Lumpy's Corner

Greetings Fellow Cyber Junkies,

I have decided to just keep the "Tidbits" in its own category and keep it under links as well. In the future, entries, which consist of mostly links on a particular subject, shall have a title indicating the subject. This is one of the nice things about being able to assign multiple categories to things. This should help you find things easier.

Be sure and browse through the blogroll on the left. I have been very busy looking for blogs to add. There are quiet a few new entries there. I have also changed the "new" status to include only those updated in the past 24 hours.

Look left and note that the contact page is back. Thank You, Crrj for the cgi script. It is a nice little script that is quite easy to set up and you can download it and put it on your server if you wish.

Please make a mental note that there is another Cyberscam going on. If you get an e-mail claiming that pay-pal needs you to update your account information, it should take you to paypal.com. Be sure and read the URL cause it looks like paypal.com. Be sure and check the URL carefully. I got such e-mails at 5 e-mail addresses, none of which have a Paypal account associated with them. I got these e-mails for about a week. (I think they got added to the Spamhaus List so I stopped getting them. Nonetheless, BEWARE.)

Now for those of you who do not know me personally or through IRC, I warn you... I can talk, I will talk, and I do talk.

What is less known is that I read. I read like a shark in frenzy. I used to drag around a half ton of books. Now I just carry my lappy or my USB drive. (My laptop actually contains an entire shelf's worth of Bibles and commentaries and my USB drive is like a small library.)

; I am, more than slightly, hooked on blogs. They are the kewlest new media. Today's blog is all about blogs out there. It all started by looking through this really kewl list of the top 55 places to submit your blog.

My intentions were, of course, self-serving. I was going to submit Lumpy's Corner to each and every one of them. I ended up just becoming more and more hooked. Before I continue, I must commend the author of the list. It is awesome. I should also mention that he offers a premium list for just 5.55 a month. I am not one to buy much in lines of web services. I am just too geeked about finding stuff for free. To me, the search is analogies the "thrill of the chase". I do however feel that is a reasonable price based on what I saw on in the free list. The list I linked to is currently one year old and still a goldmine of information.

I ended, just as I am now, straying far from what I intended. I ended up lost in blog after blog after blog after... Well I think you get the idea. I did, however, still submit. More important to this geek though, I found a lot of interesting links.

Well color me simple. Last time I wrote a "Tid Bit" I labeled it volume 2. That is just wrong. It should be issue 2, vol. 1. And, to think, I used to edit a college newspaper.

Regardless, I am going to keep this little sporadic thing going. After all, if I received a barrage of e-mails telling me about that blunder, it means you are reading it. Thank you all who pointed out my blunder.

In non-cyber areas of Lumpy's life, my hometown is well on its way to setting a new record. Cleveland is about 5 inches away from setting a new record for snowfall in one winter. The weathermen all say that we should hit that easily before the weekend ends.

Now I have lived in the greater Cleveland area all of my life and I am, pretty much, a winter kind of guy. I am, however, growing tired of seeing "records". In my life, I have witnessed: the longest stretch of consecutive days below zero, the longest consecutive number of days below freezing, the most snow deposited by "lake effect" (76 inches in five days), the most snow dropped in 24 hours, and the worst blizzard on record.

I have often wondered how people live here all their lives and complain about the weather. I would think "why are you here in the first place?" Now I have to consider whether the weather just "got to them". I admit it; I am looking forward to spring.

Good Day Cyber Junkies,

I am not one who regularly reads the newspaper but I do need to pick one up from time to time because I need something to wrap fish in, line the cupboards and the bottom of the birdcage. When I went to work today, I was blessed with a free paper abandoned by the worker before me. Dilbert, in my opinion, was good. (Opus is good as well but not available on-line.)

In addition, more of my opinion, the comics seem to be the only good part of the paper anymore. That is unless you are into the tabloid like nature our local newspaper has demoted itself to. Living in a one newspaper town sucks.

Enough gloom though, I get lots of e-mails and usually do not deal with forwarding them. Marz sent me an an obituary recently that made me break the rule. She sent me this one about voters, which may explain why Clinton was so popular. (Of course, the last presidential election is sited as an example for deli mea.)

