Mike Cohen: Michegas

Fri, 01 Nov 2002 15:56:20 GMT

I will no longer update this site at radio.weblogs.com. I will now be publishing my weblog at http://www.mc-development.com/~mike.

Wed, 16 Oct 2002 21:13:35 GMT

Red Hat recently published a security patch that, thanks to the infamous Digital Millenium Copyright and Suppression of Free Speech Act can only be explained fully to people not within US borders. [Daypop Top 40]

Red Hat has struck a small blow against the DMCA, by publishing a security patch which can only be explained fully to people who are not within US jurisdiction. The company's position here seems to be not altogether voluntary - according to a spokesman "it is bizarre, and unfortunately something Red Hat cannot easily do much about," but like it or not Red Hat has been recruited to the campaign to make the DMCA look ridiculous.

Wed, 16 Oct 2002 04:22:07 GMT

Unattended Laptop on Plane Triggers Military-Jet Evacuation. A United Airlines flight from New York City landed under military escort after a crew member found an unattended laptop computer under a seat, an airline spokeswoman said. The computer posed no danger, officials said. Passengers were evacuated as a precaution as soon as the plane landed Monday evening at... [Lockergnome's Bits and Bytes] The terrorists have won, and this proves it. We're in such a state of hysteria that the slightest thing will set off a mass panic. Let's have a bit of common sense, OK?

Mon, 23 Sep 2002 03:56:03 GMT

They Forgot "Stop Banging On The Keys - The Printer Just Isn't Going To Print Today".

" 'You are in a library and not an adult entertainment center' and other computer error messages for library OPACs." [librarian.net]

[The Shifted Librarian] hahahaha... I love it! I used to work on Mac OPAC when I worked at SIRS.

Sun, 08 Sep 2002 01:34:13 GMT

NY POST...PAGE 6 THE "Harry Potter" toy broomstick from Mattel has a vibrating feature that has proven to be too popular with teenage girls. The "Nimbus 2000" is a plastic battery-powered replica of the broom used in Quidditch matches by J.K. Rowling's boy wizard in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." The $19.99 toy features a "grooved stick and handle for easy riding," according to Toysrus.com, and, "enhancing the excitement are the vibrating effects." The Web site's review section is full of comments from parents who are amazed at the toy's popularity with their young daughters. One mom who bought the broom for her son writes that his sister frequently "fights him over it" and complains that "the batteries drain too fast." Another notes, "When my 12-year-old daughter asked for this for her birthday, I kind of wondered if she was too old for it, but she seems to love it." An equally enthusiastic parent marvels that "even my daughter's friends enjoy playing with this fun toy. I was surprised at how long they can just sit in her room and play with this magic broomstick!" One astute New Jersey mom says of her daughter: "It wasn't until after she opened her gift and started playing with it that I realized the toy may offer a more than sensational experience. The broomstick has cute sound effects and vibrates . . . what were the creators of this toy thinking? She'll keep playing with the Nimbus 2000, but with the batteries removed." "As always, the well-being of children is our top priority," Mattel rep Sara Rosales told PAGE SIX's Jared Paul Stern. "And we in no way consider this toy to be inappropriate." Meanwhile, parents of young Harry Potter fanatics may have more to worry about with the next movie in the series. The London Times recently reported that Chris Columbus, director of the first two installments, won't be helming the third. Alfonso Cuaron, director of the sexually explicit coming-of-age flick "Y Tu Mama Tambien," may be taking his place. The Harry Potter franchise has already come under fire from Christian groups for its allegedly Satanic, anti-Christian message. A chruch pastor in New Mexico said he planned to burn the books in a "holy bonfire." The books were also banned at a Christian school in Australia and a toy store chain in England.

C.Y.B.O.R.G.

Thu, 05 Sep 2002 01:33:41 GMT

M.I.K.E.: Machine Intended for Killing and Exploration I love the acronym for my cat: C.O.D.Y.: Construct Optimized for Destruction and Yardwork

Tue, 03 Sep 2002 21:12:39 GMT

In Greece, use a Game Boy, go to jail. A new Greek law means that anybody carrying an electronic game--even one on a mobile phone--could face a hefty fine or lengthy jail sentence. [CNET News.com] Sheesh! This is really ridiculous.

