Scotto's Wall Scrawls

One year until 08/08/08!

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I found out today that the family across the street from us has lived in that house for the last 23 or so years. Adam, the youngest son at age 18 has lived in the same home his whole life. I wonder how often that happens anymore? I don't think I've put more than five years of life in the same building - I didn't even spend more than 2 years in the same school until I hit 9th grade as my folks moved around quite a bit.

I'm not sure I can even imagine how intimately familiar a person comes to be with that sort of environment... that kid must know every stone and fence within a 10-mile area. He must've seen some very significant changes over the last two decades.. North Beach was a bit of a biker town before it got an influx of bay front property money. There is quite a cultural microcosm these days, but the upper-middle class seems to be taking the lead.

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Today's weather is *evil* - Current Temperature is 100°F, "feels like" 109. And that's at "partly cloudy". How much hotter would it be with full-bore sun?

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Totally random thought formed on the train - do the words cowherd (someone who herds cows) and coward (someone who shows fear in the face of danger) have a connection? I need to research that.

[edit - Well, I guess not. Word History: A coward is one who "turns tail." The word comes from Old French couart, coart, "coward," and is related to Italian codardo, "coward." Couart is formed from coe, a northern French dialectal variant of cue, "tail" (from Latin cda), to which the derogatory suffix -ard was added. This suffix appears in bastard, laggard, and sluggard, to name a few. A coward may also be one with his tail between his legs. In heraldry a lion couard, "cowardly lion," was depicted with his tail between his legs. So a coward may be one with his tail hidden between his legs or one who turns tail and runs like a rabbit, with his tail showing.]

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BHK picks up Em tomorrow!

She'll be visiting from Thursday through Sunday. I expect a *lot* of fun and a probably a couple of interesting challenges. (She's little, and will likely miss her folks on one or two nights.)

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After thinking about it, I feel that a variant of Oshi might work well with the Icehouse pyramids. (Other possibilities at the World of Abstract Games )

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1 year ago - priceline beats expedia, register to vote, Chinese Ghost Festival, exfoliate/defoliate, hangin' round the ceiling, walkabout/geocache plans

2 years ago - meetings, school restarts, club shuffle, thank you - sim-sim-salabim, danny the street, vidcam hacks, google total, unf. kids books, How bona to vada your eek!, teacher, miami storm pic

3 years ago - Bro health care, lj post issues, losing some gentleness, scotto-flaws& nice things, vintage newspaper strips, no jack black as GL, funw/google searches, older archives, deep sea images, phone safe,keylogger, slowed chipmunks, JL cartoon, character makeups, europreart

4 years ago - Teen Titans, Antidepressants, narghile, steve burns, ebonics, red kryptonite poll, bro health

5 years ago - ZIM!, fun fact, fumbuckery, added newt pic to bio, after he shocked me, site reboot that didn't come to fruition

6 years ago - some thoughts about gamers/negative side, including a dragon-con flashback (that caused some upset in the role-players community), who in a crowd?, Upside-down, RPG poll, caterwaul, Name Generator, dinos in your region, Wally Caught stealing, begins the end of the WDB era at IMT.

7 years ago - grumpy, in general and regarding TV

Meeting with Mom after work to do will-stuff. She seems particularly enthusiastic to make sure the condo will go to the family rather than the state.... So, If I snuff it under suspicious circumstances, you know who to chase down for questioning, dear journal.

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Pretty Keen Stop Motion video of a guy coasting through his day. I wish Youtube would support higher quality movies.

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Minimum Wage (in Florida) is Currently $6.40. When I took my first Job at Taco Bell, it paid $3.35 and hour - That was back in 1985. (Starting wages at the library were a whopping $4.42, plus super insurance/etc bennies.) I wonder how well each state compares to cost of living expenses?

For “tipped employees” meeting eligibility requirements for the tip credit under the FLSA, employers may count tips actually received as wages under the FLSA, but the employer must pay “tipped employees” a direct wage in an amount equal to the minimum wage of $6.40 minus $3.02 (which, as required by Florida’s Constitution, is the 2003 tip credit existing under the FLSA), or a direct hourly wage of $3.38 on January 1, 2006.

San Fran, California is $8.50... Kansas is $2.65. Six States have no minimum wage laws.

