Saturday, April 10, 2004
|9:48 PM| Am I the only one that thinks of Denny's "French Slam" and "Grand Slam" breakfasts when people say "Poetry slam"?
I've started hearing people just say "Slam" without the poetry part. "I know that club, I slam there on Thursdays".
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Friday, April 09, 2004
If you keep swearing like that, your tongue will freeze in that position |3:28 AM| I was nearly in a car accident yesterday. As PortalStar can attest, I'm a very safe driver, and I try to limit conversations on cellphones especially if I think the traffic is taking a turn for the worse. In some cases, I'll ditch the phone entirely without warning to the person I'm speaking to, which can worry some people.
Anyhow, I was driving down the road, trying to merge with the exit lane when this jackass kept speeding up to block me off from the lane. I had to speed up in order to exit, thanks to this guy, because I was rapidly running out of room on the road (Cars ahead of me were stopped by traffic). So Portal hears me start to curse, and then suddenly yell out "YOU DICKFACED SHITSTABBER" and a *click* as I dropped the phone. I called back to let her know I was alive, she hadn't been worried, but did warn me that if I kept swearing like that I was in danger of my last words on earth being something hideous like "Dick-faced shit stabber". She spaced it out a bit to make it sound as polite and scientific as possible.
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Vorpal is leaving |1:41 AM| That friend of mine that I call Vorpal is leaving. Today was his last day of work here in Austin, and he's heading out to run the call center in San Antonio.
I don't know exactly how I feel about that yet. The best I can do is spit out the words that first come to mind, which are "Good for him" and "Goddammit" as well as "Bastard!"
At least he isn't dead, and he isn't moving to another damn state or anything. Still, it'll make grabbing pizza after work a lot harder.
I'm still in favor of short goodbyes. I don't always succeed, but I do often enough to not feel like a maudlin jerk.
This isn't my reaction to him leaving post, this is the post that isn't long enough that will prompt me to write more later. In situations when I can't make snap judgements or react immediately to emotional issues, it takes me a much longer time to put it in order.
Maybe it's just my highly mobile habits, or maybe I don't have the firmest grip on reality, or maybe I don't view these changes as permanent.
Changes plural because Sinclair has also moved out of easily visit range. True, he was already much farther than Vorpal is now going to be, but it's still a drag.
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Thursday, April 08, 2004
The Doc |4:09 PM| I went to the doctor today, he upped my dosage of Effexor again. In 3 or 4 days I'll hopefully notice an improvement.
He also confirmed what I suspected, that the occasional suggestions for me to try a different ADHD medication had a duel purpose. First, to see if it worked better than Adderall, and second, to gather information for the rest of his patients. I guess being a textbook case of ADHD makes for a valuable test bed. I don't mind, I get to try crazy pills for free every couple of months.
Having what amounts to a chemical dependent brain would shock the "me" from 7 years ago. Back then I still thought that most prescription pills were a bad move, and that it was best if I "stayed clean" of everything from booze, smokes, and anything stronger than an antibiotic.
I don't want to make my doc sound like a monster, or a some kind of mad man who occasionally pokes me only to ask "Did that hurt?". My doctor kicks a lot of ass. He's helped me immensely, but beyond that he's a nice guy. He also curses for emphasis. "These packages say that the drug inside is expired, but that's bullshit. They're still good for a couple more months at least". In the past, he's helped me through financial issues by getting me free sample cards, samples of actual drugs, and writing scripts in a way that maximizes my insurance coverage. Good guy.
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Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Just to make sure |2:34 PM| I don't currently have a living will. It's one of those things on my grand agenda though, and perhaps I should move it up a few notches in priority. I think I've linked to stories about Terri Schiavo in the past, but this most recent development bothers the shit out of me. Yes, it's quite likely the law will be struck down as unconstitutional. But just as a note, if I'm a vegtable, and it's clear that I'm not coming back, you pull that feeding tube. If you really want to fufill my wishes you throw a pillow on top of my face or crush my brain with a sledge (Right after you harvest all of my organs). I'm not saying give up hope right away, but if all the doctors say "No, he isn't coming back" then please give me a chance to shuffle off my personal mortal coil. You had better spread my organs to the four winds, though.
