So, to all of my regular readers (I know that there are at least 3 of you out there), I bid farewell to you. It has been fun, even though I didn’t feel up to putting more of myself into it.

Thanks for reading!

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There are two things on my blog that wind up in web searches more than anything else: my post about my Volvo and the one about the Stupidity Test. However, there is another topic that, while it does not bring in as many search results, it actually evokes responses from readers, and that is: my commentary on salesman personal wealth builder Al Pickett.

For those of you who haven’t delved deep enough into my archives, the post was a commentary on a rather clever ad campaign in Memphis for Mr. Pickett’s home ownership assistance. I mentioned that I was a bit disappointed that for all the “hype” it was just an ad for a salesman.

I was corrected several months later by someone (going by the name of “Royal”) who obviously wholeheartedly felt the need to defend Mr. Pickett’s honor. It made me wonder in a way if this was some sort of “damage control” or the like. Nevertheless, I made my comments (as linked earlier in this paragraph), rather politely I felt, and went on about my business.

But, apparently, that would not be the end of it.

Several weeks ago, a reader going by the name of “Tim Daily” left a comment on my original post, apparently trying to do his part to defend Mr. Pickett (may I call you Al?) as well. However, “Tim” was not as nice as “Royal.”

I have personally Meet Al

Cool.

and he actually owns a mortgage company.

Yeah, I pretty much figured that out already. After he revised his site, it was a bit more clear what he does.

This is typical of your response from a memphis native.

Of course it’s typical of my response. It’s my response. And by the way, I’m not a native. I’m an expatriate from Alabama. Do you know anything about typical responses from Alabama natives?

I have read you comment and you have not eve tried to find out what it is he actually does.

You read that comment, but you obviously didn’t read the other one. You have not even tried to find out what I actually do either, apparently.

You are the type of person who is clearly an under acheiver.

Now wait a minute. I leave a comment on somebody’s marketing campaign, and that automatically makes me a loser? This is typical of your response.

How can you knock some one before you even get to know them or find out what type of buisness that the person is offering.

Probably in the same way you have knocked me without getting to know me. You don’t know me at all, yet you have called me an under achiever, uneducated and misdirected. Really, you have no room to speak here, “Tim.”

You seem to be uneducated and misdirected about society and marketing beyond the typical Memphis campaigns.

At least I can spell.

Besides, what is a “typical Memphis campaign” anyways? It certainly is nothing like Mr. Pickett’s deal (which as I’ve already said was quite clever. Didn’t you read my comment?). And what, I ask, has this to do about my views on society? Your capacity for contextualization apparently is lacking. This, also, is typical of your response. Plus, how exactly does my opinion on Mr. Pickett denote a lack of education? I do have a college degree, by the way. Should I post it on my website as proof?

Al assisted several of my perosnal associates with homes.

Great for them. I never said he didn’t do anything good.

SO I say BIG UPs TO AL Pickett!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m not even sure I can comment on this. What does this mean anyways?

To sum up:

• Al Pickett helps people buy homes.
• He had a spiffy ad campaign.
• I blogged about it.
• People keep bashing me for it.
• And I continue to have fodder for more blog posts.

Later, y’all.

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It’s been really interesting to see the patterns in junk mail once I started really paying attention. Now, I still would rather not get any junk mail at all, but since it’s practically a given these days, I may as well find some sort of amusement in it.

Anyways, here is the second part of my Gallery of Really Goofy Junk Mail Messages. For this installment, the focus is on subject lines. Rarely does a junk mail message have both an interesting “from” name (as described in Part I) and subject line at the same time. Usually it’s only one or the other.

The following list is of subject lines that follow a specific pattern, being “Topic” comma “Random phrase” (eg. “Your health, olive gnat”). I call the first part “Topic” because it seems to correspond with a particular type of message (phishing, health, money, and so on). Those are relatively few in number; the variety is in the second part, the “Random phrase,” which is akin to Part I’s randomly-put together “from” names. Many of these second parts make no sense at all.

