Money

Money.  Ah, yes.  We like it, we hate it.  It makes being a grown-up both a joy and a pain in the booty. 

Well, here's a decent website that might, say, MIGHT be able to help you out.

 

Bankrate, Inc. is the Web's leading aggregator of financial rate information. Bankrate's rate data research offering is unique in its depth and breadth. Bankrate continually surveys approximately 4,800 financial institutions in all 50 states in order to provide clear, objective, and unbiased rates to consumers. Our flagship Web site, Bankrate.com, provides free rate information to consumers on more than 300 financial products, including mortgages, credit cards, new and used automobile loans, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, checking and ATM fees, home equity loans and online banking fees.

In my continuing efforts to convert all my business research and such to the internets, I came across it.  Seems useful.  Use.

 

 

 

Good For You, Boys

There are several reasons to like Google. 

Oftentimes, I give examples, like here, here, and here.

 

Here's yet another reason.

 

Google is rebuffing the government's demand for a peek at what millions of people have been looking up on the Internet's leading search engine - a request that raises concerns Big Brother may be watching a little too closely.

 

Thank the New York Daily News for that.  Thank Fark for paying attention.

 

Now.  As everyone who reads this blog knows, I'm a Google fan.  So, I'd like to take this opportunity for Google taking a stand, even if it eventually proves to be fruitless, verus The Man.  The Man is big and scary, and we all owe The Man money.  It's cool that a bunch of computer nerds can stand up to The Man.

 

However, just to make sure that everyone is completely aware of the fact that I don't yet suckle at the Googlalian teet, I should give you an example of something that Google can most certainly improve.  God, how I wish they'd improve it.  Here goes....

 

Why, oh WHY, does Blogger not support categories without forcing a man to do a hack ?  I mean, Blogger is great, but just not good enough sometimes. 

 

Ah well.  Play on, playa.

 

 

 

 

 

Surprising Musical Revelation

You know, oddly enough, the album Louder Than Bombs by The Smiths holds up particularly well, especially the song, "Girl Afraid".

I don't care if Morrissey wore a band-aid on his nipple.

 

Yes, you are allowed to Google that.

 

 

Happy MLK Day!

1963.

 

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

 

  - Martin Luther King, Jr. (via Wikipedia)

 

2006.

 

The complaint lodged by Millie Bonilla and Sheila Foster, the wives of former New York Mets baseball players Bobby Bonilla and George Foster, said they were denied access to the beach at Greenwich Point Park on June 7 because of their skin color. Mrs. Bonilla is Puerto Rican and Mrs. Foster is African American.

 

<article partially snipped>

 

Kelly Houston, the town's affirmative action officer, dismissed the complaint on grounds that the women were not carrying the $25 resident beach cards that are required to enter the park.
Ms. Houston might have been able to sustain her ruling had she not sent an e-mail three weeks earlier to the exercise group leader the women had hired for their class. Her e-mail advised him to be discreet about bringing "black people" to the beach and to cut the number of black participants in the class.

 

Props to The Hartford Courant.  Equal props to my people over at Fark.

 

Additional commentary deleted.  Judge away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's A Trap!

True Life Email that I received today:

 

ATTN:
 
FUND TRANSER CONFIRMATION O.K FURTHER CREDIT ACCEPTED.

 

Uh oh.  My spider sense is tingling.  Internet fraud spam?  I smell Nigeria.  Perhaps Croatia.  Don't people know that African crooks are Old and Busted, while Eastern Bloc Country crooks are the New Hotness?
 

 

Reference to our telephone discussion which I told you that We have received your contract payment approval from our ordering Customer Service in the Central Bank of Nigeria for the further credit to your bank account. With all due respect, our bank has obliged to credit your account with instruction. Quoting reference to bnp transfer regulation and in line with British Financial and Allied Conduct, your account will be effected as soon as you reconcile our 1% Cost of Transfer or you may advise us to deduct the total value and transfer the balance to your account. 

 

Let me guess.  If I send you my bank information, then I'll be able to get a bunch of cash/credit/blood diamonds/hookers/blow?  Yeah, right.

 

Let's read on, shall we?

