Thanks, Archive.org! God Rest Ye Copland Programmers (to the tune of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”) God rest ye Copland programmers, It’s finally Christmas Day. You’ve all worked 20-hour shifts Beginning back in May. No wonder after such neglect Your spouses moved away. The last real meal you had Was late last year– That’s what …
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Category:reprint
somewhere over the buffet
From the late, great John Pinnete (to the tune of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”) Somewhere over the buffet: Food piled high. There’s a meal I must get to, Stop me and you will die. Somewhere over the buffet: Watch me fly. Eating up all of the profits, Making the owner cry. Someday I’ll have my …
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how cold is it?
an oldy, but a goody An annotated thermometer (degrees Fahrenheit) +50 New York tenants turn on the heat Minnesotans plant gardens +40 Californians shiver uncontrollably Minnesotans sunbathe +35 Italian cars don’t start +32 Distilled water freezes +30 You can see your breath You plan a vacation in Florida Politicians begin to worry about the homeless …
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sending email in python with gmail
A {{Python}} nugget from {{Programming Your Home}} (review) I wanted to share from p97: import smtplib def send_email(subject, message) recipient = ‘your_email_recipient@domain.tld’ gmail_sender = ‘your_gmail_account@gmail.com’ gmail_password = ‘your_gmail_password’ #use tls gmail_smtp = smtplib.SMTP(‘smtp.gmail.com’, 587) gmail_smtp.ehlo() gmail_smtp.starttls() gmail_smtp.ehlo() #login gmail_smtp.login(gmail_send, gmail_password) #message formatting mail_header = ‘To: ‘ + recipient + ‘\n’ + ‘From: ‘ + gmail_sender …
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35 great questions, part 5
Part 5 of 5 in my condensed reprint of Inc’s article, “35 Great Questions” from the April 2014 issue. (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4) Who have we, as a company, historically been when we’ve been at our best? –{{Keith Yamashita}} What do we stand for – and what are we against? –{{Scott Goodson}} …
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the ultimate measure of financial success
How many times have you heard someone suggest that all their financial problems would magically disappear if they only made more money? But high incomes can’t guarantee financial freedom; there are countless examples of people who earned millions yet still ended up bankrupt. The common thread among folks who get into financial trouble — no …
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lobachevsky – by tom lehrer
{{Tom Lehrer}}, for those who don’t know, was a fantastic satirist and musical humorist in the 20th century. Lobachevsky is one of my favorites of his (YouTube edition): [spoken] For many years now, Mr. Danny Kaye, who has been my particular idol since childbirth, has been doing a routine about the great Russian director Stanislavsky and …
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the announcer’s test
{via wikipedia} One hen Two ducks Three squawking geese Four Limerick oysters Five corpulent porpoises Six pairs of Don Alverzo’s tweezers Seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array Eight brass monkeys from the ancient, sacred crypts of Egypt Nine apathetic, sympathetic, diabetic old men on roller skates with a marked propensity towards procrastination and sloth …
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35 great questions, part 4
Part 4 of 5 in my condensed reprint of Inc’s article, “35 Great Questions” from the April 2014 issue. (part 1, part 2, part 3) Did my employees make progress today? –{{Teresa Amabile}} What one word do we want to own in the minds of our customers, employees, and partners? –{{Matthew May}} What should we stop …
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35 great questions, part 3
Part 3 of 5 in my condensed reprint of Inc’s article, “35 Great Questions” from the April 2014 issue. (part 1, part 2) Are we changing as fast as the world around us? –{{Gary Hamel}} If no one would ever find out about my accomplishments, how would I lead differently? –{{Adam Grant}} Which customers can’t participate …
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35 great questions, part 2
Part 2 of 5 in my condensed reprint of Inc’s article, “35 Great Questions” from the April 2014 issue. (part 1) What counts that we are not counting? –{{Chip Conley}} In the past few months, what is the smallest change we have made that has had the biggest positive result? What was it about that small …
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35 great questions, part 1
Part 1 of 5 in my condensed reprint of Inc’s article, “35 Great Questions” from the April 2014 issue. How can we become the company that would put us out of business? –{{Danny Meyer}} Are we relevant? Will we be relevant five years from now? Ten? –{{Debra Kaye}} If energy were free, what would we …
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the art of the essay
Paul Graham is one of my favorite essayists. The following are some excerpts from his excellent 2004 essay, “The Age of the Essay“. The most obvious difference between real essays and the things one has to write in school is that real essays are not exclusively about English literature. Certainly schools should teach students how …
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abstracts from ‘the art of seduction’
Yesterday I promised you can read the abstracts from {{Robert Greene}}’s {{The Art of Seduction}} today. Part One – The Seductive Character The Siren A man is often secretly oppressed by the role he has to play – by always having to be responsible, in control, and rational. The Siren is the ultimate male fantasy …
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the deadly sins of programming – again?
