I was browsing the web one night and ran across a website that housed a lot very old, very random photographs. Despite several efforts, I haven’t been able to determine the source website. The picture you see below is the only one that I chose to save locally to my computer. I found it incredibly captivating, and still do. At first glace, it’s quite creepy. It reminded me a little of the creepy girl from the movie The Ring. I don’t know why, but since saving this photo, I’ve looked at it a dozen times. I can’t decide what to make of it. When was this taken? Who is this girl? What was happening at the time this was taken? I do wonder.

I was recently looking at a website that showcased different company logo designs, and something about the FedEx logo was brought to my attention that I’d never noticed before. Between the orange E and X, you can see a right-pointing arrow in the white space between the letters. Stunning. I’d never noticed. Look below.

I once posted about a good bulk file renamer for the Mac, called Renamer4Mac. That is a good piece of software, and can get the job done. However, in this month’s edition of Macworld, they cited an even better bulk file renamer! It’s called Name Mangler (now version 2.0), and it received 4.5 stars in their review/recommendation. I have downloaded it, and I can testify that it works very well. It’s both powerful and extremely easy to use. If you need to rename a batch of files, look no farther than Name Mangler. It’s free, but a donation is requested. Note: Mac OSX 10.5 is required.

I don’t want to make it a habit to post links to individual YouTube videos, but this silly commercial from the movie UHF puts a smile on my face. Take a trip to Spatula City!

Recently, after upgrading to WP 2.61, I installed a plugin called WP Security Scan. If you’re running a website with WordPress, it is certainly worth installing. I did, and was blown away at the lack of security that my blog was exposed to. This little plugin lets you know where you need to make alterations. I very highly recommend it to everyone using WordPress!

If you grew up in the days of when we all made mix tapes and were wowed by high-speed dubbing, you’ll probably enjoy this huge collection of recordable cassette tapes online.

Today, I signed up for a Twitter account. If you don’t already know, Twitter is a website web service where you tell the world what you are doing at any given time using 140 characters or less. I’ve heard a lot about it since it started a few years ago, but I never thought I’d be interested in using such a service. Fast forward to today, and I’m ready to give it a try. I’ve not only signed up, I’ve made a new static page on this site to display my latest Twitter updates. I don’t know if the novelty will wear off in time, but I’m enjoying it now.

Back in March, I wrote a post about Time Machine, which is a part of Mac OSX 10.5. I had once tried a utility called Time Machine Editor, which I later commented that I’d had mixed results. After using the program, I ended up turning Time Machine off and backing up manually. This worked fine, but I would often let a week go by without backing up. I wanted a backup interval somewhere between the default setting of every hour, and the option of turning if off all together.

So I have recently decided to revisit the Time Machine Editor tool, and I have been very pleased with it this time around. The latest version as of this writing is 2.0.1. I have it set to back up my Mac every night at midnight to my external hard drive. It has been working great. I can say I highly recommend it. I would also argue that the functinality of this program should be built in to OSX to begin with!

In the latest issue of MacWorld, they list the Top 53 Inexpensive Mac Gems. Among those gems, I found a free program is called SuperDocker. This cool little app lets you customize your OSX Leopard Dock. You can choose between 2D and 3D modes, about 20 different Dock backgrounds, and a variety of separators and indicators. Changes are instant and the result is fun to look at. I just installed the program and am now using the wood background with the white triangle indicators, which resemble the more-obvious indicators used on the Dock in OSX Tiger. The novelty could wear off in time, but there are a lot of options to choose from, and the program is, after all, free.

Note: When you visit the website for SuperDocker, you’ll find that the site is in French. I wasn’t able to find an English version of their product page, but when you download the program itself, choose the version labeled “Anglais”, which is French for the English version of the software. Enjoy!

After over ten years of writing down the things I hate, I have finally hit the milestone of 500 entries on my Hate List! What a day. I’ve actually had a handful of hates in the waiting, but I felt that none of them were good enough for me to enter as number 500. As for #500 itself, my choice sends me rolling on the floor laughing. It is quite an inside joke at my house. Whether the rest of you get it, or even care, matters not. [Note: 500 is now 490 -- read my comment to the post.]

The list is always a work in progress, but progress and creativity come slower with time. Over the years it has become a challenge to keep it focused and targeted. If I start tossing out anything that comes to mind, it will eventually veer from its unique originality. Also, I want a reader to be able to read the oldest entries and the newest entries, and know that is the same personality, with the same delivery throughout. I think I have achieved that. It helps that I have almost no disagreement with all of the things I hated ten years ago.

Anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. Here’s to ten more years?

I’ve been watching the Beijing Olympics this weekend. In years past, I have only mustered a passing interest in the Games. With all of the hype surrounding the 2008 Games in China this year, I decided to tune in this time around. On Friday, the opening ceremony was nothing short of spectacular.

I’ll quote Roger Ebert from an article in the Chicago Sun-Times (Chicago is bidding for the 2016 Games). Ebert writes, “I think I received the intended message: China is here, big time. The scope, precision and beauty of the production were, you will agree, astonishing.”

I’ve been home most of the weekend, and I’ve had NBC on in the background. Surprisingly, I’ve actually found myself sitting and watching a lot of the events. I’ve seen swimming, rowing, beach volleyball, biking, and gymnastics. This isn’t like me, normally, but I’m genuinely enjoying myself.

• Official Olympics Site
• NBC Olympics Site