SIDEHIKE.NET

a diversion down the path less traveled

Archive for November, 2004

Just waiting for the Spammer to fall

Nov 21

Posted by Bo in Geeky stuff, Internet | No Comments

Think you’ve got a spam problem? Well, Bill Gates gets 4 Million junk emails every day according to Steve Balmer. Check out the story here.

As an “email professional” I deal with spam every day. Usually from the point of view that yourinternet provider thinks that my email is spam. Actually, Tony does all of the hard work negotiating with ISPs and such … I just think about it a lot. And try to come up with subject lines that avoid the words “FREE” and “CIALIS.” The former is pretty hard, the latter is, too, but doesn’t ever come up. (Two puns in one sentence … aren’t ya proud of me?)

If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that there’s not a good solution for proving that you asked for my email. (In our case, you probably paid for it!) And there’s not a good system for blocking the unwanted stuff either. Something has to be done … but let me tell ya, filtering ain’t it. Spammers are a lot smarter than any filter. The result is that plenty of email you actually wanted gets caught in the crossfire. How many times have you sent someone an important note and they swore up and down they never got it? Chances are pretty good it got kicked out by a spam filter.

In the meantime, I’ve turned my filters off. Every ISP still filters before it ever gets to the mailbox, but it’s a start. I’ve become very tolerant. And you know what? The delete key isn’t that hard to master. Once you get the hang of it, it’s really quick and effective … and I don’t lose nearly as many emails.

Of course, I also don’t get 4 Million of these scams a day, either.

R.I.P.O.D.B

Nov 15

Posted by Bo in Music | No Comments

What will become of the Wu Tang Clan without Ol’ Dirty Bastard?

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear

Nov 10

Posted by Bo in Movies, Politics, Religion | No Comments

Right now, I’m watching a documentary on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and I tell you, it’s fascinating. The film, Bonhoeffer (2003), is fascinating.

Bonhoeffer was a protestant theologian and Nazi resister who was hanged shortly before the end of WWII. Add this documentary to your NetFlix queue. Order it from Amazon. This is truly an amazing man.

Here are a couple of quotes from his writings:

On the waning of The Church:

Christ is really present only in the community. The church is the presence of Christ, just as Christ is the presence of God. But our church today is bourgeois: the best proof is that poor working classes have turned away from the church. Whereas the bourgeois, the petty officials, the artisans, and the merchants have remained. When the community is split, is Christ himself divided?

On the failing of man to act on Christ’s teachings:

We have been silent witnesses of evil deeds: we have been drenched by many storms; we have learnt the arts of equivocation and pretence; experience has made us suspicious of others and kept us from being truthful and open; intolerable conflicts have worn us down and even made us cynical. Are we still of any use?

How much of a geek am I?

Nov 5

Posted by Bo in Geeky stuff, Politics | 2 Comments

There’s a lot of talk about the political leanings of Texas A&M and the University of Texas compared to each other. So just how different are they? Which is more “radical” compared to the state of Texas as a whole?

To find out, read on:

To compile A&M’s results, I pulled the precinct by precinct results from the Bryan/College Station Eagle. TAMU Campus-only results are from the polling location in the Memorial Student Center, which should be student-only. The “surrounding area” includes areas I know students live in College Station, and the portion of Bryan just north of Northgate. This will surely include faculty, staff, and the few people in town who work for non-A&M related industries, but should get 90% of the off-campus population, which is most upperclassmen.

To compile UT’s results, I pulled the precinct by precinct results from Travis County’s website. The UT Campus-only results are from the polling locations at Jester East and Jester West, and should also be student-only. The “surrounding area” includes polls that are close to the UT campus, mostly north of the river and east of MOPAC. Part of the challenge with UT is that many students commute much farther (especially from South Austin) but Austin is a real city, unlike College Station. So, essentially, the city population should be less representative of the student population. (However, over time, the city should have more influence on these students than College Station has on Aggies.)

One more challenge: Brazos county results didn’t show third party / write in votes for each precinct … they were only visible in the full-county view. Either way, there were only 103 votes for Nader in ALL of Brazos county.

Interestingly, Badnarik (Libertarian) beat Nader quite soundly in both areas. Apparently Ralph’s even less of a factor in Texas than ever before. Even on college campuses.


Click the image above for the results

And they’ll know we are Christians by our love … or our scent

Nov 4

Posted by Bo in Religion, Stupidity in action | 2 Comments

Check out this story and associated slideshow:
Man survives jump into lion’s den

Yes, apparently he jumped into the lion habitat at the Taipei Zoo in an attempt to convert the lions to Christianity.

Based on their reaction, I think the man was confused. Those must’ve been Presbyterian lions. That’s how we of the Reformed faith tend to react when someone tries to “save” us. He might’ve even interrupted a committee meeting … without bringing a casserole. Those are faux paws not likely to be forgiven anytime soon.

Sandy, the fireworks are hailin’ over Little Eden tonight

Nov 4

Posted by Bo in Politics | No Comments

Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted after that election. I’m glad it’s over. If I had to watch one more Sessions/Frost ad, I might’ve plonked my eyes out.

To my Democrat brethren:
I know you’re upset. I know you feel downtrodden. That must be the second-most frustrating way to lose. But before you start packing your bags, please remember that other countries have immigration laws. Even Canada. I know they don’t even seem like a real country, but international law seems to think they are. And if you want to move there, you may have to wait a while. At least, Reuters seems to think so.

As for me, my candidate still didn’t win. I’m not all that upset, because I think both of the obvious choices were pretty lousy, and we’re in for four more years of the same old bullshit either way. Here’s hoping for McCain/Giuliani vs. Dean/Sharpton in ’08. Now that would be a fun fight to watch.

Can you hear me now?

Nov 2

Posted by Bo in Internet, Politics | 2 Comments

Apparently, my ISP has been having issues today due to the high volume of election-related net traffic. Here’s the skinny from their support site:

Based on yesterday’s leadup, today we are guaranteeing an extraordinary level of traffic as the US heads to the polls and the commentary/liveblogging begins. As we also host several of the official election supervisor sites for large counties in Florida, no doubt those sites will be seeing a tremendous upswing as well.

So that’s kind of cool. It makes me feel somehow connected to history in the making. Although, I get the feeling that election supervision in Florida must be a futile job … like proctoring a literacy exam at Texas Tech or something.

Keep on rockin’ in the free world

Nov 2

Posted by Bo in Politics | No Comments

Check out mockelection.com’s Interactive Electoral College Pick ‘em Map.

It’s great fun.

Election Prediction

Nov 2

Posted by Bo in Politics | No Comments

In the fine tradition of FoxNews and CBS, I’m going to call the election as early as possible.

So here are the results I expect:

1. Kerry wins the popular vote and presumably the Electoral College. (Approx 300 to 238)
2. Republicans win the majority of open Senate seats
3. Republicans will widen their lead in the house

Granted, these are only my predictions for the actual VOTE. I’m sure the legal mess will take years to untangle.

You gotta fight for your right

Nov 2

Posted by Bo in Geeky stuff, Internet, Politics | No Comments

If you hear nothing else from this post:

GO VOTE

Now, check out the variety of data and reports on this site:
http://www.electoral-vote.com/

I don’t care what your political affiliation is. I don’t care who you vote for. You have to admire the depth of this information. THIS is what news should be. And to think, it’s all done by an amatuer. Fantastic.

Here are a few of the bits I found interesting:

Okay. Enough for now, I’m going to bed. I will rest comfortably, and with a clear conscience, knowing that I voted for the best candidate … even though he won’t get elected. (And no, it wasn’t Nader.)