Man, I hate it when I misplace my lunch.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Police: Cheeseburger found in SC woman's gas tank
Data on millions of Facebook users available online
Talk about hanging your business out on the street:
Personal details of 100m Facebook users have been collected and published on the net by a security consultant ... Ron Bowes used a piece of code to scan Facebook profiles, collecting data not hidden by the user's privacy settings ... the list, which has been shared as a downloadable file, contains the URL of every searchable Facebook user's profile, their name and unique ID ... Mr Bowes said he published the data to highlight privacy issues, but Facebook said it was already public information ... the file has spread rapidly across the net.
Seems you can go to one of those fire sharing sites (like Pirate Bay), grab the file, and see a whole bunch of people you know on it. Maybe including yourself.
Facebook says your info will not be shared if you "hide" it in the privacy settings. However, one criticism of FB (legion, for there are many) is that those privacy setting are not the default ones and it takes an advanced degree in engineering to figure out those settings.
And, in truth, so many Facebook users are not the most computer-savvy or security-conscious people in the world. In fact, Facebook is designed so the person can use it once he masters the art of finding the computer power switch.
Or something.
Once you get the idea of running a computer and going on line, the Internet can make a lot of jobs easier. And if you're a Big Brother government type, a stalker, or some other kind of creepazoid, Facebook may have made your job/hobby even easier.
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Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Mark your calendar: Asteroid strike on agenda in 2182
H'mmm ... from the look of things, what I write today will make absolutely no difference to anybody in about 172 years.
Good to know. I guess I can stir things up without worry.
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Parts of Arizona's immigration law gutted; fight not over
This almost sounds like the perfect compromise because now, no one is pleased. For the record, though, Arizona's immigration law has been gutted.
The battle's not over; expect more talk about state's rights to come.
However, I am hearing reports that illegal aliens are leaving Arizona in droves. Holding sidewalk sales, lightening their loads for travel, the whole smash.
Where do you think they'll go?
There are 49 other states to pick, and it just might be yours ...
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Student opposes homosexuality, is expelled, federal court upholds expulsion
Now ... if she was Muslim or Paiute or something like that, would the court have taken this stance?
Or would the judge have bent over backwards to keep her in school?
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Don't just do something, sit there: America's laziest states
(He's not sleeping; he's hard at work inspecting his eyelids. Photo by Getty Images.)
Call it laziness or just smelling the roses a little bit, but taking it easy is an art form in some areas. Here's an interesting study on the subject by Business Week:
1) Louisiana
2) Mississippi
3) Arkansas
4) North Carolina
5) Tennessee
6) Kentucky
7) West Virginia
8) South Carolina
9) Alabama
10) Delaware
Of those 10, eight are in the Solid South while border-state Kentucky counts as a ninth in some circles. But dipping into the next rank of 10 you find the Northeast fairly well represented, a few Midwestern states, and one -- Arizona -- west of the Rockies.
Surprisingly, New York ranked 11th. A surprise because you'd think of all those get-'er-done ADHD types in The City. I guess those slackers upstate pulled the rankings right down.
South Carolinians watch more television than all other Americans, according to BLS data. A report by the South Carolina Health & Environmental Control Dept. shows about half of adults do not get the recommended amount of physical activity, only one-third have sidewalks in their neighborhood, and only 37.4 percent use walking trails, parks, playgrounds, and sports fields for physical activity.
We're not lazy. We just know how to relax.
According to the stats from various sources, folks in Mississippi sleep the most at 8 hours, 59 minutes per day. That state also has the highest obesity rate at 33.8 percent. South Carolinians watch the most TV at 3 hours, 7 minutes per day, while Louisianans do less actual work at 2 hours, 41 minutes per day.
This working-per-day is an interesting figure, and it comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's the average for everyone aged 15 and older, and doesn't really take unemployment rates into consideration. Still, that's a lot of screwing off. By contrast, South Carolinians work a relatively industrious (!) 3 hours, 26 minutes per day.
Strangely enough, age isn't as much a factor as you'd think. Maine, the state with the oldest residents (median age 41.5 years) placed 16th, while Florida (40.1 years) came in 16th.
I'm surprised California didn't make the list ... oh, they said "laziest," not "craziest."
Never mind.
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Lightning strike gives woman a Blackberry brand
When you think about it, there's almost something poetic about the whole thing, unfortunate as it is:
"
HANAHAN -- A lightning blast seared through a television cable into a laptop computer and burned a woman in her bedroom Monday. The blast was so strong that it left on her ear an impression of the screen of a Blackberry device she was listening to."
