Ford Ends the Excursion

Ford Ends the Excursion - Jalopnik

Please take a moment and read the news bit linked above. Not only can you delight in the knowledge that the one-time "largest SUV in America" Excursion is being retired, but you'll get a laugh from Jalopnik's write-up.

And this isn't the usual "We're retiring it with next year's model" that most car manufacturers pull. The last Excursion will be driven out of a Louisville assembly plant TODAY.

The most notable item that sticks out in my mind about the Excursion is a horizontally mounted bar under the front bumper. Back when Ford was crash testing early Excursion models they noticed "an alarming tendancy for the vehicle to ride onto, over, or on top of the target vehicle." To stop this "alarming" tank-style crushing they installed a bar that connected the frame and hung below the front bumper, guaranteeing that an Excursion will take your head off if you're unlucky enough to go under the bumper. Not really. But what is possibly even more absurd is that they actually won a DESIGN AWARD for correcting a flaw in a monstrously large SUV.

That's right, they won an award just for that bar.

Makes me wonder how many of these behemoths they have just lying around dealer lots.

Comment Word Verification is Now On

So after removing three spam comments after only two new posts today, I decided to turn on word verification in the comments. I don't get a lot of comments anyway, but I'd rather the few I do get not be "Hey do you want to visit the coolest guy on the planet's web site? And oh yeah, that guy is me."

I'm not kidding.

That really was posted in the comments section of the SkiFree post. But I deleted it.

SkiFree is Back!

via Metafilter

I remember when the various households in my family started getting computers. As Windows 3.1 machines trickled into our mid-west homes this young man spent a whole lot of time playing SkiFree, the closest thing to an action game you could find preloaded on Windows at the time. Hell, even though it's not included with Windows anymore it probably still is the closest thing to an action game they ever pre-installed.

http://ski.ihoc.net/ is a nice little one-pager web site that has a historical overview of the game, background information, fan fiction (wha???), and (most importantly) a new 32-bit version of SkiFree compatible with modern versions of Windows.

simul-posted on FreewareFreak

TSA Can't Search Their Own DB

The EFF released this confidence-inspiring piece of news today:

Feds Unable to Search Own Anti-Terrorism Database

TSA Stops Deleting "Secure Flight" Records, But Drags Feet On Project Transparency

Washington, DC - After receiving hundreds of requests from Americans asking to know what personal information the government has obtained about them, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) told passengers that it "does not have the capability to perform a simple computer-based search" to locate individual records.

TSA revealed last fall that it would use private passenger data from all domestic airline flights taken in June of 2004 to test its troubled "Secure Flight" passenger-screening system. In response to a fruitless Privacy Act request by four Alaska residents, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) encouraged other airline passengers to request their own files. TSA recently began notifying the passengers who filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act requests that it lacks the ability to easily search its records. TSA also said that it would close such requests unless individuals provided additional detailed information, such as the air carrier they used, the dates of travel, and their phone numbers -- part of the data that requestors were seeking in the first place.

"TSA is failing to follow the law," said EFF Staff Attorney Matt Zimmerman. "The Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act place very clear obligations on government agencies for searching their records, and TSA has simply said that it doesn't want to go through the effort. It's bad enough that Secure Flight has repeatedly failed to show that it can be a useful tool to strengthen airline security. However, that doesn't excuse the federal government from telling Americans about the private information it has gathered and used to test the project."

In light of the high volume of record requests that it has received, TSA recently agreed to stop deleting the passenger data it obtained for testing Secure Flight until it processed its backlog of requests. However, TSA told initial requestors that some of their data had already been deleted.

Secure Flight, a passenger-profiling system aimed at identifying security risks, is the successor of the controversial "CAPPS II" program that was cancelled in the wake of questions about its cost, effectiveness, and impact on privacy and civil liberties. The Secure Flight screening process would involve comparing airline passenger reservation data with an interagency terrorist watch list to determine who should be subject to more invasive screenings or arrest. After repeatedly misleading Congress and the public about its intention to use data provided by commercial data brokers to supplement the watch list, TSA recently announced that it would not use such data in the program for the time being. Despite the controversy surrounding the project, TSA has stated that it is moving forward this fall with plans for a partial roll-out involving two airlines.

For more on EFF and Secure Flight: http://action.eff.org/secureflight


I highly encourage you to sign-up for the EFFector mailing list, so you can be notified of news like this. The EFF also maintains systems on its web site to contact your state and federal representatives so you can communicate your opinions on issues like this one.

