Superhero quiz

Slavish, I know, but I had to take the "Which Superhero are you quiz" that Kimota94 linked to. Here are my results:

You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 75% Superman 65% Hulk 60% Robin 60% Green Lantern 55% The Flash 55% Iron Man 50% Supergirl 50% Wonder Woman 25% Catwoman 25% Batman 25%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

Unlike Kimota94, I'm willing to see what kind of villain I would be:

You are Apocalypse

Apocalypse 64% Mr. Freeze 57% Dr. Doom 56% Magneto 55% Juggernaut 45% Dark Phoenix 44% Venom 43% The Joker 39% Lex Luthor 36% Kingpin 32% Poison Ivy 32% Riddler 29% Green Goblin 17% Catwoman 12% Mystique 5% Two-Face 5%

You believe in survival of the fittest and you believe that you are the fittest.

Click here to take the Super Villain Personality Test

Guess it would depend on the day then... Interesting that I aligned with Marvel characters as it was Marvel that I read almost exclusively when I was younger.

Hockey equipment, part the first

My place of employment provides a taxable benefit known as the "Wellness Benefit". They use this to encourage movement or outside fulfillment - anything to get one away from the tv and computer screen. As a result, I've been using my wellness benefit to subsidize my hockey equipment purchases. Since a new calendar year is fast approaching, I began to consider what new equipment I may need. Quickly I zeroed in on my gloves.

The gloves I have are fine, but they have two issues. The first is that I have worn through the palm and thumb on both, in a little less than 2 years. The second is that they are 14" gloves (size XL), were I do not have the biggest hands... With this in mind, I went to Perani's Hockey World to see what I could find as a possible replacement.

I was hoping that someone there could help me find the appropriate size for my hands and they did. Turns out to be 13". The next thing was to find out what they thought was a glove that would be durable and not wear out in a year. Before I went, I did some research to see what was considered a durable glove.

One suggestion was that Eagle made a good glove, so I asked about it first. The guy helping me said they had some problems with the durability of the palm, but they had a super warranty. People would bring the glove in with the receipt and would get a new pair in 2 or 3 days. The guarantee didn't have any date or time stipulated and he had seen someone come back a year and half later and got a new pair, no questions asked. The guy helping me liked them okay as they have a straight fit and were comfortable. Pretty classic looking design, but they seemed pretty good. I think they wanted ~$150 for them, so that's quite an investment. If they continue to stand behind them though, it may be worth it.

The next pair the store guy suggested was a pair of Easton's, with a fancy wrist protector. I believe it was a Synergy 900 series glove. The store guy recommended it for its palm and the fact that it is extremely comfortable. I couldn't disagree with that - really comfortable and lots of movement. It's also on sale for the next bit, ~$80. It has a detached cuff with a velcro strap that protects the wrist while letting the padding on the back of the hand stand out.

Tried on a Warrior Kingpin glove - very comfy, but the palm feels too soft. Feels like a chamois and it's > $150. No dice. Store guy didn't like it either - thought the palm was too soft too.

The store guy started talking about a comfortable fit and said that he liked a straight fit. I asked him what he meant and he pulled out an RBK glove for me to try on. It forced my wrist to bend as I put it in, which would be fine if you held your stick in a particular way. I thought it sucked, so we moved on.

As something a little different, he pulled out a Bauer (okay, Nike Bauer) Supreme 90 glove. This was an example of a glove that he did like, but didn't force your hand or wrist. These gloves are all mesh backed and very tight fitting. They called it "anatomical", but it means the it is fits very close. I didn't find this bad standing there - they were comfortable and moved well. I was just concerned about the protection it would give, because it felt more like thick winter gloves than a hockey glove. I'm sure that it would be pretty good, but I think that would be a distant third for me. This is their current top-end glove, so I think it was ~$150.

After deciding that I'll come back on Jan 2 to do the deed, I asked if they had the Sherwood Momentum stick in a Coffey curve. They did - in fact is was on sale! $70, which is exactly the price that I would want to pay for a one-piece composite. The wood stick I like is about $35, so this is about double that cost, so it is definitely worth a try.

