Happy New Year!

May 2008 be both a quieter and much better year than 2007

CT takes High School online

Most days, I have no particular love of my state of residence: Connecticut. But every once in a while it feels good to be from the Nutmeg State.

Connecticut public high schools will begin offering online courses to students next month, according to Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

The pilot program, called CT Virtual Learning Center, will offer courses such as algebra, geometry, and English to students at risk of falling behind or failing, Rell said in a written statement. By enrolling in the courses, students will be able to avoid summer school and recover credits.

Electives that may not be available at many schools -- like Mandarin, biotechnology and international business -- will also be available online.

Now if only these courses were open to ALL residents in some way. I'd love to take a course in Mandarin, even if teacher support were only available to real high schoolers.

Is Barack Obama the portal to a post-racial U.S. society?

George Will's newest column analyzes the candidacy of Barack Obama and asks an important question. Is Obama's refusal to make his race a major issue in the primary a sign that American is ready to move to a new stage where race is simply no longer an issue? A true realization of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream? Will thinks he may be, even thought he abhors may of his politics.

So far, Obama is the Fred Astaire of politics -- graceful and elegant, with a surface so pleasing to the eye that it seems mistaken, even greedy, to demand depth. No one, however, would have given Astaire control of nuclear weapons, so attention must be paid to Obama's political as well as aesthetic qualities.

I must admit, similar thoughts are why in a Guiliani/Obama race, I would be more likely to vote for Obama... even though I am a definite Conservative. If either way I can't find a Pro-Life candidate, why not vote for the one who might address such a larger issue within American history? (I am sure if any of our regular commenter are out there, they'll tell me why.)

Fred Thompson: I don't care if I am president

I have said for a long time that the reason Fred Thompson will lose the nomination is that he simply doesn't want the job. It turns out he agrees with my analysis and claims he'd be just as happy to NOT be nominated.

"I am not consumed by personal ambition. I will not be devastated if I don't do it," he said. "I'm not particularly interested in running for president."

But he said others convinced him to run.

"I approached it from a standpoint ... of kind of a marriage. You know if one side of the marriage has to be really talked into the marriage, you know it probably ain't going to be a good deal for either one of them. But if you mutually think that this is a good thing -- in this case you think it's a good thing for the country -- then you have an opportunity to do some wonderful things together," he said.

I guess this makes Thompson into the Steven Forbes of this campaign. He is not there to win, but to ensure that his issues are given a voice. Then again, it would not be the worst thing in the world to have a man in power, who is not a power seeker. Assuming, of course, that you believe he means what he says.

Another Candidate Matchmaker Application

As we get closer to the caucuses and primaries, here is another candidate matchmaking application that will tell you who answered the questions the closest to you. Thanks to WNYW Fox 5 in New York for this link.




My top 3 were:
Thompson 68%, Romney 63%, Hunter 60%

I've seen a lot of this recently

Emergency Glasses

Annoyingly, neither this video nor pretty much any online resource really explains WHY this "pinhole glasses" technique works. However, I have read about pinhole cameras before, so I can provide a high-level explanation. Any lens works NOT by focussing a single image, but rather by aligning multiple images (really multiple paths of visible light) in such a way that they converge and form a single image on the receiving medium (either film, a light sensor, or your retina). A good lens focusses the multiple images formed by light coming in from all sides of the lens into a single image. A bad lens leaves multiple images at the point of "seeing". In the case of pinhole glasses or a pinhole camera, you can do without a lens, because you are minimizing the number of images coming through, leaving little chance for blur. In doing so, the image that DOES come thru is darker and lower in contrast than through a lens, and of course you lose all peripheral vision.

That is a very non-technical explanation, but I think it does the job of explaining why this cool experiment works.

Photos Immediately Before, During, and After Bhutto Assasination

This is what it means to live in a digital age. Days after the event, a photographer can narrate, in his own voice, what he experienced during the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, with his digital photos taken in the moment.

Fair warning, some of these images are graphic and may not be suitable for young children.

Netscape to be discontinued

The web browser that gave many of us our first taste of the web will be shutdown come Feb. 1. Most people stopped using the browser years ago, in favor of IE or Firefox, but in its heyday it was the best of the best. We won't miss Netscape, but we do owe the developers a debt of gratitude for showing us how beautiful the web could be by creating what we now know of as javascript and contributing to the development of CSS.

I miss pseudoephedrine

Ever since the law was passed which forced druggists to move Pseudophedrine-containing medications behind the counter, my life has been much more difficult. I tend to use a lot of decongestant in the winter, especially overnight as I tend toward post-nasal drip. A year ago, I would simply buy some 12-hour pseudophedrine-containing medication and take it before bedtime. It was easy to buy and I'd buy 3 packs worth at a time and be set for a month or more, depending on weather and my body. But now, I have to go up to the pharmacist to get it, sign my life away, and can only get one package at a time. I can only imagine what they make parents of large families do in order to get enough for all the kids who get the cold at the same time.

This posting has an interesting conspiracy theory for the real reason why pseudophedrine was moved behind the counter, and he makes a compelling case. Fighting drugs is one thing (psuedophedrine can be used to make methamphetamines) but paying off a campaign contributor is something else. Here is hoping this law gets reversed in the net few years. It is silly and overly penalizes the law-abiding citizen for the actions of a few nuts.

