This is the best 419 scam email I have received in a long time. What a hoot!
Dear Friend,
My name is Mrs. Mary-Ann Williams, a wife of late Mr. George Williams, an American Businessman based in West Indonesia. I got your contact through the listed postal address in your country. I lost my husband to the international disaster in West Indonesia (the Tsunami attack) and I am also in the hospital receiving treatment after the exposure to the hard conditions of the Tsunami. I have been diagnosed with Esophageal cancer. It has defiled all forms of medical treatment, and right now I have only about a few months to live, according to medical experts.
My Late husband and I, before his death, once asked members of his family to close one of our accounts and distribute the money which he had there to charity organization in Ethiopia and Somalia; they refused and kept the money to themselves. Hence, I do not trust them anymore, as they seem not to be contended with what my husband had left for them.
The last of my money, which no one knows of, is secured in a bank in Europe worth US$15,000,000.00 (Fifteen million United States dollars only) and secretly defaced and is coded for security reasons; this could be released at short notice when a willing and acceptable partner emerges. I will want you to help me collect this deposit and dispatch it to charity organizations.
I have set aside 20% for you and for your time as well as any expenses incurred during this process. Get back to me A.S.A.P.
I will give you more details when I get your assurance and willingness to help me in this my present state of predicament.
Please send your response to: marywilliamsann@netscape.net
Regards,
Mrs. Mary-Ann Williams.
Friday, December 30, 2005
Trojan Threat to AdSense Users and Viewers?
TechShout reports that there might be a new trojan out there that targets advertising delivered by the Google AdSense service.
Yet more interesting links
Man oh man do I have a backlog of stuff to post. I'm gonna try and just throw a load of links I've been hoarding recently. Here goes...
There's a useful/entertaining Yiddish Dictionary and potted history of the language here.
Read all about the next, errr, big thing in children's stuffed toys, Pee and Poo, here. Now back and available in a "Duo Pack". Class, true class.
Tanya Headon has a sweet rant against music going at I Hate Music. I'm particularly enjoying AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 LOUSY TUNES.
Larry Pratt raves on about the threats to personal freedoms and privacy potentially enjoyed through the use/exploitation of RFID technology in Spychips.
Ever wondered what Markham, Ontario, Canada looks like?
Inelegantly wasted: Britain's obsession with the bottle discusses Britain's problems with unhealthy drinking habits. No response yet from the leader of the Liberal Democrats....
Most Americans wrongly believe that the USA was founded by Christians, on Christian beliefs, and with the aim of creating a Christian nation. This mistaken belief tends to stem from a combination of historical ignorance, ignorance of history, a certain amount of Christian Right-wing historical revisionism, and a large helping of what amounts to little more than brain-washing by key figures in the government and amongst its supporters. Jim Walker goes into much greater detail in The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense founded on the Christian religion
I know, it's a little behind the curve now that it's almost New Year's Eve. My thoroughly bad, my good man, wot? Some people should not be allowed to buy Louis XIV furniture or Christmas lights.
The recent discovery of a Mayan mural in Guatemala has turned the "known" history of Mayan culture completely on its head, apparently.
Members and Associates of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility hold investments in a large part of corporate America. The ICCR investor coalition has 275 members with a combined market portfolio of more than 110 billion US dollars. Money talks, as they say, and these people are putting their money where their mouths are. Using their power as investors, they coerce and force companies to do the right thing. This is often achieved through the power of shareholder-sponsored corporate resolutions. It involves companies like McDonald's, GE, Lockheed, Anheuser-Busch, ChevronTexaco and issues such as the labelling of products to include information on the use of genetically modified organisms, the cleaning up of PCB contamination of the environment, depleted uranium, and other environmental and social issues. You can read more here.
The ICCR maintains a subcription-only Ethical Investment Services database here and the Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire Service is here..
There's a useful/entertaining Yiddish Dictionary and potted history of the language here.
Read all about the next, errr, big thing in children's stuffed toys, Pee and Poo, here. Now back and available in a "Duo Pack". Class, true class.
Tanya Headon has a sweet rant against music going at I Hate Music. I'm particularly enjoying AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 LOUSY TUNES.
Larry Pratt raves on about the threats to personal freedoms and privacy potentially enjoyed through the use/exploitation of RFID technology in Spychips.
Ever wondered what Markham, Ontario, Canada looks like?
Inelegantly wasted: Britain's obsession with the bottle discusses Britain's problems with unhealthy drinking habits. No response yet from the leader of the Liberal Democrats....
Most Americans wrongly believe that the USA was founded by Christians, on Christian beliefs, and with the aim of creating a Christian nation. This mistaken belief tends to stem from a combination of historical ignorance, ignorance of history, a certain amount of Christian Right-wing historical revisionism, and a large helping of what amounts to little more than brain-washing by key figures in the government and amongst its supporters. Jim Walker goes into much greater detail in The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense founded on the Christian religion
I know, it's a little behind the curve now that it's almost New Year's Eve. My thoroughly bad, my good man, wot? Some people should not be allowed to buy Louis XIV furniture or Christmas lights.
The recent discovery of a Mayan mural in Guatemala has turned the "known" history of Mayan culture completely on its head, apparently.
Members and Associates of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility hold investments in a large part of corporate America. The ICCR investor coalition has 275 members with a combined market portfolio of more than 110 billion US dollars. Money talks, as they say, and these people are putting their money where their mouths are. Using their power as investors, they coerce and force companies to do the right thing. This is often achieved through the power of shareholder-sponsored corporate resolutions. It involves companies like McDonald's, GE, Lockheed, Anheuser-Busch, ChevronTexaco and issues such as the labelling of products to include information on the use of genetically modified organisms, the cleaning up of PCB contamination of the environment, depleted uranium, and other environmental and social issues. You can read more here.
The ICCR maintains a subcription-only Ethical Investment Services database here and the Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire Service is here..
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Google headquarters: One big search party
Malcolm Fleschner of the Washington Examiner has written a most entertaining article about life at, and other aspects of, Google.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Google Irony AKA Blogspot et al vs Sitemaps et Verification
I finally found some time to start optimising my holistic approach to making these blog things pay for themselves, or at least upping the visitor numbers somewhat.
No, I don't mean I've started a new ultra-rightwing, conservative, foaming-at-the-mouth, nationalistic, pig-ignorant Arab-bashing blog. That would be too easy a way to generate loads of comments and links.
Instead, I've started going through the nice shiny tips William Nabaza has helpfully compiled in "10 Secret Ways Of Getting Your Website Listed on Google". He's obviously done quite a good job as his content is being ripped off, sorry, I mean syndicated by just about EVERYBODY.
One of the most important things to getting good coverage of your blog or any other type of website is ensuring it's fully indexed by Google. Google Sitemaps is a new service that attempts to improve the accuracy of their index of your site as well as give you access to handy statistics and information about errors.
Where does the irony come from? Well... in order to get access to those statistics, you have to upload a tiny text file to your website that Google then uses to verify your ownership of the site.
Quite a few blogging services don't allow uploading of files to their servers. This includes blogspot, part of the Google empire and also the blogging tool used by Google to publish information about, you guessed it... Google!
One of the best postings about this seems to be unavailable now but you can still get the, ahem, Google cache of it here. Technorati's search results are here.
No, I don't mean I've started a new ultra-rightwing, conservative, foaming-at-the-mouth, nationalistic, pig-ignorant Arab-bashing blog. That would be too easy a way to generate loads of comments and links.
Instead, I've started going through the nice shiny tips William Nabaza has helpfully compiled in "10 Secret Ways Of Getting Your Website Listed on Google". He's obviously done quite a good job as his content is being ripped off, sorry, I mean syndicated by just about EVERYBODY.
One of the most important things to getting good coverage of your blog or any other type of website is ensuring it's fully indexed by Google. Google Sitemaps is a new service that attempts to improve the accuracy of their index of your site as well as give you access to handy statistics and information about errors.
Where does the irony come from? Well... in order to get access to those statistics, you have to upload a tiny text file to your website that Google then uses to verify your ownership of the site.
Quite a few blogging services don't allow uploading of files to their servers. This includes blogspot, part of the Google empire and also the blogging tool used by Google to publish information about, you guessed it... Google!
One of the best postings about this seems to be unavailable now but you can still get the, ahem, Google cache of it here. Technorati's search results are here.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
If we don't (blank), then the terrorists will have won
WASHINGTON -- After the national nightmare of September 11, 2001, those urging their fellow Americans to pursue a particular activity or to support a particular public policy -- whether drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or outlawing civil unions between gay Americans, or buying a new car -- would often argue that their fellow Americans' unwillingness or refusal would force the world to conclude: "... then the terrorists have won!" CNN
Best wishes to the BBC
Here's a nice Christmas message for the BBC from Gabriele Zamparini.
Could you please ask Paul Wood to wear a military uniform the next time he says that British and American forces "came to Iraq in the first place to bring democracy and human rights" ? [BBC News at Ten, 22.12]
Could you please ask Paul Wood to wear a military uniform the next time he says that British and American forces "came to Iraq in the first place to bring democracy and human rights" ? [BBC News at Ten, 22.12]
Monday, December 26, 2005
World Awed 'n' Shocked As Peace Breaks Out...
And goodwill to all men...
Merry Usurped Pagan Festival, y'all!!
The Human Security Centre reports...
Comprehensive Three-Year Study Shows Surprising Evidence of Major Declines in Armed Conflicts, Genocides, Human Rights Abuse, Military Coups and International Crises, Worldwide.
The Number of Armed Conflicts Has Dropped 40% since 1992.
This Unheralded Decline is Linked to a Dramatic Increase in UN Conflict Prevention and Peace Building Efforts.
NEW YORK -- Confounding conventional wisdom, a major new report reveals that all forms of political violence, except international terrorism, have declined worldwide since the early 1990s.
Supported by five governments, published by Oxford University Press and released today, the Human Security Report is the most comprehensive annual survey of trends in warfare, genocide, and human rights abuses. The Report, which was produced by the Human Security Centre at the University of British Columbia, shows how, after nearly five decades of inexorable increase, the number of genocides and violent conflicts dropped rapidly in the wake of the Cold War. It also reveals that wars are not only far less frequent today, but are also far less deadly.
In tracking and analyzing these trends the Report draws on specially commissioned studies and confirms the little-publicized findings of earlier research to explode a number of widely believed myths about contemporary political violence. The latter include claims that terrorism is currently the gravest threat to international security, that 90% of those killed in today’s wars are civilians and that women are disproportionately victimized by armed conflict.
Analyzing the causes of the improvement in global security since the early 1990s, the Report argues that the UN played a critically important role in spearheading a huge upsurge of international conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peace building activities.
Although marred by much–publicized failures, these efforts have been the major driver of the reduction in war numbers around the world. The Report examines alternative explanations for the decline and finds them wanting.
Professor Andrew Mack, who directed the Report project, says that these extraordinary changes have attracted little discussion because so few realize that they have taken place. ‘No international agency collects data on wars, genocides, terrorist acts, or core human rights abuses,’ he said. ‘The issues are just too politically sensitive. And ignorance is compounded by the fact that the global media give far more coverage to wars that start than those that quietly end.’
Read the full press release (PDF format).
