I love geek toys. I recently installed a wonderful php script called phpAdsNew, which is an uber banner management script. I have found a number of little things that make my little geek heart quite happy. Honestly the amazing feature set of this free script just blows me away.

It can do pop ups, pop under, geocities style, and a number of other ad formats. This handy little script has an amazing delivery system. You can set up a number of filtering options, so only certain ads show at the predetermined variables. Like based on ip address. Below are two banners in my ad campaign directed at a specific ip address:

Now the cool thing is that people behind that specific ip address will only see these ads. Which means the rest of you will be seeing the normal banners in rotation. And the sheer power of phpAdsNew is really more than I need. But what the hell.

I was kind of worried I would get any more good webcam shots. But I had faith and good peripheral vision and so it’s my pleasure to bring you the second Webcam S.O.T.D. (shot of the day):

This one is great because it’s the old “hide it under the desk and no one will know about it” shot.

So the other day we had an employee meeting. Lots of things were discussed and overall it was a good meeting. I say this not as a brown nose or as an ass kiss. “The Consultant” handled the meeting in a manner that I thought was what the employee morale needed.

And a few areas of importance were covered. Most important to me (and something that is a hot topic) was the issue of smoking in the building. As it is the management does not want employees smoking in the building. Which is cool. But my thing is I want to make sure that if I have to follow the rules everybody has to follow the rules.

Which is why I asked “does the no smoking rule apply to everyone?” Which to me is only fair. Which also brings me to announce a new feature to the site. It will be a semi regular webcam shot of the day. And to kick it off I have a “rules applying to everyone” webcam shot. And it’s beautiful.

Of course it makes you wonder if “rules apply to everyone” means something different in manager speak? I’m looking forward for more exciting webcam shots. And I know there will be more.

Rekkaturvat-Truck Dismount is a second little game in the Dismount category. If you remember me talking about the first game Porrasturvat and you tried it, this second game will be just as pleasing.

Lots of fun. This dismount game will also save the replays of your high scores. Which is nice then you can watch the mayhem you create over and over. Head over to the Dismount website to get this game.

City of South Beloit aids Ramada Inn opening is a Beloit Daily News article from the 5th of this month. Per my usual with this kind of thing, here are a few quotes followed by my comments/opinions:

The South Beloit City Council approved Monday allotting $10,000 in Hotel Tax Funds to help pay for the Sept. 19 grand opening of the Ramada Inn of Greater Beloit.

Well that sure is mighty white of the City Council. Everyone put the Sept. 19 grand opening on your calenders. This next quote brings up some skeletons in the hotels closet:

The Ramada Inn has undergone more $1.5 million in renovations over the last year, and another $500,000 is expected to go into the hotel and conference center, said Kimberly Thompson, director of sales for hotel.

The money will be used to help market the grand opening. Thompson explained a Mardi Gras theme is planned, with entertainment and food centered around the New Orleans-style event.

Alas poor Mardi Gras themed party, I knew you well. Do you remember the last time Mardi Gra and the hotel tried to mix? No? I do. Of course this next and final bit was also pretty amusing:

Cattails Bar & Grill, will have its grand opening at 5 p.m. Wednesday. In addition to a ribbon cutting, a press conference is scheduled. A private reception will take place after the press conference.

A press conference? I’m sure that was a hoot. It’s funny how this newspaper article appeared on the 5th and here it is the 7th already and no article is in the paper about this titty bar sounding Cattails grand opening and press conference yet.

**Update**
For those really interested in the sounds like a titty bar named restaurant at the hotel, head over to this page.

So there has been some minor excitement over my last post. I heard through the grapevine the owner was pretty pissed when he saw his name here on my site. I made a Disclaimer page and was going to make people click an “I agree” or an “I disagree” link to get to the main page. But then I remembered I hate that kind of shit.

What I decided to do is just ban the ip and the domain of the hotel’s internet access. Fuck them, they can go without my site. For those that want to join me in banning these simple minded fools block this domain and ip: direcpc.com (66.82.20.150).

Also I figured it was a good time to explain some more of these concepts that I hold dear. If you don’t like seeing your name here at the site I have advice for you. Don’t get your name printed in the newspaper. Because it brings me great joy to explain to you Fair Use. I don’t do something here at the site unless I’ve done my research when it comes to the “getting my ass fired/sued” kind of deal.

For those who savey the law, you can point your browsers to this Copyright Office page which explains it in that lovely hard to understand law language. Now if this last page was to much for you give this Stanford University Libraries page a try. My favorite bit from the Stanford page sums it up nice and simple:

In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose such as to comment upon, criticize or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner.

Now because I’ve grown use to dealing with my friends children (who are great, but can be whiny) I have removed the owners name from my quote from the Daily News article. Not that it makes a difference. All someone has to do is follow the link and they will see who’s name it is I have replaced with <Name Removed>. This whole thing is funny. And it adds to the odd little mystique of this website.

And from know on I will always replace names from the newspaper articles I quote with <Name Removed>, because these people apparently have something to hide or they are embarrassed when questions are asked. I find this all very amusing. Of course I’m just a stupid night auditor who couldn’t possibly know what I’m talking about.

Ramada Inn getting $2 million make-over is a Beloit Daily News article that appeared on the 25th of this month. It covers a lot of ground, which makes it an interesting read. Here are some amusing bits, well amusing to me.

Tejany said he had been looking to invest in the hospitality business in this area and liked the location, but he also admitted the project has been a challenge.

“I couldn’t find anything right,” he said of the facility’s initial condition. “It was hard to know where to start, the parking lot, the roof, the signage …”

How about the air conditioning? That would be my suggestion.

The big news in this article is the part where it tells about the new hotel restaurant and bar. The name (and I’m not joking here) of the place is called Cattails. And no it’s not a titty bar. Here is a bit that tells about the menu of Cattails:

The food is described as new American with an infusion of Asian, French, Hispanic and Mediterranean.

“It’s fine food served with a flair in a relaxing atmosphere,” Thompson said.

Some of the house specialties include steak Dianne, chicken Marsala, pork tenderloin thermidore, veal Marsala, chicken Parmesan and pecan crusted chicken. One entree with an intriguing name is “devils on horseback” or sauteed veal scaloppini and cappriccola ham wrapped shrimp.

Flaming desserts also are served and salads prepared table side.

I’m not sure who their target audience is with a selection of fine cuisine like this. But I can tell you I sure as shit won’t eat there. Not with a menu like that. And what the fuck does “new American” mean exactly? Of course me being a “common” employee (peon) I have yet had the opportunity to sample this selection of “house specialties”, which makes it hard for me to recommend Cattails to the guests. They ask me I tell them to go across the street.

One last bit from this piece and I’m done. This is an example of how informed employees are of the goings on at the hotel.

The conference area will be renamed the Rock River Valley Conference Center with each of the five rooms named after the counties which have come together to form marketing strategies, including: Rock County in Wisconsin and in Illinois, Winnebago, Ogle, Stephenson and Boone counties.

News to me. It’s a good thing I read the paper or it may have been ages before I knew about this one. This kind of thing is nothing new. Follow the link at the beginning to get the bits I didn’t cover.