Deaf Culture - The Sign Name

I have had the pleasure of meeting a good number of deaf people. One of the more interesting aspects of communicating with them in sign language is the concept of a "sign name," which I'll explain briefly.

In order to keep from having to fingerspell a person's name every time you mention them, it's easier to have a "sign name." This consists of the fingerspelled first letter of the person's name and an action associated with that person. Whenever I've asked one of my deaf friends to give someone else to whom we're talking a sign name, they usually ask, "What does he/she like to do?" In other words, if you had one activity or word to describe you, what would that be? My wife Jennie, for example, has a beautiful smile. Keisha, our 5-year old daughter, has curly hair. I really enjoy playing and listening to music. So our sign names, respectively, with the right hand, are a fingerspelled "J" across the right side of the face (smile), a fingerspelled "K" by the right side of the head in a curling motion (curly hair), and a fingerspelled "D" in a figure-eight motion across the left arm (music).

Make Your Blog More Accessible

Dive Into Accessibility: 30 Days to a More Accessible Web Site

This online, downloadable book answers two questions:

1. Why should I make my web site or blog more accessible?
   If you do not have a web site or blog, this book is not for you.
2. How can I make my web site or blog more accessible?
   If you are not convinced by the first answer, you will not be interested in the second.

"Let's dive in."

Sign My Guestmap

David signed my guestmap. He likes Guided By Voices, a band who is from Dayton, Ohio.

A Lesson to be Learned

I live in Dayton, Ohio, and I've driven along the roads mentioned in this article. Dayton Daily News: Police chase ends when suspect's prosthetic leg falls off. The man was trying to steal some lawn mowers.

I loved what Neal Boortz said on his radio show yesterday about this story. The lesson to be learned here is this: If you have a prosthetic leg and try to run from the police, chances are that they have real legs.

My Worst Physical Experience and Other Memories

Melanie from "The Topics Blog" asks, "What was the worst thing that you have ever experienced physically?"

This question takes me back to my childhood, reminding me of my earliest memory, favorite TV superheroes, and when I knew I'd gotten bionic parts.

All right, then. Here goes. What follows gets a little personal, and maybe a little gross -- consider yourself warned.

My Earliest Memory

This event happens to be my earliest memory; i.e., the earliest time when I realized I existed. And what a doozy it was.

I was three years old and I had received an operation to repair a hernia in my groin. A problem arose when I had an allregic reaction to the catgut stitches that the surgeons used to knit me back up. The area got infected and, before I could get the stitches out, they needed to get all the pus out. I remember this scene vividly because when they pushed to squeeze the pus out, the pain was excruciating! I remember screaming and crying because it hurt so bad. I felt helpless. Now, whenever I hear the word "excruciating," I think about this experience.

After the experience was over, the hospital people gave me a Batman colorforms set: a sort of "consolation prize" for "being so brave".

TV Superheroes

In addition to Batman, some of my other favorite TV shows growing up were Shazaam! and The Six Million Dollar Man. Sometimes, my Mom would safety pin a towel on my back, and I would race down the steps to our front door and cry out, "Shazaam!", just like the main character did on the show. Then I would go around looking for problems to fix, bad guys to beat up, and so on. At other times, I would play with my Steve Austin, Six Million Dollar Man, action figure. It even had a magnifying glass so that I could look through his right eye. The "real" Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors, had a bionic eye.

I Have Bionic Parts

I remember after coming home from the hospital, we had a family reunion of some type at our house. Well, I was just so proud, having come off the operating table, that I went around telling people that I, too, had bionic parts inside me. And I was just about to show someone by climbing up in one of the trees in front of our house, when Dad caught me. From that moment throughout my childhood I was not allowed to climb any trees. I thought Dad just didn't believe, but now I realize that he did want me to go back to the hospital so soon after coming home.

I cannot remember, but maybe a jump like that is what led to my hernia operation in the first place.

Get That Job! - New Blog Launched

I am pleased to announce the launch of "Get That Job!", a weblog devoted entirely to the job search. The idea is to have many contributors - i.e., not just me - who can post to the page. It could be a snippet of advice, a good quote from somewhere, some encouragement, success stories, job market information, etc. This idea is similar to the one at The End of Free.

