So I just spent two days on the road without a PDA for the first time since US Robotics (remember them?) introduced the Palm Pilot. You know what? It wasn’t all that bad. Why? Well, for one thing, I just went around the local stops looking for a replacement, and as I stand there looking at the price tag on these things, I’m thinking, hmmmmm…is that a wise investment?

There is one thing that I really missed, and that was the phone book part. I have over 800 contacts in my Outlook, and I really need that instant access to them. Having a calendar handy is very nice, too. It gets tiresome pulling out the laptop and firing it up just to check an available date or a phone number. The great thing about the PDA is the fact that I can take that and a notepad into a Starbucks and get a hell of a lot of work done without effing with a laptop.

I’m sure I’m gonna replace the Palm, but I’m not sure with what. I still don’t like the smartphone concept. I was at breakfast this morning with a guy who has one of those Treos, and the phone froze during a call. Had to pull out a paper clip to re-boot his damn phone.

But I’m in a quandary. I knew the day would come when I ended up with a broken screen, because I can’t be bothered with a case for the damn thing…they always seemed kind of superfluous and just another expense (but I guess it’s not.) And that’s why I’ve always loved loved loved the clamshell devices. The only one available today is from Sony, and they just discontinued their PDA line. Hunting around, I found refurbs on sale at Overstock.com for $150 less than they are at CompUSA, and $50 less than they are at Fry’s. It’s still a tough price to swallow. But I’ll probably do it, because in my soul, I am a geek, and I loves my PDA, and let’s face it…after 8 years of carrying my brain around in my pocket, I have become accustomed to it.

Very, very sad today…I pulled my little Tungsten C out of my briefcase to charge and sync it, and…

…the screen is cracked.

Anyone know if it’s worth it to send it in and get a new screen?

BugMeNot.com — a database of generic userids to login to all the newspapers that require registration. Combined with Firefox’s Password Manager, a handy tool for avoiding bothersome registration procedures.

With the Iggster leaving the lame-ass blogging scene, I was very worried that his hard work on that massive blogroll would be lost. So I stole it, and fooled around a little bit, and added it over there on the right, under the glass of Guinness.

If you want to be added to the biggest damn poker blogroll in the universe, drop me a note. I’ll try to keep up, but I ain’t making no promises. If any get added, I’ll pass it on to him if he ever decides to start typing into the internet again.

Testing MT after moving from one machine to another.

Seems to be going OK…what say you?

The extreme pressure applied by my enormous mass & girth has forced Pokerati into accepting comments. “Masses are asses,” me own big, fat white ass!

Meanwhile, Dan gets a royal flush, the top dog card hand we all dream about. Problem is, I can’t think of a worse place to get one than where he did — heads-up in a $10 SNG. Maybe against your sweet Baptist Granny for matchsticks would be worse. Dang…you want that kind of hand in a ring game where there’s naught but nuts calling you all the way down. Still and all, a ROYAL!

NetNewsWire has a blogging app built in, so I don’t have to ever use Internet Explorer ever again (from Brian).

BaconMaker, a $36 stainless steel bacon press for making, um, bacon (investigate 10″ version, since bacon strips are longer than 8″.) (from me and my cast iron skillet)

Stop by bookstore (from El Platano Blanco):

6. Always take something to read with you to the Lake/Beach
A porn magazine, while funny, seems a little too obvious, even for disciples of El Platáno Blanco. Much better is something so off-center that anyone around you informs the police; go to the bookstore and get a large Curious George book, turn it upside down while you sit in the sun, concentrate on the pages intently. If you want to give them the full effect, bring a small notepad and pretend to take notes.

Last week, I had about 200 bikers scattered around my little piece of the Brazos, and I lost, oh, I’d reckon somewhere in the first set of four figures. Money-out-of-the-pocket lost, too, not lost-revenue lost.

This week, I’ve managed to make that in one night and there are fewer, quieter, cleaner (as in littering, not personally dirty (but probably that, too)) people.

I’m generally pretty slow, but I think that The Wife might be on to something with this idea.

I still think my idea, a herd of beeves of some nature, would have been best for all parties, since I could get the bro to feed them if I didn’t feel like coming down. Here’s what I really and truly want to do – the Texas Longhorn:

Moo.

Everybody laughs, but one of these days…

Does this mean the Browser Wars will re-ignite? This looks like some seriously nasty stuff.

NetSec, which provides managed security services for large businesses and government agencies, began detecting suspicious traffic on several of its customers’ networks on Thursday morning, said Chief Technology Officer Brent Houlahan. According to a SANS Institute report, the malicious code has only appeared on servers running Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS); NetSec says on the client side, only Internet Explorer browsers on Windows are vulnerable.

Examining firewall logs and other data points on those networks, NetSec found that when users visit certain popular Web sites – including an online auction, a search engine and a comparison shopping site – they unwittingly download a piece of malicious JavaScript code attached to an image or graphics file on the site.

Without the user’s knowledge, the code connects their PC to one of two IP addresses in North America and Russia. From those systems they unknowingly download a piece of malicious code that appears to install a keystroke reader and probably some other malicious code on the computer, Houlahan said.

Now I don’t know how you “attach” javascript to a graphics file or how IE is the only browser affected since all browsers run JS, but I’ll defer to the egghead experts. This pushed me over the edge to making Firefox my default browser. I’ve been using it for about a month anyway for everything but blogging (since FF doesn’t support HTMLAREA).

