Full Speed

The Closest Book

Instructions:

• Grab the nearest book.
• Open it to page 56.
• Find the fifth sentence.
• Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
• Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

Following this is information about the document itself.

New Year’s Resolution: Clean Showers

Happy New Year! We have taken a bit of a holiday hiatus here, but today we’re back with a brief resolution: clean showers. Nobody in our household enjoys the tiresome process of cleaning showers. And yet we despise the sight and smell of unclean showers. So we’re really excited to be telling you about SCJohnson’s Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner.

We first saw this simple new invention advertised on television months ago. As is the case with most revolutionary new products, we didn’t believe the hype. We were easily swayed by a $5 coupon that appeared in the local newspaper, however, and we gave it a try.

Within two weeksof using this product, our admittedly unclean shower appeared to be actively fighting mildew. All discoloration of the grout was gone —- and with no scrubbing! I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of this tool. I have bought 4 refills since I first purchased my starter kit. There is simply no easier way to keep your shower clean!

More LifeHacker

There’s really just so much good stuff at LifeHacker that I can’t seem to stay away. Here’s another dump from my home PC.

• Geek to Live: Incorporate text files onto your desktop
• Function key shortcuts and the command line
• Yes, Foxmarks beats Google Sync when it comes to bookmarks
• Download of the Day: Aging Tabs (Firefox)
• Quickly convert your video for Xbox 360

LifeHacker Roundup

Or “Unloading a Ton of LifeHacker Tabs from Firefox”.

• Find coupons for online stores with RetailMeNot
• Add attachment icons to Gmail
• The Windows File Shredder
• Geek to Live: Make a ringtone from any MP3
• Download of the Day: Fasterfox (Firefox)

Zawodny’s Diet

Links to Jeremy Zawodny’s series of posts on how he lost 50 pounds last year.

• Diet Tips or How To Lose Weight with a Spreadsheet and a Web Site
• The Diet Plan and The Three Habits
• The Diet Spreadsheet
• Diet Tips: How To Eat Less
• Diet Plans and Goal Setting: How Many Calories?
• Closing Diet Tips and Advice

Inaudible Ring Tones

A recent New York Times article mentioned the new inaudible ring tones being used by students during class. The catch: the tones are very high frequencies. The adult ear gradually loses the ability to hear these frequencies with age, and the kids are using this to their advantage. I heard the sample provided by the Times just fine, but many others my age heard nothing. Ochen K took the argument a step further with frequency analysis and more sample audio. Can you hear these tones?

Faust

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it odd that the Second Counselor to the President of the Church of Latter Day Saints is named Faust. That’s right: James E. Faust. I have nothing against the church or Mr. Faust. I just thought this to be an odd coincidence.

Quote of the Day

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Contact Form

The contact form for this site has been neglected for quite some time. Today it finally works. Please feel free to send your thoughts and/or comments about the site via this form.

Vote

I voted. You should, too. Despite many reports of record turnouts today, the line was relatively short at my polling place. I was in and out in under 20 minutes. The results tonight should be interesting.

Also, take a look at Technorati’s Bloggers’ Votes.

TiVo Season Pass Hot 100

TiVo has released some of the data they have been collecting from all of the TiVo owners out there in the form of the TiVo Season Pass Hot 100. This list includes the top 100 TiVo Season Pass subscriptions as well as a list of the “top rated programs for the week of 10/17/04-10/23/04”. It’s rather interesting to see just exactly how much dominance reality shows have in TV-land.  [via PVRblog]

Obligatory Cat Picture

Hey, everybody’s doing it, right?

There’s a new kitten around. She likes posing for the phonecam and chatting with me on AIM while I’m out of town.

LinkDump

• Advanced Google Search Operators
• FairKeys
• Java is slow
• Useless Hardware

Mesothelioma?

John Battelle found a story about the bidding war over the keyword Mesothelioma for targeted search engine advertising. It seems the lawyers are raking in so much money on their Mesothelioma cases that they have bid the keyword up to $100 in some cases.

According to Mesothelioma Web, one could have been exposed to asbestos for a period of only a few months and then develop the rare cancer 30 to 40 years later. So, many people who were exposed in the mid-1900s are just now seeing symptoms.

And the attorneys are loving it. They have often given themselves new titles, such as “Asbestos Attorney” or “Mesothelioma Lawyer”. They are building up an entire segment of their industry around this deadly disease and its victims.

And in the world of always-on internet connections that we live in today, it is only natural to see an overwhelming amount of advertising for anything that can be so profitable. This make me wonder, however, if there are other keywords that are so costly.

