jump to navigation

NOTE: The spam filter is being unusually aggressive. If you comment does not immediately appear, it has simply been placed in moderation and I will approve it as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.

"Murphy was an optimist!"

Wednesdays, my favorite worst day January 25, 2006 7:33 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Lost, Philosophy, Poetry, TV / Movies
, 8comments

Wednesdays are Lost
Work is Lost to the children’s needs
Lost as a taxi service
Preschool, preschool, high school, STAR
Time Lost to the kids is precious
On Wednesdays I am in paradise, Lost
In the island of my mind, I am Lost
Lost in self-flagellation and meditation
I so look forward to Wednesdays
My favorite times have always been Lost times
I would not trade my Lost Wednesdays for anything
Best of all, Wednesdays end with Lost

“I can’t do this all on my own. No, I know, I’m no Superman!

8comments

True talent January 24, 2006 1:34 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Cool Sites, Of Interest
, add a comment

Where do you talented people come from? In this case, sandfantasy.com.

add a comment

Meme of Four January 24, 2006 4:31 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : MeMe, Of Interest
, 5comments

I’ll play. This one took a bit of time! I’m not tagging anyone but feel free to participate.

Four jobs you’ve had in your life:

  1. Sold plants and flowers at an Amish market;
  2. dormitory Resident Assistant (Clement Hall & Reese Hall);
  3. Manager of 60 people testing software;
  4. Owner of an Internet service provider (dialup connections)

Four movies you could watch over and over:

  1. Das Boot;
  2. Hunt for Red October;
  3. Monty Python and the Holy Grail;
  4. Life As A House

[hard to list only 4]Four places you’ve lived:

  1. Cary, NC (3 years 76-79);
  2. Kenner, LA (New Orleans) – roughly 1/2 mile east of the west levee break (4.5 years 79-83);
  3. Medford, NJ (3 years 83-86);
  4. Germantown, TN (2 years 86-88)

Four TV shows you love(d) to watch:

  1. Lost!;
  2. Boston Legal;
  3. anything on the History Channel;
  4. Futurama (Note the 2007 date on the “in production” episodes!)

Four places you’ve been on vacation:

  1. Jamaica;
  2. Lake Tahoe;
  3. Chattanooga;
  4. Ocean Isle, NC

Four websites you visit daily:

  1. Rocketboom;
  2. Domestic Psychology;
  3. No Silence Here;
  4. KristyK

Four of your favorite foods:

  1. Gumbo;
  2. Jambalaya;
  3. Pork Ribs;
  4. French Toast

Four places you’d rather be:

  1. Ocean Isle;
  2. backcountry in the Smokies;
  3. at a park with my wife and kids;
  4. in a larger house
5comments

Scott County’s future looking prosperous! January 23, 2006 5:20 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : News, Of Interest
, 1 comment so far

In November I posted “Future headlines we might see in Denver’s paper” Now we have “Charges have been dropped against Eric Footer”

Eric Footer was the first person arrested in Denver under state marijuana law since the city’s voters wiped out penalties for adults who possess small amounts of marijuana.

And it looks like Nevada is quickly following in Denver’s footsteps. The dam is breaking and legalization of marijuana is coming.

In related news, Michael Silence discusses the fact that TN already accepts taxes on drugs and the impact it has had on drug users that have neglected to pay their taxes such as this found on Say Uncle:

In Tennessee, a 60 year-old man recovering from cancer smoked marijuana to alleviate the pain and depression. He has since been arrested and had his money and cars seized and a lien placed on his house. All this without due process of law, which is blatantly unconstitutional. The fifth amendment states that […]

Now that’s not right.

1 comment so far

Get Free Cable January 23, 2006 3:27 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of Interest, Technology, TV / Movies
, add a comment

I’m looking for the small print. XOrbit puts a piece of equipment in your house to monitor cable signal strength. In return, they pay you $75/mth. Considering I want to monitor the signal strength anyway, sounds like a good deal!

add a comment

Could THIS be why Firefly was cancelled?! January 23, 2006 2:43 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of Interest, TV / Movies
, 1 comment so far

Now this is television!

NEW YORK (AP) — More than a decade after 16-year-old Amy Fisher had a sexual relationship with a much-older car mechanic and shot his wife in the face, the one-time “Long Island Lolita” and Joey and Mary Jo Buttafuoco have agreed to appear together in a televised reunion.