Dignity is one thing, but the lives of the people who can still feel and think are what I'd be more worried about. If I, or a loved one, is gone, than the family should be able to bury their dead, and move on. If the body remains and the brain is dead, then all you have is a warm reminder of the lost friend, a black hole of money, time and emotional pain.
Anyhow, I'm sure you folks are tired of hearing me say "Smash my vegatative head in with a hammer", so I'll quit now.
Oh, and thanks a lot, Pope. Ya bastard.
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Seeking high and low. |12:15 PM| I'm still searching for a programmer willing to do the equivalent of "Pro Bono" work on the Justice application. I'm waiting on a response from the moderator of a message board on recruiting someone there, and I've been quietly mentioning the project to friends. Hopefully I can track someone down.
Hmm, I just thought of someone, a guy called "Dancing Bear". I'm not joking, that's his handle. I'll try emailing him when I have access to a real internet connection.
Things that would make me target a spammer:
-Misleading subject lines I.E. "Hey there champ! Your parents were just killed and I just wa(#35bb23v5"
-Non-clever insulting subject lines. A fake example of a subject line clever enough to avoid wrath: "YOUR DICK IS AS SMALL AS YOUR MORGAGE COULD BE!"
-Those spam emails that are nothing but random words, since their only purpose is to clog up the adaptive spam filters. You might have seen these emails before and not known what the fuck they were. They are a seemingly random set of uncommon words "Buffoon, Captive, vitriol". These aren't the rantings of a dying SAT word prep writer. They are an attempt to make more advanced spam filters worthless. A person reads it, realizes it's spam, and tags it as such. Then their ISP, or their spam software (if they have some) tries to adapt their definitions of spam to include the words in that email, weakening the filters. This is pretty clever, but fucking reprehensible. Imagine if the telemarketers found a way to make the "Do Not Call" list prevent your friends and family from calling you.
The problem with attacking these guys is that I don't often see any images or other web info in them, making an attack difficult.
-Clear scams. Paypal "phishing" schemes, or ebay, or Bank of America, whatever. If you're not familiar with these, it's a phony email made to look like Paypal or whoever needs you to "verify" some of your information. You can click a link or sometimes you can fill the info right into the email. These are (of course) bogus links and sites and the only person getting this info is a thief.
These make a great target since the actions the spammer is taking are illegal, and they require webhosting.
As a side note, these jackasses are why you can't use the @ symbol in URL's for the purposes of making easy-login URLs. If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry.
Though the goddamn Nigerian 419 scams, and their ilk from any other country are clearly scams, they don't often use a webhost so they would be difficult at best to attack.
If you have any suggestions, feel free to contact me. You could also post them in this thread since guest posting should be turned on. You won't even have to register.
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Monday, April 05, 2004
LANs, space-outs, and hydro planing. |9:27 AM| Yes, I went to a LAN party. I'm an enormous goddamn dork. We got our asses kicked online at UT2k4 which was humiliating, but we had some better moments on cooperative games like "Splinter Cell" and "System Shock 2" (Of all things)
I have to call Cantu today, and get in as soon as possible. I've been spacing out, acting generally mopey, and feeling like crap a bit too long. You can chalk it up to illness only so long, and if upping the dosage doesn't work, it's time to try new drugs. That is, if it's clearly your defective head meat giving you guff. New drugs should not be tried if you're just having a bad week. Unless of course "bad week" for you involves being bitten in half by a bear, in which case do whatever the fuck you want, Captain Torso.
Vid is on vacation, so I'm covering two phones and three email boxes. It's joy, let me tell you.
Try this out instead of listening to me bitch: Reflections
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|9:48 PM| Am I the only one that thinks of Denny's "French Slam" and "Grand Slam" breakfasts when people say "Poetry slam"?
