I was writing some code, and thought I’d test out a bit of syntax. On the mainframe, everyone has their own personal “library” which is where I go to test code - I have a program called “SKELETON” which I drop stuff into in order to see how it works.

Anyway, I wanted to see how the VAL function handled a string with spaces in it - hoping that it wouldn’t choke on it (well, technically I was testing a related function, but for illustrative purposes, assume you know what I’m talking about….)

So, I log on to my library, and type “E SKELETON” - what do I see, but the last piece of code that I saved in SKELETON tests out exactly what I want to test. I run it, get confirmation that it works the way I want, and leave it at that.

Here comes the creepy part. I was curious to see when I’d done that piece of code, so I executed a command “L DIR” which shows the last saved date, and last compiled date.

I last compiled that code December 4, 2002 at 4:26. Almost exactly a year ago (within 15 minutes)

Very very creepy.

I expect Rod Serling to be dropping by any second with the white jacket with extra long sleeves just for me.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “Hello, I’m Leonard Nimoy. The following tale of alien encounters is true. And by true, I mean false. It’s all lies. But they’re entertaining lies, and in the end, isn’t that the real truth? And the answer is no.” - Leonard Nimoy

Tycho and Gabe over at Penny Arcade have a pretty dedicated readership in the neighborhood of 150,000 (according to them.) They decided to ask their readers to buy stuff for their local children’s hospital, and in the course of a week have topped $30,000 in contributions. It’s a pretty amazing thing - people buying Christmas presents for kids that they’ll probably never meet. There are lots of “Secret Santa” type of programs out there, but this is the first one I’ve heard of that’s completely organized and run by a couple of punks who thought they could make a difference. Ok, maybe punks is the wrong word. I don’t think they anticipated that the response would be as big as it has. You can check out some amazing pictures of the gifts at the Child’s Play website.

There was another link I wanted to post today too, but I forgot what it was. Oh well, I guess that’ll just give me something to post when I remember what it is :-)

Simpson’s quote of the day isn’t the Simpson’s - instead it comes from the end of this new story: “Besides being a former Spice Girl, Beckham has a singing, dancing and modelling career.”

I’ve been thinking over yesterday’s idea, and discussing it with some people. I think it could actually fly. My main obstacle though is that it’s tough to give up a really great job that I enjoy doing - especially since it pays well too. I don’t see me doing it anytime soon.

I don’t think I’ll tease you with it any more - after a few weeks, I might disclose the full details of it, so that somebody will do it ;)

Today I will talk to you about confusing interfaces.

I was searching for a particular classical piece in MP3 format last night, and found a site that apparently has a library of 11,000 free MP3’s available for download. Great! Well, sort of.

I found the song I wanted, and hit the download link. A window pops up saying something about a server now being available. There’s a button that says something about downloading software - when I clicked it, an ad for silverware popped up - at least I think it was an ad for silverware. It was in Italian. Anyway, there was another link in the original window that said something about downloading the file. I clicked that, and was taken to another site - this one had a splash page, and a coffee cup spinning around on a CD to click on.

The first time I went there, I thought I’d done something wrong, so I closed the window, and went through the whole process again. Anyway, winding up at the spash page again, I thought I’d click “Enter” and see what it brought me. It took me to a site that does compilation based recommendations. You have to log in, and create compilations - you can see other people’s compilations, rate them, and find other compilations with similar attributes. I created an account - requiring only a userID and password, and then had to search for music again. The interface was different this time, and kind of slow, but still, workable. Once I found a song I wanted to download (actually several) I added them to my compilation. There’s a download button. I hit the download button, and after supplying some more details on my compilation (giving it a name - in this case - music ;) and hitting continue, I’m forwarded to another page. This one is asking me a trivia question about classical music. It’s multiple choice, and I recognize all but two of the potential answers (I’m relatively certain that Saddam Hussein and Abraham Lincoln aren’t world renowned composers…) I guessed the wrong one. It lets me try again - this time with a question that I can eliminate all the wrong answers. I got it right, and am presented with a page that lets me download the MP3s that were in my compilation. No kidding. Really high quality MP3’s too. I’m not sure what all the hoops were for, but I got music in the end.

