Ryan Dillman » Fun Stuff

The Bigfoot Hoax

Ryan Dillman — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:45:13 +0000

Well, it comes as no surprise to most that the alleged Bigfoot corpse that made headlines for the last couple weeks has turned out to be a hoax. It seems extremely unlikely that a creature the size of Bigfoot living in regions populated by humans could have remained undiscovered all these years. Shouldn’t we have a body, indisputable video footage, droppings, bones, or some other tangible evidence by now? Still, if you’re like Fox Mulder and want to believe, there are sites out there where you can meet like-minded researchers and Bigfoot afficianados.

Bigfoot Links

Bigfoot Wikipedia Page – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigfoot

Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization – http://www.bfro.net/

Bigfoot Encounters – http://www.bigfootencounters.com/

The Shadowlands Bigfoot Page – http://theshadowlands.net/bf.htm

The Skeptic’s Dictionary Bigfoot Entry – http://www.skepdic.com/bigfoot.html

Alliance of Independent Bigfoot Researchers – http://209.85.50.7/~skookum/

Willow Creek-China Flat Museum – http://bigfootcountry.net/home/

Loren Coleman, Cryptozoologist – http://www.lorencoleman.com/

Bigfoot Lives – http://www.bigfoot-lives.com/

The Bigfoot Discovery Project – http://www.bigfootdiscoveryproject.com/

Skeptic World Bigfoot Page – http://www.skepticworld.com/cryptozoology/big-foot.asp

Free Comic Book Day May 3

Ryan Dillman — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:03:11 +0000

For the last 7 years now, comic book shops around the country have been celebrating an annual event called Free Comic Book Day. If you go to a participating comic book store on that day, you’ll receive at least one (but probably several) free comic books. This year (2008) the event falls on Saturday, May 3, so if you want to grab some free comics for yourself or the kids, head on out to your nearest comic book shop. Don’t know where to find a comic store? There’s a store locator on the official Free Comic Book Day website.

MyGame.com

Ryan Dillman — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:01:09 +0000

Have you ever wanted to create your own time-wasting flash game like the ones you see plastered all over the web? Well, now, even if you don’t have any programming skills, you can upload a few photos and create your own mini-game in minutes. Then you can e-mail that game to friends or embed it on your Myspace page or other website. Here’s a sample game I created when I tested out the site:

Other games

Build your own games

I Has a Hot Dog

Ryan Dillman — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 02:04:02 +0000

From the minds behind I Can Haz Cheezburger? comes I Has a Hot Dog, a site dedicated to silly picture of dogs. This is a time wasting site if ever there was one. Subscribe to their daily photo e-mail list if you need a morning pick-me-up every day like I do.

Cute “Happy Leap Year” Video

Ryan Dillman — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 19:17:07 +0000

Just Letters

Ryan Dillman — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 19:49:12 +0000

One of the classic time wasting sites on the web can be found at Lunchtimers. It’s a virtual refrigerator door covered in letter magnets. The fun is trying to spell out words while other people around the world are also trying to spell out words of their own. You can work together, disrupt their attempts, or try to post your own message on the fridge. It’s a unique way to kill 5 minutes and it’s something that could only exist on the Internet. Click here to check it out.

Falling Sand

Ryan Dillman — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:30:34 +0000

Sometimes the simplest sites are the coolest, such as Falling Sand, a page where different colors of sand drip down from the top of the screen and you use your mouse to draw lines and shapes to change the path of the sand. Play around with this for a few minutes and see what kind of crazy patterns you can create. Check it out here.

Jib Jab

Ryan Dillman — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:52:53 +0000

Don’t send a lame eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Jib Jab is another one of those goofy, time-wasting sites where you can upload photos of your friends, family, co-workers, etc. to make videos of them dancing like idiots or doing other ridiculous stuff. Hilarity ensues. I tested the site out above using some photos of co-workers. Below, you’ll see one of Jib Jab’s sample videos, disco-dancing Clinton and Obama. The only thing I don’t like about the site is that there are fees involved in using most of their templates, although some of them are free, like the one I used above.

