iPhone 3GS

Okay, so I would still like to get an iPhone someday. I just really have no desire to switch over to AT&T for the service. The big news in Apple's world, is the addition of the iPhone 3GS to its line up. There are some features of this phone that make it far superior to its "older" generation. This video pretty much covers all the changes to the new phone.

Ryu Destroys a Car

Okay so when I saw the title of this video I was thinking, special effects or a self destructing car... something. What I got was hilarity! I especially liked the part about :42ish seconds into it.

F-150 Raptor SVT

If this truck was not $39,000 I would get it. Built for Baha this truck doesn't even look like the usual F-150. It is just a bad ass Ford Pickup Truck.

The Hollywood Few

This is a very good speech from Jon Voight at the NRSC-NRCC.

This guy has some serious guts for this speech, going against the typical Hollywood crowd. Thank you Jon Voight!

Viral

Okay so the Hammertime phenomena was cool when it first came out. It was 1990 and yes there were a lot of people that would make reference to it, including me (oh admit it you did too). The "you can't touch this" being the most popular line at the time.

The following little gem has been going around and now I've decided to post it here. It is viral and yes it made me laugh.

Enjoy:

Terrorism

This hag needs to move on. This was a memorial for Pvt. William Long, and this cow has the nerve to attack it. Show some respect!

Microsoft

This probably would not be funny, if some of it was not true. Enjoy this snippet of Life at Microsoft.

Jaguar XFR

I give you the 1 3/4 Ton Jaguar XFR. This thing is a spaceship or made from alien technology. What a heck of a car!



From MotorTrend:

Jaguar has gone outside the box with nearly every aspect of the XF. Its look is fresh and bold. The interior design and technology are anything but retro. Unlike its competitors from Germany, there's no six-cylinder "base" model sold in the U.S. Perhaps trying to focus more beginner buyers toward the updated-for-2008 {{{X-Type}}}, you'll find no fewer than eight cylinders beneath an XF bonnet.

Buy-in begins with the aforementioned 4.2-liter, 300-horsepower V-8. The XF Supercharged ups the ante to the same blown, 4.2-liter, 420-horsepower V-8 currently huffing away in the performance-minded XKR coupe/convertible and XJR sedan. But BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz offer their midsize sport/lux four-doors with 450 to 500 horses. So that's where Jag is headed with the XFR.

Our intel suggests the XFR V-8 will share certain architecture with the current AJV8 engine, but employ, at minimum, a new block able to be sized at 5.0 liters and beyond. Atop that will be supercharging and intercooling. The result should be at least 500 horsepower in blown form, with a 400-or-so-horse, naturally aspirated version to come later, perhaps replacing the current supercharged 4.2. The XFR's transmission will remain the excellent ZF six-speed automatic, with paddle shifters as on the XKR, plus its own unique calibration.

Standard on the XFR will be 20-inch light-alloy wheels and speed-rated rubber, along with the usual cocktail of upgraded brakes, stiffer suspension tuning, a beefier exhaust note, and sportier interior trim. Visuals likely will ape other Jaguar "R" models, meaning a bit less chrome, wire-mesh front grillework, more aggressive front and rear fascias, a rear lip spoiler, and a slightly reduced ride height.

The XFR will show its production face sometime in 2008 as a 2009 model. Pricing has yet to be announced, but it'll be aggressively positioned against the M5 and E63, meaning a predicted base of just under $80,000.

Honey, I Want One!

Google Street View

I think Google finally got the street view right. This has been a great tool that I have used for places before I travel there or just to see what an area looks like, without ever leaving my chair. ...I know lazy right? Planning trips is 100X easier now by using this to get a feel for the area. Gone are the days of looking at a map and getting travel guides. Welcome to the 21st Century!

Pole Position to Forza 3!

So I was a huge fan of Pole Position on the old Atari. I love the description in Wikipedia "Pole Position was the leading game in arcades worldwide due to its relatively realistic graphics for the time." I even had the little controller with the dial on it, you know the one that really made you feel like you where driving a car... okay, maybe not so much. But anyway I wanted to give a comparison of that Atari game and what the race car games are like now. Not only that but you get the privilege of sitting through a 1980's commercial, which we all know those are cool.



And the next game I will get, somehow someway, is Forza 3. Much improved in 30 years wouldn't you say?

