Far From Home

Easy on the Caffeine, People...

One of the more amusing things about having started this blog is seeing what subject matter most commonly brings traffic.  Some posts barely seem to make a difference, but others have continued to bring traffic from the moment I posted them to the present.  One of the most unexpected cases would be my post Caffine: Common Workplace Hallucinogen from back in January of this year.

Even more amusing, however, are some of the searches that have brought people to this article, including:

• "maximum caffeine intake not to hallucinate"
• "coffee consumption increases likelihood of hallucinogens"
• "coffee makes me hallucinate"
• "coffee beans hallucination"

The list goes on, and on, and on...  I wish I'd made note of some of the better ones that I've seen that I no longer have a record of, but still... pretty funny.

Seems like a lot of people experience this phenomenon.  Let's hear about it if you have!

Gun-Toting Loonies

Anyone who has watched the news lately has seen the coverage of people bringing their guns (for which they have licences to carry) into Presidential town-hall meetings.  There's been a debate over whether this should be allowed, and of course, the interpretation of the second amendment of the Constitution is the focal point of the argument.

I thought I'd throw up a poll here to see what people think about this issue, partially because I felt like trying out polldaddy, but also because I'm curious.  That said, I'm not sure I even have the reader-base at this point, thanks to my hiatus, that will generate a decent turnout. Regardless, it's all in good fun anyhow.

Personally, I think it's lunacy for these people to be permitted near the president with their sidearms, second amendment or not.  As pointed out by many, people who feel the need to exercise their right to bear firearms at town-hall meetings that are obviously going to focus on health care might be a little batty...  All it takes is one well-timed and well-aimed shot by one of these crazies and boom-- assassination.  And given the barbaric atmosphere of some of these town halls as of late, I wouldn't put it completely out of the realm of possibility.  Not by a long shot.

But, what these people are doing is legal.  Retarded, but legal.  I have no problem with people carrying weapons, honestly.  I'm not for aggressive gun control, as I recognize that in the vast majority of cases, it is the guns that are not legally registered that we need to worry about, and this freedom, just like any other that we appreciate having in this country, should be protected.

Seriously though, you can't take a gun on a plane... but you can take one within feet of the president?  Something is a bit backwards here.

Brad Pitt to Run for Mayor of New Orleans?

Probably not.  In fact, there's a lot of skepticism around whether he actually has ever had any intentions of running, or whether a combination of jokingly made comments on his part, a general fondness for him of New Orleans residents, and a lot of skewage by media and netizens has led to rumors of grand proportion.

Personally, my interest in this subject is not the fact that it is heartthrob Brad Pitt running for mayor, but rather the platform that he has stated he intends to run on (again, jokingly, it seems).  I've always had the impression that Pitt was a pretty cool guy, but his political keystone issues might just give a reason to girls and boys alike to be "ga-ga" over Brad Pitt.  ...words I thought I'd never type, or say, or even think...

Anyhow, were Mr. Pitt to run, he has stated that his intended platform would be based on the following:

• Gay Marriage
• No Religion
• Legalization and Taxation of Marijuana

In his own words, "I don't have a chance."  Probably true, but you still kick ass, Brad.

links:

Brad Pitt 1-on-1 Interview with Anne Curry (video) [buzzfeed.com]

Brad Pitt for Mayor! [thecelebritycafe.com]

Six Animals That Can Get You High...

Aside from toads, I had no idea that these other animals had physiological (or behavioral) characteristics that produce compounds that are highly psychoactive to humans.  Deadly, yes, but psychoactive?  The six animals covered in the article from cracked.com are the following, which is all I'm going to give you, because the article itself is far better than any synopsis I could produce here:

1. Giraffes
2. Salamanders
3. Cobras (I thought they just uh... killed you)
4. Bees
5. Toads (okay, we all knew this one.)
6. Scorpions (see comment on #3)

Pretty interesting and humorous stuff.

DISCLAIMER: I do not partake in, advocate, or suggest any of these means of psychoactive exploration.  This information is intended for amusement and novelty purposes and nothing further. :)

via [cracked.com]

I caved: Hacking the Pre SDK install MSI works.

Yes, I said I didn't want to do it... and I didn't.  But I wanted to mess around with developing for webOS more, I decided.  So, I followed the simple instructions found at the link below, removing the User Mode Driver Framework step from the Palm SDK msi.

How To Install Palm Pre WebOS SDK On...

It worked like a charm, despite the instructions being intended for Windows 7 64-bit.  It's worth pointing out, however, that I had confirmed in my application event log that it was indeed the User Mode crap causing the problem:

Windows XP Wudf01007 installation failed.

Access is denied.

So far, I've been able to successfully run the Palm Emulator, install the HelloWorld sample application, run it, modify it as described in the tutorial, and see the results.  No issues.

...I know I'm probably being a jackass when I say this, but can someone please explain to me why Palm is having so much trouble fixing this problem when it can be so easily circumvented this way?  Obviously there must be some purpose to installing the UMDF that is keeping them from simply eliminating it from the install process... but it isn't obvious, and nobody seems to know.

Oh well.  Here's to hoping I don't run into issues as a result of my impatience.

Use Outlook? You need Xobni.

My boss sent me the link for Xobni when it had just surfaced, and I installed it.  I haven't used Outlook without it since, and in the rare cases that I've had issues with it (always brief), leaving me without it, I've felt totally lost without it.

Xobni makes it easy to instantly find any email in any of your folders, search your email in threaded format, find any attachment that you've ever exchanged with a person, and a crapload more.  It has a clever, intuitive interface that makes you want to use it, and use it you will...

Maybe it appeals best to people like myself whose jobs are extremely email intensive, with a need to constantly go back and find things quickly, but I'd think just about anyone that uses Outlook knows how easy it is to lose an email in the abyss, even if you are meticulous about maintaining your folders of archived mail.

Give it a shot, you won't be sorry.  If you don't like it, it's easy to uninstall.  

links:

Xobni Website

WebOS SDK Frustrations

Another (not so) quick post from the Pre here, which I am still enamored with, I must say... Unfortunately, I am not enamored with Palm themselves at the moment. Why? I still can't install the WebOS SDK.

At first, the focus was on Windows 7, as similar problems were most prevalent for developers trying to install the SDK on Microsoft's newest incarnation of Windows. However, it has come to be apparent that the same problems (or similar ones...) are present for users of XP and Vista as well.

What's the problem, exactly? Well, for lack of a better word, it's pretty stupid. The SDK installer runs, proceeds to the point that it is seemingly complete, and then suddenly begins rolling back the installation, finally stating that the installation was interrupted before it could complete. At least in my case, no error message is ever displayed, although my understanding is that there are quite a few variations on this theme. Regardless, the end result is always the same-- install finishes, install uninstalls.

I Got A Palm Pre!!

I got a palm pre, and I love it. The fact that I can just jump into the webbrowser and easily post without having to deal with the lameness of the mobile browsers that I'm used to dealing with might just revitalize my blogging! The Pre is very new, but I am a fan of going the early-adopter route, and also a long-term fan of Palm itself, so this phone is perfect for me, and I am positively delighted to see Palm get back into the smartphone industry with such an incredibly competitive product. I hope to keep up and continue posting my impressions of the device as I become increasingly familiar with it.

Good times.