"Kira is probably less than 2 years old. I found her and her 4 year old brother running down my street almost getting hit by cars that would not stop. They were honking at 2 barefoot barely dressed babies to get out of the road.
They are lost." Go here for the rest of the story.

Marc  

Joanie, Da Goddess left a comment on my previous RSS post asking what exactly RSS is. I thought it was a good question, because I tend to forget that a lot of bloggers aren't "techies" like myself, so it does deserve an explanation here. I'll try to explain it in layman's terms if I can.

Essentially an RSS file (Rich Site Summary) is a file that encapsulates a website's contents in such a way that it can be easily read by a variety of popular applications other than just a web browser. Typically, RSS feeds are used by news sites to facilitate the distribution of content to other sites. Web logs are perfect candidates for creating an RSS feed, as they expand your audience by allowing people who use programs like Headline Viewer and other news syndication aggragators, to see a summary of your posts. These applications allow a person to gather headlines from multiple sources without having to actually visit each site. With these programs, if you see a headline that interests you, you simply click on it and it will take you to the site itself with your web browser for the full story. They are great tools because you can cover a lot more sites in the same amount of time, without actually wasting any. Many of the blogging tools available, like Moveable Type incorporate features for generating an RSS newsfeed for your blog, so you don't even have to know anything about how they are constructed. But if you'd like more information as to how to build an RSS page, here is a more in depth explanation of RSS with links to other resources as well.

Posted by: Marc  

I Love Google  
Wednesday, December 18, 2002 10:42:46 PM EDT

I just noticed something. If you type "Quit That" into Google's search engine, you'll get 30,900 results back. Guess who's number #1 though? BWWWWAAAHAAAHHAA. Ain't Google great?

Posted by: Marc  

Ummm Yep  
Wednesday, December 18, 2002 9:57:04 PM EDT

Considering Sean's recent fiasco, I think Matt Hayden's got a point here.

Posted by: Marc  

Attention Gun Owners  
Wednesday, December 18, 2002 7:57:17 PM EDT




Here's a must read over at Rachel Lucas' site. This has been pretty much my experience and mirrors my own opinions on the subject.

Posted by: Marc  

QuitThat! Gets An RSS Newsfeed  
Wednesday, December 18, 2002 7:17:47 PM EDT



Last night I finished adding an RSS generator to SimCat. I haven't yet added the link for the RSS file it generates to the sidebar and will do that tonight, but if you just gotta have it now, here it is. I've tested it this afternoon on a couple of newsfeed apps and it seems to work just fine.

Posted by: Marc  

What Lunchmeat Are You?  
Tuesday, December 17, 2002 5:17:04 PM EDT


What Lunch Meat Are You?

Posted by: Marc  

Ain't That the Truth  
Tuesday, December 17, 2002 5:02:22 PM EDT

Dustbury hands out a required reading assignment. Ben Stein's list of a dozen ways to ruin American enterprise.

I couldn't agree more Ben.

Posted by: Marc  

Theys Good Hosses  
Monday, December 16, 2002 1:01:27 PM EDT

I've got a couple of horses. They are both Haflinger geldings. The woman who owns the stable where I keep them sent me this picture today (and a couple others) of my horse Nick making a new friend this past weekend. I thought it was an adorable photo and just had to put it in the blog.



Posted by: Marc  

Programmer to the Rescue  
Friday, December 13, 2002 07:36:22 AM EDT

Programmers helping mullahs, how thoughtful. Now why didn't I think of that?

Link found at ToneCluster.

Posted by: Marc  

A Lunchtime Blog  
Thursday, December 12, 2002 12:44:26 PM EDT

Flambeed penis anyone?

Ugh. Not only is this story unbelievable, it's sick.

Maybe I'll just skip lunch today...

Posted by: Marc  

Cool Device Alert  
Tuesday, December 10, 2002 7:57:44 PM EDT

As the IT Director for a medium sized company (don't be TOO impressed, I'm the only person in the IT department) I end up working on all kinds of computer related equipment. Most of it old boring computers that need upgrades. But because the big dogs in our company like to get the latest new-fangled equipment as soon as possible, I also get to work on some pretty cool stuff. The latest one to cross my desk is this fabulous Handspring Treo 270. A combination cell phone and palm pilot. It's schweet too.


