February 9, 2010
February 6, 2010
All Your Facebook Friend’s Phone Numbers
http://www.facebook.com/friends/?filter=pfp
That’s the link to all your facebook-friend’s phone numbers.
Every time I see one of those “I need ya phone numbers” things on facebook I post that link. Please do the same. At least until the phone companies fix the real problem by automatically backing up contacts from the phone “in the cloud
January 15, 2010
EULA Today Fail
The EULA1 for the USA TODAY iPhone App starts off
General
These Terms of Service govern your use of the USATODAY.com website (the “Site”) only and do not govern your use of other USA TODAY services, such as services offered by the USA TODAY print newspaper.
Clearly this invalidates the agreement on the iPhone, since the iPhone App is not “the USATODAY.com website”.
This is mildly embarrassing for USA TODAY, and even more of a fumble for Mercury Intermedia, who built the app. But I can’t think of any way this actually hurts anyone, even in theory. Users are already bound by the App Store Terms and Conditions, so why bother putting your own EULA (that nobody’s ever going to read much less care about) in your app?
1To see the EULA, tap that little i near the bottom left of the homescreen, then tap Terms of Service. The text above was copied from version 1.5 of the USA TODAY iPhone App.
December 25, 2009
A C &Puzzler[]
Here’s a C-puzzler for you!
given this function,
void foo(char* s){
printf("s is at: %p\n s is: '%s'\n", s, s);
}
and that
char s[] = "Joy!"; foo(s);
prints out
s is at:
0xbffff46b
s is: ‘Joy!’
what will this next line print?
foo(&s); //WHAT WILL THIS DO?
Pick all that apply:
- Print “Joy!”
- Print garbage
- Print the same address for
s - Print the a different address for
s - Crash
- Go into an Infinite loop
Answer
Answer: one and three
Yeah, it’s not what I expected either, especially since:
@encode(__typeof__(s)) = [5c] @encode(__typeof__(&s)) = ^[5c]
In fact, all of these are equvalent (modulo type warnings):
foo(s); foo(&s[0]); foo(&(*s)); foo(&s);
November 17, 2009
Cut To The Chase
YouTubeTime.com makes it easy to link to a specific time in a YouTube video.
Do It Yourself Example
To link to 2 minutes & 14 seconds into this video of dancing in a Microsoft store, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSAXEVXvNz8, add #t=2m14s to the end of the url:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSAXEVXvNz8#t=2m14s.
Did you catch the shoplifting? (via @codinghorror)
November 9, 2009
Spurious
What’s a spurious relationship?
Here’s one: People who eat ice cream are more likely to drown. Both incidence of ice cream eating and rates of drowning are related to summertime. The relationship between ice cream and drowning is spurious. That is, there is no relationship. Yet they appear related because they are both related to a third variable.
(Image via the amazing Superdickery)
November 4, 2009
Tolerance
The Principle of Uncertainty is a bad name. In science or outside of it we are not uncertain; our knowledge is merely confined, within a certain tolerance. We should call it the Principle of Tolerance.
And I propose that name in two senses: First, in the engineering sense, science has progressed, step by step, the most successful enterprise in the ascent of man, because it has understood that the exchange of information between man and nature, and man and man, can only take place with a certain tolerance.
But second, I also use the word, passionately, about the real world. All knowledge, all information between human beings, can only be exchanged within a play of tolerance. And that is true whether the exchange is in science, or in literature, or in religion, or in politics, or in any form of thought that aspires to dogma.
It’s a major tragedy of my lifetime and yours that scientists were refining, to the most exquisite precision, the Principle of Tolerance, and turning their backs on the fact that all around them, tolerance was crashing to the ground beyond repair.
The Principle of Uncertainty or, in my phrase, the Principle of Tolerance, fixed once for all the realization that all knowledge is limited. It is an irony of history that at the very time when this was being worked out there should rise, under Hitler in Germany and other tyrants elsewhere, a counter-conception: a principle of monstrous certainty.
When the future looks back on the 1930s, it will think of them as a crucial confrontation of culture as I have been expounding it, the ascent of man, against the throwback to the despots’ belief that they have absolute certainty.
