| News About Photos | Music Art Words Games | | ||
|
News Archive - 03/2004 Monday, March 01, 2004
Some people have requested a list of movies to watch that I think are good, so off the top of my head: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller/Con Men/Twists:
Not Mystery/Suspense/Thriller/Con Men/Twists:
Not Worth Your Time:
Did I miss any? Let me know! Yesterday's notable search terms: scratch built dropships, stubborn trees are torn up, roots and all, baby llama pictures, lycomaniac, it's america what can they want with us ringo List of Oscar Winners How Much is Inside? Hooker steals police van Kerasotes' management is in the process of creating new guidelines for preventing people dressed as "evil beings" from gaining entrance to the theatrepermalink
| 2 comments Tuesday, March 02, 2004 This was the only entry in my "Design My Living Room" contest, submitted by Mike Catania:
It obviously loses because the snake pit is far too close to the venus flytrap for there not to be a daily rumble. My house is slowly coming to order -- I've spent the weekends and a few hours each weekday cleaning, fixing, and helping with things like water heater installation. It looks like I'll be moved out of the apartment and into the house by the end of March, so I'll be moving up to Sterling at the same time as my office moves to Reston. Yesterday's notable search terms: dustin oscar sword genitalia, halp halp mnr mnr hrt hrt, quotes about pepole who surprise us, chris fraker tuba I'm in the 90th percentile Why doesn't anyone ever notice a baby-snatcher's new baby? Police caught issuing tickets as a contest Pet snitching offer countered by cat food companypermalink
| 2 comments Wednesday, March 03, 2004
My sister got accepted to vet school at Virginia Tech and is now in the Class of 2008. Congratulations! I guess buying that house out in the middle of nowhere was a good gamble. I have nothing important to talk about today, so I will leave you with this nugget of a thread from a forum:
Yesterday's notable search terms: lake barcroft running, maynard transfer starcraft, coniferous and decides trees Those damn Nazi Americans Say goodbye to Super Size Civil War: US vs Killington Invasion of giant crabs from Norwaypermalink
| 3 comments Thursday, March 04, 2004 Something about this situation rubs me the wrong way: Ignoring the death, which I'm not trying to argue was deserved, these charges seem to be a weak attempt to place the blame somehow to appease the living. Yes, the 18-year-old bong buyer plays a small part in responsibility for the accident and subsequent death, but it also seems like people are not willing to fault someone who has died, as if they become a saint as soon as they're gone (and not just in this specific example). Here we have a girl who should be old enough to know right & wrong or smart & dumb. She's a member of Students Against Drunk Driving, and yet she drinks five beers out of a beer bong and drives off, seriously injuring an innocent driver on the road who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. People can argue that the bong buyer was at fault, or the beer company was at fault, or her friends were at fault for letting her drive, or peer pressure was to blame, but at the end of the day, this girl was the one who made the conscious decision to drink. Her death should not absolve her of the responsibility for her actions. The bong buyer might be the shadiest character you'd ever meet, but racking up charges against him will change nothing. And yes, I would feel differently if the bong buyer were replaced with a drug dealer or a direct source of something illegal, but we're talking about a funnel and some tubing here. At some point, our forgotten friend, common sense, needs to take a more active role in life and law. Thoughts? Am I a leftist commie with no value for human life? Please share. In lighter news, I archived the site Cheney Daily: Daily Thoughts from the Most Powerful Man in the Free World for posterity. The site closed over a year ago, and I put it back together from the Internet Archive. Sadly, I'm missing the last four months of the tale, but you can read what I have here Yesterday's notable search terms: miracles in the aeneid, aeneid miracles, "miracles" "aeneid", miracles "aeneid", miracles aeneid, miracles in virgil's aeneid, miracles on aeneid, miracles aeneid bible, marge schott bonuses candy, waiting at toll booths, antigone is not pusillanimous, hippopotomonstroesquipedalian Looks like some high school teacher just assigned Aeneid as an essay... His pants could have been down because he wasn't feeling well. Election Judge in Baltimore County Teacher resigns after duct-taping boy to desk Sam & Max Freelance Police cancelledSam: "I'm Sam. He's Max. We're in a race against time." permalink
