream. Suggest ideas for people here.
Roberto Bonini, Андрей Пятница Суббота, A.T. and Urbansheep liked this
Perhaps shuffle the Website Idea Generator http://blogoscoped.com/ideas/ or pick a cell from the Technology Mashup Matrix http://blogoscoped.com/matrix/ , or look up a random word in dictionary on the day, then brainstorm what app could come out of it.
- Philipp Lenssen
I love http://blogoscoped.com/ideas/.
- DeWitt Clinton
This might be a little circular, but how about a webapp to help setup and manage a 24hr (or weekend) app challenge? you could have team registration, linking in repositories to track that deadlines are met and to track progress, a central place to distribute the app for judging, team pages where you can showcase your past challenges and how you did.
- John Duff
Easy(ish?) one: site that takes your iTunesLibrary.xml file, processes it, then spits out pretty graphs about most/least listened to genre, song, and whatever other states you can get our of that file. Bonus points for easy sharing with others (widget to smack on a site). Bingo bonus if you can create an app that will upload the iTunesLibrary.xml file periodically to the site.
- EricaJoy
Hey I'm cool with XML. Formatting the iTunes file for the web is a good idea.
- Roberto Bonini
Using the Friendfeed API, write an app that allows one to mass-delete one's own Friendfeed comments which are older than 1 month (or so), to help clean up the digital trail.
- Philipp Lenssen
What about an Android FriendFeed client?
- Vadim Spivak
@Vadim - I started toying around with writing a Android client for FF, definitely viable, but not in 24 hours. : ) That said, I'd be happy to drop my other project to code with some other people on that tomorrow.
- DeWitt Clinton
Good point :) I was thinking something simple to start off with.. post feature with camera integration/geolocation. Maybe do something with the realtime API?
- Vadim Spivak
Create an app/site that will pair up people who can't drive to their polling place with the people who are willing to drive them. Add in some Google maps magic to show where the real need is. Also add some feature so drivers can pick up more than one person at a time.
- EricaJoy
I would love an app that made internet pundits accountable. You'd enter a quote, a link and a date in the future. Then it would email you at that date in the future so that you could verify if the pundit's prediction had come true.
- Adewale Oshineye
Ade, was that comment related to this, perchance? http://www.pbs.org/cringel...
- DeWitt Clinton
Actually it was triggered by a combination of Patrick Collison's post: http://collison.ie/blog... and Greg Linden's predictions from January: http://glinden.blogspot.com/2008...
- Adewale Oshineye
Now that I think about you could generate a lot more usage if the app simply showed the predictions that were due for today and let you see which predictions would be due on any given date.
- Adewale Oshineye
Wordle - http://wordle.wordpress.com/
Chad Thornton, Derek Collison, Ian and 6 other people liked this
My first iPhone App.. Word puzzle game in which the goal is to find the 3-6 letter anagrams (similar to TextTwist.)
- Vadim Spivak
from Bookmarklet
For anyone interested in numbers: took 4 weekends to write/test, submitted to the AppStore on 10/17, approved on 10/20, downloaded 250 times in 6 hours (stats from 10/20, app approved @ 6PM PDT) from 4 countries (US, Canada, Mexico, and Chile)
- Vadim Spivak
YouTube - Gamecocks - Garcia tackled by ref - http://www.youtube.com/watch...
 |
QB tackled by a ref
- Vadim Spivak
from Bookmarklet
The Weight of Software - http://scienceblogs.com/pontiff...
Funny story, I wonder if it really happened.
- Vadim Spivak
from Bookmarklet
The Real Great Depression - ChronicleReview.com - http://chronicle.com/temp...
"The depression of 1929 is the wrong model for the current economic crisis"
- Vadim Spivak
from Bookmarklet
YouTube - Couric Stumps Palin With Supreme Court Question - http://www.youtube.com/watch...
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Compare how Biden and Palin answer the same question..
- Vadim Spivak
from Bookmarklet
Latest Palin Gaffe: Can't Name Supreme Court Case Other Than Roe V. Wade - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008...
"After noting Roe vs. Wade, Palin was apparently unable to discuss any major court cases. There was no verbal fumbling with this particular question as there was with some others, the aide said, but rather silence."
- Vadim Spivak
from Bookmarklet
Sarah Palin Disney Trailer - CollegeHumor video - http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1...
Tom Stocky liked this
"An Alaskan hockey mom becomes Vice President in the wackiest family comedy of the year! Sound familiar?"
- Vadim Spivak
from Bookmarklet
Daily Kos: Cafferty To Blitzer: Don't Make Excuses For Her (Palin)! Updated w/Full Video - http://www.dailykos.com/story...
"CNN's Jack Cafferty rolled tape of Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric. Couric asked Palin about the expense of the White House's Wall Street bailout proposal. Palin gave a rambling and non-responsive answer. But what came after is even more startling."
- Vadim Spivak
from Bookmarklet
New friendfeed no longer redirects to friendfeed.com/iphone when browsing on the phone :(
Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah liked this
Sorry, Vadim - a bug I thought we had pushed, but apparently not. Will be fixed tomorrow.
- Bret Taylor
Awesome, thanks!
- Vadim Spivak
What Are We Reading? Track America's Political Book Buying - http://www.amazon.com/gp...
Derek Collison and Dion Almaer liked this
"Amazon customers, as we know, read widely and often buy books that don't necessarily fit their own views. Books aren't votes, and a map of book purchases can reflect curiosity as much as commitment, but we hope ours will provide one way to follow the changing political conversation across the country during this election season."
- Vadim Spivak
from Bookmarklet
Felt that one.
Robert Scoble liked this
me too!
- Vadim Spivak
Hey, no liking earthquake tweets, Scoble! : )
- DeWitt Clinton
ABC News: Clinton Seeks DNC Convention Voice - http://abcnews.go.com/Politic...
"Sen. Hillary Clinton told a gathering of supporters last week that she's looking for a "strategy" for her delegates to have their voices heard and "respected" at the Democratic National Convention -- and did not rule out the possibility of having her name placed into nomination at the convention alongside Sen. Barack Obama's."
- Vadim Spivak
from Bookmarklet
Google AJAX Search API Blog: AJAX Libraries API Update - http://googleajaxsearchapi.blogspot.com/2008...
DeWitt Clinton liked this
"What's better than making a drag/drop effect in Javascript that's compatible in all browsers? Not making a drag/drop effect in Javascript that's compatible in all browsers. Save your ninja-code for another day and use the JQuery UI plugin that is now hosted on our AJAX Libraries API! As usual, your users will get a performance boost when you use JQuery UI through our API, so get started by checking out the docs."
- Vadim Spivak
from Bookmarklet
Ha, ya beat me.. :)
- Derek Collison
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