Two more rings discovered around Uranus - Space News - MSNBC.com

Two more rings discovered around Uranus - Space News - MSNBC.com: "Astronomers aided by the Hubble Space Telescope have spied two more rings encircling Uranus"

Well, you'd better get that checked then.

Sorry, couldn't resist a little childish humour there.

Oil Found in Antartica - Bush Sends in Military

The Spoof - Oil Found in Antartica - Bush Sends in Military: "'We know those penguins are hiding Weapons of Mass Destruction. ' says President George W. Bush, "

What more needs to be said...

The Politics of Playtime - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.com

The Politics of Playtime - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.com: "'Girls Inc.,' one mother warned, 'is pro-abortion and pro-contraception and pro all the other lies the secular world wants our girls to believe.' "

All I can do is shake my head.

Florida begins long, costly cleanup after Wilma - Hurricane Wilma - MSNBC.com

Florida begins long, costly cleanup after Wilma - Hurricane Wilma - MSNBC.com: "“I wasn’t prepared for anything. I never thought it would be this bad,” said Virginia Davila, 29, as she waited at the stadium."

You have got to be kidding! People! Listen to the hurricane forecasters, they are pretty good at what they do. Anyone who says they weren't prepared should have to stand at the back of the line for supplies. I guess 5 or 6 days of warning just isn't enough for some people.

Pregnant woman allegedly beaten for fetus - Crime & Punishment - MSNBC.com

Pregnant woman allegedly beaten for fetus - Crime & Punishment - MSNBC.com: "Peggy Jo Conner, 38, of Ford City, was arraigned Thursday on charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and aggravated assault of an unborn child."

This kind of story really gets me into the "What's this world coming to?" mood. Really, this is absolutely sick. If it wasn't for the fact that Peggy Jo is obviously mentally sick, I'd say drag her into the woods and cut open her stomach. As it is she'll probably be free in a couple of years after spending time in a mental institution. What is this world coming to?

Here's a reason to go visit Florida.

Attention: testy visitors risk being shot in Florida - Yahoo! News: "Supporters call it the 'Stand Your Ground' law, while opponents call it the 'Shoot First' law."

Sounds like it should be called the, " Hey we've all been given an excuse to shoot people!" law. How is this going to protect people? All a criminal has to say is, "I was robbing his house when he came in and looked like he was going to shoot me. So I shot him first, it was self-defense.".

And said as only a Bush could... "Governor
Jeb Bush described it as a "good, common sense, anti-crime issue" when he signed it into law." Uh huh.

I'll bet gun stores are wringing their hands at the thought of all the guns they're going to sell this holiday season.

Ex-Tyco executives get up to 25 years in prison

Ex-Tyco executives get up to 25 years in prison - Corporate Scandals - MSNBC.com: "He’s a good man. He’s a decent person and his reputation has been tarnished but his life should not be destroyed.”"

Right, aside from the fact that he and his buddy stole $600,000,000.00 so that they could throw huge parties and have fancy houses. Thanks goodness the juries in these trials aren't falling for any of the exceuses these guys are dishing out. Good riddance to both of them.

Massachusetts' Move to Open Format is Close-minded

Massachusetts' Move to Open Format is Close-minded: "Opinion: The State of Massachusetts should not forsake Microsoft file formats, which are 'open enough' for many users. "

There are so many things wrong with this column, I'm not sure I even know where to start. The whole reason MS is what it is today is because it's products are good enough, or open enough, or stable enough. I think what MA is doing is saying good enough isn't good enough. We want something that is better than that, something that anyone can use, not just those that can buy Microsoft's products. That's the opinion part out of the way, now some facts:

While OpenOffice isn't widely supported yet, it has support for MS formats. You can take any OpenOffice spreadsheet and save it as an Excel spreadsheet. Same for all other OpenOffice apps.

OpenOffice hasn't caught on because of people like Coursey telling them that it doesn't do what they need. Anyone who can use MS Office could turn around and use OpenOffice and be able to do almost everything within a day.

Where does switching to Linux figure into this whole argument? Instead of, as Coursey states, taking choice away from people, by choosing an open format he's actually giving them more choice. If they choose OpenOffice they can run it on Windows, Linux, and Mac. If you stipulate that everyone must use MS Office, you are taking away the Linux option (and most Mac users won't touch MS Office unless they are forced).

"...but in the end the state could potentially save a lot of money. It seems, however, that if Microsoft adds OpenDocument support to Office then Mr. Quinn would be satisfied." And what would be so bad about that? The state could save money and people could choose to use MS Office if they wanted. Sounds like a win-win to me. Although I'm not so convinced that MS will ever adopt the open doc format. Why should they? After all, the closed MS doc format is good-enough.

Calgary Herald - canada.com network

Calgary Herald - canada.com network: "The majority of crops in Alberta are in good or excellent condition."

