All posts

Google and Apple's updated default search agreement
United States v. Google, No. 20-cv-3010 (APM) (D.D.C. Aug. 5, 2024).
Posted 2024-09-15 #technology #business #game-theory

Package manager package manager package manager
Let’s pretend I’ve decided to manage my JavaScript projects with package managers.
Posted 2024-09-08 #humor #programming

Firefox zero-day: You can't leave this page (2)
This a 0-day announcement showing web pages can prevent visitors from navigating back away from their website.
Posted 2024-08-16 #zero-day #security

Hey Are you open to working on projects right now?
Sharing my experience here with a spearphishing campaign where somebody approached me as a potential client. But their intention was to have me run software on my computer. The goal was assumedly to steal any cryptocurrency I have access to.
Posted 2024-05-05 #scam

How to fully spend AmEx gift cards on Amazon in 2024
Great news! You just got an American Express gift card!
Posted 2024-02-20 #how-to

Numerology for 1 to 10,000 things
Have you ever been staring at a list of things for sale. And they are serial numbered between 1 and 10,000, inclusive, and you wonder which one to buy?
Posted 2023-12-27 #how-to

How to connect Roku to Xfinity Wi-Fi
Connecting your Roku device to Xfinity Wi-Fi can be tricky, especially since Roku devices do not come with any built-in browser. This limitation makes the standard login process through a web page impossible. However, there’s an effective workaround using a computer to spoof your Roku’s MAC address, allowing you to authenticate on the Xfinity Wi-Fi network. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it, specifically tested and confirmed for the Roku 4K version.
Posted 2023-12-18 #how-to

Open letter to American Airlines about also-known-as name policy
Here is an open letter to American Airlines about multiple system failures we found on a recent trip. I hope this letter is helpful, fun and… actionable! Please let’s work together to make flying better in the 21st century. I still have a lot of the world left to see!!!
Posted 2023-10-19 #my-life

IRS proposed regulation for crypto
The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has proposed regulations for how taxes and transaction reporting will apply to crypto and other digital assets.
Posted 2023-10-16 #blockchain

You can break into these dApp admin accounts today
Alternate title: how to properly implement logins with a public-key system
Posted 2023-09-13 #blockchain

What is the worst thing that could happen if I sign a bad message?
Did you ever quickly sign a message and not know what it was?
Posted 2023-08-13 #blockchain #security

RainbowMask, use random accounts to login to Web3
Introducing RainbowMask, login to any Web3 website without making an account
Posted 2023-07-11 #blockchain #dumb-business-ideas

The case for war against Canada
I trained a neural network using war-is-always-the-answer articles from Bill Kristol.
Posted 2023-06-29 #neural-networks

Which campaign is from a neural network?
In politics, the mechanics of winning relies on getting broad messages delivered in very specific ways to excite people enough to go vote.
Posted 2023-06-13 #neural-networks

The European Data Act and regulating calculator.exe
The European Data Act codifies requirements for smart contracts.
Posted 2023-05-31 #blockchain

Quasi fungible token and MiCA
This week, Europe passed legislation regulating markets for crypto tokens. This is the markets in crypto-assets (MiCA) regulation. There’s a few ways to read regulation:
Posted 2023-05-19 #blockchain

What is money, and how is Bitcoin/tokens different?
How well do you kow what money is? We will explore a few intuitive things that money is, break them down, and then see how Bitcoin and tokens on blockchain are so much different.
Posted 2023-05-15 #blockchain

Moon dust: auditable, versioned databases
Blockchain people have been to “the moon” and back down to Earth. We brought back moon dust.
Posted 2023-04-23 #blockchain

OpenSea cooperated transaction with SDN sanctioned entity
This article is a review of facts and is not an allegation of any crime.
Posted 2023-04-11 #nft

The future of Web3 is still custodial
And so was the past. A fairer title here would be “the future of digital-signature-based commerce (or ‘blockchain’) will still rely on custodians”. But we’re writing blog posts here, people, not dissertations!
Posted 2023-03-13 #blockchain

Why Plaid is a scam
Plaid.com is a company that collects bank account logins and passwords to “verify” your login to other quasi-banking institutions. They are a service provider to other companies, and here is what it looks like:
Posted 2023-02-06 #scams

Add your friends to the SDN list with this one weird trick
There is humor in this article title, you do not want to add your friends to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. This list is published by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and is used to enforce economic sanctions and other financial restrictions imposed by the United States government.
Posted 2023-01-28 #nft #zero-day

Does OpenSea Shared Storefront have a backdoor?
This project demonstrates how OpenSea administrators can take any tokens minted on the OpenSea Shared Storefront. This is a previously-undocumented backdoor.
Posted 2022-11-04 #nft

What kinds of things should be standardized?
A standard, in technical settings, is an established specification which allows any compliant thing to work with any compliant user of that thing, also known as cross-connect. It is a set of restrictions, or marketing claims, incumbent upon the standardized product.
Posted 2022-09-30 #coding

