.:: The Daily Toilet Seat ::.

Joke of the day

2005-06-08T05:42:00.000Z

A man stopped at a florist shop after work to pick up roses for his wife. As the clerk was putting the finishing touches on his bouquet, another man burst through the door, breathlessly requesting a dozen red roses. "I'm sorry," the clerk said. "This man just ordered our last bunch."

The desperate customer turned to the other man and begged, "May I please have those roses?"

"What happened?" the first man asked. "Did you forget your wedding anniversary?"

"It's even worse than that," the second man confided. "I crashed my wife's hard disk drive."

Have a nice day! :)

Oooh never knew that...

2005-06-07T16:42:00.000Z

Do you know the only location in the US where the boundaries of four states join in one place?

Posted the answer in the comments, if you want to see it.

Most disgusting thing I've ever seen

2005-06-07T02:25:00.000Z

Met a man yesterday who grew his thumb nail to about an inch or so. I asked him why only that particular nail was long and he gave me a few uses for it:

Can pick your ear with it
Can pick you nose with it
Great for strumming the guitar
Perfect for scratching
Great for blackheads
Oh... and, it's useful for slicing fruit open (esp. mango and kiwi)

Just lost my appetite.

For the women...

2005-06-07T02:18:00.000Z

When shopping for perfume, it's best to carry a cup of coffee with you. The aroma of the coffee neutralizes any smells lingering in your noses. So when you're ready to sniff-test another perfume, just take a whiff of your cup-of-chino first :)

Did you know...

2005-06-07T02:07:00.000Z

That the majority of our planet's population can't lick their elbows?

(bet you're dying to try it right now... ;)

And that the distance between your elbow and wrist is approximately the size of your foot?

*Update* And when we spread our arms out that's how tall we are, from fingertip to fingertip. (thanks, Chyrene!)

Never post your picture online

2005-06-07T02:00:00.000Z

Before

After

New line of pacifiers

2005-06-06T06:35:00.000Z

You gotta get your kids one of these :)

Find the nine people

2005-06-06T05:25:00.000Z

There are nine people in this picture:

Find 6, and you have ordinary powers of obervation.

Find 7, you're observation skills are above average.

Find 8, you are superior to 90% of individuals.

Find 9, you can rival Sherlock Holmes.

Posting the solution in the comments. No cheating :)

Nemo has been found!

2005-06-06T04:53:00.000Z

Sadly, the sushi chef in Japan didn't know people we're looking for him.

iGuy for iPod

2005-06-06T04:11:00.000Z

This has got to be one of the best iPod holders out there. It's called iGuy, and kinda reminds you of Gumby, complete with flexibly arms and legs. It's not completly useless though. It's a great iPod holder for work where you can hang your keys on his arms or rest your cellphone on him.

You can see more of him here.

mini iGuy will be ready by July.

Indian woman chops off husband's penis

2005-06-06T02:03:00.000Z

It's Loreena all over again.

Somehow, a man can't go to sleep peacefully these days...

But, here's are 10 good reasons Loreena Bobbit should be president:

10. She could be the first woman president.
9. Has unique way of dealing with out of line congressmen and senators.
8. Would have big emotional advantage negotiating with male heads of state of foriegn powers.
7. "First Man Knocks the Pres Around" would make great story for Weekly World News or the Star.
6. If she was acquitted in this trial, she should be able to get away with murder in the White House.
5. If she get's out of line, we could rename it The Red House.
4. Could include clause in Health Care package to not include severed organ reattatchment.
3. People would take her seriously when she says she's tough on violent crime offenders.
2. Better than any candidate the Republicans or Democrats have to offer.
1. Has shown her self capable of cutting the budget deficit.

Got that from an email.

Splash-free urinals

2005-06-06T01:29:00.000Z

This is so practical that I wonder if it really works...

Guys, let me know what you think.

