Dad's On A Rant Again

Posting from my Android phone

2011-02-03T19:32:00.001-06:00

Long time no post. Now that there is an app for my phone, maybe I'll see fit to blog at least somewhat more often... Maybe?

LOST + BINGO = ???

2010-02-08T10:16:00.001-06:00

I Love LOST! LUV IT!

SyFy (I really hate that name change) has come up with a way to make it even more fun... LOST BINGO!

Get your's here...

Very Awesome and Very cool and should be good for playing each week... Gawd, I am such a Geek.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: LOST, BINGO, SyFy

LOST Season 6 starts with a new flight....

2010-02-03T08:59:00.001-06:00

LOST was awesome last night and if you were wondering how the opening compared to the original flight scene from the pilot...

Well here you go!

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: LOST, Season 6, Final Season, ABC

LOST Untangled. 5 seasons in 5 minutes!

2010-02-01T14:00:00.001-06:00

Ok... I know it has been a while since I last posted but....

Well.. No excuses.

So... Why the post finally? LOST starts tomorrow and this 5 seasons in 5 minutes is really funny.

Its called LOST Untangled.

Enjoy!

How funny is a "Broken Picture"

2009-03-27T16:26:00.001-05:00

I truly believe that I have found one of the funnies site EVAR!

Broken Picture Telephone had me rolling on the floor with laughter! Literally, I almost fell out of my seat onto the floor I was laughing so hard.

Here is the one that had me going.

This is as good a laugh as Whose Line Is It Anyway so prepare yourselves.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Broken Picture Telephone, Laughter, ROTF LMAO

Holy crap! This looks good.....

2009-03-06T14:14:00.001-06:00

I have loved Star Trek in almost all of its incarnations. Loved them so much that I can forgive Star Trek: Nemesis but do not push me so far as to let Star Trek 5: The search for the center of the galaxy and the pseudo-gods that live there get by. Nobody deserves to be forced to sit through that.

Any way, as much as I am pumped for tonight's premier of Watchmen, this is the movie I am itching for!

And this trailer helps not one little bit!

So... If you are a Trekie (or Treker) like me. Feast your eyes on one spoogerific (no that's not really a word, but it should be) trailer and then head over to Apple's site here for the same thing in Glorious HD Quicktime!

Enjoy! I'll see you at the funny show...

Technorati Tags: Star Trek, Watchmen, Trailer, Quicktime

Really confused after last weeks BSG episode?

2009-02-18T12:00:00.001-06:00

I loved last weeks BSG episode "No Exit". For me, it really cleared up a lot of the mythology of the series and how the 13th colony fits into what is happening to our rag-tag group of survivors.

However...

Some of you may be a bit confused by Ellen, Tyrol and the rest of the final five and how they were involved in the creation of the original 7 (?). If you are in the group, Screen Junkies has a pretty good recap of the episode and even included a flow chart of
the organization of the humans and cylons to boot!

Check it out...

Technorati Tags: BSG, Cylons, Final Five, Ellen, Tyrol

Classic video game backgrounds...

2009-02-06T10:44:00.001-06:00

Being a child of the 70's and growing up with my trusty Atari 400, another side of my personality is that I am a video-game geek.

My brother had a Nintendo SNES system. My wife bought me a Sega Genesis for Christmas way back in 1994 which I still have and my kids still play. I have owned a Nintendo 64 (still have that one too), a Nintendo GameCube and now a Nintendo Wii.

I still really enjoy playing the classic games whenever possible so this site is a lot of fun. DesktopGaming has backgrounds created from screen shots of classic gaming levels but with a bonus. A lot of the backgrounds are the entire level stitched together to make a higher resolution picture.

Navigation on the site is not the best but once you get in there you will find a lot of fun backgrounds to add to your machine.

And while we are on the subject of backgrounds, one of my favorite apps is John's Background Switcher. The program can be set to change the screen background on your PC to whatever time interval you want. I can add a calendar to the background automatically and will even resize the images to fill the screen. I highly recommend this app and use it on all of my computers.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Sega, Nintendo, Video Games, Backgrounds

Type in your own handwriting...

2009-02-03T15:15:00.001-06:00

Found this kind of cool.

YourFonts has a free service that will convert your own handwriting into a font you can install in your OS of choice and then use like you do Comic Sans or Arial.

Found this link from Lifehacker, a site dedicated to helping you work better, and not just on your computer. Check them out too!

Technorati Tags: YourFonts, Lifehacker, Handwriting

Pixar's UP! teaser goes.... up!

2009-02-02T13:38:00.001-06:00

I must say that I completely trust Pixar. I have to since they amaze me over and over. The first time I heard of Finding Nemo I was like, "What the?" I mean, did that title describe sailors looking for Captain Nemo (which made sense with the Disney connection and all)? And if not, what did it mean? Then it came out... Genius! One of my favorites and my youngest daughter could not get enough of that movie.

Then they say the're making a movie about talking cars? Racing cars... like NASCAR cars? Ummmm... sure. And then it came out... Darn good movie.

They last made a movie that has no talking... NO TALKING... for the first 20-25 minutes. Who does that anymore? Charlie Chaplin is dead for heaven's sake.

Now we get UP! Don't really know what it is about. Don't really care. All I know is... It looks like more genius.

Here a "teaser" episode of the story's main characters Carl and Russell.

Makes me want to see more!

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Pixar, Disney, UP!

What comics become in the digital age....

2009-02-02T08:32:00.000-06:00

What do you get when you take a Microsoft Live project, the comics field, and throw in a couple of famous writers and artists like Neil Gaiman and Scott McCloud?

Infinite Canvas is what you get.

Described as "A Funky Side Project from Microsoft Live Labs", Infinite Canvas is based on an idea from Scott McCloud and brings the idea that comics do not have to be bounded by the page anymore. They can flow and morph and do more than just "move" characters like a cartoon.

Looks like a cool idea. I hope that we get to see some cool stuff come out of this project.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Comics, Infinite Canvas, Scott McCloud

Is Google about to store my data?

2009-01-30T11:57:00.000-06:00

Not that that would be a bad thing for some files!

Google's long rumored and just as long denied GDrive may be coming to fruition. BetaNews has an article on this very service and I have been seeing articles from other places like Google Operating System.

Keep your heads up if you like your Google stuff. I'm hoping the don't do too much limiting on the amount of storage. It's not like I will place "sensitive" stuff out there in the cloud, but I would be interesting in using this as a storage place for Picasa!

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Google, GDrive, Picasa

Change is coming... to Whitehouse.gov!

2009-01-20T15:11:00.001-06:00

New President... New web page for the White House.

I did not visit the prior page very much as I did not find it helpful. Time will tell on if the new layout is worth anything but I was, very quickly, able to find the new Technology and Education agendas so that impressed me.

Check out the link above or, if you like to do your own typing, please go to www.whitehouse.GOV and not COM. You might not like where you end up using the COM suffix.

I haven't had a chance to watch any of the Inauguration coverage as work took most of my time today. I'll try to post my feelings later.

Technorati Tags: White House, Obama

LOST is returning soon... Get prepared!

2009-01-19T21:57:00.001-06:00

My absolute favorite show on television returns in two days for season 5 and I've been trying to find the time to catch up on re-watching the Season 4 episodes.

I got home from taking my oldest to Boy-Scouts and had some time to watch and few episodes and the first one was one of THE. BEST. HOURS. OF. TELEVISION. EVER!

The episode if "The Constant" and even if you don't watch LOST or really get confused with all the flashbacks, flashforwards, flashsideways, and smoke monsters, this one will move you. Science, time-travel, rats named Eloise and a love story all combine to make this probably the best episode of the season.

Granted, the last couple of hours of season 4 have lots of action and things that blow up and the surprise about who was in the coffin... But episode 5, as an episode, stands on its own as one of the best of the series if not arguably the best.

If you don't have the box set you can catch the episode on ABC's web site along with the rest of the series.

Get ready... Season 5 is finally here. I, for one, am pumped!

Technorati Tags: LOST, ABC, The Constant

The return.....

2009-01-16T13:45:00.001-06:00

I know... I know...

Long time no 'e', right? Sorry, life gets in the way and so does work, and kids, and my strange attraction to the magic box with the moving pictures in it.

I'm still alive and kicking and along with finally keeping that long standing New-Year's resolution to lose some weight (I've lost 25 lbs since March) so that I can pick up a new one, I've managed to move into the HDTV world with an upgrade to my DirecTV subscription.

That last item makes the magic box even prettier and shows I already saw once are now worth seeing again... and thus more of my time gets sucked into something other than this blog.

And what is the new resolution I have made? Other than doing what I can to keep employed, I really plan to blog a lot more often. Rant a little here, review stuff a little there, tell a funny story now and again. Stuff like that.

I really miss blogging. It's really cathartic at times to let all the aggravation out and other times it's just pleasing to share with those I probably will never get to meet in person.

So, I'm back at it.

What's gnawing at my craw these days?

How about the Government bailing out companies that ruined themselves while telling me that I have to pay for it? How about doing my part to keep the economy sound by paying my bills and not taking out extraordinarily STUPID loans to buy a house I really don't need... and not getting ANYTHING in return? How about seeing some of my favorite shows go to the wayside because the American people like The Bachelor more than they do Pushing Daisies?

What's got me blogging today? I'm at home with my Daughter today. She's the last in the family to fall victim to the "bug" going around lately. My wife said that the either the building or the district (don't know which) was at 85% attendance yesterday. That's a lot of kids to be out and it was not surprise when the middle child walked in at 10pm last night and said she was "yucky". She was cold and clammy and I ended up losing the coin flip this morning. Oh, well. Could be worse. I could be freezing at work.

Anyway... I hope that I still have someone out there that checks on this place once-in-a-while. Its good to be back and I plan on being here more often.

Technorati Tags: Welcome back, Home

Want to know what's up with the Hurricane season?

2008-09-05T14:02:00.001-05:00

Found a really cool site for tracking the Hurricanes the country has been facing.

Stormpulse is an interesting site that was built by two guys. Matt started it back in 2004 and Brad joined him in 2006. I found the storm path and the amount of data presented pretty amazing.

