Leading Edge Technology In A Small Town

My parents live about 20 minutes away from this small town on the Oregon coast called Bandon. I was just there over the holidays and found out from my brother that they can get a fiber connection to the door for internet services! With a population of less than 3000, that's pretty amazing. Here is a video ad from Hitatchi about the town.

Will Smith Can Act...Even Back In The "Fresh" Years

I don't usually get too sappy, but wayyy back in the 90's when I used to watch The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, I remember seeing this episode and for the first time realized that Will Smith could actually act. I mean, he played a great comedic role, but this part was something you had never seen him do before. Powerful stuff.

Watch it!

Gizmondo's Spectacular Crack-up

Directors of the game device company went on living large long after their handheld flopped. Then a high-speed Ferrari crash blew their world to bits.



"THE BUMP IN THE ROAD that ended Bo Stefan Eriksson's fantastic ride is practically invisible. From 10 feet away, all you can see is the ragged edge of a tar-seamed crack in an otherwise smooth sheet of pavement. Only the location is impressive - a sweet stretch of straightaway on California's Pacific Coast Highway near El Pescador state beach, just past the eucalyptus-shaded mansions of the Malibu hills. On that patch of broken asphalt, there's barely enough lip to stub a toe. Of course, when you hit it at close to 200 miles per hour, as police say Eriksson did in the predawn light last February 21, while behind the wheel of a 660-horsepower Ferrari Enzo, consequences magnify."

I just recently read this story in my October issue of Wired magazine and it's an insanely real story of tech, mafia, millions of dollars, and a few men that had everyone fooled.

Read More..

Pictures of the accident (LA Times)

Verizon Needs To Learn Math

This is just shows how amazingly stupid people can really be. This guy George must be going nuts:

"Here's the background:

I have a Verizon unlimited data plan in the U.S. and recently crossed the border to Canada. Prior to crossing the border I called customer service to find out what rates I'd be paying for voice and data. The data rate I was quoted was ".002 cents per kilobyte."

I was surprised at the rate so I confirmed it with the representative I spoke to, and she confirmed it "point zero zero two cents per kilobyte." I asked her to note that in my account.

I received my bill and was charged $.002/KB - which is dollars - "point zero zero 2 dollars per kilobyte". As it is translated to cents would be .2 cents or 2 tenths of a cent - which is a 100 times greater rate than I was quoted.

My bill for my data usage in Canada was therefore much greater than I had expected - using the quote I was provided before my usage.

I have tried to resolve this issue with customer service reps on the phone, but noone seems to see the difference between ".002 cents" and ".002 dollars".

Here is the audio of my most recent call with them on the matter. I started recording when they put on the supoervisor - I was a bit ticked at that point.

Who knew what confusion "$1 = 100 cents" could cause?

I'm still currently on the hook for the $71 and change. Hopefully someone at Verizon will figure this out and make ammends.
"

Read More

Or, if you want to hear the short clip of George trying to teach math to the phone monkeys, take a listen.

Michigan, You Suck

In a recent bill passed by the Michigan House of Representatives, it makes it a crime for a man to "change or attempt to change an existing housing or cohabitation arrangement" with a pregnant significant other, to "file or attempt to file for a divorce" from his pregnant wife or to "withdraw or attempt to withdraw financial support" from a woman whom he has been supporting -- if it is determined that the man is doing these things to try to pressure the woman to terminate her pregnancy.

Um, what??

OK, in its most basic sense you either get put under "house arrest" or get sent to jail because you decide that you do not want to live with a pregnant female. So, say the guy got a better paying job in another town. She doesn't want to move because she is content with where she lives (maybe her best friend or parents live in the same town). Tough shit guy - you get to plant your ass and not move ahead if she's still pregnant and doesn't want to go. Nice.

Turn the tables for a second: what if she wanted to move but you didn't? Guess what? That law sounds like you have to go no matter what or you could possibly be slapped with "changing or attempting to change an existing housing or cohabitation arrangement".

Oh boy. If anybody thinks this is a good idea, you can kiss my ass. We already know how biased things are in the courtroom when it comes to a divorce and this is just icing on the cake for some conniving bitches.


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The Future Of RFID (Radio Frequency Identity)

"Cool, Surprising and Scary: 51 Futuristic Uses for RFID.

Wal-Mart swears by it, CASPIAN thinks it’s the devil in disguise, the government hopes to profit from it, and the common man is confused by all the hype surrounding it – love it or hate it, there’s no turning back the clock on RFID folks, this is one technology that’s here to stay and go places. It’s being used in numerous applications, from tracking items along the supply chain to monitoring the whereabouts of kids and the elderly. It’s been kicking up a storm of privacy issues, and the FDA approval for VeriChip to implant human beings in the name of medical advances hasn’t done anything to settle the dust."

Read More

There ARE some instances were RFID in humans would work just fine. Parolees and ex-cons for example (especially anyone convicted of a crime against any child). For the rest of us, you'd have to be a complete idiot to want one of these whether it's in your credit card (Mastercard's OneSmart, Mobile's SpeedPass, etc), in your car, or even more profound, embedded in under your skin.

All of these are quite unsecure and have been hacked with the RFID unique identifier (MAC address) cloned to be used elsewhere. Should you need to worry about, literally, a personal firewall for your body? Ridiculous? I don't think so.

James Kim: 1971 - 2006

By Greg Sandoval
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: December 6, 2006, 6:04 PM PST

"James Kim was a respected expert on cutting-edge digital devices, an owner of a trendy clothing store, and a lover of the futuristic-sounding music known as electronica.

Yet, according to friends, most of Kim's life revolved around old-fashioned values: sacrifice, friendship and family. Those who knew him say they aren't surprised that Kim, in the last act of his life, demonstrated the ultimate expression of devotion to his wife and daughters.

The body of the 35-year-old Kim was discovered Wednesday in a rugged wilderness area in southern Oregon. He had set out across snow and ice with only tennis shoes to protect his feet. He had eaten little in the seven days since his car got stuck.

