Link of the Day [05.17.11]

Software patents. They seem to be handed out like candy. They can be used like a nuclear bomb.As a software developer, I approach the idea of software patents cautiously. I wonder if they are a good or bad idea. My gut feeling is that they are a bad idea — stifling innovation, mainly. In-app upgrades?! Sometimes they seemingly obvious in their implementation that you believe a monkey could've come up with that. One-click shopping?! Software patents are around because the patent office is lazy. They can't be bothered to find a prior implementation of most pending patent submittals.Software is fuzzy. Patents on it seem to be too general to be of value. The patent system needs to be fixed.http://patentabsurdity.com/

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kim-ha-yul-with-coffee-01

Wake you up! Wake me up! Wake us up!

Coffee!

It’s not the only thing that will do…

Genre Death

Manga is dying in America.TokyoPop is defunct. Del Manga is defunct. CMX is defunct. The biggest purveyor of manga and the original pusher, Borders, is hanging by a thread. Manga is withering away. It makes my weekly stops at the local big chain bookstores rather depressing. I can't rely on them having any good manga in.It's very sad.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko Banner

テレビアニメ「電波女と青春男」 公式サイト

I like visiting sites of the animes I watch, because of the gewgaws and bibelots that they have for your blog. Here’s another one from the current anime, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko. Your guess is as good as mine. Got to catch ’em all.

Ano Hana Banner

あの日見た花の名前を僕達はまだ知らない。

Just throwing this up here as place holder to remind you (or rather me) that this is a really good anime…

The Internet Ate My Baby

Upgraded the MobileMe calendar to the latest one because they kept hassling me every time I logged on. Of course doing so came with plenty of caveats. First is that it is really for Snow Leopard. Sadly, my main machine is still Leopard. I haven’t taken that plunge because of the file binding issue. Second, is that MobileMe hates the Camino browser and Mozilla in general. Not really, but Camino is getting long in tooth and is probably on its way to the dev/null in bit bucket heaven.

So I go ahead any way. Ignoring these warnings.

Once I am done I am curious as to what really happens upon the sync. I open up iCal. Create a test entry. Click sync.

I get the weird diff viewer telling me I had a couple hundred events that were about to be deleted. Cool! It’ll clean my stuff up. Of course it will and it did. Cleaned it all sparkly and new so that I had no more calendars in iCal. Now how am I to sync? Luckily, Apple knows that some users are just lazy and has helpfully created a support page to address syncing with 10.5.x. My calendars are back.

Now hop do you sync with 10.4.x?

Need a cohort

Just rolled in from a night at Camden Yards. Orioles take the second straight game from the Mariners. I did not wear my Ichiro jersey. I am a true homer. Only if Marge was there would I have. And tonight was a perfect night for some fun companionship.

With work being the way it has been with the layoffs and the fill in spots, your humble narrator had to lose one position and back fill another, stupid position, and he could use a nice game like this one.

On the ride in, I chatted with a gentleman who was just going to Pickle’s Pub and/or the game. I told him King Felix was pitching for the Mariners and that I had no hope for a win. Chris Tillman gonna pitch for the O’s and hope was non-existant. At least, I can watch the great Ichiro. You know he’s my second favorite.

I arrived early enough to catch the last half hour of the Mariner’s batting practice. Again I make the mistake of sitting in the bleachers in center-right. The weak hitting M’s only put 4 balls on the fly there and 3 or so on the bounce. I gave up on shagging balls and sat down and watched all the other dudes try and catch. An M’s fan kept yelling for a ball, but it ain’t happening if you don’t have tits.

I get a drink and then some nachos to begin the game. I’m down in my season tickets seats with a father and his young M’s fan. Guys are from Philadelphia. Go figure. Kid’s wearing the Ichiro shirt that I should’ve been wearing.

I yell to the ball girl. (Christen or Kirsten?) “First, foul ball give it to the Ichiro fan!” She smiles and nods. It doesn’t happen. I chatted with her in the bottom of the eighth. Maybe I’ll see her again the next time around.

Chris Tillman throws 200 pitches in the first 4 innings, but we are tied. Then all-star AJ comes through and drives in 2 runs on 4-4 evening. Ichiro gets thrown out by Matty Weit Weit. The legend of Bobby Andy doesn’t get going. Nick Markakis and Mark Reynolds were out of the lineup. Felix Pie taking his place and making some plays.

It was a good night with the win. I drank some beer and forgot about work for a few hours. It’s the best thing and I wish some girl would come along.

I rode home on the light rail beaming chatted with an Orioles usher about his work — he was going to another job. Tough. My work? Also tough.

But at least the Orioles win.

Something Borrowed

Mom wanted to watch a movie for Mother’s Day so instead of Thor we went and caught the other movie opening that weekend, Something Borrowed. What we all do for our mothers is not enough. I can only say I experienced 0.01% of the pain of childbirth watching this movie. It was painful and I can’t imagine the rest.

First, I can’t get over Kate Hudson as a 30 year old. Isn’t she older than me? And if she isn’t I’m scared.

Next, I hope the book is better with better written characters that are not cliche: the hard charger, the walkover, the long suffering guy pal. I’m hoping that their relationships are fleshed out better. Why stick with that girl? Why did they never hook up? How can those two not be friends?

Third, express not repress your feelings. Say you like the guy. Tell your best friend that you like the guy. Convince yourself that you deserve him. He’s only looking at you with sparkly eyes as well. Jeez, get a clue.

Finally, if you’re best friends, I want to know why you can’t talk to each other?

Jeez, chick-flicks, they get a bad rap, but then a movie like them their deserved reputation.

2 of 5 stars