Take a look if you are interested.

Hey! Wanna know one of Obama's accomplishments?

2008-09-04T16:38:00.001-05:00

I have been hear a lot lately, and last night especially, that Barack Obama has not had any major accomplishments in his time in both the Illinois and the US Senate.

I know better but I don't follow all of the ins and outs of bills everyday and was pleasantly surprised when I found an article giving me just what I needed to refute the Republican claim.

The law is the Corburn-Obama Transparency Bill (aka The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006) I think to most people's surprise, they will find that the law actually is good legislation unless making the government answer to the public is not your idea of the American way.

Here are the facts that I could find:

The law is bi-partisan as it was organized by Republican Tom Corburn and carries both Obama and Corburn's names.

The law created the site USASpending.gov and touts itself as "Where Americans can see where their money goes".

They also sponsored a new bill this year to strengthen the original bill.

This is the bill that got both Robert Byrd (d) and Ted Stevens (r) in hot water for holding it hostage with a "secret hold". After bloggers and other public agencies went after the Congressmen that placed the hold and found out the two above were responsible, the holds were quickly dropped and the bill was signed into law. Funny how that happens when the "people" want transparency in their government.

What I find interesting is this bill actually does what John McCain claimed that he would require the government to do if he were elected. Pretty easy to require something that is already required. More of this is in the MSNBC article.

And maybe the right (and the left) should take a bit close look at their opponents records?

Nah... That would be asking too much. Wouldn't it?

Technorati Tags: Obama, Congress, Bills

Google releases new software.... And you may want it!

2008-09-03T14:49:00.001-05:00

Google has released two pieces of software in the last two days that you might want to know about.

First, yesterday, they released their new BROWSER to the world. Named Google Chrome, it is built from the ground up to try to take advantage of the AJAX world being built on the web and try to give it the speed of desktop apps. I downloaded it and will give it a try for a while to see how it compares to IE and Firefox but it will take a lot to drag FF3 from my cold dead hands.

You can read more about Chrome and download it here.

Then today, they released a significant update to their Picasa software. The Public Beta version 3.0 of Picasa is meant to add a lot of new capabilities and tie more into their Google Photos product. New information can be seen here on the Google Photos blog and here on the Picasa discussion pages.

The new version is US only for now and can be downloaded here.

Enjoy....

And I hope to be posting more... and believe me, I have some things to rant about.

Octagon Global Recruiting sends an update....

2008-06-20T10:40:00.001-05:00

Got an update from Octagon Global Recruiting yesterday.

The big news is that if you can't attend the kickoff party on July 24th in San Diego at the Comic-Con they will be sending recruitment information to registered users on the 27th.

What exactly they are looking for in recruits is still unknown, but let the games begin.

***************
Don't know that Octagon Global Recruiting is? Check it out at their Website here.

And if you don't know who The Dharma Initiative is, you need to be watching LOST.

***************

Enjoy! More updates later!

Technorati Tags: LOST, Dharma, Octagon Global Recruiting

How about a good read that's only up for 24 hours???

2008-06-06T09:48:00.001-05:00

Ain't it Cool News is posting 1 chapter a day for 14 days of a new book called Gone that was written by Micheal Grant.

The chapters are only up for 24 hours and once they are gone, they are... well... Gone. Talkbacks and all will be removed.

I read the first chapter and its an interesting premise. Once day a whole bunch of people just... disappear. No "poof" or explosion or puff of smoke. And then what happens????

Take a gander if you want, the first link is here.

Technorati Tags: Gone, Book, Ain't It Cool News

Lost does it again!

2008-05-29T22:34:00.001-05:00

I'm not going to go into a long post about how awesome the Season Finale was of LOST last night but I am going to point you to something that will probably be my obsession this Summer and maybe into the Fall...

There was a fake ad in the last set of commercials for a recruitment gathering in San Diego, CA on July 24-27. The name of the company?

Octagon Global Recruiting. And the web site link to get more information?

http://www.octagonglobalrecruiting.com

The company just so happens to be sponsored by the fine folks at The Dharma Initiative.

How 'bout that kids!

The new version of "The Lost Experience" has begun.

I've signed up.... How about you?

Technorati Tags: LOST, Dharma, Octagon Global

What kind of nerd are you????

2008-05-16T16:27:00.001-05:00

I am a Nerd God!

Find out what you are by clicking the graphic above!

Technorati Tags: Nerds!

Did you know the Nazi's went to the moon?

2008-05-07T10:31:00.001-05:00

Apparently so, because who would like about a think like that???

New indy movie Iron Sky tells the tale about that event and what happens in 2018 when they decide to come back to the Motherland.

Ain't it Cool News has an post up on the movie and the trailer looks very interesting. I agree that it has that "Sky Captain" feel and I will very interested in seeing this when it is finished.

Iron Sky teaser - Space Nazis attack!

Technorati Tags: Iron Sky, Teaser, Independent Films

Ok... I'm geeking out here! Barry's coming back!

2008-05-01T15:53:00.001-05:00

Avid Comicbook collector -- check!
Avowed DC Comics fan -- check!

Interesting comics world turn-of-events? You betcha!

I started collecting comics in 1986 right after the Crisis on Infinite Earths tale was finished. I didn't discover that book until about a year after it came out but was really struck by the story and the art and, strangely, the deaths. Supergirl dies, and lots of Earth-2 heroes but the one that hit a lot of people hard was the death of Barry Allen, the Earth-1 Flash.

Also known as the Silver-age flash, he gave his life saving the Universe from the Anti-monitor and if you are lost as to what that means, read the series...

Anyway, SciFi news and Newsarama just announce that DC will be bringing back Barry Allen to the DCU in the DC Universe #0 book that is out this week.

Technorati Tags: DC Comics, DC Universe #0, Geeks

You won't miss 'em until you need 'em....

2008-05-01T11:54:00.001-05:00

Ranting again today..... Let the flames begin!

*************************************************************************

MSNBC and Newsweek are running an article about our Executive branch and the major TelCo's working together to hide the fact that they have been covertly spying on phone conversations, or as they put it, "surveillance".

Funny how the word "veil" in in that word because it seems that the government and the telco's are determined to keep that veil of secrecy covering what they want to do with your rights. I won't rehash the article here so you can read it by yourself but I keep coming back a disturbing trend when I hear about the whole issue of privacy. Some citizens of this country are willing to recend their rights to privacy and due-process simply because, "I have nothing to hide."

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but I think that what they are really implying is that, "I have no use for my right to privacy or my right to stop illegal search-and-seizure at this time, so why not let the govenment snoop?" and then they say, "I have nothing to hide."

I have discussed this with friend and co-workers and I find the response interesting when I present to them the implication they are laying out there. They typically agree that I'm correct so then I hit them with this line (and I'm curious what other's are thinking so please respond):

"So... If you don't mind giving up your First and Fourth amendment rights since you aren't using them right now, how about giving up your Second amendment rights since you may not be using them right now?"

The response from a lot of people is a resounding, "No way!" Sometimes they even quote the NRA with, "I'll give you my gun when you take it from my cold, dead hands." -- Sidebar -- Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms actually started that quote. -- End Sidebar --

When I ask them why, their reply is that they have to have the gun for protection. My response, which they usually don't like very much, is, "What protection? When is the last time someone tried to rob you? When is the last time someone tried to break into your house? When is the last time someone robbed any house withing a 10 block radius of your domicile? See, you really aren't using the gun for anything as it usually sits in a drawer and collects dust. You don't need it, you only want it and since you aren't using it, why don't you hand it over and you can have it back when we feel that you are in danger and need to have use of it?"

The good responses I get usually mention the following. "What if they do need it immediately?" or, "How is the government going to get me that gun in the 30 seconds between the window breaking and the thief or predator or crazy coming into one of my family's rooms?"

And I respond right back at them with the same arguement about my First and Fourth amendment rights. What happens if I need my right to privacy right now? What happens if I need to discuss something with my doctor or lawyer or priest and I require my privacy rights immediately? What if I am incorrectly accused of something I didn't do or plan simply because someone knee-jerked at the CIA and pegged me as a threat? Where is my right to Habeaus Corpus and why are you taking my medical and financial records when I've done nothing wrong? Who do I talk to when I want to get those rights back since nobody will even admit that they are doing to me what they've already admitted that they are doing to others?

Where is the outrage that this is happening? Where are the conservatives in this country that call for smaller government? Where are the cries to stay out of our daily lives if we have done nothing wrong? When will the true patriots stand up and fight for our Constitutional rights and fight for all of them, not just one or two?

Did the attacks on September 11, 2001 do some much damage to this country's psyche that we have forgotten why we fought so hard in the past to preserve our rights that we willingly throw them away simply because someone said it was for our safety?

I don't think it did. I just think something has to happen to remind the people of this country that they need those abandoned rights just as much as they need their guns.

The question now is when is that act going to happen?

Technorati Tags: Surveillance, Bill of Rights

Geeks Rejoice! Gandalf is back!

2008-04-30T15:35:00.001-05:00

The AP via Yahoo has reported that Ian McKellen will again be playing Gandalf in "The Hobbit" duo of films. Already announced was that Guillermo Del Toro, director of the Hellboy movies and Oscar winner Pan's Labrynth will be directing these two movies.

Peter Jackson, the director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, will only be sitting in the producer's seat this time out but will be watching closely.

The movies will be made in New Zealand like the LOTR trilogy. The first movie will be based on the actual book while the second will be a linking movie between the books that make JRR Tolkien famous. The material for the second will be taken from the many books that were released after the trilogy was printed fleshing out the Middle-Earth world Tolkien created.

Technorati Tags: The Hobbit, Ian McKellen, Geeks

What's wrong with this logo????

2008-04-24T16:22:00.002-05:00

It's the logo for the Office of Government Commerce in London, England and was released recently to the public.

If you don't see it... turn your head to the side.

The Telegraph newspaper has more on the gaffe.... The last sentence in the article is pretty funny in its own right... Column inches says it all.

New version of Scribefire released!