"Anyone that knows James will tell you that he would do anything to protect his family," said Jason Zemlicka, a friend of 10 years and former co-worker. "I know him and he must have believed he was going to get somewhere."

Friends and co-workers now mourn Kim, but say they will celebrate his success at helping to accomplish his most important goal during that desperate week in the woods: the rescue of his wife, Kati Kim, and the couple's two daughters, Penelope, 4, and Sabine, seven months."

Sad indeed. He was the only guy on CNet that I could stand. You could tell that he knew what he was talking about - that he did his research better than the other reviewers and and you could see the excitement in his eyes when he spoke. The sign of a true geek. I should know.

My thoughts go out to his family and especially his wife and two daughters.

RIP, man.

Read More..

Original Story

LOL Letterman

Richard Simmons shows off his new food steamer. Of course comedy ensues:

OLPC Video Demo

This is a demo of the Operating System for the One Laptop Per Child Project

Amazon.com Unreachable Yesterday

...if for only about 15 minutes. Still, the web giant was doing a promo for the Xbox 360 core system and selling 1000 units for $100 (less than half off) and totally underestimated the traffic this would induce. Amazon.com was unreachable not only on the sale page, but throughout the entire site. This includes people that were currently on the site and maybe trying to check out at the time. OOOPS.

I witnessed it firsthand because I also was trying to get one of these, but alas, it was not to be. *shakes fist in air*

In IKEA We Trust

"What do Volvo, Ericsson, Saab and IKEA have in common? The people of Sweden have more faith in them than in the church."

"REUTERS-
An IKEA store in Sweden: People trust the furniture maker more than the church.
Perhaps the news shouldn't come as much of a surprise, coming as it does from a country best known for its meatballs and the bright blue and yellow warehouses selling cheap and cheerful furniture around the globe. Still, preacher men the world over must be reeling. A new poll taken of Swedes indicates that more people trust IKEA than the church in the largely Protestant country."

Read More

New Desktop Shot

Diary Of A Turkey Killer

Last year I decided to grow and slaughter my own Thanksgiving turkey. The six months I spent raising Harold were some of the best of my life -- and so were the hours I spent eating him.

By Novella Carpenter

Nov. 21, 2006 | Harold came to me in a box that peeped when I opened it. Just three nights earlier, acting on a tip from a fellow urban farmer, I'd clicked on Murray McMurray, an online specialty hatchery, and well past midnight browsed the feathered fare. Should I order a flock of Toulouse geese? Some Chinese ringneck pheasants? My mouth watered at the thought of home-grown foie gras and as I imagined a medieval-themed dinner party. But in the end, good old-fashioned American pragmatism won out and I sprung for what the catalog called the Homesteaders Delight -- two turkeys, two ducks, two geese and 10 chickens.

When they arrived on my doorstep in Oakland, Calif., after 24 hours en route from Iowa, the chicks were thirsty. The turkeys looked like chickens, only bigger and with a pucker of skin on top of their heads called a pre-wattle. The unpacking over, I dipped each baby bird into a dish of water; they tilted their heads back to swallow, then squirmed for more. It took the turkeys three dunkings before they got the hang of it. Then they waddled over and joined the fluffy pile that had formed under the warming light -- called a brooder -- which I'd prepared for them. Soft and downy, they looked more like sleeping kittens than chickens.

As the weeks went on, I taught the flock to eat, cleaned their crusty butts with Q-tips, fed them greens cut into a chiffonade, carted them out to the garden to get sunshine, caught pill bugs for their afternoon snacks, and moved them into a chicken house we'd prepared from old shipping pallets and chicken wire.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
Like many people who came of age in the 1980s adoring Michael Stipe, Robert Smith and Morrissey, I dabbled in vegetarianism and saw food choice as the ultimate political statement. But lately, with glossy charcuterie cookbooks crowding bookshelves and fashionable restaurant menus chock full of organ meat, I've found some of my old veggie friends embracing sausage and sweetbreads. Now, despite a vocal minority of die-hard vegetarians and vegans, it's carnivores who are chic. Indeed, vegetarianism is still a decidedly fringe food preference: According to a 2006 poll by the Vegetarian Resource Group, only 2.3 percent of the U.S. population are true vegetarians. A similar poll done by VRG in 1999 ferreted out a significant chunk of the population -- almost 9 percent -- who considered themselves "almost vegetarian," meaning that they answer yes when asked if they are vegetarians, but still consume meat, poultry and fish on the sly. People may like to be called vegetarians, but living like one is another matter.

Recently, a number of high-profile foodies -- the most famous being Michael Pollan, author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma" -- have taken a renewed interest in animal husbandry and the art of butchering. My own conversion to carnivorism came with a realization that I could eat grass-fed beef guilt-free. My rationalization went like this: The sun grows the grass, which feeds the cattle, which then feed us. But I hadn't forgotten the PETA videos from my former life. The wheezing pigs; the live chicks piled on top of each other in dumpsters; workers slitting the throats of hanging turkeys, again and again, as casually as turning a page in a book. Part of me still felt that meat, no matter how it was raised, was murder. I thought: If couldn't kill something myself, I shouldn't be eating it. I decided I needed to face my inner killer.

Some things you should know about me: When I vacationed in France, I smuggled home a Corsican sheep's milk cheese that was aged in a goat's stomach and rolled in hand-picked native herbs. I grow heirloom seeds from the Seed Savers catalog -- if my tomato varietals aren't at least 100 years old, I'm not happy. I'm not proud of this persnickety mania, but it may help explain why, for my first kill, I chose to raise rare heritage-breed turkeys.

Heritage breeds include Narragansetts, Royal Palms and Bourbon Reds, all of which can be traced back along a lineage of domesticated turkeys that were crossed with wild American turkeys in the late 1700s. In order to be deemed a heritage breed, the birds must have made the American Poultry Association's "standard of perfection" list in 1874. Today there are only 5,300 heritage turkeys raised commercially, according to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.

