Something I learned today
8000 people die every day from HIV/AIDS. 4000 die every day from TB. Africa is the worse hit by both.

Joke
Did you hear the the UN is going to impose sanctions against Jamaica?
They found aluminum tubes that could only be used to build an atomic bong.

Sweet Subaru
Reuters is going to send a hit-man looking for me for posting all these pictures.

I've always liked the racing stile of Subaru. They are great rally cars. Audie makes a better all wheel drive system, but cannot approach the price of Subaru. These cars are tough, ugly, and scrapping for a fight. I like them. I think if I were a wealthy person, I would own a Subaru instead (or in addition too) another more expensive vehicle so I can rag the hell out of the Subaru and not care. They are capable sport cars.

That's how you pack a truck.
This picture was taken in Africa. That is corn according to the Reuters by line.


Sunday
Didn't I say last Sunday that nothing happened? Well, This is two in a row. Robin was supposed to call, but that didn't happen. I thought long and hard about going for a walk. That never happened either. I did wait until about nine to shave. That way I have the least stubble tomorrow. Lets' see, what else?  I tried to track down some graphic novels I want to read, but they just want too much money. I cannot even find them used.  I suppose I'll stick to reading what I can find online for now.
Next weekend is D&D so I hope to have a good entry on Sunday. I hope my character is ready. I'm going to have to run it past Adam one more time to make sure I didn't miss anything.

Some Books
Bulfinch's Mythology, The Age of Chivalry
This guy would have made a hell of a Dungeon Master. I would have loved to play D&D with him. I recommend this book to any one who plays. It is a historic view of the age of Chivalry. I bet several parts of D&D come from this collection. I imagine though that this man was not himself creative, but a great taker of notes and researcher. He would have been a magnificent gamest.
The author runs through several real people and draws some lines to literature. I like the line "... Then came a line of Kings of little note. ..."
Thee is a chapter on Arthur. Timely, only because I just watched the movie King Arthur.. In the story of Merlin, also chapter three, the whit dragon wins. Remember that.

Nice
	I saw this picture on Reuters. I fell in love. One of these days I may make it to Europe to partake in the positive side of travel and world discovery. Her smile looks a bit forced, but if you had to server drunk Germans, you would be a bit worn as well.

Not Nice
	That's a toy gun in the child's hands. This is the side of world travel that keeps me at home. The fact that a child is flouting a toy gun behind a foreign soldier sends shivers up my spine. This is so staged it makes me sick. The kid looks sever paces behind the soldier.

Bad Black Market
The two flights that were blown up a couple of months ago in Russia proves that abandoning the rules leads to far worse than a loss of taxes. Two women paid a bribe to be lead to a plane each that night. The bribe was about $17 each. The practice has been in place for a long time. One of the women was scheduled on a much larger plane the next morning, but opted to take the earlier flight because there were police around.

The Crew When we play D&D we use miniatures made of plastic. There was a day they were made of lead, but that isn't smart. There is a spot on the character sheets to put your character's picture or drawing. I've never been a good enough artist to follow through with a picture. I can just see myself putting a horrible scrawl on a perfectly good character and wanting to rewrite the whole thing. I need some practice yet I think.

Song
Artist: Jem
Song:   Come On Closer
Album:  It All Starts Here.

Nader for President
I don't like the idea of Nader being president. I love the idea of him running. right now I think every dollar given to Nader's campaign is two given to Bush. Four years ago the liberals in Florida kicked themselves because they realized if they had voted for the democrat, Bush would have lost the presidency. Something like 5000 votes separated who won last time. Your vote does count, if you are in Florida.  I'm in Texas. Guess who is going to win this state. I would almost like Bush to loose Texas just to see the look on his face. It isn't worth it though.
Texas is not a "battleground" state. I'm sick of that turn. It should be against the law for news organizations to tell people which way a state is going to vote. You wonder why people are complacent. They know, or think they know, who is going to win. I for one am unimpressed with either candidate.
I'm already sick of the Campaign stuff. Here I am adding my two cents to the fray. The presidential elections and the Olympics in the same year, how do the networks cope?

Culkin
	It looks like Macaulay Culkin is growing up. This isn't the best way to make the other Hollywood starts respect you . Does any one know of a childhood star that isn't fucked up when the hit their twenties? He looks drugged out and like he has been smacked around in this photo. Check out the bags under his eyes.

Burning Things
I've spent most of the day burning things. It is fun to watch the sparkle as I load and unload  the DVD tray.I figure I will burn 16 data DVDs before the flame dies. That is quite a bit, even by my standards. I can only get 4.3 gigabytes on a DVD. If they were all full the total would come to 68.8 gigabytes.  With loss, I end up with more like 55 or 60 gigabytes on the lot.

Movie Reviews by the Masses
This is why I like the whole P2P experience. It is not run by corporations (yet). People, just plane people, run the entire thing from top to bottom. Here is a review for the movie "The Seventh Seal".

Not really my kind of movie, in fact I could only sit through half an hour of it before switching it off but, seeing as it's in the IMDb Top 100, a lot of people must have liked it.

Good enough for me. I'll pass.

Dancing Skeleton
This guy is good. This is proof that there are still skilled performers in the world. Not everything is CGI.

What's in a name?
Kasia, I need to remember that name.

Presidential Candidates
A friend of mine told me about the debates last night. The way he described the goings on made both sides sound like a couple of six year olds pointing fingers at each other over a broken lamp. I'm so glad I don't vote.

Gel Pen
I left a full gel pen on my entertainment center with no cap on it for about six months. Over this time it lost nearly half the ink. The ink didn't drip on the wood. There is no trace of it. The only thing I can think of is it evaporated. The pen laying next to it is find. That one has the cap on it. Maybe someone has been breaking into my apartment and filling in forged credit applications using my gel pen.

Wireless Network
I tested out the wireless network at my buddy's house where we play DnD. I want to take notes while we are playing a bit like I did last time. That, incidentally, was the blog entry that convinced people I should stop playing. The battery lasted for a long time. The settings kill the notebook the instant you stop messing around. I look forward to writing something creative. I haven't been creative in a while.
I like my character. That always worries me. When you like a character they usually last five minutes. I'm considering rolling up a barbarian for backup. I've never been much for mages. I've played some clerics. I tend to do best with a big ax.

Cat
Every morning I get up at 4:30 and get ready for work. I shower, shave, stumble down the steps to the bus stop. There is not much special about it on most days. Some days it is raining. I actually like it when it is a hard rain over a gentle sprinkle. There is an indecision while walking, whether or not to put on the rain gear that ends up with me more wet than a hard down poor. This morning was not raining, but it was wet with humidity. Today will be a hot one. The headlights of cars driving by have that hazy look. My eyes tell me by their feel that it will be sticky all day. A hurricane just passed 400 miles to the East and our weather will be strange for a week for its passing.
As I walked to the bus stop this morning I realize my socks are riding down in my boots. This is something that happens in these boots all the time. These are the boots I spoke of in this blog before, the one's that hurt my feet for a while. Just as I round the corner to view the bus stop, I notice something sitting in my spot. Small and gray, it is moving. I remember a opossum that was scared off from the dumpster a while back and I stomp my feet loudly as I walk to scare it off. It only moves a few inches and it arches its back a bit. It is a cat. I didn't catch the shape in the gloom, but I did grasp its motion.  Cats really do have that unique grace to them. I sat down a ways away from the cat. I had clearly startled it with my stomping. I popped off my boots and adjusted my socks so they would not ride down again. I caught out of the corner of my eye the little cat looking at me as it sat in the arched back curl that cats do. The creature was yellow, not gray. It was in that adolescent stage between kitten and cat. it stood and stretched a bit. Then it walked half way over to me and stopped. It looked up as though to ask permission to continue. I simply looked back at my boots as I pulled the second one on and pulled my pant leg down over the top. The little cat was next to me, but not touching. I slowly put my hand up in front of him so he could catch a sniff. I said something softly, I don't remember what, and start scratching its ears. It leaned so hard into the attention that it fell over when I changed sides to get the other ear. The bus came and I went to work, a little richer for the experience.
I hope that cat was just out for an early stroll. There are quite a few stray cats in my complex. They are not hampered by the iron fence or gates. They pass along without leaving much trace or making a sound, save a per for a friendly stranger willing to scratch an ear.

