"It's not crumbling, YOU'RE crumbling!"

Some new years motivation.

Watch this for a swift kick in the ass.


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"Lethargic. Uninspired. Terrified."

Why you should be reading FerFAL's blog

JPFO: Don't cry for me Argentina America

"I can't happen here" are famous last words uttered frequently throughout time.

FerFAL is a blogger who lived through Argentina's fall, and unlike most of the people on the internet who start their long-winded opinions with, "when the SHTF..." he's actually lived through it.

Read FerFAL's blog.

Telegraph: Top 10 conservative movies of the decade

I think the UK Telegraph's definition of "conservative" is accurate enough for these to be excellent selections

If an American media outlet did it, it would probably be full of movies with unhinged paranoid gun nuts.

Aside: The liberal media has been so zealous in erecting conservative strawmen that I think they've begun to believe their own words. Now they tilt at the windmills they've built, while real conservatives organize and build momentum. They make themselves more irrelevant each time they gather a crowd to watch them defeat these "giants."

Pearl's Girl - Underworld (live)

If that last one was too soft for you...


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rioja. rioja. reverend al green. deep blue morocco. the water on stone. the water on concrete. the water on sand. the water on fire. smoke. the wind. the salt. the bride boat coming. dave in the water. old man. einstein on top of his house. white deep blue andalusia red yellow red yellow black car. red light. far. black place. walls. blue chair. morocco. hamburg. paris. the pieces of the puzzle are waiting. the water of the dark boats gliding. the bride boats gone out to sea and dave is floating. dave is floating. and old man einstein crazy in his attic. crazy.

white room. sun room. shadow room. night transmitting cars across the room. these things sent to dance across the room. eye watching from your bed. returning to you.

[repeat first verse]

Jumbo - Underworld

This is classic Underworld. Brilliant.


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Vague lyrics here.

Watch it live


I'm trying to take a break from the acid jazz.

click
you disconnect from me
click
when you come to take your century
telephone breath between us
the will of the world is between us
only theses wires
dust between the wires and green glass
in the distance
I am your tourist

I'm going to buy a stopwatch

Sometimes I try to see how long the customer can talk without any interaction from me.

It's like they're having a stroke. Even though they stay on topic at first, it quickly degrades into minutia of their day, the problems they're having in life, the status of their family, the weather, possibly the clothes they're wearing, and then I'm pretty sure they just start saying the names of things they can see.

I really should get a stopwatch though, just because the most I was able to identify was four minutes, and this was after he was talking for so long I had to watch the time.

Quote of the War on Terror

I'd rather, in the interest of protecting people, overreact rather than underreact.
~George W. Bush
~Dick Cheney
~Diane Feinstein

BlackBerry Bold OS Update

The recent OS upgrade (4.6.0.304) seems to have fixed a few annoying issues.

I haven't had a single crash since the update, and youtube streaming doesn't suck anymore! Finally I can make use of this sweet resolution to watch HD videos with clarity. Also, applications that use the internet are much faster and more stable.

If someone could work on making the browser less clunky, that'd be great.

In the meantime; I'm enjoying my Bold more and more. Rare yet annoying downtime aside.


I entered this post with it, while waiting in the lobby of a datacenter.

Music Takes Me Up - Mr Scruff (official video)

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Running on hour SIX of the BlackBerry outage

This is why you don't centralize.

This is retarded.




Blame Canada

Stop motion guitar

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Dear Friend:

Detroit? Or Soviet Russia?

Good god. I knew it was bad, but I had no idea it was USSR bad...

The Ultimate Phantom Menace Review

When a movie is torn apart in a review, I like to say it has a new asshole. But this review didn't tear any new assholes.

This review hit the movie with an meteor.

This movie is now a loose collection of atoms. Ouch.



If you thought that was awesome, watch the rest. But be warned; the full review is 70 minutes, but entirely worth your time. It also gets rather revealing if you stick with it till the end.

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

From Hot Air

Borderlands co-op is freakin' fun

I didn't get Borderlands because I had read that the co-op was the only real reason to get the game, and I had plenty of other games to distract me. But when I found out a friend had it, and another friend was thinking about it, I figured it made sense to get it.

The first night we were able to play, I couldn't do much because I hadn't done the first bundle of missions that make up an introduction and orientation. In fact I hadn't done a single thing besides join the game. It would be a few days before our schedules would coincide enough to play co-op again, so I explored the single player missions.

The single player was just as easy as I had heard. It was still fun, but I really never had that feeling of "OH SHIT" that comes from knowing you're about to die and respawn someplace far away.

I was finally able to co-op again last night, though only with one friend, and had a lot of fun. When you "die" you get a session where you kneel down, and the screen starts to dim, but if you kill something before time runs out, you get a "second wind" where you come back to life, and have a chance to run like hell until your shield recharges. In co-op you can revive a friend instead of them having to kill something to get their second wind. This means you really need to coordinate with your friends so you don't become to separated, and unable to revive eachother. But why would you need to be revived so much if the game is easy? Because it ain't easy in co-op. When a friend joins your game, you are given a warning that the enemies on Pandora (the planet) have become tougher, and tougher they are. Borderlands boasts some complex difficulty management that is supposed to keep the game challenging. But it's supposedly a sliding scale so the more people that play, the more difficult it becomes for each player. But the primary idea is that the tougher the enemies, the better the loot.

