Today, among other things, I am thankful for the gmail SPAM filter.

ADDENDUM.  I just ran across a new (to me!) feature of GMAIL!  When I hit the “mark as SPAM” button, a popup offered to “attempt to unsubscribe.”  Very cool.  Maybe it’ll even work.

Lately, I’ve been getting spammed from a mailing list that I did not recognize, and as is the norm for poorly operated and maintained mailing lists, further spammed by morons hitting “reply to all” and requesting to “unsubscribe.”  To add insult to mental injury, the spam from the list contained NO information regarding the game, other than to say, “Here’s a mailing list for suckers who provided us their email address but haven’t been selected to actually play the game.”  Kind of a sick joke, but my dark side gets it.

None of the emails I’ve received contained instructions to unsubscribe.   I assume that “feature” uses a specialized address to handle such functions; I recall one list I used years ago that appended -unsubscribe to the actual address.  I guess it is my civic duty to crack this nut and… spam the list with the information.  Heh.

A hundred or so ignorant “reply to all” messages later (thanks google, for merging them into blocks (‘threads’) instead of feeding them all to me in-duh-vidually!) and I decided to track down the original site in order to manage my subscriptions to this mailing list.  No such luck.  The system doesn’t recognize my email address as registered.  So obviously it cannot be sending me email.  But it is.  Or am I imagining it all?

*sigh*

Recently, the DoD acknowledged that cyber attacks are acts of war.

The DoN can’t properly manage a mailing list.

We’re doomed.

BTW, if you want in on the spam fest, check out MMOWGLI (Massive Multiplayer Online Wargame Leveraging the Internet)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Machines eating organic material.  Somehow this seems even worse than the alternative…

Click here to view the embedded video.

saw it at Cosmic Log (MSNBC)

Please… if you’re just wildly curious like I was and just want to see how the system works, say so in the test message.  If you really do want a call back, say that, too.

“Of the 383 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 11 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2010-06-26, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2010-06-20.

Malicious software includes 61 scripting exploit(s), 1 worm(s), 1 trojan(s). Successful infection resulted in an average of 6 new process(es) on the target machine.

Malicious software is hosted on 8 domain(s), including 206.217.194.0/, 206.217.206.0/, 64.27.21.0/.

17 domain(s) appear to be functioning as intermediaries for distributing malware to visitors of this site, including yieldmanager.com/, mojoadserver.net/, branchr.com/.”

Power from Glucose

Scientists have implanted the first functional glucose biofuel cell in a living animal. Unlike batteries that supply power to implants, a power-generating device may not have to be surgically removed and replaced, because glucose is a potentially limitless source of energy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Awhile back, my workplace banned the use of flash drives on our computers, so I had to find another solution. Combined with a cheap USB->FM transmitter for the car, I can still carry my shows to work and listen to them.

There was only one problem that I was having trouble with. Neither device has any sort of controls to allow me to navigate within an MP3. If I listened to part of a show in the car, when I got to work, I had to listen to it all again at my desk in order to get to the point where I left off. If I missed something, or wanted to something again, I couldn’t get there without starting from the beginning. Far from ideal.

Aside from replacing these devices with “smarter” players, I determined that best solution to my problem was to split the files into chunks. I started with Audacity, which worked well, but was completely manual. Later, I found AudioBookCutter, which seemed nearly perfect, except for a few minor annoyances. Today I happened across the Slice Audio File Splitter, and at last, my search has ended. Not only is this program given away for free, it remembers settings between sessions, allows custom output file names, and doesn’t nag the user to upgrade. There are a few simple tweaks I’d make (I sent them in as suggestions), but overall this program is the cat’s meow. If you need to split audio files into manageable chunks, Slice Audio File Splitter is the program you need.

[note: None of the links above were solicited; I get no reimbursement from any of them. I would generate an Amazon link from my Associate account, but it's never made me a penny, why would I want to break a trend? I wrote this article to share the knowledge of a fantastic find (IMO)]

Case in point: I’ve subscribed to Chaplain Klingenschmitt’s newsletter ever since he was drummed out of the Navy for refusing to use non-sectarian prayers in his services. I applaud the Chaplain’s willingness to put his faith before his career, and enjoyed following his story. (Note: as I’ve stated here and in everywhere I’m asked, I’m an agnostic, but a strong believer in the rights of anyone to practice their beliefs freely, so long as they don’t try to prevent me from living my life as I chose.)

Lately I’ve found the Chaplain’s newsletter to be a bit abrasive. Not so much the content, but more the the formatting, layout, and color choices; together with style often approaching the level of “rant”, not a great pleasure to read. See for yourself, but don’t blame me if you get a headache.

The newsletter last week was the final straw for me. I read it, was curious about the claims made in regards to the subject, and decided to click through to his website to find out more. Sadly, the passages announced to be behind the links were not there to read. Frustrated and realizing the results were not worth the effort, I fired off an email explaining my frustration and decision to drop the newsletter. I added a few thoughts on the topic that led me to start looking through the website – polite but definitely critical – and promptly unsubscribed.

I hadn’t thought twice about it until this evening.

Then I received this response from the Chaplain:

Got it sir, Semper Fi…..
In Jesus, Chaps

Enough to tell me he actually read the message. Completely unexpected and even a brief, polite response to my open criticism. I’m not going to re-subscribe to the newsletter, but that alone is enough for me to think I’ll go back and check up on the Chaps now and again. Chaplain Klingenschmitt, you have my sincere wishes for fair winds and following seas. Best of luck in your endeavors.

It was an accident waiting to happen — an open sewer and a 15-year-old girl who was texting while she walked.

Alexa Longueira, a high school sophomore, was walking along Victory Boulevard near Travis Avenue on Staten Island Wednesday evening when she felt the earth move and was plunged into smelly darkness.

Shit for brains ends up literally in the shit.  Perfect!

“It was just really gross and it was shocking and scary,” she said. “Because of their careless mistake I got hurt.”

Longueira has deep cuts and bruises and said she now has nightmares about falling, But she also did admit she was texting at the time.

“Regardless of whether I’m texting or not if there was a cone there I’m going to see a big orange cone,” she said. “I walk that sidewalk every day, I don’t expect a big hole there.”

Of course it was “their careless mistake”.  Personal responsibility need not apply.

Of course they’re planning to sue.

There ought to be laws against aggressive stupidity.

Anyway, while shopping around today, I came across this – I’m afraid some of the features might be out of my price range, but hey, I can dream!

Click here to view the embedded video.