Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Plusdeck2c Pc Cassette Deck, Tape To MP3 at X-tremegeek.com

Have a large collection of old tapes? Here is an easy, and relatively inexpensive, way to get them into modern formats.

Plusdeck2c Pc Cassette Deck, Tape To MP3 at X-tremegeek.com

X-ufo, 4 Channel R/c Ufo at X-tremegeek.com

Ahem. If you cyber friends are having a tough time buying my birthday present this year, by all means check this out. :)


X-ufo, 4 Channel R/c Ufo at X-tremegeek.com

Stealthswitch, Desktop Cloaking Device at X-tremegeek.com

C'mon now fellow working people. You all know you could use one of these right now as you read this blog post from the confines of your job. :)

Stealthswitch, Desktop Cloaking Device at X-tremegeek.com

Today's Funny

Submitted by Froggie#2
----------------------

Subject: ANOTHER BLONDE JOKE !!

A blonde motorist was about two hours from San Diego when she was flagged down by a man whose truck had broken down. The man walked up to the car and asked, "Are you going to San Diego?"

"Sure" answered the blonde, "do you need a lift?"

"Not for me. I'll be spending the next three hours fixing my truck. My problem is I've got two chimpanzees in the back which have to be taken to the San Diego Zoo. They're a bit stressed already so I don't want to keep them on the road all day. Could you possibly take them to the zoo for me? I'll give you $100 for your trouble."

"I'd be happy to," said the blonde.

So the two chimpanzees were ushered into the back seat of the blonde's car and carefully strapped into their seat belts. Off they went. Five hours later, the truck driver was driving through the heart of San Diego when suddenly he was horrified!! There was the blonde walking down the street and holding hands with the two chimps, much to the amusement of a big crowd. With a screech of brakes he pulled off the road and ran over to the blonde.

"What the heck are you doing here?" he demanded, "I gave you $100 to take these chimpanzees to the zoo."

"Yes, I know you did," said the blonde, "but we had money left over, so now we're going to Sea World."

:)

Today's Funny

Submitted by Froggie#2
----------------------

Subject: Where Babies Come From

One afternoon, a little girl returned home from school and announced that a friend had told her where babies come from. Amused, her mother replied, "Why don't you tell me all about it?"

The little girl explained, "Well, mommy and daddy take off all of their clothes, and then the daddy's thingy stands up, and then the mommy puts it in her mouth, and then it sort of explodes, and that's how you get babies."

Her mother shook her head, leaned over to meet her eye-to-eye, and said, Oh, honey, that's sweet, but that's not how you get babies. That's how you get jewellery."

:)

Monday, January 30, 2006

Hmm, what is DW telling me here...

either, she thinks I need soap, or she believes that the upper crust of business leaders in the US are just plain nasty and crusty.


CANOE -- CNEWS - Weird News: Ivy League school agrees to put soap in bathrooms

I do my best to make DW happy so...

since she sent this to me, I pledge not to get involved with this. :)

CANOE -- CNEWS - Weird News: Lawyer dons leather mask for closing arguments

Tagged (sortof, in a weird way) by PS

"The first player of this game starts with the topic "five weird habits of yourself," and people who get tagged need to write an entry about their five weird habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next five people to be tagged and link to their web journals. Don't forget to leave a comment in their blog or journal that says "You are tagged" (assuming they take comments) and tell them to read yours."

1. The icons on my desktop (or any that I use) must be aligned properly. I hate a messy computer desktop. So, I tend to rearrange it when I use it. I also clean up the start menu, progams section because it really should never cascade across the entire screen; there really is no reason for that. I do this on any machine I use.

2. If my meal contains all the parts (meat, carbs, veggies), I typically will always eat the rest of the meal, spinning the plate to get all of the non-meat parts, leaving the meat for last.

3. Back to desktops, while mine was hit by a class nine photon torpedo, I simply cannot stand to see DW's in disarray. At least once a week, I will perform some kind of tidy or cleanup of her desk. Mind you, she will be the first to say I typically am the cause of the current disarray at any point in time (which is mainly true).

4. On any given day, I may get no more than 4.5h of sleep daily. I work better at night when the distractions have gone to bed. As such, I won't get to sleep most nights till my brain quits around 4AM. I am usually back up at 6:30AM when Breakfast Television or TC wakes me. Most times, I will not get any further sleep until that night again as I start working once I get up, especially if I am on call.

