Yes! November 5, 2005 at 7:20 pm
And I wasn’t sure about 3 or so.
|
You Passed the US Citizenship Test |
 Congratulations – you got 10 out of 10 correct! |
But still, yes I did pay attention in school.
Shuffle up and deal… October 30, 2005 at 9:52 pm
[ Viewing: 
“C.S.I. Crime Scene Investigation – The Complete Fourth Season” (William Petersen) ]
So two weeks ago, Bert and Rick wanted to try out playing a real Texas Hold’em tournament, so we went out and played the $13 10am Sunday one at Sycuan. None of us won any money, though Rick made it to the last 3 tables before getting knocked out. While there, I found the new WPT table game… which I’ve come to really enjoy. Anyway, had enough fun with the tournament that I went back alone last weekend, and again today.
Today, I made it to the last table! Everyone decided to split the pot, well, the 2 chip leaders took $250 each, and the rest of us took $198. Sure, could’ve won a bit more if we’d played and I’d made 3rd place or better, but in the end, this was the smart play for us. Anything less then 3rd place would’ve been less and less money, this way, we all got a decent amount.
Oh, and I also got 3 $5 bounties for eliminating people. 🙂 Then I lost all the money playing the aforementioned WPT game… then won it all back, plus a bit. So a good day overall.
My good deed for the day… October 29, 2005 at 7:28 pm
[ Viewing: 
“Star Wars – Episode II, Attack of the Clones (Widescreen Edition)” (George Lucas) ]
While walking Summer this evening, I came across a wallet in the parking lot of the condos on Ruffin. Noone was around, though someone came by a minute later. I asked if they had an office, but nope.. nothing for a lost and found to turn it in to. So I’ve got the wallet.. unfortunately, there’s no phone numbers in here, and all searches on the net for the name turned up nothing.. bummer. Guess I’m going to see if I can turn it into the police tomorrow (or Monday, not sure if office is open on Sun). Oh yeah, for those that don’t already know me that well, I live just a bit behind the Eastern Division police office on Aero Dr, so I go by it at least twice every day.
Makes me realize.. it’s probably a good idea to include some kind of card or paper in your wallet with your phone number on it in case you lose it and someone wants to call.
So if you happen to read this and lost your wallet in the condos there (the white ones adjacent to the police station in fact) shoot me an email. Of course I wouldn’t give the wallet to anyone other then the guy on the driver’s license. Oh and I hope you didn’t have any cash in here before, because it was empty when I found it.
There is one odd thing I should note.. the wallet appears to be brand new, and the stuff in it is really recent.. wonder if it’s really a lost wallet or someone doing an experiment to see if it gets returned but wanted it to look authentic? eh.. long shot but you never know.
Update: I guess I should also note that the DL lists an address up in Carlsbad.. which is why I didn’t just drop it off right away. If it’d had an address around here, I’d have dropped it off already. Hmm… maybe I should mail it? Though probably not a good idea if the guy’s moved recently and just doesn’t have an updated DL.
Update (Mon): Stopped by the Police station on the way to work this morning and dropped it off. They do, in fact, take them and try to track down the people somewhat. The officer even noted that at least his DL was in there so it shouldn’t be too hard.. said that many come in with no ID at all. When I mentioned the original Social Security card was in there too, he just shook his head.
“With all due respect, cliched Republican dissenter….” October 19, 2005 at 10:42 pm
[ Viewing: 
“Star Trek Deep Space Nine – The Complete Seventh Season” (Avery Brooks) ]
“… but the economy isn’t going to matter, the day after… tomorrow.”
Man, that was definitely the best episode of South Park since the “Die, Hippie, Die” episode. My sides still hurt I was laughing so hard. The scary thing is, there are plenty of people that won’t get a lot of the jokes about the over-reactions concerning global warming, something that isn’t even proven or at least proven to the point that changing our habits will help drop temperatures enough to make it worth while.
Update: I guess I should clarify what I said above before someone goes nuts and says I’m denying facts or something. I don’t mean to deny that there is a measured increase in the temperature, that much is fact. I’m saying that I don’t believe that there is any real proof that it is attributable to human activity, or even mostly attributable. I don’t deny that human activity could be (and probably is) adding to global warming (via CO2 output, pollution, etc) but I think that the effect we have is likely very minimal. There are too many other factors, like the recent increased output of heat from the sun and the fact that the earth has natural cycles of warming and cooling to try and blame it all on human activities. Especially since so many people that claim to want to stop global warming seem to think the way to do that is to basically hobble the economy of the US (and some other western countries), while giving countries like China and India a complete pass (read the Kyoto protocols sometime). There’s just too much we don’t know, and nowhere near enough indisputable proof supporting human-caused global warming to warrant massive changes in how we live.
You mean they don’t? October 13, 2005 at 4:37 pm
[ Music: Days Go By from the album “Lifehouse” by Lifehouse ]
This “idea” may be one of the most idiotic things I’ve read on the net in the last couple of days. Why? Well, a couple reasons..
1. They already teach physics in high school. Or at least they did when I was in high school (class of 1991). If they don’t anymore, well that’s just stupid. Of course, I went to a private school (thanks mom and dad) and it wouldn’t surprise me if public schools had allowed something as basic as physics to lapse.
2. The person wants to teach people Einstein’s theories without using any math.. WTF is this person smoking? Math is essential to truly understanding the theories. Of course, the idea person says this because so many people are reaching the 11th grade without decent math skills… but rather then fix that problem, s/he wants to just teach a dumbed-down physics lesson. That’s not the right solution.
Wow.. the public education system in the country has become a freaking joke.. and NO just pumping more money into the system is NOT the answer, thank you very much.
