Oh BTW: Happy New Year!

I'll be posting my resolutions tomorrow - as soon as I can think up of some. {grin}

I'm finally getting over this sinus infection, I hope. I can actually breathe today. Got the NLA tweaks done and ready posting tomorrow and I've done some tweaking of this page as well.

Google put out this page that shows what kind of things were searched for this year. Interesting. Some say it shows what the people were into throughout the year. Google even calls it a Zeitgeist actually. (look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls!)

Speaking of Google, it was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Web in this Guardian article. I have to agree with the article, I couldn't think of any web site that should have been listed that wasn't - except for mine of course! {grin}

Time for another round of "which x are you tests" Here are a couple:

Alice in Wonderland Test: White Rabbit

You're harried, and often have too many things to take care of to stop and enjoy life (whether from procrastinating or not). You feel safe when you're busy, though, and you're somewhat of a wuss, and often caught off-guard. You're easily startled, and may be somewhat of a push-over -- but if you think you've the right, you'll boss others around.

AND
I'm the fifth Beatle!

Take the Which Beatle Are You? Quiz.

You know, that sinus infection still won't leave me alone. Here I thought I had it licked, but now its back with a vengance. Oh well.

I read this interesting article about software "bloat". Kind of interesting for those into software coding.

I hope to have more updates later, but I gotta get back to tweaking the NLA web page. for New Year's. At least the Prevent child Abuse Nebraska page is out of my hands and in someone else's. {July 19, 2002: Active link removed by request}

Sorry about not having much for you today true believers, but I was laid out in bed almost all day yesterday with a nasty sinus infection. I'm better now - so that means I've finally done some updates. Check 'em out.

Julie expressed an interest in anagrams earlier today, so I found this site that might help her out. Hope you enjoy it Julie!

Back home now. Had an interesting weekend up at the in-laws. We got them hooked up on the Internet, so now I have to watch what I'm saying, my mother-in-law is watching! {just joking!}

Not much new to talk about right now. Julie & I exchanged gifts when we got back today. Well, what gifts that weren't locked in the apartment office that we can't get into until after Christmas. Oh well. She got me Zoo Tycoon, so that means even more distractions from my projects this break! Well, gotta go - catch ya'll tomorrow!

Hey, not much new today. Got my new Emeraldfusion.net hooded sweatshirt today. (plug, plug) It's sweet! (plug, plug) Get yours from the EmeraldFusion.net store - they disappear on January 1st! Also started to get Julie's gifts via delivery today, so it looks like I will actually have something to hand to her on Christmas. We are headed up to her folks tonight - so don't expect anything from me until around the 26th.

Have a happy whatever you are having!

I now have proof that someone reads this page regularly. I was asked why I haven't updated in a while.. {grin} I've been busy working on two other web development projects. Who would of thought I would be doing more work during my vacation than when I'm at my real job. I got an e-mail from one of my coworkers that said

STOP WORKING! I MEAN IT! STOP RIGHT NOW!

VACATION YOURSELF DAMN IT!

{a nagging service brought to you by the letters S and T and the number 13}

I guess maybe I should chill and not reply to any work e-mail for a bit.

Just a bit of "virus news" for every one. There is a hoax floating around in e-mail about a possible virus. You may receive a message that looks similar to the one quoted below. This is not a virus! sulfnbk.exe is probably on all Microsoft Windows computers. I've received quite a few questions one this one in the past couple of days - so I imagine a lot of you may see it within the next few weeks. Please do not follow the directions in the hoax message. Someone probably got a different virus and came to the wrong conclusion. For more information you can check out: symentec's or VMyths pages about it.

I am really psyched. UNL is hosting a comic art symposium! Featured speakers are Bill Sienkiewicz, Will Eisner, and Chris Ware! Can you say nifty-keen??

Tomorrow my good buddy Jason finally graduates from the U. Congratulations Jason! For those of who don't know, he is the master of the often plugged Theme of Absence website.

Links R Us:

• Steganography, Next Generation - This Wired article talks about the next steps in imbedding information in computer images. This one is about a new steganography-based technique hides barcodes inside pictures and could help create forgery-proof identity documents.
  
• White House Greetings Office - Want a letter from good ol ' Dubya himself? Go here for instructions. This isn't a new thing, but I came across this web site recently.
  
• The crime of distributed computing - "A college computer technician who offered his school's unused computer processing power for an encryption research project will be tried next month in Georgia for computer theft and trespassing charges that carry a potential total of 120 years in jail."
  
• Woman seeks husband by auction - again - Kay Hammonds's at it again. The 24-year-old blonde "Internet entrepreneur" from Birmingham has put herself up for auction in a bid to find herself a husband after being pulled from eBay earlier.
  
