A crow has been defending a nest for weeks by diving down on unsuspecting pedestrians and bikers on a busy sidewalk in downtown Portland.
http://www.katu.com/news/local/Bird-of-terror-This-storys-something-to-crow-about-160480945.html?tab=video&c=y
"From morning to night the bird swoops down from the sky, flying inches from the heads of unsuspecting bicyclists and pedestrians. Frequent travelers have taken to protecting themselves with umbrellas and hoods while keeping their eyes to the sky as they dash to the other side."
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
len length
Microsoft SQL Server has a function called len() while MySQL has a function called length().
There doesn't seem to be any common way to write SQL that will work in both servers. So I guess my Java program will have to resort to detecting the server type from a JDBC Connection and making the necessarily adjustments to the queries.
Connection con;
DatabaseMetaData databaseMetaData;
...
databaseMetaData = con.getMetaData();
if (databaseMetaData.getDatabaseProductName().contains("Microsoft"))
{
/*
* SQL Server, boo!
*/
}
else
{
/*
* MySQL, hotdog!
*/
}
For what it's worth SQL Server appears to be the out-of-spec one of the two (shocking I know).
There doesn't seem to be any common way to write SQL that will work in both servers. So I guess my Java program will have to resort to detecting the server type from a JDBC Connection and making the necessarily adjustments to the queries.
Connection con;
DatabaseMetaData databaseMetaData;
...
databaseMetaData = con.getMetaData();
if (databaseMetaData.getDatabaseProductName().contains("Microsoft"))
{
/*
* SQL Server, boo!
*/
}
else
{
/*
* MySQL, hotdog!
*/
}
For what it's worth SQL Server appears to be the out-of-spec one of the two (shocking I know).
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Fat Cat
This is Iris the cat.
I took this cat, Iris, to the vet for a checkup first thing this morning.
Strictly routine...
The vet said she was too fat and gave me this cup to measure the cat food.
I have two cats, the other one being thin and smaller generally, so there's some guess work involved, but she suggested about how much food they should both eat in a day.
I took the food I had just given them this morning, hardly any eaten yet due to the trip to the vet, and poured into the measuring cup. Here's the problem.
It's almost exactly what it is supposed to be.
The vet said she was too fat and gave me this cup to measure the cat food.
I have two cats, the other one being thin and smaller generally, so there's some guess work involved, but she suggested about how much food they should both eat in a day.
I took the food I had just given them this morning, hardly any eaten yet due to the trip to the vet, and poured into the measuring cup. Here's the problem.
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Bring Back the Incoming Stream
Google+,
Having the Incoming steam, I can share with Extended Circles. Persons I don’t know, but have a real connection to, through another person, may see those items. They are free to ignore them, or add me to a circle themselves. They can even easily ignore the Incoming stream altogether if they like. Without the Incoming stream, it’s first of all hard to see the point of the Extended Circles option at all. But even more importantly, I have no incentive to grow my own circles, beyond what I actively read, to included interested persons.
This devalues the whole idea of Circles by removing one of their innovative applications. Circles are used both to read incoming items, and to direct out-going content. Without the Incoming stream, there’s no functional middle ground in out-going items between a carefully directed shared item, limited to people I know fairly well, and a completely public item.
The idea that the suggested friends display in circle management is a suitable replacement is almost laughable. Items appearing in my Incoming stream are items expressly made available by someone I don’t (yet) know, to me. The suggested friend list is nothing more than an selection of Google executives, billionaires, pop stars and assorted internet celebrities.
Google+, do you want our circles to be a core collection of 100 or so people we directly interact with, plus William Shatner, Robert Scoble, Larry Page and a few others so widely followed that they don’t even know we exist? Or do you want us to crowd source vast networks of people with common interests in labeled collections?
Google+, please bring back the Incoming stream.
Thank you.
