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23 July, 2003
Happy Signs
From Worth1000: Happy Signs (signs with some added happiness)
Posted on 23 July, 2003
Reading the L.A. Times in PDF Format
A few hours ago, I was bitching about the L.A. Times Online edition (scroll down a few items to read it).
Kevin Lind informs me that you can read the national edition of the L.A. Times in PDF format. Registration not required. And you can even view the full-page ads. The links only display the section and page numbers, so it's not easy to find anything specific.
Only the current day is shown, but you can edit the URL to see previous days (the directory and filename correspond to the date).
Posted on 23 July, 2003
Another Mozilla Convert
Last week, I wrote about how I've dumped Internet Explorer, and started using Mozilla Firebird. Since then, I've heard from several people who have also made the switch. And they've all been positive. Like this email, from Kevin McKinney:
Kudos for writing those blog entries about Mozilla Firebird. You piqued my interest enough to get a copy, and I'm just as impressed as you promised I'd be. The tabbed browsing makes it worthwhile in and of itself! Viewing of any sort of blog or informational page is vastly improved when you're able to load the page while still focusing on what you're currently looking at.
Thanks for the referral. I had a good feeling that it would be good if you were putting on the J-Walk stamp of approval. Keep up the good work.
One advantage is that you don't really have to "install" Firebird. Just unzip the distribution file and run it! Unlike Internet Explorer, it doesn't leave fingerprints all over your system. This lets you give it a try without making major changes to your system. In the unlikely event that you don't like it, just delete it.
But you'll like it. And you'll realize why people are starting to call Internet Explorer a dinosaur.
Posted on 23 July, 2003
The Museum of Burnt Food
Yet another online museum: The Museum of Burnt Food.
"Celebrating the art of culinary disaster."
I was very surprised to learn that Deborah Henson-Conant is the "curator" of this museum. She's a jazz harp player, and I used to have one of her CDs. It was great. I must have loaned it to someone and never got it back.
Posted on 23 July, 2003
Fine Arts Model
Meet Michael Schmidt -- fine arts model, mentor, coach.
I am
5' 11", with brown eyes and long, shaggy brown hair. At 250+ lbs, my husky frame
and ample supply of gestures and poses have made me a model that all appreciate.
I pride myself on presenting challenges to student and experienced artist alike.
I have over eight years experience working for studios, colleges, artists and workshops throughout southern California. I pose either costumed or undraped for drawing, painting, sculpture, video and photography artists, students, and workshops.
By the way, this is for real. It is not a joke.
(via zFilter)
Posted on 23 July, 2003
Reading the L.A. Times Online
Somebody sent me a link to a story in the L.A. Times. I click the link, and I see this:
The story you requested is available only to registered members. Registration is FREE and offers great benefits.
So what's the point? Apparently, they are anticipating this question, and provide me with a Why Register? link. Yeah, yeah... the same old mumbo-jumbo. None of the points listed are really benefits to me. All I want to do is read the goddamn article. But in order to do so, I have to play along with their ridiculous registration. So I click the link to register.
It seems they want to know everything about me. The required fields in the registration form are: email address, name, address, phone number, year of birth, gender, household income, and how often I read their paper. Like the majority of people, I just enter some fake information. Is anybody dumb enough to actually enter real information here?
Just for the hell of it, I click on their Privacy Policy link. I'm presented with a 1,452-word document. A few excerpts (my comments are in bold):
Like other Web publishers, we collect information to enhance your visit and deliver more individualized content and advertising, and we sometimes permit our advertising and promotional partners to call to your attention products, special offers and unique content we believe might be of interest to you. In other words, expect spam.
In addition, from time to time as we continue to develop our business, we may sell, buy, merge or partner with other companies or businesses. In such transactions, user information may be among the transferred assets. Ah yes, the ubiquitous "partner" word again, this time as a verb.
What about opting out from the spam?
If you prefer not to receive direct communications sent by our advertisers or promotional partners, you will be given an opportunity to decline before you provide us information we might use for this purpose. If you decline at the time you provide us with such information, you will not receive e-mail or other communications sent directly by our advertisers using information collected from our site, though we may on occasion send you information on their behalf. You can opt out, but the L.A. will still send you spam on the behalf of their "partners."
Cookies?
While on our site, our advertisers, promotional partners or other third parties may use cookies or other technology to attempt to identify some of your preferences or retrieve information about you. You can count on it.
What about changes to the privacy policy?
Latimes.com reserves the right to change this policy at any time. Please check this page periodically for changes. Your continued use of our site following the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept those changes. So, dear readers, make sure you check the privacy policy every time you visit the site.
OK, the privacy policy is BS, but I used fake information anyway, so I don't care. I finally get to the article: M-I-C-K-E-Y: He's the Leader of the Brand. It's a story about how Disney Corporation is trying to squeeze out every penny they can from their tired Mickey Mouse character.
