tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27754906056162909902024-02-20T12:58:21.059-05:00Random Waves of InsightUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger177125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-11706483818392597822008-10-21T15:47:00.000-04:002008-10-21T15:57:18.505-04:00My Own Worst Enemy = Total Recall + Bourne IdentityMy Own Worst Enemy is awesome. Amazing. If the other shows on TV right now weren’t so good, like Terminator, Heroes, and Chuck, My Own Worst Enemy would probably become my favorite show. Well, Heroes doesn’t seem that awesome right now. Claire Bennett has lost some of her appeal, and some of the writing seems kind of stupid. In the most recent episode, [SPOILER ALERT] the Petrelli’s father took Adam, the guy who can heal himself and live forever, by the hand, and absorbed his powers. Adam disintegrated. But I don’t think that just because he could no longer heal meant that he would now succumb to old age. I would think that he would simply become a 30-year-old human, or so, and go on aging from there.<br /><br />Anyway, My Own Worst Enemy is simply amazing. Christian Slater is great. And the show raises issues that apply directly to each of us. These issues include the ethical and moral dilemma of interrogating a terror suspect, and whether or not to use torture. I for one am against torture, as is Henry, the average-Joe version of Christian Slater in the show. But his secret agent alter ego is quite clear on his stance of using torture to extract information from a reluctant suspect. So Henry has to deal with all the bad stuff his own worst enemy is comfortable doing. It’s really interesting, but at the same time action-packed. And of course it offers a sort of escapist adventure for anyone wishing to one day wake up and find out that they too are one of two people sharing the same body, the other being a successful, wealthy, smooth, charismatic secret agent.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-75070169228787350302008-10-06T14:01:00.001-04:002008-10-06T14:05:58.166-04:00Economy = Worldwide YikesJust a few days ago the stock market plunged 777 points. Today I saw that it went down 555 points. What a coincidence! Not really…<br /><br />A couple of years ago I had heard that the market was due for a major correction. At that time the cause of the correction was not yet known. Now everybody is aware that the catalyst for our current situation was a mortgage crisis. Who would’ve guessed, in years past, in the face of ever present refinancing ads on television and the Internet, that it was all a sham, and about to explode in our faces?<br /><br />I can’t believe that the current situation in America is cascading to foreign countries. I read on Yahoo this morning that the situation is really just based on fear, and knowledge that our 700 billion-dollar bailout will take a little while to kick in. Oh well.<br /><br />I just hope that this situation doesn’t turn into another Great Depression.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-70833854740273624772008-09-22T15:13:00.002-04:002008-09-22T15:16:25.313-04:00Heroes Is BackWow, it feels like it's been forever since that show began, and forever since I last saw a new episode.<br /><br />I've seen commercials in which Peter Petrelli has a scar on his face. Could this be footage from the future? I mean, are they showing us the future again? That would be neat... But what if it's the present, instead? That would mean that Petrelli, who can heal just like Claire, gets messed up somehow... I don't see how that's possible. Maybe it's a disguise? Or he's pretending to be vulnerable? Or it's not really him?<br /><br />I'm sure all these questions and more will be answered tonight. Hooray, Heroes!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-68012706295170689192008-09-08T14:53:00.002-04:002008-09-08T14:56:12.191-04:00Britney's Back!! ?I heard on the news that Britney Spears won an award for her recent music video. They showed footage of her at the VMA's, and she looked pretty fit and together.<br /><br />Then today I read on Yahoo that while she did win the award, she also hosted the VMA's, and apparently did a poor job of it. "Worst host ever" was the general idea. Too bad.<br /><br />But I still think it's neat that she's experiencing success on some level. Especially after she'd risen to major heights and fallen.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-2197555008523214482008-08-25T13:19:00.005-04:002008-08-25T13:24:57.347-04:00Tracy Morgan's Woodrow SNL Sketch Video ClipEarlier this year I saw the "<a href="http://randomwavesofinsight.blogspot.com/2008/02/tracy-morgans-woodrow-snl-lyrics.html" title="Tracy Morgan Woodrow SNL Lyrics">Take a doo doo pie</a>" Saturday Night Live sketch on TV (featuring Britney Spears and Tracy Morgan), and I posted the lyrics. Someone commented that they wished the video was available too. A few months later, someone added it to YouTube.<br /><br />So here it is!