Doctors grow bladder cells and produce rebuilt organ
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Husband On Strike To Get Bedroom Back
Keep the kids out of our bedrooms!!
I can honestly understand about the 3 month old. That was about the age both Aidan and Rowan were moved to cribs in a seperate bedroom.
The two year old, however, has got to get his own room!!
This is a Free Country Damn It...
Young honors student expresess his right to die an idiot
"If I want to be the jerk that flirts with death, I should be able to do that."
That's how you show them!
"If I want to be the jerk that flirts with death, I should be able to do that."
That's how you show them!
The Left Goes After Sen. John McCain
Here's an interesting article that claims that, after portraying him as a calm respectable hero, the mainstream media is now attacking John McCain in order to prevent him winning the Republican nomination.
I'm not sure I agree with it entirely but I do agree that he would win in a landslide today if it were between him and Hillary Clinton. (Haven't the Democrats have anyone better? What ever happened to John Kerry?)
Personally, I'd like to see Colin Powell finally run.
click me
Upcoming Hurricane Season Likely Strong
The top U.S. hurricane expert said Thursday that this year's hurricane season is likely to be stronger than average, though short of the record 2005 season, the costliest on record.
I hope everyone enjoyed the breather but it's almost game time again!
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones...
Every once in a while an article comes along that just cracks me up:
U.S. Envoy Urges Venezuela to End Insults
U.S. Envoy Urges Venezuela to End Insults
Charles Taylor: finally caught
Rueters reports that Charles Taylor was caught trying to flee Nigeria which has sheltered him from facing the War Tribunal for nearly three years.
I just wish they hadn't dropped the death penalty. Who knows... maybe he can copy Milosevic.
One can hope.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
U.S. thrown a curve; Cuba cries foul
Castro claims he wanted to donate the prize money that Cuba should have won by finishing second in this years World Baseball Classic to victims of Hurricane Katrina but the U.S. says they don't get any money.
Trade embargo keeps Cuba from claiming any prize money from the World Baseball Classic
It looks like another plot to make the U.S. Government look bad.
All we need now is Hugo Chavez to pipe up and defend his mentor.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Ben Glisan Jr. Finale
Well, as is evident in this story printed at KHOU.com it would appear the report that Mr. Glisan was seen to "sip on a venti-sized Starbucks cup while awaiting his turn on the stand." was issued from the Associated Press. And there is no arguing with those assholes seeing how every major publication on the planet relies on them so frequently.
Alas, my thunder is quashed and I am left like so many others who have been ignored or misrepresented by the mainstream media.
It's been fun, though
Alas, my thunder is quashed and I am left like so many others who have been ignored or misrepresented by the mainstream media.
It's been fun, though
Ben Glisan Jr. Part II
Yes... that is Ben Glisan arriving for court on Monday. It clearly is not a Starbucks drink in his hand!
Just a quick update on the Ben Glisan situation:
I confronted him about the coffee he was reported to be carrying to the courthouse and he adamantly denied drinking Starbucks. He wanted to make absolute sure that I knew he wasn't cheating on us. And the truth is I would definitely believe a former Enron executive over a National syndicate journalist every day of the week.
Also, Bloomberg reported today that if he testifies truthfully he will be released in September. With that, the following comes from a report filed today at Business Week:
Petrocelli... suggested his testimony was tied to the expectation he could get out of prison early.
"It's not fun," Glisan said of prison. "I would never wish this on anyone. I would very much like to be with my family."
He said he hoped his testimony would "result in some betterment of my situation," but added that a perjury charge could increase his sentence.
And finally... the following pictures are from today where Ben can be clearly seen carrying a Coffee Oasis Jumbo cup:
From Monday, the day of the ABC report...
Tuesday...
Coffee Oasis in the New York Times:
And finally, an artist's version of the cup:
I guess I have a letter to write!
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Ben Glisan Jr. key witness in the Enron trial
Okay, so I've been meaning to post a blog on Ben Glisan for awhile now, and seeing how he has been in the news lately, I figure it's about time to get up off my lazy ass and post it.
