Paul Ryburn's Journal

Some excellent news for those who want to keep fit. The Harahan bridge, a railroad bridge built in 1917 that crosses the Mississippi River, had platforms on the side for auto traffic that were used until the Memphis-Arkansas bridge was opened in 1949. Plans are coming together to turn the north side track into greenline space for walking and biking to Arkansas. Top shelf idea! A friend of mine who bikes says there’s a beach on the Arkansas side of that bridge. Maybe it will get more use in the summer, and it’s good for Downtowners who want greenline exercise but don’t want to drive out east to the Memphis Greenline. More details in this CA article.

Another CA article this morning profiles Mark’s Menus, one of my favorite sites and iPhone apps. This site lets you browse restaurant menus, and ask questions like, “Who near my current location sells an Italian hoagie?” If you like to eat out and have a smartphone, this app (which is free by the way) is a must-download.

Tonight is the second What Women Want party at Christine by Shelton Clothiers. Stop by and help Christine pick out what to order at market this week. Drinks, food and fun. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

The Silly Goose will have their second anniversary party Wednesday night, with Jeremy Stanfill playing.

Voting has been going on this month among Majestic Grille customers to pick their favorite martini. Results have been announced, and the winner is the strawberry basil martini. (Cool, that’s the one I voted for!) The martini, normally $9, will be $5 all week.

Today is Beer Can Appreciation Day, the 76th anniversary of the day beer was first served in a can. Celebrate by drinking a can of beer. I recommend PBR! Bar None, Flying Fish and Silly Goose have PBR cans, and I believe BB King’s and Black Diamond do as well. Bardog has Coors cans, and the Saucer has Foster’s Oil Cans and Tecate cans.

If you read the novel Pepper Jack, set in Memphis and the Midtown Blue Monkey in particular, you’ll be interested to know that author Jon Pendergrass has started his own blog. Bookmark or subscribe to it to read Jon’s throughts, and to keep informed of future literary works.

I missed brunch at the Majestic yesterday, but joined my friends at the Saucer to watch the Bears-Packers game. There were about five of us sitting at the bar watching the game, and one more person who hovered behind us the entire time. Can we not Superglue him to a chair? So, it’s the Packers and Steelers in the Super Bowl two weeks from now… my take on the game is something along the lines of “couldn’t care less.” I’m rooting for good food at the annual Super Bowl party I’m attending, and for good luck picking squares in the Super Bowl pool. I’d root for PBR but there’s a 100% chance of that happening, since I’m bringing PBR.

Reminds me, I saw a flyer for the Flying Saucer’s “big game” party (they can’t call it the Super Bowl when advertising) they mention most drafts will be $3 pints all day Sunday and Monday. Bonus Pint Nite?

Time to grab a sandwich and get back to work. Boring web updates this morning, fun PHP object-oriented programming project this afternoon. I’ll be at Pint Nite at the Saucer about 6. I’m a maybe for poker night at the Silly Goose at 9. More news already coming in, so there may be a second post after work.

A couple of months ago, I was working on a project at work when a window popped up on my computer at work. “Scanning for spyware,” it said, and it looked like it was finding a lot of bad stuff. When it finished, it listed several courses of action I could take, of which the recommended one was paying $39.95 for “XP Antispyware 2010” which would remove everything it found. It looked very official, with a shield logo very similar to the four-color Windows logo. It would have been very reasonable to assume it was part of the Windows system software, trying to protect me.

I knew better. I knew this was a “scareware” program, a program which did a fake virus/spyware scan in an attempt to get $39.95 out of me. I went and got one of our IT guys and had him take it off.

However, a LOT of people would have fallen for it. Yesterday I found the Wikipedia page for this scareware program, which also goes by the names MS Antivirus, XP Antivirus, Win Antivirus, and about 30 other names that get as close to Micosoft’s trademarks as possible without infringing. The authors of this software, believed to be in Kiev, Ukraine, use affiliate marketing to find people to distribute their software via infected sites – meaning, the people who build the infected sites share in the $39.95 payday when someone purchases the “full version” of this junk. It was reported that the top affiliate made $158,000 in one week.

