Thursday, December 29, 2005

SourceForge.net: Open Discussion: "So you just have to apply the correct file permissions.?
the starter script xr?
all other files r?
the uploads dir u rwx?
?
for 1.2.x similar, just that there is no upload
"
SourceForge.net: Open Discussion
Boing Boing: Mr Jalopy's love/hate relationship with the Complete New Yorker: "Reader comment: Glenn Fleishman says: 'The Cartoon Bank almost certainly grosses between $4 million and $10 million a year, and produces a very fine net that may be in the millions. I wrote about the brilliant Bob Mankoff back in 1998 to 2001 in several articles across a few different publications. For instance, back six years ago, he told me that 'On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog' had netted the cartoonist $100,000 for his share. And that was six years ago. They don't release a lot of numbers, but I got some out of him, which is the basis for my wide range based on their projects since.

'In fact, I've argued elsewhere that when The New Yorker has been profitable, it's profit boost must be almost entirely attributable to The Cartoon Bank, which has extremely high margins as it's scaled up: they have a staff and a database, but much of the routine work happens during production of each magazine now that they've scanned all the cartoons in the back issues.' "

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

GeekList: Sweet Spots, Gamer Types, and Similarity: "Goa (7.97-1.25-1380-3.5-2)
Louis XIV (7.59-1.11-713-3.13-2)
La Citt? (7.57-1.27-1092-3.27-2)
Maharaja: Palace Building in India (7.73-1.26-832-3.22-2)
Traders of Genoa, The (7.62-1.32-1097-3.32-2)
Bonaparte at Marengo (8.27-1.11-135-3.24-2)
In the Shadow of the Emperor (7.34-1.22-464-3.56-2)
Taj Mahal (7.79-1.30-1267-3.24-2)
Power Grid (8.20-1.23-1959-3.45-2)
Keythedral (7.48-1.05-556-2.90-2)
Reef Encounter (7.77-1.34-310-3.55-2)
Amun-Re (7.66-1.21-1449-3.05-2)
Java (7.12-1.33-766-3.63-2)
L?wenherz (7.47-1.27-725-3.07-2)
Caylus (8.61-1.25-396-3.75-2)
Das Zepter von Zavandor (7.70-1.32-236-3.68-1)
Libert? (7.37-1.30-433-3.68-2)
We the People (7.46-1.32-333-3.35-2)
Hammer of the Scots (7.94-1.46-607-3.26-2)
Tycoon (7.14-1.03-206-2.91-2)
Primordial Soup (7.37-1.15-727-2.72-2)
Wooden Ships & Iron Men (6.91-1.28-407-3.37-1)
WildLife (6.93-1.30-378-3.41-2)
Stephenson's Rocket (7.31-1.34-640-3.17-1)
Santiago (7.57-1.10-563-2.58-2) "
Selecting Resources, Guide to Library Research: "Depending on your topic, different types of resources (the web, newspapers, magazines, journals, books, etc.) may be more appropriate than others. You need to be aware of what kind of information is in each type of resource and who the intended audience is. Use the timeline below to learn more:"

Monday, December 19, 2005

BoardGameGeek: "Big Box Battlefleet, complete with all miniatures. Box is slightly beat up, but still solid. Buy from me now, and i will ship the Next Business Day!

Will happily combine shipping with multiple orders.

SPECIAL! Take 5% off the total price for EACH game you buy from me after the first one!! Maximum 30% off. Save on Shipping, and get an incredible deal"
BGG Thread: User Review: "One possible bit of confusion that might have influenced Tom's review is the incorrect translation of the 'Rotate' card, which in fact means 'take a pawn from one end, move it to the other end, and shift the whole line down one to take its place.' I just picked this one up as well, since a) it looks great and b) someone said it was going out of print soon. From what I read in the rules, there is some pretty great variety in the kinds of maneuvering you can do with the cards, but I think you have to have a certain mind-set or ability to visualize several moves ahead. People who don't like abstracts or have trouble visualizing several transformations ahead will understandably have trouble with Phoenix. Just remember the cards are very versatile...although some only allow you to move or swap pieces a few positions away, it can be either to the left OR the right, and it does NOT dictate which pieces can be switched. In other words, the move doesn't have to look exactly like it looks on the card. Finally, if a five card hand doesn't give you enough choices, you could always bump it up to six or even seven cards with little impact on game balance I think."
Battlestations review, by Tom Vasel: "Fun Factor: If a player isn't scared away by the awesome hugeness of the game and the thick rulebook, they will most likely love the game. It's everything you've seen in almost every science fiction movie - in a game. The replayability is huge, and the game induces the sort of stories like 'Remember the time that Sam loaded himself in the missile, and fired himself at the enemy ship, and missed and hit the sun?', or 'remember when Bob the engineer was cornered by two aliens and killed both with one lucky throw of a grenade'. Games that leave stories like this are worth playing, worth getting involved with, and worth having fun in. "
Amazon.com: The Optimistic Child: Proven Program to Safeguard Children from Depression & Build Lifelong Resilience: Books: Martin E. Seligman: "'m an Emotional Intelligence coach. I work with adults teaching them EQ competencies, including optimism, and I've seen it work wonders! Since reading this book, I've been teaching it to children with the same results. It's particularly important in children with high IQs. Their propensity to perceive more deeply, and their perfectionism made them set-up for depression. They can get into trouble with their thinking (can't we all!). Seligman's theory works, if you take the time to understand it and follow his instructions. The essence of optimism is not the upward cycle, but being able to avoid the downward spiral when a disappointment, loss or failure occurs. It's a way of thinking that can be changed. Would you like to live 19% longer, enjoy better health, be more likely to fulfill your potential ... all this backed by Seligman's years of research ... and wouldn't you want this for your child?"

Friday, December 16, 2005

earthbrowser for os x $24.95

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

The advantages of being in the weeds (kottke.org): "

I've worked in a number of different places over the years and the ones I ended up liking the least were the places that allowed people (myself included) to hide. Some companies just have way too many people for the amount of available work. Other times, particular employees have a certain status within the organization that allows them to determine their own schedules and projects. Deadlines are often malleable, meaning that work can pushed off. Inexperienced or nontechnical managers might not have a clue how long a task should take a programmer...budgeting 2 weeks for a six-hour task that seems hard buys one a lot of blog-surfing time. Companies with coasting employees are everything a kitchen isn't; they just feel slow, wasteful, lifeless, and eventually they suck the life out of you too."
SECURITY - Comcast.net
Battle Phase Games: Home of Star Fleet Tactics and Samurai Blades: On Deadly Ground
Interview | George R. R. Martin: "Do you have a writing schedule?

I get up every day and work in the morning. I have my coffee and get to work. On good days I look up and it's dark outside and the whole day has gone by and I don't know where it's gone. But there's bad days, too. Where I struggle and sweat and a half hour creeps by and I've written three words. And half a day creeps by and I've written a sentence and a half and then I quit for the day and play computer games. You know, sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you. [Laughs]

Are your books very carefully plotted? A room with maps or anything?