Update: BTW, I love that that whole “Since Sliced Bread” site is for ideas to help “working men and their families” (read the about page).. as though any non-blue collar people be damned.
Update 2 (a couple minutes later): Oh.. it’s a union sponsored site (SEIU).. so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
My “three things” answers.. at 3:14 pm
[ Music: Little Light Of Love from the album “The Fifth Element: The Origina” by Eric Serra ]
Via quite a few blogs by now, but I linked to #2 pencil… as it’s the one where I happened upon the list…
Three Things I don’t understand:
1. Not only how people can stand “reality” shows on TV, but how they can get such high ratings.
2. Quantum Physics… but man I wish I did.
3. Gangta rap… it’s just such crap yet makes the so-called “artists” millionaires. That’s a good idea, let’s make people advocating abusing women, violence, etc.. millionaires.
Three things on my desk:
1. My vitamins (I eat my lunch at my desk most days and take them then).
2. A really nice clock I picked out for my 5 year anniversary for my job.
3. My Mac powerbook.. which I’m doing this entry on.
Three things I’m doing right now:
1. Downloading the official release of suse-10.
2. Listening to iTunes while I work.
3. Working on updating the slides I use in a talk at work about the linux environment I support.
Three things I want to do before I die:
1. Earn my private pilot’s license.
2. Travel to Egypt to see the pyramids in person.
3. Spend at least a week in DC visiting the Smithsonian and the town in general.
Three things I can do:
1. Fix computer problems.
2. A lot of math in my head.
3. Recall, with excruciating detail, completely useless things from when I was a kid.
Three ways to describe my personality:
1. Shy.
2. Talkative (once I get over #1).
3. Sarcastic.
Three things I can’t do:
1. Read or speak Spanish… 4 years in HS and college aside.
2. Dance.
3. Get/Stay in shape.
THree things I think you should listen to:
1. People with opposing opinions.. keeps you thinking.
2. Your parents.
3. Friends who want to help you.
Three things I don’t think you should listen to, ever:
1. Paid reviewers (TV, movie, book, music, etc). Make up your own mind.
2. Celebrities spouting off on issues as though everyone should do what they say.
3. Books on tape/cd/mp3, just read the book. (allowances for things like long car trips where you’re driving).
Three things I say:
1. D’oh
2. heh
3. I’m a genius. (anytime I solve a tough problem at work)
Three things I’d like to learn:
1. Russian (not really sure why, would just love to be able to speak/read it).
2. How to play an instrument.. probably either keyboard or guitar (kinda tried once with keyboard but didn’t have enough time to devote to it then).
3. Quantum physics/mechanics.
Three beverages I drink regularly:
1. Ice Water.
2. Diet Coke.
3. Milk.
Note: No.. I don’t drink alcohol often at all.
Three shows I watched when I was a kid:
1. Voyagers
2. Knight Rider.
3. Cartoons every Sat morning.
Three things I wish people would learn to do:
1. Basic math.
2. How to be self-reliant instead of expecting everyone else to care for them.
3. How to drive. Things like always using turn signals, actually stopping at a red light or stop sign when making a right turn, etc.
Nail on head. September 26, 2005 at 9:09 pm
[ Music: Fix You from the album “X & Y” by Coldplay ]
Another test that’s pretty much dead on.
| You are a Social Liberal (60% permissive) and an… Economic Conservative (70% permissive) You are best described as a:
|
New Spam… now tastes even less like meat September 10, 2005 at 3:26 pm
[ Viewing: 
“The Fifth Element (Ultimate Edition)” (Luc Besson) ]
Just yesterday, I got what is perhaps the worst attempt at a phishing spam ever. It’s your typical attempt to make me think paypal paid something on my behalf, and that I need to follow a link to contest it. It came as a 2 part message, text and html.. people that know me, know that I don’t use an HTML mail reader, I use one called Tkrat. Yes, even under OSX. So I get to see the text part of the mail rather then the html part (and anytime I get a real email that’s html that I care to read, I just dump it to a file and read it in a browser.. where html is meant to be seen).
Anyway, I looked at the HTML source, and it’s a pretty generic phish.. the link you see seems valid, but the real link leads to a completely different box where they’ll harvest the login and passwords of anyone dumb enough to buy the mail.
what cracks me up is how lame the rest of the phish is.. the header isn’t even spoofed well, and I don’t mean the Received lines that most people don’t see.. the From and To lines are obvious:
From: “PayPal” <rlsihr@land.ru>
Subject: This email confirms that you paid MICROBAZAR (sales@microbazaar.com) $175.85 USD using PayPal
Date: Fri, 09 Sep 2005 20:03:00 +0100
To: me
Reply-To: “PayPal” <rlsihr@land.ru>
I mean, you’d have to be blind and stupid to not notice that the From isn’t really from paypal.
but the body of the text part of the message is just classic:
But they need to remember how eagerly near toothpick reads a magazine.Unlike so many mirrors who have made their federal microscope to us.When you see minivan of, it means that behind haunch meditates.If graduated cylinder related to hockey player give secret financial aid to living with lunatic, then jersey cow toward beams with joy.
I can only assume the sender used some kind of script that either grabbed random bits of posts from usenet or web pages, or just randomly threw words together.
Classic..
Ooh.. maybe it’s secret code. 😉
Another nerd test… August 6, 2005 at 11:09 am
Another “well duh…” quiz result July 30, 2005 at 9:50 pm
[ Music: Leave No Man Behind from the album “Black Hawk Down” by Hans Zimmer ]
 |
You scored as Geek.
What's Your High School Stereotype? |
Never would’ve guessed that… hah.
Though the rest of the ordering, I find odd. I’d have put Loner 2nd.. and prep/jock/cheerleader 2nd?!?? Aroo?