[On Writing posts offer up interesting copy from around the web.]

SORBS Dynamic User and Host List
SORBS is the “Spam and Open Relay Blocking System.” Boo to the site’s perplexing explanation of how to get deleted from the Dynamic User and Host List:

Anyone else may request delisting of addresses or netblocks provided that reverse DNS naming is set to indicate static assignment. SORBS will consider unique names that are not part of a generic naming scheme, or a generic naming scheme with an indication of staticness (we prefer the word “static” being included in the names, but will accept any existing ISP convention if the ISP just informs us of it) as proof of static assignment. Also, the Times to Live of the PTR records need to be 43200 seconds or more. This is an arbitrary limit chosen by SORBS. And of course, the reverse DNS names need to be valid; i.e. the names given in reverse DNS need to map forward to the IP addresses for which they were given.

Wondermill
User Experience Design Ninja job description:

When people have created an account with one of our products, they should shed a tear because the experience is over.  They should write ballads and march from town to town reading them to anyone who’ll listen.  They should hang signs from highway overpasses proclaiming our good name, hold 3-day block parties and call up radio stations to dedicate cheesy songs.

They should obsess.

Banzai De Bug
Banzai De Bug Pest Control shows that even unsavory industries can come up with an interesting story:

The pest control industry is changing. Most people picture a pest control operator as a guy walking around with a tank spraying chemicals. George started out with a sprayer but for the past 5 to 6 years has been using glue boards and baiting techniques.

George goes to work every day dressed in a blazer and gets to his clients on his motorcycle. He got into this business at the age of 43 and loves it. He feels this job is great for his personality and feels he needs to be his own boss.

George’s specialty is treating for rats and mice. He describes his job as that of a detective. “A big piece of this job is getting the details and facts, figuring out how it can happen and then solving the problem. The real satisfaction comes when I go back to the job to see that it worked.” His approach to catching the rodents is to give them a well balanced meal, served up on a glue board. He takes a piece of cardboard and spreads glue all over it. Then he takes bits of meat, sardines, and a Hershey Bar with almonds for dessert. The beverage of choice to serve with this feast is beer. George knows that the rats will drink until they can’t drink anymore and eventually they will become sick, choke and die. This is all done without pesticides.

George feels that if you are honest and good you get better at what you do and you will do well. He created his business; no one gave it to him.

Think Like a Chef
From Think Like a Chef by Tom Colicchio:

Roasting in an oven cheats me of the audible, visual, and tactile cues that are such a gratifying step of the cooking process. For some people, the end result alone — the perfectly browned sea bass, the crisp chicken — is the point, but for me the process of browning the meat, watching the sugars in the surface caramelize, and listening to the sizzling sound of the butter, the sputter as the moisture in the herbs meets the juices in the pan, is as satisfying as the result. Watching as the dish transforms from a group of separate, inert ingredients into a new thing altogether is rewarding even before the first bite. When you learn to pan roast for yourself, a practical benefit is that in time you’ll come to recognize the audible and visual cues of correctly cooked food, and you’ll find yourself relying less and less on the times and temperatures printed in any recipe.

Oprah-speak
From How to explain RSS the Oprah way:

The technical acronym for RSS is “Really Simple Syndication”, an XML format that was created to syndicate news, and be a means to share content on the web. Now, to geeks and techies that means something special, but to everyday folks like you and me, what comes to mind is, “Uh, I don’t get it?”

So, to make RSS much easier to understand, in Oprah speak, RSS stands for: I’m “Ready for Some Stories”. It is a way online for you to get a quick list of the latest story headlines from all your favorite websites and blogs all in one place. How cool is that?

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