Archive for December 2003

 
 

Bow-Lingual?

TheDogTranslator.com - Bow-Lingual

Your dog has something to tell you. With the Bow-Lingual dog translator, you can know what your dog is saying to you every time.

This is one of those Christmas gifts for someone who really has everything!

History Repeats Itself?

The New York Post talks about Microsoft’s aggressive push into the online music industry using the WMA standard: ‘Microsoft pushes a competing digital music standard called Windows Media Audio, or WMA. Yesterday, it announced a partnership with Loudeye, a Seattle-based firm that sets up inexpensive Internet music stores using WMA for companies, including Gibson Guitars and AT&T Wireless….With everyone from Wal-Mart to Coca-Cola getting into the online music business - and most of them using the WMA standard - Microsoft plans to flood the Internet, muscling out Apple the same way Windows crushed the Mac.’

Sounds vaguely similar to the great OS wars of yesteryear… when M$ forced their crap Windows on people… C’mon Steve, tell me you have something planned for this. Can’t you get some other people to back the ACC format? It is a standard right? RIGHT!?!?

*sigh*

Maybe I’ll hold off on that iPod purchase… I may be relying on M$ for my digital music in the future… sounds promising, huh?

*sigh*

Here comes the cold
Break out the winter clothes
And find a love to call your own
You - enter you
Your cheeks a shade of pink
And the rest of you in powder blue

Who knows what will be
But I’ll make you this guarantee

No way November will see our goodbye
When it comes to December it’s obvious why
No one wants to be alone at Christmas time

John Mayer

Spider-Man 2

Yahoo! Movies Sneak Peek - Spider-Man 2: “Spider-Man 2″

Watch the trailer for ‘Spider-Man 2,’ featuring the return of Tobey Maguire as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in this sequel to blockbuster comic book adaptation.

IT LOOKS AWESOME!!! I CAN’T WAIT!!!

The English Language

We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes;
but the plural of ox became oxen not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice;
yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
why shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?
If I spoke of my foot and show you my feet,
and I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
why shouldn’t the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
and the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
but though we say mother, we never say methren.

Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
but imagine the feminine, she, shis and shim.

Some other reasons to be grateful if you grew up speaking English:

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to
present the present. 8) At the Army base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) After a number of Novocain injections, my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Screwy pronunciations can mess up your mind! For example…If you have
a rough cough, climbing can be tough when going through the bough on a
tree!

Let’s face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in
eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.

Some English paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly,boxing
rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guineanor is it a
pig.

If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of
them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught?

If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man
and a wiseguy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your
house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by
filling it out and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

If Dad is Pop, how’s come Mom isn’t Mop?

*sigh*

I thought Spanish was bad in high school…

25 Million Songs

Apple today announced it has sold more than 25 million songs from the iTunes Music Store since it launched in April 2003. The 25 millionth song, purchased last Friday afternoon, was ‘Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!’ by Frank Sinatra. Apple also announced that over $1 million of iTunes online gift certificates and allowances have been purchased since the features were added to the iTunes Music Store on October 16, 2003.

“With over 25 million songs purchased and downloaded to date, the iTunes Music Store is hands-down the most successful online music store,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Music fans are buying and downloading almost 1.5 million songs per week from the iTunes Music Store, which is a rate of 75 million songs per year.”

It’s Arrived!!!


Waiting Patiently (NOT!)

I ordered a new Powerbook last night… and it’s supposed to be here before noon. I’m pacing the floor. *sigh*

The Room

A great read, especially this time of year, when the hustle and bustle of the holiday season seems to take over everyones life. For those who like visuals… click here

In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features save for the one wall covered with small index-card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endlessly in either direction, had very different headings. As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read “Girls I Have Liked.” I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one.

And then without being told, I knew exactly where I was. This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a detail my memory couldn’t match.

A sense of wonder and curiosity, coupled with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories; others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching. A file named “Friends” was next to one marked “Friends I Have Betrayed.”

The titles ranged from the mundane to the outright weird. “Books I Have Read,” “Lies I Have Told,” “Comfort I Have Given,” “Jokes I Have Laughed At.” Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: “Things I’ve Yelled at My Brothers.” Others I couldn’t laugh at: “Things I Have Done in My Anger,” “Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My Parents.” I never ceased to be surprised by the contents. Often there were many more cards than I expected. Sometimes fewer than I hoped.

I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the life I had lived. Could it be possible that I had the time in my 20 years to write each of these thousands or even millions of cards? But each card confirmed this truth. Each was written in my own handwriting. Each signed with my signature.

When I pulled out the file marked “Songs I Have Listened To,” I realized the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed tightly, and yet after two or three yards, I hadn’t found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of music, but more by the vast amount of time I knew that file represented.

When I came to a file marked “Lustful Thoughts,” I felt a chill run through my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size, and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content. I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded.

An almost animal rage broke on me. One thought dominated my mind: “No one must ever see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!” In an insane frenzy I yanked the file out. Its size didn’t matter now. I had to empty it and burn the cards. But as I took it at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel when I tried to tear it

Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh. And then I saw it. The title bore “People I Have Shared the Gospel With.” The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than three inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on one hand.

And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that they hurt started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes. No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key.

But then as I pushed away the tears, I saw Him. No, please not Him. Not here. Oh, anyone but Jesus.

I watched helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn’t bear to watch His response. And in the moments I could bring myself to look at His face, I saw a sorrow deeper than my own. He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes. Why did He have to read every one?

Finally He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn’t anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over and put His arm around me. He could have said so many things. But He didn’t say a word. He just cried with me.

Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of the room, He took out a file and, one by one, began to sign His name over mine on each card.

“No!” I shouted rushing to Him. All I could find to say was “No, no,” as I pulled the card from Him. His name shouldn’t be on these cards. But there it was, written in red so rich, so dark, so alive. The name of Jesus covered mine. It was written with His blood.

He gently took the card back. He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the cards. I don’t think I’ll ever understand how He did it so quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side. He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, “It is finished.”

I stood up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on its door. There were still cards to be written.

By Joshua Harris. Originally published in New Attitude Magazine © Copyright New Attitude 1995

Where Snot Freezes…. I Live

Boston.com / Business / Sometimes an ad is memorable for its artistry; sometimes it’s snot

A new billboard campaign from Columbia Sportswear with the headline, “Wherever Snot Freezes, We’ll Be There” is promoting the company’s ice field parka, a garment built for the gnarliest conditions. Anyone who has been in frigid weather can relate to this headline making this a very effective campaign.

hellya… i can relate.