So far, I think the Easton's are top, followed by the Eagles and the Bauer Supreme 90s. The last two are about twice as expensive as the Easton's, so it definitely has the edge in comfort and affordability. I'll be picking up one of those and a new stick next week! Adapting to the new stuff will make things interesting in the next little while.

What? No Post? No Problem!

It's almost been the whole day and I haven't even posted yet! I must be slipping! But then again, probably not - I was pretty busy today. Then there was the obligatory weeb smurfing, general inattentiveness and so on.

The oldest son was not feeling that great yesterday so I figured he probably wouldn't want to go to his swimming lessons today. Called the Y and turns out they won't let him, or anyone, swim today. Lessons start up again in a few weeks, so I could go play hockey! Yea! Called up Shane and confirmed they were playing, and made it out there. Nice bunch of guys and it was good game. I'm only saying that because I got 2 goals, but whatever. First goal was a "shoveling the trash through the 5 hole" in front of the net. I was surprised that it squeaked in, but a goal is a goal. The second one was a sweet sweet point shot about 2' (60 cm) off the ice - over the pad, under the glove. Shane ended up being late because he got touched in a rear-ending. A car smacked the car behind him, which touched his bumper. Still made it in time for about two-thirds of the game. Gonna try and go out again next week (no swimming - I'm playing hockey).

Next I had some hockey-related errands to run. Took my old helmet to Herm's, but they didn't want it. I carried pucks in it a few times, so there are some black marks inside. I'm gonna try and clean it up and see if they'll take it. It is in good shape, just a little too big. If not, whatever. I'll let my hair get more bushy and there we go.

Next went to Hockey World (seriously - that's what it is called). Looked around at some new stuff, but I'll detail that in another post. I want to record that information separately. Very productive.

Next stop, the evil scourge Best Buy. The wife indicated that another season of The Simpson's is out. And since we don't have it, I got right on that. Found a copy of the Animatrix for $8, Ice Age 2: The Meltdown was specially priced ($6 bucks off) and I couldn't find "The Office" (US version) season 1 anywhere. My wife and I got Season 2 from her brother for Christmas. We have both been enjoying it, but it has been a slow process - kind of like Sponge Bob Squarepants. Then, horror of horrors, my ignorant stumbling into the "Special Buys" section brought me in contact with... So aweful ('full-of-awe", not the pejorative) it was - $64, taunting me. I had no choice - I swore a silent oath to obtain it when I found it. It was, and remains, "The Seven Samurai" by Akira Kurosawa. 207 black-and-white minutes of Criterion Special edition, in Japanese with English subtitles. I never thought I'd see it, but now I have it in my hot little hands. My indulgence of the season - CURSE YOU BEST BUY! HOW DARE YOU TEMPT ME WITH GOODS I WANT TO PURCHASE! You'd think it was their purpose - to take my money! I must avoid it now, before they put the credit-card readers at the entrance...

Headed back to Sport Chek to see about a new helmet for the youngest. His bike helmet isn't really fitting him well, and it he has a slightly bigger head (circumference!) than his brother. In fact they are very close in size so a new helmet is needed. They pointed out at the store that they should probably have a hockey helmet for skating because bike helmets are one-impact. Not only that, many rinks won't let kids on without a helmet, and no bike helmets. I suppose that snowboarding helmets (or skateboarding helmets) would probably be okay as well, but hockey helmets come with cages. So bought one bike helmet and two hockey helmets and brought them home.

At home, tried the helmets on the boys and they were completely wrong. Way too big - missed something at the store I guess. Looking at three different pieces of information for each helmet, missed the size in inches (which matched the measurements I had in-hand). Eventually got them into the store before closing and found some that actually fit. I was not surprised that they needed two different brands of helmet because their heads are different shapes. I've found some makes are completely unsafe for me, leaving big gaps at some points while crushing my head at others. The other disappointing (to the pocket book) is that the helmets that fit are at the top-end of the size (helmets at the maximum stops). So when they grow just a little, say next week, I'll have to get new ones. Oh well - they'll be much safer now and I can put the little name-tag stickers on their foreheads. Of the helmets - I can tell them apart ordinarily.

