DMV on MySpace

The California DMV now has a MySpace page, as well as a bunch of YouTube videos intended to help people be better drivers. I haven't checked them out, but the idea is very clever. Towards the end of the NY Times article about this development, I laughed out loud at this unexpected punchline:

As is perhaps less than surprising for a D.M.V. MySpace page, the department has fewer than 40 friends.

Declaring war on junk e-mail

On a daily basis, I get probably 15-20 junk email messages. They're not quite spam, because at some point or another I actually either signed up for it, or bought something that put me on the list. I get 1-2 "personal" messages a day, if that. It really is out of control. It's as bad as, if not worse than, junk postal mail. To wit, my inbox today:

B.A. Framer
UCSD Alumni Association
Amazon
iTunes
US Mint
Harris Teeter (x2)
New York Times (x2)
Eddie Bauer
WRAL
News & Observer
Snapfish

Yesterday, many of the above, PLUS:
Pandora
One.org
Bravenet
Star Tribune
Trip Advisor
Apple
Longhorn Steakhouse
e-Miles
BMG
Holiday Inn Express
US Airways
Continental

And that's not even counting all the emails I have automatically labeled "promotions" and set to bypass my Inbox: Bath & Body Works, NewEgg, Buy.com, Talbots, Art.com, Borders, Body Shop, Comp USA. I don't unsubscribe outright, because often there are valuable coupons in these emails, but nor do I want to see them every few days, when I purchase from these vendors only a couple of times a year. Thank goodness for the Gmail filter option. I'm off to create more filters, so I can basically reserve my Inbox for REAL emails.

No, really, what were they thinking?

Going through photos from my training trips...came across this one...didn't know why I took it at first, but when I zoomed in, it became clear. Or rather, unclear...


Seriously, WHO thought that sign would help anyone?

Taco Town

This is one of the funniest SNL commercials ever!

SUMO!

I work in a great office with awesome bosses. Just for fun, they rented those giant padded sumo costumes and let us all "fight" each other starting at 4 last Friday. It was nuts! They also provided pizza and beer, so a fun time was had by all. Here's a shot of one of the company's owners fighting our director of marketing:


I opted not to don the sweaty suit and instead had fun taking the photos. My manager went up against one of the people in our department and got whooped--after the winner was declared, though, he went ballistic and kept attacking him! It was hilarious! This is a photo of their bout:

Adorable puppy

I was waiting at the signal by my house, which is like 4 minutes long, and beside me was a pickup truck. I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye, so I looked over, and saw the cutest little puppy in the back! I rolled down my window and talked to him, and he got all excited. (I was kinda afraid he might try to jump out, but he seemed to be tied down pretty well.) I don't like the idea of driving with a dog in the back of a truck, but boy he was adorable.

Of course it made me want to get one. Whenever I see cats or dogs, I have a visceral reaction. My whole face lights up and I immediately want to pet and hold them. Recently, I was parking at a hotel in South Carolina, and I saw a cat run into the bushes. I tried to find it so I could give it some luv, but wasn't able to. I think especially when I see an animal in an unexpected place, the rush is even stronger. I wish I could have 10 dogs and 10 cats, but that's just my tendency to want too much of a good thing, because I know that in reality that would be so much work, not to mention chaotic.

Answers to questions

From David Pogue's email newsletter:

Why do the signal-strength bars on my cellphone change when I’m standing still?

The signal indicator isn’t a live depiction of your cell strength. The phone needs to send out a “ping” to the tower from time to time to figure out if it is still connected. You may be in a spot where you get full signal strength, then move to a dead spot, and the phone won’t know for a set interval (30 seconds or so, I believe) until it pings again and figures out the new strength. Thus, you stand there with 4 bars and then suddenly get 1 or 0. If it were a live update, the battery would drain a heck of a lot faster.
* * *
Often the signal is being reflected off buildings and or terrain and that will give you varying signal strength. This may also explain why sometimes you can’t make a call even though you’ve got enough bars as reflected signals are weak anyway.

Why is the numeric keypad on a computer (7-8-9 at the top) upside-down from the numeric keypad on phones (1-2-3 on top)?

When 10-key touch-tone telephones were invented it was decided that folks accustomed to 10-key calculators would type in the numbers faster than the then-developed equipment could handle, so the numbers were inverted.
* * *
The computer keypad is a legacy of the adding machine/calculator and is mostly used by bean counters, who are too old to learn new tricks. The phone keypad is a legacy from the rotary dial, with the 1 on top and 0 at bottom. The dial had the alphabet to contend with. No one wants to see that upside down.

Why aren’t elevator buttons double action? Press once to go to floor, press again to cancel. It would save all those “OOPS! — I hit the wrong button” moments.

I live in Korea — almost all the elevators are “one push on/second push off” style. Most in Japan, too. Much more sensible, and if that annoying kid who presses them all shows up, easy to fix. Though one time I had someone unpush my floor because they thought they had pushed it by mistake, and so I had a bit longer elevator ride. But over all, a definite plus.
* * *
Because there are people who think punching a lit elevator button makes it come faster. Really. Drop in to my office.

Annual Wake County Library Book Sale

This was my second year going to the book sale. I asked to leave work early so I could get there before the evening rush, and snag the best titles. Here's a look at the book buying madness:



And here's my take. Not bad for under $60.


I think my favorite find of the evening was Wicked. But I'm also excited to read the memoirs of Bill and Hillary, the David Sedaris book, I Know This Much Is True, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and The Secret Life of Bees.

Some of the books are stacked, because I didn't have enough room. The biggest stacks are the chick lit novels and the cookbooks. I got a couple church compilations. I think those will probably have the best recipes, because they're everyone's favorites. Flipping through the pages, they seem very simple to make.

You can visit the sale if you live in the Raleigh area. It's going on through Sunday, and the prices get even cheaper come the weekend. Details here.

Cutest little car

You've got to watch this video. The whole thing. It's so cool!

Animal-lover's dilemma

There's a trial going on right now in Galveston, TX. You may have heard about the man, James Stevenson, who shot and killed a cat because he claimed it was stalking endangered birds. He admits to killing the animal, and even to the act being premeditated, but he insists he was doing it to protect the birds. Apparently the case has drawn attention from bird lovers and cat lovers alike, and both sides are strident in the defense of their positions.

I myself am a cat person. In fact, my care for birds is so low that I even consent to eat the chicken and turkey variety. So of course I think this guy deserves to be punished. The key factor in the case, which will determine whether or not he is convicted, is whether or not the cat was feral, or belonged to someone. It lived under a bridge, so was not a traditional pet, but the bridge's toll taker did feed it and provide toys, so in my opinion, that makes the cat his pet.

However, I do see his point about the cat being a problem for the birds. But isn't that nature's way? It's one thing when a species is bordering on extinction due to human destruction of its habitat, but when the animal's own natural predators are to blame, I think that's called "survival of the fittest."

Here's the link to the article in the NY Times (free registration required), if you care to read more.