D-Day

"You are about to embark upon the great crusade toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you...I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle." - General Eisenhower just before the execution of Operation Overlord



June 6th, 1944 65 years ago today, so many of our own troops along with our allies gave the ultimate sacrifice in defense of freedom. Normandy still holds many of the troops that did not return.

I'll be flying my flag today in memory of this day and what it stands for. Hopefully my neighbors will join me.

AR or AK?

The Daily Show does have its skits that make me laugh from time to time. I think this is one of those times. Probably the reason it is so easy to laugh about, is the fact that it is so close to the truth. And for the record AR's do not have rapid fire as portrayed in the video!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Money Shot
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Economic Crisis

Contacts

Okay so these contacts, THAT CURE BLINDNESS, were created using a persons OWN stem cells. Cure for some types of blindness, incredible!! Now if they can only fix my nearsightedness without surgery. If I could just put in a contact that would cure that permanently that would be great!

Culture

And our President is over there apologizing to these people! They want to wipe us off the map, and we are apologizing. I am really wondering why we bothered with "smart" weapons in the first place. Some of our old tactics in WWII would have worked just fine for this war!

THIS CLIP IS CHILLING! And here we sit doing NOTHING about this threat! Now it is an "overseas contingency" instead of a WAR ON TERROR!!

4lbs of Anthrax across the Mexican border, "what if?"



From the Washington Times:

A U.S. counterterrorism official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said al-Nafisi is a “person of interest” and a veteran recruiter for al Qaeda. Misidentified on some blog sites as a professor, he is a Kuwaiti dissident and al Qaeda associate who is thought to have communicated with senior al Qaeda leaders in recent years, the counterterrorism official said. The recruiter is also said to have close ties to Mullah Mohammed Omar, the senior Afghan Taliban leader now thought to be in Pakistan.

Al-Nafisi “is a significant ideological player in terrorist circles, and that makes him dangerous because he can inspire his followers to do extremely bad things,” the official said…

“It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that terrorist organizations would utilize the border to enter the U.S.,” said a DEA official who also asked not to be named because of his involvement in ongoing intelligence operations. “We can’t ignore any threat or detail when it comes to al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations bent on attacking the U.S.”

Funny!

Dennis Miller had a hilarious MillerTime segment with O'Reilly. I normally don't watch it but he has a brother who is the manager for Sasha Baron Cohen, so O'Reilly asks him about the stunt at the MTV Video Awards.

He also gets Dennis' opinion on the Pharmasist in Oklahoma that shot and killed a robber, and I mean REALLY killed him.

AK 15

Like in "Who's Line is it Anyway," for 1000 Points, who can tell me what is wrong with this picture? Anyone, Anyone at all?

This was found over at AR15.com. So the story of this is somebody heisted this picture, that was Photoshoped on-line. Not only that but they also took the text "AK-15." Well if they are selling this I wonder how much of an investment this will be in the next few years .... probably not much

Assassin’s Creed 2

This game looks awesome. The graphics alone are enough to make me want to get it. I'm thinking I'll have to upgrade my PC for it though. ...And yes that is how I would play it, graphics are better on PC than any of my game counsels.

WHAT!!!???

Now we have to bow to the President. When did this become protocol? I'm sorry I thought that was done somewhere else, not here!

Maybe I'm wrong, but Brian Williams really makes this look like a bow when he says farwell to The One. Does this look like a bow to anyone else?

Linkin Park

I am liking the new song! New Divide

XBox

Controller-less gaming. Makes sense that this was the way it was all going, but on the 360? I can only imagine how Project Natal is really going to work.

Now it is something cool to be sure, and if it works like the preview then I'm all for it. But, has anyone actually sat down and gone through the speech recognition program in windows... BRUTAL!! I sure hope you don't have to train this thing as intensely, but I can only imagine. And will it work with older games? Well once they fix the red ring of death I'm pretty sure that I would get one of these.

Motivation

Today's Motivation

PSP GO

So I have made references for a while about a successor to the PSP and it looks like it will make its debut tomorrow. But after all of the hype I don't know how this PSP Go is going to stack up to the original PSP. The new one has some cool tech and I'm all for that, but it seems like this is geared to a more subtle gamer. I would have at least liked to have seen two joysticks... Well I feel let down but I guess I will just have to wait to see one for myself.

