September 12, 2003

New game

Time for a little group participation game, inspired by reading about wierdness other bloggers find in their search engine stats.

Here's the rules:

In the comments, post a word. Any word. The first thing that comes to mind. Don't even look at what other words folks have suggested first, just let it be random.

At the end of the day, I'll put all the words together into a search string and post the results - maybe the first three pages it hits.

Keep it reasonably clean.

Wow, first the Virtual Jennifer Map and now this. How come I'm not rich yet? Oh yeah, we need a snazzy name for this game!

Posted by: Ted at 06:07 PM | category: Google Junket
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Blogs go corporate

The Washington Post has an interesting article about blogs.

One theory tossed around at the New Media Society event Tuesday night was that e-mail marketing is dead and business blogs are rising up as the replacement. While the medium may not be in its grave yet, powerful spam filters that block out corporate e-mails have certainly limited its effectiveness. But some proponents of blogging say the new business-development tool can succeed in ways e-mail never could.

"I don't think e-mail is dead. I don't think it's any more difficult than it was two years ago; I just don't think it was ever that effective."

Spam is spam. At least if you blog spam, I can avoid it. The article is full of good information, you should go check it out.

Posted by: Ted at 01:59 PM | category: Square Pegs
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Ripple Fire

Mookie rearranged the kitchen drawers a while back, and her 'system' reminds me of Radar's on M*A*S*H - "That goes under 'D' for 'doesn't explode'". We have one drawer with spatula's and other wide scrapey things. Like the pizza cutter. And the bread knife. After using it, I have to admit that her system works rather well.

File this one under ‘Delusional’. I heard someone on the radio actually say that Washington Redskin running backs Ledell Betts and Trung Canidate would be the next "Csonka and Kiick". That idiot needs therapy or a urinalysis test, pronto.

In the ‘Globalization Bastards’ department, Krispy Kreme donuts has announced plans to open outlets in Wal-Mart stores. It’s typical of big business to ignore the harm that their practices cause to children. I mean, what are those annoying little kids going to do now for fundraisers?

Our weekend weather forcast has completely gone to hell thanks to the remnants of tropical storm Henri. With a name like that, are we surprised by how this turned out? He just kept hanging around doing nothing much at all. Then, ignored and irrelevant, he decides to screw things up for everyone. Someone at the National Weather Service should lose their job over this, because if they'd have just named it Hank, he'd have shown up, done his thing, and been outta here.

HereÂ’s something else thatÂ’s been bothering me. Why do anarchists have a logo? Doesn't that kinda go against the premise?

Someone who finds commonality between unrelated concepts is called a 'synergist', right? For instance, puppies are full of energy, and we buy energy drinks, so Glenn is a synergist for recognizing the potential of combining the two.

Likewise, I am a synergist for combining the idea of the World Mind Map with Bill's demand for cheesecake from Jennifer.

I feel so smart. Unless that's not the right term, in which case you can just mentally replace every 'synergist' with the correct word in what I wrote above. Then you can feel smart.

And if you really want to feel smart, read about this guy. Unless you already will.

How to Shower Like a Woman

1. Take off clothing and place it in sectioned laundry hamper according to lights and darks.
2. Walk to bathroom wearing long dressing gown. If you see husband along the way,cover up any exposed areas.
3. Look at your womanly physique in the mirror - make mental note to do more sit-ups.
4. Get in the shower. Use face cloth, arm cloth, leg cloth, long loofah, wide loofah, and pumice stone.
5. Wash your hair once with cucumber and sage shampoo with 43 added vitamins.
6. Wash your hair again to make sure it's clean.
7. Condition your hair with grapefruit mint conditioner enhanced with natural avocado oil. Leave on hair for 15 minutes.
8. Wash your face with crushed apricot facial scrub for 10 minutes until red.
9. Wash entire rest of body with ginger nut and jaffa cake body wash.
10. Rinse conditioner off hair.
11. Shave armpits and legs
12. Turn off shower
13. Squeegee off all wet surfaces in shower. Spray mold spots with Tilex.
14. Get out of shower. Dry with towel the size of a small country. Wrap hair in super absorbent towel.
15. Check entire body for zits, tweeze hairs.
16. Return to bedroom wearing long dressing gown and towel on head.
17. If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

