The Gruff Logician

Weekend activites

2006-02-12T08:50:00.000-08:00

It's been a pretty good weekend. Highlights include:

I bought a new suit. Nothing makes me feel better than a brand new suit. Actually looking good in general does wonders in increasing my positive outlook on life. I have a couple already. Mostly social type suits in your grey and greens. What my wardrobe has been missing is a good, solid professional suit. All I needed was circumstance and an excuse. Both of which I got in the form of a tax refund and a job change where I meet with more professional clientel. So after two afternoons of looking I settled on a nice, black hugo boss suit. So I'm now set for meetings, weddings, and funerals. I'm the triple threat.
Some hot World of Warcraft action went down.
Kris and I chose to "celebrate" valentines day on Friday. It was more of a negotiation really. My opening move was that I was actually buying her off for helping me with my suit selection. I thought that meant some take out but she thought that meant a nice italian meal with wine and everything. I then countered with italian take out and a bottle of red from the liquor store. She said sit down will count double for valentines and helping with the suit. I said 'Done'. So she got what she wanted and I'm off the hook for 'V' day. It's a win-win.
I slept in.

Titles are hard

2006-01-27T17:51:00.000-08:00

It's Friday night so I just thought I'd ramble for a bit. New rambes are denoted by the bullets.

I was out in Phoenix this week. I can't go to Phoenix, AZ and not feel like I love the area. The weather is crazy awesome, the food is great, and I swear to god you can't get lost. All the roads run a straight up North/South and East/West directions. If you have the slightest inkling of the direction you want to go, you can find it. The worst case scenarios is that you run into one way streets. I'd give serious consideration to moving to Phoenix. On the flip side, I didn't think much of Tuscon.
There's a lot of travel in World of Warcraft.
That being said, the time I was just wasting traveling on griffons can now be channeled into blogging because I have a laptop sitting next to me now.
I dont know if people have been following Bode Miller and his earlier antics or his more recent antics. I was watching sports center today and they were ripping into this guy for calling out Bonds and Armstrong for cheating the system. The way I heard the ESPN guys say it they were dissing him for a lack of professional courtesy. He was an athlete, Bonds and Armstrong are athletes so he should keep his mouth shut. All the guy really said was there are loopholes in drug testing programs and that it's a hard thing to prove that someone "knowingly" took steroids. He isn't exactly Einstein for thinking this. I'm not saying he should be commended for his outspoken comments. But with regards to Bonds and Armstrong, he just said what a certain percentage of the population was thinking. I think Bonds was definitely dirty and knew it (along with Sosa, McGwire, etc.). Armstrong I'm not so sure but I'm not sure I care. I'd feel worse that he wouldn't be able to give Sheryl Crow the hardcore loving she definitely deserves. ESPN did get one part right, if Miller doesn't at least finish with a medal he's going to look stupid. Oh and if he doesn't show up clean or has a few skeletons in the closet, they'll crucify him for it.

Geez

2006-01-15T18:39:00.000-08:00

And i thought some of the people at my place of employment were incompetent.

I'm not kidding

2006-01-15T18:10:00.000-08:00

Many of you have probably glanced over my mission statement. It's the statement right below the title of my blog. For those too lazy to glance up to read it (you know who you are), it quite clearly states

A place where rational thought can fly in the face of every day stupidity.

(OT for sec: It just occurred to me that the reason I ever started blogging in the first place is to just vent about the stupid stuff we come across every day. Everything from the guy who cuts you off in traffic to save 2 cars at the next red light to politics to just about anything. This dumb shit is what makes up our daily existence. And while this thought it wholly and completely depressing at least the human race has clear room for improvement. But I digress.)

Today's stupid action comes from MLB. (More specifically the player's association but hey I don't differentiate here.) MLB is apprently exercing their "rights" and asking the court to award "ownership" of the "intellectual property" of baseball stats. Fantasy leagues everywhere would pay a fee to use the stats to score their leagues. Are you kidding me? Pass me the ganja MLB and the player's union is rocking because that has to be one hell of a buzz.

This quote is the best:

"Major League Baseball has claimed that intellectual property law makes it illegal for fantasy league operators to "commercially exploit the identities and statistical profiles" of big league players."

Stephen Colbert might call the AP the biggest threat to America, but I'd actually say it is "intellectual property rights". The whole idea has gone overboard. (Read the opening quote on that story the word overboard is linked to and you'll get the idea. ) But IPR and the screwed up mess that is the law system governing it, is a whole topic for a different post.

I have to ask this question and I hope MLB will find the hole in the backwater part of the internet my blog resides in and answer this one question with some elaboration: Do you really want us to watch your games? The whole reason stats are relevant is to determine rankings. Ranking of who gets into the hall of fame and who doesn't. Ranking fans on who knows more. I mean let's face it, in the fantasy leagues I play in the money is secondary (and it's nice). It's for bragging rights and a way that one person gets to say they know more about "insert your sport here" than the other guy. Period. You take away that ranking system and you take away my motivation to watch.

Once the courts decide to award "intellectual property rights" to MLB for stats you can just hear MLB's bretheren (NFL, NBA, and NHL) licking their chops for the same "rights". To me it actually seems like MLB is the little brother who's been put up to a prank here. (Pst Tommy, I dare you to put shit in a bag and set it on fire on Old Man Thompson's porch and ring the bell.) And then the other leagues said a collective "Oh, shit, he really did it!" Now they get to wait and see what really happens. If MLB wins, MLB is a hero. If MLB loses, its a public relations problem for MLB and not the other leagues, but its a black eye to all of them to me.

I tell you one thing, if MLB is awarded "rights" to the stats and fantasy leagues have to pay a fee to use them, I will NEVER play fantasy sports again. In fact, I will never watch another game NFL, MLB, or otherwise. I will refuse to care about major league sports.

Also, remember these are the people asking for public funds for stadiums. But they don't actually want you to do anything fun with their product.

Pics of my basement

2005-12-11T19:22:00.000-08:00

Some of you might remember that I bought a projector for my basement. I purchased it, set it up in a fever, blood lusted rush and enjoyed movies in 76" full projection glory. Upon this hurried installation, my basement could have been classified as "College Functional". Cords everywhere, boxes were considered usable furniture, and a card board table adorned the room. You get the idea. And while the card board table is still present, I took the liberties of cleaning it up a bit.

I purchased a ceiling mount from Target (of all places) and took the liberties of hiding the cords to the projector (see mid-project picture as the last picture) and speakers in the ceiling. I made some of the decorative features in the room my proverbial bitch and now it looks pretty good. Movies look good. I have 7.1 stereo sound with my home theatre system. It's not top of the line stuff but it's better than crap. I think with the projector, screen, the Matrix Ultimate DVD collection, ceiling mount, and a couple trips to the hardware store for goodies I'm in for $900. The neon sign and slightly decorative chair was free too.

Breaking news

2005-12-11T16:41:00.000-08:00

This just in. Schools are broke.

Xbox 360

2005-12-08T20:06:00.000-08:00

I'm a gamer which, by definition, means I play video games for fun and recreation.

That being said, I think I should weigh in on this Xbox 360 thing.

It's not like people aren't talking about the Xbox 360. (Heretoforth known as 360 unless otherwise noted.) With all the people reporting on it, writing about it, reviewing it, and spewing marketing bullshit, one would think it logical to conclude I'd know something about it. It's like everyone has some sort of 360 hysteria fever. Seriously, 20 something men are passing out like those teen chicks when the Beetles were on the the Ed Sullivan show just talking about it.

I mean I've seen the specs. I've seen the game reviews. But how does it play? What new features does it do that I can't get a modded xbox to do? (Other than HD.)

I'd love to tell you but Microsoft botched something. There aren't enough of them. People are going nutz. Seriously, when people are freaking out, they aren't calmed by doublespeak:

"The communication has been two-way regarding our allocation, they are in contact with us and we are in contact with them." ....Gamestop Spokesman Chris Olivera

So short of having $2500 to purchase the 'buy it now' option on ebay, let's try applying some logic to this little problem.

FAQ
Is the console worth playing? Who knows. For $525 ($400 for the xbox and 2 games or a controller thingy), you'd think the reviews of the release games would be better. I mean how bullshit is it that the 360 version of madden would have less features than the lower priced xbox version of madden? That is whack yo.

Did Microsoft screw this one up? I have to say I don't think they have yet, but if they don't get a significant number of these out before Christmas and people end up buying the remaining few on ebay, Microsoft is going to see a revolt. Of epic proportions. Editorial people will write indignent letters to the editor. Gaming forums will storm with fanboi controversy. Journalists will write in Forbes magazine on how Microsoft will lose marketshare in a multi-billion dollar industry. It would be ugly.

I think if Microsoft had a wharehouse of these somewhere like Scrooge McDuck they would be marketing geniuses. However, call me disillusioned but I don't think a large company could pull of such a great marketing stunt. I think they honest to god screwed the pooch on this one. And not just because they don't have enough units.

Adding to the fact that 360s aren't available, but what do you really know about it? Read any interview that Jay Allard has ever given and try to tell me what he said. I mean pick a quote and try to figure out what tangible product he is describing.

Hell I don't even know if I did happen to find one that it wouldn't be defective because there's conflicting reports on how many are defective. Nobody wants to buy a defective product. Could be the best bread slicer ever but if it never works, it's not very good bread slicer. At this point I'm ready to believe crude fanboi posts over the marketing speak Microsoft is putting out.

Combine this with mediocre game reviews were most of them mention the word 'short' (I tried to find the link for that one.) and you've got a recipe for a big, old fashioned public yawn. The 360 isn't supposed to be yawned at. It's supposed to be the 'hot' item. Hell even Al stated that he didn't think he'd really need one until Oblivion comes out (March 20, 2006).

So long story short, I don't know what to tell you. Go play World of Warcraft or something.

And 1 more thing

2005-12-07T18:06:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah and I got engaged. Kristen said yes.

A Cry to Arms

2005-12-07T16:46:00.000-08:00

I'll be honest. I haven't posted recently.

No, it's true.

Don't believe me? My last post was September, 2nd. And I posted a picture of my World of Warcraft character. If that doesn't peg me as the world's like 3.14159265'th geek in the world I don't know what would.

All nerdling jokes aside, my readers didn't bring me back. I wouldn't cheapen us both with such parlor tricks. How would you know I hadn't "sold out" if 3 people's opinion could sway me? You wouldn't.

I came back because I was called out of duty. This post was drafted into the war between stupidity and common sense. And no one could have seen it coming. Not even my semi-omniscient readers.

I submit to you this.

Shield your eyes from the abject horror that lies within that link.

Get thee to the nunnery of sane and reason if you happen to glance upon its contents.

That's no ordinary bunny. Look at the bones.

But I digress.

I've been reading in the paper's about the MN's state budget. Now mind you, I haven't done any real research. I am using reference material from memory out of the newspaper articles I've read lately. So my conclusion is only as good as a newspaper's fact checking crew and I believe we all know they've made some mistakes.

The state of MN brings in 31 Billion dollars in taxes/revenues every 2 years (called a bieneium). 13 Billion of that 31 Billions goes to schools every two years. That's billions with a 'B' and the school budget is a large slice of the proverbial 'B' pie. But the fine MN citizens pay this money without much of a gripe.

But the monster demands to be fed and our school system is demanding more money because we are shortchanging our children's futures. But to be against spending more money on education is tantamount to hating kids. In public. Occasionally throwing something at them. With a group of nuns watching. And to prove that we aren't all a bunch of rock throwing, kid-haters, we keep voting to increase our property taxes to give them more money.

Ok, now that we've paid the schools more they will go away. Nope, school levy again this year. I swear District 196 must have had 3 different levies in the past 3 years each time asking for more money for education.

The state of MN even got lucky and just discovered we have a $1 Billion dollar state surplus now for the next bienium. Nice chunk of change. One would logically think that could go for roads, or another light rail project, or a new stadium. People are standing all over with their hands out. Nope. $700 million goes right back to the school system.

That's all water under the bridge though baby.

Ain't no thing but a chicken wing baby.

Why don't you look over there while I steal your momma little boy.

Or something, something.

Anywho.

