 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
The Magpie Developer
Jeff Atwood is one of the best programmer/writers around. I love reading his stuff, some I agree wholeheartedly with, other stuff we disagree, but this post is about a dead-on as they come. This idea has been floating in my head for a long time, but it is hard for me to conceptualize it in words, Atwood does a brilliant job at it. Must read for any developer. |
|
|
|
Andy Olmsted's Last Blog Entry.
(Warning: Pretty rough) No matter how you feel politically about the war, this reminds you that each number people throw around as statistics is a human life. This is extremely well written, and pretty rough on your soul towards the end, but something everyone should read. Its a shitty situation all around, but there is always a human face behind the statistics and I want to make sure I never forget that. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Drinking stories that put yours to shame
Via Keith
To preserve his body during the voyage home, the second-in-command stored Nelson's body in the ship's vat of rum and halted all liquor rations to the crew. Not a bad idea, but when the ship reached port, officials went to retrieve Nelson's body and found the vat dry.
Disregarding good taste (in every sense), the crew had been secretly drinking from it the entire way home. After that, naval rum was referred to as Nelson's Blood. |
|
|
|
making vodka pills in 24 hours
Recently, Chef Fabian was experimenting further with the Adria/Torreblanca technique of making 'vodka pills.' I use this word to describe the process of making liquid-filled candies by pouring flavored alcohol syrups into cornstarch and letting it set until a hard outer shell forms. |
|
|
|
Strategy Letter VI - joelonsoftware.com
As a programmer, thanks to plummeting memory prices, and CPU speeds doubling every year, you had a choice. You could spend six months rewriting your inner loops in Assembler, or take six months off to play drums in a rock and roll band, and in either case, your program would run faster. Assembler programmers don’t have groupies.
Entire Article is Dead On. A must read for anyone in the software biz. |
|
|
|
 |
| |
| |
| |
| |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
(Friday, October 29)
New Kids on the Block dance made me laugh hard
With all the election/Halliburton/Weapons Cache crap going on it was nice to get this and laugh my ass off at it. Hey every body do the New Kids Dance. Jurassic 5 rocks. Charlie Tuna in de casa. Click to view.
|
|
 |
(Thursday, October 28)
MSNBC - FBI probes Pentagon over Halliburton deals
A news flash I am sure you won't see on Foxnews.com (or ABC)...
"FBI agents this week sought permission to interview Bunnatine Greenhouse, the Army Corps of Engineers' chief contracting officer who went public last weekend with allegations that her agency unfairly awarded a Halliburton subsidiary no-bid contracts worth billions of dollars in Iraq, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press."
MSNBC - FBI probes Pentagon over Halliburton deals:
UPDATE:
Google news
CNN
MSNBC
Foxnews
I wonder if it is true? Thats our tax money boys and girls, it comes out of everyone of our paychecks....
This is precisely why I would never vote Bush. That is MY MONEY that I trust that my Govt will spend correctly in armoring our soldiers (even if I don't agree with the war) do you want to know where it goes? It goes to "$2,000" toilet seats in the latrines that line the coat pockets of people who sit on the board at Kellog. And you fucking know what pisses me off the most? They point their fingers at companies like Target that are French owned and say "BEWARE of those guys, they are unamerican". When they are stealing from American Tax Payer's money that could go to other causes to liberate countries or create democracies EVERY FUCKING DAY. And I don't want to get the "unfortunately, it happens every day in Gov't" emails on this one. Here is FINALLY a valid investigation into it. Thank God. I just wish it would have happened 6 months before the election so we can see how conniving and scrupulous Bush/Cheney really are. I would rather have an assmonger like Kerry in their, atleast he isn't pilfering for personal gain for the board of trustees of daddy's, uncle James', and the Vice Pres' former company.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interview with TiVo legal head, and HBO clips your wings | PVRblog
PVRBlog has a good write up (along with a link to the wired article) about how Tivo is shaving off certain features. ReplayTV (what we use) has yet to do this but it seems that HBO has Anounced that their content will so be locked using this new method, along with Pay Per View movies. It is funny to me to see how these features have been available for at least 2+ years yet it has taken Movie studios/TV studios 2 years to catch up. To me it shows a disconnection from its audience. I had the ability over 14 months ago to take a program (from any channel at any time) to nab if off my replayTV from my home network. Throw it into mpeg, burn it to a DVD or throw it around the net. To be honest I really don't have the time to do it, but by looking at the traffic on Bittorrent sites some people do. And to do it in High None the less.
