This sucks

For the first time ever, I am going to have to work on my birthday. Stupid job. It's like people around here actually want to succeed or something by making deadlines. What's up with that? Deadlines are meant to be broken! Oh well, I'm going to pretend that my birthday falls on the 15th of July this year, so everyone come drink with me in Albany! Yay! And bring cake and presents!

Will review technology for beer

Speaking of laptops (er... like 2 posts down), now that our blog is demonstrating so much success (welcome self-described new regular reader Mike!), we should put out there that, being intelligent science-types, we'd like to add a "Technology" section to the site. Please contact us if you'd like us to review your expensive new gadgets and we'll tell you where to ship all the free test machines and/or beer.

Fun things to do

I've been thinking that this blog may need a shtick. I have a couple things in mind:

1. We could randomly pick some small, barely read mindless blog and praise every post as being absolutely brilliant and revolutionary. This could be fun. Just go completely overboard with your rhetoric and praise and see what people do.

2. We could randomly pick some small, barely read mindless blog and mercilessly criticize every post. Actually, this might be better if we picked a good, kind hearted, sympathetic blog. Maybe a kid with cancer or something. Hey, if you're going to be the bad guy, you might as well go all the way.

3. We could just going around linking random blog posts and correcting grammar and grading the posts on a second grade reading class level.

4. We could wear funny hats while posting to the blog. It might not make it any more enjoyable for people to read, but it'll be more fun to write. Who doesn't like wearing a funny hat?

That's all I have for now. Post any more ideas in this thread.

Lookin' for toys

I'm in the market for a new laptop. Does anyone have any suggestions where to look? I'm not looking for a desktop replacement or anything, just something to use for writing, watching movies and playing the occasional game. I'm looking to keep the price right around $1k. And no god damn macs.

Shut up with your serious bullcrap

There are cats that look like Hitler. That is the real problem with society.

Those crazy Catholics!

Great article:

Human-animal hybrid embryos conceived in the laboratory - so-called “chimeras” - should be regarded as human and their mothers should be allowed to give birth to them, the Roman Catholic Church said yesterday.

Sweet. It's good to know that the Pope is on board with my plans of creating a human-weasle hybrid army. Victory shall be mine!

Moron of the day?

I regularly read a NY Giants blog called Giants 101. Today there was this post by one of the main writers there, Dan Benton, complaining about the potential building of strip clubs, tattoo parlors and massage parlors across from the new Giants Stadium complex. Why does he object?

For starters, it’s going to mix two very different crowds. And when I say crowds, I don’t mean the parents who would both attend Jets/Giants games and then go home and perform some strange bondage ritual on their significant other. I mean the sick twisted pedophiles that most certainly exist and the young children who are being brought to their first Giants/Jets game. If this is allowed to happen, you can almost guarantee that the crime rate in that area will go up, kidnappings will go up and lord knows what other negative effects it will have.

That's right, strip clubs attract pedophiles now. And those crazy pedophiles are going to get all sexed up at these strip clubs and tattoo parlors, go over to the Giants Stadium parking lot and swipe children from their parents! I mean, where would a pedophile rather hang out than at adult only clubs? It makes perfect sense! So, to conclude this post, I am obviously the moron of the day, because I don't see the logic at all in Dan Benton's rant against strip clubs. I heard that these places attract terrorists, too! And communists! And any other boogey men that have tormented society over the past 50 years!

Screwed Again

This has to be the worst state (TX) for going to college. They are increasing tuition and fees again.....
http://www.uh.edu/admin/media/nr/2007/06june/061907tuitionnfee_increases.html .

What schools fail to mention when you get full paid tuition is the other word.....fees! Based on this article linked above, I am paying close to 33% of the total semesterly costs stated....in fees!!! This seems like state schools are becoming more and more like businesses and less like state educational services. If that is the case, maybe the BBB or other fine agencies of the sort could have a field day with this kind of stuff. It's like misleading pricing scams that you hear about in retail stores. They tell you things like, "You are a great student. If you come here, we will pay all of your tuition." Then when you get there (after turning down other schools that may have less costs), they slip you a bill that resembles 33% (possibly over $1200/2 semesters) of the total cost to go to that school. Who wants to be associated with an organization that has to use shady tactics like this to get you there? I can also say from experience, that schools will not even mention the cost of fees unless you specifically know to do your homework and ask. Something needs to change! Either the services that help you find colleges (Barron's, Princeton Review, etc.) have to step up and scream that tuition is not the whole story for a college cost (and publish going fee rates), or the colleges need to be kicked in the wallet for misleading cost information (bad business). I think that this could be one reason that the US does not get enough students going to graduate school. Who wants to deal with getting nickel and dimed for 5-7 more years??? And don't even get me started on the itemized breakdown of these said fees....could be a whole other post!!

It's Scientologastic!

Germany has done a bad thing. First, I'll quote this article:

Germany has banned filming of Tom Cruise's new movie at its military bases because they object to the actor's Scientology religion. Scientology is not recognized as a church by the German government, who claim the controversial religion is a "money-making cult."