Best driving seat out there

2005-06-05T02:42:00.000Z

Here's a plumber's truck pretty much advertising itself :)

Palindromes

2005-06-05T01:51:00.000Z

Palindromes are words or phrases that read the same backwards as forward. Here are some neat examples:

Go deliver a dare, vile dog!

Madam, in Eden i'm Adam

May a moody baby doom a yam?

Do geese see God?

Murder for a jar of red rum

Never odd or even

Dogma: I am God

Too bad -- I hid a boot

A man, a plan, a canal: Panama

Sentences wth all the letters

2005-06-05T01:46:00.000Z

These are known as holalphabetic sentences or pangrams. These are used by most typographers for browsing fonts:

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

Waltz, bad nymph, for quick jigs vex

How piqued gymnasts can level six jumping razorback frogs

We promptly judged antique ivory buckles for the next page

Sixty zippers were quickly picked from the woven jute bag

Jump by vow of quick, lazy strength in Oxford

Jackdaws love my big spinx of quartz

Update: Changed 'jumped' to 'jumps'. (Thanks to Tom and Icy)

Picture: Dude, what do you think it is?

2005-06-04T17:21:00.000Z

Some random pic I picked up guys :) haha!

Random: Star Wars and the Pope

2005-06-04T17:05:00.000Z

It struck me that Darth Sidious in Revenge of the Sith looked strikingly similar to Pope Benedict XIV.

Hmmm.. could it be?

Videos: Scremer scares strangers

2005-06-04T05:38:00.000Z

This is a must see! An Asian screamer scares the begeebees out of total strangers by shouting in their ear. Their reactions will make you pee in your pants :)

Download it here.

And in this video, Constantine of American Idol fame, er, falls. This one is very embarrassing! Tried to be cute, but fell flat. Literally.

Credit: Ebaum's World

Tech: Apple shares dip on slow iPod sales

2005-06-04T01:57:00.000Z

Shares of Apple Computer fell more than 4% Friday on reports that sales of its iPod digital music player appear to be slowing. Investment firm Goldman Sachs said in a report Thursday that it expects shipments of Apple's digital music player to be flat this quarter. Internet news site AppleInsider.com also reported Thursday that Apple has a glut of most iPod models, especially the recently launched iPod Shuffle.

Source.

Entertainment: Jackson clan support Michael

2005-06-04T01:40:00.000Z

With Janet, LaToya and clutching his mother's arm, Michael Jackson arrived for the finale of his child sex trial yesterday. Tension among the fans and media thronging the Santa Maria court complex peaked as the jury retired to determine the singer's fate after sitting through 14 weeks of lurid and often bizarre testimony about the erstwhile King of Pop's alleged abuse of a 13-year-old boy.

News: Pentagon Details Abuse Of Koran

2005-06-04T01:22:00.000Z

The U.S. military released new details yesterday about five confirmed cases of U.S. personnel mishandling the Koran at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prison, acknowledging that soldiers and interrogators kicked the holy book, got copies wet, stood on a Koran during an interrogation and inadvertently sprayed urine on another copy.

Entertainment: Britney Spears enjoying pregnancy

2005-06-04T01:10:00.000Z

The 23 year old popstar has been enjoying every thing about her pregnancy, and she is not hiding it from the world.

Britney is Enjoying Every Bit of Her Pregnancy Britney reportedly got emotional looking at sonogram of her baby. "You can’t really say anything. I was emotional. I think it’s the best feeling in the world." Spears says that she hasn’t yet tried to find out whether it’s a boy or a girl.

She says she wants "three" kids. By the way, this baby will make three for her hubby Kevin Federline. She won’t reveal the sex of her baby but reportedly says, "I have a couple of names from when I was little that I always really liked."

Brit claims she doesn’t miss touring. "I’m sure there’s going to come a time when I get back to work again, but it’ll be a totally different way of life than it was before," she says.

But Britney, what about the sex? "I think it’s better than it was before," Spears tells People magazine. "I think its best. Sex is crazy good."

The 23-year-old pop star is due to give birth this fall.

