<rss version="2.0"><channel><title>RSS feed for InstantSpot site Dave&apos;s Blog</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com</link><description>My journey in blogging</description><language>en-us</language><copyright>This work is Copyright &#xA9; 2008 by Dave&apos;s Blog</copyright><generator>RSSVille ColdFusion FeedMaker, version 1.0</generator><pubDate>Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:37:32 GMT</pubDate><item><title>How to Correctly Build Backlinks for SEO</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/24/How-to-Correctly-Build-Backlinks-for-SEO</link><description>&lt;div id=&quot;body&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Most webmasters will attempt some form of Search Engine Optimization during
their career as website owners. They will do this because they want to increase
their Page Rank which will increase their website traffic. Most will fail; this
article will go into depth on how to build a good backlinking campaign
correctly which will in turn increase ranking and sales. 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
When most people think of SEO they think of backlinks.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;They are under the perception that the more
backlinks they have the better page rank they will get.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;They are partially correct, but it needs to
be done correctly.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Below are some
helpful tips on the correct way and the incorrect way of building backlinks.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The correct way to build Backlinks&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
1) Get relevant websites with good Page Rank (PR) to link to your website. 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
2) Join a Forum that allows you to put your link in your signature. You&amp;#39;ll
want to find a forum that is in your niche that way you&amp;#39;ll build relevant
links. &lt;strong&gt;Do not spam the forums&lt;/strong&gt;, that is the fastest way to get yourself banned.
Participate, and not only will you create backlinks that the search engines
will spider but you will get traffic from the forum itself and  develop relationships with others within your niche.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
3) Get a Good Link Baiting campaign going by providing content that attracts
other webmasters to link to it. 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
4) List your website in relevant Directories. 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Wrong way to obtain Backlinks&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
1) Write hundreds of articles (This produces low value, spammy links from
the same block of IP addresses).&lt;br /&gt;
2) Write Hundreds of Press Releases about your site stating how great it is. 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
3) Have unrelated sites with poor Page Rank to link to you. 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
4) Participate in a Link Farm 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
5) Spam blog sites comment fields. This is a waste of time anyway since most
blogs put a tag on any user created link of (rel=&amp;quot;nofollow&amp;quot;. When
Google spiders the website, if it comes across any links with this tag it will
disregard them. Read more about the no follow tag from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/01/preventing-comment-spam.html&quot;&gt;Official
Google Blog.&lt;/a&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
The most important thing to learn from this article is that backlinks from
relevant sites will increase your page rank the most.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Spamming blogs will do nothing but waste your
time and irritate the blog owner.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Useful Tool&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.quirk.biz/download-searchstatus&quot;&gt;SearchStatus Firefox Plugin&lt;/a&gt; :&amp;nbsp; This is a very useful plugin for building relevant backlinks.&amp;nbsp; Remember above&amp;nbsp; where I said you want backlinks on relevant pages with good Page Rank.&amp;nbsp; Well this plugin puts a little bar graph on the top of firefox that weill let you know what the Page Rand and the Alexa rank of whatever page you are visiting.&amp;nbsp; Not only that but it has a setting that will highlight any link on a web page that uses the no follow tag.&amp;nbsp; This is very beneficial if you are looking for page to establish backlinks on.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12pt&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
