« September 2005 | Main | November 2005 »

October 30, 2005

Squirrel - It's What's For Dinner

Seems a squirrel in Mississippi was electrocuted by the power lines, fell to the ground, and started a grass fire. After the fire was put out, they were somewhat peckish, and there was some discussion about eating the squirrel, although the article isn't clear on whether he became an epicurean repast or not.

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 30, 2005 at 7:35 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink

Daylight Savings Time

For those of you keeping score at home, most people in the United States set their clocks back an hour today, making it possible to go to work and return home in complete darkness. However not all of the U.S. plays this idiotic little game.

Daylight Saving Time is NOT observed in Arizona, Hawaii, most of the Eastern Time Zone portion of Indiana, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands. The Navajo Nation, however, participates in the Daylight Saving Time policy, even in Arizona, due to its large size and location in three states.

Indiana, however, passed a law in April of 2005 adopting DST for the entire state, beginning in 2006. The United States, excited by the news, promptly passed a law in August of 2005 extending the Daylight Savings Time. Beginning in 2007, DST will start the second Sunday of March and end on the first Sunday of November.

Thanks for playing.

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 30, 2005 at 6:52 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Happy Halloween - From Odd Todd

There's a new Odd Todd video that will be released tomorrow. Here's a teaser. For those of you not familiar with Odd Todd, check out his Laid Off cartoons. Note: Probably not safe for work due to language, adult content, etc. Hat tip to Robert R.

Update: Here's the link to the Halloween Special.

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 30, 2005 at 12:47 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink

Hiding the Mouse Pointer

So, as I'm trying to string together my slideshows, I've finally succeeded in cobbling together a didactic string of commands that runs under DOS, lurching from slideshow to slideshow like a drunken sailor in Amsterdam. Each slideshow is launched, a timer is started and then the slideshow is killed unceremoniously. The only problem that I'm having now is that the stupid mouse pointer appears in the center of each slideshow and remains there in perpetuity. So, I searched the web for some solutions. Basically, I just wanted to hide the mouse pointer after a brief period of inactivity. Or hide it with a command from DOS. Sorry. Can't be done. Oh, there are some interrupts that the 8086 CPU recognizes, but I didn't feel like writing a program just to hide the stupid pointer. Finally, after a bit of searching, I found a little gem called Cursor Hider 1.4.3. Not only does it hide the curor when you're typing (this is a standard option in XP), but it also allows you to hide the cursor after a specified number of seconds of inactivity. So I now have a new little TSR on my taskbar. Welcome to the club, Cursor Hider.

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 30, 2005 at 11:05 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 28, 2005

Bandwidth Thief

All bandwidth thieves must die. Look. It's not that hard. You don't "hot link" images from someone else's site into your own site. Especially if it's original, copyrighted images, like a broad-tailed hummingbird I shot on my mountain lilacs in May of this year. So, you can make a copy of it, and put it on your site, and link back to me and say "thanks to Peenie Wallie for this photo", but you can't use my bandwith to host my photograph on your website. That's called bandwidth theft. Plus, you leave the door open for me to change the picture, which will immediately appear on your site.

Update - 11/1/05: Looks like my bandwidth thief caught on, and removed the image. The sad thing is that, I don't mind people using my images. I take them for others to enjoy. All I ask is that they give credit for the image, and a link to my web site, and they can use my images. It's not a big deal. But please don't hotlink my images. That's just plain rude.

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 28, 2005 at 8:17 PM : Comments (4) | Permalink

51 New Orleans Police Cowards Fired For Desertion

A loosely organized crime syndicate, known locally as the New Orleans Police Department, was unable to account for 240 of their 1,450 member police force in the immediate aftermath Hurricane Katrina. 51 of them were fired today for "abandoning their posts before or after Hurricane Katrina." Fifteen more officers resigned when they were placed under investigation for abandonment. 45 more officers resigned after the storm for "personal reasons." 228 additional police-criminals remain under investigation for abandonment, and 15 police-criminals are under investigation for looting.

"This isn't representative of our department," acting superintendent Warren Riley lied.

Well, yes, Warren, unfortunately, it is representative of your department. When a fifth of your police force abandons their posts, and those that stay behind join in the looting, steal 200 Cadillacs from the Sewell Cadillac Chevrolet, and assault and threaten innocent citizens, I'm afraid that it is representative of your department. And it's a very poor representation, at that. If you don't want people to think your department is full of criminals, then you need to fire a lot more than 51 officers. And you need to think about going further that just terminating their employment. You need to think about handing down indictments for malfeasance, theft, robbery, exhtortion, and pandering "under color of authority." Otherwise, the whole world will know that the NOPD is little more than a tax-payer-subsidized criminal enterprise.


Related Posts:
NOPD Resumes Assaults on Innocent Citizens
NOPD Cops Gone Wild - Part II
NOPD Cops Gone Wild
New Orleans cop puts a hit on innocent citizen


Technorati tags:
, , , , ,

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 28, 2005 at 6:47 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 27, 2005

Red Neck Christmas

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 27, 2005 at 2:32 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 26, 2005

The Ultimate in Female Body Piercing

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 26, 2005 at 11:02 PM : Comments (2) | Permalink

DOS Sleep Command for XP and Server 2003

ImageMatics sucks. All of their products suck...at least all the ones I've bought. StillMotion PE, StillMotion PE+, StillMotion WD, and StillMotion WD+ all suck. Some of them suck worse than others, because they cost more. But they all suck.

They all have too many limitations to list here, but the thing has has me stirred up right now is that you can't daisy-chain the slideshows together without going through a mind-numbingly, tedious exercise that you wouldn't believe if I told you. Furthermore, the retarded slideshows can't be made to close themselves at the end of the show. So I can't string them together in a bat file, because they won't return control to the bat file when they end.

I've decided that I can force everything to work if I open two DOS windows. One DOS window will run a .bat file with all of my slideshows in sequential order. The other DOS window will then wait the correct amount of time for the slideshow to play, and then kill the slideshow with the taskkill command.

