One Thing is Certain

Since I've been online, the level of discourse has degraded to appalling levels.  I used to frequent a lot of political forums, starting in MSN Groups and then elsewhere.   Most sites have filters that catch most of the vulgar language, but people have learned to bypass them by substituting characters or blank spaces.  Other sites have active moderators that delete the worst posts, especially those with violence or obscenities, but far too often some manage to get past the censors. 

YouTube is just about the worst and it seems to be up to the person who uploaded the video to police the comments section.  Some care, some don't.  I had an extension for Firefox that blocked all comments, but it quit working with one of the latest updates for that browser.  I've learned to just watch the video and ignore the comments, lest I have an otherwise good experience spoiled for me.

One site that does a pretty good job of deleting nasty comments is IMdB.com, the movie/television review site. Still, even without obscene words, it has to be one of the rudest forums on the 'net. Religion or politics gets inserted into nearly every thread, it seems, even if the movie has absolutely nothing to do with either of those two subjects.

I wish I could give the URL to one instance I saw a few months ago, but I either didn't save it or accidentally deleted it in one of my periodic "cleanings" of files on my computer. I did save part of the conversation, though, in a Notepad file named "Stupid Sh*t". The person was blathering on about religious messages in some movie (I've forgotten which one) and after rambling on for several paragraphs, he closed with:

"BTW, I'm agnotick."

I wanted to reply, but didn't.  Others took him to task, though but strangely enough, not for his fractured sentence structure and poor spelling but for misinterpreting the movie's message.  I wanted to say to him: "First of all, it's "agnostic". Second place, it's one thing to be agnostic (OR agnotick) but there's really no sense posting on forums if you're functionally illiterate."  One thing was certain, though...he's a dumbass.

My Soul is a Desert

I'd hope it would be "dessert", but since all the options were desert scenes in this image quiz....

Your Darkness is Your Soul's Secret

To most people, you seem full of light and joy. You're the first one to smile or say something optimistic. You put on a brave face for your friends, the family, and the world. You try to make the best of bad situations. You keep your darkness a secret because you don't want to burden others with your problems. They have enough to handle as is. You feel like your problems and struggles are for you to deal with. Everyone has them. What makes yours special? If your darkness was less of a secret, people would be surprised to know what you've been struggling with... and that you're just like them. You may burden others by revealing the darker parts of your soul, but you'd be unburdening yourself a lot more in return.

What's Your Soul's Secret?

StarRSS

Turn any site's RSS feed into a Star Wars style reader with StarRSS . Get the URL site feed for your favorite website and plug it in and hit "Enter".  The latest posts will appear in a Star Wars-type scroll complete with the opening theme music and each title is a valid link.

Practical?  Not really.  Fun?  Loads!

Here's what ToTG's site feed looks like:


Or you can check it out yourself!

StarRSS

She's Not There - The Zombies

Originally published 5/2/09, but I noticed the video had been taken down.

Dear Dave

I was cleaning out my Gmail spam folder just now and found this:

---

Dave Dawes david007@hotmail.com

Good day,

I am Dave Dawes, My wife and I won the biggest Euro Millions lottery prize and we just commenced our Charity Donation and we will be giving out a cash donation to five(5)lucky individuals and ten(10)charity organisations from any part of the world. To verify the genuineness of this email and our winnings, please see our interview by visiting the web page below;

>Link<

Your email address was submitted to my wife and I by the Google Management Team and you received this email because we have listed you as one of the lucky millionaires, To file your claim, Kindly send us the following details Name: () Age: ()Contact address: ()Telephone: ()Occupation: () Present Country: ()

Congratulations & Happy Celebrations in Advance,

Dave & Angela Dawes
Email: daveandangeladawes65@yahoo.com.hk

---

Gee, thanks for thinking of me, "Dave".  I'd be delighted if you shared your new-found wealth with me, but I'm a little concerned about a few things:  The first one is that I see that's a valid story and "you" are giving away part of your £101m jackpot, but the story is dated over two and a half years ago.  Surely you're not having problems giving the money away? Why would the "Google Management Team" want ME to have any of your money? I don't know any of them and I'm sure they don't know me; I'm just one in many, many millions of Gmail users.

Also, why is it the mail supposedly comes from a Hotmail address and in your closing, you give a Yahoo one?   Looking at the source of the email, I see it originates from a mail.astrobl.ru domain.  If you live in the UK, then why is the mail coming from Russia?  There's also a "spf=softfail" in the source and a quick bit of research tells me that means the mail is coming from somewhere other than the stated email address.  It's spoofed, in other words.

So, "Dave", I'm thinkin' your name is closer to "Dmitry" than it is "Dave.  Whatever it is, you're a rotten thievin' Ruskie.  I hope the authorities catch you, try and convict you and send you to Siberia for ten years at hard labor and hopefully you'll get frostbite on your private parts. 

