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Question: What's your favorite simply-designed site?

My Answer: I'm looking to redesign a site for a shooting range and am looking for inspiration. Sites like this aren't exactly inspirational.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

One would think that the fans of a team which has won the World Series twice in the past seven years would possess a rather decent amount of baseball knowledge. Not so of the Florida Marlins.

Their fans are some of the dumbest fans I've ever encountered in my years of attending baseball games. They booed when, twice, the left fielder let line-drive singles fall in front of him. Never mind that diving and missing (which is quite probable on short line drives) tend to go for triples or home runs. They booed at nearly every crucial ball or strike call that didn't go their way, regardless of how much the catcher had to move (or didn't) his glove. Hint: if the catcher sets up outside and has to move his glove another foot outside to make the catch, it's a ball. They booed at every checked swing call that didn't go their way. They cheered when their team popped up just beyond the infield.

Silliness! I don't mind fans that root for their team (as a visiting Pirate fan in southern Florida), but I don't want a bunch of ignorant people. Watching baseball in Miami is more a social event than a gathering of fans.

At least I got a free hat and a 4-3 Pirates victory out of the deal. Despite the fans, it was a great game.

Question: How many REALbasic apps do you use on a regular basis?

My Answer: Zero. How many exist in my /Applications folder? Zero.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

The continued exposure of programs like Made with REALbasic confuse me. Do customers really care how an application is made?

It's happened at least once. When Mac OS X was first introduced, "Made with Cocoa!" was an effective marketing strategy. Customers wanted "the new thing." Time, dissemination of knowledge, and a little work from Apple have erased the perceived and actual gaps between Cocoa and Carbon. It doesn't seem to matter much how something is constructed.

The "MWRb" program is even more puzzling. Rb has long had a reputation as a poor construction kit, so advertising the fact that your application is an Rb app may turn away customers. Furthermore, unlike "free" technologies like Carbon, Cocoa, Java, et al, REALbasic is a product - the only product - of a third-party company. A "Made with REALbasic" badge is nothing but free advertising for REAL Software, Inc.

Who cares how something is constructed so long as it works?

I recommend against clicking the "Read More" links at this Gizmodo article: SmartKlamp: Single-Use, Automatic Circumcisions.

I'm all for the future. I mean, look at where you're at, who you're talking to. I like the future so much that I even like the past's futures, futures that were planted with love but never quite formed into a fully blossoming flying cars or whatever. But in the future, as I'm lounging around with my dome open, instructing technicians to lift my brain onto a substrate of pure electrical joy, I will never, ever, ever let a robot cut my dick. I might have sex with a robot, that's fine; looking forward to it, actually. But at no point will I be placing my penis into a tube filled with knives.

Hmmm, sex with robots… If they put some simple mechanics inside one of those Real Dolls they'd be there today!

Question: How many major sporting events do you attend per year?

My Answer: About three. Tomorrow, I'm going to see the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Florida Marlins! I'll be in section 149, row 20, seats 1 and 2. Good seats…

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Question: How many of the 100 highest grossing movies of all time have you seen (see extended entry for list)?

My Answer: 93 of them. The seven I haven't seen are bolded.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

NSLog(@"Finish Reading %d Words", 705); »

Many people have commented on the few gun posts I've made on this blog, and the responses have shown that this is one of the hotter topics of debate in the world today.

That in mind, I'm tempted to set up a blog with six to ten authors, divided in half on the issues of gun control. The blog would be open for comment, and authors could post as they wished, linking to studies or posting facts from books, etc. Opinion pieces would be kept to a minimum unless supported by fact, study, science, or reason.

In other words, the site's goal would be to facilitate an open and honest debate. Whether or not that's possible would, I imagine, be part of the experiment. Interested parties - for either side - should IM or email me. I'd host the site, but my involvement would otherwise be limited primarily to that of interested reader.

Fan of Fahrenheit 9/11? Consider yourself an "open thinker" capable of reading up on both sides of an issue? Put yourself to the test? Dave Kopel is compiling a list of 59 (and counting) Michael Moore deceits put forth in F9/11.

I don't support sensationalism in any form. Further sensationalism is not the answer if the question is "what is the truth?"

Question: How do you celebrate your country's independence day?

My Answer: My country prefers barbecues and fireworks. I'll do the barbecue part, and I'll see some fireworks from my apartment, but I never have a set plan. Today I'll catch up on reading, hit the target range, and do a lot of reading.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

From Apple's legalese re: the iTunes 100,000,000-song giveaway:

Release. BY ENTERING THE PROMOTION, EACH ENTRANT RELEASES AND AGREES TO HOLD HARMLESS APPPLE AND ITS PARENT COMPANIES, SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES AND AGENTS FROM ANY LIABILITY WHATSOEVER FOR ANY CLAIMS, COSTS…

Now, I know it's fairly boilerplate, but couldn't they have edited ou the "and its parent companies" part? Apple doesn't have a parent company… unless it's Disney or Sony and we missed something. 🙂

Question: How do you buy plane tickets?

My Answer: I typically buy via cheaptickets.com, but since I plan to make a lot of trips to PA (or Cleveland or Buffalo) in the coming months, I'm trying to find the best plan.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

As I was reading the Nintendo Revolution FAQ at IGN.com today, one thought kept occurring to me: why not offer a Firewire port as a connector? Gamers could plug in their iPods (or, at least, a portable FW drive), play music from their own selection(s), and store all of their game saves, etc. in a "Games" folder. My iPod goes everywhere with me, after all.

I've long, long hated the "non-portability" of game save files, long hated the fact that certain games take up a whole card (or more!), and pretty much despised being bent over every time I had to shell out $20 for a memory card.

I think there's substance in this idea. Perhaps not much, but a little at least.

I've never before visited kimdutoit.com but today while investigating Florida's concealed weapons permit requirements, I stumbled onto it. Kim's site is one of those that make some squeal with joy that someone has the balls to be so blatantly pro-gun and make another bunch squeal in agony that someone, heaven forbid, is exercising the gift of free speech to promote the ownership, use, and enjoyment of guns!

Kim, who lives in Texas, has commented on this old post with some interesting facts and figures. The automobile argument seems to be a staple for pro-gun supporters.

Question: When will Apple sell it's 100,000,000th iTune? Whoever's closest wins a copy of any Freshly Squeezed Software product (only for answers submitted before July 4).

My Answer: July 15, 2004, at 3:23pm EST.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.