G.I. Joe

Okay so the new trailer is out for G.I. Joe. Personally I think I was more hyped by the first trailer. This new one out looks like the joes are wearing the RoboCop suit, so I really don't know what to think about it now. Just something else to wait for an accurate opinion.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Cool Guys

MTV Video Awards had two funny parts that are note worthy. The music video about Cool Guys not looking at explosions and the whole Sasha Baron Cohen stunt with Eminem.

MTV Shows

Chemistry

This I found over at Geeksaresexy.net. After spending a while as a Biology student I cannot tell you how long I spent working on Chemistry. I am so glad those days are over but this is basically all I learned in a simplified form. This is so European, Enjoy!

Yes, Another One

Okay so the same guys that did the Microsoft parody on Surface, are at it again. This is another Microsoft commercial that I had not seen yet, but now don't really need to. I think this sums it up pretty good.

You have to be kidding, right?

The Snuggie was bad enough! Who is actually buying this stuff?? Oh well, "Toga, Toga, Toga"

Future Weapons

The XM25 Advanced Airburst Weapon System is starting to see its first field trials. This is an entire new class of weapon in the sense that it can hit a target around a corner, in caves or trenches, even if they're out of the soldier's line of sight.

It takes the concept of a grenade launcher and adds some technology to it. The design allows for a soldier to program the 25mm round with a laser range finder, to detonate at a precise point in the air. No impact is needed with this weapon and that is what gives the XM25 its lethality.

"For example, in Iraq we had many instances where there was a sniper firing from a rooftop and you have a squad trying to engage that target, but the soldiers couldn't get to him with the weapons they had, so they'd call in the Air Force to drop a JDAM (joint direct attack munition)," said Audette. "We can take out the target at $25 per XM round as opposed to a $20,000 to $50,000 JDAM."

With a range of 750 meters — nearly half a mile — the XM-25 would also be very effective in Afghanistan, where Taliban fighters often hide behind rocks and in caves.

In addition to precision-timed grenades, the gun is also built to fire armor-piercing, door-breaching, anti-personnel and less-than-lethal rounds.

I'm still thinking that a side arm would be necessary with this weapon.

Gun Toten Pharmacists

Okay so the video is from Seattle where a pharmacist approached someone attempting to rob his store.



A similar circumstance landed the pharmacist in jail because he didn't hesitate to pull the trigger

Holy Crap

Yeah, I can do that ....

This guy is amazing! Even when I was in gymnastics when I was young I couldn't do a quarter of what this guy does. I give you, Damien Walters.



Now don't you feel out of shape. Not me, round is a shape.

Breakdancing Robot

This little gem could be yours for a mere $1500. I don't know, I think it offers some sort of Zen like quality.

WAKE UP

America has the worlds best health care system, despite what the left-wing nut jobs try to portray. They see socialized health care with rose colored glasses and fail to notice what really comes with it. Lets let our government try to fix themselves before they get involved with health care... and the auto industry ... and banking etc.

New Space Experiments

Well after spending the billions of dollars on the Space Shuttle we are apparently making HUGE advances in the types of experiments that can be carried out. This is probably going to answer the questions of the Universe.

FINALLY!!

So I finally got to fire off my new XD 45 and it is now my new favorite gun. After punching Silver Dollar size holes in some pop cans I am now in need of some ammo... and that is hard to find these days.

Memorial Day

This is a day to grill outside and have parties... etc. But lets forget why this day is here.





Hero's Price
©2002 Roger W Hancock (www.PoetPatriot.com)

Sergeant Chapman, soldier, hero.
To serve is soldiers' sacrifice.
Heroes all, soldiers mission,
Some will die for freedom's sake.

Duty to serve, duty to risk,
to run the gauntlet, his life for country.
He paid the price for our security.
The ultimate cost for freedom's sake.

Families pride though little solace.
Sacrificed... their son for country.
His parents are home-side heroes.
Their hearts are torn 'tween grief and pride.

The wife and children shall not forget
the husband, father they loved so well.
Sacrifice for us they bear,
the solemn grief, with pride they wear.

Patriot lives cost, born America.
Fallen soldier joins freedom's greats.
We citizens grieve each price of life.
Patriot life paid to secure the USA.

Microsoft

Okay so the Surface was kind of a joke because of its large size and had questionable usefulness. Now Microsoft really does want to make your tables a computer.

Sherlock Holmes

This movie looks EXTREMELY promising. Hope it lives up to this trailer!

Saturday Night Live

This has got to be one of the funniest skits, the other would be the old one with "Burt Reynolds" Character.