Then you can change your name to Dave Rotchacockoff.

E-Mail Bug

From the archives:

---

I found this bug in the last email you sent. I'm sending it back.

Please be more careful next time.

Vote For Bush!

I was reading an article about George and Laura Bush's daughter Jenna having a baby shower thrown for her by her TV co-workers, then noticed a "Which Bush is your favorite?" poll on the side, so I voted.  I know OF Billy Bush and the band Bush, but can't claim to have listened to the show of the former and couldn't name a tune by the latter.  Of course, I know about the two presidents Bush and knew about Jenna and her fraternal twin sister Barbara from the news stories* that came out when their father first became President.  

I thought about the vote for a little bit, then went ahead and clicked on George W. Bush, what the heck.  I voted for him twice before, why not three times?  According to half of America, I'm responsible for the country's ills because I did vote for him the first two times. 

*I remember a story about the Bush twins getting arrested twice for minor in possession (of alcohol) within a few weeks and not long after that, Jenna getting busted for trying to use a fake I.D. as so to buy alcohol. I remember making a joke at the time that the U.S. could probably reduce the deficit just by selling the twin's empties.

Yolo, Fomo, or Jomo?

You Are YOLO

Your personal motto can best be described as YOLO: 'You Only Live Once' You believe in living large and taking risks. You don't want to regret what you didn't do in life. You have a great attitude, and you live consciously. You don't want to waste a single moment or day. Unlike how most people imagine YOLO, you aren't a reckless partier. You just live life on your terms. You are open and eager to experience new things. You often get others to consider new possibilities. You're the type who may change the world without even trying to. Just by being you, you inspire others and create greatness.

Are You Yolo, Fomo, or Jomo?

---

I'm a little suprised I was YOLO, esp. after this post.

OTOH, maybe there's something to it.

Paranoia

I was checking the status of my refund earlier today and decided to read then take a screen shot of the warming that pops up before you can proceed on the site.  I've seen the same thing when looking at the Top Ten Most Wanted on the FBI site as well as trying to look up something on the official White House website.


Nothing new here, folks, move along.  Y'know, you're really not paranoid if someone really IS watching you.

The word paranoia always reminds me of this tune:


Destroyer - The Kinks

"Paranoia, the destroyer"

Tempted

I know 99.999% of all spam emails are scams, but I was sorely tempted to click on this one:

Moe Slap Happy

Be My Baby - The Ronettes

Whoever uploaded the video set it to "private", sorry 'bout that if you came in via a search. It's easier for me to just leave a note and delete the embed code than it would be to go back into the archives and delete the post.

idiolect

 
idiolect id·i·o·lect [id-ee-uh-lekt] noun a person's individual speech pattern. Origin: 1945–50; idio- + -lect, as in dialect

---

Combine my Texas drawl with my occasional stutter and my idiolect can take a minute or more per syllable.

The Human Piano

After going to all that trouble, I would have hoped he would have put together something classical, like Für Elise or Moonlight Sonata or even gone the rock direction with "It's a Long Way to the Top" or "Smoke on the Water", but the theme to Super Mario Brothers?

Heaven on Earth

Your Heaven on Earth is a Sandy Beach

When you travel, you're not just looking to relax - you're looking to check out completely. And nothing takes you away from your normal life more than a sandy beach, with the ocean crashing around you. You love the feeling of the sun on your skin, and you're always up for a little bit of swimming or splashing. Bonus points if you can stay at an all inclusive resort where your every whim and desire is catered to. Consider a classic beach destination like Hawaii or the Greek islands for your next vacation. And of course, a luxury hotel. Or if you want to mix things up a bit, pick a smaller island or a remote part of Asia. Then you'll get a beach to yourself!

What's Your Heaven on Earth?

---

It really would be heavenly if that cute girl was on the beach with me.

Hacker Typer

Want to amaze your friends and/or freak out your enemies? (or vice versa?)

Keep Hacker Typer bookmarked on your computer and when you want to amaze/freak out someone, just open it up and tell them something like "I'm going to hack into the Pentagon." and start flailing away at the keyboard like a drunken monkey.  It doesn't matter what you type, just do it furiously with purpose (maybe bite your lip in an absent-minded way to mimic concentration) and the screen will look like this:

Wanna REALLY freak 'em out?  Tell them you've discovered a back door to Facebook and you're going to change their profile to read something creepy like "I'm a BIG fan of Charles Manson" or that they love Justin Bieber...unless they're really a fan of him, then what's really creepy is that they are a friend of yours.

Hacker Typer

Cursor Invisible

How good is your hand-eye coordination?  How about when your eye can't see what the hand is doing?

Try this fun game Cursor Invisible.  Click the start button, then start clicking the circles.  After a few seconds, your cursor will go invisible and you have to keep trying to accurately click on the circles.  The game continues as long as you successfully click on a circle but ends when you miss.

I just played a half-dozen times and my last (and best) score was 43.

