h5. "I'm just crazy about feralboy.com", he claims In a shocking legal development, John Allen Muhammad, acting as his own attorney, stated that backwards messages on feralboy.com caused him to go on the shooting rampage in the Washington, D.C. area last year.
One week until the whole "Janaszek/Hemphill clan":http://ankle-biter.net/ and I leave this cursed place for sunny "Bishop, CA":http://www.fishproducts.com/powerandrubber/areas.html. We're going for a week this time, as opposed to the piddly 3 days on "the last trip":http://feralboy.com/matt/climb/bishop/. I think being there for a week will give me a lot more time to settle in, feel comfortable with the rock, and climb some good hard stuff. I'm probably bouldering about as hard as I ever have, although my experience at the comp in the "new bouldering area(Ankle-biter.net: This and That)":http://www.ankle-biter.net/log/archives/2003_10.html#000271 over the weekend tells me my endurance is not all it could be. I've "got(Atari Arete)":http://www.patitucciphoto.com/bouldering/02CL-bd99.jpg "a(Ruckus)":http://www.0friction.com/image.php?image_id=2138 "few(Saigon)":http://www.rockfax.com/bishop/butter_photos/photo_12.html "things(Gleaner)":http://ankle-biter.net/images/bishop/j_gleaner.jpg "picked(The Cave Problem)":http://ankle-biter.net/images/bishop/mb_cave.jpg "out(High Plains Drifter)":http://ankle-biter.net/images/bishop/b_drifter.jpg that I would really like to do while I'm out there, but I'm going to soak up the whole experience. The desert was so beautiful last time... just on the drive from Vegas I remember being struck at how gorgeous the desert was; how huge the sky looked. I'll have "my good digital camera":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000192/ with me, so expect lots of photos when I get back (although I don't think I'll be able to upload any from out there, my camera can't quite function as a USB device, which, as far as I can tell, is its only downfall).
I saw "this deal":http://tools.komlenic.com/158 for 3 _years_ of free hosting, and had to sign up. Picked up a "new domain":http://trulycrap.com/ from "Dotster(FeralBlog: ...And we're back, ladies and gentlemen.)":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000435/, and everything should be coming online. Problem is, I don't know what to put there yet. So, what sort of site would you expect to see at "http://trulycrap.com/":http://trulycrap.com/? One suggestion was for bad movie reviews, etc. Another would be where I would put all the "uninteresting coding stuff":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/nizzle/. Any thoughts?
Thanks to Matt, I am officially FeralBlog's first guestblogger. But why me, you ask? Aren't I behind this contribution to the internet? Well, yes I am, but thanks to an increasingly poor hosting provider, my site is down, and this little nugget I'm going to share is just too good to wait.... Shock Jocks Urge Motorists to Hit Cyclists
Awesome. I got wind of this through the Fixed Gear mailing list yesterday. You expect this sort of behavior from shock jocks, but to hear that people are actually taking them up on it? Words fail me. Best part of article:
In the course of the program, listeners flooded their telephone lines to vent about cyclists, including one woman who boasted that her father intentionally hit one while they were on the way to church. One of the DJs promoted the joys of hitting cyclists with Yoohoo bottles.
Nothing like sharing a little Christian love on your way to church.
Anyway...thanks Matt!
"Brian":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20030925_coopers_rock/P1010028.jpg will probably be doing a little bit of posting around here, while he gets _his_ "DNS/host issues":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000435/ sorted out. It'll be nice to have someone with a little bit of intellect posting around here, right?!
From "Fark":http://www.fark.com/'s "'Make your own safety sign' Photoshop contest":http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=681521 :
And another FeralMarketing ad:
Props to Pat for that one.