2008-04-21T13:17:00.001-05:00

I have posted before about Scribefire, the blogging tool I use to post from Firefox. I have always liked not having to load a separate app and the Blogger online tool I find a bit clunky.

Well, Scribefire has now reached 2.0 status and there are some interesting tweaks to the interface.

If you are a user, the upgrade is highly recommended and if you are blogger that uses Firefox a lot, you might want to check it out.

The update can be loaded from the Firefox add-on site here and more information on Scribefire can be found here!

And.... Lookie at me... 3 posts in the past week-and-a-half!

Now maybe I can get back to my Lost recaps!

Zork lives!

2008-04-18T15:38:00.001-05:00

So, when I was a young pup and just a strapling sophomore, a game was released that changed the way people thought about games.

It made you think that a computer could really think for itself as you would swear that it really understood what you were typing and responded in kind.

Zork was that game and today I had a hankerin' (Gawd, I have been the Ozarks too long) to play after reading an article about InfoCom's other big release, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

If you don't know Zork from Adam and want to check it out, here's a free download of all three episodes.

Enjoy! And stay away from the thief and the goblins...

The housing crisis... They want to do what?

2008-04-09T10:36:00.001-05:00

Ok... First off... I know. Its been a very long time since I have posted. Maybe this will get me back in form! I've got a rant that I just cannot get rid of.

Topic? The "bailout" of the housing crisis and the supposed need to "help" people who are about to lose their homes.

Now, don't get me wrong, I feel sorry for the US citizens who are in foreclosure or are at risk of losing the homes that so dearly love. What I'm hacked about is the plan by our supposedly "conservative" administration to help these people keep their homes. From what I can tell, the plan is to reduce the amount of money they owe to their lending institutions so that they can now "afford" the monthly mortgage payment.

How is this even considered fair to all of of us who have sacrificed and scrapped and saved to make our payments every month so that we do not get into this financial crisis? What exactly are they going to do for those of us who didn't go out and buy the big screen TV, the new Mercedes and lost a load on the stock market but don't have a "golden egg" to fall back on because we were taught that it isn't even an option to not live up to our obligations?

This is really what ticks me off the most. That the financial lenders chose to give dangerous loans that undervalued the property and that people chose to take the money from these questionable loans to buy overpriced houses is bad enough. Now, however, to "save the economy" we are going to give them a break and bail them out.

Well, I say, phooey on that. I really do feel sorry for them, but they made bad choices and are they really going to learn from those choices if all we do is save their hides?

Would it be OK for me to stop paying my mortgage and say that I can't afford it anymore so that I can get my rates lowered?

I would love to cut $200 off my monthly payment, but I won't.

I've got my pride to think of and my conscience... Maybe the lenders and foreclosure facing US citizens should too.

Flame away! I'm back and ready for it!

Technorati Tags: Housing Crisis, Bailout, Pissed

Powered by ScribeFire.

Excellent Guinness video!

2007-11-30T16:47:00.000-06:00

And I love me some Guinness!

The geek in me continues to over-rule the ranter... Large Gaming Machine!

2007-11-15T14:20:00.000-06:00

Reportedly the World's largest Gaming Machine!

Got this via the following path... SciFi Tech Blog <--- Engadget <--- Technabob <--- G4's Attack of the Show.

Whew!

But anyway, this thing was build by the AOTS folks and is 13+ feet tall, has a 70-inch screen and requires the use of step ladders to reach the controls. Imagine feeling like a kid again!

Technorati Tags: Largest Gaming Machine, G4, AOTS, Scifi

What would you take to give up your voting rights?

2007-11-15T14:01:00.001-06:00

A major concern every time elections are held is the "buying" of votes by candidates and/or issue-centric group so that they can get their way. But what happens if people paid to not vote at all?

A class at NYU entitled "Foundations of Journalism" sought to find out that very thing. The class polled more than 3000 students and found that 66% of the students would give up their vote for a free ride to the university. Surprisingly 20% would give up their right to vote for an iPod!

The real shocker is that 50% (yes at least half) the of students would FOREVER give up their constitutional right to vote for (in your best Austin Powers voice) $1,000,000.

With all that, 70% of the students said that their one vote can make a difference and 90% called voting either "very" or "somewhat" important. Which is an interesting juxtaposition that it is important to vote and voting can change things, but they are willing to give it up for "stuff".

So, what is your price? Or do you have one? Is your freedom to vote worth more to you than anything anyone could give you? I fear that its not the buying of votes we have to worry about any more. Its the apathy of being paid to not show up...

More about the poll is at the Politico web site here.

Technorati Tags: voting, polls, NYU

Powered by ScribeFire.

Geeks Unite! The ultimate Star Wars Poster!

2007-11-13T16:44:00.001-06:00

Get it while its hot...

I got the link from MSNBC's Clicked blog...and I agree. Han Solo should be bigger.

And what about C-3P0 and R2-D2? Even Jar-Jar is bigger than they are!

Never the less, this is very, very cool!

Technorati Tags: Star Wars, Poster

Heroes' online adventures get more interactive...

2007-11-06T08:40:00.001-06:00

Geek mode kicks in today as I received an email from Hana (the woman who could write her own Internets conversations without a computer) today.

She linked me over to NBC's new site for their interactive Heroes comics. Takes a while to load but the results are pretty cool.

If you're a Heroes fan, the show just keeps getting better after a slow start this year and the online comics do a great job of filling in gaps between episodes.

The Heroes site is here and the new comic is here.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Heroes, NBC, Online Comic

Torture... What's good for the goose is not so great for US.

2007-11-05T17:00:00.001-06:00

Ever notice that when something bad happens to an American somewhere
else in the world our country immediately get all up in arms about how
that kind of behavior is barbaric and will not be condoned?

It
seems that this is the case with torture, be it Water Boarding or any
of the other behaviors that are used to get information from
"detainees" by our government.

What exactly would be the reaction
of President Bush and the military if a soldier was captured and forced
to undergo "simulated drowning" by their captors in order to get
information about an upcoming strike on their bases?

It would be what I hope it would be. Decisive action and unmitigated outrage that this was happening.

Those
actions by our enemies would be called barbaric and uncalled for by our
government. And if this is true, why is it then alright for us to do
the same to the enemy?

Both are vile and evil. And we, and the
"leaders of the world" should find ourselves above such barbarism. But
we don't. Why are we not, as the moral compass that we claim to be; as
a country supposedly based on Christian values not outraged that it
happens at all?

I guess our sense of morality is a trivial thing to give up of for a better feeling of safety and security.

{NOTE} This post was cross posted with the Ozarks Left Blog hosted by the Springfield News-Leader {/NOTE}

Technorati Tags: Torture

The News-Leader and Ozarks Bloggers start working together!

2007-11-05T16:28:00.001-06:00

If you haven't heard yet, The News-Leader in Springfield and 10 local area bloggers have teamed together to present a forum for good, old-fashioned, political discourse.

Aptly named, Ozarks Left and Ozarks Right, both sites have 5 bloggers that are attempting to bring some of our political ramblings to the masses that might not otherwise know who we are.

If you get a chance to hop over and read, hopefully you will get some nice civil discourse and we will be much better behaved than the political idiots we rant and rave about. I'm really counting on the civility from at least the bloggers. I know that there will be readers that will leave snide and nasty comments and do so anonymously. That seems to be the way of things now though. Strike when the iron is hot, and don't leave a trail where someone might be able to track you down.

It is a sad-but-true reality of an on-line existence.

Anyway, head over and let us know what you think about or new blogging digs. Most of us have our own blogs and will continue to post all the junk you have grown to expect out of us.....

Technorati Tags: Ozarks Left, Ozarks Right, politics, blogs

I just got digg bombed.

2007-11-03T15:16:00.001-05:00

Not sure how many of you check the daily stats of your own blog, but the math person in me is always interested in how many people I can attract to my postings.

Normally I get about 15 - 20 hits a day but recently I've been getting a lot more for my posts about the some of the political front-runners from both parties. Those articles are here, here, and here.

Today around 2:30 pm I casually checked my Performancing stats and saw that I had hit 165 hits (at that time) and it was growing. I figured that either the Mittreport, Patrick Ruffini, or someone blogging about Sen. Clinton's campaign had linked back to my rants.

Interestingly it was neither. I was getting digg bombed and it was for a posting from March 4th of this year. I posted on the Brian vs. Dorkman II video that had just come out and raved on how much better it was than some of the stuff George Lucas has us endure in the prequels. A nice guy who goes by the handle zaibatsu was kind enough to link back to my post sometime on Friday and I've been getting hits ever since.

Turns out that, for a little while at least, I'm at the top of the digg videos page and even hit page one of the upcoming hits for the day.

I know it won't last for long... but it is kind of cool when it happens.

Welcome digg readers. Look around, link around, and visit my friends. We all have something to say!

Technorati Tags: digg, brian vs. dorkman, viewer hits

I'm an equal opportunity slammer... Ms. Clinton's foot in mouth disease

2007-11-01T15:10:00.001-05:00

I know I've been sticking it to a certain candidate with what some might call an "alternative" religious affiliation.

What I really hate though is when the people I consider on my list of potential candidates to vote for goes about sticking their foot in their mouth.

Such is the case with Mrs. Clinton and her performance at the Philadelphia debate a couple of days ago. I didn't watch the debate personally since I find it WAY too early to even begin to think about candidates. A lot can change in the next few months when the real election push starts and not one of the candidate running for either party has started addressing issues with any real certainty.

Anyway... Ms. Hillary made a number of comments during the debate that FactCheck.org singled out as quite misleading or out-right lies. They include, and I'm quoting from FactCheck:

She falsely implied that the reason White House documents about her communications with her husband haven't been released is due to bureaucratic delays, and she avoided saying whether she would ask Bill Clinton to clear their release from the National Archives.
She avoided a yes-or-no answer to whether she supports giving New York driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and at one point denied saying the idea made sense, when in fact she said less than two weeks earlier that it "makes a lot of sense."
She avoided saying what, if anything, she would do about Social Security taxes or benefits, saying a commission should study the system "if" it has problems, and saying that acting as though the troubled system is in "crisis" is "a Republican trap.

