And they said it couldn’t be done.

In a research paper published a few days ago, Massachusetts Institute of Technology student Andrew Huang detailed the procedure by which he retrieved the software “keys” that a game disc must contain for the Xbox to recognize its contents as legitimate code. Using the key, hackers presumably could write Web browsers, MP3 players and other sought-after applications for the console.

Rabid soccer fans in Boston don’t mind passing on sleep to watch the World Cup in real time

Tape delay is for sissies. We want our World Cup, and we want it now.

Why else would Rakey Donohue, his girlfriend Denise Ryan, I, and 85 other sleep-deprived World Cup-aholics have packed Bad Abbots, an Irish-style soccer bar in Quincy at 2:30 on Saturday morning? When I suggested to Rakey that it might be more convenient to watch ABC’s rebroadcast of the critical Ireland vs. Cameroon match at 3:30 that afternoon, he shot back: Are you mad?

This is gonna be me tomorrow morning… US vs. Portugal. Come on people… support your team!!!

For the *Movies for guys that like movies* night

Vanessa, Madison, and I went on a father/daughter hike at Stony Brook Wildlife Preserve.

Here are some pictures from our wonderful day.

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Yah just gotta love digital cameras!

Unbelievable! Could the defending champions fail to make the second round?

Pape Bouba Diop gave Senegal a surprising 1-0 win over defending World Cup champion France as the curtain came up Friday on the World Cup finals in the South Korean capital.

And so, it begins… not with a whimper, but with a bang.

Playing on a global stage, chances are Mathis will create a buzz around US team

Can Mathis help the US to make it to the second round? His record sure says that it might be possible.

He can’t exactly tell you how it happens. It just happens. The amazing hat trick against the Kansas City Wizards last year. The 60-yard mouse-in-a-maze run against Dallas. The touchdown pass to Josh Wolff against the Mexicans. The two goals against the Germans in March.

Sounds good to me! Now, let’s see you do it against Portugal next Wednesday!

The World Cup starts today.

Well, it’s time for the world to whip up its quadrennial fit of nationalistic passion and watch the only true world championship in all of sport, the [[World Cup]]. It’s taken four long years, and many matches for these 32 teams to qualify, and now’s the time for each to show what its made of.

Carolyn Frail married Neal King in a wonderful ceremony among friends and family.

##Some Great Pictures

As those of you who were there undoubtedly know, I took *many* pictures while I was there. Some of them came out great, and some poor. Here are some of what I consider to be the best.

The pictures below are thumbnails… click on them to see the full size picture.

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##Unfortunate Accident

One of the discs that I had some pictures on somehow became scratched and I haven’t been able to upload the pictures from it. It contained a picture of all ten cousins together for the first time in 25 years! I’m trying to figure out a way to buff out the scratches, and if I’m successful, I’ll add the pictures to this page.

Stay tuned.

Sam Snead, the golfing great known as **Slammin’ Sam** who used the sweetest swing in the game to win seven major championships and a record 81 PGA TOUR events, died Thursday at age 89.

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He was famous for his straw hat, cocky grin and homespun humor. A three-time Masters champion, Snead had been an honorary starter since 1983. He would jaunt to the first tee, show off that flowing, flawless swing and then tell stories outside the clubhouse.

I remember several interviews he did with Peter Kessler on [[The Golf Channel]] and he always had a story to tell and a twinkle in his eyes. His was the first of what is now known as a classic swing, and there was never one smoother.

Israel really has no choice.

Maps of *Palestine* on the walls of Arafat’s offices – occasionally seen in news photos or television footage – are actually maps of Israel… It would take far more room than I have here to list all of the Palestinian agencies, publications, organizations, and Web sites in which Palestine is shown as encompassing all of Israel….
On the day he signed the first Oslo accord at the White House in 1993, Arafat told an interviewer that the agreement *will be a basis for an independent Palestinian state in accordance with the Palestine National Council resolution issued in 1974.” He was referring to the PLO’s ”phased plan,” which was adopted in Cairo on June 9, 1974. It calls for establishing a Palestinian state on any Israeli land that can be acquired through negotiation, then using that territory as a forward base for ”liberating* the rest of Israel by force.

If somebody tells you that they are going to kill you (which hopefully will never happen), will you let them, or will you fight back and try to stop them? You’d probably fight back. In that case, who is the only one that can actually stop the violence? The one that issued the original threat.

There it is. If you support the Palestinians, you support the complete destruction of Israel.