Disco – Clinton & Obama
Uploaded by JibJab

Bittersweets

Ryan Dillman — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:50:30 +0000

Normally, I’m in favor of holidays that involve candy, but like most men, I’m not a fan of Valentine’s Day. It’s a day where women expect us to shower them with affection and gifts for no apparent reason. How is that different than every other day of the year? That said, I may just have to buy some Valentine’s Day candy this year at Think Geek. I’m not sure if my wife would appreciate a tin of Bittersweets or not though. She would, however, like their caffeine candy and their chocolate avatars.

When you care enough to send the very worst…

There have been much poetry and many songs written about the tender topic of love. For quite some time, the pinnacle of amorous written expression has been the candy heart. With concise messages of affection, candy hearts rule. Sometimes, though, people suck, love hurts, and all the candy hearts in the world cannot make it better. But why make it better? Why not make it as bad as it can get? For the lonely, the miserable, and melancholy, we give you Bittersweets.

Delicious Heartache

Bittersweets are Despair, Inc.’s answer to the candy heart. They are candy and they are heart-shaped, but gone are the messages of affection. Instead, you’ll get messages of sadness, aloneness, and, well, despair. They are available in three unique collections: Dejected, Dysfunctional, and Dumped. Each collection features up to 37 unique sayings each and come in an attractive and reusable tin! Here are some examples:

Dejected sayings include:

Dysfunctional sayings include:

10 Reasons It Doesn’t Pay To Be “The Computer Guy”

Ryan Dillman — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:37:01 +0000

Any IT person should be able to relate to this sad, funny, and true blog post by Saun Boyd.

Source: Life Reboot

Top Ten Reasons it doesn’t pay to be the computer guy:

Reason #10 – Most Of Your Accomplishments Are Invisible

The computer guy never hears anyone tell him, “I just want to let you know … everything is working fine!”

The reality is that people call the computer guy when something is wrong.

As a computer guy, if you work really hard to make everything work the way that it should, and things work fine, then people believe you don’t do anything. Everything you manage to get working correctly or do perfectly will forever remain unnoticed by computer users. They’ll only ever notice that you do anything when something isn’t working correctly, and you are called upon to fix it.

Reason #9 – Every Conversation You Have Is Roughly The Same

When the computer guy dares to mention what he does for a living, the typical response is, “I have a question about my home computer…”

Or when the computer guy first hears about a widespread problem within the computer network he’s responsible for, he can barely begin to assess the problem before a dozen other people call to report the same problem.

Or when the computer guy explains a certain process on a computer to a user who is incapable of retaining the process, he will inevitably need to reinstruct the user of this same process — indefinitely.

Reason #8 – You’re An Expert Of Bleeding-Edge Technology Products, Aren’t You?

The computer guy often finds himself in situations where someone is asking him for advice on a pending investment of the technological variety.

“I heard about (some hardware or software product) that can do (something desirable) for me. I brought you these (advertisements/reviews/printouts) because I wanted your recommendation. Which would you buy?”

Although the inquiring person sincerely trusts the computer guy’s judgment over their own, in almost every instance the real objective of these meetings is to ensure their own immunity from making a risky purchase.

If it turns out to be a bad investment, and they cannot get (the hardware or software product) to do (anything desirable), then you will be their personal scapegoat — “But honey, the computer guy said I should buy it!”

Reason #7 – Your Talents Are Forcibly Undervalued

Thanks to the constantly declining price of new computers, the computer guy cannot charge labor sums without a dispute. If he asks to be paid what he is worth, he will likely be met with the “why not buy new?” argument.

That is, desktop computers are always getting smaller, faster, and cheaper. It’s possible to purchase a new desktop computer for under $400. If the computer guy spends five hours fixing a computer and wants $100/hour for his time, his customer will be outraged, exclaiming “I didn’t even spend this much to BUY the computer, why should I pay this much just to FIX it?”