So, without further delay, here is the list, sorted by topic:

• :), parcel-guilty
• :), missel tree
• :), no-surrender
• :), page rest
• Order status, nerve-deaf
• Order status, palm green
• Order status, mill-run
• Hi, panel saw
• Hi, nimble-witted
• Hi, one fifth
• Hi, open-airish
• Your health, Mongol-galchic alphabet
• Your health, optimum capacity
• Your health, open-windowedness
• Your cash, nitro-cellulose
• Your cash, olive-sided flycatcher
• Your cash, never-stable
• Your money, motion-picture camera
• Your money, mirror-faced
• Your money, owl-wide
• Your money, oven-baked
• Cash, hinge joint

As a bonus, here are a couple of subject lines that don’t fit the pattern of the others, but are pretty funny anyways. Enjoy!

• desktop Starbucks done.Its beefy.
• watch it like a hawk H-Y-W-I Were you born in a barn?

Note: HYWI is the stock market symbol for Hollywood Intermediate Inc.

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I’ve been collecting junk mail “From” names for the last several weeks, when I started getting a series of names that followed a bizarre format: “Random/Obscure-word Initial Other-Random/Obscure-word,” e.g., “Goaltenders G. Distastefully” (which was one of the first I kept). For a while (at least six weeks) I got emails like this pretty regularly (and the messages were typically software-related). They seem to have mostly stopped now, but occasionally one or two trickle in. Here is a list of some of the better ones I’ve gotten:

• Transgressors L. Worst
• Therapies C. Lemming
• Reenacting I. Damasking
• Surrogate B. Interpretation
• Crackpot D. Gallivanted
• Epithets P. Cancers
• Interlarded D. Conformist
• Furbishes K. Disgruntling
• Downplay H. Lemon
• Honest O. Dismembering
• Counterintelligence T. Therapeutics
• Smudgier M. Recompilation
• Nashville L. Malignant
• Redrawing S. Annie
• Captained H. Annulment
• Idiocy V. Obsesses
• Downloading S. Coroner
• Overdo G. Dudley
• Dirt K. Spearhead
• Secrecy H. Fearing
• Trites I. Northeasters
• Observatory B. Mooring
• Transitory L. Spades
• Sewing C. Wheals
• Goodly A. French

(In case you have trouble with some of those words, hop on over to Merriam-Webster or Dictionary.com for definitions)

As I’ve said, this trend is winding down, but it seems to be replaced with a new style of two-part random subject lines. I’ll cover those in another post (I don’t have very many of them just yet, and I’m going to stick to one type of junk mail per post). Enjoy the absurdity!

[Note: I almost titled this post “Fun with Spam,” but I figure it’s just not right to defame the tasty meat product, which is a food I love to eat, and is produced by a respectable company. Therefore, I’m choosing to use the term “junk mail” from now on.]

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Meanwhile, I’ve been enjoying some new sodas these days. Jolt Cola has recently begun producing a new flavor (after having expanded its offerings to five a year or two ago). It’s called Jolt Silver, and it’s probably my new favorite Jolt. It’s a lemon-lime drink (like 7-up), but has a subtle flavor that I have quickly grown to love. Still not sure about the gigantic battery-shaped cans, which were introduced along with the new flavors (I’ve been jokingly accused of bringing beer to work).

Speaking of 7-up, I have just recently tried the new “all-natural” version. It’s not show-stoppingly great (especially after having just tried Jolt Silver), but it’s not bad either. Kudos to the company for going the “natural” route. Maybe others will follow.

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Blogged with Flock

Meanwhile, in other news: Yes, I let 1/4 of a year go by without posting. I will not go into all the reasons for that (very few of them are even remotely interesting), but I’m back for now. I guess.

I have also been working on my music some more. I wrapped up a demo tape about a week and 1/2 ago. Pretty much just re-treads of old songs, and re-learning how to play and record. So, it’s nothing you’ll see published any time soon, but it’s a step.

Also, one other website I’ve worked on lately: Art for Life’s Sake, a non-profit organization providing music and literature activities for underpriviged children.

And no, I didn’t finish my novel.

So, I have not started my novel yet. But, the second half of this month is shaping up to be less busy than the first, so I’m going to try a last ditch effort.

Here’s a fun free web game: Brewster Jennings Protects America. Kinda Carmen Sandiego-ish, uses Google Maps (which I like to play around with anyways).

Hat-tip to Neil.

