July 31, 2004
DoNothing v0.1
Due to overwhelming demand (you know who you are), I have decided to launch EvilSoft, the software devision of Evil Team Inc.™, with an initial release of my first Visual Studio programming project, DoNothing.
DoNothing is available as a win32 executable that has been tested extensively under Windows XP, and which is assumed to work under all versions of Windows, or, really, any other operating system, for that matter. DoNothing was written in C or C++ or C#, but it’ll probably compile in a few other languages too. DoNothing is a lightweight and efficient solution to the problem of annoying programs that automatically run other programs when launched, and you can’t turn that shit off. Just replace the other programs with copies of DoNothing.
Minimum Installation Requirements for DoNothing
- DOS or Windows version 1.0 or later
- 76K free disk space
If you like DoNothing, make sure to donate to support its further development. Future plans for DoNothing include
- An icon with the little null set symbol Ø
- Graphical installer
- Autostart
- Larger version numbers!
DoNothing is hereby released into the public domain. The source code of DoNothing is available by FTP, semaphore, carrier pigeon, or by reading the lines below
int main()
{
return 0;
}
DoNothing is released in the hopes that it will be helpful, but without any other warranty, expressed or implied. Offer not valid where prohibited by law. Because this is the 0.1 release of DoNothing, there may be bugs. If you think you have found a bug, first make sure that you are using an up to date version of the source, then
July 30, 2004
Beating the Game
I just finished reading Bringing Down the House, a book about the MIT Blackjack team. I started reading it last night on the way to Lindygroove. Another compelling read, both because the story is told in a very suspenseful way, and because it’s just so cool to read about someone beating the casinos.
July 28, 2004
A Simple Answer
People ask me, sometimes: “Ian, how does one misplace a toothbrush. And one’s toothpaste?”
“Talent,” I answer.
Crap
I just cut off part of my fingernail while chopping onions. No, it doesn’t hurt, it just looks funny; I actually managed to cut just the nail off.
But now there’s a piece of fingernail in my diced onions. I don’t know if you’ve ever considered just how similar small pieces of onion and small pieces of fingernail look. I certainly hadn’t. And it’s not like I can really search for it, because about 10 seconds up close and personal with the onions and I can’t see anything anyway.
Crap.
Uh… meatloaf, anyone?
July 27, 2004
Rant&Rant
A pox upon he who eats of the frozen M&M’s and sees fit not to replace them. Upon his head shall be the eternal tormet due him for my inability to snack upon deliciously frigid confectionary-wrapped, cocoa-ensconced legumes.
Fie. Fie!
Green Hills In The Spotlight
You may be interested to know that Dan O’Dowd, the CEO of Green Hills Software, recently appeared on the front page of Slashdot for an article he wrote about the security of Linux.
As I said before, I won’t comment publically on the statements of my company, but (1) I thought you might be interested and (2) I’m happy to talk about it in private if you’d like.
July 24, 2004
Mozilla <Adjective><Animal>
I know that lots of you have resisted moving to Firefox as a browser, and a commonly stated reason is that the name hasn’t changed for a few months. Let me show you Firesomething, which makes a new name for your browser every time you run it!
This post made with Mozilla Superkoala.
The Straight Dope On Politics
To hell with all this talk about issues. Here’s what we really want to know.
Carrot Juice Makes Computers 1337!
MudderWalrus: i spilld cao juic on m kboad.
MudderWalrus: h h h.
Aaron Becker: bummer
MudderWalrus: h op o dosn’ ok v ll.
MudderWalrus: ha ha ha.
Aaron Becker: 🙂
MudderWalrus: gonna go g a n on.
Aaron Becker: i have no idea what you’re talking about
MudderWalrus: i’m going 2 pu|2chas3 a n3\/\/ 1
MudderWalrus: ha ha ha.
Aaron Becker: oh, why didn’t you say so
MudderWalrus: 1337 has a good us3.
MudderWalrus: n3v3|2mind. i don’7 3v3n n33d a n3\/\/ 1.
Aaron Becker: that’s good, because i can’t get the commercially available ones
MudderWalrus: ///
MudderWalrus: up. shif7 no \/\/0\2ks
Aaron Becker: not that this isn’t working great, but you probably should get that new keyboard
MudderWalrus: m3h.
Aaron Becker: fair point
Aaron Becker: i just got a new keyboard the other day, actually
Aaron Becker: it’s awesome–super clicky
MudderWalrus: `/3ah
MudderWalrus: \/\/007
Aaron Becker: nice “y”
MudderWalrus: 7hanks.
MudderWalrus: i’m g377ing p\2377`/ good a7 7his
Aaron Becker: i know i’m impressed
MudderWalrus: \/\/ha7 kind did `/ou g37
Aaron Becker: i got it from pckeyboards.com — it’s basically a clone of the old ibm style keyboards
Aaron Becker: it cost like $50, but it’s built like a tank
MudderWalrus: i 7hink i’ll jus7 g37 \/\/ha73v3\2 7hd`/ hav3 a7 7h3 s7o\23
Aaron Becker: yeah, seems like your need is a little more immediate than mine was
MudderWalrus: m`/ k3`/s a\23 s7ick`/
Aaron Becker: i’ve heard you can sometimes run them through the dishwasher, and after they dry they work again
MudderWalrus: i don’7 hav3 a dish\/\/ash3\2.
MudderWalrus: i h8 7his boa\2d an`/\/\/a`/
July 21, 2004
Memo To Self
Re: Listening To iPod At Work
Date: 7/21/2004
Time: 4:23pm
Body: Remove Michael Jackson’s Thriller from playlist. Urge to dance in office is overpowering. Coworkers unsettled.
Ian Ferrel 