How To Shower Like a Man

1. Take off clothes while sitting on the edge of the bed and leave them in a pile.
2. Walk naked to the bathroom. If you see wife along the way, shake wiener at her making the 'woo-woo' sound.
3. Look at your manly physique in the mirror. Admire the size of your wiener and scratch your ass.
4. Get in the shower.
5. Wash your face
6. Wash your armpits
7. Blow your nose in your hands and let the water rinse them off.
8. Make fart noises (real or artificial) and laugh at how loud they sound in the shower.
9. Spend majority of time washing privates and surrounding area.
10. Wash your butt, leaving those coarse butt hairs stuck on the soap.
11. Shampoo your hair.
12. Make a Shampoo Mohawk.
13. Pee.
14. Rinse off and get out of shower.
15. Partially dry off. Fail to notice water on floor because curtain was hanging out of tub the whole time.
16. Admire wiener size in mirror again.
17. Leave shower curtain open, wet mat on floor, light and fan on.
18. Return to bedroom with towel around your waist. If you pass wife, pull off towel, shake wiener at her and make the 'woo-woo' sound again.
19. Throw wet towel on floor

There you have it. Guys take more steps to take a shower. It is therefore the superior method.

“Men are pigs. Too bad we own everything.” – Tim Allen

Update: Oldest daughter Robyn loves all things Tinkerbell. Hey sweetie, go check out Flitting Here & There - the adventures of one called 'Tink'. (hint to the guys: undo the top couple buttons of your shirt first.)

Posted by: Ted at 12:26 PM | category: Square Pegs
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Home to roost

"If you liked the California energy crisis, then you'll love Kyoto." -- B.F. Skinner

America took a lot of heat for unilaterally deciding not to join in with the Kyoto accords. This was a more honest position than many countries took, because some signatories had no intention of compliance. Others counted on accounting tricks and the closing of already-obsolete factories to achieve their goals.

Others are finding out what the true cost of compliance is (see note below). The choice is clear. Should they continue to implement the policies despite the negative impact, or decide that the burden is just too onerous? If they do decide to scrap Kyoto, a new set of choices presents itself, none of which look very appealing. Will they have the courage to break cleanly from Kyoto, or will they try to let it wither away quietly? Either way, I don't think the environmentalists nor the EU will let anyone back out without raising a stink.

I'm glad we said 'no' right up front. Lumps taken. Moving on.

Thanks to Random Nuclear Strikes for the pointer.

Note: Live from Brussels is on blog*spot, so if the link doesn't work, scroll down to "I Love It When That Happens..."

Posted by: Ted at 12:14 PM | category: Politics
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September 11, 2003

A different kind of countdown

This insignia was officially adopted by the United States Air Force and was displayed on at least one aircraft from each squadron until September 11, 2002 in honor of the American Spirit.

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Posted by: Ted at 11:56 PM | category: Countdown to 9/11
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McScrew You Osama

I had lunch at McDonalds today. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

Posted by: Ted at 06:23 PM | category: Countdown to 9/11
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Reason for optimism

Yesterday a video tape featuring Osama Bin Laden was released and displayed by the Aljazeera network. IÂ’m sure this is causing much teeth gnashing and wailing among certain quarters, as well as joy and smugness in others. The timing of this tape was carefully planned, yet once again these terrorists have misplayed their cards.

I, for one, am glad for the reminder. I remember that Bin Laden has been in hiding for most of the last two years, to the point where his being seen on video is remarkable. IÂ’m reminded that heÂ’s been reduced to leaflets and occasional internet postings attributed to him. His voice heard on infrequent audio tapes is newsworthy.

IÂ’m reminded that he stood arrogantly in his fortress Afghanistan and mocked the United States and her people, and now the regime that harbored him is no more. The people of that country are rebuilding themselves while struggling to distance themselves from the madness of his radical Islam.

IÂ’m reminded that terrorist networks and financial dealings all over the world have been heavily interdicted. Muslim countries have realized the danger as bombs destroyed their fantasy that the terrorists were strictly anti-western. The terrorists are anti-everything except themselves.

IÂ’m reminded that a disinterested American populace has come together and drawn strength from each other. That strength and resolve has been used to topple yet another despot. And when American soldiers marched into that country, the people there cheered and celebrated their freedom.

I honor the memory of those murdered on 9/11/01 in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and that field in Pennsylvania. I honor the memory of those murdered in Bali, and those killed arresting the terrorists in Pakistan, and those killed by other bombs and attacks all over the world. I honor our soldiers, and those of our many allies.

I also celebrate the courage and strength of those who lived through that day, who directly assisted or indirectly helped in whatever way they could. I honor the policemen, firemen, rescue workers and ambulance drivers, the doctors and nurses, heroes all regardless of nationality or language spoken, that pitch in to right the wrongs inflicted by terrorism wherever it happens.

