Comcast: Preemptive Apology

I ordered HDTV service from Comcast yesterday. Required that I spend 15 minutes on a "live chat" with a Comcast CS rep in India confirming all of the information I had just entered into their system - now that's efficiency for you. The e-mail I received from Comcast this morning is rather disturbing. They know they will be doing work to connect my HDTV service and they expect to have problems so they send me an apology ahead of time.... nice. I'd much rather that they get the installation right in the first place so they don't have to fix it and this preemptive apology would be moot....

Common Errors in English (Or Mistakes Commonly made in the English Language )

Bored? Somewhat of a grammar or language nazi? Common Errors in English will keep you occupied for hours and will certainly equip you with enough trivia with which to intellectually beat any opponent to a metaphorical bloody pulp. Submit your own!

Oh, and the one that drives me crazy? Ensure/Insure.

This makes me sad...

This is so scary as to border on the obscene (actually no, this *is* obscene):

Slashdot:

"Microsoft HR Chief Mike Murray cited religious beliefs for his decision to contribute $100,000 to 'Yes On 8', surprising coming from the guy who had been charged with diversity and sensitivity training during his ten-year Microsoft stint."

All I can say is that I'm glad I did not join Microsoft during Mike's time there --- he and I would not have gotten on very well...

Yahoo! Phisher Usings Yahoo! Mail to Phish for Yahoo! Mail Accounts

Ah the irony. A phisher using Yahoo! e-mail to phish for Yahoo! e-mail account information. The fact that Yahoo!'s spam system lets this type of e-mail through is truly astounding. Is no one paying attention at Yahoo! anymore? Seems like the volume of spam -- and very obvious spam at that -- that has been getting through Yahoo!'s spam filter of late has increased significantly.

Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock

Please prepare for the games to begin. This version adds "Spock" and "lizard" to the standard three. "Spock" is signified with the "live long and prosper" hand gesture, while "lizard" is shown by forming the hand into a sock-puppet-like mouth. Spock crushes scissors and vaporizes rock; he is poisoned by the lizard and disproved by the paper. Lizard poisons Spock and eats paper; it is crushed by the rock and decapitated by the scissors. Got that? Good. Ready, set go!

"Bnak" of America?

One would believe that if, as a phisher, you'd taken the time to set up your fake page, build and deploy your id/password capture app and send your spam, you'd take the time to get the freakin' subject line correct. Click on the image above and enjoy the flushed fruits of our phisher's labor..."Bnak of America"? That's no bnak I've ever heard of. Do they speak English in "Bnak"?

Amazon really does ship *everything*

Benjamin Hagan is Prime available. Comes in one color only. No volume control.
Some assembly required. Small parts - not suitable for children.

Bolt - The Short Review

I didn't realize before I arrived at the screening of Bolt that it was a 3D movie. Under which rock have I been living I wonder? I *did* know that, although a Disney picture, Bolt is not Pixar - which admittedly caused me to be slightly dubious. I needn't have worried. Crisp animation (including appropriate use of 3D), great storyline and excellent characterization all contributed to an excellent movie. I'd even rank this higher than recent Pixar movies including Cars and the snooze-fest that was Ratatouille (and not including Wall-e which restored my faith in Pixar). This is certainly a watch-more-than-once show.

Kindle: Don't Panic

My Kindle is now sporting a "Don't Panic" screen saver, a la HHGTTG (The radio show, not the ridiculous movie...). Here follows a brief how-to for setting up your own screen savers:

1. Attach the Kindle to a PC using the USB cord.
2. Using Windows Explorer, look for a new drive called Kindle under My Computer. Go to that drive. (Or if you have an SD card in your Kindle, you can go to the SD drive.)
3. Create a new folder called “pictures” and a subfolder called “screensavers” under it. Make sure both folder names are all lowercase.
4. Copy your image files into the screensavers folder. Your pictures should be 600×800 pixels and black & white - .jpg or .png work fine.
   
5. After copying is complete , remove the Kindle from the USB connection.
6. Go to your Home menu and press alt-z. This will create a new book called “screensavers” . Open it. You’ll see each of your pictures. You can advance through them with the prev. page and next page buttons. [Note: The new book will appear at the END of your book list]
7. While viewing your pictures, look at the bottom of the Kindle screen. If you see your battery indicator & Menu prompt, press alt-F to go into Full Screen mode.
8. On each photo, press alt-shift-0 (i.e., alt-shift-zero) . After a brief delay, you’ll get a message that your picture has been exported as screensaver. Click Close on the message.
9. Navigate to each of the pictures you want to use and repeat the above step.
10. When you’ve got all your pictures loaded, test them by going into & out of sleep mode. Alt-aA (i.e., alt-font size button) puts it to sleep & wakes it up again. Each time it sleeps, it should use a different image. If you see the same image all the time, relook at Step 3.