HANAHAN -- A lightning blast seared through a television cable into a laptop computer and burned a woman in her bedroom Monday. The blast was so strong that it left on her ear an impression of the screen of a Blackberry device she was listening to."I live about a mile from there, as the crow flies. That thunderstorm blew hot and heavy in my neighborhood, and it had me plenty worried. I left my computer running, but shut down my cable modem and disconnected it until the storm passed. It did give me an excuse to knock off from work for a little bit, anyway.
When I reconnected everything, I had no Internet signal for a couple of hours. Apparently a lightning strike blew something out. Withdrawal symptoms were minimal. But I'm fine now, and playing some catch-up.
Now, I don't know this lady who got, uhh, branded. But there are quite a few folks I know that are so married to their cell phones and crackberries, and are so rude about it that, if something like this happened to them I would have to laugh.
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Sunday, July 25, 2010
Survey: A majority of phone users have ditched the landline
Found this in Consumerist, and it gives an idea of how the times are a-changing. In an informal, admittedly nonscientific poll, more than half of respondents said they no longer have one of those home phones that comes with wires. Not even a cordless phone.
Cell phones have taken over.
Do You Still Use Your Land Line?:
According to a recently released study, there are more than 5 billion cell phones in use around the world today, with 20% of those just coming into use in the last 18 months. More and more, people are either ditching their traditional land lines or relegating it to a secondary role, especially in large metropolitan areas.
A few months ago, when we polled readers on whether or not they still needed their physical White Pages phone book anymore, an overwhelming number of respondents voted 'no.'
Take the survey: How Frequently Do You Use Your Land Line?
Over 5 billion mobile phone connections worldwide [BBC]
Of course, I had to take this survey, and as soon as I put my answer in I grabbed the results:
In all, 4,479 people voted in this poll.
- It's my main mode of telephonic communication -- 14 percent (643).
- As frequently as I use my cell phone -- 11 percent (499 votes).
- My cell is the main phone, but I use the land line on occasion -- 23 percent (1,010 votes).
- What's a land line? -- 52 percent (2,327 votes).
By the way, I am one of those who does not have a land line. Got rid of it seven or eight years ago, after realizing the only calls I got on it were telemarketers. My parents thought that was funny, and they thought it was even funnier that their attorney uses a cell phone for home and office use.
Landlines? We don't need no steenkin' landlines.
(By the way, I still keep a current phone directory in my office. Can't remember when I last used the white pages, though.)
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Sending aggressive-sounding emails? There's a (Windows) app for that
OK, so you're sending snarky emails in the heat of the moment? Maybe you told off a co-worker or your boss in an interoffice communication? Or worse, had the mother of all rectal-cranial inversions and told your spouse where to get off in an email?
I ran into this in lifehacker.com:
Here's an excerpt:
ToneCheck is an email plug-in that checks the content of your emails for tone and alerts you to language that may be misunderstood or interpreted as particularly negative ... let's face it: Sometimes you send an email that you fully intend to convey anger or annoyance. But text communication is rife with misunderstandings, and often an email with perfectly pleasant intentions can lead to a lot of upset coworkers. That's what ToneCheck aims to address.
I find this a little disturbing, actually. Let's get in the toboggan and ride the slippery slope for a minute: I can see versions of this that can plug into your word processor, and screen out any language that is not deemed politically correct. Under that scenario, I might be tripping that alarm an awful lot.
Right now, it's in beta and during this period it is free. So far, this works only with Windows systems running Outlook, though I understand other versions are in the pipeline.
I don't think I'll be beta-testing this one.
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Saturday, July 24, 2010
Birds force concert cancellation: Deja vu?
Wasn't this from an Alfred Hitchcock movie?
Or maybe Mel Brooks ...
An excerpt, from CNN:
Pooping pigeons forced the Kings of Leon to abandon their St. Louis, Missouri, concert after just three songs Friday night, the rock band's management said Saturday ... an infestation of the birds in the rafters of the Verizon Amphitheatre bombarded the musicians as soon as they took the stage, according to Andy Mendelsohn of Vector Management ... "Jared (Followill) was hit several times during the first two songs," Mendelsohn said of the band's bassist. "On the third song, when he was hit in the cheek and some of it landed near his mouth, they couldn't deal any longer. It's not only disgusting -- it's a toxic health hazard. They really tried to hang in there."
