The Foo Logs The Foo Logs Blog about technology, gizmos, software, movies, food, cooking and just about everything else. Articles
12 Step program for the email addict
2007-02-22 08:12:02 Wall Street Journal published a 12-step program for the email addict. I am definitely an addict, as the first thing I do everyday is check my email and I feel lost if I don’t. 1. During meals, do not check email. 2. Do not hide your email habits from family members. If you feel that someone would be upset to see you BlackBerrying, it’s a sign that you probably shouldn’t be. 3. Commit to stop emailing while driving (even at red lights), walking across the street or doing anything that requires careful attention. 4. Do not check email for the first hour of the day. In addition to giving you time to leisurely read the newspaper or spend time with your family, the practice will help you shake the tic-like checking ritual. 5. Endeavor to leave the mobile email device in the car or at home when attending any function taking place at your child’s school, or when picking up your child from school. 6. Decide on an email-free block of time. Parents should first assess... More About: Mail , Email , Prog , Program , Step
Life?s lessons (from Britney Spears)
2007-02-21 20:12:01 Britney is really going a stray… driving in the front seat with her baby without a seatbelt, pantiless, rehab, bald… the list just goes on. However, I think one can kind of learn a little from Miss Spears i.e. of how NOT to go about your life. 1. Be bold, unique and different but don’t go overboard Be yourself, and change is good but don’t go crazy with it. 2. Guilty by association Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton etc. Sometimes you have to keep good company to keep your life in line and be careful who you associate with. If you start hanging around with trash, you start acting like one too. 3. If you want respect, you have to respect yourself first If you want people to think positive and have a good opinion of you, earn it. It is not handed to you on a platter. No amount of money can buy respect. 4. Always try to better yourself, evolve and improve. Don’t go backwards and digress. At one time Britney and Christina were head to head… Britney has ... More About: Britney Spears , Life , Britney , Pear , Less
Say what you mean and mean what you say
2007-02-20 08:10:01 Blockbuster changed their strategy last year in a way that they don’t have due dates for movie rentals anymore. A 2 day movie rental has a 7 days grace to return it (essentially giving you about a week and a half from the time you borrow it), and a 7 day rental thus gives you 14 days. However if you keep it long enough, they have the authority to charge you for the purchase of the DVD. The poor checkout clerk probably has a hard time trying to explain how the setup works to customers. 2 days actually means 9 days, 7 days actually means 14 days. And didn’t they say there isn’t any due back date anymore? Sounds confusing just talking about it. In the another case, my father-in-law pointed this out to me about a $50 restaurant gift card he had. If you don’t spend it within 12 months, the card will depreciate after a 6 month grace period by the % of what is stated in the small print and expires after 5 years. So you’ll have 12 months which really means 18... More About: What , Hat
Hope as a voice
2007-02-18 14:07:02 I saw this book at Starbucks and am very tempted to buy it. Just wondering whether anyone has read it and will be interested to hear your thoughts. Ishmael Beah (whom book is based on) will be making his US nationwide book signing tour soon. More About: Voice , Hope , VOIC
I am a PC, and I am a Mac
2007-02-18 02:06:01 A parody of the “I am a PC, and I am a Mac ” commercial. Here is a hilarious animated take on Bill Gates vs. Steve Jobs… with a happy ending.
The good and bad of Valentine?s
2007-02-17 20:05:02 This past Vale nti ne ’s has been a good and bad one. Good because, J’s school was canceled and we were snowed in, so we spent the day at home together. Bad because the next day, she came home with lots of Valentine’s gift from her students — nice and yummy chocolates. And the good kind too! If there is glaring weakness in me, it’s that I just can’t turn down chocolates. I think I can cross off February as the month to lose some weight. More About: The Good
Just when I thought?
