My girlfriend just informed that that I am, as I type, missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Britney Spears in concert at the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena. (I’d link to Ticketmaster’s page for the concert, but they’d probably sue me.) Hmm, Entertainment and Sports Arena. Is Britney more entertainment, or more sport? I suppose that depends on your libido, er, I mean perspective.
News flash! Make that a twice-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Tickets for tomorrow’s concert are still available. Only $65 apiece, plus Ticketmaster’s infamous $6.50 “convenience charge”. I so don’t miss popular culture.
Joel Spolsky: Back to Basics. Generations of graduates are descending on us and creating Shlemiel The Painter algorithms right and left and they don’t even realize it, since they fundamentally have no idea that strings are, at a very deep level, difficult, even if you can’t quite see that in your perl script.
NewsBytes: Microsoft to Plug Devastating Browser Download Hole.
“The patch for Internet Explorer (IE) is currently in testing and could be released soon, according to Jouko Pynnonen, a security researcher with Finland’s Oy Online Solutions. Pynnonen reported the IE vulnerability to Microsoft on Nov. 19 and recently tested the software fix at the company’s request.
The vulnerability affects IE for Windows versions 5, 5.5, and 6, said Pynnonen. Citing the severity of the flaw, he refused to release technical details about the method he found for bypassing the browser’s system for securely handling downloaded files.
… Until the patch is available from Microsoft, Pynnonen said concerned users can temporarily disable IE’s ability to download files. To do so, users should select Internet Options from the Tools menu. Then select the Security tab and click on Custom Level. Scroll down to the listing for Downloads and disable file downloads.”
Douglas Adams, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy”:
“But Mr. Dent, the plans have been available in the local planning office for the last nine months.”
“Oh yes, well, as soon as I heard I went straight round to see them, yesterday afternoon. You hadn’t exactly gone out of your way to call attention to them, had you? I mean, like actually telling anybody or anything.”
“But the plans were on display…”
“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”
“That’s the display department.”
“With a flashlight.”
“Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”
“So had the stairs.”
“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.’”
Fortune: Dot-com failures of 2001. Beating a dead horse.
Every problem in my life can eventually be traced back to a case mismatch, the presence or absence of significant whitespace, or the God Damn Fucking CLASSPATH.