Source

Tech: Apple to switch to Intel chips

2005-06-04T01:02:00.000Z

The rumors turned out to be true. Apple has formally announced the switch to Intel chips. Apple has used IBM's PowerPC processors since 1994, but will begin a phased transition to Intel's chips. Apple plans to move lower-end computers such as the Mac Mini to Intel chips in mid-2006 and higher-end models such as the Power Mac in mid-2007, sources said.

This does not mean however that their famed OS X will run on conventional x86 PCs. Although Steve Jobs has stated that they already have their OS running on Wintel PCs in the lab, this still have to decide whether they will market their OS in this manner.

Link

Report: Anxiety device aid busy Jap women

2005-06-03T17:34:00.000Z

Because of the increasingly busy lifestyle in Tokyo, more and more Japanese women are opting for an unmarried life, putting their careers as their first priority. Unfortunately this causes an emotional strain because of their lack of companionship. A Japanese company apparently has taken notice of this phenomenon and developed an anxiety aid to help women between the age of 24 and 30 cope with lonely nights.

Weird: Iron Mike Tyson fights for the birds

2005-06-03T15:46:00.000Z

He eats ears for a living and has been through hell in the country's worst prisons. But it turns out, the former heavyweight champ has a soft spot in fact: pigeons.

The former heavyweight boxing champion, who lives in Phoenix, stunned City Council members Wednesday by showing up unannounced at a subcommittee hearing and asking that they not impose new restrictions on the number of pigeons kept on residential property.

Link

Unfortunate: Spelling Bee finalist can't spell girlfriend

2005-06-03T15:26:00.000Z

They could spell sphygmomanometer and appoggiatura, so it's sad that this finalist tripped up and couldn't spell "g-i-r-l-f-r-i-e-n-d".

Funny News: 'Dying' man was drunk

2005-06-03T15:18:00.000Z

A man who thought he was having a heart attack drove himself to the hospital, hitting a fence, light pole and hospital on the way only to be diagnosed by the doctors as drunk.

Link.

Tech: Google launches SiteMap

2005-06-03T15:08:00.000Z

This piece of news may be useful for those looking to increase traffic to their website. The search engine giant has launched Google Sitemap. It's still in the Google labs but here's what it promises:

Google Sitemaps is an experiment in web crawling. Using Sitemaps to inform and direct our crawlers, we hope to expand our coverage of the web and improve the time to inclusion in our index. By placing a Sitemap-formatted file on your webserver, you enable our crawlers to find out what pages are present and which have recently changed, and to crawl your site accordingly.
Basically, the two steps to participating in Google Sitemaps are:
Generate a Sitemap in the correct format using Sitemap Generator.
Update your Sitemap when you make changes to your site.

This well help improve coverage to your site by the search engine, thereby maintaining information freshness as well.

Anyone know if this works for blogs?

Humor: Queer Eye Steve Jobs'

2005-06-03T14:59:00.000Z

You'll be surprised to know that Steve Jobs, the father of the coolest brand on the planet (Apple), has an extensive wardrobe. His cabinet includes leopard skin underwear, pirate hats, flared jeans and a wig!

See him now in this flash game by The Joy of Tech in something other than his black turtleneck and jeans!

Blog: PostSecret - real confessions of strangers put on postcards

2005-06-03T05:58:00.000Z

PostSecret is a site you must go to.

It's a creative, funny, moving, and sometimes creepy look at the skeletons we all hide in our closet:

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail-in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.

Entertainment: Morse coders faster than SMSers

2005-06-03T05:08:00.000Z

Slashdot reports this:

"Jay Leno did a text off between two text messengers and two Morse coders. The Morse coders handily beat the young whippersnappers with time to spare. It might be a fun phone app to make a Morse code messenger, if you kept your headset in and had an external sender, could be interesting. Perhaps a Morse code Skype device."

Comedy: Mr. T found on an integrated circuit

2005-06-03T05:07:00.000Z

Remember the piece of toast that was sold on eBay that had the image of the Virgin Mary? Well here's something that's just as silly :)

Mr. T from the A-team

Other images like this can be found at Molecular Expressions.