This little puppy can pretty much do whatever your laptop can do (in this shot, it's surfing www.quitthat.com), but it can also put you in touch with your friends via a regular cell call or SMS messaging. This particular model works on the T-Mobile GSM network, making it usable worldwide (this one's been to Moscow, Paris and London). It uses the latest Palm Pilot operating system has internet access using T-mobile's GPRS network with it's built-in 56K wireless modem. The internet access side is not charged per minute like your voice calls are, but rather by the amount of data you transfer. This is good, because you can leave it connected indefinately without worrying about racking up big charges. The only time you'd worry about that is if you surf a lot of big blogs like I do...I recommend the unlimited plan for those that do. This thing holds an unbelievable amount of information for it's small size to. This one has over 8,000 phone numbers programmed into it, along with a years worth of scheduling and numerous smaller applications like calculators, conversion programs, notepads and a bevy of other useful mobile warrior tools. One great feature is it's tiny keyboard. This is especially handy for those that don't like using a stylus and it actually is effectively usable even if you have "man hands". I've been playing with it for about a month now and while I'm a dedicated Palm Pilot i705 user, the Handspring beats it out by a widely convincing margin. Check this one out for Christmas for the total geek on your list. Guaranteed to make them go oooooohhhhh that's cool!

Posted by: Marc  

Blogger Blockage  
Monday, December  9, 2002 7:49:03 PM EDT

Sorry for the lack of posts the past few days. I accidentally broke my blogger Friday trying out a new routine for databasing referrals. I didn't get around to fixing it until tonight (still have to work on that routine though).

Anyway, I'm going to fiddle with that this evening so I still don't have a bunch to blog about, but just so you don't surf away empty handed, the SUV subject has been on my mind for the past week or so, ever since I crashed mine. I haven't really worked up a good blog about it yet, but I found that A Small Victory mirrors my own feelings on the subject, which basically boils down to I'll drive whatever the hell I want thank you very much.

Just for grins, here's a link found over at Boing Boing to a pretty impressive card trick. An online version of pick a card, any card. I love games that make you go hmmmmm, how'd they do that?

Posted by: Marc  

Oh, Damn!  
Thursday, December  5, 2002 10:14:31 PM EDT

I got a call from my dad just before I left work tonight. He said that a mutual friend of ours had just called him to tell him that a good friend of mine was on the 6:00 news tonight. He'd apparently been shot in a deer hunting accident. I asked him if he was sure it was my friend and he said no, because he hadn't seen the news, but the details he did have sounded about right and I also knew my friend was going to be hunting this week. So I went into the lunchroom and turned on the TV and sure enough they made a few brief comments about it. It was him alright, and it didn't sound good. They said he'd been shot in the chest and had to be airlifted to one of our downtown hospitals and that he was in serious condition. I became frantic. I left the office and went straight to the hospital, not knowing what to expect. I found most of his immediate family there in the lobby and after brief hellos they told me what had happened. He had been shot accidentally by his 16 year old son on their own farm. I know the place well, as we frequently ride our horses and mules in the area where they were. It's very brushy country and difficult to manuever around in. A deer had jumped between them, but they couldn't see each other at the time and his son took a shot. A shot I'm sure he'll never forget and always regret. But it was also easy for me though to see how it could have happened where it did. It's prime deer cover territory. It's tough to see anything in there.

They said I could go in and visit with him, that he was awake, but doped up a bit. I was amazed at that, that I'd be able to actually see him considering his condition and all. Sure enough, I found him and his son, brother and father there and he was awake, but groggy. He said hello and gave me a painful and subdued wave with his hand. His voice was dry and harsh, but he managed to speak pretty well anyhow. I could see that the bandages weren't on his chest, but rather around his right shoulder. I was relieved that the reporters had gotten that fact wrong. I asked how he was feeling and he said they had him on morophine and that he wasn't feeling much pain. I thought that given the circumstances, he seemed in remarkably good spirits. But he's always like that, so I wasn't too suprised either. I asked if the shoulder was broken and he kind of gave me a WELL DUH look and nodded yes. He had been shot by a 12 guage slug at close range, so there had to be some pretty nasty damage, but they really didn't know how much at that point I guess. He was still waiting to go into surgery. He couldn't really move his right arm, but at least he could use all of his fingers ok - a very good sign. The slug had passed all the way through too.

