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March 30, 2001
If you're into offbeat and
If you're into offbeat and unusual t-shirts, this is the link for you. "Ne vous glissez pas sur le vomi des clowns!"
Posted by John at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)
March 28, 2001
The theory is that if
The theory is that if you butter the back of a cat (cats always landing feet first, things always landing butter-side down), the opposing forces will cause the buttered cat to stop and hover in the air, inches from the floor. The basis for frictionless transportation and perpetual motion. We've all seen funny stuff like that before, but how often have you seen web sites with dissertations, experiment models, reviews of different types of carpets and breeds of cats all devoted to the idea? Hehehe.
Posted by John at 12:59 PM | Comments (0)
So, you think you're smart,
So, you think you're smart, huh? Prove it. IQChecker lets you not only take a 15 minute IQ test, but also lets you take it multiple times to see if you can improve your score, saves only the highest score, and lets you compare scores with other members. Or not, if you bombed the test. Lots of spacial relationships, next figure in the series, etc.
Posted by John at 12:13 PM | Comments (0)
OK, more useless computational fun.
OK, more useless computational fun. If you're under 30, figure out when you're going to to be one gigasecond old. If you're over 30, go for two gigaseconds. For exact specs, you'll need to know what time of day you were born. Any excuse to throw a party...
Posted by John at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)
March 27, 2001
I've successfully resisted the urge
I've successfully resisted the urge to repost Tunak for several weeks, but now it's buried so deep in the Metafilter archives that it's hard to find it again when I want it. And I keep wanting the link to show to friends, because it is one of the funniest and most delightful things I've run across on the Internet. So Self: here you go. [Note: this server is not too swift, so I suggest you right click the link and save the RealPlayer file to disk, and play it from there. The RealPlayer engine tends to time out; the file is 6 Meg.]
Posted by John at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)
March 26, 2001
If you're following the California
If you're following the California energy crisis, soon to be known as the US energy crisis, soon.to.be.known.as.the.World.Energy.Crisis (remember... you heard it here first!), Cal ISO now has the stats online, so you can follow the energy demands in real time. Complete with system alerts and notification logs.
Posted by John at 02:10 PM | Comments (0)
March 23, 2001
Cruisin' through the various restaurant
Cruisin' through the various restaurant reviews for the North Bay, and I came across one here in downtown SF that caught my eye. Big Nate's Barbeque. If it is what it says, baby I'm amazed. Restaurant review posted here shortly, you can bet on it. I sooooo miss Dusty's BBQ in Atlanta (on N. Druid Hills Rd near Emory). Not that heavy ketchupy Texas BBQ sauce, but the genuine deep south honey, pepper and vinegar variety, ummmm. And pork, not beef. The hurdle is high for Big Nate. We'll see.
Posted by John at 04:41 PM | Comments (0)
March 19, 2001
On Feb. 28th, an earthquake
On Feb. 28th, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck the greater Seattle area (the epicenter was actually near Olympia, about 40 miles from Seattle). A sand tracing pendulum, located at a shop in Port Townsend called Mind Over Matter, produced some very interesting patterns.
Posted by John at 02:32 PM | Comments (0)
And on the religious front,
And on the religious front, Betty Bowers is a better Christian than you, and she's got the web site to prove it! "So close to Jesus, we have joint checking."
Posted by John at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)
In the spirit of the
In the spirit of the season, a collection of unfortunate Easter cards. Another fine example of what can happen when someone has a good sense of humor and too much time on their hands.
Posted by John at 11:25 AM | Comments (0)
March 16, 2001
OK, Slate links are weak,
OK, Slate links are weak, but they do occasionally have something up there that is both funny and insightful. This piece on the language of the stock market is pretty good. I especially like the bad mixed metaphors such as, "Market experts have stopped trying to pick the market's bottoms." Thanks, Becky.
Posted by John at 11:35 AM | Comments (0)
The Mir Reentry Observation Expedition
The Mir Reentry Observation Expedition hopes to surpass Madonna's webcast viewing record in six days, March 22 at 1:30am EST. They are sending up three planes to fly about 200 miles from splashdown and record in HDTV for immediate rebroadcast on the group's website, MirReentry.com. Here's a good article from Business2.0.
Posted by John at 09:53 AM | Comments (0)
March 15, 2001
I can tell you what
I can tell you what it isn't, though. It isn't a diary or a journal, which evokes that beat poet, goatee and clove cigarette image of excessive (obsessive) introspection that has always struck me as vaguely......unhealthy. It isn't a compendium of wit & wisdom that I want to pass down through future generations of Parker families. It isn't "literature".
