Thursday, June 29, 2006
In theory...
"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is. "
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Your Blog Blows
In Wired Magazine's Wired 14.07: START, uh, "blog" posting, Ruth Fowler lets the rest of us in on a little insite into why our blogs blow. I've used my handy schiest button here for your reading enjoyment and lazy convenience.
Now, I have no delusions about my blog blowing any less than anyone else's - in fact, it probably blows more, and I embrace that - but I don't think that I can do any of the aformentioned five things to make it blow any less. I guess I'll just have to stick to writing about the random crap that I think of throughout the day.You started a blog. But after weeks of dutifully recording your daily goings on, you still haven’t gotten that book deal or a call to be on Oprah. What are you doing wrong? Melissa Lafsky – who under the nom de guerre Opinionista turned controversial rants about her mistreatment as an employee of a Manhattan law firm into media fame – offers this list of things that could be keeping your rocket ship to celebrity on the launchpad.
1. You aren’t kamikaze enough to risk your career by revealing the soul-crushing absurdity of your job.
2. You aren’t sufficiently vain or presumptuous to declare yourself a hot twentysomething female (even if it’s true).
3. You lack a diagnosed sleep disorder, minor substance abuse problem, mercurial temperament, and/or innate desire to alienate loved ones.
4. You’re not ready to declare on the Internet what you really think about the raging hypocrites nesting in your life.
5. You have yet to explore the wonders of shameless self-promotion, groveling, and media whoring. Profiles in The New York Times don’t always come free.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Friday, June 23, 2006
"Coming out" June 28
In an article on Monday, ABC News asks, 'How Gay Is Superman?' Or Jewish. Or Christ-like. Well, he certianly is 'super', thanks for asking.
One thing is for sure: I havn't had bright red underwear since I was five.
One thing is for sure: I havn't had bright red underwear since I was five.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Finding your inner Sven
iTWire - Finding your inner Sven with Opera 9
Too good not to post. Especially after seeing the GK movie. Although, these two things have nothing to do with one another. Just came out today. Go here. Give it a try. I'm gonna.
Too good not to post. Especially after seeing the GK movie. Although, these two things have nothing to do with one another. Just came out today. Go here. Give it a try. I'm gonna.
TV in Japan
Okay, so this may be just about the best thing ever. This guy, Gavin Purcell, a 31-year-old TV producer from Los Angeles, scowers the globe to populate his video blog with the best of the best of what's on TV. In Japan.
TV in Japan
It is way OTT. You know you've made it as an Internet phenomenon when the Wall Street Journal writes you up in their "Time Wasters" section, here (might require the subscription).
Mr Purcell says that his blog attracts "especially those not in that first circle of nerd-dom." His blog apparently has many devoted fans: "A lot of British people, a lot of Spanish people, people from all over Europe," he says. "I think it goes to show you that Japanese weirdness really resonates around the globe."
That's right: Japanese weirdness.
TV in Japan
It is way OTT. You know you've made it as an Internet phenomenon when the Wall Street Journal writes you up in their "Time Wasters" section, here (might require the subscription).
Mr Purcell says that his blog attracts "especially those not in that first circle of nerd-dom." His blog apparently has many devoted fans: "A lot of British people, a lot of Spanish people, people from all over Europe," he says. "I think it goes to show you that Japanese weirdness really resonates around the globe."
That's right: Japanese weirdness.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Nattering Nabobs of Negativism
» Things that Retard | Paul Murphy | ZDNet.com
This article starts out strong, but then slides into the same old sniffles that all of Paul Murphy's ZDNet columns seem to. (My thoughts while reading went from, "Wow, actual thought and content from a tech blog?" to, "You tricked me, this is less good than previously indicated.") But anyway...
The starts out strong part lies in the good and mostly contrarian argument that the woes of todays whiney liberals - SUVs, climate change, outsourcing - are a direct result of earlier selfishness. I know, you know, and the American people know that liberals are basically selfish, but I would imagine that few have really made the connection between the obviously selfish nimby (Not In My Back Yard) anti-isms of the '70s and '80s with today's policy decisions. Obviously, this is not the only cause of the mentioned problems, but a good argument, if I do say so.
