The Lair

Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup

Best Beer Names Ever → Or maybe just in the US #
more from the anonymous internet hate machine → I just love this. I really really do. #
CSS minifier → been intending a peek at these toys at some point #
whee. The big guns join the OpenID alliance → both provider and consumer service provisioning, please! #
Vertical branding taken to extremes - an encryption tool for err.. the mujahideen → with the marketing reading something like - “use the tool approved by the terrorist overlords to encrypt all your messages!” #
this is relevant to my interests → I swear. 20 odd years of school and I still can’t tie my laces properly. Sometime ago, I just stopped caring. #
Limericks, now in a convenient database form → uses the same software as the famous bash.org, I believe. #
Discover which candidate you would support in the US elections → if you were like … able to vote or even cared to do so. #
A Post-IntelliJ world → Yeah, but you know.. that was version 2.5 or 3.0. Everything after 4.0 has been on a downward spiral #
Victim of His Own Success: The Tragedy of Bobby Fischer → A balanced look at one of the game’s greats #
Raising the Steak → Kobe Beef : the myth and apparent reality #
five new yorkers who face extreme stress → 11th grade student? Oh please. #
prove that you are indeed a leet gamer when playing online → or not. #
everyone say it with me → scam scam scammity scam #
Top 50 British writers since 1945 → I’ve read maybe half of these people. And I already have nitpicks about the list. #

parsing URLs

December 19th, 2007

There are lots of things that you’d want computers to simplify for you - but the obvious methods for simplification don’t actually work. For example, finding out if a user entered email is actually valid. The description and code involved (see here and the monstrous chunk of code here) belies the apparent simplicity of the task.

So it was for my own little task. What I wanted to do was write a general purpose method (in PHP, actually - but the language itself is unimportant) to infer the blog address, given a permalink. So, given any post URL - I wanted to find the address of the blog itself. You’d think that this was a relatively straightforward task. But, if the preamble didn’t alert you already, it wasn’t quite as simple as I first envisaged.

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Posted in programming, tech, web | No Comments »