Finally, here I am, writing about it all. All this time I've been spending writing at the computer got me wanting more music, so I had to start ripping more of my CDs. No cheap rips for me - high quality VBR with rates between 192 and 256 bps. Nothing like shrinking your mp3 player by inflating your files. Must move on - there is a game on that I want watch a part of...

Mmmm... Friday...

Started today off right - played hockey, scored a nice goal. Ed booked two hours back-to-back, the first hour for kids to play, the second for the regular Tuesday crowd. Got great response today though - being a Friday and starting at 10am instead of 8am. We had 20 skaters, which made for deep benches. Deep benches made for a very very fast game though - skate hard, get off. Everyone commented on how good the game was, and I think the game was being played at level we don't normally reach. Team yellow, my side, was chastised in the locker room after because we decided to play defense. I setup a nice goal in the early going, diving towards the back of the net but dumping a quick backhand in front. Found a yellow pinnie an they made no mistake. It's gratifying to be flying behind the net and see the puck hit the mesh before completing the circuit. My own goal was off a rebound - picked it up in the slot and just waited and waited while I drifted across... The goalie was down, which is good because I tend to go high. I hit the center vertical bar and it was satisfying. Now I just have to figured out how to fake the goalie to get them down when break in alone...

I'm itching to play more often, so I'm hoping that maybe I can play tomorrow. Normally my oldest has swimming, but I'm not sure what is going during this holiday season. He hasn't been there for one reason or another for more than a month. Ah well - the Y is a good place, and lessons are part of membership, so no harm done.

My cousin and his family paid us a visit this afternoon. They were headed into town to hang out with the grandparents. Like his wife says - "It's great to have company 'cause it means you have to clean the house." I so agree with that. Most heartily agree. Mine heart leaps with joyous recognition... Guess I can't really make up for that first phrase, but hopefully the sentiment is conveyed. Their little guy his growing so fast - 17 months and he is bigger than my youngest (34 months). So big that we can't keep sending them our hand-me-downs! Not surprising really - both parents are quite tall. The kids played pretty nicely together, but my youngest was a little tired so grew possessive at times. My wife made a nice baked good - something like raspberry cheesecake squares. Just a little too soft to eat with the fingers, but tasty.

And that was pretty much my day. Except for the game of Life, which my oldest won. And the great second period between the Leafs and the Penguins. It was 1-1 after 2, but I understand the Pens won 4-1. I didn't see it, but I was very happy to watch the second. Aubin kept the Leafs in it - stonewalled Crosby/Malkin/Recchi a few times. Play really opened up after the Leafs goal. Anyway.... must sleep... so... tired.. but still... I type...

Rear-window science

New Scientist has another neat blurb on some new research. It's the oh-so-popular "carbon nanotube" again. This time, some group has created a paint with carbon nanotubes in it and then pass a current through the "paint". Since the tubes conduct electricity, this produces heat. Not only that, it produces an even heat through the entire paint. And a thin layer of the paint is transparent. This paint would replace the heating wires in car windows while providing a cool-looking tint. A thicker layer (which would be opaque) could be used as in-floor (or in-wall, in ceiling in-whatever) heating. The great thing about it is that there are no wires to break so the conductivity is spread very evenly.

Think of the home reno with that: "new tile floor... uh, did you want in-floor heating? Okay, just gotta fetch the other bucket. " Or "Gonna seal that driveway for you... did you want it to be self-cleaning for ice and snow? Okay, let me get the other bucket." This is something that I can't recall very often from science-fiction - technology that is paint-on. I've seen an announcement of a paint-on solar panel, but it isn't commercialized yet. Same idea as this though - some new kind of nano-scale material that can be applied like a paint.

vCJD help at last!

vCJD (variantCreutzfeld-Jacob Disease) is a pretty horrible disease. It is a series of tiny protein fragments that can pass through your entire body, gathering in your brain and basically destroying it. This is also known as "mad cow disease".

