Archive for the 'General' Category

spell your own words

Blair blogs about Google’s Gmail Web Clips that become Spam recipes or recycling tips, if you visit the spam folder or trash bin.

I received a ‘recycling fact’ today that I feel is not a fact at all. Or, at most, is an inaccurate fact.

There is no limit to the number of times you can recycle an aluminum can?

I’d like to see someone recycle an aluminum can less than 0 times. That’s the lower limit.
And when you recycle the can as a place to store hazardous waste, that’s the upper limit.

Direct link to video

Canadians eliminated from national spelling bee- (Seems they were unable to spell ‘color’ correctly.)

Click on image for rest of story

Below are the top 15 search strings that have led people to my website so far this month (meaning today). Some of the items on this list are constants. They’ve been there for years. Others (such as Vampire Pickles) are relatively new. (My Website = a combination of gavroche.org and transylvaniandutch.com)

1 6 9.23% drew barrymore
2 6 9.23% drew barrymore nude
3 4 6.15% drew barrymore playboy
4 4 6.15% victor hugo
5 3 4.62% nude drew barrymore
6 2 3.08% -
7 2 3.08% drew barrymore naked
8 2 3.08% drew barrymore sexy photos
9 2 3.08% emily dickinson for kids
10 2 3.08% esmeralda
11 2 3.08% fantasy planets
12 2 3.08% naked drew barrymore
13 2 3.08% planets
14 2 3.08% swiss flag
15 2 3.08% vampire pickles

The true story of Casey Jones (and how he died, April 30, 1900)

Albert Hoffman, inventor of LSD, dies age 102

“Planning for an earthquake, terrorist attack, or other emergency is not much different from planning for a party or vacation. ” (source)

So - are we to assume that the terrorists will show up fashionably late?
And remember to pack sunblock for your next earthquake.

April 18, 1906 - San Francisco Earthquake

I just learned that I’m filing my taxes this morning A Month Early

Apparently several counties in Missouri were declared a disaster area due to recent flooding, and any resident of those counties have an extra month gratis!

I have all my taxes done, in the envelope, sealed, and stamped, ready to drop in the post office box on my way to work, and then I read this!

I fear I’m going to lose my proscratinator anonymous badge if I don’t utilize this grace period I’m sure I’ll never get again!

But those of you who live in St. Louis County, Franklin, Jefferson, or several others (not St. Charles or St. Louis City, btw) don’t have to stress out today. Go ahead and send it tomorrow, or the next day. At least, that’s what the news story says. Don’t rely on my blog, read the news story, check it out yourself, I don’t want to be responsible for your jail time.

Read this news article on the longest sentence in literature dated back in 2005.

And this webpage I wrote in 2003.

Yes, I know the answer is, ‘no’. (You can’t copyright facts.)

But I am 99% sure where the author did 100% of their research.

Some people actually get paid for their blogging.

I’ve thought that might be nice.

But according to the NYTimes…blogging as a job might be a high risk activity.

So, come to think of it, maybe it’s a good thing I’m not getting paid for this.

Seen at the Blog on the Edge of Forever

67 words

Speedtest

A second attempt yielded 74 wpm, with only one mistake. I have been telling people I type 60 wpm based on a test I took a decade ago. I think I may need to revise that.

interesting: the difference between a laptop keyboard and a desktop keyboard for me is a good 5-10 wpm favoring a desktop. I will have to attempt this on my parent’s desktop to verify this isn’t a pc/mac issue. For if I can type faster on a PC than on a Mac in general, I am going to be pissed.

I’m posting about this a little late, as it’s only five hours away in St. Louis. It’s a nice symbolic gesture.

The Dr. Susan Block Institute for the Erotic Arts & Sciences is an internationally renowned center for sex exploration, expression, education, investigation and therapy, founded by Susan M. Block, Ph.D. in 1991.

Here is a summary of the Purim story. (Written by Dr. Susan Block, a sex educator, author of “The Ten Commandments of Pleasure” and founder of The Dr. Susan Block Institute for the Erotic Arts and Sciences.

This shouldn’t be read by anyone under the age of 18, or anyone who at this point in my post
thinks they might be offended.