My friends and I were on a beer run and noticed that the cases were discounted 10%. Since it was a big party, we bought two cases. The cashier multiplied 2 times 10% and gave us a 20% discount.

. . . . He also votes!

I was hanging out with a friend when we saw a woman with a nose ring attached to an earring by a chain. My friend said, "Wouldn't the chain rip out every time she turned her head?" I explained that a person's nose and ear remain the same distance apart no matter which way the head is turned.

. . . . My friend also votes!

My girlfriend and I were picking up some sandwiches from the sub place last week and she asked the clerk which of two sandwiches was better. The clerk didn't have an opinion but did say that the first sandwich was more expensive. My girlfriend got a quizzical look on her face and asked, "If that's the case, why they both are listed with the same price on the menu?" To this, the clerk responded, "I don't think we add tax to the turkey."

. . . . The clerk also votes!

I couldn't find my luggage at the airport baggage area So I went to the lost luggage office and told the woman there that my bags never showed up. She smiled and told me not to worry because she was a trained professional and I was safe. "Now," she asked me, "has your plane arrived yet?"

. . . . She also votes!

While looking at a house, my brother asked the real estate agent which direction was north because, he explained, he didn't want the sun waking him up every morning. She asked, "Does the sun rise in the North?" When my brother explained that the sun rises in the east, (and has for some time), she shook her head and said, "Oh, I don't keep up with that stuff."

She votes!

I used to work in technical support for a 24x7-call center. One day I got a call from an individual who asked what hours the call center was open. I told him, "The number you dialed is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week." He responded, "Is that Eastern or Pacific time?" Wanting to end the call quickly, I said, "Uh, Pacific."

. . . . . . He also votes!

So my colleague and I were eating our lunch in our cafeteria, when we overheard one of the admin. Assistants talking about the sunburn she got on her weekend drive to the shore. She drove down in a convertible, but "didn't think she'd get sunburned because the car was moving."

. . . . . She also votes!

My sister has a lifesaving tool in her car. It's designed to cut through a seat belt if she gets trapped. She keeps it in the trunk.

. . . . . . My sister also votes!

That does not deter me from exercising my right to vote but it does instill a desire to make a t-shirt that says "I see dumb people". I do not know if all of those stories are true but I believe they are quite possible. I know I have seen some dumb things in my day.

For example:

• A computer lab at a university which shall remain nameless purchased wireless mousses for all the PCs but refused to install them until they could figure out a way to "secure" them. Eventually a thin cable was glued to each mouse and PC.
• The same nameless school installed a lock on a classroom door the day after the new plasma-glow TV was stolen.
• A sign on a handicapped lift that directs them to the basement of the building for assistance. The sign indicates that the office is "at the bottom of the stairway".
• A person who was irate at the IST personnel because they needed a modem to connect to the network from their house. Unbelievably, they thought all they should need was the free CD ROM
• A student who had just explained to me that they were so bright because they earned a four-year degree in two and a half years. The same student was upset because the "stupid geology department" did not have any maps but only rocks. He was graduating to become a civil engineer and I swear to the heavens that he was serious.
• A cashier at an Arby's located, lets just say, south of the Ohio River (sticking with the geology thing) who tried desperately to explain to me that they only had one kind of ice after I had ordered "a large coke with light ice".

I think that is enough on stupidity for now and I feel you hear enough of it from me. I would like to mention two more nice links today. I am a Christian and do like to find nice sites about the Almighty. HolyPhil Blog and Smile-JesusLoveYou.org are two such example. "Dad" from Jesus loves you even stopped by and posted a comment here. I hope both of them keep up the bloggin and I hope Dad keeps writing.

L8tr,
Lumpy

Good day Fellow Cyberites,

I don't have much to say today. I am busy working on several projects at the moment and have had the minimal amount of time for my writing. I have still been working on my blog submission piece and you will notice a list of new links in the lower right of the index page.

To all my friends in IRC land, sorry I have not been around of much. With my new studio, dental work and this side job, I simply have less time with access to the Internet. Feel free to leave me a message here or leave me a memo in IRC land. I hope you are all well.

