Yes, I took the weekend off.

A new idea has come down the pipe from over at Mrs. Hairy Woman's site and it looks intriguing to me.  I was tagged by her to keep a story going.  She wrote the first paragraph and I have to write the second and then tag somebody for the following week.  I am already working out the next part in my head.  All I want to know is, who is available to be tagged that will definitely participate.  All you have to do is post what has been written so far and then add your paragraph.  You have a whole week to think about it, write it, not like it, rewrite it, revise it, find a new direction, rewrite it again, edit for misspellings and finally post it on that Monday.

Mrs. Hairy Woman's paragraph for me to add to...

"The sun was edging on the horizon, peaking through silver slits of clouds. She sat there watching, waiting for the end of days. On this day she had wished for a fresh new start. Oblivious to what was really happening to her. She couldn't shake that feeling of being watched. She didn't know who or why,  but she felt it."

This should be a fun exercise and, if you're a NaNoWriMo participant (or plan on doing it this year) then this could also be a good way to practice.  So, it's a new reason to post on a Monday.

It may not top Scam School, but today's site is very important these days.  How many times have you seen a status message on Facebook that says that they are going to start charging a fee or that reposting a particular message will save puppies in the rainforest?  How e-mails do you get that tell you that somebody said something bad or that not buying gas on a particular day will cause it to be given away for free for the rest of existence?  Today's site is indispensable in this day and age of information overload.

Snopes

By now, everybody has heard of this site, but I think it bears repeating.  I'll be honest, I am tired of seeing the same old e-mails about things that can be easily looked up.  If you get an e-mail about gas prices, a person who is a pervert, somebody who died because he didn't send this e-mail to five thousand people, do not send it to anybody until you check it out with Snopes.  Oh, and don't fall for the line, "this story has been checked on snopes.com," it's meaningless, check for yourself.

There you go, a little sermon from your truly to stay on my good side.  Check out a story before subjecting me to it, because I will respond on your Facebook comment and tell you to check it out.  Have a nice day.

We all need to learn new things or else life gets pretty boring and stagnant.  That's why I seek out fun and interesting sites that will give me new skills that are necessary in this day and age.  Then there's the site I am going to point out today.

Revision3's Scam School

No, it's not about ripping off money from innocent old ladies or running a multi-level marketing scheme.  It's about "social engineering at the bar and on the street".  It's a series hosted by magician and professional fire-eater, Brian Brushwood.  He performs card tricks and illusions to impress friends and earn free drinks.  It's a fun series and Brushwood is a very funny guy.  While you're there, check out the rest of Revision# for other entertaining videos and tech tips.

Now I have to figure out how top Mr. Spiky-haired magician guy for tomorrow's web favorite, but I'm sure I could find something.  Have a great day, but don't try to scam me.

When you right-click on the taskbar in Windows, you will see an option called "Task Manager".  I would say there are a lot of people who have no real idea what it is or that it even exists.  This is one of the most important functions in my personal opinion, because it tells the user what is going on.  There is a tab called "Processes" which shows all of the programs that are running.  Unfortunately, most software does not say what its processes are so it's not really that helpful on the surface.  It would help to know what they are.

Answers That Work

Answers That Work is a site that is an all-purpose resource for drivers, tips and tricks and the task list.  Do you see something in your process list that looks suspicious?  Click on the "TASK LIST" button and find the suspicious process name and read what it is.  Look around the site, it's fun and informative.

There you go, while my last recommendation was purely entertaining, this one is utilitarian and can keep you safe.  Enjoy finding out what's going on and have a good day.

I am bringing back Trivial Tuesday for a very special list.  I found out that some of the song titles we thought we knew aren't really the titles of the song.  What do I mean?  Well, I am going to give you the artist and familiar song title and you have to give me the real song title.

1. Boots Randolph--The Benny Hill Theme
2. The Offspring--Keep 'em Separated
3. The Who--Teenage Wasteland
4. Gary Glitter--Hey!
5. Bob Dylan--Everybody Must Get Stoned
6. Buffalo Springfield--Stop, Hey, What's That Sound
7. Fatboy Slim--Funk Soul Brother

OK, now it's up to you to come up with the real titles of these songs.  Have fun and have a good day.

It is officially February 2nd, 2010 and I am commandeering this holiday for my very own.  It is now Alien Coffeegroundhog Day.  If I go out to get my newspaper and see my shadow that means I slept too long and the sun is out.  If I don't see my shadow, it means that I either got up early enough and the sun is not yet up or I overslept and it's overcast outside.  Why bother complicating the process?  I can't predict weather because I'm not a weather man.

7:22am:  I did not see my shadow.  It means that either I didn't oversleep or it's overcast.  Probably both.

This week is going to be dedicated to some of my favorite sites to visit on the web.  Some of these sites are educational, other are purely for entertainment, but I like them all.  Today, I want to look at the site that I was reintroduced to over the weekend.

Pandora Internet Radio

If you're the type that wants to hear some new music, but not sure where to begin, click the link above.  Pandora plays random music based on your choice of artist or song.  It is completely free for the listener and only plays one short ad every five or six songs.  If you're on a budget or want to hear some new music based on what you already like then give Pandora a try.  I will suggest a pair of headphones or some decent speakers for your computer so you can listen the right way.

Come back this week for another stop on the Internet that is sure to entertain or educate (I don't know what I'm going to cover yet.  Have a nice day and listen to some music.