Now brewing: Roadkill Beer
Ewwwwwww!
This came from the Mental Floss blog.
Enjoy!
Now Brewing: Roadkill Beer: "
A brewery in Scotland has begun brewing what they claim is the world’s most potent beer. You’d think that would be enough of a marketing hook right there. But apparently not, because the most bizarre thing about The End of History beer is that it’s sold in bottles nestled inside the taxidermied bodies of dead animals. Yes, that’s correct ... this Telegraph article explains more, including the awful details of how the animals met their maker:
A taxidermist in Doncaster worked on the animals, which were not killed for bottling the new drink, with some having been killed on the roads.
Wow. As if dead rodent beer wasn’t unappetizing enough, now we get to picture roadkill rodent beer. After hearing that, I don’t think there is anything that could be said about this product that would make me want to buy it ...
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Friday, July 23, 2010
Greene's Air Force records should carry no real surprises
H'mmm ... According to his service records:
" ... an overall inability to clearly express his thoughts and perform basic tasks ..."
Y'all probably noticed this first deficiency in his occasional interviews; I don't think I need to say more here. He demonstrates this every time he opens his mouth.
This is according to the Post & Courier:
Requires Flash enabled device. For other devices, obtain the PDF version of the records here.Surprise U.S. Senate nominee Alvin Greene frequently mentions his 13 years of military service, but records obtained Thursday by The Associated Press show the veteran who has called himself an 'American hero' was considered a lackluster service member at best.The records, which document his superiors' decisions to pass over Greene for promotion, cite mistakes as severe as improperly uploading sensitive intelligence information to a military server, and as basic as an overall inability to clearly express his thoughts and perform basic tasks.Greene, 32, won a surprise victory in the June 8 Democratic primary. Greene handily defeated Vic Rawl, a former lawmaker and judge who had been expected to easily win by the party establishment."
Gonna be a fun campaign, yes?
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Thursday, July 22, 2010
Unnatural selection: Alcohol and trains don't mix
Folks, I can't make this stuff up.
This is from Summerville, a town just a few miles down the road from me.
Wis. candidate can't use controversial description on ballot
... and you thought South Carolina had strange politics:
(AP):
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Hubpages: Making your 'dumb' cell phone smarter
From Hubpages:
Why are you messing with that ridiculously expensive smart phone? You know, the one that came with that draconian contract you got suckered into?
(OK, this does sound like a sales pitch, but bear with me.)
In Hubpages: Making your 'dumb' cell phone smarter.
This article outlines a bunch of uses for text messaging; things like controlling your email box and Google calendar, keeping up with your bank balances, and getting weather forecasts. All of this battle-tested. By me.
Anyway, check it out. Ya might learn something.
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Greene's first speech shows slippery grasp of facts
South Carolina's action figure hero/Senatorial candidate Alvin Greene made his first speech over the weekend, on his home turf and in front of a relatively friendly crowd.
To his credit, he didn't screw the pooch in his not-quite-seven-minute speech to the NAACP in Manning, but let's just say he doesn't have a firm grasp of issues.
Surprised?
COLUMBIA -- In his first campaign speech over the weekend, U.S. Senate candidate Alvin Greene pledged to get South Carolina back to work and decried the state's bottom-of-the-barrel employment and public education rankings.
Let's just say he's fuzzy about a lot of things, OK? A lot of the stuff he's saying is so garbled that you can't even run it through the Bravo Sierra translator without it breaking.
A couple of samples:
GREENE: There are more people unemployed in South Carolina than ever before.
Wrong. Now it's at 11 percent, or 238,000 people. Which sucks, but it doesn't suck as bad as it did in January -- 273,000 unemployed, at 12 percent. The rates have steadily improved since then.
GREENE: South Carolina spends twice as much per inmate as it does per public school student.
Right idea, wrong figure. The state does spend more per inmate ($16,300) than per student ($11,372). That's not double. But then, Greene himself is a fine product of our South Carolina edjumication system, and has the degree (from the University of South Carolina) to prove it.
So where was he getting the data for his speech?
GREENE: "Research, multiple sources, everything, news. All of the above."
And this guy swears he is a serious candidate. He actually has the nomination from a major party.
But he didn't say anything about how a line of Alvin Greene action figures would benefit the state. And he didn't say anything about Denzel Washington portraying him in a movie. Not this time anyway.
I guess South Carolina is safe.
