So today I'm going to give my quick take on another one of these Apatow movies in vein with 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Taladega Nights, etc. This guy and his team of actors and writers are taking over Hollywood. I'm not kidding, I believe in 2008 alone his company has put out 5 or more movies. He is the Micheal Bay, nay Jerry Bruckheimer, of comedic movies.

Anyway lets talk about the movie. It is your basic Apatow movie. Take some pretty wild scernarios (irresponsible adults guiding misguided youths), pop culture (LARPing, energy drinks) some romantic entanglements, oh but nothing too deep; don't want to cheapen the comedy with heavy feelings. Basically what you get is a interestingly constructed movie that plays a lot like a tv show. There are no 'themes' the permeate the movie, the plot never rests on any one thing long enough to really build one. Instead you have a lot of quick jabs, short and to the point tender moments mixed in the wash with the funny stuff. Like I mentioned there are some fascinating cultural points exposed in the LARPing. This is something us nerds have known about, but your average Joe never knew existed.

Overall the movie was pretty good. There are a lot of quotes stuck in there, and I will have to see the movie a couple more times to really get them to stick. The jokes did their job, the theater seemed quite responsive. I can say it was much better than Step Brothers, at least on par with Forgetting Sarah Marshall. So I recommend you see it.

I’ve become unlucky lately in that I now am having to develop on a piece of software I did not write myself. "Why is this so unlucky?" one may ask. Well the thing is this software was developed by amateurs. What does that mean. Well it could very well be the developers are a group who have years of experience developing Java applications. This is a Java app by the way. I don’t know nor could I find out if I wanted to much about these individuals. They are on a whole other continent. What causes me to label them as amateurs is the way in which the app is written. There are so many things that go into writing a well developed application. Joel Spolsky gave us the Joel test, 12 things you can use in judging the overall saneness of an organization. This included things like hallway testing, continuous integration builds, and having a spec.

Now these really don’t cover if the company is any good, give me a bit I’ll tell you why. I follow Joel’s principles myself but they don’t mean much. They are more or less a way to cut the wheat from the chaff, or the very bad from the rest. First of all I can set up these practices very easily, continous integration, source control and builds in one step should’nt take much more than a week for most, and likely a day for someone like myself to set up.  Now that is 3 of 12 points, or a 25% increase on the scale with only a small expenditure of time. Some problems, real problems in software development can’t be fixed easily. They are people problems. They have a lot to do with a person in general, their background and especially their knowledge of and commitent to quality.

The following is a bit about what I’ve seen which gives you the lousy results I am griping here abouts.

Invariably I expect to and do encounter code that is cut and pasted to form many methods, all very much alike except for a few lines of identifying code. This is code that could just as easily been given proper treatment in removing the duplicated code and reusing it via method calls, inner classes, or classes.

There tends to be a feeling in more advanced fellows like myself that way too much code is being used. This of course will happen because of the cut and paste, but even some code not suffering that problem will still give you this feeling. You will notice places where you would have done the same thing in half the lines of code.

Use of databases. This is a big one. Many transactions occurring in one web request, multiple sessions being opened and closed. An overall lack of expertise in knowing when something is unoptimized that otherwise would be easy to optimise (like queries). Very scary usage of ORM frameworks, or frameworks like Spring which are supposed to make things easier overall.

Half steps. The obvious sight of things where the dev(s) started down a path only to back out. Maybe there are still some unused classes laying around, or enormous chunks of commented out code which especially peavs me. I mean c’mon if you have version control cut out the damn commented out code, you can still get it back later if it ever really is needed. Wait, you don’t understand how version control works?

One of the worst things though is project tidiness. What I mean is the project is organized in a neat fashion so that on a cursory overview one can get a gist of what is going on. This means you can see the build files, read them easily and understand what is going on. Libraries (jars) are found in a single place. A project is a project, which has a single output target like a library, web app, or zip file. Not 3 projects tied into one sharing some parts with each other. Separate these things!

I could go on and on, but for today I’ll stop here.

These problems I’ve found with many pieces of software I’ve come into contact with over the years. Often I can tell that the developers were themselves learning the frameworks, APIs, concepts, algorithms, what not as they developed the given app. Often I find dead ends or places where the developer just plain painted into a corner, only to find some extrodinary hack which compounds problems in itself. I can tell you some people just don’t, will not, or can not spend the time to study things and get them right. Some people just don’t catch on quickly enough, and therefore they will always be running at a loss.

