Friday Funday LXX
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 0850 hrs
Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet during the previous week.
Russian Climbing Video [del.icio.us]
This is simply amazing. I wish I could do this.
Garfield's Scary Scavenger Hunt [del.icio.us]
Morah found this one. Also check out Scary Scavenger Hunt II.
EarthCam's 25 Most Interesting Webcams of 2005 [del.icio.us]
Back in Friday Funday LX, I linked to EarthCam's 25 Most Interesting Webcams of 2004. Here's the list for 2005.
Pandafix [del.icio.us]
Need I say more?
Animal Splicer 1.0 [del.icio.us]
Pointless, but entertaining.
How to Irritate the NSA
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 0853 hrs
The other day on BoingBoing, they linked to a New York Times article about how the NSA has a couple of secret listening stations that monitor millions of international phone calls and e-mails =every hour=. Turns out, one of the stations is in Yakima (which, for those who don't know, is just shy of 200 miles from where I live. The TV station I work for actually broadcasts a signal in Yakima. Morah's grandparents live there).
One person suggested setting up an international e-mail address and a unique URL and then trying to write e-mails to that address that would get someone at the NSA to follow the URL. The point is, if no one else knows the URL, but someone visits it, not only do you know the NSA is spying on you, but you now know their IP address (assuming the government isn't using some sort of IP masking or proxy).
Another person pointed out that this might not be such a good idea, as you would surely end up on a watch list, and probably never again be allowed to board a commercial flight.
If you think about it, there's no way the NSA could feasibly scan millions of e-mails every hour without the process being automated. What most likely happens is that some software quickly scans the e-mail and looks for keywords (this isn't all that sinister, actually. Google does the same thing when creating the ads for their Gmail). If a certain set of keywords appears (especially when they're in the right order), the e-mail is flagged and read by a human.
Again, I want to stress that this is only a hypothesis of how it works. I have no idea if I'm even close to right.
So this got me thinking and I started trying to come up with phrases that would send up red flags, but turn out to be harmless. Below is a list of phrases I came up with. I have bolded the "red flag" phrase to help make it clearer.
- I am going to kill the president of the chess club.
- Let's join that group of people who are trying to Google bomb the White House web site with the phrase, 'miserable failure'.
- There's this stupid hedge at the end of my driveway that blocks my view whenever I try to back out. Mark my words, that bush will die by my hands.
- Saying Delta Burke has talent is like saying I helped plan the 9/11 attacks.
- The NSA are a bunch of no-talent, flag-burning, commie, pinko, terrorist fags.
I guess that last one wasn't so benign. At any rate, you can clearly see how, taken out of context, the above examples would probably catch the attention of the NSA. If you can think of any other good ones, post them in the comments.
Feliz Navidad
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1912 hrs
It's funny how, as you get older, the things you want for Christmas change. One of the gifts that Morah wanted (and got) this year, was a dust buster. It may seem like an odd request for a gift, but to be honest, it's going to make cleaning up small messes a whole lot easier.
We both got a bunch of great gifts and Christmas has been happening since last weekend when we had an early Christmas (replete with present-unwrapping) in Clarkston with Morah's mum. Now I know what Chanukah is like (you know, the whole "eight crazy nights" thing).
Gift I got that will make Brynna jealous: The Wonderfalls DVD.
Irony of gift: It was given to me by her mum.
Kisa (our cat) is one happy camper. This was her first Christmas with us and we got her a five-pack of little dead mice. She's been going nuts playing with them all day long.
We also went with my family to see the movie The Family Stone. While it was good, Morah and I both felt let down as it was not what we had expected. The previews made it seem like a comedy, and while there were a number of really funny parts, overall it was kind of depressing; especially when you were expecting a comedy.
Hope you had a great Christmas!
Friday Funday LXIX
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 2302 hrs
Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet during the previous week.
Another naughty week! Friday Funday Sixty Nine serves up a bevy of non-work-safe links to tickle your... Well, you know.
Movie Titan [del.icio.us]
Loads of movies categorized by genre and some by porn star
Frank's Adventure [del.icio.us]
The classic Flash (*ahem*) game. Once you beat it, go for Frank's Adventure 2 and Frank's Adventure 3.
Galumpia Adult [del.icio.us]
Are these thumbnails from porn pictures or not? Well, on this particular page, none of them are, but you should probably play it safe.
Belladonna's World [del.icio.us]
A blog by a stripper in New York.
Fleshbot [del.icio.us]
Easily the most popular sex blog on the internet.
What is it about Easter and Christmas? Hmm.
Bruce Schneier: Unchecked Presidential Power
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1125 hrs
I don't usually re-post stuff that appears on BoingBoing (at least, not straight away), but this article by Bruce Schneier is too good not to pass on.
