Friday, October 29, 2004

Next Month..

One day I am going to write a novel! That is me! I have said this so many times.

What has stopped me? A Couple of Excuses:

1) "I need to take a 3 month hiatus from work to start my novel"
2) "I have No Plot!"
3) "I have No Time!"
4) "I want it to be perfect"

Well I found the perfect solution and it starts in two days.
The National Novel Writing Month known as NaNoWriMo to regulars.

So What is NaNoWriMo?


National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over talent and craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and -- when the thing is done -- the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

In 2003, we had about 25,000 participants. Over 3500 of them crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.

So, to recap:

What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time.

Who: You! We can't do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.

Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era's most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from your novel at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.

When: Sign-ups began October 1, 2004. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.


As Chris Baty states in his book, "No Plot? No Problem!", The mystery machine to writing a novel is a Deadline. So I am doing it! I am going to write a novel in 30 days. I am also going to blog excerpts from my nove with many othersl.

One day I am going to write a novel!! That day starts in two days. And you can watch the progress!!

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Podcast and More

Let me catch up on life here! I have had so many side projects going on. I being dabbling in so many things. First, I am really enjoying listening to PODCAST. Podcast basically a way to have music/radio shows download automatically to your ipod.

Emma is amazing. She is just growing and growing. Which is awesome!!

more later...

Friday, October 22, 2004

SCAMBAITING (Fighting the 419 Scam): An UPDATE

As Eric Olsen, Blogcritics.org, first mentioned in his article last November spambaiting is the lastest spamming of the spammers. This is an update of the progress Mike and friends have made.

Mike is a "scambaiter," dedicated to fighting back against those who send out the notorious 419 e-mails, promising untold wealth to anyone gullible or naive enough to disclose their bank details.

Mike asked us not to use his full name because he's dealing with some heavy cross-border criminals.

Briefcase full of dollars those who fall for the 419 cons are hoping for millions.
His group of volunteers at 419eater.com use their computer skills to fool the scammers, to disrupt their crimes, and to have some fun at the scammer's expense.


But many other sites have emerged with Scambaiting stories. Take Scam O Rama. This site is a clearing house of information for scambaiting anywhere from the legal information to success stories.

The letters posted here illustrate attempts at ADVANCE FEE FRAUD. The sender claims to be a bureaucrat, banker or royal toadie, who wants to cut you, and only you, in on the financial deal of a lifetime.

In plain English, the writer claims to be in a position to skim public accounts. Hint: There is no money to be laundered - except yours. Palms must be greased. With your money. Generally in the form of a Western Union money order. A few K here, a few K there... eventually you get wise, and retire to lick your wounds. Dead military officer, dead farmer, dead bank customer, reformed murderer, imaginary request for bid, lotto prize, different countries... same scam.

Setting aside the writer's attempt to rob you and (going through the mental contortions necessary to take the letter at face value) to steal from his own country, the letters are funny. Read them out loud at parties and see. The 100+ letters below introduce the literary genre of the Lads from Lagos. Some people write the scammers back. See right column.


Many of us can't believe that people fall for this crooked techniques.

Most readers say "what an obvious scam!".
Some say "I was almost fooled till I saw this site."
A handful say "couldn't mine be 'real'?"
Stay safe out there!

This is insane... TVBGONE..

I was reading articles about a new device that will cut off almost any
TV. It is called TV B GONE. Check out the Story
here

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

The Rut

Life seems to be a rut sometimes. Some nights I will sit down and
look at all the neat stuff that is on the 'net. Google SMS (cool...
used it on vacation and was very helpful) and Google Desktop. These
in mind are rut contributing items. These perpetuate the rut, they
make me want cooler things.

The rut makes you not content with your current computer, digital
camera, mp3 player or Tivo. Where does it end? When do we decide
what we have now is enough. That is why I believe in the phrase ONE.
I think you can watch this blog and say that I haven't done a great
job of simplify. I mean we do simple things. But we still get more
complicated things. I mean I want high speed Internet. But is or
isn't it simple. Who really knows.

