The most valuable supply of worthlessness on the web
Anything that catches my fancy as a topic I want to cover. Truly random crap.
I wish I had done this. But I lack skill and imagination necessary to pull it off. It’s a “The Movies” generated machinima of Chuck Norris fighting a zombified Bruce Lee. As we all know, such a meeting must never come to pass, lest the very world on which we live be destroyed from that much awesomeness being in such close quarters. But in machinima, anything can happen.
[tags]Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee zombie, Chuck Norris vs. Zombie Bruce Lee[/tags]
I’ve already mentioned this recently in another posting, but this is a big enough deal to get its own article. If you are thinking at all about getting in on one of the online music subscription sites, consider Yahoo Music. If you use your Mastercard to pay right now, and if you are a new subscriber, you get 2 years of service for the price of 1. And given Yahoo Music’s low price, that works out to about $2.50 per month for unlimited downloading of music. The big drawback to this for a lot of folks is that Yahoo Music is only portable to Plays4Sure compatible players, of which the iPod is not one. And unfortunately for me, my Samsung YH-920 is not on the list either.
[tags]Yahoo music deal[/tags]
To be shown at the upcoming IMTS (International Manufacturing Technology Show) in Chicago is the AccuTrim WJ-110 six-axis robot with Abrasive Water Jet from Robotic Production Technology (RPT).
At the show, RPT will demonstrate three-dimensional, abrasive water jet trimming of a stainless steel part. During the demonstration, the part will be approximately placed into the robot’s work area and an RPT AccuFind* Sensor will quickly locate the part and find varying critical feature positions to ensure the trimming occurs in the correct location.
. . .
“We’re excited to introduce yet another water jet trimming solution to the marketplace with more capability than has ever been available before,†said RPT CEO Chuck Russo. “By working with H2O Jet and FANUC Robotics, we’re able to offer abrasive trimming solutions that combine a high reliability robot and high pressure components with system design, software and process knowledge that maximize the productivity of the system and deliver world-class value to our customers,†Russo said.
No mention of shark use in future water jet trimming projects was made. However, it is never wise to rule out the use of frikkin’ sharts with frikkin’ laser beams on their frikkin’ heads. Just remember that.
[tags]Lasers, Laser trimming robot, Robotic Production Technology[/tags]
I read about these giant yellow jacket nests last 
week, but just didn’t feel the need to post about it at the time. Now that a co-worker has sent me an article with a good picture of one of the super-sized nests, I thought it might be time to share. Read over at The Montgomery Adviser about giant yellow jacket nests (giant nests, not giant yellow jackets, by the way) which host up to 100,000 yellow jackets. Typically, entomologists say, they see nests of around 3000 yellow jackets. These super nests, as noted above, have up to 100,000 yellow jackets, and have multiple queens in the hive.
MOBILE — To the bafflement of insect experts, gigantic yellow jacket nests have started turning up in old barns, unoccupied houses, cars and underground cavities across the southern two-thirds of Alabama.
. . .
At one site in Barbour County, the nest was as large as a Volkswagen Beetle, said Andy McLean, an Orkin pesticide service manager in Dothan who helped remove it from an abandoned barn about a month ago.
. . .
Entomologist Dr. Charles Ray at the Alabama Cooperative Extension System in Auburn said he’s aware of about 16 of what he described as “super-sized” nests in south Alabama.
Ray said he’s seen 10 of them and cautioned people about going near them because of the yellow jacket’s painful sting.
For the record, I don’t believe I have to be warned to stay away from a nest of yellow jackets that is the size of a car or a barn. I used to work with a guy who said yellow jackets were hornets with a bad attitude and a mean streak. That seems about right. Oh, and while these folks don’t offer guidance on dealing with 100,000 yellow jacket nests, at Do Your Own Pest Control you can get some guidance on ridding yourself of these pests.
[tags]Super-size my yellow jacket nest, 100K yellow jackets in a car[/tags]
I’ve been reading more official and unofficial accounts of what was known before the US went to war in Iraq. I’m trying to get a better understanding of what intelligence we had which we were sure was correct, what we had that was unverified (or unverifiable), what questions were or were not asked about our sources, and more. So far, I’m finding anecdotal evidence that warnings were made about how questionable some of the pre-war intelligence used to justify the war was. But I’m also finding official reports that indicate some intelligence wasn’t properly corrborated and investigated, but nothing to indicate there were doubts raised about the sources.