| 7 comments Friday, March 05, 2004 Today, I'm taking the day off to run some errands, buy some housal stuff, and smuggle more goods across the border to Loudoun County. It's supposed to get up to 76 degrees by the evening. I also finally got around to doing a little shuffling in the Links section. I've put a few additions below so you don't have to click more than one time, lazy American. Yesterday's notable search terms: rondo a b a c a b, who dug the money pit, tarestesia, canadian brass midi, eats beech trees, why doesn't my grandfather clock chime on the quarter hour If you ever have to describe something as "tasteful", it really isn't. New Link: Sling's Dojo New Link: Tradebark New Link: Mark Connor's SiteSaturday, March 06, 2004 Yesterday's notable search terms: nikole giraldi, jonathan shachter, dog 1922 meteorite, ada kitchen double door acting, edta color indicator fish tank, illegal hunt camels, empty microwave popcorn bags Buy stamps for e-mail "That belongs to Daddy," Humphrey says the older child told him, "but Mommy put it there." Attack of the three-headed frogSunday, March 07, 2004 Today's update is a new round of kitty pictures. Alias Season 3, Episode 14, tonight at 9 PM. Yesterday's notable search terms: maryland jernegan, what the beatles prove about teenagers, because they bend, even their twigs are safe, businessman suit homeless man Monday, March 08, 2004
The camera centers on the Ford F-150 logo below the driver's side mirror before panning across its Quiet Steel frame as the spies hotwire the car and use its hemi to knock a Ford Explorer out of the way. In their (longest lasting most dependable) F-150, they pursue the villains (who are driving a Ford Mustang) through the parking garage. The villains ultimately get away, but not before ramming a Ford Focus into oncoming traffic. After the show, fade to black with the message "Tonight's episode of Alias has been brought to you by the new F-150" over the Ford logo. True story. Yesterday's notable search terms: nuclear launch detected., fudge said the judge jazz, drum major band hace, burneal forest Driving a Girl's Car Chickens sell out marijuana farmer Yes, honey, I am in the office The Two Towers in Engrishpermalink
| 4 comments Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Apparently the road, with all its bottlenecks and zones with no shoulders, has had an image problem, so Fairfax County is solving the problem with blinking LED signs that say "SPEED LIMIT ENFORCED - DRIVE SAFE" and "RESPECT RED". The truth of the matter: everyone respects red so much that traffic is constantly stopped. Preston Grey Yesterday's notable search terms: primary source on francesco sforza, where did don featherstone go to college at, the urizone makes me vomit, in the morning, in the evening, at supper time, cerebralism composer Happy Birthday Mark! Sheriff's Web site operator sought $300,000 from county article on Interactive Fiction Former kidnapper crashes women's conference So who did fry those locks? DIY dill shoots nail into brainWednesday, March 10, 2004 Yesterday was a long day. I got up at 5 and decided it was too cold to be up, so I went back to sleep until 6. Then, I worked from home until around 9 or 10 after a shower and a bagel, and drove to the office at the tail end of the rush hour. It still took four cycles to get through the light at Old Ox Road. I also signed up for phone service at the new house, and it looks like my number will start with 4444. At work I did some research into top secret sub atomic particles that emit photon beams and quantum teleport to Petropavlovsk, and then left for the house around 2. I did some sanding and some closet painting until my hands were tired, and then went home at 6. At that hour, it took me an hour to get back to Centreville, instead of the usual fifteen minutes at midafternoon. I also stopped by the Spellerbergs' house to say hi and see the new puppy, a yellow lab named Tally. When I finally reached the apartment, I played with the hungry meowing cats and watched some shows in syndication. At 9, Ben, John, Heather, Anna, and I rolled across the street to Glory Days for a later than usual dinner. Around 10:30, I came home and went to sleep. Today's update has been written in the style of Mike Catania Yesterday's notable search terms: spark notes for something upstairs, sv.ghost - error, another word for pine sap, theme from mash, how to exterminate japanese beetles Last weekend, I saw Van Wilder. I thought it was a little funnier than Old School. I also saw Radio, a standard emotionally manipulative feel-good movie. Cuba Gooding Jr. plays a mentally retarded man which hides his lack of acting ability. $1 Million Bill leads to arrest CNN always picks useful pictures to support stories [T]he board said they were "displeased" with [university president accused of plagiarism] Judd after he acknowledged using the oscillating headlights on his state car to pull over a motorist who he believed was speeding. Follow-up to last year's story: Girls Gone Wild is not pornpermalink