Already we can see the effects: Vinyl records, if stored properly, last for decades. Old 78’s made in the 1920’s are still playable today if you have a working record player that plays that fast. Yet CD rot is already an issue, and CD’s are less then 30 years old. Some CD’s made in the 1980’s are already subject to this, and CD-R’s made only a few years ago can suffer the same fate. Then compare a book with, say, a Microsoft Word document. Again, books printed decades ago are still useable, but how long will MS Word be useable? Will computers still recognize Windows software in 2050? (Probably not; Windows 3.1 applications are almost unuseable now)

So, be careful when scanning in and shredding old paper documents. PC’s won’t be around forever, and paper still requires no software to use.

Here’s a website that combines both. See random photos of felines in sinks. You can even upload your own.

On a side note: this is the start of a new category: Fun Stuff. Previous posts that fit the bill have been added already.

It takes a big man to admit his mistakes. I’m not a big fan of ol’ Dubya, but tonight, my hat’s off to him.

“We have individuals who are getting raped, we have individuals who are getting beaten,” [New Orleans Police Chief] Compass said. “Tourists are walking in that direction and they are getting preyed upon.”

I can understand looting. While I strongly disapprove of stealing, I can at least understand the logic: desperate times make desperate people; when you have nothing, and there’s nobody to stop you, it can be tempting indeed to take advantage of the lack of order. But raping?

Raping?

Hundreds, even thousands are dead, the city is submerged, homes are devastated, people have lost all they owned, and there are those who would make a horrific situation worse by inhumanly violating somebody who has already suffered enough?

Col. Henry Whitehorn, chief of the Louisiana State Police, said he heard of numerous instances of New Orleans police officers — many of whom from flooded areas — turning in their badges.

“They indicated that they had lost everything and didn’t feel that it was worth them going back to take fire from looters and losing their lives,” Whitehorn said.

Many have decried the lack of police/gov’t. aid in this situation. I find it hard to side with those who would turn tail and walk away from their duties in a time of crisis, but again, I can see why. Help arrives to the sounds not of thanks but of anger at their not having gotten there sooner, or worse yet, violence from those people who have chosen lawlessness in the face of adversity. While I don’t know all that’s going on down there, I do know that with hundreds of thousands of refugees, it’s impossible to get everybody out of there and back on their feet quickly and easily. The scale of the task is simply too large.

“Phil, you’re not there. You don’t know what it’s like.” Well, that’s right. I don’t. But I just don’t understand how somebody could not be grateful when help arrives, even after a long wait. Maybe my outlook would change if I were in that situation, but I hope and pray that that wouldn’t be the case.

Update: 27/9/05Later reports seem to refute the reports of mass violence and murder. Seems that while some things did happen, the majority of reports were greatly exaggerated. I’m very relieved.

• 20Q.net - Play “20 Questions” with an A.I. routine. It’s an experiment in Artificial Intelligence. The program “learns” the more that people play it.
• Face Transformer - Upload a picture of your face and see how you look with a different race or gender.

Have fun, but please don’t waste too much of your time!

I’m gonna have to cut this post short, as my battery is about gone. So, this is the official roll call for tonight’s Blogger Bash. Hoo-aah!

He was a very talented man, adept at linguistics as well as acting (he even laid down the foundations for the Klingon language). One other thing that impresses me is his attitude towards his typecasting (a typical by-product of starring in Star Trek). Many actors bristle at being typecast, but Doohan loved it. However, it wasn’t always thus. According to Yahoo! News’s obituary:

When the series ended in 1969, Doohan found himself typecast as Montgomery Scott, the canny engineer with a burr in his voice. In 1973, he complained to his dentist, who advised him: “Jimmy, you’re going to be Scotty long after you’re dead. If I were you, I’d go with the flow.”

“I took his advice,” said Doohan, “and since then everything’s been just lovely.”

Doohan is the second Star Trek actor to have passed on. DeForest Kelly (”Dr. McCoy”), died in 1999.

Since the WTC terrorist attacks four years ago, the U.S. Government is taking drastic steps to stop terrorism. That would be really positive, except… they’ve chosen to fight terrorism by eliminating our rights as citizens. The more that I read about the PATRIOT Act, the sicker I get. It’s time to stand up. I’m not kidding.

Please, follow this link to a page on the EFF’s website concerning the upcoming vote on PATRIOT’s renewal (certain parts of the act are set to expire later this year). There will be a form on that page where you can contact your representatives to tell them to vote against this act.

Let’s lose no more of our freedoms. Let’s get some of them back.