Entertainment: Niel Armstrong's hair worth $3000

2005-06-03T05:01:00.000Z

Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, is threatening to sue a barber who collected his hair and sold it to a collector for $3,000. Armstrong will sue if Marx Sizemore doesn't give his profits to charity or return the hair. The hair was sold to John Reznikoff, the Guiness World Record holder for having the largest celebrith hair collection.

Ad: Dog for sale; can sing and talk

2005-06-03T05:00:00.000Z

Complete with papers, is rabies-free, and has got the puppy-dog eyes too. Gets insecure about his balding head sometimes.

Aww...

Tech: Grab all images from a website into thumbnails

2005-06-03T04:56:00.000Z

StripDir is a neat website that converts all images of a website into thumbnails.

Its slogan: "No clicking, no hassle, just watching."

I'll give you one try to guess the most popular use for this...

Note: Last time I checked the site it was undergoing maintenance.

Fact: Can't fold a piece of paper more than 7 times

2005-06-03T04:35:00.000Z

Did you know if you folded a piece of paper 50 times the height would approximate the distance from the earth to the sun.

People can't fold a piece of paper (no matter how large the paper) more than 7 times (no matter how large the person). Try it!

Update: This only applies for folding paper in halves. (Thanks, Michael G)

Kudos: Eighth-Grade Boy Wins U.S. Spelling Bee

2005-06-03T01:48:00.001Z

An eigth-grader correctly spells "Appoggiatura" (A what?) to win the 2005 national spelling bee competition. He goes home with a $30,000 cash prize, scholarships and books. Other words he had to spell? Sphygmomanometer and prosciutto (yum!).

I wonder if he can spell hippopotamous for me....

Entertainment: Brunettes having more fun than blondes

2005-06-03T01:48:00.000Z

Harpers and Queen's list of beauties shows that brunettes have overtaken the blondes as the bombshells of the human race.

Here are the top 5 that made it:

Angelina Jolie
Christy Turlington
Queen Rainia of Jordan
Sofia Coppola
Nigella Lawson

Here's the link.

mini Guide: Google tips and 'secrets'

2005-06-02T08:26:00.000Z

Everybody love Google. It has become such a part of our life that the company has officially become a verb in the English vocabulary. Yet despite the greatness it has earned in its efficiency, speed and simplicity, Google still has more to offer its users in order to make there life much more productive.

I decided to compile a list of "secrets" and tips that every Google should know about. These are things either not easily noticeable from Google's homepage (probably part of their "less is more philosophy"), but believe you me you'll be asking how you ever got along without these. These are guaranteed to make your searching experiences simpler and more pleasant.

Google Tips and "Secrets"

Google Toolbar
Although Google's site is quick loading and easy to use, it can sometimes be a hassle to redirect your browser to Google’s page just to do a quick search. In order to solve this inconvenience, Google has a toolbar that installs directly to your browsers. The toolbar provides a field where you can conveniently search from. It even conveniently drops-down to provide you with your most recent searches. The toolbar also can search other site specific areas of Google and includes the Blogger button so that you can comment on a site anywhere and anytime while surfing.

The toolbar is available for various browsers including IE and FireFox.

Google Dictionary
Not many of you might have noticed but Google Search can also be used as a dictionary. When you enter any word, Google provides a link that directs you to the search term’s definition. It’s located in the top-right of the page; see the picture below for an example.

Google Mail
Web-based mail is getting popular these days because of the amount of space they provide. No free service however comes close to the versatility and value of Gmail, Google’s web-based mail offering offers 2 Gigabytes of space that’s increases every second (literally! Look here). Gmail’s also makes use of its search technology so that you’ll never have to delete another message again - just search for what you’re looking for. If you’re obsessive-compulsive however, you can create mail rules to automatically organize incoming or outgoing mail in virtual folders known as labels.

