Category Uncategorized

May 7 2009

Manny Being Manny

From CNN.com:

Dodgers’ Ramirez suspended 50 games: Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance, incurring an immediate 50-game ban and serving the highest-profile reminder yet that the use of such drugs in the testing area may have been reduced, but not eradicated.

I always knew I didn’t like the guy, but now it’s absolutely, concretely set in stone. The guy is a total douche bag. What is it about some people that makes them think that the rules don’t apply to them?

He was always a problem. I guess now is lashing out and [pushing down Jack McCormick](http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2008/06/more_on_mannymc.html) has finally bee explained… [‘roid rage](http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-roid-rage.htm).

I’m really glad the [Redsox](http://www.redsox.com) got rid of this loser.

May 1 2009

The First 10 Trek Movies

From SCI FI Wire:

The 10 Star Trek movies so far, and why they mattered: As J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek beams into theaters on May 8, it seems like a good time to look back at the 10 movies that have previously gone where no one has gone before.

It’s been 10 films and 30 years since Star Trek was reborn on the big screen. The full list follows.

This is a fun read. Although I completely disagree with the assessment of **Star Trek: First Contact** which I still think is the best of the bunch. It definitely holds up the best.

Apr 30 2009

Ed Rollins Grades Obama’s First 100 Days

From CNN:

Ed Rollins, a senior political contributor for CNN, was political director for President Reagan and chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Commentary: Is Obama a Clinton or a Carter? – CNN.com: give him high marks as the commander in chief. From retaining Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (one of the best in that job I can remember) to the symbolic inaugural “Commander-in-Chief Ball” (for members of our military) to his redefining the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, he has impressed many skeptics.

And by allowing the Navy SEALs in Somalia to take out the pirates and by authorizing the use of drones to take out the suspected Taliban terrorists in Pakistan, he showed that he is willing to make the tough decisions and allow our troops to engage.

I do strongly object to his running around the world with “I am sorry!” as his message in apology for American missteps, and I think he has to realize that high-level diplomacy is about taking sides. Not everybody will be — or wants to be — your friend. And we need to pick our friends carefully.

…

All I can say after 100 days is: Good start, Mr. President; I wish you well!

This is the kind of analysis I like. Ed Rollins, clearly a conservative, clearly a Republican (look at his credentials) is being a thoughtful critic, giving Obama high marks where he deserves it, and taking him to task for things that he hasn’t done well.

I’m getting really sick of hearing the Republican Attack Machine (henceforth known as RAM) make stupid accusations, call for impeachment, and try and make it sound as if Obama’s been doing a crappy job.

He hasn’t.

Have I agreed with everything he’s done? Nope. Is he a tremendous improvement over the last few President’s? So far, I’d say yes. He’s provided leadership as needed, made a bunch of touch decisions, and has helped improve our standing in the world.

Overall grade: B.
Domestic grade: Not sure… his spending scares the hell out of me.
International grade: A

Keep it up Mr. President (but try not to spend too much of our money… we can’t afford it).

Apr 15 2009

Vista Safest? Yeah… Right!

From Slashdot:

Vista Post-SP2 Is the Safest OS On the Planet: pkluss noted Kevin Turner, COO of Microsoft making the proclamation that “Vista today, post-Service Pack 2, which is now in the marketplace, is the safest, most reliable OS we’ve ever built. It’s also the most secure OS on the planet, including Linux and open source and Apple Leopard. It’s the safest and most secure OS on the planet today.”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

Apr 10 2009

Fed up residents repair road in 8 days

From CNN.com:

Fed up residents repair road in 8 days — for free: Tired of waiting for government help, business owners and residents on the Hawaiian island of Kauai pulled together and completed a $4 million road repair job — for free. “We can wait around for the state or federal government to make this move, or we can go out and do our part,” said local businessman Ivan Slack.

This is a libertarian’s dream… citizens, when empowered, can solve problems better than the government can, and do it for less. In this case, they accomplished a civil engineering job that the government estimated would cost $4 million, and take 2 years, in just 8 days, and at a total cost to the tax payers of $0!!!!.