Friday, September 09, 2011
Qwest is Now CenturyLink
This is a follow up to my post about Qwest failing to apply an electronic payment...
http://jsexton0.blogspot.com/2011/07/qwest.html
To sum up, I received a bill showing the prior month's bill as unpaid. I was told (by Qwest) that this was because I paid with my bank's (US Bank) bill pay service and Qwest can not always process these payment in a timely manner. At the time, I was told to just pay the new month's bill (by check or via Qwest's website) and the "unpaid" amount would surely be applied in the next cycle.
So what happened?
Well, on that next cycle, the amount I paid by check was credited, but no other payments were. I still "owed" a month's bill, plus the late payment.
Not feeling much like calling Qwest, which was also well into the process of transforming to CenturyLink, I just wrote a check for the full amount and sent it in. About this time I also received a disconnect warning from Qwest. I knew I didn't have to worry about being cut off, but it was disturbing just the same.
I have just received a new bill this week. This one is the first that is actually from CenturyLink. Oddly, this statement shows I owe nothing. In fact it shows a balance of 4 cents in my favor. So did that original payment get credited finally? No, not as such. This statement credits my previous "double" payment, and thus I owe nothing this month. However there is no mention of the previous "owed" amount, nor the originally missed payment, nor even the late payment fee. It has all simply vanished.
So to sum up:
Month 0: Bill received and paid electronically via US Bank.
Month 1: Month 0's amount shows unpaid plus a penalty. I then pay for month 1 alone, by check, as advised by Qwest.
Month 2: The invoice shows the check payment, but still has the old unpaid amount. I send in a check for the full amount of the invoice, essentially two months' service plus the late fee.
Month 3: The new statement is from Century Link. It shows the amount owed from month 2, the amount owed for the current month, and the large payment from the last month. The large payment is applied to both months 2 and 3 leaving a 4 cent credit. There is no mention of either the original missing payment, the amount owed from month 0, nor the late fee. They've all just vanished in a puff of billing system migration.
http://jsexton0.blogspot.com/2011/07/qwest.html
To sum up, I received a bill showing the prior month's bill as unpaid. I was told (by Qwest) that this was because I paid with my bank's (US Bank) bill pay service and Qwest can not always process these payment in a timely manner. At the time, I was told to just pay the new month's bill (by check or via Qwest's website) and the "unpaid" amount would surely be applied in the next cycle.
So what happened?
Well, on that next cycle, the amount I paid by check was credited, but no other payments were. I still "owed" a month's bill, plus the late payment.
Not feeling much like calling Qwest, which was also well into the process of transforming to CenturyLink, I just wrote a check for the full amount and sent it in. About this time I also received a disconnect warning from Qwest. I knew I didn't have to worry about being cut off, but it was disturbing just the same.
I have just received a new bill this week. This one is the first that is actually from CenturyLink. Oddly, this statement shows I owe nothing. In fact it shows a balance of 4 cents in my favor. So did that original payment get credited finally? No, not as such. This statement credits my previous "double" payment, and thus I owe nothing this month. However there is no mention of the previous "owed" amount, nor the originally missed payment, nor even the late payment fee. It has all simply vanished.
So to sum up:
Month 0: Bill received and paid electronically via US Bank.
Month 1: Month 0's amount shows unpaid plus a penalty. I then pay for month 1 alone, by check, as advised by Qwest.
Month 2: The invoice shows the check payment, but still has the old unpaid amount. I send in a check for the full amount of the invoice, essentially two months' service plus the late fee.
Month 3: The new statement is from Century Link. It shows the amount owed from month 2, the amount owed for the current month, and the large payment from the last month. The large payment is applied to both months 2 and 3 leaving a 4 cent credit. There is no mention of either the original missing payment, the amount owed from month 0, nor the late fee. They've all just vanished in a puff of billing system migration.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Google Music Beta
I've been trying to use Google Music for awhile now. I want to like it, I really do, but it's just not working out.
When I first started using it, there was a bug in the mobile app (on my Droid 2) that caused the first song in a playlist, album or other sequence to repeat. After advancing from that first song manually, one time, the sequence would continue normally automatically on to each track.
