Things I do not like about SAS: There is no compile. The definition of the subroutine must come earlier in the code than the invocation of the subroutine. This can be made tidy by using multiple files, but it can never be made elegant.
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(1)
11:05:01 PM,
Monday 10 December 2007
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the mysterious long-eared jerboa. And this is just the sort of thing that happens. Matter arranges itself into this sort of thing, all by itself. It's actually sort of hard to stop it. Make sure you watch the 3rd clip, entitled, appropriately enough, 'hopping about'.
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(4)
04:16:19 PM,
Monday 10 December 2007
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One of my Gouramis died. I'd had it since February 14 2005. I'd forgotten to feed them today, so woke them up for a late dinner, and one of them was dead. 2 years isn't terrible, but I wish it had picked a time when I'd been taking better care of the aquarium. Really need to do a water change tomorrow.
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08:18:00 PM,
Sunday 9 December 2007
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Kurnik.org appears to be where the heavies of the othello world have set up shop. I don't really mean to have taken this game up again. It's just that Go requires awakeness to be worthwhile, while Othello games can be slotted in anywhere.
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10:05:13 PM,
Friday 7 December 2007
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So the project I've been alternately procrastinating and overworking on, that I was going to finish by monday or else, they've finally seen sense and changed direction. The good thing about this is that it is now a much more reasonable thing to do, and much more likely to succeed. The bad thing is that I wasted weeks on a dead-end. Now, this is partially my fault for being too passive in meetings, and too inefficient; I should have been able to demonstrate the pointlessness of this avenue much faster. This is the sort of reason I left my previous company, though there was an added level of stupidity, because we did want the govm't asked, knowing how stupid it was. Convincing internal people, you have more rhetorical options than you do with a customer. The bizarre thing, which I've never seen before, is that sometimes you actually have less leverage internally than you do with a customer, as far as getting them to do something. Customers, by definition, want something from you. Other departments, though, you're pretty much dependent on cookies, and I work from home.
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(3)
04:49:45 PM,
Friday 7 December 2007
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Laura Cantrell's Radio Thriftshop still exists! on the internet, at least, she's now doing show every other week, on wednesday, 3 hours of gloriously curated old vinyl.
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07:10:17 PM,
Wednesday 5 December 2007
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The NPR debate wasn't exactly awful, but it was dull. I'm entirely sick of the phrase 'middle-class'. I'd like to see someone ask them to give a specific, empirical definition of it, so we'd all know what they were talking about, if anything. Dodd had the best jokes by far: on a silly question about whether they'd buy their children chinese toys, he said he'd buy Iowa toys and his family would eat Iowa food. Also, he told Biden to stop bragging. Also, it's so cute when NPR pretends it isn't an unofficial annex of the democratic party.
Entirely unrelated, but I really liked the way Chavez combined the vote on shorting the work-week with letting him rule indefinitely. I do think far better of him than I did last week, but still, that's a classic bit of something-or-other.
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(7)
04:53:45 PM,
Wednesday 5 December 2007
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stay, food, stay. Bad food.
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03:06:38 PM,
Wednesday 5 December 2007
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No nuclear program in Iran, Chavez losing and accepting it, Guantanamo finally making it to the Supreme Court, Clinton maybe faltering, new Giuliani scandals... It appears to be Good News Week.
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(15)
01:31:29 PM,
Wednesday 5 December 2007
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11:53:51 PM, Sunday 2 December 2007
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A fascinating BBC interview with old-style tycoon, Nixon biographer, peer of the realm, and embezzler victim of "vindictive, high-handed, contemptuous, sadistic, pathologically mendacious and malicious" libel, Baron Black of Crossharbour, aka Conrad Black. "This in not a difficult era in which to make money". My goodness does he like to hear himself talk. I don't think I've ever heard 'travails' used in unrehearsed speech before.
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(3)
11:42:27 AM,
Friday 30 November 2007
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I called to see if they could add the credit card I've had forever, which through a series of mergers came to be from the same bank as my checking account, to my online banking thingum. Turns out they could. I spoke to two people: A Mr. Christmas and a Ms. Gasoline. Are bizarre pseudonyms now standard in customer service? I mean, I remember days later who I spoke to, which I never would have done if they'd just given a given name.
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(2)
03:28:24 PM,
Thursday 29 November 2007
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site & script courtesy of Moss