<br /><center><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2whjt_C_bPI&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2whjt_C_bPI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /></center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-70839445886125182982008-08-11T12:56:00.002-04:002008-08-11T13:30:00.155-04:00USA vs. China Basketball 2008It was awesome! I don't usually watch basketball, but the other day I watched the U.S. Dream Team take on China, and I really enjoyed it. I heard it was supposed to be the most watched basketball game in history. I also heard that the Chinese are intensely passionate about basketball! Cool...<br /><br />The game started off with the Chinese earning some points. I thought, "Wow, will they win?" Then it seemed even, US vs China, and then the US just took off, earning a 30 point lead! That was really great, especially considering how (I think) back in '92 we'd had huge point leads that had decreased over the years.<br /><br />Yao Ming played for China. His foot/ankle was hurt, but he gave the game his all. Even after exiting to the bench, he was cheering his team on at every positive event. It was really fun to watch such a friendly game. And with modern technology, the image was pretty crisp. Thanks, Olympics!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-19793716358755858172008-07-28T14:10:00.002-04:002008-07-28T14:18:03.673-04:00Power DependentLose power much? (Oh wah, wah!) No, seriously.<br /><br />From time to time, most of us have to deal with the occasional power outage. How does it make you feel?<br /><br />Limited water pressure, limited land-line phone battery backup...<br /><br />If you've got a handheld wireless PC / internet device, or a generator at your disposal, I'll bet that's a power trip. "Nothing can stop me!!"<br /><br />What about all the food in the refrigerator? No generator = no freshness!<br /><br />Hopefully we've all got some decent public service workers...<br /><br />Preview of massive worldwide blackouts when the Peak Oil crisis hits?<br /><br />I don't really think that's possible, at least not for another few decades, since there are untapped oil reserves all over the place.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-16368190191603392042008-07-14T17:14:00.002-04:002008-07-14T17:22:39.538-04:00Cold Fusion, Where Are You?I was watching some dated late night PBS programming about cold fusion, thoroughly enjoying both the lack of commercials and the lack of pleas for a donation, and I realized something. Cold fusion seems to have left the group of potential energy solutions.<br /><br />It makes sense when you read the first paragraph of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion" title="Cold Fusion">Wikipedia's page for cold fusion</a>. The basic idea is that no solid results have emerged yet.<br /><br />I remember watching Val Kilmer in "The Saint," and seeing cold fusion revolutionize Russia. Can you imagine if everybody had access to free, unlimited power? Free energy! That would change everything...<br /><br />I hope that in the next 50 years, our energy concerns are completely reversed by some revolutionary development, and instead of worrying about where to find energy, we're focused on how to use the overly abundant fuels of the future.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-63031221089511219232008-06-30T13:01:00.002-04:002008-06-30T13:32:35.973-04:00"This -- IS -- SPARTA" and Other Similar QuotesA few months ago, we all kept hearing the same type of one-liner again and again in movie trailers:<br /><br />"This, Is, Sparta!"<br /><br />"I, Am, Beowulf!"<br /><br />"This, Is Our, City!"<br /><br />And then, even in a movie's title: "I Am Legend"<br /><br />I can almost hear someone shouting it... "I, Am, LEGEND!"<br /><br />I'll bet most people didn't know or didn't care. You probably noticed, saw the pattern. I thought it was mildly amusing. A bit annoying on some days, though.<br /><br />Because when you think about it, it represents creative copycatting.<br /><br />One ad executive is told, "Come up with a new idea, something that works!" And he watches <i>other</i> ads, looking for something that is "proven." Sees that people are lining up to see "300," and boy, isn't that powerful when the guy says, "This Is Sparta!"<br /><br />Let's copy it!<br /><br />Stop copying me, little bro, it's getting old.<br /><br />Then some maternal figure shows up and says, "Can't you see he admires you?"<br /><br />Be original! Like that SoBe super bowl commercial that ripped off Thriller. Now there was a unique masterpiece... Not!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-32697294404817702662008-06-14T16:15:00.001-04:002008-06-14T16:19:14.486-04:00CPU Breakthrough A Month Away?I would LOVE to hear that some extraordinary breakthrough had been achieved, and that CPU speeds in typical home PC's can now exceed 10 GHz.