 

Should you be willing to accept deduction, our bank is therefore urging you to contact the authorized CBN Paying Officer PROF.TOM.O.ADABA board member/director international remittance department, central bank of Nigeria Lagos annex office on, E-mail: tomadaba_2@yahoo.com Please ask him to issue you the Original Hard Copy of the Authority to Deduct 1% Bill of Exchange form to enable us deducts the 1% cost of transfer. Be advised also that we only acknowledge the receipt of the ORIGINAL HARD COPY OF THE BILL OF EXCHANGE FORM, which must be duly filed and signed by the beneficiary before we can effect deduction.

 

Google:  TOM.O.ADABA.  Let's see what we get.

 

Hm.  Link to a page on Crimes of Persuasion.com, referencing Nigerian Scammer Names.  Interesting.

You know, I've been getting a lot more of these lately.  I'm not sure who to blame. I faithfully mark spam emails as spam, and send it to the appropriate place, yet still I get it.  I wonder how much time and money is wasted on this stuff.  I suppose that I could go to Wikipedia and find out, but, at the moment, it's early, I'm tired, and just would rather be held.

 

Please be warned, as our bank does not trust any Nigerian Official except PROF.TOM.O.ADABA board member/director international remittance department, central bank of Nigeria Lagos annex whom we can give attention to in any of this instruction. Prior to our banking regulation, final credit shall be made to your account upon your instruction. NOTE: you're advised to put a stop with any other impostors that you may be corresponding with for now regarding your payment and comply with this fax so that you will not continually fail prey to clique of impostors.

 

Gee, thanks for the tip.

 

Congratulations!

 

Yeah.  Well.  Just for that I'm going to forward your email to the FTC at spam@uce.gov .  Spammers.  They kill me.

 

 

It's Not Paranoia If Someone Is Really Out To Get You

Every now and then, while slipping and sliding through this thing called the Internet, one sees something that they really have a hard time believing to be true, yet is.  Typically one can prove or disprove this random picture, event, or activity simply by going to Snopes, which coincidentally is located in the far right column of this post.

 

However, on occasion, Snopes doesn't have all the information one seeks.  I know, I know, it's rare, but it does happen.

 

Well.

 

How do you feel about this little nugget?

 

Anyone can buy a list of your incoming and outgoing phone calls, cell or land-line, for $110 online

 

...was the headline.  Via Americablog.

 

The story was dated January 7th, 2006.  Hm.  No, I need to be convinced.

 

Yikes, they have a website.  Or maybe two.

 

You've got to be kidding, right?  Isn't this a violation of privacy, or something?

 

Nope.  Ask the Chicago Sun-Times.

 

And, just for good measure, why don't you ask former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, Wesley Clark.

 

Well, this morning AMERICAblog bought former presidential candidate, and former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO (SACEUR), General Wesley Clark's cell phone records for one hundred calls made over three days in November 2005, no questions asked.

 

That... doesn't... seem... right.

 

Erp.  Patrick Henry would NOT approve, methinks.

 

Thank God I have a Verizon wireless phone.

...did I say that?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why AVG Rocks

Here's yet another reason to go with Grisoft's free AVG instead of one of those commerically bought anti-spyware/virus utilities.

 

Oh, dear.  We're just getting over the Sony DRM rootkit ruckus and now we have a security company hiding software components from Windows APIs with rootkit technology.  News.com reports that Symantec Corp.'s spokesperson admitted to using this rootkit type feature in Norton SystemWorks to hide a directory so customers wouldn't accidentally delete files.  The problem was it could also provide a convenient hiding place for attackers to place malicious files. Due to the vulnerability, Symantec has issued an update for SystemWorks and is "strongly recommending" users update the software immediately. 

 

Via the Zdnet Blog.

 

"Gee, I never would have expected that."

 

Yeah, right.

 

I think AVG, for being consistently wonderful, deserves a shout out. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Cy, the Adorable Cyclops Kitten.

Via Boing Boing.

 

This little kitty, named Cy, was born on December 28. It came into this world with one eye and no nose.

 

To get the full, unfettered, and thoroughly disturbing impact of this bizarre mutation, check at this Yahoo photo.

 

Methinks that the Boing didn't mean "adorable".  I think they meant, "Frightening and sad".  Yikes.  Did anyone check the family to see if they exhibit telekinesis, the ability to change the weather with their mind, or shoot laser beams from their eyes?

