Huge Defunct Satellite Falling to Earth Faster Than Expected, NASA Says

NASA officials expect the UARS satellite to fall over a region somewhere between the latitudes of northern Canada and southern South America…

So basically anywhere between the top of the world and the bottom.

See also: Secure World Foundation, an endowed, private operating foundation that promotes cooperative solutions for space sustainability and the peaceful uses of outer space.

There’ll be no Death Stars in outerspace, okay?

Elsewhere:

• Where, oh where did that satellite fall?
• NASA’s dead satellite falls, starting over Pacific
• Huge UARS Satellite’s Fall From Space Captivates Skywatchers, Sparks Hoaxes

#nasa

The more I think about passwords and data types, the more I started thinking about changing the various data types for the various database fields. My mind thinks all the time, it’s homicidal.

I’m not a database programmer by any means, but I do regret storing date/times as TIMESTAMP. I wish I would’ve used a simple INT populated with Unix time. For one reason only – timezones.

As an example, 2011-08-30 19:20:20 tells me nothing about the timezone. Why is this important? Pretend there’s a worldwide, online discussion starting at 7:20 pm and you’re invited!

…

MySQL stores TIMESTAMP fields based on a timezone setting that you can set and update via MySQL and PHP, etc. Yuck. Why the yuck? Because if I dump the database from a server in PST and import it to a server in CST, the times will be wrong. Yuck.

Maybe there’s a slick workaround for this that I don’t know. Honestly, I just want the time stamp to be reliable. Any programmer looking at 1314705293 will probably guess what it is and know how to work with it.

And since I can’t leave well enough alone, SELECT UNIX_TIMESTAMP(created_on) AS created_on_unix ... UPDATE created_on = created_on_unix has become my new best friend.

#tcr #webdev #mysql

Whenever I get errors like this I always shake my head in disgust:

Seriously, what field type is this in their database table? They can’t use a simple varchar 255? Are they stuck with 64K of memory?

Next there’s this when I accidentally type in my username wrong:

Say it twice because, ya know, I’m an idiot. I do, however, notice that one is in all lowercase.

Now that I’ve created an account and logged in, I try to connect the site to my Twitter account so it can find my friends:

I get the feeling that the developers are the ones being serviced and not the user.

Update: So I tried to “Stumble” this article (or whatever it is you do there) but StumbleUpon, yes I’m talking about you above, wouldn’t let me. They told me they couldn’t find tcrbang.com. Heebee geebee.

I deactivated my account. Funny that bit worked without a hitch.

#fail #webdev

It’s amazing “teh lamentation” coming from the fanbois.

He’s a good guy, did some amazing stuff but I worship no one. There are zero human-gods here on Earth.

#apple

I’m a little sad, a little disappointed. I’ve been mulling this over for a few days and finally decided to publish something.

It’s Official: HP Kills Off webOS Phones And The TouchPad

webOS is the best mobile operating system out there, bar none. I’ve had the original Palm Pre since it came out and the experience is far better than any other smart phone I’ve seen or used.

There’s true multi-tasking, none of this fast app switching crap. The instant messaging app is to die for. The notifications are both functional and usable. Best of all, there’s no bloated iTunes required to just put music on the damn thing. In fact, I don’t even need a computer to use it. ;-)

The default apps for email, calendar and contacts just work. I don’t ever think about them, I just use them. They stay out of my way and I concentrate on the data. That’s what apps are for.

Even developers loved it.

I’m still a webOS developer and I’m still a webOS user and that will not change until my phone breaks

I agree that the number of 3rd party apps is no where close to the iPhone or Android but I’d wager that most of those are worthless shit.

See it’s like, it doesn’t matter how many visits you get on your website, it’s how many connections and/or sales are come from those visits. Net figures, not gross figures.

Late Friday night, HP slashed (like really slashed) the price of the TouchPad. I made an attempt in the gold rush to order the 32GB model but sadly I received an email from HP this morning:

An item in order H118927537 is not available and we are unable to fulfill your order as placed. We have cancelled your entire order and credited your selected payment method(s).

Why all the fuss? I’m passionate about technology - even more so when something I use everyday, is always with me, is more or less dead.

Of course HP says there’s hope for webOS:

It doesn’t mean — in any way, shape or form, at all — that we are abandoning webOS. In fact, we’re allowing webOS to fulfill the vision that I think everyone in the industry wants to see, and that is a viable alternative to other tablet or mobile operating systems that are out there that have their own baggage.

But only if partners come on board.

And finally, this is why I’ll never develop for a particular OS or platform again. True mobile web development is the future.

#software

F1: Im gonna drop a dos. That is spanish for take a poop.

F2: LET ME KNOW IF IT LOOKS LIKE A PONY.

#fishbowllife

Mine are all jailhouse-ish, steal some ink from the art club, teenage non-sense. One is a pot leaf. I never even liked marijuana.

These are good and maybe they rang a bell with me because he walked through them one by one. And it looks like he photographed them himself. 2 extra points for that.

The tattoo below pays homage to Metroid – a game I’ve always had a soft spot for.

tattoos, explained by jeremy mendonsa on August 17th, 2011

tattoo 10 - a metroid eating a pie, left forearm, underside

#tattoos

While eating lunch and perusing my feeds, I came across this: “Great customer service from the Mission Bicycle Company.”

I wanted to share a great experience I had when something went wrong. Shit happens — how companies deal with the shit is what sets apart the great ones from the other ones.

They called up a local shop (On The Route) and arranged to ship a new frame to them. Then one of their bike techs would drive down to my office and swap the frames and reassemble the bike for me while I waited. All of this at Mission’s expense.

Wow, talk about above and beyond the call of duty. Makes me want to order one just so I can experience some of their awesome.

Christmas is coming up.. I’d take the one pictured above if you haven’t shopped for me yet. ;-)

Boatloads of photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/missionbicycle/

Anyways, if you’re in the market for a new bike, check out Mission Bicycle Company first.

#bikes

As you may have heard, Mozilla is removing the version from the About Firefox window. Reasoning includes:

“we concluded that most people don’t need to know what version number they’re using”

http://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.dev.usability/msg/8a9c8fd36308ad00

I’m glad that Mozilla is deciding what I need and don’t need to know. I’m all for streamlining UIs but I personally don’t see how the version number is hurting anything in the About window. Even more so because it’s more or less a standard in apps.

And there’s this:

“I’d say at least 75% of users have no idea about the about: pages or that they even exist.”

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=678775#c2

Erm.. On Mac for the Firefox menu (and all other apps I can think of) the first item in the first drop down is “About Firefox.”

I’d like to know where people get their data.

“One More Thing…” • Nightly’s on First; Aurora’s on Second

#firefox

Always a good time.. Plenty of oils, water colors and a little bit of food outside at the fine art show. If I’d have picked up some cards, I would post artist links. D’oh. Plus live music in the background and a “juried exhibit featuring the work of local artists in a variety of media” inside City Hall.

We were there a little less than two hours and the temperature was perfect. M. got hands on in the “Instrument Petting Zoo” by Music Matters and our favorite Water Street Studios were on hand making ceramics on the pottery wheel. Not a bad way to spend Sunday afternoon.

Learn more about the annual festival - Art in Your Eye on Batavia’s beautiful Riverwalk.

#arts