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Looking for a novel way to show your creativity and word-play skills? Use, or even better, CREATE!, a portmanteau! People will think you are witty, AND it's not lazy at all!

It's a posolutely (seewhatIdidthere) GREAT way to express that the whole is lesser than the sum of its parts! Look what they did with the Spork®.

At present, I'm racking my brain to find a word that describes a process that is like magic, but not performed manually like a sucker. I bet I could turn to portmanteaus to solve this problem!

YES, there are a lot of monad tutorials on the web.

But you know what else there is even more of?
Blog articles pointing out the fact there are too many monad tutorials on the web.

Well, I am going to take it one degree further with this post.
When it becomes trendy, just remember, it started here!

Some friendly advice:

STOP LIVING INSIDE YOURSELF.

As of 10:18 PM tonight, I crossed milestone #4 in my Music Collection Enjoyment Project®.

Woohoo.

This means that every song in my music collection has been listened to by me, from beginning to end, a minimum of 4 times... since I started keeping track of the play counts in the iTunes application, anyway.

(The collection is about 13000 songs, for a total of about 1300 hours, or 56 full days for one complete listen, give or take)

I crossed milestone #3 back in October of last year. This one took 8 months, while to get from 2-3 took only 5 months. However, I've been buying a lot of music lately and I had to listen to the new stuff several times to get them caught up.

The rules (which I made up) say that once something is in my collection, it is in it for good, and it becomes part of the eternal rotation whether I like it or not.

Of course there are a number of albums I deeply regret purchasing, but rules is rules.

Curse you, Metal Machine Music.

Now, on to milestone #5. It's de facto tradition that I start off with "An Index of Metals".

You know, after a massive hiatus, posting anything more than that will REALLY make me sore tomorrow.

Wow, that was a workout.

Now to recover.

1. See icon.
2. Well over 25.
3. Of course. I already have. But I will never grow tired of making others watch it with me. Mu ha ha.

HI teh_dirty_robot.

One feature I am surprised hasn't been added to Emacs yet is a yank (paste) operation that replaces the text in the active region.

In order to perform this operation, which is something I do all the time, I need to do a combination of kill-region/yank/yank-pop (or C-w, C-y, M-y). If there is a better way, and I am overlooking something, let me know.

There are three huge disadvantages to doing it this way:

1. It is inefficient.
2. It doesn't work too well with the interprogram clipboard.
3. You can only apply it once. Repeated applications of the operation will need increased presses of M-y to align with the correct item in the kill ring.

So, I decided to write my own function and bind it to C-c C-y.

"yank-over-region" will yank an item from the kill ring, just as if you did a regular yank; however, the yanked text will replace the text in the current region. And immediately after doing a yank-over-region, you can cycle through the kill ring (using M-y) just as if you had done a yank.

The text you are replacing will be added to the kill ring as well; since it calls kill-region to do this, the same behavior for kills can be expected here.

I haven't done a huge amount of testing yet, but so far it seems to work pretty well, and works fine with the clipboard. I'll probably expand it a bit later (such as adding proper documentation and support for arguments, etc.)

To use, just add the following snippet to your .emacs file:

(defun yank-over-region (beg end)
  ; KES 3/10/2010

  (interactive "*r")
  (setq yank-window-start (window-start))
  (push-mark (point))
  (let* ((string (current-kill 0))
	(ring-pos kill-ring-yank-pointer)
	(before)
	(after (cdr ring-pos))
	(cur kill-ring))

    ; prepare the kill ring
    (while (and cur (not (eq cur ring-pos)))    
      (push (car cur) before)
      (setq cur (cdr cur)))
    (setq kill-ring-yank-pointer 
	  (setq kill-ring (append after (nreverse before))))

    (kill-region beg end)
    (insert-for-yank string)

    ; rebuild and normalize kill ring
    (setq kill-ring-yank-pointer 
	  (setq kill-ring (cons (car ring-pos) kill-ring))))
  
  (setq this-command 'yank))

; bind
(global-set-key (kbd "C-c y") 'yank-over-region)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-c C-y") 'yank-over-region)

White Castle® frozen hamburgers!