My favorite feature of Gmail however is that you can retrieve your mail into your favorite mail client such as Mail of Outlook. I don’t know of any free service that can provide the same thing.

Gmail has just put so much innovation and new technology into their service that it’s definitely worth checking out. It’s not available to the public yet so if you’re interested in getting one. Let me know.

My Search History
My Search History is also a neat trick that Google searchers can make use of. If you can’t recall a query that resulted in exactly what you were looking for, have no fear! Google Search History contains a searchable history of your searching activities including the search term and the results that you clicked on. Very handy indeed. You’ll have to sign up for a Google account to make use of this.

Google Image
Google doesn’t only search for documents in the web. Google has a neat search facility called Google Images that allows you to search for the pictures it has indexed from searching the WWW. The possibilities for these are endless – for projects, research, or just some peace of mind. Google even allows you to filter the images according to their file size, thereby allowing you to skip images that are icons or other low-res images. Be aware however that all images are subject to copyrights.

Google Labs
This is Google's sandbox for technology they've newly developed. Lots of neat things you can try here including automatic completion for you web searches (Google Suggest) and finding a specific geographical location (Google Maps). Visit this site once in a while if you want to try the latest inventions of Google's mad scientists.

Google Cache
There are some instances when a result in Google that contains exactly what we need ends up as a dead or expired page. If such is that case, it may still be possible for you to look at Google’s last snapshot of the page since it last crawled it. Simply click on the “Cached” link by the result and hopefully Google will show you its last memory of that page.

Well that’s it for now. I have more up my sleeve and I’ll post some other time. If you have more tips and tricks, please leave a comment.

Funnies: The Religious Boy

2005-06-02T04:11:00.000Z

A girl asks her boyfriend to come over Friday night and have dinner with her parents. This being a big event, the girl tells her boyfriend that after dinner, she would like to go out and "do it" for the first time. Well, the boy is ecstatic, but he has never done it before, so he takes a trip to the pharmacist to get some protection. The pharmacist helps the boy for about an hour. He tells the boy everything there is to know about protection and doing it. At the register, the pharmacist asks the boy how many he'd like to buy; a 3-pack, a 10-pack, or a family pack. The boy insists on the family pack because he thinks he will be very busy, it being his first time and all.

That night, the boy shows up at the girl's parent's house and meets his girlfriend at the door. "Oh I'm so excited for you to meet my parents, come on in." The boy goes inside and is taken to the dinner table where the girl's parents are seated. The boy quickly offers to say grace and bows his head. A minute passes, and the boy still deep in prayer with his head down. Ten minutes pass and still no movement from the boy. Finally, after 20 minutes with his head down, the girlfriend leans over and whispers to her boyfriend, "I had no idea you were so religious." The boy turns and whispers back, "I had no idea your father was a pharmacist."

Next MS Office to save in XML

2005-06-02T03:59:00.000Z

The next version of Microsoft Office will default its document formats to XML. This will make sharing of documents much simpler as any program can interpret in its own way the contents of the saved document. The XML file will separate the description of the charts, text, and reports as separate components allowing for simpliefied data access and more successful document recovery if the files get corrupted one way or another.

Link.

Tech: GreenZap officially opens

2005-06-02T03:36:00.000Z

GreenZap, the new alternative to PayPal has finally opened on June 1st. The site looks credible enough featuring logos of online retail stores that will be supporting GreenZap's payment system. I tried logging on with my pre-registration id but I get this message:

Welcome to GreenZap!
We have added additional verification measures to authenticate each individual. This is to ensure that all of us are using an authentic email account. You will receive login access information from us there within the next 48 hours. We look forward to serving you.

Looks to me that they're not quite ready to serve just yet. At this point GreenZap is looking good. They have services similar to Friendster (called ZapMap) that provides a graphical view of all the people you're associated with in the GreenZap community and provide a premium service (GreenZap Gold) and a rewards program. It's too early to tell at this point how all these things will fit together, so until then stick around and wait for updates.

