Julien McArdle
My inane life… in glorious details!
Creepy Poem for my Boyfriend
May 18th
Oh dear boyfriend, you are my godsend. // I love you, so much so,us two, oh so you know. // You are amazing, my shining knight, my love is unwavering, even when you bite. // I’m running out of rhymes, but that’s no crime, since now you know, how you set me aglow.
Let’s hope I’m a better scriptwriter than I am a poet.
Store Encounter of the Third Kind
May 12th
While I was waiting a prescription to be filled out at a pharmacy the other day, I heard the full conversation of a woman berating a worker for what was entirely the woman’s fault. She was insulting the employee, raising her voice, and generally failing at being an adult.
She walked past me after her tantrum was over. I let her know what I thought of her behaviour. She wasn’t pleased, and continued walking on.
A minute later I hear her high heels walking through the store. She was looking for me. She was quite angry, and asked if I worked at the store. I told her I didn’t. When she failed to succeed in belittling me in a manner she deemed satisfying, she stormed off.
I realize this wasn’t any of my business. However, it’s not right for people to insult others like that, and those workers in the interest of self-preservation are prohibited from standing up for themselves. Someone had to.
Websense for Web Developers
May 9th
In this final segment about Websense, I’m going to show you how, as a web developer, you can prevent your site from being blocked. It all comes down to this PHP code which you can insert in the top of your web page:
<?phpif (ereg("208.80..*..*", getenv('REMOTE_ADDR')))header("HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden");?>
In the first line, we compare the IP address of the person visiting with the block used by Websense. If it matches, the second line stops the page from loading and issues an error to the client. Websense doesn’t see what’s on your site, and consequently, has no grounds on which to block it.
As far as user agent strings go, Websense spoofes its bots to appear like regular web traffic. Blocking on a basis of IP is the only way to go.
Rice Tea Film Update
May 9th
I’ve completed the first draft of the film script for Rice Tea. In this initial process, I concentrated on streamlining the story and shortened the dialog. Next up is revising it to make sure that it maintains audience interest and that its reverence for accurately depicting technology doesn’t get too anal.
Other Developments:
- “Rice Tea” won’t be the title of the film. It’ll be called something that sounds more related to the subject matter.
- Shooting is set for mid-July.
- The film will be free as in beer and as in speech. One key benefit of going this route is that it enables me to utilize an excellent variety of Copyleft and Creative Commons music.
- A community will be set up to enable third-party contributions to development. More on this later.
More Websense Tricks
May 6th
Last time, I showed how to bypass Websense if you were in an environment which used it. However, this last method required you to be able to install an application onto your computer. What if you have no such rights?
With that in mind, here are a few more tricks to get around Websense filtering so that you can do the work you’re paid to do.
Use Translation Services:
- Go to http://babelfish.yahoo.com/
- In where it says “Translate a web page”, insert the address of the blocked page you want to access.
- Choose to translate from Chinese to English.
The translator will attempt to find Chinese words and translating them to English. Failing to do so, it will leave the original text (in English) intact, providing you with a mirror of the page hosted on the translator’s servers. If the translator isn’t blocked, neither will be the page you want to load.
Switch up the subdomains:
Websense filters by subdomains. So if you want to access, say, “http://www.somesite.com/”, try putting in “http://somesite.com/”. It may just work.
How to tether a Wind Mobile phone to your laptop
May 5th
I have a Samsung Gravity 2 phone from Wind Mobile with an unlimited data plan. I’ve figured out how to tether it to my netbook so that I can have the laptop surf from anywhere.
Originally, I followed the directions provided on Wind Mobile’s site. They want you to install software from Samsung and use that to connect to the Internet. Unfortunately, in my case, the Samsung software crashes on startup. I can’t get it to work at all. So I figured out another way to tether the phone, which I share with you here. More >
Pro-Tip: Don’t stick straws up your nose
May 4th
This is me driving with straws up my nose.
…and this is me driving with tissue paper in my nose to stop the profuse bleeding that followed an accidental jab. More >
The bad with the good
Apr 30th
Alright, well over the last year I’ve been doing status updates about my weight. At my peak in August of 2009, I weighed 187 pounds. At my lowest since then, in January 2010, I weighed 161.
I can’t just keep giving good news, so here’s the bad: I’ve gained much of that weight back. I’m at 180. Jay and I are working together on a new plan to lose weight once more.
I used to eat one meal a day. That’s how I did the initial weight loss. It wasn’t very sustainable, and as soon as my eating patterns changed after meeting Jay, I started to gain the weight back. So the trick now is to reduce weight while eating healthily, and Jay is helping me very much in this respect.
Rogers tries to win me back…
Apr 30th
Rogers was my cellphone carrier previous to Wind Mobile. I wasn’t a big fan, and I’m glad I switched. Anywho, I received a letter from Rogers today.
Dear Julien McArdle,
I’d like to extend my appreciation for your business by offering you a special opportunity to upgrade to a new wireless device – at an exclusive price being offered to you for a limited time.
It goes on to say that if I sign on a new three-year contract, I’ll be able to purchase a new mobile phone at a discount. The “limited-time offer” is bogus, as those savings are the same for new customers and the existing batch who renews their contracts.
Nice try Rogers, but I’m not coming back.
Thank You Post
Apr 20th
This post is dedicated to you guys. Yes, I’m in a sappy mood.
Jeremy and Tina: Jeremy, I first met you when we worked at Staples. We became good friends, and university partners in crime. Highlights: That time where we ran the fake candidate for the university elections. Oh, and the boat party where the idiot jumped overboard and the crew tried to keep things hush hush.
Jon and Eric: Friends dating back to high school. Eric and I had university classes together, and now work together. We frequently get up to mischief. Highlights: Jon – Getting up at 4AM to go to the Sarah Palin book signing in Rochester. Eric – not realizing that the computer had internal speakers, and accidentally blasting music in the Remote Sensing class when I pulled out my headphones.
Jason Scott: First talked to you in an uncomfortable manner to see if you were interested in giving a talk at HOPE. I look up to you, and thank you for pushing me to keep doing what I love (but sometimes forget I love.) Highlights: having to use a mic that Jello had put his ass against minutes previous.
Corie: Met you the first day of university frosh, during a campus tour. You helped me work through the tougher times of my life. Highlight: clacking our teeth together when we forced ourselves to kiss, then promptly covering our mouths in agonizing pain.
Adrian: Long-time friend. We met in grade 6, playing together almost every day. You’re a great friend and ally. Thank you. Highlight: helping you move in Montreal. May New Zealand treat you well.
Jay: My boyfriend. The last four months have been a roller coaster of awesome. Highlights: being accused of shoplifting at Walmart. Going to the Bare Naked Ladies concert. Attending the ill-fated Ann Coulter speech.
Everyone else: Thank you.
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