Entries from March 2006The Posts You Asked For

I went to my first NASCAR event today — it was just warmups for the race on Sunday. More about the experience later, but for now I put a handful of photos from the pit right here.

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Q: I’ve got a low IQ and a driver’s license. When I want to turn left at a green light, I sometimes forget that — even with the green — the oncoming traffic has right of way. Is there any way to remind stupid people like me to yield on a left turn?
A: Why, yes, [...]

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It wasn’t long ago that many of us read about an article in the journal Nature that compared Wikipedia to the Encyclopedia Britannica. It found that, despite news reports of Wikipedia errors, the online encyclopedia was almost as accurate as Britannica.
Well, today comes a response from Britannica that essentially tears Nature’s piece to shreds, pointing [...]

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All right, I know I should have expected this but it’s still gut-wrenchingly disgusting.
They’ve released a novelization of V for Vendetta, the movie.
The movie was based on a book — a graphic novel, to be precise. But the movie is apparently so different from the book that they had to release a new book!
AUGH!
The cover [...]

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I’m looking at doing a story on cell phone designed for seniors — how maybe a kids phone like the Firefly would also work well for a senior who has trouble using those tiny buttons.
I sent this image to my editor, who took a beat before he realized it was a joke:

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According to NBC News, when agents of the Transportation Security Administration attempted to smuggle bombs through 21 different airport security screeners, all 21 got through.
In all 21 airports tested, no machine, no swab, no screener anywhere stopped the bomb materials from getting through. Even when investigators deliberately triggered extra screening of bags, no one discovered [...]

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My USA Today column this week goes a bit more in depth into what’s going on in the world of debit-card theft.
Here’s the sticking point: The transaction processor should discard the card information and PIN block after the purchase. But not all do. They might keep it for hours, days, or longer.
If someone was [...]

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Note to the folks at KUSA news in Denver: It’s NOT a “pin number,” it’s a PIN — personal identification number.
Now I realize that in conversation a lot of people will say “PIN number” even though it’s redundant (“personal identification number number”), and that’s OK. Ditto for “ATM machine.” But if you’re a news writer [...]

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Just an amusing observation from some phone calls today. The FBI’s press office answers the phone with a brusk “Media Relations.” On the other hand, the Secret Service answers with a friendly, “Secret Service Media Relations, this is so-and-so, how can I help you?”
(Amusing side note: If the Secret Service calls you, your Caller ID [...]

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Note: Correction added 3/17
Someone has stolen not only a whole heck of a lot of debit-card numbers, but also the PINs that go along with them, forcing a list of banks to cut off access to those accounts until they reissue cards, or in some cases to simply send customers new debit cards before those [...]

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Oh, great. I’ve taken to tearing up those credit card applications I get, along with any other offer that involves money or personal info.
Turns out I’m not as smart as I thought I was.
Rob over at Cockeyed.com did a test: He took a Chase MasterCard application, tore it up, taped it back together, filled [...]

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Warning: Spoilers for David Baldacci’s The Camel Club ahead.
I’ve never read The Camel Club, and I doubt I will. But I was checking it out on Amazon, and found yet another example of the absolutely worst kind of book review. I am astounded that the guy who wrote this is employed as a reviewer by [...]

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Two college students were arrested Wednesday and a third was being sought in a string of nine rural Alabama church arsons that allegedly were set first as “a joke” and later as a diversion, federal agents said.
I was a kid once, and a college kid. I never felt the need to destroy buildings for fun. [...]

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According to the Bush administration, if you pay off too much on your credit card bill, you become a suspected terrorist.
Seriously. You don’t have to make overseas phone calls, or buy too much ammonium nitrate, or subscribe to the wrong magazines. All you have to do is pay off more on your credit card than [...]

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It’s a calendar.

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I wrote what I think is a fun story for the Roanoke Times. The subject: Pooper-scooper services. The trick was to avoid too many obvious puns but include the good ones (e.g., “What can brown do for you?”) — without trying to be funny.
Lemme know what you think. And check out the minute-and-a-half slideshow [...]

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We only let Sam watch a few TV shows, mostly on Noggin or PBS (no commercials!). This being 2006, they’re all disgustingly politically correct and generally benign.
Or so I thought. Once I looked more carefully, though, I realized the kinds of dangerous lessons some of them are teaching.
Some things I learned from watching kids shows:

From [...]

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Apparently the Canadian, Russian, and UK networks that Citibank uses to validate its customers’ ATM cards have been comprimised. Anyone using those networks has their accounts locked until they return to the U.S. (If they aren’t planning to come back immediately, tough noogies.)
Here’s one guy’s account of how the bank is handling it.
Here’s the Modesto [...]

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According to a poll, one in five Americans thinks the First Amendment guarantees the right to own a pet.

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(Click the image to go to many more entries in the Photoshop contest.)

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