First We Take Away Their Internet, Then We Go After Their A.C.

Posted on August 14 2003 by Mickey
    At 4:23, August 14 2003, Sky Net became self-aware.
    It was blamed on an overload in New York, a lightning hit at Niagara Falls, and the MS Blast virus. But the cascade of power failures today really began when a Canadian grid operator, reacting to the excessive air conditioner use, strung too many power strips together.
    I’m presently still at work. I learned that our diesel backup generators should have kicked in immediately, but while they need four circuits to trip before activating, only three did so. It wasn’t till 6:10 PM that the generators kicked in, but even so only certain critical systems were operational. More systems have been brought back up (including the computer network — Hi everybody!), so the room I’m in is fully up and running now. I’m just hanging out to make sure everything’s stable, as well as to wait for the other buildings to come online.
    The power remains out at home, sadly, so I can’t say I’m in that much hurry to leave. But don’t tell my bosses. They’re supposed to think I’m dedicated.
Posted in Movies, News, Personal | 1 Comment

Fairly Blatant1

Posted on August 13 2003 by Mickey
    Being naught but an outside observer, I always enjoy when giant corporations make asses of themselves. They do it on such a grand scale. Thus I am taking perverse pleasure in watching Fox News’s (or Faux News, and some wag called it) Neal Pollack and Blah3.com (by way of Byzantium’s Shores), are making Friday, August 15, “Fair & Balanced Day” on the Internet, hence the name change for my site. We plan to appropriate Fox’s illegitimately acquired phrase and turn their nuisance suit into a real nuisance.
    The trademark infringement lawsuit is even more laughable since Fox News actually claims ownership of the phrase “Fair & Balanced” when they are decidedly neither. I guess describing yourself in direct proportion to what you aren’t is a typical right-wing mindset: the kind of thinking which gives us Bush’s “Clear Skies” and “Healthy Forests” programs. [Then again, on the other hand, we’ve got a Total Information network baldly named the “MATRIX”. And Iraq’s new Operation: Ivy Lightning, whose acronym is OIL2.]
    And capping all this is the news that interest in Franken’s book has skyrocketed. Sales on Amazon are up an astronomical and incredible 14,300%, making the book number one in pre-sales. Good going Fox. Way to get youir point across. You retort, we deride.

Can you spot the difference?

    1. Would “Fairly Biased” have been a better pun?
    2. The “OIL” acronym was first noted at Stray Bulletins

Posted in Books, Links, News, TV | 1 Comment

Dogsitting

Posted on August 12 2003 by Mickey
    Tonight was my last night of dogsitting. Since Friday I’ve spent most of my time at my brother Rick’s house, checking on their dog and raiding their fridge. Driving back and forth and spending a lot of time there has interfered with my posting, but at least there’s the added benefit of being able to upload dog photos — just like all the other weblogs.
    By remarkable coincidence, I recently got an e-mail from a representative of the International Coalition of Webloggers saying my application might be dismissed since there weren’t enough photos of pets on my site. So this works out perfectly.
    So say Hi and Goodbye to Corky…and I’m off to my familiar surroundings where I can finally get some much needed sleep.

Corky looks lonely and mopey


Corky gazes forlornly out the front window, waiting for mommy and daddy to come home
Posted in Blog, Personal, Photos | Leave a comment

Stuff

Posted on August 9 2003 by Mickey
    This entry is just a little message in a bottle until I have time for something substantial. I haven’t written a “Blog Within a Blog” update in a while, but my new computer is really taking shape and that is part of the reason I haven’t had time to update here. This weekend is also quite busy. In fact, I’m writing this at work, even though it’s almost midnight on a Saturday night.
    I’ve been up about 40 hours on only three hours of sleep. Luckily it’s nothing terrible; but this weekend has been so…different as to almost have a “nightmarish” quality. Or maybe that’s just my eyes going funny from lack of sleep.
    Details later, I suspect.
    P.S.: Corky says Hi.
Posted in Blog, New Computer, Personal | 1 Comment

Reel Change

Posted on August 7 2003 by Mickey
    The latest issue of Australia’s Empire magazine has an interesting cover story. It’s another list of 100 movies; but instead of discussing which is greater, they’re focusing on the movies’ impact on culture or on the industry itself: “100 Movies That Changed the World̶.
    So far I’ve only been able to find the top ten, as shared by The Age.com (by way of The One Ring.net):

1:   Jaws
2:   Citizen Kane
3:   Easy Rider
4:   The Fellowship of the Ring
5:   Star Wars
6:   Singin’ in the Rain
7:   Casablanca
8:   Rashomon
9:   Annie Hall
10:   Gone With the Wind

