Yahoo future acquisitions?

Web 2.0 Innovation Map

Speed up Windows navigation by changing icons

Speed up Windows navigation by changing icons

Stupidly amazing that I never thought of this before. Now you can star your folders, and even files, just like GMail.

How to get people to interact in a group or presentation

How to get people to interact in a group or presentation

+

Test the speakers, wires, and polarity all in one step!

If you are wiring a car stereo or home stereo and have the wires plugged into the speakers but at the other end do not know which wires go to which port? Rather than trace each wire seperately, grab a 9volt battery, hold one wire on a terminal, tap the other wire on the other terminal, and it will make the speaker pop. Now know which speaker is connected to that wire.

Also, if wired correctly +/- the cone will pop OUT; if it sucks in, you have the polarity backwards. Too steps solved in one. You want all of the speakers to pop out with the +/-. This will make your stereo, home or car sound much fuller. If it sounds hollow or lacking bass, you may have just one speaker wired backwards.

SSE - Give and Take RSS

XML Developer Center: Frequently Asked Questions for Simple Sharing Extensions (SSE)

MS is turning RSS into a viral technology.

Calorie Counter Web Site

The nutrition database and dieting portal.

Dotti's Weight Loss Zone

Dotti's Weight Loss Zone

New Year's resolution time? Huge list of motivating links. (even the strangely hypnotic dancing tomatoes.)



They even have a list of Canadian restaurants, plus information and tools for calculating WW points. Umm.. the Caramel Pecan Tart from Starbucks is 21 points. Tim Ho's coffee is 2 pts. Coke's 4 pts.

2 cookies from Subway are 10 pts.

Ray Ozzie Blog

Ray Ozzie racks up the frequent flyer miles.

Social Computing Symposium 2005

Robert Scoble posted some great links last year, that are still relevant.

Also check out the various presentations and workshops from the Social Computing Symposium 2005.

Do you have a hit bestseller on your hands?

Lulu Titlescorer

FREAKONOMICS BLOG

FREAKONOMICS BLOG

When a Deshawn by any other name is not the same...

YouTube - Family Guy Spiderman

Here comes Peter on a clothesline but his name's not Peter it is ... Spiderman!

YouTube - Pirate Convention - SNL

Arrrr..

My friend had a great idea about selling pirate CDs over the internet, back in 1995. We could have made a killing.

Who wouldn't buy sounds of pirates 'arr'ing and pictures of parrots?

Tetris Shelves

Tetris Shelves

Wave smashing

Radio spectrum allocation in the US.

Better get out yer tinfoil hat...

allochrt.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Somebody else is editing wikipedia

RedFlagDeals.com - Canadian Deals, Coupons, and Freebies!

Better than all-inclusive?

RedFlagDeals.com - Canadian Deals, Coupons, and Freebies!: "Qantas Airways has an Aussie AirPass special for Canadians travellers. Starting at $1399, you can get a round trip ticket to Australia (your choice of Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane) plus 3 flights within Australia to designated AirPass cities during your stay.
AirPass designated cities are categorized into 3 zones, and priced differently: check out their pricing chart for complete details. Note that chart prices are based on departure from Vancouver, travellers starting in Calgary, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto or Halifax will need to add $200. Sample AirPass itineraries include:
Wine and Culture
Beautiful Beaches
Opera House, the Rock and Koalas
Great Barrier Reef, Ayers Rock (Uluru) and Sydney
Your stay period must be a minimum of 7 and maximum of 45 days. Flights can be booked at 1-800-227-4609, offer is available until June 30. "

Jeff Bridges.com - November 2005

Jeff Bridges.com - November 2005

Jeff Bridges has one of the most unique web sites out there...

Red Alert 2 spoof opening - Google Video

Red Alert 2 spoof opening - Google Video

Johnny Cash - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So I edited my first Wikipedia article today, to update the Johnny Cash entry. Robert Berry over at Retrocrush convinced me to go see the movie Walk the Line, which got me hooked on Johnny's music, and his legacy. My next purchase will be his book, Man in White.

Johnny put out a couple albums in his time...