I downloaded a bunch of music, some by Haydn, some by Mozart. It was the most surreal way to get there, but in the end, I was listening to MP3s. The amusing part is the part of the FAQ on the second site that says they don’t provide downloads of MP3s. I really don’t know why I persevered after reading that.

Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself - the site I started at was Karadar. You might want to have a printout of this post handy in order to get through the convoluted path ;)

Simpson’s quote of the day: “”The three little sentences that will get you through life:

1. Cover for me.
2. Oh, good idea, Boss!

3. It was like that when I got here.”
- Homer

I saw links for something today that has me excited. I had a whole post written up here, and I was going to post it, but then I thought I’d maybe keep this idea for myself for a while… Well, I will email some people about it, and ask their advice, but essentially, the idea is pretty cool. Haha….I’ll have to leave my post today as a big tease

Simpson’s quote of the day: “When are we going to get to my broccoli juice program?” - Dr. Hibbert

I got my first comment spam today. I deleted it. It was well crafted comment spam, because it took a couple of minutes for me to realize what it was. The comment had nothing to do with the post though - just a couple of keywords in the post. That’s what made me sure it was comment spam. I’m surprised they stopped at one, but I suppose posting hundreds is the surest way to get spotted as comment spam.

Advertising is crappy. I think of advertising as the root of a lot of society’s problems. “Branding” is the worst form of advertising. It’s a negative drain on the average welfare of people. Coke and Pepsi have realized it - they stopped spending quite so much on useless ads a while back. The only people that it negatively affected were the advertising sales forces, and those ad-supported industries that they work(ed) for. Maybe some TV shows got cancelled, maybe some magazines cut back on a few “writers.” Ultimately though, people weren’t any less entertained by the vacuum that this created.

Advertising, in it’s purest form, should be information. It’s information that you’re not actively seeking, but that you may be interested in anyway. Someone builds a better mousetrap, and advertises it, so that people who would be interested in a better mousetrap can beat a path to his door.

The reality is that advertising has become more inline with snake-oil sales. Instead of building a better mousetrap, they keep building the same old one, and tell people that it’s the best one available. People will beat a path to their door, and the only effort involved is advertising, which would have to be done for a product that had merit anyway.

Why has advertising gone this way? It’s pretty simple - the Internet made it. People are so connected now, that we don’t have to take Wink Martendale’s word for it, we can find out what real people actually think of the new Subuzki-Motors jet propelled nosehair trimmer. People who actually own one, and either like it or don’t. Research is made so simple by the fact that there is so much information available at your fingertips. You don’t have to go to five different car lots to find out what options are available on five different car models. You can do it from the comfort of your own home.

So, if this is information that <*ahem*> trusted <*ahem*> advertisers were providing before, why do people offer it up for free? It’s fairly simple actually - people genuinely want to help each other out. I’ve given people recommendations on products before when they’ve asked. I’ve warned people away from other products that I’d had bad experiences with. I did it all for free. I’m sure each and every one of you has done the same. The difference is that now I can help out people all over the world, with the same effort. I can put my opinions down here in black and white (or blue and lighter blue) and they’ll be here as long as my web server is running.

If I’m looking for a new nosehair trimmer, a quick google search could tell me that Subuzki-Motors’ jet propelled trimmer is bad news, because 95% of people who tried it had to have their noses surgically reattached. I don’t have to wait to see an ad for the competition, since people will have recommended other models that don’t cut off the noses with the hairs. I can investigate them in the same way.

Where was I going with this? I don’t remember. Funny what comment spam can lead a guy to talking about. I hadn’t planned this rant, which is why it’s probably incoherent (like most of my posts.)

Simpson’s quote of the day: “I kicked a giant mouse in the butt! Do I need to draw you a diagram?” - Homer