I must admit, some days this is me

More Music Now Sold In MP3 Format

Warner Music has joined EMI and Universal by allowing Amazon to sell its entire catalog in MP3 format. (EMI and Universal, I believe, only offer some of their catalog.) What's more, Warner music does not watermark their MP3's. While I don't care so much about the watermarking, some consider it a privacy concern. Sony/BMG is now the only one of the four major music labels not selling their music in MP3 format.

Update 1: My bad, it's all of their digitized catalog. Oh well, that's still something.

Hypocrisy Alert: Rival Priests come to blows while cleaning Bethlehem church

Sigh. We humans are funny and stupid creatures. How does God put up with us? Consider this case. While cleaning the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem (a church supposedly built over the stable where Jesus of Nazareth was born), Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests brawled over who got the right to clean what space. The church is apparently shared by many different Christian denominations/sects who jealously guard their part of the building.

What is worse, apparently this is not the first time this has happened. How can we expect people to see the Love of Christ if we are getting into fist-fights with each other? (For the record, I know I commit far worse sins for far worse reasons. Not putting myself above these people, but noting it as an example of how foolish we all are.)

Pakistani Opposition Leader Assassinated

I must admit that I have not been following the political debate in Pakistan very closely, but I know that a lot of people considered Benazir Bhutto a far better leader than President Pervez Musharraf. Others claimed she was the country's best hope for a truly democratic government. She has been a harsh critic of Musharraf, and has been imprisoned on multiple occasions for airing her views. She was assassinated in what appears to be a suicide bombing.

The bomber detonated as he tried to enter the rally where thousands of people gathered to hear Bhutto speak, police said.

The number of wounded was not immediately known. However, video of the scene showed ambulances lined up to take many to hospitals.

The attack came just hours after four supporters of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif died when members of another political party opened fire on them at a rally near the Islamabad airport Thursday, Pakistan police said.

Several other members of Sharif's party were wounded, police said.

Bhutto was participating in the parliamentary election set for Jan. 8, hoping for a third term as prime minister.

Will this be the end of opposition to Musharraf? Or it is more likely to create a martyr to the cause and crystalize dissent into outright revolution? Only time will tell. But additional unrest in Pakistan is likely to greatly hinder American attempts to keep the Taliban fighters from reorganizing.

Treatment for the Mid-Holiday Blahs

I don't know about you, but between lost sleep and the higher-than-normal year-end workload from my employer, I am hitting a pretty hard wall of Mid-Holiday Blahs. I found this game to be a cute and fun way to forget about life's problems for a few minutes. Similar to the old Mario Brothers game, you are Santa Claus, freezing and eliminating thieves before they can spoil Christmas.

Deep Freeze Freeze your enemies with your water gun and stop the bad guys from ruining Christmas.

Play this free game now!!

I had never before heard of "Reverse Shoplifting"

The NYTimes has up an interesting article on a relatively recent invention of guerilla marketers and ne'er-do-wells: reverse shoplifting or shop-dropping.

Anti-consumerist artists slip replica products packaged with political messages onto shelves while religious proselytizers insert pamphlets between the pages of gay-and-lesbian readings at book stores.

Self-published authors sneak their works into the “new releases” section, while personal trainers put their business cards into weight-loss books, and aspiring professional photographers make homemade cards — their Web site address included, of course — and covertly plant them into stationery-store racks.

“Everyone else is pushing their product, so why shouldn’t we?” said Jeff Eyrich, a producer for several independent bands, who puts stacks of his bands’ CDs — marked “free” — on music racks at Starbucks whenever the cashiers look away.

Not sure what to think of this. On the one hand, you have to applaud the creativity. On the other hand, it would be a horrible thing to purchase a family-friendly item only to find a raunchy political protest pamphlet inside. It amazes me to see that there is no line, however simple and harmless, that people are unwilling to cross when they find they can.

A little post-Christmas cynicism

Merry Christmas From Mod-Blog!

And for those who may be lacking a candlelight service or who simply love good Christmas music, enjoy this little clip of "Unto Us a Child Is Born" from Shadowmom.

Chickens...Funny...

From Speed Bump

Gas prices

Gas prices
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

US Military Buys More Macs

Forbes magazine has up an article on how the US Military is buying more Macs in order to try and diversify their platforms in case of cyber-attacks. This was brought on because of increased attempts this last year by hackers to infiltrate the governments computer systems. Less programs are designed to infiltrate a Mac, so at least for now, they are safer for the government to use.

Presidential Match-O-Matic

Realizing that right now the field of Presidential candidates is overwhelming in number and underwhelming in charisma and ability, ABC News and USAToday have put up the Presidential Match-O-Match. You answer about 10 simple questions and they match you up to the candidate which they believe best matches your belief system. You may surprised. My results are below.

Waterboarding Experiment

About a year back now, one of our regular commenters asked us to honestly consider whether waterboarding was torture, and thus morally indefensible, or was simply a pressuring technique that was safe and useful for interrogating terrorists. You may recall Waterboarding is a technique use in Guantanamo Bay, among other places, where the subject is exposed to a stream of water which fools the body into thinking it is drowning, without actually stopping the airflow or threatening life or limb. John McCain has been unapologetic in calling it torture, while other high political officials see it as more like locking a prisoner in solitary confinement - difficult for the subject but ultimately humane.

At the time, we had some discussion and overall I think there was no resolution - it was simply beyond the experience of any Mod-Bloggers. Most of us have never been arrested, much less exposed to pressure techniques or torture. Now, however, The Straight Dope has up a posting from one of its members who has exposed himself voluntarily to two common waterboarding techniques under controlled conditions to see what happened. The verdict? Torture, pure and simple.