5. I used to work for 7-11 as a store clerk. In psuedo-training to be an assistant manager, I used to do the runs to the bank all the time. The bank hated the money in anything but a lined up, face forward fashion and would often refuse to take it until you fixed it. The reason was it made the accuracy of the counting machine rise. Anyhow, because of this, I absolutely cannot have money in my wallet that is not properly sorted, lined up and facing the same direction. I also cannot look into DW's ground zero sorted version of her purse without physically cringing.

I'm not going to tag anyone to do this, but if you'd like to steal it, have at it!

As heard on CityTV today...

ONLY FORTY-NINE DAYS UNTIL SPRING!!!!

Sucks to be Skibum. :) Above zero temperatures until Sunday. Unless you are going to Yellowknife, it looks like your skiing is going to be very limited around here.

Borrowed from MS

Four Jobs I've Had:

1. Teacher/Professor.
2. DJ.
3. Courier (using a Skoda).
4. Car Stereo sales and installation.

Four Places I've Lived:

1. Uhm, kind of sad but I have only ever lived in the GTA (Toronto and Markham).
2. Trinidad, only counts because I was born there (no recollection).
3. N/A.
4. N/A.

Four Movies I Would Watch Over and Over:

1. Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
2. South Park: Bigger, Badder, Louder.
3. Any martial arts movie from the old style (i.e. Shaw Brothers).
4. Matrix Trilogy.

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch:

1. CSI. All of them.
2. Reality shows (i.e. Survivor, Amazing Race, Big Brother, American Idol) because misery loves company.
3. Surface (best dang show from NBC in years).
4. Any space-related series (i.e. Star Trek, Babylon 5, Star Wars, Andromeda, Stargare SG1, etc.).

Four Websites I visit Daily:

Apart from my daily (ok, not daily) canon of blog reads, I can usually be found reading any of the following:

* Fantasysports.Yahoo.ca (for the basketball pool). Ok, not EVERY day.
* eBay.ca (only till I get my laptop battery, I promise).
* Gmail.com (because work frowns on the stuff I receive there).
* TigerDirect.ca/Canadacomputers.com/Futureshop.ca/BestBuy.ca/Factorydirect.ca (just to ensure I am up to date on the prices and what's out there, NOT for buying anything...honest)

Four Favourite Foods:

1. Virtually any pasta with a nice hot oil (check The One of a Kind Show or President's Choice for oils).
2. Roti with goat, chicken, conch, shrimp, crab, whatever!
3. Macaroni pie and Potato Salad (no, not the crap from KFC).
4. Dw's ribs and her lamb. Oh man, I am salivating now.

Four Places I'd Rather Be Right Now:

1. Someplace quiet.
2. Someplace warmer.
3. Someplace lethargic.
4. Don't keel over, but someplace bereft of technology (at least for a little while).

Uhm, that's just wrong.

Submitted by Famine. All I can say is, "Don't hack the wee-wee!"
-------------------

*VOLUME CIRCUMCISIONS *

Beyond the medical debate, circumcision is still a requirement of many religions and cultures.

For instance, the nearly two-year-old son of King Mohammed was circumcised earlier this year in Morocco, prompting thousands of countrymen to also go through the procedure in a massive show of solidarity for the prince.

Some 5,000 boys were circumcised in Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city.




* *

Monday, January 23, 2006

One-man Showtime - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

OK, I am still not a Kobe fan. He is beyond arrogant, he got caught with his hand (or something else) in the cookie jar (or something else) after leading a false squeaky-clean image, he pissed off Shaq and lied about it and he simply does not have the ambassadorship that a Chris Bosh, Tim Duncan and a Kevin Garnett has for the league.

But they pay the man to play ball and man can he play it. Kobe lit up the Raptors for EIGHTY-ONE points!!! The caps don't even do that justice because if you actually saw the game you would have seen double, triple and at one or two possessions even a quadruple team effort to stop him and he STILL made the damn shot. It was an incredible display and it was deeply disturbing considering that the Raptors were up by fourteen points barely twenty minutes prior to the blowing out.