Harold was a Heritage Bronze -- a mammoth black feathered bird with spots of white on his tail feathers and a blue head that turned red when provoked. His companion, Maude, was petite and lovely, a Royal Palm with alternating white and black feathers like an exquisite, houndstooth jacket.

A heritage turkey is nothing like the bloated, par-frozen beach balls you find at the local mega-mart. Those turkeys, of which there are 270 million, tend to be from one milquetoast variety: the Large White. First introduced in the 1950s, the birds are ideal for industrial production because they grow extremely fast, reaching maturity in less than three months. Sadly, this rapid growth -- and the over-plump breasts and grotesquely large thighs that result from it -- prohibit natural mating. My Harold and Maude, on the other hand, were natural as heck. The fact that they could mate -- and they seemed to genuinely like one another -- came as delightful news.

But it was for taste, not just novelty, that I'd chosen a heritage turkey. I knew the vegetables I grew, heirloom and not, tasted better when I'd cared for them. Once turkeys are taken off the industrial poultry grid, with access to pasture and free to forage, their flavor is enhanced. In my research, I read in the Slow Food handbook that heritage turkeys have firmer and darker meat, with stronger legs, thighs and breasts, due in some part to the fact that they take six months to mature. Ebullient, I wrote up my guest list for Thanksgiving, including foodies I'd never dared invite before. Eating Harold was going to be epic.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
The Large Whites most Americans eat have been bred over the years to be quiet, fearful and unadventurous. Harold and Maude were anything but. These turkeys took the notion of free range and literally ran with it. After three months dabbling in my garden and backyard, they grew ever more curious, and at 20-plus pounds would fly -- fly! -- over the 8-foot fence separating my backyard from my neighbor's, putter in his yard for hours, only to grow hungry and gobble until I came to rescue them. On other days, for kicks, the pair ran down our neighborhood's main drag, nearly causing accidents as drivers rubbernecked.

Tragically, Maude paid the price for her adventurous spirit. Smaller than Harold, she had more lift, and one day flew over a two-story-high chain-link fence and into the backyard of some very unwelcoming pit bulls. Once I reached her she was torn and dead. I flung her limp body over the fence before climbing back over, but by the time I reached the other side, Harold had discovered it. He hit his head on the ground. He puffed up and preened around her fallen body.

As Harold mourned, so did I. Maude was nearly full-grown: Vast quantities of organic meat-bird feed had disappeared down her (now ravaged) gullet and her care had required a considerable output of my time. She deserved better. I dug a grave next to the cat's last resting spot, a shady clearing under a plum tree. As I laid Maude in the ground, I recalled her generous spirit and laughed, remembering the time she pecked Harold's pendulous wattle, mistaking it for a worm and how they'd slept together on the roof of the chicken house every night, cuddled like hobos.

The tears on my cheeks did not bode well for my experiment in killing.

Harold became a lonely turkey. Bored, he scrambled onto our roof to watch television in a nearby apartment. Sometimes he spent the night at the neighbor's. Usually, though, especially as Thanksgiving neared, he simply perched on our back porch, next to the laundry line, emitting enormous turkey poops as he slept. In the morning, when I came outside to feed the animals, he greeted me like a lover, his tail up and feathers puffed.

As the fateful day approached, friends who had grown fond of Harold rallied for a stay of execution. One, a vegan activist, invited Harold to live out his days in his backyard. Another, a vegetarian, pointed me to the Web site of a "turkey refuge" in Orland, Calif., whose ads showed a minor celebrity giving a turkey a smooch.

But this was not the pact that Harold and I had made. I had agreed to shelter and feed him, and he, by virtue of being a domesticated animal, had signed on to eventually give up his life to me. I had been raising him for almost six months. His feed to weight ratio had reached a plateau -- that is, he would no longer gain weight as efficiently as he had in his first six months. It was the ideal moment to butcher. I had a turkey, if only I could figure out how to kill it.

In the end I turned, as my mother had before me, to a book called "The Encyclopedia of Country Living" by Carla Emery. A self-published affair put together in 1969 by Emery and her friends, its stated purpose was to "preserve the precious knowledge of an older generation of homesteaders." Featuring chapters on how to buy cheap land, dig a root cellar, and put up vegetables, along with Scott and Helen Nearing's "The Good Life," Emery's encyclopedia became a bible for the back-to-the-landers like my mother and father.

I flipped eagerly through the book's newsprint pages until I came to the poultry chapter. Emery writes, "I don't think much of people who say they like to eat meat but go 'ick' at the sight of a bleeding animal. Doing our own killing, cleanly and humanely, teaches us humility and reminds us of our interdependence with other species." I nodded my head and quickly turned to the section titled "Killing a Turkey."

Carla's words of wisdom:
1. "First, catch the bird and tie its legs."
2. "The butchering process with a turkey is the same as a chicken except that your bird is approximately 5 times bigger."
3. "The turkey may then be beheaded with an ax (a 2-person job, one to hold the turkey, and one to chop)."

The night before the big day, I was a wreck: worried, and scared that I would botch the execution, that Harold would feel pain, that his feathers wouldn't come off, that I wouldn't be able to clean the meat properly. I visualized, I rehearsed. First, ax to neck, then bleeding, then defeathering, then cleaning, I mumbled like a macabre lullaby before falling asleep.

The next day, at the appointed hour, the afternoon sun streaked the November sky orange -- but Harold was nowhere to be found. I'll admit it: I was relieved. My friend John had come to help and brought his 10-year-old son, TJ. The three of us stood in the garden, a pot of boiling water and a sharpened ax nearby, and wondered what to do.

Harold was smarter than I'd given him credit for, I thought. He knew what was afoot and simply flew away. But then I spotted him, perched on a low fence, watching us. "There he is," I yelled. Harold stood and adjusted his perch. TJ wanted to pet him, so I picked him up. At 35 pounds Harold was quite an armful. But he had always liked being held and didn't struggle.

TJ smoothed Harold's iridescent feathers and looked with wonder at the giant wattle that covered his beak and hung low like an old man's jowls. I told TJ about Harold's life over the past six months, his adventures, his grief about Maude, and his future: on our Thanksgiving table. TJ took it in stride.

