month 2 : August 2004

bootscoot

specialty technical job-search websites: FlipDog and dice.com

salary.com : "the technology leader in providing employee compensation data, software, and services to enterprises, small businesses, and individuals"
Online Wall Street Journal

google for "salary surveys"

Herman Group: "advises corporate leaders regarding employee retention and organizational development to help them build workforce stability"

book: "The Impending Crisis" forecasts a shortage of 10 million skilled workers by 2010.
2010 target

AstroFish.net

Lovejoy Independent School District

SpinSanity.com

DallasBuilders.com

Addison Arbor Foundation

Risk Grades.com (stock riskiness)

World Chicken Festival (London)

ethical wills

Arizona State Parks

Transform Magazine : content and business processes

Risk Assessment Tool for Estimating Your 10-year Risk of Having a Heart Attack

Men's Fitness (Sep 2004) says every medicine cabinet should have:
Motrin
Robitussin DM
Band-Aid Liquid Bandages
Betadine
Sudafed
Benadryl Itch-Stopping Cream
Mylanta Maximum-Strength Liquid
Orajel Medicated Swabs

movies: Goodfellas (1990) and
Scarface (1983)

Etiquette grrl style
Home Automation magazine
Sharing Your Experiences
Vote Your Sport
Mens Fitness magazine

Microsoft TechNet RSS Feed

week 12 : 26 August 2004

travel & exploration

Old Mill Century was held last weekend in Oregon, Illinois (I wonder if there's an Illinois, Oregon?)

La Tomatina (Buol, Spain's attack on Teresa Heinz-Ketchup)

 job hunting

Dallas Business Journal says that Fiesta (Mexican) grocery chain has been sold to a Houston company. There goes the neighborhood.

 politics and/or religion

Right Wing News made me laugh, especially the FAQ:

"In the US, the terms right wing and conservative are largely synonymous. Conservatives in the US support small government, capitalism, a fairly strict reading of the Constitution, and traditional American values."

It's odd that they don't mention the connotation of Right Wing and Death Squads, but I guess that omission can be chalked up to poetic license.

 entertainment

The AllGood Cafe is as close as Deep Ellum comes to a breakfast spot. It seems out of place to Deep Ellum's association with live music (see Deep Ellum Blues), bars and an occasional tattoo parlor. I'll have to mosey down there sometime for some migas.

Not far away is the Barley House, "where beer is a way of life". Sounds like Addison's Flying Saucer, only less boring.

Willhoite's (in Grapevine) is a converted gas station (Willhoite Garage) which doubles as a restaurant and a bar (complete with Tuesday night karaoke). Downtown Grapevine amuses me: it's an oasis of nostalgia in the Metroplex. I wonder if the Fab Five (from Queer Eye) will mosey thataway while they're in town (filming 3 episodes). Unlikely.

Diana Krall: who's that?

 just plain weird different

Sexist beer ad takes Gold Ernie gong: "Dr Burgmann started the (National Pay Equity Coalition's) Ernie Awards 12 years ago to mark the retirement of Ernie Ecob as president of New South Wales (one of Australias's 6 states) Labor Council."

 tree huggers environment issues

John WorldPeace: candidate for Texas' Governor in 2002

 cliff claven would be proud

Texas Neighborhoods Together

Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives

week 11 : 19 Aug 2004

travel & exploration

Greek Food is a nice guide, when all you think of Greek food is lamb and .. uh ..

Matt Barrett's Greece Photo Album when you couldn't travel to the Olympics

The Tristan Times Newspaper - Tristan da Cunha is perhaps the most remote place on Earth

City of Dallas Trinity River Corridor Project (it's an unnavigable river, folks .. more twigs and sticks than real rivers like the Colorado, Mississippi, Ohio ...)

Microsoft Across America isn't really about travel. Spin-doctoring, maybe ...