It seems that there is a point that is hardwired in us. When we draw water into our respiratory tract to this point we are no longer in control. All hell breaks loose. Instinct tells us we are dying.

I have never been more panicked in my whole life. Once your lungs are empty and collapsed and they start to draw fluid it is simply all over. You [b]know[b] you are dead and it's too late. Involuntary and total panic.

There is absolutely nothing you can do about it. It would be like telling you not to blink while I stuck a hot needle in your eye.

At the time my lungs emptied and I began to draw water, I would have sold my children to escape. There was no choice, or chance, and willpower was not involved.

I never felt anything like it, and this was self-inflicted with a watering can, where I was in total control and never in any danger.

And I understood.

Waterboarding gets you to the point where you draw water up your respiratory tract triggering the drowning reflex. Once that happens, it's all over. No question.

Normally, I would be tempted to dismiss this as unproven and likely written by a partisan looking to make a point. But as I read through it, it really comes across as someone who tried it with no preconceptions - an idiot Mythbusters fan who thought it would be fun to prove it for himself. And I must say, he has just about convinced me that waterboarding is torture and morally indefensible.

"Holiness Highway" = Interstate 35? Oh, my.

I am considered by most objective observers to be one of those strange beasts called an "Evangelical." I believe the Bible (Old and New Testament) is the inspired Word of God, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died and was raised to life on the third day, and I enjoy wearing t-shirts with overtly Christian slogans on them. But even I am not sure what to make of the claims that a group of "Evangelicals" believe Interstate 35 is the highway of holiness prophecied in Isaiah 35. Apparently, Pat Robertson did a major piece on it (which is not a recommendation to me, based on our past posts about false prophets).

And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not journey on it;
it will be for those who walk in that Way;
wicked fools will not go about on it.
Isaiah 35:8 (NIV)

Even as a man of faith who believes in prophecy, I simply fail to see any connection. Why not one of the many Route 35s around the world? I have to hope that I am missing something. If there is anyone out there from this group who reads Mod-Blog, I'd love to hear from you in the comments section explaining it.

Blockbuster Changes Pricing: Update 3

It appears that NetFlix's plan is to keep its prices the same.

A spokesman for Netflix said the Los Gatos, Calif.-based company doesn't plan to change its standard pricing but continues to test different rates.

"The greatest convenience, selection and value continues to be with Netflix," said the spokesman, Steve Swasey.

Major Al Qaeda Spiritual Leader renouces Jihad and Bin Laden

What would have happened if the Pope had suddenly renounced the Crusades and called for the public trials of the Crusaders who committed acts of heinous violence in the name of Christ? Perhaps history would have gone very differently, and the status quo of Jerusalem today would be more balanced and peaceful. Well, according to the New York Sun, the main theologian for Al Qaeda has renounced Jihad again America and is calling for a sharia court to try Osama Bin Laden and other senior leaders of Al Qaeda. This is the same man who years ago wrote the definitive theoological works justifying the Jihad.

One of Al Qaeda's senior theologians is calling on his followers to end their military jihad and saying the attacks of September 11, 2001, were a "catastrophe for all Muslims."

In a serialized manifesto written from prison in Egypt, Sayyed Imam al-Sharif is blasting Osama bin Laden for deceiving the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, and for insulting the Prophet Muhammad by comparing the September 11 attacks to the early raids of the Ansar warriors. The lapsed jihadist even calls for the formation of a special Islamic court to try Osama bin Laden and his old comrade Ayman al-Zawahri.

It is important to note that al-Sharif is in an Egyptian prison, and Islamic critics suggest that this turnaround was extracted by means of torture. But experts quoted in the article seem to believe the change of heart is genuine, and that this may be a sign that Al Qaeda is breaking apart from internal dissention and dissatisfaction with what the Jihad has really acccomplished to benefit the average Muslim.

Free Music

inpop records is offering a free download of their iPop 2008 album. It includes a few bands I've heard of such as Newsboys, Tree63, and Newsboys as well as some I haven't heard of. Great chance to grab some free music.

Note: You should receive the e-mail to the download immediately. When I entered my e-mail address in FireFox, it did not send me an e-mail. When I re-entered it in Internet Explorer, it worked fine.

Another One Bites the Dust

Republican Presidential hopeful Rep. Tom Tancredo will drop out of the race today. Hopefully Rep. Duncan Hunter will follow suit soon so that we can be left with the 5 credible candidates when we go into Iowa and the other early states. Now if we can only get some of the Democrats to do the same thing. (Do you hear me Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel and Joe Biden.) I think they all were fine running when we were farther off from the election, but when we get within a month of the election and can see that none of these candidates have a chance of winning more than one state at best, then it is time to drop out.

ThinkSecret closed by settlement with Apple

According to a "settlement page" on their site, the old faithful Mac rumor site ThinkSecret has shut down.

Apple and Think Secret have settled their lawsuit, reaching an agreement that results in a positive solution for both sides. As part of the confidential settlement, no sources were revealed and Think Secret will no longer be published.

This is a major disappointment to me. The two rumor sites I checked daily and always trusted were ThinkSecret.Com and AppleInsider.Com. Now, there is only one, and all because Apple is overly obsessed with secrecy over products which are widely known about anyway.

