Category: Random Ramblings

Anything that catches my fancy as a topic I want to cover. Truly random crap.

Unopened rebate forms found in dumpster

You’ve bought your cool new gadget. You cut out the UPC. You fill out the rebate form. You photocopy everything you are sending in. You sent it all, wisely chosing registered mail so you know when it was delivered. And yet, you still don’t ever get your rebate. WTF?

Well, maybe somebody threw out your submission along with those from your 1299 closest friends?

unopenedrebates.jpg

This is a picture of the 1,300 unopened rebate forms a Mercury News reporter found in a dumpster near Vastech, a rebate processor for Fry’s Electronics.

When confronted, the company’s owner blamed it on a lazy employee who no longer works for Vastech and offered to process and sign checks for all of the envelopes in front of the reporter.

Reminds me of the scandal years back where so many Publisher’s Clearing House entries were found in the trash. Unfortunately, I cannot find a link to anything about that scandal, so you’ll have to either remember the issue yourself or trust my increasingly faulty memory.

I suppose this could explain why, nearly 9 years later, I’m still awaiting 2 rebate checks from CompUSA for memory and a hard drive. I’m starting to suspect I won’t actually get them, CompUSA contacts’ assurances to the contrary.

[tags]Unprocessed rebates, Consumerist, Rebates[/tags]

More photochopping beautiful

Since I just linked to a photoshopped to beautiful web article in my asides section, I felt compelled to post this Ugly Betty photochopped to skinny link to show more evidence of the attractive-is-not-attractive-enough mentality that runs rampant through so much of the glamour industry (movies, magazines, etc.).

And what do you know? Just like the actress in The Box and The Bunny, Ferrera has been photoshopped to be somewhat skinnier. It’s not horribly drastic, but apparent, nonetheless. Especially if you look at another photo of Ferrera from the magazine:

[original image snipped for posting here]

Ferrera is a real woman, and she has curves. 🙂

Well, apparently curves disturb some in the industry. So sad. (via boingboing)

[tags]Ugly Betty, Real women have curves, Photoshopped to beautiful, Photoshopping celebs[/tags]

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Tetris grand master

This is the most insanely awesome gamer clip I can ever recall seeing (and I’ve watched a lot of them).  Think you are good at Tetris?  You probably won’t after watching this guy.  If I could find a WordPress plugin to let me inline the video, I’d do that, but I haven’t found such a plugin yet, so I’ll just send you to the GameBrink.com page for it.

[tags]Tetris, Gaming, Tetris grand master, Insane gameplay[/tags]

Bioshock video critique

While I’ve already spoken against purchasing Bioshock due to draconian legal-user restrictions (i.e., those who pirate it aren’t affected, but those who paid money are treated are necrotic lepers with erupting pustules of bitter smelling acid), I do still admit to finding it a good game.  Here’s a video review done by a British gent who agrees it is good, but can still point out the problems with the game.

[gametrailers 103130]

Now that I’ve got System Shock 2 working on my system, I can play and compare (yes, I failed to play SS2 originally or over the past 4 years I’ve owned a copy) so I can see how accurate his criticisms are.

[tags]Bioshock, System Shock 2, Video Review, Necrotic Leper, Erupting pustules, Securom 2 STILL sucks[/tags]

Crash Internet Explorer in one line

I don’t really think figuring out an exploit to crash a browser is a great and fantastic feat, given how insanely complex, large, and bloated most are.  However, crashing a browser in just a single line of HTML and CSS code is pretty impressive.

A Japanese blogger who goes by the name Hamachiya2 has discovered a single line of HTML and CSS that crashes IE 6. The line is:

Ohhhh, the suspense is killing me.  I guess I’ll just have to read the article to find out how easy it is.

[tags]Security, Crash Internet Explorer, Browser vulnerabilities, Another kick in the nuts[/tags]

Wellness tip

Received a batch of these earlier this year from a cow-orker. Here is wellness tip #1.

