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...)

What corporate America can't build: A sentence

What corporate America can't build: A sentence: "'E-mail has just erupted like a weed, and instead of considering what to say when they write, people now just let thoughts drool out onto the screen,' Hogan said."

This is so true. There seems to be some kind of mental block for people when they're writing email. Grammar? Who needs it. Spelling? "The spell checker didn't pick it up." Sentence structure? The list goes on. I'm no english expert but I generally know how to put together a fairly clear sentence. Spelling mistakes? Unacceptable; I'm horrified when I realize an email i sent has spelling errors because it usually just from lazy proofreading.
I think part of the problem comes from the fact that most people don't know how to type (I'm included there), and don't proofread (not me). Therefore they end up with garbled sentences and typos everywhere. If they had taken an extra minute before sending, they would be able to pick up many of the mistakes.
I'm glad companies are starting to get remedial help for people. The sad thing is that many of the people responsible for making those decisions don't have the skills to notice.

Penny Arcade

A very real commentary on the state of message board posts these days. Caution: May be offensive to some.
Penny Arcade

MSNBC - No same-sex marriage in Texas textbooks

I wonder if they're going to be able to fit the 10 Commandments into these books too? You know, because they should always be readily available, particularly when you're talking about evil things like sex . For all you homophobes, there's a new catch phrase; "asexual stealth phrases", that's a good one.
MSNBC - No same-sex marriage in Texas textbooks

Who do you hate more?

OK, so I have to admit that I'm a little happy that my prediction came true. I am also disappointed that it came true because like the rest of the world, I felt John Kerry was the lesser of two evils. What really disappoints me is the reaction by many of John Kerry's supporters (or GWB's haters). Here's the way I see it from outside:

GWB 51% - Lots of people hate him, but fewer than last time
Kerry 48% - More people think he would be even worse than GWB
Senate, House, Governor - All Republican majorities

To me this means one thing; the only thing most Americans dislike more than GWB is the Democratic party. So as far as I'm concerned, Democrats your job is to fix your party. Don't keep whining about all the "stupid rednecks" who voted for GWB. Look at why, with such a huge number of people that supposedly hate GWB and the Republicans, you not only couldn't win, but you lost ground. Use the energy you're currently directing toward the Republicans to build your party, to listen to what people really want, and to find someone who can actually lead the party to a victory.

I predict...

Disclaimer: Some information contained in the post may be deemed offensive. I am in no way trying to insult Americans or their intelligence. I have great respect for many Americans and I think that through the years as Canadians we have many legitimate reasons to be thankful of Americans (as do they of us, but that's for another post).

So why not get back into things with a bang? As a Canadian I watch with bemused interest the election proceedings down south. I don't have a real grasp of how it all works, and I think there are a lot of American's who don't either. That being said, I'm not afraid to make a prediction. George W. Bush by 3% or 4%, he may even win the popular vote. How could I possibly say this?
My theory is based on the fact that a lot of American's are just like GWB and like the "straight-shooting" style he has. I know that a lot of well-educated people would scream at me for this because they vehemently disagree. However, the majority of Americans are not well-educated people of above average intelligence. They are people who learn most of what they know from TV, they stick it out through hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods because they think they can outlast the weather.
I call them the "outwardly undecided". They like GWB but don't have the political knowledge to back-up their thoughts and therefore won't publicly disclose their feelings for fear of being ridiculed by someone "smarter" than they are. They have guns, they fear change (particularly when their church tells them it's bad), and they don't like to speak out. There are far more of these people in the USA than many Americans would like to admit and they have significant electoral power. They don't live in New York, Los Angles, Houston, or Miami and therefore the system for electing Presidents gives them a disproportionate amount of power.
The job of the democrats in this election has been to convince these people that two rich guys from the Northeast will be better than a "normal" guy who says what's on his mind and isn't afraid to start a war. An uphill battle to say the least, and one I don't think they are going to win.

Study: Firefox still gaining on Internet Explorer

Due to the fact that a number of users use a plugin that makes their Mozilla/Firefox browser appear to be IE, I think these numbers are probably a little high for IE. If the trend continues much longer, I predict that Microsoft will do an about face on not realeasing any more stand-alone versions of IE.
Study: Firefox still gaining on Internet Explorer

Ballmer cites 'facts' in Microsoft's battle against Linux - ZDNet UK News

On the vulnerability issue; Anyone who had to patch all their company's machines for the JPEG vulnerability last month know how MS deals with vulnerabilities.
And yes, I'm sure it is much less expensive to upgrade to a newer version of Windows than to do a complete changeover from Windows to Linux. Thanks for clearing that up though, Yankee Group.
Ballmer cites 'facts' in Microsoft's battle against Linux - ZDNet UK News

Another Crack at It.

It's a little cold, but I'm going to see if I can get this thing started again.

Stay tuned...

Saw "The Matrix Reloaded" yesterday. Very enjoyable flick I think. The first half was a little lame, too many pointless fights, the sex scene was totally contrived and out of context, and not enough mind twisting. The second half, however, totally sucked you in to get you to come back in November. I'm going to have to go back to this one first though so that I can totally understand what the Architect was talking about. The bathroom scene was hillarious (cool urinal), and the possible twist very close to the end was very thought provoking.

How's that for not giving away too much but still covering the whole movie? Make sure that you don't drink too much pop, or you'll have to pee after the first hour and a bit and miss the start of the good stuff.

I wonder what it would be like to live in a society where all the women wore skimpy white shirts and no bras? The guys do too, but for me the effect isn't the same.

Good movie, I highly recommend it, just don't expect it to be the same as the first one.

I turned 35 the other day...yup...35... It's amazing how it doesn't seem all that old anymore.

Oh, well. Decided that I should get back to this again, so here I am. I can hear the cheers around the world.

I was walking back to the office a little while ago, and I saw a guy talking to a girl. Nothing unusual about that, but he was doing the imaginary golf swing thing. You know, where someone holds their hands like they have a golf club and then they take a swing?
I've seen people do that before, but this time it sort of hit me that this is an absolutely rediculous thing to be doing. Usually people do things while they're talking, absentmindedly, without realizing that they're doing it. Like playing with keys, or the change in their pocket etc. Is this what golf-swing guy was doing? Is it that he golfs sooo much, that out of habit he just goes into golf-swing mode when his hands have nothing to do? If that's the case, my hands should just start typing an imaginary keyboard, because that the thing I do most. But they don't.
That leaves me with one conclusion; he was doing it to show off. Did it impress the girl? I hope not.