Blockbuster Changing Pricing Again

Blockbuster is at it again. They just raised their prices / lowered their service a few months ago to the anger and dissatisfaction of a number of people. This time, they want to raise my plan, the three-at-a-time-with-five-in-store-rentals plan from $17.99 to $19.99. Details will not be posted on the website until 12/27/2007, so I don't know what they've done to other plans. If they had not just changed their plans, I would have been bummed, but probably would have figured that costs go up and that it was still a good deal. As it is, I am still bummed about the last time they switched plans. I have no clue if NetFlix will be raising prices. If not, NetFlix is making even more sense, especially since I have a computer that runs Windows and so can utilize their online streaming.

I have sent the following e-mail to Blockbuster through their online support. I suggest that others who are upset by this send similar letters.

I just received an e-mail in my box tonight that has me quite disappointed with your company. Let me go back a few years. Before Blockbuster Online opened, I participated in the unlimited in-store rentals. It was a little pricey, but given that I was a bachelor at the time, it worked well for me. At some point, Blockbuster Online allowed two coupons per month for in-store rentals. I liked the idea of being able to still choose movies "on demand" so I switched to Blockbuster Online since it was cheaper. I was happy with the system. It worked well. Then, a switch came and we could get two movies a month or one per week in-store. I switched to the one per week, quite happy that I could now get four movies "on demand". Sometime after that, you went one better... unlimited rentals, so long as I had a mailer and if I didn't have a mailer, I still got one freebie. At some point in there, there price went up from $14.99 for three at a time to $17.99. I wasn't too happy about that, but looking back, that was the best deal you offered. Following that, things started going downhill. Just a few months ago, you announced that for me to get the same level of service I had been getting (3 movies per month with unlimited in-store rentals), I would have to cough up an additional $7 per month (a whopping 38.9% increase!) I started looking into NetFlix, but ultimately decided that even though I wasn't happy and felt like I was subject to a bait-and-switch tactic, I had too many movies in my queue to save a buck per month by switching to NetFlix. Now, I get another e-mail in my inbox. To keep the same level of service that I currently have, it's going to cost me $2 more per month. I still haven't fully gotten over the last price increase / drop in service and now you're throwing another one on me (and other subscribers)? From what I've seen, NetFlix is cheaper and has a better selection. I can watch video streamed to my computer so I don't need to worry about a title being out of stock at the store. If I feel a need to get a DVD, the grocery store has a box with DVDs at $1 per day. My reason for staying was that I liked the in-store rentals and it wasn't worth re-creating my queue at NetFlix when I don't normally get much more than 5 in-store rentals in a month. Given that it appears you are trying to milk your customers for more money (have costs really gone up $2 per subscriber in the past couple of months?), I am seriously considering switching to NetFlix even though it will take me some time to get my queue switched over. Keep treating your customers like trash and we'll eventually leave.

I realize that the first person to read this will likely not have the authority to alter pricing. I can only hope that this e-mail and others like it will find their way to the people who do have the power before too many people leave. I've been a loyal Blockbuster customer and am not looking forward to leaving.

UPDATE 1: Blockbuster responded:

Thank you for contacting BLOCKBUSTER Online Customer Care.

I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. Our goal is to strike the right balance between providing great value to our subscribers and getting a fair return for the company and our shareholders. We want to provide a variety of subscription plans to meet the needs of all our customers, both in-store and online. It's important for us to give consumers the most convenient access to media entertainment, whether that’s through our stores or by mail, and are dedicated to doing that with flexible plans and pricing.

We've reviewed our pricing structure and have found that to get a better balance of providing great value for Total Access subscribers while still making it affordable for us, as of December 27, 2007, we have restructured the prices of our Total Access subscription plans.

Please note that we're not changing any plan benefits; you'll continue to get all the same great benefits and value from Total Access. Of course, you're always free to change your plan.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions, and I'll be happy to assist.

To which I responded:

Can I get a list of what the different plans will cost? The e-mail said the website won't be updated until the 27.

I'll post what I get back from them here so others can make their decisions on whether or not to switch to a different plan or drop Blockbuster altogether.

UPDATE 2: Blockbuster responded with the new plan prices. Old plan prices are in brackets

Total Access Premium (unlimited in-store exchanges):
1 at a time: $21.99 [was $16.99, a 29.43% increase]
2 at a time: $29.99 [was $21.99, a 36.38% increase]
3 at a time: $34.99 [was $24.99, a 40.02% increase]

Total Access:
1 at a time (2 in-store exchanges per month): $11.99 [was $9.99, a 20.02% increase]
2 as a time (3 in-store exchanges per month): $16.99 [was $14.99, a 13.34% increase]
3 at a time (5 in-store exchanges per month): $19.99 [was $17.99, an 11.12% increase]
1 at a time (2 online rentals, 2 in-store exchanges per month): $7.99 [no change]

Blockbuster By Mail (no in-store exchanges):
1 at a time: $8.99 [no change]
2 at a time: $13.99 [no change]
3 at a time: $16.99 [no change]
1 at a time (2 online rentals per month): $3.99 [was $4.99, a 20.04% DECREASE]

Netflix has basically the same plans as Blockbuster By Mail except that they have a 4 at a time plan for $23.99 and their 2 movies a month plan is $4.99. At least some of Netflix's plans allow you to watch movies online.

I understand that Blockbuster has more costs than Netflix because of their physical stores. While this does affect their bottom line, it's also one of their biggest advantages. To have the 3-at-a-time-unlimited-in-store-exchanges go from $17.99 to $34.99 (almost double!) in the matter of months is simply ridiculous.