So, if you happen to be interested in contributing, let me know:

• E-mail me:
• Add a comment(aka guidepost, see the end of this post)
• Sign the guestmap or
• Sign the guestbook

Also, if you know someone else who may be interested, then let me know about them as well. I will need valid e-mail addresses so that I can set you up to contribute. Maybe you or others aren't interested in being regular contributors but would like to contribute occasionally. In that case e-mail me: with whatever you have and it will be considered for posting there.

Sleep Study Experience

Last Friday, Jen, who blogs to Thinking by Smell, wrote about being in a sleep study. That's interesting. I was part of a sleep study over ten years ago when I lived in the Detroit, Michigan area:

The researchers were testing to see how drowsy a person taking Benadryl gets. The first week was going to be a baseline test (i.e., a control test) I was told that I could not take in any caffeine or chocolate 12 hours before I was to go in. They should have just put me in jail or something.

I went in at the approved time and also went to a "hook up" room. Shortly after they turned off the lights, I was out. They woke me up in the morning, and boy, did I feel wasted. They let me eat breakfast, but I was not to drink any caffeine still. After the breakfast break, I went to a computer terminal and had to take this manual dexterity test. I was supposed to get a perfect score, considering I hadn't been given any of the Benadryl. But because I was still so sleepy, every cell in my body begging for rest, I didn't get a good score.

Later that week, I received a check in the mail and was told that they would not need me any more for the current sleep study. I know it was because I was a poor control guinea pig.

I've considered participating in additional studies because participants get paid. Maybe soon...

Our Exuberant Ballerina

Keisha, as one of her 5 year old birthday presents, began dance class last night. She was so hyped!! And proud, too! I get so encouraged when she shows us what she's learned.

She made a new friend, and she invited her and her mom to come to our church... Jennie was so inspired by that. Me too!

Some people need to be told to evangelize, but this girl did it out of the bottom of her heart. She was like this as we approached her birthday party, which was last Friday-Saturday (another post altogether). Anyone we'd meet, whether at church, while shopping, at the doctor's office, at the library - she'd ask them if they would come to her birthday party. We'd only invited five other girls, so when Keisha did this, we'd have to make sure these people knew that it had already been planned.

Still, we are so fired up about our daughter's natural exuberance! It's as though whenever she walks into the room, she needs to make sure others know that she's arrived. Now I understand that this behavior can be taken to the extreme and appear conceited. Yet she has a magnetism that naturally draws people to her. That's a great quality!

Take me out to the ball game

On Monday night, my friend BI took me to see the Cincinnati Reds vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was the first time I've seen a Reds game that close this year. This year, by the way, is the last year that the Reds will be playing in Cinergy Field, formerly known as Riverfront Stadium. Next year they will be moving into their new ballpark, Great American Ballpark, named for Great American Insurance Company.

In general, it was a terrific time. BI was the best man in my wedding, and I was a groomsman in his wedding. I still refer to him as 'the best man'. The Reds lost 6-5.

So little time, so much to blog

I need to make this brief, since I've got to get on with the job search, etc. So stay tuned...

Music, Music, and more Music

In addition to cleaning out email, this morning I've been organizing the music on my home PC. I have a boatload of it, and sometime, I'll have to list the artists that I have. I think it's rather eclectic.

Family Tree Research

Ah yes, another one of my hobbies. I am always intrigued by those who have been successful in this venture. I used to work with someone who would plan his summer vacations as a result of his research; going to ancestors' hometowns, etc.

I recently checked out Family Tree Maker's software from the local public library. Now I need to set time to check it out. I also found this article, first in a series, about doing geneaology research.

2005 Update: The original link is no longer valid, but I do have search results HP Home and Office for "genealogy"

Common Dialog ActiveX Control Workaround

Win32API call, etc. for GetSaveFileName

More from MSDN: I recall needing this, especially when I had trouble with the Common Dialog ActiveX control.

I want to learn about .NET, continued

Many of these links I'm posting have come from old emails I received from former coworkers. The comments I include here are from one person.

Webcasts

"These are great. You can watch previously recorded webcasts or participate in a live web cast. Also, I have been able to download a previously recorded webcast and view it when I am not attached to the network. Great for laying on the couch and learning .NET"

GotDotNet.com

"This site is a wealth of information. The ASP.NET QuickStart is a series of ASP.NET samples and supporting commentary designed to quickly acquaint developers with the syntax, architecture, and power of the ASP.NET Web programming framework. The QuickStart samples are designed to be short, easy-to-understand illustrations of ASP.NET features."

