BBEOJ

Scott Adams is the author of the Dilbert cartoon series. He also writes a daily blog where, as near as I can tell, he tries to instigate people into vehemently attacking or defending some point of view in an argument that cannot be resolved. The topics he presents are often thought-provoking, and he makes interesting (if inflammatory) arguments.

My guess is that this is one way he plumbs the public psyche for material – he can get a reasonable approximation of which topics generate the most emotional response. It would make the kind of television that I can’t bear to watch – people being goaded into espousing a position they haven’t fully considered, and then sticking to their guns as their argument is torn to shreds around them. But I can conveniently avoid that part of it by not delving into the comment strings.

“Aggravavor” is the term my kids use when one of their siblings is doing the psychological equivalent of poking them with a stick – as in “Daddy, Jack’s being an aggravavor. He won’t stop singing I want my mullet back.” Scott Adams is an aggravavor on his weblog.

But he’s an entertaining and sometimes informative aggravavor. I enjoyed his 3-part post on global warming, enough to share the links here:

• Global Warming – Part 1
• Global Warming – Part 2
• Global Warming – Part 3

FUD = Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt

It’s great bait when you’re trolling for AdSense revenue, because everybody wants to know when the sky is falling. And Microsoft Windows is such an easy target.

Take this article for instance (recently forwarded to me by a concerned friend): Hackers Use Windows Update to Download Malicious Code

Baloney, hogwash, and balderdash.

This is 100% spreading FUD. The headline is totally misleading – hackers are most definitely NOT using Windows Update to download malicious code – and the article even says so!

BITS is an auto-resuming, auto-throttling FTP client that is used by Windows Update (and other products) to send files over your network connection in the background – so your regular browsing & email is not impacted. It’s a very cool service.

Yes, hackers can use BITS. But first the Hacker has to have control of your machine. BITS is not a way in.

If a burglar breaks into your house through a window then goes and opens the garage door to back up a truck, we’re not all going to get rid of our garage doors! We put bars on the windows, or move to another neighborhood where noone will try to break in.

My cousin Jake is participating in the California Aids Lifecycle SF to LA charity ride – that’s 545 miles on a bicycle. Jake is one of the smartest and funniest guys I know, but he’s also honest and plainspoken. So I know he means it literally when he thanks donors on his blog: “I take the job of representing you on the ride very seriously”

Please consider supporting him by going to his rider page at http://www.aidslifecycle.org/5980 – and check back there from time to time for more stories like this:

I rode up Route 9 from Saratoga up to the top of the mountains between San Jose and Santa Cruz on Saturday. It’s a good 2100ft climb, and a beautiful road.

I was near the bottom on my way up, riding on a wide section of shoulder around a right hand bend when I noticed a Sheriff’s car parked on the other side of the road, hidden from speeders come down the mountain. Just as I was making a note to myself to avoid this guy next time I should come down the mountain a car passed me, and just as the car passed me a guy on a red sport bike (the kind of motorcycle that your mom really doesn’t want you to get) cut between me and the car with a few feet to spare to pass on the shoulder and speed up the mountain. Right in front of the Sheriff. It spooked me pretty good.

I looked across the road at the Sherrif and pointed up the hill with a shrug, and he was already starting his engine. That Crown Vic didn’t need gas.. It was propelled like nothing I’ve ever seen before by unbridled cop rage.

My right pedal is squeaking, and I keep forgetting to grease it before long rides. It made it all the more sweet to peddal slowly by the two of them on the shoulder a mile and a half later.. Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, “Afternoon, officer!”, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak.

The motorcyclist looked sutiably sheepish.

I’d like to thank everyone who’s donated so far. I’m almost half way to my goal!

Jake

No.^*

No: If you already have WinXP on a computer that is less than 3 years old, I’m a big fan of ftain’t bro’akded, do’an fuxut.

No, just buy a new PC: If you have WinXP on a PC that’s 3-5 years old and you think an upgrade to Vista will “make it run better” you’ve been misled. Order a new Gateway online or pick one up at Best Buy with Vista preinstalled. Spend between $1000 and $1500. Don’t want to spend that much? Don’t do anything. Your PC is just fine.

No, buy a new PC: If you have Win2K/Me/98 as your desktop OS, then it’s probably time. Order a new Gateway online or pick one up at Best Buy with Vista preinstalled. Don’t spend more than $1000, and make sure you get an LCD monitor. You will get a computer comparable to the the one I have sitting on my desk at home.

^*If you want to be running the latest and greatest software for it’s own sake, then by all means upgrade. But then you already knew the reasoning behind my “No” answers. Oh, and the whole reason I started this post is because Ken Fisher at Ars Technica has put together a most clear and readable synopsis of the difference between OEM and Retail versions of Microsoft’s OS, and I wanted to share.

Turns out there’s an iTunes US that sells music licensed in the US… and a different iTunes for Japan and, to take Kipling slightly out of context, “East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.”

