February 2006

[via David Crow] First, a quote from Nat Torkington, an editor at O’Reilly and program chair for the O’Reilly Open Source Conference:

“Ruby on Rails is astounding. Using it is like watching a kung-fu movie,

where a dozen bad-ass frameworks prepare to beat up the little newcomer

only to be handed their asses in a variety of imaginative ways.”

Which in turn inspired this little bit of Photoshoppery:

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about Accordion City, Ruby on Rails and our lively tech scene. Ryan McMinn from Unspace posted to the Rails mailing list (which I really should join) about having a Toronto Ruby on Rails pub night on Monday March 13th at 7:00 p.m. at the popular local brew pub C’est What (located at 67 Front St. East). Here’s what the posting says:

Spread the word! The inaugural Toronto Rails pub nite will be an opportunity to meet the folks

working on Rails in your community. There will be plenty of opportunity to discuss projects you’re

involved with, recruit talent, and even find out what all of the fuss is about!

Unspace wants to support the growing Rails community here, but we felt that a user group was too

formal, stuffy, and intimidating to those that are new to Ruby and Rails. Instead, the best opportunity

for advocacy is something where people can make friends and have fun in an informal setting.

We also welcome people who are working with other, similar technologies. If you are open minded and like

to discuss how we can all create better sites, come share a pint.

In

case you can’t make this one, it looks as though it’s going to be

monthly happening — the next one’s already been scheduled for Monday,

April 17th.

{ 0 comments }

While I do like the increasing graphic realism of today’s videogames, the games of old (by which I mean the 1980s) had a clunky charm all their own that required you to use a little more imagination. Consider the arcade classic Burgertime (you can play a decent Flash version of the game here):

Those cheesy, low-resolution graphics required you to use your mind’s eye to add to the game’s “story”. Of course, the results will vary from person to person, and sometimes they aren’t so pretty, as the painting below — a rather disturbing interpretation of the game — will show:

You do not want to see this guy’s interpretation of Dig Dug. Trust me on this one.

{ 6 comments }

Renaissance Faires, which I consdier to be one of the lower rungs of the geek hierarchy are just one of those aspects of geek culture that I just can’t get into (and remember, I can put up with a lot of crap: I sat through Spanglish and a Reform Party student meeting). Swordplay, jousting, mead, wenches — those are all fine things in my book. It’s when you combine them all in festival form and put a sloppy Knights of the Round Table cosplay veneer that it all goes straight to nerd hell. That’s why I found this entry by Patrick of Bad News Hughes so funny: he went to a Ren Faire simply for the purpose of mocking them. Prithee, Sir Bad News Hughes, I raise a flagon of…oh, never mind.

“You see, Billy? Keep yourself parked in front of the Xbox instead of

going outside once in a while for a football game and you’ll eventually

end up on the other side of this rope with Baron von Clownypants and

his band of half-assed D’artagnans, instead of out here where the [chicks are].”

{ 2 comments }

…the “I Went Hunting with Dick Cheney and All I Got was This Lousy Flesh Wound” t-shirt, for  US$13.99.  Also available in other styles.

{ 0 comments }

“Why do the wrong people travel, travel, travel, /
When the right people stay back home?”
– Noel Coward

---

[via Boing Boing] An American who lost her camera in Hawaii thought that she’d been dealt a lucky break: a park ranger phone her to let her know that a Canadian family had found her camera and gave her their contact information. However, things started going downhill as soon as she’d phoned them:

“Hello,” I said, when I reached the woman who had reported the camera

found, “I got your number from the park ranger, it seems you have my

camera?”

We discussed the specifics of the camera, the brown

pouch it was in, the spare battery and memory card, the yellow

rubberband around the camera. It was clear it was my camera, and I was

thrilled.

“Well,” she said, “we have a bit of a situation. You

see, my nine year old son found your camera, and we wanted to show him

to do the right thing, so we called, but now he’s been using it for a

week and he really loves it and we can’t bear to take it from him.”

I listened, not sure where she was going with this.

“And

he was recently diagnosed with diabetes, and he’s now convinced he has

bad luck, and finding the camera was good luck, and so we can’t tell

him that he has to give it up. Also we had to spend a lot of money to

get a charger and a memory card.”

It started to dawn on me that she had no intention of returning the camera.

“We’d be happy to return your photographs…”

I was incredulous. “This is an expensive camera, you know.”

“Oh, we know, we looked it up.”

They browbeat her into a bad deal: they’ll send back the memory cards and $50. When the package arrives, it turns out to be just CDs with an attached note: “Enclosed are some CDs with your images on them. We need the memory cards to operate the camera properly.” More phone calls ensue, with the Canadians defending themselves by saying “You’re lucky we sent you anything at all. Most people wouldn’t do that.” Attempts to call the police in the family’s town are fruitless, as the crime took place outside their jurisdiction.

This is low. It’s theft, plain and simple. It sets a bad example for the kid who found the camera. It tarnishes the good reputation that Canadians travelling abroad have earned. The diabetes excuse is lame; my dad lost his leg to the disease, and he’s not out robbing tourists.

What recourse does she have? Many have suggested publicizing the Canadian family’s contact information, which I would consider as a “nuclear option”. Is there something less privacy-invading that she can try first, such as the suggestion that she contact a paper in the family’s town with her story while concealing the family’s identity, as a means of pressuring them into returning the camera? Could she file a report with the police in Hawaii? Or a civil suit in Canada? Please comment away…

{ 7 comments }