The tiny protein fragments are called "prions". Prions aren't virii, bacteria or yeast, but a non-living form of infectious agent that is very difficult to get rid of. In the spectrum described above, yeast (a type of fungi) is "alive". It has a nucleus, organelles (like mitochondria) and a membrane. Next is bacteria, which is single celled, no organelles or nucleus, but still considered "alive". A virus is a non-living agent - it has an exterior shell and DNA inside, but it has no internal mechanisms. It cannot move or reproduce on its own, but it uses living cells to reproduce. This makes it a sort of half-alive entity. More like a machine that is activated when it contacts the appropriate cells. Prions are even less like living cells than a virus.

A virus contains genetic material, RNA or DNA, with a protein casing. The casing protects the genetic material until it can hijack a living cell and use it to reproduce. A prion lacks the genetic material - somehow it is able to change certain proteins into itself, without using other means. The exact mechanism is actually not understood.

However the GOOD NEWS is that someone has discovered a treatment for this disease! Researchers were able to develop a blood filtering process that is capable of pulling out the bad prions from the blood. This is by far the best news for any sufferer of vCJD or mad cow disease. I hope the process will proceed to commercial approval so that it will be available as a treatment.

Edit (2006-12-31): A helpful commenter pointed out that this is not a treatment for vCJD, but rather something that will make blood transfusions safer. The prions are removed from human blood by the process, which is still a tremendous step for the disease. I suspect that it would be used as part of a treatment for someone with vCJD, by filtering their own blood. So little is still known that it may make no difference.

Inukshuk Wireless Broadband

A work colleague, who happens to live outside of London, told me about a new service he's trying out. You see he lives in the country where the cable doesn't go and DSL doesn't stretch so in spite of the fact that he is a computer professional it is difficult to obtain broadband Internet access.

Up until now, he had one practical choice: Execulink Wireless Internet. This is a line-of-site "terrestrial microwave" service. I actually know of two people at work that have used this service. Provides about 60 KB/s down and 20 KB/s up so it is better than dialup, but that's about all you can say. And that's under good conditions. My colleague was experiencing intermittent service - dropped connections, bad throughput etcetera, and inquired with Execulink technical support. They discovered a rival service had setup a new tower between Exculink's tower and my colleague's home. Not sure what service it was, but it could possibly be High Speed Anywhere.

The more interesting information that he got both a flyer from the new provider and also a call from Rogers offering him their new Roger's Portable Internet service. This a 1.5 Mbps down, 256 Kbps up service (187 KB/s down, 30 KB/s up) that is installed on cellular towers. I was intrigued by this and started looking into it further. This is the fruits of a joint venture between Rogers and Bell called Inukshuk, which aims to provide broadband access to the under served rural areas. Their site calls their network "pre-WiMAX", but the important thing is that it is non-line-of-sight. Plus the intention is to add transceivers to existing cellular towers owned by both Rogers and Bell with both companies supplying the actual Internet service. Bell's service is called Sympatico Unplugged.

I thought this sounded great - getting the companies with the cellular towers involved was excellent and we can keep the broadband Internet access more available. My parents live on a small stretch of gravel road, within ~2 km of the nearest cable line and too far for DSL. They cannot even get broadband access (except satellite) at their house, but this is very hopeful. Rogers is starting to offer service in the London, ON area, so they are or will be within range soon. Though I think their 286 will need a RAM upgrade from 1MB...

I'm also hopeful that the service may upgrade to WiMAX soon because Intel is pushing hard to include WiMAX capable radios in their laptop wireless chipsets. That would translate to being able to buy a 1.5 Mbps/256 Kbps service for $50/month that works pretty much anywhere in Canada. Including off at Dale's farm or my parent's house, or Kelowna. Now that would be cool.

