Nippon 7

The New Style...

2006-02-02T21:38:00.000-05:00

I got something to say. I just can't ever get it out - no matter how important I think it is.

Maybe, I just need to slow down - I do too much. Only do the things that need to be done - nothing else but focus from now on. I need to look back at what I'm typing now as a reminder to do right by myself at all times.

Is This Detrimental?

That is the mindset. You know, that often is the mindset when I retreat though. It just happens; I don't want to risk anything. I'm trapped in this damn thing.

I need more time all the time - I do too much.

Frustration

2005-09-03T23:05:00.000-04:00

Why does it scare you? People stealing TVs are stealing. "Wal-Mart has insurance" is hardly an excuse. Do you have insurance? Can I rob you?
Wait, that's a stretch. It's not an excuse, but these looters are hardly depriving people of things they need. They aren't depriving anyone *because* the insurance will cover it all. I'm just saying, let's stop crying for Wal-Mart or Kmart. In fact, looters clearing out the electronics section probably turned over more product (and profit) than Wal-Mart usually does in the same time frame.

It isn't that I'm trying to justify their actions, I'm just trying to get anyone to understand that when you are so disenfranchised from society - because of race, creed or social class - you likely aren't going to care so much when it's "your turn". That is what these people are feeling, they are feeling it's their turn. Reports said that some people were trying to claim certain parts of the city as their own, and they likely have been waiting for the day they could it. Not because they are criminals, because they found out what it is like to be in control for once in their lives.

I don't think everyone stealing stuff is a 'criminal' (before the hurricane), but even the criminal element out there aren't just born that way. Are they? I've always learned/thought/whatever that criminals are made, not born.

I don't treat criminals any particular way, as I am not in law enforcement or the criminal justice system. I'm just saying that the looters (except the ones taking vitally needed food and water) should be treated like any other time those crimes are committed.
It's just property, a poor boy like you should realize that. The fact that people basically committed a misdemeanor or small felony doesn't give anyone the right to order "shoot to kill". If one person walks out of Wal-Mart with $10,000 in merchandise by him or her self they are still only committing a very small crime (in comparison, we are talking theft here, not baby rape). No matter, you get Miranda rights from a rape case - not a shoplifting, robbery or grand theft case.

To say that shooting to kill or any other inhumane treatment is on the table only makes the looters and rioters go even more crazy. All bets are *really* off. (Now, I'm not trying to say that you wanted "shoot to kill" orders, I'm just talking about the issue at large).

The criminals in New Orleans are criminals, no matter their race, class, or economic status.
This is true - and has been my point for days really. People I talk to confuse "black" with "criminal" in this situation (like they do with every situation). Just looking at the numbers makes you wonder why the "criminals" are almost all "black". 28% of the city is below the poverty line, 84% of the poor are black. A city of a half a million people - and over 100,000 are black.

Whites have moved out of the city, partially due to crime and partially due to racism (remember, this is the state that almost elected David Duke governor back in just 1991). As many people are pointing out - this bothers us (me, others) because we are seeing the effects of disenfranchisement and poverty and almost what has become economic apartheid in this country.

Fuck it: I'm a liberal and with that comes the feeling that I hate to see people die *just* because they are poor. Forget the looters, forget the failed relief efforts. The fact remains that most people living in the city of New Orleans (9th Ward, etc) didn't have access to cars - something that could have saved them from day one. People drown in their own homes because there was nothing they could do, no where to turn. When you just expect everyone to hop in the car and take off - you've committed mass murder. Are the feds, Bush, FEMA, Louisiana's response people, whoever it is, are they that stupid to think that a major city like New Orleans doesn't have a large poor population that can't just "up and go"? And to think, all of the cities poor lived right next to those levees.

Wax Head Of Mozart... Stolen!

2005-08-27T11:54:00.000-04:00

WRAL.com - AP Strange News - Wax Head Of Mozart Is Stolen From Museum

"VIENNA, Austria -- Thieves snatched the wax head of life-size Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart figure from a Salzburg museum, police said Saturday.

The wax figure of the composer was on display at 'Next to Mozart,' a multimedia museum that opened last year. The wax head has an estimated value of euro15,000 (US$18,427), but museum employees told Austria Press Agency that the work was truly unique _ and appealed for its return.

'It must have happened between 8 p.m. Friday, when we closed, and today before 9 a.m.,' museum employee Elisabeth Stoeckl told APA. 'When we opened up again, Mozart's head was gone.'"

Adding Custom Searches to Google Desktop

2005-08-25T22:04:00.000-04:00

So you had the Google Deskbar installed but then you upgraded to Google Desktop. When you were using the Google Deskbar you created all of these custom searches and all was well because those custom searches were transferred over when you upgraded to Google Desktop. But now you can't create custom searches because that isn't an option in Google Desktop.

Well, if you are comfortable editing the Windows registry then you can create your own that way! (Warning if you don't feel comfortable - don't edit the registry. It can be VERY dangerous - you've been warned!) How fun. The custom searches are stored under:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\CustomSearch

Now, let's look at the structure of this thing.

First you should have the (Default) value and (No value set)... pretty standard. Then you'll have numbers starting at 0 and going up (obviously) from there. There should already be numbers 0 and 1, but maybe even more defaults.

For example, my first custom search is number 3 and is a search for the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. So under the registry key above there is a string value called "3" and it's value is:

<searchitem id='{id}' title="Wikipedia" url='http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&q={1}+site%3Awikipedia.com' group='user' cmdkey='Ctrl+W' useviewer='yes' encoding='standard'/></blockquote>

Unfortunately that is not going to be on one line like it should be - but cutting and pasting will keep it on one line. So go ahead and right click on "CustomSearch" and select "New" then select "String value". Name it the next logical number, and then double click that number. When you've double clicked that number paste in the code above.

Now, we must create a sub-key under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\CustomSearch that goes by the same number. So to recap: Following the example above, we've created a string value called "3" under HCU\Software\Google\CustomSearch and pasted the above code into it. After we've done this right click on "CustomSearch" again and select "New" then "Key". It will create a subkey represented by a folder (in the left pane) and you'll have a chance to name it. Make sure you name it the same number that you've named above.

Now, with the subkey created we need to fill in some information in that subkey. This information is (with their value types):

Encoding (String Value)
Key (String Value)
Title (String Value)
Url (String Value)
UseViewer (DWORD Value)

You may notice that I didn't say "(Default)" because it is already created with the key.

Now, let's take these one step at a time.

Encoding: You have a few choices but mainly you want either "UTF-8" or "standard" (without the quotes, never copy my quote marks). Just use standard if you don't care or don't know which to use.

The Key string is basically the shortcut key you want to use to launch your custom search. Now beware because there already some reserved, just look over the other custom searches and select something unused. Using numbers seems to be the safest bet - just number them in the order you input them so it's easy to remember. For our example, a Wikipedia search, I've used "Ctrl-W" and that is exactly how you want to put it in the registry.

Title: This is nothing more than the common name you want to call the custom search - I've choosen "Wikipedia" of course.

URL: The url for our custom search is simple. Basically you use {1} as a placeholder to For a better guide to designing custom search URL's see this Google Deskbar Help page. Here are a few examples to help you get started though (notice the bold {1}, that is where our search terms are inserted):

Wikipedia (our current example):
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&q={1}+site%3Awikipedia.com
Yagoohoogle! (shows Google and Yahoo! results side by side):
http://yagoohoogle.com/search.php?q={1}
Yahoo!:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p={1}

You can also omit the {1} and just use a plain URL to launch a page. For example, I've got a custom search that loads blogger.com and uses the shortcut (Key) Ctrl+B. It doesn't search anything. By using Alt+Ctrl+G (moves cursor and focus to search bar) and then Ctrl+B I can launch blogger in seconds. Pretty cool huh?

UseViewer: This isn't relevant with Google Desktop Search/Google Sidebar, but the Google Deskbar will use a miniture Internet Explorer based browser to show the results. It is pretty cool, but is painfully slow on some systems. It is a DWORD string, and can either be set to 0 or 1, off or on. Set to 0 just to be safe.

Okay did you get all of that?

If not here is an example registry file that you can play with, but I don't suggest importing it (as it will replace your fourth custom search if it exists):

Google.Custom.Search.Example.reg

What I do recommend is this: Open the Windows Registry Editor (Start -> Run -> regedit) and drill down to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\CustomSearch

Then export that key to a file, paste the text of the above file into your export, and edit from there and then import the modified file into the registry.

Please, don't try any of this without making the proper backups.

Before I go; you can export custom searches from one machine to the next. And by all means leave some feedback.

The 9.5 (Funny) Tenets of Corporate Bathroom Etiquette

2005-08-25T07:20:00.000-04:00

ShitOnFire.com: PSA: The 9.5 Tenets of Corporate Bathroom Etiquette:

"Have you ever walked into a toilet stall and it looks like a scene from Saving Private Ryan? "

Google should rename itself

2005-08-24T13:11:00.000-04:00

Google should just shorten their name and change a letter and call it what it is:

GOD

Blogger, Google Talk, Google Earth, Google Desktop Search, Google Earth, Google Sidebar, Google Child Locator....

Download some of this stuff now and see for yourself. I'm just waiting for a Linux distribution.

I need that here

2005-08-23T20:11:00.000-04:00

Photos: Intel's designs on PCs | CNET News.com:

"Intel unveils a concept 'community computer' to supply emerging countries with a new PC made to tolerate hot and dusty conditions."

I've had to turn the PC off for days at a time because it was over 100 degress in the house (over 165 on the CPU) due to a faulty and old AC unit - plus the mounds of cat hair that find it's way into the PC.

Now if I could only get the monitor to stop smelling like it's burning.

It's not terrorism that should scare you!

2005-07-22T15:38:00.000-04:00

British Police Demand Access To Encryption Keys

"I'm going to let you in on a deep, dark, dirty secret. They aren't really trying to solve the problem. Terrorism is a boon to the US and UK governments, because it gives them an excuse to push the respective nations closer to a police state.

A police state is not a consequence of misguided attempts at preventing terrorism, but is instead an end being achieved under the cover of fighting terrorism.

Remember, Terrorism is an end to a means for the terrorists, and the governments 'fighting' it.