MSDN

"MSDN has an ample amount of .NET stuff to learn. A good place to look at is the six-week orientation for all things .NET. Each week, we will focus on a particular aspect of .NET development, supported by articles, samples, how-tos, chats, and Webcasts."

Also, there is somewhere something called the "Partner readiness Advisor for Visual Basic .NET and .NET Development." This contains information about ADO,net, c#, .net, asp.net, web services and the execution of the .net platform. In order to open it, you need IE 6.0. If anyone out there knows where I can find this "Partner readiness Advisor", please let me know and I'll update this post.

Online Web Tutorials

That's right!

"Completely Free Web Building Tutorials !!

"Inside W3Schools you will find a large number of free Web building tutorials, from basic HTML and XHTML tutorials, to advanced XML, XSL, and WAP tutorials."

Now that's weird - computer

I am able to copy but not to paste. I am trying to clean out my email and post the various and sundry links here, but my current situation precludes me.

How to back up your PC

"Don't get caught unprepared! Back up your data on a regular basis.

"Have you been infected by the latest virus? Then maybe you've discovered that the only way to repair your computer is to reformat your hard disk and restore its contents from uncontaminated original program disks and uninfected data backups. Of course, that means you would have to had to back up your system. Not many of us do. And while everyone talks about backing up, very few have actually ever mentioned how it should be done. It's about time someone did." more...

Blogger archive scripts

"Blogger does a great many things very well, but creating attractive archive links is not one of its strongest suits. These are just some javascripts to improve on the default 01/01/1980 - 01/07/1980 style of link names."

2005 Update: The latest version of Blogger has this built in.

I want to learn .NET

If you feel the same, then you can also go to http://www.codenotes.com/downloads/downloadsNETbookAction.aspx and download the free e-book CodeNotes for .NET.

Ashampoo WinOptimizer

"Breathe new life into your PC by removing unnecessary files, and speed it up in the process!"

I've actually been using this program for the last month or so, and it seems to work great. Check it out and let me know what you think.

License Error Using ActiveX Control

ODE97: "You Don't Have a License" Error Using ActiveX Control

In the wild case that I may ever encounter this error again, I want to make sure that I have the link to the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - Q172859.

Maybe it will help you, too.

snapGallery

"... is a fast, easy way to create a quick web gallery of pictures. After you select a folder on your machine that contains images (.jpg files), this script generates a series of web pages to display them. By editing a few lines in the script, you can even custimze the font, page colors, and add a link to your home page. When the pages are finished you can transfer the folder contents to your server and share your pictures with the world!"

How to Use the Blogger API

Cleaning out my email, I noticed a message from February 2002 in which I had included Meg's link on how she used the Blogger API.

I have no clue yet as to why I'd use the Blogger API, but I thought it would make a good reference. If anyone has already implemented it - other than Meg, of course - let me know. I don't understand how or why it would be beneficial, so let me know what you think.

Need help - HTML

OK. I am ready for suggestions. I cannot seem to get the bottom link (found within these posts) to work properly. The "top" link works fine.

2005 Update: I've since eliminated this problem by removing the "bottom" link.

Blog etiquette - comments

Mike Zellers had a question about responding to comments in one's own blogs. I don't mind. It's like talking to myself and answering. I can exist in my own little world. After all, this is a journey inside my mind! MWAHHH HAHAHA!!! (laughs diabolically, though unconvincingly).

Recent visitors

Josh Claybourn emailed me to say he liked my site. His is awesome, too.

Jeci found my "awesome" site by way of Tunde and signed my guestmap, too.

Netscape is terrible

I am at the library right now, and I just opened up this blog to see how it looks. The library is using Netscape. Let me just say, YIKES! I mean it looks disgusting! Practically none of the formatting is correct.

I dunno. Maybe I need to resave the entire blog template again.

What do you think? Can you tell a difference?

2005 Update: the library now uses a form of Internet Explorer. Much better.

Save a buck for information

The Personal Finance section of the paper copy of today's Dayton Daily News reports the following:

"How do you find a telephone number for a government agency based in Columbus or elsewhere in the state? Such as [the] Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles?

"Ask your telephone service's 'Information, Please' and the answer fee can be $1 or more.

"If the Ohio department or agency is not listed in the telephone directory's white pages under 'State Government,' dial 285-6600.

"That number connects [you with] 'Dial direct to all departments.' Operators then connect you toll-free to the state agency you want to ask information."

