http://shazow.net/blog The cake is a lie Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:08:46 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Two groups are forming on my contact list, as I settle into a social life here in California: My old prominently-Canadian comrades, and my new American friends. Today, I find myself having to think twice every time I write "colour" or "favourite", cut back, and rewrite it without our endearing ... http://shazow.net/blog/2009/05/22/musings-on-turning-american/ In 29 days, I'm going to board a plane with three hefty suitcases and fly off to San Francisco, CA where I'll settle into Silicon Valley for my short-sighted foreseeable future. I'm worrixcitified. Things that excite me: Weather. I've lived in cold continental climates (Canada, Russia) and I've lived in hot mediterranean climate ... http://shazow.net/blog/2009/04/02/california-dreaming/ Every offer you get will include some details and omit others. To perform a proper comparison between multiple offers and reach a good decision, you'll need all the details for all offers. After numerous back-and-forths with several companies, I composed a checklist ideal for anyone on the verge of ... http://shazow.net/blog/2009/03/07/considering-offers-a-checklist-in-alphabetical-order/ (Crop from an xkcd comic.) Last week I decided to experiment with a 28 hour day cycle. Instead of scheduling my sleep around a 24 hour day, I would schedule it around a 28 hour day with 9 hours of sleep. I would do this until I complete a full loop ... http://shazow.net/blog/2009/02/02/circadian-somersault/ Today: My final day of work at Idée Inc. I wrapped up documenting and handing off my projects, returned my key and notebook, cleansed my hard drive of incriminating evidence, and headed off with my co-workers to celebrate my departure by consuming unhealthy quantities of delicious sushi at New Generation ... http://shazow.net/blog/2008/12/23/employment-status-differently-abled/ One of Google's most used underacknowledged features is the I'm Feeling Lucky query. On the surface, it seems silly and beside the point, but many people have grown to depend on it. What is it good for? Link resolving. You could go to Youtube.com and type "Rickroll" into the search ... http://shazow.net/blog/2008/10/16/googles-lucky-is-fickle-too/ I had a dream last week about elevators that go through each other. After a bit of research, I found a few multi-car elevator shaft schematics and patents but they all seem to use a cyclic method of elevators cycling from one shaft and into another, instead of passing through ... http://shazow.net/blog/2008/10/05/passthrough-multicar-elevators/ One of my favourite things about Python is how I can package up my module into an egg and easy_install it from a tarball, source export, or even an http link. All you need is setuptools and you're off to the races, but there's a few things to watch out ... http://shazow.net/blog/2008/09/02/dont-put-all-your-python-eggs-in-one-basket/ Went to Cuba a few weeks ago and I brought back this timelapse video for you. Highlights from the trip: A female Cuban customs agent with a distinguished Stalin-like bushy mustache. Bottomless quantities of mediocre food where buffet leftovers aren't discarded but re-served the next morning. Perfect ocean beaches with silky-smooth sand. Snorkeling with picturesque ... http://shazow.net/blog/2008/08/17/back-to-real-life-from-cuba/ One of the perks of being sick and working from home is getting to answer all those fun telemarketer calls. Telemarketer: Would you like a free Toronto Sun newspaper subscription for six weeks? Me: No. T: How about just a weekend? M: No. T: Do you read any other papers? M: No... T: Well then, how do ... http://shazow.net/blog/2008/07/03/do-your-tubes-have-deep-coverage/