My browsers on each and every machine I have access to have been collecting open tabs like some hideously geeky HTTP-fueled version of Garbage Pail Kids/M.U.S.C.L.E. figurines/Pogs/[insert some other non-Pokemon hackneyed pop cultural reference here] and so, in order to unburden myself fully, I offer the following compendium of links. Consider it some sort of bizarre Internet confessional, wherein you, my loyal readers, bear witness to my hideously packrat-ish collection of links aggregated over too long a time.
Click through, if you dare – there are some real gems, I assure you.
The format goes: [Machine] – [Browser], FYI.
Continue reading “Super Link Fighter II: Ultra Hyper Mega Championship Tab Dump Edition”
im in ur gas pump, stealing ur identitiez
I had a bit of an odd experience this morning.
I pulled into an Exxon station in Philly to tide me over until I could get to cheaper gas in Jersey and got out to fill my tank. After swiping my credit card, the machine prompted me to choose between “credit” and “debit”. I punched the “credit” button and was met with a dialog requesting that I input my billing zip code(!) before proceeding. I apprehensively input the requested information and filled the tank, but now I’m more than a bit nervous. I guess I’ll keep a close eye on my credit card statements for the next few months to see if anything fishy shows up.
Anyone else seen this sort of odd behavior? Is it an ostensible “consumer protection” implemented to keep people from using cloned cards or is it representative of a whole new intrusive anti-consumer regimen that I have been blissfully unaware of to date?
Author’s note: click the image above if you’re not sure what the “im in ur” meme is all about.
Third Time’s A Charm, If By “Charm” I Meant “Having Our House Eaten To The Ground By Filthy Winged Freaks”
My household’s run-ins with termites have been well-documented here. I say this because, like Punxsutawney Phil and the Easter Bunny, they’re back for their yearly emergence. Except this time, the exterminators are coming over immediately, as, and I am not making this up, we were unable to see a large portion of our living room floor due to the number of termites covering it.
I’m ’bout ready to turn a flame thrower on the whole lot, truth be told.
C… Cougar… Courage… Ahh, Here It Is: Cubit.
Sweet merciful crap. The Heavens done opened up and poured down all day and, by the looks of it, we’re in for a lot more. Our back porch is flooded and I don’t even want to know what my basement looks like at this point.
Just think if it’d been 12° cooler – oh, the snow we’d be shoveling tomorrow!
*sigh* Woulda gone a long way towards making up for a paltry winter.
Aqueous Equines
Dear Google Search Results Quality Control Team,
What you do in the privacy of the Google offices is your own business, but please refrain from giving us in Joe Sixpack Flyover Country a view into those shady goings-on:
Seriously.
Signed,
Doug Stewart,
Concerned Internet Citizen
P.S.: As of this writing, that search phrase does indeed return the phrase in question.
Fun With Digital Effects
When in doubt, plumb the YouTube well – that’s what I always say.
First up is a video eminently worth watching, “Ryan vs. Dorkman 2”, the story of two geeks with light sabers and serious vengeance complexes:
Next up, a Snickers commercial that has absolutely nothing to do with Snickers. Cool concept, though:
You Know You’re In For A Bad Day When…
…You go to use the restroom, only to find that you were so tired and out of it when dressing yourself that you managed to put your underwear on inside-out and backwards.
I mean, hypothetically, of course. Not that I would do such a…
Oh dear.
Good Advice: 10 Things You Shouldn’t Buy New
MSN Money ran a very helpful article the other day covering “10 things you shouldn’t buy new”. There are some good ideas on the list, the most pertinent of which I found to be: cars, children’s toys, and video games. I’ve bought each of those second-hand and, unless you’re a real stickler for everything you own being in new/mint condition, it’s incredibly handy to let someone else eat the depreciation/”early adopters’ fee”. *grin*
U.N.helpful
Jules Crittenden of the Boston Herald really took it to the French in re: their hypocricy in Lebanon in recent days. To wit:
In recent weeks, France stepped forward to act as a broker of peace in Lebanon. “Act†is the key verb in that last sentence, as it now would seem that the only other verifiable part of the sentence is “in recent weeks.â€
To correctly parse that sentence, one must understand that when France suggested it wanted to broker peace in Lebanon, it did not necessarily mean “broker†or “peace†or “Lebanon†in the way we might understand those words. The same is true when France further suggested it wanted to “lead†a “strong†“multinational†“force†there.
Heh. Go and read the whole thing – it’s a biting take on the folly of “international” “action” in the Middle East.
H2Oh No!
I was sitting in a meeting this afternoon when a rather vicious line of thunderstorms moved in, complete with torrential downpours and large bolts of lightning. About 20 minutes into the meeting, lightning apparently hit a power substation somewhere near my office, rendering the power feed to our building inert and thus leaving us all in the dark. I reveled in the possibility of the meeting being cut short (’twas not to be – paper and pens were dragged out and “brainstorming” mode was engaged) until it struck me: I think I left my car windows cracked this morning.
I’m terrified to go down to the parking lot. I’m really not looking forward to driving home on a sopping car seat.
UPDATE: You guessed it – I left the windows cracked and thus drove the whole way home with a very wet rear end.
*sigh*