Year: 2004

Lorem Ipsum for the Video Age

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Peter-Paul Koch is a front-end developer based out of Amesterdam; he runs QuirksMode.org and he’s perhaps most well known for his work with JavaScript. (In particular, I’ve been thinking about giving his JavaScript-based image-replacement script a try.)

He also has a mailing list where he sends out short announcements on new scripts and articles that he’s written. And, in his most recent message, he wrote about his completion of a Ubachs Wisbrun site is all in Dutch and, as far as I can tell, they’re an advertising agency. Interestingly enough, they also have some of their commercials posted in their portfolio.

I stumbled into their section for Rabobank and I actually quite liked many of the commercials there. Sure, I didn't understand a word of what they were saying — for the most part — but that allowed me to enjoy them for their composition, diction and tempo.

And, after viewing a few of them, I realized that it reminded me a bit of “Lorem Ipsum”. Lorem Ipsum is a standard set of placeholder text that web & print designers often use in their mockups. By using what's essentially gibberish, designers can can create a design for client review without concerns that the client will nitpick the text itself (and, in the case of a design mockup, the text is only a component within the deisign and not intended for critique).

Obviously, these commercials for Rabobank are not gibberish, but I don’t speak Dutch so I can’t understand a word of it. And, with the narration out of the way, I can concentrate on the on my impressions of the commercial as a whole. All the same, I’m still curious what the heck they’re saying in that one commercial where everyone keeps banging his/her head as he/she is waking up.

MTV2’s Best Metal Videos of the New Millennium

Ashley Bischoff1 Comment

Now that it’s back on the air, I often try to catch Headbanger’s Ball on MTV2 (which airs each Saturday at 10/9c). Though I’ve never seen the original (circa ten years ago), my understanding is that it used to have a good amount of hair-metal & pop-metal (neither of which are really metal at all). But, the show these days — while not perfect — is far from posturing about metal.

The current iteration is hosted by Jamey Jasta, frontman for Hatebreed. And, while I don’t particularly care for Hatebreed, I can’t deny that it’s not metal (I generally prefer more melodic metal). And, to MTV2’s credit, they feature plenty of legitimate metal bands on the show: In Flames, Children of Bodom, Meshuggah, Lacuna Coil and others.

In any case, on next week’s show, they’re airing Headbanger’s Ball and Revolver Magazine’s Best Metal Videos of the New Millennium. Granted, it’s a a bit premature to start declaring a best-anything of the new millennium, but I think it’s partly tongue-in-check (even their website includes the sheepish postfix “so far”).

Looking over the apparent candidates (from a concurrent online poll), I was discouraged at first since I didn’t recognize many of the band names. But, as I read further, I gained faith in the list — sure, some blowhards like Korn are on there, but so are Arch Enemy and In Flames (two of the more talented metal bands out there, in my opinion).

However, until Headbanger’s Ball’s teaser for this Best Metal Videos list, I hadn’t even heard of Revolver magazine. So, I’m curious how the list will end up. Not that I’ll take it personally if some of my favorite bands don’t make the list, but it would renew my faith in the American Music Scene to see some of Scandinavia’s top metal acts make the cut. (And, yes, all the best metal seems to come from Scandinavia, for reasons which elude me.)

Programming Stereotypes

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I was reading the comments to a Slashdot article about Python programmers and I was amused by a comment by a fellow who goes by “DasMegaByte” on his impressions of programming languages and people who use them:

[…] I wonder how else we can pad programmer’s egos based on completely subjective hypothesis on language choice?

  • Perl users have more dense social lives.
  • Ruby users have big, full beards chicks love to run their hands through.
  • VB users have sensible shoes and drive Toyotas.
  • C++ users enjoy a good mystery now and then.
  • PHP users probably own one or more Dremel multitools.
  • Javascripters are full of little trivia snippets and are great fun at parties.
  • Cold Fusion users are kind of quiet but have very deep thoughts.
  • SQL programmers have annoying laughs but are otherwise okay guys

[…]

My favorite may be his comments on SQL programmers (though the comments on JavaScripters are jovial as well). Still, I’m left wondering if Bryan has a Dremel multitool ;).

Ram Air Tech: Good Riddance

Ashley Bischoff2 Comments

I gave Connie a ride home from Roger’s party last weekend and I drove over a monster pothole as I was nearing her apartment. My rear suspension made an unsettling ka-churnk sound at the time and I was just hoping that is was merely at its limits (and not past them). I was not so lucky — I noticed a slight rattle as I drove back to my apartment after dropping off Connie.

Though it was a rattle, it sounded just like having gravel churning around in my rear wheel wells — and I held out hope that maybe that was the case. But, by Monday it was still there and I knew I needed to do something about it. So, I called up Autoscope and arranged for an appointment the next day. (Autoscope is the only shop that I trust with my car — and it doesn’t hurt the owner goes autocrossing with me from time to time.)

As it turns out, one of the brackets on my rear sway bar had broken in half. For those not aware, a sway bar stiffens a car’s suspension; in particular, a rear sway bar reduces “understeer” (while a front sway bar reduces “oversteer”). Most cars from the factory are designed to understeer which means that, in a panic situation, they’ll continue to drift forward (turning less than desired) rather than spin (turning more than desired). But, in autocross, understeer is unnerving — there’s nothing worse that going around a tight bend, turning the wheel all the way to the lock and plowing through the curve.