Ok, so some guy _maybe_ "cost the Cubs a game":http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2003/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=1638390. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they had a chance last game to close it out and didn't. They also will have game 7 to do it. But for the Chicago Sun-Times to "publish his name":http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/fan15.html, knowing what the possible backlash could be, is something I'd expect from "Karl Rove":http://archive.salon.com/politics/red/2001/06/14/blue/, not from a fishwrapper whose only claim to fame is a portly movie critic. Can you imagine the amount of the settlement that he's going to get the first time someone goes to his work and throws a rock through his window? I'll be suprised if he doesn't wind up owning the paper after that, and makes Ebert be his personal hassock. Everybody just needs to relax and think about the larger picture. Unless you own a restaurant in the Chicago area, what difference is going to the series versus not going to mean to you? Nothing, unless you have such a small life that the only identity you have for yourself is dictated by the fate of your city's sports teams. I see enough of that in Pittsburgh ("oh, it'll be the Steelers' year this year, for sure!"), and it annoys me to no end.
"The move":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000553/ all went fine on Friday, so yesterday was the first day in the new offices. I was excited to try out the new shorter bike commute, so I met up with my coworker "Tom":http://feralboy.textamerica.com/default.asp?r=108235, otherwise known as TK Stack Money, at the end of the "62nd st. bridge":http://www.pittsburghcycling.org/pghrides/62nd.html and showed him the ride in. TKSM(TK Stack Money) has been cycling for around 6 years at least, and has a really sweet "Cannondale road bike":http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/02/cusa/model-2RR9D.html, so he completely kicked my ass on the way in. I was pretty sure I was gonna die, but didn't, so if we ride in together more often, I will probably get a pretty good workout out of it. The new offices look really good, and I think the space turned out pretty well. There's still some glare issues to be worked out, and right outside the window is a radio station transmitter tower that's kicking out so many watts that it forces itself as our on-hold muzak, as well as filling up cell phone dead air. Kinda makes me wonder if I'm going to have a brain tumor in a year. But, my new desk is comfy and ergonomic, so everything else is a pretty minor quibble.
So, the hot new rumor about a "former employer":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000213/ of mine is that they've installed "monitoring software":http://www.spy-007.com/ capable of "keystroke logging":http://www.pestpatrol.com/Support/About/About_KeyLoggers.asp on everyone's computers. Since I left this particular company, I've seen things there go from bad to pretty much horrible. One of the first things that went was the use of instant messaging software. Not usually a big deal, seeing as how it can be a big time-waster and all, but the _reasons_ given for removing the software were, frankly, stupid:
# "It's a big security hole." # "We don't want company secrets getting out."
Point number 1. If you're worried about security, you might as well just shut off your email system, since that's where "99.9% of the viruses":http://www.patchdayreview.com/ that are going around these days are coming from.
Point number 2. Puh-leaze. This is not a company that works on government contracts, or financial applications, or even proprietary software. They make fucking dogfood coupons. Get over yourself.
Now the potential for "keystroke logging":http://www.zdnet.com.au/builder/manage/business/story/0,2000035090,20264688-4,00.htm comes along. I tried to imagine what the justification for that might be, and I just come up blank. If you're trying to see what your employees are doing, so they don't go to "time-wasting":http://www.fark.com/ "internet":http://blogshares.com/ "sites":http://feralboy.com, then just block them at the firewall. "Plenty of places":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000074/ do that. Then I thought about the whole "trade secrets":http://wired.com/news/games/0,2101,60701,00.html thing, and again I refer you to the "fucking dogfood coupons" paragraph above.
The implications for watching your employees that closely are so sad. Are you planning on logging into their "Hotmail":http://www.hotmail.com/ accounts to see what they're writing about the company? That's at least unethical, and probably "extremely illegal":http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=18&sec=2511, as well. Checking to see how many spelling mistakes they have to correct in a day, so you can fire them in favor of someone whose typing is less error-prone?
The basic issue is trust. In order to have a tolerable work environment, there needs to be a level of trust between employer and employee. It's not like you're going out into the street every morning and picking the first 30 people that walk by and say "You there. You are going to make my dogfood coupons today." These are people that you interview, you try and learn about, and gauge their character. Instituting such draconian measure in an environment where employees already are fearful about being let go on a whim will just make your employees that much more likely to bolt.