Ben has been a customer of mine since I started working at Coffee Oasis (Seven years ago!) and he has always been polite and quiet. The type of guy that tips a dollar for a two dollar coffee. Then about two years ago he just stopped coming in. Usually when that happens it's because they'd moved or started a new job that takes a different route to work, but in Ben's case it was because he was starting the first part of a five year prison sentence that was part of a plea bargain with the federal government.
As a former Enron Corp. treasurer, he faced multiple charges of money laundering, wire fraud and conspiracy as part of a 109-count indictment against his one-time boss, former Enron finance chief Andrew Fastow. To this day he still is the only ex-Enron executive to go to prison after pleading guilty.
On Monday, for the first time in about two years, Ben came in and got his large coffee on the way to the courthouse. To be honest, I was surprised to see him because he still has a little over two years left on his sentence, but I didn't comment on the trial. I didn't even realize he was already testifying until he came in.
Apparently, he has been granted a furlough during his testimony. He sleeps in his own bed, drives his own car, and has pretty much free reign to go anywhere as long as court is not in session. The only difference is he is escorted to and from the courthouse by Deputies.
Here's how he looked today about an hour and a half after leaving my shop:
So all this week I've kept my mouth shut about the trial. I figured I'd let him taste a little freedom before going back to prison and he already has the trial to remind him that he is only on vacation. He doesn't need me spoiling it for him as well. However, I think I just might scrap that idea altogether tomorrow.
You see, ABCNews in a report on Tuesday, claimed that he showed up with a Venti size cup (20 oz) of Starbucks coffee. Now, this could have just been a simple case of mistaken coffee. It seems everyone these days drinks Starbucks. We are all forced to at times if we want anything other than nine hour old coffee that has been sitting on a gas station burner all day. In fact, that is more than likely the case. I know that not long before he showed up at the courthouse he had purchased a 20 oz cup of coffee from me personally.
However, it is possible that he finished the coffee and was forced to buy another from Starbucks before making his way through the throng of press agents. So I figure it justifies me asking him to clarify the issue.
You may ask why it matters.
Well, it matters to me. If ABC is automatically calling every cup of coffee that comes in a paper cup a Starbucks drink I'm going to write them a letter. Coffee cannot be classified like copying (Xerox) or bandages (Band-Aid). As much as Starbucks has done for the coffee industry it still has some of the worst gourmet coffees available. None of this is news to anyone with any real sense of taste, so I have doubts that this was an unintentional slip of the tongue (so to speak) by ABC.
It would have been too easy to say "cup of fresh brewed coffee" but they went out of their way to not only name the brand but the size as well.
So, my conclusions are, if indeed he was still drinking a cup of Coffee Oasis brew, as follows:
1. Starbucks has entered in agreement with ABC for subtle advertising (which would absolutely invalidate their ban on subconcious advertising that made the news last week)
2. ABC News is against small businesses (or at least mine) and figures noting them in a story is only news worthy if they have been destroyed by an act of God.
3. The reporter thought that his/her specific knowledge of Mr. Glisan's drink would fill her audience with awe and a sense of absolute trust in his/her abilty to get to the heart of the story.
or (my personal favorite)
4. People convicted of conspiracy love Starbucks
I guess we'll find out tomorrow...
Ben has been a customer of mine since I started working at Coffee Oasis (Seven years ago!) and he has always been polite and quiet. The type of guy that tips a dollar for a two dollar coffee. Then about two years ago he just stopped coming in. Usually when that happens it's because they'd moved or started a new job that takes a different route to work, but in Ben's case it was because he was starting the first part of a five year prison sentence that was part of a plea bargain with the federal government.
As a former Enron Corp. treasurer, he faced multiple charges of money laundering, wire fraud and conspiracy as part of a 109-count indictment against his one-time boss, former Enron finance chief Andrew Fastow. To this day he still is the only ex-Enron executive to go to prison after pleading guilty.
On Monday, for the first time in about two years, Ben came in and got his large coffee on the way to the courthouse. To be honest, I was surprised to see him because he still has a little over two years left on his sentence, but I didn't comment on the trial. I didn't even realize he was already testifying until he came in.
Apparently, he has been granted a furlough during his testimony. He sleeps in his own bed, drives his own car, and has pretty much free reign to go anywhere as long as court is not in session. The only difference is he is escorted to and from the courthouse by Deputies.
