News: 'Green' traffic lights cause problems with snow in Midwest

Hilarious. Because LED-lights use less heat, they don't melt the snow as easily as their previous traffic light brethren. The LED-lights were installed because they burn brighter, last longer, and use 90% less energy than incandescent bulbs. But they also produce less heat, making it hard for them to melt snow covering them up. And it's already been confirmed to have contributed to one deadly accident.

News: Toshiba Intros Tri-lingual Translation app for smartphones

Japanese, Chinese and English. NO server-side interaction means no data roaming charges (when you're in said countries that might require you to use it).

News: Salvation Army worker shot and killed Christmas Eve

In front of his 3 children. Freaking Arkansas.

News: 'Balloon boy' hoax father gets 90 days jail, mom 20

Pretty flexible about serving it (he gets work release, she can do it whenever including over 10 weekends, for example), but jail jail. Cool.

News: Machine translates THOUGHTS into SPEECH in REAL TIME

OK. This is the coolest thing I've read in a while.

Disclaimer: I haven't verified anything.

A joint research project (which I take to be undertaken) by Boston University, Harvard University, Emory University (very well respected in medical research). Supposedly, the process takes about 50 milliseconds - the same amount of time for a non-paralyzed, neurologically INTACT person to speak their own thoughts. If we can figure out how to REVERSE the process....yeah.

That's right.

Telepathy.

Sweet.

Also, if this is what we've got publicly released to us....what does the miltary already have.

What about the idea of a soldier thinking critical real-time updates. Those updates appear on the heads-up display of other special-ops members in the same area. Things like that.

News: Eurostar resumes train service

Thankfully for holiday travellers, it's back on. As long as snow doesn't derail any of them.

News: HP webcam face-recognition can't see African-Americans

Oooooooo....that sucks. Whatcha gonna do now, HP?

Sports: Roy Halladay takes out full-page ad thanking Jays

Class act. Roy Halladay, former Blue Jays ace pitcher recently traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, took out a full-page ad in Toronto. It was to thank the city and fans for their support. Classy, classy guy. Who else would do that? He stuck around for as long as he was asked. And now is trying to win a championship to cap off an already amazing career. Good luck, Roy. We'll miss you.

News: DOT announces new 3-hour limit on board a plane on tarmac

Just in time for the ridiculous airline delays.

News: Eurostar (Chunnel train) shut down indefinitely

After 4 trains broke down and stranded nearly 2,000 people, some without water, food, or light, the company has shuttered the service indefinitely. Which is sure to make a whole host of passengers really happy right before Christmas.

News: Avatar brings in $73 mil despite East Coast weather

Even despite the crappy weather out East, surely knocking down the numbers a notch, Avatar manages to pull in $73 million domestically. The best 3-D release ever and 2nd-best December release (behind 'I am Legend'). The film has already banked $232 million globally, which should help. And with the buzz on everything from CinemaScore's A rating to the rest of the after-release buzz, it's sure to have some long legs. Reports are also flowing around that IMAX sold out EVERY SEAT (prime showings only, I assume).

Cool: Interactive 360 degree panoramic view of Prague, CZ

Czech THIS out. It's awesome. Find something cool. Zoom all the way in. The try and see it when you're zoomed all the way out. Pretty much can't. Soooo cool.

News: Fermi, Standford, U of M may have detected dark matter

In Soudan, MN's Iran Range deep-underground lab, they may have detected the first confirmed evidence of dark matter on our planet. In near absolute zero temperature (1/100 of a degree KELVIN).

News: Blu-ray 3D specification finalized, backwards-compatible!

What that means is the you can watch the 3D discs on existing players, though (obviously) only in 2D. But, the most interesting part of this is that although you'll need a full 3D, 1080p image for each eye, it will only take 50 percent more disc space than the 2D version. Not sure how or why, but that's good.

News: 26 Gigapixel photo sets new world record

1655 images. 21.6 Megapixels each. Taken with a 400 mm lens over 176 minutes. The images stitched together using a 16 processor system with 48GB of RAM. And even THAT took 94 HOURS to complete the stitching. Craziness.

Comic: Dilbert 12/17/09

Oh the woe of being an engineer in a business world.

News: Time names Fed Chair Bernanke 'Person of the Year'

Crazytown.

News: U of M student banned from campus for Facebook comment

News: Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax launch 'Big Four' tour

Wow. Four legends. One stage. I would assume Metallica to be the headliner, but how do you figure out the set-list for these guys? Round-robin? Drinking contest? Guitar Jam? The possibilities are endless.

News: TARP repayment to earn US healthy profits

With Wells Fargo and Citigroup repaying TARP (ie taxpayer) funds, the US Government will be on track to reduce its bailout investments by more than 75 percent, all the while earning the taxpayers a healthy profit on the buy low, sell high process. Looks like this might not have been such a bad idea.