1 comment so far

Firefly Season 2 Project January 23, 2006 11:11 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Firefly / Serenity, Of Interest, TV / Movies
, 3comments

For you Firefly fans that are still seeking a season 2, Browncoats Rise Again may not be taking donations but The Firefly Season 2 Project looks to be encouraging a pay per episode approach.

see also: Firefly Fans Create Website for 2nd Season and Browncoats Defeated…again

UPDATE: A discussion regarding Firefly Season 2 Project. And this one which claims “We intend to license the Firefly Intellectual Property from Fox, produce the show on our dime, and sell to the highest bidder.”

3comments

What does the Google subpoena mean? January 22, 2006 11:05 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : News, Of Interest, Politics, Touchy Subjects, United States
, add a comment

Here is a fantastic summation of the Google subpoena. In short, the government is once again trying to pass a law with vague terms in the name of protecting our children.

The Child Online Protection Act makes it a crime for a commercial Web site to post material that some jurors might find “harmful” if a minor stumbled across it.

The problem comes in deciding just what is harmful.

even portions of a “collection of Renaissance artwork” could be viewed as harmful to minors if a prosecutor was sufficiently zealous.

So, people that believe in abstinance teaching may find medical information about the male and female bodies offense while people trying to teach their children about sex may find that same information very important.

We should not be creating laws to make up for bad parenting! Parents should be talking to their children. The Internet is a reflection of the real world and while we can keep our children from seeing adult magazines and movies in our own houses that does not prevent them from going to a friend’s house, cracking open a beer, sitting down with a Playboy magazine (since it makes you go blind, nice of them to publish in Braille), and watching a hardcore sex dvd. Only through talking to our children and teaching them can we give them the tools to make the right choices and police themselves.

If we let our government become too involved in dictating morals to the people, the generation that grows up under such government will know nothing different and when that generation steps up to run our country they will see no problem in further limiting rights and civil liberties in the name of “protecting the people” and it will dominoe us right out of democracy!

see also: White House: DOJ Request for Google Data Is ‘Narrow’ “You know… “Narrow” like a wedge is narrow on one end.”

add a comment

Are you smart? January 21, 2006 12:12 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Games/Puzzles, Of Interest
, add a comment

Here is a site with the answers to the “Are you smart” post. Of the ones I didn’t get, all but 2 I should have figured out.

Matt points out the real Mensa site.

add a comment

Housing Boom January 20, 2006 3:08 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : News, Of Interest
, add a comment

2 room 200 square foot house (15’6″ x 12’8″) by railroad track with cloth roof and no electricity has kitchen and sleeps 3. Includes outdoor, chemical toilet. Put on market for $145,000 USD. Don’t miss this opportunity!

add a comment

Lost Details January 20, 2006 1:52 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Lost, Of Interest, TV / Movies
, 1 comment so far

Some details I absolutely missed when the Jack, Locke and Sawyer encountered Zeke. Man I would have been pouring out questions if I were Jack! “Where is this island?” “Keep the island! How do we get off?” and so forth.

1 comment so far

White House: DOJ Request For Google Data Is ‘Narrow’ January 20, 2006 12:16 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : News, Of Interest, Politics, Technology, Touchy Subjects, United States
, 1 comment so far

Today’s headline regarding Bush’s realization of Orwell’s world:
White House: DOJ Request For Google Data Is ‘Narrow’

You know… “Narrow” like a wedge is narrow on one end. Remember, the goal here is to censor the Internet on the premise that we are fighting child pornography. So far the government’s approach online has been to scare people in the pornography industry (or anything that might have to do with nudity) into self-policing but that would be like scaring Borders into not selling any books that show a baby’s butt (most parenting books and magazines) for fear of prosecution.

1 comment so far

Dealing with sharks January 20, 2006 12:02 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of Interest
, add a comment

Terreus has posted some great? advice about shark encounters.

Be sure to read his related post on the Thames.

add a comment

Are you smart? January 20, 2006 8:27 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Games/Puzzles, Of Interest
, 6comments

I had fun with this test. Got 16 17 18 19 20 out of 33 (without cheating) before I had to give up and get back to work. I think I can get to 19. Is this really a mensa test? I don’t know. But it is fun!

According to MENSA, if you get 19 + of these, you are a “genius”.
Only 2 MENSA members achieved full marks. See how well you do.

6comments

Student project: Mood-phone for Aspergers patients January 19, 2006 7:07 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Aspergers, Of Interest
, add a comment

Motorola has given an award to John Finan, who created a conceptual “mood-phone” that would help Asperger’s Syndrome patients determine the mood of the people they’re addressing. Asperger’s Syndrome famously afflicts sufferers by impairing their ability to pick up on social cues, and the mood-phone would makes those cues explicit, thus enabling Asperger’s patients to communicate more readily.

Source: Boing Boing

add a comment