http://robstercraws.org My little slice of the web. Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:56:51 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I plan on writing more for the 2 people who actually read this. http://robstercraws.org/2007/12/11/im-still-alive/ http://robstercraws.org/2007/10/09/im-green-well-my-webhost-is/ So my dog was rooting around in the yard and uncovered a rabbit's nest. There are 6 baby rabbits in a nest in my yard. I surrounded their nest with some garden fencing and covered the top with some old plywood. I was worried that their momma might abandon them, but when I ... http://robstercraws.org/2007/05/23/rascally-rabbits/ I bought a house last year. My house is now assessed about 30% higher than last year. This means my real estate taxes will go up. Will someone please explain to me what the net is of my house being worth more, unless I'm selling it? http://robstercraws.org/2007/03/11/zero-net-benefit/ I thought that semantics were Bill Clinton's forte?  http://baltimorechronicle.com/2007/011907Parry.shtml http://robstercraws.org/2007/01/25/i-thought/ http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101906L.shtml Man, that habeas corpus was pesky huh? Total bullshit. Huge favor, don't vote for anyone who voted for this. http://robstercraws.org/2006/10/20/mark-this-day/ http://blog.washingtonpost.com/benchconference/2006/09/only_a_matter_of_time.html http://robstercraws.org/2006/09/14/colour-me-shocked/ I think I just had a near death experience. I was driving back to work from eating lunch at home. It's raining outside. In my peripheral vision, to my left, I hear "bzzzt" and see something blowing up in an electrical fireball. I swear I could taste it. It was like that feeling ... http://robstercraws.org/2006/08/31/i-think/ Lately, all I've been reading is dystopian literature. I'm not sure why. Maybe because it seems that life imitates art? Who knows. http://robstercraws.org/2006/08/17/dystopian-literature/ http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/living/religion/15195224.htm Hi, I'm freedom of religion, you might remember me from such documents as the Constitution. http://robstercraws.org/2006/08/11/only-in-kentucky/ All your Coca-Cola and shampoo are belong to us! http://robstercraws.org/2006/08/11/red-alert/ http://robstercraws.org/webcam.jpg http://robstercraws.org/2006/08/10/sup/ http://www.shipbrook.com/onnotice/ Here's two of mine.  http://robstercraws.org/hockey.jpg  http://robstercraws.org/onnotice.jpg  The second one is meant to be inane. http://robstercraws.org/2006/08/10/youre-on-notice/ So I rescued a dog from the SPCA. http://robstercraws.org/lil.jpg http://robstercraws.org/lil1.jpg Her name is Liliah, and she's about 9 months old. Isn't she adorable? http://robstercraws.org/2006/08/10/doggeh/ YA RLY! http://robstercraws.org/2006/08/10/o-rly/ Right here. http://robstercraws.org/2006/04/05/coolest-interface-ever/ No I'm not dead, the job and the house thing have me super busy. I'm looking for stuff to talk about. http://robstercraws.org/2006/04/04/im-not-dead/ Bush and Brown's Conference Mike Brown fights back It's just the latest disingenuous lie. Anyone who disagrees is a defeatist and hates America now, and I'm sick of it. http://robstercraws.org/2006/03/02/this-doesnt-surprise-me/ I hate how a benchmark of success in our perceptions of other countries seems to be artificial benchmarks of capitalism, Wal-marts and McDonald's, Starbucks, etc. It's like we're homogenising the world and stripping out the culture and soul of everything. Maybe people in the middle East don't want to have to be ... http://robstercraws.org/2006/03/02/homogenisation-of-culture/ I got pre-approved for a mortgage loan. W00t! http://robstercraws.org/2006/03/01/yay-2/ I just applied for a home mortgage loan. American dream FTW. http://robstercraws.org/2006/03/01/wish-me-luck/ The webcam to the right is not real time. I'll just update it as my ego desires. http://robstercraws.org/2006/02/27/so-im-an-egoist/ With the US and Canada being both knocked out of olympic medal contention, I'm struck with an odd sense of deja vu. This just happened in another major sport that North America is supposed to dominate a few years back, basketball. I think it's a good thing for there to be ... http://robstercraws.org/2006/02/25/globalisation/ LINK Even though we just spent the better part of 5 years getting whipped up into an orgasmic paranoid frenzy, we don't need to worry about outsourcing our security. I find this hard to believe. Why is this deal being fast-tracked? Why is W threatening to use the first veto of his tenure to ... http://robstercraws.org/2006/02/23/people-dont-need-to-worry-about-security/ They should be unobtrusive and unannoying. http://robstercraws.org/2006/02/22/so-i-have-ads-now/ This isn't about what you think. I might have written about this before, if so, oops. According to various sources within the government, the most dangerous domestic terror organisations are the vegans and the environmentalists. Who have never killed anyone. Not the abortion protestors, who have killed people. This has absolutely nothing to do ... http://robstercraws.org/2006/02/21/domestic-violence/ I got contact lenses today, I've never worn them before, and I was just sick of glasses. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner. http://robstercraws.org/2006/02/17/i-got-contacts/ It's an effing nightmare. I wouldn't even bother with anything other than Knoppmyth anymore. I think I have it working. I'll write up something of a tutorial later today. http://www.mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html http://robstercraws.org/2006/02/15/mythtv/ I'm back. I went https. Try it out. Just throw an "s" after http in the address bar. Although clicking a link sends you to a regular page. I think it's an all or nothing deal with wordpress. http://robstercraws.org/2006/02/15/yay/ It just writes itself. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cheney_hunting_accident http://robstercraws.org/2006/02/12/sometimes/ So I'm in Charleston, moving our offices down here, getting the T-1 hookup and all that. It's installed 1-31 supposed to be turned up 2-2. I call on the second just to ensure this. No record. The person I was working with left the company and their backup is on leave. ..... Needless to say, the ... http://robstercraws.org/2006/02/10/the-bellsouth-story/ http://buffalobeast.com/91/50.htm http://robstercraws.org/2006/02/07/the-50-most-loathsome-people-of-2005/ I'm stuck in Charleston, SC through Monday. http://robstercraws.org/2006/02/03/im-so-ronery/ I don't know if I've ever posted something like this, forgive me if I have. American politics are horribly fucked, IMHO. Both major parties. My solution? Get the money out of it. The problem is this, corporations, in addition to being all corporationy, have lots of money. John Q. Public does not. ... http://robstercraws.org/2006/01/23/money-and-politricks/ So the White House spokesman called the lawsuits about illegal wiretaps frivolous. I thought you couldn't comment on an ongoing investigation? As John Stewart said last night, this puts the lawsuit below "man glues ass to toilet seat at Home Depot". Classy. I have to sneeze, hold on. /me grabs constitution It might as well serve ... http://robstercraws.org/2006/01/19/i-cant-comment-on-an-ongoing/ This is the funniest flash animation I have ever seen. http://robstercraws.org/2006/01/17/funny-stuff/ This is a really cool bit of javascript trickery that will overlay a linked jpg over the current webpage when clicked. http://robstercraws.org/2006/01/11/really-cool/ Apparently it's now illegal to flame without using your real name. What constitutes the "intent to annoy"? Questioning leadership. We would stop comparing you to 1984 if you'd stop acting so much like it. http://robstercraws.org/2006/01/11/whatre-you-in-for/ Check out the new theme, I like it. I'm going to translate it to English later. Then I might just release it, with the original editor's permission. I'm going to leave it like this until I can translate it all. The theme creator's website http://robstercraws.org/2006/01/08/sprachen-sie-deutsch/ If there was any doubt before. Advocating assassination, hoping a town gets flooded, now this. Religion of peace my ass. http://robstercraws.org/2006/01/05/hes-off-his-rocker/ Systems critical, cute core meltdown 5...4...3. Cute overload Pandafix http://robstercraws.org/2006/01/05/cute-overload/ This story on NPR has me on a quest. We have tongue twisters and word games to help us with our grammar and speech. Of course, this means other languages have their own unique mnemonic constructs. Russian has "Shla Sasha po shosse i sosala sushku" which means "Sasha was walking down the ... http://robstercraws.org/2006/01/03/multilingual-tongue-twisters/ I consider myself a very tech-savvy person, but I'm not really enthused about everything going "digital". For example, I just bought a hockey almanac. I'm sure hockeydb or wikipedia could provide all the information within, but you just can't beat the cross-referencing you can do with physical media. Want to know how ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/12/30/the-death-of-printed-media/ This is the best outcome I could have thought of for the prarie dog debacle. The two camps are/were "they're hibernating" and "they're dead". I'd rather have disturbed their sleep than left them for dead. Nothing like an uplifting $holiday story. http://robstercraws.org/2005/12/25/yaaaay/ http://robstercraws.org/2005/12/25/merry-christmashappy-chanukahhappy-kwanzaaio-saturnalia/ This article on NPR's website gives immunity a whole new meaning. What's the point of a free market if there is no liability? Yeah, the consumer votes with their wallet, but not if they're dead. This really annoys me. You don't have any rights or the ear of anyone in power ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/12/24/this-gives-immunity-a-whole-new-meaning/ Check out this article on k5. I'll post my own nominees later. http://robstercraws.org/2005/12/23/assholes-of-the-year/ :-( http://robstercraws.org/2005/12/23/poor-prarie-dogs/ I think that I, along with the rest of the world, am hooked on Sudoku. It's a numbers game that doesn't require math to play. http://robstercraws.org/2005/12/21/sudoku/ We had a president, not a king. The gist I get from this is "if you don't give up your rights, you hate freedom." What a crock of shit. I can't believe 60 million people lap this up. Why bother having the legislative and judicial branches of government? How much longer until they declare martial ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/12/18/last-time-i-checked/ I normally don't watch television, but I caught The Colbert Report on Comedy Central tonight. I dare say it's funnier than the Daily Show. LE GASP! http://robstercraws.org/2005/12/15/tv/ Is there anything better than homemade peanut butter cookies with the fork marks? http://robstercraws.org/2005/12/13/random-cookies-post/ As cool as it is to bash google lately, I have my own gripe. Not with them per se. Here goes. Who among us has not asked a question on the internet, and been told to "just f'ing google it"? How long until there is no new information, because we assume it's already ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/12/11/google/ There seems to be a practice, mostly by US entertainment companies, to block non-US IP addresses from accessing their websites. Could someone please explain to me the