Dec 27, 2007

A nation of prewalkers


Moscow metro, originally uploaded by JasonRogers.

Like most people in the metropolis called Moscow, I commute to work every day. This involves some work and planning on my part to make the trip from point X to point Y as close as possible.

Kottke once posted about prewalking, where you try to game the subway by getting on at the 'head' or the 'tail' of the train. In Moscow it's less of a sport and more of a necessity -- during the rush hour, the onrush of bodies will wear you down if you get out at the wrong end of the train and have to make your way to the far end of the platform.

Moscow is set up in such a way that 99% of the time the maximum number of lines you have to ride on is 2. This means that you have to be smart about prewalking for transfers too. Consider it a mathematical exercise; with over 100 stations and 10+ lines, where's a spot where you have to use more than two lines to get to where you're going? You can review the map here to see what I'm talking about.

Dec 25, 2007

Merry Christmas - Frohe Weihnachten!

Happy Xmas all!

I don't have a tree. I got a few presents. I'm at work today.

I don't feel like celebrating much. I never do. The last few Christmases, quite frankly, have sucked. Last year's Christmas we made a pretty decent go of it. Before then was just plain dismal. There's a reason why the title of this blog can be mispromounced as "the depression".

That having been said, I hope everyone I know has a merry christmas, and an even merrier new year.

Dec 22, 2007

Dec 21, 2007

chris blogs: Thoughts on Vooly

chris blogs: Thoughts on Vooly: A short description on how a tumblelog is organized, by the expert on tumblelogs.

monn/ochoa (ohler & noumena)

monn/ochoa (ohler & noumena): music by friends is the best music to listen to in the world.

Dec 20, 2007

Vladimir Putin - Person of the Year 2007 - TIME

Vladimir Putin - Person of the Year 2007 - TIME: "His final year as Russia's President has been his most successful yet. At home, he secured his political future. Abroad, he expanded his outsize—if not always benign—influence on global affairs"

Code's Worst Enemy

Stevey's Blog Rants: Code's Worst Enemy. I'll give you a hint, the answer is size.

how bad is it?

The US sub-prime crisis in graphics.

Erlang: A New Way to Program That’s 20 Years Old - GigaOM

Erlang: A New Way to Program That’s 20 Years Old - GigaOM: "But the model Erlang offers for parallel programming — distributing computing instructions across multiple processors such as are found in multicore computers or clouds of servers linked together — does represent something radically new to many programmers, even though it’s two decades old."

Dec 18, 2007

On The Meaning of "Coding Horror"

Coding Horror: On The Meaning of "Coding Horror": "Despite its limb-gnawing tedium, Coding Horror will continue to rank high."

Coding Horror takes a moment to blog about blogging, and reveals something that gnaws not at my limbs, but at my heart; that all the code I write sucks. At least I now know I'm not alone.

Dec 17, 2007

cover shot!


Digital Camera Magazine, originally uploaded by junku.

I don't know Junku, but I do know that he shoots a good picture of a cat. Must be good enough for the Japanese Digital Camera Magazine, because that's his cat on the cover. Nice job, then.

rooting for AI

Found while digging through Hacking News -- Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. Has sample PDFs and code.

Dec 8, 2007

no thought, just action


=-D, originally uploaded by lisich.

Was pondering the meaning of this blog in the car today; I need to get back into the game somehow, I thought to myself. The issue is all about managing the time and creating something over time that I can appreciate.

Blogging through Flickr is one way to keep the flow going. At least, it's what I am going to try out for a while.