Too Close

This is amazing how the similarities of this trailer for "V" mirror our most recent election of The One.

I'll let you decide.

The Community

Joel McHale is a pretty funny guy. I usually watch catching The Soup from time to time and would probably go see his stand up if he were going anywhere near me. This new pilot that he has on NBC that looks like it might be good. Don't know if it will last, it looks like the first episode should be funny with Chevy Chase in it.

Time

So I know I have neglected this blog for a little while. Weather has gotten nice here and I have been spending time with my 6 month old. That and mowing my jungle I call a yard.

So I have been a little preoccupied with some other projects. There will still be posts but they may not happen every day, but I will try and keep it going at least every other day until things calm down a little.

Check out some of the old stuff too, there is a lot there.

Car Falling Apart?

When someone's car is the butt of constant jokes, I often think of Planes Trains and Automobiles. Steve Martin and John Candy at their best.

Armed Forces Day

Trekkie bashing

This is a hilarious clip!!


Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

Weekend & Monday

Well the posts are slowing. Sometimes I wish this blog would post stuff through osmosis but it doesn't.

More posts coming, just needed a break.

Intel

I have to hand it to Intel. They must have hired some good advertisers. This short spot made me laugh for today. As my wife would say, I am a geek!

Finally

The words all us geeks have wanted to hear. Warp drive is not impossible.

What it boils down to is breaking the speed barrier of light. So far nothing we have does this. According to the article: "this speed limit only applies within space-time (the continuum of three dimensions of space plus one of time that we live in). While any given object can't travel faster than light speed within space-time, theory holds, perhaps space-time itself could travel."



So now that the physicist has spoken, here it is in simpler terms.

Dom Deluise

Today is a sad day in the world of comedy. He was famous for his Mel Brooks movies and many others in a career stretching back to the 60's. Dom Deluise August 1, 1933 - May 4, 2009


Dom Deluise in Robin Hood Men in tights

Gadgets

This is more a gadget to make you say "huh?" I don't know exactly what to think of the Wolverine Gloves. Someone obviously has too much time on their hands. One attack he does he checks the floor to make sure he didn't stab it. I wonder where he found the Adamantium? *sarcasm*


Homemade Real Wolverine Like Claws X-Men - Awesome video clips here

Before They Were Big

I don't know why but I was thinking of one of these skits the other day. This one had Jim Carrey and Dameon Wayans trying to one up each other the whole time and is funny. I liked the one with Dameon Wayans playing this character renovating his box that one is great!

Rest In Peace

This week GM pulled the plug on a legendary line of cars. Now, I'm not a GM person per se, but They had some iconic cars from the Pontiac Line. Some of the more memorable ones in my mind are the 1988 Pontiac Firebird KITT from Night Rider, the 1974 Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit and the Pontiac GTO from the 60's. Maybe someday they will be back, but for now so long Pontiac.

The Pontiac brand is part of the General Motors family, and is home to many of the automaker's more performance-oriented vehicles. Currently, the marque offers a broad range of sporty cars and SUVs. However, as part of GM's restructuring plan, the brand is slated to be discontinued by the end of the 2010 model year.

Pontiac originated as the Oakland Car Company of Pontiac, Michigan, in 1907; it was founded by Edward Murphy. Acquired by General Motors in 1909, Oakland introduced the first Pontiac vehicle in 1926. Dubbed the "Chief of the Sixes," the car was powered by a six-cylinder engine and made its debut at that year's New York auto show. It was so successful that the Oakland name was phased out in favor of Pontiac, the name of an 18th-century chief of the Ottawa Indians. Throughout the 1930s and '40s Pontiac made coupes, sedans and wagons in the low-to-mid price ranges. A unique styling cue of Pontiac cars from the mid-'30s to the mid-'50s was known as "Silver Streak," a set of art-deco-inspired chrome "speed lines" that ran up over the length of the hood to the base of the windshield.


The 1950s saw the introduction of the Pontiac Bonneville. The sprawling, stylish cruiser offered equal measures of performance and luxury, and was a breakout hit. But it wasn't until the 1960s that the Pontiac brand truly came into its own. American manufacturers had begun to offer downsized alternatives to the gigantic cruisers that had ruled the highways in previous decades. Pontiac came to market with the compact Tempest. In 1964, Pontiac made its biggest impact yet with the creation of the GTO option for the Tempest. By equipping the car with the powerful 389 cubic-inch V8 from the full-size car line, Pontiac created the first "muscle car." Phenomenally successful, the GTO helped define the burgeoning muscle car category. Pontiac also saw tremendous success during the latter part of this decade with its Firebird and Firebird Trans Am.