Think the war in Iraq was about Sept 11 or WMD? Think again. It was because defense contractors have well placed connections. For corporations, your life is only worth what they can get out of it. If they can sell military ordinance by getting your children killed in Iraq, so be it. Their gods are money and power, not the ones your Priest, Rabbi, Cleric, Circle Leader or anything else are telling you about. If you think I'm being paranoid, just look up corporate environmental management. Hell, just look up what Coca-Cola is doing in India.

Human life is just another natural resource for corporations. Nothing more."

Jeopardy Champion

2005-07-20T19:56:00.000-04:00

The Jeopardy champion is now on a 12 day streak. Going into Final Jeopardy he was behind by $200, something that I haven't seen since maybe his first game.

He is still in the $200,000-$300,000 range, but he is getting there. It almost looked like he would have lost it, but the Final Jeopardy category was "Classical Music" and of course he knew that - seems he is strong on European history and culture.

Congrats to the new 12-day Jeopardy Champion!

Managing for Creativity

2005-07-17T21:54:00.000-04:00

A little bit more about creativity

New Ken Jennings?

2005-07-15T19:59:00.000-04:00

I don't know if I really like the guy, but the current Jeopardy champion has over $200,000 and is going strong. At one point his average was $25,000 per show and always has a blow out lead. He also seems to have a strategy for attacking the board.

He seems to jump around to find Daily Double and bet nothing on them.

Ken Jennings had an average of $31,136 after Double Jeopardy though (cache).

Eric Clapton in my head

2005-07-15T17:47:00.000-04:00

First, I've got to say the obvious: Eric Clapton is the top musical artist of all time.

There is no comparison to Clapton in an overall artist. Even a legend like Clapton has his favorites though. For example: at a time he was considered the best guitar player in the world ("God") he seen one who he claimed was the best ever - Jimi Hendrix. Clapton however is the best, most flexible musician I know of.

And "Lay Down Sally" is the best song of all time. I think someone should write a musical with Lay Down Sally as the top dance number. Lay Down Sally was written by Marcella Detroit. It's just the best song that ever hit my ears. Go buy "Timepieces" right now, it's the best of Eric Clapton - a must have, all of the greatest tracks.

Anyways...

Lay Down Sally should be a musical number if it isn't already. I've already got a pretty good idea in my head.

Lamer Alert

2005-07-15T04:36:00.000-04:00

From PC News at GameSpot, Dave Chappelle loves World of Warcraft:

"'You know what I've been playing a lot of?' the comedian reportedly asked the crowd. 'World of Warcraft!' When a few cheers broke out, he reportedly responded, 'I knew I had some geek brothers and sisters up in here!' Chappelle also was said to have expressed his amusement seeing WoW characters with names referring to his most famous sketches, including a rogue with a name inspired by the famous 'I'm Rick James, B****' sketch."

Eminem Tour Bus Goes Wild

2005-07-15T03:58:00.000-04:00

CNN.com - 11 injured in Eminem tour bus crash - Jul 14, 2005:

From CNN, the leader in news, (remember those days?):

"The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the bus was traveling at a high rate of speed when it ran off the road Wednesday night to avoid a collision with a semitrailer, then swerved back onto the roadway and hit the truck.

The bus then hit another semitrailer and overturned. One of the truck drivers estimated the bus was traveling at 85-90 mph. An investigation was under way.

The crash occurred on Interstate 70 near Odessa, about 25 miles east of Kansas City. The bus was headed to Denver from Chicago, where the tour performed Monday night.

At least seven people from the tour were taken to the hospital; four others, including three on motorcycles, also went to the hospital, according to the highway patrol.

A 37-year-old motorcyclist was in serious condition; no information was released on his passenger, at the patient's request, authorities said. There were no other serious injuries.

Among those injured was Eminem's DJ Alan Maman, also know as Alchemist; the 27-year-old from New York City was listed in good condition Thursday."

Crazy.

2005-07-15T03:19:00.000-04:00

I've been downloading a lot of linux torrents to use with a few extra machines I've inherited. To do this I've been using Azureus; which includes a great innovation the Distributed Hash Table. However I've noticed with the IP blocker installed I tend to block a lot of big non-media corporations. Maybe it's because I'm downloading linux, just maybe it's because someone deep in the large company is downloading linux to install on their servers or maybe even a few desktops.

I doubt it though. I bet there are a bunch of pirates inside a bunch of major corporations. I don't see a lot of colleges, so where is the justice?

How did you get on the Internet?

2005-07-14T17:25:00.000-04:00

From slashdot today:

Man I remember getting on the "net" back in the day...

A friend at school told me about it and I went home to try it out. First, I had to get the TCP/IP stack for Windows (Windows 3.1 needed Trumpet Winsock) - but once I had that I had to get more stuff. My buddy told me to get "netscape" so I found it on my ISP's dial-up shell and Zmodem'd it on down the pipe.

At 2400 baud it took about an hour (I believe it took just 56 minutes) and the download had to be restarted twice. Another version (1.0) was released a few days later and then I had to download that as well. By then however I received a 9600 modem from my uncle so it would be less painful this time.

It took a long time for me to realize what I was getting into. My family still doesn't understand the huge-ness of what happened in my grandfather's den that day (my grandfather I might add still uses Netscape 4). Little do they understand that I put them into the 21st century without much fanfare. I took them from the days where BBS's ruled and into a time where anything they want is at their fingertips.

Satan or Opportunistic Prick?

2005-07-14T12:15:00.000-04:00

Fight the Power: Karl Rove: Satan or Opportunistic Prick?

You decide.

Weed Flavoring is A Gateway To Meth!

2005-07-13T15:15:00.000-04:00

State wants to weed out marijuana-flavor candy - Yahoo! News:

"Connecticut Tuesday joined a growing effort to weed out marijuana-flavored candy from store shelves when its attorney general said he would sponsor a statewide ban on 'Pot Suckers' lollipops.

Five other states have either banned or are considering a ban on the candy, causing New Jersey distributor ICUP to suspend further sales of the green candy as of June 28.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said the candy was being sold in novelty stores in large malls throughout the state, marketed with slogans such as 'Every lick is like taking a hit.'

The candy, which is flavored with hemp essential oil, does not contain THC, the hallucinogenic compound in marijuana, but Blumenthal called it 'a gateway product' that 'glamorizes drugs for children.'"

blogger says: "What. The. Fuck."

2005-07-11T16:21:00.000-04:00

What. The. Fuck.

What. The. Fuck. Indeed.

AIDS = Terrorism

2005-07-08T16:06:00.000-04:00

Random Ramblings: I'm Sure I'm Being Sent To Guantanamo For This...

"Possible Breakthroughs in Cancer and AIDS Research"

2005-07-08T15:59:00.000-04:00

Slashdot | Possible Breakthroughs in Cancer and AIDS Research:

In Australia, it was discovered that pineapple extract can stimulate the body to attack cancer cells. And in Japan, Kumamoto University researchers have developed a drug that will block cells from the AIDS virus, thus making something akin to an AIDS vaccine.

Sunbeltblog: Microsoft Sells Out To Spyware

2005-07-07T15:24:00.000-04:00

Sunbeltblog: Microsoft sets Claria to "Ignore"

It was only a matter of time I suppose...

Me trying to be funny

2005-07-06T16:44:00.000-04:00

Of course no one gets it.

Slashdot Comment on topic: Founder of Go Computer, Inc. sues Microsoft

Today's Insight

2005-07-06T12:11:00.000-04:00

"The Bible has been interpreted to justify such evil practices as, for example, slavery, the slaughter of prisoners of war, the sadistic murders of women believed to be witches, capital punishment for hundreds of offenses, polygamy, and cruelty to animals. It has been used to encourage belief in the grossest superstition and to discourage the free teaching of scientific truths. We must never forget that both good and evil flow from the Bible. It is therefore not above criticism."

Steve Allen, "Steve Allen, on the Bible Religion & Morality"

"Taser" Sues Gannett for Libel

2005-07-03T12:38:00.000-04:00

Update 2: Taser Sues Gannett for Libel Over Story - Forbes.com

Am I suprised?

Barefoot Being || kuro5hin.org

2005-07-03T12:19:00.000-04:00

Barefoot Being by stzu is a good read, however I'd never be able to go barefoot. I don't know why but I just feel at home with shoes on.

It is just easier to have them on all the time.

There is no way you would catch me running around barefoot anywhere in a major city (and within 25 or so miles). There is a possibility that you will catch me on a beach without shoes, but you'll see me holding them - ready to go. I can't go without them. My feet are too important, and god gave us shoes to protect them right?

In two years I hear that wearing your shoes all of the time leads to cancer or something.

Fsck it

Calories in beer

2005-07-01T01:23:00.000-04:00

Who cares if there are calories in beer? What a stupid thing to worry about when you are ruining your liver.

There are even lists which tell you how many calories are in beer.

Look at what the National Institutes of Health tells you:

Approximately 10 to 35 percent of heavy drinkers¹ develop alcoholic hepatitis, and 10 to 20 percent develop cirrhosis (1). In the United States, cirrhosis is the seventh leading cause of death among young and middle-age adults. Approximately 10,000 to 24,000 deaths from cirrhosis may be attributable to alcohol consumption each year (2).

What is the point?

CYGWIN Users Unite!

2005-06-28T17:48:00.000-04:00

I don't know how many people use Cygwin out there - I've been a lamer for 10 years and just have started really using it a lot.

I've got to say though that it is freaking awesome. The rest is written to my Windows using friends: I can run a lot of cool shit that runs on Linux! I can run a secure shell in XP Home in like 10 steps, 12 counting the Cygwin install. The best thing is that it installs very easily. You can run X Windows programs on Windows XP! KDE, Gnome, WindowMaker, FVWM, they all have Cygwin ports out there.

You can summon Linux software effortlessly. If you know how to make Windows shortcuts, batch files and use the common GNU tools you can be up and running. Using shortcuts you can easily call bash and get your entry into open source software started.

If you want to be extra safe, download Microsoft's Drop My Rights (for Windows 2003, XP) . That will allow you to run the program as a "limited user" or not as an Administrator.

Sure beats dual booting.