Clarity
I love it when you can look at something that is normally cryptic as hell and tell what it is and what it does. The following URL is as clear as they come. Read the words. Don't worry about the slashes. I bet before you put this in your browser and check it out, you know what you are going to get.
http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/walkabout
I put a message on my Yahoo messenger that says "Thinking about a Walkabout." A buddy asked me what it meant. I sent him the link above and added that a true walkabout is a journey of self discovery. They usually follow a stress in one's life. My life is a stress. I don't know why I let it get to me like I do. It is part of the wonderful world of Kelly.
I'm in a much better mood than earlier in the week. The same things that were just ridding my last nerve day before yesterday are rolling off today. I don't know what to say about that. Well, it may have been the little smile I got yesterday from a woman I meat. I wish I had asked for her number.

Remember Florida

I remember a Bugs Bunny cartoon where Bugs cut Florida away from the continent with a carpenter's hand saw and shouted, as the state floated away, "Take it away Cuba!!" I miss Bugs Bunny cartoons. Of all the things I cannot find on P2P networks. That is the one thing I wish I could find easier.

Space Station Hoopty
The ISS (International Space Station) is falling apart. Now the Russian resupply ships are having trouble. I carry in my wallet a "Space Pen". I like it because it fits in my wallet and is rugged enough to take the beating it gets. Those pens are pressurized so they will write in a weightless or vacuum environment. Someone told me it will work under water too. A friend said "The Russians use pencils. That is a cheap way to avoid th weightless problem." Well, the lead (graphite) from pencils is a conductor. The dust created by writing with pencils gets in the instruments and causes failures. This shows lack of planning and research. There are two ways to look at space travel. Do tons of painstaking, expensive, time consuming research and tests to design the best missions that are most likely to be successful. Or, throw money and deadlines at a bunch of managers and watch things blow up. Space travel is expensive. You have to do your homework. It takes ages. It is hard. You don't always make headlines.

Calender
I've found myself with too many calenders. I have personal stuff and works stuff. For a while I had two work stuffs. I may have school stuff again in the future. I own a PDA. It has all the calender, phone, address, and to do abilities. I find myself just using it to synchronize my work and home Outlooks. I never use it as a PDA for anything. I need to find a mobile phone that coves this ability. I have it with me all the time. Mobile phones are going through a transition at the moment. They are half way between a PDA or Game Boy and phone. Where the trend will stop is anyone's guess. The evolution is messy. So many systems are proprietary. Some will not be supported in a year or so. It looks like Blackbury may have some new legal troubles. Wish me luck.

Random Thought
Speed of light
300,000 km/second
300,000,000,000 mm/second
Gigahertz
1,000,000,000 click cycles per second. (1 gHz)
Computer speed approaching the speed of light.
300,000,000,000 mm/s over 1,000,000,000 click cycles a second = 300 mm (about a foot)
At 4 gHz, light only travels 75 mm in a clock cycle. (That is 3 inches)

Ivan
Well, Florida has been hit by three hurricanes so far this year. One of them hit Florida twice (once to cross and the other through the panhandle). If any of these hurricanes had hit Houston, we would be in a bad way. I know some people who left lower Louisiana, only to return to relative calm. It looks like LA dodged another bullet. One of the commentators said "There are two places in the U. S. under sea level, the other one is Death Vally." He was speaking from Baton Rouge. That is a city, literally, in the bottom of a bowl. Being bordered by a river, a lake and the ocean make for rough going in large storms. I heard it would only  take six or ten inches of rain in a short period of time to put eighteen feet of water in Baton Rouge. It looks like Alabama got a good shot of Ivan.

Machines
I've heard people say they need a new computer because there old one has imploded. They spec out their needs as "Web surfing, email, games ..." Its funny, but the most taxing thing I can do on my computer at work is check my email. It isn't  the local machine, it is the network. My email (Outlook) simply grinds to a halt the second I try to click o an email to bring it up.or copy an email to a folder. Sometimes it takes five minutes just to complete the most simple task. When I find myself toiling on the corporate machine, grinding, trying, I can't help myself. I have to try. I have to achieve. I am a fool, but that is what I am. The email just sits there. The hourglass taunts me. I find myself chanting softly "I'm paid by the hour. I'm paid by the hour."
I am not yet broken by the machine. I may never break. I fear caring the rest of my days. I will never retire. I will work until I drop. I will care every step of the way. Oh, if only I could create. If only I knew the magic words. Today, tomorrow the same things run past my desk and I solve the problems I can. I enable the non-caring to not care. I care. I can't help it.

Today
I'm in a dark mood today. I'm trying to snap out of it. Shake it off. What causes these fowl moods? Is it a chemical imbalance? I'm tired of being a slave to a tomato allergy. It's like there are two people running my day. There is the grump who snaps at people, and there is the guy who wants to help and make people smile.
These two have alto in common. They are both pleased to create. They are both hungry most of the time. The grump is a better programmer. The kinder one, by definition, has better people skills. I need them both to move forward. I spoke a while back about ID-Kelly. I'm not sure where the lines are. I'm not sure there are lines. ID-Kelly can be both nice and mean.
I remember an interview with Bruce Willis. He created a persona that helped him get along. I forget the name he used, but the character on Moonliters had a good deal of that character in him. The character had confidence, party attitude, he was the ultimate extrovert. I base my description of ID-Kelly off that character. My needs are different. I don't care about out-going, but I need confidence. ID-Kelly has what I need sometimes.
I'll get over it. Just thought I would vent. If I don't figure out something, I'm on my way to becoming one of those old guys with a bunch of skeletons around a dinner table in his basement. It's late, I'm going to go soak and listen to some classical music. That usually does nothing for me, but It looks like I'm trying to relax.

House Calls
I was listening to NPR and heard an interesting new piece of technology that is currently under trial here in Houston. What they are doing is putting remote monitoring systems in ICU an other departments that allows people in a remote location to monitor patients. The people in the ICU may be lessoned and a doctor is only needed for twice a day rounds instead of constant monitoring. This all sounds well and good until they interviewed the people doing the monitoring. They are obviously Indian. This trial is just a preliminary test to outsource medical care to other countries.
I envision a day when you don't get to see a doctor. You have a health tech ($15/hour) hook the monitor systems up to you  and some floating head will appear on a monitor with an all too familiar accent. India will be the most populous nation in 50 years. They will have all the jobs. They will have Bally-wood (Their version of Hollywood). They will be the center of programming, documentation, remote medical, and culture. The whole world hates the U. S.  Our culture is headed for a downfall. The problem is, we cannot become another Canada.  The rest of the world holds far to large a grudge. hopefully world wart three will take care of most of those ingrates.
Her is what I hope is happening. There is some grand plan to replace the oil industry with other jobs in the rest of the world. So much of the economy is based on energy that even if there is a new magic source of renewable energy, we cannot just throw the switch because the world as we know it would collapse into anarchy. Thus, other means of support must be inserted into other economies.
Between outsourcing tech jobs, doctors, help desk, call centers, research, manufacturing, and the like, the only thing left is management and marketing. We are going to be a nation of people trying to sell products and services made elsewhere to each other. The U. S. is trying like mad to open other markets around the world. I keep hearing it is to sell American products to new people. The only exports I hear increasing are jobs.

Last on Mirrors
Adam escalated the issue to Woody, who found the answer in a message board. I will not put the full text here. Basically, the whole thing boils down to this statement.

The axis you rotate around does not change direction in the mirror. The other two axises change.

The problem I had was I was always rotating around the Z axis. I was always turning my head.
 If I had turned around the Y axis (think of some one sticking a speer through my back and aiming at the mirror) Then my head changes direction and my hands change direction, but not the speer, or Y axis.
If I rotate around the X axis (Think about those acrobats who do the big T on the rings slowly rotating from right side up to up side down, also known as an inverted T), my left and right stay the same, but the up and down are reverse (or upside down). That doesn't make any sense does it? Well, trust me, it is the final word in any case.