The problemw with DOS is that, there's no "timer" or "wait" command that will pause for a certain amount of time. You can trick DOS to pause for a given amoutn of time by doing a couple of slick "ping" commands, but that's not really my style. I want it to work right. As it turns out, MicroSoft has a sleep command available, in the "Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools". So, if you're using XP or Windows Server 2003, you're in luck. All you have to do is go here and download it. If that link is broken, go here and look for "Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools" and download it.

Continue reading "DOS Sleep Command for XP and Server 2003"

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 26, 2005 at 10:03 PM | Permalink

Happy Thanksgiving (Early)

This is a pretty funny Happy Thanksgiving song. (Granted, it's a little early, but it's still funny.)

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 26, 2005 at 5:16 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 25, 2005

Leather Pants on eBay

This guy has a pair of leather pants for sale on eBay. I've copied the text into the extended entry, as it will doubtless fall off of eBays radar screen in the not-to-distant future. The humor, however, is timeless.

Continue reading "Leather Pants on eBay"

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 25, 2005 at 3:10 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink

Social Security Cutbacks

This is pretty funny. Someone prank calls a woman and tells her they're going to have to cut back the amount of her Social Security check due to rising gas prices and also because the United States spent too much money on Hurricane Katrina.

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 25, 2005 at 1:41 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

PETA Meets Rat Boy

This video is freaking hilarious. They play a little practical joke on some idiot from PETA. My sides hurt I was laughing so hard.


Related posts:
PETA Kills Animals
PETA creates video equating Blacks with common farm animals
PETA asks Fishkill to change name
The Third Annual International Eat an Animal for PETA Day


Technorati tags:

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 25, 2005 at 1:32 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 24, 2005

Photograph(s) of the Day


This idiot was headed North on Highway 285 today when he lost control of his rig. Now, consider this - he's driving a dumptruck the size of the space shuttle filled with asphalt, pulling a 20 foot trailer with an asphalt spreader, going down an 8% grade in the Rocky Mountains. An intelligent person might think "Hmmm. Better take it easy here...use a lower gear...use the 'Jake Break' or 'engine break'." Not this retard, though. Somehow, he got going so fast that he slid sideways, jack-knifed the trailer, flipped the truck, sent the asphalt spreader flying, and snapped the pintlehook clean off. Nice job you wreckless miscreant.

Then, when I start setting up to shoot the accident, the police are like "who are you with?" and I'm like "I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you." They're like "Don't you have some place you need to be?" And I'm like "Yep...right here. Right now."

Continue reading "Photograph(s) of the Day"

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 24, 2005 at 7:42 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Wilma Slams Into Florida as FEMA Disarms Citizens

Hurricane Wilma slammed into Florida today as a Category 3 hurricane, packing winds of 125 m.p.h. Fortunately for the New World Order, FEMA had successfully disarmed and emasculated the serfs of Florida long before the hurricane hit. Unfortunately, FEMA and the Department of Homeland Insecurity are more concerned with pushing the U.N. Gun Ban agenda than they are about the lives of innocent citizens. How else could you explain an emergency preparedness lists that do not include firearms? Particularly in light of the lawlessness and looting that occurred in the aftermath of Katrina in New Orleans.

Their grotesque malfeasance is as appalling as it is predictable. FEMA and the Department of Homeland Insecurity should be disbanded, and the potentates should be boiled alive in a vat of turpentine.

Previous posts:
Emergency Preparedness for Victims


Technorati tags:, , , ,

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 24, 2005 at 7:23 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 23, 2005

Here Lays Light Nean


In a black and white world, Lightning was born gray. And that one seemingly innocuous peculiarity would eventually cause his grandmother to murder him in cold blood. There would be no charges filed. No investigation. Just a somber Halloween funeral in the shade of the mountain lilac in fall foliage. Lightning was, in the end, just a gerbil, and a dead one at that.

The problem is that we have two litters of gerbils. One litter is all gray and white. The other litter is black, or black and white. But then there was Lightning. He was born in the black and white litter, but he was inexplicably gray, possibly due to some recessive trait that surfaced unexpectedly.

The gerbils are kept in separate habitats, and if mixed, will fight to the death. I know this, and Jennifer knows this. But two of the adult gerbils are solid black, and practically indistinguishable. Plus Lightning always looked like he belonged in the other litter anyway.

Today, when three little girls were playing, they got the gerbils mixed up in a big kind of way. They put the baby gerbil Lighting in the wrong cage, and Snuggles promptly killed it. Sambo got out, and ran away, and no one said a word. (He's still MIA). They put Lola in the wrong cage, thinking she was Sambo, the other black mature gerbil, which had escaped. All of these mistakes would have been easy to make. But somehow, they went further and put Mixie in with Snuggles. Why they did that, I have no clue. Mixie is a mature female with striking black and white and grey coloration. Why they put her in with Snuggles, I'm not clear. But, when the screaming started, I flew down the stairs to find fur flying.

If you ever have the choice between sticking your hand into a Cuisinart set to liquify or a no-holds-barred gerbil-free-for-all between mature female gerbils in a Habitrail, go for the Cuisinart. Trust me on this one.

I managed to get Mixie out, but not before suffering a vicious bite from Snuggles. Then, I figured out that Lola was in the wrong cage and returned her to her home. I still haven't seen Sambo. He's loose in the basement somewhere.

We buried Lightning in an empty toilet paper roll, in the shade of the bird bath and the Mountain Lilac. Jennifer wrote an epitath in pencil on the cardboard roll.

"How do you spell Lightning, daddy?"

"Just do the best you can, baby."

Continue reading "Here Lays Light Nean"

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 23, 2005 at 7:52 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Insane Clown Posse


Jennifer went to a birthday party yesterday where they did face painting. I'm not sure what she's supposed to be, but she was pretty happy with the results. She kind of looks like a member of the Insane Clown Posse to me, but what do I know?

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 23, 2005 at 4:32 PM | Permalink

Pumpkin Seed Recipe

When I was a kid, we never cooked the pumpkin seeds. But they're really good. So, if you've ever been tempted to try cooking them but aren't sure how, I've used this recipe I for 3 years.

Bon appetit!