Here's how he looked today about an hour and a half after leaving my shop:
So all this week I've kept my mouth shut about the trial. I figured I'd let him taste a little freedom before going back to prison and he already has the trial to remind him that he is only on vacation. He doesn't need me spoiling it for him as well. However, I think I just might scrap that idea altogether tomorrow.
You see, ABCNews in a report on Tuesday, claimed that he showed up with a Venti size cup (20 oz) of Starbucks coffee. Now, this could have just been a simple case of mistaken coffee. It seems everyone these days drinks Starbucks. We are all forced to at times if we want anything other than nine hour old coffee that has been sitting on a gas station burner all day. In fact, that is more than likely the case. I know that not long before he showed up at the courthouse he had purchased a 20 oz cup of coffee from me personally.
However, it is possible that he finished the coffee and was forced to buy another from Starbucks before making his way through the throng of press agents. So I figure it justifies me asking him to clarify the issue.
You may ask why it matters.
Well, it matters to me. If ABC is automatically calling every cup of coffee that comes in a paper cup a Starbucks drink I'm going to write them a letter. Coffee cannot be classified like copying (Xerox) or bandages (Band-Aid). As much as Starbucks has done for the coffee industry it still has some of the worst gourmet coffees available. None of this is news to anyone with any real sense of taste, so I have doubts that this was an unintentional slip of the tongue (so to speak) by ABC.
It would have been too easy to say "cup of fresh brewed coffee" but they went out of their way to not only name the brand but the size as well.
So, my conclusions are, if indeed he was still drinking a cup of Coffee Oasis brew, as follows:
1. Starbucks has entered in agreement with ABC for subtle advertising (which would absolutely invalidate their ban on subconcious advertising that made the news last week)
2. ABC News is against small businesses (or at least mine) and figures noting them in a story is only news worthy if they have been destroyed by an act of God.
3. The reporter thought that his/her specific knowledge of Mr. Glisan's drink would fill her audience with awe and a sense of absolute trust in his/her abilty to get to the heart of the story.
or (my personal favorite)
4. People convicted of conspiracy love Starbucks
I guess we'll find out tomorrow...
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Monday, March 13, 2006
Gubernatorial candidate Friedman Caught Drinking Beer In Parade Car
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Insiders view of Katrina's effect on New Orleans
A beautiful account of one man's experience throughout the devastation of New Orleans:
Five Days with Katrina
Drowning in Beer!
Damn Interesting » Beer Flood Claims Nine Souls
Needless to say, I'd be the one person who died from alcohol poisoning ;)
Needless to say, I'd be the one person who died from alcohol poisoning ;)
Damn Interesting » Free-Fall from Near Space
Damn Interesting » Free-Fall from Near Space
This has got to be one of the coolest jobs anyone has had.
Anyone reading this that needs a guinea pig like this can email me anyday!
This has got to be one of the coolest jobs anyone has had.
Anyone reading this that needs a guinea pig like this can email me anyday!
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Click2Houston.com - Technology - E-Mail With A-L-L-A-H Turned Away By Yahoo
Click2Houston.com - Technology - E-Mail With A-L-L-A-H Turned Away By Yahoo
Now I don't know how they can possibly riot against an online entity, seeing how most radicals probably don't have access to the internet, but I'm curious to see if anything comes of this.
And Yahoo wonders why it's getting it's ass kicked by Google
Now I don't know how they can possibly riot against an online entity, seeing how most radicals probably don't have access to the internet, but I'm curious to see if anything comes of this.
And Yahoo wonders why it's getting it's ass kicked by Google
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
How to Become a Republican
I actually believe stuff like this hurts the Democratic Party more than it helps it.
It's still funny though.
click me!
It's still funny though.
click me!
Monday, February 20, 2006
°°°°°°°THEIR CIRCULAR LIFE°°°°°°°
°°°°°°°THEIR CIRCULAR LIFE°°°°°°°
take a look into a day at different locals around the world
interesting peak into society on a daily and global scale
take a look into a day at different locals around the world
interesting peak into society on a daily and global scale
Saturday, February 18, 2006
AdCritic Interactive
Ordering a pizza in the all too near future
Unfortunetely, this doesn't sound too far from the truth.