The Smart Set: Scent of a Führer → Yet more proof that vegetarians are the cause of most of the world’s problems. And you know who else was a vegetarian? yes, that’s right. #
everyone needs a bit moar lolcat in their websiet → It’s been done for lots of other pidgin languages, but it’s still funny in lolcat #
Life as a series of receipt stubs → Awesome #
Coffee Drinks Illustrated → Because pretty pictures are better than wondering why your coffee is that muddy colour #
Won’t someone please think of Vietnam? → I laughed when I heard the comparison being made. This article explains why. #
Unintentionally Sexual Comics Covers/Panels → Comics and innuendo. Old skool scans. #
MoanMyIP.com - yes, what it says → NSFW and don’t listen with the speakers turned up. You have been warned #
People aren’t what they seem over IM → News (and several films) at 11 #
A Soviet Poster A Day → Just what it says on the tin. A new Soviet era propaganda poster every day. #
Vanilla (the nifty forum software) embeds sponsored links in the product → inevitable, I suppose. Everyone needs to make some cash for their hard work. This is rather sad though. #
LOL Feeds → make a lolcat for each of the titles on your blog, twitter, jaiku or wherever #
The Chicken Fried Pork Belly Caesar → dammit. feel hungry now. #
Spite is apparently not a chimpanzee emotion → chimps are however, susceptible to vengeful behaviour #
In a blindingly obvious result: Ruby is faster to setup; but not yet as scalable as Java → The same team are expected to proclaim their findings on the colour of the daytime sky shortly #
Making Bacon → is there anything it can’t do? from an anonymous tipster #
Stephen King reviews Harry Potter → Not a huge fan of King’s recent work, but I think this review is awesome on many different levels. #
Eating meat as a dating strategy → why ordering meat can make someone seem down to earth and less finicky. Amen. #
The vast majority of people are unwilling to take another human life → fascinating read about how this reluctance is overcome #
Schneier interviews the chief of the TSA → lots of fascinating insight on airport security in the US #
Ransomizr - a Flickr ransom note generator → Generates old skool ransom notes from random Flick pics. Very cool. #
sickening, isn’t it? → cheese pie that doesn’t taste quite as good the second time. #
Microsoft Project now has an open-source competitor → imaginatively named OpenProj. Supposedly cross-platform. Looks nifty #
walking causes more damage to the environment than driving → so.very.confused now #
All men are liars, apparently → A fascinating read, if for no other reason than that my perspective is so different from his. #
237 reasons to have sex → some people take their research very seriously #
On a Ramen theme → I may have mentioned Ramen before - but this looks tasty. #
inverse relationship between grades and sex drive posited → what if you’re really smart about getting laid? Ah. Paradoxes. #
A-List Bloggers: It’s a fad. Everyone go home now. → Well I’ll be. They’re not tech gods? #
it’s apparently national orgasm week. This week. → One week a year just isn’t that great, is it? #
Scarlett Johansson will play Jenna Jameson → zomg bewbies #
The Kremlin is like something conceived by Mario Puzo → Kasparov on Putin and politics in Russia today #
being aggressive leads to higher pay. Umm. duh. → But then the article had to go and bring gender into it. #
from flirting to fornication → like this is a bad thing… Granuiad writer sounds like nose is distinctly out of joint here. #
childrens books are banned from the NYT bestseller lists → err. right. Not that I use the NYT bestseller list for my reading decisions, but ok. #
eating beef is less green than driving → that’s too bad for the planet then. I’m probably close to being classed as a militant carnivore. #
Collaborative filtering for news sources → this is an idea that sounds like it should work in practice - but one man’s news is another man’s propaganda. I expect it to be gamed viciously if it ever becomes popular. #
a new superhero for this day and age - splogfighter → the database of 13m blogs sounds rather creepy though #
PHP4 will not be supported after this year → end of an era? I just hope everyone upgrades. #
let loose the badgers of war, they said. → may I be only about the millionth person to chant “badger, badger, badger, badger, mushroom, mushroom”. #
joke comprehension may decrease with age → laugh it up, junior. laugh it up. #
smacks ever so slightly of elitism, but there is a lot to agree with in this review → jumped the shark. Over. I still watch the Simpsons though. #
