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The Malum

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Birthday Wishes [20 May 2008|12:34am]
[ mood | good ]

Happy Birthday, [info]elfling519!

Good wishes sent. Physical gift to follow.

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Teenagers [19 May 2008|11:44am]
Some of you with older kids should get a kick out of this:




And I'm sure most of you have seen it already, but I hadn't and I got a kick out of it, so there.
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Did Some Sci-Fi Surfing [18 May 2008|01:50pm]
[ mood | content ]

Interesting bits:


  • Reynolds/Washburne 2008! Vote for the party that aims to misbehave! (That's a Firefly reference, for those who haven't seen this fine series/movie.)

  • In 1952, a visionary published the Space Patrol Official Handbook. I recognize most of the images without having to check the captions, which just goes to show that I've seen too many movies.

  • That led me to Dreams of Space, which is a great site with an extensive bibliography of space books up to about 1974, and, where available, scans thereof.

  • I don't think I've mentioned this site on my blog before, but I'm a big fan of Winchell Chung's Project Rho site with all kinds of sci-fi goodies therein -- star maps, a discussion of the physics behind space travel, etc.

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In Case You Missed It [14 May 2008|11:59pm]
[ mood | sleepy ]

A link for your enjoyment.

And in case it's not obvious, I was so busy at work I didn't get a chance to browse, so I'm doing it all this evening, in lieu of the concert. And since I'm not at work, I have time to share.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, the Year 2000 Has Finally Arrived [14 May 2008|11:14pm]
[ mood | enthralled ]

The first sign of the Golden Age of Technology has arrived! )

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Rate Your Man [14 May 2008|06:13pm]
[ mood | annoyed ]


Husband's scale, page 1
Originally uploaded by Tiabla
Apparently, in the 1930s, this was the kind of thing pop marital counselors published in the magazines. Nice to know little has changed; they had just as many unreasonable expectations as we do today. I mean, "Snores"?!? Like that can be controlled!

Stolen from [info]alicetheowl.
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An Observation Regarding DVDs [12 May 2008|04:32pm]
[ mood | blank ]

People are a little smarter than I thought... )

2 comments|post comment

Lucky [07 May 2008|01:07pm]
[ mood | amused ]

So, I was driving home yesterday, and I happened to be flipping through radio stations when I heard the DJ on K-Rock say "... Seether and Flyleaf at the Nokia Theater. Caller 92 wins the tickets." I thought to myself, I like Flyleaf, and tried calling in. I dialed four times, and the last time was really going to be the last, when the DJ picked up the phone and told me I'd won.

It turns out that I've apparently won two tickets to the May 14th 6:00 PM Seether/Flyleaf show at the Nokia Center in Times Square; this is ironic, since I no longer have a girlfriend to take with me. I'll have to cast around and see who would be up for this.

Also included in the prize is a copy of Rock Band for the Xbox 360. I don't own an Xbox, so this might end up on eBay or end up someone's Xmas present.

I drove very carefully the rest of the way home. The way my karma works, I figured there was an even chance I'd get pulled over or someone would run into me.

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J. K. Rowling vs. Orson Scott Card [02 May 2008|09:52am]
[ mood | okay ]

Fight! )

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Stylus? [30 Apr 2008|09:41pm]
[ mood | contemplative ]

I'm considering picking up a cheap stylus so I can transfer some drawings into a vector graphics application. Looking around online, it looks like there's a range of prices available. So, I summon the knowledge of my Friends' List -- what do you think? Get a nice tablet for graphical drawing (better chance to resell it for some amount) or get a cheap ePen (might be difficult to use), or give the whole thing a pass?

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Malware Licensing [28 Apr 2008|10:58am]
[ mood | amused ]

In a bizarre twist, the folks at Symantec discovered a copyright statement in the malware package "Zeus".

The spyware writers put in one particularly intriguing statement: "In cases of violations of the agreement and being detected, the client loses any technical support. Moreover, the binary code of your bot will be immediately sent to antivirus companies." So, if you rip off the virus/trojan writers' code and they find out, they'll send your stuff to Symantec. I wonder if software piracy is making it unfeasible to be a virus/trojan writer?

Of course, the best comment I saw about this online was the guy who pointed out that the "Terms and Conditions" statement the spyware authors put in there says "2. The Client... Does not have the right to distribute the product in any business or commercial purposes not connected with this sale." Doesn't spyware "freely distribute" itself anyway, by definition? Seems like shaky, er, "legal" ground...

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Gas Map [23 Apr 2008|09:13am]
[ mood | glum ]

Here's a gas map of my morning commute. Looks... okaaay. Wouldn't mind if the prices were lower, but at least they're not the highest gas prices in the state...


Gas Map -- I'm going to have to figure out how to embed this properly.

Oh, and as a reminder -- on the Parkway, the gas stations are only allowed to change their gas prices on Friday. So, for the next two days, they have gas prices in the range of $3.17 a gallon for regular...

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Today [22 Apr 2008|10:37pm]
[ mood | chipper ]

I seem to be reporting my daily progress. Well, I'd hate to break the chain...

