It’s that time of year again

October 24, 2007 - 9:05 pm Comments Off on It’s that time of year again

The rut is in full swing for the Austin whitetail deer population, and nowhere is it more evident than in West Lake Hills. In the last week I’ve seen an 8 point buck in my front flowerbed, menacing me (and the puppy) through the front door window. Earlier today we saw a blonde woman jogging down the street, closely followed by a loping 6 pointer. I wonder just what sort of ‘tail’ he thought he was chasing. I wonder if she knew she was being menaced by a horny ungulate.

Be careful out there. The stupid lovesick bucks will cross roads in the middle of the day if they think they’re gonna get some. They’re especially dumb this time of year and somewhat territorial. Don’t be this guy. Or this one.

More stampeding by the herd

October 24, 2007 - 8:58 pm Comments Off on More stampeding by the herd

Rumor Scares Some KU Students Away from Campus

A viral marketing campaign incites yet another panic. Sheesh, people. I bet they all forwarded on the email about the headlights-off-gang-initiation, too.

Hooray for rootkits, er, software nazis, er, copy protection

October 23, 2007 - 4:22 pm Comments Off on Hooray for rootkits, er, software nazis, er, copy protection

Obligatory “SecuROM sucks” here.

Greetings,

I purchased Knights of the Old Republic 2 to play on my MacBook Pro
using Parallels virtualization software. When I try to play it, the
disk spins for a long time, then I get a popup window saying
“Original disc could not be found or authenticated.” I have all four
original disks, plus the packaging, sitting next to me.

I tried to find the option to create an analysis file to send you,
but there is no such thing on my right-click menu. The game plays
under Boot Camp, but I need to be able to play it under Parallels.

Thanks in advance for your help.

——————–

Hello,

Thank you for your email. Please understand that a SecuROM protected
application will not run on a MAC running Parallel Tools. Please insert
the application into a Windows based PC and try to launch the application
again.

Best regards,

SecuROM Support Team
SecuROM on the web: http://www.securom.com
or via e-mail: support@securom.com

It’s copy protection, yes? Meant to keep me from making unauthorized copies of my legally-purchased software? But even though I’m using the original disks, it won’t work (I think Parallels emulates virtual drives).

Right. Makes perfect sense.

Halloween, Hello Skank

October 21, 2007 - 3:50 pm Comments Off on Halloween, Hello Skank

Thought it might be interesting to show some of the Halloween costumes out there for little girls these days. For reference, size S is 4-6, M is 8-10, and L is 12-14. Sizes roughly correspond with age.

AlleyCat

BadSpirit
CharmSchoolWitch
DevilGrrl
Devilicious
FrenchMaid
MajorFlirt
MegaStar
MissBehaved
MissRedRidingHood
DevilBride
RunwayDiva

I don’t think any comment is necessary.

Smells… like a sewer

October 20, 2007 - 3:56 pm 2 Comments

We paid a load of money to get off our septic tank and onto West Lake Hills’ sewer service. We were pretty shocked when we started getting our bills every month – right now we’re paying $80/month for sewer ONLY, not counting water. Today our bill had a notice that the city council has raised rates because they’re losing $24,000 a month on the sewer service (it’s been seriously mismanaged from the start) and residential rates are going up an average of 50%.

Screw that. We’re calling to find out what it’s going to take to get back on septic. We don’t need to be paying $1400+ a year on sewer service. I’ve regretted the move ever since we made it, for many reasons – not the least of which is that the sewer service depends on power, so if our lights go out, our toilets won’t flush. Something about a grinder pump.

People, please.

October 20, 2007 - 2:55 pm 2 Comments

“Discrete” means separate.
“Discreet” means quietly.

If you do something discretely, you do it one at a time. Unconnectedly. Apart.
If you do something discreetly, you do it unobtrusively. Circumspectly. Silently.

I don’t think I have seen ANYONE use the proper spelling for “discreet” in the last 4 years. Did they stop teaching vocabulary and spelling in schools? I’ve even seen posters on a forum dedicated to college professors consistently spell it “discrete.” Oy.

Along those lines, go to http://www.freerice.com/ and see how high you can get. I got as high as 47, which probably means that I should quit reading the OED for fun.

Rule #57

October 20, 2007 - 1:59 am Comments Off on Rule #57

Rules for living with a puppy:

#57: If the rug feels wet, it probably is.
#58: The more expensive the rug, the more likelihood that it’s been peed on.

It wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t roam around whilst he tinkled, leaving an 8 foot long trail of dribble in his wake.

Boo

October 18, 2007 - 1:22 pm Comments Off on Boo

Maybe I’ll be Michael Jackson this Halloween.