So what ever happened to the DNA evidence?
July 8, 2009, 8:45 PM
For the past four days, I’ve been having a little fun with my Facebook friends. I’ve been posting status messages with the phrase “DNA evidence” in it without any explanation, and seeing what kind of responses I get. I chose “DNA evidence” as a phrase as a tribute to the use of DNA evidence as a running joke in six consecutive Strong Bad Emails on Homestar Runner. Then it was all explained in the cartoon DNA Evidence.
All together, I posted four “DNA evidence” status messages:
Ben Schumin is going to have that DNA evidence on the desk by nine!
Ben Schumin is not going to make the 51 bus tonight. The DNA evidence pointed to it.
Ben Schumin wonders what happened to the DNA evidence.
Ben Schumin *sigh*… DNA evidence.
Continue reading…Categories: Amusing, Homestar Runner, Social media
I just realized I never told you about my weekend…
March 9, 2009, 11:38 PM
What fun I had! I got to take a bunch of railfan photos, and I also got to meet the DC area Wikipedia gurus once again.
First, though, I railfanned. I had gotten wind on the Railroad.net forums that Metro would be single-tracking between Vienna and West Falls Church, and with that configuration, that usually means that (A) some trains will be terminating at West Falls Church instead of Vienna, and (B) trains will be utilizing the center track at West Falls Church to cross over to the proper track for single-tracking.
Thus, I rolled on over to West Falls Church, coming down from Glenmont via Metro Center. I caught a train terminating at West Falls Church, and was initially disappointed because the train offloaded at West Falls Church on the correct track. I was disappointed because I figured that they would terminate the short-turn trains on the center track and then dwell there before departing to New Carrollton.
Before we continue, here’s the track layout at West Falls Church:
25 random things about me…
January 30, 2009, 7:12 PM
The latest meme around Facebook is posting 25 random things that you might not otherwise know about them as a “note”. And as of right now, I’ve been tagged three times in people’s notes about it. It’s quite interesting reading about all of these different things about people, since while I know many of these people very well, a lot of these facts are things I didn’t know.
With this meme, the rule is as follows: “Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.” Then you’re supposed to tag 25 people in the note, including those who tagged you.
Since I’ve been tagged three times, in deciding whether or not to do this, I had one of those what-the-hell-why-not moments. I will admit this up front – this is going to be hard, since I’ve discussed so much on Schumin Web over the past twelve years, that it’s hard to find stuff I haven’t discussed on here.
So here goes.
Categories: Myself, Social media
Who doesn’t like a free hug?
September 10, 2008, 10:54 PM
So as far as I was concerned, International Free Hug Day was a resounding success, as free hugs were given to all who wanted them. This was an event that I organized with Anonymous as a flash raid, and so we gave our free hugs on the triangle across from the Founding Church of Scientology, in front of La Tomate. I was out there for three hours, having come straight from work, and Heidi joined in about halfway through. Check us out:
Categories: Netculture, Project Chanology
Phew! The whole place smells like Sharpie…
September 8, 2008, 10:55 PM
Yes, I pulled out my Sharpies to hand-letter a few signs. I made three. This is the general gist of the message:
Categories: Arlington, Netculture
So the meetup went well, though turnout was low.
September 7, 2008, 1:58 AM
I always love getting together with my fellow Wikipedia geeks. We have so much fun, though I admit that the turnout was a bit low this time around. But, I also can’t blame many for not showing, considering that Tropical Storm Hanna came blowing through on the same day. I got pretty wet just walking the ten feet from my door to the car, but otherwise, no problem, since it was a short drive to the Metro station, and then from there, I’m on Metro and it can be as rainy and windy as it wants, because all the stations I’m dealing with (Wheaton and Union Station in this case) are underground.
Otherwise, though, Uno’s was wonderful as always, and the wait staff took very good care of us. One thing we noticed on the check was that they never billed us for the drinks! Much to our surprise, none of the beverages that anyone ordered, alcoholic or otherwise, appeared on the check. Then the conversation was lovely, as we made light of some of the various situations that came up on Wikipedia and all the things we managed to get into. Fun times.
And here we are:
I CAN HAS DISHEZ?
July 30, 2008, 3:12 PM
You have to admit, with this being my kitchen week at the office, that this is a cute way to announce that the dishwasher will be running soon…
Yes, the concept of the Lolcat is alive and well. I got the original image from Gumuz on Flickr, and then lolcatted it up using the Lolcat Translator.
Categories: Netculture, Work
And so for those wondering how my birthday went…
June 4, 2008, 2:07 PM
My birthday weekend went quite well, thank you. I spent my actual birthday at home, where I wrote a Wikipedia article about October Rebellion. Yes, that October Rebellion. I had a great time writing that article, though it’s not often that I’ll sit down and write a new article from scratch and go hunting for reliable sources and such.