"OK, John. Ready?" I asked.

John looked nervous but steadfast; I could depend on him. We burned a little tobacco, a ritual a new-agey friend recommended. She said it was a Native American tradition that showed the animal's spirit which way was up. In Harold's case that seemed particularly appropriate.

It was almost dark when I finally laid Harold's neck across the chopping block. For his part, Harold seemed resigned, bored even, as if this scene had played itself out a thousand times before. I felt a little like an ax murderer as I swung the ax the first time, and more like one as I swung again. Harold had a really big neck.

Muslim tradition says one must look an animal in the eye until its soul departs -- and I was satisfied that Harold and I had a sufficient dialogue. He did gobble once, a warning sound that he and Maude regularly made, which made me a little sad that in the moment of his death he might have been scared. Mostly, though, it was a solemn moment. Head detached from body, I hefted what was once Harold to a bucket to bleed him out. Though headless he thrashed mightily. I felt relieved, giddy and shameful.

Although I usually call myself an atheist, a lonely universe offers little comfort to a person holding the feet of a struggling turkey corpse. My father, who is a voracious hunter and fisherman and never came "back from the land," instilled in me a version of pantheism that usually has few applications for a city dweller. But being a begrudging killer made me recognize the sanctity of life. I took Harold's life and would literally feed myself with it. It was a similar feeling to picking an apple off my own tree -- I was experiencing the transfer directly.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
I took everything off Harold and used it, except for his enormous crop, which was filled with grain and greens. I chopped off his legs -- my punk-rock vegan roommate wanted those even though she said she wouldn't eat a bite of him. Her girlfriend wanted his wings -- which spanned a good 3 feet -- for a costume. The dog got his gizzard, ground up. The cat jumped up on the counter and ate his liver, which sat in a light blue bowl.

After he had "rested" in the refrigerator for a few days per Carla Emery's instructions, I picked off all Harold's little feathers and tweezed his wayward hairs, then slipped garlic cloves, herbs and butter under his skin.

As I prepared him, I thought about how much higher the stakes are when you raise and kill your own animal. Not only had I spent in excess of $100 for Harold, but if he had tasted bad, I would have wasted his life. The burden was on me. But while hard to shoulder, that burden was exactly what I had hoped to cultivate. Meat had became sacrifice, precious, not a casual dalliance.

So it was with more care than usual that I rubbed Harold with olive oil and salt, touched every surface of his body like a mom bathing her baby. It wasn't until I put him into a 450 degree oven that the evening was transformed from a funeral into a dinner party.

That Thanksgiving happened to be the tastiest on record. The meal was simple -- potatoes from the garden, cranberries and Harold. His thigh and leg meat were the color of milk chocolate. Buttery and savory, his flesh was perfectly moist, his skin crackled. Ten guests ate all of Harold, and when it was over, I was left with just a carcass, and all those fond memories.

-- By Novella Carpenter

Trillian Astra Preview!

For those that don't know (laff) Trillian is a multi-protocol instant messenger client. It's been around for a few years and is finally getting a huge overhaul which you can see here.

You can try the current version can be found here. Try it out, you won't be disappointed.

New Pictures of OLPC's Laptop

The One Laptop Per Child foundation has unveiled their working non-prototype laptop for the first time:

Jon Stewart Quotes

"I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land."

"I've been to Canada, and I've always gotten the impression that I could take the country over in about two days."

"More than 150 heads of state attended the UN Summit, giving New Yorkers a chance to get in touch with prejudices they didn't even know they had."

"New York became the first state to ban talking on hand-held cell phones while driving. First-time violators could receive a fine of $100, with an additional mandatory six-month jail sentenced if your ringer play an Latin-themed novelty song."

"Senator John McCain, who spent over five years in a Vietnamese POW camp, publicly releases 1,000 pages of medical records. Now people are left with only open nagging questions: what kind of freak has 1,000 pages of medical records?"

"There is no such thing as an impartial jury because there are no impartial people. There are people that argue on the web for hours about who their favorite character on "Friends" is."

"Yesterday, the president met with a group he calls the coalition of the willing. Or, as the rest of the world calls them, Britain and Spain."

If you're not familiar with Jon Stewart and the Daily Show, have someone help you lift that boulder off of your head and take a look.

Adobe Digital Editions (PDF Viewer)

Adobe's new flash based PDF reader is infinitely better than the current bloated version that most of us love and hate. I've used FoxIt for over a year now and have been very happy with it, but Adobe's new viewer, which is trying to grab the e-book readers, is dubbed Adobe Digital Editions and is much faster and elegant than its counterpart. The install is only 2.5mb *gasp* , so get crackin'.

Read more.

FireFox 2.0 Released

This week saw the release of FireFox 2.0, which, if you may not know, is my browser of choice. If you haven't used FF before, do yourself a favor and check it out..

Psyop - Must See Animations

Some fantastic animations from the Psyop group. Some of these you've probably seen before but didn't know they were done by the same outfit.

From their website:

"New York City-based PSYOP is an inspiring culmination of creativity, collaboration and production focused on providing visual solutions in motion for the advertising & marketing, video gaming, broadcast and music video industries . Founded in 2000 by five creative partners , the company continues its insurgence into these industries with its distinct conceptual approach, collaborative nature and dynamically fresh aesthetics . Seamlessly blending the disciplines of design, animation and live-action directing PSYOP approaches elaborate challenges with extraordinary creative and technical flexibility providing unique solutions and design with meaning . PSYOP’s appropriation of the identity of the United States government’s division of psychological operations represents a critical awareness of the power that advertising has and the importance of accurate and targeted communications .
Their motto is “Persuade, Change & Influence"

Here are some of my favorites:

Coca-Cola

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Atari/Ecko

check out the rest here

Libyan Pupils "to have laptops"

Following up on my previous posts here and here, the Libyan government will reportedly be providing 1.2 million children with the aforementioned laptops by June 2008.

"The government of Libya is reported to have agreed to provide its 1.2m school children with a cheap durable laptop computer by June 2008.