If only we knew where said profit was going to go...

Sports: Hallady to Phillies, Lee to Seattle in 3-way trade

Sad. I love Hallady. The Blue Jays will sorely miss his dominance on the mound.

Lists: AFI's 2009 Top Ten Movies and Top Ten TV Series

Decent list. The TV series list in particular aligns pretty closely with my personal take. Some are wondering if Avatar's late entrance affected its exclusion from the list.

Review: Roger Ebert loves Avatar

Report: Natalie Portman in 'Pride and Prejudice...and Zombies'

News: Nook opened, hacked, rooted

Developers have opened the Nook. In the physical and operating senses both. After accessing it via the Android Dev Kit, it's basically a Android computer, with a FREE cellular modem and a battery that lasts days, not hours.

Excited? Just wait until they figure out how to make said process user-friendly.

News: NYPD shoots, kills street peddler in crowded Times Square

Suspect runs. Suspect fires two shots at cop. Cop kills peddler. Not so out of the ordinary...until you find out that this all took place in holiday-crowded Times Square. Surprisingly, no one else was hurt in the shootout.

Deal: Seinfeld - Complete Series $85 - Amazon (Today only)

Sports: Spain wins Davis Cup over Czechs on doubles match win

Sad. You know I was pulling for the Czechs. 2nd isn't all that bad though, right?

News: SD group studies plan to sell wind power to MN

A) Doesn't MN have enough wind power already? I see the turbines everywhere. B) I realize that SD probably doesn't need it, but selling off green power to another state? How about selling it to your own residents first?

News: Annual PNC Christmas Index is out!

Every year, PNC puts out the PNC Christmas Index, which is based on the cost of buying all the gifts from the 12 Days of Christmas song. Fun and funny stuff.

News: Annual PNC Christmas Index is out!

Every year, PNC puts out the PNC Christmas Index, which is based on the cost of buying all the gifts from the 12 Days of Christmas song. Fun and funny stuff.

Yale report: 1 in 4 US Teen girls has a STD

Holy crap. Something has GOT to be wrong here. Sampling error? Something.

Op-Ed: The '00s: Goodbye to the Decade from Hell

From the submission - Bookended by 9/11 and a financial wipeout, the first 10 years of the century will likely go down as the most dispiriting decade Americans have lived through since World War II. Funny stuff.

Comic: Pearls Before Swine 11/27/09

This was so bad...I had to post it.

Comic: XKCD 11/30/09

Take that Physics people!!!

List: 20 (HORRIBLE) things Twilight teaches girls

Hypothesis: 'Twilight' is a horrible movie and is in the direct OPPOSITE service of progressing women as a gender in a equality-based world. Evidence cited: click link. Q.E.D.

News: Philippine policitian charged with 57 massacre murders

This politician ordered the killings of 57 people. Why? Because they were the wife and relatives of another Philippine politican running for governor or journalists and passers-by to cover up the murders. This second candidate has since officially filed for the election: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091127/ap_on_re_as/as_philippines_hostages_killed

News: Shaq to pay for slain NC 5-year-old's funeral

Sad story all told, but this is at least a slight happy moment in it.

Update: Census worker w/ 'FED' written on chest committed suicide

Apparently it was a hoax? Worked pretty well, if it was, macarbe as that is.

Study: Adults fooled by visual illusion, but not kids

Odd. Adults are fooled by optical illusions, but kids aren't. This means that the ability to take visual context into account doesn't develop until later on in life (according to the authors anyway).

News: Man tries to crash car into FBI building - its a U building

Yeah. About that.

This guy thinks the FBI put a computer into his head. So he decides to run his car into the FBI building to destroy said computers. Seems reasonable enough.

Problem was, what he THOUGHT was the FBI building was actually the University of Minnesota Public Health building, causing $20K is damage.

The mistake was in the address. The FBI building is as 111 Washington Ave. He hit 1110 Washington Ave. Missed it by that much. And by 'that,' I mean a mile or so.

News: AOL offering VOLUNTARY resignation, trying to avoid layoffs

Wonder how good the package will be? What kind of 'severance' would it take for YOU to resign, in particular if you think that AOL won't survive on its own?

Deal: Firefly (Entire Series) BLU-RAY on Amazon GoldBox

Should be $40 or less. Yes, I have it on DVD. Yes, I'm thinking about buying it on BLU-RAY....even though I don't have a BLU-RAY player. HAHA!

Official: Dr. Horrible sequel happening

WOOHOO!!!

News: Pirate Bay BitTorrent Tracker shuttered

Fear not, me hearties. A new technology is picking up where BitTorrent has been left off.

