Attack of the codes

Is this trend officially over yet? Between the Alton Brown/Good Eats code, the Geek code, and the Personal Growth Geek Code (wtf?), I think we're slowly approaching apogee.

So, of course, I had to find out what my Blogger Code was.

I'm so lame, apparently in more ways than I thought.

-------- Begin Blogger Code --------
B3 d t+ k++ s- u- f- i- o- x-- e- l c+
-------- End Blogger Code --------

(copy and decode here)

Damn it, NHL, don't do this

Is this the future of sports?

National Hockey League team owners are now seriously considering forming a new league.

Don't negotiate and it's "The NHL is dead; long live the NHL"? I have no doubt they can do this, I just have serious doubts about the effects. I certainly, as a fan, would have some major quibbles about an ownership move to destroy a league simply over negotiations. Lock-outs are one thing, but damn guys, shutting down the league? May I refer you to IRL?

Of course, the players aren't exactly winning a lot points with me either. Come on, how much do you need? I'd feel really bad if Yzerman couldn't buy yet another house somewhere that I'll never be able to afford to visit. Yep, cry a river I would.

If nothing else, this is a move to pad the fans for a protracted, dirty, and immature lock-out/walk-out. Reading stuff like this only cements the end of the coming season.

One note to the NHL; I still don't watch or pay attention to MLB after their stunning display of concern for the game in the 90s. Just something to consider.

Link

Kerry citation a 'total mystery' to ex-Navy chief

Former Navy Secretary John Lehman has no idea where a Silver Star citation displayed on Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's campaign Web site came from, he said Friday. The citation appears over Lehman's signature.

"It is a total mystery to me. I never saw it. I never signed it. I never approved it. And the additional language it contains was not written by me," he said.

...

Asked how the citation could have been executed over his signature without his knowledge, Lehman said: "I have no idea. I can only imagine they were signed by an autopen." The autopen is a device often used in the routine execution of executive documents in government.

Deeper and deeper.

Link

F you, too, MP Parrish

They tortured people in Iraq, they (the Iraqis) have no weapons of mass destruction. Could somebody explain to me whether you think they're idiots or geniuses?"

Idiocy only shows when you say stuff like this to Reuters. What a moron.

Oh, and if I'm an idiot, then you can kiss my tourism dollars goodbye as well. I'll stupidly spend my hard-earned, valuable money right here at home.

...Prime Minister Paul Martin, has pledged to put relations with Canada's largest trading partner on a warmer footing.

Good luck with such wonderful rhetoric coming from Parliment. Americans love to be called idiots.

Link

Wow, politicians lie?

Kerry apparently has the ability to solicit multiple citations for the same medal, something the Sun-Times quotes as calling "bizarre". Of course, the original citation, issued by the Commander of Naval Ops in Vietnam at the time of the incident isn't there. Wonder why?

Oh, and his own website is citing him as receiving a medal that doesn't exist (link to PDF, see page 2)--on an official form. Interesting.

Link to Sun-Times article

Zeeland native murdered in California

Unbelievable. Jason Allen, a Zeeland native (working as a counselor at a Christian youth camp; surprise), was found shot in the head next to his fiance (or girlfriend, the papers are still working that one out) on a beach, apparently in their sleep. No motive, no leads, just two dead people laying on the beach killed in their sleep.

“This is a very disturbing case. It appears to be a terrible crime and absent of any motive. It’s a cause of great concern to us. The victims, from all indications, from all sources that we have, were very up-standing citizens, very honorable people who had an absolute absence of enemies,” says Lt. Dave Edmonds of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department.

I hope there's nothing else going on here; and I hope whoever did this fries. I don't know the family, but this kid is my brother's age...

Link
Article published before their bodies were discovered, with family information (Link)

UPDATE: The Fark discussion on this turned up an interesting missive. User RosevilleDan mentioned the Zodiac Killer (Google search), a 60's-era serial killer that is apparently still on the loose. He linked to a page describing similar killings linked to the Zodiac Killer. Interesting theory, especially since dormant serial killers coming out of hiding usually have reasons for doing so, and reasons can lead to clues. Why has the killer (if it is The killer) been dormant? Why come back now? Of course, it could be someone completely different, but it makes one stroke their chin just the same.

Gaming is dead. Long live gaming?

Interesting perspective on gaming in general. I don't know if the anecdotal evidence is as solid as I would like, bu the theotry is something that intrigues.

Personally, I can see some rationla in the theory put forth here. I myself have become pretty disenfrachised with the gaming world, although I ofiten chalked that up to a falling out I had with a solid team (to be fair, it was with one particular meglomaniac, but...)

Of course, in five years what will gaming look like. With the coming advances in computing, (2) gaming would be the obvious choice to capitilize on the new-found tech that will burst on the scene. Imagine what you could play on your 80 GHZ, 5 G RAM, 1 Terrabyte desktop PC in a few years. Kind of makes DOOM 3 seem like, well, DOOM.

Link [Props to my better half]

Ill-us-tra-tion time, come on

I can hear the boo-ing and hissing through the internet.

I figured since I'd had a glut of laziness, I'd put something decent up once.

This is a trace I did in Illustrator of a hand sketch. I have another once I'm working on, but it's considerably bigger and more complex (plus, I don't care for some things in the sketch and will probably fix those in the digital version).



You can click for a full-sized PNG. (106 KB; pops)

Commitment, Television, and...

So, it's obvious that my posting and care of this web site have been lacking. I wish that I could say I was busy or out of the country or, you know, something witty. Wit escapes me currently.

Anyway, the Olympics are on, I guess. Is anyone watching this? I see lots of press about the small crowds and having to give away tickets. The only reason I've seen anything is that it's on high-def and the local NBC station is actually broadcasting it that way. Well, sort of. Comcast's box for high-def is a little screwy, so it doesn't detect what format is being broadcast and let your monitor adjust to that aspect ratio. Instead they always broadcast based on a setting inside the box, which, conveniently, you can't get to from the remote and they didn't leave instructions for. I saw the installer configure a couple channels, but didn't pay attention. Wish I had.

Speaking of which, don't EVER let them run co-ax through any type of surge protector. Apparently, it completely screws the signal. Of course, when we had it for a couple months in Grand Rapids, the installer there insisted that it was fine and a good idea. No wonder we were so underwhelmed with the service; their installer was a freakin' moron.

But now that's installed properly, it looks great. Really great. Really, REALLY great. Discovery HD has some of the coolest programs ever, and I can't even remember the content. We sit there with it on in the background and about once every 5 minutes, one of us pokes the other, jaw agape, pointing at the television.

The Olympic broadcasts aren't quite that good, either because of the ratio issue (sometimes people look fat and squat from the ratio being off) or something else I haven't configured properly. I just imagine in 5 years when everything on television will be like that. It'll be like moving from black and white to color.

More later, if I get motivated.

Ah, this would be a fantasy come true

I can only hope for the day that some politico says something like this. Maybe then I'd give a crap about politics. Or at least be able to tell them apart.

Link

Funniest Slashdot post EVAH

Well, maybe not ever, but certainly today. Sing this little ditty to the tune of Gilligan's Island.

Link

Cartoons

Cartoons are one of those things that I occasionally touch base with just to make sure I still don't get it. I always had these visions of being an artist or cartoonist (or, god forbid, a professional illustrator). Reality set in when the best I could do was a wonderfully egg-shaped duck in colored pencil. I like to draw on occasion (actually, I should post something once), but my youth was able to kill any burning desire and relegate it more to a passing interest; it's one of those things I truly regret in my life.

However, there are many people who kept the artistic side of themselves alive and nurtured. My friend John Auchter is one of them. He's got a classic style and a sense of humor that, while I don't always agree, I still get a chuckle. (I hope you read this John, I'm officially a one man Google bomb for Auchtoon.)

I also ran across this little tale via this Boing Boing article today. PvP is the rival cartoon to Penny Arcade, two cartoons for those in the know about online gaming, fan boys, and fruit-raping critters. They are odd cartoons indeed, but insightful in their own ways. Basically, the creator of PvP got noticed and got an offer to become a syndicated 'toon in a lot of newspapers; the pinnacle for a lot of comic strip creators. Unfortunately, newspapers and syndicates still think the world belongs to them and wanted not just the strip, but everything; all rights and all the money that could come from those rights.

He told them to take a walk. Now, he's trying to get syndicated for free. He's offering newspapers a chance to publish his comics for a year for free. Here's hoping; he could change a lot of rules if he succeeds.