The laptops offer internet access and are powered by a wind-up crank. They cost $100 and manufacturing begins next year, says One Laptop per Child."

Read more here.

There's Seriously Something Wrong With The US..

..when bills like this pass:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - "The U.S. Senate on Thursday gave final approval to a bill for tough interrogation and prosecution of terrorism suspects, as President George W. Bush prevailed after a series of setbacks on his detainee policies."

"The bill sets standards for interrogating suspects, but through a complex set of rules that human rights groups said could allow harsh techniques that bordered on torture such as sleep deprivation and induced hypothermia."

Read more here.

Apple Sues Steve Jobs 20 Years Ago Today

Twenty years ago today Apple actually sued co-founder and former chairman Steve Jobs – just days after he resigned from the company.

Apple sued Jobs and fellow ex-Apple employee Rich Page on September 23, 1985. Both were ordered not to use any proprietary information for their post-Apple venture, and Jobs was charged with dereliction of duties as chairman of Apple.

Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1985 in a vicious power-play that left his erstwhile friend John Sculley in charge (both pictured here in happier times). In the words of BusinessWeek, Jobs was "hurt, humiliated, and disillusioned".

Why is this a big deal you might ask? Well, Steve Jobs is the man behind the company Apple as you know it now. Great read, take a look.

Read More

Michael Schumacher Retiring

"Michael Schumacher will bring down the curtain on his glittering Formula 1 career at the end of this season.

Ferrari announced the momentous news in a press release issued moments after Schumacher sped to a glorious victory at Monza and slashed Fernando Alonso’s world title lead to a mere two points.

The 37-year-old German, fighting back the tears, confirmed his decision in a heart-rending statement during the post-race press conference.

"To make it short, this is going to be my last Monza race. At the end of this year I have decided together with the team that I’m going to retire from racing," he said.

Well, this is a few days old already, but I really didn't want to post this even though I knew the time would come. I'm an avid Formula One fan and have been following Michael's career since his days with Benetton. He and Jean Todt turned Ferrari around and created a juggernaut.

Michael Schumacher will be missed by millions of people and one in particular - me. F1 won't be the same to watch without him racing, but I wish him a happy retirement and a big thank you for the years of awe-inspiring drives.

Cheers.

80's Hacker - Guy in Max Headroom mask takes over PBS show!

During a broadcast of the Dr. Who episode "Horror of Fang Rock" on WTTW Chicago Channel 11, on Sunday November 22nd, 1987, at around 11:15pm, a Video "Pirate" wearing a Max Headroom mask broke into the signal and transmitted one of the weirdest, unauthorized things ever to hit the Chicago airwaves.

read more | digg story

lol good stuff. Here's the report from CBS news.

Brian Regan - Funniest Comedian On The Planet

This guy is hilarious and I've been a fan for years. I saw him live last year and I have never laughed so hard in my entire life. Go to his website and order his cd's or dvd's if you know what's good for you.

If for some reason you do not find him funny, please head-butt a meat grinder and be done with it.

Great "Backyard" Shot Of The Milky Way

Incredibly detailed shot of our Milky Way galaxy. Click on the image for the full resolution of this fantastic shot.

Woman Reporter Gets Owned On Live TV - Grape Stomp

An absolute classic. This video of a news reporter falling off a platform and making HORRIBLE pain sounds on camera is one of those vids you can just never see enough. Best part? When they cut back to the studio: "Ooh, I think she's actually hurt..."

read more | digg story

LOL, and on Faux news no less.

TSA Now Screening Faces For 'evil intent'

The Transportation Security Administration has been experimenting with a new anti-terror program which assigns officers to screen passengers' faces for 'evil intent,' according to a front page article in Thursday's New York Times.

read more | digg story

So if you're having a bad day and have a scowl on your face, be prepared to be humiliated in front of a crowd? If you're a nervous flyer and you physically show it, you're practically a suspected terrorist? LOL?

Major Security Vulnerability For Windows Users

"Make sure you've got this patch: Microsoft issued on Tuesday a fix for a major vulnerability in its server service, used for file and print sharing. Since then, security companies and even the Department of Homeland Security are raising alarms about the risk of a widespread worm attack.

According to Microsoft's bulletin, the hole makes Windows XP (including SP2), Windows 2000 and Windows 2003 vulnerable to a remote attack that can take over your computer. The server service is on by default, so most every unpatched Windows PC is potentially vulnerable."

Yes this is late, but most of you have Windows to automatically get updates. I figured I'd post this anyway for those who don't know. Get the patch here or check and make sure you received the update by opening Internet Explorer and clicking on Tools>Microsoft Update.

My Current Desktops

Desktop:

















Laptop:

An Old Hi-resolution Colour Photograph Of London - circa 1930's.

I found this photo embedded in the Wikipedia article of London, without any comments or even a description. It is an old photo taken at Piccadilly Circus looking up Shaftsbury Avenue. This is a great photo - something that you don't see often as it is in colour!
A great and interesting peek into the past. Be sure to click on the image for the hi-resolution shot which is 5119x3606.

Poking around, a digg user also found other great photo contributions from this guy (Chalmers Butterfield). What a name. o.O

read more | digg story

Bill Gates Donates $500 Million to AIDS Research

The Bill (and Melinda) Gates Foundation donates half a billion dollars ($100,000,000/year over the next five years) in an unexpected act of grand generosity. I can't even comprehend half a billion dollars.

read more | digg story

Happy Birthday World Wide Web!