The oil crisis of the '70s made fuel efficiency a priority for many car buyers. Following the lead of its GM siblings, Pontiac made compact vehicles like the Ventura and Phoenix a major part of its lineup. The '80s saw the launch of the two-seat Pontiac Fiero. Despite its modest beginnings (it was initially marketed as a "commuter car"), the Fiero eventually blossomed into a credible sports car.

The '90s saw the launch of Pontiacs like the Sunfire and Montana minivan. Pontiac has slowly lost sales due to changing tastes and a lack of differentiation between its models and those of other GM divisions. In hopes of recapturing past glory, the division embarked on a plan to retire aged models and introduce all-new ones with distinctive styling and personality. For a while, the effort seemed to be bearing fruit. New models like the Vibe, Solstice and G8 made Pontiac a brand to consider in many segments. However, GM's financial troubles in 2008 and 2009 have resulted in the company's decision to phase out Pontiac as a brand. It's expected 2010 will be Pontiac's last year for new models.
- Edmunds

The Torture Memos

So the release of the "torture" memos has been quite a stir. More specifically the use of waterboarding. But what the hell, this is going to be a long one because I cover some of them, most of them. The Liberal Huffington Post has them posted but mine are abbreviated.

Here is how it goes, before undergoing any of these enhanced techniques, a detainee is "evaluated by a medical and psychological professional ... to ensure that they are not likely to suffer any sever physical or mental pain or suffering as a result of interrogation."

Also "Medical and psychological personnel are on-scene throughout and daily physical and psychological evaluations are continued throughout the period of use."

Another fact "These techniques have all been imported from military, Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape ("SERE") training, where they have been used for years on U.S. military personnel, although with some significant differences described below."

Well lets take a look shall we.

Oh this is harsh, Number 1 Dietary manipulation: "This technique involves the substitute of commercial liquid meal replacements for normal food, presenting detainees with a bland, unappetizing, but nutritionally complete diet."

THE FIENDS!!

Number 2 Nudity: "This technique is used to cause psychological discomfort, particularly if a detainee, for cultural or other reasons is especially modest."

Um, my kid gets naked every night

Number 3 Attention Grasp: "consists of grasping the individual with both hands, one hand on each side of the collar opening, in a controlled quick motion. In the same motion as the grasp, the individual is drawn toward the interrogator."

Oh no, not the dreaded "grasp." We are just shy of a feather being involved here.

Number 4 Walling."This technique involves the use of a flexible, false wall. The individual is placed with his heels touching the flexible wall. The interrogator pulls the individual forward and then quickly and firmly pushes the individual into the wall. It is the individuals shoulder blades that hit the wall. During this motion, the head and neck are supported with a rolled hood or towel that provides a C-collar effect to help prevent whiplash. To reduce further the risk of injury, the individual is allowed to rebound from the flexible wall."

Wow, I think that I paid to enter Six Flags once where they shoved me in a car, threw a plastic restraint around my neck, then shot me out of a dark tunnel into a 2 minute terror ride that I may never have recovered from, this was repeated at least 5 TIMES!!

Some of the others:

"Cramped Confinement" How many people have flown lately?
"Wall standing" "technique used to induce temporary muscle fatigue."
"stress position" reminds me of wrestling.
"water dousing" "Cold water is poured on the detainee either from a container or from a hose without a nozzle."

Holly crap really?

"Sleep Deprivation" That sounds like my Basic Training, EXACTLY!

Then the dreaded WATERBOARD "detainee is lying on a gurney that is inclined at an angle of 10 - 15 degrees to the horizontal, with the detainee on his back and his head toward the lower end of the gurney. A cloth is placed over the detainee's face, and cold water is poured on the cloth from a height of approximately 6 to 18 inches. The wet cloth creates a barrier through which it is difficult - or in some cases not possible - to breathe. A single "application" of water may not last for more than 40 seconds, with the duration of an "application" measured from the moment when water - of whatever quantity - is first poured onto the cloth until the moment the cloth is removed from the subject's face."

My only question is ... HOW?

