Surfing The Web So You Don't Have To
This just came across the CARR-L mailing list re: the hurricane:
I just heard the woman on CNN say their correspondent could send news on Katrina from the French Quarter despite lack of satellite signal “with the use of a new technology called ‘F. T. P.'”
I’m sure the lady reading that script thought this was some new, fancy technology, not one that’s been around for 30 years.
Like this guide to all the Monkey references in The Simpsons (note this doesn’t include Bigfoot sightings — you’ll have to look through this list for that). Links via Memepool
It was a bit more complicated than I would’ve liked, but it was no fault of Six Apart’s, it’s more my fault for having a bunch off odd-ball plugins and template hacks. That, and I accidently uploaded the files initially in binary format, which caused all sorts of trouble.
But things have been updated. I’ve updated the various plugins I use to their 3.2-specific versions (specifically MT Blogroll and MT Notifier). I also updated the basename of my older entries so that I can start using shorter URLs (it’ll probably hurt my search engine rankings on new posts, but I really don’t care all that much). But it will enable me to change titles to include something like “Updated” on the end of the title without completely bulldozing my link to the page.
I was playing with the beta on a separate site, so I knew what to expect, and I knew it would take a while to get this one fully updated/configured to my liking (with 3000+ entries and over 6500 comments, it takes a bit of time to upgrade everything). Overall, the improvements are nice (and there are a ton of them). Hopefully one of these days I’ll have time to redo my templates so that they actually take advantage of some of the new tags and such, but meanwhile, we’re up and running. Let me know if anybody finds any problems.
At least according to this site’s methodology. Their methods seem a bit off to me and seem to focus more on awards and articles published than more useful things like how well the students learned, etc… . I’m not discounting the value of winning great awards like the Nobel prize and such, but I’m willing to bet many the folks who helped these various universities rank high in these rankings are probably horrible teachers. And what good is knowledge if you’re no good at sharing it?
Out of the Oregon schools, Oregon State and OHSU both made the Top 100 North American schools. University of Oregon, my alma-mater, just missed the top 100, according to the Full List.
I’m at the office right now, and it’s a bit smokey in the air right now. Apparently there’s a 150-acre fire south of here in LaPine. Several of my co-workers here live close to the fire, so they’re a bit on edge right now. Jack can see it from his house, so hopefully he’ll be posting some more updates as he sees them. I don’t know how close the fire is to Simone, but she probably doesn’t care (or even know about it) as she’s probably on her way to Burning Man.
For more fire updates, head over to the NWCC site.
Update on 8/29: Looks like everybody’s going home and they were able to save the homes in the area.
…you’ll appreciate this funny one (thanks Emily for this).
I must add my thanks to whoever sent me the one about rat crap in the glue on envelopes cause I now have to get a wet towel with every envelope that needs sealing.
Also, I scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.
I want to thank you who have taken the time and trouble to send me your chain letters over the past 12 months. Thank you for making me feel safe, secure, blessed, and wealthy.
Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.
I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put “Under God” on their cans.
I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.
I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.
I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.
I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.
I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.
I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don’t support our American troops or the Salvation Army.
I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore, and Uzbekistan.
I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.
I no longer have any sneakers — but that will change once I receive my free replacement pair from Nike.
I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe.
I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me and St. Theresa’s novena has granted my every wish.
Thanks to you, I have learned that God only answers my prayers if I forward an email to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.
I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl who is about to die in the hospital (for the 1,387,258th time).
I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.
Yes, I want to thank you so much for looking out for me that I will now return the favor!
If you don’t send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM(EDT) this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor’s ex-mother-in-law’s second husband’s cousin’s beautician. Have a wonderful day!
I mentioned before about my idiotic car troubles, one of the issues being its knack for overheating. I crawled underneath the car, the radiotor house was a bit loose, but it was still overheating. Took it to the Subaru Guru, and the radiator was cracked (saw the split after he removed it — a nice little five-inch crack). So $230 later (which wasn’t too bad, actually), I’ve got a new radiator, and a much cooler running car.
Now just have to make sure the rest of the car holds up.
These satellite images, published by the City of Bend, are far superior to the ones that Google has (though it only works in Internet Explorer, which sucks). Link via Chuggnutt.
Yes, I know this is old news (I’m behind in my reading, give me a break), but if you’re running a pirated version of Windows XP and still want to get downloads from Microsoft that are protected by their anti-piracy “Genuine Advantage” program, this one line of JavaScript will be very handy to you:
Before pressing ‘Custom’ or ‘Express’ buttons paste this text to the address bar and press enter:
javascript:void(window.g_sDisableWGACheck=’all’)
It turns off the trigger for the key check.
Update on 8/28: Apparently if you run the Geniune Advantage program in Windows 2000 Compatibility Mode, it will work as well.
This is a neat little video, showing a simulation of the air-traffic patterns over the US. Obviously, there’s a lot more air-traffic over the Eastern half of the US then there is over this side of the Mississippi. Link via BB.