Is Kinko's Ripping You Off On Purpose?

Hi faithful bloggerinoes. I've got a question for you. Have you been to Kinko's lately? If so, were you using one of their computers? Did you notice anything funny? I just got back from one and I am very disturbed. As you may know, when you use their computer's, you pay about $0.45/minute for use and $0.50/page for black and white prints. But are they actively trying to force you to sit at the machine longer than you should have to?

The first thing I noticed when I looked over Kinkos's computer cubicles were the old-looking machines. It looked to me that a lot had been done to the machine to make them look as old as possible. One detail was that the little silver Dell circle was ripped off of every single machine (even thought the label on each monitor says "Dell Workstation #x"). Once I sat down, I realized that the Microsoft and Intel stickers were still on theses desktops. They were P4's with the "Made For XP" sticker. But what operating system was loaded on? Slow as all hell, Windows 98! Now, I didn't go through all the checks to find out exactly what this box was packing, or what processes were running in the background, after all I was too busy spending almost 7 minutes getting to gmail to download 19k zip file. But I knew this was running a crippled version of 98, because when I plugged in my USB flash drive, the driver install dialog popped up. The dell didn't even know what it was!

Anyway, aside from crippleing perfectly good computers, Kinkos also gives you the slowest internet connection known to man. It felt like I was sharing an ISDN with about 5 other machines. Now understanding what's availible, what equipment is used, and prices of services like a cable modem or DSL, I can only conclude that Kinko's is purposefully trying to rip people off. The one I visited is in Brooklyn, NY and I can't vouch for other Kinko's in other areas, so post some comments about your experiences.

Later

TopDesk 1.4 - Cool alternative to ALT+TAB

Hi everybody. I haven't posted in a little while, so I thought I'd show this little app I just found today. It's called TopDesk and its a really neat alternative to ALT+TAB for switching between programs. When you hit a hotkey on your keyboard, or move your mouse over a certain hotspot, TopDesk will tile all your open windows and you can click on the one you want to see. You really have to try it out to see how cool it is. I haven't been using for too long, but it doesn't seem to hit the system resources too hard either. So take a look and post your comments here.

Time to Go Buy Those Avril Lavigne and Sara MacLachlan CDs

No, not because of the artists themselves, but because of the record label they're on. Nettwerk Music Group, a Canadian based music label that represents MacLachlan and Lavigne (as well as others) is taking on the RIAA. This is huge! They are representing the defense in an RIAA suit against a Canadian named David Greubel who faces a $9,000 fine after investegators found 600 downloaded songs on his family's computer. They have even agreed to pay the fine, if Greubel looses the case.

It's good to know that at least some record labels realize that the RIAA has been overstepping it's bounds with these suits. Click the link to learn more.

A Geeks Guide to Joining a Gym

I just did what was possibly the most stupid and degrading thing I've ever done in my life. I joined the New York Sports Club, and I've decided to share my experiences in the hopes that I can put the nerves of my fellow geeks to rest. I'd like to start by going over the basics of my visit.

1) Dont Feel Inferior
Being an awkward geek all my life, I had never even considered joining a gym. When I walked into the gym I watched several beefed up guys and girls walk by, and I immediately felt socially unwelcome. If you are self consious, like I am, this will most likely happen to you, but try to ignore it. You will soon realize that there is no reason to feel inferior. All you have to do is talk to someone that works there and you will immediatly understand the true meaning of the word douchebag.

2) Don't Expect Any Help From the Front Desk
After entering the gym, I approached the front desk and was greeting by a fiercely idiotic woman who, i am conviced, had no idea where she worked. I asked about the pricing plans, and she looked at me as if I had two green tentacles extending from my nipples. She asked me to fill out a card with my name, address, phone number, email, and employer. After explaining 3 times that I didn't want anymore spam or telemarketers calling my cell phone, I finally got to speak with a Manager.

3) Know What You Want Before You Enter
Why? Because it's more fun that way. When I finally met one of the Managers (and I use the term loosely because usually managing something requires and IQ higher than 10) he took me up to his office and started going through his schpeel. I inturupted him mid-sentance and asked him what the pricing plans were. He paused for about 15 seconds and then finished his pitch. At that moment I learned that when he wasn't reciting the script he had memorized, he had to think. And in the mind of a jock, "thinking bad, brain hurt."

