Saturday, April 15, 2000
Before I post anything else today, I'd like to state for the record that Cluttered is an Elian-free Zone. (tm)
Add another entry to the "God, I wish I could write like this" list. Meghan at Squirrel Bait does an excellent job. I think my favorite is her story about shoe shopping from April 11. It's more of a journal than a web log, but that's OK with me. Yes, I realize it's Blogger's Blog of the Week, but I just had to comment on it myself.
Deepleap looks very promising. I like the fact that I can access it from anywhere. I'm still learning all of the things it can do. (Found via Bump.)
I noticed something disturbing today. As I've mentioned previously, I use the SubHonker Filter to keep track of weblog updates. Every day when I log in, any newly added weblogs are included in my list. Well, there were two today that really weren't weblogs. One looked like a page devoted to a movie star from India. I immediately took it out of my list, and I've forgotten its name. The other, and more disturbing, entry, had an obscenity for a name (begins with A and ends with hole) and consisted of a banner ad for an adult site.
I have no idea what should be done about this. Censorship is bad. It's nearly impossible to define what a weblog is. But these web sites really shouldn't be listed.
I don't want to think about things like this on a Saturday.
It's NFL Draft Day. The Jets have four first round picks today. Should make for an interesting draft. We'll see if they decide to trade some picks to move up.
I'm a little late in linking to this (stupid Blogger outages), but you haven't lived until you've seen Admiral Ackbar drinking margaritas. (Found via Windowseat, among others.)
Friday, April 14, 2000
Argh, more Blogger problems. I guess I'll just do updates throughout the day today whenever I can rather than one big update at the end of the day.
This Kingdomality Personal Preference Profile (say that ten times fast) says that I'm a shepherd. Here's the description:Your distinct personality, The Shepherd is to tend to your human flock. You understand the needs of those for whom you are responsible. Shepherds are vigilant and reliable. You realize your obligation and commitment to the well being of those entrusted to your care. Shepherds are very dependable. You engender a feeling of comfort and stability to those within your charge. On the positive side, Shepherds can be empathic, caring, understanding, practical and realistic. On the negative side, you may be manipulative, close-minded and sentimentally rigid. Interestingly, your preference is just as applicable in today's corporate kingdoms.That's not too far from the truth, although I try not to be closed-minded, and if I am truly manipulative, I'm not very good at it.
I found this test through an interesting and fairly new weblog called Touched By an Impudite. Man, a name like that makes Cluttered sound so boring.
Since we've already established that I'm a shepherd, it's only fitting that I post this story about a bacteria that changes digestion in sheep so that when they, um, pass gas, it will be carbon dioxide instead of methane. A benefit of the carbon dioxide (besides the less unpleasant odor) is that carbon dioxide will not contribute to the greenhouse effect like methane does.
Well, thanks to a recommendation by Laurel from Windowseat, I've chosen my web hosting service. I went with Dreamhost. They seemed to have a pretty good deal. And I wasn't exactly overwhelmed with suggestions. Actually, Dreamhost was the only suggestion I got. Either everyone else who reads Cluttered is pissed off at their web hosting service and can't recommend them, or I don't have enough readers.
Hopefully, I'll get everything set up and moved over this weekend. My new address will be cluttered.org, but don't worry, I'll put up a link here once I move.
And by the way, I'm glad to see Laurel restored the old Windowseat logo.
What a shame. Nobody put in a bid on the Cray for auction on eBay yesterday. People just don't know a good bargain when they see it.
I hate posting just a little bit at a time, especially since I've got this set up so that the newest stuff goes at the end of the day's entry, so you have to scroll down to see if there's anything new. I set it up with the intention of publishing all of my posts at once, and this is the first time I've done it differently. Personally, I like to wait before I post, because usually, I want to edit posts a bit before I actually publish them.
Blogger seems to have settled down a bit, which is a relief. So I should be able to go back to the old way, with one update each day.
Note that I don't mind other weblogs that post continuous updates. I actually enjoy seeing updates throughout the day on other weblogs that I follow. It's just that I prefer to update once a day, and that's how I set up Blogger. (I guess this is the "sentimentally rigid" part of The Shepherd coming out.)
Thursday, April 13, 2000
Yes, some days, it's like shooting fish in a barrel, finding news items that need no explanation. Chinese pandas are being given Viagra. And this news comes from the BBC of all places. (Also seen in The Other Side and Ghost in the Machine.)
This is downright scary. A German court rules that AOL is liable for pirated music. It's bad enough that this may give the music industry a way to stop mp3 trading. But now I have to root for AOL when they appeal this decision. *shudder* (Slashdot also has a link to this story from a different source.)
I've never gotten into the whole eBay thing. I never thought I'd be posting on any of the odd things up for auction, but I had to post this. Somebody is selling A Cray Supercomputer. Bid now and it can be yours for only $14,500. It is tempting... (Found via Geeknews.)
Well, Blogger has been up and down all day, so I'd better go ahead and post what I've got while I got it. At least they've posted a message about the problems on their main page.