Some Weird Referrals

From the "That's Just Weird" department, I offer this:
I just checked my site meter statistics for this blog and found out that one of the entry pages to the site was the International Atomic Agency.

Also, apparently because this post was about a "403 Forbidden" error I was getting some time ago, it showed up in Google's search results for "Forbidden You were denied access because Access denied by access control list".

Things that make you go, hmm...

Time Management

I'm reading a book I got from the library about non-traditional methods of time management. I like it because it takes into account people like me, who don't often think of time linearly, which is how much of our day tends to be structured. For instance, I would find a job on an assembly line almost unbearable because I'd find it dull, boring, monotonous, routine, mind-cramping, brain-atrophying... and so on.

I also like the book because there are some great quotations that I plan to add to my QuotesBlog. Stay tuned!

Five Years Ago

I am, for some odd reason, still awake, even though it's after 3 AM

On Thursday, July 17, 1997, at 10:42 PM, our daughter Keisha Renee was born. This occurred after much hard work and perseverance. And, oh yes, my wife was there, too! (just kidding, Jen!) Seriously though -- seeing my wife go through labor generated a whole new dimension of respect for her in me. I am glad that I will never have to experience that! I may actually reveal some details about what happened prior to the delivery that day... at some later date.

To celebrate, tonight we went to Max and Erma's on Miller Laneto celebrate. We all got dressed up: I in my suit and tie from earlier today; Jennie in a nice outfit that made her look even more beautiful, and Keisha in a nice light blue dress, sporting a tiara and some earrings her speech therapist brought over today. "Princess" Keisha was beaming as she walked around and sat down. We let her open two presents as we ate dessert. She exclaimed, "I'm so happy!" after she opened them up to find a Barbie and a baby care accessory case for her doll baby Hannah.

(Baby Hannah, by the way, is practically an additional member of the family, thanks to our daughter. We, however, left her in the car seat, locked up in the car with the windows closed. I am glad that she is only a doll because we sure could have gotten in trouble!!! lol)

I am continually amazed at the miracle we see in our daughter Keisha, our gift from God. For it was only a short time ago that I held her in the crook of my arm, rocking her to sleep. I miss those times when I'd lay her on my chest and we'd both fall asleep on the couch. Now she's 44 inches tall, and I can barely pick her up. She also wants more of her independence. From what I've heard, this is just the beginning...

Blog Meetup

Weblogger

Dayton, OH

I've RSVP'd to the Blog Meetup here in Dayton.

Update: I just received this in my email:

"Your Weblogger MEETUP near Dayton, OH is NOT happening this month because less than 3 people signed up. Maybe next month."

Bummer. I was even planning on going to a location I didn't vote for. Hopefully next month we can get more to sign up. Jusqu'a la prochaine...

Got Blogger's Block?

The Topics Blog may be the cure.

Update: OOPS! I had mistyped the URL before. It should be the correct one now.

Sign My Guestmap

Tunde from Liverpool, England, signed my guestmap recently, after noticing I had mentioned him in my posts.

BlogAmp

"BlogAmp is a free Winamp plugin that allows the user to keep in his personal web page a list with the last songs played in his Winamp. This list is updated by FTP in real time..."

Dropping a Googlebomb

Jason Shellen tells us how:

"As you probably know, a Google bomb is the practice of linking to a site with a term that wouldn't normally have an association with the term. For instance 'more evil than satan himself' was linked to Microsoft.com, so when the term 'more evil than satan himself' was typed in a search engine the Microsoft site would appear as the top search engine match. Clever. Clever indeed." read more...

Update: I just did a Google Search for "believe the unbelievable journey" and discovered I'm at the top of the list!

Driver's License Information

I am really glad to have received this email from my friend GB:

> To All,
>
> A close friend of my father's is a computer crime investigator and he finds many strange things out there on the web. The most recent and by far the most disturbing is > driver's license information (INCLUDING PICTURE) on the web!! Mine was there (and I've already began taking step to have it removed) and I checked a few other
> members of my family to see if they were there I can't believe this information is available over the Internet. . Check it out and make sure yours isn't there.

http://www.license.shorturl.com/

blogChalking

"...is a movement attempting to create a region-sensible blog-search system - descentralized, improvised (influencing existing Internet search engines) and world-wide. Truly cool and simple."

Hey Google! DayPop! This is my blogchalk: English, United States, Dayton, Ohio, Sandalwood Park, Dan, Male, 31-35!