If you choose not to read the article, at least consider this quote:
"If the president can ignore laws regulating surveillance and wiretapping, why is Congress bothering to debate reauthorizing certain provisions of the Patriot Act? Any debate over laws is predicated on the belief that the executive branch will follow the law."
Random Stuff
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 0931 hrs
Suck it, ID.
Episode VI of ALLOpod will be late due to a miscommunication between myself, the interviewee, and a third party. It's all good, though, and the show will be up ASAP.
Speaking of ALLOpod, I just ran the numbers and the shows (collectively) have been downloaded over 2,000 times!
Friday Funday LXVIII
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1323 hrs
Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet during the previous week.
The Doors [del.icio.us]
No, not the legendary rock band from the '60s, but a game that makes you think. Once. That's right, I pretty much only had to really think about one puzzle, but it was still a fun game.
The Infamous Triumph Star Wars Interviews [del.icio.us]
Even if you don't like Triumph the Insult Dog, you can appreciate this. It had me laughing my ass off.
Reality Clock [del.icio.us]
This page has all sorts of clocks and counters to tell you about the state of affairs all over the world. It's a good thing this website exists, because now I can keep a close eye on how many gallons of ice cream have been produced in Indiana this year.
VisionStation [del.icio.us]
Wow. Just, wow.
World Cup '06 Penalty Shootout [del.icio.us]
Choose a team and see if you can win the world cup.
The Remains of the Day 2
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 0552 hrs
Brynna took one of those quiz things and this answer made me laugh out loud:
-Book/movie that you wish had a sequel: Uh, The Remains of the Day comes to mind. A sequel where they finally freakin' throw down and get it on for crying out loud, instead of all the *angst angst* of wanting with no realease, just a little tease. But of course, that's what made the story so good, among other things...
I Have Wood!
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 0549 hrs
Kenwood, that is.
Last night Morah and I bought our Christmas present to one another: a much-needed car stereo. It's fantastic to be able to hear music in the car again! Now we're all set for our two-hour trip down to Clarkston this weekend. And next time we go to Seattle, the time should pass a lot faster.
The stereo has been broken for so long that I can't remember when it stopped working. And now we can play CDs and MP3s, so that's cool. I can't wait to play with it some more.
Infected
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 2018 hrs
Fellow blogger, Alli Rense (it's pronounced Renz) has infected me. With an internet meme. What did you think I meant?
Here are the directions: Write 5 random facts about yourself, and then list the names of 5 people who you in turn infect.
- I don't like peanuts, except in candy.
- Doing research excites me.
- I love to fire hand guns, but feel that they should be outlawed.
- When I get bored, I often find I want to create. Sometimes I want to cook something, build something, or create a piece of artwork. I usually end up not creating anything, though. Stupid TV.
- All too frequently, I second-guess and undersell myself.
And I guess I'm infecting Kris, Phoenix, Mike, Emily, and Brynna.
Friday Funday LXVII
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 2327 hrs
Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet during the previous week.
One Red Paper Clip [del.icio.us]
Kyle MacDonald started out with one red paperclip. He traded it for a pen. He traded the pen for a drawer pull. He won't stop until someone trades him for a house. I wonder if I could get a Herman Miller Aeron chair for a penny. Anyone willing to trade something for a shiny penny?
Christmas Light Show [del.icio.us]
A damn cool video of someone's Christmas light display. You may have already seen this on the Today show. If I were going to hang Christmas lights, this is how I would do it.
And thanks to Kris for these three:
Google Will Eat Itself [del.icio.us]
It's a little hard to explain, but: "By establishing this model we deconstruct the new global advertisment mechanisms by rendering them into a surreal click-based economic model."
CMYK Jokes [del.icio.us]
Great jokes for professional printers.
The Ad Graveyard [del.icio.us]
Tasteless (but real) ads. Some ran, some didn't, but they're all here for you to see.
901 (Not Jeans)
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 2051 hrs
Hooray for today!
Today is the day that initiative 901 goes into effect. No more smoking in public places in the state of Washington.
Finally, I won't stink of smoke after an evening of drinking overpriced alcohol.
Friday Funday LXVI
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1902 hrs
Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet during the previous week.
Worst-Case Scenarios [del.icio.us]
You know, in case you need to stop a car with no brakes or foil an alien abduction.
Monster Trucks [del.icio.us]
A little dopey, but still a good way to kill some time.
How Volcanoes Work [del.icio.us]
Because I know that not all of you are from Hawaii.
Snow Storm [del.icio.us]
It's been pretty snowy here lately, so I figured this game would be appropriate.
The Most Officialest SkiFree Home Page! [del.icio.us]
Another snow-related link. And yes, this is the SkiFree you know and love.
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