At some point this bug has gotten far worse. As it stands now, the mobile app will not advance to the next song in a sequence automatically, at all, ever. I always have to manually tap the forward icon when a song ends, as it just repeats the same song again.
Needless to say this pretty much renders the music application unusable. It's too bad. Music is a hot area, and Google, ever ADD, seems to have forgotten Google Music and moved on. But if Google doesn't get it all working, one of the other services is going to capture the users.
UPDATE: Yesterday my phone updated itself to Android 2.3.3 and the Google Music problem went away. It works fine now. I'd be willing to bet this problem had something to do with the old built in music app previously included in the distribution.
When I first started using it, there was a bug in the mobile app (on my Droid 2) that caused the first song in a playlist, album or other sequence to repeat. After advancing from that first song manually, one time, the sequence would continue normally automatically on to each track.
At some point this bug has gotten far worse. As it stands now, the mobile app will not advance to the next song in a sequence automatically, at all, ever. I always have to manually tap the forward icon when a song ends, as it just repeats the same song again.
Needless to say this pretty much renders the music application unusable. It's too bad. Music is a hot area, and Google, ever ADD, seems to have forgotten Google Music and moved on. But if Google doesn't get it all working, one of the other services is going to capture the users.
UPDATE: Yesterday my phone updated itself to Android 2.3.3 and the Google Music problem went away. It works fine now. I'd be willing to bet this problem had something to do with the old built in music app previously included in the distribution.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Qwest
A couple days ago I received my latest billing from Qwest (paper mail, I don't trust them to accomplish any other method).
To my surprise, the prior month's amount showed unpaid, and so it was a double amount in total, plus a penalty. I went to the bill section of my online bank service and was not surprised at all. The bill was paid almost exactly a month ago.
So I get on the phone to Qwest. The first customer service person just listened to the problem, then transferred me to a person that could deal with these issues. There was a modest wait, not too bad.
The specialist listened to my explanation and also knew, or guessed, that I had used a bill pay service from my bank. She explained to me that Qwest's posting of these amounts is backlogged. She explained that Qwest has "millions of customers" in it's billing system and is unable to keep up. Really. She said this. Too many customers... That's the explanation.
She told me that the fee would be waived on my *next* billing and that I should pay the current month's bill (with the penalty) leaving off the last month's amount because that would be processed "'soon". She also tacked on a couple weeks to my bill due date, pushing it into August.
If you are a Qwest customer, do not use a bill pay service. Qwest is unable to handle the volume of business it has sold. Qwest's billing system can not process one month's electronic payments in 30 days. Send them a check.
Qwest is not alone in issues like this. Telecom companies in the US have for many years been over-selling their infrastructure. It makes me laugh out loud when I get junk mail from Qwest offering me even more services.
To my surprise, the prior month's amount showed unpaid, and so it was a double amount in total, plus a penalty. I went to the bill section of my online bank service and was not surprised at all. The bill was paid almost exactly a month ago.
So I get on the phone to Qwest. The first customer service person just listened to the problem, then transferred me to a person that could deal with these issues. There was a modest wait, not too bad.
The specialist listened to my explanation and also knew, or guessed, that I had used a bill pay service from my bank. She explained to me that Qwest's posting of these amounts is backlogged. She explained that Qwest has "millions of customers" in it's billing system and is unable to keep up. Really. She said this. Too many customers... That's the explanation.
She told me that the fee would be waived on my *next* billing and that I should pay the current month's bill (with the penalty) leaving off the last month's amount because that would be processed "'soon". She also tacked on a couple weeks to my bill due date, pushing it into August.
If you are a Qwest customer, do not use a bill pay service. Qwest is unable to handle the volume of business it has sold. Qwest's billing system can not process one month's electronic payments in 30 days. Send them a check.
