Max: Crawling Back to My Hole

It would seem I have forgotten the limits placed upon me as an impotent loser. Fortunately, someone cared enough to put me in my place and remind me of the fundamental pointlessness of my existence. If anybody needs me (not that anyone ever will genuinely need such as me) I'll be in my hole.

Max: $1 = CA$1

Sign of US decline? Or sign of how Canada's socialist whackiness is allowing them to catch up to our non-socialist greatness.

Max: More Evidence That the US is on the Decline

Max: Dilbert Blog

The Dilbert Blog: A Feeling I'm Being Had:

Ahmadinejad believes his role is to pave the way for the coming of the Twelfth Imam. That's a primitive apocalyptic belief! I thank Jesus I do not live in a country led by a man who believes in that sort of bullshit. Imagine how dangerous that would be, especially if that man had the launch codes for nuclear weapons.

Max: Say What Now?

Max: Republicans Hate Our Soldiers

I would like to dedicate this video to Senate Republicans who filibustered to death a bill that would have required that US troops be granted as much time home as they spend risking their lives in Iraq.

Max: Take That, Fundies

Homo Floresiensis, not a midget.

An international team of researchers led by the Smithsonian Institution has completed a new study on Homo floresiensis, commonly referred to as the “hobbit,” a 3-foot-tall, 18,000-year-old hominin skeleton, discovered four years ago on the Indonesian island of Flores. This study offers one of the most striking confirmations of the original interpretation of the hobbit as an island remnant of one of the oldest human migrations to Asia. The research is being published in the Sept. 21 issue of Science.
The team turned its research focus to the most complete of the 12 skeletons discovered and specifically toward three little bones from the hobbit’s left wrist. The research asserts that modern humans and our closest fossil relatives, the Neandertals, have a very differently shaped wrist in comparison to living great apes, older fossil hominins like Australopithecus (e.g., “Lucy”) and even the earliest members of the genus Homo (e.g., Homo habilis, the “handy-man”). But the hobbit’s wrist is basically indistinguishable from an African ape or early hominin-like wrist—nothing at all like that seen in modern humans and Neandertals.

The lead author of the study, Matt Tocheri, a paleoanthropologist in the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program at the National Museum of Natural History, was completely surprised when he first saw casts of the hobbit’s wrist bones. “Up until then, I had no definitive opinion regarding the hobbit debates,” said Tocheri. “But these hobbit wrist bones do not look anything like those of modern humans. They’re not even close!”

The evidence from the hobbit’s wrist is extremely important because it demonstrates further that the hobbit indeed represents a different species of human as was originally proposed by its discoverers. It is not a modern human with some sort of pathology or growth disorder. The distinctive shapes of wrist bones form during the first trimester of pregnancy while most pathologies and growth disorders do not begin to affect the skeleton until well after that time. Therefore, pathologies or growth defects cannot adequately explain why a modern human would have a wrist that was indistinguishable from that of an African ape or primitive hominin.

I am looking forward to seeing how the creationists/ID freaks will spin this.

I guarantee that Richard Dawkin's prediction that this would destroy religion will not come to pass. There is perhaps no force in this universe greater than invincible ignorance.

Max: US as a Kafkaesque Police State

Music Scholar Barred From U.S., but No One Will Tell Her Why - New York Times

Ms. Ghuman’s descent into the bureaucratic netherworld began on Aug. 8, 2006, when she and Mr. Flight returned to San Francisco from a research trip to Britain. Armed immigration officers met them at the airplane door and escorted Ms. Ghuman away.

In a written account of the next eight hours that she prepared for her lawyer, Ms. Ghuman said that officers tore up her H-1B visa, which was valid through May 2008, defaced her British passport, and seemed suspicious of everything from her music cassettes to the fact that she had listed Welsh as a language she speaks. A redacted government report about the episode obtained by her lawyer under the Freedom of Information Act erroneously described her as “Hispanic.”

Held incommunicado in a room in the airport, she was groped during a body search, she said, and was warned that if she moved, she would be considered to be attacking her armed female searcher. After questioning her for hours, the officers told her that she had been ruled inadmissible, she said, and threatened to transfer her to a detention center in Santa Clara, Calif., unless she left on a flight to London that night.

Outside, Mr. Flight made frantic calls for help. He said the British Consulate tried to get through to the immigration officials in charge, to no avail. And Ms. Ghuman said her demands to speak to the British consul were rebuffed.

“They told me I was nobody, I was nowhere and I had no rights,” she said. “For the first time, I understood what the deprivation of liberty means.”

