The Dead Zone

My favorite committer of hate crimes against humanity

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 15:28:46 GMT

The dastardly criminal Mark Steyn quickly became a favorite of mine once I stumbled across some articles by him and learned of the crimes he's been accused of in Canada.

I am quite sure I did a search a few months ago to see if he had a blog, so how the heck did I miss it?

You can read through that site to see the ugly details of what he's been accused of. There's a summary by another writer here, in Mark Steyn: Enemy of the State?, which I particularly like for this quote:

One of the principal investigators of the Canadian Human Rights Commission was asked in a hearing what value he puts on freedom of speech in his work, and replied, "Freedom of speech is an American concept, so I don't give it any value."

Tangentially, here's perhaps the greatest and most important YouTube video ever posted, also touching on the wonders of the Canadian Human Rights regime:

If you wonder about my interest in such things, as a dirty American, they are two-fold:

- I actually have the right to claim Canadian citizenship if I choose, inheriting it from my mother.

- I don't want to see America adopt the worst aspects of the Canadian system, or as Steyn says, I'll have nowhere else to go...

The Beginning of the End for the Book

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:44:06 GMT

Since I was a wee tot, the received knowledge about electronic books is that they would never work and the rather startlingly functional traditional paper-based book would always be King.

However, while I think the Kindle is butt-ugly and I can't imagine getting one until at least 2.0, casual reviews like this and the experience of a friend with the thing, and my own experience reading blog posts and websites on my iPhone, have me believing we are seeing the beginning of the end for the book. Now, I doubt it will ever totally go away, as paper books are just too darned useful.

But in the same way I will never again buy a game in a box if I can avoid it, I think downloading books to a device is going to become the norm eventually, and I wouldn't have thought so just a few years ago.

In addition to the conveniences of buying any book you want any time you want, and not having to lug a bag of books on vacation, I once read an intriguing argument that those fervently favoring the "traditional" book were actually ignoring the fact that the book as we know it today is a very modern technological development.

Books have actually gone through many stages of development over the centuries, and the oh-so-convenient pocket paperback only came about in the last 50 years or so.

So books moving to digital devices would actually be just another expected step on the ladder of progress that has been occurring since Gutenberg had a bright idea...

I prefer to sit in my power, thanks

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 12:08:39 GMT

Did I mention I live in San Francisco?

Which Way to Witch, he Wonders

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:48:58 GMT

Well, here's a conundrum.

After months of hearing positive things about The Witcher, I broke down and bought it. I have enough access to games already -- games I've bought and not yet played, and the vast number of games available through my GameTap subscription, that I'm only willing to buy a game if it's clear it will hold special appeal. And when people keep discussing a game in podcasts months after it was released, especially when it's about the game being for adults and containing real and interesting decisions, and having a great story, eventually I cave in.

So I bought The Witcher, and I've been playing through it slowly and enjoying the heck out of it. I'm not far in (just got out of jail, through the sewers and into the city that comes after the starting region). Then while visiting Guy, he mentioned hearing about some special version of the game being released. Turns out he was referring to the extended edition that is in the works, which contains some major upgrades for the English/US market.

And this brings me to my conundrum...I'm only a few hours into the game. Do I wait until September or so to play the extended edition, or do I play through the gimped version now and play through again when released?

So far I like it enough, and there are enough ways to customize your character as you progress, that I don't see an issue with replaying it. But I will miss experiencing the best possible version of the story on the first time through.

Oh what, dear readers, should I do?

There and Back Again

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:31:26 GMT

Many thanks to Gug for being an extremely gracious host* during a long weekend in Ohio (where "extremely gracious" == "picked up all the tabs").

We only had to fight off one Canadian Commando team -- they were hoping to get blood and DNA samples of a true patriot, to see if they could manage to create one in their own country. But being Canadian, they were defeated by us politely asking them to leave the premises.

Otherwise it was a weekend of drunken debauchery...or of playing board games and Xbox games and watching DVDs and buying too many used books and drinking Mojitos. One of those.

We BYONDers, we know how to party!

* One ungracious item: Gug rudely won every game we played. Hmph.

Leave no BYONDer behind

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:54:39 GMT

Tomorrow I go to visit a fellow BYONDer in the great state of Ohio.

I have checked, and it appears that not only is Ohio not on either coast, it is suspiciously near Communist Canada.

So I have but one request:

If for any reason I don't make it out, please ask the President to bomb Cleveland first and ask questions later.

