DC Dan

Dagger This

2009-02-24T13:02:00.001-05:00

Jamaica Eliminates Sex and Violence From Airwaves

This is sad, sad day for dance hall and reggaeton.

The Right Technology for Right Job

2009-02-23T21:28:00.003-05:00

Dear Twitterers,

I've been picking up several followers on Twitter lately, which is kind of surprising as I haven't done much to promote it or anything, but I've seen some fundamental flaws in the way the my new followers use their accounts. Using Twitter to post the title and the tinyurl to your latest post is pretty much the easiest way to ensure that I will never ever follow you. If I wanted to know about new posts on your blog I would use interesting technology called "RSS" which not only predates Twitter it also, get this is even compatible with tools that were created for this specific purpose. So yep you kind of screw the pooch on by using Twitter to do so.
Secondly if I want to follow your Twitter posts the way I do not want to do it is by subscribing to your RSS feed for your blog and then get instead of updates about posts to your blog I get summaries of your Tweets.

So yo summarize it I want to read your Twitter posts I'll subscribe to your Twitter stream, if I want to read your blog I'll subscribe to your blog and never the twain shall meet.

Sigh,
DC Dan

PS to subscribe to my blog please send an email to me and I'll add you as a Twitter a friend so you can follow my blog posts and email a link and a copy of the message each time I post.

Yore Two

2009-02-18T16:41:00.006-05:00

Dear Internet Users,

There are many things one can do to not look like a complete idiot while online. Here are three grammatical errors I often see.

Yore, Your and You're
Yore means back in the days and is rarely used.
You're is a contraction for "you are" if you can't replace the word you're with "you are" in the sentence then you have it wrong.
Your signifies possession.
Here is a sentence that uses them all remember this to guide you.
You're looking at your yearbook thinking about the days of yore.

To, Too and Two
To is a preposition, it also is used to put verbs into the infinitive tense though if you understood that then you probably don't make that mistake.
Too is used in a couple of ways to mean more in the sense of more than enough or it means additionally.
Two is the number 2.
If it doesn't mean more than enough, additionally or the specific number 2 then use to.
Here is a sentence that uses them all remember this to guide you.
Is it too much to ask that you take the two cats to your sister's too?

Thanks,
DC Dan

DC Dan Quote of the Week

2009-02-17T11:42:00.001-05:00

"It's one of the most exciting reports on the history of chocolate of the past 10 to 15 years"

Louis Grivetti

Recurring Memes

2009-02-13T13:39:00.003-05:00

One of the things I've noticed lately with Facebook is people are just using it to rehash past internet trends of email, the web, Friendster, My Space and the like. This dawned on me while seeing people put their "bucket list" on Facebook or the twenty or so other quizzes. These used to travel by email, then web form quizzes and now Facebook. People just keeping doing the same in new mediums. I guess this fits into my idea of "no platform is complete unless it has a chess game and tetris clone" The new rule must be it's not a social networking platform unless it has silly lists.

Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

2009-02-10T22:17:00.003-05:00

The woman with the baby drama is a plant by the right wing to prove the "welfare queen" that the Reagan conservatives rely on as evidence of the EVIL of social support programs.

P4CM

2009-02-05T14:27:00.004-05:00

I hope this and this are jokes, but from the amount of effort put into it, I'm guessing not.

Sigh

Luckily someone has taken them on.

Holy Fuck Apple "Gets It"

2009-02-03T22:27:00.005-05:00

I've just installed iLife '09 and holy fuck I think Apple gets it.
If you watch this video and don't agree, please me know.
http://www.apple.com/welcomescreen/ilife09/iphoto/play/

To be fair, there are some spots that need polishing, but overall they have the right idea but the level of detail from the screen shot blows me away as I haven't don't anything but have it scan my old pictures.

DC Dan Quote of the Week

2009-02-03T10:50:00.002-05:00

"Marriage is an important part of getting ahead: lets people know you're not a homo; married guy seems more stable; people see the ring, they think at least somebody can stand the son of a bitch; ladies see the ring, they know immediately you must have some cash or your cock must work."
Ellerby in "The Departed"

Luckily DC is a Safe Zone

2009-01-31T13:23:00.002-05:00

I saw this graph of Wal-Mart's expansion (infection) in the US.

Link of the Week

2009-01-27T18:29:00.003-05:00

Holy shit I have even more respect for Betty White now

I thought she was cool after the Shatner Roast but this is over the top awesome

Sadly I found out this isn't THE Betty White.

DC Dan Quote of the Week

2009-01-27T10:50:00.000-05:00

"I wrote a song about dental floss but did anyone's teeth get cleaner?"
Frank Zappa at a Senate Hearing on Porn Rock (1985) in response to Tipper Gore's allegations that music incites people towards deviant behavior, or influences their behavior in general (he is referring to his song "Montana".)

Songsmith vs The Real Songs

2009-01-24T13:10:00.003-05:00

Microsoft has an R&D project called Songsmith that will put music to a person singing essentially creating backing music watch a demo

Someone had the great idea of using it with vocals from many popular songs Song Smith Remixes

Another Reason to Love Religion

2009-01-17T12:40:00.002-05:00

Top Saudi cleric: OK to wed young girls

You see this meets the biblical definition* of marriage and homosexuality is not allowed by law in Saudi Arabia. So conservative Christians can go fuck themselves. And eight year old was married to a 47 year old to "settle a debt."

*I'd like to point to the Christian conservatives that the Bible doesn't state anywhere that marriage is between one man and one woman. In fact most of the heroes of the Bible have had several wives, Abraham had two King David had eight.

