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November 30, 2000 - December 7, 2000

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Ron's Log Index
 7/21/2003 ·  8/ 6/2003
 5/29/2003 ·  7/18/2003
 4/25/2003 ·  5/28/2003
 3/24/2003 ·  4/24/2003
 3/ 1/2003 ·  3/21/2003
 1/28/2003 ·  2/28/2003
11/30/2002 ·  1/23/2003
11/ 1/2002 · 11/29/2002
 9/23/2002 · 10/30/2002
 9/ 5/2002 ·  9/20/2002
 8/10/2002 ·  9/ 4/2002
 7/24/2002 ·  8/ 9/2002
 6/27/2002 ·  7/23/2002
 6/ 3/2002 ·  6/25/2002
 4/24/2002 ·  5/31/2002
 4/ 1/2002 ·  4/23/2002
 3/ 1/2002 ·  3/31/2002
 2/10/2002 ·  2/28/2002
 1/22/2002 ·  2/ 9/2002
 1/ 3/2002 ·  1/16/2002
12/16/2001 ·  1/ 2/2002
12/ 2/2001 · 12/15/2001
11/ 1/2001 · 11/29/2001
10/16/2001 · 10/31/2001
 9/23/2001 · 10/13/2001
 9/11/2001 ·  9/22/2001
 7/29/2001 ·  9/10/2001
 7/ 2/2001 ·  7/28/2001
 5/29/2001 ·  6/30/2001
 5/ 1/2001 ·  5/21/2001
 4/ 8/2001 ·  4/29/2001
 3/25/2001 ·  4/ 7/2001
 3/11/2001 ·  3/24/2001
 3/ 4/2001 ·  3/10/2001
 2/18/2001 ·  3/ 3/2001
 2/ 4/2001 ·  2/17/2001
 1/23/2001 ·  2/ 2/2001
 1/ 1/2001 ·  1/22/2001
12/18/2000 · 12/31/2000
11/30/2000 · 12/ 7/2000
11/ 6/2000 · 11/28/2000
10/29/2000 · 11/ 5/2000
10/11/2000 · 10/19/2000
10/ 1/2000 · 10/ 9/2000
 9/24/2000 ·  9/30/2000
 9/15/2000 ·  9/22/2000
 9/ 7/2000 ·  9/13/2000

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[Get Opera!]

Ron/Male. Lives in United States/Massachusetts/Boston/Brighton, speaks English. Spends 40% of daytime online. Uses a Normal (56k) connection. And likes Photography/Nudity.
This is my blogchalk:
United States, Massachusetts, Boston, Brighton, English, Ron, Male, Photography, Nudity.

Blue Ribbon Campaign


December 7, 2000

Opera 5.0
A new version of the Opera browser has just been released. This one, unlike all the previous versions can be had for FREE! The usual charge is something like $35, a price that I consider very cheap for such a fine bit of software. Now you can get it for less. They do it by including (what else?) advertising. They promise it will be polite and non-intrusive. Or you could just pony up the bucks and maintain your self-respect. Your choice.

Go here to read about Opera 5.0 features. They will go on about it's small size (less than 3 MB to download) and small memory consumption and speed (subjective, I know). But I think I like two things about it best:

  1. Its keyboard functionality. EVERYthing you want to do can be done by keyboard, and
  2. It ain't Microsoft, but unlike Netscape, it works.
I should write up a little bit and explain just exactly what I mean, and some day I will.


Keep An Eye On San Francisco
Here's a USGS map of the San Francisco area showing seismic incidents. It's supposed to be updated every hour, or more frequently if a seismic event is reported! Be the first on your block to get an actual screen capture of the big one!

Bay Area Seismic map
Click to get more info


The Virtue Of Selfishness
...in a Peer 2 Peer world. Great article.


December 5, 2000

Acela Express
After my last semi-miserable experience on Acela Regional Service I think I swore off Amtrak. But the prices for the brand new Express are not that bad, and the idea is a bit exciting. So now I have in my hands a hot little Acela Express ticket. I'm surprised it isn't backed with asbestos or equipped with nylon and rubber straps so it (and I) can better withstand the tremendous G-forces we will experience.

I won't be riding on the premier ride ("The Death Ride" we like to call it). I'll be riding in January. I expect some of the very worst kinks will be worked out by then. I expect them to discover bizarre problems soon. My pet theory is that if an odd number of toilets get flushed on the train it will cause a momentary asymmetry which will set up a harmonic vibration that will ripple up and down the train until it shatters. Some mechanism will be introduced that will allow toilets only to be flushed in pairs!


