Yahoo's had this feature for years - You choose a separate prefix (not your actual email) and can configure '-suffix' addresses to create 'prefix-suffix@yahoo.com' temporary addresses.
These are managed from your main email account and you can configure as many as you want, I have more than 100 of them.
You can even configure to send from the address if you like and it shows up in your From dropdown when you create a new message.
Having a prefix separate from your actual email address provides some security.
Also, having to configure them vs creating them on the fly means that if you get a spam that someone truly gave/sold your email address away.
I do wish it were easier to create addresses, like a toolbar widget or a task tray app to quickly create one in when I'm on a website that needs an email.
Better would be no prefix at all and a simple app to generate random addresses and copy to clipboard with one click... Or right-click an input field and have an option to drop an email address.
"avast.setup" was a bit hard to configure because the "choose program" widget in the Vista firewall app only allows you to select ".exe" files - Just choose any nearby.exe file and then modify the input box by hand to point to avast.setup
If I end up having any problems with Avast, then I'll look into NOD32 and then Kaspersky
I'm trying to move from 32-bit XP to 64-bit vista, and one of the things keeping me from making the switch is trying to find a good 64-bit virus program.
I'm using ZoneAlarm on XP and one of the things I like most about it is the applications watching and firewall.
Having it authorize net access and system access is a feature I find very nice to have.
Unfortunately, it looks like ZoneAlarm is not in the 64-bit game.
Correction: They were beta testing a 64-bit windows version sometime ago but have dropped it completely with no apparent mention of trying again.
Currently for firewall on Vista, I use the built-in firewall with full deny by default and then configure applications to go through on a one-by-one basis.
But I really liked being notified when apps tried to do any potentially dangerous activities like run each time the system is loaded or modify the hosts file, etc.
So anybody got a good replacement on 64-bit Vista for paranoid users like myself?
Having to match-up two different facial pics seems like a possible point of failure - Both for false-negatives and false-positives.
Either you have advanced facial-pattern software to generate a 'fingerprint' from the pic, or you do something along the lines of downsize to 32x32 pixels, convert to black and white and hope for a 85+% match.
It might work better if you have to take a picture of something that is 'more guaranteed' to be the same every time.
For instance, a snapshot of your Driver's License pic seems like it might work (Just the pic, nobody wants their full DL floating around.
Hehe, no, a pic of the CELL PHONE itself!!
Even better, the cell phone could generate a unique bar code and you exchange pics of the code, or the cell phone and the code if you wish.
I listen to TWIT (This Week In Tech) regularly, mainly for Leo Laporte and any guest who isn't Dvorak. I don't find Leo to be particularly techy, but he's quite entertaining and controls the flow of the show well.
They mention Rev3 alot and also a new site called GDGT (GaDGeT) which is supposedly good - I must admit I haven't found time to check it out yet.
Okay no excuses, subsribing to an RSS feed is dead simple, so I'm going go ahead and subscribe to GDGT and check it out. - Oh and IO9 while I'm at it.
Maybe its just me, but I fully expect 128GB SSD to go for much less than $200 by the end of 2010.
How much HDD space will you be able to buy by that time for $200? I'd say easily 10-15x capacity.
I feel like TFA is trying to set you up to accept higher prices on the hardware for a longer period of time.
SSD is merging onto the superhighway that is Moore's Law for HDD and I can't see settling for lower capacity and higher prices for more than another year or so.
That just breaks down to a fundamental rule of buying anything:
"I want to pay as little as I can for it."
But if you actually bid less than you are truly willing to pay, then you just fall in to the "I don't want to pay as much as I'm willing to pay" category (by definition).
** READERS PLEASE NOTE : On eBay you are not obligated to pay your max bid - Your actual bid is whatever is just high enough to be the highest bidder, up to your maximum bid. Please make sure you understand this.
So to clarify my position:
There is no strategy that will help you pay less than you are willing to pay that works any better than just making your maximum bid, early.
Thanks for the replying, I look forward to more discussion.
None of this really holds up against a bidder knowing his max bid and making the bid early.
If you lose the auction by $3 and say "I could easily have paid $4 more", then you fall into one of the 2 categories I mentioned:
* I don't to pay as much as Im willing to pay
Since you were actually willing to pay the $4 more, having made your bid would have put you that much closer to actually winning the item. Next time make your true max bid, early.
