No Magic Here

The REAL reason curling is better than hockey

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:52:00 +0000

Not the only reason, but a good one...

Wistful thought of the day

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:24:00 +0000

I get the feeling that thinking "inside the box" is a dying art.

Just wondering...

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:31:00 +0000

How come it's the "Assad regime" in Syria, but the "Harper Government" here?

Ice sheets

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:32:00 +0000

21,000 years ago? Montreal looked like that this year!

Quote of the day, baseball edition

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:15:00 +0000

I turned on the sports highlights this morning to see how the Blue Jays did last night. The sportscaster said, enthusiastically, "Torres takes Johnson deep!"

Jeez, I just woke up. How about a little "Viewer discretion advised" first? What's next, they're going to pull Johnson and put in Dickey?

The bravery of being out of range

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 14:31:00 +0000

Let's see if all that accountability talk was just more lies, or if Dear Leader has the stones to stand up and support this great idea.

My guess, of course, is 'no'.

In the newest wave of Conservative ads on TV, Prime Minister Stephen Harper claims credit for the state of the Canadian economy, but not for the ads' withering attack lines on Liberal leader Justin Trudeau. That would change if a new private member's bill on political advertising, being introduced this week, becomes law.

Conversation of the day, 9-year-old hacker edition

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Wed, 29 May 2013 20:35:00 +0000

F: Guess what I did today?

Me: Uh oh...

F: I was on the computer studying for my probability test tomorrow.

Me: Good!

F: Yeah, but I used up all my tries on the website, so I switched to use Mozzarella Firefox instead, and that gave me more tries!

Me: Want a co-op job this summer?

Bridges burning gladly merging with the shadows

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Tue, 28 May 2013 23:31:00 +0000

That smoke you smell? It's just my guitars burning in the backyard...

When I pick up the phone there's still nobody home

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Tue, 28 May 2013 19:22:00 +0000

You know the proxy server is having problems when everyone breaks out the books. Remember those? Big heavy things made out of paper? Kicking it old school today...

Morning, Sam...

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Thu, 23 May 2013 23:14:00 +0000

Morning, Ralph.

Conversation of the day

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:15:00 +0000

I was painting smallest daughter's room yesterday. Turquoise. Jamaican Aqua, specifically. She was bugging me all day to help, so I let her paint the new closet door.

While the first coat on the walls was drying I set up a table in the garage, and laid the closet door over top. Poured the paint, handed her a roller and stood back out of splatter range to watch. She started painting and I grabbed a beer from the fridge.

F: Hey, grab me a juice box from the fridge. Make it mango. If you're just going to stand there drinking beer, I'm going to have a juice box.

Me: Yes, dear.

Surprisingly, the door turned out fantastic, even though she was pounding mango juice the whole time.

Feel the bile rising from your guilty past

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Sat, 18 May 2013 12:08:00 +0000

"Rob Ford", "crack video". Shudder...

Oh, turns out it was something less disturbing.

TheStar

The echo of a distant tide

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:58:00 +0000

I don't often wish I could play piano, but when I do, it's so I could play something like this:

Watch "Playing Pink Floyd - Echoes - Zurich, February 19 2011" on YouTube

Things I will never know the answer to

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:41:00 +0000

When a big bird is flying along, being pecked at by a little bird, why doesn't he turn around and swallow the little bird whole?

Book lernin' is fer losers

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:40:00 +0000

Nice science you've got there. Shame if anything happened to it...

CBC News - National Research Council move shifts feds' science role

Careful with that axe, Eugene

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:08:00 +0000

I was reading an article today about the performance of HTML5 canvas elements. The article cited an example of how performant canvas can be, in the "100 Riffs (A Brief History of Rock N' Roll)" at SoundSlice.

In addition to showing how fast canvas is, this also confirmed my suspicions that no good guitar music has been made since the late 1970s.

The strike is over?

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Mon, 06 May 2013 22:48:00 +0000

I see from the sports highlights that the Habs are still as classy as ever. I sure don't miss hockey...

NHL playoffs: Habs loss to Ottawa Senators was about an ugly a defeat as you’ll see

Things I wish would happen

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:42:00 +0000

The "click here to take the 2 hour online training" link should open the training course, and also open LinkedIn in another tab...

Crossing the 'i's, dotting the 't's...

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:40:00 +0000

Just make sure you get the licence first...

CBC Saskatoon launches new morning service http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/story/2013/04/26/sk-saskatoon-launch-0413.html

Career training

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 15:44:00 +0000

The comedian takes it up a notch.

Conversation of the day, common sense edition

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

If you have any common sense for sale, I have a 12-year-old girl who needs a bagful...

F: Do you have any heavy balls?

Me: Uh, for what?

F: For practicing shot put. For track and field.

Me: Hmm... I don't think so.

F: What about those exercise balls? I saw one around here somewhere.

Me: Oh yeah, that would work.

