September 2008

Where I Stand
Submitted Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - 11:22:42 PM by Klaitu

With all this talk of politics, I thought I would subject you all to a political diatribe about what I believe! Aren't you excited!?!?!

This is where everyone probably tunes out, but oh well. Remember, these are just my personal views, and it's okay if yours are different.

- The purpose of government is to establish civil rights, and then enforce those civil rights via the military and law enforcement.

- The government is a bureaucracy, and is highly inefficient and inept at doing precision work. We need to be careful about assigning duties to the government that it isn't suited to do. Doing so creates waste, and makes the already inefficient government even more inefficient.

- When laws are drafted, morality and religion should not be considered. Laws exist to protect civil rights (among those civil rights being the freedom to choose your own religion and morality). Note: if you want to change or add a civil right, that's a whole other matter.

- The tone of the government should match the civil rights of the citizens. If the rights are fair, the government and laws should also be fair. If the rights are compassionate, then the government and laws should also be compassionate.

- The government should not ignore or separate itself from religious groups. Religious groups are composed of people who are participants of the government.

- The government should work with, oversee, or regluate functions that are neccessary for a nation, but not part of protecting civil rights. (The Post Office, for example, has no part of protecting civil rights, but is a vital function of any nation)

This seems like pretty basic stuff, right? Let's apply it.

In my state, the government operates a lottery. Why should a government operate a lottery? What has this to do with the function of government? I could, perhaps, see the government making sure the lottery works fairly and is not a scam, but actually operating a lottery doesn't really fit in my definition of government. Especially since it uses tax funds.

Separation of Church and state is another example. My state has laws that prohibit teachers from expressing religious convictions while on the job. I agree with this function, as the teacher is being paid by the government. However, in some states this also prohibits the students from doing things like praying or reading the Bible (or torah, or koran or.. dianetics). When applied in this way the government breaks it's own function, as the purpose of laws is to protect the civil rights of the students (who have the right to their own religion).

For those of you who are convinced I am a religious nutcase, a note about how this works with by beliefs in Abortion:

I oppose abortion on purely practical grounds: level of development is not a justification to kill someone.

So, an embryo is in a stage of development where it has 40 cells. What makes this person different than someone who is 10 years old? Well, the 10 year old has a lot of cells. Do we classify humans by the number of cells they have?

The 10 year old also has bones, organs, a brain.. but what if the 10 year old is blind, or has brittle bones, or was born without an organ? Is this person considered "not human" and thus cannot be murdered? Existance or non-existance of organs should not determine who has rights and who does not.

An embryo is inside the mother, where a 10 year old is not. Does your geographic location determine the value of your life?

I can find no practical reason for civil rights not to apply to every human in their sphere of influence. When an egg is fertilized and new DNA is formed, a new human is created.. it's a scientific fact.

See? No religious argument. It's true though that my religious beliefs also prohibit abortion, but that has a lot more to do with me and my own actions, and nothing to do with a law.

How about the Death Penalty?

I believe in the Death Penalty, but only in cases where the crime is so heinous that you absolutely, positively, and without a question need to make sure that the offender does not commit the crime again.

Timothy McVeigh is a good example of the proper use of the death penalty. However, I think that the death penalty is probably used too often as-is.

In general, I favor stiffer penalties on all felonies, and that any assets owned by a convicted felon should be free game to be liquidated equal to the amount of the cost of their incarceration, and only in those cases where the offender has insufficient assets should public funding be used.

I've written a lot more about the rest of the topics, so I'll just summarize the rest:

I believe in:

- Government oversight and regulation of medical practice
- Strong funding for scientific research, particularly space sciences
- Government encouragement to use fuels other than gasoline
- Non-interferance with the domestic situation of foreign countries (as a general rule)
- Laws and practices that discourage illegal immigration
- Legal ownership of weapons (guns, knives)
- Television licenses instead of Television advertisements.
- Government encouragement for job training centers so those with no skills can get some.
- Increased retirement benefits for veterans.
- Project Constellation (the Manned Mars mission)
- Term limits and pay reductions for senators/congressmen.


I am against:

- Creating civil rights that are not civil rights. (the outlawing of foods deemed "unhealthy" would be an example)
- Creating laws that do not protect civil rights. (the church and state laws in some states)
- Laws that bypass the checks and balances system. (patriot act)
- Creating/maintaining government agencies that have no purpose in Government. (Post Office, Universal Medical Care, National Public Radio)
- Creating multiple "classes" of citizens with unequal rights (Indian tribes, racial profiling, abortion)
- Laws that oppose the drilling and refining of oil domestically.
- Changing tax rates unequally for all citizens.
- Increasing taxes for any reason.
- The Social Security Administration being mandatory

People and Politics
Submitted Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - 9:57:00 PM by Klaitu

Read an interesting article regarding the ROTC:

In a forum on public service on campus earlier this month, Mr. Obama (Columbia '83) and John McCain (Annapolis '58) were both asked about the ROTC ban. When Mr. McCain predictably called on Columbia to "re-examine" the ban, he was predictably booed by a crowd of several thousand students who were watching the debate on a giant TV screen on campus.

The question was later put to Mr. Obama. "I think we've made a mistake on that," Mr. Obama replied. "I recognize that there are students here who have differences in terms of military policy, but the notion that young people here at Columbia aren't offered a choice or an option in participating in military service is a mistake." The same students who had so lustily booed Mr. McCain, reported the New York Times, were "largely silent" when Mr. Obama gave the same answer.

Freaks and Geeks
Submitted Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - 1:34:34 PM by Klaitu

Did you ever see Freaks and Geeks? A lot of people did, but I didn't. I would always tune in and the show was pre-empted for something else. The commercials looked good, but I never got the chance to check it out.

Now it's 8 years later, and there's a DVD.. and you know, Freaks and Geeks is pretty freaking good.

Freeks and Geeks is a story about a teenage girl (a freak) and her younger brother (a geek). It's set in 1980, which is completely awesome. It's basically a teen high-school drama, except it's got a quirky sense of humor that makes all the difference. The music is all period specific, with the most recent song being from 1981.

The series was, unfortunately, cancelled after 18 episodes.. but they're all winners. The series as it is really has no lulls. If it had continued, it could have been groundbreaking.

Overall Score: 8 of 10

It are Gojira!
Submitted Thursday, September 25, 2008 - 7:28:53 PM by Klaitu

Given what happened to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I can't say that I don't understand the Japanese fear of Nuclear power. They're pretty much the only people to ever be actually nuked in war.

You've probably read about how the beloved monster Godzilla was spawned by the evils of nuclear weapons. I suppose it's a part of Japanese culture now.