Thank you very much, my fellow Americans.

Speaking of testicles

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:42:00 GMT

Which we were, weren't we? Actually, this started as a reply in the comment thread to Mike's latest post, but since it provides some useful medical info that people should be aware of, I thought I'd give it the visibility of a post unto itself:

In case another person being in pain will make you [Mike] feel better, I was in the ER at 4:00 AM this morning due to pain in, um, the same sphere, so to speak.

I'd had a bit of pain throughout the week, kind of generalized and coming and going. Of course I had a few thoughts of "Uh oh" based on what you've experienced. Nonetheless I decided to wait it out a bit, especially given a busy time at work and not wanting to jump the gun (I once went into an ER for possible heart attack symptoms...I felt like I was being all adult and doing "the right thing", but the symptoms turned out to be nothing, and the result was putting a permanent big black mark on my medical history when it comes to insurance...)

Then yesterday it got persistently worse, and I did a bit of Googling...determined it wasn't a hernia (which I've been warned I'm at risk for) but also that it wasn't the Big C (which tends to be painless), so I thought maybe "torsion", which means things get twisted around and blood supply gets cut off. In that case you must see a doctor within hours, or stuff starts dying off.

So, of course, I went to bed.

But my body wasn't having any of that, and between increased pain and mental repetition of "Must see an experienced doctor within hours", I gave up at four in the morning and decided to go to the ER, which conveniently is a block from my house.

This turns out to be a good time to visit the ER...no other patients were in sight, and I was whisked in right away. And here I'd loaded up on DS games and a book for the inevitable wait.

After the inevitable poking and prodding and a high-resolution ultrasound and peeing in a cup, they confirmed that it's almost certainly an infection, and loaded me up with pain killers and antibiotics.

A few key points from this:

- Having Mike's experience in mind absolutely prompted me to pay more attention and possibly act sooner than I would have otherwise.

- Google is the best invention in the history of mankind.

- Living a block from a world class hospital comes in handy once in a while.

- Genetically modified antibiotics For The Win!

- If you do experience unprovoked pain in that area, get it looked at quickly...especially if it's persistent pain, it may be need to be addressed immediately if you want to keep all your marbles.

Indiana Jones and the Lost Script

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 17:10:43 GMT

Spoilers are here if you haven't seen the movie, but then again, who cares since nothing about this movie is worth seeing?

So, behold something more enjoyable than the film itself, the abridged script...

Politics without comment: The worker's paradise

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:46:47 GMT

At this time I don't feel like advocating for any particular candidate or party. You can make all the assumptions you like about who I would be supporting (and I know you spend a lot of time thinking about what I might think about things), but I can tell you that among the people whose opinion influences mine, both US candidates are supported and/or reviled. And I can tell you both candidates have positions I support and positions I am strongly in disagreement with.

Given that, I'm gonna try an experiment. I will occasionally post things from the candidates that I think should be interesting to people, without direct comment on whether I approve or not. I'll let others come to their own conclusion, for as long as I can stand it. I will try to be non-partisan, in the sense that I will pledge to post good or bad about either candidate.

So, enough blather, and on to today's entry, which is a triple header:

Barak Obama on what's bad for workers:

"Globalization and technology and automation all weaken the position of workers," he said, and a strong government hand is needed to assure that wealth is distributed more equitably.

Barak Obama on being willing to consider using the market:

You know, if somebody shows me we can do something better through a market mechanism, I'm happy to do it. I have no vested interest in expanding government or setting up a program just for the sake of setting one up.

The House Democrats solution for oil problems:

Among other things, the Democrats called for the government to own refineries so it could better control the flow of the oil supply.

Some choice bits to get the brain working!

Mouth Wide Shut

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:39:41 GMT

I hate getting into certain kinds of arguments, because even if I am right, I'm so darned ignorant that I can't cogently defend my opinion. So sometimes I choose to be smugly right, in my own mind, where no one can get at me except the voices.

As part of this, I'm intent not to post publicly about politics this presidential season. What's the point? I know I'm right, you know you're right, and unless you agree with me we both know you're wrong but nothing will change, right?

Nonetheless, I then sometimes see a statement from a presidential candidate that is so on target or so stupid that I can...barely...resist.

Today it was a statement of stupidity, and man, it is hard not...to...post.

But I stand resolute, even in the face of the fall of the Western world.

How about those Yankees?