Apr 1 2009

Can Fractals Make Sense of the Quantum World?

From Slashdot:

Can Fractals Make Sense of the Quantum World?: Keith found a New Scientist story about fractals and quantum theory. The article says “Take the mathematics of fractals into account, says Palmer, and the long-standing puzzles of quantum theory may be much easier to understand. They might even dissolve away.”

This is the coolest article I’ve read in a long time. I’ve had a hobby for many years of trying to understand (at a very coarse, layman’s level) the nature of various theories in physics today.

I’ve read books by Feynman, and Hawking, and always wondered if there’d ever be a connection between quantum theory and relativity theory. I’ve also read several books on fractals and thought that the nature of our universe had to be fractal in some way. Well, it looks as though it is, and there might be a connection between quantum theory and relativity theory after all.

Mar 5 2009

Mac Mini Running Inside an Apple Disk II Case

From Mactopolis:

Mac Mini Running Inside an Apple Disk II :

How retro and cool is this? Certainly one for the extreme mac geek, creator and no doubt mac fan Charles Mangin created this gem. A Mac Mini encased inside an old Apple Disk II Case. Brilliant. Check out the images below:

You gotta love this! Maybe one of these years I’ll end up with a mac mini and be able to find one of these drive cases to do this mod. Imagine, a computer 100’s of times more powerful than the Apple II, in the case for the floppy drive!

Feb 20 2009

Bill Would Require ISPs, Wi-Fi Users To Keep Logs

From Slashdot:

Bill Would Require ISPs, Wi-Fi Users To Keep Logs: suraj.sun notes CNet reporting on bills filed in the US House and Senate that would require all ISPs and operators of Wi-Fi hotspots — including home users — to maintain access logs for 2 years to aid in law enforcement. The bills were filed by Republicans, but the article notes that the idea of forcing data retention has been popular on both sides of the aisle over the years. “Republican politicians on Thursday called for a sweeping new federal law that… would impose unprecedented data retention requirements on a broad swath of Internet access providers and is certain to draw fire from businesses and privacy advocates. … Each [bill] contains the same language: ‘A provider of an electronic communication service or remote computing service shall retain for a period of at least two years all records or other information pertaining to the identity of a user of a temporarily assigned network address the service assigns to that user [i.e., DHCP].'”

That means that I would have to keep logs of my wireless router at home, which I use only for personal internet connectivity (i.e. I don’t provide a service)??? What drugs are they taking, and did they bring enough for everybody?? This is what happens when you have people that don’t have a clue about tech trying to make laws about how the tech should be used and controlled.

Feb 20 2009

Microsoft.com Makes IE8 Incompatibility List!

From Slashdot:

Microsoft.com Makes IE8 Incompatibility List!: nickull writes “Microsoft is tracking incompatible Web sites for its upcoming Internet Explorer 8 browser and has posted a list that now contains about 2,400 names — including Microsoft.com. Apparently, even though Microsoft’s IE8 team is doing the ‘right’ thing by finally making IE more standards-compliant, they are risking ‘breaking the Web’ because the vast majority of Web sites are still written to work correctly with previous, non-standards-compliant versions of IE.”

The irony in this is palpable, and it proves the old adage that what goes around comes around. Had Microsoft made an effort from the beginning to be standards compliant, they would not be in this embarrassing and ridiculous position of having their own product not work properly with their own web site. Now if we could just get them to realize that many of their products are good enough to win the competition on their own merits, and stop locking people into a vertical vendor specific, proprietary solution and embrace open standards across the board, we’d be onto something.

Yeah, and I’m really the 8th cylon.

Feb 20 2009

Woods on verge of making return

From BBC Sports:

Woods on verge of making return: Tiger Woods will make his comeback from injury at next week’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona.

Good news for golf fans! Having gone through the surgery(s) and recovery that he’s gone through, I know how tough it is to come back, and how sweet it feels when you do. Best of luck [[Tiger]]!!!