December 2004

The Starbucks in Barstow is off the Lenwood exit:

2843 Lenwood Blvd.
Ste. D
Barstow, California 923119587
(760) 253-4474

It has the strangest but most logical closing times:

Friday - 1:30am
Sat - 10:30pm
Sun - 11:30pm

Clearly, this is critical info for all members of The Crack Team.

I just came back from Vegas where I found a new favorite place to play craps: Casino Royale. It’s situated between The Venetian and Harrah’s, and is well known for having the best odds on the strip. This is certainly true for for their craps game. We’re talking 100x odds and $2 minimums! This allows you to play very close to an even money game. I used the 5-count from the Frank Scoblete craps books, putting come bets after the 2-, 3-, and 4-counts, so I was up on 3 numbers by the 5-count, when I placed my odds bets: $20 on the 6 and 8, $10 on the other point numbers. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to play as long as I wanted. I’ve found craps isn’t a game for those pressed for time.
     I should also point out that it’s clean and much more pleasant than the downtown casinos; they have lower minimums, but aren’t worth the cab fare.
     I also wanted to try $2-$4 poker, but as I’m allergic to smoke, that won’t happen until they open a non-smoking poker room. I doubt that will happen anytime soon.

So I am definitely on Warcraft now, and quite happily addicted. I’m also in very good company, and would like to set up this post as a central place to organize what I hope will be our guild.

The Crack Suicide Squad (Uldum)

I recommend adding everyone above as a friend. I’d also suggest reading Chapter 12 of the manual if you haven’t already. A neat feature is that even though many of us aren’t ready to be colocated, we can use the in-game mail system to send items to each other. It’s nice for items you can’t use, but others can, and won’t get you much copper from the merchants.

For more tips, check out is the guild-to-be’s web board.

It seems there’s an email going around, warning people about a cell phone directory for telemarketers. I’ve even heard a rumor at work that Congress is going to pass a bill allowing telemarketers to call cell phones. Both appear to be bogus, more or less.

It’s true that Verizon is making a cell phone directory, for use only by their customers, listing only those who have given their express permission. Other mobile phone companies have no plans for a directory. As for Congress, they know that stopping telemarketers is a big hit with voters. Why would they undo the law stopping cell phone telemarketing, which exists because you pay per-minute charges on incoming calls? Doesn’t make sense.

The half-truth is that the National Do Not Call Registry does accept mobile phone numbers, and always has. So if you’re paranoid, it won’t hurt to register your mobile number, too.

I saw Closer tonight, which I thought was extremely well written. It’s one of those films I could tell was adapted from a play, which made it better. Of course, I love dialogue films, so I’m biased (but that’s why you’re reading this). I think I was most surprised at how often I laughed, considering the dour themes and crumbling love lives, deceit and verbal evisceration. However… However. Rumors of a topless Natalie Portman have been greatly exaggerated. If I missed them (and believe me, I was looking for them, desperately) I’ll watch it again. Don’t get me wrong, you see quite a bit of her, and she is just so desirable it’ll confirm your faith in God and screenwriters.
     On a related note, I can also see why there’s a ground swell of support for Clive Owen as the new James Bond. While a tremendously different genre, he came across as powerful, sharp, dark. Jude Law has reportedly stated he’s not interested in the role, and just as well. I do like his work, and I think he’d do a fine job, but Clive would do better.

Ok, most know I don’t care for Sony products. If they work, they’re decent, but I and several friends have found they break all too often.
     Sony’s decided to build on that success. c|net has an article about a recent Sony demo disk for PS2s that can erase your memory card, wiping out your saved games.

If you’re not sure where you fit in the information technology circus, here’s a little quiz to help place you. It basically is a short career placement test based on your strengths (or perceived strengths). It didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know, but if you’re fairly new to IT, or are considering a change, it could be useful. Either way, it only takes a minute.

I’ve recently been attacked by comment spammers. This is where they post comments in your blog that advertise a product. The goal isn’t to get you to buy said product, it’s to increase their pagerank on Google (although a few might not be smart enough to realize this). It’s very annoying, and removing comments with Movable Type (MT), the software that runs this blog, is like a 5-click process (per comment!).
     This is why I am weeping with joy over MT-Blacklist. Since the evil, scum-sucking spammers want to increase their pagerank, they must use the same site name, which becomes the chink in their armor. You can now add that to your Blacklist and have it automatically blocked. Furthermore, a centralized collection agent processes MT comment notification emails, so users can forward spam to the list and have it automatically added to the master blacklist. Unfortunately, that part is down for reasons explained on the site (Perl hacker needed to optimize the collector; I’d consider it if I had the time). So for now, you have to update your own list, but some nifty catch-alls help out a lot. Like if you wanted to comment about any drugs that enhance your bait and tackle, you’d have to email me directly… and immediately.
     It gets even better! The plugin is really easy to install. And if it doesn’t block something, you can add it after the fact, and it will back-check your comments! It shows you what it’s about to delete, and even automatically rebuilds the site for you (although you can uncheck that box if you want).
     Thank you MT-Blacklist. Thank you.