Technorati tags: ,

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 23, 2005 at 4:09 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 18, 2005

Google Earth, Keyhole, and Ogle Earth

This Google Earth thing really is astounding. I mean, I can't wait to sit my kid down in front of it and turn her loose. It puts a globe to shame - just spanks a globe across the room. The meat-space globe is this impractical, expensive, static representation of the Earth. It takes up space, even when you're not using it. It sits there on the bookshelf, collecting dust. It's obsolete as soon as it's printed. Google Earth allows you to spin the planet like a billiard ball, fly all over the planet and zoom in close enough to find a gnat's @ss in Kuala Lumpur. It can be updated in realtime, to keep pace with a changing world. Google Earth, and the imitators that are sure to follow, will change the way we interact with the world around us.

Google Earth was formerly known as Keyhole. Key Hole was the code name for a series of Spy Satellites (euphemistically known as "reconnaissance satellites"). The first series of U.S. spy satellites, the Corona-class satellites, were dubbed Key Hole 1, or KH-1. The current (latest) generation of spy satellites is known as KH-13.

A San Franciso Bay Area company named the Keyhole Corporation developed the software. On October 27th, 2004, Google announced that they were buying the Keyhole Corp. for an undisclosed sum. You can read more about the company here.

Apparently I was the last person on Earth to clue in to this software. There are scads of sites dedicated solely to Google Earth. Ogle Earth is a good place to check. Wikipedia has a good round up of links for Google Earth also. Here's a Keyhole BBS with a link to a fake SR71 Blackbird painted onto the runway to fool the Ruskies. I swear I wish I had more free time on my hands so I could sit and play with this application. It's really off the hook.


Related Posts:
Finishing Google Earth Server Login - Google Earth Bug
Google Earth


Technorati tags: ,

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 18, 2005 at 6:42 PM | Permalink

Finishing Google Earth Server Login - Google Earth Bug

For what it's worth, there's a bug in Google Earth. Because of the bug, Google Earth won't run through an RDP(Remote Desktop Protocol) encrypted tunnel. Not sure why this is. It runs fine on my server, but when I try to control the server remotely via RDP, it just hangs while attempting to sign into the Google Earth server. It also generates a spurious message about 'Google Earth could not start in Direct X mode." And then, when I force shut it down, it warns me that I may want to delete my Google Earth cache file when I reboot. Again, this is all caused by running it through an RDP tunnel. If I'm sitting on the server, it runs fine.

Update: OK. So, I think it's possible, as Volker points out in the comments below, that this problem is related to the 3D-accelerated display, and that it may not be possible to tunnel that properly. However, I routinely tunnel video through an RDP channel on a fast-ethernet LAN, with no problems. Also, although I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see problems related to the 3D-accelerated display, to see this problem manifest itself as an error logging into the Google Earth server from the remote RDP server strikes me as odd. Plus, I should further point out that, if you go to this website, they go into excruciating detail about every condition known to man related to why Google Earth may not work, from Direct X, video cards, 3D graphics capabilities, etc., but RDP isn't mentioned as a potential problem. Google Earth is optimized to be run under Windows XP with Direct X, but doesn't support RDP, a delivered Windows XP protocol. So, it might make sense for Google to just include a line on their web page that says the following:

Although Google Earth is optimized to run under Windows XP using Direct X, Google Earth will not work with RDP, a delivered Windows XP protocol. Furthermore, if you try to run Google Earth through an RDP tunnel, instead of it saying 'RDP not supported', the system will just hang and then generate a perplexing series of misleading messages, including, but not limited to, "Finishing Google Earth Server Login", "Can't initiate using Direct X - try using Open GL", and "Try deleting your Google Earth cache", whatever in God's name that is.

Update 2: Somehow this site Ogle Earth found me, probably via Technorati. Apparently, I'm a nerd...I guess I'm OK with that.


Technorati tags:

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 18, 2005 at 12:42 AM | Permalink

October 17, 2005

Google Earth


I'm guessing that not everyone has installed Google Earth yet. If you haven't, that's OK. Just go do it now. As in Right Now. Here's the link to install Google Earth. (Note: Not available for Apple/Mac.)

This is so cool, I don't know where to begin. Once you install it and get it up and running with Direct X, click on the little Zoom In button and hold it down and you can zoom in from outer space until you see your own house. You can click on the map to recenter as you zoom in, so you can find your house. Mine is actually there, as is my satellite dish, though my garden isn't there, so I'm not sure when this photo was taken. (Note to neighbors: No laughing at my weed garden.)

My good buddy Volker in Germany was kind enough to convert my last GPS tracks to a Google Earth map and send it to me. Sometimes, I feel like the technology is advancing faster than my ability to comprehend it. Here's my magnalog converted to a Google Earth file named magnalog_10708.kmz. You can save this file From Google Earth, select "File - Open" and just enter this URL "http://www.peeniewallie.com/images2/magnalog_10708.kmz" and it should work. Alternately, try the same filename with a .kml extension, as this should work also.

Be sure to check out Volker's Magnalox website. It's indescribably cool.


Related posts: North Fork and Middle Fork of Swan River, Summit County, Colorado

Technorati tags: , ,

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 17, 2005 at 9:25 PM : Comments (2) | Permalink

Picture of the Day

I shot this image driving into work this morning. I've never seen the lake quite as glassy as it looked this morning, and with the leaves changing, I thought I might be able to get a mildly interesting shot. This image was taken with the Canon EOS 20D on a Bogen(Manfroto) Tripod with pistol grip, remote shutter release, shutter lock-up, circular polarizing filter, and a graduated neutral density 4 f-stop filter. I closed down the aperture all the way to get maximum depth of field, and let the camera set the shutter speed.

I added the border using Photoshop Elements. You'd think that, in the year 2005, they'd have something simple like "Add - Border". Guess again. It's Adobe. If, on the other had, you guessed that they made it mind-numbingly complicated to add a simple border, then go to the head of the class. This border tutorial is something that most humans should be able to decipher. Or, if you're feeling exceptionally lucid, this brief, didactic, 18 minute video explains how to add a border in eleven hundred obtuse, but tedious, steps. He claims that it doesn't affect the original image, which is true if you dismiss the fact that the border, in fact, overlays the image, effectively cropping it.

