Archive for April, 2006
4/1/2006
XXXXT HISIS MYAPR ILFOO LSPOS TSTOP
IAMPU RPOSE LYWRI TINGT HISBL OGPOS
TINCO DEJUS TTOTH ROWEV ERYON EOFFS
TOPIA MQUIT ECERT AINTH ATTHE ONLYP
EOPLE WHOWI LLEVE RBEAB LETOR EADTH
ISARE THOSE WHOKN OWHOW TODOB ASICC
ODECR ACKIN GSTOP OBVIO USLYT HISIS
ANEXT REMEL YSIMP LEMET HODOF WRITI
NGINC ODEAN DIFYO UCANR EADTH ISYOU
AREON ESMAR TPERS ONSTO PTRUL YYOUA
RESTO PBYTH EWAYI FYOUW ANTFR EEPUB
LICIT YSEND MEANE LECTR ONICM AILWI
THTHI SENTI REMES SAGED ECIPH EREDA
NDIWI LLGIV EYOUC REDIT ONMYW EBSIT
EFORI TINTH ISBLO GPOST STOPX XXXXX
–edit–
I posted this to show how utterly retarded a.f.d. is. This is a day when most blogs and web sites are worthless because of the whole prank thing. It’s sometimes best summed up just by a title.
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4/2/2006
This is funny if you know that line from this movie.
Being on the EC we just had a change in the TZ. We were on EST but now we’re back to EDT, putting us four hours behind instead of five of the GMT.
related tags: time zone, eastern daylight time, eastern standard time
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4/2/2006
The latest “rank” for that site (not mine) according to Alexa. That’s a higher rank than some of the more popular blogs out there for cryin’ out loud. SheeEEEeezis..
Some notes on Alexa: Alexa is probably one of those sleeper search sites you don’t really know about unless someone tells you. Who knows, you may have heard about Alexa from me first for all I know. I’ve been using them for years and I consider their statistics to be far more accurate than other ranking systems. The sites listed that have graph charts are interesting. In addition they also sort rank by country which is nice. It isn’t just one big honkin’ disconnected list. I mean, yeah, they do have that one big honkin’ list if you want to look at it, but being able to sort by country is cool because you get to see what’s popular in other parts of the world. Their web search is also one of the "cleanest" designs rivaled only by Google.
Anyway.. insane, I tell you. Insane. There are some people out there who would gladly sell off their children for that kind of web site rank/popularity.
I keep watching it, thinking to myself How high will it go? It’ll be interesting to find out.
related tags: alexa, whois, popularity, web site rank
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4/3/2006
The title of this post is a quote from the funniest Disney animated film ever made, period (quicktime trailer).
My 2005 GMC Canyon is in the shop today because the front brake pads started squealing just a lil’ bit. Even though there isn’t even 27,000 miles on it yet, I thought it best to have it looked at regardless.
I also brought the truck in to investigate an extremely annoying frame squeak. I cannot describe the sound in words. It sounds like a metal-rubbing-metal noise somewhere underneath the body of the truck and I have no idea where it’s coming from. I’m hoping they’ll be able to find the squeak, grease it and be done with it.
Concerning my Pop’s truck (2000 GMC Sonoma), the Yokohama Geolander AT+II’s that are on outfitted on it are making a racket. Should anyone read this that knows anything about tires, it is common knowledge that the Yoko’s make noise after a while. It’s a great tire, no doubt about it. Great in snow, great on dry, but noisy after around 25,000 miles. And man are they noisy. I’ve been trying to convince him to get a new set but he refuses to do so. All I can say about that is that it’s a good thing he has AAA. He may need it if one of them pops on the road. I don’t expect them to, but you never know…
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4/3/2006
Got my truck back earlier. Was the squeak problem in the frame? Nope. Shocks? Nope. Anywhere in the suspension? Nope.
It was the darned hood hinges.
Yeah, I was surprised too. A few applications of lubricant on the hinges and the squeak is gone - for now (if there’s one thing I know about vehicle squeaks, it’s that they always come back sooner or later).
The brakes are also fine, so no worries there.
Cost: $0.00. Everything was covered under GM warranty. Me and my ‘05 GMC Canyon are happy once again.
related tags: gmc canyon, squeak
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4/5/2006
Pop got admitted to the hospital today, or rather yesterday at the time I write this.
My father’s health concerning his foot has not been improving whatsoever. The man deals with a daily onslaught of pain and whole lot of suffering. It is almost impossible for him to do even the most basic things. Even when he walks from his bedroom to the kitchen he reels in pain.
Earlier he went to the hospital for a checkup, where I assumed the trained professionals there would find some way to ease his pain and send him on his way. That didn’t happen. He got admitted again. It is a likely possibility he will lose half his right foot. Currently he has no big toe - that was amputated a while back, but it hasn’t helped.
It is a very trying experience to see your own father suffer, especially when there’s nothing you can do about it.
I would have posted this earlier but my fucking WildBlue internet service was down for about six hours. I hate satellite internet. I really, really hate it. But I digress.
I have no idea how long Pop will be in the hospital for this time and I don’t know what’s going to happen.
Sis has been called and alterted of the situation.
That’s about it. Hopefully I will have some good news to report in the near future.
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4/5/2006
You encounter some odd conversations when you have the “web aware” thing turned on in ICQ. When non-USA people (of course) ask dopey questions, I give dopey answers that make absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Some Russian dude messaged me. Observe.
Note: This is an untouched transcript, save for some formatting so it’s easier to read.
Date and Time: 04/03/2006 05:42 AM
You have received a message from Alex
Hi! How are you? Can you tell me what are your associations with the words liberty and freedom?
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:46 AM
You have received a message from Alex
Hallo! Can I ask you what are your associations concerning the words liberty and freedom?