Like the Federal wage and hour law, State law often exempts particular occupations or industries from the minimum labor standard generally applied to covered employment. This information often may be found at the websites maintained by State labor departments. Links to these websites are available at www.dol.gov/esa/contacts/state_of.htm.

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Just a reminder from this entry in 2001 -

This from Webster's: (see dictionary.com if there's any doubt)

Main Entry: pum ·per ·nick ·el
Pronunciation: 'p&m-p&r-"ni-k&l
Function: noun
Etymology: German, from pumpern to break wind + Nickel goblin; from its reputed indigestibility
Date: 1756
: a dark coarse sourdough bread made of unbolted rye flour

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Answer each with 2 words - from sister Kellie -

yourself:   big lug

your car:   city bus

your hair:   going gray

your mother:   still alive

your father:  airborne ash

your favorite item:   cosmic cube

your dream last night:   toothy cars

your favorite drink:   rum punch

your dream home:   securely comfy

the room you're in:   cleanly cluttered

your pet:  orange monkey

your fear:   hurting others

what you want to be in ten years:  even better

who you hung out with last night:   the Newt!

what you're not:   eating sharks

your best friends:   are nice

one of your wish list items:   comic book

your gender:   a feller

the last thing you did:  checked lj

what are you wearing:   my clothes

your favorite weather:   cool sleeping

your favorite book:   dandilion wine

the last thing you ate:   chewy cookie

your life:   will improve

your mood:   getting there

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A-Z meme

accent:  Fairly generic, but I pronounce some words oddly - "Noice" for nice, for example.

booze: I don't really drink, but rum punch is good

chore I hate: cleaning the bathroom

dogs/cats: Newton! The coolest cat within the state of florida, I'd wager.

essential electronics: pda and digicam. the phone can go leap.

favorite perfume/cologne: I don't currently wear one, and woman's fragrances depend on the woman.

gold/silver: silver, generally.

hometown: Brockton, MA, USA, but I've been in SoFla for ages.

insomnia: infrequent, but I do have some restless nights.

job title:  MIS Director / Child Advocate.

kids: See Newt!

living arrangements: Newt and I live in a 1-bedroom condo. Finally have some space to maneuver!

most admired trait: (in others.. and in myself) basic internal goodness

number of significant relationships: I'm not trying to be a wiseguy when I say that all relationships are significant.

overnight hospital stays: Back surgeries

phobia: nothing that's at "irrational fear" level.

quotes: "It's all just a ride" - Bill Hicks

religion:  Agnostic with Athiest leanings.

siblings: one younger bro (I'm 3.5 years older.)

time I usually wake up: workdays - 5:30am, weekends, about 7:30

unusual talent: I can make baby-cry noises that are pretty realistic.

vegetables I refuse to eat: raw tomatoes (I won't totally refuse, but I'll resist, a lot!)

worst habit: procrastination

x-rays: when i broke my collarbone

yummy foods I make: all sorts.. veggie stir-fry is a pretty simple but tasty one.

zodiac sign: Aquarius / Earth Monkey

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DVD43 is a free DVD decrypter.

WHAT DOES IT DO?: DVD43 decrypts DVD movies. COMPATIBLE SOFTWARE: Nero Recode, Intervideo DVD Copy, 1Click DVD Copy, Pinnacle DVD Copy, I Copy DVDs, Roxio DVD Copy and many more.

About time.. now I can recover my old, battle-damaged Godzilla DVDs.

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Moment of Lyric (audio at my vox, via bhk! Thanks!)

We're setting sail to a place on the map
From which no-one has ever returned
Drawn by the promise of the joker and the fool
By the light of the crosses that burned
Drawn by the promise of the women and lace
And the gold and the cotton and pearls
It's the place where they keep all the darkness you need
You sail away from the light of the world on this trip, baby

You will pay tomorrow
You're gonna pay tomorrow
You will pay tomorrow

( ... )

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1 year ago - danny, bro, top40, riverwalk autostitched, farcry, sneak peak at Pirates of the Carib2: Davy Jones

2 years ago - Pictures, Newtcam, flipper, Miami population, picasa, alligator as weapon, flash, TMBG, Franco-Prussian war, TU, amber alert/web, php rant, meat hooking, ADP uppity