It won’t surprise those of you who know how attuned I am to the 4 to 8 year old mind that I got wise to their pop-culture hijinks when somebody else told me about it. My feed reader picked the story up from Ars Technica, and I drilled on down to Slate. Anyway, the title says it all: jTunes, The insanely great songs Apple won’t let you hear. Besides Japan,

… there are 20 more countries where iTunes users can lurk among the samples, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Greece, and Australia. They won’t let you buy their songs, either. You can find an EP of Scottish sensations the Fratellis at iTunes United States, for instance, but their hit glam singalong “Chelsea Dagger” is in nearly every country except the United States. (Their randy burlesque video for it, naturally, is all over YouTube.)

What? I can check out foreign music on YouTube? OK, I’m hip…

NOW PRESENTING, IN THEIR BBEOJ.COM DEBUT, … THE STRAIGHTENERS AND THEIR YouTube HIT KILLER TUNE

Whoa, they Rock. With a capital R. And that’s cool. Hip time must be over. Sigh.

The truly cool among you can check out the Slate article for more info (and more video links)…

B – out.

You won’t often find me using 1337speak, but I messed around with Line Rider when it first came out, and this is totally and completely over the top.

Yes, he used the “new” version and I only ever messed with the original… but it’s still very cool.

I’ve been sounding a lot like my Dad lately. One of his favorite phrases was

You’ve got to ask yourself “Should I, or shouldn’t I ?”

And that was long before Clint Eastwood’s whole “do you feel lucky, punk?”, so there was no hint of campiness when he gave us that line, along with the Dad face that leaves no question in your mind: ‘… uh-ohh, I shouldn’t have …’

I’ve been trying to get that concept across to our um… free-spirited middle child. I think she’s starting to get the idea. She left herself a note on the fridge…

Olivizzy gots tha question fo’ all y’all

Jack’s 4th birthday was just a few days away, and we hadn’t gotten him a present yet. We knew there were going to be plenty of trains and cars and books and games, but I wanted to get him an honest to goodness toy.

Enter a metafilter post titled Birthday present for a 4 year old boy?, and a no-nonsense post from Otis:

Well, I like rockets as much as the next guy. And I know Jack has some stomp power. Plus he could play with this outside with his buddy Fischer. To be fair, I did look at the other ideas on the page, but most were along the same lines as Chrischris – things Jack already has too many of – or kendrak, who is obviously buying toys for her nephew to get back at her older sister for being mom’s favorite.

So, off to Hollipops I go. I was in and out in 15 minutes and even had some bonus little circes for the girls. This is a self contained launcher with handle and storage. Kids have no problem operating this all by themselves – the rockets are soft and it doesn’t take much force to get the rockets flying!

And as you can see from the pictures, a good time was had by all!

Jack gets his stomp on:

Mom takes a turn!

Daddy performs load test (passed BTW):

Gotta have it right now?

So Betsy’s newfangled fancy-pants cellphone (Motorola RAZR) went on the fritz about 3 weeks before the warranty ran out. Normally I handle the support phone calls. Side note – I used to think this was because I speak “tech”, but since the people I end up talking to don’t speak tech I’ve come to the realization that Betsy just doesn’t like talking to them and has hypnotized me with her feminine charms so I preen and strut and suffer hours on the phone so I can be her geeky peacock. Anyway, Betsy had to place this support call herself.

In our splendidly diverse and multicultural society, one of the first things you hear when connected to any 1-800 customer support number is “Press one for english” – usually followed by “Marque el ocho para español” although I don’t know why 8 is better than 2 for spanish speakers.

After pressing 1, the next thing you hear is a person with a thick accent introducing himself. No, not a Boston accent or a Texas accent or a Wisconsin accent. A decidedly south-middle-eastern voice, sort of sing-songy with equal emphasis on every syllable: “Allo. Tank yoo fehr calling moh-toh-roh-lah soo-port. My nayem ees Bob.”

So here’s non-tech-support Betsy talking to non-clear-english Bob and after 15 minutes of non-communication she does what any sensible person should. She gets in the car and drives down to the local brick-and-mortar storefront of the company involved. Twenty minutes later, her phone is on it’s way to China and she has a subtitute rental phone about the size of a pack of Trident gum. Way to go Betsy!

The moral of the story is – when we “press one for english” we’re not indicating a requirement that we be connected to someone who speaks clear english. Instead we’re alerting the customer support team that we speak english, and they can do what they will with that information . It’s a fine point that the information we believe we are sending is not always exactly the information being received.

“That Buford’s a sly one – already knows his ABC’s” – Glen, Raising Arizona

I am all for literacy. I’m OK with whatever it takes to help teach my children the various symbols and combinations of symbols that represent our written language. I was really excited to watch my three year old interact with the alphabet Fridge Magnets.

They’re great for teaching little ones to recognize the various letters. And this particular package allows the toddler to put the letter into the electronic frame and hear a little song that includes the pronunication of the letter name, and the sounds the letter can make. “B says buh, B says buh, every letter makes a sound and B says buh”

The older kids group them into words, often with creative and parent-pleasing effect. But there are only so many words that a six year old can put together when faced with only one copy of each letter. No “BALL”. No “DOLL”. No “DAD”, “MOM”, or “COOL”. But you can get “LOVE”, and “HUG”, and “NICE”.

And:

Never let it be said that we stifle creativity.