Deals: Some Walmart Black Friday deals leaked, confirmed

Of particular note: Sanyo 50-inch plasma 720p HDTV for $598, a Magnavox Blu-ray player for $78, a Tom Tom GPS for $59, an eMachine laptop with a 15.6-inch LCD display, 2GB memory and 160GB hard drive for $198; a Hewlett-Packard laptop with a 15.6-inch display, 3GB memory and 250GB hard drive for $298; and an Xbox 360 console with three games for $199.

News: AOL Time Warner to split back to original companies

Thank God. This was the worst merger in recent memory. Nothing good came from this, though it should have. Now, they are going their separate ways. Now, the question is this: what will/can AOL do to survive?

Update: SDSU nearly beats U of M Football

OK. About that. A few days ago, I posited that U of M should run up the score for the insult of SDSU actually playing the game, as opposed to the more honorable forfeit. What occured on Saturday, I would like to describe as a fluke. Not sure if that actually fits though. It is monumentally sad that the 16-13 game was as close as it was. If we're that bad at football, we should really stop playing. And focus on Hockey since we're actually good at that. Take all that scholarship money and give it to...oh, I don't know...IT students. There's some poetic justice for you.

Sports: U of M Gophers VS. SD State Jackrabbits - Saturday

OK. The reason I'm posting this is simple.

WTF.

That's pretty much it. I realize that they wanted to be all legit and Division I and all. But seriously? They are really making the trip to Minneapolis to get their @$$es handed to them by a REAL D-1 football team? Yikes. I hope they run up the score.

Is forfeit really more embarrassing than what's going to happen tomorrow?

News: YouTube adds 1080p HD support

Oh boy. This won't end well for ISPs...

List: 15 greatest moments fro TGIF history

Number 4 is my personal favorite. And who doesn't miss Step-by-step and Dinosaurs? Be honest.

News: Banks must get customer consent for overdraft fees - Fed

The Federal Reserve has instituted a new rule (effective July 1) that banks can ONLY charge overdraft fees on ATM and debit card transactions IF the customers OPTS IN. Score one for consumers. If you do NOT opt-in, any transaction that will overdraw your account will be denied.

Comic: Dilbert 11/11/09

Asok goes big...then probably goes home.

News: John King to replace Lou Dobbs on CNN

I really don't know what happened.

Back when, I used to praise Lou Dobbs. He was smart, frank and straight-forward. He asked the tough questions that others were afraid to ask, and somehow found a way to do it without being politically incorrect (or at least not caring if he was). And we were all the better for it.

Then he started on illegal immigration. That's pretty much when the wheels fell right off the wagon. He went nuts. Regardless if they were politically incorrect or not, the important thing was that he started saying things that weren't correct. He started using baseless arguments and going overboard on the effect and extent of the problem. And with his supposed sanity went his viewers.

Sports: Ken Griffey Jr. reach 1yr deal with Mariners

GO JUNIOR!!! As long as you play, we will root for you.

Op-Ed: Road trains are coming (to Europe)

This is sweet. And yes, it works. You should check it out.

Op-Ed: Fantasy Football is glorified Dungeons & Dragons

Insightful. Or maybe not, but funny anyway.

Sports: Twins trade CF Gomez to Milwaukee for SS J.J. Hardy

Uh oh. My mom won't like this.

Report: 80% of MN needs significant Internet upgrade

According to a state legislature created task force, 83% of MN needs to be upgraded to reach the 10Mbps goal by 2015. I'm all for that.

News: Homebuyer tax credit renewed, partially extended

Renewed first-time homebuyers credit at $8000 until April. Extended to CURRENT homeowners buying a new primary residence at $6500. Buyers can get the credit 'if they sign a contract by April 30 and close on it by June 30.' Fun stuff.

Rumor: AARP to back House Democrat's Health Care Bill

Didn't see that coming. Should put most of the 'death panel' looneys back to square one.

Sports: Yankees win 27th World Series title, Matsui MVP

Boo. That's all I have to say.

News: Verizon doubles Early Termination Fee (ETF) to $350

Analysts say that this move could spark industry-wide copying.

Ugh.

News: Judge OKs challenge to human-gene patents

A company has a patent, yes a patent on the gene sequences known to be the cause of certain types of cancer. Because they have a patent on such gene sequences, only they are allowed to look at or interpret them as being the predictive gene sequences. And the company charges $3,000 per test.

The suit alleges (correctly, in my opinion) that this gene sequence is NOT an invention, but a product of nature. The company merely found this sequence and what it means, and is, therefore, not an invention and is not patentable. At least the judge agrees...for now. In the preliminary hearings at least.

