Redneck Family Tree / FireFox - QuickTime vs. Midi - m3u files

REDNECK FAMILY TREE

Many many years ago
When I was twenty three,
I got married to a widow
Who was pretty as could be.


This widow had a grown-up daughter
Who had hair of red.
My father fell in love with her,
And soon the two were wed.


This made my dad my son-in-law
And changed my very life.
My daughter was my mother,
For she was my father's wife.


To complicate the matters worse,
Although it brought me joy,
I soon became the father
Of a bouncing baby boy.


My little baby then became
A brother-in-law to dad.
And so became my uncle,
Though it made me very sad.


For if he was my uncle,
Then that also made him brother
To the widow's grown-up daughter
Who, of course, was my step-mother.


Father's wife then had a son,
Who kept them on the run.
And he became my grandson,
For he was my daughter's son.


My wife is now my mother's mother
And it makes me blue.
Because, although she is my wife,
She's my grandmother too.


If my wife is my grandmother,
Then I am her grandchild.
And every time I think of it,
It simply drives me wild.


For now I have become
The strangest case you ever saw.
As the husband of my grandmother,
I am my own grandpa!


~***~***~

"Sometimes I get the feeling the whole world is against me, but deep down
I know that's not true. Some smaller countries are neutral."~ Robert Orben ~

~***~***~

Yep ... i can relate here ... during the last few days, I've had a couple of
contacts concerning the Potluck Midi Radio not working ... hmmm ... i
thought ... maybe i messed up on my code for the player ... after several
test ... all seemed well.

Thanks to Jim K for sending me some screen shots of the player over his
browser (FF) i realized the problem must be there ... AND thanks to good
old Google Search ... Yeppers, tons of bugs with FireFox, QuickTime and
the way media files are being treated (or not) ....

First place, i can not imagine someone wanting to listen to a midi file with
Quicktime ... Ouch @ my ears ... and as far as the m3u file (playlist) ... that is
supported by all players / browsers it appears (except FireFox) ... however,
they do have an option a user can choose to change in their tools section to
allow the sound card to play the files as was intended decades ago.

I won't go into the tech of that, since most folks still haven't figured out how to
change the settings in their email clients to permit image viewing. The info is
on the net, just do a G-search. Start here:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=play+midi+in+firefox
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=playing+m3u+in+firefox

Anyways, when i find the time .... I'll try to write up a little JavaScript that will
detect the browser and offer an alternative to the FF users ... some may
think, why bother ... that's just the way i am ... i really try to write code that will
make all site visitors happy. Just like the Pic a Day at http://StumpySteve.com

It's no longer a pic a day ... but a different pic with each visit to the site. I
finally finished a random / rotating PHP script that will show a full page
image every time someone lands at the front door. Right now, i only have 4
or 5 pics in the folder (will add a bunch more in a few days). Now that i have
the bugs worked out of that script ... I'll be able to automatically shuffle /
rotate the midi file playlist and a number of other goodies I've been working
on in the background.

With these PHP scripts, a little Java and a ton of advanced CCS 2.0 for
positioning and layering ... i hope to have a more presentable Dynamic
website upcoming in a few more weeks. I'm stacked to the ceiling here with
snippets of code ... and looking forward of sending it all to the trash folder
soon.

It is then, I'll be able to relax and post more of the funnies which I'm suffering
from withdraw symptoms. This site I'm working on will have all my quotes,
midis, jokes, etc, all sorted into separate folders on my web server and each
time a visitor lands at the site ... it will randomly pick, code and place the
content in the designated areas.

If it works right, all I'll have to do is just add more content and let my software
in the background do all the work. Yeah ... i say ... an ever changing fun
page that will continue long after my departure. Which by the way the
doctors are talking now ... i may have a few more years to go than what
was initially projected a couple years back.

OK ... enough rambling for now ... back to the coding ... later all ... SS


~***~***~

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple."
~ Dr. Seuss (1904 - 1991) ~

"What we hope ever to do with ease we may learn first to do with diligence."
~ Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784) ~

Pic of the Day (and 2 videos)

"Male and female represent the two sides of the great radical dualism. But in fact they are perpetually passing into one another. Fluid hardens to solid, solid rushes to fluid. There is no wholly masculine man, no purely feminine woman."
~ Margaret Fuller (1810 - 1850), Woman in the Nineteenth Century, 1845 ~


~***~

Howdy gang ... just started on the landing page at StumpySteve.com ~ i will start putting the "Pic of the Day" there. Since many folks (by default) have HTML graphics blocked in their email clients ... figured adding a new photo each day to the front page will work best for all.

