Thursday, November 30, 2006

Chad Vader

Lisa and I watched this series last night and it is hilarious!!! In case you've been living under a rock (like us...hahahahaha) Chad Vader is huge. ;) It's all about Darth's little brother and his struggles in his job at the grocery store. 4 episodes...pure hilarity! ;)

enjoi

http://splu.net/chadvader.htm

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Some Fun For You

OK - This is something you didn't know you wanted to know, but by knowing it - you are that much smarter than you were when you didn't...hahhahahahaha

How to Encode and Decode Using the Vigenere Cipher...

The Vigenère cipher is a method of very weak encryption that uses a series of different Caesar ciphers based on the letters of a keyword. In a Caesar Cipher, each letter in the passage is moved a certain number of letters over to be replaced by the corresponding alphabet number, e.g. In a Caesar cipher shift of three, A would become D, B would become E, etc. A Vigènere is similar but more complex.

Steps

Encipher

1. Obtain a Vigènere Square (pictured at the end of this article) or create a Vigènere Square on your own.
2. Think of a key word that is shorter than the phrase or phrases you want to encipher. In this example we will use

LIME

3. Write your phrase down without spaces. For this example, we will use

WIKIHOWISTHEBEST

4. Under your phrase, write the keyword over and over again until you run out of space.

WIKIHOWISTHEBEST


LIMELIMELIMELIME

5. In this example, the word "lime" fits perfectly with the sentence, but when the keyword doesn't fit, you don't have to use the full word. i.e.

WIKIHOWISTHEBESTOFTHEBEST


LIMELIMELIMELIMELIMELIMEL

6. Go to the row of the first letter of the keyword in the Vigènere Square and find the first letter of your phrase. Then, follow that column up to the ciphered letter. In our example that would mean going to row L and finding W and going up to the cipher letter L.
7. Continue on in this fashion until your entire phrase is ciphered. Our example ends up as

LAYEWGKEHLVAQWGP


Decode

1. To decode ciphered text, do the reverse from above.
2. Find the row of the first letter of the ciphered text, and go over until you reach the column of the first letter of the keyword. That letter is the first letter of the enciphered phrase.
3. Continue on in this manner until you completely decipher the text.


Vigènere Square

















Tips

* Another Method of encryption is to find corresponding letter in row and column intersection. In this case "letter W and L is H" and so on. WIKIHOWISTHEBEST becomes HQWMSWIMDBTIMMEX.
* Double check to make sure you encipher and decipher correctly. An erroneously deciphered text can lead to misinterpretation.
* When giving this to someone else, they need to know the keyword to decipher the code, so secretly whisper it to them or use a predetermined Caesar cipher to encipher the keyword as well.
* There are online Vigènere Deciphers you can use to help decipher your code. Do a Google Search to find them.
* If you use a larger Vigènere square which includes both punctuation and spacing the cypher becomes more difficult to break also, especially when the "keyword" or "key phrase" is as long or longer than the message.
* Another method to further obfuscate your message is to Caesar cipher the original message using a predetermined value (Eg: Like ROT13) then run it through a Vigènere cipher, even if decoded without knowing the result was Caesar ciphered before the Vigènere cipher it still appears to be jibberish.
* The more often your "Keyword" or "Key Phrase" repeats the more easily patterns are detected in the encrypted text and the easier it is to break the cipher. A "Key" as long or longer than the length of the message is preferable.


Warnings

* This cipher is not fool-proof (no cipher is) and can be quickly cracked. By current standards, the Vigenere cipher is extremely weak. Do not use this for anything truly top-secret. For stronger encryption research RSA.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

2fer

Ohhhhh - early! how's that for making up? HAHAHAHAHA For all my 2 fans out there... here's my 2fer:

1 - If you want to know what you can get me for Christmas - check this link out. No, Seriously...I want that stuff...hahahahahaha

2 - And without further ado...(and yes, i know it's not as good as the first one...but oh well)





l8r

Monday, November 27, 2006

ok ok ok

I know I've missed a couple of days...sorry.

But to make up for it, I will be posting a new video tomorrow for you all to see of me shooting an LG phone. ahhhh yeah. ;) And Since it will be 2 for tuesday, i will also let you all know what you can get me for Christmas... hahahahaha ;)

"There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it."
~Mary Wilson Little

until tomorrow....muhoowahhahahahahahah

Friday, November 24, 2006

Turkey Day +1

OK - I know you ate too much yesterday, like I did. So, in order to help you not feel so bad about eating so much, I researched a lot this morning about calorie burning and what activities would be best to do the day after Thanksgiving - this is assuming that you're not insane and went shopping early this morning which would burn quite a bit of calories (especially if you got into any fights...). Without further ado - here goes:


Proper weight control cannot be attained by dieting alone; however, calories can be burned by the hundreds by engaging in strenuous activities that do not require much (or any) physical exercise. And this is especially true if you are spending the holidays with extended family. ;) hahahahaha - jk...

