Like it grows on trees

Leslie, NM — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:02:46 GMT

Will, the first story on that Bizarre iPhones tales page was already shot down by Snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/iphonethumb.asp

I wonder if the others are true.

Like it grows on trees

JE, Detroit — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:25:50 GMT

Will, regarding the list of prison survival tips: The list is extremely accurate. My husband has been a CO for many years, and he says everything on that list is absolutely true.

On an unrelated note: I would love to see pics of your frogs!

Like it grows on trees

Eduardo Martinez, Perham MN — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:36:03 GMT

It seems like UFO's always have lights of some kind or some portion of the craft is rotating. Why would this be? Most, if not all, believers in UFO's believe they are of an extra-terrestrial origin. What purpose would either of these features provide?

Like it grows on trees

RandomEsq, Chicago, IL — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:17:24 GMT

Hi, Will,

I had just looked at that Mental Floss link to the aquariums a few days ago and posted a link in my own blog (randomesq.com) that you might like; it is to a forum post entitled:

"One of my piranhas died. WHY?"

and it comes with the warning: "*graphic*" The thing is, as soon as you see the picture, it will be painfully obvious how it died. I'll be damned, it's like Fish CSI over there. Be sure to scroll down for the decapitated head. I love that one of the responses suggests it was a hate crime. People crack me up.

Here's the link URL:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66698

Like it grows on trees

Mike P, Denver, Colorado — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:30:39 GMT

Hey Will:

Long time reader, first time caller (I always wanted to type that). Anyhow, I thought you might enjoy this guys follow up to the UFO videos. Too bad, they were fun to watch.

http://break.com/jasonblack

Like it grows on trees

Michael T, Hollywood, CA — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:48:17 GMT

Ah, cassette tapes...before long we're going to have to explain to the next generation of kids what they were, much like we do about vinyl today. "In my day, we couldn't skip to individual tracks! We had to press the fast-forward button...and guess when the next song began!"

BTW, on that cassette page, there's a link to a site where you can generate your own words on the face of a tape. There are other politically-themed word generators on that site too, with pictures of Dubya, Condi, Rummy, the Pope, etc. Just fill in the word/thought balloons and have a good laugh. Here's the link:

http://www.says-it.com/cassette/cassette.php

Like it grows on trees

Chris, Roy UT — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 21:04:31 GMT

Firefox is stealing, eh? Okay, using that logic, I'm "stealing" revenue from advertisers when I skip commercials using my DVR, or when I change the channel during commercial breaks. Advertisers seem to think that they have this wholesale lock on a market, and when people rebel against their advertising annoyances, they cry "theft." Please.

There's a reason Firefox is such a popular browser. The ad-blocking is a huge bonus.

Like it grows on trees

Steve S., Springfield, Ill. — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 21:17:51 GMT

Will, from what I understand, the "UFOs in Haiti" video is part of a viral marketing campaign for the new HALO game.

Like it grows on trees

slave138, WI — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 23:04:40 GMT

Firefox can bypass the blocking code with the UserAgent plugin to change the browser-type info reported to the server.

That said, I see absolutely no problem with siteowners blocking Firefox as long as its users are blocking their source of funding.

Firefox may be a popular browser in large part due to the ad blocking, but that popularity will quickly wane if its users can't get ad-supported sites to open anymore.

The ads on webpages cannot be compared to TV. With TV, the content is not displayed in tandem with the advertising. If it becomes a concern to the broadcasters (in other words, they start losing ad revenue), I would not be surprised to see them displaying ads alongside the shows. Just think of how Bloomberg TV looks and translate that to all programming...

Like it grows on trees

Don Tuite, Califonria — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 00:20:22 GMT

A quibble: I't hard to read that Stephen King Potter review and find him not mentioning Terry Pratchett once.

Like it grows on trees

Dennis McClain-Furmanski, Dalworthington Gardens, Texas — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 00:46:05 GMT

I'm more than a little suspicous of the Firefox blocking statement. First, it's spare on self-attribution. Who are these people, and if they think they have a valid point, why aren't they saying who they are? It's not as if Firefox users are going to march up the hill with torches and storm the castle.

Second, since Firefox is an open source project, publishing code about how to block it pretty much specifies what the coders need to do to get around the block.

Third, it makes the point about Firefox, but completely ignores all those secondary products that block ad-ware, spy-ware, etc. Those products can be used even with IE. Why is there no rant against those?

Fourth, just the very fact that there's a page making this statement explicit seems bizzare. Plenty of places already make it more difficult to use Firefox vs. IE, they just don't bother to say so, leaving the user to wonder, and come to their own conclusions on what to use. Making the point explicitly like this would make the poster seem like such a vitrioloic jerk that people would shy away from having anything to do with their business. I assume there's a business that's supposed to be associated with this, because there's so much focus on that in the statement.

All in all, it has all the earmarks of someone's attempt at contrarianism for its own sake, or at best as an attention getting mechanism. Among those earmarks is the need to include justification in the form of quoting court decisions. In short, it looks like a net.kook's work. Looking like this may be intentional, if the intent is to discredit anti-Firefox folks.

There are in fact sites that do make it difficult to use Firefox there. Perhaps accidently, perhaps not, but sometimes with little incentive to "fix" things. I keep IE installed and use it only for those sites. And after I leave them, I can run AdAware or ZoneAlarm and sure enough, there's not just ad droppings, but things the software identifies as spy ware that wasn't there immediately before visiting that site.

Like it grows on trees

Clint, Chicago, Illinois — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 11:16:31 GMT

The whole blocked firefox thing seems really counter-productive to me. I run firefox for a lot of reasons, the main ones being that my access is smoother, faster and less clunky, and I don't seem to collect as much random spyware. In short, it's more convenient, and when I'm veging on the wire, it's all about convenience. So, then, if I encounter a web site that won't let me use my preferred browser, I'm not going to jump to another browser, no matter what statement they're saying about their rights as a content provider. I'm just going to shrug, say "Oh well," and not go to their web site. I think most casual users are the same way.

It was probably just porn, anyway.

Like it grows on trees

Howlin' Hobbit, Seattle, WA — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 17:09:53 GMT

If you want to see what kind of site is using the "we've blocked FireFox" page go to this entry on The J-Walk Blog:
http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/posts/blocking_firefox/

Like it grows on trees

John K — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 20:15:46 GMT

The palm trees are identical in the UFO video. Definately CGI.

Like it grows on trees

just this guy you know? — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 07:41:54 GMT

Re: "Wouldn't it be cool if you really could specially train someone to recognize micro-expressions that would reveal treacherous agendas and insidious intentions"

We already have a guy like that. He's called Derren Brown. sp? Check for him on youtube.

Like it grows on trees

Dancing Cats — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 11:52:57 GMT

Shouldn't engineers be held responsible for the bridge collapse?

Like it grows on trees

DM, Grand Rapids, MI — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 18:55:23 GMT

Actually the Prison Tips are fairly accurate. Not going into details as to how I might know this, but suffice to say, if you find yourselfs in the "joint" the tips ae all extremly valid and will go a long way to keeping you safe.