Does anyone like Netflix better than Blockbuster Online? Worse than Blockbuster Online? Has anyone heard of a way to easily transfer your queue from Blockbuster Online to Netflix?

For those who live near a Blockbuster and will now be paying $30 / month for Blockbuster Online, you may want to check your local store to see if they still offer the unlimited in-store rentals plan. Last I checked, it was right around $30 for 2 or 3 movies at a time. You can turn them around faster than by mail, if Blockbuster is convenient for you.

Mod-Blog Mourns with the Kucinich Family

We here at Mod-Blog are not big fans of Dennis Kucinich as a presidential candidate. He is to be lauded for being philosophically pure, but his views clash with most of our posters and commenters. But now is a time to quiet such thoughts, and to simply express our sympathies and prayers to the Kucinich family, because his brother, Perry Kucinich was found dead today in his home.

Perry Kucinich, brother of U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, was found dead Wednesday morning at his east-side home.
Perry Kucinich was found face down by another brother, Larry Kucinich, at about 9 a.m.
Larry Kucinich had taken his brother shopping Tuesday and then took him home but couldn't get an answer when he tried calling him Wednesday, said Powell Caesar, spokesman for the coroner.
Perry Kucinich was an artist and some of his works have been on display at a local art gallery.

An autopsy has not yet been done, but there are no indications of foul play.

Life Imitates Art...Another Spears is Pregnant

Britney Spear's 16 year old sister is pregnant. I guess this shouldn't be suprising considering her role model. Jamie Lynn Spears stars in her own Nickelodeon show, Zoey 101. She has announced that she is pregnant by her boyfriend. I guess we at least can be pleased that she is not having an abortion.

Gas Prices (BJs was closed)

Gas Prices (BJs was closed)
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Talk about an Impractical Practical Joke!

I am not a big one for practical jokes. Most of them just strike me as cruel. But this eBay auction has to be easily the most creative attempt I have ever seen.

You are bidding on a rare chance to traumatize a treasured friend or relative with baffling, mind-numbing, mystery correspondence from abroad.

Here is the arrangement:

I will be spending the Christmas holiday in Poland in a tiny village that has one church with no bell because angry Germans stole it. Aside from vodka, there is not a lot for me to do.

During the course of my holiday I will send three postcards to one person of your choosing.

These postcards will be rant-ravingly insane, yet they will be peppered with unmistakable personal details about the addressee. Details you will provide me.

The postcards will not be coherently signed, leaving your mark confused, guessing wildly, crying out in anguish.

"How do I know this person? And how does he know I had a ferret named Goliath?"

Very interesting, mildly insane, and undeniably cruel.

Death and Medicine

I have been fortunate to not lose too many people close to me to death (two of my four grandparents died before I was born). An article on Wired talks about preliminary research into drugs that could stop age related diseases. The downside? In the lab animal tests the animal still died around the age they would have. The difference is that there is no cause of death that they can pinpoint it too. The question posed by the author is, how would this change our life knowing that there would be no signs of coming death? I'm somewhat torn on this... on the one hand, it would be nice to not have people suffer. On the other hand, in my limited experience with dealing with the death of loved ones, I would think that having some warning is easier than no warning at all. One commenter brings up another issue... if there are no signs of death, we couldn't allow those past a certain age to do anything dangerous such as driving. What do other Mod-Bloggers think... if available (and side-effects were minimal to none), would you take the drugs? Would you want your loved ones taking the drugs?

Warning: I have not watched the videos with the article. They appear to be clips of movies, but I do not know if they are family friendly or not.

Robot Nutcracker

Photographing Christmas LIghts

For the intrepid photographers among us, Christmas is a great time to shoot interesting light displays. This video does a good job of explaining the way to get the most out of these kinds of shots.

What can Atheists and Christians agree on?

The last time I genuinely had a "debate" with an atheist was in high school. Back then, I had not really learned tact and made some obvious errors in approach and tone... and frankly made somewhat of a fool of myself. Since then, I had tried to be more respectful of the atheists I have met, and for the most part have been surprised how few REAL atheists there are out there. Most so-called atheists are actually agnostics who admit there COULD be a God, but are turned off by either organized religion or overbearing Christians.

But since 9/11/01, there has been a mini-movement of aggressive atheists looking to "convert" as many believers as possible to the ranks of the anti-God. I have found these folks mostly on chatrooms online, and not in person. But it is only a matter of time before each of us finds these folks. And this article, written by a former atheist who has returned to religion, makes the argument that atheists and theists have a good basis for discussion, and that there are simple rules to keep any discussion civil and instructive. If we could apply such simple rules to political discourse as well, we'd all be better off.

Fair warning: The author displays a number of images from the web which illustrate offensive religious people and offensive atheists. DO NOT click through if you will be upset by such images.

A Scary Christmas Comic

Gun-Free Zones?

Variations on a theme from this week...

Easy Microwave Cleaning

I haven't tried this, but it sounds like it could work. Note: Always be careful when microwaving water as it can become superheated. Superheated water has the potential to explode, causing injury.

Non-Embryonic Stem Cells Fix Flaws From Breast Cancer

I found this story to be really exciting. Japanese doctors have started testing using a woman's fat to pull out stem cells to repair damage caused by breast cancer. After 8 months, there was an 80% patient satisfaction rate. All of this done without needing one aborted baby!