Read the report.
Merry Usurped Pagan Festival, y'all!!
The Human Security Centre reports...
Comprehensive Three-Year Study Shows Surprising Evidence of Major Declines in Armed Conflicts, Genocides, Human Rights Abuse, Military Coups and International Crises, Worldwide.
The Number of Armed Conflicts Has Dropped 40% since 1992.
This Unheralded Decline is Linked to a Dramatic Increase in UN Conflict Prevention and Peace Building Efforts.
NEW YORK -- Confounding conventional wisdom, a major new report reveals that all forms of political violence, except international terrorism, have declined worldwide since the early 1990s.
Supported by five governments, published by Oxford University Press and released today, the Human Security Report is the most comprehensive annual survey of trends in warfare, genocide, and human rights abuses. The Report, which was produced by the Human Security Centre at the University of British Columbia, shows how, after nearly five decades of inexorable increase, the number of genocides and violent conflicts dropped rapidly in the wake of the Cold War. It also reveals that wars are not only far less frequent today, but are also far less deadly.
In tracking and analyzing these trends the Report draws on specially commissioned studies and confirms the little-publicized findings of earlier research to explode a number of widely believed myths about contemporary political violence. The latter include claims that terrorism is currently the gravest threat to international security, that 90% of those killed in today’s wars are civilians and that women are disproportionately victimized by armed conflict.
Analyzing the causes of the improvement in global security since the early 1990s, the Report argues that the UN played a critically important role in spearheading a huge upsurge of international conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peace building activities.
Although marred by much–publicized failures, these efforts have been the major driver of the reduction in war numbers around the world. The Report examines alternative explanations for the decline and finds them wanting.
Professor Andrew Mack, who directed the Report project, says that these extraordinary changes have attracted little discussion because so few realize that they have taken place. ‘No international agency collects data on wars, genocides, terrorist acts, or core human rights abuses,’ he said. ‘The issues are just too politically sensitive. And ignorance is compounded by the fact that the global media give far more coverage to wars that start than those that quietly end.’
Read the full press release (PDF format).
Read the report.
Friday, December 23, 2005
Anthea Turner Blowed Up Real Good
Whelp, it's the end of the last not-quite-so-working day before XMashup and there's just enough time to lay a classic TV clip on yer.
Looking like in one of SCTV's greatest sketches, "Anfea" Turner gets hers when she blows up real good in this unfeasably well-timed stunt.
No real humans were harmed in the making of this video.
Looking like in one of SCTV's greatest sketches, "Anfea" Turner gets hers when she blows up real good in this unfeasably well-timed stunt.
No real humans were harmed in the making of this video.
'Shooting school girls in the knee and setting them afire appeals to the deviant interests of minors.'
I wonder if 'Shooting school girls in the knee and setting them afire appeals to the deviant interests of minors.' will be today's quote of the day? This little piece of news also brings you reference to another classic, the headline "Sex Flap Aided Video Game Law".
Being Microsoft CEO for One Day
As part of the reality TV show "Three Wishes," a 10-year-old from Simi Valley is able to realize his greatest wish.
REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 7, 2005 -- On Friday, Dec. 9, there' will be an extra CEO at Microsoft – just for the day. His name is Kiyaan Vazirzadeh. He hails from Simi Valley, Calif. And he's 10.
Vazirzadeh made his wish to spend a day being CEO at Microsoft on the NBC Television reality show "Three Wishes," which follows recording artist Amy Grant on visits to communities all over the U.S., where Grant and her team grant wishes. These wishes range from the simple and light-hearted to the more dramatic and involved, and all feature people who get to witness some of their hopes and dreams made into reality.
Asked to name his heroes when he was still in the first grade, Vazirzadeh wrote about Bill Gates. That did not change through the years, and a compelling essay, coupled with his goal of being a CEO at his young age, prompted Microsoft and the "Three Wishes" team to make his wish come true.
During the day Vazirzadeh spent at Microsoft headquarters – which occurred Nov. 21, just before the launch of Xbox 360, the next-generation video game console – the youth participated in boardroom meetings, greeted Microsoft employees in the building that houses Xbox development, and checked out the Xbox play test lab to ensure that all was ready for launch.
"I wanted to be CEO because it’s the top job you can get at Microsoft," says the fifth-grader. "I enjoyed actually getting to go inside the Microsoft buildings, especially the testing center."
Vazirzadeh also met with Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates, and the two discussed careers, technology and Gates' own habits as a kid. After their conversation, the two exchanged business cards.
"What I like best about technology is the fact that it’s more advanced than having to do things yourself," says Vazirzadeh. "Technology can help you in many ways and we are working through it and using it more than ever before. You can do a lot of things with technology you couldn’t do before."
At the end of the day, Vazirzadeh made one final wish. On behalf of his technology-impoverished school, Simi Valley Elementary, which has never had more than a few computers, and those have out-of-date software, he requested a computer lab, with new hardware and software. Microsoft worked with Lenovo Corp. to provide Simi Valley Elementary with 36 new PCs, a network printer, a portable projector and a Tablet PC for instructional use, enabling the school to build its first-ever computer lab and upgrade its few existing computers with the latest Microsoft software.
"Microsoft and Lenovo were delighted to help fulfill Kiyaan's wish for a technology lab for Simi Valley Elementary School," says John Litten, senior marketing manager of the Original Equipment Manufacturers division at Microsoft. "We admire the desire -- especially at his young age --to help others fulfill their potential and ensure that future generations are able to experience the latest technology innovations from Microsoft and its partners for themselves."
'Three Wishes': Guest 'CEO' Episode Airs Fri., Dec. 9
The episode of "Three Wishes" featuring 10-year-old Kiyaan Vazirzadeh's day as CEO of Microsoft airs in the United States on Friday, Dec. 9 at 9 p.m. on most NBC-TV affiliate stations.
REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 7, 2005 -- On Friday, Dec. 9, there' will be an extra CEO at Microsoft – just for the day. His name is Kiyaan Vazirzadeh. He hails from Simi Valley, Calif. And he's 10.
Vazirzadeh made his wish to spend a day being CEO at Microsoft on the NBC Television reality show "Three Wishes," which follows recording artist Amy Grant on visits to communities all over the U.S., where Grant and her team grant wishes. These wishes range from the simple and light-hearted to the more dramatic and involved, and all feature people who get to witness some of their hopes and dreams made into reality.
Asked to name his heroes when he was still in the first grade, Vazirzadeh wrote about Bill Gates. That did not change through the years, and a compelling essay, coupled with his goal of being a CEO at his young age, prompted Microsoft and the "Three Wishes" team to make his wish come true.
During the day Vazirzadeh spent at Microsoft headquarters – which occurred Nov. 21, just before the launch of Xbox 360, the next-generation video game console – the youth participated in boardroom meetings, greeted Microsoft employees in the building that houses Xbox development, and checked out the Xbox play test lab to ensure that all was ready for launch.
"I wanted to be CEO because it’s the top job you can get at Microsoft," says the fifth-grader. "I enjoyed actually getting to go inside the Microsoft buildings, especially the testing center."
Vazirzadeh also met with Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates, and the two discussed careers, technology and Gates' own habits as a kid. After their conversation, the two exchanged business cards.
"What I like best about technology is the fact that it’s more advanced than having to do things yourself," says Vazirzadeh. "Technology can help you in many ways and we are working through it and using it more than ever before. You can do a lot of things with technology you couldn’t do before."
At the end of the day, Vazirzadeh made one final wish. On behalf of his technology-impoverished school, Simi Valley Elementary, which has never had more than a few computers, and those have out-of-date software, he requested a computer lab, with new hardware and software. Microsoft worked with Lenovo Corp. to provide Simi Valley Elementary with 36 new PCs, a network printer, a portable projector and a Tablet PC for instructional use, enabling the school to build its first-ever computer lab and upgrade its few existing computers with the latest Microsoft software.
"Microsoft and Lenovo were delighted to help fulfill Kiyaan's wish for a technology lab for Simi Valley Elementary School," says John Litten, senior marketing manager of the Original Equipment Manufacturers division at Microsoft. "We admire the desire -- especially at his young age --to help others fulfill their potential and ensure that future generations are able to experience the latest technology innovations from Microsoft and its partners for themselves."
'Three Wishes': Guest 'CEO' Episode Airs Fri., Dec. 9
The episode of "Three Wishes" featuring 10-year-old Kiyaan Vazirzadeh's day as CEO of Microsoft airs in the United States on Friday, Dec. 9 at 9 p.m. on most NBC-TV affiliate stations.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Symantec and McAfee Admit They Worse Than Suck
Not only are they crap but they could make your computer more vulnerable than BEFORE you installed their expensive doucheware.
Tell me something I don't know.
My experience of Symantec/Norton and McAfee "anti"-virus products has been mostly a tale of bloated code, sapped computer resources, crashes, corruptions etc. Using Symantec or McAfee products to protect your computer is like watching FOX to get the news.
However, on top of the fact that their software is too damn big, too damn slow, uses up too damn much of a computer's hard disk space, RAM and CPU power, it has come to light and even been ADMITTED by these companies that their antivirus products "feature" vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to gain access to your computer.
What SHOULD you use? Try ignoring the hype and the cost of those expensive piles of crap instead and have a look at Grisoft's AVG Antivirus (free version here) and ESET's NOD32.
If you are used to that piece of crap Norton or McAfee you got free with your PC and have been paying to update, you will be shocked how fast and free of problems your computer will run with NOD32.
Tell me something I don't know.
My experience of Symantec/Norton and McAfee "anti"-virus products has been mostly a tale of bloated code, sapped computer resources, crashes, corruptions etc. Using Symantec or McAfee products to protect your computer is like watching FOX to get the news.
However, on top of the fact that their software is too damn big, too damn slow, uses up too damn much of a computer's hard disk space, RAM and CPU power, it has come to light and even been ADMITTED by these companies that their antivirus products "feature" vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to gain access to your computer.
What SHOULD you use? Try ignoring the hype and the cost of those expensive piles of crap instead and have a look at Grisoft's AVG Antivirus (free version here) and ESET's NOD32.
If you are used to that piece of crap Norton or McAfee you got free with your PC and have been paying to update, you will be shocked how fast and free of problems your computer will run with NOD32.
New Jersey: Welcome to the Big, Slow, Stupid Target
Joy-see. Not so much The Big Easy as The Big Easy-to-Hit.
Yeah, yeah yeah, everybody likes to insult New Jersey. Well, can you blame us?
So, the Grate Garden State of Jersey has:
But why waste time on those? After all, we all want to know the rejected slogans. Here's a list of everything I could find:
This Codey character is quite the wag and many of his finest lines accompany this story:
"The top five lines hint at our marvel and our beauty and, if nothing else, it should get us a second date."
But I think nothing beats Codey's final word on the matter, a real toxic word dump: "As a state, we are complex in many ways, but we don't have a complex. We have a big heart and a passion for life. We just need to remind others that the door remains open."
If you happen to be a proud resident of New Jersey, I did not write any of this. Somebody hacked into my blogging account and tried to make me look bad. I mean worse. You, however, can fight back! You can vote on your choice of wonderful slogan here.
New Jersey: We'll Make You An Offer You Can't Refuse.
