Star Wars Humor

This site has up a humorous top X list. The idea is a bit more blue than usual for the stuff here at Mod-Blog: Top 176 Star Wars Lines Improved By Replacing A Word With "Pants".

Your pants, you will not need them.
You came in those pants? You're braver than I thought.49
Governer Tarkin. I should have expected to find you holding Vader's pants.
I sense the conflict within you. Let go of your pants!

Do You Have Unclaimed Money?

NAUPA (National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators) has a website where you can find out how to contact states to see if you have any unclaimed property that they are holding. Typically this happens when you move and a company doesn't have a forwarding address for you. You can also search for federal money here (Click on "Links" at the top). You should check each state that you have lived in. Some have a way to do it online, while for others you have to write or call.

Touching Photos of a Marine

I recently received a patriotic e-mail forward. While I typically don't do much with forwards, there were two very touching pictures that I wanted to share. The first picture shows Marines moving the casket of a fallen soldier (2nd Lt. James Cathey) and can be found here. The second photo I found more touching. It is the wife of 2nd Lt. Cathey wanting to spend one last night with her husband.

Giant Insect Invade Germany

It seems that a bug got squished onto a satellite photo of Germany that is available on Google Maps. (As a side note, it appears that this photo is within a few hours from where I lived when I was in Germany). The bug, as it appears on the scale, would be about 125 feet long! For comparisson with a real thrips, click here.

Still dropping

Still dropping
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

iTunes Store 99 cent songs, Microsoft Store 79... Microsoft points?

Microsoft has finally announced the pricing for the Microsoft Zune (the iPod competitor) and their music store. The Zune will cost about the same as an iPod - $249.99 for a 30 GB unit. But what is weird is the pricing for songs.

For consumers looking to own a song, the Zune Marketplace will sell tracks for 79 Microsoft points. A user can buy 80 Microsoft points for $1 and points will also be redeemable at its online video game store, Xbox Live Marketplace.
Microsoft said it will initially sell only music -- and no video -- at the Zune Marketplace. The company said it was negotiating with major record companies and labels.

Why exactly would Microsoft want to price their songs with their own funny money? To obscure the actual price they are charging for songs, presumable. Currently, this comes out to 98.75 cents per song (one quarter of a cent less than the 99 cents charges by Apple). But now Microsoft can "keep prices the same" but increase literal price by raising the price for more Microsoft points.

Gotta love it. Apple looks to empower customers by allowing per-song sales, where you actually own the song and can burn them to a CD. Microsoft looks to disempower customers by hiding their actual prices. Who said Microsoft was an evil empire?

"You don't believe in this cold fusion mumbo-jumbo?"

China recently tested a fusion device and is making strides in developing a fusion reactor for electricity. This is the Holy Grail of Science as I understand it. The ability to make cheap, semi-clean power for the masses.