"Murphy was an optimist!"
Digital Omens July 15, 2006 12:17 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of InterestU.S. digital entertainment company Gracenote on Thursday said it obtained licenses to distribute lyrics as music publishers mulled legal action against Web sites that provide them without authorization [www.lyrics.com and www.azlyrics.com]. [Source]
Where does it end? One day will I be sued because I linked to pcmag.com without asking and paying a royalty to create the link? I know that is not the same thing as posting all the lyrics to a song but what will be the last dominoe to fall?
5commentsHelp Mia! (with the right url) July 15, 2006 11:16 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Of InterestIf you are trying to Help Mia get to the National Junior Olympics, use the ChipIn public link ( http://events.chipin.com/14844b1d5339de0a ). Kristy explains.
add a commentDon’t put Super Glue in your mouth! July 14, 2006 2:19 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily LifeSo, I was holding the object being glued in one hand and the tube of Super Glue in the other hand when suddenly I needed that other hand so I just held the capped tube of glue in my mouth. What I forgot was, that this being a brand new tube of glue, I had moments earlier used the pointy part of the cap to break the seal on the glue. Doh! Guess I’m going to be quiet this afternoon.
2commentsMaybe they should have used gold instead of copper July 14, 2006 1:55 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of InterestI think this about covers it:
so far, only the First Commandment has been engraved onto the tablets. One can easily imagine them getting to Commandment #2 and thinking, "Aww, crap!"
[Source]
add a commentQuick! Del.icio.us Jacob Lodwick’s page! July 14, 2006 9:57 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Contest, Cool Sites, Daily Life, Of InterestAt 3pm today, Jacob Lodwick will randomly award $100 to a person that bookmarked his page on del.icio.us. [Source]
ps. At the time of this posting, 3399 people have him bookmarked. Pretty good odds!
add a commentPoint. Aim. Click. Die! July 14, 2006 8:51 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of InterestLouisiana bans live hunting on the Internet but I contend border hunting could become a viable sport. Note the tongue in cheek. I bet border hunting shows up on someone’s political agenda in the near future.
add a commentWow July 14, 2006 8:01 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : VideoThe Ipod + Nike thing July 14, 2006 7:48 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Gadgets, TechnologyCan someone explain to me why Apple wants to put something in your shoe? I could understand if it was an ipod in the shoe that used bluetooth to send the sounds to wireless ear pieces but the pictures seem to imply that you still have an iPod nano, something plugged into the nano, and the thing in your shoe. What am I missing?
I get it! While running the device in your shoe reports your speed, distance, heart rate, etc. to you via the iPod Nano. I like it!
add a commentFake a Left Outer Join with ColdFusion’s Query of Query July 14, 2006 6:29 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : ColdFusion, Programming, TechnologySince a Query of Query only supports INNER JOIN syntax, many developers are left frustrated because the incredibly useful LEFT OUTER JOIN is unavailable. Alistair Davidson has come up with a solution using the support UNION syntax.
For those of you now asking "what is an inner join? What is a left outer join?" I have provided an explanation in pictures and words. (complete with a typo of the word "columns")
add a commentListening for productivity July 13, 2006 4:39 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily LifeI just realized I have been listening to the wrong music all day. And burning the wrong incense. Time to put in Buffalo Springfield and light some Song of India.
add a commentWindows XP fails all updates error 0x80240020 July 13, 2006 11:12 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Software, TechnologyOne machine I’ve cleaned of viruses and was trying to get the latest security patches has been giving me huge fits of grief with the WindowsUpdate.log growing large with error 0x80240020. Finally I discovered this registry change that seems to have fixed the problem!
1 comment so farAnn Coulter wants to revoke women’s voting rights?! July 13, 2006 10:37 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Cool Sites, Of Interest, Touchy SubjectsRead about a man that supports breastfeeding and a woman that compares breastfeeding to urinating in public. But really it is about feminism. See also wikipedia.
