Jim Cofer

September 13, 2007

Always Open Bookmarks In IE Tab

Many Firefox users are familiar with IE Tab – a free extension that lets you use the Internet Explorer rendering engine within Firefox. This is helpful for the few sites that require Internet Explorer, like online banking, most other financial websites, and most corporate web-based applications (like Outlook Web Access, for example).

Normally you use IE Tab by clicking a browser icon in Firefox’s status bar. So for online banking, you’d type your bank’s address into the address bar, let the page load, then click the IE Tab browser icon to switch to Internet Explorer. The page is then manually reloaded in Firefox using IE’s rendering engine.

But did you know that with one simple tweak you can have Firefox always open a bookmarked site with IE Tab? Just bookmark the page using Firefox’s standard “Add Bookmark” procedure, then edit the bookmark by putting the following text at the beginning of the URL:

chrome://ietab/content/reloaded.html?url=

For example, if your bank’s bookmark is:

http://www.bank.com

Change it to:

chrome://ietab/content/reloaded.html?url=http://www.bank.com

Presto! The site will always open in IE via IE Tab. Thanks to the gang at Lifehacker for this tip!

September 11, 2007

Steelers Stomp… And The Rest Of Week 1

Pittsburgh Vs. Cleveland Well, week 1 of the 2007/2008 NFL season is over… how about some of my “award-winning” football analysis?

The Steelers absolutely stomped all over the Browns, winning Mike Tomlin’s regular season debut 34-7. But don’t let the score fool you: the game was decided by the Browns’ colossal screw ups early in the game. For example, on Cleveland’s first 4th down, they not only muffed the punt, they were also cited for four penalties. On one play! I don’t recall ever seeing an NFL team get four penalties on a single play, except for perhaps a fight where multiple players get unsportsmanlike penalties. Many of Cleveland’s five turnovers happened early in the game, and Pittsburgh was able to take a quick 17-0 lead. So the game was essentially over by halftime. I’ve watched the first half of the game, and I can’t say that I’m too pleased with anyone’s performance so far. The Steelers wide receivers dropped too many passes, the play calling seemed “off”, the running game didn’t get it in gear until the second half when no one cared anymore, and the defense… well, let’s just say that they’d better gel a lot better before the second half of the season gets here. The Steelers’ main concern – the offensive line – actually looked pretty decent, although there’s still some work that needs to be done… Ben will simply need more protection from these guys. All in all, a good – but not great – performance. The Steelers should be able to beat up on Buffalo and will probably hold their own against San Fran and Arizona… but then the schedule gets hard.

Continue reading “Steelers Stomp… And The Rest Of Week 1”

September 11, 2007

SONGS I LOVE: “Hair and Skin”

Mazzy Star Back in the late 90s, I was infatuated (OK, obsessed) with French supermodel Laetitia Casta. She was absolutely stunning, and I just couldn’t get enough of her. Pictures of her started appearing everywhere on the Internet. I had recently gotten broadband, and with the help of Usenet and “image-grabbing” software (programs that download all the images from a given website), I was quickly able to amass a catalog of thousands of pictures of Laetitia. And some nights I’d get really smashed and watch a slideshow of all those pictures with Mazzy Star’s “Hair And Skin” playing in the background:

Your hair and your eyes
I saw them in the night
Your face, your disguise
I felt it in the night

Your cool clammy skin
It could be right beside me
I saw you swimmin’ over here
You looked so fragile

And don’t you know her eyes were red?

“Hair and Skin” is a b-side from the “Flowers in December” CD single. It was originally written and preformed by “desert rock” band Green On Red, although Mazzy’s take on it is spectacular. It’s slow and brooding, with an old-school organ playing in the background. Hope Sandoval’s voice was always great, but in this song there’s a noticeable echo to her voice that just makes the whole thing a bit creepy. I just love this song:

[audio:mazzy.mp3]

September 11, 2007

Songs You Didn’t Know Were Covers

Blender.com has an awesome list of songs that you probably didn’t know were covers. Examples? “Bette Davis Eyes”, “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” and “Barbara Ann”.

