Photographs in the relevant Flickr set.

Hypothesis

The claim is that washing cotton in hot water then drying in a hot dryer will cause it to shrink.

Materials

New, unwashed shorts made of cotton twill; a tape measure; a laundry machine; a dryer; laundry detergent.

Setup

The shorts before washing measured as follows:

waist

15 1/4 inches

leg opening, right

11 1/2 inches

leg opening, left

11 1/2 inches

height, down the right

23 inches

height, down the left

23 1/8 inches

Procedure

Set the washing machine to regular heavy, hot wash; add laundry detergent and just the shorts. Let it do its thing.

As soon as it finishes move the shorts, alone, to the dryer. Set the dryer to regular heavy high, very dry. Let it do its thing; when it finishes the shorts will not be totally dry (something about needing to be dried with other clothing for it to work), so run it again. I couldn’t figure out my dryer so it only ran half as long the second time; I ran it a third half-time to finish it off.

Results

After drying the measurements are as follows:

waist

15 1/2 inches

leg opening, right

12 inches

leg opening, left

11 6/8 inches

height, down the right

22 5/8 inches

height, down the left

23 inches

Analysis and Conclusion

If anything, they stretched. This could be misreadings on my part, or it could be the case that cotton twill will stretch in the wash.

We can plainly see that they did not shrink by any noticeable amount. In conclusion, I don’t know how to shrink clothing in the wash.

Came up with this idea when I was at RubyConf 2008 and told someone my hotel room number. “It’s prime,” I said, hoping that’d help her remember it. Turns out I was wrong!

This Web site sets out to fix that. Discover whether any given number is prime!

Share the love.

Every once in a while it’s helpful to check out proprietary software, to see if any of it has improved. Last time I looked was Sun Solaris, and that didn’t suck, so OS X got a fair shot at impressing me.

OS X sucks because:

• Community. Unhelpful people who accept whatever Apple gives them with only minor complaint when it doesn’t work right. The only solutions to problems cost a lot of money and didn’t even give you the source code. For example, focus-follows-mouse: $20.

Oh, that’s it. Here are my other complaints:

• Poor sloppy focus support. The menubar is much further from the application than it could be, especially when working with multiple displays. Also, sloppy-focus/focus-follows-mouse isn’t built in; you have to buy it extra.
• Four steps to copy and paste text. Four. Two, I can understand; but four?
  1. Select the text using the mouse.
  2. Press some buttons, or carefully use the mouse to select from the menu, to explicitly activate the “copy” operation.
  3. Use the mouse to position the cursor where the text should go.
  4. Press some buttons, or carefully use the mouse to select from the menu, to activate the “paste” operation.

  I’m exhausted just thinking about that.

• Optional and hard to discover build chain. What unix doesn’t install make? None. No unix doesn’t install make by default. Oh, for those who are looking: the name of the package is XCode. Real intuitive, yeah.
• No X11 out of the box. I understand that maybe it doesn’t come with KDE or GNOME or whatever out of the box, but no X11? Even OpenBSD gives you X11 out of the box. Update: I’ve been told that X11 normally comes in the default install.
• Still can’t get GNOME running. From what I understand, I can’t replace the default desktop environment with it.
• No global keybindings. That is, I want Option-t to open a new terminal; Option-b a new Web browser window (or a tab in the existing one, if there is one on that workspace in that monitor); Option-x a new terminal maximized vetically; and so on. I can’t figure out how to do this.
• The dock is useless. It’s like a launcher-only panel, except you can’t use it to launch a new terminal or new Web browser window. So, it’s not really like a launcher-only panel. It’s more … useless.
• Can’t figure out how to move the cursor between words. You know, like how I hold Control and press an arrow to do that? Can’t figure it out on OS X. It might be possible, but I haven’t figured out how. Update: figured it out for TextEdit, not sure if it works in iChat yet: Option-Arrow.
• External non-Apple keyboard puts Option and Command in the wrong places. It puts Option next to the space bar, and Command between Control and Option. This makes it insane to switch between the laptop keyboard and the external keyboard.
• Virtual workspaces are broken. Not enough key bindings (and the ones that are there are too inflexible); for example, moving a window to another workspace requires pressing F8 then using the mouse to drag the window. However, since Command-Tab deals with applications, not windows, here’s another issue: open two terminals; move one to workspace two; on workspace two open a Web browser; use the Web browser for a bit (not sure how long yet); press Command-Tab to get to the terminal on that workspace—it brings you to the terminal on the first workspace. Broken.
• It’s ugly. I know this is subjective, but the solution to that is themes, and there are no themes. In fact, I can’t even figure out how to change the font.
• Moving and resizing windows is hard. You can’t hold Command and use the mouse to do it; you have to use the mouse to click on a very specific, hard to hit part of the window.
• Can’t roll up windows. This means I have to minimize them, which is hard to recover from (because the dock is also useless because of its position).
• Wasted top-right corner. “Spotlight”? That could be a window switcher or list of all applications or something useful, but Spotlight? Why would I want to click something to use Spotlight?
• Date and time applet that doesn’t show enough. I want to see the month, day, and time; I also want to easily see a calendar with my appointments on it. OS X’s gives me the time and, by clicking, I can see the month and day, but no calendar.
• Lack of applets. I’m at a loss for what the current weather is, for example, or what windows are on my other workspaces.
• Can’t open files from the trash. Aren’t these just files? Why can’t I open them?
• Unable to set the desktop to the home directory. This makes it immensely difficult to get to these files via GUI; in fact, I’ve only bothered once, just to see how tedious it is.
• Finder is exhausting to use spatially. For example, there’s no way that I’ve discovered to close the parent directory when opening a child directory, or when opening a file or application.
• Some files in my home directory cannot be deleted. GTFO of my home directory, Apple; it’s mine.
• Windows lack magnetism. In fact, the whole window manager is lame.
• Deleting a file requires two steps: delete the file, then really delete the file. I haven’t figured out how to bypass the trash.
• Poor package management: hard to find, install, upgrade, and uninstall programs.
• Missing ^u; instead I have to use ^a^k.
• Lacking keyboard mnemonics for almost all widgets: buttons, menus, text fields, and so on.
• Unable to mount SSH connections. It can do HTTP connections, but not SSH. What’s the use for that?
• Update: Can either change the volume, or can use F8 for workspaces, but can’t have both.

