I copied the title of this post directly from the CNN news article. To me, I find it very misleading. My first impression to "nonwhite" is that they were trying to say "black" as in African American, but did not want to use those words. After reading the article however, you find that they are referring to an American born Indian: Bobby Jindal.

I actually find the set of circumstances a little unique. Apparently he's a Republican Indian who was born Hindu but converted to Catholicism ... to become a Governor in the United States? What are the chances?

Posted in: India, Politics, Random,

I've been juggling quite a few different tasks and projects over the past few weeks. Some technical but most are just random personal things. I haven't had much time for blogging or even maintaining my website due to other priorities. But what adds insult to injury is having to keep up with the idiots on the internet.

In the past few weeks I've been slammed with spam email, spam blog comments, bot attacks, script kiddies and just plain stupid wannabe hackers. Someone used my private paid email address (which very few know) as the return address on some spam system. As a result I was getting hundreds of bounces and rejects from mail servers all across the world every flippin hour. Just a week ago some asian (I won't name the country, though you probably can guess) did some type of lame denial of service or bandwidth drain attempt and sucked up a few gigabytes of paid bandwidth in less than 24 hours before I noticed it. Then there are the idiot comment spammers. You know I might understand if they kept posting about Viagra and their useless stocks, but I have one who scripted some sort of scheduled junk comments. So I get crap like "ozdhs vksaznopm qbuap qujscawyr jegucfs dy" every couple of minutes. What purpose could that possibly serve other than just to annoy me? People need to get better hobbies.

And I feel bad for all the people emailing me asking for help and other requests. Often I can barely keep up with cleaning the above garbage, that I miss quite a few emails. People will never realize how much work it can be to run a simple website. And I regret I have not run a backup in a long time. My computer will be temporary without internet for the next few days.

So if you email PLEASE NOTE that I am unable to respond in a timely manner. I am doing my best.

Posted in: Website, Internet, Technology,

It just occurred to me that I started using email almost exactly 10 yrs ago. Being the compulsive weirdo that I am, I actually have them all saved. Why? I have no clue. I guess I'm prepared for when my (future) child will ask me one day: "Dad when did you first have email?" ... Wow 10 yrs. Man have things ever changed.

Once upon a time, I would sit and wonder: "How come no one emails me?". That stage did not take long to pass.

Then some years later, I thought: "People sure rely on this email waaayyy too much. How annoying! Can't you just call me?". That took a little while longer to pass.

Then came the SPAM. And it came. And it hasn't stopped. So I started thinking: "Wow, how is it possible that this many super hot girls get my email???". Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have opened some of those. Goodbye "guaranteed organ growth", hello BULK MAIL folder!

Then came the goodies included in the mails. ... "I Love You?" - umm, not really ... "Code Red?" - should I be scared? ... Anna Kournikova - hmm, tempting, but I'll pass. I wish the rest of the computer users of the world passed too.

Then came the technical emails, the professional emails -- the important stuff. Sending stuff to people higher than you can be intimidating - and worse yet, they take forever to reply or sometimes never. Yeah, well, if they took forever to reply and demanded a quick response from me. Well, you know what I did, I ... well, I responded right away. And at the end of the day I could keep those emails somewhere and not have to mix them with my personal emails.

Which brings me back to all my personal emails. Thousands saved, none of them new. I can't help thinking - how come no one emails me anymore?.

Posted in: Internet, Technology,

Back when the whole "Metro" craze was going on (it did end right?), I remember being told that having a nice watch on your wrist was a "requirement". Of course the implication was that women would be looking out for that. I really did not pay attention back then.

Later I remember someone showing me their imitation Rolex they bought for a couple hundred bucks (I think it was $1200?). Of course the real watch would be in the ten's of thousands (40 grand?), so it was a deal? Even then I didn't pay attention.

Eventually I got a nice time piece of my own, and suddenly I had the uncontrollable urge to look at everyone's wrist. I had to know what brand or style of watch they were wearing. Whether it suited them, whether it was pricey, did it match their style? But the worst habit I developed was that I would try to analyze to see if it showed something about their character.

So I was in New York last year. Everyone who's walked through the streets near Time Square has seen all the peddlers selling their bootleg DVD's, their glamorous purses or best: their luxury watches. I would hope most people know that they're knock-offs. Anyways I did approach one such fellow and gazed into his suitcase on a stand. There were all sorts of imitation Rolex's, Citizen's, Movado's and Breitling's - terrible looking in my opinion and obviously fake. But the best part of it was that I really got to see what type of watch the peddler was wearing: a $15 Casio plastic LCD watch.

I wonder what that shows?

Posted in: Life, Funny, Stuff,

Let's see. I need to get from here to there.

Well I'm pretty sure I need to go. But I really don't know how to get there. It's pretty far from here. I guess I could use a map. Perhaps? Yeah, that would help. Well the map ... the maps seems to be a bit old. Not sure if I'm making an informed decision to travel that distance based on outdated information. Well it appears as though the route to get there involves some travel on unfamiliar roads. Look at that, it requires the freeway. Hmmm, freeway always has plenty of issues. There might be lots of traffic ... for all I know there could be construction ... or worse I might have to go through some less-than-friendly neighborhoods. Better check the tires, don't want to get a flat. While I'm at, should also check the oil and transmission. Driving with a full tank is also safer. It could rain or worse it could snow, should err on the side of caution. Right? Probably a good idea to give myself some extra time so I don't feel rushed. But that means getting out a little earlier. That can be rather inconvenient. But coming home could be just as bad, better try to return while its still bright outside. Don't want to be on the road with drunk drivers. Looks good, nothing to worry about, I think I should get there just fine.

Hmmm, well it is a bit far and I guess I really didn't have to go. Probably shouldn't bother. Probably better to stay home.

Yeah, sounds like the right decision.

Posted in: Life, Random,