15 years ago today, Tim Berners-Lee publicly released his WWW project onto the Internet.

read more | digg story

Chocolate Cellphone Only Looks Sweet - Design Flawed

If you needed any proof that cellphones today are often about everything but phone calls, Verizon Wireless this week made that case by releasing a phone called the Chocolate, produced by LG, the big Korean electronics company. The Chocolate can make and receive phone calls and text messages, but it's designed as a music player first.

read more | digg story

"Suspended" Honda F1 Car

The amazing display was created especially for the event by Dutch artist Paul Veroude. Each of the 3200 parts of the Formula 1 car are suspended on fine wires to produce a 3D 'exploded diagram' that allows race fans the chance to get closer than ever to the engineering secrets of the world's most technically-advanced sport.

read more | digg story

Warner Bros website distributing Zango Spyware+Kiddy Porn browser

This is really screwed up. The official WarnerBros.com website promotes Zango/180 Solutions spyware to children using colorful cartoons and games, pre-checking the "I am over 18" box for them. 180 Solutions' adware/spyware has been observed to automatically browse to child porn websites when installed. Digg this up and let's get the word out!

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Wal-Mart's "MySpace-Killer" Is A Real Bomb

"Dude, is there anything more excruciating than some lametard adult trying to speak to teenagers in their own language?"

Could see this coming from a mile away.

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Wal-Mart Tries to be MySpace. Yes, Seriously.

"It's a quasi-social-networking site for teens designed to allow them to "express their individuality," yet it screens all content, tells parents their kids have joined and forbids users to e-mail one another. Oh, and it calls users "hubsters" -- a twist on hipsters that proves just how painfully uncool it is to try to be cool. "

As if MySpace wasn't chock full of teen angst and complete morons, here comes Wal-Mart's pathetic attempt at reeling in the teen market. rofl.

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Snake Swallows Kangaroo (or Wallaby)

I couldn't find any details about these images. Prepare to paint "holy crap" on your face when you view them though.

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The Magnificent Moscow Underground

And you thought Moscow looked great above ground? Some incredible photos!

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Adam Carolla hangs up on Ann Coulter

On yesterday's Adam Carolla radio show, Ann Coulter called in to the show an hour and a half late, then told the host "I am really tight on time." Carolla responded, "All right, well get lost" and then hung up on her mid-sentence.

read more | digg story

Sprint Giving Out Customers' Data To Anyone

You dial 1-877-785-8414 which is a Sprint customer service line (doesn't matter what number you're dialing from), then punch in the cellphone number of a Sprint Wireless subscriber (not necessarily yours). The Sprint voice-bot reads back to you the full name and street address of the account holder associated with that number.

read more | digg story

Google Video Secret Categories

Hidden categories have been found by modifying the query string that Google Video doesn't list anywhere on its site. Publishers are given 38 categories to select from to add their movie. Now you can search through those 38 categories. Also found was the "movers and shakers" by country.

read more | digg story

Tempe, Arizona goes Wi-Fi

"A mesh network of more than 700 Internet access points covers Tempe, Ariz., the first larger city in the United States to go border-to-border wireless. The access points, attached to light poles around the city of 160,000 inhabitants, provide download speeds of up to 1Mbps."

Although indoor coverage is still up in the air, this is something other cities will (and have) adopted. Click on the story title for more pics and information.

The First True Car Of The Future

"The GM Hy-wire, appropriately named for its technology, incorporates the features first envisioned in the AUTOnomy concept vehicle at the 2002 North American International Auto Show in Detroit and the Geneva Motor Show. Hy-wire was introduced to the public at the Paris Motor Show last year.

“ The fact that we developed Hy-wire as a driveable concept vehicle in just eight months (from its introduction in Detroit) shows our commitment to this technology and the speed at which we are progressing,” said Rick Wagoner, GM’s president and CEO.

“ With AUTOnomy, GM shared a vision. Hy-wire accelerates our progress with a functional proof of concept which strengthens our confidence in our ability to gain marketplace acceptance of production fuel cell vehicles."

The good stuff is at about the 1 minute mark. Check it out!

World Cup Fever!!

To celebrate the World Cup, Adidas brilliant ad graces an overpass at the Munich airport. The one of a kind advertisement features Oliver Kahn - goalie for Germany's football team.

Stunning Images - Amazing Imagination

Kuteev (aka Kuteev Designs) shows off some truly amazing images. Enough text, let's look into the mind of an artist, shall we?

read more | digg story

This story made the front page of Digg :) Therefore, the above link might not work because the server puked. Try here.

A Growing List Of Things That Just Need To Die

That sounds a bit sinister, doesn't it? Well, I'm not talking about living things, but rather things that are typically fads or ideas that people come up with that just get on my nerves and, well, need to piss right off. Some are old, some new, but future posts are definitely going to happen.

So, with no further ado and not in any particular order:

Bullet Hole Stickers

What the hell is going on with this? Who sat there one day and said to their buddies: "You know what would kick ass and save us some money? Instead of shooting holes in our cars we could have stickers that look JUST like the real deal!"
Well, morons from coast to coast bought these things, so I guess the person behind the idea was laughing all the way to the bank.

Using The Letter "i" Before Everything

Alright. Ever since the iPod became wildly popular, the letter "i" has been put in front of things that aren't even iPod related. iBackup, iLook, iWatch, the list goes on and on. ugh.

Hi-Def

Short for High Definition, this term is so overused that a window cleaning manufacturer uses it. "..for that High Definition shine!". WTF. I'm not joking.

'Real Men Of Genius' Budweiser Radio Commercials

As if the beer wasn't bad enough...

Reality TV Shows

Oh, I'm going to hear some "boos" on this one. Fact is, most of these people don't play themselves when on camera. They tend to over act and over react. Junk.

Personal Blogs Of People's Bitching

Oh wait..

Google Asked To Take Down "Painted" Logo

"...the family of Joan Miro was upset to discover elements of several works by the Spanish surrealist incorporated into Google's logo. Google has since taken the logo off its site.

The Artists Rights Society, a group that represents the Miro family and more than 40,000 visual artists and their estates, had asked Google to remove the image early this morning.

``There are underlying copyrights to the works of Miro, and they are putting it up without having the rights,'' said Theodore Feder, president of Artists Rights Society."

