blog.ariffic
Archive for the ‘Annoyances’ Category
« Previous EntriesMore of WordPress’s crap
So it turns out that in WordPress (at least the newest version - I don’t know about older versions), by default, you can’t have an RSS feed show full-text - it only shows excerpts. The culprit? This snatch of code from wp-includes/feed-rss2.php:
<?php if (get_option('rss_use_excerpt')) : ?>
<description><![CDATA[<?php the_excerpt_rss() ?>]]> |
<?php else : ?>
<description><![CDATA[<?php the_excerpt_rss() ?>]]> |
Seriously, guys, that’s just sloppy damned coding. I would assume it was on purpose if it weren’t for the fact that in the lines immediately following, which go over the content of the <content:encoded> element, are written correctly. Way to go, WordPress!
Anyone, for anyone wanting full-text RSS feeds, just convert the second call to the_except_rss() to the_content().
Cedar Fair? More like Cedar Fail
The backwards half of Kings’ Island’s Racer coaster is being eliminated.
Something old is new again at Kings Island, as the backward traveling trains on the Racer roller coaster will run forward again when the park opens for the 2008 season on Sunday, April 20 at 10:00 a.m.
The decision to run both sides of the Racer forward again after 26 years with one side facing backward was made in an effort to be consistent with other Cedar Fair parks. The Red Racer trains will be on the former backward side, with the Blue Racer trains on the other side.
This is a damn shame. The backwards half of the Racer was always fun, and the line was shorter to boot. Now, though, it’s just a boring all-forwards coaster. Good going, Cedar Fair.
Dear WordPress, version 2.5 is a Goddamned mess
(Warning: this is a very angry rant. I am using a WordPress version that I do not like in order to write about how much I do not like this WordPress version, so you can imagine how thoughtful and meaningful this is. Skip if you do not like vitriol being spewed in the general direction of web software.)
Why can’t NewsGator count?
It’s crap like this that keeps me switching NewsGator back to its Classic Reader. (Hint: look at the page count on the lower-right corner of the screenshot.)
In their rush to jump on the AJAXified Web-2.0 bandwagon, NewsGator neglected to see if their product could, you know, count properly. This bug has existed for at least four months - hell, it’s existed as long as the new ‘beta’ reader has - and it’s very simple to reproduce. Here’s how you do it.
0) Turn on the ‘mark items read as I view them’ option.
1) Click on a folder.
2) Start reading by using the ‘next page’ buttons.
By about the second or third page, the page counts will be horribly out of sync.
You had a good thing going for you, NG - why’d you have to go and screw it up with this crappy ‘beta’ reader?
PC question
An idle thought: anyone ever heard of problems caused by a hard drive that was on the same IDE chain as the primary hard drive, but not connected to a power supply?
I replaced my PC’s old clicky 30 GB Maxtor hard drive (from my IBM desktop circa 2001) with a new Western Digital 160 GB 7200 rpm hard drive on Sunday, and also added an extra 1 GB (2 x 512 MB) of RAM. After that, I would periodically have complete freezes of the OS. Today they’ve been especially pernicious, sometimes not letting Windows make it past the boot screen.
I tried running a RAM diagnostic on the memory but after 6 passes it found no errors, so I figured that wasn’t the culprit. Just to be sure, I completely took out the new RAM (still froze up) and then put back in the new and removed the old (still froze up). So I figured, well, heck, it’s probably been about a year and a half since I installed Windows on this thing. Time for a refresh.
Rebooted, started the XP reinstall process, deleted my old partition, added a new one, formatted it, aaaaand… froze up copying Windows files to the hard drive. So that got me thinking. My IDE chain setup was as follows:
- Chain 1:
- Hard drive, WD 160 GB, jumpers set to ‘cable select’
- Hard drive, Maxtor 30 GB, jumpers set to ‘master’ but no connection to power supply - so technically the computer shouldn’t even realize it’s there
- Chain 2:
- DVD+RW drive, some random brand
- Empty
It’s currently three or four steps into the install process, so there’s no saying it won’t freeze up again, but I was wondering: has anyone ever heard of a PC having problems due to an unpowered hard drive on the IDE chain?
addictive vs. addicting
Attention, Internet in general (and I’m especially glaring at you here, Diggtards): addictive and addicting are not! frigging! synonyms!
This is the word addicting. Addicting is a transitive verb. A transitive verb requires a subject and one or more direct objects; for example, “Your improper use of the word ‘addicting’ is abusing my ears.” See what I did there? Abusing, verb, ears, direct object, your improper use of the word ‘addicting,’ subject. Get it? Got it? Good. Side note: if you use this word properly, it is an awkward f’ing word. Let it go.