Yeah, yeah yeah, everybody likes to insult New Jersey. Well, can you blame us?
So, the Grate Garden State of Jersey has:
Paid a "consultant" 260,000 clams for a slogan they canned ("New Jersey: We'll Win You Over").
Actually, the state didn't so much turn down the consultant's creation as did the acting governor, Richard Codey, it appears.
Don Codey sez, "It makes me think of when I was young and single and asked a girl out. She turned me down. I said, 'Give me a chance, I'll win you over.'"
Yeah, Dick, I'm sure the good people of NJ are happy your childhood inadequacies are guiding their tax dollars. Allegedly.
The chance to choose one of these five finalists:
"New Jersey: Expect the Unexpected"
"New Jersey: Love at First Sight"
"New Jersey: Come See for Yourself"
"New Jersey: The Real Deal"
"New Jersey: The Best Kept Secret"
But why waste time on those? After all, we all want to know the rejected slogans. Here's a list of everything I could find:
"New Jersey: How You Doin?"
"New Jersey: Most of Our Elected Officials Have Not Been Indicted"
"New Jersey: We can always use another relative on the payroll"
"Come to New Jersey: It's not as bad as it smells"
"New Jersey: We Hate You, Too"
"If Living Here Were Easy, It Would Be Another State"
This Codey character is quite the wag and many of his finest lines accompany this story:
"The top five lines hint at our marvel and our beauty and, if nothing else, it should get us a second date."
But I think nothing beats Codey's final word on the matter, a real toxic word dump: "As a state, we are complex in many ways, but we don't have a complex. We have a big heart and a passion for life. We just need to remind others that the door remains open."
If you happen to be a proud resident of New Jersey, I did not write any of this. Somebody hacked into my blogging account and tried to make me look bad. I mean worse. You, however, can fight back! You can vote on your choice of wonderful slogan here.
New Jersey: We'll Make You An Offer You Can't Refuse.
Senate Blocks Arctic Drilling
Today's biggest reason to be happy!! WOOT! YAY! ETCETERA!!!
My faith in some humans was ever so slighly restored by this fabulous news.
Even to consider opening up this Alaskan nature reserve to oil drilling was pretty darn arrogant but tacking this amendment onto a military spending bill was easily one of the most cynical, sick, twisted and evil things I've seen this goverment do.
That's got to be saying something, no?
Anyway, I reckon this calls for another celebratory cup of tea but to paraphrase at least one crappy Hollywood action movie, it's a bit early to start jerking each other off.
YOU still have to deal with crap like this, this and this.
My faith in some humans was ever so slighly restored by this fabulous news.
Even to consider opening up this Alaskan nature reserve to oil drilling was pretty darn arrogant but tacking this amendment onto a military spending bill was easily one of the most cynical, sick, twisted and evil things I've seen this goverment do.
That's got to be saying something, no?
Anyway, I reckon this calls for another celebratory cup of tea but to paraphrase at least one crappy Hollywood action movie, it's a bit early to start jerking each other off.
YOU still have to deal with crap like this, this and this.
Forecasting Space Weather Takes a Giant Leap Forward
Those "searing waves of solar plasma" can really put a kink in your day. I know I certainly feel the effects of great plumes of our planet's "plasmasphere" being blown away. The problem was thought to occur on a random basis but scientists have finally connected these intergalactic bad hair days to problems with the Global Positioning System.
Now all they need to do is lern these scientists to speak reasonably intelligent English instead of grade-school blather like, "When these disturbances are happening they can throw stuff off,"
Oral ineptitude nothwithstanding, you can still
head on over to the Discovery Channel for some bumper-sticker classics like,
"When a stormy bubble of hot plasma arrives from the sun, it starts the plasmasphere roiling and propels streams of plasma from the equator to higher latitudes"
and "The plasmasphere is little more than a planet-encircling cloud of stripped-down, wayward atoms that have been joggled loose from Earth's uppermost ionosphere by solar radiation."
Now all they need to do is lern these scientists to speak reasonably intelligent English instead of grade-school blather like, "When these disturbances are happening they can throw stuff off,"
Oral ineptitude nothwithstanding, you can still
head on over to the Discovery Channel for some bumper-sticker classics like,
"When a stormy bubble of hot plasma arrives from the sun, it starts the plasmasphere roiling and propels streams of plasma from the equator to higher latitudes"
and "The plasmasphere is little more than a planet-encircling cloud of stripped-down, wayward atoms that have been joggled loose from Earth's uppermost ionosphere by solar radiation."
Letterman Lawyers Fight Restraining Order
(Associated Press)
Wed Dec 21, 4:25 PM ET
SANTA FE, N.M. - Lawyers for David Letterman want a judge to quash a restraining order granted to a Santa Fe woman who contends the CBS late-night host used code words to show he wanted to marry her and train her as his co-host.
A state judge granted a temporary restraining order to Colleen Nestler, who alleged in a request filed last Thursday that Letterman has forced her to go bankrupt and caused her "mental cruelty" and "sleep deprivation" since May 1994.
Nestler requested that Letterman, who tapes his show in New York, stay at least 3 yards away and not "think of me, and release me from his mental harassment and hammering."
Lawyers for Letterman, in a motion filed Tuesday, contend the order is without merit and asked state District Judge Daniel Sanchez to quash it.
"Celebrities deserve protection of their reputation and legal rights when the occasional fan becomes dangerous or deluded," Albuquerque lawyer Pat Rogers wrote in the motion.
Nestler told The Associated Press by telephone Wednesday that she had no comment pending her request for a permanent restraining order "and I pray to God I get it."
Sanchez set a Jan. 12 hearing on the permanent order.
Letterman's longtime Los Angeles lawyer, Jim Jackoway, said Nestler's claims were "obviously absurd and frivolous."
"This constitutes an unfortunate abuse of the judicial process," he said.
Nestler's application for a restraining order was accompanied by a six-page typed letter in which she said Letterman used code words, gestures and "eye expressions" to convey his desires for her.
She wrote that she began sending Letterman "thoughts of love" after his "Late Show" began in 1993, and that he responded in code words and gestures, asking her to come East.
She said he asked her to be his wife during a televised "teaser" for his show by saying, "Marry me, Oprah." Her letter said Oprah was the first of many code names for her and that the coded vocabulary increased and changed with time.
Her letter does not say why she recently sought a restraining order.
Rogers' motion to quash the order contends the court lacks jurisdiction over Letterman, that Nestler never served him with restraining order papers, and that she didn't meet other procedural requirements.
Wed Dec 21, 4:25 PM ET
SANTA FE, N.M. - Lawyers for David Letterman want a judge to quash a restraining order granted to a Santa Fe woman who contends the CBS late-night host used code words to show he wanted to marry her and train her as his co-host.
A state judge granted a temporary restraining order to Colleen Nestler, who alleged in a request filed last Thursday that Letterman has forced her to go bankrupt and caused her "mental cruelty" and "sleep deprivation" since May 1994.
Nestler requested that Letterman, who tapes his show in New York, stay at least 3 yards away and not "think of me, and release me from his mental harassment and hammering."
Lawyers for Letterman, in a motion filed Tuesday, contend the order is without merit and asked state District Judge Daniel Sanchez to quash it.
"Celebrities deserve protection of their reputation and legal rights when the occasional fan becomes dangerous or deluded," Albuquerque lawyer Pat Rogers wrote in the motion.
Nestler told The Associated Press by telephone Wednesday that she had no comment pending her request for a permanent restraining order "and I pray to God I get it."
Sanchez set a Jan. 12 hearing on the permanent order.
Letterman's longtime Los Angeles lawyer, Jim Jackoway, said Nestler's claims were "obviously absurd and frivolous."
"This constitutes an unfortunate abuse of the judicial process," he said.
Nestler's application for a restraining order was accompanied by a six-page typed letter in which she said Letterman used code words, gestures and "eye expressions" to convey his desires for her.
She wrote that she began sending Letterman "thoughts of love" after his "Late Show" began in 1993, and that he responded in code words and gestures, asking her to come East.
She said he asked her to be his wife during a televised "teaser" for his show by saying, "Marry me, Oprah." Her letter said Oprah was the first of many code names for her and that the coded vocabulary increased and changed with time.
Her letter does not say why she recently sought a restraining order.
Rogers' motion to quash the order contends the court lacks jurisdiction over Letterman, that Nestler never served him with restraining order papers, and that she didn't meet other procedural requirements.
Say hello to my little friend.
This guy is my new hero. He just looks like the ultimate tough guy. Yeah, that's me all the way, hard drinkin' hard dressin' and hard leerin'.
Oh yeah!
Listen, I gotta keep wastin' bandwidth here on accounta my blog template is a bit sucky and if I don't get the words down past this stupid picture, the next post wraps upside the head.
So...with that minor feat accomplished, let me just add,
Move over Arnie, Sakeman is in town.
Anybody know the Japanese for "El Jeffe"?
Heads roll at Veterans Administration
"Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter charged Monday that the reason Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi stepped down earlier this month was the growing scandal surrounding the use of uranium munitions in the Iraq War."
Mushrooming depleted uranium (DU) scandal blamed
Mushrooming depleted uranium (DU) scandal blamed
Monday, December 19, 2005
Father and Son Teach Yuletide Lesson to Armed Robbers
Lordy Lord, how I love me the good old, traditional Christmas-time a-beatin' on armed would-be robbers. It just warms my cockles so!
Milwaukee father Alfredo Hernandez and his son turned the tables on their gun-toting attackers so thoroughly that one had to flee and the other had to...well, he had to wait for the cops, who then had to wait for the ambulance to take the nicely battered idiot away.
A cheese knife and a snow shovel play an integral role in this touching family mellow-drama.
Ya gots ta love any news item that reads,
"Oh yeah, I messed him up," Hernandez said. "He came in walking and left in a stretcher."
but to my mind, it's Christmas cash bonus time for the journalist who finishes this piece with:
Hernandez said his favorite movie is "Scarface."
Bravissimo!!!!
Milwaukee father Alfredo Hernandez and his son turned the tables on their gun-toting attackers so thoroughly that one had to flee and the other had to...well, he had to wait for the cops, who then had to wait for the ambulance to take the nicely battered idiot away.
A cheese knife and a snow shovel play an integral role in this touching family mellow-drama.
Ya gots ta love any news item that reads,
"Oh yeah, I messed him up," Hernandez said. "He came in walking and left in a stretcher."
but to my mind, it's Christmas cash bonus time for the journalist who finishes this piece with:
Hernandez said his favorite movie is "Scarface."
Bravissimo!!!!
A Cassette Deck for the PC
Oh yeeessss! Just check this l'il puppy out!!
Methinks it just don't get ANY better than this. Well, ok, OBVIOUSLY, if I can find an 8-track version then I can lay my head down and die a completely happy man BUT, this is just gonna have to do.
Where's the open reel version. WHERE IS IT, DAMMIT??
Well these links will have to suffice: some cool stuff (for, like, us totally uncool people). It's quite scary how many of these I actually remember.
I know, I know. You've all been asking for this one for ages, so here it is: PLAYING MODS ON THE ATARI ST. Don't say I never give you nothin' ok?
Now go buy some good 8-track kit, you mother...