</description><pubDate>Sat, 25 Aug 2007 01:27:30 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/24/How-to-Correctly-Build-Backlinks-for-SEO</guid><category>Better Blogging</category></item><item><title>Major League Baseball Caps With Gang Colors</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/24/Major-League-Baseball-Caps-With-Gang-Colors</link><description>&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;
	&lt;tbody&gt;
		&lt;tr&gt;
			&lt;td&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/userfiles/102006/201/gangsymbols.gif&quot; alt=&quot; &quot; /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
			&lt;/td&gt;
			&lt;td&gt;
			&lt;p&gt;
			&lt;span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NEW YORK &amp;mdash;  Official &lt;a href=&quot;javascript:siteSearch(&amp;#39;Major League Baseball&amp;#39;);&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Major League Baseball&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
			caps blatantly featuring colors and symbols for some of America&amp;#39;s
			deadliest street gangs are turning up on store shelves in Harlem.  &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
			&lt;/p&gt;
			&lt;p&gt;
			&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
			&lt;/p&gt;
			&lt;/td&gt;
		&lt;/tr&gt;
	&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;span&gt;Outraged local activists charge
that New Era, the caps&amp;#39; manufacturer, and the New York Yankees &amp;mdash; whose
famous interlocking NY cap features a choice of a red and black
bandanna design for the Bloods, blue and gray for the Crips and a gold
crown for the Latin Kings &amp;mdash;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;and &lt;a style=&quot;border-bottom: 0.075em solid darkgreen; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; text-decoration: underline; color: darkgreen; background-color: transparent; padding-bottom: 1px&quot; href=&quot;http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294409,00.html#&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; class=&quot;iAs&quot;&gt;Major League Baseball&lt;/a&gt; are deliberately marketing to gang members and wannabes.&lt;/span&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;span&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;quot;Companies involved should
not profit from the promotion of gang affiliation, which leads only to
gang violence,&amp;quot; the activists, who call themselves the Coalition to
Protect Our Children, said in a statement. The coalition is concerned
that unsuspecting kids could buy one of the hats, wear it in the wrong
turf and then be targeted for attack.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;The group marched Thursday in East &lt;a style=&quot;border-bottom: 0.075em solid darkgreen; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; text-decoration: underline; color: darkgreen; background-color: transparent; padding-bottom: 1px&quot; href=&quot;http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294409,00.html#&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; class=&quot;iAs&quot;&gt;Harlem&lt;/a&gt;
to try to pressure local shops into pulling the caps from their
shelves. One store operator agreed to do so, MyFOXNY.com reported.&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Meanwhile, an MLB official claimed the league was not aware that the designs were gang-related.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;quot;Major League &lt;a style=&quot;border-bottom: 0.075em solid darkgreen; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; text-decoration: underline; color: darkgreen; background-color: transparent; padding-bottom: 1px&quot; href=&quot;http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294409,00.html#&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; class=&quot;iAs&quot;&gt;Baseball&lt;/a&gt;
&amp;hellip; is very concerned about the issue,&amp;quot; said Silvia Alvarez, the league&amp;#39;s
director of multicultural and charitable communications, in a
statement. She indicated that MLB would encourage and support the
pulling of these caps from stores.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
The
Coalition to Protect our Children said the group would continue its
efforts to stop the sale of caps with gang colors and symbols and plans
to hold gang-awaren
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
</description><pubDate>Fri, 24 Aug 2007 15:13:29 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/24/Major-League-Baseball-Caps-With-Gang-Colors</guid><category>bizarre</category></item><item><title>New blog</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/20/New-blog</link><description>I just launched a new blog at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.papazoo.com&quot;&gt;www.papazoo.com&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; It&amp;#39;s going to be concentrating on humor, bizarreness and anything funny, whereas this on is whatever I want.&amp;nbsp; Come over and check it out, and any criticism good or bad is appreciated.