NFTs, good or bad for art?
In the beginning there were cats.
Posted 2022-05-05 #my-life #blockchain

My travel intentions
I would love to be on the road all the time meeting the designers and builders that craft the future we all see coming. This future is accountable, transparent, respectful of customers and increasingly built on concepts brought up by blockchain and NFTs.
Posted 2022-04-15 #my-life #blockchain

Monthly updates
Part of my own new year’s plan was to set a professional mission (inspired by Musk’s “Die on Mars”) and organize my time to getting towards that. Here’s the mission:
Posted 2022-04-01 #my-life

Ethics statement on buying NFTs
How can you tell if a blockchain enthusiast is shilling? Their lips are moving.
Posted 2022-03-23 #my-life #blockchain

The Perl script that rewrote Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four
I always dreamed of publishing my first book, a specific project, but it meant waiting for the 70th anniversary of George Orwell’s death.
Posted 2022-02-21 #programming #predictions

Randomization strategies for NFT drops
ℹ️ This article assumes a basic/intermediate understanding of game theory, blockchain transaction settlement, entropy (mathematics) and Solidity. However the conclusions and reasoning are usable to anybody evaluating risks with different NFT drop approaches.
Posted 2022-02-04 #blockchain

Ethics statement
This blog is basically essays I write to myself to reminisce and organize thoughts.
Posted 2022-02-04 #best-practice

Mission
Did you ever sing in the shower just get a few extra bars out while you’re alone?
Posted 2022-01-26 #how-to

Token-Curated Registries, the Uses and Exploits
What are they, and are they useful?
Posted 2018-06-09 #blockchain

Primal foods available on Amazon

Posted 2012-05-30 #mylife

Free project idea—TXT auto-responder for train lateness
I’m clearing off my list of cool computer projects to do. This was a good one, but I’m going to pass on it, so you can have this one for free.
Posted 2010-09-12 #technical #youhearditherefirst

Convert FEN strings to HTML
Introducing the FEN to HTML converter. Paste FEN in, view the board and get HTML out. Does not use any images.
Posted 2010-08-30 #youhearditherefirst

Technical notes about KDE ksmserver
Hello all, here are some notes from working on KDE bugs 60894 and 62157 on contract with Google. ksmserver is an important part of KDE software currently maintained by Lubos Lunak and that made it difficult for me as an outsider to make large changes. I am including here notes regarding code I wrote in branches/work/kdebase_appgroups and branches/work/soc_ksm/ while working under Lubos.
Posted 2010-08-26 #technical

The 80's
What’s the difference between smoking and rubbing roadkill all over your face and clothing? At least the roadkill doesn’t make you look like an idiot.
Posted 2010-08-26 #rant

Mac OS X privacy case study: Automatic, non-cancelable crash reports?
On Mac OS X 10.6.4. That’s a huge privacy no-no.
Posted 2010-08-23 #privacy

EPIC: You are not prepared
If you haven’t seen this yet, there is 5 minutes of your recent life that was COMPLETELY WASTED.
Posted 2010-08-13 #goodfind

Bank security case study: Why is financial fraud so easy in America?
Because legitimate telephone transactions with a bank can be 100% indistinguishable from fraudulent transactions with scammers.
Posted 2010-08-12 #privacy #security

A comparison of Bush and Obama
I have been collecting notes that compare Bush and Obama while hoping, one day, to write a witty blog post about how in fact they are identical, but I never could reconcile their differences in speaking ability.
Posted 2010-08-11 #politics

Get this—language progress update
So I got this Chinese newspaper delivered to my house, 人民日报, $26 per year, delivered daily, yes really.
Posted 2010-08-10 #learning

English Quiz
Please interpret this letter from PECO, quoted below:
Posted 2010-08-09 #youhearditherefirst

Firefox security case study: Mozilla's CSS :visited solution is still vulnerable
Javascript running on browsers that implement W3C standards today can allow the present page to find pages the user has previously visited. This would be very useful as part of a XSS attack where you needed to know if the user has already authenticated against a login system.
Posted 2010-08-02 #security

Is there a crack?

