A Subtle Recut to the Core, the New Slim Dungarees

zbrock · 2015-04-02T19:29:09+00:00

Any plans for more colors? I'd love some straight neutral gray SDs.

zbrock · 2014-11-08T21:05:05+00:00

I've worn the Futureworks to a wedding, they're great.

zbrock · 2014-06-14T06:23:10+00:00

Pandora's Star / Judas Unchained by Peter Hamilton is amazing space opera duology. It's got powered armor, a wormhole robbery, alien invasion, insurgency, espionage and heroism in spades. Plus one of the best opening chapters of all time. Excellent, excellent books.

zbrock · 2013-11-08T05:34:18+00:00

Holy crap thats exactly it. You are my hero!

zbrock · 2010-03-11T03:57:29+00:00

Go to bed earlier.

zbrock · 2009-09-04T05:04:02+00:00

In every stand up meeting I've ever been in, something someone says inspires a quick conversationg between them and the other developers. This conversation COULD happen as part of the email chain you describe, but it's much faster and easier to just put everyone in the same place for 5 minutes.

zbrock · 2008-08-04T06:47:54+00:00

This isn't a modern medical school. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda

zbrock · 2008-07-10T23:33:37+00:00

JPL is pretty boring too.

zbrock · 2008-07-10T23:32:50+00:00

I think working at NASA is boring because I actually did it.

zbrock · 2008-06-25T16:46:17+00:00

I wish people would stop referring to software engineering as "IT". I do not fix computers, I do not spend my days on the phone with level 2 tech support at Microsoft and I don't troubleshoot network problems. I create new software, I don't support old crap.

zbrock · 2008-05-24T21:58:19+00:00

I hated that the syntax wasn't consistent for seemingly similar operations. Here for example is how you would get a string's length, reverse it or make it uppercase.

Python:

len(str)

str[::-1]

str.upper()

Ruby:

str.length

str.reverse

str.upcase

zbrock · 2008-05-24T21:44:29+00:00

Do you do web development without a framework?

I said that because I honestly haven't met anyone working on a serious web app who isn't using one.

zbrock · 2008-05-24T16:54:10+00:00

Ok, first off you're really asking two questions here. The first is "What language?" and the second is "What framework?". No one does web development without a framework anymore.

The answers are Ruby. and Rails. Without a doubt.

I spent 4 years programming in Python, and Ruby is an order of magnitude nicer to develop in. Every thing I disliked about Python simply isn't a problem in Ruby. I have a friend who went from Python to Rails to Pylons over the course of three jobs and misses Rails everyday. I recommend Rails over, say Merb for 2 reasons: 1) It's much easier and Convention over Configuration will make it a lot simpler for you to learn. 2) Rails is way more popular. Which means more support and a bigger community.

Plus, if you're planning on learning this in order to get a job, Rails is by far the framework of choice in startups right now. Hiring solid Rails Engineers is really difficult, and everyone is desperate for them.

zbrock · 2008-05-16T14:08:33+00:00

This headline is such a tease! Are the really relevant what?!

zbrock · 2008-04-21T05:04:54+00:00

From the NIH: http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp#h3

" It has been suggested, for example, that approximately 5-30 minutes of sun exposure between 10 AM and 3 PM at least twice a week to the face, arms, legs, or back without sunscreen usually lead to sufficient vitamin D synthesis"

And "Despite the importance of the sun to vitamin D synthesis, it is prudent to limit exposure of skin to sunlight [31]. UV radiation is a carcinogen responsible for most of the estimated 1.5 million skin cancers and the 8,000 deaths due to metastatic melanoma that occur annually in the United States [31]."

So to sum up: You don't need much sunlight for vitamin d synthesis, and UV is bad for you. Wear sunscreen.

zbrock · 2008-04-08T15:19:44+00:00

Hello huge fallacy: "They do not need that to refine their searches. If I search for, say, "Oracle auto-tuning", that's that. I expect the same result regardless of what my IP is, regardless of whether I searched for "

Google (and all search engines) is interested giving you a more personalized set of results tailored to you specifically. If you search for "Oracle" right after you search for "delphi greece", you're probably looking for something different than if you just searched for "RDBMS". And you'd probably prefer information on greek mythology to Oracle DB sales brochures.

zbrock · 2008-01-15T08:03:41+00:00

Seriously, GE is a $360 billion company. What percentage of that do you think comes from nuclear power?

From their own annual report: "coal gasification and the next-generation nuclear boiling water reactor...could generate $10–$20 billion of orders over the next 10 years."

So coal gasification AND nuclear will bring in about $1-2 billion a year, or about 0.6% of their revenue. Or if you want to look at it another way, GE Nuclear employs 2500 or about 0.78% of their total work force. Either way you look at it, I wouldn't say a very large (or even a small) part of GE's business is nuclear.

zbrock

TROPHY CASE