Claystick

Claystick @ ZippyVideos (streaming wmv video)

Eye candy for your Wednesday:

Watch as a clay figure springs unbidden from the forehead of... well, nothing, but this is still a fantastic bit of stop motion/claymation.

via Screenhead

Britney's Baby Bill

via Fark

Hear ye! Hear ye! Let it be known that Jason Allen will henceforth avert his eyes, turn the page, or change the channel whenever anything having to do with Britney Spears is covered. Simply put: She is now officially a child pimp.

She made $6 million auctioning off her birth video, baby pictures, and early home movies.

This makes me sick.

Saturday @ Bancroft Park Pics

On Saturday Jenny, Mindy, and I went to Bancroft Park (google map) in Lansing. It's tucked away behind Old Grand River and the Groesbeck Golf Course. I've lived in this neighborhood for almost three years, and even though the park is only four blocks away we haven't checked it out.


The west entrance view.


Top of the playground equipment.



Jen and Mindy on the swings.


A rather swampy pond area. Plenty to explore.


Mindy on the tire swing.


Jen on the frog-spring thing.

We had a lot of fun, and I'll be updating this post over the next couple days with more info.

More pictures available here.

New Orleans: Ghosts Need Relief Too

Check this out: A video with first-hand accounts from soldiers and National Guard members who have reportedly encountered New Orleans' infamous spiritual world.

Even the reporter gets to weigh in!

Del.icio.us Bookmarks

Like bloglines, I took a while to come around to the idea behind del.icio.us. Social bookmarking? Nifty idea, but it just didn't seem worth learning a new web interface for something I've done for years in a local browser.

As with flickr, the real benefit of del.icio.us is the tag service. When using flickr, if I want to search for a picture I don't have to run a standard search query like you would with Google. Users assign tags to their pictures as they upload them, so if I search flickr tags for Lansing I get every picture on the site with tagged with Lansing.

With del.icio.us the system works the same. Unlike your local favorites/bookmarks del.icio.us allows you to see bookmarks being posted by other users using tags similar to yours. The interface probably couldn't get any simpler, though it will take you some time to get used to the layout.

There is another, slightly more selfish reason to use the service. I added Freeware Freak as the first bookmark in my account, and within a couple hours the hits on FF had tripled the previous daily record, which was a complete surprise. Anyone who has started a blog and watches their stats will tell you that's not easy to do with one little post.

A Brief Rant

Normally I avoid posting anything about my job on my blog. That said, I find myself stuck. Stuck because I feel I have to put something down in writing before I can move on to better subjects.

I work for a company where attendance is a big, BIG deal. If you are hourly and full time, you WILL put in your forty hours per week. I've been here long enough to have earned a spot where I'm not on such a tight leash, but most of my coworkers have to deal with it.

To their credit, my employers aren't stingy with earned-time-off (think of it as paid vacation time that you build up a few hours per week), and getting a break isn't that hard provided you do it a few weeks in advance. But there's a big difference between how they handle vacation time and sick time, both of which eat up your earned time off.

Here's the problem: My coworkers feel threatened by the attendance policy. To make matters worse, there is some kind of just-think-about-it-and-you'll-catch-it super cold bug going around and everyone is getting sick. Early this morning I listened to one poor soul continually sneeze and blow their nose for at least five straight minutes (and it wasn't the "i'm slightly conjested" kind of nasal noise). It might not sound like a long time but just try watching a clock for five straight minutes.

The result? Tons of people who, were they not fearing for their jobs, should be home getting better. One by one everyone in my office (including me) has dealt with this crap and it's not getting any better. I guess it's reached a sort of critical mass point where there's no point in relaxing the policy because everyone either is or was sick.

Either way it's a stupid situation that could've been prevented.

Ok I'm done ranting now. Thanks for hanging in there folks.

Cool Text - Easy Logos

Cool Text: Logo Generator and Web Design tool

My first job in the computer industry (pre-Internet economy crash circa 1999) was as a web developer. Anyone who knows a bit of HTML can tell you there are varying levels of web design, ranging from spending hours fixing a one-pixel alignment problem to those who prefer WYSIWYG editors like Frontpage (*shudder*).

My personal favorite was always Dreamweaver, but for this task I wanted something simple, easy, slick, and oh yeah - made online for free.