For those who attended a party tonight where the text was read — there are pictures that accompany the text online.

Update: Here’s how I looked last night, courtesy of Bob:

Sure, sure, many of you probably read about this yesterday, March 18th, 2008.

However, go back to the news stories and reread them. Yes. He died on March 19th. Today is March 19th. So he died today. You read about it yesterday. One of the greatest SF writers in history managed to do something all SF geeks dream about. His final act was one of time travel.

Oh sure, you can talk about time zones. And we did talk about time zones a few days ago in this comment thread. Still, it’s something.

I have to credit Blind Lemming Chiffon for the catch.

Three Cheers for The Support Team!
Everything is now working.

(Well, except for the translation plugin so you can’t read this blog in French at the moment, or one of the other language options. But that’s a relatively minor issue. For me at least. If I have *any* regular readers out there who had been reading my blog in one of the foreign languages, despite what I assume was a pretty lousy translation, let me know, and I will work faster at restoring the plugin.)

It seems the original problem was merely 1 file that somehow mysteriously got deleted. That file has been recreated. However, we also now have the latest greatest version of WordPress/

Well, the blog is back, and I can write posts again.
But there’s still an unsightly error msg in the header.
And no one can comment or even view the ’single entry pages’. (Same problem as before)

My ‘attempt’ at fixing the blog involved upgrading it first since it was an out of date version of Wordpress. I tried the host’s one-click easy upgrade, which I shouldn’t have done, since I have installed a lot of plugins. One of those plugins conflicted with the new version. I uploaded a ‘fixed’ version of the plugin for the latest version of WordPress. Still has some issues (unsightly error msg). And didn’t fix my original problem.

Support has told me they will back out the changes I made, which should get rid of the unsightly error message in the header.

And I will upgrade manually. That could be tonight.

If you have any urgent comments…email me.

I have been told that some people are having difficulty leaving a comment.

If this is happening to you, please leave a comment….

Err…I’ll look into what’s happening.

DataBob captures an image illustrating a little local weather confusion. Look at the ‘current temperature’ and then read the ‘high’ for the day. Somehow 68 is higher than 74 in St. Louis. New math, I’m sure.

The superbowl party this year consisted of myself, PaganBoy, DogGirl, AnimeBoy, Friend of AnimeBoy (If she makes any more appearances, she’ll get a more creative name), AnimeGirl, 007, Kochleffel and the host RamFan.  (I think he will prefer this nickname to any I’ve called him in the past.)  I hope I didn’t forget anyone.

We all tried out GuitarBand prior to the game.  I scored 51% on the easiest level, but I made it to the end of the song without getting booed offstage.  I chose the Clash’s Should I Stay or Should I go Now? - as it was the only song on the playlist that I was familiar with in any shape or form.  Amazingly, everyone let me stay after my performance.  I don’t think they realized I was actually asking them the question.

Before the game, PaganBoy and RamFan made a $1 bet on the game.  They both gave me their dollars to hold on to.  PaganBoy bet that the Patriots wouldn’t cover the spread. So of course, he was the winner.  RamFan said it was the happiest lost bet he ever made.  However, neither reminded me that I had the money, so I walked out the door at the end of the night with two extra dollars.  I’m kind of hopeful PaganBoy forgets to claim it.  (Though I did send him an email, and he reads this blog, so he might remember.)

78%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

February is National National Awareness Month Awareness Month

Just wanted to make sure you were all aware of this.

Febrary 1 is also International Hug Someone Jewish Day.  (Someone allegedly invented this holiday on their Facebook).  Some people think it’s a little problematic unless the Jewish individual clearly wishes to be hugged.  So if you see me at any point today, and want to know - yes, I like hugs.

I understood Wil’s post.

It also made me think about a small land known as Enfrac that only I and a handful of other St. Louisans know about, but hopefully someday more people will know about and love.  I need to work on that.

I may have a snowday tomorrow…so I will have some time to spend.

I agree with Christopher Moore’s comments on his MySpace.

…yesterday was my birthday! (on the Hebrew calendar)

I am now 9 years old, in an age-counting system a relative invented, where the first digit is ignored. This makes me a few months younger than my niece.