After World War 2, Japan and the US became allies, and today the United States has many military bases, including a naval base in Japan in the town of Yokosuka. The USS Kitty Hawk, an aircraft carrier has been stationed there since 1963.

This year, the Navy is changing that arrangement. The Kitty Hawk is quite old now, and will be replaced with the USS George Washington. The Kitty Hawk is to be decomissioned.. but the Japanese are all up in arms about it.

Why?

Because the USS George Washington is powered by nuclear reactors, and not by diesel engines like the Kitty Hawk. The Japanese don't want anything nuclear anywhere around them.

The protests were expected, and the Navy even produced a Manga comic to help quell the fears of the Japanese.

As I said earlier, I can understand a fear of all things nuclear from a country that got nuked.. but I am confused about it, because 30% of Japan's electrical power is provided by Nuclear power plants which were designed and built by the Japanese.

More oddly, the Japanese aren't the only people who are afraid of nuclear power.. New Zealand is positively terrified of it, and has declared itself a "nuclear free zone" even going so far as to prohibit nuclear powered ships from sailing into its territorial waters.

I find this aspect of human behavior most fascinating. I'm beginning to think that people specifically choose to be afraid of things because they like to be scared, and for no other reason.

Picky Eating
Submitted Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - 9:31:52 PM by Klaitu

I found an interesting article about picky eaters that I thought I would share.

VANCOUVER -- Montrealer T. J. Haselden is afraid of cheeseburgers.

The 28-year-old computer salesman is so disgusted by the idea of marrying gooey cheese with tangy condiments, meat and bread that he can't sink his teeth into one without retching.

He gets nauseous at the thought of biting into a juicy tomato, and has yet to work up the nerve to find out how a potato chip tastes.

"If I think I'm going to gag off of it, I'm not going to stick it anywhere near my mouth," Mr. Haselden said. "It has mainly to do with textures and smells."
Print Edition - Section Front

Section L Front Enlarge Image
The Globe and Mail

For as long as he can remember, he has been able to tolerate only a few foods, including dry chicken or well-done steak and plain, sauce-free vegetables. None of the components can touch each other on the plate.

On evenings when his wife makes herself pasta, Mr. Haselden eats his own chicken dinner at the far end of the table to distance himself from the aroma of her dish.

Mr. Haselden is among a multitude of adult picky eaters who have failed to outgrow their childhood distaste for certain foods. Since their fussiness is often met with ridicule and disbelief, many dread social functions that revolve around food for fear of having to explain or make excuses for what they won't eat.

"Weddings are the worst," Mr. Haselden said, noting that at a recent wedding he was the only adult eating a children's meal of chicken fingers and fries, while everyone else dined on fish. "That was embarrassing."

Through online forums, blogs and social networking groups, however, thousands of adult picky eaters are finding support, and mobilizing to seek tolerance and understanding for their dietary quirks.

Bob Krause, founder of the U.S.-based website PickyEatingAdults.com, said about 200 people have joined a picky eaters' online forum he started earlier this year, , and at least 1,000 are part of his separate picky eaters' Yahoo group.

Mr. Krause, 61, of Virginia Beach, Va., said he hopes that a Food Network television show currently in development might also help shed light on the phenomenon. He and other adult picky eaters participated in a taping session this summer.

"[Picky eating]'s such an isolated thing when you live with it by yourself in silence," he said. "You're constantly under stress and worry."

The main fear for picky eaters is that other people won't understand their food phobias, he said.

"How do you explain to somebody that the item in front of you doesn't look like food to you? If you ate it, you'd probably throw up all over the place ...and in some cases, looking at it, there's not much difference between it and feces."

Mr. Krause said he can't bring himself to eat most vegetables, sauces or almost any type of meat, with the exception of thinly sliced, crispy bacon.

He enjoys plain, bland, mostly crunchy food such as popcorn, almonds, French fries and toast. He said he has eaten the same lunch for the past 10 years: peanut butter on crackers and a glass of milk, and takes vitamin pills to supplement his limited diet.

"I never get tired of it. It's really bizarre," he said.

Mr. Krause said his preference for plain foods and fear of tasting new things is common among other picky eaters he has encountered, and they seem to have a universal dislike for pickles.

Some theorize that picky eating is a disorder related to obsessive-compulsive disorder or autism, others that it's a symptom of "supertasters," people who have a heightened sense of taste, Mr. Krause said.

He added that some believe picky eating may be genetic, but noted that most professionals don't recognize it as an eating disorder, and there is no medical diagnosis.

Mr. Krause said he believes his own hang-ups with food may have resulted from his early childhood bout of whooping cough, which caused him to throw up many of the foods he ate. Being force-fed by his parents only worsened his intolerance for certain foods.

Adam Gibson, who is writing a book about picky eating, said he, too, has found little information about the subject from psychiatrists, dietitians and doctors.

Mr. Gibson, who lives in Omaha, Neb., is a picky eater himself. Like Mr. Haselden and Mr. Krause, he finds salad dressings and dishes with multiple ingredients, such as casseroles, revolting.

Aged 35, Mr. Gibson said he has never eaten a green vegetable.

When he was a child, doctors told his family that his fussiness was just a phase. But when he hadn't grown out of it by age 11, his mother took him to a psychiatrist to try hypnotherapy. It didn't help.

Neither did subsequent psychiatrists whom he visited throughout his teenage years.

Michelle Morand, founder of the CEDRIC (Community Eating Disorder and Related Issues Counselling) Centre for eating disorder counselling in Victoria, has encountered numerous cases of picky eating in adults. She's found it usually arises from the messages people create around food.

For instance, those with orthorexia are obsessed with eating only the foods they believe are healthy, while people who have a "diet mentality" classify food as good or bad and judge their own character according to what they eat, she said.

Others who grow up with an anxious parent often unwittingly associate the parent's distress with what they're eating, she said.

"Based on the stories [picky eaters] tell themselves about food, their anxiety and their resistance to certain foodstuffs is perfectly appropriate," Ms. Morand said, noting there is no reason for picky eaters to feel shame about their fussiness.

Once they are able to recognize that the cause of their apprehension is not the food itself, but the messages they associate with it, "people move very quickly through their recovery," she said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Haselden, the man who is afraid of cheeseburgers, is taking his own approach to tackling his food phobias.

Last year, he created a Facebook group, announcing that he would try pizza for the first time if 1,000 members joined. When he reached that target, he created a YouTube video, titled "T. J. vs. Pizza," showing his attempt at eating a slice.

He ended up gagging. But he's eager to try again with other items, and perhaps even finally to taste a potato chip.

