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Archive for December, 2002

How to Win at Scrabble

Gotta keep this in mind for the next time I play... (source) According to Craig Rowland, Scrabble in North America recognizes five words which, if spelled over two triple-word score squares, and with a premium-scoring tile on the double-letter score square, will award the player 392 points on a single play. These five words are: […]

Are you in a boy band, incapable of understanding words longer than a syllable or two? Can't quite grok the meaning of a sentence that does not end with "oooh baby?" Or do you just have a really short attention span. Either way, this page will teach you Einstein's Theory of Relativity using words no […]

Catch Me if You Can

Frank W. Abagnale, Jr. flew for Pan Am, was a practicing pediatrician in Georgia, a sociology professor at BYU, and an assistant state attorney in Louisiana for years, without graduating from high school. he was a con man, a check forger, and went by several names (Frank Williams, Robert Conrad, Frank Adams, Robert Monjo, etc.). […]

Chuq on Spam Blacklists

Chuq has a little post that fairly vividly describes the place in which any responsible 'net user should regard spam blacklists: as unethical, amoral, and perhaps illegal acts. I've written on spam a few times in the past: Shein on Spam: Stupidity Spam: It's Not Just For Dinner Anymore "Unsolicited" is Right Spam needs to […]

Crufty UI… Or Not

There's an interesting article here on le blog de Matthew Thomas that talks about "interface cruft." Unfortunately, I don't quite agree with all of his ideas, but his article did what I consider as the primary purpose of a good article: it sparked a lot of thought in me, the reader (and in him, the […]

“That’s the WHOLE Computer?”

Me: I'm always amazed at how many people think that "wow, that's the whole computer?" when they see the iMac Josh: i like the people who thought the cube was a subwoofer Me: These same people are not amazed by laptops, yet, "wow, it's all in THAT tiny thing?" is their response to the iMac. […]

Apple, like any technology company, always applies for patents. They get hundreds granted to them every year (rightfully or not). Regardless, this little patent is interesting, and so far, has an interesting thread of comments. I just wonder, given that your computer would try to be the same general color as your desktop, if people […]

NSLog Now “CC”ed

This site is now under a "Creative Commons" license. Anyone is allowed to reproduce my content so long as: they attribute the work to me they use it noncommercially their content should be shared similarly This is all explained here. In other words, I chose the license that protects most of my rights under normal […]

stevenf on HipTop

Steven of Panic has blogged his HipTop wish list. Among the ideas listed, I've already put the iSync support (via Bluetooth or the USB cable) on my own list. However, his sixth idea is absolutely awesome: SSH access. Yeah, that'd rock. Wow... Assuming you could stay connected regularly, of course 🙂 . I wonder where […]

Don’t Lose My Number

Phil Collins sings, "Billy don't lose my number." Soon, Phil will be able to switch wireless carriers - or even switch from a land line to a wireless phone - without losing his own number. Here's the article, and here's a quote: But starting Nov. 24, 2003, most of the United States' 135 million wireless […]

MasterGrip Training

I've begun using the MasterGrip doo-hickey (like the one seen to the right, here) to strengthen my fingers for rock climbing. I haven't started doing pull-ups just yet (no real way to do them at this time, need a bar or something), but this hand grippy finger thing is tough. It's amazing how weak your […]

Return To Shell

This Slashdot article talks about a job opening in Microsoft's "Next Generation Shell Team." They are "designing and developing a new command line scripting environment from the ground up." Joel Spolsky has written about how stupid it is to rewrite things "from the ground up," and Microsoft, having finally escaped the horror that is DOS […]

Segway Boring

I'm a geek, and as such, I would really like a Segway. However, until the price drops below a thousand bucks, I won't get one. I work from home, and aside from driving it around (riding it around?) my apartment complex, what would I do with it? I don't live in Manhattan. What would anyone […]

Steelers In, Fins Not

The Pittsburgh Steelers continued onward into the playoffs with a victory against the Ravens today. What's perhaps even better is that the Dolphins loss to New England and the Jets win over the Packers, both Miami (near to where I currently live) and New England are out. Out out out! The Steelers will of course […]

My HipTop… Again

I ordered a HipTop (T-Mobile calls it a "SideKick" though) today. For the second time. I spent about ten days with one (thanks to T-Mobile's 14-day return policy) a few months ago, and found the service in this area to be... lacking. It would cut out several times, and often couldn't stay connected at the […]