An interesting tidbit: a lot of folks from “my” generation know the song “Always On My Mind” from the Pet Shop Boys’ cover of it. Many from my generation (including me) were somehow under the impression that it was originally a Willie Nelson song. Well, Willie covered it too, as did Elvis Presley. Until today, however, I had no idea that Brenda Lee actually sang the song originally. You learn something new every day, I guess!

September 9, 2007

GT Rolls; UGA, Michigan Fall…

Georgia Tech vs. Samford Wow! What can I say about Saturday’s game between Georgia Tech and Samford? Tech was up 28-0 in the first quarter, and was up 45-0 by halftime in what would go on to be a 69-14 blowout. The Jackets had 380 rushing yards, punching the ball in for a record 9 rushing touchdowns. The game was such a blowout that running back Tashard Choice was pulled at the end of the first quarter, and GT played three quarterbacks in the first half alone – a forth, Kyle Manley, played in the 4th quarter.

The only thing that could make the win sweeter was a UGA loss… which happened! Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks went to Athens and slapped the Bulldogs around, winning 16-12. Meanwhile, Michigan and Notre Dame also lost, making both teams 0-2 for the year. And, to the surprise of absolutely no one, Duke lost again. They’ve lost 22 straight games, with no end of the misery in sight.

September 8, 2007

Bill Paxton Redux

Wow! Right on the heels of my previous post about Bill Paxton’s mid-80s band “Martini Ranch”:

I showed the video to Lisa, who initially recognized Paxton as “Chet” from Weird Science. Which is true, of course. But she didn’t believe that “Chet” from Weird Science and “Bill” from Big Love were the same person. I went to his IMDB page to show her that they are the same person… when I came across yet another amazing Bill Paxton fact: Paxton directed (and starred in) the early 80s cult classic video “Fish Heads”. Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself:

Man, Bill Paxton is everywhere!

September 7, 2007

Holy Crap!

Ever heard of an 80s pop band called “Martini Ranch”? Me neither. But look closely at the video below… you just might recognize one of the band members… and no, I’m not talking about Judge Reinhold, who I believe makes a cameo in the video (and is also credited with whistling on one track on Martini Ranch’s only album, Holy Cow):

Even more amazing than seeing Bill Paxton singing in an 80s art-pop band (after he had a hit as Chet in Weird Science, mind you) is the fact that the above video was directed by none other than… James Cameron! What a crazy world!

Thanks to the Lost In The 80s Blog for the tip about this.

September 6, 2007

Today’s The Day!!!!!

After what seems like an eternity, the NFL is bacccccccccckkkk baby! I’ve got the tequila-lime wings, chorizo and Pabst Blue Ribbon ready to go for tonight’s season opener, which pits the Colts against the Saints (or, as an occasional Atlanta fan is required to say… “the ‘Aints”). Ohhh God… Oh God… FOOTBALL I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!

NFL

In case you’re not a football historian, the picture above is of Philadelphia Eagle Chuck Bednari, after he knocked the everlovin’ crap out of New York Giants quarterback Frank Gifford (yep, Kathy Lee’s husband) in a game all the way back in 1960. That hit kept Gifford out of football for 18 months.

September 6, 2007

KEN LIVES!

As long as there’s been a World Wide Web, there have been websites publishing lists: “The 20 Greatest Clutch Hitters”, “The 50 Worst Novels Published Since 1980”, “The 10 Worst Kevin Costner Movies”… you name it.

One of the most popular lists is “worst album covers”; it seems like every website on the planet has put out such a list, and almost every single one features this album cover by a guy known only as “Ken”:

Ken - By Request Only

It’s a funny album cover, to be sure. But someone at urban legend debunking site Snopes.com wanted to know if the album cover was real. In this thread at the Snopes forum, many of the objections are laid out: the album doesn’t appear in any copyright, publishing or CD info databases. No other website seems to mention anything about the album, except to put it on their own list of silly album covers. No person or site has ever published a list of tracks on the album, nor has anyone ever seen the back cover of the album. What’s more, the picture of the album cover seems suspect: the album itself seems to be in pristine condition, with no cover wear of any kind on it. Could By Request Only be an elaborate fake?

I’m here to tell you folks that it’s not a fake, and that KEN LIVES!

Continue reading “KEN LIVES!”