All of this adds up to: FreeBSD is going on this machine as soon as they write the device driver for the wireless card.

In my final act of selling out, let me tell you about this non-local musician stage-named Macleod. I met her before she was a musician, but she has an EP coming out soon (Monday, I guess). From what I’ve heard of her stuff, the EP is a mix of short songs of different genres with clear noise roots. I totally recommend Look Down, inspired by a Les Miserables song.

(Oh, just because I’m done doesn’t mean I’ll never do it again. I’m just, ya know, “done“.)

So, I was sent the DVD and accompanying CD for Rising Sun: The Legend of Skateboarder Christian Hosoi. I once owned a skateboard; that’s my relation to skateboarding. The CD contains a song by Brant Bjork and the Bros; that’s my relation to this review.

The DVD (once I found a DVD player) was good. Great music, including the Ramones and the Pixies; lots of action shots at the beginning of young people skateboarding in the 1980s, which reminded me of a picture my mom has of a 9-year-old me with Skidz pants and a black and neon green t-shirt; and an uplifiting story of a man who was at the top, struggled with drugs, and is clean and making his way to the top again. I recommend the movie if you’re into that kind of stuff.

The accompanying CD left much to be desired. None of the music from the movie was on it; instead it was “music inspired by the film”. It was mostly hip-hop or reggae, neither of which I listen to (and, I can’t stand reggae). Here’s a breakdown:

Dave Grohl – Vile: Didn’t totally suck. A fast, almost punk rock beat with grunge guitar.

Murs – Transition of a Rider: Some rap song about skateboarding, which mentions Hosoi.

Lexicon – I Wanna Be Sedated: A hip-hop freestyling to the tune of I Want to be Sedated.

Gossip – Standing in the Way of Control: A post-punk-revival song with some over-powering female vocals and Meg White-style drumming.

Transplants – 1,2,3,4,5,6,7: Didn’t totally suck. Like, it’s not great, but it would go on the list of okay songs on this album. Rapping over a repeated beat and repeated guitar.

Wajeed & Invincible – The Place Where We Dwell: Some more hip-hop which I’m not qualified to judge.

Fishbone – Cheyenne Star Forever Moore: Some reggae which I’m qualified enough to judge as bad.

Madvillain Featuring MF Doom & Madlib – America’s Most Blunted: Hip-hop about weed? How original.

The Peak Show – Tainted Love: They took such a good song and shat on it, though I can see how it might be exciting live, if done properly, with other, better songs done before and afterwards.

Optimus – Pot of Rain: Hip-hop over some hardcore music. That’s, what, nu-metal?

Steel Pulse & Damien Marley – No More Weapons: Ah, a Marley: the arch-nemesis of those who won’t listen to reggae.

The Procussions – Little People: More hip-hop.

Kurrupt & Everlast – Kurruption: Yet more hip-hop. Wasn’t there lots and lots of punk in the movie?

