Friday, June 27, 2008

[muse] Mouse and the Mouse Trap

A thought during the commute:

- A good inventor makes a better mouse trap
- A great inventor makes a better mouse

In addition to coming up with new solutions, remember to pause and think if we can just change the problem altogether.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

[css] z-Index with Relative Position in Internet Explorer

Turns out z-Index requires absolute position in Internet Explorer (not in Fire Fox). Fortunately Dana knew a trick ...







Wednesday, June 25, 2008

[muse] First vs The Next Hundred

The first big release / launch / change gets all the attention.

But really, what matters much more, is putting a sustainable pace, team, process, and culture in place --- so that the next hundred and thousand releases can happen, as quickly and as smoothly as possible.

Don't burn out your team and exhaust your goodwill for any reason. No single release is as big as all the releases add up together.

Everyone knows that "Rome wasn't built in one day", but having the long-view, the discipline, the vision, and the patience to allow the organization to "build Rome" over time, is certainly not easy ...

... But definitely worthwhile.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

[outing] PhoShow

Where: PhoShow
Addres: 4349 Sepulveda Boulevard Culver City, CA 90230. Just south of Culver Blvd.
Who: Marie, Shu, Jose, us

- Beautiful evening to and dine on the patio space with Jose!
- "Er. #7, #9, and #14 are all "Beef with Steamed Rice"
- "The guys showed up with no shoes"
- "You are a dick. That's a compliment!"
- "Who is Pollyanna?"
- Loved my Beef Salad (#15)
- Cannot wait to go back to try Lychee and Mango Martini

Saturday, June 21, 2008

[outing] Mike's Birthday

Where: Mike and Shelbey's
Who: Mike, Shelbey, Scott, Jessica, James
When: Friday 2008 Jun 20

- It started with a new bottle of captain morgan reserved
- Burned mushrooms? Nah they are just crunchier
- Mike emptied the bottle in style
- It started with a nike smoowsh on the ankle
- How do you draw a unicorn? Hmm I think I drew a rhinosaurus?
- Cup stacking Olympics!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

[sql] Extract domain from URL

CASE WHEN CHARINDEX('//', url) > 0
THEN SUBSTRING(url,
(CHARINDEX('//', url) +2),
(CASE WHEN CHARINDEX('/', url, CHARINDEX('//', url) +3) > 0
THEN CHARINDEX('/', url, CHARINDEX('//', url) +3)
ELSE (CASE WHEN CHARINDEX('?', url, CHARINDEX('//', url) +3) > 0
THEN CHARINDEX('?', url, CHARINDEX('//', url) +3)
ELSE LEN(url) +1 END)
END)
- (CHARINDEX('//', url) +2))
ELSE '' END

Sunday, June 15, 2008

[outing] Sushi and Sake Festival at Queen Mary

- Where: Queen Mary Seawalk Grounds
- What: http://www.qmfestivals.com/sushi.html

- Phone jabs!
- Strip search and no water
- "This is a swap meet with a $21 admission and $15 parking ticket"
- (Thank goodness we got the tickets for free)
- "This is a festival of *waiting* for sushi and sake"
- "I really just can't have nachos at a sushi and sake festival"
- "We only have chicken left"
- So many $6 Sapporo
- Bartering beer for sushi
- Fun with $3 sunglasses
- "Wow that pigeon just peed/pooped!"
- "I've never nad Peruvian food. Have you?"

[muse] History (Not) Repeating


"It's happened all before ..."
"But it doesn't have to happen all again"

     -- "3" Deanna and Lee Adama, Battlestar Galactica, Episode "Revelations"

Thursday, June 12, 2008

[muse] Conflict vs Confrontation

A thought that came to me in my morning commute:

Conflict is a fundemental force of nature.

- All objects that consume resources have conflict with each other.
- The magnitude of the conflict is proportional to how close they are to exhausting or otherwise approaching the limit of the resources they both need.

Confrontation -- or, how we deal with conflicts -- that's a choice.



Monday, June 09, 2008

[outing] Norman's Ark

What: Norman's Ark
Where: Ford Amphitheatre

- The simpliest and most elegant set of a rooftop, transformed by overlay images and accomodates a cast of many
- "Don't worry Daddy, Jenny is here"
- Most adorable Harry and Jenny
- Singing happy birthday to Sam, the wingy-dy-bat, and cock-a-roach

Sunday, June 01, 2008

[eats] Casa Sanchez Mexican Restaurant

http://www.casa-sanchez.com
4500 S Centinela Ave, Los Angeles (Centinela north of Washington)
310.397.9999

- Chamorro de Puerco - $19 - Baked (big ass) pork shank served in a (big ass) bed of white rice (mixed with vegetables)

- Sole Fish Filet - $18 - Sole fish stuffed with mushrooms, pico de gallo, baby spinach and cotija cheese. In a bed of cilantro, habanero pesto sauce. Garnished with Shrimp and scallops. Served with rice and vegetables.

- Live Mariachi band ("we are not named after the hotsauce tapatio") and dancers!