Project Insomnia

What the hell do I have to do to get a response from these people? It's still broken; trying to log in to Blogger results in "User account not found", there's no record of my email address in the system, and I've only received unhelpful automated responses to my support requests. I've added this and the previous post manually, by editing the site's index page. I'm extremely frustrated.

Blogger has apparently lost my account information. I can't log in. It's not just a password problem; the system doesn't recognize my user account name or email address. I've filed a help request, but on the evening before Thanksgiving I'm not optimistic of receiving help any time soon.

Cheney Accuses Iraq Critics of Revisionism-- SFGate/AP

'We never had the burden of proof,' [Cheney] said, adding that it had been up to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to prove to the world that he didn't have such weapons.

I'm trying to compile a list of all countries which have not proven to the world that they don't have WMD. It's a pretty long list. Under the Cheney Doctrine, I suppose we can expect invasions of each and every one?

Toonces the Driving Cat

Door thwarts quick exit for Bush -- BBC

President George W Bush tried to make a quick exit from a news conference in Beijing on Sunday - only to find himself thwarted by locked doors.

After answering just six questions from a group of US reporters, the president strode away heading towards the door.

President Bush tugged at both handles on the double doors before admitting: "I was trying to escape. Obviously, it didn't work."

The linked article includes a short video clip; the larger photo above is from this Sydney Morning Herald article.

"A new poll shows that 66% of Americans think President Bush is doing a poor job of handling the war in Iraq, and the remaining 34% think Adam and Eve rode dinosaurs to church." -- Tina Fey, SNL Weekend Update Oct 29, 2005

Luckily, Bush doesn't decide policy based on focus groups.

How to tame an inflated entertainment budget -- CNet News.com/NYT

You probably spend more on entertainment than you do on groceries, clothing or gasoline.

If you don't believe it, take a few minutes to total your monthly costs, starting with the services that have you locked in: basic cable television, and any premium channels, like HBO or Showtime; Netflix to rent videos; TiVo for digital recording; your high-speed Internet connection; and perhaps, satellite radio and streaming music like Yahoo Music. You are already up to about $200 a month, or $2,400 a year.

Don't forget your iTunes music and video downloads, plus magazines, movie rentals, movie tickets, live shows and sporting events. Add in your cellphone and any of its video, data and premium content.

I haven't added ours up, but I'm sure it's pretty scary. I don't know that DSL is really an "entertainment" expense; I consider it more of a "utility" like electricity or water. The article also includes mobile phones as "entertainment"; again, I would disagree. If you adjust the category to "entertainment/communications" then I could see these expenses included.

Eyre accepts 2-year contract with Cubs -- SFGate

The Giants officially lost their best 2005 reliever Thursday when Scott Eyre agreed to a two-year contract with the Cubs that includes a player option for 2008 and is worth $11 million.

Eyre leaves a big void in the Giants' bullpen. He pitched 86 times last season and emerged as one of the game's top left-handed relievers. Although the Giants speak highly of rookie lefty Jack Taschner, general manager Brian Sabean likely will try to acquire a more seasoned arm.

This loss is going to hurt, and hurt a lot. In a season that even Giants management admits was a stinker, Eyre was one of the few bright spots.

SAN MATEO / Bride testifies about wedding night carjack -- SFGate

Until they got to the Taco Bell, Steve Almanza and Valerie Zahn had enjoyed a typical and exhausting wedding day -- she in a white gown, he in a tuxedo and about 100 friends and family members gathering for a celebration in his parents' San Mateo backyard.

The young newlyweds -- still in their formal clothes -- were at the fast-food restaurant on East Fourth Avenue in San Mateo about 11 p.m. on their way to a hotel in Burlingame. Almanza went in for some takeout food, and a couple minutes later, while her new husband was inside the restaurant, the 22-year-old bride was the victim of one of the shortest and most unsuccessful carjackings in history.

We visted that particular Taco Bell many times when we lived in San Mateo. Never carjacked, though.

Two new reviews today: Yen Ching (Orange) and Al's Fish & Chips (Redwood City).

This is a test.

Edit to add: It's still broken (previous posts were made with BlogThis!) but a workaround is to Preview and then Publish, rather than Publishing from the post entry mode.

Apparently I misdirunderestiminated the reasonablenesses of the B&N manageringment. Why I am I talking like GWB? Because I feel stupid. They did nothing, there was no mention at all, no problem, nobody seems to have cared.

Last night (Friday) may have been my final shift at Barnes & Noble. I'll know tomorrow. The mandatory all-hands holiday meeting is tomorrow (Sunday) at six in the morning, and I won't be there. I let three management team members know and none of them had any comment.

I think I'm being very reasonable. I fill out a form every month stating my available hours of work for B&N, and they're always the same: Sunday noon to 10:30, weeknights 7 to 10:30 and no more than two nights a week. Nowhere in that does it say 6:00 AM Sunday (or any other day). I'm simply not available to B&N at that hour.

However, I have this feeling that not coming to the holiday meeting may be grounds for termination. I've never been disciplined, I'm the best cashier they have and I've been number 1 in the store in membership sales since the day I started, two years ago. If not going to a 6:00 AM Sunday morning meeting means they'll fire me then that's fine; things have turned around financially at home and the extra hundred bucks a week is no longer needed. I'll miss it, to be sure; I like the people I work with, I like the interaction with customers (most of them), I love working with books, and of course the 30% employee discount is very welcome.