Cursor Invisible

When Second Was Best

Did you know The Beatles lost out to Brian Poole and The Tremeloes when the two groups auditioned in 1962 for a contract at the London studios of Decca Records? Reportedly, Decca's decision was based upon location; The Tremeloes were from the London area, making them more accessible than the Liverpool-based Beatles.

Do You Love Me



Here Comes My Baby

March Stats

A few months ago, I decided to add a StatCounter as so to keep a better running count of visitors than the Feedjit Counter. Google Analytics seems to do a decent job, but I wanted to check those figures against another site counter.  StatCounter sends a monthly total, too, where as I have to go to Google to view the numbers.   I'm lazy, what can I say?

I also am not obsessed with the numbers, but just find them interesting.  I *might* be obsessed if this blog got thousands of hits each day, but....

As I have mentioned before, I was a little disappointed that page loads does not equal visitors.  (I thought this blog was more popular than it actually is.  Wishful thinking, I guess.) The new StatCounter keeps up with those, but it also counts first time visits as well as returning visits.  I have it set to ignore my own visits to the blog, but have to reset it when I clear cache and cookies. (the counter is "hidden" in the right-hand nav bar in the box at the very bottom. It's not actually hidden, but I have it set to a tiny size as so to not be so obvious to the casual visitor.)

Here's a screen shot of last month's stats:

Bring The Funk-Parliament Funkadelic

Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry

Funky Town - Lipps Inc.

Do The Funky Chicken - Rufus Thomas

Why I'm Funky

Your Quirkiness Makes You Funky

You're a little different, and you're proud of that. You purposely seek out the odder side of life. You think the mainstream is boring. The most interesting parts of life are undiscovered or at least underrated. You're probably a little old fashioned as well. Once you like something, you stick with it... even if it goes out of style. You've also found that the past is a rich place to scour for new things to love. You can't believe how many cool things have been forgotten. People who don't know you well may thing you're a bit strange, but they often come around to you over time. You are a rich source of knowledge and insight. You have more depth to you than most anyone else in this world.

What Makes You Funky?

Where's My Refund?

Check your refund status at the IRS website.

Easy enough to do; input your SS#, your filing status and the exact amount of your refund and a graph will appear telling you the status of your refund.

I filed electronically last week (the first time I've ever filed online; it's also unusually early for me - I almost always wait until the last minute), so my refund isn't too far along in the process.  The site says that checks will be mailed (or credited to your bank account, which is, from what I've read, how it will be done in the near future) within 21 days.

The IRS also says to check only once a day.

Where's My Refund?

Largest Easter Egg Hunt

The largest Easter Egg hunt on record took place in 2007 at the Cypress Gardens theme park in Winter Haven, Florida. It took the 9,700 participants just one hour to find the 510,000 candy eggs.

Source:  Guinness World Records

Wisdom of the Easter Bunny

All I need to know about life I learned from the Easter Bunny


Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Walk softly and carry a big carrot.

Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.

There's no such thing as too much candy.

All work and no play can make you a basket case.

A cute little tail attracts a lot of attention.

Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.

Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.

Some body parts should be floppy.

Keep your paws off other people's jellybeans.

Good things come in small-sugarcoated packages.

The grass is always greener in someone else's basket.

An Easter bonnet can tame even the wildest hare.

To show your true colors you have to come out of the shell.

The best things in life are still sweet and gooey.

"Father, Forgive Them"

Originally posted 4/10/09.  A "bump" for Good Friday. Other Groom Cross posts (and mentions)

Sincerely Another Quiz

Pretty close, except for the "conscientious and responsible" part.  And the "procrastinating or shirking", too. Oh, and the "puts manners first" is way off as well.  I DO try to make sure my emails are well-composed, though.  They're often always too wordy, but.... Thank goodness for spell check.

One of the questions was "When was the last time you hand-wrote a letter?"  I'm glad "I can't remember" was one of the choices, because I honestly can't remember.  It's probably been over fifteen years ago, before I got a computer, for sure.  It's hard for me to sign my name on a credit card slip; I've almost forgotten how to write.

I'm really not a "sincerely" type of person.  If it's a friend or family member, I usually sign off with "Love";  if it's a stranger, it's "Regards".  Most of the time I don't put anything other than my name.

You Are Sincerely

You're the type of person who puts manners first. You always act appropriately. You are conscientious and responsible. You don't like the feeling of procrastinating or shirking. While you don't always sign your emails 'Sincerely,' you make sure that they are well composed. Whether you're emailing a friend or a business associate, you take the time to double check your words. More than any other type, you make sure email doesn't pile up for you. You know it's important to reply quickly. Some may say that email is going out of style, but you still consider it an art form. And you couldn't imagine living without it.

What Email Sign Off Are You?

Maybe the quiz says I use "Sincerely" because this song came out the year I was born.  Just like me, an oldie but a goody.