QSR Magazine : America's Hottest Fast Food Chains lists the Top 50 (39 are in the DFW Metroplex)

Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania is located in what town? Anyone?

worldsurface.com - sustainable tourism for backpackers and independent travellers

job hunting

VML may be "one of the best small businesses in the country" but they didn't even have the courtesy to acknowledge my résumé

politics and/or religion

National Lampoon's MoveOnPlease.org: Democracy Inaction (not to be confused with the GOP's lame MoveOver site, or the original MoveOn site)

Allah Made Me Funny is about Islamic Stand-Up Comics. I bet they don't get no respect.

LiberalOpoly - The Game of Ass-Backward Politics was developed by one of the Regressive Party, er .. GOP

Kinky Friedman is running for Governor. Yeah, right.

Texas Taxes breaks it down. No state income tax: check!

entertainment / athletics

International Wheelchair Basketball Federation - Europe

Dallas County District and County Courts

just plain weird different

Southern Poverty Law Center : White Supremacists have started an all-white dating service. What's next -- car washes and bake sales?

American Merkin Company: pubic hair toupees

tree huggers environment issues

Turf Wars

cliff claven would be proud

QSG : GPT&A in the DMM [Quick Service Guide - Glossary of Postal Terms and Abbreviations in the Domestic Mail Manual]

Lockable Post Mount Mailboxes

What does your phone number spell?

Westlaw offers free trials of their legal database

week 10 : 12 Aug 2004

travel & exploration

The Spot: where Bob and I once dined in Hermosa Beach, California. The place comes complete with a screen door, and Free Range Carrot Juice.

A Stonner is explained in "THE MOST DANGEROUS SUPPER IN SCOTLAND?"

Plano (Texas) Conservancy (don't miss their pompous Mission Statement)

International Airport, Airline, Currency, and Weather Information - Now With Seatmaps!

 job hunting

Texas Workforce Commission

 politics and/or religion

The League of Conservation Voters

Swift Boat Liars?

 entertainment

nothing interesting spotted

 just plain weird different

johnny.ihackstuff.com :: I'm j0hnny. I hack stuff.

 tree huggers environment issues

The company that made a name for itself re: West Nile Virus is Clarke Mosquito

EcoFish - our mission

 cliff claven would be proud

Gene Change Makes Fat Burn Itself Away explains about beta-beta mice (no relation to Beta The Wonder Dog)

5 Aug 2004 - week 9

travel & exploration

Maeda-En Ice Cream: I sampled the Plum and Lychee flavors - Yummmmmm. These are available in Asian groceries, and supposedly Whole Foods Market, too.

 job hunting

Career Connection is sponsoring a new initiative: Hire DFW First

 politics and/or religion

Chart: Bush Ratings vs. Terror Alerts (Julius Blog)

A Republican with Integrity? No way!
Arizona Senator John McCain: Anti-Kerry ads 'dishonorable' (commentary: lemme get this straight .. the soldiers who served on the same boat are less qualified to say what happened than others who weren't there? Oooo-kay Memo to GOP: can you spell D-E-S-P-E-R-A-T-I-O-N ?)

Moms for Kerry-Edwards

Republican National Committee headquarters (aka GOP.com)

 entertainment

Bush's Broken promises

 just plain weird different

Joey Skaggs unveiled on Urban Legends Reference Pages: Dog Soup Recipe

 tree huggers environment issues

NO FAT CHICKS!

 cliff claven would be proud

SystemNews (John McLaughlin)

month 1 : July 2004

National Association of Insurance Commissioners

eHealthInsurance.com : "the leading destination where individuals, students, families, and small businesses can find and buy the health insurance plan that is right for them"

Joe Sent Me.com

appliance411.com has lots of appliance owners manuals

http://www.ss-tours.com (Copper Canyon)