Earlier this week I got an email from somebody identified only as “Royal,” correcting me concerning my earlier post about Mr. Pickett. In my post, I said that I was disappointed over discovering that Mr. Pickett was “just a salesman” after checking out his website, promoted on Memphis billboards in a clever and effective campaign. After reading how I should “get to know Al Pickett” as the billboard said, I was intrigued as to who he might be.

So, I read on his website, which advertises help on how to “create personal wealth through home ownership,” which I interpreted as MLM (Multi-Level Marketing). “Oh, he’s just a salesman,” I figure. Had to hand it to the guy though: the ads (plain billboards displaying only a phrase, like “Who is Al Pickett?” and “You Should Get to Know Al Pickett”, the latter of which boasted his URL as well) effectively piqued my curiousity. Anyways, I had pretty much completely forgot about it until I got “Royal’s” email, which stated:

Al Pickett is a man who is simply trying to help people find money to buy a home. There is no kind of marketing scheme or any pyramid scheme that suggests that anyone is going to get rich. All that Mr. Pickett is trying to do is help many people achieve their dream of one day becoming a homeowner.

Fair enough, I guess, but when I read phrases like, “create personal wealth” I instantly think of Am-Way and other similar MLM companies. That’s just the kind of marketspeak you’d find in their literature. Perhaps Mr. Pickett should consider re-wording his website.

I’m guessing Mr. Pickett is quite concerned about his public image, especially if he has people searching the Web to find out what people are saying about him. (At least, that’s what this seems to be; why else would somebody email an obscure blogger to correct a 7-month old post that not a lot of people are likely to have read?) But, at “Royal”’s advice, I have posted this correction.

So, there you go. Al Pickett is no salesman; he just wants to help you buy a home. And I take back what I said about his website looking atrocious; it has been redesigned, and it looks much nicer now.

Anyways, I’m trying not to neglect my blog. I’m still here. Sometimes it takes a while for a thought to get through me on its way to the outside world.

All of the posts (unedited) are still at the old location, but I don’t know if they’ll all remain there. I probably will just leave the ones relevant to the main site (updates, etc.) and delete the other posts (the ones that have moved here).

At least there are those who are trying to make things better. Surf yourself on over to Electronic Frontier Foundation’s site and take action. There is a bill going before the House that will help to de-criminalize the completely harmless act of copying one’s own media, and EFF has a way for you to contact your Congress Representative to encourage him/her to vote for it.

Please, before all music lovers are sued for millions, before listening to music requires paying through the nose for every time that you play a song, help out. Stop this train of insanity!

A hat-tip goes to Neil for writing the post that made me aware of it.

At around 5:30pm today, as I was leaving my office, I happened to see a rainbow. But not just any rainbow - a full one: I (and my wife) saw the entire uninterrupted arc. Neither one of us had seen one like this, but there it was, and with a sliver of a twin rainbow as well!

Unfortunately, we didn’t have a camera with us, and within ten minutes, the rainbow was gone. But it was awe-insipiring to see it nonetheless.

After all this time, God remembers His promise.

Jim Russell, I salute you!

Now, this is not the kind of collection you usually see, which is the arcade classics; this is a recreation of the home system. That’s right kids, the 2600. Lots of monochromatic blocks and more than a little abstraction on the part of the developers (I’d have never guessed those blocks were balloons). They’re the kind of games that those of us that are my age and older remember fondly (and refer to as “classics”), and that today’s kids make fun of. Guess you just had to be there.

Even from a programmer’s standpoint, I look at these games and think to myself, “I could program that!” (and I probably could…….at least the graphics wouldn’t be too hard) But there’s still the fun in the simplicity of these old games. Of course, they were so loved back then because people hadn’t seen the like, and so we ate ‘em up, whereas somebody raised on XBOX and PS2 is likely to wonder what the big deal is.

(Boy, do I ever feel old.)

All that aside, these games are sheer fun. But along with that fun comes a whole heap of frustration. In emulating the controller as well as the games, they’ve also reproduced the inability of those old controllers to behave exactly the way you want. I was spoiled with my PC version of Pong, being able to move the paddle with precision using my mouse. Not so here: getting the balance of joystick usage vs. onscreen movement is a balance I have yet to master (I have yet to win a game of Pong.)

Ten games for $15 and no cartridges or discs to worry about. Genius!

Addendum: OK, I know that these things have been out for months. It takes me awhile to catch up with the outside world sometimes.