I keep maps but, no. I don't do any of that. I have a general idea of where I'm going but I let the characters meet me and the twists and turns along the road come out in the writing. | January 2001

"
Cardhaus Games - Card & Board Games - Settlers of Zarahemla Uberplay Games
GeekList: Checkers set as a game system

Monday, December 12, 2005

GeekList: Wanted: Computer versions of board games (preferably free). Mac OS X compatible, please. Thanks.: "A second warning: The place is largely german. So is the software. Luckily, if you go to the downloaded folder, find a text file called 'brettspielwelt.prop' and open it using textedit. scroll down to the line which says 'nation=de' and change it to 'nation=en'. Now, much of it will be in english. Don't worry, there are LOTS of english speaking playrs, and they are very helpful. The interface is not terrily firendly, but by poking around and asking questions you'll get the hang of it. "
overstated: Migrating to del.icio.us
Lazy Sheep Bookmarklet

Sunday, December 11, 2005

BGG Thread: Session Report: "I played 'Wings of War':http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/9203 with Mike Chase, Randy Farmer, Dave Beauley, and Chad (err?) last week at 'SB-Yahoo!':http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sb-boardgamers/
Four games in roughly 120 minutes. Mike proposed several variations on the basic rules which seemed to improve some of the down time, and in particular removed the long circling for position that seemed common in some end-games of the base game. The most critical deltas:

- The shooting distances are increased to 6' and 12' respectively. We used standard wooden measuring rules as commonly found is school classrooms for this.

- Hits are scored when the firing plane can reach any part of the target plane's card. Specifically the attacker does not have to be able to *see* any part of the target plane, just the plane's card.
"
GeekList: "I Did It My Way"...Games (you think) have been improved by your house rules.: "Variants from Bruno Faidutti's ideal game library:"
Good Experience Games - good games, fun games

Friday, December 09, 2005

Toshiba Tecra 500CDT - AlsaOpensrcOrg
Martin Ruckert: Linux on the Toshiba 500CDT FAQ
Variety.com - Reviews - States of Grace: "Whereas 'God's Army''God's Army' focused on a longtime missionary and his wet-behind-the-ears protege, 'States of Grace' finds a similar dynamic in the relationship between Elder Lozano (Ignacio Serricchio), a Latino missionary who's literally counting the days until the end of his mission, and Elder Farrell (Lucas Fleischer), a wide-eyed rube seemingly immune to cynicism.New pic's tone is established early on, when the streets of Venice, Calif., become the backdrop for a nerve-jangling drive-by shooting, with Lozano and Farrell caught in the fray. When the hail of bullets stops, they come to the aid of the intended victim, African-American gang member Carl (Lamont Stephens).When Lozano rips off his shirt to make a bandage, he reveals a body filled with gang tattoos and scars from bullet wounds -- vestiges of the life he led before he found God."

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Canon i550 Service Error 5100 - fixyourownprinter.com: "Re: Canon i550 Service Error 5100 by FIXED IT! (8/31/05 9:43 AM) reply / -
I fixed this f*cker before. Trust me its hard. As Barry pointed out this error is an error within the printer. This error means that there is something obstructing the printing process. Check inside your printer through the gears that you can see under the lid. There should be something obstructing the gears such as dirt or in my case popcorn. There was even some paper caught underneath the rollers that I had to jiggle around to even see. Check VERY thoroughly.

"
StarWarsBattleForNaboo.PDF (application/pdf Object)
Science Fiction: Land Warfare
Vor the Maelstrom Miniatures Game
Privateer Press Forums -> Hordes Quick Start Rules
[TMP] "Alternatives to Warhammer for a 10 year old?" Topic

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Free Science Fiction Wargames Rules
Formula D?Combat Racing.
|Aaron Dunlap| Mini LED Flashlight!: "That's right folks, something else in an Altoids tin. The tin de'jour is an Altoids Smalls tin, and the function de'jour is being a sweet little flashlight."
View Collections: "This game is a terrific blend of many game concepts I like. Blocks for fog of war. Area movement so it FEELS like a strategy game. Enough meat to keep players of more complex games like Advanced Third Reich happy, but not too much to drive Axis & Allies players away. I've only played with one guy that didn't care for it, but a dozen others love it! The play time is probably about 12-14 hours once you know the game, so it can be finished in a day. Try this game out if you haven't. I got it at Boulder for $63, which is an outstanding value for all the beautiful components. Since it came out about three months ago, I have not played another game besides this one...it is that captivating! Easily one of the best wargames I've played.%uFFFD"

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Crokinole Game: "Our deluxe patented Crokinole Boards with their rich look and feel are the perfect solution for both value and space. Choose the classic 3-in-1 and your family will enjoy playing this timeless game for years to come. Made with patented Crokinole Rails and Bumpers."

Saturday, December 03, 2005

"Follow Me, Men

Free fantasy battle rules. Looks cool.

Friday, December 02, 2005

Interviews by an Optimist #74 - Chad Ellis: "Contrast that with our
launch of Battleground at GenCon Indy this year. We had a coupon in the
book that everyone gets in their bag offering ten free dice to everyone
who does a demo. We designed our demos to be just ten minutes long, even
though that meant we couldn't show all the cool stuff in the game. We
chose staff people that are friendly and professional. That combination
meant that gamers had a nice incentive to try our game out and that it
wouldn't cost them much in time to do it. The end result is that
roughly 1,200 people did a Battleground demo over the course of the
weekend and we sold 580 decks, not including sales to retailers and
picking up a Peruvian distributor. "
Interviews by an Optimist #74 - Chad Ellis: "The board game business is an awful business. The
average sales of a new game are substantially lower than the minimum
number of copies needed to print it at a decent cost. Word of mouth is
great in some ways but awful insofar as many gamers play with a group and
are happy if 'the group' has a copy of any but the best games.
Distributors, to the extent that they push games at all, focus heavily on
what's new, so a game often has a brief window to get traction. That's
just a start. The net result is that there are a small number of
hits, a decent number of games that do OK and a majority of games that
lose money or at least don't make a good return on investment. This is
especially true for smaller companies like us. "

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Free Online Graph Paper / Hexagonal PDF Generator
The Hivelogic Narrative: Articles: Building Ruby, Rails, LightTPD, and MySQL on Tiger
Circus Minimus Errata: "Circus
Minimus Advanced Chariot Capture Rules Revised
04.Oct.2000

Advanced Chariot Capture Rules: These are
optional, use them instead of the regular rules for chariot
jumping/capture if you like (we all find them to be a great hoot). In
any case where a dismounted charioteer tries to get aboard another
manned chariot (by jumping off the median or during the corpse move
(moving the two spaces available to the running guy), roll one die to
see if the attempt was successful. On a 5 or 6, the running
charioteer successfully mounts the chariot (original driver remains
in place) on any other roll, he is simply in that space, dismounted
as before. There is no limit to the number of charioteers that can be
in one chariot (but I?ve never seen more than two...).

The chariot?s owner (the guy driving it when
somebody jumps in) continues to drive his chariot normally (beware of
the weapon restrictions based on Control selection...you can choose
hard whip, just don?t expect to use your sword, too). The chariot
behaves normally for the owning player.

During each move with such an arrangement in
play, the corpse attacks once in his move (or he can jump off and
give up). During the chariot?s move, the driver moves normally, can
attack to running guy once, or can jump off himself.

If (when?) one of the two guys gets killed in
the fistfight, drop the corpse on the track at that point. The
fistfight continues each move until someone is killed or gives
up."
Wiz-war

Homemade wiz-war
LEGO Shop At Home

Lego Factory Software
Noble Armada | Noble Armada Basic Intro Pack | Holistic Design Inc.: "Holistic Design's highly acclaimed starship combat game of broadsides and boarding actions in space is offered at a fantastic value in this 'intro pack' featuring the classic Noble Armada 48-page rulebook, 206, counters, 34 ship display sheets, and a brand-new set of cut-out counters."