Starbucks the Music Label

2005-06-28T16:54:00.000-04:00

Apparently Starbucks has become a major record label, to the extent of signing new acts. They are set to release Bob Dylan: Live at the Gaslight 1962

Sex Offender Maps - Right or Wrong?

2005-06-24T03:04:00.000-04:00

Today on Slashdot we read this:

Surely this won't cause any controversy. davenaffis writes "Here's a little site I developed that uses Google Maps to map sex offenders. Only Washington, D.C. data is available right now, but I'll be adding more states soon."

Of course this is pretty bad, but you decide and comment on my comment below:

Even when the person has done something wrong there are immoral, ignorant people out there who turn their rage into action.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050623/NEWS01/506230368/-1/CINCI

In this case, the entire thing has escalated into something amazing. The linked story doesn't explain what happened, but basically someone spray painted "RAPEST" on the offenders house and then it was set on fire. Ok, fine the guy might have done it, seems so. But it is totally wrong for the house to be set of fire. What if someone would have died? Well, knowing my city, no charges would have been filed against the white people - but is murder okay?

Fight over the fine points if you want, but this is freaking America!

There is a much simpler solution. Someone else said that maps should be used for things like auto thieves, but what purpose is there besides vigilantism? Most cities already tell you what crimes happen in certain neighborhoods:

http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/police/downloads/police_pdf10077.pdf

And Google tells us that many cities have the same online:

http://www.google.com/search?q=neighborhood+crime+statistics

Fuck it, ask your real estate agent before you buy. Really, what does it matter? There is only so much you can do to keep yourself from being a victim - educate yourself and be mindful. Anything you do after becoming a victim is morally wrong - revenge is wrong, no matter how good it feels. Otherwise what is the point of scareing everyone? Sex offenders aren't the only reason to keep your kids close, and educated btw.

I'm glad to report, the map has been removed.

The Way Congress Works

2005-06-22T19:34:00.000-04:00

Today's good slashdot post points out that we can't just change the rules when we don't like what they produce.

For god sakes, run for office if you think you've got it all figured out people.

Ingersoll gets it right again!

2005-06-17T14:47:00.000-04:00

"The book, called the Bible, is filled with passages equally horrible, unjust and atrocious. This is the book to be read in schools in order to make our children loving, kind and gentle! This is the book they wish to be recognized in our Constitution as the source of all authority and justice!"
[Robert G. Ingersoll, "The Gods", 1872]

I'm getting these from the Random Fortune Page

Trinity, and beyond

2005-06-15T17:44:00.000-04:00

From the Random Fortune Page:

"Christ according to the faith, is the second person in the Trinity, the Father being the first and the holy Ghost the third. Each of these three persons is God. Christ is his own father and his own son. The Holy Ghost is neither father nor son, but both. The son was begotten by the father, but existed before he was begotten--just the same before as after. Christ is just as old as his father, and the father is just as young as his son. The Holy Ghost proceeded form the Father and Son, but was an equal to the Father and Son before he proceeded, that is to say before he existed, but he is of the same age as the other two. Nothing ever was, nothing ever can be more perfectly idiotic and absurd than the dogma of the Trinity."

[Robert G. Ingersoll]

More Ingersoll Links:

Border Security?

2005-06-08T18:18:00.000-04:00

Homicidal Maniac let into U.S.

On April 25, Gregory Despres arrived at the U.S.-Canadian border crossing at Calais, Maine, carrying a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw stained with what appeared to be blood. U.S. customs agents confiscated the weapons and fingerprinted Despres. Then they let him into the United States.

The following day, a gruesome scene was discovered in Despres' hometown of Minto, New Brunswick: The decapitated body of a 74-year-old country musician named Frederick Fulton was found on Fulton's kitchen floor. His head was in a pillowcase under a kitchen table. His common-law wife was discovered stabbed to death in a bedroom.

Today's Insightful Slashdot Post (Macintosh PC's)

2005-06-07T15:01:00.000-04:00

Everyone is in a buzz over all of the coverage of Steve Jobs' announcement about future Intel based Apple Macintosh computers. Well, I say most of the speculation at this point is fruitless. I think Apple will continue to do what they do best. Except they will use open source as leverage against the Windows PC marketshare. Apple is going to use Intel chips to make computers smaller and continue to push the envelope of computer design.

Read my comment, then more of my speculation:

People will buy them if they are shiney!

(Apple created the gold standard mp3 player, why not create the gold standard PC? I say they will continue to design machines the same way - Intel chips will allow for smaller machines with more power (see: Mac Mini's shortcomings) - uncrackable, all you need, powerful, easy to use, stable Macintosh PC. Maybe it's a move to use more open source developers. x86 is well documented and used - liked by many open source developers. Open the hardware for the Mac and create a universe of Linux distributions designed for each PC/Notebook/Tablet/MiniPC model. Standard hardware makes development a breeze, doesn't it?)

Want to know what I'm trying to say? Read on...

Apple is great at making sexy machines. No doubt are they going to continue to do so. Just because they are moving to Intel chips doesn't mean you are going to see a beige Apple computer.

What you will see coming from Apple is smaller devices, maybe shaped in the way of your DVD player or your Palm Pilot, maybe portable video? Wireless devices for the home, work or travel? Doesn't matter - it will be about tightly integrated products. Closed products that will need a crowbar to open.

That won't matter, they are going after Windows. Apple needs to make all types of hardware alliances and convince their allies to open their hardware to developers. Mac OSX is already based on a number of open source projects and millions of lines of donated and tweaked code. They even sponsor an open source project along side of closed development. Just because you won't be able to open your (new Apple) computer's case doesn't mean it isn't "open".

If the hardware is easily programmed for then we will see two options for operating systems. Open and closed. Apple will provide you with a machine that has everything and can't be modified other than with software. Microsoft may try to move into that market, but they already have a great share of middleware applications for the Macintosh platform. That isn't going to Microsoft's stance. Microsoft will likely try to push the options of Windows beige box PCs. Plus, Microsoft is slow to release software that needs to built from the ground up.

What will happen is that Apple will say that you can run either Macintosh (OSXI?) or Linux/*BSD/Hurd.

Open source developers would love that the hardware doesn't change and that errors on anyone's machine will happen across the board. This will make Linux a real force to reckon with.

Linux on an Apple tablet? Microsoft's worst nightmare.

Democracy For America

2005-06-06T21:14:00.000-04:00

Democracy For America

Apple Switching to Intel

2005-06-06T20:54:00.000-04:00

Apple Switching to Intel

Breathe Under Water Without Oxygen Tanks

2005-06-06T20:36:00.000-04:00

Breathe Under Water Without Oxygen Tanks

Your Random Fortune - The Ministry of Truth - MinTruth.com

2005-06-05T19:24:00.000-04:00

Your Random Fortune - The Ministry of Truth - MinTruth.com

A little Mexican boy comes home from school one day and says to his grand-
father, "Granddaddy, today my teacher said that Pancho Villa, the bandit
used to raid towns around here! Did you ever know him?"
"Do *I* know Pancho Villa?" exclaims the man. "Why, boy, before
your father was born, I was riding into town on my horse. Suddenly, from
behind the bushes leaped Pancho with his six-guns drawn! He told me to get
down off the horse and to give him all my money. Then, he told me to scoop
some manure from the ground and eat it!"
"I refused at first, but Pancho had the guns, so I ate the shit.
And he started laughing so hard that it scared his horse into rearing up --
I grabbed the guns from his hands! I said to Pancho, `Okay, Pancho, now
it's your turn -- you eat the shit!' I had the guns, so he ate the shit.
"And you ask me, child, if I know Pancho Villa, the bandit! Why,
we had *lunch* together!"

Journal of ImaLamer (260199)

2005-06-05T18:43:00.000-04:00

Latest Slashdot Journal Posting!

I think that it is important that we start asking the president why we aren't doing something about the Darfur conflict!

Mars Phoenix Lander Given The Go

2005-06-03T17:52:00.000-04:00

Mars Phoenix Lander Given The Go

60% Of U.S. Believe Life Exists On Other Planets

2005-05-31T09:32:00.000-04:00

Survey Says... that isn't all they believe!

Americans are pretty dumb I guess.

From The Tao of Programming...

2005-05-23T02:11:00.000-04:00

A manager went to the master programmer and showed him the requirements
document for a new application. The manager asked the master: "How long will
it take to design this system if I assign five programmers to it?"
"It will take one year," said the master promptly.
"But we need this system immediately or even sooner! How long will it
take it I assign ten programmers to it?"
The master programmer frowned. "In that case, it will take two years."
"And what if I assign a hundred programmers to it?"
The master programmer shrugged. "Then the design will never be
completed," he said.
-- Geoffrey James, "The Tao of Programming"

Just Returned From "Revenge of the Sith" (Short Review)

2005-05-19T03:13:00.000-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen I amm one of the lucky ones, one of the blessed. I've just returned from the midnight showings of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. I never even planned on being one of the people at the first showings. I had joked that we should see if there was any place close showing Revenge of the Sith at 12:01, but I never thought that my girlfriend would have wanted to go. Two o'clock is usually her bed time.

It was her, not me, however pushing the other one of us out the door to make it on time. I looked to see if there were local showings at Movies.com around 11:15. Between then and 11:30 we had decided that the 40-minute drive was well worth it. It seemed too good to be true. The only problem was that I didn't have a joint ready. Of course I took care of that in no time. It must have been the best but quickest rolled joint in my rolling history.

I was on the road with a joint in my hand. I was totally calm. Actually, that is a lie. I wasn't worried about missing the show I was anxious to no end. I almost felt afraid of seeing it - the anticipation had really got to me. Maybe I was afraid it was going to suck, maybe I was afraid of seeing people dressed up like Stormtroopers and the Emperor's Royal Guards.

Wasn't a problem - there was no one like that there. We drove to Kentucky to watch it and I guess they already ran their Star Wars nerds out a long time ago. If I was a Star Wars nerd, well super-nerd then I'd leave Kentucky too. The first time you say the word "Jedi" they look at you a little funny.