"[Picky eating]'s the one thing I hate about myself," he said.

"Hopefully, I'll come across a food that I like."

Parents: Ignore fussiness

Rose Geist, director of the Medical Psychiatry Program at The Hospital for Sick Children, said picky eating is a way for children to assert control over their parents.

If a child is generally healthy and growing well, Dr. Geist advises parents to avoid paying too much attention to fussiness.

"Most of those kids grow out of it," she said. "If the only thing is a child will eat this and not that ... and they have no other issues, it's better to avoid those power-control battles because it has negative consequences."

That means if your child won't eat vegetables, don't sweat it, she said. Serve him or her what you would normally prepare.

If she still won't touch her food, you can try offering something different, "but not to the point where every minute you're running around the kitchen," scrambling to cater to her tastes.

Parents should encourage healthy eating and try to make food fun for children by involving them in the meal preparation, Dr. Geist said.

However, it's time to seek help from a pediatrician if a child has other problems besides picky eating, such as anxiety, which might present itself as an inability to sleep at night, or symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder.

Otherwise, parents should wait out their children's picky behaviour.

"They don't have to worry about it too much."

Knight Rider the Series
Submitted Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - 8:32:35 PM by Klaitu

The new Knight Rider came out today, and this is something that I've been waiting to see for quite awhile.

First impression? The show is immature. That's not neccessarily bad, it just depends on the audience you're going for. The original Knight Rider was also immature in this way, although I don't recall it being quite that blatant.

Before the first commercial break, the heroes manage to find themselves stripped down to their underwear. When the show returns, there is a wardrobe change where the female lead is topless.

I mean, I don't have anything against scantily-clad ladies, but they're being very obvious about it, and it doesn't lend well to the show.

The first episode was a lot like the pilot in terms of having next to no plot. It was mainly action, action, action, action. I'm okay with action, but it's too much. Pretty soon you're going to do everything there is to do, and your show will collapse.

Another thing that bugged me was that for some reason (probably CGI) KITT can now transform into a pickup truck.. and now only that, people in the bed of the truck can be moved into the cab when the truck transforms back to a car.

That's just dumb. I had enough problems with the car transforming from a shelby GT into an ordinary mustang.

So, we've got a plot that isn't compelling, and action that isn't exciting. This show needs to change fast, if it doesn't, I can't imagine NBC renewing it past it's initial order.

The only thing the series does well is recapture the feel of a 1982 TV show.. and that's great, but audiences are different now. This show might be a great children's show if it weren't for all the sexual innuendo, so even on that front, it fails.

Alas, Knight Rider.. I wanted you to be awesome, but it turns out that you're only.. average.

Overall Score: 5 of 10.

More Spore Problems
Submitted Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - 2:31:59 PM by Klaitu

In California, Electronic Arts is being sued over it's insane copy protection scheme. EA is using Securom, an invasive malware program that once installed, cannot be removed. The consumer is limited to a few number of installations before the game shuts down and can no longer be played.

The copy protection problem is so pronounced that many have decided to retaliate with bad reviews on amazon.

This week, a class action suit was filed in the North District of California Court by the law firm KamberEdelson behalf of one Melissa Thomas and all other Spore purchasers. According to the filing, which was made available by Courthousenews.com, the suit contends that EA violated the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law by not informing consumers installing Spore will also install SecurROM.

"Although consumers are told the game uses access control and copy protection technology, consumers are not told that this technology is actually an entirely separate, stand-alone program which will download, install, and operate on their computer," read the complaint. "Once installed, it becomes a permanent part of the consumer's software portfolio. Even if the consumer uninstalls Spore, and entirely deletes it from their computer, SecurROM remains a fixture on their computer unless and until the consumer completely wipes their hard drive through reformatting or replacement of the drive."

Trek Nation
Submitted Tuesday, September 23, 2008 - 2:22:57 PM by Klaitu

You know, I've been a Star Trek fan for a long time now.. and I think maybe someone came up with a reason why:

http://www.treknationdoc.com/

The Lawyers are my Heroes! Wait.. what?
Submitted Sunday, September 21, 2008 - 10:12:59 PM by Klaitu

SO, I decided to check out JAG again since it is somehow airing again on TV, and my TiVo picked it up. I was a big fan of JAG since it was first released in 1995. It ran for 10 years, and then was cancelled when CBS decided to go for the 18-25 demographic.. but I watched all 10 years of it.

As I've been rewatching JAG 3 years after its cancellation, one thing keeps popping into my mind: what kind of super lawyers are these?

I mean, sure you get the courtroom episodes, but then there are episodes where the lawyers fight poachers, or stop a nuclear submarine filled with terrorists, or rescue kidnapped children.

This effect is most common in television.. Baywatch is the most obvious example, when lifeguards can repair leaking offshore oil platforms. Dr. Quinn was an example I also recently noted, when a country doctor protects the president from assassination. I could also cite the fact that Mork and Mindy get married eventually.

The internets refers to this phenomenon as "jumping the shark", but JAG somehow doesn't jump the shark.. and I can't explain why.

I mean, the cast is composed of: a navy seal that became a lawyer, a fighter pilot who became a lawyer, a submariner who became a lawyer, a marine who actually started as a lawyer, a deck officer who became a lawyer, a marine who became a secretary, and a shoplifter who became a yeoman.

Where are all the lawyers who are politicians who became lawyers in the military to become a politiican? Well, in JAG world they are murdered and used to start spinnoff television series!

So, okay there are lawyers who fly fighter jets and join the CIA in undercover operations.. whatever. There really are just two reasons to watch JAG:

Tombstone vs Wyatt Earp
Submitted Tuesday, September 16, 2008 - 4:58:55 PM by Klaitu

I've got 2 western movies here with the same characters, the same plot, but different actors and production teams.

It seems only appropriate that they should face each other in a review.. on the dusty street.. at high noon!

I'll start with Wyatt Earp. It's a bit confusing, but I'm referring to the movie called "Wyatt Earp" in which Wyatt Earp is the principal character.

The movie is a fairly straightforward historical reaccounting of Wyatt Earp's entire life. The movie is ridiculously long (as most Kevin Costner films are). It's a pretty good film.

Tombstone is the story of Wyatt Earp and the Earp brothers beginning with their arrival in Tombstone, Arizona. Both movies cover this part in time, and both of them share the same historical accuracies (the weapons are correct at the OK corral, for instance.. Earp's mistress is addicted to laudanum).