Check out GreenZap here.

GreenZap front page

If you want to know more about what GreenZap provides:

GreenZap members can send money to anyone and everyone. This includes people outside the US. Those receiving money through GreenZap, who aren't GreenZap members, can easily open an account to receive their money quickly. Once you have a GreenZap account open, feel free to start spending! GreenZap members can use their fundz to buy just about anything online. This includes goods on eBay®, Yahoo®, our GreenZap Storez, and other similar sites.

And if you want to know what all the hoopla was about, read this.

Blog: Zoundry - a free blog editor

2005-06-02T03:18:00.000Z

What is Zoundry?

An easy to use blog WYSIWYG editor has been released by Zoundry. It makes routine tasks of positioning images, quoting and formatting text in blogs as easy as clicking a button. It currently supports Blogger, Typepad, and Atom API. It's still in it's beta stages so it can be a little clunky. But with it's price (free), it's quite a decent editor.

Zoundry comes in two version. The lite version is free and should be sufficient for more most users. The premium version, available at a small costs, can do all what the lite version can do in addition to providing tools for blogs that do product revies.

Using Zoundry

You can start creating blogs using the Zoundry editor in a few easy steps. The first thing it requires from its user is a blogging account (get one at Blogger). The Lite version only permits one blog account while the premium version accepts multiple.

Just like a decent HTML editor, Zoundry has three editing windows:

Edit - for writing your blogs
Preview - end result of your blog with your blog template
HTML Source - text view of your blogs code

Once you're done composing, uploading is also done with a click of a button.

What makes Zoundry useful is that your blog entries are stored in file so any edits you want to make to them can easily be uploaded to the blog server either as an updated entry or as a new post.

More information for Zoundry can be found here.

Science: 10 ways to destroy Earth

2005-06-01T14:13:00.000Z

Once of my favorite sites, Space.com, has posted an article on ten ways to completely obliterate the our blue planet. It doesn't simply speak of global warming, and such kind of disasters. Destroying the Earth in the article means obliterating the third planet from the Sun into a second asteroid belt for the Milky Way. It's got some interesting (and quite amusing) proposals on how to do it. If you've read Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, some ideas won't seem so farfetched.

So if you've got plans on taking the world hostage, then here's how to do it.

News: Blogging earns you money

2005-06-01T09:27:00.000Z

An article on making a career out of blogging has been slash dotted.

The Wall Street Journal reports that more and more companies are looking for individuals who can blog for them full-time, posting their ads in sites such as simplyhired.com. These people can earn in the average of $40K - $50.

Think you're qualified?

Here's a job description:

"need to be comfortable writing in a colloquial voice and who aren't overly programmed in their approach to writing."

They say it's not as easy as it sounds.

Programming: Design patterns resources

2005-06-01T06:48:00.000Z

Design patterns are proven software design solutions to problems that occur over and over again in real work software development. Because design patterns are the end-result of literally thousands of hours of programming/software design trial and error, its focus is on elegant, functional, and reusable solutions using OOP techniques.

Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson and John Vlissides, aka The Gang Of Four (GOF), popularized Design Patterns in their well-renowned book Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software. The book is generally considered as the foundation for all other patterns out there.

Since Design patterns are much sought after in the net, I’ve decided to compile a list of resources to get you started on them immediately. These are must-reads if you are just getting into the world of design patterns.

Most patterns are described in C# or Java, but should be easy enough to translate to C++ or other OO languages.

There are not too many links, but they more than make up for it in content. Link suggestions are very much welcome.

News: Watergate's Deep Throat revealed

2005-06-01T06:17:00.000Z

Former FBI deputy director Mark Felt was revealed Tuesday as "Deep Throat," the informant that exposed the Watergate Scandal.

Felt's family confirmed that Felt was the source who has been the subject of intense speculation for more than three decades.

iPod: Winamp now supports iPod

2005-06-01T05:11:00.000Z

A new plug-in allows iTunes users to synch their music with Winamp. Advanced features include the ability to sync your music to multiple iPods, a problem commonly associated to PCs with multiple users. It also allows you to create smart playlists and (finally) an easy way to copy iPod music into your PC. The site claims it is compatible with all iPod Models.

