Archive for 2008

DoublingStocks.com: scam

I clicked on a Google Ad for DoublingStocks.com. The ad and the site was very adamant about how terrific their service was. I googled around and found several sites with people that didn’t have good things to say about it. And then here was the clincher:

This Pennystocks.com page had lots of info about the company that showed them as being sketchy (like that their published phone number didn’t work and their published address isn’t a real building) and pointed me to this archive.org page about the company’s previous endeavor, pokerbobby.com.

A pretty compelling tidbit is that these grifters reused images from their previous job. Note the two pages below. :-(

pokerbobbycom

doublingstockscom

The Beautiful Thing About Ashes: Nick Woolsey: Poi

Charlotte and I have been learning poi spinning recently. One thing we’ve been doing is watching videos on the intertubes. We came across this video that introduced us to Nick Woolsey. Nick is pretty amazing. His videos show his excellent teaching, a puckish grin and an earnest streak 2 miles long. Oh and also that he is a freaking amazing poi spinner.

Introductions done, here’s the video Charlotte found that introduced us to Nick. You can find more about this video on his site and find him at Playpoi.com. Nick’s Youtube page is worth watching.

high quality .mov version: beauty_of_ashes

The Tightrope Walker’s Dream: Inspiration and Encouragement

Today’s inspiration and encouragement comes from my downstairs neighbor. The only thing I can add is that, in the Author’s Corner, he writes, “this book was truly delightful to make”. I can visualize him saying that and I absolutely believe him. This is worthwhile. Click below and enjoy.

The Tightrope Walker's Dream by Graham Best

I had an out of this world experience at Yuri’s Night 2008

yuris-night-2008At Yuri’s night 2008 at NASA Ames, they had a ride called ISS. They’d put you in this capsule and slingshot you up to the International Space Station. We were really lucky because since the Space Station is orbiting so fast, only a few riders each day can get to see it up-close. You can see the space station in the reflection of the glass. It was really pretty spectacular! Charlotte and I had a great time. If you ever get the chance, you should absolutely go!

The fine folks at the Space Coalition hung out in low earth orbit and took photos of us tourists all night.

yuris-night-ticket

Upgraded to WordPress 2.5

It was a bother…. almost an hour of upgrading, disabling and re-enabling plugins.

And I really don’t grok the Add Media buttons. I only let myself upgrade now because the guy who makes Flexible Upload was kind enough to port his plugin to WP 2.5. It still bugs me that the new upload windows are modal. So now I’ve got to sit around and wait for them to finish until I can continue writing. It used to be that I could add images while I was typing. In addition, since it’s modal, I don’t have a chance to place the images exactly where I want them with my cursor as an insertion point. Instead, I just plunk all the images down into the post and then I can rearrange them.

Neumann Prep

Update 4-6-10: There’s going to be a Neumann Prep Reunion June 26th 2010. Look here for more info.

Update 9-23-09: If you’re looking to be reunited with fellow Neumannites, I recommend Facebook. Right now there’s 271 people in the Neumann Prep group :-). Also check the Neumann Prep Classmates.com group.

Neumann Prep Class reunion June 26, 2010!

Romi, Cheryll and Michelle from the class of 1990 are organizing a reunion for all classes. You should go! Join the Neumann Prep Reunion group on  Facebook!


I graduated Neumann Prep, Wayne NJ in 1987. The school closed down in 1990 or so. My classmate George had a terrible time getting a transcript from the diocese after the closure!

I went back to the school in May 2005. Here’s some photos of the place

img_1993-the-farm-is-for-sale.jpg

The farm across the street from the school is apparently for sale. I’m sure the condos will be nice.

img_1995-the-radioactive-thorium-is-gone.jpg

From this intersection, turn left and then the school is on your right. In front of you is a W.R. Grace Superfund site (local copy) that held radioactive thorium and uranium infused sand from mining. Directly to the left and behind is the farm. Behind and to the right is some ancient chemical dump (nobody knew much about it. It was said to be a Superfund site but I can’t find reference of it). Trav and I wrote an investigative article in the Wildcat’s Roar. Yup, high school, farm, nuclear waste dump and chemical dump all within 500 feet of one another!

img_1999.jpg

They didn’t take much effort in changing the sign. Under that placard it still says “Neumann Prep”.

IMG_2002 panoramajpg

A panorama of the front of Neumann Prep. You’ll do best to right-click to download and view this very large image.

IMG_2009 panorama.jpg

A panorama of the front lot.  You’ll do best to right-click to download and view this very large image.

img_2018-panoramawothy.jpg

The front yard.

img_2000-remember-the-jr-prom-at-that-door.jpg

Looking in through the entrance on the right, near the chapel. Though I passed by here a thousand times, the thing I think about when looking at this is that the Junior Prom took place in the gym and a table was set up at that door you can see to take tickets. … … Hey, what happened to to the trophy case near the principles office?

img_2024.jpg

The entrance to the left, the “Main” entrance. When I look here, I think about a lot… the library to the left (and the day a kid was walking out while I was walking in, he said with a laugh, “Hey, the space shuttle blew up.” I walked in to see the diverging con-trails on TV), the steps (where we ran up and down one day for Ms. Rawding’s physics class to figure out how many horsepower we could generate (about 1/3)), the door almost out-of-sight to the right where Latin class was (I didn’t take it) and yearbook met (where I was told that a previous class had sneakily scribed the word “FUCK” across the book with border-markings), the lockers around the corner (where the combination to my lock each year always had at least one “38”, weird!) and Father Lombardo’s theology class in the classroom through the wall to the right, and Mr… (ugh, I don’t recall his name! He had a bushy beard) music appreciation class… and… and… and…

img_2025-cafeteria-back-door.jpg

Just outside the cafeteria. There were a few picnic tables here. That is where the super-cool kids ate lunch. I ate out there a few times but it was usually too cold, bright or… well, too super-cool for me. I like what they’ve done with the place with the bricks, shrubs, walkway and greenhouse.

Click Here August 2004: Buying a Computer Part 2

Click Here
By Lee C. Sonko, Computer Consultant

First, a little announcement: If you have e-mail, you should get on the PVPOA Announcements e-mail mailing list. Just go to the PVPOA.com web site (username: pvpoa, password: pvpoa) and you’ll see a link to sign up. We won’t give your e-mail address to any of those awful, terrible nasty people that send junk ‘spam’ email. I hate those guys too! Continue reading ‘Click Here August 2004: Buying a Computer Part 2’ »

Army of Darkness: Sweded

My friend Will and the rest of Meerkat Manor made this. It’s pretty fun.. I dig Sweded movies :-)

local version:

9 Beet Stretch

Jon’s blog pointed out 9 Beet Stretch. It’s Ludwig van Beethoven’s ninth symphony stretched to 24 hours, without pitch distortion. The podcast is nice music to hardly listen to. :-)

Click Here July 2004: Buying a Computer

“Click Here” column for the July 2004 Panther

Click Here by Lee C. Sonko, Computer Consultant

Before I get to this month’s topic, Buying a Computer, there are some announcements.

Get on the List
If you have a computer and live in The Valley, you should sign up for the Announcements e-mail mailing list. Just go to the PVPOA.com web site (username: pvpoa, password: pvpoa) and you’ll see a link to sign up. Continue reading ‘Click Here July 2004: Buying a Computer’ »