Qwest is not alone in issues like this. Telecom companies in the US have for many years been over-selling their infrastructure. It makes me laugh out loud when I get junk mail from Qwest offering me even more services.
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Still More Buzz About Google+
Image via WikipediaIt's been a few days now since I got access to Google+. It remains the case that no one I know has received this access inspite of my adding them to Circles and sharing items with them in Streams. Yesterday I found out that one person I know does know someone else that has access - that's the first and only such person I have heard of.I don't understand what Google is doing. Google+ is full of crickets and the occasional tumbleweed rolling past. It's a lonely place. The "nearby" section of the Stream on the mobile app has looked the same for 3 or 4 days. This isn't a slow roll-out, this is a no-roll-out.
At any rate, here are a few more observations...
1) As far as I can tell there is absolutely no functional difference between Buzz and the Stream in Google+. Are these two going to become one? If that is the case, why isn't my Buzz history in the new Stream? The interface on Google+ for Streams is quite a bit better than the interface for Buzz via gmail.
2) There is also no difference between "+1" and "Like". Why do both of these exist?
3) At first I thought I would really dislike the mobile app uploading photos automatically, but I've changed my mind. It's handy and allows for some cool functionality (now if only my real camera could do that!).
4) Google+ confuses your browser if you have multiple logins and one is a Googel Apps or Enterprise account (which is not supported by Google+, likely because those accounts do not have profiles).
I like the look of Google+ and I think I like what it hints at for the feature integration of Google features. I also think people will like it more than Facebook - but I also think that's not the point. Google is up to something much more with this. Google is making application use flow from the user identity, rather than having users pick and choice from unconnected facility.
But it sure is dull in Google+ so far.
Monday, July 04, 2011
More Google+
One thing I like is what they have done to leverage Picasa Web Albums (instead of reinventing something). Google+ makes good use of Web Albums, and makes some slight changes to the way Web Albums works which I think are improvements.
When you get started with Google+ it's helpful to try a few things relating to photos and albums, then bounce over to your Picasa Web Albums and check out what it's doing.
In addition, the Google+ mobile application offers additional new, and much improved, ways to interact with photos in your albums.
When you get started with Google+ it's helpful to try a few things relating to photos and albums, then bounce over to your Picasa Web Albums and check out what it's doing.
In addition, the Google+ mobile application offers additional new, and much improved, ways to interact with photos in your albums.
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Google+
I got into Google+ today.
Ok Google, let me know if I'm leaving anything out. If I find something I think is interesting on the internet (that happens now and then), I need to:
1) eMail a link to people I know
2) Note the page in my shared items feed so people see it in Google Reader
3) Post the link to Google Buzz
4) If it's Google blog I need to "Friend Connect" it
e) "+1" it
6) Again if it's a blog, add the RSS feed to my Reader subscriptions
7) I'll just leave out Wave...
8) Post the link on my own blogger blog where it will show up in Reader for those that either Friend Connect or RSS subscribe
9) "Like" the page via Buzz or Reader or ...
And now I can also post it in Google+ ! Well, all this should only take about 10 minutes. Much less if I practice browsing to all the various websites...
Oh but to do all this I will need to maintain groups in contacts for email and Buzz posts, and now Circles also since they do not interact.
I was also nothing less than astonished that Google+ includes a checkin feature (another checkin feature) that, yes, believe it or not, appears to have no relationship to Latitude, Places, Buzz or Offers. Wow.
Google, these things are so obvious that they should not have to be mentioned, but here it goes...
A) I need to be able to add an RSS feed to Google+ so it can replace Reader, or I need to add Google+ items to Reader via an RSS feed (there's *no* RSS feed on Google+?! Seriously?!).
B) I need to be able to add Google+ to the feeds I share into Buzz, or, well, see above...
c) why does gmail exist as a separate interface? Why are not all the features (filters) of gmail implemented on Buzz, Reader and Google+ as one unified service?
D) Google, you really and truly did not tie this together with Latitude, Places and Offers? Really???