Charlie Early – Mexican Radio: What is this, Coldplay? Next.

Queens of the Stone Age – Mexicola: Didn’t totally suck. Yes, there, I’ve finally heard a QotSA song, and it didn’t suck in comparison to everything else on the album. Doubt I’d ever listen to it again, though.

Gnarls Barkley – Just a Thought: I couldn’t make it through this one. My prior experience with Gnarls Barkley (which I also couldn’t make it through) was when Ted played a tinny version of the Violent Femmes’  Gone Daddy Gone. I asked if it was a bootleg; “Nah, man” he said, “It’s from ‘St. Elsewhere’” I know the Violent Femmes’ music fairly well; they have no album named ‘St. Elsewhere’. “Oh,” I replied. “Whoever this is needs a better producer. Turn this shit off.”

Slightly Stoopid – Still be You: This band is lucky that I listened blindly the first time, or I would have skipped this song for the band’s name alone. More reggae.

Team Sleep Featuring Chino of the Deftones – Ataraxia: Didn’t totally suck. Reminded me of Radiohead during OK Computer.

Mark Blakkat Bell – Revolution: Didn’t totally suck. Funky bass line. I’ve heard much better funk, but I’ve also heard worse.

Brant Bjork and the Bros – Dr. Aura: Didn’t totally suck. Rock music with fancy guitar work and a driving beat.

Second Coming – No Family: Didn’t totally suck. Ah, some fast beats, hoarse shouting, and lyrics about being alone. Finally, some punk.

So, that’s seven songs that don’t totally suck, out of 21. Therefore, I recommend one third of this compilation. I still recommend the entirety of the film.

Oh, and before I forget: if you think living with my friends and me in Somerville starting in January sounds fun, email me.

Anavan

Apprently set up by Mac of Big Digits fame, they played a minimalist post-punk revival set. It was so good that I bought their album. As we all could repeat by the end of the night, they were here from Alaska and were happy to be in the “lower 48″ on tour.

Joe Jack Talcum

His performance was so intimate that he might as well have put his chair on the floor with us. He alternated requests (Dead Milkmen songs) with his new stuff (on his new solo album). One of the requests was, of course, Bitchin’ Camero; he responded by playing the first 10 second of it, solo, on the accoustic, double-time.

My roommate, Matt, had some this to add: “He’s old.” Matt also said, before the show while I was talking him into going: “When you live with Mike Burns you learn to tolerate the Dead Milkmen.”

Tolerance.

Pleaseeasaur

A one-man, with helper, musical sketch comedy show. He sings mock advertisements over pre-recorded music, changing costumes between each song. Some new stuff, lots of classic stuff. At one point we all lost it, including Pleaseeasaur, because one of his cardboard friends fell off him and crumpled into a pile on the stage.

The Halloween shows seem to have picked up momentum since they started. Last year I just went to Great Scott to see the show; this year the big show was at the Middle East (both Upstairs and Downstairs), plus there were shows leading up to it starting Friday night.

The idea behind the Halloween show, for those not initiated, is to dress and perform as a retired or non-existant band. For many fans, it’s the closest they will ever come to seeing this retired band.

Paper Thin Stages as the Talking Heads

I missed this. However, I heard it was really good. The pictures show their dress based on Little Creatures.

Baker as Huey Lewis and the News

I’m not a Huey Lewis fan; I only know Hip to be Square and the fact that they had a song in Back to the Future. Given that, their performance seemed to be a solid reproduction of the band. Apparently they had the option to perform “ironically”, and they didn’t. I’m not sure what it means to perform “ironically”.

I discovered later that night that a high school friend was the drummer for the band. Neat!

The Appreciation Post as Rocket from the Crypt

I had no idea who Rocket from the Crypt were, but the cover was great! A punk band with trumpet and sax. The horns made their darker sound slightly brighter, almost turning the long punk into pop.

Ho-Ag as Devo

If I had to pick a local to pretend to be Devo, Ho-Ag would be my pick. They perfectly captured the quirkiness inherent in Devo’s work. This involved two sets of costumes (jumpsuits, then short workout shorts, tight shirts that read ‘Ho-Ag’ in Devo-esque writing, and crash helmets) and a custom kick drum head. They did all the favorites except Satisfaction, and between songs they told us of the evils of de-evolution. Right on.

Harris as the Police

I came in towards the end of this set, so I had to stand in the back. What I saw from back there was the packed floor singing along to their favorite Police songs, where even the vocals were done perfectly. If I were told that it was a recording I wouldn’t be shocked: it was spot-on. And there are a lot of Police fans.