Now, there is a slight delay between the light showing one and the other so, for the briefest moment none of these rules apply. As we delay the difference, or speed our observation, this will simulate the rotation around the fourth dimensional axis. What happens when you rotate so fast that the mirror has no time to reflect a single ray of light of the change? That is another conundrum all together. (just kidding, ignore this paragraph)

Sunday
Nothing of any particular interest happened today. I got a few comments on the blog. I got a few emails. I'm trying to put some DND documentation together. I watched some movies and some Babylon 5 episodes. This is what Sundays are all about. I turned on the TV for five minutes just to find out what was on. The Simpsons were playing, there was a football game on and some other sports thing. I don't remember. I then turned off the TV and started looking for some new books to read.

Two very interesting stories
So, the New York Times had a story about North Korea getting ready for a nuke test. A while  later, there is a 4 km wide mushroom cloud in a remote area of North Korea. hmmmm.
So, what is the big deal with North Korea having nuclear weapons? The leadership is nuts. The people are on the brink of starvation. They blame the South for all their problems. They hate the U. S. for protecting the South. The North Koreans have been implemented in the distribution of weapons to terrorist groups around the world. Some say North Korea is happy to sell to the highest bidder because it will hurt the West (U. S. and Europe) more than any of their interests. Western cultural hurts the North Korean government hold on power. It is not a democracy. North Korea showed off it's new missile earlier this year that could (with some work) reach California. Shall I go on?

Bald
When I was younger, I was terrified of going bald. Salena told me to stop bitching about it or stop hanging out with her. I used to have hair down to the middle of my back. It was red and wavy. It was thick as a rope. Well those days are gone. It is starting to get a bit thin in back. I used to joke that I would shave my head at the first real sign of baldness and just never grow it back again. Well, that seems to be good therapy. Being bald is no big deal. Going bald is annoying and worrying about going bald is just plane painful.
Last night at the wedding I got some complements on the bald head. I know it isn't the head they noticed, it was the posture and the nice shirt.  People really do pick up on your confidence. I can usually fake it for a while.
Any one want a picture?

9-11
My God. It's September eleventh. Two years ago today the U. S. changed a little bit for ever. I noticed a tribute in New York. They put two huge spot-lights pointing up through the spaces where the towers were. The photo looked nice.

Request
Some people requested the high res version of the Chris and Sarah's wedding pictures. So, here they are. These are the full 5 megapixel photos.
Links: Main Page or Directly to the page

More on Mirrors
--- Adam's Comment ---
About the mirror. The reason left is right and right is left in a mirror, but up is always up is because right and left are dependent on facing, while up and down aren't. If you were facing away from the the mirror then as you move right, your image moves right. If you are facing toward the mirror then the reverse is true. Facing, however, does not change up and down.
--- End Adam's Comment --
I must not have presented my point very well.  The debate is about the difference between my (every one's) perception of up and down vs right and left. When I turn away from the mirror the reflection does have the same left and right. (That is getting back into the physics of the conundrum). However, Up and down are the same whether or not you look into the mirror. There must be a fundamental difference between the way the mind looks at up and down vs left and right.
A caveman running through a forest would pick the path between two particular trees on the fly. The decision would be based on whatever the caveman determined was the easiest path. Like water choosing the path of a river. The path up and down, however, is a different set of needs. The ground has allot to do with it. I picture apes jumping from limb to limb. Now, we are talking some real differences between up and down vs left and right. The need for different on the fly conceptual realization and prediction come into focus when you start thinking of the needs as encountered through out evolution. A caveman may think "I need to step over that root." An ape needs to calculate the three dimensional position of his hand that needs to catch that branch over there. I read somewhere that during batting practice people do much better if they have a horizon in the distance to focus their eye on. If it is just a wall, they loose some visual focus. Pitchers do better when they have a  live person standing in front of the plate than when they have some box or target.
Its that I always thought I was just pointing in a different direction. It turns out the process of thinking and moving up and down vs left to right is fundamentally different.

Wedding
I went to Chris and Sarah's wedding reception last night. They danced every dance together (near enough) and they looked so good together. I envy them a bit. I had a great time. I took a bunch of pictures. Every one there seemed to enjoy themselves. Every one's eyes are closed. My camera does a pre-flash thing that gives every one just enough time to blink before the picture is snapped. Oh, well. I need a real camera. The one I have at the moment is really for snapshots.
Pictures: Main page or Direct Link
It feels good to have new pictures on the site, even if they are not the highest quality.

Page Breaks
I just learned how to put Page Breaks in HTML. They only come into effect when you print. Why print? This is my DND Character. I bet I'll need to print it at some point. I just used a bunch of tables, so they get split all over the place. that can be OK in some cases, but in the middle of the skills table makes it hard to read. I will eventually publish the character sheet here. Like I said, it is just a bunch of tables, so don't expect anything pretty.

Mirror
The image in a mirror is in reverse, or "mirrored". Why isn't it also upside down? Oh, I can do the physics experiment in my head and trace the lines from the object into the mirror, then back to my eye. It all makes sense from a scientific point of view. If I look at myself in the mirror, left is right and right is left, but up is still up and down is still down. If I lay on my side and look in the mirror of course, the image is still up side up, but also, still flipped right to left. So, it is my perception of the image that is reversed. That makes me think there is more of a difference between the directions up and down, and side to side. I always thought of them as pretty much the same. They are just different ways to point. This little experiment tells me, there is a difference.
If you think about it, when you go left and go left and go left and go left you are back where you started and you always went left. Even if you walk to the left around the world, you end up back where you started. If you go up and go up and go up, either you went down at some point (you were upside down in the middle of a loop) or you are on the fourth floor. This idea of a difference between up and down and side to side must have something to do with gravity, I just know it. It makes my head hurt trying to wrap my mind around the subtle difference.
Pickup a pen and drop it back on the table top. All the combined wisdom of mankind cannot tell you why that happens. They keep trying to tell me that bumblebees can't fly. Maybe the bumblebees know something we don't.
Comments?

NASA's $264M Lawn Dart
Have you heard about this thing? NASA wants to know what the Sun is throwing off on a daily basis. Hey, that has some good applications. I feel like my tax dollars are well spent on scientific pursuits that further Human knowledge. It crashed into a muddy spot in the desert, but now it's in a "clean room", thank God. I want to know who the fuck designed this thing to be caught by a helicopter with a hook on the end of an arm. There are so many problems with that idea. The thing that went wrong is the shoot did not open. Lets say it did. I can just see the helicopter; missing the shoot; hooking the shoot and spinning out of control to crash; missing the shoot and the device slams into the helicopter to crash. Come on, who was the project manager who approved "We are going to catch it with a hook dangling from a helicopter." This is proof only that high level people don't read their emails. I hope this instrument was supposed to be picked up by the shuttle and this was Plant-B.

Joke
A gorilla walks into a bar and asks the bar tender "How much for a beer?"
The bar tender thinks to himself what can a gorilla know about the price of a beer, and says to the gorilla "It's only $20."
The gorilla plunks down a $20 and the bar tender hands him a beer. The gorilla takes a sip and seems to enjoy his drink.
The bar tender trying to cover his petty larceny says "We don't get many gorillas in here."
The gorilla replies "At $20 a beer I can see why."

New Phone
I'm kind-of-sort-of in the market for a new mobile. I'm with T-Mobile at the moment and they don't want to haggle on the price of a new phone for an existing customer. No troubles, I'll go to Cingular, or Verison. I can keep my number now, so what do I care who's name is on the bill every month? They never put pertinent information on the descriptions. I want a phone that I can read, that can sync with the computer and hold more information on people than just their name and number. I need infrared or cable sync. I don't want to have to go through a service online to match up my names and addresses. I may need email in the future too. I look at the choices online and I keep changing my mind. I don't need a new phone. These cost a fortune. I hate dealing with rebates. Everything has a rebate on it.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
"Duck Dodgers and the 24 and 1/2 Century!" This is a new movie coming out this week. It looks pretty cool to me. This getting some good press, at least from the kind of people I listen too on this subject. I watched the trailer and it has a sort of P-51 (Mustang) vs flying dragons feel. Looks interesting.

