Come and Go

Weekends go entirely too damned fast.

Steve Jobs Inhaled Today

I'm as much of a tech-fanatic as anybody, but something occurred to me today while plowing through my Google Reader session.  I'd hoped that after the release of the iPhone, I'd maybe be able to stop hearing about it.   Not only has that not happened, it's gotten worse.

It's like Ubuntu all over again.  Now geeks of an order higher than myself have something else to orgasm over.  First it was the whole 'I installed Ubuntu on my refrigerator / cell phone / digital clock meme making news every six and a half seconds. As annoying as it was, I could cope with it.

The iPhone thing is getting out of hand.  Every time I check out any site with tech news, there's some story about unlocking the iphone, installing a program on it, or downgrading /modifying the firmware.  Have we run out of things to talk about in the tech field to such an extent that managing to downgrade the software on a cell phone is actually newsworthy?

Shiny touch-sensitiveness and Apple pedigree apart, it's a fuckin' phone.  That's it.  When I read stories like this I wonder if people literally have no lives other than sitting around installing linux and hacking phone firmware. 

I mean, really.  Get the hell out of your apartments and go get laid or something.  There's go to be more to life than this.

On a related note, I managed to successfully upgrade the battery in my  wireless mouse from a generic brand to a Duracell.  Check back soon for a Youtube video of me 'unlocking' the power of my mouse with step by step instructions.

Ugh.

 

Technorati tags: iphone, apple, unlock, firmware, ubuntu, youtube

Of Chance and Circumstance

A strange thing happened today. After a frustratingly long day populated by agonizingly dim-witted and credit-challenged time-wasting drecks, I was ready for some amusement, something...anything to make today more interesting than a root canal.

I wasn't disappointed. After all the customers and all the wasted hours trying to get people into cars that Jesus himself wouldn't finance, something worth mentioning actually occurred.

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, the finance office had to be cleared of furniture at the last minute. Unforeseen circumstances being a flooring crew consisting only of what we supposed to be illegal immigrants masquerading as a highly trained tile-installation task force.

Clearing out the desk, some paperwork was found under one of the bottom drawers. That in and of itself isn't that strange. What's strange is that the paperwork was a credit application dated 9/29/05. Exactly two years ago today. Even more surprising, there was a fax printout dated almost to the hour that we found the paperwork.

Less surprising, and even a little ironic was that the fax was a decline letter from one of our lenders. Typical.

A few minutes after that, we swung the desk upright to move it from the office. That act brought on the last little tidbit of high strangeness.

Under the left side of the desk in a recess in the sheet metal was a stick-on air freshener. I'm guessing the previous owner of that desk either was sensitive to smells wafting up from service or else had problems keeping his anal sphincter under control.

These are the strange things that happen in the world of sales.

Technorati tags: Funny, car sales, salesmen, business, office, automobile

Americans are NOT giving up sex for the web.

The mainstream media is lying to you. I can prove it.

Surfing the net has become an obsession for many Americans with the majority of U.S. adults feeling they cannot go for a week without going online and one in three giving up friends and sex for the Web....It [a poll] also found that 20 percent said they spend less time having sex because they are online.

I call bullshit on this.  Think about it.  What are these people trying to accomplish by being online excessively?  I'd suggest they're IMing, surfing craigslist personals, prowling Myspace and every other social network and just generally trying to find new people specifically to have sex with. 

That's just the way things work on the web. Don't shake your head, you know I'm right.

 

Technorati tags: sex, myspace, craigslist, personals, MSNBC, internet, web

Forget Web 2.0 - Welcome to Web #1

I'm all for creative ways to get on YouTube, but this is wrong on so very many levels:

A Hartlepool man is facing jail after he urinated on a disabled woman who lay dying in the street.

The 27-year-old shouted "this is YouTube material" as he degraded Christine Lakinski, 50, who had fallen ill, magistrates heard.

Anderson had smoked a cannabis joint and been drinking when he and two friends spotted her.

He tried to rouse her by throwing a bucket of water over her, before urinating on her and covering her with shaving foam.

Lynne Dalton, prosecuting, said: "Although his actions did not contribute to her death it was appalling behaviour that robbed her of any dignity in the last hours of her life."

People suck. Seriously.

(Source: BBC)

Technorati tags: BBC, Hartlepool, Youtube, Anthony Anderson, Christine Lakinski

Best Vista Sidebar Gadget Yet

Since I've been using Vista, I've been searching for the perfect set of gadgets for my sidebar.  I change the layout quite a bit, but most of the time I find that I'm swapping my clock gadget.  All I really wanted was a nice simple digital clock that also shows the date.  That's it. 

I scoured Microsoft's gadget gallery to no avail, forcing myself to try several analog clocks, but always felt like they just weren't quite what I wanted.

Tonight I managed to find exactly what I was looking for.

Presto's Sidebar Clock, found over on prestonhunt.com is as simple as it gets.  It fit the bill perfectly and now has a top-of-the-totem-pole position in my sidebar. 

I highly recommend it.

 

Technorati tags: Windows, Vista, Sidebar, Gadgets, Clock, computing, Microsoft

Grief Is an Odd Thing

Depression and grief know no bounds.

Florence Irene Ford
September 3, 1861 - October 30, 1871

Ten-year-old Florence died of yellow fever.
During her short life she was extremely frightened of storms and whenever one occurred she would rush to her mother to find comfort.

Upon her death her mother was so struck with grief that she had Florence's casket constructed with a glass window at the child’s head. The grave was dug to provide an area, the same depth of the coffin, at the child’s head, but this area had steps that would allow the mother to descend to her daughter’s level so she could comfort Florence during storms.

To shelter the mother during storms, hinged metal trap doors were installed over the area the mother would occupy while at her child’s grave.

Technorati tags: grief, depression, death, cemeteries, Florence Irene Ford, burial, grave