DC Dan Quote of the Week

2009-01-16T10:20:00.000-05:00

Part of the debtor mentality is a constant, frantically suppressed undercurrent of terror. We have one of the highest debt-to-income ratios in the world, and apparently most of us are two paychecks from the street. Those in power -- governments, employers -- exploit this, to great effect. Frightened people are obedient -- not just physically, but intellectually and emotionally. If your employer tells you to work overtime, and you know that refusing could jeopardize everything you have, then not only do you work the overtime, but you convince yourself that you're doing it voluntarily, out of loyalty to the company; because the alternative is to acknowledge that you are living in terror. Before you know it, you've persuaded yourself that you have a profound emotional attachment to some vast multinational corporation: you've indentured not just your working hours, but your entire thought process. The only people who are capable of either unfettered action or unfettered thought are those who -- either because they're heroically brave, or because they're insane, or because they know themselves to be safe -- are free from fear.
Quote is from The Likeness, a novel set in Ireland, by Tana French.

Via Schneier on Security

Manuel Noriega Solved

2009-01-14T11:57:00.003-05:00

Courts try to decide what to do with Manuel Noriega

I know what the courts should do. they should let him move in with the rapper N.O.R.E. of the duo Capone-N-Noreaga.

DC Dan Quote of the Week

2009-01-06T10:57:00.000-05:00

"Expectation only leads to disaapoinment"

Quote of the Week

2008-12-16T11:55:00.001-05:00

From a NYT story about Tracy Morgan:

Tracy Morgan said he knows where a life of misbehavior, pursued in the service of making others laugh, is going to get him. “You get somebody to crack a smile, that’s a beautiful thing,” he said. “So I think all comedians are earning their wings into heaven. We’re all going to heaven, but everybody’s not going to get their wings. Some people are just going to be regular angels. Doing cleanup, janitor work.”

“In heaven,” he said proudly, “I’m going to sit on the couch with Oprah.”

Open Letter

2008-12-11T19:22:00.000-05:00

Dear Big Corporations

Don't made ads that you think the "kids" will get and find funny, you will just look dumb.

Yours Truly,

DC Dan

BlueTooth Receivers

2008-12-08T13:39:00.003-05:00

Can some one please explain why I can't find a nice home theater receiver that uses Bluetooth?
The Wii and PS3 both use it well, and since most setups now have onscreen display it would be nice to be able to hide all of the equipment out of view.
Update: I just want it to use a BT remote control not A2DP for sound.

Arab Money Remix Part 1

2008-12-05T11:03:00.002-05:00

Busta Rhymes has entered the news again and though I had a short period where I was over exposed to Busta, he's always been one of my favorite cameo rappers. He killed it on "Scenario" and even this year his verses on "Fried Chicken" were great. So it saddens me to hear people complaining about his song "Arab Money Remix Part 1"
With a title referring to Arab money you'd expect the controversy to be about the lyrics, the gist of which is as a rapper he's made so much money that he's rich like an Arab in the Middle East. Though this isn't what has set people off. The problem that has caused controversy and has caused a British DJ to be suspended is this.

“In ‘Arab Money Remix Part 1,’ in the chorus you used (‘Bismillah Ulrahman Ulrahim Alhamdullillah rab Ulalamen) which is a Quranic verse from the first Surah (chapter) in the Holy Quran,” a Muslim reader named Khalid wrote to AllHipHop.com.

“As an Arab and a Muslim it's prohibited to sing or cite a Quranic verse in combination with music and most Muslims will find this disrespectful," Khalid explained.

What the fuck? In "Fried Chicken" he sings about eating swine (which violates Muslim and Jewish laws), he is clearly in violation of the rules of two religions. The humanity!
What is he to do about situations where he is caught in a catch 22 and will have to violate the laws of at least one religion?

I've got two quotes to people who are offended:
“There are no gods, no devils, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”
-Freedom from Religion Foundation

"And if I offended you, oh I'm sorry
But maybe you need to be offended
But here's my apology and one more thing...fuck you!
Cause you can't bring me down."
-Suicidal Tendencies

For those interest the songs mentioned are definitely worth purchasing.

When Life Gives You Lemons

2008-12-04T15:59:00.001-05:00

New Laptop Sticker
Originally uploaded by dcdan

Sigh, so I was looking at my co-worker's 17 inch MacBook Pro and realized he has the high resolution screen and remembered, shit I'm supposed to have the high resolution screen too. The only thing I could possibly imagine, is when I sent my laptop in for repair in June because the screen wasn't working they must have replaced it with the wrong one. I called support but they claim only my motherboard was replaced, I would bet otherwise b/c as the picture shows there were stickers on it when I sent it in and it didn't comeback with them, I blame taking so long to notice on the fact I was using a crappy work computer all day with 1280x800 so ANYTHING at home looks better. The support line suggested I take it to an Apple store, sigh.

One thing I found while looking into this further is that I have a Santa Rosa chipset and it is claimed that it can handle 6GBs of RAM.
Do they sell 3GB sticks?

DC Dan Quote of the Week

2008-11-25T13:02:00.001-05:00

Self-chosen epitaph: "Curiosity did not kill this cat."
Studs Terkel

DC Dan Quote of the Week

2008-11-19T13:15:00.001-05:00

"A word to the credulous: Satan was a literary invention to give Jesus a villain. There’s no such thing as Satan. There’s no such thing as God. Jesus, like Barack Obama, was a politician."

Warren Ellis

I Feel For You

2008-11-14T17:48:00.001-05:00

This video has almost every bad 80s cliche its saving grace is the guy doing the robot.

Chaka Khan |MTV Music