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

The secret weight watchers points formula exposed...: "One point = (calories/50) (fat grams/12) - (min{r, 4}/5)"
Weight Watchers Points Calculator
Manufacturing or Marketing your own game: "The best way to sell your game to a game manufacturer is to take it to a big game convention or toy show. These are all over the country at various times of the year, I leave it to you to do the web search; Origins and Gencon are the two biggest in the USA, and Essen, Germany has Der Spiel, the world's largest (140,000) show at the Messe convention center in October. Anyway, once you get to a show carrying a NICE looking prototype (don't walk in there with hand-written cards), go up to a manufacturer/dealer that looks like they'd make the thing that you designed. Target your market! Then, ask to talk to whoever looks at new designs. Usually, someone will be there. Arrange a 10 minute appointment sometime during the day or evening to show them your game. You should be ready to give them a 1 minute 'concept' pitch right on the spot to spark their interest a little bit when you meet them. So you're standing at their dealer's table (pick a slow time, not when they're busy!) and their main playtester comes over to talk to you; you say, 'Do you folks take game submissions outside your company?' They will either brush you off immediately or set up an appointment, or ask to 'have a seat' and look it over on the spot. Then, they might take it from you right then if they like it, or ask you to formally submit it to them. If you've gotten that far, then there's a good chance it will see print. You might want to have an NDA handy when you sit down with them. Don't worry about this; they're used to signing them all the time."

Sunday, November 27, 2005

Majikthise : What is the "Foundation for a Better Life"?: "The problem is that this organization isn't truly nonpartisan. Although it refuses to explicity get involved in politics, it's a bit disingenous. Those of us who are used to parsing political rhetoric know what's going on when we see something that suggests societal problems are the result of a lack of personal accountability and responsibility, rather than the result of poverty, consumerism, corporate welfare, and neglect of basic working class needs such as living wage and health care. I don't have any argument with the values themselves, obviously; but this is just another attempt to blace the blame for American societal ills, and responsibility for changing them, on the victims of a system designed to encourage the further enrichment of the rich and shrink the social safety net. The very people who have the least to work with."

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Ogre Miniatures Without Ogre Miniatures: "Thinking about the miniatures crisis which seems to have afflicted many Ogrephiles out there has prompted me to compile this list of sci-fi figure manufacturers. All of the companies below produce 1/285th - 1/300th scale figures suitable for Ogre. Quality is measured by the number of asterisks next to the company's name (on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the best). Some of the stuff listed here is nicer looking than the rest, but any quality judgements made are my own subjective opinions. Your tastes are probably way different, so don't sweat it if I pan your pet manufacturer, O.K.?"
reading pages per minute - Google Search
Brushthralls.com Painting Warmachine minis.

Friday, November 25, 2005

View Collections: "This is the best game ever. And I really don't care if I'm the only person on Earth who thinks so. It goes without saying that if you didn't like the first 2 editions you won't like this one. Me? I loved 2nd edition, and love this one even more. If it were a woman I'd make sweet sweet love to it down by the fire. "
The spoils (kottke.org): "On our first night in Saigon, we ran across a little shop that offered for sale, among other things, lots of 60s/70s-era Zippo lighters.

Me: How do you suppose they came to have those?
Meg: I don't want to know."

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

1/144th scale aircraft kits
The Red Fighter Pilot: "My Englishmen was a good sportsman, but by and by the thing became a little too hot for him. He had to decide whether he would land on German ground or whether he would fly back to the English lines. Of course he tried the latter, after having endeavored in vain to escape me by loopings and such like tricks. At that time his first bullets were flying around me, for hitherto neither of us had been able to do any shooting.

When he had come down to about three hundred feet he tried to escape by flying in a zig-zag course during which, as is well known, it is difficult for an observer to shoot. That was my most favorable moment. I followed him at an altitude of from two hundred and fifty feet to one hundred and fifty feet, firing all the time. The Englishman could not help falling. But the jamming of my gun nearly robbed me of my success.

My opponent fell, shot through the head, one hundred and fifty feet behind our line. His machine gun was dug out of the ground and it ornaments the entrance of my dwelling."
The Red Fighter Pilot: "The Englishman landed close to the flying; ground of one of our squadrons. I was so excited that I landed also and my eagerness was so great that I nearly smashed up my machine. The English flying machine and my own stood close together. I rushed to the English machine and saw that a lot of soldiers were running towards my enemy. When I arrived I discovered that my assumption had been correct. I had shot the engine to pieces and both the pilot and observer were severely wounded. The observer died at once and the pilot while being transported to the nearest dressing station. I honored the fallen enemy by placing a stone on his beautiful grave."
Quick and Dirty Aerial Combat
Airdrome Aeroplanes ~ Holden, MO ~ Airdrome Homepage

Biplane kits!

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Thoughts of the left-handed mastermind %uFFFD Apache 2 64K bug on Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger fixed: "For client version of Mac OS X Tiger (and for those who would like to compile Apache themselves on OS X Server as well) there's Apache version 2.0.55, which apparently includes a patch which fixes 64K bug as well. I've compiled and installed Apache 2.0.55 successfully on OS X Server 10.4.3 and 64K bug seems to be fixed."
Workbench: My Due Diligence on the Liberal Ad Network: "Moulitsas can afford to say crazy shit like that, because Democratic politicians view Daily Kos as an ATM machine and assembly line for grass-roots liberal activists. He charges $1,400 a week for ads and regularly sells 6-8 of them."

Monday, October 31, 2005

The Chronicle: 10/28/2005: The Man Who Would Murder Death: "Among the speakers was Anthony Atala, director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University. Dr. Atala, a surgeon and a researcher, explained how he and his colleagues are growing new human tissue and organs%uFFFD%u2014 bladders, kidneys, blood vessels, cartilage%uFFFD%u2014 in the laboratory using a patient's own cells.

For example, a few healthy cells could be taken from a cancer-stricken bladder and used to a grow a new bladder, which could theoretically then be transplanted with a very low chance of rejection. In 1999, Dr. Atala's team became the first to successfully transplant a lab-grown organ%uFFFD%u2014 by placing a new bladder in a beagle. Clinical trials will begin soon to see if this procedure also works in humans."

Sunday, October 30, 2005

BGG Thread: User Review: "If players add in such factors as two car teams, full race seasons, high wing/low wing settings and advanced rules with pit stops, Formula De becomes the best road racing simulation on the market. We ran a race one night with 12 players on the Monaco track using advanced rules and the weather was rain the whole way. The tension and grim set of faces around the table was awesome. Normally a game session such as that, with all 12 players knowing the rules would have run maybe 2 to 2 1/2 hours, but this one ran well over 3 hours and when done the faces of the players were similar to ones I recall from my youth as a motorcycle road racer on the West Coast: elation, weariness, awe and a knowing smile.

Any board game that can create that is worth the price. In fact, I own every track expansion and all the metal cars along with a couple of sets of aftermarket cars I found on eBay. "
Hill Battle: "r"

Saturday, October 29, 2005

FirstHealth Magazine: "“People assume that if they were having a heart attack, they would be in pain, and that’s what gets them in trouble,” he says. “Heart attacks are often not painful. In the vast majority of people, it’s a tolerable type of pressure or fullness.”"
RPGnet: Review of Action! System Core Rules v.1.1: "Action! System OGL version 1.1"
DriveThruRPG.com - Your One-Stop Shop for the Best in RPG PDFs!