And how do you like these keywords: blogchalk, English, United States, Dayton, Ohio, Sandalwood Park, Dan, Male, 31-35, journal,diary,weblog,blog,blogger, journey, inside, my, mind, blogsnob, guidepost, Christian, Christ, disciple, Bible, spiritual, International churches of Christ, writing

Pet Peeve -- Ohio Bicentennial License Plates

Ohio will be celebrating its bicentennial in 2003. Last September, Ohio began issuing Bicentennial license plates to help commemorate the occasion. They have red, white, and blue on them, which also makes it patriotic. These license plates have been a hit, especially considering the renewed patriotism in America. The designers of this license plate have had to make some changes in the layout to accomodate the additional information. One of these changes is the county where the license plate holder lives.

The Ohio Bicentennial license plate now has a small square county sticker with a number corresponding to the alphabetical order of the county in the list of all 88 counties. For example, I live in Dayton, Ohio, which is in Montgomery county. In the alphabetical list Montgomery is the 57th county. I often travel to Cincinnati and back, so I pass through Warren (83), Butler (09), and Hamilton (31). Now, below this large number is the name of the county, but it is in very small letters.

These numbers are fine and dandy if you've memorized the alphabetical list of the counties. But who in Ohio has done that? My guess is that very few, if any, know them all by memory. (Actually, this was something we had to memorize when I was studying Ohio history in junior high school. At the time, I didn't think I would need to remember.)

(Growing up, our family would often travel from Cincinnati to Toledo where my dad grew up. One of the ways we'd pass the time is to notice the license plates of the cars around us. We'd be interested in those from out of state and those from Canada (Ontario), and we'd also notice the different Ohio counties represented. This tradition is something we still whenever we drive. It was easy to note which cars are from which county because it was spelled out on the bottom center of the license plate.)

My fellow Ohioans don't appreciate me tailgating them to see which county they are from. So, what am I to do? Well, I have compiled the alphabetical list for me personally, and for whomever else is interested. So here goes:

01	ADAMS	45	LICKING
02	ALLEN	46	LOGAN
03	ASHLAND	47	LORAIN
04	ASHTABULA	48	LUCAS
05	ATHENS	49	MADISON
06	AUGLAIZE	50	MAHONING
07	BELMONT	51	MARION
08	BROWN	52	MEDINA
09	BUTLER	53	MEIGS
10	CARROLL	54	MERCER
11	CHAMPAIGN	55	MIAMI
12	CLARK	56	MONROE
13	CLERMONT	57	MONTGOMERY
14	CLINTON	58	MORGAN
15	COLUMBIANA	59	MORROW
16	COSHOCTON	60	MUSKINGUM
17	CRAWFORD	61	NOBLE
18	CUYAHOGA	62	OTTAWA
19	DARKE	63	PAULDING
20	DEFIANCE	64	PERRY
21	DELAWARE	65	PICAWAY
22	ERIE	66	PIKE
23	FAIRFIELD	67	PORTAGE
24	FAYETTE	68	PREBLE
25	FRANKLIN	69	PUTNAM
26	FULTON	70	RICHLAND
27	GALLIA	71	ROSS
28	GEAUGA	72	SANDUSKY
29	GREENE	73	SCIOTO
30	GUERNSEY	74	SENECA
31	HAMILTON	75	SHELBY
32	HANCOCK	76	STARK
33	HARDIN	77	SUMMIT
34	HARRISON	78	TRUMBULL
35	HENRY	79	TUSCARAWAS
36	HIGHLAND	80	UNION
37	HOCKING	81	VAN WERT
38	HOLMES	82	VINTON
39	HURON	83	WARREN
40	JACKSON	84	WASHINGTON
41	JEFFERSON	85	WAYNE
42	KNOX	86	WILLIAMS
43	LAKE	87	WOOD
44	LAWRENCE	88	WYANDOT

About the ads you're seeing here...

Blogger has posted a notice about problems with their ad management service. We're not supposed to be seeing pop-up and pop-under ad windows opening up.

Winning IS Important!!!

I know there are some who say that it's not important whether you win or lose, but it's how you play the game. Well, we got one of those last night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, as, for the first time since 1961, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game ended with a tie: National League 7, American League 7.

As a fan, I don't agree with that first statement. I feel cheated. I am from Cincinnati, and the Reds had one player, Adam Dunn, a former Dayton Dragon, on the National League team. Given that in the last several All-Star Games, the AL won, that the NL was so close to winning hurts more. Oh, I'll get over it. In fact, in the grand scheme of things, it's not that big of a deal.