rationale behind this? The rest of the world eats up our entertainment like hotcakes. Blocking them is just asinine. It's not quite as reprehensible as US companies ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/12/04/targeted-websites/ I'm pretty sure that Diary of a Madman is the best literary depiction of schizophrenia ever. http://robstercraws.org/2005/12/03/gogol/ Roses are reddish, violets are bluish, if it weren't for the pope, we'd all be Jewish. http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/30/random-poetry/ So my iPod battery has been flaky lately. What, you ask, did I do to solve this issue? Sue? No effing way. I went to iPodjuice.com and got a new one. $34 later my new bigger beefier battery is charging. The included full colour instructions are a snap, the hardest part is reconnecting ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/29/ipod/ Papers please. http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/27/big-brother-is-watching-you/ If you disagree with the administration, you will be smeared. Even if you were tortured, a la John McCain. Lost three limbs in war, a la Max Cleland. Or if you were a Marine and think this war is stupid, a la John Murtha. It seems to be that the only veterans that matter ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/27/murtha-is-the-new-max-cleland/ Isn't it pretty? That's a Newton's Cradle, by the way. http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/21/new-header/ LINK I don't understand what makes a company think that it's okay to have something install itself on your computer that leaves you vulnerable to all sorts of security threats, then releases an even worse program to remove that. This show you how few rights the consumer has in this day and ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/19/sony-drm-and-you/ I got a stripe on my white belt in Brasilian Jiu Jitsu. I'm certainly excited. Now I'll take a few days to let the bruises heal. http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/17/stripes/ So I was bored the other day, driving home from work. I cycle through the channels, and I hear Donald Rumsfeld on Hannity. Hannity was kissing his butt so hard. It just felt like propaganda to me. I mean 'freedom journalism'. http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/16/propaganda/ http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/14/does-anyone-actually-read-this-site/ I'm no ornithologist, but I've noticed a rather peculiar thing about the birds in my city. They tend to congregate on traffic singal wires, and perch themselves inside the light hood, standing on top of the hood below. Every red and yellow light I've seen for the last few days has ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/13/birdwatching/ Today over at my gallery, I was a bit hasty in activating a new user, and accidentally double-clicked the 'activate' button. Holy crap was I in for a shitstorm. I found out it's a bug in the gallery 2 software and I reported it to them. Long story short, when I double-clicked ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/10/buggery/ There's a case that's troubling to me, and I'm sure others who feel the same way I do. A couple from Nebraska moved to Kansas to get married when it was learned that the female half of the relationship was pregnant. Why is this news? He was 22, she was ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/09/the-full-faith-and-credit-clause-is-in-the-corner-crying-itself-to-sleep/ So apparently, you're only allowed to have religion if you're a homophobic warmonger. Long story short, a church in California is in danger of losing its tax-exempt status for having an antiwar sermon. Isn't there some sort of rule about killing people? I don't see where they endorsed a candidate ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/09/religion-and-politics/ Thank you for not electing Mr. Garrison, Virginia. Thank you. Election results here. We finally got 1 new electronic voting machine at my precinct. It is one of those famous Diebold election stealer 6000 models. I used it, but I'm not so sure how the usual voting crowd will take to it, since I'm ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/08/thank-you-virginia/ Due to the current tone in Virginia politics, I will feel just fine walking in to the voting booth and casting my vote for anyone with a D or an I by their name. I think the "Kaine wouldn't fry Hitler" ads put that final nail in that coffin for ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/06/politricks/ I don't what the problem is, but it seems to me like the entertainment industry keeps going back to the well when it comes to new fare. Every new game or movie seems to be a remake or a sequel. Then only industry putting out something semi-original is the music ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/04/unoriginality/ Nerdy stuff, and political humour. Here they are, together. http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/03/two-things-i-like/ Lovely. http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/03/croneyism-makes-baby-jesus-cry/ It sucks, don't go see it. http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/01/saw-2/ What does the far right know that we don't? Why are they so happy about Mr. Alito being nominated to the Supreme Court? Certainly intriguing, to say the least. http://robstercraws.org/2005/11/01/supreme-court-2/ Apple Mac OS X Tiger update 10.4.3 is out, I installed it and am having no issues. There's a bunch of fixes in it, read more here. http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/31/tiger/ My new Technorati Profile. http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/30/technorati/ I added some photos to my gallery. I