2007-02-17 08:04:01 … I have seen almost every accessory for the iPod, a company called Suki comes up with a jaw dropper. Introducing the newest accessory for women who have iPods… the OhMyBod. It’s a portable vibrator that you can plug into your iPod, vibrates according to the rhythm of what you are playing and you can turn the vibes up with your volume. Great effort with the slogans too: “A whole new way to plug n’ play” “Turn in and turn on” “The ultimate Acsexcory” Cheezy but catchy! The last one there is a trademark by the way. And the accessories, what great toy doesn’t have the accessories. This one cracked me up, they actually have a Tips and Tricks section to help you get the most of your accessory. Here are some of the more amusing ones: “Q: Do certain songs work better than others? A: Yes. There are some songs that have long pauses or not much in terms of beat or rhythm?but it really depends on your taste in music and ... More About: Just , Thought , When
Not much activity at The Foo Logs
2007-02-16 08:03:01 Sorry… Things have been pretty dead here at The Foo Logs in the past week or so. The reason - I have been desperately trying to keep a deadline to finish my college work. The deadline to hand in my paper is today and there have been multiple late nighters, lots of coffee drinking and sleeping at 4am days leading up to this. Right now, I am almost zombie like, tired and cranky. It’s funny, years ago when I doing my bachelors, I would have the same late night and work till the early morning routine and would promise never to do it again. But here I am doing it all over again. Some habits die hard, especially the bad ones. Few things I can be sure off, I’ll be doing the happy dance later today when I hand in my coursework, get some sleep and The Foo Logs will be alive again. Oh yes, Ghost Rider comes out tomorrow and there is another happy dance for me to do. No Tags More About: Much
Cafe.com: An addictive online gaming community
2007-02-13 08:02:02 Cafe.com is a free social networking game community that allows you to chat, meet people and play games. There are hundreds of easy and fun individual/ multiplayer games to choose from e.g. Swordfish, a Tetris like strategy game in a deep sea fishing environment and Ironsides, a Pac Man maze like game with an 18th century naval warfare theme. Each player creates a 3D avatar, thus defining your online profile, appearance and persona of your character. Throughout the game, possessions can be accumulated by purchasing items to further enhance your gaming experience. These items may give you an advantage while playing with opponents. For example, some items may increase your gaming speed, some may obstruct their game play or freeze opponents. The virtual setting is such that each player that wants to play a game, needs to go into an individual room. These rooms are available for players to chat, launch multi player games and can contain up to 6 players. For those who want to have some g... More About: Gaming , Community , Muni , Online , Cafe
Talents at the Grammys
2007-02-13 08:02:02 I was floored by 3 musicians at the Gram my Awards yesterday. First off, 18 year old Robyn Troup, the “Grammy Moment” award winner that sang with Justin Timberlake — I don’t think I have heard a better live singer lately. In the Beyonce mold, she is a lock on to get a recording contract and may actually be a real challenger to Beyonce herself, both in looks and vocals. She definitely put everyone else to shame — even Red Hot Chilli Peppers. (Well, almost everyone if you count out Police) The other two were the teen pianist and violinist that did a short excerpt. Definitely envy their talent and wish I could play a musical instrument like that. I am wondering why they held it at the Staples Center (a basketball arena) instead of the bigger Kodak Theater. The echo that the singers made when they were singing were a little annoying. grammy awards More About: Talents , Talent , Tale
Anna Nicole Smith dies!
2007-02-10 08:00:04 Can’t believe it but I just saw on TV that Anna Nicole Smith died this afternoon at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL. They have yet to report the cause - it seems that she just collapsed and died. Looks like everyone is scrambling to read the news, every site that has the news (from CNN to USA Today) has been really slow. Pretty tragic as her son died suddenly too last year, just about the same time she gave birth. Read full report here. anna nicole smith More About: Cole
Better safe than sorry
2007-02-10 08:00:04 J received an email couple of days ago from AT&T (via her school district) about a phone scam going around. Thought I might want to share it with all of you. The basis of the email is that you should never dial a number with the area code 809. Con-artists will get you to call by leaving a message telling you that they have information about a family member who has been ill, to tell you someone has been arrested, died, or to let you know you have won a wonderful prize, etc. In each case, you are told to call the 809 number right away. Since there are so many new area codes these days, people unknowingly return these calls. If you call from the US, you will apparently be charged $2425 per minute or, you’ll get a long recorded message. The point is, they will try to keep you on the phone as long as possible to increase the charges. Unfortunately, when you get your phone bill, you’ll often be charged more than $24,100. It turns out that the 809 code is located in the... More About: Better , Bett , Safe , Sorry