A quick search on Google for "online logo maker" yielded Cool Text, a site I've seen before but never tried to use. I wanted a logo for FreewareFreak (my freeware blog) so I decided to give it a shot.

This is the result:



The entire process is implemented using javascript and a little bit of active server stuff, but it was very easy to do and took literally less than 5 minutes. The site uses a queue system so you may have to wait for your rendering job to complete after you finish your design, but I had one person in front of me and the job took maybe 30 seconds total.

So if you've got the skills but not the drive, Cool Text is a good option :)

Simul-posted on FreewareFreak

How to search Google efficiently

Google MyWay - How to search Google efficiently via Lifehacker

I've posted Google efficiency articles before, but this one should be a must-have on anyone's bookmark list.

A nice, one-page list of all the search strings you can run using Google. Very handy.

Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!!! (Post #500!!!)

The Happy Crew of the University of Arkansas Materials Management Department, via the International Talk Like A Pirate Day (flickr)

Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day! I'll never forget t' day two years ago when me sister called me t' wish me a happy Talk Like A Pirate Day and I thought she was just bein' goofy. Little did I know about t' huge online followin' smartly developin'. Talk Like A Pirate day has been adopted by countless computer geeks (meself included) and seems t' be gettin' bigger every year!

Yar!

(this text was generated using the English-to-Pirate Translator)

On a side note, this is my 500th blog post! I've been using blogger for seven months now, and according to server logs I've had just over 5,000 page views (not unique users, just views).

Based on the last 100 visitors these are the top 10 most popular posts on J*Blog (not including the main front page):

#1 - Live Action Thundercats Movie

#2 - Happy Tree Friends Video Game

#3 - X-box360 Prototypes

#4 - Katrina Political B.S.

#5 - Potter Park Zoo Pics

#6 - Windows Run Prompt Commands

#7 - Radiohead Artwork

#8 - Soul Calibur III looks like Soul Calibur II

#9 - AIDs group upset over Family Guy song

#10 - Generation Nex - The New 8-bit NES System

When I started this blog I really only had one motivation: I needed a link depository. There were too many good pages and media I would read or watch once and tell friends and family about years later after forgetting how I found it in the first place.

Since then it has evolved into a place to share my thoughts on the world, it has kept me in touch with long missed friends, and it has introduced me to new ones.

We'll see how long the next 500 posts take :-)

"Total Animal Liberation"

Penn & Teller: The truth about PETA

Did you know one of PETA's goals is "total animal liberation"? Meaning, they believe that all pets (including seeing-eye dogs and other assitant animals!) should be liberated?

Penn & Teller clear up some more BS.

Revolution Controller Finally Unveiled

1up.com has the first (to my knowledge) hands-on impressions and pictures of the controller for the next generation Nintendo console, the Revolution.

At this year's E3 all three of the console leaders had their next-gen consoles on display, but Nintendo stood out from the pack for actually having less hardware on hand. While Sony and Microsoft touted the PS3 and X-box360 Nintendo remained (as usual) quietly smug about their plans for the next console. They flatly refused to show this controller at that time, stating they were afraid of imitation.

At first glance the controller is obviously patterned after a remote control, and this is no accident. Nintendo has included sensors in the Revolution that will track the controller's position in 3D space in real time, allowing for many new game play possibilities (the cited and most obvious example is controlling an on-screen character's sword with it).

The controller includes a peripheral port at the bottom to attach other pieces of hardware such as an analog stick. Turn the controller 90 degrees and you have the familiar shape and button layout of a classic 8-bit NES pad.

Personally, I can't wait to try it out. Nintendo did spook me a little at first with the GameCube, but after growing accustomed to the controller I quickly got over it and started really enjoying the system. While this may intimidate a lot of gamers out there it's important to remember that Nintendo has a history of delivering what they promise, and this reputation has grown steadily over the last several years.

Be sure to check out the 1up story for many more details and pics.

You can also view Satoru Iwata's keynote speech on the controller at IGN.

MouseWax - I Hate Mapquest

MouseWax - I hate Mapquest

Today's Mousewax highlights something a lot of us online-types have dealt with: the sometimes over-the-top descriptive instructions you get from some online direction/map providers.

I haven't noticed the problem with Google Maps as much, but I'll never forget the last time I used Mapquest. Jen and I were headed for a Pharcyde concert in downtown Detroit, and while I'm pretty sure we followed the printed instructions exactly we somehow ended up on a road that ran, literally, along the Detroit River. The bridge to Canada loomed above us, and I remember saying "Ok, there's the bridge, there's Canada, and we still have no idea where the hell we are."

