On the plethora of video streaming services Jan 27, 2009
I hate how there's an overabundance of video streaming sites on the internet.  YouTube wasn't the first and isn't the best, but I wish everyone would just adopt it and move on.  It's really annoying to try to watch streaming video on some site that made a homebrew streaming application that doesn't have the timing right or the bandwidth to properly stream anything.  YouTube works.  Use it. #technology
Some planes float Jan 20, 2009
US Airways Flight 1549, which crash landed in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009, was an Airbus A-320, and as such was equipped with a "ditching switch" that sealed the plane by closing valves and ventilation ports, thereby enabling it to float.  (via Reddit) #technology
Browsing vs. searching (2) Jan 7, 2009
I despise the company or person who thinks I appreciate it when I come home from work to find a brand new phone book sitting in my driveway.  I haven't used a phone book since I discovered the internet over a decade ago.  Unlike a catalog, which one might use to peruse objects sold by a company, a phone book (and any other listing of information, e.g. that huge, stupid catalog of physicians sent to me by my former health insurance provider) is meant to be searched, which is exactly why the internet was invented in the first place.  Catalogs are meant for browsing, and even in a wired society, they can still serve a purpose (i.e. if the company doesn't have any stores in your area and their website is stupid or ugly).  But for the act of searching for information, the internet is the answer, not some frequently-outdated, impossible-to-opt-out-of, archaic book of papers. #technology
User-contributed search results Dec 22, 2008
I've found in recent months that search results from Google (and probably other search engines) contain a lot of links to user-contributed answer sites like Yahoo Answers, WikiAnswers, Answerbag, and Amazon's Askville.  To be fair, some of these user-contributed sites have good content.  The hard part is deciphering between the good content and the bad content.  Good content normally cites sources, uses relatively good spelling and grammar, and doesn't seek to insult or defame anyone in the process.  The bad content is obviously the opposite, but it's often confusingly mixed in with the good content.  As a general rule of thumb, I don't trust stuff from user-contributed sites like this until I find a reason to convince me otherwise. 

A few weeks ago at work, my co-worker was trying to convince everyone that the phrase "robbing the cradle" (dating/marrying someone younger) has an antonym in the phrase "robbing the grave".  We all tried to convince him that "robbing the grave" is not only not a commonly-used phrase to describe dating/marrying someone older, but it's actually a really bad thing (i.e. do not, under any circumstances, profess to be a grave robber).  He got on his computer, Googled it, and came up with some results that mentioned the phrase in the context of a relationship.  I accepted his explanation and moved on, because I'm a firm believer in the idea that if it's on the internet, it must be true.  On a whim, I Googled the phrase myself and noticed that his "sources" were Urban Dictionary and Yahoo Answers.  Urban Dictionary is a great site full of user-contributed definitions for slang and uncommon lingo, but it's certainly not a site you can reference as a reliable source.  Such is the case with most user-generated content.  Be forewarned.  Or be thoroughly mocked at work. #technology
Weather.com's TruPoint sucks (3) Dec 22, 2008
Weather.com recently changed some portions of their website, making things worse and at times, unusable.  I'm a fan of the hourly forecast because it gives a good indication of when certain weather events will start or stop.  Up until recently, I could search for a zip code and click the "Hour-by-Hour" link to get weather predictions for the next several hours.  But apparently when I wasn't looking, this thing called TruPoint stepped into the picture, creating not only an "Overview" section that shows a graph of hourly weather conditions (cool but not what I want) but also a "Details" section that reports weather in 15 minute intervals.  I don't want weather updates in 15 minute intervals.  It's stupid.  Weather conditions generally don't change that fast, and weather predictions are usually wrong anyway.  Of course there's no easy way to disable this "feature" except by clicking some poorly-placed links that merely collapse the 15-minute intervals for the selected hour.  Weather.com, if you're listening, please know that TruPoint sucks.  Thank you. #technology
Punishing email forwarders Dec 18, 2008
A certain member of my extended family (most likely no one reading this) has a habit of forwarding emails.  And not even good or funny stuff.  Just total crap.  The stuff from 1998 about the children and the puppies and the angels and all that garbage.  Not to be a cynic ... ok, since I'm a cynic, I don't want to read that stuff any more.  I don't want to receive it in my inbox.  I don't want to hear about it.  Email was invented as a means of communication.  It spent many years in the crapper as simply a way to spread misinformation and stupid jokes, but it has since made a comeback and continues to serve as a viable alternative to phone calls and face-to-face meetings. 