    I like the idea behind the list, but as usual the choices don’t necessarily jibe with mine. I think some Star Wars backlash has needlessly given it a lower score than warranted; same with the flurry of interest around The Lord of the Rings. Obviously, it’s extremely well made and has been well received, but I think we need a few years’ distance to allow us to put it in perspective of its lasting impact.
    I’m not sure Singin’ in the Rain should rank so high either. Yes, it’s a great movie and I like it very much, but since it came at the end of the movie musicals era I’m not sure what great importance it had. And as usual, there’s a great bias against older movies. I’d suggest The Great Train Robbery (1903) or The Jazz Singer (1927) were bigger sensations than some of the above, but nobody rents those.
    Those reservations aside, I’m looking forward to read the rest of the list.

Posted in Links, LOTR, Movies | Leave a comment

Meatless

Posted on August 6 2003 by Mickey
    Sure, it’s supposed to increase productivity and keep the burgers from tasting like floor or spit, but there’s something creepy about this photo.

“Would you like human contact with that?”

    It’s the new employee-free McDonald’s, being tested in Littleton CO (the hotbed of McDonald’s innovations, as any reader of Fast Food Nation knows). The franchise that removed animal lard from their fries, chicken from their McNuggets, and taste from their hamburgers has finally gotten rid of those pesky, money-grubbing employees — all in an effort to streamline production. Kudos! Except they’ll still have to deal with all those demanding customers. Damned humans.
    Next up, to maintain freshness McDonald’s plans to breed cows right at the restaurants, and constantly irradiate them so that they give birth to fully cooked hamburgers.
Posted in Food, Links, News | Leave a comment

“Tell Us About Your Record Attempt”

Posted on August 6 2003 by Mickey
    Some times you have to ask yourself how far will you go to become famous. The Guinness World Records site actually has a listing for “Most Individuals Killed In A Terrorist Act”, which, not surprisingly, is the 2001 World Trade Center attack. But, more disturbingly, there’s a link to a form to fill out if you intend to attempt breaking this record!
    Maybe, just maybe, in the name of all human decency, this is a just a front so that any and all claimants (such as my coworker, who is already discussing to himself the ways and means) can be investigated by the proper authorities. I hope so.
    [Link from the Someting Awful forums, by way of Super Evil.]
Posted in Links, News, WTF | Leave a comment

Homecoming

Posted on August 3 2003 by Mickey
    Haven’t had a chance to write much this weekend, since I spent a lot of time at the Dearborn Homecoming. I can prove this since I uploaded a few dozen photos of the event to my Gallery.
    Speaking of my photo gallery, it got hacked over the weekend by some ne’er-do-wells called “BrokenRules”. My gallery is back, however, and should still be accessible.
    [Archivist’s Note: these Homecoming photos are now on Flickr.]
Posted in Blog, Personal, Photos | 1 Comment

Running With the Bull

Posted on August 1 2003 by Mickey
    I saw this on Tech Live. Deloitte Consulting offers an intriguing shareware app called Bullfighter, which analyzes corporate literature and memos. It strips meaningless jargon and translates the text into honest-to-God, understandable English. This could be a very important and useful utility and might be the dope-slap many upwardly mobile urban professionals need. The app integrates with Word and PowerPoint and can be used free for 30 days (and can be downloaded here).
    P.S.: As a test I ran President Bush’s most recent press conference through it. The program came back with no text whatsoever and crashed my system. (Apparently it’s incompatible with any president after Harry Truman.)
Posted in Links, Tech | Leave a comment

Battlefield: Detroit

Posted on July 31 2003 by Mickey
    Detroit and Portland OR will become battlegrounds in the War on Terrorism, as the ACLU files joint lawsuits in hopes of having key sections of the USA PATROIT Act declared unconstitutional. According to Oregon’s Statesman Journal, “The lawsuit will seek to overturn Section 215, which allows the FBI broader access to personal records under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.”
    The article continues, ”The lawsuit, to be filed in Detroit by the ACLU, the Council on Arab-Islamic Relations, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and several other groups, seeks to overturn provisions that allow the government wide latitude to seize records, books and papers in investigations of international terrorism, said Mo Abdrabboh, a Dearborn, Mich., lawyer who is on the ACLU’’s at-large board.
    “The area’’s large Arab-American community is a major reason for filing the lawsuit in Detroit, he said.
    “[…] ‘I want to see awareness out of this,’ said Abed Ayoub, president of the Detroit chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, one of several civil rights groups partnering in the legal challenge.
    “Ayoub said he hopes the lawsuits would result in ‘a sense of relief, a sense that somebody is standing up for our rights.’”
Posted in News | Leave a comment