Here's the guide to calorie-burning activities and the number of calories per hour they consume.
Beating around the bush . . . . . . . . .75
Jumping to conclusions . . . . . . . . . 100
Climbing the walls . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Swallowing your pride. . . . . . . . . .50
Passing the buck . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Pushing your luck. . . . . . . . . . . 250
Making mountains out of molehills. . . 500
Hitting the nail on the head . . . . . .50
Bending over backwards . . . . . . . . .75
Running around in circles. . . . . . . 350
Pulling your hair out. . . . 250

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Happy Turkey Day

OK - so today I ran a Turkey Trot in 28 minutes. A 5k. Pretty good considering it was a cross-country run. It was a lot of fun. OK - getting ready to eat.

~out

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

waxing...

alright...tomorrow is turkey day - wohoo. I am pretty excited about it. Plus this weekend I'll be filming a new exploding phone. An LG VX4500 that I received that really seems to be garbage...but more on it later. I will put that vid on here for you all to see as well. And the new site looks pretty cool too. It should be making its debut next week. There has been a whole site redesign on it and it is essentially done - just need to do one more thing to it. The URL will be xplodaphone.com, fyi. So, I'll let you know when it's ready and you can check it out. Also, explodaphone.com, explodeaphone.com, xplodeaphone.com, destroyaphone.com, yourcellphonesucks.com and mycellphonesucks.com all work too. And I think there's a couple others but I can't remember them right now.

And remember, send me your cell phones...I will destroy them. (:-=]

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

The 2fer

1 - I watched "Munich" last night. Wow. Interesting movie. If you haven't seen it, you should. Very Good.

2 - I'm running a T-Day run Thursday morning. I am pretty pumped about it - I have gotten much better on my times and am even getting ready to do a run before I rest tomorrow for the race. Anyway, wish me luck...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now if I can just remember where I put that cell phone i had...

Monday, November 20, 2006

better late than never...

hahahahaha

so, it's late...sorry. Here's your motivation for today...watch your mouth in public...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,230727,00.html

ok - enough said.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

this week's sonnet

Exploding phones and a new career
Things to look forward to in the coming year
Helping people to relieve their stress
And helping their business grow is what I do best.

The new offices are almost ready
They are really cool and show our creativity
If only our house could be finished as fast
Then I wouldn't have to kick our worker's ... butt..hahahahahahha

~couldn't help it...... ;) I know it's cheesy...

Saturday, November 18, 2006

seriously...

well, today is a slight change of pace. After the whirlwind of the exploding TREO the past couple of days, today I am taking a break from it. Although, I hear the website is almost done and I have other phones to destroy - i will leave that for the other site which i will put on here next week. I think the vidcast may be starting next week too. I'll let you know for sure.

On to other news...

Luke is doing much better after having his tonsils taken out. He's talking, eating normal food, etc. and seems to be doing quite well.

The new company I work for (and own part of) is taking off like crazy. Our offices are almost ready and our official move-in date is Dec 1st. We have a lot going on right now and our customer list is growing...check us out here if you're interested. We also have collaborative efforts going on with others in the industry such as thinkjose, etc. Very cool.

Well, that's all for now...stay tuned and next week when the site is ready I will announce it here and give you the URL. Until then, if you need to Explode A Phone, because Your Phone Sucks, let me know. ;) Send your phone and a short note about why it sucks to:

My Story
PO BOX 3943
Johnson City, TN 37602

~out~

Friday, November 17, 2006

no idea....

OK - I know today is "funny friday", but I had NO idea how popular the TREO destruction video would be. I have spent most of my time responding to emails, etc. about it and I've not had much time for anything else. So, I am taking this opportunity to announce the following:

I will make more videos like this!!!! ;)

If you are sick and tired of your cell phone, I want to hear about it! Email me and send me your phone. I will find creative ways to destroy your phone. I already have about 4 lined up. ;) Starting next week, this concept will become a weekly vidcast with website, etc. It is all registered and almost finished. I know those of you who read this will get a kick out of it and I want to feature you and interview you in the new upcoming videos. So, let me know your story.