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 17, 2005 at 8:07 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

PETA Kills Animals

From the "truth is stranger than fiction" files, PETA, those eco-terrorist animal rights lunatics got caught murdering animals and throwing them in dumpsters. The Virginian-Pilot reports:

Police began investigating this summer after carcasses of cats and dogs in plastic bags were found in a supermarket garbage bin in Ahoskie every Wednesday for four consecutive weeks. At least 80 animals were found.

Officers say that on June 15 they followed a van after it left Bertie County’s animal shelter, then staked out the garbage bins and arrested two PETA employees.

The officers found 18 dead dogs in a bin and 13 other animal carcasses in the van, which was registered to PETA.

These PETA criminals are facing 25 felony counts in North Carolina. It's a shame that Mike Wallace can't find time to cover the story, as he's on a working vacation smelting firearms for the Brady Campaign.

Michelle Malkin has a link to the PetaKillsAnimals.com, which has some illuminating information about these hypocritical animal killers.

Related posts:
PETA creates video equating Blacks with common farm animals
PETA asks Fishkill to change name
The Third Annual International Eat an Animal for PETA Day

Continue reading "PETA Kills Animals"

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 17, 2005 at 3:52 AM : Comments (1) | Permalink

October 16, 2005

Manuel Salinas Is a Liar and a Fraud

This idiotic criminal, Manuel Salinas, is a pathetic little liar. His stupid robot "Arturito" is a complete and perfect fraud. He's a dense little ignoramus, a peurile hoaxter snake-oil salesman. He's made so many absurd and ludicrous claims of the technology of the robot, that's it's now patently clear he is a pathological liar, and a dumb one at that. Eduardo al Dia quotes the criminal:

"...what I do is to take a basic element, nonradioactive, something that can be bought in a jewelry shop or in a pharmacy (but that is an industry secret) and I put under it an interference field; I create magnetic fields, a species of cyclotron, and begin to excite with it to quark, that it is the minimum expression within an atom. I cause that quark turns in inverse sense of the magnetic fields. Then, when I face those two forces, I create like a torrent of a new energy, that I cause that it leaves by transducers, those antennas and horns that you see the sides of the robot, connected to a tube of graphite, the channel of emission."

When he was invited to appear at one of Chile's top technology colleges, Federico Santa Maria University of Valparaiso, his pathetic, flimsy claims about "anti-plasma reactors", "zero gravity", and "gamma rays", didn't go over so well. He was used to dealing with the equally stupid media reporters, but in front of some students versed in technology, he wilted, causing the students to laugh him off the stage. OhMyNews derides Arturito as "a bucket of bolts":

He did not show up with his invention or documents to back up his claims that "Arturito" can find objects more than 50 meters underwater. Salinas started rambling about "gamma rays," "zero atmosphere" and could not give an understandable explanation. This caused many students to laugh.

This prompted the moderator to go on stage and interrupt Salinas by saying, "After listening to this lecture all I can say to the student body is that they should not believe a word this man is saying. This university has a reputation to maintain."

Salinas got up immediately and left the premises.

Related posts:
Crusoe Island Treasure Claim was a Hoax!
Arturito – Scan Artist or Scam Artist?
Pirate Treasure Cursed on Robinson Crusoe Island
Did Arturito Find Treasure on Robinson Crusoe Island?
Legendary Lost Incan Treasure Located on Robinson Crusoe Island

Technorati tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 16, 2005 at 1:10 AM : Comments (2) | Permalink

October 15, 2005

Squirrel Attacks Motorcyle Driver

I have no idea if this is true or not, but I so want to believe.

Inches before impact, the squirrel flipped to his feet. He was standing on his hind legs and facing the oncoming Valkyrie with steadfast resolve in his little beady eyes. His mouth opened, and at the last possible second, he screamed and leapt! I am pretty sure the scream was squirrel for "Banzai!" or maybe "Die you gravy-sucking, heathen scum!" as the leap was spectacular and he flew over the windshield and impacted me squarely in the chest.

Instantly he set upon me. If I did not know better I would have sworn he brought twenty of his little buddies along for the attack. Snarling, hissing, and tearing at my clothes, he was a frenzy of activity. As I was dressed only in a light t-shirt, summer riding gloves, and jeans this was a bit of a cause for concern. This furry little tornado was doing some damage!

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 15, 2005 at 6:39 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink

Man Punches Out Plane Window

Some idiot woke up from a nap, raised his fist, and punched out the interior pane of an airplane window on a flight from Las Vegas to Florida. How'd you like to be sitting next to this psycho?

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 15, 2005 at 6:14 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

What Runs But Can't Walk?

Conversation with my 7 year old daughter today:

"Daddy, what runs but can't walk?"

"Huh?"

"What runs but can't walk?"

"I don't know, what?" I asked.

"A fucket." she answered.

"A what?" I asked somewhat alarmed.

"A fucket." she repeated, enunciating as clearly as possible.

So, I'm starting to get concerned. Where on Earth did she hear that? I’m pretty diligent about the language I use around her. For instance, if I say the word "stupid", she castigates me.

"See. That's the answer to the riddle, daddy. It says so right here."

Drains her fruit juice container of Koolaid, and hands me the empty container.

"Oh. Right. That word is faucet, baby. A faucet runs, but can't walk."

Big sigh of relief from dad.

"Why don't you run along and catch some grasshoppers for the gerbils?"

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 15, 2005 at 1:42 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Mike Wallace and Gun Control

Of Arms & the Law is reporting:

Cam Edwards of NRA News picked up an interesting story: news anchor Mike Wallace speaking at a Brady Campaign fundraiser (appropriately held at the French Embassy). He parodied Charlton Heston, whom he described as the "self-righteous enemy of the Jim and Sarah Brady Bunch," and announced he'd made a $250 donation to the Brady Center.

We all know there's a certain media bias at work, but you'd think they'd be less obvious about it....

Edwards sent an email on it to CBS's The Public Eye, which I gather is some manner of ombudsman blog, and here's their response.

Email CBS at publiceye@cbs.com and let them know what you think about Mike Wallace.


Technorati tags:

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 15, 2005 at 10:18 AM : Comments (1) | Permalink

Governmentium

A major research institution (MRI) has recently announced the discovery of the heaviest chemical element yet known to science. The new element has been tentatively named "Governmentium"(Gv).