-E
Interview with TiVo legal head, and HBO clips your wings | PVRblog
|
|
|
|
Microsoft codename roulette wheel lands on "Whitehorse"
I am at mixed feelings on this. I honestly do not feel threatened by a computer doing application design (as compared to my excellent skillz) but this is a pretty big move by Microsoft. I think this could easily turn into a Rational-esque code generation type of application. I generate a lot of my code with personal code generators that I have written myself. I think Code generation is the future, I just like having direct control over the generation of the code. I love CodeSmith I use it every day almost, I love my own code generators that I have written. I love MS application Blocks, but when it comes to Business Objects, the functionality of the Bus Obj is so specific to the task at hand that I think it is good to program certain aspects of them by hand. Just my 2 cents. This will definitely have a bigger effect on MS programmers than the media attention/discussion it is garnering today (which is not a lot).
Microsoft codename roulette wheel lands on "Whitehorse"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Indian Outsourcing Email
I am part of a lot of Email Usergroups that deal with Programming Jobs in the Atlanta Area. I like to kinda keep a pulse on the job market. Since I landed my last job (which I really dig) I only check out the emails in passing more as a gauge on the Atlanta industry (what languages are hot, experience, etc) and lately on one of the chains there has been a pretty big email battle going back and forth with an American programmer, a Russian programmer (who lives/programs in Russia and uses the Usergroup to pickup sales leads) and today I got an email from an Indian programmer who lives here in the states and has been working in ATL on and H1-B since 1994. Very interesting email and basically reinstates my earlier posts about H-1Bs. My main focus point is what I have stated all along 'you do not have to worry if you truly are a good programmer' and also I would like to add a side note 'even if you are just as good of a programmer as an H1-B, you will generally get the job because of better communication skills' I foresee a pretty big drop in companies like Wippro in the next couple of years. Not from bad work necessarily (which still could be the case) but from a balancing of the market in outsourcing in China. China stands to take over a lot of the Outsourcing market as it grows into a semi-capitalist society. Anyway here is the letter I found very interesting from the H1-B Indian programmer working in Atlanta, and describes in a great way how saturation of any professional market is never a good thing for any country. Regardless of who they are.
Email to the Atlanta Group (who is in midst of an H1-B argument) [I changed some of the names]:
I just read this e-mail from Bob. Though I am an Indian, I agree with him so much, I could not resist sending this message.
I am an Indian. Born, brought up and educated in India. Came here on a H1B back in 1994.
A lot of today's H1Bs coming from India are not upto the mark, except, those that are from some reputed Indian companies.
Here is a message I sent to Jim Jubak of MSN Money Central back in 2003 in response to his article "The threat of the job-is-worth-less recovery"
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/P62365.asp that he never cared to respond:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mr. Jubak:
I read your article. It was an interesting one.
I am originally from southern Indian state called Andhra Pradesh. I am currently working in the US. You might have heard of Hyderabad - it is the capital city of Andhra Pradesh.
I wanted to reveal some facts about the current state of Indian education system (especially Andhra Pradesh's).
Out of those 300,000 engineers produced by India every year, about 65,000 of them are produced by Andhra Pradesh alone. Isn't it odd for one of the 27 states to produce as much as 1/5 th of the engineers? All, thanks to the current cheif minister of Andhra Pradesh, who, in last 5 years or so, authorized a wave of new engineering colleges to be set up to meet the global demand for engineers.
Here is the fact sheet showing number of institutions:
Source: Commissionerate of Industries - Gov. of Andhra Pradesh - http://www.apind.com/apfactsheet.html)
174 - Engineering Colleges - Awarding Bachelors & Masters degrees in Engineering
103 - Polytechnical colleges - Awarding Diplomas in Engineering
502 - BCA colleges - Awarding Bachelors degree in Computer Applications
236 - MCA colleges - Awarding Masters degrees in Computer Applications
143 - MBA colleges - Awarding Masters degress in Business Administration
12 - Medical Colleges - Awarding MBBS and MDs in Medicine
564 - ITI Institutes - Providing vocational training.
Education has now become a pure business. Almost every politician owns an Engineering college, easiest way of making money. Most of these do not even have adequate infrastructure, let alone teaching staff.
Most of the institutions encourage and help students to cheat in examinations, so, their institute can show a higher percentage of graduations, in turn bringing more prospective students for the next acadamic year. It is has become a business after all. It is equivalent to buying a engineering degree for about $8,000, only difference is, you need to attend classes for 4 years, before you are awarded one (in some cases you can buy them outright for a bit more).
Thank god the Government did not allow this kind of dilution in medicine(only 12 Medical colleges), they would have killed a lot of patients.
Every year about 200,000 students take an entrance examnation (like SAT) to get admission into Engineering colleges. Generally 65,000 of them qualify, but, now there are as many seats available. They are comtemplating on removing this qualifying exam also, as it does not make sense any more.