The same old sniffles part comes in the last three paragraphs, when Mr. Murphy decides to apply the former argument to why 'Micro$oft' sucks so bad. Yes, Windows isn't really that good. No, Vista won't make it any better. But the same blather about the superiority of Unix and Linux from a confirmed member of the techno-elitist crowd gets old. I guess when virtually no one uses your favored operating system for anything but servers and a hobby, you tend to get a little testy!
This article starts out strong, but then slides into the same old sniffles that all of Paul Murphy's ZDNet columns seem to. (My thoughts while reading went from, "Wow, actual thought and content from a tech blog?" to, "You tricked me, this is less good than previously indicated.") But anyway...
The starts out strong part lies in the good and mostly contrarian argument that the woes of todays whiney liberals - SUVs, climate change, outsourcing - are a direct result of earlier selfishness. I know, you know, and the American people know that liberals are basically selfish, but I would imagine that few have really made the connection between the obviously selfish nimby (Not In My Back Yard) anti-isms of the '70s and '80s with today's policy decisions. Obviously, this is not the only cause of the mentioned problems, but a good argument, if I do say so.
The same old sniffles part comes in the last three paragraphs, when Mr. Murphy decides to apply the former argument to why 'Micro$oft' sucks so bad. Yes, Windows isn't really that good. No, Vista won't make it any better. But the same blather about the superiority of Unix and Linux from a confirmed member of the techno-elitist crowd gets old. I guess when virtually no one uses your favored operating system for anything but servers and a hobby, you tend to get a little testy!
Monday, June 19, 2006
Don't try this at home!
Francis’ Weblog » How not to fix an iPod shuffle
This one gets filed under What Not To Do and Learning From The Mistakes of Others.
As someone who loves to take stuff apart - broken or not - this should hopefully serve as a reminder that some things are tough to get apart for a reason. Now, I don't think I'd ever try to take my Shuffle apart (since it was free to me and there's really nothing to fix), but I have been very tempted to take Carlos, my Rio Karma mp3 player apart to attempt a hard drive swap. I'm pretty sure the Karma is held together with screws though, so it should be a little less hazardous of an attempt.
I also want to take apart my old cell phone and integrate it into the sole of a shoe, Get Smart style. But, I think that is another story for another time.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Hooked on a what?
This video is in response to my friend's decision to post another incredibly scary video on her blog post entitled "asoFEVER *~*~*~*~ ^-^". This one is way OTT, and it worth looking at, even though I'm sure everyone has seen in a million times. But it's The Hoff, man!
So, without further ado, here it is:
So, without further ado, here it is:
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Test
This is a test. I repeat, this is only a test.
In the event that this was a real blog post, there would be something of at least some substance here. Or maybe humor. Or an intesesting picture. But no, this is only a test of a post to my blog from my email account. I'm pretty sure it didn't work last time, so if it does, I'll be kinda impressed.
In the event that this was a real blog post, there would be something of at least some substance here. Or maybe humor. Or an intesesting picture. But no, this is only a test of a post to my blog from my email account. I'm pretty sure it didn't work last time, so if it does, I'll be kinda impressed.
Also Shown to Prevent Heart Disease
Were the children of the guy who invented the birth control pill at all offended?
I pledge allegiance...
...to the Flag
of the United States of America,
and to the Republic for which it stands:
one Nation under God, indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for all.
Happy Flag Day!
of the United States of America,
and to the Republic for which it stands:
one Nation under God, indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for all.
Happy Flag Day!
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Breakfast?
There's a chance I should work on my diet. Not that I will, but I should.Actually, this is a step up (sideways?) from my normal breakfast of store-brand Slim Fast and black coffee. But that only costs about $1.75 total. Oi vey.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Why Canada?
What Did Canadians Do to Deserve this?
