Paco Hope My Random Musings and Rants

1May/09Off

Poker Copilot: The only poker helper for Mac users?

I've done a bunch of work in online poker lately (for Cigital), and so it's important for me to improve my game to where I'm not just one of the fish. I was keen to try some of the software that's out there, but I'm a Mac user. I'm not going to use Windows just to play poker, especially when both PokerStars and FullTilt Poker offer Mac native clients. That's where Poker Copilot comes in. I tried a couple others, but they seemed too limited, too "beta," for my purposes.

17Jun/08Off

Election 2008: Young Versus Old

I see the 2008 Presidential election as a contest between youth and age. It's not whether we want a young person or an old person in the White House. It's which demographic finally takes control of the country. It's been a long time coming, but I think my generation's turn at the wheel is next. I think my generation will also have a very short turn.

I'm a consultant, which means that I get to see inside lots and lots of companies. One thing I've noticed a lot is that there is very little age spectrum in leadership. Power is concentrated among the oldest, with a very broad gap between them and the next level. It seems to me that the older and more stable an institution (be it a university, government agency, corporation, charity, or church), the more likely it is to have leaders who are two or more generations removed from their lieutenants.

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23May/08Off

English for the masses

One thing I hear a lot are the security announcements in airports. I find them to be poorly worded when youLeggendo le revisioni di play online poker italia online, scoprirai quali sono i migliori siti di play poker online per giocare. think about their purpose. If you're trying to reach most passengers and get them to behave in a certain way, give them a message they can understand.

16Feb/08Off

Washington Flyer: When Monopoly == Choice?

I have the unfortunate pleasure of calling Washington Dulles International Airport my home airport. I fly all over the world—always from Dulles. No airport is as bad. I will probably rant about a few other things later, but today it's about the taxis. The Washington Flyer situation is probably the worst taxi set-up ever at a major airport. What finally got me annoyed enough to rant about it is a brochure they handed out during their last screw-up. It began: "Washington Flyer is a name synonymous with choice..." I just can't imagine how that is true, given that the only time most people use Washington Flyer is when they have no choice. In fact, the whole premise behind Washington Flyer is that nobody gets any choices. This lame attempt by the marketing wonks to put a little salve on this injustice simply underscores how ridiculous it is.

14Feb/08Off

Counter-Rant: Imperial Palace

So I was recently searching for information on the Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and I happened across David Robinson's blog about the Imperial Palace in Biloxi, Mississippi. My guess is that Mr. Robinson is a pretty reasonable guy, but his rant makes him sound like a nut-job. I think I'm a pretty reasonable guy, but sometimes when I rant I sound like a nut-job, so I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt. Benefit-of-the-doubt notwithstanding, I'm going to counter-rant now. :)

The main theme of my counter-rant is "what did you expect to find in a post-Katrina Mississippi casino?" I also want to talk about second chances. I'll quote excerpts of his original text, and comment in the middle, much like you might do in email.