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Monday, July 19, 2010
From room-to-rent ad: Guess who gets the benefits?
I ran across this ad in Craigslist today, and it gives me an idea of what this world is coming to:
I'm totally serious. This is a real ad. I edited it some to get rid of the obviously identifiable details -- partly because I know a lot of musicians in this neck of the woods, many of them know me, and I don't feel like getting death threats right now.
Meanwhile, let's take a look at the ad, running it through the bravo sierra translator:
Roommate with benefits: Guess.
420 friendly: Doesn't mind the occasional left-handed cigarette. Like, every half hour. This may be required for said benefits.
I will be able to find out if you use them: Creepazoid. Stalker in training. Next question?
$500 per month: Keeping in mind this is an apartment. Also known as being screwed twice.
Young children that visit me: Just what they need to see, Dad passing around a left-handed cigarette and collecting the aforementioned benefits. Horrendously maladjusted already, and they will likely grow up to be just like Dad. New roommate gets to babysit while Dad goes out and does what he does. During visits the young children will sleep in one of the two bedrooms, meaning the applicant gets to sleep ... guess again.
Access to a PA system and recording gear: You know this isn't free. See: Benefits.
If this cat actually gets takers, he will really be dipping in the shallow end of the gene pool.
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Saturday, July 17, 2010
Of newspapers, pop tarts and Lady Gaga
In case you're wondering whatever happened to the industry they call "journalism," here's a rather amusing (yet true) take by the Washington Post:
Here's an excerpt, and I totally relate to what Weingarten says:
Call me a grumpy old codger, but I liked the old way better. For one thing, I used to have at least a rudimentary idea of how a newspaper got produced: On deadline, drunks with cigars wrote stories that were edited by constipated but knowledgeable people, then printed on paper by enormous machines operated by people with stupid hats and dirty faces ... everything is different today, and it's much more confusing. For one thing, there are no real deadlines anymore, because stories are constantly being updated for the Web. All stories are due now, and most of the constipated people are gone, replaced by multiplatform idea triage specialists. In this hectic environment, mistakes are more likely to be made, meaning that a story might identify Uzbekistan as "a subspecies of goat."
Weingarten gets into the business of writing headlines, too. A headline used to be written for human eyes, and liberties were occasionally taken with humor and taste. Like when my old editor, the late great Verne Peyser referred to the McDonalds shooting in San Ysidro (the one where the guy went nuts and killed more than 20 people) as "McMassacre." Or when the Fontana Herald-News ran the story of Redd Foxx' death with the headline "Fred joins Elizabeth." Now, that's headline writing.
Not any more. Here's what Weingarten says:
... even the best headlines will be changed to something dull but utilitarian. That's because, on the Web, headlines aren't designed to catch readers' eyes. They are designed for "search engine optimization," meaning that readers who are looking for information about something will find the story, giving the newspaper a coveted "eyeball." Putting well-known names in headlines is considered shrewd, even if creativity suffers ...
Which explains the Lady Gaga headline in the WaPo story. Weingarten mentioned the name of the pop tart du jour only peripherally, and that's what became the headline. And myself, well, I'm gonna put her in my headline too, just to see what happens.
Anyway, the whole industry has changed. If I showed up in a newsroom today, I wouldn't recognize it. Or like it.
I reckon I can complain about it. Back around 1990 I thought it was a horrible travesty when the newspaper where I was working formed focus groups among the community to shape our editorial policy. Shoot, accountants and doctors don't do this to determine how they're going to do business, are they?
But now see what's become of the news trade:
Recently some newspaper out around Pasadena outsourced much of their editorial work to ... people in India. Folks who don't speak the language, but they sure make a lot less than even a poorly-paid journalist stateside.
And news outlets like USA Today, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and SF Gate farm some of their work out to a huge Web content company. I can't complain about that; I do a lot of work for that particular Web content company (under an assumed name), and they do have a lot of good writers in their stable. But the copy is competent but colorless, and designed more for search engines than real live human readers.
Oh, yes. Extra points for mentioning pop idols; it gets them on the search engines faster.
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(Photo: What's she doing in my newspaper? Photo by Billie Joe's Entourage.)
In Hubpages: Writing like a tortured soul
... David Foster Wallace (didn't he hang himself?)
... and sometimes like Dan Brown.
And Lady Gaga's songwriters resemble Shakespeare ... ?
I'm ticked. Seriously ticked. Read the details in Hubpages.
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