Operating income for Disney's consumer products group plummeted more than 50% from $893 million in 1997 to $386 million in 2000, and it has remained basically flat since then. As part of a restructuring of the group, the company recently announced plans to close more than 100 of its 500-plus Disney Store outlets and put the rest of the retail chain up for sale.
Good riddance, Disney. May your profits continue to plummet.
So I guess all of the L.A. Times registration BS was worth it. I just love reading stories about the pending fall of Disney Corporation.
Posted on 23 July, 2003
The Missionary Mall
Mormon
missionaries finally have their own mall:
The Missionary Mall.
We save the average missionary $751.59!
We are the oldest online missionary outfitter, having served more than 5628 missionaries as of July 17th, 2003.
Posted on 23 July, 2003
Eddie Gaedel and Baseball History
Eddie
Gaedel was involved in one of baseball's most interesting events. Eddie was
only 37 inches tall, and appeared as a pinch hitter.
In his stance, Gaedel's strike zone measured 1-1/2 inches. Detroit pitcher Bob Cain walked the midget, throwing four straight balls. When Jim Delsing went in to run for him, the crowd gave Gaedel a standing ovation.
Posted on 23 July, 2003
Guitar Amplifier Gallery
Guitar players will like looking at these old guitar amps. I used to own one of those Fender Champ Amps.
Posted on 23 July, 2003
Maze Maker
Go to Maze Maker and make a maze. Just enter the parameters, click a button, and you've got it.
Or, if you have a copy of Excel, you can create a maze in a worksheet by using the VBA macro listed below. Copy the code and paste it into a VBA module. Then select a range of cells in a worksheet, and press Alt+F8. In the Macros dialog box select MakeMaze and click Run.
The mazes aren't as good as those produced with Maze Maker, but it does produce some interesting patterns. The original author of this VBA code is not known.
Sub MakeMaze() Dim cell As Range If TypeName(Selection) <> "Range" Then Exit Sub With Selection .Interior.ColorIndex = 6 .RowHeight = 24 .ColumnWidth = 4 End With For Each cell In Selection If Rnd() < 0.5 Then With cell.Borders(5) .ColorIndex = xlNone .LineStyle = xlNone End With With cell.Borders(6) .ColorIndex = xlAutomatic .LineStyle = xlContinuous .Weight = xlMedium End With Else With cell.Borders(5) .ColorIndex = xlAutomatic .LineStyle = xlContinuous .Weight = xlMedium End With With cell.Borders(6) .ColorIndex = xlNone .LineStyle = xlNone End With End If Next cell End Sub
Posted on 23 July, 2003
Japanese Ice Cream
Welcome to the Wacky World of Japanese Ice Cream.
Japanese have long taken pride in their ability to adopt, adapt and improve on customs, practices and styles from other countries. Having succeeded globally with cars, electronics and even fashion, it was only natural the Japanese turned their hand to trying to surpass the West with one of its favorite culinary delights - ice cream.
Flavors include fish, octopus, ox tongue, fried eggplant, and wasabi.
Posted on 23 July, 2003
Driving From Cuba
From MSNBC: Cubans found on seagoing pickup
Cuban migrants fashioned a boat out of a 1951 Chevy pickup truck and "drove" it to within 40 miles of the United States before they were spotted and returned to the island, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
Posted on 23 July, 2003
Do Amazing Things -- For 60 Days
For a small shipping and handling fee, you can get a copy of Microsoft's Do Amazing Things DVD-ROM. Among other things, it contains a full-length movie, and a series of short films shot in high-definition video.
But, according to a post in a private newsgroup, the movies expire after 60 days.
"Clicking and launching one video will start a 60 day countdown for all of them".
This fact, of course, is not mentioned on the web site or on the DVD packaging. So, basically, this is just some kind of test for Microsoft's DRM. But when something is free, I guess it's not necessary to disclose the details.
Posted on 23 July, 2003
New From Google
Google now offers Advanced News Search. Search news items by date, source, location, etc.
Posted on 23 July, 2003
Gallery of Psychiatric Art
View lots of old drug ads at the Gallery of Psychiatric Art
(via Follow Me Here)
Posted on 23 July, 2003
Create PDF Files For Free
If you need to create PDF files, there's an alternative to purchasing software from Adobe. Try the Pdf995 products. The only hitch is that you'll see an advertisement each time you use it.
* * *
Update: There seems to be a lot of interest in creating PDF files. Within an hour of posting this item, I received several emails with additional suggestions for free software. Hans Lehmann pointed out PDFCreator, an open-source option. Michael Murphy told me about CutePDF Printer (and also wrote about it in his blog last Sunday). John Beardsworth pointed out FinePrint (it leaves a url in the page footer).
Posted on 23 July, 2003