| 2 comments Thursday, March 11, 2004 A couple days ago, I arranged for my new phone installation online. Yesterday, I got an e-mail from Verizon asking me to call their Welcome Center. It turns out that they couldn't find any credit history for me, and the lady on the phone asked me to fax them all sorts of paperwork like employment history and driver's license. BU: "So why exactly do I have to submit all this paperwork?" Yesterday's notable search terms: michigan law hydrants crocodiles, tanana tribe lifestyle, coprolalomaniac arachibutyrophobia interesting article on the Command Line Gator goes for a ride Swedish Chef fired for cooking too well; Muppets plan strike Teacher bets student to jump out window to prove evolutionpermalink
| 0 comments Friday, March 12, 2004 Every city has its own breed of annoying driver, and the D.C. metropolitan area is no exception. Someday, when I can affordably mod my car with a fake license plate that drops down over the real one and a radar absorbing (Quiet Steel) frame, I'm also going to add a pneumatic nail gun to the undercarriage. With this, I can covertly shoot nails into the tires of annoying drivers, causing them to have a safe but irritating flat tire several hours later. Such a weapon of mass deflation could be used on:
Got an annoying driver story to share? Let me know! Yesterday's notable search terms: needed tibetan typist for the project, uri brian, debussy disliked mahler Verdict in Alexandria fatal beating A driver in Schenectady, New York, was arrested last month after rolling past police with a DVD titled "Chocolate Foam" playing on the passenger-side sun visor in his Mercedes-Benz. Free Office 2003 not kosher Wendy's sinks are so clean, employees bathe in them Dangerous weapon gets through security screenersSaturday, March 13, 2004 No big update because I'm going to be down in Colonial Beach for most of the day. Yesterday's notable search terms: lerky, michelle cao, zippy the turtle, gorilla:scientific name, hats novelty spam, chords september earth wind and fire, dokschitzer Sunday, March 14, 2004 I was up at the house again today with my dad doing some painting and installing some more overhead light fixtures. It's weird driving through a neighbourhood that is truly dark (no streetlights). All the apartment complexes I've lived in recently have giant security lampposts throughout, some smack dab up against the windows. New Alias tonight at 9 on ABC. Yesterday's notable search terms: leonardo sodomy charge, nohunters, clash of the footmen Frozen lobsters returning to life Bush praises man in speech on womens' rightsMonday, March 15, 2004
Yesterday's notable search terms: worm beech, scriabin mystic chord, bricks in empire state building pepsi, jeered by the minor demons Dinosaur on the runpermalink
| 0 comments Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Following last week's admission that hiring actors to portray the 9/11 firefighters in the controversial Ground Zero reelection ads was "cheaper and quicker", the latest buzz surrounds the faux news releases touting Bush's newest Medicare law Meanwhile, The Bush-Cheney campaign has discontinued its poster generation tool after Bush enemies discovered they could use it nefariously to have their own slogan endorsed by Bush
I've been watching the Daily Show in the evenings when I have the chance -- I'd forgotten how funny and on target it was. After a segment where they took a gay, a jew, a black man to see the revival of Fiddler on the Roof for a panel on anti-Semitism, they tied the gay marriage debate to the discovery of gay penguins at the zoo and referred to them as "chum-guzzling". Yesterday's notable search terms: nate shafroth, water quality pohick bay potomac river virginia, how were settlers encouraged to colonize maryland, 1955 walt disney crossword puzzle, erin lawson soprano, facts (pepsi island) Word Metadata strikes again Mature images in Legoland Woman meets her waterloo The terrorist agenda of dihydrogen monoxidepermalink
