1 min read
As a veteran let me just remind folks that memorial day isn’t about those of us who survived. Please, don’t thank us - instead use today to reflect on the ultimate sacrifice that so many others have made in the past (and are still making).
Please don’t cheapen the day by focusing on all veterans - focus on those who have given their lives in the line of duty.
3 min read
There is a nasty angry cat that lives in our neighborhood. He’s a real fucker.
A couple weeks ago while walking our dog this cat jumped out of the shadows and just attacked the dog with a couple of quick swipes of his clawed paws. He was totally unafraid. I had an old police night stick with me and I popped it not too hard in the stomach to get it to back off and it just stepped back, arched its’ back, and hissed at me. I thought, for a moment, that he was about to attack me too so I popped him softly in the nose to make sure he realized I had good reach and that the stick was hard. He turned tail and left us alone.
Until last night. Last night we went for a walk and our cats, as usual, walked with us (albiet at a slight distance behind). When the walk was done we all headed in the house. The cats are a real pain about crossing the threshold and they always approach it as if it were a trap but last night piglet bolted in but grover, stubborn old grover, wouldn’t go in so I closed the door.
As soon as the door was shut I heard the tell-tale sounds of a cat fight. Hissing and howling and growling. I opened the door back up and that fucking cat was attacking grover right on our porch. I didn’t have the club with me but I did have the dog, off a leash, and she bolted outside to dish out payback.
The cats both bolted in different directions and Rosie (the dog) and I both chased the cat. Rosie supermanned it over the fence in hot pursuit (glad we built the fence to safely contain her). I followed along up to the nearest intersection where Rosie had cornered the cat under a parked car.
The cat tried a couple times, unsuccesfully, to sneak out a different side of the car but Rosie is fast and was waiting for the little feline devil could escape. Eventually I called Rosie over and we abandoned the cat and I felt good that we had at least scared the cat and maybe given it a reason to reconsider coming in our yard again.
I doubt it but I’m hopeful.
Eventually Grover came back home and he had a bunch of loose fur on his back near his tail. I removed it and checked him for real injury but he seemed ok. So I let him go in (he entered reasonable fast this time) and Rosie ran over to see how he was.
He smacked Rosie in the face and then bolted up the stairs. Clearly Grover was in no mood for anyone, but me, to be near him at that point and I don’t blame him. Rosie shrugged it off. Rosie’s cool like that.
That cat,if it comes back in my yard, and I can catch it, will be going to the pound. If I can’t catch it I’ll probably shoot it. It’s a fucking menace.
2 min read
I keep seeing Google reference QR codes for a variety of things in relation to the android phones on the market but I never really hear about QR codes and the iPhone. However, today I decided to see what was available for my phones crappy camera. It turns out there is one really good, and free, option - i-nigima. I saw it referenced in an article about books with QR Codes in them and then again in the comments on an article comparing other QR code readers for the iPhone.
I tried a couple of other apps before trying i-nigma and I have to say that i-nigma blows them out of the water. To test it I went to a website that will make QR codes for you (it was pretty cool too). I-nigma handled almost everything I threw at it. The only code it couldn’t read was for a QR code for text that was longer than 500 characters long. It was fine with URLs, Calls, SMS, and vCards and text up to 500 characters.
It’s pretty impressive really - so if you have an iPhone check it out.
2 min read
It goes without saying that the internet is an amazing resource for information retreival and, thanks to sites like snopes.com, a lot of the bullshit information out there has been debunked.
Sadly, for many people sites like snopes don’t seem to exist. Far too many people just pass on the absolute bullshit they hear or that they find in their mailbox. They pass it on as if it were gospel instead of taking a minute to actually check and see if what they are propogating is bullshit or not.
Take this new story going around about how Pres. Obama is a piece of shit because he is the first president, since memorial day’s inception, who won’t be at Arlington laying a wreath. Instead he will be in Chicago.
It sounds believable on the surface - I mean, who really keeps track of Presidents on memorial day and whether they are at Arlington. Well, it is a total bullshit story. In fact, in the past 30 years only one president has gone to Arlington for each of the years of his presidency.
It wasn’t Regan or either of the Bush’s by the way - it was that damn draft dodging Bill Clinton (though not a felonious draft doger)
There are some out there who dismiss snopes as having a “liberal bias” and to them I say “bullshit” as well. Read the Clinton article I linked to - they categorize his actions as “unethical” and “morally reprehensible.” Snopes has problems (like too much and far too invasive advertising) but their bias isn’t one of them.
Stop spouting off with complete and utter bullshit and get your facts straight people. I’m getting tired of telling you that you’re wrong.
2 min read
Look, I know Blankenship has a very vested interest in keeping the coal status quo but he could at least pretend like he is being honest about it. Here, check out this tweet by him:
A leading climate modeler says we’re in for steady temps or even cooling. Another good reason to scrap Cap & Trade. http://
tiny.cc/ uMnuY
Twitter / Don Blankenship: A leading climate modeler ..
Seriously? Did he even read the article he is linking to? Not only does the article not say that there will be cooling but it explicity counters this lame argument right in the body text.
Here is the climatologists actualy quote in the article concerning “steady temps”:
“The strong warming effect that we experienced during the last decades will be interrupted. Temperatures will be more or less steady for some years, and thereafter will pickup again and continue to warm” - Professor Mojib Latif
So Prof. Latif said it will be steady and then warming will resume. Just to validate that my reading comprehension skills are better than Blankenships let’s see what the Prof Latif has to say about those who would twist his words into saying that Global Warming is done:
”..[he] points to the resumption of warming as the cycle completes itself in a few years. The best we can hope for, he says, is a brief respite from global warming.”
Perhaps Don Blankenship wants to have even less credibility? Or maybe he thinks everyone who hears what he has to say is an idiot. I don’t know - but to just flat out lie and distort the article’s content while at the same time linking to the proof he is lying makes no sense at all.
If ever I needed evidence that those opposed to the scientific evidence of global warming are just full of shit I could now look no further. Thanks Don! At least you cleared that much up.
1 min read
Before you read this post and watch the two videos I’ll warn you that they can be offensive.
These two videos both discuss offensive words; specifically both touch on the word “nigger”. While it is obviously a word with a ton of horrible baggage it is interesting to see it discussed in the only medium it can be - comedy.
When the Daily Show skit was first aired they didn’t bleep any words out but, latter, the FCC regulations ended up leaving it censored. BTW: I wrote out the full word earlier on in order to “take full responsibility” for the shitty word I used.
1 min read
Assuming you’re using windows:
1. hit the key combination windows+r (windows key and r at the same time)
this should open a “run dialog”
2. enter “character map” without the quotes
a new window should open full of sybols.
3. Scroll through and find the symbol (character) you want to use
4. click on the character
5. click the “select” button
6. click the “copy” button
7. click in whatever window you want to use the character
8. hit the key combination ctrl+v (this will paste they symbol)
3 min read
Article One
Every man shall upload half of what he downloads, with the saints filling in the rest. It’s like tossing back a tiny fish so that it may grow into a great whale…only so we can hunt said whale and feast on its blubber during a later voyage.Article Two
TV is to be downloaded, movies are to be attended when a man returns to shore. If ye aren’t a Neilsen family, what you watch doesn’t matter for ratings anyway. Since advertisers pay by rating, it’s a theft-less crime. Movies, on the other hand, do see profits of gold and jewels. So support independent/foreign film in the theaters, and save the action flicks with high production values and many beautiful explosions for the big screen, too. Hollywood romantic comedies? They are for plundering (in secret).Article Three
A man shall steal as much music as he needs to quench his thirst, assuming that he supports the band by attending concerts and buying t-shirts. One should always buy the work of an indie label, however, if the music is deemed pleasant after the new moon, it’s time for purchasing.Article Four
Ye wouldn’t be a pirate if ye didn’t download Photoshop. But for the office, such manners are frowned upon. Make your employer pay so that others may play. And if a man spends his life building a $10 app, that man has earned his $10. Toss him a coin should you requisition his services.Article Five
Pornography can keep a man company at sea, but always avoid that dealing with husbandry. Girlfriend sharing is OK, assuming the missus knows she’s on the Bay. (We’re pirates, not douchebags.)Article Six
JK Rowling’s booty is apt for plundering, but her’s is a rare case indeed. If a book be in the library and tis in stock, one could make an argument to download for free. But our conscience dictates that we buy some books to keep good writers in print.Article Seven
If at any time a man should download a virus, that man must notify the message board immediately. If at any time a man should actively upload a virus, no retributive measure shall be deemed too brutal. An arse becomes fair game for a hook.Article Eight
After you try it, if you really like it and can afford to do so, buy it.(via. gizmodo)
1 min read
At the end of each part (there are nine of them) you will see thumbnails along the bottom that point you to the next part. Honestly, unless you actually by everything these people are talking about it probably won’t be comfortable to watch.
2 min read
Before I groan about this to much I will admit there is some difference, but not much between these commercials. Likewise, the environment has changed ever since the Janet Jackson event. Furthermore the initial ad was aired by FOX and the PETA ad is being banned by NBC. There all of the excuses that might be used are out of the way. Here are the commericals:
Some of the weak reasoning used for banning the PETA commerical includes
Basically there are some more but none of the reasons are any more valid are really any different than those stated. So, really, there is no real reason to ban the ad; it’s just stupid. Go ahead and watch men beat the shit out of each other for 4 hours, check out the cheerleaders when they show them, but dammit - don’t look at a woman in underwear with veggies!
Our country is as stupid as can be sometimes.