I've dealt with it and moved on. The taxes going to schools thing I mean.

By now I hope you have read the above link and come to the same logical conclusion I did.

WHISKEY!!! TANGO!!! FOXTROT!!!

Can you believe that shit? Apparently the school year wasn't f'ing long enough and some how our kids are falling behind China. You remember China? The communists. We're behind the f'ing communists again. That news 'article' threw the communism card, bitch. And you better recognize.

But we're behind 32 other states that have 180 days or more of education? So let's make it over 200. Hell, why not make it 366? The Kansas State Board of Education can redefine science. Why can't the MN board of education teach our kids 366 days a year? I say if our elected school board officials can't make that happen then it is our public duty to elect some people who can.

Now I realize I started off giving you some whoopity doo dollar figures and some cracked up story about how schools are always asking for more money. And now I will tie up all of these ramblings like 1,000 points of light. (Hell, if George Bush had a point in that speech, I couldn't find it.)

Common sense will tell you that adding 25 days more of school a year would most likely cost more money. This comes from the premise that schools spend less money on kids when kids are not there. I'm sure there's a figure showing that somewhere but I won't look it up. You'll just have to assume I haven't sold out to corporate interests.

So let me recap. The state of MN is broke with a $1 billion dollar surplus. The schools are broke with a $13 billions dollar budget but could do better with more money. The state of MN pays more in taxes to keep school administrators from cutting programs. But we should extend the school year to 200 days? 25 working days is 5 weeks to us 40 hour, 9-5 joes. I believe someone even mentions that it would be expensive in the article.

But have no fear. Our state government is here.

"He supports a variety of measures that will increase student achievement and believes this is a useful tool,'' said the spokesman, Brian McClung. "It would really make Minnesota nation-leading in yet another aspect of our education system.''

Thank god the Governer's spokesperson is on the case and I don't think he said a goddamn thing.

I mean if you're head doesn't explode after reading all of that, you, sir or ma'am, exist on a whole different plane than this dude. You are The Stanger and I am your Big Lebowski. But if this whole strange and twisted scenario really doesn't bake your noddle, this should. This behavior is considered normal and typical. You don't see people rioting in the streets over this do you? This is it. This is how our state runs.

Ick.

That's all I got. Enjoy your day.

WoW Screenshot

2005-09-28T16:43:00.000-07:00

I thought this was hilarious. If you clicked on the link before the explanation, then it probably isn't as funny so let me expound.

I play World of Warcraft (heretoforth WoW for short). I play a Dwarf Hunter named Huladdachnk. Hula for short. Anyway, I went on a horde raid this weekend for the first time. Basically we rounded up 30 or so online Alliance players and marched into our vowed enemy's (the Horde) territory. We took over one of their towns and fought them off as long as we could. It was great fun.

The above screen shot shows my in-game valor is directly proportional to my real life valor. I'm the one that is one fire. Runny away. Screaming "MEDIC!!!!!" Never before has discretion been the better part of valor to that extent. Of course never before has my gaming skills been so naked for all the world to see.

I killed a few as well as ran away so I really did prove some of my mettle in battle. Maybe you had to be there but it was a great time.

Fun facts:

Huladdachnk has a bear named Leeroy.

For those who haven't seen the Leeroy video here's a link. If you've ever spent 10 minutes gaming that video should be funny to you. If it isn't, I feel bad that you have no joy in your life.

As long as I'm posting...

2005-09-28T16:31:00.000-07:00

Hey as long as I'm posting something I'll send a link to this article. It's an editorial on how Mark McGwire said he'd be the poster boy for an anti-steroids campaign in his testimony to Congress and why he hasn't lived up to his words.

Here are some reasons why this whole baseball steroids thing is funny and sad at the same time:

1. Mark McGwire tells Congress he won't talk about the past and he'll be a steroids spokeperson and doesn't. Does anyone think Mr. McGwire DIDN'T take steroids?
2. Rafael Palmero testifies strongly he's never done steroids. Less than 6 months later he's suspended for testing postive.
3. Does anyone else wonder why John McCain is so interested in governing professional sports? I think his connection is shady.
4. At least 2 people blatantly testified falsely in front of Congress and Congress has to open an investigation. Congress can't even get them on perjury charges. How are these some of the most powerful people in the United States? Or does that fact expose the Congressional hearingsof baseball for the fraud they were? You be the judge.
5. On the 2nd page of that link, was anyone else amazed at how incredibly hot his wife is? Good job man. For both the wife and the false testimony in front of Congress. You the man Dawg.

What's been going on?

2005-09-28T16:30:00.000-07:00

For those wondering where I've been, I've been playing a lot of World of Warcraft lately. Excellent game if you're into that kind of thing. I'm thinking I'll be raking leaves soon too.

For those out there wondering

2005-08-17T17:29:00.000-07:00

Ok so my readership is like 2 people and even that has gone down since I haven't posted in like a month. Basically my posting started to decline when I got cut off from work. But to answer the question, no my blog isn't dead yet. It's just on a hiatus. I've been thinking that I need a more focused message so I've been taking this down time to kick around some ideas of what my blog should be.

To date I think I've spent a majority of my blog time pointing out other people's stupidity, making fun of them, posting inane news and comic strips, and venting about subjects that get me riled up. I don't know if people find that interesting or not and, quite frankly, I'm not sure I care. But I reserve the right to say that I might care. If this blog is a tool to help me get stuff of my chest and let me vent a little, then that's what I should be doing.

However, if I want to increase my readership and appeal to a wider audience, I should think about posting more useful information and be more supportive of my fellow mankind. Ben does this way better than I do so maybe that desparate void is already filled in your life. I didn't say this option was likely but you have to admit it's at least possible. Kind of.

Or I could start a fantasy football blog where I answer people's questions. If I can trust my starting lineups to complete strangers why would people not reciprocate?

I'll share one other idea that I've toyed with. It's a little on the morbid side but I thought it was an original idea. What if I tried to work on my creative writing skills and wrote some kind words about public figures who have died recently. And I'm not talking about patronizing, sarcastic obituaries. For example, I wrote some good words when Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy's died. I'm talking about trying to relate how Dave Thomas and his restaurant impacted my life. I mean maybe the guy just made my waist size two inches larger but I think too often we read that some of these people died and it's more of an "oh did you hear so and so died?" Maybe they deserve one desparate cry in the night and a running tally of who's passed on. Again, this idea isn't a hugely likely option but I was trying to think outside the bun, errrr, box.

If there's one thing this blog has made me realize that good, interesting writing takes time. Penny Arcade blogs are hilarious and entertaining for the writing that they do. I'm not even close to their writing skill level yet but I'd like to keep working on it. Even if it's just an amateur passtime.

If you think you have an idea for the slant of this blog or like what I've been doing here's your change to rip me a new one or be suportive and nurturing and leave some feedback. I need a direction and I need my public at large to point me there.

Softball

2005-07-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

We won our game tonight putting our amazing record at 4-7.

I absolutely love playing softball and I love pitching. I'm seriously pissed that I have a bum knee that's making me decide whether to keep playing or not.

PO'd 12-year-olds UNITE!!!!

2005-07-07T11:50:00.000-07:00

I am not the only MN resident kind of cheesed at our state government for this ridiculous display of nonsense. However, the newspaper not only says its the publics fault but they put pictures of mad 12 year-old-girls to prove that Minnesotans are just mad. I think I made that face when my parents made me eat brocoli. Not exactly a heinous crime by global standards. So it's nice to see the paper making this such a human interest piece. I am comforted to know that I am joined by the angriest 12 year old this side of the Mississippi.

Now, where's my old Twisted Siser Album?

I admire this guy

2005-07-07T11:36:00.000-07:00

A fervent Steelers fan who died last week was laid out for a viewing at a funeral home on Tuesday in his favorite recliner, perched in front of a TV playing Steelers highlights with a six-pack of beer and a pack of cigarettes by his side. Lending a more somber note to the proceedings, a priest recited the parable of the Immaculate Reception.

I don't admire him so much for the way he decided to go out as I do that he bucked a 'time honored tradition' to go out the way he wanted. Mad props to his family too for sending him off the way they think he would have wanted it.

A better quote

2005-07-06T08:44:00.000-07:00

I have to recant my earlier post about the state government and their inability to figure out a state budget. I've seen that light that it isn't their fault at all. It's the voters. Here's the choice excerpt:

Minnesotans who are grumbling about the fumbling among lawmakers and Gov. Tim Pawlenty would do well to remind themselves that they elected a divided government and this is what happens when deeply held beliefs tug on the instincts to compromise.

I mean we coudl have forseen this by who we choose to elect. If we'd only elected all the ideological communists (or worse the capitalists), this whole situation would have been avoided. But it doesn't matter who you vote for as long as its all for one party right?

Quote of the Day

2005-07-06T08:31:00.000-07:00

"The information age is over. The information is out there," said Jim Guerin, technology director for the city of Dunedin, which will soon be the first city in Florida to go completely Wi-Fi.

(Link)

That's right folks! Move along, nothing to see here. The information is over. If you missed it too bad because there's no more information age left. Shut down your internets and go home. The "Technology Director' of a city in Florida nobody ever heard of says so.

Ok so I'm taking it somewhat out of context but geez you might want to at least do some thinking before you make a statement like that. Information is and is not like doughnuts. It is like a doughnut in that we're making more all the time so the supply is theoretically infinite. It's not like a doughnut in that when the information has been consumed it doesn't end up in your crapper. So we're still sharing the old information and we're finding ways to create new information and share it too. Maybe he should google 'Cro Magnon'.

I did look up the city of Dunedin on the 'internets' and found the city bird is the dodo and that the city's chief export is strippers.

Were low on funding?

2005-07-04T22:00:00.000-07:00

Maybe some folks are following this budget bull shit in Minnesota and some aren't. Here's my take: Basically because our state government can't agree on a budget they're temporarily laying off 9,000 "non-essential" government workers. Drivers liscense bureaus, state campgrounds the weekend before the 4th of July, and other "non-essential" services are being shut down because legislators couldn't agree what to spend the money on between the end of the session in May and July now. In fact, our government officials are so emotionally distraught about effecting 9,000 people by laying them off, they decided it would be nice to take the 4th of July off. Just to clear their heads and all. If you aren't calling them assholes by now, you should be. I love this quote:

Sviggum said state employees could be back to work if DFLers would agree to authorize a racino at Canterbury Park.

Well if it's just a matter of approving a racino, why the fuck didn't you just say so? Compromise? Hostage taking? They're all just synonyms really.

This quote is a beaut too

Going into the meeting, Johnson said resolving the budget dispute will assume greater urgency after the holiday.

Yeah why inconvience yourself on a holiday for 9,000 employees? Or should I say 9,000 now registered voters. If one of these incumbants gets re-elected, it's a failure of catastrophic proportions for the democratic system. Either through rigged elections or dumb voters with short attentions spans or act of god, you have to call that a failure on a catestrophic level.

Here's another great one although this is probably the journalists polarizing the issue:

More than two dozen of the usual cast of 201 legislators didn't even show up for Saturday's theatrics. Some who were in attendance expressed a wish that they weren't, but that didn't stop the House from debating the DFL "lights-on" bill for an hour.

"My family is up at camp in northern Minnesota," said Rep. Leon Lillie, DFL-North St. Paul. "I'd like to be there with them."

Over 24 of 201 legistlatures don't show up. (That's over 10%) The rest are whining and I can't tell if they're whining that the people elected them or wishing they had half an iota of common sense to pass a budget before the 4th of July (it does occur in July every year) or if they're vacations are just too important to worry about laying off 9,000 people. None of the layoffs are the government officials or they're staffers. And they also get per diem while they try to decide who to tax us next.

Leon Lillie is a man who can put it very succinctly. I wish I could be with my family. And Spreewell wishes he could feed his kids. Cry me a river you fat lazy cat.

And just so everyone knows I don't discriminate on telling politicians what I think of they're overwhelming putrid performance. Here's an example why we can't decide how much to spend on education:

Linky Linky!!

Because 3rd graders now need a computer science cirriculum too. Can't we teach them to spell "computer" first? Or maybe get them to understand binary, a basis of not only computer science but also, say it with me now, Math. How did all the current programmers get to be programmers if they're grade schools didn't have computer science curriculums? It's a god damned connundrum folks.