As you might have guessed, I had upgraded the rear sway bar on my Alero (well, and the front sway bar, but that one is fine). So, I couldn’t just order another ”rear sway bar bracket” from Oldsmobile as that wouldn’t fit my aftermarket sway bar. Initially, I tried calling the people that made my sway bar (Ram Air Tech) but my voicemails went unanswered. So, I asked the techs at Autoscope for suggestions.

The tech that worked on my car, Paul, suggested that I check out a “speed shop” in Plano (called “Steve’s Racing” or something). Of course, my Alero was still inoperable, so I rented a car from the Enterprise next door to Autoscope. And, from there, I headed off to the speed shop. I got there just as they were about to close, but they hardly wanted anything to do with me — they almost pushed me out the door as they affirmed that they didn’t have of the brackets I needed.

However, they did suggest that I check out O’Reilly’s (a local car parts shop). So, I buzzed over to O’Reilly’s but they didn’t have one. They then recommended that I try Home Depot as one of the O’Reilly’s guys apparently used to work there and thought that I might be able to find an applicable bracket among the selection of fencing brackets.

The guy gave me directions to the Home Depot, but I got lost. As it turns out, I ended up right near a Lowe’s (aha, that’ll work!). I asked the fencing-section guys there about the bracket, but they didn’t have one. So, just to be sure, I then drove off to a Home Depot near my apartment (which I knew how to get to). But, they were just as dumbfounded as the Lowe’s guys.

Without many other options, I also checked out a Pep Boys in the area. But, no. Finally, I just drove home. To ensure that the day wasn’t a total loss, I stopped by Quiznos for dinner and picked up a Spicy Monterey Club sandwich on Low Carb Toasty Flatbread. It was mucho tasty.

Back on the subject of the bracket, I looked online later that evening for performance-oriented Oldsmobile retailers. As you might guess, there aren’t many. But, I e-mailed them asking whether they had such a bracket. The next morning, I checked my e-mail and a couple replied. They confirmed, firstly, that Ram Air Tech was indeed out of business (no surprise there). And, none of them had a bracket like the one I needed.

At this point, I think I’m just going to have Autoscope install my stock rear sway bar while I search for the bracket (since the Enterprise rental is just a money-suck in the meantime). If I get lucky, maybe I’ll find someone with a spare bracket like the one I need.

And I haven’t ruled out that I might have to buy a whole new swaybar — not that its brackets would be compatible, but I need to get a working rear sway bar one way or another :). And sure, the stock sway bar will be fine for now; but, with the upgraded front sway bar, the car will have horrible understeer until I get an equally stiff rear sway bar back in there.

Roly Poly’s California Turkey — with Extra Sugar!

Ashley Bischoff1 Comment

Since working at RD2, I’ve been enlightened to sandwichy-goodness of Roly Poly. I hadn’t even heard of them before working here, but I’ve probably had their sandwiches at least once or twice a week since I started. They make regular sandwiches but rolled in a tortilla. And not only are their sandwich recipes innovative, but their ingredients are far above what you’d normally expect from a quick food restaurant.

They have dozens of sandwiches on their menu and I’ve been working my way through the varieties. So far, the Cobb Salad sandwich may be my favorite (with both avocado and bacon, how can you go wrong?). In any case, I decided to get a Roly Poly sandwich for dinner a couple days ago and I wanted to give their turkey sandwiches a chance.

I settled on the California Turkey sandwich which has, among other things, turkey, cheddar, bacon and avocado. I placed my order over the phone for pick-up and it was ready as soon as I got there. So, I paid and headed back home. I unwrapped the sandwich from its paper and grabbed a plate.

As I ate the sandwich, I couldn’t deny that it was full of turkey — it definitely had plenty of turkey flavor. However, there was another flavor that I couldn’t quite identify — a subtle sweetness that I couldn’t ignore. At first, I thought it might be a honey mustard, but there was no honey mustard listed on the menu for this one. I then considered whether perhaps I was encountering the natural sweetness of a ripe vegetable, but that didn't seem to be be it either.

After a few more bites, I realized that it wasn’t just a general sweetness, it was a soggy sweetness — from the dressing itself. Some of the dressing had already began to seep out the back of the sandwich (onto the plate) and I took a closer look to see if that would provide any clues. As I looked over the dressing, I noticed that it was mostly clear but thick and full of colored specks. Aha — Italian Dressing!

So, that resolved the dressing conundrum, but the sweetness? I soon realized that Roly Poly must be using a mass-market Italian Dressing: I hadn’t realized it until I started cutting my sugar intake (and reading more about hidden sugars in foods) but Italian Dressing is full of sugar. Right after water, oil and vinegar on the ingredients list — and before any of the actual spices — is high fructose corn syrup (bleh). So, that must have been what I was encountering in my sandwich.

The sandwich, perhaps contrary to what its creator intended, ended up as a sugary turkey sandwich. That’s not to say that it was bizarre enough for me not to eat the rest of it, but I pondered giving up on it a few times. And, if you’re particularly astute, you may have already noticed that Roly Poly’s menu specifies ”ranch dressing” (and not Italian) with their California Turkey sandwich (I only just noticed this myself). I'm certain that the dressing in my sandwich was Italian, so I can only figure that they gave me #11 by mistake.

In that case, maybe their California turkey sandwich is still worth trying after all. Still, don’t get the wrong idea about Roly Poly — their sandwiches are fantastic. I mean, I wouldn’t be eating them every week if they weren’t. But, if you’ve reduced your sugar intake, perhaps avoid the sandwiches with Italian dressing — they may end up tasting a bit like they've had a sugar marinade.