Month: February 2004 blog archive
plenty of time - 26 Feb 2004

In case anyone had any concerns about the longevity of the universe, this news will make them happy. The universe has at least 30 billion years left.

Categories: News
saul’s glasses - 25 Feb 2004

A new device, about the size of a drum, can create glasses quickly and for very little money. The inventor? Saul Griffeth, a Doctoral candidate at MIT. His ingenuity is impressive by itself, but even more impressive is his effort to provide eyeglasses to those in poorer countries who can’t afford them now. (via /.)

Categories: Technology
$13.86 - 23 Feb 2004

I just got my check for $13.86 from the CD MAP Antitrust Litigation. I had read that the checks were in the mail, but this time they were telling the truth. I’m one of 3 million people who is getting a check, so even though a little shy of $14 doesn’t seem like much, it […]

Categories: Music
yankee or dixie - 23 Feb 2004

I usually get strange looks when I say the word “aunt” (my pronunciation rhymes with gaunt) so the Yankee Dixie quiz caught my attention. When I moved out west there were lots of words that I noticed being used or said differently, and the quiz contains nearly all of them. A few that are missing […]

Categories: Language
automated blogging - 19 Feb 2004

Have you ever been away and wished you could have a blog entry posted automatically for you? I’ll admit a break can be nice too, but for the times you aren’t around a computer and want to keep on blogging, here’s Movable Type Trickle (as the name suggests, it’s a Movable Type plugin).

Categories: Blogging
the authors of viruses - 18 Feb 2004

Clive Thompson wrote an article about authors of viruses, or as he termed it, “The Virus Underground”. It was long (10 pages) and took me a few days reading a page or two at a time, but it was interesting. I found out that Thompson runs a blog by the name of collision detection (using […]

Categories: Technology
trivia #1 - 17 Feb 2004

I’m fond of trivia, and have found what I consider to be a reliable (and wonderfully entertaining) source. I would imagine others share my appreciation for trivia, so I want to share some of my favorites. Here’s the first installment. 1. The first known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 B.C. 2. […]

Categories: Trivia and tidbits
the life of a salesman - 13 Feb 2004

Edmunds hired a guy to become an undercover car salesman and write about his experience in order to give people a behind-the-scenes look at the mystery of car sales. He called his article, confessions of a car salesman. I didn’t read every word (he can be a long-winded undercover car salesman at times) but it […]

Categories: Useful
hacker’s hall of fame - 12 Feb 2004

TLC has a list of 15 famous hackers with a short biography and explanation for each one. It was fascinating to read about what they did and how they did it, and it’s intriguing to find out what they’re doing today. (via /.)

Categories: Technology
white gold - 11 Feb 2004

I wrote this post up a month ago, but we’ve been getting even more snow in Salt Lake since I wrote it and the roads haven’t been much better. I don’t understand what the Salt Lake Snow Fighters are doing. The snow that had fallen in the Salt Lake area at the beginning of the […]

Categories: My Thoughts
scrabble - 09 Feb 2004

For you scrabble fans (Jason…) here’s a pretty slick version of Scrabble online. As far as I can tell it only permits one person to play. I guess it would be hard to keep the other people from seeing your letters if you were all playing on one computer. The short dictionary didn’t like plural […]

Categories: Games
bush the know’em all - 05 Feb 2004

I know I just wrote about Bush’s budget, but I came across another article that I wanted to share. President Bush may not be the smartest of men, as many vocal intellectuals have pointed out, but no one can know everything. It takes a smarter person to realize that and to surround themselves with capable […]

Categories: My Thoughts
bush’s 2005 budget - 03 Feb 2004

The media’s slant on politics can be frustrating at times, because you never know if you’re getting the real information or not. I was pleased to find what I consider to be an objective, (although a bit dry) article about President Bush’s $2.4 trillion budget proposal for 2005. I like seeing actual dollar amounts and […]

Categories: News
will spam ever stop? - 03 Feb 2004

If anything, I’ve noticed a recent increase in spam, in spite of a new law aimed at stopping it. True to their nature, spammers are making a small effort to find loopholes in the law, while some are ignoring it completely. The end result: Spamming continues unabated.

Categories: Spam