Now the issue is going to be whether or not the suit has standing, as none of the plaintiffs have these genes. A horrible technicality, I know. But, the judge has specifically mentioned that the issue isn't whether or not the plaintiff will win, but rather whether or not they are able to present the evidence to support their claims in the first place. Fun stuff.

Halloween 2009 - Characters

It wasn't more than a week after last Halloween that we had decided what we wanted to do for the next. In 2009, we'd go as Street Fighter. Oh...and how we did!

I'll save more of the diatribe for another post and use this one to introduce everyone as their characters.

Balrog (Mike)

Blanka (TJ)

Cammy (Liz)

Chun Li (Christina)

E. Honda (Alex)

Guile (Adam)

Ken (Brock)

M. Bison (Matt)

Ryu (Graham)

Sakura (Hayley)

Vega (Me)

Comic: XKCD 11/02/09

I love XKCD's charts. This is nuts, though. Tell me there was a tool to do this.

News: US Navy ships fires on Polish Port...on accident

Accidentally. Accidentally. While cleaning a machine gun, it went off. Fired three rounds in the port. No one was hurt. Thankfully, because that means I can laugh now. HAHA!

List: 15 things guys lose to a relationship

It just happens. Nothing really to be done about it. And, yeah, some of these are a bit over-exaggerated, but many of them are spot on, too.

News: Mesa woman breaks stripper pole, falls, sues sports bar

I don't know all the details...so I really can't say much...except that this is funny.

Study: US needs FEWER science students

They problem, according to said study, isn't that there aren't enough science students...but that the students don't go into science/tech jobs. Many are taking MIS-like degree enhancers and going into business. Until corporations need to pay science/tech employees better than the managers who manage them...many of the best and brightest techies will go to the bigger salary, not to the job we need them in. And with more and more tech students, there is lower demand...and therefore, lower wages for those tech jobs. Catch-22 much?

News: Schwarzenegger Flips Off Lawmakers in Hidden Message

Couldn't pass this one up. Read the letter sent by the Guvinator to lawmakers. Then read JUST the first letters of each line. Enjoy.

Awesome: Nathan Fillion dresses as Mal on new show, Castle

As a Halloween costume, but none the less!!! Someone asks 'Didn't you wear that 5 years ago?' Priceless. Why yes...yes he did.

News: Google Voice Light means free voicemail transcription!

OK. This is awesome. The reason I (and apparently most people) were kind of wary about joining up with Google Voice was the necessity to use your Google Voice phone number in order to get all the cool features. This means updating all your contact info and having everyone use your new phone number. BUT NO MORE!

Now, mobile users can sign up and use their CURRENT mobile phone number to utilize a small but not insignificant set of cool features. This includes the transcription of voicemail to text (which can be sent via e-mail OR SMS text), the ability to save voicemail forever even if you switch carriers, and other fun stuff.

It only it wasn't in invite-only beta....if only.

News: Companies to debut retina display tech as soon as next year

Woohoo!!! Forget heads-up displays. Think about displays that appear about a meter in front of you. Just information floating in the air in your peripheral vision. SWEET! I want to feel like a cyborg. Get some wireless connectivity standards and think of the possibilities. Jump in your car, it interfaces and shows you your dashboard info on the sides of your vision...not down on the dash. Sit at your TV, and get stats from the game you're watching, right in front of you. Add some kind of manual interface device and be able to CHANGE that information dynamically based on what you see and how to want the info to change. EEEEEE!!!!

Sweet: XKCD redesigned to commorate Geocities shutdown

This is pretty cool. Yahoo Geocities is probably the first interaction with the web that MOST people had, visiting and/or building sites. Myself included. So, to see it end is sad. But to see XKCD.com redesigned in perfect 1990 Geocities layout...is priceless.

Comics: ZITS ZOMBIE WEEK!

Woot!

News: Olympic flame successfully lit by sun in Olympia

The Olympic flame can now make its way to Vancouver. The flame was successfully lit by the sun's rays in an ancient ceremony Thursday...ready to start its journey to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games.

List: 5 things Wired likes about the Barnes & Noble Nook

I still want one. I'm getting closer and closer to getting one. Free book reading in the store? With free Wi-Fi in the store? Nifty...

News: Former Miss California Prejean sued for breast implant cash

First of all, HAHAHAHAHA. Second, what the hell is the Miss California pageant saying to women? That even if you ARE the most beautiful girl in California, you aren't good enough? WTF? They gave her money to get a boob job. A beauty pageant winner. Seriously. Funny thing, from the article, the Executive Director of the pageant is quoted as saying that the money they get from the two lawsuits (the other being a suit to get all the profits from the tell-all book Prejean will release next month in breach of her pageant contract), will go to charity that 'promotes the values of our organization.' So, a plastic surgery clinic then?