| 0 comments Wednesday, March 17, 2004 I think it's interesting that no major news source has really devoted much space to Michael Jackson and the ancient art of pedophilia, ever since his sister stole the show with her mammary malfunction. Family conspiracy? Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Yesterday's notable search terms: scrapbooking page ideas music and piano recital, popcorn microwave toxic fumes, sitcom clock secret passage, cattlebruiser maps, eaten by a lemur dog Laid off worker wins lottery Little girl likes little girls Alias star recruits for the CIA, because the show is just like real life It was unclear whether the man was seeking assistance for his injury or help in nailing down his other hand.Thursday, March 18, 2004 The office is picking up and moving to Reston tomorrow, so I'm going to take Friday and next Monday off to do housal things like painting and getting the new windows installed. Next weekend will be when I actually start living in the house. Yesterday's notable search terms: qimble, nuke the urizone, starport origami, vinny ba ba joe conigliaro, johnny carson quotes may a camel El Al planted gun on passenger She didn't know she hurt someone and felt terrible about [throwing a microphone stand into a crowded audience], but she didn't feel she was guilty of a crime either.Friday, March 19, 2004 Tired. Saturday, March 20, 2004 Painting. Sunday, March 21, 2004
Monday, March 22, 2004
Tuesday, March 23, 2004 My four day sabbatical has drawn to a close and I'm back in the saddle ready to hunt outlaws and Injuns. The majority of my time was spent working at the house, which is why there were no decent updates to be had. On Friday, I rewired most of the outlets on the upper floor and painted over the rich green master bathroom with several coats of white. Because the house is south-facing, the sun shines directly into the bathroom, illuminating it like a sterile alien probe facility. After lunch when the sun had slipped to the other side of the house, I moved to the study where I put together my American Dream desk, a gargantuan five million pound gorilla made out of particle board and the ingenious self-install bits that minimize drilling. Whichever engineer invented those must be a retired millionaire by now. The desk is U-shaped with drawers, a giant cabinet, and a set of smaller overhead cabinets. It will actually be able to hold the three printers, MIDI keyboard, scanner, MIDI box, and other assorted computer goods, and it will still have a cupboard leftover for Booty storage. Desk construction took the rest of the day. That night, Anna, Ben, Jim, Monica, and I went to Champps where we hung out with Anna's people from work, Tina and Randy, who ended up being from the same high school as Monica, and were also friends with Joe and Matt, band people from Tech. Matt of course is currently married to Paige who was a music major at Tech that I knew. It was like the Six Degrees of Separation from Kevin Bacon, except without the six, the bacon, or the Kevin. Saturday's big project was painting the hall bathroom, and Sunday was a little bit of everything, including watching Alias. On Monday, the three guys from Variety Windows came out to tear out my fourteen motel windows and replace them with high-quality vinyl windows. They got them all in by six in the evening. The cable guy also came out to find that every cable on the property had been cut at some point in the past. He had to drill two new ports into the house and run a cable to the back box (which will require a crew to bury the line in the back yard sometime next month). Now I'm at work in the new building at Two Reston Overlook waiting for my network connectivity to get set back up, and wasting time by writing this update. As an update, I didn't get internet access all day, and couldn't post this until I got home. Yesterday's notable search terms: how did senator conkling die, christy kull nc, how do you exterminate japanese beetles, how to wall in lost temple with terran, winter xylem spruce, zippy fan club permalink
| 1 comment Wednesday, March 24, 2004
The offices are slightly smaller than Dulles and the corridors are like a rat's warren, but there's still not a cubicle in sight. As an added bonus, going to the restroom from my office is a straight shot, unlike the Yellow Brick Road spiral I had to traverse in the old building. The restroom is much more industrial feeling and has automatic sensors on everything. Flushing the toilet could suck a small child or a puppy out to sea in about 0.2 seconds, so you need to make sure your toilet paper has no hanging chad before you flush or tragedy could strike. The network is still a little flaky -- I've been downloading a JDK for a project since I got in this morning and it's going at a healthy 1.3KB/sec. Only ten hours left... Yesterday's notable search terms: operating a toll plaza, percussion cadence "word up", sailor moon poring in bed, hypnotism laws in san diego, maryville high school graduate 1994, hold on - kristy mcnichol, hindemith chord tension, fun fog facts Delta loses Grandpa Customer subdues robber with a sledgehammer Oregon county bans all marriageThursday, March 25, 2004
I've added a couple new pictures of my new office to the Uri! Pictures and a couple house pictures (including one of the American Dream desk) to the House Pictures. Yesterday's notable search terms: pentachlorophenol year it was discovered, michigan tenth grade biology book, the urizone has you, ada holland "Backyard Wrestling Babes" was not a high-class venture Attacker tells blind man, "Watch where you're going" Scottish man should have done it in Texas Zoning puts preschoolers by adult bookstore Herb Wesson and the Balls of Steelpermalink
