New Year’s Resolutions
Every year, people make New Year's resolutions that they don't keep, and I'm not exception. So this year, I'm hoping that everyone out there in Internet land will help me keep them by constantly pestering me. My New Year's resolutions for 2005 relate directly to what I want to offer through this Web site for other Web developers:
- Create a JavaScript parser - not a compiler, mind you, a parser. I have no intention of using tools such as JavaCC or Yacc, which leads to my next resolution.
- Create a parser generator using XML and a little elbow grease - should help with #1.
- Create a JavaScript documentation program - yes, I know there are programs out there that do this now, but I really don't like any of them. The only solution is to make my own.
- Update the JavaScript Tree - my baby, my first popular script for the masses, needs to be updated badly.
- Document and post useful JavaScript - I have so much useful JavaScript lying around with no documentation. Once I can get it all documented (see #3), I can share it with the masses.
With the book nearing completion in the next couple of weeks, my free time will once again reappear and hopefully I can get moving on some of this stuff.
Patriots Romp Jets
All I can say is...phew! Yes, last week was a rough loss and had us all a little bit worried. I wasn't as worried as some people I know, but there was that little knot in my stomach known as uncertainty. Thankfully, the Patriots came out this week and proved all the nay-sayers wrong.
Today, the Patriots absolutely dominated the New York Jets, keeping them scoreless for three quarters and ultimately allowing only one touchdown the entire game. Normally, games with the Jets are rough and tumble from the start to the finish. I'm not sure what was the matter with the Jets today...they just didn't seem like they wanted to win. The pep in their step just wasn't there, they seemed to be lacking confidence and couldn't do much against the Patriots defense. Don't get me wrong, I'm always glad for a win, especially a division win against a heated rival.
I'd also have to say that Brady proved once again why he's one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He player perfectly today. This is the Tom Brady that won two Super Bowls: cool, stoic, unshakeable, methodical. He barely even blinked as he completed pass after pass with utter perfection. Congratulations, Tom and the rest of the Patriots, for once again clinching a first-round bye in the playoffs. I'd also like to remind everyone that the three times the Patriots have had a first-round bye, they went to the Super Bowl. The last two times they won the Super Bowl; one time, they were the second seed and had to travel to Pittsburgh for the AFC championship game. Here's to history repeating itself.
NFL Gamecenter
It's the plight of the fans of any NFL team that sells out its home games: the blackout. The NFL has special blackout rules designed to help underachieving teams to increase ticket sales, but on the other side of the coin, it also forces the fans of teams who sell out regularly to miss out on some of the best games in the league. But along comes NFL Gamecenter to make my day a little happier.
NFL Gamecenter is an up-to-date listing of all NFL games currently being played. The page refreshes every 10 seconds or so to update the scores. Want more information? Click on Live Game Stats to get a page specifically devoted to that game while all other games are displayed in a ticker at the top of the page. The ticker highlights a game in red when a team is in the red zone and highlights a game in blue when someone has just scored. It's not the same as the radio or TV, but it's a hell of a lot better than waiting to hear about what happened until tonight.
Ugh Ugh
The only thing worse than staying up to see a Monday Night game is to stay up to see the Patriots lose. Aside from the first series, where the Patriots went right down and scored a touchdown, they absolutely sucked. The only part of the game that was good? The running game. Corey Dillon and Kevin Faulk were absolutely awesome. Aside from them, everyone else was at fault for blowing an 11 point lead with four minutes left in the game. Want to pass the blame? Direct it here:
- Tom Brady - 4 interceptions, his last two passes were interceptions.
- The Offensive Line - at least two of Brady's interceptions were the fault of the offensive line for not giving him enough time. Jason Taylor was in Brady's face all night.
- Charlie Weis - can he leave for Notre Dame now? The play calling was absolutely horrible. Miami has one of the worst run defenses in the league, and with four minutes left in the game, it was three pass plays. Is that how you kill the clock?
- David Patten - ran out of bounds on a punt return with 2:03 left in the game. Three more seconds could've led to a better play choice.
- Rodney Harrison - the pass interference call in the end zone was a killer. Miami scored on the next play.
- Troy Brown - he didn't even turn around as the winning touchdown pass came in. He did put up his hands though...behind the Miami receiver.
- Tom Brady - no, this isn't a cut-and-paste error. Brady cost his team the victory with his stupid flip pass when he should've taken the sack. That's why we rode Bledsoe out of town, pal.
All that being said, I'm not panicking yet. For the second time this year, the Patriots have shown that the only team that can beat them is the Patriots. Take away the mistakes and they roll. Hell, take away the mistakes in the fourth quarter and they roll. I'm hoping that Charlie Weis wakes up and realizes that when you have an all-pro running back, you need to use him to run out the clock.
No, I'm not panicking yet. I still believe that the Patriots are the best team in the league, but no team goes undefeated in a 16-game season. The time to start panicking is if they lose to the Jets next week. If that happens, the collective stomachs of all New England fans will churn, and there will be panic and mass hysteria. But then again, how can you be mad at a team that has already won two of the past three Super Bowls? And can you really count the Patriots out in the playoffs?
Tough Patriots Game
Tough game against the Bengals today. We Patriots fans haven't had to sit through a lot of close games this year (I personally think the team owes all its fans for having so many close games last year), and this one was getting a bit uneasy towards the end. But once again, the Patriots look like the other team might get back into it, but then deliver the daggar to win.
I could whine and complain about the officiating since Richard Seymour was being held damn near every play, but really there were too many mental errors this week. Troy Brown intercepting a pass in the end zone and then running out, Kevin Faulk calling for a fair catch at the 5, Earthwind Morelan not turning around in the endzone when guarding Chad Johnson...no wonder Belichick was so upset at the press conference.
The Patriots really were firing on all cylinders on offense, but the defense really needs to step it up for the playoffs.
Outraged By Article Duplication
When I write for an online site, I try to give them my very best, meaning that what I write for them falls within their expected guidelines and what I write for them is 100% original and hasn't been published elsewhere. Lately, I've been coming across a whole host of authors who have taken to submitting the same article to multiple technology sites, and this really pisses me off. Not only is it underhanded and sneaky, it's also in violation of a lot of site's publishing criteria. Many of them specify that the article must be original, and for those sites that pay for the article, they own the copyright and therefore you cannot publish the article anywhere else. I honor these agreements, and I can't stand it when I see others aren't.
Here's an example: I was looking for an article on the tabular data ActiveX control. I found the following links in Google.
- Tabular Data Control
- Using The Tabular Data Control in Internet Explorer
- Manipulate Data in Internet Explorer with the Tabular Data Control
- Introduction to Tabular Data Control
It's pretty obvious that the author sent around the article to several places, even after it has already been published. Since DevX pays for the articles you write (I've written for them before), they end up owning the copyright for the article and you are supposed to guarantee them that this is an original, unpublished work.
This isn't the first time I've seen this, but it really makes me sick. Have a little respect for the publishers, especially for the ones that pay you.