Will this be enough to make him MVP? No, but it will go a long way to it if the Lakers can go deep in the playoffs. If they tank in the playoffs, everyone will simply thank him for the season's highlights and move on to someone more palatable to the sensibilities of those that do the voting. If they go deep in the playoffs, there is simply no way they will be able to deny the absolute power of this weapon of mass destruction that was unleashed upon the rest of the NBA this year. I will give credit to the Zen master, coach Phil Jackson, for the resurgence of the previously lethargic Kobe Bryant and for the push that the Lakers have in general. In the end, this team will go as Kobe goes. Right now, there does not seem to be a limit to where that will be.

Ciao.

One-man Showtime - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

Another funny

A new telling on an old joke (using shockwave flash).

http://www.barry.fireflyinternet.co.uk/JackSchitt/Jack_Schit.htm

Today's Funny

Subject: Jamaican fireman (as submitted by DoubleD)



A Jamaican fireman came home from work, one day and said to his wife,

"Y'know sumptin womon, we have a wonderful new system at de fire station."

Bell 1 rings - we put on our jackets.

Bell 2 rings we slide down de pole.

Bell 3 rings -we jump on de ingine and we's ready to go.

"From now on womon, when I say, 'Bell one' I want you to strip naked.

When I say, 'Bell two' you jump on de bed.

When I say, 'Bell three' we's gonna mek love all tru de night girl."

The next night, he came home and shouted, "Bell One" and the wife stripped
naked!

"Bell Two" and she jumped on the bed!

"Bell Three" and they started to make love!

After a few minutes, the wife yelled out, "Bell Four !!!!"

"WOMON . What de hell is 'Bell ! Four'?" he asked. She replied,

"Roll out more hose, mon, you ain't nowhere near de fire!"

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Today's funny

Submitted by AL
---------------

How To Shower Like a Woman/Man

How To Shower Like a Woman:

Take off clothing and place it in sectioned laundry hamper according to lights and darks.
Walk to bathroom wearing long dressing gown.
If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.
Look at your womanly physique in the mirror - make mental note to do more sit-ups/leg-lifts, etc.
Get in the shower. Use face cloth, arm cloth, leg cloth, long loofah wide loofah and pumice stone.
Wash your hair once with cucumber and sage shampoo with 43 added vitamins.
Wash your hair again to make sure it's clean.
Condition your hair with grapefruit mint conditioner enhanced.
Wash your face with crushed apricot facial scrub for 10 minutes until red.
Wash entire rest of body with ginger nut and jaffa cake body wash.
Rinse conditioner off hair.
Shave armpits and legs.
Turn off shower.
Squeegee off all wet surfaces in shower.
Spray mold spots with Tilex.
Get out of shower.
Dry with towel the size of a small country.
Wrap hair in super absorbent towel.
Return to bedroom wearing long dressing gown and towel on head.
If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

How To Shower Like a Man:

Take off clothes while sitting on the edge of the bed and leave them in a pile.
Walk naked to the bathroom.
If you see wife along the way, shake wiener at her making the 'woo-woo' sound.
Look at your manly physique in the mirror.
Admire the size of your wiener and scratch your ass.
Get in the shower. Wash your face. Wash your armpits.
Blow your nose in your hands and let the water rinse them off.
Fart and laugh at how loud it sounds in the shower.
Spend majority of time washing privates and surrounding area.
Wash your butt, leaving those coarse butt hairs stuck on the soap.
Wash your hair.
Make a Shampoo Mohawk.
Pee.
Rinse off and get out of shower.
Partially dry off.
Fail to notice water on floor because curtain was hanging out of tub the whole time.
Admire wiener size in mirror again.
Leave shower curtain open, wet mat on floor, light and fan on.
Return to bedroom with towel around waist.
If you pass wife, pull off towel, shake wiener at her and make the 'woo-woo' sound again.
Throw wet towel on bed.


If there is anyone among you who did not laugh at the truth behind this, there is something so very wrong with you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

It started with the Baywatch Dude

OK, so MS sends me a link to this funny, though disturbing, music video featuring Mr. Knight Rider himself. The really disturbing part is actually contained in the comments after the video as the ignorance that permeats the world in this year 2006 A.D. i have include the link and an excerpt from the last of the comments where I simply felt compelled to reply. You will tell my comments are under the alias "Concerned".

Enjoy.

