Rex Blog - Powered by Sunlight: November 2004 Archives

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November 30, 2004

Facial Recognition Software - The Ultimate Pick-Up Tool

With the holiday season comes lots of TV watching. I have been watching Las Vegas, and in almost every show they use facial recognition software. The software is pretty cool. It uses complex algorithms to encode a person's face. Then using the data from the algorithms it searches for matches. How cool is that. I wish that I could have a pair of glasses that linked wirelessly to a computer to help me with the names of women that I meet at a bar.

How cool would that be? You are at a bar, a woman approaches and starts to talk. Your glasses are already searching and then her name appears with the contents of your last conversation. That would be the ultimate tool for picking up the ladies. Using bluetooth technology, the computing power of a PDA, and some ingenious algorithms, this could all be true. I would purchase the system if I could. That would be awesome.

Does anybody out there know of anything like this. I am going to have to research this.

Posted by Rex at 04:27 PM | Comments (1)

November 28, 2004

The story of snow and shoveling my bedroom

I like snow as much as the next guy (well unless the next guy doesn't like snow), but snow before thanksgiving in the midwest is killing me. I have a new house which is old, and has leaky windows that is going to cost a fortune to heat. For that reason I am keeping the thermostat to a balmy 60 degrees. Doesn't seem that cold, till you wake up and you can see your breath. With the soring price of gas, I am affraid of what my heating bill is going to be. Luckily I have a duplex and I can suck some heat from the neighbors. Which gets me back to snow. My windows in my bedroom are not the best. Did you know that snow can get through leaky windows. I figured, but I didn't believe it till I woke up to a snow drift in my bedroom. Since I pretty much don't keep my heat on, it stayed there a couple of days. When was the last time you shoveled your room. It wasn't a big drift. Just a couple of inch drift on the window sill. Still I have snow in my bedroom. So needless to say, I have to go and purchase a window insulating kit for my bedroom. That way there will be no more snow in my bedroom. Then again I am glad that I realized that my windows sucked so early in the year.

I had to shovel my bedroom. ( I am shaking my head back and forth)

I had to shovel my bedroom. ( Still shaking my head...)

Ughh.. (Lowering my head in shame and disbelief.)

Posted by Rex at 02:06 PM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2004

The best of 2004 - The Tennis Skirt

It is nearing the end of the year and I am sitting down thinking about the best thing about 2004. I must admit that the main thing that comes to my mind is the come back of the tennis skirt. If you were the person responsible for bringing back the tennis skirt contact me because I would like to buy you a beer. Women don't dress up anymore and the reintroduction of the tennis skirt made every girl dress up a little. Plus, a lot of the skirts were plaid, and you know that Britney put that into our minds. Call me perverted, but women that dress up are just sexy. Jeans can be sexy, but skirts are automatically sexier.

Top Ten Reasons Why The Tennis Skirt Made 2004.
10. It made gloomy days bearable
9. Skirts are sexy
8. Women don't dress up enough
7. They are sexy casual
6. Plaid skirts are hot
5. Classes go by faster when you have legs to look at
4. Skirts are sexy and naughty
3. Average girls can be as sexy as Britney
2. Something sexy about a girl in skirt
1. I love legs!!

The best thing about 2004 was the reintroduction of the Tennis Skirt.

Posted by Rex at 03:31 PM | Comments (4)

November 21, 2004

Free Legitimate IPODs - No Lie, its FREE

This is not an ad, this is not spam, this is legit. Save yourself a couple of hundred dollars and follow the links below. I know what you are thinking this can not be true. Here is the link. http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=11890374

This site actually works!!! So, sign up!! Also, contrary to popular
belief, you won't get junk mail; I signed up using my account and
have received no junk mail whatsoever. My friend Matt says that Gmail accounts work, but hotmail accounts do not. I would look into that.

http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=11890374

Here are the steps to getting you free IPOD.
Step1: Use this link: http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=11890374 and Sign up
Step 2: Complete one deal like the Blockbuster 2 week trial or the Real Rhapsody music store which I signed up for(and then
quit after two weeks -- no charge then)
Step 3: Refer 5 friends (and then get them to do the free trial)
Step 4: You get your ipod.

http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=11890374

Posted by Rex at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)

November 18, 2004

Microsoft Office 2003, just a little too helpful

I just bought a copy of Microsoft Office 2003 and it is a little too helpful. Besides the fact that eBay is in the dictionary with the correct spelling. The office suite has a clipboard list that lists the last ten things that were copied. The office suite opens suggestion, search, and welcome windows in the left 1/3 of the screen. This window is very annoying. Not only does it take a full 2.5 seconds to close it, it make me lose my train of thought.

I must give props to Microsoft for trying to solve problems, but adding extra keystrokes is just a waist of my time. The fact that the extra features interupt my train of thought, makes me want to go and get new program that doesn't have this feature. The new features to me are not a good improvement. The new features decrease productivity.

I know what you are thinking. I am stuck in the past and not open to change. Wrong, I love technology and I love new improvements. I just believe that the new features to office 2003 are not helpful as they interrupt your train of thought as they re-adjust your screen. They force you to look at the new feature. They force you to stop what you are doing and close them.

I must say that I hate the new office suite. The only problem is that the school and everyone else around me has updated forcing me to update. Some times technological advances are a step backward.

Posted by Rex at 05:47 PM | Comments (1)

Online Banking

I find the ease of online banking quite disturbing. It is so easy and I can do almost anything with my money once I am logged in. When thinking about it, is the ease worth it? I am unsure about it.