December 4, 2000

Transit Systems
Ran across a website today that will compute mass transit routes for in major cities around the world. It's called Subway Navigator. You can use it in either text based or graphic mode. The maps in the graphic mode are some of the best I've seen. The map of Boston's MBTA is better than any I've seen from the MBTA.

Here are links to maps of the other American cities it covers:

Here are links to maps of some of the cities outside the U.S. To see the complete list go to the Subway Navigator home page.


AP News Feed
You'll like this if you just want the news without the formatting. It's just the stories in chronological order as AP puts 'em out. Firefighters retrieving a kitten from a tree gets the same priority as the election of a President (if ever).


Track Flights
Track airline flights in process (between major US cities) regardless of carrier in either text or graphic mode by going to the Flight Tracker. I'll be loving this when I can get web in-flight. On those flights over the western US I can never figure out what I'm looking at.

For traffic delays at major American airports go to this FAA site.


Internet Traffic, Last 24 Hours
Internet traffic graph
Click for more info


December 3, 2000

  • Yuletide Stride: cold
  • Memory upgrade: successful, first try
  • Quills: I can only aspire to being one-tenth as successful as the Marquis de Sade
  • Queer As Folk: 9 out of 10 on both the accuracy and sexiness scales - if there are other scales to apply, I'll think of them later. Check out Hal Sparks' own home made website!


December 2, 2000

On Tap For Tomorrow:
Yuletide Stride, Quills, Queer As Folk. Interspersed with memory and system upgrades, bike riding, exmuss shopping and cold weather.


Will Those Usenet Fools Ever Stop?

Subject: Re: Mein eyes! The goggles .. they do nothing!
From: a@b.c (spot the robot)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.kibology

On Sat, 30 Sep 2000 05:25:15 -0400, "Tamara" <tamaraharris@sprint.ca> wrote:

>Anybody here have the laser-thingy done?
>
>Thanks.

Just today this guy tells me he's getting one of these newfangled laser assisted in situ keratomileusis treatments to correct his nearsightedness. They strap your eyeball down with a speculum and slap some kind of suction cup on top of it. Just like a firm handshake they say. On your eyeball. How much do you pay for this crap, I'd like to know. Oh that's the really great part. This place charges like half what any other place does. A real bargain. Sure, they're just going PEEL YOUR EYEBALL DOWN LIKE A GRAPE WITH A HIGH POWERED LASER IS ALL. WHY NOT GET THE CHEAPEST OPERATOR IN TOWN TO DO IT. So now they've got you strapped down nice and tight there, so they can scoop your yummy brain out with sharpened steel spoons if they want to, and here comes the actual doctor. This putz is wearing khaki shorts, an hawaiian shirt and sunglasses. He's got one of those obviously fake doctor type names that people like him do their work under in case they ever get nailed with a really major malpractice suit and have to flee the country with whatever loot they've managed to amass so far from other suckers such as yourself. Dr. Freibier. Dr. Watalotadoh. This clinic he works for is being sued by eight others over the use of their fabulously lucrative logo and sales slogan, and is itself sueing several other clinics for the same reason. Approximately 48 per cent of their website is devoted to stockholder information. So after the proper exchange of euphemistic salutes of fascist welcoming he proceeds to saw your cornea off with a sterilized cheese grater and tells you to stop moving your eyes. Look at the little red light you fool, he screams, straddling you like a prize farm animal, shaking his fist, his spittle dripping onto your forehead. If your gaze departs from the little red light by even a nanometer this SDI surplus deuterium fluoride chemical laser here will take your head clean off. You don't see the little red light. That bastard disappeared when they put the suction cup on you. You protest, feebly. There's nothing out there but some kind of watery pink mist, your own blood probably. Your doctor and his deformed maniacal assistants have donned welder's glasses and seem to be lighting some kind of fuse. My insurance doesn't cover this is your last coherent thought.

I am not considering the laser thingy.


November 30, 2000

"As someone once observed, cockroaches outnumber humans. Numbers alone do not denote a higher form."


Another webring. This one is "im insane whats your excuse" whose description states "for anyone who expresses themselves honestly within their site."


More From Usenet
Subject: Re: Meet Marvin Monkey Evil Attorney at Law!!!!
From: "Ool" <ulrich.schreglmann@t-online.de>
Newsgroups: alt.comics.sluggy-freelance, alt.comics.spacemoose, alt.comics.spider-man, alt.comics.strips.footrot-flats, alt.comics.superman, alt.comics.super-villains, alt.comics.the-far-side, alt.comics.user-friendly, chile.rec.comics, alt.comics.spacemoose

Can I partake in the spamming?

And I draw Red Baron cartoons. Well, you can't exactly call them drawn... They're more, like, typed...


===============================================================================

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        `.     \=====================/     ,'
         | .    \===================/    , |
         | |`.   \=================/   ,'| |
         | | | |. |               | ,| | | |
         | | | || |               | || | | |
         | | | || |  _  ,---.  _  | || | | |
                  | | | | . | | | |
          O O O _O|{) | | O |.OO| O   O O O
         /|<,""/O`-'\_|_,'|`.-'|\<>\-/)(///)
        ,"------|_--"---"---"--------------.
        |__________________________________|
        '                                  '
                     O           __________________
                      ()  _    _(                  )
                         (_)  (   Here's the world  )
                             (_ famous Red Baron at _)
                              ( one of his pointy-  )_
                             (_ hat boss's parties! __)
                              (_____________________)


===============================================================================


             _____________
          __(             )___                _______________
        _(    Why are we      )              /               \
       (_ all sitting at just _)            |  War is like--  |
        (_ ONE side of the  __)              \_____  ________/
         (___  table?   ____)                     /,'
            (___________)    _                   /'
                            (_)           A
                  __     ()              _|_
                <'__`)                  / __\
                :6)6\\                 | /-X-)
                 \-_/'         _ _ _    \__o/    |.
                _/\ \_        (_\_\_)  _/  /\    \_)
               /  /.  \         |||   (__,   )   [:]
    \         /|  |. | \       |   |  / /   .|\ / /      /
   \))------((/--------\))------------------------------((/
   \             /##\ \          \  ,-----. \ \        \
    O           `----' O          ) `-----' |\ O        )
   --------------------------------------------------------


===============================================================================


          ____________________                 ______________
        _(                    )               /              \
       (   Ah, here comes the  )             |  --a match of  |
      (_  part where we all    _)            |     GOLF!      |
      (   applaud like morons  )          _   \_____  _______/
      (_  and pretend we have  _)        ( \       /,'
       (_  an idea what he's __)          \|   A  /'
        (__  talking about! _)            /   _|_
          (_________________)  _         /   /__ \
                              (_)       /   (-X-\ |     *Clap!*
  *Clap!*                             ./     \o__/
                  __    O  ()        (_|     /\  \_   *Clap!*
     *Clap!*    ('__`>               /[:]   (   .__)
                //^(^;  *Clap!*     /  \ \_/|.  |||\    |\
   /|           `\_=/            _ _    \ ` |.    \ \   (\)
  (/)          __/ //|_  *Clap!*(_\_)    `-'|.    / /   \|`
  '|/         (    (\) \        _||         |.   / /     \
   /           \ \,'|\| \      |   |        |.  [:]       `
   -------------\  /\ ' /-----------------------((/--------
   \             /##\`-'         \  ,-----. \ \        \
    O           `----' O          ) `-----' |\ O        )
   --------------------------------------------------------


===============================================================================


                                              _________________
                                            ,'                 `.
                                           /     Bla bla bla     \
                                          |  mudhole-hazards bla  |
                                          |  barbed-wire-hazards  |
                                          |   bla bla exploding-  |
                                          |  mine-hazards bla bla |
           ___________________            |  bla bla really hard  |
         _(                   )           |  time replacing the   |
        (  Actually I thought  )           \      divots!        /
       (_ he'd be cross about  _)_          `.____  ___________,'
      (__  the downed airship    _)              /,'
       (  I was responsible for,   )            /'   __
       (_ but he hasn't mentioned )         A       (__\
        (__ it with a single--  __)        _|_         |
          (_____________________)         / __\        |
                             _           | /-X-)       |
                            (_)           \__o/        |
                 __   O  ()              _/  /\        |
               (',_,>                   (__,   )       |
               //6(6;                   /|||  .|\_____ /)
               `\_-/             _ _   / /    .| `   _)_/
               _((\|\_          (_\_)  \ \    .|`---'  |
              ( | \.  \         _||     \ \   .|
    \          \\ |. | \       |   |     [:]  .|         /
   \))----------\_|----\))---------------\))------------((/
   \             /##\ \          \  ,-----. \ \        \
    O           `----' O          ) `-----' |\ O        )
   --------------------------------------------------------


===============================================================================


                                    __
                           _       /__)  ))   ,-.
    _______               / )  ))  |         /`. \  ))
   /       \              |/       |   -==  /   `'
  |  GASP!  |     *WHACK!* \   ,'  |  -==  / -==   ,      ________
   \__  ___/          _   / \ /    |      /       /      /        \
     /,'             / )     \   / |     /    A     ,'  |  JESUS!  |
    /'               \/   *WHACK!* |  ((\    _|_         \___  ___/
                      `-.      \      \ \   /_  \    --      `.\
  /         *WHACK!*  /  `-. /  (\ _  /\/`. X<\__| ))          `\
   -              ,.        `-  \_( `.  \   \__//
  \              | |  *WHACK!*     \  `-.\  `.\ `._                \
                  \|__________(\ ___`._ ` `.  `-.._)              -
            *WHACK!*          \_(_     `.__ `.   |||               /
                  ,. *WHACK!*     `--------`--`.__/\
                 | |          (\___,----'    \.    |



===============================================================================


      _______________________
    ,'                       `.
   /   Um, sorry!  I thought   \
  | I saw a spider crawl across |         A
  |     your mousse!  I hate    _`-._    _|_
   \         spiders!          /        /_##\
    `._______________________,'   |     X6\__|
                   .             ||     \._//
             ((  \ ' /            __     \\ _\__
                  __     ) )     /##)    (   .__)
          ( (   ('###>           |     _/|.# |||\
                /(.).)  ))      (\ _,-'` |.  # \ \
                `\#~/_          \_(_##_,'|.    | /
          ((   /# /###\  ))     _|||     |.#  / /
   #\         /| #|. ##\       |    |    |.  [:]         /
   \))------""#--------\""------------------------------((/
   \    ####  ###,### \ #####    \ #,-----. \ \   #    \
    O###    ### `-########   ###  ) `---#-' |\ O        )
   -----------####-#####-----------------------------------

===============================================================================
--
  __    "Space Opera!  It's not over                              __
('__`>                            until the Fat Lady explodes." <'__`)
// -(   ©OOL mm                                                  )^ \\
`\__/                                                            \-_/'


RECOMMENDED READING

Andersen's Fairy Tales; Hans Christian Andersen (the first real book I ever read)

Auto-da-Fé; Elias Canetti

In Cold Blood; Truman Capote

anything by Willa Cather

Forever Peace; Joe Haldeman

Magister Ludi; Herman Hesse (available from your library)

Battlefield Earth; L. Ron Hubbard

The Wild Swans; Peg Kerr

The Left Hand of Darkness; Ursula LeGuin

The Iron Bridge; David Morse

Kiss Of The Spider Woman; Manuel Puig

Atlas Shrugged; Ayn Rand

The Virtue Of Selfishness; Ayn Rand

The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich; William Shirer

Anna Karenina; Leo Tolstoy

The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–1999
  1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
  2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
  3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
  4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
  5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
  6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
  7. Forever by Judy Blume
  8. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
  9. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
  10. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  11. The Giver by Lois Lowry
  12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
  13. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
  14. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
  15. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
  16. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
  17. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
  18. Sex by Madonna
  19. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
  20. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
  21. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
  22. The Witches by Roald Dahl
  23. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
  24. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
  25. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
  26. The Goats by Brock Cole
  27. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
  28. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
  29. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
  30. Blubber by Judy Blume
  31. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
  32. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
  33. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
  34. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
  35. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
  36. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
  37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
  38. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
  39. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
  40. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  41. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
  42. Deenie by Judy Blume
  43. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
  44. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
  45. Beloved by Toni Morrison
  46. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
  47. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
  48. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
  49. Cujo by Stephen King
  50. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
  51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
  52. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
  53. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
  54. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
  55. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
  56. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
  57. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
  58. What's Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
  59. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
  60. Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
  61. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
  62. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
  63. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
  64. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
  65. Fade by Robert Cormier
  66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
  67. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
  68. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
  69. Native Son by Richard Wright
  70. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women's Fantasies by Nancy Friday
  71. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
  72. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
  73. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
  74. Jack by A.M. Homes
  75. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
  76. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
  77. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
  78. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
  79. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
  80. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
  81. Carrie by Stephen King
  82. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
  83. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
  84. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
  85. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
  86. Private Parts by Howard Stern
  87. Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford
  88. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
  89. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
  90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
  91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
  92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
  93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
  94. Jumper by Steven Gould
  95. Christine by Stephen King
  96. The Drowning of Stephan Jones by Bette Greene
  97. That Was Then, This is Now by S.E. Hinton
  98. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
  99. The Wish Giver by Bill Brittain
  100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
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Send your complaints to me at ronslog@rbgilbert.com Maybe I'll create a "Letters" space.