The rest of the list is presented by FactCheck here (Although I did have problems accessing the article). More on the debate can be found on the MSNBC site here.

If you have not heard of FactCheck before, they are a really good organization that is dedicated to finding the truth in political campaigns and making sure that each candidate's feet is held to the fire when they make speeches and post deceptive political ads. They are part of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

Technorati Tags: Hillary, Clinton, debate, FactCheck

Romney gets hit from the Christian Right again...

2007-10-31T12:00:00.001-05:00

This time from the former General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God based in Springfield, Missouri.

On Monday night, KY3 reporter David Catanese had a very well put together and, I thought, balanced report on Mitt Romney and his support and disapproval in the Ozarks. The story had an interview with Rev. Tom Trask where he discussed his concerns with Romney's faith. While the article is video and the transcript is only two paragraphs, you can see the video report here.

KY3 has also provided an extended interview with the Reverend that might be of interest to anyone who wants to know why he cannot support and will not recommend anyone of his faith to support Gov. Romney. The video is available here. (EDIT!) Upon re-watching the interview I think I misconstrued Rev. Trask's comments. He states that he would have difficulty supporting Romney and that it would be "very, very difficult." He also believes that Mormons are not Christians and he considers the group "a cult". (End EDIT)

Once again, I'm not reporting this as indicative of my opinion (I'll probably post on that later). I'm just getting out an interesting twist on the Romney campaign and I wonder how they will attempt to counter this issue.

Technorati Tags: Mitt Romney, Assemblies of God, President, Election

And so it begins... The villainization of Mitt Romney... by the Right!

2007-10-26T14:46:00.001-05:00

At least that what seems to have started.

I told Larry a long time ago that Mitt Romney would never be the Republican Candidate. My reasoning was that his Mormon beliefs were going to come back to bite him in the hind end. How can the Christian Right support a candidate for President when he doesn't share their core beliefs?

I've waited and waited for someone to finally take up the mantle and speak out about this quandary. Well, it has finally happened.

Pastor Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Tx recently gave a sermon about Romney and who people think they are voting for and who he really is. The local FOX affiliate covered the story here. Interestingly, the good pastor does not tell his congregation to NOT vote for Romney, but he tells them that if they think they are voting for a Christian man, they are wrong.

"Mitt Romney is a Mormon and don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Even
though he talks about Jesus as his lord and savior, he is not a
Christian. Mormonism is not Christianity. Mormonism is a cult," says Jeffress.

A Cult!

Wow! That should scare off the Harry Potter hating Baptists in Dallas. 'Cause if HP and wizards are evil enough trying to turn our children to Satan, imagine what a Cult attending President is going to do? (Edit: I changed the above paragraph on the suggestion of Larry since HP is not a cult but is the Occult. See his comment for more info.)

Not that I believe it. I just find it interesting that it has already started this early. Let the fun begin.....

Technorati Tags: Mitt Romney, Mormons, Cult

As Homer would say... Beeeeeeeeeer.

2007-10-19T11:18:00.001-05:00

Presenting MSN and Men's Health's list of 32 things you can do with Beer!

I like 13. Get lost in the woods and down to your last beer? Use it find north! You will need that extra set of silk panties you carry around with you though.

15 sounds like fun too! A Beer Slide!

Read them all here!

Technorati Tags: Beer, Lists

Into the mind of an ADHD Adult... or... John Stone redux.

2007-10-17T14:51:00.001-05:00

I've never really been diagnosed as having ADHD, although my son has, and if seeing him is any indicator as to the chances of me actually being to use that label some day, I'd put it at 90%.

Anyway... If you don't suffer from the strange mind bouncing tricks that ADD/ADHD causes, here's an insight. Ever watch someone playing a pinball game? Notice how the ball suddenly flies from the bottom of the board, to the top then flings to the side and up a ramp and then stops suddenly in a hole only to then be tossed back out and eventually comes to rest after sneaking by the bottom flippers?

That is sort of how my mind works. Weird things happen all at once that can bring on a wave of memories, trivia, and bursts of talkative conversation.

The strangest set of circumstances happened this morning that had my mind bouncing here and there and then suddenly to a stop. I was watching TV, when I realized that I might need my jacket. I found it in the second closet I look, put it on, grabbed the laptop and lunch bags I needed for work while trying to block out the other one hundred things that kept popping to my frontal lobe, helped push the kids out the door for the wife and then I found some papers in my pocket.

It was a ballot for last year's Blogaroni awards... and a business card from John Stone.

And my world stopped. Just like that.

Damn. John's been gone for a while and I just realized that I hadn't had a thought about him in months. That card was all it took to bring back a flood of memories of John. I really only knew him from the Springfield Bloggers Meetings but that seemed enough. He was "dirty old man" but I liked him anyway. And I realized that when he died I never really posted anything about him.

Here's to you John Stone. Wherever you are, may you be looking down (or up) at us getting the best last laugh.

Requiescat In Pace Mr. Stone... You are still missed.

Technorati Tags: RIP, ADHD, Pinball, John Stone

So.. If you work for the President you are safe... If you report on the President....

2007-10-17T14:11:00.001-05:00

Yeah, yeah... Long time, no blog. I'm back today in rant mode.

So, its typically been a given that reporters (print, radio, and television) have some responsibility to keep their sources confidential when it comes to trying to get to the truth in matters they are reporting on. But in the past decade or so, that protection seems to be fading away with reporters compelled to reveal who gave them information or face jail time.

Many have taken the jail time, such as the reporter in the Valerie Plame case, rather than give up their trusted sources.

Congress is trying to right the situation with the Free Flow of Information Act. The act originally protected bloggers are "journalists" but has been changed so that it only covers people who use their reporting as their paid profession. That change in of itself doesn't really bother me. What does is that that change and some others were made by Congress to appease the Bush administration but now they are thinking of vetoing the legislation anyway.

Turns out the the Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, is none too happy with the new law as it would limit their ability to prosecute federal cases.

What? Why does the prosecutorial department of the Executive branch get a backbone when faced with reporters that publish stories that look unfavorably on the government but do not think twice about refusing to prosecute a member of the President's posse when they leak information outing a CIA operative... or are called to Congress to testify about surveillance methods that seemingly go against Constitutional law... or any of the other times all the President has to say to someone is, "don't tell them anything," and everyone goes mum?

The fact that this passed the House with a 398 to 21 vote bodes well for the chance at beating a veto and it still has to come up for a vote in the Senate. Getting 66 votes there may be the larger challenge, but if it passes well there, will Mr. Bush hold to his "high moral ground" and sign the veto anyway? Or will he wilt when his party realizes that they don't need a defeat right now?

More on the story over at BetaNews.

Technorati Tags: Congress, Bush, Journalists, Free Flow of Information Act

Indiana Jones and the...

2007-09-10T08:50:00.001-05:00

Lucas released the official name of the new Jones flick and the winning entry is...

Drum Roll please....

Kinda wordy but very cool none the less. I'm very hopeful about this movie, what with Marion (Karen Allen) back in the cast, Shia LaBouf, Cate Blanchett, Ray Winstone, and John Hurt along for the ride, Spielberg couldn't mess this up could he?

Geeks around the world rejoice! We have a title!

Technorati Tags: Indiana Jones, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Zombies... Our Friends?

2007-09-06T15:43:00.001-05:00

After the intense rant, a little levity. Enjoy!

-----------------============+============-----------------

A guy's guide to Zombies.

Nick Frost and Simon Pegg introduce you to Zombies!

Technorati Tags: Zombies, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg

Part of the PATRIOT Act has been ruled unconstututional...

2007-09-06T15:26:00.001-05:00

Which part you ask? The part where the FBI can secretly get your access records from libraries and ISPs via so called "National Security Letters". The big deal is that the "Letters" have no judicial oversight (so no court is involved) and have a "gag" restriction on the recipient so they cannot let you know that your records have been retrieved.

ARS Technica has a great article on the ruling and the judges scathing rip on the bypassing of the checks and balances set forth in the Constitution by the current administration.

This is, obviously, not the last was have heard about this but it is a very good start!

Technorati Tags: Patriot Act, Constitution

I Call BS on the News-Leader...

2007-09-05T14:18:00.001-05:00

I haven't ranted in a LONG time. Something has gotten under my skin though.

On Sunday, September 9, 2007, the Springfield News-Leader ran an editorial under their "Our Voice" header supporting the ruling by a state judge in the lawsuit filed by almost half of the state school districts against the State of Missouri. The suit was filed due to the inequitable process the state uses to dole out monies to the 520+ districts in the state and the way that some districts are penalized by the state by simple being where they are... or where they are not more specifically.

The editorial board states that they see the lawsuit as simply a money grab and that it has nothing to do with equality among the districts in the state. That's where I call BS on the article. They say:

"From Day One, that's been the problem with the lawsuit more than 200
school districts, including many in the Ozarks, filed alleging that the
state's funding formula for schools was unfair. The question was never
a matter of fairness, it was about more money..."

Of course it was about money... because in today's educational environment, money is, unfortunately, fairness. Money provides the means to hire and keep seasoned teachers. Money provides the means to install technology that keep students engaged and parents informed. Money purchases new textbooks and facilities that are falling apart. Money does not solve all the issues a school district may have in trying to educate a child, but it sure does help.

So, why then, is the lawsuit so darn important? Try coming up with a good answer to this question instead... What makes a child attending school in Kansas City or St. Louis any more deserving of more money from the state than a child that attends school in Sheldon or Crane or Blue Eye? Why should a district that has a low property value be any less deserving of the benefits of the decisions of the state to allow a company to build a new Baseball Stadium, Nuclear Power plant, or dam up a river and create miles of coastline?

Money is fairness when it comes to meeting state mandated guidelines for teaching kids how to pass the MAP test... which leads of schools being accredited and thus not failing No-Child-Left-Behind (NCLB). Money is fairness when the state passes two to three times the funds to schools in Urban areas as it does ones in rural areas. And I'm not talking about taxes because that's a whole other issue. This lawsuit was about the funding formula and whether or not one child is worth less to the state than another child.