Hmmmmm.....

iDevices vs Work-Home-Balance

PCWorld has up an interesting article about a kerfuffle in the Australian government offices. One ministry attempted to issue Blackberry devices to all of their employees, but distribution was stopped when too many high-ranking people complained about Blackberries violating the home-work balance, by forcing longer workdays and intruding into free time.

Most of you know that I own an iPhone, so it may surprise you to know that I am very much against the distribution of Blackberry devices to employees who do not specifically ask for it. One of the reasons I chose an iPhone is it is incompatible with my work e-mail system (unless one uses the web browser to access that portal) and thus my employer can not use it as another way to contact me. I am a great believer that employers should pay for the time they demand, and that it is inappropriate to demand most employees to carry with them a tether that ties them to the workplace. Even cell phones are sometimes too much.

What do you think? Are Blackberry and other iDevices a blessing, a necessary evil, or a curse?

Is there too much religion in the Presidential campaign?

It is hardly a new complaint, but more and more voices are asking is religion receiving too much prominence in this year's election cycle? The question is not only relevant because of Mitt Romney's "religious freedom" speech, but also the willingness of Mike Huckabee and others to open up theology for public debate. And even on the Democratic side, more and more religion has been made a central part of the campaign.

I am not sure where I stand here. Absolutely, there should NEVER be a religious test for office - in that no elected official should be stopped from taking office because of his or her faith. But isn't it fair to ask about a candidate's beliefs, especially as they may influence their policy decisions? On the other hand, don't we cheapen faith by expecting every candidate to open with a prayer or invoke the name of the Lord during any important speech?

Women Wobble But They Don't Fall Down

What do Weebles and pregnant women have in common? They may wobble, but they don't fall down. It turns out that men and women have a difference in the lower spine and hips that allows women to adjust their center of gravity so they don't fall over when the added weight of pregnancy come. Even though the article credits evolution instead of God, it's still an interesting article.

Programming and Drinking

Never saw proof of it, but a college friend of mine used to claim he actually programmed better drunk. Comic from xkcd.com

The view out my window

The view out my window
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

The snow has arrived!

Random thoughts on the 2008 Presidential Campaign

I've been trying to find news on the primaries, but today I thought it might be interesting just to throw out some random thoughts to provoke discussion. These are not cogent arguments, but thoughts I have been working through. So react as you will, but don't take them as pronouncements of Truth.

• Huckabee will do VERY well in Iowa, despite his comments about Mormonism. He will be used there and in New Hampshire to send a message "Don't take the Religious Right for granted." But once the point is made, his support will disappear.
• Fred Thompson does not want to be president. He is running, so that he would not look back on his life later and ask "Why didn't I try?"
• If the Democratic nominee is Barack Obama, and the Republicans nominate Rudy Guiliani, I could see myself voting for Obama so that I could tell my grandchildren that I voted for the first black president.
• The endorsement of Obama by Oprah will not be significant in Iowa or New Hampshire. But the importance will grow with time.
• If Ron Paul fails to win any of the Republican primaries, his followers will originate a new "vast conspiracy" theory to explain his loss, which will become a long-running internet meme.
• I still can't find anyone who is "Pro Hillary Clinton." I can find a lot of people who say they'll vote for her. But no one who likes her or thinks she'll do anything especially good for the country.
• I believe we will see a strong third-party run this cycle, from a person like Ross Perot talking about fiscal responsibility and accountability to the people.
• America is ready for a black, latino, and/or female president.
• If Mitt Romney is the GOP nominee, we will see a brief spike in people converting to Mormonism, which will be heavily covered by the media. It will be used by some religious and anti-religion people as evidence that Romney's election would be dangerous for the soul of America. But it will peter out quickly, and most of the converts will be the kind of lost souls who are "blown here and there by every wind of doctrine" and public whim. Most will not still consider themselves Mormons 4 years later.

There you go. React away. And don't worry, I already know I could be wrong about all of these.

This is a great photo

We had a squirrel like this at our house who actually once dismantled a steel, "squirrel-proof" bird feeder.

HD for Non-HD TV Owners

If you're like me, you don't have an HD TV. With the change in broadcast standards to HD TV, we'll no longer have access to the channels we can get now. Well, instead of spending a bunch of money on a new TV, you can purchase a converter. Here's the added bonus, the government is kicking in $80 worth of coupons to buy the converter. Call or sign-up online for yours starting January 1.

Mountain Dew Christmas Tree

Eager to celebrate Christmas? Low on funds for a tree, due to a caffeine addiction? Well, one intrepid fan of Mountain Dew decided to find a solution. Click on the image below for the full website.

National Review Endorses My Man Mitt

The conservative magazine the National Review endorsed Mitt Romney today for the Republican nomination for president. They lay out a good argument that focuses on Romney's conservative credentials and ability to win in a general election.

CompUSA Closing Down

A word of warning to Christmas shoppers: CompUSA is closing all of its stores and is attempting to sell its website and technical services business. There will be deals, but make sure what your buying works and has a manufacturer's warranty and not a CompUSA warranty.

Gas prices

Gas prices
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Dennis Prager: Judge a man by his values, not his theology

Dennis Prager has posted today an interesting article confronting the issue of Mitt Romney's mormonism as an issue for Christians. He does a good job of laying out why some mainline or Evangelical Christians have a hard time voting for him - the first fair laying out of the argument I have seen - but argues that a man's theology means far less to his value as a public servant than his VALUES.