News: Plagiarism-Detection software links play to Shakespeare

Pretty cool. The software matched 200 strings from other Shakespeare plays to this work, 'The Reign of Edward III.' According to the article, works by two different authors will usually only have around 20 matching strings. This leads the company to believe, with high probability, that the play is indeed Shakespeare, co-wrote by Thomas Kyd.

News: MN swine test positive for H1N1; 1st US case in swine

Uh oh. Pork futures will be taking a dive. Fast. Pork chops with swine flu built in? Yummy.

News: Gamma knife machine emergency stop button malfunctions

Due to a 'known software bug', a brain-tumor-zapping Gamma Knife machine didn't stop when the Emergency Stop button was pressed. Not a good thing.

News: Maldives cabinet rehearses underwater meeting

The Maldives cabinet are holding a cabinet meeting underwater this weekend. It's to draw attention to the fact that their island nation is projected to be underwater in less than 80 years. Crazy, huh?

News: Interracial couple denied marriage license in LA

And yes, the justice of the peace who refused to issue the license has publicly stated that it was because they were an interracial couple. Yeah. LA is still living in 1909.

Op-Ed: New CPR saving lives in Arizone

No breathing. Just compressions. Remember it.

News: Wi-Fi Alliance announces Wi-Fi Direct specification

Sweet. Say goodbye to Bluetooth! Where bluetooth is slow and short-range, Wi-Fi direct will be able to connect two devices WITHOUT a router or other connecting device at Wi-Fi speed and range. Gonna be fun!

News: D & D Online goes free...and popular!

Since going free, subscriptions are up 40%. Woulda thunk it? Oh yeah...everyone. But the GOOD news is that apparently the higher numbers is drawing in profit. Which is the important bit.

News: $99 WikiReader takes Wikipedia offline and handheld

OK. This is pretty cool. But i'm not sure I'm ready to shell out the $99 just yet. I'm trying to see if I can make or get my own e-Book of it. The data is open-source, so you can. Just gotta do it...or find someone who has. Then, BAM. Free handheld, offline wikipedia. But, as soon as I get tired of that, this will look pretty good.

Sports: Austrian ski star Hermann Maier retires at 36

Two time Olympic champion. Name synonymous with skiing. Great career.

News: Facebook user arrested for a poke

OK. It's not quite as simple as it sounds...and, therefore, not nearly as fun. The woman was prohibited by the court from phoning, contacting, or otherwise communicating with this person. So she poked them. What a putz.

News: US clinches World Cup berth; Czechs looking to playoff in

The US is in the World Cup. The Czechs...not so much.

While being the favorite to win their UEFA group, some big mistakes early have left them on the outside looking in. Currently in third, they just won on Saturday to keep their hopes alive. Now, they have another MUST win Wednesday. If they win and 2nd place Slovenia do NOT beat cellar-dweller San Marino, they go to the UEFA playoffs to win their way to South America.

That's pretty much not going to happen. The Czechs will probably beat the North Irish, but the odds of 2nd place Slovenia losing to a national team who hasn't even TIED a match in the group play, let alone won one, is slim to be nice.

Beat.

News: Mutual Telepathy just steps away!

OK. That might be a bit much. But think about it. If we can train a computer to tell the difference when someone thinks 1 and someone thinks 0...we will eventually get to a point where it can tell the difference between 'cat' and 'dog'. Then, by wearing digital glasses or a personal HUD, you could SEE this information and know what the other person was thinking...without any verbal OR non-verbal communication. Kinda creepy...yes?

News: Man propositions own daughter on Facebook

Wha? How? Huh? Can't you see the name of the person? How the hell does this happen? Also, ew.

News: Marge Simpson poses for Playboy cover

Yes, it's real. Not sure how or why...but OK, I guess.

News: Rugby, Golf Summer Olympics\' newest sports in 2016

That\'s it. I want to see Tiger Woods become an Olympic champion.

News: Don't ask, don't tell policy ousts mostly women

Really? Most soldiers removed from duty for being gay are women? Huh...crazy.

News: Barack Obama wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

...I\'m...speechless? Possibly a backlash against the anti-Peace of former President Bush? From the committee\'s anouncement, he was given the prize \'for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples.\'

Liz passed the bar!

WOOHOO!!! Congrats, babe!

Oh...and THANK GOD :-)

News: Afghan insurgents pushed into US base during 12 hour battle

Yikes! Being pushed back into one's own base is scary stuff. 12 hour battles, hundreds of insurgents, 8 dead US soldiers, over 100 dead insurgents. Crazy.

Funny: Verizon "There's a map for that" commercial is hilarious

Yeah, it is. Go watch it now...if you haven't already seen it. If you have, see it again :-)

News: 3 win Nobel in physics for digital devices

Not sure why they are in three's this year. The Nobel in Medicine went to 3 as well...Odd. All 6, btw, are American. Apparently the Nobel committee doesn't share the same anti-US sentiment as the IOC.

