Rant Hill

News: J.C.Penney to get rid of its iconic sales

2012-01-25T10:26:00.001-06:00

Moving to a everyday low price, monthly special, friday clearance model. Interesting. Also dealing away with the $19.99 in favor of $20 pricing structure.

Awesome: 'Star Wars Uncut' released!

2012-01-23T18:41:00.001-06:00

The entire of Episode IV: A New Hope in 15-second increments of user-submitted clips. Clips were live-action, animation, stop-motion, claymotion, puppets, and just all-around awesomeness. Watch it while you can!

Breaking: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) refuses patdown, detained by TSA

2012-01-23T13:31:00.001-06:00

Son of soon-to-be-also-ran Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul, the younger Sen. Paul was detained after refusing a pat-down. The Senator was pulled aside after an anomoly was detected after a body-scan. The Senator offered to be rescanned, but was told that the only way was to receive the enhanced pat-down. He refused.

SCOTUS: Warrant needed for GPS monitoring of vehicle

2012-01-23T13:28:00.001-06:00

Wow...a good decision from the Supremes. That's a change of pace....to be sure.

Obit: Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno dead at 85

2012-01-23T08:30:00.001-06:00

Shortly after firing and 2-month cancer battle. Feel bad for the guy, even if he quite clearly should have said more about the scandal sooner.

Study: 'Tiger mom'ing raises depression, stress, low self-esteem

2012-01-20T09:52:00.001-06:00

News: Sen. Reid (D-NV) calls off SOPA-sister PIPA vote

2012-01-20T09:16:00.001-06:00

Hurray! The Senate was to vote on the ill-crafted bill Tuesday, now they won't. Good.

News: Chef Paula Deen hid diabetes, pushed high-fat foods

2012-01-17T18:14:00.001-06:00

News: House kills SOPA

2012-01-17T08:32:00.001-06:00

Freaking finally.

News: TSA makes $400K annually just from forgotten loose change

2012-01-13T10:57:00.001-06:00

How carries change these days? How forgets it when you did carry it around? Weird.

Obit: Former Governor, U.S. Rep Janklow (R-SD) dead at 72

2012-01-12T12:51:00.001-06:00

News: Doomsday clock still around, back to 5 minutes to midnight

2012-01-11T16:06:00.001-06:00

Really didn't know it still existed. But there it is.

News: Vatican plagarizes Wikipedia for carndial bios

2012-01-11T16:05:00.001-06:00

Funny stuff....

News: Kodak prepares for Chapter 11 filing

2012-01-09T18:17:00.001-06:00

News: Geeks to FINALLY testify on SOPA/PIPA implications

2012-01-09T16:47:00.001-06:00

There are days when I just want to throw my hands up, give up on all my dreams and careers....and run for Congress. I swear to be a one-term Senator. Be a rules stickler and call out any Senator to provide sources and evidence for any claim clearly put to them by someone else. Oh...and overturn (or at least sponsor the bill to overturn) all of the technology-related catastrophes (read: acts of Congress) in the last, say, 10 years.

Techno-phobes in Congress. The whole lot of them. Why are the 'expert' witnesses to testify before Congress on technology related issues always executives of organizations which have nothing to do or entirely avoid technology advances? Seriously?

2USCCA: Rejecting police applicants for high IQ OK

2012-01-04T11:53:00.001-06:00

...W...T...F??? Systematically getting average people to be authorities. Actively refusing people who are intelligent from serving as a public authority.

News: Bachmann ends presidential 'campaign'

2012-01-04T11:48:00.001-06:00

Hurray she can't be President. Damn, she be running (and somehow keeping) her spot in Congress.

News: First FDA-approved is just caffiene and aspirin

2012-01-04T11:47:00.001-06:00

Same thing as drinking one cup of coffee and taking two aspirin. Seriously. I can see why it was approved by the FDA. Dissolves in water like an Alka-Seltzer. So that's different.

Maybe it's good for the crowd, like me, who doesn't like coffee? I just trade the coffee for Mountain Dew, though...so I'm not sure this is better...

News: Polish art students hangs own art in museum

2012-01-04T11:43:00.001-06:00

Awesome. The museum reacted appropriately. They kept the art, hung it in the cafe and is now auctioning it off. Brilliant.

News: Verizon backtracks on ill-advised $2 convenience charge

2011-12-30T16:08:00.001-06:00

Good. Idiots. 'We're going to charge you to pay us.' Dicks....

News: New record-high temperature at South Pole

2011-12-29T17:19:00.001-06:00

News: Scientists, Economists come up with new, awesome calendar

2011-12-27T19:08:00.001-06:00

I like it. Let's do it.