Johnny Cash - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Albums

1957 - Johnny Cash and His Hot and Blue Guitar
1958 - Johnny Cash Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous
1959 - The Fabulous Johnny Cash
1959 - Hymns by Johnny Cash
1959 - Songs of Our Soil
1959 - Greatest Johnny Cash
1960 - Johnny Cash Sings (Hank Williams)
1960 - Ride This Train
1960 - Now There Was A Song
1961 - Now, Here's Johnny Cash
1962 - Hymns from the Heart
1962 - The Sound of Johnny Cash
1962 - All Aboard the Blue Train
1963 - Blood, Sweat and Tears
1963 - Ring of Fire
1963 - The Christmas Spirit
1964 - Keep on the Sunny Side
1964 - I Walk the Line
1964 - The Original Sun Sound of Johnny Cash
1964 - Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian
1965 - Orange Blossom Special
1965 - Ballads of the True West
1965 - Mean as Hell
1966 - Everybody Loves a Nut
1966 - Happiness is You
1967 - Johnny Cash & June Carter: Jackson
1967 - Johnny Cash's Greatest Hits
1967 - Carryin' on with Cash and Carte
1968 - From Sea to Shining Sea
1968 - At Folsom Prison
1968 - The Holy Land
1969 - At San Quentin
1969 - Johnny Cash
1969 - Original Golden Hits, Volume I
1969 - Original Golden Hits, Volume II
1969 - Story Songs of the Trains and Rivers
1969 - Got Rhythm
1970 - Johnny Cash Sings Folsom Prison Blue
1970 - The Blue Train
1970 - Johnny Cash Sings the Greatest Hits
1970 - Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash: Jackson
1970 - Johnny Cash: The Legend
1970 - The Walls of a Prison
1970 - Sunday Down South
1970 - Showtime
1970 - Hello, I'm Johnny Cash
1970 - The Singing Storyteller
1970 - The World of Johnny Cash
1970 - Johnny Cash Sings I Walk the Line
1970 - The Rough Cut King of Country Music
1970 - The Johnny Cash Show
1970 - I Walk the Line - Movie Soundtrack
1970 - Little Fauss and Big Halsy - Movie Soundtrack
1971 - Man in Black
1971 - Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis Sing Hank Williams
1971 - Johnny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music
1971 - The Johnny Cash Collection: Greatest Hits Volume II
1971 - Understand Your Man
1971 - Original Golden Hits, Volume III
1972 - A Thing Called Love
1972 - Give My Love to Rose
1972 - America
1972 - The Johnny Cash Songbook
1972 - Christmas: The Johnny Cash Family
1973 - The Gospel Road
1973 - Any Old Wind That Blows
1973 - Now, There Was a Song
1973 - The Fabulous Johnny Cash
1973 - Johnny Cash and His Woman
1973 - Sunday Morning Coming Down
1973 - Ballads of the American Indian
1974 - Ragged Old Flag
1974 - Five Feet High and Rising
1974 - The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me
1975 - Johnny Cash Sings Precious Memories
1975 - The Children's Album
1975 - John R. Cash
1975 - Johnny Cash at Osteraker Prison
1975 - Look at Them Beans
1975 - Strawberry Cake
1976 - One Piece at a Time
1976 - Destination Victoria Station
1977 - The Last Gunfighter Ballad
1977 - The Rambler
1978 - I Would Like to See You Again
1978 - Greatest Hits, Volume III
1978 - Gone Girl
1979 - Johnny Cash - Silver
1979 - A Believer Sings the Truth
1980 - Rockabilly Blues
1980 - Classic Christmas
1981 - The Baron
1981 - Encore
1982 - The Survivors
1982 - A Believer Sings the Truth, Volume I
1982 - The Adventures of Johnny Cash
1983 - Johnny Cash - Biggest Hits
1983 - Johnny 99
1983 - Songs of Love and Life
1984 - I Believe
1985 - Highwayman (Columbia)
1986 - Rainbow
1986 - Class of '55: Cash, Perkins, Orbison & Lewis
1986 - Heroes: Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings
1986 - Believe in Him
1987 - Johnny Cash: Columbia Records 1958-1986
1987 - Johnny Cash is Coming to Town
1988 - Classic Cash
1988 - Water From the Wells of Home
1990 - Johnny Cash: Patriot
1990 - Boom Chicka Boom
1990 - Johnny Cash: The Man in Black 1954-1958
1991 - The Mystery of Life
1991 - Johnny Cash: The Man in Black 1959-1962
1991 - Come Along and Ride this Train
1992 - The Essential Johnny Cash
1994 - American Recordings
1995 - Highwaymen: The Road Goes on Forever (Liberty)
1996 - Unchained (American Recordings)
1996 - Johnny Cash: The Hits
1998 - VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson American Recordings)
1998 - Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison and San Quentin
1998 - Johnny Cash: Crazy Country
1998 - Johnny Cash: Timeless Inspiration
1998 - Johnny 99
1999 - Johnny Cash: Super Hits
1999 - Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins: I Walk the ine/Little Fauss and Big Halsy
1999 - Just As I Am (Vanguard)
1999 - Rickabilly Blues
1999 - Cash on Delivery: A Tribute
1999 - The Legendary Johnny Cash
1999 - Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash: It's All in the Family
1999 - Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (Legacy Recordings)
1999 - Sixteen Biggest Hits (Legacy Recordings)
2000 - Return to The Promised Land (Renaissance Records)
2000 - Love, God and Murder (Columbia)
2000 - At San Quentin (Legacy Recordings)
2000 - Super Hits (Columbia
2000 - American III: Solitary Man (American Recordings)
2001 - Sixteen Biggest Hits: Volume II (Columbia)
2002 - The Essential Johnny Cash (Sony)
2002 - American IV: The Man Comes Around (American Recordings)
2003 - Unearthed (Box Set)]] (Lost Highway Records)
2004 - My Mother's Hymn Book (Lost Highway Records)
2005 - The Legend Of Johnny Cash (Island/American/Columbia/Legacy)
2005 - The Legend (Box Set) (Columbia/Legacy)
2005 - The Road Goes On Forever: 10th Anniversary Edition (Capitol/EMI)

Montr�al Exchange: Canadian Derivatives Exchange Listing Stock Options and Financial Futures

Montreal Exchange: Canadian Derivatives Exchange Listing Stock Options and Financial Futures


Good summary of options & futures trading strategies...

