onfocus.com : Weblog BookWatch
This little tool checks sites that have recently pinged into weblogs.com to see if they have any links to Amazon books. If they do, they’re added to a list to see which books are most popular among bloggers.
Fun.
The New Haven Register reports…
Toddler left in van for 5 hours dies
I’ll grant you that having more than 2 kids can be taxing and confusing at times…. but what the hell is wrong with these people? How can you assume, for five hours, that your spouse has one of your kids?
The “Which Trading Spaces Cast Member Are You?” Quiz
Yes, I’m a fan of the show. This is a rather odd quiz, but whatever works…
She Spies is a new syndicated show premiering on NBC before it actually gets syndicated. Confused? So am I.
What I do know is that when I saw the initial commercials, I couldn’t believe that NBC was actually going to show anything so horrible – even during the summer.
Then I read about it in the local papers TV insert and saw that it was supposed to be silly and improbable. It was supposed to make fun of itself. It was supposed to be a bit like Charlie’s Angels. It was a comedy, not a drama.
And now that I’ve seen it (a couple times), I actually like it. They spoof on themselves and the whole spy genre. They play off of stereo-types. They know how to take a joke. And they’re good at it.
Check it out – it’s worth a few laughs, and you may end up watching it every week.
1. How long have you had a weblog?
For a really long time. This site has existed for almost a year or so in its current form, but before that I was using Radio, and before that a series of scripts or even just a test editor. What fun that was….
2. What was your first post about?
Well, it was probably about how fricking cold my office was. The blog started as a note on my webcam page when I was working in Norwalk, CT, and I had to work in the coldest part of the office. The fact that I brought my own heater in didn’t help ’cause it kept tripping the circuit breaker….
3. How many changes (name, location, etc.) of your weblog have there been, if more than one?
The name has pretty much always been the same (“a life less interesting”), but it’s only since I used Radio that I actually put that on paper, so to speak. The blog has only had two web addresses – cam.snickersnot.com and this one (adam.gerstein.net. There might be another change, but that’s still up in the air.
4. What CMS (content management system) do you use? Do you like it or do you want to try something else?
I started off using Radio, but that required that I have the computer it was running on ALL the time – and that wasn’t always possible. I tried GrayMatter on another site, but that was a little too detailed for what I wanted – so when I found out about MovableType, I checked it out – and here we are.
5. Do you read people who have both a journal and a weblog? Or do you prefer to read people who have all of their writing in one central place?
Aren’t a blog and a journal really the same thing? The blogs I go to mostly read a bit like journals, and I use my blog in that way sometimes, so there isn’t much of a difference from my point of view.
System Administrator Appreciation Day is today. I don’t like that it’s a “floating” holiday, but I guess it makes sense – otherwise, it might happen on a weekend, and then the sysadmin’s wouldn’t be feeling any love. Being my own sysadmin, I’ll make sure to appreciate myself at some point during the day….
I’ve updated the poll in the left-hand navigation – I have lots of domain names, and a couple of sole-proprietorships to go with them… So what should I do? I like my computerboy.com domain name, but it doesn’t seem quite as professional now that I’m more of a man. I could just go with my own name – and this site – for the business, but then I either have to move the blog to a sub-section, or to another domain name entireley – possibly not a bad idea. Anyway, check out the survey and let me know what you think.
Why are there no jobs? Anywhere? I’ve applied to some stuff, and even got called back for a second interview – but so far, that doesn’t look too promising – which is a shame, since I think that I’d like to work there.
There are one or two things that may come up in the next few weeks, but who knows what will happen there. One of those possibilities I think that I would LOVE to do, but I don’t even know if I’m qualified enough, or if they’ll even offer me the job. I’d like to think that I’m an ideal candidate, but who knows. I’m trying very hard to stay positive, but it’s hard – especially knowing how things went the last time I got laid off. The fun never ends…. 
Matt Damon as an action star? If Ben Affleck can do it, why not, right?
Matt does a pretty good job. The role is very physical, and it shows that he’s spent some time getting ready for the role. Jason Bourne is a pretty kick-ass guy, but he doesn’t know who he is or why he was found floating in the ocean with two bullet wounds and a microchip wedged under his skin. Gradually he starts to put the pieces together, making “friends” of all sorts along the way – including a US Embassy full of US Marines – and finally figuring out who he is.
Overall, Damon does a good job, and the supporting cast do well as well. The story doesn’t slow down, the action is great, and the effects are great. Go check it out.
Scientific American brings us…
The Little Spacecraft that Could — and Did
Decades after their original objectives were completed, Pioneer, Voyager and IMP-8 keep on trucking.
Just a wee bit older than me and still trucking. Who knows what else Pioneer 10 and the others will find – or introduce us to?
