I was looking at the referral logs for my blog, and tonight one entry surprised me.

Someone got to this website by searching the words "How to be a terrorist" in Yahoo! search.

I don't know the wisdom of doing this in a post-9/11 world, but I had to see it for myself. So greetings to all the three-letter U.S. agency employees that are reading this. But I searched that term in Yahoo!, and my website is number 6 on the list.

Yikes.

For the record, you will not learn how to be a terrorist from me. I've had a bad week at work, but not that bad. Never that bad.

The search results link to my post "How to Spot a Terrorist From 100 Yards" so at least the search is somewhat relevant.

I never mentioned on this blog what I did in December. I achieved my MCAD for .NET certification.

Today I got my Welcome Kit. A lapel pin, a wallet-sized card, a certificate suitable for framing...

Oh, and the right to post this logo to my blog:



W00t w00t!

On November 18, 2004, I wisely wrote:

The U.S Senate just passed a bill that would raise the Federal Debt Limit by $800 billion to $8.2 trillion. Who wants to take bets on how long that $800 billion is going to last?

Now, the U.S. is within a easy reach of the $8.2 trillion limit. They'll be there in a few weeks. Whoever chose "14 months" as the answer to my rhetorical question is the winner. Congratulations! Everyone else in the United States is the loser. So here we are again. We've reached the debt ceiling. The U.S. is at risk on defaulting on some payments. Congress will probably rubber stamp another $800 billion or more increase in the ceiling. When Ronald Regan took office in 1981, the entire U.S. debt was $1 trillion. Now that is what the U.S. borrows every year. Something is not right here. Which American politician has the guts to stand up and say something?

What am I doing with myself these days?

• I'm trying to catch up on Battlestar Galactica episodes I've missed
• I'm addicted to 43things
• I'm addicted to digg
• I'm getting into del.icio.us, but slowly; but I love their URL
• I'm liking video on the web at YouTube and Google Video
• I listen to PodCasts with a passion
• I started my own PodCast
• I'm trying to finish my MCSD for .NET

 

Man, these pirated DVD's are getting out of control. No, wait. They were out of control before. But still, the point is valid. It's crazy when you think about it.

The prices have come down some. 4 DVDs for $20 - so we're back at the $5 each price point.

How tempting is it, to be able to buy 8 or 12 pirated DVD's, take them home and watch them on that new home theater system you got yourself for Christmas? All for less than the cost of one movie at the theater with your family. And 10 times less hassle to boot.

When I see pirated DVDs for sale at the mall... I just can't believe that they are allowed to operate.

Yet it's conflicting. It's such a good deal. And it's so difficult to imagine that it's hurting anyone. We haven't seen movie studios going out of business. The industry doesn't seem to be hurting publicly. It would be an interesting social study on how regular law-abiding citizens become law-breaking pirates when presented with “Memoirs of a Geisha” for $5.

 

I like the concept of this from 43Folders - “Cancel Something“:

The important thing is to find at least one thing that’s become a noise generator, time sink, or attention sieve, and be rid of it. The hack isn’t how big a change it brings in your life — remember these are modest changes — it just matters that you mindfully elect to turn something off for a little while. That little scrap of time or attention you gain back is then well and truly your own.

Worth a read.

 

Whohoo! I'm diving head first into the world of podcasting. Please come hear the first episode of my new series, “Making Money Podcast”.

Don't worry. This show is not about get rich quick schemes. You won't hear me talking about domain name squatting, setting up link farms, or how to make a killing in the growing Internet pharmacy business.

It's about ideas. Business ideas, investing ideas, and marketing ideas. I hope you come away from each show with one or two things that make you think, and perhaps lead to you to something big.

This show can be downloaded through iTunes. And you can subscribe to the RSS feed in your reader of choice.