Governmentium has 1 neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 225 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 313 . These 313 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected as it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of govermentium causes one action to take over 4 days to complete when it would normally take less than a second.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause some morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to speculate that govermentium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "Critical Morass."


Technorati tags:

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 15, 2005 at 4:02 AM : Comments (1) | Permalink

October 14, 2005

The Amazing Racist

There's a comedian out in L.A. named Ari Shaffir that's known as The Amazing Racist. Apparently, he spends most of his time trying to stir up the minorities. In this video, he's toying with some illegal immigrants. Here, he's parading around in a Tommy Hillfiger Klan outfit. He's apparently just one character is a series of skits on a DVD called National Lampoon's Lost Reality. If these videos are for real, then this guy will probably get killed pretty soon.

Update: Here's a link to a preview of Lost Reality and Lost Reality 2. Includes Midget Wars, Beer Goggles, Amazing Racist, Dumpster Dinners, Foreign Family Affair, Money, Payback, Swing House, Lifestyles of the Poor and Homeless, and Scare Me. You can buy these movies at FYE.

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 14, 2005 at 9:00 PM : Comments (10) | Permalink

Alien Abduction Dog Tags For Sale

Hat tip to Robert Racansky. Why didn't I think of this?

http://www.earthbounddog.com/

These alien abduction dog tags clearly communicate the location of earth, so friendly little green men can give you a ride home -- even if they don't speak English!

Should you ever be adbucted by aliens while wearing Location Earth Dog Tags and not returned safely to Earth, you will be entitled to a full refund of the purchase price.

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 14, 2005 at 8:36 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

The Grapes of Wrath

I passed this rig going into work yesterday morning. It was stopped on the side of the road, empty. I assume it was broken down. But it was gone today, so they got it running or it was towed. I drove by it and was like...what the h3ll? Looks like some sort of gypsy-mobile, but my guess is that they're using it for a hunting truck or something, as it has Colorado plates, and a faded rear bumbersticker that says "Carbondale", which is a little white-trash mecca outside of Aspen. Totally reminded me of The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck.

Continue reading "The Grapes of Wrath"

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 14, 2005 at 8:17 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 13, 2005

Napoleon King - French Quarter Painter

I was 18 when I started school in New Orleans in 1984. In the Spring of 1985, I started hanging out in Jackson Square. I'd ride my bike down there pretty much every day, and just hang out in the square, teaching myself how to juggle. I cut open tennis balls and filled them with pennies to stop them from bouncing. Every day, I'd go into the square and practice in the shade of the trees.

Napoleon was an eternal figure on the square. If the sun was shining, he was out painting. When all the other tourists were doing caricatures for a few dollars, Napoleon would stretch out these massive canvases, set up his easel, and paint the St. Louis Cathedral, or the Cabildo, or Pirate's Alley in oil or acryllic.

He'd hang his art on the wrought iron fence of the square and then sit there painting with that little metal painting trowel that the artists use to spread oil based paint when money is not a concern.

Whenever I came down, I'd park my bike by his cart and lock it up, and he'd always say "Hey, Robbie! Hey man! How 'ya doing? It's a great day today, huh? Are you gon'na juggle your balls today?" And then he'd laugh. This huge, sincere, earth shaking laugh, with his gap-toothed grin. It really made you look around, to see if other people were staring at you. But Napoleon didn't care. He was having a great time with what he was doing. You could always tell that about him.

Continue reading "Napoleon King - French Quarter Painter"

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 13, 2005 at 12:39 AM : Comments (61) | Permalink

October 12, 2005

The Incorrigible Malfeasance of Dr. Irwin Redlener

Some Ivy League syncophant was on the tube tonight droning on and on about how idiotic George Bush is and how this country is not adequately prepared to handle a disaster. Like these pseudo-intellectuals have all the answers. They don't seem to get that you can't prevent hurricanes and suicide bombers. Here's the reality, if some turban-headed camel jockey wants to wade into a crowd of strangers wearing a vest to TATP, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Searching every man, woman, and child when they go into grocery stores or to a football stadium will make no difference.

Dr. Irwin Redlener is the head of the National Center For Disaster Preparedness at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. So, I went to his website. And, guess what? One of his presentations on Disaster Preparedness lists everything you need in an emergency, including a can opener, blankets, radio, flashlight, batteries, cash, etc. But guess what's missing? That's right. A firearm.

This guy just wants to bash president Bush and advance his own insidious agenda of disarmament. How despicable that the mindless drones continue to advance their political agenda of gun control at the expense of the safety of the American citizens. This is the very definition of malfeasance. These pompous, overeducated, condescending dolts should be flogged with a cat o' nine tails in Jackson Square for betraying the very people they're supposed to be protecting.

Update: I'm not sure if this is the same Dr. Irwin Redlener or not, but Dr. DeTar wrote to the Office of Professional Misconduct, NY Department of Health:

"I allege that Irwin Redlener, M.D., has scandalized the entire medical profession by his words, actions, and deeds and that he is therefore a proper candidate for loss of Medical License and criminal prosecution.... As a matter of public record Dr. Redlener wrote a letter, appeared on television and in radio interviews, and by other other public actions did appraise the patient [Eli n Gonzalez] ... and provide an opinion on the home in which the patient was resident, holding that the patient was in a state of `imminent danger to his physical and emotional well-being in a home' ... that was `psychologically abusive.' Dr. Redlener therefore claimed competence to provide an opinion on a patient whom he had never met, interviewed or examined (even rudimenta- rily), also claiming intimate and personal knowledge of the patient's home environment....

"If the behavior of Dr. Redlener is not an appropriate subject for your investigation, ... then any other physician will be free to duplicate his atrocious activities. The discrediting of the medical profession will then advance ... to general toleration of ... the illegal practice of medicine without the patients even knowing that they have been evaluated in absentia...." (See New York State Education Law, §6530).

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 12, 2005 at 11:48 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 11, 2005

Hurricane Katrina Missing People Search

There's still some people that I can't get in touch with since Hurricane Katrina. I've been using this Yahoo Katrina Search page to look for people.

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 11, 2005 at 4:27 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Airplane Oxygen Masks - Fact or Fiction?