I thought about simply emailing the person and kindly asking them to only email me personal correspondence, but I've read that there's no way to actually do this without hurting the person's feelings.  Some people actually send out a form letter every year to remind people that their inbox is a precious resource that must not be wasted.  And there's even a website that "politely and anonymously" asks people to stop sending forwards -- the epitome of passive aggressiveness.  But hey, what other kind of aggressive is there? 

For the less-than-moral, I came up with two options, both of which involve lying.  You can either tell the person that your email address is only for business or professional use, so personal emails really shouldn't be sent there.  Or you can reply with one of those error messages from "Mail Delivery Subsystem" that says something like "Mail delivery failed: returning message to sender".  You could even include a little computer-generated-sounding imperative like, "Please remove this email address from all personal address books." 

The thing is, not all forwards are evil.  I receive some forwards that I'm genuinely thankful for.  They're usually addressed solely to me, or to a small group of people that have previously expressed interest in a certain topic (e.g. "To all cat people").  Sometimes I'll receive something I've already seen, but I'll appreciate the sender thinking the message would fall under my unusual brand of humor. 

In the end, the solution I'm going with is actually quite simple.  I'm blocking the sender.  I can either mark the message as spam, or set up a rule that automatically deletes anything from the sender.  That way, I'll never be able to receive actual communication from that person in the future, which I think is a fitting punishment for abusing the system.  Hopefully people will start to learn that the more garbage you spew, the less people will want to listen.  Perhaps kind of like this website. #technology
Slight site design change Dec 9, 2008
I just made a few changes to my website's design, mostly to make things look better on mobile devices.  Previous design announced here.  This would probably be version 3.5 for future reference. 

Update (2008-12-10 1:20 pm):  I also meant to include this for future reference:  Every time I try to make a new or updated theme for my site, it starts off well and goes south very quickly.  I'll think about it for a little while and convince myself that it should be an easy thing to do.  But as soon as I start doing things, I'll realize how difficult it can be at times, and how different things look in my mind compared to real life.  I inevitably hit a wall where I think about giving up, but I'll usually tough it out and sort of "settle" on something that works but isn't great. #technology
Sent from (7) Nov 25, 2008
Most cell phones that send email append a little line to the end that says something like, "Sent from my Blackberry," or "Sent from my iPhone."  Personally I hate this little "feature" and wish people would stop telling me where their emails are coming from.  (Although I'll admit it's sometimes useful to know whether a person is at their desk or not.) 

But just a few minutes ago, I saw a good one in response to an iPhone email:  "Sent from my Desktop Computer.  While sitting in a chair.  In a cubicle.  At work." #technology
Common phone courtesy Nov 4, 2008
Two new rules I propose to be added to the Universal Unwritten Code of Common Courtesy: 
  1. Don't answer your phone during a meal with other people.  If you're by yourself, go for it.  But if you're eating a meal with other people, eat the meal and enjoy the people.
  2. Don't call a person on their personal cell phone for work reasons.  It's one thing if you're traveling together and you need to coordinate when you're eating dinner.  It's another thing to call a person on their cell phone while they're on vacation or somehow otherwise absent from work.  Nothing is ever important enough to disrupt a vacation.
You'd think these would go without saying, but you'd be wrong. #technology
HD Oct 29, 2008
The term "high definition" is overused.  It makes sense for HDTVs because they're literally higher quality and resolution than their standard counterparts.  But for things like HD radio and HD camera lens filters (one of which I just bought recently), it's a misnomer.  HD radio is simply digital radio, and the HD camera lens filter is simply better than its previous version.  The inclusion of HD is both products' names is simply a sales tactic.  (Naysayers may point out that the sales tactic worked in the case of the camera lens filter, but I will say, "Wrong!  That was the only one in the store.") #technology