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- January 22, 2005
Blocking Comment Spambots
January 22, 2005Read moreI’m trying the plugin wp-hashcash, which is an anti-spam plugin for WordPress. Up to now, I’ve been using ThreeStrikesSpam to catch suspect comments before they go live, which has worked pretty well. However, it creates some additional work for me.
- January 22, 2005
Crazy Rabbit
January 22, 2005Read more
Stumbled upon Crazy Rabbit, a neat bit of Flash featuring a rabbit that, upon mistaking the mouse pointer for a carrot, takes matters into his own hands. Don’t let the rabbit catch the cursor!
The hosting site, esc you, looks pretty cool too with a lot of illustration and 20-something European oddness. I don’t understand it, but I dig it.
- January 21, 2005
NordicTivo
January 21, 2005Read moreI love it when this happens: four problems, one solution! 1. Too many shows piling up on the Tivo, not enough time to watch! 2. Duncan’s NordicTrak occupying space in my basement, unused and unreturned for three years! 3. Burgeoning waistline! 4. Joining an activity group that will require a lot of running around come springtime!
The solution: Watch Tivo in my basement while on the NordicTrak!
Friday night’s trial run worked quite well for the season premiere of Monk…a 45 minute session without having to really think about it. Will it work for Battlestar Galactica or (perhaps the ultimate test) a week’s worth of reruns? Stay tuned!
- January 21, 2005
Personal Horoscopes
January 21, 2005Read more
My friend S. had this great idea about writing your own horoscopes. I didn’t get it at first…it seemed that writing your horoscope was cheating, but actually it makes a lot of sense. You end up seeding your day for things you want to think about, or intuitively think might have some value. There’s also the sense of mystery and anticipation, plus it’s actually fun to throw something out there crazy to mix things up. Who knows, maybe it will lead to a new line of work. I like how it takes narrative concepts and puts them in the real world so that “Life Imitates Art”.
- January 21, 2005
Betel Nut Girls
January 21, 2005Read more
I was last in Taiwan in 2000, and noticed brightly lit booths, each containing with a young woman on a stool. I asked someone what they were, and they said they were selling betel nuts, a mild stimulant similar in use to chewing tobacco.
When I went to high school in Taiwan back in the 80s, I knew betel nuts to be the source of red spittle all over the sidewalk. Taxi drivers would chew them as they waited for fares. They were sold from dingy stands on street corners, with a bunch of betel nuts hung above it as signage. A marketing innovation had clearly taken hold since I’d been away, apparently unique to Taiwan.
My interest was rekindled by the recent flurry of Betel Nut Girl postings at BoingBoing, with today’s followup poking a little deeper into the mystique:
Anon sez: “I was asking about Betelnut girls to friend of mine from Taiwan and she was saying documenting these girls is a popular subject for artists and art students in Taiwan.
On the other hand, eslisland.com notes:
[…] after harrassing and arresting girls for indecent exposure or even prostitution, lawmakers have had their hands tied by the powerful farm lobby of betel nut growers (& chewers…) who have thus far made sure that no lawmaker outlaw the practice entirely.
So it seems that it’s not entirely harmless fun. There are more pictures on eslisland.com, but they’re sleezy. Don’t look! :-) Lots of other links at the end of the article regarding the social-political impact of the Betel Nut in Taiwan.