Posted 2010-08-02 #humor

Religious tolerance
I recently began rereading all the notes that I took during college, to keep the mind fresh while I’m waiting for SunGard to decide when the best time is for them to call me and offer me that job as a financial analyst…
Posted 2010-07-30 #goodfind #politics #rants

Don't steal my Mac
Mac OS X 10.6 comes with CoreLocatation. Which is implemented as a command line program in CoreLocationCLI.
Posted 2010-07-30 #bonus

Why does e^(pi*i) = -1?
This cannot be stressed enough:
Posted 2010-07-28 #math

Google Tasks interface case study
New version at https://privacylog.blogspot.com/2010/09/updated-google-tasks-api.html
Posted 2010-07-28 #user-interface

Gun control
Even though I have never heard a legitimate argument for gun control, I beat the dead horse with one more example against it.
Posted 2010-07-14 #humor

TI copyright
From the BA II Plus calculator manual:
Posted 2010-07-13 #goodfind

Are you fit enough to be an FBI special agent?
Test one: Sit-ups (in one minute)
Posted 2010-07-13 #goodfind

Revenues down?
One of the top grossing iPhone apps is free. Hmmm
Posted 2010-07-11 #good-finds

The ultimate voicemail system ("the Voicemail Remote")
In the past when you called my voicemail, it would say:
Posted 2010-07-07 #howto

New efforts in voyeurism and backlash
Normally, I keep the window in my room open from the top. But in an effort to hear my hot neighbors from across the street (I think they’re hot—I can’t really see them, but since everyone else in this building and neighborhood is male, they pretty much win by default), I tried opening it from the bottom at ear level.
Posted 2010-06-09 #humor

The most pathetic attack on Western Europe in history

Posted 2010-06-09 #my-life

Health Care Reform -- Doctor Shortage To Expand the Role of Registered Nurses
I’m a fan of nurse practitioners replacing the vast majority of doctors.
Posted 2010-05-28 #government

The thirdworld-ification of the United States
Anonymous post for a friend without a blog.
Posted 2010-05-20 #government

The shocker for computers
CTRL-A, S, CTRL-S, ALT-F4.
Posted 2010-05-19 #humor

Bathroom humor
Here’s the type of jokes I get at work:
Posted 2010-05-19 #humor

Free money from the mint (update)
This is an update to https://fulldecent.blogspot.com/2008/10/free-25-from-us-mint.html
Posted 2010-05-09 #howto

Finding good topics for discussion with normal people
Quote of the day 2010-05-04
Posted 2010-05-04 #my-life

Advanced and basic use of expletives
Quote of the day 2010-04-25
Posted 2010-04-25 #eastwest

How to increase advertising revenues with limited ad space
Problem: advertising revenues are down
Posted 2010-04-17 #goodfind

Sexiest non-human characters in Disney movies
Quote of the day 2010-03-29
Posted 2010-03-29 #funny

Differences in study habits / east versus west
English-language test preparation books usually have a sample test and always tell you how to grade the sample test to measure your progress against the population of test takers, e.g. percentiles and a pass/fail level.
Posted 2010-03-26 #eastwest

Does automation lead to higher unemployment?
Here’s a comment to a blog post at:
Posted 2010-03-23 #politics #youhearditherefirst

How to play strip poker in Asia [pics]
A another post in the culture series.
Posted 2010-03-13 #eastwest

The looming healthcare bubble
Begin forwarded message:
Posted 2010-03-01 #government

Quote of the day 2010-02-05
Yes indeed, today’s quote of the day goes to baby girl:
Posted 2010-02-05 #my-life

Cute girl on the train
So there’s a cute girl I usually see on the train when I go to work…
Posted 2010-01-14 #my-life

Study advice for foreign students studying accounting in the United States
To all you foreign accounting students studying in the U.S.:
Posted 2010-01-04 #politics #youhearditherefirst

Alternative to antivirus software on computers
Quote of the day 2010-01-03
Posted 2010-01-03 #humor

All time in-flight best movie choices for international flight
You’re on an international flight traveling 12000 miles around the world over about 13 hours. You forgot to bring one of those neck things that the person next to you has and you can’t fall asleep. You walk around, pee (even if you don’t have to), talk to the attendants and finally return to your seat. What’s on the in-flight entertainment center?
Posted 2010-01-02 #best-practices

Why are people attracted to religion?
Quote of the day 2009-12-19
Posted 2009-12-19 #my-life

Problems using iPhone in NYC
What NYC lacks in iPhone connectivity it makes up for in sexy women.
Posted 2009-12-03 #my-life

Interesting properties of the entropy function
This may not be the first time someone recognized this, but I have recently discovered some interesting and useful properties of the entropy function and now share them.
Posted 2009-12-02 #math #youhearditherefirst

Developing advanced weapons capabilities in Iraq
I recently came across this job posting for the DHS:
Posted 2009-11-28 #youhearditherefirst

Timeless investing advice
Quote of the day 2009-11-24
Posted 2009-11-24 #finance

A look at primary sources from the Great Depression
Many people have forgotten about the Great Depression. This is unfortunate because the lost arts of modesty, saving and skepticism have passed with the last generation. A time has gone in America since great strides have been made. Now, since 2001, there is question of when America will again make progress. Please consider the Tytler Cycle:
Posted 2009-11-23 #finance #youhearditherefirst

Recessions make people smart
Recessions make people smart… the hard way. This concept really permeated my head recently when I saw two poster advertisements:
Posted 2009-11-17 #finance