<br /><br />I read that at some point, we're going to plateau, because speed gains have been achieved simply by shrinking the CPU parts, and CPU's won't work with parts that are too small. So we could make them as small as would work, and that'd be it. Nothing faster could be achieved.<br /><br />But then, what if some quantum processor were made? Or what if instead of a single square chip, they made a huge rectangular sheet of square ships. Instead of Dual/Quad Core, we've got Core factor 3000!!<br /><br />Anyway, I just thought it would be cool to have faster computers again.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-86877785917822210282008-06-02T13:57:00.002-04:002008-06-02T14:02:05.139-04:00I Got My Wish: Wayne's World 3Wayne's World was on the other day, and I watched some of it. A few weeks ago, the sequel was on. I enjoy both films very much. So I thought, "Why not a Wayne's World 3?"<br /><br />It seems I sort of got my wish.<br /><br />Today on Yahoo, I saw a video clip of the MTV Movie Awards, in which Mike Myers and Dana Carvey reprised their respective roles as Wayne and Garth. Awesome! It happened!<br /><br />Sure, it wasn't feature length, and sure, they probably won't make the movie (who am I to say?). But! The fact that they got back into the World of Wayne after a 14 year break, even if for only a few moments, is totally excellent!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-45456041935439673562008-05-19T18:23:00.002-04:002008-05-19T18:34:06.899-04:00New Simpsons: Burns Proves He's Super RichLast night on "The Simpsons," Bart took up coin collecting, and had collected every last coin for a complete set, except one. So Homer took him to an auction.<br /><br />At the auction, Mr. Burns had bought all the coins for sale, kind of like how Fry in "Futurama" had bought all the 20th century items at an auction when he got rich.<br /><br />The last item in the Simpsons auction was the coin Bart needed.<br /><br />Homer said, "Five dollars."<br /><br />Mr. Burns countered with, "Five hundred."<br /><br />Homer said, "Five dollars, cash," and waved his money around.<br /><br />The auctioneer said that cash didn't matter, the bid was five hundred dollars. Going once, going twice...!"<br /><br />Bart said, "Dad!"<br /><br />Homer said, "Five hundred and one dollars!"<br /><br />Then Mr. Burns casually said, "Ten million."<br /><br />WOW! Mr. Burns raised the stakes from five to five hundred, and then from five hundred one to ten million. Why?! Sure, he wanted the coin, but there's a lot you can do with ten million dollars.<br /><br />Maybe the joke was just random craziness, but I think Mr. Burns' character has been sufficiently developed to make this incident more interesting.<br /><br />He's all about money, right? He wants as much as he can get. I think his character prizes cash over things. He's thrifty - if he can get a good deal, then he'll do his best to see it through. So why blow $10 million on a penny? To win...<br /><br />I wonder though, about his thought process. He's probably spent lots of money before. And in doing so, he'd be forced to think about whether it was worth it, and what alternatives there could be for that same sum.<br /><br />If I had $10 million, I would save it.<br /><br />If I had $10 billion, $10 million would seem like less... but that's still a lot! You could do a lot with $10 million (just call 10-10-2-20). So if Mr. Burns has already exhausted every other possible use for $10 million, then why not get the penny? (Which Homer managed to con back later.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-73478126056139272282008-05-06T15:38:00.002-04:002008-05-06T15:50:15.771-04:00American Dad vs. Family GuyI think American Dad seems more polished as far as the animation goes. But maybe that's because lately I've been watching some of the older Family Guy episodes on TBS. They're so old, they sometimes seem new to me!<br /><br />I still get the impression, though, that the animation is subtly different with American Dad. Maybe the colors are brighter, and the lines are thicker. It gives it a more "professional" feel, even though both cartoons are run by the same guy.<br /><br />I heard that the reason American Dad is so similar to Family Guy is that at the time of American Dad's creation, Family Guy was canceled. Then Family Guy got resurrected while American Dad still got launched. But I think the two shows have diverged now.<br /><br />Every so often I think about that jewel encrusted object that American Dad sometimes focuses on. I'd really like to see where that storyline leads. I'll be at some point they'll just randomly bring the main characters back in on it and end it really quickly. I'd like to see it continue, though.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-12535153503693395602008-04-28T13:56:00.002-04:002008-04-28T14:19:17.616-04:00Family Guy, American Dad IllogicLast night I watched a new "Family Guy" and a new "American Dad." It occurred to me that the creator must be pretty busy running two popular shows that both need new episodes.