Unfortunetely, this doesn't sound too far from the truth.
Kick ass shots!
Some of the most amazing basketball shots I've ever seen.
I should send this to the Rockets scouting department!
Who knew skateboarders were such good basketball players?
I should send this to the Rockets scouting department!
Who knew skateboarders were such good basketball players?
Test your patten recognition
I took this the other day next to my shop.
See how many four leaf clovers you can spot and then highlight my answer below to read it:
I see four of them. If you see more let me know but you are probably wrong. ;)
(note: the one on the top left is actually two 3's next to each other... look at the spacing of the leaves)
See how many four leaf clovers you can spot and then highlight my answer below to read it:
I see four of them. If you see more let me know but you are probably wrong. ;)
(note: the one on the top left is actually two 3's next to each other... look at the spacing of the leaves)
Well, I guess I should post a little about life...
We finally got the boys haircuts last weekend. Here's the before and after with Aidan:
And here's the after:
(Both pics are taken with my phone so sorry about the quality)
Brandy's comment afterwards was, "Aidan's head looks smaller and Rowan's head looks bigger." Now, I never thought I could imagine Rowan with a bigger head but I'd have to agree with her.
Here's them falling asleep at the dinner table the next night:
Rowan was actually eating in his sleep in this shot. Hilarious ;)
We finally got the boys haircuts last weekend. Here's the before and after with Aidan:
And here's the after:
(Both pics are taken with my phone so sorry about the quality)
Brandy's comment afterwards was, "Aidan's head looks smaller and Rowan's head looks bigger." Now, I never thought I could imagine Rowan with a bigger head but I'd have to agree with her.
Here's them falling asleep at the dinner table the next night:
Rowan was actually eating in his sleep in this shot. Hilarious ;)
Cities - SkyscraperPage.com
Houston buildings at SkyscraperPage.com
check out this extensive record of architecture here in the Bayou City!
here' a diagram that shows largest to smallest!
check out this extensive record of architecture here in the Bayou City!
here' a diagram that shows largest to smallest!
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
The Oxford Text Archive
Spending too much time on the computer??
There is a ton of free literature at The Oxford Text Archive
You have to mail in a form to download them but free is free!
There is a ton of free literature at The Oxford Text Archive
You have to mail in a form to download them but free is free!
GameSpot Video Player
The Playstation 3 will be here soon!
Sony E3 Game demo (streaming)
and check out the preview for Killing Zone! (streaming)
Sony E3 Game demo (streaming)
and check out the preview for Killing Zone! (streaming)
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Fun Latin
From Latin for all Occassions:
* My dog ate it.
Canis meus id comedit.
* I did call. Maybe your answering machine is broken.
Sane ego te vocavi. Forsitan capedictum tuum desit.
* Baby, Sweetheart, would I lie to you?
Amicule, deliciae, num is sum qui mentiar tibi?
* The check is in the mail.
Perscriptio in manibus tabellariorum est.
* I was kidnapped by aliens. What year is it?
Hostes alienigeni me abduxerunt. Qui annus est?
Insults
* I think some people in togas are plotting against me.
Sentio aliquos togatos contra me conspirare.
* In the good old days, children like you were left to perish on windswept crags.
Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus ventosissimis exponebantur ad necem.
* If Caesar were alive, you'd be chained to an oar.
Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
* I'm not interested in your dopey religious cult.
Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione."
* My dog ate it.
Canis meus id comedit.
* I did call. Maybe your answering machine is broken.
Sane ego te vocavi. Forsitan capedictum tuum desit.
* Baby, Sweetheart, would I lie to you?
Amicule, deliciae, num is sum qui mentiar tibi?
* The check is in the mail.
Perscriptio in manibus tabellariorum est.
* I was kidnapped by aliens. What year is it?
Hostes alienigeni me abduxerunt. Qui annus est?
Insults
* I think some people in togas are plotting against me.
Sentio aliquos togatos contra me conspirare.
* In the good old days, children like you were left to perish on windswept crags.
Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus ventosissimis exponebantur ad necem.
* If Caesar were alive, you'd be chained to an oar.
Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
* I'm not interested in your dopey religious cult.
Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione."
MSNBC - News of the Weird
Well...
if a chimp can do it surely I can too!!
MSNBC - News of the Weird: "China's Xinhua news agency reported in October that Ai Ai, the veteran chimp at the safari park in Shaanxi province, who is 27 years old and who started smoking cigarette butts at age 11 when her first mate died, has finally kicked her nicotine habit. Zoo officials attributed her success to distractions such as exercise, music (via a Walkman 'borrowed' from a keeper), and better food, such as fried dishes and dumplings. [BBC News, 10-3-05]"
if a chimp can do it surely I can too!!
MSNBC - News of the Weird: "China's Xinhua news agency reported in October that Ai Ai, the veteran chimp at the safari park in Shaanxi province, who is 27 years old and who started smoking cigarette butts at age 11 when her first mate died, has finally kicked her nicotine habit. Zoo officials attributed her success to distractions such as exercise, music (via a Walkman 'borrowed' from a keeper), and better food, such as fried dishes and dumplings. [BBC News, 10-3-05]"
MSNBC - News of the Weird
You gotta love news of the weird.
MSNBC - News of the Weird: "Ms. Sierra Stiles, age 8, was credited with the first bear kill in Maryland in the limited October hunting season, downing a 211-pounder from 50 yards away with her .243-caliber rifle. (She had won one of the lottery-awarded permits and then aced the safety test.) And according to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer profile in January, Aidan Gold, age 8, of Bothell, Wash., recently climbed a 20,300-foot peak on Mount Everest in the Himalayas with his dad, adding to his previous climbs in the Cascades and the Alps. Aidan said the last part of the Everest climb (a 45-degree stretch of rock and ice) was 'the (hardest) 3,000 feet I've ever done.' [Washington Post, 10-25-05] [Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1-2-06]"
I love that quote at the end!
MSNBC - News of the Weird: "Ms. Sierra Stiles, age 8, was credited with the first bear kill in Maryland in the limited October hunting season, downing a 211-pounder from 50 yards away with her .243-caliber rifle. (She had won one of the lottery-awarded permits and then aced the safety test.) And according to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer profile in January, Aidan Gold, age 8, of Bothell, Wash., recently climbed a 20,300-foot peak on Mount Everest in the Himalayas with his dad, adding to his previous climbs in the Cascades and the Alps. Aidan said the last part of the Everest climb (a 45-degree stretch of rock and ice) was 'the (hardest) 3,000 feet I've ever done.' [Washington Post, 10-25-05] [Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1-2-06]"
I love that quote at the end!
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Computer Stupidities: Paranoia
Some random computer paranoia I stumbled upon:
Computer Stupidities: Paranoia: "About a year ago, a customer from Roswell, NM, called in to place an order. To break the ice, I jokingly asked if he or any of his neighbors had seen any aliens lately. The guy laughed and proceeded to tell me all about the crazies (his word, not mine) that not only live in Roswell but who come on vacation there in hopes of seeing a UFO themselves. As he talked, I processed the order, and the last bit of information I needed to complete it was the guy's email address for marketing purposes.
* Customer: 'Email! I won't have anything to do with that Internet or modems of any sort! You should be careful about those. Don't you know that once you install a modem, the government can look into your computer and watch everything you do? That's why every night before I go to bed, I turn the monitor to the wall.'"
Computer Stupidities: Paranoia: "When in college, I had to make a fake advertisement for a class. I had a GIF that I downloaded that I wanted to put into it, so I sat down at the only Mac that was connected to the scanner in the school's computer lab. For some reason, it couldn't open the file, and the program crashed repeatedly. I got a lab technician to come over, and I explained the problem. She asked what I did to it and got angry with me. So I went to the Mac next to the one I was on and opened the picture in the same program. She told me in no uncertain terms that I was responsible for ruining the computer.
* Me: 'I scanned these pictures in, then tried to open this GIF I downloaded.'
* Her: 'What? You can't do that! That type of a file is for Windows machines only! It isn't supported on Macs.'
* Me: 'No, it is a standard graphic file. It can be opened on either machine, how did I get it to open on this Mac right here? See?'
* Her: 'Don't do that! You're gonna break that one also.'