Seeking books supporting US aid for Israel
Hello all, I am seeking a book recommendation in support (from an American’s perspective) of US direct aid to Israel. The ideal book would argue that support for Israel has a positive, measurable effect on United States interests. A lame book would talk about a moral or religious case for the existence for Israel (since this is orthogonal to US national interests, and a little thing we call the First Amendment).
Posted 2009-11-15 #government

Security case study: Hashes for popular router passwords
The full list is here.
Posted 2009-11-07 #security

Low calorie diet in a bar
Quote of the day 2009-11-01
Posted 2009-11-01 #humor

Will's China travel plans
I will travel to China from 2009-09-26 to 2009-10-17.
Posted 2009-09-17 #eastwest

Who is taller, Chinese girls or American girls?
Look it up on Wikipedia
Posted 2009-09-08 #eastwest #youhearditherefirst

Funding the social safety net and deportation
Quote of the day 2009-09-02
Posted 2009-09-02 #eastwest #quote-of-the-day

Contents may settle during packaging AND OTHER HUMOR
Which one is 24oz and which one is 14oz. Zoom in to find out!
Posted 2009-08-29 #humor

Obscenity in Thailand
Geography for a day
Posted 2009-08-22 #eastwest

Fashion kills
Quote of the day 2009-08-21
Posted 2009-08-21 #eastwest #quote-of-the-week

Watch out from behind
Also, an English lesson: butt is usually singular.
Posted 2009-08-16 #eastwest

A list of all numbers on Google Voice
Update 2017-10-20: If you just want a good vanity number and don’t want to spend 1-2 days setting up Unix, contact me with your area code(s). I ask $30 for this service in BTC or PayPal.
Posted 2009-08-16 #user-interface

New Chevy Volt about as powerful as a lawnmower
I read about the new GM Volt and needed to inform you, loyal reader, about the numbers that are driving around. Please excuse my brevity as
Posted 2009-08-11 #math

The best number on Google Voice
I got a Google Voice invite today and had to choose which number I want. Of course all the repeated digits are gone (215-777-7772, …) are gone. Google provides a simple interface to find a good number, but this is the interface I like, grep:
Posted 2009-07-11 #youhearditherefirst

Security case study: Google Voice
Posted at best number on Google Voice we see a enumeration script run against Google Voice. This method uses multiple requests to acquire all phone numbers available on the Google Voice service. Probably not an intended use of the system.
Posted 2009-07-10 #security

GM bankruptcy plan approved: U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert E. Gerber fails
A federal bankruptcy judge in New York, Robert E. Gerber, has approved a reorganization plan from General Motors Inc. despite some outcry from dealers in Florida and other states. Part of his opinion follows:
Posted 2009-07-06 #government

Where's Waldo for Min
Min is very petite. Watch her hide behind this lamp.
Posted 2009-07-04 #humor

Snack food Friday
Another good day to get mail. This is my snack drawer. If you haven’t already, you cam follow me in the enlightened path to not being hungry at work by visiting pick me ups at work.html.
Posted 2009-06-19 #my-life #good-find

SEPTA R3 train catches fire
AT 17:38 today, the SEPTA R3 West Trenton train 371 traveling inbound caught fire at the Neshaminy Falls stop after running over an ATV. The engineer explained that one passenger driving an off road vehicle was crossing the tracks and had become stuck as the train was approaching the station. The engineer honked the horn and the rider fled the scene, abandoning the ATV. The train was unable to stop in time and collided with the ATV, completely driving over it. This immediately caught fire with smoke visible from inside the train.
Posted 2009-06-11 #my-life

Being a nerd is almost cool
Here is a chain mail I got in 2000 which will tell you if you are “Addicted to AOL”, or as we now say: are a nerd. Well, according to this list, being a nerd is now a lot more popular. I highlighted things which are now common/not ridiculous anymore.
Posted 2009-06-09 #humor

Q: How many continents are there?
A: Seven.
Posted 2009-06-07 #my-life

The new sobriety test
When police pull over a driver, they need an efficient way to ascertain whether that person is drunk or not. Here is the new test:
Posted 2009-06-06 #life-hacks

Pennsylvania use tax, do you pay all your taxes?
From the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue:
Posted 2009-06-05 #finance

Smaller discs to cover the unit circle
Here is a paper I wrote a while back in 2003 and wanted to publish to a math magazine:
Posted 2009-06-02 #mylife

Independent review of SEPTA performance
Here is a website I wrote that provides an independent analysis of SEPTA’s regional rail performance.
Posted 2009-05-15 #best-practice #data-science #research

You've got something on your face, left or right?
Somebody walks up to you and tells you that you have something on your face. They make a gesture on their left cheek to show you where the thing is on your face.
Posted 2009-05-11 #eastwest #youhearditherefirst

