Archive for June, 2006
Family Tree
Jun 30th
I have been trying to piece together my family tree. I started by just trying to get some of my cousins together. But then it got addicitive. I’ve gone back a few generations now, and it’s getting to be big. I now have about 200 people entered and there’s so much more I need to fill in. It’s odd that just getting to my grandparents’ grandparents is tough – it was a different time.
My grandfather doesn’t know his grandmother’s name in English, only Yiddish. Although we know that the family hails from Russia and Romania (incidentally, all from pre-WWI), we really don’t know where.
I may do some research after the wedding and see how far back I can trace.
Friday, about noon Eastern
Jun 30th
So it’s Friday, and this has been an interesting week, to say the least. For a lot of reasons, I don’t want to get into it too much here, but it’s been a very long week. It’s really caused me to do a lot of thinking about things in general, and come to a few conclusions.
1. I need to focus more on the present and less on rushing into the future. Too much time spent thinking about “tomorrow” is generally just wasting “now.”
2. Having a todo list on paper is SO MUCH less stressful than having it in your head.
3. I am really genuinely excited for the wedding, and I really do consider myself lucky to find someone so fantastic who gets me, puts up me with, lets me care for her, and is such a perfect partner.
It’s rare for someone like me – someone who reads and researches almost hyperbolically, has compulsive tendencies, and is so methodical and detailed, to truly stop and enjoy the moment. That’s my new mission.
Wednesday, about 2 PM Eastern.
Jun 28th
I’m tired. Have been all week. We went to Connecticut this weekend for wedding shower 2 of 3 and this weekend Jenn heads up to NJ for the third and final. Then it’s really crunch time. Seriously, this thing is going to happen in just a few weeks. Everything and all of my energy is moving towards to the wedding, and I’m really excited to do it already. 9 months is a long time to be in the planning stages.
Words to live by.
Jun 26th
I will sit down this afternoon and write more with substance – we were in CT this weekend for Jenn’s wedding shower. But until I have a few minutes, enjoy this public service announcement:
Like Gary the No-Trash Cougar always says “Give a larbage, throw out your garbage!“
The Weatogue Barber Shop
Jun 26th
I have always loved this classic little barber shop. Maybe it’s the blue and red stripe-y thingy.
Updated: This is a barber shop, not a post office. Not sure WHY I wrote that.
Web Server Logs.
Jun 21st
I was just glancing over my web server logs, and I found that this month, the stats for my domain have changed a bit, no doubt due to the OSNews Staff Blog. The thing is, it’s still curous.
Let’s examine:
| WIN | 13922 | 60.6 % |
|---|---|---|
| Windows XP | 12513 | 54.5 % |
| Windows NT | 18 | 0 % |
| Windows Me | 112 | 0.4 % |
| Windows Codename Longhorn | 238 | 1 % |
| Windows 98 | 316 | 1.3 % |
| Windows 2003 | 144 | 0.6 % |
| Windows 2000 | 581 | 2.5 % |
| MAC | 1958 | 8.5 % |
| Mac OS X | 1904 | 8.3 % |
| Mac OS | 54 | 0.2 % |
| Others | 7057 | 30.7 % |
| Unknown | 4891 | 21.3 % |
| Linux | 1943 | 8.4 % |
| FreeBSD | 100 | 0.4 % |
| OpenBSD | 38 | 0.1 % |
| Unknown Unix system | 37 | 0.1 % |
| Sun Solaris | 25 | 0.1 % |
| BeOS | 15 | 0 % |
| Symbian OS | 5 | 0 % |
| NetBSD | 3 | 0 % |
So, it’s nice to see some NetBSD and BeOS in there, but over 1% comes from Windows 98! Who the heck is still using Windows 98?? And also, how come there is so much “Windows Codename Longhorn?” Is Vista identifying itself as Codename Longhorn still?
osViews is funny.
Jun 21st
I never read osViews. I never had a problem with this guy Kelly McNeill, but he and Thom go at it sometimes, and it’s kinda funny from the sidelines. When he started abusing OSNews, something I could definitely prove via the OSNews database (I won’t give away all of my secrets, but I could prive with nearly all account info, including forwarded IP info, that it was him – over and over and over), I emailed him.
Since he was pretty much a dick (I am the internet police, and if Thom doesn’t clean up his act, I will invoke terror on your website by spamming and trolling your forums), I banned him and all referer links from osViews.
Then today I was pointed to this retarded post on osViews. What a nimrod. Read the comments, even his own readers think Kelly is a hoser now. I suppose we should thank him though, since he consistently sends traffic our way. Since Kelly has a habit of responding to virtually all criticism of his site with a comment that simply reads: “This is Thom,” you never know what the hell he’s thinking. He’s disclosed nothing other than “I can tell by the IP,” which is a stupid argument to begin with.
The best is this comment, which I’m reproducing solely because Mr. McNeill has a habit of changing the content of the website, hiding, removing or in some cases, even altering the content of comments:
The site has spread lies about me on their site as well as on their editors’s personal sites.
I actually read the blogs of the editors of OSNews, and indeed, Thom has posted quite some stuff about this thing in the past on his blog. The things he said came down to two things:
1) Kelly McNeil created multiple accounts to influence the OSNews comments’ section (by getting votes for each single account). The proof of this is clearly visible: if you browse OSNews’ older comment threads, you’ll see accounts named ‘kellym’, ‘kellym2′, ‘kellym6, etc. So, yes, you have created multiple accounts there. That is a CLEAR violation of OSNews’ code of conduit.
2) That you, Kelly, falsily attribute comments to him. Quite often, you would claim comments came from Thom, but you failed to give any proof whatsoever. Since we live in a world where one is not guilty until proven otherwise, we can safely assume, until you come up with proof, that Thom is indeed right about this.
So how, again, has he been posting lies about you? It seems to me it’s the other way around!
Fantastic! Now, you’ll simply have to take me at my word, but as the most neutral of all the OSNews editors and the only one who hasn’t participated in this retarded game, the OSNews editors don’t currently, nor do they have any interest in – the irrelevance that is osViews. Kelly McNeill has an irrational agenda against OSNews, maybe because he once tried to buy OSNews and was refused, maybe because we get a LOT more traffic than osViews, maybe because we report the news and Kelly’s site is a one-sided Apple suck-off. Note that all of the OSNews editors use Macs, my positive MBP review will be online shortly, and we’ve all praised OS X publically.
Also, take a peek at the osViews Microsoft topic. Kelly’s Microsoft section is worse than any manipulation of OSNews’ Apple section. What a hypocrite. The best part is — he’s not even apologetic about it. He’s an admitted Apple biggot.
I try to stay out of this stuff, I try to remain above it, I love the idea that I am the “now and again” voice of reason on OSNews, but this is too much. osViews is a joke.
The Best of Photobooth
Jun 20th
Jenn and I have a blast playing with Photobooth. And although I have a fifth grade mentality and continue to laugh at the warped faces, she still indulges me.
So, without further adue, here are my favorite Photobooth photos. All pics hosted at flickr.
Me, BJ, and Dan
Yikes.