Just one click past the photo will lead to all the rest of the goodies. Lots of work to do in that area tho ... so stay tuned. ~ SS ~

http://StumpySteve.com


~***~

BROKEN RAINBOW

"Broken Rainbow" a 1985 documentary film about the government-enforced relocation of over 9,000 Navajo Indians from their ancestral land in Arizona. This is a rare documentary, a true picture of the US Government and their acquiescence to Corporations, particularly Big Energy.

I hope you watch it.
Chilling and devastating.
The film is narrated by Martin Sheen.
The title song was written by Laura Nyro.
Buffy Sainte-Marie ... Translator Voice
Burgess Meredith ... Historical Voice
Won Oscar

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6858221866888617145


~***~

PYTHON TREK

This is a video inspired by the very clever and very funny "CAMELOT" Star Trek video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9PGcnM10lA


~***~

"The wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun of the world; the humorist makes fun of himself."
~ James Thurber (1894 - 1961), in Edward R. Murrow television interview ~

===

"It takes only one drink to get me drunk. The trouble is, I can't remember if it's the thirteenth or the fourteenth."
~ George Burns (1896 - 1996) ~

Snippets ~ Are you a computer addict???

For those of us getting on in years and needing a bit of exercise, I thought
I might let you, my friends, in on a little secret I've found for building my
arm and shoulder muscles. You might wish to adopt this regimen - three
days a week or so.

I started by standing outside, behind the house, and with a 5-lb. Potato
sack in each hand, extending my arms straight out to my sides and holding
them there as long as I could. After a few weeks I moved up to 10-lb. potato
sacks, then 50-lb. potato sacks, and finally, 100-lb. potato sacks.

Finally I got to where I could lift a 100-lb. potato sack in each hand and
hold my arms straight out for more than a full minute.

NEXT, I started putting a few potatoes in the sacks, but I would caution
you not to over do it at this level.
GOOD LUCK :-)


~***~***~***~

I just started working on a new layout for the http://stumpysteve.com/
web site. Yep, going to try my havd at a little DHTML with this one. I intend
to build the whole layout using XHTML / CSS / JavaScript and PHP.
Notice how the few links (on upper left) are resizing and opening new
windows ?!?

The midi radio has been shuffled ... also notice how all those little windows
are missing their "chrome" ... that's where i'm headed in a nutshell..

OK, back to another funny here ...


~***~***~***~

Are you a computer addict???????

1. You see something funny and scream, "LOL, CTFU, ROFL"

2. You sign off and your screen says you were on for 3 days and 45 minutes.

3. You fall asleep, but instead of dreams you get IMs.

4. You beg your friends to get an account so you can "hang out."

5. You get a second phone line just to call out for pizza.

6. You purchase a vanity car license plate with your screen name on it.

7. You say "he he he he" or "heh heh heh" instead of laughing.

8. When someone asks you what you just said, "Scroll up".

9a. You sneak away to your computerwhen everyone goes to sleep.

9b. You get up at 2 am to go to the bathroom and turn on your computer instead.

10. You talk on the phone with the same person you are sending an instant message to.

11. You look at an annoying person off line and wish that you had your ignore button handy.

12. You start to experience "withdrawal"after not being online for awhile.

13. You sit on AOL for 6 hours for that certain special person to sign on.

14. You get up in the morningand go online before getting your coffee.

15. You end your sentences with..... three or more periods.......

16. You think faster than the computer.

17. You enter a room and get greeted by 25 people with {{{hugs}}} and **kisses**.

18. Being called a newbieis a major insult to you.

19. You say BRB while on the phone.

20. You are fluent in typoand consider it your second language.

21. The only Family you send Christmas and Birthday Cards to are the ones who have an email address.

22. When you decline a real date with a live person cause your cyber boyfriend (whom you've never met)is waiting online for you.

23. When your acrylic nails are shorterthen when you had them put on two weeks ago, or you don't even get them done anymore, because acrylics make it hard to type.

24. When you have to clean your keyboard with a Q-tip to dislodge the food particles.

25. When the letters come off your keyboard from excessive use.

26. You go on to "check mail" for 4 hours at a time.

27. You have been late for work because something happened on line28. You talk about cyber peoplemore than people not on line.

29. You can't talk on the phone without calling them by their screen names.

30. More than 60 percent of your friends are from AOL.

31. Your actual significant other is from AOL, and but never met or only once or twice.

32. Although you don't know what they look like, you become insanely jealous of people hitting on your cyber love.

33. You say you're tired of AOL,yet still sign on faithfully for hours.

34. You talk to your computer screens (with no mic)

35. You use computer lingo at work/school by accident.

36. The first and last things that they doduring the day are online.

37. (see 9b ~ lol)

38. They cry over things online.

39. You find it impossible to not state what action you are doing. (ie. LMAO @, RME, QQn @)

40. You meet some one you like off line and wish they had a profile for you to readso you can get to know their personality a lit better.

