Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites

As if I didn't waste enough time online, PC Magazine has listed what they consider to be the best of the obscure.

I haven't spent a lot of time looking at them yet, but some seem kind of interesting at first glance. Here are a few I will check out when I get around to it.

  • Drop.ioa file sharing website for when I have attachments that are too large to email.
  • Mux will let me convert a video file to something I can put on my IPOD.
  • CalorieLab gives has calorie info for just about every restaurant chain and type of food imaginable. Maybe ignorance is bliss?
  • Criminal Searches provides the scary-but-useful data on how many criminals live in your neighborhood, what crimes they were convicted of, and, in some cases, their names and personal info. Ditto the ignorance and bliss thing.
  • Damn Interesting - Their goal is to "collect and dispense damn interesting facts and ideas, whether they appeared in the past, the present, or the (anticipated) future."
  • HowToCleanStuff -

Monday, August 18, 2008

Yes, your goofy e-mail address says something about you

I wonder what my rather bland email address says about me?

Yes, your goofy e-mail address says something about you:

"Scientists at the University of Leipzig have taken a close look at these questions, and yes, they say, people really do judge others based on the e-mail addresses they choose. What's more interesting, however, is that these judgments tend to be right."

PC World - 11 Things We Hate About iTunes

I have some of the same complaints that PCWorld points out in their article.

PC World - 11 Things We Hate About iTunes: "iPod and iPhone owners know that Apple's iTunes is the dominant software for managing digital media. But some aspects of iTunes drive us nuts."

Friday, August 15, 2008

Wubi - Ubuntu Installer for Windows

This is pretty nerdy but I wanted to play with Linux without having to learn all that much about it. Ubuntu has a nice front end to Linux (that means that there is a desktop with icons instead of having to do everything with command lines). I tried downloading Ubuntu and then creating a start up disk but that was still pretty complicated. Then I read about Wubi and found that it really couldn't be any simpler. I don't see using Ubuntu exclusively on my home computer, but it is fun to play with. Since it comes standard with Firefox, I could start browsing and reading my webmail right off.

Wubi - Ubuntu Installer for Windows: "Wubi is an officially supported Ubuntu installer for Windows users that can bring you to the Linux world with a single click. Wubi allows you to install and uninstall Ubuntu as any other Windows application, in a simple and safe way. Are you curious about Linux and Ubuntu? Trying them out has never been easier!"

Thursday, August 14, 2008

How To Tell People They Sound Racist

Something to think about. I used to think I was racist free, but growing up when and where I did, that was pretty much impossible.

30 Years

This week Barbara and I hit our 30 year mark here in Texas.

We moved here on our honeymoon. At the time I was working for EDS and was told at the time that the transfer from San Francisco was going to be temporary.

It was quite a shock to move from the SF bay area where to hot and sunny Texas. At the time I remember thinking to myself that I was very happy that our sojourn in Texas would be short. Little did I know.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Joke from my dad

As he said, been there, done that.

Once I worked as an operator on an old IBM 370/Model 138 mainframe at a local college. My position had been reclassified to fall into a new area outside of the I/S staff. One day, my new supervisor entered the room and stared at the air conditioning unit directly behind me. He studied the two flashing lights for a few moments and asked what job it was currently processing.



I killed my career by replying, "Actually, sir, it's cooling the room. The computer is over there."

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Bar Exams

This is something that may never happen again. Today both Rachel and James are taking bar exams, Rachel in Utah and James in Idaho.

James of course passed the Texas bar a year ago and was sworn into the Texas bar shortly before moving to Idaho, so he is a licensed attorney, at least here in Texas.

This is Rachel's first experience taking a bar exam so she is not an attorney yet, so her title is law school graduate. Something that was pointed out to me time and time again before Barbara was sworn into the Texas bar years ago.

Monday, July 28, 2008

COMMENTARY: JOHN KELSO Rick Perry is all wet: You can put hay in a Prius

My grandfather Murdock would be happy to know that I could haul hay in my Prius if I really needed to.

Sunday, July 06, 2008

The Onion: Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency


Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

Class(ic) Insults

From my friend Irish!

  • The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison," and he said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."


  • A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease." "That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "on whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."


  • "He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr


  • "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill


  • "A modest little person, with much to be modest about." - Winston Churchill


  • "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." Clarence Darrow


  • "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).


  • "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)


  • "Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas


  • "He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln


  • "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain


  • "He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." - Oscar Wilde


  • "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill


  • "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one." - Winston Churchill, in response.


  • "I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop


  • "He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright


  • "I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb


  • "He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." - Samuel Johnson


  • "He is simply a shiv ver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating


  • "There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." Jack E. Leonard


  • "He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." - Robert Redford


  • "They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." - Thomas Brackett Reed


  • "In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand


  • "He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker


  • "Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain


  • "His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." - Mae West


  • "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." - Oscar Wilde


  • "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)


  • "He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder


  • "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening But this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx

Monday, June 23, 2008

Autistic man found after week in woods

Boy, this is too scary - my worst fear come true. I don't think that John would be left alone at his camp though.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Postcards

Hard to understand how this guy didn't think anyone would be offended.

Postcards: "The Orlando, Fla. vendor of the Barack Obama/White House button that touched off a furor said today that he sold only four of the $2 buttons at last week’s Republican Party of Texas state convention, including one snapped up by a newspaper employee.

In the first interview he’s given on the flap, Jonathan Alcox said he came up with the button’s message — “If Obama is President… will we still call it the White House?”—based on a newspaper cartoon showing Obama in front of a sign for the White House, thinking to himself something like: “That’s the first thing I’ll change.”

“I’m not crazy,” Alcox said. “Why would I go out there and purposely put a button out there that’s going to offend people? We’re in this for business.”

“I thought what we were doing was clever and funny,” Alcox said. “We’ve never had a black president… It was just a mistake.”"

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Kim Komando: My Generation

The Zimmers is a rock band unlike any other. This band has a whopping 50 members. And each one holds a distinguished title—elderly.

The name Zimmers comes from the British brand of metal-frame walkers. The lead singer, Alf, is 91. But he’s far from the oldest member. Buster (watch for the bushy beard) is a young-at-heart 100.

In this Video of the Day, The Zimmers perform a cover of The Who’s My Generation. The video was featured in a documentary about Britain’s elderly. It was released as a single, reaching No. 28 on the UK Singles Chart. The Zimmers are recording a full-length rock album. It should go on sale in September.


Why you should vote Republican (parody)

This is part of my "Don't spam everyone you know" therapy.

Loyalty Oaths for Clinton Supporters Pledging their Votes to McCain

I was a Hillary supporter also, but somehow I don't see myself voting for McCain instead. Check out the link to see the various 'pledges.'

Sudoku-addled jurors prompt mistrial

I knew there was a good reason for me not to play Soduku.

AFTER 105 witnesses and three months of evidence, a drug trial costing $1 million was aborted yesterday when it emerged that jurors had been playing Sudoku since the trial's second week.

In the District Court in Sydney, Judge Peter Zahra discharged the jury after hearing evidence from two accused men, one of their solicitors and the jury forewoman, who admitted that she and four other jurors had been diverting themselves in the jury box by playing the popular numbers game.

More than 20 police gave evidence in the case, in which the two accused faced a common charge of conspiracy to manufacture a commercial quantity of amphetamines. One faced further firearms and drug possession indictments. The prosecution and defence were due to deliver final addresses to the jury this week.