Is integrity in journalism dead, and the reporting of fact gone with it? The shiver down my spine tells me it is. The way these 'true' journalists (A. Cooper, M. Lauer, anyone on Fox news) dress up in makeup and put so much of a fuss makes me have a hard time drawing the line between real and fake. It is more like actors trying to recreate something, like a commercial where they love that cheeseburger, or an add where a father pushes a kid on a swing. As 'real' as these situations look they just never have that guinuine authenticity about them. Back to my question. Maybe, just maybe journalism isn’t dead, just muffled underneath the vast weight of opinions sold as fact, a door opened via marketers when they could do and say what they like. Remember ol’ Ronnie Reagan only smokes Chesterfields! Unfortunately this state of things says a lot more about society we live in. 

For one I feel any old Joe or Jane Shmoe (like myself) can whip out an article that will challenge the quality of most any found in a major online news portal these days. What I’m saying more or less is that the hobby essayist's blog post is beginning to look a lot like the ’real news’. Thats not good for anyone in my opinion. First off I’ve yet to read many blog posts that do not contain some level of pure speculation and/or opinion. If done well some fact is interspersed now and again, an age old marketering tactic which can confuse a reader into believing they have a credible source. The point is not to make a point anymore, it is to enforce a mentality. This enforcement comes in the form of sinister actions such as defaming, demoralizing, discounting, and destruction of people, living breathing people. Don’t believe me? Look at what has happened to Britney Spears. Yeah she went bat shit crazy right? But what about those jerks filming her while she racked her umbrella against their van? She obviously wasn’t in a proper state of mind, and any idiot could have figured out what was causing her duress... the ’news’ people! These people are scum bags, fed by the insidious interest of common folks. These folks know they trespass far too much into the lives of others. It is common code among them that this intrusion is fine, its not like breaking and entering ones home, these are no longer human beings but celebrities doomed to a life less freedom. Freedom something we hold so dear, yet will allow to be taken away from others not with quiet murmurs but with a resounding "they get what they deserve!".

Why, why, why is this behavior allowed to exist? Is it rampant liberalism, where we let bullies go way too far before they get their asses kicked? Is it an inability to recognize the deeper meanings in actions, I mean that would require thought and do people these days really want to be bothered? IT is far easier to regurgitate what you hear elsewhere, spreading the word of another without requiring debate. Look at those fools claiming Barrack Obama is a Muslim, that 'rumour' started where and by who? Who says the man is a Muslim? Better yet why would that even matter? These are questions that will never be answered, because the syptom(s) of their existance are too much for any of these people to stomach on examination. When words hold self evident, all men are created equal, I am my brothers keeper, well then they should spread and be held close to one's heart. By what I see written across the headlines of major newspapers I wonder how stupid they think we the masses have become. They lead me to believe my country is violent, my country is angry, and put simply they hate each other. Hate is heard louder and clearer, above the "opinion sold as fact" and with it. Far far above the integrity of giving "just the facts" and letting you, the reader decide.

I’ve got a Netflix developer account and whipped up a page using some basic DHTML and AJAX. You can find it here. Just enter a search term and press enter or the ’go’ button. Eventually my plan is to integrate in my queue on my home page here so that I can see what movies I have and what is coming.

The letter follows.

Dear Mr. Ottaway:

           Thank you for your letter expressing concern about Congress' recent consideration of a plan to meet our Nation's credit crisis with financial help from the Federal Government.

           This is a difficult situation for which there are no perfect solutions, and I would like to share my thoughts and concerns with you. Please find attached two statements that I have given on the Senate floor detailing my reasons for supporting the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-343), which the President signed into law on October 3, 2008.

           Once again, thank you for writing.  If you have any additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.

Statement of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein

In Support of the Economic Rescue Package

October 1, 2008

           "Mr. President, I rise today to support the bipartisan economic rescue legislation.

           It has been said that Senators have six-year terms for a reason. And that reason is to be able to take tough votes because it's right for the nation, and take tough votes when at times they may be adverse to the beliefs of your constituency.

           This today is indeed a tough vote.

           I want to thank the Banking Committee, particularly its chairman, Chris Dodd, and members on both sides of the aisle for their work on this.

           So let me quickly begin.

