Analysis of the NSA wiretap scandal

Here is the best analysis I have seen so far of what might be behind the Bush/NSA wiretap scandal. Something like this would indeed not be able to pass the current court review.

Mighty Mouse to the rescue!

This is a pretty amazing story about a robot dislodging a stuck canister of radioactivity.

In itself, that might not be so amazing, but this wasn't just any little canister. Apparently it was a hefty chunk of Cobalt 60 that was "powerful enough to kill a person in half a minute", so nobody at the lab volunteered to get in there and give it a swift kick.

The Gamma radiation was so powerfull that it "melted" some of the tools and would disable the robots electronics in about an hour. Ouch!

Spaghetti or Sushi? Both please!

This is actually a USB cable, you plug the device in at the business end of the fork.

Here are some USB drives suitable for connecting to the fork.

Neat! I want one.

Flexible clock from Citizen.

This one is something like $4000, but I'm sure the cost will drop like a stone. Expect to see electronic billboards in just a few years. Electronic ink is just going to change how the world looks so fast it will make our heads spin. Just imagine, electronic wallpaper... show anything on anything... woof!

Einar is reading!

Einar had his reading epiphany yesterday. Now he can read, he just has to learn all the words first. Until then it is slow going as he has to sound out each word.

This morning he showed off in school as we dropped him off. The first pages of the book went blazingly fast, probably more due to memorization than to studying speed reading. After that is was more like one word at the time, but if he was asked about stuff he hadn't worked on before, he could still do it.

The deal is that when he can read, he gets a computer. It's getting very close. Santa will have to start worrying.

N'wam k'honi soit qui mali

The big problem with pornography is defining it. You can't just say it's pictures of people naked. For example, you have these primitive African tribes that exist by chasing the wildebeest on foot, and they have to go around largely naked, because, as the old tribal saying goes: 'N'wam k'honi soit qui mali,' which means, 'If you think you can catch a wildebeest in this climate and wear clothes at the same time, then I have some beach front property in the desert region of Northern Mali that you may be interested in.'

So it's not considered pornographic when National Geographic publishes color photographs of these people hunting the wildebeest naked, or pounding one rock onto another rock for some primitive reason naked, or whatever. But if National Geographic were to publish an article entitled 'The Girls of the California Junior College System Hunt the Wildebeest Naked,' some people would call it pornography. But others would not. And still others, such as the Spectacularly Rev. Jerry Falwell, would get upset about seeing the wildebeest naked.

- Dave Barry, "Pornography"

more quotes...

Brown to start emergency planning consulting business.

So what possible use could there be for a disaster planning consulting firm headed by a certified disaster?

Think about it this way...

If he didn't have this new job, all that would be left to him would be a book deal for a tell-all best seller...

So... how many ghost writers with book contracts do you think were lined up in front of Brownies house when he was sent back to Washington? 10? 20?

Most of them would have been pure hacks -- and I mean that in the most disrespectful way -- but one or two could have been good enough that it would really hurt just in time for the 2006 elections.

So a few "friends" decide to get together and start a little consulting gig for Mr. Brown.

They generously fund this new business and give him a bit of stock so he has an interest to protect. Then they point out that if he writes a tell-all book, the business will "most likely" go down the drain.

Now, if he had a backbone and some integrity (yes, yes, this is purely hypothetical) he would decline such a deal as it was obviously made just to manipulate him some more, but as we see in the news, there is now a new consulting firm in Washington DC. Just what everybody needed.

Sprinkle lightly with cynicism to taste.

Geocaching

A wonderfull sunny November day. Our first Geocache ever and we found it after just a few minutes looking.

Droped off a token and picked one up to pass on to the next cache.

Just as we found it, another couple with a GPS reciever came up to us. They to were looking for the cache. They had done about 110 caches, but this was the first time they got there just as somebody else had found the cache.

I guess we found a new hobby!

--Einar, Ron, and Johan

''Intersex' Fish Found Off Calif. Coast

I knew that intersex humans were quite numerous along the California coast. It worries me that it has spread to the fish.

My Successful Friends

This guy is so lucky that he hasn't turned bitter after his friends went on to bigger things after the dot-com crash. After all, some day he might even become a manager for the StarBucks where he now works...

(Thanks Anna for the link.)

Please hit Execute!

Dr. Kevorkian is branching out into banking?

Cash-out early! Beat the rush!

Google KAI

Poor baby. He can't get his own website. Google.com is taken...

General Zod - 2008 Presidential Candidate

It can't be any worse than what we got... right?

Bungie, Where Are You?

One of our Yorkshire Terriers is missing! Bungie escaped from the backyard Saturday evening, and we haven't been able to find her yet. Her sister Bounce is visibly upset.

We made a poster and put it up all over the neighborhood early Sunday morning.

Let's hope we can find her...

In other spider news...

African Spider Craves Human Blood

Mr. Sun's questions for Karl Rove.

Pretty funny:

Q: "Is this the first time you have ever taken a human form here on earth?"

---

Bush reassures conservatives:

"Harriet Miers has the highest midichlorian count ever recorded, greater even than Master Reagan. She has been a good and faithful padawan, but now she is ready to take the trials. She is the chosen one. She will bring balance to the Court."

Still, there is a growing unease.

Frozen bubbles

Einar is addicted to the game Frozen Bubbles on the Powerbook.

Snake

A co-worker found a snake on one of the walkways and rescued it. I snapped a picture before it was released into the bushes next to the putting green.

Einar

Einar with Bungie

Python Bursts After Trying to Eat Gator

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

So there is this python slithering in to the local Right-Aid. It crawls up to the pharmasy window and asks "Do you sell Maalox in 25 gallon drums?" ...

In the blink of an eye...

If fishing wasn't such a violent sport he would still be able to board a flight without having to go through a cavity search.

Yellow Sheep River

Chinese Town Loses Hyperlink to Future - Los Angeles Times A remarkably interesting story about the town of Yellow Sheep River in western China and how it almost joined the twenty first century.

SCO Profit Motives

So I'm a GrokLaw addict, so sue me... NO! Wait a minute! Don't!

Anyway, so I think I have figured out the profit motives behind SCO. Yes, you heard it right! Breaking news! Hold the presses! This is why they sued IBM (but first the original plan):

Plan A

1. Claim to own Unix
2. Sue IBM
3. ...
4. Win
5. Profit!

As we can see in step A-3, the plan needs some fleshing out. But now my secret sources reveal the new revised version:

Plan B

1. Claim to own Unix
2. Sue IBM
3. Print stock certificates
4. Lose
5. Sell certificates on eBay as collectors items
6. Profit!

Not only are there no missing steps in this plan, but the profit free from SEC scrutiny since the only thing sold is the defunct certificates.

Brilliant Darl!