Methinks it just don't get ANY better than this. Well, ok, OBVIOUSLY, if I can find an 8-track version then I can lay my head down and die a completely happy man BUT, this is just gonna have to do.
Where's the open reel version. WHERE IS IT, DAMMIT??
Well these links will have to suffice: some cool stuff (for, like, us totally uncool people). It's quite scary how many of these I actually remember.
I know, I know. You've all been asking for this one for ages, so here it is: PLAYING MODS ON THE ATARI ST. Don't say I never give you nothin' ok?
Now go buy some good 8-track kit, you mother...
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Long live the Trash 80!!!
Yes, "Long live the Model 4!", indeed....
what's that you say? You don't kneel at the hallowed alter of the old Tandy TRS-80 personal computer?
You heathen! Happiness is a warm 5-1/4" disk drive.
what's that you say? You don't kneel at the hallowed alter of the old Tandy TRS-80 personal computer?
You heathen! Happiness is a warm 5-1/4" disk drive.
Is Critical Journalism To Follow Alpizar To The Grave?
Or is it already dead and buried?
I wish I had more time to consider, research, compose, review and finalise postings like this but I haven't. Nobody pays me to do this but I feel it necessary and if it helps anybody to even the slightest degree, then it was worth it. Bearing that in mind, I offer my humble apoligies here and now for any failure on my part to maintain reasonable style, spelling, grammar, logic or accuracy.
Please don't let my blog be the last stop on your travels.
This is yet another post to remind you that there very much ARE alternative reports, editorials, opinions, sources of information and perhaps even facts available out there, if you know where to look. As always and perhaps more so than ever before, caveat emptor! To anybody who does not remain completely a fool, it is now absolutely clear that we cannot unquestioningly accept ANYTHING we are told by ANYBODY.
You have the tools. Use them. The responsibility sits with each and every one of us to use our heads, hearts and the universe around us to seek the truth.
Bearing that in mind, we have yet another example of why the above is true.
Rigoberto Alpizar is dead. That is perhaps the only thing we on which we can all agree. There are slight variations in all the stories of why he is now dead but any fool who follows the news can tell you sure, this is a tragedy but the authorities had no choice.
Alpizar was a mentally-ill young man who had not taken his medicine and as a result, had displayed worrying signs of aggression and imbalance at several times and places in the run up to the fatal shooting [Pun not intended. Seriously]. Alpizar was 44 years old.
This reminds me of news reports in Detroit in the 1970s and perhaps even into the following decade that invariably referred to suspects as something along the lines of "...a 26 year-old black youth..." I am not joking. The jokes came later from at least one American comedian who pointed out this stupidity by joking about "...a 38 year-old negro youth..." You really think I make this stuff up?
So back to the diatribe at hand. What choice did those poor air marshalls have? They were confronted with a man running up and down the aisle of that packed aircraft, shouting that he had a bomb. What else could they do? What would you have done? It's obvious isn't it?
Or is this really what happened?
Once again almost all - perhaps even all - of the news outlets reported some slight variation on the same story.
Once again, almost all - perhaps even all - of the news outlets reported the only thing they could at the time - reports by federal officials.
Once again, reality appears to be charting a different course from that maintained by the authorities. Havey you checked the definition of psychosis lately?
Now that news outlets have had time to begin compiling their own reports, based on their own investigations and their own uncovering of what may be the facts in this case, some worrying inconsistencies appear to be exposed.
But are we not living in the 21st century? Do we not benefit from near instant access to overwhelming historical record, analysis and opinion? Has anybody not heard some variation on this:
"He who forgets history is condemned to repeat it."
It seems as if every time we "paranoid, anti-establishment, conspiracy-theorist cranks, screwballs and nutjobs" question official position, wonder aloud about general public opinion, point out apparent consistencies or otherwise fail to toe the party line, we are later shown to have been at least somewhat on the right track.
There, I did it. I just consigned all of this and every thing I ever write here to the scrap heap. I used emotive, left-wing-sounding terminology. "Look! He said 'party line'!! He's a red-and-gold-tutu-wearing, Marxist-Lennonist reactionary gay boy. Don't listen to a word he says! He obviously hates us and everything we represent!"
I don't hate you, I hate the wrongs you do. And maybe that awful print you're wearing, darling, but the truth is out there.
Remember, just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you....
I must have been about twelve when my father, a medical doctor, used to work all day and night in emergency. He would come home completely exhausted at some God-awful hour but the next day, he often had interesting tales to share with us. I always got a kick out of hearing about the latest "Jesus-freak" character the cops had dragged into the hospital shortly after they had dragged their fat asses out of the donut shop.
Dad would tell how these characters - invariably wild-eyed, shaggy-maned and oddly-dressed - would insist they were Jesus Christ. Invariably, they were also nutjobs, suffering from extreme emotional imbalance of one kind or many. After all, they couldn't ALL be Jesus, there were only two Jesuses. And don't get pernickity with me, ok?
But even at my young age, I asked how they knew this was not Jesus Christ? Hell, HE's supposed to return at some point, isn't HE? For Christ's sake, where would we be if the first time around, he'd been dragged off to hospital, protesting his innocence and mental health, only to be bound, drugged and "treated for his obvious illness"?
Anyway, enough of me prattling on about all the morons who are allowed to call themselves journalists these days. You don't need to read my ego-centric bluster about the sorry state of "news" organisations. You might want to listen to Robert Fisk when he criticises news reports, however.
You know what really worries me? JFK was killed over thirty years ago and we STILL don't know the truth. One bullet? Yeah, right. If you swallowed that one, boy do I have a real-estate deal for you!
I wish I had more time to consider, research, compose, review and finalise postings like this but I haven't. Nobody pays me to do this but I feel it necessary and if it helps anybody to even the slightest degree, then it was worth it. Bearing that in mind, I offer my humble apoligies here and now for any failure on my part to maintain reasonable style, spelling, grammar, logic or accuracy.
Please don't let my blog be the last stop on your travels.
This is yet another post to remind you that there very much ARE alternative reports, editorials, opinions, sources of information and perhaps even facts available out there, if you know where to look. As always and perhaps more so than ever before, caveat emptor! To anybody who does not remain completely a fool, it is now absolutely clear that we cannot unquestioningly accept ANYTHING we are told by ANYBODY.
You have the tools. Use them. The responsibility sits with each and every one of us to use our heads, hearts and the universe around us to seek the truth.
Bearing that in mind, we have yet another example of why the above is true.
Rigoberto Alpizar is dead. That is perhaps the only thing we on which we can all agree. There are slight variations in all the stories of why he is now dead but any fool who follows the news can tell you sure, this is a tragedy but the authorities had no choice.
Alpizar was a mentally-ill young man who had not taken his medicine and as a result, had displayed worrying signs of aggression and imbalance at several times and places in the run up to the fatal shooting [Pun not intended. Seriously]. Alpizar was 44 years old.
This reminds me of news reports in Detroit in the 1970s and perhaps even into the following decade that invariably referred to suspects as something along the lines of "...a 26 year-old black youth..." I am not joking. The jokes came later from at least one American comedian who pointed out this stupidity by joking about "...a 38 year-old negro youth..." You really think I make this stuff up?
So back to the diatribe at hand. What choice did those poor air marshalls have? They were confronted with a man running up and down the aisle of that packed aircraft, shouting that he had a bomb. What else could they do? What would you have done? It's obvious isn't it?
Or is this really what happened?
Once again almost all - perhaps even all - of the news outlets reported some slight variation on the same story.
Once again, almost all - perhaps even all - of the news outlets reported the only thing they could at the time - reports by federal officials.
Once again, reality appears to be charting a different course from that maintained by the authorities. Havey you checked the definition of psychosis lately?
Now that news outlets have had time to begin compiling their own reports, based on their own investigations and their own uncovering of what may be the facts in this case, some worrying inconsistencies appear to be exposed.
But are we not living in the 21st century? Do we not benefit from near instant access to overwhelming historical record, analysis and opinion? Has anybody not heard some variation on this:
"He who forgets history is condemned to repeat it."
It seems as if every time we "paranoid, anti-establishment, conspiracy-theorist cranks, screwballs and nutjobs" question official position, wonder aloud about general public opinion, point out apparent consistencies or otherwise fail to toe the party line, we are later shown to have been at least somewhat on the right track.
There, I did it. I just consigned all of this and every thing I ever write here to the scrap heap. I used emotive, left-wing-sounding terminology. "Look! He said 'party line'!! He's a red-and-gold-tutu-wearing, Marxist-Lennonist reactionary gay boy. Don't listen to a word he says! He obviously hates us and everything we represent!"
I don't hate you, I hate the wrongs you do. And maybe that awful print you're wearing, darling, but the truth is out there.
Remember, just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you....
I must have been about twelve when my father, a medical doctor, used to work all day and night in emergency. He would come home completely exhausted at some God-awful hour but the next day, he often had interesting tales to share with us. I always got a kick out of hearing about the latest "Jesus-freak" character the cops had dragged into the hospital shortly after they had dragged their fat asses out of the donut shop.
Dad would tell how these characters - invariably wild-eyed, shaggy-maned and oddly-dressed - would insist they were Jesus Christ. Invariably, they were also nutjobs, suffering from extreme emotional imbalance of one kind or many. After all, they couldn't ALL be Jesus, there were only two Jesuses. And don't get pernickity with me, ok?
But even at my young age, I asked how they knew this was not Jesus Christ? Hell, HE's supposed to return at some point, isn't HE? For Christ's sake, where would we be if the first time around, he'd been dragged off to hospital, protesting his innocence and mental health, only to be bound, drugged and "treated for his obvious illness"?
Anyway, enough of me prattling on about all the morons who are allowed to call themselves journalists these days. You don't need to read my ego-centric bluster about the sorry state of "news" organisations. You might want to listen to Robert Fisk when he criticises news reports, however.
You know what really worries me? JFK was killed over thirty years ago and we STILL don't know the truth. One bullet? Yeah, right. If you swallowed that one, boy do I have a real-estate deal for you!
Saturday, December 17, 2005
English as a Turd Language
Oh how we foreigners rock with mirth when we spot a hilarious local attempt at sign-writing in English. Outside of the USA, Canada, England, Australia and New Zealand, mistakes in written English can be even funnier.
There's a reasonable collection of signs (mostly) in Thailand on this site but actually, I have a bunch I've photographed on my own and every one of them is funnier. Best be gettin'em up on teh web then, eh?
There's a reasonable collection of signs (mostly) in Thailand on this site but actually, I have a bunch I've photographed on my own and every one of them is funnier. Best be gettin'em up on teh web then, eh?
Friday, December 16, 2005
Four Vikings charged with party boat misdemeanors
What's that? More Fwiday aftermoon mithchiff fwom a good friend of Bigguth Dickuth?
The headline certainly reads like Monty Python sketch predicated on political correctness run amok amidst fierce Scandinavians running, er.. amok, does it not?
"Mr Red, do you REALLY expect me to believe that you had not enough time to rape OR pillage this evening?
"I'm sorry squire, I've cracked an 'orn!"
I can see it now, "Erik the Red and four otherwise keen and supportive team players charged with failure to cause enough mayhem"
The headline certainly reads like Monty Python sketch predicated on political correctness run amok amidst fierce Scandinavians running, er.. amok, does it not?
