All Consuming : John

Consuming "RTF Pocket Guide"

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:45:10 GMT

RTF Pocket Guide

by Sean M. Burke

Consuming "Ajax in Action"

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:42:03 GMT

Ajax in Action

by Dave Crane

Why I want to consume "Programming Erlang: Software for a Concurrent World"

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 19:08:49 GMT

Programming Erlang: Software for a Concurrent World

by Joe Armstrong

A friend of mine told me about Erlang years ago and said he really liked it.

The same friend recommended Prolog, which Erlang programs somewhat resemble. I am very glad I learned Prolog. I can solve some problems much faster in Prolog than in conventional approaches using Java and SQL, for example.

Erlang is good for fault-tolerant computing and communications. It has very powerful distributed processing capabilities. It has direct support for BER data conversions – which is used in some protocols.

The fact that this book is published by The Practical Programmers told me two things:

Erlang has finally gotten noticed by the larger programming community.
At last a book that is extremely readable on the subject.

Lots of bloated programming project costs are due to the fact that programmers working on it only know a couple of languages.

There are things called special-purpose languages that are well-suited to solving problems in particular domains.

Learning and eventually judiciously using more than just a couple languages is good risk management and cost-control.

Trying to learn and use a new language at the same time for a commercial project is generally not a good idea from what I have seen. Grabbing a book like this one and studying it at home is a better approach for self-development and professional success.

Lots of things like test data generators, file syntax checkers, database integrity checkers, test clients for server applications – and so forth, can be vastly simplified by using the right language for the job. For these things, I quite often find that the right language is not the same programming language the deliverable is be written in.

So even if I never write a shipping application program in Erlang, I anticipate someday I can benefit greatly from reading this book.

Why I want to consume "World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Official Strategy Guide (World of Warcraft)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Tue, 29 May 2007 18:18:37 GMT

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Official Strategy Guide (World of Warcraft)

by BradyGames

I want to create some characters of races that were introduced in the Burning Crusade expansion set.

I am interested in making sure that I pick the best professions for them, so that they get off to a good start.

Having created a few characters with pretty poor choices as their pair of professions, I came to see the value of doing this particular thing right.

It seems like the significance of professions chosen in the game with respect to game play falls right in between that of class and race.

So this book seems like it will be a good one for making sure the new characters get started on the “right track”.

Why I want to consume "World of Warcraft Master Guide, Second Edition"

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Tue, 29 May 2007 18:08:59 GMT

World of Warcraft Master Guide, Second Edition

by BradyGames

This is a reference manual as far as most of the pages in the book go. There is a little bit of story background too.

I wanted to learn a little bit more about the game, World of WarCraft. I also wanted a way to look up information quickly that I had already seen in game – but had not written down.

What I did not want to do is use the book to “read ahead” and learn what to do and where to do it as I venture into each new place in the game.

At that point, playing the game would consist solely of pushing buttons and no thinking – quick or deliberate – at all. For me, then it would be pointless and I wouldn’t be sharpening any skills at all, except research.

Different people can use it different ways.

The material in the book is organized so that it can be helpful to people with many different levels of experiences in the game. Also, the organization is one in such a way that it is pretty easy to learn what you want – and not learn what you do not want.

Why I want to consume "World of Warcraft Behind the Scenes"

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Tue, 29 May 2007 17:54:22 GMT

World of Warcraft Behind the Scenes

by Blizzard

I have played the game a bit. By no means an expert but I think I am not a beginner anymore.

Most of my experience is with the original version of WoW. I only upgraded to the Burning Cruside expansion set recently. I have barely peeked inside the beginner areas of a couple major new lands it introduces. So the fact this DVD just covers the original version of WoW was just fine with me.

I wanted to try the game itself out of technical curiosity. Recently, having played it some, I wanted to see what the actual creators of the game had to say about building it.

I consider myself more of a developer than a game player. Even when playing it I find myself thinking about OpenGL, modeling, simulations, object oriented programming.

But on the flip side of the looking glass, I used to read mythology and legends a fair bit in grade school. Myths and folklore are interesting subjects to me – both the stories and the implications behind them.

The promise of cinematic clips also sounded pretty good. I wanted to learn more about the lore of the game – the “backstory”, in Hollywood terms.

The promise of seeing how the creator’s themselves see the game also proved enticing. I was curious how they approached the problem of undertaking something so huge and technically complex.