I am still at war with the spammers but seemed to have gained a significant edge by simply renaming my scripts. Nonetheless, I will be installing some more protection soon. Thank you all for the legitimate comments and to the few who have tried to spam.. :P

I am also rather hooked on that whole class link thingie. In the future all blogs will have links that look and behave like this link which goes nowhere.

Here are some neat links:

• I am not the only blogger out there, that I knew but did you know how explosive this bloggin' thing is?
• I want to test my link class and I like the bear truth. (What a shameless way to pun this blog. Lumpy knows no limits.)
• I thought these photos were interesting. The rover Spirit on the surface of Mars took them. I think that it is also interesting that the solar panels on the rover were cleaner after these dust devils were captured by its rear hazard camera.
• Some one suggested that I submit my room to this theme site
• I thought those "are you an alcoholic" questionnaires were tough but this one has got to be tough to fool.
• On the more serious side of things though, Amy Gahran had this bothersome article in her newsletter. Amy is a longtime blogger and journalist who frequently has such information. I do recommend her newsletter.

CYA,
Lumpy

Good Day Blog Readers and Bloggers,

Unfortunately, the real world has been pulling me out of CyberSpace a bit more than usual this week. Things should taper back off to a dull roar soon.

I did want to just take a moment and let you all know about a few changes around here and a few things I found or am involved in.

A quick SP4* wars update as well. Renaming the comment script is seems to be a pretty decent fix, for now. The bots are still trying to hit it though but, of course, they get is my non-standard 404 page. Before the renaming about 20-40% of my error pages were 404. Since the renaming, it is about 80% and there are gobs and gobs of "sims" looking for that particular script... Bots have fun.. hehe

Lumpy has been busy surviving the cold and snow. I have, however, still found some decent links.

The first one is a pretty darn good basic tutorial site for just about anything as far as web work goes. I had the task of cleaning up some XHTML code, which involved tables. I have not worked with tables in good time. This link was a pretty good resource.

Next in Lumpy's romp through Cyber Land was one, which he labeled as interesting. An HTML writers guild - honestly, I do not know what to make of this one. I thought I would put the link up here and see if anyone has an opinion on it.

I am told a picture is worth a thousand words. If this is true, it explains the lack of length for this blog.

When I was looking over my blogroll, I stumbled on this kewl link at Sunidesus. I thought it rather odd for I was just explaining to my GF, Grinny, about such photos.

I recalled seeing one, wanted to replicate the effect and could not find a single such image when I desired to. Google did not help any either. Thanks Sunidesus.

Below are my favorites:

• This just looks real
• I would try this

Good Day all,

Today's Tid Bit is in response to a FAQ. More specifically "Where do you find all of this stuff?"

Before I even attempt to answer this question, I wish to make one thing clear. I do not consider myself an expert or a wealth of knowledge. I am more of an information junkie who has an addiction to knowledge and education. I do not, at present, earn a living or any income from Internet related endeavors. I do not attempt to keep all this knowledge in my cranial memory banks. That is why I like hard drives, CD ROMs and bookmarks. I do know, however, many who do. In short, I simply know who to ask or where to look.

This is nothing more than an effort to err on the side of safety.

I make every attempt to assure that the information here is accurate and up-to-date. This task is rather taxing at times for CyberSpace is one of the few things that change more rapidly than the Cleveland weather. (Actually only one of two things that comes to mind, the other being my ex-wife's mind and mood.)

There are two web sites I mentioned that might be taken wrong.

The first being my endorsement of pingomtic in a recent blog. Geek was quick to comment that even though it was started by those associated with WordPress, it has nothing to do with Matt Mullenweg who, as Geek discussed in his blog, has come under considerable scrutiny of late.

I might as well just title this one "Kudos to Steve". In a previous blog, I ranted and raved about how I find all kinds of stuff on the web. I mentioned Amy Gahran, my IRC addiction and RSS feeds. At the close of the article, I mentioned that I often "spider" off of the links that I find. In other words, I find links inside the links.

Thanks to Chris Pirillo's pod cast and Steve's dummies guide, I have another source to spider from... Podcasting.