I think both films are fair assessments of Wyatt Earp's legacy, with Tombstone being more about "Wyatt Earp the legend" and Wyatt Earp (the movie) being more about "Wyatt Earp the actual human being".

but enough about that, the real test of any Wyatt Earp movie is the portrayal of Doc Holliday, and I don't even need to mention that Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday rules all Doc Hollidays now or in the future. For that reason alone, Tombstone wins the battle.

Just to be clear though, the Doc Holliday in Wyatt Earp (the movie) isn't terrible, he's just no.. huckleberry.

Tombstone Overall Score: 9 of 10

Wyatt Earp Overall Score: 7 of 10

Klaitu's Nerd TV Guide
Submitted Tuesday, September 16, 2008 - 4:46:25 PM by Klaitu

I used to do this every year before I worked at Hertz.. I'm feeling in a little bit of a write-y mood, so why not? I'll bring back the tradition for this year at least!

What's new? What's returning? What's hot? Here we go!

Knight Rider - NBC - 24 September

Everyone knows Knight Rider. Will Mike Traceur's indestructible Ford Mustang continue to cut a swath through GM vehicles on a weekly basis? We'll see! I'm looking forward to this one since I was a fan of the original. It could go either way, though.

Heroes - NBC - 22 September

Heroes returns on the 22nd. It had a short run last season which probably saved my head from exploding in confusion. I still haven't been able to figure out if there is actually a plot to Heroes, or if they are just making it up as they go. Either way, I'll be watching people with strange superpowers use them for reasons I don't understand.

The Big Bang Theory - CBS - 22 September

The cult classic returns on 22 September, and while it's a sitcom, it will be interesting to see where the show goes since it was loosely strung together by the nerd-pining-for-hottie effect that they disarmed in the season 1 finale.

Star Trek Remastered - Syndication

Season 3 of the original Star Trek remastered in HD should be starting up randomly during the fall season, although the actual episodes are not neccessarily from the actual 3rd season of Star Trek. CBS has broadcast the episodes in order of fan preference, so this season promises to be the "worst ever".

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - FOX - Current

If you haven't been paying attention, you may have missed the last 2 episodes of T:TSCC, the series is currently airing new episodes on sunday nights over on FOX.

Family Guy - FOX - 28 September

It didn't get cancelled again. The animated adventure continues on the 28th.

Spaceballs: The Animated Series - G4 - 21 September

This one is iffy. The original Spaceballs was awesome, but with g4 involved, the new Spaceballs will probably be more about sex and less about jokes. We'll see.

Stargate Atlantis - SciFi - Current

Stargate Atlantis is presently airing new episodes in it's last season. They air on Friday nights, but you already knew that.

Flash Gordon - SciFi

Flash Gordon was cancelled, unfortunately.

Doctor Who - BBC - Christmas

The Doctor has completed his run, but he's got his annual christmas episode that.. comes out on christmas. After that you'll have to wait until 2010.

Battlestar Galactica - SciFi - January 2009

The split 4th season of BSG will return with the last 10 episodes in January, followed by a TV movie, and then in the fall 2009 season, the spinoff Caprica.

Mythbusters - Discovery - Current

Mythbusters 7th season is currently airing on Wednesdays on Discovery.

Numb3rs - CBS - 21 September

The mathematically-inclined crime drama with notorious problems with female lead characters has survived for another season, despite being scheduled on Fridays.

NCIS - CBS - 23 September

Old people will appreciate the fact that NCIS has been renewed again. Old women may continue to drool over Mark Harmon beginning on the 23rd.

Crusoe - NBC - 17 October

I don't know how this show is going to turn out. From what little I have seen of it, it looks pretty high quality, but we'll see. They've taken the story of Robinson Crusoe and turned it into a series (not a mini-series or TV movie). We'll see how it works. Not many period-piece series out there.

My Own Worst Enemy - NBC - 13 October

Christian Slater is two guys with the same body? I don't exactly know what this is all about, but it looks interesting.

Conclusion:

NBC Universal knows what it's doing.. or at least, they know the most. Their lineup looks like it will knock everyone for a loop. CBS Viacom is a bit weak, but they're at least still alive. ABC is completely absent this year, as far as I can tell they have no shows at all that don't involve dancing or dieting.. and it's sad when FOX out performs you. Actually, I don't know who is worse, ABC or CW.

The Golden Compass
Submitted Friday, September 12, 2008 - 6:42:17 PM by Klaitu

When I first saw the trailers for this movie, people were excited about it. Then the movie came out, and everyone said it sucked.. so I never got around to it until now.

I expected that the Golden Compass would suck, but it actually wasn't too horrible at all.

The Golden Compass takes place in a parallel world where magic exists and people's souls are incarnated as animal companions. There are also sentient bears.

There's a researcher who is researching a mysterious thing called "dust" which is invisible, except for in the arctic, where it forms the aurora borealis. The researcher suspects that this aurora is a gateway to other worlds.. but he needs money to complete his research.

He's the caretaker of a little girl, who is the heroine of the film. She's your standard free-spirit punky brewster type.

There's also the Magisterium, which is a fancy term for "analog for the Catholic Church". Turns out the pope.. err, I mean the Magisterium doesn't like all this dust business, so they're after the researcher.

And therein lies the story. The little girl goes off to chase the researcher, and along the way you learn that the Magisterium is separating children from their souls for presumably nefarious purposes.

The movie ends in a cliffhanger, and from the reaction of all the people who say it sucks, it probably won't get a sequel.

The fascinating part about The Golden Compass though is not the actual story, it's the parallel themes from the real world that are carried over.

The Magisterium is the Catholic Church, of course. Dust is apparently sin. There's a whole subtext here of rebellion vs obedience.

The movie has also stacked the stars against you. The bad guys are Christopher Lee, Nicole Kidman and the guy who played The Master (Dr. Who's arch-nemesis). Good guys include Sam Elliott (the cowboy) and Ian McKellen. The acting here has no problems at all.

I wouldn't call the plot groundbreaking, but I think that The Golden Compass at least deserves a sequel. It's got some promise to it, and it's somewhat thought-provoking.

Oh, and one other thing. Remember how I said that all humans have an animal companion that embodies their soul? Well, when you kill a human, their animal companion disappears with sparkles.

This movie has an enormous death toll, because there are battle scenes where these animals are dissolving left and right. Hundreds of people actually die in this film. I'm suprised that this actually made it to screen.

Overall Score: 6 of 10

Miss Conception
Submitted Friday, September 12, 2008 - 6:27:54 PM by Klaitu

Look, I shouldn't have to explain how I ended up watching Miss Conception, let's just say I lost a bet and keep it at that.

Miss Conception, as the lame name implies, is the story of Heather Graham with baby fever. Oh, my bad.. it's the story of fake-british accent Heather Graham with baby fever.