* I don't know how much I'm willing to pay
Lesson learned, do your research next time and make a well-informed max bid, early.
re: "It's all very emotional"
Exactly why placing your max bid early is the best strategy.
With any strategy you employ to combat an emotional bidder or a sniper, you forget that all it really takes to defeat that strategy is just one bidder who has a max bid larger than yours and makes his bid early.
When you enter your maximum bid, you're letting others know that you value the item
Just to make sure, you do know that just bidding your maximum bid does not set the current bid to your max bid?
Your actual bid is set to whatever is just enough to become the highest bidder, up-to your maximum bid.
So, your true max bid is not actually known by anyone, unless there is at least one other person willing to bid the same amount
there's a voice saying "davidpfarrell is willing to pay $25 for that old Barry Manilow LP? Then it must be worth at least that much!"
In this argument the competitor falls into the "I don't know how much I'm willing to pay" category.
And trying to outsmart the dumb bidder who doesn't know what the item is worth only works as long you are bidding ONLY against dumb bidders who don't know what the item is worth.
So holding off on making your max bid, and trying to fool the dummies, falls apart as soon as one other bidder who knows exactly what he's willing pay makes is bid early.
If you snipe, your competitor doesn't get influenced by your estimate of the value; he estimates a lower price, makes a lower bid, and you win.
This falls apart as soon as there is one person who knows what he's willing pay and makes his bid early.
If the sniper was already willing to pay more than the early bidder, then he is not receiving any benefit vs making his max bid early, just a lot more stress and the possibility of not winning.
If the sniper was NOT already willing to pay more, then again the strategy provided no benefit against stating your max bid early
Thanks for sharing your opinion, I look forward to more discussion.
Could this technology, or a derivative, be used to help computer-generated speech technology?
I'm thinking something along the lines of a genetic algorithm that tweaks text-to-speech parameters and uses a technology like the one in the FA to determine the best output.
* Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly and children under 10 should avoid prolonged exposure to Screen.
* Caution: Screen may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.
* Screen Contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at.
* Do not use Screen on concrete.
Discontinue use of Screen if any of the following occurs:
* Itching
* Vertigo
* Dizziness
* Tingling in extremities
* Loss of balance or coordination
* Slurred speech
* Temporary blindness
* Profuse sweating
* Heart palpitations
If Screen begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head.
Screen may stick to certain types of skin.
When not in use, Screen should be returned to its special container and kept under refrigeration...
Failure to do so relieves the makers of Screen, Wacky Products Incorporated, and its parent company Global Chemical Unlimited, of any and all liability.
Ingredients of Screen include an unknown glowing substance which fell to Earth, presumably from outer space.
Screen has been shipped to our troops in Saudi Arabia and is also being dropped by our warplanes on Iraq.
Did anybody else mistake the Hellboy 2 trailer as a Pan's Labyrinth sequel?
Seriously, until some of the HB characters appeared, that is exactly what it looked like.
I knew immediately who the director was after only the first few second into the trailer.
Some of the monsters seemed like near-ripoffs of PL.
I'm looking forward to seeing Hellboy 2, and I don't think they mad a bad choice for the The Hobbit, but I seriously do not want to see the trailer for The Hobbit and immediately think "Oh, its Hellboy 3!"
I'm just saying, maybe we can have a movie that doesn't have monsters with eyes in their hands?
Although the cause is still unknown, I do believe that the way I was holding mine could have accelerated the issue in my case:
I held it in my left hand with the lower left corner of the base in my palm - My fingers being under the base and my thumb being over the base in the left corner. I would then type and scroll with my right hand, so the entire weight of the laptop was being held at the point where my thumb was pressing on the lower corner - The laptop would essentially flex down and to the right.
The problem presented within 4 days of receiving the laptop.
Since I have received my replacement, I have not held the laptop in same fashion - not even once - and will not.
And luckily, so far so good - I've not experienced any problems with it.
-- start rant --- I was also the first person to send mine back based on the bug, *BUT* I wasn't the first to be mailed a replacement.
If you read the threads on the bug you'll one of the tech guys next-day-aired some other dude a laptop after his was returned for testing - I was a little bummed!