News: Memorial cruise to trace Titanic's route

Anyone else think this is a bad plan? Irony is a powerful thing...I'd be nervous as all get out on the trip.

News: Man mauled by tiger after scaling zoo fence

Good. Dumbass.

Review: Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas

No, it's not a new movie. But, odds are pretty good that you haven't seen it. Slightly better than the odds that you've heard of it. You should see it though, bottom line.

The writing is something the probably drives both the metaphysics and philosophy crowds insane. The 'cool ideas' are probably either common theories or complete crap, it's hard to tell. But to a layman (i.e. me), it seems like pretty heady stuff. The Book is anyway.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Bickford Shmeckler is a screwed up kid. But, his attention to detail and dedication to a unified theory of everything has brought him to hold, in his own hands, a book. A book with mind orgasmic powers. Trapped within are an insane Matthew Lillard, a entranced groupie John Cho, and super-cutie Olivia Wilde.

From there...it really doesn't GO anywhere... per se. But, maybe that's the point. In his quest to find The Book, it has a quest of its own. And they both find themselves: The Book an audience and Bickford a life. Pretty interesting stuff. I wish I had cool ideas...and that people thought so.

*SIGH*

Maybe if I had a name like Bickford Shmeckler, I could have cool ideas.

News: Recruits wanted for WHO male contraception shot trials

Oh yes! It\'s on the way!

Update: Ireland votes \'Yes\' to EU treaty on retry

Huge sigh of relief for the EU.

Op-Ed: Anonymous movement

Good Wired article about the Anonymous 4Chan crusade against the Church of Scientology.

Sports: Blue Jays fire GM Ricciardi

Good riddance!

News: Seasonal flu shots DOUBLES risk of getting swine flu (H1N1)

That makes me laugh. Not because people are getting swine flu, but that the flu shot that was supposed to prevent it makes you twice as likely to get it. The exact opposite result. Ha!

Philosophy of a Bachelor Party

Most women don't really get the bachelor party. They don't understand the rationale behind it. But, to be completely honest...I don't think most guys do either.

Most guys use it as an excuse to do all the things they want to do, but can't or won't because they can't properly explain it to those they care about. This isn't really all so bad. The mainstays of a bachelor party - strippers (either in a club or a private show), drinking to the point of sickness and passing out, and all sorts of other frivolity - aren't exactly things most guys are happy to admit to, even if they do indeed enjoy it. The bachelor party gives them an out - the all too familiar peer pressure excuse.

But, it's not the worst excuse either. Bachelor parties are all about the single man. Those things are staples of the single life. The night is supposed to be about men being men. Not partaking in these things can be a very big hit to your self-image as a man. Especially if you've been in couples coma for too long. Not going out, not having weekends with the guys, and dare I say some onset of monogamy monotony. Not that these things are necessarily bad. But, having a good long weekend of these things can be just the thing a guy needs to remember who he is...as a man.

As cheesy as that sounds, it's true. Guys can easily forget who they are, separate from their significant others. They become the Bennifer, the Brangelina, the lame two-person-as-one. Not that it's a bad thing for the guy either. Guy friends are awesome, the best! But there's always one things guys like more...and except for a minority born with a different disposition, only a woman can give it to them. And they seem to require a bit more constant attention. Small price to pay for what you get in return.

This brings us to the reason for this diatribe...the Brandon Block bachelor party. As I've mentioned, bachelor parties follow a pretty regular script. One night, the best man gets all of the groom-to-be's best friends together for a night of drinking, strippers, and stupidity. It's supposed to be a vision of what the guy will be missing when (if?) he gets married and throws it all away. To take a quote from one of the greatest bachelors of our time, Dr. Gregory House, M.D., "If what you do before the marriage is the same as what you do after the marriage, the ceremony and commitment itself has no meaning." You MUST do stupid stuff you shouldn't do in a commitment as a show of reverence to what you are giving up for the woman you want to marry. To show that the commitment really means something.

Britten, Beto, and Diesel say 'Hi!'

At least, that's the big idea. But what if those things aren't really something the groom-to-be is really going to miss? What if strippers and strip clubs and dumb bimbos aren't really the guys cup of tea? What then? You might think that this doesn't happen very often, but it's strangely common. The last two bachelor parties I've been to (and probably the next one I go to) will have this strange conundrum. So what do you do?

It's surprisingly easy. You find out what the groom-to-be really enjoys, what he really loves about being out and about without the misses, and give him an overload of it! Show him that if you get married, you'll still be able to do the things he loves. He just won't be able to do it on a grand scale very often. That he must sacrifice the amazing all out weekend. So that's what we did. [Ed. No this is not everything we did. I'm just going to select the key activities that are A) important to my point and B) least embarrassing to explain.]

