Sounds a bit like cigarette company responses to possible health risks...

But yeah, I'm just saying that your codpiece mounted cell phone device isn't such a good idea

Big enough for you?

Nothing quite like a nice big rocket.

And Fishing Rods!

Uses "include surgical thread, bullet-proof vests, micro-conductors, optical fibers and fishing rods." Wow. Good thing I live in a day and age where not only is there a journal Microbial Cell Factories but there is hope for a better fishing rod!

Artificial life

However you define life this is interesting.

Yes, it is just politics, but...

this helps show what kind of service is rewarded. Tenet, Franks, and Bremer are shining examples of what the current administration is looking for in a citizen: total and complete loyalty to the party line, even in the face of overwhelming lack of evidence supporting its policy. Err, and why is a General getting a civilian award? And the man who was in charge of the CIA during its worst failure ever? Good thing that Bremer left Iraq in such good shape, what with the great interim Iraqi government and such fine hopes for an "open and fair" election.

Note the last line in the BBC article (my emphasis),

The medal of freedom was established by Harry Truman as a war medal and reintroduced by John F Kennedy to honour distinguished civilian service in peacetime.

Guess which one Bush is using it for.

Yep.

That's a big bridge

Twelve > Trinity ?

Seeing that "'Twelve' steals top spot at box office", the only fear I have is that the rumors are false and that Blade: Trinity will have a sequal. Gah. Might see Ocean's Twelve. Will not see Blade: Trinity unless it were to fall free into my lap. And give me a day off. And cash.

Privacy

Yes, continue to try to control all information and disguise it as protecting people. Praise privacy laws, for they are the future. And freedom to access information is doomed.

I wrote a big, huge rant (larger than this) about the topic. I threw it away. Too much rambling and no one would have read it anyway. Try this, though.

1. People who feel weak and threatened want someone to protect them, no matter what the cost. No exceptions. Remove either one (weak, threatened) from equation and it changes.
2. Information is a weapon. If you don’t know about something, you can’t act against it or for it (deliberately). No plotting is possible without information. You can’t target someone if you don’t know that they exist or the specifics of their lives.
3. Criminals who use information as a weapon usually target the weakest people that they can find, usually women, children, and the elderly. These are the people any society most needs to protect, or it is doomed to failure by extinction.
4. Anyone who feels weak and threatened wants to be protected from these criminals. This is why there are laws concerning what information can be in your possession. The best way most people see to do this is to disarm criminals – to take away the weapons. Thus, privacy laws.
5. Pay attention, this is the big one. If you are strong (in resources and personally) and present a confident face to the world, you have no need of privacy. If you are able to deal with any weapon of information wielded by any criminal, you need not fear either. Even if you can not (or will not) strengthen yourself for this threat, you can still not be a victim by not feeling like a victim. If someone commits a crime against you, go get that son of a bitch, but do NOT worry about something that hasn’t even happened yet. Guard yourself, prepare yourself, but don’t even think about stepping on the freedoms to gather information to do it.

This is not to say that I would give anyone on the street my ATM pin and card. I’m not that strong or I wouldn’t have to use them. But when it comes to the what, where, and who of me, my environment and my person, I say go ahead and look. If you want to know my daily activities, just ask. If you want to know my deepest thoughts, again, just ask. If you want to take naked pictures of me without my knowledge, I hope you get a good exposure! Har, har, little bit of photography humor there. Yeah.

Oh, and there is also privacy in a social-space sense. Such as, don’t disturb my privacy by knocking on my door at 3:00 in the morning, don’t disturb my privacy by stopping me in the street and asking for donations to your community paper, that sort of thing. Different creature, different rant.

Solution: Arm yourself against the world, but do it personally. Don’t get me and my slice of the government to do it for you.

Dude

Dude! First, I was like duuude but then I was like no way dude!

"Putting users within the danger zone"

What a great line, what a total non-story. Look for the actual conclusions in the sixth paragraph. Heh, I just love junk science. Eeek! Computers are attacking humanity's ability to reproduce! Or maybe it is just stupidity.

Censorship from Microsoft?

Nay, can't be. They wouldn't provide a dinky knockoff service and then try to enforce moronic rules, would they? Surely not!

Got LASER?

Oooh yeaaah.

Cheap update

Let me see. Need something for this one...might as well link to my co-worker's blog* for a quick and easy update. He has a much more popular blog than I do (how couldn't he?), but I'm not jealous. Oh, no.

* WARNING! Do allow co-worker blog to come in contact with skin. Keep co-worker blog away from children and pets. If accidentally swallowed, call a doctor or poison control immediately. Use other than as listed is a violation of Federal Law. May cause some unpleasant side effects, including nausea and vomiting.

Forget those stupid settings

I'm no longer a total blog newbie, as I have learned to avoid the Settings that blogger.com throws up in their "helpful" little blog editor. From here on out, only direct html hacking for me.

Yet another late post

My family has been bugging me for a holiday wishlist. Make a long story short; this is the season of exchanging gifts and getting together to eat too much in our family. No real religious connotations, but a good excuse to all be in one place doing one thing.

And, of course, we massively over-plan it. I have three siblings (plus one borrowed) and two parents, each with their own likes and hobbies - too many to keep good track. Hence the holiday and birthday wishlists. Think suggested buying guides. One isn’t required to choose something from the list, but it does help to give some idea of whether that person is into gardening or theoretical physics this year.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.