As he talked, he began to joke around a bit. Another very good sign. His son, was obvisouly very shaken up over the whole thing and wasn't saying a lot, but his father seemed to lift his spirits a bit by his funny comments to us and the nurses. I could see that both of them are going to be just fine. I felt so much better too. It was a very unfortunate accident, but I'm just glad it didn't end up being as bad as I was anticipating, given the account I got from the media beforehand.

Posted by: Marc  

Not So British  
Tuesday, December  3, 2002 07:59:01 AM EDT




Nope, you don't have a drop of english blood in your body. In fact, you're probably American ;) Y'know that little island next to France? Y'know...Europe? No? Ohwell. We love you really - have a cucumber sandwich!

How British are you?

this quiz was made by alanna

(Link found at Joanie's blog....she's 100% British!)



Posted by: Marc  

Here We Go Again...sigh...  
Monday, December  2, 2002 5:30:48 PM EDT

Now it's our old friend Robert Redford...

Hey you! Yeah you, the pompous, hypocritical, left-leaning, self-righteous ignoramous employed in the entertainment industry. Enough already! Aren't you the same guy that I saw tooling around town in a conspicuously fossil-fueled Porsche 911 while you were here filming "Brubaker" and making jokes about locals several years ago? I didn't see any solar panels on that sleak black puppy Bob, and I guarantee it didn't get anywhere near 40 miles per gallon either. Oh, and what about that mountain you carved up for your little festival in the hills and your skiing yuppie pals? Seems the locals around you are now the ones joking....what is it they call your place? "A dirty river runs through it"? Do I smell a double-standard here? Or maybe it's just become the PC thing to do lately to go along with your peers Barbara, Woody, Harry, Susan, Alec and seemingly every other entertainment industry idiotarian on the planet these days. What IS it that makes you people think you're any smarter than the rest of us anyway? You're not a scientist, not a doctor, not a geologist, not an engineer. You're simply a WAY overpaid actor Bob...nothing more. I'm pretty certain that even I have better credentials than you do.

If you want to make the Amerikkan rooftop the Persian Gulf of solar energy, what say you and your buds sell your assets, pool ALL of your vast rescources and fund some research into it, eh? As an American taxpayer, I could use the help asshat! You really have no idea how silly you people look when you're making money hand over fist and you're suggesting that the average american family should retrofit their house with a $20-30K system that resembles your pie-in-the-sky dreams? Are you gonna pay for THAT? By the way Bob, some of us don't live in places with 300 days of sunshine per year, so what are we supposed to use for heat when we have a month of overcast skies and it's 10 degrees outside? We can't cut the trees, take the coal or get oil from Alaska, so give me some real alternatives and some real effort on your part to make it work and maybe I'll give your argument a listen. Don't just spout off standard PC greenie crapola to some left-wing news rag just to get more properly focused californian folks to your resort. I can see right through that. So can most of Amerikka.