If you're trying to make absolutely everyone quit, then you're probably on the right track. If, however, you would like to have some measure of employee retention (doubtful, since turnover while I was there was _over 100%_ in a year and a half), then give them some measure of personal freedom. As long as their work is getting done, there's no need to make everyone feel like they're in the Gulag.
Sorry about the rambling... I've wanted to unload about this for awhile, and there are plenty of other things that are not appropriate for me to discuss here, but as I still have friends at this former employer, and I really just want their work environments to be better. Life is too short to work at a shit job.
Changing offices today, in case you haven't been noticing "all":http://feralboy.textamerica.com/default.asp?r=98889 "the":http://feralboy.textamerica.com/default.asp?r=100052 "rearranging":http://feralboy.textamerica.com/default.asp?r=100055 "going":http://feralboy.textamerica.com/default.asp?r=100062 "on":http://feralboy.textamerica.com/default.asp?r=100065 "at":http://feralboy.textamerica.com/default.asp?r=100076 "the":http://feralboy.textamerica.com/default.asp?r=100074 "new":http://feralboy.textamerica.com/default.asp?r=100069 "office":http://feralboy.textamerica.com/default.asp?r=100058. Computer gets packed in 2 hours, and who knows when it'll get unpacked. And even when it does, I don't think we'll have our T1 up yet, so who knows when I'll be able to -goof off- work again.
From: "Campaign Manager":http://gregcioffi.com/hammerheads/images/galleries/images/otg2_5.jpgTo: Matt Subject: Feral Marketing
The sponsorship is paying off, I think. The important thing is where the impression is made - it needs to be in a place that people will pay attention.
In "honor" of Ah-nold's victory in Galifornia, I invite you to make up some fresh political statements at "The Arnold Achwarzenegger Sound Board":http://www.ebaumsworld.com/arnolds4.html.
The last few days I've felt a little edgy, and it's come out in some rather unattractive ways. Submitted for your approval are my three latest confrontations. At work yesterday, we were all just sitting and coding, when a well-dressed man and woman come in. Out of the corner of my eye, I see them step in the door (which is one room outside our little sexxxy coding room), look around a little bit, and then come back in. The man immediately launches into "Hi, we're from blahblahblah Internet applications provider, clients include the Steelers, Heinz, etc." , at which point I interrupted him and asked, "Did you see the sign?" On the front door of our company, printed out in very large letters and taped at eye-level, it says "Absolutely No Solicitation." The guy looked at me like I had three heads and then proceeded to pitch my co-worker, who was too polite to tell them to fuck off. At the end of his spiel, he handed over his card, which I promptly bounded across the room to grab, and tossed in "the shredder":http://www.jwz.org/gruntle/shred.html, hopefully while they were still within earshot.
Upon returning home from work last night, I found an email on my yahoo account that was from "monster.com":http://www.monster.com's anonymous remailer. No, I'm not looking for another job, but I got an email that my resume on file was going to expire, and rather than having to re-enter the whole damn thing at some point, I figured I would just renew. The problem is, renewing looks like activity to recruiters, so I've gotten several lame emails about jobs in the last few days. This one was especially irksome to me.
Hello,
My name is Aliyah J. I am a recruiter with blahblahcompany located in Harrisburg, PA.
We are currently aggressively recruiting for .Net Developers with Oracle (PL/SQL and stored procedures) in the Harrisburg area. I would like to speak with you regarding this position.
I can be reached via phone or email....my contact information is listed below.
I look forward to speaking with you!
Best regards,
Aliyah J
I was so annoyed that I fired off this reply:
Dear Aliyah,
A quick check of Mapquest shows that the estimated drive time between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg is 3 hours, 18 minutes. I highly doubt that you will find many .NET developers in the greater Pittsburgh area willing to do that commute. Your email even explicitly states that you are "recruiting for ... developers ... in the Harrisburg area", implying that both the developers and the positions should be in the Harrisburg area.