$3.99 $3.93 with your Pick N Save® card!

It took a great deal of internal debate. So many "what ifs". So many times I almost surrendered and walked towards the light.

But I eventually managed to muster the willpower to walk away from that siren-song of a bargain.

I am so proud of myself.

Avatar wasn't that great. No "phenomenal" or "awesome" or "I want to see it again" from me.
It was just OK.

Have I mentioned that I really really love software to be as convoluted as possible?

That is why I am so impressed with Facebook. After a full minute of digging through the user interface, I still have not found a way to post something besides an insipid one-line "status" message.

Maybe I have to go set some settings or set some filters or install an application I don't know about yet. Or read some manual. Or be a college student. I really don't know what the trick is.



----------------
Now playing: John Adams - Harmonielehre
http://foxytunes.com/artist/john+adams/track/harmonielehre

I would like to do Macintosh development, but as far as I know there are no free cross compilers available, and there is no way to host a Mac in a virtual machine.

So I suppose the only way to compile things for a Mac is on a Mac.

I need to find a cheap low end Mac that has just enough horsepower to occasionally run a compiler to build an executable, and nothing more, other than testing the executables that are built.

Anyone know of any good dumpsters to dig through to find such a thing?

I recently realized there are a total of 8 of Wisconsin's 72 counties I have never been in:

Polk
Burnett
Iron
Sawyer
Marinette
Florence
Oconto
Rusk

That means I've missed out on meeting 56 people, tipping over 112 cows, and peeing on 75,000,002 trees.

OK, that's enough posting for now.

The most terrifying ride you'll ever take™.

The phrase "could care less" yields 4,170,000 hits on Google.

The phrase "couldn't care less" yields 218,000.

And I'll bet that 75% of the hits in the latter are instances of lecturing on how the phrase in the former is incorrect.

I'm liking this winter so far.

I love living in the north.

I'm only asking because I'm curious:

I've been playing around with Perl tonight. First time I touched it in 4 1/2 years. I forgot how much fun it was. However, it'd be a lie if I said it was like riding a bike.

I decided to write a script that calculated some stats on my CD collection; namely how it is distributed throughout the spectrum of time. 1/3 of my motivation was curiosity, 1/3 pure geekiness, 1/3 to exercise my dormant Perl skillz.

With further ado, the stats:

( statsCollapse )
This is a tally of durations, not track count. Each track increments the value of its year by its duration in seconds. In other words, longer songs add more weight.

Of course, this includes only the CDs I have ripped to mp3, which currently is about 2/3 of my collection. The year is fetched from ID3 tag. Tracks that are within compilations (e.g. greatest hits) are assigned the year of the compilation.

According to this report, I have music from every year from 1967-2005 and 2007. No 2006. Interesting. I just realized that. I don't recall buying a single CD in 2006, actually.

I've really been jonesin' to write a new game for the C-64, NES, or SNES for a couple of weeks now but have been too lazy to think of any ideas. Like an RPG, or something of that nature. Would be willing to collaborate with some who is seriously interested.

Someone light a fire under my ass.

The other day I actually found myself in a situation where there were 10000 spoons when all I needed was a knife.

I had to use a plastic spoon to cut a leftover hamburger in half. True story.

The irony was so thick that I could cut it with a knife.

If only I had one.

The Nil Recurring EP from Porcupine Tree (featuring Robert Fripp) is now available. $8.70 cheap!

It is a great supplement to Fear of a Blank Planet... with a tiny bit of editing I was able to cram both onto one CD.

All four tracks are good.

There are only 10 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 electrons in the universe, give or take 1 or 2.

That's 1/1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000th of a googol.

My predictions:

1. Kellerman is not dead.
2. T-Bag will eventually run Sona.

IDAK - (Instant Destroyer And Killer) - is the most powerful super android in the universe. Nothing can stop him. And he is damn good at baseball too.

Now where would I get a Halloween costume like that...

In case you haven't seen this yet, you must.

