Senator Obama's Testimony

Again, I am making an exception to my "No New York Times" articles policy for an exceptional article that I don't think will be found elsewhere for a while.

This article contains within it what is essentially the testimony of Senator Barack Obama, detailing his upbringing, his early life, and how he came to his faith. It gives a glimpse (albeit a glimpse not without spin) of the character of this man who would be the democratic nominee for president, and the priorities in his life. His story is far more political than most I have heard/read - he does not speak of a movement within his heart convicting him of his sin, but rather a sudden sense of connection between Israel of old and the black communty in modern imes - but it seems genuine to me. I know the heart of no other human being, but the words are right and the sentiment is there. I hope he speaks more about this in the future.

Superchick Speaks Out About Virginia Tech

A Christian punk band named Superchick is offering a free copy of their song "Hero" along with a response to the Virginia Tech shooting. The song talks about how just by reaching out to others, we can be a hero and prevent tragedies such as Columbine and the Virginia Tech shooting. Based on my reading of the Virginia Tech incident, I don't know how much reaching out would have helped as Cho didn't respond to the attempts that people made, but it is important to be on the lookout for people that need us to come alongside them and encourage them.

Be Nice to Animals With Sharp Teeth

One boy learned this lesson the hard way. According to the article, animal rights is not a big thing in China, so perhaps that boys really didn't know better than to hit the crocodiles with sticks and a catapult. Crocodiles can move quite surprisingly, so you should always beware of them.

Of course, the crocodiles may have learned a lesson too

Snipers used pork to lure them out of their pool and shot dead the first animal to lumber on to the bank.

Guess it's not always good to be the early bird that catches the worm.

PhotoRescue Saved My Bacon!

I have a photographer friend who gave me some sage advice. "Don't invest in high volume memory cards for your digital cameras," he said. "Instead, but a lot of smaller cards which add up to the number of gigabytes you need. That way, if one goes bad, you haven't lost a full day of shooting." I noted the wisdom, but thought there was no reason for ME to follow it. After all, I thought, when have I *EVER* had a memory card become corrupted?

Well, last night, it happened! This weekend has been the Districts Quiz for the Bible Quiz Team I coach. I am sort of the unofficial photographer for the whole event, taking team pictures of all of the other teams as well as candids all the day long. I took over 600 pictures with my Digital Rebel XT, and was looking forward to getting them into iPhoto in preparation for uploading to Flickr overnight. Well, I got back to the hotel and had some problems with an old memory card reader (which is now bound for the trash). In a few easy steps, it managed to COMPLETELY corrupt the memory card - my single 4 gigabyte memory card. Suddenly, the whole weekend was lost!

In panic, I went to Google and typed in "rescue photos from a compact flash card" and prayed that there would be something other than the $200/hour data recover services. There was! I found Photo Rescue, which is a piece of software for both MacOS X and Windows which can pull the data off of damaged cards for $29 (one-time registration fee). I was desperate, so I gave it a try. It took HOURS to reconstruct the data on the card, but once it did... IT WAS A COMPLETE SUCCESS!!! It not only recovered the 600+ photos from yesterday, but another 300+ photos previously deleted from the card by my purposeful action! At this point, I highly recommend this piece of software if you wind up with a similar disaster.

Supreme Court on Partial-Birth Abortion Stirs Anti-Catholic Bigotry?

We here at Mod-Blog have applauded the Supremes' decision to uphold the Partial Birth Abortion ban, while maintaining that philosophically abortion should be placed back in the hands of the states rather than being a Federal issue. Overall, most of the reaction I have heard has been positive, but apparently the Justices who voted to uphold the ban are being attacked by the insinuation they only did so because they are Catholic. I have not read the various attacks on this basis, but as a Protestant I need to tell these critics that it is possible to think this decision is a good idea without being Catholic! I think that I hold a reasoned, considered opinion about abortion and especially partial birth abortion, which I believe I would hold even if I were an atheist.

Too bad. But ever since I first spoke up as Pro-Life in high school, most of my arguments with the other side wound up with them calling me names or spouting unreasoned, unexamined assumptions. I am told that is the experience of logical reasoned people on the Pro-Choice side, as well. Apparently, the vast majority can't talk about this issue without resorting to pure emotion. I am glad the Justices seem to NOT be cut from that cloth.

Democratic Debate Thoughts

I enjoyed watching the Democratic debate last night. Even as a Republican, I thought it was entertaining and informative. It was a good event for introducing our country to the candidates. MSNBC did a nice job of keeping the discussion moving and asking relevant questions.

As to my reactions to specific candidates. I believe that the biggest loser last night was Bill Richardson. I had thought that he would be a good candidate for the Democrats who could bridge the party and country back to the Clinton years without having all the negative baggage that Hillary Clinton has. But Richardson looked tired and unmotivated last night. He did not look like someone who would be a legitimate presidential nominee. I’m not saying this ended his presidential run, but he needs to turn around his campaign after that poor performance last night. I thought the wisest answers came from Joe Biden and Dennis Kucinich. Biden did a good job of answering the questions that were asked of him, but didn’t feel like he had to fill his 1 minute of allotted time. If the answer to a question took him 45 seconds, he ended there. If it could be answered in a sentence, then he ended there. Dennis Kucinich’s answers were the most well thought out and consistent with what he professes and is know to believe. (Except his assertion that he is the known for being a healer. Has anyone ever heard of him being someone who can bring people of different points of view together for the common good?)
Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama each did fine, but neither were fantastic. The one thing I would have liked to have seen out of Obama is for him to have a moment where he was inspiring. That is his reported strength and last night, he was not able to come across as inspiring. Chris Dodd did a nice job and his best statement, which should become his theme, was “We don’t need another President who needs years of on the job training.” Mike Gravel played an important American political role. He was decidedly politically left of everyone else on stage, but he is a true believer who is consistent in his ideology. He is a good tool for the other Democratic presidential candidates to use to sharpen their own words and positions as they react to his. Gravel did come off as “not mainstream” enough to be a serious contender, but that is not his role. John Edwards did fine, but did nothing to distinguish himself from the other candidates.