</description><pubDate>Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:58:26 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/20/New-blog</guid><category>News</category></item><item><title>Hilarious Telemarketer Prank Call</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/20/Hilarious-Telemarketer-Prank-Call</link><description>&lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;
This has to be the funniest telemarketer prank call
I&amp;#39;ve ever heard.  You gotta listen to this, you&amp;#39;ll be on the floor
rolling with laughter. 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
[youtube J5z4Vs26-TI]
&lt;/p&gt;
</description><pubDate>Mon, 20 Aug 2007 14:12:02 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/20/Hilarious-Telemarketer-Prank-Call</guid><category>humor</category></item><item><title>Britney gets topless for photo shoot, but is no-show for interview</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/18/Britney-gets-topless-for-photo-shoot-but-is-noshow-for-interview</link><description>&lt;p&gt;
The cover of the September issue of Allure magazine features Britney
Spears posed provocatively in jeans and dark brown wig, her bare
breasts covered by her arms. There are two similar shots inside the
mag. She very cooperatively posed for the shots in April. When it came
to sitting for the interview she had also agreed to, that became a much
different matter.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;ldquo;Britney showed up for Allure&amp;rsquo;s cover shoot on time and ready to
work,&amp;rdquo; editor-in-chief Linda Wells wrote in an a letter for the issue,
on newsstands Tuesday.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;ldquo;She was entirely unself-conscious: She took off her wig and then
stripped down to the waist, for no apparent reason, before sitting for
hair and makeup,&amp;rdquo; Wells said. &amp;ldquo;She was agreeable and cooperative on the
shoot and left at the end of the day, followed by a trail of paparazzi.&amp;rdquo;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
As for the interview that was to follow, the 25-year-old Spears
missed four appointments with Allure interviewer Judith Newman, Wells
said.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
At one point, Spears put off the chat because she was &amp;ldquo;delayed by
important work in the recording studio,&amp;rdquo; Newman wrote. But, she added,
&amp;ldquo;The paparazzi found her a few hours later at a salon, getting her
nails done.&amp;rdquo; .
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
What do you do when you have no profile to accompany some alluring
photographs? Newman wrote a first-person essay about her experience
trying to track down Spears.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;ldquo;Britney has long lost her role-model status,&amp;rdquo; Wells commented.
&amp;ldquo;That dream of a comeback seems to occupy an ever-more-distant speck on
the horizon.&amp;rdquo;
&lt;/p&gt;
</description><pubDate>Sun, 19 Aug 2007 01:54:41 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/18/Britney-gets-topless-for-photo-shoot-but-is-noshow-for-interview</guid><category>bizarre</category></item><item><title>Telemarketer Call: Crazy Old Lady</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/16/Telemarketer-Call-Crazy-Old-Lady</link><description>&lt;p&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;nbsp;This is hilarious.&amp;nbsp; Pyscho old lady goes off on a telemarketer.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
[youtube wgjFjCOlv7I] &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
</description><pubDate>Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:03:46 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/16/Telemarketer-Call-Crazy-Old-Lady</guid><category>humor</category></item><item><title>Bizarre - Sheep trial</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/15/Bizarre--Sheep-trial</link><description>&lt;p&gt;
A Dutch man was cleared of having sex with a sheep because the animal could not testify.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
The
man - from Haaksbergen, near Utrecht - was reported to police by a
farmer who caught him having intercourse with the four-legged animal.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
But
the case was thrown out of court because the sheep couldn&amp;#39;t take to the
stand to testify it had not consented and had suffered emotional stress.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Bestiality is not illegal in the Netherlands unless it can be proven the animal did not want to take part.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Animal
rights campaigner Jos van Huisen said: &amp;quot;Short of putting the sheep in
the dock, at the moment these perverts cannot be prosecuted.&amp;quot; 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Minister of Justice Ernst Hirsch Ballin has announced plans to change the law. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
</description><pubDate>Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:27:12 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/15/Bizarre--Sheep-trial</guid><category>humor</category></item><item><title>How to do nothing at work and still get paid</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/14/How-to-do-nothing-at-work-and-still-get-paid</link><description>&lt;p&gt;
Do you have a coworker like this?&amp;nbsp; Now you too can learn how to show up at work and not do a thing, the amazing thing is that you will still get paid.&amp;nbsp; You too can consume valuable oxygen and take up space that would normally be used by someone of value.&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
[youtube YYgtUvgYi8U]
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
</description><pubDate>Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:57:37 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/14/How-to-do-nothing-at-work-and-still-get-paid</guid><category>Cool How To&apos;s</category></item><item><title>Panhandler fatally shot after asking woman for a quarter</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/13/Panhandler-fatally-shot-after-asking-woman-for-a-quarter</link><description>&lt;p&gt;
CINCINNATI &amp;mdash; A woman shot and killed a panhandler who asked her for 25 cents, police say.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;quot;He asked her for a quarter,&amp;quot; Police Chief Tom Streicher said. &amp;quot;That&amp;#39;s apparently all there was to it.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Donald Francis, who police believe was homeless, stood outside a gas
station late Monday asking people for money. Geraldine Beasley had
complained about Francis to someone else, and when he approached her
she pulled out a gun and shot him, police said.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Francis, 44, died at the scene.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Beasley, 62, was charged with murder and today was ordered held in
lieu of $500,000 bail, according to court documents. Her attorney, Mass
Ionna, told Municipal Court Judge Fanon Rucker that his client has
mental issues.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Beasley&amp;#39;s court record dates back 15 years with traffic charges,
eviction cases and civil judgments both for and against her. She was
fined in 2003 for improperly transporting a loaded gun after officers
found one in her van.
