WARNING !!!! This new scam is being pulled mainly on men.

WARNING !!!! This new scam is being pulled mainly on men.

What happens is that when you stop for a red light a young, nude woman comes up and pretends to be washing your windshield.

While she is doing this another person opens your back door and steals anything in the car.
They are very good at this.

They got me 7 times Friday and 5 times Saturday.

I wasn't able to find them on Sunday.

Regards,

 

/\/\4rK

Switched On: All the President's Discs - Engadget

Switched On: All the President's Discs - Engadget

Whoa.

/\/\4rK

Cry Havok & Let Slip the Dogs of War: Will Apple Adopt Windows?

Column from PC Magazine: Will Apple Adopt Windows?

Or, "Let the holy wars begin, again."

Mwah ha ha ha ha.

What would you think of that Michael?! LMAO...

/me runs and hides.

Regards,

/\/\4rK

New Scientist SPACE - Breaking News - Space-elevator tether climbs a mile high

New Scientist SPACE - Breaking News - Space-elevator tether climbs a mile high

This is the cool shit! With the ultimate goal a carbon-nanotube based space elevator, it's the tech on which humanity can really use to get it's @ss off the planet. :-)

mwah ha ha ha ha™

This guy is just freakin' hilarious... ;-) 

Cox & Forkum: Must-See TV

Cox & Forkum: Must-See TV

If only indeed...

Regards,

/\/\4rK

We're all Danes now...

So, given all the ogranized protests and attacks that are going on in the world, and the huge boycott of Denmark and the goods and services this most civilised country provides, it's time to change your buying habits, and support the Danes! :-)

In that vein, and thanks to various blogs around the world, I urge you all to Buy Danish! :-) I'm picking up some beer on the way home tonight... I've definately entered my Carlsberg years... ;-) 

CBC News: Surprise! Cabinet includes defector, unelected minister

CBC News: Surprise! Cabinet includes defector, unelected minister

I can't say that I'm entirely thrilled that Emerson has crossed the floor.

It's not that I do not agree that the portfolio needs an experienced hand, and certainly the inclusion of a Vancouverite means partial deflection of the city vs. rural arguement.... it's just that after the whole Belinda affair, it doesn't seem a great opening move.

That being said, it takes Athur out of the equation of holding balance of power, so that's not all bad either.

Time will tell.

Regards,

/\/\4rK

They just don't get it do they?

Why is it that Islam, in all it's glory, can go about denigrating western civilisation, and yet we cannot put out some really innocuous political / caricature cartoons?

This is not an Islam vs. Christianity debate; this is a Civilisation vs. Barbarians debate... and no one who is not a howling fanatic can say that Freedom of Speech is anything but a basic, universal right of mankind.

There are caveats... not yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre being the traditional litmus test for free speech... however, forcing media and entire nations to desist from the free expression of ideas (and this must include political and societal commentary via cartoons) is tantamount to asking the West to abandon the very bedrock upon which it is built.

And in the end, maybe that is what the fundamentalist Islamists are counting on getting away with. However, this time, they picked the one issue that is guaranteed to unite all factions in the West, both on the left and on the right.

For the 'moderates' of the Islamic faith to continue to profess that Islam is a faith of peace, they must set their own house in order, as the West has over the years been forced to moderate our own Christian fanatics. Broader questions include: Can we live with fundamentalist Islamic countries in the context of a modern world? That is now the frame of this debate, and explains the coalescence of world opinion against the nuclear ambitions of Iran.

With the possible exception of Turkey, I cannot recall a single modern Islamic country that does not pander to the fanatics... call it either a survival ploy by the regime in charge, or indeed it's the regime that is pushing the radical agenda. Turkey is left off the list (so far) because at least they DO have a military that brooks no nonsense, and tolerates no deviation, from the secular construct that was the most positive legacy of Ataturk. Jordan walks the line, and does it as carefully as possible... but countries like Iran, Syria and Indonesia are veritable ticking bombs.

When your citizens overrun and burn an embassy of a foreign country on your soil, it is a de-facto declaration of war; view history and current events through that lens. The security forces in Damascus and Beirut are complicit in that they did not stop the events from unfolding the way they did.

Rex Murphy, a well-known Newfoundlander and Saturday-columnist for the Globe and Mail stated it best when he wrote, "Furthermore, they are insisting that their values and their codes apply outside their own religion and their own countries. It is astonishingly insolent. Considering the treatment that some of the press in some of these countries accord Christians and Jews - a recent mini-series on the Protocols of The Elders of Zion in Lebanon and Egypt, the frequent anti-Semitic editorial cartoons - it is levitatingly hypocritical as well."

Well said. Insolence and Hypocrisy pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?

Ciao,

/\/\4rK

It's a lovely day for...

Feeding DVD's endlessly into the gaping maw of my computer, as I finally make some progress on the hellishly boring task of backing up about 120 gigs worth of photos from the past year and a half.

Yay. Joy. What fun. (there's $10.00 in my pocket... it's yours if you come and finish the job for me.

Heh. Just kidding... ish. I'm actually getting alot done on the computer today, not only the archive project but also the post-procesing of photos from the past shoot. All online, all emailed to the girls. I'm actually going to suggest NOT sending out CD/DVD's unless they decide to come get 'em in person. It's getting a little expensive to mail out all those discs! lol

/me wanders off to do some laundry... may as well make the day completely productive. Bah.

ciao,

/\/\4rK 

WebScription Ebooks

It is vastly amusing to me that in the past three or four months, several articles have been published about certain companies and their 'groundbreaking' move into providing books online, in electronic format. They inevitably showcase their flagship novel of the month, for the same price that it would cost you in hardcover format... without all that paper.

Amusing, because in every case these so called 'visionary' publishers are about... oh, five or six years behind a publisher named Jim Baen. Granted he is a niche publisher... if you don't like fantasy, science fiction, or military science fiction (most with a libertarian or right-wing bent) then do not check out Baen WebScription Ebooks. Do NOT spend $15.00 US and get between 4-7 books that would cost you about $40.00 cdn each for the hardcovers. Mind you, a penchant for exploding spaceships is a help here...

Ciao,

/\/\4rK

design*notes

I probably haven't mentioned it before, but a good friend of mine named Michael S. was the person that pointed me first to blogging, and thence on to http://www.flickr.com. The blogging is starting to pick up steam (at least I've posted regularly, lately!), but Flickr is the killer app that continues to consume so many out there.

Michael S. claims he is a designer, but I've always thought of him additionally as a consultant and ambassador for the world of design, engineering and art. He's one of those people that makes you cock your head to the side and go, "oh... yeah. I didn't think of that."

design*notes

Get ready to buy this book!

For the love of gawd, people!

There is an Orc in it named Tur-uk! And yes, it IS named after me. Mwah ha ha ha ha™ That alone should be worth the price of admission...

And you can also get off your @ss and go buy the previous volumes in the series... There Will Be Dragons, Emerald Sea (which was dedicated to me, btw), and Against the Tide.

Ciao,

/\/\4rK 

Monte Solberg, Conservative Party of Canada Member of Parliament for Medicine Hat: Kyoto

Monte Solberg is the Member of Parliament for my old riding back west. He has a pretty decent blog; his latest entry deals with Canada & Kyoto...

Given that my current riding's MP is Jack Layton, I suspect that I'll probably NOT be posting any... ahem, _local_ blogs anytime soon. ;-)

Blog: Monte Solberg, Conservative Party of Canada Candidate for Medicine Hat
Post: Kyoto
Link: http://www.montesolberg.com/2006/02/kyoto.htm

Regards,

/\/\4rK