On the solar calendar I still have a week and a half to go.

Woke up in San Juan, PR hotel
Breakfast: Banana, OJ from hotel complimentary breakfast
Purchased souvenir cap from PR airport since I left hat at home, and while I tend to deny that I don’t have a full head of hair, denial doesn’t change facts.
Plane ride in 8-seater to Virgin Gorda
Lunch: Banana Daiquiri, Fritters, salad with shrimp
Grocery shopping in town (not all meals are eaten out) Bought a little snack to contribute to a NYE gathering I will be attending. (No details, as I do wish it to be a surprise, but I suspect at least one reader of this blog will enjoy the contribution. No, Bob, I haven’t yet seen what you requested.)
Read a chapter of book that I received from my boss as a holiday gift: The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula, by Eric Nozum. So far it is a humorous, and informational read.
Dinner: Banana Daiquiri, 1/2 Jerk Chicken Wrap, 1/2 Mahi Mahi wrap (my brother-in-law had the other halves) Fries
Tested out the DSL connection at the villa we are renting.

Comment from an anonymous member of the family: “The cell phones work this year, the blackberries work, and we have DSL for the first time. We need to find a new island.”

Of course, for me, the DSL isn’t a connection to work I am trying to avoid. The DSL is a connection to friends and fun. I will only log on after the sun has gone down. But I won’t have a 1000 unread msgs this year when I get home.

I also won’t do this itemization every day.

I will spend some time this week at the last beach in this video

Of all the amateur vacation videos I’ve found on YouTube, this one does the best job of displaying VG in its fun and splendour. However, note, it is a 5 minute video, but after three minutes, when the screen goes black…it stays black…so you don’t have to watch the last two minutes, unless you really want to. I have no idea who the people are.

was taken with the built-in camera of an XO computer from the One Laptop Per Child project. It arrived today.

I leave town Friday morning.
I really should have begun packing tonight.
But there’s always tomorrow night.

I did this meme last year, might as well do it again this year.

Instructions:
List the first sentence from the first post for each month in 2007. Twelve sentences.

• I’m back.
• Imagine that.
• I don’t have a paraph.
• April is National Poetry Month.
• May 1, 1886 - Chicago - Haymarket Square.
• How did I miss this!
• Have you not heard of this website?
• Had a few minutes to spare this afternoon: If asked, I wonder how many people would guess the American League team that has gone the longest without finishing dead last.
• Happy Labor Day.
• Don’t watch this video if: 1) You are diabetic, and can’t handle extreme amounts of sweetness 2) You have a phobia of kittens.
• Back from SteaknShake a little earlier than I expected.
• There’s a major thematic correlation between Hanukkah and Thanksgiving

I still don’t have a paraph.
One line is actually the same from last year.
But that’s not the only repeated post I discovered doing this meme.

Have a nice day

Count your geeks (How many different types of geek are you? Out of 56 possible, I found ten that I might qualify for.)

And of course, the classic Geek Hierarchy (The highest level I can claim is fifth)

Perfect follow-up to NaNoWriMo:

Attempt to write a 6-word short story.

Hemingway is supposed to have written: “For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn.” The above article lists several from a variety of Science Fiction authors. Here’s my first attempt:

Changing History

000001
“Eve, lose Adam.”

(And I added a title, which the other examples didn’t have, and still kept it to 6. Of course, like most of the examples that are presented in the article, the above just provides the teaser. Most people would want the story filled out a little bit.)

Almost a month ago, Blair tagged me to fill out a meme.

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?

Ten Years Ago was 1997. I was enrolled in a degree program at Washington University, studying for a teaching degree. This doesn’t appear on my resume, but I didn’t complete the degree. I was also employed at AG Edwards and Sons. A year later, they offered to pay for my training in an entirely new career that sounded interesting, and paid better than I imagined I could earn as a teacher. So I jumped at the chance.

2. What were you doing one year ago?

I was laid off from AG Edwards in 2002. It took me a year to find a new career. I’ve been doing the same thing since. I’m a beggar. That’s right. I ask people for money. I tell them it goes to a good cause. The trick works. You do what you need to do.