Has anyone ever been on an airplane where the oxygen masks dropped? I'm curious because I was on a plane that depressurized rapidly while we were at cruising altitude, but the masks never dropped. (Thanks Frontier.)
The flight left me questioning what I thought I knew about oxygen masks. They tell you the following:

So, think about this. The oxygen masks are one-size fits all, infant to senior citizen. They'll drop automatically, but if they don't drop, you can't reach up there and get them. There's no lever to turn to make them drop. So, imagine that you're in a panic descent from 30,000 feet, a downward spiral, and these things drop. A "gentle pull"? Right. So, if you don't pull hard enough, the flow of oxygen won't start, but you won't know because the bag won't inflate in any event. If you pull too hard, then it will be in your lap.

I can tell you this, I've spiraled down from 30,000 feet when the flying waitresses were scurrying through the cabin like crack addicts on the first of the month and the pilot wasn't saying Jack over the intercom. People praying, screaming, crying, holding styrafoam cups over their ears to stop the pain. And this is the situation where we're supposed to give the little tube a "gentle tug"? Right.

I personally don't believe that the oxygen masks exist. My theory is that the only oxygen masks that are on the planes are the ones the flight nazi's use for the demonstrations. If you have ever seen them drop, please post in the comments below.

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 11, 2005 at 11:45 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Snowstorm Hits Mountains West of Denver

My web site has been down for a day or two, as we got hammered pretty good by the weather. We probably got about 6" of snow here, maybe more. I'm not sure. It was a heavy wet snow though, so it knocked out my DishNetwork, my ISP, which took out my phone (Vonage), and then finally the power went out at about 10:00 p.m. MDT last night.

Today, everything seems to be functioning marginally well. Power is spiking some, and there's still a lot of snow on my antennas, but things seems to be working OK.

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 11, 2005 at 10:06 AM : Comments (2) | Permalink

October 10, 2005

Rest In Peace Austin Leslie


I have to admit that I never met Austin Leslie. When I lived in New Orleans, I didn't have any money, so I didn't get to eat out much. To me, Austin was just a striking oil painting on a column under an overpass near the French Quarter. I shot this picture of him last year when I was wandering aimlessly around the country. The painting caught my eye, but I never knew who the man was, or even if he was real. That is until tonight when I saw a photo of someone parading through the streets of New Orleans with a this photograph of Austin.

As it turns out, Austin Leslie was a New Orleans chef, famous for his creole soul food kitchen, Chez Helene. Austin had closed his restaurant a while back, and was working most recently at Pampy's Creole Kitchen. Austin was rescued from his roof and evacuated to the Superdome, and then to Atlanta, where he died of a heart attack on September 29th, a month after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.

Yet another sad loss in the unfolding tragedy that is New Orleans. Rest in peace, Austin.

Update: NOLA has a slideshow of Austin Leslie's Jazz Funeral.

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 10, 2005 at 12:59 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 9, 2005

NOPD Resumes Assaults on Innocent Citizens

In their never ending war on innocent citizens, the NOPD leaves no stone unturned. Shortly after their widely documented post-Katrina crime spree, where the police robbed citizens, looted stores, and stole 200 Cadillacs from a dealership, the police have now resumed their normal terrorism of innocent citizens. In this video, they assault a camera man and beat another man senseless on Bourbon Street.

Update. GoodBadCorrupt.com has a nice page dedicated to NOPD's finest.

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 9, 2005 at 9:16 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

An Interview with an Honest Boss

This is hysterical. A little bit of office humor. Safe for work. Pretty funny. Sort of Hallmark's take on Office Space.

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 9, 2005 at 3:36 PM : Comments (2) | Permalink

October 8, 2005

Manatee - It's What's For Dinner

Manatees are a federally protected endangered species found from Florida to Texas. And, as it turns out, the floating blubbery sea-cows are also delicious. And they're on the menu at Dougs in Volusia County, Florida.

"If God didn't want us to eat meat, he wouldn't have made it so damn tasty."

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 8, 2005 at 8:59 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Python Explodes After Swallowing Alligator

A 13 foot Burmese python swallowed a 6 foot alligator in the Everglades, but subsequently exploded. So, I guess maybe this is what they mean when they say "Don't bite off more than you can chew."

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 8, 2005 at 7:23 PM : Comments (2) | Permalink

Free Typing Tutorial for Kids

I downloaded and installed the Al Bunny's Typing Tutorial. I highly recommend it. Jennifer has already learned how to type a lot of letters without looking at the keyboard. I wish I'd learned to type when I was 7 instead of 16.

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 8, 2005 at 2:11 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 5, 2005

Crusoe Island Treasure Claim was a Hoax!

Well, here's a surprise. They were lying when they said that Arturito had discovered 800 tons of treasure. Just a big fat calculated lie to draw attention to their stupid little robot. They're sheisters and snake-oil salesmen. What's sad is that, Chile is nothing but an technological backwater, and always will be. And this just reinforces that. Anyone that thinks that some mental dwarf living on the wrong side of the equator is going to develop technology that the industrialized world doesn't have is an idiot. There is no technology on earth that can say for certain that a mass of metal 50 feet underground is gold or iron. The only people that don't know that are the idiotic talking heads that swallowed this story hook, line, and sinker because they're so incomprehensibly dense.

And, when the technology does exist, it won't come from Chile. Certainly not from the criminal idiots at Wagner Technologies or Wagner Industries or Wagner Security or Wagner Transportation or Wagner whatever they call themselves tomorrow. Chile is a confederacy of dunces and criminals.


WAGNER RENOUNCES CLAIMS TO CHILE’S BURIED TREASURE

Government Expected Contentious Debate Over Rights To Loot

(Oct. 5, 2005) A new twist in the story of buried treasure on Robinson Crusoe Island, which has kept Chile and the world in suspense for the last three weeks, surfaced Monday after Wagner Technologies renounced all claims to the treasure supposedly worth US$10 billion.

Wagner Technologies, the company that claims it discovered the treasure, met late Monday with government officials in Valparaíso in what was expected to be a contentious debate over the rights to the treasure.

But according to Fernando Uribe-Etxeverría, lawyer for Wagner Technologies, the company does not believe it is capable of excavating the treasure; all it wanted was the free press.