Poker and Beer

Leaving Friday afternoon, we set out for Lake Superior. Arriving meant the drinking. It meant some poker, too. An amazing night was had. But, that wasn't enough! We could do this anytime...and have for that matter. We must stay up all night! Like we used to before living with girlfriends, graduating college...before growing up essentially. So we did.

Now, Brandon likes fishing. Loves the outdoors, really. So, we could just go fishing. Again, not thinking big enough! So, our best man, Matt "Diesel" Winegar found the perfect "Think Big" activity. Charter fishing for trout and salmon on Lake Superior. Great fishing...good times. Can't fit 9 people on one boat, so 5 went with one and 4 went to the other. If feel bad that Beto picked the wrong boat - his caught only 6 for 5 people; the other caught 17 for 4 people, but then again, his boat had the beer on board. So maybe it was a wash. This was, however, the perfect example of an activity fit for a bachelor party. Not something you would normally do, not something a guy with a serious relationship would do otherwise, but still an amazing trip.

FisherMEN

The next morning, Beto did join us for a golf outing. What we realized, while we were out, was that this was much better than some simple golf outing. If we tried to put this event together like a normal golf session, we'd be split up. You can't have 6-8 people golfing in one group on any legitimate golf course. You have to be in groups of three or four. But on this little, neglected, "executive" course...we could all play together. And, with no one else in sight, we could play any way we wanted. Another perfect activity.

Beto drives

So, what have we learned?

First, I think, is that you HAVE to do this over a weekend, not just one night. One night doesn't do justice to what the goal is supposed to be. One night doesn't leave enough time to do all the things you can do to make the weekend legendary. And, one night leaves to much room for error - if one activity goes wrong, that may be a good 25-33% of the activities. That can ruin, or at the very least tarnish, an otherwise good bachelor party.

Second is that it is NOT necessary to include activities of the risque variety. If that is something the gentleman in question enjoys, then by all means include them. But, if it's not enjoyable, it isn't essential or even encouraged to include them. Something else can be arranged that will be just as enjoyable. Which brings me to my third lesson.

Enjoyment is key, not activity. It doesn't really matter what you do. It only matters that everyone (though especially the man of honor) have a good time. Neh! Have a GREAT time. This is the most important lesson. Find out what the guy likes. Do it to an EXTREME level, a level at which the guy is not likely to have again. This will be the lasting impression. This will be the example of commitment he will show to the love of his life.

Beto's having fun

And, ladies. Please remember - regardless of all the things he may/may not do that you will disapprove of, he (AND his friends) are showing you what he is giving up to be with you. As strange as it sounds...he's showing you how much he loves you. Showing you that he is happy to CHOOSE you...even over fun he might have without you. He's saying that YOU make him happy. Happy enough to say that it is more than what his friends can give him.

Beto and Missy

That's gotta be one hell of a commitment...because this weekend was DAMN fun.

Infographics: Mapping the 7 Deadly Sins (US)

These are awesome maps. They show the hot and cold spots for the various deadly sins. For example, Greed is the average income compared with the number of people living below the poverty line. No surprise that California comes in as devilish and South Dakota comes in as saintly. All seven are present and accounted for. And the Midwest comes out looking pretty in all of them...almost.

West river seems to have a problem with lust (Number of STD cases reported per capita), though East river seems to be on the saintly side. Must have something to do with going stir crazy seeing nothing for miles and miles and miles and....

***Note: I tried to find some direct links to the research or the maps, but couldn't find any. Beyond the hot spot maps the Wired article shows (linked in the title), there are some that are broken down by COUNTY in each state. I think those would be interesting. I'll post links for them here, if I can find any.

News: Woman jailed, punched, violated for carrying pug in subway

There are so many things wrong with this. I'm not even sure where to start.

First, the male cop was a misogynistic dick. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that the woman didn't do anything wrong. She was carrying her pug around, which she shouldn't be doing. But nothing could make her deserve how this D-bag allegedly treated her. Arresting, abusing, and maybe even so far as groping her. And, witnesses are saying that he was making sexist remarks while doing all this. I really don't know if she was resisting or anything of the sort, but disorderly conduct? Seems weird.

Next, we have the issue I think that is just as disturbing, but, I think, most people will miss. She was jailed with two other women. These women spit on her and hit her. Why did they do these things? Because she was crying and scared.

Seriously...people suck. I hate them. Why are people STILL trying to change my disposition on this? Do I really need to keep posting things like this? And, yes. I realize that there ARE plenty of examples of people being good. And they make me feel just a bit better. But people are SUPPOSED to be good, and they usually aren't. That sucks.