&lt;/p&gt;
</description><pubDate>Mon, 13 Aug 2007 15:21:18 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/13/Panhandler-fatally-shot-after-asking-woman-for-a-quarter</guid><category>humor</category></item><item><title>Bush is like a scratched record</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/12/Bush-is-like-a-scratched-record</link><description>&lt;p&gt;
Our president wants to enact another policy that favors U.S. Corporations, which is code for helping his rich buddies that put him in office.&amp;nbsp; He is considering another tax cut, even though we now have a record deficit, and the Iraq war is costing us billions with no end in site.&amp;nbsp; This means the deficit will increase, and since it only affects corporations then the burden falls even heavier on us.&amp;nbsp; He must be seeing that the end is near and wants to squeeze every last dollar he can out of us for his cronies.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
	&lt;p&gt;
	President Bush said yesterday that he is considering a
	fresh plan to cut tax rates for U.S. corporations to make them more
	competitive around the world, an initiative that could further inflame
	a battle with the Democratic Congress over spending and taxes and help
	define the remainder of his tenure.
	&lt;/p&gt;
	&lt;p&gt;
	Advisers presented Bush with a series of ideas to restructure
	corporate taxes, possibly eliminating narrowly targeted breaks to pay
	for a broader, across-the-board rate cut. In an interview with a small
	group of journalists afterward, Bush said he was &amp;ldquo;inclined&amp;rdquo; to send a
	corporate tax package to Congress, although he expressed uncertainty
	about its political viability.&amp;nbsp;
	&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
</description><pubDate>Sun, 12 Aug 2007 14:46:50 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/12/Bush-is-like-a-scratched-record</guid><category>politics</category></item><item><title>Christ-like smudge on garage floor fetches $1,500 on eBay</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/11/Christlike-smudge-on-garage-floor-fetches-1500-on-eBay</link><description>&lt;p&gt;
FOREST, VA. &amp;mdash; A smudge of driveway sealant resembling the face of
Jesus Christ has fetched more than $1,500 in an online auction.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
The family that found the image on its garage floor sold it for
$1,525.69 on eBay Wednesday, more than a week after the slab of
concrete was put on sale.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;quot;I really never thought I&amp;#39;d get any, to be honest,&amp;quot; said Deb Serio, a high school teacher.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;quot;It&amp;#39;s fun to see what people say and think about it,&amp;quot; said Serio, who has gotten hundreds of messages from around the world.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
The family has hired a contractor to remove the section of concrete.
