Doom I say

Spam generators

2007-05-22T18:16:00.000-04:00

Another depressing sign of how spam works: typo-squatting* is big business.

Personally, if want to go to flickr and end up somewhere else I don't think to myself "Oooo, I wonder if there's anything cool to buy on this strange site?!" and start clicking everything. Instead, I immediately get out of there as fast as I can.

Plus, with so many of this kind of site out there, if I'm looking for a car I'm never going to type in cars.com in the address bar, I'd ~~google~~ use the Google® Intarwebs Searching Machine™ to search for "cars" (well, more likely Mustang or Ranger).

But apparently the 0.00001% of people out there that are silly enough to click on anything they see in a browser window or email make spam profitable enough that people just won't give it up, sigh.

Oh and speaking of searching, I always have to chuckle about the people that search for web sites by name rather than just typing it in the address bar and using CTRL-ENTER to have the browser fill in the http://www. .com parts. The best is people searching for yahoo at google and vice versa.

*registering domain names that are mis-spellings or mis-typings of big web sites, for example flicker.com instead of flickr.com

Why I can't watch CSI:Miami

2007-05-04T18:07:00.000-04:00

You might be a geek if...

2007-04-23T01:07:00.000-04:00

You see headlines like Gates: Iraq Failure Would Hit Mideast and your first thought is "Why is Bill making statements about Iraq?"

That really surprised me.

2007-04-04T20:23:00.000-04:00

Not!

Hollywood needs to get over the fight-over-a-gun-and-someone-gets-shot cliche, it's so tired it's just a joke now.

As a corollary, they could have people learn that guns are, in RPG phraseology, ranged weapons. You don't hold a gun in someone's chest, you stay far enough away that having a gun is actually an advantage.

Hardaway pwned!

2007-02-20T18:42:00.001-05:00

Bad rap

2007-02-14T23:08:00.001-05:00

I guess it's true that not all blacks can rap.

They need this at Cedar Point

2007-01-29T22:33:00.000-05:00

OMG, two posts in a day!

Anyway, this looks like a really awesome ride.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/29/robotic-arm-rides-5-cents/

Unwelcome House Guest

2007-01-29T22:10:00.000-05:00

Man, I'm tired of all the raving about House. I watched a few episodes and it was kinda cool, but every single one is the same:

Maybe it's this? Nope.
I know, it's this! Nope.
Maybe this will work. No, that almost killed him.
This is highly unethical, but let's try it. Darn, didn't work.
Ok, how about this? Yes, that cured him, I'm a genius!

Michigan among the top(bottom) again

2006-11-06T12:24:00.000-05:00

Here's another great category for Michigan to be tops in...

Nielsen Monitor-Plus counted 942,900 political ads that have aired on TV between August 1st and October 15th, up 31 percent compared to the same time four years ago. ... the candidates that have placed the most ads are Florida’s Charlie Crist, the Republican candidate for governor (21,214 ads) and Dick DeVos, the Republican candidate for Michigan governor (20,093).

from Lost Remote

Wow, 20k ads, and almost all of them mudslinging rather than anything productive.

Everything will be ok

2006-10-20T14:46:00.000-04:00

Whew, I guess everything is going to be ok in Iraq, Rumsfeld's plans are inpired by God!

Snacks on a Jet

2006-08-20T16:23:00.000-04:00

Well, I saw the movie, it was actually better than I expected it to be as far as special effects and plot, though there were a few things that didn't make much sense. I could really tell that Sam's motherfucking line was added later. But the biggest thing that bothered me is what ever happened to snakes being venomous? I mean it was all "poisonous" this and "poisonous" that. I know it's a technicality, being that venom is poison secreted by certain animals, but I always thought venomous had a more sinister ring to it, and increased the mystique of snakes, spiders, etc. Now, even the reviewers are talking about poisonous snakes. Feh.

Something you don't hear often

2006-07-16T02:17:00.000-04:00

Airlines can actually be pretty cool sometimes. I was walking up to the gate for a flight home and they're announcing that the flight is over-booked (ok, that part really sucks, inconveniencing customers to make sure their profit's good) and asking for volunteers to take a later flight. Then the desk lady points out that people with connections can probably get a non-stop.

So, I start walking up and she additionally asks specifically for people connecting to Detroit. "Sweet," I think to myself, and walk up and say "That's me, Detroit." So, with a $300 travel voucher, 1.5 hour wait, and non-stop first class flight later and I'm home 5 minutes sooner than I would have been with the original connecting flight! Yay.

Madvertising

2006-06-09T10:39:00.000-04:00

Internet adds, especially ones that are animated or fly across what you are reading, should have an extra spot to click that says in effect, "Your add annoyed me, so I'll never, ever buy your product."

I think it would get rid of most of the obnoxious adds when they see 50,000 people pledging to never buy the product compared to the 400 click-throughs.

The states I've been to

2006-02-14T17:04:00.000-05:00

create your own personalized map of the USA or check out our California travel guide

Boing Boing: D&D re-enactment vid remixed to Bon Jovi tune

2005-03-11T17:43:00.000-05:00

Sad and funny at the same time...
Boing Boing: D&D re-enactment vid remixed to Bon Jovi tune

Cargo Cult

2004-05-27T18:11:00.000-04:00

I'm just fascinated by this illustration of misunderstanding of cause and effect. In case you aren't familiar with it, there was a military base on an island in the Pacific. Planes would arrive carrying supplies which would be shared with the primitive locals. Eventually, the base was closed and the planes stopped. Missing their nice food, etc. the locals began to attempt to summon the planes by mimicking the outfits, implements and actions of the ground crew!

Kind of fits Arthur C. Clarkes assertion about advanced technology and magic too.