I am not sure that is what the DVD has to offer. But that is what I wanted out of it.

good-tasting but you really do not have to pay $4 for one

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 19:47:25 GMT

Latte

by Dunkin' Doughnuts

I found that if you make coffee that is just a little extra strong and a little extra hot, then add about a quarter of its volume’s worth of milk – it tastes the same as a latte.

So, while they taste very good compared to regular milk, lattes are shamelessly over-priced and over-hyped.

much more enjoyable than the second in the trilogy was (rated 4 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 16:03:20 GMT

The Matrix Revolutions (2-Disc Widescreen Edition)

by Larry Wachowski

The second one had length scenes in the underground city that were just, well, boring – but not so this one.

The action/suspense kept moving along in this film.

The only thing that seems silly about this whole series is that the story writer put forth a ridiculous premise. He put forth the idea that human beings contain a lot of electrical energy – when the fact is, they do not.

The voltage levels of the human brain and nervous system can barely be measured.

The idea that a machine population would farm humans for electricity is preposterous.

The machines would have quickly used up all the energy just keeping the human beings alive, and gotten back little in return. Plus, taking all the energy (what little there was) from the human hosts – would have killed everyone immediately.

The Matrix is about impossible combat. And the fight scenes in this movie delivered that once again.

Why I recommend "Sugar in the Raw"

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 00:58:21 GMT

Sugar in the Raw

by Cumberland

It is the only kind of sugar I like in coffee. Usually, I have it black – sometimes with milk and sugar.

Initially, I did not even see it in this country. Only in England.

Then, I started seeing packets of it in the trendier coffee shops.

I looked for it in the supermarket for years but could not find it. Finally, it showed up this year at one of the grocery stores near where I live, so I bought it.

The reason I like this sugar in coffee is that it has a tamer and more interesting taste than most sugar. The crystals are light brown and larger than regular sugar. It tastes like a cross between brown sugar and regular crystaline white sugar.

It is made with Turbinado sugar from Hawaii, in case you are interested.

Try it in coffee sometime, if you have not already done so. I think you will prefer it of regular sugar for your coffee.

not my favorite in the series but it is still very good (rated 4 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 16:48:44 GMT

South Beach Diet Savory Pork with Pecans & Green Beans

by Kraft

I eat very little pork. It does not have the greatest reputation as a healthy food.

However, in this meal you are getting a pretty healthy mix of foods.

Total calories on the entire dish is 240 calories. That is about the same number you will find in a 20 ounce soft drink bottle.

What you will not find in the soft drink bottle is almost forty percent of your protein requirement for the day, some vitamin A, calcium, and some iron. You might find some vitamin C in your soda if it is an orange one.

This also has 16% of your daily requirement of dietary fiber. That is another thing you are not going to find in your soda – or virtually any other drink, for that matter.

It has 15 grams of fat total (10% of daily requirement) – zero grams of which are trans fat.

It is pretty tasty.

It is still pork, though. So heed the warnings on the box – keep it frozen until ready to eat, and then cook it thoroughly according to the recommendations. Undercooked pork is dangerous.

In these days of electric freezers and microwave ovens, you can have a hot pork dinner in minutes. The number of calories and the amount of fat in this dish is not as high as you would expect, and is a great alternative to junk foods.

ugh, this is gross (rated 2 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 20:49:39 GMT

Bubble Yum ice cream

by Breyers

The taste of the ice cream is good, and the product would have been just fine – if they left it at that.

Apparently, somebody decided to carry the homage to its namesake just a little too far, however.

When you eat the ice cream, bits of some weird stuff they embedded in the product get stuck in your teeth.

You chew them but they do not dissolve. What the heck is this stuff???

Please tell me that someone at Breyers did not decide to embed bubble gum in food.

You know, food – that stuff you are supposed to swallow? You know, bubble gum – that stuff you are not supposed to swallow.

At first, I thought the little pink and blue chunks of some unindentifiable substance were some kind of candy. And I was swallowing some.

Then, it started to form bum-like little balls between my teeth – like bubble gum, sort of. And I chewed them, and they did not go away.

Here is the Breyers Bubble Yum ice cream home page. I do not see bubble gum or Bubble Yum listed as an ingredient, thank god.

I still think this is a dumb product, and I doubt I will ever buy it or eat it again.

They should have left out the weird gum-like stuff and simply made an ice cream. My advice is stay away from this.

Even a kid that begs for it at home is probably not going to be too taken with it once he gets it in a bowl.