           This bill is not the bill that was put forward by Secretary Paulson on September 20th. His bill was essentially a non-starter - startling in its unbridled allocation of power to one man: the Secretary of Treasury whom we know now, and to a Secretary of Treasury after January whom we do not know.

           It placed this man above the law, above administrative oversight and above Congressional action and essentially gave him $700 billion to do with what he thought best.

           This bill didn't fly with virtually anyone who looked at it, particularly constituents, who have called in the tens of thousands all across this land.

           My office has received over 91,000 calls and emails with over 86,000 opposed. The bill before us is not Paulson's three-page proposal. Rather, it is a bipartisan effort that adds oversight, accountability, assistance to homeowners, executive compensation limits and other measures to protect taxpayers.

           But there still is a lot of misinformation on this bill.

           This is not a $700 billion gift for Wall Street.

           Rather, the federal government will buy equity in certain assets - both good and bad - to pump liquidity into the marketplace and unfreeze credit which is increasingly freezing and unavailable.

           Over time, these assets will be sold and the federal government will be the first paid back on the investment.

           The belief is that by doing this the federal government will clear much of the bad debt on the books of certain strategic financial institutions, restoring stability, adding liquidity and unfreezing credit.

           Recently, we have seen major U.S. institutions fail:

Bear Stearns

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Lehman Brothers

Merrill Lynch

AIG

And, two retail banks - not investment banks:

Washington Mutual, and Wachovia

           If we do nothing, more institutions will fail.

           Now, you may say: what does this mean to me? I work hard, I pay my bills, I pay cash.

           Here's what it will mean to you: it will be harder for most Americans to get any credit. Therefore, jobs will be lost.

           And we may well face a deep recession.

           California has 3.75 million small businesses with an average of 5.6 employees. That adds up to over 20 million jobs.

           Some of these businesses are funded with cash, but most are funded with credit. When credit freezes, payrolls cannot be met. And when payrolls cannot be met, pink slips are sent out.

           And this will happen to retailers, grocery stores, restaurants, electrical and plumbing contractors, apparel manufacturers, computer and electronics stores, and auto dealerships.

           Sales at auto dealerships have fallen dramatically in the past year.

Ford sales are down 34 percent,

Chrysler sales are down 33 percent,

Toyota sales are down 29 percent, and

GM sales are down 16 percent.

The list will go on and on.

           Importantly, there have now been several improvements to this bill. First, The FDIC insurance rate covering bank deposits has been increased from $100,000 to $250,000. Americans will know that their deposits are secure up to $250,000.

           The legislation will provide tax relief to working families.

           One example: the Alternative Minimum tax is a real problem. It was meant to apply only to 200 wealthy people, but it was never adjusted for inflation and it has crept down the income scale to the point where more than 25 million taxpayers today may well have to pay an Alternative Minimum Tax.

           In California, 700,000 people paid this tax last year. But 4 million Californians will pay that tax this year unless we take action.

           This bill takes that action. For one year it will prevent this tax increase.

           The Congressional Budget Office has reviewed this bill and concluded that the net cost to taxpayers is "likely to be substantially less than $700 billion."

           Again, these investments are first in line to be paid back.

           It must be remembered that there was a great deal of criticism when the U.S. government bailed out Mexico in 1996 with $20 billion. The fact is, the money was paid back ahead of time and $600 million in profit was made.

           Let me give you the following points.

           This bill mandates that the government provide loan modifications for the subprime mortgages it acquires. This will help keep families in homes rather than foreclosing and putting the house on a deteriorating housing market where property values drop and homes are looted.

           The bill limits executive compensation.

           It provides strong oversight and accountability, including a financial stability oversight board, a five-member Congressional oversight panel, an Inspector General, and a constant presence at Treasury by the Government Accountability Office.

           This is the only choice Congress can make.

           One can rail against it and vote no on it, but that's not going to solve the problem. We have one chance, and one chance only, to solve the problem, and it is this bill.

           I wish I could write it differently. Others wish they could write it differently, but the fact is that we are faced with this. Again, there is no question this is a tough vote.

           But there's no question that this is a vote that I believe has to be made."