Period.

Money = Fairness.

And slamming the Republic School Districts Super for stating, "Imagine what we could do with an extra $2000 - $3000," was just one example of not understanding what it takes to educate in today's world. The point of the statement is that if we can do the same here for half of what it supposedly take in KC or St. Louis, imagine what could be accomplished if we had their money at our disposal.

Obviously these people have never taught in a school district that has to perform to a mandated level as all other districts in the state (and nation now that the No-Child-Left-Behind act is out there) and do it with less resources than those more "deserving" districts.

That just shows that schools in this area have to work smarter and harder to achieve the same results, but that does not mean that the state's funding formula is FAIR.

Nor does it mean that a judge should decide that one child is more deserving than another just like our elected officials should not have passed a law that allocates money differently to individual districts.

Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of places where local school district patrons and elected officials are doing wrong by their local schools. Citizens not voting for tax increases when clearly there is a need such as classroom floors falling in or ceilings falling out is one such problem. Officials voting for a system of funding for schools that ties a schools intake of funds to property taxes is ridiculous since that places the burden of the money on the property holders while giving those that do not own much, if anything, a truly "free" education for their children.

Regardless, I hope this issue is not going to go away anytime soon.

11 years of teaching in districts where I read of the countless amounts of money thrown at St. Louis and KC by the state only to have them not even close to accreditation by the most lenient of state standards while we begged and pleaded for even a little extra money to update our books taught me two things.. 1) Money is not the only solution, and 2) It sure does help though.

You can read the News-Leader's point of view here.

Hiro's Hero's Backstory!

2007-08-28T13:14:00.001-05:00

NBC began setting up fake websites to work with Heroes last year. One of the more interesting ones was setup by Hiro's father (played by George Takei) Kaito Nakamura called The Yamagato Fellowship.

This site is dedicated to the study of the heroes of the past and now has Chapter 1 in a series of videos depicting the story of Takezo Kensei, Hiro's boyhood hero.

The video is narrated by John Rhys-Davies, who is no stranger to Scifi. He played Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies, as well as the Professor in Sliders and Sallah in both Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Check out the video for some back story on a character that is supposed to figure into the beginning of Chapter 2 of the Heroes saga. He will be played by former Alias baddie David Anders in the Sept 24th season premier.

Technorati Tags: Heroes, NBC, Takezo Kensei

Heroes inside information....

2007-08-27T13:01:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow brings the release of the Season 1 Box set of Heroes. To go along with the release, Wizard has posted some inside scoop on Season 1 and what's coming up for Season 2. They got series creator Tim Kring, writer Joseph Loeb, and some of the cast to reveal secrets about the past season and what to watch for in the new season that starts September 24.

Enjoy the juicy tidbits here!.

Technorati Tags: Heroes, Wizard

The Top 10 list is at it again...

2007-08-24T15:47:00.001-05:00

Jason over at his Top 10 List blog is at it again, this time with: The Top Ten Rejected Cars in the Star Wars Universe.

Very funny and I am once again amazed by his ability to turn a phrase into something this humorous.

And for you ladies out there, Jason has presented: Porn for Women... Not necessarily what you think and very SFW.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Rohrblogger, Top Ten, Star Wars

Another new Heroes promo!

2007-08-24T08:25:00.001-05:00

And so it begins! Another new Heroes Season 2 promo has been released by NBC.

I still haven't seen this on the "strange box with pictures that fly through the air" yet.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Heroes, Season 2, Promo, NBC

For fans of the early 90's and big hair....

2007-08-23T14:17:00.001-05:00

Variety reports that NBC, yes, the peacock network, is looking to revive "American Gladiators" as a mid-season replacement!

If you don't remember, or are too young to know of its grandeur, American Gladiators was a show that pitted regular Joes like you and me, except in much better shape, against professional athletes, stunt-men(and women), and, what I would guess to now include, professional wrestlers.

The story is recounted here.

And here's an opening sequence for the classic American version.

Technorati Tags: American Gladiators, NBC

Heroes Season 2 Promo!

2007-08-22T16:58:00.000-05:00

Along with Lost and Battlestar Galactica, Heroes is in my list of Top shows on Television right now and the new season premiers September 24th.

Here's a new promo for the new season that doesn't look like what NBC usually does for show promos since it more closely resembles the Season 1 promo from Lost that played in the UK.

Anyway... Very cool promo even though I haven't caught it on the "boob tubes" yet.

And, if you are curious, here's the Lost promo that aired in the UK.

And Here's the longer version.

Movie producers are stuck in the 80's...

2007-08-21T08:56:00.001-05:00

And maybe we're better for it.

CranberryzeroVille has a round-up of '80s movies that are in the process of getting sequels and if you remember half of these movies, you are old enough to have graduated with me. So many of these movies bring back the mostly good memories of growing up in SW Missouri.

The Lost Boys was, unoffically, the official movie-of-choice of any self-respecting Cave Guide at Marvel Cave in Silver Dollar City! We knew it by heart and would actually each take a part and do the movie line-by-line while watching... It wasn't our fault... too much Radon exposure.

Anyway, the one that I'm worries about the most is that same Lost Boys follow-up. It can't be nearly as good as it could be without the same director and only the Coreys coming back to the cast.

What got me to the link in the first place was the Ferris Bueller sequel. If it gets made, everyone looks to be coming back. Now if they could only get John Hughes to come out of retirement to direct, we might have something to look forward to!

Technorati Tags: Lost Boys, Ferris Bueller, John Hughes

I've heard of, "Play with fire, you'll wet the bed"...

2007-08-17T10:25:00.001-05:00

But I've never heard of, "Play with fire, you'll stay a virgin."

Go on, click the link. And giggle a bit about the ending of this one.

All brought to you by Australia's News Network. Reporting at its best!

Technorati Tags: Fire, Virginity

Cloverfield parodies abound...

2007-08-15T16:32:00.000-05:00

Personally, I CANNOT WAIT for this movie to come out. I'm even prepared to shell out $18.00 for a Slusho t-shirt. In the meantime, Cloverfield parodies are now starting to pop up on the Intertubes and I thought you might enjoy a small taste.

EDIT: Sorry had to remove one since its code crashed IE. Here's a link instead! End EDIT.

And the original if you haven't seen it!

Unfortunately, information on the movie has slowed to a trickle. Let's hope that the viral campaign starts moving into high gear soon.

Technorati Tags: Cloverfield, Parody, Trailer

About that drinking age thing that says you have to be 21...

2007-08-14T17:02:00.001-05:00

Interesting article over on MSNBC about the push to lower the legal drinking age to 18.

Well, that's sort of a misnomer, especially in Missouri. The article explains that there is NO FEDERAL LAW forbidding the sale of alcohol to minors, just a hodgepodge of state laws that have been enacted to fall within a threat from Congress in 1984 to withhold 10% of highway funds from any state that did not prohibit SELLING alcohol to anyone under the age of 21. Every state did so, but they only changed the SALES age, not the drinking age.

In Missouri, for instance, the law says that anyone under the age of 21 may consume alcohol in their parent's or guardian's residence is said parent or guardian is present. That's really interesting, now isn't it?

Some of our neighbors have other versions. Kansas and Tennessee say no consumption for anyone under 21, while Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky and Oklahoma says anyone can imbibe. Illinois, on the other hand, says that anyone under 21 may consume if married AND the spouse or guardian is present.

It's like this all over the country and there are now supporters in 4 states (Missouri is one of them) pushing ballot initiatives to lower the purchase age to 18. The main argument has been around for as long as I can remember even wanting to drink... That a person who is considered old enough to serve his country in war time and vote for the direction this country should go, should be old enough to decide if he would like to drink a beer after he gets back from the front lines, regardless if that's in another country or at the polls.

Interesting reading, given the study from a couple of weeks ago that said that teens increasingly turn to hard liquor and do so by going "underground" to both purchase and over-indulge.

So... What do you think? Should the age to purchase be lowered?

Edit!!! Sorry the poll I had here wasn't working right. I'll try to get it fixed and repost tomorrow. /Edit!!!

Technorati Tags: Legal Drinking Age, Alcohol,

Powered by ScribeFire.

Blogging from 12 foot under....

2007-08-13T14:48:00.001-05:00

I'm in St. Louis today, surfing and writing this entry from 12 foot under the first floor of St. John's Hospital. My father-in-law is getting a pacemaker and defibrillator put in and boy am I jealous... I thought for sure I would be the first to get a BORG inplant in the family.

In all seriousness, the surgery went fine and he should only have to be in here until tomorrow.

For everyone who knew that this was happening, thanks for your kind words and prayers. I'm sure they all helped to get him (and us) through this.

Back at it tomorrow in Springburg.

Technorati Tags: St. Louis, St. John's Hospital, Borg

Trailers? We don't need no stinking good trailers....

2007-08-10T15:18:00.001-05:00

But bad ones we love! And this site is tribute to all things bad in the world of trailers.

Enjoy for youself the.... (duh, duh, duhhhhhhhh)... Trailers From Hell!

Technorati Tags: Movie Trailers, Hell

Beauty and the... what's the word?

2007-08-09T22:01:00.000-05:00

Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by "Satan" himself... This one's definitely not for the kiddies!

But I enjoyed it. Oh, the humanity of it all!

Strange how I'm a bit off-color today isn't it? Maybe the RANT is back in me.

By the way... This is from Blind Ferret Animation who works with Scott Kurtz, the creator of the Web Comic PvP.

Technorati Tags: Musical, Blind Ferret, Cartoon

Powered by ScribeFire.

I may have found someone who dislikes Coulter as much as I do...

2007-08-09T13:46:00.001-05:00

Not that I've tried to be politically correct at any time in my life but she just burn me up!

Jason Rohrblogger has a great site where he comes up with some of the funniest material out in the "tubes". His latest top 10 list is as follows:

Top Ten Quotes from the Coultergeist

Jason's posts are usually though provoking, can be politically incorrect, and very funny. Today, he get the first two without any problems. The funny part, sadly, is missing, only due to the fact that the lady in the eternal cocktail (heh) dress really did say these things.