We could've found our way home if we had to, and we did eventually find our way to the concert (which was blast), but there's no doubt in my mind that if the instructions were a little simpler the whole situation wouldn't have happened. For example, if I'm taking 94 West towards Chicago I don't need to know "Stay right at fork... Take 94W/69S... Stay on 94W/88E blah blah blah take I294-N exit." I'm already on 94W. I don't need to know every little branch in the road, just tell me "Stay on 94W until you reach 294N."

I can understand how some people could really love this feature, but if you're getting directions for a location in your own town it shouldn't treat you like you're a tourist.

Celebrity Jeopardy

SmitHappens.com has all thirteen Celebrity Jeopardy episodes online for your viewing pleasure.

Take a look! :)

Sigur Ros - Glósóli’ Video

Check out the Sigur Ros video "Glósóli’" off their new album "Takk..."

Looks like it only works with RealPlayer at the moment, but it's worth it.

New Wheels - 1997 Mitsubishi Galant ES

After almost two years sharing one car to handle two full time work loads, we finally buckled and bought a second car over the weekend.



It'll be my daily driver for the conceivable future, and so far I like it a lot. Good gas mileage (a key factor in our search efforts), very clean, everything works.

It's an automatic (I prefer stick) but it'll be a nice change for a while.

A Thousand Words

... in a picture anyway. Or so the saying goes.

I was doing some upkeep on my flickr account today, checking out the older ones, updating descriptions, adding a tag here and there.

I came across this shot, a black and white hand-developed number from my first photography class back in high school.


-large version available-

When I look at my pictures I try to remember what I was thinking when I took it. What was it about that particular moment that made me decide to take the shot? Well, I wanted pictures of where I had lived for six years to show to my friends back in Michigan. Naperville was and still is a city with a lot of families, so you see a lot of kids around. They've really tried to make Naperville a kid-friendly city, and it shows just about everywhere in the little downtown area.

If someone were to ask me which one of my pictures is my personal favorite, I'd probably say this one.

I wish I had a larger version, but that is 100% of the print size. Hopefully the negative is still ok in the portfolio, because someday I'd like to make a larger copy.

Mr. T Is Back On The Air

Wow... just... wow...

I'm at a loss for words.

Mr. T is getting his own Dr. Phil-style show.

I might have to buy a VCR just so I can tape it.

via Fark

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that a Google Image search for Mr. T turns up some choice results. I could browse those for a while but my face hurts too much from laughing.

Shaolin Vs... Shaolin?

Cinematical - Shaolin Monks Taking Charge, Yo

This bad mother here is practicing the Iron Palm technique.

I'm a huge fan of the Kung Fu film genre. It's about the only genre I consider myself a collector of, and news like this gets me REALLY excited.

The link to the Cinematical post has more details, and just remember:

Death has reverb. At least in Kung Fu movies. Bad ones. So bad they're fantastic.

Bullshot

Penny Arcade - Madden Next Gen Screenshots

As the gaming industry has grown so have the flocks of people who blindly follow certain companies and buy all their products. These types usually swallow whole-heartedly any line that's being fed to them by marketing-types, and today's Penny Arcade comic is a perfect example.

A few tips on upcoming gaming news/consoles/games/etc:

1. Never believe that the first "screenshots" of a game system or game will be anything like the final product. A perfect example was the X-box 360 at this year's E3 show. They showed plenty of footage (including the clip relevant to this story), but what they didn't admit was none of it was actually running on the next X-box, or even an early prototype. They had three Mac G5's hooked up running the show, and it's been reported for a while now that the first X-box 260 developer's kit was a G5.

2. No matter what you read online, in a magazine, or hear from your friends, do not form a concrete opinion of a game or system BEFORE you play it. I dismissed the GameCube for years because it was very different from the other contenders, and now it's my most played system. Honestly, I'm not 100% believing anything I hear about the next-gen systems until I'm holding a controller in my hands.

3. A press release is not a binding contract. The biggest example is Sony, who has a track record of removing features from systems almost as quick as they slap them on. The fact of the matter is when you're sitting at home hunched over your keyboard reading the first PS3 reports, back in Sony labs the thing is barely out of prototype. It's HYPE people, and until that controller is in your hands that's all it is.