In 1988, I stood 120th among about 60,000 examnees in this exam. Andhra Pradesh was just producing 5,000 engineers a year then.
Most of these engineers don't even have enough aptitude to clear 12th grade. These are the ones that are willing to work at any salary, leading to loss of jobs here in US.
I have a lot more to say. I wish I can talk to you.
You can probably send in an investigative journalist to Andhra Pradesh to unearth the real facts about Indian Education System.
Thanks for your time and look forward to talking to you.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cyanbane.com V2.0
Well the new look is still a work in progress. But The release party for the new design that happened tonight at my place was a blast. (ok it consisted of me and a Cuba Libre (rum (25%) and diet lime coke (75%) [Cuba Libre Ninguna Calor�a?]). Thanks to Joel and Mike for their help with it. If you want to get in touch with them shoot me an email and I will hook you up. It is still a work in progress I hope to have it how I want it by this weekend. And Yes if you don't like Brazil you are a fascist and I just love the sound of bunnies.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Sunday, October 24)
TheMusic.com
When I am REALLY Rich...
There are few things that I collect with a passion. Star Wars Legos are one of these things. I also collect old Vinyl Albums from late 60's/70's bands (Santana, Pink Floyd) and I have always wanted to have a complete set of Beatles albums on Vinyl. While doing research on a complete list last year I came upon the fact that hardcore serious Beatles collectors were defined by thier possession of the "Butcher Album". I finally figured out (and saw a picture of the 'Butcher Record Cover") a year or so ago, but I thought it was neat when I opened up my hotmail emailbox today and discovered I had been sent an advertisement selling it for a mere 2K (probably as much as i have payed for my whole star wars Lego collection. Alas, it is still a pretty good item to have. And If anyone ever showed me they had one I would love to listen to it (although it would sound the same to my ears as the successors with different covers, I would still love to say I have heard one before I die).
-E
TheMusic.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Friday, October 22)
MSNBC - Afghan, Iraq wars collide
It is funny when I talk to hardcore Bush supporters and they say that they want GW as President for the next 4 years becuase he is strong on Terrorism. I almost want to balk at them and say No, he was strong on Iraq, and there was a time when he was strong on Afghanistan (which he should have been). With both candidates in an almost perfect tie going into next week, there are some pretty amazing things being written up in major newspapers which makes me think this election might actually swing towards Kerry. I support Kerry (becuase of lack of a better candidate) but I never really have him a fighting chance against GW. I was always going to vote against GW, but Kerry actually showed pretty good character/strong will at the debate and bsaically switched my vote from Bardanik/Nader realm to the democratic realm. It seems he is getting some decent support from not only major media outlets but also some pretty high ups in Washington who are Republicans. I must say I am impressed with Kerry and I really do not know how this election will play out. It is very interesting how much of a roel either way the two non major party political candidates are going to have on this election. The below article is a great (albiet long) write up on GW's mistake in reorganizing resources for Iraq while not keeping an eye on Afghanistan. Good read.
As the war on terrorism enters its fourth year, its results are sufficiently diffuse -- and obscured in secrecy -- to resist easy measure. Interpretations of the public record are also polarized by the claims and counterclaims of the presidential campaign. Bush has staked his reelection on an argument that defense of the U.S. homeland requires unyielding resolve to take the fight to the terrorists. His opponent, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), portrays the Bush strategy as based on false assumptions and poor choices, particularly when it came to Iraq.
MSNBC - Afghan, Iraq wars collide
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Allakhazam.com: Final Fantasy XI: Thread: Where The Avatar's Really Come From.
For all my FFXI Summoner's a little history....
"Carbuncle ~ He's Greek and means a beautiful gem of a deep red color, they also called it anthrax no lie.
Ifrit ~ Is From Islamic Mythology and is a Jinn or a Genie he is from the class of spirits below the level of angels and Devils noted for their strength and cunning. An ifrit is an enormous winged creature of smoke, either male or female, who lives underground and frequents ruins. Ifrits live in a society structured along ancient Arab tribal lines, complete with kings, tribes, and clans
Titan ~ a little more comonly know, from Greek mythology and is One of a family of giants, the children of Uranus and Gaea, who sought to rule heaven and were overthrown and supplanted by the family of Zeus.
Leviathan ~ Is from a Hebrew Word that means Twisted or Coiled, and Is mentioned in the Book of Job as a sort of chaos animal in the shape of a crocodile or a serpent. In other bible texts it is taken to mean a whale or dolphin, because the animal is there described as living in the sea. Later the Leviathan became a symbol of evil, an anti-divine power (some sort of devil) which will be destroyed on Judgement Day.