Posted by John at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)
Welcome to the cutthroat world
Welcome to the cutthroat world of childrens' books. Following up on the post from 1/23/01, how am I supposed to explain to my 7- and 10-year old kids that Nancy Stouffer, an American author is accusing -- and suing -- J.K. Rowling for allegedly stealing the idea for the Harry Potter series? If you think they won't hear about it, you just don't understand raising kids in the information age. Stouffer's book is now being reprinted. Her main character is a young boy named "Larry Potter", who wears glasses, has magical friends and non-magical friends called "Muggles." It makes me wonder if J.K has been quaking in her literary boots for the past several years, waiting and wondering if and when this news would come out. Or if she's already been approached by Stouffer about a settlement, and just wasn't willing to cough up $100 million or so. Things that make you say, "hmmmm".
Posted by John at 12:16 AM | Comments (0)
March 14, 2001
Daniel Arp, a Pittsburgh high
Daniel Arp, a Pittsburgh high school teacher, professes his true feelings for the giant online bookseller in this email exchange with the customer-service department of Amazon.com. Hilarious!
Posted by John at 05:20 PM | Comments (0)
Today is National Pi Day
Today is National Pi Day and the birthday of Albert Einstein. Together, that's enough justification for any self-respecting science lover to go have a beer! Or two. Or 3.14159. Check the Pi link before you go, though, then you can say interesting things at the bar like, "Did you know that it would only take 47 digits of pi to describe a circle large to encompass the visible universe, but that would not deviate from perfect circularity by more than the width of a single proton?"
Posted by John at 03:19 PM | Comments (12)
Techno-jargon: "We had a problem
Techno-jargon:
"We had a problem with one of the drives on the 4500 array this morning."
"What happened to it?"
"It's hosed."
Posted by John at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)
March 13, 2001
The next wave! Open source
The next wave! Open source consumer products. Tired of paying those brand name premiums? Leading the charge, OpenCola. You can download the formula here as well. Licensed under the GNU General Public license.
Posted by John at 11:26 PM | Comments (0)
Update to 2/1/01 entry: Travis
Update to 2/1/01 entry: Travis just moved up to #2 high school lightweight in the nation!!! One of the greatest joys of fatherhood is living your children's adventures and accomplishments vicariously, as long as you don't get overbearing or obsessive about it. I know that I was never ranked that high in anything growing up, and I am so proud of him for all his hard work and training, and pleased for him that the results have been so dramatic. Go, Travis!
Posted by John at 10:31 PM | Comments (0)
Although you can't tell it,
Although you can't tell it, this page is now driven by a template using the ASP command "include virtual" to pull my log file from Blogger into the page. So now it updates automatically. This is simple stuff, but then, I'm easily entertained. Note the new ".asp" extension. Thanks, Evan, for the HowTo.
Posted by John at 10:54 AM | Comments (0)
March 12, 2001
Classic car woes. Last year,
Classic car woes. Last year, flush with gains in my stock portfolio, I bought the car I'd always wanted, a 1961 Corvette (this one's not mine, unfortunately!). It was in need of a lot of restoration work, though. I figured it would be smart to take care of the mechanical stuff first, so I'd have something driveable, then worry about the color, which was white with red side coves (mine). A sharp color combo, but not right -- all Corvettes are red. Priced the paint job and the low bid was $5,000, this requiring my car to be at the paint shop for 4 weeks while the guys worked on it after hours and on Sundays (so I could get a reduced rate). Then we found Ramon. A day laborer, he does mostly house painting, but also has experience painting cars, at a Mercedes dealer no less. $1,200 bid. I checked him out, and hired him. Three days later and the car is painted, a beautiful red with white side coves (not mine). Three coats of paint and five coats of clear coat. I have to let it cure for about 2 weeks before the final rubbing out. I'll post some pictures of the car on the web site when it's done.
BUT, I was planning to eventually get a hard top for the car, and if I'm having it painted I need to get it now. Bought one. Plus the windshield has a star crack on it, and since Ramon can do a much better job on the body if the windshield is off, time to replace the windshield. Plus the '61 Vette has a LOT of chrome on it. Some pieces probably need replating, the rest need hours and hours (estimate ~30 total) of polishing. Plus most of the very thin chrome trim pieces will need to be replaced. Plus $350 for the "scuff-n-buff", the wet sanding and final rub out of the clear coat and first waxing. Plus all the exterior gaskets and weatherstripping need to be replaced, since all the hardware is off the car. Plus it's not cheap to get professional help to take the car down and put it back together. Plus, plus, plus. I used to think those ads for classic cars that said "$45,000 invested, will sell for $30,000" were just price inflated as a sales tactic. Now, I understand.
