Category: Random Nonsense

Sometimes I just feel compelled to share nonsense, random thoughts, and sometimes just stuff I want to save

Why I am cutting back on Netflix

First, let me preface this by saying that my current plan is 3-DVD’s at a time, with free streaming movies, for $20/month.  As of 9/1/2011 that price will increase 20% to $24/month.

I get that streaming subscribers cost Netflix less and they make more money.  I couldn’t care less about the “It’s just a latte” comment.  Here’s what I don’t like – they want a 20% increase with no additional offering.  They’ve increased prices over the years, most recently just last year.  This morning Netflix VP of Corporate Communications Steve Swasey was interviewed by Michael Krasney on my local NPR station, KQED.

When asked about this, Mr. Swasey said, “What we’re trying to convey is that this is an improvement in Netflix service.”  (You can listen to the entire program here.)  He then goes on to attempt to reinforce that Netflix is still a good value.  I suppose it might still be a good value.  But, that’s not the point, is it?  Netflix is claiming that this is some kind of “improvement in Netflix service.”  Talk about lattes all you want, but do not lie about what you’re doing.

The e-mail from Netflix, the Netflix blog, and everything talking about these increases make no mention of any change, let alone improvement, in the actual service.  DVD’s won’t be delivered faster, the discs will still arrive scratched, there will still be a backlog on new movies, and there will still be the “window of delay” when new movies are released for sale.

Do you have an old Pez dispenser?

I’m in the process of designing a disc magazine for the open source disc shooter.  Ideally, I would like it to have a snap-together design and use rubber bands where possible.  However, it occurs to me that any standard or readily available piece of hardware could be useful too.  To that end, I thought that a Pez dispenser might operate in a fashion very similar to what I require for a disc magazine.

However, I don’t recall ever taking apart a Pez dispenser to examine the spring inside.  Given the length of a Pez dispenser and the thinness of the discs I’m using, this spring could very well be ideal.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a Pez dispenser handy.  I’ve searched Google and Flickr for people having looked inside the dispenser, but haven’t had any luck.

So!  Do you have an old Pez dispenser?  Would you mind destroying it, examining, photographing, and posting details about it?

And afternoons that make me sleepy

Cigarettes, and carrot juice
And get yourself a new tattoo
For those sleeveless days of June

I’m sitting on the Cafè Xeno’s steps
With a book I haven’t started yet,
Watching all the girls walk by…

Could I take you out?
I’ll be yours without a doubt
On that Big Dipper

And if the sound of this it frightens you,
We could play it real cool
And act somewhat indifferent

And hey June, why’d you have to come,
Why’d you have to come around, so soon?
I wasn’t ready for all this nature
The terrible green green grass
And violent blooms of flowered dresses
And afternoons that make me sleepy

But we could wait awhile
Before we push that dull turnstile
Into the passage

The thousands they have tread
And others sometimes fled
Before the turn came

And we could wait our lives
Before a chance arrives
Before the passage

From the top you can see Monterey
Or think about San Jose
Though I know it`s not that pleasant

hey Jim, Kerouac
(The brother of the famous Jack),
Or so he likes to say.
Lucky bastard

He’s sitting on the cafe Xeno’s steps
With a girl I’m not over yet
Watching all the world go by

“Boy you’re looking bad
Did I make you feel that sad?
I’m honestly flattered.”

But if she asks me out,
I’ll be hers without a doubt
On that Big Dipper

Cigarettes, and carrot juice
And get yourself a new tattoo
For those sleeveless days of June…

I’m sitting on the Cafè Xeno’s steps…
I haven’t got the courage yet
I haven’t got the courage yet
I haven’t got the courage yet.

Cracker – Big Diper

Sooo… what’s going on with you?

Today:

  • I’ve got a meeting out in Monterey today at 10:00AM and then I have to swing by San Jose back to the office.  Just the driving alone will end up eating most of my day.  I’m hoping to be able to get back to the office by 4-5:00PM.
  • Day 2 of my diet.  My diet basically consists of not eating like a pig and monitoring what I eat using FitDay.com.  It’s basically a free online food diary where you enter the food you’ve eaten and your weight and it tallies the calories, fat/protein/carbs, and gives you all kinds of nifty graphs.  Finding the food can sometimes be an adventure, but overall it’s quite easy.  I first used the site about six or so years ago and every time I’ve stuck with it longer than about two weeks, it’s helped me lose weight.  The problem for me is that right up until the one or two week mark I’m always hungry.  :)
  • Eating a big bowl of oatmeal with raisins and honey right now.  I’ll grab some coffee on the way down to Monterey.  I’ve got a bunch of music burned to an MP3 disc for the trip and will probably end up listening to NPR most of the way.

Okay, go go go!

Citigroup – URL hacked? Seriously?

Apparently the hackers who stole all kinds of personal information to Citigroup’s website did so by URL hacking.

This is just unconscionable.  Even before you get to cyber-security 101, SOMEONE should have figured out that putting the account number in plain text in the URL was a terrible idea.

I don’t care who you are, the first thing you need to know about dealing with a website is that your server cannot trust a user’s input.  This can be for any number of, even very innocent, reasons – but primarily as a way to be ward against potential problems.  It just sickens me that their website had what amounts to zero security.  URL hacking isn’t even really hacking at all, it’s just a matter of tweaking URL address inputs.  It’s essentially the equivalent of dialing a company’s phone number and changing the extension by one digit just to see if you can escape phone-tree-voice-mail-hell. 1 2

I mean, would you, as a bank, put deposit or balance information into the URL?  NO.  Otherwise in 5 seconds everyone would alter their links to include “&currentbalance=100000000000”. 3  Why, then, would you ever include plain text bank account numbers in the URL and not actually verify that information on the server side?!  I mean, this is the kind of security you get with WordPress for free just by installing it.

The Citigroup website is very Web2.0, rounded corners, social-media and blogging links.  It looks great.  Did they just have their web designer handle security?  How the hell did this happen?!

Okay, Sony, Facebook, Twitter – these things get hacked because of lame or re-used passwords.  Those guys got hacked because their attackers were smart.  Citigroup got hacked because they are too stupid to handle a basic website, let alone someone’s money.

  1. Or purgatory? [↩]
  2. Definitely purgatory [↩]
  3. Or, better yet, “&currentbalance=pony” [↩]

Freecycle.org – why are you so terrible?

I’ve spent probably an hour today trying to give away an awesome sofa couch and matching stuffed chair.  I tried to list it on Craiglist, but they had this terrible system where you had to give a phone number and wait for an automated phone call or SMS.  It only allows you submit or try a phone number every five minutes.  When the automated phone call doesn’t come through, you’re stuck trying another number.  Oh, and you can only try up to three numbers in a 12 hour period.  I just want to GIVE AWAY some awesome furniture!  I’m not applying for a line of credit.  After futzing around for an hour or so, Craigslist apparently gave up and let me post anyhow.

In the meantime I tried out Freecycle.org.  What a fiasco.  It took me 60 seconds to figure out how to sign up.  To post anything you have to join a group – but joining a group was even less intuitive than the way to sign up.  Once you joined a group, you were punted to a Yahoo Groups page.  But, to do anything further you had to then sign up for a Yahoo! account – not that any of this was explicit.

I eventually just went old school – and wrote FREE on some cardboard and put them on the sofa and chair in the driveway.