Back to the story: I dropped my girlfriend off at the door and cruised over to a spot. Wouldn't you know the walk from the car to the door took forever. I think it was just the feeling that I couldn't wait. By the time I got inside she already had the tickets and was standing in line for food and drinks. When I walked up I told her I didn't need a drink, I just wanted to see the movie. I still don't think she was happy but we saved a small fortune by not getting food and drinks right? Well, she said that it was okay and we soon took our seats.

As always we were about four rows from the back. I never really like sitting in front. However for Attack of the Clones we sat about 10 rows back and that kicked ass. Now I kinda think we should have sat a little closer but the theater was packed. They only planned on showing the movie on one screen but two filled up with other (bigger, nicer) theaters selling out. The AMC at Newport on the Levee had all 20 screens showing Star Wars but had a recorded message telling callers all 20 screens were sold out. I heard that message at 11:30, so who knows when they sold out.

We caught a few previews but there wasn't anything we really cared about. There were only one or two new movies, ones that don't have TV commercials, the rest have been seen on TV or Apple's trailer site. One that has me excited is the trailer for the Fantastic Four - it looks like it will be like what the first X Men was supposed to be.

When the movie started, when the words "Star Wars" were shown before the scrolling text everyone cheered and clapped. That doesn't happen often, and when it does you get chills. The only thing I'll reveal about the scrolling text is that "War!" is the first sentence. As always the camera drops in onto the action. As always the action is awsome.

I don't want to give anything away so I guess I'll give you my "review".

This movie really does make the past two movies look good. When you see Episode III you will realize the reason for such a build up. You'll realize that those movies seemed bad because this is the one you've waited for. I liked the first two, but that is besides the point.

The Attack of the Clones was a great movie. Even the Phantom Menace was good. But nothing is this good - of course I'm not counting IV, V and VI in this because it wouldn't be fair. Revenge of the Sith is crazy good. The acting is better, the effects are used better and my man Ewan McGregor is better. Ewan is used in such a better way than in the last two that it is almost worth it if you are a McGregor fan.

The movie keeps you going.

The crazy thing is that you know what is going to happen. You have to. You know that Yoda isn't going to die. You know that the children (Luke and Leia) will be hidden from Vader. You know so much of the plot before they ever started filming. That doesn't matter. The film is presented all in such a way that you are still amazed if not shocked at certain points.

I must say that the attempt to turn Anakin to the Dark Side seems weak and happens almost too easily, but maybe that is the prejudice of seeing Luke in Return of the Jedi. Anakin however shocks you in his next few scenes due to the actions that he takes. As Darth Vader he does some things that you didn't even imagine someone like Lucas writing. Maybe he didn't.

Speaking of Return of the Jedi, I must say that "I was right". I watched "Return" a week ago and told a friend that "Revenge" was going to be a lot like that movie. It was, except the Ewoks. Not only does this movie rival Jedi for excitment, but also the two help bring the story full circle. I'm not talking so much of the start and end of Lord Vader, but a few of his traits.

In Return of the Jedi, Vader tells Luke that it is too late to save him and you get the idea that there is still good left in Darth. When the newly named Darth Vader commits atrocities it bothers him to the point of a tear or two. Anakin goes easily to the Dark Side, yet you get the idea that he is never all bad. Somewhat a paradox considering the atrocities he committs.

I don't know what to say really. I can't give you a point by point analysis because I'm off to watch Episode IV or V... or VI...

I would like to leave you with this; the last three movies show why the "Dark Side" was always represented by "Nazi" looking characters. The Empire is totally based on fear - people accept the actions of Palpatine because they are scared into doing so. The movie finally gets around to saying that what we are dealing with is nothing more than fascism. It does echo the actions taken by Hitler/Bush to gain/abuse power. At one point I even thought Anakin say that "if you aren't with us, you're against us" but you'll have to watch it see what he really says.

Okay, it's 4:41 AM right now so the people on the West Coast are getting into the movie.

May the Force be with you!

Slashdot Post on Macrovision's New Patent

2005-05-16T22:30:00.000-04:00

Today Slashdot reports that "Macrovision Applies for P2P Interdiction Patents". In other words, Macrovision is moving deeper into the P2P sabotage business. Macrovision is of course the company which makes it impossible for you to tape another tape or DVD with your VCR. If you've ever tried to watch a DVD player by hooking up the Coaxial Cable (thick cable) to your VCR and routing it to your TV then you can thank Macrovision for those pretty colors. By the way; I'd like to send a bill to Macrovision for the new TV set, exchange boxes and so forth I had to buy once I got a DVD player.

As we all know by now - Macrovision has failed. It doesn't really keep anyone from copying anything. Look at what is available now all over the Internet. Well, I had to point this out with this comment tonight:

If Macrovision feels they're not profitting richly enough, they're free to screen their customers more carefully or raise the price of their product. Deliberately flooding networks with extraneous junk is no better than flaming tires thrown on the freeway.

Here is the irony: Macrovision's customers are those who would like their copyrights/material strongly protected. Macrovision exists to prevent software "piracy", VHS & DVD bootlegging and generally makes a profit from selling peace of mind. Macrovision has failed over and over on all of these fronts.

The simple fact that they are moving into P2P "Interdiction" means that they should just stop now. I would hope their customers (Sony, Disney, Paramount, software developers...) see that their tactics aren't working and cut Macrovision out of the picture. Less money spent towards Macrovision's IP folder would mean a lower cost to manufacturers and maybe the consumer could benefit. An overall drop in movie or software prices would help spur sales. At least that is what Econ 101 tells me.

Macrovision, using patents to protect their failed business.

I 0wned the TV Fantasy League!!!

2005-05-15T22:01:00.000-04:00

I've been busy with my best bud's wedding, so I've not been able to do much with the computer and Internet. Now that it's over I was able to log into check my TV Fantasy League (or fantasy teevee) and see the results. I was quite suprised to see this:

This league's season is over! Congratulations, you WIN!!!

Rank	Network Name	Motto	Sweepers™	Total Points
1	ImaLamer	The lamest!	18	567.5
2	Hediru	Beginner's luck	15	488.7
3	Galeida	sin with Sebastian	14	459.5
4	cookoo777	cookoo777 motto	13	462.4
5	hyperactiv	I Will Win	0	0
6	jamjam24	Watch more TV	0	0

I Won Bitches!!!!!!

2005-05-06T04:11:00.000-04:00

Next Week's Matchups
(Week 8, starts 5pm PST Sunday May 08, 2005)

To view descriptions and recent performance, click on a character picture below .
To view spins, click on a spin icon below , , , .

Your Lineup is shown below. You may also (Pick Up Available Characters)

Your Pending Trades are shown here. You may also (Propose a trade)
none pending

ImaLamer

Opponent - Galeida

Opponent - Hediru

Opponent - cookoo777

Starting 4 of 4 Leads, 3 of 3 Supportings,
2 of 2 Quirks.

role

name

start

bench

program

spin

role

name

program

spin

role

name

program

spin

role

name

program

spin

Sun

Lead

Piper Halliwell

Charmed

Sun

Lead

Homer Simpson

The Simpsons

Sun

Qrk

Simpson Town

The Simpsons

Sun

Qrk

Hank sighs

King of the Hill

Sun

Lead

Bree Van De Kamp

Desperate Housewives

Sun

Lead

Bart Simpson

The Simpsons

Sun

Lead

Hank Hill

King of the Hill

Sun

Lead

Susan Mayer

Desperate Housewives

Mon

Lead

Ed Deline

Las Vegas

Mon

Supp

Jake Harper

Two and a Half Men

none

Mon

Lead

Alan Harper

Two and a Half Men

none

Mon

Lead

Debra Barone

Ray

none

Mon

Qrk

On the Phone

Mon

Qrk

Flag

Fear Factor

Mon

Qrk

Eats

Fear Factor

Tue

Qrk

Compliment

American Idol-Tue

Tue

Supp

Luke

Gilmore Girls

Tue

Qrk

Envelope

Amazing Race

Tue

Supp

Angie Lopez

George Lopez

Tue

Lead

Jim

According to Jim

Tue

Lead

Lorelai

Gilmore Girls

Tue

Supp

Andy

According to Jim

Wed

Supp

Kate

Lost

Wed

Qrk

Takedown

Alias

Wed

Supp

Lex Luthor

Smallville

Wed

Lead

Doug Heffernan

King of Queens

Wed

Supp

Locke

Lost

Wed

Lead

Clark Kent

Smallville

Wed

Supp

Jack

Lost

Thu

Supp

Sandy Cohen

The O.C.

Thu

Supp

Karen Walker

Will and Grace

Thu

Supp

Seth Cohen

The O.C.

Thu

Lead

Joey Tribiani

Joey

Thu

Lead

Ryan Atwood

The O.C.

Thu

Lead

Will Truman

Will and Grace

Thu

Supp

Jack McFarland

Will and Grace

Bench

Tue

Supp

Carla Espinosa

Scrubs

Sun

Qrk

Homer says Doh

The Simpsons

Mon

Qrk

Someone eats

Ray

none

Sun

Qrk

Magic

Charmed

Tue

Lead

John Dorian

Scrubs

Sun

Supp

Marge Simpson

The Simpsons

Tue

Qrk

Recliner

According to Jim

Mon

Lead

Ray Barone

Ray

none

Wed

Lead

Carrie Heffernan

King of Queens

Sun

Lead

Gabrielle Solis

Desperate Housewives

Wed

Qrk

Compliment

American Idol-Wed

Tue

Lead

Rory

Gilmore Girls

Thu

Qrk

Girl appears or talks in Tribal Council

Survivor

Tue

Qrk

Subtitle

Amazing Race

Thu

Supp

Donald Trump

The Apprentice

Wed

Lead

Michael Vaughn

Alias

Thu

Qrk

Guy appears or talks in Tribal Council

Survivor

Wed

Qrk

Scream

Lost

Thu

Qrk

Anyone says gay/homo/queer

Will and Grace

Thu

Lead

Marissa Cooper

The O.C.

volunteers partners feedback report bug privacy terms about us
Copyright© 2002, Fantasy TeeVee™, LLC. All rights reserved.
This game and its structure protected by U.S. Patent Pending, number 60/436,366.
This site requires Internet Explorer 5.5 and higher with Flash Plugin.

