Comments Are Key

No, I'm not talking about blog comments. In fact, if you're not a programmer you might as well skip this paragraph. I've run into quite a few peers who don't see the point in writing comments first and then building the code around it. Essentially, doing extensive planning before putting your fingers to the keyboard in an IDE. Some people call it psuedocode, some call it PDL, but the most important term is documentation. I'm bringing this up because of this article I came across that endorses just this. If I tried reading the code I wrote a month ago without the comments I think it'd be slightly less fun than poking myself in the eye. It's not only that, but more that it's not enough to write a line of code with sensible variable names and then write a comment explaining exactly what that line does in English. What needs to happen is an explanation in terms of the problem; so the why rather than the how. If someone wants to know how it's being done they'll interpret the code in front of them. What's harder to discern is the purpose of a block of code and why it's written the way it is. The motto to live by is that no code is completely self-documentating. The program is crying out for you to give it that extra meaning, so just shut its mouth and do it!

The remaining techie news isn't too shabby either. I think everyone is familiar with Adobe's Postscript and PDF formats as the file formats for read-only documents on the Mac and PC, respectively. Well the surprises keep coming at the WinHEC conference as Microsoft has now revealed that it plans on competing with Adobe using an XML-based document format called Metro that would be built into the next iteration of Windows to be accessed without an independent client. This really is a challenge to Adobe and I feel bad for them because this is just M$ being mean-spirited. They even ordered people to take down pictures of its new UI because they don't have the patents in place yet. I didn't get my order yet so I think I'll keep mine up. I guess that they should've been more paranoid about security at the event if they didn't want any leaks of that sort! Privacy can be a touchy issue in general though, especially in North Carolina where administrators at a couple of universities have been ordered to not divulge the information of some resident music pirates. And the RIAA loses another battle, but not the war. If you want proof that open-source software can turn a profit then look no further because this article explores how one guy got a lot of money from venture capitalists banking on success similar to Red Hat, which sells improvements and support services to clients for a fee. Lastly, if you want to waste some time you should totally check out Guess-the-Google where you're presented with 20 images and you have to guess the keyword that turned them up. It's surprisingly fun and addictive, but could use more unique keywords.

I've got some sweet movie news for you all to feast on today. The big thing is Robert Rodriguez will be working on not one, but TWO sequels to Sin City! I can barely contain my excitement, but I guess I'll have to until summer 2007 rolls around. Sheesh, by then I'll be heading into my last year of college! Other good news today is that James Bond will be Pierce Brosnan after all. There's no explanation as to the sudden change, but I don't think Ms. Dench would lie. Not enough good news for you? Fine, there's also word from Kevin Smith, the man, that the new Star Wars movie will in fact be what we've been waiting for. I won't be camping out for this one, but I'm getting more hopeful for it for sure. Too much good news? Fine, Katie Holmes is dating Tom Cruise. Now we can never be together! Why, Katie?! Ahem, moving on, there's word now that the husband of the leading lady in Silent Hill will be none other than Boromir from LOTR: Sean Bean. With those creepy eyes maybe he'll end up being a bad guy. Following up on the production of Superman Returns in a stalkerish fashion, we now know that Kevin Spacey has started filming on set in his role as Lex Luthor. Can you imagine anyone better for the role? Because of my respect for Antonio Banderas as an action hero in some great movies I have to mention his casting in the indie thriller Bordertown regardless of J.Lo being involved because he just oozes coolness. And lastly, feast your eyes on the first one-sheet for Saw 2:



Before I leave off I wanted to mention that the Family Guy to premiere Sunday night has been leaked and it's totally sweet. Some people disagree with me, but I thought it was an awesome start to the season and IGN agress with me. So be sure to tune in Sunday at 8PM on FOX along with American Dad. Also, Audioslave fans must immediately go here to help us unlock a new track from their album.

And now for some Cheddar X:

1. What would you name your boat?
The S. S. Badass I suppose. OR, the S. S. getInstance("Fun")

2. What's your "go to" joke?
Somebody's gonna get hurt real bad!

3. What do the words "family vacation" evoke in you?
The good ol' days when my I used to live in the same roof as my brother and we used to take random road trips.

4. What is the most infectious song you know right now (that song you can't get out of your head once it starts going in there)?
"Number One Spot" - Ludacris. It was in my head all day yesterday.

5. Are you safer now than you were five years ago?
Considering that I'm out of Fondren and I'm not permanently living in my parent's house in the ghetto and I'm slightly stronger than before, yes.

6. So, how about the new Pope, better than the old Pope, worse or just more of the same?
I could make a joke here, but I think I shouldn't. The Pope's decisions never affected me directly, so it's more of just the same. Unless the Indian dude won. That would've been sweet.