Additional features:

iPod Shuffle supported!
Artist-Album view
Smart Playlists
Playlist Support
Reverse & Forward Sync
On The Go Playlist Support

Can be downloaded here.

Entertainment: Ms. Canada is Miss Universe

2005-06-01T02:10:00.000Z

Ms. Canada, Natalie Glebova, was crowned Ms. Universe last night in Bangkok, Thailand. The motivational speaker from Toronto won the hearts of the judges and the people with her graceful and positive final answer. The only non-Latina finalist, she beat Ms. Puerto Rico for the crown.

Random: The clock hands

2005-06-01T01:57:00.000Z

Why are advertised watches or clocks always displayed with the time 10:10? Is it because it looks good that way? Whoever thought of that?

Developers: Google launches programming camp

2005-06-01T01:54:00.000Z

For programmers who want to do something productive this summer, Google is offering the Summer of Code camp. Accepted applicants will be working on a project to contribute to the Open Source initiative with an adviser or sponsoring organizations. They will also be provided with a $4500 allowance if they successfully complete the summer program. Deadline for application is June 14, 2005.

Google's flyer for the camp.

Tech: A Mac Mini running Windows?

2005-06-01T01:42:00.000Z

For all of you envious of the Mac mini, Wired News has reported that a a look-alike has been made for Windows users. Its strikingly similar features include the trademark cd slit on a small, sleek, silver box. AOpen's product currently runs on a Pentium M processor and will run Windows XP. Analysts believe that with those expensive components it will be quite difficult to hit the $600 price range of the mini, a computer that already provides the excellent Mac OS and the brilliant iLife suite of products.

Pictures can be found here as well as the newsbit.

Tech: GreenZap begins. Hoax or PayPal killer?

2005-05-31T12:56:00.000Z

GreenZap's site shows that the service is set to open in a day, precisely at 17.00 pst of June 1st. If you haven't been following the scoop on GreenZap, it's supposed to be a payment handling service very much similar to PayPal. They have press releases in reputable commercial sites such as Yahoo! Finance.

However, Greenzap has caused controversy over their pre-registration promo. Just before their summer opening, they offered users who pre-register a free $25.00 bonus for spending once they go live. Many simply believe that this is too good to be true. There isn't an official statement out there declaring Greenzap to be a scam (or at least it's hard to find one), so there's lots of speculation regarding its authenticity. Is this really a PayPal killer? We'll just have to wait and see come June 1st.

Speculations here.

Tech: BitTorrent Download

2005-05-31T08:15:00.000Z

A relatively new piece of Internet technology is getting a lot of attention lately.

What is BitTorrent?

BitTorrent is peer-to-peer file-sharing technology that allows users to download large files at very high speeds. Its design makes it more efficient than other peer-to-peer networks because its file distribution is based on a democratic system of sharing. As the website BitTorrent puts it:

With BitTorrent, those who get your file tap into their upload capacity to give the file to others at the same time. Those that provide the most to others get the best treatment in return. ("Give and ye shall receive!")

This way, file sources are not limited to only one source as is the case with other file-sharing networks. Rather, "torrents" (as the files are called) have multiple sources thereby guaranteeing the availability of the file at longer periods of time. And as you’ve noted, since everybody uploads to everybody else, the potential for very high download speeds is there.

How do you download BitTorrent files?

Here's a quick checklist of what you'll need if you want to get started with BitTorrent:

1. A Bittorrent client - the program that will manage your downloads. My favorite is Azureus, it’s simple enough for novices yet it’s got enough settings for tweaking for the BitTorrent aficionados.

*You will need to download a Java JRE for this to run properly. Also, Azureus may be slow on systems with low memory. I suggest you have at least 256 MB installed.