Now, anyone that knows me well enough knows that I'm not a huge fan of our neighbor to the north. (Canada, not Wyoming. At least not this time.) But just because they're basically a cute loft apartment over a really good party, doesn't mean that I don't respect their nation. They've got freedom, democracy, cars, human rights, and minus Quebec, they speak English. Kinda. Eh?
So when it came out in the news that the Canadian authorities had foiled a Islamic terrorist plot to blow stuff up - and kill infidels, of course - I had the same thought as the author of this article. Canada is as liberal and multicultural as they get. They seem to handle their immigrant population pretty well, and there is never a big fuss over race relations like they have in Holland and France.
But apparently high taxes and a leave-well-enough-alone society even bites Canada's frozen white asses sometimes. I for one am very thankful that they seem to have grown a set and avoided needless bloodshed. Lets see now if this rude awakening lasts and/or amounts to anything.
Now, anyone that knows me well enough knows that I'm not a huge fan of our neighbor to the north. (Canada, not Wyoming. At least not this time.) But just because they're basically a cute loft apartment over a really good party, doesn't mean that I don't respect their nation. They've got freedom, democracy, cars, human rights, and minus Quebec, they speak English. Kinda. Eh?
So when it came out in the news that the Canadian authorities had foiled a Islamic terrorist plot to blow stuff up - and kill infidels, of course - I had the same thought as the author of this article. Canada is as liberal and multicultural as they get. They seem to handle their immigrant population pretty well, and there is never a big fuss over race relations like they have in Holland and France.
But apparently high taxes and a leave-well-enough-alone society even bites Canada's frozen white asses sometimes. I for one am very thankful that they seem to have grown a set and avoided needless bloodshed. Lets see now if this rude awakening lasts and/or amounts to anything.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Oil, Oil, Everywhere . . .
This article was written by two members of the conservative think tank the Manhattan Institute and originally published in my favorite newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, back in January of 2005. It may seem a little bit dated in these ever changing times, but is probably more relevant today than it was then.
In early 2005, oil prices had just reached the $50 a barrel mark -- now they have settled back to about $70 a barrel from highs over $73. (However, on news of terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al Zarqawi's death today (here and here), Crude-oil futures slid $1.42 to $69.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.) Seemingly everyone has gas prices and thoughts of a looming "energy crisis" at the front of their minds.
I tend to believe in the authors' position that there is plenty of energy left in the world, and it is getting easier to extract all the time. As many problems as some people say that technology creates, it always seems to come up with just as many solutions. Humanity (especially the Western world) will not take a giant step backward into the (literally) dark ages, so consumption and therefore extraction of energy will continue into the distant future.
In early 2005, oil prices had just reached the $50 a barrel mark -- now they have settled back to about $70 a barrel from highs over $73. (However, on news of terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al Zarqawi's death today (here and here), Crude-oil futures slid $1.42 to $69.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.) Seemingly everyone has gas prices and thoughts of a looming "energy crisis" at the front of their minds.
I tend to believe in the authors' position that there is plenty of energy left in the world, and it is getting easier to extract all the time. As many problems as some people say that technology creates, it always seems to come up with just as many solutions. Humanity (especially the Western world) will not take a giant step backward into the (literally) dark ages, so consumption and therefore extraction of energy will continue into the distant future.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Is the Devil really in the details?
So, today is the sixth day of the sixth month of the year two thousand six. 6-6-6, for the numerically challenged. The Mark of The Beast, etc, etc. This date doesn’t come around very often… only about every hundred years or so, so it is pretty unique.
This day has different significance to different people. If you’re a relatively normal, i.e., not freakin’ crazy, person, this day has no significance whatsoever.
However, if you’re a superstitious Christian (Go God!) or Hessian (Satan, anyone?), then this particular day might hold greater significance. The number 666 is described in Revelations as the mark of the beast and has fueled speculation, superstition, and profiteering for years. Really crappy heavy metal albums and horror movies take advantage the fear/excitement surrounding this date.