The chunk will be turned over to the winner, identified only as
&amp;quot;islandoffthecoast.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
An active Lutheran, Serio considers the smudge just an odd occurrence &amp;mdash; not a sign or miracle.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;quot;There are some people who need this kind of thing to sort of start
them on their faith journey. I don&amp;#39;t,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;That&amp;#39;s why I don&amp;#39;t
mind parting with it.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
&lt;img src=&quot;/userfiles/102006/201/christ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot; &quot; /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
</description><pubDate>Sat, 11 Aug 2007 15:13:40 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/11/Christlike-smudge-on-garage-floor-fetches-1500-on-eBay</guid><category>humor</category></item><item><title>Builder does DIY castration</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/10/Builder-does-DIY-castration</link><description>&lt;p&gt;
Building boss Howard Shelley carried out the ultimate DIY conversion by castrating himself.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
The 42-year-old dad of two decided on the drastic move after being told
he would have to wait at least two years for a sex change on the NHS,
reports The Sun.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
 He found a website which gave a
step-by-step guide to the eye-watering home surgery, then waited till
wife Janet went out before setting to work with a kitchen knife in the
loo.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
 With the job done, he wrapped his severed appendages in a cloth and dropped them in the bin.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Then he drove five miles to his local GP, explained what he&amp;#39;d done, and
was packed off for treatment at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital, near
Aylesbury.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
 Amazingly, three days later he was back at his desk.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
 Howard, who wants to be known as Holli, said: &amp;quot;It was very painful, but the moment I cut them off I felt all woman.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;quot;I&amp;#39;m the sort of guy who, when I make up my mind to do something, wants
it done there and then. I didn&amp;#39;t want to be a man any more so I decided
to do it myself.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
 &amp;quot;The worst bit was steeling myself for the
first cut. The whole thing took six minutes. It was agony, but I knew I
couldn&amp;#39;t stop.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
 He is saving up &amp;pound;5,000 for a full sex-change
operation in Thailand. He said: &amp;quot;I want breasts and hips - then I can
be a real woman.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
 Janet, 42, who has an MBE for setting up
their firm, said: &amp;quot;We still love each other. I&amp;#39;m just angry he had to
take such extreme action.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
</description><pubDate>Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:40:47 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/10/Builder-does-DIY-castration</guid><category>humor</category></item><item><title>Hilarious Skittles commercial</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/09/Hilarious-Skittles-commercial</link><description>&lt;p&gt;
&amp;quot;The Skittles Touch&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp; this is hilarious.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
[youtube Ue3d5xUQr0I] &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
</description><pubDate>Fri, 10 Aug 2007 00:07:43 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/09/Hilarious-Skittles-commercial</guid><category>humor</category></item><item><title>My Animated World</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/06/My-Animated-World</link><description>&lt;p&gt;
This is a really cool Stop Motion video by Jelle Van Dun from the Netherlands.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
[youtube cYhhfHYZa5s] &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
</description><pubDate>Tue, 07 Aug 2007 03:13:41 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/06/My-Animated-World</guid><category>video</category></item><item><title>T-Shirt History</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/03/TShirt-History</link><description>&lt;div id=&quot;body&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
A modern t-shirt usually has no buttons, collars or
pockets. It can be made of cotton or polyester or a blend. The t-shirt
has round neck and sleeve holes and currently may be decorated with
text and graphics, sometimes funny.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
But, the t-shirt has not
always been this way, oh no. The t-shirt has a long and proud history
beginning with the ancient Egyptians who wore formal undergarments
while they were erecting the pyramids in 120-degree desert heat.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Some
historians theorize that the pyramids were actually supposed to be
large cubes, but since each crew was exhausted from wearing t-shirts
underneath their garment in the high desert heat, that subsequent crews
did less and less work. This desire to do less and hurry the finality
of the project lead the crew leader on day to simply put a point on top
of the cube-turned-pyramid and inform the high priests and priestesses
that there had been a cost overruns and a &amp;ldquo;change in plans&amp;rdquo;.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Be
that as it may, t-shirts again reared their ugly heads in the 19th
century, once again as formal undergarments in Britain. The Brits and
their famous eye for prudence started requiring school age boys to wear
t-shirts and tuck them in over their underwear but inside their pants
in order to foil the bullies&amp;rsquo; attempts at giving atomic wedgies.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
The