I realize it's a tough market out there for recruiters and developers alike, but instead of indiscriminately mass-mailing people with "burg" in their city, you might look more closely and see who actually fits your candidate profile before you waste both your time and the candidate's.
Either that, or fire your sourcer.
Sincerely yours,
Matt Comroe
Not five minutes later I got this snippy response:
Hello Matt,
Yes Harrisburg is three hours away from Pittsburgh. I am very aware of this. This was not a mass email sent to people located in city's with "burg" in it.
Some people are open to relocating or can stay in the area for the week and go home on the weekends...it depends on the situation.
If you are not interested in relocating or working in the Harrisburg area...just say that.
Best regards,
Aliyah J
Feeling as though I rather blindsided her, I decided to play a little bit nice.
Aliyah,
--- Aliyah J wrote: > Hello Matt, > > Some people are open to relocating or can stay in > the area for the week and > go home on the weekends...it depends on the > situation.
I completely understand that, but perhaps your email could have been more clear on that when describing the positions. From my point of view, it looks like an over-wide net was cast (to everyone with a matching skill-set in the state, for all I know), which for someone who has dealt with their fair share of recruiters on prior job hunts gives the impression of the person on the other end only being interested in the commission, not making a placement that will benefit the candidate as well as the client.
I apologize for coming off as overly harsh in my email, but the simple act of renewing my resume on Monster to keep it from expiring and having to rewrite it in the future has prompted several emails from recruiters who clearly did no more than a cursory glance at my resume, saw ".NET", and fired off an email.
Developers want and deserve respect and a personal relationship from their recruiter, that's all.
> If you are not interested in relocating or working > in the Harrisburg > area...just say that.
I am not, but thank you for your interest anyway.
Best,
Matt Comroe
No reply.
Last thing happened today. I got off my lazy wussy ass and biked in, which was uneventful, although chilly. On the way home, I was approaching a traffic light with a left-turn-only lane and a straight-ahead lane. I was turning left, so I checked behind, saw there was plenty of distance between me and the car behind, stuck my arm out and moved over so I could coast up to the red light in the proper lane. Some guy in a big 4-door sedan proceeds to roar around me on the right, almost squeezing me into oncoming traffic, while we're only about 20 feet from the car that's already stopped at the *red* light. I rolled up next to him and tapped on his window. He stared grimly ahead, unwilling to roll down the window or even acknowledge my presence.
"You know, I'm a vehicle the same as you. When you pass me on the right it's dangerous for everyone. You shouldn't have been in that much of a hurry to get to a *red* light."
His mouth twitched, and he continued to stare at a point roughly 3 miles, dead ahead. Then I started to get angry.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you! Asshole! Big man in his piece of shit car! Learn to fucking drive!"
I then relented and moved my bike behind his car. I considered "accidentally" scraping my clipless pedals against his door, but that would have been "Bad Idea Jeans":http://www.pseudodictionary.com/word.php?id=15081.
As soon as the light turned green, I yelled "Go! You were in such a hurry!", which, of course, he couldn't do because of the car in front of him. It was still funny, anyway.
Why am I telling you all these stories? Because I don't really like being this way. Sure, when I was young and in college, it was fun to "rage against The Man":http://feralboy.com/medium/, but I'm older and more mellow now, and things like this really aren't just worth getting worked up about.
I think I need to start meditating.
Have I mentioned lately just how much I love taking "psyllium husk":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000107/? It's like having a religious experience every morning.