If you want to get rid of your custom screen savers, follow these steps:

1. Attach the Kindle to a PC using the USB cord.
2. Using Windows Explorer, go to your Kindle drive under My Computer.
3. If you see a folder called system, skip this step. If you don’t see the system folder, click on the Tools menu & then Folder Options. Go to the View tab, and look at the Advanced Settings. Under Hidden Files and Folders, select Show Hidden Files and Folders. Click Apply, then OK. You should now see a system folder.
4. Under the system folder, you’ll see a screen_saver folder. Delete all the files that are in that folder.
5. After you disconnect from the USB, you may see your last custom screensaver one more time, but after that it will revert back to the pre-loaded Kindle screensaver images.

Easy!

OLPC X2 Redux

Mark your calendars: November 17 the "buy two get one" One Laptop Per Child program is repeated - but this time on Amazon.com. $399 gets you a OLPC and ensures one is on its way to a child in some impoverished country - but God knows, do we really need more kids browsing porn, driving up their WoW level and (if in Nigeria) telling us about the fabulous sums of money they are willing to share with us?

First Privately Developed Launch Vehicle to Achieve Earth Orbit.

SpaceX's Falcon 1 has made history as the first privately developed liquid fueled launch vehicle to achieve earth orbit. I watched the launch from T -2:30 through orbit. Outstanding!

eBay: $500 Amazon.com Gift Card that sold for $563

Here's a completed e-bay listing for a $500 Amazon.com Gift Card that sold for $563. Double-WTF? I e-mailed the seller to get his/her perspective. BTW - anyone want a $500 Amazon.com Gift card for, say, $550 ($13 saving!) drop me a line. I have an infinite supply...

Has Everyone Taken Leave of their Minds?

Current listing on eBay for four (4) twenty five (25) dollar ($) gift certificates. Bidding is now at $105.38. WTF? I really want to understand that there is some great logic behind this. I just can't get there. If you can figure it out, please let me know. If this sale closes and the items are paid for, I *clearly* am in the wrong business...

Apple has nothing to fear...

It takes all my effort and interest to muster a 'WTF?' after watching this opening salvo in a $300 million marketing campaign. If you are looking for a new VP of marketing, I suspect there is a new candidate in town today, schlepping his resume from door-to-door...

Sarah Palin and Political Truth

As anyone who knows me even vaguely can attest, my political leanings basically boil down like a fine fish reduction to: "I'm happy to pay my way, however my taxes are obscenely high and need to be substantially lowered you bastards" and "Even though we must be socially appropriate, I still plan on tipping my bum every time I see him because clearly any money I give to organized charities is sure-the-heck not making it to him". People that know me also know that I tend to waver about these leanings. Quite frequently. Oh, and on principle I hate extremists/zealots of any ilk. And rhetoric (but mostly because I like saying the word).

So in the fine spirit of this political season I give you "things you should know about Sarah Palin, with no commentary from me". (Except to say I really liked her brother when he was in Monty Python. He was pretty good in Life of Brian. Nothing too exciting since then. Oh, except for a fish named Wanda).

1. Palin recently said that the war in Iraq is "God's task." She's even admitted she hasn't thought about the war much—just last year she was quoted saying, "I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq." ^{1, 2}
2. Palin has actively sought the support of the fringe Alaska Independence Party. Six months ago, Palin told members of the group—who advocate for a vote on secession from the union—to "keep up the good work" and "wished the party luck on what she called its 'inspiring convention.'" ³
3. Palin wants to teach creationism in public schools. She hasn't made clear whether she thinks evolution is a fact.⁴
4. Palin doesn't believe that humans contribute to global warming. Speaking about climate change, she said, "I'm not one though who would attribute it to being manmade." ⁵
5. Palin has close ties to Big Oil. Her inauguration was even sponsored by BP. ⁶
6. Palin is extremely anti-choice. She doesn't even support abortion in the case of rape or incest. ⁷
7. Palin opposes comprehensive sex-ed in public schools. She's said she will only support abstinence-only approaches. ⁸
8. As mayor, Palin tried to ban books from the library. Palin asked the library how she might go about banning books because some had inappropriate language in them—shocking the librarian, Mary Ellen Baker. According to Time, "news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor." ⁹
9. She DID support the Bridge to Nowhere (before she opposed it). Palin claimed that she said "thanks, but no thanks" to the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. But in 2006, Palin supported the project repeatedly, saying that Alaska should take advantage of earmarks "while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist." ¹⁰