----------------------------------------------------------
*NOTE* Warning that there is MUCHO ignorance and foul language following:

Elvis Julep you are an absolute moron and deserve to be bitch slapped
you'd think someone that's gay in America would understand what a backward, capitalist, right-wing and dare i say it, red-neck country America is - just look who you have as your president! he's got an I.Q lower than the average american infantry man, and has tried to completely do away with civil unions or gay marriages. i am not gay but do believe people should have the right to be happy - in america and the rest of the world. perhaps if america could somehow disapear and stop creating meaningless wars every two seconds people could be vaguely happy - and maybe then burger king and mcdonalds the scurge of the planet would collapse
January 15, 2006 09:36 PM | happy

and Naomi you rule
January 15, 2006 09:38 PM | happy

Imagine him hovering outside your window?
January 15, 2006 10:27 PM | Anal Beads

Elvis Julep hovers? I guess we can add that to his ever-growing list of skills that includes karate master, race car driver, super duper scientist, sexual dynamo, and last but not least, closet fag.
January 16, 2006 12:47 AM | Rundown

Hey, fuck all of you! If I didn't have an ass full of Hasselhoff right now i'd Kung-fu all you fuckers!!!
January 16, 2006 07:28 AM | Elvis Julep

"And i love the way americans seem to judge people by their propensity for fighting. Really shows how much there is to them..."

Hey, here's a lovey-dovey sentiment for you from an American, Wally: go fuck yourself.

----------

"perhaps if america could somehow disapear and stop creating meaningless wars every two seconds people could be vaguely happy"

I'd like to thank "happy" for making everyone here stupidererererer for having read that. I can only imagine the kind of 'peace' that'd occur if the world were devoid of the US. It's laughable that so many of you simpletons in Europe actually think WE'RE the cause of world instability. Your own colonial endeavors built the foundation for 90% of the wars in the 20th century. You elitist morons couldn't even solve the mess in the Balkans...IN YOUR OWN FUCKING BACKYARD...and you think the world would be more peaceful without the US to stand up every time you appeasing fucks back down from a fight? Hey, Europe, since you assholes think you have all the answers, WHY DON'T YOU TAKE OVER FOR THE US? Goodness knows we're all tired of having to defend your worthless ungrateful asses. Maybe if you ignorant fucks cut back on your bloated socialist cradle-to-grave social welfare programs you'd actually be able to fund a viable combin3ed military force....one capable of standing up to the 'big bad Americans'. Of course you won't...because then you'd have to put your money where your oversized mouths are and actually take meaningful action in situations you now rely on the US to take care of.

Oh, and go fuck yourself too, 'happy'.

Ignorant fucking Eurotrash.....
January 16, 2006 06:30 PM |

Jesus titty-fucking Christ, how is it that a David Hasselhoff video turns into another US bashing thread?

Everybody cool out, for Christsakes.
January 16, 2006 07:31 PM | Yank

"who cares about a apaostophe"

a apaostophe?

Wow. It's obvious that downsers like you care very little about being able to communicate at any level.
January 16, 2006 07:59 PM | AyeRoxor

I miss being vaguely happy.
January 16, 2006 08:02 PM | AyeRoxor

Don't forget, The HOFF still loves you!
January 17, 2006 06:57 AM | cletus

To all you worthless American bashing idiots: first and formost....Fuck Off! Now, where would the world be without us? There wouldn't be one. America is the country who is leading the world in wars that others are afraid to fight. We send many troops to protect not only our country, but all the rest in the world. And we are helping rebuild a country that has attacked us. Now tell me how America is bad??? Any takers? No. Didn't think so. You see, America is a very prosperous and giving country. Willing to fight battles for those countries that are too scared. We help aid stability in the world. You all act like America is destroying the world. however, if America didn't stand up for itself and everyone else, there wouldn't be a world left. So, in conclusion, you are all fucking idiots and know jack shit about our country. maybe we should just let all the other countries fend for themselves, thus leaving only us on the map. Actually that sounds pretty good - we wouldn't have to deal with Goons like you.

*Regarding the video. From Bay Watch to Don't Watch. It actullay made me physically sick, and yet, at the same time, made me feel all warm inside. ha ha. you all have a pleasant day!*
January 18, 2006 11:42 AM | LETS GO BUSH!! LETS GO AMERICA!!