All of the official messaging from OLPC says that a replacement cant take as long as 30 days. I waited for 30 days and then called support.
They informed me that it would be several more weeks before they shipped my replacement.
Actually, I received it less than 48 hours after getting off the phone with them.
By the way, the support staff are incredibly nice!
My wife and step-son asked me to clarify this probability after getting home from watching "21".
I realized that the door analogy wasn't working as it didn't help them visualize 'possession of the odds'
Instead I explained it as follows:
We're going to play the game with 10 boxes - 9 boxes are empty and 1 box contains a prize.
My wife is asked to pick a box and she is handed the box that she chose.
Then my step-son is handed the other 9 boxes.
I then ask both my wife and step-son what each ones odds are of having the prize is. The agree on :
Wife : 1 in 10 (or 10%) chance of having the prize Step-Son : 9 in 10 (or 90%) chance of having the prize
At this point I explain the physical-ness of my son 'holding the odds' - It is clear to both that he is in possession of 90% of the odds.
I ask my wife, at this moment, with her holding 1 box and he holding 9 boxes, if she would like to switch possession and trade her 1 box for his 9
She of course says 'heck yeah!'
They both have an 'ahah!' moment and I don't really have to go any further, but I did for completeness.
I make a statement that my step-sons 90% is evenly distributed across the boxes he posses - currently 9 of them.
Now I start opening my step-sons boxes, one at a time - Boxes guaranteed NOT to contain the prize
After opening one of the 9 boxes, leaving my step-son with 8 boxes, I point out that he is still in possession of 90% of the odds, but now those odds are distributed between the 8 remaining boxes.
Then you remove one more box, along with explanation, and they see the pattern - The odds stay the same, and are still in my step-son's possession, but are continuously distributed among fewer boxes.
Finally both my wife and step-son are each holding one box.
I bring back the fact that my step-son is still in possession of 90% of the odds, but that entire 90% is wrapped up in that one single box.
With a final closing - that they were patient enough to listen to, since they asked me to explain after all - I point out to my wife that, since she was willing to trade 1 box for 9 boxes earlier, she must certainly be willing (if not eager) to trade her 1 box for my step-son's 1 box.
They really connected the dots pretty fast once I placed the prize in a box and had them each holding the boxes - Putting a physical location to the odds.
This will either toss me into the "stupid" or, if I'm lucky, "just shy of stupid" programming camp, but doesn't downcase'ing and removing whitespace/punctuation remove information and give the potential for a false-positive to the (to me) quite literal question "Is this STRING a palindrome"?
The question "is this SENTENCE a palindrome" might have been more appropriate in that it would imply the string might contain sentence structure that could be ignored in the comparison.
Hmm, I seem to remember coming across a massive C++ string class ages ago that had tons of methods like 'isPalindrome' and 'isDictionaryWord', etc. Anyone else remember that?
Slashdot Mirror
Yahoo's had this feature for years - You choose a separate prefix (not your actual email) and can configure '-suffix' addresses to create 'prefix-suffix@yahoo.com' temporary addresses.
These are managed from your main email account and you can configure as many as you want, I have more than 100 of them.
You can even configure to send from the address if you like and it shows up in your From dropdown when you create a new message.
Having a prefix separate from your actual email address provides some security.
Also, having to configure them vs creating them on the fly means that if you get a spam that someone truly gave/sold your email address away.
I do wish it were easier to create addresses, like a toolbar widget or a task tray app to quickly create one in when I'm on a website that needs an email.
Better would be no prefix at all and a simple app to generate random addresses and copy to clipboard with one click... Or right-click an input field and have an option to drop an email address.
And I expect to see it done on The Simpsons first:
Homer stops to daydream in front of an ad cam.
The cam notices Homer and begins playing a Duff Beer ad.
Homer starts to lose interest so the ad steps it up with increased babeage.
Homer eventually loses interest again, so the ad steps up the babeage again.
But this time it doesn't work and Homer turns to leave.
In a last ditch effort, the ad tosses in some donut references and BAM!
Homer is locked into the ad again.
MMMM, beer and donuts...
Some friends of mine, a couple, love to play Baulder's Gate together on their PS2.
They just recently acquired a Wii, and wanted to know if there are any equivalent games for the Wii?
