NetBloke.com - Carnivorous Cats

Editorial 13th June 2001

G'Day!

For those of you who check out the Webcam every now and then you would have seen that my study has been taken over by a litter of kittens. This originally feral bunch of felines started life out under the back porch and were then moved to my brother in laws torn down work shed by their wild mother.

After consultation with the local Humane Society and Veterinarian we decided to trap them all for their own good and the good of the local wildlife. You see the mother cat was slashing her way through the local bird population while possibly on her way to another litter of kittens.

So it was off to the Humane Society for the mother cat, while we were told if the kittens were tamed they would be found homes if possible. Hence we now have four kittens. Two of them are already earmarked to patrol our soon to be residence in Des Moines, while the other two may go to an aunt or the Humane Society.

Anyway you will see that this week's issue is leaning towards the furry critters out there and some of the great animal services available to everyone -- even some that you may not have thought of before.

Last weeks issue generated a fair bit of email for me to wade through and reply to when appropriate. I love hearing all your ideas and opinions and when possible I will mention a few of them even! So here a couple of reader comments.

Jim Walsh wrote in after last weeks Maps and Navigation issue and told me for those of you traveling to the UK or living in the UK, that www.multimap.com is a useful site for finding your way around.

On a lighter note than the virus myths and hoaxes that Vmyths.com covers, true blue NetBloke reader Simon Lamb suggested this Web site that covers email hoaxes, at www.urbanlegends.about.com.

That is about it for now so until next week seeya later!

Nathan Allan

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Definition: Have Kittens

This is when you receive a shock or surprise that you cannot believe. It is normally used to state what someone else will do when they find out about an event. For example, NetBloke will have kittens when he finds out he was made man of the year!

See you get what I mean!

Web Site Review: Cats

I am reviewing a couple of Web sites in this issue. The first is the Digital Convergence Corporation (DCC) and their product Cuecat. Now this has been around for a while now and has generated a lot of publicity over the last couple of years. First let me quote DCC on what their technology does;

"We developed the idea of guiding an Internet user directly to a specific site and a specific page deep within that site with what we call a "cue." Print cues are our own proprietary slant codes, which look like product codes. Audio cues take the form of specific audio tones. Our technology also reads product codes like UPC, ISBN or EAN symbols".

Ok so basically what you get is like a special mouse-like or pen-like object that allows you to scan barcodes and the like on products. This in turn will take you directly to a Web site that involves the product that you scanned. Sounds pretty cool doesn't it? Well there is a down side that some people identified early on. You have to register your Cuecat and provide a lot of personal information. This enables DCC to track your behavior on the Web and in turn provide demographics to the companies that use the technology.

So it is worth a look but be wary.

http://www.cuecat.com

The Humane Society is great. Now in the states I have only dealt with the local branch in Madisonville, Kentucky but I imagine they are all pretty much the same.

On a local level they are a place were unwanted domestic pets can be left and cared for, and feral animals are humanely dealt with.

They are also a great place to find a new pet. You can buy yourself a cat or dog that may have been someone else's unwanted pet or you can get puppies and kittens. It is a great thing to adopt an otherwise unwanted animal and give it a new home. I am sure if you took a trip out to your local Humane Society it would pull on the heartstrings a little!

On a higher level they campaign on animal causes, making certain that all animals are treaty humanely.

http://www.hsus.org
http://www.rspca.org.au

Tech Riddle

This weeks question comes from Tom-in-Seoul.

"NetBloke...

Is there a way to keep programs from changing file associations in Win2k? Can you lock the associations?

Thanks
Tom-in-Seoul"

Can you help him out? I will publish your answers next issue!

Answer:

I received a few answers on last weeks question, which was:

"Hey NetBloke! I have Internet Explorer and the flash installer on Macromedia's web site doesn't work. It says some about no valid security certificate and asks me if I want to trust the download. Although I click ok it doesn't do anything. Please help as I would love to have flash working!"

The answers included:

Craig Hopkins wrote in this brief answer, "If being run under W2K Pro you have to be logged in as Admin or equal for the Flash Installer to work".

Bill wrote, "Hi, as a shotgun approach try to repair IE from add/remove, if no go then upgrade IE from MS Update".

If you have a question of your own, contact me.

The Great Australian Joke

Here is a joke that Greg Wheat sent in a while ago. It goes with this week's theme!

What is a Cat?

Cats do what they want.
They rarely listen to you.
They're totally unpredictable.
When you want to play, they want to be alone.
When you want to be alone, they want to play.
They expect you to cater to their every whim.
They're moody.
They leave hair everywhere.

CONCLUSION: They're tiny women in little fur coats.

What is a Dog?

Dogs spend all day sprawled on the most comfortable piece of furniture in the house.
They can hear a package of food opening half a block away, but don't hear you when you're in the same room.
They can look dumb and lovable all at the same time.
They growl when they are not happy.
When you want to play, they want to play.
When you want to be alone, they want to play.
They leave their toys everywhere.
They do disgusting things with their mouths and then try to give you a kiss.
They go right for your crotch as soon as they meet you.

CONCLUSION: They're tiny men in little fur coats.