Archive for February 20th, 2005

Sunday, February 20, 2005

Those Daffy Spammers

Just when you think those porn pushing, pill selling, poker playing swindlers had done everything in their power to try to get into your email box (and my comment system), I get the below message:

Hello, I’m a regular visitor to your site so i finally decided its time to sign your guestbook, so here i sign !

I assume the thought here is that I won’t notice the URL that the bot signed with and assume from the message text that it’s a real person. It does say that he is a regular visitor, right? Thing is, the blog isn’t a guestbook. Hell, I don’t even have a guestbook (how 90’s is that exactly?).

It is interesting that everything that they try to sell starts with a P though, isn’t it?

My New Favorite Show

Yes, it’s geeky and there isn’t really much defending it, but my new favorite show is anime. It airs Thursday and Saturday nights on Adult Swim. Check their website for current showtimes.

WinryThe show of course is Fullmetal Alchemist. It’s about a pair of brothers extremely interested in alchemy, the science of making anything as long as you have the correct ingredients. They try revive their mother using this science/art, which is forbidden. They find out why. The older brother loses two limbs while the younger loses his entire body, being bonded to some empty armor.

The main reason I love the show though is the character, Winry (as seen to the left). Blonde, cute, smart, and mechanically inclined (she made Ed’s automail limbs), she’s everything a good geek like me looks for in a woman. Well, except of course being flesh and blood or non-fictional, but relationships are all about compromise. I’m willing to forgive those traits.

USB Overdrive Update Coming

As Logitech provides rather piss poor drivers for their mice, I’ve been using USB Overdrive. It’s a great product, but it lacks support for the MX1000’s horizontal scrolling features. No one had heard from the author since some time in 2003 (when the last version had been released). I tried writing to him, but like many others, got no response.

Good news for those that have been waiting (for side scrolling and Bluetooth support): he is still very much working on USB Overdrive and it shouldn’t be too long before a new version is released. He wrote the below on Versiontracker:

Many users are wondering if the USB Overdrive is still being developed and improved because one year went by since the last release. I’d like to reassure everyone that I’m still working actively on the Overdrive and that the Bluetooth version that many of you are waiting for is not far away. I had to spend some time with my (new) family during the past year and I had a lot of other work to do, but the USB Overdrive is still my main interest and I’m not about to let it down. I may not be able to reply to all the incoming email but I do read it all, and all the requests are taken into account. The current beta supports more wireless mouse models, can handle more buttons, knows about tilt wheels for horizontal scrolling, and fixes several minor UI bugs. Next on the horizon are Bluetooth support and a real System Preferences user interface, both of which are almost ready. Keep an eye on VersionTracker and thanks for your support!