Archive for the 'Rants' Category

Prostates, Prejudices and Hypocrasy

Published
by
Chris Meller
on November 2, 2007
in Commentary, Gripes, Internet, Links, Public Opinion, Rants and Reviews
. 0 Comments

So I was recently linked to Paul Krugman’s opinion piece from the NYTimes entitled Prostates and Prejudices and I just can’t ignore it… I mean, you guys actually pay this man to put out hypocritical crap like this? Wow… I need to go to work for the NYTimes.

The third paragraph is where we really start to hit Rudy Giuliani hard:

Let’s start with the facts: Mr. Giuliani’s claim is wrong on multiple levels — bogus numbers wrapped in an invalid comparison embedded in a smear.

So a politician didn’t get his facts right or took something out of context to further his own point? Well, that’s not exactly news, but alright, let’s hear what you’ve got to say…

Mr. Giuliani got his numbers from a recent article in City Journal, a publication of the conservative Manhattan Institute. The author gave no source for his numbers on five-year survival rates — the probability that someone diagnosed with prostate cancer would still be alive five years after the diagnosis. And they’re just wrong.

Wrong you say? Ok, I can believe that. I mean, who’s ever heard of this City Journal and why would we believe a conservative Manhattan Institute anyway? Carry on…

You see, the actual survival rate in Britain is 74.4 percent. That still looks a bit lower than the U.S. rate, but the difference turns out to be mainly a statistical illusion. The details are technical, but the bottom line is that a man’s chance of dying from prostate cancer is about the same in Britain as it is in America.

Wa… Wait a minute. So you’re saying the survival rate in England is actually 74.4% but that it’s actually the same as the claimed 82% survival rate in the United States? I’m not sure my high school Algebra teacher would agree with you on that one, Mr. Krugman.

Oh, by the way, where did you get your claim of 74.4%? Forget to cite a source, did we? And how exactly does 74.4% end up equaling 82%? Oh, right, just take your word for it…

So that’s bogus numbers1? Check. Invalid comparison2? Check. Smear campaign against Giuliani3? Check.

Hey, I hate the man just as much as the 9/11 next 9/11 guy4, but come on. If you’re going to call the pot black, at least make sure you’re not the kettle first.

  1. Unless you can cite me a more reliable source than the City Journal. [back]
  2. Unless in the universe in which the NYTimes resides 74.4 does in fact equal 82. [back]
  3. Unless somehow this is supposed to be flattering to your former El Presidente. [back]
  4. 9/11… [back]

No, There’s Nothing New to See Yet!

Published
by
Chris Meller
on August 7, 2007
in Daily Grind, Rants and Work
. 0 Comments

So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.
- Peter Drucker

Boy, isn’t it the truth? My boss is “managing” me right into a hole of utter un-productivity right now.

He apparently doesn’t understand that only 10% of the project is actually the layout of the interface (ie: stuff he can “see”). The other 90% is where you’re working in the background making sure that pretty interface actually does something.

Two to three times a day, he’ll come by, call me, or email me asking if there’s anything new for him to see1.

No, there’s nothing new for you to see, I’ll tell you when I’m done with something so you can see it. The more time we spend talking about how there’s nothing for you to see, the less time I get to spend actually working on something for you to see.

Add to it that it reinforces a bitter feeling that I’m not getting anything done nearly fast enough even though I’m working my ass off, and you’ve got one thoroughly unhappy developer.

Time to call those two job recruiters back, me thinks…

  1. He’s supposedly on vacation this week, but at 8:24 this morning he still found the time to email me asking if there’s anything else he can see. [back]

Why the NewsGator API Still Sucks

Published
by
Chris Meller
on July 24, 2007
in Announcements, Incoherent Code, Internet, Rants and Techno-Babble
. 5 Comments

The Idea
I had a brilliant idea yesterday, and couldn’t wait to get home so I could start coding it. Things were moving along great. I had my database created, I’d gotten Code Igniter configured and running with my standard set of libraries, helpers, etc. and I was hammering away at some code.

Damnation
And then it happened. I got to the heart and soul of the application: the part that interacted with the NewsGator API. Almost instantly, my entire world crashed in around me.

What’s that? You’ve never dealt with the NewsGator API? Consider yourself lucky. Only murderers and rapists should be doomed to such a fate. The NewsGator API is by far, and without a doubt, the worst API I have ever dealt with - and I’ve dealt with quite a few in the past.

Continue reading ‘Why the NewsGator API Still Sucks’

How Scoble Really Reads 622 RSS Feeds Each Morning

Published
by
Chris Meller
on May 17, 2007
in Commentary, Links, Random and Rants
. 0 Comments

Over on Digg, I saw the story How Scoble Reads 622 RSS Feeds Each Morning.

Now, without even reading the actual story, I can tell you (cynically, sure) exactly how he does it. Are you ready for this? Alright then… Here’s the answer:

How Scoble Really Reads 622 RSS Feeds Each Morning:
He doesn’t have a real job.

Now go find me someone with a real 8-5 job that actually expects them to get real work done and produce real results or they really get fired and who still has time to read 622 RSS feeds each morning and I’ll be impressed.

New Microsoft Ad: Scandalous or Creatively Fresh Marketing?

Published
by
Chris Meller
on May 13, 2007
in Commentary, Daily Grind, Links, Microsoft, Public Opinion, Random and Rants
. 3 Comments

Over on Reddit, I found this story, titled New Microsoft Ad Features Girl’s Orgasm.

Now before we get into this, please, go watch the video (pick the first guy on the left, that’s the dad). Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere, I’ll be here when you’re done.

Taps foot semi-impatiently…

Ok, done? That’s great…

So this girl’s “orgasm” is one quick gasp as the father imagines the worst possible things that could happen to his (hot) daughter while she’s out on a date with this loser, spurning him to change the curfew they’d just finished negotiating. The question being posed is, is it appropriate for Microsoft to use the image of teenage sex (in conjunction with the stereotype of the loser boyfriend, no less) to help sell their Suspicious “Male”-detection module of the new Hotmail service?

Personally, I don’t think there’s anything scandalous about this ad. I find it creative and a fresh perspective from a company (Microsoft) long known for being the stereotypical hard-core straight-laced business user (much like ‘PC’ in the Apple Mac vs. PC ads). I think the real question here is much broader: How Prudish is American Society?

Ever seen the movie Eurotrip? Hey, it had Michelle Trachtenberg in it, I couldn’t not watch… Well, in one scene, they’re hitchhiking along and she decides she’ll get a ride… by taking off her shirt.

No one stops.

The point is, this straight-laced American highschooler thought taking her shirt off would get any number of creepy guys to pull over and give them all rides. Unfortunately, they find out that in Europe, seeing a chick with her shirt off isn’t a new thing. Their example was an orange juice ad with lesbians in it, which certainly hammered home the point to me (perverts!). Elsewhere in the movie, the head mistress at a brothel claims that America was founded by prudes, which seems to be an accurate claim given the rest of the evidence we see throughout.

So I ask you again: Why is this ad groundbreaking? Are we that delusional to think that our children aren’t finding out about sex elsewhere, and that a 2-second gasp in an advertisement from the 800lb gorilla of software is going to turn them all into hormone-crazy sex heathens?

Let’s grow up, America. Stop blaming the advertising for turning your children into sex-starved homicidal maniacs and start taking a little extra responsibility for raising a child that’s broken, alright?

Hiding the truth from our society as a whole doesn’t make it go away. Pretending sex doesn’t happen doesn’t mean your children aren’t having it. This isn’t a nightmare, where it will go away if we just ignore it long enough, this is real life… It’s here to stay.