Archive for the 'General Stupidity' Category

Argh! Programmer Stupidity!

Published
by
Jeremy Clifton
on June 3, 2008
in Geeky Stuff, General Stupidity and Software Development
. 0 Comments

So, I’ve been trying to run down a problem with a web app I’m working on since about 2 p.m. today. Since then I’ve probably put about five hours into finding the “problem.”

This particular app stores its data in an XML database. I thought that the app wasn’t saving part of the data, because every time I updated the data on my local copy and checked the XML file, the file didn’t reflect the changes I’d made.

I just discovered the problem. Although I was testing the app locally, I was checking the XML data from the development VPS at the datacenter. Kind of hard for my local copy to update the database at the datacenter.

I think this means it’s time for a break …

Sigh. This is disturbing … and sad.

Published
by
Jeremy Clifton
on May 29, 2008
in General Stupidity and News
. 1 Comment

So, apparently this is really old, but my brother just shared this with me tonight. I’m pretty much speechless.

Anti-Smoking TN Rep Smokes in own Office

Published
by
Jeremy Clifton
on May 8, 2008
in General Stupidity and Politics & Other Objectionable Subjects
. 0 Comments

By far the story that amused me the most in today’s Times-Free Press is that State Rep. Joe McCord has admitted that he and other folks have been smoking in his state office in Nashville. Why is this so amusing to me? Well, because Mr. McCord voted for the 2006 bill that banned smoking in Tennessee government offices.

Oops.

Smoked out: McCord admits violating state law (linking to knoxnews.com because for some reason I can’t find the story on timesfreepress.com)

The First Annual George Bush & Government, Inc. Bashing Post

Published
by
Jeremy Clifton
on April 23, 2008
in Economics, General Stupidity, Libertarian Party, Life, Politics & Other Objectionable Subjects and Small Business
. 5 Comments

No, I’m not dead. Yes, I know it’s been over a month since I posted anything worthwhile. Hopefully that will change.

I am currently in the midst of making some major decisions about the direction of my business, so that has been occupying my time. I’m also now in charge of audio and computer stuff at church, which took an immense bite out of my time because I had to figure out on my own how all the sound stuff at church worked together because nobody else knew everything about the system. Finally, I’ve been trying to spent more time with my wife and daughter despite all of the above and all my other commitments. Fun times …

This month I did manage to find my way onto television. The Hamilton County Libertarian Party staged its annual tax protest here in town, and I got interviewed since I’m now the party chair. I didn’t do so hot on camera, but I got a small sound bite (and a quote on their web site) nontheless. It’s not what I would have preferred they quoted … but oh well.

On to basic complaining …

Yesterday on the radio I heard a GWB sound bite. It went something like “We’re not in a recession … [pregnant pause] … it’s just a slowdown.”

Um, George … I think “recession” and “slowdown” essentially mean the same thing. What you said is about as logical as saying “I don’t drive a car … I drive an automobile.” Or “We’re no sailing the ocean … we’re sailing the sea.”

Next gripe … there are advertisements on WGOW for the “First Annual Southside Blues Festival.” People, people … don’t call the first ANYTHING the “first annual (fill in blank).” You’ll just look stupid if the whole endeavor goes toes up and you don’t have a second one … and of course having the event for multiple subsequent years is a qualification for something to be “annual.” MAYBE after the first year you can call the next one the “Second Annual _______” but I’d wait until the third year.

It reminds me of when one of my former churches held their “first annual missions conference and dinner” … there was no “second annual missions conference and dinner.” Or, in another vein, it reminds me of when I was on the way to the Outer Banks in 1998 and saw a sign for a restaurant that was “famous since 1996.”

That being said, I hope the blues festival is a great success and we do have it regularly. I hope to be there … it sounds like it’s going to be good.

Step 1: Activate Brain

Published
by
Jeremy Clifton
on March 2, 2008
in General Stupidity
. 1 Comment

So, I’ve been thinking about picking up some noise cancelling headphones since I work from time to time in coffee shops and other places that aren’t necessarily too quiet. I decided to look at some reviews of some of the less-expensive models to see if they were at all effective.

I found the following statement in a review of one particular model:

… there was absolutely no ambiant noise reduction at all if the NC was in “off” mode.

Hmmm … you think?

No wonder the bulk of our nation votes Republican or Democrat.

I mean … is the person in question so mind-numblingly stupid that they would make statements like the following?

… my TV won’t show any channel at all, cable or broadcast, if I have the power turned off!!!
My car won’t move with the ignition off!!!
I tried to bake a cake with my oven off to save energy, and even after 48 hours it still wasn’t done!!!
When I close my eyes I can’t see any more!!!