3 years ago - freeflow, dream, Superman, heart in hand, bear attacks sub

4 years ago - caving dreams, piracy, anagram server, no-longer newt-time icon, irrational deodorant mixing fear, fun hidden camera show, monopoly variants, true porn clerk stories, phobias, paperback cover gallery, 100 years of jell-o ads, missing scary link pic

5 years ago - carom, evil news, fave monopoly token poll, rude awakening, OTR, impressed with flash, and feelin' romantic

6 years ago - zoe's bday and loverlips adds

Some quizzles snagged from eryx_uk :

1. What's the weather like?

78°F - Feels Like 80°F
Partly Cloudy
Wind: From SSE at 13 mph
Humidity: 60%
Pressure: 30.07 in.
Dew Point: 63°F
Visibility: 10.0 miles

2. When is the last time you felt appreciated?

I've got some lovely friends who make me feel appreciated every time I speak to them. I'm very fortunate... I'd say via e-mail today.

3. What is the last bad news you heard?

That the prez authorised the leaking of classified CIA information, including the identity of a covert agent.

4. What is your favorite sad song?

Depends on the type of sadness desired/reflected. Mike + the Mechanics, the living years is a powerful one re: my dad.

5. Tell us about something you're obsessed with:

Information. Knowledge about anything, especially History, Science, and Sociology. Researching, (especially on the internet) of same. Feed my brain!

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Go to Wikipedia and put in your birth date. Don't put in the year. Post in your LJ with three neat/important events, two births, and two deaths!

(My B'day is on Feb 02)

Events:

962 - Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years.

1653 - New Amsterdam (later renamed New York City) is incorporated. [Why they Changed it, I can't say, people just liked it better that way]

1870 - It is revealed that the famed Cardiff Giant was just carved gypsum and not the petrified remains of a human.

Births:

1208 - James I of Aragon (d. 1276)

1882 - James Joyce, Irish author (d. 1941)

Deaths:

1661 - Lucas Holstenius, German humanist (b. 1596)

1969 - Boris Karloff, English actor (b. 1887)

BEIJING (Reuters) - Police in eastern China can tap the country's first human body odour bank to help their dogs get a nose for criminals, Xinhua news agency said. ( Read more... )

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Taught Gabe how to use Nero and bittorrent yesterday, so he can snag tv shows and remix his music cds. I think he's pretty happy with the result. I also cleaned up his dirty whore of a computer (full of so many Trojans and viruses, it had to be seen to be believed). The system is slow, but pretty bulletproof now. No more spyware!

I was fed a tasty baked ziti and salad, and was given a white chocolate easter bunny to take home along with the remainder of the ziti pan. (They're having meaty-ziti tomorrow for dinner, while mine is all veggies)

The whole family is looking good... losing weight and happier now that RS is working from home, and able to keep a tighter reign on sirinety's health.

Stayed up too late.. got home about 10:30, past my personal weeknight curfew. (Thanks to my staying late at work, and missing the 5pm route to RS's)

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1 year ago - Irish stuff, work, dog, hippie, writing

2 years ago - St Pats, Ordered CoH, email fixed, bro rant, work issues

3 years ago -St Pats, Purim, post #5490

4 years ago - many now-dead links, last sentence quiz, doctor, newt fetch

5 years ago - St Pats

[Poll #686339]

feel free to post a guess in comments, if you can't do the poll above.

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Science!

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Some people like to talk to their plants. Now, students at Singapore Polytechnic say they have created a plant that can communicate with people -- by glowing when it needs water.

The students said on Tuesday that they have genetically modified a plant using a green fluorescent marker gene from jellyfish, so that it "lights up" when it is stressed as a result of dehydration.

The light is hard to detect with the naked eye but can be seen using an optical sensor developed in collaboration with students at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

The development of such plants could help farmers to develop more efficient irrigation of crops

It's illegal to annoy

A new federal law states that when you annoy someone on the Internet, you must disclose your identity. Here's the relevant language.

"Whoever...utilizes any device or software that can be used to originate telecommunications or other types of communications that are transmitted, in whole or in part, by the Internet... without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person...who receives the communications...shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."

Hmm... I wonder how enforceable this is, and how it'll change the face of the internet? Telephone use? Talk Radio?

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The answer to my ESP poll was Wavy Lines. I suspect there may've been some circle after image bleed over due to the moon-talk and icon. Very interesting... most people knew that I'd go with wavy lines. Fully 40% of people answering got it right, as well as 33% getting the circle vibe. Spiffy that folks know me that well, give a one in five chance to get it right.