"Mr Red, do you REALLY expect me to believe that you had not enough time to rape OR pillage this evening?
"I'm sorry squire, I've cracked an 'orn!"
I can see it now, "Erik the Red and four otherwise keen and supportive team players charged with failure to cause enough mayhem"
The Honest Boss
It's Friday. At least in my pathetic, lonely little part of the universe it is. That means drumming fingers on desk, trying to eek that last little bit of functionality out of one pathetic, lonely, weary, old brain cell and, hey, a leedle fun, señor?
Whole Mess O'Links
Right, I am so duuurn busy that I jess ain't got time te editorialise a load on these here linkettes so here they are, with little or no adornment, for you to explore and enjoy.
Ok?
Buy some Pee and Poo. Just in case you're wondering, they're "unconventional cuddly toys" with an "associated line of children's wear" including "temporary tattoos", the wimps.
I can't recall how I found I Hate Music or why I kept the URL but there must be some reason, good or bad, I'm not sure.
This is incredibly useful, but only if you find media releases by the OPP about the latest crime in Essex county, Ontario, Canada.
But what on earth is "Keeping You Informed, Keeping You Safe"? That has to be one of the laziest sayings I've read since I wanted to go postal on this guy, m'kay? Heck, while Mr Angry is still with us, why don't we ask him what he thinks of statements like, "Art Expands. Design Connects." You know what? That ain't NOTHIN.
No. I really feel a strong urge to apply an axe to both of Sam McMillan's ankles for publishing this unadulturated crap:
"Art speaks to our private hopes, our fears and our dreams at the same time it addresses our cultural concerns and aspirations."
I dub thee Sir Labian of Gyneria! Now please die.
GOD I HATE CRAP LIKE THAT SO MUCH IT MAKES ME WANT TO !(*$@)(*#@$#@)(* PUKE.
Ok?
Buy some Pee and Poo. Just in case you're wondering, they're "unconventional cuddly toys" with an "associated line of children's wear" including "temporary tattoos", the wimps.
I can't recall how I found I Hate Music or why I kept the URL but there must be some reason, good or bad, I'm not sure.
This is incredibly useful, but only if you find media releases by the OPP about the latest crime in Essex county, Ontario, Canada.
But what on earth is "Keeping You Informed, Keeping You Safe"? That has to be one of the laziest sayings I've read since I wanted to go postal on this guy, m'kay? Heck, while Mr Angry is still with us, why don't we ask him what he thinks of statements like, "Art Expands. Design Connects." You know what? That ain't NOTHIN.
No. I really feel a strong urge to apply an axe to both of Sam McMillan's ankles for publishing this unadulturated crap:
"Art speaks to our private hopes, our fears and our dreams at the same time it addresses our cultural concerns and aspirations."
I dub thee Sir Labian of Gyneria! Now please die.
GOD I HATE CRAP LIKE THAT SO MUCH IT MAKES ME WANT TO !(*$@)(*#@$#@)(* PUKE.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Will ya just look at this crap?
No, I don't mean this blog, I mean THIS crap. With things like the I Love Lucy collection from Beany Baby USA, is it any wonder there are freedom-fighters/terrorists out there who, apparently, hate our way of life and the things we represent?
I get it! "They" don't hate our "religion", our "democracy", our "free press" or any of that other rubbish. Oh no! They are insulted by our pap, threatened by our kitsch and terrified by our chintz.
Perhaps peace on earth and goodwill towards men (and maybe a few women, children and domestic animals too) can finally be found across this good earth.
All we have to do is burn our "loo-wee katorze" repro dinner table and chairs.
I get it! "They" don't hate our "religion", our "democracy", our "free press" or any of that other rubbish. Oh no! They are insulted by our pap, threatened by our kitsch and terrified by our chintz.
Perhaps peace on earth and goodwill towards men (and maybe a few women, children and domestic animals too) can finally be found across this good earth.
All we have to do is burn our "loo-wee katorze" repro dinner table and chairs.
the Marshmallow Shooter
Oh boy, they SO needed, like, an army of these things in Hemel Hempstead a few days ago!
But why stop there?
Given the right weapons fitment, the Abrams M1 main battle tank could have turned this into just another "Salami Beach".
Or maybe they could have used a fleet of A-10 Thunderbollocks, better known as Warthotdogs - "Go Ugly Early!".... and Get the Best Seat by the Fire??
"Dammit, Maverick, your mouth is offering foot long hot dogs your body can't, uh..."
well, you get the idea.
But why stop there?
Given the right weapons fitment, the Abrams M1 main battle tank could have turned this into just another "Salami Beach".
Or maybe they could have used a fleet of A-10 Thunderbollocks, better known as Warthotdogs - "Go Ugly Early!".... and Get the Best Seat by the Fire??
"Dammit, Maverick, your mouth is offering foot long hot dogs your body can't, uh..."
well, you get the idea.
Geeking out on multi-dimensional space...
"I love what you've done with the space!"
I wonder what the echo is like? Maybe it never catches up. Hmmm, if a tree falls over in an n-dimensional forest where n > 3 does the universe collapse silently? Are we all enjoying the party too much to hear it?
"Dude, kill the ABBA, I think I just heard a dimension collapse!"
The guy who wrote High-Dimensional Spaces Are Counterintuitive sounds like a real party animal.
If I go to a really great party but my twin brother stays in for the night, do I appear to have aged when I get home, say, three days later?
Pass the space-time continuum, dude...
Right, I must get another cup of coffee.
I wonder what the echo is like? Maybe it never catches up. Hmmm, if a tree falls over in an n-dimensional forest where n > 3 does the universe collapse silently? Are we all enjoying the party too much to hear it?
"Dude, kill the ABBA, I think I just heard a dimension collapse!"
The guy who wrote High-Dimensional Spaces Are Counterintuitive sounds like a real party animal.
If I go to a really great party but my twin brother stays in for the night, do I appear to have aged when I get home, say, three days later?
Pass the space-time continuum, dude...
Right, I must get another cup of coffee.
How can you trademark "cut loose"???
Oops, I think that's supposed to read, "How can you trademark cut loose™". My bad.
Anyway, SplashPower are, ahem, destined to alter forever our daily struggles with power blisters, power bars, plugging gadgets into chargers, unplugging gadgets from chargers, packing multiple chargers, etc...
But what about when I'm traveling and I only need to be able to charge my phone and I don't want to "cut loose™" and carry a SplashPad in my luggage? So far, I've done very well with a single small charger for my phone, batteries for my normal-battery-using PDA and, erm, NO mp3 player. Old skool, y'all.
Sure, I pack a USB charging cable for my phone too. That's a boon. Hit up an internet cafe, charge my phone for free. Sly, huh? But would SplashPower mean I still need to buy individual chargers for traveling?
I thought SplashPads were for people in their "golden years" who can no longer control their bladders and I thought "cutting loose" was slang for a fairly childish, but essential (and very manly), bodily function.
Sincerely,
'King Fart™head
Anyway, SplashPower are, ahem, destined to alter forever our daily struggles with power blisters, power bars, plugging gadgets into chargers, unplugging gadgets from chargers, packing multiple chargers, etc...
But what about when I'm traveling and I only need to be able to charge my phone and I don't want to "cut loose™" and carry a SplashPad in my luggage? So far, I've done very well with a single small charger for my phone, batteries for my normal-battery-using PDA and, erm, NO mp3 player. Old skool, y'all.
Sure, I pack a USB charging cable for my phone too. That's a boon. Hit up an internet cafe, charge my phone for free. Sly, huh? But would SplashPower mean I still need to buy individual chargers for traveling?
I thought SplashPads were for people in their "golden years" who can no longer control their bladders and I thought "cutting loose" was slang for a fairly childish, but essential (and very manly), bodily function.
Sincerely,
'King Fart™head
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Sling Media is KEWL
Now, you can have access to all your home media programming from anywhere on earth (anywhere with reasonable internet access, that is....)
Jewish Airport Humour
A man arrives at Ben Gurion International Airport with 2 large bags.
The customs agent opens the first bag and finds it full with money in different currencies. The agent asks the passenger, "How did you get this money?"
The man says, "You will not believe it, but I travelled all over Europe, went into public restrooms, each time I saw a man pee, I grabbed his organ and said, "donate money to Israel or I will cut off your balls."
The customs agent is stunned and mumbles: "Well...it's a very interesting story... what do you have in the other bag?"
The man says, "You would not believe how many people in Europe do not support Israel."
The customs agent opens the first bag and finds it full with money in different currencies. The agent asks the passenger, "How did you get this money?"
The man says, "You will not believe it, but I travelled all over Europe, went into public restrooms, each time I saw a man pee, I grabbed his organ and said, "donate money to Israel or I will cut off your balls."
The customs agent is stunned and mumbles: "Well...it's a very interesting story... what do you have in the other bag?"
The man says, "You would not believe how many people in Europe do not support Israel."
Friday, December 09, 2005
I'm not some Karl Rove inspired meathead. I'm a Canadian!
This is a most excellent and useful read. Not only does it cover quite a handy number of facts and arguments in relation to Iraq today, but it also contains the most excellent statement, "I'm not some Karl Rove inspired meathead. I'm a Canadian!"
For that reason alone, it's worth reading. It's a long read but it's a valuable one.
For that reason alone, it's worth reading. It's a long read but it's a valuable one.
The Stein of Sir Eppo?
Hmmm, not so sure about that. Anyway, while searching online for an old friend, I stumbled across this interesting posting about Epstein, Eppstein and, allegedly, a knight named Eppo.
Knights called Eppo are cool, especially if they've retired to the sea.
If Eppo married Rosanne Barr and they had kids, would the kids be little Epstein-Barrs? Luckily for all of us, I think, didn't Tom Arnold turn Rosanne into a lesbian?
Knights called Eppo are cool, especially if they've retired to the sea.
If Eppo married Rosanne Barr and they had
Best house remix ever?
I think it's possible. Few tracks have me bopping my hairy l'il butt on down like Louie Vega's remix of Patti LaBelle's New Day. Ok, so it's not so l'il (my butt, not Louie) but it's uh, erm, oh I better not even go there.
This is one of those recordings that make you wanna stay wherever you are when you hear it and just keep playing it again, and again, and again, and again.
One of my all-time favourite "it's sunny, it's Friday and it's time to leave work" dance toonz. 'cept I can't leave teh office yet cuz I gotta lay down a CD so I can get the whole gym boppin too. I really must insist they install a Media Center PC with USB....
It's not half bad on a rainy Monday morning, neevah. Louie Vega and Masters at Work are surely doing the work of the good Lord herself.
Please excuse me while I hit the "Play" button for the umpteenth time...
Wow, what a happy slice of soul this is!
This is one of those recordings that make you wanna stay wherever you are when you hear it and just keep playing it again, and again, and again, and again.
One of my all-time favourite "it's sunny, it's Friday and it's time to leave work" dance toonz. 'cept I can't leave teh office yet cuz I gotta lay down a CD so I can get the whole gym boppin too. I really must insist they install a Media Center PC with USB....
It's not half bad on a rainy Monday morning, neevah. Louie Vega and Masters at Work are surely doing the work of the good Lord herself.