News of the day

2005-06-20T17:27:00.000-07:00

Geez I've been busy. I also don't have a chance to post the random internet stuff I find now that I'm being blocked from my blog between 8-5.

But here's something to keep you guys going:

Today's study of the obvious finds: movie stars make poor role models. Oh and movies aren't as good as they used to be. But "piracy" is the reason for slow sales. Except for Batman.

I have attained another goal

2005-06-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

Today it is my proud pleasure to announce that I have reached another blogging milestone. When I set out to create this blog (which was a fairly trivial task) I set for myself certain goals. And today I reach one of them.

I'M LINKING TO WIL WHEATON'S BLOG WITH A LEGITAMIT PURPOSE!!!!!

You may know Wil Wheaton as the young Wesley Crusher on Star Trek TNG. But since his acting on Star Trek TNG, he's been building up a web presence with his blog. In fact, in many geek circles he's a hero and inspires many with his words.

But the reason I get to link to his blog is because he announces and gives his opinion on the worst disaster ever that was narrowly averted. I join Wil Wheaton in telling you that the voice actors for video games have narrowly averted their strike and gotten a raise. Hizzah.

A whimsical cornicopia of b.s

2005-06-09T16:51:00.000-07:00

I'm asking you, the reader, to come along with me on a stream of my unconcious concience. Actually I'm just going to tell you the news as I see it today.

Jay has decided to hang up the keyboard. He's taking a hiatus from blogging for an undisclosed amount of time, possibly permanent. While the content of the internet will be lessened slightly from this day forward, we can take solace in the fact that our lives are fuller because he shared his with us for a while. (I told myself I wouldn't cry.)
Setting of the b.s. meter today is news of the not yet dead Phantom Console. You have to give them credit that they're still claiming to have a console, but does the interview that I linked to give you any more of a "warm fuzzy", that they have a product? It shouldn't. The guy was bullet proof and danced like an angel in that interview. While leads me to believe one of three things: 1)it was more "co-authored" than "interviewed" (most likely), 2) the questions were given months in advance and prepared by a pack of lawyers (I wouldn't doubt it but seems a little out there), or 3) this guy has a P.h.d is bullshitology and is smarter than anyone I know (extremely unlikely. I know Jay and he's smart (ish)).
Porn is coming to the PSP. I can hear Kyle, "It's about damn time Ryan told me to buy a PSP so I can view porn."
Gaming finally did kill someone. Well maybe two actually. The person who stabbed his friend for selling his virtual sword was given a suspended death sentence. Not only is the victim's family demanding he be put to death, they are respectfully requesting that it be right now.
This lady was surprised by a leg that fell into her yard from the sky. Authorities believe a person who stowed away in the landing gear of the plane was cut in half as the landing gear was lowered. (Lowered?) He was wearing adidas at the time of the incident.
Whatever happens, I don't want Kristen to hate me enough to do what is described in the first paragraph in this article.
News from the home front: Bob Dylan has agreed to put on a show in Great Falls, Montana.

Quote of the day

2005-06-02T15:56:00.000-07:00

I'm taking this a little out of context but it still seems somewhat appropriate.

"We're up to our asses in impractical manifestos that don't get anybody anywhere."

Happy Memorial Day!

2005-05-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

Ok Memorial Day is remembering a somber occasion. But if we've fought for anything in this country, it's to have a BBQ on a Monday. So I hope everyone is having a wonderful memorial day.

This weekend:

I played Guild Wars and joined a Guild. Todd and I are now in competing guilds.
Removed a sandbox and put finished the patio. Kristen actually got me to work on this one by having the neighbor trick me with beer. At the beginning of this project I was ignorant at what I was in for. In the middle, I was hopelessly screwed and pissed off. At the end, I was happy it was over and I now have a full sized patio.
I hung out with the neighbors and had a few drinks.

Stating the obvious

2005-05-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

I know the article I'm linking to in this post is stating the obvious, but as a gamer, I have to say it's about god damn fucking time. The only thing that isn't in there is my gripe about video game magazines.

And my gripe about video game magazines is they are just magazines of ads. Even the reviews are ads. Editorials? Ads. For god sake the Official Xbox Magazine must have had a quota for telling people how great the original halo was in 1/3 of their reviews/ads. And now that Halo 2 is out, they feel compelled to tell us how great Halo 2 is every ad. Yeah I like Halo 2, but that was yesterday and today is here.

Today's random thoughts

2005-05-26T17:54:00.000-07:00

I just had a couple of things I'd like to share:

Use of the liberal firewall has been blocked at a place where I spend 8+hours a day, Monday-Friday starting around 7:30 a.m. While I'm sure you've all asked yourselves why the posting has been slow lately, I give you the aformentioned reason. That's right the man is keeping me from having my voice heard round the world Monday through Friday for 8+ hours a day starting around 7:30 a.m. I'd protest but this place that will remain nameles pays me. So I'll live with it.
If you haven't caught Clone Wars on the Cartoon Network, your missing some great Star Wars televions. I for one thought the new Stars Wars movie was pretty good, but since I'm not a Star Wars fanatic, I was wondering who the fuck half those aliens were. It's been so long since the last one I forgot how it ended. But that's where Cartoon Network comes in. It created a 3 hour cartoon explaining WTF happened between Episodes 2 and 3. And they did it in an adult cartoon kind of way not a patronize the 3 year olds kid of way. Excellent television and you can find it with your tivo.
Softball season has to be one of the most exciting and flustrating times of the year. When my softball team is winning, it is pure joy to play. But man when my team is slumping, I get a little tense. There's always golf : )
Inspired by kyle's comment in yesterday's blog, I read through some of my previous posts. I've never noticed how much news for the inane is here.

Software philosophies

2005-05-26T17:50:00.000-07:00

It's kind of done in an upfront and brutal way, but I'm finding it hard to disagree with this guy's stance of what software should do. Perhaps I would have studied more seriously.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

2005-05-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

There is civil unrest in video gaming today. It's a fact. EA is working their employees to death and was sued for it. EA chop blocked the competition and signed an exclusive arrangement with the NFL keeping other companies from making football games. But those issues are small potatos compared to the likes of this fight. I officially declare gaming over as we know it. The voice actors could be going on strike.

I know, I know, this is a shock to us all. And the characters we've come to know and love will never be the same. I mean who can forget that guard in half-life 2 who was killed by that thing. Or the warrior in Guild Wars who pointed the way to that place. Who can forget the lovable bondage babe in the latest Ninja Gaiden who only wanted to come busting out of her top in peace? Her voice was that of an angel and it haunts my dreams. How will we feel the compelling story without voice actors?

I have a feeling we'll find a way.

Quote of the day

2005-05-25T05:46:00.000-07:00

I have subscribed to an email mailing list that sends me a weekly article related to business. Some are biographies on famous business people, others are articles on current happenings, and yet some are on the more academic side of business.

And sometimes they are just crap.

Today's quote of the day gives us insight into the marketer's mind and the cavernous expanse there in.

"Soccer star David Beckham has become a powerful celebrity, in part, because he changes his hairstyle, implicity giving millions of men permission to do the same."

There are literally so many things wrong with that statement I don't know where to begin.

2005-05-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

Lawyers have this term called 'goodwill'. Here's a definition I found on a legal website:

Every business has goodwill in some form or other. The 'goodwill' of your business is comprised of all of those things about it that give you a business edge. It is not a tangible asset but may be quite easily identified. Your business' goodwill would be the sum of all of the following:

the business' reputation;
the strategic location and your tenure at that location;
the business' logo and "get up";
the business' phone number;
the business' long term key employees;
the exclusive or long term supply agreements with suppliers;
the business' unique or high standard systems and procedures;
the regularity of sales in light of points (a) to (g).

Keep these things in mind when you are called upon to put a dollar value on your business to ensure you maximise its worth.

Basically, if you have a good relationship with your customers, your business is worth more.

Believe it or not, I'm bringing this term up for a very good reason. If any of you are thinking about buying a movie studio or DVD shop (I'm looking at you Jay. Ok not really.) my one piece of advice would be don't pay a dime for good will. This article talks about the practice of 'double dipping'. In short, it's a way to f*ck your DVD paying customers right in the ass as shamelessly and ruthlessly as Bubba, your cell mate who's also in for "pirating movies".

You'll have to excuse my aggressive opinions on this because the way my logic goes, if the business that wants you to buy their product employs the tactic of double dipping, suing you for made up losses, and calls you a 'theif', then what are you doing business with that company for? I will rent a DVD and even download a movie, but it will be a cold day in hell before I ever buy one.

Also, I went to see the new Star Wars in the theatre this week. Let me give a few notes of my experience: 20 minutes of pre-previews for shows that look horrible on television, another 20 minutes of previews to show upcoming movies, and $10 for a soda and popcorn and that doesn't include the cost of gouging going on for the movie ticket. So why do I need to see the movie in the theatre again? Oh that's right I don't.

Random thoughts

2005-05-24T06:46:00.000-07:00

Here's some random thoughts for today:

Here is my results of finding my Star Wars twin that I saw on Jay's blog.
I rented Forza Motorsport the other day and after all the ranting and raving over how great of a game it is, I'm a little disappointed. It's o.k. I wouldn't annoint it the greatest racing game ever. If I had to pick betwen Forza and Project Gotham, I'd go with Project Gotham. I'll give it a little more time and see if it grows on me.
I work on gov't funded programs. How anyone can work on a gov't funded program and believe that we need to increase taxes is beyond me. Now that I've seen first hand all the inefficiency and money waste that takes place, I'm rock solid in my belief that the gov't doesn't need more money. It only needs to find a way to spend it 1/2% better and they'd be making a profit.
San Diego is a wonderful place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

San Diego Trip highlights

2005-05-19T09:26:00.000-07:00

My philosophy on work trips is that your first and foremost obligation when traveling for work is to get your work done on the trip. If that takes 12 hour days so be it. If it takes 5 hour days then that's good too. My co-workers and myself have been making great progress while we've been out here and are working hard. In fact, between being at the vendor here in San Diego and working out of the hotel, I'd say we are putting in a solid 11 hours a day. But what are we doing with the other 13 hours in the day? We'll take out about 6-7 for sleep and we're left with another 6-7 hours of fun time. Here's some trip highlights:

We caught the San Deigo Padres vs. the Atlanta Braves game on Monday night at the new baseball stadium, Petco Park. Beautiful stadium that never should have been funded by taxpayers. Excellent game though. The Padres came back from being 2 runs down to go ahead by 2 in the bottom of the 8th.
Tuesday night we made it to a touristy part of town that has some excellent authentic mexican restaurants. They sell these gargantuan margaritas that take two hands to hold for $7 too.
Wednesday was the coup de grace though. All 3 of us got a walk on tee time to Torrey Pines golf course. They were even nice enough to charge us the local resident rate of $25. Since I didn't bring my clubs I rented a sweet set of Calloways for another $20. So for $45 bucks, I golfed 9 glorius holes of golf along the ocean. The Navy was even nice enough to put on a show of F-18's, A-6's, and some funky looking helicopters flying out to sea for us. If you can believe it, I even golfed in the fairway for most of the afternoon. It was like carpet. I don't think I've ever had more fun golfing.
Wednesday after golf was good too because we found a nice college bar to eat at. The food was typical bar fare, but there was a pretty decent band and the scenery was nice. Drinking red stripe at a bar with good music and scenery was a nice cap to the day.

We're traveling home this afternoon and getting back to the grind. But wait, is tomorrow my off-Friday? I think it is. And me and the guys are going golfing with some grilling and beer drinkin on tap afterwards. Oh and is the Eagan LM shutting down power on Saturday for some maintenance? I believe they are. Which means I won't go into the office or dial in to get some work done. Oh and is Kristen leaving town for the weekend to go to a wedding and graduation ceremony? That's right, you guessed it. I love my girlfriend but she was nice enough to excuse me from weddings and graduation so that I can have a bachelor weekend which I will gladly accept and honor the opportunity. I believe golfing, gaming, and drinking are on tap for me.