Why am I writing this. I think that my life has lost the goal of
striving to simple. To read, to grow, to love, to know, to let go of
the desire and focus on Simple.

I believe that God makes life simple. You may not but I do.

My Daughter is Simple. She EATS, Sleeps and Poops/Pees. That is what
we all are about.
We need to focus on family on friends and helping others.

hmmm....

Saturday, October 16, 2004

yesterday's adventure.

Well we forgot the camera yesterday. So this is what we did. We went south to Wilmington and did some exploration. Then we headed to Southport. ON the way we stopped near Bald Island which is a resort that only allows electric vechiles as transportation. But the highlight was riding the ferry to Fort Fisher. Once we arrived at Fort Fisher we watched some folks surf-sailing? (wake board with a parachute)

Friday, October 15, 2004

Google Desktop Search

Found this really neat program today. I am not sure if I am late on this but a very neat idea. Google Desktop Search

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

We made it. 15 hours.

We made it. 15 hours. 4 hours feeding emma, 1 hour in traffic, 1 hr lost on island & 9 hrs driving backroads & all.

Monday, October 11, 2004

Friday, October 08, 2004

Google SMS TIP Sheet

As referred to in previous post about the new Google SMS Service.

Here is a Link to print out aWallet Size Tip Sheet for Google SMS

Bottle Cap TriPod - ElCheapo Version $1.50

Boing Boing and Gizmondo posted a couple days ago a $14.99 version of a bottle cap Tripod. Found this One you can make for $1.50!

Enjoy!

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Google SMS

Google's Labs just launched a SMS service. This new service provides
the same information as the web searches, but in SMS format.

The users from USA who want to get the information must send an SMS to '46645', with an extra text. Why the number '46645'r? Try typing 'GOOGLE' with your mobile.

You've got more information on this link, but the main 'extra texts' are:



:: 'pizza new york' returns information from 'Google Local'
(businesses in local areas).

:: 'Smith San Francisco CA', information from 'PhoneBook' (phone
numbers and addresses for residences in the US).

:: 'Price ipod 20gb', prices from 'Froogle' (online products).

:: 'D computer', word definitions.

:: 'G population San Francisco' returns a classical Google search (you
get the two-line 'snippet').

:: Type 'sin(45 degrees)' and you'll use Google as a Calculator.

Check it out!

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Short Changing the World....

Quick observation... Have you noticed that a Half Gallon of Ice Cream
is no longer 64 oz.. But 55 oz.. I remember from elementary school
that a half a gallon was 64 oz.. What do they think we are stupid!!

GBrowser - NOT HAPPENING!

AT the Web 2.0 Conference - Google board member and investor John Doerr said Tuesday that despite speculation, the search giant would not enter the Web browser market, but he predicted others would.

Doerr later joked, however, that just because he was on the board of Google didn't necessarily mean he knew what they were doing.

6 Weeks

Yesterday Emma was 6 weeks old. She is really starting to develop a
personality. She is starting to smile more frequently everyday. She
loves to have time in her crib for "kick time", this is where she sits
and watches her mobile and just kicks her legs. It is amazing! It
still overwhelms me (us) everyday the joy Emma has brought to our
lives.

We are going to be heading to Topsail Beach, NC next week to do some
exploring and vacationing. Emma's first trip to the beach. Yeah we
know she is just 6 weeks. No we aren't going to let her swim on her
own. But we should have lots of exciting pictures.

Speaking of Diaper Count this father has developed a way to keep track
of it all Look Here.I am jealous.

She is getting close to sleeping through the night. Soon... Soon...

more later..

Sunday, October 03, 2004

American Dreams

What a incredible show. It is a must see. It is a history lesson and
a drama all rolled up in one.. ok.. more later..