Salem, Ontario - a nice place to retire

Salem, Ontario - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Salem, Ontario
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Jump to: navigation, search
Salem, Ontario, Canada, is a community located in the Township of Centre Wellington, north-west of the village of Elora in south-central Ontario. It is home to around 500 residents. Its quiet neighbourhood and peaceful environment makes it a choice place to live.
This small village boasts of a gas station, local convenience store, two bridges over the Irvine River, a school, and even a subdivision. It also has one traffic light, but has more gravel roads than paved ones.
The town was founded before Canada became a nation and has many old stone houses to prove it.
The main controversy surrounded Salem is the new subdivision coming in on William Street, between Water Street and Victoria Street. Salem's only pine forest was cut down to make way for urban development. However, Salem is still a nice, quaint place, and is a must see for nature lovers."

"Because your wife uses the car too..."

Mujeres no al bricolaje - Google Video

I wonder how fast that ad got pulled. That was almost as offensive as that fake Ford ad that lopped off the cat's head.

Irreversible breast sag

Next time you see a woman jogging, be sure she's wearing a sports bra! ;)

The study suggested as a woman runs a mile, her breasts bounced 135m.

I hope this doesn't happen to men too, otherwise a couple of my friends are in for a droopy surprise later in life.

They claim that wearing an ordinary T-shirt bra reduced bounce by 38%, but wearing a sports bra by the firm Shock Absorber - which sponsored the research - reduced bounce by 78%.

Where's the fun in that?



Anna Kournikova led a campaign to get women wearing sports bras

I thought Nike was already paying Brandi Chastain to do that.

Sticky123.com - Print Your Own Custom Stickys!

Sticky123.com - Print Your Own Custom Stickys!: "About Sticky123.com
Sticky123.com is the brainchild of myself, Dan Sherman. I'm an entrepreneur by design and trade. Along with my wife, Allison, we own several online businesses and Sticky123 is one of our biggest."

Forget gas prices, try buying inkjet cartridges

Dan Sherman, the Sherminator, Republican entrepreneur, finds an innovative bulk ink system.

Dan Sherman: "If you calculate the cost per gallon of ink, it's about $3000 per gallon. That's just absolutely incredible if you think about it. That's not half as bad as some inkjet printers. Some can be as high as $8000 a gallon. Yowza!!!! It's so bad, Congress should be doing hearings and locking people up for this travesty"

Offline Backup Service @ Home

Dan Sherman: "Why not take an ad out in your local paper or even go door to door (�we�re in the neighborhood� kind of thing) and advertise your services to set up a computer backup system for people so they won�t lose any of their data if their computer goes down? You would be absolutely AMAZED to know how many people do not have their computers backed up. Almost every single house you go to is a potential customer."

My friend did this with a business called Systems on CD. I don't think there was any money in it at the time, since it was so labour-intensive. You could probably automate it a bit more easily now.

Joel on Shipping

How to Ship Anything - Joel on Software

My estimate was that it took about three minutes of labor per order, and we only got it that low because we were batching them up. Worse, it took someone skilled in SQL queries and Mail Merge to create the labels.

Let the Good Times Roll by Guy Kawasaki

Guy Kawasaki is my new hero. ;) In 10 days he has spit out more good articles than I have read in the last 2 months.

Let the Good Times Roll by Guy Kawasaki: "#10: Live off your parents as long as possible."

Well, till 25 ain't bad.

#9 Pursue joy, not happiness.
Pursuing joy, not happiness will translate into one thing over the next few years for you: Study what you love.

#8: Challenge the known and embrace the unknown.
Read Bill Bryson's A Brief History of Nearly Everything.

#7: Learn to speak a foreign language, play a musical instrument, and play non-contact sports.

I'm trying (well, not too hard) to learn Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese. I can't play both the guitar and the piano.

But you should also learn to play a sport like hockey, basketball, or tennis. That is, a sport you can play when you're over the hill.

Heh... I'll stick with golf.

#6: Continue to learn.
You would have to be a vegetable to not learn something new every day.

#5: Learn to like yourself or change yourself until you can like yourself.

#4: Don't get married too soon.

29 is a good number for me. It is a cliche, but it was still the best day of my life, bar none.

#3: Play to win and win to play.
Failure downgrades expectations. Failing big or small just means failing.

Winning is also a means to play again. The unexamined life may not be worth living, but the unlived life is not worth examining. The rewards of winning--money, power, satisfaction, and self-confidence--should not be squandered.

