Mindless Link Propagation

New Software Venture

Wednesday - May 09, 2007 04:10 PM

I've been neglecting this blog lately, and I sort of hate to take my first post in a couple months with something this trivial, but what the heck.....

Here's a quick little website I put together this week because, well, because the domain was available and it seemed funny at the time.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it--I've been learning Ruby on Rails, and it might make a good home for some small personal projects.

Posted at 04:10 PM | Permalink |

She's Baaaaack!

Monday - July 24, 2006 04:57 PM

Amanda Congdon posted a cute post-Rocketboom video today. I have to say that it is far better than anything I've seen on Rocketboom proper since she left.

I especially liked the part where she's reading the news to her stuffed animals.

P.S. She's calling this new venture "ov lov." Am I the only one who noticed that's "Volvo" spelled backwards? Is someone saying she needs a new set of wheels?

Posted at 04:57 PM | Permalink |

Department of High Expectations, Missed

Tuesday - June 06, 2006 09:11 PM

1) Widow signs up for an expensive matchmaking service. Pays $50,000 and is promised introductions to men with net worth of "up to" $20 million.

2) Widow's dates miss expectations; for example, the "international banker" turns out to be "an interpreter who works in a bank."

3) Widow "upgrades" her plan with the matchmaker by paying an additional $25,000 for consulting services, and $50,000 for a "billionaire search" with men having a net worth of "up to $50 million."

4) Introductions once again fail to meet widow's expectation. Widow sues.

5) Matchmaker points out that Widow was not, herself, an ideal mate, and would often "make rude, impolite, and disrespectful inquiries to these men regarding their income, wealth, and finances."

6) Matchmaker also points out that Widow has sued two other matchmakers.

7) Jury awards $2 million to the Widow. The jury would have awarded more, but they didn't want to reward the Widow, and the judge wouldn't let the jury give the money to charity.

Sayeth me: It is for the better that the matchmaking failed, since I don't want to be in the same gene pool as either one of those bozos.

Posted at 09:11 PM | Permalink |

Disappointing News of the Day

Wednesday - April 05, 2006 04:54 PM

Hooters Air is going out of business.

Bummer. I was just about to book tickets, too.

Just in case anyone thinks that this is a belated April Fool's Day joke, there really is a such thing as Hooters Air. But since there won't be for much longer, I've preserved their homepage (complete with "Cancellation of Service" message") as it appears today. Click the thumbnail for a full-size version.

And no, I don't think she's the pilot. At least, I hope not.

Posted at 04:54 PM | Permalink |

Geek Gifts

Sunday - December 18, 2005 08:06 AM

Sadly, today's User Friendly cartoon has it exactly right.

And, perhaps just as sadly, I plead guilty.

Posted at 08:06 AM | Permalink |

This is a little unfair....

Thursday - December 08, 2005 03:36 PM

....but it sure is funny.

Aaron Swartz has the lowdown on what economists are really talking about.

Posted at 03:36 PM | Permalink |

Courtroom Scene

Friday - December 02, 2005 06:34 PM

Imagine this scene: a trial is underway. An immigrant from Yemen is on trial for drug dealing. It's an open-and-shut case: the defendant sold drugs to an FBI agent in a sting operation. The defendant claims that he was framed, that he thought he was working for the FBI, and that he had been set up by an informant as a personal vendetta.

The star prosecution witness is the FBI agent, who is on the stand. The agent is asked if he knew that the informant in the case was considered "unreliable" by the DEA. The agent states that, no, as far as he was concerned, the informant was perfectly reliable.

The judge raises his eyebrows. "That's not what you said in your testimony at an earlier hearing," the judge points out.

Lawyers start murmering to each other, and one of them asks for a break. The prosecution lawyers huddle with the FBI agent.

A few minutes later, the star witness returns to the stand. The question is repeated, and the FBI agent acknowledges that he had, in fact, been told by the DEA not to trust the informant. In fact, the matter had been discussed at some length with both the DEA agent and the informant.

Now the judge is visibly angry. "Not only did you rely on an informant who had been fired by the DEA for lying, but you may have perjured yourself as well," he tells the witness.

After a short pause, the FBI agent responds: "Before I answer any more questions, your Honor, I would like to invoke my fifth-ammendment right against self-incrimination, and consult with an attorney."

As the people in the courtroom try to make sense of this latest development, the prosecutor is handed a note. She reads it, then stands up and addresses the judge: "Your honor, I have been instructed that the U.S. Attorney's office no longer wishes to pursue this case. We would move to dismiss all charges against the defendant."

Something from Perry Mason?