In summary and conclusion, therefore, hence, ergo, and inabsentia,

EVERYTHING IS COMING UP MILLHOUSE!!!!

Weekend update

2005-05-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

Ok this weekend I missed out on the Ames trip because of a confluence of events that emerged into the perfect storm. More to the point, I'm being sent on last minute travel to sunny San Diego today. Therefore, posting will be sporadic this week as I'm going to be on travel.

This weekend's highlights include in no discernable order:

Todd and I figured out how to do the main quest for Guild Wars. As such we stayed up until 2:00 on Saturday night.
The lawn was mowed.
Kristen and I celebrated our 2 year anniversy at a lovely sushi restaurant. We reminisced on the last 2 years over a few glasses of chilled saki, raw fish, and some raspberry iced tea thingy.
Friday I worked and came home early.
Sunday night I packed for my trip and got up early to handle a few things at the office.

I'll try to post from San Diego but we'll see how it goes. If I don't make it, have an excellent week.

Burn

2005-05-11T06:33:00.000-07:00

This was sent to me in one of those funny emails you get at work. It was a pretty good zing.

Marine Corp's General Reinwald was interviewed on the radio the other
day and you have to read his reply to the lady who interviewed him
concerning guns and children.

Regardless of how you feel about gun laws you gotta love this!!!!

This is one of the best comeback lines of all time. It is a portion of
National Public Radio (NPR) interview between a female broadcaster and
US Marine Corps General Reinwald who was about to sponsor a Boy Scout
Troop visiting his military installation.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: So, General Reinwald, what things are you going to
teach these young boys when they visit your base?

GENERAL REINWALD: We're going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery,
and shooting.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible, isn't it?

GENERAL REINWALD: I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the
rifle range.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Don't you admit that this is a terribly dangerous
activity to be teaching children?

GENERAL REINWALD: I don't see how. We will be teaching them proper rifle
discipline before they even touch a firearm.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: But you're equipping them to become violent killers.

GENERAL REINWALD: Well, Ma'am, you're equipped to be a prostitute, but
you're not one, are you?

The radio went silent and the interview ended.

You gotta love the Marines!

Weekend update

2005-05-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

Man, I had a good weekend. Here's what happened.

Friday morning, Kris and I picked up the cat from the vet. Lyla was visiting the vet in order to be declawed and the procedure required an over night stay. Kris spent a better portion of Friday following the cat around the house making sure she didn't jump, run, or play. The latter part of the day was spent doing yard work.
Saturday Kris and I went to the St. Paul Saints game with some friends. The Saints came back from being down 2 to win with a 1 run homer in the bottom of the ninth. Good times were had by all. Saturday night Todd and I played Guild Wars until 4:30 in the morning. It was in the top 3 gaming moments of all time for me.
Sunday I couldn't resist the urge to squeeze in some more Guild Wars time. I also had some errands to do and some whatnot to accomplish.

All in all it was a pretty good weekend.

News from the home front

2005-05-04T09:43:00.000-07:00

I rarely check or receive news from my home state. My logic goes that if I just let things come to me naturally only the important and newsworthy notes will get through. It's a natural filter. Well today, my friends, something noteworthy snuck through. Donkey basketball. That's not a misprint. In order to raise money for a sick 5th-grade girl, Montana students rode donkey's and played basketball simultaneously. While participating in a fundraiser they apparently started a new sport that will replace our nation's other unpopular games like lacrosse and perhaps even come to rival soccer.

I miss Montana. (some days)

Finger in the custard

2005-05-03T06:42:00.000-07:00

Following very closely on the heels of the Wendy's snafu, another person found a finger in their food. Unlike the lady who was trying to scam, Wendy's this man's complaint seems to be legitamite because a worker who made the custard recently lost part of his finger in a custard making accident. According to the article, he even licked all the ice cream off of it because he thought it was a piece of candy.

Heisman

2005-05-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

Question of the day:

What does it say about the Heisman trophy (the same Heisman trophy that is given to the "best" player in college football) award when the college player who earned it, doesn't get drafted, doesn't get a free agent bid, and can't even find a team to take him for a tryout during mini-camps?

Link is here.

Weekend update

2005-05-02T07:58:00.000-07:00

Well this weekend came and went quickly. Here's some updates:

Friday night Kristen and I agreed that we were tired and wanted chinese food for dinner. I spent an evening goofing around with Guild Wars.
Saturday I woke up and completed a level of Splinter Cell 3 from beginning to end. Kristen and I also spontaneously decided to re-arrange the living room. It's much nicer now.
Saturday night Todd and I tried to figure out what it would be like to be teenage girls and talked on the phone all night. Ok so it isn't as bad as all that, but we did play some Cooperative Guild Wars, and since we couldn't get any voice over IP programs to work, we used our cell phones. We sat on the phone for no less than 5 hours coordinating our every move on guild wars. I used my speaker phone feature and Todd used a handset. To my suprise, Microsoft stopped supporting Game Voice and Teamspeak is a piece of crap.
Sunday I worked from home and played some more Guild Wars. I also spent quality time with the woman.

What can I say? It's a tough life living in the suburbs.

Smoking Ban thoughts

2005-05-02T06:38:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it. I'm opposed to smoking bans. I don't believe in it for a variety of reasons and I don't smoke. What really bothers me about the smoking bans though isn't the ban itself. It's how the anti-smoking folks are going about doing it. Here's some of the arguments I've heard.

The government is allowed to step in and make laws when there is a public health issue.

The statement is true, but the government never defines "public health issue". Obesity is a public health issue. Just wait until hey try to ban hamburgers. Or greasy foods. Or maybe they'll just single out Burger King and McDonald's.2.

Now that the bars are smoke free, I'm finally going to go out.

I don't think cigarette smoke keeps you from going to a crowded bar with overpriced drinks with people half your age. These people might go once to say they went but they'll be back on their couches complaining that the music is too loud. And then there goes the freedom to play loud music in dance bars.

These bans will keep kids from smoking.

I'm not even sure where to begin with this one.

Won't someone please protect the workers.

This is the most legitamit reasoning I have heard. But wouldn't the market take care of this. Let's assume that people really will go to bars that are smoke free. Wouldn't Bar A which is smokefree have an overload of customers and tips compared to Bar B which allows smoking? Doesn't that mean the bartenders and whatnot would naturally gravitate to smoke free bars? Problem solved. The myth here is that smoke free bars are what the public wants.

What also bothers me is their fanaticism. Here in Minnesota, the state didn't take action on the issue. The pushed it down to the counties to decide. Which left the Twin Cities area with a patchwork of smoking ordinances. A little confusing but it's not an all-in-all bad way to go. But you see, the anti-smoking zealots aren't done. See Exhibit A to illustrate my point. Below is a quote.

Jeanne Weigum, president of the Association for Nonsmokers-Minnesota, said she's disappointed by the changes some establishments will make to permit smoking.

"It's just unnecessary to go out of their way to create an unhealthy environment," Weigum said. "We need to get things settled and get people really used to [the bans], and then we can deal with extending them."

It doesn't sound like to me that these people are going to stop until tobacco is banned outright. And we all know how well prohibition turned out. I hope the government sees fit to intrude on one of that lady's freedoms. We'll see how loud she screams then.

Guild wars and games

2005-04-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

Last night I was left at home to cook dinner while Kris decided to go shopping. While it sounds unfair, karma pulled a fast one again as I had totally forgot I was going to buy the new MMORPG, Guild Wars. So I remembered in enough time to call Kris and have her swing by Gamestop to pick up a copy on the way home.

I played about 2 hours worth of Guild Wars last night and it seems like a pretty decent game. There's a PvP (person versus person) mode and a quest mode for people who like to co-op and quest. Since I've only played a couple of hours, I'm not qualified to give a review of the game.

What I am qualified to talk about it is the installation process. My official opinion is that the installation process sucks. It sucks hard. You see putting your CD in the drive and hitting install isn't enough any more. You have to go about 3 levels beyond that for installation now. Puttnig the CD in the drive last night was the easy part and that part of it went well. The installation of the game files on my hard drive went well. Where it all fell apart was creating an account. You see it's important for a gaming company to have you enter a 16 digit alpha-numeric key, have you enter your home address (which I used a fake), and then enter in your email address and password. Ok, if I have to enter that once I'm ok with it. I'm not thrilled because I don't see what a gaming company needs my home address for in order so that I can play their game. The problem here is that you enter all the information in and THEN you hit create account. The brilliant question here is what happens if you can't connect to their server? That's right you have to back out to troubleshoot the problem AND then you get to enter all the information again.

So let's walk through my real-life example. I enter all the information and get a vague error that my internet connection isn't working and it can't connect to the server to create my account. But it gives me a nice little link to the Guild Wars tech support site. Well my web browser is working. My email is working. Tracert's are working to several websites. My professional opinion is that my internet connection was not down as the error message indicated. That means it could be something with their servers or maybe my firewall was blocking the program. But I thought their tech support page would be the place to start.

I actually thought would be filled with tech support information. Well here is the tech support site and it blows. Tech support now answers the following questions:

What will the box look like?
When will the game be live?
How will Guild Wars remain cheat free?

The only thing tech support related on that page is how to contact tech support. Which I did. Only I got an email back saying that Guild Wars Tech Support will answer my question within 24 hours only on Monday-Friday. What it also did was give me a related questions section filled with such useful information as:

How do I apply for a job at NCSoft?
Will a cloth map be available for Guild Wars?
Can you play alone or do you need to play in a group?

Well since that information shouldn't be classified as Tech Support nor is it useful or relevant, I decide the Guild Wars Forums might have some information. Which they did. Other people couldn't connect either. But the forums were filled with such useful tidbits as:

Dude, it's your firewall. Unplug it.
Your key isn't valid.
IM T3LLNG U!!!! IT'S UR FREWLLA AND U R TEH SUX0RS!!! 1 W1LL HAX0R U!!!

So now it's time to pull in the big hitters and do google searches for information. Where I found plenty of forums containing information just like the posts I spoke to above. Which leads me to believe that forums are no longer good places to go for information because everytime you have a problem, everyone is going to tell you its your firewall and to open up the ports. Which is just plain stupid and ignorant and shows that forums have been invaded by 10 year old kids who, bless their souls, want to help but have the mental comprehension and social skills of a foul mouthed and illiterate grapefruit.

Well I found a forum somewhere and I found my problem. Anyone want to take a wild stab? It was because I use a NETGEAR router. That's right. The one common thing people found that caused the problem is having a NETGEAR wireless router with your PC hooked into the wired ethernet ports. I disconnected my routher and the whole thing worked fine. It only took me an hour of forum searches, repeatedly entering in loging and account information that a gaming company doesn't need, sending off a tech support email that might be answered within 24 hours, examining a tech support web site that doesn't actually contain any tech support information, and I took 2 minutes out to scratch my cats belly. No fucking wonder John Dvorak is predicting the end of the gaming industry. I'll do him one better and say the internet is no longer a cornicopia of useful information. It's degrading to a mass of useless posts telling me to disable my firewall.

Hamilton Streaking Team

2005-04-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice little article when Sports Illustrated decided to send a reporter to a Hamilton College Streaking Team event.

Super Post

2005-04-28T07:38:00.000-07:00

I know I've been a little off in posting lately so I'll make it up with one large inchoerent super post with all sorts of tibdbits.

Houston wants to ban offensive smelling people from the library. Liberals call this a direct attack on the homeless community.
Do you know who you are? Do other people know who you are as ap erson. According to Kila Vang who works at Fred's Tires in St. Paul, your car's rims will give people insight into who you are. "Rims make a person look good," said Kila Vang, a manager at Fred's Tire in St. Paul. "It gives people a better idea of who you are. It gets you noticed." This wonderful quote comes from this article where a guy was shot and killed for the rims in his car. Apparently, the killer in this case wanted to impersonate the guy with the rims. I can't be the only guy who thinks Kila Vang is a dumbass.
My new bed is ridiculously huge. I can lay sideways on it with out my feet hanging over the bed. Of course during sleeping hours I've been relegated to almost the exact same amount of space as I had before because the cat flanks me on one side and my girlfriend on the other. I have a king size bed and I still have a problem rolling over in the middle of the night.
Our company softball team won last night by the score of 16-13. We are now 1-0.
I'm looking for a 20-26" lcd television that I can mount on my wall in my bedroom. If anyone knows of a good deal or has a solid recommendation, I'm all ears.

