Clean Up Your Code

I took my Latin final tonight, hence the tardiness of this post, and I'm very confident as to how I did on it. It was longer than I expected but the fact that my translation of the unseen passage made sense is a good sign. What I really want to talk about today is this blog entry about making wrong code look wrong. Sounds kind of odd doesn't it? The whole concept is that you strictly adhere to coding conventions to ensure that when something is wrong that it looks obviously wrong. This makes things easier to read and understand so that the code is easier to work with. Also, it makes your life easier if you're a beginner and what's really intriguing is how he uses this as a weapon against relying on exceptions. I'll admit that exceptions always seemed a bit shady to me, and he does make some rather valid points. When you start getting into the big leagues and you have security concerns looming over you, mistakes are inexcusable. He also brings up the great point of keeping relevant code close together, which isn't something I took into all that much stock until he put it the way he did. It's a great read if you're a programmer so be sure to check it out.

The gravy train of technology news just keeps on chugging. While I still have some of you programmers still with me here I should point you to this editorial piece combatting the illusion that there's a crisis in the domestic education of computer science. The craziest thing is the scandal he exposes regarding the so-called labor shortage of the late 90s and how it bit us in the ass, but there's no indicator pointing to CS majors getting any dumber. OpenOffice 2.0, the lean alternative to Microsoft Office, has come under fire for writing the software in Java, which is a proprietary language and apparently similar problems have come up in the past. The main argument seems to be that they're liable to us Sun-only features, and I can see what they're saying but I don't see them porting it yet so I don't see how they can complain. If you want to see some crazy gaming excitement you should check out this rig of playing a racing video game in a real car. I just thought that was pretty neat. I'm getting some conflicting reports today about the future DVD format. On one hand, Toshiba seems to have developed a 12-hour DVD disk and it also has 3 layers. The thing is that IGN is running an article about a compromise being completed between Sony and Toshiba using Sony's disk technology and Toshiba's software technology. I'm hoping that this will all be sorted out by the end of E3. UT's own Austin Villa robot soccer team lost a game in the RoboCup to the reigning German champion, but it's still pretty cool that we're in the news! Lastly, Yahoo has announced its music search engine service that only costs $5 a month, which rivals competitors who also offering unlimited downloading. It sounds pretty cool actually and you can read some more about it here.

The movie news today will be short yet again. I reported a while ago that Quentin Tarantino was directing the season finale of CSI and now he has hinted that he may do a tv show of his own. That could possibly be the sweetest show ever. Action movie badass Chow Yun-Fat has signed on to star in a new action thriller called Deadly Deception, which he wrote himself, in which he's playing a character searching for his sister's killer alongside the smokin' Roselyn Sanchez. I'm not too excited about him being the writer but he can really kick ass. Because Miami Vice is being directed by Michael Mann I feel that it's necessary to note that it's gaining some new cast members including Robert Rodriguez's sister and Naomi Harris. And lastly, I'm excited to present you with the teaser poster for the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles CGI movie:



Now, the moment you've been waiting for: the Wednesday Mind Hump!

01. How old is your blogging chair. Is it like an old friend or would you like to have a new one? If you'd like a new chair, describe your "dream" chair.
It's my life partner! Ok, not really. I liked the big thing enough to bring it with me to Austin and it reclines back very far so I like it a lot, but I wouldn't mind a softer chair with more attractive handles and a taller back. A new chair will have to wait until I graduate though.

02. Reality shows -- we love them, we hate them. IF there was a reality show about bloggers, would you watch it? If you had the opportunity, would you accept if asked to participate? Why or why not?
Not really. Bloggers aren't all that interesting! If they were they wouldn't blog all that much. My favorite reality show is The Contender because those guys actually have some talent.

03. It's said, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." In the dictionary beauty is defined as: the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit. Going by that definition, in your opinion, who are "the beautiful people" (or person) and what is the most beautiful and awe inspiring sight you've ever beheld?
Here's a question that could get me in some trouble! The most beautiful people are probably those who don't even know that they are but just live their life normally without any arrogance. It's the people whose inside and outside are total mirror images of each other. I could go more in depth, but no one wants to hear that! I couldn't really tell you the most awe-inspiring sight I've seen beacause that's real tough, but I'd say that the South Rim hike at Big Bend is right up there somewhere.