quote of the day

"News is not meant to be thrown about like dung-cakes, but used sparingly -- like bhang."

--Rudyard Kipling, from Kim

firefoxies

Sure, Firefox is a great browser, but this is stupid. (possibly NSFW)

um, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS.

clever advertising

My favorite is the stage diver.

yeah yeah

You Might Be A Redneck If...

Schneier on security

Bruce Schneier has some good comments on What the Terrorists Want. An excerpt:

"It's time we calm down and fight terror with antiterror. This does not mean that we simply roll over and accept terrorism. There are things our government can and should do to fight terrorism, most of them involving intelligence and investigation -- and not focusing on specific plots.

But our job is to remain steadfast in the face of terror, to refuse to be terrorized. Our job is to not panic every time two Muslims stand together checking their watches. There are approximately 1 billion Muslims in the world, a large percentage of them not Arab, and about 320 million Arabs in the Middle East, the overwhelming majority of them not terrorists. Our job is to think critically and rationally, and to ignore the cacophony of other interests trying to use terrorism to advance political careers or increase a television show's viewership."

whew

Glad I wasn't in this helicopter.

I am 1,066,147,866 seconds old

So I went to the Birthday Calculator and I got a lot of important information, which I will share with you:

Your date of conception was on or about 19 February 1972 which was a Saturday.

You were born on a Saturday
under the astrological sign Scorpio.
Your Life path number is 5.

Life Path Compatibility:
You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 1, 5 & 7.
You should get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 3 & 9.
You may or may not get along well with those with the Life Path number 8.
You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 4, 6, 11 & 22.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2441632.5.
The golden number for 1972 is 16.
The epact number for 1972 is 14.
The year 1972 was a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/15/1972 and ending 2/2/1973.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Rat.

Your Native American Zodiac sign is Snake; your plant is Thistle.

You were born in the Egyptian month of Tyby, the first month of the season of Poret (Emergence - Fertile soil).

Your date of birth on the Hebrew calendar is 5 Kislev 5733.

The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 2 April 1972.
The date of Orthodox Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 9 April 1972.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 16 February 1972.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 21 May 1972.
The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 28 May 1972.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Saturday, 9 September 1972.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Thursday, 30 March 1972.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 15 February 1972.

As of 8/24/2006 4:11:06 PM EDT
You are 33 years old.
You are 405 months old.
You are 1,763 weeks old.
You are 12,339 days old.
You are 296,152 hours old.
You are 17,769,131 minutes old.
You are 1,066,147,866 seconds old.

Celebrities who share your birthday:
Leonardo DiCaprio (1974) Peta Wilson (1970) Calista Flockhart (1964)
Demi Moore (1962) Marc Summers (1951) Bibi Andersson (1935)
Jonathan Winters (1925) Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922) Alger Hiss (1904)
Pat O'Brien (1899) George Patton (1885)

Top songs of 1972:
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack
Alone Again (Naturally) by Gilbert O'Sullivan
American Pie by Don McLean
Without You by Nilsson
I Can See Clearly Now by Johnny Nash
A Horse with No Name by America
Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me by Mac Davis
Me and Mrs. Jones by BillyPaul
The Candy Man by Sammy Davis, Jr.
Lean On Me by Bill Withers

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 4.8293542074364 years old. (You're still chasing cats!)

There are 79 days till your next birthday, on which your cake will have 34 candles.

Those 34 candles produce 34 BTUs, or 8,568 calories of heat (that's only 8.5680 food Calories!) .
You can boil 3.89 US ounces of water with that many candles.

In 1972 there were approximately 3.7 million births in the US.
In 1972 the US population was approximately 203,302,031 people, 57.4 persons per square mile.
In 1972 in the US there were approximately 2,158,802 marriages (10.6%) and 708,000 divorces (3.5%)
In 1972 in the US there were approximately 1,921,000 deaths (9.5 per 1000)
In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.
In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.

In 1972 the population of Australia was approximately 13,409,288.
In 1972 there were approximately 264,969 births in Australia.
In 1972 in Australia there were approximately 114,029 marriages and 15,655 divorces.
In 1972 in Australia there were approximately 109,760 deaths.

Your birthstone is Citrine

The Mystical properties of Citrine: Citrine is said to help one connect with Spirit.

Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources): Yellow Topaz, Pearl, Diamond

Your birth tree is: Walnut Tree, the Passion

Unrelenting, strange and full of contrasts, often egoistic, aggressive, noble, broad horizon, unexpected reactions, spontaneous, unlimited ambition, no flexibility, difficult and uncommon partner, not always liked but often admired, ingenious strategist, very jealous and passionate, no compromises.

There are 123 days till Christmas 2006!
There are 136 days till Orthodox Christmas!

The moon's phase on the day you were born was waxing crescent.

got sun?

This is cool. If, like me, you tire of purchasing new AA batteries for your camera/gps/mp3 player/flashlight/etc., or will be traveling in a foreign country with wonky electrical outlets and cannot use your rechargeables, try going solar. Sundance Solar sells a variety of lightweight rechargers for AA, AAA, 9 volt and other batteries, most of which fit into your pocket. My favorite is the Foldable Solar Battery Charger, which was originally designed for the military and weighs only 7.2 oz. with 4 AA's in it. According to the specs, 2 batteries charge in about 4 hours of full sun, 4 batteries charge in about 8 hours. The charger "adds less weight than carrying 4 extra batteries." Not bad, unless you'll be vacationing in the Arctic during the dark season.

I need this, of course

Introducing the Bacon Wallet.

I hope 'Congo' made the list

Films considered the worst ever.

jpg

This is San Francisco, circa 1906 (post-earthquake).

jpg

This is Venice, Italy.

nice

The 5 Most Obviously Drug-Fueled TV Appearances Ever.

Mr. Cushman never did this

Introducing Naughty American History.

do not consent!

Watch this video if you're interested in how to properly exercise your rights when you get pulled over or questioned by police.

interesting

For those of you interested, here's the entire 2-hour long panel discussion hosted by FSU: Keeping Science and Religion Separate in Schools: The Vigil After Dover.

hmm

I must admit that I've always wanted to know how to set up an offshore account and hide my millions from the IRS. Well, here's how you do it.

killer app

Do you blog with Blogger and hate the annoying blogging interface? Try Qumana blog editor. Makes everything easier.

wow

Plane v. wall

duuude

This is Alex Grey describing his art. I can only imagine what he is saying about this one.

poem of the day lifetime

I Have Learned So Much

I
Have
Learned
So much from God
That I can no longer
Call
Myself

A Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim,
a Buddhist, a Jew.

The Truth has shared so much of Itself
With me

That I can no longer call myself
A man, a woman, an angel,
Or even a pure
Soul.

Love has
Befriended Hafiz so completely
It has turned to ash
And freed
Me

Of every concept and image
my mind has ever known.

--Hafiz

Another reason why the world needs more English majors

Behold the power of the lowly comma.

power to the people

Here is a list of ten dangerous books everyone should read.

Colorado is beautiful

so..

Once again, folks--sorry for the lack, dearth, void, nothing, emptiness, gone, and overall complete absence of anything new here of late. However, I will have much to report once my trip is over. I'm currently in Colorado, Fort Collins to be exact, visiting Dave Williams and climbing mountains. I'll be back before you know it.