Thu, 15 Aug 2002 15:09:17 GMT

"dontsavekaryn.com" [Daypop Top 40] Great parody & I agree with him. Why should we send money to some stupid lady who doesn't know how to manage her finances? I don't have the least bit of sympathy for her.

Wed, 14 Aug 2002 19:44:07 GMT

Morons in the News: Inbred Hicks Unable to say "Under God" Quietly. Back in my old stomping grounds, the inbred hicks are unable to say "Under God" in a normal tone of voice anymore... [Morons Dot Org]

Sat, 15 Jun 2002 04:57:22 GMT

At This School, 'It' Is a Touchy Subject [Daypop Top 40]

The principal of Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica became "it" when she banned the children's game of tag--for reasons that included issues of self-esteem--from the playground late last month.

Jeez! I really feel sorry for kids growing up today. When I was a kid, nobody told us we couldn't play tag or cowboys & indians and we weren't suspended from school for simply pointing a finger at someone and saying "bang". Things are just getting more ridiculous all the time. When will the stupidity end?

Thu, 13 Jun 2002 16:14:41 GMT

This morning, I got the following email from BellSouth:

Dear valued BellSouth Internet Service customer, In the process of updating our billing system we discovered that your account information is no longer valid. We value your business and would like to continue providing you with BellSouth Internet Service. To avoid any disruption of your service, your account information must be updated within 7 days of receipt of this e-mail. Please contact the BellSouth Internet Service billing department via phone at 1-800-4DOTNET(1-800-436-8638) so that we may correct this oversight. Please do not respond to this email. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you and look forward to hearing from you. Thank you! BellSouth Internet Service Customer Care

I called them and it turned out that when I moved I was issued a new username, which I was never aware of and I never used. I had continued to use my old user name, but I got it cleared up & my old username is still good and I can continue to use it instead of the new one that I never even knew about.

Tue, 11 Jun 2002 18:45:27 GMT

Timeless Words: The Latest Religious Right Wacko Sound Byte. OK kids, we've now heard it enough that it must surely be a talking point written in some religious right how-to brochure... [Morons Dot Org] Sheesh! According to some of those idiots, separation of church and state is a "myth".

'G' names in jury pool win suspect a new trial

Fri, 07 Jun 2002 15:19:54 GMT

An accused Opa-locka drug dealer has won a new trial with an only-in-Miami argument: The jury pool contained too many people whose last names start with the letter ``G.'' Of 38 potential jurors in the pool, 21 had surnames starting with ''G'' and 14 of those were of Hispanic origin: six Garcias, two Gomezes, two Gonzalezes, two Guerras, a Gutierrez and a Goldares. Quoting William Shakespeare and The White Pages, defense attorney David O. Markus persuaded a federal judge that the panel violated Roderick B. Carter's Sixth Amendment right to a jury comprised of his peers. Carter is black. ''There is no way Mr. Carter can get a fair cross section of the community. That's especially true in this case where the overwhelmingly majority of G surnames are Hispanic,'' Markus said. The jury pool featured one black man and five black women. Markus said he didn't rely on any fancy statistical analyses to bolster his point, just the phone book. The ''G'' section of the Miami White Pages is 80 pages long. According to Markus, more than half of those residential listing pages -- 43 to be exact -- are filled with just five surnames: 14 pages of Garcias, six pages of Gomezes, 18 pages of Gonzalezes, two pages of Guerras and three pages of Gutierrezes.

Thu, 16 May 2002 03:24:55 GMT

posted by swift » May 15 4:40 PM | 11 comments. Colorado boys punished by school administrators for pretending index fingers are guns.The boys were shooting at imaginary aliens. One administrator says they "demonstrated a level of aggression" that violates the school's zero-tolerance policy toward violence. [MetaFilter]

This is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen. It demonstrates the stupidity of "zero tolerance" policies. What happened to logic & reason? I really feel sorry for kids going to school now. They're not allowed to play or have any kind of fun. Did the school adminstrators forget the things they did when they were kids?

