He who makes a beast of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man. - HST

I get it.... I'm Kenny. - HB

Thursday, September 30, 2004

Where's Osama ?

Ok so we all know that, at some point, very soon, we'll get the report, in a timely, pre election News brief that our missing "enemy of the state" will have been captured.

Granted, he's probably been eating McDonalds for months now, when Bush finds the time is right, Ol' Osama will come to town for a Republican ovation.

So some folks out there thought it would be a nice gesture to build up the expectaction a little, put a little fun in it, and alas, call it what it will be: a sham of the utmost degree, but heck, we have already forgotten the bogus absentee ballots , so why not ? ( You know, the ones that weren't actually in on time to be counted, but oddly were, hours after they surfaced ... and they all were for Bush ...)

So get a chance to dance the glory dance with dubyah by casting your guess as to when the little rascal will show. Take a quick trip over to http://www.osamasweepstakes.com/ and cast yer vote. (This one will even count as a vote...) And who knows ? You could nail it with the accuracy that a Republican Press Agent could only hope for.

There’s a free poll on the website, as well as a $ 2.00 contest to win a genuine Dubya action figure in full "Mission Accomplished" flightsuit. All the money raised goes to the Colorado branch of Court Appointed Service Advocates (CASA), which advocates for abused and neglected children, so even if Osama doesn’t turn up on your day of choice, you’ll still know it’s all for a good cause.

Plus you can get a chance to say " I told you so..." and have the evidence to prove it.....

Cheers,

h


Daily Funny SPAM Subject line:

New! Vìagra soft tabs.

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Ending, Beginning, Ending ....

Well I'm back, sorry been away for so long. For a number of you this is no surprise, but just to get everyone on the same page, a bit of catchup...

I just got back from going back to Newburyport, more or less with the single purpose of getting divorced. To sum it up quickly and painlessly for those involved, it wasn't fun, but it wasn't as bad as it could be. We have parted amicably, and now here I am home, that's right, Home is Boulder for me, and it's finally starting to hit.

I felt it when I hit the runway here. I suddenly felt like I was where I was supposed to be. It is odd to me, with so many places I could call home, that this one has set root so quickly, but then I probably needed it.

But I'm not so daft as to think it has had no effect on me, I'm definitely not on my stride, and I find myself staring off into space, and it's weird for me, and I don't like it. So I curl up in my cave and play with the cat and wait for life to bring me responsible tasks. So far grocery shopping and working rock ! (OK they don't really Rock! but it's a level better than cleaning out the cat box.)

But do not worry, I'm crawling out of it, I haven't fallen into old bad habits, and even I seem to believe that all is for the best, and soon, I'll be back up to my neck in work issues that will keep me eating, not-sleeping and going back to work again.

I know it sounds positively horrid, but I think it's what I need. Some time to equalize, to get accustomed to being truly alone. Then perhaps a chance to feel like I have my shite together, and continue on.

Friday, September 24, 2004

Daily Funny SPAM Subject line:

Happy Anniversary from 96.9 FM Talk

Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Daily Funny SPAM Subject line:

9Complim0entary Via9gra

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

DVD Tuesday !!! Star Wars

Yes my friends, I touched the box set of Star Wars on DVD today. Or yesterday that is, and well frankly I touched em like 70 times. That's how many we have in stock for tomorrow. And 3 of them in full screen. (ick)

So run out and get yours today and sit back and follow our hereoes to the steps bigger than anyone's graduation, and then heck, run out an buy a copy of Star Wars Galaxies and start your own adventure.... It just takes one step ( and about $30.00) and you too can be on the path to Jedi......

Other cool DVD news for probably all 3 of us in the USA. Roswell Season II will finally make it to DVD on October 5th. Yes it's cheezwhiz, and yes it is kind of Dawson's Creek with aliens, but I like it, so I know full well I won't have to worry about that puppy selling out anytime soon.

And in the Thank You again Micro column is probably the best damn Sci Fi series I've ever seen and if you don't own it you are a poseur of a Sci FI fan..... I'm watching Firefly for the 3rd time since I got it in August, and it still can hold it's own. That is more than I can say about just about any media I know except maybe Animal House, Caddyshack, Dogma and Fandango. But it's unfair to pit a TV series against movies.