I tried to do some research for a 2 player simul dungeon crawler but honestly couldn't find anything.
Anyone got any suggestions?
Thanks in advance for your time,
-DavidPFarrell
I just wanted to give a follow-up on my search for a 64-Bit Virus solution.
I ended up going with AVAST Free for now.
Installation was pretty smooth with the hardest part being updating my firewall to allow AVAST to grab updates.
In case anyone wonders, the following AVAST proggies need outbound access through the firewall:
* ashServ.exe
* ashWebSv.exe
* aswUPdSrv.exe
* Setup\avast.setup
"avast.setup" was a bit hard to configure because the "choose program" widget in the Vista firewall app only allows you to select ".exe" files - Just choose any nearby .exe file and then modify the input box by hand to point to avast.setup
If I end up having any problems with Avast, then I'll look into NOD32 and then Kaspersky
Thank you to everyone who took time to reply.
I'm trying to move from 32-bit XP to 64-bit vista, and one of the things keeping me from making the switch is trying to find a good 64-bit virus program.
I'm using ZoneAlarm on XP and one of the things I like most about it is the applications watching and firewall.
Having it authorize net access and system access is a feature I find very nice to have.
Unfortunately, it looks like ZoneAlarm is not in the 64-bit game.
Correction: They were beta testing a 64-bit windows version sometime ago but have dropped it completely with no apparent mention of trying again.
Currently for firewall on Vista, I use the built-in firewall with full deny by default and then configure applications to go through on a one-by-one basis.
But I really liked being notified when apps tried to do any potentially dangerous activities like run each time the system is loaded or modify the hosts file, etc.
So anybody got a good replacement on 64-bit Vista for paranoid users like myself?
Thanks in advance for any replies.
[ I didn't RTFA ...]
Having to match-up two different facial pics seems like a possible point of failure - Both for false-negatives and false-positives.
Either you have advanced facial-pattern software to generate a 'fingerprint' from the pic, or you do something along the lines of downsize to 32x32 pixels, convert to black and white and hope for a 85+% match.
It might work better if you have to take a picture of something that is 'more guaranteed' to be the same every time.
For instance, a snapshot of your Driver's License pic seems like it might work (Just the pic, nobody wants their full DL floating around.
Hehe, no, a pic of the CELL PHONE itself!!
Even better, the cell phone could generate a unique bar code and you exchange pics of the code, or the cell phone and the code if you wish.
I listen to TWIT (This Week In Tech) regularly, mainly for Leo Laporte and any guest who isn't Dvorak. I don't find Leo to be particularly techy, but he's quite entertaining and controls the flow of the show well.
They mention Rev3 alot and also a new site called GDGT (GaDGeT) which is supposedly good - I must admit I haven't found time to check it out yet.
Okay no excuses, subsribing to an RSS feed is dead simple, so I'm going go ahead and subscribe to GDGT and check it out. - Oh and IO9 while I'm at it.
ChicagOlympics.com
I don't consider SDHC to be in the same category as they have to deal with a MUCH smaller footprint than SSD.
And if I can get 128GB SDHC for $300 I expect being able to use 30x-50x larger components for SSD should yield a considerably lower price.
I expect the free market to keep that scenario to a minimum.
Maybe its just me, but I fully expect 128GB SSD to go for much less than $200 by the end of 2010.
How much HDD space will you be able to buy by that time for $200? I'd say easily 10-15x capacity.
I feel like TFA is trying to set you up to accept higher prices on the hardware for a longer period of time.
SSD is merging onto the superhighway that is Moore's Law for HDD and I can't see settling for lower capacity and higher prices for more than another year or so.
Responses kyped from Boing Boing's reporting of this story on 7/15/08:
"I love their Segfault Chicken. And their Short Stack Overflow is to die for. Ooooh, and their 404 Not Pound Cake"
"How about some Core Dumplings?"
That just breaks down to a fundamental rule of buying anything:
"I want to pay as little as I can for it."
But if you actually bid less than you are truly willing to pay, then you just fall in to the "I don't want to pay as much as I'm willing to pay" category (by definition).
** READERS PLEASE NOTE : On eBay you are not obligated to pay your max bid - Your actual bid is whatever is just high enough to be the highest bidder, up to your maximum bid. Please make sure you understand this.