I don't think it is right to make this a US bashing thread. As usual, so much gets lost in it all. Yes, America has been responsible in many cases for the very conflicts they purport to be helping fix (i.e. Congo diamonds, Iraqi oil, Columbian drugs, Indian reservations). Lest we forget, this great nation created AND sold arms to all sorts of forces in the world that ended up railing against their very supporters.

That said, we would be speaking German or Japanese if it was not for the efforts of the US (they screwed up in Korea and Vietnam, but they don't like talking about those). However, I think a lot of people take offence to America taking credit for all the great success in those wars when a lot of people from a lot of cooperating nations (ever heard of the UN?) died in those wars fighting side by side with the US. By all means, kudos go to you but don't act like you did it all on your own. And I would be remiss if I did not mention that in both world wars, it was Canada, Russia and Britain that made key turning points to help win the war. Don't malign the veterans from those wars by not stating ALL of the facts!

My final point is that it is amazing in the year 2006 that there is still so much hate, ignorance and poor judgment in the world. We have grown and yet we have seemingly learned nothing along the journey.

Think about how you can educate and help rather demean and debase. Thank you for your time.
January 18, 2006 01:11 PM | Concerned

"Lest we forget, this great nation created AND sold arms to all sorts of forces in the world that ended up railing against their very supporters."

Lest you also forget the great number of arms the Europeans have sold and continue to sell to many unscrupulous nations. China, Iraq, etc. Don't act like your shit doesn't stink, please.

------------

"they screwed up in Korea and Vietnam, but they don't like talking about those"

Korea was a UN effort. Spearheaded by the US, but a UN effort nonetheless....and since when is Korea considered a screw-up? At least we've kept the South free, despite a permanent stalemate.

Vietnam was a screw-up only because our forces were restrained by artificial and frustratingly obtuse rules of engagement, thanks to the likes of LBJ and McNamara. The motives in both wars were legitimate and noble; containing the destructive and oppressive sphere of influence of the USSR.

"By all means, kudos go to you but don't act like you did it all on your own."

Well said. We didn't do it "on our own." HOWEVER, I think the recent trend of downplaying the massive US contribution/involvement is FAR more prevalent and disturbing. It's trendy historical PC revisionism at it's worst.
January 18, 2006 05:59 PM | Yank

OK Yank, I think you made intelligent and well stated points and too many people have debated the merits of such in the past. I will only make one more comment about Vietnam, and I do not speak out of my ass on this one. Lots of people suffered for no reason due to a lot of "testing" tha went on during that war; weapons, chemicals, engagements, you name it. it was one big testing lab and many people got rich from the results that arose from it.

I for one am very happy to live in Canada, with all its own faults, and I am very happy AND grateful to have the powerful US as an ally and neighbour. However, and this is what embroils our two nations today, it does not mean we have to be beholden to the ideals and whims of your great nation. We are still a free country and we are entitled to say "no".

Do I believe Saddam needed to be stopped? Damn right I do. I also believe that George the former was too pussified and should have continued right in and finished the job. Instead, you current scholar of a president, Bumblin' Bush, comes up with a cock and bull story to justify cleaning up daddy's mistake.

I don't care about the merits of the whole issue. i care about the armed forces caught in the middle of a civil war over there protecting the interests of really a few top tiered business people. Liek ti or not, Michael Moore did not make up all that shit in the movie. You saw how the congressmen ran when asked to enlist their own children to die for the cause they supposedly believe in.

Anyhow, cousin, c'mon up to Toronto and we'll have a couple of REAL beers, debate a little and then thank whomever for the fact that we are free enough to disagree and talk about it without anyone getting beheaded.

Peace.
January 18, 2006 06:27 PM | Concerned

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Sick sick bastard!

Toronto Police Service
News Release

Man arrested for Sexual Assault, Farook Khan, 57, 31 Division

Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 9:55 AM
31 Division
416-808-3100

On Wednesday, January 11, 2006, police received information in regards to a sexual assault.

It is alleged that:

- a 57-year-old man who is a "Wheel Trans Driver", sexually assaulted a 27-year-old handicapped woman while on a bus.

Farook Khan, 57, of Markham, has been charged with Sexual Assault.

He is scheduled to appear in court at 1000 Finch Avenue West on Thursday, January 12, 2006, at 10 a.m., room 306.