<br /><br />There was one moment that stood out for me, when Stewie was commenting on Bryan's parenting ability. In the middle of a sentence, he started playing around with the pronunciation of a word, twisting it and slowing it down, and all of a sudden he started making really rapid and unexpected spitting noises. It was so ridiculous that it reminded me of my first impressions of Family Guy, like the times Peter would fall over way faster than normal.<br /><br />I liked the conversation Stewie had with Matthew McConaughey. I think it was Seth Green who provided McConaughey's voice, and I don't know if he ad-libbed, but it was terrific. I liked McConaughey's portrayed attitude, and how relaxed he was when reacting to such negative comments (from Stewie). I also thought his responses made a lot of sense, and his life sounded pretty terrific (even if his movies don't appeal to everyone).<br /><br />I also liked the two foreign guys who sounded "not quite normal" when speaking English. That was neat.<br /><br />I remember Bryan or Peter coming through the screen and telling me to write about them on the internet. Well, actually they didn't come through the screen. One just mentioned off the cuff that if we had a problem with their logic, we should blog about it. What logic? Bryan apparently has a 13 year old son. Bryan is 7 years old. Bryan said, "That's in dog years."<br /><br />I think the creator of the show did that on purpose for two reasons. First, because bloggers had probably ranted about stuff in the show earlier, and he figured, "This will give them a real reason to complain." And second, maybe it's part of a publicity strategy.<br /><br />Anyway, I thought I'd look up Dog Years just to see if I was right in my guess as to how Bryan's take on the situation didn't make sense.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aging_in_dogs" title="Aging In Dogs">Wikipedia</a> says there's a urban legend under which 1 year of human life is equal to 7 dog years.<br /><br />So for every 365 day year, a dog is supposed to age like a human would over the course of 7 years. So a dog ages 7 times faster than a man, kind of like that movie with Robin Williams, "Jack."<br /><br />Anyway, if Bryan is 7 human years old, and his supposed son is 13, then Bryan isn't the father (unless sci-fi shenanigans occurred).<br /><br />Stewie said, "Aren't you 7?" Bryan replied, "That's in dog years."<br /><br />So if the figure of 7 was in dog years, then Bryan, being 7 "dog years" old, would be 1 human year old.<br /><br />I think Bryan said the wrong thing on purpose.<br /><br />What makes more sense is that Bryan is 49, and <i>49</i> is in dog years, making Bryan 7 human years old.<br /><br />Another possibility is that when Bryan said, "That's in dog years," he was really referring to the figure of 13, referring to the age of his supposed son. If that was the case, then the son would be almost 2 human years old, and since Bryan is 7 human years old, all is well.<br /><br />Except... Bryan probably wasn't referring to the figure of 13, as the most relevant figure he could have referred to had come just before his remark. That was when Stewie said, "Aren't you 7?"<br /><br />But I've met people who have weird conversations, where A, B, C, and D were all said before, then you say E, they say F, and you say, "how does that follow what I just said?" And they say, "I was referring to C." Infuriating, but not impossible.<br /><br />Anyway, I noticed two other illogical moments in Family Guy and American Dad together, but I only remember one.<br /><br />At the end of "American Dad," Francine was upset about how much money the father and son had spent to pay for a model rocket that didn't win a competition. Stan justified his actions by saying, "You've got to spend money to make money." Francine countered with, "But you didn't make any money." Stan replied, "Then by that logic, I didn't spend any. Goodnight, everybody!"<br /><br />I thought about it, and wondered what the point is of saying things that don't make sense. Maybe it's a humor trend.<br /><br />Anyway, if the idea that you must spend money to make money is true, then all money that is earned comes after some amount of spending.<br /><br />So no matter what, if you make money, then at some point you've spent money. "By that logic" works here.<br /><br />But you can still spend money to no apparent end, and not end up making any. So if you don't make any money, that doesn't mean you've spent it. But of course Stan Smith knew this, he was probably just using fuzzy logic to shut his wife up. But I'll bet she continued the conversation in "American Dad" world during and after the credits.<br /><br />There... I've fulfilled the prophecy by blogging about what I beheld.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-34374373039379475312008-04-27T13:22:00.001-04:002008-04-27T13:22:45.593-04:00Super Tough AttireEvery so often I hear about military grade clothing, and it just makes me think, “Wow!” I mean the stuff is usually made to be far more durable than regular clothing. Like with <a href="http://www.lapolicegear.com/bdupants.html">BDU pants</a>, you can get a pair of ripstop khakis that look perfectly normal, but are so tough you could probably play baseball in them, slide to home, and not show any signs of wear and tear. Now that is cool!