Then the next day, Mom and Dad came to visit – just for the day. We went to downtown Silver Spring, where we had a birthday lunch at Austin Grill, a restaurant that serves Mexican food. As we were coming in, rain appeared to be imminent, and yet some people still wanted to be seated outside, and stayed outside, even as the rain started coming down. There was a very small overhang that these people ate under, and I presume they stayed dry for the most part.
At the restaurant, Mom committed what would be considered a major sin if you like to stay in the good graces of your companions. She told the server that it was my birthday. Now I admit that she didn’t mean to let that out in front of the waitstaff. It slipped out unintentionally. But you know how it is… if you say “birthday” to a server, next thing you know, you have ALL of them marching in clapping, and singing happy birthday to you. Once we realized Mom’s error, we flagged the server again about the birthday thing, and good news – Austin Grill doesn’t sing. Very good.
A belated reportback is better than no reportback at all, I suppose.
May 25, 2008, 5:29 PM
Hey, I’ve been busy. So sue me. But I must report back that Katie and I had a great time last weekend. We went all over the place, and had a great time.
However, it started out somewhat rough – Katie took the train up to DC, specifically the Cardinal. And it was late. According to AmtrakDelays.com, on May 16, the eastbound Cardinal, train #50, was an hour and 42 minutes late arriving in Staunton, where Katie got on. Then at Union Station, where I was waiting for her, the train managed to rack up another 44 minutes of delays, and thus ended up getting in at 8:21 PM. That would make it two hours and 26 minutes late. This thing was supposed to show up at 5:55 PM, which would have fit my schedule quite nicely. Leave work, take Metro to Union Station, wait a few minutes, get Katie, and then ride back to Glenmont. However, I found out about the Staunton delay from Katie well in advance, so no problems there. I compensated other places as far as that delay went, and ended up staying later at work, since there were a few things I needed to take care of anyway, and planned to arrive in time for the new delayed arrival. Okay.
So arriving at Union Station, I got in, and immediately checked the boards to see what the deal was. Another delay. Lovely. So I ended up just kind of wandering around Union Station for the next two hours, as I had nothing else to do. I was totally unprepared for a longer delay. However, I did have my iPod, and so at least I got to listen to Randi Rhodes (now on Nova M Radio!). And with headphones on was how I passed a good hour or so of that delay, as I went in and out of stores, seeing what amused me. I also managed to find a relatively quiet corner of the station to make a phone call, finding out about how things were going on the train from Katie. That quiet spot ended up being in a far corner of the parking garage, interestingly enough. But hey, it was nice out, so it worked. I got to watch train movements north of the station, and found out that the initial delay was due to weather, and then heavy rail traffic caused the delays closer in. Okay. Beyond the control of either one of us. What are you going to do, I suppose.
Categories: Activism, Amtrak, Arlington, Arundel Mills, Katie, Project Chanology, Security, Washington DC, Wikipedia
Since when have I been an active contributor on Conservapedia?
March 3, 2008, 9:36 PM
Answer is, I’m not. But someone on there obviously wants to make me into a conservative windbag, as someone has gone onto Conservapedia and registered an account called BenSchumin. My “alter ego” considers the left to consist of druggies, and has deleted a link to a debate about masturbation, calling it “liberal filth”. This person actually calls anything he disagrees with “liberal”.
Now if this were the first time that the right wing has blasted me, this might be shocking. But no, this is nothing new. Three years ago, I was dissed in a conservative blog. Then a little less than a year ago, we had Michelle Malkin and her followers making me the poster child for every black bloc that has ever brandished a can of spray paint. And that spilled over into Free Republic and various other pockets of right-wingers on the Internet.
Still, I find it funny when people do this to try and discredit me. Who they’re trying to fool, I don’t know, but based on the others’ reactions, this person’s not very good at it. Of course, Conservapedia is a site I find amusing anyway. I consider these people so far out there in being right wing nutjobs that they’re practically harmless because no one would ever take them seriously. And they will always be an underdog, because rather than just do their thing and promote their view of conservatism, they spend pages upon pages complaining about alleged “liberal bias” on Wikipedia, while simultaneously placing Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Rush Limbaugh on pedestals.
So, yeah, the jig is up, Schumin impersonator…
Categories: Netculture, Politics
Gotta love an evening with a bunch of my fellow Wikipedia geeks…
December 10, 2007, 11:40 PM
I’d say I had quite a busy weekend! First the protest on Saturday, and then a Wikipedia meetup on Sunday. Basically, a Wikipedia meetup is where editors of Wikipedia get together at a restaurant and shoot the breeze for a while over dinner. This is my second one, and they’re a lot of fun. This time, we went to Skewers, which is across the street from where I work.