#2: Obey the absolutes.
Don't lie, cheat, or steal.

#1: Enjoy your family and friends before they are gone.

I visited my grandmother last weekend in Ottawa. She's 92 years old, has seen 2 world wars, and lives in a retirement home. She has dementia; somebody pushed her down last week and broke her elbow; she may have had a stroke, and she is still one of the strongest and feistiest women I know.

Enjoy your family and friends before they are gone. Nothing-not money, power, or fame-can replace your family and friends or bring them back once they are gone.

Read Guy's blog. Buy Guy's book.

When you get pregnant, you read What to Expect When You're Expecting. When you get laid off, you read What Color is Your Parachute?. When you get entrepreneurial, you read The Art of the Start.

The Killjoys & Reservoir

Link: "After parting ways following the less-than-successful Melos Modos album, The Killjoys faded out of the Canadian music scene in order to follow through on new projects. Most notably, lead guitarist and vocalist Mike Trebilcock wandered into the world of solo musicianship, while baby-faced Shelley Woods performed within numerous local acts. "

I was at the Reservoir Lounge on Friday, taking in The Jake Rude Swing Sextet. It was the first time I went to a jazz bar, and I had a lot of fun, though not quite as much as my tipsier, funner, companions. :) It was a great time though. Even after the gastronomous experience that was the mexican food I had just eaten and which was still talking to me. (Which I'd do again and again.)

My wife and a friend convinced the band to dedicate a song to me for my birthday, when he promptly made fun of my sweater and jumped into it. What I was the most impressed about was the huge demographic spread in the crowd. There were 19-year olds, 30-year olds, and probably 60 year-olds. It was almost like going to a Kiss concert, without the makeup, fire, Gene's attitude, Beth, Detriot Rock City... well maybe more like a jazz bar in New Orleans.

There was one guy who I was trying to figure out during the night - must have been in his 60s - standing at the bar with copies of Scientific American magazine in his hand. Another group of 19-year olds watching tv on a cell phone. It really captured the true spirit of what I think of as jazz. Everyone's doing their own thing; talking, relaxing, and enjoying the music.

Apparently this is the place for music celebs and others to come out and have a good time. We ended up inviting a couple to come sit down next to us, a really nice couple from Hamilton. One of them, in a green fatigue jacket, turned out to be Mike Trebilcock, Juno award-winning singer & guitarist from the band The Killjoys.

He came off fairly distant & quiet (probably because the band was 15 decibels higher than us) until we started talking about guitars. It seems that writing lyrics and playing guitar is his passion. He was animated talking to me about how, as a young child, he wrote down all of the lyrics coming out of his head, and taught himself to play the guitar so he could sing them. It was something he always wanted to do.

Now he teaches guitar to many students in and around Hamilton. We talked about computers, oddly enough, since that's the business I'm in. He treats his music as art, and keeps it free of technology. "Anyone can sound good with a little distortion. I teach acoustic." He's not going to compete with Trent Reznor anytime soon. He prefers to keep his music simple, clean, and powerful.

Apparently they may have a greatest hits album coming out soon....

Web users judge sites in the blink of an eye�-�Potential readers can make snap decisions in just 50 milliseconds.

Web users judge sites in the blink of an eye Potential readers can make snap decisions in just 50 milliseconds.: "These days, enlightened web users want to see a 'puritan' approach, Caudron adds. It's about getting information across in the quickest, simplest way possible. For this reason, many commercial websites now follow a fairly regular set of rules. For example, westerners tend to look at the top-left corner of a page first, so that's where the company logo should go. And most users also expect to see a search function in the top right"

puffy the giant ant

manners16

eBay Motors: Lexus : LS

eBay Motors: Lexus : LS (item 4601388076 end time Jan-10-06 12:00:08 PST): "Sit in the driver's seat where the most financially powerful man in the world once sat. There is some wear on driver's seat, driver's side carpet, and steering wheel....otherwise everything looks exceptionally clean and tidy inside the vehicle. This car has power everything with lots of buttons that do all kinds of cool stuff. Lights, blinkers, indicators, etc... work properly. Radio works well and speakers sound great. "

Burninating 3 Candles!

Somebody else is a Capricorn...

Burninating 3 Candles!

Introduction to Reverse Engineering Software

Introduction to Reverse Engineering Software

It's called Reflector... .NET made this easier than ever.

The article above goes into some serious detail. I'll have to print this out. The pile of paper will make a good footrest.

Web Developer's Handbook: developing web-sites, exploring own imagination | CSS, Color Tools, SEO, Usability etc.

Web Developer's Handbook: developing web-sites, exploring own imagination | CSS, Color Tools, SEO, Usability etc.

Wow. Too much information here...

Is that the truthiness of it all?

Colbert: AP the Biggest Threat to America - Yahoo! News: "'The fact that they looked it up in a book just shows that they don't get the idea of truthiness at all,' Colbert said Thursday. 'You don't look up truthiness in a book, you look it up in your gut.'
Though slight, the difference of Colbert's definition and the OED's is essential. It's not your typical truth, but, as The New York Times wrote, 'a summation of what (Colbert) sees as the guiding ethos of the loudest commentators on Fox News, MSNBC and CNN.'