Once logged in to the account you can view written checks to view account numbers, routing numbers, account balances and even signature samples. Can this information lead to increased identity theft? The only thing stopping a person from the vast knowledge of information contained in my online bank account is a simple password. Getting a persons' password is extremely easy. It can be done with key logging programs, spyware, guessing or even as simple as looking over someone's shoulder.

As uneasy as I am about online banking, all of the information that is online is accessible to anyone that you write a check to. You don't think about it, but that shady cashier at the drug store handles the information that could ruin your credit history all of the time. Heck, every check that you send in the mail is subject to a security risk. The internet is not helping out either. Most websites will allow you to put in your checking information instead of using a credit card. Once you have the account number and the routing number you can use someone's checking account just like a credit card.

I really do like to be able to check my balance at any time, I also like the fact that I can see when checks have cleared. I also like that fact that the bank doesn't return all of the old checks anymore. When thinking about it, I believe that online banking is safer than writing a check.

Posted by Rex at 11:18 AM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2004

SPAM not quite junk mail

People try to make similarities between SPAM (unsolicited email) and junk mail. I find that the only similarity between the two are that people associate the word mail with each. I do not use snail mail for quick communication. The US Postal service does not deliver mail every second. I do not depend on the Post Office for over half of my daily communications. I receive tons of email. Most of it is SPAM. It is disruptive, it uses my system resources and it even carries viruses that can corrupt my computer. It slows my productivity and most of all it slows my communication. When was the last time that the Mail Man couldn't deliver your mail, because he was carrying so many credit card applications that his truck couldn't make it to your house. When was the last time that you moved, just so that you could get a new address, and stop junk mailers from contacting you. It is very hard to compare the two forms of mail. SPAM is nothing like junk mail. I have changed my email tons of time just to stop the junk emailing. My internet has crashed because my server was overloaded with SPAM. SPAM is its own separate entity. It like nothing we have ever encountered. You can try to define it using terms that we are all used to, but you can not define it accurately. The problem is that there is no way to stop SPAM. SPAM defies borders and can not be stopped by legislation. The only cure to SPAM is OPT-IN email. You supply the addresses of the people you wish to receive email from, and all of the emails sent to you are either returned to the sender or are deleted. You never see them, they never bother you, and SPAM ceases to exist from your point-of-view. No legislation is needed, current technology can cover it, and after a few years SPAM will cease to exist.

Let me hear your thoughts,

Rex

Posted by Rex at 01:56 PM | Comments (0)

November 15, 2004

Google Adsense

I am currently trying out google adsense and it is really cool. You can customize the look and feel of the ads, along with getting targeted content. We will see how it works out for the Rex Blog. I must admit that google is one of the hottest companies out there. I wish that I got in on the IPO.

Posted by Rex at 10:43 AM | Comments (2)

November 14, 2004

Free Legitimate IPODS

My friend Matt sent me a link to a site which offers free IPODs. I know what you are thinking this can not be true. Here is the link. http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=11890374

This site actually works!!! So, sign up!! Also, contrary to popular
belief, you won't get junk mail; I signed up using my account and
have received no junk mail whatsoever. Matt says that Gmail accounts work, but hotmail accounts do not. I would look into that.

http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=11890374

Posted by Rex at 09:48 AM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2004

Hot damn!! Ashcroft may get the boot!

As reported on CNN.

Who actually liked this bible-thumper? Only time will tell who Bush will appoint, so keep your fingers crossed.

Posted by BahamaMama at 10:18 AM | Comments (1)

November 03, 2004

Bush Wins!

John Kerry just conceded to President Bush. Bush Wins, Bush Wins, Bush Wins!!!

I knew that democracy would win. The dark side lost and the stock market is already up.

FYI - I am starting a John Kerry Bumper Sticker Removal Service. I have been doing this for many years now, and I can guarantee no scratches.

Posted by Rex at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)

November 02, 2004

The New Fad - Liberalism

On the eve of this most important election, I have come to see that the new fad on college campuses is liberalism. Most don't know why they are supporters of the dark side, most admit that they are voting democratic because their friends are voting that way and they don't want to be left out. I hate to admit it but college students may be as dumb as the celebrities. I appreciate the fact that people are going out to vote, and I don't care who people vote for, but if you vote for a candidate because you will be left out, that is just stupid. Most people can't name a single issue. Most just say, "The war man, the war." What in the hell does that mean. The war. Yes, the war is an issue, but why are you voting the way you are based on that issue. Most of the kids have no idea. They are just voting so that they are not singled out. They don't want to vote based on the issues that effect them.

Hell at Marquette University, where every other student has a trust fund, nobody is even thinking about death taxes. Nobody is thinking about their inheritance. If I were about to lost 27 to 35% of my inheritance I would be worried. Another issue on the plate is Tort reform. Many of the people around college campuses can't even spell tort let alone explain it. Tort reform will decrease the amount of lawsuits and ultimately make insurance cheaper and more affordable.

Well before you jump on the band wagon, I would actually look at the issues. Some issues will weigh heavily on you and others not so much. After looking at the issues and doing the ultimate balancing of the issues you will have a favored candidate. That should be the candidate of your choice. Then when someone questions your stance, you will have an answer. You will be decided, and you will feel better in the democratic system. Stay informed and don't forget to vote.

Posted by Rex at 03:32 PM | Comments (2)

November 01, 2004

Don't forget to vote

It is November 2nd and it is your turn to elect the person that you believe is the Best Man for the Job. Bush, Bush, Bush is the man. The issues matter; Tort Reform, The Death Tax, The War, National Security. The answer to all of those is Bush, Bush, Bush, Bush, and Bush. I am going to have to say that Bush is the man.

Posted by Rex at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)