If you don't own it, buy it, if you can't afford it borrow it, if you can't borrow it, steal it, it's simply that good.

I only have to say one thing to get all the true geeks and nerds in the reading audience.... There is NO noise in space... No whooshing or zipping or zanging, just pure deathly quiet. As it should be......

Cheers,

hairball

Monday, September 20, 2004

Daily funny SPAM subject line:

no more tickets from photo cops

Sunday, September 19, 2004

It's the little things...


hbvotes
Originally uploaded by hbrownii.
I officially exist in the PRB !

And just in time for Red Rocks the Vote :)

hairball

'Nuther Day, 'Nuther quarter....

Well I worked the closing shift tonight, and got out at 11:45. Rushed downtown and managed to catch one set of the Indulgers at the pub.

The Buffs had a football game today , and judging from the spirits flowing and the folks there, I'm gonna guess they won. I guess I 'll see tomorrow.

Pete and I are going to the "Red Rocks the Vote "show tomorrow at Red Rocks. Hunter S. Thompson was supposd to emmcee, but he flaked at the last minute. the hsow has a couple local faves and then Greg Allman and finally the headliner; Gov't Mule.

Gov't mule has been known to have some pretty amazing bass players sit in, so I'm hoping for Les Claypool.

So someone stole 2 of my T-Shirts and my HBS sweatshirt from the laundry room, That really annoys the shiy out if me. Especially the HBS sweat. Darn thing cost me almost $70.00 and I finally had it good and worn in, and not 2 hours before I finally got an old stain out of it.

As much as I had days I hated working at HBS, there were a ton of great people and that shirt reminded me of that. I actually wasn't officially working for the School at the time and one of my co-workers was nice enough to buy it at employee discount for me. ( You know who you are....) While they were running an extra percentage for X-mas.

But it just sucks when ypu can't even do laundry in your own place and not have it grow legs....

Peace,

h

Saturday, September 18, 2004

Daily Funny SPAM subject Line :

Olsen Twins use online Pharmacy

Friday, September 17, 2004

Blatherings 001 - Aliens Amongnst Us

Ok I've seen em. Aliens that is. I'm telling you it's either that or the next evolutionary step, and it scares me..

Ok stick with me on this, I'm sure I'll tread on a few toes.

I've seen real live aliens. The kind you reach out and touch, and they usually say something like "excuse me can I help you...." or " Please stop doing that...." or in some odd cases, " Hey what's your sign, I bet you 're a [insert astrological sign here]".

Ok some background. I work at Barnes and Noble Bookstore (B&N) here in Boulder. And how a corporate bookstore survives in Boulder is a mystery to me, but that's another Blatherings post.... But I digress, right next to B&N is Whole Foods. Whole Foods is the big kahuna of natural food stores. Oh sure you have your Wild Oats, Wild Harvest and your Bread and Circus, but they don't even come close to the sheer magnitude of Whole Foods.

Now, before the flames start, I like Whole Foods. They power their stores with Wind, and we all know how much I like that, and they do have the best Smoothies in town... And they are next door to B&N and every once in a while a sales rep will wander into B&N and give us treats .This is all good. And now I have even more respect for their marketing, because clearly they have managed to reach into space and bring in alien customers....

Especially the clientle that eat at Whole Foods. they must be aliens. They look like aliens, they smell like (at least what I think) aliens smell like, and they act like aliens. (All except for the bursting out of the stomach birth ritual thing...) But mostly the eat food that looks alien.

Near as I can tell there must be a special spaceship parking lot on the roof.... That would explain the knocking and banging at the ungodly hour os 11:45 when we are still straightening books out and re shelving stuff left in odd places. Hey, it's not their fault. They are aliens, Our shelving methods are probably humorously primitive to them. I mean what race would really put child birth under health, is there is nothing that should be under horror or science fiction, that's it... Come on.

But as friendly as they seem, don't ever get too close to them when they eat. As if nuts berries and wheat grass juice are going to disappear in the next five minutes, I've never seen beings eat so voraciously, I mean talk about "keep your hands away from their mouth..." you're best to observe from a distance.

And the things they eat....and drink. I actually saw a woman (obviously a disguise) drinking a bottle of distilled water. Look, Distilled water is for batteries, it's for cleaning and sterilizing medical instruments, it's for keeping radiators working in tanks in the Iraqi desert, it is NOT for human consumption. Unless of course, you aren't human... And perhaps you have a battery/radiator/medical sterilizer in your digestive system....