This abrupt turn of events surprised government officials, who were prepared to discuss excavation permits and decide how to divide the treasure with the company. Wagner instead agreed to turn over the coordinates to the government on the condition that if the treasure is excavated, a portion would be given to a number of Chilean charities, as well as the island’s residents.

Uribe-Etxeverría’s announcement also surprised journalists because of the commotion the company generated with threats to withhold the location of the treasure unless the government agreed to give them a cut of the loot (ST, Oct. 3).

Wagner still maintains that “Arturito,� a mobile robot designed by one of their engineers, detected the presence of 800 metric tons of gold and jewels on the west side of Robinson Crusoe Island in southern Chile.
However, the company claims that the treasure is located in a very difficult-to-reach spot that requires divers to enter through sub-marine caves on the island’s coast.

Wagner representatives said the company is withdrawing from the controversy that surrounded their claims because of the difficulty involved in removing the treasure.

“There is no company in the country capable of excavating this treasure,� said Uribe-Etxeverría. “For this, you will need something
bigger: the state.� He also added that for Wagner, the treasure did not represent a business opportunity. Instead, the company’s exploration was meant to publicize the extraordinary capabilities of their robot.

The robot in question, Arturito, operates like a robotic bloodhound. He can be programmed to search for a particular substance, such as water, gold, or even DNA. Using a variety of tools from geo-radar to a “gamma-camera,� capable of differentiating between atomic molecules, he searches a specified area for the presence the programmed substance.
According to Manuel Salinas, designer of the robot, with the right sample, Arturito could help police find missing persons, wanted criminals, and water in the desert.

Debates have also surfaced in Chile over the history of the newly discovered treasure: what treasure is actually buried on the island and how it got there. Robinson Crusoe Island is located along the Spanish colonial navigation route that connected Spain’s Latin American colonies with Europe. At the time, Spain was mining vast amounts of silver and gold from Peru and Bolivia for transport to Europe. These ships were a favorite of pirates operating in the South Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

Some treasure-seekers believe a popular legend which holds that the Spanish navigator Juan Esteban Ubilla y Echeverría, in charge of transporting the treasure back to Spain, landed on the island in 1715 and interred it instead. Sometime later, an English pirate named Cornelius Webb unearthed the treasure and reburied it elsewhere.

Others believe another legend claiming that the treasure was stolen from the Aztec Empire in Mexico by Spanish conquistadors. A third theory holds that it was the bounty taken off the Spanish galleon “Nuestra Señora del Monte Carmelo� in 1741 by the English lord George Anson.

The island first became famous for hosting the real-life character of Daniel Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe,� Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailing master marooned on the island between 1704 and 1709. Selkirk was pirating the Spanish off the coast of South America in the early 1700s when his ship was badly damaged by a series of fights with the Spanish armada.

Fearing that the ship would soon sink, he asked the captain to set him ashore at the next port and ended up stranded off the coast of Chile on an uninhabited island in the Juan Fernandez archipelago. Selkirk was later picked up by English privateers and continued pirating Spanish fleets until 1712, when he finally made his triumphant return to Scotland as a very rich man.

SOURCE: PUBLIMETRO, LA NACIÓN
By Nathan Gill (editor@santiagotimes.cl)


Technorati tags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 5, 2005 at 4:27 PM : Comments (9) | Permalink

October 3, 2005

Arturito – Scan Artist or Scam Artist?

I’ve spent some time puzzling over how, exactly, Arturito is supposed to work. He’s been described as everything from "40 years ahead of his time" to a "metal detector strapped to a Roomba". Various articles indicate that he uses an "antiplasma reactor", Sonar, Radar, Gamma Rays, Ground Penetrating Radar, GeoRadar, or just a glorified metal detector.

This is not a trivial question, as it is imperative to know what technology is used by the rover to verify the veracity of their claims. For instance, it’s highly doubtful that a ground penetrating radar system would function effectively, if the sensors are three inches off the ground, cushioned by a set of rubber tires.

Finally, OhMyNews provides some fairly explicit notes on how the rover functions:

European scientists have claimed that "Arturito" is 40 years ahead of its time since it works by scanning using atomic gamma rays.

"It scans horizontally and if the signals match the data stored in its computer, it will let us know immediately. Until now I have built six models," added Salinas.

So, let's focus on this for a minute. The claim appears to be that it scans horizontally using atomic gamma rays. So, I did some research on this claim. I wanted to know the following:

Questions:
1) Is it possible to generate gamma rays from a little rover the size of a foot stool?
2) Could you build Arturito with parts off the shelf, or would you need to travel into the future to get the necessary technology?
3) Can Gamma Rays penetrate down into 50 feet of earth and then reflect to the surface and return any meaningful data?


Answers:
1) Apparently gamma rays and X-rays overlap for a piece of the electromagnetic spectrum. And, he didn't specificially say what wavelength he was dealing with. But, let's assume that it's either an X-ray or a Gamma ray. As it turns out, they're using X-ray and Gamma Rays to extend the shelf life of food in many areas. They're using Cobalt 60(Co-60) and Cesium 137(Cs-137) to generate gamma rays for irradiating food. This is fairly old technology, as it turns out. Gamma rays are also used for diagnostic purposes in nuclear medicine. Several gamma-emitting radioisotopes are used, one of which is technetium-99m. So, in theory, a rover the size of a bread box could indeed beam out gamma rays if it had the correct radioactive isotopes on board.

2) On Mars, the Pathfinder rover used an Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer(APXS) to measure the composition of 9 rocks. In situ gamma-ray spectroscopy appears to be a fairly standard way of analyzing the elements in the sub surface soil to determine ratioactive contamination. So, apparently the technology exists, and, in theory, you wouldn't need to be a time traveler to acquire the technology.

3) Could a gamma ray or an x-ray penetrate through 50 feet of Earth, strike an object, and then be reflect up through 50 feet of earth and return any meaningful data about the object it struck? This is where it gets tricky. The APXS sensor on the Mars Pathfinder had to be placed directly onto the rock to get a reading. Even then, if it was set to X-Ray, it could only detect iron up to 100 micrometers(less than 4 inches) inside the rock. This is WAY short of the 15 meter depth that Arturito claims to have penetrated.