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Surf-Bits, The Switcher%u2019s Website %uFFFD Blog Archive %uFFFD The Ultimate Freeware Package for your iPod.
The Hacker's Diet: "Adobe is one of the most consistently irritating companies on Earth with which to do business. I'd like to give you a nice button for downloading your own copy of Acrobat Reader, but they won't let me use the image without 'registering' and 'licensing' it, which I'm certainly not going to do in order to promote their product and its file format.
"
apophenia: my Friendster publications

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Thesis and Dissertation Binding Service: "To Have a Dissertation Bound

Bring the following to the HBLL Business Office (2062 HBLL Phone: 801-422-4779):

* One copy of your thesis for every copy you want bound -Example: If you are ordering 6 copies, you must bring 6 copies
o Each copy must be in a separate manila envelope (we have extra envelopes in our office if you need them)
o We are not involved in the specifications for margins, fonts, types of paper, etc. Please direct questions concerning these guidelines to your department or the graduate studies website.
* An extra copy of the title page and abstract (This can be on any type of paper.)
* Your completed 8D form
o Ask your department or graduate studies for a blank form
o Personal copies are sent to the address on this form
o Department Approval: You MUST have BOTH signatures
* Your completed UMI form (must be signed on the back)
* Payment by check, exact cash (we don’t have change), credit or debit card
o Make checks payable to BYU"
Whirlpool Dryer Repair / Kenmore Dryer Repair and Free Repair Help Photos.
Fallon London

Makers of the very cool san francisco superball commercial.
The definitive collection of idea generation methods
Oolsi | Be Free

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

HOWTO Backup Your DVD Movies
Comments on 10111 | Ask MetaFilter: "Here's what I did: after I had checked/unchecked all the songs I wanted on my iPod, and found out that also means those songs are skipped in playback, I was in the exact same situation. So I create a smart playlist included only checked songs with bitrate > 0kbps. Then, I copied that playlist to a new (dumb) playlist called 'iPod Songs'. Et voila, you can now check all the songs in your library again so they'll play normally.

Also, if you create a smart playlist 'iPod Rejects' that just contains songs not in the 'iPod Songs' playlist, you'll now have an easy way to add and remove songs from the iPod. Plus, with all the iPod songs in their own playlist, you can see the exact size of that collection so you don't have to guess any more about whether or not they'll fit on the iPod."
LPTJ :: View topic - One ipod. Two macs.

Monday, October 24, 2005

FARK.com: (1726343) The fair is in town. Post your tips and tricks to beating the carnies: "They have a game at our local fair where you have to ride a revese bicycle (the front wheel turns the opposite way the handlebars do). It's basically impossible to do. So I built one to practice on, and got all my friends to learn it. It takes about 2 weeks to learn to ride. Then we all went and won electric scooters and race them around and thrash on them. This year they're giving away electric pocket bikes (mini crotch-rockets). We're going to have fun with those."

Sunday, October 23, 2005

BoardGameGeek: "Brand New!! Still in shrinkwrap. Will ship internationally. Rio Grande Games (RIO 170)

White Dragon Enterprises, Inc. appreciates your business. USPS Parcel Post (2-3 Weeks) is our standard shipping method for US orders. USPS Air Mail (4-10 Days) is our standard shipping method for International orders. Insurance is required for all International orders or US orders over $25. Florida residents are required to pay 7% Sales Tax. Domestic Orders (US only) over $150 will receive FREE SHIPPING if purchased through BoardGameGeek. Contact us at sales@wdeinc.com with any questions. For role-playing game"

Friday, October 21, 2005

Richthofen
GeekList: Free-to-print games that might actually be worth printing: "Fast, fun, and easy to make. The game simulates a WWI biplane dogfight. You play cards, trying to outmaneuver your opponent, hoping to take a shot at him when he's vulnerable. It plays quick and stores small -- perfect for a quick game inbetween other games.

Here's a little suggestion if you plan to make this one -- print the game twice on different colored card stock. Cut everything out and separate the Allies and German cards. You'll end up with two copies of the game this way, but it'll be a lot easier to sort them out if they get mixed. (look at the PDF file for this game and you'll see why I suggest this method.) "
GeekList: Free-to-print games that might actually be worth printing
GeekList: Free downloadable and printable games - the master list.
FT Ships: The Tonsha Way
FT Scratch Building: "I started off with some discarded balsa from an old glider building project I ran at Scouts. I built the main structure of each ship using balsa. Stuck on dried vegetables (Lentils, split peas, barley) for external structures. Finished using cereal box card for panels."
ASFoS Resource Site: "Wow, I can't believe it has been 5 years. It seems that just yesterday Dan, Steve, myself and a few others first play tested ASFOS in a basement, playing from some scribbled notes."
MiniatureWargaming: "A Sky Full of Ships
A Sky Full of Ships, is one of Dan Abbott's 'Fast and Simple' free wargames rules. Like all good science fiction fleet rules, it uses a movement system that takes into account momentum, and allows gamers to design a wide variety of ships. Dan writes: I first started space gaming with several little known rule sets many years ago, but soon heard about, and started using Star Fleet Battles. An excellent game for its time, I played it for several years but as it got more and more complicated, I started to feel like I needed to study the game like a college course just to play it. I moved on. I quit playing space combat games for a while, but then I discovered Full Thrust. In no time I was back playing everything from tiny single ship actions, to huge multi-player campaigns. I still play (and enjoy) this game. But there was a problem. Although great for small battles, its game mechanics for combat took too long to work out in large fleet actions. For us, this lead to boring pauses in large multi player games while you waited for your opponents to fire large ships. Motivated by the release of Fleet Scale Babylon 5 miniatures from Agents of Gaming, I started mixing & matching ideas and soon these rules were born. I used simplified game mechanics and a stream lined turn sequence so that huge battles could be played quickly & easily using large fleets of ships. Hope you enjoy

Posted by The Editor at 02:00 PM in Rules: Sci Fi | Email this entry"
RPG Now: Budget Battlefield Universal Miniatures Rules

Thursday, October 20, 2005

BGG Thread: Don't weaken it and then let someone else finish it off: "Ok, so quickly then, in the 4 player game, we played 9 turns. Blue controlled the monster the first turn. He tried to destroy red's stadium, but she lucked out and Blue had to settle for using Godran to kill some old folks in the housing complex. The military is incredibly weak (and out of position) in the first part of the game. I think most of us really spent a lot on origin research early on, but my (yellow) megayen went into tanks, paratroopers, and helicopters. (Is anyone surprised?) I also spent 75 on a secret weapon without doing research first (you don't have to commit until you are at 200 anyway).