Garuda ~ Is from Indian Mythology and Is still worshiped as a god today but not inependently His Position is Shared With Genesh and Yes I said His. Garuda is the king of the birds. He mocks the wind with the speed of his flight. As the appointed charger of Vishnu ( Ramuh in Human Form ) he is venerated by all, including humans. Garuda is the son of Kashyap, a great sage, and Vinata, a daughter of Daksha, a famous king. He was hatched from an egg Vinata laid. He has the head, wings, talons, and beak of an eagle and the body and limbs of a man. He has a white face, red wings and golden body. When he was born he was so brilliant that he was mistaken for Agni, the god of fire, and worshipped. I guess SE wanted to make Him a little more sexy for the Game.
Allakhazam.com: Final Fantasy XI: Thread: Where The Avatar's Really Come From.:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Worldwild Life Living Planet Report 2004
Every year the World Wild Life Council puts out a Living Planet Report. Check the Blog archives for last years. Unfortunalty this year we continued to slide. The biggest suck to me personally is the dark blue spots over China and India. They have always been over the US :( Canada, Mexico, and Europe. Unfortunaly they grow. I need to move farther out of the city :) And for everyone's info the HROC is 1.20% which is the Human Rate of Consumption which is basically we (as a human population around the world) use 20% more natural resources this year than the world can produce. Our US deficiet still sucks worse. I wonder if there is someone I can vote for that might change *attempt* to change both... hmmm..
2004 Living Planet Report
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see
Last night on Lost Dominic Monaghan's character has a Tatoo on his arm that I noticed says:
"Living is easy with eyes closed"
I was in the shower this mornign and started singing it to myself and finally foundthe beat and figured out what song it was from. wonder if it has any meaning to the show?
"Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see
It's getting hard to be someone but it all works out
It doesn't matter much to me
Let me take you down, 'cos I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real, and nothing to get hungabout
Strawberry Fields forever"
Strawberry Fields Forever - The Beatles
If Locke turns up having a tatoo of "GooogooGaajoob" then I am really gonna freak out.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CNN.com - Kerry takes aim at Bush's Iraq policy - Oct 20, 2004
He said evidence that Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the man believed to be behind the beheadings in Iraq, has professed his allegiance to bin Laden proves Iraq is a central front in the war on terror.
"If al Zarqawi and his associate were not busy fighting American forces in Iraq, does Senator Kerry think he would lead a productive and peaceful life?" Bush asked.
God Damn it GW. He is in Iraq because you invited him their by the chaos engulfed war zone. Is that better than him being here? Yes . Would he be in Iraq today if we had never gone to war with Iraq. I do not believe so. Could he have been in another country causing terrorism to other people? Yes. Could he have also been caught had we continued focusing on Afghanistan? Yes. We made the wrong choice with Iraq people. (Myself included). We believed that GW posessed knowledge that we did not. To his credit he did, it was just wrong. Whose to blame? I am not sure. My vote is you fire the guy at the top.
CNN.com - Kerry takes aim at Bush's Iraq policy - Oct 20, 2004:
|
|
|
|
Rhetorical Questions
I was just asked one of the most Rhetorical Questions in my life, and it made me laugh so hard that someone could come up with something so witty. Very cool.
The Questions is:
"[In regards to John Kerry,] why would you vote for a man dumb enough to believe George Bush?"
awesome. That may be the best sentence to describe this election. Hands down.
|
|
|
|
One of the Best Albums This Year - I "Shat" you not.
Who woud have thought one of the most innovative and creative CDs I have heard in the last couple of months would have come from Captain Kirk? Great CD. 9/10 stars in my book. (There are only a handful of 10/10s for me) Please everyone find a way to listen to this. The album is arranged by Ben Folds and has a slew of guest appearnaces from Henry Rollins to Brad Paisley. Just a great album. The Rollins song is awsome, as is Common People (Pulp cover). So good.
|
|
|
|
Andy's New Puppy
Andy got a new Puppy! She is a beautiful chocolate lab. Check out some pix he sent here.
|
|
|
|
Jump Little Children Concert
On Friday night Me, My Wife, Carr and his Fiance Tiff went to Jump (who used to be known as Jump Little Children)'s concert. Great time. Rubyhorse opened and Lindz got some great shots and mini movies of the show. Check Them out here.
|
|
|
|
First BCS Rankings
First BCS is out.. Damn Tenn. I am surprised at OU being in 3rd though.
