Bilingual education: good, bad or both

The AP is out with a story on Newt Gingrich calling bilingual education the education of a ghetto. I can understand his point, but I think that for many people learning English through their language works best, so it has a place. I agree that ballots should only be printed in English, because that's the language of the country. If you want to vote or do anything else with the government you should have to do it in English. But in order to be able to vote in English or do anything else in English you first have to learn English. So, while I agree that all kids should learn English primarily, we need to use the best possible method for getting the to learn the language - which more often than not is immersion.

ANNOUNCEMENT: April Fools Day Boycott

In protest of the myriad of lying stories posted about the internet every year on April 1 for April Fools Day, I will be posting NO stories tomorrow to Mod-Blog. Other Mod-Bloggers are welcome to do what they will with the day, but Nomad will be missing in action, unless some truly critical story comes up which is confirmed multiple places as true.

NIT Champs need a spell-checker

Sports Illustrated has up proof that going to college does not ensure competence. Click through to see that at the very least they should have hired an English Major for to check the t-shirts.

How can this possibly be real?

This article documents a very weird story told by a Japanese man. He claims to have buld a deep fryer on top of an acquarium full of fish. Since the oil and water don't mix, allegedly the fish are only harmed if they try to go above the water line. And spillover of food from the deep fryer can feed the fish.

I just can't help wondering how simple heat transfer doesn't eventually boil the water.

Circuit City to Employees: Excellence Gets You Fired

So, you take a cut rate job at an electronics store. You work hard to rise above your fellow salesmen. You provide far better service and make far more sales than your peers. You earn promotions, you earn raises, and you get more commissions than anyone else. You reach the top of the corporate ladder at the electronics store. What is your next reward? You get fired! Circuit City has decided to fire its 3,400 highest paid workers, in favor of cheaper workers. They do offer to rehire the expensive workers, but only after a 10 week cooling off period. And at significantly reduced wages.

I understand the need to reduce costs, but is firing your best and brightest really the way to do it? It was already painful to shop at Circuit City. Now, it will be even moreso, because the few competent employees will be out the door.

Gas prices rising

Gas prices rising
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Can someone tell Iran the West isn't stupid?

In a really weird turn of events, Tehran has released a letter allegedly from the female sailor taken hostage by the Iranian government. Thing is, the letter reads nothing like anything someone raised on the English language would have written. Much less a British soldier.

Is anyone else wondering if a coup has taken place within the Iranian hierarchy, and this was someone's attempt to distract the world from it?

Steve Forbes Endorses Rudy

Steve Forbes endorsed Rudy Guliani for the Republican Presidential nomination today. Being a big Steve Forbes fan, this does make me more likely to vote for Guliani. Let's see if Guliani decides to incorporate any flat tax ideas in his presidential campaign.

Adjustable tint glasses

I, like millions of other Americans, wear glasses. One of the most annoying things about wearing glasses is when you go from dark to bright light or vice versa. This is a rough adjustment for anybody, but with glasses it's exaggerated. Researchers at the U. of Washington have developed glasses that change their tint to any color of the rainbow with a small adjustment. The problem with most tinted glasses comes in that transition time between dark to light or light to dark. So, they're either too dark or not dark enough and then you have to wait 5 minutes for them to change over. With these glasses a quick turn of a nob and suddenly they're correct. This is going to be great! For once I can be proud of what is being developed with my tax dollars at UW.

The Mystery of the Iranian Hostage "Crisis"

I must admit that I have been mystified by the conflict between Britain and Iran over 15 sailors taken hostage. It appears fairly clear that Iran seized them in Iraqi waters on a pretext, and are now using them to taunt the Brits and Americans. What is mystifying to me is that until now, there was no chance of Britain or the USA invading Iran over the nuclear issue - after all, they are struggling to get out of Iraq in light of the unpopularity of the War there. But both England and America have gone to war over less than 15 hostages before, and such reasons for war tend to be popular.

The only thing I can think of is that this is a precursor to a more major violation, and the Iranians are using this chance to guage the support of their allies. After all, their Arab and Russian allies are likely to be jumping out of their skins over this, but will make clear the exact level of their commitment.

New JibJab Parody

What We Call the News | Send To Friends | Funny Animations at JibJab

Yahoo to Offer Unlimited Storage

Yahoo has announced that in May they will start to give unlimited space to e-mail accounts. Personally, I only really have my Yahoo account still because it's a login for Yahoo's services, but I know that someone developed a way to use GMail as "hard drive". If this was available for Yahoo, it could be a nice file backup.

Kwik-E-Mart Coming to Life

It seems that the folks over at 7eleven are up to some interesting ideas when it comes to movie promotions. In a deal that is almost final, 11 of their stores will be turned into Kwik-E-Marts, complete with Simpson-ized product offerings. I might be willing to drive a considerable distance just to see this, but hopefully they'll pick a store in the Seattle metro area and I won't have to drive much.