Google Spreadsheet gives Excel a run for its money
2007-02-06 13:57:01 Google has an online version of Microsoft’s Excel Spreads heet software to compliment their online word processor. Called Google Spreadsheets, it is an addition to their already released Google Docs (a converted tool from the company Writely they acquired last year). With Google Spreadsheets, you can now enjoy intuitive online navigation and editing, like any traditional document or spreadsheet from any computer having access to the internet. I am not sure when this was released to the public as it was on ‘limited beta’ in June last year. Spreadsheet documents can be saved online to your Google account or to your hard drive. Each spreadsheet can be up to 10,000 rows, 256 columns, 50,000 cells or up to 20 sheets whichever limit comes first. A user account has a limit of 100 spreadsheets and you can import/ convert xls, csv and odf file formats up to 1 Mb. Cell formulas and other Excel based functions work seamlessly and a frequent user of Microsoft Excel will find ... More About: Google , Money , Read , Sheet
The Foo?s pick for good and bad Superbowl ads
2007-02-05 19:55:02 Congrats to the Colts. Good game. Billy Joel didn’t sing a good National Anthem, a little off key at the beginning. Prince was awesome at halftime. Eccentric as he is, the guy can still sing and get the crowd going. Best Super bowl Half time show ever! Love the Prince symbol shaped guitar. If I am not mistaken, he threw it into the crowd at the end. It’ll probably turn up on eBay in the next couple of days. Best Superbowl Ad It came down to a tie. 1) Blockbuster.com The Blockbuster rabbit and gerbil are back, but they need a little help learning how to use a mouse. Funny and cute! 2) Doritos: Crash the Superbowl Very original. Nice play on the words! Hilarious ending. Honorable mentions: Budlight: Hitchhiker Budweiser: Fake Dalmation Coke Factory (This ad has been out for a couple of weeks now, but I still like it) Worst Ads: What were they thinking! Sierra Mist: Beard comb over Sierra Mist: Karate Class FedEX: Office in the Moon superbowl, superbowl ads, superb... More About: Pick , Bowl
The Who is getting around
2007-02-05 07:54:02 Oh boy, The Who is really making money these days and not even touring constantly. They are already heard on the CSI TV series e.g. Who Are You? (CSI), We Don’t Get Fooled Again (CSI Miami) and Baba O’Riley (CSI New York). Now they played a Who song for the entrance of Indianapolis Colts at Superbowl 41. I love The Who, so I’m happy. Would have been happier if The Browns were in the Superbowl but I think the odds are better for me winning the lottery than them winning the Superbowl — sad but true. browns, csi tv series, superbowl More About: Round
The oppressed quote on a cup
2007-02-03 19:52:02 I noticed something on Starbucks cups a few days ago which blew me away. They now have quotations on the side of their cups from a select group of people reflecting on how they see life. Actually it is nothing new and has been around for a few years now but somehow I didn’t look at the side of the cup until now. The quotes have the heading called “The way I see it” and Starbucks does have a website dedicated to it. My cup had one from Ed Viesturs, First American to climb all fourteen 8,000-meter peaks and author of No Shortcuts to the Top: I?ve learned in climbing that you don?t ?conquer? anything. Mountains are not conquered and should be treated with respect and humility. If we take what the mountains give, have patience and desire, and are prepared, then the mountains will permit us to reach their highest peaks. I believe a lot of things are like that in life. Nicely said but more intriguing is the fact that they had a short disclaimer below it saying “Th... More About: Press , Esse , Quote , The O
Word of the day: Collabulary
2007-02-03 19:52:02 Saturday’s word of the day is: Coll abulary n. A common vocabulary with which Web users categorize the data they find online, particularly one created in collaboration with classification experts to ensure relevance and consistency. [Blend of collaborative and vocabulary] Example Citations: People have a tendency to affect tagging-based search negatively in two primary ways: by not using enough or relevant tags; and by tagging the same links using vastly different tag words. For example, a link about “horses” may be tagged with “equine,” “saddles,” “mares,” “foals,” etc. In fact, it should be tagged as simply “horses”. To overcome these problems, PreFound.com crawls the web sites that users are indicating they would like to share, automatically adds tags based on site content, and then runs the site through a process much like a “reverse thesaurus” which reduces large numbers of synonyms into si... More About: Word , Word of the Day , The D , Bula
