Ramblings of an Anonymous Coward

Jenny Calling

kevin poulsen (yes, that kevin poulsen) wrote an article for the uk register about a u.s. company (star38.com) which starting september 1st will be offering an amusing new service -- the ability to set your caller-id information to any number you'd like. so the famous jenny at 867-5309 can now call up your buddy and profess her love back.

from a technical perspective, this is nothing new or exciting. it has been quite easy to do if you had access to your company's phone switch and you had an appropriate connection into the phone network. it is also my understanding that VoIP (voice-over IP) can give you the power to do the same hack at home. but star38's service is making this web form accessible -- otherwise known as available to any prankster that wants to play the game.

there is also an on-going thread on slashdot regarding this article as well.

Presidentmatch.com

no, that's not a domain to help clinton hook up, it provides an interesting little quiz to see how your values match up with the candidates. my results had me at over 70% for kerry. ouch!

What's My Point Again?

jeremy suggests that if something in inevitable and you want it to happen, what is the point in waiting? i personally translate that to people need to essentially get off their asses and make it happen. now would be good time to do that. and i agree with his point, but being the net, his choice of topic to illustrate the point has gotten more notice than the point itself.

mike over at obfuscated networking followed up [on-point] calling it the Wired Syndrome. definitely worth the read, and includes this classic mathematician, physicist story...

one night a fire starts in their hotel room and they both get up. the physicist looks at the fire, gets some water and puts it out. Both go back to bed. the next night another fire starts. the mathematician gets up, looks at the fire, then goes back to bed. the physicist asks if he’s going to put it out and the mathematician tells him he doesn’t have to, it’s a solved problem.

my comment on jeremy's blog was mostly out of frustration with the commenter Al, i found it as a prime example of why the inevitable doesn't happen as soon as it could (or should). people often draw illogical conclusions and use those as arguments of why something shouldn't be changed or accepted. his assertion that affirming gay marriage and providing it all the legal rights of heterosexual marriages eventually leads to people wanting to do the same for bestiality, polygamy, and incest is ignorance. plain and simple. i don't know anything about Al, but it wouldn't surprise me that many of the rights he enjoys today he would not have had if people thought the same way at some point in the past. and then to attribute such thoughts to "open-mindedness" pushed me over the edge leading to my comment.

regardless, the acceptance of gay marriage wasn't even the point of zawodny's post. his point was more like... what are we waiting for? and my answer to that is we aren't really. the issues that don't get get more widespread support are those that simply don't have a large enough support base or faces a similar amount of resistance. in the case of gay marriage, i support as do many; however, there is a large and vocal opposition as well. hence, the inevitable acceptance of it is taking the proverbial scenic route like many issues of the past that were supported by the stodgy and close-minded. funny none of them can provide any real reason why these changes shouldn't occur which is why eventually they do happen. in time either the masses catch on or other events effect a change. it was true for slavery, prohibition, women's voting rights, ...

now what was my point again?

Link Blog Fodder

i don't have a link blog. i wish i did, because i'm often coming across little tidbits worth sharing. i hate having to save them up to make a single post that seems like it might have some value. yes, i'm going to have to make a link blog one day. but until then...

• face of tomorrow: just what are the common traits anyway?
• house for sale: saw this on ernies link blog and just had to share -- what on earth is happening outside that living room window?
• NYwiki: where is the SFBay one huh?
• blockbuster is now competing with netflix too.
• now there is a celebration. i should watch more of the olympics!
• tricks of the trade: as jeremy says... the gap between software engineers and birthday clowns is almost negligible.

Keeping It On the QT

it's making its rounds, and the question is..... is this really quentin's blog?

a number of famous people have web logs these days, so the idea of quentin tarintino having one is not out of the question. in fact, given his personality i think it's quite likely he would have one. i see him a lot like a mark cuban sort. and that's a good thing. now i would have expected him to have gone through the effort and gotten a domain of some sort -- i'm sure he could come up with something clever -- but then again qt is quirky enough to just dive in with the rest of folks hanging on the blogspots of the world.

with that said, i'm still not convinced. sure, i'm a sceptic at heart; however, some of his answers to questions just don't resonate quite right to me.