It is said that science will dehumanize people and turn them into numbers.
That is false: tragically false. Look for yourself.
This is the concentration camp and crematorium at Auschwitz. This is where people were turned into numbers.
Into this pond were flushed the ashes of four million people. And that was not done by gas. It was done by arrogance. It was done by dogma. It was done by ignorance.
When people believe that they have absolute knowledge, with no test in reality, this is how they behave. This is what men do when they aspire to the knowledge of gods.
Science is a very human form of knowledge. We are always at the brink of the known; we always feel forward for what is to be hoped. Every judgment in science stands on the edge of error, and is personal.
Science is a tribute to what we can know although we are fallible. In the end, the words were said by Oliver Cromwell: ‘I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ: Think it possible you may be mistaken.’ We have to cure ourselves of the itch for absolute knowledge and power. We have to close the distance between the push-button order and the human act. We have to touch people.
–Jacob Bronowski, “Knowledge or Certainty” episode of the 1973 BBC series The Ascent of Man
(Transcription source, formatting and emphasis mine).
October 16, 2009
Shaving Soap Reviews
I sometimes shave with a straight razor, and always use an old-fashioned brush and mug of soap.
I try to review every shaving soap I try. So far I have short reviews for over a two dozen shaving soaps. (Those reviews are totally affiliate-free and self-funded, by the way.)
The biggest thing I’ve learned doing this (besides the unfortunate fact that most soaps irritate my skin) is to always, always, always date anything you write. Tastes change with time. Soap formulations change with time. Availability and price change with time. Dates are hugely helpful at deciding if a bit of information is still relevant. Sadly, I learned this the hard way — most of my reviews are undated. When I claim that two soaps are both the “best” there’s no way to know which is the more informed superlative.
Here’s the short list of soaps I always try to have on hand (most-preferred first):
October 5, 2009
Disclosure Of Amazon Affiliate Linking
Today the FTC ruled that bloggers must disclose “material connections” to products they review. More complex regulations are a pain, but I’m in favor of increased transparency.
So, in solidarity with the ruling, I’d like to disclose that I use AmazonAssociates program when I link to stuff on Amazon.com.
Amazon Affiliate Linking
Here’s how the program works. I make my links to Amazon products, “affiliate links”. If you click one then buy the item, I get a kickback (usually 4% the purchase price). I do not get paid if you click the links, only if you click the links and buy the item. I do not get paid just for showing the links on my blog. I don’t get paid if you decide the buy the item a few days later, and navigate to it without clicking a link on my blog.
To date I’ve “made” $1.73 over about 3 years; but Amazon won’t disburse payments under $10, so I’ve yet to see a single cent.
Why I Bother
There are books and items that I think are worth linking to. Whoever I link to gets a (microscopic) boost from my blog. I like that Amazon gives me something in return — at least in theory. And that’s why I take the time to use affiliate links, even though I’ve gotten a $0 return for 3 years of work.
Yeah, I guess there’s some unbridled optimism in there too. If I could only be one of the top 100 technology blogs, I’d have enough readers to actually make money.
I also generally feel comfortable linking to Amazon.com. Their prices aren’t always the best, but they’re competitive on the whole. Their service is the standard for online resellers. I figure readers have a very good idea of what they’re getting if they buy from them. And yes, sometimes I do direct people to buy somewhere else.
And to be absolutely clear, everything I’ve reviewed or recommended to date was purchased with my money. If I’m lucky enough to get gifts from some amazing company (hint!), I’ll disclose it in my review.
Summary
If any link on my blog points to amazon.com (like this), I get a small (usually 4%) commission off the item iff you buy it immediately after clicking the link.
September 21, 2009
Best Mosquito Bite Remedy
The past few rainy days here in Austin have been a welcome respite from the drought, but it means mosquitoes. The best remedy I know for a mosquito bite is Thayer’s Superhazel,
Most importantly, it numbs mosquito bites quickly, and seems to help reduce swelling. It’s most effective for me when I use a little spray bottle to apply it; then blow on the bite or put it under a fan. Airflow + menthol = instant relief.
What do you think works best for treating mosquito bites?