Removed for copyright reasons – did not intend to steal someone else’s work – linked to original creator’s page with comic I had posted.

It made me laugh. My cow-orker didn’t share his source, but I’ve linked back to the page listed in the image.

EDIT: Removed image

[tags]Wellness tips, What fits your schedule?, Exercise or death?, Humor[/tags]

LEGO Death Star II deal

It’s no longer a brand new set, but I really dig the LEGO Death Star II set. At the LEGO store, it lists for $300 (minus 1 penny).  For no particular reason, I was looking at this same set at Buy.com and saw they have it listed for $253 (minus 1 penny).

lego_deathstar

Clearly, you need to go purchase one now, and buy one for me as well.  I will gladly accept your gift for no additional charge.

And if you want to see more on the building of this sucker, read up on this crazy detailed and picture-laden LiveJournal (and that’s a good thing) and/or check out this Flickr page where someone documents their build from unboxing to completion as well.  Final assembled set is damn big (approximately 25 inches tall) – not that size matters (I keep telling myself that).

[tags]LEGO, Death Star II, Star Wars, Size doesn’t matter, Crazy big, Cool[/tags]

Set your USB key up to auto-run on insertion

I’ve known this was possible for a while, but I hadn’t looked for nor stumbled upon instructions for putting an autorun file on a USB key and getting it to work. This week, obviously, I found the instructions over at Daily Cup of Tech for making this happen. I can see several good and nefarious uses for this.

The autorun.inf file is the key to getting your USB drive (or CD-ROM drive, for that matter) to perform certain actions automatically and customize it’s look in My Computer. The purpose of this article is to shed some light on how this can be done.

Topics covered are:

  • Autorun.inf Structure
  • Setting a Custom Icon
  • Naming Your USB Drive
  • Setting AutoPlay Options
  • Adding Context Menu Items
  • Changing Default Action
  • Viewing a File
  • School’s Out, Time To Play!

Unfortunately, the author doesn’t have anchors set at each heading, or I would link you directly to each section. Fortunately, the entire article is brief and pretty easy to follow, so this isn’t a big negative in the article layout.

USB key break-ins are a real security threat, and this kind of tutorial helps you make the security breach even easier if you are in to that kind of thing. Whether you depend on natural curiosity to cause the breach or use something like the above-linked tutorial to get a tool running and stealing what you need from your victim, the USB key is handy. This also means you should be aware that the bad guys are learning (or already know) these things and will use them to attack you some day.

So to end, the next natural question for you, the reader, should be “How do I stop this vulnerability from impacting my system/network/company?” now. Well, there are many places that have the answer. I haven’t found one that I would point out as The best way to do this – this Microsoft technet article has the necessary information if you already know your way around the registry, as does this more concise and clearer article. Other helpful points include this CD-Freaks forum post asking that question, as does this web site that seems to focus on autorun features/bugs/benefits. That last one is probably the clearest, so may be the one I point folks to in the future.

[tags]USB autorun, USB keys, Security, DIY, Daily cup of tech[/tags]

AMD to open ATI graphic specs

This is purely of interest to the small crowd fitting in the union of sets gamer – linux user – ATI user with the possibility of developer being an indicator of some note. Word on the street (or rather, on the most current Linux sites) is that an AMD representative has announced plans at the kernel summit to enable development of open source drivers for ATI graphics processors – at least for the R500 and forward.

A quick report from the kernel summit: AMD’s representative at the summit has announced that the company has made a decision to enable the development of open source drivers for all of its (ATI) graphics processors from the R500 going forward. There will be specifications available and a skeleton driver as well; a free 2D driver is anticipated by the end of the year. The rest will have to be written; freeing of the existing binary-only driver is not in the cards, and “that is better for everybody.” Things are looking good on this front. More in the kernel summit report to come.