That is all for now.

2005-04-26T20:17:00.000-07:00

This is the before picture I meant to use.

2005-04-26T20:16:00.000-07:00

This is what it looks like after. I'm still short a tv and a couple of wall decorations but it looks a lot better to me. It's one hell of a lot more comfortable too.

2005-04-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

This is the before picture of my bedroom.

Eagan Happenings

2005-04-23T07:59:00.000-07:00

For those that don't know, I live/work in a nice little area called Eagan. As I read this morning's paper, I found this little tidbit about a party that was thrown at the city council woman's house. 18 underage kids were arrested for drinking while the daughter's dad was passed out drunk upstairs and the city council woman was away on travel taking their son to a soccer game in Iowa.

I didn't think there was very much to this until you get into the article that the husband has 4 drunken driving convictions. Mrs. Carlson states that he's been sober for several months now and has just suddenly fallen off the wagon. Mrs. Carslon then goes on to state that the behavior of the daughter and the husband "is not tolerated here". Oh come on. The jig is up. When your husband has 4 drunken driving arrests and your daughter is drinking with 30 of her closest friends in the house (implying this wasn't a one-time incident), you can't possibly expect people to believe that it "isn't tolerated here". Please give me a better excuse than that. I want to believe you're a person with a troubled family not a politician using empty threats to spin the incident.

I feel bad for Mrs. Carlson. She wasn't even at home during this incident and if there's any negative repercussions that is going to happen it's going to be to her career/public image. But geez, give me something better than rhetoric. And this is just a city council woman. Imagine the indescretions of some better connected "leaders". This kind of crap is unreal from our government.

Some days I just feel like it's my job to point on the idiocy and hypocracy that's in today's news both of the journalists and of the people they're writing about. This insanity is everywhere and there are days when I think that I'm the one that must be taking the crazy pills because the stupidity of this crap is so thinly veiled anymore. I swear our society relishes in making dumb decisions and mistakes just to have something to do and/or talk about.

MPAA paying off the cops?

2005-04-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

I found this article at the New York Post saying that the MPAA would tip off New York cops about people bootlegging DVDs. There is nothing illegal about that. However, upon the arrests of the alleged bootleggers, the MPAA would give hundreds of dollars in gratuities to the policemen. Which is very illegal and also illustrates very nicely that cops can be bought for a mere few hundred dollars.

Multi-tasking worse for your memory than Marijuana?

2005-04-23T07:48:00.000-07:00

Once again, CNN takes it's hard hitting journalism to the frontlines of readers health. This article is titled

"Emails "hurt IQ more than Pot"

What is interesting about the title, is it's not email that "hurts IQ more than pot", it's multi-tasking that "hurts IQ more than pot". I, therefore, reach the conclusion that the title is misleading. And nevermind the fact that they're using a quote in a title which is also misleading.

Then there is, what I like to call, the "No-Duh Factor". This article is basically saying that being constantly distracted leads to cloudier thinking than when you're focused. No-Duh! Except they used Pot in the title which is a controversial issue between the people who want to legalize it and the people who think pot smokers eat their children.

What CNN relies on in this case is that people are so busy reading their emails that they just peruse this article mistaking it for real journalism.

Wendy's-gate update

2005-04-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

In what should be one of the last Wendy's-gate posts, police have arrested the woman who bit into the finger on charges of grand theft, which is a felony. Police are saying grand theft fits because of the loss of business that Wendy's has suffered as a result of the incident. There's also a nice picture of this woman and some high level info on some of her previous exploits of defrauding people for money.

Police are still at a loss as to where the finger came from.

Mystery Solved!

2005-04-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

Stop the presses and hold the phones because experts have discovered why some popcorn kernels don't pop. And this is somehow sold as a new development. I remember seeing an explanation for this on 3-2-1 Contact, the old science show for kids that aired during the 80's. (You may remember the Bloodhound Gang.)

More crap for Northwest

2005-04-21T06:43:00.000-07:00

For those of you in other parts of the country I should give some background on Minneapolis's relationship with Northwest Airlines before I post the story. Northwest Airlines has it's main hub here in the Twin Cities. As a result they've been complaining and lobbying for years that they should have sole access to the main airport terminal and all other carriers should be directed to a secondary terminal at the same airport. According to Northwest, this would encourage competition and be good for the airlines industry. Ironic that it happens to conincide with millions in renovations at the main terminal and the only place to eat at the secondary terminal is a shack that sells muffins and cold sandwhiches. Then the service rankings come out and Northwest is somewhere near the bottom. Then Northwest says they're cutting meal services. So the relationship is not the best.

Then this event happens to Northwest. 21 people got some stomach problems when traveling from Washington D.C. to Minneapolis. I'm sure this isn't going to go over well with the public. I'm seriously thinking about using a different airline.

Need a job?

2005-04-21T06:03:00.000-07:00

Do you need a software programming job? Tired of all the hassles of dealing with the government to get a work visa? Then here's the job for you. It's Seacode. Seacode is a cruise ship located in international waters 3-miles off the coast of Los Angeles. Filled with the best programming minds ever, programmers work around the clock without having to worry about visas or distractions such as a place to live. Here's a great endorsement if I ever heard one:

With his unusual background as a super-tanker captain and an IT professional, the idea made a lot of sense to him.

Weekend update

2005-04-18T11:08:00.000-07:00

Ok here's this weekend's highlights:

Friday, I was both extremely delighted and ultimately dismayed by G4 Tech TV, the new channel for gamers and people who like technology. While the concept is both refreshing and enlightening, the execution of this idea depresses me. They have two shows that both run over and over again on some sort of endless mobius strip like loop. Show #1 is with 2 geeky kids trading what they think is witty banter but what amounts to two nerds arguing over whether James T. Kirk or John Luc Picard is the better Star Ship captain. Show #2 is a show with a geeky kid and an above average looking female trading what is most definitely not witty banter but reviewing games like Sonic the Hedgehog and Double Dragon. Seriously, they are reviewing games that released sometime in 2004. If they expect me to watch their channel, the least they can do is review semi-recent games.
Friday, I also took an hour off work early to enjoy the weekend and go over to Wilbo's to drink his birthday beer.
Saturday, the bedroom was completed. The impending bedroom furniture is due around this Friday and the room has all fixtures installed and is ready to accept the incoming delivery.
Saturday and Sunday I spent playing some Splinter Cell 3. Not a bad game. It isn't as great as all the reviews would have you believe but it's worth a play.
Sunday, I spent a lovely afternoon disc golfing around Eagan. Eagan just installed a wonderful 9-hole par 3 course over by their high school. It's a short course and it's not extremely difficult. If you need a place to get your throwing down and do some experimenting with different throws/discs, this course is perfect. Not to mention it has a wonderful spot for bbq's. I can see a guy's afternoon spent bbq'ing and playing some disc in the park.

That's all I got.

Ever wonder who's running this show?

2005-04-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

I get a kick out of the NRA. I know that sounds like a funny statement, but I have to tell you the NRA really cracks me up sometimes. Before I expound on that statement, I'd like it on record that I'm FOR gun rights. People should be able to own and possess guns if they want to. As long as people aren't running in the streets, shooting their guns in the air like Pancho Villa, and has the common sense to use them in a safe fashion, I say let people own guns. But that isn't what this post is about.

This post is about how I get a laugh at the expense of the NRA. Today's giggle was inspired by "rock legend" Ted Nuggent. My view of Nuggent (I don't personally know him) is that he's a burnt out entertainer from the 70's/80's who likes guns. He's a an entertainer trying to make a living off of entertainment which leads to entertainment like this article. I'm kind of curious why the NRA lets a burnt out rocker campaign for their cause because the actions of Mr. Nuggent just polarizes the gun issue.

Wendy's-gate Updated #2

2005-04-18T06:25:00.000-07:00

Here's another article discussing the difficulties authorities are having trying to discover who's finger was in the chili and how did it get there.

As a brief recap, there was a let down last week because a woman who had her finger bitten off in a rare leopard attack was determined not to be the original owner of the finger. After this lead didn't turn up any hard evidence, authorities are back to asking who's finger is it and where did it come from.

This article aslo philosophises on the damage done to Wendy's reputation and how there are shorter hours and less jobs available to workers in northern California Wendy's establishments. It also goes on to say how Wendy's has offerred a reward and hired a private investigator to get to the bottom of this crazy tale. The woman is also playing the role of the victim. Not so much that's she's a victim that there was a finger in her chili. She's a victim of the pooooooooo-lice who have been stressing her out by asking questions about whether she planted the finger or not. Along those lines, this article outlines what charges the woman is facing if she did, indeed, plant the finger in the chili.

I'm curious on how this is going to end.

Man Saves Chicken

2005-04-15T06:02:00.000-07:00

A Colorado man saved his chicken from drowning today by giving it mouth-to-beak resucitation. Of course the famous headless chicken was mentioned several times in the article even though it had barely anything to do with the article. Not to menion it is quite clear the headless chicken's 15 minutes of fame was over 30 minutes ago.

Wendy's-gate Update

2005-04-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

I promised more info as it broke on Wendy's-gate (From now on I will refer to this and related subjects with Wendy's gate in the title or body of the post.) and here it is. The lady who lost her finger to a leopard (which apparently she keeps at home) has been ruled out as the previous owner of the finger in the chili. So the question remains of whose finger is it? It could be yours.*

*Statement only applies if you are missing portions of fingers on your right or left hand. Either partial or entire finger injuries apply. It's not your finger if you currently have all 10 whole fingers on your right and left hand.

Who's finger is it?

2005-04-14T10:19:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I'm so fascinated by this case, but there's a new twist in the story of the lady who found half of a finger in her Wendy's chili. A woman, who is totally unrelated to the finger eating woman, had her finger bitten off in leopard attack and wants to be DNA tested to see if it was her finger that ended up in the Wendy's chili. Apparently, after the leopard attack (which occurred in Las Vegas of all places) the woman went to the hospital where the finger mysteriously disappeared.

I don't know what's more bizarre, the finger in the chili or the leopard attack in Las Vegas where the finger mysteriously disappeared from the hospital. Are there that many leopards in Las Vegas? Did we she have a "Sigfried and Roy" moment? There should be a made for tv movie about this stuff.

More on this breaking story as I find it.

The kid

2005-04-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

Over at Kyle's blog you can read the transcripts of people's reactions to his news that he's having a kid.

Downloading lawsuits

2005-04-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

I came across this article that states the entertainment groups (RIAA, MPAA, etal.) are going after downloaders on Internet 2. I didn't know they were monitoring Internet 2. As I recall the people who are using Internet 2 are a pretty specific bunch of researchers, students, and schools so it shouldn't be too hard to find these folks. What will be difficult is making them pay up. How many college students have you seen that have any cash? I'm thinking if you round up to zero, you might be close.

Also, if you read that article and read the caption of the lady in the pink outfit you'll see that she's the executive director of American University's Housing and Dining Program. You know your college means business when they send the head of your housing and dining program after you. I can see it now, "No maam don't throw me out of the dorm. Don't take away my food pass. I'll have nothing but ramen and cold pizza to live on. Oh the humanity."

And WTF, do these college kids have Internet 2 running right into their dorm rooms? I wasn't under the impression that was the case. If my impression is correct, then what are all those photos of residence hall folks doing with the article. If my impression is not correct, WTF are we wasting Internet 2 resources on college undergrads for. They don't do squat in terms of research. They're job is to skip class and cram for tests and like it. Either way, something smells rotten in Denmark.