If something with a similar name pops up and says your computer is infected, paying $39.95 is not the best option or even a good option, as it will just install more malware on your computer. If it happens at work, get your IT people and they’ll know how to take it off. If it happens at home and you’re good with computers, Google the name of the program (you may have to do this on another computer, as the programs sometimes block Google searches on their own name) for instructions how to take it off. Each variant is a little different so I can’t give exact steps that will apply to all of them here. In general, you need to find the name of the program in Task Manager, kill it, run a anti-malware tool, and then clean up anything it left in the Registry. If that sounds too complicated, pay a computer repair person to do it, but absolutely do not pay $39.95 for the full version.

If you have friends or relatives who are not computer-savvy, you may want to show them the Wikipedia page about this scamware, so they’ll know what it is if they get hit with it. Unfortunately it’s found all kinds of different ways to distribute itself – since they’re getting paid, the affiliate marketing distributors seem to be quite clever about it. Currently goo.gl shortened links on Twitter are a popular way to redirect you to a site that downloads this junk to your computer.

Hmmm… a few months before my computer got infected, I ran into a guy I knew from my U of M days while eating lunch. “I’ve known for years that you’re very good with computers,” he told me. “You should come over to the dark side, where the big money is.” Obviously, I didn’t pursue it, but I wonder if he was talking about building sites to distribute XP Antispyware 2010 and its brethren.

Anyway, pass the word on about this scam software, and help keep everyone safe.

Yesterday afternoon I was catching up on reading the Hot Chicks with Douchebags website, and I came across a post with a photo of possibly the best tube top ever. View it here. (Caution: Borderline NSFW)

Thursday night I won poker at Bar None. This is the weekly poker night run by Poker Jon of Gut Shot Poker, part of the league that also includes Bardog Tavern, Silly Goose, and Bayou Bar & Grill.

I knew the 8-week championship prizes would be spectacular, but until I won Thursday night I didn’t know the weekly prizes are pretty awesome too. The prize was two tickets to see the Grizzlies, along with a parking pass which of course was wasted on me since I live so close. I recruited my friend Frank to go see the game with us. These were our seats:

Box seating with desks, swivel chairs and TVs at the corners of the desks. If I remember correctly from having sat there at a Tigers game, the TVs have full cable, although it was tuned to the Grizzlies when we got there and we saw no need to change the channel.

Right as we sat down, a man in a suit came and verified our tickets. He then put wristbands on us and told us to enjoy the complimentary buffet upstairs. Buffet?

Yep, buffet. Chicken tenders with five kinds of dipping sauces, Philly cheese steak sandwiches, nachos, and three vegetable trays. This was my plate:

I wasn’t shy about loading it up Nuh-Uh style. I do regret one thing though – I wish I’d put the Philly cheese steak meat on top of the nachos.

After we polished off our plates, Frank said, “I’m going to get us a round of beers.” Five minutes later he returned with two cups. “Paul, take a deep breath and get ready for what I’m about to tell you,” Frank said.

“The beer is FREE. I paid her, and then she saw my wristband and refunded my money.” Free beer? We took full advantage of that perk, going back several times.

Here are a few pics of the game:

To make the game even better, the Grizzlies, trailing for most of the game, came back at the end to defeat the Houston Rockets, 115-110. Zach Randolph was a powerhouse as always, and I noticed that Mike Conley has improved vastly from the last time I saw him.

The official game program was a good read, with an article about Zach Randolph’s community service work. I noticed a “Grizz win, you win” coupon for a free sausage biscuit, so I guess I’ll be stopping by McDonald’s one day next week.

Fantastic game. Thanks to Poker Jon, Bar None, and the Grizzlies for an outstanding Friday night.

Extra Grizzlies ticket for tonight has been spoken for.

Not much news to report today… here’s an article about the Majestic Grille in the Tupelo Fine Dining Examiner.

It’s also the last day to vote for your favorite cocktail at the Majestic. Winning cocktail will be $5 all next week.

That’s all I’ve got… think it’s time for a BBQ sandwich from Tops.

A few weeks ago, Poker Jon gave me a backhanded compliment: “You’re the best drunk poker player I’ve ever seen.” Last night I proved it, showing up at Bar None for the weekly poker tournament having already consumed about six beers. The result? I WON. Prize was two tickets to see the Grizzlies tonight, vs. the Houston Rockets.

