RT Tuesdays : 12/21/10

Every Tuesday I re-post all zee tweets that didn’t originate from this blog just to keep everything in sync.

This last week on Twitter…

  • wilw Wow! Obama lied about enforcing Network Neutrality, too! What a gigantic surprise! I wonder what’s next? I can’t wait! http://bit.ly/dWvDnZ (12/21/10 via web Retweeted by RoyceEddington and 100+ others)
  • Lunar eclipse is beautiful. I’m somewhat hypnotized. Once in a 500-or-so-year event. Philosopher nerd totally emblissed right now. (12/21/10 via Twitter for iPhone)
  • wilw Some of your Android and iPhone apps, including Pandora and Text Plus 4, are spying on you: http://on.wsj.com/eFRFRD (11:16 AM Dec 18th via web Retweeted by RoyceEddington and 100+ others)
  • “@breaknews246: Tropical Tropical Storm Hermine Heads For Mexico, Texas – http://xrl.us/bib3q2” – WHAT? No way! That was back in September! (7:49 PM Dec 17th via Twitter for iPhone)
  • RT @Wolfire: The Humble Indie Bundle (pay what you want for five awesome indie games) http://bit.ly/fRYX0C (11:08 AM Dec 14th via web)

Monday Morning Music : 12/20/10

Every Monday I like to post some music to start the week off on the right foot.

This week… it’s the music needed to calm the “AHHHHHH! ONLY FIVE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS AND I’VE STILL GOT PRESENTS TO PRINT AND PITCH! PROJECTS TO BUY AND GIFT WRAP! AHHHHHH!” spirit.

Vince Guaraldi Trio – O Tannenbaum



Keith Jarrett – Long As You Know You’re Living Yours



Brad Mehldau Trio – Knives Out



Ahmad Jamal Trio – Darn That Dream



Bill Evans – Waltz For Debby



Oscar Peterson – If I had you



News stories the mainstream media missed : 12/18/10

Here are some news stories from this week that I think the mainstream media completely missed out on. All links are from legitimate news sources and not the fringe / wacko sites.

* Kicking off the “oh that’s just friggin’ spiffy” game, “President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan… called the US one of three enemies faced by Afghanistan, and added, “If I had to choose sides today, I’d choose the Taliban”… before storming out of the room”. No worries. Playing Monopoly makes everybody storm out of the room at some point. [JUANCOLE]

* If you know what a LOIC is, and you’ve used it recently without a proxy to cover your butt, there’s something important you should really really realllllly read about… [NEOWIN]

* In related news, are young kids getting dumber? Duh! Durrrr! Ah-der-deeerrrrr! Derrr-derrr-ah-derrrrr! [PHILLYMAG]

* In related related news, “stopping a thought burns more energy than thinking”. Actually, this explains a great, great many things. [CASE.EDU]

* I successfully converted some pitchforks into show shovels this week! Just by agreeing with something Michael Moore said! Specifically… “Imagine if the men who planned this war crime back in 2002 had had a WikiLeaks to deal with… WikiLeaks exists, in part, because the mainstream media has failed to live up to its responsibility”. And the 30 degree below grand prize blizzard winner… “Might WikiLeaks cause some unintended harm to diplomatic negotiations and U.S. interests around the world? Perhaps. But that’s the price you pay when you and your government take us into a war based on a lie.” Dude! The truth at last! [DAILYKOS]

* Speaking of Assange, a grand jury is meeting in the US to decide whether or not to indict and prosecute the Wikileaks founder. Soooo the US is groovy with starting a war on false data and damned lies, locking away POWs without counsel or trial, waterboarding and torturing the hell out of them just for giggles, the man who was elected to stop all this crap hasn’t, and the one guy who exposes the tip of the BS iceberg is the one that’s targeted for trial? When did I crash land on Bizarro world and where’s my damn rocket ship to get outta here? [THE REGISTER]

* Passwords 101 : Use different random passwords for every site. That’s it. Done. This very easy lesson is something the US government may have to learn the hard way if this next story on PBS is right. [PBS]

* Google’s new OS is getting a the big stink eye from GNU founder Richard Stallman. Why? He says putting everything in the cloud means “a loss of control of data.” I love me some Google (even though I didn’t get any of their new laptops to beta, dammit!) but Stallman has a semi-point here. I think data has always relied on the user for survival, so instead focusing on “a loss of control of data”, I think it should be a focus on proper data retention and data security. [GUARDIAN.CO.UK]

* WalMart is going all 1984 on us. Specifically, they’re putting up large TVs that will stream Homeland Security’s ads and Homeland Security’s “if you see something, report it” campaign. Hellooooooo Target! [GREELY GAZETTE]

* And finally, I would like to take this opportunity to point out that State Senator R.C. Soles is a giant elfin’ hypocrite. This politician was a major hardcore anti-gun loon, but the headline “Anti-Gun Senator Shoots (Home) Intruder” says to me his laws for us apparently don’t apply to people like him! Do as I say and not as I do, right Solaroonie? [SMART GIRL POLITICS]

That’s all I got this (very busy with work projects) week! Back Monday!

RT Tuesdays : 12/14/10

Every Tuesday I re-post all zee tweets that didn’t originate from this blog just to keep everything in sync.