Apple - Trailers - Aeon Flux - Large

Apple - Trailers - Aeon Flux

Just a quick note that the first Aeon Flux trailer is online in beautiful quicktime.

Enjoy!

Tuesday Eye Candy

Screenhead fired a salvo of high-impact links across the bow today:


Ryan Kurylo created this awesome ASCII art video to go along with a track by SchneiderTM called Light 3000.

Infect Evolve Repeat is a flash game in which you control a little virus trying to take over the bloodstream of some unfortunate host. Fairly tricky after a few levels, but still fun.

Finally, a link to Michel Gagne's Prelude to Eden, now available in several new formats and sizes. Well worth your time and bandwidth.

Danny Bonaduce, Reality TV, and Suicide

We let the premium cable genie out of the bottle and back into our home about six months ago (I finally bowed to the voice in my head constantly pestering me for a cable modem) and it's been interesting adjusting to the state of TV today.

After almost two years of no cable it was interesting getting back into it. We still stick to Discovery, the History Channel, and other similar networks, but adjusting to current advertising (blech) and the absolutely deplorable state of reality TV has been the hardest part.

That said, I find myself honestly intrigued by the upcoming show featuring Danny Bonaduce, a.k.a little demon Partridge. Honestly I'm not old enough to remember the Partridge Family, but when I was living outside Chicago I listened to the guy on the radio almost every night. He had a show then (not sure if it was local to Chicago or syndicated) that preceded Love Line on the same station, and I'd catch the last hour of Danny's show and fall asleep listening to Adam Corolla and Dr. Drew.

I don't remember any specific stories associated with Danny's radio show, but he seemed like an ok guy and I remember thinking he seemed fairly down to earth and I probably wouldn't mind meeting him (I find the potential for serious mental illness in celebrities too pervasive to want to ever meet most of them).

Sadly, I read today via TV Squad that Danny tried to commit suicide during the filming of his show. Given the preview ads they've been running for it, I can't say I'm surprised. They are billing the show as the story of his recovery, admitting an affair to his wife, and how he tries to set his life straight after ignoring a lot of serious problems over the years.

I've never met the guy, and my impressions of him are as limited as most other people's, but I honestly hope he pulls through and comes out well. Best of luck Danny.

DNA11 - From Life Comes Art

DNA11 Project via Metafilter

Get your own unique DNA masterpiece starting at $390, which is apparently hundreds of dollars less than they'll be once/if they really take off.

If I had the money to burn I'd buy one.

R.I.P Mini, Long Live the iPod Nano

I'm so glad I waited to buy an iPod.

Apple has axed the iPod mini and released the (aptly named) iPod Nano.

2GB and 4GB models available ($199 and $249). Classic white and a black case will be available as soon as they are on sale.

Not sure yet what the in-store dates will be, but you can order one via Apple's site.

Katrina & Political B.S.

Politics and disasters don't mix.

Politics, disasters, and family definitely don't mix.

I love my family. We've had our problems, but we deal with them and for the most part we all get along and nobody doubts each other's love. We all know that we're there for each other, and I know if I need my parents for anything they will do anything they can to help.

As anyone with a large family (like mine) can tell you, the more people there are in your family the bigger the chance you'll have conflicting political views.

My father and I agree on some things and disagree on others. He's a conservative, and I consider myself independent. I like to make my decisions one at a time and not go along with a large group of people on anything, thank you very much. This is not a statement I'd direct at my dad because our political discussions are always civil and we help each other see the various sides of any issue. Instead, that statement is directed at anyone who would ever my question not to belong to a political party. My parents always used the "if everyone was jumping off a bridge would you?" and I think it applies to politics as much as anything else.

This afternoon I received this email from my dad:

To All,

As we now endure a rash of Dem and liberal charges against President Bush regarding Katrina and New Orleans (while ignoring Dems NE Mayor Nagin and Governor XXX and their culpability), we now have a growing body of analysis regarding this horrible tragedy.

I wondered why so many people did not evacuate, even after the flood waters started rising. Here are a few articles that share additional POI.

Are any of you hearing Republicans scream about the negligence of Louisiana Dems (I'm not)? My local paper (the Lansing State Journal) is not covering any of this info.

--------------------------------

http://nationalreview.com/murdock/murdock200509071109.asp


Deroy Murdock

September 07, 2005, 11:09 a.m.
Bumblers, Not Bigots
The post-Katrina racism bunk.