A History of Microsoft Windows in Screenshots
2007-02-03 19:52:02 The world’s most ubiquitous operating system was not always so. The evolution of Windows was often uncertain and precarious. Its success was symbiotic with advancements in processor speed and memory capacity, and Microsoft relied heavily on third-party software to bridge the gap between concept and consumer.read more | digg story evolution, Fascinating or Weird, microsoft, operating system More About: Screen , History , Story
Mini Miles
2007-02-02 01:50:01 Thanks to JanVanGogh for this. We didn’t get Mile s when he was a kitten but when he was just about a year old. The picture below just makes me imagine how he would have looked when he was a kitten. This ones called Mr. Kiko, lives in a Bookstore called Dark Star Bookstore and is a Mini Miles! Too cute… Life through my eyes, miles
Knight Rider for sale
2007-02-01 07:48:04 Looks like KITT from Knight Ride r is for sale on Ebay, with the *Turbo Boost* function and all. Well, not really. It’s a replica but it sure does look like the real thing. Between that and the Delorean (from Back to the Future), those represent two of my favorite on screen vehicles/ machines ever. However, KITT would totally stomp on Delorean if they ever were in a boxing match. I could also do without David “Baywatch” Hasselhoff. The car is a remodeled ‘84 Pontiac Trans Am, has 200,000 km on it and is sold by a Canadian. By the sound of it he is in Toronto. He wants C$30,000 for it, and claims to have invested over $40,000 and 4 years redoing the whole car. I want it! But for that kind of money, I think I’ll stick to just ooh’ing and aah’ing. Looks like nobody has bid on it yet (at the time of writing this) and the auction is ending today. That is one fine looking car or maybe I am the one that only thinks so. Maybe someday Santa Claus wi... More About: For Sale , Sale , Night
Wordless Wednesday: Poor Mrs. Duck
2007-01-31 13:47:03 I think the picture says it all. Poor Mrs. Duck … I hope the photo taker got some help or he/she really needs a kick in the butt! Word less Wednesday More About: Less
Candidate for I-am-an-Idiot Awards?
2007-01-31 13:47:03 Saw this on the news yesterday. This might qualify for an I-am-an-idiot award … A main in Akron, Ohio gets arrested for drunk driving during the day. Not being able to drive properly, tests a 1.1 on the breathalyzer, the police man throws him in jail. He gets out hours later being bailed out by his girlfriend. The man walks into the police parking lot, jumps into his girlfriend’s car and proceeds to slowly drive off. Several policemen watching him get into his car with his girlfriend and drive off, start to flag him down and book him again. The guy ends up getting booked twice in one day for drunk driving. He is scheduled to be in court with 2 counts of drunken driving charges and his girlfriend was booked/ charged with willingly allowing him to drive drunk. Guess he didn’t learn his lesson the first time round. breathalyzer, darwin awards, drunk driving, Humor More About: Awards , War , Idiot , Dida , Award
The Left Handed Theory
2007-01-31 13:47:03 Being a left hander, I have always tried to find reasons to why that is. Theo ries seek to explain the dominance of one hand either in terms of environment and upbringing or through a gene-based hereditary chain. No gene for left-handedness has been found yet, but here are a few theories: Sun-worship, with most of mankind being in the Northern hemisphere and following the sun across the sky from left to right, established right as a favored direction, leading to right hand dominance The use of a shield in the left hand to protect the heart on the left side of the body led to the right hand being used to hold weapons, which led to general right dominance At birth babies are neither left or right handed and the actions of those around them will educate them into one side being dominant Left Hand edness is hereditary, transmitted from parents to children Left Handed ness is controlled by a genetic bias, which is random but favors a right-hand dominance Any other theory you might be abl... More About: Theory
The geekiest Wordpress theme ever
2007-01-31 13:47:03 I have seen many great Word press themes but this one wins the prize for the most unique and geekiest ever. And as a self confessed geek, I do of course love it … how about a CLI (command line interface) version of a Wordpress theme. Thanks Roy McFarland, you just made my day! Blogs and Blogging, command line interface, Humor, roy mcfarland, wordpress, wordpress themes More About: Wordpress Theme , Press , Geek
Steven Seagal needs to go back to basics