That’s a serious boost to the credibility of an ATI-based Linux system for gamers at the very least. I know personally I have avoided ATI cards for years due to long-term Windows driver issues (which are slowly resolved, if ever) and barely useable at times Linux drivers. It’s hard to do, though, given how powerful ATI videocards have become, but until reliable drivers are there, I avoid them. Well, with the open source community working on them with more information, hopefully the Linux issues will soon be cleared up and I’ll be able to seriously consider an ATI card in a future upgrade.

The comments in the linked article are also worth perusing, just to get a feel for the reactions from the open source side of tech.

[tags]Linux, ATI, Open Source, Kernel summit, Graphics, GPU[/tags]

Happy, productive working you

Of course, you are perfectly happy in the perfect job with the perfect work environment.  But for all your cow-orkers who are less than brillaint, less than happy, and less than desirable to have around because they are so unhappy, point them to this guide to having a more productive workplace and being happier on the job.

11. Cultivate Compassion for Negative Coworkers. People who are negative are that way for a reason. They may have difficulties you don’t know about. Try to be compassionate and non-judging. If you’re a manager, people still need to meet benchmarks, but you don’t have to dislike them if they are not cutting it. When you encounter a negative person, you have the choice to either be affected by the negativity or to be the one who influences the other person. It’s a decision. Choose to stay positive. Instead of saying (in your head or out loud) “Oh, that Suzy-Q! Her negativity always ruins my day,” try thinking “Poor Suzy-Q. She must have some difficulties. I wish her peace. In spite of her negativity I will try to be a positive influence around her.”

See.  It’s not you.  They’re defective.  Don’t let their character flaws bring you down.  🙂

3. Turn off Your Computer. “What?!” you say. “Everything is done on my computer!” Well is it really? What percentage truly is? Plan to have your computer on only for that amount of time each day. Plan out blocks of time for different computer tasks and work from a checklist to keep you focused. Giving your eyes a rest from the screen will give you more energy for creating. Even if you just close your eyes as you think of a response to an email can help too.

Ow.  That hurts just thinking about it.

More seriously, though – it is a good list.  There are a lot of things I know realistically I’ll never do, but others with better discipline could probably excel with many of the suggestions.

[tags]More productivity, Happy worker, GTD, Getting things done[/tags]

Caffeine check

Just in case you ever wondered how much caffeine you were taking in from your favorite drink, the Science News folks can help you with a handy list of some of the most common.

Enter two food scientists from Auburn (Ala.) University. In the August Journal of Food Science, they report just how much caffeine they measured in a host of carbonated beverages. The researchers provide data on 74 colas, 28 Dr. Pepper or similar-tasting beverages, 26 citrus-flavored soft drinks, and another 5 miscellaneous drinks. Most of the drinks were nationally marketed brands, but the Auburn team included 41 store-brand soft drinks.

Here are just a few from the list:

  • Diet Mountain Dew – 55.2 (this is my poison of choice)
  • Barq’s Root Beer – 22.4 (love this stuff – needs more caffeine)
  • Diet Dr Bob – 30.9 (WTH is this?)
  • Diet Coke with Lime – 46.3

Mmmmm.  Makes me thirsty just thinking about it.

[tags]Caffeine, Soda, Poison[/tags]

See toast toasting toasty-toasted bread

Mmmmm.  Toast.  I thought I’d posted about a similar gadget here before, but I can’t seem to find it on the Blahg now, so I must be mistaken.  View the toast-making goodness of the transparent toaster.

engadget-9-3-07-transparent_toaster This transparent toaster allows you to see the bread while it is toasting so you’re never surprised by toast that comes out too dark. This idea is based on the transparent heating glass featured in this issue. Although the glass does not currently get hot enough to toast bread, someday this application may be possible. The concept was developed by the Inventables Concept Studio.


I’m going out on a limb here and guessing that one wouldn’t want to butter their bread before popping it in here, though.  Just a handy tip from my awesome and over-sized brain to you.  (via Engadget)

[tags]Toast, Transparency, Mmmmm[/tags]