People navigate through a 6-acre patriotic maze in a corn field Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2003, in Corona, Calif. The maze pays tribute to U.S. troops with a soldier saluting and an American flag in the background. It was created by the land owner to unify dairy farmers in the area like himself with the new urban neighbors from the new housing tracts that are displacing some area farms. The farm also offers hayrides, a pumpkin patch, a petting zoo and other activities through October.
h3. For Immediate Release *Pittsburgh, PA -- October 02, 2003* -- "Feralboy.com":http://feralboy.com, a popular internet destination already known for its colorful commentary, has added the "weighty" talents of renowned political pundit Flabby McFatass, otherwise known as Rush Limbaugh.
Feralboy.com founder, CEO, CTO, CFO, EVP, and all-around swell guy Matt Comroe spoke about the powerhouse combination during an interview yesterday from his office's restrooms.
"Hey, what are you doing in here? I'm trying to take a shit. Can't you people just give me five minutes of peace? No? Well, to answer your question how about I take this fresh turd and jam it in your [unintelligable]".
Flabby McFatass (Rush Limbaugh) was equally excited about the new opportunity. "Get that microphone out of my face! No questions, you liberal cur! I said get away from me!!! Unless you happen to have some blues. You don't have any on you, do you? Are you sure? Man, I'm really jonesing right now."
In the rapidly growing "disgraced commentator" market, Feralboy.com had already passed up an offer to acquire "Michael Savage":http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/6251351.htm. Mr. Comroe explains, "Undoubtedly, Mr. Savage is as amazing talent. But he really only covers the knee-jerk homophobia. Feralboy.com needed a hatemonger that brought something more to the table, and as soon as I heard that Flabby was on the market, I knew he was our guy. Racist, homophobic, one-time welfare-recieving welfare-basher, and now pill popper?!?! C'mon, what would you have done? Now will you get the fuck out of here and let me finish taking my shit?!?!"
In addition to assorted punditry, Mr. McFatass is expected to clean feralboy.com's offices, snake toilets whenever Mr. Comroe has one of his amazing 3-pound "psyllium":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000543/ "husk-fuelled shits":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000793/, and go on //shopping trips\\\ to buy //cold medication\\\\.
###
_This press release and its attachments contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning feralboy.com's proposed acquisition of Flabby McFatass., feralboy.com's expected financial performance (including without limitation as described in the quotations from management in this press release), as well as feralboy.com's strategic and operational plans. Actual events or results may differ materially from those described in this press release due to a number of risks and uncertainties. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the possibility that the transaction will not close or that the closing may be delayed; the reaction of customers of feralboy.com to the transaction; feralboy.com's ability to successfully integrate Fatty's immense bulk; and general economic conditions. More information about potential factors that could affect feralboy.com's business and financial results is included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2002 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2003, including (without limitation) under the captions, "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," which are on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov, and will be included in feralboy.com's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2003, which will be filed with the SEC in the near future._
On the drive home last night, my passenger-side window slipped its track and fell down into the door. Of course there was rain in the forecast last night, so I had to run out there and get all creative with garbage bags. I went early this morning to try and hit "the dealership":http://www.vwdealer.com/billco/ early and maybe get it fixed. They're always busy there, and I would have had to leave it there all day, but as an alternative they just had the body shop guy pull the window out of the door with a piece of wood and some duct tape, and then tape the window up in the frame well enough until I can bring it in for a scheduled appointment next Wednesday. Apparently this is "a common flaw":http://www.carsurvey.org/viewcomments_review_19084.html with VWs, although the body shop guy said he thought it was most common in Jettas, and mine was only the 2nd GTI he had seen with the problem. Lucky me.
To all White House Staff: We were informed last evening by the Department of Justice that it has opened an investigation into possible unauthorized disclosures concerning the identity of an undercover CIA employee. We have been directed to aid in the investigation, and the president wants to wholly cooperate with this shift in policy, and help the investigation in any way possible. This is a reminder to retain all potential records; do not shred any documents, do not delete any emails. Above all, we expect you to fully cooperate with the investigation, and you will get to return to some sense of normalcy once the firestorm has died down.
Sincerely, Associate Counsel Ted Ullyot