took these at a seminar I recently attended with Professor Pedro Sauer. LINKY http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/29/gallery-2/ Normally the President ignores this region, since it always goes the Republican's way. Is this a sign of something? Maybe wavering support? Who knows. All I know is most people are just going to be pissed that it'll make them late to work. Well, those of us who still have jobs, anyway. LINK http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/28/oh-no-hes-here/ I wonder if they're profiteering at all? My solution? Stop driving land yachts that you don't need. Not only is it making prices go up due to consumption, but it's polluting the earth. Just stop. I can understand the few instances where you need a giant vehicle (hauling stuff....hauling...heavier stuff, ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/27/oil-companies-make-record-profits/ I'm not all that surprised that Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States. She didn't sit right with either party. I just hope they don't nominate someone worse, like Ashcroft or Gonzalez. http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/27/supreme-court/ I'm absolutely shocked about this. /sarcasm http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/26/im-absolutely-shocked/ Pork has made an appearance in the "war on terror". LINK http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/25/enter-pork-stage-right/ Where a pharmacist can refuse to fill a prescription just because they feel like it. First intelligent design, and now this? The flying spaghetti monster is looking down on this and shedding a marinara tear. And if "all life is sacred", explain hunting, antifungals, antibacterials, antivirals, war, and the death penalty to ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/25/welcome-to-the-united-states-of-fundamentalism/ A true pioneer in the Civil Rights movement, Rosa Parks died today at the age of 92. Some people say she planned the whole thing to work out how it did. In the end, does it matter? A lot of good came from her act. American businesses and governments were shown ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/24/rip-rosa-parks/ I have a seminar with this guy tomorrow. I'm incredibly nervous. http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/24/brazilian-jiu-jitsu/ I fixed my Mt. Trashmore Gallery as well. I'm just on a roll, eh? By the way, Mt. Trashmore is....a pile of garbage and soil, covered with grass. I feel so podunk with that in my town. http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/23/mt-trashmore-gallery/ I fixed my National Zoo Gallery too. I love subethaedit's find and replace features. http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/23/zoo-gallery/ I fixed my Virginia Aquarium (caution, lame embedded music) gallery. Here it is. http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/23/aquarium-gallery/ LINK http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/22/rats-1-humans-0/ If you're a fan of literature at all, and don't feel like reading, then I would suggest getting the seanachai podcast. If you don't know what a podcast is, then you've been living under a rock, obviously. http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/22/podcasts/ My gallery is open for registrations! Give it a whirl. No pr0n, 2257 and all. CLICK HERE! http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/21/gallery/ Apple announced a few updated products this past Wednesday. Full disclosure, I have and love a 12" 1ghz Powerbook G4. They bumped up the bus speeds, video cards, and pixel depth on their powerbook models, that's probably the last bit of life that can be squeezed out of the G4, ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/21/apples-new-offerings/ Doesn't he take the cutest mug shots? But seriously, I don't really think the charges can stick, they're reaching for straws. As left as I lean from time to time, I just can't see myself fervently behind throwing him in jail for something that a couple of people working for him did. ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/21/tom-delay/ Many great (and not so great) works of Literature are available online, via the Gutenberg project. It saved me from buying a Pushkin compilation just for Pikavaya Dama. If you have a PDA, you'll especially want some of these for long commutes. http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/20/gutenberg-project/ I'll admit it, I used to think that people who played fantasy sports were mouthbreathing dullards. This year, I decided to give it a shot. It's a geeks dream, you get to sit and look at numbers and compare and contrast, it's great. Plus you get to talk to people. You know, those ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/20/fantasy-sports/ San Diego Zoo Panda Cam. I take no responsibility for any cuteness-induced vomiting. http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/20/cute-overdose/ I have no idea what it is, but glass bottles of Coca-Cola taste the best to me. http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/20/glass-bottles-of-coke/ I have loved computers most of my life, starting with the Commodore 64. They should be useful resources for the user, not crashy and insecure. They are increasingly not depended on, and expected to fail. I switched from Windows to Apple for this very reason. Things just work. I am a Windows ... http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/20/the-state-of-computing/ I have a flickr photo webpage, I've uploaded my (IMHO) best photographic work to it. The link is over on the right, in my blogroll. I'll implement a gallery on this site shortly. http://robstercraws.org/2005/10/20/flickr/