I decided to keep a running post of LolCat favorites. I rely on these and Dilbert for my daily chuckle. moar funny pictures moar funny pictures

Its been a while since I had time to blog, but this seemed worthwhile. I ran across a short poem by Hiram Mann that goes something like this: No man survives when freedom fails; the best men rot in filthy jails. And those who cry 'Appease, appease!' are hanged by those they tried to please. I say "something like" because there appear multiple variations online. If you can point to an authoritative source, please drop me a note.

Zenfolio is a new photo sharing website that aims to position itself one step above the first gen sites and looks to attract a more serious photographer. I was recommended this website by a friend and this is my review. I think I fall right smack in the middle of the target audience. I would classify myself as an aspiring amateur. My first camera was an SLR, my current camera is a DSLR and is a third digital camera I’ve owned. I have a handful of lenses, a dedicated flash, and probably know how to make use of about 25% of...

A few years ago, my sister took part in the New Jewish Filmmaking Project that is part of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. In a nutshell, a group of high school senior kids get together and with the guidance of professional movie makers come up with a script and produce an original movie, which is then screened as part of the festival. The movie that my sister co-produced and starred in, Four Short Films About Love, is now available for sale through Citizen Film. The order form is not automated and I don't know what they charge, but it...

Back in the day when I ran WeddingAgent.com (don't click!) one of the features I planned to add was the ability for users (engaged couples) to have a nice interface for pre-arranging guests at tables. I never got around to implementing it, but ran into a program today that claims to do just that. The screenshots look on target. http://www.perfecttableplan.com/

I just couldn't resist: best blond joke ever!

A few weeks ago, we went to the Gocart Racer as an after work company outing. It was a lot of fun, highly recommended! In any case, beside us there was a group from Microsoft, and I could have sworn I recognized Troy from Season 1 of The Apprentice among them. I was surprised to see Troy there since I remembered that Troy's roots were in real estate not software, but then again, The Apprentice has been a great boost for some people. Maybe he's doing something with sales? Today I figured I'd put this to rest and found both that I...

I sold my car today. Oddly, this is the first time that I feel a sentimental attachment. It wasn't my first car, but it was by far the best. It might also be that I've replaced a (very!) fun sports sedan with a minivan. Darn kids! So, in the honor of its passing (of ownership), here's a short review of my 2002 Audi A4 1.8T: First and foremost, the car was a great value for the money. At only a few thousand more than a Subaru Legacy GT, and at the same price level as a Jeep Grand Cherokee (my two prior...

Its an odd trend that my last few posts are all pop culture related, given how little of it I consume. Still, this is definitely an episode (named “Man of Science, Man of Faith“) worth seeing. If you are new to Lost, go get Season 1 DVD! update: ok, so there is no trend, its all in my head: there are all these things I mean to blog about but never get around to.

Well, I hope I haven't spoiled anything for you, but I came to this conclusion shortly after finishing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I've been meaning to blog my thoughts on the subject, but never got around to it. Today I found out that someone else did a stellar job of assembling the evidence. Worth a read if you are a Harry Potter fan.

Over the past couple of weeks my blog received close to 150 spam comments and only 1 valid one. Given that I haven't blogged in a while (an infant and two jobs do that to you), deleting all the spam was starting to be too much of a burden. So, for the time being I've disabled comments. If you'd still like to be heard, please use the Contact link at www.MichaelTeper.com. I'll be watching the progress of SubText to see if the community comes up with a reasonable solution to this problem.

In the process of cleaning my desk, I came across this clipping from a November 2003 issue of Bio-ITWord: Top 10 Criteria Investors Want To See in a Business Plan. Sure enough, there was a digital copy out on the web. Just in case they take it down, here they are: 1 Proof of concept. Demonstrate a tangible and viable product. Experimental betas should be field-tested or put through simulation. 2 Product diversification. A software designer that commits resources to developing a broad portfolio of applications signals that biodefense is a core business, not just a pet project on the side, and...

I took a driving school class the other week, which was actually pretty good. Granted, my expectations were pretty low as the last time I sat through traffic school some 5 years ago, I remember it being one of the most tortured experiences of my life. Still, this time around the time flew by pretty quickly and I was never bored. If you ever find yourself needing to attend, give the Lettuce Amuse U Comedy Traffic School a buzz at 800-286-8051. For the record, my instructor's name was Mik Berry. Keep in mind, this is by far not the cheapest...

My sister emailed me about a song she liked that was recommended by her Tamil friend. Apparently this is a tune for a popular Bollywood movie and Google revealed a number of web sites that would let me play it. Unfortunately, almost all of them offered just one format: RealAudio. Does anyone know why it is so popular with this audience? Personally, I refuse to install another Real product. Their installations are extremely invasive (all sorts of crap is installed without asking). In any case, here's a WindowsMedia version for your non-discriminating music tastes: Thoodhu Varuma, from the movie Kaakha Kaahka.

The movie sucked. The featurettes are really really interesting (and worth the rental), especially if you have any sort of interest in film-making or the application of technology to the creative process.

Raymond Chen gives an interesting insight into the elections to the board of directors of Allstate. In other words: These thirteen people will be elected to directorships regardless of what you do. Read the full post here.

I just read Mike Gunderloy's post on Fawcette screwing him out of his payment. Is this common in the print industry? If so, I can't imagine why anyone would write at all. Take them to small claims! This story certainly makes me appreciate my writing relationship with Jonathan Goodyear (the angryCoder) than much more. He paid per agreement and on time! Perhaps it is the sign of the future for on-line vs. off-line?