Continue reading “Pre-war intelligence – what we knew and what we didn’t”
These lists pop up from time to time. I look at them when the do. I always find a game or three I didn’t know about before seeing the list. The games fall back out of my mind and I play whatever game I’m hooked on at the time (for now, that’s City of Heroes – over 2 years running now). To check the latest free games, hit 1Up’s list of free games.
What you’re looking at is the result of countless hours spent searching for the best and newest free games. You’ll find some mods, a little shareware, and a couple Web games, but most of the titles on the next few pages are 100 percent free with no strings attached.
So have at the list. And when you are viewing the offerings, make sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page for your list of pages. Clicking on the wrong next page marker doesn’t advance the list to another page. Just a helpful little tip from Tour-guide Randy.
[tags]Free Games, 1Up.com, Gaming[/tags]
Again, some of these are for my enjoyment. Feel free to skip by any you don’t like. For those that didn’t skip, can anyone tell me what this picture is from? She moved up a couple of notches on my women I most want for things I shouldn’t talk about, at least not as a married man, list after seeing this image.
[tags]Christina Ricci, Eye Candy[/tags]
Maybe it’s just my imagination, but Ben Kingsley and Howie Mandel sure look a lot alike now. Are they secretly related? Images from the Emmy red carpet blah, blah, whatever it’s called. Here they are, side by side. Can you tell which is the now knighted man who played Gandhi, and who hosts the TV gameshow Deal or No Deal?
 
[tags]Ben Kingsley, Howie Mandel, Long lost twins?[/tags]
Happy birthday, Michael Jackson, born in Gary, Indiana in 1958. And here’s a look at the changing face of Jackson, courtesy Anomalies-unlimited. Apologies for the low resolution – I didn’t have time to track down better pictures.
1979
1985
With a name like that, you have to want it. The only thing better than a pirate ninja game is an undead pirate ninja game. I’ve just downloaded the demo for Ninja Loves Pirate, so I can’t say whether or not there are undead pirates or undead ninjas in the game, but since you’ve got the pirates and ninjas, that’s enough of a start to make the download worth it. More news when I get a chance to play.
Imagine a place filmed through a blurry lens, in a time when pirates roamed the seas and ninjas sneakup up, attacked and vanished into the night. Heroic quests and shameful ambushes being a part of everyday life. Adventure and fighting. Treasures and poison darts. Manly men being rocked to sleep by the endless rolling of ocean waves. Cunning knights of the night dressed accordingly in snug black pyjamas. A deep blue sae filled with small islands covered with dense jungles and coral beaches. This is the world of Ninja Loves Pirate. You better believe it.
[tags]Ninja loves pirate, Undead pirate ninjas flipping out a killing everything (not really)[/tags]
(via Engadget)
This news is so last week, and I believe there is already work on a patch to fix this crack, but until that happens, if you want to strip the DRM protection off your Windows Media DRM protected files, you need to get FairUse4WM. I wonder if this will work with the Yahoo Music downloads? That would be extra tasty with the Yahoo Music 2 years unlimited use for the price of 1 with Mastercard payment offer.
[tags]Strip Windows DRM protection, Your music – your way, FairUse4WM[/tags]
This news from a co-worker. Seems a touring circus in Ireland had a bit of clown trouble which is likely to scar for life the children at the show.
DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) — A hot-air balloon caught fire during a circus stunt, killing a clown acrobat as dozens of children watched, police said Tuesday.
The accident happened Monday night as the Royal Russian Circus was performing in Scariff, County Clare, a village in western Ireland. About 100 people were in the audience, most of them children. Police said the clown was a 26-year-old man from Belarus but didn’t release his name.
Witnesses said the man, dressed in a clown outfit, was hanging from a cage suspended by ropes and a hot-air balloon inside the canvas tent. When the balloon exploded in flames, the cage fell on top of the man.
The man’s wife, who was also part of the act, suffered a broken arm, police said.
“We were all sitting down and they were doing their act. They were up fairly high, but they were doing fine. Next thing, he was down on the ground,” said audience member Hazel Harrington. She said many people in the audience initially thought the falling cage was part of the act.
I can neither confirm nor deny that the name of the clown was Chuckles.
[tags]Coulrophobia, More clown news, Poor Chuckles[/tags]