Items that may only interest me

2005-04-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

It's kind of a slow news day and I have a few moments so let me wax poetic on things that are going on with me at the moment:

Work can't decide whether it wants to come to a grinding halt or run at breakneck speed. It changes every 5 minutes. One minute I'm mired in beuracracy and the next I have so many things to do I can't even see straight.
I'm very excited to get my bedroom furniture. The room is almost finished as far as painting and upgrades go. Hopefully it will be done tonight and then it's just waiting for the furniture. I took a picture of the before and I'll take a picture of the after and post it to the blog so that everyone can see the improvement.
While I'm excited for the bedroom furniture to come, I want this project over with. I've spent the better part of several weekends shopping, painting, worrying, and thinking about this project. It's time to put it to bed (no pun intended) and focus on the yard.
The team's first softball practice of the year is tomorrow which officially means spring is here. I'm psyched for that.
I was informed this week via IM that a friend of mine is having a kid. This was followed up by a cryptic email with a completely unrelated subject line that reiterated that they are indeed having a kid. From this certain person, I would expect no less. Congrats to the two of you.

This concludes my waxing poetic. You can now expect the normal type of wax you find here.

Weekend update

2005-04-11T06:42:00.000-07:00

Here's what happened this weekend:

Friday was my day off so I came into work for a couple of hours. After that I raked the front yard, cleaned the kitchen, and went to the grocery store. The rest of the day was spent making sure my PVR was still operational. I also spent some time playing Doom 3 on the xbox. That game is just plain creepy and the people who made it have something wrong with them in the head. Seriously disturbed. My suggestion is that you don't play this game in the dark alone.
Saturday I slept in because I stayed up playing doom. Then Kris and I started transforming the bedroom. We taped the room, layed down the canvass, and removed all the fixtures in preparation for painting it. We then painted the ceiling, which of course didn't go great. Small chunks of the ceiling popcorn were coming down which we are now in the process of repairing. Saturday night I watched the wolves playoffs hopes drown. The wolves just didn't play well against Denver.
Sunday Kris and I painted the bedrom it's final color and worked on repairing the ceiling. We need to do a little more work in the ceiling but other than that, the room is pretty much done and just awaiting furniture. The only real thing left to do is to pick out what the people in the business call "window treatments". This is Kris's department not mine. I strictly have veto power in this matter and what little, if anything, to do with finding them. Kris wants Roman Shades which I don't know anything about. I also learned that if Kris wants them and I don't know anything about it, don't express an opinion. I got my ass chewed on for expressing concern about the look of Roman Shades.

And I'll throw in a note about the PVR. I don't watch live tv much anymore. I found I'm constantly finding something to record and picking from the list when I sit down to watch tv. Plus I'm watching tv more efficiently so shows don't take as much time and I'm more inclined to watch tv now that commercials are minimal. I'm also watching more educational programming. Discovery, history, and the learning channel are always good channels to find something good on. This weekend I watched a show about crime in the Roman Republic, the making the Chunnel which is the tunnel that runs underneath the English Channel, a show on extreme aircraft, and I have something recorded on crab fisherman in Alaska and the dangers of the profession. It sounds pretty decent. I'm excited anyway.

Where'd you get that pacemaker?

2005-04-08T09:03:00.000-07:00

At my age, I'm not a likely candidate for open heart sugery. I just haven't put the miles on the old ticker yet. Most of my readers aren't likley candidates either. So keep this in mind as we put some more miles on, to not get a cheap doctor. According to this article, a dcotor bought a $6000 pacemaker off of ebay for $255 and implanted them into somebody's chest. Is that the guy you want opening your chest and implanting a foreign device? If so, I suggest checking into any two for one surgery offers and having your head worked on at the same time.

More news into the Wendys Chili Incident

2005-04-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

Here's more news on the finger in the chili. Investigators are still trying to figure out how the finger got into the chili. This time they're looking at the victim to see if it was a plant. All they can say is they are "looking into all aspects of the case". Good for them.

Ms. Wheelchair follow up

2005-04-07T14:18:00.000-07:00

As a follow up to my earlier post on the subject, here's a followup article to the bruhaha that is the Ms. Wheelchair controversy.

Thai food to go

2005-04-07T14:16:00.000-07:00

I'm reading the paper today and I see a Thai restaurant blew up. This outburst of energy was caused by putting too many cockroach fumigation devices too close to a pilot light. Nice.

News

2005-04-06T08:42:00.000-07:00

Nothing terribly exciting going on. Gas prices are up. The pope died. UNC won a championship. Things you may or may not have read already. So I'm going to add some diversity to your diet.

Jacques Costeau's grandson made a robotic great white shark to study them closer.
Somebody dumbass thought it was a good idea to give Britney and her husand their own "real life" show similar to Newlyweds on TV. And we all know how great Jessica and Nick are turning out. Ick.
Treasure hunters have been given permission to search an Austrian Lake in search of Nazi stashed gold.
And finally, people have started standing in line for the upcoming (and hopefully final) Star Wars film. The interesting thing about this is that they're standing in line at a theatre that isn't going to show the movie.

News and assorted stuff

2005-04-06T08:29:00.000-07:00

I have discovered a joy so pure and so wonderful that I must share it with all of you. And it's not spelled J-O-Y either. The word joy is now spelled P-V-R. I love that thing as I have loved no other inanimate object ever with the keen exception of my computer (which brings me mp3's, movies, email, and naked women), my xbox (games and entertainment), the kegerator (man needs beer), and perhaps the microwave (it feeds me and man can't live on beer alone).

I can watch any show on tv at any time commercial free. I'm flipping channels last night and Scrubs is on. I hit record and keep channel surfing. You can't skip commercials that haven't happened yet after all. And what do I find? That's right I found Robocop on WGN. If I didn't have a PVR, I'd be watching Scrubs. Since I had a PVR, I could watch Robocop and watch Scrubs later. If that's not innovation, I don't know what is.

People reading this fall into two camps: the people who caught onto this technology before I did and the people who don't have it. For the people who don't have it yet, I can hear the chants of ,"No duh, dumbass. What did you think a PVR did?" And to this I tell them that it's the same difference between watching skydiving on television and going skydiving.

To the other folks, I feel your warm brotherly embrace and feel a welcoming to a club. Almost like a newborn being hugged by his parents after being born. As the newborn, I say to you my parents, that I accept your gift of PVR and promise to use it for good instead of evil.

P.S. Watching the basketball game an hour after it started and skipping pregame, commercials, half time, and the delay between foul shots was so delightful that I think I may have shat myself.

Red Ink: The new scapegoat

2005-04-04T10:16:00.000-07:00

CNN does a lot of fluff pieces. In fact, I'd say they are better known for disguising "hard hitting journalism" as fluff pieces. They do this by creating the illusion of controversy or aggitation where no controversy really exists. How "news" agencies do this is to create an emotional response to the topic at hand. Somewhere in the history of journalism, they gave out an award based on the feelings that the jouralism piece gave and they deemed that good. So now, every Tom, Dick, and Jane reporter think their job is to making things interesting by getting an emotional response. Today's example tries to piss off people with one iota of common sense.

According to the article, today's non-existent controversy is whether or not it is appropriate for teachers to grade kids in red ink. Apparently red is the color of negativity. So to be more "positive" and "nuturing", teachers need to grade in a "nicer" color like green or purple or even blue. The idea behind this is that students don't respond to negativity and that red, if I may paraphrase here, hurts the kid's feelings.

There were so many choice quotes in this article I didn't know where to begin. I picked this one as my example quote because they picked a 25-year old teacher to voice the concerns of "her generation" and her feelings of the color red.

"My generation was brought up on right or wrong with no in between, and red was always in your face," Kazmark said. "It's abrasive to me. Purple is just a little bit more gentle. Part of my job is to be attuned to what kids respond to, and red is not one of those colors."

I could rant about the stupidity of this article, but then I'd be playing right into CNN's hands. They want me to respond to this and I'll just post it for you guys to read because I would think that most people who read my blog think this is as absurd as I do for many of the same reasons. Feel free to discuss if you feel the need.

Weekend update

2005-04-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend was pretty decent. Weather was beautiful, I got a lot done, relaxed, I got some good gaming time in, and I hung out with friends. Here's the highlights:

The first half of Saturday was spent at the mall. I'm proud to report, between Kristen and I, we have picked out all the bedding we need to finish the bedroom. We even found the "perfect" decorative pillows. I for one don't see the point in decorative pillows. Kristen, however, sees them as a necessity. We compromised by finding decorative pillows that I'd actually like to lay on. The only thing left is to get the room painted and Kris and I are now in deep deliberations on which shade of green in perfect for us. Oh and we need to get the bedroom furniture delivered.
Saturday night was beer, basketball, and cards over at Al's place. Long story short, people got drunk, I lost $5 at cards, video games were played, and I got to stare longingly at Norm's face a lot as he was sitting in front of the tv during the Michigan state game. Also I discovered a great boxing game for the xbox, Fight Night 2. I've been playing it since Saturday night and I agree with Al that it is the best boxing game to show up since Mike Tyson's Punchout. It's certainly worth a rent or a purchase if you buy those types of things. I wouldn't say it $50 good, but it's worth at least a $20.
Sunday was clean the house in preperation for the most hallowed of events. I got a tivo. (I'll write a separate post about that later.) Cable guy showed up at 9'ish on Sunday morning to give me a tivo. After the programming list got loaded, I started going through the menus and setting up shows to record. Kris beat me to finding a show first and wanted to record Martha Stewart's show so that's the first thing on there. But after that it was all Simpson's, Futurama, Oblongs, P0ker Tours, etc. I've only had it for about a day now, and I don't think I'm going back.

Don't Eat the Chili Follow up

2005-04-01T10:41:00.000-08:00

The sleuthing has begun into who's finger was in Wendy's chili and at what point did it get into the ingredients in the chili. This article states that investigators have lifted a print off of the finger and are trying to determine such important questions as:

Who's finger is it?
Did it come from a cadaever, funeral home, or a living person?
At what point did it get into the chili or ingredients in the chili?
Was this the finger of the 2nd gunman on the grassy knoll?

Ok I made the last question up, but you never know.

Another take on the Schiavo events

2005-04-01T07:14:00.000-08:00

I was reading Salon.com this morning. The top headline is related to the Schiavo case and all the sensationalist media that surrounds the case. I was under the impression there were thousands of right to lifers down there standing inline to bring her some water. According to the above linked article, there were more reporters than there were right to life protesters. I feel a little misled.

Also, this article cites that 2/3's of people agree on this case. I was under the impression that I was somehow in the minority for thinking the husband not only had the right to choose for his wife but that he was doing the right thing. He made the call and I say good for him.

I'm 28 years old. If that had happened to a loved one in the past, I would have been 13 years old. If it happened tomorrow, I'd be 43 by the time 15 years had passed. Your life moves on. I say let the guy mourn in peace and let him live with the decision. Was it the right decision in the grand scheme of things? Nobody knows the answer to that. But the guy did the best he could and made the decision when he had too. That's all anybody can ask.

This was too insane not to post

2005-04-01T06:12:00.000-08:00

I'm reading the news this morning and apparently the fine people of Wiscon are not going to take fraud sitting down. According to this article, they're taking back the title of Ms. Wheelchair - Wisconsin from Janeal Lee because of a shocking photo of her standing with her high school math students. As you can imagine, one who carries the title of Ms. Wheelchair - Wisconsin is most likely confined to a wheelchair. But Ms. Lee, who has muscular dystrophy, was caught in an expose photo of her standing. Hence, the taking away of the title.

Here's a nice quote:
"I've been made to feel as if I can't represent the disabled citizens of Wisconsin because I'm not disabled enough,'' Lee said Thursday.

I know this isn't funny, but it's one of those morbid things you think wouldn't ever actually happen.

Happy April Fools

2005-04-01T06:06:00.000-08:00

Hey it's April 1st. And today we celebrate more than just St. April and his Fool Day jokes. Today we are celebrating Bob Smith's birthday. For those who don't know Bob, let me quote a little Snoop Dogg today, "He is I and I am him." Yes, I am Bob Smith. But it isn't my b-day today. Now that people are thoroughly confused let me explain.

When you sites make you give them your email address to get access to their site they have a tendancy to send you crap email you don't want. Or they sell it to a company that'll spam you to kingdom come. So I created an online alias, Bob Smith. You might know him as Bob in accounting. So I created a Bob Smith hotmail account, and to give it a little more realism I standardized his birthday as 4/1/1972. So Bob is 33 today. Congrats to Bob.

Slightly off-topic and more than likely a sick April Fool's joke, the bbc is reporting that Sony is looking to put their top 500 movies on an i-tunes like service for movies. Imagine being able to download movies for temporary use at a reasonable price. That would be sweet.