bullies were not foiled however, and just grabbed t-shirts and
underpants in two motions instead of one and proceeded to give atomic
wedgies as before. Some schoolchildren then used flatulence as a
defense mechanism to deter the bullies, but this is for another
discussion altogether.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
T-shirts became popular again with the
advent of World War II. Military types such as sailors began wearing
these undergarments to work in and when overheated would throw off the
shirts atop and work in t-shirts only.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Some early videos posted
on Youtube show sailors in the 1940&amp;rsquo;s performing their duties in
t-shirts aboard huge warships and occasionally breaking out in song and
dance particularly to &amp;ldquo;Y-M-C-A&amp;rdquo; by the Village People. Calisthenics
were performed on board these large aircraft carriers to keep the men
in shape and even Richard Simmons&amp;rsquo; father, Gene would lead the jumping
jacks in his t-shirt.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
In the 1960&amp;rsquo;s Forrest &amp;ldquo;Running Man&amp;rdquo; Gump
heralded in a new era of decorated t-shirts. When he was once again
rejected by Jenny, he took to running cross country and wiped his muddy
face on what would become the first Happy Face t-shirt. Gump also told
another runner that &amp;ldquo;stuff happens&amp;rdquo; or some similar vulgar verbiage and
this became a national motto in no time, decorating t-shirts from coast
to coast.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Since this time, t-shirts have been a method of
self-expression for millions of people. First worn as a means of
political commentary, it didn&amp;rsquo;t take long before the commentary turned
humorous and then people started wearing all sorts of funny t-shirts to
express their inner goofballs to the world.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
So, there you have
it, a twisted history of the modern t-shirt. Though this may be a
fractured fairytale of what really happened, the essence is in fact
accurate. No go out and buy a t-shirt to express your inner goofball.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
</description><pubDate>Sat, 04 Aug 2007 01:28:57 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/08/03/TShirt-History</guid><category>humor</category></item><item><title>Microsoft patents the mother of all adware systems</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/07/30/Microsoft-patents-the-mother-of-all-adware-systems</link><description>&lt;p&gt;
&amp;nbsp;It&amp;#39;s such a tremendously bad idea that it&amp;#39;s almost bound to succeed. Microsoft has filed &lt;a href=&quot;http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070716-microsoft-patent-gives-a-peek-at-the-future-beyond-the-taskbar.html&quot;&gt;another&lt;/a&gt; patent, this one for an &amp;quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&amp;amp;Sect2=HITOFF&amp;amp;d=PG01&amp;amp;p=1&amp;amp;u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&amp;amp;r=1&amp;amp;f=G&amp;amp;l=50&amp;amp;s1=%2220070157227%22.PGNR.&amp;amp;OS=DN/20070157227&amp;amp;RS=DN/20070157227&quot;&gt;advertising framework&lt;/a&gt;&amp;quot; that uses &amp;quot;context data&amp;quot; from your hard drive to show you advertisements and &amp;quot;apportion and credit advertising revenue&amp;quot; to ad suppliers in real time. Yes, Redmond wants to own the patent on the mother of all adware.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
The application, filed in 2006, describes a multi-faceted, robust ad-delivering system that lives on a &amp;quot;user computer, whether it&amp;#39;s part of the OS, an application or integrated within applications.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070717-microsoft-patents-the-mother-of-all-adware-systems.html&quot;&gt;Click here to read the rest&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
</description><pubDate>Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:50:34 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/07/30/Microsoft-patents-the-mother-of-all-adware-systems</guid><category>rants</category></item><item><title>Computer Stupidities</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/07/26/Computer-Stupidities</link><description>&lt;p&gt;
I work in Tech Suport for a major DSL provider and we always get calls from people that are shall we say less than proficient on there computers.&amp;nbsp; I recently found a website called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rinkworks.com/stupid/&quot;&gt;Computer Stupidites&lt;/a&gt;  and below are some of the better ones.&amp;nbsp; Anyone that has ever done some kind of tech support can relate to these.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Me&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;DSL is a lot faster.  It--&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Friend&amp;#39;s Father&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Yeah, but if you have DSL, there are a
	lot of threats.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Me&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Yes, that&amp;#39;s true to a degree, but there are firewalls
	that--&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Friend&amp;#39;s Father&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;No, but they can hack into your computer even
	when it&amp;#39;s off and steal your electricity.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Me&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Umm...I&amp;#39;m pretty sure that won&amp;#39;t happen.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Friend&amp;#39;s Father&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;It&amp;#39;s all over the news. You mean to tell me