This last week on Twitter…

  • To younger/cool self: In 2010 you will willingly put on a full santa suit with beard & happily HO HO HO all day for your family. Deal w it. (11:00 PM December 13th via Twitter for iPhone)
  • Late revelation- when someone says they’re “pushing” a certain age, the truth is they’re trying to push back to that age. Never up to it. (7:03 PM Dec 10th via Twitter for iPhone)
  • Insomnia is like home-brewed beer. It sounds pretty good until you have some. (3:01 AM Dec 10th via Twitter for iPhone)
  • Just DVRed “Community” Christmas episode. If you’re not watching this show, you’re missing out on great TV. #abed #nbccommunity #community (12:46 AM Dec 10th via Twitter for iPhone)
  • HuffingtonPost – Keith Olbermann’s blistering special comment on tax deal: Obama ‘goddamned wrong’ http://huff.to/fkiUR7 (7:14 AM Dec 8th via The Huffington Post Retweeted by you and 62 others)
  • chpwn – Using the word “cyber” immediately kills all respect for you. Please, stop w/ cyberspace, cyberwar, cybercrime, cyber bully, cyberterrorism. (6:03 PM Dec 7th via web Retweeted by you and 100+ other)

News stories the mainstream media missed : 12/11/10

Here are some news stories from this week that I think the mainstream media completely missed out on. All links are from legitimate news sources and not the fringe / wacko sites.

Special FIVE POINTS OF FIST OF DEATH NINJA KARATE NEWS version!! (Ok, fine, I’m really doing Christmasy stuff this weekend and I’m way behind. But FPOFODNKN sounds way cooler.)

* LA banned any new fast food restaurants in poor neighborhoods some time ago, but promised it was only a temporary thing. Apparently all the bribe checks bounced, because this week they made it a permanent ban! Take that all you wackos who want jobs and food! [REASON]

* Mount Everest. No breathable air. Hidden pits of death you can fall into. And frozen dead bodies everywhere. Hey, howcome none of those little details are in the damn brochure?! [GODHEADV]

* Fu-Go Fire Balloon Bombs sounds like the daily special at a half-star Japanese restaurant. But it’s actually a world war II prototype weapon the Japanese invented to bomb America. Crazy invention details to follow. [ENVIRONMENTAL GRAFFITI]

* I remember my first philosophy class. The professor started one lesson by saying “We mostly visualize the future as one direction. Forward. Never ending and heading off in one direction.” (he drew a long line on the chalkboard going right) “My question today is” (he drew a line on the chalkboard from the beginning of the same line, but this time going to the left) “Why can’t our past, and time, go on forever as well, but in the opposite direction?” Cheesy? Definitely. A slow pitch? Big time. But it was a 101 class, and that was enough to blow the mind of quite a few classmates. I hope he’s reading my blog today, because scientists have just found out “the universe may have existed forever”. [THE ECONOMIST]

* You remember when reporters were blunt and factual and weren’t all trying to be your OMG LOL BFF and all that crap? This site put together a old-school news reporting 101 on Wikileaks! More news like this please. [TECHNOLOGY REVIEW]

That’s all I got for now. Back Monday!

Just saw “Predators” with Adrien Brody. I liked his character!

OK, I admit, this is nothing but a shameless plug for the recent Predators movie that I just got from Netflix.

I finally got around to seeing it (as part of my INSOMNIA THEATER movie club) and there’s this part near the end I laughed at…

PREDATORS AWARD WINNING MOMENT 1


PREDATORS AWARD WINNING MOMENT 2


I met my hot and gorgeous wife just like that!

OK, I didn’t have my AA-12 automatic 12 Gauge shotgun with me that night we met, though, and there were a few other things that were completely different, but it was mostly like that. Kinda. Sorta. Not really. And I don’t look anything like Adrien Brody. I think. Hey, the dialog was somewhat right!

Anyhow, the original Predator movie from ’87 was still better that this new one, but Predators was a fun “I’ll watch it again if it comes on the TV” movie. Plus it lived up to my expectations on what it would be and the character Royce was a decent enough badass. Three and a 3/4 stars for the movie.

Walgreen’s says there was “unauthorized access” to their customer email list

I got notice from Walgreens about some “unauthorized access” to their customer email list recently.

The email said…

“We recently became aware of unauthorized access to an email list of customers who receive special offers and newsletters from us. As a result, it is possible you may have received some spam email messages asking you to go to another site and enter personal data. We are sorry this has taken place and for any inconvenience to you.

We want to assure you that the only information that was obtained was your email address. Your prescription information, account and any other personally identifiable information were not at risk because such data is not contained in the email system, and no access was gained to Walgreens consumer data systems.”

It’s great that Walgreen’s straight up told everyone what happened, and it’s also great their sysadmins know to keep their critical data systems separate.

If you haven’t already, I highly recommend creating a throwaway email account on Google or Hotmail that’s just for stores, giveaways, and signups. My junk@[you.can.probably.guess.what.domain].com email address is full of trash, but I know everything in there is always unimportant.

Here’s a copy of the Walgreen’s email…

Walgreens Info


Free phone call from Santa, courtesy of Google Voice

Google is once again busting out the awesomeness by offering a free phone call from Santa through their Google Voice service.

The setup is really straightforward, and although it’s mostly geared for kids, there’s a few options that can make it funny to send to just about anyone. It also has a email and Facebook and Twitter option if you want Santa to go all high-tech on you.

I’m getting on the sendacallfromsanta.com site and firing off a few right now.

Thanks Google!