Wow, this global warming sure is hot stuff.

But together, we can fight it.

Everyone, set your air conditioners to 59°F.

I am currently in the process of updating my "to see" list for movies.

Any movies that I must see? Feel free to gimme your two cents worth.

(EDIT: Just a reminder, if you hadn't known already, I do not like superhero or comic book movies. Just about any other genre is OK with me though.)

Pearl Harbor + Armageddon + The Rock + Chevrolet + Mountain Dew + Burger King + 45 extra minutes = Transformers.

The first three people to comment on Scrapdog's Progressive Rock Guide are professional computer programmers.

For those of you who wish to expand your precious progressive rock album collection, make sure to follow these simple rules before purchasing an album. And you won't go wrong.

Rush - if the longest song on the album is less than 9 minutes, put it back
Yes - if there are more than five songs on the album, put it back
Genesis - if Steve Hackett isn't mentioned on the back cover, put it back
Marillion - put it back

That's all you need to know.

Here are a couple of pictures this ol' sea dog took last night from several miles out:



( Read more...Collapse )

As much as I'd like to reengage you in my war against the hard progressive truth, this book can say it far better than I ever could:



It might make you rethink your ideas behind the terms "productive consumption" and "producing work". >:)

If one wishes to entertain oneself or others, there is a much richer selection of music to choose from in 2007 than there was in 1987, 1977, or 1967.

Wistful time travel fanatics who want to go back to an era where the music was so much "better" are fools. You don't need to be in the year 1973 to listen to Dark Side of the Moon, ass. You can do that now.

If you must travel, you are better off travelling to 2073, where Dark Side of the Moon will still be available... as well as Hanson's 1997 album Middle of Nowhere AND Geddy Lee's 2029 solo album My Good Hip. Expand your catalog by travelling forward, maaaaan.

	Klaus Schulze - Inter*Face (1985)
	Klaus Schulze - Moonlake (2005)
	Blackfield - Blackfield II (2007)

I also bought new copies of Pink Floyd's Ummagumma and the soundtrack from More since my existing copies are 13-14 years old and full of scratches.

I checked out Klaus Schulze's website and it is not apparent whether or not he is still out of commission. But I saw this list and it made me feel all warm inside:
*snipped* from http://www.klaus-schulze.com/opinions/topks.htm
Other music Klaus Schulze likes (April 2007)

1.	LISA GERRARD: Silvertree
2.	PORCUPINE TREE: Fear Of A Blank Planet
3.	HIM: (New CD)
4.	GERMANIACS: Live In Berlin
5.	OPETH: Damnation
6.	JEAN SIBELIUS: Finlandia
7.	W. A. MOZART: Requiem
8.	RICHARD WAGNER: Die Meistersinger
9.	EDVARD GRIEG: Peer Gynt

*/snip*

So Klaus digs both Porcupine Tree and Opeth. That is sweet. SU-PER-GROUP! SU-PER-GROUP!

I'm taking a lot of flak today about my lack of excitement for the upcoming Transformers movie.

I never played with them as a kid, so why should I be excited about it at age 31?

Who knows, I might like the movie, but I'll decide that after I see it, not before. Special effects in movies generally don't impress me that much. They are a bonus, but never a reason for me to see a movie.

As I mentioned the other day, I recently acquired Porcupine Tree's new album, Fear of a Blank Planet.

I did not like it at first. The first song (the title track) did not give me a good first impression of the album. It seemed like nothing more than acceptable, albeit bland, straight rock.

Every album of theirs seems to be a major deviation in style from their last. And I've come to expect that. It usually takes several listens to uncover the core Porcupine Tree spirit that is common to all their albums, but for this album it was going to be hard.

On day two, one song got its hooks in me (Anesthetize). I listened to it on repeat several times... it was catchy, but I still didn't find the core spirit.

It wasn't until day three that I discovered the track that I initially was most unimpressed with was the one in which the spirit took residence.

I've listened to the title track, Fear of a Blank Planet, at least 50 times in the last two days.

The album is kinda growing on me.