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein

Floor Statement on the Economic Rescue Proposal

September 26, 2008

           "Mr. President, to date I have received from Californians more than 50,000 calls and letters, the great bulk of them in opposition to any form of meeting this crisis with financial help from the Federal Government. I wanted to come to the floor to very simply state how I see this and some of the principles that I hope will be forthcoming in this draft. Before I do so, I wish to pay particular commendation to Senator Dodd, Senator Schumer, Senator Bennett, and others who have been working so hard on this issue. I have tried to keep in touch -- I am not a negotiator; I am not on the committee -- but California is the biggest State, the largest economic engine, and people are really concerned.

           We face the most significant economic crisis in 75 years right now. Swift and comprehensive action is crucial to the overall health of our economy. None of us wants to be in this position, and there are no good options here. Nobody likes the idea of spending massive sums of Government money to rescue major corporations from their bad financial decisions. But no one also should be fooled into thinking this problem only belongs to the banks and that it is a good idea to let them fail. The pain felt by Wall Street one day is felt there, and then 2,3,4 weeks down the pike, it is felt on Main Street.

           The turbulence in our financial sector has already resulted in thousands of layoffs in the banking and finance sectors, and that number will skyrocket if there is a full collapse. The shock waves of failure will extend far beyond the banking and finance sectors. A shrinking pool of credit would affect the home loans, credit card limits, auto loans, and insurance policies of average Americans. I am receiving calls from people who tell me they want to buy a house, but they can't get the credit or the mortgage to do so. Why? Because that market of credit is drying up more rapidly one day after the other. It would have a major impact on State and local governments which would lose tens of millions of dollars, if not hundreds of millions of dollars.

           Hurricane Ike shut down refineries on the gulf coast 2 weeks ago, and now, today, people are waiting hours in lines for gasoline in the South. Similarly, the collapse of the financial sector would have severe consequences for Americans all across the economic spectrum: for the person who owns the grocery store, the laundry, the bank, the insurance company. Then, if the worst happens, layoffs. And even more than that, somebody shows up for work and finds their business has closed because the owner of that business can't get credit to buy the goods he hopes to sell that week or that month. Wages and employment rates have already fallen even as the cost of basic necessities has skyrocketed. Our Nation is facing the highest unemployment rate in 5 years, at 6.1 percent. Over 605,000 jobs have been lost nationwide this year. My own State of California, a state of 38 million people, has the third highest unemployment rate in the Nation at 7.7 percent. That is 1.4 million people out of work today. One and a half million people -- that is bigger than some States. We have 1.5 million people out of work, and one-half million have had their unemployment insurance expire and have nothing today.

           Congress is faced with a situation where we have to act and we have to do two things. We have to provide some reform in the system of regulation and oversight that is supposed to protect our economy. We also have to find a permanent and effective solution to keep liquidity and credit functioning so that markets can recover and make profit. The situation, I believe, is grave, and timely, prudent action is needed.

           Just last night, the sixth largest bank in America -- Washington Mutual-- was seized by government regulators and most of its assets will be sold to JPMorgan Chase. This follows on the heels of bankruptcies and takeovers of Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. If nothing is done, the crisis will continue to spread and one by one the dominos will fall.

           Now, this isn't just about Wall Street. Because we are this credit society, the financial troubles facing major economic institutions will ricochet throughout this Nation and affect everyone. So I believe the need for action is clear. But that doesn't mean Congress should simply be a rubberstamp for an unprecedented and unbridled program.

           My constituents by the thousands have made their views clear. I believe they are responding to the original 3-page proposal by the Secretary of the Treasury. It is clear by now that that 3-page proposal is a nonstarter. It is dead on arrival and that is good. Secretary Paulson's proposal asked Congress to write a $700 billion check to an economic czar who would have been empowered to spend it without any administrative oversight, legal requirements, or legislative review. Decisions made by the Treasury Secretary would be nonreviewable by any court or agency, and the fate of our entire economy would be committed to the sole discretion of one man alone -- the man we know today, and the man whom we don't know after January.

           Additionally, the lack of governance or oversight in this plan was matched by the lack of a requirement for regular reports to Congress. This proposal stipulated that the economic czar, newly created, would report to Congress after the first three months with reports once every 6 months after that. This was untenable. Six months is an eternity when you are spending billions a week. The Treasury Secretary asked Congress to approve this massive program without delay or interference. It is hard to think of any other time in our history when Congress has been asked for so much money and so much power to be concentrated in the hands of one person. It is a nonstarter.