Numerology – the finding of significance in numbers – has been around a lot longer than even Revelations. People have been looking to numbers to find order in their world for thousands of years. A good article about these things was recently published at LiveScience.com, here.
Here are a couple of the more entertaining items I found regarding today and its unique date:
“National Day of Slayer”
A quaint little page put together to honor everyone’s favorite Satanic speed metal band.
Their website lists the Official Statement on Participation as follows:
The page is entertaining in a couple of ways. First, if you don’t actually have any desire to own a Slayer album, you can just go to their page and crank your volume. It plays about a minute of some Slayer song over and over… and… over. Also, National Day of Slayer, LLC, is a non-profit corporation in the State of Wyoming. I think that’s hilarious.
[Update! (8 a.m. Wed, 07 June 2006) -- Slayer is coming to Denver! OMG, wow. The Unholy Alliance Tour featuring Slayer will be at the Fillmore Auditorium (Colfax and Clarkson, next door to the Turnverein) this Friday 09 June and in July on the 26th. While I have no intention of going to this show (Swing at City Park sounds much safer), the line up of bands is entertaining as, well, hell: Lamb of God, Children of Bodom, Mastodon, and Thine Eyes Bleed will be joining Slayer for an evening of mayem. No little emo pansies here! Although, I don't think that they can match the seriously unholy carnage of Norwegian Black Metal bands such as Mayhem. Okay, that's all I got. End of Update!]
“The Nick of Time”
Good article by the BBC today. Introduced me to the word “hexakosioihexekontahexaphobic,” or, one who is afraid of the mark of the beast. (If you can pronounce that word at a normal pace, let me know. You’ve won a cookie.)
The article also mentioned that Tom Chase, a “a New Age Christian writer from the US, has used astrology and the Bible to calculate that the antichrist will emerge, followed by an asteroid collision and within a year or two the battle of Armageddon. The antichrist, according to Chase, is Vladimir Putin.”
This prompted me to do a little Google-ing in search of this nutjob’s research. I have not yet read it, but it’s in his article “Revelation 13: Is the Antichrist Russian President Putin? -- More on Putin and Russia -- a Bible prophecy and New Age analysis.” And yes, his website is called Revelation 13. Uh huh. Weird. (Scroll down a bit past the dozen Amazon adds to find the freakishly long text.)
Oh, and if you want to prove that today, 06 June 2006, isn’t actually 6-6-6, check out these other weird calendars here.
Much more importantly, let us not forget about what 06 June has stood for since 1944: D-Day, when the Allied forces invaded Europe in World War II.
This marked the beginning of the end of a living hell for millions of people in Europe. At least for those who hadn’t ended up in the gas chambers and crematoriums of the Nazi’s. So, amid all the hubbub of scary movies and bad omens, take a moment to remember those brave souls from around the world (well, America, Britain, Canada (where’d they go?), and Australia, at least) who gave their lives to save the world from tyranny.
God bless America, and God save the Queen. “V” for Victory.
This day has different significance to different people. If you’re a relatively normal, i.e., not freakin’ crazy, person, this day has no significance whatsoever.
However, if you’re a superstitious Christian (Go God!) or Hessian (Satan, anyone?), then this particular day might hold greater significance. The number 666 is described in Revelations as the mark of the beast and has fueled speculation, superstition, and profiteering for years. Really crappy heavy metal albums and horror movies take advantage the fear/excitement surrounding this date.
Numerology – the finding of significance in numbers – has been around a lot longer than even Revelations. People have been looking to numbers to find order in their world for thousands of years. A good article about these things was recently published at LiveScience.com, here.
Here are a couple of the more entertaining items I found regarding today and its unique date:
“National Day of Slayer”
A quaint little page put together to honor everyone’s favorite Satanic speed metal band.
Their website lists the Official Statement on Participation as follows:
- Listen to Slayer at full blast in your car.
- Listen to Slayer at full blast in your home.
- Listen to Slayer at full blast at your place of employment.
- Listen to Slayer at full blast in any public place you prefer.
