This is pretty funny. A Fear Factor viewer is suing NBC for watching contestants eat rats.

Hmmm ... 2.5 million? Maybe I can sue for some money when the American Idol contestants' singing made my ears hurt.

Posted in: Funny, Random,

As almost none of you can recall, I started this site in early 2003, and I remember counting visitors 1 by 1. There were so few I knew them all by IP (yes, I hate to admit that). Anyways, I eventually started with my Guides and Resources (which was one of my intents from the beginning). I got a little bit of traffic from that, maybe 50 hits or so a day, during mid to late 2003. I remember being so excited when I surpasses 100 hits in a day. I remember gloating to my brother each time I had a big number. Man, how lame.

So come December 2003, I wrote a linux guide for Fedora Core 1 and somehow open source guru Eric S. Raymond found it useful enough to recommend to others. And BAM!! Crank it up a notch. My daily traffic soared to almost 400 a day by the end of December 2003. (Thanks Eric). So I kept on it and wrote some more guides and in May 2004, I saw my usual of almost 1,000/day double. And it kept growing, enough to bother me that each time my host went down, a few hundred people would not get through. So I jumped hosts at the end of summer. I guess it was worth the money, because starting august I was watching an average 2,000/day increase per month. Yeah, so I was getting an average of 8,000 hits per day when december ended! I even crossed 10,000 once last month.

So what's the downside? Well it sucks up a lot of my time. I also get countless requests for help. I mean some are worth it. I had an Iraqi email me from Baghdad thanking me for the useful info. And lots of others from all over the world doing the same. But I still have to deal with rude people who think that I'm offering complex support for free or students or IT workers who want me to do part of their job for them. Aahh, well, it comes with the territory. I guess I shouldn't ignore the generous cash and other gifts people have sent.

So even though I only get 1 reader of my blog for every 200 or so who read my guides, I'm still content. Who are all you people? :) I don't care, but I'm so very glad all of you out there are finding my work useful. I know my numbers might seem insignificant to some people, but I only see it as affirmation that I'm doing something productive and helpful.

Posted in: Website,

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, because I sure did. I don't have much to report other than that is was a very relaxed holiday and the time off was very much needed. I spent some quality time with the family: laughing, eating, arguing and the usual. Wouldn't have it any other way. The gift giving part was okay. The kiddies couldn't keep up with the presents, but thankfully no Santa outfit this year.

So the year concludes tomorrow, but I'll give my rants and raves today. Starting at the beginning. I wrote down 7 resolutions on Jan 3, and to this day I think I only accomplished 2 and a 1/2. I said I wanted to redeem myself and I think I made out okay.

Now I look back I'm shocked how quickly the time went from that last winter to spring. My brother graduated and right after my family and I made our first trip to India in 21 years. And then the summer just flew by, people moving (Virginia, China), people getting hitched and by the end of summer I really thought I was in a ever sinking rut. And here's the part that gets me, in January I was sooo sure that come September I'd be on a different path but by the time we came back from India I realized that it would not happen. That is until something else came my way. I accepted, and the year accelerated to its close.

The odd thing is that nothing turned out the way I planned, but everything in the end was overwhelmingly positive. What started out as a dismal beginning has spiralled into a fantastic finale for me. Although I don't feel like I've accomplished very much, I take nothing for granted. I don't know why, but God smiled on me. It's good to know that you're on the right path.

So as I plan my next set of resolutions to disregard, I really hope everyone makes their way in the coming year. A year full of political folly, contentious media, war, and now horrific acts of nature - I hope its possible to come together. I've seen it before.

Let me stop before I go off on some other tangent. To all the people I missed in 2004, my most humble apologies. Come 2005 I will do better, mark my word. Looking forward to '05! Happy New Year to all!!!

Posted in: Life,

Hey, I updated my pictures again. If you know your party's extension you may dial it at anytime. I gave out the login to everyone I know, if I forgot you, please let me know. Send me an email or just send a message through this site.

I got a few summer pics, courtesy of Miranda's Chicago. And now thanks to modern technology too many digital pictures of thanksgiving. I don't mind comments, well enjoy! :-D

mjm wired :: Pictures

When I walk into work this morning there is a note outside of my section of cubicles. It reads something like this: "The heat was cancelled for this section, please feel free to relocate to other parts of the building." I thought it was a joke but sure enough my desk, computer and everything else seems like it was left out to cool. So I sit and try to work with my hat, scarf and gloves on.

Don't you just love working for a billion dollar company?

Posted in: Random,