           Yesterday, shortly before we met for the Democratic Policy Committee lunch, we were told there had been a bipartisan agreement on principles of a possible solution, and many of us rejoiced. We know that our Members, both Republican and Democrat, have been working hard to try to produce something that was positive. Then, all of a sudden, it changed. One Presidential candidate parachuted into town which proved to be enormously destructive to the process. Now, negotiations are back on the table, and as I say, we have just received a draft bill of certain principles.

           I would like to outline quickly those principles that I think are important. First is a phase-in. No one wants to put $700 billion immediately at the discretion of one person or even a group of a very few people, no matter how bright, how skilled, how informed they might be on banking or finance principles. The funding should come in phases and Congress should have the opportunity to make its voice heard if the program isn't working or needs to be adjusted.

           The second point: Oversight, accountability, and governance. The Treasury Secretary should not and must not have unbridled authority to determine winners and losers, essentially choosing which struggling financial institution will survive and which will not. The original plan placed all authority in the hands of this one man, and this is why I say it was DOA -- dead on arrival -- at the Congress. We must assure that controls are in place to watch taxpayer dollars and make sure they are well-spent fixing the problem, and that oversight by a governance committee and the Banking Committees are strong, and that they give the best opportunity for the American people to recover their investment and, yes, even eventually make a profit from that investment. That can be done and it has been done in the past.

           I believe that frequent reporting to Congress is critical. Transparency, sunlight on this, is critical. So Congress should receive regular, timely briefings, perhaps weekly for the first quarter, on a program of this magnitude. A proposal should mandate frequent reporting and the public should be ensured of transparency to the maximum extent possible.

           I also believe that within the first quarter -- and this, to me, is key -- a comprehensive legislative proposal for reform must be put forward. We must reform those speculative practices that impact price function of markets. We must deal with the unregulated practices that have furthered this crisis. Look. I represent a State that was cost $40 billion in the Enron episode during 1999 and 2000 by speculation, by manipulation, and by fraud. There still is inadequate regulation of energy commodities sold on the futures market. And that is just one point in all of this. We must prevent these things from happening. The only way to do it is to improve the transparency of all markets. No hidden deals. Swaps, in my view, should be ended. The London loophole should be ended.

           We have to outline rules for increasing regulation of the mortgage-backed securities market, along with comprehensive oversight of the mortgage industry and lending practices for both prime and subprime lending.

           Senator Martinez of Florida and I had a part in the earlier housing bill, which included our legislation entitled the SAFE Mortgage Licensing Act. We found that the market was rife with fraud. We found there was one company that hired hairdressers and others who sold mortgages in their spare time. We found there were unscrupulous mortgage brokers out there unlicensed, preying upon people, walking off with tens of thousands of dollars of cash. This has to end. It has to be controlled. It has to be regulated.

           So I believe the crisis of 2008 stems from the failure of Federal regulators to rein in this Wild West mentality of those Wall Street executives who led those firms and who thought that nothing was out of bounds. Every quick scheme was worth the time, and worth a try. Congress cannot ignore this as the root cause of the crisis. It was inherent in the subprime marketplace, and it has now spread to the prime mortgage marketplace.

           It is also critical that accurate assessments of the value of these illiquid mortgage-related assets be performed to limit the taxpayers' exposure to risk and structure purchases to ensure the greatest possible return on investment.

           Taxpayer money must be shielded at all costs from risk to the greatest extent possible.

           Reciprocity is not a bad concept if you can carry it out. The Government must not simply act as a repository for risky investments that have gone bad. An economic rescue effort that serves taxpayers well must allow them to benefit from the potential profits of rescued entities. So a model -- and it may well be in these new principles -- must be developed to ensure the taxpayers are not only the first paid back but have an opportunity to share in future profits through warrants and/or stocks.

           As to executive compensation limits, simply put, Californians are frosted by the absence of controls on executive compensation. Virtually all of the 50,000 phone calls and letters mentioned this one way or another. There must be limits. I am told that the reason the Treasury Secretary does not want limits on executive compensation is because he believes that an executive then will not bring his company in to partake in any program that is set up. Here is my response to that: We can put that executive on his boat, take that boat out in the ocean, and set it on fire. If that is how he feels, that is what should happen, or his company doesn't come in. But to say that the Federal Government is going to be responsible for tens of millions of dollars of executive salaries, golden parachutes, whether they are a matter of contract right or not, is not acceptable to the average person whose taxpayer dollars are used in this bailout. That is just fact.