Yet I can't help feeling robbed. Major League Baseball, since the strike of 1994, has not been that appealing. Then we get a no-decision like we had last night. Now there is talk of a strike this year. Oh, great. A glimmer of hope has been the arrival of minor league baseball in Dayton, Ohio. Fifth Third Field, which seats over 8,000, is always packed, and the Dragons always provide an entertaining experience.

This feels like baseball the way it was when I grew up. I remember the Big Red Machine of the 70's fondly. My hero was George Foster. When I played Little League, I had his number (3) and played his position (Left Field). I nevertheless couldn't hit very well, and he was a slugger. I guess we weren't meant to be alike in every way.

How will this season end up? The Reds are in a pennant race for the NL Central division with the St. Louis Cardinals. I'd love to see them win the division. Whether we'll get a chance to see this depends on the outcome of the strike talks and how the teams fare. I just hope someone wants to win.

Personal Example Counts

"Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers." -- 1 Timothy 4:16 (NIV)

I am outraged by the events depicted in this story. If the events are found to be true, then we have another case of so-called "Christians" giving Christianity a bad name by their bad example, which will neither save them nor their hearers.

How literature has influenced our speech today

b-may points out that he "couldn't help but notice all the turns of phrase and common references the play has added to even today's everyday conversation." The play he's referring to his Shakespeare's Macbeth.

I remember way back in high school our senior English class studied this play. I was really into jazz music, and I also remember listening to the Manhattan Transfer's album Vocalese. The song "Sing Joy Spring" has the lyric:

What was it from MacBeth?
"Life's but a walking shadow
a player poor
that struts and frets upon the stage
and's seen no more
A tale that truly has an idiotic ring
That's full of lotsa sound and fury
signifying nothing..."

A Blog About Dogs

Juno Ogle has developed a weblog about dogs. Found by doing a Google search on "Dayton, Ohio blog".

5 things you wouldn't know about me from reading my blog

1. I can play the saxophone.
2. I was in the top 1% of my high school graduating class.
3. I was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" in high school.
4. I have never been further west than San Antonio, Texas, USA
5. The only foreign country I've ever visited was Canada (Windsor, Ontario) - wait a minute... are they still a foreign country or have we annexed them yet? (lol)

Thanks to Mike for the idea and also encourage others to do this.

elgooG

elgoog: Proof that some people have way too much time on their hands.

Famous ENFJs

It's always cool to learn that there are famous people out there that I can relate to.

Famous ENFJs:
David, King of Israel

U.S. Presidents:
Abraham Lincoln
Ronald Reagan

Others
William Cullen Bryant, poet
Abraham Maslow, psychologist and proponent of self-actualization
Ross Perot
Sean Connery
Elizabeth Dole
Francois Mitterand
Bob Saget, America's Funniest Home Videos, Full House
Dick Van Dyke
Andy Griffith
James Garner
William Aramony, former president of United Way
Gene Hackman, actor (Superman, Antz)
Brenda Vaccaro
Randy Quaid, actor (Bye Bye, Love; Independence Day)
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts quarterback

Fictional ENFJs:
Joe Hackett, Wings

Bloginality Update

I mentioned earlier that I needed to find out what my Bloginality was. I actually took the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator test in the fall of 1997 when I was in between jobs to help me on my job search. My type then was ENFJ.

Now I'm looking for a job again, so... let's see whether it has changed or not (takes some time to take the test):

My Bloginality is still ENFJ!!!

Let's find out a little bit about what this means:

"The dynamic nature of their intuition moves ENFJs from one project to another with the assurance that the next one will be perfect, or much more nearly so than the last. ENFJs are continually looking for newer and better solutions to benefit their extensive family, staff, or organization." I'd have to say that is just how I feel about moving on from my previous job.

Comments - again

Comments are down again. I am unable to get to YACCS's site, so the problem is probably on their end. So... sign the guestmap instead! Or send me an email: danimal0416 AT hotmail.com

Return to Sender

PC World New Zealand:

"Using free email services, such as Hotmail and Yahoo Mail, is no longer as easy and fun as it once was... Back in March Yahoo changed its privacy policy to allow it to contact users in all kinds of ways — by email, mail or even phone. It also reset users' 'personal profile' settings by adding and pre-selecting a new set of marketing option boxes. This was done to 'make it easier for you to manage the marketing communications you receive from Yahoo'. Funny, for something that is supposed to be good for me that doesn't sound like any fun at all...