Today's Favorite Slashdot Sig

2005-04-25T19:58:00.000-04:00

"I'd rather be ruled by a competent Turk than an incompetent Christian."
Martin Luther

Dirty Poem

2005-04-25T19:45:00.000-04:00

Here's to the girl in little red shoes,
She drinks my liquor, she drinks my booze,
She has no cherry, but that's no sin,
She has the box the cherry came in.

My car got broken into...

2005-04-14T11:26:00.000-04:00

I was so devastated. Yesterday I got up early and headed out of the house (in my old ladies car, which she took to work about an hour later).

I went to the store and dropped almost $75 in quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies into the CoinStar machine. They took about 6 or 7 bucks, not bad so I cashed it all in. I left Kroger with a good feeling inside. The feeling only money in your pocket could make.

Everything was looking so good. Everything that I wanted to happen that day was going to happen. I was all set. After I left Kroger I went to the store for my usual run. This time I brought a two dollar lottery ticket winner with me. Why not try my luck again. After all I didn't expect for that little jar to hold $75.

I got $5 worth of lottery tickets. Using my $2 winner I spent only $3, in reality only $4 because the two dollar winner cost a buck. So $5 worth of lottery tickets, one even promised $500 a week for a year. Not bad.

I get home and sit at the dining room table. Look at the remaining change I have, a few pennies and a nickel. The nickel is from 1963, the year my mom was born.

I figured, why not. I'll use this new "lucky nickel" as I named it.

Well it worked! I won $22 on one ticket!

It was one of those types where you can win multiple times and I did just that. My "winning numbers" were 9 and 19 (I think) and I matched them 4 times! I added it all up and headed off to the store for my cheddar.

I walked in like a celebrity and got my cheese and went home.

That is when I got the bad news that some of the things I wanted to do wasn't going to happen. Well, I still had money so I figured that I was okay. I figured that I could make do, maybe go get a treat. I couldn't decide on gyros or Chinese food so I decided to just go.

I got ready, folded my stack again and got into the car. I don't remember now if I started it or not. I just remember seeing the connections hanging out.

I couldn't even grasp the sight of my missing stereo. I just flipped out.

I went right back into the house and called my old lady. She was so nice, supported everything I was saying and went along with my mood. That is what I love about her. She actually got me more fired up, she's good for that *wink*

I don't know for sure who did it. Of course I've got my eye on a few people. The worst part is that I'm almost sure that it had something to do with my next door neighbor.

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR YOU MUTHA FUCKING BITCHES!

I don't know what to do about the whole thing either. I don't want to bother with dealing with the damn police. I don't want to point the finger at anyone without evidence. Maybe that can be an important lesson in all of this. Either way I don't know what to do.

I think I was here when it happened. The person actually removed the dash piece that holds in the stereo. They really wanted it. Too bad it doesn't work. The CD player won't accept discs.

OMG... Now I'm jumping at everything. I just heard the wind blow up against the front door and I jumped a foot!

Last night the neighbor had someone in their driveway and someone in their back yard. I swear they were either smoking dope, playing a game boy or psp, holding a gun or not even there. My eyes and ears are playing tricks on me now.

I feel so violated, I can't even breath when I think that someone entered my vehicle and stole my radio!

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR YOU MUTHA FUCKING BITCHES!

I think I'll wait for everyone to go to church on Sunday and either steal stupid shit from them or I will confront everyone asking them what the fuck their deal is. How can they go to church and steal from their MOTHER FUCKING NEIGHBOR!!!!

I'm so angry but frightened at the same time.

All for the best, I got a free piece of Baklava at the Gyro place because of my tale of woe.

Maybe I just need to turn this into a way to make me a better person.

Fucking Idiots!

2005-04-13T13:00:00.000-04:00

Out Of The Crapper/Rehab America is the culmination of idiotic thinking by millions!

Insightful

2005-04-11T11:52:00.000-04:00

The Messiah will come. There will be a resurrection of the dead -- all
the things that Jews believed in before they got so damn sophisticated.
- Rabbi Meir Kahane

Fantasy TV Update

2005-04-07T10:59:00.000-04:00

An update to my fantasy tv league is in order!

This time I just posted the whole damn table (which works pretty well)


Rank	Network Name	Motto	W-L	Total Nights	Total Points
1	Hediru	Beginner's luck	2-0	12	799.3
2	cookoo777	cookoo777 motto	1-1	9	675.2
3	ImaLamer	The lamest!	1-1	6	607.9
4	Galeida	sin with Sebastian	1-1	6	526.5
5	hyperactiv	I Will Win	1-1	5	710
6	jamjam24	Watch more TV	0-2	4	617.1
(to see a matchup's lineup for next week, click on a user link above)

That would be me in third place with 607.9 points!

Not bad considering I was in last place for the whole first week.

I Told Ya' So.

2005-04-05T11:36:00.000-04:00

Hunt for gay Maine legislators backfires

I've been saying this was going to happen. Someone was going to start a witch hunt and it would get them kicked out of office.

I'm Moving to Maine

2005-04-04T09:40:00.000-04:00

Using the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles Vanity license plate checker I came up with this beauty.

Evolution News

2005-04-04T07:31:00.000-04:00

From the National Geographic: Animals Laughed Long Before Humans, Study Says

Icon History

2005-04-04T07:07:00.000-04:00

GUI Icons Throughout the Ages - Nice timeline of GUI icons used by Mac OS, Windows and more.

Government's Job

2005-04-04T04:05:00.000-04:00

The Hubble Space Telescope ...

Great Ass!!!

2005-04-02T22:06:00.000-05:00

assambassador.com The Embassy of Ass

Felony!

2005-04-02T19:43:00.000-05:00

Female Masturbation - With Hot Dog

If you lived with us, you'd get the joke.

CNN.com - Official! World's funniest joke - Oct. 3, 2002

2005-04-02T04:42:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Official! World's funniest joke - Oct. 3, 2002

Piracy, Copyrights and the GPL

2005-04-02T03:35:00.000-05:00

My best Slashdot post of the day:

Title: Wrong Again...

Your writing/music/video is not your house. You have no fundamental right to prevent someone 6000km away from you from making a copy of a disc to one of his friends, an activity that has no direct bearing on you at all.

Copyright exists only to help the general public by encouraging production of new works. Giving "the right to redistribution" to the artist exclusively is a mere legal convenience. We shouldn't let our ethics be distorted by copyright holders' use of inaccurate terms like "theft" and "piracy".

Copyright. Get it?

You, and others, forget that your "right" to make copies (fair use) is given to you with the same stroke of the pen that gave you the responsibility to respect the owner of that copyright.

I'm not an **AA agent trolling here, I'm trying to make a valid point. The law gave you certain rights, but it also gave the producer of the work certain rights. Words like "theft" and "piracy" are over used, and I disagree with the legal tactics of the **AA (as I do the BSA's tactics and others who overstep their bounds, Orrin Hatch listening?).

However, as a music, movie, software or literary producer you've got the right to decide how and where your work gets used (within limits). You sign a deal with Sony or Time Warner, not for recording time and promotion, but so they can mass distribute your music and make those decisions for you. Otherwise you'd have to do that yourself - and you already had the music thing down.

The reason you go for GPL or FDL licenses is because you want to ensure people respect your wishes that modifications are made openly and so forth...

It really burns me to see the same people making issues of GPL/copyleft violations while attacking other people's right to copyright. Copyleft is still copyright, no matter which way you look at it.

Make copies for your friends, but don't hide behind that next time, thinking mass distribution is your right. It's this type of thinking, the application of the idea that "information wants to be free" to entertainment, that makes more restrictive laws necessary and possible. Stop! Because people crying about "freedom" the most are the ones costing us the most. I'm sure RMS thinks Microsoft is wrong for charging what they do for software - but I doubt he advocates breaking the law to demonstrate that idea.

Please, leave a comment if you disagree.

It figures!

2005-04-02T01:52:00.000-05:00

Slashdot | Best Buy to Eliminate Rebates

I hate Best Buy!

Federal Agency Nixes Your Right to Privacy!

2005-03-31T08:16:00.000-05:00

Sign this petition to ensure .us domain owners can remain private.

And Adam Knew Eve: A Dictionary of Sex in the Bible

2005-03-31T08:10:00.001-05:00

give a whole new meaning to Know theyself...

Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous

2005-03-31T08:10:00.000-05:00

Not a joke

Fantasy TV League Update

2005-03-31T07:56:00.000-05:00

Update on my fantasy tv league from tvtome:

Current World Ranking: 4318 (+1308)
Last Week's World Ranking: 5626
Overall Rank (by sweepers+nights, points): 4318 of 6312
Total Points: 357
World leader has 767.76 points.

Images here, images there, images everywhere

2005-03-31T06:49:00.000-05:00

Images from latest RSS feeds!

T-Shirt for the liberal in your life.

2005-03-31T04:49:00.000-05:00

Jesusland - Dusty Brand T-Shirts

Wrong...

2005-03-31T03:53:00.000-05:00

The Icarus Project: Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness

This looks like someone is addicted to the madness end of the business. Being Bi-Polar sucks, you can't just ignore it and you can't just go on without treatment.

It's sad that I want treatment and can't get it while people out there don't want the help that is available.

Can I have it?

WebMuseum: Gogh, Vincent van

2005-03-30T19:52:00.000-05:00

WebMuseum: Gogh, Vincent van

Ever wanted to see all the Van Gogh paintings ever? Now you can!

Don't Click on the Blue E!

2005-03-30T18:17:00.000-05:00

oreilly.com -- Online Catalog: Don't Click on the Blue E!

Use firefox instead for god's sake!

Updated look at the mintruth blog

2005-03-29T12:38:00.000-05:00

blog.mintruth.com - News, Interesting Items, Rants from The Ministry of Truth

Now with colors!

The Solar Death Ray

2005-03-29T10:16:00.000-05:00

The Solar Death Ray

Weebls Stuff - Toons

2005-03-29T09:41:00.000-05:00

Weebls Stuff - Toons

This is pretty darn funny!

Happy Easter...

2005-03-28T01:18:00.000-05:00

you lame ass Christians...

Why don't you read this old post...

It's True...