News: Payroll tax deadlock ends as House 'caves'

2011-12-22T19:30:00.001-06:00

Thanks go to Democrats AND the Republicans would made a stand for middle class Americans. Thank all who were involved with this.

And condemn those who fought to increase taxes on the middle class.

News: Super Bowl goes online to NBC and NFL websites

2011-12-22T17:51:00.001-06:00

Neat.

News: Obama's Tumblr posts photo of 1st Navy same-sex first kiss

2011-12-22T17:47:00.001-06:00

It's a tradition to raflle off the first homecoming kiss. The winning female deboarded and kissed her awaiting girlfriend. The Obama 2012 Presidential campaign has posted the photo to their Tumblr photo roll.

Time to get over it, old people. Being for equal rights for ALL people. Being for less government control and restrictions is supposed to be a conservative ideal. Own it. Not just when its something YOU want to be free to do. Freedom for all, always.

News: White Castle pilots alcohol sales

2011-12-22T15:22:00.001-06:00

It's not a question of 'if', but 'how much' trouble they will get into....

News: Kids must learn times tables by age 9 - new Ed regulations

2011-12-19T18:06:00.001-06:00

I learned them in 3rd grade...didn't I? I don't know what the hell the big deal is...

Survey: 'Whatever' is most annoying word in conversation

2011-12-16T13:39:00.001-06:00

Didn't need a survey for that....

Sports: EX-Twin Cuddyer, Rockies agree for 3 years

2011-12-16T12:21:00.001-06:00

News: Louis C.K. sells new comedy special for $5 with NO DRM

2011-12-14T20:37:00.001-06:00

Makes $500K, profits $200K. Pretty freaking awesome...and smart...and philosophy affirming. Love it when that happens.

Deal: Round-the-world airfare with up to 10 stopovers- $10K

2011-12-13T17:01:00.001-06:00

Business class $20K. If I had the time off...you better believe I'd be going.

News: HP to build new webOS tablet in 2013

2011-12-12T15:57:00.001-06:00

Interesting...but I'll believe it when I see it.

Comic: Pearls Before Swine 12/12/11

2011-12-12T11:39:00.001-06:00

ExACTly....finally somebody gets it :-)

Comic: Foxtrot 12/11/11

2011-12-12T11:37:00.001-06:00

Too funny...

News: PA man fakes mom's obit to get paid time off

2011-12-10T11:54:00.001-06:00

...dick.

News: HP making WebOS open-source

2011-12-09T13:40:00.001-06:00

WOOHOO! Great move. Will make lots of people happy. No reason to just toss the amazing platform. I hope hardware/handset makers pick it up and run with it.

News: Mythbusters launch cannonball into LA neighborhood

2011-12-07T19:50:00.001-06:00

Heh.... That one didn't work so well...

News: Woolly mammoth to be cloned within 5 years

2011-12-05T12:26:00.001-06:00

Um....isn't there a reason they went extinct? Is that reason gone...allowing them to reintegrate and possibly dominate the current environment? Just saying....

Op-Ed: First problem that computers were REQUIRED to solve

2011-12-03T20:39:00.001-06:00

Not just solving time-consuming ones. Problems that are necessary to solve a problem within one person's lifetime. Interesting stuff.....

News: Iraw takes command of Camp Victory

2011-12-03T19:42:00.001-06:00

Comic: Indexed 12/2/11

2011-12-02T09:55:00.001-06:00

L: True dat.

P: True dat?

L:I've gotten a lot more 'street' since we broke up.

Deal: McDonald's 5 Big Macs coupons + 5 Large Fries coupons = $13

2011-12-01T09:12:00.001-06:00

HUGE SAVINGS!!! Click my link....get cheap McD's!!!

News: LivingSocial to run national deal with McDonalds!

2011-11-30T16:24:00.001-06:00

Bastards! See...this is how they get you....

For 5 Big Macs and 5 fries, you pay $13. Using one of each and buying a $1 ala carte pop, you get a meal for $3.60 total. Not...too...bad. Plus...you can get just the sandwich and fries for $2.60 and drink your OWN pop at home and save a bunch....

Damn you, people who make things that I like but shouldn't have cuz they're bad for me but they're cheap!!!

Op-Ed: Other student loan problem: too LITTLE debt

2011-11-29T20:51:00.001-06:00

News: American Airlines files for bankruptcy

2011-11-29T17:15:00.001-06:00

....uh oh?

News: Amazon open-sources Kindle Fire, older Kindle code

2011-11-29T16:33:00.001-06:00

Neat stuff.

Comic: SMBC 11/22/11

2011-11-22T15:35:00.001-06:00

Plus, a cool palindromic date!

Sports: Blue Jays reveal new logo for 2012, looks like old one

2011-11-18T11:33:00.001-06:00

News: EU bans body scanners used by U.S.