LinkDump

Blog Maverick
The Mark Cuban Weblog

microsöcom

Google PageRank Report

WikiSpam

RSS and BitTorrent

Bruce Sterling Rant-A-Thon, 2004

Music Quiz

This was my result:

“Good. You know your music. You should be able to work at Championship Vinyl with Rob, Dick and Barry”

Do You Know Your Music (Sorry MTV Generation I Doubt You Can Handle This One)
[ Via Going Canuck ]

Mars Rover Lands Successfully

NASA’s first Mars rover of 2004, Spirit, has safely touched down on Mars. The rover landed at approximately 04:35 GMT. The rover’s success comes in the wake of the recent loss of Europe’s Beagle 2. Expect to see new pictures from the surface of the red planet soon.

Tiny Helicopters

The Pixelito and Proxflyer Micron are really tiny. Each miniature radio controlled helicopter weighs 6.9g and can fit in the palm of your hand. [Via MetaFilter]

Easy, Open MPEG-4

Today I stumbled upon some missed episodes of a certain TV show that I like to watch. Once I finished downloading them, I realized that they wouldn’t play on my PC. It turns out that they were encoded with XviD, an open source MPEG-4 codec. As it took me a while to find the resources for playing these files on my computer, I thought that I’d pass along some important links. Doom9 has an XviD guide. And Koepi was gracious enough to offer XviD binaries for your downloading pleasure. After installing the standalone DirectShow filter from Koepi’s site, my videos played flawlessly.

Predictions for 2004

Jeremy gives us a look into his crystal ball to see what’s going on next year. The list seems fairly complete, featuring innovations in search, widespread RSS adoption, social networks, and ‘net reputation systems. The only thing missing is the inevitable WiFi craze that’s certain to explode next year.

Video Orbits

I thought that I’d lost the link to this site a few days ago. While planning for my upcoming trip to Europe, I realized that it would be nice to have software on hand to make some image composites. This software is probably the best that I’ve seen for what I wish to accomplish. But I had no idea what it was called or who wrote it. Now I do, however: Comparametric by Professor Steve Man of the University of Toronto. Google is a wonderful tool when the brain forgets.

Latest SOHO Images

SOHO is producing some fantastic imagery of the sun lately. The animations featured on this page are very impressive. And just for fun, here’s SOHO’s view of current space weather at a glance.

Update: I left out a link: Space Weather Now.

Panther All Around

It seems that Mac users all over are upgrading en masse to Panther, the latest incarnation of OS X. John Gruber noted a significant number of visitors to his site upgraded within 24 hours of Panther’s release. I haven’t upgraded yet, but the fresh new CDs are sitting right next to my Mac just waiting to be installed.

Directors Label

Matt Haughey says he’s buying all three of these DVDs the day they come out. After seeing the trailer for each video, I’ll probably do the same. Preorder them today. If you don’t want them for yourself, you could always just buy them for me.

New York Changing

New York Changing is a nice collection of rephotographs showing the evolution of New York City over 65 years..

Quick Links

• Nice fonts for programming.
• Adactio has an excellent tutorial on CSS-based design that looks like a great way to break into this stuff.
• Photo Friday
• Veer
• Wow! AMI doesn’t use tables!
• twothirty
• WaSP on accessible tables
• Listamatic2
• Layout-o-matic

Secure Email

Does anybody use secure, encrypted email? I know that there are several services out there that are hosting this sort of thing, but it seems to me that they don’t get a lot of use. I have never personally received an encrypted message.

I’m sure that there are a lot of businesses that could benefit from such technology, however. Brokers should probably use encryption to keep that hot stock tip a secret. If I were an attorney, I’d be afraid of violating my clients’ rights by using unencrypted email to discuss a case. And do doctors email patient records in plain text?

Security is a hot topic lately in the IT industry. Yet email is one of the least secure internet applications out there. Hopefully this will all change soon.

Fight for Number Portability

As the deadline for phone number portability nears in the US, many phone companies are still fighting to prevent it. They are afraid of number portability because it will force them to provide better service and better prices. Don’t let them win! Join the fight to help make number portability happen. Escape Cell Hell, from the publishers of Consumer Reports, makes it easy to send a letter to your Congresspeople. With their site, you can voice your opinion in under 30 seconds.

Quote of the Day

“Whenever someone thinks that they can replace SSL/SSH with something much better that they designed this morning over coffee, their computer speakers should generate some sort of penis-shaped sound wave and plunge it repeatedly into their skulls until they achieve enlightenment.” —Peter Gutmann

I’ve got mail!

I’ve got mail, yeaaaaaay! (found at What Do I Know)

Mars

Don’t forget to check out Mars this week. You’ll never see it quite like this again.

Wired Diamonds

I just got the Semtember issue of Wired in the mail a couple of days ago. She cover features a woman adorned in nothing but diamonds. The story behind this photo is called “The New Diamond Age”. This is a very interesting read.

We all know that De Beers is the only reason that diamonds cost so much. Any many of us know of the evil practices that this company engages in. After reading these articles on diamonds, you may find yourself reconsidering the idea of spending such a large sum of money on such a worthless rock.