Sources

1. "Palin: Iraq war 'a task that is from God'," Associated Press, September 3, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=24701&id=13709-10098007-o0Q6cSx&t=6
2. "Palin wasn't 'really focused much' on the Iraq war," ThinkProgress, August 30, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=24702&id=13709-10098007-o0Q6cSx&t=7
3. "The Sarah Palin Digest," ThinkProgress, September 4, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/palin-digest/
4. "McCain and Palin differ on issues," Associated Press, September 3, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=24703&id=13709-10098007-o0Q6cSx&t=8
5. Ibid
6. The Sarah Palin Digest," ThinkProgress, September 4, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/palin-digest/
7. Ibid
8. Ibid.
9. "Mayor Palin: A Rough Record," Time, September 2, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=24704&id=13709-10098007-o0Q6cSx&t=9
10. The Sarah Palin Digest," ThinkProgress, September 4, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/palin-digest/

Facebook - From the Future

Political action site MoveOn.org claims numerous success over the years. Their most astounding claim is that in December 2008 (Yes - 4 months in the future from the date of this post) they will successfully lobby Facebook to reverse a privacy gaff that it will make. All I can say is, sign me up for MoveOn.org, ace manipulators of future history!

Fruity Oaty Bar - Not for River

Why Hempfest, Seattle 2008 Sucked

Hempfest sucked as all attendees had to run the Gestapo-JesusFreak-HoneyBucket gauntlet before even entering the highly commercialized event.

The Gauntlet:

1. Security Gestapo - located at the south entrance. Unpleasant, unprofessional. Forcing attendees up a steep path with no explanation. No please, just gruffly delivered instructions. I asked one why: "just get up there" was the reply...

2. Jesus Freaks - all attendees were berated by the barely coherent bellowing of the anorak squad (sans anoraks). Apparently there is no alcohol in hell, but that's OK as we're all going to burn there anyway. The indiscriminate accusations were actually quite hilarious. Do these people actually think that they are doing any good. Sorry, do these people actually think?

3. Honey Buckets - not tucked away unobtrusively, rather lined up as privy's on parade. For a short while I thought the blue houses were the main attraction. They were very valuable for shy tokers though...

Special mention goes to the "No RFID" protesters. As I was leaving the even I overheard an exchange between a pedestrian and a lady holding a "No RFIDs" sign. It went like this:

Pedestrian: "But I just want to ask you a few questions about why you object to RFID's"
Clueless Sign Holder: "No - I'm just being paid to hold this sign"

I doubt the sign holder would know an RFID if it chewed her in the ass.

Rant: 5th Avenue Theater, Seattle - UnCool

August 15 and I find myself with a balcony seat to watch the world premier of "Shrek the Musical" at the 5th Ave. Theater in Seattle. The show program includes a very informative article "From the Desk of David Armstrong - Producing Artistic Director" announcing the opening of the fabulous 'Downstairs at the 5th (DAT) Rehearsal and Education Space". It's 14,730 square feet of studios, a green room, stage management and visiting artist offices. David goes on to positively gush about investment made in this space and to thank the grand folk involved.

David, I always thought that theater was about the audience experience and their enjoyment of that which is being presented. Take my advice, go sit in the balcony (in fact go sit in "GT CTR Row: C Seat: 10") for an evening performance of Shrek and then tell me how much you enjoyed the show. That's if you are not then ensconced in a cold shower for the remainder of the evening trying to get you core body temperature below the 25 gazillion degrees to which it has risen as the 5th ave theater has *terrible* air conditioning. I don't just mean a little warm and uncomfortable. I mean sweat pouring down my face and me tossing a mental coin every couple of minutes to determine if I should just bail. And it wasn't me. Lot's of folks sweating the night through Shrek's swamp.

A suggestion. Redirect any money left over from the DAT5 space and invest it in the enjoyment of your visiting public (who do, after all, pay the bills). Sorry if your fancy "visiting artist office" won't get painted this season -- but the theater-going public will appreciate watching your productions in something that doesn't resemble a Thai sauna (without the happy ending).

The good news. The Shrek show program made a passable fan for a good percentage of the audience.

Let's extensivley raise goats in all families