3. What are five snacks you enjoy?

a. braunschweiger between two slices of cheese
b. beanie weenies
c. pepperoni pizza rolls
d. veal sticks
e. ham n beans

4. What are five songs you know the lyrics to?

a. Frosty the Snowman
b. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
c. Up on the House Top
d. You’re Getting Nothing For Christmas
e. Mele Kalikimaka

5. Five Things You Would Do If You Were A Millionaire

a. I would buy a Windows PC
b. I would buy a video camera
c. I would buy a chainsaw, an axe, and a box of matches
d. I would upload a video to YouTube
e. I would run for Congress on a very simple platform

6. Five Things Your Kids Have Taught You

I’m not a father, but I am an uncle.

a. Look cute when you ask for something
b. Temper tantrums rarely work
c. If you don’t know something, ask questions
d. Sarcasm is an inherited trait
e. There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.

7. Five Things You Like To Do

a) Wine tasting
b) Type on my computer and watch as letters hit the page, join forces with each other, forming words, sentences, thoughts, and ideas.
c) Read
d) Laugh
e) Fill out memes

8. Five Things You Would Never Wear

Those who have seen some of the things I’ve worn – with very little persuasion needed – might think this was an empty list. But I came up with five.

a. Nazi uniform
b. Any jewelry which would require me to pierce any body part below my nipples.
c. Or above them.
d. A banana
e. Nothing

9. Five Favorite Toys

a. Mr. Cuddles
b. Peggy the Pig
c. Charlie in the Box
d. Windup Mouse
e. Dizzy Top

10. Five Things You Hate To Do

a. throw anything away
b. admit I’m wrong
c. do the dishes
d. tell people things that aren’t true
e. mislead people

Who do I tag? I’ve chosen four.
Christy, Tempered Thoughts, Databob, and DL.

(Though none of these four should feel obliged if they feel the meme doesn’t fit well with their blog.)

60 pounds of marijuana found along Florida highway by poilce.
There is probably some state code that requires police to inform the public if something is found that is over $x in value, because they’ve provided the phone number to call if the owner wishes to claim their property. Of course, they don’t say what will happen next.

source (with fun photo)

I have this friend. They are obsessed with the British author, Charles Dickens, and have used a Dickens character as their web identity for quite awhile – handles, domain names, email usernames, etc.

Well, I just heard from this friend that they recently received an email addressed to a person with a foreign sounding name, with an attached excel spreadsheet, supposedly containing information the recipient needed for a conference at which they were speaking.

They were about to delete it as potential viral spam. Not about to open the spreadsheet. When they realized there weren’t any spelling errors in the email. So they did a google search on the intended recipient’s name and realized this was a real person, who was obviously also a fan of Dickens, as their email address was online in multiple places, and they used the exact same username as this friend of mine. Different email provider, but my friend uses a common email provider that a secretary could easily accidentally tack on to a username.

So now this friend of mine had an ethical issue to pursue. The first task was easy. They sent an email to the secretary and told this secretary they had emailed the wrong person, and even provided the secretary with the correct email address, and the website they had found the email address on. The secretary couldn’t possibly have asked for anything more. My friend could have forwarded the email to the intended recipient, but decided that would just embarrass the organization that had misdirected the email, and it was an easy mistake to make.

But the ethical issue: to open the spreadsheet or delete unread. The intended recipient seemed to be a cool guy from all the information gleaned from various websites. Politically active on the ‘correct’ side of issues from my friend’s perspective. This friend of mine has only one complaint. They wish the contents were more interesting than they turned out to be. They want to be privy to information they aren’t supposed to be privy to. I told my friend they shouldn’t have opened the excel spreadsheet. That it was wrong. They asked me what I would have done. I guess I don’t know the answer to that question.

You can run, but you can’t hide!

Cleaning personnel unlock bedroom door in hostel to find resident wearing a tshirt, and ‘riding’ a bicycle, in an unseemly fashion.

This was reported to the police, and found to be illegal.

My guess is the bicycle didn’t consent.