Wednesday, April 12, 2000
Another article on Ralph Nader's campaign. According to this article, if Nader gets 5% of the national vote, the Green party will qualify for federal matching funds of at least $15 million for the 2004 election. They're just not going to make this an easy decision for me.
I found that article through Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken. Funny how Rob basically asked the same question I did yesterday, but worded it a bit differently. "What do you consider throwing out your vote: voting for a candidate who definitely won't get enough votes to win, or voting for a candidate not because he shares your views, but because he's less repulsive than 'the other guy'?"
Life would be so much easier if Bill Bradley had won the nomination.
Unilever buys Slim-Fast and Ben & Jerry's. Why didn't anyone think of this earlier? Sell people food to help them gain weight, then sell them food to help them lose it. It does suck that they're buying Ben & Jerry's though.
Remeber when I said that reader Kelly in Texas needed a weblog? Well, here's Shiny Blue Grasshopper. Read the first entry and you'll understand the name. It's still young (only three days older than Cluttered) but so far, it's a good read.
Ooh. SpeedGuide.net provides lots of tips for tweaking settings to speed up your PC. More power! *insert Tim Allen grunting noises* (found via Geeknews)
Sorry today's update is so late. I had everything ready to go around 5:30 pm eastern, then Blogger decided to go on vacation. Argh. But it's working now, so all is forgiven.
Tuesday, April 11, 2000
I've been thinking some more about who to vote for in the presidential elections, after seeing this article from the Boston Phoenix (linked to by too many weblogs to mention) and getting more feedback from Kelly in Texas. (Kelly, you really need to start a weblog so that I can link to you. *grin*)
I know I don't want Bush to be the next president. I'm not thrilled about Gore, though. I'd really like to see Nader win, but I know that realistically that's not possible. My views are actually fairly close to Gore's on a lot of the issues, but I'm just not comfortable with his character. I guess in 1996, it was easier to vote for Nader, since I knew Clinton was probably going to win the general election. I'll feel bad this time around if I vote for Nader and Bush ends up winning. But, regardless of the outcome of the election, will I feel worse if I vote for Gore? That's the question. I have just under seven months to answer it.
As long as I'm talking about politics, I must take this opportunity, as a resident of North Carolina, to personally apologize for Senator Jesse Helms. I would have seriously considered not voting at all in 1996 if Helms had not been up for re-election. So I voted for his opponent, Harvey Gantt, although it was mainly a vote against Helms. I remember watching Gantt's concession speech that night. He was extremely gracious in defeat. It was just a really classy speech. I realized then that I really had voted for the right man.
Then I saw Jesse Helms' victory speech. It was absolutely disgusting the way he gloated. He said he could hear the gnashing of teeth of the editorial staffs for all of North Carolina's newspapers. I remember talking to my Dad about it. Now, he's no bleeding heart liberal. If anything, he's more conservative than me, although still pretty moderate. He got so angry watching Helms' speech that he had to leave the room.
Guess I'll just have to wait until 2002.
One final political note. As you can tell, I'm not really happy with the two-party system. When I registered to vote, I didn't want to register with either party, so I chose to be an independent. Well, in North Carolina, you're not Independent. You're "Unaffiliated." To me, unaffiliated sounds too much like undecided. I know where I stand on the issues, I just don't want to be a part of any political party.
It looks like Keyshawn Johnson is headed to Tampa Bay. I'm glad the Jets are doing this. I figured they wouldn't renegotiate his contract, so if they kept him, he'd leave after his contract is up and they wouldn't get anything in return. Since this deal would leave the Jets with 4 first round draft picks, there are rumors they might make a deal with the Browns to get the top pick overall, which will probably be Courtney Brown or LaVar Arrington. Man, draft day could be interesting. I think half the fun of watching the draft is all of the Jets and Giants fans that show up.
Sigh. The Yankees' home opener got postponed until tomorrow. Snow and sleet in April? Sheesh.
Today a co-worker told me I was biblical. She told me this because my first name is spelled with one L, just like the apostle Philip in the Bible. Well, I guess I can't be too biblical, because I don't recall ever reading about anyone named P.J. in the Bible.
Chuck from Looka! mentioned Steven Wright today, so I had to go out and find a page with Steven Wright jokes. I found one called An Apparition: Steven Wright hears one hand clapping. The title is a bit long, but the jokes are plentiful. My favorite:
I was in the grocery store. I saw a sign that said "Pet Supplies." So I did. Then I went outside and saw a sign that said "Compact Cars."
Monday, April 10, 2000
Jesse Berst's AnchorDesk column for today is titled "Broadband Roadmap: How Fast, How Much, How Soon." The title is a bit misleading. If he was truly talking about broadband, he should have at least maybe made a passing reference to cable modems. No, he only talks about DSL, and pumps it up as much as he can.