	they&amp;#39;re wrong?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Me&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;...I guess so.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;hr width=&quot;100%&quot; size=&quot;2&quot; /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;I got DSL, but it&amp;#39;s not working.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;What kind of modem do you have?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Ummm, I dont know.  It&amp;#39;s built into my laptop.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Ok, did you receive the modem package we sent out?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Modem package??&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Well, it looks like the modem was shipped to
	&lt;em&gt;(address)&lt;/em&gt;, Pennsylvania.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;I don&amp;#39;t live in Pennsylvania. I live in New York.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Huh.  Do you know this Pennsylvania address?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Yes, that&amp;#39;s my Mom&amp;#39;s house.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Ok, this DSL phone number you gave me -- is that
	your mother&amp;#39;s number?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Yes, they told me in order for me to have DSL,
	I need to have your company&amp;#39;s phone service.  My mother has it, so I
	gave them her telephone number.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;hr width=&quot;100%&quot; size=&quot;2&quot; /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Sir, Click Start, then Run, and type the letters
	C, M, and D.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Wait a minute, don&amp;#39;t run off the end of the earth away
	from me now. I can only go so fast with this thing.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Sorry, sir. Did you click Start?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Where is that start button? Oh, here is is. Now what?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Um, did you click it?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Dammit, no, do that now?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Yes, then click on the word Run.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Dammit, slow down!!! Run, run, run, where the hell
	is run?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Should be a the very bottom of the Start Menu that
	came up on the screen.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;I already clicked Start. Click it again?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;No, it should be there in the lower left corner.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Hey, I found the word Run. You want that instead?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Sure, why not? We&amp;#39;ll see if that works. Did you
	click it?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Yes.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Ok, type the letters C, M, and then D.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Slow down, dammit!! I&amp;#39;m not a programmer!!! I told you
	I&amp;#39;m only a car dealer!!&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Sorry, again, sir, what do you have there?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Z.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;No, we need &amp;#39;C&amp;#39; like &amp;#39;Charlie.&amp;#39;&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;C-H-A-R--&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Not the whole word &amp;#39;Charlie,&amp;#39; sir, just the &amp;#39;C,&amp;#39;
	please.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;If you don&amp;#39;t want a Charlie, why tell me to type
	it?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Um, what&amp;#39;s in the box now?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;I&amp;#39;m trying to find the eraser here.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Just hit the backspace key.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;That just moves it further to the right without typing
	anything.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Which backspace key did you press?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;The long one in the middle. I pressed it on the back
	side.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Eventually, we &amp;quot;found&amp;quot; the correct backspace key and got that Z
replaced with a C.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Now that we just have a &amp;#39;C&amp;#39; there, type an &amp;#39;M,&amp;#39;
	like &amp;#39;Mary,&amp;#39; but &lt;em&gt;just&lt;/em&gt; the &amp;#39;M,&amp;#39; ok?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;. &amp;quot;M-O-K.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Remember that backspace key?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Yes.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Press it twice.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;All right, but it took off the &amp;#39;O&amp;#39; and &amp;#39;K&amp;#39; you wanted.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Never mind that, I&amp;#39;ll live. Now type a &amp;#39;D,&amp;#39; just
	the letter D.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;D.  Now what?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Now press the enter key.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;E-N-T-E-R.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Is there anyone else around the lot that is
	maybe a little more familiar with computers than you are?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Customer&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Well, my wife uses one at her work and might be a
	little more familiar. She comes in in an hour. You want to talk to her?&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tech Support&lt;/strong&gt;: &amp;quot;Yes, please.&amp;quot;
	&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
</description><pubDate>Thu, 26 Jul 2007 18:43:12 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/07/26/Computer-Stupidities</guid><category>humor</category></item><item><title>Worst Job</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/07/25/Worst-Job</link><description>&lt;span&gt;
&lt;div id=&quot;msgcns!C6AEB80478260E1F!321&quot; class=&quot;bvMsg&quot;&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
I was curious what everyones worst job they ever held was.
