Monthly Archives: January 2007

When I figure things out. I love that.
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Bob Woodward and former associate counsel Bradford Berenson.

You don’t have to watch the video, but it’s fun. Real media is always fun. And by fun I mean evil.

Why I won’t vote for another Clinton or Bush.

Can’t they look at the DNA?

It’s too easy to eat healthy.

Humans deciding what to eat without expert help — something they have been doing with notable success since coming down out of the trees — is seriously unprofitable if you’re a food company, distinctly risky if you’re a nutritionist and just plain boring if you’re a newspaper editor or journalist.

And by reasonable, I mean I agree with them.

5 myths about Americans, their driving habits and its effect on the planet.

The latest BBC Jane Eyre that was on this weekend? Excellent.

Yes, Mr. Rochester and Jane weren’t ugly, but let’s just admit it, we want to watch the beautiful people. Ugly people are for supporting roles. Yes, Mr. Rochester wasn’t brooding enough. The second half was definitely weaker, I think they concentrated too heavily on the love story, detracting from the overall enjoyment. However, it was a nice change that Mr. Rochester had a sense of humor in this adaptation, which made me look at his character in a new way. Suddenly it’s conceivable that Jane might like him as a person. And how often do movies cause you to re-examine your take on a book, pointing out things you might have missed? Seldom, so bonus points for that.

I’ve only seen a couple of the multitude of available adaptations, but this was the best of those I have seen.

Available for pre-order now on DVD.

In case you missed it.

Lileks says you didn’t miss nothing.

I do need to get Babe on DVD. That is a movie worth owning.

Not that tolerant.

Passivity in the face of the rise of the Christian Right threatens the democratic state. And the movement has targeted the last remaining obstacles to its systems of indoctrination, mounting a fierce campaign to defeat hate-crime legislation, fearing the courts could apply it to them as they spew hate talk over the radio, television and Internet.

It’s not rising, relax. The Christian right is fighting a rearguard action. It is losing, or has lost, control of society. Look back 50 years, never mind a hundred or two, or a millenia, and see which side has control of society.

Like walking uphill in hourglass sand, both ways.

I’m going to go listen to some Linkin Park.

VDH has an actual solution to the illegal Mexican immigration problem. It’s a nice thought.

Loose talk about legal DRM-free mp3s for sale.

When you have China kowtowing to you, that’s influence.

And a little trivia for you. How inadvertently apropos of me.

Video of the rarely seen prehistoric* frilled shark.

*science code for ugg-ly

An interesting look at various alternative fuels.

A camera translates players movements into a video game. Someday playing Halo will be actual exercise.

You have till 2010 to buy a new computer.

TOM Cruise is the new “Christ” of Scientology, according to leaders of the cult-like religion.

Uh, yeah, whatever.

And leader David Miscavige believes that in future, Cruise, 44, will be worshipped like Jesus for his work to raise awareness of the religion.

Cause really, all Jesus did was be criticized for his views and raise awareness of the religion. *extreme eye roll* Never mind that whole thing about the unblemished sacrifice for mankind’s sin.

Fun in Geneina (Dafur).

Icy driving conditions in Portland. Ice scares me. Snow, pfft; ice, scary bad.

Efforts to humanize Hillary Clinton are underway. Uh, yeah, thanks for sharing.

She hedged on her favorite movie, saying that, as a child, she had loved “The Wizard of Oz,” only to discover “Casablanca” in college and law school, watching it so often that she memorized the lines.

*love Casablanca, it’s a great movie. Wooden dialogue and all.

People spend more time with their computers than with their spouses.

Harry Reid introduced a bill that would require bloggers who comment on policy issues and have more than 500 readers to register. Because they are grassroots lobbyists.

This’ll go well.

Fed chair says that Congress must make difficult choices and take meaningful action. And then they’re going to flap their wings and fly to the moon.

“Dealing with the resulting fiscal strains will pose difficult choices for the Congress, the administration, and the American people,” Bernanke said.

“However, if early and meaningful action is not taken, the U.S. economy could be seriously weakened, with future generations bearing much of the cost,” he added.

Then he expects the general public to accept the consequences of our political worldviews. ha.

Bernanke said advocates of lower taxes would have to accept lower spending on entitlement programs. Likewise, proponents of more-expansive government programs must recognize the need for higher taxes brought about by higher spending, he added.

For the record, I would willingly forgo any Social Security payments, and they can keep the money they’ve taken, if they would just stop taking anymore from me. Since it’s not a giant ponzi scheme and they’re just holding on to my money to give to me later this shouldn’t be a problem.

Sending sound faster than the speed of light.

Someday people will look back and laugh at everyone that said we can’t go faster than light like we laugh at those people worried about the sound barrier.