<br /><img src="http://tinyurl.com/4vx7as" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-13312793323580241312008-04-27T13:06:00.003-04:002008-04-27T13:13:53.846-04:00Scotland Oil Strike, U.S. Food RationingI just read at <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080427/ap_on_bi_ge/britain_refinery_strike" title="Strike in Scotland closes major North Sea oil pipeline">Yahoo</a> that Scotland oil workers are striking over pension issues. The refinery that has been shut down because of the strike supplies "almost a third of Britain's North Sea oil."<br /><br />That's nuts... Hmm... I thought the major oil problems were that we're running out, and that the Middle East has a lot of it. But now there are problems with oil that have nothing to do with the substance at all!<br /><br />I also heard American store Costco has begun rationing bags of rice. I think each bag weighs 16 pounds. And a customer is only allowed 3 per visit. Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" said it's no big deal, that's still a lot. But the fact that rationing has begun seems scary. Sure, in a place with "plenty" of resources, you'd set initial rations to be huge. But over time they can get smaller and smaller....Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-56399020823281796292008-04-25T13:49:00.003-04:002008-04-25T14:06:43.153-04:00I Have Found Shangri LaI just recently learned about a place called Shangri La… Well, the full name is Shangri La Botanical Gardens & Nature Center. This place is awesome! It’s totally green, and I don’t mean inexperienced -- I mean in sync with nature. Over 60 years ago a man named Stark established the Center in Orange, Texas with the goal of improving life in the Southeast of that state. Now, for us in the future, Stark’s vision is a reality. Well, it has been for decades!<br /><center><img src="http://tinyurl.com/52x95b" /><img src="http://tinyurl.com/422422" /></center><br />I once visited some gorgeous gardens that were so perfect, it felt like Heaven. Seriously. Around that time, I had recently found an old book in a basement detailing one concept of Heaven, and what to do in order to get there. The idea was that Heaven was gorgeous. It was clean, and there were luscious and colorful plants everywhere. Man and nature were in harmony. Serenity overflowed, as well as joy. Well it really surprised me that the gardens I visited reflected that idea so thoroughly. Shangri La reminds me a lot of that.<br /><center><img src="http://tinyurl.com/4cxl9z" /></center><br />The Shangri La Botanical Gardens & Nature Center occupies 252 acres, and there is a ton of great, natural stuff there. You can see over 300 plant species, birds nesting, a laboratory, and outdoor classrooms -- in a swamp! There’s also a garden for children, a theater, some neat greenhouses, and a café. They’ve even got a Garden Store for all your Shangri La shopping needs.<br /><center><img src="http://tinyurl.com/3nqc5r" /></center><br />It really is green. So green, in fact, that the U.S. Green Building Council has certified Shangri La as Platinum, the top level, for LEED®-NC, “which verifies the design and construction of Shangri La reached the highest green building and performance measures.” Fantastic.<br /><br />The Shangri La Gardens have proven themselves eco friendly, and that goal of being environmentally sound stretches back decades. It looks like a great place, where anyone can find out how we can all live in harmony with nature. If you want to relax and renew yourself, while learning a bit, the Gardens are for you. Even the <a href="http://www.shangrilagardens.org/">Shangri La Gardens and Nature Center</a> web site is relaxing! So the next chance you get, hop on over to Orange, Texas and discover Shangri La!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.shangrilagardens.org"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/3kdtm9" border="0"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-19667829981453380612008-04-21T16:52:00.003-04:002008-04-21T17:05:12.960-04:00Recent New South Park: No InternetI love it at the end when Randy's talking about showing the internet the RESPECT!!! ...it deserves... and he slams his fist down and shakes the podium to make his point.<br /><br />I enjoyed the episode, but thought it was lame that the solution to the issue was to unplug the device and plug it back in.<br /><br />It made me think that either the South Park creators themselves or someone they knew had experienced that same problem, and they decided to make an episode about it.<br /><br />When we lost the internet here, that solution didn't help. You call up a guy and he walks you through all the stupid little processes for fixing a normal problem. None of it works. You say, "Well, Comcast just installed Digital Voice on our end. Maybe the issue is because of that...?" And he says, "No, you might think so, but no."