Tag: stuff

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Star Wars Preschooler

Unless you have been living under an Internet rock, you are familiar with the Star Wars Kid meme which circulated 5 or 6 years ago. People went to extraordinary lengths to take the original video (below) and adapt it into various alterations. If you haven’t seen it, or you need a refresher, check this out:

After having watched that video many times, I became quite familiar with the Kid’s awkward moves. Naturally, I was amazed when my 4 year-old son, Dax, busted out doing his own version the other day. He has never seen the Star Wars Kid video, but this looks eerily similar:

Yes, The Force is strong in this one (but I bet you knew I was going to say that).

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Practical Security Round-up

We here at Geekamongus care about you, the visitor, so we offer some news and tips about staying secure:

iPhone
Here’s a good reason to set your iPhone to *not* auto-join Wifi networks, especially those AT&T Wifi Hotspots.

Antivirus Software
There is no need to pay for antivirus/security software for your Windows computer.  Save your money.  As cnet suggests, use one of the many free programs available.  Personally, I prefer MSE or Avast.

Facebook
Considering there may be 1.5 million Facebook accounts up for sale on the black market, now would be a good time to rid your computer of malware and then change your Facebook password.

While you are at it, you may want to learn about (and restrict) all the personal data Facebook has unilaterally decided to share about you.

Microsoft SharePoint Security Warning
SharePoint administrators and users, beware: Serious XSS flaw haunts Microsoft SharePoint

The Google Overlords
Afraid of Google?  Here’s a good way to anonymize yourself when doing Google searches or using many of their services:

Read more on the project page. Download the Firefox plugin here.

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The BBC’s lack of a sense of humor

I received an email today regarding my fingernail clipping collection. It was from the BBC and it read:

Subject: BBC 3 Show
Message:
I stumbled across your website and noticed your box of toe nail clippings. WE are currently looking for people to take part in an exciting new show about people with funny habits. I wondered if you would be interested in talking about your collection of nails? Are you UK based? It would be great if you could email me a contact telephone number so that we can have a chat? Or your email address?

I was excited to find out they wanted to film me, as previous interviews I have done were all on radio stations (in New Zealand, for some reason. I’m big in New Zealand).

So I wrote back and told them I’d be happy to do it. However, they replied:

Hi Will,
Thank you for your email. That’s a shame that you live in the US, do you know of anyone with a similar habit who lives in the UK?

Laura Stebbing
Researcher

A shame I live in the US? A bit disappointed, I wrote her back in an overtly sarcastic tone:

Well, I don’t think it’s a shame, really. I actually like it here.

I’ll have to dig out my “International Directory of Fingernail Clipping Collectors, 2010 Edition” and get back to you on the name of someone in the UK who collects their nails with whom you can speak. We are a tight-knit club whose loose lips tend to sink ships, so finding someone may be difficult. I will let you know.

Sincerely,
Will

I figured that would be the end of it, or that she would reply with something equally as snarky. Apparently, my “humour” excaped her:

Hi Will,
Thank you, any help would be very much appreciated and please let me know if you have any questions. We are currently filming in the UK, so
anyone UK based would be great.

Thanks again,
Laura.

Maybe the period at the end of her name was her way of saying “You jerk, I would tell you what I think of you but my email is being monitored by my bosses, so I can’t.”

Whatever the case, I thought that conversation was too good not to share.

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My List of Favorite Smells

These things smell really, really good to me.

  • New basketballs
  • A freshly opened can of tennis balls
  • Gasoline
  • New t-shirts
  • New electronics
  • Smarties
  • Darkroom chemicals

clicky