4) Force the Guy to Get to the Point
Let me make this clear. These people are told to ask you as many stupid and irrelevant questions as they possibly can. I don't know why they are told to do this, but I am assuming it is what their told, because stereroid boy here couldn't think on his own if he was the last person on earth. (I also question if he could read anything besides the numbers on my credit card, but I'll get to that later) He started with the simple stuff, "Where do you live?", "What do you do for a living?", and my favorite, "Why do you want to join a gym?". I paused at the sheer dumbassedness of that one, but then answered, "um... to work out?"

5) Notice Things and Ask Questions
Some things you should notice and ask about, and some you should keep to yourself. But pretty much everything should make you feel better about yourself. For example, I noticed the clothes on my muscle-bound moron manager, and I figured that he had no idea how to dress himself. Or worse, what a mirror is. (I would like to point out that I know nothing about fashion, and have been laughed at several times for wearing things that look strange. But I would never be caught dead in spandex bike shorts and a pink Polo T-shirt, even if my muscles were bigger than my head.) Something else I noticed were the books on my gym-bag friend's shelf (note: gym-bag = gym guy + douchebag). The book I noticed in particular (I swear to god, this is not a lie) was Tolstoy's "War and Peace". Now, I've never read "War and Peace." Hell, I could barely get through "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and I loved that, so it has never crossed my mind to take on a 1500 page epic. But I wanted to test my new gym-bag friend. I said to him, "War and Peace, that's a great book. Wasn't it great when Tony finally killed the leader of the army?" Once again, this is not in here to be funny, it absolutely happened. The fucker agreed with me. "Oh yeah," he said, "it was awsome. But I haven't read it in a long time." Now there is a very slim chance, that I had guessed something right about the book. But I am fairly certain that Tolstoy didn't have a character named Tony.

6) The Stupidness of it All
After enduring almost a half-hour of small talk, with topics ranging from my job to my girlfriend's eating habits, I finally told him to just tell me what the pricing plans were. He explained that he was asking the questions to help determine what plan fit my lifestyle. Starting to get annoyed, I informed him that I wanted to know what all of my options were, and make that decision myself. He then proceded to read the TWO DIFFERENT PRICE PLANS! TWO! Half an hour of mindless (and I mean that literally) chit chat was needed to figure out which of the two plans worked best for me. It was then I noticed that the gym-bag had a shiny Cross pen on his desk, and I was very tempted to shove it through his eye. He said that the more expensive plan would suit me best. I said no. He said that it would offer me more flexebility. I said no. He said that I should consider th... I cut him off and told him to ring me up on the cheaper one (still $79/mo which is out-freakin-rageous). Finally I would be able to leave this place. He started typing my credit card info into the computer. Wow. Not only did he take a full 5 minutes to enter my info, when he handed me the printout, my name was misspelled.

7) They All Assume That You Are as Dumb as They Are
After all that, I was finally handed my one page gym contract. (by the way, I was forced to join this gym, not by the gym-bag, but by my girlfriend. I was dumb enough to make a new years resolution on tape). Before I could read and sign it, the manager took about 30 seconds to find and circle the 4 places I had to sign. Now having succesfully graduated passed the 4th grade, I can spot the word signiture on a piece of paper. Especially when there is a giant, bold X right next to it.

8) Get Out as Soon as Possible
I can't stress this enough. Too much time around these people will slowly lower your IQ. The jerk pulled my new gym card out of his desk, and held it up in front of me. "Now, before I give you this, let me tell you about the classes we offer..." Note to geeks: don't goto any gym classes. They sucked in high school, and they will suck even more as an adult. The only thing worse than talking to these gym idiots, is having them tell you what to do. Anyway, I stood up, and said I was not interested, and grabbed the card.

Conclusion: If you are a geek, and you want to join a gym, don't be afraid. You may not be the prettiest person there, but you'll damn sure be the smartest. But, if you want to work out, but not deal with a bunch of idiots, and you don't have a pushy girlfriend that makes you join (I love you honey), don't bother with the gym. They don't have any magical equipment. Just do some situps and stuff. If you don't know what to do, you're a geek, use the internet.

Well, that's my story. Hope it helps. Oh, and if your from the New York Sports Club and your reading this now (or if your having some else read it to you because you thought reading was for sissies) FUCK OFF!