And they are definitely reproducing, because all the female looking aliens appear to be pregnant, and all the male looking aliens look like deer in the headlights.

Someone, truly someone with a heart, who cares about these aliens, really needs to introduce them to Cosmo's Pizza, and perhaps a beer or two. Now I don't want to be responsible for drunk spaceship accidents, but it's for a good cause, perhaps the saving of an entire race. Here, no really, just have a buffalo wing...

But alas, I think in our never ending quest to estroy all thing beautiful in the universe, weve instead found a way to defeat this race of beautiful (well in a weird Calista Flockhart sort of way) race. See we have managed t introduce them to the cel phone. You'd think a supreme race would be smarter than that, but alas no. Stupid Brtiney Spears ring tones and endless hours talking to other earth based aliens (last I checked, even Sprint doesn't reach the outer rim of our galaxy) s they munch on rice cakes and tofu flavored tofu, they chatter like there was a Sigourney Weaver Spacesuits R'Us IPO happening tomorrow and they had to get their portfolios together.

So they can't leave, because the bill has to go somewhere and we haven't figured out how to get mail to the outer rim yet either. Maybe Bill Gates could work on ReallyHotMail... Maybe we could send him personnaly to investigate..... For a long time....

Or perhaps this is all wrong, maybe instead of climbing up another rung in the evolutionary ladder, we've managed to climb sideways...

Maybe I'll cover that Next time in Blatherings...

hairball


Welcome ...

Well this is the second start at hBlog. So I guess it's v 2.0

There isn't a great deal I can say except it's just kind of a way for me to get some news out of what I'm up to and what I think about some things.

It's in a second incarnation because I had to move knowmads.com to a new host and in the process thought I'd like to save a little sanity by hosting my own blog files and application. This isn't exactly what happened, but if I do reach that goal, the new product will be located here, so at least we'll be on the same server. there are some vaguely technical notes in a beta post from a couple of days ago.

For those who followed the first incarnation of this silliness, I'm trying to move old posts from the old system to here in an organzied fashion.

You'll see old entries on this blog with the prefix of "Old Blog - " and some sort of description of the post.

I've narrowed down the categories for now to a few I think I'll actually update.

If by chance, you have a blog of your own and want to cross link let me know I'll be happy to spread the word.

If you'd like to start your own blog, but are worried it's too hard, for a lot of the basic stuff, including hosting i can very happily recommend a visit to the good folks at http://www.blogger.com/

harry



Wanker Filter


suckless
Originally uploaded by hbrownii.
This is FU-0 "Quality Control" Wanker Filter:

Is has 3 controls

1 - Bypass/ON/OFF
2 - Type of Wanking - Set to "Suck"
3 - More/Less knob... Set to Less

need I say more.


No the Wanker Filter doesn't do anything......

It's just a funny graphic, especially to Propellerhead Reason Users.

What a Crock....

Ok, just how the hell is it that Martha Stewart is sentenced to go to jail for her alleged crimes and she has " a few weeks "to " check in" ? (source: Rocky Mountain News 9/16/04)

What the hell is this ? A Hotel ?

If you or I, dear reader, got stopped for excessive speeding, or some other crime like say, shoplifting Martha Stewart pillow cases from a local K-mart, you would be sitting in the pokey, hoping someone would would show up ( in your grandfathers suit jacket...long story....) to bail your sorry ass out.

You do not get time to setup broadcast from the set of your testing facility, you do not get to shop for "jail clothes" and you are, last I checked, expected to be in jail.

At what point do we stop idolizing these TV and sports personalities to the point where they are above the law ?

And speaking of TV, why the hell do we care who is sitting in for who on the evening news when the normal anchor "person" isn't there ? It's news, not a talk show....

hairball

Thursday, September 16, 2004

Roswell - Not an alien


rosface
Originally uploaded by hbrownii.
I was messing around with the new blog tools and discovered Flickr, an intersting way to add photos to blogs, so I thought I'd test it.

This is Roswell, some of you know him, for a cat he doesn't seem too afraid of flash.

This entire post was created and published from Flickr.

And Roswell didn't even have to go to Canada....