Please excuse me while I hit the "Play" button for the umpteenth time...
Wow, what a happy slice of soul this is!
Apparently, HE knows only one chord, in one key...
but, OH! what a chord and in what a key!
Kneel at the alter of Chic and thank Nile Rodgers and Bernard Evans, AKA God's own funksters, for some of the greatest songwriting, recording and production. EVAH.
"Say, old man, what brought on this bout of ancient nostalgia?", I hear you kiddeez cry.
Well, I was just enjoying Biquini Cavadão's recording of Chove Chuva, a mighty, mighty Brasilian classic, never mightier than in the Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 rendition (AKA "The Single Most Coolerest Piece of Music Ever Recorded, Ever")
Kneel at the alter of Chic and thank Nile Rodgers and Bernard Evans, AKA God's own funksters, for some of the greatest songwriting, recording and production. EVAH.
"Say, old man, what brought on this bout of ancient nostalgia?", I hear you kiddeez cry.
Well, I was just enjoying Biquini Cavadão's recording of Chove Chuva, a mighty, mighty Brasilian classic, never mightier than in the Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 rendition (AKA "The Single Most Coolerest Piece of Music Ever Recorded, Ever")
Aussies At Odds With Oz-Based US Weapons Testing
And can you blame them?
Controversial documentary to be screened in Bega
Blowin' In The Wind is the latest film from two-time Academy Award nominee, David Bradbury - arguably Australia's most contentious and provocative documentary filmmaker. It examines the secret treaty that allows the US military to train and test its weaponry on Australian soil. It looks at the impact of recycled uranium weapons and the far-reaching physical and moral effects on every Australian. The film's release is timely as the government currently moves to approve more uranium mines while arguing the contrary - that by going nuclear we are being both 'safe' and 'green'.
Blowin' In The Wind reveals that Iraqi babies are now being born with major birth defects. Bradbury wonders whether Australians living downwind from the military testing ranges will be next. He argues that we were lied to by the British over the Woomera and Maralinga atomic tests. Can we trust another equally powerful partner in our 'war on terror'? With a cash budget of just $12,000 Blowin' In The Wind raises pertinent questions which cannot be ignored by the Australian public. The film shocked, angered and surprised large audiences recently when shown at the Sydney and Brisbane Film Festivals.
Controversial documentary to be screened in Bega
Blowin' In The Wind is the latest film from two-time Academy Award nominee, David Bradbury - arguably Australia's most contentious and provocative documentary filmmaker. It examines the secret treaty that allows the US military to train and test its weaponry on Australian soil. It looks at the impact of recycled uranium weapons and the far-reaching physical and moral effects on every Australian. The film's release is timely as the government currently moves to approve more uranium mines while arguing the contrary - that by going nuclear we are being both 'safe' and 'green'.
Blowin' In The Wind reveals that Iraqi babies are now being born with major birth defects. Bradbury wonders whether Australians living downwind from the military testing ranges will be next. He argues that we were lied to by the British over the Woomera and Maralinga atomic tests. Can we trust another equally powerful partner in our 'war on terror'? With a cash budget of just $12,000 Blowin' In The Wind raises pertinent questions which cannot be ignored by the Australian public. The film shocked, angered and surprised large audiences recently when shown at the Sydney and Brisbane Film Festivals.
Stop the insanity!!!
Is nothing sacred?
Disney is re-launching Winnie the Pooh. Yet again, it appears the usual Hollywood rule applies: why maintain quality when you can really screw something up?
At first, I misread this article in The Independent and thought perhaps they were really gonna go for it, with Christopher Robin perhaps leading the National Front or something but, alas, the truth is more shocking still. They are offing the laughably effeminate character based on AA Milne's own son.
Dainty CR is replaced by a girl. Yes, a girl. Why? Wasn't he already enough of a girlie? Hollywood Rule number 2: if it ain't broke, break it.
Why not do it properly? Why not turn the Pooh stories into a "touching, heart-warming drama about a poor West-Coast Latino boy from the barrio who turns to his amigos for botherly support and low-riding good times"?
Kreestophah Row-Been: "Yo Pooh esse, kick anotha old-school rrrrolla' fo tha homies!"
I suppose this is a good time to tell you about two of my favourite books, The Tao of Pooh and the Te of Piglet. They make excellent bedtime stories for your children. When you're done with those, you can read The Dancing Wu Li Masters which, unless your child is as precocious as I was (and arrogant as I am now), probably won't make such great bedtime reading. When you're done with that, try In Search of Schrodinger's Cat, which definitely ain't for six-year-olds. Even your faithful correspondent had to wait until he was about twelve to get into that one.
Ahhh... that's much better. Remember, only MY blogs could possibly take you from news about Disney raping Winnie the Pook to quantum mechanics in a single post.
Right, I have to go play with my space-time continuum. Toodle-pip!
Disney is re-launching Winnie the Pooh. Yet again, it appears the usual Hollywood rule applies: why maintain quality when you can really screw something up?
At first, I misread this article in The Independent and thought perhaps they were really gonna go for it, with Christopher Robin perhaps leading the National Front or something but, alas, the truth is more shocking still. They are offing the laughably effeminate character based on AA Milne's own son.
Dainty CR is replaced by a girl. Yes, a girl. Why? Wasn't he already enough of a girlie? Hollywood Rule number 2: if it ain't broke, break it.
Why not do it properly? Why not turn the Pooh stories into a "touching, heart-warming drama about a poor West-Coast Latino boy from the barrio who turns to his amigos for botherly support and low-riding good times"?
Kreestophah Row-Been: "Yo Pooh esse, kick anotha old-school rrrrolla' fo tha homies!"
I suppose this is a good time to tell you about two of my favourite books, The Tao of Pooh and the Te of Piglet. They make excellent bedtime stories for your children. When you're done with those, you can read The Dancing Wu Li Masters which, unless your child is as precocious as I was (and arrogant as I am now), probably won't make such great bedtime reading. When you're done with that, try In Search of Schrodinger's Cat, which definitely ain't for six-year-olds. Even your faithful correspondent had to wait until he was about twelve to get into that one.
Ahhh... that's much better. Remember, only MY blogs could possibly take you from news about Disney raping Winnie the Pook to quantum mechanics in a single post.
Right, I have to go play with my space-time continuum. Toodle-pip!
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Pinter demands war crimes trial for Blair
Looks like Pinter is definitely planning to go out in style. The Guardian brings you coverage of his latest tyrade. You go girl!
There's some hope, at least that SOME Americans still use their noggin, as Members of Congress press Bush to stop under-counting the casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. As the members point out, not to include many of the injured in casualty lists results in an innacurate and misleading perception of reality. Oh, wait, Messrs Bush and Cheney, isn't that the definition of psychosis?
Anyway, it's obvious to anybody with a basic grasp of these things that modern warfare, military kit, communications, science and medicine mean that the ratio of killed to injured in Afghanistan and Iraq is going to be very different to that of say, Vietnam, par example. On top of that, Iraq may well turn out to result in more deaths of Americans than even did Vietnam.
Basically, many, many more horrendously injured (inside and out) soldiers, non-combat servicemen and women and members of the various "support" arms will survive their injuries than would be the case had these military operations taken place thirty years ago. This is a veritable K1 of pain and it will lean heavily on American society and psyche for a long time to come. The long-term ramifications have yet to be considered, let alone understood, by all but a few of us cynics/realists.
This is before you even consider all the "enemy" casualties and all the innocents and non-combatants who are suffering.
Maybe you have noticed the effect of the Vietnam "experience" on American (un)consiousness? Factor in depleted uraniuam and, my friend, you have set the scene for a truly awful reality to settle upon the human race over the next many decades.
Mark my words.
There's some hope, at least that SOME Americans still use their noggin, as Members of Congress press Bush to stop under-counting the casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. As the members point out, not to include many of the injured in casualty lists results in an innacurate and misleading perception of reality. Oh, wait, Messrs Bush and Cheney, isn't that the definition of psychosis?
Anyway, it's obvious to anybody with a basic grasp of these things that modern warfare, military kit, communications, science and medicine mean that the ratio of killed to injured in Afghanistan and Iraq is going to be very different to that of say, Vietnam, par example. On top of that, Iraq may well turn out to result in more deaths of Americans than even did Vietnam.
Basically, many, many more horrendously injured (inside and out) soldiers, non-combat servicemen and women and members of the various "support" arms will survive their injuries than would be the case had these military operations taken place thirty years ago. This is a veritable K1 of pain and it will lean heavily on American society and psyche for a long time to come. The long-term ramifications have yet to be considered, let alone understood, by all but a few of us cynics/realists.
This is before you even consider all the "enemy" casualties and all the innocents and non-combatants who are suffering.
Maybe you have noticed the effect of the Vietnam "experience" on American (un)consiousness? Factor in depleted uraniuam and, my friend, you have set the scene for a truly awful reality to settle upon the human race over the next many decades.
Mark my words.
Indian internet user base grows 54% in 2005
At least in India, the "digital divide" appears to be narrowing. That's 38.5 million down, only 1,450 million to go. Narrowly narrowing?
A man appeared before St. Peter
A man appeared before St. Peter at the pearly gates, "Have you ever done anything of particular merit?" St. Peter asked.
"Well, I can think of one thing," the man offered. "Once, on a trip to the Black hills of South Dakota , I came upon a gang of high-testosterone bikers who were threatening a young woman. I directed them to leave her alone, but they wouldn't listen.
So, I approached the largest and most heavily tattooed biker and smacked him on the head, kicked his bike over, ripped out his nose ring and threw it on the ground."
"Then I yelled, 'Now back off biker boy or you'll answer to me!"
St. Peter was impressed, "When did this happen?"
"Just a couple of minutes ago."
"Well, I can think of one thing," the man offered. "Once, on a trip to the Black hills of South Dakota , I came upon a gang of high-testosterone bikers who were threatening a young woman. I directed them to leave her alone, but they wouldn't listen.
So, I approached the largest and most heavily tattooed biker and smacked him on the head, kicked his bike over, ripped out his nose ring and threw it on the ground."
"Then I yelled, 'Now back off biker boy or you'll answer to me!"
St. Peter was impressed, "When did this happen?"
"Just a couple of minutes ago."
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
1984, and Bush's Unusual Dictionary
Argentina's La Nacion carries an excellent Spanish-language editorial on the eery (or perfectly normal, depending on wear you carry your head, and your tin hat) parallels between today's America and Orwell's 1984.
A machine-translation of the article is available here. It's surprisingly readable. Go Google!
Anyway, this reminds me of another excellent piece on the eery (or perfectly normal, depending on wear you carry your head, and your tin hat) parallels between today's president GW Bush and past Mexican leaders.
A machine-translation of the article is available here. It's surprisingly readable. Go Google!
Anyway, this reminds me of another excellent piece on the eery (or perfectly normal, depending on wear you carry your head, and your tin hat) parallels between today's president GW Bush and past Mexican leaders.
Is the world run by Moonies?
An interesting posting about the Bushes et al and the Moonies.
Apparently the good Reverend Moon is "certifiably insane". Not only that, but four of Bush's cabinet are Moonies. Or were, depending on when this was written
I can't wait to see the movie.