41. Your typing skills improve.You can type better then your secretary at work.

42. You get more mail deliveredfrom your server than your postman.

43. You re-enter a room in your house and say "BACK"

44. You understand the humor in this pagebecause you've committed these acts yourself.

45. You log on and are immediately hit with 10 IM's from people who have you on their buddy list.

46. You constantly find yourself doing things you said you would never do when you first got online.

47. You swore it was impossible to become addicted.


~***~***~***~

The 25 People Responsible For The Global Financial Crisis

The worst economic turmoil since the Great Depression is not a natural phenomenon but a man-made disaster in which we all played a part. In the second part of a week-long series looking behind theslump, Guardian City editor Julia Finch picks out the individuals who have led us into the current crisis.

Read the whole story here ...http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jan/26/road-ruin-recession-individuals-economy


~***~***~***~

"Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first woman she meets and then teams up with three complete strangers to kill again." ~ Rick Polito, Marin Independent Journal's TV listingfor "The Wizard of Oz" ~

"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it."~ George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950) ~

http://funmail.stumpysteve.com/

~***~***~***~

Sounds Like Bad Company To Me (and switching to simple text updates)

Howdy Misfits, the Potluck Midi Radio has a new look now starting with
some tunes sounding like Bad Company. Not sure, but a few sound better
than the originals. lol

Go ahead, turn your speakers up and give it a try @
http://radio.stumpysteve.com


~***~***~***~

Switching to plain text updates ...

If you put garbage in a computer nothing comes out but garbage. But this
garbage, having passed through a very expensive machine, is somehow
ennobled and none dare criticize it. ~ Anonymous

Now I understand why HTMLemail templates work so differently from one
email client to another ... and even differently when posting to the web. Most
all email clients are about eight years behind (really) in the programming
languages used in web development.

When you compose an email in those fancy little text editors ... they are
working prinarily from the old Rich Text Format (RTF) released with the
HTML 4.0. Since then, the W3 Consortum has moved on to HTML 4.1
which introduced Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to web design ... AND ...
now we are into XHTML with full CSS and XML (the language used in RSS
feeds and mobil devises). ~ouch~

I personally have no problems with the use of these newer client-side
languages and use them in my web pages along with JS, Perl, PHP
server-side scripting languages with MySQL databases. The problem
remains that our email clients do NOT support half of this stuff ... and the
other half works differently in the various clients.

One thing for sure ... "simple text" mails always work. Therefore, instead of
trying one set of HTML for mail and an entirely different coding for my web
pages ... I've decided to put out the little snippet mails in text as I create /
design new web pages and update others.

I'll try and keep it fun with links to all sorts of crazy goodies ... kind of like
a teaser mail. With that said, my new StumpySteve y-group will be set to
handle / archive these (simple text) updates back to my half-dozen web
sites and what's happening around the net.


So now, are you starting to feel like I do in this pic ?!?
http://stumpysteve.com/pix/a-good-day.html

With that said, please note my new contact info below and hope
you enjoy the tunes. ~SS~

~***~***~***~

"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind." ~ Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) ~

"Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers." ~ T. S. Eliot (1888 - 1965) ~

If you need to contact StumpySteve, use the web @

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StumpySteve/post

or email StumpySteve@yahoogroups.com

and for StumpySteve daily funmail

http://funmail.stumpysteve.com

~***~***~***~

Archives now located at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StumpySteve/messages

~***~***~***~

Snoopy Loves You (and so does Stumpy Steve)

This post best viewed in your browser @

http://stumpysteve.com/archives/02-14-09.html

(click here to see (Full Size) your Happy Vday Card)

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Stumpy Steve's Potluck Midi Radio

The playlist has just been updated ... you "YES" lovers (Diane) should get a thrill out of this one (roughly 90 minutes of Yes tunes in the begining). I won't bother to announce playlist updates in the future ... just know that when my "Snippets" post hits the wire ... the playlist has been shuffled from the day before.

Go ahead and turn your speakers up ...
http://radio.stumpysteve.com

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Reflecting Back ...

For most, today is Valentine's Day ... but for me ... the day has several other memorable moments. First, Michelle, my oldest daughter was born on this day back in '74. Happy Birthday Michelle. Secondly, my second wife was killed in a horrific car crash on this day in 2003. :(

Here's another blast from the past ...

