Ben's Journal

Check out this latest ad from Obama: And check out Mitt Romeny's response , which boils down to: The claim that Big Oil gave Jo...

This morning I needed to install a new version of the oh-so-handy Ionics Isapi Rewrite Filter . This plugin is an ISAPI .dll . The instru...

I just replaced a handful of light bulbs in our house with eco friendly CF bulbs. Luckily, Costco had them in bulk, so it was painless to bu...

So, on my way out the door to Home Depot, to get a replacement bathroom fan I have a thought. The fan itself looks fine, maybe the problem ...

Today's home adventure: replacing the bathroom fan in our first floor powder room that currently sounds like a 747 preparing to take fli...

Another day, another test of what I can try to coax Facebook into doing. This time, it's a picture test. Here's a test photo...i...

Getting text to look professional on the web is always tricky stuff. I'm still trying to master the combination of font family, color,...

Whooo! Two whole strawberries - what a harvest! Our little gardening experiment is actually working. I wonder if it's time to scale th...

These aren't particularly serious gotchas...but still, what a pain: Setting a checkbox's checked attribute to empty string stil...

Is it just me, or does Obama's latest response to McCain (mentioned here) only render properly in Firefox? Here's what I see in I...

I can't fully explain it, but lately I've really been enjoying listening to Techno/Trance/Dance music while I'm working. Speci...

OK, let me start of by saying that I'm pretty sure I'm the last person on the planet to join Facebook - so you probably know all of...

Just testing, please ignore. Update: after spending the last two days trying to Cajole facebook into importing my blog into my notes ap...

My friend, past running partner, and previous co-editor in chief of the high school paper, was featured today in the USA Today: Health inve...

Is it bad form to walk home from dinner, after a run, eating Turtle Pie? I mean, is there some sort of open container law I need to worry ...

I was delighted to learn today that Gimp's Windows integration is such that I could draw a shape in PowerPoint, hit Control C , flip wi...

Yesterday, I talked through my new facebook experiment with Dave. Between, his insights, and some terrific suggestions by Nick , I think I...

So, I'm not the only one thinking about Facebook today. The RNC launched BarackBook - a spoof of Barack Obama's Facebook page. ...

Earlier today, I had a call with a customer to talk about building a FaceBook app as an add on to the existing software I've built for...

If you ask me, their marketing stunt worked -- but you watch video, what do you think? Verizon Wireless Surprises Customer - Watch more...

It was impossible not to pick up an intro to cartooning book from the library after reading Making Comics . I did a quick Amazon search an...

This morning I needed to do some map math, specifically, figure out a bounded box of points that surrounded an arbitrary latitude and longi...

My buddy George just told me about a Step Out To Fight Diabetes Walk he's taking part in. The stats on diabetes in this country a...

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So, one of my clients is having me write some software that's in the first responder industry - specifically, firefighting. Turns out...

It hits me yesterday that my new lawn guy, Ben hasn't called me or showed up to mow my lawn. He had promised that he'd get to it ...

This morning, I went to test some changes I've made to a customer's web app locally, and was greeted with a totally blank screen. ...

I've seen the Phillips Keychain camera at stores like Wal-Mart and CSV before, and its usually dirty cheap - something like $10.00 - a...

This may be common knowledge for y'all, but I had to explain to someone non-technical today how to convert a Word Doc to a PDF and it a...

Today I shot a video for i2x (it's awaiting approval by our CFO, so I can't share it yet) and wanted to add our website address on...

My first video experience reminded me just how poorly YouTube videos can look. What seemed fine on my desktop was turned into a poor sound...

It pains me to write this, but I have to - it's official, Ray, my lawn guy has been fired. Well, he actually fired himself. He was doi...

What a shame it would be to write up a review of a video camera using old fashion text. So here it is, a video review of my latest gadget ...

Today, Shira, Dave and I ignored all the responsible things we were supposed to do around the house (weeding, mowing, etc.) and had a ...

Today, at shul, we had a visitor praying with us who was blind. She was making use of a remarkable mechanical device that appeared to be gen...

Sure, we love to complain about Internet Explorer . However, one feature that it offers that I like is that you can have tabs open up beside...

Today, at lunch, we hosted a micro baby shower for Erin and Ryan. It was basically a yummy lunch, and a chance for us to give them some ad...

It's that time of year again - Shira's yearly company picnic . Kosher hots, volleyball, tossing the football around, hanging out w...

I borrowed Scott Mccloud's Making Comics for a variety of reasons: a stellar review on CoolTools , my general interest in drawing, my ...

I've now been bitten by this one twice: First, I created an iframe dynamically (by using JavaScript and the DOM) and for some reason, ...

Here are some more whiteboard resources to go with the list I started earlier : Scriblink.com - a clean, collaborative, online whiteboar...

Thanks to Jerrie, for bringing this important story to my attention: Remember Hydrox? AKA "kosher Oreos?" Well, after a long hi...

This photo was included in a memorial slide show from this last weekend . I knew, the minute I saw it, it was a must-post-instant-classic. ...

People ask me why there's a safety pin in my wallet? For just these sorts of "emergencies." In this case, my sleep mask broke ...

All I have to do to sign up for the Dividend Airlines Club is send my name, e-mail and zip to an SMS number. Is this actually efficiency? Ho...

Front of box: To Ben Simon, From CVS Back of box: Special Delivery... A Fitting Gift, Just For You Inside: Kotex Security Tampons,...

This weekend we had Jersey, my cousin Barbara's dog, keep us company. Jersey, I have to admit - and I don't this often, if ever, w...

Here's a snapshot of the beautiful memorial park we laid my aunt to rest at. She will be sorely missed by myself and countless others. ...

If you're ever in a book store, and see a book of poetry by an Arlington taxi driver named Tim, I believe we met him this morning. On ou...

We get to the airport at like 4:45am, and I'm like "Dave, we are doing so well - look, our plane is here, waiting for us." And...