The Adjustment Bureau

broderic on March 11, 2011

Did you know that The Adjustment Bureau was based off a Philip K. Dick short story? You could almost see a bit of the Dick in the movie, but it wasn’t paranoid enough. A group of people who watch over everyone, you find out about them, and you don’t look over your shoulder every damn day of your life? I’m just saying that it could’ve used a little bit more paranoia.

But what it really could use less of was the rom-com aspect to the plot. I thought I was watching Serendipity. There were rom-com plot points galore. They meet cute. They do well together. He breaks her hear. They make up. Fate! They were meant to be together!

So imagine this movie that was slightly funny for the rom-com aspects, throw in a little bit of Dick paranoia, and then spin in the science fiction aspect of it with the path keeper overlords, what have you got? Something that confuses my mom. Me? I was laughing all movie long. It’s the rom-comedy in me.

Needs more sci-fi and Philip K. Dick.

3 of 5 stars.

Link of the Day [3.09.11]

broderic on March 9, 2011

It's always great to read software development stories. Usually, because the writer is a software developer, he (or she) writes up things meticulously. Today's link takes you to the developer blog of pinboard, a del.ico.us-like bookmarking site. It's the story of the week after Yahoo decides to shutdown del.ico.us, and how its users migrated to pinboard. I find it fascinating and harrowing at the same time. It's fantastic and horrific because of the effort to keep their site stable as they get more users than they ever expected to have. I wish that would've happened for this blog.http://pinboard.in/blog/173/

Ending

broderic on March 9, 2011

Someone ripped the final scene from K-ON!! without the visuals. There can’t be anything as cool as this one. Can there? Check back again to find out.

Fizik Bar Tape

broderic on March 7, 2011

I’m putting the bike back together. Bought in 2006, ridden until 2010, I hadn’t changed out the bar tape. It was ratty. So along with a new stem, I bought new bar tape.

Now I didn’t want to do it myself because I am pretty anal about things. If I don’t put it on right, I’m gonna be sad. But I can’t always rely on the angry dude in the bike shop to do everything. So, here’s a step-by-step.

First, remove old bar tape. You’re gonna have to remove the shifter hood or just move it aside enough so that it isn’t in the way. Then cut the old tape off. Usually there’s some electrical tape holding it on the bar. Cut that. Unwind the tape off. There’s also an extra piece of bar tape around the shifter. Take that off.

Next, clean the bar. I used some rubbing alcohol so that the tacky residue of the bar tape is no longer there.

After it’s clean get ready to wrap the new bar tape. Set up some electrical tape for when you get to the end. That way it’s ready to finish up the taping.

Start wrapping the tape around the bar. Start at the bar ends. Do one turn parallel to the end of the bar about 1/3 onto the bar. This will make it easier to put the bar plug over the tape to hold it down. Put the bar plug on. Start wrapping. As you can tell, do it from the bar end towards the stem. Pull as you wrap to make it tight. When you come to the shifter, put that extra tape on the backside then wrap around it. Make sure you give some space for the tape around the shifting mechanism. When you run out of bar tape. Get out the electrical tape to tape it down on the end.

So that’s it. I put on the bar tape. I didn’t leave too much space on the right shifter. There’s some bubbling along the curves. One side is shorter than the other. I think I’ll be fine with this for only one season. I’ll return to this post next year.

Game Theory

broderic on March 5, 2011

Post Oscar Pool thoughts.

I had done the categories part of the Oscar Pool form soon after the nominations had gone out. I didn’t post it for a while because I was trying to figure out a better way to assign points. I had read slate’s take on point assignment and it made me want to change my scoring. I was looking to add a bit of strategy to making the choice. You can see it with the fact that I made the points a choice. (Although, Ness and Angeli didn’t notice).

It was trying to gauge how well you believe in your vote. Unfortunately, the strategy made for choosing the highest value if you wanted to win.

I wanted to make the votes themselves optional, but I feared that someone would win with 1 vote. I had wanted to add a 0 value along with the optional choice — that was the basis for the no-prize reference.

After all the scores had been , I went into theoretical mode. Who wins if all categories were worth the same points? Who wins in the straight pick ’em? I was able to see how the points worked, but not into how you would choose what. I could only see how the points affect your current choice, but not how the point system would affect your choice.

I’m thinking of a better point system for next year.

Quote and Link of the Day [3.04.11]

broderic on March 4, 2011

"There was a time before the iPod too, when companies like HP, Samsung, and even Microsoft fought against Apple for the hearts and minds of the consumer — but I'll be damned if anyone can remember it."This piece I feel was written 3 years too late, and in hindsight, it's actually 10 years. I've felt that ever since iPhone, Apple has been dominating the consumer consciousness, but it was pretty much since the iPod. Every year, they set the bar in personal computing. They ignore what others are doing because after a bit, what others are doing is copying Apple. "Lead, follow, or get out of the way."Apple is the leader.The "iPod killer," the "iPhone killer," and the "iPad killer" are all followers.Microsoft is so confused it doesn't even know if it's still playing the same game.Every evolutionary step for Apple is a revolutionary step for the computing industry. We're just along for the ride.http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/03/editorial-its-apples-post-pc-world-were-all-just-living/#