This, on the other hand, is the word addictive. Addictive is a frigging adjective. It is, in fact, a word that can be used to describe something! As in, ‘ranting is addictive,’ or ’sandwiches are addictive,’ or ‘this Kool-Aid is so good it’s addictive!’ Get it? Addictive is used TO DESCRIBE SOMETHING THAT CAUSES AN ADDICTION.
You people need to quit frigging using addicting when you mean addictive. Oh, sure, you say ‘this cocaine is addicting,’ and you might mean ‘there is a specific property of this cocaine that is addicting me to its use,’ but guess what - you probably damn well don’t. You mean addictive, you English-language-abusing twit.
addictive:
1. Causing or tending to cause addiction: an addictive substance.
2. Characterized by or susceptible to addiction: an addictive personality.
addicting:
1. Causing to become physiologically or psychologically dependent on a habit-forming substance: The cocaine was addicting the thief.
2. Occupying (oneself) with or involving (oneself) in something habitually or compulsively: Playing so many video games was addicting the child.
3. NOT THE SAME DAMN THING AS ADDICTIVE, STOP IT, SWEET JESUS, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE
Just in case you were wondering, I’m not the only one who cares. I’m just more annoyed. The English language is already dying a slow, painful death - can we please stop buggering it in every available orifice? Thanks.
I miss him already
Open letter to Amazon.com: it’s 2007 - can we have multiple item selections, please?
Did you know: you cannot just submit an email to Amazon using the form on their site unless it’s associated with an item or an order? This is a stupid idea, especially for cases where, I dunno, the problem or suggestion in question is with the website!
Still, that’s not the main thrust of this.
To whom it may concern:
Can we please, please, please, please, please, please, please, PLEASE have the ability to add multiple items from the recommendations list to the Wish List or cart at once? Sometimes I want to add 9 or 10 items that are recommended to me to either the wishlist or cart and instead, I have to
1) add one item
2) navigate back to my recommendations page
3) hope it’s still on the recommendations page where I left it
4) repeat steps 1-3 about 10 times in a rowI’d rather do this:
1) click checkboxes beside items I’m interested in
2) click an ‘Add Checked Items to Cart’ or ‘Add Checked Items to Wishlist’ buttonAnd boom, done in two steps.
PLEASE! Pass this along to whoever it needs to be passed along to in order to consider adding this! It’s an incredibly obvious feature, and in this day and age I’m honestly shocked that Amazon.com doesn’t already have it.
Thanks,
Phil
Out here in the field
Fun fact of the day: I have “Teenage Wasteland” stuck in my head, and I can’t get rid of it.
Also, I think my division at work may be the only 3 people who aren’t managers of something. That’s just weird. Seriously, at every company meeting, two or three people end up becoming managers of some sort, even if there’s no one under them - they’re still managers.
I kind of want to switch to the MySQL team (newly-formed!). I worry I don’t have enough DBA-type experience with it, though, and can’t figure out how to bring up to my boss that yes, sure, having the company pay for me to take MySQL administration courses and get a certification are, in fact, job-related. Well, at least, not without making it really obvious that I want to switch to the MySQL team.
Is there a term for having a crisis of faith, but job-related? I’m not so sure software development is what I want to do for a living anymore. I still like it, it’s just that I think I like it more on my own terms.
Monster.com has no idea what Kentucky looks like
Was browsing Monster yesterday for all jobs in Northern Kentucky when I noticed their map of Kentucky was… ahhh… a bit peculiar. This is Kentucky as Monster sees it (click for the full-size image):
Monster basically thinks that
- Western Kentucky extends nearly into where Lexington actually is
- Louisville takes up a quarter of the state
- Lexington is in the northern part of Kentucky
- Northern Kentucky is, in fact, not in the northern part of Kentucky, and apparently contains where Lexington really is
All of these are patently false. Just to emphasize why this is so wrong, here’s an actual map of Kentucky. Again, click for full size:
- Louisville is roughly in the position Monster thinks it is, but it’s not that big. It may be the only one they came close to getting right.
- Lexington is in the center of the state. You know, south of where Monster thinks it is.
- Northern Kentucky is roughly where Covington is on the real map, and doesn’t encompass nearly the area Monster thinks it does - you know, where common sense says it should be. Furthermore, where N.Ky is on Monster’s map, there needs to be a 5th region: Eastern Kentucky.
- Western Kentucky isn’t that big. Settle down, Hilltoppers.
So in short - who the hell makes these maps?
(And no wonder I keep getting job offers out of Louisville. They think it’s in my backyard!)
The US Postal Service: When you absolutely, positively don’t give a damn whether it arrives or not
Ever tried tracking something via the US Postal Service’s website?