After the monster, the military started creeping in from all sides (a long ways from the monster) "
Power Sleep

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Daily Kos: STRATFOR - BEST explanation of Plame import: "There is more to this. When it is revealed that you were a NOC, foreign intelligence services begin combing back over your life, examining every relationship you had. Anyone you came into contact with becomes suspect. Sometimes, in some countries, becoming suspect can cost you your life. Revealing the identity of a NOC can be a matter of life and death -- frequently, of people no one has ever heard of or will ever hear of again."
Home of the Underdogs - Company profile: Freeware

sorted from best to worst.
Home of the Underdogs - Entry: Red Baron: "Arguably the best WW1 flight sim ever made, Red Baron is the legendary game from Damon Slye of Dynamix. Offering you the chance to be a pilot in World War One, Red Baron featrures 28 different aircraft from both the Allied and the German sides, a superb career mode, and a diverse array of missions including dogfights, balloon-busting, zeppelin hunting, escort, and more. If my saying 'best' multiple times won't convince you, here is a good review at MobyGames that should:"
Home of the Underdogs

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Database: "Description: dbSpace is an online database manager that provides an easy to use interface to add, delete, modify and search records in a flatfile ASCII database."
Hotscripts.com :: Search: "ASP Text Database is a simple example of how a delimeter seperated text file can be used to store a small 'database' of values which can be searched through using a standard html web form. Includes a template page which is parsed for outputing results on"
Hotscripts.com :: Search: " Small PHP web script to allow multiple developers on a project maintain a communal TODO list to help development, with useful features. * Flatfile database (two files) * Add, Complete, Remove, Edit options * Coloured categories * Due dates, visual overdue notification * Basic file locking mechanism to make sure one developer updates at a time (avoids confusion) * Easy to integrate into site template/design * Security available through directory protection (.htaccess) not included. * Simplified GUI at click of button, or setting "

Saturday, October 15, 2005

txtSQL and flatfile | Gallery
LIVING : Curtains & Valances : Quick Window Treatments : DIY Network
LIVING : On a Budget : Smart Shopping Tips : DIY Network: "A great-looking window treatment is made with inexpensive fabric strung with leather shoelaces and hung from eyebolts in the ceiling."
Blinds, Discount Blinds, window blinds, wood blinds, faux wood blinds, mini blinds, vertical blinds, bamboo blinds
Gospel Chic: Transitioning to a New Ward: "Moving is a very stressful time, and leaving behind friends and attending a new ward can be very difficult. Being proactive and, for ward members-being friendly; are great ways to ease the tention and stress of this time. Remember, it takes time to fit in with a new ward, and even if you never fit in, the Gospel is perfect-even if the people aren't.

"
Church Magazine Subscription Information: "Ensign, New Era, Friend, Liahona, and Church News

For subscriptions, renewals, or single issues:

* In the U.S. and Canada, call 1-800-537-5971 or 1-801-240-2947."
Toll-free access: prepaid long distance International phone card calling cards: "Toll-free number to access our system 1-800-315-9339"
Hotscripts.com :: Search

search for "flatfile"

Friday, October 14, 2005

KBR spent millions getting $82,100 worth of LPG into Iraq: "WASHINGTON - Iraq needed fuel. Halliburton Co. was ordered to get it there — quick. So the Houston-based contractor charged the Pentagon $27.5 million to ship $82,100 worth of cooking and heating fuel.

In the latest revelation about the company's oft-criticized performance in Iraq, a Pentagon audit report disclosed Monday showed Halliburton subsidiary KBR spent $82,100 to buy liquefied petroleum gas, better-known as LPG, in Kuwait and then 335 times that number to transport the fuel into violence-ridden Iraq."
Micro Persuasion: Bookmarklets Every Blogger Should Have

Thursday, October 13, 2005

k-deep.com

syncing email with ipod through windows

Sunday, October 09, 2005

The Rock Salt :: View topic - Cool teachers you have had.: "Yeah. She almost got fired once because she kicked a girl out of her class that called me and my friend (colored hair and piercings at this time in my life) psychos, and then spent the rest of the period talking about how 'psychos' are the ones that most often change the world, and cheerleaders and jocks are the ones that drag us all down. Amazing woman. She was older too, so I was ultra stoked that she was so 'hip'. I dunno.....after we read Bram Stokers Dracula she made wavers for people to be able to watch the unedited movie.....in Provo, out of 37 students or so, 5 of us watched. She was the coolest lady, and I wish more teachers were like her.



_________________"

ABC 4 - Salt Lake Mayor says Taliban May Be in Utah? (Figuratively Speaking)
: "(ABC 4 News) -- Salt Lake mayor Rocky Anderson is dealing with a new controversy.
In a recent interview with a British newspaper, Anderson seemed to compare living in Utah to living under the Taliban.
Most Americans know the Taliban as religious extremists in Afghanistan.
But if you ask Rocky Anderson, the Taliban may be also be right here in Utah.
Depending on whom you ask, Rocky Anderson either does or does not think this is what living in Utah is like.
Recently, the mayor told an English journalist, 'I feel like we're in the middle of a Kafka novel sometimes...with a little bit of the Taliban thrown in.'
But regardless of exactly what the mayor was talking about....the mayor's Taliban comment isn't going over well with some here in Utah.
Sgt. Layne Morris was badly injured fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. If you ask him, the mayor isn't just talking about a newspaper, he may also be talking about the LDS Church.
But Anderson says he is not criticizing Utah's dominant faith.
Still, Morris says the mayor's remark was totally inappropriate.
"
Guardian Unlimited | Arts features | Wrestling with Diane Arbus: "Pinned on the bed by her small body with the big camera in my face, I felt my claustrophobia kick in; my heart-rate accelerated and I began to wheeze. I understood that as soon as I exhibited any signs of distress, she would have her picture. She would have got behind the public persona of Life cover-girl Germaine Greer, the 'sexy feminist that men like'. I concentrated on breathing deeply and slowly, and keeping my face blank. If it was humanly possible I would stop my very pupils from dilating. Immobilised between her knees I denied her, for hour after hour. Arbus waited me out. Nothing would happen for minutes on end, until I sighed, or frowned, and then the flash would pop. After an eternity she climbed off me, put the camera back in her bag and buggered off. A few weeks later she took an overdose of barbiturates and slit her wrists."

Friday, October 07, 2005

The Daily Herald: Your town. Your neighbors. Your Newspaper. - Results: "Almost New Washer and Dryer with warranty, only $135 each. Also Refrigerator, Range, Dishwasher and Freezer for similar prices. All Like New, with warranty. Call 377-6122. "
Onestoplaptop: "Dell Latitude C600 P3 750 MaXouT! Special! Comes LOADED with 512MB of RAM, 40GB Hard Drive, DVD Drive, CD Writer, WiFi, 56K, 10/100 Ethernet and 14.1' Screen!

There is simply no matching the abilities of this laptop for a better price! This Dell Latitude P3 750 has been taken to the MAX! Watch DVD's, Burn CD's, go Wireless with WiFi and, carry it in a brand new deluxe carrying case!"

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

TechFreaks v2
Before You Clean Your Carpets And Rugs: "Carpet Freshener: Combine 3/4 cup baking soda, 2
tbs. corn starch, and 1/4 cup perfumed talcum powder. Sprinkle on dry carpet,
let stand 5 to 15 minutes, then vacuum."

Monday, October 03, 2005

wiki:install [DokuWiki]: "Installing DokuWiki is very easy - in general it%u2019s just unpacking and setting permissions. However a detailed description for various scenarios is given here."

Sunday, September 18, 2005

jwz - "It happens some times. People just explode.": "We got new playground equipment installed at my elementary school, including a plastic twisty slide. I soon learned that going down the slide on a dry winter day would cause a static charge to build up on my body. So I made a metal rod out of a coathanger and I'd go down the slide about 5 times and then shock the shit out of people with my death wand.

As usual, the clueless playground supervisors had no idea what I was doing, and the reason I finally got it taken away was because I could poke somebody's eye out, and not because I was gleefully delivering painful shocks to my victims."

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Forbes.com - Magazine Article: "he need for a screw with threads shaped to mate with the substance it is penetrating has always been out there. But the screw is so simple and cheap--most cost less than a penny apiece to make--that it has been easier to design around its deficiencies than to come up with a better model. But LeVey, 40, says he was 'too dumb'to listen to naysayers; with his name on 19 patents and with 18 more pending, he thought it was silly to keep working around the problem when he could try making a better screw.