This is what happens when you surrender your rights in exchange for "security".

Max: Nebraska State Senator Sues God

via: Wired Threat Level

Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers filed suit against God Friday, asking a court to order the Almighty and his followers to stop making terrorist threats.

The suit (.pdf), filed in a Nebraska district court, contends that God, along with his followers of all persuasions, "has made and continues to make terroristic threats of grave harm to innumerable persons." Those threats are credible given God's history, Chambers' complaint says.

Chambers, in a fit of alliteration, also accuses God of causing "fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes, pestilential plagues, ferocious famines, devastating droughts, genocidal wars, birth defects, and the like."

Likewise the suit accuses God of having his chroniclers "disseminate in written form, said admissions, throughout the Earth in order to inspire fear, dread, anxiety, terror and uncertainty, in order to coerce obedience to Defendant's will."

Max: An Open Letter to the New Generation of Military Officers

An open letter in which a retired Air Force General suggests a coup d'etat rather than following any orders to go to war against Iran.

Our oath of office is to “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Might I suggest that this includes a rogue president and vice-president? Certainly we are bound to carry out the legal orders of our superiors. But the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) which binds all of us enshrines the Nuremberg Principles which this country established after World War II (which you are too young to remember). One of those Nuremberg Principles says that we in the military have not only the right, but also the DUTY to refuse an illegal order. It was on this basis that we executed Nazi officers who were “only carrying out their orders.”

...

We in the U.S. military would never consider a military coup, removing an elected president and installing one of our own. But following our oath of office, obeying the Nuremberg Principles, and preventing a rogue president from committing a war crime is not a military coup. If it requires the detention of executive branch officials, we will not impose a military dictatorship. We will let the Constitutional succession take place. This is what we are sworn to. This is protecting the Constitution, our highest obligation. In 2007, this is what is meant by “Duty, Honor, Country.”

Max: 350 lbs of Green Electricity

437 WATTS Body Battery Calculator - Find Out How Much Electricity Your Body is Producing

Max: FOSS FTW

[A] GtkPod developer has cracked the checksum and successfully tested the new database format support on two devices. Those who are already locked into Apple's ecosystem will now be able to continue using the software of their choice with their iPod.

Of course Apple could still choose to turn this into an arms race.

Although Apple's iPod lock-in attempt has been thwarted today, Poettering reminds us that it might not be possible to thwart in the future. Apple's willingness to make these kinds of changes to the database format should be taken as a warning that unsupported third-party compatibility options may not be viable in the long term.

via Ars Technica

Max: What Am I

As a long time narcissist, I am always fascinated to learn what people think of me. Back in high school - depending upon whom you ask - I was a drug dealer, a dangerous lunatic, a harmless geek to be taken under the wing of the cool kids, mildly retarded, too smart to be allowed out among the general public, etc.

It seems people are still playing the "What is Max" game, and are still getting it wrong.

Some people think I am a "liberal", other think I am "conservative". Jericho thinks I am a dangerous water-brain, but not in a bad way. Perhaps the clearest indication people think I am a fellow traveler (either on the left or the right) are the email forwards they send me. For instance, I was recently sent a forward, sent by one of my more leftish acquaintances, that crows about how Ronnie Regan, upon meeting his Veep's namesake, stated that the young W was slightly less intelligent than a lobotomized squirrel. Another I received today talked about how Oliver North once warned a Senate committee about the serious danger posed by allowing a little know terrorist named Osama bin Laden. He was, of course, laughed at by the know it all liberals who then controlled the Senate.

I am guessing the latter thinks I am part of the Faux News brigade - liberals are all evil and stupid, conservatives are all good, godly men trying to save the country from the depredations of the left.

Some call me a socialist because I support universal health care. Some call me a libertarian because I don't want the government to force me to pretend I am a good Christian. In fact, I am both and neither.

Yes, I support universal health care. Anyone who glibly dismisses health care - if you like the post office, you'll love government health care - has never been unemployed, uninsured, broke and told that someone they love is in dire need of surgery. Much less two surgeries in as many months.

Yes I oppose government enforcement of any religion. If you want to flagellate yourself because you think your imaginary friend will reward you after you die, that is your problem. I don't care to join in.

So what am I? I call myself a realist. I prefer facts to the brain-dead rantings of any ideologue of any stripe. That is why my reaction to the two forwards mentioned above was not amusement at those stupid (liberals/conservative). Rather, I was mainly disgusted. Why? Because neither of the above incidents happened. There is no record at all of what, if any, opinion Ronnie Rayguns had of GW. And at the time of the supposed Senate hearing, almost everybody considered ObD a hero because he lead the fight to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan.