The page is entertaining in a couple of ways. First, if you don’t actually have any desire to own a Slayer album, you can just go to their page and crank your volume. It plays about a minute of some Slayer song over and over… and… over. Also, National Day of Slayer, LLC, is a non-profit corporation in the State of Wyoming. I think that’s hilarious.
[Update! (8 a.m. Wed, 07 June 2006) -- Slayer is coming to Denver! OMG, wow. The Unholy Alliance Tour featuring Slayer will be at the Fillmore Auditorium (Colfax and Clarkson, next door to the Turnverein) this Friday 09 June and in July on the 26th. While I have no intention of going to this show (Swing at City Park sounds much safer), the line up of bands is entertaining as, well, hell: Lamb of God, Children of Bodom, Mastodon, and Thine Eyes Bleed will be joining Slayer for an evening of mayem. No little emo pansies here! Although, I don't think that they can match the seriously unholy carnage of Norwegian Black Metal bands such as Mayhem. Okay, that's all I got. End of Update!]
“The Nick of Time”
Good article by the BBC today. Introduced me to the word “hexakosioihexekontahexaphobic,” or, one who is afraid of the mark of the beast. (If you can pronounce that word at a normal pace, let me know. You’ve won a cookie.)
The article also mentioned that Tom Chase, a “a New Age Christian writer from the US, has used astrology and the Bible to calculate that the antichrist will emerge, followed by an asteroid collision and within a year or two the battle of Armageddon. The antichrist, according to Chase, is Vladimir Putin.”
This prompted me to do a little Google-ing in search of this nutjob’s research. I have not yet read it, but it’s in his article “Revelation 13: Is the Antichrist Russian President Putin? -- More on Putin and Russia -- a Bible prophecy and New Age analysis.” And yes, his website is called Revelation 13. Uh huh. Weird. (Scroll down a bit past the dozen Amazon adds to find the freakishly long text.)
Oh, and if you want to prove that today, 06 June 2006, isn’t actually 6-6-6, check out these other weird calendars here.
* * * * *
Moving on…
Much more importantly, let us not forget about what 06 June has stood for since 1944: D-Day, when the Allied forces invaded Europe in World War II.
This marked the beginning of the end of a living hell for millions of people in Europe. At least for those who hadn’t ended up in the gas chambers and crematoriums of the Nazi’s. So, amid all the hubbub of scary movies and bad omens, take a moment to remember those brave souls from around the world (well, America, Britain, Canada (where’d they go?), and Australia, at least) who gave their lives to save the world from tyranny.
God bless America, and God save the Queen. “V” for Victory.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Just Call Me Tiger
Bad-ass self portrait of me being a bad-ass golfer on the OU campus golf course in Norman, Oklahoma. Yay for camera self-timers, eh? Took this picture in April with the York (air conditioning, etc.) sales guys flew me and a couple other guys out to OKC (to the Will Rodgers World Airport, no less) to tour their manufacturing facility in Norman. Very cool plant.
But I just remembered this picture for two reasons: a) my company's annual golf tourniment is next weekend; and b) I just bought $200 in golf clubs off the internet. Oi. This will be my third round of golf ever. It's going to be sad.
And yeah, I'm not really a bad-ass golfer. The picture is an ass-shot though. Future in modeling anyone? LOL.
Austin "Danger" Powers
Just part of today's unmotivated randomness.
An (OMG) amazing radio controlled airplane video:
Notice that this is all happening inside a gymnasium. Wow. Totally nerdy, but freakin' sweet.
Even more importantly, listen to the music in the background. Austin Powers theme, baby!
(One more thing... I just ran spell check, and it tried to replace "freakin'" with "foreskin." V-chip!)
An (OMG) amazing radio controlled airplane video:
Notice that this is all happening inside a gymnasium. Wow. Totally nerdy, but freakin' sweet.
Even more importantly, listen to the music in the background. Austin Powers theme, baby!
(One more thing... I just ran spell check, and it tried to replace "freakin'" with "foreskin." V-chip!)
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