Colbert, who referred on his program to the AP omission as a 'journalistic travesty,' said Thursday that it was similar to the much-criticized weapons of mass destruction reporting leading up to the Iraq War.

'Except,' he said, 'people got hurt this time.'"

Fire Someone Today

Some great postings on being an entrepreneur.

Sorry, we're closed

A few weeks ago the Economist ran a story subtitled “being second best is underrated.” It points out that “Ford, Burger King and Target do not have documentary-makers queuing up to attack them” the way GM, McDonald’s and Wal-Mart do, and that Apple’s doesn’t have as many hackers attacking its operating system as Microsoft.

Among the other benefits of second place:

You have more room to grow.
Number one takes all the heat for unpopular industry practices.
Underdogs get nicer press.
It is easier to innovate if you are not the standard-bearer.
Jack Welch famously said that you should be number one or number two in a category or get out. There is a lot to be said for being number two.

and

Honoring your posted hours is about being trustworthy and respecting your customers. It is the absolute minimum standard for a retail business. Padding your hours like Starbucks, which opens ten minutes early and closes ten minutes late, delights instead of annoys customers. Weren't you grateful the last time you rushed to get somewhere before they closed and were let in 5 minutes after closing time?

Plus some great warning labels.

a label on a kitchen knife that warns: “Never try to catch a falling knife.”
warning on a cocktail napkin. The napkin has a map of the waterways around Hilton Head, South Carolina printed on it along with this: “Caution: Not to be used for navigation.”
a warning label he found on a bottle of dried bobcat urine made to keep rodents and other pests away from garden plants. It says: “Not for human consumption.”
warning label on a baking pan: “Ovenware will get hot when used in oven.”

YouTube - A Day At Teh Office

YouTube - A Day At Teh Office

Follow Steve as he shows you his day at work. Filmed back in 2000, for some reason neither of us no longer work there.

Those were the .days.

Benjamin Franklin on Moral Perfection

Ben Franklin's 9 virtues, to follow through the new year.

"These names of virtues, with their precepts, were:

TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

MODERATION. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.

TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates. "

MSFN - Where People Go To Know

MSFN - Where People Go To Know: "The Microsoft Windows Vista Team and Culminis have invited us to be part of a special Windows Vista beta program known as the “Community Technology Preview” (CTP) program. There are only 1000 of these special worldwide slots open and they are reserved for members of Bink.nu, a Culminis IT PRO user groups. To learn more about the program and to register for the opportunity to be selected for one of these slots, please go to http://microsoft.order-4.com/windowsvistabeta/ to complete the online registration form ASAP. The Technical Beta Program Nomination Code that you will need is: 85894

Here are the minimum guidelines: Any customer or partner, 18 years or older, who is willing to install the pre-release builds and provide Microsoft with their feedback AND who is willing to either self-host Windows Vista or subject it to some tests using their typical or expected computing environment AND who has a good working knowledge of using and troubleshooting Windows. Also, please make sure to list Bink.nu in the field they have provided. Good luck! "

How do you spell Aargh!

Languages of the real and artificial Aargh!: "Numnuts Says:

January 7th, 2006 at 9:14 pm
why not just ask a pirate how to spell it ?
dlg Says:

January 8th, 2006 at 5:45 am
@Nummuts:
Because Pirates say 'Arrrrrr', and never 'Arrrrrrgh'. Unless they die. And then you can't ask them any more."

Whole Foods Commits to Wind Energy

Whole Foods Commits to Wind Energy - Yahoo! News: "The Austin-based company said it is purchasing 458,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy credits a year ' enough to power 44,000 homes annually ' from Renewable Choice Energy of Boulder, Colo."

Oh, the humanity! Think of all the poor birds getting hit by those windmills!

Solar power would be much safer, though it seems like it's tough to find a solution that can power more than a lightbulb for a resonable cost. (and you'd probably get birds flying into the solar panels anyway).

Can't win...

Create an e-annoyance, go to jail

Create an e-annoyance, go to jail | Perspectives | CNET News.com: "Buried deep in the new law is Sec. 113, an innocuously titled bit called 'Preventing Cyberstalking.' It rewrites existing telephone harassment law to prohibit anyone from using the Internet 'without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy.'"

I really wish I was a lawyer in the States. Good thing nobody reads this blog....

wavesmash....<-scrapes fingers down chalkboard->

Web sites that annoy me.
#1 Microsoft. When will the marketing speak disappear and be replaced with an actual forum on problems & resolutions? How about top 100 bugs of the month and what they're doing to fix them?
#2 Google. Why do I have to type in my search terms. With so much money, can't they just invent something I can think into?
#3 iTunes. Well, not just the web site, but also the application. How come I have broken links to my MP3s?? How come I can't just delete a song off my disk? What happened to the border around the application? What are all these services in memory?