LeVey's first target was the concrete screw. He bought a chisel at Home Depot and studied the business end of it. If only he could wrap teensy chisel tips into the threads of a screw, it could chip its way into a tight seat instead of compressing and cracking the concrete. He traveled to ITW factories around the country, asking the wizened experts how it could be done. 'I got laughed out the door,' LeVey says.

Screws are made, oddly enough, by squeezing metal rather than cutting it. A steel or alloy blank, a cylinder with no threads, is rolled between two heavy dies that are grooved with diagonal lines. The blank is put under so much pressure that metal is squished into the diagonal grooves, forming a threaded spiral. Manipulating the shape of the threads using this method, called thread-rolling, was thought to be impossible because it would be too hard to control the structure of the screw if metal oozed into odd shapes."

Friday, September 16, 2005

Daily Kos: State of the Nation: "'Bush says he doesn't want to play the 'Blame Game.' Makes sense. Never heard of a chicken who wanted to play the 'Extra Crispy' game.'"
jwz - Bush asks Condoleezza for permission to go potty: "When I visited the American Museum in St. Pete, Florida, they had an immense collection of JFK paraphanelia, including his personal notes. The country would have slept much better knowing that during the Cuban missile crisis, when the world was about an hour away from nuclear war, his notepad consisted of little more than hand-sketched pictures of sailboats."

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

jwz: " mplayer -dumpstream -playlist url -dumpfile filename.wmv"

dumping streaming windows media.
Google Groups : microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support: "Hi

Please try the following links to Jim Eshelman's web site:

http://aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.htm
http://aumha.org/win5/a/tshoot.htm

-- "

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Louisiana's Wetlands National Geographic Magazine: "Thousands drowned in the murky brew that was soon contaminated by sewage and industrial waste. Thousands more who survived the flood later perished from dehydration and disease as they waited to be rescued. It took two months to pump the city dry, and by then the Big Easy was buried under a blanket of putrid sediment, a million people were homeless, and 50,000 were dead. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.

When did this calamity happen? It hasn't—yet. "

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Tom's Hardware Guide PCs & HowTo: Supersize Your TV for $300: Build Your Own XGA Projector! - Giant Wall Display: "The well-known auction portal eBay has just about everything. For some time now, several sellers there have offered instructions for building a so-called 'multimedia projector', as well as other 'bargains' designed to help the customer get a giant screen at home without too much financial outlay. This is how it works: the seller offers a PDF construction guide for $20 in a 'buy it now' auction that contains everything the customer needs to know. But does it really work? "
About.com: http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/interiors/paneling/conceal.htm
How to Texture a Ceiling by Hand - eHow.com: "Tips from eHow Users:
For 'old world' look... by Noel B.
My wife and I had great success after removing 'popcorn' ceiling from our house. Our 'look' was 'old world/ Mission' and we added a little 30 mesh sand to watered down compound, then used 10' knives to texture. Add as little, or as much, sand as you feel to adjust 'graininess.'"

Friday, September 02, 2005

Daily Kos: State of the Nation: "The lawlessness is rampant. It's important to note, however, that the lawlessness wasn't rampant on Monday. It wasn't rampant on Tuesday. We heard only twinges of it on Wednesday. Today, from the sounds of the reports, a city devoid of all hope devolved into absolute chaos.

It is nighttime again in New Orleans, and after four days of no food, no water, no communications, no security forces, and no apparent discernible plan that they can see, trust and hope that rescuers will arrive seems all but gone. If the forces had arrived on Tuesday, things would be different.

It is simply too stunning, too shocking, too soul-draining. Nobody knows where the emergency relief has been. Nobody can quite understand why the response to the catastrophe only now seems shuddering to life."

Monday, August 29, 2005

[Mailman-Users] For the Record: How to install Mailman on OS X Server...: "My new hero, Ken Case of OmniGroup, was kind enough to pass along these instructions on how to get Mailman to install on OS X Server: At 5:19 PM -0700 7/5/00, Ken Case wrote: >The default C preprocessor shipped by Apple has some bugs which >don't exist in the traditional C preprocessor: to work around this, >add '-traditional-cpp' to your C compiler flags. (For some reason, >configure knows to include '-traditional-cpp' in 'CPP' but doesn't >automatically include it in 'OPT'.) > >I did this after the fact by editing config.status and changing the >'OPT' setting from '-g -O2' to '-traditional-cpp -g -O2', then >running './config.status' to rebuild the makefiles using my new >settings. I suspect you could also do it by passing >'OPT='-traditional-cpp -g -O2'' on the command line when you run >./configure. I did this and got the program to install all the way. I haven't gone any further, and I'll undoubtedly hit other snags, but this piece of advice seems to have done the trick for the installation. Thanks, Ken! "

Sunday, August 28, 2005

PBS | I, Cringely . August 25, 2005 - Has Google Peaked?: "What Google WILL do is roll-out incremental products at a blinding pace. Not long ago, PayPal co-founder Max Levchin explained to me that rapid development is an important key to market dominance.

'What you want to do,' he said, 'is listen to your customers and bring out every two weeks improved versions that would each take your competitor two months to complete. That's when you are on a rocket -- they can't keep up so they can't compete. They lose hope and pretty soon you have the market pretty much to yourself.'

That pace of technical development, which probably isn't sustainable for long at any company, isn't POSSIBLE at all at more mature companies like AOL, Yahoo, and especially Microsoft. That adolescent energy is the mojo that makes a startup scarier to Bill Gates than a mature competitor. He knows that if Microsoft ever takes a big dive, it will be because of a Google, not a Yahoo, and certainly not an AOL."

Friday, August 26, 2005

Amazon.com: So You'd Like to... listen to some near-perfect indie rock-folk-lofi-whatever: "Not that anyone asked, but these albums make me happy."
lifehack.org: "If you decide you need to clean your garage, but you put it off for six years, there’s a part of your mind that thinks you should have been cleaning your garage 24/7 for six years. If you can park that on a list, it will get out of your “psychic RAM” - your brain can let go of it and more of its resources are available to work on other things."

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

MEGUIAR'S #17 & #10: "A one-two punch system for knocking shine and clarity back into your clear plastic components!

Thank goodness for surface care experts such as the good folks over at Meguiar’s! If you’re the proud owner of a rag top with clear plastic windows, you’ll be thrilled after just one application of Meguiar’s Plastic Care Combo. Clear, bright, supple and glass-like are the words to describe how your plastic will look."

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Guitar Lesson World: Lesson Menu
bowman.swf (application/x-shockwave-flash Object)
Installation :: Playstation :: PSone :: modchip modchips mod-chip mod chip magic modchip messiah modchip playstation playstation2 xbox canada usa

modchipping your compact psone
Wired News: "There were no tests to detect EPO, a drug that increases
the level of red blood cells, in 1999. However, samples from
the 1999 Tour de France were kept and have been recently
retested by a specialist doping laboratory in Chatenay-Malabry
outside Paris.
The World Anti-doping Agency (WADA)-accredited lab, which
developed the test to detect EPO, started retesting last year
samples that had taken between 1998 and 1999 and frozen. The
new tests were part of scientific research.
L'Equipe published what it claimed to be a results sheet
from the lab which appeared to show six figures revealing
traces of EPO.
The newspaper said the document had been sent by the lab to
the French Sports Minister on Monday.
'My first conclusion is that sportsmen who want to cheat
will now be under permanent pressure anywhere in the world,'
French Sports Minister Jean-Francois Lamour told French radio.
'Those who cheat are not safe. This is sad but it's also a
great step forward for the fight against doping,' he added.
The laboratory and Tour de France officials declined to
comment."

