June 2001

Saturday, 30 June 2001 -- Why You Shouldn't Use Hotmail

Besides the unstoppable tide of spam, I mean. Check out this story at The Register. As an abuse tech myself, I find their behavior especially inexcusable.

I'm really starting to love The Register. I should have started reading it regularly long ago...

Tomorrow, I'll have the posting on current world events that I meant to have up here yesterday. I just need enough time to sit down and crank out a good, solid rant.

Thursday, 28 June 2001 -- Did Disney Steal From Anime?

There's a fairly convincing website out right now that makes the argument that Disney stole a number of plot elements of Atlantis from an old anime series called Nadia. The only counter-argument that I've heard so far is pretty convoluted. So, Occam's Razor tells me that Disney needs to be writing someone in Japan a royalty check.

Wednesday, 27 June 2001 -- More Sites For Your Perusal

In my never-ending quest to bring you, the few readers of my website, cool stuff, I have once again found some neato-keen stuff for y'all to look at.

Behind The Name is an etymological website about first names. Neat Stuff.

CNET has done a series of "OS Deathmatches" comparing operating systems. They've pitted Corel Linux against Mac OS 9, Windows ME against Mac OS 9 and finally Windows 2000 against Mac OS X. The results will surprise you. Really.

And since I haven't plugged it on this site yet, I'd like to point out that Sluggy Freelance is one of the coolest online comics around. Maybe one of the coolest comics around, period. For you anime fans, I'd suggest starting with the current storyline.

Tuesday, 26 June 2001 -- Trying To Write

OK. If I make a post here that I'm planning on writing something, I'll feel obligated to do it. Hopefully, my weird sense of duty will then force me to write something.

I do have something in mind. It's fanfiction. Yes, I know. That makes me a geek. Sure.

Anyway, it's a story set in the world of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time Series. Warning: It's gonna be depressing. I'll try to have it up by the end of the week.

Monday, 25 June 2001 -- The Onion

Everyone should know that The Onion is probably the funniest website on the planet.

Here are a few reasons why.

Friday, 22 June 2001 -- Rid Yourself Of Banner Ads!

If you're interested in speeding up your Internet connection by getting rid of banner ads, go here! All you need to do is modify one little file on your computer. Yay!

Thursday, 21 June 2001 -- Another Scathing Review

Here is yet another review detailing the horrors of Tomb Raider! I now have officially no desire to see it. Ever.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Tuesday, 19 June 2001 -- Shameless Plug #1

It's #1, because I'm sure that I'll be doing this again.

I would like to shamelessly plug my friend Jami's website: TitaniumMoose.com. Go there. =)

Friday, 15 June 2001 -- Boob Raider

I haven't seen Tomb Raider yet, but based on the two reviews that I've read about it, I doubt that I will. These articles may very well be the harshest reviews that I've ever read. I don't think the reviews for Battlefield Earth were this bad. And that's really saying something.

There's something inherently wrong with making a movie from a video game. Especially with the bad writing that exists in so many game storylines. It's taken a while for people to realize that people who are good programmers are not often not good writers. Then again, maybe some people still haven't realized that yet...

OTOH, there are a lot of professional screenwriters that aren't very good writers, either. Frankly, I think it's depressing .

Thursday, 14 June 2001 -- More Proof That AOLers Are Stupid

No offense to my friends who are AOL users; but frankly, most (not all) of these people are really fucking stupid. Here's proof. As if any was necessary.

Wednesday, 13 June 2001 -- Everything I Ever Needed To Know I Learned From Babylon 5

I started writing this a while back, without realizing that someone else had already beat me to it. Anyway, here's what I have so far. Some of this is duplicated in the other list I've linked to above.... It's not very long at this point; I might eventually add to it.

  • No one is exactly what they appear
  • Understanding is a three-edged sword - your side, their side and the truth
  • Sometimes, we should fear shadows
  • You are finite, Zathras is finite, this... is wrong tool
  • It pays to be the right people, in the right place, at the right time
  • There is nothing quite like one moment of perfect beauty
  • Never start a fight, but always finish it
  • If the avalanche has already begun, it is too late for the pebbles to vote
  • The secret of the universe lies somewhere in the sweedish meatballs
  • You can get more done with a kind word and a two-by-four than with just a kind word
  • If you walk around long enough, you will eventually meet yourself
  • Faith manages

    Tuesday, 12 June 2001 -- Why You Should Avoid IIS Like Grim Death

    If you're not familiar with MicroSuck's Internet Information Services, consider yourself lucky. It is quite possibly the most insecure, exploitable piece of software ever. Here are some articles discussing the severity of the vulnerability. Basically, this exploit allows a hacker to make your server do whatever they want. DOS people, hack people, change the index.html file, whatever. Plus, it's extremely easy, and since the webport never has an "Unauthorized Access Prohibited" banner (since it's meant to be a public port), it's not even illegal. Just like someone walking across your lawn is legal if you don't put up a "No Trespassing" sign.

    It's a bad scene, man.

    If you happen to be running IIS, you *will* need to patch it if you haven't already.

    UPDATE: 3:10pm EDT, 13 June 2001

    I've removed the patch links that I had up here yesterday. You will want to go to this page regarding a related vulnerability in Solaris and follow the links there. You should be able to find everything you need there.

    Friday, 8 June 2001 -- Moving. And Some People Are So Stupid That It's Funny

    My work moved yesterday. From Beltsville to Greenbelt. No more 10 minutes of commuting to work. That's sad. On the plus side, my department now has 3 or 4 times the space we used to have. No more cramming 4 people into a bitty little office. Awwww, yeah!

    Sometimes things can be funny and sad all at the same time. The Internet makes it much easier to find these things. Or in this case, these people. Check out Time Cube. Keep in mind that this is not a joke. This guy actually believes what he's saying. Go read it and come back here.

    See? Sad and funny!

    Wednesday, 6 June 2001 -- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

    So, I finally saw Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I was really itching to see this. How much was I itching? It became available to rent on Tuesday. It's now Wednesday night. Figure it out? Good for you!

    Anyway, this movie is really, really good. If you're not in the habit of taking my word for it, check out the IMDB entry for this flick. You will note that this film is currently #14 on IMDB's list of the top 250 films of all time.

    I now have to see it again. Especially, since I'm still going over the ending and what it might mean. If you have your own theory on it, feel free to drop me a clue.

    Monday, 4 June 2001 -- Killing A Weekend

    This was the first weekend in a while when I didn't feel guilty about just enjoying myself and not doing a damn thing for anybody else. Good for me!

    Saturday, I gamed. I stomped on my brother in Battlefleet Gothic. Then he proceeded to kick my ass in Ogre. Twice.

    Sunday, was one of those get-caught-up-in-a-marathon just-can't-help-it days. Why? Because Cartoon Network was running their annual June Bugs marathon.

    Friday, 1 June 2001 -- Just Say Blow

    I find it very odd that President Bush wants to start enforcing a law that denies federal financial aid to students who refuse to answer questions about their drug history when he's never answered such questions himself. Read more about it at JustSayBlow.com!

    UPDATE: 4:23pm EDT

    As I want my site to become your main source for weird, alarming and unusual stuff, please read about The Radioactive Boy Scout.

    Go back to the main page.

    Send me an e-mail!