It’s only 4 days away, so to prepare:

We start off with An Addam’s Family Thanksgiving

We proceed to the classic WKRP segment no Thanksgiving tribute would be complete without:

The Drop:

The Resolution:

Since William S Burroughs is a famous local-boy with his own star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame, here’s a video of WSB himself reading his poem; “Thanksgiving Day, Nov 28, 1986″ (Contains some language some might find obscene)

For something a little offbeat, and a little more family friendly:

“Aren’t You Glad You’re Not a Turkey?” (a performance by a music director of some synagogue somewhere. Wish it were my own. Or I’m glad it’s not my own. Haven’t decided yet.)

And for those who like instructional how-tos:

How to Butter Bake your Turkey (tv commercial circa 1959)

For the next two weeks, you can buiy a laptop, and get a laptop. That is - buy a $200 laptop for a child in a developing nation, and get one of these laptops for your very own. Plus a year’s worth of T-Mobile HotSpot Wifi Access. Since a year of HotSpot access generally costs approximately $360, and you’re getting a $200 tax deduction, one could look at it as coming out ahead.

Between November 12 and November 26, OLPC is offering a Give One Get One program in North America. This is the first time the revolutionary XO laptop has been made available to the general public. For a donation of $399, one XO laptop will be sent to empower a child in a developing nation and one will be sent to the child in your life in recognition of your contribution. $200 of your donation is tax-deductible (your $399 donation minus the fair market value of the XO laptop you will be receiving).

For all U.S. donors who participate in the Give One Get One program, T-Mobile is offering one year of complimentary HotSpot access.

Scalzi on the Ficlets blog points out that writers on strike write the best strike journals.

The journal in the NYTimes article he links to is quite funny. It is written by one of the writers for The Daily Show.

However, my favorite strike journal was written a couple years ago by a local writer. It’s entitled, The Non-Texas Chainstore Massacre. It was written when the grocery store chains went on strike. Most writers don’t make a living from writing…Most writers have other jobs. The piece linked to above appeared in a zine called Bewildering Stories. Don’t be fooled. It was published as fiction, but I know the guy, and it could be true.

Today is the birthday/deathday of Albus Dumbledore’s pet Phoenix, Fawkes.

A penny loaf to feed the Pope
A farthing o’ cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down.
A faggot of sticks to burn him.
Burn him in a tub of tar.
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head.
Then we’ll say ol’ Pope is dead.
Hip hip hoorah!
Hip hip hoorah hoorah!

(No. I don’t know this for a fact. I don’t know if a particular day was ever indicated for any of the times Fawkes burst into flames, or was reborn. It is clear, however, where Rowling got the name. No sane person would suggest it was purely coincidental.)

I know I have some friends with interests in science, and biology, so I figured I would share this, in case they hadn’t read it in the journals to which they subscribe.

Ananova, back in June, reported on a miraculous event in China. A dog gave birth to a kitten! (link contains photographic proof!)

Hua Chengpeng, of Huayang village, Jiangyan city, told People’s Daily that the unlikely animal was the third ‘puppy’ in his pet’s litter.

“The first two puppies the dog produced were both normal, but when the third baby came, the whole family was very surprised to see a cat-like creature. It is a cat, not a dog at all,” he said.

Local residents have been flocking to his house to see the ‘kitten’ which local vets say is really a puppy which looks like a cat because of a gene mutation. It apparently yaps like a puppy.

As seen on CasaChristy’s, I had a Past Life Analysis.

Results:

Your past life diagnosis:

I don’t know how you feel about it, but you were male in your last earthly incarnation.You were born somewhere in the territory of modern Scotland around the year 1800. Your profession was that of a seaman, dealer, businessman or broker.

Your brief psychological profile in your past life:

As a natural talent in psychology, you knew how to use your opportunities. Cold-blooded and calm in any situation.

The lesson that your last past life brought to your present incarnation:

Your task is to learn determination and persistency. Youd should not allow to let misfortunes take influence on your strong will. Do you remember now?

——
1) I’d feel better about this Past Life Analysis if there weren’t any spelling errors in it.
2) I’d feel even better about it if I had to enter more information than my birth date.
3) I’d feel even more better about it if I hadn’t read the disclaimer.
4) Or if I hadn’t read the source code.