2005-03-27T19:10:00.000-05:00

mintruth worldwide: The absolute worst parody you've ever seen.

Fantasy TV

2005-03-25T03:51:00.000-05:00

I know this is ugly to look at, but it's from my Fantasy TV League from TVTome. I lost of course:

Week 1, starts Mar. 20, 2005
(Don't forget, points for hour-long shows are divided by 1.5!)
Wanna see who keeps score? Click here!
ImaLamer Galeida
Nights Won: 1 Points: 145.2 Nights Won: 4 Points: 214.7
Sunday Pts Sunday Pts
Bobby Hill
(S - spin)
Stats: min 9.5, nm 15, drk 1 27.5 Paige Matthews
(L - spin)
Stats: min 24.5, nm 7, swr 1 19.7
Bree Van De Kamp
(L - spin)
Stats: min 11, nm 4, ks 1 12.7 Homer Simpson
(L - spin)
Stats: min 15.5, nm 6, ks 2, drk 1, swr 1 30.5
Sunday Total: 40.2 Sunday Total: 50.2

Monday Pts Monday Pts
On the Phone
(Q - spin)
Stats: qrk 14, niel 0.5 19.2 Jake Harper
(S - spin)
Stats: min 1.5, nm 3, niel 4.3 8.8
Charlie Harper
(L - spin)
Stats: min 13.5, nm 14, ks 1, drk 4, swr 2, niel 4.3 43.8 Flag
(Q - spin)
Stats: qrk 22 29.3
Monday Total: 63 Monday Total: 38.1

Tuesday Pts Tuesday Pts
Elliot Reid
(S - spin)
Stats: min 7, nm 2 9 Luke
(S - spin)
Stats: min 8.5, nm 8, ks 4 21.7
Jim
(L - spin)
Stats: min 22, nm 3, ks 1, drk 2, swr 1 33 Lorelai
(L - spin)
Stats: min 30, nm 15, ks 4, drk 3, swr 1 45.3
Tuesday Total: 42 Tuesday Total: 67

Wednesday Pts Wednesday Pts
No Characters Scream
(Q - spin)
Stats: qrk 20, niel 6 32.7
Wednesday Total: 0 Wednesday Total: 32.7

Thursday Pts Thursday Pts
Grace Adler
(L - spin)
Stats: Off Ryan Atwood
(L - spin)
Stats: min 17, nm 19, ks 1 26.7
Girl appears or talks in Tribal Council
(Q - spin)
Stats: Off Karen Walker
(S - spin)
Stats: Off
Thursday Total: 0 Thursday Total: 26.7

Bench Pts Bench Pts
Piper Halliwell
(L - Sun - spin)
Stats: min 23.5, nm 11, drk 1 25 Takedown
(Q - Wed - spin)
Stats: qrk 5 6.7
Anyone shows super-power
(Q - Wed - spin)
Stats: qrk 7 9.3 Janitor Appears
(Q - Tue - spin)
Stats: qrk 21 42
Guy appears or talks in Tribal Council
(Q - Thu - spin)
Stats: Off Homer says Doh
(Q - Sun - spin)
Stats: qrk 22 44
Carrie Heffernan
(L - Wed - spin)
Stats: Off

Kuro5hin post about Cryonics

2005-03-25T03:45:00.000-05:00

No one thinks that I'm a very insightful person so I post my other posts here to get recognition. No one comments on here though. I never get feedback in real life either, never in bed. Good or bad. I wonder what that means. Maybe I offend people and they can't talk.

Here is my post:

...good luck, seriously.

I once read that it makes sense to 'freeze' yourself because you have two options, to do it or not do it.

If you do it and it works, you live.

If you do it and it fails, you die.

If you don't do it, you die...

You chances are better. If you were completely frozen, and you couldn't dream or think - total suspension - it would be worth it. You would literally be a time traveller. If you lucid when you went in, you'd have a real crazy trip...

Really, could you imagine "waking up" two thousand years from now? I doubt it. Forget if it's a good idea or has a point, think of your options. Allowing people to do this at any time would really expand our abilites as a species. Imagine unfreezing a wise counselor or negotiator to settle the disputes of the ages...

Start with inmates, that's how America got started.

My Follow-Up to A Follow-Up about my Bi-Polar Slashdot Post...

2005-03-09T17:36:00.000-05:00

To my message posted below someone responeded:

A word of advice to anyone who is suffering similar problems but is too macho to go to a doctor about it. I've got the same condition as the poster above "Ultra-Ultra-Rapid Cycling Bipolar". My girlfriend (now wife) made me go to a doctor about it as a precondition to moving in with her, after I tried to kill myself. The doctor put me on some drugs (Epilim) which seem to have quite minor side effects, and treat the symptoms well without overly deadening my natural highs and lows. My story may have served as a cautionary tale similar to the one above if I had not seen a doctor about it. These things have a tendency to get permanently worse if untreated. Of course every time I try to go off the pills things slowly get bad again, but being on pills permanently is a minor price to pay for getting my life back. Of course YMMV with any medication.

I decided to respond in kind:

Drugs == Good, Govt != Good
I didn't want to make my post any longer but I've had success with drugs. Lithium didn't do it, or enough to keep my life stable enough to keep my head on straight, but Depakote did. (In fact, Depakote got me off caffine because it treated the migraines that also runs in my family). Then again, there was little (no) attempt to educate me in my illness. I've suffered for 8+ years before I really knew what I was up against (like the life sentence and the chance of more episodes as time goes on, no one told me the extremes I would face until it was too late.)

However, the system I had to deal with to get those drugs was horrible. I know for a fact that it is easier to secure pain medications (doctor friend sees "drug seekers" a lot) and lie your way into a Methadone prescription in this town. Our public health system is in shambles from my point of view.

My illness, if not properly treated, can be a even larger burden on everyone as a whole. Tax dollars are already being put aside - they told you it was for people who are sick and poor or that it would go to people who can't work and need to take medications daily...

Well, you were lied to. Even worse than the fact that the money never made it into my hands is the fact that these programs are labeled failures. The main barrier to my medication is the price tag of the pills along with the price of doctor visits (and now we are talking hundreds of dollars an hour). Once you lose everything it's hard to come up with thousands of dollars to invest in yourself. Meanwhile everyone else in society, even my close friends and family, see my life as a wash. No matter the fact that I rarely even intrude into their lives.

Medicaid, rather my local outlet actually cut off my benefits because I didn't make it to their 5-sec, prescheduled, mandatory, "walk through the metal detectors and back onto the bus because we don't actually need anything we like to do this so that we can cut off benefits for no reason, I'm sure you understand with so many minorities on it we couldn't let them live off of us tax payers" routine...

So in the matter of weeks I was back to square one. I've since received my Associates Degree and really can't do anything with it because I can't even live by a hour to hour schedule.

At this point I don't support Medicaid. Bush has won, I'm going to become a terror^H^H^H^H^HRepublican now so that I can experience what it is like to take millions of peoples lives and loved ones away!

U! S! A!, U! S! A!, U! S! A!, U! S! A!...

A Slashdot Post on Bi-Polar Disorder

2005-03-09T17:23:00.000-05:00

Over on Slashdot they are talking about the Aussie Government attempting to fine individuals and businesses who provide information on suicide

The following post was actually voted up... wow, I'm on a streak. During a week when I've got moderation twice!

From a Bi-Polar (Giving up Points!) (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm now 24 and have suffered with Bipolar Disorder (Rapid Cycling, or Ultra-Ultra-Rapid Cycling Bipolar according to this page) since I was about 13 or 14 and officially diagnosed at 16 years old. As a consequence of my illness, which includes episodes of depression, I dropped out of school and seriously messed up.

I lost all of my friends and ruined relationships I thought would, and might have, lasted forever and have pretty much retreated from the world. For about two years I went through a severe depressed episode, the whole time almost getting help here and there. I truely thought all things were lost and started to slowly kill myself with any type of controlled substance I could get my hands on.

Ok, that was a severe exaggeration, but I was binging on everything. I started to do stupid (fun) things that would later set me up for a lot of trouble until something changed. I didn't get help, I just had a conversion. It happened to be a religious conversion but it wasn't religion that saved me. Well, I went through three religions before I settled on one I liked and incorporated everything else I learned.

During all of this I realized on the side that I was going to face bad days. I was going to be depressed and that my life wasn't going to end up the way I had always dreamed (which is a understatement-I barely function). But you know, I realized that hurting everyone else was pretty petty considering if I waited it out I would feel better some day. My chance of feeling like that forever was zero; so why not just say "Fuck it" and move on?

Not only is suicide the worst way to treat depression it is never the answer to any problem. Drugs, crime, shame, anything.... it's happened to someone before, lots of people. Some of them made it out. Shit, even if you are on crack - smoke that and say fuck it and live. You won't get a chance to do it again. I'm not even going to get on a high horse and tell you to quit the pipe - that is something to live for, it's a start.

I'll feel like no one if you don't mod this up, of course. And if you have any empathy and would like to help my situation support mental health parity in the insurance industry (which would help afflicted minors in the transition to adulthood). Please also oppose cuts to the nations Medicaid system at a time when it's imperative it reach out more to mentally ill citizens.

Today's Slashdot Post

2005-02-03T01:39:00.000-05:00

What follows is my post today on todays Slashdot Story Robots that Lust and Reproduce
-----------
For them to enjoy something they'd have to experience it and therefore have a consciousness.

This professor is very mistaken when he says they will experience lust. Unless you define "lust" as "programmed tendency to move towards another robot and interface to it" or something.

The most that this can do is to program sets of behavior probabilities. It won't by any means cause robots to suddenly become conscious beings.

But is enjoyment the point? We are conscious beings I assume. So are bonobos, chimps, rats, cats, dogs and whales. They all have orgasm.

Why?

Because sexual reproduction is essential to the survival and advancement of complex organisms. In order to beat the odds you need to combine DNA from two parents - you don't want your DNA to get stale do you? Now since orgasm doesn't exist in every animal species we must assume that sex obviously came first, and when doesn't it? Orgasm is a way to reward those conscious beings, it gives them something for the experience. Orgasm even relieves hierarchical tension in chimp troops - in fact almost every human gesture and disguise from a smile to lipstick tickles the sex parts of our brain.