Yes... I think she can be described with a anagram of her name that I read once.

"A Loner C#nt". Or maybe "Rectal Noun" is better?

Technorati Tags: Rohrblogger, Coulter, Top 10 List

Could I win? Only Ashwin knows...

2007-08-08T16:52:00.001-05:00

So... Larry points me to a blog that is giving away $2500 to some blogger that simply posts a paragraph. So here I am posting the paragraph.

Over at Ashwin’s blog, you will find one crazy blog owner!! You can win $2500!! To enter just copy this text and paste it in your blog!! But hurry, this competition will not last long! So get posting!

Will I win? And if I did, what should I spend the moola on? Do I have to pay taxes?

(sigh)

Just a few complex thought of my simple... hey, that Larry's line... well sorta.

Technorati Tags: Ashwin, $2500, Blog competition

Blogs about town....

2007-08-07T10:24:00.001-05:00

Some new blogs have started up in the local area. Check 'em out if you get a chance.

The "Dive Bar" Review - Making a habit of visiting as many local establishments as possible.

News Limericks - Exactly what you think it is... with bite.

Go Magazine - Part blog, part online magazine, part print publication, Go Magazine is information about the Springfield, Mo area. They've listed Dad's Rant twice, so I'm passing the link back.

Now back to work all you....

Technorati Tags: Springfield, Missouri, local blogs

And about that Firefox 10 day patch guarantee...

2007-08-07T10:17:00.001-05:00

Now Mozilla says that this is not official policy and that they, "do not think security is a game, nor do we issue challenges or ultimatums." Slashdot.org has more on the story and background.

Regardless, Firefox is still my browser of choice. I'd even go so far as to use Opera before IE for normal browsing. Basically, on my systems, IE is used to access the Microsoft Update site and that's it.

Take 'em with you on the go too! Portable Firefox and OperaUSB will run from a thumb drive or portable hard drive and not leave any tracks on the local computer!

Technorati Tags: Firefox, Opera, Microsoft, IE

What the heck is Cloverfield?

2007-08-06T15:16:00.001-05:00

In the grand tradition that is my geek hood, a new obsession has started and its all because of Geek Demi-god JJ Abrams.

He of Alias, LOST, and Mission Impossible 3 (as well as Felicity) fame, already has me hooked on anything his name is attached to. He is bringing the next big Star Trek movie to the screen as a "reboot" of sorts going back to a time when Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scottie, and Uhura are all wet behind the ears cadets at Starfleet command (we think?).

Now he comes along and creates a buzz about Cloverfield. By the way, that's not the movies real name, that's just the address of his production office. And don't believe most of what you might read on the Interwebs... most of it is fake... or is it?

The fan hype started over at Ain't It Cool News a couple of weeks ago when they posted some information on a mysterious movie that was attached to Mr. Abrams. Some web sites had popped up and were initially thought to be part of the game that was going to unfold. Unfortunately, the sites were cool, but not part of the fun. JJ sent a letter to the Ain't It Cool site breaking the news but also pointing fans to a legit site. 1-18-08.com came on line with a single picture that you could move around... then more followed... And then Transformers came out.

What does Transformers have to do with Cloverfield? Just a trailer... with no movie title... lots of hand-held digital video camera footage... and one hell of a big explosion, a roar, flaming wreckage... and the head of the Statue of Liberty rolling down a city street!

Closer examination of the trailer revealed s geek tidbit. One of the people in the footage was wearing a Slusho t-shirt. For the uninitiated, Slusho is a beverage like Icee that was part of the second episode of Alias. Sidney's trainer, Vaughn, was briefing her and offers her a Slusho at a convenience store. One little scene in a canceled spy show and two seconds in a un-named movie trailer caused fandom to go searching and they found an official Slusho web site. Lots to see and read there, and, if you are as geek as I am, Slusho shirts to be bought.

Then the San Diego Comic Con hit and things started getting crazy. Abrams was there and he released some posters about the movie... but still no name... and that it was a monster movie the likes of which we haven't seen before. This is not Godzilla, this is not Voltron, this is going to be something different entirely.

So, if you have the geek gene flowing through your veins, go see if you can discover the secrets behind Cloverfield.

I'll keep you posted on what I find but in the meantime you can check out Cloverfield Clues and a 1-18-08 blog for set photos, videos, and other links.

p.s. If you go to the official 1-18-08 site, try shaking the photos!

Technorati Tags: Cloverfield, 1-18-08, JJ Abrams, Slusho

Powered by ScribeFire.

Its funny how things come around.....

2007-08-06T10:57:00.000-05:00

I'm Famous! I must be 'cause I made it into Wikipedia!

How did I find that I'm a footnote in the topic covering the Northeastern Blizzard of 1978? A comment from someone in South Carolina and a trackback from one of the metrics system that I use. The article talks about the New England tradition of "milk and bread runs" (heh... sounds like a bad night out to me!) and then goes on to talk about them as "buying French Toast supplies". That Sentence is footnoted to my post about French Toast Panic from January in the middle of the Ice Storm of 2007.

It's very strange how the Interwebs circles around and finally links back to you isn't it?

Here's to posting on a more regular basis... Who knows? I might even get "Blog Squatting" listed someday...

Technorati Tags: Wikipedia, French Toast Panic, Blog Squatting

Powered by ScribeFire.

Another reason to love the Firefox....

2007-08-06T09:25:00.001-05:00

Mozilla announced that they have a new pledge for critical flaws in their browser. They will fix any flaw considered "critical" within 10 days of it being disclosed.

That's a pretty big statement and if they can keep it, Firefox users will be all the better for it. Microsoft only sends out patches on the second Tuesday of each month and has been known to skip months but has also released early patches if they problem is big enough. This pledge however, says a lot about how much pressure Mozilla is willing to put on Micro$oft in the new browser wars.

If you haven't given Firefox a try, check it out here. And if that's not your cup of tea, then check out Opera, another great browser.

I personally use Portable Firefox and OperaUSB since they DO NOT have to be installed on any machine.

Yahoo has all the news here.

Spread the word! Firefox rules!

Technorati Tags: Mozilla, Firefox, Opera

Larry's tagged me again with Scattergories.

2007-07-27T10:46:00.001-05:00

Use the
1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...They MUST be real
places, names, things...NOTHING made up! Try to use different answers if the
person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the
boy/girl name question.

Your Name: Bryan

Famous Artist/Band/Musician: Banarama

4 letter word: Beer

Vehicle: Barracuda

TV Show: Babylon 5

City: Boston

Boy Name: Balthazar

Girl Name: Barbara Ann

Alcoholic drink: Bahama Mama

Occupation: Bell Boy

Flower: Bluebells

Something you wear: Boxers

Something you do: Bellow

Something that you like: Boobs

Celebrity: Bono

Food: Biscuits & Gravy

Something found in a kitchen: Baking Sheet

Reason for Being Late: Bad Accident

Cartoon Character: Buzz Lightyear

Something You Shout: Banzai!

And now I tag... Lennisimo, Fat Jack, and Darren. Have at it boys!

Technorati Tags: Meme, Scattergories, Tag

Kids! We're going to Mexico, or the Mountains, or...

2007-07-18T13:52:00.000-05:00

Long time no blogging!

Vacation time came last week and the kids had no idea where we were taking them. Another couple and us joked during the great Ice Storm of 2007 that a vacation to Florida would be great right about then. The more we joked about it, the more the vacation sounded like a good idea, so we made plans and decided to go for it this summer. The problem was trying to get to Florida and Disney without the kids (our 3 and their 2) finding out and constantly bugging the heck out of us.

The plan? We told them we were going to the mountains! Which wasn't lying since we went to Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and stayed just outside the Appalachian Mountains on the way down. The funny part was listening to them try to decide just which mountains we were going to see. My kids had decided that we were going to either the Rocky Mountains or to the Appalachians. We told them that we would be visiting Tennessee and Kentucky and that let our middle child to creatively have her Summer School teacher look up the weather in those states so she could plan what clothes to bring.

The best story though is with the other family's kids. Their oldest was determined that we were going to Colorado and in a funny slip, her mother told her that she had no idea where we were going since there were mountains in Mexico and that taking a family to Mexico was REALLY cheap. That would have been all good and well, until she was telling her husband what happened and their youngest overheard and ran to tell the oldest. They then told our kids and it was set in stone in their minds...

Well, my wife and I are not ones to let something like this go, so the day before we left we looked up and found Mexico, Kentucky. It was about 15 miles off Interstate 24 we would be traveling on so we set our excursion to take a small detour and ended up at a grease spot in the road named Mexico. Drove past the town sign the first time since the only one there faced the opposite direction. After we turned around and saw it we took pics with the kids and had a good laugh...and boy were they confused.

I'll post some more pix of the trip soon.

Ok... This just really creeps me out!

2007-07-06T11:12:00.001-05:00

How much am I worth as a cadaver to science? If only I had smoked a little bit more in college. Oh, and had my appendix out.... I would be worth more!

$3940.00
Still... I guess I could maybe pay for my own funeral?

Technorati Tags: Cadaver, Calculator, weird

8 Things You'll Regret Asking About...

2007-07-03T10:53:00.000-05:00

So... Here I am again. I got tagged by Fat Jack for a new meme based on 8 things you really may not want to know about me. Ready or not, here I go....

--------------==============+==============--------------

Eins: In the Fat Jack tradition, I'll number this in the only foreign language I ever studies, Deutch.

Zwei: I've just started collecting comics again after a 12 year hiatus. I collected comics during the time from my freshman year in college to about 6 months before the birth of my first child. The new additions add to the nearly 5000 comics I collected before.

Drei: I worked as a Cave Guide at Marvel Cave and Talking Rocks Caverns during college and a few years after graduation.

Vier: My family owned horses while I was in high school and I was, believe it or not, a Team-Roper in the amateur rodeo circuit.

Funf: I'm a blogger... I started Larry blogging and guilted Fat Jack into getting his own blog and to stop blog-squatting on mine.