Where the iPhone got its multi-touch interface

David Pogue has a post up on his blog on the multi-touch interface the iPhone is using. We have actually covered this technology on Mod-Blog before. I can't wait until multi-touch interfaces are more of a regular thing - it'll make my work as a graphic designer much easer.

Linux Voids Your Warranty

Apparantly, if you buy a Compaq computer from HP that runs Windows and install Linux, HP will no longer honor your warranty. I understand any coverage that may have been provided for Windows (though I doubt there was any, if much), but not fixing the hardware? That's crazy.

Ferris "Jason" Bueller

The coming schism has arrived

The largest Episcopal church in Colorado has voted to leave the Episcopal denomination and join the Anglican church of Nigeria - a much more conservative denomination. The denomination's response has been to dismiss the clergy of the church and proclaim that the church hasn't actually left despite the congregation's decision to follow their clergy to the Anglican church. This isn't the first time a major Episcopal church has left - the biggest Episcopal church in D.C. left last year as well as several other major churches. It seems clear that the conservatives within the Episcopal church have decided that the chances of a return to conservative or at least livable liberal dogma are slim to none and thus are leaving for the conservative Anglican church of Nigeria.

To add a little fun to the mix, all church property is held in trust by the diocese and thus it is quite possible that these churches find themselves homeless. This is a problem that not only conservative Episcopalians are dealing with, conservative United Methodist and Presbyterian (USA) churches are dealing with this as well. This is perhaps the biggest reason we haven't seen a swifter flight from the loony leftist dogma of much of the leadership of these major denominations.

Should manufaturers be able to set minimum prices?

That is exactly the question the Supreme Court is going to tackle in an upcoming case. There are obviously benefits on both sides of the argument, but ultimately it seems that if there court would allow this it would be a major hit on consumers and small business alike.

A Sitcom for the Star Wars Geeks

No profanity, but a few words your mother wouldn't like.

Gas Prices

Gas Prices
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Moving up slowly...

Cool Tool: MuseumR

Looking for a way to have your photos hung in a famous museum? Check out Museumr, a new tool integrated with Flickr (but which can work with any photo). It places your photo inside a famous museum from around the world.
This is probably the closest I will ever get until national geographic posts my photos as "ancient art" in the year 3107.

Whether you are a believer in Evolution or not, you have to admit this is impressive

Cell phone industry prepares for iPhone

This is an interesting article about the new products that the wireless industry is putting out now, in preparation for the coming of the iPhone. The iPhone is by far the most anticipated product to be coming out, but there are some other interesting items, like the Ocean (pictured) that is being titled by some "the Sidekick killer". Who knows if that will actually happen - I tend to think not because even T-Mobile has a bigger network than Helio from what I can tell. Nonetheless, things are starting to heat up in the wireless industry.

Pizza with deadbeat parent on the side

I read about this the other day and thought about it for a while. Still not sure how I feel about it, but I thought that I'd put it out there for the MB community to discuss. Basically, the child support agency in one county has started putting posters of deadbeat parents on pizza boxes, so that more people will be aware and thus able to report the location of these people. There are some upsides in that more people will likely be found and thus forced to pay the child support they are obligated to pay. On the other hand, if this parent's child's friends start seeing them on the pizza box it could cause a great deal of harm to the psyche of the child. I'm not sure if ends support the means, but it is an interesting idea.

My cousin says that basketball games should only be 30 - 60 seconds long...

...because most of them are decided in that time period anyway. This clip from March Madness surely makes the point!

Cashing In - Tolkien's son to release new "Lord of the Rings" book

Working from copious notes left behind by his father, Christopher Tolkien has allegedly completed a new book in the Lord of the Rings series called "The Children of Hurin". This is not the first book that Tolkien's son has produced since his father's death - the Silmarillian (outline of the history of Middle Earth) was produced after the death of J.R.R. Tolkien, but was largely untouched from the original version which he had tried to publish during his lifetime. The new book appears to be a "prequel" of sorts to the LOTR series, taking place long before the time of Bilbo Baggins. Hollywood already is sniffing around the book hungrily, looking for a way to cash in.

Forget what you learned in kindergarten

Rip-off or Homage to Peanuts?

Spider-Man 3 FINAL Trailer is online...

...and it is in HIGH DEFINITION. Finally, we get a decent look at Venom.

Happy Shutdown Day!

Mod-blog may well be one of the few blogs updating today, as today is apparently Shutdown Day, a day each year set aside to seeing what would happen if the world did without computers for 24 hours. A large number of people are apparently taking part in the experiment, which will repeat in 2008. Personally, I have no intention to log off for the whole day, but perhaps for a few hours.

Good Samaritan or Foolish Friend?

