Being the Python Zealot I am, I decided it was time to get a good look at the stuff that was and was not changing in the upcoming major iteration. In Python 3000, the third major release of Python, a lot of stuff is changing, like changing the syntax from print "Foo" to print("Foo"). (The first implementation is marginally more human-readable, but the latter implementation makes it easier to override the default print method.)

In the list of things not changing, as linked above, some things surprised me though, because of… well:

Simple is better than complex. This idea extends to the parser. Restricting Python’s grammar to an LL(1) parser is a blessing, not a curse. It puts us in handcuffs that prevent us from going overboard and ending up with funky grammar rules like some other dynamic languages that will go unnamed, such as Perl.

But the one that takes the cake is this.

No braces. This is so obvious that it doesn’t need a reference to a mailing list. Do from __future__ import braces to get a definitive answer on this subject.

Curious, I opened up my local Python interpreter, and had the following:

>>> from __future__ import braces
SyntaxError: not a chance (, line 1)

Via Slashdot, more details on the EEEPc shipped with XP.

I would put up the Nostromo n52 speedpad as a contestant to the title of coolest gaming peripheral.

Mine is constantly in use, but I’m strongly tempted to get the new “Tournament Edition” because it glows in the dark.

I have no idea whether the Linksys Wireless-N Gigabit Gaming Router is worth owning. But I will say that it is the coolest-looking computer peripheral I have ever seen.

Sitting at The Breakfast Club, gesturing to Gabriel over the summit of my “Hobo Scramble,” I presented a powerful pro-waffle position. Its core assertion was that we should have hot waffles, smothered in chocolate ice cream, available for free at our Sakuracon booth. He’s been trying to talk me out of it for a week now, because he has no vision, and I do: I see waffles leaping out of toasters and into smiling mouths. I don’t see what the fucking problem is.

I tried to break down the essential position for him. “You’re arguing for a universe with fewer waffles in it,” I said. “I’m prepared to call that cowardice.”

No wonder this man is a literary hero of mine.

Ugh:

In Fantastic Four #542, Mister Fantastic, involved in the Marvel Universe’s Civil War event, reveals that his real reason for supporting the superhero registration act which prompted the Civil War is due to his development of a working version of Isaac Asimov’s fictional Psychohistory concept. Mister Fantastic’s application of this science indicates to him that billions will die in escalating conflicts unless the act is made law.

Asimov never spelled out how large was “sufficiently large” for the application of psychohistory, but I doubt it was 6.5 billion, much less the population of the developed world that cared about super heroes.

FRANK CHU UPDATE: We have a new sighting, and just look at the numbers:

• 2004: 12 GALAXIES
• 2006: 12 GALAXIES
• 2007: 7,645,000 GALAXIES
• March 16, 2008: 6,965,000,000 GALAXIES
• March 19, 2008: 8,685,000,000 GALAXIES

In just three days, he’s added nearly two billion galaxies. Where will this end?

So they teach Stata in class, but the real world uses SAS. But remember that Stata is nearly free, and for SAS you pay a yearly fee

…

My final model don’t want none unless your p is point oh one!

It’s like “White & Nerdy” but for Stats majors. (Hat tip: Freakonomics blog)

Given how hard it is to find anything in our house, I think I’d let them search. It would be good entertainment.

Since I would expect them to leave the place at least as clean as they found it, I’m going to go with “I didn’t vote for nationalized maid services!”