Recently, I realized it’s been almost two years since I broke up with my ex-fiancee. In that time, I’ve spent almost no time pursuing anyone else, except for muffing that one opportunity on an airplane. I’ve generally been happy with bachelorship. However, I’m 29 so maybe it’s time to get a move on. (And to finally sell that engagement ring, which is laying around here somewhere.)

There was an article with the premise that when you’re on the prowl for a mate, make sure you know what qualities you’re looking for and not settle for worse. It helps save time and heartache by preventing pair-ups with someone incompatible or inadequate.

So over the weekend, I figured out which qualities in a woman are most important to me:

1. Demonstrates kindness to people.
2. Not too hideous-looking.
3. Mentally stable.
4. Convicted of 2 or fewer felonies (optional).
5. Hasn’t had a sex change.

The domain aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.com has already been taken. In case you were wondering.

As we approach the presidential election in the United States, the ranks of the undecided are only slowly thinning.

The fun part about this? Even if you are a swing voter, the chances are pretty decent neither Obama nor McCain are trying to get your vote.

Let’s say you live in Texas and are undecided. Texas is solidly red and will vote for McCain. It’s something you could safely bet your life on. While there may be Obama volunteers doing their thing, from a strategic standpoint the campaign would be foolish to bother spending many resources in the state.

On the flipside, McCain’s Texas campaign could be a 15-minute pit stop in Abilene where he does nothing except burp, fart, and sniff his armpits. He’ll still carry the state 2-1.

Neither one of the campaigns really cares what Texas swing voters do. They will have no effect on the election.

Now replace Texas with the list of all states that are solidly behind one candidate to check to see who doesn’t count.

Electoral College FTL.

[Interviewer]: Is it fair to say that Apple as a competitive threat now is at its highest point in the last 10 or 15 years?
[Corporate VP of Windows Consumer Product Marketing Brad Brooks]: What we want to define as a consumer experience is not nearly as limited as what Apple makes it out to be. We have a huge choice, a huge diversity, an ecosystem that can bring a range of choices, whether it be on cost, whether it be on technology, whether it be on the types of magical application experiences that you can only get when you use the Windows operating system. And it’s really a definition now between choosing something that is limited, and somebody chooses for you–basically the “i” way–or actually taking it to a much broader scope, which is “your” way, and defining it through Windows, and the experience that comes with the tens of thousands of partners that build applications, services, and content for the Windows platform every day.

I’m somewhere between feeling sorry for Brooks and rolling my eyes in anguish. You know this is the kind of stuff he has to say, but it’s tiring hearing people hammer their talking points without answering interviewers’ questions (see also: Biden-Palin debate).

(Source: Microsoft: Mac buyers pay Apple tax)

Lepers III tournament starts Oct 20! Sign-up by Oct 19 so Mr. E doesn’t get mad at you for being a late entry! Minimum $75 prize fund which might save you from bankruptcy!

Sign-up by leaving a comment with your FICS handle and recent rating with a chess federation (USCF, FIDE, etc.)

You’d figure with accusations of being some sort of dictator, Robert Mugabe would’ve chosen any other style of facial hair.

Some sort of power-sharing agreement had been worked out with his political enemies, the MDC, where the parties split cabinet posts. Plus the Zanu-PF doesn’t have an iron grip on the legislature. So I thought Mugabe was slipping.

But then he unilaterally appointed some cabinet members and swore in two VP’s, which may endanger further talks between Zanu-PF and the opposition. Now that’s the Bob we know and love! (Source: Mugabe swears in vice-presidents)

The allegedly improved political situation has not lead to economic stability. Zimbabwe’s inflation rate is somewhere around 231,000,000%.

(Read also: Harare diary: Daydreaming over)

We are all aware by now that Christopher Columbus enslaved, tortured, and killed natives in the name of profit, right? Just wondering.

So I was in this office over the weekend, walls covered with those “motivational” theme posters. You know the type, with a picture of an eagle soaring over the mountains, a big word like “Vision” on the bottom, complete with some hokey saying.

So this one made me do a double-take:

(Authority: It is the strongest who prevail.)

After some research, we were able to confirm this was seriously intended to encourage people, and is not a despair.com demotivator.

OK, Lepers III sign-up. Most of you know what it is already: an online chess tournament held via FICS games. Each participant will play one game a week for several weeks. The first pairings will be listed October 20. Usually there’s a longer sign-up period, but I want to finish the tournament before Thanksgiving if possible.

If enough people sign-up, I’ll either increase the pot, or have multiple section prizes. We’ll see.

And bang-up job on that poster, Mascot. I can tell you didn’t rush it so you could go out drinking Friday night with your friends.

Timecube.com might shut down without more money. Won’t you take a few minutes of your time to help?

“Hey how about making a donation to Gene Ray, 2580 Highland Pointe Dr. Cumming, Georga 33041″ — Dr. Gene Ray

Oh, hey, can I scare you by telling you about a browser vulnerability you can’t do much about?

It’s been dubbed “clickjacking”, presumably because that term sounds catchy. In short, someone makes you click on something you didn’t expect. An example might be trying to click a button, but the clickjacker has created an invisible area on top of the button which is clicked instead.

Then, so reports say, the hacker might be able and willing to hijack your microphone and webcam.

How to defend yourself? At this point, you can switch to the Lynx browser (which is text-only). Disabling plug-ins (Flash, Java, etc.) and Javascript support also help. Note that both these measures cripple your web-browsing experience. (I personally am not bothering.)

And, despite the post’s title, the employees of LEP are not interested in making you a target for this attack. Considering the demographic, we’re just not that eager to sneak a peak off your webcam.

Source: Clickjacking Attack Lets Web Sites See, Hear You