For your further edification, here are some more links on Inukshuk:

Digital Home

A brief review and description of the service from March of 2006

Globe and Main Review

A review of the service by Jack Kapica of Associated Press from July of 2006

Broadband Reports Review

Review and forum discussion of the service from March 2006

Power consumption

Slashdot has an article about the power consumption of household devices. They reference a blog entry by a Canadian Dennis Forbes who did some testing of his own home in Toronto. Very interesting as it refers to someone with a home and climate closer to what I experience, so it actually is quite relevant to me. Here is the Wall Street Journal article that kicked everything off.

Samsung's Month-long laptop

Samsung is getting closer to creating a practical fuel cell for laptops. They have created a methanol-based laptop doc that store enough fuel for 12,000 Wh. Using the right laptop, they estimate you could go 1 month without refueling.

I know this isn't ideal - it isn't a nice internal fuel cell conveniently replacing the battery in your laptop, but it is progress. The article I linked above indicates that the system produces about 20 Watts peak output, but that is just fine for a small notebook. And they aren't pretending that this is something that you take on the train or bus with you - it is a docking station. Great for that island cottage or remote wilderness getaway. Engadget also has an article.

14!

Jason Hall got 14 of 20 shots in from the far blue line!!! 14! One hit the post and dribbled across the crease, but didn't count as a goal, or else it would be 15. If he got 15 out of 20 from the far blue line, he would have had 1 million dollars! He did get a Chevy Silverado for him, 2 friends and 2 people picked at random.

Glen Healy watched the Canucks practice and said Henrik Sedin got 4 of 20 in. And he was the best one who tried. This guy got 14 of 20 in! He was a wicked shot. And they didn't even clean the ice before - he had to use the end-of-period snowy surface to shoot on.

Glad he got something. And he's getting married in 2 days. Wicked shooting.

Well then...

I guess my grandiose dream of outstripping Kimota94 in posts is simply that. I haven't gotten into the habit of writing up all my ideas and transforming them into online gold! but I'm still new at this. I figure I should spend some time each day writing and this is an excellent way to do it. Get to do some reading, do some writing, exercise parts of my brain that go largely unused for long periods (the grey squishy parts).

Made it in to work today - remind me to book the holidays off next year. It was very nice - quiet, contemplative, no one around to ask questions of... I did manage to get work done as the right person happened to be in and available. With the onset of agile practices, maybe we should specify that this period next year be a time for catching up on things that do not require others. Guess I should expand on that in my "work blog".

Made the mistake of reading Kimota94's blog first again. He was soliciting story ideas and that tapped all the good ideas I had for the evening. Also I'm wondering how that guy from London is going to do with that far-blue-line-shoot-for-a-million thing on TSN. Says he has 24 seconds to put as many as possible into the net - sounds pretty fair. The hard part will be the fans of course. Gotta see how far into the game they are...

Anyway, brain power low, creativity fading... fading... ... fading... ... ... gone. Guess it will wait until tomorrow.

"Surviving" holidays

Read Kimota94's post about Christmas Survival and it got me thinking. First that he's lucky to have so many consumable gifts (and how they have been processed in a unidirectional fashion), but more about survival.

I've heard many people comment on "surviving" holidays, but I think it is poor word usage. Survival implies some kind of struggle, something epic and memorable. Existing or persisting or muddling or crawling through is closer to the mark. Holidays can be a lot of work, but struggles with the holidays tend to mirror the other aspects of modern life. People complain of having no time, not enough time in the day not enough etc etc etc. Time can be created, or tasks removed, whatever suits you (see: Agile Methodologies). Personally, I am generally late for things (my wife claims my name should be "Chief Running-late"), so I understand the problem. Intimately. Padding estimates and better planning improves the entire situation. The worst case that I see is that some things get missed - like forgetting that special yam-pudding for dinner at Aunt Freida's or not remembering a gift for that last-minute Christmas invite. Everyone is busy and has many things to remember. Like what people want for Christmas, what parties to go to, which relatives one should simply not talk to.