Public Service Announcement

for those running windows xp, there is an article over at the tech republic which is collecting articles on the sp2 release. i'm in no rush; however, this looks like as good of place as any to keep abreast of whats going on with it.

Five Words

i was given five words and asked to write something using them. a challenge. the gauntlet was thrown down and i am compelled to respond.

• viscerate
• scalawag
• tom-tom(s)
• brocade
• capitulate

allow me to wield my mighty pen (yeah, ok, it's really a keyboard) and show my might. i might show my might. alright?

with tom-toms echoing in the background, the scalawag, clothed in a suit of faded brocade, capitulates with the local authorities rather than viscerate another unsuspecting soul in his quest for revenge.

and all in one sentence.... boo-ya!

Bottled Up

i saw this really nifty money counting jar on several sites. as one post noted -- why didn't i think of that. this nifty little toy may just warrant a trip to the discovery channel store in the mall.

apparently in south africa you can some how be married and not know it; however, they are there to help their citizens. this kuro5hin article gives you all the links you need. i'm not sure if it is scarier that this could happen or that south africa has id numbers for all of their citizens. at least we call our social security numbers in attempt to make it sound less like big brother. hmmm, i'll have to think on that one.

would you know a virgin if you saw one? go give the virgin game a whirl. i was 66% accurate. i don't quite know what to make of that.

Quote Of The Day

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
-- Krishnamurti

Make Your Own Flick

you can put quite the little movie together with this movie maker. let the games begin!

Quote Of The Day

It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them.
-- P. G. Wodehouse

Et Tu Trillian

so amongst all the craziness, my trillian apparently crashed. well, not completely but certainly unnoticed. i just figured some snarkiness was in the mix when i was told i wasn't on aim especially since the little dot told me i was connected.

what's a guy to do if he can't believe what his computer is telling him?

Calgon Take Me Away

i've been tempted to ask -- so what else can go wrong, but honestly, i don't want to know the answer to that question. why? because i will consume myself trying to deal with it prior to it ever happening. if it ever would happen. i tend to do that, and sadly find myself oblivious to the problems at hand, often causing greater problems. the spiral downward is not a trip i enjoy -- but i put myself there more often than not.

now i hate when i do things like that to myself. there are moments i honestly hate myself for it. what i hate more is being helpless to solve the problem. spinning over to work life -- i'm stuck here totally helpless. waiting for 13 domain name servers to update their information from a source which i also have no control over. i've done my updates, paid my dues, and am left to wait. twelve hours? no, it's been longer. twenty-four hours? we're approaching that. one support person suggest it could take upwards of 72 hours! i'm beside myself... trying to remember that i'm not in control and shouldn't stress.

being a guy who solves technical problems for people, often with a little novel thinking and a few keystrokes i find myself trying to convince others that i can't fix this problem. that it's out of my control. it makes me feel weak and worthless. it reminds me of all the problems i don't solve that others don't always know about. it makes me doubt myself -- i should have never let the problem happen. i should have been thinking even further ahead. and that's a problem in and of itself, just like me. i am the problem.

Word Association, Week 81

another round thanks to unconscious mutterings.

1. Olympics:: official sponsor of the 2004
2. Wicked:: ly cool
3. Intoxicating:: personality
4. Radical:: behavior
5. Misinformed:: deceived
6. Triplets:: pythagorean
7. Coronation:: crowning
8. Asimov:: isaac
9. Contemporary:: design
10. 1:: is the loneliest number

Stained With Memory

like those glasses of water in my life, sometimes words pour out and life just happens leaving me stained with memory. his soul would split; words a curse. sleep was torture, it then got worse. with no tears; he could not cry. left to sit. to wait. to die.

Friday Nights Alright For...

tgif eh? i think i'm just gonna babble a bit. you know... and link to things like ferengi rules of acquisition, those always amuse me. i'm also going to wonder why ebay doesn't offer rss feeds like this? not that i personally see tremendous value in it, but damn it... it's cool.

so woody harrelson wrote a poem and has presented it in the form of a flash animation. not a bad job. speaking of a woody -- damn are these some great curves.

what happens when game systems get together for dinner -- vg cats. honey, it was just one game. it didn't mean anything. oy vey! they're as bitter at each other as india was at microsoft for just a few misplaced pixels.