Wed, 03 Apr 2002 03:09:44 GMT

[http://www.kiosk.kz/random/]

Mon, 01 Apr 2002 04:24:13 GMT

Sit, Roll Over, Work: An 'Employee Pet' Game. Managers who grumble about ungrateful employees might take a shine to a new hire this week: cyberhumans implanted with the genes for canine obedience. [New York Times: Technology]

To make it really interesting, they should implant cat genes instead. The cyberhuman would spend most of the day sleeping, suddenly go on a rampage at night, and when they're upset they'd pee on the carpet.

Sat, 02 Mar 2002 04:24:03 GMT

I probably won't be posting much for the next week or so. I'm getting ready to move a few days, and I'm now frantically packing, cleaning, and doing last minute stuff.

Thu, 28 Feb 2002 19:35:38 GMT

15159 » February 28 10:26 AM. Absolutely the crummiest website ever made. I'm sure this may be a much-maligned type of front page post. I know many of us are web developers and it's easy to get snotty and to think that every site under the sun is horribly designed and to poke fun at the blink tag users and frontpage developers of the world. But this is just unbelievable. Sue me. [MetaFilter]

Argh!!!!! It really is awful. Everything on the page moves for absolutely no reason. Try to click on the entertainment link and it runs away from you. Letters & words keep flowing around the page. The designer should be fired.

If you want to go directly to the page, here it is. Warning: take a motion sickness pill before you do.

Mon, 18 Feb 2002 03:14:27 GMT

Morons in the News: Father Lets 7-Year-Old Kid Drive Car, Car Wrecks. "I'm not irresponsable, I just had a few beers..." [Morons Dot Org]

At least he wasn't driving drunk

Thu, 14 Feb 2002 19:29:17 GMT

Gunman Says Sound of New Jersey Made Him Snap A Texas jury on Wednesday found Thomas Mitchell guilty of aggravated assault for shooting his girlfriend because he thought she was about to say the words "New Jersey." What would he have done if she said "Niagra Falls"?

Mon, 11 Feb 2002 20:13:17 GMT

Alphabetica Cyberia. A is for Argon, which dulls the senses and confuses the intellect. Its mind-control properties were discovered in 1864 by Lincoln's Special Technical Investigation Corps while investigating a cave used by the Hopi for rehabilitation of miscreants, but it wasn't practical for wide deployment until transmutation was perfected in 1943. Since then it has been widely used, first by the OSS, and later by the CIA, for political control field work; enclosed stadiums were originally designed in the mid '50s as a civil defense measure for efficiently argon-indoctrinating many people at once. As a gas, containment is difficult and argon levels have been continuously rising over the years, being nearly 1 % of the atmosphere at present. Certain areas, notably the Los Angeles basin which is plagued by atmospheric inversions, have already suffered significant mental distortion, and the uncontrolled release of argon has therefore been banned by de facto international agreement. continued... [kuro5hin.org]

Mon, 11 Feb 2002 18:09:17 GMT

Current Editorials: Sodomy, not Horrible Business Practices, Cause Enron Collapse. As time goes by, we're learning more and more that the nonsensical extremist religious special interests will distort reality any way they can just to get a pot shot at gays and lesbians... [Morons Dot Org]

America's Taliban strikes again!

Mon, 11 Feb 2002 18:08:14 GMT

Morons in the News: Boners are not Crimes. Yet another in a series of stupid laws making having a boner a crime... [Morons Dot Org]

The thought police are here! What next? simply having "dirty thoughts"?

Sun, 10 Feb 2002 01:23:18 GMT

14638 » February 9 3:55 PM. If you've ever worked in retail, you MUST download this song. Apparently, back in the mid 1960's, Woolworth decided that the best way to motivate their managers was to hire one Michael Brown to compose and sing a snappy pop tune just for them, with predictably bizarre results. Here at the store, it's become our new anthem. For more info the tune and it's creator go here and scroll down. [MetaFilter]

Oy vey! It's really painful!

Sat, 09 Feb 2002 15:31:43 GMT

14627 » February 9 12:29 AM. Ask and you shall receive. Move over, Amazon Honor System! Now you can sign up for a one-click service that lets visitors to your Web site donate something you'll really appreciate: oral sex. Best of all, they don't keep a percentage of your donations like Amazon and PayPal do. [MetaFilter]