Sex and aggression are almost the same (really for more on this topic read this book please). The world as we know it, our social fabric is formed out of those two threads - threads of almost the same color. Our brains, chimp brains, even bird brains are programmed to like sex, crave it and even get jealous about it.

Sex is important and lust is pre-programmed. It's not something we learn, but it's something we have a predisposition to. All we have to do, which is something our DNA couldn't, is see the need first for the programming. No doubt the first humans to be alearted to anothers sexual desires by a flush face with blood filled lips, or even more subtle clues such as glances from the opposite sex - these homonids must have really scored!!! Those are the ones you thank today. Someone had to have the first orgasm, even if it was an ancestor not yet discovered.

My point is that the machines will never be aware. They can only be "aware" of the things we tell them unless we equip them with a means of learning. But as you claim we can only give them "behaviour probabilities". Well, sex is the first step. Give them the desire, program that desire, to combine and form new machines and you have given them everything they need.

Who says they won't take over? No one has ever really tried it.

The problem might not be that they are conscious - see conscious could choose. Not to get all matrixy on you but a capable being which can reproduce has no limits. We are programming with consciousness on top - imagine your brain without the conscious. You could do unspeakable evils.

You wouldn't even question it or know it.

Ann Druyan on Carl Sagan...

2005-01-31T16:08:00.000-05:00

"I sit surrounded by cartons of mail from people all over the planet who
mourn Carl's loss. Many of them credit him with their awakenings. Some
of them say that Carl's example has inspired them to work for science
and reason against the forces of superstition and fundamentalism. These
thoughts comfort me and lift me up out of my heartache. They allow me
to feel, without resorting to the supernatural, that Carl lives."

"Billions and Billions: Thoughts On Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium"
the last book by Carl Sagan; Epilogue by his wife, Ann Druyan, February 14, 1997

So bored

2005-01-18T05:13:00.000-05:00

How many blog posts start out this way? You can't get to sleep so you feel like writing.

Well I don't.

So quickly here is a link: Psychology Today Magazine - How to Get Great Sleep

And another: Sleep Now!

Well, this isn't helping my headache much. I installed linux this weekend so maybe that has something to do with it. Actually it went pretty well - of course. I installed Overclockix 3.7 (torrent) after reading about it's release on Slashdot. Overclockix is a LiveCD based linux distribution based on the Knoppix code. After booting up the CD I clicked on "Install" from the desktop and now I've got a fully functional linux/Windows XP system. All I did before hand create a ext3 and linux swap partitions with Partition Magic, but that can be done inside Overclockix with QTParted instead.

After everything was installed I picked a new root password and used apt-get to update my system. Then I installed all the toys and was done.

You know that I might have to work tomarrow and I don't even know if I am or not? It's also 5:30 in the morning and I've not slept properly in two days. It's got to be the anxiety.

Did you know it is only 8°F where I'm at?

Google Needs to Integrate Froogle

2004-11-20T09:57:00.000-05:00

Froogle needs to be the money maker at Google. It is the last point before purchases, coupons or referral fees, something needs to make Google money.

But how many people are using Froogle?

When I Google the the following: digital cameras under $100, I don't get any links to Froogle in my results portion of the page. Google can understand math; and it can or should understand currency. In that case it should know that "under $100" is essentially a math issue. Take everything in front of the "under $100" and run it through Froogle under the conditions described, above $0 and below $100.

Froogle should return this result, as a link, in the above Google search page. Basically the Froogle search excludes any "digital cameras" above $100. But to put the link on the page it should have some results.

Example search: T-shirts under $10
Froogle Match: T-shirts $0 - $10
What Google Does: Before returing a result; Google searches Froogle for "T-shirts" from $0-$10. Since there is are around 30,000 results Google's normal search results page links right to it saying "Froogle Has 30,000 T-Shirts under $10"

Vice Presidential Debate

2004-10-07T08:20:00.000-04:00

I've finally found some Presidential Debate transcripts including Vice Presidential Debate transcript. I didn't get to watch either because of school!

I like reading them better anyways because then I can get the substance and not the posturing.

Weird stuff with "Indexing Service" in XP SP2

2004-09-21T07:50:00.000-04:00

I, of course, have Service Pack 2 on my XP machine. But I also have a firewall thank god.

Sygate is telling me that when I access Google.com, or Wikipedia.org throught Firefox the Indexing Service is the one doing so.

I'll post screenshots when I get a chance.

Fitting Quote For Bush...

2004-09-15T21:08:00.000-04:00

After 9/11 and even after the begining of the war in Iraq, people loved to wave their flags:

The less a statesman amounts to, the more he loves the flag.
-- Kin Hubbard

I guess, to me it means that the more a politician fails he likes to quote the "Good Book" and hold up a flag. The people in the Senate and House need to ashamed of themselves, they've given the President everything he wanted and he's given us nothing in return. It's true, they never even stood up for citizens who may have had their rights removed from them in the 2000 election. This President is a phoney, simple as that.

Bush is a simple man, a man too simple to raise this great country out of the ashes. We've moved on but the President has not. He lives in 2001 and 1991, he doesn't look at the big picture. What has this President done in the past four years to improve your life? Has he made you safer? Or... has this President worked hard to create new terrorists that can strike us at home and abroad? There was no threat in Iraq until the U.S. Military was sent there without reason. We've created the terrorists there.

Bush, the flip-flopper. He tells you to go out and spend money, advice from a man who the Securities & Exchange Commission investigated. The next minute he wants you to believe that Iraq is a threat. So looming a threat that we must INVADE her. Sure, she (Iraq) is not a democratic country but neither is Saudi Arabia, Cuba, and many others that it would be in America's best interest to "convert". Cuba is not far away at all, and someone said to me that is where we should have started. Not a bad point.

At first Bush flip-flopped and said that we were looking for WMD, but that wasn't true. There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. There are in North Korea, but let's ignore that for now shall we? We've ignored that fact for 4 years! Let's keep on thinking that the real bad guys will never get us, let's forget we already went to war with those 'fellas'. Bush flip-flopped big time when he told us that we should attack Iraq because they are the ones who tried to kill his father. Big deal to the American taxpayer. Why should we, now, try to exact justice for an attempt on the ex-president's life? In a time of terror warnings should we really be trying to start more fights over honor?

The next Bush flip-flop makes him lose on points of logic. He tells us that we went to Iraq for the spread of democracy. We aren't attacking them, we are liberators. We aren't occupiers, we're liberators, didn't you hear? Suddenly, it was mission over and we are still lead to believe the entire mission in Iraq was over the "democracy". Why didn't we start in our own back yard? Why fight missions for the democracy of those who could influence nations with her wealth? What we should have been doing is sending troops throughout the South American lands and stopping some of the ridiculous regimes in control there. Even though we (George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan) set them up. Let's give the lands back to many disenfranchised people who live peacefully alone in the 'Rain Forest'.

Bush, the idea that we send troops around the world for brief "spreads" of democracy is crazy. Man, you've got to not use that excuse. Then what happens when someone really needs help, like the Sudan? How do we say that we can't help them because there is nothing (Oil) in it for us? What do we do then Mr. President?

The Saudi Royals aren't the people who voted you in and this is why you've fought this war. You've fought this war in Iraq for the men who sit atop the Saudi family. You fight for them. Iraq, you should know this. You've sent troops into Iraq in retaliation for Saddam's attack on the Saudi's and Kuwaiti's in the 1990's. We are fighting for their war. Why else do they love you? Because you protect them and everytime you can help them you also send money into their hands. Oil is needed for a war, so is a lot of other things that the Bin Laden and Saudi Royal families invest in. At one time they were on the board controlling weapons makers. It is sad to see we fought their war.

Osama is just a front for his investors. The Bin Laden family, I'm sure parts, are investing in everything that Osama is making popular. Not fear this time, but products like pepper spray for security guards and missles to shoot into Iraq and Afghanistan. This President has been duped and we've let him be duped. The Senate at least should be on this President for his obvious, questionable acts. There was never a clear commission into 9/11 set up. It was Bush who opposed any inquiry. It is wrong to think that every other large event like that would be investigated, but this wasn't worthy. Clinton and Monica got more attention than the truth did when it came to 9/11. Why doesn't he answer all of the questions? Where is Osama? Did you just let him go because he gave you the war that old James Baker told you to start. "You owe me son, I gave you this election" he must have said.

To think, he stole the last election and he thinks he will do it again. We will turn out in numbers and vote for anyone besides Bush. Republicans, vote for Nadar if you can't vote for Kerry, but please don't vote for Bush. Tell America on election day that party politics disguised as patriotism is over. We can no longer take the garbage they feed us. I can see it now, Bush will contest the election because he will get stomped. He will assert some priviledge and take the Presidency for a hijacking. He's already destroyed this country.

Lost a million jobs, on his watch,
Biggest security failure, on his watch,
More people afraid of America, on his watch,
More people hating America, on his watch,
Biggest corporate fraud in history, from a friend, on his watch,
Biggest jump in Medicare premiums, on his watch
Kept U.N. Voting Inpectors out, on his watch

The list could go on forever I'm afraid...

I got the quote from this page. Note, some are offensive.

Hilarious Song Analysis...

2004-09-15T21:01:00.000-04:00

Funny song analysis for the Beastie Boys Song Intergalactic Posted Here.

Whitehouse.gov phone home?

2004-09-11T18:14:00.000-04:00

It's really weird... I usually stay logged into my XP account for as long as the computer is on. For some reason I logged off and logged back on... and viola got this little notice:

Notice, like the others I've taken my IP address out (Local Address)... but this really confuses me.

Why does my computer need to access Whitehouse.gov. And! Why does Windows Explorer try to do it? The only instance of Windows Explorer I've got running is the one that Windows XP starts on default for the desktop and the rest.

Seems odd huh....

Good thing I've got Sygate Personal Firewall installed, that way I can just click "No" and my computer doesn't contact whitehouse.gov!

Windows Security Center Launches Apps?

2004-09-07T19:31:00.000-04:00

Check out these two pictures, they are screenshots of Sygate Personal Firewall...