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Saturday, October 16)
There was a lot of smiling Bullshit from both sides of the debate but one thing that really caught my ear was the GW not caring about Osama thing. I belive he does care just not enough. I really do agree with Kerry that GW took his eye off the ball when he decided to go hunting for Iraqi WMD. When asked at the debate this question:
Kerry: Six months after he said Osama bin Laden must be caught dead or alive, this president was asked, "Where is Osama bin Laden?" He said, "I don't know. I don't really think about him very much. I'm not that concerned."
Bush: Gosh, I just don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. It's kind of one of those exaggerations.
The way he said exaggerations made me chuckle, it was somthing that I am sure Karl Prepped him on, but it was funny none the less.
March 13th 2002 (Post Afghan War Build up to Iraq)
Q Mr. President, in your speeches now you rarely talk or mention Osama bin Laden. Why is that? Also, can you tell the American people if you have any more information, if you know if he is dead or alive? Final part -- deep in your heart, don't you truly believe that until you find out if he is dead or alive, you won't really eliminate the threat of --
THE PRESIDENT: Deep in my heart I know the man is on the run, if he's alive at all. Who knows if he's hiding in some cave or not; we haven't heard from him in a long time. And the idea of focusing on one person is -- really indicates to me people don't understand the scope of the mission.
Terror is bigger than one person. And he's just -- he's a person who's now been marginalized. His network, his host government has been destroyed. He's the ultimate parasite who found weakness, exploited it, and met his match. He is -- as I mentioned in my speech, I do mention the fact that this is a fellow who is willing to commit youngsters to their death and he, himself, tries to hide -- if, in fact, he's hiding at all.
So I don't know where he is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you. I'm more worried about making sure that our soldiers are well-supplied; that the strategy is clear; that the coalition is strong; that when we find enemy bunched up like we did in Shahikot Mountains, that the military has all the support it needs to go in and do the job, which they did.
And there will be other battles in Afghanistan. There's going to be other struggles like Shahikot, and I'm just as confident about the outcome of those future battles as I was about Shahikot, where our soldiers are performing brilliantly. We're tough, we're strong, they're well-equipped. We have a good strategy. We are showing the world we know how to fight a guerrilla war with conventional means.
Q But don't you believe that the threat that bin Laden posed won't truly be eliminated until he is found either dead or alive?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, as I say, we haven't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don't know where he is. I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run. I was concerned about him, when he had taken over a country. I was concerned about the fact that he was basically running Afghanistan and calling the shots for the Taliban.
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A LINK TO TRANSCRIPT FROM WHITEHOUSE:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html
Since that link still exists I see two things that come from it. Bush DID say that and Kerry was not 'exxxagerating' The second thing i see though is that I KNOW Rove and boys new of the existance of that page with that quote on whitehouse.gov which gives me the feeling that they know it is there why bother (ie why try to hide it) which makes me respect the fact they didn't spin it to death (IE KERRY LESBIAN GAFFLE POST ABOUT 5 Entries down the page).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
GetNetWise | You're one click away
I think a lot of people I talk to really don't understand the concept of spyware or adware. Basically it is a premise for monitoring your movements on the web under the guise of 'Advertising or Marketing'. I hate spam, but I tolerate it becuase I get spam in my physical mailbox at home. When I get some kinda garbage in my mail, I really don't get pissed I just throw it away and not worry about it. Now I get ass-kickin-super-furious at spyware and I think companies that develop it and secretly bundle it into software are fockers of the higest focker degree. People like Clara and Weatherbug make me sooo mad. If they only knew the total amount of cycles they steal from PCs across the US. Also there is spyware that is just plain hackfulgoodness. These are not legit companies they are just black hats who want to monitor you usage to sell the data to a third party, or use your comp as a white zombie machine and throw email around the world with it. The reason i really don't direct people to places on the net to inform them about spyware/adware is becuase a lot of times the places where you are directed are people selling anti-spyware software that installs spyware and "blocks" err sorry "cleans" competitiors spyware from your system. AND YOU PAY FOR IT!. So here is a damn good site by a industry consortium dealing with info on spyware/adware (GetNetWise.Org)
GetNetWise | You're one click away
Also I use a combination of the following applications (that I trust) to clean my comp. I run each one every night along with a sys backup. I had a friend tell me about one of his friends who lost critical data on his HD becuase he didnt backup. My friend was asking me is $500 was a decent rate for data recovery service for getting someone to get the data off the drive. Unfortunatly it was a good price.
Here are some more links. These apps are wroth thier weight in gold (and also the yearly price):
Adaware (Lavasoft USA)
Spy sweeper
McAfee Virus
Symatec Anti Vir
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lindsey's Blog
My Wife has a good post yesterday about the cleanliness of Athens Ga Resturants, I have always thought of Wild Wing as a clean place. I would hate to see what the dirty places I have ate at in Athens are ranked...