Free 411

Never pay for 411 again. This isn't new, but I just discovered it from digg. Call 1-800-FREE-411 for nationwide directory assistance absolutely free! How do they do it? If your calling to find a retailer, that they have a competing sponsor, they play a short 12 second ad before giving you the number. Would you rather spend $1.25, or listen to a short ad? No contest! Cool Service! Check it out!

Your Privacy is Being Threatened!!! And so is Your Porn!!!

Well, it looks like good ol' George W. Dumbass is at it again. (Let me just say, to anybody that is a fan of Bush or a Republican, something may be very wrong with you). Now that I've alienated half of my reader base, let me continue. The bush administration is trying to revive the Child Internet Protection law that would make it illegal to make pornographic materials availible to minors. They are making a case to the Supreme Court (Of Pennsylvainya?) to try and enact the law which was struck down in 2004. To do this, they have issued a subpoena to Google for a million random web address and a weeks worth of user search data. But Google is not giving in (thank god!)

The article does say that some other search engines have complied with the subpoena (if you use Yahoo! watch out), but Google knows that it will kill thier public image, if they give in.

As for me, I'm against the law all together, not just the subpoena. I don't know how I would have gotten through grade and high school if it weren't for freely accesible internet porn. (Have I said too much?) I'm not really proud of it, but everybody (every guy at least) goes through that phase at and after puberty when they discover their first really fun hobby. I also don't think that pornagraphy is harmful to children, even young ones. Now, don't get me wrong, I am absolutely against child porn. That's not what I'm talking about here. I don't think that if a kid sees a naked woman, or even a sex act, that it's going to scar them for life. It's a part of life. And I think shielding kids from this stuff for too long actually can be harmful. After all, everyone knew that one person in college, that had been shielded from everything her entire life, and went completely nuts as soon as she was away from home. (I didn't mean that that only applies to women, but the person I knew that was like that happened to be a she.)

Anyway, I've been rambling enough, and got totally off topic. to sum up
Google = good - fighting the good fight for privacy
Bush & Co. = bad - bunch of douchebags (can I say that on the internet, oh wait, I can!)
Adult Porn for kids = good - helps them understand how the world works and why we are here, and gives teenage boys something to do when thier parents aren't home
Child Porn for adults = bad - just really fucked up on so many levels

That's all for today
I think after this article, my counter might actually go down, but who knows. Hopefully the people that read this have at least a mild sense of humor.

Quote of the day -
"In Volotile market, only solid investment is... PORN!!!"
-The moster upstairs in Avenue Q

Create Your Own Simpsons Character!

This is a really funny flash project that someone put together. Make your own simpsons character, and print it out. I've linked to the digg.com story where I found it because if you think it's cool, digg it! You have to sign up for digg.com but it's not like it costs money. It just means that you can submit stories and digg them too. Anyway, really funny little flash app - check this one out Alex!

Fun Telnet Sites

Here's a fun one from digg, it's a list of publicly availible telnet servers. The best one is definately the 1st. Any Star Wars fans out there, click your start button, then click Run, and type in the following

telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl 23

it's a funny ASCII version of star wars. I don't know how long it goes for, cause I could bring myself to watch the whole thing, but someone definately had way too much time on thier hands :). Still fun though.

Microsoft Disputes Backdoor Claim

Well, M$ is disputing Steve Gibson's claim that the WMF vulnerability was a backdoor. It's easy to buy their argument, especially when so many different people agree. I still believe Steve Gibson, but we'll have to see what he says on the next Security Now Podcast. I would suggest checking it out. I believe it comes out on thursdays. Anyway, check out M$'s response by clicking the link.

Windows WMF Backdoor?

OK, this is a little scary. There is avary well know Windows expert/developer/pseudo-hacker named Steve Gibson, who does a podcast every week called Security Now. He has done a lot of research into the recent WMF exploit that was discovered in Windows machines (back to 98 i think). And his findings are very frightening. He firmly believes, after examining the exploit, that it was an INTENTIONAL BACKDOOR, placed in the Windows OS by someone at Microsoft. You can download the podcast (Episode 22) on iTunes or by following the link, but I'll sum it up a bit here. The exploit is in the way windows handles WMF image files. (WMF = Windows MetaFile) A wmf is an image file that, instead of being made up of pixels, is made up of code that tells windows how to draw the picture. The exploit was found that when certain stuff is put in the WMF, it could cause windows to run any code the "hacker" wanted, and all the victim had to do was view an image.

