Jones in the Fast Lane
Okay, how many of you classic computer gamers remember playing Jones in the Fast Lane?
It was a simple life simulator developed by Sierra Entertainment back in 1990. This wasn’t nearly as fancy as The Sims, but it was still fun and very addictive. If you were a fan of the game or just want to try it, get ready for some good news! Read more…
The Importance of Spellchecking
I don’t know if it’s just me, but when reading online forums and other websites, it seems like people these days are notoriously bad when it comes to spelling and making grammatical errors. These problems are also very common when listening to people speak in person, on TV or on the radio, whether they’re hosting a show or talking during a commercial.
Between using words incorrectly, not spelling words correctly, or doing the common preposition stranding at the end of a sentence, a lot of people are just plain dumb when it comes to speaking and writing today!
Take this advertisement flyer that I received the other day.
The advertisement is for D.A.S. Contracting, Inc. out of Acworth, Georgia.
The layout of the flyer looks nice and professional, but I counted three (possibly four – explained below) spelling & grammar errors! Read more…
Categories: marketing Tags: advertising
Original NES Blues
About a week ago a story came out telling how an eBay seller scored big bucks by selling a used Nintendo Entertainment System along with a couple of games. It turns out that if you’re one of a few people in the world who actually have a copy of the 1987 game, “Stadium Events,” you can sell it for top dollar at auction. This particular auction sold for $13,105.
Not bad for a rare game over twenty-three years old.
But what about those of us who still own an original box for the classic game system, and said box is still in excellent condition?
original NES Action Set box - circa 1987
Categories: Uncategorized Tags: game
Hello, Linux.
The other day I finally decided to join the ever-popular world of Linux.
I’ve been a dedicated Windows user since the days of Windows 3.1, and right now my laptop is running Windows Vista while my other two computers are still using Windows XP.
And now, as of last night, my oldest computer has transitioned to Xubuntu 9.10 and I’ve begun the process of learning how to operate the new operating system. That computer was fine during college, but eight years later the 1.1ghz processor and whopping 256mb of memory just doesn’t cut it anymore. At some point I’ll throw more memory and a much bigger hard drive into the box and make it a movie server for my entertainment center, but for now it’s my “learning Linux & Ubuntu” machine.
Plane Crash in Austin, Texas
Reports are coming out right now that a “small plane” has crashed into a seven story office building in northwestern Austin, Texas.
Take a look at the facts:
- The weather in the area is clear, 55 degrees and with only a slight breeze.
- The aircraft appears to have impacted the lower front of the building — a direct hit.
- It was mentioned multiple times that the aircraft didn’t just crash, but rather “plowed into” the building, sparking a large fire and causing structural damage to the building.
- An IRS office is located in this very office building. A regional FBI office and other federal buildings are very close to this location.
- Witnesses have reported seeing a “30-foot fireball” after watching a small aircraft flying irrationally (stalled?), nearly missing power lines before impacting the office building. Another witness countered this, claiming that the aircraft looked very much in control.
So what happened an hour ago in Austin?
Read more…
Categories: aviation Tags: aircraft
Snow Day – The Ice Skating Incident
The following morning after our day of snow was nothing short of spectacular.
The sky was blue, about two inches of snow covered everything in sight, and on the driveways and streets was a nice layer of ice. For those of us living in metro Atlanta, this was a rare treat.
You couldn’t have asked for a better day.
The only problems were that the sun was shining and the temperatures were slowly rising. In other words, if you wanted to go ice skating in a car, you needed an early start. Read more…
Categories: Uncategorized, weather Tags: snow, society, weather
Gentlemen, I Give You . . . MORE SNOW!
Believe it or not, but it has been snowing outside for the past eight hours!
Granted, the snow is very light right now, and by looking at the weather radar we’re just about finished with it anyway, but it’s still a big deal to be receiving a decent (>1 inch) amount of snow here in metro Atlanta. The snow is finally sticking to the streets outside, so we may be seeing a lot of ice as the moisture freezes overnight.
As far as the snow’s quality, well, just ask Darth Snowman and his alien minions.
Read more…
Controversy in Judged Sports
The Winter Olympic games are only a few days away, and people and athletes are already about the judges in figure skating.
The problem here is that no matter what, when it comes to being judged for style, people will always be upset with the outcome unless the differences in the performances are significant. If performances are nearly identical to the average person, no matter what, people will be upset when their performer does not receive a high enough score.
Throw in the claims over the years of judges from certain countries giving overwhelming bias for their country’s athletes despite poor performances, and, well, you get the picture.