Zecco case study: how to enable cash account sweeps
This also serves as a short lesson in client-side validation/server-side validation. I could write a lot more on that topic, but not today.
Posted 2009-05-06 #security

Mismash of blog posts: Jehovas flying butter converting virus
Usually you should blog with one topic per post. But I am just so excited with news today that I am going to burst!
Posted 2009-04-25 #my-life

Grandmom bakes virus bread
I thought chain mail was a recent phenomenon. Meet friendship bread.
Posted 2009-04-24 #my-life

The best temperature to serve Ahi Tuna
Will: I’ll have the Ahi Tuna, please. Waiter: How would you like that cooked? Will: Um, no?
Posted 2009-04-20 #my-life #quote-of-the-week

Tee shirt
I didn’t slap you… I high-fived you in your face.
Posted 2009-04-11 #my-life

Real-time UPS/FEDEX tracking with GPS
Here’s an email…
Posted 2009-04-08 #howto

FASB failure in mark-to-market accounting
The FASB today demonstrated its complete lack of backbone by suspending mark-to-market valuation for banks’ assets. This undermines the relevance of financial accounting altogether. In other words: banks and politicians win; “independent” accounts lose.
Posted 2009-04-02 #rants

ING Direct prevents millions from properly filing taxes
Here is the letter to The Ombudsman.
Posted 2009-03-11 #user-interface

Riddle: 5 lights (answer)
The original riddle was:
Posted 2009-02-10 #youhearditherefirst

Riddle: 5 lights
This is an update to the post: riddle-5-lights.
Posted 2009-01-30 #riddle

You'll get older when I SAY you get older

Posted 2009-01-29 #humor #mylife

Best Craigslist prank involving puppies
Back in June 2008, someone posted this advertisement on Craigslist:
Posted 2009-01-29 #howto #humor

Riddle: The 4 lights
Here’s the new profile riddle:
Posted 2009-01-25 #youhearditherefirst #riddle

Instant makeover techniques
I’m getting tired of your face, you should shave your beard. Miss Wang
Posted 2009-01-17 #humor #mylife #quote-of-the-week

Security hole: charge money to any mobile number
Web 2.0 Programming Model and Security Concerns
Posted 2009-01-17 #security #zero-day

ING Direct communication case study: how to successfully implement paperless billing
I have seen paperless billing implemented poorly many times… which is a shame because a little time invested in the IT department could save a lot of time and money in the mailing department.
Posted 2009-01-12 #user-interface

Peter Schiff feedback - 2008-12-31
I listen to Peter’s Schiff’s weekly podcast and there is usually a lot of good information there. Sometime I hear ridiculous things, so here’s my feedback.
Posted 2009-01-03 #finance #youhearditherefirst

LinkedIn privacy case study: stealing private data from your address book
IF you give LinkedIn access to your Gmail account in order to find contacts on the site, you may be getting more than you bargained for.
Posted 2008-12-23 #privacy

An open response to President Bush
On Dec 18, 2008, President Bush, referring to GM and Chrysler, said:
Posted 2008-12-19 #politics #rants

How to delete multiple posts in blogger
Use blogger draft
Posted 2008-12-13 #how-to

Q: how do you know you're getting old?
A: there a PBS documentary on Wu-Tang Clan
Posted 2008-12-03 #rants

You have a Bacon Number of 5
(This is old news for me, but it may be new news for you)
Posted 2008-11-15 #youhearditherefirst

Chinese dictionary
The Chinese dictionary can get ridiculous:
Posted 2008-11-03 #eastwest #rants

Chinese books don't have roman numerals
In English books, the preface, introduction, et al. live on pages numbered with lower case roman numerals.
Posted 2008-11-01 #eastwest #humor

Q: What's worse than leaving your window open
Q: What’s worse than leaving your car window open on a rainy day?
Posted 2008-10-28 #humor

Stock markets have gone down over the last 10-year period
I’m surprised no newspapers have picked up on this, so I’ll post it myself. Many people have talked about risk in the stock market and have used this phrase to sum it up:
Posted 2008-10-22 #finance

Unlimited FREE money from the US Mint (not a scam, link to .gov sites)
Order $2,500 in $1 coins, free shipping (order 5 different coins in $500 quantity) Receive coins, deposit to bank, pay credit card bill Get 1% cash back from your credit card
Posted 2008-10-15 #goodfind

Maximizing your clean with Old Spice or other alternatives

Posted 2008-10-11 #humor

Protein bars and whey protein, which ones have melamine?
Optimum Nutrition
Posted 2008-10-08 #scam-alert

Pre-announcement, investment banks security flaw
I have found a pretty big security flaw affecting multiple online investment banks. I’m in talks with them now, then I’ll post it here after a while. Just so you know where you heard it first, I’m posting an encrypted message here. When this goes public, I’ll post the unencrypted message.
Posted 2008-10-02 #security

Q: How do you pass a $700B bailout bill?
A: You don’t, you pass a $900B bailout bill
Posted 2008-10-02 #howto #government

Oil prices and election years regression analysis
I have heard that oil prices are affected by an election year. After some analysis, this is clearly not the case. Here’s the data, relative oil prices on election years and non-election years:
Posted 2008-10-01 #finance

110th congress H.R. 1424, votes by people up for reelection
Regarding: H.R. 1424 - Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
Posted 2008-10-01 #finance

Where do you get your finance news, why the DOW sucks
Here’s one of those “real content” posts.
Posted 2008-09-30 #finance

High volatility in the NASDAQ
Today is the third worst day for the NASDAQ, if anyone was watching…
Posted 2008-09-29 #finance

TD Ameritrade privacy case study: selling your position information to a third party
Here is some pretty conclusive evidence that TD Ameritrade is sharing your account positions information to News Corporation for profit…
Posted 2008-09-19 #privacy

How to read multi-lingual exit signs
How do you get out?
Posted 2008-09-08 #humor #mylife

Quarter life crisis
John: lol John: so what is new Will: just working now Will: waiting to see what it feels like when theres no school in september John: yea John: quarter life crisis Will: lol John: biggest jump in happiness from money John: already happened John: now u are just work work work John: for marginal gains
Posted 2008-08-25 #quote-of-the-week

Expense receipts for past food purchases
This is how much Chinese food I eat at work.
Posted 2008-08-07 #eastwest #humor

Review: Ralph's Italian Restaurant in South Philadelphia
Ralph’s [restaurant] is Italian; the veal parmigian was so good that I think I got sexually excited (sorry if that’s too much info but it was that good). MW
Posted 2008-07-08 #quote-of-the-week

Goals Mid-year 2008 report
I’ve updated the goals page with two check marks today!
Posted 2008-07-01 #mylife

Perceptions of foreigners and the US drinking culture
I’m glad I’m from Taiwan, so I don’t have to play drinking games every weekend. WY
Posted 2008-06-10 #humor #quote-of-the-week

ING Direct communication case study: improving eStatements
eStatements are a great proposition for companies: save money on a low-value service provided to clients that is legally required. Making eStatements more usable will reduce banks’ postage costs and save customers money. Unfortunately, banks focus on revenue, not customer service or saving cost. Let’s look at ING’s execution:
Posted 2008-06-08 #user-interface

ING Direct communication case study: account sweep user interface
ING Direct does not include an account sweep function. There is an HTML hack possible to do this but I will not discuss. Following is the feature users would expect on the site:
Posted 2008-06-08 #user-interface #howto

How to add iPhone presence indicator on your website
You can add presence indication to your website, i.e. it tells people whether your phone is on or not. This works for any phone that can check mail on a automatically.
Posted 2008-06-08 #how-to

Illegal photo you shouldn't be able to take from LeBow
Me and AD
Posted 2008-06-02 #mylife

LAN party, now and then
I remember when having a lan party was just for nerds…
Posted 2008-05-19 #mylife

Baby girl does not like wasabi peas

Posted 2008-05-10 #humor

ING Direct communication case study: failure in customer communication
On Tue, Apr 8, 2008 at 10:21 AM, ING DIRECT saver@ingdirect.com wrote:
Posted 2008-04-08 #user-interface

SanDisk privacy case study: Do not click accept
Here is a scan of SanDisk’s end user license agreement
Posted 2008-04-07 #user-interface

How to host a theme party
This is a theme party, the theme is drinking.
Posted 2008-04-03 #tips

What Firefox really needs
Firefox has been lying to you. They keep increasing their version numbers… but nothing is happening. The main selling point for Firefox 3 is “it’s fast… just like we used to be”. Here’s a table:
Posted 2008-03-28 #rants

Are you Looking for a rhino thimble?
Are you Looking for a Rhino Thimble? One of the original eBay magazine advertisements.
Posted 2008-03-23 #youhearditherefirst

Munich and Prague trip
Here are the photos from my trip to Munich and Prague:
Posted 2008-03-15 #photos #travel

Motorola "Unauthorized Charger" error
Unauthorized charger
Posted 2008-02-11 #rants

Alternate methods of horses and water
Today is another quote from the internet…
Posted 2008-02-11 #quote-of-the-week

Phone, Email, TXT battle
There are a lot of ways to communicate in this day and age. I have found that some communication channels consistently produce better news than others…
Posted 2008-02-09 #mylife

I calculated how much it costs to have a serious relationship
John’s wisdom never goes out of style:
Posted 2008-01-30 #quote-of-the-week

Engineers vs. baseline humans
Q: How is being an Engineer different than being a baseline human?
Posted 2008-01-29 #humor #quote-of-the-week

I'm not a poet
I wish I could write interesting and funny things for you to read. Unfortunately, I can’t. Instead, here’s some photos for you to enjoy.
Posted 2008-01-27 #photos