OK - when the site is ready I'll let you know - until then, we both know your cell phone sucks. ;)

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Destruction of the TREO 700w

Today being therapy day and all, I decided it is time to release some inner frustrations. My TREO 700w is/was a piece of junk and I think all of you reading this know that. In honor of therapy day, I have posted a video for you to enjoy to learn what happened to my old phone. Now, this video is 36MB so it really is only good on broadband (actually, it streams, so you my be able to see it OK on dial-up). I also have a video iPod version as well. If you're interested in it, let me know. This is a good video if I do say so myself. AND I am using revver.com to host this video and I want to experiment a little. After clicking and watching (it opens up a new window), there is an ad at the end of this video. Click on it. You don't have to buy anything, just click. As a matter of fact, you can click on it as much as you wish – and tell you're friends to come click on it too. And they may even enjoy the video as well. ;)

Thumb_default

Also Luke is having his tonsils taken out today...

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

An Apple a Day

First, I must start off by stating that Apple computers are awesome. I am finding I can do more stuff everyday on this thing that I couldn't do on a PC. And there is so much software for this thing that is not available for a PC. I always thought the PC had a larger selection of software to get and use for it, and while I guess this may be true, that doesn't mean all the stuff out there for it is good or worthwhile. The Mac on the other hand has worthwhile and useful software and utilities almost everywhere you look. For example, on the mac, I can put my whole "Family Guy" collection on it and on my video iPod, etc. that I couldn't do on a PC - easily anyway. That's just one example and everything to do all this stuff is free and legal. Soooo cool. Also the fact that this Mac automatically syncs all my info with my new phone (a RAZR) wirelessly and keeps the calender, the contacts, my music and my pics all up to date, etc. is great. With my old PC, I had a Mobile 5.0 TREO that hardly ever synced right with my PC and it was all Microsoft stuff. Hopefully you will read more about that tomorrow. ;)

Anyway, I love this thing. It is awesome that my new company uses them and if you are in the market for a new computer - seriously look at Apple first - very intuitive to use and not too expensive either. And they look cool too.

out

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

today's twofor

OK - I have found the neatest site and today's 2 things are from this site. YOu never know what you'll find when you look...

1 - How to Play with a Large Parrot

2 - Regaining Control of a Spooked Camel

OK - now that you have these 2 skills at your disposal, I expect great things from you. ;)

Monday, November 13, 2006

happiness

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

~ J. R. R. Tolkien

Sunday, November 12, 2006

short and sweet

been out of town, no time to think
no time to rhyme, no time to drink
seeing old friends which is always nice
making the short road trip. yes, twice.

coming home, i fell asleep at the wheel
nope, we didn't crash, it was no big deal
i just needed another stanza on here
to make this rhyme seem complete and somewhat clear...

hahahaha

Saturday, November 11, 2006

To serve and protect and goof-off

So yesterday, we decided to head down to babraham’s and hang out for the weekend. On the way down, there were NC highway patrol everywhere. We proceeded with caution and were coming down a hill when on the other side of the 4 lane a trooper pulled over a civic. He got out of the car very fast (which is not a good sign) and ran up to the civic and the driver of the civic got out and they started to wrestle. I told lisa to hold on and u-turned the van and gunned it to go help the trooper – being in law enforcement, etc. in a previous life, I knew I had to help. We pulled up and the civic drove off and the trooper got into his vehicle…which was a little odd. I asked him if he was OK and he said yes he was. He had a stupid grin on his face. Lisa said we thought you were in trouble so we called it in. His goofy grin, got real serious and he was like…ummm, really? Well, I’m ok. Thanks. He was goofing off with a friend. What a dork – only in North Carolina...

Friday, November 10, 2006

Ever Wonder...

- Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?
-
- Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?
-
- Why is "abbreviated" such a long word?
-
- Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice"?
-
- Why is it that to stop Windows, you have to click on "Start"?
-
- Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid
- made with real lemons?
-
- Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
-
- Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
-
- Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?
-
- When dog food is new and improved tasting, who tests it?
-
- Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
-
- Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
-
- You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why
- don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?
-
- Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
-
- Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
-
- If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
-
- If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

Thursday, November 09, 2006

MotoThursday

Well, I am excited!!!! I am finally able to throw my garbage piece of crap Palm TREO 700w phone away! That thing is the biggest piece of junk. I could go on and on about the problems I've had with it for almost a year, but I'm sure you've read about some of them on here too. Anyway, I bit the bullet and got a new RAZR, the multimedia version. At first I thought it would be too big and bulky, but it's pretty neat. I also have a 2GB microSD card for it. So, I can still do video, pictures, mp3s, etc., and transfer them back and forth to my Mac. Which is another thing that I love. The RAZR on my Mac automatically syncs my contacts and calendar, etc. So, I basically get the same features the Treo had (except the keyboard) in a smaller, cooler phone. And people I've talked to on it so far have been - "um, do you have a new phone or something? I can totally hear you now and you don;t sound far away." Yea! And I didn't even tell them I had a new phone. Also, there is no extra buldge in my pants pockets anymore either.