Bakula as the Wipers

Just as surprising as it was to see all the Police fans, it was both surprising and disappointing to see that the Wipers had maybe 30 fans. The Wipers are quite possibly my second favorite non-local, and this was my chance to see them in some capacity.

Most people wouldn’t recognize Greg Sage and far fewer would recognize the rest of the Wipers, so Bakula instead dressed as a hotdog, mustard, and ketchup. Despite this, they played the songs accurately but with the energy, excitement, and enthusiasm of a live performance. I know it wasn’t really the Wipers, but it was, in a sense, satisfying to finally see them live.

The rumors vastly understated how many people would show up.

Our apartment comfortably fits ten people. The most conservative guess of attendence (made by my most conversative friend) was 70 people; my guess was that at least 100 people, probably more, attempted to party in our apartment. At one point people were leaving because there just wasn’t any room to move and it showed no sign of slowing; indeed, these early exiters passed new arrivers on the way out.

Drinks

I supplied the following:

• two balls of Bud Light
• seven handles of the cheapest vodka
• 12 bottles of Sam Adams
• 12 bottles of Sam Adams’ Octoberfest
• 12 bottles of Magic Hat’s Number 9
• 12 bottles of Magic Hat’s Night of the Living Dead

Other people brought various less-good things, such as PBR, Bud, and Coors. Others brought equally-good things, such as pre-mixed white Russians, Blue Moon, and whatever Eli took from work.

We made two batches of hopskip in a cooler lined with a trash bag.

All that remained at midnight was a small pool of hopskip. The party started at 10PM, mind you.

Food

I bought mixers (crappy OJ, cranberry, and hopskip mix) and three bags of chips. The chips were gone, but I don’t think people found the cranberry.

Music

When you get that number of drunks in the same room, they’ll dance to Velvet Underground’s I’m Wating for the Man. I played typically in-season music such as Thriller and Riboflavin’, as well as whatever I wanted like Quintron and Big Digits.

People kept stepping on the power strips, including the one with the wireless router on it. As a result the music kept dying. Whenever the music died people would sing.

At some point the stereo was hijacked. The hijackers removed the trashbag we used to cover the equipment, figured out my CD player, set the tuner to CD, and overrode my music selection. They started off with Michael Jackson’s Black or White, but I didn’t recognize anything after that.

Video

I played the Nova special on string theory, thanks to Dicky. During the Devo video people kept stepping on the power strips, turing off various essential parts of the video-watching experience, so we just left it at no video for a while.

Costumes

Some people had great costumes! Chessie dressed as Abraham Lincoln; Jared as Pyramid Head; Nate as The Little Tiger; Fred as a ghostbuster; Dicky as a never-nude; the Emmanuel Broads as Chipettes; some guy fell in the shower; Tim dressed as me; Erica as a mental patient.

Keeping with tradition, the women’s costumes were sexy (or slutty, depending on the woman). I have no complaints about this.

People

As I said, a zillion people showed. I credit the Facebook’s new “feed” for half of this; to be sure, I only invited one person via the Facebook event, and everyone else joined when they saw it on their “feed”.

This night was also recognized as the night for Halloween parties, so people expected it to happen. They wanted to wear costumes in front of as many people as possible, and they got it.

The End

Moga kicked everyone out around 12:45 because of a tip-off about the fuzz. “We’re out of alcohol; please leave” was what he shouted, and it worked. When the BPD did show, we had a much more manageable 30 people in the apartment; they asked us to turn the music down and end the party. Since people were leaving while they said this, we just turned the music off and started the clean-up. They thanked us for being so coorporative.

While we were cleaning, probably 20 minutes after the BPD showed, the NUPD showed. They had heard of a noise complaint because of our loud music (“uh, what music?” I asked them) and the wild party (“we’re only cleaning in here, look”, I said). They demanded that everyone who didn’t live there was to leave.

The NUPD lost any respect I might have had for them. Jerks.

Conversions

Right, so, these guys are awesome. They play sorta-long punk songs (long by punk standards) and take no breaks between songs. Got that? Zero breaks. It’s just musicmusicmusicmusicdone. High energy, great riffs, and exactly what this world needs more.

Donna Parker

She played a noise song for seven or ten minutes, then thanked us. We demanded more, so she played more. Can’t get much better than that.

B.E.A.R.D.

Noisy psychedelia with reverb. Not too bad, really.

Cul de Sac

This was the band Ben was most excited about, but I thought they were the weakest group of the night. They hid behind their instruments playing some long, meandering, psychedelic songs.

Major Stars

An ending just as it began: with a massive amount of high-energy rock. I’m not sure the set list changed too much since I first saw them (there are some new songs, I suppose), but all of their stuff is excellent.