Things caused by Global Warming.

From author Martin Amis:

People of liberal sympathies, stupefied by relativism, have become the apologists for a creedal wave that is racist, misogynist, homophobic, imperialist and genocidal. To put it another way, they are up the arse of those that want them dead.

via Tim Blair

Helm’s Deep over Christmas vacation. It’s the movie version, but it’s still cool. (bad language warning)

via Conservative Grapevine

Cancer death rates are falling.

The blurb puts it best

Microsoft sent this tape to retailers to explain the benefits of Windows 386. Boring until the 7 minute mark when the production is taken over by crack-smoking monkeys.

Love the 80’s glasses and outfits. And the secretary’s accent(s). And the fact that the Windows guy gets the chick.

Probably 24. Iran problem: solved.

It’s awkward, but you know what I’m talking about. Suddenly, I realize that those bluetooth ear thingys are the same as Uhura’s earpiece, only smaller and cooler. Am I behind the times or what.

And the point of this post: Lileks on the NY Times report that 51% of women are unmarried.

Otherwise, I end up suffering like I did this evening.

I finally decided I’d had enough and needed to get a KitchenAid mixer. I have a limited budget for this, so I knew I wanted the small “classic” model. Normally I would surf around, check a few sites and get one online. And probably be able to upgrade to the next level by getting a refurbished model, but due to poor planning I need it by tomorrow (I’m making this [just one layer] and after 4 cheesecakes in the last month, I’m tired of trying to cream things with a hand mixer).

So I went to Walmart. They were out. So I went to Best Buy. The Coeur d’Alene store is the lamest ever so they didn’t even come close to carrying it. I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond. They had the 5 and 6 quart models, which were $100 and $200 dollars over my budget, respectively. So I channeled my inner Lileks and went to Target. Tada. They actually carried it! Finally, success.

I hope I learned my lesson about planning ahead.

If, like me, you missed the comet, here’s a pic that probably looks slightly better than what you would have seen.

Unless you live in a fog-shrouded castle on the moors, of course.

The Diamond Age was a fantastic book. The best of Stephenson’s that I have read. I’m having a hard time imagining it as a miniseries though. Snowcrash or any third of Cryptonomicon seems like a more obvious choice.

If, like me, you are the only person in your office that doesn’t watch 24 but you don’t want to be all un-hip and lame and stare at the wall while they all discuss the minutest of details, this is the best way I have found to keep up.

Also, do not mock the 24 fanatics. 24-ers get all stabby when made fun of.
via i am always right

Granted, the movie will no doubt suck, but the trailer looks awesome.

Except that Strokes product placement. That looked lame.

I was reading this cheery bit of news; having spent an arm and a leg Windows it will only take a hand or foot for the next two licenses of Vista, when I came across this gem:

Namely, the terms regarding license-to-device assignment of the retail product (including Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate) now read as follows:

• You may uninstall the software and install it on another device for your use. You may not do so to share this license between devices.

How kind of them.

“The American people sent a message this past election, and that message was that they wanted their government to pretend there is no terrorist problem and instead focus on inane crap and entitlements… and who better to do that than we Democrats?”

Shatner will be playing “Old Kirk” in Star Trek XI. I have no hope for this movie.

As for Shatner’s place in that storyline? “They need to figure out how to put the dead captain in with the young captain,” he said. “It’s a very complex, technical problem of how to write the character in, and I’m not sure how they will solve it.” It sounds as if Shatner may play an older version of Kirk.

You bring out the wackiness in people. Still, there is a certain something that loungewear brings to the party.
via The Manolo

Samizdata has a timely warning for Venezuelans. I pray we never have to make that kind of decision in America.

For once, Microsoft is on your side. Apparently they have just realized that all that crap that comes on your new Dell or HP or Toshiba or whatever makes a bad first impression.

My contribution to the Q&A was to ask why Dell still insists on preloading so much subsidized trialware (aka crapware) on consumer PCs. Dell’s answer was a question: “Would you pay to not get bundled software?” 

No. Jerks.

Which is it? Does he listen or doesn’t he?

Also, while I understand that a political party is made up of individuals with differing opinions, this is amusing.

Lucy, the wired hamster. Strangely compelling information.

Scott Ott solves the poverty problem.

Winners of Make’s What Would MacGyver Do competition. My answer here.

The future is now! Underwear that doesn’t need to be washed for weeks is now a reality.

via RWN

Pessimism kills.

How can you know the Second Law of Thermodynamics and  not be pessimistic? The universe is against you.