All in all, it was a fun time. We discussed Wikipedia, and we discussed things other than Wikipedia. We even got metal barnstars at the end of the event. We also learned that while we’re serious about building an encyclopedia, we don’t take ourselves too seriously, when we noticed a typo on the menu, which printed “species” where “spices” was intended, and someone mentioned that we should edit the menu.
In the end, it was a lot of fun, and we got a photo of everyone, too:
Categories: Wikipedia
“Ben Schumin believes his life is very interesting. He’s wrong.”
November 29, 2007, 7:11 PM
Do you remember back in April when I inadvertently stayed up all night because I had too much coffee at Daily Grind? Well, while messing around on the Internet, I discovered the latest person making an attempt to be witty at my expense. This would be a person going by the name “Javier Magnante” (more than likely not the person’s real name), who runs the blog Today’s Special Is Pain, which dissects my Journal entries in a style similar to Mystery Science Theater 3000. He takes a bit of text from my Journal and reposts it in a light gray color, and then he makes sarcastic comments right below it in this salmon-colored text.
His style is rude and crude, as he portrays me in his profanity-laden commentaries as someone who is constantly eating large quantities of ham and paying no attention to personal hygiene, while simultaneously having sexual relations with my digital camera and laptop computer. Needless to say, cheap shots are in no short supply. Frank Wade should go see this guy for advice on how to take cheap shots at me.
Categories: Netculture, Some people
A Saturday evening at Union Station…
July 22, 2007, 7:53 AM
I went to the DC Wikipedia meetup with a coworker whom I met up with at Silver Spring, and we had a blast! The meeting was at Union Station, and we had dinner at Uno’s. I think first of all, it’s neat to see what all these various people look like in real life. I mean, normally, what do you see? Just their online handle. Me, I show up on there as just SchuminWeb. So it’s nice to put some faces on those names.
It was neat hearing about the various Wiki-activities that everyone’s been involved in, and what our various ways of dealing with ugly issues are. Some people try to resolve it. Some steer clear. Plus the stories we have. Articles that come up for deletion, survive, and then are renominated for deletion well down the road, and then die in the second nomination. Dealings with other users. You name it, we discussed it.
Categories: Wikipedia
Now this ought to be fun…
July 15, 2007, 12:22 AM
Let’s add one more event to an already fun-filled weekend where I’m starting to have concerns about getting my housework done. Wikipedia’s having a DC meetup on Saturday, July 21 – the day before Mom and Sis arrive on their respective journeys. It’s going to be at Union Station at 5:00 PM at Uno Chicago Grill. I’d say this ought to be fun.
If nothing else, this will be a fun opportunity to meet face-to-face with some of the people that I work with regularly in building and tweaking an encyclopedia. I’ve met a few Wikipedians in person already, just going about life. As with this Web site, I have my photo on my Wikipedia user page, so I’m fairly recognizable.
So we’ll just add a sixth Metro day to the schedule for next week, going from Glenmont or Wheaton (I try to mix it up on the weekend) to Union Station. The general rule of thumb, however, is that I want to avoid riding Glenmont to Dupont Circle on an off-day – reminds me too much of going to work.
Speaking of Metro, one of my sister’s friends from Virginia Tech, whom I’ve also met before, recently told her that she saw me on the Metro on my way to work. As a general rule, folks: If you see me on Metro, say hello to me. I may look completely absorbed in my copy of the Express, but I’ll put it down in a second to have a good conversation.
And where they found me is no surprise – I do the same thing every day in my morning commute. I sit in the fifth car (sixth if it’s an eight-car train) of a Red Line train to Shady Grove, in the second row of seats behind the center door, on the left side of the train, with my copy of the Express. About the only difference day to day is the car number.
Attention, YouTubers: May I suggest…?
April 21, 2007, 1:29 AM
For all of you who post videos on YouTube, may I make a suggestion? If you’re going to be posting videos of yourself demonstrating something, please do one of two things. Please either get someone to do the filming for you, or alternately, please use a tripod or something else to put the camera on.
Why? Because people who are demonstrating something with one hand while filming with the other so often produce videos that will make a person seasick. The videos are so often also out of focus because they’re too close or moving too fast. Such videos make it hard to follow what’s going on, and it takes some of the human element out of a video, since all we see is this disembodied hand.
If I had prepared more thoroughly for this entry, I would have made multiple videos for you of the same basic thing ahead of time to show you what I mean. One where I filmed myself doing something, and the other while having another person film me doing the same task. Then I could have you compare the quality of the two videos.
But you won’t get to see this, because I came to this entry utterly unprepared. So let me pick a few videos out of YouTube to demonstrate what I mean in lieu of filming my own demonstration. My apologies up front if any of these videos that I am about to use were made by someone who is familiar with my work and may eventually read this.
Categories: Copyright infringement, YouTube