When working with text files on a Unix/Linux system, you'll occasionally run into a situation where a file will contain extended ASCII characters. These extended characters will generally appear to begin with ^ or [characters in your text files. For instance, the vi/vim editor will show ^M characters in DOS text files when they are transferred to Unix systems, such as when using the ftp command in binary transfer mode. Oftentimes, you'll want to easily delete these characters from your files.
Scala, Java, Unix, MacOS tutorials (page 223)
When I lived in Talkeetna, Alaska in 2007, a young woman there kept calling me Ken. My name is Al, so I tried to correct her several times, but every time I saw her she called me Ken. She had blonde hair, so after a little while I started calling her Barbie.
One day we were with some other people who knew my real name, and they called me Al. At one point Barbie looked at me and said, “Who’s Al?”, to which I replied, “I am.”
“Who’s Ken?”, she asked.
“I have no idea,” I replied, starting to laugh so hard that I was crying.
She paused for a few moments while it all sank in. “So that’s why you keep calling me ‘Barbie’”, she said, laughing hard.
I just thought of this story because a song named “Amie” just came on. For a little while when I lived in Alaska in 2010 it seemed like every woman I met was named Amy, so this became a theme song. Here’s Amie, by the Pure Prairie League.
The Chicago Cubs just beat the St. Louis Cardinals in their 2015 NLDS matchup, three games to one. Next up they’ll meet the winner of the Mets/Dodgers series.
I learned about the Human Brain Project while reading this NY Times article about creating a simulation of a rat brain.
They don’t cite any sources, but extremetech.com has this article that states that Honda is working on an Asimo-style disaster-response robot. That would be cool, and useful.
I was wondering what had become of the Typesafe renaming process. Earlier they had stated that the name change would be announced on October 5th, but that day came and went without a peep. As I google’d to see what happened to that, I was led to this Inc.com article, which a Typesafe blog post referenced. I can’t say that I agree with it, but it’s food for thought.
Wow, Chase Utley’s slide looks like a cheap shot to me. The Mets player (Tejada) had his back to Utley until just before the moment of this photo, so Utley basically hit a guy who wasn’t looking. In the NFL they call this “hitting a defenseless receiver.”
This is pretty crazy. That thickness is about the width of my current apartment. (Image from this Twitter post.)
Update: This information from Hubblesite.org is a little more accurate: “Saturn's rings are incredibly thin. The main rings are generally only about 30 feet (10 meters) thick, though parts of the main and other rings can be several kilometers thick.”
I’ve become a fan of Subaru’s marketing/branding since buying my car last year. Unlike other auto makers who seem to be like, “Hey, you bought one of our cars, good luck with that,” Subaru comes right at you and says, “Hey, Al, you’re one of the Subaru family now. Here are some nice initial discounts on accessories and service, your first oil change is on us, and we’re going to stay in touch with you through our ‘drive’ magazine about what other people are doing with their Subarus, great trips to take, and oh yeah, some new car stuff as well.” They also send some mailers on a consistent basis to remind you that you own a Subaru. I’m not expressing it well, but they do a good job of welcoming you to the family — whether you think you want to be in that family, or not.
