off by one for 2011 April

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Sat Apr 02 14:58:59 PST libconfig problems in Debian and Ubuntu:

Are you still using Hardy Heron? Have you had issues using libconfig -- a configuration parsing library by Mark Lindner -- in Debian or Ubuntu? Here's why. Turns out this has been solved in later releases.

Tue Apr 05 12:22:49 PST how to slice a sandwich:

What's your preferred sandwich slicing angle? Vertical (shortest cut), Diagonal (longest cut), or Horizontal (medium cut)?

I have always been a diagonal cut man, myself. That's how mom did it. I don't like the way vertical cut sandwiches taste. But currently, I'm more interested in whether *anyone* does the horizontal cut... I don't think I've ever seen that outside of the laboratory.

Perhaps geometry is at work here. Diagonal ...cut sandwiches represent right triangles, which are pretty cool -- arguably more important than parallelograms, since parallelograms can be made from triangles. And of course, 3 is the magic number.

But also, notice that the golden ratio of 1:1.62 appears in vertical cut sandwiches, but does not appear in horizontal cut sandwiches. In our experiments here at Tastytronic Labs, our sample bread measures about 5.25 by 4.25 inches (the units of the United States of America!).

A vertical cut sandwich is roughly 2.63 x 4.25 inches, while a horizontal cut (known as "the devil's cut" in medieval times) results in a sandwich that is ~2.13 x 3.44. By applying the golden ratio (1:1.62) to 2.63 (vertical cut sandwich width), we get 4.26 -- almost exactly the vertical cut length. However, applying it to 2.13 (horizontal cut sandwich slice width) we only get 3.45 -- considerably less than the horizontal cut slice length.

And thus we find a possible explanation for why the "horizontal cut" is so rare. It's at least safe to say that Aristotle's mom did not cut sandwiches horizontally.

Wed Apr 13 13:28:38 PST random thought:

Hardware is just software you can't change.

Sun Apr 17 19:37:41 PST Unintentionally funny DVR episode synopses #243:

"Property Virgins. 'A Woman Who Survived a Lightning Strike Is Shocked by Real Estate Prices' Home prices shock a lightning-strike survivor."

Fri Apr 22 19:50:40 PST zing!:

If I ever open a Beatles-themed day-old bread store, it will be called "Yeasterday"! Bada-boom!


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