How in the world are those Arab countries not laughing there asses off at our "torture" techniques. Have you seen what they do to their own people when they steal? Yeah, they chop off a hand. You think their torture techniques are lighter than ours?

I'm sorry but this was a huge mistake releasing this simply from the fact that now all the other countries know how "intense" we really are.

Reminds me of the Spanish Inquisition:

Apache

This is a video clip of an Apache engaging insurgents hiding in a building with a few hellfire missiles. The last one just vaporizes all the remaining insurgents in the building. I like the Apache!

Wow

Did he really just say what I think he said...?



Guess so. The great survivalist Joe Biden says to stay away from confined areas and not to ride subways and planes. That shouldn't incite panic with anyone.

Now if my count is correct 1 person in the US has died. ...from the flu. Isn't that the same number of people that a certain Senator has killed?

Power

Talk about a beast of a thing. This is the Mine-Eater 3. What a monster, these are anti-tank mines and this is a survivability test for it. Well, it survived ..

Just Imagine

You are a someone in NYC that has worked there before and after 9/11. The last time you heard engines from a plane over the city, your life and those of everyone you know would be changed forever. Now imagine seeing and hearing those same sights and sounds and not knowing what was going on. Welcome, Scare Force One, as the folk at Hotair.com are referring to it. To top it off, its being followed by a military fighter. Listening to the end you can really hear people getting freaked out by this very expensive Glamore Shot.

Swine Flu

So as mass hysteria is gripping some people and keeping them more anti-social than they already where. Others can laugh about it. I mean really there has been one confirmed death in the US with over 60 people infected and recovering. This is not that bad. So on a lighter not I think the Daily Show had a good skit on it. Enjoy...

War Documentaries

One of the biggest movies (in my mind) that I wanted to see this year was Brothers at War. This is a movie that has no spin, it is a documentary of the wars our soldiers are fighting. It also gives a look at what happens at home while they are away. The Producer on this film is a little known actor named Gary Senise. This documentary gives a true look at these wars away from the one-sided hollywood view. I have always been a huge fan of Mr. Senise and what he has done for our troops. Unfortunatly I would have to drive quite a ways to see this movie but I will be sure to see it.



And finally another movie/documentary called At War that I want to see. The filmmaker Scott Kesterson seems to be someone who has a story to tell. He owned his own construction company in Oregon and decided he would rather fulfill a goal of being a photojournalist. What he got was a view from the soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan. Here is one of the trailers.



To bad movies that are worth anything always end up in bigger cities and don't get wide recognition they should.

Jaunty Jackalope

I am now an avid user of my Ubuntu machine and I am liking it. Upgrading to Jaunty Jackalope was super easy and I have defiantly found some fun things for Ubuntu. One of the best articles on must haves for my new operating system, came from a Lifehacker post.

My favorites are:

Ubuntu-Tweak customizes the entire look and feel of the OS. You can tailor it to look like about anything.

Screenlets are like the widgets in Vista and are totally customizable.

Conky shows customized information on uname, uptime, CPU usage, mem usage, disk usage, network monitoring, and more.

Virtual Box Run any and all OS's virtually, its a beautiful thing.

Someone needs help

Microsoft and their commercials. If their vision of the future is going to be this dark with crappy music then I don't want Microsoft in my future.

Weekend

Friday is here

Katana

For those who cannot wait and watch the 6 minute clip on Katana's at the bottom, this one from QVC is short and far more interesting.



Today I am blogging about this because I saw the video below and just realized, there are people out there with far more useless knowledge out there than I have. Now I have a bunch of these, I use to be bigger on them when I was younger and couldn't buy guns. So I found this piece somewhat interesting on how the Katana, or Samurai Sword came about and how it was made.

Earth Day

I feel like Denis Leary.

If Only

I think the reason this is so funny, is it is so true!

How did I NOT hear about this

Must not have been big in the states but I was a fan of the Dragonball Z Cartoon as a kid. Now its in theaters and I never even knew. They obviously didn't spend any money promoting this here.

Must Be Love

Looks like a match made on eHarmony. This is revolting, Google Chavez and you will see why. I would hate to think the President of the United States would have anything to do with this thug.

Sleeping Has Just Gotten Warmer

Of all the places. ThinkGeek should know that you do not tempt a bunch of Sci-Fi fans with products on April Fools Day.

This year one such product did just that, and now may actually get considered. The Tauntaun sleeping bag, from Star Wars. If you have not seen the movie.. and I know you are out there, then go watch it and you will understand.