What Steve discovered is that the exploit only works when the metafile size variable (correct me if i'm wrong about what it should be called) is set to 1 - what he called the magic number. Technically this is supposed to be impossible, because the smallest a metafile can be is 3, but when it is set to 1, windows, skips a few bytes, and executes the implanted code. This is what led steve to believe that the exploit was intentionally put there by someone at microsoft. Could this be the reason Microsoft patched it forcefully and silently? You tell me!

Being a nerd and a conspiricy theorist myself, I will be keeping up with this story as it develops (or at least, as I hear more about it).

Stay tuned, and for god's sake, post some friggin comments :)

The Growing Phenomenon Known as "Internet"

I found this little ditty on digg.com and it's very funny. It's a toronto news cast about "The growing phenomenon known as 'Internet'". This comes from before the Web. All they show is Usenet newsgroups, but it's freakin hilarious. Check out the link for the video.

Windows Patch Without Permission?

So has everyone heard about the big WMF exploit in Windows? No? Well let me sum it up. An exploit was found in just about every version of M$ Windows that could allow any type of arbitrary code to be run, simply by viewing a specific type of picture. You could view it over the web (vie IE, Firefox, or any other browser) or it could be in your e-mail. It was a pretty big hole in the OS. But now it has been patched by microsoft. Oh, did you not know about the patch? That's because M$ set it to some kind of secret high priority, and even if your updates are set to download and notify only, that patch was downloaded, installed, and your computer was rebooted. I didn't understand why I came home one day and my machine was rebooted, but that little bubble told me that an update was installed. No maybe your thinking, well at least I'm safe now, but think about it. This means that M$ can install anything on your machine, whenever they feel like it, without your knowledge. Now I'm no lawyer, but isn't that what Sony is getting sued for? You paid for your M$ Windows. That's supposed to mean that you own it, not that it owns you!!!

Voice your opinions and stories here folks.
I'll be keeping up with this story as it unfolds.

A couple of good commercials

So here's a few ads that you've never seen. The first is a disturbing, yet somewhat funny VW commercial that (i think) aired once in europe. The second is the best mastercard add that never made it too the air (probably because it wasn't made by mastercard). Next comes the Suburban Auto Trunk Monkey commercial. Don't know if that one is real but it's pretty funny. Here's another great ad by the Breast Cancer Society. Freakin histerical.

For my last commercial entry today, I picked my absolute favorite. It's a take on those stupid macintosh ads (apple can burn in hell)! No it's not the dave chappelle porn ad, it's actually much more accurate. Any PC advocate will love this one.

Well, thats all for now.
Tanke it easy bloggerinoes

New Format

Ok, I've decided that when I have no interesting stuff to post (which is most of the time), I'm gonna put up random entertaining videos I find on google. So it should hopefully be a little more helpful in the cure for boredom.

Terry Tate - The Office Linebacker

Just a very funny video I found on Google Videos. Click the link to check it out.

Don't even mention it

I have been depressed since the giants laid down and died on sunday, so don't bring it up!

Have you taken the Geek Test

The Geek Test v3.1 I scored about 46% - Super Geek! How much of a geek are you?

Best In Show!

CES 2006 - The Consumer Electronics show. It's about 10% useful consumer electronics, and about 90% porn. But this year CNET voted the Creative Zen Vision:M Best in show. I told ya this thing was sweet. Really Sweet! Check out CNet's review by clicking the link.

Diggnation Baby!

Ok, not news at all, but last week I discovered a fun new podcast (in both video and audio) It's called Diggnation, and every week they cover some of the top stories on the social news site digg.com. Also, if you have a TiVO (a real one) and you have the podcasts update, you can go to the tech podcasts and they are one of the default 4. That's pretty cool for a show thats only had 27 episodes. Anyway, check it out, it's pretty cool.

1 In 10 Now Use Mozilla's Firefox

Good news for Mozilla Corp. Firefox finished out the year with a 9.6% market share. That means just about 1 in 10 people use it to browse the web instead of internet explorer!! It's fast, it's safe, and it's got an extension for just about anything!! GO FIREFOX!!! If you're using internet explorer right now, you need help. Click the orange button on the right to get firefox now! And strenghten up that comp of yours!