So a few random notes today, we'll start with the serious one.

Nasser's memorial was on Sunday, about 40-50 Farkers showed up and helped a long way to brighten up the "celebration" part of the celebration of Nasser's life. The family was thankful for all the notes that everyone sent them; it helped them immensely to know that he had such an impact on so many people. Through emails, posts on Fark, and Facebook they've learned a lot about a side of Nasser they didn't know, as did we when he was described by relatives as "quiet and polite" and as a guy who loved to take his young cousins out for a day of fun. Just goes to show you how much more complicated we all are in the rest of our non-Internet lives. If I had to pin down exactly what it is that his parents were thanking us for, I think it's probably similar to having read everything ever written by a favorite author, and then someone tells you they wrote a whole other series of books under a pseudonym that you hadn't heard of before.

Nasser's parents were awesome, and I think I speak for all of us when I say that Nasser's mom was probably the opposite of what I expected in every possible way. I never could tell much about Nasser's ethnic background (because I generally don't pay attention to such things), but I will say that I had absolutely no idea Nasser was half Jersey. It sounds like Nasser's aunt is gonna try to make the next Fark party, and I really hope she comes. And when I told Nasser's brother Cameron he should pop by Fark sometime and hang out, he said "I think I have to at this point." So keep an eye out for him.

Nasser's folks also announced at the remembrance that they plan to find out what exactly it was that lead to Nasser's passing (because no one's quite sure at the moment). And when they do they'll let us know. They very much want to find out so that they can prevent this from happening to someone in the future.

Switching gears, the other day I got a trojan. Not sure from where exactly, but it was so good Kaspersky didn't catch it initially. It was kind of amusing too, because all it did was try to load up web pages late at night when I wasn't around. Some of the outbound links looked like they were trying to make me like stuff on Facebook. Interestingly, there were a couple of sites that I actually recognized, one of which was Crackle.com (a subsidiary of Sony).

Here's what a sample FB-like url for crackle looked like: http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http://www.crackle.com/c/Urban
_Wolf/Episode_1_Laying_Plans/2481388&ml=o%3d12%26fpl%3d522622%26fx%3d&layout
=standard&show_faces=false&width=250&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark
&height=35

So to sum up, here's what I know to be true:

1) Hackers don't drive traffic to websites for free, you have to pay them
2) ????
3) A trojan on my machine sent my browser to crackle (via Facebook like). And, I assume, profit

Speaking of the words "infected" and "whore", Tucker Max's movie I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell has started airing on Showtime. I've got my first movie speaking part cameo in there, and while it may not be everyone's cup of tea, there's a 30-minute long poop joke at the end of the movie. So there's that to look forward to. As most of you probably know, Tucker and I went to high school together, and pretty much everything everyone says at Tucker is true, except he's not misogynistic so much as he hates stupid people. Someday when I have more time I'll tell you the story of how he saved a girl's life.

Headlines Of The Week for Sun 2010-08-01 to Sat 2010-08-07:

  Platte River tuber rescued, hospitalized. No word on vegetative status, but doctors said there were a lot of eyes on him    

  Three naked German women found in woods. Rescuers reportedly had trouble finding anything in the thick bush    

  Man who shot himself in the legs causes standoff    

  Happy Birthday Barack Obama. At least we think it's your birthday. If only we had some sort of proof of your birth. Perhaps a certificate or something    

  CEO of iRobot is getting married, will circle the bride 20 times before finding her at the altar, later will try but fail to pick her up to carry her over the threshold    

  "You don't come to New York State and pass out blotters of LSD at Grateful Dead concerts," says Judge Winged Eyeball as rainbows flowed from her pounding gavel while Rocket Bailiff blasted off to the moon of laughing clowns    

  Convicted cross-dressers to be given 30 lashes each. Unclear if mascara will also be provided    

  Young artist is so Monet and he doesn't even know it    

  Over 150 people stuck on fair ride. MORE LIKE AN UNFAIR RIDE, AMIRITE?    

  Transgender dog saved by surgery, repeal of Prop 8    

  Cops hunt bus "Terminator." Why bother? He'll be back    


Sports:

  Time asks: NOw why iS ThE pitching Really sO freakIng Darn better thiS year?    

  LeBron James takes out a full page newspaper ad to thank his fans in Akron. Heat jersey sales in Akron still holding at a steady 0%    

  Favre sees shadow, announces six more weeks of retirement    


Geek:

  King Tutankhamun's chariot arrives in New York, is promptly assessed eight parking tickets and a $200 vehicle registration fee and an emissions surcharge, and Tut's been retroactively fined for using papyrus while driving    

  Conserving sperm may save the snot otter. This is not a euphemism    

  Women aren't broadly represented in scientific studies    


Showbiz:

  Robert Pattinson calls Courtney Love a dick for insulting him. The plot thinnens    

  Lindsay Lohan released from jail. Our long national nightmare resumes    

  Laurence Fishburne spends $1 million in effort to buy all copies of daughter's porn DVD. In reciprocal move, daughter attempts to purchase all copies of Fishburne portraying Cowboy Curtis in "Pee Wee's Playhouse"    


Politics:

  AP: Sleestak faults Dems' failure to change politics. The Democratic Party promised change, but "sthhhhhsssss ssssthhhhssssss thhssssssssss" Sleestak said    

  Prop 8 69ed    

  Kagan will help decide if she can marry    


Music:

  "Michael Jackson conquers death with new album". In other words, you're going to want to aim slightly behind the zombies    

  The revolution Is not being televised, no torrent available    

  Dr. Dre reveals his next album will be all instrumental and inspired by the planets. Look for Biatches are from Neptune and Pimps are from Uranus sometime next year    


Business:

  Li Lu in line to replace Warren Buffett, get multipass    

  Toyota's quarterly profits suddenly accelerate to $2.2 billion    

  HP CEO resigns after trying to connect his peripheral to various unparallel ports    
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