I’m So Fucking Clever

[this post has been partially damaged during a server failure on Sunday 11th July 2004, and it has been possible to recover only a part of it]

[this post was partially recovered on 24 November 2017]

I’ve had a great idea that I might try to implement sometime (or put of the stack of things I might try to implement sometime (or put on the stack of things I might think about moving onto the stack of things I might try to implement sometime)). Allow me to illustrate…

As Kit has noticed (Andy too), SpamBots prowl around LiveJournal‘s servers (I’ve described a possible strategy they could be using as a comment to Kit’s entry). Basically, these are semi-intelligent robots which, starting with people with ‘relevant’ interests, advertise their product on the blogs of them and their Friends… and their Friends’ Friends… etc.

Now, think back a little further to an entry in Alec’s blog, mid-January: some ‘random’ came along and began to flirt with him through the medium of comments in his blog. ‘She’ kept up conversation for some time before disappearing. …

 

Snow! Again!

It’s snowing! Again!

Apparently it’s going to get as low as -7ºC on Sunday. And some fool has a BBQ-on-the-beach planned.

Will post more when I find the motivation.

Thankyou

This article is a repost promoting content originally published elsewhere. See more things Dan's reposted.

This repost was published in hindsight, on 11 March 2019.

Fiona wrote:

You have made me both think and laugh tonight Dan. Thank you.

Thank you Paul, you got me in to this- it is my main way of being in touch with all of you.

Thank you all for posting, I often feel as if it should be me moving to Aber, I would be happy their.

I should study, but I’ll probably knit.

Work, Work, Work…

…but at least I made some progress today. Heaps of work done. Good stuff.

Plus, managed to squeeze in some research that I’ll need for later in the week.

And, better yet, my colleague Phill left his mobile at the office tonight, so I’ve reprogrammed his operator logo from it’s old one (the O2 logo) to a more fitting one (the word ‘codemonkey’). He’ll guess it was me. But who gives a shit, eh?

Hugz and kittenz, everybody;

Beautiful Morning In The Valleys

Jen is, of course, correct. It is a beautiful morning. As I came over the brow of Penglais hill into the valley of Capel Dewi, the frosty fields were spread out before me like a big white blanket. If you happen to be up early this morning, go take a look… before it thaws.

It’s a pity I have so much work to do. I’d have enjoyed spending the day walking. Perhaps I’ll see if I can get everything I need to do, done, and bunk off early… try to find a way up the hill that overshadows the valley: the one I’ve always wanted to climb…

(all dependent on getting this work done, but hey…)

More, Abstract, On Faith In What You Love

Following my previous entry, here’s some recent feeling around the matter of “losing faith in what you love”.

Very recently, I’ve met a great many people who are just beginning to find interesting and rewarding a thing which I have taken for granted for so long. And I’ve been encouraging this, in my own way – helping them to understand what makes it so great. Would I be a hypocrite if I didn’t believe it myself? And to hide this, how well must I act?

Maybe I’ve written too much. And maybe I’ve written too little. I’m not looking for people’s sympathy any more than their concern. And I’m still me, still happy, and still doing the things I do with the people I love. I’m just a little confused.

But if anybody has the answers, don’t hesitate to tell me.

The Most Frustrating Things In The World… Ever… (2004)

The most annoying thing in the world? Witnessing an argument and knowing exactly what needs to be said, and what needs to be asked, to resolve it, but those involved being so engrossed in it that none of them will listen to hear what they need to hear.

No; that’s not right; the most annoying thing in the world: when one of the people involved in said argument is so self-righteous about what they’re trying to say that instead of listening to what the other people are actually asking, they keep re-iterating their point, which isn’t actually the answer to the question being asked.

I’m still not sure that’s quite it… perhaps this is it:

Losing faith in something you love.

Manos: The Hands Of Fate

This is the worst movie I have ever seen. It is far, far worse, even, than Barb Wire.

It is truly abysmal. Awful filming, meaningless plot, impossible-to-understand ending, crap acting, discontinuity, shitty clipping… apparently three members of the cast committed suicide shortly after filming was completed. Almost none of the rest worked in film again.

Never, ever watch this film. Really.

Update (20th March 2012) – crosslink:

Jam

I’ve just watched the DVD of the controversial Channel 4 TV Series, Jam. It’s… different. It’s perhaps a little too dark and bitter a sense of humour even for me, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I particularly enjoyed the “Symptomless Coma” sketch. All very, very sick-and-wrong, though. While I personally liked it, I can see why it got complaints.

That, and I’ve been doing my laundry and practising my juggling. My left arm still isn’t as strong nor as controlled as I’d like it to be; and I’ll need it to improve some more before I can really make any progress with four-ball juggling.

And I’ve been reading yet more of MMYRTL (A.K.A. Developing Your Own 32-Bit OS). It’s really quite scary. But great bedtime reading.

Oh; and you can rely on me not to go on about the WinNT/2K source code leak for ages in my blog. It’s being well enough covered, I feel, by… well; everybody. It’s safe to say that the Windows source code is spreading across the internet like a virus. I don’t think I ought to finish that analogy.

I need to get some sleep.

SiteFinder: Mark Two

[this post was damaged during a server failure on Sunday 11th July 2004, and it has not been possible to recover it]

[further fragments of this post were recovered on 12 October 2018]

If you’ve been reading this blog since September-ish, you’ll remember when I had about a week of ranting about the VeriSign/SiteFinder lark: this was where VeriSign, who (in layman’s terms) are responsible for linking all .com, .net, and .org addresses to their respective servers, in September last year put a ‘catch-all’ clause in. In other words, every possible combination of letters and numbers, followed by a .com, .net, or .org, ‘belonged’ to them. This was a complete abuse of their position of power, and caused a great deal of faults amongst systems throughout the internet. In addition, it could eventually have been used (and evidence suggests that the intention was there) to monopolise the internet’s search engine and advertising services.

Well; they’re at it again, as this article (“SiteFinder vs. Engineers: Our Mistake Is Ignorance”) discusses, so you’re likely to see me ranting at least a little more. If they do decide to do it again, they’ve stated that they will “provide 60 or 90 days warning, in order for the appropriate technological …

I Love Orange; Orange Love Me; We’re Like A Happy Family

Orange phoned me up today and told me that they’d like to give me £4/month off my bill for the next 12 months. Nice.

The lovely lady on the other end of the phone then helped redefine my contract to something far better suited to my actual usage pattern, in a move that ought to save me up to another £12/month. Sweet.

Finally, they agreed to let me finish this month’s contract (a few days left) with all my existing free minutes and next month’s rollover minutes. Which gives me hundreds of free minutes I need to use. Time to start calling people!

Love and hugz from my favourite telecommunications company.

CV Of George Bush

[this post was damaged during a server failure on Sunday 11th July 2004, and it has not been possible to recover it]

[it was partially recovered on 13 October 2018]

This one’s doing the rounds of the internet, but it made me smile so I’m posting it here…


RESUME – GEORGE W. BUSH
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE


LAW ENFORCEMENT:

  • I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver’s license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been”lost” and is not available.

MILITARY:

  • I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam.

COLLEGE:

  • I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE:

  • I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland, Texas, in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn’t find any oil in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock. I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took…