I hope not, but expecting the headphones to cancel noise with the noise cancellation circuitry turned off … well, it boggles the mind.

Ron Paul Excluded in NH [UPDATED]

Published
by
Jeremy Clifton
on December 29, 2007
in General Stupidity, Politics & Other Objectionable Subjects and Ron Paul
. 1 Comment

UPDATE: It appears that Ron Paul may not be excluded, since the debate in question was reportedly cancelled weeks ago.

UPDATE 2: The article linked to above seems to be false. See this post on the Ron Paul Forums.

It would appear that Ron Paul is going to be excluded from an upcoming Republican Presidential Forum to be held on January 6. The forum is sponsored by the New Hampshire Republican Party and will be broadcast on FOX News.

Although I haven’t been able to confirm this to be the case, it would appear from posts I’ve read on dailypaul.com that FOX has taken the initiative in excluding Paul over the protests of the NH Republican Party.

I’m actually amazed at this point that Paul would be excluded. In the last few weeks, he’s consistently polled at just below Huckabee (or in one case as well as Huckabee), and in every case he’s polled as well as Thompson if not better. And … these are “real” polls, not the “internet polls” that Paul supporters have been falsely accused of “spamming” or “hacking” (I’m not saying that Paul supporters don’t organize themselves and vote in the polls, but organized voting does not equate to “spamming” or “hacking”).

Considering that Paul has raised around $18.9 million this quarter, an amount that has been widely reported to exceed any other GOP candidate (and I’m tempted to believe the reports since no other candidate has claimed a higher number thus far), it would seem that the contention of Paul supporters that the “real” polls don’t reflect his actual strength on the ground is correct. Sure, Paul’s supporters are more energetic, and I certainly believe that a higher percentage of them have been motivated to donate compared to the supporters of other candidates, but I don’t think that it would be a stretch to say that there are probably nine Paul supporters who didn’t donate for every one that did. In my case, I did donate on the last “money bomb” day, and I know of at least four Paul supporters who did not, and I haven’t even gone out and intentionally quizzed all the Paul supporters I know (and there are > 240 in our meetup group here in Chattanooga).

Since Paul is polling above at least one of the other candidates involved in this forum (Thompson) and has in two instances polled as well as another (Huckabee) … and a good argument can be made that his actual strength is better than reported … why is Paul being excluded? Hopefully we’ll find out soon.

In the mean time, Paul supporters are suggesting we boycott FOX News. As if I watch FOX News anyway. Puh-leese. Others have suggested picketing local FOX affiliates. Personally, I’m planning on writing to some FOX advertisers complaining.

Note: Since I initially posted this, I’ve posted the following additional articles about the FOX News exclusion, as well as the ABC News/WMUR exclusions:

“Ron Paul NOT Excluded After All?” (Was based on an erroneous article that was later retracted)
“Ron Paul & the FOX News Forum Exclusion - Part III“
“Further Clarification on the Ron Paul/FOX Forum Mess“
“More Debate Exclusion in New Hampshire“
“New Hampshire Debate Exclusion Update & My Open Letter to WMUR and ABC News“
“Senator John Sununu (R-NH) Weighs in on FOX Forum/ABC Debate Exclusions“

Something Jumped Up and Bit Me!

Published
by
Jeremy Clifton
on December 13, 2007
in General Stupidity and Misc. Notes
. 0 Comments

I couldn’t let this one go without some sort of recognition: “Man Accidentally Shoots Self in Buttocks” … I’ll bet that dude never tries to load his gun with it behind his back again.

Recording Industry Thugs

Published
by
Jeremy Clifton
on December 12, 2007
in General Stupidity
. 0 Comments

Thus far I’ve been somewhat sympathetic to the recording industry, which has been most certainly losing money due to sharing of digital copies of music online (though I expect that the actual losses aren’t nearly as much as they’d like the world to think). However, the following excerpts from an article at ars technica (”RIAA: Those CD rips of yours are still ‘unauthorized’“) demonstrates exactly why I they generally annoy me.

Just for a moment, let’s ignore the issue of whether the people that are being sued actually have shared their music and thus opened the door to illegal copying, and think carefully about what you’re about to read.

Those MP3 and AAC files that you’ve ripped from your CD collection are still “unauthorized copies” in the eyes of the recording industry. In a brief filed late last week, the RIAA said that the MP3 files on a PC owned by a file-sharing defendant who had admitted to ripping them himself were “unauthorized copies.”

