A foreign film I'd love to see

Java 4 ever is a hilarious trailer for a made up movie. It has all the cliches from a Hollywood warm-human-tale kinda movie, but instead of being about forbidden cross-sect love, it's about open computer standards.

Beware that the trailer is R rated at one point.

HT Ted Neward

April Fool Picks

Cappuccino has solved the JavaScript memory management problem:

Lately, though, we’re beginning to realize that we didn’t quite go far enough. Memory issues have long plagued JavaScript developers. Because the garbage collector is opaque to the developer, and nothing like “finalize” is provided by the language, programmers often find themselves in situations where they are forced to hold on to an object reference for too long (or forever) creating a memory leak.

The Topeka search engine has some new auto suggests.

The Google Web Toolkit can now compile Quake for your browser.

The U.S.A. is leading the charge on transparent governance and on intellectual property.

Computer Engineer Barbie

From gizmodo:

This is actually wonderful. Barbie's had 124 careers since 1959, ranging from Stewardess to Paratrooper. Today she gets her 125th: computer engineer. You can tell she's smart 'cause she's got glasses, and reads nothing but binary.

I like the bluetooth headset.

Food science

Food science is the best kind. Check out John Weathers' double-blind test of.... Earl Gray teas. You don't need a lab coat to be a scientist. Study something you love and try to find out the truth.

Daily life of Swedes and Danes

Bryan Caplan's impressions about Danes and Swedes generally match mine about Danes and Swiss.

One of the most striking things about Denmark and Sweden: Almost everyone is overqualified for his job. The guy who sells train tickets doesn't just punch buttons and collect cash; he knows his regional transit network like the back of his hand, and eagerly helps you plan your trip.

I'd add to that generalization that both waiters and grocery store clerks are astoundingly well qualified compared to what I've seen in Atlanta and Greenville. In my stomping grounds, these are jobs for teenagers, and the grownups you see taking them are people struggling out of some kind of hardship. In Denmark and Switzerland, when you get to the checkout you tend to see a row of middle-aged people, all sharply dressed, talking back to you with considerable poise. It's weird, and as Bryan points out, it's a waste of talent.

That said, I must take issue with one of Bryan's observations. I don't know about Sweden, but Aarhus looks good, and Lausanne is the most beautiful place I've seen.

A little Christmas tree from Ma

Check out the little Christmas tree my mother sent us.  You really can send anything through the mail these days.  It's a great gift, too, because we've been too busy to go get our usual tree out of storage.

Carl the Pumpkin

Fay and I actually carved a pumpkin this year.  Check it out!  I never would have tried for something so complicated.  She was right, though.  If you draw it out first--using a template in our case--and then cut it using narrow knives instead of normal ones, it works out pretty well.