But at the end it's not my choice. Actually I suppose it is: if I choose to go to the 6:00 AM Sunday morning meeting, there's no problem. The part that isn't my decision is what happens when I don't go. And for that, I'll have to wait to find out until I go in for my scheduled shift tomorrow afternoon.

By the way, last year's holiday meeting was held three times, at 7:00 in the evening on three successive weeknights, so that everyone could make it.

Lemur Species Named After John Cleese -- SFGate/AP

Most people know him as the Minister for Silly Walks on 'Monty Python' or as Q in James Bond films. But John Cleese will also go down in history for another reason: lemurs.

Researchers from the University of Zurich have named a newly discovered species of lemur — one of the most primitive and endangered primates in the world — after the British comedian in honor of his work with the animal.

Woman robs 4 banks while using cell phone -- SFGate/AP

Washington -- When it comes to multitasking, it's hard to beat the woman who can rob a bank and never interrupt her cell phone conversation.

In an act of either incredible cool or something much more sinister, a young woman has robbed four Wachovia bank branches in northern Virginia in recent weeks, all while seemingly immersed in cell phone chats. In the most recent holdup, on Nov. 4 in Ashburn, a video shows the woman to be almost uninterested as a teller hands her a stack of cash, and she continues talking on her phone as she turns and walks out of the bank.

People, whether you're shopping for books or robbing a bank, please just get off the phone for a minute. Thank you.

Blue Ball Machine, origin unknown, is a "mesmerizing virtual factory" that just goes on and on and on. It's actually a single very complex animated GIF, tiled. I saved it off and set it as my desktop wallpaper.
Thanks to CNet News.com's Blogma for the link.

BBSpot continues their series of Geek Pick-Up Lines with Part 4. My favorite: "I have so much love to give you'll have to pipe it through more."

Matrox looking to bring dual monitors mainstream with DualHead2Go -- Ars Technica

On a laptop with VGA out, the laptop's screen can be used as a third monitor, with the Windows Desktop spanning across all three. While the DualHead2Go is aimed primarily at Windows users, it can theoretically be used by any operating system. The device simply reports the existence of a double-wide display to the graphics hardware, and lets the OS handle the appropriate screen-spanning.

This is a truly neat idea, though I think I'd position the laptop in between the two monitors instead of off to the side as in the photo on the linked page.

Available in mid-November 2005, the DualHead2Go Dual Analog Edition has a suggested retail price of US$169. This product will be available from authorized resellers worldwide or, in North America and Europe, directly from Matrox.

"Welcome to the new MousePlanet!" reads the headline. And "new" it definitely is: not only an all-new look with actual modern design elements (and up-to-snuff coding) but new park guides and indexes to over 2,000 pages of archived content. Alex has done a fantastic job on this mega-project (somebody hire him, willya?) so go there now and enjoy!

Canoe canoe?

From HowStuffWorks.com, via GMSV, How the Death Star Works:

The Death Star represents the absolute pinnacle of military engineering and technology. In this article HowStuffWorks will look at the Death Star inside and out, examine the fascinating history behind this powerful military and political tool, discover other incarnations of the Death Star and learn about what really happens when you blow up a planet.

Particularly interesting is the disparity in casualty reporting between the Alliance and the Empire in the destruction of the first Death Star.

From the AP by way of SFGate: San Francisco shortstop Omar Vizquel won his 10th Gold Glove, his first in the NL after the nine straight he earned with the Cleveland Indians from 1993-01.

"I was doubting that people were going to vote for me again," said Vizquel, who moved past Luis Aparicio into second place for Gold Gloves won by a shortstop, trailing only Ozzie Smith's 13. "I think this has been the most emotional Gold Glove I had besides the first one because it marks a big thing in the history of baseball. I think I'm the second guy to reach double digits and it passes my idol for a long time, Luis Aparicio."

Giants catcher Mike Matheny won his fourth overall and third straight. But he blamed himself for some of the pratfalls of the Giants' repeatedly changing rotation.

"It definitely added to the challenge, but also the frustration," he said. "I'm always pointing it at myself. I just didn't seem to help these guys in any way I wanted to."

CoinOpVideoGames.com has a rather large archive of 80s arcade game sounds, downloadable in MP3 format. These are ambient arcade recordings made at various arcades throughout the 80s, and include such classics as Berzerk, GORF, and my all-time favorite Major Havoc.

Thanks to SiliconValley.com for the link.

A's third baseman Eric Chavez has won his fifth consecutive gold glove, the AP reports via SFGate:

'When you have a streak intact, you want to keep it going as long as you possibly can,' said Chavez, who committed 15 errors. 'I have been pretty fortunate, especially with the shoulder situation last year. The past four or five years, I've felt pretty lucky. I don't really expect anything. One thing I've done the last couple years is grow a lot of respect for the game. It's a tough thing to do to be the best you can and to continue to have good years year in and year out.'

On the downside, the A's elected not to pick up first baseman/designated hitter Scott Hatteberg's contract option:

Hatteberg's role diminished with the emergence of rookie first baseman Dan Johnson, called up in late May from Triple-A Sacramento. Johnson batted .275 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs as a rookie.

Hatteberg, 35, hit .256 last season with seven homers and 59 RBIs in 134 games, 78 at DH. He spent the past four seasons in Oakland after playing for the Boston Red Sox in the first seven years of his big league career.