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
I would have to say that mine was at Hardee&amp;#39;s.  It was my first
job.  I was 15 and had to alter my birth certificate in order to work
there.  I actually broke the law to work in a fast food place.  I was
the burger flipper.  I can&amp;#39;t say cook since you really don&amp;#39;t know how
to cook, you just flip the burgers when the timer went off.  It was so
hot that by the time I got off, I stunk to high heaven.  The
interesting thing was that the general manager was a coke head and the
assistant manager always disappeared to the roof to smoke weed.  This
actually had its benefits.  When the assistant manager was high he
became the nicest person and wanted to be everyones best buddy.  This
got me off work early numerous times.  I usually worked nights until
close, and there were a couple times that after close we had pickle and
and ice fights over the entire restaraunt, it was alot of fun until we
had to clean it up.  We wouldn&amp;#39;t have been able to get away with this
if the bosses weren&amp;#39;t stoned.  I make it kinda of sound like fun and
looking back at it 20 years later it actually sounds fun, but it
sucked.  
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
Please leave a comment and let me know what your worst job was.
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;
</description><pubDate>Thu, 26 Jul 2007 02:29:07 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/07/25/Worst-Job</guid><category>humor</category></item><item><title>Tammy Faye Bakker dies</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/07/22/Tammy-Faye-Bakker-dies</link><description>Tammy Faye Messner, who as Tammy Faye Bakker
helped her husband, Jim, build a multimillion-dollar evangelism empire
and then watched it collapse in disgrace, has died. She was 65.
&lt;p class=&quot;textBodyBlack&quot;&gt;
&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Messner
had battled colon cancer since 1996 that more recently spread to her
lungs. She died peacefully Friday at her home near Kansas City, Mo.,
said Joe Spotts, her manager and booking agent.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;textBodyBlack&quot;&gt;
&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;A family service was held Saturday in a private cemetery, where her ashes were interred, he said.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;textBodyBlack&quot;&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19891663/&quot;&gt;full story&lt;/a&gt;  
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;textBodyBlack&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;textBodyBlack&quot; align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
&lt;img src=&quot;/userfiles/102006/201/tammy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot; &quot; /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
</description><pubDate>Sun, 22 Jul 2007 11:15:32 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/07/22/Tammy-Faye-Bakker-dies</guid><category>News</category></item><item><title>Darwin award witnessed</title><link>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/07/18/Darwin-award-witnessed</link><description>&lt;span&gt;
&lt;div id=&quot;msgcns!C6AEB80478260E1F!289&quot; class=&quot;bvMsg&quot;&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;While I was in the army I
was stationed in Landstuhl Germany from 1998-2001, and while I was
there I had the morbid pleasure to witness the aftermath of a Darwin
Awardee.  Below is the text from their website and they call it Mental
Eclipse.  While it is tragic to see something like this happen, I was wondering if anyone else has a similar story.&lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;   &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/index_darwin2001.html&quot;&gt;http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/index_darwin2001.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;(11 August 1999) A 42-year-old man killed himself
watching the eclipse while driving near Kaiserslautern, Germany. A
witness driving behind him stated that the man was weaving back and
forth as he concentrated on the partially occluded sun, when he
suddenly accelerated and hit the bridge pier. He had apparently just
donned his solar viewers, which are dark enough to totally obscure
everything except the sun. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;Yes when I read this I can&amp;#39;t help but to laugh. 
The scene was hardly funny though.  I think he was driving a VW Golf
but the car was so mangled it was almost impossible to determine.  I
find it morbidly amusing the way we as humans can find humor in others
stupidity.  I can&amp;#39;t help but wonder, was this guy in that big of a
hurry that he couldn&amp;#39;t stop for 2 minutes, and what was he thinking? 
Was it something like, I don&amp;#39;t need these eyes?  I got it.  He was
using his telepathic powers to guide his car but that pier just jumped
out in front of him.  It&amp;#39;s kinda like people talking on their cell
phones while driving but multiplied by a hundred.  We&amp;#39;re all guilty of
it.  I guess that&amp;#39;s the reason you can get a drivers license while
being deaf but can&amp;#39;t if your blind. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;
</description><pubDate>Thu, 19 Jul 2007 01:31:57 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://dave.instantspot.com/blog/2007/07/18/Darwin-award-witnessed</guid><category>humor</category></item></channel></rss>