Star Wars Galaxies - Jump to LightSpeed Start Guide

I got in on the Jump to Lightspeed beta !

Can't say much, but this part is open to the public: (or at least those with a free SOE account)

Star Wars Galaxies JTL Start Notes

Whoooo Hoooo !
hairball

Welcome to hBlog 2.0 beta invitees

Well I've been having trouble getting MovableType (my Blogger of choice) to run on my new bargain basement Hosting service, so I've gone ahead with another tool for now. For the (very) few of you that are able to read this, please feel free to poke about and let me now what you think.

I want to try and bring in the original posts, but I'm not sure Blogger can handle that, so it's back to the books for me.

But in this case, I can at least host the content myself. Which was the biggest problem with Userland Radio, which I started with. Radio is very cool, and for a low purchase price, they also host your site, but I found the server to be a little slow.

MovableType is my preference, but the host I am using, which is only $25.00 a year, is a little shaky on giving access by telnet or SSH to low end accounts like me. So I'm sure there's a way to get it to work, but for now this works great.

and THIS is Blogger, run out of www.blogger.com !

I found Blogger completely by mistake, and it is the coolest, quickest and simplest tool to set up a blog I have ever seen. If you want to blog, pay a visit to www.blogger.com it's easier than setting up a Yahoo account, and partially owned by the new internet "golden child" : Google.

Nuff said,

Cheers,

Harry

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

This is a test of the new Blog engine

I'm trying out 2 or 3 ideas for newer blog tools. ultimately I want something easy, but with some room to roam in the future.

I had a number of contenders, but I keep coming back to blogger.com

This works and although the interface is web based and sometimes slow, it is truly elegant in it's approach.

ut it doesn't handle categories... And that may make it too messy for my needs.

I need more of a Organizer approach than that of a Notebook.... But maybe I can add some dividers.... :)

H

Friday, September 10, 2004

Old hBlog - They mostly come out at night, mostly....

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, that solar satellite that was gathering solar samples that crashed in Utah was built right around the corner from where I work now. So it's a big deal in all the papers here.

I'm waiting for the helicopter pilots and ground crew to start acting odd.........

:)

Old hBlog - Shopping ISPs and Biking



I'm shopping ISPs right now for a new hime for Knowmads.com and then a (the) hblog will run from there. WHen this happens, I will be sending out a mail with the new address and all the other info, but in case I don't have a current address for you and you are reading this, send an email to hbrown@knowmads.com so I can add you to the distribution list.

I am now working both the Barnes and Noble job and the school district Mac OS-X job. They are both going well, but tend to step on one another now and again. I have to be at the School job at 7:00 a.m. which is real fun after closing B&N til midnight sometimes the night before. As thoses of you who work jobs that close late know, you can't really just go home and go right to bed, you have to unwind some, and by the time I'm in the rack, it's almost 2:00.

So I spend a lot of time trying to catch up with sleep, and failing miserably.

I had most of Saturday off, so I rode my bike up into the foothills. Did I mention UP ? Man I thought my heart was going to explode. I've never really heard such a steady (and loud) beat. So, at my designated dying point, I sat by a rock climbing group and read "The Big U" (Neil Stephenson's first book I ever read which is largely unknown) and drank a lot of water. Needless to say the ride down the bike trail was a lot more fun......

I think there is a bent cam or axle in the bike somewhere, you tend to notice it when you are really peddling hard, even in lower gears. I've had a good Mountain bike guy look at it, but they regard it as a piece of junk anyway. He said I got what I paid for...

Well I'm off to bed, watch this space for the new location of hblog, I'll try to email and post here.

Harry

Thursday, September 02, 2004

Old hBlog -New Job / Moving blog

Hi,

Been very busy this week, and haven't had much time to update this. The School gig is good, but a lot more driving than I should be doing with the Rover.

I'm probably going to be moving this blog to my own server as soon as I can iron out some domain name issues with a new home for Knowmads. I will send out an email notification of the move and try to post here as well, but I mayhave to take this down to get the new server up. (licensing and such).

If by chance you got here by randomness or someone elses guidance, send me an email so I don't lose you when I move.

hbrown@knowmads.com

Anyway I do have a lot to write, I just wish I had time or at least wireless at B&N, then I could update when I took breaks.

I'll try to get some stuff together late nights/mornings this weekend.

Cheers,

Hairball