The co-op with just two players was frantic and fast paced. Keeping an eye on what's coming up behind you while monitoring your friend's health and shield bar so you know if you'll be needed, trying to revive your teammate while being attacked yourself, diverting the attention of a particularly tough opponent so your teammate can get a good shot on him, enjoying the shared accomplishment of taking down a boss, or just divvying up the loot, makes for extremely enjoyable gameplay. Hours fly by.

Highly recommend you pick up this game if you can get some friends to join you.

(I'm on xbox live, and online weekdays between ~10pm and 2am PST, weekends I'm on sporadically. Drop me an e-mail if you want to friend up, and I might actually entertain the notion!)

If a guitar could catch fire from playing, his would.

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Ca. recycling "tax" bled dry, can't pay for recycling

In California we have a recycling tax. Well, actually, if you ask a legislator, it's not really a tax. It's kind of like a loan. A 5 cent loan.

If you want to buy a recyclable object, usually a beverage such as a 16oz bottle of soda, you will pay for the soda, and you will pay 5 cents to the state of California. But it's not a soda tax! Because all you have to do to get it back is go to a state-run recycling facility and get your nickel back! Definitely not a tax. Just a fee you pay to the government.

Needless to say, it had exactly the desired effect. People who didn't recycle continued not recycling, and the state got to keep all those sweet nickels.

Except now that we're in hard times, more people have taken to recycling.

Bad news.

California legislators have been raiding the fund for years.

Hey, if it wasn't a tax, why were you guys spending it like was tax dollars? Maybe it was because it really WAS a tax that you wanted to claim was not a tax?

Nahhhhh...

Vibraphone Boogie [unreleased] - Mr. Scruff

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Imma let you finish but--

This tickled my funny-bone.

Pic is SFW, the rest of site is mostly NSFW, you have been warned.

They can do it!

...and they probably will...

From Theo, whose blog is still awesome but NSFW

Mike Rowe Celebrates Dirty Jobs

Quote of the plumbing

The society which scorns excellence in Plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good Plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.
~John William Gardner

The stereotypical gun tragedy that didn't happen

After a late night I was catching up on sleep around 10 am. My wife started work a few hours before, the rabbit was probably chewing on something she wasn't supposed to, and I was dead asleep.

I awoke to a banging sound. Not sure of the specifics of the sound because I kind of woke up knowing it happened without really hearing it.

I sat up in bed and looked at the closed door. Between the door and the carpet I could see the hall light was on. Did I leave the hall light on? Did I imagine the banging sound?

I put on the electronic earmuffs I keep on my nightstand and turned them all the way up. I picked up the AR I keep bedside, (almost automatic once the earmuffs go on) and held it at a loose shoulder pointing about 6 feet in front of the door. I listened... Nothing. No low talking, no TV running, or even discernible footfalls. It seemed too quiet.

I thought about the situation. There is only one person with a key who would enter without notifying me, my wife, but I couldn't think of any probable scenario where she would come home so early. Would an intruder turn on the lights when there was enough ambient light to see? Drawing the shades makes it pretty dark, and seems like something you'd do if you didn't want to be observed...

I didn't feel like I was in danger. But is that how people feel before they find themselves neck deep? It didn't seem obvious what was going on, one way or the other. Every thought seemed to have a counter-thought, I wasn't sure if I was rationalizing or not. I was still groggy.

I checked my phone and saw no missed calls or text messages. I considered calling my wife, but she can't answer at work. Maybe I'd hear the ringing from outside the room. But what does it really mean if I don't hear ringing outside? What if she answers? Do I hang up on her? Would she call back and give me away?

This was a very strange feeling because different circumstances somehow made it both likely and unlikely there was an intruder in the house.

Wait. Stop. Ok. I can't decide what to think, but that doesn't matter, because I've nothing to lose if I assume an intruder and it's my wife, and I have everything to gain if I assume intruder and find intruder.

I carefully stand and switch my AR to right-handed, because I need to go around a U-shaped corner that curves left. My right hand is not as strong as my left, (note: need to fix that), so I need to put the buttstock in my armpit to hold the gun on target when I open the door. Target being a few degrees to the right of the door jamb. The safety is on, my thumb is resting on it, and my finger is not on the trigger.

How do I open the door? Fast or slow? I opt for medium, figuring slow might make a door squeak too early before I can see the area, and fast might make me fumble or shoulder the door or jamb.

I open the door, and move through it and round the corner, the direction of my barrel trails a few feet behind where I can see next as I round the corner.

I almost immediately see my wife in the next room. "Hi, [my name]!" I lower the AR, and return to the bedroom. I turn off my earmuffs and put them back on the nightstand, and return the AR to its post.

A very odd experience.

---

I wasn't afraid of accidentally shooting anybody because the four rules of firearms safety prevent me from doing so.