Ghost in the Shell 2
This is another movie I've been waiting for.  I've heard good stuff about it. I finally had a chance to catch the trailer. It looks very good. I may have to catch this one in the theater. They say in the trailer that the original defined Anime. I don't think so. It raised the bar a bit.

Dracula
I just read Dracula. The original book by Bram Stoker. I understand why the movie recently was so difficult to sink into. The story seemed like bits slopped together. Well, the book is written in the form of journal entries and letters. I have to say, the book is far better at it than the movie. There are several distinct styles. No one character dominates. It is a good read.

My Funeral Arangements
I've given it at least fifteen minutes of thought and I've come up with my funeral arrangements. The plan requires the utmost secrecy, so shhhhh.
First, the corps is to be displayed as normal, open coffin, with the chest area, hands crossed, open. At a point in the middle of some one's words, a group of Duster clad, armed men is to burst in and take the room hostage. When people are ordered to stand away from the "Hell-Spawn", a man dressed much like Van Helsing is to march down the middle of the room and drive a large wooden stake through my heart. Just as his first blow rings true, a blood curdling screech is to emanate from the coffin and the body is to be made to lurch. Upon subsequent blows, smoke is to rise from the corps as the sound fades to a dull moan of anguish. At the last thunderous drop of the sledge, coffin, corps and all is to burst into flame. Van Helsing turns and exits as he came in, with a fast, business confident gate. His company are to storm from the place as he exits. They shout "God have mercy on his sole!"
How is that for an exit?

Today
Today is one of those days where every little thing is pissing me off. I mean every little thing. I find myself sighing every time I typo, which is about ever three seconds. I don't know what is the deal. I'm just on the rag or something.
...
I went and ate lunch outside behind the building. We have that little lake area out there and some dilapidated pick nick tables. That seems to have done the trick. I felt allot better after that.

Puppies
This guy was shooting puppies in the head and burying them. One of the pups hit the trigger of the gun (I think he accidentally shot himself) while he had an arm-load of pups. He is going to be charged with animal cruelty. I don't think he should. If he was disposing of the puppies in th most humane manor available to him, he shouldn't get charged. Trust me, shooting a puppy in the head with a .38 is not nearly as cruel as what happens to cows and pigs when they are slaughtered for our food. When they say "stunning" an animal, they mean with a pneumatic hammer in the head, or electro shock to the brain. My Vet. charges $90 a dog to put them to sleep. A .38 round is about $0.50 or so. It's too bad I'm not on this guys jury.

Russia

Russia is beside itself with fury over the atrocity that happened in a town called Beslan this last week. There have been funerals on TV all week. There have been protests calling for revenge. The international community debates one way or the other. People cry that another evil piled on top of this one will do the whole of the world no good. The Russian government says it will preemptively strike at terrorists when and where it pleases. Putin has promised not to resort to nuclear weapons. There is a video floating around that was taken inside the school during the conflict. Russian Television has been playing bits, but I've heard the contents of the video are far too harsh for general consumption. I've heard there are some photos taken via phones floating around too. The victims were held at gun point, denied food water and toilet facilities. They were shot when they tried to escape a burning school, and blown up for doing what they were told to do. Some reported rapes, beatings. All in all, hell. Besides all that, it was the first day of school. Can you imagine those surviving children having to complete their education? The parents will have to send their children to school again sometime. The resignations are already poring in. I wish people would blame the terrorists and not the officials who are most likely doing their best with the sources they have. Most government agencies I know of are only given the minimum to do their job under normal circumstances. Extraordinary stuff like this just is not covered. The Russian government has also offered a ten million dollar (U. S.) reward for terrorist convictions. It interests me that they offer it in U. S. currency. I understand the Ruble is a bit shaky. Preemptive attacks require three things. The problem must be present, imminent and you must have no other way to deal with the problem. The trouble is, who is to enforce international law? The powerful

Highlights
At my day job we have these things called highlights. What is a highlight? You sit there and tell the powers that be what you did all month to give them a reason to keep you around. I've gone though some of the other people's highlight documents to get an idea what was being looked for. Well, it is an interesting mix of bullet points and diagrams. I bet some people spend more time on the highlights than the work. I have to pick up. I was just throwing some text in this thing and moving to the next task on my list. I know now it is making a list somewhere that matters. I intend to give it a bit more thought from now on. I will also make sure to mention nearly everything that I do including off-topic help desk stuff that I normally blow off. Hey, it is work stuff, it goes in the highlights.
I get the feeling this is a document I want to pay attention to. Others may use this document to determine pieces of my future I want a say in. Last month's entry was not put "in" because it was late. Funny, I don't remember being told the due date, except "the end of the month".

Sleep
I slept like crap last night. I don't understand most of the time why I sleep one way or the other. This time, however, I know. I took a long nap yesterday and had a cup of coffee at about 5:00 pm to keep from taking another. I also stayed up reading a bit longer than I should have.

The Wheel of Time (maybe the end for a while)
Well, well, well. I have to say I'm sorry I ended the series on book ten. This tomb is all about politics and betrayal. There is no real fight in the whole book. It has a depressing feel to it. Some things that have been in place for a long time are tossed aside. Some plot lines you want to see done are left undone. All in all, it sounds like the rest of the books minus a good limb flinging battle.
Now I have to wait just like every one else for the next book in the series. The important thing is to write myself a note to remind me of the one important plot point so I don't have to reread the bloody series before starting book eleven. There are of course a hundred strings left untied in this book, just like all the others. I don't know how the author intends to loom this thing together in just two books. God, please let it just be two more books.

Things I learned today
Over two billion people speak or understand English.
The, then, round, son, house, friend, daughter are all words that have been in the English language since the fifth century.
English only came about in the Fifth Century or so as a language of many diverse tribes that settled in what is now England. It wasn't an official language used in government until the twelfth century. England nearly spoke Danish and French as official languages at two different points.
The English language is the largest breeder of dialects of any language ever.
The Internet is 85% English at the moment.
Some say that either English, Spanish, or Chinese in that order will be the primary global language by 2050.

TV
I didn't turn on my TV the whole weekend. From Friday when I walked in to this morning when I left it was off. I read. I surfed the net. I went to lunch with friends. I watched some movies on the computer (my DVD player hooked to the TV doesn't work) Not one minute of TV. I'm not going to replace the CD player in my stereo (it doesn't work either). I don't listen to CDs any more. I only listen to MP3s. I only use my stereo as an amp for the computer these days. I have VCR (Video Cosset Recorder) still. My VCR was old when I inherited it. To be honest, I haven't turned it on in five years. It works great as a dust collector. My TV is old. I don't want to buy a new one until this whole HDTV thing is worked out (what is another decade or two?). They say in a couple of years you won't be able to get TV out of the air. You will have to have cable or satellite. I say, "What TV?" By that time I will be watching full length Flash-Anime movies on my mobile(phone).

Reuters always has the best photos photos.

I look at this picture and my contacts start to hurt. I cannot imagine that much dust on an every day/hour basis of doing my job. I've heard it gets into everything, including sealed containers. This photo accompanied a prisoner release in Israel.
I look at this photo and I can hear the squeaking wheels and tracks echo through dunes. I can taste the dust. I feel the fear of a people who willingly have tanks driving around their territories to keep the peace. I hear the orders shouted in a language that must be Hebrew, though I might be able to  tell it from Chinese on a good day. Military service is compulsory in Israel. Every one 15 to 49 serves if they are medically able. People maybe defer for university I believe, but not for ever. Yet, people flock to Israel.
What do you see?

Frances
How often can you say a hurricane hit  the same state twice?

Wheel of Time
I'm three quarters of the way through the last currently available book. It is all about interpreting dreams and politics. I can't finish it tonight. I will have to read it tomorrow. I do hope it has a good ending. I do hope there are no surprises. I do hope the author does not introduce any new major characters before the end. Worry not, after this book, there will not be another until next year. Even then, I will only read it if I can find an audio book or text version.