Diet Gourmet.com (Alpha Rd, Dallas)

spotted in Addison Walk (near CD World): Buffalo Wild Wings

week 8 : 29 July 2004

travel & exploration

Urban Legends (travel) debunks the rumors about travel

 job hunting

Baker Botts LLP has a nice Texas Technology Calendar, which are downloadable as PDFs

 politics and/or religion

Electoral Vote Predictor

Democratic Presidential Candidate Lyndon LaRouche

 entertainment

The Entertainment Collaborative "conceives, develops and manages concepts". wow: how unbelievably revolutionary!

 just plain weird different

ACLU - Pizza

 tree huggers environment issues

Toxin du Juor debunks the "dire warning about the latest poison or toxin"

 cliff claven would be proud

Metafilter: "self-policing since 1999" and "more addictive than crack"

North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) has more information than you can shake a stick at

22 July 2004 - week 7

travel & exploration

Burkes Backyard (Australian site with lots of entertaining vectors)

Better Home & Gardens (Australia style) - Food A-Z has recipes for kangaroo, Vegemite and so forth.  Fortunately, I didn't see anything for wallaby, platypus, koala bears

Bullet Trap is an indoor shooting range, training center and gun store - Plano, Texas

DFW Gun Range (Dallas)

 job hunting

right-from-home is only accessible via controlled login.  so there.

 politics and/or religion

civilian casualties in Iraq (and related links)

Iraq Body Count.com

Iraq Coalition Casualties

 entertainment

Smirnoff Music Centre has a really hard to remember address.  Until a few years ago, this had a Coca-Cola name on the marquee.  Still, it's at Fair Park (not the high rent district) and not near other local music venues, such as the Eisemann Center (in the Art District).

Better Homes & Gardens : Food (yeah, I know .. you're thinking "Gene Bob thinks food is entertaining?" .. well, it can be.  Ever see the "strawberry scene" in 9-1/2 Weeks?

 just plain weird different

"Happy thumbs use the Magic Carpet" (hey, it's their slogan, not mine)

 tree huggers environment issues

the nice man from Terminix put DeltaGard G (Deltamethrin) around my foundation, so I Google'd to Read All About It

 cliff claven would be proud

Submarine: SUBNET is billed: -- Cyberspace Association of U.S. Submariners (CAUSS) -- of submarines, by submariners had much interesting details about those beasts. I once sat atop the cliff at Point Loma (San Diego) and watched them come and go from the Pacific.

blinkx (a search tool) didn't work for me, but then it is still in Beta (not the Wonder Dog)

my recent CD purchase arrived intact in a Jiffylite Mailer

15 July 2004 - week 6

travel & exploration

Dogwood Canyon - where the Audubon Society is planning a 250 acre park

Buses By Bill - Charter Bus Service in the Dallas Fort Worth Area

 job hunting

Right Management Consultants

 politics and/or religion

Newt's Playing Cards - The Card Playing Superstore

 entertainment

Trees (in Deep Ellum, where They Might Be Giants are playing this weekend)

Etymologic billed as "the toughest etymology (word origin) game on the Web

 just plain weird different

is Dick Cheney dead yet? (Good Spot Award goes to The George)

 environment

HP and Dell going green

 cliff claven would be proud

Sarah Vowell was on The Daily Show (Comedy Central) last night, but the DirecTV menu thought she was Spike Lee. Hmmm.

IBM to launch new line of powerful Unix servers

8 July 2004 - week 5

travel & exploration

aNiceCupOfTeaAndaSitDown is billed as "the premier web site for tea drinkers who are keen on sitting down and biscuits". Uh, right.

Kidos Blueberry is a product of another country - Mexico?

 job hunting

The Dollar Stretcher (while there's no money coming in)

 politics and/or religion

Christian Exodus (to North Carolina, which will then seceed from the United States)

This site is so Ludditic that I had to laugh: Computer Ate My Vote

 entertainment

Texas School Performance Review : Dallas Independent School District

 just plain weird different

Roll Your Own Magazine, RYO, The Magazine of Roll Your Own Cigarettes, Tobacco and Product Reviews, Smoking Issues, Winter 2004, Peter Stokkebye Memorial

 tree huggers environment issues

Viral Marketing is not a disease! See the Six Simple Principles of Viral Marketing

 cliff claven would be proud

Home Made Simple is done by Procter & Gamble, who want to sell you stuff to keep your home all fluffy and warm. Indeed.