Let's try it again - I'm looking at an image, and focusing on it... which one is it?



[Poll #649221]

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The problem with LJ:

We all think we are so close, but really we know nothing about each other. So I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about.

Ask away. Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don't know about you.

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Thanks Ilene for the two icons!

Superkitty red and superkitty blue!

Keywords: superkitty - red - via ilenebook - happy kitty

Keywords: superkitty - blue - via ilenebook - mad/sad kitty!

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Yahoo acquired Webjay! Is Google and Y! and MS buying everything these days?

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meme, a la eryx_uk


Here's what you are supposed to do: Copy (not forward) this entire meme and paste it onto your journal. Change all of the answers so they apply to you.
( Read more... )

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1 year ago - Mel's not fond of my music & helpful to caterpillar, OTR, evil corp, FBI most wanted, long list meme, word use, that silly video, no conspiracy folks?

2 years ago - Blimp, bail, accents and the start of getting a mortgage, fog of war, newt pic

3 years ago - silly entendres, pygmy cannibals, pyramid mausoleum

4 years ago - gollum toys, prayer wheels, SOP, What's he gots in his pocketses?, gollum poll

5 years ago - supes, lyrics, ghosting

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Cruise ship 'used sonic weapon'

( Read more... )

Lost island home of Odysseus found after 3,000 years
   
    
( read more )

many thanks to missv for this tidbit -

( re: - Danny the Street & bona to vada )

Went with Danny to Waxy's Pub, and the top of Pier 66's Hyatt. Hyatt is far to expensive for what you get, but the view is fantastic.

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Magda's settling in well down South, and Dan's teasing me a bit about it... no big thing, but I look forward to the cooler months.

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Going to the doc on Friday, to retest for allergies, and the Derm on next Wednesday. 'Tis the season. Atarax works great, but turns me into a big ol' sleepyhead.

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To celebrate the first Moon landing today (July 20th, 1969) Google have added some NASA moon imagery to the Google Maps interface and created Google Moon. Make sure you zoom right in for a hint at what the moon is really made of .

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Moment of Lyric:

You'll see him in your nightmares,
you'll see him in your dreams
He'll appear out of nowhere but
he ain't what he seems
You'll see him in your head,
on the TV screen
And hey buddy, I'm warning
you to turn it off
He's a ghost, he's a god,
he's a man, he's a guru
You're one microscopic cog
in his catastrophic plan
Designed and directed by
his red right hand.

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I'm about due my next link-paycheck. I'm wondering if I should do an even $5 per for four different charities, or if $20 a month is better for a single charity. Currently, it is be divided across Asha for Education, an extremely efficient spending org (98% to programs); usually focuses on education and long-term socioeconomic change, but continuing to respond to the tsunami disaster and AmeriCares, another efficient (99% to programs) nonprofit specialized in international disasters.

Want to help?

Click to make a donation.

Or, if you like, go right to the links above.

What charities do folks out on my reader list support? I am, admittedly, a lazy charity kind of guy. I donate blood which is no effort and drop funds from paid links directly to charities of choice. Is UNICEF still a good gig? How did that "One" deal turn out? That seemed mighty vague.

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What's Digg? Digg is a technology news website that combines social bookmarking, blogging, RSS, and non-hierarchical editorial control. With digg, users submit stories for review, but rather than allowing an editor to decide which stories go on the homepage, the users do.'

Mmm.. Link-dump-a-liscious!

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I love this picture of Hurricane Emily taken from the ISS.

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ICE Announces Two-Year Results Of Operation Predator

Special Operation Leads To 250 Arrests In Florida ( Read more... )

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Did fishstories go on hiatus? I'm about ready to do some writing again, now that things have settled a bit.

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Google maps now has scale on the image.

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1 year ago - I Robot, working with wimmin, Operation Valkyrie, moon landing.

2 years ago - bro, monkey mummy, teen titans, moon landing hoaxes, animal sounds as ring tones, hunting for bambi, newtcam, consumer reports condoms, awesome earth image, pancakes

3 years ago - bike name poll, palm doodles, planning to visit Danny with his busted leg

4 years ago - rough night, slake, ambisinister, voice activated tech, how far would you go poll

5 years ago - counting days, finished first Harry Potter, books I repeat read, abortive attempt to track intake