The reason is -- and I have come to this conclusion after a lifetime of interaction with people of almost all faiths and writing about and studying religion -- theology does not appear to have much impact on people's values. Liberal Christians and Jews share virtually no theological beliefs yet think alike about virtually every important social value. So, too, conservative Christians and conservative Jews share virtually no theological beliefs, yet they think alike about virtually every important social value.

Meanwhile liberal and conservative Protestants are in agreement on theological matters -- both believe in the Trinity, in the Messiahship of Jesus, on Jesus being the Son of God, on salvation through faith rather than through works, and more -- yet they differ about virtually every social value. Obviously, shared theology doesn't create shared moral or social values.

The article is worth a read for anyone who either is undecided about Mitt Romney, or who wants to understand those who are. I myself sometimes wonder about this, since mainline Christianity considers Mormonism to be a CULT on the order of ancient Gnosticism. Can one trust the judgement of a man who embraces these beliefs? I think Prager lays out the clearest argument for why one could vote for anyone whose beliefs differ from our own, but whose values we can respect.

Teaser Poster for the new Indiana Jones film is up!

Sigh. Now 10 Million E-mails Missing from White House Backups

This is a disgrace. Originally, it was believed that 5 million e-mails were removed from White House servers and backups, despite accountability laws requiring all executive branch e-mails be saved. Now, we have learned that it was on the order of 10 million e-mails instead.

OK, it is time for an automated backup of all e-mails in realtime to a secure write-once-read-many domain where the backups can only be destroyed by physical means by order of the President. Then, at least, someone will be accountable for such massive violations.

4 Killed in Missionary/Church Shootings

Still not sure what to make of this, but hoping it is an isolated nut and not the start of something larger.

A gunman shot four staff members at a missionary training center near Denver early Sunday, killing two, after being told he couldn't spend the night. About 12 hours later and 65 miles away in Colorado Springs, a gunman fatally shot a parishioner at a megachurch and wounded four other people before a guard killed him, police said.
One of the hospitalized victims from the second attack died Sunday at about 10:10 p.m., said Amy Sufak, a spokeswoman for Penrose Community Hospital in Colorado Springs.
The police chief in Arvada, a suburb about 15 miles west of Denver where the mission workers were shot, said the shootings may be related to those in Colorado Springs but declined to elaborate.

I'll be praying for the families of those who lost their lives, and the members of the church and missionary office who are suffering today.

Pixar Easter Eggs!

If you are like me, then you really appreciate the great films that Pixar studios has made and continues to make. While I think some of the more recent films have not lived up to the brand (*cough* CARS *cough*), you can still be sure if you go to a Pixar movie that you are going to a quality film. It turns out, you also may be going to a film so chock-full of inside jokes that it is ready to explode! Click on the link for an exhaustive list of the appearances of Pixar characters in films that are not their own!

Mitt Romney's Speech on Religious Freedom

For your convenience I am posting Mitt Romney's speech from Thursday here on Mod-Blog. I thought it was an excellent speech.

This *IS* my life right now

Commodore 64 Turns 25

I remember when Nomad saved up to buy a Commodore 64 when we were young. It was a great computer that opened up a new world for us. Video games, word processing and programming were the main activities that we used it for. CNN has up an article on the C64 as it turns 25 years old.

This is how it was around here last night

The Golden Compass controversy

A few weeks ago I started hearing about the controversy surrounding The Golden Compass. I'm not familiar with the books so I was unaware that there was any controversy at all. I received several emails from Christian watch groups ordering suggesting Christians boycott the film. Being the contrarian that I am, that only made me want to see the movie more. Because of the film's large budget there is a lot of interest in it in the entertainment world. Entertainment Weekly had the movie as its cover story this week, which includes a very good synopsis of the controversy surrounding both the books and the film.

As for the controversy, I tend to agree with one Christian author they quoted as saying:

My God is big enough to defend himself against Philip Pullman. As a Christian, I think his story brings up great points of debate.

What do Mod-Blog readers think?

Is Christian Tithing Biblical?

I have been having some discussions recently with my friends about tithing at church. One of my friends who graduated from seminary said to me that teaching on tithing isn't found in the New Testament. I decided to do some checking myself and dusted off my book from Larry Burkett on the Bible and Money where he lays out all the verses in the bible that talk about money in a topical format. I was surprised that I think there was only one verse in the New Testament that mentioned tithing and it had no real teaching on that subject for a believer. Google provided me with a link to an interesting article which I would encourage you to read. It is mostly aimed at those who teach that if you don't tithe to the church then you are sinning. But it lays out a lot of scripture and argues that among other things, there isn't any evidence that Jesus tithed. The most interesting minor thing in the article is on how Jesus paid his Temple tax. Jesus states that he does not need to pay the temple tax, but will do so to avoid offending anyone. In the end, he doesn't even pay it out of his own money, but this is where the story of the coins in the fish's mouth comes in. I encourage you all to read this article even though it is long (44 pages when pasted into a Word document). Lest you think he argues not to give any money to church, he doesn't say that at all. He just says that what you decide to give to the church is an offering, not a tithe. You shouldn't feel obligated by scripture to give any certain percentage.

Visionaries...

People are always trying to see or understand how things are going to work in the future. I just found this video from the 1960s on how shopping and banking would be done in 1999. It's interesting and kind of funny. From the page I found it on:

Many visionaries who tried to forecast what daily life would be like for future generations made the mistake of simply projecting existing technologies as being bigger, faster, and more powerful. They often failed to anticipate that future technologies might take very different forms, might be put to previously unconsidered uses, and might accompany (or even help bring about) significant social changes.

Romney Speaks Faith

Mitt Romney gave a speech today about religion in America. The text of his speech can be found here. The basic summary of what he said is that religious freedom is what has made America great. He assured people that he would not serve his church's wishes as President, but would serve the American people's wishes. Overall, I thought it read as a good speech.

Prince Caspian trailer premieres!

A big tip of the hat to Nick and Nora's blog for being the first to let me know that the new trailer for Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is online and ready for HD viewing. As a HUGE C.S. Lewis fan, I am eager to see this one, and hoping we get the full series one day.

Christmas traditions are not all productive

Global warming counter claims

I was listening to the radio this afternoon as I drove back to work from lunch and there was an interesting topic being discussed. Apparently, a group of well respected international scientists have been banned from attending the climate change conference in Bali because they represent a dissenting voice in the global warming debate. When I got back to work, I looked into this group and they seem to be legit. The interesting thing I found was this video [below] discussing some of the falicies of the 'science' used in An Inconvenient Truth. We've had these sorts of discussions here before, but this is the first time I have seen anything in this form disputing the 'evidence' given by the former Vice President.

Gas prices

Gas prices
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

iPhone surpasses WindowsCE in browser stats

After only six months - and no Christmas cycle yet - the Apple iPhone has already surpassed all WindowsCE devices combined in browsing statistics online. Browsing stats track the number of web pages viewed by certain operating systems and browsers, and is used by advertisers to target their web-based advertising. What is most telling here is that while WindowsCE (also known as Windows Mobile) has been out for 10 years and powers millions of deployed devices, it has been crushed in only a few months by the iPhone. If the trendline continues - and it is expected to do so, especially with the upcoming holiday sales season expected to see many iPhone and iPod Touch devices given as gifts, it could mean by this time next year that it would have surpassed Linux and perhaps even versions of Windows older than XP in browser stats. (For those wondering, it has already crushed the Sidekick, PSP, and other "alternate" means of internet viewing.)

This is why I hate the phone

This has been all over the Web today. A disgruntled (foreign) telemarketer called a hard-of-hearing American and got tired of repeating himself. After a few failed attempted to communicate, the caller insults the American and promptly hangs up. Unfortunately for him, the whole thing was being recorded.

I worked on a project assisting my company's telephone support center, and it is amazing what the public expects phone workers to put up with. The public is brutal enough in person, but they can be downright abusive when they do not have to look someone in the eye. But even so, the first rule of the phone business is to NEVER lose your cool with a customer. Because all it takes is one call like this to lose ALL of your customers.

Hillary vs. Cookies

"Do As I Say, Not As I Do" is again a failure

The New York Times has up an amazing story of an African country which turned itself from a net beggar to a net exporter of food by doing one simple thing. They defied Western "experts" and instituted a fertilizer subsidy program which mimicked those in place in the USA and Britain. Typically, the World Bank refuses to grant loans to countries which subsidize fertilizer, so most nations try to make due with depleted soil and wind up starving.

In Malawi itself, the prevalence of acute child hunger has fallen sharply. In October, the United Nations Children’s Fund sent three tons of powdered milk, stockpiled here to treat severely malnourished children, to Uganda instead. “We will not be able to use it!” Juan Ortiz-Iruri, Unicef’s deputy representative in Malawi, said jubilantly...In the 1980s and again in the 1990s, the World Bank pushed Malawi to eliminate fertilizer subsidies entirely. Its theory both times was that Malawi’s farmers should shift to growing cash crops for export and use the foreign exchange earnings to import food, according to Jane Harrigan, an economist at the University of London.

Here is proof yet again that the best way to succeed is to do what is proven to work, and not what bureaucrats theorize in office buildings. Of course, we still need to see what happens long-term, but for the moment the people of Malawi is fed and even able to bring in some capital by exporting food.

McCain gets New Hampshire Endorsement

John McCain got an important endorsement from the New Hampshire Union Leader. The Union Leader is the only state wide newspaper in New Hampshire. Its funny, I haven't decided who to vote for in the primary yet, but as it get closer to voting time, I find myself saying that I could see supporting all the major Republican candidates. (Except Ron Paul)

The Truth of Bottled Water

And yet I buy the stuff myself for convenience, and to keep myself from buying soda instead.

Shadowmom hates it when CRChair and I Play This Game

So... Is Santa Really BIG BROTHER?

Retraction: Chinese Sub Surprises U.S.S. Kitty Hawk

We here at Mod-Blog are all human and unfortunately, that means we make mistakes. I was discussing the story about the Chinese Sub and the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk today and found out that the article I referenced was misleading. Although the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk was out to sea at the time of the posting, this incident happened during its 2006 winter cruise. I apologize for the erroneous post. The refusal of the Chinese government to dock at Hong Kong did happen this cruise and is considered a big deal.

Nomad or CRCHAIR stuck in the Desert

Mastering your DSLR

A few of us here at Mod-Blog are amateur photographers (technically one of us is a pro, since he got paid at least one time I am aware of) and owners of digital SLR cameras. If you don't know what an SLR camera is, this article probably is not for you. If you DO, then you might be interested in this posting from LifeHacker where they do a great job of explaining the basics of using the Manual Modes on a digital SLR camera. These modes allow you to directly control shutter speed, aperture, and ISO, and the article explains how to compensate each for best effect.

Actually, many "normal" digital cameras these days also have manual modes. So click on through anyway, if you want a chance to take better pictures.