To those who think we should get over it, I suggest that you should think about the message intended by this latest Bin Laden tape. They hope to intimidate America with their bluster, but the desperation of their situation comes through despite their threatening words. Since that day two years ago, theyÂ’ve scurried into the dark corners of the world, afraid to openly show themselves for fear of eradication. They talk the talk, but Uncle Sam and his Allies have walked the walk.

This tape was to remind us that weÂ’re supposed to be scared.

IÂ’m reminded that weÂ’re not done winning this war yet.

Posted by: Ted at 12:08 PM | category: Countdown to 9/11
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Images

If you're not interested in (mostly) American symbols of patriotism and remembrance of this day, then please scroll past this message. For those who are still reading, below is a collection of 31 different images relating to 9/11, celebrating 'western' values and the American spirit. There are at least a couple that could be described as international in nature.

If you'd like to put one of these on your blog or website, go for it. In fact, I encourage it*. Tell your friends too.

The images are in the extended entry, click it to see them.

* I'm the collector only, none of these images are mine. Some are copyrighted, and should be used unaltered except for size. more...

Posted by: Ted at 12:00 PM | category: Countdown to 9/11
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Pentagon Memorial

Only because it was so much more immediate in my life, I'm tending to focus more on the Pentagon today.

Here is a site about the proposed Pentagon Memorial. I was especially moved by the description of the memorial. Damn, they did a fine job with the design.

Thanks to Dean Esmay for the link.

Posted by: Ted at 10:28 AM | category: Countdown to 9/11
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Rising to the challenge

America has been challenged once again, this time by terrorism. Our response this time, like every time before, is to rise up and meet the challenge. Like Japan after Pearl Harbor and the Soviet Union during the Space Race, the terrorists are being met with a national determination not expected when they threw down the gauntlet.

Since rockets are what gets me going, IÂ’m going to describe in some detail what we as a nation accomplished when we went to the moon. This is going to concentrate on the actual hardware, to give you an idea of the complexity and ingenuity involved. Links to reference sources are located at the end.
more...

Posted by: Ted at 08:32 AM | category: Space Program
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September 10, 2003

A different kind of countdown

I see this image almost every day. One of the managers has this posted in full color, blown up to about 2'x3' size. You can't miss it, and everyone walking down this long hallway sees it.

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John has posted another image on his site, which was what I had originally planned for today. He did a much better job, by posting a link to the story behind the image. Check it out, it's beautiful.

Posted by: Ted at 11:52 PM | category: Countdown to 9/11
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Integrating Ideas

Ever have one of those moments where it all comes together?

Bill has a longstanding demand that Jen send him pictures of her chest.

Meanwhile, Daniel points out an interesting project "where people vote on whether a pixel of a map of the world will be land or water". It's called the Mind World Map. Pretty cool, eh?

My new project is the Virtual Jennifer Map. I'll need everyone to vote, pixel at a time, on whether that bit of Jen is skin or clothed. I'm really excited about this, so I hope to see some real enthusiasm from you too.

Update: Comment from Jennifer: "Seriously, though, when do we start?"

You heard the lady. Pixel 0,0. Skin or Other?

Posted by: Ted at 06:24 PM | category: Square Pegs
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Ripple Fire*

"Are you headed to junior high schools to round up the usual suspects?" -- Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) to RIAA President Cary Sherman during a Senate Judiciary hearing.

Gas prices have dropped nine cents in two days around here.

My wife is in the throes of a full-blown summer cold and sheÂ’s miserable. Mookie is fighting hard but if it takes her down too, sheÂ’ll go down swinging. My standard reaction in situations like this is to consume enough OJ to make Anita Bryant consider adoption. Family kissing has been suspended, but hugs are still freely and frequently exchanged.

A co-worker passed away last month, and theyÂ’re just now getting around to replacing him. It makes me wonder if they thought he was on vacation.

Do you like my modified NASA ‘meatball’ logo? Mookie helped me do that using her Paint Shop Pro expertise. She smirked and mentioned senility, so I thanked her, then told her to shut up and go clean her room. If she keeps it up, she’s kissing mom.

I heard about the “9/11 Digital Archive” this morning on the way to work. This is a worthy effort and worth looking at. Thanks to WTOP news radio for the tip.

Starhawk of Freedom Lives has been posting a series of pictures from the site of the World Trade Center. I hope youÂ’ve been keeping up with them. If not, itÂ’s my fault because IÂ’ve been remiss in not linking to them more.