• Concerts to raise money for battle against record companies - "Elton John, No Doubt and the Eagles are among a group of musicians who will perform at five benefit concerts the night before the Grammy Awards telecast to raise money for a legislative fight against the record industry." So lets see... Music lovers don't like the music labels, and the musicians don't like them. mmmm.... It seems some group is about to be squeezed.
  
• Chinese to become Internet's lingua franca in 10 years - This article talks about what might and might not happen. {from slashdot.org}
  
• File sharing program company ignores court order - Take that music labels! KaZaa tells court that it can't shut down something it doesn't control. {from slashdot.org}
  
• Lord of the Rings is NOT Mein Kampf - An editorial going against the theory that Lord of the Rings is a metaphor for racist works. {from Theme of Absence}
  
• The Hungry Site - Every 3.6 seconds another New Economy employee gets fired. Help save one former employee from going back to work... {from Ana}
  

I got a message forwarded from Julie today, and it made me think. At first I thought it was a page that was spreading words of good faith, but having the facts all messed up. I'm not against uplifting religious messages - but I am against any message that unintentionally lies while trying to spread truth. I am a natural skeptic when I read this type of message in my mail box.

Anyway I did a bit of digging and found out that the message was composed of a couple of things. First of all it included a statement about Billy Graham's daughter being interviewed on the Early Show.

... Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" And Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said "I believe that God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman that He is, I believe that He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand that He leave us alone?"

While not exactly what was said - it sure is close enough for me. For the full transcript of the interview go here.

The rest of the message was composed of two earlier statements. One was by a retired Navy chaplain about how we've asked God out of our lives. You find it here. It seems to talking about high school shootings more than terrorist activities and war, and I don't necessarily agree with everything it said, it fits in the message.

The last part was another message (you can read it here) about how "Funny" it is when we dismiss God, yet complain when he isn't present.

What's the point? Well, if you receive that message from a friend or loved one - know that the facts are true. Graham's daughter really was on TV and said something similar to what was in the message. Its up to you to decide if you agree with the point of view that was presented or not.

Hoo Boy, It's been a while since I typed up anything. I've been running around trying to tie up the lose ends and yet still have a social life. Thursday night was crazy - we won darts 10-3! Not bad against a team that won 12-1 last week. However, this week there was another team that went 10-3 and one that went 13-0! (In case you hadn't guessed, in this league the teams play 13 matches each night.) I don't know what to think about this season's league....

Hopefully, I'll get some stuff done this week while I'm on "vacation". I already determined that I'm going to doing about the same amount of "work" - I just won't be in the office. Erf! I shouldn't complain - I brought it all on myself.

Maybe you've heard about the Nebraska budget crunch. We Nebraskans have this constitutional amendment that says the state government can not have a deficit budget. So what happens when halfway through the budget year, tax revenues are dramatically lower than expected? A special session is called and just about every state-funded agency gets their budget cut. Now one group of faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has suggested that the faculty give up their pay raises next year to help out in the budget crunch. That's a noble gesture, but I've got my graduate school bills to pay and I've got to eat! If you want more information you can check out the Daily Nebraskan's (campus newspaper) article, the Lincoln Journal Star, or the Omaha World Herald. Disclaimer: Yes, I am a faculty member of the UNL community, but I am speaking for myself and not representing any other person, group or organization.

Here's a bunch of links - enjoy

• Twin Peaks is coming out on DVD - I loved that show as a kid, now I can have the first seven episodes on a disc. Seven episodes! Some series are coming out 2 per disc. Whata bargain!
  
• XWF Wrestling home page - The WWF has some competition, maybe... Here's where Rowdy Roddy Piper, Mr Perfect Curt Hennig, the Road Warriors, Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine, 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan, Vampiro and 'Screamin' Norman Smiley are wrestling now.
  
• Weird World Of Wrestling - Speaking of wrestling... since the closing of Wrestlecrap.com I've been looking for a page that showed the really odd parts of wrestling. I didn't know there were that many wrestling mummies...
  
• Geeklog - This more more for me than anything else. I like the set up, and I might switch to their software to run this site. Maybe.
  