Point, point... I know I had a point in here somewhere... Here it is! Seems to me that a better approach would be to make some solid (read: simple) plans in advance, stock up on and deal with things as they come. Works on so many levels for some many things it is scary. Or right. Oh, and I am right - something I've discovered over the past few years. All the people I've met that have used this approach are generally relaxed people that can handle anything that life throws at them. I think they tend to die quietly in their sleep, not screaming in terror like their passengers. People that fret over every detail are rarely happy about the results, no matter how good the outcome. My mother (and my aunt) are both fabulous cooks, but they always warn us that something is too dry or not done right, when it is absolutely perfect for me. Fortunately they worry about the meal but let other things take care of themselves so they don't blow a gasket on a special day.

This is not to say that there isn't a lot of work to be done - it's the hurried, resentfulness so many bring to it. Your work is brining some sort of solace to some one you know and (hopefully) like, so why can't that be it's own reward? Rhetorical question, but I can answer it. It's the same reason that people can't walk out on a cold clear night and gaze at a darkened sky and sense the peaceful calm of existence.

Maybe I'm just ignorant of the whole problem. The pressure can be tremendous and it can be overwhelming. Knowing what I could be dealing with instead of relatives, presents, late nights and culinary disaster removes the pressure for me. My wife and I developed a theory of "constant worry" - that the average person has to worry to some measurable mark. During the Great Depression, the things that one had to worry about were simple and basic - will I still have a job tomorrow? Will my job give me enough money to buy bread on the way home tonight? Do I have enough food so I won't die during the night? Move ahead to the 1950's and people worried about Jimmy swearing and whether their telephones will give them polio. Western (affluent) society cares little about the day-to-day realities of food, shelter and survival because they are trivially handled. Society invents problems (or perhaps the media suggests problems and society accepts them). Things like whiter teeth or car navigation systems. I suppose that some worry excessively about Christmas because they need to raise their worry level and move their yearly average up to social norms. Maybe it's really a sign that things are okay, that everything is going exceptionally well for all concerned.

I just wish people would enjoy themselves a little more and worry less. It's easier to get along with happy people. Merry Christmas.

More Meta blog thoughts

One thing that I like about this blogospheral existence is that one entry can correspond nicely to one train of thought. I was going to put "thought" but that doesn't work for me - I segue myself so easily that I don't think anything I write was one coherent idea. Probably 4 or 5, but whatever - who's counting.

The one-train-one-post is what will get my post numbers up. I'm not sure I'll have something to write about every day. Actually I'm pretty sure I won't, but I do have lots to say on other days, so hopefully the average will be something reasonable.

Something that I desperately need to start doing is more creative writing. Everything can be creative writing, but I mean in a more fictional sense. Some random topic taken to some subjective extreme with words not indicative of particular structure, purpose or destination.

To juxtapose the way I write with pj's comments from this month, I rarely edit what I type. I have always enjoyed a stream-of-consciousness style which can say more than I'd like, or less or whatever, but I'm hoping to generate that person in the bubble speaking the words right into your head. Incessant, insinuating, instigating, indignant, alliterated words. Alright, I do check for spelling and I'm keeping the alliteration because the definition justifies it.

5 Things

Okay Mr. Peter J - I'll have to follow on with the 5 things bit. But only because you referenced my brand new blog :)

One of the reasons I haven't bothered to setup a blog yet is because I can't keep my keyboard shut. So coming up with 5 things that people don't know about me that I haven't already mentioned will be tricky...

1. First computer in my (parent's) house was a 286 - a PS/2 model 50 to be exact. I got AH-64A Apache as my first game. The computer still runs, with 1 MB of ram and 10 MB hard drive.
2. I got a 2 on the Descartes, which may be interesting to people because I wanted to go to U(W) when I wrote it...
3. I have fired a musket.
4. Re-wrote the cs_supervisor task as a co-op at Cableshare - but hey, who didn't ;)
5. My OS in the Real-time class had the fastest context switch.

