Apparently Criminals Don't have Fax Machines

Transcript of a conversation I had with the bank over a credit card bill.

Bank: Your payments have been posted to another account, you need to call XXXXX to get this straightened out.
Me: OK, what is the account number so that I can explain this to this person specifically.
Bank: We can't tell you that over the phone.
Me: OK, can you send it to me in an e-mail?
Bank: No we don't have statements in electronic form. We can fax it to you.
Me: Um... OK
Bank: What is your fax number?
Me: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Bank: OK we'll fax it to you in 24-48 hours.

So, you can't verbally tell me the account number over the phone but you can fax it to me (over the phone lines) to a number that I just gave you? So, aren't you really just telling it to me over the phone in a different format? I guess criminals don't have fax machines. Stupid criminals.

Happy Bar Mitzvah Seth

I rarely post youtube videos here but this is another great example why youtube.com is a national treasure. Feel free to stop the video at anytime.

Bath Time

I think there is a kid in there too.

Can I pass 8th grade science?

Apparently I can, and I can get pretty much the same grade I would have gotten in 8th grade without studying. Which I didn't.

Binary Clock

Today I made my first "useful" object with an Arduino board. It's a binary clock. OK, you can't read binary clocks and it only can count up to 4 minutes and 15 seconds. You can't even time John Cage's song 4'33" with it but it's one small step towards understanding electronics. The real point of all of this was to figure out how to use an 8 bit shift register. Mission completion.

The Lameness of Free Treo Software

I've been trying to download some free software for the Treo to see if the thing can be used for anything other than e-mail and a phone. All the free software out there is crap. At least I got Dope Wars and Space Trader but I really haven't even found anything that is even close to interesting. I downloaded some drawing program and crashed the Treo (of course). I downloaded this one program called "M Drink's". This is supposed to be like a Mr. Boston type guide to making drinks. The interface stinks at best and really doesn't actually work. The drinks are even bad.

Some examples...

A Baby Eskimo.... Kahlua and ice cream. Big Deal.

Atlantic Dolphin Shit : "Dump the shit in a glass with ice cubes and swill it down!" Elegant.

Such crap. It even comes with a lame warning page about drinking and driving.

I don't think you can add your own entries so you're stuck with their crap. Here are two entries that I would add..

The Absolut Zero
1 Part Absolut Vodka
3 Parts Coke Zero


The Friggid Virgin
1 Part Absolut Vodka
3 Parts Coke Zero Cherry
1 Cherry garnish.

ill fitting hat bear pancake

Combining the "pancake art" and "bears in ill fitting hats" flickr.com groups.