Yep. He had to ask twice. Once wasn’t good enough.
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:46 AM
You have sent a message to Alex
chevy camaro
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:47 AM
You have received a message from Alex
What? Do you speak English?
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:47 AM
You have sent a message to Alex
Buick regal
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:47 AM
You have received a message from Alex
Sinonyms of freedom?
As everyone knows, nothing says “liberty” and “freedom” more than a Buick Regal, especially if it has air conditioning and power windows.
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:47 AM
You have sent a message to Alex
ford pinto
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:48 AM
You have received a message from Alex
So you see cars and they mean freedom and liberty?
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:48 AM
You have sent a message to Alex
datsun 280z
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:49 AM
You have received a message from Alex
Hey what are you talking about?
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:49 AM
You have sent a message to Alex
oldsmobile cutlass
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:50 AM
You have received a message from Alex
Come on ! Tell a couple of simple words not the names of cars.
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:50 AM
You have sent a message to Alex
dodge caravan
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:50 AM
You have received a message from Alex
Are you gonna call 1000 of them?
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:50 AM
You have sent a message to Alex
jaguar xj-5
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:50 AM
You have received a message from Alex
:-D
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:50 AM
You have sent a message to Alex
isuzu pup
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:51 AM
You have received a message from Alex
:-D:-D
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:51 AM
You have sent a message to Alex
jeep grand cherokee
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:51 AM
You have received a message from Alex
:-D:-D:-D
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:51 AM
You have sent a message to Alex
alpha romeo milano
He then stopped, but started in again.
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:57 AM
You have received a message from Alex
Can you tell me where you live?
Uh, yeah. Sure, pal. Right.
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:57 AM
You have sent a message to Alex
cadillac eldorado
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:58 AM
You have received a message from Alex
Are you trying to get on people’s nerves?
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:58 AM
You have sent a message to Alex
chrysler concorde
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:58 AM
You have received a message from Alex
Can you do it in alphabetic order?
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:59 AM
You have sent a message to Alex
eagle talon
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:59 AM
You have received a message from Alex
GAZ
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:59 AM
You have sent a message to Alex
volkswagen beetle
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 06:59 AM
You have received a message from Alex
VAZ LADA
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 07:00 AM
You have sent a message to Alex
volvo XC90
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 07:00 AM
You have received a message from Alex
KAMAZ
Date and Time: 04/05/2006 07:00 AM
You have sent a message to Alex
lincoln continental
He then stopped.. finally. Good thing, too, I was running out of cars to name.
Yep, I’m an asshole.
And a darned proud American. I think I’ll go out and buy me a Buick Regal.
I’m actually happy this happened because it at least got my mind off of more immediate concerns for the short term.
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4/5/2006
Sis called and said she’s coming up to visit today. She had called Pop earlier and decided it was best to come over so she could see him. After I got off the phone with her I called Pop and he seems to be doing all right given the current circumstances. He’ll be going into surgery sometime today or tomorrow.
Pop sounded very worried when I spoke to him on the phone, moreso than usual when he’s in the hospital. I’m trying to keep a positive mental attitude that everything will turn out ok and that the hospital will, oh, I dunno, FIX the problem with his foot.
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4/5/2006
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4/6/2006
As I’ve said before, my ISP is WildBlue, a satellite broadband provider. Normally I’m bitching about it. This post is no exception. (grin)
My connectivity was down for almost an entire day, about 20 hours or so. Yesterday when the connectivity went out, there was some very light rainfall outside which then turned to a very light snowfall with barely a half inch of accumulation.
Yes, rain and snow do cut satellite signals from time to time, but bear the following in mind:
I also have DirecTV. The dishes are nearly identical. Same size. On the same roof about fifteen feet apart, both pointing in the same direction (I believe it’s 101 degrees if I’m not mistaken).
DirecTV keep a steady solid signal strength of 96% with no interruptions whatsoever.
WildBlue on the other hand dropped like a brick.
I’ll edit this post later with more info, but right now I have to head to the hospital to visit Pop. More on this later.
–edit–
Okay, some more info…
By the way Pop is okay. He will be having surgery tomorrow once again on his foot.
Back to the WildBlue thing:
I am on Beam 19. You can see the beams at the WildBlue.cc FAQ. Beams are the way satellite broadband works. Compared to traditional old-school satellite internet that required a phone line, modern providers like WildBlue and DirecWay (now known as HughesNet) use a “spot-beam” technology to deliver data connectivity and does not require a phone line. To get even more specific, the spot-beam uses Ka-Band for those interested.
So anyway, Beam 19 didn’t work at all yesterday and I was pissed off about it. Any other broadband provider would happily discount you for the time lost when you weren’t connected if using DSL or Cablemodem automatically (most of the time you don’t even have to report it). With satellite internet there is no such thing. You are charged the same regardless if it’s working or not. Satellite broadband providers act the same way wireless phone companies do. “Service not working? Tough shit. We’re still gonna charge you anyway.”
If I call WildBlue and complain they will instantly just say “it was probably the weather” and not bother refunding you for connectivity time lost. They could also blame just about anything else except themselves and get away with it. How could you prove otherwise? In other words, it’s useless to call them if your service goes out because they have an arsenal of “your fault” excuses at the ready, so it’s not even worth it.
I can easily say Beam 19 was down because my DirecTV was working perfectly with a 96% signal strength with no outage whatsoever. Yes I understand the bands are different, but the direction in which the dishes are pointing is the same, meaning if there truly was a complication caused by weather, both dishes wouldn’t work, not just one.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again - it won’t be soon enough when I can ditch this shitty satellite broadband and go back to true-blue cablemodem. Cablemodem is still the fastest and most reliable - no doubt about it. It is the most expensive, but I guess you get what you pay for.
related tags: wildblue, satellite, broadband
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