rent a house and get richer → skippy pointed me to this a while ago. It flies in the face of everything I thought made fiscal sense. So. Confused. #
is anything safe to eat anymore? → can’t help but feel slightly aggrieved at this. #
how to retain people → lots of interesting stuff there #
Time notices 37Signals → ultimately not a great deal of new insight, though #
not sure this article is enough to reform GWB in the public eye but … → the human touches were very nicely done. #
blog and social network by proxy → ghostwriter? Who’s that? oh, but this is Facebook. It’s different. #
fried chicken → it’s the spice mix that counts #
why poor countries remain poor → the rest of the site is a bit suspect for my left leaning self, but this article mirrors my observations elsewhere #
map of social networks → yes, another one. #
what families eat, around the world → the pictures are a tad “You Are What You Eat”, but it’s interesting to see the variations #
want to dodge the smoking ban? become an embassy → of an uninhabited island. Yeah. That’ll work. #
Food photography aggregator → Truly one of the most brilliant places I’ve visited recently. Do not go there if hungry. You have been warned. #
customer feedback for a store which deals in sex and bondage toys → I love the velvet handcuffs. Now, about that malfunctioning key? #
“clearly, to save a woman you need a man. It’s a question of muscles” → Italy’s first? all-woman beach opens for business. Italian wumminz also ask for moar eunuchs. These Romans are crazy. #
myspace vs facebook: it’s about class, apparently → correlation is not causation and all that sort of thing #
Vimperator: Firefox with Vi key bindings → make it stop. Dear gawd, make it :wq! #
continuous partial attention → some call this multitasking, but it’s not quite that #
facebook in 40 years → face what? #
don’t say this to us. apparently → worth a snigger. Probably going to get me a “fine. read those silly articles” too. #
an earth without people → been done in a pictorial form before, but this is specifically about Manhattan’s problems #
pay us more for our wine or merlot will flow → cabernet and pinot too #
who participates and what people are doing online → I’ve dissed Forrester Research findings before, but this is useful looking information #
yet more geography factoids from my childhood which are now proven wrong → Amazon pwns Nile. Who’s yer river daddy now, eh? #
annual per capita consumption of alcohol, by country → Luxembourg? 15.5 liters per annum? pfft. amateurs #
a measure of economic time → in keeping with my recent econ topics week #
one of the most startling pro-immigration arguments I’ve seen → and unsurprisingly, anti-protectionist #
e-petitions, e-democracy and other issues → a certain number of signatories to an e-petition automatically triggers a debate in parliament. interesting #
lettuce all pray → premature wilting - hoped for in one context, undesirable outcome in another. #
do people really know the origins of the food they eat? → Soylent green? Yes. It’s people. #
Akamai traffic visualization → this is just … so… awesome. #
how he spent the war → ex-Waffen SS member and his memoirs #
no stealing plz → completely blasphemous. rather funny. #
Today is the 40th anniversary of the 6 day war → possibly one of the most influential conflicts in modern day Mid east geopolitics #
Truemors - the flop → I wuv u, Valleywag. Nothing more to say here, just read that linked article #
Shochu - more popular than sake → as an additional bonus, also easier to mispronounce when shitfaced and slurring words #
wear your gnazi badge with pride, trooper → grammar activists ftw. they be chillin. #
yoghurt is cool again. darn → redmango! pinkberry! froyo! the cute word obsession continues #
seating hierarchy on the London Underground → one of the coolest articles evah. I’m a longtime #6 person myself. #
hare of a dog → also known as a corgi. cooked, served with apples and onions. Mmmmm. #
last guy in the world to see Star Wars → was it worth it? #
can’t take the spam? just retire from email → nancy boys! stay and fight, I say! *snigger* #
want to be at Stanford? → now you can. offer of a place is optional #
staying in an echo chamber for long enough makes an opinion seem authoritative → broadly applicable to all the sides in the local propaganda war #
how to make great burgers → champions league final tonight. nuff said. #
accurate but nonetheless depressing sumup → errm. muslim minority group? who’s that? #
the bayesian advantage of youth → contains a beautiful analogy on the fallacy of outdated expertise #
viagra may help with jetlag → waking up with a stiffy? priceless. #
coming soon to a school near you → chess jocks! adoring teachers everywhere will do their PT for them. yay! #