In my last Tid Bit blog, I ranted and raved about all the links I have discovered since I became addicted to pod casting. One of my favorite pod cast is Leo Laporte. Leo is "the tech guy" on WKFI 640 AM radio. He is very knowledgeable and helpful. I actually doubled back to just before Easter and have listened to almost every one of his pod casts.

Leo openly touts the Mac. He feels that Window OS is a mess. He is calling like it is. Even though I am a long time Windows user, I agree. One is foolish to argue with valid logic. Chris Pirillo who is also very knowledgeable and mentioned in his podcast that he is making the switch as well. Is Micro$oft finally going to loose to that company that always looses law suites to Apple Record?

I know it has been a bit since I tid bitted... (heh) So here it is, short sweet and neat.

• I hate text messages and I am glad I do not know this guy
• Music lover can now get Beethoven for free. (Lumpy is going to send the RIAA an e-mail about it just to get them into a hissy)
• I always knew that Windblows sucks but i did not know that there was a survey to back it up. (Windblows is that big red bar on the bottom.)
• I find it interesting this article intruiging. Although I don't think I agree at all.
• I know that some of you are having a lot of fun with JAVA right now. The language has changed a good bit in the past few years and is just similar enough to C++ to drive those of us who like C++ crazy. (And no, that is not why I am like I am.) This ranch will help.
• They are out of stock on this neato gadget but let me know if any of you can find it. I want one.

Until next time,
Lumpy

Just in time for the big gift giving holiday

• I like this laptop by Benjamin J. Heckendorn
• My kind of radio
• My ideal car but IO would settle on an older model
• I know Grinny will never go for it but how about a kewl theme wedding
• These slippers have some serious geek apeal
• This convention has passed but, based on the theme, I should still beable to attend
• and while your at it why not get me a dance floor

This is an interesting collective voice idea.

And how bout this animation?

Regardless, some think it makes sense. I wonder if they should use the word AdSense?

I wonder if all this hype about Google in China impacted this guy's decision.

I like Boing! Boing!, even if it is abit hard to keep up with. It is both fun and informative. I found out about this enigma effort because of one of their posts. It has already broken one of the four messages.

High tech hydroponics - All I can say is wow.

Cory Doctorow makes a good point in this article

I would have prased it a bit more like... "a coffee shop with out coffee cups". If they want us to buy the WIFI, they had better let us get juice.

I checked the save box when I came across this article on Scoble's blog. I finally got to read it and the links related to it today. I think one should readThe Clueless Manifesto for a new twist on the concept of being clueless.

In case you need to kill some time One Billion Mazes.

I am tempted to try the site but I know my addictive personality would forget to go to work.

This is another one I found at Boing Boing. A gasoline powered robotic mule.

You have to look at it

This is just funny Isolatr, an anti-social web seb site. I have got to try the IM beta.

"With IMolatr you are always listed as away and, if people try and contact you IMolatr will actually set their hands on fire!"

Sounds like a kewl feature to me! Be sure and read the FAQs

For those of you who wish to disconnect, this is your solution.

Kudos to Boing Boing for this gem of a find!

I like to take this techno-junk mail and pop it in the microwave for few seconds. The lightning storm is pretty kewl and it leaves a neat texture on the CD. I then put them in a CD Spindle in my living room where they are used as coasters.

This throne tops that one. I am gonna have to save a lot of AOL CD's to add it to my living room.

Again, kudos to Boing Boing for the link.

This is kewl Google Maps of Mars.

The Latest IP Crime: "Box-Wrap" Patent Infringement. Copyfight: the politics of IP

I was just dealing with my backlog of feeds and happened on this post. I could understanding voiding your warrenty but a crime? What if Tuperware found I used their cake storage container for storeing my markes and pens? This is law to the ridiculous.

I found this apocalyptic article at Kill Ugly Radio.

I find it rather interesting that all those who believe in the Bible are told that "the day of the Lord shall come like a thief in the nigh"... In other words, we are not going to know when. Yet they spend hours on hours trying to figure out when. why not just go out and live your life right and witness? I guess that does not make as good a news story...