Ahhhhh....nice, a very nice.

And now a quote from The Family Guy (one of my fav shows)
Chris (looking at the Twinkie in his hand): "I'm going to turn you into poo."

Which is exactly what I am going to do to the TREO...muhoowahahahahahahahahha
not that I'm going to eat it mind you...

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

post election day

well, yesterday was a bit fun. we all went to vote as a family and cast our ballots. Everyone except one that i voted for won, which is nice. All the main ones won. It was so funny, we kept getting phone calls up until about 7:30 last night telling us to go vote, blah blah blah, all from democrats. It was sooo funny. What a waste of phone calls. A- b/c I'm not a democrat & B- I had already voted. It got me to thinking of how simple minded they think their constituency is that they could persuade a voter within 30 minutes of the polls closing. i think that's why most people I know are not swayed by the democratic thinking. Most of us like to think for ourselves and generally thinking for ourselves equals being well informed, which equals already knowing who you're going to vote for and why. If someone hasn't made up their mind to vote within 30 minutes of the polls closing, then something is definitely wrong and they have not been using their brain. I mean, what else have they been doing for the past 6 or so months. c'mon, seriously....

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

2 for tuesday

1 - yesterday, my boy (who is 7) asked me a question to which I'm not sure of the answer. He said "Dad, if a laser blaster hit you in the penis, would you die?" Wondering how he came up with this and trying not to laugh, I replied, "Well, son...if it didn't, I'm sure you'd want to die." hahahahahaha

2 - It's voting time...and i am not voting strictly along party lines...how about that ;)

Monday, November 06, 2006

money

Money is a terrible master but an excellent servant.

P.T. Barnum

PS - if you don't know anything about PT Barnum, you should look him up. ;)

Friday, November 03, 2006

'face' it, i look funny

Alright, for today...I hope you find some humor in these. I was playing with my macbook yesterday which has a built in camera and some fun software. I must first let you all know I will be out of town tomorrow and Sunday so there will be no posts over the weekend. I am making up for that by giving you some pictures to enjoy. I've also labeled them for you... ;)

The Beginning...

Cyclops...

Evil Comic Genius

Mean Leprechaun

Nice Leprechaun

The Alien

The Superhero

The Heavy

The Rat

The Mole

Thursday, November 02, 2006

i hat eit when things don't work

ok. so in celebration of my new venture, Lisa and I decided to get a Tivo. Supposedly they're the greatest thing since sliced bread. Well, I ordered one online from tivo.com, a cool one - it also has a DVD burner in it so you can burn the shows or movies you save to DVD and watch them whenever. It also has a wireless option and we can watch tv on our computers to. Pretty slick, huh? Well, it's supposed to be. After having this piece of crap for two days it still is not working and will not set up. Apparently you have to have a phone line (I mean who even has those anymore) for the initial programming. The only person I know who has one still is my mom. Si I go over to her house, let it do its thing last night and went over there at 6am this morning to pick it up and get it ready. I get home plug it up - nothing. Still doesn't work. Junk. So I am now back over at mom's house (using my mac which is awesome, batting .500 on the technical things) and just waited for 1.5 hours to download a new update and now it is processing it. Still. I am about ready to throw this thing away and I've not even used it yet.

On another matter, I think we have found the perfect office space for this new startup. It is way sweet. Curved walls, walls at an angle, lots of color...right up our alley. I even would have had a sale yesterday but was worried more about finding the right space. The guy said to definitely call him when we were ready because he already was. hahahahahaha This thing is going to be big. I've talked to a couple of people who are interested in coming to work for us already after just hearing rumors of what we're doing. After I explained it to them, they were like...yeah, i want in. hahahahaha I told them we may hire them, we may not. We don't know yet. I do have a new work email and I will send that out to people as soon as the website is redone and finished. I will send that link out as well.

So all is good right now...except for this stupid Tivo. But it looks like it's getting ready to reboot, so maybe that's a good thing. If not, you'll be able to find one in my dumpster - all yours.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

apples to apples

Alright - it is late but I had to post. I've been without a PC for the last couple of days. Until now. My new company is an Apple house. Yes, MACs. I got my new one today. Pretty cool. If I knew that this thing was this cool, I would have ordered one personally when they came out. I really don't know how PCs are staying around. When more people see these things...they will have to buy them...soooo cool. OK - that's really all I have right now. Except I think our new office space is going to rock...unbelievable...

~l8r