2006 March 22

Nobody laughed at you – if there was any laughter going on, it was likely because I found the situation humorous – I did not find your request funny, nor would I have been laughing at your ignorance in the situation. I was indirectly asking you to apply some critical thinking skills by pointing out the answer was be found within the “from” data. No more, no less.
The fact that I did get up, walk over to your computer, and ask you to show me what you did shows that I went the extra step to make sure you understood what was going on. You've been emailing me these fake emails for quite a while (which is fine, because I'd rather you ask than assume) – so how would you best learn how to determine whether or not an email is spoofed? Would it be me saying “Spam” or would it be me prompting you to discover the answer on your own after giving you a nudge in the right direction? I told you not to click on any link in an email message from an unknown or questionable sender – I didn't laugh *AT* you. I've been helping you with these spoofs from day one – constantly and consistently.
If you felt I was laughing at you, I apologize; if I laughed, it was not at you or intended to be at your expense.
And, by the way, the whole “looks like ass” remark only happened once – certainly not today. The tip-off was in who the message was being sent from (a very unknown quantity). Let's make a corollary here: how many times have I asked you about color combinations in my wardrobe? You do answer, sometimes in a frustrated tone, and try to point me in the right direction so that next time, I'll remember instead of having to find you and ask you what I should do so that I don't look like I dressed myself. I'm sure at some point in the past, you may have smiled at such a situation – wearing black socks with a white shirt… what was I thinking?!

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Nobody's laughing at your ignorance. Are you familiar with the phrase: “Give the man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime?” Well, that applies to both men and women. Now, you're absolutely correct: I love sarcasm. Oh, and regarding the fat picture of me that Ponzi decided to post – first, Ponzi never looks fat (so I can't fight fire with fire). Second, she kept putting this damned Strawberry Shortcake Happy Meal prize amongst my shelf of Vaders. Third, she wanted to take a photo of me holding onto the figurine; I refused to cooperate. Fourth, Strawberry Shortcake pisses me off.

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Yesterday, I had my dental followup visit. Last week, I was diagnosed with a mild cavity in the back of my mouth (last tooth on the top left). Turns out, my filling directly below it was also loose, and decay had started to take hold there as well. Ouch. I went in there, expecting to be in tremendous pain, but after a shot of novocaine, I couldn't feel a thing on the left side of my mouth. The dentist even made the shot as painless as humanly possible. The procedure went off without a hitch, and I've now got a clean bill of mouth health. The only pain and discomfort I experienced was during the cleaning process.
I've been a big believer in the Sonicare line of toothbrushes for years; if you're still using an analog stick with bristles, you're living in the stone ages. Considering I hadn't been to a dentist in well over three years (and only had a couple of relatively minor problems at this point)? I noticed they had a flyer for the Oral-B 9450 Triumph Professional Care Power Toothbrush – with four brushing modes: clean, soft, massage and polish. This will be my first Oral-B electronic mouth product, but it's already received rave reviews. I love Braun electric shavers, so I'm trusting the Oral-B brand vicariously.

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This is according to Ponzi. She forwarded a PayPal hoax to me this morning, asking if it was spam. I responded: “Who is the message from?” She came back with: “I don't know. I thought it was spam, I wanted you to look at it and tell me.” I walked over to her computer and asked her to show me what she did. She clicked on a link to confirm the sender, but I told her never (EVER) click these links unless you know they're legit messages / transactions. The discussion continued:

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Todd Malicoat was ahead of his time in dropping vowels from his name as DJ Stuntdubl, beating Flickr and the host of drop-E companies that followed. He turns a nickname from a former life into a catchy headline for his blog, Gettin’ Hit by Traffic… Not Cars, which alludes to his current role as a search engine optimizer. At Search Engine Stratigies we talked with Todd about life as a Stuntdubl, the color of his marketing hat and a his take on search engine optimization.

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It is with heavy heart that I must bid adeiu to my news aggregator. In the early days, I was searching for the perfect client – the one that fit my lifestyle. Since I live inside of Outlook, I found NewsGator to be indespensible. Now, however, I feel it's outlived its original usefulness. We're days away from a new FeedDemon release (a product from the same company), and I've already begun the move outside of Outlook.
The reasons are numerous, actually – not necessarily all contingent on NewsGator's shortcomings. First, Outlook 2000 just can't handle the amount of data I want to throw into it. Second, I really appreciate the favicon usage in FeedDemon's Subscriptions list. Third, FeedDemon integrates Gada.be out of the box. Fourth, Nick responds to my feedback regularly – and flips on logical features at breakneck speed (when he can). Fifth, FeedDemon is a true feed management application – and I expect it to get increasingly better in short time.
I'm in a transitional period at the moment. Out of habit, I keep scrolling to the bottom of my Outlook Folder list to check my favorite feeds – they're not there. I have to keep reminding myself that I've got 'em all organized in FeedDemon now. I really want someone to write an XSLT “style” that'll give FeedDemon's browser pane more of an Outlook view. If nobody does it, I may have to pay for someone to make it happen.

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Just scored an Xbox 360, so I really don't need this ol' Xbox anymore. I hardly used it, anyway (picked it up last summer and have turned it on a total of four times). We also have two Logitech Wireless Controllers – also in great condition. Plus, I picked up the DVD Remote kit thing a few weeks ago. The hardware's yours for $100 – which is quite a competitive price for the bundle. I guess I'm making this a listing?

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My personal fortune teller (let's call him “Al”) tells me that these predictions are absolutely true…
Aquarius: There's travel in your future when your tongue freezes to the back of a speeding bus. Fill that void in your pathetic life by playing Whack-a-mole 17 hours a day.
Pisces: Try to avoid any Virgos or Leos with the Ebola virus. You are the true Lord of the Dance, no matter what those idiots at work say.
Aries: The look on your face will be priceless when you find that 40-pound watermelon in your colon. Trade toothbrushes with an albino dwarf, then give a hickey to Meryl Streep.
Taurus: You will never find true happiness – what you gonna do, cry about it? The stars predict tomorrow you'll wake up, do a bunch of stuff, and then go back to sleep.
Gemini: Your birthday party will be ruined once again by your explosive flatulence. Your love life will run into trouble when your fiancee hurls a javelin through your chest.
Cancer: The position of Jupiter says that you should spend the rest of the week face down in the mud. Try not to shove a roll of duct tape up your nose while taking your driver's test.
Leo: Now is not a good time to photocopy your butt and staple it to your boss's face. Eat a bucket of tuna-flavored pudding, then wash it down with a gallon of Strawberry Quik.
Virgo: All Virgos are extremely friendly and intelligent – except for you. Expect a big surprise today when you wind up with your head impaled upon a stick.
Libra: A big promotion is just around the corner for someone much more talented than you. Laughter is the very best medicine – remember that when your appendix bursts next week.
Scorpio: Get ready for an unexpected trip when you fall screaming from an open window. Work a little bit harder on improving your low self-esteem, you stupid freak.
Sagittarius: All your friends are laughing behind your back – KILL THEM! Take down all those naked pictures of Ernest Borgnine you've got hanging in your den.
Capricorn: The stars say that you're an exciting and wonderful person… but you know they're lying. If i were you, I'd lock my doors and windows and never, never, never, never, never leave my house again.
Any questions?

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