           The one proposal that was made by one of the Presidential candidates that I agree with is that there should be a limit of $400,000 on executive compensation. If they don't like it, too bad, don't participate in the program. As I have talked with people on Wall Street and otherwise, they don't believe it is true that an executive, if his pay is tailored down, will not bring a company in that needs help. I hope that is true. I believe there should be precise limits set on executive pay.

           Finally, as to tangible benefits for Main Street in the form of mortgage relief, there have been more than 500,000 foreclosures in my home State of California so far this year. In the second quarter of this year, foreclosures were up 300 percent over the second quarter of 2007. More than 800,000 are predicted before this year is over.

           I have a city in California where one out of every 25 homes is in foreclosure. This is new housing in subdivisions. As you look at it, you will see garage doors kicked in. You will see houses vandalized. You will see the grass and grounds dry. You will see the street sprinkled with "For Sale" signs, and nobody buys because the market has become so depressed.

           This crisis has roots in the subprime housing boom that went bust, and it would be unconscionable for us to simply bailout Wall Street while leaving these homeowners to fend for themselves.

           Everything I have been told, and I have talked to people in this business, here is what they tell me: It is more cost-effective to renegotiate a subprime loan and keep a family in a house than it is to foreclose and run the risks of what happens to that home on a depressed market as credit is drying up, as vandals loot it, as landscaping dries up, as more homes in the area become foreclosed upon; the way to go is to renegotiate these mortgages with the exiting homeowner wherever possible. I feel very strongly that should be the case.

           I don't know what I or any of us will do if we authorize this kind of expenditure and we find down the pike in my State that the rest of the year, 800,000 to 1 million Americans are being thrown out of their homes despite this form of rescue effort. Think of what it means, Mr. President, in your State. You vote for this, any other Senator votes for it, and these foreclosures continue to take place and individual families continue to be thrown out of their homes. It is not a tenable situation.

           I hope, if anybody is listening at all, that in the negotiating team, they will make a real effort to mandate in some way that subprime foreclosures be renegotiated, that families, wherever possible, who have an ability to pay, have that ability to pay met with a renegotiated loan. I have done this now in cases with families who were taken advantage of. We called the CEO of the bank, and the bank has seen that the loan was renegotiated, in one case in Los Angeles down to 2 percent. That is better than foreclosing and running the uncertainty of the sale of the asset in a very depressed housing market.

           These are my thoughts. Again, it is easy to come to the floor and give your thoughts. It is much more difficult to sit at that negotiating table.

           I once again thank those Senators on both sides of the aisle who really understand the nature of this crisis -- that it isn't only Wall Street, that it does involve Main Street, and if there is a serious crash, it will hurt tens of millions of Americans, many of them in irreparable ways. So we must do what we must do, and we must do it prudently and carefully.

           I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of quorum."

Dianne Feinstein
        United States Senator

Further information about my position on issues of concern to California and the Nation are available at my website http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/. You can also receive electronic e-mail updates by subscribing to my e-mail list at http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ENewsletterSignup.Signup.

I've used Mercurial now for about a year in tandem with other revision control such SVN (oh gawd and even a little CVS). Now I don't think Mercurial is SO good that you should dump your Subversion repos and migrate on over right now... but you should probably do so by this time next year. One of the things that I've noticed about HG (the street name for Mercurial) is it never seems to work against you. It is easy to install, easy to work with. Now I just wanted to write this here to point out a great thing about HG.

When I issue a 'svn st' command (that is asking for the working copy's status) I often time end up getting a large screen or two full of updated, deleted or new files. The files are listed by each others proximity, meaning files in the same folder, or in sibling folders will list near each other. This sucks. It is always more important you can see the statuses of each item. By default Mercuial will group by status. This sounds like it is no big deal, but trust me it makes life easier. One example is adding new files, lets say you have four. When you add the first it will go to the 'A' for added status. When you run 'hg st' now you will see 3 new, unmanaged file and one 'A' added file. The unmanaged files will be listed last. Listing the unmanaged files last makes sense as anyone will want to deal with these first. Now as we add the other 3 files they will move into the 'A' grouping of files. At the same time you will be able to view the groups of modified files. If you pull in changes from someone elses repo and conflicts ensue they will all be grouped nicely together with the 'C' status.

Small things like this make working with a tool like Mercurial pleasent.