It’s Thursday, September 30, 2010 and we’ll get to today’s regularly scheduled feature in a bit.
First though, we have what may turn out to be a new weekly segment, depending upon how sleep-deprived Jim gets:
In response to last week’s Random Fact Guy segment, Jim writes:
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Random Fact Guy is WRONG!!!!
The small chameleon-like animals known as Naugas™ have long been known as the source of beautiful and durable fabrics that look like fine, soft leather. And since Naugas shed their hydes without harm to themselves, the fabrics they help make came to be known as Naugahyde®, The Cruelty Free Fabric™. Despite the popularity of these little animals and their hydes, little is known of their origins and how they first came to America. Some researchers say Naugas™ are native to the island of Sumatra. Ancient Nauga artifacts recently found near the Coliseum in Rome have, however, cast doubt on this theory. One prominent historian believes the first Naugas arrived in America in 1778 when they delivered designer clothes from France to George Washington’s Continental Army. Others suggest they arrived far earlier, pointing out an abandoned tenth century Viking settlement that was recently unearthed in Newfoundland. Among the tantalizing evidence is the discovery of two Nauga names, Olaf the Red and Erik the Navy Blue, on a fragment of stone tablet at the site. But like most immigrants many Naugas simply arrived with little more than their hydes on their backs and a willingness to work hard for a better future. Until the early 1900′s Naugas™ were hunted to near extinction in many parts of the world. Even in America, Nauga hunts were a common occurrence well into the 1800′s. It was only after widespread newspaper reports of hunters aboard moving trains shooting Naugas for sport and leaving untold thousands dead and dying along the railroad tracks that public outrage brought an end to the slaughter. There is lots more unnerving history to this beloved creature. I will bring more when the welling of tears subsides. Jim |
Hi Jim, First of all, Random Fact Guy, by definition can not be wrong. A fact is a fact, it therefor follows: Secondly, RFG holds advanced degrees in every imaginary university in this space-time continuum. He is also Professor Emeritus at a plethora of colleges and universities in the the Alternate Universe. Therefor, any utterance he makes is true somewhere. Finally, RFG is the guy the Dos Equis Dude goes to for advice and counsel. You can’t be “The most interesting man alive” without keeping yourself up to date on things interesting.
Elim |
Jim counters with:
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Actually, as of this month in Montana, the total population that has a “Green Card” is 27k and some change. Given that, the total population of Montana, as of the census in July 2009, is just shy of a million, the percentage is bordering on 2.8% +/- something! Now, If I gave you 2.8% of a million bucks, would you say “That’s gonna have to be a bigger number before I give it much more thought.”? Just tuggin on the beard brother!!!!! Jim |
Hi Again, Jim, Okay, 2.8%. Still well below my threshold of caring about it. Money is one thing. People using pot legally for “medical” purposes is quite another. If you were to cover 2.8% of my body with mange, that would be well in excess of the amount of mange I’m willing to tolerate. So again, logic clearly dictates: Two Hand Salutes for effort. Elim |
- Hoo boy, do I have zero use for people who try to get me on their email list.
Earlier in the week, I got an envelope containing this card:
and a single piece of paper with a web address on it that included my name. Obviously going to that address would validate that they had in fact mailed it to a real person with a real address. Theorizing that they had this trap set for people other than me, I tried the URL with different names.
They sent it to a Tony Jones too! I “logged in” as him.
It was a flash animation where I had to drag a card (much like the one in the envelope) to a card reader to be granted access. I was then presented with another animation where I had to drag several network devices to a bag in order to “secure” someone’s network.
Sigh…. Okay, for the gazillionth time: Security is not a product. It is a process! Yes, securing a network certainly involves devices, but any nitwit who thinks they’ve secured their network by simply deploying n number of devices deserves their fate.
In my last job, I had to deal with a lot of what I call “free hat” IT people. These are people who have bought enough stuff, or attended enough courses to get a free hat. Just because you have a Cisco hat doesn’t mean you’re qualified to manage a network. They’d buy some new device and either ignoring or being unable to fathom the instructions, would call their ISP tech support.
I would dutifully supply their IP information: This is your IP address, this is your netmask and this is your gateway. 99% of the time, the next question was predictable: “Thanks, what do I do with that?”
I don’t miss dealing with these idiots AT ALL!
But back to my grievance. At the end of dragging devices to the bag and proclaiming the network secure, I was provided a form to fill out. This form would certainly ensure a phone call, and not being at all interested, I filled it out accordingly. The end result was:
Sorry Dan, but you did talk a lot of smack about me, so you get the phone calls.
- I don’t need a president that has people in his own party asking “WTF?” I feel for the democrats, I really do, but hey, I had 8 years of asking that when Bush was in office.
- I don’t have a lot of need for people who have had a computer on their desk for more than a year, yet still claim to be “computer illiterate.” Come on! You’ve been driving a car for at least that long and I bet you have some idea as to its rudimentary operations. No one is expecting you to open the case and defraggle it. But I see nothing unreasonable with asking you to be more specific than “it’s not working.”
- I’m not sure how I got on this person’s mailing list, but I’ve pretty much had it with emails from a stranger, telling me about their visit with other strangers. I did get some good pictures this time and will behaving some sport with them tomorrow. A sample:
Since they saw fit to include everyone’s address in the TO: field, I sent out a message to the group (making it appear to come from them) with this:
with no explanation. Should be good for a giggle or two.
I think that’ll do it for this week’s annoyances. Yeah, I don’t have a lot to get worked up about, again.
Have a safe and pleasant Thursday! I’m working tomorrow, so expect the blog at the usual time. I’m taking Monday off instead to greet the contractors coming to install our new windows.