Rule 4: Be sure of your target, and what's beyond it.

It's as simple as that. You don't shoot through doors or objects, you don't shoot at shadows or shapes, and you don't shoot at things you have yet to identify. At no point did my muzzle sweep my wife or anything I hadn't had a quarter-second to look at.

I found it interesting that I wasn't hyped on adrenaline or in fight-or-flight mode, probably because I just didn't know for sure. Despite the fact that I was more confused than scared, that situation really could have gone either way. If there really was an intruder, I probably would have just been startled into disbelief. But at least I would have been startled with the upper hand.

Also of note; every once in a while, I practice clearing the house when no one is home. Without that practice I probably would have caught the barrel on the edge of the door or doorjamb (as I did during the first few practices), shouldered the rifle left-handed, or opened the door with the barrel pointing where I was still identifying things.

She later said that when she heard the door open, she thought she should say something because she figured I'd have a gun. She asked if I had anything because she didn't see me well enough to see if I was armed (practice pays off!).

Reason.tv solves that healthcare problem

Upon a stair

You seem to be confused...

Impressive!

Flutter - Bonobo

direct link

We will negotiate a trade.

We're trying to get our rabbit to understand it's ok to hang out with us, so I've been feeding her from my hand.

This morning, she wouldn't have it. Normally I hold it for her until she eats some from my hand, then I put it in her bowl. Today she just wouldn't eat any from my hand. After trying a bit, I decided she was being stubborn and left with the banana for a bit.

When I came back she met me half way, and when I offered her the banana, she was still iffy. Then she picked up her wire ball (a cat toy she plays with), and put it down in front of me. I put the banana in front of her, and took her wire ball. She ate the banana.

(I didn't keep the wire ball)

Hope you weren't scheduled to build a server last night

Called a few friends to confirm, they got the same error.

Scheduled maintenance?

I didn't get any e-mail...

Quote of the "DUIs = TEH CASH MONEYS"

"Prosecutors ... judges ... police and the Department of Revenue rely upon these results,"

From an article on faulty DUI tests

Toki's Cat Song

Just when you think you know what to expect from Metalocalypse, they go and do something like this.



Oh yeah, animated graphic suicide at the end of the vid. But don't worry; he's a dentist.

Watch the whole episode here

911 call: Woman shoots crazed intruder

It is rare that you get the chance to vicariously live this kind of experience.

Not a dramatically directed reenactment or a somber recount of the experience, but a quantum leap into the actual event. You hear the calm, the resolve, the growing fear, the terror, and the sorrow.

It's unreal.




Of particular note is that fact that she didn't know this man. She was sleeping in her bed when her dog alerted her to the presence of a man to whom she had done no previous wrong.

This was simply a random act of violence, and reminds us of a harsh reality;

Random acts of violence can visit anyone, at any time, and irrevocably shatter lives.

It's a terrible situation all around. One man who didn't want to die, dead. One woman who never wanted to take a life, having taken one.

Who wins here?
What is the point?
What was the motivation?
How could it have been prevented?

Do you want to know the answer to these questions?

You are free to demand these answers or ponder the possibilities, but ONLY if you already own an effective weapon of defense and have the experience to use it confidently.

If you are unprepared and you want answers to these questions, I hope any criminal you might encounter isn't as divorced from reality as you are.


Do you imagine yourself an audience member of this play called life?

Do you watch these events from an opera house box seat? Offering your critical analysis, witty comment, and scathing sarcasm with the same inconsequence as one would watching a movie?

You are not separated from these events by the barrier between reality and fiction. All that separates you from all those things you see on your local news, and the 911 audio you've just heard is your own mental disconnect.

Just remember that your mental disconnect won't prevent an insane person you've never met from throwing your patio furniture through your back door and violating your sanctuary from reality.

Hopefully that will be all he violates.

---

Oh yeah, the cops took 16 minutes to get there from the time the guy set foot in the woman's home.

Do you think you can survive 16 minutes from that point?

Do you think you can survive 5?

How about 1? Imagine a crazy guy just entered the room you are in right now. He's raving and holding a steak knife. He screams that it's all your fault, and charges you.

Start the clock!

One-one-thousand...
two-one-thousand...
three-one-thousand...


There, but for the grace some random crazed meth-head, go I.

From HotAir

A reminder:

I hate harpsicords

Ubuntu major upgrade a major breeze

It's true what they say about the plumber's sink.

Our home laptop runs Ubuntu because I don't want to have to deal with it. I don't want to have to tweak it, I don't want to have to fix it, I don't want to have to spend days dicking with config files to get it working on the non-standard hardware the laptop runs on.

Consequently, the Ubuntu version was severely out of date, and I didn't want to have to deal with the upgrade.

Eventually the lack of software support for the older version made it necessary to pull the trigger. I checked a few sites that promised me I needed only click a few times, and reboot.

I opened the update manager and clicked to check for a new version. I clicked upgrade, and literally clicked under 10 times through the course of the upgrade (including the reboot), and it was done.

Microsoft had better get their shit together.

Quote of the hate.

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.
~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Posts about hate.