Most states have what is called a "Good Samartian" law. Essentially, it absolves you of legal liability if you are attempting to render emergency medical aid to someone in order to save their life. Thus, if you see someone having a heart attach and rush over to perform CPR, the survivor can not sue you for breaking a rib while saving their life. But most of these laws also have a proviso that you must be certified to perform measures like CPR. My high school offers free training and certification to all students who request it, in an attempt to increase the number of potential Good Samaritans.

A lot of people are up in arms over a recent California court ruling that their Good Samaritan law does not apply to "non-medical actions" that may be taken to save a life. In this case, someone wrapped their car around a light pole. A "good samaritan" came and pulled them out, and in the process may have damaged the victim's vertebrae and rendered them a parapalegic.

I am torn about this one. On the one hand, it seems to me pulling someone from a burning vehicle is just as important as performing CPR. Do we really want to tell our citizens that it is okay to let someone burn alive, because otherwise they are civilly liable? On the other hand, at EVERY first aid class I have EVER had, the FIRST thing they tell you is "if someone could have had their neck or back hurt, DO NOT MOVE THEM unless required to save them from a worse fate." The "good samaritan" in this case should have known that as well. What do our readers think?

Get a Linux

Novell, the (sort of) makers of Suse Linux, have made a couple of commercials as parodies of the recent get a mac commercials. This is the best of them, but there are also two others (1, 2).

John Edwards DOESN'T Drop Out

In what has turned into a let-down for the press, John Edwards has not dropped out despite his wife being diagnosed with "uncureable" cancer. There had been rampant speculation all day that this would force the junior senator out of the race.

The main story here is a non-story in my opinion. However, there is a very important story forming here, depending on how John Edwards handles this going forward. Compare an apparently caring husband against the story of Newt Gingrich - another presumptive campaigner for a 2008 nomination - who has left two women in the throes of cancer treatments. Will Edwards follow Newt's example, and put his career ahead of his wife's good? Or will he put his family first, and maybe be willing to leave the race to take care of her if needed? There is a saying that anyone who will do what it takes to be president, isn't worth of the office. I am not sure at this point what that means for a man like Edwards.

For All You Nerf Warriors

Gas prices

Gas prices
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Back at BJs

Posted without further comment

This is one reason I avoid HR like the plague

Has Rush become irrellevant

CNN is touting an article about Gov. Schwarzenegger calling Rush Limbaugh irrelevant. I personally became tired of listening to Rush because it always felt like he was talking down to me. Perhaps that's his shtick, but I never liked it. The article brings up a good point that Rush has actually always been irrelevant. What I'm interested in is what the readers of Mod-Blog think about Rush and conservative radio in general - particularly in reference to their influence on the voting public. So, what do you think?

Genious?

Time is running a good article on Will Ferrell and what makes him funny - or at least all the funny things he does. It's definitely worth a read. I'll probably wait to see his next film on Netflix, but I'm sure I'll see it eventually.

Am I looking in a mirror?

This has been too appropriate of late

This is hilarious

It is being viewed as a watershed moment in online political advertising. I don't see it that way. But it certainly is creative. Notice how the girl in the commercial is wearing an iPod? A subtle updating of the original even there.

I like this diet plan!

Snuggles make all the difference

I Found My 1st College Roommate

While doing a google search for my first college roommate, I found out that he is now the manager of a restaurant that has been donated to the college I went to. Earl's Restaurant on Route 16 in Chaffee, NY is now owned in a Trust by Houghton College.

Chemical Warfare comes to Iraq

There have now been multiple reports of attacks in Iraq by insurgents using trucks laden with chlorine gas. First weaponized for World War I, chlorine in gaseous form is a potent poison and burns and scars the lungs. Someone exposed to chlorine gas who survives, often has breathing problems for the remainder of their lives. The experience of Europeans with such tactics in the First World War lead them to reject the use of such weapons, because (1) they were inherently uncontrollable and often blew back to harm their users and (2) the aftermath of such weapons lead to a post-war world filled with permanently disabled and disfigured victims.

The fact that insurgents are now using such weapons is a sign that they know they are losing, and are growing desperate. However, the use of chemical weapons can simply not be tolerated. We need to find ways of punishing insurgents as a group for the use of chlorine gas (and perhaps worse weapons in the future) despite the distributed nature of their organization. Only by forcing the insurgents to police themselves - or face a blanket punishment by the world - can this kind of atrocity be prevented.

Happy Saint Patricks Day to our readers

Here is a Wikipedia Article on the holiday in case you've ever wondered what it is about.

Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick's Day. Not much of it is actually substantiated.
Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the dead.He also is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. No snakes were ever native to Ireland, some scholars think this is a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday.
One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. This stems from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.

Top O' the mornin' to y'all!

Why are church leaders drawing lines over politics?