Tune in to MSNBC next Thursday to see the Republican candidates for President.

Could we prevent another Virginia Tech or Columbine with technology?

One tech writer thinks so. Cringely is normally focussed on predicting the next emerging technology, but this week he ponders the case of the Virginia Tech shooter, and compares it with his own experience with an unstable personality in his life. I also have known some people who were clearly unstable and needed care (and largely recieved it), but whom I worry about to this day. It is an interesting question to wonder if it would be possible to create a system to scan the blogs and twitter posts and etc. that people freely post in an attempt to predict when individuals enter dangerous states. Then again, it would also be a dangerous system, like the Pre-Crime of Philip K. Dick's Minority Report, because it would tempt society to act before any crime has been committed. And really, is it possible to have such a system which can act early enough to extend a helping hand, while the disturbed individual is still capable of accepting it?

Religion is good for kids... if it is not a source of parental conflict

Both the Old Testament and the New Testament agree on something. It recommends that believers not marry unbelievers. Why? A new study suggests it is because while religious children tend to be "better behaved and adjusted than other children", the benefits are completely lost if the parents are constantly arguing about their religion.

The kids whose parents regularly attended religious services—especially when both parents did so frequently—and talked with their kids about religion were rated by both parents and teachers as having better self-control, social skills and approaches to learning than kids with non-religious parents.

But when parents argued frequently about religion, the children were more likely to have problems. “Religion can hurt if faith is a source of conflict or tension in the family,” Bartkowski noted.

Those who believe love conquers all should keep in mind that there are practical concerns to a marriage... especially if you plan to bring children into that marriage by birth or adoption.

SurveyUSA says Obama won the Democratic Candidates Debate

Vote your own opinion on the Mod-Blog poll, but the early consensus seems to be that Obama won the debate. We watched about half of the debate (Well, I did, CRChair watched about 3/4 of it). I agree that Barack Obama came across well, and definitely presidential, but I do not think he changed any minds. My analysis of Hillary Clinton is that she did not make any missteps, but also did not distinguish herself. As a woman who cultivates the image of being the most qualified person in the country for the job, she just seemed like another candidate on the platform and nothing special. I thought that the big winners for the night in terms of changing minds might be Chris Dodd and Dennis Kucinich. Dodd came across as capable, presidential, and well-thought-out. Not necesarily the best man for the job, but one that you would be unashamed to represent you on the world stage. Kucinich came across as not quite the fringe wacko that he seemed in the last campaign, and defended his positions well, even if he was significantly to the Left of most Americans. As for the rest, they either seemed overly timid (Richardson) or mildly deranged (Gravel).

What are your thoughts? Did you even bother to see the debate or catch the replays on YouTube or the Evening News?

STAR WARS: Revenge on the Cell Phone

Walkies Cheer Me Up Too

Sigh, $3/gallon is within sight...

Sigh, $3/gallon is within sight...
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

...and keep in mind this is at a discount club.

Bush vs Bush

Even as a Bush supporter, I have to admit this is funny.

The Return of Q*Bert

In the heady days after Pac-Man but before real voice synthesis in Final Fight, we had a surreal game called Q*Bert where a two-legged, no-armed orange ball of fur climbed over a pyramid and gave off a comic equivilent of a swear when it lost. If, like me, you enjoyed that strange game, now you can play it for free online! Welcome back, strange friend.

Dow 30K!

Yesterday, I was reading a somewhat paranoid and highly critical discussion about the GWB presidency. I then came across a liberal whose comment was mystifying to me. It made the claim that this was "the worst economy since the Great Depression with the highest unemployment ever." Hunh? I am hoping the comment was made before the Dow hit 13,000 which is the highest level it has ever reached, which was pushed largely by unexpected drops in unemployment which was already very low.

There are many things to criticize about the George W Bush Administration. But somehow, I do not think the state of the economy is one of them.

MSNBC to Host Presidential Debates 4/26 & 5/3

MSNBC will be hosting debates for the Democratic Presidential candidates this Thursday April 26th and for the Republican Presidential candidates next Thursday May 3rd. This will be our first opportunity to see the candidates together on the same stage. There will be no opening or closing statements. The candidates will be asked questions and will be able to respond to each other. This will be a good opportunity to hear from both the well know candidates like Rudy Guliani and Hillary Clinton and the lesser known candidates like Duncan Hunter or Mike Gravel.

Kryptonite Discovered!

Who knew when Bryan Singer decided to direct SUPERMAN RETURNS, he'd be setting someone up to make geological history. A geologist working Serbia has discovered a new mineral with the same chemical composition as the Kryptonite in the recent film! Unfortunately, due to the dry unrealistic (practical and useful) rules of the governing bodies for naming minerals, it will be called "Jaradite" instead since the mineral has nothing to do with the element krypton.

In the meantime, I suspect Smallville will get a lot more interesting.

Dumb Criminals

Are you one of those people who loves the dumb criminal books and TV shows? Well while looking at my local TV stations website I saw an article where a thief tried to trade in a car he stole at the same dealership that he had stolen it from a month earlier. You can't make this stuff up.

VT and the Deaths of our Soldiers

This article is being sensationalized by some in the Press as an attack by a soldier on the memory of those who died at Virginia Tech. But if you read the article in depth, it is really questioning whether we have become inured to the deaths of those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The whole nation stops for the deaths of the victims at VT - and rightly so - but it barely shrugs when roadside bombs or suicide bombers or insurgent attacks claim the same number of lives. Of course, soldiers choose a life which faces death, while college students do not. But maybe we do need to be a little more mindful even so.

Google + DoubleClick = Big Brother?

Fans of George Orwell may remember the "telescreen", a device ostensibly created to provide entertainment and to disseminate information is used to track the activities of every person in a society. Activists are proclaiming that the recently-announced purchase of DoubleClick (the company that runs the majority of banner ads on the internet) and Google may be forming a conglomerate just as sinister as anything George Orwell could have thought up.

