Authenticating office:
Orig:
Ben
Unit:
Date:
6 April 2005
Classified Message
Secret
Approved for release
6 Apr 2005
x
Routine
 
Deferred
0
x
Celebrity house tour via Google Maps

Have others? Leave them in the comments section!

Orig:
Ben
Unit:
Date:
21 December 2004
Classified Message
Secret
Approved for release
21 Dec 2004
x
Routine
 
Deferred
0
x
Magnetbox is now FeedBurnerized

For those of you who want to supersize your helping of Magnetbox, you can now subscribe to the FeedBurner feed at http://feeds.feedburner.com/magnetbox. With this feed you will be get both the normal sparse ramblings and the constant barrage of the del.icio.us links, all in one! You might also get some secret Magnetbox fan club photos via Flickr as well…

Orig:
Ben
Unit:
Date:
1 December 2004
Classified Message
Secret
Approved for release
1 Dec 2004
x
Routine
 
Deferred
0
x
E-mail marketing and donation systems for non-profits

Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations for small non-profit organizations that are interested in a web-based e-mail marketing system, and some way to accept online donations? (Being non-profits, they usually need to use something cheap — or preferably free.)

Orig:
Ben
Unit:
Date:
10 November 2004
Classified Message
Secret
Approved for release
10 Nov 2004
x
Routine
 
Deferred
0
x
Birthday reminder

Here is the 5th annual reminder to buy me shit. My birthday is on the 19th, and my wish list is still chock full. Show your gratitude for lackluster posts (spanning 2 decades!), trivial links with minimal effort, and less-than-sporadic enhancements to the RIAA Radar and Mixmatcher by buying me things!

Orig:
Ben
Unit:
Date:
26 September 2004
Classified Message
Secret
Approved for release
26 Sep 2004
x
Routine
 
Deferred
0
x
Minneapolis Public Library lookup

Via Jon Udell’s excellent LibraryLookup idea, you can check the status of a book in your local public library while looking at the book’s page on Amazon (or any book site that has ISBNs in its URLs.) For those Minneapolitans who don’t want to figure out how to build your own, here it is: Minneapolis Public Library lookup

Orig:
Ben
Unit:
Date:
24 September 2004
Classified Message
Secret
Approved for release
24 Sep 2004
x
Routine
 
Deferred
0
x
Bush and the Seven Deadly Sins

When I saw Matt’s post about pride, it got me thinking: if George Bush’s constituency is strongly religious, perhaps showing those people how he contradicts some of the most basic religious beliefs might make people realize how bad of a person he is (and perhaps sway their votes.) If for some reason people want to look past the civil laws he’s broken, let them take a look at the moral ones, too.

Update: Seems like this has been done… and that was published in May of 2003. I can’t imagine how many more examples there would be 16 months later! (Can anyone find/compile a list of the 10 Commandments Bush has broken?)

Orig:
Ben
Unit:
Date:
18 August 2004
Classified Message
Secret
Approved for release
18 Aug 2004
x
Routine
 
Deferred
1
x
Something is the new something

A list of cliches (via Google) where something is being transposed to be the new thing:

  • Clarendon is the new Helvetica
  • The location field is the new command line
  • Fake is the new real
  • Orange is the new black
  • Quiet is the new loud
  • Nearshore is the new offshore
  • Red is the new blonde
  • Blacker is the new black
  • Iraq is the new Vietnam
  • Movie piracy is the new plague
  • Fat is the new thin
  • Wide is the new black
  • Fat is the new tobacco
  • Organic is the new kosher
  • MFA is the new MBA
  • Small is the new big
  • Spim is the new spam
  • Being uncool is the new cool
  • Gay marriage is the new abortion
  • 30 is the new teenage
  • Butt crack is the new cleavage

Of course, everything is the new black. Why is black the standard? Have any other favorites?

Orig:
Ben
Unit:
Date:
23 July 2004
Classified Message
Secret
Approved for release
23 Jul 2004
x
Routine
 
Deferred
0
x
Memo to jackass

There is probably a reason why everyone is waiting in that long line, even though there are two potential lanes.

Orig:
Ben
Unit:
Date:
12 July 2004
Classified Message
Secret
Approved for release
12 Jul 2004
x
Routine
 
Deferred
0
x
Welcome to the Twin Cities. Please continue living in fear.

On the highway that drives past the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport there are now large LED signs in both directions that state, simply, “SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY? CALL 911″.

Orig:
Ben
Unit:
Date:
8 July 2004
Classified Message
Secret
Approved for release
8 Jul 2004
x
Routine
 
Deferred
0
x
Vegan fish sticks

I am now soliciting vegan fish stick recipes to test. Here is a fairly complicated-sounding one, involving kelp powder, Amino acids, and unheardof seasonings. Here is what I would call a “quick and dirty” way, which would be dipping in soy sauce, lemon juice, and breading. The secret trick will most likely be the way the tofu is cut up. It can’t be just a square block, or you won’t have that terribly-processed-cheap-fish feel to it.

For Office Use Only
This is the personal weblog of Ben Tesch, a web designer and developer who lives in Seattle, WA, and has more ideas than free time.

Ben is the proprietor of cumul.us, RIAA Radar, BPI Radar, and The Triumph of Bullshit, among other things. More personal data collections can also be found at the sites listed below.

Contact: ben@magnetbox.com

EOT


NOFORM
SECRET