A momentary diversion

Stolen from dilemma

Human Virus Scanner
The virus that have infected you will be show here along with thier cures, if known.

Viruses you suffer from:

Linux
Install the latest version of Microsoft Windows. Learn to love it.

USA
Rule, Britannia! Britannia rule the waves! [repeat]

Junkfood
Eat some real food. Something which you can identify the source of every ingredient, not the point of manufacture.

Sci-fi
Stop wearing the stick-on ears.

Free BSD
The GPL isn't that bad really. Adopt a penguin at the zoo.

Cthulhu
Read some Enid Blyton.

Gaming
Life is not a game. Roll 3D6. On a 4 or more go out and do something with your life.

Religion
Read "God's Debris" by Scott Adams (yes, the Dilbert guy)

8-Bit
Polygons, all the polygons you can get are not enough.

UNIX
Anything this old must be obselete. Go and install a nice modern operating system. I hear MSDOS has come a long way lately.

Discordia
Buy a suit. Invest your money. Eat hotdog buns on a friday.

Politics
Stop caring!

Brand Names
Having a well-known name doesn't make it good.

Hippyism
Free love is passe and potentially dangerous, and patchouli smells like cat piss.

Computer Games
Stop staring at the screen and get some fresh air. You should see a doctor about the RSI in your thumbs.

Conspiracy Theory
Face it, the elected government is in control. Actually that's quite scary.

Ultima
If you find one tell us.

Environmentalism
Consume more stuff! It's easier to buy new stuff than to recycle.

Macintosh
Use a mouse with more than one button.

Viruses you might suffer from:

Goth (65%)
Grow up. Let your roots grow out. Listen to Britney.

British (65%)
No need for cure. Benign virus.

Japan (70%)
Big is good. Small is bad. Giant robots would not make a good last line of defence for Earth.

X11 (60%)
I hear Mac OS 10 Aqua is nice at this time of year.

Prog Rock (60%)
Long hair looks dumb with a bald spot. Listen to CD's they don't crackle.

To be focused, one must be distracted.

I've finally found the key to staying focused at work... constant distraction by music and video. I've been watching fansubs of Love Hina that I downloaded on Morpheus. Not only have I seen 5 episodes today, I've gotten work done on two projects and I'm starting on a third. Maybe it's just that this low-level constant multitasking occupies enough brain-cycles to allow my higher-level processes to focus on work.

That, and it keeps me safe from any kind of boredom, because let's face it - when 90% of your work is for the same project/client that you've been working on for 2 1/2 years, there are very few new challenges or problems to solve. Problem-solving is like a game for me, and all work and no play makes Rob a bored boy.

Anyway, time to watch Episode 7 and start on project #3!

Trying not to get too frustrated...

I sat down to get some work done on PHLog, after giving Z some time to check her email and webpages. So, I sit down, get one function written, and Z asks for an example on how to set up the comment system I wrote for her (Comment Monkey v0.10, remeber?). Okay, fair enough... so I throw together a quick example.html file for her that shows the links to use. She can just cut and paste the links out of the document and change the one relevant variable. Really easy to handle. I get ready to go back to PHLog.

Then she asks for me to demonstrate it again... okay, okay, I'll go ahead and do it. I set up the comment system to serve as a guestbook on the front page of http://www.ninja-monkey.com, show her how I did it, and demonstrate it in use. I show her the comment form, the comment viewing page, and the admin (after I look up the password - I love how PHP can use HTTP authentication.) She's already seen me demonstrate the admin while I was developing and testing it, so I let that part slide. Demonstration complete, I get ready to go back to PHLog.

And she asks me to show her again.

*steams*

I told her that I'd already demonstrated it twice, that I left her an example file for cutting and pasting and a fully-functional setup on her index page, and that I'd really like to get some work done. She apologizes and retreats into the bedroom with the laptop.

I sometimes forget that other people aren't programmers - that things that are second-nature to me take time for other people to absorb completely. I also forget that she gets tired a lot sooner than I do, and that ideas take longer to sink in when one is tired - I know I'm really braindead when I'm low on REM sleep. I also forget that she's a bit sheepish when it comes to webmastering and such; she's very capable, just unsure of herself. I sometimes forget one or all of these things.

Anyway, I'm going to go apologize to her. And then I'll try to get some work done on PHLog. I've been totally knocked out of the zone... I'll see if I can get back in again. I hope so - I want to get that baby done (at least to v0.10) so I can use it on my new page, and set it up for Z to use.