My goals in life
Updated semi-annually:
Posted 2008-01-15 #mylife

Quote of the day 2008-01-11
I have sex with farm animals, especially sheep. Juan, under duress
Posted 2008-01-12 #humor

As old as me
These are really old… like from back when I was born. Baby Girl (examining dinosaur fossils at the Academy of Natural Sciences)
Posted 2007-12-30 #mylife #quote-of-the-week

800-527-7415
800-527-7415 is a phone number for the Chase new credit cards dept.
Posted 2007-12-10 #research

XKCD ignores warming and velociraptors
In response to https://xkcd.com/164/
Posted 2007-12-08 #humor

MBA Starting Salaries
This is for the people who keep asking me what they should make after graduating:
Posted 2007-12-06 #mylife #research

This is why you dont start a conversation with "sup"

Posted 2007-12-03 #rants

Bake-off smack talk!

Posted 2007-11-09 #mylife

Older people using Linux
The new Greenspan book mentions Linux, just so you know.
Posted 2007-11-07 #youhearditherefirst

How to properly indent paragraphs (Mac + Windows)
Quote of the day 2007-10-21
Posted 2007-10-21 #humor #quote-of-the-week

LeBow Preston and Steve food drive details
Hi Will, I don't want to get involved in censoring, however I'm having trouble finding an appropriate relationship between a food drive and handguns. Are you able to replace the Preston and Steve image with one that is more appropriate? Thanks! Dan
Posted 2007-10-13 #humor

Religious proof of a flat Earth
Quote of the day 2007-10-13
Posted 2007-10-13 #humor #quote-of-the-day

How to avoid smearing nail polish
Quote of the Week 2007-09-09
Posted 2007-09-09 #humor #quote-of-the-week

Fashion advice for business and casual settings
Quote of the day 2007-08-27
Posted 2007-08-27 #humor #quote-of-the-week

Choosing the best roommates for a new apartment
Christopher Nolan: i got an apartment today Christopher Nolan: moving on saturday William Entriken: roommates? Christopher Nolan: no William Entriken: boring Christopher Nolan: noone to live with William Entriken: you smell that bad? Christopher Nolan: no, i hate my friends
Posted 2007-08-19 #humor #quote-of-the-week

Everything tastes like mint
I walked into my room today and found baby girl. She was in my bathroom making a huge mess. There was toothpaste on my sink, Polident tabs everywhere (for my retainer… I dont have dentures), and about a mile of floss strung out on the floor.
Posted 2007-08-10 #mylife #quote-of-the-week

How to get banned from Google
This is what happens when you are a hacker…
Posted 2007-06-12 #mylife

How to open SealedMedia files on Mac with Adobe Acrobat
UPDATE 2013-12-16. If you are still using spdf files, please contact me so I can update these instructions.
Posted 2007-04-10 #how-to

Superbowl 2007 XLI cybersquatting advice
I saw the Super Bowl this weekend and I know some people tape the game so they can watch it when they get home, so I’m writing a quick spoiler to make those people upset.
Posted 2007-02-05 #goodfind

LeBow College of business billing
(This post has been edited. This is the original text, the revision follows.)
Posted 2007-01-26 #scamalert

Bad day
So yesterday:
Posted 2007-01-26 #rants #my-life

Erin Quinlan is the Prom Queen!
That’s right… Erin Quinlan (the tea cup) is Prom Queen. Just though you’d like to know.
Posted 2006-12-31 #youhearditherefirst

Never use BCC
First, what is BCC?
Posted 2006-12-11 #how-to

Not everyone looks their best all the time
The least flattering photo of anyone ever
Posted 2006-11-29 #humor

Just like a babby seal
I shaved my beard today. And I got a lot of reactions, so I’ll tell you about them.
Posted 2006-11-28 #my-life

Always use adblock
Just making sure you have adblock installed:
Posted 2006-11-11 #scam-alert

World Affairs Council - Net Neutrality
I am attending the World Affairs Council session this Thursday 2006-10-05 to see David Cohen, the Executive Vice President for Comcast Corporation speak about net neutrality. They will likely support their opinion that they should have the power to charge for “guaranteed delivery of their services”. I think that this extreme and unchecked power is unwarranted, especially with their history of anti-competitive behavior towards Vonage.
Posted 2006-10-02 #rants

What happened in class today
What happened in class today? I heard presentations from every person in the LeBow program and got to meet fellow students, faculty and staff.
Posted 2006-09-22 #my-life

"Free beer" a flawed analogy
Please use the terms “Joe Sixpack” and “free beer” in a sentence that explains how Joe righteously denounces the giveaway to seek something even freer.
Posted 2006-09-11 #youhearditherefirst