Add, Subtract, Multiply, Divide

ok, i'm going to join the fray and point out the game weboggle. i didn't find it quite so addictive, but that doesn't seem to be the word around the block. so follow the link at your own risk!

this animated gif makes a case for (8x8 = 13x5, aka 64=65). the sound you hear is the universe imploding!

Birth Month Meme

found at temporary hero, you ar supposed to pick your birth month and cross (strike) out what doesn't apply to you. i can do that.

Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people's feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

i think that covers it.

Snicker

i've have enough things to scream about today, time to share some of the giggles i found. simple things like someone sharing their thoughts with google employees. i remember netscape having such a display! i wonder if anyone at google saw his message? then there are the handy but expensive urban asshole notification cards. i could have used these countless times over the years. then there was this entry at the hall of technical documentation weirdness. if you follow no other link of mine in this post, follow this one! oh, and hey! someone go marry this chick already.

Sincerely X

this month's dear x has three to choose from including an interesting twist -- sincerely x which is a sort of reverse dear x. it is supposed to be a letter to me rather than from me. that's a neat twist. i hope i do right by it.

i wasn't sure exactly where i wanted to take this. i can give myself a letter that might be realistic -- meaning something someone might actually write to me. alternately, i could go with what i would like to read. decisions. decisions.

Dear AC

Nobody gets it, and i fear they never will. It leaves me sad and angry -- frustrated with you. Yes you! And me of course.

Silence!

It is time for my voice. Mumble all you want, conjur visions, recall memories, but now is my time to speak. This you can not take away from me. I wrote it, you wrote it -- it doesn't matter, but let me repeat it myself.

I can't stay here forever. I can't follow the mundane cycle of time again, anymore than you desire to. So read it word for word -- you know it does not matter what I do. Nor what everyone else does. I know you would throw it all away, but I can not do it that way. Give me a reason.

Sincerely,

X

Getting It Out Of The Way

i read the other day that sbc is offering upwards of 6Mb/s service in my area. while i don't really need that speed for normal use, it sure doesn't keep me from wanting it. oh, upstream is limited to 608Mb/s. that could be a good enough reason to convert over.

physorg.com reports that we may be very close to having 100 TERAbyte 3.5" disks. and priced under $600 for the drive and $45 for the disks themselves. wholly shit!

some time ago i bought a monster iCarplay so i could listen to my iPod while in my truck. it's decent, but just my luck... griffin announces their new product -- roadtrip. better channel selection capability and a cradle to boot. fuck me!

i have been using secure crt since it was released. while i'm not totally surprised, somehow it's availability slipped under my radar, there is open ssh for windows.

lastly, over at boing boing, i saw a funny ad and i can't forget the new voting machine seen over on letters from exile.

Word Association, Week 80

still doing word association from unconscious mutterings.

1. Server:: unix
2. Charlotte:: light and dark
3. Jackson:: five
4. Resentment:: fear and
5. Controlling:: one's emotions
6. Intense:: pleasure
7. November:: rain
8. Donkey:: shrek
9. Weave:: bob and
10. Satisfies:: my every desire

Stuff To Distract

mm3 and mm3 expert are flash games similar to mastermind. once the mini computer pops up, go to the games folder. i managed to get it right pretty quickly on my second game. in the first game, i don't know what the hell i was thinking and couldn't manage to get the order. found via metafilter

while i'm at it, found via russ, i made a caricature of myself. they didn't have thinning hair and i had to do it shaven to look even close. you've almost certainly heard by now that julia child passed away today in her sleep at the age of 91. 25% of craigslist now belongs to eBay. you might even see some of this on the new program -- the naked news. that could be exciting! then you have the idaho fellow that took a page out of jim morrison's book with -- come on baby light my fire. she didn't approve. i saw this dear abby parody twice today, so i had best link to it! finally, this is no parody, it really is george bush addressing an issue. it's good to see he understands the issue. why can't he just say he doesn't fucking know? nobody can expect him (or any president) to know everything. *sigh* oh yeah, this little contest called... um... the olympics started. let the contraversies begin!

happy friday the 13th

Gluton or Punishment

god won't be satisfied until you eat your wheat and drink your alcohol. so what that you are 8 years old and are diagnosed with celiac disease. rules are rules. it's not about how you live your life, it's a matter of following the rules...