I mentioned Hire Me Google a good while back. I have still been following this blog and find it very interesting. The author decided NOT to work for Google and has re-directed the blog's focus to finding others work at Google.

He seems to be succeeding.

This Video of pong varients is almost five and a half minutes long.

They say this is the ugliest dog in the world. I think it looks like a pet hell boy would have. Here are a few more "dog gone" links:

• Here is a bad dogie story
• If every vote does count, does this mean the world, like this blog post, has gone to the dogs?

Is this for real? Microsoft was distributing Ubuntu? And if that is the case, how should we take this?

I found this over at digg. Look at this photo for a few seconds and see if you can see what the problem is.

I can't resist this one. Don't we all wish we could have seen this?

I found this one via Digg. It is a great little piece of writing. If an Architects had To Work Like Webb Designers. Frank Lloyd Wright would have been challenged.

I know I say this often here but you gotta see this! There is another clip that I think is even funnier.

This one reminds me of the Cheech and Chong Movie, Up in Smoke - 1 ton of Pot Burn in warehouse Fire

Another one from Digg, Pentagon Admits E-mail has been Hacked!

One more link, check out this NASA Image of the Day.

Greetings Cyber-Friend,

I hope you all like the new look here. I do; simple, clean, and, very soon, much better organized and searchable.

For now some interesting things I found in my feeds:

• A New Twist on the Beer Run
• Popeye would be happy in this spinach powered house. (Link via Digg.)
• Here is a great list for you SciFi buffs. The Top 100 Reviewed SciFi Films. (Link also via Digg.)
• I seem to like Digg this AM. This BBC article questions the current theory about the mechanism of how HIV attacks us.
• Although there is debate, it seems that video game addictions may need more research before being considerd an illness.
• Earlier, I put up a photo with the theme "What is Wrong with this Picture ?". Also found via Digg, here is another idea not too keenly thought through.
• Here is another image; the aurora form space. (Again, Digg.)
• Nice to see somebody at lockergnome still remembers and agrees with me about Dogpile

I found this over at digg. This video pokes fun at Apple and the President.

This Digg Story points to a photo that reminds me of an old pet. Does anyone else remember having a cat that big. My old Maine Coon Cat; Einstien, weighed in at 45 pounds. I think the one this las is lifting has him beat.

Here are some links I found this week that I thought interesting and/or fun:

• The Periodic Table of the Internet
• This is eerie but very interesting. I would be afraid if this cat curled up next to me.
• Well it seems that those of you who think pot never hurt you might actually be psychotic. (I also have to wonder how they eliminate the stat that those with psychological issues are more likely to use drugs. Is it a symptom or a pre-disposing factor?)
• There has been some success with computers learning baby talk

Some of these links are not from this week but the week before. I still thought them of merit. It is very likely that you will not see a post here for a week or so. I must deal with some tweaks on the server side. Too much to write and too little time.

2007 was a year that was less than kind to me. I was ill and posted little. I thought I might take a moment to clean out my rather large starred items folder (683 items to be exact) in Google Reader. In the process I thought it might be a good time to create another list of links. Old links, nonetheless, but that allows me to be more selective.

• Number one on this list happened on day scant of a week before I was born. Nonetheless, the 100 greatest music events in history, certainly changed my life. Although, I don't know if I would put the "nipplegate" incident on this list.
• Having already given away my age, I can now also confess to remembering the total kewlness of easter eggs in the Atari 2600 games. Did you know they are in linux as well?
• Wanna put your favorite gadgeteer to shame by showing him or her up with a really neat gadget? This knife will do that. (I hope it comes with a crowbar to pry my wallet open; the 499 dollar price tag is gonna need it.)
• My ToDo list just got longer by 40, I must check out Top 40 Linux Blogs.
• Even though I am a Ubuntu lover, this is a well written How To on Suse deserves a mention here.

There is more if you wish to read on...

The economy is a wreck.

• Hundreds of thousands simply gave up looking for work
• Payroll was slashed by the largest amount in five years
• 63,000 jobs vanished last month
• Is it me, or is this tax refund simply a mute point?

I don't have the answers and it is depressing. Best I can do is offer up some mostly light-hearted stuff.