2011-11-17T13:10:00.001-06:00

News: Economy causes lower birth rates in young moms

2011-11-17T12:12:00.001-06:00

News: Simulated Mars mission 'returns home'

2011-11-16T12:22:00.001-06:00

News: Joe Paterno and Penn State College President fired

2011-11-13T21:49:00.001-06:00

News: DARPA wants to move away from passwords, to active authent

2011-11-13T21:24:00.001-06:00

Cool beans!

News: New ASIMO robot revealed by Honda

2011-11-13T21:01:00.001-06:00

News: Wired magazine releases all staff pics to Creative Commons

2011-11-13T20:47:00.001-06:00

That is...FREE...OPEN-SOURCE photos. That's freaking cool.

News: PayPal introduces Google Wallet competitor

2011-11-03T11:19:00.001-05:00

I'm intrigued...

News: As rich get richer, 1 in 15 Americans now considered poor

2011-11-03T09:20:00.001-05:00

Seriously. Something has to be done. Not the 99% thing...but something.

And Republican Presidential candidates are talking about eliminating the Capitol Gains Tax? That's the ONLY thing that the uber-rich PAY! How will that help? The tax breaks we've given and extended to them have only driven us deeper into recession. This is ridiculous. Screw big business....help small business....spread some standard of living help and let's get going.

News: Trumark Financial puts Guy Fawkes mask on home page

2011-11-02T08:31:00.001-05:00

Supporting OWS....interesting move...

News: Fox to reboot 'In Living Color' WITH original creator

2011-11-01T15:28:00.001-05:00

That's a twist. Actually bringing back the original minds behind a show for the reboot? Good...call?

Comic: Pearls Before Swine 11/1/11

2011-11-01T12:37:00.001-05:00

My sentiments exactly!

Is it bad when I agree with Rat? (Editors note: Yes....)

Funny: Signs from Texas' new interstate soon to be stolen: I-69

2011-10-28T17:07:00.001-05:00

Oh boy... Don't call Texas stupid....cuz it might be true...and that's mean...I guess.

Comic: Pearls Before Swine 10/28/11

2011-10-28T17:00:00.001-05:00

Pretty much...yeah.

News: Samsung takes the lead in smartphone market over Apple

2011-10-28T11:06:00.001-05:00

News: Congress approval rating at 9%...not a typo...9%

2011-10-27T20:57:00.001-05:00

News: Sam L. Jackson highest grossing actor ever - Guinness Recs

2011-10-27T20:52:00.001-05:00

News: Redbox is raising its prices to $1.20/day

2011-10-27T20:37:00.001-05:00

20% increase....and no one will care.

News: IBM's CEO is first female in that position

2011-10-25T22:09:00.001-05:00

News: Whedon shoots Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing'

2011-10-25T08:47:00.001-05:00

...while still working on 'Avengers.' A little odd...but AWESOME.

News: Ron Paul plans to end student financial aid

2011-10-24T09:54:00.001-05:00

Hmmm. Backfire anyone? Or will the GRANTS stay, but LOANS go away? Then at least only the MIDDLE CLASS won't be able to go to college...

News: Oh crap. Woot! came out with a new site: Home.woot.com

2011-10-24T09:33:00.001-05:00

For all the OTHER things I didn't need for my house that I now have a need to buy.....damn you, Woot!!!!

News: Teach computer science in 5th grade, says Google CEO

2011-10-20T16:44:00.001-05:00

I tend to agree. Especially on the way it can help avert the 'geek aversion' phenomenon that drives women away from the field.

News: Google encrypting search for logged in users

2011-10-18T15:23:00.001-05:00

Nice. It's about time.

News: Abu Dhabi traffic accidents down 40% while Blackberry down

2011-10-17T18:12:00.001-05:00

Ha. That stuff makes me laugh.

News: Japanese Tourism Dept to offer 10K FREE round trip tickets

2011-10-14T11:58:00.001-05:00

News : 16 zombie actors injured on 'Resident Evil' set

2011-10-14T08:30:00.001-05:00

Heh...

Op-Ed: After iPod, iPhone, and iPad....iGamingConsole?

2011-10-13T23:43:00.001-05:00

..not sure it needs it? Xbox Live is a pretty good one already...I think.

News: UK tests speed-sensitive stop lights, turn red if you speed

2011-10-12T08:10:00.001-05:00

Old article, news to me. This is interested. If you're speeding, the light turns red. Neat.

Op-Ed: Ken Jennings debunks taste areas of tongue myth

2011-10-11T16:10:00.001-05:00

Myth? Really? I had no idea. I still thought that was true...and that I was a freak since it didn't matter one bit where I put food... So...I'm still a freak, just not for that anymore. Score!