Posted by: Marc  

Woopsie!  
Sunday, December  1, 2002 12:27:26 PM EDT

Last night we had pretty strange weather here in central Ohio. It began snowing in earnest around 4 o'clock and continued to fall heavily for the next couple of hours. The temperature was such that the snow was starting to melt, but as the sun went down, it began to freeze again, causing the roads to become sheets of ice. I had to run to the store and once I got on the road I realized that it was damn slippery. This wasn't a big deal for me as I've had 26 or so years of practice driving in winter conditions without incident. I also have a Toyota 4-runner that is 4-wheel drive, which makes poor weather driving much easier, so I slipped it into 4-wheel and continued on to the store. There is a long hill between my house and the store and when I got to the hill, there were several cars at the bottom of it that weren't able to get up the hill because it was so slick. They were sliding all over the place and there were some guys that were trying to push a small pickup out of the way because it was obvious it was going nowhere and was just blocking the road. I stopped and asked one of them if they needed help and the guy comes up to my car and said no, that he didn't think there was much we could do. As he was speaking, I realized it was none other than our very own channel 4 news anchor, Cabot Rea himself. I was impressed that he was out there giving those folks a hand. Since they didn't need anymore help, I continued on my way and went straight up the hill with nary a slip. I love 4 wheel drive in conditions like that. I was cruising along merrily listening to Dire Straits on the tape player when I came up on a couple of cars that were just creeping slowly down the road. As I approached them, I realized that I was going to have to slow down quickly and so I started to ease onto the brake. My toyota has anti-lock brakes but they simply weren't there at all, there was going to be no slowing down. I was on pure ice and while 4-wheel drive is great for getting traction in the snow, it doesn't mean shit when it comes time to stop and you're on ice. I quickly deduced that I was either going to severly rearend the car in front of me, or I'd have to ditch it. I chose the latter. I left the road and went over about a 3 foot deep ditch, I was completely airborne for a moment and landed on the other side of it on a small embankment. I had some momentum and went up the embankment between 2 trees and straight over a pretty large boulder. I came to a stop, kissing a tree with the nose of my truck. Groceries were everywhere. It was quite a ride, let me tell you. I was shaken up a little, but after a moment I got out to survey the damage. It was dark and snowing heavily, so I couldn't really tell how bad it was, but I could see that my truck was perched on top of that boulder, so it wasn't going anywhere without some help. Since I was only 3 doors from my house, I locked up my truck and walked home to get another truck and a chain. I was expecting my brother to be there, but he wasn't yet, so I had no one to help me. I had groceries and some expensive camera equipment in my Toyota and decided I should go back and get that stuff at least since it looked like it was going to be there for a while. When I got back there, the guy whose field I had just jumped into was there surveying the situation. I introduced myself, though we had met at a neighborhood halloween party a couple of years ago. He said that he had a 4-wheel drive tractor and that he would be willing to pull me out, or at least give it a try. When he came back with the tractor, we couldn't really see how we were going to get the truck out, as the front end was buried in a tree and the rear end was perched on a rock. I told him I thought the best thing would be to try to drag the rock out from under the truck, so I crawled down under it in snow and mud and wrapped the chain around the rock. His tractor started to dig in and lo and behold that rock started sliding out. He pulled it another 10 feet or so and I was able to get in the truck and back it up. It walked itself right out of there thankfully. I still couldn't tell how much damage there was, but I was glad to at least have it out of that predicament. I took it home and then started walking back to get the other truck, when this man's wife comes by to give me a lift back. I was very grateful to them for helping me and told them I owe them a favor and that I'd replace the tree for them. They said not to worry about it, that it wasn't a big deal. They went out of their way for me, that's for certain. They were the epitome of neighborly to me last night.

When I got back, I pulled my toyota into the garage and gave it the once over. I was and am still amazed at the lack of damage. The picture below is apparently the extent of it, where I glanced off of a tree on the way past the ditch. There doesn't seem to be any damage from the rock, which baffles me because I went clear over it, and the truck shook violently as I did making a horrendous sound in the process. I took it to town a little while ago and it seems to drive just fine too. My truck earned new respect from me for that one. I've always loved it, but after it's performance last night, I'm very appreciative of its stoutness. Had I been driving a small sub-compact instead of an SUV, I believe the damage would have been far worse than it was.

What I did was rather embarrasing, as it was a rookie winter driver's mistake and I should have known better. I was going too fast for the road conditions and as a result, made a big boo boo. Luckily, no one got hurt and it was all over in just a half hour or so. Oh, just in case you're wondering, there was no alcohol or other mind altering products involved. I was sober as a judge when I crashed my truck.



Posted by: Marc  

Not Another Quiz!?!?  
Wednesday, November 27, 2002 7:14:23 PM EDT

Dude! You have an American Attitude! Sweet!
You're a gun-toting, bar-dancing, ya'll-saying, t.v. show-copying,
war-waging, ass-patting, hamburger over-eater.
Take the What the Hell Kinda Attitude is That? Quiz at aka cooties

Posted by: Marc  

Hey Baby, Want a Ride?  
Wednesday, November 27, 2002 6:44:26 PM EDT

I saw this hideous atrocity in the parking lot of a local watering hole. After I finished busting a gut I had to get a picture or 2. It's a veritable cornycarpia!





Posted by: Marc  

Football In Ohio  
Tuesday, November 26, 2002 8:26:38 PM EDT



It was a great game to attend. A nail-biter beyond compare, the fans were going nuts the whole time. We had fantastic seats in the 13th row on the 45 yard line. It couldn't have been much better. For a while there it felt like Michigan was going take us out of the hunt. Hell, they owned the football for most of the game, but thanks to the OSU defense, they couldn't get it into the endzone unless it was flying through the uprights. The OSU offense struggled until #13, Maurice Clarett, the freshman tailback came on the field. He was truly a star and the fans were loving how he was playing - all heart. He pretty much saved the day with a touchdown and a 28 yard pass reception that set up the next TD. The Bucks knocked out a huge win in the end. It was a great day, great game and the place went wild!

