Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Sunday, January 25, 2009

a few photos from inauguration day








to those we knew and those we didn't.

what a great day.























flat eric seemed to be having a good time...

cheers to this family that drove up from north carolina and slept in their freezing cold car overnight, just so that they & their children could witness this historic occasion.

brilliant!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

a real hero, and one that isn't in the US military (although he used to be)

wow. there actually is some good news.

this pilot, his co-pilot, and the crew of the airbus that landed on/in the hudson really deserve special recognition from the city of new york.

of course, Al-Qaeda are now looking into how to go about training flocks of geese into suicide birds...

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

"i'm not bad, i'm just drawn that way..."

the definition of cognitive disonance:






















steve jobs' health, and apple's ability (the most image conscious company in the world) to send a clear message to its consumers and those that invest in the company.

the absudity of humanity in the 21st century









































what is it about us humans that makes us so special/different from every other living entity on planet earth?

we seem capable of achieving incredible things:

intensive care units and the people, knowledge, and technology that today can save a human life.

touch-screen cell phones!, with streaming video, and the internet? - i watched star trek as a kid, and i'm pretty sure i didn't spot a single one.

and then of course, the same old shit: we are just seemingly incapable of not killing each other, because we hold different views.

global warming? - fuck global warming. if the human species wants to survive, we'd first better start to learn how to get along.

in case anyone hasn't noticed, we don't have anywhere else to go...planet earth is our ONLY HOME, for the foreseeable future.

...thanks, israel, for making the start of 2009 so fucking different.
you really are a bunch of cunts who, along with your enemies deserve to wipe each other out.

after all, isn't that exactly what you've both been doing since i was a kid, growing up, going to school, and watching star trek?

1,000 palestinians dead. and the west just wags it's flaccid finger in response.

the peace process is just too fucking predictable.

who the fuck believes there will ever be peace in the middle east?

cheers, god.

because if he exists, then he's biggest cunt of all time.

and for for all you christians, i'll tell him so if i ever get the chance (conveniently, when i'm dead, of course...)

but somehow, i rather doubt that.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

International Dark Sky Association
























it's 400 years since galileo first turned a telescope to the night sky and changed science forever.

sadly, most of us living in light-polluted cities never get to see what's up above because of wasted energy continually pumped into the night sky.

you can do something.

join:

http://www.change.org/the_international_dark-sky_association_inc

http://www.darksky.org/mc/page.do

i will post a change.org invitation shortly

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

a bigger & faster galaxy - and it's ours.



from sky & telescope:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/home/37151649.html

The team finds that the galaxy's rotation rate is 270 kilometers per second (600,000 miles per hour). This is 15 percent faster than previously thought. And that in turn means the Milky Way is more massive than previously believed. In fact, it puts our galaxy on equal footing with our nearest large neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31).

Because Andromeda has more stars than the Milky Way, astronomers have generally assumed that it was about 50 percent more massive. But this new result agrees with a study published two years ago by Mark Wilkinson (Cambridge University, England) and his colleagues. By studying the motions of satellite dwarf galaxies and globular clusters, they found that the Milky Way is at least as massive, and maybe more so, than Andromeda.

“We should no longer think of the Milky Way as the little sister of the Local Group of galaxies,” says Reid. “The two galaxies are basically fraternal twins — equal in mass.”

and we are all moving at 600,000 miles per hour...

Monday, January 05, 2009

2009: a new year of technical frustration begins...











Welcome to QuickBooks Sales Chat. You are now chatting with 'Madel'. I'll be your QuickBooks Business Consultant. How can I help you today?

Madel: Hi. Thank you for chatting with us today! May I have your name please?

you: i am a bookkeeper and run QB Pro 2007. i have a new client who runs QB mac 2006 (i think). he has joined with a company who runs QB Pro 2008. what version of QB will he need in order to access 2008 files on a mac?

Madel: I'll be happy to assists you with your concern!

Madel: You can access the 2008 file to QuickBooks 2009, however the Windows users need to have the same version of Mac to be able to access the files.

you: so he can access the existing 2008 QB pro (windows) files on his mac by buying 2 versions?

Madel: Yes that is correct!

you: what a rip off!

you: existing quickbooks customers now not only have to deal with your pointless yearly upgrades, but amazingly have to buy 2 more versions!

Madel: I do understand how you feel, if you really want to open the files into 2 different platforms then you really need to have 2 versions.

you: i doubt very much that you have purchased quickbooks for clients and had to go and tell them they have to upgrade...

you: why no mac version for 2008?

Madel: Our Product Development Team spend 2 years in giving a newer and better QuickBooks for Mac platform, that is the reason why we do not have Mac 2008.

you: newer & better is relative. certainly not from my & my client's perspective.

Madel: Would there be any other questions for me that I may answer for today?

you: to open a company file (a company having purchased 2008 pro) my new client now has to buy 2 more versions?

Madel: Will your client be staying on Mac platform or windows?

you: er...he's a mac user. why do you think i am writing this?

Madel: I will be right with you.

you: this is an impressive exchange...

Madel: Just want to clarify things so I can provide you your options.

you: my options look like buying 2 more of your products. yes?

Madel: Yes, if you want to be able to access 2008 files on a Mac.

you: so what other options are you talking about?

Madel: You can stay with Windows by just using one software.

you: he's Mac user!

you: i shall post this exchange on my blog.


Friday, January 02, 2009

motorsport also suffers in global downturn

suzuki announces that they are to quit the World Rally Championship,













honda will not compete in F1 in 2009,

















subaru also confirmed they were to end their 20-year involvement in the sport immediately.















and kawasaki are set to pull out of motogp.