Annoying PeoplePC, science, projects, furnishings, centaur, tmnt

I just recently finished an angry email to PeoplePC because their Contact Center has telemarketted me 3 times in the last two weeks. It is obviously an offshore Indian call center (which generally I don't have issues with; just when they are really bad like this one), though they all gave "American" names. I don't like it when they do this. It is belittling to them by having to use a fake name (especially when sometimes they have trouble pronouncing it) and everyone knows that they are lying. The first agent kept up even though I said "no" seven or eight times. I try to be respectful, so I took the time to explain why my 5MB cable model is better than the dial-up he was offering. He was not understanding me and trying to stick to the script, so he responded with "So is your main concern about tying up your phone line?".
The next call was after 8PM on a Sunday (not against the law to my knowledge, but I thought general courtesy of telemarketers is to avoid this time). I told the agent I already had a call and was not interested. She proceeded to tell me I was hasty in declining and was argumentative.
The third call was relatively straightforward; the agent said OK and goodbye after I said this was the third call.
I don't see how any company expects to do business like this, but it is getting more and more common.
Anyway, here are some unrelated links for me to browse while waiting for the inevitable fourth call:

• Could you pass 8th Grade Science? online quiz. I was a bit disappointed in how easy it was.
• Tired of paying Coca-Cola for their drink? Make your own Coca-Cola.
• Bleach Spritz Clothing looks to be an easy craft project for decorating old shirts. I may give this a try.
• I think of parabolic dishes for signal reception, but not as a parabolic lamp. This is an interesting idea.
• Redoing that living room? You might want the sensor embedded carpet that can guess shoe size, age, gender, and other characteristics of the person walking on it.
• Think the two wheeled Segway is not for you? You may like the 4 wheeled Segway Centaur concept.
• What you've been waiting for: trailer for the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles move. Wait... they're making a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles move?
  

Back from vacation in Branson

Well, I'm back! I visited fabulous Branson, MO, with a stop in Kansas City on the way. Today's links will be for some of the spectacular vacation fare that I experienced:

• Kansas City Zoo - Nice zoo, but not as fun when it is 105 degrees out.
• Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art - Very good museum. Got kicked out because they were closing.
• Silver Dollar City - Fun theme park. Not huge, but good variety. (On most of the rides: you will get wet!)
• Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Museum - full of great oddities.
• Titanic Museum - I thought it was a bit out of place in Branson, but it was very well done.
• Grand Country Square - Didn't stay at the hotel, but ate at the buffet and played the mini golf course.
• 57 Heaven (in Dick Clark's American Bandstand complex) - awesome collection of 1957 cars.
• Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede - horse show and singing, and a four course meal with no silverware.
• Hollywood Wax Museum - just creepy enough.
• The Track - go-karts and other rides.
  

Vacation

Well, I'll be heading out on a mini-vacation here soon, so no updates for a while.
See you in a bit!

Dancing around the world, open mic, clean bills, generous corps, cap magnets

So, what's new? Looks like I'm past the blistering heat here for the moment (over 100 degrees this weekend...fahrenheit, that is). Here are some links for you to read as you sit in your nice air conditioned space:

• If you haven't seen Matt Harding's Dancing Around The World videos, you really should. They are a little goofy, but also kind of touching. What a fun project to do!
• President Bush really needs to learn to be careful around open mics. Candid with some language.
• Two robbers misunderstand money laundering. I hope they used the right detergent.
• The nation's most generous corporations by charitable givings. Wal-Mart is number one? I thought they were supposed to be evil!
• Here's a simple craft project that's kind of neat: turn bottlecaps into magnets or thumbtacks.
  

Whitmarshall new look (and other stuff)

Sorry for the long stretch between updates. I've been working on a new design for the site (as you can see by now), but it took longer than I planned (and was difficult to find the time to work on it. There are still a few rough edges (like the alignment around the top), but I wanted to get it out there. I welcome any feedback on it!
In other news:

• Rare, mutant two-toned lobster caught. He's been immediately signed to be in "X-Men 4".
• RIAA loses a file sharing case. If only they would have downloaded a better legal argument.
  
• Google sends blogger aspirin after he writes a post entitled "Dear Google, You're Giving Me A Headache." Funny, but does this mean Google is reading everything on the web?
  
• This hilarious Darth Vader video on YouTube is one of the funniest things I've seen lately. The video author took Star Wars footage and dubbed in James Earl Jones lines from other movies. Genius.

And that is all the news there is for the day...err, except all that Israel/Hamas/Palestine/Lebanon/Hezbollah/Syria/Iran/North Korea/etc. stuff...

Censor, executive gift, payment pals, marios, msPod, KFed's good joke

Hello, here's some new links:

• Need to stay incognito? You need the Black bar 'censor' sunglasses.
• Nintendo sends Bush a birthday gift of a DS Lite and "Brain Age". Finally, a gift he can use. (By the way I have "Brain Age", and my brain age is currently 22!)
• eBay banning users from using Google Checkout as a form of payment. No self interest there.
• Very sweet animated gif of infinite Super Marios.
• Some new details of Microsoft's iPod killer have been released. Blue screen of death not listed.
  
• Kevin Federline insists his first song release was actually a joke all along. Yeah, we all believe that.
  

The Star Mangled Banner, annihilation, genuine spying

Hope you have a fun and safe Independence Day tomorrow. But before then, here are some links:

• With Independence Day comes the singing of "The Star Spangled Banner". Are you one of the two thirds of Americans that don't know all the lyrics to our National Anthem? I think the might change that just to Anthem. By the way, the last words are not "play ball" or "gentlemen, start your engines".
• And we can celebrate our Independence thinking about North Korea's threat of an 'annihilating strike' and 'nuclear war' in case they are pre-emptively attacked. Of course, I suppose that is only if we don't pre-emptively attack the couple nuclear bombs they have.
• I mentioned it last time, but here is another article about Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage spying on you.

New China, Genuine spyware, internets, struggling penny

Boy, it's been a while. I had much trouble at work this week, with some late nights working on issues. The last few days I've just been catching up on home stuff and trying to not do too much computery stuff. I saw Superman Returns the other day, and generally liked it. I thought it was a bit too long. This new guy does a lot in his performance that really makes you think of Christopher Reeve, and didn't really seem unnatural in any way. (Maybe I'll post a longer review later.)
In other news:

• More evidence that China discovered America. And this would be before Columbus... or it wouldn't be much of a story.
• Lawsuit says Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy software is spyware. I've noticed this thing (firewall catches it) trying to dial home several times a day. It is a bit annoying, and I've wondered exactly what it is trying to send.
• Senator Ted Stevens delivers brilliantly insane speech on why he voted as he did on the net neutrality subject.
• The penny may be on the way out due to it now costing 1.2 cents to make the 1 cent coin.