1 July 2004 - week 4

travel & exploration

The Dallas Center for Contemporary Art

 politics and/or religion

well, that will be the last time a US President visits a place as hostile as Ireland: President Bush accidentally allowed to be interviewed by a real journalist ... and then there is Bush Flash.com (via I Switched.org, via Green Party)

 just plain weird different

Watercloset Aperture Kinetic Mechanical Activation Handle [WAKMAH] (and don't miss the Mark One Wakmah)

 environment and/or health issues

Peyote cures hangovers! (to be precise: an extract of Opuntia ficus indica)

 cliff claven would be proud

The Patent Busting Project

Psychological Warfare

European and Pacific Stars & Stripes (yes, the military newspaper)

CELL FOR CASH - Get cash for your old cell phone

PRESS RELEASE: What Should You Do About Unprofitable Customers?

National Society for Experiential Education

The Unique Brutality of Texas:
Why the Lone Star State leads the nation in executions

month 0 : June 2004

Rand McNally

Bureau of Prisons

Free Background Check - really?

Mythbusters: Hyneman & Savage (Discovery Channel)

FACTA: the Fair & Accurate Credit Transactions Act

random fact: AAA gets 20% more service calls when temp hits 100F

Customs & Border Protection (part of Homeland Security)

Plano TX Convention and Visitors Bureau

Money Factory

Dallas Theatre Centre

tickets.com

Benefits Checkup.org

AARP : beyond 50

Bag Lady Prevention : " Realistic Strategies for Retirement Security, Fulfillment and Fun"

Votenet online voting software

Liquid Lense Eyeglass Scratch Treatment - epinions.com ?

The Freedom Forum (war correspondents)

The Discovery Channel's High Definition Theatre

Blisswood: bed & breakfast about an hour west of Houston (in Cat Spring, TX)

bad movies recommended by Dave-Bob and Brian-Bob:
Galaxy Quest (1999) starring Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver
Kingpin (1996) starring Woody Harrelson and Randy Quaid

Innovative Signal Analysis

"yuppie biker hangout with $5 beer pitchers" : Duke's Original Roadhouse is at 4180 Belt Line Rd, Addison TX

O'Reillys British Rose Pub : 8989 Forest Lane, Dallas TX

Jasper's is at 7161 Bishop Rd (in the Shops at Legacy), Plano TX

John's Backyard Grill is at 17604 Davenport Rd, Dallas

The Gingerman is at 2718 Boll St, Dallas

new seafood place to try: Fish on Fire is at 6006 Belt Line Rd, Dallas TX

Village on the Parkway originally had Sakowitz Department Store; old timers still call it Sakowitz Plaza.

Rapid Bottle Chillers

heard on scanner: "family violence camera kit"

Home Movie Day

home water test kit: Watersafe (about $15)

Iso-HEET is an additive to eliminate gas tank condensation (it contains isopropyl alcohol)

Whole Health MD

who2.com

Ask an Expert.com

Local Harvest.org

24 June 2004 - week 3

nerd|geek stuff

an article in the Houston Chronicle (Getting Gmail put them on the A list) pointed me to gmailswap.com where you can trade a Gmail invitation for something useful. Wonder if I can get a pony for my remaining invitations?

I was tracking down Adam Stiles' site (stilesoft.com) which pointed me to Yet Another Browser: NetCaptor

You can somewhat circumvent sites which force you to register first: Bug Me Not.com

I've played with the AT&T Privacy Bird for several days, and it's sometimes insightful, but mostly irritating (until more sites support P3P [Platform for Privacy Preferences] (thanks, Alec)

a free password manager and one-click web form filler "with some serious Artificial Intelligence": roboform.com

travel & exploration

In an attempt to prove there are websites for nearly everything, I stumbled across SeatGuru.com ("your enlightened guide to airline seating") which lists the best and worst seats on any given aircraft configuration. Fascinating.

