and the light burns my eyes

Sometimes, I feel like I'm back in college, and I love it.

I've been writing code for work since about 2pm yesterday, and it's 7am now. I've had so much wine that I can't even feel the pain in my wrists anymore, and I've gone past fatigue into the Zone.

The senior staffer who was leading the project I've been on for two years quit the company, and they made me project lead in his stead. It's a fantastic opportunity, and I love the work and care about the project, but it's working me harder than I've ever worked before. I have more code to do than I used to, but I also need to spend 6 hours a day managing the project, and yelling and screaming at people for not having their shit done. So I deal with people all day, and then my building empties out, and then I hack all night.

And outside, a storm is coming in. We're talking about 60 mph winds, and blowing rain. This is east coast weather, coming to visit the west coast for a little bit. You just don't GET wind like that out in this prissy, tofu-eating state. That makes me nostalgic too.

So I've been sitting up, writing code, and listening to Underworld. Dirty Epic always reminds me of a girl I used to date back in college. It has the feel of sharp blades under silk, that will cut you so deep and painlessly that you bleed to death without minding it that much. She was the same way.

Yeah, sometimes, I feel pretty good.

b33r

Ah yes, the beer is a-brewing.

Any of you in the bay area are invited to come by and try the Knight's Pride Oatmeal Stout... in six weeks, that is. It must ferment, and then be bottled, and then be consumed in mass quantities. There should be about three cases of 16 oz bottles when it's all done.

Here's the brew, hanging out in a nice, dark closet, building up delicious taste and alcohol:

Nader is back, and there's gonna be trouble

Because fucking up the 2000 race for the Democrats wasn't enough pain, Ralph Nader just announced that he's running for President in 2004.

The funny part is, because of what he did in 2000, he's basically guaranteed that no one will vote for him in 2004. Not only that, but prepare for the outrage. Dems are going to be FURIOUS that he's running this year, when they've pinned everything they've got on getting a single candidate to rally behind to beat Bush.

Now it's getting interesting.

All we need at this point is McCain to run against Bush as an indy candidate. Dogs and cats! Living together! The end of the world is at hand!

daisy dukes

This girl by far wins the craziest fashion of the month award.



That's something I'll never understand about women. How is it that a girl can take the silliest thing on the planet and make it look sexy? There's really no male equivalent to cutting the freaking waist off a pair of jeans and wrapping it around your tits. Guys look goofy when they try to look hot. A girl could be dressed in two garbage bags, and if enough skin is showing, it'd be hot.

RSI

Do any of you have RSI? If so, how do you treat/stop it?

I'm getting to the point where I wake up, type a little bit, and after five minutes, I can feel pain on the underside of my wrists. I can occasionally feel it in my forearms and hands too.

This terrifies me. I'm 26, and typing is my life, and it already hurts.

This weekend, I took a day off with no typing to let my arms heal a bit, and then today I started typing and it came back immediately.

So have any of you had success treating it? I've been thinking about taking anti-inflammatories like Advil. Also, I notice that some people use wrist braces. What does that do? Would a split keyboard really help at all?

Please, chime in. If you've had RSI and talked to any experts or taken any treatments to alleviate it, let me know. I'm afraid that I'm doing permanent damage to myself and I want to avoid it, but I *have* to type. It's the backbone of my job, and nearly all of my leisure activities.

Picture day

On Disney being ripe for takeover:



And Janet Jackson:

How are these women a threat to anyone?

Seriously, I have a heart of stone, and this picture is just really beautiful and touching.

Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin are the first same sex couple to be officially married in the United States. They're both about 80 years old.

I still don't understand how anyone can oppose this. Look how happy they are.



SF Gate: Lesbian couple wedded at SF City Hall

...

Amateur Hour at NPR

I've been listening to NPR a lot lately, and even though I enjoy the content of it a lot of the time, their amateurishness drives me up the wall. Of all the smart people I know who listen to NPR, none of them seem to comment on this, and I don't know why. I listen to all kinds of radio, from conservative to liberal, and say what you will about conservative talk shows, they are a hell of a lot more polished than NPR. I mean, seriously. NPR sounds like freaking college radio sometimes, it's so freaking piss poorly produced.

So, I've decided to make an NPR drinking game. Take one drink when any of the following happens:

1a) The volume level of the guest is less than half of that of the host, so that you have a choice between not hearing the guest, or having your ears blown out whenever the host talks.

1b) The volume level of the host is less than half of that of the guest, with the same problems as above.

2) The host interrupts the guest repeatedly to say some sort of agreement (yes, uh-huh, etc)

3) The host interrupts the guest repeatedly to state something completely obvious in an attempt to prove that they are knowledgable and intelligent.

3) The host and guest spend more than 30 seconds in mutual back scratching, complimenting, talking about how important and wonderful the guest is, how great the show is, etc.

4) You can hear the host of the show rustling papers in the background.

