Peregrine

One thing that has bothered me for years is when people refer to SQL but pronounce it as “sequel.” There is a different database language called SEQUEL. They are not the same thing. They are both database languages, but pretty much have nothing else in common.

I first remember hearing SQL mispronounced as “sequel” from Microsoft back in the 1990’s shortly after a release of Microsoft SQL Server. I can not say with certainty that Microsoft did this on purpose in order to spit in IBM’s eye, but if you search for IBM sequel database language (for example, on Google), you’ll see that Microsoft still advertises that you can “Learn Sequel”.

Please, people, can you pronounce SQL as S-Q-L? After all, IBM invented both SEQUEL and SQL and they said that this is the correct pronunciation. Thank you :) .

For those who might balk at the configuration work found in Christer’s recent post, Turning Off The System (hardware) Beep : Linux Tutorial, I have a solution for you. You can order this simple device and reuse again and again after modifying that pesky, noise-making computer speaker. Simply go to any Radio Shack store and ask for Radio Shack part #64-2951.

I wrote this Haiku earlier this evening:

It’s not very good
And, most certainly, is not
Quality Haiku

It was a piece of testing text that I placed in a text editor for an admin piece of a webapp I’m helping a friend meet a deadline for.

Enjoy not just one, but two great Dilbert cartoons.

Clint Savage and I got lunch together today. While ordering, we saw a guy with a T-shirt that read:

Heck is where people go who don’t believe in Gosh

We’re still laughing.

I’ve just come across this post by Steve Yegge. It’s quite an enjoyable read and I think he’s quite right about Java’s attitude towards verbs.

Overall, I like Steve’s writting style and I think I’ll be reading more of his stuff in the future, even though he seems to be suffering from a complete lack of Vim.

Apparently, the British citizens who are in Germany for the World Cup are celebrating so hard because of their victory last night, that German pubs are in serious danger of running out of Beer.

Said one German pub owner, “Never have I seen so few [drink] so much in so little time.”

If you’re not laughing from that quote, then perhaps what you need is a history lesson.

I was browsing through some older emails and came across this. It still makes me laugh, so I thought I should share it. The quoted part is from a SPAM message and the commentary is from Bryan Croft.

“…including, obviously, your so much coherent, logical, mandatory and
ultra-rational advices, criteria, demands, desires, doubts,
expectations, ideas, thoughts, intentions, objections, fears, worries,
preferences, priorities, proposals, requirements, suggestions,
questions, warnings or special needs:”

Well yeah, “OBVIOUSLY”. I mean it practically goes without saying…

You gotta love what spews out when a non-native English speaker smokes
crack while reading a thesaurus!