Lindsey's Blog
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Thursday, October 14)
The Kerry Lesbian Gaffle - or Kerry Lesbian Flip Flop - Or Kerry Lesbian Waffle. Whatever Karl wants to call it.
"We're all God's children," Kerry said. "And I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was. She's being who she was born as. I think if you talk to anybody, it's not a choice."
Bush's response to Schieffer's question was: "I don't know. I do know that we a have a choice to make in America, and that is to treat people with tolerance and respect and dignity. It's important that we do that. And I also know in a free society, people -- consenting adults -- can live the way they want to live."
"This is Karl Rove to Right wing press"
"Yes Sir"
"I need you to kick up the anti-lesbian emotional headlines to bold please"
"Yes Sir. Copy that"
Man you gotta love Fox News, how awesome is it when someone just mentions that a vice presidential daughter is a lesbian and the republicans take it for a ride. Man they must really be scared of the polls if they think they need to spin with this. How about spinning us a good yarn about Kerry's position instead of the his mention of Cheney's daughter? The critical answer is that the Bush team wants to take the focus off of the placid "I don't have an answer for you" answers that Bush provide on Domestic questions. He doesn't have any type of plan accept more of what he has been doing for the past 4 years (which is 90% military related). He has ignored domestic issues on the ticket that he has to be on the offense abroad and all that moves to the background. What a crock of shit. We have problems here at home GW that cannot be ignored. They just can't. A ballooning debt and and stagnantly rising economy is not gonna cut it for people who worry about matters on US soil. Karl and the Bush team are doing what they have done so well for the past 3 debates, find nitpicky linguistic details about Kerry propositions (if I hear another GW whine about "Global Test" or "Wrong War, Wrong Time dsfhasdl f" I am gonna shit lava for a week. Please for the love of God GW, attack Kerry's Plan on America. The whole thing is laid out on his website. It is a fairly well written (albeit abstract at some points) plan about what he wants to accomplish and how he will accomplish it. Please Karl read it and discuss *it* and not the audible "power words" that you like have you Teddy Ruxpin candidate regurgitate over and over.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,135392,00.html
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/14/lynne.cheney.ap/index.html
|
|
|
|
Google Desktop Search Download
And so the Assimilation into your desktop begins...
Google Desktop Search Download
UPDATED:
From: http://desktop.google.com/eula.html
Google Desktop Search may collect certain non-personally identifiable information that resides on your computer, including, without limitation, the number of searches you do and the time it takes to see your results. Unless you choose to opt out, either during installation or at any time after installation, non-personal information collected will be sent to Google.
Not Sure about this one. I think I am gonna wait until I know more about it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Wednesday, October 13)
bobafred.com: so fresh and so clean
Check out the new and Shiney Bobafred.com. It is so tasty. As you can see from my blog I am a big fan of front top left navigation and I really dig the new design. I must say thought that Bobafred has insipired many Amazon orders to my home by his choice of books and movies, I hope he brings it back.
Check it out yo..
bobafred.com: so fresh and so clean
also Fredog sent me this cool link to a map that someone thinks might be a marker to the Lost Island he found it on imdb. How cool is this show? I watched tonights episode and I the show even more than last week. Great writing. I mean great writing, if you missed tonight episode go bittorrent it, or contact me and I can get you a copy of the first four. Simply genius. Click the link to see map:
This show is getting to be my new 24.
Also I had someone email me a list of shows they think I might like and one show was on thier that I really do already love it just slipped my mind when I was writing my list last week (see last weeks Lost post). And that show is probably THE BEST written comedy show since Cheers, it is drumroll please....... Scrubs.
|
|
|
|
JBlog
Justin has a great writeup about the slant (or lack of) of a liberal bias in the media and a way to test for it. Its a good read. Link is Here
|
|
|
|
THE VIRTUAL SWAMP DISPLAY
Exactly what UGA wants.. Internal strife at UF..... You think campus is bad, wait for Jacksonvillee.....Mwaaahhahahha....Gather up your courage and bravado... Tenn was a bad play... just wait for haloween this year...
