hyperstroke.com

Anyone can be president

2009-02-17T19:32:00.003-07:00

It's been a while since I've blogged. I really haven't had anything to say...until now. I think I've heard it just one too many times since January 20th 2009 and I can't keep it bottled up any longer.

"Now I can tell my kids that anyone can be president." I know you've heard this a hundred times in the past month and you'll hear it a hundred more times before Independence Day. What I don't understand is why people aren't talking about all the other barriers that still need to come down, most notably, women. I can't tell my daughter that "anyone can be president" and I can't tell the son of my Mexican immigrant friends that "anyone can be president." We should really be talking about this being a great first start to a series of barriers that should drop over time.

(And no, I don't have any Mexican immigrant friends, but I could. I think they'd like me.)

Download @ Home is online!

2008-07-19T11:18:00.003-07:00

My latest website is online! Download @ Home allows you to queue up downloads to your home computer from anywhere you have access to the internet. Once you install a small application on your home computer, you're all set to start downloading. At work and want a large file waiting for you when you get home? Just Download @ Home.

4 things I'd like to remove from my Indy 4 memory (SPOILERS)

2008-06-05T18:24:00.003-07:00

You know, when I heard that the plot of the new Indiana Jones movie revolved around aliens, I was very worried. I was shocked when I finally watched the movie and that wasn't the part I hated. Read on the for things they never should have put in the movie (spoilers aplenty)

The groundhog(s) - Why did we need the dopey groundhogs? Well, we didn't, but they brought a little light hearted comic relief right from the get-go. The problem is, there was not need for any comic relief yet. All I could think of was an older George Lucas injecting kiddie stuff where it didn't belong. I saw the face of Jar Jar in the eyes of that gopher. It set me off for the rest of the movie.

The refrigerator - Never mind whether or not a lead-lined fridge would save you from a nuclear blast, I can suspend my disbelief about that (not sure why). But how does a man stuffed in a tiny box fly a mile through the air, bounce along the ground (door tightly closed of course) and then when it comes to a resting spot, the door just pop right open and Indy appears unscathed. Surely he would have been injured from the impact.

The falls - Unlike the similar fall at the start of Temple of Doom where the raft floated to a snowy earth, the triple fall in the water falls was way over the top. People just don't survive falls like that to jagged rocks in an open vehicle or in a close vessel for that matter.

The Tarzan swing - Without a doubt, the stupidest thing in the movie. I don't even know what to write here. It was so stupid that I am dumber for seeing it. And dumber each time I think about how stupid it was. I better stop now before I'm all dried up.

However, I still liked the movie. And I would recommend it to anyone. There was enough action and glorious scenes that make it well worth the 2 hours. I'm still on the fence on whether or not it was worth the 19 year wait.

And while I've got you here, there's something I really think they missed from the movie: a face melting scene. Now some may point to the ants scene, but there was really no flesh eating there. They should have went the distance and ate the flesh right off his bones before dragging him under. What a missed opportunity.

The thumbs are gone

2008-05-26T08:51:00.002-07:00

It's been a long, slow, steady progression, but the thumbs are finally gone. When Richard Roeper took over as the main critic on the Ebert and Roeper show all indications were that Roger would be back soon. But before long, Richard stopped introducing his guests as "sitting in for Roger," and instead just introduced them. Then the title of the show dropped the "Ebert and Roeper" part and became just "At the Movies." And now, I think the last remnant of the good old days is gone. Last night's show featured "See it" or "Skip it" instead of thumbs up or thumbs down. With Roger holding the trademark for the thumbs, it surely looks like he won't be coming back. It's too bad, but I hope Roger bounces back and is able to continue on his criticism somewhere else.

New Wii Fit Blog

2008-05-21T20:57:00.002-07:00

Wii Fit is out and so is my new blog. An experiment in Wii Fit and my dedication to the project.

The Other Fat Guy

Checking your site's search rank

2008-05-14T12:09:00.003-07:00

Do you have a website? Ever wonder which page your site shows up on certain search terms? Well, I did. I was thinking about writing a little tool for this, but thought there must be something out there already...and there was.

What is my Search Rank

What Is My Search Rank is a nice little site for just this purpose. Type in your website domain, type in some search terms and hit search. This will tell you on which page in Google, Yahoo and Live (although Live didn't show any data) your site comes up on.

One tip: When entering your domain name, make sure to include the www (or whatever). Their matching algorithm doesn't seem to do a wildcard at the beginning of the URL, but it does at the end.

Another year...

2008-04-01T17:41:00.003-07:00

Another year, another birthday.

Check out this awesome custom cake my family presented to me today.

DownloadSquad review

2008-03-12T09:58:00.001-07:00

Big news today in the eppyjerk world. DownloadSquad.com wrote a review of my website. This may be the break I've been waiting for...

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/03/12/poll-junkie-quick-and-easy-polls-without-registration/

PollJunkie.com - my new site

2008-02-27T08:12:00.002-07:00

I've just released the beta of my new site - http://www.polljunkie.com/

It's a simple website that can host your poll (survey) without registering with the website. The polls are anonymous and easy to build and send to your friends. Check it out.

AutoCompleteExtender and its corresponding webservice

2008-01-18T14:16:00.001-07:00

Ok, I may be an idiot for not reading this somewhere else, but maybe this post will help someone in the future.

I was trying to use the AutoCompleteExtender, but my webservice method just wouldn't get called. Nothing would work. The problem was, I created a new webservice from scratch and had neglected to add an attribute to the class. A webservice that returns data to the AutoCompleteExtender requires the System.Web.Script.Services.ScriptService attribute on the class.

Hope this helps someone.

