Morse Code Ringtone Generator

From the website:

This page converts text into a morse code ringtone playable on most mobile phones.If your phone can play 'polyphonic' or 'poly' ringtones it should work fine. If your phone has WAP internet access you should be able to download ringtones (for free) directlyfrom this site. You can also play them back and/or save them on your PC or MAC, oruse the Morse2Email feature to send morse messages to other people via email.

This is cool. I don't even have a cell phone, but this makes me want to get one so I can record something rude and have it as my ringtone.

On the other hand, the only people I'd piss off would be ham operators.

Morse Code Ringtone Generator

One free entry in ToTG's "Free Gas for a Month" contest to whoever can decipher the following message:

cadence

From the Word of the Day feed

cadence \KAYD-'n(t)s\, noun:
1. the measure or beat of music, dancing, or a regularly repeated movement
2. a rising and falling sound; modulation; also, the falling inflection of the voice, as at the end of a sentence
3. a series of chords bringing part of a piece of music to an end

That's the Dictionary.com definition, but when I think of cadence, it's always to do with the military or how I once had a coach who was fresh out of the army and liked we boys to sing while running.

From the movie Full Metal Jacket

WARNING: Some explicit language. For shame, who'd have thought Marines ever cursed.



That was some Hollywood Marines; here's some real ones.



You'd have to be nuts to sass that first drill instructor. Sheesh, he intimidates me and he's just on a vid.

Cadence. I love it. I can't help but tap my foot along with the beat and I think that's because it's the same heartbeat tempo people have when they're pleasantly excited. Music can do that, I think. Different types can trigger all sorts of emotions, and I truly think they come from the heart.

God Bless our Troops.

A History of Thanksgiving

1492 - Christopher Columbus discovers America, unless you count the native peoples already living there. Columbus doesn't. Columbus and crew celebrate by holding a dinner, giving thanks for their safe arrival. Embarrassment ensues when every Indian brings maize, and nobody brings pumpkin pie.

1620 - Pilgrim men invent sport of football to avoid helping clean up after Thanksgiving dinner.

1671 - First embarrassing drunken relatives at Thanksgiving dinner, as Captain John Smith's parents tell Pocahontas the "hilarious" old "I got lost in the maize" joke for the hundredth time.

1701 - At a historic Thanksgiving dinner, Dutch settlers unveil historic "Indians Give Us All Of Their Land Treaty." Due to an unfortunate oversight, the Indians are left off of the invite list, and the treaty is signed without them.

1776 - Excited that his British in-laws finally agreed to meet him for Thanksgiving dinner, silversmith Paul Revere rides through Boston announcing the news. Unfortunately, many colonists misinterpret his cry "the British are coming!" as a warning, leading to the Revolutionary War.

1812 - At an international Thanksgiving dinner, King George of England, still hurting from losing the Revolutionary War, challenges United States President James Madison to "best 2 out of 3."

1860 - At a Senate Thanksgiving dinner, the seven-year-old son of Alabama's Senator Richard Applebee insults the Senators from Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania, sparking the Civil War. The tradition of the "children's table" is instituted in 1861.

1903 - Canada steals idea of Thanksgiving holiday, placing it in October, so they can say it was their idea first.

1928 - To commemorate "our nation's greatest era of prosperity that will last forever and ever," President Herbert Hoover dumps ceremonial ten thousand turkeys into the Potomac River.

1929 - Following the Great Stock Market Crash, thousands of men go Turkey Diving in the Potomac River.

1957 - Declaring her spicy stuffing "a communist threat to undermine my health via heartburn," Senator Joe McCarthy has his wife placed under arrest as a Soviet saboteur.

1969 - The world's largest Eat-In event goes sour. Thousands of hippies start having bad trips when bad "brown gravy" gets passed around.

1991 - When Dan Quayle takes ill on Thanksgiving; a turkey is sworn as Vice President for three days. No change is noticed.

1997 - Strong natural tranquilizer tryptophane is discovered in turkey. A Colombian cartel immediately starts selling "pure" turkey on the streets for $500 an ounce. Turkey farmers get involved in drive-by shootings, and the U.S. government declares a national fowl emergency.

2002 - America is on a terrorist alert. It is now against the law to stuff a turkey since anyone is suspicious of hiding explosives. Saddam Hussein is caught trying to smuggle Turkeys filled with WMD's in containers bound for the US.

2004 - Teresa Heinz Kerry invites all the Democrats who won in November for a Festive Thanksgiving Celebration. As she certainly knows a Turkey when she sees one, her 'trophy' hubby John Kerry finds it very lonely when only Tom Daschle shows up, claiming that he won 'in spirit.'

A Thanksgiving Toast

Here's to friends both near and far:
Here's to woman, man's guiding star:
Here's to friends we've yet to meet,
Here's to those here: all here I greet:
Here's to childhood, youth, old age,
Here's to prophet, bard and sage,
Here's to health to every one,
Peace on earth, and heaven won!

Speaking Clock

UPDATE: Apologies to anyone who came to this post and expected to find a speaking clock. Google did away with most file storage a while back, so the links no longer work. I forgot where I found the original files and script or I'd link to it. Sorry.

I had also altered one of the pages I had made with some sound files I had recorded of an online British friend I had at the time; I had her record all the little snippets "It's" "one", "two", etc. along with "o'clock" and "AM" and "PM". It was a lot of work but pretty cool. I made a start page w/ weather and news modules and had that script embedded in it.

Anyway, sorry the files are gone. I'm sure I still have them somewhere on this computer and could zip them up and send them to anyone if they wanted...and asked nicely. My email address is on a graphic in the right-hand nav bar.

---

I'd forgotten I had some Google Page space and after running across the link in Favorites, was delighted to find out it could "host" some files for this site. I was thinking of using it for my calendar images and for a few other applications, but discovered they were going to discontinue it.

It still works for the time being, so check out this Speaking Clock script and page made with files I had forgotten I had. (some troubles with it, might need to refresh the page after entering)I didn't like the original voice on the files that came with the script, so I made my own using a Text to Speech site that had different languages and accents.

I've always been fond of how most British women talk, so I made files in that accent.

There's nothing else on the page, but was thinking of adding to here as an "iframe" with a clock, but face it, most folks will look at the clock on their computer for the time.

I'm sure that it would piss people off, too. I can dig that. I don't go often, but there's another Texas blog that has a loud "YEEHAW!" when I enter. I'm always forgetting it's there and not prepared for the sound through my headphones.

I still like it as something to add to a "home-made" home page. It could serve a purpose, too, like a countdown because the script can be altered to have it repeat as often as you like.

Using a mike and the voice recorder on your computer, you could have your voice or any other person's for the clock.

(and would be willing to sit through an hour or more of recording "One", "Two", etc., all the way to "fifty-nine", as well as "The Time is" and "AM" and "PM")

Dunno if the script is buggy or if it's Google and their file hosting servers, but it sometimes skips "The Time is" and just blurts out the number. Oh well.

UK Female Voice Speaking Clock

reprobate

From the Word of the Day feed in right-hand column:

reprobate \REP-ruh-bayt\, noun, adjective:
1. a very wicked, unprincipled person; scoundrel

adjective:1. very wicked; unprincipled
verb:1. to disapprove; condemn, censure

noun:1. a person predestined to damnation, rejected by God
adjective:1. rejected by God; damned

verb:1. to reject from salvation; predestine to eternal punishment

I'd like to add "politician" as a synonym.