 

Addictive Time Wasters, Part III

Today, I did a very strange thing and perused my junk mail.  Usually, I do this about twice a year and see what I missed.  Most of the time, it's completely useless.

However, today I came across something different:  The Top Ten Time Wasting Sites On The Net.  On this page, popups and popdowns galore, so unless you're running Firefox or something, don't bother.  I took a quick look at the webpage; most of what I saw on there I had run across before.

Not this, though.  Not pRon. 

From the rules:

There are actually no rules, just proceed to the next screen, until you are on the end screen!

The only rule is not to look for walkthroughs on the net. It will ruin the fun for you, and this is what all is about.
Don't try to impress others with solutions. It's no challenge to find those on google, everybody can.

This is a puzzle game that is designed to drive a sane person mad.

And rest assured, it IS a time waster.

Good luck, people.  Truly, I mean that.

Do You Want More Traffic?

I do.  They were a hell of a band.

However, if you're looking for blog traffic, then you might want to check into one of my favorite websites, Lifehacker.

ProBlogger has some tips that can help you increase your traffic quite a bit. It's not a big surprise but tagging is high on the list.

The only conclusion that a rational blogger/writer can come to after reading a bit of the Problogger site (where these particular traffic enhancement tricks are found,) is that Hey, this blog is might be actually useful.  Check it out.

True Life Quote That I Heard Today

"If I thought it had any chance of working, I would crack open my own skull, and use a rusty garden rake to scrape the phrase "lady-lumps" out of my brain."
 - ringloss, on the Black Eyed Peas opus, "My Humps".

On that note, I have only this to say:

My humps
My humps
My humps my humps my humps,
You love my lady lumps.
My humps my humps my humps.


Yeah, I know.  The lyrics are merely illustrative.

Here Is A Test

This is a test.  Take notes.  This will count as 3/4 of your final grade.  Hints: remember, in chess, kings cancel each other out and cannot occupy adjacent squares, are therefore all-powerful and totally powerless, cannot affect one another, produce stalemate.

 - Harlan Ellison, "The Deathbird"

Interestingly, this post only tangentally has to do with that particular quote.  However, three test questions of varying difficulty follow the quotes, below.  See if you can answer them correctly.  I would add that if you do not own the story mentioned above, find it and buy it quick.  I have it on good information that it is, at present, out of print.

Via itch.in...

Virgin Records deserves a spanking. I'll do what I want with the content I pay for, thank you very much. When will they realize that if it's in bits and bytes, nothing's ever secure?

More here.

Coldplay's new CD comes with an insert that discloses all the rules enforced by the DRM they included on the disc. Of course, these rules are only visible after you've paid for the CD and brought it home, and as the disc's rules say, "Except for manufacturing problems, we do not accept product exchange, return or refund," so if you don't like the rules, that's tough.

The Boing is at it again.

Now for the test.

1.  Can this particular Coldplay CD actually be played, period?
2.  Has this particular security strategy paid off for Virgin Records and Coldplay with increased record sales and grateful Coldplay fans?
3.  Will Clark buy another CD at any point in the near-future?

Answers will be revealed at the end of this post.

True, sad story:  My mother wanted CDs for Christmas.  EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM had DRM and all of them were likely to load an outside application to her computer system that could make her hardware more susceptible to viruses.  I actually had to tell my mother to never, never ever play any of those CDs on her computer system.  How pitiful is that, really?

DRM blows. 



Answer Key:

1,  No.  Well, maybe.  But do you want to take that chance?
2.  No, unless you count fan alienation as an overall positive for your musical fan base, from the obsessed fan to the casual consumer.
3.  No.  No.  A thousand times no.  Oh my God, DRM killed Kenny.  You bastards!

The Denver Nuggets

A few weeks ago, I met a friend of mine (let's call him lazyj - you might know him from jaxed) at a relatively popular joint downtown for a little dinner.  While talking, the NBA came up, as it always does, and within the NBA, the Denver Nuggets. 

 

My friend's opinion:

 

"The Nuggets have no chance to win the Northwest if Camby gets hurt.  If it gets hurt it's over."

 

Well, Nuggets fans, where is your God now?!

 

DENVER (AP) -- The Denver Nuggets suffered another major setback Wednesday when they learned center Marcus Camby , the NBA's leading rebounder, will be out indefinitely with a broken right pinkie.

Camby will need surgery on the finger, after which a timeline for his return will be set.