Boy, what a crime it is for Google to recognize an artist on his birthday by mimicking one of the late artist's work. Not only that, if you clicked on the logo, it brought you relevant information regarding the artist and his work. >insert retard icon here<

Take The Machiavelli Personality Test

"Machiavellianism is the term some social and personality psychologists use to describe a person's tendency to deceive and manipulate others for personal gain. The concept is named after Renaissance diplomat and writer Niccolò Machiavelli, who wrote Il Principe (The Prince). In 1970 Richard Christie and Florence L. Geis developed a test for measuring a person's level of Machiavellianism. This eventually became the MACH-IV test, a twenty-statement personality survey that is now the standard self-assessment tool of Machiavellianism. People scoring above 60 out of 100 on the MACH-IV are considered high Machs; that is, they endorsed statements such as, "Never tell anyone the real reason you did something unless it is useful to do so," (No. 1) but not ones like, "Most people are basically good and kind" (No. 4). People scoring below 60 out of 100 on the MACH-IV are considered low Machs; they tend to believe, "There is no excuse for lying to someone else," (No. 7) and, "Most people who get ahead in the world lead clean, moral lives" (No. 11)."

Now before you get offended and spam my inbox with cursing and insults, I believe that everyone has a mean streak in them. It's just a matter of the right time and the right frame of mind. Everyone cracks.

So, on that note, my results:









My personal results from this test don't come as a shock to me, but chances are, if you are honest and take the test, I'm betting you'll be surprised at your own results. In other words, don't make yourself out to look like a saint, because you're not.

Now For Something Completely Morbid...

LUCID DECAPITATION

Not normally something I would blog about, but this article I came across while browsing Digg had me so intrigued, I just had to finish reading it.

"Since the very beginnings of the practice, there has been much speculation and debate regarding the length of time that the head can remain conscious after its removal. Many argue that a beheaded person will almost instantly lose consciousness due to a massive drop in blood pressure in the brain, and/or the heavy impact of the decapitation device. But there are countless eyewitness reports in history describing a few moments of apparent awareness in the victim."

As usual, click on the blog title for the rest of the article.

Sticker Shock (High Def DVD/Blu-Ray Players)

With Toshiba launching their first HD DVD player (HD-XA1 @ $936) in Japan today and Sony launching their Blu-Ray player (BDP-S1 @ $1000) in July, some people are whining about the prices of these players. Most people are not early adopters anyway, only those that want the cutting edge of technology need apply. "But that's just way too expensive" you say. That's the price of new technology folks, just the same as our beloved DVD was when it was first launched way back in 1997.

Sony's DVD-S700 was released in Japan in March of 1997 for approximately $933(US).



Not many had the inclination nor the money to acquire one at launch, but in the end, most of the US households have some sort of dvd playback device in their homes - and you can get one dirt cheap.

Even prior to these devices - Selectavision, the first VCR released in the US, was about $1000, while Sony's first CD player (CDP-101) was over $900.

So get over the sticker shock of 1st generation players - you should know the drill by now.

OMG SHARK

I'm sure most people have seen this once in a lifetime shot of a shark almost killing a guy and almost taking out the helicopter! Chilling to say the least!!! I've never seen such a thing!

...And it's no wonder. Such a thing never existed. This friend of mine forwarded this picture in a nice chain mail he was part of. The email stated "National Geographic's Photo Of The Year". Firstly, I tore him a new one for including me in chain mail - then I proceeded to tell him how gullible he was...er..oh wait...how gullible most people are when it comes to this sort of rubbish.

This picture was new to him (and apparently a host of other folks) but has been circulating the net since around 2001. It'd be cool to think that this shot was real, but just look at it. That shark looks like it was pasted into the picture. Why? Because it was.

"A photograph that has been circulating on the internet showing a shark leaping out of the water to attack a helicopter, is a fake. The composite image, which claims to be National Geographic's "Photo of the Year," was spliced together from a U.S. Air Force photo taken near San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and a photo of a shark from South Africa.

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* Photographing Africa's "Flying Sharks" (images of monster sharks leaping clear into the air)
* Shark Attack Tips

The photo of a breaching great white shark was taken by South African photographer Charles Maxwell [see the link to his Web site at the bottom of this page]. The Air Force photo of an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter was taken by Lance Cheung. They were spliced together by an unknown person, and reportedly began making the rounds on e-mail in August 2001."

There are plenty of "photoshopped" pictures cruising the internet, so be forewarned. Why people keep getting sucked into believing this tripe is beyond me. Is your life just THAT dull that you really need something to make you say "OMG" in real life and not just over Instant Messenger?

Snopes.com is a good reference to help spot hoaxes - whether they are pictures or articles. Take a look so you're better prepared for the anti-climax that is sure to follow.

You know, that shark pic totally reminds me of another that I've seen before, but can't recall exactly what....



OMG VENDING MACHINE!

Top 15 Skylines In The World

"All my years in studying Urban Planning helped me grow a greater appreciation for the dense downtown skyline of the big city. The downtown core of big cities across the Americas, Europe and Asia are the cultural pulse and economic engines of urban regions where millions of people live. All urban "life" begins and ends, each day and night under the watch of the city's tallest skyscrapers and most grand architectural structures. So kick back and appreciate the view that they have to offer..."

I love architecture, and these city skylines are just some of the examples of some truly great man made structures.

Pac Man Returneth!

"t's very nerdy, but strangely cool. This is a DIY kit that gives retro gaming life to your tired old bike wheels. Passers by will watch in awe as you zip through the streets with your bike wheels illuminating a yellow circle chasing a blob ( better known as pac man )"

Ok, this guy might have too much time on his hands to develop something like this, but how cool is this thing?!!?

I've Always Hated Walgreens

"Less than a month after a Palm Beach woman sued Walgreens for labeling her CrAzY!!" and "psycho" in its nationwide computer system, two more Floridians have come forward with similar allegations.

A Palm Beach Gardens grandmother, 64, filed suit Wednesday, accusing the retail chain of negligent supervision and intentional infliction of emotional distress for typing in its system in May 2003: "WATCH CONTROLS SHE SEEMS SHADY."

The drug business which is America's number one money maker, was one reason why I hate corner drugstores like Walgreens. This article just gave me another reason.