Sechs: I'm one class away from my Masters degree. I've only to finish my thesis paper, which I refuse to do until the head of my degree program retires. He's an ass and I'm stubborn. Update! -- Looks like I may have to start looking again... he gone now... damn!

Sieben: Larry and I grew up only 20 miles from each other and had some mutual friends but never met until we started working together about 3 years ago. Larry liked to date girls from Lamar.. I tried to avoid dating girls from Lamar... It was a trade off I was willing to make.

Acht: I love my gadgets.. LOVE 'EM! My manta, is: He who dies with the most toys, wins... but he still dies.

So now I go out and tag a few other's among out intrepid group of bloggers. I'm grabbing Lenisimo (since he never calls), Sambora, and The 2 Dollar Bill. Have at it boys!

And... 2 posts in a day! Maybe things are slowing down at work....

Technorati Tags: Meme, 8 things, regret

Math Geeks rejoice!

2007-07-03T09:57:00.001-05:00

Since I keep getting accused of never posting.... I though I would at least offer this piece of inventive Math geekiness.

What is it you ask?

Why... Its a home-made binary adding machine! That's what! Check out more info on it here... And enjoy the video.

Technorati Tags: Binary, Adder, Machine, Video, Math

What if LOST was a sitcom?

2007-06-07T13:13:00.000-05:00

Could this be the reason they decided to screw with our minds in the finale?

Technorati Tags: LOST, sitcom, funny

The wisdom of a 9-year-old...

2007-05-10T13:29:00.001-05:00

Long time no post... I know... but I couldn't resist post the wisdom of my almost 9-year-old daughter.

She's a middle child and as such tends to be on the more dramatic side of moodiness. And knowing this, my wife and I have tried really hard to help her find a way to control the changes in temperment she goes through. From this she has whittled down to 4 steps, something most adults have yet to work out for themselves...

And she wrote them on her toy bench just in case she forgot them! At least it was in pencil and I was able to preserve them for future reference...

Forgiveness is easy... Hosted on Zooomr

For those that can't read them from the shot, here's what it says:

How to for give your self
1. breath in deep then out.
2. fold your hands tograther and pray.
3. rest and try to go to sleep.
4. finnaly you for give yourself.

Out of the mouths of babes come words we could all live by.

Maybe I should send it to our elected officials? It couldn't hurt!

Technorati Tags: Wisdom, Forgiveness, Children

Fantasy Moguls changes....

2007-05-10T11:09:00.000-05:00

Ok... I made a few changes in my Fantasy Moguls picks. Here's my new slate... If you are interested....

Check out my Fantasy Moguls movie slate!

Get in the game at fantasymoguls.com!

Technorati Tags: Fantasy Moguls, Movies, Summer, 2007

Powered by ScribeFire.

Fantasy Moguls - The Summer Sessions has started!

2007-04-26T15:02:00.001-05:00

Fantasy Moguls has changed their format a bit and our intrepid band of movie geeks are ready to start our Summer 2007 session. This time around, instead of a draft, the site gives you "$100" with which you have to "buy" movies to put in your slate. Duplicate are allowed...the challenge is in picking the RIGHT movies that will give you the best final score.

The following are my picks for the season. If you see any of these movies, please help by going to IMDB and entering a review scrore. If you aren't planning, check the movie reviews out and you might just want to...

Boost my Fantasy Moguls score!

Go see Ratatouille!

Opens Fri Jun. 29

Boost my Fantasy Moguls score!

Go see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!

Opens Fri Jul. 13

Boost my Fantasy Moguls score!

Go see Live Free or Die Hard!

Opens Wed Jun. 27

Boost my Fantasy Moguls score!

Go see 28 Weeks Later!

Opens Fri May. 11

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Fantasy Moguls, Movies, Summer

Presenting... Robin Sparkles!

2007-04-24T08:54:00.000-05:00

Remember all those Tiffany and Debbie Gibson videos from the 80's? Well, if you are a fan of How I Met Your Mother on CBS you'll remember the episode entitled Robin Sparkles.

And, like me, if you thought the music video from the episode was hilarious, you can now enjoy it in its entirety.

Ahh! There's nothing better than a good 80's flashback!

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, Robin Sparkles

Geek, Geek, Geek ... Geek, Geek, Geek ... Geek, Geek, Geek ...

2007-04-23T14:50:00.001-05:00

Hum the title above to the Darth Vader theme as you enjoy the following information.

Someone in Belgium got their geek on and combined their Star Wars fandom with their love with Ballooning and dorked out big time.

Check out the Darth Vader hot-air balloon they created!

More infomation on SciFi and the creator's site Darth Vader Balloon.

Technorati Tags: Darth Vader, Balloon, Geek

Best Headline of the day...

2007-04-13T11:47:00.001-05:00

Go ahead... Get your adolescent giggle box ready for a good laugh.

When you are ready... Click here!

I am so not over my pubescent years....

Technorati Tags: Giggle, headline, laugh

Mouse movement mystery solved!

2007-04-09T13:49:00.001-05:00

Ever wonder how your mouse cursor moves around your screen? Well, this is one mystery that has been formally solved, I think...

The answer can be found here!

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Mouse Mystery, Funny

Phishers have no shame...

2007-04-03T13:29:00.001-05:00

People will never stop stooping to new lows. I've gotten used to unknown Nigerians emailing me about the millions of dollars they will let me keep if only I would help them move a massive amount of money into my personal banking account. All I have to do is just give them my account number and... well... at this point you probably know the rest.

Scammers have gotten more and more creative lately using the British Isles as their latest foil in trying to gain access to what little money I keep each month. Seems that I've won the British Lottery! And although I have been to Great Brittan and the Emerald Isle it was well over 7 years ago and I don't remember ever purchasing a British Lottery ticket. If you happen to know differently and I really need to respond to the email, please let me know.

But now the scammers have decided to try a new tactic appeal to my religion. I received the message from one "Sheila Johnson", a "fellow believer in Christ", who has $3.5 million just sitting in an unnamed bank in Europe... blah, blah, blah....

They even go so far as to quote Exodus and tell me that her "unbelieving" relatives are trying to plunder her assets...

{sigh}

So many people... so little time... so much money....

I'm just guessing that most people already know to ignore these types of scams, but if not, PLEASE don't fall for them. PLEASE look after the older people in your life that are easily influenced or moved by stories of other people's plights. And whatever you do... PLEASE don't forward them to me in a plea to help others.

I can barely take care of myself, much less the problems of Sheila and her very rich family....

Technorati Tags: Phishing, hoax, email

New movie from the guys at JibJab!

2007-03-30T14:18:00.000-05:00

What is it about these guys that they get their parodies SO RIGHT? The news will never look the same again.

What We Call the News | Send To Friends | Funny Animations at JibJab

Enjoy!

You can guess how I feel about this woman....

2007-03-29T10:38:00.001-05:00

Fox News has a real winner in Rachel Marsden. Who? Well, she's one of the hosts of Fox's "Red Eye" late night show designed to compete with Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" and "The Cobert Report". She's also been referred to as "Ann Coulter 2.0".

Yep. That'll endear her to me...

Even if, like me, you've never watched the show (or Fox News at all), you might find her history interesting and question Fox's mind set in hiring her. Especially for a show that commonly discuses topics like the Duke rape case. What does that have to do with her credibility? I'll let you read the entire sorted affair over at Salon. The article is free if you watch a short ad, just be sure to turn off Adblock plus for the site (if you use it) and reload to see the link to the ad.

I'll give her this... She's a damn sight better looking then Ann... but the Coulter 2.0 reference just kills it for me. That, and when she opens her mouth to speak....

Technorati Tags: Fox News, Intelligence, Marsden, Coulter

For the questioner in all of us...... You do have an inner questioner don't you?

2007-03-23T09:31:00.001-05:00

Ever hear something and you said to yourself, "Self, that doesn't seem correct" and then started looking for proof?

Then check out The Skeptic's Dictionary. The web site based on the book of the same name has articles not unlike other urban legends sites like Snopes but also attempts to help you become better at questioning what you see and hear in the busy world around us.

Put on your thinking caps and head on over.

Technorati Tags: Skepdic, Snopes, Hoax

Who knew Linux was a woman???

2007-03-23T09:14:00.000-05:00

Novell, my networking OS of choice back in my IT days, has come out with two good parodies of the Mac vs. PC commercials made popular by Apple.

Love the in-fighting.... Love the fact that Linux "grew up" pretty quickly... Love to share them with you....

Commercial #1

Commercial #2

Kudos to Novell for one of the best spins on the OS debate.

Technorati Tags: Mac vs. PC, Novell, Linux

More Scif than you can shake a stick at!

2007-03-22T09:40:00.001-05:00

On the heels of ABC's announcement that they have picked up LOST for a fourth season, Ain't It Cool News has the lowdown that Battlestar Galactica's fourth season has been expanded from the expected 13 episodes to 22! Very cool news that, but there is also a two hour "special event" that will be shown during the 4th quarter of 2007 on SciFi and then be available on DVD.

More info is available here!

Technorati Tags: BSG, Battlestar Galactica, Season 4

I'm way behind on Lost Recaps.... but this is NEWS!

2007-03-21T21:44:00.001-05:00

And hopefully I will get them done very soon... I'm in the middle of Locke's episode as I write this.

Anyway....

I was on Lostpedia and saw this VERY EXCITING announcement from ABC. Lost was just picked up for a fourth season!

Woohoo! Paaarrrrtttaaayyy!

At least 22 more reasons to be home on Wednesday evening at 9pm.

Technorati Tags: LOST, Season 4

Bow your heads for a moment......

2007-03-20T11:52:00.001-05:00

Got this sent to me a while ago... Thought I would share since St. Pat's day was Saturday. Would have posted then, but Zooomr was still down for the upgrade....

Bow Your Heads For A Moment Hosted on Zooomr

Technorati Tags: Beer, Prayer, Humor

Beware today... if you're a Ceasar!

2007-03-15T10:36:00.001-05:00

Hot on the heels of the aforementioned Pi day and Einstein's b-day we present 3.15.07, The Ides of March.