| 3 comments Friday, March 26, 2004
I finished reading Debugging: The 9 Indispensable Rules for Finding Even the Most Elusive Software and Hardware Problems by David Agans. It's a brief, easy-to-read book that doesn't bring much new information to the table, but helps codify best practices you might forget in the heat of debugging. The style of the book is quite conversational and has many real-life anecdotes to support the text. It goes a little overboard in the "my tech book must be funny to sell" department, but the humour is easier to take here than in the Guerilla Programming book I mentioned a few months back. Also on my "in-progress" book list are a study book for the Java 2 Developer's Certification Exam, and To Ride Hell's Chasm, Janny Wurts' latest standalone novel. Yesterday's notable search terms: ghostly possession, the urizone has left the internet, exercises for voice modulation, florence nightingale carried owl Bionic hiker's goal thwarted by previous bionic hiker Cat will hear twice the mice Richard Simmons slaps ultimate cage fighter Something fishy about the Norwegian ninjapermalink
| 0 comments Saturday, March 27, 2004 Today is moving day, so there will probably not be any new updates until I'm reconnected to the Internet at the house. Have a good weekend! Watch Alias tomorrow and help maintain its #2 ranking in the 18-35 demographic! Monday, March 29, 2004 I'm fully moved into the new house now, after a four-hour stint of Rte 28 trips on Saturday through the light but insistent pitter patter of rain. My seven mile commute took ten minutes today, and the sun was up when I left the house. I hope to get Internet up and running at home in the next couple days. Yesterday's notable search terms: lycomaniac, how do you write a good battle for a story, lightbulb loved a cellar wall, wainscoat baseboard, acid rain lab bromothymol blue 'Kills <x> Dead' not always a good housecleaning slogan Big and small stars Obscene caller has unlisted number Canadian moonshineTuesday, March 30, 2004
I spent yesterday afternoon cleaning, scrubbing, and vacuuming the apartment for a check-out inspection today. The Elms at Centreville was definitely a good place to live, and I would heartily recommend it to anyone looking for a home. The staff is always helpful and maintenance is super speedy and rarely needed. The only downside to the place is that the walkways outside doors drip mightily even in the smallest rain shower, so you always get wet if you don't have an umbrella. On the upside, you may get a discount if you say I referred you. (Or maybe I get the discount). Mr. Clean Magic Erasers really do work on wall smudges and pencil marks, but they disintegrate like nobody's business. I got a pack of 8 for six bucks and used up five just scrubbing the apartment. Tonight, the plan is to set up the Home Network (no shopping allowed), finish painting a bathroom, and install some more blinds. Yesterday's notable search terms: jennie geisner, murders and historical information about steamboat springs colorado, signatures that start with e's, dave day virginia tech, dirty littered overgrown gardens We all have a need to decorate Mother Nature because it belongs to all us. Akron defends its title as the happeningest town in the USA Dannequin returnspermalink
| 4 comments Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Yesterday evening, I set up an internal network at the house so people can access the Internet from either computer, and then finished painting the downstairs bathroom. So far, everything's gone off without a hitch. Tonight, I'll be painting the downstairs bedroom so a friend from work whose Ashburn townhouse isn't quite finished can move in for a couple months. I still haven't finished unpacking all the crap in the basement, but most of the necessities have been bought or installed now. I guess my next major purchases will be a propane grill and a lawn mower. Poll: should I keep the birdbath with the cherub and his dog that's sitting in the front yard? Yesterday's notable search terms: chester arthur god, jennie geisner, monaco fun facts, how do i transpose c into bb File-Sharing No Threat to Music Sales iPod users targets of mugging Woman makes withdrawal from her safe deposit box Shaving sticky pussies saves livesThe newest news on the front page is always at the top. Archived news is in chronological order. You can always contact me at The entire URI! Zone is © 1996 - 2008 by Brian Uri!. Please see the About page for further information. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||