To protect her computer from evil me, she leaned over and flipped the power switch off."
Computer Stupidities: Paranoia: "The second day I worked doing phone tech support, I was called by an elderly woman who was sobbing and panicked. After spending twenty minutes getting her calmed down, I finally found out what her problem was. She had been on the Internet and recieved the ever-popular message 'This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.' Immediately afterward, she had heard police sirens down the road and thought, 'They're coming to lock me up!'"
Computer Stupidities: Paranoia: "I've done my time in tech support and have managed to live through some very weird calls, but this one was the best. An older lady bought a brand new desktop system with all the extras and had been using it for about a month when she got an error about an 'illegal function.' She took apart the whole system down to the hard drive and hid it in different parts of her house, called us, and wanted to know how much longer she had until the police were going to come get her. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time on the phone putting the system back together."
Computer Stupidities: Paranoia: "One of my users recently came into the workforce and is literally terrified of her computer. Each sound it makes be it from the speaker or random drive noises causes her to flinch and turn pale. She sits at a custom-built wraparound desk surrounded by her computer, the switchboard, an electric typewriter (she hates that too), and the postal meter. In order to point at the screen I have to stand directly behind her chair.
She was having great problems with the telecoms software convincing herself that she really had downloaded the file. In order to demonstrate that the 'dir' command would show her that her files really were in the directory I chose the c:\dos directory to use it on.
When the dozens of filenames flickered down the screen she was so panicked that she thrust her chair backwards crushing me between the chair and the typewriter.
To simplify things, I installed Windows 95 and demonstrated how to move files from the folder to the trash can. Later I wandered by her desk and noticed a forest of icons surrounding her trash can. She hadn't managed to hit it once."
Computer Stupidities: Paranoia: "At 3:37 a.m. on a Sunday, I had just looked at the clock to determine my annoyance level, when I received a frantic phone call from a new user of a Macintosh Plus. She had gotten her entire family out of the house and was calling from her neighbor's. She had just received her first system error and interpreted the picture of the bomb on the screen as a warning that the computer was going to blow up."
Computer Stupidities: Paranoia: " * Customer: 'I had an important document that was password protected, and I can't get in it. I don't know the password.'
* Tech Support: 'Ok, we do have a program the get passwords from Word documents. Can you email me the document?'
* Customer: 'No, it is very sensitive. That's why it was password protected. I won't even keep the file on the server. I keep it secure on a floppy.'
* Tech Support: 'It would be much safer if you kept it on the server. Floppies are easily corrupted. At least on the server it would be backed up each night.'
* Customer: 'That is exactly what I don't want to happen. For legal reasons, I don't want any copies of this file. I want you to come down here and get the password for me.'
* Tech Support: 'I'm not in the same office as you are, so I'll need to send someone there to your desk to help you out.'
* Customer: 'Have them call ahead first so I can get security here when they are work with the file.'
* Tech Support: 'Security? Sir, We sign a non-disclosure agreement, so that won't be necessary.'
* Customer: 'Yes, it will be necessary! This is a very important and sensitive document, and we don't want anyone touching it without some security.'
* Tech Support: 'Ok, that's fine. I'll let them know to bring the password software so they can get the password you forgot.'
* Customer: 'I didn't forget it!'
* Tech Support: 'Excuse me?'
* Customer: 'I didn't have to remember it.'
* Tech Support: 'What do you mean?'
* Customer: 'The password was written on a yellow post-it note attached to the disk and must had fallen off. It has be somewhere on my desk, but there are so many papers here I can't find it!'
I had to mute the phone so they wouldn't hear me laughing."
Computer Stupidities: Paranoia: "About a year ago, a customer from Roswell, NM, called in to place an order. To break the ice, I jokingly asked if he or any of his neighbors had seen any aliens lately. The guy laughed and proceeded to tell me all about the crazies (his word, not mine) that not only live in Roswell but who come on vacation there in hopes of seeing a UFO themselves. As he talked, I processed the order, and the last bit of information I needed to complete it was the guy's email address for marketing purposes.
* Customer: 'Email! I won't have anything to do with that Internet or modems of any sort! You should be careful about those. Don't you know that once you install a modem, the government can look into your computer and watch everything you do? That's why every night before I go to bed, I turn the monitor to the wall.'"