Behold:

No I would not buy this!

en Espanol

When he isn't taking windmill hits at Prostitutes (and getting his ass kicked), Vince takes his shots at Spanish. Notice how there are far fewer shots of his face in this commercial. It is pretty obvious he doesn't know a thing about Spanish.



I had to throw it this in.

April 15th

In a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy on the 13th of November 1789:

"Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

-Benjamin Franklin

1 Trillion Dollars of Your Tax Money

Here is the best way to put it. This is only ONE Trillion dollars that our government is spending. This is what the 30% of your check you DO NOT see, looks like. And yes, Uncle Sam is burning through it like candy.

100 One hundred dollar bills, nothing too impressive.

One Million Dollars, nice but not very big.

100 Million, now we're talkin'!

One Billion Dollars! Very nice Warren Buffett.

And here it is. One Trillion U.S Dollars. This is what they are throwing around. That is a lot of coin. What is the solution, we'll just print more. Nothing bad can come of that, right!?

Bacon

mmm ... bacon.

I think Jim Gaffigan explains it the best

EASTER

According to the New Testament, Christ was crucified on the eve of Passover and shortly afterward rose from the dead. In consequence, the Easter festival commemorated Christ's resurrection. In time, a serious difference over the date of the Easter festival arose among Christians. Those of Jewish origin celebrated the resurrection immediately following the Passover festival, which, according to their Babylonian lunar calendar, fell on the evening of the full moon (the 14th day in the month of Nisan, the first month of the year); by their reckoning, Easter, from year to year, fell on different days of the week.

CrossesChristians of Gentile origin, however, wished to commemorate the resurrection on the first day of the week, Sunday; by their method, Easter occurred on the same day of the week, but from year to year it fell on different dates. An important historical result of the difference in reckoning the date of Easter was that the Christian churches in the East, which were closer to the birthplace of the new religion and in which old traditions were strong, observed Easter according to the date of the Passover festival. The churches of the West, descendants of Greco-Roman civilization, celebrated Easter on a Sunday.

Rulings of the Council of Nicaea on the Date of Easter

Constantine I, Roman emperor, convoked the Council of Nicaea in 325. The council unanimously ruled that the Easter festival should be celebrated throughout the Christian world on the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox; and that if the full moon should occur on a Sunday and thereby coincide with the Passover festival, Easter should be commemorated on the Sunday following. Coincidence of the feasts of Easter and Passover was thus avoided.

The Council of Nicaea also decided that the calendar date of Easter was to be calculated at Alexandria, then the principal astronomical center of the world. The accurate determination of the date, however, proved an impossible task in view of the limited knowledge of the 4th-century world. The principal astronomical problem involved was the discrepancy, called the epact, between the solar year and the lunar year. The chief calendric problem was a gradually increasing discrepancy between the true astronomical year and the Julian calendar then in use.

Later Dating Methods
Ways of fixing the date of the feast tried by the church proved unsatisfactory, and Easter was celebrated on different dates in different parts of the world. In 387, for example, the dates of Easter in France and Egypt were 35 days apart. About 465, the church adopted a system of calculation proposed by the astronomer Victorinus (fl. 5th cent.), who had been commissioned by Pope Hilarius (r. 461–68) to reform the calendar and fix the date of Easter. Elements of his method are still in use. Refusal of the British and Celtic Christian churches to adopt the proposed changes led to a bitter dispute between them and Rome in the 7th century.

Reform of the Julian calendar in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, through adoption of the Gregorian calendar, eliminated much of the difficulty in fixing the date of Easter and in arranging the ecclesiastical year; since 1752, when the Gregorian calendar was also adopted in Great Britain and Ireland, Easter has been celebrated on the same day in the Western part of the Christian world. The Eastern churches, however, which did not adopt the Gregorian calendar, commemorate Easter on a Sunday either preceding or following the date observed in the West. Occasionally the dates coincide; the most recent times were in 1865 and 1963.

Because the Easter holiday affects a varied number of secular affairs in many countries, it has long been urged as a matter of convenience that the movable dates of the festival be either narrowed in range or replaced by a fixed date in the manner of Christmas. In 1923 the problem was referred to the Holy See, which has found no canonical objection to the proposed reform. In 1928 the British Parliament enacted a measure allowing the Church of England to commemorate Easter on the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April. Despite these steps toward reform, Easter continues to be a movable feast.

