05.14.08
Posted in Misc at 5:51 pm by Jellyn
It's based on the likelihood of your first name combined with the likelihood of your second name. So it's not an actual count of the people with my full name. If people named kids randomly, it would be very accurate. But given my full name, I assume that people do not name their kids it randomly. At least not after like 1965. So is the real number higher or lower?
You have to expect that Muhammed O'Brien doesn't show up very often as a combination. Though actually, plugging in variations on Mohammed and then testing it with a name like Niamh shows the thing's limitations. I mean, seriously, not a single Muhammad in the whole country? Have you lumped them all under one spelling that I have to guess at?
There's supposedly 122 people named David Tennant in the US though. If anyone wanted, like, an autograph.
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01.17.07
Posted in Misc, TV at 9:40 am by Jellyn
I'm watching Montel, who today is talking about all of Sylvia Browne's predictions for 2006 that came true. So I thought I could do at least as well as her. So here's my predictions for 2007. Check back in a year to see how awesome I am.
* Someone named William will do something horrible and get media attention. I'm also seeing an S or an M around him.
* We're going to see more bad hurricanes.
* There's going to be two big earthquakes.
* Apple will release a hot new product around Christmas.
* There will be controversy surrounding the release of Harry Potter book #7. Not to mention problems with the American edition.
* There will be a breakthrough in stem cell research.
* A food additive will be banned in the US.
* There will be a big drug recall.
* A new bestseller may threaten to eclipse Harry Potter.
* Torchwood will show up on the Sci-Fi Channel, but they'll edit it.
* 7th Heaven STILL won't be cancelled, but Veronica Mars will. (Sorry, Jun!)
* The UK show Fortune Million Dollar Giveaway will have a US version. Probably on NBC, but possibly ABC.
* The news media is going to salivate over a court case that'll drag on forever. It'll involve a pretty white girl who's been victimized or killed.
* Violence in schools will hit public attention again.
* A celebrity is going to come out of the closet. No one will care.
* Here's a two-fer. A breakthrough in the study of autism and in the treatment of MS.
* A new superhero movie will be announced. A gay superhero.
* Big news out of China.
* A Ghostbusters remake will be announced.
* Disney will release.. well, gee, what's even left? Well, eventually a Cars 2, but in 2007.. a new Pete's Dragon.
BONUS 2008 PREDICTION
* Barack Obama will be the next elected US President.
Leave a comment with your own prediction!
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11.28.06
Posted in Misc, Money at 1:18 am by Jellyn
A couple days after Halloween, I was in the store to buy a card. This store chick who was hanging coupons pointed out that if I used a coupon, I could get three cards for the price of two. So, okay, I do that. Then I go to the self checkout and it doesn't take the coupon. Call for help. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Give up. Go to regular checkout. The chick there scans it. It doesn't scan. She punches the numbers in. Then, all seems fine. I mean, she didn't say anything to me about it or anything. She seemed to be all diligent about it.
But when I get home, the coupon isn't on there. So now I've bought 3 cards and actually paid for them when I'd only wanted 1!
Eventually went back and got my 1.99 back from them.
So then I was at CVS in the mall last week. I was there to buy shampoo, because the grocery store hadn't had the cheap kind I wanted. But I also had Cold-Eeze in mind, because I'd used most of it when I had two colds last month. So, it was on sale. And then I walked by the Necco chocolate mint things. They're usually like 99 cents, but they were on sale for 88 cents. At the checkout, I gave my card, but didn't have to sign a slip because it was under 25$ or whatever. So I never looked at the receipt until later in the food court. Neither sale item was on there at sale price!
I intended to go back and argue, but then didn't go back to the mall immediately. Then when I did, I hadn't thought to bring the receipt. It's probably too late now, as any sale signs that were up are probably no longer. And obviously not worth bus fare to get like 1.11 back from them.
I'll just be annoyed at Shaw's and CVS and tell the world to check your receipts before you leave the store.
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11.23.06
Posted in Blog Layout, Misc, Money, Pictures, TV at 1:04 am by Jellyn
I renamed my blog. Not the most brilliant title ever, but better than the last one.
Yahoo TV sucks, yet while there are alternatives, I haven't found one I like. Let me know if you know of one. Basically the layout is all messed up. It only shows the first 2 hours instead of all 3 and sometimes doesn't terminate a show, so it only actually shows one hour for that channel.
The new Yahoo maps sucks even more, but Mapquest doesn't have our street. STILL.
I added the blog to Feedburner. See if it makes me more popular.
I've poked around at a few sites that like to pay you for written content. However, I don't like the idea that they buy the rights to your content worldwide, in perpetuity, even if they are paying you 5-30$ for it. I dunno. I'll think about it.
I'm less concerned about sharing blurry pictures of geese and closeups of jellyfish. Who else would pay for them?
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10.05.06
Posted in Misc at 11:20 pm by Jellyn
I read a review of this book/series in F&SF and decided to check it out. Literally. I put a hold on it at the library and it finally came back in the end of last month. Jun said she'd mentioned this book before, though I hadn't remembered her doing so. I grepped, and it turned out she definitely did. And I said it sounded interesting.
Patrick O'Brien.. Patrick O'Brian? How does he spell his name? Google isn't much help, though it leans towards A. Oh, anyway, him with dragons. Or Hornblower goes to Pern. Anyway, it's pretty cool. I recommend it to people who like the British Navy, historical novels, and dragons.
More spoily details after my first ever use of the cut tag!
Read the rest of this entry »
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06.29.06
Posted in Misc at 7:33 pm by Jellyn
When I saw a commercial for the 'all natural' 7-Up, I was interested. I like 7-Up and I was all for an all natural version. I don't like diet sodas, because of the taste and because of the artificial sweeteners. I'd drink more natural soda if it was cheaper and available in more quantities and varieties in the grocery store.
Well, I had a look at the 'all natural' 7-Up and high fructose corn syrup was like the second ingredient. So what was the point? So it's not artificially colored or something? Exactly what did they remove?
I wondered if high fructose corn syrup was legally 'natural' or not. I went to look it up on Wikipedia and found this tidbit:
"In May 2006, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) threatened[1] to file a lawsuit against Cadbury Schweppes for labeling 7UP as "All Natural" despite containing high fructose corn syrup. While the FDA has no definition of "Natural", CSPI claims that HFCS is not a “natural” ingredient due to the high level of processing required to produce it."
Don't threaten, dudes, do it! Cuz right now 7-Up is just lame.
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