E) One, count them, one, mechanism for organizing contacts please. I actually had to type in some names, even though my gmail contact list is all set and organized. Why didn't groups I've created in gmail become circles?
F) Offer an RSS feed for publicly shared Google+ items so readers can read them in Reader.
G) There would appear to be no functional difference between "Like" and "+1", and even though here are sometimes both available, yet there are separate and do not completely overlap. Does that make sense to anyone?
H) There's almost no functional difference between Buzz and Google+ posts. Why do both of these exist? At the very least items posted to Google+ should be available as an additional feed to Buzz followers. People that follow items I post/blog/email/share will not check 4 different places for new content.
I) Related to Buzz... Why does Buzz history, shared items and comments, migrate over to Google+?
J) I see there is a "chat" in Google+, is that Google Talk, or yet another and different chat/IM/XMMS/whatever?
There seem to be people that exist only and fully with both feet in Facebook and never look at anything else. I think this is strange, but people like that do exist. For those people, Google+ may be easier and more fun. They might switch. But for those of use trying to organize and control a more robust online existence, a service that is yet-another-service isn't going to help.
Thank you though Google, keep up the work. And thank you for the de-facto additional space in web albums.
Ok Google, let me know if I'm leaving anything out. If I find something I think is interesting on the internet (that happens now and then), I need to:
1) eMail a link to people I know
2) Note the page in my shared items feed so people see it in Google Reader
3) Post the link to Google Buzz
4) If it's Google blog I need to "Friend Connect" it
e) "+1" it
6) Again if it's a blog, add the RSS feed to my Reader subscriptions
7) I'll just leave out Wave...
8) Post the link on my own blogger blog where it will show up in Reader for those that either Friend Connect or RSS subscribe
9) "Like" the page via Buzz or Reader or ...
And now I can also post it in Google+ ! Well, all this should only take about 10 minutes. Much less if I practice browsing to all the various websites...
Oh but to do all this I will need to maintain groups in contacts for email and Buzz posts, and now Circles also since they do not interact.
I was also nothing less than astonished that Google+ includes a checkin feature (another checkin feature) that, yes, believe it or not, appears to have no relationship to Latitude, Places, Buzz or Offers. Wow.
Google, these things are so obvious that they should not have to be mentioned, but here it goes...
A) I need to be able to add an RSS feed to Google+ so it can replace Reader, or I need to add Google+ items to Reader via an RSS feed (there's *no* RSS feed on Google+?! Seriously?!).
B) I need to be able to add Google+ to the feeds I share into Buzz, or, well, see above...
c) why does gmail exist as a separate interface? Why are not all the features (filters) of gmail implemented on Buzz, Reader and Google+ as one unified service?
D) Google, you really and truly did not tie this together with Latitude, Places and Offers? Really???
E) One, count them, one, mechanism for organizing contacts please. I actually had to type in some names, even though my gmail contact list is all set and organized. Why didn't groups I've created in gmail become circles?
F) Offer an RSS feed for publicly shared Google+ items so readers can read them in Reader.
G) There would appear to be no functional difference between "Like" and "+1", and even though here are sometimes both available, yet there are separate and do not completely overlap. Does that make sense to anyone?
H) There's almost no functional difference between Buzz and Google+ posts. Why do both of these exist? At the very least items posted to Google+ should be available as an additional feed to Buzz followers. People that follow items I post/blog/email/share will not check 4 different places for new content.
I) Related to Buzz... Why does Buzz history, shared items and comments, migrate over to Google+?
J) I see there is a "chat" in Google+, is that Google Talk, or yet another and different chat/IM/XMMS/whatever?
There seem to be people that exist only and fully with both feet in Facebook and never look at anything else. I think this is strange, but people like that do exist. For those people, Google+ may be easier and more fun. They might switch. But for those of use trying to organize and control a more robust online existence, a service that is yet-another-service isn't going to help.
Thank you though Google, keep up the work. And thank you for the de-facto additional space in web albums.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)