Sometimes I worry that I'll develop Alzheimer's disease, but no one will notice.

Of course, it's all very embarrassing and sad that Elliott Spitzer's name was leaked to the press, along with an affidavit alleging his involvement in prostitution. Now, will someone please explain why this case was prosecuted by the Public Integrity Section under the White-Slave Traffic Act of 1910? Also known as The Mann Act, this law has been used most notably to bring down politically motivated targets.

LiveJournal gives you a method to ban users from commenting on your journal, without removing them from your friends list. There's no indication to the banned user, until they try to post a comment. Then, and only then, LJ indicates the user has been banned by disabling the check box to comment with your own id:

( )

Logged in user: ljuser - you have been banned from commenting in this journal.

To make the state of things more clear, I wrote a Greasemonkey script that remembers people who have banned you, then changes all of the comment/reply links in that user's journal.( Read more... )

My local public radio station has been off the air for a week, while they've been upgrading the antenna to digital. They promised to do it without disrupting listeners, so I can only assume they believe we weren't listening, anyway. ( Read more... )

My daughter persuaded me to take her and a friend to This Christmas on Friday. Despite a few good performances by fine actors, most of it was written to be predictable and clichéd. The final 10 minutes consist of the cast, out of character, dancing for the camera. If you end up seeing it anyway, look for this funny blooper: Shortly after Michael 'Baby' Whitfield (played by R&B star, Chris Brown) gets a camera as an early Christmas present, he is wearing the camera around his neck during a scene in the kitchen. Watch that camera carefully. That Chris Brown is a master of illusion!

I've been without a printer for a couple of weeks, now. The Epson 1280 wide format ink jet printer stopped feeding paper properly. It would drag the left side of the paper inside before the right. This crumpled the paper and ruined the print out pretty reliably. I would just replace it with a new printer, but good wide format printers are kinda expensive, yo. I examined it carefully, tried to clean the rollers and adjust the settings, and looked on fixyourownprinter.com for probable causes. Finally, I asked my brother for help. He formerly worked on copiers and such, so he offered to help me see which mechanical part needed fixing in my printer. My brother figured the rollers probably needed to be replaced, since that's one of the first parts to go on copiers. He checked the paper feed path and ran a sheet of paper through it. After about 15 seconds, he said, "Well, first we should pull this pen out of the bottom of the paper feed tray."

*head desk*

The printer works just fine, now.

Oh, if only there was a Chipotle close enough. Won't you go in my place, tonight? And take a picture, please?
( Read more... )

I'm glad we decided to go on Sunday, instead.

Bull gets loose at Georgia National Fair

Excerpted, with liberties: ( Read more... )

In my ongoing effort to get every last one of you playing Halo 3 with me on Xbox Live, I offer up the following:

fye - Halo 3 $44.99 after rebate & pay w/Paypal
Microsoft Xbox 360 Headset for $8
Refurbished Xbox 360 Platinum 20GB System $278 at Geeks

Halo 3 is great, though I'm having trouble fun learning how all the new weapons and controls work. Oh! And bonus: When none of your friends are online in Xbox Live, Halo 3 comes with this "campaign" mode you can play to kill time.

I'll be getting my copy at midnight for $60 + tax, but for all you (other) procrastinators, you can order Halo 3 for $49.99 + $0.99 shipping from FamilyVideo today.

Also worth noting: Buy.com has a 13 month Xbox Live subscription card for $38.77 shipped.

This month is National Food Safety Education Month, and this year's theme is "Foodborne Pathogens: Your Family's Health is in Your Hands." So, with respect to you folks who have no soap of any kind visible in the bathroom, what the hell are you doing after you use the bathroom? A quick rinse under the water and a wipe on the pants, is it? Maybe just rub your hands with a towel and whistle a happy tune? Clap your hands three times and off you go? I know people who are mildly phobic about germs, who wouldn't think of eating someone else's leftovers, but who still don't have any soap in the bathroom. I have a friend who, when she takes her daughters to a restaurant restroom, forbids them from washing their hands, ostensibly so they don't pick up germs. *head desk* From whence comes this topsy turvy thinking? Do you think "They're my germs, so they must be safe for me, at least?" Even if the bathroom germs weren't reason enough, regular handwashing (say, each time you go to the bathroom) is the easiest way to keep yourself from catching a cold, the flu, or a food-borne illness. Look, I don't expect everyone to change for me (yes, I do), and I realize there may sometimes be good reasons to skip handwashing (no, there aren't), but please, just humor me: Put some soap out on the kitchen and bathroom counter, just in case.

Dear Ed,

Please add the following to the end of year hardware purchases. I need this printer. ( Possibly as much as I have ever needed anything in my entire life... )

Regards,
clayfoot

I got one of those little R/C helicopters from woot.com.



I finally got it trimmed (there are left/right trim buttons on the remote) so that it takes off without spinning out of control, but I can't figure out how to make it go straight or turn reliably. Mostly, it just circles to the right in a big arc. I know the tail rotor is actually doing something, because I can hold it in my hand and hear the tail rotor going faster/slower when I press the stick left/right. When it's airborne, however, the helicopter doesn't seem to respond. So, I can't get it to fly straight or turn left, for example. In any case, it seems like the helicopter should at least respond in some noticeable way when I use the steering stick. Any idea what's going on here?

Quick, before they realize what they've done! Download "Seriously West Coast, Volume 1" for free from the Vancouver Sun.

Seriously West Coast







UPDATE: They came to their senses, and the free download link is no longer available

Under considerable pressure, I bought the first Halo:Uprising comic book at my local comic and card shop, even though it was, indeed, more than fifty cents. I haven't figured out how to play it yet, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

 

From (kharmakazy pirate post)

Seems like a contradiction in terms, but I'll take it.

In another blow to spineless weaklings everywhere, scientists reveal that the smell of a dominant man makes women smarter. Pheromones released by such males stimulate neuron growth in the female brain, while pheromones from other males just made the females want to spray them with mace. Sales of Jordan cologne went through the roof on the news, while high schools across the country have begun organizing tours for girls through the varsity locker room prior to standardized testing. In related science news, attractive, dominant females still shown to turn males into gibbering idiots.

LiveScience.com

Following up on coffeejedi's LJ poll to choose the greatest fictional rivalry, I created a Condorcet poll to allow ranked voting. Write-ins are allowed, but get them in quickly to give everyone time to vote. Results are available at the polling site, and will be updated here periodically.

Vote now!

( The contenders )

Short, barefoot vegetarians preferred. Travel, education, and medical benefits provided. We maintain a drug-free and sexual harassment-free work environment.

Apply Now

Dear Mr. Elitch,

Yesterday, I learned that there is nothing to be lost by inviting friends to join you in line, and nothing to be gained by reporting people who do so. Here is how I learned this lesson: While waiting in the hour and a half line for the Mind Eraser, the two boys ahead of me invited two of their friends by phone to join them in line at the 45 minute wait point. Those two friends, in turn, invited three more friends, who invited another friend (this last just before we got onto the ride). At the top of the line, I identified and reported all eight of them to the ride staff. The staff member confronted the eight, who vehemently denied the accusation. The staff member asked me if I would like to go ahead of the eight. I responded that, no, I wanted them all to go to the end of the line. At this point, the staff member walked away, and nothing more came of it.

Since your Flash Pass for bypassing long lines is $30 per person, I can only conclude that this alternate policy was created especially for large groups who did not wish to buy the Flash Pass, and who could have group members in line on rides all over the park. In the future, I will endeavor to buy a Flash Pass, or visit the park only with a large group.

Regards,
Clayfoot