2007-01-31 13:47:03 I am a big fan of martial arts movies. I did Taekwando years ago getting a blue belt (with a red stripe), should have gone on to get my black belt and am kicking myself for it now. If I were to do it again, I’ll have probably to start from the very beginning (I think). I am a big fan of Steve n Seagal as I like his style of martial arts i.e. Aikido (he has a 7th Dan Black Belt in Aikido). However, in his last 10 movies or so, he has somehow changed his way of fighting — to a more Kung Fu way. My question is… why? He looks real stupid fighting in a style that he is unaccustomed with and with that really makes him look like an amateur martial artist. Got to admit that kick-em-up martial arts fighting movies are so 80s and 90s, the movie industry is just not interested in it anymore. I think the only person that can make decent money on making martial arts films right now it Jet Li. Even he knows it as he claims to have made his last true martial arts movie last year... More About: Back , Steven Seagal , Basic , Need
29 things that only happens at the movies
2007-01-31 13:47:03 1. It is always possible to find a parking spot directly outside or opposite the building you are visiting. 2. When paying for a taxi, don’t look at your wallet as you take out a note. Just grab one out at random and hand it over. It will always be the exact fare. 3. Television news bulletins usually contain a story that affects you personally at the precise moment it’s aired. 4. Creepy music (or satanic chanting) coming from a graveyard should always be closely investigated. 5. Any lock can be picked with a credit card or paper clip in seconds. UNLESS it’s the door to a burning building with a child inside. 6. If you decide to start dancing in the street, everyone you bump into will know all the steps. 7. All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red digital displays so you know exactly when they are going to explode. 8. Should you wish to pass yourself off as a German officer, it will not be necessary to learn to speak German. Simply speakin... More About: Movies , Movie , Hat , Pens , At The Movies
Wordpress 2.1 Ella is out
2007-01-24 01:45:02 If you haven’t heard, Word press 2.1 Ella (named after jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald) was released yesterday with updated features and over 500+ bug fixes. You can download it from here. It is an easy one touch upgrade. I have tested it out on my test site but I have decided not to upgrade it on my main blog at this time as some of the plugins don’t work with the new version. Since my main blog has version 2.0.7 which is pretty secure/ stable, I’ll wait on the upgrade for now. Here is what’s new in 2.1 Ella: * Autosave makes sure you never lose a post again. * Our new tabbed editor allows you to switch between WYSIWYG and code editing instantly while writing a post. * The lossless XML import and export makes it easy for you to move your content between WordPress blogs. * Our completely redone visual editor also now includes spell checking. * New search engine privacy option allows you take you to indicate your blog shouldn?t ping or be indexed by search en...
Look out Mini Me
2007-01-22 13:44:01 This really cracked me up… this little guy can dance! Look out Mini Me (Vernon Troyer), there is a new *kid* in town. Humor, vernon troyer
Wow, this has been a busy week such that I didn’t even
2007-01-15 13:36:02 Wow, this has been a busy week such that I didn’t even have time to write on my blog. Through my lack of blogging this week, I failed to notice that I reached another milestone yesterday — that The Foo Logs has received 50,000 hits/ unique visitors! It’s a personal achievement and a great comfort to think that many out there appreciate what I write. I would like to also think that I am at least doing something right to get that amount of hits within 8 months. I am not sure how it compares to the rest of the blogging community but nevertheless it feels great! All the more to continue blogging! Blogs and Blogging More About: Wow , Hat , This , Week , That
Sproose up your search!
More articles from this author:2006-12-30 07:26:02 Sproose is a new Web 2.0 search engine unlike any other. It works differently in the way the search results are calculated and allows a more user interactive/ collaborative way to rank sites. Instead of using link popularity to determine a sites ranking, it determines ranking through a users 1-5 star ratings of a website. The better rating of a website given by a user, the higher the site will be in the search index. The scores given to a website are weighted as a group score for all users and inturn lets each user create a personal index of their favorite sites when they search for a keyword. This a brilliant way to have users make the final say of how high a sites rank should be. It’s a refreshing change from the norm of SEO (search engine optimization) through link popularity, strategic word placements and more. Sproose home page * This is a sponsored post brought to you by Sproose.com link popularity, search engine, Software More About: Search , Your 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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