Yahoo props.

 

Damn. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bring Back Television

Sigh.

 

The pathetic state of network programming in 2005 has really chaffed my hide.  If you look, you can find out how I feel about it here, or here. 

 

But you really want to know what to watch?  Here's the list.

 

Buffy, The Vampire Slayer. Lesbians, vampires, and kung-fu.  Perfect.

Star Trek - The Next Generation - Seasons 1-5.  After that things got a little out of hand.

The Twilight Zone/Night Gallery (original versions).  Classics, all.  Why can't anyone make scary shows anymore?  Also, it must be said:  Rod Sterling was a stud.

Soap/WKRP In Cincinnati/Barney Miller - Quite simply, three of the funniest shows to every grace the small screen.  "As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."  Stunningly funny.

 

I'm pretty sure that all of these are available via The Man on DVD.

There are more that I know I'm forgetting, but I don't want anyone to feel left out.  Feel free to leave your selections in the comments.

 

You'll notice that I didn't include the rough 'em up, shoot 'em up stuff on my list.  That's ok.  Instead, I'll post this:

 

Mr. T. vs Everything

 

...for all you A-Team fans.

 

"I pity the fool."  Heh.

Feelin' Secure?

So, yeah, I've been on a brief hiatus.  A combination of slow news weeks, Christmas, birthdays, and family visits have done me in.

But I'm back.

 

And I decided, for your tinfoil hat pleasure, I'd gift you this holiday season with this non-revelation.

 

NEW YORK - The National Security Agency's Internet site has been placing files on visitors' computers that can track their Web surfing activity despite strict federal rules banning most of them.

Really?

These files, known as "cookies," disappeared after a privacy activist complained and The Associated Press made inquiries this week, and agency officials acknowledged Wednesday they had made a mistake. Nonetheless, the issue raises questions about privacy at a spy agency already on the defensive amid reports of a secretive eavesdropping program in the United States.

You don't say. 

The Bush administration has come under fire recently over reports it authorized NSA to secretly spy on e-mail and phone calls without court orders.  Since The New York Times disclosed the domestic spying program earlier this month, President Bush has stressed that his executive order allowing the eavesdropping was limited to people with known links to al-Qaida.  But on its Web site Friday, the Times reported that the NSA, with help from American telecommunications companies, obtained broader access to streams of domestic and international communications.

 

Story via Yahoo.

 

Wow.  I can't believe that such a thing would happen.

 

Listen up, people.  Anyone who thinks that they are private when they surf is a fool.  Perhaps even a damn fool.  I kind of expect (not necessarily ACCEPT, ha) that pretty much everyone in the government who gives a hoot about what people say on their blogs has read this at some point.  I've seen the server and hit reports.

 

So.  With this in mind, I'd like to say this:

 

I know you're out there. 

You have my file already.

Read all you like.  I have very little to hide.

 

Now.  Where did I bury that cash?  Kidding.  KIDDING.

 

 

 

I Heart Lifehacker

Ah, Lifehacker.

 

Obviously, the Hack has what could only be described as unconditional love for us all.  And I love it back.  Why?  Well, quite simply, because they post hints like this. 

The biggest shortcoming in Gmail's user interface is that damnable dropdown menu item to delete messages. I don't know about you, but I delete messages a LOT and I need a convenient button to do so.

Happily programmer Anthony Lieuallen provides a choice of Firefox extension OR Greasemonkey user script which adds a delete button to your Gmail.

Link to the info is here.

I delete a LOT of mail.  Unfortunately, my gmail addy is all clogged up with junk at the moment.  I am in the process, though, of cleaning a lot of that up using labels and filters.  If you need a gmail invite, let me know.  Gmail has also added a bunch of happy new features.  Check it out.

 

Lifehacker.  Sigh.  I really, really like that website.

 

Short, Shameful Confession No. 1029

Man, I can really dig on some old Janet Jackson tunes.

 

I'm not kidding.  I've been listening to her old stuff (pre-1996) for the last hour.

Fighing The Man

It's just looks catchy, doesn't it?

Welcome, internet, to The Consumerist, the latest title from Gawker Media. The Consumerist loves to shop, and is reconciled to utilities, but hates paying for shoddy products, inhumane customer support, and half-assed service.