2. You will know that Azureus is completely installed once you see a blue frog icon appear in your desktop.

3. If you connect to the Internet via a router or are behind a firewall your download speeds may suffer if it's not configured correctly. Perform this simple test to make sure your connection settings are OK.

In Azureus, navigate to Tools ->NAT / Firewall Test and test your TCP listen port. If you get an OK, then you’re good to go. Otherwise, read this.

4. In order to start downloading, find a site that hosts torrent files. Some popular sites include:

You want to look for files in these sites with lots of “Seeds” and with a healthy torrent status.

5. If you’re having problems getting BitTorrent running, check out the troubleshooting guides below:

Or leave a post and maybe I can help you sort things out.

Tech: Microsoft takes the ‘my’ out of computing

2005-05-31T07:22:00.000Z

Microsoft no longer wants it OS users to be possessive. In its next Windows version, currently dubbed Longhorn, gone are the days of "My Computer", "My Documents", "My Music", etc. They will simply be named "Computer", Documents", and "Music" respectively".

People are hoping they get rid of the animated dog too i'm sure.

Factoid: onosecond (o-no-sk'nd)

2005-05-31T06:55:00.000Z

(n.) The measure of time one spends between realizing that he/she has made a BIG mistake and that he/she can't do anything about it This is often followed with profanity such as "Oh, crap!"

Bet you can relate! ;)

Funnies: a conversation

2005-05-31T05:30:00.000Z

Wife: What would you do if I died? Would you get married again?
Husband: Definitely not!
Wife: Why not - don't you like being married?
Husband: Of course I do.
Wife: Then why wouldn't you remarry?
Husband: Okay, I'd get married again.
Wife: You would? (with a hurtful look on her face).
Husband: (makes audible groan).
Wife: Would you sleep with her in our bed?
Husband: Where else would we sleep?
Wife: Would you replace my pictures with hers?
Husband: That would seem like the proper thing to do.
Wife: Would you play golf with her?
Husband: I guess so.
Wife: Would she use my golf clubs?
Husband: No, she's left-handed.
Wife: - - silence - - -
Husband: Shit.

:)

Entertainment: Get The Drunk Home

2005-05-31T04:36:00.000Z

Try this and see how far you can keep this drunk man up. The object of the game is to keep him walking, without falling over, by using your mouse from left to right or right to left - you can't see your mouse which makes it more difficult.

I could only manage a meager 112 meters. It's really addicting... I wouldn't try it at work ;)

Go help the drunk man.

You'll need Macromedia Flash player to run it.

Trivia: Earth Facts

2005-05-31T03:44:00.000Z

Can rocks float? How much fresh water is used worldwide each day?

Space.com has posted an interesting article on various factoids regarding our own blue planet. Useful stuff if you want to amaze your friends or if you want to replace your Archie magazines by your toilet.

Check it out here: 101 Amazing Earth Facts

Odd News: Man released after 35 years for TV theft

2005-05-30T04:16:00.000Z

A man has been released from prison after serving 35 years in jail. He was convicted for second degree burglarly, a crime that now warrants only 3 years in jail.

Get this, it was his 26th try at parole.

Story here.

Gmail Invites

2005-05-30T02:16:00.000Z

I've already given everyone I know Gmail invites, but everytime I check my mail it seems like google is more than happy to give me even more! I've decided to go public and share this generosity to anyone who wants one.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about:

Gmail has launched their web-based email service for public testing. However since they're testing they don't make it available to just anyone. Right now it's available only by invitation so if you want an invite, just send me an email and I'll be more than happy to send you one. There was a time when invites were a precious commodity in the internet market (with some people even auctioning them off). Google has since significantly increased the available number of invites for all Gmail users making the value of invites plummet in one day. Kinda reminds you of the dotcom bubble...

What amazes me is how much space they can provide. Gmail offers 2GB of space, and it increases everyday (they've actually got a counter running in their login page to see how much space they provide). Pretty neat. It's sometimes hypnotizing watching that counter go up.

You can read about its other features here.