I tried to get DSL about a year and a half ago. I got the complete run-around from Bell South. They scheduled and canceled eight different installation appointments. Finally, they determined that there was fiber between my house and the nearest switch, and therefore, I couldn't get DSL. So I went with a cable modem. (Of course, while I'm in Atlanta, my cable modem is collecting dust back home, but that's another story.)
DSL has probably gotten better now that you can get it from other providers, but if I understand correctly, all the providers eventually have to go through the local phone company, which for me is still Bell South.
As long as I'm ranting about Bell South, I had to call them this weekend to check my balance. I've been having problems with my bills from Charlotte being forwarded to Atlanta, and I thought that one of the bills I received had already been paid for, but I wanted to verify my balance.
When I called, I found out Bell South has an automated system for you to check your balance. I thought to my self, "Cool, that means I don't have to wait for an operator." So I punch in my phone number, and it tells me it can't access my account, but I can speak to a representative. Sigh. I waited for a representative (maybe two or three minutes). In the process of trying to just get my balance, the representative tried to sell me internet service and call return. That was really annoying. It wouldn't let me use the automated system, so I was subjected to a sales pitch.
And by the way, "Bell" and "South" are two words, not one, no matter how they choose to misspell it. I make sure I put space between the words when I write out a check to them each month.
I was reading this entry from Kestrel's Nest, and I wished I could write that well. As a comparison, here's a description of the last time I mowed my lawn:
Before I went outside, I had to cover myself in SPF 8000 sunscreen because I have such a fair complexion and I'm a computer geek who never goes outside. Anyway, I couldn't get the stupid lawnmower to start, so I kicked it and cursed at it until it finally started. The front yard wasn't too bad, except when I passed by the flower beds which had turned into weed beds, and it was depressing. Then I did the back yard. I still don't know why I bought a house with a hill like that in the back. My neighbor's wiener dog was yapping at me the whole time I mowed. It was hot, so by the time I was done, I was drenched in sweat.Pure poetry, huh? I'd say Eric at Kestrel's Nest has nothing to worry about from me. (By the way, since I've been down here in Atlanta in an apartment, the last time I mowed my lawn in Charlotte was during the summer last year, which is why I had to complain about the heat. It hasn't been really hot yet this year.)
I've seen lots of comments on this article on user interface skins from Suck. I think Rob from Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken? hits the nail on the head, when he says, "Skins can be fun when used with simple, toy-ish apps like WinAmp, but probably shoudn't be used for large apps or the whole OS." Actually, I think if you apply the skin across the entire OS, it's not that bad. But each "serious" application having its own set of widgets and colors is a bad thing.
Wow, somebody found my weblog by searching for "X-Files." So I figured I'd have to chime in with an opinion of last night's episode, written and directed by Gillian Anderson. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either. I don't think I enjoyed it as much as the episode David Duchovny wrote and directed last season, but that one was about baseball, so I'm a little biased. (There's my obligatory sports reference for the day.)
Sunday, April 9, 2000
I never did follow up on my post a few days ago about the new Netscape 6 Preview. I hate to say it, but it's just not ready for prime time. It's still not stable enough for me. (At least the Windows version isn't. The Linux and Mac versions may be better.) Since it is just a preview release, I think some of the kinks will be worked out soon. Help me, Netscape. You're my only hope.
Okay, Netscape isn't my only hope, but that would ruin the Star Wars reference. The other browser I've tried out is Opera. I'm still playing around with it. It has a lot of features I like, such as good cookie management (which Netscape 6 also offers), text only button bars, and a display of the exact speed that you're receiving a page. It will take some getting used to, but I may just have to switch to it eventually.
I finally found out the answer to a question that's been bugging me. The song in that Volkswagen Cabrio commercial is called Pink Moon, and it's by Nick Drake. I had never heard of him, so I did some digging to find out more about him. I found The Nick Drake Admiration Page. I was amazed to find out that the song is over 25 years old. It has a real timeless quality to it. It's very simple, just a man and his acoustic guitar. Sadly, Nick Drake died in 1974. I wonder what he'd think of all these people discovering his music because of a car commercial.
Granted, this article is mainly about Friends, which I don't care that much about. At the end of the article, they do mention two things that I do care about.
The first is new Pez dispensers featuring The Simpsons. I have to have a Maggie Pez dispenser. The second is the season premiere of South Park. Cartman playing the tooth fairy? Now that's what I call must see TV.
It's been two weeks since I started doing this. I've really enjoyed it. (Why else would I have registered cluttered.org?) When I started, I said you should give me two weeks. So if everyone stops visiting, I'll know that I messed up. *grin*
It's gone pretty well so far. I've gotten positive mentions from other webloggers that I admire, which is very cool. I've found new sites, learned new things, found new weblogs, and most importantly, had fun doing it. I'm surfing with a purpose now. Now I can (sort of) justify the amount of time I spend on the web.
I guess I'll just keep doing it until it isn't fun any more. Maybe I will reach that point some day, but here's hoping I won't.
Last update
12:25 pm EDT
Apr 15 2000
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