1. Please look at the original distribution of an email before you forward it, so you're not sending it to people who've already got it. Especially if it's got several megabytes of embedded graphics.
2. When there's a discussion about said email with several megabytes of embedded graphics, since everyone's already seen them the first time around, please delete the frigging graphics from your reply, mmkay?

It's nearly 11 PM. I'm a three-and-a-half-hour drive away from home. We're still not done installing this office.

And I don't get overtime...

Edit: Finally got home Friday night around 10 PM. A 53-hour work week... and Monday was a holiday.

In a story on the one-eyed kitten:

AP regional photo editor Tom Stathis said he took extensive steps to confirm the one-eyed cat was not a hoax. Stathis had Allen ship him the memory card that was in her camera. On the card were a number of pictures -- including holiday snapshots, and four pictures of a one-eyed kitten. The kitten pictures showed the animal from different perspectives.

Fabricating those images in sequence and in the camera's original picture format, from the varying perspectives, would have been virtually impossible, Stathis said.

First off, if someone were skilled enough to sculpt a one-eyed kitten and punch hair into it, it would be trivial to simply take photos of it from different angles.

Secondly, anyone seeing the current incarnation of King Kong cannot help but realize that it's possible to generate exceptionally realistic computer models, fur and all — and once accomplished, it would be extremely simple to render such a model into a real-world scene in the same image format and resolution as a camera's images (including the characteristics of the specific camera's CCD and lens distortion), add the appropriate EXIF data to the image, and simply overwrite existing files on the memory stick.

"Virtually impossible" my ass. "Hey, it's a JPEG, and the file names have the right sequence numbers in them. It must be real!" (Mind you, I have no opinion regarding whether or not the cyclops kitten is real; I'm just scoffing at the "extensive steps" Tom Stathis took to authenticate the images.)

The Sci Fi Channel will be running the new Doctor Who starting in March. Well, last year's Doctor Who, but it's better than nothing.

A couple of weeks ago, I learned the term chindogu — an "unuseless" invention, something that theoretically serves a purpose but which one would find too embarrassing to actually use. For example, a T-shirt with a numbered grid on the back which you could use to tell someone exactly where to scratch; or chopsticks with a small electric fan attached, to cool your noodles without having to blow on them.

While searching for more info on the Nokia 770, I came across this, and I'm not sure whether it's useful or unuseless: a combination cellphone/glucose meter.

...then I could understand lyrics like this:

Donald was mumpit wi' mirds and mockery
Donald was blindid wi' blads o' property
Arles ran high, but makin's war naethin', man
Lord, how Donald is flytin' an' frettin', man

My panis dois exceid, as they say.

Here I am, eating lunch downtown with my beautiful wife. And blogging, just because I can. Muah hah hah.

I used to hate beer, up until a couple of years ago. That was when I discovered that beer didn't have to taste like Budweiser and Coors. Thank you, Victor, for introducing me to Trois Pistoles, my personal gateway to the wonderful world of beers that don't resemble having sex in a canoe.

Last weekend, we went down to ArtSci, and spent the night with The Lunchbox and Lisabetta. Karen and I really miss the some of the gustatory experiences available in Tampa, so our hosts were kind enough to go with us to Der Schnitzelhaus. Alas, accordion-playing Inga wasn't there that evening. Chef Mike spent most of the evening ignoring The Lunchbox when he visited our table, but then he turned right to him and busted out a joke about the Nazis invading France. And then turned the Apfelstrudel into a dis on Democrats. Maybe it was the fact that The Lunchbox was the only one at the table drinking wine instead of beer; I don't know. But The Lunchbox was admirably restrained, and didn't go Maquis on Chef Mike's ass.

Tangent: Speaking of the French, last week I downloaded an interesting e-book version of a pamphlet originally produced by the US government: 112 Gripes about the French.

Anyway, back to the original topic: I tried a new beer at Der Schnitzelhaus, which immediately became one of my favorites: Köstritzer Schwarzbier. I'm surprised, since as a general rule I've found that I tend to prefer the heavier flavor of ales, but this one's actually a lager. (Interesting trivia from Wikipedia: Köstritzer Schwarzbier has been made since 1543; one of its most famous drinkers was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.)

Now to see if I can find a source in Tallahassee...

Why does a driver's license cease being a valid form of identification when it expires? Yes, it no longer permits one to operate a motor vehicle, but does one's name magically change once that fateful date is passed? Does the picture suddenly resemble someone entirely different than the person it's not a good likeness of? Do I care that I just ended that sentence with a preposition?

(Not my license, BTW; working where I do, it's no longer a hassle to renew my card(s) or tag — well, except for the fact that they don't take plastic, and there's no ATM in the building.)