Rocking Out in Coding

I can't wait for my real contacts to arrive because my current pair is driving me crazy! The pair I received last week was just a trial pair to get my eyes used to them and so that I could learn proper application and removal, but they're much weaker than my real prescription, which is on special order and should arrive this week, and they will make my life much easier. Anyway, I picked my topic today because of this game called Guitar Hero that all the ACM officers are obsessed over where you can turn your guitar vertical to "rock out" when you're on a roll to get extra points. Some dude put up his tips on how to be a better programmer, which would be the translation of rocking out since you get brownie points for actually doing your job well. I like the big monitor suggestion, since back when my parents had a 15" monitor it drove me crazy since I'm used to my 17", but sometimes I feel that even it is inadequate. Two screens would probably be perfect since when you're working with multiple modules, you have a lot going on at once. I'm glad my computer is fast though, which is the sole reason I got this beefed up machine a couple of years ago (and it's still running strong with its 1GB of RAM). The not asking advice tip should be taken with a grain of salt, because I think that there are times when you definitely should bump your head a few times to learn it better, and there are other times when it's just really not worth your effort (especially if its a subtle nuance of an API). I wish I read more CS books, but I'm already swamped with school reading! Anyway, if you're interesting in programming then that short article is a must read.

If you don't use Gmail, or you use it in a minimalist way, then you should totally rock out in e-mail with the aid of this awesome article detailing some key tips to making things go much faster. Have you noticed that all the improvements to Yahoo! Mail seem to come from Gmail? It also makes searching your messages so convenient, but wouldn't it be great to be able to search your pictures better? Riya aims to let you search your photo albums purely on face recognition algorithms, and it's still in beta but it's an incredible concept. All the image processing is done on the client computer, which means that it could take forever if yours sucks, but it's probably faster than doing it server-side and I think that this idea will (and should) really take off. Microsoft has finally come to its senses and decided to separate Windows Explorer and IE, which in addition to being extremely annoying when errors come up (especially from spyware residue) can also pose a potent security risk. This will happen in XP as well as Vista, so keep your eyes peeled for more. Many Apple speculators quietly buzzed about an iPhone (and even a conspiracy against the Rokr, as I reported on a few months ago), and it turns out to really be in development. They've approached many Taiwanese suppliers for the parts, and it could be released as soon as the end of this year! Another rumor gaining steam is the Nintendo Revolution getting a new name (though Revolution is just a code name, anyway), and while I have my doubts about it I don't think it's impossible at all. Make has put up pictures of Modern Marvels' top 25 inventions of 2006, and it actually has some extremely cool stuff include a quad zipper and a liperator. Lastly, Dell has acquired Alienware, which is probably meant to spread the high-end computers more since they're currently just the dirty secret of hardcore gamers and equally hardcore nerds.

It's years overdue, but it looks like a Simpsons movie will actually be happening. The voice of Flanders and Reverend Lovejoy spilled the beans in a radio interview about recording sessions already being underway, but I wonder why it has been kept secret all this time? It looks like we'll see the return of Sirius Black in the fifth Harry Potter movie as he has been confirmed to be reprising his role in the Order of the Phoenix. I know nothing about the book, but he is an amazing actor. AICN put up a better review of Spike Lee's Inside Man than I would have expected, and Yahoo! Movies has a new clip to boot. It does have a rather impressive cast, but the trailer didn't grab me as being a unique heist movie, which is contrary to what the review suggests. IGN has a clip from the noir-inspired film Brick, which sounds cool because I totally remember reading the Hardy Boys series back in the day and I miss movies like Chinatown. Just a few pictures left. JoBlo has some scans from a magazine with a few more details about MI:3 as well as some pictures, but nothing groundbreaking. They also dug up some character posters from Da Vinci Code that look pretty much as you'd expect them.

Oh, and if you've seen Requiem for a Dream then you must watch this trailer mashup of Toy Story 2 with the druggie movie that I just discovered today (sorry if it's way old). Yes, it is as brilliant as you think it is.

Now for some Wednesday Mind Hump action:

1. What's your favorite way to goof off?
That would have to be screwing around at YTMND or reading top quotes from Bash.org. Both are rather geeky, but way too addictive to pass up.

2. How much goofing off do you do on an average day?
I try to keep it to about an hour, but I may sometimes get caught up talking to people and that could go to two or three hours even.

3. If you got paid to blog, how would you goof off and not do your job?
Probably do way too much research into articles or play the fun games that get dugg. I'd probably also blog search off of memes (like the other responders to the mind hump).