• Internet History - This Internet Society page links to lots of other sites that deal with the history of the Internet, including the very informative Hobbes Internet Timeline {from TOURBUS}
  
• Winners and loser banned - "Officials from a Buckinghamshire football league have banned teams from publicizing their match results so that losers are not embarrassed. " So the kids never learn that losing a game does not mean that they, themselves, are losers. I don't get it... {from Theme of Absence}
  
• Ig Noble Prizes - The Ig Nobel Prizes honor people whose achievements "cannot or should not be reproduced." Scientific endeavors such as researching damage caused by falling coconuts or the discovery of why shower curtains billow inwards. {from TOURBUS}
  
• Libertarians participate in a Walk for Capitalism - That's right. Somebody is out there promoting capitalism here in the United States. I'm shocked - not. {from Theme of Absence}
  
• Ten Ways To Make Windows XP Run Better - Fred Langa gives his tips to tweaking XP performance. {from Langalist}
  
• Music from TV Commercials - I thought I had linked to this earlier, but apparently I haven't. Trying to figure out the music behind some commercials. Try here. {from /usr/bin/girl}
  
• Plastic Magnet - That's right a magnet made completely of plastic. And it was developed at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. That that budget beaters!
  
• FBI 'Fesses Up to Net Spy App - "An FBI spokesman confirmed Wednesday that the U.S. government is working on a controversial Internet spying technology, code-named "Magic Lantern," which could be used to eavesdrop on computer communications by suspected criminals."
  
• fudged.org - Another web log. I just really like that layout.
  
• If You Don't Want American Flag Stamps, Watch Out! - Someone got harassed at the post office when they asked for stamps that did not have the American flag on it. {from daypop}
  
• Quirky Japan - One of the reasons I surf the web. I wasn't looking for this, but I'm glad I found it. Informative, yet fun.
  
• Murphy's Laws - If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. All the laws of Murphy in one place. {from /usr/bin/girl}
  

Oh man, what a dreary morning this is! Driving to work this morning, the streets were about as dark as they usually are when I'm driving home from darts - at 11:30 pm! Crazy! I heard that it was snowing, but I sure didn't see any.

I have to mention this wacked out dream I had last night. I normally don't remember my dreams, let alone talk about them - but this one was odd. I was alone in my parents' old house. I decided I needed to run to the gas station to get a soda. I leave, I come back - there are two red necks there. Basically acting like they've lived there their whole lives. Sitting on my parents furniture, drinking beers, etc. I chase them off and then go into the back yard. There are a couple more. This continues ad nauseum throughout the whole house. I'm keeping people from hot wiring my parents' car, stopping them from moving pictures on the walls. Eventually I'm in the living room with about 15 complete strangers and decide to call the cops. I can barely hear them on the phone, but I managed to hear that the local constabilary are out and can't come in to help. The dream then jumps to me, my sister Crystal and my parents in their pickup. Crystal tells me that they were from "Ray, you know the special learning community?"

What makes this really bizzare is that I recognized no body in the dream except my family, the house was the house I lived in most of my life - with some major changes. (We never had a living room that big...), and I know of no place named Ray were there are "special learning" people. Very odd.

Well, gotta get to work. I might have more today, I might not. Ta Ta Til Then!

'Lo all. I'm here, at work, late. Waiting for some things to come in so I can finish my projects and go home. Have I mentioned how much I'm looking forward to my vacation?

Had our holiday skit today. I was Bond, James Bond. It went pretty good. Lot's of giggles, chuckles, and other laughs. I've had fun these past few years being in the skit, but I'm thinking it is time for me to step down and let someone else have the spotlight. Not that I'm tired of being in them, I just want to share.

Belly up to the bar boys, the links are on me!

• Sites Forlorn When Reborn as Porn - A disturbing trend, porn merchants buying lapsed domain names and placing porn sites there.
  
• A dog is a woman's best friend - What happens when someone decided "That's a new and perverted use for a robotic toy dog? This is what happens. Adult themes here - but no pictures you preverts {grin}
  
• Fun things to do with the microwave - If you've been following the Circus Peanuts thread on the message board, you'll realize that my putting this link on here is probably a huge mistake.
  
• 20 Year Usenet Archive Now Available - "Google has fully integrated the past 20 years of Usenet archives into Google Groups". That means posts back to 1981 are available online! Here's a Wired article about this great resource being opened up as well. It's amazing. Check out early discussions on things like AIDS (1982), Madonna (1983), The WWW (1991) and more!
  
• Institute for Naming Children Humanely - A tongue in cheek page suggesting that parent name their children something sensible. {from little.yellow.different}
  

I am soooo looking forward to my vacation next week. Of course I won't be taking it completely off, as I'm planning on tweaking the NLA home page, as well as do some research for a future article. Oh well, at least I won't be at work.

Links-a-rama. And no personality tests this time! I promise! {grin}

• Mr. Futz - An online animation. Warning - you need Flash 5 and a rather speedy connection. {from Tricia}
  
• Ode to lutefisk - A song that sings the praise of nasty fish. {from Ana}
  
• Gibson Research - A good place to find out about some of the lesser known computer security leaks and problems. They may not get the most press, but aren't those the ones that crackers would use?
  
