A lot of people have pretty much heard this joke before. Of course, it was a dumb blonde joke, so this is ever so slightly different.

The inspiration for this came from an old DV special edition iMac with a damaged screen and the only god-damned firewire port in the entire frickin' school. As I tried to download footage off the camera I had to whack the top of the thing over and over to keep the screen from blanking out. It was quite ridiculous, really. I hate that pile of crap. On the plus side, I am now messing with a different iMac, this one with a new OSX Jaguar install (yes, I know Tiger's coming, so what?). I'm not much of a mac guy, but I do like some of the stuff I see. Expose is particularly nice. I still have a lot to learn, and it won't be too useful without connecting to the internet through our security measure-riddled network designed to work with Novell groupware and OS9 (gahh!)... but a pretty nice setup. I might just try to find some nice free programs for it or something, because it's pretty sparse right now. We'll see.

Anyhow, back to the comic. This isn't my favorite one--especially not story-wise--but it does have a few elements I like. I like the color scheme. I also like the ostrich. That ostrich totally kicks ass.

So, I go to Washington DC this week for Close-Up. Should be fun. I'm not quite sure what to expect. Next weekend's commentary will probably be written tonight, because I'll just be coming home Sunday I think. The week after I'll go ahead and do a write-up on t3h DC.

Something I want to note, which is more important tonight than others: After I initially post these, I usually notice huge glaring mistakes. Then I go and fix them. So, if you check the page, like, right away and then come back later, you may notice typos fixed on this, things renamed, etc. Anyhoo.

This whole week I decided to spend my free time digging through the student pages of University of Alaska Fairbanks because I'm going there next year, and I was curious about what sort of people hung out there. I found a few good sites, a few dumb ones, and some so bad that they became awesome. I took the liberty to compile a big list. BEHOLD!

(The ASUAF server was hacked within a year of this post, and the now-removed links point to an Indonesian online gambling site as of 2024 - ed.)

First, the very best pages I found:

• V.I.C.E./DeathNET: V.I.C.E. is this student organization that runs DeathNET, a large monthly LAN party on campus. This is waay waay sweet, and sounds like a friggin' blast. Apparently, they're having problems with their leadership getting worn and quitting, but I'd be surprised if they let this thing die. They have a LOT of members, so...
• Don Bahls: I actually met him a few years ago. He's a smart dude and a pretty good coder. I was at UAF for a summer camp, and I was working on a computer programming project. He did most of the work for us. I remember best the teapot we put in the middle of our racetrack, and I was all like, "I want it a wire mesh!" and he said, "dude. I already did it. Like, ages ago.", or something like that. He works mainly with BluiSculpt, a 3D version of MSPaint, basically. It is WAAY more awesome than paint, though--trust me on that.
• Jesse Niles:The site's incomplete because he's on the move (isn't at UAF no mo), but what is there is cool. I like the "links" page. He is apparently a friend to Don Bahls. His gripe also kicks ass.
• JoshMan.org:Josh Palmer went to my school. We were even in the place at the same time. He never really struck me as a techie, but then again I barely knew him. We were in the same boy scout troop for maybe 3 months before he quit, and there was a pretty huge grade difference between us (I think I was in eighth when he was a senior). Anyhow, he apparently co-founded V.I.C.E/DeathNET. He also led in the production of The Packeteer (a movie linked further down this list). Anyhow, vague connections(s) to 1337 d00d = cool!
• Parody Films:Packeteer is campy but pretty funny. I recommend. Josh Palmer directed at least that one, and Erik Gregg had a secondary role.
• Saveitforparts.com:This guy is probably the techiest of 'em all. He dumpster dives for stuff and has, like, three computers. He also coded the Honors Program web page and made two aquariums in old macintosh cases. I like his rant on Best Buy and his how-to for dumpster diving. Also has all manners of other cool crap like potato cannons. :P
• Gregg Christopher:This guy runs a fan site for Something Positive called choochoobear.net. DUDE! And he GOES to what will be MY COLLEGE!
• Erik Gregg:Apparently, this guy had a hand in at the very least the earlier iterations of DeathNET, because he has a set of rules here. Also was in that NY Times Firefox ad and has some sort of "save the manatees" project goin' on. Seems pretty spiffy.
• John Chappenlow:This guy seems clever. He also has a pretty cool thesis project goin' on.
• Handfeeding A Squid:The squid isn't that big, but this is still pretty neat. Could be better if it was cropped and if they slo-motioned the part where the squid goes for the kill. Film quality is pretty damned good, though--a huge-ass plus.
• Jason Lazarus:Not too much content here, but I like that rant about evangelicals on his journal.
• Used Text Exchange:I like cheaper books. :)

And, now for sites that suck so bad they're awesome:

Right on, I say | Hiding porn is surprisingly funny | The shittiest "next" arrow 3VAR | The font's gonna EAT ME!!! | He seems so certain | ??? | Welcome to My Shack | Fine, be that way! | If you say so... | Shh... Babay Superman's sleeping... | Well, he's honest.

These have some other stuff that was somewhat interesting:

Joshua Larrabee | That one guy | Some phunky Photoshop skillz | Old and Back 2 School | Ooh.. cheerleaders... :P | This guy's nuts! | Jesus Rules! | One Great Reason | I like the colors | Liberals! | There is a disporportionate amount of Indian (as in, India) people at UAF | Dustin has a pimpin' stereo | Illegal Songs for Download | A lot of kids use this space for their Dreamweaver class assignments only... | Can you find the correct link? | The happy couple met through Science Olympiad... ha-ha | I don't have a good name either. | Sounds like a good project | This could be handy! | If only there was more than a 'blog... it has good design I think | WTF is she SAYING?? Does she even know?? | A webcomic attempt. Also other stuff. | Randy Burkes is fucked up. | The very last name on the list... and a fairly nice photo.

I hope that was joyful.

--Josh