<br /><br />That was...wrong.<br /><br />"Oh, that's a hardware problem."<br /><br />WRONG!!!!<br /><br />Comcast unbundled our IP addresses. It happened at their office. Not here. Not our fault. Their fault. We paid for 4 IPs. We had 4. Then they suddenly reduced that number to 1. It was only when we asked to speak with a supervisor that we made any real progress, because the basic level of support had no idea what was really going on.<br /><br />So the lesson: Customer support can sometimes not know enough to help you, but even when that happens, company protocol forces you to deal with them. And listen to all their "helpful" suggestions. It can be excruciating.<br /><br />To read more about this issue in detail, check out this post: <a href="http://randomwavesofinsight.blogspot.com/2007/10/limited-or-no-connectivity-comcast.html" title="Limited Or No Connectivity -- Comcast Digital Voice Was Installed, and Our Internet Access Became Handicapped">Limited Or No Connectivity -- Comcast Digital Voice Was Installed, and Our Internet Access Became Handicapped</a><br /><br />This happened back in early October of last year, and it still frustrates me.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-24528201264061309412008-04-18T18:29:00.001-04:002008-04-18T18:29:58.157-04:00Technology To Meet Every NeedI remember a time when an older friend of mine was making a phone call, and he couldn’t hear very well. He kept saying, “What? Speak up. What?” It’s too bad they didn’t make the speakers in the phone powerful enough…<br /><br />I love it when problems get solved by technology. In the past, people weren’t able to quickly and easily communicate over long distances without the aid of a land line telephone or a computer. Or television or radio if you were a part of the media, but most people weren’t! Then cell phones were invented and refined, and practically anybody anywhere could get in touch with anyone anywhere else.<br /><img src="http://tinyurl.com/4yfevv" /><br />BUT! There were still problems. Some people found the buttons too small, too difficult to press, too hard to see. The letters and numbers in the display were too tiny to read. And the volume of the call was too low to hear! Plus, the phone was uncomfortable up against your ear.<br /><br />Well now the cell phone has been even further refined to solve all those problems, and more. There’s a phone called the <a href="http://tinyurl.com/4fkaye">Jitterbug</a> that is just plain terrific. It’s easy to use, and especially convenient for senior citizens. <br /><div style="overflow:scroll"><br /><img src="http://tinyurl.com/4pq7ek" /><br /></div><br />It’s got large, backlit buttons. That means you’ll be able to see and press them, even in the dark! It also comes with a padded ear rest, a super-high power speaker for hearing even the faintest of voices, and a system that produces sound designed to be compatible with every conceivable hearing aid.<br /><br />But the best part is that when you’ve got a Jitterbug phone, you’re never alone! Each phone plan comes with 24 hour a day customer service that can help you make calls. They can even program your phone with new names and numbers, and provide you with detailed directory assistance.<br /><br />These days, it pays to have specialized technology with a great support staff. And with the Jitterbug, you can, for only $10/month.<br /><br />There are a ton of service plans to choose from. You can pay monthly, and get as few or as many minutes of Jitterbug use as you want. Or you could pay yearly. And you can always buy more minutes. There’s also the option of getting one plan and sharing it among 2 or more people. You can even get voicemail!<br /><br />With the Jitterbug, everything’s been taken care of in advance. All you need to do is choose what kind of Jitterbug service you’d like!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-15268105974780056472008-04-16T16:52:00.002-04:002008-04-16T17:00:31.011-04:00Major World Problems: Nothing NewI recently read in an old book something like, "Now we are facing humanity's greatest challenge..." I think it was from the 1970's, and had to do with economic turmoil.<br /><br />Let's see-- major problems in U.S. history...<br /><br />Prior wars<br />World War 1<br />Great Depression<br />Dust Bowl<br />World War 2<br />Cold War<br />Gas crisis<br /><br />And now...<br />Global Warming<br />Nuclear Weapons<br />Running out of Oil<br />Housing Market Problems<br /><br />It's funny to see polar opposite forecasts in the news equally "strong" when being presented. Like, "We most definitely could see a Mars colony in 8-12 years," followed by, "It's over. There will definitely be another Great Depression, and you're all going to lose your homes. The end is at hand!"<br /><br />Many of the forecasts are mutually exclusive, and yet they're all grouped together. I wonder when speculation took over the news...