…you either kept a phone list, a Rolodex or if you were really on the cutting edge, you used one of these:
Click the image to see it at full size.
Image courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele.
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Helvetica, the Shirt
Share your love for the Helvetica typeface with the Helvetica shirt! For the purist, there’s the version set in Helvetica:
Those of you who like challenging people or separating the typeface players from the wannabes might prefer the version in Arial:
Into making ironic statements via t-shirts? The Cooper Black version is the one for you:
And if you just want to start a fist-fight with some font nerd, you want the Comic Sans version, which will be available soon:
I’m experiencing some server issues with my personal blog, The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century right now. I’m currently in the process of trying to get a server upgrade and hope to have the ol’ blog up and running soon.
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Python 3000 Alpha 1 Available Now!
If there’s an Andre 3000 and a Python 3000,
why not a Guido 3000?
It’s been a long-time topic of discussion in the Python camp: Python 3.0, also known colloquially in the Python community as “Python 3000” or “Py3k”, and today it got a little more real. The first alpha release of Python 3000 is now available for download, just in time for those of you who want to test-pilot it over the Labor day weekend.
(If you’re waiting to get a final version before downloading, you’ve got a fair bit of time. The current best estimate for the release date of that version is August 2008.)
Unlike Perl 6, which is a radical reworking of the language, where every feature is subject to change, the idea behind Python 3000 was correct a specific set of design mistakes. These corrections are large enough that they will break programs written in existing versions of Python, but which provide gains that are enough to make the trade-offs worthwhile.
If you’re curious about Python 3000, here are some links you might want to check out:
- The announcement in Guido van Rossum’s blog
- What’s New in Python 3000. This is a work in progress, so many sections of this document aren’t filled in yet.
- Guido’s Python 3000 presentation rehearsal [video, 1 hour, 7 minutes]. This is a Google video of Guido giving his Python 3000 presentation for OSCON a test run in front of his co-workers at Google.
- Python 3000’s Wikipedia entry.
- Source tarball for Mac OS X and Linux users. I just finished the “configure/make/make install” dance and Python 3000 is now working on my G4 PowerBook running Tiger without a hitch.
- MSI installer for Windows users.
The Facebook development articles continue at the Tucows Developer Blog, this time with Using the FacebookRestClient Class’ “Photo” Methods, Part 3: photos_getTags.
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Even Supervillains Use BitTorrent
Forget about what the RIAA and MPAA are saying about Bittorrent: its real danger comes from the fact that supervillains use it!
In Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four issue 549, sonic supervillain Klaw is back with a vengeance. Made of “solidified sound”, Klaw can create sounds powerful enough to kill and destroy. He was believed to be dead, but was brought back to life as a clone by the evil genius, Wizard. How? BitTorrent. Here’s the relevant panel:
This brings up a few questions, including:
- Who recorded Klaw?
- What recording equipment would you need to properly capture a creature of living sound, and what format and level of sound quality would do the job properly?
- What would the size of the file be?
- Who would download such a thing? “Dude! Never mind the new Arcade Fire album — I want a supervillain in my iPod!”
When Acer announced that they were acquiring Gateway, I remember quipping to my officemates that “If they really wanted to scrape the bottom of the barrel, they should really buy out Packard Bell.”
There is a silver lining to this: gathering them all into a single cesspool makes ’em easier to avoid.