Friday, August 19, 2005

The Comics Journal: Reviews: "The entrepreneurial P.T. Barnum helped pave the way to mythologizing the American West by chasing a small herd of buffalo around Hoboken, New Jersey to the amusement of huge crowds, while the pulp novelist Ned Buntline created the romantic gunslinger-as-hero formula of the western."

Thursday, August 18, 2005

SilverSpider Play List - Display your recent songs on your Web site: "SilverSpider Play List is a set of PHP scripts that helps you add a recent music list to your Web site. Each time you listen to a song, your media player will send song information to your Web site which will gather the info, and with the help of Amazon, compile it into a list of entries, each containing the name of the song, the artist and the album cover."

the process of constructing your media identity has become automated since 2000.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Beretta XX-Treme Review - CO2 Pistols. Review of 131653: "The Beretta XX-Treme goodness out weighs the pistol's bad point's by a mile away. The pistol at first seem to be oily, extremely, and stiff. I stripped it down to gun only, thus taking the red dot, rail, off. I took all the external screws out and fitted each screw with Nut Lock. Which would eliminate screws from coming loose. The pistol is very powerful for the first 10 shots, slight recoil. The suppressor kind of works, if you want it to work better just add selotape around the front 2 rows of holes, then silencing would be improved greatly. The co2 screw, would need to be removed and regreased as this might get jammed, having you to get pliers and loosening it. It comes with a huge abs carry case, for putting the pistol, tin of pellets tools, 4 co2 cans. The suppressor is a screw fit on, which can be easily removed without the presence of a tool. However you do have to carry around a coin, as the red do needs to adjusted (elevation), I wouldn't worry about windage once you centre the windage you'll never have to do it again."

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

The Apple Store (U.S.): "iPod 20GB (NON Click Wheel) Dock Not Included - Apple Certified Refurbished

with carrying case w/ belt clip, Apple earphones, AC adapter, FireWire cable, PC FireWire adapter
Price: $199.00

Estimated Ship:
1-2 business days
Free Shipping"

Monday, August 15, 2005

O'Reilly Network: Open Source: The Model for Collaboration in the Age of the Internet
SensorPlug Plug-In Motion Sensor - SP-01: "Plug-In Motion Sensor Turns on Lights or Appliances"
An Account of the Leopold and Loeb Case: "Leopold managed to keep intellectually active in prison. He taught in the
prison school, mastered twenty-seven foreign languages, worked as an x-ray
technician in the prison hospital, reorganized the prison library, volunteered
to be tested with an experimental malaria vaccine, and designed a new system
of prison education. In the 1950's, an elderly and now retired Robert Crowe
reportedly offered to write a letter to the Illinois Parole Board urging
his release. In 1958, after thirty-four years of confinement, Leopold was
released from prison."
Nathan Leopold and his glasses: "Leopold was picked up and brought to the LaSalle
Hotel, where he was met in a hotel room by State's Attorney Robert Crowe
and two other investigators. Leopold suggested to Crowe that the glasses
fell from his suit pocket when he tripped near the spot where the body
was found. He was, he said, running in his boots trying to take a shot
at a Wilson's phalarope when he fell. Assistant State's Attorney Joseph
Savage asked Leopold to demonstrate how they might have dislodged. Time
after time Leopold purposely tripped and fell on the hotel room floor.
The glasses never fell out of his pocket."

Sunday, August 14, 2005

FARK.com: (1620488) In 1992, a married couple won $5.5 million in lottery. Two years later they blew through $1 million and divorced. In 2001, the now ex-wife died of heart failure. Now, the bank is about to foreclose on a $480,000 house and the husband has nothing: "hese folks could have dropped their money into a low cost balanced index portfolio at one of the major brokerage houses that would have charged them .15-20% per year for the service, and drawn $220k per year (before taxes). If the primary investment vehicle is high qualified dividend paying stocks, they'd pay a max of 15% in taxes on the income. Buy a nice house and cars with loans that are below current investment return rates and keep that money working for you. Buy a high deductible (5-10k/year) blue cross plan and pay your little boo-boos out of pocket.Live large until you drop."

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Episode #57 - "Super Karate Monkey Death Car": "Matthew: 'No no kind sir, you cannot fire me for I do not work here... I did bring my resume though... '"
Imaging Tools
Halfbakery: evil laugh activated hand dryer: "evil laugh activated hand dryer

instead of a button or infra red sensorpeople sometimes rub their hands together in the airstream,
activate this hand dryer by laughing evilly"
Meguiar's Plastic Care Kit
Multnomah County Library - iPac

Sunday, August 07, 2005

Dick York of Bewitched - A Farewell Interview: "Then one day York decided it was time to turn things around.

'I went on a diet. I borrowed money to get my teeth fixed. It took a year and I brought myself down to l60 pounds. Then I got an agent and within two weeks I got a job and the following week I got another job. That's unheard of.

'I did Fantasy Island and the next job was on Simon and Simon. Then I tried out for High School, USA, a pilot film that producer Leonard Hill had me read for the villain of the piece. I wasn't right for it but Henry Gibson was. So they called up and offered me the part of the guy who supplies all the money to the school.'"

Saturday, August 06, 2005

How a Bookmaker and a Whiz Kid Took On an Extortionist — and Won - CSO Magazine - May 2005: "the e-mail was not far off. Richardson figures it cost him a million dollars in lost revenue and IT investments to win this war. 'It was worth it,' he says. 'I just didn't know it would take a couple years off my life.'

"

Friday, August 05, 2005

Skylights: The Flourescent Conspiracy: "Today if you read the press you find our hope for solar energy is placed on new photovoltaic panels, not on old-fashioned skylights, but if you take a typical photovoltaic panel and pull the expensive silicon crystals away from the front glass and use the plain glass in a skylight, it will admit not twice as much, but at least ten times a much light as could be produced by the photovoltaic cells powering electric lights--and most of us prefer the quality of natural light. Is there a force weaning us from mother nature's free and natural sun so we will grow up to purchase an electric substitute? If you discuss the matter of lighting with a store manager while 100 kilowatts of electricity glow around him, you suspect that your protests about electricity and desire for the sun suggest the tiresome whining of a child being weaned."

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Putting for the Fences - New York Times: "Putt-Putt is not a generic name for miniature golf. It is the brand name of a company that builds and franchises a particular style of miniature golf course designed specifically to make competitive putting possible. For something that sounds as if it was named by a child, Putt-Putt has a surprisingly grown-up creation story. The first Putt-Putt course was designed in 1954 by Don Clayton, a 28-year-old insurance salesman trying to stave off a nervous breakdown. Clayton was otherwise successful and healthy, but one day he went to a doctor in his hometown, Fayetteville, N.C., complaining of a strange symptom: sometimes while driving in his car, he found himself crying. The doctor ordered a monthlong vacation. Clayton decided to relax by playing miniature golf, which turned out to be a bad idea, since there are few things more challenging to sanity than missing short putts, especially when the cause is poor design or an errant windmill."

Monday, July 25, 2005

Bedford/St. Martin's - The Bedford Bibliography
Literacies - The New Literacy Studies page 2: "They were not just learning technical skills,
they were learning literacy practices with their own social networks."
Steve Buscemi Bleach Stencil: "i'm so proud of it! i used an ordinary paper stencil cut out with a craft knife (damn, it took ages), after altering the image in photoshop. my secret was mixing the bleach (just a very small amount) with wallpaper paste! in fairness, it was my clever mother's idea, but it worked really well, because the mixture was thick enough to prevent seepage. i left the stuff on for a pretty long time, probably over an hour, and neutralised it with vinegar after rinsing. the fabric isn't showing any damage so far."