Investigators believe there maybe more victims.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-3104, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or online at www.222tips.com



Constable Isabelle Cotton, Public Information, for Detective Brent Swackhamer, 31 Division

There are no files attached to this release.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

CANOE -- CNEWS - Law: Homolka letters pulled from EBay

CANOE -- CNEWS - Law: Homolka letters pulled from EBay

Today's Haiku

Lots of stupid ass,
vying for my vote today.
They really all suck!

Today's Funny

"A Living Will,"


A man and his wife were sitting in the living room and he said to her, "Just so you know, I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug."

His wife got up, unplugged the TV and threw out all of his beer.

---------------------------------
Submitted by Froggie#2 AKA Bride Killer

WBUR :: CBC Canada Votes 2006 :: Vote By Issue Quiz

Submitted by the LB, this is a very cool way of not only knowing what issues have been discussed by each party, but in eliminating the identification of who is pushing the issue, you get a relaistic view of your true feelings on the issue.

I did the test and my results are as follows:




Quiz home | Start Quiz | Election Issues | About | Email This To A Friend


Quiz Results
Below are your quiz results. These results simply reflect the choices you made and are in no way intended to suggest how you should vote.


You agreed with...

Stephen Harper
on 5 issues Economic Growth, Foreign Aid, Relations with the provinces, National Security, Healthcare Funding

Jack Layton
on 10 issues Economic Growth, Foreign Aid, Farming, Gun Control, Employment Insurance, Taxes, National Security, Child Care, Healthcare Funding, Defence Spending

Gilles Duceppe
on 9 issues Economic Growth, Foreign Aid, Farming, Gun Control, Employment Insurance, Taxes, Child Care, Healthcare Funding, Defence Spending

Paul Martin
on 11 issues Economic Growth, Foreign Aid, Farming, Gun Control, Employment Insurance, Parliamentary Reform, Relations with the provinces, National Security, Child Care, Healthcare Funding, Defence Spending



You disagreed with...

Stephen Harper
on 7 issues Farming, Gun Control, Employment Insurance, Parliamentary Reform, Taxes, Child Care, Defence Spending

Jack Layton
on 2 issues Parliamentary Reform, Relations with the provinces

Gilles Duceppe
on 3 issues Parliamentary Reform, Relations with the provinces, National Security

Paul Martin
on 1 issues Taxes



You chose not to agree or disagree with...

Stephen Harper
on 0 issues

Jack Layton
on 0 issues

Gilles Duceppe
on 0 issues

Paul Martin
on 0 issues


WBUR :: CBC Canada Votes 2006 :: Vote By Issue Quiz

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

The Intel-based Apple hardware has been released.

Why is this news? Well, if you have to ask, you obviously do not use computers or you turn them on, do your work, and then turn them back off. To everyone else, the fight between Apple and the Wintel Duopoly (Microsoft Windows and Intel-based hardware) is legendary. Apple was nearly done too if not for a cash infusion by their mortal enemy due to the realization that the competition was needed. They may be regretting it now.

Mac OS X is a very robust variant of the Unix operating system (it is based on BSD) which does things the way the Unix/Linux community has promised for a decade as an alternative to the Windows desktop. Only with OS X has this actually come true. I use a Mac Mini at work and I can tell you that while I miss certain things, I would love to live in the Apple world only.

Now, due to a major limitation in the current chip line (PowerPC G5 architecture developed with IBM and Motorola), Apple had no choice but to look at making a major switch; getting in bed with the co-conspirating enenmy. Intel (and maybe AMD) would be able to offer Apple the immediate means to scale their hardware/software cmbination higher still their the current dead end. As a wonderful (planned?) accident, it also offers for the first time an apples to apples (sorry about the pun) comparison between OS X and Windows as they will now basically have common hardware between them.

On the Apple site, you will find the first products of this new relationiship; an Intel-driven Powerbook and an Intel-driven iMac. The immediate claims are 4x and 2x faster operation right off the bat. Of course, any recent purchasers will be royally pissed off unless they bought at a discount.

At a glance, the new products look good, have lots of new features, are comprably priced and look competitive. I no longer can afford to be an early adopter but I definitely would buy these if I was able to. I will wait for the reviews to see what gets said about them.

Enjoy.