[System.Web.Services.WebMethod]
[System.Web.Script.Services.ScriptMethod]
public string[] GetCompletionList(string prefixText, int count, string contextKey) { ... }

SquaredSports.com

2007-12-06T13:03:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been a while since I've posted, but I finally have something to say. I whipped up a new site called SquaredSports.com. This is an online service to host your Super Bowl Squares grids with your friends or coworkers or whatever. I think it's my best site yet. This one is really gonna take off. Use it at your office. Tell your friends. You can run football squares or baseball squares or basketball squares or hockey squares. I'll be adding more over time.

SquaredSports.com

A cool new website to help you pick your daily lunch spots

2007-07-25T13:31:00.001-07:00

I came across this web site the other day when some friends and I were trying to figure out where to get our feed bags on. The way it works is each person tells the website how much they like different places to eat and based on the groups collective scoring the best fit is chosen.

read more | digg story

Hey, stupid. Yeah you.

2007-04-09T15:06:00.000-07:00

I couldn't have said is better myself. I tried once before, but had to hot link that one too.

10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid

Tragic or shocking

2007-02-08T17:42:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't pass this up today. I got the news today around 3:30 and by 5 o'clock I've heard the death of Anna Nicole Smith called a tragedy and shocking. Should anyone be shocked that a woman with as many mental and substance issues as her is dead at a young age? And even more shocking to me is that reporters are calling this a tragedy. I'm sure this is very sad to the people that are close to her and love her, but it is not a tragedy. One must contribute more to society in order for society to deem this a tragedy. Report the news, don't enhance it.

When does water stop being water?

2007-01-29T19:49:00.001-07:00

I don't know when it was, but it wasn't too long ago. Gatorade produced what I believe might have been the first flavored water. I didn't understand it totally. And to this day, I've never tried it. Now, a commercial just aired for Special K's high protein water. They showed the product by pouring the red liquid into a tall glass of ice. So my question here is, when does water stop being water? How many things can you add to water until you have to give it a different name? How about bubbles? Can I add bubbles to that water and called it sparkling water? Oh, I guess I can because they do. Now add those bubbles to that Special K, and you have high protein, sparkling, flavored water. Man, just a little caffeine and I'll give it a try.

New member of the family

2007-01-26T12:55:00.001-07:00

She's young, but check her out...

http://www.bloggingbill.com

Mmmmmmm...Homersapien

2007-01-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

I ran across this article today and got a little excited. Probably more excited that one grown man should. Too bad it's not being released until July. I'll accept my birthday presents late this year.

Helms Deep in Candy

2007-01-13T10:02:00.000-07:00

I'm just passing this on because I got a little giggle out of it.

HDTV Demystified

2006-11-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

Ahh, now all of my problems are solved.

http://dethroner.com/index.php/2006/11/28/choose-your-own-adventure-the-cave-of-hdtv/
(some unsavory language)

Sad day in Vegas

2006-11-02T07:54:00.000-07:00

I shed a metaphoric tear this morning when I read that the Stardust in Las Vegas closed its doors Wednesday. The Stardust was the first hotel I ever stayed at there and the first casino I ever lost a dollar in. It was my grandfather's favorite place to stay. I'm sure it reminded him of the Vegas he came to love. And it was right next door to the McDonald's he loved to eat breakfast at (he was a creature of habit). Goodbye old friend. We will miss you and your sign that paved the way for the Vegas we know today.

Do you want us to win in Iraq?

2006-10-28T16:50:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how many people won't answer that question. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a fan of Bill O'Reilly. In the last few weeks, I have seen him ask this question to several people while on his media blitz for his new book. But what is surprising is that no one will answer the question. Usually the response is something like "Well, the administration lied to us and..." For one reason or another we went into Iraq, and that is a debate to itself. But the question he is asking is a simple one. Would you like to see us, the American military, squash the killers and bring some kind of peace and democracy to the country? Or would you like to see the killers run our fine people out of the country in disgrace? It's really a yes or no answer, and if you answer no, I'd have to question your motives. At hand here are people that hate the administration so much for the mistakes that have been made, they actually want us to be humilated in Iraq, but are afraid to say it outright on camera. What's funny is that when a question that easy is asked of you, and you answer with theory and conjecture, the viewers that have any idea what is going on realize you just said "No."

Is this real?

2006-10-25T11:48:00.000-07:00

Football? Or basketball?

2006-10-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, I wasn't going to rant about this. I thought it was a little thin, and it probably still is, but I just saw it again. For the third time tonight I saw a NY Giant motion a basketball shot after a good play. One was after a sack and one was just after the latest interception; I can't recall the other one. What the heck does that mean? How is that even expressing your excitement? Woo hoo! I scored two points in a sport I don't even play. Can't we just get back to the old standard of muscle flexing and the ass-slapping?

Stupid Raiders fan

2006-10-22T20:59:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I was torn today between wanting the Raiders to go 0-16 and wanting to see Denny go crazy again this week. I can't wait to see what Denny punches tonight on SportsCenter. But that's not why we're here today. So the Raiders fans are going crazy and the camera sweeps by one fan holding up a personalized license plate. The plate reads: "RAI8ERS." Now, isn't that cute. Our Raiders fan has a little stutter. The plate, as spelled, is pronounced "ray-ATE-ers." That is all.

Oh, SNL

2006-10-01T17:08:00.000-07:00

It's another season of SNL and there's really no point in talking about it. It's not a very good show, and it doesn't look like it will ever be again. It's fun to watch the show on those rare occasions that your favorite actor is on, but even then, they can't seem to come through (Jason Lee last season). But why I'm here today is for the Weekend Update. When are they going to learn that the news segment is not the time to slip in more sketches? Keep the Weekend Update to the news. The news is generally funny and quick paced, but when they slow it down with silly skits that don't fit, it pisses me off. That's it. No more skits in the news.