Heather Graham is awakened in the night by her telephone, she makes her boyfriend answer it. One of her friends has just had a baby. This is the keystone event that results in a cascade of estrogen insanity.

Now Heather Graham MUST HAVE A BABY RIGHT NOW OR ELSE. In fact, nearly 20 seconds after she hangs up the phone, she tries to seduce her boyfriend into HAVING A BABY RIGHT FREAKING NOW.

The boyfriend, being blind-sided by this whole thing is like "um.. let's talk about this". Later, the two attend a baby shower at which the mother has had a plaster casting made of her pregnant belly. The boyfriend accidentally breaks it, and Heather Graham is appalled that he could break such a sacred thing.

The boyfriend, to his credit readily admits that plaster castings of pregnant bellies are stupid.. but it's too late, Heather Graham breaks up with her boyfriend because he will be "a horrible father" even though the two have not actually agreed to have a baby yet.

Things get worse though.. as it turns out, Heather Graham only has ONE EGG LEFT! and she really MUST MAKE A BABY RIGHT NOW OR ELSE!!

With no boyfriend she resorts to all sorts of devious woman stupidity.. like trying to seduce every man she comes across. At one point she succeeds, but the man finds her secret plans.. which she left lying out. The secret plan quite literally says "seduce random man and steal his sperm". The guy doesn't hang around.

So then she ends up trying to seduce a gay man. That doesn't work. She gets donations from a clinic, but she spills the.. baby juice.

And wouldn't you know it, she runs out of time? Now that she can't HAVE A BABY RIGHT FREAKING NOW, she decides to get back with her boyfriend, who now that she actually talks to him about it, turns out he's okay with having a baby too.. if her uterus wasn't a barren wasteland!

Oh, go on, guess what happens next. You'll never figure it out!

It turns out she gets pregnant after all, despite the fact that she doesn't have any eggs left! It's a miracle! Everyone's happy!

Quite frankly, this may have been the worst movie I have ever seen. It's hard to say, because Jodi Foster is not in the movie. I'll go ahead and say that this is the worst movie ever made, except for Contact, which is only slightly more worse.

Don't see it. Don't let your friends see it. Pretend you never heard of it.. because if you do see it, you'll wish you never did.

Overall Score: 1 of 10

I wish there were a lower score.

Spore Bungle
Submitted Friday, September 12, 2008 - 6:04:38 PM by Klaitu

Well, by now you've all read my spore review. Well, it turns out that Spore is at the center of a huge controversy.

I know you're thinking it's evolution vs creationism, but it's not.. the big hoopla is about the game's DRM of all things.

So, what's the big deal exactly? As it turns out EA decided to use the same copy protection as it did on Mass Effect PC (which in itself was a big deal). The DRM requires internet validation, and you are only allowed 3 validations until you have to buy another game.

When you buy the game, you're not actually buying the game, you're buying a license for 3 installations. Perhaps the most pressing problem with this is that it really cuts the bottom out of the resell market for the game. You won't be able to buy a used copy and know that you can actually play the game.

How big of a deal is this? Check out the following stats from amazon:

2,216 total reviews
73 gave it 5 stars
50 gave it 4 stars
21 gave it 3 stars
56 gave it 2 stars
2016 gave it 1 star

2016 of 2216, that's a crazy amount. People really don't like DRM on their stuff.. and I don't blame them. It might be a differnt matter if their crazy DRM system actually worked, but it doesn't. Pirated versions are already available that work just fine.

Special thanks to Randal who sent me a link about this. Very interesting stuff!

Spore
Submitted Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - 12:31:29 PM by Klaitu

More like.. SNORE! MWAHAHAA!!

Alright, don't get me wrong, Spore isn't a bad game. It's actually pretty polished. It's just.. not all that fun.

The hype would have you believe that Spore is all about evolution vs creationism and all that business, but it's not really. Not any more than the Sims is about "playing God".

So what is Spore, really? You start out with a primitive organism, and you fight other primitive organisms for food. All the while you can collect other parts and mutate your little critter a little.. give him spikes or a new mouth or something.

Then, the first stage ends. Yep, this game has levels! The second level is all about more complex animals, and it's not really based on your creature in the first level. The abilities of your animal in the second level is largely dependant on if you ate vegetables or meat in the first level.. and that's it.

The third stage is the tribal level, which is the same deal. Bonusses based on if you eat meat or not. The Space level is also the same in this regard.

See, I designed my little organism with electrical zapping powers, and I expected that I would retain those powers throughout.. but nope.

So, this game isn't about evolution at all. It's a 4 stage sim game, not at all unlike "Sim Ant".

It took Will Wright 2 or 3 years to come up with this game? I just don't get why it would take so long, it really isn't that groundbreaking of a game. Actually, it's pretty boring.

Overall Score: 5 of 10

The 360 Red Ring of Death
Submitted Saturday, September 6, 2008 - 5:15:00 PM by Klaitu

Caught an interesting article over on Gamespot regarding the red ring of death:

If there's one thing former San Jose Mercury-News writer Dean Takahashi knows, it's Microsoft's gaming hardware. In 2002, his book Opening the Xbox recapped the making of the software giant's first entry into the console game industry. Shortly after Microsoft launched its follow-up, Takahashi followed suit with The Xbox 360 Uncloaked.

It's little surprise then that Takahashi, currently a writer for Silicon Valley blog VentureBeat, would be the guy to go whole-hog into the saga of the Xbox 360 hardware's ongoing reliability issues. In a newly published feature that Takahashi considers the final chapter of his Xbox 360 book, the reporter meticulously recounts how Microsoft launched a gaming system with unacceptably high failure rates and its attempts to address the problem.

In July of 2007, Microsoft publicly acknowledged the so-called "Red Ring of Death" issue and took a corresponding financial hit of more than $1 billion to fix it. Prior to that acknowledgement, Takahashi reports that Microsoft had taken returns on 1.2 million of the roughly 11.6 million shipped Xbox 360s. However, the problems responsible for that return rate had been around since before the console hit shelves.

Takahashi quotes a Microsoft engineer who raised the issue of hardware reliability in August of 2005, months before the system's November launch. At the time, 68 of every 100 Xbox 360s made by Microsoft's Chinese manufacturing partners were coming off the line nonfunctional. Worse still, when the first batch of the system's three-core CPUs rolled off the line, only 16 percent worked.

On top of that, Microsoft reportedly altered the design of the system repeatedly in the latter stages of development. The company added hard drives to most machines and made wireless controllers standard, further blocking cooling airflow inside the console. There were even issues with the QA machines that supposedly ensured the 360's system reliability. Takahashi reports that the machines would approve faulty units and were not properly debugged because Microsoft wanted to save $2 million on a $25 million contract with its third-party manufacturer.