Stevie (aka Daun) of Caught in the Xfire has a hat for me! And sheÂ’s becoming a Munuvian. Yes sweetie, I am glad to see you, and yes, that is a turkey baster in my pocket.

My Links Roster page is a mess. Consider it a bastion of anarchy in my otherwise orderly corner of the ‘sphere. But the links (mostly probably) do work, and as Johnny Cochran would say “If the links are fine, you must not whine!” Anyways, over there are new places to go and people to see, including Terra Taco, Black Five – the Paratrooper of Love, Tasberry Diary, Dues Ex Culina, Laughing Wolf, Q & O, Coyote's Bark, Classical Values, and Jocularocracy. The blogroll in the right column is evolving and shrinking slowly, use the Links Roster to see what kind of stuff I really read when you’re not looking.

* ‘Ripple Fire’ is a mode whereas multiple military rockets are launched at a target in rapid sequence. It’s similar to machine-gun fire, but with big booms at the receiving end.

Posted by: Ted at 09:07 AM | category: Square Pegs
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September 09, 2003

A different kind of countdown

Notice that we haven't heard this particular statement lately?

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Posted by: Ted at 11:57 PM | category: Countdown to 9/11
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It beats bingo

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, I present to you not one, but two opportunities to meet the nicest group of technology geeks and cowboy-biker hobbyists ever to count backwards to zero.

Right around the corner, on September 20-21, in Muncie, Indiana, the Rocketeers of Central Indiana (ROCI) will be hosting a high-power rocket launch. The field is the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) International Aeromodeling Center located just outside of town, and I've flown there before, it's beautiful. See the ROCI site for details. If you live in the area, stop in and check out something different.

Slightly farther out there on the calendar, as well as several hundred miles eastward, the fall BattlePark 2003 Launch is scheduled for the weekend of November 1-2. Located in Culpeper, Virginia, this is one of the premier events in the east, with rocketeers attending from all over the eastern U.S. and Canada. I'll be there both days, and Mookie usually makes at least one if not both. This launch features some of the most interesting projects and flights around. As usual, spectators are free, kids fly their rockets for free, and you'll never meet a friendlier group of people. Come on out, walk around, talk to folks, ask questions, and be prepared to say 'wow'. Oh yeah, they've already obtained an FAA waiver for flights to 15,000 feet.

You are invited and welcome.

The extended entry is just me bragging about my project from last years BattlePark launch.

more...

Posted by: Ted at 09:01 PM | category: Rocketry
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New Twenties

The redesigned twenty dollar bills will be coming into wide circulation in October this year. Here's a neat interactive demonstration of the features of this new bill.

What, no free samples?

Posted by: Ted at 01:29 PM | category: Links
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A True Hero

You must check this out over at Silent Running. Make sure you follow the links too.

Posted by: Ted at 12:12 PM | category: Countdown to 9/11
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Google is your friend

In KellyÂ’s Cul-de-sac this week is a little gem about a little known feature of Google. I mentioned it to Mookie, and she told me about a nifty Google mirror site sheÂ’d heard about.

Google also changes their logo for special holidays and birthdays. M.C. Escher, Alfred Hitchcock, and Salvador Dali are among those who get special treatment.

This got me to wondering what other stupid Google tricks were out there. YouÂ’ve probably heard of most of these by now, because theyÂ’re not new and have been going around awhile.

For instance, type in “weapons of mass destruction” (with quotes) and hit the “I’m feeling lucky” button.

Try it again, this time for “French military victories” (with quotes). Snicker

For the terminally optimistic, try “who will be president in 2004” and hit the 'Lucky' button.

These guys tried a few things with the image search feature of google. (Warning: mature – but funny – content).

On the ‘not stupid’ end of the tricks spectrum, check out some of the neat stuff listed here.

And it was mentioned on at least one site above, but were you paying attention? Go to google and type in “answer to life the universe and everything” (no quotes this time).

I'll say it again. Google is your friend.


Posted by: Ted at 08:51 AM | category: Links
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Not Munu-News

Happy Birthday, Bill!!!

Go on over to his place and say nice things. He has to be out of town and work on his birthday.

Update: Paul over at Sanity's Edge is inviting one and all to tell their favorite Bill stories. Read, laugh, and reminisce with us.

Posted by: Ted at 07:35 AM | category: Munuvian Daily Tattler
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September 08, 2003

A different kind of countdown

Enjoy a little bit of American 'technology with style'.

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Posted by: Ted at 11:44 PM | category: Countdown to 9/11
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