Just think. If a company knew about all of your searches (Google Search), all of your e-mails (GMail), and every advertising-supported website you ever visited, what would they NOT know about you? (And this ignores the possibility of a Google-powered or tracked VOIP service to track your phone calls.)

Good bye for now

As some of you know on Thursday (April 26) I will be leaving on a mission trip to Swaziland, Africa. I will be gone for two weeks, this brings joy to some and sorrow to others while most of you probably won't even notice I'm gone. We're going to be working with a fabulous ministry called African Leadership Partners, who create foster homes for some of the millions of children orphaned by the AIDS crisis in Africa. We will be doing a vacation bible school and helping out around the farm in any way we can. We're not necessarily going to be spreading the gospel, but we will be helping to provide some hope in what is in many cases a hopeless situation. This I believe is in the greatest sense what it is to evangelize - to bring hope. I would love it if those of you who are Christians would pray for me and the team while we are gone. Thank you for your support.

How Pop-Up Books Are Made

Wired has up a small blurb entitled "The Science of Pop-Ups" that I found interesting. Apparently it can take quite some engineering to get it just right.

Largest Cocaine Bust

What is thought to be the largest recorded cocaine bust happened in Mid-March. The Coast Guard has just brought in the 38,000 pound shipment along with another 2,000 pounds from two other boats.

In my search to find out what the street value of this shipment would be, I ran across an interesting site that talks about the profit for those that sell cocaine. Wikipedia lists the street price of cocaine as $30 - $120 per gram or $100 - $300 for 3.5 grams (1/8 of an ounce).

The Coast Guard's official release about the bust can be found here.

Yeltsin is Dead

Boris Yeltsin, the former Russian President is dead. Although there has not been an official cause of death given, it is speculated that he died of heart failure. Although some of the articles I read have given a decidedly critical view of his role as President, I think in the big picture, he did what needed to be done and was the right man for his time in history. He was just ill equipped to deal with such a long time at the top. RIP Boris Yltsin.

I can't NOT post this

This is a really cool site!

I found this site yesterday while looking for a "birthday cake picture" for Ward. This proves that a pastry chef can really be more than just a cook - they can truly be an artist.

What makes for a "Moderate"?

Apparently, I missed it when the first batch of articles about a recent study came out. But Psychology Today's summary of the study and the reactions to it is worth reading. The part of the article which gets the most attention is this snippet

As kids, liberals had developed close relationships with peers and were rated by their teachers as self-reliant, energetic, impulsive, and resilient. People who were conservative at age 23 had been described by their teachers as easily victimized, easily offended, indecisive, fearful, rigid, inhibited, and vulnerable at age 3. The reason for the difference, the Blocks hypothesized, was that insecure kids most needed the reassurance of tradition and authority, and they found it in conservative politics.

And of course, that quote, as phrased, is at least moderately insulting to Conservatives. It implies that Liberals are intelligent and popular, while Conservatives are the nerdy prudes in the back of the room.

But the more interesting section of the article is on the effect of 9/11 on politics, and what our awareness of our mortality does to the voting behavior of a democratic republic. They argue that 9/11 really did change my Liberals into Conservatives, by making them aware of death, and that even small reminders of death - like the Bin Laden letter released shortly before the 2004 election - can have far-ranging effects on voter behavior.

Personally, I am offended that they gave no clue what childhood behavior lead to Moderates. I assume it will be something like a passion for both chocolate and skim milk in the school cafeteria

Leave Alec Baldwin Alone

Now, I may be the one person in America who enjoyed his performance in The Shadow, but I am not a fan of Alec Baldwin. He is talented, especially at deadpan humor, but his political rants are legendary and generally offensive if you have even the slightlest Rightward lean. However, I still think he is being ill-treated over his comments toward his daughter released as part of his ongoing divorce proceedings with Kim Basinger. The comments are awful, but they are part of a private conversation between father and daughter. Let his friends, family, and spiritual advisors work to chastise, correct, or forgive This is not something that should be played out on the public stage!

Happy Birthday, Ward!

Today is the anniverdary of the birth of Blog founder (and occasional poster) Ward. Happy birthday, Ward! May today be wonderful and the next year to come even better!

Gas prices

Gas prices
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Opening up your horizons

HandBrake is back from the dead!

After being abandoned by its original developer, I am pleased to see that the best DVD ripper in the world is an active and developing project again! HandBrake is he best DVD ripper I am aware of for any operating system. You simply insert a DVD into your Mac (protected or unprotected), select the format you want and click "Convert". That is all there is to it. Compare this to Windows programs which may you first rip the DVD, then remove copy protection, then convert it to your chosen video format.

Long live the new HandBrake!

Men's Alternatice to Popular Store

Although I don't drink, I still think this is funny.

Common Sense Tips for the Office Worker

This article has a good set of tips for maintaining your reputation and your job if you are an office worker. Honestly, most of them apply widely in life, anyway, so all of our readers may find it interesting.

7. Get it in writing.

Email is one of the single greatest inventions ever in corporate accountability.

If there is ever a doubt in your mind about what you’ve been tasked to do, get it in writing. Sometimes people make judgement calls on the fly when they’re pressed for time. More often than not, when they are proven to have made the incorrect call, they will turn to you and ask you why you did that (idiot!). So having their instructions in black and white will save your ### a hundred times over the course of your career.

Be aware there are a few non-family-friendly words in the article, but they are mostly in context.

Helvetica: The Movie

As a graphic designer fonts are important to me. My favorite font is actually Optima, but a close second is Helvetica. Well, now my second favorite font has not only spawned a musical, but also a movie. Ok, to be honest, the musical isn't completely about Helvetica, but it does play a role in it.

Gas Prices

Gas Prices
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Shields Up!

Believe it or not, the first "Star Trek" technology that might make it to real life is "shields." As nations ponder a return to space, British scientists are considering how they can better protect astronauts from high-energy particles. However, the theory here is not exactly like the "Star Trek" approach which tends to be simply a projection of "force". This device would generate a powerful magnetic field and fill it with plasma (basically gas with an electric charge) which would be held in place by the field. Then high energy particles would be slowed down by the plasma until no longer dangerous or deflected to the sides.

This is technically more like a Star Trek deflector field, if there are any Trekkie Geeks out there ready to rip me a new one for my inaccurate technobabble.

The Problem With Security Companies

Wired has an interesting piece on the problem with security companies. The author compares buying security software and hardware to buying a used car, referencing American economist George Akerlof's paper, "The Market for 'Lemons'". Basically, when the seller knows a lot more about the industry / product than the seller, the seller has to look at varying factors, many of which are inaccurate, to make the "best" choice. Because of this, it is the cheapest products or the best marketed products and not the best products that stay available on the market. I know that I have found this when trying to find anti-spyware software for Windows. The best I can do is Google "Top 10" and "anti-spyware" and see what comes up.

Word Document Gives Hackers Access to State Department

This seems amazing to me and yet it shouldn't surprise me with all of the extra features and integration with its other products that Microsoft includes in Office. Apparently, a state department employee opened up a Word document they got in e-mail and it leaked information to hackers.

Travelling By Land All Over the World

Russia is planning on building a tunnel from Russia to Alaska to allow the transport of both goods and power. Though it wouldn't be cost effective, you could theoretically travel from South America to North America to Asia, Africa, and Europe by train once this was built. (Yes, you'd still need to fly or take a boat to reach Antarctica, Australia, and other islands). They're saying investment could be paid back in 20 years.

Partial Birth Abortion Ban Upheld by the Supremes!

My memory may be incorrect, but I seem to recall when Congress passed the Partial Birth Abortion ban it was generally seen as a symbolic move which would not survive court challenges. Well, apparently the Supreme Court felt differently. They ust uphold the ban 5-to-4.

For the first time since the court established a woman's right to an abortion in 1973, the justices upheld a nationwide ban on a specific abortion method, labeled partial-birth abortion by its opponents.
The 5-4 decision written by Justice Anthony Kennedy said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.
The law is constitutional despite not containing an exception that would allow the procedure if needed to preserve a woman's health, Kennedy said. "The law need not give abortion doctors unfettered choice in the course of their medical practice," he wrote in the majority opinion.

I am of two minds about this. On the one hand, I am of the opinion that the decision of legality of abortion should be a STATE issue, not a Federal one. On the other hand, I am glad for any glimmering of hope that the unborn can be protected.

New Theory for Physics Shows a "Trinity of the Physical Realm"?

Not many of our readers are as interested in physics as I am, but I thought this particular thought from a paper on a new theory for space-time which attempts to replace String Theory with a more useable potential Theory of Everything was notable.

"A very interesting aspect is that Newton fought strongly against the idea of the trinity (in a religious context)," Sparling noted. "It is ironic that I am invoking that very same idea in the context of gravity: perhaps Newton saw that the concept could be used in physics, but because he could not think of such a use he rebelled strongly against it (of course, I have no evidence for this!)."

There, now it is an article for the physicist and theologian both!

NBA Referee Suspended for "Fight" Taunts

This past Sunday we were watching the Spurs game - and I was typically paying little attention due to my sports attention deficit disorder - when suddenly I couldn't look away. One of the referees seemed to go crazy, and eject Tim Duncan from the game while he was on the bench... for laughing at something. It was one of the weirdest moments I have seen in basketball. And apparently, it only got weirder in the retelling. The referee who made the call is now officially suspened for the rest of the NBA season, and may be asked to retire after that. Apparently, he actually challenged Tim Duncan to a fight before tossing him out of the game.

And here I thought basketball was about getting an ball through a hoop more times than the other team.

The truth hurts

Admit it, you've always wondered about this, too

How to Make Kitty Litter Cake

Okay, this came up on my Google homepage as one of the "How To's of the Day". Not for the faint stomach.

What we have become

Real Reasons Leopard is Late

Are foods getting healthier with the trans-fat ban

It seems the answer to that question is not as cut and dry as you'd think. Less trans-fat == healthier food, you'd think. But it seems that some food producers are simply replacing the trans-fats for saturated fat, which is only nominally better than the trans-fat it's replacing. Reading about all these chemicals and what they do to your body almost makes me want to eat raw like my mom, but then I remember how much I like steak and lobster and decide otherwise :)

For the record...

...I hate the "New Blogger", and the fact that my GMail is now linked to my Blogs. Google is now forcing upgrades for all users of Blogger. One of the reasons to use to use Blogger is to maintain some semblance of anonymity on the web. This robs me of that ability. In protest, I will not be posting ANYTHING to Mod-Blog on April 17. I imvite other bloggers to follow this silent protest, and see if Google notices the blaring silence.

This is not an "order" or anything of the sort. All Mod-Bloggers are obviously free to do what they please. It is my own form of protest for this move by Google. I will decide on Wednesday how to proceed from there.

A new file system for Apple?

This blogger seems to think so. This is perhaps one of the more geeky topics to be covered here on Mod-Blog, but it is interesting that this may be the wave of the future for Apple. Basically, this would provide a platform for multi-drive systems that will be coming with the growth of the digital video download economy. Most people don't think about *how* their computer stores files, they just accept that it does. The problem comes when the *how* becomes corrupted and then there is catastrophic data loss. This is why everybody needs a solid back up strategy for their computer and that strategy needs to be more solid the more stuff you have on your computer. Supposedly with this file system it'll keep your stuff from being corrupted better and it will make back ups easier. This is a good thing for everybody - except of course for the programmers that have to figure out how to put an Apple look and feel to an extremely technical mechanism.

Tomorrow is Tax Day!

The good news is that Tax Day (the day that Federal and most State Tax forms and payments much be postmarked) has been pushed off two days to April 17th. The bad news is that day is tomorrow. If you are waking up Monday morning and realizing you have not done your taxes yet, consider trying out TurboTax's free online edition. Charges do apply if you e-File, and of course you can always purchase or download the desktop edition as well. I can't say enough good things about TurboTax which I have used (desktop edition) for about 10 years now. On paper, my taxes took two and a half days to complete. Electronically, they take about 2 hours.

And yes, both editions can also help you file for the automatic extension.

Is the cell phone killing the bees?

A new theory is being put forth to explain recent die-offs in bee populations in the USA and Asia. Originally, the theory had been illegal pesticides or other chemical pollutants, but no correlation could be found between conventional pollutants and die-offs. The new theory ties the empty hives instead to cell phones! The claim is that cell signals may be interfering with the bee's sensitive navigation system, and keeping drones from being able to find their way home after hunts for food.

Scary to be sure. It will be interesting to see if the problem - assuming it exists - is equal between different kinds of cellular technology (CDMA and GSM are the two competing standards) and/or if it can be resolved by changing frequencies.

A perfect square in the stars

This is an amazing image. It is the actual remains of an exploded star. Who says there are no squares in nature?!

Our back yard in the Nor'Easter

Our back yard in the Nor'Easter
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Normally, the stream in our back yard is a shallow drainage ditch. After the current Nor'easter, we now have a small lake in our back yard instead. And we may get several more inches of water in the next few hours. Some days, it is nice living on the third floor of a three-family house!

How much like our pets are we?

Cuteness in Extremis

Want to know about the next Will Farrell movie?

Having seen Blades of Glory last weekend (really enjoyed it, though I suspect some of our readers would be happier avoiding it - I mean YOU, BowHunter), I can't help enjoying this Will Farrell Movie Generator from CollegeHumor.Com. After Anchorman, Talledega Nights, and Blades of Glory, it seems all-too spot on. And I am not sure that is a bad thing. The "ROAD" movies worked with a single formula for Bob Hope and Bing Crosby for decades, why not a new series of "IDIOTS AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME" movies?

For once, feel sorry for Best Buy

I don't know if you any of you follow the WILL IT BLEND spots from Blendtec. It is a viral marketting campaign where the company blends various unlikely things like an iPod or a garden rake to show the power of their devices. Well, this last week they blended a video camera...



...and this week they attempted to return it to Best Buy!



I am still not sure how the guy can say "I accidentally dropped it into a blender" and keep a straight face.

NJ Governor was not wearing seatbelt

The prayers of Mod-Blog are with NJ Governor John Corzine at this time after a very serious car crash this week. He was on his way to a mediation between Don Imus and the Rutgers Women's Basketball team when his vehicle was involved in an accident with a red Ford pickup. His injuries are very serious.

A state trooper was at the wheel and the governor was sitting as usual in the front passenger seat when the SUV slammed into a guard rail Thursday night, authorities said. Corzine broke a leg, his breastbone, 12 ribs and a vertebra.
Corzine, 60, was sedated and on a breathing tube...Dr. Robert Ostrum, who performed two hours of surgery on the governor Thursday night, said a rod was inserted in Corzine's leg, and additional operations were scheduled for Saturday and Monday.

However, this is not merely a post for sympathy. It turns out the governor was not wearing his seatbelt and had refused to put it on repeatedly in the past. Kids, remember, when adults fail to do something that we all know we should, it does not mean they are safe. It just means that they are willingly putting themselves at risk for a ventillator.

Abstinence Classes No Better Than Regular Sex Education

I'm not sure what to think about this. I believe in abstinence and my guess is that the failure of the progam isn't that abstinence is the wrong choice, but rather a result of the sexually charged culture along with the culture's attitude that "what's right for you isn't necessarily right for me." Anybody else have any thoughts?

2006 Driving Awards

While this says the 2006 Women Driving Awards, some of these are just so amazing that I had to post here. For the record, I would say my wife is a better driver than me, so this in no way states my opinion of women drivers. :)

The Prospect of Unisex Conception

Our society is in the throes of a debate now about whether every child deserves a mother and a father to raise them. The debate is about to get more difficult, as science makes possible conception without a father.

The researchers said they had already produced early sperm cells from bone-marrow tissue taken from men. They believe the findings show that it may be possible to restore fertility to men who cannot naturally produce their own sperm.

But the results also raise the prospect of being able to take bone-marrow tissue from women and coaxing the stem cells within the female tissue to develop into sperm cells, said Professor Karim Nayernia of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Creating sperm from women would mean they would only be able to produce daughters because the Y chromosome of male sperm would still be needed to produce sons. The latest research brings the prospect of female-only conception a step closer.

Of course, this is unlikely to remain a female monopoly for long. Eventually, either it will be possible to produce eggs from stem cells as well, or at worst it will be possible to buy female eggs on the open market and replace the nucleus with that of a male sperm. Thus taking women out of the equation.

Even though I have known this was coming for a while (we sci fi fans hear about this stuff far in advance of "normal" people) it still bothers me. There will no doubt be uses I would accept (such as using the stem cells of a sister to replace the sperm of her brother who died before he could concieve with his wife) and uses that I will not find it hard to accept. I am honestly not sure where the line lies in this case and where we are crossing it.

White House loses Millions of E-mails

We all know I am a GWB supporter. I voted for him twice. I generally have agreed wth his positions. I even still think the Iraq War was/is not a mistake. But I can not defend the newest revelation that the White House has lost 5 million e-mails of official business. How? Simple, white house staffers did not use official WhiteHouse.Gov e-mail, but instead made use of RNC e-mail or other outside e-mail services which allow the complete deletion of e-mail. For those who did not know, this is explicitly against the law. All White House business is required to take place on WhiteHouse.Gov e-mail servers and anything that does not is still expected to be kept and stored for future use in the presidential archives.

We all know how this will go. The White House will claim (not without some validity) that this is due to staffers who did not understand the technical limitations of e-mail. The Democrats will claim a cover-up or try to make an impeachable offense out of this. GOP pundits will say it is no big deal. Democratic pundits will say it is the worst crime in the history of the country. As a self-proclaimed moderate let me say both sides will be wrong. This is not a "high crime" on the order of the Clinton perjury unless it can be shown this was done truly to hide evidence of a crime, but it *IS* a crime in itself and ought to be prosecuted as one. The next president needs to know that he/she has to play by the rules established by Congress and the president's own board of ethics.

John Edwards's Idea of "Tax Reform"

Most politicians and every normal person understands that our tax system is broken. We spend thousands of dollars every year just to figure out how many dollars we owe the government. Personally, I go with TurboTax, but there is a lot of good tax software out there and even more tax accountants, tax attorneys, and bookkeepers who specialize in obscure corners of the tax code. Former Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes called for a flat tax that "you can do the paperwork on the back of a post card." Libertarian Neal Boortz is calling for the "Fair Tax Plan" which is basically a national sales tax.

What is John Edwards's solution to the problem? He would leave the tax code as it is, and have the IRS do the forms for you. That's right, he would hire more IRS agents to fill out the forms for thousands of Americans, rather than simply make the tax code comprehensible. Sigh.

Apple's next Operating System delayed to October

Some bloggers had speculated that Apple would release Mac OS 10.5 (code-named "Leopard") would be released in February in order to steal Microsoft Windows Vista's thunder. It was not so, and now Apple is admitting that it won't be out until October. The reason allegedly is staff that had to be pulled off of software development to work on the new iPhone which will be released in June.

Personally, I'd prefer to have MacOS 10.5 first, but then I am locked into my current cell plan for another two years.

Bye, Bye Imus

The other shoe has dropped, not that the annual CBS radiothon is over, and Don Imus has been fired from his radio show. I think I said my thoughts down below in the first story today. The question now, as CRChair and I were saying, is how long it will be until XM Radio or Sirius offers him a show on their networks.

India Reaches a New Milestone

Now their missiles can reach the Middle East and most of China's major cities.

Al Qaeda Strikes Again

Al Qaeda has struck again and no, it isn't in the USA or England. It is in Algeria. Suicide bombers detonated bombs that killed many people today. A group called "Al Qaeda in the Maghreb" claimed responsibility. I wonder if this will have any impact on how the rest of the world views our "War on Terror".

This is one of my favorite Futurama Moments

Imus loses another Outlet

I have to be honest, I have not entirely understood the furor over Don Imus's comments about the Rutgers Women's Basketball team. Don't get me wrong, his comments were horrible and I am glad he is being forced to apologize. What I don't understand is the feigned shock of the very executives who have relied on this oldest of the shock-jocks for their livelihood. Now, MSNBC has dropped him from their airwaves, and I can't believe they did not know about his potential for foot-in-mouth disease when they hired him. And did General Motors, American Express, Proctor and Gamble, and the others who are pulling their advertising thing they were advertising on Focus on the Family? Imus was the original over-the-top DJ.

Oh, well. I never listened to Imus unless others forced me to listen, so I won't miss him. But I suspect that there is more than a little hypocrisy going on here.

This comes directly from my life

The e-mail part. Not the shaving neck part. And I'd not be wearing a dress. Okay, so maybe it is not DIRECTLY from my life.

File this under "Real Life Horror Stories"

What happens when your credit report gets merged with someone else with the same first and last name? You might be amazed how difficult it is to resolve such an issue, and the "not-my-problem" attitude that most companies in the credit reporting chain display. Makes me nervous when Google has already told me there is at least one person out there with my same first and last name... and it has told me he had arrest record.

WARNING: If the Apple Store replaces your drive, it owns the old one

I have had many great experiences at the Apple Store with the Genius Bar. They have helped me repair multiple Macs which were beyond my own ablities to fix, despite a good collection of diagnostic and drive repair software. But it is important to be aware of some policies which may be to your disadvantage as a consumer. Specifically, if you bring your Mac to Apple and they replace the hard drive, Apple now owns the drive. i.e. You can't have it back, and there is no guarantee that the drive might not be reused by someone else capable of snooping around your data.

A Little Bit of Fun

Not sure who to give credit to on this, but one site listed author Don Davis. I found a website for author Donald A. Davis here.

THREE THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:

1. COWS

2. THE CONSTITUTION

3. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

COWS - Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that our
government can track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right
to the stall where she sleeps in the state of Washington? And, they
tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11
million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should
give them all a cow

THE CONSTITUTION - They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for
Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of
really smart guys, it's worked for over 200 years and we're not using
it anymore

TEN COMMANDMENTS - The real reason that we can't have the Ten
Commandments in a courthouse...... You cannot post, "Thou Shalt Not
Steal," "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery" and "Thou Shall Not Lie," in a
building full of lawyers, judges and politicians -- it creates a
hostile work environment

NJ Township Shows Pride in Nuclear Waste?

With all of the jokes that are made about New Jersey, I had to post about Saddle Brook, NJ's website. If you have a browser that supports the icon next to the URL you can see a radioactive symbol. I'm not sure if this is a joke by someone, but found it at the least interesting and gave me a little smile. And before anyone from NJ flames me, I was born there too. :)

Why Isn't Abortion Illegal?

In London, a pregnant woman was shot and the shooter is being charged with a double murder. Why is it that the law (U.S. law is similar) counts it as murder if the woman is pregnant and the baby is killed, but merely a "procedure" if the baby is killed through abortion?

Cadbury Egg Scandal?

Wondering about House prices?

One of the amazing (and depressing) things about living in Connecticut is the housing prices. Oftentimes, what appears to be a run-down shack on a tiny sliver of land can sell for half a million dollars. Such is the power of Fairfield County and its proximity to New York City. If you are ever on the road and wondering about a house you see for sale (or even one NOT for sale), check out House Front or text message the address to "HOUSE". You'll get back a reply with all the public info about the house (if any), along with its estimated asking price. The service is free, though normal access charges apply if you do not have free text messaging on your plan.

How much does Context control us?

What would happen if you took one of the greatest violinists in the world, put a Stradivarius in his hands, dressed him like a "street performer", and put him in a Washington D.C. train station? When he played, would he draw a crowd? Would people recognize the greatness playing in front of them? Or would they just walk on by? The Washington Post decided to find out.

In the three-quarters of an hour that Joshua Bell played, seven people stopped what they were doing to hang around and take in the performance, at least for a minute. Twenty-seven gave money, most of them on the run -- for a total of $32 and change. That leaves the 1,070 people who hurried by, oblivious, many only three feet away, few even turning to look.
No, Mr. Slatkin, there was never a crowd, not even for a second.

Why is this relevant now? If we can't recognize a musical virtuoso in our own time, how can we be surprised that the majority did not recognize the genius of a man like Jesus of Nazareth?

Happy Resurrection Day from All of Us!

I would have said "Happy Easter" if I had not already posted a story with that title this morning. I am not hung up on either way of describing our celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

How long was Jesus in the Tomb?

A grateful nod to The Theological Chat Room for this one.

On Easter we celebrate Jesus's resurrection from the tomb after 3 days. But if you stop to think about it, Friday, Saturday, raised on Sunday... are there really 3 days there? This article takes the question seriously and shows that it really does work out. Sometimes putting the question in context really helps.

Happy Easter!

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
Matthew 28:1-10

I have no idea who made this, but you *have* to laugh

Democracy at its iWorst

There is a saying from a British historian about the fall of the Athenian democracy, "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury." MIchigan is looking to prove the point today by passing a law to give every kid in Michigan an iPod. The idea appears to be that it would a cheaper educational tool than a laptop, but it would still require huge tax increases to pay for it, and the state congress appears to be all for it... despite a $1 billion dollar budget crisis.

No, kids, ignore the fire alarms. Just watch the pretty lights and listen to the pretty music. Ignore the fact that we're spending away your future.

Silent Saturday

British Sailors Respond

Although we all figured that what the British sailors were saying on Iranian tv was just what the Iranians wanted them to say and not the truth, it's nice to see their response in which they state that they were clearly in Iraqi waters and that they were not treated as well as Iran would want us to think.

MOD-BLOG RECOMMENDED: "A Republic of Virtue"

I have mentioned The Teaching Company before as a great place to pick up college level courses for listening in the car. I have a 45 minute (each way) commute every day, so I am always on the lookout for intellectually stimulating fare to listen to on the way. But I wanted to point out that one of their BEST series is currently on sale: American Ideals: Founding a "Republic of Virtue" . This course traces the ideas from Ancient Rome which our founding fathers drew upon in designing our own Republic. It is 6 hours of lecture for $25. And all stuff that I did not get in either High School or College courses on American history... and should have!

And if you are local here in CT and know who I am, feel free to just ask to borrow it, as I already own the set.

It is GOOD Friday, because we know the end of the story

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.
The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
Luke 22:44-49

Science had good news for Yankees fans, bad news for Mets fans

What do you do if you are a Mets fan who is sick of Yankees fans rubbing your face in their recent World Series wins? You build a scientific system to predict the outcome of games for the season, which seems to put out accurate predictions for the majority of known actual wins and losses. Unfortunately, in this case, it predicts that the Yankees will dominate again this year.

Personally, I am just as happy not to subject my Phillies to the slings and arrows of Math.

Gringrich vs Kerry

So you're a washed-up presidential candidate with little chance to win the nomination, so what do you do? You team up with another washer-up presidential candidate and have a debate! Um, am I missing something?

Former House Speaker and possible presidential candidate Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and 2004 Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) are set to square off on climate change next week, their staffs announced Thursday.
The debate, hosted by New York University’s John Brademas Center for the Study of Congress, will take place next Tuesday, April 10, at 10 a.m. in the Russell Senate Office Building.

Kerry, who bowed out of the 2008 presidential race earlier this year, has been dubbed an “environmental champion” by the non-partisan League of Conservation Voters. His website touts a long record of fighting for the environment. He and his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry also recently wrote This Moment on Earth, which addresses climate change and preserving the environment.

Feel free to argue that Gingrich is not washed up, but don't even try with Kerry. He was the Bob Dole of the last election - nominated only because it was his turn.

Weekend Adventurer Online!

One of our regular commenters has decided the Shoutbox and Comments here at Mod-Blog are insufficient to share his wilderness knowledge with the world. Click on over and check out Weekend Adventurer!

Gas (NOT at BJs)

Gas (NOT at BJs)
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Sigh. Almost $3/gallon now.

Seinfeld on Award Shows for Actors

Warning some language that is not quite family friendly. But mild.

Cheney 2008?

One paper is now openly calling for VP Dick Cheney's entry into the race for president. They point to the current weakness of the GOP field, Cheney's long experience and shrewdness, and the need for a candidate to defend the Bush record of the last two terms. Personally, I think it is a bad idea for two reasons: (1) Bush and Cheney have spent 8 years telling the world that Cheney has no presidential aspirations, and (2) I do not believe his health would hold up for 4 to 8 more years in office. This, of course, ignores the current level of hatred that half the country has for Cheney, which has reached Gingrich-like depth of rancor.

At a time when the country is ready for change, let's let Mr. Cheney return home and not try to draft him for another 8 years.

New Study: Dieting Don't Work

Despite some obvious exceptions, a new study proclaims that by and large dieting does not work to reduce weight and in fact the yo-yo dieting experienced by most overweight people may be more harmful to the body than maintaining an overweight frame that your body can adjust to.

"Several studies indicate that dieting is actually a consistent predictor of future weight gain," said Janet Tomiyama, a UCLA graduate student of psychology and co-author of the study. One study found that both men and women who participated in formal weight-loss programs gained significantly more weight over a two-year period than those who had not participated in a weight-loss program, she said.

Another study, which examined a variety of lifestyle factors and their relationship to changes in weight in more than 19,000 healthy older men over a four-year period, found that "one of the best predictors of weight gain over the four years was having lost weight on a diet at some point during the years before the study started," Tomiyama said. In several studies, people in control groups who did not diet were not that much worse off — and in many cases were better off — than those who did diet, she said.

This of course raises the question of what DOES work, since obesity has been linked to so many health problems. The study's authors remain mute on this point.

Romney Likes Vetoes

I bounced over to Romney's site and found the following commercial. Made me laugh (in a good way).

Giuliani Reiterates Support for Tax-Payer Sponsored Abortions

If you thought Rudy was moderating his position on abortion, this should be a wake-up call. He reiterated his belief from his days running for governor that the state should sponsor abortions for poor Americans. Let no Pro-Lifer think that he is in any way leaning away from his Pro-Choice stance.

Do you wonder NOW why I can not vote for the man, despite the great respect I have for him as a leader and administrator?

Austrian court to grant "human rights" to a chimpanzee?

Apparently, Darwin's theory has more influence on judicial thinking than some may have thought. Now the EU may have to face the problem of where sentience ends.

He recognises himself in the mirror, plays hide-and-seek and breaks into fits of giggles when tickled. He is also our closest evolutionary cousin.
A group of world leading primatologists argue that this is proof enough that Hiasl, a 26-year-old chimpanzee, deserves to be treated like a human. In a test case in Austria, campaigners are seeking to ditch the 'species barrier' and have taken Hiasl's case to court. If Hiasl is granted human status - and the rights that go with it - it will signal a victory for other primate species and unleash a wave of similar cases.

I first read about the drive to grant limited human rights to apes in a sci fi book I read about 5 years ago. I expected that I would see someone try it my lifetime. I did not expect it would be this soon.

Geneological Software

For some time I've had an interest in my family tree and family history, but have never really been able to find a good way to actually catalog the little information I have as well as build a family tree. I started using GeneBase, which allows others to join in with you, but they don't have a good solution for adopted siblings. You either have to keep them out of the family tree (genealogy purist would choose this) or include them in the family tree as a natural sibling. I don't want to do the first option and given the unique situation in my family, I can't really do adopted siblings as natural siblings and still have a complete family tree. Does anyone have any suggestions for either (a) good geneological software that I could use or, preferably (b) a good geneological website that would allow relatives to collaborate with me? It must allow for adopted siblings (two sets of parents for a given person) and I'm hoping for free (especially if it allows relatives to collaborate with me). I can use Mac or Windows software.

I considered building the site myself, but realized that I barely have time to work on my geneology, let alone build something as advanced as geneological software.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Hilary Rodham Clinton to Bring God's Wrath

or so a group called Operation Rescue/Operation Save America (OSA) claims. OSA is a pretty radical pro-life organization (not to the point that they kill abortionists, but still pretty radical). As usual, I find that I agree with some of the premises they hold (pro-life, for example), but come to different conclusions / how to handle things. Yes, the Republican party messed up when they were in power. Yes, pro-life Christians are having trouble figuring out a presidential candidate that fits their values. On the other hand, I don't see Hillary Rodham Clinton as God's wrath on the Republican Party.

Fastest Train on Rails

The French have announced the fastest train on rails (Japan still holds the record for fastest train, but it uses a different technology). A whopping 357 MPH! Makes me wish we had fast, affordable train travel here.

Serenity vs Star Wars

In what is sure to anger fans of George Lucas's trilogy/septilogy, the BBC is reporting that Serenity beat out Star Wars in a fan poll of the best sci fi movie of all time. Serenity was the movie "finale" of the TV show Firefly which has many fans here at Mod-Blog. It was a good movie, but not nearly as ground-breaking or influential as Star Wars or the number 3 film on the list, Bladrunner. It will be interesting to see if the movie is even remembered 10 years from now. If so, it will be proof that it is the writing, not the the special effects, which make a sci film great.

Early DST Produces *NO* Savings So Far

The new earlier date for Daylight Savings Time was inaugurated this year (with much ballyhoo and considerable trouble for those of us who work on computers, all of which had to be upgraded to deal witht he new time) in an effort to decrease energy useage. It may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but so far energy savings appear to have been for nought. Of course, now someone up in the Federal Government will decide this means we need to go BACK to the old DST, or some new middle ground of DST in the near future. Please no! We don't need to upgrade all computer systems again for another artificial crisis.

"Lost" DNA Interview Comes to the Web

Before Douglas Adams was famous - just after the premiere of the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" radio program, but before the books - an obscure science fiction magazine scored an interview. The young and mostly unknown writer talked much about his life, his universe, and his everything. He would never again give so in-depth an interview. Now, finally, the interview has been published to the web and we can see a Douglas Adams before fame had hit. Back when he was still working on Dr. Who to earn money to buy a cup of something almost, but not entirely, completely unlike tea.

Knight Rider car, KITT, for sale

My family and presumably thousands of other families used to have such a good time watching Knight Rider and it's star, KITT, do all it's fancy stuff. David Hasseloff, wasn't too bad either. Anyway, one of the cars used in the show is now on sale for a meager $150K. Not a bad deal for a car that can drive itself at 300 MPH ;)

iTunes loses a little DRM

Yes, Purenard, you beat me to posting this.

Apple has announced that starting X, EMI's catalogue of music within the iTunes music store will be sold DRM (i.e. copy protection) free. This means the tracks will be freely useable by ANY music player capable of playing AAC files, not jut iPods and iPhones. And to encourage adoption by the public, they will also be sold in higher quality than other iTunes songs.

Very interesting. Veeeeeeeery, interesting.

Finding More Universal Donors

New research has found a way to convert different blood types to O. They can't change the +/- yet (rhesus), but once trials are done, blood banks could start stocking more O+ and O- no matter who it came from. O- blood can be donated to anyone. O+ blood can be donated to A+, B+, AB+, and O+.

Some information on blood types taken from Wikipedia.

The news article is about how Romney is the leading GOP candidate fundraising-wise ($1 million below Clinton who leads overall), but this one paragraph amazed me:

Experts have predicted this will be the first $1 billion presidential contest, reports CBS News correspondent Joie Chen. Outrageous as it sounds, it looks like they're right.

I know that presidential campaigns are expensive, but it just seems like this money could be better spent than slugging it out for President of the United States.

How Hitmen Save Time

Gas prices

Gas prices
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.