I am pretty sure that my pastoral friends who frequent (and run) this site wll disagree with me strongly on this. But I am quite perturbed that the National Association of Evangelicals has decided that they must throw their hat into the political ring by taking stands on Global Warming and the Iraq War. This is the quote which I find particularly troubling.

But one of the board members, the Rev. Paul de Vries, said, "It ought to be God's agenda, not the Republican Party's agenda, that drives us.
"We're actually tired of being represented by people with a very narrow focus," he said. "We want to have a focus as big as God's focus."

I am troubled by two things. One, the implication that to be an Evangelical had meant being a knee-jerk Republican, who does not think for one's self. Two, the clear suggestion that political issues like Global Warming, the Iraq War, etc. are more important than saving souls.

This is different than the church taking a stand on Slavery, Naziism, or Abortion. The issues that the NAE appears to be starting to address are those upon which reasonable people disagree. Am I way offbase here?

Strange Newspaper Ads

Click on the embedded windows scrollbar to see the pages.

Walmart Bank NA, Not Now

Walmart has decided to give up trying to offer banking services, at least for now. They decided that because of the current length of the process to become a bank, it was not a wise use of their resources to pursue it at this time. I am happy to see this as we don't need more large banks right now. We need more competition from small and medium sized banks to push minuscule interest rates up.

Snowy March

Another March storm! As of now, I think it is officially the snowiest month of this winter for CT.

Keys to understanding the Middle East

If you have ever heard about the split between Shia and Sunni Muslims in Iraq, and wondered what was going on you may find this article helpful. Islam is no more a monolithic religion than Christianity is.

Woke up to snow this morning

Do-Over?

Gas NOT at BJs

Gas NOT at BJs
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Snow on the way, so I could not wait. Exxon in Shelton, CT

If you need a laugh...

...as badly as I have recently (I hate my job some months) then you may enjoy these funny air traffic controller quotes.

"TWA 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 Degrees."
"Centre, we are at 35,000 feet. How much noise can we make up here?"
"Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?"

Tower: "Eastern 702, cleared for takeoff, contact Departure on frequency 124.7"
Eastern 702: "Tower, Eastern 702 switching to Departure. By the way, after we lifted off we saw some kind of dead animal on the far end of the runway."
Tower: "Continental 635, cleared for takeoff behind Eastern 702, contact Departure on frequency 124.7. Did you copy that report from Eastern 702?"
Continental 635: "Continental 635, cleared for takeoff, roger; and yes, we copied Eastern... we've already notified our caterers."

Don't ask me for funny Systems Guy quote. They are more sad than funny in the end.

All time is relative

Homosexuality and designer babies - the intersection

Albert Mohler - a southern baptist seminary prof - has whipped up a furry with a recent blog post where he argues that a scientific basis for homosexuality very well may be found and that people would not be morally wrong in using a prenatal treatment to prevent the condition of homosexuality. His argument is nuanced and quite sound. Not sure if I agree with all of his statements, but I do agree with his conclusions. He also deals with the issue of aborting fetuses if they are discovered to be homosexual or have some other medical problems. The blog post is worth a read.

Can Edwards be the dark horse winner

With all the attention in the Democratic primary being focused sharply on Hillary and Obama, it seems that many of the other candidates have be overlooked. Remembering back to '04 everybody was focused on Dean and someone else (who I can't for the life of me remember) before the Iowa caucus, but then Kerry won and suddenly had all the momentum in the world. I wonder if Edwards can do the same thing? I tend to doubt it - particularly since his numbers have been slipping as of late. But still the question is there: could Edwards be the dark horse winner of the Democratic party? Hillary and Obama will have to slip up some bad for it to happen, but given the events of '04, I wouldn't toss it as a possibility.

Happy Pi Day!

That's right today is Pi Day. No, not the apple kind or raspberry kind, but the kind that refers to a Greek letter which comes out to the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle; approximately 3.14159265358979323846.

3/14 --> 3.14. Get it?

Proof that we fat people have power, too!

Did Delta Zeta learn nothing from the spiritual power of Buddha or the toy-making power of Santa Claus or the criminal enterprise of Jabba the Hutt? You mess with the overweight at your own risk. Gravity is a force, too, you know!

DePauw University's president on Monday ordered a sorority off campus by fall after Delta Zeta kicked out nearly two dozen members and drew accusations that only attractive, popular students were asked to remain.

School President Robert G. Bottoms said the values of the sorority did not fit with the 2,200-student private college in western Indiana.

The Delta Zeta sorority has said the 23 evictions were based on the members' lack of commitment to recruiting new members. But those asked to leave have charged that they were removed because of their appearance, contending they were active and supportive members of their sorority.

Other stories on this event stress the weight issue more than this one does, admitedly. Still, the point stands.

Are Fire Sprinklers Necesary?

