Random Thoughts Archives

Sticking Spacebar on my PowerBook
A low-tech solution to a sticking key. Brute force.
February 12, 2006 - 159 words, 11 comments

Rose Bowl
My son is a big Longhorns fan, so you can imagine the screaming and happiness at my house right now.
January 4, 2006 - 31 words,

Squidward Pumpkin Pattern
An original pattern of SpongeBob’s Squidward created by my nine-year-old son.
October 30, 2005 - 114 words, 8 comments

Email legal notices gone wild
A very long legal notice attached to the end of an email message.
October 20, 2005 - 386 words, 6 comments

Jack-o-Lantern Patterns list
Tradition dictates that I hunt down some pumpkin carving patterns. Here’s the 2005 installment.
October 15, 2005 - 269 words, 4 comments

New phone books!
Walking up the stairs at Pheedo’s new office last week, I saw a newly-delivered phone...
June 19, 2005 - 77 words, 2 comments

4.2 Trillion Unread
A news feed with a lot of new items in it.
October 24, 2004 - 77 words, 9 comments

Lowercase style
Wired News updates their style guide to reflect the fact that the internet is a medium, not a proper noun.
August 17, 2004 - 178 words, 1 comment

Rental madness
Brides buy gowns while grooms rent their tuxedos. Isn’t that backward?
August 14, 2004 - 53 words, 1 comment

Giants kick butt
The Giants provide some serious retribution for the complete game shutout that Matt Morris pitched a few weeks ago.
July 31, 2004 - 133 words, 3 comments

Calvoter.org hiring
The non-profit voter information site is looking for a technology director.
July 29, 2004 - 126 words,

Olympus cameras on sale
Last year when I was looking at digital cameras, I nearly bought an all-weather Olympus. Now Amazon has it and all their other Olympus cameras on sale.
June 17, 2004 - 75 words, 1 comment

New Google features, UI
Google’s released two new features and tweaked their UI. But where’s the RSS?
March 29, 2004 - 136 words, 8 comments

Stop the music
What’s with all the music on blog pages recently?
March 28, 2004 - 94 words, 6 comments

Amazon Elephants
In which strange patterns emerge in my Amazon Associates account.
February 25, 2004 - 94 words, 4 comments

Thanks Tom Ransom
I’ve cleared a place under the desk for my "new" Mac.
February 25, 2004 - 99 words,

BigBad thieving
A year later, a BigBad employee explains what happened with the code robbery.
February 20, 2004 - 191 words, 6 comments

Cingular must really like me
Cingular buys my account (and a few others) for $41 billion.
February 17, 2004 - 95 words, 19 comments

Social manners
Etiquette has yet to emerge for social networking sites.
February 1, 2004 - 254 words, 15 comments

Only in the public sector
The California DMV has office hours that baffle and amaze.
January 18, 2004 - 38 words, 4 comments

Hiccup remedies
Does anyone have a sure-fire way of getting rid of hiccups?
November 12, 2003 - 100 words, 139 comments

Kiddie Commerce
My kids are selling popcorn for their Cub Scout Pack. To help them learn about business and running a Web site, I’ve set up a simple ecommerce site for them.
September 29, 2003 - 196 words, 2 comments

Poly-fooey
Am I the only one that thinks polyphonic ringtones sound like elevator music played on a $15 Casio keyboard?
August 10, 2003 - 96 words, 19 comments

Sports oxymoron
Only in sports coverage would anyone say "[He] narrowly widened his lead."
July 9, 2003 - 12 words,

July 4

July 4, 2003 - words,

It's an MLM exchange
I suppose it was to be expected, but it appears that my Textad exchange is very popular with MLM sites.
July 2, 2003 - 65 words

Best of Newly Digital
There have been dozens of Newly Digital entries from all over the world. Here are some of the best.
June 6, 2003 - 311 words, 6 comments

From the Flame Dept.
Newly Digital is a personal project. It wasn’t designed to cater to whatever idea of fairness or equity you might have. Everyone has an equal chance to participate, but that’s not good enough for some people.
June 3, 2003 - 451 words, 9 comments

I was Newly Digital
A simple Texas Instruments TI-99/4a computer started a lifelong interest in computing and ultimately launched my career.
May 31, 2003 - 551 words, 8 comments

Newly Digital
Newly Digital is an experimental writing project. I’ve asked 11 people to write about their early experiences with computing technology and post their essays on their weblogs. So go read, enjoy, and then contribute. This collection is open to you. Write up your own story, and then let the world know about it.
May 31, 2003 - 305 words

Anatomy of a meme
The Button Maker GUI spent some time at the top of the three weblog popularity indexes. Here’s how it got there and what kind of site traffic that it generated.
May 23, 2003 - 418 words, 6 comments

Matrix Geeks
Why do geeks love The Matrix? Because in it, the geeks save the world.
May 15, 2003 - 111 words, 2 comments

Living in stereo
Some thoughts on using MP3 libraries on your computer, with and without wires.
April 27, 2003 - 284 words, 9 comments