Google Keeps Search Data Private

"Google will not have to hand over any user's search queries to the government. That's what a federal judge ruled today when he decided to drastically limit a subpoena issued to Google by the Department of Justice. (You can read the entire ruling here and the government's original subpoena here.)

The government's original request demanded billions of URLs and two month's worth of users' search queries. Google resisted the subpoena, prompting the judge's order today. In addition to excluding search queries from the subpoena, Judge James Ware also required the government to limit its demand for URLs to 50,000. We will fully comply with the judge's order."

A significant win over privacy concerns. This DOES affect you and me, folks.

Official: Playstation 3 delayed until November

" Sony Corp., the world's biggest video-game console maker, will delay worldwide sales of the PlayStation 3 by about six months to November, giving Microsoft Corp. time to raise its share of the $20 billion global market.

The company had problems with the copyright protection standard for its Blu-ray high-definition DVD technology that will be included in the console, Ken Kutaragi, head of Sony's gaming unit, said at a conference with analysts, media and software makers in Tokyo today. Sony had planned a spring release. "

Not surprising by any means since it was supposed to launch in Spring yet everyone's been hush hush about its details. Come on Blu-Ray!

Google Mars!

Yes, Earthlings, it's true. Google has mapped the planet Mars using their oh-so-lovely mapping software intellect. It works damn well too - type "face" in the search field and see what comes up.

More Cassini Images

Some new images of Saturn's moon, Encaledus, where NASA's Cassini showed photographic evidence of water geysers erupting from the surface. (images courtesy of NASA. linked from wired.com)

Samsung's Flash Laptop

Samsung unveiled this 32GB flash laptop at one of the biggest and most important computer expos called CeBit. Supposedly costing around $30 per Gigabyte, it's not cheap, but it'll be quick, light and thinner than standard notebooks. Slick.

Saturn Moon, Encaledus, May Have Water

"NASA said Cassini images show icy jets and towering plumes ejecting huge quantities of particles at high speed. After studying the images, the scientists believe they show evidence of water jets erupting from near the icy surface."

"We realize that this is a radical conclusion, that we may have evidence of liquid water within a body so small and so cold," said Carolyn Porco, a Cassini team leader at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. "However, if we are right, we have significantly broadened the diversity of solar system environments where we might possibly have conditions suitable for living organisms."

Boy would this be a huge boost for NASA's space program amidst the financial problems and cutbacks they'd be likely facing if something big didn't happen fairly soon. Perfect timing, hm...

The "Why" and "How" of RSS

"Chances are, you're not entirely sure what the point of RSS is. I saw that little orange icon in Firefox, I've also seen their "live bookmarks" feature, which just looks cumbersome, and just never thought it could be helpful to me. Now, I wouldn't live without it. Here's why.

If you're like me, you have a ton of sites bookmarked or on your favorites list, depending on your browser of choice. That browser should be Firefox, by the way, but that's beside the point. You may have evolved and developed a list of maybe five, ten, fifteen sites you check every day to "stay in touch." RSS is a way you can be MORE in touch — with a higher number of sites — while doing less work."

Good article describing what RSS is and how to get the most out of it. Mostly geared towards Firefox users (which you should be using right now anyway).

Looks Like A Photo Of A Kitchen To Me...

..But it's not. The image on the right is a render. That's right, a computer render crafted by Benjamin Brasdau from Germany. The link in the topic title is direct from the CGSociety forums. There are a few more images in there - all jaw dropping. Please do yourself a favor and check them out. If someone showed me those images, I would have never guessed that they were computer generated. Awesome work.

Dubai's World-Beating Buildings

By the beginning of the next decade, relatively tiny Dubai -- it's smaller than Canada's Prince Edward Island, and has a population of about 1.4 million citizens -- will be home to an astonishing number of superlative architectural projects. These include Earth's tallest skyscraper, the first luxury underwater hotel, and a man-made archipelago of private, residential islands (yes, the biggest development of its kind) that will resemble a map of the world when seen from above.

Ok, forget about Dubai Ports Authority and the possible acquisition of some of our ports for a second and check out these amazing near future architectural masterpieces that they've got planned.

The topic is a direct link to the pictures. The link to the original article can be found here.

HD vs. DVD - Lord Of The Rings

Here are some supposed screen captures of The Lord Of The Rings captured in both High Definition and DVD. Mouse over each image for the High Definition version. Each screen is within one or two frames of each other, making for a good comparison.

Death To The Cubicle!

"Like many problems in the work arena, this one turns on numbers. The savings that accrue from jamming employees into cubes rather than offices, particularly in high-rent markets, can be huge. The productivity gains that come from giving workers a space where they can do uninterrupted, heads-down work -- those are harder to quantify."

Good article on those oh-so-wonderful boxes that some of us get to spend our work hours in.

Google Not Giving In To The Government

"Already on the defensive about its domestic spying program, the Bush administration has alarmed privacy and free-speech advocates by demanding search information from millions of users of Google and other Internet companies.

The moves raise questions about how far the government should be allowed to go to probe into American homes. The administration is pushing back hard, defending its surveillance as helping to protect the nation from terrorism and, to a lesser extent, shield minors from pornography."

Apparently the government wants internet search engines database information to crack down on child pornography. Uh. That sounds like a great idea until you realize how much information about you and your surfing habits that these internet search engine databases hold. Why not go after the websites that are hosting this crap instead of sifting through every American's search history?

Google is not giving up its information yet, stating that the government's request is ""unduly burdensome, vague and intended to harass."

I'm not sure what's more disturbing: The fact that MSN and Yahoo gave up their information in a heartbeat or the fact that the government is seeking this type of information. All of a sudden this news brings it to the attention of the general public which is now screaming "OMG, they store information about us?!!?!?" People that are upset about this need to pull their heads out of their collective asses. The internet isn't completely private and never will be - especially when you're talking about a free service. Those who think otherwise are complete morons, so stop your whining.

What's next? Will the government start demanding copies of your emails? Do you really think that just because you have the email in your inbox on your pc that a copy doesn't reside on the email server it came from? Laff. Go take a couple of reality pills and get back to me.