If the cop did these things, he should be fired and charged. If any other police officers did anything to aid or cover up any of the activities of the officer in question, they should be fired and charged. If those women did those things, they should be brought up on additional charges. There...I said it. Let's go, Karma. Kick it into gear.

We need some justice now and again.

Update: Judge overrules jury conviction, acquits Lori Drew of Cyberbullying

WTF? Seriously. We finally get a JURY to convict Lori Drew of being a psycho B!7(#, and the judge overrules the jury and acquits her? Who blew who to get that reversed?

I really want to know what the hell happened here. Something awfully fishy is going on here.

Google debuts 'eyes-free' touchscreen controls

I'm not really sure why. But for the longest time, accessibility issues have always been at the forefront of my mind when it comes to software design. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I spent a couple years as the chair of the student body legislature (Speaker of Forum) at the University of Minnesota. While I was there, I got to know a lot of the representatives to the body, especially those from the cultural centers. The one that really sticks in my mind is John Lukanen on the Disabled Student Cultural Center (DSCC). John had a visual handicap. But he was still one of the smartest people in the room and could generally recognize my voice, or at least pretend well enough to make me believe that he could. :-)

I liked John. Always made sure I said 'Hi' when I saw him. And his work with us made sure I kept accessibility in mind, especially when I was making changes to the student government's website.

Maybe that's why this is so cool. The problem with the newest trend in technology, touchscreens, is that they form a huge accessibility/usability problem for those with visual handicaps. And I don't know why nobody thought of this before.

Google shows off their newest idea for allowing touchscreens to be used even by those who can't necessarily see the screen. By opening the dialing controls wherever the user first touches, you can dial without looking. Which would actually be useful for anyone, not sure those who CAN'T see, but also in times where it would be more convenient to be able to dial without looking.

I really hope this kind of thing catches on. And even if it doesn't catch on as a feature for ALL dialing, I at least hope it becomes an essential OPTION for those who can't see.

Bravo, Google!

School allowed to bar from extracurriculars for ...

Should a school be allowed to bar a student from extracurricular activities for Internet speech?

A federal court (it's unclear to me which one) has again denied a student damages. A girl running for student body president at a Connecticut's Lewis S. Mills High School called members of the school's administration the "douchebags in central office" on her LiveJournal, an online journal website. The school found out and barred her from running for Student Body President.

I could see this if she wrote it while in school. But, that's not even a factor. It's basically saying that if it COULD be read by members of the school's community and is vulgar, that they can discipline based on that speech. This is not to say that they could discipline her academically via suspension or expulsion, the decision was quick to point out that the school has much more leeway in doling out discipline when it comes to extracurricular activities.

I just think that speech on the Internet, even if she DID write it on school grounds, is speech made to the void...and, therefore, not under the authority of the school.

Report Finds Online Threats to Children Overblown

In a resounding voice for the freedom of the Internet, a task force that was commissioned by the order of 49 state attorneys general to examine the extent of the threats children face on social networks concluded that there is not a significant problem. And...yes. I, too, would like to know what state had nothing to do with this.

From the article:

[They] concluded that the problem of bullying among children, both online and offline, poses a far more serious challenge than the sexual solicitation of minors by adults. ... The 278-page report, released Tuesday, was the result of a year of meetings between dozens of academics, experts in childhood safety and executives of 30 companies, including Yahoo, AOL, MySpace and Facebook.

This is an amazing thing for the future of the Internet. And also a personal victory in my quest to prove that parents need to spend less time trying to officiate over what everyone else does and pay more attention to what THEIR KIDS are doing.

The Internet is amazing...as well as new. But, that doesn't mean that it is the destruction of our values. I love the Internet. Not that having a blog and my very own website wasn't a pretty good clue already. We can really decide to embrace it and make it a better place. And we can do it without having to sacrifice the freedom it grants us all. Information never hurt anyone...not to my knowledge anyway. I hate the sake of stupidity for the illusion of safety.

I'm not saying that I am unaware of the pressures on today's families. Two-income families are becoming the norm, which makes it much harder to spend quality time with the children involved. And with the economy headed the way it is, that doesn't seem likely to end anytime soon. I am not unsympathetic to that.

This was a blatant attempt to force politicians to stifle the progress of the Information Superhighway to do parents' job for them. I am happy as a clam that logic and reason prevailed. Thank God. Anyone who thinks that sexual predators outnumber regular people with the explosion of YouTube, Match.com, Facebook, MySpace, and every other way that the Internet is making the world smaller...should go stick their head back in the sand. The rest of us are going to be utilizing the amazing new technologies and discoveries that are fueling our world.

And with that...I'm going to go read more stuff about things on Wikipedia. And, yes...I've been taking many grains of salt.