Once again, the media dooms the farmers to another year of crop failures. Now that those words have been printed something has to go wrong. I'm going to place my bets on an early snowfall.

Check back in a month or see to see if I'm right.

Gretzky 'excited' about coaching the Coyotes - Yahoo! News

Gretzky 'excited' about coaching the Coyotes - Yahoo! News: "By no means am I (Hall of Fame coach) Scotty Bowman"

The "Great Question" about "The Great One". Can he coach?
Lots of people are saying that he was such a natural talent that he won't be able to explain what he wants from his payers. I tend to disagree though. He's worked with at least one excellent coach in his career (Glen Sather), he's smart, and he is well liked by basically everyone in the business. While there is certainly no way he'll create a team of Gretzky's, he knows the strategies and the nuance of the game. There are very few players who were able to see the entire rink like he did when he was on the ice. That's not natural talent, that's practice and intelligence.
I'm looking forward to this and hopefully the people of Phoenix will give him a chance to prove that he can help their team more than just financially.

Copy-protected CDs iPod-incompatible but sell well - Yahoo! News

Copy-protected CDs iPod-incompatible but sell well - Yahoo! News: "Meanwhile, record industry officials said the Dave Matthews and Foo Fighters CDs are selling well."

Of course they're selling well, people want the CD's. If they put out a non-copywrite version of it, I'll bet it would sell even better. Why can't the recording industry just wait until the technology is there? This type of thing just makes them and the labels hated even more by the exact people they're trying keep from copying CD's. In Canada we've had some copy protected CD's for a while now and I refuse to buy any. I don't pirate, but I want to be able to listen to the music when I want to listen to it, not just when I'm in front of my stereo.
Until the trade groups and labels get their act together they're going to continue to lose sales.

Sports | Hockey | canada.com

Sports | Hockey | canada.com

If I was the player's union I'd be getting ready to turf Bob Goodenow. All he did was screw the players out of playing for part of a year. It was obvious from the beginning that the owners weren't going to cave, obviously Goodenow thought they were bluffing. Now he has a bunch of union member who've just had there salaries cut waaaay back, I bet some players will lose close to 50%.
I supported the owners from the very beginning on this, but if I was a player, I'd be really steamed today.

WorldCom's Ebbers Sentenced to 25 Years

WorldCom's Ebbers Sentenced to 25 Years

Justice is served. I'm sure every one of the people who lost their pensions and life-savings will be a little happier today.

10 Commandments not religious...wait, maybe they are...

Court: Some Ten Commandments Displays OK - Yahoo! News: "The Supreme Court struggled in a pair of 5-4 rulings Monday to define how much blending of church and state is constitutionally permissible, allowing the Ten Commandments to be displayed outside the Texas state capitol but not inside Kentucky courthouses."

If someone could explain this whole thing to me I'd really appreciate it. How can something from by Bible not be religious?

Oh and "But framed copies in two Kentucky courthouses...", so those would be copies of the original 10 Commandments then?

Canadian Copywrite Reform

www.MichaelGeist.ca

"Copyright owner rhetoric aside, it is unfortunate that we are also unlikely to see many people actually referring to statistical evidence to support their claims that copyright reform is desperately needed."

It is unfortunate, but that is what happens when you have special interest groups. They're only interested in furthering their cause, and we all know that statistics can be made to say whatever you want them to say.
It looks like this new law is going to take us closer to the American style of copywrite protection (whatever the special interest groups want, forget about the consumers). As is stated in the above post, was there really a need to reform copywrite law here, only if you are the recording industry who will now have all of the things they didn't get the first time around.
Don't get me wrong, I support copywrite as appropriate and with fair use. Illegal file sharing etc is exactly that; illegal. The big problem is that we're slowly losing that fair use and pretty soon we'll only have "fair-to-the-CRIA" use.

PETA on Yahoo! News Photos

PETA on Yahoo! News Photos

This was good for a laught this morning. "The protest, in which three people placed themselves in containers resembling supermarket meat trays, was meant to compare eating meat with cannibalism." Maybe they were aiming this marketing campaign at al the cows that buy beef at the supermarket? That's crazy, cows don't shop at the supermarket... silly PETA. Am I missing the point here? I think someone should stand outside the PETA offices dressed up as a cauliflower to compare PETA strategist's brains to vegetables.

Citi notifies 3.9 million customers of lost data - Consumer Security - MSNBC.com

Citi notifies 3.9 million customers of lost data - Consumer Security - MSNBC.com: "the tapes were lost by the courier UPS Inc. in transit"

Here's an idea... Stop giving these kind of jobs to companies don't care what they're transporting. Make transporting tapes the responsibility of Joe in I.T. and make sure he know his job is on the line if he loses the tapes. If he gets robbed or carjacked or something, obviously that's beyond his control. But he should sure be able to keep track of a box of tapes while taking them to the warehouse.