It was a classic Michigan vs Ohio State game too, I think it'll end up on this list as one of our all time best wins. Ohioans, in general, take football very seriously. Especially at the high school and college levels and most definately at Ohio State. There are a whole bunch of happy campers around this town right now and a whole lot more around the state.



Posted by: Marc  

One For The History Books  
Tuesday, November 26, 2002 12:49:14 PM EDT

Wow, what a weekend! The Buckeyes pulled it off yet again, in a 14-9 win over Michigan on Saturday. I'm starting to wonder if the number "13" might not be my new lucky number. You see, I started this blog on Friday the 13th of September of this year and I've been having a ball with it so far. Then this weekend, my girlfriend got us tickets in the 13th row of A deck at The Shoe, roughly right on the 45 yard line. What awesome seats they were too. Then of course, Maurice Clarett - number 13, helped Ohio State to beat arch nemesis Michigan in what will certainly go down in history as one of OSUs greatest wins ever, finishing the regular season with 13 wins no losses. Yes, I'm starting to get attached to the number 13.

I can't remember ever seeing a Buckeye game that was more full of tension and anxiety as that one. It could have gone either way right up to the very last tick of the clock. Michigan clearly dominated the football and statistically, they should have won, but the OSU defense was apparently just too tough because Michigan never did get a ball into the endzone, save for those that flew over the uprights. Thank God it went OUR way that day. I don't even want to think of how depressing it would have been to lose to Michigan this year. We didn't though, so I don't have to think about it anymore. Now it's just a matter of thinking about winning a national championship in January.

It's been 34 years since Ohio State has won a national championship title. It was Woody Haye's 1968 team that took us there and that team is widely considered to be the best team OSU ever fielded. I think this year's team may give them a run for their money however, and most of these guys are freshmen and sophomores. It's really kind of sweet to that most everyone underestimated this year's OSU team, thinking they wouldn't be contenders for at least another year or two.

I told the story the other day that I called "Real Cowboys Don't Need Instructions" about how I think so many people underestimate G. W. Bush. I used the analogy of my father, who meddled with my choice of a builder when I was building my house and how he thought of him as a "cowboy" as if that was something to be ashamed of.





Posted by: Marc  

What pisses you off?  
Tuesday, November 26, 2002 12:52:03 PM EDT



C'mon, they can't even *breed*!
What pisses you off?

Ok, the results from that quiz are way off because I actually LOVE mules. Believe it or not I even own one...meet the Peach



Mules can be frustrating at times, but they rarely piss me off...

Now This pisses me off.

Yeah, I remember my first beer...*sigh*

A win over Michigan is always a cause for celebration, expecially when it occurs during an undefeated season and they are all that stands between you and a shot at the national championship. Unfortunately though, it seems the younger fans never learn how to have fun and do it responsibly. They can't just have a few beers and a good time without trashing somebody else's property. Some 45 or so people, many of them Ohio State University students were arrested late Saturday night for rioting near the Ohio State campus. They had overturned and/or burned nine cars on one street alone. I just can't fathom how somebody justifies this sort of stupidity in his or her mind. I mean, what is the thought process that takes you from "gee, we won the big game!" to "gee, let's go torch some automobiles!". Stupid, ignorant asses. How'd these people even get admitted to a univerisity to begin with?

I'd like to bitch-slap every one of the morons involved in these incidents. The Buckeyes victory on Saturday has drawn the attention of the whole country, and this is not the image I'd like to portray for our city or university. As Mayor Coleman said, this is not the way national champions behave. Grow up kids!

Posted by: Marc  

Next Stop - Tempe!  
Sunday, November 24, 2002 09:15:07 AM EDT



13-0 Baby!

Posted by: Marc  

Cool / Not Cool Blog Chart  
Thursday, October 17, 2002 10:36:46 AM EDT

I liked this post from the Gimpysoft blog. One of these days, maybe QT will make the chart. Hopefully somewhere up in the "Cool" region.

Posted by: Marc