Clarkville Servers Down

Just FYI-
My host for Clarkville (000k) is currently down. They have been for the past 19 hours or so and I have no idea when they'll get their servers back up. So, if you found your way here, you know why you can't get on Clarkville. I'll update when it's back up.

The Internet Turns 35

Thirty-five years after computer scientists at UCLA linked two bulky computers using a 15-foot gray cable, testing a new way for exchanging data over networks, what would ultimately become the Internet remains a work in progress. Read More

Thursday's Straightaway

Sorry I haven't updated in a while....I've been pretty lazy, and there's really nothing to talk about. After all, its summer, what do you expect?

Band Camp started on Monday. It's pretty hot, painful (sunburns), and can be considered enjoyable when you know what your doing (which, for freshmen, is not very often).

I recently installed SP2 for XP. It works great on my systems with no conflicts with any apps (yet). It has a lot of new security features and some other cool stuff, so I recommend that you update today.

Like I said, there's not much to talk about, so I'll leave you with some "weird news" storis of the day:

St. Louis consultant fired after claims of supernatural powers, CEO says
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Maybe David Levin should have seen it coming: An economic development group fired him as a consultant over concern that his self-professed psychic powers were interfering with his work. Full Story

Pennsylvania legislator hosptalized for hiccups
UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- Some politicians can't stop talking; one Pennsylvania pol couldn't stop hiccuping. But the state lawmaker has now beaten the affliction after weeks in the hospital. Full Story

Police find missing truck driver

WOODSTOCK, N.B. (CP) - More than a week after thieves in New Brunswick made off with about 50,000 cans of Moosehead Beer from the back of a transport trailer, police have tracked down the truck's driver in Ontario. Full Story

Vampire flies to the rescue

AFTER STRUGGLING to take down a suspect, Police Chief Julian Fantino was thankful at least one Toronto vampire doesn't sleep during the day. Self-described vampire Baron Marcus did his best Buffy the Vampire Slayer imitation Sunday, jumping in to help the chief and another officer as they struggled to secure a man who was allegedly taking pictures of small children. Full Story

350-year-old pear tree falls to ground

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - It stood for 350 years, bearing fruit for a dozen generations, but strong winds finally brought down what is believed to be the oldest pear tree in Scandinavia. Full Story

lol....that's Google's best yet. 

Wow...is that a view or what? (This pic is acout 6 mo. old...there's no snow on the ground now) 

G'day from Colorado

Howdee doo, I'm in Colorado in a cabin setteled in the beuatiful mountians of the Grand Mesa. Wow...this is an awesome view, I'll try to post some pictures later.

On Friday "Karl and the Nearly Barenaked Ladies" came in as a runner-up in the Karaoke finals. He sung "One Week", and if you think about his group name and the who the artist of "One Week" is for a little while, you might get it. I'll post some pics as soon as I get them. He one a cash prize of $50...enough to cover an IMAX viewing of Harry Potter 3 in Vegas on Sun.

Watching the Olympics? The US is actually doing halfway decent, which is pretty cool.

Not much else to say right now, I might update later and might not...depends on how stable my connection is :)

Tuesday's Tech News

+There's a serious security flaw in AOL's Instant Messenger (AIM) that could give a hacker access to an unknowing user's computer. AOL has yet to patch the bug.

+Not to be left out of all of the SP2 buzz for Windows, Apple is shipping a 43 megabyte update to OS X today along with a separate security update that patches handling of PNG images. Mac OS 10.3.5 improves Bluetooth performance and updates video drivers. Software update will pull down the updates automatically.

+A nasty virus has been spreading fast since yesterday. The Bagel variant usually has the words price or price quote in the body of the message, the attached file contains the virus and will infect your machine if you open it.

+Can't wait until the 25th for SP2? It's now being distributed on the peer-to-peer file sharing networks, like Kaaza, BearShare and Grokster. It's probably better to wait until it's available on Windows Update later this month. It's a 272 meg download from the file sharing networks and will be much smaller from Windows Update because you will only download the parts of the update that you need. If you must, the full version is now available from Microsoft directly.

+Intel has pushed the launch date for the 4GHz Pentium IV ahead to early 2005. Meanwhile, there are severe shortages for the 3.6GHz Prescott.

That's about it for today...check back later!

Windows XP SP2: Coming to a PC Near You

After many delays, today Microsoft finally wrapped up development on a long-awaited security update to Windows XP, dubbed Service Pack 2 (SP2). You can read the full CNET News story here.

On Monday, I finally got my braces off (a year later than expected, but hey, they're off...I'm not complaining). It was pretty nice for the first 24 hours, but then they slapped some retainers on me and the joy wore off pretty fast.

I found this pretty entertaining and funny. It'll keep you busy for a while.

I updated the “Photo Gallery” on Clarkville. It now has thumbnails, which are probably helpful, and some new and updated pics. Also, you can get a seek peak of "Where's the Cream Filling?" with some exclusive snapshots.

Well, there's not much else to talk about, except for the fact that I'm extremely bored and there is nothing to talk about. When I find something, I'll be sure to let you know.

Ain't Going Down 'til The Sun Comes Up

That was the song that earned Karl Stutelberg (my Bro-in-law) a third place in the semi-finals and qualification for the Route 66 Bar and Grill karaoke finals. To answer the most prevalent question on your mind right now, yes my brother-in-law sings karaoke (and he's pretty good, too). So, if you want to watch him in the finals for a chance to win $500, come on down to the Route 66 Bar and Grill in Canyon Country (Santa Clarita) on Friday, August 13. The competition starts at 11pm.

What does the first place team in the NL West do when they are playing great ball and in first place? They hall off and trade half of their star players on the team. That's exactly what the Dodgers did.
Lo Duca, Mota, Encarnacion, Martin, and Roberts are gone. I'll say it again for you secluded folks who haven’t herd yet: the Dodgers traded Lo Duca, Mota, Encarnacion, Martin, and Roberts.
That was a real smart move.
Why? Nobody knows. (Well, except De Poesta...maybe)
The Dodgers acquired Brad Penny and Hee-Seop Choi from the Marlins and Steve Finley and Brent Mayne from Arizona.

We finally finalized a trailer for "Where's The Cream Filling?" You can find a link on the Clarkville homepage.

On Saturday Louis, Casey, Karl (my bro in law) and Jon (my future bro in law) saw Napoleon Dynamite. All I can say is, "Heck Yes!" (You had to see the movie). It was mega low budget, and equally awesome.

That’s about it for now.