semicolonoscopy

Aside

I find it ironic that, although I use too many semicolons when writing English, I quite often leave them out when writing code. Which is the greater sin? I suppose it depends on which social circles you run in.

The Strunk-and-White crowd would likely be more offended by my overuse of the semicolon. They might also object to the grammar in my “social circles” sentence. As the old saying goes:

Run in is better than run on, unless you are ending a sentence with run in; everyone knows you don’t end a sentence with a preposition.

I like very much that the old saying uses a semicolon. It puts the Strunky/Whitey folks in a tough spot.

As to my other bad habit (omitting semicolons from code), it usually means my code doesn’t work. I spend hours “debugging” (read: swearing at my computer) before I pinpoint the problem.

sounds like…


two recent discoveries

which led to two more recent discoveries

  1. If you say “apple pie” over and over and over again really fast, it sounds like you’re saying “papaya” (over and over again really fast)
  2. If you say “papaya” over and over and over again really fast, it sounds like you’re saying “pineapple” (over and over again really fast)

See the diagrams below:

Continue reading

give them something easy to hide

I received this ad in an email the other day. I thought it was an odd way to pitch a product.

MacBook Air - easy to hide

an interesting selling point… ( . Y . )

I can understand “thin and light” being selling points. But “easy to hide”?

“Buy your kid a laptop he can easily hide!” I’m not in marketing, but I can’t see how that would appeal to many parents.

MacBook Air - easy to hide

just what they’ve been looking for… ( . Y . )

I was about an hour into this post when it finally occurred to me that maybe they were talking about hiding a gift until Christmas because you wanted it to be a surprise.

OK, now I get it. Most people, when they saw this ad, must think “What a relief! Every time I buy my kid a $1500 computer she finds it before Christmas!”

But it took me a long time to figure that out. I guess that’s why I’m not in marketing.

nfl newsflash

YahooNewsflash

Yahoo News Flash

Today, while tending to my beloved Liga Guadalupe, this bit of breaking NFL news caught my eye.

Frankly, it’s no surprise. When Eli Manning’s wife joined the Black Bears’ group last month, it was only a matter of time before Peyton’s wife, Ashley, went public with her own ursine affiliation.

Vegas oddsmakers seemed to think Ashley might go with the Pandas’ group, no doubt due to the universal appeal of the panda. Those oddsmakers, however, probably missed my panda post from the Zoo World series. In Zoo World 3.09: Pulchritudinous Pandas I discuss how inconvenient and EXPENSIVE it is to own lease a panda. Yes, Peyton has a nice new contract in Denver, but choosing the pandas would have been, shall we say, fiscally irresponsible.

Eli Abby and Blackey Manning

Eli, Abby, and Blackey Manning

Peyton Ashley and Grizz Manning

Peyton, Ashley, and Grizz Manning

triple feature

I’m not sure if they still do it, but a local radio station used to run a bit called “My Three Songs.” Listeners would submit three-song sets with some kind of theme.

If they ever did a similar bit with movies, I already know what my set would be:

  • Iron Man
  • The Iron Lady
  • Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Between movies, they could play Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic.”