I suspect they're talking about places like Addison Circle, or the West Village: New Urban News "focuses on building mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods instead of conventional suburban subdivisions, shopping centers and office parks".

Roundabouts USA (aka traffic circles). My favorites were in Canberra, Australia (the capital); I visited there in 1993.

The Showcopters are the helicopter equivalent of the US Navy's Blue Angels

 job hunting

Right Management Consultants

Ciber.com

M&A Technology has locations in Dallas; Houston and San Antonio. They appear to integrate Intel and AMD systems, including thin clients.

 politics and/or religion

Evil Bible includes the essay "Hitler Was a Christian" which led me to the book Hitler's Pope (apparently well researched)

Conservative Pulse -> The Reagan Dollar Petition (any excuse to get women off our money, eh?)

The Complete Bushisms - Updated frequently. By Jacob Weisberg: "[B]y the way, we rank 10th amongst the industrialized world in broadband technology and its availability. That's not good enough for America. Tenth is 10 spots too low as far as I'm concerned."

DubyaSpeak.com : Fresh Dubya

 just plain weird different

Hiroo Onoda (the Japanese bloke who was still fighting World War II into the 1970s)

Cats and Kittens Magazine: Iams Service Center Funnies

 tree huggers environment|health issues

smallstep.gov is a site done by the US Department of Health & Human Services; it appears to be a 52-step program aimed at reducing obesity.

 useless facts Cliff Claven would be proud

The Slot ("a spot for copy editors since 1995")

US newspaper lists: NewsVoyager.com

Control Your TV.org "provides parents and caregivers with tools to control and manage the programs that come into their homes" (I suppose this means it learns us [sic] to set the rating threshold).

great time waster: SelectSmart.com Selectors Quizzes Tests Decision Makers Select Quiz Test Surveys

Watching late-night television [TV], I saw ads for Liquid Lense (a liquid which purports to repair scratched eyeglasses). The local Fox affiliate (KDFW) says that I should Save My Money (navigate to ON YOUR SIDE/Deal or Dud).

Here are online infomercials, if you're in need of a laugh: As Seen On TV.com; Best Deals on TV.com; Infomercial Goodies.com; J L Ryan.com and TV Has Everything.com. Indeed.

Mystery Shopping Providers Association (both Europe and the USA) bill themselves as a "trade association dedicated to improving service quality using anonymous resources" .. which pointed me to the The Mystery Shopper's Manual. I wonder if the book will tell me How To Spot A Mystery Shopper And Ask Her On A Date?

17 June 2004 - week 2

travel & exploration

El Paso, Texas Named Sweatiest U.S. City and Corpus Christi was #4. Woo hoo - Texas has 2 of the top 5 spots!

James Lileks' American Postcards: Motels: "Most of these places are gone or renamed. But we still have the cards."

Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge: "Hardwicke Interpretive Center is open from 9am to 4:30pm Tuesday through Saturday"

job hunting

Joyce Lain Kennedy: "nationally-syndicated twice-weekly column, CAREERS NOW"

politics and/or religion

Any profits from Bush/Zombie Reagan 2004 will be donated to Alzheimers research.

JewishPress.com's Islamist Barbarism And The Western Media follows the pattern of not being able to criticize Israel without being branded an anti-Semite. Pity; discussion is good for the soul.