Comic: Indexed 10/10/11

2011-10-10T13:48:00.001-05:00

How I feel at Wells every day.

News: Netflix kills Qwikster; DVD business to stay in house

2011-10-10T10:50:00.001-05:00

Nevermind...

Obit: Steve Jobs DEAD at 56

2011-10-05T19:18:00.001-05:00

Holy crap. I really thought this was a joke. But he's really dead. An unmatched visionary in the technical world. His innovation will be sorely missed.

News: Nobel in Chemistry to quasicrystal discovering Israeli

2011-10-05T16:56:00.001-05:00

News: Song pulled from MNF after writer's Obama/Hitler comment

2011-10-03T17:55:00.001-05:00

FTA - ESPN is pulling Hank Williams' classic intro song from Monday night's broadcast of the game between Tampa Bay and Indianapolis after the country singer used an analogy to Adolf Hitler in discussing President Barack Obama.

News: Firefly poster at UW-Stout declared 'threatening'

2011-10-03T15:49:00.001-05:00

I love the smell of dumb people in the morning....oh wait.

News: Cancer kills scientist days before winning Nobel Prize

2011-10-03T15:40:00.001-05:00

That's really sad. He did make amazing strides in immune therapy. But died from the disease he worked so hard to fight, just days before winning the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

News: Amazon joins HTC as possible buyers for WebOS

2011-09-30T11:27:00.001-05:00

YES!!!! BUY IT! PLEASE AMAZON!!!

News: Sesame Street goes beyond counting, to math and science

2011-09-28T15:22:00.001-05:00

Neato!

Op-Ed: Euthanasia Roller Coaster

2011-09-28T15:21:00.001-05:00

Lithuania designer developed the Euthanasia Coaster, in part, under his PhD work.

Two minute, 1600 foot climb allows the rider to reflect, and, maybe more importanlty, really decide. At the top is the go-no-go button. Press the 'FALL' button, and it's all but over. Then 1600 foot drop followed by successively smaller, and, therefore, increasingly G-force imparting loops. If you remain conscious, the loops will impart 'disorientation, anxiety, confusion, and, most importantly, euphoria -- is crowned with GLOC (G-force induced Loss Of Consciousness), during which the body is completely limp and vivid bizarre dreams occur such as being in a maze and unable to get out, or floating in a white space, not knowing who you are, why you are here, etc.'

Interesting stuff. It's just a theoretical model (at 1:1600 scale), but it's interesting food for thought. I guess I'm not in that position, but I can't imagine hitting the FALL button...or at least not regreting it after the fall starts.

News: Emmy's cut Alec Baldwin joke about News Corp.

2011-09-19T11:09:00.001-05:00

Corporate Censorship...not a good sign.

News: Two men accused of running real-life 'Weekend at Bernie's'

2011-09-19T11:06:00.001-05:00

...huh...

Sports: Ortiz tries to hug Mayweather during bout, gets KO'd

2011-09-19T11:04:00.001-05:00

Shouldn't try and hug a boxer. Especially during a match. You get knocked out.

Then the guy who knocked you out calls one of the most respected boxing commentators biased and uninformed about boxing. Odd stuff....

News: Netflix spinning off disc-by-mail side of business

2011-09-19T10:40:00.001-05:00

Huh. I guess that's a good move. I just hope they can rebuild their library after Starz takes off.

News: Dinosaur protofeathers found in 78M year old amber

2011-09-15T19:53:00.001-05:00

Neat.

News: U of M Profs offer $1000s for Bachmann's HPV victim records

2011-09-15T18:11:00.001-05:00

News: Starcraft II goes free-to-play with Starter Edition

2011-09-14T16:41:00.001-05:00

And...I still probably won't play :-(

Study: Fewer 16 y.o. drivers increases 18 y.o. driver deaths

2011-09-14T16:19:00.001-05:00

FTA - Strong driver's license laws have led to fewer fatal crashes among 16-year-olds but with a disturbing side effect � more fatal accidents among 18-year-olds, a nationwide study found.

This is what happens when people don't start driving until they're 18. They go out and start driving WITHOUT a parent around. Without someone to tell them the common sense, but not in the book, driving lessons that prevent accidents....and apparently auto accident deaths.

News: 2012 MLB season to open at MIAMA Marlins' new stadium

2011-09-14T16:14:00.001-05:00

Miami? Really?

News: Google unveils Flight Search, result of ITA Software deal

2011-09-14T16:05:00.001-05:00

Sports: Djokovic downs Nadal to win first U.S. Open title

2011-09-13T09:03:00.001-05:00

Got to watch him win. At least I got to see SOME of the U.S. Open this year...

Comic: Penny Arcade 9/12/11

2011-09-12T12:37:00.001-05:00

We're going to be such good dads...