This entry was published at least two years ago (originally posted on October 5, 2009). Since that time the information may have become outdated or my beliefs may have changed (in general, assume a more open and liberal current viewpoint). A fuller disclaimer is available.
Sometime between October 2nd and October 5th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!
- DropBox: "Dropbox is the easiest way to store, sync, and, share files online. There's no complicated interface to learn. Dropbox works seamlessly with your operating system and automatically makes sure your files are up-to-date. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux." Just got this installed on the 'puters I'm using frequently, and so far, it's seamless and really impressive. Off to a good start.
- Can I change the frequency that google notifier (Mac OS X) checks my email?: You can adjust the interval by clicking on the mail icon and then holding down the Command and Option keys while clicking on Preferences. This will pop open a box for a key/value pair. Use AutocheckInterval as the key (case-sensitive) and then set the interval (in minutes) for it to check as the value.
- Gender in Pixar: "Even though Pixar puts a lot of effort into creating stand-out female supporting characters, it is far past time that they put that very same effort into telling the story of such a character instead of simply including her in someone else's. Girls, put simply, need to have leading characters that they can look up to just as much as boys do; they need to experience stories that are about a woman's dreams, struggles, and trials. At the end of the day maybe we're talking about animated children's films**, but such media in at least some small respect has a part in informing the way that a child develops and begins to think about the world around them."
- Can a Woman "Prong" a Man? Why it’s so hard to put sex in the dictionary.: "WARNING: This piece contains vulgar language—lots and lots of it—that may be inappropriate for children or the faint of heart." That said, if you are neither a child nor faint of heart, it's well worth reading — an interesting and often amusing look at the difficulties encountered when dictionaries attempt to deal with sexual matters.
- Dark Stalking on Facebook: "By far the most interesting part of all of this have been dark users. Like dark matter, these users are not directly observable, usually because they've completely disabled API access. In fact, some of these users are completely dark unless you're a friend. They don't show up in search results. They don't show up on friends' lists. You can't send them messages. These users have their privacy settings turned up real high, and are supposed to be hard to find. However like dark matter, dark users are observable due to their effects on the rest of the universe. If a dark user comments on a stream entry, I can see that comment. More importantly, I can see their user-ID, and I can generate a URL to a page that will contain their name. I can then watch for their activities elsewhere. Granted, I can't directly search for their activity, but I can observe their effects on my friends. For want of a better term, I've been calling this "dark stalking"."