blinkylights.org

On every page in Django's online docs, there's a little search field on the left so you can quickly look for the topic you're befuddled about. There's also a little drop-down that lets you pick which version of Django you're interested in. Recently, it was changed so that by default, the little drop-down is set to Django 1.2.

Right now, I'm much closer to trunk.

So. Here's a little GreaseMonkey script I wrote to ensure that I'm looking at the right docs even if I forget to switch the little drop-down thingy, and that I don't go insane trying to track down non-existant bugs.


// ==UserScript==
// @description Changes the default django search version
// @name django-docs-trunk
// @include http://docs.djangoproject.com/*
// @namespace http://www.blinkylights.org/gmscipts
// ==/UserScript==



sb = document.getElementById("id_sidebar_search_release");
sb.selectedIndex = 3;



Bet you didn't know there's a Paul Smith who is not me who is also a movie star. I'll be honest: neither did I, really. But I'm sure you'll recognize Paul L. Smith from such films as Red Sonja, and others. I did my usual round of Paul Smith research, and it turns out that Paul L. Smith is actually really mean. Seriously mean.

Who wouldn't be? Sure, he seems happy enjoying a cocktail as Rabban in David Lynch's Dune, but everybody knows that Baron Harkonen likes Sting better. And check out this scene where Paul L. get swindled by Maverick. I don't want to jump on the Mel Gibson hate-train, but jeeze, what an a-hole.

OK, that stuff's bad, but what was it exactly that turned nice normal Paul L. Smith into sadistic prison guard Paul L. Smith from Midnight Express? Could it have been Wonder Woman? I bullshit you not: he's the main bad guy in an episode of Wonder Woman, right? But the poor guy does not get his ass kicked by Wonder Woman (which might have made the whole thing worth it - why else be the main bad guy on Wonder Woman?), instead he gets thwarted by nerds at a sci-fi convention while Lynda Carter golden-lasso's his henchmen. How exactly is that fair? (BTW: fast-forward to 42:30 or so to see Paul L.'s WTF-face)

No, I think the origin of Paul L.'s meanness is this: rejected, lonely, swindled, socially awkward, and not as good-looking as Sting, Paul L. (as Bluto in Robert Altman's Popeye) lowers his sights and makes a pass at Shelley Duvall's Olive Oyl... and still gets rejected in favor of a squinty guy with a speech impediment.

Harsh.

Check out this revealing moment from the same film. "I'm so mean I had a dream of beating myself up / Broke my nose, broke my hand, I wrestled myself to the ground / and then I choked myself to death / I broke the choke, then woke up / ARRGH!"


That guy is mean.

Paul who?

Paul Lawrence Smith

Paul is a...

Hollywood actor

How to tell us apart:

• Paul L. is totally mean
• Paul L. no longer goes by Paul L. He and his wife, Eve, moved to Israel and now call themselves Adam and Aviva Eden. Since her name was already Eve, I have to assume that "Aviva" is somehow even more biblical.
• Paul L's action figure comes with a bazooka and a big knife, whereas my action figure comes with a coffee mug, nerd glasses and a laptop:
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Paul L. had a speaking part in David Lynch's Dune with Kyle Maclachlan, while my part as an extra in David Lynch's Blue Velvet (with Kyle Maclachlan) was edited out. I guess it's clear which Paul Smith David Lynch likes better. bitch.
• Did I mention that Paul L. is mean?

In 2007, I had the great fortune of being present at PyCon for Robert Lefkowitz' keynote talk entitled "The Importance of Programming Literacy". Seriously, seriously, seriously: if you spend any part of your personal or professional life thinking about technology, education or politics, you owe it to yourself to check this out:
Find the audio from the talk here, and slides from the presentation can be found here.

OK, so near as I can tell from this article in the Palm Beach Post, Michael Beasley, a 21-year-old professional basketball player who plays for the Miami Heat, is an extraordinarily talented young man who has, like many before him, fallen victim to the temptations that come with such great success at such a young age.

But give Michael some credit: he has enrolled himself in Alcoholics Anonymous, gotten himself back on track, and has been on the wagon since last August.

With me so far? OK, well when you go into AA, you give them a not-real name (you know, like you're anonymous, get it?). Turns out Michael's AA name is (you guessed it) Paul Smith.

Gonna go ahead and take the high road here, say nothing snarky, and just wish "Paul" all the luck in the world in staying clean and sober. If I may be so bold as to speak for all us Paul Smiths, if our name can be of some help in your recovery (and as long as you're careful with it) you're more than welcome. (Although I guess it's not really all that anonymous, since it's in the Palm Beach Post, but anyway).

My only caveat is that if, God forbid, I should ever find myself in a position where I feel like I need to join Alcoholics Anonymous, I am totally giving my name as Michael Beasley.

Paul who?

Michael "Paul Smith" Beasley

Paul is a...

NBA basketball player Anonymous person

How to tell us apart:

• "Paul" is about seven feet taller than me
• "Paul" makes about seven figures more than me
• "Paul" scores about 16 pts per game, my NBA average is somewhat lower
• My name is Paul Smith
• "Paul" doesn't drink - I'm on my second right now

In today's Paul Smith news, it's being reported that the world's largest iPod has been presented as a gift to British fashion designer, Sir Paul Smith (who I promise will be disambiguated in a future episode of Paul Smith Disambiguation of the Week).

The iPod was designed by Jonathan Ive, the principal designer behind lots of Apple stuff (like iPod, iPhone and lots of Mac laptops). Fulfilling its promise as world's largest iPod, the pink iPod gifted to Sir Paul is undeniably really, really large.

It's unclear at this point if Sir Paul intends to design a ginormous iPod case for it.

This week's Paul Smith Who is not Me, is Paul Charles Smith, a singer/songwriter/musician formerly of the Imperials, and now enjoying a successful solo career. Paul C. mostly sings about Jesus, and you can hear a few song snippets on the "Official Paul Smith Website". Paul has a new album out, Soli Deo, which you can (I gosh-darn you not), get on iTunes for $9.90. For all you heathens, the latin phrase "Soli Deo Gloria" means, "Glory to God", and if you're sensing a theme, you'd be correct: Paul C. Smith is quite squarely Jesus-oriented - something that will become very clear when you read his bio (which doesn't have it's own URL - you'll have to poke around in the Official Paul Smith Flash Movie).

Paul who?

Paul Charles Smith

Paul is a...

Christian musician

How to tell us apart:

• Paul C. has a much nicer singing voice
• Paul C. has a ministry, I've been known to listen to Ministry
• Paul C. has won multiple "Dove" awards (which is like the Grammys for gospel music), whereas I have yet to be nominated
• One of us considers his Paul Smith Website, "The Official"
• For Paul C., a Website that is one big Flash movie positioned on the page with a table is somehow OK - I would get fired
• One of us seems not to realize that inline VBScript makes baby Jesus cry