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

In the 18th stage of the Tour de France, Armstrong chased down an off-the-bike rival, forcing a retreat from the breakaway group back to the peleton (kottke.org): "http://www.velonews.com/tour2004/details/articles/6647.0.html"
Defendant in teen rape cases ordered released :: The Daily Herald, Provo Utah: "A runaway from a Provo group home, the accuser said she had been made to sign a contract in order to stay at the residence. The contract allegedly allowed the males at the residence to do whatever they wanted to her if she fell asleep with her shoes on."

Monday, July 18, 2005

Edit Map : myGmaps
Outsource your job to earn more! - The Times of India: "Says a programmer on Slashdot.org who outsourced his job: 'About a year ago I hired a developer in India to do my job. I pay him $12,000 out of the $67,000 I get. He's happy to have the work. I'm happy that I have to work only 90 minutes a day just supervising the code. My employer thinks I'm telecommuting. Now I'm considering getting a second job and doing the same thing.'

Smarter techies are working for three to four companies at the same time, outsourcing all the coding and just supervising them for few hours a day. This way they are able to earn four to five time more than what they used to. "

Sunday, July 17, 2005

AIM Column - Why Judith Miller Should Stay In Jail - July 11, 2005: "When that editorial was published, the Times was obviously unaware of Miller's possible role in providing information about Plame to the administration. But when she refused to testify about a story she didn't write and about a source who granted her a waiver of confidentiality, the Times must have feared the worst. The possible truth about her role could backfire not only on her but on the Times itself. So now the Times is engaging in a cover-up under the banner of protecting the First Amendment."
Bad habits, poverty undermine health
Amazon.com: Books: When Someone You Love is Depressed: "Ultimately, I wanted more focus on ME, the person who cares about a someone who is depressed, and less on the depressed person. There are a lot of good books out there for the depressed person. My expectations of this book were to have concrete ways to not 'catch' the 'contagious depression', to not 'lose myself' as the subtitle suggests. After reading the book, I don't see how my interactions with my two majorly depressed friends over the last year could have been handled much differently. And I did catch their depression, and I did lose myself for a time. So while I feel more educated about depression in general, I still am looking for more and better ideas for protecting myself while still helping my loved ones."
Amazon.com: Books: How You Can Survive When They're Depressed : Living and Coping with Depression Fallout: "'Although a depressed parent of either sex creates problems for a child, the bulk of the research on parental depression and its effects on young children has zeroed in on the mother, because she is the center of a young child's existence: the primary nurturer, teacher, and emotional and social contact. Ideally, a mother is a good listener, communicator, and problem solver; authoritative without being authoritarian; warm and consistent; and tolerant and patient. Mothers in the grip of depression are often just the opposite: harsh, critical, impatient, irritable, and unaffectionate. And because one in every four women will suffer serious depression at some time in her life--more often than not, right in the middle of her prime childbearing years of twenty-five to thirty-five--the research findings are applicable to a very substantial number of children.'"

Friday, July 15, 2005

Rove's Legal Beagle: "Lizza cites Luskin's 'Karl didn't disclose Valerie Plame's identity' comment to The Post. 'Maybe Luskin thought he was being technical and legalistic, but it's hard to see this statement as anything but a lie. For instance, one could say, 'Karl Rove's lawyer accepted 45 gold bars worth $505,125 from a South American drug cartel.' The statement does not actually mention Luskin's name, but even Luskin would have to agree it identifies him."

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Music "criticism" | MetaFilter: "Henry Rollins once called music critics 'ants at the picnic of life.'"

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

KATU 2 - Portland, Oregon: "The police cannot find a body or solve the case, and eventually they file a death certificate. His business fails, his wife remarries, the kids grow up, his family moves on.

Then, 12 years later, the missing man turns up alive and well."

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

jwz: "say -f foo.txt -o foo.aiff"

Converting text to speech in OS X.

Monday, July 11, 2005

Think Progress ? FULL TEXT: July 11 White House Press Briefing: "QUESTION: Scott, I think you’re getting this barrage today in part because it is now clear that 21 months ago you were up at this podium saying something that we now know to be demonstrably false.

Now, are you concerned that in setting the record straight today that this could undermine the credibility of the other things you say from the podium?"
Fictionwise: Excellence in eBooks, free eBooks, eBooks for Palm, Pocket PC, eBookMan, WinCE, Rocket, and PCs.

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Why Do You Work So Hard? / Is it maybe time to quit your safe job and follow your path and infuriate the establishment?: "But the truth is, God, the divine true spirit loves nothing more than to see you unhinge and take risk and invite regular, messy, dangerous upheaval. This is exactly the energy that thwarts the demons of stagnation and conservative rot and violent sanctimonious bloody Mel Gibson-y religion, one that would have all our work be aimed at continuously patching up our incessant potholes of ugly congenital guilt, as opposed to contributing to the ongoing orgiastic evolution of spirit."
Tales of Colossus

Thursday, July 07, 2005

BioMed Central | Abstract | 1471-2334-5-54 | Probable neuroimmunological link between Toxoplasmaand cytomegalovirus infections and personality changes in the human host: "Abstract (provisional)

Background

Recently, a negative association between Toxoplasma-infection and novelty seeking was reported. The authors suggested that changes of personality trait were caused by manipulation activity of the parasite, aimed at increasing the probability of transmission of the parasite from an intermediate to a definitive host. They also suggested that low novelty seeking indicated an increased level of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain of infected subjects, a phenomenon already observed in experimentally infected rodents. However, the changes in personality can also be just a byproduct of any neurotropic infection. Moreover, the association between a personality trait and the toxoplasmosis can even be caused by an independent correlation of both the probability of Toxoplasma-infection and the personality trait with the third factor, namely with the size of living place of a subject. To test these two alternative hypotheses, we studied the influence of another neurotropic pathogen, the cytomegalovirus, on the personality of infected subjects, and reanalyzed the original data after the effect of the potential confounder, the size of living place, was controlled."

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Guardian Unlimited | Online | Lazy, stupid and evil design: "Lazy, stupid and evil design "
Economy of Scales News Blip: Unannounced M-Audio Flash Recorder : Gizmodo: "Economy of Scales News Blip: Unannounced M-Audio Flash Recorder"
Heuristic Inspections for Documentation: "We all are familiar with Jakob Nielsen's heuristics for evaluating the usability of interfaces. When I was conducting a study on documentation usability, I started wondering if there existed a similar set of heuristics for evaluating the usability of documentation. The natural place to pose such a question was the STC Usability SIG mailing list. The response was that there was no heuristics set available although someone had tried to open the discussion in the mailing list some time ago. An answer, which led to the list of heuristics presented below, was something along the line 'Well, now that you asked, why don't you put the heuristics together' and so I did.

"

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

The Heterosexual Revolution - New York Times: "The first step down the road to gay and lesbian marriage took place 200 years ago, when Enlightenment thinkers raised the radical idea that parents and the state should not dictate who married whom, and when the American Revolution encouraged people to engage in 'the pursuit of happiness,' including marrying for love. Almost immediately, some thinkers, including Jeremy Bentham and the Marquis de Condorcet, began to argue that same-sex love should not be a crime.

"