Posted by John at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)
The travails of my former
The travails of my former employer. I'm experiencing a vague feeling of guilt about my satisfaction at this news... but I'll get over it.
Posted by John at 06:33 AM | Comments (0)
March 08, 2001
Wow! Swift3D's Flash site rocks!
Wow! Swift3D's Flash site rocks! Click on the DEVLAB link. Speakers on.
Posted by John at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)
March 07, 2001
Just got the PG&E bill
Just got the PG&E bill for 1/25 to 2/26/01, and it was $615. Our conservation efforts have cut our gas and electric consumption by over 25%, but the bill has tripled from the same month last year.
Posted by John at 04:44 PM | Comments (0)
March 05, 2001
As a married man, I
As a married man, I just have to speak out on this issue and say this is beautiful. It's unfortunate that the title, "A Surrendered Wife" is going to turn off many women (probably, chauvanistically speaking, the ones who need it most!). Learn to "surrender". I wonder if I can get Julie to read it? Maybe they have a starter kit or something...
Posted by John at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)
This is cool. Personalized mortality
This is cool. Personalized mortality statistics for your next airplane flight. You input the city and airport (if known) of departure and destination, the type of aircraft (if known) and the month of travel, and it gives you your statistical odds of crashing.
Posted by John at 11:30 PM | Comments (0)
Teresa Earnhart speaks on the
Teresa Earnhart speaks on the sad, sick individuals and media mongers who are actually harassing the family trying to get hold of Dale Earnhart's autopsy photos. Generally speaking I don't like to wish bad things on anybody, but I think it would be a good thing if the roles could be reversed in a situation like this. Unbelievably cold.
Posted by John at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)
"Ignis aurum probat, miseria fortes
"Ignis aurum probat, miseria fortes homines." - Seneca
Fire proves gold, difficult times prove men. It is amazing to watch the reactions of the dotcom employees as their mother ships crash to the ground in flames. Sometimes, when greed gets overtaken by fear, it gets ugly.
Posted by John at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)
March 02, 2001
Ran out of firewood today.
Ran out of firewood today. We went through a cord this year. Keeping the heater at 65 or lower during the day to try and do our part to reduce the load on the gas and electrical systems in California. And this is California, where temperatures are moderate. Our PG&E bill was over $600 last month! If this energy price inflation spills over into places like Texas and Nevada during the summer months, they are in deep trouble. We don't even have an air conditioner. [Note: Although Texas is a major energy producer, they also consume more energy than any other state -- much of the natural gas and oil produced there never leaves its borders.]
Posted by John at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)
Webshots is the best collection
Webshots is the best collection of desktop themes and screensavers I've come across. Not only is the quality high enough to look excellent at 1024x768, but the selection of photos, grouped by themes, is huge and the average photographic quality (selection of subject matter, photo composition, lighting, color saturation) is very high. And they provide this service in the right -- convenient, non-annoying -- way. They offer a free Webshots utility you can download (or not, but you will want to), that will "offer" you a free new picture every day (blinking icon in your system tray, which makes it convenient to ignore until you're ready to pay attention to it). If you like the picture you've already got and want to keep it for awhile, it's one click to say "no thanks" to the daily photo. Or it's one click to go to the web site and browse the gallery for new photos. Navigation is logical, fast and well-organized with all photos thumbnailed. There's a one time registration form that's short and free, and lets you opt out of the email notices - and it works, they don't bug you! Plus there's a free screensaver selection that lets you download a gallery of theme-related pictures in a one-time download, and it automatically rotates them on your PC. I love it when companies GET IT. I would recommend this site to anyone. Webshots is part of the Excite family, which I generally despise, but they've got a winner here.
Posted by John at 09:34 AM | Comments (0)
March 01, 2001
Did you know that every
Did you know that every single letter of the Roman alphabet is Trademarked? There are barely any common words left that aren't. I've been violating other people's trademarks hundreds - or even thousands - of times a day, and you know... it doesn't bother me even one little bit. This I discovered when reading the note on Slashdot about Verisign taking over control of all the .com, .net and .org names and potentially disenfranchising some long time holders. If you aren't a non-profit, you may lose your .org. ICANN is taking public comments prior to voting on it.
Posted by John at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)
