Thanks to some comment spamming that I didn’t catch (but will soon fix), I’m getting search engine traffic for porn searches (update: and another one). Lovely.
Month: August 2004
Handy People Finder
Something for the bookmarks, quoting Al’s Morning Meeting:
Eliyon Networking uses corporate, personal, and government websites to track where people work and where they used to work. The site says it has information on more than 21 million “former co-workers.”
Just enter a company name and let the fun begin. Think how useful this would be if you were investigating a company and wanted to find former employees, just for example.
The website says that every day, it scans millions of corporate websites, SEC filings, and other online sources for information about people and the companies for which they work. It is completely computer generated. No humans search for information.
The site is free, but for a fee you can expand your search for people who have a specific degree from a specific university, for example, or you can search for a person by name. You can also find “current” employees in companies using the premium edition.
This is really handy site, and I’ve looked up a few old friends of mine to figure out where they were working now.
I Hate Being An American Sometimes
I don’t get cable, but I could still watch a great deal of the upcoming Olympics online if it weren’t for NBC’s stupid (and expensive) licensing agreement. Full Story, debate on /., and an argument for pirating the games.
Deschutes County Renaming “Offensive” Streets
Last month, Deschutes County required the SROA to change the name of Squaw Mountain Lane here in Sunriver to Diamond Peak Lane because the word Squaw is considered offensive. Because of this, we have to change a pile of internal paperwork and have to change our Web site because we rent two homes on that street (and I’m sure we’re not the only ones out here in this boat).
Really, the word isn’t as offensive as people would like to think (though it can be used offensively, but so could a lot of words), but thanks to a very vocal minority, it’s been deemed offensive. I’ve yet to see Squaw Valley, Big Squaw Mountain, or Squaw Creek change their names. Heck, the Squaw Creek up by Sisters, Oregon, is in the County’s jurisdiction, is it not (Update on 8/9: It maybe National Forest territory, I’m still looking into it)? Are they going to change the name of that Road, Creek, Cemetary, and other things, too? That area is full of history. I’m sure the County is full of stuff like this.
But really, it’s just going to be a mess if we keep this up. Just looking at the names of some of the lanes here in Sunriver, are they going to rename “Indian” lane? Are they going to rename “Foursome” lane because it could have sexual connotations? Are they going to rename “Killdeer” because it promotes violence to animals? “Salishan” was named after Native American tribes, too. I’m sure “Stag” could be taken a bunch of ways. What if I’m a Mets fan, can I be offended by “Yankee Mt.”? I know we’re stretching it a bit here, but you see my point: Anything can be offensive if viewed in the right light.
And now it’s only going to get worse. On Monday’s Deschutes County work session agenda is the proposal to change Hooter Road to Snowberry Lane. Last I checked, the “Hooter” referred to the owl, not the woman’s breasts. Heck, even at the Hooter’s Restaurant, their mascot is an owl, not a big boob (granted, it’s their girls that sell the food, not the owl, but that’s another story entirely, and here’s the company’s word on that debate). I’m all for removing horribly racist, sexist and bigotist names, but it’s all gone overboard. Unfortunately all it takes is one very vocal person to make a difference — and anger everybody else in the process.
I’m aware of the negative connotation of the “S” word, and believe it should be changed, too, but I think the mass name changing around the area (and nation) has brought more attention to the word that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. Most folks I’ve talked to thought it meant just a native American woman, not a reference to her genitals. The name changes have probably brought more publicity (and possibly more use by ill-mannered folks) of the word, now that they know what it means.
Thanks Barney for the tip.
Update on 8/9: Looks like they changed Hooter, but for a decent reason.
Behold, The Oracle of Starbucks
Just type in what you’re drinking, and it’ll tell you the type of person you are. It’s surprisingly accurate (after surveying some friends of mine).
We Need More Geek Graphic Designers
And CNN needs to hire one of them so that when they do a story about Open-Source software taking over the world, they don’t use a screen-shot of VisiCalc in their graphics. Link via NTK.
Still sick, With Random Notes
Still laid up with a cold. Have about 4,000 links to post, no time/energy to do it. I’m up right now because my daughter made a mess in her diaper, and it was my turn to change her. So I decided to grab a snack, blog a note, and I’m heading back to bed.
On a random positive note, we had rain-gutters installed today. I know that everybody who knows Central Oregon at all knows that you don’t need them at often, but the one problem with the way our house was built is that all the water that flows off the roof flows into two places — above the front and back doors. So gutters were installed in those places. They were a gift from my parents for my birthday (which was back in May). They were here at the butt-crack of dawn to install them, but after they did, you could barely see they were there as they were painted to match the house. It’s actually pretty dang slick, and they have a lifetime warranty on installation and leaks.
On a random negative note, the ad shoot I’m doing with Simone for work had to be put off another day because of nasty weather. Hopefully it’ll clear up tomorrow and we’ll be able to get the shots I need for this ad campaign I’m doing. I’ve got 10-days until deadline at this point, but the photo will dictate the design, so I don’t think it’ll be too hard.
OK, I’m going back to bed. G’night.
Stuck on a Really Bad Date?
Cingular Wireless to the rescue.
Cingular Wireless has taken its Voice Connect service where no other wireless carrier has dared to tread with “Escape-a-Date,” one of several new options that are part of the company’s Voice Connect line of information services.
“Escape-A-Date” is the perfect service to use when you are afraid that your blind date may not be just right for you. This new service allows you to schedule a “rescue” phone call at a pre-set time. That way, you’ll be called at the time you specify. The service tells you exactly what to say to set the tone for a speedy escape. There are eight randomly generated humorous scripts.
Sadly, I can see this being really popular.
Moron Crook For The Day
If you’re going to try to deal some drugs, don’t be stupid enough to sell to police officers — especially ones on duty, in uniform, in their squad car.