(Notice what application launched these files)

Cheney the Liar (RNC Speech/Kerry Defense Record)

2004-09-02T11:00:00.000-04:00

Cheney went on and on about Kerry and how he is some how soft on defense.

But isn't it Cheney who is soft on defense except when his past company gets to provide everything for the war?

Look at what Cheney said last night:

"Senator Kerry opposed Ronald Reagan's major defense initiatives that brought victory in the Cold War" --Dick Cheney

But in 1990 when he was Secretary of Defense look at what he TESTIFIED to:

"[I] cut almost $65 billion out of the five-year defense program"

he would later; "take another $167 billion out."

"we're recommending base closures,"

"we're talking about force structure cuts"

"we've got a military construction freeze"
(2/1/90)

So, then he was against defense spending, to the point where he closed bases. What a freaking liar? Liar, liar, liar, liar!!!!

In June of this year Cheney said:

"during the decisive years of the Cold War, I saw the conviction and the moral courage of Ronald Reagan"

Don't belive me, get it from the horses mouth: Whitehouse.gov (direct link to Cheney's comments).

It's sick... Kerry is the flip-flopper? It has been said over and over that Cheney didn't like Reagan and his defense spending... how can he now lie and tell the world that he was with him. Even worse he says Kerry can't be the commander and cheif?

Cheney dodge the draft, not once, not twice... but five times total!

Look at this guy's record.

Why not get a Free iPod?

2004-08-30T05:19:00.000-04:00

Click here to get a Free iPod!

All you have to do is sign up for a free trial or buy something you normally would through this site, refer a few friends and viola, you've got a free iPod!

Funny page....

2004-08-29T08:35:00.000-04:00

Type in "French Military Victories" into Google and hit "I'm feeling lucky" and you'll get this page, which says:

Did you mean: french military defeats

Why September the 11th?

2004-08-25T07:37:00.000-04:00

Perhaps we will never know why the terrorists picked September the eleventh. When those events took place I noticed right away a few things that seemed odd. Manhattan Island, where the World Trade Center stood, was discovered on that day. Before we knew exactly who attacked us I speculated (to myself) that it might have been an American Indian group who was getting revenge for turning Manhattan Island into a concrete spectacle. Really, I wouldn't blame them if they did. But of course they did attack Washington D.C. as well so that theory wouldn't hold water, unless they decided to make a broad connection between the two. Like I said, this was before we knew who hijacked those planes.

As I was browsing wikipedia today though I noticed something weird. Coptic Christianity, which has its roots in Egypt, uses a different calender than the calender we use today (as people of the western world). On September 11 they celebrate the The Nayrouz Feast which marks their new year. That is right, the Coptic Calender uses September 11 as the new year. Interestingly the calender itself also uses A.M. instead of A.D. for naming the years. What does A.M. stand for?

A.M., in the coptic calender means anno martyrum or year of the martyr! Is Osama a moeslem or christian? Were those dark skinned men actually followers of Islam or an eastern christian church? What was on the attackers minds?

Other things form September 11th's history?

1776 - British-American peace conference on Staten Island fails to stop nascent American Revolution.
1789 - Alexander Hamilton is appointed as first Secretary of the Treasury.
1857 - Mormon settlers and Paiutes massacre 120 pioneers at Mountain Meadows, Utah.
1918 - The Boston Red Sox won the World Series for the last time in 85 years (so far). Were Bostonians trying to avenge their curse?
1919 - US Marines invade Honduras.
BIG! 1922 - British Mandate of Palestine begins.
1941 - Ground broken for the construction of The Pentagon. US Navy ordered to attack German U-boats.
1944 - The first allied troops of the US Army cross the western border of Nazi Germany
1965 - The 1st Cavalry Division of the United States Army arrives in Vietnam.
Funny! 1970 - The Ford Pinto is introduced.
BIG! 1973 - A military coup in Chile headed by General Augusto Pinochet topple elected Marxist President Salvador Allende.
Funny! 1981 - The Pee-wee Herman Show airs as a special on HBO
My Favorite! 1985 - Pete Rose gets his 4,192nd career base hit, breaking Ty Cobb's record which stood for over 60 years.
1998 - Independent counsel Kenneth Starr sends a report to the US Congress accusing President Bill Clinton of 11 possible impeachable offenses.
HUGE! 2000 - Activists protest against the World Economic Forum meeting in Melbourne, Australia.

Deaths?

2003 - John Ritter, actor

Maybe they meant to attack September 10th?

1990 - Will Smith made his debut in the television show "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."
1949 - Bill O'Reilly, American journalist, author, and commentator (Birth)

Some content taken directly from wikipedia, this post is released under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Best Buy Stores sued by the State of Ohio

2004-08-21T19:44:00.000-04:00

Good! I read this story on slashdot first. Good thing someone is finally stepping up to these bastards.

This here is the official Attorney General press release. In the press release it says:

The lawsuit alleges that Best Buy engaged in a pattern of unfair and deceptive acts and practices. The Attorney General’s Office received hundreds of consumer complaints during the last few years with the highest concentration of complaints alleging, among other things, that Best Buy repackaged used goods and sold them as new, failed to honor rebates, failed to honor refund and exchange programs, and failed to honor extended service contracts.

What I don't see mentioned is the fact that they don't actually follow up on their promise to send you coupons when you sign up for their reward program.

We bought about $300 in DVD's at Best Buy in one day. Spending spree you know. Well, they asked us if we wanted to join their reward program. Sure, costs like 10 or 15 bucks, and after spending 300 smackers that isn't much.

They salesman/cashier told us that in a few weeks we'd get a gift certificate for more than what the price of the reward membership cost. Sounded good... but we never actually got anything. Nothing.

And you wonder why I wouldn't go back there (for anything).

BTW: don't try to buy a television there. They supposedly don't work on commission, right? Well they don't act like it because when looking at LCD-HDTV's a salesman walked by and remarked, loudly, to the other salesman: "I just don't know about those LCD's, they have lots of problems." Then the guy just laughed out loud. I really wanted to punch the guy in the mouth. I was just checking out the prices, features and what-not. He just wanted to get me on the plasma bandwagon. Thing is, in school just before that I did a report on CRT vs LCD vs Plasma. They all have shortcomings, they all have strenghts. What really got to me though is the fact that he was actually laughing. Well, I don't know about buying things at Best Buy then. My mother learned her lesson when she bought a computer there and it caught fire after only a few days. I won't say the brand because I think it was their fault. But on return they didn't have one to exchange, wouldn't fix it in their "authorized" repair center, and couldn't get another of that model in the store.

Religious Talk... (is Jesus really satan?)

2004-08-19T02:22:00.000-04:00

As I browse through Wikipedia I'm going to be putting some stuff in this post and talking about it.

First let me say that I may just cut and paste from Wikipedia into this post so this post is technically (and completely) released under the GNU FDL. That means you can copy it at will.

Well... I'm going through the evil spirit type of stuff so we will start there. First, something interesting I found:

In the Hebrew Bible Satan is presented as an angel (messenger) sent by God to test mankind; in the Apocrypha and New Testament Satan is portrayed as an evil rebellious demon who is the enemy of God and mankind.

What does Jesus do but test mankind? He is sent to test men by offering a false salvation. Jesus says that the only way to heaven is through him. There is no other way offered. Not even by direct worship of the one God, just by him. This says to me that Jesus wants you to worship him, breaking the very first commandment:

"I am The Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me."

Going back to what is said on Wikipedia, Satan being a rebellious demon, we see that Jesus's teachings are in direct violations of what God tells us to do. He tells us to ignore the higher laws and even abandon the first commandment. Jesus wants us to do so because he is actually the devil.

Read Revelations 22:16 yourself!

"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."

And Isaiah 14:12-15:

How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.

Rather the King James Version?:

How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!

More temptations? John 8:12:

Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

The word "Sorath" means "son of man" in Hebrew. That value is 666... the mark of the devil. We are told this is by Jesus himself. He left the clues that he is in fact the devil, satan and lucifer.

Other notes? Well Jesus could be the "morning star" or Venus as it is known:

Venus is the Roman goddess of love, equivalent to Greek Aphrodite and Etruscan Turan

Ishtar is the Akkadian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate northwest Semitic goddess `Ashtart. Anunit, Astarte and Atarsamain are alternate names for Ishtar. The goddess represents the planet Venus. The double aspect of the goddess may correspond to the strikingly different phases of Venus in the summer and winter seasons. In Sumerian the planet itself is called "MUL.DILI.PAT," meaning "unique star." The meaning of Inanna (sometimes spelled Inana) is "Great Lady of An" (An being the god of heaven). The meaning of Ishtar is not known, though it is possible that the underlying stem is the same as that of Assur, which would thus make her the "leading one" or "chief." In any event, it is now generally recognized that the name is Semitic in origin.

In Greek mythology, Phaëton or Phaethon ("shining"), was the son of Helios (Phoebus, the "shining one", an epithet later assumed by Apollo), or of Clymenus by Merope or Clymene.

Good Links:

Christ's Resurrection ~ No Big Deal

THE CHRIST MYTH

Kersey Graves - The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors Chapter 1

What's So Special About Jesus?

I should just call this blog mania.

Funny FOXNews Memo's

2004-08-18T04:30:00.000-04:00

Get all 33 of them here.

Funny what people say off-air!

No doubt you'll be disgusted.

Family Guy coming back to FOX!

2004-08-17T22:11:00.000-04:00

There will be a marathon tomarrow on FOX... but that isn't all kids.

FOX says they will be planning on bringing the un-seen shows and new episodes back in 2005!

Don't believe me? Check out FOX's Family Guy Page!

P.Diddy...

2004-08-17T18:12:00.000-04:00

That "Puff " daddy character has a lot of gull.

After being somewhat involved in two rappers deaths he sent a kid to prison for 10 years because he was too afraid to take the fall.

What is bothersome is the fake "gangsta" image he tryed to portray in his early career.

I'd never buy a Diddy album. Now, I'd never buy a Bad Boy album (although, I never did like Bad Boy.)

Even if they found 2pac and signed him, I wouldn't buy it. After what he did to Shyne, he's garbage.

(Not that I'm a Shyne fan, it's just the story I read here about him being in jail and Diddy not.)

More about Puff Daddy
Here

Hornswaggled!