If anything, I am tired. I am tired of the drooling fantasies of ideologues and demigogues. I am tired of people waving a book at me (Bible, Koran, The Wealth of Nations, The Communist Manifesto, whatever) expecting me to turn my brain off and join in the blind stupidity.

If anything, I am disgusted. I am disgusted at people who think that yelling and cutting off people's mics make them experts and the rest of us fools. I am disgusted at people who have never read a real book declaring that the founders of our country were all right wing fundies. Thomas Jefferson took greater pride in leading the fight to repeal a law making Christianity the official religion of Virginia than he did in authoring the Declaration of Independence. And I am disgusted at people who think that just because one or more of our (proud slave owning) founders blindly held to some belief that we all should.

So, yeah. That's me.

Max: MC Frontalot - It Is Pitch Dark

Max: Apple Aspiring to New Levels of Dickitude

The latest iPods have a cryptographic "checksum" in their song databases that prevents third-party applications from synching with the portable music players. This means that iPods can no longer be used with operating systems where iTunes doesn't exist -- like Linux, where gtkpod and Amarok are common free tools used by iPod owners to load their players.

via Boing Boing

Max: This Are The Bass

Line 6 - Variax Bass. I want it.

Max: My Nipples Are Hard

Max: 9/11x6

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

"The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men."

"The greatest tyrannies are always perpetrated in the name of the noblest causes."

"The price of liberty is eternal vigilance."

Here's to what used to be what the USA stood for.

Fuck you all for the sheep you are.

Jericho: Bits and Bites with bits and bytes

I have a running file in my head of alternate ideas for computers. I started when I was a kid thinking about computers embedded in desks. The last few years I keep thinking about modular computers. Why does a computer need to be a big case? Why do you need to throw away the whole thing when you want a faster processor or more memory or to run the latest OS? Sure, if you know what you are doing inside a case you can replace a mother board. If I knew what I was doing inside the hood of my car I wouldn't have to go to Jiffy Lube. Computers are supposed to become simple appliances - yet they seem to be getting more and more difficult as we move forward.

This idea seems to be going in the right direction. If done right, a system like this should be the ultimate in plug and play. Connect two parts together, they detect each other and start working together. The user need do nothing but wait for it to all boot up. If I were to buy a simple system, then want to add more features later, I could quite easily. When a new feature comes out, just buy the new module. Old modules get assembled into less capable computers for kids or whatever.

If you are like me, you have had multiple systems in the last decade. Think over those systems, there were parts in each system that were working fine when you got rid of it. Imagine if you had them all back until they really died. I keep looking at this concept thinking I'd have a CD ROM, a CDR, a DVD and a DVDR. Not to mention a couple of extra (smallish) hard drives and a Zip Drive.

Then there are processors! In my short time as a computer owner, I have thrown away or given away a 233 MHz Power PC, a 500 MHz Power PC and a 1 GHz Pentium. I have bought others as gifts, had two laptops stolen, etc. We now have a 2+ GHz Power PC and a 2+ GHz Pentium. Most modern operating systems have no trouble with multiple processors. If I had a module based system, I could have at least 5 processors doing all kinds of work. When I bring up something processor intensive, like Photoshop, I could give it its own processor.

Take this one step further. We are all used to installing our operating systems onto our hard drives. This is okay, hard drives are getting faster. But, hard drive speed has never been able to keep up with RAM speed. So, what if your OS came in a module that you just plugged in? The module would have your core OS installed in just enough RAM to let it run. Yes, if there were updates, those would go to the hard drive (Flash Memory on the module?). But, installing a new OS would be as easy as plugging in a new module. Further, you could have multiple OS modules. It would be like having one machine that could run Windows, Linux and Mac and none of them would be emulated. You could even keep older OS modules. Every piece of software you have ever owned would still work because you still have the OS!

Major applications, like Photoshop, could also be loaded on a module. I could actually see something like Photoshop come in a module, running on RAM, with a flash memory partition for updates and even its own processor. Photoshop retails for several thousand dollars - this module could be made on industrial levels for less than $100. Considering it would take no time to install and come with all of those performance improvements, most buyers would fork out the extra dough.

I think the best possible way a system like this could work out would be if it were licensed or open source. This way, multiple manufacturers could make modules that all (attempt) to work with the same standards. This way, you could have the best modules from the best manufacturers. You'd have lots of choices for color, style, materials, etc. Your computer could be a little work of art.