InfoWorld this week published yet another article on “The 7 deadly sins of software development”. For those who don’t care to read the ~1 page article (that’s split unless you use the “print” option that puts it all on one page), here’s the list: Lust – overengineering Gluttony – not refactoring Greed – cross-team competition …
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fact of the week
From the `fortune`-powered, motd on my server this morning: Here is the fact of the week, maybe even the fact of the month. According to probably reliable sources, the Coca-Cola people are experiencing severe marketing anxiety in China. The words “Coca-Cola” translate into Chinese as either (depending on the inflection) “wax-fattened mare” or “bite the …
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note to anyone who sent models to the freight yard in phoenix
Reprinted from the NYO&WRHS Yahoo Group (owrhs at yahoogroups dot com). To anyone who sent any model locomotives and/or rolling stock to The Freight Yard in Phoenix, AZ for custom painting, please be advised The Freight Yard closed its doors in May and the proprietor made a midnight raid on his shop and removed all …
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john stossel’s show last night
Joseph coins
From AiG: The Jerusalem Post: “Archeologists Find ‘Joseph-Era’ Coins in Egypt” Archaeologists may have found evidence for the Joseph of Genesis in Egypt, a news agency has reported. Researchers in Egypt have discovered a cache of coins “bearing the name and image of the biblical Joseph,” the Jerusalem Post reports. The news was originally reported …
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on Jesus as a “man’s man”
I came across this except recently in my meanderings, and feel it is worth reprinting here. Many think of Jesus as a weak, sad looking fellow. He has been depicted as such by artists around the world for thousands of years. I could be wrong, but personally, I think Jesus was a man’s man. Remember, …
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want to reduce gas consumption?
Buy better tires. I referenced Seth Godin earlier today in regards to investment in developing countries. Why is it, then, that a marketing blogger would talk about wanting to reduce fuel consumption? I think it’s because it’s easier to relate to than streamlining other processes you may have in your business or development cycles. It’s …
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the best middle name. ever.
While I typically don’t repost, Seth Godin’s post was awesome. “The best middle name ever It’s not Warren or Susan or Otis or Samuel or Tricia. It’s “The.” As in Attila The Hun or Alexander The Great or Zorba The Greek. When your middle name is ‘The’, it means you’re it. The only one. The …
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kelly johnson’s 14 rules of management
Johnson’s famed ‘down-to-brass-tacks’ management style was summed up by his motto, “Be quick, be quiet, and be on time.” He ran Lockheed’s Skunk Works by these 14 rules. Kelly’s 14 Rules: The Skunk Works manager must be delegated practically complete control of his program in all aspects. He should report to a division president or …
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univacky
an oldy, but a goody… http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/univac/univacky.html (For proper rhythm, the symbol “@” is pronounced “at” and “$” is pronounced “dollar”.) ‘Twas BRKPT and the I/O queue Was SYMMING FASTRAND like the wind. All idle was the CAU As the last run had just FINNED. “Beware the UNIVAC, my son, Its FASTRAND and its high-speed drum, …
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