Vermyndax’s Lair

While perusing through my Junk E-Mail folder this morning, I noticed an interesting-looking spammy item that invited me to an extras casting call.

Well, that wasn’t the interesting part. The really interesting part was that there was a privacy policy and license attached to the email. The policy/license stated that by clicking the remove email link, I was granting the spammer to send me more spam. At least they’re honest.

WARNING: DO NOT OPEN ANY OF THESE LINKS… OR DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Here’s a paste of the policy:

Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions of this Email:
This notice outlines the privacy policies associated with his Email. By clicking any image and/or text link in this Email (excluding the removal link), you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy. As such, you are representing that you have the authority and are authorizing http://istevedaily.com and/or any of its business associates to contact you via email, postal mail, or telephonically with information stored in the http://istevedaily.com database.
Changes to the Privacy Policy:
We reserve the right to change the terms of this Privacy Policy at any time. We encourage you to check the Privacy Policy in each new email sent to you regularly. Your continued use of our email service following any changes to this Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of such changes. This privacy policy was last amended on October 9th, 2006.
Personal Information and IP Address:
Each time you view and/or click any image or text link in a http://istevedaily.com sponsored email, our web server automatically recognizes your IP address and contact information. Your IP address is used to help us identify and gather broad demographic information about you. We also use your IP address and contact information to help diagnose problems with our servers, pre-populate http://istevedaily.com administered Web Sites, and to better serve you in using the features associated with our email service.
View Complete Policy Here.
Contacting Us About Privacy Questions Or Concerns:
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please email us at privacy(at)http://istevedaily.com, or by sending a letter to:
Privacy, 2526 1st Street , Santa Monica, CA, 90405

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Hooray for us - NO CARRIER has posted its sixth entry into the world of netcasting. We’re getting better at this technically. I think Episode 7 is shaping up to be the best TECHNICAL episode. Who knows if the dialogue will be any good though.

You can find the podcast here or in iTunes.

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Now that Firefox 3 is out and it’s quite useful on the Mac (although crashy for me, as I mention in the upcoming NO CARRIER show), now what needs to happen is a way to synchronize Firefox and Safari bookmarks automatically while also using .Mac for multiple computers.

I realize how complex that would be, but that needs to happen. Firefox is my secondary browser, not my primary, so, as you can see, amongst my severe abuse, of commas, that this, my friend, must happen.

Technorati Tags:
Mac, Productivity, Firefox, Safari, Web Browser

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Today was “officially” day two of the gym and the workout was even tougher this time around. I had a full 4 days away from the gym. 3 of them were from the family reunion, 1 of them was because a work issue ended up taking over the whole time slot.

I got to it today and man was it painful.

The blood pressure was down to 154/106. This blood pressure thing is mysterious to me. My Omron blood pressure monitor for the house arrived today and I took some readings at home. They were MUCH lower - in the 110-115/80-90 range. I bet the doctor would much prefer to see that. Still, it seems to be borderline, but apparently I’m not on the edge of the abyss as the medical folks had made me out to be.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with Lauren, a personal trainer, from 4 til 5. I spotted Lauren in the gym today.

Let’s just say I’m going to be embarrassed as hell.

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It’s all here.

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/06/23/ten-big-new-features-in-mac-os-x-snow-leopard/

I’m just shocked and speechless. Pwned, even.

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My first REAL day at the gym was a doozy. I did 30 minutes of treadmill, alternating speeds when I could take it and warming down too. I got the heart rate up to 145, which is right where Southern-belle Megan wanted me to be.

It felt pretty good. Really, it did. Then I got off the machine and felt quite dizzy for a moment. I had really pushed it.

I moved to the strength training half of the program and found myself unable to do as many reps as I had done yesterday on some of the machines. It just hurt too much. I did a few and called it a day, vowing not to push myself too much.

Finally, the payoff. After all that and some stretching, I sat down and took my blood pressure. It was 165/104, an immediate improvement over yesterday’s 180/110.

Interesting… and quite encouraging.

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So I had the gym assessment today. This assessment is required before this wellness center thing will let you participate in their program. I’ve visited the vampires and run the physical tests they wanted, now here I sat with this lovely young lady fresh from Tuscaloosa. She pulled her jacket close and complained that someone keeps the gym far too cold, then opened my file.

“We’re actually surprised you’re not dead,” she says.

So starts my “New Life” as some might call it, or what I call a journey into hell. It’s time I get my physical act together and the starting point news just isn’t good. I couldn’t have picked a better time to get started on this because, well you see… my blood pressure was just about to give me a stroke.

“It’s right on the borderline of where we require a medical release from your doctor.”

Greeaaat. “By the way, did they note down that I drink coffee?”

The young roll tider seemed quite relieved. “That’s actually good to hear!”

Despite this, I have a feeling my blood pressure is far too high anyway. My heart rate is too low and my blood pressure is too high - that spells trouble for this geek. Too much more of this and I’ll be under arrest from Mr. Cardiac.

Or so I’m told.

She “prescribes” an exercise routine that involves at least 30 minutes of cardio workout and 30 minutes of strength training. She then proceeds to lead me around the gym to show me how to use the equipment.

It was all a very nice and pleasant visit, but honestly, I’m scared to death. After finding out that I’m a walking corpse…

…my first thought was to audition for George Romero’s next film.

Wish me luck, people.

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This morning we recorded NO CARRIER #5. I’ll give you a sneak peek at my Site Pick of the Unspecified Time Period: Uniqlock.

If you look just below the last.fm applet on the right side, you’ll see what looks like a clock for Chicago and some fabulously slinky Japanese dancers. Watch it and enjoy. Be sure to turn on the sound (especially you, Beth)… the music is great.

NO CARRIER #5 will go into post later tonight and tomorrow, for late night delivery tomorrow night or Tuesday morning. You should be able to enjoy it then

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It’s Father’s Day 2008. Happy Father’s Day to all of you out there who are dads.

For me, it’s a time to reflect. I love my kids dearly, but I don’t think I’m a great dad. I hope to change that someday. I think a lot of it needs to change with my health, which I am addressing very soon.

Maybe I’ll get better then.

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I really can’t believe this hasn’t been pointed out before… so I guess I’ll do the dirty work and try to fan the flames of rumor.

This started when I read Paul Thurrott’s latest blog post, with which I could not agree more.

Then, I decided it’s time to blog about this and see if anyone had noticed:

(Click image for larger view)

Why would you have a SIM ejector tool in the 3G box if they didn’t intend you to use it? The EDGE model has a SIM ejector hole, but there’s no included tool that I can recall…

Can I start a rumor? We’ll see.

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