So to clarify my position:
There is no strategy that will help you pay less than you are willing to pay that works any better than just making your maximum bid, early.
Thanks for the replying, I look forward to more discussion.
None of this really holds up against a bidder knowing his max bid and making the bid early.
If you lose the auction by $3 and say "I could easily have paid $4 more", then you fall into one of the 2 categories I mentioned:
* I don't to pay as much as Im willing to pay
Since you were actually willing to pay the $4 more, having made your bid would have put you that much closer to actually winning the item. Next time make your true max bid, early.
* I don't know how much I'm willing to pay
Lesson learned, do your research next time and make a well-informed max bid, early.
re: "It's all very emotional"
Exactly why placing your max bid early is the best strategy.
With any strategy you employ to combat an emotional bidder or a sniper, you forget that all it really takes to defeat that strategy is just one bidder who has a max bid larger than yours and makes his bid early.
When you enter your maximum bid, you're letting others know that you value the item
Just to make sure, you do know that just bidding your maximum bid does not set the current bid to your max bid?
Your actual bid is set to whatever is just enough to become the highest bidder, up-to your maximum bid.
So, your true max bid is not actually known by anyone, unless there is at least one other person willing to bid the same amount
there's a voice saying "davidpfarrell is willing to pay $25 for that old Barry Manilow LP? Then it must be worth at least that much!"
In this argument the competitor falls into the "I don't know how much I'm willing to pay" category.
And trying to outsmart the dumb bidder who doesn't know what the item is worth only works as long you are bidding ONLY against dumb bidders who don't know what the item is worth.
So holding off on making your max bid, and trying to fool the dummies, falls apart as soon as one other bidder who knows exactly what he's willing pay makes is bid early.
If you snipe, your competitor doesn't get influenced by your estimate of the value; he estimates a lower price, makes a lower bid, and you win.
This falls apart as soon as there is one person who knows what he's willing pay and makes his bid early.
If the sniper was already willing to pay more than the early bidder, then he is not receiving any benefit vs making his max bid early, just a lot more stress and the possibility of not winning.
If the sniper was NOT already willing to pay more, then again the strategy provided no benefit against stating your max bid early
Thanks for sharing your opinion, I look forward to more discussion.
I believe that betting the maximum you are truly willing pay, early, is the best approach.
I would love to see some discussion on this topic, but I'm relatively confident that most alternate scenario's break down to one of
* I don't want to pay as much as I'm willing to pay (what?)
* I don't know how much I'm willing to pay (what?)
Could this technology, or a derivative, be used to help computer-generated speech technology?
I'm thinking something along the lines of a genetic algorithm that tweaks text-to-speech parameters and uses a technology like the one in the FA to determine the best output.
Screen!
* Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly and children under 10 should avoid prolonged exposure to Screen.
* Caution: Screen may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.
* Screen Contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at.
* Do not use Screen on concrete.
Discontinue use of Screen if any of the following occurs:
* Itching
* Vertigo
* Dizziness
* Tingling in extremities
* Loss of balance or coordination
* Slurred speech
* Temporary blindness
* Profuse sweating
* Heart palpitations
If Screen begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head.
Screen may stick to certain types of skin.
When not in use, Screen should be returned to its special container and kept under refrigeration...
Failure to do so relieves the makers of Screen, Wacky Products Incorporated, and its parent company Global Chemical Unlimited, of any and all liability.
Ingredients of Screen include an unknown glowing substance which fell to Earth, presumably from outer space.
Screen has been shipped to our troops in Saudi Arabia and is also being dropped by our warplanes on Iraq.
Do not taunt Screen.
Screen comes with a lifetime guarantee.
Screen - ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!
I'm guessing Cory Doctorow might have something to say in regards to Pogue's sentiments.
The link is to the main page for Cory's "Little Brother" which is hitting its 4th week on the bestseller list.
And there is a link to download the eBook right there on the page.
Man I rocked Vanguard on my Atari 2600 way back in 1982.
I haven't really played it much since, so I'm not sure know why he's spending all this time optimizing it?
Maybe they're working on Zond's AI, he was quite a wuss
If you're looking for a nice Megaminx Puzzle to play with, checkout PuzzleProz
Did anybody else mistake the Hellboy 2 trailer as a Pan's Labyrinth sequel?