In response to the success of Netflix and other online rental companies who are seeing big success with their “no late fee” policies, Blockbuster Video has announced that they they too will no longer charge customers late fees on their rentals.

Now, before you head over there to grab a video permanently for $2.99, read this: BBV still gives you a due date, but you also get a 1-week grace period to get it returned, after which your credit card will automatically be charged the full price (minus your rental fee) for the video if it’s still in your hands. However, even then it’s not the end: you can still return the video and get a refund, so buying’s not mandatory (although a small restocking fee is charged).

As far as physical rental stores go, BBV has announced their intentions to better themselves in the market by eliminating their only major competitor. It’s sickening enough in the Era of the Big Mergers that we go from five major labels down to four, and our cellular choices are dwindling fast, but now we’re staring down the metaphorical barrel of one giant video rental monolith? Mr. Ashcroft, please have the decency to defend the ideaology of competition. And Hollywood, please resist the temptation. There’s more to this than money.

* There actually is some debate over whether this is the exact date, but this site can explain it better than I.

Looks like Al Pickett is just a salesman. Like many Memphis drivers, I saw the billboard on I-240 (south part of “the Loop”) that first displayed “Who is Al Pickett?” Hmm, a fascinating question indeed. My kind of marketing: vague, indirect, and prone to incite the curious to find out.

Yesterday, my wife and I saw that the billboard had changed (when, I don’t know; I don’t travel on 240 as much as I used to) to read: “Have you met Al Pickett?” Ahh, he’s upped the ante. We’d been meaning to look him up before, but we never could remember when we had access to the computer. I finally thought to have Serena write it in my brain (ie, my Palm Pilot). Turns out the new billboard made our job easier by posting the URL in the above link. I’m expecting some sort of politician or major public figure, but instead I get a 20’s-looking “entrepreneurial” type advertising what looks to be some sort of either Multi-Level Marking or some other sort of “get rich” type scheme that few could ever make any money doing. And he has an atrociously-designed website to boot.

Sometimes anticipation really is better than reception.

Been slowly picking up the slack of my post-Harding life. I’m actually reading more. I’ve picked up a hobby (i.e., playing go). I’m even studying Japanese. Also, I voted last week, for the first time ever in my life. I’m thinking about being more politically active in the future. I regretting not knowing enough this time. (Just for the record, I voted for the incumbent.)

Anyways, my daughter is now 3 months old, and is doing very well. Certainly, life’s having it’s ups and downs (even mostly downs), but just so’s you know, I’m still here. And God’s taking care of me.

The Volvo

Anyways, now you know I haven’t fallen off the face of the Earth yet. I might be getting some new stuff done soon.

Thanks to all of my friends and family for their prayers and support. My wife and I are thrilled to have such a beautiful baby.

(For those of you that may be wondering, the kitten is named after somebody: Linus Torvalds, the programmer who started Linux.)

it’s nice to have these things, but it still doesn’t abate the sadness.

Ahh, employment!

here is a memorial that i made right after the fact. many thanks to all those that have shared their sympathy and love.

create your own visited states map

i may have missed a few on the eastern seaboard but i wasn’t sure. i went on a long class trip going through most of new england. i’m not sure about some of the ones i’ve marked as been to, and i may have been to more. but i think i’m remembering correctly.

i gotta go west sometime.

well, four months after nathan’s death we have a “reason:” autopsy results (which took the entire four months to arrive at) showed the cause of death to be a brain hemorrage. i don’t know if knowing the cause makes handling the death any easier, but i appreciate having that information.

i really miss nathan.

been feeling really depressed lately. but not all the time.

as i’m sure you all know, my son nathan passed away back in february after only 2 days on earth. since then, i haven’t really felt like doing much work on my website. that’s mostly due to lethargy and depression. however, i’m trying to get back into it. so please, be patient with me. i’ve got several changes i want to make on this site, so just watch out for debris and dust while you’re walking around here. and please wear a hard hat.

i’ve got lots of things going on now: job hunting, house renovation, freelance web-design, working on a new album, etc. please pray for me in all these endeavors; i need a lot of help!

i feel pretty well these days.

Consumer Assistance
Federal Trade Commission - The “Do Not Call” Registry

boy, i love the internet!

Serving size: 1/6 pizza (139 g)
Servings per container: 6

well, duh.

Check out number 1 under “Unhealthiest.” Makes me proud to be a resident!