BLADAM - May 2004

DISCLAIMER: This is my personal blog. The blatherings here aren't (necessarily) the views of the current company I work for, companies I've previously blessed with my presence, my loving parents, the Illuminati, or anyone other than me, me, me!

Example 4,417 of why technology is needlessly messy

I've been increasingly (and sadly) realizing just how much harder technology makes our lives. Sure, sure, it speeds some things up, simplifies a few things, and admittedly makes a lot of cool things possible.

But I just realized the insane amount of work one has to do just to be successful and reasonably safe / efficient in the computer age:

Read the full entry...

- Blathered by Adam on Sunday, May 16, 2004 at 17:41 Permalink
- Filed under Geekery
- Commented on by no one yet. Bummer. Check out the full entry page to leave a comment or trackback!

Let’s kill, er, tax all the lawyers!

Governor Rick Perry and the Legislature can't agree on a school finance plan, but Michael Boone has an idea he thinks can't fail. Here's how he would sell it in a TV ad campaign.

The ad would show pictures of schoolchildren in desks and seniors in their gardens. A soothing but concerned voice talks of underfunded schools and overtaxed homeowners.

Then comes the punch line: "If you want to lower your property taxes 50 cents and put a tax on lawyers, vote YES on Saturday." [Emphasis mine]

That idea, Boone said, would be so popular that "they won't have enough voting booths."

Boone has standing to propose such an idea. He's a lawyer.

- from "A lawyer's case for lawyer tax" in the Houston Chronicle, May 16, 2004

The article gets even wackier from there.

Read the full entry...

- Blathered by Adam on Sunday, May 16, 2004 at 11:10 Permalink
- Filed under Society • Law • Politics
- Commented on by no one yet. Bummer. Check out the full entry page to leave a comment or trackback!

Google stole my idea for discussion lists! (an early review of Google Groups2 / Google e-mail lists)

Okay, not really

. But maybe I should go into fortune telling, because I had written about the newly released Google Groups2 Discussion List Service two weeks ago on the "What Should Google Do" group on orkut.com:

Read the full entry...

- Blathered by Adam on Wednesday, May 12, 2004 at 23:51 Permalink
- Filed under Geekery • Communication tools • Google
- Commented on by 6 folks so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

Happy birthday to me!

(Sorry, I'm too lazy to figure out how to selectively remove the Personal Category disclaimer above; it really IS my birthday :D)

But hey, it's not all about me! Even though it's (probably) not your birthday, I enthusiastically invite you to enjoy this song.

- Blathered by Adam on Wednesday, May 12, 2004 at 4:25 Permalink
- Filed under Personal
- Commented on by 2 folks so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

Crappy cat problems

Oh my goodness, I just had to share this! :D

- Blathered by Adam on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 at 22:22 Permalink
- Filed under Wackiness
- Commented on by no one yet. Bummer. Check out the full entry page to leave a comment or trackback!

“People who drink lots of tea tend to back up their data regularly…”

Can anyone explain this to me?

- Blathered by Adam on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 at 1:24 Permalink
- Filed under Grab bag • Wackiness
- Commented on by 2 folks so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

A few billion crunchy and nutritious balladeers

Informative, at least mildly entertaining, and -- for some -- possibly just gross, this FAQ on the upcoming Billion Cicada March, er, emergence is worth checking out.

- Blathered by Adam on Friday, May 7, 2004 at 13:09 Permalink
- Filed under Grab bag • Wackiness
- Commented on by no one yet. Bummer. Check out the full entry page to leave a comment or trackback!

Strange pants!

I don't know quite what to say about this! Your idea for captions?

- Blathered by Adam on Thursday, May 6, 2004 at 20:42 Permalink
- Filed under Photography • People and relationships • Wackiness
- Commented on by 4 folks so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

Gmail may not change the world… but will it substantively change the way we e-mail?

[As I've noticed in my earlier Gmail commentary, I unfortunately do not have the ability to offer invites... sorry :( - Adam]

With all the coverage of Gmail (to which I've somewhat guiltily contributed), one might snicker that Gmail's being positioned as something that's going to change the world.

Well, almost.

I seriously think that Gmail may substantially change the way people deal with e-mail... sending, receiving, storing... leading to some interesting and not-insubstantial behavioral changes.

Read the full entry...

- Blathered by Adam on Thursday, May 6, 2004 at 19:09 Permalink
- Filed under Geekery • Communication tools • Google
- Commented on by 2 folks so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

Not your Father’s A cappella—Part 2

In an earlier entry, I offered a full-length example of a gorgeous song that may shatter your preconceptions of 'a cappella.'

Now I'd like to shift gears and offer a more upbeat, rockin' example: "Tasty, Tasty, Tasty" by The Blenders[ Listen to the song (via WMA streaming) | Get CD details ]. FYI, all the 'percussion' you hear is actually from someone's mouth!

Give the song a listen, and let me know what you think!

And yes, that means YOU! It takes a lot of time and effort to digitize, upload, and link to songs here, and I won't bother getting off my lazy ass to do so again in the future unless I get some feedback from y'all here in the comments below or via e-mail or IM, etc. Don't mean to sound like a nagging twit, but... well, then again, it's my blog, so I'll be a nagging twit if I damn well please. :D

- Blathered by Adam on Thursday, May 6, 2004 at 16:53 Permalink
- Filed under Arts and entertainment
- Commented on by no one yet. Bummer. Check out the full entry page to leave a comment or trackback!

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