Manipulating the (blog) market
How much influence can one person have in a fictional stock market?
April 17, 2003 - 73 words, 4 comments

Is efficiency bad?
Does a more efficient economic system provide a benefit? Of course it does.
April 15, 2003 - 342 words, 1 comment

Simplicity
Worth quoting: "If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it." Jeff Nichols, Pervasive...
April 8, 2003 - 18 words, 3 comments

I've been robbed.
My work is being passed off by another company as their own. Whatever shall I do?
March 31, 2003 - 528 words, 7 comments

Of Mushrooms and children's shows
Thanks for everything Mr. Rogers. You will be missed.
February 28, 2003 - 146 words, 2 comments

Columbia
One day, space travel will be routine.
February 4, 2003 - 130 words,

Stating the obvious
Did you know that computer companies like ecommerce?
November 27, 2002 - 72 words,

Strange relations
Google thinks the Related Entries plugin is perverted.
November 26, 2002 - 57 words,

Burning bridges
When leaving a company, don’t lose your head.
November 19, 2002 - 116 words,

The Amazing Google
I needed a driver for a product, but I didn’t know who made it. This sounds like a job for Google.
September 24, 2002 - 286 words, 2 comments

Landspeeder for sale
A full-size Star Wars Land Speeder for sale on eBay.
September 5, 2002 - 32 words, 4 comments

Labor Day origins
Why is the first Monday in September a national holiday?
September 2, 2002 - 65 words,

Ironic misspelling
An announcement for a spelling correction feature that contains misspellings.
August 25, 2002 - 50 words,

Wrong Number?
Could someone explain this odd telephone call?
August 22, 2002 - 111 words, 28 comments

Perfect Martini
How to create a great martini
August 15, 2002 - 171 words,

My Dog Spot
If you have ever lived near a Cal Worthington car dealership, chances are you’ve seen...
March 30, 2002 - 94 words, 3 comments

Wrong Firewall
Moreover’s "edited" computer security feed has a link to a story called "More heat for...
March 23, 2002 - 31 words, 1 comment

Swordfish
One man stabbed another with a swordfish in a drunken brawl....
February 22, 2002 - 11 words,

Email warning
I love lawyers. When I signed up for Safeway’s online shopping service I received an...
February 21, 2002 - 186 words, 2 comments

Kick
Don’t let anyone tell you that geeks don’t know how to party....
February 16, 2002 - 13 words,

Randomness
I was perusing the Random Headline feed from Syndic8 and I came across an article...
February 15, 2002 - 29 words,

Generic Names
Advanced Information Solutions Debuts Advanced Practice Management Software for Law Firms: "Advanced Information Solutions, Inc....
February 12, 2002 - 43 words,

Streaming Superbowl commercials
Watch the Superbowl advertisements online.
February 4, 2002 - 28 words,

Scotch vs. Cognac
Do scotch and congac taste the same?
February 2, 2002 - 44 words,

MGB On eBay
Emma, my beloved 67 MGB roadster, is for sale.
January 26, 2002 - 14 words,

Antique Onion
People familiar with the antique business will find this Onion article funny.
January 23, 2002 - 26 words,

Radio Schizo
When I saw the headline on Plastic "'It Really Has Nothing To Do With The...
January 13, 2002 - 57 words,

Small World
Heather is doing a Mirror Project exhibition at a bakery called Muffins, Etc. in Sacramento...
January 6, 2002 - 49 words,

Actual Size, But It Seems Much Bigger
Seen on the box for a 15 foot artificial Christmas tree: "Contents May Differ...
November 24, 2001 - 36 words,

Lights
I spent much of the day installing Christmas lights. Our house gets a bigger and...
November 23, 2001 - 36 words,

Addiction
If you are "addicted to cold turkey," how do you quit?...
November 22, 2001 - 13 words,

Happy Thanksgiving
For those of you that live in the US, Happy Thanksgiving from my family. Heck,...
November 22, 2001 - 40 words,

New Monitor
About the only good thing about working for a company that goes under is you...
November 21, 2001 - 37 words,

Emma for sale
I’m selling Emma, my 67 MGB. I’ll put some pictures and a description of her...
November 6, 2001 - 19 words,

Kid jokes
I remember when I could say anything silly to my kids and they would laugh....
November 1, 2001 - 37 words,

Halloween pictures
I’ve posted pictures of Saturday’s Halloween party....
October 29, 2001 - 7 words,

My youngest son Taylor took
My youngest son Taylor took his first bike ride without training wheels this evening....
October 25, 2001 - 14 words, 4 comments

Forwarded-Email-Joke-Of-the-Day
We’ve been notified by Building Security that there have been 4 suspected terrorists working at...
October 22, 2001 - 77 words,

Evil Bert's new friend
Now these two have started hanging out together. This can’t be good....
October 15, 2001 - 12 words,

Heil Mother-In-Law
An anagram of Mother-in-law is "Woman Hitler."...
October 12, 2001 - 7 words, 1 comment

Cure Musings
Concert musings.
June 6, 2000 - 234 words,