"Unfortunately it's not just Yahoo that has adopted this policy. A growing number of Hotmail's 118 million users worldwide report the same thing. The boxes make it appear people have given permission for Hotmail to share their email address, date of birth and other information with websites run by Microsoft's partners. I recently told a good friend and Hotmail user about this and he rushed to change his personal settings and preferences — reasoning that if they weren't going to protect his privacy, why should he give away accurate personal information?

"Microsoft also wanted access to a huge database of names — which they have of course — but like my friend earlier, a lot of the names are bogus. I have no doubt they'd prefer a smaller, accurate database of paying clients than a few million billgatessux@hotmail.com fakes."

To change your Personal Profile in Hotmail, login and navigate to the Options page. Under the "Your Information" section is the item "Personal Profile". Click it to change your personal information and uncheck the boxes that say you don't mind sharing your information with Microsoft and its partners.

To change your information in Yahoo, login and click the link to Mail Options. Click on the link to Account Information. I had to re-enter my password and ignore a stupid demographic survey. I clicked the Edit button next to the Member Information section, changed the information, and clicked to update it. I then clicked the Edit button for the Contact information section and changed that information. Then I clicked the link to "edit my marketing preferences". I made sure that every No choice was selected, that the checkboxes to indicate that they are not supposed to contact me via postal mail or by telephone are checked. Then I finally clicked the Save Changes button. Whew!

Referrals

Stephen's Web has a free referral service, in which people can see where folks came to this site from. I should consider it, since I have no idea who you are...

... unless of course you leave a comment or sign the guestmap.

Now That's Really Something!

A Little Ludwig Goes A Long Way: John Ludwig's weblog goes all the way back to June 1960! Wow!

Guestmap

I regularly go to Mike Zeller's spacemonk blog because it's interesting. Having signed his guestmap awhile ago, I decided to see how it has been updated. Wow! So many visitors from around the world! Such as these folks (going west to east):

billsaysthis
Amelie
Furnace
Karen
Len
Angela
David
Chad
Dan
Angie
mike
BarCodeKing
Kathryn
Sasha
tunde
Maria
James
Sharon
Melissa

Sign my guestmap
Get your own guestmap

Bulk E-mail Forwarding?

OK. I just came up with an idea, but I don't know how to implement it. I have a "boatload" of email in one account. I would like to move it all to a different email account, but I don't want to open each message and forward it to the new address. Is there a way to bulk forward email to another address? How could this work with web-based email such as Hotmail and Yahoo?

I appreciate your thoughts. Please add a guidepost. Thanks much!

Huge Wins for the Cincinnati Reds and Dayton Dragons

Both Cincinnati and Dayton have something to be excited about as we head into Independence Week. Today's Dayton Daily News reports that yesterday the Reds (43-37, or a .5375 winning percentage) came within percentage points of tying the St. Louis Cardinals (42-36, or a .5384 winning percentage) for first place in the National League Central Division. The Reds, you may recall, were predicted not to amount to much in the preseason. Yet they have not given up and are part of what hopes to be an exciting pennant race for the second half of the baseball season.

Part, if not most, of the reason the Reds are doing so well may be in the young talent they have raised up from their minor league affiliates. Why, it was only recently, when Adam Dunn, Austin Kearns, and Juan Encarnacion were playing A-ball for the Dayton Dragons in at Fifth Third Field. Now look at these guys. Adam Dunn was the only Cincinnati Red chosen for the All-Star team. Austin Kearns could be Rookie of the Year.

And what of those Dayton Dragons? Today's Dayton Daily News also reports that the Dragons, with a 4-3 victory over the Fort Wayne Wizards yesterday, have extended their winning streak to 13 games. One has to wonder if this is the same team that was in second-to-last place after the first half of the season. Now, since the beginning of the second half, with a clean slate, the Dragons are hot! It seems that everything is coming together for the minor league team: pitching, fielding, and hitting. One player of note is outfielder Chris Williamson. In his last three games he has produced three homers and 12 RBIs to go with a .415 batting average.

Even with all the great things happening for the team, the players are still forced to keep things in perspective. As Williamson puts it: "We're not all here about winning championships. We're here to develop players." We certainly have witnessed the results in Dunn, Kearns, and Encarnacion. Keep it up, guys. I certainly am enjoying it.