Carbon Sequestration studies measure subterranean carbon quantities using a system for non-destructive in situ carbon monitoring in the soil, based on Inelastic Neutron Scattering (INS). The system can be operated in stationary or scanning mode and measures soil to depth of approximately 30 cm.


The following legitimate geophysical methods and instruments are in use in the service of archaeology today:


I've not seen anything to tell me that it's possible to beam gamma ray 50 feet under ground. Like, I'd be willing to argue that, if they have something in that robot that's beaming energy that can travel through 100 feet of Earth, then they'd be safer standing at Ground Zero in Chernobyl. So, this is still an open issue to me. I'm not saying it can't be done, but I don't see anything telling me that it can be done either.


Open Questions for Arturito:
So, my questions now are:

Someone tell me what I'm missing. I'm not saying Arturito is a fraud. I personally doubt that it is. I believe...I want to believe...that he's the genuine article. That he's the real deal. Someone help me out here by posting comments.

Read my previous post on the story. It's the most comprehensive posting on the Robinson Crusoe Treasure on the internet.


Technorati tags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 3, 2005 at 9:19 PM : Comments (4) | Permalink

Pirate Treasure Cursed on Robinson Crusoe Island

OhMyNews reports that Manuel Salinas, the Chilean engineer who invented "Arturito", sadly, is a socialist. After graduating from Cologne University in Germany, he spent 12 years looking for financing to build his robot.The Chilean company "Wagner Technologies" believed in him and helped make his dream come true.

European scientists have claimed that "Arturito" is 40 years ahead of its time since it works by scanning using atomic gamma rays.

"It scans horizontally and if the signals match the data stored in its computer, it will let us know immediately. So far, I have built six prototypes," added Salinas.

"People are so greedy, I am a Christian and I think this [buried treasure] is a blessing for Chile. But now I think it is a curse. If the government does not allow us to start digging, well, let them find it. They have called us liars, let us dig, then you will see who is lying. According to the robot there are nearly 800 tons of gold there," said Salinas.

"I am so disappointed by our greed, we have not found a single coin and we are already arguing about who is going to keep the treasure," said Salinas.

So, this Manuel Salinas character searches for 12 years to find someone who believes in his idea and will back him financially. Then, when he finally finds them and they fund him to the tune of nearly $200,000 U.S. Dollars, he now has the audacity to say that greed is bad? Look, Einstein. Let me splain something to you. Here's how the economy works. No one is going to give you $200K unless they hope to earn a return on the money. Got it? Now, you got what you wanted. You got enough money to let you play in the lab while you made 6 prototypes. Now, you've made your little toy. And it works. OK. Great.

Now, Gabriel Vargas from Wagner takes it out and plops it down on top of Cerro Tres Puntas, and it says it sees gold. Lots of gold. (I have my doubts about this, but let's assume that it's right, for now.)

Now, you have the audacity to say greed is bad? That you can't stomach the fact that people are fighting over $10 billion dollars? Puhleeze. Two years ago, you were begging for $200K to build your little Radio Shack robot, and now you think it's crass to argue over $10 billion dollars?

That's rich. Thanks for throwing in your two cents. We're all extremely moved by your touching little "can't we all just get along" socialist speech. Now, go read Animal Farm and The Road to Serfdom, and then get back in the lab.


Read my previous post on the story. It's the most comprehensive posting on the Robinson Crusoe Treasure on the internet.


Technorati tags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 3, 2005 at 8:13 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 2, 2005

Did Arturito Find Treasure on Robinson Crusoe Island?


"...the truth is that the olives are being harvested before planting the olive trees." - Leopoldo González, mayor of Juan Fernandez.


Arturito did find a treasure on Robinson Crusoe island. Of this, there is no dispute. The treasure is publicity, and he's probably gotten more than anyone anticipated. Possibly more than he deserves.

Technically, he isn't a robot and his name isn't Arturito. He's a remotely controlled rover named "TX Araña" ("TX Spider"). He's commonly referred to as "Arturito"("Little Arthur") because "Arturito" sounds like "R2D2". And they call him a robot because it sounds more exciting than a rover. Got it?

So what did this little 4 wheeled rover find exactly? Well, at this point, it's hard to say. Some say he found hundreds of tons of treasure. Some say he found no such thing. I'm sure that I don't know what he found. But I do know this. They haven't actually pulled anything out of the ground yet. No gold. No silver. No emeralds. Nada.

Ostensibly, the treasure is all wrapped up in red tape by Conama and Conaf. They're arguing over how the treasure will be divided, and what laws to apply in this situation.

Meanwhile, in the giddy aftermath of their initial claim of discovering the treasure, some of the voices rising from the din aren't convinced that anything has been discovered at all.

The Rise of the Pundits:
There are a few things about the story that I don't quite get.

Read my previous post on the story. It's the most comprehensive posting on the Robinson Crusoe Treasure on the internet.


Kidd: The Search for his Treasure, By George Edmunds, The Pentland Press, 1996, ISBN: 1-85821-357-6

Technorati tags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 2, 2005 at 8:52 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Hurricane Katrina Photographs - New Original Images

My brother is a civil engineer working to repair what remains of the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. When I got back from Burning Man, he tried to get me to go down and shoot the coast. I didn't go, so he shoots pictures when he's working out in the field. From Colorado, it's hard for me to grasp what they're dealing with in Biloxi. His images do an excellent job of portraying just how utterly devestating the storm was, and how the coast is slowly digging out from under the detritus of Hurricane Katrina. Keep up the good work, J.R. The whole country appreciates the work y'all are doing to restore the coast!

Update: Today, I learn that there's a "nice smell" on the coast and that "31 days after the storm, meat turns to liquid."

This slideshow is a 12 Meg self-playing executable named katrina.exe created using Imagematics StillMotion PE Plus. The soundtrack is In The Waiting Line by Zero 7 from the Garden State soundtrack. Click here to download the presentation. If you have an Apple, click here to download the Macromedia Flash version. Click here if you need help.

Technorati tags:, , ,

Posted by Peenie Wallie on October 2, 2005 at 5:02 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink