My gas price

My gas price
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Mom's Gas Price

Mom's Gas Price
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

-5 cents/gallon for members

The Realities of the Rebellion

Not sure why this one is so funy

My dog doesn't fit this at all, but I still think it's funny

Noonan on the Ahmadinejad Appearance

I forgot to post this earlier today, but tomorrow is my "comics and fun" day so I wanted to post it tonight. I was really surprised by the vitriol spewed at anyone this past week who intimated that maybe the President of Iran should be allowed to speak at Columbia. It seemed to me like this was a great opportunity for a little-understood world leader to present himself, and explain his actions and philosophies. Especially since it seems to be common knowledge that at some time in the near - but unspecified - future, our two nations could be at war. What better way to begin to understand the enemy.

But most people seemed to feel that his views did not deserve even a cursory hearing. It was made worse when, during the introduction to the speech, the President of Columbia insulted and belittled Ahmadinejad. Are we really the champions of Free Speech, when we feel a need to pre-emptively protect ourselves from it? I thought Peggy Noonan really summed up my feelings in her article from Friday on this issue.

Is it necessary to say when one speaks of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that you disapprove of him, disagree with him, believe him a wicked fellow and are not amused that he means to have missiles aimed at us and our friends? If it is, I am happy to say it. Who, really, isn't?
But this has been our history: to let all speak and to fear no one. That's a good history to continue. The Council on Foreign Relations was right to invite him to speak last year--that is the council's job, to hear, listen and parse--and Columbia University was well within its rights to let him speak this year. Though, in what is now apparently Columbia tradition, the stage was once again stormed, but this time verbally, and by a university president whose aggression seemed sharpened by fear.

There were two revealing moments in Ahmadinejad's appearance. The first is that in his litany of complaint against the United States he seemed not to remember the taking and abuse of American diplomatic hostages in 1979. An odd thing to forget since he is said to have been part of that operation. The second was the moment when he seemed to assert that his nation does not have homosexuals. This won derisive laughter, and might have been a learning moment for him; dictators don't face derisive from crowds back home.

That is the thing about Free Speech. It allows great men to show their greatness. And it allows small men to show their paucity of wit and thought. By trying to silence a small man, we simply allow him to seem big to his followers and deny ourselves the chance to get to know just how dangerous he may be.

Gingrich finalls says "No Prez"

Newt Gingrich has been flirting with the idea of running for the nomination and the presidency for some time. He has been thirsting for it at least since he was elected Speaker of the House, and likely much, much longer. He has been claiming that he would run "if no other candidate truly represented the American people", and claimed to hold out hope that Fred Thompson was the guy. Recently, he told his supporters he would run if he could raise $30 million in pledges by Oct 21. But now, his spokesman is claiming he has decided NOT to run, citing his conflicting responsibilities as head of a non-profit think-tank.

My own thoughts? He is reading the tea leaves and has finally realized a run at this point would be merely an exercise of his own vanity. He is valuable as a source of ideas for the Right, but is only a liability as an actual candidate.

Need a wake-up call?

I just found this new site: Wakerupper.Com. It is a free web-based service which will call any phone at a specific time and read off a message. It is designed to be a replacement for those hotel "wake-up call" services which are popular among business-types. The best part about this is that it can call ANY PHONE. So if you would rather wake up to your cellular ringtone than the buzz-buzz of the hotel phone, you can. Plus, they will read off any message you want, so you can simply use this as a reminder service.

Markus Stöckl Breaks Mountain Bike Speed Record

Markus Stöckl broke the mountain bike speed record by riding down a snow covered mountain in Chile. He reached 210.4 kilometers per hour (130.736498847 MPH)! The Wikipedia entry can be found here. The video at Red Bull can be found here (Video link to the right of the article).

Metric to US conversion courtesy of OnlineConversion.com

Update 1: I have corrected the spelling of Markus Stöckl's last name in the title

Update 2: I have updated the speed he attained. It was 210.4 kilometers per hour, not 220.4 kilometers per hour.

Anti-Clinton People Outnumber Pro-Obama People On Facebook

This article isn't substantial news as how many "friends" you have on Facebook is hardly more than a straw poll. Still, I found it interesting that more people have joined an anti-Clinton group than pro-Obama group on Facebook. Some Republicans and conservatives have worried that a Clinton/Obama ticket could be the death knoll for the Republican party this election. The two have seen each other as the "enemy" that I'm not sure the groups would merge other than as a "marriage of convenience".

Bear Tries To Jumps Off Bridge and Survives

In a "Mission Impossible" like move, a bear tried to jump off a narrow bridge and survived by holding onto the side of the bridge. Two cars came on the bridge and scared the bear. Nothing could be done that night to help the bear, but when people came back in the morning, they saw that the bear had pulled itself up onto the ledge and was sleeping. The slide show link to the right of the story is a must see!

U.S. Navy Spending $600,000 To Change Barracks Layout

The U.S. Navy built some barracks back in 1967. After the groundbreaking, they realized that the shape of the barracks looked like a swastika, but chose to do nothing as the pattern could not be discerned from the ground. Now that the shape has been found by using Google Earth, they will be spending $600,000 to change the layout of the barracks. On the one hand, somebody should have caught this at the blueprint stage. On the other hand, it is not like the U.S. Navy is endorsing Nazism or promoting this as a swastika. What do other Mod-Bloggers think? The swastika is a very clear reminder of an evil regime and $600,000 is pocket change for the government. On the other hand, $600,000 is still $600,000 and could be spent by the Navy on defense or research that will help our troops.

Posted without further comment

I wish I felt this comfortable

Yes Way
Originally uploaded by manmadepants.

The Burma question

I've been thinking about posting on the protests in Burma (also known as Myanmar) for several days now, but I haven't been able to come up with a good angle. My wife and I support several missionaries in Thailand that work just over the Burmese border with the Internally Displaced People (IDP), people that have been chased out of their villages by gun point only to have the villages burned to the ground, but only after the army has their way with them. There are millions of IDP within Burma that are in need of some sort of support, but I digress. The thing about Burma is that it is so impoverished already that it seems sanctions are not actually helping to bring about any change - hence why the people are now protesting in large numbers. Repression always leads to rebellion - eventually. So, the question then becomes, what can be done to affect change in this nation. Many people have pointed out that China is the key to change within Burma, but I wonder how much of a moral compass China could actually have when it comes to human rights violations, freedom of religion and peacefully stopping rebellions. The Chinese think that the protests in Burma are an 'internal matter' for the Burmese generals to deal with on their own. This is clearly their way of making that point that we won't interfere with others if they don't interfere with us. This is a positive from the Chinese point of view - they have many things they want to keep internal without having to deal with external pressures to resolve them. So, given that China doesn't want to intervene - though they have made a statement - how can the west and those concerned with the situation in Burma cause China to move more decisively?

One member of the EU thinks that he has a solution: an EU boycott the Beijing Olympics. This would be an interesting development since the one thing China wants more than to be left alone by the west is to be accepted by the west as a modern country. If the EU countries were to pull out of the Olympics then a good percentage of the best athletes in the world would not attend them and in tern they would become a joke or at least not taken seriously. But more serious than that, China would lose out on billions of dollars in tourism revenue from the event and from those who don't go as a result of not getting the word of mouth about the beauty of the country from those who attended. It's an interesting concept that should be considered IF the Chinese don't move more decisively within the next couple of weeks OR before serious bloodshed happens.

Wow, I made this horrible joke myself only yesterday

CRChair can testify to my horrible sense of humor. I wonder if the cartoonist was listening in.

Anatomy of a Cyber Attack

On April 27 a cyber attack was launched against Estonia that lasted approximately two weeks. The attack targeted government, banks, and newspapers. Wired has up an excellent, though long, article about what went on and how Estonia defended itself. With the heavy reliance on internet for global commerce and communication, we need to figure out how to both defend from such an attack as well as what that means in our current alliances. Does a cyber attack on one of our allies mean we need to go to war electronically? What about with traditional military?

I've had weeks like this

Watch For Ice!!!

Watch For Ice!!!
Originally uploaded by atownjacket.

Gas prices

Gas prices
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

(Sent from my iPhone)

Parallel Universes Go Legit

One of the fun things about physics is the strange things predicted by Quantum Mechanics. For example, the idea that a particle can move from point A to point B without ever occupying the space in between. Or the idea that an object can be in multiple states (i.e. dead and not dead) simultaneously. But one of the strangest predictions of Quantum Mechanics has to be the Star Trek-esque idea that everytime you make a choice, the universe splits into two parallel universes in which you make each choice. For years, people have made fun of this idea. But now, it appears that the idea is not so crazy. Lazy sci fi writers, have at it!

One Laptop Per Covetous Techie

The $100 Laptop Project to provide students workwide with computers has produced a truly fascinating product. The laptop (turns out to be $188/laptop) is ruggedized, enables mesh networking and wifi, has a battery that can last for far longer than normal, and has a Linux operating system which changes the paradigm for user interface. This has lead to a near-riot of techies eager to get their hands on it. But up until now the Project refused to sell to individuals. But now, they are offering a new 2-for-1-deal, where you buy a laptop for $400 and one is given to a needy child. Very cool/

Not sure how I missed this when the movie came out, but....

For me, OJ always works better than coffee

For me, a dog is ALWAYS welcome

Of course, my parents tell me that'll change when I am married. Then there'll be moments which are better canine-free.

Back Scratcher's Shirt

I saw this shirt and thought it would be EXTREMELY popular in our family, where back scratching is considered to be one of the most important life sklls we can learn.

A positive story about Christianity...in the NY Times

I didn't know what to think when I saw this story on the top of the NY Times homepage, but I'm glad that I read it. Basically it's the story of a church in Georgia that chose to forsake it's segregated, homogeneous white past to start ministering to the influx of refugees in their community. The more compelling part of the story is why they did it. Because the mother ship Willow Creek said it's the right thing to do? No. Because lots of other churches in the area were doing it? Not even close. Because they needed their stock as a church to go up, so they could be the biggest and best church in town. Nope. It was simply because the Bible says so. Jesus' teachings about loving your neighbor and unity within the church became real and they decided to accept it.

With his church failing, Mr. Perrin and other longtime members looked to the Scriptures for guidance and found what they believed was a mandate from Jesus to diversify their church.

“We realized that what the Lord had in store for that old Clarkston Baptist Church was to transition into a truly international church and to help minister to all these ethnic groups moving into the county,” Mr. Perrin said.

It's good to see Christianity in a positive light sometimes. Perhaps there is something good about having us around.

Nelson Mandela Is Still Alive

This reflects quite poorly on our country. President Bush recently stated in a press conference "I heard somebody say, Where's Mandela?' Well, Mandela's dead because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas," South Africa is trying to spread the word that Mandela is still living, despite Bush's comment.

It's funny, because its true

Any family with more than 3 kids, of course, is the exception to this rule. I figure by the time you have a 4th, you are no longer a parent. You are a professional educator, law enforcement official, and taxi driver.

This one is for CRChair

The second half is MUCH funnier than the first half, in my ever-so-humble opinion.

Sick and Tired of Waste-Our-Time-And-Money Bills and Resolutions

I'm sick and tired of how Congress wastes our time and money between pork-barrel spending and "press release" bills and resolutions that do nothing. The current resolution that has me upset was introduced by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). It's a reaction to the anti-General Petraeus ad run in the New York Times by MoveOn.org. The resolution is a "Congress supports our troops" message while also being an attack on MoveOn.org. In short, it's a move by Republicans to make Democrats choose between "I don't support our troops." and "I'm not liberal enough." The big news? Sen. Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Dodd (D-CT) both "hate our troops", Sen. Biden (D-DE) "doesn't care enough to vote at all", and Sen Obama (D-IL) "won't say whether he's not liberal enough or if he hates our troops." Perhaps it's both.

$1 USD = $1 CND

It is worth noting that the eternal joke of how much more the US Dollar is than the Candian dollar has suddenly become obsolete. As of today, one US dollar equals approximately 1 Canadian dollar. This has been long in coming, as the Bush administration has been allowing the decline of the dollar against other currencies to faciltate paying off debt and bringing about more trade equity (a cheaper dollar means more of our goods being bought by foreign currencies). However, I have to admit that this policy has crossed a psychological barrier for me. I could really use one of our economically-minded Mod-Blogger to explain to me why THIS MUCH devaluation is desireable.

For the geek who has everything...

I present you the Star Trek the Next Generation: Complete Series DVD set. Is it a grand 6 disk collection? No. Maybe 20 discs with lots of extra features? You're almost half way. No, it's a 49 disk set with all the features any Star Trek: TNG fan could ever want. I won't be buying this, but I'm sure there's at least one contributor to this site that's at least going to think about it.

"Don't Tase Me, Bro"

The recent tasing of a University of Florida student at a town hall style meeting with John Kerry has been making headlines around the world. Tonight I decided to check out YouTube to see what I could make of the situation. Some are saying that it was police brutality and a suspension of the student's first amendment rights. Others were saying that he was warned and resisted arrest. This video (according to a Wired article) appears to be the number one viral video, but I think this other video gives a much better angle and has much better sound. From the videos, my conclusion is that the student was warned many times and the police had to keep escalating their level of force. By the time he was saying that he would walk, it was too late. Even after he laid on the ground, he still continued to resist arrest. What reactions did others have?

Warning: Both videos do have the tasing and the student does use one very non-Family safe word once.

Colors for Contributors

Apologies to our readers who won't care about this post, but this is the easiest way to get ahold of all our contributors at once concerning the color of posts text. Sadly, Blogger has been absolutely, 100% useless in offering any support on this. This is probably my greatest dissapointment yet in dealing with them. Despite several emails, the have not even once replied with any notice that I exist. But, thankfully, another blogger has offered me a hand. Unfortunately, it's not the perfect matter it was before, but we now each have a color text.

We will each need to put a tiny bit of code before and after our posts in order to accomplish this. The code is as follows...

Any time that in your post you place < div id=yourcolor > at the beginning and < /div > at the end of that text (Without the spaces before and after the < and >), you will create the font color and background color that you want. I have given each of you an easy to remember ID...Your names. For example, if Nomad wants to post, he simply needs to use the above code with 'nomad' as the ID and then

he will be typing in his prefered color.

The same goes for each of us. I have tinkered with Nomad's previous post to demonstrate and I would encourage each contributor to play around as need be to get comfortable with this fix. As I said, not a perfect solution, but we can at least have our colors back with a minimal amount of extra junk tossed in at the very beginning and very end of a post.

No Work Without Proof of Health Insurance?

I am a Conservative willing to talk about Health Care Reform. I think that the current system is broken and needs to be fixed. But Democrats are making no friends with truly extremist approaches to the issue which cater to the worst accusations of their opponents.

She said she could envision a day when "you have to show proof to your employer that you're insured as a part of the job interview — like when your kid goes to school and has to show proof of vaccination," but said such details would be worked out through negotiations with Congress.

Sigh. I know Senator Clinton wants to "own" this issue, but she would do well to consider the views of the Middle on this. Statements like this are certain to haunt her in the General Election.

Bowhunter proves his name

Bowhunter texted me yesterday while I was sick in bed to report his first successful deer hunt of the season! Congratulaions, o ye of the killer bow. He also took a short video of the event (well, the aftermath).

I was concerned about its appropriateness for a family blog, so rather than embed it here, I am putting in a link. Click the picture to the left to see the video. It is not overly bloody, but better safe than sorry.

Lightsabers coming to a Wii near you

Since the Wii was first announced, even the most hardcore skeptics admitted that it looked like a GREAT platform for lightsaber games. Unfortunately, LucasFilm remained uncommitted to the platform. Yesterday, that all changed. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will be ported to the Wii and all lightsaber control will be done with the Wii-mote. I don't know about you, but I am considering getting in line for my copy now!

Movie Poster for PRINCE CASPIAN released

I am a big C.S. Lewis fan and really enjoyed the first one. Here's hoping the second is at least as good.

Irony in Marriage and Unfaithfulness

This is both sad and amazing. Amazing because of the coincidence, and sad because of the wrong lessons drawn from it.

Sana Klaric, 27, and husband Adnan, 32, from Zenica, poured out their hearts to each other over their marriage troubles, and both felt they had found their real soul mate.

The couple met on an online chat forum while he was at work and she in an internet cafe, and started chatting under the names Sweetie and Prince of Joy.

They eventually decided to meet up - but there was no happy ending when they realised what had happened.

Now they are both filing for divorce - with each accusing the other of being unfaithful.

Sana said: "I thought I had found the love of my life. The way this Prince of Joy spoke to me, the things he wrote, the tenderness in every expression was something I had never had in my marriage.

Am I the only one who thinks they are drawing EXACTLY the wrong conclusions from this? The problem: A marriage where you think you married the wrong person. Then you discover EXACTLY the kind of person you are looking for, and it turns out to be your spouse! Shouldn't the next logical thought be, "Hey, maybe this IS the person for me, and I need to do what it takes to make this marriage work."? After all, if you can fall in love twice with the same person, it proves they are the kind of person you are made for.

But maybe this is merely the rants of a single romantic who has no idea how relationships actually work.

Mod-Blog Embargo of NYT Ends

Today, the New York Times has announced their policy of charging for content has ended, and that over the course of the next week, the "New York Times Premium" content will transition over to a free ad-based model instead. With that news, the Mod-Blog embargo of NYT stories (imperfectly maintained, but generally in force over the last year) can finally end. I welcome this news, and the return to sanity that it represents. I appreciate the NYT's need to make money to support their efforts, but when every other newpaper on the web can do it with advertising, the old Grey Lady should be able to do the same.

Mandatory health insurance, good or bad?

Hillary reveled her newest form of healthcare "reform" today. Under her plan everybody would be required to have health insurance and there is an overly complex batch of red tape that goes along with the massive plan.

A Clinton adviser compares the plan's "individual mandate" -- which requires everyone to have health insurance -- to current rules in most states that require all drivers to purchase auto insurance, according to The Associated Press.

There is at least one problem with that comparison as far as I can see. First, you don't have to own a car - so consequently you don't have to buy insurance unless you decide to own a car. You don't really get a choice at living or not, so you don't really have a choice whether or not to get the insurance - it's pretty much a tax on living. For individuals this pretty much serves as a tax on living in the country. For couples and families the strain is extra because there're more people to buy insurance for. Secondly, part of the requirement for car insurance is about protecting those who are injured by your car. Aside from infectious diseases a person's health doesn't hurt another person. Requiring health insurance doesn't really protect other people - well as far as I can tell. And even at that, if i get TB from somebody else it's not their insurance that's going to pay my bills - I am.

I'm not really surprised by this plan, but it does smell horribly bad to me. She may say that this won't raise taxes or that the taxes raised won't be much, but no matter how you slice it it means more money the american public is being force to put out for something that is (or should be) by and large optional.

GameStop punishes manager for "Games for Grades"

A manager of a GameStop has been suspended by the home office after introducing a "Games for Grades" program. The idea was that his store would sell no games to a school age child unless a parent or guardian could vouch that they were keeping their grades up. The attempt to make a statement about proper priorities was not appreciated by the corporate headquarters.

After CNN picked up the story, GameStop backed off somewhat and claims to be re-evaluating the program. What do Mod-Bloggers think about this? Is the manager to be lauded for trying to get across a message about education to kids? Or is GameStop right to protect any patron's right to purchase legal products in their stores?

Introversion as a way of life

Here at Mod-Blog, we have more than our fair share of introverts. Sean and I hold the prize for "most introverted", I think, but most of us trend toward that end of the spectrum. This is often a cause for consternation among my friends and coworkers, who don't get why I'd rather not go with them after work for drinks or attend the annual company picnic. (Of course, some of that is also a teetotaller not wanting to remember his friends as soddenly drunk.) This article from the Atlantic is a great window into my world.

Are introverts misunderstood? Wildly. That, it appears, is our lot in life. "It is very difficult for an extrovert to understand an introvert," write the education experts Jill D. Burruss and Lisa Kaenzig. (They are also the source of the quotation in the previous paragraph.) Extroverts are easy for introverts to understand, because extroverts spend so much of their time working out who they are in voluble, and frequently inescapable, interaction with other people. They are as inscrutable as puppy dogs. But the street does not run both ways. Extroverts have little or no grasp of introversion. They assume that company, especially their own, is always welcome. They cannot imagine why someone would need to be alone; indeed, they often take umbrage at the suggestion.

This matches my experience exactly. I can almost always predict the behavior and responses of extroverted coworkers, but most of them view me as a mystery wrapped in an enigma.

Fantasy Football for Men... Oh Wait

Intelligence Can Be TOO Artificial

Bait and Switch

"Real Virtuality" Goggles

Ever wanted to see what the world would look like in ASCII art or with a digital filter? Artists from Russia have developed goggles that will allow just that.

It Made Me Smile

Apple Posts Details of $100 Credit for iPhoners

Apple has posted details of the $100 rebate for early adopters of the iPhone. I am in the middle of the process right now.

http://www.macrumors.com/2007/09/14/apple-posts-details-about-100-store-credit-for-iphone-owners/

When is married, married

It seems that Charlize Theron has gotten married. This would not normally be news, but the way she got married is the interesting part. Theron and her 7 year boyfriend simply decided they were married, got rings and are now calling themselves married. So, the question is - are they really married. In terms of the law, clearly they're not. But in social and moral terms, I'd say they are married. Marriage at its very base is two people saying that they are committed to each other and love each other and want to spend their lives together. You can add a religious context to that as well as a legal component, but those are both 'plug-ins' to the base of what marriage is. They have taken the base of marriage and left out the other 'plug-ins'. Not to be pessimistic about this, but what happens if they 'divorce'? California has some interesting laws about common-law marriages (which is where I believe this marriage belongs), so the 'divorce' question might be answered by those laws - none of which do I actually know. I certainly hope that they never have to answer that question. Best of luck to them especially since they live in a world where only 10% of marriages last - or at least that's the way it seems.

Update: According to Wikipedia California does not sanction common-law marriages. So, I guess that is not an option for Mr. and Mrs. Theron.

Gas prices

Gas prices
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Are women to blame for the sexism of men?

The Guardian has up an interesting (warning, non-family-friendly topics mentioned) on what they call "Lad Magazines" - the British equivilents of Magnum - and accusations from feminists that they are unacceptably sexist and proof that men have not learned anything from the Feminism. The problem now, the author argues, is not men who are trying to be better, but women who encourage boorish and sexist behavior!

It is hard to see how men can be expected to notice a distinction between professional sex objects and the vast majority of women if we can't tell the difference ourselves.

I can't really post more of the article here, because of non-family-friendly topics, but if you are a parent I encourage you to click over. It argues convincingly that before any more progress is likely to be made on male culture to cut down on demand for girly shows and the like, women need to change their own behaviors which seem to encourage their objectification.

I am not arguing - nor is the author - that men do not need to control themselves and fight against other men who would treat women as objects. But I have to agree with her when she says it is inconsistent to teach your son to respect women, and then let your daughter wear clothes with words like "Too Sexy" and "Booty Call" on them.

The Macbook is coming! The Macbook is coming!

I got a call late yesterday from the Apple Store. My Macbook is healed and ready for pickup. Of course, they made me sign something saying I understood that all of my data might go ka-plouie, so I expect I will have a lot of data restoration to do. Luckily, I had run a backup only a couple of weeks back. This should mean I'll be able to post more often starting Saturday or so. My experiment with a Linux (Ubuntu) laptop has been a pleasant surprise - it has been VERY useable and let me do everything I needed to do. But it still ain't as easy or fun to use as my Mac.

A New Version of an Old Skit

There are many variations on the skit where the person is walking with God, sin comes in, and then God rescues them. Probably the oldest one that I've heard of was entitled "Bondages". When someone sent me a link to the following video, I thought two things.

1. Godtube.com... although I don't believe I've watched any videos there, I just figured that there really wasn't a reason for it since YouTube existed... would this be a cheesy Christian movie?

2. Great... it looks just like a variation of "Bondages", a skit that, while powerful, I had already seen and so I didn't think it would live up to the "pretty powerful video to watch" line that was part of the e-mail.

I was surprised. As the person who sent me the link said, "It takes a bit to build and tell the story." The part that hit me is how convincing the actress was in her struggle to get back. So many skits show the story as we walk away and then come back easily. When enslaved to sin, we have to constantly keep fighting against the sin and then, only by the power of Christ, are we free.




To see a larger version, click here.

Belly Flopping From High Places

This guy is crazy... The site claims it's the world's highest belly flop, though he does "cheat" and use his hands to break the water's impact before it hits his stomach. Still, at 10 meters, 70 cm (just over 35 feet), it's still gotta hurt some and is definitely dangerous. Don't try this at home. Most of it is in Japanese. The actual fall takes place at about a minute left in the video.

glumbert.com - World's Highest Bellyflop

Repeat after me...

Did you know...

That in the United Kingdom (UK) they don't use the metric system? Despite my fetish for all things British, I was unaware of this fact. I was familiar with the concept of "having a pint" - I, in fact, enjoy a pint now and then. But for some reason it never clicked with me that a pint wasn't a metric unit. Not only do they use pints, they use inches, pounds, feet, quarts and any number of other measurements that we, in the US, would be familiar with. It seems that this little fact has made some in the European Union (EU) quite upset with the UK. So they started waging a fight with the Brits to get them to convert to the metric system - they put forth the argument that homogeneous measurement systems will make trade easier. But alas, the UK has outlasted the EU on this one and the EU has given up what they are now calling a 'pointless battle'. I guess this all goes to show that we have more in common with the UK than simply the war in Iraq - if not our language.

I miss my Macbook

Well, I reported it in the Shoutbox yesterday, but I wanted to make it "official" today. My Macbook (black, Core 2 Duo) is in the hospital. On Monday night, I had just done an upload to Flickr, using iPhoto's Flickr Upload plugin, when the screen froze and suddenly nothing would respond. The hard drive made a grinding noise, and then silence. I managed to shut her down, and restarted but now she would not boot up, either from hard drive or CD/DVD-ROM - all attempts stayed at a white screen until eventually a folder with a question mark popped up (the generic Apple icon for "I can't find a useable system folder").

I brought her to the Apple Store in Farmington, CT last night and "Dr. Josh" took a quick look at her hard drive and confirmed it was "dead, dead, clickety-click, dead". They are ordering a new HD for me, and will install it and reimage it. Luckily, I had just done a backup before I installed iLife/iWork '08, so I won't lose too much.

In the meantime, I am writing this on an old PC laptop running Ubuntu. It is not a bad alternative, but I really miss my Mac. Nothing beats the ease-of-use or the feel of home.

Jessica Lynch rescue a fake?

The BBC is reporting Iraqi claims that the rescue of Jessica Lynch - whose capture, torture, and return has made her an icon of the war - was staged.

"There was no [sign of] shooting, no bullet inside her body, no stab wound - only road traffic accident. They want to distort the picture. I don't know why they think there is some benefit in saying she has a bullet injury."

Witnesses told us that the special forces knew that the Iraqi military had fled a day before they swooped on the hospital.

"We were surprised. Why do this? There was no military, there were no soldiers in the hospital," said Dr Anmar Uday, who worked at the hospital.

"It was like a Hollywood film. They cried 'go, go, go', with guns and blanks without bullets, blanks and the sound of explosions. They made a show for the American attack on the hospital - action movies like Sylvester Stallone or Jackie Chan."

I think we should hold off on this. On the one hand, I don't put this past a media-savvy commander to do. On the other hand, I don't put it past a media-savvy Iraqi politician to plant this story in order to discredit American soldiers, either.

Funny because it is true

Gas prices

Gas prices
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

I've Had This Thought Before

You can also add Forever 21 to the list.

I admit to having been on both sides of this conversation

A Different Perspective on Educational Spending

GI Joe to not be American

Growing up with Marines for parents, GI Joe was a hero of my childhood - I used to imagine my dad being part of the team. When plans were announced to make it into a feature film I was excited. Now it has come to light that GI Joe is not going to be an American special forces unit but an international task force that may or may not contain American military characters.

This is absolute crap! GI Joe has always been Americans helping to save the world. The idea that GI Joe is now going to be distinctly not american is to totally eliminate the distinctiveness of the character. I mean the essence of Joe is american. If they actually go through with this, then I will probably boycott the film for this stupidity - and that would truly be a shame.

iTones restores ability to make your own Ringtones FOR FREE

I have decided to give Ambrosia software some of my hard-earned money after they took only 72 hours to fix their iToner software which was broken by iTunes 4.7. This software allows you to turn ANY MP3 or AAC file in your iTunes library into a ringtone on the iPhone. You don't get the fun and fancy ability to shorten them to 30 seconds, and technically it is against the iTunes EULA to use iTunes-purchases songs as ringtones. But it is entirely legal to use any tune you bought for your own use as a CD. Good job, Ambrosia!

Warning for Facebook Users

Facebook has changed its policy and will allow non-users to search profiles unless you opt out. The search results will bring up your profile name and picture. Instructions for protecting your privacy can be found at the link above.

A Better Battery

One of the problems with an electric car is a battery that will work for more than a 60 mile commute. According to Wired, EEStor believes they have solved this problem with patent number 7,033,406.

RFID Implants Cause Cancer?

Okay, this may be another sign of my RFID paranoia, but this article claims that new studies show implanted RFID microchips can cause cancer in a statistically significant portion of the animal population on which they were tried.

As the AP will report, a series of research articles spanning more than a decade found that mice and rats injected with glass-encapsulated RFID transponders developed malignant, fast-growing, lethal cancers in up to 1% to 10% of cases. The tumors originated in the tissue surrounding the microchips and often grew to completely surround the devices, the researchers said.

So, maybe it is time to slow down the RFID train a bit, even if you are not a religious nut like me who fears the Mark of the Beast?

All too true

Not at my house (WAP2 protected) but all around me.

Changes

Well, blogger has also updated themselves recently and I am going to upgrade the site. However, some of our info might temporarily be lost. I've got a backup of everything, but things might be iffy for a day or so while I figure out the new setup and so on. Please bear with us =)

Bin Laden: Misunderstood Marxist?

That's kind of the feeling you get reading about newest tape. It's truly odd to read some of the comments from the tape. Consider,

"One should pause, think and reflect," the speaker says, according to the transcript. "Why have the Democrats failed to stop this war, despite them being the majority?"

The answer to that question, he later says, is "the same reasons which led to the failure of former President Kennedy to stop the Vietnam War. Those with with real power and influence are those with the most capital. And since the democratic system permits major corporations to back candidates, be they presidential or congressional, there shouldn't be any cause for astonishment -- and there isn't any -- in the Democrats' failure to stop the war."

This doesn't strike me as the words of a radical terrorists as much as a college student wannabe Marxist. No war threats, no promises of new attacks, nothing like what has become the standard expected type of words from Bin Laden. And then, we get Bin Gore coming out...

The transcript also shows bin Laden blaming global warming on large corporations.

"The life of all mankind is in danger because of the global warming resulting to a large degree from the emissions of the factories the major corporations," it says.

"And despite this brazen attack on the people [referring to global warming], the leaders of the West -- especially Bush, Blair, Sarkozy and Brown -- still talk about freedom and human rights with a flagrant disregard for the intellects of humans?"

Bin Laden truly sounds like a liberal more than anything else here. I guess he has decided that the American left is a good home for him. Perhaps he'll try and make a run for the nomimation in 2012 or 2016.

More on Cell Phone Etiquette

Having been in band in grade, jr., and high school, I learned that it is considered rude to leave or enter the room during the middle of a song. This band decided to "remind" one attendee that it is also rude to talk on the phone.

glumbert.com - Why you shouldn't use your phone at a concert

One Reason to Not Play RPG's in Brazil

The top player in a role playing game called GunBound was kidnapped and held hostage by a gang for his account password. The gang planned to sell the password to make some quick cash. Even though they held a gun to his head for FIVE HOURS, the guy would not give up his password. When do you know that you're too into a game and too far removed from real life? When you're willing to bet your life on it.

Please Silence Your Cell Phone

For anyone who has had to deal with someone else's annoying cell phone conversation, you may enjoy this video as well. For those of you without proper cell phone etiquette, may this video happen to you. :)

Blog Roll Clean Up

Well, the blog roll is now a fair bit leaner. That means that there is room for some newer sites if any of our readers/contributers have any sites they would like to recommend as worthy of being linked. Leave a comment if you have someone to recommend.

The Tool Award and Fun With DU

Two birds, one post. Crazy. Speaking of crazy...

First, enter the Tool. Awww, poor little leftie martyr! I can't wait to read more about this, and actually get the whole story. But everything about this guy strikes me as reaking of arrogance and of looking for a fight. I guess all the good liberal causes this month had been claimed by other martyrs.

But then, leave it to the inmates at DU to really pick it up and run with it. Thankfully, there are a few posters who see the absurdity in this. But the vasty majority of DU'ers are screaming "Authoritarian Facsists!" quicker than Hillary Clinton can change positions to fall in line with the newest poll.

Axis of Evil or BFF?

President Bush seems to have changed his stance on North Korea, or at least his public approach. Personally, I can't wait for long walks on the beach with North Korea over a mushroom cloud. If Kim Jong Ill has proven anything, it's that he'll make you any promise you want, just as long as you don't expect him to actually live up to that promise.

Be Careful Creators of Content, Copyright is NOT a Right

As a writer, I am very conscious of copyright and the protections it offers to me (even if I am still an unsold writer). Without it, there would be no way to charge for my creative efforts (stories, poems, etc.) and thus no way to compensate me for my work. And without compensation, few people can afford to keep writing, keep singing, keep drawing in a way that reaches the public. Copyright is something societies offer to keep their creative types fed, and thus to foster creativity in general.

Recently, the Computer and Communications Industry Association posted a paper that claimed "fair use" is not a right. "Fair use" is a legal doctrine in the USA that states there are reasonable times to NOT strictly enforce copyright in the interest of the public good. For example, if you purchase a book it is "fair use" to lend it to a friend or to quote a section of that book in an online review. The CCIA is against "fair use" because it offers a potential safe harbor to copyright scofflaws who steal music or fileshare movies on the internet before they have premiered. The CCIA argues "fair use" is not a right and thus can be revoked in the interest of societal good.

The problem wth this reasoning is that "copyright" itself is simply a social construct. A right is something I have inherently, which can not be taken away without force and which my government exists to protect. Copyright on the other hand exists to foster creativity, and can be easily taken away without any changes to our Constitution or even our philosophies if it becomes detrimental to the public. Unlike "Freedom of Speech" or "Freedom of the Press", Copyright could be revoked tomorrow without changing the American idea in any significant way.

Be careful, CCIA. By trying to change copyright and make it all-powerful, you could easily push legislators to a point where they questions its basic utility and consider abolishing it or critically weakening it.

Apple offers $100 Store Credit to Early iPhone Adopters

The $200 price drop of the iPhone has shocked and angered many early adopters. After reading the angry e-mails, Steve Jobs has posted an open letter stating that those who bought an iPhone at the original price will receive a $100 Apple store credit (online or brick and mortar). Details are still being worked out, but will be posted on Apple's website.

NFL Season Begins

The NFL season begins tonight as the reigning Super Bowl champs the Colts play against the Saints. Many look forward to each new professional football season like a child looking forward to Christmas. (Or Nomad looking forward to a Mac media event) I enjoy football and love the J-E-T-S, Jets Jets Jets but am busy enjoying baseball right now. I hope the Jets' still have something to play for when I tune in for real following the Mets season. The Jets have a hard schedule this year and I'll be surprised if they do better than 9-7.

Oh Noes!

Any of you who have an Xbox know what that is...I got the red rings of death today and this time, I think my console is down for the count. At least Microsoft was actually agreeable and are sending me everything I need to send the unit in. And I was REALLY enjoying the COD4 beta so much.

Apple Media Event Aftermath

Apple's big "Media Event" is over, and there are a few things worth mentioning here.

- New colors for iPod Shuffle - including (RED)
- New iPod Nano that now plays video
- New iPod Classic (old form factor) with 80 and 120 GB capacities and new iPhone-inspired interface (but still clickwheel)
- New iPod Touch in 8 GB and 16 GB capacities (iPhone without the phone)
- iTunes Music Store will be accessible directly from iPhone and iPod Touch via Wifi (with Starbucks integration)
- iPhone 8 GB is now $399 ($200 price drop - OUCH!)

I like the iPhone ITMS, and the price drop. Not a big fan of the new Nano or iPod Touch right now (should have gone hard drive capacities). Unsure about the new iPod Classic.

Online Buying Ain't What it Used to Be

I've often pondered if online shopping will eclipse in-store purchases. But as things develop, I grow more assured that it won't happen. I was reminded of one reason why that is so again this morning. I ordered a couple of books from Amazon yesterday. All of them are currently in stock. Despite that fact, I checked on the information today and found that the books would not ship until Sept 10. So, it takes 6 days to ship books that are currently in stock. Let alone the 7-12 days that it will take to get to me from there (Which that part, at least, is my choice for saving money on shipping.)

Simply put, 6 days to ship materials that are in stock when you order them is just insane. I remember my second year of college, I ordered a CD from Amazon and receieved it 2 days later. That was impressive. Sadly, it's been a downhill trend ever since then. Unless the major online retailers begin to speed up their process again, I don't see places like Amazon staying competitive. In this particular case, the books were quite a bit cheaper online, so I'm tolerating it in this case. But when Amazon is increasingly offering less than a 5%-10% difference in price on many items, I see less and less reason to make use of them.

If you want to follow along with the Apple Event...

...SlashGear.Com has a live text feed going.

http://live.slashgear.com/

Strangely Appropriate on the Day of the Big Apple Media (i.e. iPod) Event

Bowhunter Strikes Again

Bowhunter and the Snake

Please, Connecticut Senators, Pass This Law!

The California senate has just passed a law that every state in the Union should pick up. It bans employers from requiring their employees to accept RFID implants.

Tackling a dilemma right out of a science fiction novel, the state Senate passed legislation Thursday that would bar employers from requiring workers to have identification devices implanted under their skin.

State Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) proposed the measure after at least one company began marketing radio frequency identification devices for use in humans.

The devices, as small as a grain of rice, can be used by employers to identify workers. A scanner passing over a body part implanted with one can instantly identify the person.

"RFID is a minor miracle, with all sorts of good uses," Simitian said. "But we shouldn't condone forced 'tagging' of humans. It's the ultimate invasion of privacy."

Simitian said he fears that the devices could be compromised by persons with unauthorized scanners, facilitating identity theft and improper tracking and surveillance.

Think I am overreacting? One company has already "tagged" 1000 of its employees.

Why didn't anyone tell me?!

Walking with Dinosaurs has a live event tour going on in the USA right now!

Dinosaur State Park Visit

It is not well known outside of our humble little state, but Connecticut is home to Dinosaur State Park. It is home of the largest find of dinosaur footprints in North America. We went with Bowhuner, Mrs. Bowhunter, and Baby Bowhunter (and Shadowmom), and had a great time. The park is split into two halves: one half is a geodesic dome which covers the dinosaur footprints, the other half is a series of trails housing greenery from the Jurassic. If you are interested in seeing the whole trip, click on the picture below.

Edwards Loses Nomination with One Position

Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards lost the nomination to represent his party in the general election today. He admits that his health care plan would require manditory doctors visits. Here is his quote: "It requires that everybody be covered. It requires that everybody get preventive care. If you are going to be in the system, you can't choose not to go to the doctor for 20 years. You have to go in and be checked and make sure that you are OK." There is no way he can win the nomination with this position and it is not a position he can back track from.

Bowhunter Shows Off His Skills

We went with Bowhunter and Mrs. Bowhunter to Dinosaur State Park and on our nature walk there, Bowhunter shows his tracking and trapping skills.

Office Bestiary

What is Labor Day to You?

Should laptops be banned from meetings?

At my place of employment, I am often the one who takes note. And I am ALWAYS the one looked to when someone has forgotten something and needs it quickly brought back to mind. So, a long time ago I started bringing my laptop to meetings. It allows me to take notes easily (my handwriting is horrific), it allows me to access the network to bring up documents and past meeting notes, and it allows me to schedule the next meeting, if it is needed. Plus, it allows my coworkers to easily contact me if there is a critical Production issue. It has often been a lifesaver. But this commetary claims that there is NO good reason to have a laptop at a meeting unless you are running a presentation off of it. In fact, he recommends requiring all attendees to close laptops before allowing the meeting to begin.

His core point? An open laptop means someone whose attention is not mentally there. Thus, they can't be giving their full attention to the meeting. And because they are in a meeting, they can't be giving their full attention to the laptop task, either. Two things done poorly are worse than only one done well.

What are Mod-Blog readers' opinions?

Custom Ringtones for your iPhone

This appears to be all nice and legal. iToner claims to bring customer ringtones to your iPhone in a way that requires NO HACKS, no special recoding of your iPhone, and claims that it will keep working with all future versions of the iPhone. Of course, it is rumored that the 9/5 Apple event may debut this feature as a built-in function of iTunes. Even so, it is worth a look.

Update: OK, I installed the thing and have tried it out. So far, so good. You get 29 days of use for free (as nagware) with unlimited transfer of files in that time. It is easy to use - I created a playlist in iTunes and used the "Advanced" button to have iToner refer to that for my tunes. Once the tunes are on your iPhone, you can use as regular ringtones - general use or assigned to contacts. I have assigned "Praise You In This Storm" by Casting Crowns as the ringtone for all of the guys I have pizza with every Tuesday, for example. Very cool. And this means you buy your songs ONCE and can use them for listening or for ringtones.