Go, Cuban, Go!!!

2005-03-31T06:38:00.000-08:00

Mark Cuban has apparently started a public campaign about copyright laws and the RIAA. Here is an interview he did with Gelf magazine and here is his opinion on his blog. With the Supreme Court hearing the now infamous Grokster case, all sorts of people are expressing their opinions about it. Mark Cuban is probably the most famous (and most boisterous) celeb weighing in on the case.

The Grokster case is about the rights of people to make technologies that the entertainment industry can't veto. Peer-to-Peer has many legitamite uses and their only going to get more diverse. Video games could be distributed (some already are), television programs, and any other entertainment, educational, informational, transformational data you want can be easily shared. Entertainment companies shouldn't have the right to dictate technologies for us. Jesus, they can't even agree among themselves what formats they want. And the only thing outlawing it is going to do, is make technology geeks (like me) do is either mod the piece of hardware or even *shock* *gasp* order it from a country that doesn't recognize U.S. law. Imagine the global economy working FOR you. It boggles the mind.

I also agree that Orin Hatch is whore for the enterainment industry and he's from Utah no less. Tell me that isn't ironic.

Double dose

2005-03-29T15:36:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you just get hit with a double dose of something that leaves you stumbling. They do say bad things happen in threes but it's just superstition as far as I know. Anyway, I'm looking at the news and here's a double dose of news coming right at you.

First, a former head official in the boy scouts is being investigated for child porn. Between the priests and the boy scouts, little kids have a lot to fear nowadays apparently.

Then, not 2 minutes later, I read that Johnnie Cochran is dead. Cochran was most famous for being O.J. Simpson's defense attorney and his line of "If the glove don't fit, you must acquit" defense. Fittingly, they used O.J. to describe a lawyer as a "good Christian man". There's so many punchlines in that one sentence that Leno, Letterman, and Tina Fey are going to have a field day with this one for quite some time. And that doesn't even count all the dead lawyer jokes.

Interesting stuff.

Weekend Update

2005-03-29T07:25:00.000-08:00

For those of you observant enough to see that I'm posting my weekend update on Tuesday, I say kudos and good day to you sir/madam. The reason behind my Tuesday post is that I was on Easter Hiatus with Kristen's family in Chicago. While I didn't have time to make any posts, sleep well in knowing that I took some work with me and didn't get much done there either.

Without further ramblings or ado, here's my weekend update:

Friday, we left for Chicago and had an absolutely wonderful drive. The weather was great, traffic was no where to be seen, and the cat was unruly for the first 20 minutes or so before she found bliss under the driver's seat where she slept for a good portion of the trip.
Saturday Kristen's parents made breakfast, I read my book for a while, took a nap, and relaxed most of the day. Kris's sister provided us free tickets to the Bulls game where they took on the Indiana Pacers. Not only were the tickets free, but they were suite tickets to boot. Free booze and food all the way around. Plus there was a tv to watch the NCAA basketball tourney where Illinois pulled off their magic upset. The United Center erupted when Illinois won and that place is HUUUUUGGGGEEEE. I've never heard such a loud noise come from a crowd. It was ridiculous. Reggie Miller also got booted within 20 seconds of that crowd outburst.
Sunday was all you can eat buffet day. Say what you want about Kris's family (they are really, really nice people), but man can those folks eat on a holiday. Every time I go back there it is an all day smorgasboard of food on the holidays. My family eats well and all, but the amount of food they put out is just plain ridiculous.
Monday was the return trip. The cat was more unruly this time around. She finally decided halfway through the trip that all the meowing was getting her down and decided to sleep at Kristen's feet for the remainder of the trip. Traffic was very unpleasant until we got to the I-90/94 split in BFE Wisconsin. But we made it home safe and sound where I blew off the remainder of the work I didn't do while in Chicago.

And that is the news.

Don't eat the chili

2005-03-24T09:36:00.000-08:00

A patron of Wendy's had a violent reaction when he found a human finger in his Chili. The best part of the article was the question of whether it was part of the ingredients used to make the chili, or whether the finger just "accidentally" fell in. And people thought the ingredients used to make the chicken nuggets were questionable.

Also the link to the aforementioned article is now embedded in the title of the post.

Thursday

2005-03-24T08:06:00.000-08:00

Ah the weekend is almost upon us. And it's the Easter weekend no less. Kris and I will be finding our way to Chicago to spend the weekend with her fam. Should be a nice time. Of course I'm taking work to Chicago with me but I'll try to find some time to relax all the same.

Things have been busy which is why I haven't gone on too many tirades since Tuesday. There also hasn't been that much in the news that is worthy of specific comment. I'll unload a quick snapshot of the past few day's headlines with a little commentary sprinkled in.

Barry Bonds went on a tirade against the media. Great ball player and all, but the media didn't make him take steroids, nor did the media force him to make his ex-girlfriend a tax-free zone by giving her the cash he received from signing baseballs. I believe he did that. The media reported on it. The media made it a big deal. When you screw up, most people prefer to screw up without the rest of the world knowing about it. But I guess when you get gazillions to play ball then I guess you take the good with the bad.
John Deloreone died. Maker of the famous Back to the Future car. Excellent car. Was made of stainless steel as I recall. (That's not fact. It's just something I vaguely recall.) He died at age 80. Glad to see those drug charges didn't take too many years off the clock.
Big high school shooting up in Red Lake, MN. Surprisingly we haven't seen a media blitz yet. At least nothing like at Columbine. My guess is the media is staying away because Red Lake isn't located in scenic Colorado right next to the airport. It's a huge tradgedy no doubt.
The fight for the lady in Florida is coming to a close. The government and justice system really had no right to invade on that family's privacy. Yes, the lady's parents asked them to intercede but how they go from a request to intercede to the all out media blitz and grandstanding is disgusting and indicitive of the bloated, power asserting, privacy invading beast the U.S. government has become. I hope she's allowed to die with dignity and the media and politicians would just leave her and her family in peace.
There are still average looking girls in small bikinis with abnormally large breasts on the show Fear Factor. It's about the only thing that makes that show worth making a brief stop on it while flipping channels. This is probably not newsworthy but it is worth mentioning.

And that's the news folks.

Tuesday Morning Rant

2005-03-22T05:52:00.001-08:00

Do you guys ever read the web and when you visit a page later in the day they change the headline but it's the same article? I always thought that was kind of dishonest. I guess I always had the expectation that news websites were like newspapers. Once the article is in print, they leave it alone and go to the next one. I always thought it was a small trick they played to boost advertising revenue. If a person reads the article the first time, they're probably willing to click on the link of interest a second time to read an update. The news site boosts it's page hit count and then charge the person advertising more money because the page is so "popular". Keep in mind this is CNN and ESPN doing this. These aren't small time websites. Seems a little bunk to me but that's the game those people play.

I guess I don't have a huge problem changing the headline to get more people to visit the page as long as the text is the same. But now they're screwing with that. I'm reading Peter King from SI this morning. I read his Monday Morning QB article on Monday (of course). He's at the owner's meeting this week in Maui and in his column yesterday he wrote that he was hearing the Patriots vs. Steelers would kick off the football season. He said he didn't know for sure but that's where we thought it was heading. It was all rumor and he said so.

I was purusing this morning, and the headline now reads "The NFL Opener between the Patriots and Raiders could be a doozy". I saw earlier this morning that the Pats are playing the Raiders so it wasn't a shock. I thought it was odd, that yesterday he was talking about the rumors of who was playing the opener and now he's saying a particular game would be a doozy. So I click on the link and the first 4-5 paragraphs where he talked about this is all retooled. The link is the same. The Monday Morning QB is supposed to be a column and yet he changed it sometime between yesterday afternoon and this morning with updated information. Again it seems a little shady to be changing the articles without some sort of footnote or something or a new link. Maybe annotate which parts of the article had changed. Because the whole article didn't change. He just changed the part where he talked about the football opener.

It's seems a little ethically challenged to me that they do this. This isn't an isolated incident with a sports columnist either. I was reading about the "huge" protest at the MN capitol the other day where "upwards of 6,000 people" were protesting for more funding for education. I came back to that article an hour or so later and it was edited down to "around 4,000". Maybe if you go there today it was say somewhere around 50 or so. So the paper can make inflate numbers and then, rather than offering a retraction, they just edit the webpage. Seems the Star Tribune is on the sketchy, sensationalist side of journalism there. (Of course that isn't breaking news.)

I can only conclude that the "bait and switch" must be an acceptable form of web publishing now. It seems to me though that if you can't trust the article because they can just append it willy nilly without having to disclose it, two things are going to happen. First, readers could call into question any of the information on the webpage. This leads to a damage in reputation of the news site and

The second thing is if the publication can just fix the article later, what's to say they don't publish the article first and then do their research? Isn't that exactly what Dan Rather was crucified for? They could really stretch and manipulate a story to make it seem like a much bigger deal than it is in order to get more readers or show that they got "the scoop" first. They could slander and then just change it. Retractions or some sort of way notifiying people that the original article was changed seems to be a natural barrier to keeping journalists honest. And now they just removed it.

In my completely logical way of thinking I come to the conclusion that doing small little tricks like this in order to boost readership in the shortterm is a very shortsighted because you're sacrificing any perception that your publication is a news authority. Seems like a pretty hefty price to pay for such a little payoff.

Weekend Update

2005-03-20T19:23:00.000-08:00

Ok everyone wants to know what I did this weekend so here's what happened in no particular order.

Sears was having a sale and I broke down and bought the griddle and crockpot I decided I wanted last week. Consequently, I made beef stew in the crockpot and breakfast on the griddle. I can neither confirm nor deny that beef stew was my hearty meal of choice on March 20th.
Kris and I finally decided on a bedroom set. You can see it here. I got the king size bed, 2 nightstands, a dresser, and a mattress so plush you'd swear it was sweet velvet. I just wanted a bigger bed. Kristen talked me into buying the whole set.
I upgraded my nightelf's crossbow so that it now does 12-34 electrical damage, 12-34 poison damage ontop of the already pretty decent 12-34 damage it already did. That, my friends, is one kick ass cross bow.
I discovered that 4 kickass titles for the xbox are coming out within a month of each other. Seriously, Jade (a kung fu RPG) Splinter Cell 3 (recieved a 9.9 out of 10), Brothers in Arms, and Doom 3 for the xbox are all coming out between now and the middle of April. Count me out for April and part of May because I'm not doing squat if it isn't front of an xbox.
How in god's name does one decide on how to pick a speaker stand? They all look the same. Any advice my dear readers have on speaker stands is most welcome.
And finally, I don't care what anyone says about PBR. I like it. Old Style and PBR are both decent beers.

All taunting aside

2005-03-20T19:14:00.000-08:00

I'll take a break from teasing Brian about the 27 point ass kicking Iowa State suffered to NC for a sec and send a shoutout that I hope everyone had a very wonderful Steak and a BJ Day today. Wonderful holiday to celebrate really. But one has to wonder does it have to be steak for the holiday to work? I like steak as much as the next red blooded American male but in this time of political correctness we should really try to include diversity. We should not discriminate against other great meals out there like hearty chili, beef stew, and bbq ribs.

I'm a big supporter of the simple, yet elegant, holiday Steak and a BJ day. But as long as you celebrated with a hearty meal and a well deserved BJ, you're doing ok.

Some good natured ribbing

2005-03-20T19:05:00.000-08:00

I had written a post earlier about how the Golden Gophers were going to meet Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA tournie. As such, I threw down the gauntlet to a few select Iowa State fans everywhere. Of course, the Gophers lost but they weren't supposed to even go this year so it's a moral victory.

If you read a few posts down, you'll see one "anonymous" Iowa State fan responded with the mighty taunt of, dare I quote, "Goofie Gophers" (notice the creative spelling). Well, geezo beezo Wally, my feelings are hurt.

Yeah, I'll admit the Hawkeyes, oops I mean Cyclones, won the day and knocked the Goph's out of the tournie. But I'm going to have to thank the Cyclones for doing us the favor. Because they saved us from the crushing defeat that they themselves discovered in the very next round getting their asses handed to them by 27 points. Ouch. Espn's actual headline was "North Carolina whips Iowa State, coasts to Sweet 16". They actually used the word "whipped". Thanks for saving us the spanking guys.