Computer Stupidities: Paranoia: "When in college, I had to make a fake advertisement for a class. I had a GIF that I downloaded that I wanted to put into it, so I sat down at the only Mac that was connected to the scanner in the school's computer lab. For some reason, it couldn't open the file, and the program crashed repeatedly. I got a lab technician to come over, and I explained the problem. She asked what I did to it and got angry with me. So I went to the Mac next to the one I was on and opened the picture in the same program. She told me in no uncertain terms that I was responsible for ruining the computer.
* Me: 'I scanned these pictures in, then tried to open this GIF I downloaded.'
* Her: 'What? You can't do that! That type of a file is for Windows machines only! It isn't supported on Macs.'
* Me: 'No, it is a standard graphic file. It can be opened on either machine, how did I get it to open on this Mac right here? See?'
* Her: 'Don't do that! You're gonna break that one also.'
To protect her computer from evil me, she leaned over and flipped the power switch off."
Computer Stupidities: Paranoia: "The second day I worked doing phone tech support, I was called by an elderly woman who was sobbing and panicked. After spending twenty minutes getting her calmed down, I finally found out what her problem was. She had been on the Internet and recieved the ever-popular message 'This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.' Immediately afterward, she had heard police sirens down the road and thought, 'They're coming to lock me up!'"
Computer Stupidities: Paranoia: "I've done my time in tech support and have managed to live through some very weird calls, but this one was the best. An older lady bought a brand new desktop system with all the extras and had been using it for about a month when she got an error about an 'illegal function.' She took apart the whole system down to the hard drive and hid it in different parts of her house, called us, and wanted to know how much longer she had until the police were going to come get her. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time on the phone putting the system back together."
Computer Stupidities: Paranoia: "One of my users recently came into the workforce and is literally terrified of her computer. Each sound it makes be it from the speaker or random drive noises causes her to flinch and turn pale. She sits at a custom-built wraparound desk surrounded by her computer, the switchboard, an electric typewriter (she hates that too), and the postal meter. In order to point at the screen I have to stand directly behind her chair.
She was having great problems with the telecoms software convincing herself that she really had downloaded the file. In order to demonstrate that the 'dir' command would show her that her files really were in the directory I chose the c:\dos directory to use it on.
When the dozens of filenames flickered down the screen she was so panicked that she thrust her chair backwards crushing me between the chair and the typewriter.
To simplify things, I installed Windows 95 and demonstrated how to move files from the folder to the trash can. Later I wandered by her desk and noticed a forest of icons surrounding her trash can. She hadn't managed to hit it once."
Computer Stupidities: Paranoia: "At 3:37 a.m. on a Sunday, I had just looked at the clock to determine my annoyance level, when I received a frantic phone call from a new user of a Macintosh Plus. She had gotten her entire family out of the house and was calling from her neighbor's. She had just received her first system error and interpreted the picture of the bomb on the screen as a warning that the computer was going to blow up."
Computer Stupidities: Paranoia: " * Customer: 'I had an important document that was password protected, and I can't get in it. I don't know the password.'
* Tech Support: 'Ok, we do have a program the get passwords from Word documents. Can you email me the document?'
* Customer: 'No, it is very sensitive. That's why it was password protected. I won't even keep the file on the server. I keep it secure on a floppy.'
* Tech Support: 'It would be much safer if you kept it on the server. Floppies are easily corrupted. At least on the server it would be backed up each night.'
* Customer: 'That is exactly what I don't want to happen. For legal reasons, I don't want any copies of this file. I want you to come down here and get the password for me.'
* Tech Support: 'I'm not in the same office as you are, so I'll need to send someone there to your desk to help you out.'
* Customer: 'Have them call ahead first so I can get security here when they are work with the file.'
* Tech Support: 'Security? Sir, We sign a non-disclosure agreement, so that won't be necessary.'
* Customer: 'Yes, it will be necessary! This is a very important and sensitive document, and we don't want anyone touching it without some security.'
* Tech Support: 'Ok, that's fine. I'll let them know to bring the password software so they can get the password you forgot.'