This picture was taken at 1am at a local motel that our company installed sprinklers in this past year. This car caught on fire and it took 4 fire sprinklers to put it out. No one was injured and the motel patrons were able to return to their rooms that night. This car was parked under part of the building so this could have been a catastrophe if not for the fire sprinklers.

The driver of the car was checking in when the fire was noticed and he ran off before they could get his name and other information.

Chirac will not run again

French President Jacques Chirac announced he will not seek a third term in office. Let's all hop this means there is a chance for the U.S. and France to come together to work for the good of the world. We all know that there was no working together as long a Chirac was in power.

Congratulations, Pure Nard!

It is our intrepid reader's voice you hear on this voiceover for Subway! It is very cool to hear my friend's voice hawking coldcuts for one of the nation's fastest-growing fast food companies.

Posted for what it is worth

This is from 1989, so 17 years ago. A lot of things change in 17 years, and I know that the Pro-Life Movement's favorite president - Reagan - was once Pro-Choice. But one has to wonder how far ones mind can really change.

Neither snow, nor rain nor hail nor Sith...

The force has come to the United States Postal Service in the form of R2D2 wrapped mailboxes
to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. Not sure that this is going to change my life or mailing habits, but it is pretty cool.

Gas prices rising rapidly

Gas prices rising rapidly
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Assault on Easter or Manufactured News Event?

Walnut Creek has renamed their "Easter Egg Hunt" to a "Spring Egg Hunt." I am not sure what is more surprising. That they did not expect a media firestorm, or that some local pastors are actually responding in exactly the right way.

"I'm not going to defend the Easter Bunny or eggs,'' says the Rev. Kevin Murphy, whose St. Matthew Lutheran Church is one of the largest in Walnut Creek and is just a few blocks from the annual egg hunt. "In my congregation, Easter egg hunts don't have a blessed thing to do with Easter, which is about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Wow, sanity is entirely unexpected in cases like this!

Happy Days B.C?

I had thought this was known by everyone on the internet, but asking around this weeken showed many of our readers had no idea Geico is exploring the possibility of releasing a sitcom pilot starring the Cavemen from their commercials. It is an interesting idea, and even moreso if Geico can manage to make the show commercial-free by treating it as a half-hour long commercial. Suddenly, no one would be "zapping" past commericals with Tivo, or deleting them. It could be the beginning of a new age for television and advertising.

More on the Return of Futurama

Matt Groening has spilled a little more information on the upcoming return of Futurama to DVD and TV, and it sounds like it is an interesting experiment.

In terms of "Futurama" - "We're doing four DVD movies around ninety minutes and then we're going to reconfigure those and they'll be [sixteen] episodes on Comedy Central. The impolite way of saying it is we're chopping them up and the polite way is to say we're reconfiguring and we're going to add narration and more stuff. We're going to be doing some fun extras on the DVD show, there's going to be "Everybody Loves Hyptno-Toad" - a whole show of it.

Can't wait to see "Everybody Loves Hyno-Toad!"

A day at the dog show

My wife and I had a chance to go see the annual Seattle dog show yesterday and it was great. I learned a few things while I was there.

• I love dogs more than even I ever knew.
• Dog show people are really quite odd (awd as I used to say).
• Lastly, I'm not sure if I will be able to live much longer without a dog.

I also took a lot of photos for you all to enjoy. Click on the photo to enjoy.

Seattle Dog Show

I know this dog

Colbert on the death of Captain America

Dems Nix Debate Co-Sponsored by Fox News

It is good to see the Democratic Party still believes that anyone who is not with them, is not worth talking to. {Roll eyes} The party has withdrawn all of its candidates from a debate in Nevada for one reason - it was co-sponsored by FoxNews. That's right. Because a specific news organization - admittedly derided by Dems for leaning Right - sponsored a debate, the Democratic Party decided it had to declare anathema and head for the hills.

The original event had been scheduled as a way for the Democrats to reach out to voters traditionally hostile to or apathetic to Democratic candidates. It would have been a way to reach across the divide and perhaps win some new voters. In an age where everyone calls for bipartisanship, it seems like that would make sense. But I guess in an Age of Hypocrisy, actually having a dialogue is the worst thing you can do.

Update 3:22 pm EST: John Edwards reaction.

Update 3/11: Kucinich believes they should debate!

Are You Ready for Daylight Savings Time?

I should probably first ask if you are ready for Daylight Savings Time which begins tomorrow. A new law passed by GWB and Congress in 2006 extends DST by several weeks in an attempt to conserve energy. It now begins at 2 AM on Sunday night, 3/11. So be sure to turn forward your clocks tonight.

This same change affects how your computer works, because all modern PCs and Macs have a built-in clock. Pretty much all of those clocks already had a built-in file for Daylight Savings Time, because it has worked the same way for a hundred years or so. This one change might leave your computer an hour behind if you have not downloaded the latest updates. Not a huge deal, unless you are trying to be somewhere on-time or trying to record television.