Apple

Sherman loses battle with cancer

When one gets married, for better or for worse, you also marry your partner's family. I consider myself VERY fortunate in that game of Russian roulette because with few exceptions and despite the family differences (i.e. origin, race, religion and temperment), I lucked out in merging into a very nice group of people.

Unfortunately, one of the best of that group died yesterday, losing his hard fought battle with that killer of killers, Cancer. Joey, as he was known to the family, was a very personable man, a very friendly and humble person. By extenstion (by marriage), he was also my cousin. DW can do the twice removed, in the closet, on the hill calculation; I just call family, "family". I was fortunate to meet Joey at a family dinner and then again when he was in town for a book release some years back. I attended the event with DW, mum (DW's) and Joey's daughter, Rebekkah (one of my fave cousins). Shortly after that, he received the Order of Canada, a most prestigious accomplishment in this country.

With all of his accomplishments though, I will simply remember the man who made me feel like family. My family's condolences are extended to his and it is a shame that we cannot afford right now to go to PEI to sit Shiva and attend the funeral. Rest in peace Joey. You will be missed.

Peace.

Sherman loses battle with cancer

Friday, January 06, 2006

Watch your kids using Xbox Live! Sick bastards are out there.

CANOE -- WHAM! gaming: - Man accused of molesting teen met through Xbox Live

It's about fricking time and more should follow her example!

This email has been sent to you by skibum The following is a news item posted on CBC NEWS ONLINE at http://www.cbc.ca/news ____________________________________________________
TORONTO TEEN ARRESTED AFTER MOM TURNS IN ASSAULT RIFLE WebPosted Thu Jan 5 10:04:25 2006

---A Toronto teenager has been charged with weapons and drug offences after his mother turned in a loaded AK-47 rifle to police.

The suspect's mother said she was shocked when she found the weapon and a magazine filled with bullets on her son's bed in their east-end home on Tuesday evening, the Toronto Sun reports.

After she took the rifle to the police station, officers searched the home for more weapons.

The 17-year-old, who was not home at the time, was arrested later that evening after he returned to the house.

He was charged with 13 offences, including weapons charges and possession of cocaine.

The suspect cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Copyright (C) 2006 CBC. All rights reserved.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Will wonders never cease?

You will never guess in a million years what we did on Christmas morning. Ok, first off, morning for a Trini begins at one second after midnight.

I coerced (yes forced) my nephew and his girlfriend (they are now shacked up together in S-I-N, tee hee) to accompany us (DW, TC and me) to my old church, Epiphany of Our Lord Parish, for midnight mass. For the heathen and uninitiated amongst you, this is a traditional mass at the stroke of midnight, Christmas Day. So, after an hour of reacquainting myself with my lost religion, I gathered the troups into TR and headed off for the promised land. No, not that one. Ajax.

See, the deal was that if they came to mass with me, I would go with them to see my sister. Yes, you read that right. I decided, well, something convinced me, that I needed to reconnect with her because our separation may have been over a contrived misunderstanding. I cannot go into it anymore at the moment, but suffice it to say that whenever it can be broken out (and it WILL), all hell is going to break loose. Anyhow, I digress. The five of us headed over to her place to surprise her. Since Desi has used TR before, she initially thought it was him and may his girlfriend. She refused to believe my neice when she told her it was all of us. Not hard to understand when you consider I have not see or spoken to her in about two years. They greeted us all, we brought in some punch a creme and black cake and she was genuinely stunned and touched; we had our moment. She said more than once that our coming there that night was the best gift for her. It was my olive branch for 2006. I suspect that I will have to extend another one in order for her to believe it is real, but it is time to do this.

After we observed my neice butchering the Christmas baking, we headed for our next stop. My brother's place. Yeah, the one that lives in Barrie. LB was not getting a visit that night (sorry LB). So we drove on up, and my nephew called my other nephew to come and open the door and to go wake his father. Bright lad that my nephew is, wake my older brother with some stupid story about cops at the door which just riles him up. Of course, he could not believe that we drove up there. Why is this so hard to believe? I am the only member of the family that drove to almost every residence he has ever lived in in Ontario. The man is getting old and just not too quick anymore. He even refused to indulge in some Christmas cheer so I had to opt out for some tea; lots of tea. My sister in law eventually trudged out and joined us. DW had baked some macaroni pie for our nephew as well since he loves it and there is nothing in Barrie remotely caribbean; nothing at all (which includes my brother). