How to block ads in RSS feeds Feb 12, 2008
I thought RSS feeds were a way to strip out the style and cruft of typical websites and package the content into a usable, accessible form.  Unfortunately and inevitably, feeds are littered with ads and other crap.  The best way I know of to simply block ads from websites is the Adblock extension for Firefox (sorry IE users; there's probably something similar for you too).  In addition to blocking standard ad services like doubleclick.net and tribalfusion.com, you can also block RSS-specific ad systems like pheedo.com and googleadservices.com.  And with Adblock's wildcard filtering method, you can block more advanced things, like anything from FeedBurner.  Here's a simple set of blocks that gets rid of all the stuff at the bottom of FeedBurner feeds: 
feeds.*.*/~a/
feeds.*.*/~f/
feeds.*.*/~r/
That way it'll block stuff whether it's from feeds.feedburner.com or feeds.someotherdomain.com. 

My apologies to anyone trying to make money through RSS feed advertising.  In the same way I can fast forward through commercials with recorded TV, I can prevent ads from loading on my computer.  Find a different way to make money.  Or keep depending on the people who don't know how to block it. #entertainment
Crack in butt Feb 12, 2008
This just in: 
Police: Crack Found in Man's Buttocks
The end.  (via Neatorama)

(Also noteworthy:  One of the suggested searches at the bottom of the article is "man buttocks".  Ah, automated excellence.) #entertainment
Task completion Feb 11, 2008
I usually don't consider myself to be task-oriented, i.e. I don't derive pleasure from checking things off a to-do list.  However, I might be changing my mind about this.  I've found that doing one big task often has the same amount of fulfillment as doing several small tasks.  Task size/importance/involvement can be broken down as follows: 
  1. Everyday tasks - Cooking, doing the dishes, cleaning the counter, etc.  These are minimally fulfilling, but if done in sufficient numbers, can be more than just minimal.
  2. Weekend tasks - Vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom, doing the laundry, etc.  These are slightly fulfilling, but if done in groups of 3-5, can be more than just slight.
  3. Small but important tasks - Hanging up pictures, fixing the toilet, clearing stuff out of the junk room, etc.  These are pretty fulfilling, and since they only happen once in a while (and only need to happen once in a while), just one at a time can be good.
  4. Large and important tasks - Cleaning the gutters, cleaning the attic, moving dirt or rocks, etc.  These tasks are very fulfilling because they happen infrequently and involve either a lot of time, a lot of effort, or large tools and equipment.
The bottom line is that the best way to get fulfillment out of completing tasks is to either do several small tasks or one large task.  The choice seems pretty clear to me. #psychology
Pro Bowl and such (1) Feb 11, 2008
Can we as a sports-watching human race please admit that games like the Pro Bowl and the All Star Game should no longer be played?  They're such a waste of time, money, effort, energy, and talent.  The purpose behind these games is good:  To honor the best athletes in the sport and have them compete with the other best athletes.  But no one knows who won last year's Pro Bowl.  No one keeps track of statistics or records or anything like that.  These games are simply a formality.  The important thing is knowing who was selected.  Hearing that a person was a 3-time Pro Bowl selection means a lot.  Whether or not that person even played in the Pro Bowl is of no consequence.  So instead of wasting sports fans' time by showing some meaningless, inconsequential game (after the season, no less), please just say who made it and let's collectively move on. #sports
Games Feb 11, 2008
I've decided that I like playing games.  Games like Taboo, Catch Phrase, Such and Such, Buzz Word, and other such games that usually involve cards, a timer, and much yelling (game-related yelling, not angry yelling).  I wouldn't call them board games because they usually don't involve a board like Monopoly or Scrabble, and board games are entirely different in style and level of fun ($fun = 0).  There's a subset of the aforementioned type of game that I would classify as "get to know you" games.  While any game can be a good chance to get to know the people you're playing with, certain games serve that purpose only, and game content suffers dramatically.  Apples to Apples, for example, is a meaningless game that's completely subjective.  There's no right answer.  I've come to terms with the fact that the point of playing games like this has nothing to do with winning.  It doesn't even matter if you keep score.  The purpose of such games is to yell, laugh, have fun with friends, and spend time with people.  Winning helps though. #psychology
Digital TV (3) Feb 8, 2008
On February 19, 2009, TV stations will stop broadcasting analog signals, and the nation will go all digital.  For many old people (and me) who are scared of technology and new things, this is quite confusing.  I have a TV, and I get programming through a cable box.  I think it's digital.  But does that mean my TV won't work after the big switch?  What happens if I try to use my presumably analog TV when there's only digital programming?  Will I accidentally start a fire or a nuclear warhead countdown sequence?  I just don't know. 

Thankfully, the FCC's website concerning this transition is not only hideously ugly but also completely useless.  Maybe I'm stupid, but I can't get a single piece of useful information off this website.  Will I need a new TV?  Will I need a converter box?  Should I quit my job so I can read through all the crap on the website just to answer one simple question? 

Another website, Digital TV Facts, provides good simple information, and it doesn't look like it was written by a 7-year-old in 1994.  The answer to my question of if I need a new TV or not seems to point to "No".  Since I have a digital cable box, I shouldn't need anything else.  I don't get my programming over the air with an antenna, and I'm pretty sure that since I have that whole digital channel lineup thing and on-demand stuff, it's not analog. 

Kudos to the government for making this most likely expensive and unnecessary transition painful and cumbersome. #entertainment
Least worst Feb 8, 2008
I haven't voted since the presidential election of 2004, and my reasoning is simple:  Most elections come down to voting for the least worst candidate.  I don't feel that the best way to choose a person who will make significantly important decisions that effect my life, my family, my country, and my planet is to vote for the least worst among the choices.  And that's what elections essentially are.  You vote for someone because it's your civic duty to vote.  It's your right; your privilege.  There was a time when people weren't allowed to vote in our country.  Therefore, we must vote.  Candidate A believes X and Y.  Candidate B believes Y and Z.  I'll vote for Candidate A because he believes in X, despite the fact that he also believes in Y.  Oh well.  At least I voted. 

It's been claimed that my product comparison matrix method of choosing which gadget to buy employs the same methodology of choosing the least worst.  The rationale says that if I wanted the best possible product, I would just buy the one with the most features and the highest price.  And so by buying anything other than that "best product", I'm essentially choosing the least worst.  Simple. 

However, I disagree with this.  The gadget with the best features isn't necessarily the best gadget.  It might not be what I'm looking for, and it might not be the right time.  It all comes down to not only the right array of features, but also what features are most important to me.  In the end, I make a decision because I want the capabilities provided by the new gadget, not because I feel compelled to buy something.  It's about choosing the best option (implying it is in fact an option), not the least worst. 

So until I find a political candidate that doesn't make me feel like I'm choosing him/her out of desperation, I probably won't vote.  Oh, and I live in New Jersey, so unless I vote for a Democrat, my vote doesn't count anyway. #politics
Obvious financial advice Feb 8, 2008
I occasionally read snippets of financial advice online, and there's one thing that keeps coming up:  Make sure you look over your bank and credit card statements to check to see if you were overcharged or charged twice or anything like that.  To me, this is probably the stupidest advice I could possibly read.  Ever since I opened a bank account, I've always kept track of my finances.  I didn't know there was a choice.  Perhaps it's my unending cheapness, or maybe it's my general distrust of human beings, especially when it comes to my money.  My opinion is that if you're stupid enough to not track your finances, you deserve to have your money taken from you don't go crying to your mommy when something gets screwed up. #money
Thought on photography Feb 7, 2008
Ken Rockwell, a guy with an extensive website about photography and equipment, has this to say about nature photography: 
"I'm not trying to reproduce nature. I encourage people to be creative. I personally use any sort of artificial anything I can to create the look I want. I'm expressing my imagination, not trying to duplicate reality."
I think the idea applies to more than just nature photography.  But it depends.  Sometimes, a good picture simply reproduces what the eyes see, whether it's a person, an animal, a building, or whatever.  Other times, a picture enhances or improves what the eye sees, either by adding something like lighting or color, or by taking something away like background noise or ... color. #entertainment
Aggregation Feb 7, 2008
I have a little theory:  Every person is an aggregator, collecting and passing along certain specific subsets of information for their own enjoyment and for the potential benefit of their readers/listeners. 

The internet is one giant aggregator.  It gathers information about everything and displays it for people to find, read, watch, and listen to.  Any website that collects and shares links (which is pretty much every website) is an aggregator.  Boing Boing collects and distributes "wonderful things".  Kottke finds and shares "fine hypertext products".  Lifehacker, Consumerist, Neatorama, TechCrunch.  All these websites collect information about particular topics and subjects and pass everything on to interested readers. 

The news industry is the same.  CNN has people that look for newsworthy stories covering a range of topics.  Similarly, the job of the local sports writer is to find information about local sports and pass it on to his/her readers.  It's all about collecting and distributing, gathering and passing on. 

In the same way, people are aggregators.  Everyone has their own personal interests and hobbies.  Some people collect and distribute information about politics.  Some people do it with jokes.  Some people know everything about Apple products, and their knowledge gets distributed as desired (and sometimes when not desired).  Essentially, anyone who has conversations is an aggregator of sorts.  They know some facts or opinions about certain topics, and they share these facts and opinions with other people in the form of speech.  If you watch the news, read the newspaper, read the comics, read magazines, read books, watch TV, watch movies, or do anything else that consists of gaining information with the possibility of passing that information on to someone else, you're essentially an aggregator. #psychology