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Take THAT you evil code!

Yes! I have been fighting a horrid coding problem and the code just lost! I beat it! I mean this is the type of problem that makes you have bald spots and want to give up programming for something less painful like digging latrines in third countries. This is like I’ve been trying to build a car engine but everything is in metric and all my tools are SAE and the client doesn’t care about the engine but really wants to know why the paint isn’t on the car yet. Oh how I want to be beyond the paint and putting the last bit of polish on the application. Today I should be able to make much progress. Oh wait, no I have to be at the body shop by 8am! Guess my workday will begin at 10am. How frustrating!

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Can you resist the urge to type a url into your browser?

Can you watch this video and not type the url into the browser to see what comes up? No. I didn’t think you could resist. Me neither.

Note: If the words penis or fart causes your work censor alarms to go off, then this Saturday Night Live video may not be work safe but then again this post didn’t get through either. Thank you Victor Agreda for the link!

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Bust’d

So I’m walking out of Walmart to the car and I see this woman approaching. I’m staring at her and staring at her and staring at her and staring at her when suddenly it occurs to me that her shirt has words on it. The words read, "KEEP STARING!" No, I don’t know what her face looked like.

Update: My wife actually asked, "were you really staring at that woman?" and I had to explain, "It’s difficult not to stare when something is covering up the entire horizon!"

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I like digital billboards

A good friend of mine and I disagree on this topic. There is a digital billboard at Lovell Road and I think it is far more attractive than the traditional billboards. That said, I think billboards in general are eye sores and blemishes to the landscape; however, they serve a purpose. Without billboards, the alphabet game would take forever! Without billboards, South of the Border would be just another Mexican restaurant. Without billboards, who would buy pecans at warehouses with plantation like facades?! If we aren’t going to make billboards disappear altogether, and I wish we would, let’s give them some utility.

I have a vision for billboards that is in conflict with my normal anti-big brother stance. My vision is right out of Minority Report. If all our billboards were digital, when an Amber Alert happened, every billboard could instantly change to be the same message showing the abductor’s picture, the child’s picture, and a description of the car. If you were driving down the interstate and saw such a message extending from horizon to horizon I think you would be much more aware of that car on the road. The abductor would certainly be moved!

Additionally, I think if cities approve digital billboards, that they should come with an easement that gives the city the right to scroll traffic alerts on the bottom or top of the billboard. We have expensive digital signs across our interstates that warn of traffic times, congestion, detours and so forth. But how many times have you passed the sign to ask your passengers, "Did you catch that?" With an easement on the digital billboards the same message could be presented for miles upon miles and the expense is already being made by the billboard company. I believe it is very win-win!

See also Knoxnews: Digital billboards get several endorsements and Knoxviews:Scenic Knoxville Needs Your Help to Stop Digital Billboards and Knoxvoice:Lights On.

Update: Digital billboards in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina push Amber Alerts but are so bright that they are blinding and damage night vision. Sounds like a road hazard to me but also sounds correctable through standards for brightness or perhaps color choices. Thanks Brettbum!