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-42362383491067052372008-04-07T23:26:00.002-04:002008-04-07T23:33:37.251-04:00Outsmarting The DevilSo, if you look at the Devil and all his evil abilities, and pretend they're all included in a single gun...<br /><br />And your soul is encompassed by your wallet...<br /><br />You meet the Devil on the street.<br /><br />He says, "Wanna sell your soul?"<br /><br />You say, "Sure."<br /><br />He says, "And what do you want in return?"<br /><br />You say, "The power to defeat the Devil."<br /><br />He says, "Ok!"<br /><br />He extends the gun/Devil Powers in his right hand.<br /><br />You extend your wallet/soul in your right hand.<br /><br />Each of you retrieves the desired item with your left hand.<br /><br />Then you use your new Devil Powers to take back your soul! Win win!<br /><br />**Update: Crucial flaw -- he didn't agree to the dealUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-47536654430475195662008-04-04T23:42:00.002-04:002008-04-04T23:45:37.663-04:00Theoretical DollarsI was checking my site stats for my blog today, and I saw that traffic jumped up yesterday. It was neat; all the previous traffic was going along more or less in a straight line, and then it suddenly veered upwards at a sharp angle.<br /><br />I think what happened was a lot of people were searching for the term <b>Theoretical Dollars</b> because the new episode of South Park mentioned it.<br /><br />Glad to see I contributed to the internet!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-71632782119947103172008-04-02T23:41:00.002-04:002008-04-03T00:11:30.282-04:00South Park: Canada On Strike![Spoiler Alert!]<br /><br />It took me half the episode before I figured out why the World Canada Bureau was shortened to "WGA." Writers' Guild of America!<br /><br />Canada went on strike, demanded more money, the South Park kids called Canada up, the guy in charge took them seriously, and demanded internet money. So the kids put a video on YouTube and went somewhere and stood in line to collect their "theoretical" revenue ($10 million theoretical dollars).<br /><br />I guess you get 1 theoretical dollar every time your video gets a hit? Like, "$1, see the show, only $1." But now everything's "free" on the net, so the original creators who post on YouTube don't get the money.<br /><br />Anyway, the WGA (Canada) kept striking, and it looked like the Executives (rest of the world) was anticipating the deaths of the strikers. And they didn't care. "Who need 'em?" seemed to be the general consensus.<br /><br />So the kids stepped in and fixed the problem by calling an end to the strike, with the WGA (Canada) getting really lame compensation.<br /><br />I thought, "Did that really happen? Was the Writers' Strike a failure in reality, but a success in the news?"<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007%E2%80%932008_Writers_Guild_of_America_strike#Negotiations_and_strike_activity" title="Writers Guild of America strike Negotiations and strike activity">Wikipedia</a> says the writers all got a raise of between 3 and 3.5%. That doesn't seem like a lot... And that pay hike only lasts 3 years.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-88979841148910407822008-03-31T23:18:00.002-04:002008-03-31T23:26:46.560-04:00Pizza.com For Sale: $2.5 MillionI can't believe it! Wow! The auction is happening <a href="http://www.sedo.com/auction/auction_history.php?language=us&auction_id=27887&tracked=&partnerid=" title="Pizza.com Domain Name Auction">right now.</a><br /><br />For those of you that don't already know, owning a domain name is like owning a piece of real estate. And there is a fixed amount of this commodity. So if someone is willing to pay $2.5 million for pizza.com now, imagine how much it will bring in 10 years from now?<br /><br />I once read someone's theory that all internet business could end overnight because of some crazy new invention that superseded the entire web. They didn't really think it would happen, but it seemed possible. I'll bet one of the major concerns when shelling out big bucks for a domain name is whether or not another dot com bubble has formed... and is ready to pop!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2775490605616290990.post-84582396166059267552008-03-28T01:39:00.002-04:002008-03-28T01:44:06.814-04:00More Snow?!I heard some areas aren't through with winter yet. They say that a few inches of snow are in store for these areas. And here I thought it was already Spring.<br /><br />In "Groundhog Day," Bill Murray gets ready for the day and prepares to leave the bed & breakfast. In the hallway he is met by a friendly gentleman who says, "Good morning! Off to see the Groundhog? Do you think it will be an early Spring?"<br /><br />Murray says, "I'm predicting March 20."<br /><br />So did I, and look where it got me! I wonder how concentratedly Hellish the summer will be?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0