5) The host or guest is a "low talker", where they start saying something, and then mumble the end of their question or comment as they ramble unintelligibly for another 10 seconds at the end.

6) The host or guest says "um.." or "uhhh.." more than 10 times in one minute.

I'm sure there are more, but these are the ones I've noticed in just the last two days.

Feel free to contribute your own to the list.

Cross-Border Church Visit Costs Man $10,000

You have got to be kidding me. A US citizen got fined $10,000 for crossing the border to Canada to go to church. Why? Because it was Sunday and the checkpoint was CLOSED. If you want to cross the border on Sunday, he'd have to drive 200 miles out of his way to find an open check point. This is such horseshit. Our country isn't supposed to be a prison.

Yahoo! News - Cross-Border Church Visit Costs Man $10,000

Also, when I get a house, I'm totally going to shop at this store.

Pirate shower curtains, bath mats, washcloths, toilet paper.... you name it, it's got a Jolly Roger on it.

Shut the Fuck Up

Excellent shockwave movie.

STFU

Clark quits US presidential race

Clark is gone.

Honestly, I figure unless it comes out that John Kerry rapes indonesian boys on the weekends, he's got the nomination sewn up.

Why? I have no idea. There's nothing distinguishing any of these candidates, and Kerry has about as much animation and spirit as Gore did.

I don't understand how liberals tend to be these "wild" people, playing their drum circles, having protests, running around yelling and screaming, and then pick the most BORING, awful-to-listen to canidates they can possibly find. They should have a bore-off between Gore, Lieberman and Kerry, seeing who can put people to sleep the fastest.

I don't understand how people pick these guys.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Clark quits US presidential race

For the curious

Out of curiousity, last night I ordered two identical items on Amazon. On one, I took the free 'Super Saver' shipping. On the other, I paid $4 for regular shipping. The orders were made five minutes apart.

Tonight, about 24 hours later, I received two shipping confirmations for the items. About five minutes apart.

Around holidays, or when time is critical, go for the more expensive shipping if you're worried, but I'm pretty sure that the time estimates they give are just to encourage you to pay more.

The Pragmatists' Primary

This is a pretty clever analysis of the Democratic candidate fumbling that's happened in the last year or so. The whole article is great, here's an excerpt:

"Then the General entered the race. And I don't mean General Anesthesia. A man in uniform, Democrats thought. People like that sort of thing, don't they? And yet he's a Democrat. Or at least he plays one on TV. True, on most issues he has either no known position or two contradictory positions. But he says he can requisition those missing parts. And he's a General. Talk about pragmatic! But when the General traded in his uniform for a fuzzy sweater, he suddenly looked less General-like than Al Sharpton.

Some Democrats cheated and looked into their hearts, where they found Howard Dean. But he was so appealing that he scared them. This is no moment to vote for a guy just because he inspires you, they thought. If he inspires me, there must be something wrong with him. So, Democrats looked around and rediscovered John Kerry. He'd been there all along, inspiring almost no one. You're not going to find John Kerry inspiring unless you're married to him or he literally saved your life. Obviously neither of those is a strategy that can be rolled out on a national level. But he's got the résumé. And gosh, he sure looks like a president (an "animatronic Lincoln," as my Slate colleague Mickey Kaus uncharitably described him)."

The Pragmatists' Primary - Desperately seeking electability.

Kalashnikov in MP3

"AK-MP3 player built into the body of the ammunition magazine of Kalashnikov automatic rifle.
Player could be used on its own or it could be attached to the Kalashnikov machinegun instead of the ordinary magazine.
Stainless steel body makes this new player uniquely suitable for outdoors.(20 GB of storage)"

Kalashnikov in MP3

Gulkis should love this one: Public records audit

"Nearly half of Florida county officials tested disgraced themselves last week, when journalists posing as average Americans attempted to retrieve government documents under Florida's open access laws. 43 percent of the county bureacrats stonewalled, threatened, cajoled and gave the run around to the journalists who participated. "

"In a post-audit interview, Taylor County Superintendent Oscar Howard said his district was hesitant to produce his cell phone bill because the volunteer wouldn't give his name.

"He could have been a terrorist," Howard said. "We have to ensure the safety of children.""

staugustine.com: Local News: Public records audit: Some records requests met with suspicion and threats 02/07/04

The Awful Forums - My mother is insane (~5M of photos)

Jesus Christ in a chicken basket.

Some poor SOB with an insane mother did a photo-journal of what his house looks like. You have to see this to believe it. He helpfully gives a description of each picture. His house is literally filled, floor to ceiling, with unopened boxes off ebay, old gifts and knick-knacks, and god knows what else.

The woman has gone totally batshit. It's awe-inspiring, and a little bit sad.

Okay, a lot sad.

The Awful Forums - My mother is insane (~5M of photos)

2004 House Bill text for HB0126

God, the "people must be protected from each other and themselves" laws are getting stupider and stupider.

