The Shaved Soapbox » Uncategorized

Hostgator – 40% saving, 4th of July only

Baldy — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 07:37:55 +0000

I wouldn't normally post about specials like these, but this one is really good, and they are reliable.

No related posts.

Mazda 5 – My first impressions

Baldy — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:30:37 +0000

Buying a car is expensive nowadays, and I did a lot of homework before deciding on the Mazda 5. My reason for deciding on it was that it had the most space in the third row of seats out of all the MPVs I tested, but was still small enough for my wife to drive, seeing that she's moving up from a Peugeot 206.

I've had the car for a few weeks now, and overall I'm loving it. There is plenty of space, with two baby seats in the middle row, an 8 year old in the back row, and multitudes of bags and prams in the boot. Ok, half the boot, seeing the back row of seats fold flat to create the boot, so we have one up and one down to fit the whole family.

The car's power was the biggest surprise, with the 2 litre motor putting plenty of power to the road through the 17" wheels, and acceleration much better than my Conquest.

I opted for the middle of the range, with the nice body kit, tow bar, aircon etc, but not the electric sliding doors. I didn't feel it was worth the premium for those, the manual ones are a breeze to open and close anyway.

Overall the driving experience is awesome, with the car surprising me in the rain. We came back from the Vaal in a heavy thunderstorm on Boxing day, and it felt like I was driving in drizzle, not in a storm. Visibility was excellent, probably because of the angle of the windscreen, and with the big tires on it, the water made no difference to the handling.

The car is fairly low on the ground, which makes it much nicer to drive than a mini-bus, of which I drove quite a few. It doesn't feel top heavy at all, in fact there is very little body roll for such a big car. It feels like a normal car, with the space of a bus.

The inside is very functional, with the middle seat in the second row able to fold away under one of the other seats, and this can then be replaced by a utility bin, with a basket and cup-holders which folds away under the other seat. The middle row seats can also be moved forward and backward, which means there is always enough leg-space for the people in the third row. The quality of the plastics impressed me, with other cars in the price class looking a bit cheaper on this front.

One thing that is irritating me is that the suspension has developed a nasty squeak after the first week, not sure what the dealership did to hide that. You only hear it when going over large bumps at low speed, but it is still irritating. Not sure if anyone else is experiencing that.

Just a pity that I don't get to drive it every day now, seeing my wife is the one that has to cart the kids around.

Wordless Wednesday – Why give this view to prisoners?

Baldy — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:30:55 +0000

Wordless Wednesday - Why give this view to prisoners?

Always implement the simplest solution

Baldy — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:52:55 +0000

I learnt this from hard experience. Any programmer's natural instinct is to design the most robust & generic solution they can conceive. But once you've done it, you can then think of 20 ways to improve it and make it even more generic.

But in truth, 99.999% of the time a generic solution is not required. Things will generally be very specific to a certain situation, and in the long run the only thing you're doing is giving yourself or your follower a maintenance nightmare.

If a Excel spreadsheet, or Sharepoint list, or god forbid, an Access database will do the trick, why roll a new SQL Server database, generate a custom data access layer and do 2 weeks worth of development on a first draft?

If you give the user a custom spreadsheet that took you a few hours to generate, it will point out weaknesses in the process/solution very quickly and you can then build out from that later.

If you can deliver a 80% solution to a user's problem within a day, they will think you're a god every time. If you take 2 weeks with the initial design every time, they WILL stop asking you for solutions. At some point someone in management will realise that you've stopped adding value to the company, and the inevitable will happen.

That being said, I'm all for refining a solution to be a bit more generic if there is a real application, and a real need for that, but design and deliver the specific solution, iron out any problems and then take it further.

Solution Provider

Charity work

Baldy — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:01:00 +0000

Some time last year I was approached by a friend of mine, who had just started a charity, for some help on a website. At that point they had nothing, but needed to get a portal out to the world to showcase their work. Normally I would not just give something, because I believe that a lot of people take advantage of charity, and become lazy. The proof is standing at just about every traffic light in Joburg.

However, this charity is different, and I decided to sponsor the registration, hosting and building of their website. You can get some details here. The reason why I say that this charity is different? They have upliftment workshops, where they teach the recipients skills to help themselves earn a honest living. The moment that they see a recipient is taking advantage, and not doing their part, that recipient is off the program. Also the 3 people running Bathabile do not take any money for what they are doing, every cent contributed to the charity goes straight to the recipients.

So, please go have a look, and contribute whatever you can.

Work better in 10 easy steps

Thought for the day – 2008-11-25

Baldy — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:13:00 +0000

There's a point in your life when you get tired of chasing everyone and trying to fix everything. But it's not giving up... It's realising that you don't need certain people, the bullshit and the drama that they bring. Related posts: Quote of the day – 2008-11-20 Quote of the Day 2008-07-07 Quote of the [...] Related posts:

Coining my own law

Baldy — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:20:00 +0000

I've decided to coin my own law. Now now, this is not a law, as in what the police are supposed to uphold. This is a law describing the working of the universe. Like Moore's law or Bell's Law.

So, without further ado, here's Baldy's Law:

You will never get rich by programming computers for a living. You could, however, get rich by applying computer programming to a very specific problem.

The law is now going against my religion

Best Comeback

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:17:00 +0000

< ![endif]-->A divorced man meets
his ex-wife's new husband at a party.
Later, after knocking back a few drinks, he goes over to the new guy and asks
him:
'So... How do you like using second hand stuff?'

The new husband replies: 'It isn't that bad. Past the first 2 inches it's all
brand new.'