I'm grasping at straws here.. nothing much really annoys me right now, except dumb laws like the one above.

Do you have what it takes to be a contractor?

Orange Badges: Contracting at Microsoft: "Let's face it, most folks do not have what it takes to be a contractor.


Do you have 6 months income saved?
Are you a member of professional organizations?
Do you regularly keep in touch with recruiters?
Do you have the necessary space and equipment to work at home?
Do you keep accurate, complete, and up-to-date records?
Does everyone you ever worked with know you are a contractor and what you do?
Do you know the going rate for full-time, agency temp (a-), and vendor (v-) work in your field?
Do you know who else in your area also hires/contracts folks in your field?
Can you juggle multiple contracts at the same time?
Can you get your rear in gear and find another contract before your current contract is over?
Do you continuously update your skill set?
Do you keep your resume and references up to date?
Do you seek honest feedback from your agency and manager?
Do you show up early, stay late, volunteer for additional work outside your area?
Do you help folks without asking?
Do you avoid the "that's not my job" response?
Are you always available?
Do you talk to others on your team?
Can you work with minimal supervision?
Can you swallow your pride and say "I don't know"?
Can you do due diligence and dig up information on your own?
Do you know when to give up and ask for help (hint: it's not until you've done due diligence)?
Can you take being embarrassed, insulted, talked down to, ignored?
Can you speak up when needed, keep your mouth shut otherwise?
Can you disagree when the time is right, acquiesce when the decision is final?

I've been doing the contract thing for over 20 years. I have violated every one of these tenets at various times, much to my regret. "

Orange Badges: Contracting at Microsoft

Orange Badges: Contracting at Microsoft: "I will never work on a contract at Microsoft again, the abuse is horrendous. They want the best, with the most killer resume, perfect references, the ability to pass every kind of background check known to human kind, and to know how to walk on water at the same time, while beating the crap out of you for being smarter, faster, wiser, kinder, more human and not a child carnivore. I have had it with illegal behavior, insults, being treated worse than an animal and forced to work insane hours with no lunch, bathroom or go-home-at-night breaks, with 4 or more people to a windowless, airless closet, overseen by psychotics. Why not just import slaves from a third world country - oh yeah, you're selling our jobs to third world countries. The last contract I was awarded was with a manager so mentally ill, she was shrieking that I should already been done with brand new tasks that she had not yet told me about yet - now that is ill. She just wanted something living to abuse and humiliate and she got someone with more lawyers than she has voices in her morbidly obese head. Just say NO to recruiters when they shop this abuse to you. There are many legal, humane and just employers out here. Never ever go back!"

Orange Badges gives you the inside scoop on contractors @ Microsoft. Hope this guy doesn't have any firearms...

At my previous job, I noticed a smell in our office above an antique store. Crossing off the usual candidates of varnish, primer & the aftermaths of jerk chicken from our developer in the back, I figured out it was natural gas. We all went outside to get some fresh air and noticed a group of construction workers, who all looked under 18, and their foreman, high-tailing it up the street. I asked the foreman if there was any problems. "Nope, all under control" as he was jogging away from the smell.

I got on 911 and made an emergency call to the fire department. Soon other people started coming out of the buildings around us. The fire department showed up, along with what looked like the SWAT team and told us there had been a gas main cut right next to a daycare.

After about half-an-hour the smell was still really rank, but our boss told us all to head back to work and get some billable hours in. I think "Slap the puppy" was the phrase he used.

Of course, that was one of the happiest days of my life, because it was the day after I handed in my 2 weeks notice, so I told him I was going for a walk.

Mini-Microsoft

Mini-Microsoft: "As for getting some celebrity personality spice... maybe next time we can do better. Yahoo! had Tom Cruise. Google had Robin Williams. Microsoft... Justin Timberlake? Well, maybe if Justin had forced a wardrobe malfunction on Bill it would have been funny ('ai-yi, Bill's codpiece was supposed to stay put!'), but nothing says safe and boring as Mr. Timberlake. "

Yikes! Gotta go wash my eyes out with gasoline...

sandbox films: Greasemonkeying with Google Video and YouTube

sandbox films: Greasemonkeying with Google Video and YouTube

So I'm always looking for new content for my DivX DVD player. This should get me a few good links.

QJ.Net Forums - View Single Post - PSP Telnet and now IRC!! Client (Peldet)

QJ.Net Forums - View Single Post - PSP Telnet and now IRC!! Client (Peldet)

Here's MSN Messenger for your PSP...

Treadmill Price List

Treadmill Price List

So, to kick off one of my New Year's goals, I'm going to try and splurge on a treadmill.

Here's a list of best prices on them... I think this is USD...

just try it

InvadeCanada.US

I saw an article today on the prime minister blaming gun violence on careless gun collectors and guns getting into the hands of burglars. Total BS. It has got to be something to do with cross-border arms sales, in addition to all the media hype around gun violence. If I was a gang member, and all of my enemies had guns, or at least the media told me that, don't you think I would want one too?



