Electric Mower
September 13, 2009 by Marko · Leave a Comment
Electric Mower
Date: 2005-05-04 (transfered from old blog)
Today I traded in my old gas lawnmower, which came with the house, for an electric one from Home Depot. Well, not an exact exchange, but for a $100 rebate. I’ve cut the front lawn with it so far and it seems to do the job well. Never mind that it is quieter and less polluting, now I don’t need to store gasoline in my garage anymore. Yes, there is the minor nuisance of having to move a power cord around, but so far it isn’t a very big deal. Just requires a replanning of my usual cutting pattern. Oh, I will not be using the bag as it comes with a mulching attachment.
Saint Ralph
September 13, 2009 by Marko · Leave a Comment
Saint Ralph
Date: 2005-04-28 (transfered from old blog)
Michelle and I went to see a movie this evening called “Saint Ralph“. The main kid star, Adam Butcher, and the director of the movie were both there in the theater giving a little talk at the beginning and taking questions at the end. Adam goes to GCI highschool and Michelle was his teacher in grade 9 for some classes. Anyway, kind of surreal to go see a movie with the main actor taking questions afterward… he was extremely nervous. I guess he was around 16 years old or something. Good for him anyway, hopefully he gets to work in more movies.
Cybersquatting For The Pope
September 13, 2009 by Marko · Leave a Comment
Cybersquatting
Date: 2005-04-20 (transfered from old blog)
Some clever fellow who followed the prophecies of St. Malachy registered the domain benedictxvi.com before the new pope was elected and is now getting tons of hits to his website (and probably making a nice profit with google ads). I went to check out if any variations on that domain were still available but could find nothing. Even misspellings, such as benedictvxi.com and benedictxiv.com, are already taken. Then I looked for the “last pope” and found PeterII.com and all variations already taken also… even the latin petrusromanus.com. Getting a good cybersquatting domain name is extremely difficult these days.
Educated Homeless Guy
September 13, 2009 by Marko · Leave a Comment
Educated Homeless Guy
Date: 2005-04-06 (transfered from old blog)
The other day I saw a homeless man pushing three carts along the highway. Today we saw the same man with his three carts in the next town over. I told my wife that I saw this same guy yesterday and she wanted to stop and give him one of our “homeless kits” which we store in the back trunk of our car. Anyway, after my wife gave the man a kit and some Timmies and spoke with him for a while, it was learned that he was university educated… or at least claimed to be. Apparently, he has a Masters degree in Russian and is in-between jobs. Yikes, if this is true I think it is a fairly sad condition our society is in where an educated man has been reduced to pushing around shopping carts with all his belongings. He was desparately looking for work and somewhere to live, but seemed quite upbeat about his situation. Well, homeless guy, wherever you are, good luck with your journey and may the future treat you better.
Windows In A Linux World
September 13, 2009 by Marko · Leave a Comment
Windows In A Linux World
Date: 2005-04-04 (transfered from old blog)
I went to our local Linux User Group meeting tonight and the guest speaker was a Microsoft representative talking about Unix Services on Windows. Basically, Microsoft is pretending that they are involved in the open-source movement by making tools that allow you run Linux virtual machines under Windows and allowing a select few corporations have a peek at some of their source code… but everything was restricted and geared toward having Windows control it all. Everything is made with the sense that the user will want to migrate completely to Windows eventually. He handed out 10 free copies of Windows 2003 Server. “Hey kid, first one’s free!” (thanks, but no thanks)
Spring Come Back!
September 13, 2009 by Marko · Leave a Comment
Spring Come Back!
Date: 2005-04-03 (transfered from old blog)
I woke up this morning to a rude surprise from mother nature outside my front window. After having nice +17C weather last week, it was shocking to see how much snow had accumulated from a late winter storm. I had heard the weather report saying it would snow this weekend but I thought that perhaps it was just an April Fool’s joke… no such luck.
Also, what is up with Daylight Savings Time? Can’t we just abolish it already? I mean, I had to go around the house and adjust about 11 digital clocks.
Man With The Ridiculous Hat
September 13, 2009 by Marko · Leave a Comment
Man With The Ridiculous Hat
Date: 2005-04-02 (transfered from old blog)
Pope John Paul II passed on today at the age of 84. I guess we’re one step closer the “last pope”. Of course, I don’t believe in Catholic prophecies and anything that might come true can be attributed to the self-fulfilling prophecy effect. Regardless, it’s fun to read about. The next pope, who’s reign will apparently be short, will be one of bringing peace. After that, the final Pope called Peter the Roman, will supposedly reign during a time of massive persecution of the church… and something about an upcoming world war. Oh well, sounds like lots of fun. 
Unfortunately, I believe I probably won’t see humanity evolve from it’s semi-barbaric and superstitious state in my lifetime.
Fried Onions Are Yummy
September 13, 2009 by Marko · Leave a Comment
Fried Onions
Date: 2005-04-01 (transfered from old blog)
I went to eat at a place in Waterloo today called “Chill and Grill”. Had their regular-sized “Big Juicy” burger and onion rings. Now, the burger was average or above-average, but the best thing was the fried onions! I love fried onions! Not enough fast food places give the option of fried onions. Not only that, they had fried mushrooms. Both items were available as a free option. The rings were huge and very deep fried… reminded me a bit of Krispy Kreme donuts. Mouth watering stuff, but all probably very unhealthy and fattening. One interesting thing I noticed was their “Crippler Challenge” which is a 3 pound monster burger you can order. If you can eat it alone within 1 hour, you get your picture put on the wall and a free t-shirt. I can eat a lot, but even that challenge seems a bit daunting for me. Oh well, 3 photos on the wall prove that it is do-able.