A bill is being proposed in New Mexico in which all cars would have to have "ignition interlock" devices by 2008.

What would it do, you ask?

""ignition interlock device" means a device that regulates the operation of a motor vehicle by measuring an operator's blood alcohol level before allowing the operator to start the vehicle and that periodically tests the operator's blood alcohol level while he operates the vehicle"

So not only would you have to blow into a tube when you started your car, you would be periodically forced to do it AGAIN while you were driving, just so your car is sure that you didn't start drinking AFTER you started driving.

Gah. Soon we'll all live in cribs, where our salary goes directly toward the government wiping our asses for us.

2004 House Bill text for HB0126

My photo of the day

Bunch of bedraggled Cubans sailing the Florida Straits on a modified 1959 Buick.

video fest

Here's some crazy videos.

First, utter data overload. This video is beautiful, all done in those conceptual instructional diagrams that you see on products, and animated graphs and charts and diagrams. It gives me an informational hardon. I want to live my life surrounded by instant charts and data like this. (Thanks, Adam!)

Royksopp- "Remind me"

Also, here's an insane French guy on a variety program that covered his entire body with horns, and contorts himself to play songs.

Some bizarre french talent show

I favor Bush?

Well I'll be damned.

I was sitting here wondering about what the hell the difference was between all these candidates, so I took a quiz recommended to me, regarding lots of issues, and it told me which candidate fit me best.

Turns out that Bush is actually the candidate that fits my beliefs the most. I disagree with him on a LOT of things, mostly social issues, but I weigh economic issues above social issues.

The very weird thing for me is that my strongest Democratic candidate was Lieberman. Who would have thought? I hate the guy, but it turns out that we agree on a lot of stuff.

For the curious, here's my list:

Bush
Lieberman
Clark
Dean
Edwards
Kerry
Sharpton
Kucinich

The sharp eyed will notice that after Bush, I'm kind of fucked. Lieberman is out of the race, Clark and Dean have almost no chance at all, and it's probably going to be Kerry who carries the nomination.

At least I know now why I'm not going to vote for Kerry. He wants strong gun control, and to allow lawsuits against gun manufacturers. He's against school vouchers. He wants to expand medicaid and welfare. He's against raising the social security age, but in favor of capping out payments to the wealthy who paid for the system in the first place. He wants to raise taxes on the rich. He wants to increase unemployment and raise minimum wage. All the big government garbage that I hate, he stands for.

Anyway, check it out if you're interested, and post the results. I'm sure I'll be the only person on here who ends up with Bush as his first choice, because you're all a bunch of communists. It just seems very odd to me that I'm a libertarian, and Bush is my best choice, and I don't think very highly of him. If he's better than all the Democrats, we're fucked.

www.presidentmatch.com

bow bow bow

Another one bites the dust!

Lieberman is out of the race. Now there's a surprise. Sharpton is still in it, which is pretty absurd.

Thing is, the floor is still too crowded. Kerry, Edwards, Dean and Clark all think they have a shot, even though Kerry is destroying them. One of them has to go. I'm thinking Clark is next.

CNN.com - Kerry will win four states, CNN projects - Feb. 3, 2004

RSG-SMB-TAB

Oh my GOD.

Someone wrote down how to beat Super Mario... in "tabulature" format, like you would with music. This is totally insane. Who.... who would do such a thing? They even have videos to go with the tab, but not of the game, of the guy's hands while he does it.

RSG-SMB-TAB

Do you like statistics, and pretty charts? Gapminder.com has lots of both. Want to see a sliding graph of world income distribution over time? Look no further.

This one is really cool. Take a picture of the 2-d barcode on the back of your driver's license. This site will scan it for you and tell you what it says. Someone do this and tell me what it says about you. Thirty-nine states use 2-d barcodes now, but California does not. Seriously, someone please try this and send me the output.

It was only a matter of seconds. It went from television, to cultural pheonomenon, to Livejournal user pic:

Nipples and Bilbo

In case you missed any of them, here are all the Superbowl ads archived for you:

IFILM Super Bowl Ads

None of them were really any good.

In case you were wondering, yes that was Janet Jackson's weird ass nipple you saw during the halftime. Didn't get a good enough look at it? Here you go. What the christ is that? A star shaped nipple decoration?



More pictures here.

This guy has apparently been in jail for THIRTY THREE YEARS for stealing a goddamn TV. Keep in mind that a lot of murderers get off these days on parole after 5-10 years.

My jaw was on the floor during this entire movie. I can't believe how insane and stupid people were in the 70's. They're still stupid now... but not THIS stupid. It's Leonard Nemoy doing a "music video" about Bilbo Baggins. It's possibly the gayest thing every made.

http://sung.producto-valvo.com/funny/bbaggins.mov

Also, this picture rules.