Month: April 2007

Sometimes, Gloria confuzzles me

Bill’s great. He’s insightful, entertaining, and intelligent. His wife is also great, as far as I can tell from what he says about her. Sometimes, however, she says confusing things. Clearly Gloria doesn’t recognize the inherent evil in zombies.

“It’s the new movie by the guys who made ‘Shaun of the Dead’ ,” I said. “You liked that movie.”

“I did,” she said, “although I didn’t like all the zombie killing.”

“What?”

“The zombies,” she repeated. “I haven’t played enough video games to get desensitized to violence like you have,” she said, laughing.

She’s good.

“What exactly are you supposed to do with a zombie?” I asked. “Square dance?”

“Well, they used to be people,” she said.

Zombies are evil. Killer zombie pirates are worse. Killer zombie pirate ninja worse still. But hope you never run in to killer zombie pirate ninjas with robot henchmen and frikkin’ pet sharks that walk on land with frikkin’ laser beams. Such a thing could even make Chuck Norris pause. Understand he’d still kill them all, but there would be a brief pause before he starts, just to be sure he’s ready.

[tags]Zombies are evil, Gloria loves zombies[/tags]

Who is to blame for the Virginia Tech slayings?

It’s really easy to answer the question “Who is to blame for the Virginia Tech slayings?” – the shooter is to blame. However, there are going to be many, many, many, many other people, ideas, and entities blamed for the shooting. To see where the tally is, I recommend checking out The Blame Game for an up-to-date count. Here are just a few (my comments in parentheses after each blame):

It’s the fault of violent video games. (I was expecting idiot Jack would make this claim – glad to see someone tracking this info)

It’s the first victim’s fault. (it is shameful that anyone would even suggest this one)

It’s the Second Amendment’s fault. (Hey, didn’t I already cover this? Why yes, yes I did)

It’s the GOP’s fault.

It’s the Democrats’ fault. (glad we have blame for the left and the right here)

It’s the fault that schools teach that the theory of evolution is fact. (sure – let’s just jump from blaming the schools and blame Darwin himself)

As I write this, the list is up to 56, and more additions are being made based on commentors’ responses. Drop by and see who or what is to blame. This will make it easier for you to join in discussions that avoid blaming the pathetic loser who made up persecution so he could die a cowardly death while believing he was doing something grand.

[tags]Who is to blame for the Virginia Tech slayings?, Blaming everyone and everything except the shooter for the Virginia Tech shootings[/tags]

Stick fighter demo

stickshot02.jpgEverybody is Kung-Fu fighting, stick style is this little demo. Text grab from the hosting site:

This demo is the same we sent to ArtFutura. It gives you access to the first level of the game. Please read the readme.txt file before playing. Remember, this is a work in progress.

System Requirements:

  • Windows ME/2000/XP/Vista Operating System, with DirectX 8.1 or higher installed
  • Intel Pentium 3 / AMD Athlon or higher processor
  • 512 Mb memory
  • 3D card compatible with DirectX 8.1
  • Recommended: Gamepad or other game controller for greater game experience

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Salon.com in favor of taking away Americans’ rights

There is a lot of good commentary on Salon.com, in my opinion, even though there is a massive liberal bias to what is published there. I recently paid for a subscription because there was enough on the site that I wanted to read but couldn’t that I felt it was worth investing a few dollars to be able to access it. However, the latest article I’ve read on Salon would sound to me like the creation of any of a large number of well known conservatives (also on video so you can hear it yourself) trying to restrict out rights and freedoms were it attacking any American right other than the 2nd amendment guarantee of our right to bear arms. But rather than the more well-known conservative grabs for restricting Americans’ rights that we’ve seen recently, this Salon article is a liberal call to repeal the 2nd amendment, claiming (in reference to the recent Virginia Tech massacre) &147;hitting the delete button on the Second Amendment surely would lower the odds against future mayhem.&148; Maybe I’m a moron, but I don’t see that ridding the US of the 2nd amendment would necessarily and assuredly lead to the reduction in odds of future mayhem. On the other hand, I do believe that allowing students with carry permits to actually carry firearms on campus would lead to fewer victims in future cases, simply because those most in danger are also best set up to defend themselves. But like I said – maybe I’m just a moron for thinking that.

April 18, 2007 | WASHINGTON — Fifteen unambiguous words are all that would be required to quell the American-as-apple-pie cycle of gun violence that has now tearfully enshrined Virginia Tech in the record book of mass murder. Here are the 15 words that would deliver a mortal wound to our bang-bang culture of death: “The second article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.”

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Your GPS could be lying to you

“Warning! Undead pirate zombie ninja battle ahead!!!” Someday soon, such an alert could come to you on your GPS system. Well, maybe not quite the end-of-fucking-civilization(TM) alert that undead pirate zombie ninjas would dictate (yes, I just said the end of civilization would hinge on a battle of undead pirate zombie ninjas – leave a comment if you think I am wrong!), but certainly other startling alerts like Terrorist attack or Bull fight in progress could come through. Thanks to the insecure method of alert delivery made possible by FM subcarrier channels (known as RDS), some GPS systems will pick up local news alerts and inform you of problems before you get caught in a bull fight or otherwise dangerous zone.