I've started hearing people just say "Slam" without the poetry part. "I know that club, I slam there on Thursdays".
(0) comments
Friday, April 09, 2004
If you keep swearing like that, your tongue will freeze in that position |3:28 AM| I was nearly in a car accident yesterday. As PortalStar can attest, I'm a very safe driver, and I try to limit conversations on cellphones especially if I think the traffic is taking a turn for the worse. In some cases, I'll ditch the phone entirely without warning to the person I'm speaking to, which can worry some people.
Anyhow, I was driving down the road, trying to merge with the exit lane when this jackass kept speeding up to block me off from the lane. I had to speed up in order to exit, thanks to this guy, because I was rapidly running out of room on the road (Cars ahead of me were stopped by traffic). So Portal hears me start to curse, and then suddenly yell out "YOU DICKFACED SHITSTABBER" and a *click* as I dropped the phone. I called back to let her know I was alive, she hadn't been worried, but did warn me that if I kept swearing like that I was in danger of my last words on earth being something hideous like "Dick-faced shit stabber". She spaced it out a bit to make it sound as polite and scientific as possible.
Labels: Mariko
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Vorpal is leaving |1:41 AM| That friend of mine that I call Vorpal is leaving. Today was his last day of work here in Austin, and he's heading out to run the call center in San Antonio.
I don't know exactly how I feel about that yet. The best I can do is spit out the words that first come to mind, which are "Good for him" and "Goddammit" as well as "Bastard!"
At least he isn't dead, and he isn't moving to another damn state or anything. Still, it'll make grabbing pizza after work a lot harder.
I'm still in favor of short goodbyes. I don't always succeed, but I do often enough to not feel like a maudlin jerk.
This isn't my reaction to him leaving post, this is the post that isn't long enough that will prompt me to write more later. In situations when I can't make snap judgements or react immediately to emotional issues, it takes me a much longer time to put it in order.
Maybe it's just my highly mobile habits, or maybe I don't have the firmest grip on reality, or maybe I don't view these changes as permanent.
Changes plural because Sinclair has also moved out of easily visit range. True, he was already much farther than Vorpal is now going to be, but it's still a drag.
Labels: DerekD, Sinclair, Vorpal
(0) comments
Thursday, April 08, 2004
The Doc |4:09 PM| I went to the doctor today, he upped my dosage of Effexor again. In 3 or 4 days I'll hopefully notice an improvement.
He also confirmed what I suspected, that the occasional suggestions for me to try a different ADHD medication had a duel purpose. First, to see if it worked better than Adderall, and second, to gather information for the rest of his patients. I guess being a textbook case of ADHD makes for a valuable test bed. I don't mind, I get to try crazy pills for free every couple of months.
Having what amounts to a chemical dependent brain would shock the "me" from 7 years ago. Back then I still thought that most prescription pills were a bad move, and that it was best if I "stayed clean" of everything from booze, smokes, and anything stronger than an antibiotic.
I don't want to make my doc sound like a monster, or a some kind of mad man who occasionally pokes me only to ask "Did that hurt?". My doctor kicks a lot of ass. He's helped me immensely, but beyond that he's a nice guy. He also curses for emphasis. "These packages say that the drug inside is expired, but that's bullshit. They're still good for a couple more months at least". In the past, he's helped me through financial issues by getting me free sample cards, samples of actual drugs, and writing scripts in a way that maximizes my insurance coverage. Good guy.
Labels: Drugs
(0) comments
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Just to make sure |2:34 PM| I don't currently have a living will. It's one of those things on my grand agenda though, and perhaps I should move it up a few notches in priority. I think I've linked to stories about Terri Schiavo in the past, but this most recent development bothers the shit out of me. Yes, it's quite likely the law will be struck down as unconstitutional. But just as a note, if I'm a vegtable, and it's clear that I'm not coming back, you pull that feeding tube. If you really want to fufill my wishes you throw a pillow on top of my face or crush my brain with a sledge (Right after you harvest all of my organs). I'm not saying give up hope right away, but if all the doctors say "No, he isn't coming back" then please give me a chance to shuffle off my personal mortal coil. You had better spread my organs to the four winds, though.