for the greater good?

May 21st, 2007

Well, that was a spectacularly unamusing week, right there. So much so that a fairly crappy Monday (as per usual) is looking positively rosy in comparison. Some of the Ach stuff has been brewing for a while, so I thought I’d externalize the accumulated angst once and for all by writing about it. Elliptically, of course.

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Posted in tech, web | 8 Comments »

the end of the petrodollar → with implications for continued use of the USD as the international currency of trade #
the other russia → in democratic russia, anything goes. #
my life for aiur → Blizzard announces Starcraft 2 #
how to survive an internet ass beating → right. sympathy, exit stage left. #
innovate not litigate, says Jon Schwartz → but uh. You’re not Microsoft #
lovely piece on global warming which has implications for many other messages → newsflash: the sky is falling approach only works once. #
population movement patterns in the US of A → and their consequences for politics? very interesting read. #
look. wumminz play chess too! → I never realized. heh. #
how much textual information do we consume daily? → less twitter, more email and more reading online for me. Still not 10 megs a day, though. I think. #
outsource … your local newspaper journalist? → if the news in your area has a depressing generic feel to it, now you know why #
city council staff in Toronto banned from using Facebook → quick. create a group in protest. #
are you a really lazy person? → I’m so there. #
Google polices web → I’ve noticed the “potentially harmful” tag under some pages myself. interesting. #
Mmmmm. horse. → yes. I said horse. Hey, I’d eat it. In a heartbeat. #
dog whistle politics → specific portions of a message that appeal to extremes or segments of a voterbase. never seen that anywhere else. no sir. #
The Streisand effect → AKA the law of unintended consequences #
11 colour myths → black isn’t always death, white is… depends on the culture, innit? #
too hot to trot → get out of my way, I’m in a hurry #
if you find any stuff that glows in the dark → Pakistan may like to have a word. #
why, yes. this curry does taste like shite → and what are those squishy bits? #
the art of being incompetent at an unwanted task → or how to avoid work you don’t want to do #
what would your daemon be? → golden compass movie thingiebob. requires flash. Gah. #
game to help foreign students get over culture shock → drinking, snogging, random acts of gun violence. Right. A game. #
Turkish citizens call for a secular state → separation of religion and state. that’s crazy talk, right there. #
find a unix command and reinvent it for the web → Pipes is more like cat and old school redirects, isn’t it? #
average everything → documentary on Channel 4 tonight #
Visit Gun Town, USA. Firearms mandatory for residents → suck it libs. low low crime rate. #
lolcat language explained → way to overanalyze it, dude #
wow. just wow. misogynistic or merely pragmatic? I can’t tell → even the comment thread following is interesting #
fastfood, advertising versus reality → I’d still eat almost all of the “reality” section. I am a sad junk food guzzling excuse for humanity #
good time atheists → or so the strawman goes #
why Arsenal doesn’t want American “investment” → I lol-ed at the first comment. Still laughing. #
what are the odds? → Virginia Tech student also escaped the Columbine shooting 8 years earlier. #
sex theme park. yes, it’s err.. real → because groping plastic mannequins groped by millions of others before you sounds like exactly the thing you should be doing. yeah. #
the ideal girlfriend → craigslist never ceases to amuse and amaze #
how many styrofoam cups are equivalent to a ceramic or plastic mug? → answer: about a thousand. I still wouldn’t give up my ornate ceramic tankard for stupid styrofoam though. #
just like they do on the discovery channel → bunny suits not provided #
great debut albums and signature tunes → Gah. He mentioned Jeremy. #
having an orgy is safer than driving → unless the orgy is in your car. and you’re the designated driver… or something #
Gaim is now called Pidgin → in the long tradition of Windows Commander -> Total Commander and the like. I like the name Pidgin though #
10 worst rap album covers ever made → ok, so the KKK reference was over the top but the others are … merely bad, not horrific trainwreck material. #
life in rural mongolia - in pictures → nothing too surprising in there, but still interesting #
lighttpd - the basics → lack of decent windows support hinders experimentation in this interesting alternative. for now. #
not about motorcycles, not about blogging → generally applicable, I guess #
another one for the taboo quiz → rapist of a ten year old girl is acquitted on “exceptional grounds”. And that’s just the tame part of the story #
hackergotchi → because the world really needs more pictures like this. #
Serenity is the top Sci-fi movie → online polls, unreliable blah blah blah whatever. Not sure about beating out Star Wars but hey, I’m not arguing #
fascinating piece on Gordon Ramsay → his bark is worse than his bite. most of the time. either that or he’s got an awesome PR firm #
charcoal? why I get that all the time → peanuts that have spent too long in the oven and then become a delicacy. serendipity? why, yes. #
The Fools Gold Loaf sammich → one hollowed out loaf of warm bread, one jar of peanut butter, one jar of jelly (jam?) and one pound of bacon. Sounds yum. #
Italian is now the national language of Italy → Suck it, northern league. #
10 things your boss hates about you → slightly tongue in cheek. I hope. #

kochchi

April 1st, 2007

I think the botanical name is Capsicum frutescens but I could be mistaken on this. Google isn’t being very helpful.

Feel the burn, people.

Oh and if you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you’re well out of it.

Posted in blather, web | 4 Comments »

The Lair

parsing URLs

for the greater good?

kochchi

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