All right, then…

Here’s another lesson from TJ that I’ve read a hundred times but still is slowly getting pounded into my extraordinarily thick skull:

Back to the SNGs. I guess that, one day, I’ll start playing some ring games again, but right now I’m just having too much fun with the freezeouts. Right now, I think I’ll try a multi-table SNG.

Here’s one for you gearheads out there: I’m holding KK pre-flop, get some small action, call it with one other guy, and see a flop of 3 stinking Queens. There is humongous action in front of me. What would you do? Answer under the MORE button…
Read the rest of this entry »

I’m just like this rocking chair,

I’m moving but I ain’t going anywhere

Everybody, here’s a piece of advice — yall go get married when you’re young so your friends will be able to hang. Don’t make your first marriage be when you’re in your forties. I sure hate having about 16,000 other things that I have to put off so I can be a part of it. I mean, I’ll do it, because after all, you’re my pard, but sheesh…I got no gusto anymore.

No more marriages from the core Party Hogs this year, OK? I need my sleep.

In Dallas, when a player used to show down his hand and say, “I’ve got one small pair,” it usually was two queens!”

- TJ Cloutier

Dan “No Comments from you Jackasses” Michalski discusses QQ (the Hilton Sisters?) at Pokerati (start at the top and scroll down.) Boy, it sure would be nice to throw in a comment without writing an entire post, but journalists don’t like commenters. Anyhoo…

…so happens I was reading TJ Cloutier on the throne this morning viz large pairs in tournaments. He says Queenies are decidely not a large pair until you’re short-handed, and he defines short-handed as the last three or four. TJ calls them medium-large pairs, and includes JJ & TT in that category. TJ also recommends limping in with these medium pairs, and then only from late position. McEvoy, his co-author, will limp from any position with these. Both, however, recommend bailing if there is any significant action played back at you.

So, Dan had QQ with 9 at the table, opened up the betting for 3x the big blind from under the gun, and he got popped by a late position guy for a ~30xBB raise. Dan calls, and from there a pretty bad beat involving a post-flop all-in & runner-runner flush, ensues. Definitely ugly. Wacky thing is, Dan put the guy on the right hand, which he had beat when he called the all-in.

It’s an interesting situation, but my play would have been this: limp and hope to see the flop, & fold them bad girls pre-flop when it’s popped up so high. 30x the big blind is “significant action” in my book. Fold post-flop if there’s no fit, meaning to me, a set. Very definitely fold when the all-in comes at you.

Reasoning? Mainly, it’s early in the tournie. Again, I’m taking TJ’s advice – early on, you should play to stay afloat and let everybody else do the beating up and make the fancy moves. If you can pop someone or double up, then by all means, do it, but don’t take unnecessary chances. Pick up some blinds to stay even, but don’t overplay. At this point, it’s pretty much impossible to know your opponents betting styles, too, unless you have notes on them. Finally, I’m sick and tired of going broke with QQ…it’s happened to me so often, I get shaky when I see them pop up. I will pretty much always limp with them, call a small-ish raise, and I will stand very little damn heat with them, especially with if an A or K comes out. What I will never, ever do again is get broke with them.

What’s really sad about this is that Dan had the right read, and it didn’t pay off. That happens, I guess. I’m not so good at putting people on hands, even though I try. That might be because I’m playing online low-limit, and I don’t see the same guy twice in 100 sessions.

OK, then…

Oh, dear sweet merciful Lord — thank you!

Nine 90-minute episodes from the first NBC season

Should I buy it? Will I be disappointed? Will it be as tear-streamingly funny as it was the first time? Pshaw — don’t be ridiculous! Guy Caballero alone is worth the price of admission.

Needless to say, I will be playing $10 SNGs for the rest of the day to pay for this. I might even pay for overnight shipping.

Found it at Tom McMahon’s Palace of Hilarity…

My host, the Amazing Os, was set to do some work on the server side of things this week, and it looks like it might have been going on today sometime. That means Herself gets moved, too. Of the two, I’d far rather have mine blow up and be useless than hers…know what I mean, Vern?

I’m getting fairly tired of this dumb vanity website of my own, anyway. When it’s all said and done, I’m just another dumb schlub with the jack for a domain and a host. Griff asks himself in my comments if blogging jumped the shark. While I hate that term for it’s pop-culture trappings, I wonder, too. Probably so.

Ehh…I just need some fun. Too much work, no play, clutter and clatter of modern life, that kind of thing.

Buffalo Salutes Man in Chicken Wing Hat

Invented at Buffalo’s Anchor Bar in 1964, the wing has its own festival each Labor Day weekend. After the birthday festivities, the Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau sent Cerza on the road for a four-city tour to promote the festival, and the rest of the region’s assets.

“We’re going to use this great icon to promote Buffalo tourism,” Geiger said, as dozens lined up for free wings in the city’s Niagara Square.
Joining Cerza on the tour is Sonya Thomas, the 100-pound competitive eater who downed 134 wings in 12 minutes at last year’s Buffalo Wing Festival.

The wing tour includes stops in Pittsburgh and Erie, Pa., and Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.

[glub, glub] Buffalo does have the greatest wings in the world, no question, hands down. I can remember the end to a drunken night of revelrie in that fair city that involved a late-night drive-thru…and a complete roll of Ultra Tums the next day. I guarantee you, the maid HAD to have been looking under the bed for the dead body.

Guess where I’m going for lunch tomorrow? I did not know they had a Cuban sandwich on the menu. Sorry, Dr. Atkins — that 50 wing tailgate bucket has my name on it, too.