A federal appeals court has reversed the half a million dollar fine that the FCC imposed on CBS for “allowing” Janet Jackson’s boobage exposure during that superbowl halftime event. This is a great thing, I guess, but the legal system is taking all of the illusion out of everyday life. During the case, Janet said that the “decision” for the “breast reveal” was made at the last minute. All of those people who thought it was an accident, and probably believe that professional wrestling is “real” as well, … well, I guess they can go on believing what they want anyway, because we all know they don’t know how to read.
Archive
I made the unwise decision this weekend to try and take four young ladies fishing. Four young ladies whose primary interests seem to focus more on Pokemon, iCarly, the Sims, Club Penguin, and other “screen entertainment” phenomena which are age-appropriate for them. Just me, and four girls.
Yeah, I know. I didn’t think it would be as much of a pain as it was. They were actually somewhat interested, which might surprise some people. The problem is less about interest than about experience and scheduling. First, I couldn’t get them up and out early enough, so we ended up on the riverbanks at about 9AM, at which point it was already 80 degrees or so. Then there’s the scheduling of the rigging, baiting and detangling of the lines. It’s pretty much a full-time adult job to keep two kids fishing, much less four.
Wasn’t too bad, though. Only lost two lures, and one or two bait hooks. Or maybe it was three lures, I can’t remember. There’s a lot of debris in the river where we were fishing. Next time, bobbers to keep the hooks away from the bottom. Or maybe some sort of weedless lures/hooks.
I fished a couple of times last week at Burke Lake, briefly, before/after work, and didn’t lose any gear there.
I took the girls to Lake Anna this weekend to camp with their uncle, aunt and cousins. Fun for all. Roasted marshmallows, boating, tubing, swimming, and sleeping on rocks. Just the experience that every kid needs. Their uncle has a yellow 2004 18.5′ SeaRay which is great for tubing. The water was between 80 and 85 degrees, probably owing at least a little bit to the nuclear plant.
Allie was very much in charge throughout the trip, and Sophie took special pains to play caretaker to Sky.
The five of them played nicely on the beach for quite some time.
Dark Reading has an excellent article on Nate Lawson’s Black Hat research into vulnerabilities in FasTrak toll devices. Check it out.
For the last few years, those of us who are sane, well-balanced and not completely full of ourselves and our self-importance have been quietly, or maybe not so quietly, making fun of the headset crowd — the guys (they’re almost all guys) who go about their day, on the street, in restaurants, everywhere, with a headset or earpiece attached to their heads, with a flashing blue light indicating bluetooth communication with their phones, talking to invisible people and even gesturing as if the person on the other end of the conversation can see them.
This was fun for a while.
But there are still a lot of people who are resistant to such asinine behavior. Or perhaps they just can’t afford or don’t wish to spend the money on a bluetooth headset. On the street, or in a restaurant, this is no big deal, their belt-mounted communication device will play obnoxious songs, or vibrate, or twitter or chirp, to indicate that a call is coming in, and they can swiftly (they practice the draw-and-phone drills in front of their bathroom mirror at home to look cool) answer the call and begin their oh-so-important call, about groceries, or their friends’ kids’ new zit, or whatever.
These people will soon be converted. Because of the automobile. Many jurisdictions are clamping down on using handsets while driving. These people will now be forced to do something. Now it used to be, that when I was driving and expecting a call, I would plug in my wired earbud. Since obtaining a Prius, however, I have experienced the pinnacle of modern mobile communication. Modern Toyota, Lexus and some other vehicles have bluetooth connection integrated into their navigation and entertainment subsystems, and the integration is done so well that once it’s set up you only have to do it once. Now, when I enter the car and push the power button, the navigation system launches, and a line appears at the top of the screen: “Bluetooth Connection Successful.” This indicates that my navigation/entertainment system has successfully negotiated with my belt-mounted mobile phone. I start the car, and start listening to whatever audiobook, language lesson or XM channel I’m in the mood for that day. When a call comes in, the audio is interrupted, a ringing sound comes through the 9-speaker audio system of the vehicle, and I answer it, with a button on the steering wheel. The nav screen even tells me the number of the person who’s calling (sometimes). My voice is piped through a microphone on the system, and the caller’s voice is piped through the 9-speaker audio. To outsiders, it looks as if I’m talking to myself. No flashing blue nerdset is visible on my head, so I must just be talking to myself.
The advantage to this is, once more people become aware of this reality, they will start to assume I’m on a call. They will make fun of me for being a nerd, instead of for babbling insanely to nobody, or making fun of my bad Spanish as I practice along with an audiobook. And by participating in this insanity, I am providing the world just that much more entertainment. I still think it makes much more sense than the bluetooth headsets.
zero becomes one
reckless energy springs forth
a force in the world
our time here is short
we all want to feel alive
while there is still light
then we stop breathing
all at once or bit by bit
one becomes zero
Ok I guess I’ll cut The Sun a little bit of slack, since their game is tabloid to begin with. But characterizing Sheyla Hershey as a “housewife” is a bit out of line. No “housewife” would ever do this to herself. It’s just impractical. She is a performer, and is apparently trying to enhance her visibility in that arena.
Darryl and I went shooting after work on Friday. We pumped about 100 rounds through a Springfield XD45. Nice action, enjoyed it. We were shooting at The Range in Stafford. According to the gentleman behind the counter, the place has been there for fourteen years. It’s a decent range with fourteen lanes. Hot, though. My eyebrows were sweating. Next time I need to remember to wear a hat. My hair’s too long for hot range action. I like the ammo prices at The Range, they reload there, so it’s significantly cheaper than buying ammo at Wal-Mart. My groupings were pretty good, but not what they should be. As for the Springfield, I like it. Empty, it’s lighter than the Sig P220 I used to carry, because the Springfield has a polymer frame (like a Glock). In fact, field-stripped, the frame alone could pass for a toy. But loaded, it’s fairly heavy, because the double-stack magazine holds 13 rounds. If I remember correctly, my Sig held 8.
It’s time to upgrade your house. With modern advances in Internet-based democracy, and the near ubiquity and apparent legal status of owning lockpick sets, which require a minor amount of skill, and “bump keys,” which require none at all, people can get into your stuff with zero effort. Don’t believe me? Ask me for a demo sometime.
Here are the fixes:
1) replace all your external locks. Abloy, Bilock, Medeco, Schlage Primus, Kwikset Smartkey are examples. Look for “bump-proof.”
2) of course that’s not enough. bad guys can still break and open windows. consider “security film,” a clear adhesive that goes directly on window panes which prevents this.
if bumping was new, i wouldn’t be mentioning it here for my friends. it’s not new, it’s a few years old, and it’s ALL OVER youtube and other venues.
Note to bump kiddies: bump keys ARE considered “burglary tools” in most states. It’s one thing to own them, but don’t get caught using them on someone else’s locks, or you will go to jail.
I finished Digital Fortress (audiobook), and started listening to Snow Crash this week. I am flipping back and forth periodically between Snow Crash, written by Neal Stephenson (who also wrote Cryptonomicon) and learning Spanish, por que es importante para mi.