Here's To Mike

This site allows you to view and hear the sounds different microphones make. There are also some great photos of entertainers, presidents, and others throughout the years.

CHEAP SOFTWARE SCAMS

This just in from Woody's Office Watch.

Among spammers there's trends and fads, and I'm not getting so many offers to enlarge my bodily parts these days, but I am getting more and more offers for cheap software - especially Microsoft Office and Symantec products.

Most offers are quite primitive but some look a bit more sincere - we've seen one that's a decent copy of a familiar Amazon product page. Naturally it has nothing to do with Amazon.

Please, I beg of you, just delete these offers without a second thought.

Even if you did get something in the mail for your money, it's certain to be an illegal copy. More likely your money would disappear into someone's laughing pockets never to be seen again.

Over the years, we've heard from people who have paid money to these con-artists and get angry when they get some obviously pirated CD's. Amazingly their anger isn't at the retailer, but rather they blame Microsoft! We've had emails from people who expect Microsoft to make good their loss. As you know, we're always ready to blame Microsoft when they get things wrong - but the gullibility of a shopper isn't their fault.

It stands to reason that if someone unknown to you offers e.g. Office Professional upgrade for $50 when it retails for $330, then there's something screwy going on.

If you believe stories about it being unwanted stock, a sale from a bankrupt business or whatever - then we have some bridges in select locations around the world that we can offer at reasonable rates.

I say it again - don't be tempted, just delete the messages and move on.

Computerized Running Shoes

Adidas has developed a running shoe with a computer chip inside that adjusts the cushioning level as the wearer runs. Full story

The Top 8 Features of the Computerized Running Shoe

8. Works with either CAT-5 or twisted pair of laces.

7. You have to throw out all your old socks due to incompatibility.

6. The same shoes purchased a week after yours for the same price let you run 10% faster.

5. Built in History function allows the shoes to guide you down old familiar paths.

4. Not enough RAM for a virus checker means it's very susceptible to athlete's foot and gout.

3. It's featured in the new Kurt Russell Disney kid flick sequel, "The Computer WAS a Tennis Shoe."

2. To reboot, you give it the "Three-Toed Salute."

1. You think you're going to wear them to do lots of important things, but you end up mostly walking into porn shops.

Copyright 2004 by Chris White

National Geographic Maps

National Geographic isn't just native women with bare, um, you know....

Enter a country, continent, city or even US ZIP code. You'll find information on the area, population statistics, environmental information and more. You can zoom in to city level or all the way out to world level. Interactive Maps

Those following the news will be interested in the map of Iraq.

SpoofStick Phights Phishers

Phishers are an especially nasty sort of cyber-criminal. A phisher creates web sites that look "just like" legitimate web sites (such as Earthlink, PayPal, eBay, Citibank, and so on). The phisher then tries to trick people into going to a spoofed site by sending out fake email messages or posting links in public places - hoping that some percentage of users won't notice the incorrect URL and give away important information.

SpoofStick is a simple browser extension that helps users detect spoofed (fake) websites.

Download SpoofStick for Internet Explorer
Download SpoofStick for Firefox (Mozilla)

Love Movies? Read All About Them

Reel Classics: Elizabeth's Classic Movie Homepage
The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Completely Useless Technology

Is Your Pitcher Half Full or Half Empty?

Well, Maybe It's Not So Useless If You Have THIS Technology

Pizza Party is a free, text based Linux program for ordering Domino's pizza via Quikorder, or for throwing pizza parties. It is distributed under the GNU General Public License, runs under most *nix shells, and can order pizza with only a few keystrokes. Includes video of actual ordering.