Why Cut Off a Perfectly Good Leg?
Friday, February 9th, 2007
A disturbing first-person account of someone with body identity integrity disorder (BIID). I’ve heard of this before but the article makes it more understandable.
Archive for February, 2007
Man Loses Wife In Card Game
Thursday, February 8th, 2007
Man bets wife in poker game and loses. Wife finds out, gets angry at man, and divorces him. Just to spite him, she starts dating the “winner.” The winner turns out to be better husband material, so she marries him. Guess you shouldn’t bet what you aren’t prepared to lose.
Link: http://www.metro.co.uk/…
(via digg)
Using the ALT Key to Enter Special Characters
Wednesday, February 7th, 2007
Old hands from the early days of DOS and Windows will remember entering special characters by holding down the ALT key and typing a 3-digit number on the numerical keypad. This was essential when using the line-drawing (╠╣║) or block-drawing(▐▬▌█) characters. Then Windows got more advanced and began supporting multiple character encodings in unicode format. And the number of ALT-key digits went from three to four, with the leading zero making a difference (for example, ALT-0174 is “?” while ALT-174 is “?”). I’ve never yet figured out the mapping between unicode and the ALT codes (sometimes it’s very straightforward, sometimes not), so I just gave up and learned to use the Windows Character Map applet (like this: ?). Or, if coding HTML, I would use the HTML character entities (like this: ©).
The linked site gives ALT codes for common non-typeable characters. It shows me that I can simply type ALT-0169 to get ?. The site presents its lists in a manner amenable to printing and posting on the wall near a computer. It’s a bit of a time saver if you frequently use non-English characters or non-typeable special characters.
Link: http://www.starr.net/…
(via Lifehacker)
The Downsides of Upgrading to Windows Vista
Tuesday, February 6th, 2007
Unlike previous versions of Windows, the upgrade version of Vista requires you to have the old version of Windows installed on the computer. Pre-Vista you could just produce the old version’s license key or install disks as proof of ownership. This can be annoying for those (like me) who prefer to do clean installs on a newly-formatted hard drive. Fortunately there appears to be a workaround, as described in the linked article.
In addition, installing a Vista Upgrade version over top of an XP system will invalidate the XP license key, and it will no longer pass the mandatory Windows Genuine Advantage check, should you try to re-install WinXP in the future.
Link: http://www.dailytech.com/…
(via digg)
Where Do The Losing SuperBowl T-shirts Go?
Monday, February 5th, 2007
In order to sell the winning team’s shirts, hats, etc. right after the SuperBowl ends, it’s necessary to print a full run for both teams (so yes, that does double the price). Ever wonder what happens to the stuff for the losing team? Short answer: rural Africa.
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/…
(via digg)
Sony Rootkit Settlement, Part II
Sunday, February 4th, 2007
If you bought one of the CDs associated with the Sony rootkit fiasco, there is a second settlement for which you qualify (first one here).
This settlement is between the Federal Trade Commission and Sony. It allows you to (1) exchange any affected CDs and (2) receive up to $150 in reimbursement for your efforts to remove the DRM software.
Everybody and their brother has been reporting on this, but nobody gave instructions on how to file a claim. So keep an eye on Chad’s News, and another one on the settlement page—the current info is for the previous settlement.
Link: http://www.ftc.gov/…
A Photo Printer Without Ink
Saturday, February 3rd, 2007
A company named Zink has developed a photo printer that uses no ink. The secret is in the paper.
Link: http://crave.cnet.com/…
Pros and Cons of Buying the OEM Version of Windows Vista
Friday, February 2nd, 2007Some computer stores will sell you the OEM version of Windows Vista at a significant price reduction over the regular version. Sounds good, but there are drawbacks.
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
Radioactive People Set Off Terrorism Alarms
Thursday, February 1st, 2007
Some people who’ve had radioactive medical treatments will subsequently set off homeland security detectors that screen for dirty bombs.
Link: http://today.reuters.com/…
(via digg)