* Customer: 'I didn't forget it!'
* Tech Support: 'Excuse me?'
* Customer: 'I didn't have to remember it.'
* Tech Support: 'What do you mean?'
* Customer: 'The password was written on a yellow post-it note attached to the disk and must had fallen off. It has be somewhere on my desk, but there are so many papers here I can't find it!'
I had to mute the phone so they wouldn't hear me laughing."
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
some cool sites I've found. Some recently, some awhile back but I was too lazy to post:
The End of the World
Honda Accord commercial (fucking brilliant!)
Icon War
Hubble Heritage Image Gallery
The End of the World
Honda Accord commercial (fucking brilliant!)
Icon War
Hubble Heritage Image Gallery
Check this shit out:
I just found the fucking coolest band in the whole damn world. Now, I didn't say the best band in the world but they are definitely the coolest.
Ask yourself this: Do I like The Beatles? If yes proceed.
Now ask yourself: Do I like Metallica? If yes then hit the link below to find ultimate proof that God does reward those few of us that actually love Metal and 60's pop
May I present to you Beatallica!
Here are a couple of my favorites:
Sgt. Peppers Motorbreath pub band
enjoy!
Monday, November 14, 2005
Updates at my photo blog...
Well, I broke down and bought 3 rolls of film. It's been awhile since I worked with it (once in the last 2 years probably) and I certainly missed some aspects of it, but it's just so damn expensive!
Anyway... thought I'd post a few pics seeing how I went through the trouble of paying someone to develop them for me.
It was worth it, as these photos show, but there were more than a few photos that were flawed or outright stinkers as well.
I need a new digital camera! (or even a developing kit for that matter!)
enjoy!
By the way: I have been updating my photo blog N-Vision for the first time in about a year so check it out
Anyway... thought I'd post a few pics seeing how I went through the trouble of paying someone to develop them for me.
It was worth it, as these photos show, but there were more than a few photos that were flawed or outright stinkers as well.
I need a new digital camera! (or even a developing kit for that matter!)
enjoy!
By the way: I have been updating my photo blog N-Vision for the first time in about a year so check it out
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Well my camera has been AWOL for quite some time. We'll probably get another one begfore X-mas, but for now I'm stuck with old photos.
In preparation for the new camera (and due to errors I'm having with the Hello program) I have set up a new site at Flickr.
The photo is from an Easter trip in 04' to Brandy's Mothers
Monday, March 21, 2005
Behold the future of fortunetellers!
Cheley sent me an ecard that states it can read your mind
I must admit that it had pretty good odds with only one miss in about 25 tries with me (but then again maybe I don't know how to subtract)
Is it magic or math?!
I must admit that it had pretty good odds with only one miss in about 25 tries with me (but then again maybe I don't know how to subtract)
Is it magic or math?!
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Update: tsunami videos
I realized that the best vid (IMO) isn't even in the batch I linked to so here are a couple more direct links:
british tourist video of waves crashing into beach
A wall of water crashing into the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in India. Devastating power!
here are a few directories with direct links : 1. / 2. / 3.
If you still have any doubts about how destructive this was click the link below, but warning: graphic content
british tourist video of waves crashing into beach
A wall of water crashing into the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in India. Devastating power!
here are a few directories with direct links : 1. / 2. / 3.
If you still have any doubts about how destructive this was click the link below, but warning: graphic content
Saturday, January 15, 2005
tsunami videos
With the tsunami so widespread, and unfortunately affecting so many people, there seems to be tons of video footage of it's awesome destruction. And it seems that everyone is searching the web for all of it. Here are a few direct links to save you some time:
inside a Thai cafe as a second wave comes in
on a beach in Kenya where the devastation was not as bad
upper story view of waves crashing onto shore
flooding into hotel pool and beyond
people slammed into rocks on the beach
flooding into hotel courtyard
I really don't have the time to direct link them all so here are some sites that are hosting more videos:
Wave of destruction (you will need Torrent to download the files. If you don't have it click here to download)
Media Bloggers Association Tsunami Video Hosting Initiative
Punditguy's blog
Cheese and Crackers
and finally, there is a blog setup specifically for posting info about the tsunami and relief effort:
The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog
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