http://patberry.net/blog/ Putting words in a row since 2001 en Copyright 2008 Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:30:23 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.12 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss A couple of weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article about the practice of documenting computer programs by including comments in your code. More specifically, it's about how male programmers are arrogant jerks who refuse to document their code http://patberry.net/blog/2008/06/male_programmer.html http://patberry.net/blog/2008/06/male_programmer.html Rants Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:30:23 -0500 Sending text messages costs too much. http://patberry.net/blog/2008/05/astronomically.html http://patberry.net/blog/2008/05/astronomically.html Technology Wed, 14 May 2008 13:10:28 -0500 As a grade-school pupil in the 1960s, I learned that "Picturephones" had already been invented, and in fact they were demonstrated at the 1964 World's Fair. But they never actually showed up in people's homes. http://patberry.net/blog/2008/05/prophecies_vide.html http://patberry.net/blog/2008/05/prophecies_vide.html Prophecies Mon, 05 May 2008 14:14:48 -0500 Your skin needs exposure to ultraviolet-B rays in order to synthesize vitamin D. Unfortunately, this is the same ultraviolet-B that causes sunburn and skin damage. http://patberry.net/blog/2008/04/sunlight_and_vi.html http://patberry.net/blog/2008/04/sunlight_and_vi.html Health Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:09:38 -0500 Perhaps I'm missing something, but the following strikes me as a profoundly stupid question: "Why do women long outlive their fertility?" http://patberry.net/blog/2008/04/unnatural_selec.html http://patberry.net/blog/2008/04/unnatural_selec.html Science Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:07:51 -0500 This is a public service announcement directed at the world's five-year-old children. I am aware that if you decide to attack me, I can be overwhelmed by a sufficient number of you. http://patberry.net/blog/2008/04/asymmetric_warf.html http://patberry.net/blog/2008/04/asymmetric_warf.html Things that will kill you Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:53:15 -0500 I found out about this from Rachel Lucas, so of course I had to try it. http://patberry.net/blog/2008/03/blog_cussometer.html http://patberry.net/blog/2008/03/blog_cussometer.html Blogging Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:59:54 -0500 When I wrote a few days ago about how Arthur C. Clarke predicted the World Wide Web, I was not aware that he had actually inspired its creation. http://patberry.net/blog/2008/03/dial_s_for_skyn.html http://patberry.net/blog/2008/03/dial_s_for_skyn.html Internet Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:09:38 -0500 After learning of Arthur C. Clarke's death, Bruce Webster wrote: "He was the last of the Big Three -- Isaac Asimov, Clarke, and Robert Heinlein -- to pass away, and we shall not see their like again." He's right. http://patberry.net/blog/2008/03/the_big_three_1.html http://patberry.net/blog/2008/03/the_big_three_1.html Pop culture Wed, 19 Mar 2008 04:40:16 -0500 Arthur C. Clarke has died. To commemorate his passing, I'd like to highlight yet another of his predictions that has come true: the World Wide Web. http://patberry.net/blog/2008/03/prophecies_the.html http://patberry.net/blog/2008/03/prophecies_the.html Prophecies Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:55:15 -0500 How do you photograph characters who haven't been cast, wearing costumes that haven't been made, on a set that hasn't been built? You cheat, of course. http://patberry.net/blog/2008/03/photo_shoot.html http://patberry.net/blog/2008/03/photo_shoot.html Theatre Thu, 13 Mar 2008 22:04:41 -0500 Dave Barry doesn't write a weekly column anymore, but he occasionally still does special articles for the Miami Herald. His latest, published a couple of weeks ago, is about how he finally had a colonoscopy after years of procrastinating. http://patberry.net/blog/2008/03/getting_scoped.html http://patberry.net/blog/2008/03/getting_scoped.html Health Tue, 11 Mar 2008 08:11:59 -0500 Sometime in the fall of this year, I will have been playing D&D for thirty years. Except that I don't really play it anymore. http://patberry.net/blog/2008/03/tributes_to_gar.html http://patberry.net/blog/2008/03/tributes_to_gar.html Games Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:25:25 -0500 E. Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons and father of the role-playing game, has died. http://patberry.net/blog/2008/03/the_dungeon_mas.html http://patberry.net/blog/2008/03/the_dungeon_mas.html Games Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:33:53 -0500 If you're wondering how D&D 4th Edition is coming along, there have been some interesting news items on the Wizards of the Coast D&D website. http://patberry.net/blog/2008/02/what_you_need_t.html http://patberry.net/blog/2008/02/what_you_need_t.html Games Fri, 29 Feb 2008 01:42:39 -0500