Bush 'very concerned about cloning' - Stem Cell Research - MSNBC.com

Bush 'very concerned about cloning' - Stem Cell Research - MSNBC.com: "“I’m very concerned about cloning,” the president said. “I worry about a world in which cloning becomes accepted.”"

This from a man who can't even pronounce the word nuclear. Yet he's expert enough on stem cell research that he can confidently veto any bill that deals with embryonic stem cell research. I'm sure there aren't any special interest groups involved in that decision...

Change the World

News | canada.com network: "'If there needs to be change, it needs to be in the world, not in the doctrine,' said Marc Cardinal Ouellet, archbishop of Quebec."

OK, sure, that shouldn't be too tough. What do they need 6 or 7 weeks?
This must be some incredible Pope if they think they're going to change the minds of all the free-thinking extremist Catholics that aren't toeing the line. Their views and beliefs have been changing for how many decades now? And they think they're going to turn it around. They're more out of touch than I thought.

Yahoo! News - Canadian Catholics react with dismay, joy, on choice of new conservative pope

Yahoo! News - Canadian Catholics react with dismay, joy, on choice of new conservative pope: "'He's saying, no no no, we have to be upfront and in love with the whole world and at the same time hold the truth that the church teaches and knows to be true,' he said."

This has got to be the ultimate paradox for the Catholic Church, and one in which they seem to have managed to alienate a significant percentage of it's followers.
How can you be "in love with the whole world" and yet refuse to condone condoms in AID's ravaged Africa? How can you be "in love with the world" if you reward a man who hid the molestations of hundreds of children in and around Boston? And how can you be "in love with the whole world" and not provide all of the choices available to a teenage girl who has been raped and is pregnant with a child she didn't want?
The doctrine of the Catholic Church is out-of-step with the real world and the 115 Cardinals who chose a conservative as their new Pope have just furthered the distance from reality. He talks of the extremist views of the revisionists. Aren't the extremists really those who refuse to change just because tradition dictates they shouldn't?
When we look at other extremist groups, they are usually those most out of touch with reality. Extremist Muslims who don't believe in the rights of women in society. Extremist racists who don't believe that Jews, African American's, and others are equal to whites. Extremist Jews and Palistinians who refuse to see the validity of the other's beliefs.
To the leaders of the Catholic Church however, extremists are people who have compassion for others who may not be the same as them, for changing rules to help others in less forunate circumstances, for refusing to believe in something just because someone with more "authority" says they should.
If Pope Benedict XVI rules for a number of years, will we see the slow decline of the Catholic Church into a fringe sect devoted to holding onto tradition at all costs? Or are there enough conservative Catholics to keep the machine rolling along?

Yahoo! News - Federal Judge Weighs Florida Right-To-Die Case

Yahoo! News - Federal Judge Weighs Florida Right-To-Die Case: "'We are very hopeful that the federal courts will follow the will of Congress and save my sister's life,'"

All I'm going to say for now; The will of congress? Lady, what about the will of your sister?

The Car Connection [ The Web's Automotive Authority ]

The Car Connection [ The Web's Automotive Authority ]: "We will argue that the jury was tainted by Diana Palacios, that Guy Allison had no authority to represent Saul Guerrero Jr., and that the plaintiffs did not meet their burden of proving a defect.'"

Thank goodness they're going to appeal this. It sounds even worse than the initial stories.

Explorer suit costs Ford $31 million - 03/03/05

Explorer suit costs Ford $31 million - 03/03/05: "A jury in Texas found Ford Motor Co. liable for $31 million in the deaths of two 19-year-old women in an Explorer rollover accident."

Wow! Where do I start? They were speeding, drinking (not too much though), and not wearing seatbelts. And it was Ford's fault for not exceeding NHTSA standards, just meeting them.
How many deaths is it going to take before people realize that at the very least, you can't drive an SUV like an F1 car? Oh and buckling you seatbelt might hlp to keep you in the car too. I guess if you're too stupid to drive within the vehicles limits, we shouldn't expect you to be smart enough towear a seatbelt.

Yahoo! News - Ontario passes legislation to ban pit bulls throughout province

Yahoo! News - Ontario passes legislation to ban pit bulls throughout province: "Ontario's controversial bill to ban pit bulls has been passed in the provincial legislature."

This has got to be the most rediculous, knee-jerk legislation in a while. They're going to be busy passing a lot of breed bans everytime a kid gets attacked by another dog. I'm waiting for the Yorkie Ban.

MSNBC - Missile shield test fizzles out

MSNBC - Missile shield test fizzles out: "a malfunction with the ground support equipment at the test range on Kwajalein Island, not with the interceptor missile itself"

Sorry Seattle, the system failed and you have been nuked. On the bright side, the interceptor itself didn't fail.