"It is reported that black hurricane victims in New Orleans have begun eating corpses to survive.”

----------------------------------------------

http://nationalreview.com/novak/novak200509070829.asp


Michael Novak

September 07, 2005, 8:29 a.m.
A Fuller Picture
Beginning to understand what we are seeing in New Orleans.

There has been something askew in the reporting from New Orleans. It has bothered me for a week now. Finally, when I took a look at the 2000 census data on New Orleans, a lot became clearer.

I felt obliged to send him an e-mail from the perspective of someone who doesn't give a rat's ass about politics or bashing the president. I'm not a huge fan, but there's a time for political B.S. and there's a time to act. If you have any doubt what time it is now do the human race a favor and get lost.

My response:

Personally, I think any and all political bashing by either party is just a further example of one of the things we seem to do best in this country: Talk instead of act.

That being said, what I find appalling is how federal efforts seem to be impeding people from acting. I'm no expert, but it certainly appears to be a large enough disaster to where everyday people need to be able to help each other.

Things like this shouldn't be happening:

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/09/04/worst-abandonments/

From the article:
"Three quick examples. We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They said we didn't need them. This was a week ago. FEMA, we had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. When we got there with our trucks, FEMA says don't give you the fuel. Yesterday — yesterday — FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice. Our sheriff, Harry Lee, goes back in, he reconnects the line. He posts armed guards and said no one is getting near these lines…"

Or this:
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/07/katrina_geek_dispatc.html

From the article:

" The BBC just called me. I am the only media inside the dome. We did a long interview and it's going to be broadcast on Friday at 13:00 on their live webcast.

The media censorship here runs high. It was not easy to actually enter the dome as media. I am working with the group 'Austin Airwaves' and our badge says 'PRESS' in huge white letters on a red background. This has caused unending red tape. I have been the subject of removal a few times, bordering on a dozen. My camera draws the most fire.

I just heard we have the go ahead to put up the transmitter. I have no idea if that means we can broadcast or not. I assume it does because we have the FCC permits. The main issue here seems to be a total lack of leadership. No one with FEMA seems to know who their boss is. No one with the RedCross has authority. Everyone working for the owners (Reliant energy) of the dome is getting in our way. No photos. No entry. Attempted removal. Detainment."

This isn't a contest. The goal of all those people down there right now isn't to shift votes to one side of the fence or the other, it's to rebuild basic human needs (like power, sewer systems, running water, etc) and save lives.

It's times like this I'm glad I consider myself an independent.

- J

I'm not trying to bash anyone's particular political views. We're all different and we believe different things. This is something the human race still seems to have trouble dealing with, even after a history full of intolerance, violence, and pain.

All I'm saying is they sent the wrong people to do the job. I've been in supervisory positions before, and during times of great need you don't always have some super genius with perfect planning available. So you send who you have, even if they're just the best of a mediocre group.

This does not excuse what happens once that person is actually on site and doing their job. And that's where these problems (the important ones anyway) are rooted. FEMA is rewriting the definition of "bungle" at the moment, and the man in charge is responsible because he's the head of FEMA, not because he reports to the President and you happen to like bashing Bush. Could Bush have appointed a better suited person to the position? Sure, but that's not the problem RIGHT NOW is it? Why waste time with all this meaningless finger pointing when people are STILL DYING?

UPDATE: Yes people are still dying. But no, you won't see any of them thanks to FEMA. Just like our "heroic soldiers dying in Iraq", there is a federal ban on photographing the dead. I understand that there is a potential for media coverage of dead bodies in this situation to be disturbing and even unnecessary (how many times did we see those planes hit the WTC after 9/11?), but the plight of these people has to be spread, and, while I hate cliches, a picture really can speak a thousand words.

These conversations have consumed my office. I can't go anywhere without overhearing somebody saying "So-and-so could've asked for help from such and such blah blah blah." I really want to ask if they realize that everything they're saying is in the past tense, and nobody is talking about the future.

Keith Olbermann on Katrina Relief

http://media.putfile.com/OlbermannSwings (embedded WMV video)

"This is the law and order and terror government. It promised protection or at least amelioration against all threats: conventional, radiological, or biological. It has just proved that it cannot save its citizens from a biological weapon called standing water."

Keith Olbermann comes out swinging with an editorial piece he feels he had to do in light of recent events in Katrina relief. And don't think this is a left or right-leaning piece, because he's quick to point out the endless parade of talking heads from both sides of the fence.

