Sunday, February 27, 2005

Google Loves Me

Most of the hits on my site now come from Google. A search for "Stephen Anthony" has this blog and my personal website as #1 and #2 respectively.

Likewise, "CISTI Firefox" and "CARL OAI" rank me way up there as well. Fun!

Now, if google would just generate some backlink reports so I could see who's linking to me without looking in the webserver logs. That seems to take awhile. Perhaps they only do it monthly?

Other top referrers for Steve's Universe:
Resource Shelf
SciLib TypePad (Heya Richard)

Saturday, February 26, 2005

Saw

Watched Saw this evening. Not bad. Nifty story. Kinda gross... but hey, that's what you pay for in a horror/thriller. It was kinda funny to see Westley in a different context.

BTW, the Blockbuster "no late fees" is not as much of a scam as I'd thought. You get 8 days before you have to pay. Of course, then you have to buy the movie I understand... but still. It's less of a scam than the "2 day rental".

Donair Recipes

The recipes found at All things Donair consititute the best east-coast (I refuse to call them "Halifax") home-made donairs I've ever had. I honestly can't tell the difference.

My only comment is: make sure that you follow the instructions about triple grinding the meat. It should be a paste-like consistency. When you're done grinding the meat should not resemble meat at all, or anything having had molecular cohesion. Do that, and you're set. Oh... and I'd reduce the cayenne... I like my meat mild and my sauce sweet.

Yummy donairs. Why or why eat that garlic stuff when you could have the real thing.

UPDATE (July 16, 2006): The site mentioned was moved without redirection. It's new location is at: http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~gpetitpas/Links/Donair.html.

Gear I want

- New PC - Specs to follow.
- Netgear 108 Mbps Wireless Storage Router
- Projector

Thursday, February 24, 2005

The Forgotten

Who can say crappy movie? I can. The forgotten is crappy. There, I said it.

Well, it be fair, it provided some entertainment in the post-viewing discussion of how crappy it is. And it's not Sphere crappy. It's an uninspired kinda crappy. That said, I jumped a couple of times, but then it started getting predictable.

Sunday, February 20, 2005

USB Drive

So, because my soon-to-be sister-in-law decided to flaunt her recent purchase of a DVD writer, I decided it was a good opportunity to one-up her. :)

Grovel humbly before my 160GB Maxtor OneTouch external USB drive. Complete with a blinkin blue light.

Well, in reality it's not really a one-up on a DVD writer... but it will serve to hold the data I need, particularly large video files, and finally resolve the ongoing backup issue I've had for this past 10 to 15 years.

Friday, February 18, 2005

Rings of Various Sorts

Ringworld is duely read and finished. A good book, a classic actually, with some interesting ideas. I'm still reading Hamlet... taking it in short bits.

Now I need a new book. Perhaps I'll try something else by Larry Niven, or go back to Asimov... I don't know.

Speaking of rings, the wedding rings have arrived. Now we just need the wedding. It is this long until we're married.

By the way, there's an excellent site for all the grooms out there. The Frugalbride.com. Not because of the frugal part, but they've got lots of info and tips for the guy, as well as the bride. Now I know what I'm supposed to be doing.

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Bittorrents and You - A step by step guide

Okie. So you're saying, hey Steve, what's this bittorrent thing you keep going on about? Well, I was asking the same question of a friend of mine the other day. So, here's what I've learned thus far. Perhaps it will be of use to you:

Bittorrent is a protocol used to download (usually very large and usually very popular) files. It actually shares files... but you don't really need to know about that. Just be aware that as you are downloading any particular file, bits of it are being uploaded to others who also want the file. In this way the download is totally distributed, and no one server gets bogged down in trying to deliver you last weeks episode of CSI that you missed.

It's fast (well, as fast as a 250-600 MB file can be without super hardware, expect 8-24 hours at least to get an hour of high quality video). It's easy. It's saved me a number of times already when I've missed my fav show, or didn't start watching a show that ultimately turned out to be good... but I'm missing the in-jokes from the first episodes.

So, what do I need you ask:

- I suggest a high speed (Cable or DSL) connection

- Bittorrent software. This is the thing that does the work. Finds and manages your downloads. I'm just using the default software from Bittorrent.com... but there are other clients too. For the easiest solution, click here and then select the version for your OS.