Riddle: two coins
I have two coins.
Posted 2006-08-17 #my-life

DRM: controlling what you buy
There is an important issue affecting the consumer electronics world. New devices that are made and sold to the consumer will be unilaterally controlled by the creators of the device. What this means is that the next wave of products will not allow you to do things that they don’t want you to do.
Posted 2006-07-31 #rants

907068073421
907068073421
Posted 2006-07-27 #my-life

1,190,845 people had this in their profile
Of the 1,190,845 people I checked*, this many people have this in their profile:
Posted 2006-07-19 #my-life

Bicameral programming
You’re writing software and do the interface part first:
Posted 2006-07-12 #programming

Sing a song
Sing a new song a nice big songI got one in mine for youSo tell me what to do-oo
Posted 2006-07-11 #my-life

Why FairTax is stupid
Below are some basic notes against the book The FairTax Book by Neal Boortz and John Linder.
Posted 2006-07-07 #government

Hey we got ur thank you
Erin Quinlan: hey we got ur thank you card Full Decent: did you see on the back where i wrote I hate hannah? Erin Quinlan: nah lol Erin Quinlan: let me go see Erin Quinlan: no you didn’t Full Decent: madeya look
Posted 2006-07-07 #humor #my-life

Current notes patches diff kdesm
Current notes
Posted 2006-07-06 #my-life #programming

I got ksmserver compiled
I got ksmserver compiled, thanks to a few changes by Lubos! And the advice here http://kopete-qq.blogspot.com/2006/06/howto-upgrade-to-head-kdelibs4.html helped me get rid of my segfault.
Posted 2006-06-28 #my-life #programming

Some notes about my Google SOC project
Here's some notes I'm made about my Google SOC project.
Posted 2006-06-23 #my-life

Collatz research
When I was looking into the Collatz conjecture, I ran into this sequence:
Posted 2006-06-14 #math

Google SoC
I have been accepted into the Google SOC program. I will be working on session management for KDE. If those words don’t mean anything to you, it is unfortunate because there will now be technical content in my blog.
Posted 2006-05-24 #coding

Is it OK to skip wearing your retainer for a few weeks?
Do you know what it’s like to wear a retainer after you haven’t worn it in a long time? It’s like putting a fist in your mouth.
Posted 2006-03-14 #my-life

The molecular origin of hunger
the hunger molecules are accumulating in my stomach
Posted 2006-02-20 #my-life

Whammy pod
Mom: Are you saying that your friends are staying in that apartment past senior year? Full Decent <AUTO-REPLY>: Will, If you come home this weekend, perhaps you could give me some advanced I Pod lessons. Like, how to turn it on. What it does. How to wear the earphones. I haven’t used this thing at all. Love, Mom Mom: Hey, how did you get my email into the IM. Manually, or some type of hacker trick that automatically converts emails to IMs? Full Decent: No, when you get something funny you want to tell everyone, you put it as your away message - then everyone can see it Mom: So, I’m a laughing stock. I see how it works now. Careful, or I’ll put your nude baby photos on my website. Full Decent: ulth Full Decent: you have a website? Mom: Ha! Ha! Ha! No, that was just a joke. I can’t even turn on the Ipod, remember?
Posted 2006-02-16 #my-life #humor

Standards for online etiquette
I have been told several times that I have the absolute worst etiquette online. Well you know what? If you don’t have to wear pants to use instant messenger, isn’t it quite obvious that any other formalities do not apply?
Posted 2005-12-15 #my-life

Firefusk
Includes spyware! Phones home on each use.
Posted 2005-12-15 #privacy

Riddle beakers
The AIM profile riddles are back! The old rankings are still in effect. The current riddle is:
Posted 2005-10-18 #my-life

Best language for illicit code
So public safety comes into my room last night while I’m sleeping with a fanfare of the head of public safety, head of network security and 10+ other people. One is standing by to turn off the circuit breaker, and they’re ready to seize my computer. So I sat with them in the living room to answer some questions. Here is the conversation between the network security guy (herein: NSG) and myself:
Posted 2005-03-05 #my-life

School is canceled
In the middle of the night, I learned about a mysterious and FAKE message canceling class for all Villanovans:
Posted 2004-09-19 #my-life

C++ STL set functions… and liquids that can write code
Are you badass with C++ STL? Then fix this…
Posted 2004-06-13 #coding

Bad phone sex (that used to be good)
Is it possible to ruin sex with a phone call, if the person who called you is the person you’re sleeping with?
Posted 2004-06-06 #my-life

The special ingredient for growing young trees
Kristin Quinlan: the tree to which you feed BEER was STOLEN from an ARBORETUM!? Kristin Quinlan: I legitimately purchased my tree, feed it water, and now it’s dying. Hmmmpppphhh.
Posted 2004-06-04 #my-life

10 weird things you can do on a couch
Ode to a couch
Posted 2004-06-04 #my-life

Riddle: answers to the coconut millionaire question
The last profile riddle:
Posted 2004-02-03 #riddles #my-life #funny