Why is it that Alaska is not a part of Canada anyway? It only makes sense...



And we are way cooler than sliced bread.

More on Ebooks & Dinosaur Blogs - Killer app coming

Hacking Cough: Ebooks: not quite deja vu all over again

Great summary of the new ebook reader technology coming out. If somebody will pay $400 for an iPod, why not $400 for an ebook reader?

coolest! Davenetics: Newsmonger Archive: RSS-enabled ePaper is the Future of Newspapers

Davenetics: Newsmonger Archive: RSS-enabled ePaper is the Future of Newspapers



Would be even cooler with a wifi link to a network share.... I am so getting one of these....

cooler - A real memory stick breakthrough breaks through

A real memory stick breakthrough breaks through

didigo - cool

didigo

Sony Reader - Giggidy!

Sony Reader

Gotta get this!!!! e-ink! It's here!!

Bill Gates Keynote Download? (Logged in as: wavesmash)

Bill Gates Keynote Download? (Logged in as: wavesmash): "There is a way to download it, although not something the MS people would like me sharing it :-)

But for the love of Vista (and Gate's awesome keynote) here it is:

Download the appropiate ASX file you want (e.g. 300kbps).
Open the file in notepad and copy the 'mms' streaming url address
Use a download accelerator like Flashget (which is what I used, there could be others) and download the mms stream..

You'll need to enter the full url (mms://........file.asx/) in flashget. The 300kbps version was approx 250 megs and since the streaming speeds sucks, this was really helpful to see the 1.5 hr keynote offline."

Google Search: faith no more

Google Search: faith no more

Google search has added Google music search. Good stuff!

More on Freakonomics and naming.

Pregnancy & Parenting: Name News: "All 'black' names aren't created equal. Take two examples from Levitt's 'blackest names' list, DeShawn and Terrance. Both may send the same skin-color signals, but they send very different cultural signals. "

Data Mining 101: Finding Subversives with Amazon Wishlists | Applefritter

Data Mining 101: Finding Subversives with Amazon Wishlists | Applefritter: "Data Mining 101: Finding Subversives with Amazon Wishlists"

Wow. I used to go to garage sales quite a bit, and I could almost always tell what a person did, what their personality was, or what their interests were by the books on their front lawn.

For an all inclusive search by name, you could compile a comprehensive list of first names and nicknames from the baby names databases available on the internet. Armed with this list, and by recording the search results for each first name, it is possible for you to retrieve the vast majority of public wishlists on Amazon.

Interesting. You could also use the book Freakonomics, Stephen Levitt put together some good name combinations that would reveal some interesting trends in books.

Shanice was a good one.... Ps2 Dance Mat or Spiked heels.

How about Deshawn? (Almost NSFW)


Terrance?

Paris?

That's hot.

Scobleizer - Microsoft Geek Blogger

Scobleizer - Microsoft Geek Blogger: "6:52. He's demonstrating the PlayTable (a prototype table 'someone just wrote me and said this isn't the PlayTable. Oh, oh. Still very cool. And, I'll definitely follow up with that team). He drops his cell phone onto a surface and images fly out of it. Wild. Oh, cool, now that the Table has been demonstrated I can talk about this. It's no demo. It really works. It's unbelieveable technology. How does the Tablet work? It has a projector underneath it, projecting onto holographic glass. Under the glass (you can�t see these) are two cameras that triangulate in on the surface of the glass. How does it know that Bill�s cell phone has been laid on the surface of the glass? A barcode on the bottom of Bill�s cell phone."

Chat and Search

Chat and Search Search and chat with people at the same time.

MSN Search: "influential people of 2005"

MSN Search: "influential people of 2005"

Bill Cara: More garbage from Big Media, Thurs., Dec. 29, 2005, 10:30 AM

Bill Cara: More garbage from Big Media, Thurs., Dec. 29, 2005, 10:30 AM: "I'd like to register my complaint about the grossly unfair reporting yesterday by CNN's Miles O'Brien regarding what he calls a warning to Americans: Beware of Toronto. I'll quote: 'The murder rate in Toronto has doubled this year. There is, you know, a crime spree underway.' What a load of crap, and just goes to show how ugly some (I repeat some) American's people are."

Bill Cara is right on the money as usual. I live in Toronto, and though the gun violence has increased, probably due to the American distribution of guns into Canada, I don't feel threatened. I also don't feel intimidated by the statistics, since Winnipeg in 1999 appeared to be a more dangerous city according to Bill, and I won't be walking around Atlanta after dark any time soon. (I'm sure the people in Atlanta feel the same way about Toronto)

So what's changed this year that has caused this dramatic spike? Maybe the media hype is fuelling the fire?

Nixon - Product Line

Nixon - Product Line

Coolest watches ever.

Free trees for Toronto

RedFlagDeals.com - Canadian Deals, Coupons, and Freebies!: "Live in Toronto? Fill out this (PDF) form, and the City of Toronto will plant your choice on your residential property for FREE! Fill out the form and mail it in by January 15 for spring planting or July 15 for fall planting.

url(x) · Shorten a long URL

url(x) · Shorten a long URL

Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things

I think I will vote MP3... I mean NDP this year.

Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things: "Sam Bulte, the Canadian Liberal Party MP for Parkdale/High Park is having her election campaign bankrolled by the Canadian entertainment cartel."


Peggy Nash... let her know what your top priorities are...

Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things

Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things: "Chess-set made from nuts and bolts
This lovely chess-set is made from common hardware fixtures, such as nuts, bolts and hooks; ..."



I saw one of these at a yard sale a couple of years ago. It was given to the lady's husband as a retirement gift for working in a fastener factory.

Should have bought it but the $10 they were asking just seemed to be too much.

Whatever: Being Poor

John Scalzi provides us with a moving list of what it means to be poor.

Some he forgot, based on how I used to live while in college.


Being poor is not knowing what it is to pay your credit cards off every month.

Being poor is signing up for credit cards just to get the free tupperware.

Being poor is cashing your paycheques at the money mart, a week in advance.

Being poor is depositing an IOU in your bank the day before you get your paycheque.

Being poor is spending money to fix your transmission, twice, instead of buying a new car.

Being poor is spending $1000 on a big screen TV while only having $1100 saved in the bank.

Being poor is gambling every week, even when you win.

Being poor is spending money on your car stereo instead of planning for retirement.

Being poor is drinking mocha venti latte's at Starbucks, instead of drinking the free coffee in the office kitchen.

Being poor is eating at McDonalds, or any restaurant that employs teenagers to cook for you and has more than 5 locations.

Being poor is buying your art from Ikea.

Being poor is better than being rich, if you're happy and healthy, instead of miserable and sickly.



Another blog lists what it means to be rich.

1) Ability to pay others to perform menial tasks. Cooking, cleaning, shopping, driving, managing money, lawyering, etc. etc. Almost anything that you think of a necessary inconvenience can be done by someone else.

2) Enough money to live off the interest alone. For most people, the biggest inconvenience in life is having to work full time (or more) and having their livelihood riding on said job(s). The very rich have enough capital accumulated that they can, if they are prudent, simply live off the interest, dividend, and capital gains income that accrues. They can choose to work or not, and in many cases have the opportunity to select a job that they enjoy and could leave at will, rather than something that they have to do.

3) A social network of wealthy and powerful professionsals. In some legal trouble? You have to defend yourself, find a cut-rate (and thus less competent) lawyer, or go into debt to hire a good one. The very rich have access to the best lawyers, or to politically or professionally powerful people who can make problems go away...

4) Cultural capital. When dealing with various institutions that tend to be suspicious of your credentials (banks, government agencies, maitre des), you have to jump through a lot of hoops to prove that you are legitimate and trustworthy. This means lots of time spent assembling records, waiting in line, and so forth. In most case, the rich already have the benefit of the doubt - either because of #3 above, or because said institutions want their money and do not wish to offend. Being rich means that people are afraid of offending you and thus you are seldom kept waiting. And anything that does take time - see #1 above.

5) Education. Perhaps the most important thing, the rich have the benefit of extremely good education. This doesn’t necessarily make them more intelligent, but it does provide the credentials to open doors and make a lot of things in life easier.

Some they forgot, or to summarize:


Being rich is travelling.

Being rich is meeting new people and learning new things.

Being rich is living within your means.

Being rich is living below your means.

Being rich is reading everything and everything.

Being rich is turning off the TV.

Being rich is turning on the computer.

Being rich is buying growth stocks vs. catching a falling knife.

Being rich is living off the interest.

Being rich is picking a penny up off the street.

Being rich is driving a 2 year old car.

Being rich is thinking about the environment, and doing something about it.

Being rich is exercising 5 times a week.

Being rich is learning that money is not just the paper in your wallet.

Being rich is being lucky. Being lucky is taking a different route to where you go every day.

Being rich is thinking in a different way than everyone else.

Being rich is a mystery.

My grandmother, who uses a microwave given to her in the early 80's, has moved more than 21 times, has diabetes and health problems, still acts like the richest woman in the world, because she is happy and positive and always laughing.

There is no hard definition of being rich or poor. Like love or hate, it is a feeling.

Being rich or being poor is a state of mind.

A Chance to Meet the Author Online - New York Times

A Chance to Meet the Author Online - New York Times: "Ms. Wolitzer, in an interview, said she welcomed the blog as an opportunity to address readers more often than she usually might - that is, every two or three years, when a new book comes out. 'Anything that can get fiction on people's radar is good,' she said. "

10 Web Trends That Should Die in 2006

10 Web Trends That Should Die in 2006:
" A stock photo of a smiling phone support lady, surefire way to spot a traditional homepage."

C'mon, at least use some celebrity stock photos for your tech support people. A company I used to work for did this (after I quit). When I saw it, I asked a buddy who still worked there who she was, thinking she was a new receptionist. "Photoshop girl disc 4," he replied.