Remember, De Beers recommends that you spend 16.67% of your annual salary on an engagement ring. For many of us, that amount would feed quite a few hungry people for a year. I think I’ll wait for these cheaper, lab-grown stones.

Guide to Manhattan

I just stumbled upon the Manhattan User’s Guide yesterday. This site seems full of tips and recommendations that should be useful for that next visit to the Big Apple. The daily articles are informative and well-written. I know that I’ll be consulting this site before my next trip to Manhattan.

Is the Nicotini the answer?

Many cities and states already have the legislation. Here in Austin, it’s scheduled to take effect in September. I’m talking about the smoking ban.

Austin has had a ban on smoking in restaurants since I moved here about five and a half years ago. Bear in mind that it’s not all restaurants, however—there are loopholes. So my smoking friends typically only patronize the loophole-conscious restaurants.

Bars are the main concern with the new ordinance. Many bar owners complain that their business will be gone when their customers aren’t allowed to smoke. This complaint holds some truth, as several popular bars have outdoor patios or balconies. These are the loopholes of the new ordinance.

But the clever bar owners in Miami might be leading the way in fighting the antismoking laws. Enter the Nicotini.

“Call it a liquid cigarette because this drink comes complete with the nicotine rush and tobacco aftertaste found in a pack of Camels.”

Not being a smoker, I don’t quite understand what these people go through without their precious Nicotine, but I do know that when most smokers drink, their Nicotine craving increases. Without being allowed to smoke in bars, most would opt to simply walk outside for a quick smoke whenever necessary. But with this type of hassle, why wouldn’t they just opt instead for a bar with a patio?

I can easily see where the Nicotini might appear golden in the eyes of local bartenders and bar owners. Will this become a nationwide trend?

I want this bike!

I was reading nothing this afternoon and found a really cool bike. BiGHA, inc. seems to make only one model, but it looks like it would be the perfect bike for commuting.

There’s a guy that rides the most bizarre looking recumbent bike around the streets of Austin all the time. I see him everywhere. Ever since I first saw him, I realized that recumbent bikes are certainly the way to go for the longer rides around town.

But BiGHA has made some true innovations. The bike’s headlights automatically turn on when it gets dark. The brake lights automatically light up when you are slowing down, glowing brighter with greater deceleration rates. It’s got turn signals! The LCD display on the handlebards not only acts as a speedometer and a tach, but it gives all sorts of other data, such as wind speed, elevation, compass heading, trip distance, and humity level. Oh, and it’s got dual disc brakes for those times when you just can’t stop fast enough.

But the price is a bit high, starting at $3,000. Fortunately, though, if I decide I want to get one, I won’t be worried about it at all: BiGHA offers a “no questions asked” 60-day return policy. If you don’t like it, they’ll arrange to pick it up at their expense. This sounds like a very consumer-friendly company.

And they blog, too. :)

I think I missed out on refinancing my house

OK, so I was thinking about refinancing my house a while back. I bought it in 2001, just before the tech bubble bursted. A couple of months ago, I had my girlfriend (a REALTOR®) contact the president of a mortgage company that she had been working with. This guy promised that he could have our house refinanced within two weeks and that he would call us by the end of the following day. Well, first off, he never called back. We had to call him. And when we did, his responses to our questions were rather curt. He made promise after promise but never came through with anything. And so I didn’t get the great rate cut that I was hoping for.

Now, three months later, MSNBC seems to be saying that I’ve waited too long. The recent media coverage along with my GF’s local market research confirm that the mortgage rates are skyrocketing.

Now I won’t lie: I got a pretty good rate on the loan in 2001. But earlier this year, mortgage rates hit 40-year lows. Let’s just say that I could have easily shaved about two and a half points off of my rate if the re-fi came through.

Nothing has happened since the initial failed attempt at getting my house refinanced. Did I miss out on some huge savings?

Claudette

Claudette, now a hurricane, is slowly making her way towards the Texas coast. I’m glad that I live far enough inland as to avoid most of the misery. I suppose that my grass will finally get a well-deserved watering. I’d kill to see the hurricane up close. It’s too bad that I have to work tomorrow.

Karl on Bob

Karl, I couldn’t have possibly written a better description of “Bob”. When the corp that I worked for began laying off Bobs left and right, I decided that it was time to free myself from their slavery. I’m happily an independent consultant now. When will the Bobs die off? I know of several. They are just waiting for that next Bob Job to fall out of the sky. And it’s not going to happen in today’s economy.

Stop Calling Me!

I hate telemarketers. I signed up for the National Do Not Call List and Texas No Call List today. Hopefully the phone spam will end.

Hello, world!

I’ve finally gotten around to setting up my own blog. The madness has begun. And I have no idea where it’s going to take me.