BBC NEWS brings us…
Space rock ‘on collision course’
An asteroid could devastate EarthBy Dr David Whitehouse BBC News Online science editor An asteroid discovered just weeks ago has become the most threatening object yet detected in space.
Well, as long as we have a few years…
Finding patent truth in JPEG claim – Tech News – CNET.com
A small videoconferencing company is laying claim to the ubiquitous JPEG format, igniting a backlash from some consumers and from a standards organization.
What is wrong with these people? It was put together by the Joint Photographers Experts Group and released so that people wouln’t charge for it – now these clowns are claiming it’s theirs? I bet the JPEG format existed before their patent did – so there’s your prior art. This could be bad, very bad.
For Christmas, my brother bought the whole family The Wizard of Oz gift set. It comes in a nice box, with some movie stills and a reproduction of the script. There’s a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff on the DVD too – but I haven’t seen any of that yet. :emma:, :noah: and I are watching it for the 3rd of 4th time. It’s not quite as popular as some of the other movies in the house, but it’s getting there…
Amazon.com: Wish List for George Bush
This is very funny – but I wonder… if I buy him a book, does it go to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.?
New Haven Register
The Dow Jones industrials shattered their post-terrorist attack lows Friday in a dramatic 390-point sell-off that began with news of a government investigation at Johnson & Johnson and quickly turned into a full retreat by investors.
The Dow Jones industrial average had its seventh biggest point drop ever, as fraud investigations and weak earnings reports pushed the index down 390.23 points to 8,019.23.
Ok, let’s just look at the problem here. Shrub gets elected. Then we have all sorts of voting fraud allegations – some of which were apparently true – and then it turns out that Gore MIGHT have honestly won the election.
Then we have the events of September 11th, and the ensuing madness. We also start realizing we’re in a recession.
Then we have Enron-gate, and now WorldCom-gate. And, apparently, AOL-gate is in the making, with Johnson & Johnson-gate not too far behind, possibly.
The CEO’s of the US are busy raping and pillaging their stock-holders, their own companies and whatever else they can get their hands on.
Bush was involved with the folks at Enron – so the White House shuts its mouth and doesn’t comment. But WorldCom goes tits up, and Bush is suddenly going on about how the CEO’s and the corporate world needs to be more honest.
Meanwhile, Cheney is being investigated by the SEC and who know’s who else for accounting issues at a company he was in charge of – and Shrub comes out and says that it’s not a problem (despite the fact that the White House and Cheney haven’t said a word, Shrub just won’t stop talking!).
And we’re supposed to trust these two? I DOUBT IT!!!! C’mon people, we need to hold the White House to a higher standard. The Dynamic Duo needs to release any and all records that Congress, the Senate, or the news-media – hell, even individuals – ask for, so we can look into this properly and get it resolved.
Clinton had Whitewater which, it turns out, was just a bad investment (his little affair with Monica not-withstanding – it was’t strictly part of Whitewater, Ken Starr just lucked onto it). But we’re not gonna take Bush/Cheney’s word for it, are we???
Anonymous, and 
Roselle are discussing.
Roselle 13:59 on 2002/09/27 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I want to know how the states of this country can leave kids in the custody of parents whom the state knows are unfit and pose a threat to the safety and well being of the kids simply because they have a shortage of places for them to go.My next door neighbor is one of those people who should not have kids.she has 4 two in the custody of the state and two besides she has had over 100 complaints against her filed with d.s.s. and yet nothing has been done to help her kids get away from her.She treats her 11yr old son like a servant/babysitter her 1 yr old daughter and her son do not eat solid food the baby has nothing but breast milk and her son only eats at school.her house is a complete disaster area and that is putting it lightly.I do not understand why something isn’t being and hasn’t been done to place those kids someplace safe.my kids thankfully mean more to me than hers do to her.How hard is it to tear yourself away from the computer long enought to cook dinner or put on a load of wash or throw out junk you have no use for.I feel sorry for them not because of the situation but inspite of it.I tried to help but was taken advantage of and quickly backed off.children are human beings to and are not their parents personal servants or personal property so the next time you see your kids think of my neighbors give them a hug,a kiss and a cookie(lol) and tell them how much you love them.
Anonymous 11:38 on 2002/12/31 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Children have the right to live normal, happy, educated lives. My brother’s ex-girlfriend has four children with four different fathers. The oldest has been to about 13 different schools and has lived in at least four states. She is emotionally unstable as is her mother. Her mother is an alcoholic, has been diagnosed with a mental disease, and has been a stripper. Instead of providing a stable environment for her children, she uses them to get men to support her. Meanwhile, she has not held a job for more than one week. It makes me sick how the government protects these unfit mothers, instead of thinking about the welfare of the child first.