educating eric

I loved this toy. Man, did I love this toy. My nephew has a newer version of it, and it's almost as cool... but there's something spooky/endearing about seeing the exact toy from my childhood appear in an online museum, entitled (somewhat uncreatively) as Electronic Toy, 1975-1979 If the starting bid on a 10-day auction weren't over $50 right now, I'd consider getting one... but Ruth wouldn't appreciate my bringing more junk into the house!

Okay, I don't remember if I linked to this article already or not... but there it is: an interview with Ginger Alexander (among others). Now, reader, I have one question: What's the draw to Ginger Alexander? Seriously, I'm curious! You're here because either 1) you're a friend/relative of mind who's fascinated by my daily musings, or 2) a search for "Ginger Alexander" brought you here. So, what makes Ginger interesting to you? Go ahead and comment -- Blogger makes it easy. My Ginger-related hits are starting to outnumber my Kari Byron hits, and I'm just wondering why. Thanks!

Sadly, when I changed hosting and moved my sites so they appear under their own domains (like www.lexmarked.com ), it broke most of the existing search-engine links. Despite helpful error pages and the like, my visits have dropped off to practically nothing. I wonder how long it'll take before that coveted "Google juice" returns? And, in the meantime, how will people track down my rebate-related advice?

Eeek. What more can I say? Check out the latest blog posting from G e n e r a t i o n W h y ? Eeek.

From the Star Tribune story Legal or illegal: How do you tell? : "When Roxanna Barr applied for a meat-processing job at Swift & Co. in Worthington, Minn., last month, she walked into the interview room with a Social Security card and a green card that authorized her to work. "Sitting at a table opposite the Swift interviewer, Barr was asked first was asked whether she was 18 years old and then, 'Are you legally authorized to work in the United States?' "Barr said yes and showed the required two documents to prove it. And that's all Swift, or any employer, can ask for. "To ask for more identification, say a driver's license, is grounds for charges of discrimination. "'I don't think your average person understands what employers can and cannot ask,' said James Hamilton, Swift's human resource director in Worthington, 'or that large penalties and fines are administered if you ask for more.'" The advantage I have in

Just a quick head's up that I'm changing over my template to match my actual site ( www.emlarson.com ), so this will be a bit messy for a day or two. (I've been working in a test template, which is fine, but at some point you need to bite the bullet and apply it to some actual content, you know?) UPDATE: Ruth mentioned that I made the huge mistake of using the b-word (the one that starts with "b" and ends with the three-letter description of a felled tree), which is a horrible thing to do when it comes to AdSense. So, I fixed that right-quick! Yikes!

Just came across the article from Wired News: Jobs vs. Gates: Who's the Star? . The author's answer? On the evidence, [Jobs is] nothing more than a greedy capitalist who's amassed an obscene fortune. It's shameful. In almost every way, Gates is much more deserving of Jobs' rock star exaltation. Sounds harsh... but some of us are old enough to remember the days, a couple decades ago, when Apple ran the show in the school system and served as the proverbial 800-pound gorilla in the room. Apple IIs on every desk (at a time with Commodore 64s would have served better for pennies on the dollar), right?

Thanks to my coworker Paul's blog, I'm now trying to choose a new beard from the plethora of options at Gallery of Contestants and Champions . Got a favorite that I should try out?

Can I just say, once again, that I love the Internet!!! . I had this thought, "Gee, I wonder if they still sell those clocks that ran with little ball bearings to count up the hours and minutes?" They do. The Internet answers all! Read the Review: Time Machine rolling ball clock You can find them at various places for $50 -- more than I want to spend. But fun to know they're still out there. I remember them being for sale in the window of some store in the Rosedale Mall. And it's funny that the reviewer mentions that they've been on sale "since at least the late 1970s". Yup, that's exactly when Dad and I would go to Rosedale and I'd stare at this thing in the window. I think the same store had the tilting wave machine with the clear and blue fluids sloshing back and forth. Whatever the store was, it wasn't Spencer's Gifts, which is the place I always wanted to go into, and which Dad hated. But it had really cool lighting displays i

Ever wonder what a computer might be "thinking"? So do I! You might have seen my post educating eric: What's up with Yahoo Publisher Content Guidelines? Know what ads got stuck at the bottom of that one when I just popped it up? "NaturalGreens Pharmaceutical grade supplements for detoxification and liver health." Hmmm. That's a bad sign. What else? "Are You Clean Inside? Death begins in the colon. Why is detoxification so crucial?" And my personal favorite... "the Colon Cleansing Kit(tm). Cleanse intestinal buildup. Photos document results of cleanse."

I still miss the Weatherball... but now there's a site with a half-dozen photos of it! Check out Minneapolis Public Library: Weatherball Photos and Lore

If you check out the page creatively titled General Lead Capture , you'll see the "terms of service" for Yahoo! Publisher advertising -- the competitor to Google AdSense. Seems normal enough... it starts out with things like: Yahoo! Publisher Network does not wish to be associated with certain types of content, behavior and/or products, and will not accept sites that contain this type of content. This includes, but is not limited to: Adult-oriented content Violence, excessive use of vulgar or obscene language Excessive, duplicate or competing advertisements Okay, I can live with that. But the next one threw me: Content related to human suffering or death Regular readers will know that I write about abortion here every so often, and write from a pro-life perspective, so I think that topic is very much about "human suffering" and "death". Does that count? Further down the list, past "Gambling" and "Illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia&

As you know, I enjoy listening to Art Bell and Coast to Coast AM... whenever I can stay up late enough to hear it. Anyway, they've reviewed last year's predictions, and the didn't do too well... but if you go back to the year before , you find New Year Predictions for 2004 - Part 2 : "53. A huge hurricane will destroy New Orleans." Wrong in 2004... but not-so-wrong for 2005! Wow! Granted, predicting that New Orleans was going to flood is kinda a no-brainer... but, still!