- Web browser and some sites. These let you find, select and start downloading what you wanna get. So, you could google for the stuff... but there are sites set up for bittorrents specifically that help you find the latest episodes of anything, in order, in very high quality. I suggest for example:

- TV Torrents
- Btefnet

Enjoy!

** Disclaimer: The above is a hypothetical story/situation. I do not advocate any illegal activities.

Saturday, February 12, 2005

Something New

Well i have to share this, you may or may not be aware but here goes:

Google has a wonderful feature for people like me, when i went to school, they were bringing in the metric system - and were not teaching us any of the old measurments - this how ever caused great difficulty... as we should have been taught both so we could convert things, easly!

This morning i was booking our minivan for our wedding, and found that there is a 3000km cap on renting a car to go outside of ontario and quebec..........so trying to figure out how may km it is to Halifax... I went to map blast which indicated aprox 890 miles...well now. I need to know km not miles... so off to google i go and type in miles to km -------- and up pops the answer of 1 mile = 1.609344 kilometers... Wow! It has a calculator built in, so then i tried 890 miles and up comes the answer of 1432.31616 kilometers...So if any one is tyring to find the conversion of anything just go to google.ca...its wonderful!

We now have our van booked for our trip home to Nova Scotia! Its from july 22 to aug 7.

Friday, February 11, 2005

Dictionary of Newfoundland English Online

For those who occasionally have difficulty understanding what comes out of my gob, check out the Dictionary of Newfoundland English Online.

While we're at it, you should understand that it is pronounced "New"-"found"-"land".

Python on Broadway

What Monty Python fans have been waiting for, the musical. My kinda spam. Run away! Run away!

Monday, February 07, 2005

IFILM - Super Bowl Ads

The only reason I can think of to actually watch the superbowl are the Super Bowl Ads. Now, if only we could see them through our cable providers. No need, they're all online, including some that were banned, no doubt as a response to last years 'malfunction'.

Saturday, February 05, 2005

Weight Loss

Well, I've been doing Weight Watchers now for several months. 40+ pounds gone so far, and keeping steady. Yea me. Tammy's also been doing very well. Getting healthy. The only negative side effect is the constant coldness, perhaps I should not have started this in the Ottawa winter. Oh well.

So tell the low carb people go to hell. It's not as sustainable, healthy, achievable or pleasant. Eat vegetables, fruit and whole grains. Your colon will thank you.

Getting to be Stress Free

Wow what a week! I have used up almost all of my sick time. Turns out it was due to stress, and I thought I was having a heart attack! Good news for me, bad news for waiting! Once my ECG came back and said my heart was fine, I then had to wait for hours and hours and hours in a little room to see a doctor. I walked into emerge with chest pains and swelling of limbs at 10am on Tuesday (signs of heart problems) walked out of emerge at 7pm. I guess I’m a lucky one; I did get to walk out.
The doctor was nice and gave me a note that at 7pm I didn't have to return to work that day, which would have been more useful at 12pm but hey! I then told the doctor my work was not stressful. If I told him the truth, well lets just say this week would have been unpaid...So getting to my job: now when people call me up screaming at me as to how dare I send them that letter, or that they are going to take me to court, or how evil I am, and how rich I am, cause I don't have to pay what they pay (yeah that's right folks, apparently I’m rich - if I were rich do you think I would be answering the phone buddy?) I guess they must value work more then I cause apparently if the lotto came in for them, they would apply to hold a job where folks yell and scream and say nasty things to you all day long!
I have made a decision though, the more they yell the more they love me! Yep, and even though the hang-ups stop yelling at me, they love me too! Don't get me wrong there are lots of wonderful callers out there and they are what keep you going, it feels good to help them! One of those calls came in Friday, thank goodness!

Wedding plans are becoming complete! We have our photographer, our videographer, our location, our ship (yes ship) I have flowers ordered for the wedding party. My dress is here, the cake will be ordered soon.........someone has to decide on suits (shhhh, we wont say who), we have to reserve our van, and we have to see about NSLC liquor license. Then we have to decide on wine, I have to get shoes, vial, head piece, loose some weight, have dress altered, send out invitations, call the minister - get our marriage license from a lady in Lower Sackville. Win the lotto; find a tux for my boy (hehehe, I want pics with my boy)

NO STRESS!

Anyone want some Tupperware? How about some candles? Or some spices?

Wednesday, February 02, 2005