Apparently the good Reverend Moon is "certifiably insane". Not only that, but four of Bush's cabinet are Moonies. Or were, depending on when this was written
I can't wait to see the movie.
Keep up with the, erm, 'Global War on Terror'
or the totally-selfless rescuing of the Iraqi people or the installation of democracy or however it's being packaged these days...
Thenausea.com has a bunch of relevent media, organised by month.
A variety of other raw video footage is available here.
In War Crimes, USA, an interview with Jeremy Brecher, Jill Cutler and Brendan Smith, Mother Jones asks, "Could administration officials be called to account?"
Information Clearing House provides streaming video of a Dutch television documentary about the 9/11 attacks. They also carry Mike Whitney's perspective on a nuclear Iran and Bill Henderson's take on Iraq, oil and the US economy.
I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying it's there...
Thenausea.com has a bunch of relevent media, organised by month.
A variety of other raw video footage is available here.
In War Crimes, USA, an interview with Jeremy Brecher, Jill Cutler and Brendan Smith, Mother Jones asks, "Could administration officials be called to account?"
Information Clearing House provides streaming video of a Dutch television documentary about the 9/11 attacks. They also carry Mike Whitney's perspective on a nuclear Iran and Bill Henderson's take on Iraq, oil and the US economy.
I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying it's there...
Stupid, lazy journalists.
Yeah, I know that's a relatively redundant trio but some people today are still worthy of the terms "journalist" and "writer".
And then there are people who get paid to write stuff like, "The tech giant's new line is aimed at helping Web-based businesses handle millions of tasks quickly." I don't expect humans to be perfect but please - "helping Web-based businesses handle millions of tasks quickly.."?
It's not even buried down in all the other crap, they stuck it right up front, like they're proud of it or something. Then again, maybe I'm just suffering yet again from my usual inability to get all excited and lose the head off my Starbucks cappuccino over technology that to me seems pretty, well, rudimentary whilst everybody else jumps up and down.
But the ability to handle many tasks quickly? Wow. How awfully space-age....
The whole article is a bit surreal. The real shame, however, is that the vice-president of IBM UNIX server division isn't named Freud. This passage would have been a beauty (it still could be):
"Rivals are quick to ladle big helpings of fear, uncertainty, and doubt onto the new machines. Karl Freund, vice-president of IBM's UNIX server division, derides the Niagara processor as "Viagra chips. But Viagra might have more staying power." Freund argues that Niagara lacks enough on-chip cache memory to handle anything but the simplest jobs -- most of which are already handled well enough by cheap Linux-based Intel machines."
And then there are people who get paid to write stuff like, "The tech giant's new line is aimed at helping Web-based businesses handle millions of tasks quickly." I don't expect humans to be perfect but please - "helping Web-based businesses handle millions of tasks quickly.."?
It's not even buried down in all the other crap, they stuck it right up front, like they're proud of it or something. Then again, maybe I'm just suffering yet again from my usual inability to get all excited and lose the head off my Starbucks cappuccino over technology that to me seems pretty, well, rudimentary whilst everybody else jumps up and down.
But the ability to handle many tasks quickly? Wow. How awfully space-age....
The whole article is a bit surreal. The real shame, however, is that the vice-president of IBM UNIX server division isn't named Freud. This passage would have been a beauty (it still could be):
"Rivals are quick to ladle big helpings of fear, uncertainty, and doubt onto the new machines. Karl Freund, vice-president of IBM's UNIX server division, derides the Niagara processor as "Viagra chips. But Viagra might have more staying power." Freund argues that Niagara lacks enough on-chip cache memory to handle anything but the simplest jobs -- most of which are already handled well enough by cheap Linux-based Intel machines."
And you tell that to the kids today....
It's quite awesome how we have come to expect instant, right-damn-now-and-not-a-second-later communications. Despite appearances, I'm not actually that old. Don't ask how old "that" is. I might have to throw me slipper at you.
Somehow, someway, we can now pretty well expect to contact somebody within minutes, if not seconds. Through some pretty cool combination of fixed-line, mobile, WiFi, Hotspot, Bluetooth, WiMax, cellular, radio, switched-packet, phone, watch, TV, set-top box, SMS, MMS, Playstation/Xbox, earphone, wearable technology, messenger, Skype, chat or whatever, we expect to get hold of somebody and carry on a conversation.
In my lifetime, there was a time without mobile phones. Heck, I remember life without telephone answering machines. Oh that was a hoot, it truly was. I have a vaigue recollection of a time when you did not expect to do anything NOW and were not expected to do anything NOW. Whole weeks could pass by before your failure to reply might be considered remiss. Especially in summer. Now you're expected to fire fresh content daily to your video blog from the deepest trek into the forbidding jungle that time forgot in PNG. What's headhunterese for "say cheese"?
Let's go way, way, way back to the 1970s. Say you want to arrange drinks with, oh I dunno.... John? You rummage around in your head or in a book made from PAPER. Don't get too hung up on the technicalities but there was a time when somebody killed a tree, ground it down into small pieces of ex-tree (called WOOD) and put it in a big building called "PAPER MILL". And out would pop paper. Sorry, I meant to say PAPER - very thin pieces of ex-tree. This PAPER stuff was available in various sizes (all of varying degrees of thick- or thin-ness). Anyway, people would use a PEN to write numbers and letters down. But I digress...
So, you would look up John's number and input the numbers (we once had ROTARY dial phones and before that we didn't even have dials, we had operators called Marge or Mary Anne or Dale or something).
And nobody would answer. Yes, that's right. They would be out actually physically buying something from a real store, not online. Oh, and they would probably pay cash, too. No, not e-Cash, I mean paper and metal money. Kind of like seashells but easier to fit in your wallet. No not your e-Wallet but a leather, nylon or plastic folding thingy with at least one pocket where you could stuff stuff.
So you might try calling John again later that same day. Perhaps from a PAY TELEPHONE. And, still, nobody would answer. So you would call back the next day and hey, his mom would be home or his wife or whatever. And you would leave a message for him, which she would (hopefully) write on PAPER, using a PEN.
Two days later, John would call back. But, as luck would have it, you would be out and you would not get his call. Two days after that, John would leave a message for you, because somebody was in your house.
You can see where I'm going with this. The upshot is that nobody would freak out if it took a week to arrange meeting three weeks' hence.
Anyway, I got all ta thinkin' 'bout the likes of what we calls "progress".
The earliest mobile cellular phones I remember were actually handsets attached to small, lightweight "briefcases", only they were neither small nor lightweight. Nobody mugged you for one of these puppies. They could never run off with it. Then came the early handheld cellphones, now infamous (collectible, coveted and trendy now, too). The Motorola "bricks" were, again, not just something for a mugger to take from you, you could actually beat the daylights out of any attacker.
Now, the phones are so small that if you don't lose them first, somebody will try to rob you for the phone and the best you'll be able to do is swallow the phone and offer the assailant a chance to collect it from the other end. They call this progress?
I used my first computer in 1978, a dumb terminal connected to a city mainframe. Oh that was fun. You ain't played awesome computer games until you play on a TTY that outputs on line-fed paper, d00d.
I remember my earliest days on the internet, pre-web and then my first, fascinating days exploring this shiny, new, rather esoteric technology called the World Wide Web. A friend helped me get my Apple Mac (yeah, I admit it, I have used Macs) online, using an awesome 9600 bps US Robotics Sportster external modem. By 4am, we were all running and gleefully surfing the internet and web. Within minutes, I realised the true magnitude of these new technologies. Turning to my friend, I said "Isn't it amazing that we now have access to the most unbelievably sci-fi amalgamation of computers, computer networks and communications technology around the world, just so we can find porn?"
This was all kicked off by my wondering to myself last night how many websites really DID exist in the nascent days of W3? I'm not sure if you guys have ever noticed but I am a bit of an information junkie. Honestly, I'm a lot better than I used to be. I used to almost EAT National Geographics, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science and Popular Electronics back in the days when we all had to go to the library to research anything. No, I mean the print magazines, you dolt, not their websites. Who could eat a website? Besides, they didn't have websites back then, capeche? Anyways, I had a voracious appetite for information and the library was pretty well the only concentrated source of the stuff.
Now I seem to recall being able to remember the locations of, and visiting, most of the website in the early days of the 'web. TodayI doubt I can even conceive of the number of websites. I found a history of the WWW but it doesn't chart the number of websites.
Bragging rights: I still own an original installation floppy for NCSA Mosaic 0.9b on Apple Mac. Oh won't my grandchildren look up me as their hero?
Yes, I did finally find the information I was seeking.
Along the way, I stumbled across a few other gems.
"First computer-to-computer chat takes place at UCLA, and is repeated during ICCC, as psychotic PARRY (at Stanford) discusses its problems with the Doctor (at BBN).", thus establishing the most fundamental requirement of internet chat - psychotic chat buddies.
"There is lingering affection for the challenge of breaking someone's system."
RFC 602 - "The stockings were hung by the chimney with care"
Plus ca change, eh amigos?
Somehow, someway, we can now pretty well expect to contact somebody within minutes, if not seconds. Through some pretty cool combination of fixed-line, mobile, WiFi, Hotspot, Bluetooth, WiMax, cellular, radio, switched-packet, phone, watch, TV, set-top box, SMS, MMS, Playstation/Xbox, earphone, wearable technology, messenger, Skype, chat or whatever, we expect to get hold of somebody and carry on a conversation.
In my lifetime, there was a time without mobile phones. Heck, I remember life without telephone answering machines. Oh that was a hoot, it truly was. I have a vaigue recollection of a time when you did not expect to do anything NOW and were not expected to do anything NOW. Whole weeks could pass by before your failure to reply might be considered remiss. Especially in summer. Now you're expected to fire fresh content daily to your video blog from the deepest trek into the forbidding jungle that time forgot in PNG. What's headhunterese for "say cheese"?
Let's go way, way, way back to the 1970s. Say you want to arrange drinks with, oh I dunno.... John? You rummage around in your head or in a book made from PAPER. Don't get too hung up on the technicalities but there was a time when somebody killed a tree, ground it down into small pieces of ex-tree (called WOOD) and put it in a big building called "PAPER MILL". And out would pop paper. Sorry, I meant to say PAPER - very thin pieces of ex-tree. This PAPER stuff was available in various sizes (all of varying degrees of thick- or thin-ness). Anyway, people would use a PEN to write numbers and letters down. But I digress...
So, you would look up John's number and input the numbers (we once had ROTARY dial phones and before that we didn't even have dials, we had operators called Marge or Mary Anne or Dale or something).
And nobody would answer. Yes, that's right. They would be out actually physically buying something from a real store, not online. Oh, and they would probably pay cash, too. No, not e-Cash, I mean paper and metal money. Kind of like seashells but easier to fit in your wallet. No not your e-Wallet but a leather, nylon or plastic folding thingy with at least one pocket where you could stuff stuff.
So you might try calling John again later that same day. Perhaps from a PAY TELEPHONE. And, still, nobody would answer. So you would call back the next day and hey, his mom would be home or his wife or whatever. And you would leave a message for him, which she would (hopefully) write on PAPER, using a PEN.
Two days later, John would call back. But, as luck would have it, you would be out and you would not get his call. Two days after that, John would leave a message for you, because somebody was in your house.