Is it me or is it the industry? I’m just not excited by upcoming technology anymore. HD-DVD, BluRay, Vista, Core Duo, VoiP, video on demand, it just doesn’t thrill me like, DVDs or XP or 1Ghz processors did. Playstation 3, Xbox 360, I am completely unwilling to pay that kind of money to play games. I admit the Wii got my attention, but I didn’t rush out and buy one. I’m perfectly happy with my computer and feel no compulsion to upgrade it. Will I continue to become more apathetic to new and improved technology as life goes on? Will I end up with a dozen cats and a computer that blinks 12:00?

The horror.

Belarus and Russia fight over oil taxes and Europe takes the hit. Wacky, wacky Belarus.

Belarus considered itself Moscow’s closest ally until a week ago, but was on the verge of a trade war last night after the bitter flare-up over oil duties. More than 1.2 million barrels of oil a day flow from Russia through the Druzhba, or Friendship, pipeline, providing almost a quarter of Germany’s needs and 96 per cent of Poland’s imports, as well as supplies to Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

I have almost 100 in my Netflix queue but if you should be wondering what to add to your paltry list, Emmett has the top 100 movies you really should see.

I read a few books, watched a few movies, and tore out the nasty 1970s wood paneling in my dining room and replaced it with paint.

I didn’t get a before snap but you can see the paneling in this photo:

nice, eh? The top half had wallpaper on it which was all I was originally going to remove, but then I noticed that 30 year old glue wasn’t really holding the paneling on so well and one thing led to another. And I tore it all out, a process taking several hours:

Sure, I probably should have retextured the walls, but a little spackle covers a multitude of sins. 4 layers of paint also helps.

I then painted the walls yellow, which really didn’t work for me, so I went with a brown, which I’m not so thrilled with but it’s tolerable for now.

And that’s what I did over Christmas vacation.

You know how you change something on your computer, say, set up a little network neighborhood and then a day or two later you go to get on the internet and it doesn’t work, so you assume that you messed something up setting up the network–and by setting up I mean, ran the wizard–and fiddle with it for 45 minutes, then break down grab the laptop so you can search the internet for answers, haul it downstairs, boot it and notice it won’t connect either and discover that the problem was your router needed a swift reboot to the head?

Yeah, I hate that.

For your Friday listening pleasure, S.M. Lockwood’s Seven Way King (mp3, pops). Also known as, That’s My King and Do Ya Know Him.

A classic.

I’m doing my annual calendar changing and office cleaning today. You’re on your own for a while.

I’d take before and after pictures if I had a camera here. It’s a shame this moment in history will be lost forever.

Bill Gates says Roise the Robot is coming soon. Therefore I must conclude it’s not coming in my lifetime.

Not Yours.

Kid picks the wrong neighborhood to burlgarize and gets beat down by a homeowner, who went in through the window the kid broke in order to beat him down.

McCain the panderer. Yes, the election is ages away, but there’s nothing else going on in the world apparently.

Sculpture depicting the fragility of Earth, falls apart. Bonus: Someone paid $1 meellion dollars for it.

Booklettizing pages manually, even just 32, is a giant pain in the tuckus. It’s worth the hundreds of dollars for the programs that will do it for you. Really.

It looks like Saturn’s moon Titan has lakes…of liquid methane. I’m not sure how this impacts my life or my desire to live on the moon or Mars, but there it is.

Bush wants to limit spending and cut pork. Where has this Bush been for the last 6 years?

What Amazon looks like at Christmas.

John Hawkins’ 20 Most Annoying Republicans of 2006.

Britain bans cheese advertising to children. Cause it’s not healthy.

No doubt Chicago and New York City will be following suit soon.

Top 5 robots today and some helpful book advice.

Having given these fluorescent bulbs that Walmart is pushing the old college try, I can say that a) they last a lot longer than incandescents and b) I can’t stand them. They have delayed startup, are a funny color and are generally not that great. I’d rather burn through incandescents. And I’ll go back to them as soon as these fluorescents burn out.

A compact fluorescent has clear advantages over the widely used incandescent light — it uses 75 percent less electricity, lasts 10 times longer, produces 450 pounds fewer greenhouse gases from power plants and saves consumers $30 over the life of each bulb. But it is eight times as expensive as a traditional bulb, gives off a harsher light and has a peculiar appearance.

Exactly.

The future of movies.

For my money, the movie has to be “big” enough that I want to see it on the big screen (i.e., panoramic vistas, massive effects) and it has to be a good enough story that I’m interested. Nothing has been there for me since Lord of the Rings, really. 300 has my attention right now. If it’s not panned when it comes out, I’ll go see that in the theater. Everything else, I’ll rent it or download it.

The fourth Indiana Jones movie to begin filming this year. I keep seeing flashes of Phantom Menace.

Dave Barry’s year in review.