Catholic church invalidates girl's first communion because she used a gluten free wafer. Haley Waldman has celiac disease which prevents her from eating wheat. It will also prevent her from receiving one of the most important sacraments of her church. Apparently, this has happened before. According to church canons wafers must be made only from wheat. Despite the Catholic Church's apparent inflexibility, an extremely low gluten wafer has been approved, but still may not be safe for some celiac sufferers.

-- metafilter

and not to beat a dead horse... but what the fuck is wrong with a church that won't grant a child her first holy communion because the body of christ wafer was gluten free, but still allows priests to remain active in the church after they have molested children? i'm not saying these are the same people or condemning the entire church/faith because of it, but lets just say this is one more example of an organization that has some serious leadership problems.

Quote Of The Day

What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expected generally happens.
-- Benjamin Disraeli

Oh What I've Seen

i've had this incredible urge (nay, need) to clean up, to reorganize and reduce clutter in this hell-hole i call an office. i made some good progress by shredding a lot of old documents... tax returns dating back to the mid-80's (keeping only the last 8 years), copies of old bills -- as if i really need that phone bill from 1997. they were neat and bundled, but still. it's time to get things in order! i have to do this.

having said that and given that i did make some good progress, i'm gonna catch up on my list of movies i've seen... just in case anyone is looking for something to watch.

• six feet under, season two: another good season. i really enjoy some of the characters on this show. now i've gotta wait for season 3 to make it to dvd.
• slammed: not exactly what i was expecting, but some of the tricks those extreme athletes do are amazing. plus, it hurt just watching some of those failed attempts. ouch!
• hellboy: cute -- some action, some sappiness, but i'm glad i didn't see it in the theatre.
• Garage Days: another movie what wasn't quite what i expected. if australian accents do it for you, it's worth the watch. otherwise, i'm not sure i'd bother.
• 13 going on 30: kinda like a chick doing the tom hanks movie "big", but not. it was cute, but predictable. way too many better movies in this genre; however, if you haven't see it and you have seen all the others, rent it.
• the whole ten yards: bruce willis had me snickering in this movie a lot. definitely worth renting when you'd like to smile and snicker a bit.
• kill bill, volume 2: not at all what i expected. i suppose thats standard operating procedure for tarintino. despite the limited action/fighting, i enjoyed the story he told (sure, 2 hours of uma was good too). the ending was a little disappointing, but did fit well with the rest of the movie. lynard skynard will have to update their tune to sing -- "gimme 5 steps, gimme 5 steps misses..."

next up... the johnson family vacation. i fully expect this to be similar to chevy chase's national lampoon vacation movies. who knows.

Time Flies

and despite rumors to the contrary, it doesn't require having fun.

Bored Yet?

• colorcell wants to find the most beautiful color combinations. i like this one. ok, there are plenty of others i like too, but this one jumps out at me this moment.
• and people thought their parents were joking when they were told about this sort of thing being possible. after reading that, i had to get up out of my office chair for a minutes. just in case. :-)
• wired: friends with benefits. probably not what you are thinking.
• can a company really own a color? *sigh*
• iPod .vs. cassette tape -- a comparitive study in pictures.

Quote Of The Day

He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it.
-- Douglas Adams

Posted by ac at 09:06 AM | Comments (1)

Tell Me A Story

i like to be reminded ever so often why i read web logs. sure, there are the ones that provide links to amusing flash animations and countless jokes to make me laugh aloud. others provide articles to new and current technologies making my job that much easier and interesting. then there are places like the purple porch where a self-proclaimed crazy neighbor lady just shares whatever is on her mind and leaves people (well, me at least) speechless yet with so much to say.

Six Apart Get Together

the movable type 3.1 sneak peek mixer looks interesting. seems to be held at a cool location (not just because it's here in the sf bay area) and could even be fun... well, if i were a sociable sort of person. i suspect there are going to be a lot of people there. yeah, i think i'll be busy doing other things. yup.