Perhaps the real question is, do judged events belong in the Olympics, whether its all of the gymnastic events during the Summer Games or the figure skating, freestyle skiing, ski jumping (current version where the judges give style points) snowboard events in the Winter Games?
Read more…
Categories: sports Tags: olympics
This Should Have Been More Obvious To People
An was published today claiming that former Atlanta Falcons’ quarterback, Michael Vick, wasn’t exactly giving it his all on and off the playing field. In fact, Vick admitted this himself just recently.
The problem here is that for anybody who actually watched Michael Vick play, and still kept watching him on the sidelines, the fact that he didn’t appear to really care at times or give it his all was painfully obvious. It’s just sad that his lack of leadership and inability to learn plays and analyze the defense were overlooked by so many people, including the biased sports reporters who bent over backwards to compliment every single thing that he did.
Read more…
Run For Your Life! It’s El Nino!
Speaking of El Nino, have you heard that we as a whole have been experiencing weather conditions directly associated from the warming of water in the eastern Pacific Ocean?
Let’s see, so far we’ve been seeing:
- More rain & mudslides in southern California than normal.
- (fresh snow would be nice for the Winter Olympics) than normal.
- Less winter precipitation in the Ohio Valley / upper Midwest than normal.
- Colder temperatures in the southern and southeastern part of the country than normal.
- More rain and flooding in southern Florida than normal.
Are all of those the result of the “global warming” and “climate change” we keep hearing about in the news?
Guess again. Read more…
Did You Hear The News?
Did you hear about this?
I mean, this is like, huge! It’s incredible! Amazing!
No, this isn’t about the “Who Dat?” nation and the New Orleans Saints winning the Super Bowl. Sorry Saints fans, but you’ve already been bumped from the front page. It was only the biggest win of the biggest game in the long history of the NFL team. You’ll get over it. Just win the Super Bowl again next year. Isn’t it the season of Mardi Gras anyway?
Anyway, this other news is much, much bigger and far more important.
I don’t know if it should even be mentioned here. This is just simply too astonishing to even mention.
Well, I guess we can take a look at it now.
Brace yourselves for this news. You better be sitting down.
Ready? Read more…
Book Review – Richard Miniter’s “Shadow War”
A couple of months ago I finished reading the nonfiction book “Shadow War: The Untold Story of How America Is Winning the War on Terror.”
Even though the book itself was written back in 2004 and much has changed in the War on Terror (we are still calling it that, right?), Mr. Miniter does shed the light on several key parts that most of us average, everyday people never knew.
Categories: book reviews Tags: book review
Overhyping Danica Patrick
Let’s just accept the fact that the media and many ignorant people online are going to be hyping and shoving Danica Patrick into our faces for quite some time. The process has already begun and this year in particular is going to be very overwhelming, especially with tomorrow’s ARCA race at Daytona, Florida.
I mean, it would be one thing if Danica could actually win races (note – races, and not a single win that was unknowingly given to her by Castroneves in the Japan race back in 2008) or even consistently compete with the leaders during any given race.
But as we’ve seen time and time and time again, Ms. Patrick is unable to compete based on skills and raw horsepower. The only way she will ever work her way to the front of the pack and win another race is by fuel economy and skipping a pit stop. That’s it. When it comes to real racing, Danica Patrick is just another Anna Kournikova — all looks and a lack of major victories or even a single championship. Throw in Ms. Patrick’s lack of a charming personality and often spiteful post-race interviews, and it’s a wonder that she gets any TV time at all.
Read more…
Groundhog Day 2010
Here we are again on February 2, 2010, worshiping the groundhog and holding our breath, anxious to hear if nature’s “weather rat” will predict an early spring or the dreaded s i x m o r e w e e k s o f w i n t e r.
Punxsutawney Phil, the most famous resident of the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and self-proclaimed leader of the groundhogs, has predicted six more weeks of winter. For the residents of Punxsutawney in western Pennsylvania, this is nothing new. Long winters are just a part of life for those people living in and north of the Rust Belt.
Now had the overgrown rat not seen his shadow and predicted an early spring, chances are good that it would in fact be wrong, and the area would still experience a lot more winter. Early spring conditions in western PA and further north are rare. Promises of warmer weather would only lead to disappointment and people forming lynch mobs to seek their revenge on the furry reject of Mother Nature for lying to them yet again. Punxsutawney Phil’s safest bet is to always predict more winter. People know that’s it’s going to be that way anyway, and should warm weather be felt in a short burst of springlike conditions, then it’ll be accepted as a rare treat instead of the expected weather in an ordinarily cold area.
Read more…