Microsoft had to pay $12 million to the Norway-based Opera company for intentionally putting in code that made some web pages on MSN look bad in certain versions of Opera’s web browser. Neither party disclosed the exact nature of the code, or what was affected, citing confidentiallity agreements. So does anyone out there in web designer land know? Of course we all know $12 million is pocket change to Microsoft, so this isn’t exactly damaging to them, however finding the nature of the code that was mentioned, could be damaging.

Just reason #4,948 to drop using Internet Explorer and use Firefox instead.

negat|f in #wordpress pointed out this page on Opera’s site that lists the culprit.

As a guy, it’s very difficult to tell real breasts from fake ones. This was further reinforced when I took The Silicone Challenge. Be warned, the site has pictures of breasts, so if you’re a prude or just not in the mood for b00bs, don’t click the link. Not surprisingly, I got a score of 14, which has the description, “You racked up a respectable score, but you still might want to enhance your implant insight.” I was tempted to respond that all breasts were real, but I had to, ahem, study what the difference between real and fake breasts.

My conclusion? Fake breasts seem to sag less and be split further apart from each other; oh and they’re usually bigger. Who cares!

For more recipes like this, visit Wikipes.

I’ve always wanted and ate my chili if it was spicy beyond belief. To me, if the chili didn’t make me sweat profusely, it wasn’t chili. However as I’ve grown older, I’ve expanded my palate to any food that just tastes good and is healthy. I was sent a chili recipe book by Marlboro where they chose 50 winning recipes to print in a neat tiny book. As I was flipping through the recipes, I saw one that I just had to try just to expand my experience with chili — called Sweet & Spicy Honey Chili. I’ve had a bowl just now after fixing it, and I’m in love! It’s sweet, not spicy for me, but definitely tasty. Here’s the recipe:

• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 clove chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup red or green bell pepper
• 1 14.5oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 4oz. can diced green chili peppers
• 2 15oz. cans chili beans
• 1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder/1 teaspoon of cumin and thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cinnamon
• 1/2 cup pure honey

In a large pan, brown the ground beef. Add the onion, garlic, and green peppers; continue cooking until the onion is browned. Drain the grease from the pan. Add the tomatoes, chili peppers, chili beans, chili powder, cumin, thyme, salt, and cinnamon. Mix well in the pan, and place a lid on the pan and allow the mixture to simmer for an additional 7-10 minutes. Add honey and stir well. Serve with crackers, cheese, and cornbread. Makes 8-12 servings.

Sorry, no pictures this time, the roommate’s brother is borrowing it.

The beta testing of Wordpress 1.2 is now complete, and it is now available as a complete stable release. I’ve just now updated Good Blimey to the final version, and it was easy and quick. The past few days I’ve been messing around in Wordpress has left me nothing but impressed and sad that I didn’t install it earlier. I’ve missed the dynamic nature of PHP, being able to edit files to my heart’s content (couldn’t do that with the PERL-based Movabletype much), and being in a great community of developers, designers, and bloggers. I’m absolutely glad I’ve switched from Movabletype to Wordpress.

The Ping-O-Matic has been updated with a simple URL to put in your ping options that pings every sub-set of supported services via a weblogs.com compatible XML-RPC ping. This means services like Weblogs.com, Blo.gs, Technorati, and more will all be pinged with every post you make. It’s metapinging at its best. This is a great way to increase exposure, thus traffic, to your blog without worry. Read more about Ping-O-Matic and what function it serves on the About Page.

Matt hints at it being an official feature of WordPress. Not confirmed yet though.

Even though he’s a smacktard arsemonkey, Brian has actually put up his own page. Brian, who worked with me on 3DGPU.com for over 4 years, is now at BrianTheGeek.com. He’s the guy who thinks my site isn’t manly enough for him, so he created his own “manly” site. Go on over and let him know how manly he is, and try not to kill his server, or that would mean he got /blimey’d. Even though you’re not in touch with your lesbian side like I am, Brian, you’re still a good friend. ;)

I’m quite fond of war movies, not because I glorify the violence, but because it helps me appreciate what I have today in America based on the sacrifice, courage, and willpower of the men that gone to war. To protect what we take for granted today. I got the Band of Brothers DVD collection, which is the 10 episodes, plus bonus footage of the Easy Company men that were portrayed in the series.

I just got finished watching all 10 episodes (took me a week) and I’m just amazed. Amazed at how much the men had to go through in WWII, how cruel mankind can be when seeing how the Jews suffered in the concentration camps, and how Japan has turned around into the kind of country they are today. My grandfather, who passed away about 4 years ago, served in the Korean War, and I believe in WWII, but I’m not too sure. I’ll have to ask my grandmother and find out the details.

Found out that my grandfather was a Staff Seargent in both WWII and was also called up from reserves for the Korean War. He had a legendary story that his comrades told of them walking along a road, and discovering a shut down beer brewery. My grandfather went in and got the place up and running again, and the whole company celebrated that night with good fresh beer. The CO was especially pleased.