Wednesday, October 24, 2007

log-ons and passwords


it is rather fascinating to think about access and means of access in life. many times i look at keys and your key ring as the responsibilities and opportunities in your life. each one of the keys has a purpose and allows you to take advantage of whatever is being locked up. in the same fold, you have direct responsibility of that place or thing that needs to be secured behind lock and key. as with everything in life, there are pluses and minuses.



the keys on our keyboard are similar to our key ring. the opportunities and responsibilities are encrypted locks on portal websites and computers. however, in this instance, we have no physical place to keep our log-ons and passwords. at times, i find it humorous when i am fumbling for my "keys" when trying to remember what password i allotted to a "door" that i don't go into very often-- say, my insurance website.


how do most people organize these virtual keys in their lives? am i the only one who has several rotating and changing passwords for all the access doors i need to gain entry? do people write these things down? store them electronically? i choose to keep them in my head, but perhaps i am only needlessly taking up grey matter. also, i do not trust any cpu to "keep log-on and password information," perhaps i am silly in this hesitation, too. curious.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

what a pain in the arse

i was a bit miffed this evening, when i tried to go to tv-links.co.uk to see if i could watch an old 'facts of life' or maybe a 'three's company' episode only to have the link come up dead. i juiced google to see if the bookmarked url was off, only to find that slashdot had a news posting noting that the web operator had been nabbed and the site disbanded. wtf, mate?

Thursday, October 18, 2007

impact of blogs

as you may recall, i have pondered the values of blogging a few times within the past year.

it continues to be a ruminating question as there are baby blogs, cat and dog blogs, blogs about bubble gum, and a wash of personal rants and raves such as soyboy, here.

from my limited research, most of the press regarding the pinnacle influence of blogging came around the last presidential election: here (pdf), here, here (pdf), and here.

is it that the peak awareness and noticable impact of blogging hit in 04? do we now just take it for granted that the blogosphere is being watched and (more importantly) listened to by a great number of people? what influence does blogging really have on our culture? on our political process? on our mindset? on our quality of life?

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

japan

although our time in japan seems so surreal and unreal within itself. we continue to talk about our adventures on a regular basis. the year that we spent exploring the islands, cities, rich culture, and customs of such a beautiful place stands as such an amazing experience in our lives. we're so glad that we took the plunge and ventured off to the far east. the perspective we gained helps to propel us forward each and every day. the friends we met there are friends for life.

one of those life friends is deven, who has now recessitated his old web 1.0 blog that featured a sub-page that i put together and this story that i wrote about one sunday that we played in the sea of japan (or east china sea, depending on your political persuasion).

rubber duckie

one of my favorite songs of all time. the brilliance of ernie...

ouch.

chicago marathon problems.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

the joys of having a working oven again


the last abode that a and i housed ourselves in had an old antique oven that reached a balmy 200 degrees or so. suffice to say, we engaged in virtually no baking exercises other than what we could squeeze into a toaster oven.

this was a fun adventure in patience and creativity--it was akin to finally getting the ez-bake oven that i secretly always dreamed of getting when i was a young lad. alas, we now have a stellar oven that reaches the temperatures it is demarcated to reach. what a novel concept!

anyway, we've been actively throwing around ingredients and dancing around the kitchen in a cloud of whole grain flour night after night. cookies, baked tofu, broiled eggplant, and this beautiful vegan pizza with spinach, green onion, chick-un, obligatory corn, follow your heart "cheese," and fresh mushrooms on a garlic basil crust. i'm drooling yet again...