MacFixit.Com has a pretty comprehensive guide on upgrading Macs for DST. But basically, for ALL of your digital devices (PC, Mac, Palm, etc.) be sure to check for any updates today and upgrade your software. Pretty much everyone already has the newest firmware out there.

At least it is not a SINGING fish

Gingrich wooing Christian right?

If you haven't heard, Newt Gingrich has admitted to having an affair while he was a congressman. Not only has he admitted it, but he has admitted it to pope James Dobson and Jerry Falwell. It seems that the Christian right is abuzz with the thought of a Gingrich run for the presidency. The Christian right has not found a candidate that they are really satisfied with yet - Romney is conservative, but Mormon; Guiliani is a good leader, but is too liberal for their tastes; and McCain is just a mess. As a side note I saw McCain on TBN (click on March 6, 2007) the other day - interesting, very interesting. Is Gingrich wooing the Christian right in order to make a run for the nomination? Gingrich says that he'll announce his decision to run or not this fall. Normally that wouldn't be such a big deal, but with the way the primary season is shaping up, I wonder if announcing in the fall is soon enough to make way. If he announces at the beginning of September that gives him 5 months before Super Tuesday. Is that enough time to raise the money and create all the committees necessary to make a serious run at the nomination? Perhaps it is, but still by September Guilianni will have a 9 months of lead time on Gingrich, while McCain and Romney will have 8 months. Granted political momentum can be gained and lost in a matter of days, as we saw in the race between Dean and Kerry in the last Democratic nomination cycle. So, whether or not Gingrich can get momentum is really up to how he prepares the field and it seems that making this move - admitting his faults and speaking spiritually about them - is a way of preparing the Christian right f0r a run. If he can get the Christian right and some of the other conservative voters then he has the best chance of winning the nomination. The only downside is that what seems to be a very honest confession is now not that but simply a political move.

Ready for some Friday Fun?

Check this one out! It is a flash game where you design your own paper airplane, fly it, and challenge others to try and beat your accomplishments. Simple but fun, and moderately educational if you need to justify it to someone else.

Am I the only person who has ever heard of "The 1/2 Hour News Hour"?

Apparently, it is FoxNews's attempt to compete with the Daily Show, and they have ordered 13 more episodes. The clip below is cute, but so obviously a clone that I have to wonder if it is worth watching. Let me know if you have watched this thing.

Photoshop VS Forgeries

In the age of Photoshop, it becomes easier every year to create stunning photographs. It also becomes easier to create fake photographs that defy the ability of the human eye to detect. Anyone who has spent any time on Apple rumor sites is familiar with the fake iPhone, iPDA, and iEverythingElse mock-ups invented by creative Photoshoppers looking for their 15 seconds of fame. Finally, Adobe, maker of Photoshop, is recognizing the need to be able to detect fakes and forgeries reliably. They will be releasing later this year a set of plugins which can analyze a photo and rate the likelihood that it has been faked. Hopefully, this will go a long way toward restoring the credibility of major news organizatios, after Reuters accidentally published several altered photos.

OLPC Demoed

This is a quick demo of the the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) by the CTO of the Opera browser company. It's a good overview.

Rest In Peace, Captain America

It is being reported that the emblematic patriotic superhero Captain American is slated to die in the next issue to hit the stands on Wednsday.

Captain America was very important to me as a child. Among many heroes that had turned dark in the 1980s and 1990s, Cap remained an idealist for the ideals that had made this country great: strength, unending optimism, and faith in individuals to do what is right when the chips are down. This is likely a publicity stunt to redeem the ill-concieved Marvel "Civil War" series, akin to the Death Of Superman stunt by DC a few years ago. But we'll see. Some people do stay dead in the Marvel comics universe.

Serves them all right.

File this under "You get what you deserve." A Massachusetts women is suing Planned Parenthood and a Doctor for performing an unsuccessful abortion on her. No one knew the abortion was unsuccessful until she went to a hospital many month later complaining of pelvic pain. She now has a daughter and is suing for compensation money for the costs of raising her child. The only person I feel sorry for in this case is the daughter. She will have a hard time dealing with the fact that even up to now, her mother is sorry to have had her. The daughter is now a little over 2 years old.

"Scooter" Libby Found Guilty

After much sound and fury, which appeared to signify nothing, something has indeed come out of the Valerie Plame debacle. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, closely associated with Dick Cheney, has been found guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice in the investigation of the outing of the former CIA operative. Reaction seems much more shocked than I have been. Already, there are calls for a Ford/Nixon style pardon - something I suspect would be problematic for the GOP in the next elections, no matter who is the nominee.

I still think this "scandal" has consumed a lot of energy for very little usefulness. I do not think anything will be found to lead directly to the VP, and I suspect the Left will place a lot more import on this than the common man in the middle. But I am interested to hear the theories of our readers.

Weekend Aventurer

This was posted recently by a friend of mine. I thought the Mod-Blog audience would enjoy it. And no, I was not any of the people in this video. Not that this is a shock to ANYONE who knows me. I am the great INdoorsman.

Fallout continues for Coulter

After her comments of last weekend, Ann Coulter must have known that the other shoe had to drop soon. Now, it has and a number of companies are withdrawing their adds from her website. The number is not all that large at the moment - Verizon, Sallie Mae and NetBank - but appears to be growing after DailyKos (a liberal activist blog) published the names of every company that supported her website with ads.

It will be interesting to see if this is a small thing, or the first snowball of an avalanche.

Our church suppports Mastermedia

I haven't watched this clip yet, but it was recommended to me by CRChair. I am hoping it is entirely family-friendly.

Diebold votes NO on eVoting?

Some times, it does not pay to be first to the market, as Diebold is proving with their eVoting initiatives. They attempted to be the first major electronic voting powerhouse, building on their years of experience securing ATMS for financial transactions. But instead Diebold has been hounded at every step by criticism for their poor design, insecure measures, and lack of a paper audit trail. Now, apparently, Diebold is realizing that their eVoting division is bringing down the rep of the rest of the company and may not be worth its dubious profitability.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if Diebold released its code either as pure Open Source, or as some kind of Public Source initiative where you had to go to a government oversight committee to modify it. Could volunteers turn this code into something more secure and more useable?

John Edwards: Jesus would be appalled by Americans

It is certainly not the way to make friends and influence people, but John Edwards is being fairly outspoken about his opinion of American spirituality. And he is not happy with what he sees.

Edwards, in an interview with the Web site Beliefnet.com, said Jesus would be most upset with the selfishness of Americans and the country's willingness to go to war "when it's not necessary."

"I think that Jesus would be disappointed in our ignoring the plight of those around us who are suffering and our focus on our own selfish short-term needs," Edwards told the site. "I think he would be appalled, actually."

Edwards also said he was against teacher-led prayers in public schools, but he added that "allowing time for children to pray for themselves, to themselves, I think is not only OK, I think it's a good thing."

I know many people will assume I am posting this as a criticism of Senator Edwards. I am not. I know many at Mod-Blog feel the same way about the Americans tend to ignore the poor.

Confirmation that gas prices are reaching for the skies again...

...get ready for another price-gouging summer. This time the excuses run the gamut, but the bottom line is gas companies plan to charge us an arm and a leg for our mileage again. At this point, I am starting to question if it is worth driving to my job 45 minutes away, or if I wind up just working to buy gas so that I can work. Telecommuting helps, but it can only go so far with prices jumping 20 cents per week.

Welcome back, MacBarf

Mac users of long-time may remember a System 7 extension that made your Macintosh give off a "barfing" or "spitting" sound when a disk was ejected. Well, an intrepid programmer has brought that classic bit of humor to MacOS X! It is still untested, so I have not yet installed it myself, but it may be fun to do so after some testing.

The same site also brings back the old CONAN THE LIBRARIAN extension which monitors the local sound volume through the built in volume and shouts "SHUT UP!" when it gets too loud.

Are humans built with an instinct for God?

There is an old saying among Evangelists, "People are born with a God-shaped hole in their hearts." The idea is that everyone insinctively long for a relationship with God, and that happyness is found by coming to a saving knowlege of Him. This can also be expresed by the saying "There are no atheists in foxholes."

Violating my normal ban on New York TImes articles, I feel compelled to post this article where science has come to the essentially the same realization (minus the "happynes is found" part). They are realizing that human brains appeared wired for religious belief, and they are exploring how this belief may be useful.

Gas prices live

Gas prices live
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Steve Forbes on Iraq

This is an interesting video of Steve Forbes explaining what needs to be done in Iraq.

I need a dog fix

Ward, Which One Am I?

1986 Mets meet Nintendo

This is just too Cool. Someone created the bottom of the 10th inning of game six of the 1986 World Series using the original RBI baseball for the Nintendo.

MOD-BLOG REVIEW: Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny

Title: Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny
MPAA Rating: R

The Plot: Two young(ish) men, Jack Black and Kyle Gass, dream of being famous rock stars. They learn of a magical demonic guitar pick that can make anyone the ultimate rock and roll talent. They travel to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to steal it for themselves.

The Review: It is amazing how opposites attract. In the same week, I watched "Stranger Than Fiction" which was SO much better than I expected, and I watched "Tenacious D" which was so much worse than I could have imagined. There are very few movies I have watched on DVD, where at the end I decided (1) not to keep the DVD and (2) that I could not in good conscience resell it or give it away to a charity. Tenacious D is so bad that I can not do anything that would put it in the hands of another human being.