• Surveying the Digital Future - The UCLA Internet Report 2001. You'll need Adobe Acrobat and a lot of time if you want to read the whole thing, but it is interesting to those of us studying the Internet as a medium. {from slashdot.org}
  
• Sperm Donor Must Pay Child Support - ummm, Let's think about this for a bit... A person donates his ... ahem .. fluids so a lesbian couple can have a kid. The couple breaks up and now the donor has to pay the child support? Say Wha? {from daypop.com}
  
• Create-A-Fart - I am so sorry I passed this link around at work. Many hours of melodic bodily noises came from various offices (I repeat offices!) I am sooooo sorry!

Of course as I was about to make this monstrous update - blogger starts having fits. Well, better late than never..

Sorry about the span inbetween updates, I've been just trying to fit in as much as I can at work during the day, and then Julie & I have been trying to do more stuff together at night instead of me sitting here trying to entertain the masses. {grin.}

Lots o' Links below:

• Ted Turner Laments Cable Mergers - Billionaire Ted tells us about the good ol' days.
  
• Japanese woman dies trying to find Fargo money - "The Detroit Lakes police chief said the cause of a Japanese woman's death has still not been determined after her body was found near Detroit Lakes, Minn., on Nov. 15 -- six days after she was seen in Bismarck trying to find money buried by a character in the movie 'Fargo.'" {from daypop}
  
• UFOs 'spotted' on 11 September footage - The Register reports on this "discovery"
  
• Big stink over a simple link - A British webmaster gets told not to link to a page - by an a firm that prides itself on "e-business savvy" - even like this.
  
• The Quest to End Game Addiction - Is there such a thing? (I ask as I go through Sims and Civ3 withdrawals....)
  
• Is your son a computer hacker? - Warning - this is satire! (I can only hope it is an atempt at satire.....) All I know is that I was rolling after I read it... {from /usr/bin/girl}
  
• 'Goner' Today, and Forgotten - "Why bother to code a clever and long-lived virus when a stupid one that spreads for an hour or two gets just as much attention from antiviral experts and the media?" Is it really as bad as it seems?
  
• When does your Window close? - Here's a page that tells you when your operating system will be considered kaput by Microsoft.
  
• Three articles about e-paper. Apparently there is a working sample now!
  
  • The Register
    
  • Excite News {from slashdot.org}
    
  • BBC News
  {from slashdot.org}
  
• And now a whole bunch of personality quizes..
  
  • Political Identity Quiz - My friend Jason over at Theme of Absence put this together.
    
  • 
    
    I am 72.5% British, just like
    Michael Caine
    Though you know your way around London you are most likely to retire to the West Coast of the USA.
    
    Take the Brit Quiz at
    www.darrenlondon.tripod.com/britquiz1.htm
    Quiz written by Daz
    How British Are You? {from Ooh, a Ceiling}
    
    
  • 
    Which Reservoir Dogs Character are you?
    {from daypop}
    
    

  • If I were a work of art, I would be Salvador Dali's Persistence of Memory. I am a surreal landscape composed of several disjointed and bizarre components. I like to keep an eye on the time, although the very concept is fluid for me. People are never sure what they are seeing when they look at me. Which work of art would you be? The Art Test

    {from Itenerant from NY}
    
    
  • And speaking of the Art Test....
    

    I'm The Art Test!

    I'm, erm, a pretty nondescript test that just does what it says on the tin, really. I don't thrive on in-jokes, controversy or irony, nor do I host ads... I have some pretty pictures though, will that do?

    Click here to find out which test you are!

    {from daypop} Now they've thought of everything...
    

  
  

That's it for now. I'll see ya later

Had a fun weekend, went up to the Childers mid-holiday affair. Saw all my uncles and my aunt from my Dad's side and a few cousins I haven't seen forever. And of course saw Grandma. It was fun. The three-plus hour up there and then the same back wasn't quite so much fun, but Julie drove most of it, so I can't complain too much.

More Quick Links:

• AT&T Text to Voice - Enter some English text and listen to very clear computer generated voice. {from wickedlittlegirl}
  
• FHM's 100 sexiest videos - mmm Sex and Rock and Roll, who'd a thunk it? Oh and as the title implies - there's sexual overtones. {also from wickedlittlegirl}
  

• If I was a James Bond villain, I would be Francisco Scaramanga. I enjoy good food, monopolising the world's energy supplies, and sex before assassinating people. I am played by Christopher Lee in The Man with the Golden Gun. Who would you be? James Bond Villain Personality Test

  from HostileRedhead.com