St. Valentine was beheaded on February 14 around the year 278 A.D. Valentine, a holy priest in Rome in the days of Emperor Claudius II, was executed.

Under the rule of Claudius the Cruel, Rome was involved in many unpopular and bloody campaigns. The emperor had to maintain a strong army, but was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. Claudius believed that Roman men were unwilling to join the army because of their strong attachment to their wives and families.

To get rid of the problem, Claudius
banned all marriages and engagements in Rome. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret.

When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Valentine was arrested and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. The sentence was carried out on February 14, on or about the year 270.

Legend also has it that while in jail, St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine."

For his great service, Valentine was named a saint after his death.

In truth, the exact origins and identity of St. Valentine are unclear. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "At least three different Saint Valentines, all of them martyrs, are mentioned in the early martyrologies under the
date of 14 February." One was a priest in Rome, the second one was a bishop of Interamna (now Terni, Italy) and the third St. Valentine was a martyr in the Roman province of Africa.

Legends vary on how the martyr's name became connected with romance. The date of his death may have become mingled with the Feast of Lupercalia, a pagan festival of love. On these occasions, the names of young women were placed in a box, from which they were drawn by the men as chance directed. In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius decided to put an end to the Feast of Lupercalia, and he declared that February 14 be celebrated as St Valentine's Day.


... and don't forget the St. Valentine's Day Massacre back in 1929 led by Al Capone ...


Aftermath of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre
(click for details at WickipediA)


... Can't You Just Feel the Love on this Special Day ?!? ... lol

---

Random Quotes:

"I don't understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine's Day. When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon." ~ Author Unknown ~"

 

"Admiration, n.: Our polite recognition of another's resemblance to ourselves." ~ Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary

 

"Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy." (sounds like me - lol) ~ Edgar Bergen (1903 - 1978), (Charlie McCarthy)

 

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To subscribe to the Stumpy Steve Snippets by email:
http://snippets.stumpysteve.com

 

V-day Card for the Ladies and Tunes for All

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Stumpy Steve's Potluck Midi Radio

I spent the day putting together a player with a master play list of over 300 Midi tunes. I'm still working on the perl script that will auto-shuffle these tunes with each visit to the player (radio). Until then, I'll do my best to manually shuffle the playlist once each day.

Personally, I've always liked midi tunes as backgroud music when trying to read, surf or write code. Lot's of sounds that rattle the ancient memory, but not to over bearing like the regular songs and the heavy lyrics. Go ahead turn your speakers up and give it a try at:

http://radio.stumpysteve.com/

You may have noticed, I have added the link to the left side of this template. Now you know where I'm heading with this "almost" daily Stumpy Steve Snippets. So hang tight folks ... much to come yet.

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RANDOM QUOTES:

"Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person."

~ Dr. David M. Burns ~


"Nobody can tell you if what you're doing is good, meaningful or worthwhile. The more compelling the path, the more lonely it is."

~ Hugh Macleod, How To Be Creative: 5, 08-22-04 ~


"I can't give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time."

~ Herbert Bayard Swope (1882 - 1958) ~

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(c) Except where otherwise noted, the Stumpy Steve Snippets (funmails and websites) are compiled under the Creative Commons License 3.0 ... meaning you have the right to share with (forward to) others provided the entire message (including this disclaimer) is left intact.

To subscribe to the Stumpy Steve Snippets by email:
http://snippets.stumpysteve.com/

Stumpy Steve Snippets from MyPPclub.com

Stumpy Steve Snippets from MyPPclub.com

Is an "almost" daily Funamil of This-n-That from Here-n-There. I promise to bring you a little bit of everything and a whole lot of nothing. Things like random jokes, quotes, music, videos, tons of links, updates on my groups, websites etc. and other assorted poo-poo too. You don't want to miss out on these emails, so subscribe today @

http://Snippets.StumpySteve.com/

* FYI ~ the Stumpy Steve Snippets mailing list is powered by Google's Feedburner software ... so to help prevent abuse, you must confirm your email address in order to be added to my list.

Additionally, copies of each Stumpy Steve Snippets will be posted and syndicated to a wide array of blogs, clubs, forums, groups, RSS feeds and web sites. Again those keywords are Keywords = cute, funny, weird, wacky, educational, inspirational, health and medical issues, conspiracy theory and political issues, music, art, stupid, extreme, bizarre and much more. Your personal info will never be shared with others and if you ever wish to stop, there is an "unsubscribe" link on the bottom of every mail.

To subscribe, simply complete and submit the form @

http://Snippets.StumpySteve.com/

(then confirm your email).

http://myppclub.com/

Looking Forward,

Stumpy Steve :-)