All right, who wants to go see a game? A parking pass came with the tickets if you need it. Seats are in “BOX2” and I have no idea where that is but it sounds pretty good. Hit me up with an e-mail or text.

Sitting here in Horn Lake reading tweets that it’s snowing Downtown. It’s still in the mid-30s here as of about 1 PM, so they’re not closing the office.

Great, now I’m hungry. Jennifer Biggs wrote about South of Beale on the Whining & Dining blog, and posted a bunch of pics of their food.

The Grizzlies had a Day of Service on the 14th, and you can view a photo album here.

Last night I went to Bardog for their Wednesday poker game, and Aldo announced the grand prize for the player who accumulates the most points at Bardog over the next 8 weeks: A 42-inch flat screen TV. Not bad. This is only the prize for the Bardog champion; the winner will also have a shot at winning bigger prizes in the poker league that also includes Silly Goose, Bar None, and Bayou. Friend “Gut Shot” on Facebook to get more details on the poker league.

If you’re looking for something to do tonight, Old Crow Medicine Show plays the New Daisy. It’s also trivia night (7:00) at the Silly Goose, and poker at Bar None (7:30). Watoto de Afrika has a grand opening scheduled tonight at 5:30, with previews of upcoming dance performances, but given that kids are involved and it’s snowing, I wonder if that will be canceled.

C’mon snow. Hurry up.

After seeing the huge success that was Downtown Night with the Grizzlies in November, they have decided to do another Downtown Night on the 31st. Tickets are $59 and here’s what that gets you:

• A mixer with your fellow Downtowners in a private room of Opus Restaurant from 6:00-7:30
• A food buffet
• Drinks
• Talk with a member of the Grizzlies operations staff. Last time it was Tony Barone Jr.
• Meet the Grizz Girls and Grizz the mascot
• A Grizzlies gift
• A $99-value club level seat to watch the Grizzlies play the Orlando Magic

I went to the last one and it was a lot of fun. You need to contact Carl Rosen with the Grizzlies to get this deal. His e-mail address is crosen@grizzlies.com and his phone number is 901-205-1445.

Here’s a PDF with more info.

Memphis in May has announced that they are postponing their Volunteer Expo, that was originally to be held tomorrow night at Central Station. They are moving it to a later date (to be announced) due to the threat of ice and snow tomorrow.

Will post the new date when I hear it. Probably a good move to keep MiM’s volunteers safe. If that snow does arrive, let’s hope it sticks around and makes Friday a SNOW DAY!

If you haven’t seen the news on Facebook or Twitter this morning, LivingSocial, one of those group-coupon sites, has a great deal today: $20 for a $10 Amazon gift card. This is pretty much free money. If you can’t find something you need on Amazon, you probably aren’t alive.

This morning the Memphis Business Journal tweeted from the meeting of the Center City Development Commission. There it was learned that the plans for 115 Union are to have a restaurant on the ground floor. It will be called Ultra Lounge and will serve tapas. Sounds like a good next-door neighbor to Bangkok Alley and Rio Loco. More details to come soon, I hope.

Something called The Great Urban Race is coming to Memphis Sunday, May 21. Two-person teams will dress up in costumes, solve clues, and do challenges for a chance to win prizes. This is a national event, and winners will qualify to move on for a shot at $10,000.

Thanks to John Calipari for reminding all of us that Bruce Pearl is only the second biggest douchebag in the Southeast Conference. We all know Coach Cal is fond of publicly berating his players, but he had a doozy last night. On national TV, he called one of his players a “selfish motherfucker” within range of TV microphones. Details here. (Glad I don’t have to censor the quote like media companies do.) After the game, Coach Cal “apologized” for his actions. No, Cal, you’re not a bit sorry, and we all know it; you’re just doing what’s politically expedient. How could any high school player watching that want to play for Kentucky? Even watching the game with the sound off at the Saucer, I could tell how dejected Cal’s players were after withstanding his tirades.

The Redbirds have published their list of fireworks nights for 2011: April 9th, April 23rd, May 14th, May 29th, June 3rd, June 18th, July 2nd, July 3rd, July 16th, July 30th, August 13th, and September 4th. The famous “San Diego” Chicken will be here June 17. More info about entertainment for the 2011 season here.

Tonight I’m going to post more details of the January 31 Downtown Night with the Grizzlies, so check back.