Category Archives: losers

On Hiring

January 20, 2012 – 1:25 pm

I’ve decided that if I find out a job applicant has internet-bragged that they could implement some major (Kickstarter, Ebay, Etsy, Facebook, anything…) website’s functionality in a week with Ruby – and it’s always Ruby, lately – I’m going to give them an interview right away, just so I can ask them why they haven’t. [...]

By mhoye | Also posted in academia, doom, fail, interfaces, linux, vendetta | Comments (2)

Out From Under

January 18, 2012 – 1:30 pm

Last week, I was a few months into a one-year agreement with Rogers for my home cable internet connection when they sent me some mail telling me they were going to raise the prices after March. The letter said, in part: “At Rogers, our number on priority is to bring you the best in information, [...]

By mhoye | Also posted in digital, fail, hate, interfaces, toys, vendetta | Comments (4)

And By Raging I Mean Flailing, And By Light I Mean Relevance

December 27, 2011 – 10:35 pm

A friend of mine points me to this incredible New York Times article in which publishers lay out the fact that they are fundamentally opposed to public libraries, detailing their struggles as they take up arms against these nefarious institutions promoting such injustices as culture, literacy and the greater public good. Ms. Thomas of Hachette [...]

By mhoye | Also posted in books, business, digital, doom, fail, future, interfaces, vendetta | Comments (14)

Baying For Blood

December 12, 2011 – 12:41 pm

I’ve mentioned this sort of thing before, but nevertheless: this is a really terrible piece of writing. I remain convinced that the best way to stop a bully is not to go mewling to the teacher, who will only call the victim’s mummy, or to your own mummy, who will only call the teacher. The [...]

By mhoye | Also posted in doom, hate | Comments (3)

Preexisting Conditional

December 8, 2011 – 1:56 pm

The worst thing about Linux, bar none, is the “I’ve been stupid” feeling you get when you only just now find the simple tool that’s been around forever, that solves some nagging problem you’ve had just as forever. I swear to God, I did not know what “cd -” did until just now. Mental note: [...]

By mhoye | Also posted in digital, documentation, fail, interfaces | Comments (5)

A Superstitious And Cowardly Lot

November 28, 2011 – 12:17 pm

At some point, a friend of mine has noted, some people should just admit that they hate and fear all change. It turns out that’s just as and probably more true of my enterprise sysadmin colleagues than it is of anyone else, but it seems a little more awkwardly baroque coming from class of people [...]

By mhoye | Also posted in digital, documentation, fail, hate, interfaces, vendetta, work | Comments (2)

“I knew it, I’m surrounded by assholes.”

November 19, 2011 – 9:20 pm

Dark Helmet: Who is he? Colonel Sandurz: He’s an Asshole, sir. Dark Helmet: I know that! What’s his name? Colonel Sandurz: That is his name, sir. Asshole. Major Asshole. Have I mentioned that the No Asshole Rule has profound geopolitical implications? It’s an idea that’s been rattling around my head for a while. JWZ links [...]

By mhoye | Also posted in academia, documentation, doom, future, hate, interfaces, lunacy, vendetta | Comments (1)

Windows Phone: Done (Update! Incorrect!)

November 15, 2011 – 3:30 pm

“We are driving Windows down to the phone with Windows 8“, says Steve Ballmer, inadvertently strangling the entire WP7 ecosystem in its cradle as he telegraphs to Windows Phone 7 developers that anything they build will be dead-end technology by fall 2012. (update: see below…) Were I in that situation (and I’m in one that’s [...]

By mhoye | Also posted in business, digital, fail, future, interfaces, vendetta | Comments (1)

Technical Underdogging

October 26, 2011 – 10:30 am

After looking at my budget, looking at my options and looking at who I really wanted to give my money to, I’ve bought myself a Nokia E7. I know. I wanted a physical keyboard, really good bluetooth support and a phone that works with Wind Mobile; the pickings there were pretty slim, particularly if I [...]

By mhoye | Also posted in digital, interfaces, toys, want | Comments (5)

Where The Rubber Meets The Road

September 14, 2011 – 7:28 pm

Exhibit 1: Eric Schmidt, on the Google+ “real name” policy. “If you think about it, the Internet would be better if we had an accurate notion that you were a real person as opposed to a dog, or a fake person, or a spammer or what have you. [...] If we knew that it was [...]

By mhoye | Also posted in a/b, digital, doom, fail, hate, interfaces, vendetta | Comments Off