Fantasist's Scroll

The title says it all!
Okay, so what I finally decided on was simply reducing the datasets for the troublesome WordGenerator apps. It doesn’t seem to have reduced their functionality at all and, so far, has not resulted in the same server-crashing error. Of course, some of the problem may stem from the immense popularity of the applications. You conlang nuts really hammer those apps!
I suppose I should really figure out how to do it all in a more “modern” language, like PHP, but PERL is still my first web programmging love. And, I can use the same scripts locally on my machine without the restrictions. But, no, I won’t make them available to the general public because I don’t really want to support PERL on your local machine.

One final word on this. Remember, these are free resources, so sometimes they go off-line without much warning. If my ISP has issues, I kill the app first and and questions later. My webhost, Amzia.net, is really patient with me, because he’s a cousin of a friend of mine, but I’d rather not push it. And, if your really, really like the apps, buy something from the Ye Olde Shoppe or at least click on an ad. Anything to show your support. Thanks!

Remember when I posted about an unusual star system some time back?
Well, according to this article on Space.com, there’s even more evidence that such a system can not only be possible, but may actually exist! Hey, I’m a visionary! (Well, okay, I had help from an astrophysist, but, still, I did imagine it.) So, it’s possible that somewhere out there a planetary system very much like Hoffman’s Quartet exists. How cool is that?
Oh, by the way, I have that document that I mentioned in the other post. I finally got it scanned in and proofed. So, I’ve also finally uploaded it. You can find it here, on the World Building page.

Several people have asked about my Word Generator.
Well, it was crashing the server, so I suspended it, temporarily. Unfortunately, “temporarily” got a little stretched out because of some things in my personal life, as well as a heavy work-load at my “day job”. I do intend to get it working again, though, so please bear with me.
Also, I intend to make any and all announcements about updates to this site via this blog. So, if you’d like to keep up to date, subscribe to this blog with Bloglines! Of course, you’ll have to set up a username and password and all that jazz, but it’s worth it, trust me. Also, check out their notification applets. There’s one for every operating system, so don’t worry that you’ll be left out.
And, with that, I’ll add only “Stay tuned for updates!”

Right out of science-fiction.
I can’t even begin to recall all the different science-fiction books and movies that used fingerprints as identification for everything, including monetary transactions. Well, now it’s reality. According to this news story from Cnet.com, Thriftway has setup something called “Pay By Touch” which lets you pay with your fingerprint. Of course, there is a setup procedure and this is only good in Thriftway stores, right now, but it’s still there. How long before it spreads? Can Walmart be far behind? I would bet they will be because the article claims that Pay By Touch now “makes up 30 percent of Thriftway’s electronic payments”. Cool.

This comes to us from Gizmodo.
Apparently, the latest “cool” thing in Japan are keychain arboratums, with actual, live plants! You can transplant them when they get too big, which doesn’t look like it would take too long, frankly. These are actual, real growing plants so small that they can fit on a keychain.

I guess it’s better than Hello Kitty sex toys!
Aw, go look at it, you know you want to! Besides, it’s Friday, you deserve it!

Hmm, there have been a lot of rat-brain stories lately…
No, really, there have been a lot of stories about experiments done with rat brains. First, there was the story about the scientists in Florida who got a rat brain to pilot an aircraft. Then, there was a story about the android run by a rat brain. But, when I got really got me thinking was when I saw this article about how rats can tell the difference between two languages.
Taken separately, they don’t seem like a big deal, but, what happens when you combine them together into a single package? How long before we see these freakish things on the battlefield? Truth is stranger than fiction. But, you know what? A science-fiction author predicted this kind of thing back in the early 80’s. Yep, Joe Clifford-Faust, author of “Company Man”. He didn’t get much attention back then, I thought, but he sure seems right on the money with his predictions. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