Manic Monday

by saturday night i was fully expecting that i'd be writing some long diatribe on youth sports, but it's funny how things work out sometimes. all the words that were frothing from my lips dried up as the weekend twisted and turned. it's not that the problems don't still exist, they do.

on to other thoughts -- patrick marleau of the san jose sharks was married recently. it wasn't until i say his wedding photos that it hit me. damn, at times he looks a lot like a younger tom hanks. maybe it was just the tux. i dunno. maybe i'm just crazy.

i can't count the number of times i was told that california was going to break off and sink into the pacific ocean -- always be east coasters. i'd always retort that it may break off, but it's the land mass to the east that is going to sink into the atlantic. today i read something with a little more basis. a volcano in north africa has been slowly slipping away and if it crashes into the ocean, it may likely send 300 ft waves crashing into the eastern seaboard. who knows? it could just be a researcher adding a little F.U.D. to get some funding. but what do i know?

Word Association, Week 79

yet another week of word association thanks to unconscious mutterings.

1. Sting:: like a bee
2. BMW:: the boy
3. Jeremy:: pearl jam
4. Audacious:: daring
5. Drag Queen:: rue paul
6. Title:: bout
7. Stamp:: ede
8. Bad:: good
9. Snow White:: and the seven dwarfs
10. Delegate:: responsibility

i would also like to mention the person that runs this meme is running another interesting little game they call obfuscation. give it a look. it could be fun.

Around The Web

• cnn has reported that rick james was found dead this morning in his los angeles home. he was 56.
• the crazy neighbor lady posts some grins and giggles from red .vs. blue.
• now you can read 300 love letters someone sent to complete strangers.
• george bush said on thursday...

  Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we,

• amazon sells used condoms. ah, the joys of site automation!
• ernie always manages to make me chuckle. read on....
• so i was reading a post which ended up having this comment which definitely made me laugh. i expect to see a t-shirt at cafepress or at hot topic any day now...

  i suggest a banner that says "jesus is hot. i'd nail him" and put a picture of a crucifix.

Kerrying On A Conversation In The Bush

CNN reports:

Intelligence found in Pakistan suggests that suspected al Qaeda operatives in that country contacted an individual or individuals in the United States in the past few months, according to two senior U.S. government sources.

uh... yeeeaaaahhh. ok. do they think any reasonable person would have thought otherwise? hell, i'd pretty much bet there are al qaeda operatives terrorists all over the united states. so why is cnn telling us this? and now of all times? the conspiracy-theorist in me makes note that there is an upcoming presidential election. scaring the masses is going to benefit which candidate? i sense many movies coming out of events (fictional or otherwise) that lay ahead.

3 2 1 .... gone

well, it is now official. 321 Studios is no more. The movie industry's deathgrip has claimed another victim and it seems that our rights to make backup copies of our dvd's continues to be in jeopardy.

• Wired: 321 Studios Shuts Its Doors
• CNN: DVD-copying software company folds
• Slashdot: Lawsuits Force 321 Studios Out Of Business

thankfully there are alternatives, in particular DVDshrink seems to be making a name for itself.

LOL -- Priceless

i saw this on jeremey's linkblog. he called it an old classic -- but i must admit that i haven't seen this mastercard spoof before. this was a definite case of when LOL really means i was laughing out loud.

A Whole New Month

it hit me today like a ton of bricks -- it's august. to celebrate this moment, i want to share a spam i got -- yes a spam. i have no idea why it even caught my eye, but it did and oddly i'm thankful... it made me chuckle. just so they don't get any additional exposure, i'm going to X out their name, but otherwise it is as i got it -- typos, lies, and all...

Hi [my email address removed]

I wanted to pass this along to you. It came in from one of out members at X and she wanted to make sure nobody else got caught with this scam like she did.

-----------
Subject: Warning

I hate these warnings, but this one is important! Send this warning to everyone on your e-mail list!

If someone comes to your front door saying they are conducting a survey and asks you to take your clothes off, do not do it!

This is a scam; they only want to see you naked.

I wish I'd gotten this yesterday. I feel so stupid and cheap now...

---------------

If you are the person going to these peoples doors, I have an easier way. Just join us at X and find someone who WANTS to get neked with you.

clever. amusing. but still spam.