V: Well... she'd have to use them outside...

Curling Coach

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:52:00 +0000

Curling Coach is a handy Android app that helps coaches score curling games and diagram scenarios. Curling Coach tracks and reports shooting percentages, game scores and efficiencies (hammer, force, steal and steal defence). Shooting percentages are listed for hits and draws, inturns and outturns.

Game scenarios can be diagrammed and linked to a shot while scoring, or can be diagrammed on their own - great for illustrating something that happens during the Brier or Scotties, and reviewing later with your team.

Game details and scenarios can be shared via email, Twitter, blog post - any sharing app your device supports.

Curling Coach was developed while coaching a Bantam Girls (U17) team in Ontario, Canada, and was tested in game situations for a complete season.

Main Screen

The main screen provides quick access to the four main functions of the app. You can choose to score a game, view all games, create a new scenario, or view all scenarios.

Score Game

The Score game function is separated into four tabs - Game details, Player details, End details and the Game recap.

The first step to scoring a game is to fill in the game details.

Enter a name to help you remember which game this is - if you decide to leave this blank it will be filled in with the current date and time.

You can also enter the location, opponent, date and time for the game.

Choose how many ends your team is playing, and who has hammer in the first end.

Set the rock colours, enter ice conditions and any other game notes.

Enter the player names and the rock numbers they're throwing. You can also choose a player from the Contacts on your device.

Each end is scored shot-by-shot. The end details tab starts with the first shot of the game, and you can progress through the shots of the game using the < and > buttons. The current end, player and shot are displayed at the top of the screen.

You can associate a scenario with the current shot by touching the scenario button (pencil). When you are finished editing the scenario, use the Back button on your device to return to scoring the game.

Enter the turn and call using the radio button selections. You can enter a called weight and actual weight for either a draw or hit. Use the "weight zone" numbers for draws (0 - 10) or choose a hit weight from the list - Hack, Board, Control, Normal, Peel or Throw through. If you choose Throw though the shot is not counted towards the shooting percentage for the player.

Enter the score for the shot, out of four. You can also score a bonus point for an outstanding shot. Enter any notes for the shot, the move on to the next shot of the end.

When you reach the last shot of the end the score fields appear. Enter the score for your team or the other team, as appropriate, then move on to the next end. If this is the last end you can go right to the game recap. If the score is tied, moving on to the next end will create an extra end automatically. For a blank end, leave the scores at zero for both teams.

The game recap function displays the score and summaries for each player. Shooting percentages are listed for draws and hits, inturns and outturns, and overall totals. A line score and efficiencies are also listed.

Hammer efficiency is calculated as the percentage of ends that your team scored two points or more when you had the hammer.

Force efficiency is calculated as the percentage of ends that your team forced the other team to a score of less than two when they had the hammer.

Steal efficiency is calculated as the percentage of ends that your team stole when the other team had the hammer.

Steal defence is calculated as the percentage of ends that your team prevented a steal when you had the hammer.

All Games

The All games function lists all of the games you have scored on this device. Each game name is listed. Games where you did not enter a name are presented with the date and time the game was created as the game name.

To edit a game, select it and touch the edit button.

To delete a game, select it and touch the delete button. You will be prompted to confirm before the game is deleted.

New Scenario

The New scenario function allows you to diagram a scenario. Drag and drop rocks to place them in the appropriate position.

You can use the name button ("i") to give the scenario a helpful name, such as "Brier 1-2 game - Howard's last shot".

The Share button allows you to share the scenario as an image, with any sharing app your device supports (email, Twitter, etc.)

The markup button (pencil) allows you to draw freehand lines. When active, the markup icon changes to indicate you are in markup mode. The delete markup button ("X") deletes the last piece of freehand drawing that was placed.

All Scenarios

The All scenarios function lists all of the scenarios you have created on this device. Each scenario name is listed. Scenarios that were created while scoring a game are listed with the associated game name, end name, player and shot. Scenarios that were created on their own are listed with the name that was entered in the New scenario function.

To edit a scenario, select it and touch the edit button.

To delete a scenario, select it and touch the delete button. You will be prompted to confirm before the scenario is deleted.

Another tool in the arsenal

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:41:00 +0000

Now this is useful.

gitdown is a script which moderates your git committing activity based on your blood alcohol content (BAC).

Conversation of the day, Two Solitudes edition

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 12:18:00 +0000

F: [rehearsing a school presentation] PEI has the second-highest rate of balinggalism in Canada.

V: What was that word?

F: Balinggalism.

V: I think it's bye-ling-gu-a-lism.

F: That's what I said. Balinggalism.

Conversation of the day, child welfare edition

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:43:00 +0000

J: I'm going to Calgary soon.

F: Oh great, peanut butter sandwiches for dinner.

Me: What do you mean?

F: Veronica can't cook!

Me: You won't be home alone for a week - I'll be here too.

F: Oh, that's better.