Okay, so it occurred to me that there had to be a better way.
Yeah, sure, I could talk about the evils of free porn until I’m blue in the face. I could even rant about how terrible it is to manipulate searchengines. Instead, I’m going to try and do it. Again.
Yes, again. I did it once back in 2000/2001 to get my other site ranked so highly on Google for the search terms “CNE resume” that it was the number one hit. I did all sorts of crazy things, not the least of which was start a blog, incidentally. One thing I did was look at both the Google Zeitgeist and the Yahoo Buzz Index and try to use those terms in my site. So, for instance, according to Google’s Zeitgeist, I should talk about: how I felt about the Golden Globes and who won; the fact that Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day; what Teri Hatcher was wearing at the Golden Globes; who Teri Polo is and what she wore at the Golden Globes; what NASA has thrown into space lately; what “naughtiness” Prince Harry has been up to over in the UK; detailed specs on the iPod Shuffle; the super-model antics of Naomi Campbell; the fact that Mariska Hargitay also won a Golden Globe; and how the movie “Elektra” was doing in the box office. As you can see, that first hit, the Golden Globe Awards, was a really popular one, since it was repeated in, or was effected by, several later searches.
Last week, I should have been talking about: Amber Frey, the adulterous whore who was banging Scott Peterson; the terrible damage done by the tsunami in India; how terrible it is that Ashlee Simpson was caught lip-synching; Delta Airlines for some reason; the Weather Channel coverage of that tsunami in India; Heidi Klum, because it’s always a good time to talk about Ms. Klum (and she got married to Seal); NFL player Randy Moss, presumably because he sprained his ankle; the Orange Bowl, because it’s still football season; the fact that Brad Pitt is single again; and all the cool concept cars at the Detroit Auto Show. Crazy stuff, right?

Well, according to Yahoo Buzz Index, I should have talked about some very different things this week. If I wanted to get Yahoo hits, I should have talked about: OJ Simpson’s daughter, Sydney Simpson, getting arrested; Playboy Playmate Alicia Rickter, for obvious, pornographic reasons; those nuts over at Jibjab, who made another hit animation; Enter Location, because, uh, people were travelling a lot?; actress Elisabeth Harnois, possibly for the Golden Globes again?; O.J. Simpson, because his daughter got arrested, of course; the fact that Julian Ozanne got married to Gillian Anderson and no one knows who he is, but everyone knows her from the X-files; anything and everything about actress Lucy Liu, just because, she’s Lucy Liu; the Tennesse-based music and arts festival, Bonnaroo; “How We Do” almost anything, from the sound of it; eating “Breakfast and Brunch”? Or is that more travelling stuff?; how cheap Costco Wholesale pricing is; soap-opera star Annie Parisse, most likely because she moved on to something better; the fact that Japan had another big earthquake; and Jimjab.com, which is most likely a mistake for “jibjab.com”.

Wow, those are totally different things, aren’t they? Are people who use those two different searchengines that different? Have I been losing out by optimizing for Google?
Oh, I don’t know, but I think I’m going to go have a bit of a lay-down. This whole experience has been exhausting.
(And, yes, I’ve posted this same thing on my other blog, the Diary of a Network Geek, for the same reason as the last post.)

WHAT?!?
What the devil am I doing talking about free porn on this very non-adult blog? Simple, talking about free porn is the fastest way to get hits. Sad, but true. In fact, John Dvorak has written an article about this called Free Porn Magic For You.
I used to think that the Internet had improved with age, that we’d finally gotten past all the free porn, or “pron” if you’re one of the hip, out-of-work webdesigners from the 90’s, and had moved on to something more meaningful. I guess I was wrong. If you read the article, you’ll see that what holds true from the earlier days of the Internet still, sadly, holds true today. People are looking for free porn on the Internet. Now, the hits I generally get via searches on Google, and company, aren’t filled with porn terms, movies, or “performers”, so I’m not really expecting a lot of traffic boost, but, well, it can’t hurt. Can it? You know, I’m already starting to feel a bit slimy with all that.
Damn, how else can I boost ratings on this site? For pity’s sake, I know hundreds of people hit this site on a daily and weekly basis, but I have only one sad, lonely Bloglines subscriber. Just one. Did I mention that Bloglines is a free service? And they have nice, FREE tools that let you keep up with your favorite blogs? (Aw, c’mon, subscribe to the Fantasist’s Scroll with Bloglines!) Oh, I suppose I could always just produce more content here. Yeah, that might work, too. But, well, I’d rather go with the sure thing. So, for those of you who are websurfers that got here looking for free porn, I apologize. I was just using you to drive my stats up. I hope you don’t hate me too much.
(And, yes, I talked about this on my other blog, the Diary of a Network Geek. So sue me!)