I got up on time (an hour before I'd usually get up) and made it in to work right on time. I ate half of a soft pretzel for breakfast and a buttered kaiser roll for lunch. I actually left a little late, made it home okay, and even stopped at KFC for dinner (I actually had a craving for it on the way home. It felt good!) I only had room for one piece (plus, it's pretty greasy and I wanted to avoid any chance of replay).

And I have leftovers for tomorrow!

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Tomorrow [20 Apr 2008|10:16pm]
[ mood | crappy ]

I'm going to call in sick tomorrow. Even if I sleep the night, I don't want to stress myself on my first full day back at work.

Bah.

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My Health [20 Apr 2008|12:16pm]
[ mood | sick ]

The customer sent me home at 10:00 AM on Friday, so I got to see the doctor after all. She told me I have a stomach virus that will likely take three to five days to work itself out. She also prescribed some anti-nausea medicine for me.

I managed to make it home, but I wasn't feeling so hot, so I called [info]mitch37 for a lift to CostCo where I could get my prescriptions filled. I was really flagging while I was at CostCo. I picked up some fruit juices, and had my medicines in about fifteen minutes. While waiting in line to check out, I felt woozy, my vision got fuzzy, I heard a rushing sound, and then [info]mitch37 said my name and everything snapped back into focus. I realized I'd almost passed out. I asked him to watch the cart and went to sit at one of the tables in the fast food area. I was sweating uncontrollably, just like I had been at work. So, it seems that the sweats was a sign that I was exerting myself too far. Good to know. We stopped by PathMark for Ginger Ale and Nilla Wafers (my go-to foods for when I get food poisoning). Got my purchases home and passed out on the couch for a while.

Saturday was mostly a wash. I didn't have any appetite, but managed to force some Nilla Wafers down, one by one. I realized I needed more food, but most of the people I'd call were at my friend J's wedding. Eventually, i thought of [info]sarudy, who came to my rescue with broth, a loaf of bread, and saltines. I've been making a dent in them.

The worst of the business was the fact that I got no sleep at all last night because of fevered hallucinations, and the fact that I can't stand through one entire shower without passing out. I think if I smelled better, I'd feel better about myself.

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Blah, Round 3 [18 Apr 2008|09:37am]
[ mood | sick ]

Well, I slept on-and-off from 6:00 PM yesterday to 6:30 AM today. I'm at work, my hands and feet still feel cold, I'm sweating continuously, and I feel insanely weak.

I'm going to have to see if I can get a doctor's appointment for this evening.

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Blah, Round 2 [17 Apr 2008|04:53pm]
[ mood | blah ]

Great. I feel exactly the same way I felt yesterday, except that now, I also feel freezing cold. Screw staying late today. I'm going home and going to bed.

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Blah [17 Apr 2008|12:52pm]
[ mood | sick ]

Yesterday at work, I thought I was having an allergy attack. Every muscle was sore, my joints kept cracking and popping when I moved around, and I had the beginnings of a headache. So, at 4:00 PM I took a Claritin-D, and left at 5:00 as usual.

The whole drive home became an ordeal.

... Focus on the road.

It feels like my eyelids are lined with sandpaper. That would be weird. I'd get little eye-shavings making it stick every time I blink. Maybe that's what eye snot is? Maybe if I don't blink as often. Blink now. Okay, that wasn't so bad. Let's count off 'til we blink again. One, two, three... Gah!

Focus! Focus on the road.

Mmm... is my blood getting thickener? I imagin histamines are filling my veins, crowding the white blood cells that are a symptom of my allergies. I can practically see the wave of pollen rising off of the trees on either side of the highway, the sky stained yellow with their excessive springtime pollen-bukkake. The yellow stain is everywhere, practically as far as I can see. I picture the car driving through a sandstorm of yellow pollen, the stuff clogging the vents, invading the interior, stuffing my nose and mouth...

Focus! Focus on the road.


Repeat for the whole drive home. By the time I got there, I was suffering excessive light sensitivity, feeling like I was having a hangover. I did one or two things, then hit the sack around ten.

Every one-and-a-half hours, I woke up. I'm not saying I roused a little; this was full-blown, "Wow! I'm awake! I could run a block or two!" wakefulness. Every hour-and-a-half, almost like clockwork. After I got up at 3:45 I knew I was having a problem.

Finally, my alarm went off at 7:30 and I hopped in the shower. I started feeling a little weak. It reminded me of the time I had food poisoning -- I passed out once in the shower, and once on the bathroom floor, and spent two days lying on the couch wishing I was dead. This time, I felt like that at 8:00 AM. I got out of the shower and sat on the toilet for a bit, then lay down on the guest room couch for fifteen minutes. Not good.

I called in and told everyone in the department I'd be late, then went back to bed for a couple of hours. Sure enough, after an hour and a half I was again wide awake. Finally, I decided enough was enough and went to work.

And here I am.

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Failing Enterprise [16 Apr 2008|04:22pm]
[ mood | amused ]

This site got me through the weekend: Enterprise Rent-A-Car Is A Failing Enterprise!

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Barbeque! [16 Apr 2008|03:32pm]
[ mood | chipper ]

In order to get away from painful topics, I thought I'd share something lighter. I'm sure everyone's seen it beofore, but I think it's great.

Barbeque Invitation

EDIT - Shows what I know. Apparently, though I had no problem logging in earlier today and uploading a file, it still deactivated my account.

Try it again, please.

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