Maybe, but this scene apparently actually happened a few months ago (dramatic embellishments aside). You can read about it here.

Posted at 06:34 PM | Permalink |

Yiddish curses

Friday - November 18, 2005 11:29 AM

(via Metafilter)

A collection of authentic Yiddish curses. And more Yiddish curses.

Posted at 11:29 AM | Permalink |

Size Matters

Sunday - October 30, 2005 11:22 AM

This video was paid for with your tax dollars.

No, it isn't what it appears to be.

Explanation here.

Posted at 11:22 AM | Permalink |

Star Trek did it first

Wednesday - October 19, 2005 01:32 PM

Does anyone remember Star Trek IV, when Scotty gave the late 20th century the formula for Transparent Aluminum?

Well, it turns out that the military is testing the stuff for tank armor...

Posted at 01:32 PM | Permalink |

Thou shalt beget difficult teenagers, O thou lazy Babylonian!

Thursday - October 13, 2005 04:06 PM

I can think of a few people I'd like to use the Biblical Curse Generator on.

Posted at 04:06 PM | Permalink |

Former Republicans Anonymous

Wednesday - June 29, 2005 11:34 AM

This article exactly expresses how I feel about the current state of the Republican party.

Sadly, I think it will take a major electoral humiliation before the party leadership comes to its senses.

Posted at 11:34 AM | Permalink |

This article is exactly right

Wednesday - May 04, 2005 10:56 AM

After my own poking and prodding of Wikipedia last fall, this article in Slate sums up my conclusions exactly:

Wikipedia is the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy come to life. Not the stories, but the actual guide itself. Articles reflect the interests of the authors, not the readers; nobody's quite sure how much (if any) editing and fact-checking has been done; and you are more likely to find quirky exposition than authoritative information.

Despite (or perhaps because of) these shortcomings, just as the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy far outsold the more scholarly Encyclopedia Galactica, Wikipedia will inevitably prove more popular than the traditional encyclopediae it replaces.

Posted at 10:56 AM | Permalink |

Could this be the world's worst web page?

Tuesday - April 05, 2005 10:28 AM

The competition is tough for the vaunted title of World's Worst Web Page, but I came across this amazing gem today. The author is picking a fight with syndicted columnist and blogger Amy Alkon, and doing it in amazing style.

For sheer over-the-top obnoxiousness, clueless design, blatant copyright ripoff, and gratuitous animation, I've never seen anything quite this overwhelmingly bad. As a bonus, this doesn't seem to be a page which was intentionally bad, and the woman who wrote it clearly has, um, issues.

I've been reading Amy Alkon's blog for a while now, and she doesn't always come across as someone I'd like to have as a near and dear friend either. But at least Amy is entertaining to read (if occasionally obnoxious), smart, and clueful.

Posted at 10:28 AM | Permalink |

Watch that hand, buddy!

Wednesday - June 16, 2004 12:12 PM

Memo to Photoshop artists:

Be careful not to creep people out .

Posted at 12:12 PM | Permalink |

Have they lost their minds?

Wednesday - June 16, 2004 11:43 AM

Fox News wrote a positive review of the new Michael Moore movie, Fahrenheit 9/11. Not just positive, but practically glowing: "A brilliant piece of work." "It simply cannot be missed."

I'm not sure, but I think this is one of the biblical signs of the coming of the end times.

Posted at 11:43 AM | Permalink |

Preamble, not Pledge

Tuesday - June 15, 2004 03:29 PM

Ernest Miller suggests that instead of reciting the Pledge, school kids should recite the Preamble to the Constitution .

What an awesome idea! Not only does the Constitution have a more central role in our history and legal system than the Pledge, it's also much better written.

Posted at 03:29 PM | Permalink |

Another happy customer of Baghdad Power & Electric

Monday - June 07, 2004 09:51 PM

As I write this, we are in the midst of Blackout #6 today at Frozen North headquarters. It isn't much of an exaggeration to say that the power has been off more than it has been on. It doesn't help that the weather was record-hot.

A quick walk down the street reveals the reason for the frequent blackouts: the trees haven't been trimmed away from the power lines in several years. In several places, you can't even tell where the power line is anymore, having been lost among the foliage. A windy day (which it certainly was today) can easily knock the trees around enough to cause some damage.

No doubt that tree trimming was one of those things which Xcel Energy cut back on when they nearly went bankrupt a few years ago. They (and we) are paying the price now.

All I can say is: thank goodness for laptop computers. Typing by candlelight may not be my favorite mode, but it does work.

Posted at 09:51 PM | Permalink |