You can see where I'm going with this. The upshot is that nobody would freak out if it took a week to arrange meeting three weeks' hence.
Anyway, I got all ta thinkin' 'bout the likes of what we calls "progress".
The earliest mobile cellular phones I remember were actually handsets attached to small, lightweight "briefcases", only they were neither small nor lightweight. Nobody mugged you for one of these puppies. They could never run off with it. Then came the early handheld cellphones, now infamous (collectible, coveted and trendy now, too). The Motorola "bricks" were, again, not just something for a mugger to take from you, you could actually beat the daylights out of any attacker.
Now, the phones are so small that if you don't lose them first, somebody will try to rob you for the phone and the best you'll be able to do is swallow the phone and offer the assailant a chance to collect it from the other end. They call this progress?
I used my first computer in 1978, a dumb terminal connected to a city mainframe. Oh that was fun. You ain't played awesome computer games until you play on a TTY that outputs on line-fed paper, d00d.
I remember my earliest days on the internet, pre-web and then my first, fascinating days exploring this shiny, new, rather esoteric technology called the World Wide Web. A friend helped me get my Apple Mac (yeah, I admit it, I have used Macs) online, using an awesome 9600 bps US Robotics Sportster external modem. By 4am, we were all running and gleefully surfing the internet and web. Within minutes, I realised the true magnitude of these new technologies. Turning to my friend, I said "Isn't it amazing that we now have access to the most unbelievably sci-fi amalgamation of computers, computer networks and communications technology around the world, just so we can find porn?"
This was all kicked off by my wondering to myself last night how many websites really DID exist in the nascent days of W3? I'm not sure if you guys have ever noticed but I am a bit of an information junkie. Honestly, I'm a lot better than I used to be. I used to almost EAT National Geographics, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science and Popular Electronics back in the days when we all had to go to the library to research anything. No, I mean the print magazines, you dolt, not their websites. Who could eat a website? Besides, they didn't have websites back then, capeche? Anyways, I had a voracious appetite for information and the library was pretty well the only concentrated source of the stuff.
Now I seem to recall being able to remember the locations of, and visiting, most of the website in the early days of the 'web. TodayI doubt I can even conceive of the number of websites. I found a history of the WWW but it doesn't chart the number of websites.
Bragging rights: I still own an original installation floppy for NCSA Mosaic 0.9b on Apple Mac. Oh won't my grandchildren look up me as their hero?
Yes, I did finally find the information I was seeking.
Along the way, I stumbled across a few other gems.
"First computer-to-computer chat takes place at UCLA, and is repeated during ICCC, as psychotic PARRY (at Stanford) discusses its problems with the Doctor (at BBN).", thus establishing the most fundamental requirement of internet chat - psychotic chat buddies.
"There is lingering affection for the challenge of breaking someone's system."
RFC 602 - "The stockings were hung by the chimney with care"
Plus ca change, eh amigos?
The 70s TV Show Title-Slayer
Last night, a friend and I went to the bar to finish off his bottle of Johnny Walker Red Label. We got into a nasty, nasty mano a mano free for all over 70s and 80s TV. He went to high school and university in Nebraska.
I opened up on him easy with the likes of Family Feud, Jeopardy, Taxi, Airwolf, The A Team etc... but he leaned back and really threw his weight into it, trying to deck me with something like Hawaii Five-O. I parried his blows and delivered a few heavy shots of The Brady Bunch, Get Smart, My Favorite Martian, Welcome Back Kotter and H.R. Pufnstuff.
He sucker-punched me with Kojak but I was still able to get up and throw Cannon and Barney Miller at him. Finally, when I got him in a full-nelson with Land of the Lost, he cried "no mas! no mas!"
Man, oh man is he lucky I didn't have to pull out my trusty Equalizer: Battlestar Galactica and Miami Vice!
I still think his ignorance about HR Puff 'n' Stuff is the only thing that kept him going.
BTW, whilst looking up links for this, I stumbled over this weirdness: Adrienne Clarkson Presents: A Tribute to Peppiatt & Aylesworth: Canada's First Television Comedy Team. Moron Adrienne Clarkson.
I opened up on him easy with the likes of Family Feud, Jeopardy, Taxi, Airwolf, The A Team etc... but he leaned back and really threw his weight into it, trying to deck me with something like Hawaii Five-O. I parried his blows and delivered a few heavy shots of The Brady Bunch, Get Smart, My Favorite Martian, Welcome Back Kotter and H.R. Pufnstuff.
He sucker-punched me with Kojak but I was still able to get up and throw Cannon and Barney Miller at him. Finally, when I got him in a full-nelson with Land of the Lost, he cried "no mas! no mas!"
Man, oh man is he lucky I didn't have to pull out my trusty Equalizer: Battlestar Galactica and Miami Vice!
I still think his ignorance about HR Puff 'n' Stuff is the only thing that kept him going.
BTW, whilst looking up links for this, I stumbled over this weirdness: Adrienne Clarkson Presents: A Tribute to Peppiatt & Aylesworth: Canada's First Television Comedy Team. Moron Adrienne Clarkson.
Village Idiot?
One of the FBI's best marksmen was passing through a small town. Everywhere he looked he saw evidences of the most amazing shooting. On trees, on walls and on fences there were numerous bull's-eyes with the bullet hole dead centre. The FBI man asked one of the townsmen if he could meet the person responsible for this wonderful marksmanship. The man turned out to be the village idiot.
"This is the best marksmanship I have ever seen," said the FBI man. "How in the world do you do it?"
"Nothing to it," said the idiot. "I shoot first and draw the circles afterwards."
"This is the best marksmanship I have ever seen," said the FBI man. "How in the world do you do it?"
"Nothing to it," said the idiot. "I shoot first and draw the circles afterwards."
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Why Fi and not Wifi?
I actually read this, uh, trendy term --> 'fi <-- in a blog yesterday. Yeah, somebody thought "oh man, "WiFi" is SUCH a waste of time and space, I really gotta cram more into my blog, life, brain, whatever.
Meanwhile, in other news, there's a well-crucial CD release here, a good editorial on the Deb Davis Debacle (last upper case D was my bright idea) here
Meanwhile, in vastly more other news, some hot Thai babe kindly requested being allowed to see when I am online on Skype. Only there's a catch. In the words of Rolf Harris, do you know what it is yet?
Hint: this guy could give you a hint.
Meanwhile, in other news, there's a well-crucial CD release here, a good editorial on the Deb Davis Debacle (last upper case D was my bright idea) here
Meanwhile, in vastly more other news, some hot Thai babe kindly requested being allowed to see when I am online on Skype. Only there's a catch. In the words of Rolf Harris, do you know what it is yet?
Hint: this guy could give you a hint.
The questions Condoleezza must answer
This article in The Independent does a pretty job of hitting the main points. Unlike some countries I could name, it does it without the use of a Predator.
Use your Gmail account as a virtual drive.
Oh yeah, this is killer-app-tastic alright.
You get a tonne of storage space free with your GoogleMail account, right? This slick little widget lets you drag and drop files onto your Gmail account as if it's just another drive on your Windows PC. Tres cool, methinks. Don't be a moron and risk critical files on it, of course, and read the documentation. Oh, and if you're on a shared PC, bear that in mind, too, eh? And, oh wait, I'm not your mother. Take care of yourself. Sheesh.
You get a tonne of storage space free with your GoogleMail account, right? This slick little widget lets you drag and drop files onto your Gmail account as if it's just another drive on your Windows PC. Tres cool, methinks. Don't be a moron and risk critical files on it, of course, and read the documentation. Oh, and if you're on a shared PC, bear that in mind, too, eh? And, oh wait, I'm not your mother. Take care of yourself. Sheesh.
News from the world of travel.
A handy guide to countermeasures YOU can use against the unhealthy and immoral seat-saving tactics employed by the Bad Guys.
I'm still trying to track down the original authors of "Airbus to build seven story airliner". Not sure it matters but it's quite interesting how, in this day of overt blogs, blogs masquerading as "proper" websites, "proper" websites et al., it can be difficult to verify stories or find out where and how they originate. For some reason, this joke about the Airbus A390 has been doing the email rounds lately. It looks like it was first penned at TravelFox in 2004 but, according to Google, it has been around atleast since 2003.
I'm still trying to track down the original authors of "Airbus to build seven story airliner". Not sure it matters but it's quite interesting how, in this day of overt blogs, blogs masquerading as "proper" websites, "proper" websites et al., it can be difficult to verify stories or find out where and how they originate. For some reason, this joke about the Airbus A390 has been doing the email rounds lately. It looks like it was first penned at TravelFox in 2004 but, according to Google, it has been around atleast since 2003.
Achtgung Amerikkka!!!
My American friends, if the Deb Davis story doesn't scare you, you really need to wake up. But hey, this is your choice...
It's all 'appenin', mate!
Global Crossing Network Supports Record in International Visualization. If "During the experiment, network usage peaked at 19.5 Gbps, with a sustained rate of 18 Gbps -- a world record for bandwidth usage by one single application showing actual scientific content." pumps your nads, then you are truly a sad, sad, individual. Welcome to the club, my fello saddo.
What I'm listening to these days.
One day, psychiatrists will peer over their bifocals as they peruse our MP3 collections, muttering "uh huh", "I see" and "interesting" under their breath, before declaring, "I'm sorry, it appears there is little I can do to help you. You need more help than even I can provide."
I'm enjoying these recent releases: Bossa N' Stones: The Electro-Bossa Songbook of the Rolling Stones, Bebel Gilberto Remixed and Times of Romance by The Lovemakers.
Decided it was time to get down and dirty with the history of Brazilian music. I found a handy page and since then have been laying down supressing fire of great Brazilian toonz.
Thanks to John (AKA GrooveMaster J), I'm also enjoying a variety of classic grooviness/cheesiness by the likes of Jenifer Jackson, the Nelsonics, McLemore Avenue, Sugar Free Allstars, Beatrice Ardisson, Amy Rigby and some, uh, "different" tracks by Fabio Frizzi, il maestro del'Italian horror film soundtracks.
I'm enjoying these recent releases: Bossa N' Stones: The Electro-Bossa Songbook of the Rolling Stones, Bebel Gilberto Remixed and Times of Romance by The Lovemakers.
Decided it was time to get down and dirty with the history of Brazilian music. I found a handy page and since then have been laying down supressing fire of great Brazilian toonz.
Thanks to John (AKA GrooveMaster J), I'm also enjoying a variety of classic grooviness/cheesiness by the likes of Jenifer Jackson, the Nelsonics, McLemore Avenue, Sugar Free Allstars, Beatrice Ardisson, Amy Rigby and some, uh, "different" tracks by Fabio Frizzi, il maestro del'Italian horror film soundtracks.
Monday, December 05, 2005
I remember when journalism was a craft.
Now, we have writers who cannot write, researchers who cannot research, editors who don't edit and publishers who don't publish. Unless they've been paid by the US government or military, of course...
Like, oh my god, who okayed "Merci, says woman to team who gave her a face"? Is it time for the ClunkMaster 2000 automatic headline generator?
Like, oh my god, who okayed "Merci, says woman to team who gave her a face"? Is it time for the ClunkMaster 2000 automatic headline generator?
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