What Alex Says

tunaepyrgna: Alex says that I need to talk to you about baby making cause he wants baby toys.
CryptoJoe2600: LOL
tunaepyrgna: Actually his exact words were "Mommy, baby making. Talk to Joe. Want baby toys."

XBOX HDTV

I’ve been a little lazy about posting lately, I wanted to put up some pictures from my birthday but I didn’t get around to it.

Yesterday, I found out that I wasn’t running my XBOX in the highest resolution. On Saturday, Brian pointed out that he didn’t think that the game looked any different, even though Amy had given me the HDTV component video connectors. I was playing Knights of the Old Republic last night and I died and realized I hadn’t saved in a while. Recalling my conversation with Brian, I decided to go look for some settings. Sure enough, the only mode enabled for the XBOX was 480I. I added all other modes, 480P, 720P, & 1080I; I also set it up for a16x9 screen. Boy was I missing out, the game looks twice as good with the new settings. I didn’t play much more, I’m trying to limit may video game playing time.

Alex’s Aquarium Trip

Alex was had a busy day on Saturday, for some reason in the afternoon he couldn’t stop talking about sharks. I asked him if he wanted to see some sharks and he said yes, so, on the spur of the moment, I took him to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. It was just Alex and me, since we don’t get to spend too much time together just the two of us. We walked around for a while, saw lots of fish and other things. One of the last things to see was the sharks, and boy did Alex like them. The funny thing is, he was afraid of them at the same time, I guess it is to be expected. When seeing one up close he exclaimed, “Sharks got teeth!”

We ended up spending more time drive to Baltimore and back than we did actually touring the aquarium, but that is ok. Once we got home we went right back out to eat at Arby’s.

Big SMTP Banner

While troubleshooting a mail problem with sending mail from my company to another organization, a coworker of mine found the strangest SMTP banner I’ve ever seen. The names have been changed to protect the RFC violators.

220-mail.xxxx.org ESMTP XXX-ITD Mail Server; Fri, 07 Jan 2005 15:45:29 -0500
220-****************************************
220-* Secure Mail Server *
220-* *
220-* All connections are logged! *
220-* This server employs anti-virus and anti-spam technology *
220-****************************************
220-ATTENTION! Access / Consent Notice.
220-This Organization (XXX) computer system is monitored.
220-This computer system, including all related equipment (includes internet access)
220-are provided only for authorized XXX use. XXX computer systems are monitored
.
220-To ensure their use is authorized, for management of the system, to facilitate
220-protection against unauthorized access, and to verify security procedures,
220-survivability, and operational security. During monitoring, information maybe
220-examined, recorded, copied, and used for authorized purposes.
220-All information, including personal information, placed on or sent over
220-this system may be monitored. Use of this XXX computer system, authorized or
220-unauthorized, constitutes consent to monitoring. Unauthorized use of this XXX
220-computer system may subject you to criminal prosecution. Evidence of unauthorized
220-use collected during monitoring may be used for administrative, criminal, or
220-other adverse action.
220 IF YOU DO NOT CONCUR WITH THE ABOVE NOTICE, LOG OFF NOW / DO NOT LOG IN.

In contrast, this is what a normal SMTP banner looks like

220 IGR-IMC-01.redmond.corp.microsoft.com Fri, 7 Jan 2005 12:46:41 -0800

Needless to say, I think that the mail delivery problem we are experiencing will be due to the extra large banner.

Alex’s Cute Knock Knock Joke

Alex: Knock Knock.
Amy: Who’s there?
Alex: Me.
Amy: Me who?
Alex: Alex.

National Sales Tax

I thought of an interesting problem, technically, two problems that would have to be solved before the federal income tax system could be replaced with a national sales tax. I’m not necessarily for or against a national sales tax, but many people think it is a good idea

First, one could avoid a lot of taxation by buying items on credit before the national sales tax is implemented. That purchase would remain untaxed as would the income used to pay the debt. This could end up being a big problem because people are likely to make many large purchases, everything from cars, boats, and planes, to hot tubs and big screen TV’s. I know that would be the first thing that I would think of, buy that new car before the sales tax hits. But then again, the government knows how to get its money and might devise a way to hit remaining credit balances with the tax when it goes into effect.

Secondly, and a bigger problem if you ask me, people could be taxed twice on their hard earned income. Any money in the bank when the national sales tax goes into effect was taxed when it was earned, and will be taxed again when it is spent. Imagine getting that $1000 bonus, say, $600 after taxes in December, but when you spend it in January, you are hit with an extra 17% or so tax, basically making your $1000 bonus worth about $500. This would be even worse for those who have been saving for retirement all their life, all while being taxed (yes, 401K’s are taxed on withdraw, but not all retirement savings are that way, such as CDs ROTH IRAs, good old savings accounts), suddenly at retirement, everything costs 17% more due to the tax. They will have to work out some sort of tax refund system when you are spending money that has already been taxed as income.

Chocolate Pie

We were at my mother’s house yesterday for an early dinner and for desert, my stepfather had made some chocolate pie. Chocolate pie is basically just thick chocolate pudding in a gram cracker crust. Alex just loved it, before even tasting it, just the words chocolate pie made his eyes light up, and he repeated, “chocolate pie”. I thought it was pretty tasty too.