Cool site to check out

2005-03-18T08:18:00.000-08:00

Today is a slow day at work. It's snowing like crazy, St. Patty's Day celebrators called in "sick", half the people are gone due to it's the other "off" Friday, and the NCAA basketball tourney is happening. That's why today is a day for catching up on things and learning about people. But it's also a day to explore some of the links that are sent to you a little more indepth.

I was sent this interesting link that has plenty of interesting videos. I sugguest the Total Imersion demo and the Zelda video at the bottom of the page. Also note worthies are the Geeks and 70's videos. Check it out.

Edit: I take it back. If you watch one thing on this site, that Radiohead Creep video should be it. That was amazing.

It's that time of year again

2005-03-16T07:10:00.000-08:00

I keep hoping this holiday will catch on. Keep in mind March 20th is right around the corner.

A New Holiday...Guys, you know the drill. Every 14th of February you get the chance to display your fondness for a significant other by showering her with gifts, flowers, dinner, shows and any other baubles that women find romantic. Every Valentines day you rack your brains for that one special, unique gift that will show your wife or girlfriend that you really do love them more than any other. Now ladies, I'll let you in on a little secret; guys really don't enjoy this that much. Sure seeing that smile on your face when we get it right is priceless, but that smile is the result of weeks of blood, sweat and consideration. Another secret; guys feel left out. That's right, there's no special holiday for the ladies to show their appreciation for the men in their life. Men as a whole are either too proud or too embarrassed to admit it.

Which is why a new holiday has been created. March 20th is now officially "Steak and Blowjob Day". Simple, effective and self explanatory, this holiday has been created so you ladies finally have a day to show your man how much you love him. No cards, no flowers, no special nights on the town; the name of the holiday explains it all, just a steak and a BJ. Thats it. Finally, this twin pair of Valentine's Day and Steak and Blowjob Day will usher in a new age of love as men everywhere try THAT much harder in February to ensure a memorable March 20th. Its like a perpetual love machine!

The word is already beginning to spread, but as with any new idea, it needs a little push to start the ball rolling. So spread the word, and help bring love and peace to this crazy world. And, of course, steak and bjs.

This means war

2005-03-15T07:08:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make: I don't follow men's college basketball religously. I get some interest going during the tourney and I of course read about the gophers in the paper during the season, but for the most part I'm not terribly interested. But this year's tourney has a twist. The mighty Gopher basketball squad is playing Iowa State in the first round of the tourney. I'm a gopher's alum and my alliegence will not be swayed. On the other hand I've been to Iowa State on several occasions and it's a pretty decent party school.

So I guess I leave it up to Brian. Do we behave gentlemenly and say, "May the better team win." or do we bring it down a notch and say, "Iowa State will never, ever make it out of the first round because they have no game."?

I vote for bringing it down a notch. Friday, 11:3o am. central time, we'll find out who goes on to the 2nd round and who goes home.

Is this really necessary?

2005-03-14T14:52:00.000-08:00

Do you know the words to the United State's National Anthem? Do you even know it's title? Yes, the Star Spangled Banner is still our national anthem. According to this article, U.S. citizens everywhere don't know the lyrics. While I find this hard to believe since the song is sung AND DISPLAYED at every sporting event and public gathering everywhere not to mention the 4th of July firework shows and what not.

What really amuses me is the shock value of the quote they put in there.

"I don't even want to try to say it because I don't want to mess it up," said Sandy Sexton, 40, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, adding she has great respect for the song.

Holy sweet jesus is that an excuse. I don't know the words to the national anthem because I'm afraid I'll screw it up. How does she find the courage to leave the house? Can I tell my gf that I'm too afraid to go to the grocery store because I'm afraid I'll screw it up. And then there's the really nice cover. But I have great respect for the song. If she had great respect for it, wouldn't she take the time to know it? That's like telling your neighbor, "Hey, Bob, I have great respect for your yard," and then letting your 150 lb dog pinch a loaf in his front yard.

The article then goes on to use this woman as proof there is an epidemic. One stupid person in the world does not an epidemic make.

Weekend update

2005-03-13T18:05:00.000-08:00

Another excellent weekend down and another interesting week ahead.

This weekend's highlights include:

I made a chuck roast.
I decided that a king size bed would go well in my bed room but haven't decided if I want to pay for it yet.
The Sci-Fi channel's remake of Dune and Children of Dune is really good. Check it out if you ever get the chance.
I threw down my controller after a round of Halo 2 in disgust.
I decided I want a crock pot.
I found out that Baldur's Gate II: Dark Alliance is a game worth playing.

I'm looking forward to another productive week at work. And of course another pay check.

I told you I would

2005-03-09T17:42:00.000-08:00

Well I'm at home and I thought I'd post just like I said I intended. I didn't get any funny emails today, nor did I stumble across anything good on the web. I'm sure there's good stuff out there on the Internet. I just didn't find anything worth mentioning today. Maybe tomorrow.

Mad busy-ness

2005-03-09T12:54:00.000-08:00

I got some serious pressures on me here to actually perform a service for the company that pays me. Actually, they want me to perform many services simultaneously. Since I like my paychecks, I'm going to do these services which means I don't have much for you guys today. I'm going to try and make a post when I get home tonight but I make no real promises.

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty....

2005-03-08T05:58:00.000-08:00

Ah Wisconsin. Home of cows, beer, cheese, and some really, really, really unattractive people who over indulge in beer and cheese. Truth be told about the only difference really between Wisconsin and Minnesota is the color of our football teams. Tell that to a Minnesotan or a Wisconsinite and they'll look at you like your crazy and begin to ramble on about the great cultural differences between MN and WI such as how much stiffer fines are for speeding tickets in Wisconsin, and how people in MN call it pop and WI people call it soda, and, my absolute favorite, in MN it's a water fountain in WI it's a bubbler. I don't see how these two great states can bridge these immense cultural gaps but somehow the only thing that really gets people riled up is the whole Packers versus Vikings debate.

The Packer versus Vikings rivalry isn't really related to this post though. I don't want to talk about that. I want to bring everyone attention's to on Wisconsin man's plight. His nemisis, his Don Quixote windmill, his Lex Luther is none other than the cat. You can read about it here (login: slashdot, slashdot if needed). The man wants to open up hunting season on cats. His idea would allow anyone with a small game hunting permit to shoot free ranging cats that roam the neighborhoods. While some of the kindler, gentle, more human people just want them trapped and euthanized.

Blogging in the work place

2005-03-07T06:10:00.000-08:00

I do not consider myself any sort of renegade or rebel or even a trend setter. But apparently I'm on the leading edge of a legal battle so fierce and my employment could be terminated at a moments notice. What crime could I be comitting that is so bad, so terrible, so incomprehensible to warrant such a stiff response? Blogging. That's right people, I'm laying it all on the line right so that my 20 or so readers will have something to read for 5 minutes or less on Mondays. This article is a couple of people's stories wrapped into one hard hitting piece of jouralism that CNN is known for discussing people who were fired for blogging. It is also a lound siren call beckoning for the government or employers to make rules defining what is and is not ok for bloggers to write about.

For those not familiar with Ben's work, here is his post where he waxed incoherently poetic about what he views is and is not ok to blog about.

I try to stay away from work topics as well. I've made a few posts related to work but they are general enough that they could be about any office. Think Dilbert but with more words and less funny. Unless you're referencing my friend, who I don't work with, Kyle. Then it's really funny. So in the future don't expect a lot of posts about work or photos of me in my uniform exposing my bra.

Punched in the jewels by a 67 year old man

2005-03-07T05:58:00.000-08:00

Seems you can't keep a good company down these days. Or can you? Just when Boeing CEO was starting to pick the company up from a series of scandals (scandal #1 and scandal #2), a virile 67-year old, once retired Stonecipher gives Boeing a big donkey punch in it's ethical jimmy by getting himself fired for having "an improper relationship with a female employee". Ouch. Don't feel too bad for Stonecipher though. On top of what is sure to be a generous severence package, it is rumored that Stonecipher is in talks to become Viagra's new spokesman.

2005-03-05T07:17:00.000-08:00

In this Penny Arcade strip, the VCR sounds exactly like my buddy down in Iowa, Brian.

Ewwwww

2005-03-04T10:57:00.000-08:00

I'm going to post a cut and paste version of an article I read on Salon.com.

March 4, 2005 | INKOM, Idaho (AP) -- Torri Hutchinson's cat might just have one less life to live. Hutchison was driving along Interstate 15 one day recently when a motorist kept trying to get her attention and pointing to the roof of her car. She said she was wary of the man, but wondered if perhaps her ski rack might have come loose.

She pulled over to the side, but kept her doors locked and the motor running.

The man pulled up behind her. Hutchinson rolled down her window to hear the man frantically shouting, "Your cat! Your cat!" He reached for the roof of her car and handed the shocked Hutchinson her orange tabby.

She had driven about 10 miles with the cat on top of the car, and didn't even notice the feline when she stopped for gas.

Hutchinson said Cuddle Bug, or C.B. for short, had climbed into the back of her car as she was getting ready to leave. She put him out, but he must have jumped on the roof while she wasn't looking, she said.

There's so many things about this story I'm not even sure where to begin.

One at a time please

2005-03-04T08:07:00.000-08:00

A door to the police precinct in Sweden had a scale installed to detect when more than one person was trying to get through a secure door at a time. The problem is that some of the police officers with a more impressive girth are being denied entrance because the scale thinks there's more than one person on it. I wonder how Police Cheif Wiggum would handle this situation.

Brothers In Arms - The Comic

2005-03-03T06:42:00.000-08:00

I know I reference Penny Arcade in some of my posts. Enough in fact that I'm probably considered some sort of bastardized groupie. They do good work, I enjoy a daily shot of blog with my comics, and I'm impressed they found a way to make a living off of drawing comics for my amusement. Good for them. They're living the American dream. I do want to make it clear that I don't lust after either one of them and I actually prefer not to see pictures of the two guys who make Penny Arcade as I feel it kind of ruins the mystique.

What some of you may not know is they also do side projects. They draw comics series for games like Splinter Cell, World of Warcraft, Rainbow Six 3, and Farcry. You can find all of those here. They also have another side project called Cardboard Tube Samurai. I'm not thrilled with Cardboard Tube Samurai because it's kind of abstract for my tastes but some people like that shit and it is done really well.

Today's Penny Arcade ass-kissing post brings you information on a new side project for the game Brothers in Arms. The link for information on the game but more importantly the comic series can be found here. Take a gander and let me know if you think this stuff is any good.

Also, slightly off topic is I've found some more webcomics that I find funny/entertaining that I will be posting here in the near future.

Same stuff, different day

2005-03-02T13:46:00.000-08:00

It's a usual day at work. I would define my days at work as controlled chaos. We're all respectful of one another. For example, you won't see any 'F' bombs being used as verbs of what people can do with themselves. Sure you'll hear the occasional one in private conversations and when people are working in the labs, but in everyday business transactions we're fairly restrained and a controlled people. Hence, the term ''controlled'.

The biggest contributor to the "chaos" part of the equation is created by different people who work in different groups. All the groups are in vague consensus that we are moving toward the same goal of delivering product A to Customer B. However, all the groups are dancing to a different beat and all groups think they're leading the charge. We have different agendas, goals, and performance measures which has a real tendancy to bring out the differences in attitudes, personality traits, and backgrounds. Here's what really floors me though: You can have a perfectly reasonable, controlled conversation with a person in another group and they'll even give you the impression that all parties are in agreement on a course of action. Then they go off and do the thing all parties just agreed not to do and then wonder why we have to have another meeting to re-establish the course of action. It's almost as people are paid by the meeting around here. Which would be great if I was on that performance plan, but I'm not.

In summary, the day is normal in that nobody knows what is going on but we're positive we're making progress.

2005-03-01T19:13:00.000-08:00

Front page of today's newspaper runs this photo depicting protestors at the MN state capitol requesting more funding for education. If you were going to guess who in this photo needed more money for education who would it be? Ironic isn't it.