An article from Funk & Wagnalls® New Encyclopedia. © 2005 World Almanac Education Group, A WRC Media Company

Ubuntu

I have finally gone to the LINUX for Human Beings.

For the longest time I have used and ran Ubuntu off of a CD just to "try it out." As of last night I have fully installed it as the primary operating system for a laptop.

There are a lot of head to head comparisons but I know Windows real well. I know what it is capable of, installation, updates the works.

Apple is rising that is for sure, but it is pricey and proprietary. LINUX is wide open and there are tones of flavors.

One of the best comparisons between Apple and Ubuntu can be found at Information Week.

I Love Tofu

Apparently the Colorado DMV doesn't think so. This gal is a hippie and not afraid to show it, but for some reason they banned her license plate request for the soy based food.

Well, what do you think?

On a Lighter Note

Unbelievable!!

I saw this over the weekend and could not help but to post about it.

By change... do we mean we are going to give up our status of American. We don't kneel to anyone, nor should we. We are an independent nation. That means that we have our own protocols, our own rules, our own country, and our own beliefs. Don't believe it, look up America's Revolutionary War 1775.

Saudi Arabia kicked the Americans out of Riyadh after Desert Storm 1, because to them we are the infidels in their holy land. There is nothing we can do to gain any respect from them, they want us eradicated. This is why I cannot believe the President of the United States of America is kneeling to King Abdullah. Yes, that is a kneel news media, he didn't just drop something.

This is the same family that funds radical mosques in the United States, won't let women drive, and (my favorite) won't let us investigate the Khobar Tower bombing that killed 19 U.S. servicemen and injured 372. Abdullah is KING of his country, not mine!



US troops have become a potent symbol of Washington's role in the region, and many Saudis see them as proof of the country's subservience to America.

Saudi Arabia is home to some of Islam's holiest sites and the deployment of US forces there was seen as a historic betrayal by many Islamists, notably Osama Bin Laden. Osama Bin Laden Bin Laden used American presence to justify anti-US attacks

It is one of the main reasons given by the Saudi-born dissident - blamed by Washington for the 11 September attacks - to justify violence against the United States and its allies.
BBC News

Today

Baby MRAP

This little gem is the smaller version of the MRAP, which has been active in Iraq. The problem with the MRAP is it the size. The thing is too big in Afghanistan where the roads are narrow with steep cliffs in many locations. The video below shows what happens with this large vehicle on narrow roads.



Simply put, the Humvee hasn't been good enough. They do get stuck, but most importantly they are vulnerable. Enter the "Baby MRAP" or the MRAP All Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV). Its equipment and capabilities are many:

• IED jammers

• V-shaped blast-dispersing monocoque hull

• Significantly increased power-to-weight ratio

• The ability to ford hard-bottom fresh water to depths of up to 5 feet. (M-ATV is not amphibious)

• Generate 10 kilowatts of vehicle host power and export an additional 20 kilowatts for mission equipment

• Turbo-charged diesel V8 engine

• Shorter wheelbase for improved cross-country mobility

• Lower center of gravity for increased maneuverability and to prevent rollovers

• Ergonomic steering angle to “drive like an SUV”

• “Runflat” tire system allowing the M-ATV to safely cruise at 30 mph on up to two flat tires

To meet future challenges, a new composite “hyperplastic” material capable of absorbing enormous amounts of kinetic energy is the new frontier for armor. This new “composite armor system” has even resisted the deadly energy formed projectile (EFP) class of IED, all while weighing 37 percent less than conventional steel armor.

Another New Technology

How cool is this, Google has come out with a program called Autopilot. I have not heard of anything like this one before, but it lets your inbox automatically respond to new messages. From what I understand this is more than just an auto response like: "I'm out of the office right now, but will respond later." This thing actually takes samples of your personal writing style and incorporates a custom message to auto respond. The thing will even throw in typos if you want.

This sounds like it could be something that would get people in trouble. It is hard enough to personally respond to all the messages in a way to not get taken out of context. I can only imagine what this thing will do.

April Fool's

Today is the day you see your "tax-cut" to help "stimulate" the economy (enjoy your $13 a week, for those that pay taxes), conficker (if your unlucky), The Blackberry storm App center opens, and finally today is a day of square(2003 * 2003 = 4012009.) (The next April Fool's square date doesn't fall until April 1, 6016 (2004*2004 = 4016016.)