THE VIRTUAL SWAMP DISPLAY
|
|
|
|
Anti-Bush Vs. Pro Kerry
Carr has a series of good posts about the election and voters running on his blog. My belief in his observation can be summed up as 'I believe that you are going to see MANY more Democratic voters this election than Democrats'. I personally see myself as a Republican, please note that this is a fundamental republican that belives in the fiscal spending policies (read a President that uses his veto power, and understands that during war the US needs to cut social spending BEFORE and DURING the war, not just after), who believes strongly in the 2nd amendment, a president who rallies allies, and above all else desires equal treatment of all citizens but special treatment for none of them. A lot of the rhetoric I hear in support of GW is what I call Neo-Republican. It throws the debt out the window and has no regards to the price of a function as long as it 'makes us safer'. Which is determined by the President, his inner circle, and a congress of his party. I am 65% Anti-Bush and for this election and 35% Pro-Kerry. He has my vote. But a good friend of mine named J-rod said the best quote I have heard in awhile which is:
"Political Opinions are like Assholes. Everyone has one" to this I would like to add "and everyone is always talkin' shit".
::| Edgemoor Drive |:: [the sound of my soul]
|
|
|
(Tuesday, October 12)
This makes me soooo mad. Maybe I am missing something but when you come into the US (granted you work your ass off) but my taxes pay for roads we both drive on, school both our kids go to, my insurance rates, car insurance rates, and hostpital rates go up to provide free services to you. Part of my family came from other countries and had to go through a lot to get here but they did it legally. They jumped through lots of hoops, but they did it so they could be citizens. But you feel you don't have too? Then you want to march and say you deserve more? And my current President wants to give you Amnesty for it to boot?!? I welcome anyone to be a citizen of this country, but everyone who wants to should have to go through the same process. No one should be allowed to be able to swtich on thier citizenship just becuase they are from a certain country. Everyone should have the same due process no matter where they are from (and at what point in time they arrived here/under whomever is Presidents 4 years). I can say these protesters understand one thing fairly well which is very American, the freedom to whine.
Forget it, and Forget GW.
this rant brought to you by:
-E
Kudos to Arena Force Jedi
From AJC:
March for illegal immigrants raises rush-hour traffic alert
By MAE GENTRY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/11/04
Hundreds of people are expected to participate in today's second annual "March for Dignity" in Doraville, possibly affecting rush-hour traffic on the Buford Highway corridor near I-285.
The event, which begins at 6 p.m. near the Doraville MARTA station, advocates expanded rights for Latinos who are in the United States illegally. About 2,500 people participated in last year's march, according to police.
The march is also expected to draw counter-demonstrators, as it did last year.
"We didn't have any problem with the marchers last year," said Doraville Police Chief John King. "We didn't even have any problems with the counter-protesters. We try to limit any confrontations."
King said he is concerned about safety when marchers cross busy Buford Highway.
"Buford Highway is a very dangerous road," he said. "Last year, it was a dash for life." This time, marchers will be organized in groups of 50 so they can cross without interfering with traffic, he said.
Ray Jenkins, mayor of the small north DeKalb County town, estimates 35,000 cars travel Buford Highway daily.
|
|
|
|
Kevin Sites Blog
Very Cool Travelin Gnome (a la Amelie) idea from a reporter in Iraq...
Friends Michael and Cynthia Perry from Los Angeles gave me this Hawaiian dashboard diva (pictured here on my Baghdad balcony) as an early birthday present when they learned I'd be returning to Iraq for a long tour of duty.
I've dubbed the bobbling-hipped, ceramic babe Layla Ukulele--and promised them I'd take a picture of her swaying on the dashboard of a humvee in Iraq.
It also got me thinking, that like the globetrotting Gallic gnomes in the French film "Amelie," Layla would probably like to tour as much possible.
After all, being an inanimate object, what's she got to lose? I guess we'll see after she's traveled with me for the next four months, meeting new friends and maybe� even some not-so-friendlies.
Drop me a line and let me know where in Iraq or with whom--you'd like to see Layla swivel for next. As usual, I promise nothing--but perhaps Layla could visit one of your deployed loved ones here in the birthplace of civilization.
Kevin Sites Blog
|
|
|
|
Windows Media Center 2005 OEM
I just built a pretty badass Shuttle PC and I had to revert back to Win XP Pro from MCE 2004 becuase the ATI All-In-Wonder 9600 video card was not supported by MCE 2k4 update unless you purchased the DVD codec strait from ATI (extra $50) so hopefully they will make things right on this version of MCE (2005) because a lot of the features I really wanted (High Def Tivo'ing) wont be available until I can get my hands on the codec. Still I love havig a powerful comp in the living room and I know Lindz loves having all my mp3s (over 100 gig) in one centralized location as a household jukebox. I'll post more on the Shuttles Specs Later on, its a pretty badass machine that is compareable to my main gaming rig.