Reason #6 – You’re Never Allowed A Moment’s Peace

The computer guy is so prone to interruption that he rarely finds an opportunity to work on his own problems. This is because:

Computers never sleep.
Computer problems aren’t scheduled.
Every problem takes time to diagnose.
The computer guy can only give one problem his full attention.
Each user believes their problem deserves attention now.
Consequently, the computer guy has a 24/7 obligation to keep critical computer systems running, while simultaneously juggling everyone’s problems. He’ll often need to forfeit any opportunities to tend to his own needs for the sake of others — because at any moment, of any day, he can be interrupted by someone who wants to make their problem his problem.

Reason #5 – People Ask You To Perform Miracles

The computer guy is often mistaken for someone who possesses the combined skills of an old priest and a young priest. I’ll sum this up easily by example:

“No, I really can’t recover any files from your thumb drive, even if you did find it after it passed through your dog.”

Reason #4 – Your Assumed “All-Knowing” Status Sets You Up To Let People Down

There is no common understanding that there are smaller divisions within the computer industry, and that the computer guy cannot be an expert in all areas. What makes things worse, is when the computer guy attempts to explain this to someone asking for help, the person will often believe that the computer guy is withholding the desired knowledge to avoid having to help.

This is somewhat related to the next reason:

Reason #3 – You Possess Unlimited Responsibility

The computer guy is expected to solve problems. It is difficult to determine the boundaries of that expectation.

Some of the oddest things that I’ve been asked to do include:

Use pirated software to undelete important company files.
Create an Intranet, after explaining I didn’t know how to.
Teach someone how to hide their pornography collection.
Solving problems can range from replacing batteries in a wireless keyboard to investigating why the entire building loses power at the same time every morning. Resolutions can necessitate weaving a 50-foot cable through a drop ceiling, or wriggling under a house on your belly to add an electrical outlet.

Reasons #4 and #3 boil down to this: no matter how often you want to play the role of a hero, there will always be circumstances that test the limits of your ability to be one. It’s difficult to judge when helping someone means doing something immoral, and it’s even harder to admit you are unable to solve someone’s problem — and chances are, that someone will view you as incompetent because you were unable to help them.

Reason #2 – A Life Of Alienation

People only talk to the computer guy when they need him to fix something. Also, when the computer guy approaches a user, they’ll hop up out of their chair under the presumption that he’s there to fix something — as if it would never be expected that he only wants to strike up a conversation.

The fact that the computer guy never gets a moment’s peace can also practically force him to withdraw into solitude. His co-workers don’t understand that he doesn’t want to hear about their computer problems during his lunch hour — he does that every other hour of the day. That’s why the computer guy eats lunch alone with his door closed, or goes out to eat every day — not because he’s unfriendly, but because he needs to escape the incessant interruptions.

Reason #1 – You Have No Identity

It’s an awful experience when the computer guy shows up at a neighbor’s doorstep with a plate of Christmas cookies, only to have the child who answered the door call out, “Mom, the computer guy is here!” He begs for an identity that is not directly associated with computers, but “the computer guy” label walks ahead of him — it simply cannot be avoided. I was given a name and I’d love to be addressed by it.

Having read these reasons, you may believe that I’m complaining. It’s true that I was upset with many aspects of my life as the computer guy, but I’m past the point of complaining.

I took a good hard look at my existence and realized that things were not likely to change in the line of work I had chosen. Instead of just complaining, I took action and began making positive changes in my life.

Working in the computer industry isn’t for everybody. It wasn’t for me. I’ve compiled my reasons for putting it behind me and placed them here, so that anyone who is unsatisfied with their life working in computers might recognize it’s not for them either.

——————————-

Also, check out “I’m A Programmer, Not A Computer Guy” by Brian Sorrell. He makes some very good points. By the way, I’m a web guy not a computer guy. I wish I could make people understand the difference.