2commentsAttention Deadbeat Dads and Deatbeat Moms July 13, 2006 9:22 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of InterestIt’s your dna! Sign the check.
1 comment so farThe state Supreme Court ruled Monday that a noncustodial parent still has child support obligations when a youngster is placed in the custody of a third party.
…
"The laws of this state clearly require parents to support their children until they reach the age of majority, no matter who obtains custody of the children," Justice Cornelia A. Clark wrote in the 5-0 decision.[Source]
For the love of Mr Rogers find your war funds elsewhere! July 13, 2006 8:27 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Daily Life, News, Of Interest, Politics, Touchy Subjects, United StatesApparently congress is once again trying to cut funding to NPR and PBS. Folks, National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service are your voice.
WASHINGTON — House Republicans yesterday revived their efforts to slash funding for public broadcasting, as a key committee approved a $115 million reduction in the budget for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that could force the elimination of some popular PBS and NPR programs.
…It would reduce the corporation’s budget by 23 percent next year, to $380 million, in a cut that Republicans said was necessary to rein in government spending. [Source]
Can you imagine having your household budget cut by 23 percent?! They tried doing this last year and with MoveOn’s help, it was stopped.
in a defeat for House leaders, 87 Republicans joined unanimous Democrats in bucking an attempt to cut funding from the stations.
…
Markey expressed confidence that supporters of public broadcasting would have more than enough votes to stop a cut again this year.[Source]
There is still time to stop this one!
The reduction, which would come in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, must be approved by the full Appropriations Committee, and then the full House and Senate, before it could take effect. [Source]
Sign the petition at MoveOn and contact your Representative!
Is the real issue here that Republicans see PBS and NPR as having a liberal slant? With this current administration we have seen a great of loss of freedom with people being arrested for wearing "Veterans for Peace" t-shirts while drinking coffee and an introduction of propaganda bias as demonstrated in Kentucky with the blocking of liberal media while allowing conservate media. Here is a picture of the offending t-shirt. I would not have to shield my child’s eyes from that unlike some of the non-protest shirts I see in public and wonder why the wearers are not embarassed for themselves.
A similar move last year by Republican leaders was turned back in a fierce lobbying campaign launched by Public Broadcasting Service stations and Democratic members of Congress, in a debate that was colored by some Republicans’ frustration with what they see as a liberal slant in public programming.
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Republicans attacked the PBS for programming they said represented out-of-the-mainstream viewpoints, highlighting in particular a "Postcards From Buster" episode that featured lesbian couples and their children in Vermont. [Source]
I don’t want to lose Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me!
Paula Kerger , PBS’s president and chief executive, said in a statement that the cuts would force the network to "drastically reduce the programming and services public television and public radio can provide to local communities." [Source]
I made my quotes from a single source but there is a lot of chatter about this! See also Stupid Evil Bastard for several comments, The 2002 Oversight of PBS, MoveOn’s Petition, and remember contacting your representative is easier than ever! Other references to this issue include Environmentalists Against War, delraysteve (interesting comments), Washington Post (2005), Wikipedia, and Where PBS Gets Funding. Use Blingo to find much more!
Thanks to Brainstream for the alert!
add a commentArchaeologist uncovers primitive email in Knoxville July 12, 2006 3:37 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Humor, PhilosophyKnoxville, TN makes C-NET! Included are glimpses of "a primitive Internet society."
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.–A 1995 e-mail extracted from the hard drive of a recently unearthed Compaq desktop PC offers a tantalizing glimpse into the day-to-day life of a primitive Internet society, said the archaeologists responsible for its discovery.
They should go through my garage!
2comments“We’re very excited by this find, because only by understanding our e-mail past can we hope to understand our e-mail present and future,” said Northwestern University archaeology professor Lane Caspari, who has been leading the dig through the equipment storage area of a Knoxville-area credit union since late April, on Tuesday. “The discovery also sheds new light on the 1990s–an era we know very little about.”