Why I want to consume "Bubble Yum ice cream"

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 20:30:17 GMT

Bubble Yum ice cream

by Breyers

I used to like Bubble Yum bubble gum when I was a kid.

I have tried cotton candy ice cream and bubble gum flavored soda.

So I thought I would give this a try too.

A story about "Vegetable Medley"

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 03:41:50 GMT

Vegetable Medley

by Mann's Sunny Shores

I was really enjoying it. Until I looked on the back to copy the name of the company on here – and saw they are based in Salinas, California.

In case you were living under a rock this fall, that is where the e. coli outbreaks that have been hitting vegetables come from.

No wonder they recommend microwaving it in the bag!

See Farmers given sharp warning before outbreak – Infectious Diseases – MSNBC in case you have recently egressed from a large, sunlight-occluding stone.

The thing is that it is not super-relevant that the particular outbreak that was publicized is over, or that the tainted vegetable that time was spinach.

The FDA was warning farmers in that valley a year before the recent outbreak killed people in various states across the US.

And also there had been a lot of e. coli infected produce traced back to that valley before the mid-2006 incident.

I think I will pass on any more of this brand for a while. That, or microwave it really well before eating it.

A story about "World of Warcraft"

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 22:16:32 GMT

World of Warcraft

by Blizzard Entertainment

I spotted a couple really good music videos people produced all the visuals for just by recording the World of WarCraft gameplay.

Here is another one – a kind of gothic WarCraft rock video

Why I want to consume "World of Warcraft"

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 22:07:51 GMT

World of Warcraft

by Blizzard Entertainment

I finally broke down, after 2 years of avoiding it – and bought World of WarCraft a few nights ago.

This evening, I came across the WorldofWarcraft Crazy Christmas on YouTube so now I am in a rush to start playing it.

The user manual for the game is slightly daunting but I think I actually will read it before playing.

One thing that is helping me get acquainted with the game more quickly is watching the videos (screencasts, they are called) recorded from the game by people who like playing it.

One thing that is cool about WoW for programmers is that you can customize it using the Lua programming langauge and XML.

I may not keep playing this for a really long time but I think I will give it some serious attention this winter.

Why I want to consume "Luigi's Real Italian Ice"

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 00:27:13 GMT

Luigi's Real Italian Ice

by J&J Snack Foods Corp.

Lemon ones tastes great!

They changed the formula to make it softer/smoother recently.

Why I recommend "Stewart's Orange 'n Cream"

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 23:29:47 GMT

Stewart's Orange 'n Cream

by Stewart's Beverages, LLC

Tastes like a “Dreamsicle” ice cream popsicle that they used to serve in my elementary school cafeteria. Delicious.

I imagine they make it by blending cream soda and orange soda.

The only drawback is that this brand, like most others, makes it with high fructose – not sugar.

Why I recommend "Edy's Fruit Bars"

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 04:34:55 GMT

Edy's Fruit Bars

by Edy's

First of all, they taste good.

But so does high fructose, sugar water, and lots of other unnatural – and very unhealthy things.

Unlike the typical processed foods on grocer shelves these days, these popsicles from Edy’s are made from natural ingredients.

Not natural as in “look, it is made of atoms, it is completely natural”.

More like it is made out of natural fruit juices.

Here is an official description of the product and here is a very positive review of the product

A story about the last time I consumed "Spicy Chicken Flavor Chow Mein"

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 04:16:44 GMT

Spicy Chicken Flavor Chow Mein

by Nissan

I had it for lunch today with a couple pieces of Banquet crispy chicken.

Just in case the artificial chicken flavoring left too much to be desired.

But it was really all right, as it turned out.

However, I needed the protein anyway, so it is all good.

It really tastes a whole lot better than their cars.

A question I have about "Mozilla Thunderbird"

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 17:58:12 GMT

Mozilla Thunderbird

by Mozilla Foundation

Has anybody heard when Thunderbird 2.0 will be released by Mozilla ?

Firefox 2.0 came out a month ago. I know Thunderbird releases usually lag Firefox releases a bit, which is reasonable.

I am just wondering how long before TB 2.0 comes out.

Why I recommend "Mint Chocolate Chip Pop-Tarts"

nobody@allconsuming.net (John) — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 16:26:51 GMT

Mint Chocolate Chip Pop-Tarts

by Kellog's

If you like mint chocolate things, you will probably like this.

Some dessert things do not translate well to the Pop-Tarts format. This does not seem to suffer that problem, though.