… and …

After several years of litigation and nearly 30,000 lawsuits, making a copy of a CD you bought for your own personal usage is still a concept that the recording industry is apparently uncomfortable with. During the Jammie Thomas trial this fall, the head of litigation from Sony BMG testified that she believed that ripping your own CDs is stealing. When asked by the RIAA’s lead counsel whether it was wrong for consumers to make copies of CDs they have purchased, Jennifer Pariser replied in the negative. “When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song,” said Pariser. Making “a copy” of a song you own is just “a nice way of saying ’steals just one copy’,” according to Pariser.

So, let’s get this right. I personally own somewhere on the order of 300+ compact discs that I purchased over the last fifteen years or so (though over the last 5-6 years I’ve generally bought music digitally via the iTunes Music Store). That means, at an average cost of $15, I’ve spend at least $4500 on music.

If I want to rip MP3 tracks of those CDs so I can listen to the music on my computer, for instance using iTunes’ “party shuffle” to randomly select music, without having to be bothered with swapping out CDs every so often, then I’ve stolen a copy of every song I ripped?

In order to not “steal one copy” of each of those songs (in their view) I have to buy digital copies of the tracks … perhaps spending another $600 or so (assuming that each CD I own has just 2 tracks I want to listen to digitally?

If I’d bought $1000 worth of eight track tapes during the seventies, and wanted to be able to listen to that music now, I’d have to buy it all over again to not be stealing in their eyes?

I can’t think of any remotely polite way to say what I’m thinking, and indeed there probably isn’t a polite way to say it.

Sorry guys. As long as you have this attitude, I’m going to find it hard to feel sorry for you.

Overheard at Taco Bell

Published
by
Jeremy Clifton
on December 10, 2007
in General Stupidity
. 0 Comments

This is exactly why I’m glad I don’t work in fast food any more. I just witnessed this interaction between the employees and an in-duh-vidual who somehow managed to navigate his vehicle into the drive-through lane despite being as dumb as a below-average brick.

Employee: Welcome to Taco Bell, may I take your order?
In-Duh-Vidual: Yeah, I want two quesadillas.
Employee: Would you like steak?
In-Duh-Vidual: Huh?
Employee: Do you want the steak quesadillas?
In-Duh-Vidual: No.
Employee: OK, so you want chicken quesadillas?
In-Duh-Vidual (slighly angry): NO! I JUST WANT TWO QUESADILLAS!

At this point we have a pause while the employee slaps his forehead a bit, and the other employees look stunned.

Employee: Sir, do you want chicken or steak quesadillas?
In-Duh-Vidual (more irate): NEITHER!!!

There is another pause.

In-Duh-Vidual (very irate): [profanity], last time I got the regular ones!!! I want the one listed at the top of the menu. (not sure what he meant here)

Here follows another pause while several of the employees discuss what to try next, with the sound of the in-duh-vidual saying “Hello???” in the background. One theorized that perhaps he just wanted cheese on the quesadilla.

Eventually one of them went out to the drive-through, and I could hear her talking the issue over with him. I couldn’t quite understand how the situation was resolved, unfortunately.

Addendum

My brother reminded me of a situation I witnessed at a McDonald’s in Raleigh one time. I can’t remember the specifics of the menu setup at the time, but let’s assume that there are two chicken sandwich combos, and the crispy chicken sandwich is combo number 6, and the grilled chicken sandwich is combo number 7. The person working the register in this instance was a poor woman who was obviously not a native of the US, but appeared to have a good command of the English language.

Snotty Customer: I’d like a number 6 combo, please.
Cashier: OK, that’s one crispy chicken combo. What would you li …
Snotty Customer (interrupting): No, I want the GRILLED CHICKEN sandwich.
Cashier: OK, the number 7 combo …
Snotty Customer: No, I want the number SIX!
Cashier: That’s the crispy chicken sandwich.
Snotty Customer: No, IT ISN’T. It’s the GRILLED CHICKEN, and THAT is what I WANT.
Cashier: OK, a grilled chicken combo.

The snotty customer looked quite pleased at herself, and was probably thinking nasty thoughts about these stupid immigrants working the register. Too bad she was the moron in this case.

It’s OK for us to kidnap British citizens???

Published
by
Jeremy Clifton
on December 3, 2007
in General Stupidity and Misc. Notes
. 0 Comments

“AMERICA has told Britain that it can ‘kidnap’ British citizens if they are wanted for crimes in the United States.” Methinks this sets a dangerous precedent. I’m sure if, say, Iran decided that some random US citizen was guilty of some crime, and even as much as tried to kidnap them to bring them to Iran for trial, we’d nuke Tehran to kingdom come faster than you can imagine.