I picked up Fear of a Blank Planet and Year Zero on my lunch break today, the new offerings from Porcupine Tree and Nine Inch Nails, respectively.

I have not heard enough to formulate an opinion yet.

Yesterday's unfortunate events can be blamed on one person: a narcissistic, vile, pathetic excuse for a human being.

Not on society.

I saw four movies back-to-back-to-back-to-back in the theater today:

1. Aqua Teen Hunger Force
2. 300
3. Pathfinder
4. Grindhouse

Although I suppose Grindhouse counts as two, so make that five.

Too tired to elaborate on them. Time for sleep.

Last night, I had another dream I definitely have to write down. Kinda like this one, only less morbid.

It was about a guy who has amnesia. He reads a book entitled "How to Cure Amnesia", and after reading the book, his amnesia is cured! He then realizes that he was author of the book "How to Cure Amnesia".

So. Is this M. "Twist" Shyamalan, or Alanis "Ironic" Morrisette? You tell me.

-Yamaha® BB614 Fretless Bass
-scrapdog 1.0

So what was the outcome of your mayoral primary elections?

Will finally win, or is it going to be four more years of Chess-lev-ich?

I bought a new fretless bass last night. I was up till 1:30 playing it.

I've been playing a lot of Civ 4: Warlords this last week. The best game ever made. And it doesn't suck your life away to boot.

With 18 civs crammed on a duel-size map, I can pwn everyone up to and including the Immortal difficulty level, usually through domination victory

But on Deity, I am getting pwned. I've tried like 15 times tonight, and just keep getting my ass kicked.

Someday I will fucking do it. But after I do, there will be nowhere to go from there until Civ 5 comes out.

Montezuma is my favorite leader. He has the most useful trait, "spiritual", and the "aggressive" trait is nice to have. Both Napoleon and Louis XIV are my sworn enemies. They always seem to turn on me at the worst possible moment. The Germans and Persians are usually my friends, and I usually end up saving them for last.

State religion and big government both play a major role in my play style.

For the bulk of the game, I run a Hereditary Rule/Bureaucracy/Serfdom/Mercantilism/Theocracy system of economics and government. This makes my military a bit tougher and my workers a bit faster. And it forces my people to be happy without the government having to nerve staple them.

I really, really, REALLY hate the Comic Sans font.

You know, this font:

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs.

It's been showing its ugly face everywhere, and it's way too damn popular for its own good. I've even seen it on billboards and as overlay text on TV commercials. *bloargh*

Stop using it.

So Lost comes back on tomorrow.

It's hard to get excited about it, especially after the relatively "meh" sextet of episodes they gave us earlier this year.

During this season's dreadfully excessive hiatus, I've relied on Prison Break for my TV enjoyment, and all this has done is raise the bar for my expectations. While I will give Lost a chance to redeem itself this year, it is doubtful that it will match the level of suspense and drama delivered by Prison Break.

In a poll I posted a year and a half ago, I revealed Agent Kellerman to be my favorite character. I stand by my choice to this day.

As far as characters on Lost go, I forgot who they were by now. I know that most of them just turned into a bunch of whining pansies. The only one who wasn't a pansy, Simon Adebisi, is now dead.

Here's a sneak peek at tomorrow's episode of Lost:

- Sawyer gets a synergistic case of rickets, beriberi, and scurvy after being forced to subsist on fish biscuits.
- Instead of giving Sawyer the medical attention he needs, Jack pouts.
- Claire gets impregnated by an Aquanoid.
- While out for a swim, Jin gets caught in one of those six-pack ring thingamajigs. This scene makes me thirsty for a Coke®
- Sun gets sunstroke.
- For the entire episode, Hurley does absolutely nothing but occupy space.
- The other members of Driveshaft are involved in a plane crash that get them stranded on the same island. They reunite with Charlie and organize a gig in the middle of the jungle. Cock rock galore. The island gets annoyed by this.
- Everyone dies.
- Oooh! The mystery of the statue with... four (4) toes!... Revealed!

You heard it here first.