Monday Off
There is something about having a day off in the middle of the week. It's a Monday today and it is Labor day, or Memorial day, I always get them mixed up. I noticed many people in my apartment complex were at work. It seems holidays mean less and less these days. When I went to Dilbert.com this morning It was a normal strip about business. I envision a strip with Dilbert sitting in his shorts flipping through channels. I picture Alice sleeping in and enjoying a dream about sleep. I picture Wally sitting on his balcony with his feet up watching the sun rise sipping on a margarita, or is it a my-ty

Sunday Evening
So, a female friend of mine gives me a call. She kept asking me questions and answering them herself. Every other word was "What do you think of ..." or "What would you do ..." but I didn't fall for it. I kept my mouth shut and just kept saying "I understand." or something along that line, when I spoke at all. I bit my rongue nine times. At the end of the call she said "Thanks, you made me feel better." I tried to bite my tongue again, but I blurted out "I didn't do anything." She said "I didn't expect you to do anything, just listen."
It works. It works. I kept my mouth shut and she ended up thinking I had helped. Well, men don't have to do anything to piss women off, I suppose we don't have to do much to make them happy either.

Goofy dream
I was in a small room with all the DnD folks. We were around a pool table that had no sides (the ball would role off the edge.) Sarah was trying to make a shot and people had to hold up bumpers at the last second to make the balls bounce back where they wanted them too. It was a bit like playing 3-D Pong for the people who were not shooting.

Razors
When did razors get so expensive? Gellett seems to have cornered the market on men's faces. How did this happen? They want $22 for a refill of 12 razors. They can't possibly last any longer than the previous design. They are very prowed of them.

Wheel of Time (continued)
I just completed book nine. I have to say, the cliff-hanger at the end of this book is not as cliffy as the others. This series seems more like a single long book than other series. As I listen to this adventure read out to me by my computer, I can't help but feel for the characters. This series is long enough to watch the characters grow up. I have to admit, I'm lost on some of the plot lines. Some one just got murdered and I don't have a clue who it was. You were supposed to have figured it out by the description of the people. I missed it. I'm not worried about it. This is a very complex story and I've heard I'm not the only one who has trouble following the plot.
Book ten is the last book that is currently available in the series. The next book is due early next year. Book twelve is unknown. I've heard there are only to be twelve books. What will I read after this? My standards are shot.

Friday
I got up and went to work like normal. At work I got allot done for a Friday. I went to lunch with some coworkers and we spoke of world events. After work I went to a friend's house to fix her computer. I helped her upgrade her hard drive a couple of months ago and now it seems it had died. I had negotiated a home cooked meal out of it, but this morning I received an invite to another friend's place for a DnD thing. The repair turned out to be the power supply not putting out as it should. Just plugging the drive into a different plug seemed to fixed the trouble. I forwent the home cooked meal to get to my place and rest before the game. I set  the clock for 5:50 or so and took a nap. Trouble is, I set it for AM instead of PM. I woke up at 9:00 and realized no one had called to find out what happened. Not only did I miss out on yesterday's party for a lame evening. Now I missed this evening's home cooked meal and game all for a nap.
Oh, well. Time enough to get started on book none.

Russia
Russia don't take much off terrorists. They gassed a bunch of people in a theater last year and killed half the hostages.. Now they raid a school, guns blazing, When a it is taken over by a pack of terrorists. There are all kinds of reports on casualty numbers. I have to say I respect their decision. It turns out the captures started firing on some kids running from a building.
At lunch today one of my coworkers wondered how long it will be before we have suicide bombers in the U. S.. I hope it is a long time, but I can't put my finger on why it has not already happened. My friend had some good points. Could you imagine watching a siege on an elementary school in Butte Montana that resembled the one in Russia? How about a suicide bomber in a theater on the opening day of some new blockbuster? There must be people out there who want to do this stuff. The limitation has to be people. I would like to know the kind of person who makes a good suicide bomber recruit. Is it a looser who always wares black and talks about getting scull tattoos? Is it a rejected smart kids? That is a debate I would like to have with an expert..
I don't go to many movies now, but will never go to movies if this kind of crap begins. I hope no terrorists are reading this. I just don't want to think about terrorists taking over an elementary school.

Prediction
Political Correctness (PC) is going to be the downfall of western civilization. It takes social focus for a community to over come a problem. Political Correctness dilutes social drive. PC is to avoid problems, not confront them.  Just a feeling.

Private space flight
Now that people are sling-shotting themselves into low orbit with garage jalopies, why are we using a thirty year old space ship to professionally launch satellites? I say it is time to replace it. We have had a couple fall apart. It is time to rethink and redesign. If the hurricane in Florida does much damage, NASA may not repair it. I can't find when the shuttle was first designed. It first flue in the early eighties. It is Ancient technology.
My fear is that someone like Bill Gates or a corporation will make it look like they are saving the space program and monopolize space. Honestly, let the market determine the path of space travel. It was always supposed to be taken over by the economic engine eventually, but I don't like the Microsoft model of transition to public company space flight.

Sensitive My Ass
I've heard all my life that women want a man who is sensitive and expresses emotions. I say Bullshit! Women want a man who is tough as iron, remembers to buy then pretty shinny stuff on the right days, and bends them over the back of the couch occasionally. I have to say it, the only time I showed emotions, it was taken as a weakness by the woman. I'm fed up with it. The one thing I have learned from listening to women is they are just as full of shit as men. They have no idea what they want or what they have when they find it.
New rule. Be me, don't pull any punches, and run at my own pace. There is just no reason to pretend to be anything else. It buys me nothing.

Atkins Diet
Finally the studies are starting to flood in. I'm tired of peoples' breath stinking. Please stop using the Atkins Diet. They say the reason the Atkins Diet works is because the poor selection of diet makes people board with food and that protein makes people feel full before other foods. The diet is no more effective than low fat diets. After a year, people start experiencing starvation symptoms.

The Wheel of Time
Book eight, done.

Late evening
When will the moment come? The moment where I am alive. Not the breath or blood coursing between my bones. The love of it all, The fast heart, the short breath. The darkness gone behind the light. The sounds turn to wind over green branches. That is closer to being alive than I have felt.
Has there ever been a time like this for me? Will there ever be such a moment, here? There have been moments where I felt good. Nothing like that instant. Elusive, is it one of those things you have to strive to achieve? Does it just happen without focus?
I may go my whole life without one moment like that. The hope of stumbling across happiness keeps me going. It is not a delusion. It is not a lie. It is the most noble pursuit. Let's hope the bubble never bursts.

I wish it would rain. I promised to meet a friend in our dreams tonight. It helps when it is raining.

Spelling
I cdnuol't blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg.  . . .

The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.

The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt!

Pretty cool stuff. This is probably why dyslexic people read fine, but cannot reconstruct the words when the wish.

Economic Collapse
What do modern people wish for? What would make our day. How about never having to change batteries in your phone. How about never charging anything again? How about no more gas for your car? Well these things are inevitable. Think about it. If you go back 100 years and told people they would grow old in a world thick with air planes, orbital travel, robots building cars, cars in every garage. What do you think they would say? Well, some one who was alive in 1903 might have been old enough to read about the Right brothers flying in a powered kite. Then, they may well have lived to watch humans walk on the moon, only sixty some odd years later.
Can you imagine how much people would pay for the fountain of youth? It would stop all other trade instantly. Nothing else would be worth anything. The next big thing I believe will come out of stem-cell research. I think we will fall upon the fountain of youth and not know it for a long time. I believe it will happen in China because of their zeal at the moment.
Maybe the next thing will be a power source. Think about a commodity of that magnitude simply sputtering away into the either. That would make nearly one third of our economy walk out the door. All those third world countries that rely on oil for their food and armies would simply not be important to the developed world any longer. Millions would starve. A power source to replace oil would, simply, destroy our economy over night.
So, how is the next big thing going to destroy the Earth as we know it? The Earth will be fine. The people, however, may find themselves lost before they know it.
What will save the world? Save from what? What is so wrong with what we have that it must be saved?
Poverty (Famine) - The only way to get rid of poverty is to get rid of money.
Pestilence - If it isn't one bug, it 's another. Before HIV, it was Polio. Before that it was TB (still is TB). After we cure AIDS, we will still have Cancer, insanity, flesh eating bacteria..
Space, Quantum, Time - Those are all sound barriers that will fall.
Fear - Without fear, there is nothing left to conquer.

So, Cynthia, did I out do myself?

Hero
This movie has been out for like two years. They didn't want it to conflict with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I tried getting it from the Internet, but I only got the Chinese with Korean subtitles version. At least, I think it was Korean. That is the trouble with P2P, you never know what you are going to get. If you are not picky it works out great. That kind of attitude will never fly in business. I did watch one of the battle scenes. I couldn't help my self. It rocked. I have got to see this flick.
Some one asked me how they can be creative in China. They have so many restrictions from the government on what they can say, I'm not surprised they have so few modern movies. The government in China will not let any one talk about the problems with communism. They restrict speech in most areas. However, you can say what you want about ancient China. I bet that is why there are so many Chinese movies on the subject.
. . .
It came in. I watch it. It is a very proud movie. One moment of pride. All will and life sacrificed for an end. Worth your time.

Big Mistake
I just figured out how much I'm spending on lunch. When I got up from the ground, I swore an oath to back off. I'm just going to have to eat cheaper.
I've stopped on the way home at the local grocery store a couple of times recently. That is a big thing for me. I have to get off the bus walk across the parking lot to the store. Only get as much as  I can carry. Walk across the parking lot again. Wait in the heat, rain, people throwing garbage out of cars for the next bus. I had a bottle thrown at me once. I think they were just tossing it out the window to get rid of it, bastards. Lug the stuff from the street to my apartment. Think about only being able to park in the furthest spot in every parking lot. That is what it is like running errands on the bus.

Gmail Invites
I have six invites. Does any one want a Gmail invite? Just let me know.

(bad) Jokes
Why did the scientist install a knocker on his door? To win the no-bell prize.
How much do pirates pay for their earrings? A buck-an-ear.
If a man is talking to himself in the forest with no woman around, is he still wrong?
If a women is in the forest talking to herself with no man around, is she still complaining?

Blog
Well, there is a big thing going on in my life at the moment that I cannot write about. I'm undergoing a change. I hate it some times. I want to just blurt it out.

Some Things I Learned Today
The United States is the biggest market for Latin music in the world.
Purple pens and highlighters are the new big thing this school season.
Nonhours Worked: The number of hours a worker puts in off the clock.

Jokes
How many dyslexics does it change to take a light bulb?
Did you hear about the Aggie bank robber? He tied up the safe and blew the guard.

Cool Stories
Caller ID spoofing. This is cool. I hope this becomes open to the public. They seem to think this will be challenged in court as a deceptive trade method. I don't care. It will be an option on every mobile phone soon enough.
This guy is going to need that wheel chair if he doesn't put on a helmet.

The Name game
Click here for the game
====
Anna,
Anna, Bo Banna
Bonana, Fanna, Fo Fanna
Fee, Fy, Mo Manna
Anna!
====
Cynthia!
Cynthia, Cynthia, Bo Bynthia
Bonana, Fanna, Fo Fynthia
Fee, Fy, Mo Mynthia
Cynthia!
====
Let try Chuck
Chuck, Chuck, Bo Buck
Bonana, Fanna, Fo F***
Fee, Fy, Mo Muck
Chuck!
====
Nice. The Java has an oops check built in.

Wonders of Google
It never cease to amaze me what you get when you type some random screwy stuff into Google. Take "Hoky Poky" for example. I got back art, cookies, and poetry. The Internet is still a good thing.

Hard problems to over come
I'm watching some old episode of Babylon 5. This could just as easily be any SciFi show. There are so many imposable problems to over come in SciFi flicks. Gravity, inertia, the fact that spaceships don't bank like airplanes, the astronomical cost of space travel all are usually skipped. Babylon 5 takes on some of these factors. They are over budget and things keep breaking because the contractor who had the lowest bid cut corners. They also have ships turn on their axis and fire at another ship without banking. They also have the large space station rotate to mimic gravity. The small ships still don't really explain things well. They also suffer labor disputes and have to deal with the media and diplomats, who are of course are at each other's throats.
The human condition is specifically designed for gravity. We need it like we need air. Our bodies rapidly fall apart without the strain of walking around.

Characters
Speaking of SciFi and things fiction.. .  Did you ever notice how similar Ed and Fred are? I have a wall hanging of Ed from Cowboy Bebop. One evening I was watching an old episode of Angle and it hit me. Fred and Ed are strikingly similar.

Ed


Fred


Fred joined the Angel series when one of Cordelia's visions called the group to the dimension where she was trapped.
Ed joined the Crew of the Bebop (the name of the ship) when she files a fake skip trace wanted add and lures them to her planet.

Fred is introverted, kind of bubbly and weired, but extremely smart, naive.
Ed is extroverted, very weired, and extremely smart and street savvy.

Ok, maybe they are not all that much the same.

Sunday
I spent most of today sitting in my apartment thinking about the future. I went for coffee with some friends earlier. The world just keeps turning. Every one has their life. How do we all not just kill each other? It has to be the threat of retaliation. In the U. S. we have the law enforcement agencies to ensure retaliation for crime committed against us. I bet you never thought of it that way before. The police and judicial system are here to ensure revenge on an ordered and predictable scale. Even when the cops guard something or there is private security, the thought of getting caught and receiving punishment is what holds most at bay. Harsh penalties is not what detunes crime. It is a guarantee that you will get caught. Even if the punishment is not high, people will not do a crime if they know they are being watched or know they will be caught no matter what. I read that somewhere. I hate not having a citation.
So I get back from my coffee expedition and I look around my apartment. I just don't feel at home here. The world just doesn't feel like the place I'm supposed to be. I don't think I was meant for anything better. I just think there was something different with my name on it and I got shuffled at the last minute. I have no idea what it could have been. My apartment is empty. The neighbors are noisy. The neighborhood is going down hill fast. I wish it would rain. I like it when it rains. Does any one out there know what I should have been?

Olympics
They are over. Thank God. Now I have to deal with the Republican Convention. I didn't watch the Democrats. I'm not watching the Republicans. I didn't watch the Olympics. I don't watch sports. People are watching less TV these days. I am one of those who may have it playing in the background (like right now), but I'm only using it to drown out the neighbors and their urban bullshit form of expression. The only thing I sit down and watch are the Simpsons, and every once in a while the news. I can't stand local news. They have a hard time competing with world news, so they have to blow everything out of proportion. I spend most of my time these days working, or listening to radio. Normally I would read a book (most likely on the computer), but I haven't gotten that done lately either. I do continue to write in the blog. I can't seem to give that up. It is a bit of an obsession.
I remember growing up and thinking there was not much for me on this Earth. I just had no idea what was destine for me. I still have no idea. There is no buss full of children to save. There is no women to save. There is no company or country to save. There is just me. There is just the world around me. There is just the sun, Earth and life. None of it makes any sense. Is it supposed to make sense?  There has got to be more than this. I might be alive for another fifty years. This is going to add up to a long boring blog.

Working on Saturday
I've spent most of today at home working on a simple project for T-pro. It is some documentation for our support page software. Is that boring enough for you. I've put in eight hours, but not eight solid hours. It is kind of fun sitting down and hammering something out. This is just complex enough to require writing it down to follow your own thoughts.
I can sit here and write documentation all day long and it will never satisfy the writing itch that makes me want to keep this blog up. My mom says she wants to writ a book about her life. She has an interesting family life. She should give it a whirl. My mother had nineteen brothers and sisters, but she was raised by an uncle and aunt. She wants to write some of the old stories down. I suggested she should start by writing one thought on a page and repeat. Then go back and ad one or two notes to a thought, and repeat until she has some notes. Then, order the notes and keep adding to them as the stories come to her.
For example:
Horses

Riding

Yellowstone

Expectations

Anecdote on the ride

Day camp when I was a kid

Lead by a counselor

Not as fun as the hey-ride

Fear

Messing up

What does the horse think?
I have to know what I want before the horse will.
Hurting the horse

Getting distracted (The horse knew instantly if I was not paying attention.)
Not knowing how to take care of a horse

Smell

Good smell bad smell
People and horses evolve together

Horses I Know

Missouri from Yellowstone

Taz, Robin's horse

I wrote the word Horse, then wrote the topics under it, then wrote the topics under that ... In a couple of minutes you have an outline of my life that surrounds horses. It took me ten minutes.
The next step is to keep adding information under each topic. Either more sub-topics, or the actual story or information. Who know, you might end up with a book.

Honest
I ran over to a coworker's office to ask if he wants to head out for lunch. He said yes. I stand there for a second looking at one of the magazines on his desk and he comes right out and tells me he doesn't have time to chat because he has to concentrate to get something done. Man, I wish every one would do that. If I'm being my typical goofy self and not catching the signals of "go away and let me work" then just tell me you are busy. I can appreciate that. I'm so bad at picking up signals.

Retirement
I'm screwed. Greenspan says every one is screwed for retirement in the coming years. As soon as the baby boomers start dropping off the employment roles, it is all down hill for the economy. I could have told you this. He wants to raise the retirement age. How about Death? I've always said I am going to work until I drop. I've been hearing for my entire life that baby boomers are going to get screwed when they retire. They have been paying in to the system for their entire lives and now they are going to have to take it on the chin when their turn comes. There is just not enough money or planning. There has been a distinct lack of balls on the part of politicians for ever to do anything about it. It is just all going to blow up in our faces over the next couple of decades. I heard that in the nineties every retiree had two people working to pay the social Security bill. In the next decade, that will change to one to one. I don't have a better answer. The Japanese and most of Europe are in the same boat. It is definitely the second world war that caused the problem.

PDF
People keep asking me how to generate PDF files. Business keeps demanding the format and not providing an answer. Well, PDF995 is a $10 program that works like a print driver to generate PDF files. You hit print, select PDF995 as your printer and it prompts you for a PDF file name. It doesn't get any easier. Adobe Acrobat costs something like $300 and the only thing most people get out of it is the printer driver. If you don't mind a pop-up add after you generate a PDF, PDF995 is free. The users cannot tell the difference really.
Linux has a printer driver and a whole slew of utilities for generating and editing PDF files built in.

SP2
Microsoft just came out with the official release of service pack 2 for Windows XP. It installs a bunch of useless icons all over the place. It installs an automatic update feature that I will put on my laptop at least. It also puts on a firewall. The last is the one that will cause the most problems. Once you activate the firewall, it will start firwalling your applications.It is like putting a fence around your computer. It prevents things from getting out that should get out. For example. VPN (Virtual Private Network) also know as RAS (Remote Access System) may be affected. The way you set the firewall to let software be accessed is pretty straight forward if you have ever worked on port forwarding stuff. You go to the new security control panel and put a check mark next to the service you want open, or add a new one. Or, you can turn it off if you already use a firewall.
I do not like the fact the firewall can be turned off remotely. Microsoft wanted to allow support organizations to have the ability to make changes through their network. Makes sense, but that means there is a loosely guarded hole in the wall. It is just one more thing to remember to deal with.

Jokes
What is the difference between God and Bill Gates?
God doesn't think he is Bill Gates.

Why should Bill Gates be buried 100 meters deep?
Because, deep down, he is a good guy.

A boy and a girl are bragging about their fathers to one another. The little boy says "My father is an accountant. What does your father do?"
The little girl replies "My dad is Bill Gates."
The little boy, astonished, says "Honest!?"
The little girl says "I didn't say that."

Kid looks up to his dad and says "When I grow up I want to be a musician."
His dad looks back and says "Sorry son, you can't have it both ways."

What kind of bait do you use to catch fish sticks?

DnD
Well, it was great. I played two characters, though not at the same time. The first guy died. I didn't really get the role playing. Here is the scenario. A bunch of people in the bar, having some laughs, all end up killing each other. It is a running battle that lasts three hours in real time and maybe five minutes in DnD time. During this five minutes the following happens.
* Several attempted murders.
* A couple of murders.
* An accidental fire.
* A cockroach the size of a horse turns up.
* A ware rat bites both my characters in the ass (at different times).
* An attempted hanging.
* An attempted male goblin vs male human rape.
The health inspector shows up and demands the place be shut down. The bar owner tries to charm her (It's a spell, not a smile). I, the bouncer, and the cook drag her into the kitchen to murder her on the spot, but we must be quiet because just as the door swings shut behind us the local constable walks in. At some point the kitchen catches on fire and burns the bar to the ground around our ears as we beat each other to death with table legs and bear mugs. All in all, a good time.

Hijacking
There was a pretty scary plane crash in Russia. It appears to similar planes both disappeared from radar at the same time, from the same airport. One of the pilots gave a signal (via a hidden button) to alert of a hijacking in progress. There is no proof it was a full hijacking situation yet. (it is still early Wednesday morning here in the States) but it is very suspicious..They say the planes may have both gotten a part of a bad batch of fuel. The thing is, they should have both had plenty of time to radio back to the tower if that were the case. I understand the communications systems on commercial planes have redundancies and power backups.

Friend of a Friend's Car
<her email>
[My boyfriend]'s car was broken into at my place last night. At 12:45am my phone rings, I figure it's a wrong number but want the ringing to stop so I answer it and it's an authoritative voice from the Department of Homeland Security and Office of Emergency Management asking for him!!! That'll wake you up!! Not only getting a call from them, but how did they track him down there?? Since it's an official vehicle, it was removed to the county fleet processing center. I just talked to him and luckily the only things taken were an old cell phone and the charger for the new one. Weird it was the only one broken into (Chevy Tahoe) -- it was parked between a new Cadillac Escalade and a Range Rover, right across from a brand-new, paper license plate BMW and my mustang convertible (top up).
</her email>
We went on to talk about cars and why they picked his car.
<my response>
That sounds like a smash and grab theft. I bet it was some one walking between cars who saw the mobile and charger laying on the console or seat. The car was not the target, just what was in plane sight. I had a friend who had her car's window broken for a science book in the college parking lot. They left a laptop sitting right next to it.
</my response>
<her again>
The cars on both sides of it and mine had chargers visible. And charges are cheap. The old phone wasn't visible. It was in the console along with a spare key to the car that was just made, his wallet (credit cards and cash were untouched), and a POLICE RADIO. I think they saw the police radio and bailed.
</her again>
She is probably right. I don't pretend to understand why people do the things they do.

Dungeons and Dragons
This evening I'm headed over to a friend's house for DnD. This will be the first time I've played in like a year or something. I've been going nuts. Tonight is a canned adventure he picked up at GenCon last week. Something about a bar fight. I can't wait.

Good and Evil (continued)
In Dungeons and Dragons you pick an alignment for your character. This is a combination of your willingness to follow orders and your tendency toward good or evil.
Lawful vs Chaotic
A Lawful character is one who wants to fit in order of things. I like to think of the good soldier as one who follows orders except when the orders are wrong. An example of a lawful character in a movie would be Darth Vader. He is torn between good and evil. He commanded the soldiers and submitted to the emperor. He always had the "plan" in mind.
A chaotic character is one who stands alone. Some one who might be called a "lone wolf" would be chaotic. An example of a chaotic character in a movie would be Capitan Kirk. He never followed orders. He constantly broke the rules. He had sex with a green chick. He seemed to believe rules were for other people.
Good vs Evil
Where do I begin? If you help people you are good. If you hurt people you are evil. It is a combination of your intentions and the results of your actions that measure this. I was raised a Lutheran. They believe that we are judged on faith alone, not actions. I can't hang with that any more. I believe that the ultimate judgment is determined on a case by case basis.
What am I (as a human)?
I prefer a list of simple rules to live by. I prefer working for a large, organized company. I hate it when people bend the rules. I hate it when people are lazy (even though I'm lazy) and screw up the work process. I write work processes. I am lawful.
I don't really believe there is a such thing as good or evil. I believe they are things that happen and choices people make on the fly. I believe that people who do bad things had different motivations than I and could have made a choice to be good. I believe that good people will turn bad when they are tested, or their family is in danger. I believe that I am neutral with good tendencies.
I'm Lawful Neutral in my own opinion.
Choices in DnD
People never seem to make the most accurate decision for their character in DnD. A Paladin is a class of character in DnD that is a champion of a religious order. They can be good or bad, but they must be lawful.  People in our group seem to pick paladins because they kick ass. The trouble is, paladins are supposed to live a very specific and ordered (humble) life. I believe a person (player) who could play a paladin correctly would not pick a paladin as a character because they don't feel they would live up to the responsibility. The player who just wants the bonuses of a paladin doesn't care if they will play the character properly. There for, no one will ever play a paladin properly in our group.
I almost always play chaotic characters. I almost always plan non-human characters. I almost always play fighting characters who are physically strong and "manly". All of which are things I am not in reality.

Joke
An old farmer in Florida had owned a large farm for several years.  He had a large  pond in the back, fixed up nice; picnic tables, horseshoe courts, and some apple and peach trees. The pond was properly shaped and fixed up for swimming when it was built.
One evening the old  farmer decided to go down to the pond,
as he hadn't been there for a while, and look it over. He grabbed a five gallon bucket to bring back some fruit.  As he neared the pond, he heard  voices shouting and laughing with glee.  As he came closer  he saw it was a bunch of young women skinny-dipping in his  pond. He made the women aware of his presence and they all went to the deep end of the pond.
One of  the women shouted to him, "We're not coming out
until you leave!"  The old man frowned, "I didn't come down here to watch you  ladies swim naked or make you get out of the pond naked. "Holding the bucket up he said, I'm here to feed the  alligator."

Flash Card
This is a cool story about how a Flash card just might survive where film probably would not. They talk about SanDesk cards surviving plane crashes and the laundry. Then at the bottom of the article it mentions that SanDesk is in Sunnydail California. . . . Isn't that where Buffy the Vampire Slayer was centered? hmmm, possessed supper memory cards. I bet there is a market for those.

What is evil? <rant>
There is so little evil for evil's sake these days. There is always some political or monetary reason behind people's actions. The funny thing is most evil seems to have political reasons instead of money. There are not many monetary problems that more money will not fix.  Most political troubles require complex communication and compromise. Political problems are caused by lack of resources, absence of freedom, crime, censorship, oppression, or any other thing that all the money in the world will not fix. (Crime is not always money related. Drugs are bought with money, but it is the addiction and the willingness of people do commit other crimes to get more drugs that is the problem.) Conflict arises when one person wants something another person has, or is. If you have a cookie, and I want your cookie, we have a conflict. I can buy your cookie, or steel your cookie if you are unwilling to sell. However, if you are something that I cannot tolerate, we have a conflict that money will not solve. I must learn to tolerate the difference, or remove you, or myself from you.
In the years leading up to World War II, the Nazis used existing prejudice to directed the focus of a country's people to hate a minority. This minority was blamed in one way or another for all the political troubles that money would not solve. This minority was blamed for problems that had been around for longer than the country had existed. It baffles me how a people can be convinced that a few people around them are the root of all that is wrong at the moment. It happened in WWII and it is happening right now. Not only is it happening in Africa, but closer to home as well.
In the U. S. we just haven't picked the one point of blame. We single out small groups for short periods of time to blame for the latest trouble. When Enron brought down the energy trading industry, we scream "rein in the CEOs". When a particularly heinous crime occurs we blame the manufacturer of the means of the crime (auto manufacturer, gun manufacturer, crow-bar manufacturer) instead of the people who committed the crime. I'm starting to think the strategy to prevent mob control is keeping the attention of people bouncing from one topic to the next faster than people can get organized to change things. Maybe this is a good thing. I do not want the repeat of Nazi Germany.
Is evil defined by why some one does something? Is evil defined by the means to solve your needs? I'm trying to think of one pure evil thing, or doing. I'm trying to think of one pure evil person. When you  remove the political desires (redistribution of resources) from actions and people, the line between good and evil blur.

Doom 3 (continued)
I finished Doom 3 with some help from the cheat codes. It didn't take that much to get it to work on my laptop just fine. I'm sure  I didn't get the full gaming experience. Then again, I never intended to spend weeks taking on every creature and taking down every boss with least ammo expenditure. The real gamers out there will want to flame me, but I just don't have time to pursue the experience.
The graphics were OK on my laptop. I had to lower some setting somewhere and leave it at 640x480. People's faces looked funny because the computer only did shadowing on half the face at a time. People kind of looked like that old episode of Star Trek where the people have half a whit face and the other half is black. (The show was a statement on the ridiculousness of skin color prejudice. It wasn't the color of their skin, it was which side was black and which side was white.)
Overall, I give it an "eh!".

Olympics
I did not watch two minutes of the Olympics. I don't get NBC in very clear in my area. That, and I don't care. I'm just not interested. I've never been able to do sports. I never got into it. I preferred to sit in front of a computer for hours on end while suffering the affects of radiation sickness due to 13 CRTs glowing 24/7. Doesn't the Republican convention kick of tonight or tomorrow? I bet I watch more of that than the Olympics. I might make five minutes.

Sex and DnD
I remember these articles that bounced around when I was kid. Dragon Magazine had this running joke about "and next week sex and DnD ..." at the end of many articles. If memory serves, they actually had the article once. Now, there is a whole book dedicated to the subject. Thanks to Alexis for sending me the link. I've read some samples and the rules they came up with are interesting. I won't go into details.

Trying Doom III
Wish me luck.
. . .
Well, it is hours later and my neck and hands hurt from fragging until I can frag no more. Even on easy mode I needed the cheat codes. That is just me. I've never been particularly good at these games. I do enjoy playing them though.
The game is dark. You have a flashlight that you can use to beat things to death with. The shotgun is useless unless you are right on top of your foe. The pistole is under powered. The Chainsaw rocks. Why have chainsaws on Mars? That is what the shipping clerk asks. There are a bunch of places in this game where you are just plane ambushed. It is every corner. The little robots are cool I wish I had a legion of them. They use a PDA to hold all the game information and objectives. You download other's PDAs to access security and get through doors. The emails are useful. You have to unlock the weapons lockers with a code. There are too many little run and jump puzzles. Of course, any are too many for me. Why would they design a maintenance platform that no sane person could ever use to perform maintenance? I haven't found any vehicles to drive. Just tons of locked doors you have to be railroaded down a specific linear path to open and continue the game. The thing is, it plays exactly like the original game. I hear the original Doom 95 is in the cheat codes.
My final word on the matter is to pick it up if you are a frag-freak like me. I remember universities banning Doom from the network. I remember buying a network card and cables just to play Doom. It was the first time my computer was connected to another. Those were the days. The days Yahoo was a couple of collage geeks who still had "Grrrly Stuff" on the front page.

Wheel of Time
Book 7 done.

Doom III
I've said for quite a while that I am waiting to buy a new computer until Doom III comes out. Now that I have read the reviews, I'm not impressed. Every one seems to rave about the graphics and sound. It is a 3D shooter and not much new. The review people also complain the game crashes on several computers that meet the requirements. That is disappointing.  Oh, well. I'll just wait a bit longer. I don't have  the ware with all to make a buy right now anyway. The computer I want isn't even all that. It just has a bit more ram and a bit more video cars than the ones on the front shelf.

Notebook
I took my notebook to a meeting last night and used the wireless network to present my story to the board. How cool is that. I was not as prepared as I had hoped .I'm typing this blog entry on it right now.. I pretty much use it as my primary computer. I don't use the wireless at home because it is too slow to stream the movies I get. 802.11B is only about 11 megabit.  802.11G is 55 megabit natively and most of the routers double up for 110. You could double 802.11B, but what is the point. the G routers are $50. This whole wireless thing is kind of freaky. I like being able to run to a coffee shop and get some work done in a different environment. I like the idea of having a portable TV at a baseball game for on demand replays. I like the idea of improving GSM with local mini-tours all over the place. The reason mobile coverage sucks is because people don't like the tours bristling above the trees. These mini transceivers would hide just on top of light poles. People still bitch and say "Not in my back yard!" In the same breath, they say "Dammit  my phone dropped me. I can't even make a cal in my back yard." People seem to forget the phone, their TV, their computer, the Sun, the Earth, and even their own bodies give off radiation all the time. There are these things called cosmic rays that may actually cause aging that the entire planet Earth will not shield you. Losers. People make me sick.