Holiday Weekend Round-Up

This weekend we headed out to my parents' cottage on Lake Michigan, which is about half way between Lansing and Chicago in a little town called Sawyer . While it was a little too cool to spend most of the weekend at the beach we did get a chance to explore the surrounding area.

Sawyer is a very interesting little town. It has a gigantic population of antique stores and privately owned restaurants (you have to drive to a town 20 minutes away to find a drive-thru of any type, which I consider a blessing). There are no large hotels, and the few motels scattered along the Red Arrow Highway (the old highway built before I-94) look like converted row houses. Dirt roads are everywhere, large parking lots are nonexistent, and I honestly don't know how the majority of year-round residents make their living during the off season (I'm guessing they commute 20 - 30 minutes to nearby St. Joseph).


Whit & Jen pose in front of a hand painted mural

After just a few minutes in Sawyer you'll notice something out of place: Most of the people are driving around cars that cost more than the house I'm living in right now. Despite its carefully maintained small Michigan town appearance, Sawyer is in fact one of the biggest holiday/summer destinations for wealthy Illinois residents. Sure you'll see plenty of other out of state plates, but for whatever reason the majority of them are from Illinois.

Having lived in the Chicago area, I can say that on a personal level I understand why they are there. Illinois is pretty flat and featureless (excluding the urban landscape), while Sawyer is the quintessential Michigan town. Sand dunes, dense forest, roads that are never more than two lanes across, senior centers and plenty of churches.


Marketing doesn't get any simpler than this

My wife and sister went with me to this roadside barbecue shop, which has the unique honor of having the only barbecue sauce I've ever seen my wife enjoy. We got a brisket sandwich and sat on a small hill next to the shop (where I took this picture), the three of us eating it with our hands and small containers of sauce for dipping. Honestly though, this is some of the best BBQ I've ever had, so if you're ever in Sawyer be sure to keep an eye out for it.

As we explored we found a shop called Custom Imports. They sell all kinds of interesting thing from incense to skull-framed mirrors and $8000 hand carved Indian beds like this one:



Whoever sets up the displays at this store is a gifted individual. Large objects in the store (like this bed) are dramatically lit and have other objects inside or next to them (such as the painting and large pot seen here). The store is one large room attached to a series of small rooms, and it was in the small rooms that they put these incredibly ornate beds. They painted the walls to offset the colors (no plain white for these folks), and as you walk through the store there is always another surprise around every corner.


best viewed large

Maybe it was the Buddha painting, maybe it was the dark, dark blue walls, but whatever the reason I could've stood in this room for hours. The phrase "palpable silence" carried a lot of weight in there. As I stood, alone, having just discovered this room, it felt like the painting could've spoken to me at any time.

Nintendo DS Game Adventures

Nintendogs Crushes Top PSP Game in About a Week : Kotaku

Here's a fun little fact: The top selling game for the PSP is Need for Speed, which has sold, year to date, 325,000 copies as of July.

Nintendogs sold 250,000 copies in a week.

Pursuing a tasty trade-in deal at EB Games earlier today, I was told by the guy behind the counter that not only was the trade-in expired (bummer) but they were totally sold out of Nintendogs. He said they received info from Nintendo that they won't get any new units until the end of this month.

Still wanting to expand my DS collection, I got my trade-in value anyway and picked up Pac n' Roll.

An hour later I was back at the store exchanging it for another game (a first in almost 20 years of playing video games). It was that bad.

Don't get me wrong, I can see why some people might like it. 1up gave it a 7.5 in their review available at the link above. Pac n' Roll has an unlockable classic PacMan mode, but the main game itself just felt a little... cobbled together. I was expecting something like the 8-bit Marble Madness with better 3D graphics and some exciting game play. After a half hour of playing I realized I couldn't shake the feeling that I had wasted my money. Even worse, I realized that Pac n' Roll has to have the greatest potential for damaging your touch screen out of the entire DS line-up. I found myself really abusing the screen trying to get the roll part to work correctly and made myself stop playing out of concern for the hardware.

Some shoddy programming also doomed the game's chances of remaining in my collection. I'm no game programmer, but I recognize the quality-of-coding difference between a masterpiece like Meteos and the seemingly barely running code in Pac n' Roll. There weren't any glaringly obvious bugs or anything like that, just little things here and there that made me think the DS was really struggling to work with the game. And while it is 3D, there is NO REASON why this game should have any issues running on the DS hardware.