Windows Media Center 2005 OEM availability, details (Updated)
|
|
|
|
Remember:
Props to Keith.
|
|
|
|
Debate Quote:
"I'm up in the Senate most
Tuesdays when they're in session. The first time I ever met you was when
you walked on the stage tonight." - Dick Cheney 10/5/04
Riiiiiiiight Dick.....
|
|
|
|
This has been bouncing around on some SEO boards this morning, but it seems that if you have a cookie set on your machine for your gmail login if you go to the following link you can see all your new Unopened Gmail in the form Atom RSS format. Kinda neat idea that you can keep up with your mail via RSS.
http://gmail.google.com/gmail/feed/atom
|
|
|
|
Corn Maze MazePlay.com
Check out this pretty cool Corn Maze about 30 mins north of here.... I may have to go..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Saturday, October 9)
Indymedia, Diebold, and The First Amendment
I am not sure how many of my readers are keeping up with Indymedia's situation, but it has been banging around the blogosphere for the past couple of days, and this is the first time I have really had the time to research it. So here is what I have come to understand:
Indymedia fights Diebold's legal attempt to silence discussions about e-voting
In the above Article Indymedia posted multiple memos from Diebold that have been examined by Comp Sci experts that show the fallacy of the Diebold E-voting machines (which will be used in lots of states). Subsequently FBI entered Rackspace (US Company hosting the website) and served a warrant for the Hard Drives that Indymedia was hosted on.
To me personally Inymedia looks like a tightly coupled farleft newspaper affiliation group that posts far left rhetoric. I have nothing against most of it, I just don't agree with most of it either (we both probably agree on a choice of future President though). It is scary to me that the US gov't would try to censor somthing like this in a manner like this. There must be somthing more to this story. I will try to keep my blog updated. I just cannot fathom they would utilize thier power in this sort of manner for this purpose. I can see where the DieBold machines would be a great danger to the voting process were this confirmed, and I can see where we would basically be a banana republic if it were hacked. I just hope our gov't sees that they are not useful, and/or that censoring the fact they are not useful is scary both for the election and the constitution of this country.
|
|
|
(Friday, October 8)
Badnarik/Campagna '04 for President
I just posted an article about Badnarik maybe being a huge factor in the election, well it turns out he got arrested during the debate :( I do think him and anyone else should have a podium to debate on, but I also think you should prove that you have atleast X% (maybe 5%) of America on your side to be considered to debate. Just my 2 cents
Badnarik/Campagna '04 for President
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Thursday, October 7)
Scaled Composites - Tier One / SpaceShipOne Videos
Donny showed me these. This is quit possibly the coolest set of videos ever. The pilot looks like Darth vader and he has fricking cool sunglasses on. Sooo cool. Watch the first one, it is from the second flight. 2 things amazed me, #1 this dude is the first non governmentaly put man in space, and he start taking pics like a tourist.. how cool is that? Second is when he lands he removes a piece of what looks like the crappy styrafoam cool you see left on the lawn after a lakewood concert and hi wife pops into the ship!?!? Is that all you had between you and space. You got some nards man. Congrats on the space thing and the size of your marbles.
Scaled Composites - Tier One / SpaceShipOne Videos
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ABC's 'Lost,' Wednesdays 8/7c
Anyone who knows me know I loathe 99% of whats on TV except for maybe some shows on the discovery channel. Everycouple million years I will catch a show that I really dig. This short list of winners includes:
24
Venom ER
CSI (Las Vegas Only)
and thats about it.. Everynow and then I will catch the end of a home/family makeover show and it will make me smile becuase I like seeing good things happen to people, and I will come clean and say that I have been a survivor whore from the beginning, I have watched every seasons thus far. I will say for 3 small seconds in my life I actually understood the people that bought survivor buffs. Not that I would ever buy one [adjusts bandana]. But I think that is probably the reason I have gotten so entrawled with LOST. Yes it has a hobbit (Dominic Monaghan), and that is one of the main reasons I started watching it. But one of the characters is a hot chick and I my mouth never filled with complete disgust at Fox's 'Party of Five', so I still gave respect for the main dude on Lost. (Hey atleast its not that Bailey character from that show. Isnt he doing shit with 'charmed' or somthing?) Good show. I shall tivo and bittorrent it to hell.
ABC's 'Lost,' Wednesdays 8/7c
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Great Tidbit from Keith regarding the debate:
Debate Quote:
"I'm up in the Senate most
Tuesdays when they're in session. The first time I ever met you was when
you walked on the stage tonight." - Dick Cheney 10/5/04
"And Remember Dick.... No disintegration" - Darth Vader 4/2/23433
|
|
|
|
A man and his nuclear blue squirrel... Click for movie..
|
|
|
(Sunday, October 3)
Info never hurts..
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
| |
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in anyway.
© Copyright 2003-2007, Eric Thompson |
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
i have been reading/listening too 
'
