BeigeJournal

I don’t use it that often, which means I have to spend a few minutes fumbling with different commands and eventually looking for documentation at cpan.org, but Perl’s CPAN script is the coolest, most amazing thing. It is just a joy to behold. Find, download, unpack, configure, compile, test, and install a Perl package, cleanup after itself, and by the way, we can update the CPAN package itself while we’re at it if you like. What cpan.org needs is a link right on the front page that says something like, “CPAN module quickstart: install modules automagically with the two or three commands documented here that are really easy to use but which you can never remember when you need them.”

I saw the Discovery Channel’s Under the Sea House episode of Monster House last night. I’m not a really insane fan of the show, but I do tend to watch it. This was the first episode I can recall where the entire team was competent, hard-working, and able to work together as a team. Normally they seem to have at least one crew member who is just a total waste of oxygen, leading to arguments, psychodramas, and near-disaster. I guess that’s good TV. Monster Garage build crews may have plenty of arguments, but they don’t seem to have completely inept members at anything like the rate Monster House does. I don’t know if that says something about the ideas the producers of the two shows have about how to put together good TV or if it says something about the home construction industry.