Back at the store I returned it for a copy of Advance Wars: Dual Strike (which I honestly can't believe I didn't see in the first place as I would've picked it up). Advance Wars has been a dependably great series since the first two came out for the Game Boy Advance in the last few years.

Unfortunately I did break one of my normally iron-clad rules. I didn't play Pac n' Roll before I bought it. I have to admit I feel a little bad (in the same way little kids feel bad when they mistreat stuffed animals). I feel like I didn't give the game a fighting chance. But I can say that I would've felt worse if I'd just swallowed my pride and forced myself through a mediocre game.

UPDATE: Advance Wars DS rocks. That is all.

More Katrina Coverage

Earlier I talked about the overwhelming volume of media coverage in New Orleans and other Katrina affected areas. After soaking up today's news, here's the items I found most interesting:

Anderson Cooper goes off
I love watching a news anchor really lay in to a talking head. Anderson Cooper, live on CNN, nearly lost all composure as he went toe-to-toe with Senator Mary Landrieu (who gives one of the most BS interviews I've ever heard).
Video and transcripts available here.
The Mad Russian is also hosting a copy of the video here (WMV file)

The Interdictor is a livejournal updated by DirectNIC employees desperately trying to keep their servers up during this whole mess. They are providing some of the best up-to-date coverage on relief efforts and goings on in the street. Live webcam feed and pictures are spottily available (to give you an idea: they just posted a new cam link at 2:48 pm and it's already unavailable as of 3:30) due to traffic.

Michael Moore's Open Letter to Bush
It's Michael Moore, 'nuff said.

Jason Pettus has a good post up today covering the future of New Orleans. After reading it I can see that, if the hurricane hadn't hit, the task at hand would've made an excellent sci-fi book. Imagine a building a new city for a million people, and everyone is pressing to have it done faster than "As Soon As Humanly Possible".

Where's Inferno when you need him?

UPDATE: Hello to all the readers hitting the site from entergy.com domains (there are a few of you). I know your company runs the nuclear reactor that was deactivated in preparation for the hurricane, so good work! Now could somebody just drop me a line (jasonrallen [at] gmail.com) and tell me why you keep browsing back to this page?

Ray Nagin Sets It Straight

The Pirate Bay - Ray Nagin Interview Download via BoingBoing

I've avoided posted anything about what's happening in New Orleans right now for a couple reasons:

1) There is more coverage online than you could possibly read. I debated making each word in that statement a link to a story, but honestly the idea is overwhelming. I have no idea where to start other than to pick a bunch of links at random.

2) I've never been to New Orleans, and I can't possibly imagine what those people are going through right now. I mean, I can imagine it, but imagining it via media coverage and actually being there are two different things.

The American people are getting a large dose of reality right now. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin gave a very, VERY honest interview yesterday afternoon which you can download at the link above. If anyone down there is in a position to have to deal with this disaster and at the same time care about the city I'm willing to bet nobody cares more than Mayor Nagin.

CNN has aired parts of this interview with the juicy bits censored.

Mayor Nagin's major points: People are dying, politicians are wasting time, and relief isn't getting there fast enough. Police have been told to halt search and rescue operations to keep people from looting.

Can you imagine that? Being trapped on your roof or God knows where else for the last several days, and now nobody else is coming for you because they're busy making sure the surviving merchandise is kept safe. After all your possessions have been destroyed.

Honestly, I don't understand why people wonder why bad things (like this) happen in the world. Just look at how the majority of us treat each other.

Please take the time to donate to your local Red Cross.

The Kingsbury Manx

music (for robots) - The Kingsbury Manx - And What Fallout

Not much to talk about today, and my energy reserves are running dangerously low. There's some kind of really aggressive cold going around my office and I've taken to wearing my headphones full time to drown out the noise of my coworkers' coughs and sneezes (while I try to keep my own to a minimum). It hit me over this past weekend and left me a wreck for the better part of three days, filling wastebaskets with damp tissues and languishing in that oh-so-fun mode where every breath feels like a potential cough or sneeze.

I'm feeling a bit better, and the wife and I are supposed to head out to my parent's cottage on Lake Michigan this weekend so there are good things ahead.

I find that music really helps lift my mood when I'm feeling ill and this Kingsbury Manx track fits the bill.

So listen to this song, take some Vitamin C, drink some tea, and don't get sick.

That's an order.