/rant
Seriously, until some of the HB characters appeared, that is exactly what it looked like.
I knew immediately who the director was after only the first few second into the trailer.
Some of the monsters seemed like near-ripoffs of PL.
I'm looking forward to seeing Hellboy 2, and I don't think they mad a bad choice for the The Hobbit, but I seriously do not want to see the trailer for The Hobbit and immediately think "Oh, its Hellboy 3!"
I'm just saying, maybe we can have a movie that doesn't have monsters with eyes in their hands?
I was the first one to report the bug here:
http://dev.laptop.org/ticket/5658
Although the cause is still unknown, I do believe that the way I was holding mine could have accelerated the issue in my case:
I held it in my left hand with the lower left corner of the base in my palm - My fingers being under the base and my thumb being over the base in the left corner. I would then type and scroll with my right hand, so the entire weight of the laptop was being held at the point where my thumb was pressing on the lower corner - The laptop would essentially flex down and to the right.
The problem presented within 4 days of receiving the laptop.
Since I have received my replacement, I have not held the laptop in same fashion - not even once - and will not.
And luckily, so far so good - I've not experienced any problems with it.
-- start rant ---
I was also the first person to send mine back based on the bug, *BUT* I wasn't the first to be mailed a replacement.
If you read the threads on the bug you'll one of the tech guys next-day-aired some other dude a laptop after his was returned for testing - I was a little bummed!
All of the official messaging from OLPC says that a replacement cant take as long as 30 days. I waited for 30 days and then called support.
They informed me that it would be several more weeks before they shipped my replacement.
Actually, I received it less than 48 hours after getting off the phone with them.
By the way, the support staff are incredibly nice!
-- end rant --
My wife and step-son asked me to clarify this probability after getting home from watching "21".
I realized that the door analogy wasn't working as it didn't help them visualize 'possession of the odds'
Instead I explained it as follows:
We're going to play the game with 10 boxes - 9 boxes are empty and 1 box contains a prize.
My wife is asked to pick a box and she is handed the box that she chose.
Then my step-son is handed the other 9 boxes.
I then ask both my wife and step-son what each ones odds are of having the prize is. The agree on :
Wife : 1 in 10 (or 10%) chance of having the prize
Step-Son : 9 in 10 (or 90%) chance of having the prize
At this point I explain the physical-ness of my son 'holding the odds' - It is clear to both that he is in possession of 90% of the odds.
I ask my wife, at this moment, with her holding 1 box and he holding 9 boxes, if she would like to switch possession and trade her 1 box for his 9
She of course says 'heck yeah!'
They both have an 'ahah!' moment and I don't really have to go any further, but I did for completeness.
I make a statement that my step-sons 90% is evenly distributed across the boxes he posses - currently 9 of them.
Now I start opening my step-sons boxes, one at a time - Boxes guaranteed NOT to contain the prize
After opening one of the 9 boxes, leaving my step-son with 8 boxes, I point out that he is still in possession of 90% of the odds, but now those odds are distributed between the 8 remaining boxes.
Then you remove one more box, along with explanation, and they see the pattern - The odds stay the same, and are still in my step-son's possession, but are continuously distributed among fewer boxes.
Finally both my wife and step-son are each holding one box.
I bring back the fact that my step-son is still in possession of 90% of the odds, but that entire 90% is wrapped up in that one single box.
With a final closing - that they were patient enough to listen to, since they asked me to explain after all - I point out to my wife that, since she was willing to trade 1 box for 9 boxes earlier, she must certainly be willing (if not eager) to trade her 1 box for my step-son's 1 box.
They really connected the dots pretty fast once I placed the prize in a box and had them each holding the boxes - Putting a physical location to the odds.
This will either toss me into the "stupid" or, if I'm lucky, "just shy of stupid" programming camp, but doesn't downcase'ing and removing whitespace/punctuation remove information and give the potential for a false-positive to the (to me) quite literal question "Is this STRING a palindrome"?
The question "is this SENTENCE a palindrome" might have been more appropriate in that it would imply the string might contain sentence structure that could be ignored in the comparison.
Hmm, I seem to remember coming across a massive C++ string class ages ago that had tons of methods like 'isPalindrome' and 'isDictionaryWord', etc. Anyone else remember that?