As far as number of posts.... Well I've only been at this a short while, but I'm game.

Mmmm... Christmas...

My "Blog Ambitions" tour wrapped up early on Friday with the onset of stomach illness. That was brought to me by my eldest son, who, am I told, narrowly avoided decorating his teachers clothing on the last day before Christmas. Nothing says "see you in two weeks!" like a technicolor-HCl blouse accent, lovingly applied. So I asked "WWWWWWWWWAAAAHHHHHHHHYYYYY" a few times that evening and was pretty much scuppered for Saturday.

Sunday was good and proceeded to gather with my family for Christmas eve meal and early Santa-gifts. Santa knows my Mom and he authorized her to distribute gifts on Christmas Eve. I think his purpose is to prevent kids from waking up at 4am to "get up" and "open gifts in the morning". The good times continued after the kids went to bed - a good friend showed up at our door and we exchanged gifts and hung out in our living room for a bit. Talked about how to enumerate the zeros in 1000!, but we can blame jamesh for that. He thought enumerating the multiples of 10 would be easy and I couldn't convince him of that in two minutes, so the problem still stands for the ages. Unwound, went to bed, and woke up at 2:30am to cries of "Da-dee, daaaaa-deeeee!". Clouded, sleepy, I assumed the dampness was a result of an explosively runny nose. Light revealed potato and my sugar plum dreams were canceled.

Christmas day - stumbled towards the down, hitting every stair, and proceeded to ride the couch for the remainder of the day. Watched the original Star Wars trilogy DVDs (twice altered - this one has Hayden Christensen spliced into the ending). Hopefully everyone has been sick so we won't see this played out again soon. Found out my cousin and his young son went through this same sorta show, but last week. Ah the joys of communicable disease, er kids.

So no biting sarcasm, no head-losing rants, just simple down-home... Need sleep. Can't. Stop. Typing. Single. Word. Sentences. Please. Help!

Another day, another post

I can't help it - Kimota94's insistence on valuing daily posting has driven me to stay up late enough to ensure a good blogging start. I can't have too much serious content anyway - that will simply change the content level of the internet from 0 to, well, not-zero. What can I say - I have big ambitions. As long as the involve me staying in front of the computer and exercising typing skills that have taken a life time to shape.

The edge I've been pushed over

Finally I broke down and started a blog. I couldn't take it any long. I was going to post a link to the original source, but I was not sure. Not supplying all the information is part of the problem so go read the original post here. In a separate forum that I'm a part of, the following comment appeared:

Of course, their limited world view on understanding exactly what Islam is, and what a Muslim is. And, what a Christian is. Kinda like this person needs to really do a little soul searching and self education.

Read on for what I couldn't keep in
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But but that means they're willing to change! That just can't be - that means they could be wrong! I mean if I see a name and rearrange the letters, convert the numbers to letters - oh - I see it again - 666! The beast!

I'm not shocked any more, just increasingly disappointed at the ignorant stupidity or blatant manipulative attempts. No middle ground, no quarter given, nothing but sun or shade. And they sit at their computers decrying a civilization that existed before theirs, while a zone of chaos swirls through a land 5000 miles away, worried that "those people" are bringing them down. Oh jeez, I guess they're dying is harshing your buzz. I suppose "those people", you know them - they wear different clothes, have different fanatical beliefs, they're in your city, pointing guns at you. Oh, you mean they *may* be in your cities, *may* be planning a protest, er bombing, er something.

You know, it's been more than 5 years North America hasn't seen any more deaths... But 10 or 100 times as many people in places have died as a result. If people from far away showed up were I lived, I'd have to take up arms and fight to the death. People that complain of "threats" and "possibilities" should stop and look around. The streets seem devoid of foreign soldiers and there isn't any gun play. They have a computer, electricity to power it, coffee to fuel their idiocy and navel-gazing.

A strong person, one deserving of respect, is someone who can admit they made a mistake and move on. Those who invent further calamities so they don't have to change their position are not deserving of respect.