Today I’m trying to fix a friend’s Windows Vista laptop that BSODed because we had the audacity to hook up a Bluetooth dongle to it to use Bluetooth headsets with. Now it won’t run for more than a minute or so before it crashes again. My usual mantra of “Install Linux” is not an option in this case, because it needs to run iTunes. So far, the computer is winning. CHKDSK is running, and the percentage done on stage 5 is stuck at 11% , even though it continues to count how many files it’s processed, so I can see it’s about 80% done. Learn to count, and maybe I’ll think about buying your OS.
As a form of therapy, we went to Jake’s Dixie Roadhouse (yes, their food is much better than their website), to help them celebrate Hogtoberfest. For an appetizer, we shared Death By Bacon, which is chicken-fried bacon with southern gravy. I am afraid it was insanely good. Dangerously good. I’m glad this is a temporary special, or my Doctor would probably have me banned from the joint. Memphis dry rub ribs for the main course, natch. I’m not a big fan of BBQ sauce. It takes away from the flavor of the meat too much. Dry rubs tend to complement the taste instead of hiding it. I washed it down with a Three Philosophers, which is a Belgian beer.
For dessert, we had bacon drizzled in chocolate with spinkles. Again, I was pleasantly surprised how good this was. The bacon had a heavy maple component, which made it pair with the chocolate very well. The extra sugar in the sprinkles tempered the salt in the bacon nicely. Note that this bacon was cooked to the point that it was still moist and chewy, not hard.
Evil foods, truly. And I would do it again.
How about a toaster… with a countdown timer? This toaster counts down the time as your slices of bread are gently transmogrified into toast.
Finally, a toaster that tells you exactly how much time is left before your toast will be ready. No more guessing when it will be done—and coming back to find it cold.Hectic mornings? This is the toaster for you! Unique digital toaster counts down the time until your toast is done on a backlit LCD screen, eliminating guesswork and making it easier to multitask amidst the morning hustle and bustle.
Large capacity and special features make this the ultimate household toaster.Four-slice toaster has 3 indicator lights and easy-touch control buttons that let you toast frozen goods like waffles, stop toasting mid-cycle, and reheat cold toast without overbrowning. Plus, the bagel function with “set and forget” slide control toasts the cut side of the bagel and warms the outer crust. Electronic sensor ensures consistent browning, every time.
This toaster is also perfect for people with CDO, which is a very serious condition. CDO is
OCD, but with the letters in alphabetical order, the way they should be.
For the type B people out there, how about a hammer with a built-in bottle opener?
I’ve mentioned StackOverflow before. It’s a place you can ask and answer questions about software development. It’s got a strong reputation system that keeps the nut jobs and spammers at bay, and I’ve found it very useful. Not all the posts are about slaving away over a hot keyboard, though.
I found this trolling various blogs on wordpress.com. You know, the way we geezers used to surf the internet before Google indexed everything? Anyway, here is the National Post’s round-up of The Best Financial Jokes Of 2009 So far. In this case, the nation is Canada and the section is Financial.
Here are some of my favorites from the list:
- Bank of America-Merrill Lynch has adjusted its investment portfolio: 50% cash and 50% canned goods
- The courts allowed the bankruptcy proceedings for Chrysler to go forward. The bankruptcy was approved after the judge told Chrysler to sit in a room for a few minutes while the judge went to talk to his manager.
- How many stockbrokers does it take to change a light bulb?
Two. One to take out the bulb and drop it, and the other to try and sell it before it crashes (knowing that it’s already burned out).
Read on…
Ode to Jack Kerouac is a beautifully done picture on Flickr. The rest of Olivander’s photos can be found here.
Thomas Allen’s Book Art Photography on Paintalicious.
American photographer Thomas Allen constructs witty and clever dioramas using figures cut from the covers of old pulp paperbacks. Using salacious pulp art drawing’s of the ’40s and ’50s that covered books such as ” I Married a Dead Man” and ” Marihuana Girl’, Allen constructs one set of pictures up close while obscuring another, and in the process creates a different context. Each piece is given a brand new storyline, though never quite strays from their cheeky origins.
This is some pretty creative stuff. It’s like magazines turned into 3D images. But Paintalicious also has lighter fare, like The Secret History Of Kiss.
Why is it that answering machines, no matter how fancy, don’t have a feature to mark a message as unread? I mean, most households have more than one person in them, and the odds are good if a message is for one person, another person in the house might play the message. Being human, odds are good they will forget to tell the intended recipient there is a message for them. And if one of the cats answers the phone, well they don’t care about anyone but themselves anyway (except at mealtime).
Almost all answering machines are digital these days, so there’s no technological reason. There isn’t even extra information to store. All it has to do is not clear the NewMessage bit if the listener presses that button. What do you think? Will you invest in my company? Or should I just sell the idea to VTech or Panasonic then move to Bermuda with the million dollars?
P.S. Just to make it clear to those who will read this and be tempted to rob my house, my next million dollars will be my first million dollars.