Dignity is one thing, but the lives of the people who can still feel and think are what I'd be more worried about. If I, or a loved one, is gone, than the family should be able to bury their dead, and move on. If the body remains and the brain is dead, then all you have is a warm reminder of the lost friend, a black hole of money, time and emotional pain.
Anyhow, I'm sure you folks are tired of hearing me say "Smash my vegatative head in with a hammer", so I'll quit now.
Oh, and thanks a lot, Pope. Ya bastard.
(0) comments
Seeking high and low. |12:15 PM| I'm still searching for a programmer willing to do the equivalent of "Pro Bono" work on the Justice application. I'm waiting on a response from the moderator of a message board on recruiting someone there, and I've been quietly mentioning the project to friends. Hopefully I can track someone down.
Hmm, I just thought of someone, a guy called "Dancing Bear". I'm not joking, that's his handle. I'll try emailing him when I have access to a real internet connection.
Things that would make me target a spammer:
-Misleading subject lines I.E. "Hey there champ! Your parents were just killed and I just wa(#35bb23v5"
-Non-clever insulting subject lines. A fake example of a subject line clever enough to avoid wrath: "YOUR DICK IS AS SMALL AS YOUR MORGAGE COULD BE!"
-Those spam emails that are nothing but random words, since their only purpose is to clog up the adaptive spam filters. You might have seen these emails before and not known what the fuck they were. They are a seemingly random set of uncommon words "Buffoon, Captive, vitriol". These aren't the rantings of a dying SAT word prep writer. They are an attempt to make more advanced spam filters worthless. A person reads it, realizes it's spam, and tags it as such. Then their ISP, or their spam software (if they have some) tries to adapt their definitions of spam to include the words in that email, weakening the filters. This is pretty clever, but fucking reprehensible. Imagine if the telemarketers found a way to make the "Do Not Call" list prevent your friends and family from calling you.
The problem with attacking these guys is that I don't often see any images or other web info in them, making an attack difficult.
-Clear scams. Paypal "phishing" schemes, or ebay, or Bank of America, whatever. If you're not familiar with these, it's a phony email made to look like Paypal or whoever needs you to "verify" some of your information. You can click a link or sometimes you can fill the info right into the email. These are (of course) bogus links and sites and the only person getting this info is a thief.
These make a great target since the actions the spammer is taking are illegal, and they require webhosting.
As a side note, these jackasses are why you can't use the @ symbol in URL's for the purposes of making easy-login URLs. If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry.
Though the goddamn Nigerian 419 scams, and their ilk from any other country are clearly scams, they don't often use a webhost so they would be difficult at best to attack.
If you have any suggestions, feel free to contact me. You could also post them in this thread since guest posting should be turned on. You won't even have to register.
(0) comments
Monday, April 05, 2004
LANs, space-outs, and hydro planing. |9:27 AM| Yes, I went to a LAN party. I'm an enormous goddamn dork. We got our asses kicked online at UT2k4 which was humiliating, but we had some better moments on cooperative games like "Splinter Cell" and "System Shock 2" (Of all things)
I have to call Cantu today, and get in as soon as possible. I've been spacing out, acting generally mopey, and feeling like crap a bit too long. You can chalk it up to illness only so long, and if upping the dosage doesn't work, it's time to try new drugs. That is, if it's clearly your defective head meat giving you guff. New drugs should not be tried if you're just having a bad week. Unless of course "bad week" for you involves being bitten in half by a bear, in which case do whatever the fuck you want, Captain Torso.
Vid is on vacation, so I'm covering two phones and three email boxes. It's joy, let me tell you.
Try this out instead of listening to me bitch: Reflections
Labels: Drugs
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