Unless you are a Roman Emperor or play a part in a local remake of Shakespeare plays, The Ides (not the eyes as Yahoo reports) probably don't mean a lot to you. Observed on the 15th of March, May, July, and October and the 13th of all other months, the 15th of March became synonymous with Doom and Gloom thanks to William's play about Julius Caesar and his fall at the hands of Brutus and the Roman Senate. "Et tu, Brute" and "Beware the Ides of March" have become part of the English vernacular due to the famous production.

In Rome, the Hash House Harriers carry out a Toga Run in the same area where Caesar was killed.

Enjoy the Ides... Beware the Ides!

Technorati Tags: The Ides of March, Caesar, Shakespeare

Its 22/7 day!

2007-03-14T08:36:00.001-05:00

Pi....

The very word can strike fear into a person as memories of Geometry race through their heads!

Pi....

The ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter.

Pi....

Shortened for the less enlightened to 3.14 or 22/7. It is used mostly in Grade, Middle, and Junior High Schools to help calculate the Circumference and Area of circles using the formulas:

Area = πr²
Circumference = 2πr

In fact, In 1897, the Indiana General Assembly passed a bill that determined that Pi was equal to 3.2 and other rational numbers. The Indiana Senate, wisely, held the bill and
prevented it from becoming law. Talk about stupid legislation!

Why Pi day? Why... today is March 14th or 3/14 or in the newer computer vernacular 3.14...

It's also the pseudo birthday of the formula E = mc² since today is the birthday of Albert Einstein. Pseudo because Mr. Einstein was not the first to use the formula but made it famous when it was used in his 1905 writings.

I find it interestingly coincidental that Mr. Einstein was born on 3.14 day... Don't you?

Pi... Enjoy your day!

For more information on Pi, check out the following links.

Pi... the movie
Pi to 1000000 places - check out the URL!
The Joy of Pi
World record Pi reciters

And believe it or not... in Europe the celebrate Pi Approximation Day on 22/7 (day/month is the way the write dates over there). Another reason to party in July.

Technorati Tags: Pi, Pi Day, Einstein

Ooooh....Ooooooh....Ooooooh! Zooomr is finally III!

2007-03-13T13:25:00.001-05:00

That's III as in the Roman number 3 and not ill as in "sick".

I was trying to post a picture to Zooomr and couldn't login with jUploadr so I went to the site and got this message...

Hi there, we're launching our biggest release yet! Zooomr will be temporarily offline while we make the move to Mark III. Blogged photos will still be available through this transition period.
Release Mark III	6 Months in the making Over 250 NEW features, improvements and refinements Sell your photos as stock -- you keep 90% of the sale! Unlimited storage and archival for all users -- no limits on photo size, either! For developers: An Open API so that you can access all of the richness of Zooomr in your own apps. For more information, please visit our blog

So! For all you Zooomr's out there... The wait is almost over! More info is available on their blog.

Technorati Tags: Zooomr, Mark III

Trouble doing multiplication without a calculator... Try this!

2007-03-08T08:50:00.001-06:00

I used to be a math teacher and I've seen, and still use, a lot of quick multiplying methods. This one however is pretty wild. I think it would start to get out of hand if the numbers got too big, but it is interesting that it works...

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Math Trick, Multiply

Heroes is following in LOST's tracks...

2007-03-07T14:40:00.001-06:00

Last summer LOST pulled off a pretty impressive online game called the LOST Experience. If you didn't get in on that and want to catch up, you can learn all you need to know from Lostpedia and their Experience Coverage.

Now, upstart show, and some say better rival, Heroes has began an online experience of their own. The creators of Heroes have their own website named for the in-show comic 9th Wonders that was created by future seer Issac and read by Hiro in the first episode. Head over to Primatech Paper's website (or is it???) and check out the logo... Look familar? Then head to the Jobs page to sign up for an "interview" with the company. Soon some interesting emails will follow with even more links.

Let's see if NBC and Heroes can pull off as good a game as ABC and LOST did this summer!

Enjoy!

p.s. I hope to get last week's LOST recap up ASAP.....

Technorati Tags: Heroes, NBC, LOST, ABC, Lostpedia

If anyone ever wondered why I despise Ann Coulter so much....

2007-03-07T11:46:00.000-06:00

I'm finding that too many people haven't heard about Ann's latest round of hate-filled, "don't do as I do, do as I say", blathering that it amazes me. We live in Conservativeville USA here in the buckle of the Bible-belt, but not many people are standing up and shouting about what she said this weekend about Democratic Presidential hopeful John Edwards. Here's the video first to get you up to speed about all the hub-bub...

So... Ms. Ann seems to have found out something about Mr. Edwards that it appears he didn't even know about. He's a bundle of sticks... Yeah... Right... That's what she meant. Or, maybe it was commentary about the fact that if you do something dumb in this country, all you have to do is go into rehab...

Bull.

Everybody in that audience for the American Conservative Union knew what she was implying and they applauded her for it. And I've been hard-pressed to find any prominent conservatives that have come out against her statements.

What really amazes me is that this woman is put up as a poster child on FOX as a spokesperson for the Conservative movement. She is brought into these types of gatherings and given free reign to spew whatever she wants and nobody who invited her is held accountable. In fact, as you see in the video, people applaud her. Maybe that's because, to them, it seems OK that a blonde bimbo who wears the same black cocktail dress to everything doesn't have to answer for her tirades. Or maybe they like the fact that someone else is saying what they are thinking and they don't have to get in trouble over it.

Whatever it is, I'm still troubled over the fact that God-fearing Christians aren't up in arms over this. Since when did conservative values loving, "do-unto-others" believing people stop holding the people that are speaking for them to those same values and beliefs?

Apparently since the Contract with America ran out.....

Flame away!

**********Update!**********
Larry tells me that there's been a "huge outcry" on the right for Ann to "Shut up". Larry has said he will send links along and I'll post 'em when I get 'em.

I will, however, only be satisfied when she's publicly chastised by those who have let her spew...

And she accepts it....

And that will happen like a snowball's chance in hell.....

Technorati Tags: Coulter, Edwards, Rant

Ryan vs. Dorkman II.... Amazing!

2007-03-04T19:45:00.001-06:00

Back when G. Lucas was finishing work on a little epic called Star Wars with the third, and strangely, last in the 6 episode series many fans were creating homages to his double trilogy with home made movies. Ryan vs. Dorkman was one of the best and if you haven't seen it, I present it below!

Recently the creators released part 2 of what I can only hope if a Trilogy of its own. Ryan Vs. Dorkman II is in so many ways a better Jedi fight than every one of the fights in the episode except Darth Maul vs. Qui Gon vs. Obi Wan in Episode I. That fight left me thinking that G. Lucas could pull off the impossible and completely thrill my generation again. He came close many times but rarely did I get the same feeling as I did during that fight at the end of Phantom. These guys, however, know what loving Star Wars is all about! Part two proves that! Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Star Wars, Fan Flick, Ryan vs. Dorkman

Knocking some teeth out of the DMCA...

2007-03-01T16:22:00.000-06:00

I couldn't be more happy that someone has come to their senses in the US Legislature and realized that the DMCA goes too far in its grandiose idea to protect Copyrights.

On Tuesday (2/27/07), Rep. Rick Boucher (D - VA) introduced H.R. 1201 into the House of Representatives that seeks to add six new exemptions to the US Code section 1201. This is the Fair Use Act that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA and evil to lots of people) amended and gave companies far reaching rights to sue people over previously legal copying of materials. You can find more about what the DMCA did here at Wikipedia and here from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

What's important about this bill is that it restores some otherwise understood legal uses of materials.

Teachers will be allowed to make copies of audiovisual works for teaching purposes and may circumvent any copy protection scheme in the process.
You can't be forced to watch commercials or content you find offensive and you may circumvent any copy protection scheme in order to do so. TiVo users of the world rejoice!
You can make copies for personal use across a home network but not for sharing across the Internet (ala Napster) and you may circumvent any copy protection scheme in order to do so.
You may circumvent any copy protection scheme in order to seek out any work that is in the public domain.
You may circumvent any copy protection scheme in order to do research or write an article, such as a review, if you are a reporter or researcher.
Backup copies of materials are allowed and you may circumvent any copy protection scheme in order to do so.

No surprise that the RIAA has got their panties in a wad over this claiming that it will only encourage theft of Intellectual Property (IP).

Whether or not this goes anywhere is still up in the air, but at least someone has made an effort to restore some sanity to this whole scenario. The EFF has posted their support here.

As I've said before, "You can take my TiVo when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!"

Technorati Tags: Rick Boucher, H.R. 1201, DMCA

In the world of the odd.....

2007-03-01T11:42:00.001-06:00

Being that our family (don't tell the kids!!!) is planning a trip to Florida this summer, I was kind of worried about this news report about a man doused in gasoline and almost set afire at the Disney Animal Kingdom park.

But then I realized just how weird things are in this country when a link at the bottom of the page led to a story about a man who is blaming his paralysis on a burrito he ate.

To top that off, the same article linked to a story about a thief who's been using landscaping rocks to defeat home security alarms and another story about
a 14-year-old girl who was arrested for the FIFTH time on Grand Theft
Auto charges... in FIVE months. After seeing the photo of her sticking
her tongue out at the new camera, I simply point back to the story
about Parental Responsibility from yesterday!

What the hell is going on in Florida? Wasn't the old people who can't vote enough?

Technorati Tags: Odd, News, Florida, Disney

Who knew it was such a problem?

2007-02-28T13:39:00.000-06:00

Global Underwear Disaster Alert! (whoooooop...whooooooooooop....whooooooop!)

Ummm.. Underwear Man(???), aka Timmy O'Neil, to the rescue!

Patagonia should be ashamed of themselves... or not....

Technorati Tags: Underwear, Patagonia, Timmy O'Neil

Everyone rejoice! A kid, a toilet, and his talking poo...

2007-02-28T13:09:00.000-06:00

In so many ways, this is just wrong! On the other hand, don't we Americans rejoice when our kids finally get the "I got to go potty" thing down to a simple science?

The Japanese are just weird when it comes to this stuff... Tigers and talking poo? Wonder if the creators of South Park know about this?