Each week The Consumerist will guide you through the delinquencies of retail and service organizations. The Consumerist will highlight the persistent, shameless boners of modern consumerism — and the latest hot deals, discounts, and freebies around.

Join us. You'll tell us when you've been royally screwed by yet another company, and we'll channel your rage. Together we will storm the revolving doors of faceless corporations to call them naughty words for genitals, and they will begin to fear us.

The Consumerist. Capitalism is broken. We'll help you fix it.

Heh.  I smell a permalink, and soon.  We'll see.

The Consumerist.

Go man go.

Oh, No. NOOOOOOO!

Dear God, please make it stop.

 

Wilmer Valderrama will star as motorcycle cop Ponch in Warner Bros . Pictures' big-screen version of cult late 70's classic series "CHiPs" says The Hollywood Reporter .

You mean... CHiPS, the Movie?

.

.

.

.

.

 

That's it.  I'm boycotting Hollywood, except for Peter Jackson.  Of course.

 

 

Beat Down

Ever took a really, really good beatin'?

 

From the police?

 

I have.  Here's the story.

 

Several years ago, I was working as a clerk in a law firm in Washington, D.C.  The Washington Redskins were going to the Super Bowl that year.

The city was excited.  Everyone was partying like it was... well, 1999 or something.  I know that you can forgive the Prince reference.

 

So, my roommates and I went to a friend's to attend a Super Bowl party in Georgetown.  All of my roomies and my roomies friends quickly went from completely sober, to mind-bendingly, stunningly, shockingly sloshed.  We were young, and the Redskins were winning.  But, as I recall, I was just as shockingly sober, as I didn't feel particularly well.

 

The game ended.  The 'Skins won.

 

On the streets of Washington, chaos ensued.

 

The world is full of tremendous parties.  I understand very few gatherings are like (former) New Orleans, or Rio, during Marti Gras.  I remember being in Mexico during Spring Break in 1989, and in some ways, I think that I *still* haven't recover from the massive throng of humanity.  And I know that everyone can think of other examples.

 

However, all that being said, those were NOTHING like the streets of Georgetown the day the the Washington Redskins won the Super Bowl.

 

The street were all roped off.  TV stations were on rooftops with cameras, which will be important later in the story.  There was almost a full-blown riot going on underneath this woman's ritzy Georgetown apartment.  So, naturally, she wanted to go down and join the revelry.

 

Of course, I volunteered to go down with her.  What can I say?  She was embarrassingly drunk, and completely attractive.  It was my duty.

 

Down we went.  It was an amazing sight, indeed, made even more amazing by the fact that we were in the thick of it.  The Washington D.C. police were out in force.  There weren't going to be cars on fire THIS year.  I had no problem with this.  Unfortunately, my female buddy wasn't so pleased with the showing of Washington's Finest, and said something to one of the officers.  This would be defined as Major Mistake No. 1, as she was almost immediately singled out and dragged over the rope partition in the middle of the street.

 

Major Mistake No. 2:  In response to the affront, I asked the officer for his badge number.  Three times.  Angrily.

 

You can guess the response.  Pulled over the rope partition, into the middle of the street, and the full-blown beating by at least two policemen commenced.

 

Time now for an important Public Service Announcement:  if you are being beaten in the middle of the streets by cops, BE SURE TO COVER YOUR HEAD.  I cannot stress how important this is.  I fought back, but I did cover my head as I laid there on the ground in the middle of M Street, being beaten to a pulp by two of the District's Finest (or Worst, as the case may be), and I strongly suspect this action saved me serious, serious injury.  As it was, though, was not good.  I was definitively and thoroughly beat up as I was dragged into a police car and accused of assaulting a police officer.  I told them, "Not only did you beat me in the street, and not only were there thousands of witnesses and TV cameras all over the place, but I work for a law firm.  I'm going to sue the hell out of you."

 

Several hours later, I was released. 

 

I went home, sat in the bathtub for an hour and plotted my revenge.

 

And the final response?

 

I went to my firm and made some inquiries.  They told me this, which I will never forget:

 

"You have no way of winning a case in this city, at this time, and if you try to file administrative actions with anyone against those cops, then the D.C. police department will harass you until the day you die.  Move out of the District and to Virginia or Maryland as soon as you possibly can."

 

So I moved.

 

But that has haunted me ever since.