Max: Broken Government

When the Republicunts are so far gone that they are getting ripped on by a former Nixon official, shit's done hit the fan. Now if only we can get someone from the Johnson or Carter administration to write a book ripping the Democrats for being spineless shits who act like the Reps still run Congress.

Max: Attack of the Spores of Doom

My nose is closed tighter than a true-believer's mind. Antihistamines seem to have succeed only in wrapping my brain in a gauzy curtain of pure duh. Every hurricane-like sneeze wrenches my neck and back into new levels of pain. I may just have my head amputated.

Jericho: The War on Drugs has FAILED!

The US Government has to stop declaring war on nouns! The War on Poverty, LBJ's pet program, obviously failed. Bush's War on Terror is going no where. Yet, we are still fighting Nixon's War on Drugs! Prohibition didn't work - why should this?

Not only do we keep throwing money at this waste of time, it's coming back to haunt us. Opium and Heroin sales from poppies grown in Afghanistan is supporting the Taliban and probably al Qaeda.

This is what we needed. Money from American addicts is flowing to fighters in other countries who are killing American soldiers. Perfect! Two of our noun wars are clashing and Americans all over are dying from it.

Let me toss out an idea here. This isn't my idea alone, I've seen others with the same idea. Great minds think alike - apparently they just don't think like this in D.C.! This idea is usable in the poppy fields of Afghanistan, the cocaine farms of Columbia and even the marijuana fields of the US of A!

The idea is this: the farmers are the ones producing the product. They produce it because the local drug lords pay top money for it. Much more than what they would pay for equal amounts of food stuffs. Often, the product being grown grows far better than a food stuff as well; mary jane and poppies are practically weeds - they'll grow anywhere!

So, instead of sending in troops with guns and flame throwers, or training local militias (who are often bought by local drug lords) - send in one guy. This one guy will ride around the country side. If you give him a ton of opium, he'll give you a ton of food. If you give him a ton of cocaine, he'll give you a brand new John Deere tractor, or a new diesel powered truck. Next year, same deal, but, instead of poppies for tractors, the guy from America will give you food, seeds and fertilizer to grow a food crop or cotton or some other beneficial crop. The following year, the guy will come by and trade you food for more seeds and fertilizer and maybe another tractor or truck or other beneficial item, etc., etc., etc.

This kind of reverse share cropping will keep the drugs out of the hands of the drug lords and terrorists. The drugs can be burned or turned into useful pharmaceuticals. The drugs will never reach American shores. The drugs that do get to the states will be so high priced that most addicts will have to give up.

This process has got to be cheaper than sending troops and helicopters. It's got to be better than killing innocent people and wrecking their lives. Talk about winning hearts and minds! If I had my choice of trading drugs for a pittance to the local drug lord or trading for farm equipment and Cheerios with an American - I think I would go with the later every time. At least the guy with the Cheerios won't smack me in the head with the butt of his AK-47!

Max: Thought

Guns don't kill people. Exsanguination and organ damage kill people.

Max: 160 Gb

For some time I have been trying to not desire things. I don't want my life cluttered with crap. Also, I am broke.

But, Spaghetti Monster help me, I WANT this.

Max: Geek Rocks His Synth

Max: In Re: HEYYY

Jericho: HEYYY ...

Have you ever wished for a Planet full of Unicorns?

I know I certainly haven't! But had I, it would have been nothing like the link above!

I have thought several times about putting together a web based show of some sort. I haven't done it because I would want to put out a quality product and I'm sure my skills are not up to that.

However, this is proof that others are not allowing simple things like lack of skill and taste slow them down.

And they will probably end up being millionaires!

Jericho: Someday the Internet will make me rich ...

Ummmm ... yeah. Whatever! :)

I love the Internet and I love blogging. I keep hoping I can find a way to at least make a normal living off my love of blogging. We'll see ...

In the mean time, I have started a new blog: DustyDice.com. The site is aimed at role playing game enthusiasts - like me! I want to share my thoughts and feelings on the subject in a more focused manor than what we do here on IWDC.

I've bought it for a year. We'll see how it goes. I'm always excited about the new project, leaving other unfinished projects in my wake. Believe it or don't, I have twice started blogs with a porno theme. I keep stopping because I don't have much confidence in my ability to write erotica.

This new site will be geek porno. Go have a look when you get the chance - there's not much there but there will be more to come. Have fun!