Two security experts have discovered a way to inject false messages– some amusing and others potentially frightening– into car satellite navigation systems.

Andrea Barisani, chief security engineer for Inverse Path Ltd. and Daniele Bianco, a hardware hacker at Inverse Path, used off the shelf equipment to transmit messages to their car satellite navigation system warning of conditions ranging from foggy weather to terrorist attacks. They presented their findings on Friday at CanSecWest a security conference taking place this week in Vancouver.

. . .

Barisani and Bianco found that they could build a device that transmits over the RDS channel. Through trial and error, they discovered that transmitting certain code numbers translates into certain warnings that are displayed on the satellite navigation system.

Some were amusing. One code number alerts users that there’s a bull fight in progress. Another one indicates delays due to a parade.

But some weren’t so funny. One tells users that there has been a terrorist incident. Another indicates a bomb alert and another an air crash.

Maybe its just my twisted sense of humor, but I think there needs to be an undead pirate zombie ninja battle ahead alert, too. Of course, it could just be that I like saying undead pirate zombie ninja. But you might have already picked up on that. (via /.)

[tags]Undead pirate zombie ninja battle ahead – prepare for end of civilization, Fake GPS alerts via FM subcarrier signalling[/tags]

WKRP on DVD Tuesday

You may remember last year that I wrote how WKRP in Cincinnati was an unlikely DVD release.  Well, it looks like WKRP in Cincinnati will be available on DVD this week on Tuesday.  However, as I reported last year, it is unlikely that much of the original music will make it to the DVD release intact.  Roughly ten years ago, the replacement music was already well entrenched on the show.  I’m not sure what else will be changed in the newest releases, but you can be pretty sure little will remain from the original show.   Expect cut or changed scenes and dialog to even remove references to popular music that was originally in the show.

I got a copy of the first season of WKRP in Cincinnati and the news is not good. Which is disappointing to say, because I was lobbying for this release and believed – and still believe – that it would have been possible to reduce music costs without damaging the integrity of the show. That’s not what’s happened here.

So someone has already taken the time to put together the changes list.  Check it out and see if you are interested in the  changed version on DVD or will just remember the show as it was 30 years ago.

[tags]WKRP in Cincinnati on DVD Tuesday 2007-04-24, WKRP now on DVD but with much changed music, Recording Industry continuously working to make consumers less and less interested in their product[/tags]

Are cell phones killing all the bees?

I’m predicting no. But there are some folks who say bees are being killed off by excessive cell phone radiation.

It seems like the plot of a particularly far-fetched horror film. But some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause massive food shortages, as the world’s harvests fail.

They are putting forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile phones and other hi-tech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more bizarre mysteries ever to happen in the natural world – the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops. Late last week, some bee-keepers claimed that the phenomenon – which started in the US, then spread to continental Europe – was beginning to hit Britain as well.

The theory is that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees’ navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving species from finding their way back to their hives. Improbable as it may seem, there is now evidence to back this up.

Color me skeptical. Cell phones have been around for decades now. Bees have just started dying out. Unless there were a massive spike in the number of cell phones in use in the past year, I’d label this claim improbable. Luckily for me, there are others who doubt this theory as well. This way, I won’t be the only one looking foolish if cell phone radiation does turn out to be the culprit. But I’m not too worried that will happen:

Many beekeepers are skeptical of the reports or at least how they’re adding up. For 100 years, beekeepers have logged periodic reports of sudden and inexplicable bee die-offs.

People refer the latest die-off by its initials “CCD,” but one Georgia beekeeper instead calls it the “SSDD” crisis for “Same Stuff, Different Day.”

“People have lost bees from the beginning of time,” Sowers said. . . ..

Most empty hives have been discovered at large, commercial migrating bee farms – and that has led some beekeepers to theorize that it’s the stress of being trucked cross-country that’s killing the bees.

“The (bee’s) instinct is to go out and collect pollen and nectar, and that’s what they do. When they can’t get out of the hive, it puts them under stress. They need to go to the bathroom on a regular basis, but they won’t go in their hive,” said Ken Ograin, an Elmira beekeeper. . . ..

Finally, beehives simply die. Scattered reports of large-scale mortality date from 1915, 1960 and 1987. Scientists don’t always know why.

“This may be a repeat of that situation where we simply don’t figure it out,” said Morris Ostrofsky, president of the Lane County Beekeepers Association.

In fact, some farmers say they are puzzled about the dire news stories appearing in local, state and national media in the past several weeks.

“It’s not new this year,” Williams said. “If you know what I mean.”

So yes, that skepticism thing I’ve got going on looks pretty reasonable right now. Of course, if I’m wrong and we all die because of this in a few years, I’ll apologize on the other side.

[tags]Are cell phones killing all the bees (hint: probably not), Theory on massive bee die-off: cell phones did it![/tags]