This is a screenshot of a tracking page for an item that was shipped to me two days ago.
Note that the tracking page says “Electronic shipping info received.”
It will continue to say this until the package arrives, at which time it will change to “Delivered.” What the hell’s the point?
When this happened to me once, I figured it was a glitch or something. Then it happened again. And again. And again.
Fool me once… strike one.
Fool me twice… strike three.
Hey everyone!
Remember how the U.S. moved Daylight Savings time up three weeks?
Remember how it was supposed to save us energy?
It worked, right?
Turns out we saved pretty much nothing.
Lazyweb: looking for icons
Alright, internets: find something for me.
This page on cocoadev.com links to a zipfile of royalty-free (and, apparently, free-as-in-beer) icons by Matt Ball. The problem is that this zipfile has disappeared completely from the Internets, and the site that was hosting them is French, and the user’s site is gone altogether. (Yes, two of those links are 404s.)
So after a little searching, I managed to find where a different blogger was hosting them on his site, except… you guessed it, 404. They’re gone altogether. They are, in fact, the only thing missing out of his wp-content/uploads folder for the month of March. How odd, and what a frustrating coincidence.
Anyway - does anyone out there happen to have a copy of these icons? I need them for an app I’m prototyping. Thanks!
Weird Rails crap: help me, lazyweb
Ugh, I’m about to give up on using Rails other than at work. As much as I like Ruby on Rails, it seems impossible to do what I want to do with it on my hosting provider. And no, I’m not switching hosts. I like it here. I’ll just go back to doing something instead of Rails.
Here’s the problem: does anyone know how the hell to tell Rails to run as a FastCGI daemon? If I were still using Django, all I’d have to do is:
./manage.py runfcgi method=threaded host=127.0.0.1 port=3120
However, I can find no similar capability in Rails whatsoever, and running Mongrel or WEBrick on that port obviously does no good because they’re not FCGI daemons, they’re webservers.
Details on the setup: Basically, in the public HTML directory of the site I want to be FCGI’d, I have an htaccess file that contains:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://localhost:8080/ulrichp/$1 [P]
Near as I can tell, FastCGI is running as a daemon on port 8080, and is looking for my FastCGI process to be running on port 3120. Which is why my above code for Django works just fine: it starts serving my app itself on port 3120, and responds directly to requests passed to it via FCGI. However, I can’t find any way to do the same thing using Rails.
Idiocy abounds
Okay, that’s it, the U.S. patent system is fucked up. Someone patented the linked list:
A computerized list is provided with auxiliary pointers for traversing the list in different sequences. One or more auxiliary pointers enable a fast, sequential traversal of the list with a minimum of computational time. Such lists may be used in any application where lists may be reordered for various purposes.
A quick, simple, and not completely factually correct primer for anyone with no CS background: a linked list is basically where you have a series of objects that contain references to the next object in the list (and sometimes to the previous object; this is a doubly-linked list). An example would be if you walked up to me (I’m an object) and asked me where my coworker sits. I know where they are (the reference), and following my reference pointer (pun fully intended, C++ nerds may laugh now) you would find the next ‘object’ in the ‘list’ - my coworker.
Here’s the retarded part:
The date on the patent? Filed September 26, 2002; granted April 11, 2006.
The linked list? Developed in 1955-56.
I cannot stress how absolutely dumbfounded I am that this patent has been granted. Linked lists are a fundamental structure in computer science for doing any sort of list processing. It’s one of the primary data structures in Lisp. It is in textbooks everywhere; I did at least six implementations in my first two years of college.
I’m not a lawyer, so maybe someone can clue me in: is the USPTO not required to do any research for ‘prior art’ (or whatever the hell you’d call it in this case) and just rely on the idea that the first one to patent something is the first person to come up with it?
Amazon.com And Now They're Dead Animals Annoyances Apple Automated Blogging Books Capcom Cartoons Cat Pictures City of Heroes Clothing College Comics Computers Contests del.icio.us Development Email Exercise Facebook Famous People FFXI Flickr Food Furries Gadgets Google Hardware Health History Hoaxes Icons IKEA Image Macros Internet Klingons Language Law Lazyweb lol Mac Mail Mega Man Memes Microsoft Military MMORPGs Movies MU*s Music MySpace MySQL News NFL Nintendo Nostalgia Oh Noes Ohio Photos Pokemon Politics Pownce PS2 PS3 Psychology Questionable Content Rant Religion Reviews Robots Ruby on Rails Science Sex Shopping Software Sporks Sports Sun Technology Transformers TV Uncategorized Vacation Video Video Games War Webapps Wii Wikipedia Windows Wishlist WordPress Work World of Warcraft Writing WTF? Xbox 360 Yard Sale YouTube