First of all, I absolutely agree that Scientology is a money-making cult, but what the German government is doing is making a martyr of sorts out of Tom Cruise. You can't ban the production of a film just because of the religion of one of the cast members. It is ridiculous. The film has nothing to do with Scientology, it is the story of a German colonel who plotted to kill Hitler during World War II. By singling out Tom Cruise because of his beliefs you are giving Scientology a powerful weapon. They now can legitimately play the persecution card and when you are persecuted for your religious beliefs you gain sympathy from all those who were persecuted before you. Besides, what religion can't be described as a money-making cult?

Now, I believe that Germany means well in this. They recognize Scientology is a danger, and it most definitely is. The religion was built to make money, accumulate power, and destroy anyone who questions them. For a good expose of the religion go here. But the best way to fight Scientology is not to ban it, or discriminate against it, it is to let it be known what the religion actually believes.

Refunds???

I wonder if they have an extended warranty plan too......

http://www.click2houston.com/news/13563716/detail.html?subid=10100242

A Monday Blog

I like being in the "high tech" industy. I get to play with expensive, kick-ass toys. The one thing I have noticed, though, is the more expensive and kick-ass the toy is, the more likely it is going to completely fuck up on you. And it will always be on a Monday. And another thing, when taking apart these toys to figure out what's wrong, you realize they are actually pretty friggin' simple and you wonder why they cost so damn much. I think I'm in the wrong industry...

Worst... drink.... ever.

Bacardi Silver: Big Apple. Awful. I feel like someone is beating the hell out of my tongue with a sugar coated baseball bat with little sugar coated nails sticking out of the barrel. Every sip leaves makes my upper lip quiver with disgust for about 15 minutes. I will finish this bottle, though. It was my own stupid fault for opening it, thinking "Hey, it's apple, how bad can it be?" I must learn a lesson from my blind curiosity, so I will finish this bottle, and I will learn.

Great success!

Look at that traffic! Maybe we should start selling adds! Who else can boast a 400% traffic increase in less than an hour?

Our lofty ambitions

Demanding (or wishing for) a place at the table of high culture is an admission that you don't have one; the way you get a place at the table of high culture is to pull up a chair and say something interesting.
--Some guy talking about comic books

New Banner

Do you guys like it?

They beat me to it

I should of know someone out there actually made batter fried bacon. And, of course, it's in Texas:

This site is ugly

Hey, dork. Can't we get some better visual settings for this site?

Titles are for chumps

For the love of god, help me. I've been sucked back into World of Warcraft. I am pathetic. "Come on, dude! We're starting an SIO guild! It'll be fun! We're all going to take it easy this time, it won't be like last time. We'll get work done. Nobody will fail out of grad school."

I don't get to play for three days, and now they're 8 levels ahead of me, and yelling at me because I need to catch up. "You're the healer! We need you!" Fuckers. I'm not renewing my subscription at the end of this month.

Really.

Alas, I have joined the blog.....

Dude, I seen that article, and I'm fixin to go an try that ride out!! Anyways, this obviously is my first blog, so I am just testing the internet waters. I guess you could say that I like simple pleasures, like blogging on BFB or "butter in my ass and lollipops in my mouth...." Okay, that's it for now. So, in the words of a legendary governor, "I'll be back".

Holy Crap!

This is a fun little article about a girl who had her feet sliced off on a ride at Six Flags in Kentucky. It was on the Superman Tower of Power ride. Evidently a wire snapped or something and sliced both of her feet off at the ankle. What did she expect, though? The ride was made for Superman, not for some non invulnerable little girl. That'll learn her. The thing that makes this story perfect is the quote from a witness of the accident, proving beyond any doubt that this was actually Kentucky:

"I seen the car go up. Then, like, the cable broke ... and I heard a lot of people screaming," Chris Stinnett, who was at a ride next to the Tower of Power, told CNN affiliate WDRB/WMYO-TV in Louisville.
"The cable went under the car -- and I seen it pull up and hit a lot of people -- and I seen them bring their legs up," he said

Yup, he seen it.

Addition:

After posting this, I decided to write a poem describing Mr. Stinnett's ordeal:

Alas, I seen the horror of the ride,
I seen innocence know not where to hide.
I seen the horror with these eyes of mine,
I seen my solace in a bottle of moonshine.

It's a good poem because it starts with "Alas". I learned that from Shakespeare.

Dr. X Doesn't Like Titles

OK. So now I'll be contributing to kevthegreat's blog. Lucky me.

This will be a good test run at blogging as I've been thinking about starting a work-related one. That one will contain science-related stuff that would probably only be of interest to a natural products chemist. And we all know how exciting science blogs are.

But here, this will be nonsense. Wackity schmackity doo!

First!

Here's my first post on my new blog. The only other blog I've had was on MySpace, but I have decided I've grown sick of it. So, on to new surroundings! Yay! Maybe I'll post a lot here, and maybe I won't. I'll definitely have to transfer some of my better posts over here, so for a while I may not seem lazy, but I assure you, I am. Thanks to whoever will read this! I like to be listened to! And, by "listened to", I mean massaged by 99 virgins in the Islamic heaven, whatever it's called. Yeah, I like when that happens.