"It turned out in the end that this was all going too far, too fast," an unnamed source told Takahashi. "They were adding too many features after things were locked down. That incremental feature adding just made it fragile."

The article goes on to say the post-launch shortage of Xbox 360 systems was due partly to Microsoft's inability to make enough functioning units to satisfy demand. In the spring of 2006, Microsoft had half a million returned or defective units sitting in warehouses, all while publicly stating that returns were within normal rates for consumer electronics.

Problems with quality control continued to plague the system, so much so that Microsoft actually ceased production of the Xbox 360 in 2007 between January and June to find and address the issue, according to the report. The production stoppage was also due to a surplus of systems at retailers from the prior holiday season, a fact which led to accusations of channel-stuffing on Microsoft's part.

As for what the ultimate culprit for the faulty console was, Takahashi reports it was a combination of factors. The ATI graphics chip had overheating issues, solder joints were prone to failure, and assembly and memory issues were widespread.

"The video game industry has never seen a consumer problem as bad as the 'red rings of death' and the size of the $1.15 billion charge stands as one of the biggest liability glitches in consumer electronics history," Takahashi wrote. "How Microsoft handled the flaw may provide a lesson for all modern electronics companies; that is, if you are going to promote the hell out of something, it better work the way you say it does, and you better have a strong customer support and engineering debugging team to back it up."

The Cheapest, Bestest Gaming PC
Submitted Friday, September 5, 2008 - 1:41:04 PM by Klaitu

It seems like it's new computer buying season, I know at least 3 people who are considering buying a new machine for gaming and for school or business. So, since there's interest, I shall write out my tips for getting the most bang for your buck.

In order to do that, I'm going to disregard laptops. They're expensive if you want one that can also play games.

To illustrate how to do this, I'm going to use http://www.ibuypower.com as my example. I like them, but some people don't. You don't have to buy from them though, I'm only using them as an example of how to get the most value.

Please, open ibuypower.com in another window and follow along, class!

Choices, Choices.

The first choice we need to make is processor. We can choose Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Quad Core, or AMD Athlon X2.

What's the difference? Intel processors are generally higher quality than AMD processors, and the Intel Quad Core is actually 4 processors built into one chip.. pretty powerful stuff. Intel chips are also more expensive than AMD.

For this example, we're going to choose AMD Athlon X2, because games don't generally use the extra features that Intel offers. It's cheaper, and it works for our needs.

The next choice we get to make is the case design. Because we're on ibuypower, they have tested all these cases and none of them are bad, however there are bad cases out in the real world. The main concern with the case is ventilation, and the secondary concern is space. You want lots of both.

For this example, we'll chose the ATX basic case. It's the cheapest case, probably because it isn't particularly good looking.. but hey, whatever works, right?

The next option is for neon lights.. pass on that one.

Now we are to the power supply. This is an important decision, and it depends on how much power you need. The main sucker of power in a gaming computer is the video card, but your drives will also be plugged into this thing.

For this example, we're going to go with the 500 watt power supply. We don't know what kind of power supply comes with the case, so if it's not enough juice, we're screwed. 500 watts is plenty enough for what we're doing.

Now it's time to pick the processor. AMD is stupid in how they market their processors and they will not tell you the clock speed of the processors. The more money you spend here, the faster your processor will be. If you want to spring for it, I recommend the AMD Phenom x4, it's not terribly expensive, but it's a quad core processor.

For this example, we're going to go with the AMD x2 5400, as it gives us the most advantage for the price, and we're trying to be cheap.

Now, the free software section, since it's free, pick whatever you want.

Processor Cooling selection. Unless you're planning on overclocking, the default choice is probably fine. If you're not sure what overclocking is, then you're good with the standard fan and heatsink.

The next selection is motherboard, there are a lot of choices here, but since you're on ibuypower, you could safely pick any of these. However, in the real world there are bad motherboards, so beware.

The main thing you need to decide here is if you might upgrade your computer in the future with more than one video card. If you think that might happen one day, then choose something that says "SLI" or "crossfire" on it.

For this example, we're going with the Asus M2N-SLI motherboard.

Next is RAM. They give you a lot of selections here, but here's a secret: it doesn't matter all that much. The more RAM you can have, the better. Anything at 2 gigs are above is going to work out great for you. Just so you know, you see where it says DDR2-800 on some, and DDR2-1066 on others? The 1066 RAM is faster and "better", but is also more expensive, and doesn't offer that much better results.

So, for this example we are going with the basic 2 GB DDR2-800. The brand doesn't matter much here, I picked the value brand.

Video Card!

For a gaming machine, this is the single most important component in the computer. There are jillions of kinds of video cards out there, and you can generally figure "the more expensive, the better it is" but that's not always true.

This is the one part of the computer that you can't skimp on.

First you need to decide if you want ATI or Nvidia. Myself, I like Nvidia, and I am not fond of ATI.

The best card on the list at the time of this writing is the GeForce GTX 280 1GB, so if you can afford it, go for it. This card is an absolute powerhouse.. but you do have other options.

The best video card on this list that gives you performance and value is the GeForce 9800GTX+ 512MB, it's nearly 300 bucks cheaper than the GeForce 280. In fact, it's such a good buy that we're going to make that our choice for the example.

Video Card manufacturer, I could go into details on why people might care about that, but I won't. Suffice to say, go with the cheapest option.

Hard Drives

This is a matter of how much storage you want. You can more or less ignore the rest of the stats.. however you DO want to get a hard drive here, because these are Serial ATA drives, which is a newer technology, and it's unlikely that your old computer has compatible drives. Plus, ibuypower is going to install windows for you if you've got a hard drive.

For this example, we're going with the cheapest drive possible. Because there's a special right now, that's a 320 GB drive, but you might end up with a 160.

Why? Because hard drives are cheap. If you need more space you can always go later on and get an external USB drive, they make them in enormous sizes and they're a good value.

There's also the possiblity that you can slap the hard drive from your present computer into this new one, it's not hard.

2nd Hard Drive.. pass.

External Hard Drives.. pass.

CD/DVD drive.. pass.

CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive, okay, here's where we get tricky. If you want to burn CD's, then you need this. However, if your present computer already has this, you can put that one in your new computer and save money.

For this example, we're assuming you already have one and we're going to pass on the drive.

Sound Card.. pass.

Speakers, Floppy Drive.. pass

Okay, now we're to monitor selection. The monitor you are reading this with right now will work fine with your new computer, so there is no need to get a monitor here. However, if you're looking to upgrade your monitor, this may be a good time to do it. Of course, you could wait and buy a monitor from an electronics store where you can see the screens and compare their picture.

For our example, we'll assume you are going to use your present monitor.

2nd Monitor.. pass

Keyboard, Mouse.. pass (you already have them!)

USB Accessories, Meter Display, Flash Writer, Extras.. pass.

Finally, now we are to the Operating System. The best value here is Windows Vista Home Basic 32 bit.. and people like to yell about Vista, so I will explain why this is the best choice!

Firstly, you just spent a great deal of money on a video card, a video card that was designed specifically to work with Windows Vista. It will work with Windows XP, but you'll be missing features that the card was designed to do.

Secondly, Windows XP is more expensive now. Microsoft wants you to buy Vista, and that's alright because for your new computer, Vista is better in every way.

People have asked me about Vista 64-bit, to which I say "not yet". Vista 64 allows you to install more RAM into your computer, but Vista 64 is much slower than Vista 32, and at this point there is no need to go to 64 on a gaming machine.

At any rate, our example is going to use Vista Basic 32, and if yours doesn't, you're only kidding yourself.

Everything after the Operating System.. pass.

So, let's look at what we've created: We've got a powerful computer with dual cores, a good amount of RAM, and an excellent video card. This computer will run WoW without even blinking. It will run LOTRO on ultra settings effortlessly. It will even run Age of Conan smoothly.. and if it can do that, think of what it will do for older games like Portal or Oblivion.

The total component cost of our example was $793. With the shipping, that gets pumped up to $892 (stupid gas prices).

Let's compare with Dell!

First off, you can't configure their value PC's with nvidia graphics cards. The best ATI card you can get is the HD3870/512, which is considered a "budget card" and is not half as powerful as the 9800GTX we configured earlier.

The price on this Dell computer? 1,049 before shipping.

So, what if we really want an nvidia card with dell, how much will that cost us? Well, we have to go up a tier in Dell's price model, so if we wanted the nvidia budget card (which isn't as powerful as that ATI one we just did) it's $1,199 before shipping.

Okay, so what if we got extreme.. we absolutely must have a card that is as good or better than the card we picked with ibuypower!

The cheapest nvidia card that dell offers that is also better than the 9800gtx is the geforce 280 GTX (that's the one we considered at ibuypower, but was too expensive). the price of the dell system with this card in it, and everything else stripped down as much as possible is $2,099 before shipping.

Now, Dell's computer is not an exact match for our ibuypower computer, it's got more hard drive space, 1 GB more RAM, and an Intel Quad Core processor, it also comes with speakers, keyboard, and a mouse, and an optical drive.

What does this mean in terms of performance? The Dell computer will start up faster, and it will get through loading screens on games faster. Graphics performance during a game will be slightly better on the Dell system.

Now, the question you have to ask yourself: Would I rather pay $892, or $2,099? Are slightly faster load times and only slightly better graphics performance worth $1,100?

Nay, I say!

Now, we used ibuypower for our example, but you don't have to do that. You could buy all of the parts we picked out individually and assemble them yourself and you might save 50 bucks or so. If you've got a computer hobby shop in your area, you can save even more since you won't have to pay for shipping.

So, have you been dreaming of an awesome gaming computer, but could never afford it? I'll bet you just got a little closer.

Technical Details with LOTRO? (Most people who asked me about this are LOTRO players)

3GB of RAM, GeForce 8800 GTX, Vista Premium, LOTRO DX10, Ultra settings: 79.3 FPS average
(This system is less affected by high quality antialiasing than the others)

2GB of RAM, GeForce 9800 GTX, Vista Basic, LOTRO DX10, Ultra settings: 91.2 FPS average
(This system is the most affected by antialiasing and post-processing effects)

2GB of RAM, GeForce 280 GTX, Vista Basic, LOTRO DX10, Ultra settings: 99.7 FPS average
(This thing is just a beast)

All systems have Athlon X2 5400 processor (2.8 ghz).
All tests at 1680 by 1050 resolution.

Edward Scissorhands
Submitted Friday, September 5, 2008 - 1:19:20 AM by Klaitu

Don't laugh! I just now saw it!

You all know how much I detest Tim Burton films, especially "Big Fish" but after watching Edward Scissorhands, I have to officially upgrade Tim Burton from "total moviemaking failure" to "mediocre moviemaker". This means the only total moviemaking failures left are Uwe Boll and Quentin Tarintino.

You've all seen it, but I'll pretend like you haven't. Edward Scissorhands is a story of a production-line robot.

Yeah, a robot, who knew?

Anyway, this eccentric mad scientist who lives in an ominous castle and has a cookie baking machine that would make Doc Brown jealous decides one day to turn his.. lettuce chopping robot into a human. Why? I don't know, you just have to go with it.

Anyways, he has a step by step process to do this, which is not entirely explained.. but just go with it. The scientist gets mostly completed with the experiment, but he is 2 steps short when he suddenly dies.

So, Edward Scissorhands is "mostly android" with scissors for hands. The scissors were preexisting since he was a production robot, so that's where they came from.

I only mention this because it was my impression that a mad scientist took the hands of a human and replaced them with scissors, or else he was born with scissors on his hands, which detracted me from the movie for years.

So anyway, the local AVON lady comes along and discovers Edward and decides to bring him back down the mad scientist mountain to her freakishly stereotypical suburban home, where hijinks ensue involving waterbeds.

Edward, having completely no knowledge of the world outside his castle gets wrapped up in doing some questionable things, like breaking into a house. He saves a kid from being hit by a car, but people misinterpret it as an attack.

So, I liked this movie. This is probably my favorite Tim Burton film, besting even the original Batman movie. Alls you got to do is throw in some robots!

The story itself is pretty good, but this movie would not have nearly been the great film that it is without the work of Danny Elfman. Actually, Danny Elfman was the reason I decided to watch this movie in the first place. I recently listened to a version of the film's score where he commented on the different musical pieces.

I had long known that Edward Scissorhands had an excellent soundtrack, but I had never listened to the tracks other than the title theme. After hearing the entire album, I decided I need to hear the music in the context of the film to get the visual along with the audio.

If there is any film that could benefit from the inclusion of 5.1 lossless audio, it is this film. Luckily enough it's now available on Blu-Ray for most excellent HD viewing goodness. A steal at $20.

Overall Score: 9 of 10

Psychic Election Showdown!
Submitted Thursday, September 4, 2008 - 1:35:43 PM by Klaitu

Well, now that the Democrats and the Republicans have held their pep rallies, it looks like we're going to have another presidential election.. again.

Good news this time, though. Political phone robots haven't called me yet! If you remember the last election, they were calling me 5 times an hour.

This election has a lot of different issues than the previous election did. Think back with me for a minute:

- The War in Iraq was a big deal.

While it's arguably stil a big deal, things are going more smoothly over there now, and the politicians aren't all over it like they were last time.

- The Gay Marriage debate was all over.

What was it? 11 states had the Gay Marriage ban on their ballots, and they universally passed? We haven't heard much about this one since people voted on it. It's hard to believe that it was settled.

- Liberals were deathly afraid of a draft.

People with any sense knew that a draft was ridiculous, and as it turns out, it didn't happen.

- There's a black guy running.

This time around it's not "old whitey vs old whitey" it's "old whitey vs a black guy". Should this really change things all that much? I think we might be suprised at how much it does, especially in the old south.

- There's a woman in the group.

McCain chose that Alaska governor woman to run. It's hard to say for sure, but the most obvious thing is "oh, he's going for the Hillary crowd". If McCain actually thought he was going to get extremist liberal votes by just selecting a woman, he's foolish.

- The issues have returned to what they ALWAYS end up going to.

We've got some temporary issues like the war in Iraq.. but the politicians love to beat their chests on things that have been debated for decades: Taxes, Abortion, and Health Care.

So, what does this mean for yours truly?

Barack Obama

Believe it or not, I was rooting for Barack Obama when he was up against Hillary Clinton. I personally can't stand Hillary and I prefer Barack over her if for no other reason than we won't have to watch her ugly mug on TV for 4 years.

As for Obama's political stances, Obama supports Abortion, which shuts him down as a candidate for me, but I'll set that aside and keep going. Let's take a look at his official-type website: http://www.barackobama.com

Obama supports Socialized Medicine, which I disagree with. While I agree with the general premise that anyone who needs medical assistance should get it, putting this system through the government is a colossally bad idea.

I mean, think about it for a moment, is there a government agency that you can honestly say runs efficiently and fairly? Have you ever had to stand in like at the DMV or the Social Security office? The Post Office is probably the most efficient government agency, and even it falls short.. it gets killed ny UPS and FedEx who do the same exact thing, only cheaper and faster. The solution to health care for everyone is not Socialized Medicine.

Obama wants to raise taxes in order to reduce the national debt. He's playing the tired old "republicans only want tax breaks for the wealthy" card. The idea here is that if you make over a certain amount of money per year, then you should pay a larger percentage of your income to the government simply because you can probably afford to.

To be clear, I'm not one of the rich people, but this kind of thinking is just stupid. If everyone has a tax of 35%, to me that's fair.. but to Obama, this is a tax on the poor because the rich people could afford to pay 50% or more of their income.

Well, however you look at it, Obama wants to raise taxes to increase government revenue.

Obama does have an interesting part of his policy, here from his website:

Senator Obama also laid down principles for how to discuss faith in a pluralistic society, including the need for religious people to translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values during public debate.

Nearly half of the country will vote one way, and the other half will vote the other way. There will be no clear victory, and both sides will be unhappy with each other. America will muddle on for 4 more years, at which point the winner of this election will be decried as a villian for all the mistakes they have made, and we'll have to do this whole election over.. again.

There's only one thing to do:

Unstoppable Spacesuit Hotness
Submitted Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - 12:25:14 PM by Klaitu

Today's Experiment: Erin Gray

Alright, normal Erin Gray, nice shoulder action..


Erin Gray in space suit.

Spacesuit Hotness Continues
Submitted Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - 10:43:16 PM by Klaitu

Today's Subject: Kirstie Alley

Normal Kirstie Alley.


Kirstie Alley in Spacesuit.

Google Chrome
Submitted Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - 5:38:21 PM by Klaitu

Once upon a time, I was a big fan of Netscape Navigator. Netscape rocked in the early days of the internet, when people refused to upgrade to Windows 95 because Windows 3.1 "runs faster".

This was an era when Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer were doing battle for supremacy. Netscape got going in the wrong direction when it decided to make one browser that worked cross-platform, but didn't do it very well.

Internet Explorer decimated Netscape, and Netscape ended up being assimilated by AOL.

As a refugee, I migrated to Internet Explorer version 4, and it was there I stayed for a long while. What was the alternative? AOL Browser? Mozilla?

From the smouldering ashes of Netscape arose Firefox, like a 4 legged ground-based phoenix. Nobody really liked Internet Explorer all that much, and the fringed began to use firefox.

I was interested, I tried it, but it simply didn't have the polish I wanted. Other browsers came along, browsers like Opera which claimed to be "the fastest browser ever" probably because it didn't "display pictures unless you clicked on them".

For a time the industry lost it's way. Widgets? Who needs em? Firefox 2 came along, but was still unable to defeat the vastly more encroached Internet Explorer 6, and later Internet Explorer 7. Still, progress was made, browsing tabs were invented. Apple even got in on it and made its own little baby pretend browser.

And then Firefox set off its doomsday weapon: Firefox 3. A browser so robust and customizeable that nobody with any sense could resist it for long. They even made it actually interpret HTML correctly, which I have to admit was a big plus for me.

But then, suddenly and from out of nowhere.. Google Chrome. Did the world need another browser? Well now it has one. How does it stack up?

Actually, I REALLY like Google Chrome. I'm not going to switch browsers for it, but I love that it's "just a browser". It's not trying to be Internet Explorer or Firefox. All it does is view webpages. There's no useless extra bells and whistles. No "helpful links" no bundled redundant e-mail clients. It's just a browser.

And It's lickety fast, too.

Google Chrome is great for any situation where you want to browse, but you don't need all the overhead that comes with the other browsers. It would be perfect for older computers, particularly computers with low RAM and single core CPU's under 1.5 ghz.

Google Chrome? Worthy!

Spacesuit Hotness Effect
Submitted Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - 12:05:45 PM by Klaitu

Today's Specimen: Terry Farrell

Terry Farrell without spacesuit.


Terry Farrell with Spacesuit.

More on the Spacesuit Effect
Submitted Monday, September 1, 2008 - 12:07:37 PM by Klaitu

As I said in the last post, more research is clearly needed on the increased hotness factor that chicks experience when they wear spacesuits.

Today's Subject: Lexa Doig

Normal Lexa Doig.


Lexa Doig in Spacesuit.

The Spacesuit Effect
Submitted Monday, September 1, 2008 - 2:01:29 AM by Klaitu

An interesting phenomenon.. Space Suits make chicks hotter.

Here's proof:

Ordinary chick, right?


Same chick, in a space suit.