William Rivers Pitt's Planet Reagan

entertainment

tonight at the Gypsy Tea Room: "Legendary Pink Dots / A Tiger Named Lovesick"

Corky and the Juice Pigs were on Fox's Mad TV

Film Threat - Truth in Entertainment

Texas Music Events Calendar 2004

Movies: Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle

just plain weird different

Pork Pie Appreciation Society (animation with audio)

Here's something the PETA Nazis will not find funny: Maxigumee Land: Society for The Protection of Plants

Compare your face to anyone else's (such as a descendant or ancestor): Visage Physiognomy Demonstration

tree huggers environment issues

Biotechnology Industry Organization

norm peterson would be proud

Inspired House magazine

Meet Joe Blog: "Why are more and more people getting their news from amateur websites called blogs? Because they're fast, funny and totally biased"

Only a certain species of mosquito carries West Nile (oddly enough, only in the Denton County section of the DMN)

"crikey" and "for Pete's sake" are explained

This is True's Bonzer Web Sites of the Week (bonzer == Australian slang for 'great | excellent')

10 June 2004 - week 1 (it's a whole new blog)

Quite a few items caught my eye this week, and rather than wait .. well, here is sundry on Thursday:

there you go again

1. Are spammers going to take Friday off? Highly unlikely. Direct Marketing Association Urges Halt to Telemarketing, E-Mail for Reagan Remembrance

2. Family Circus Predicts! is Truly Great Stuff; each day, the Family Circus cartoon (about As White Bread As It Gets) is "interpreted".

3. I Google'd for [most important meal of the day] and the results were consistent: Breakfast - Most Important Meal of the Day. I didn't see any sites advocating brunch, lunch, supper, dinner or even bedtime snack. So ... mom was right?

4. The prior search led to Get in the Breakfast Habit (in the UK) which mentioned Egg and Soldiers (a British breakfast delicacy). Then there's the British Egg Information Service. My heart, be still.

5. Elena Lappin's haunting item regarding The Patriot Act: Welcome to America describes a systemic policy of harassing media representatives from friendly countries. With friends like us, who needs enemies?

4. Silly me, I must've missed the day in school where they discussed forbs. I encountered this term while trying (unsuccessfully) to find out the name of the mystery plant I saw growing along the roadside last Sunday, in Wise and Throckmorton Counties (apparently part of the Rolling Plains). Dallas appears to be on the Edwards Plateau (see the map: 11 natural regions of Texas) on the Texas Parks and Wildlife site.

5. Dallas, Texas Scanner Frequencies. This is riveting stuff, not for the faint of heart.

6. OddSpot of the week: TexLUG (Texas LEGO Users Group)

7. UrbanDictionary.com defines sheeple (aka the Hoi Polloi, aka the Silent Majority, aka .. aw, who cares? -- they don't vote.)

month -1 : May 2004

KNON-FM 89.3 MHz Dallas : pledge drive months are February, May, August, and November

myjumpsuit.com : "men's jumpsuits and casual pants"

movies: Hester Street (1975) and The Odessa File (1974)

CookWorks (near The Container Store) : "fine kitchen and cooking supplies"

Impressive Signs & Graphics - "all kinds of signs"

ComputerWorld magazine

Newspaper Job Fairs (Expo Experts)

Xeriscape information, courtesy of Texas A&M

spotted in the History Channel: intermarium; The Odessa Network (SS)

ultrasonic stain remover: Tide Buzz

Russia's Lubyanka Prison

Internet dating sites: eHarmony and Addison (Texas) Singles

book: Hitler's Table Talk (1941-4) records the private conversations of Adolf Hitler

month -2 : April 2004

In this month's MaGaW meeting, Eric-Bob held us spellbound with Tales of 7-11, including:

1. the thief who overheated the nachos in the microwave as a distraction to steal a case of beer
2. the clerk who (on St Patricks Day) was too scared to walk through a group of drunks
3. the pit bull terrier in the server room, protecting the computer hardware (in the southside of Chicago)
4. the clerk who was asked to perform a floppy BIOS flash, but didn't have a diskette, and said it was "too dark to find Wal-Mart"

stilesoft.com (Adam Stiles) now directs to NetCaptor : "the original tabbed browser"

SmallStep.gov (healthy lifestyle)

Mystery Shopping Provideers Organization

choose your airline seat: seatguru.com

RoboForm is a free password manager and one-click web form filler with some serious Artificial Intelligence.