It's Windows vs. Windows as Microsoft battles piracy

It's Windows vs. Windows as Microsoft battles piracy: "the company plans to require computer owners to verify that their copy of Windows is properly licensed before allowing them to download software from Microsoft's site. "

No big surprise here, and anyone who decides to convert to Linux or another O/S because of this is probably running a pirated version of Windows. And they probably would have switched to Linux anyway.

Now, if only Microsoft would get the idea that if the O/S was a little less expensive, people wouldn't decide to switch. They'd spend the $100 or so to get a legit copy of the software and continue running the O/S they had before.

MSNBC - Drivers on cell phones kill thousands

MSNBC - Drivers on cell phones kill thousands: "When young adults use cell phones while driving, they're as bad as a 70-year-old on the verge of a nap and signaling for that eventual left turn."

I notice they didn't do any studying of women doing their makeup or people reading the paper and drinking their Starbucks. I guess that stuff doesn't lead to distractions like talking on the phone will...

MSNBC - On campaign trail, a single shot

MSNBC - On campaign trail, a single shot: "On the campaign trail in Iraq, U.S. troops are almost alone."

I don't imagine GWB will have read this, but it's an excellent "on the scene" report. I'm Canadian and it hit me pretty hard. I think many of us have no idea what it is like for these guys on one of their patrols.
This is going to be a brutal weekend in Iraq and it's a real shame that the "people" fighting against freedom in their own country don't realize how counter-productive they are being. They are letting extremist religion and ignorance rule their lives. Good luck to all the brave Iraqi's who will work at the polling stations and those who are brave enough to take to the streets and prove to the extremists that they can't stop determined people from voting.

Linux Pipeline | IE Skids Towards A Market-Share Milestone

I don't see MS getting concerned until their share drops into the low 80's. Right now they can say that it's just a knee-jerk reaction to security problems and people will go back to IE once they've had a chance to use Firefox.
Could it be also that MS doesn't care that much about IE anymore? They've successfully thwarted Netscape's attempt at making the browser an more like an O/S. They have bigger fish to fry now with Linux on that side. As long as MS keeps building proprietary web platforms people will be forced to use IE and it's share can only drop so far.
Web developers need to push open standards and not use MS IE-only tools, this will mean that people who try browsers like Firefox won't run into incompatible sites. This would help push non-IE browser further in the market. Until then there will always be a need for IE.

Linux Pipeline | IE Skids Towards A Market-Share Milestone: "IE Skids Towards A Market-Share Milestone "

I-80 Crash claims UNL stdent's life

Lincoln Journal Star: "'It is my choice what type of safety precautions I take,' he wrote."

Darwin...

Tales of Travel

I did a fair bit of traveling over the last month, and here are a few of my observations:
WestJet - Thank goodness some people know how to run an airline. I discovered later that automatically assigning seats to families is a novel approach to making people happy.
Vancouver Island RCMP - Where are you? Do you know that everyone travels a minimum of 15km/h faster than the posted limit on the hiways? You could be raking in the dough, but apparently you're just eating it. In 5 days and two trips between Comox and Nanaimo, I saw just one police car.
Where to shop on boxing day? Home Depot. There were no big sales but the weren't any people either. I was in and out in less time than it would normally take to walk down a couple of aisles.
America West Airlines - Oh dear... where do I start? Maybe you should visit the WestJet folks? 45 min. to checkin 20 people; pathetic. Baby tax? Get real. When you were 5 do you think you might have wanted to sit beside at least one of your parents for a 3 hour flight? Could you not have clued into this fact when you were checking the 5 year-old and her parents onto the flight? Thank-you to the friendly travelers who realized something you didn't and agreed to switch seats. How about telling everyone on the flight that you need to stamp their passports prior to letting them on the plane? This might have prevented the mad rush that required you to bring agents from other gates to get everyone on the flight in time.
US Customs Agents - Could you smile? Just a little? No I guess not. Are you really on a power trip or do you just hate your job? Maybe you just like being miserable to people. You could at least say "hello" and "have a nice trip".
Cheap T-Shirts - What does it actually cost to make a t-shirt? If you can sell 10 for $20 does it really make you money?
Raw Coconut - It tastes awful, really. I'm sure if it was all you had to eat it would be fine. But don't be fooled into thinking it'll taste like the stuff on a cream pie.
Americans and Their Cars - I always hear a lot about the relationship American's have with their cars, but really people, I think it's a little unhealthy. When you live in a rundown shack but drive a $40k car your priorities seem a little skewed to me. Don't get me wrong, I am a car fanatic. Maybe it's because I don't live some place where it is warm all year round so I value my warm house a little more than having the coolest car on the block.

Now that I'm back home I hope to get writing a little more (famous last words...)