Don't get me wrong. This is not a poorly-made movie. There is a plot, there are characters, there are interesting effects and scenes, there are a few laughs, and people are working hard to put on a good show. But there are two kinds of crimes. There are those caused by negligence - drunk driving, etc. - and then there are crimes which are carefully planned and carried out with expertise and panache - serial murder, for example. This movie is one of the latter - a well-made movie designed to offend and which pointedly refuses to admit its own flaws.

I recommend this film to no one. Leave it on the shelf, and let the film find its own way into obscurity in a landfill somewhere.

Post Office Solution to Long Lines? Away with the Clocks!

You won't believe this, but it is being reported multiple places. Apparently, the U.S. Post Office is recognizing that customers are tired of long lines, and slow service at their various sites. They understand that service is top among complaints about their company. So do they revamp to open more lines? Hire more staff? Speed up service? Nope. They simply remove the clocks from the post offices.

Apparently the Postmaster General has missed out on a technological revolution that is several centuries old now: THE WRISTWATCH.

It is time for Ann Coulter to retire

I woke up this morning expecting to read about many stupid and poorly thought out things. But not this one. Ann Coulter - the fire-breathing insult comic for the Right - has actually come out and in a videotaped speech referred to presidential candidate John Edwards as... well... I'll keep the slur off of a family-friendly site like Mod-Blog. But it is the kind of word you expect to hear on the school bus referring to gays. Just stupid when said by a 10 year old, but reprehensible in the mouth of an adult.

When Ann Coulter first appeared on conservative radio and TV, she was interesting. A new voice who looked for over-the-top ways to express her disdain for the Left and to point out liberal foolishness. She was fresh and new and interesting. But as time has gone on, and copycats appeared, she became more and more extreme in order to keep her audience's attention. Nowadays, she is just a bore and always bordering on offensive at all times. As I said, basicaly an "insult comic." But now turning off potential swing voters to the Right.

This episode demonstrates what I have been thinking for a long time. Ms. Coulter's time as a spokesman is over. It is time for her to retire from TV, Radio, and Speeches and go back to what she started with - writing. Maybe after a few years (maybe in time for the election, even, since the public's memory is short) she can return to the airwaves and be a "fresh new" voice again, instead of just a tired cliche.

Speaking of Star Wars

Why yes, I am a sucker for any random Star Wars reference

Pepsi to introduce High Caffeine Soda

Pepsi is going to be introducing a new higher Caffeine Diet soda in the coming months. It is being called Pepsi Max. It will have about 1/3 more caffeine than Diet Mountain Dew. I guess this is geared toward all those people who can't start their day out without either a Diet Pepsi or a Diet Mountain Dew.

Virus Alert: Who's vulnerable and who's not

CNN is reporting a new strain of computer virii hitting business networks worldwide. The virus is attacking MSSQL servers running on Windows networks.

Who should be watchful: If you are running Windows on your machine on a corporate network. If you see something strange, alert your I/T department. This virus attacks anti-virus programs, so your standard protections may not be 100%.

Who should not be worried: Mac users, Linux users, or if you are running a personal Windows machine at home and do not have any database software involved.

Computer Bug Adds to Stock Panic?

An article is claiming that the stock plunge on Tuesday was made worse by a computer problem experienced by the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Essentially, the main DJIA system became overwhelmed by the volume of trading and could not keep up with displaying the actual stock prices. They switched over to a backup system, which caught up the display quickly - making it appears that prices were dropping even faster than they actual were. This panicked traders and caused even more selling than might otherwise have happened.

Let's be clear. The bug did not explicitly change results. The prices were correct in the system, and no trades were lost or distorted. The problem simply exacerbated the human emotional reaction by exaggerating how fast the drop seemed to happen on their displays.

MOD-BLOG REVIEW: Stranger Than Fiction

Title: Stranger than Fiction
MPAA Rating: PG-13

The Plot: IRA Agent Harold Crick (Will Farrell) finds his life suddenly narrated by a mysterious english-accented voice (Emma Thompson), who announced matter-of-factly that he will soon die. Now, he must find a way to save himself from death, just as he is finally discovering how to live.

The Review: I have been looking forward to seeing this movie on DVD for a long time. I missed it in the theater because of lack of time on the weekends. Normally, when I see films like this in the end, I am deeply disappointed by the reality. This time, that was not the case. Wow.

This is a deep, funny, and philosophically complex film. The characters are very strong - I dare anyone not to see a lot of Harold Crick in themselves - and the plot is compelling. Unexpectedly what starts are a dark comedy (in which Will Farrell is not the funny one) turns into an analysis of what it means to live a good life... and die a good death.

Of course, don't walk into this expecting a laugh-out-loud comedy in the mold of Taledega Nights or Old School. This is a quiet comedy. But I think it has something for just about anyone who does not need an explosion every few minutes to keep them awake.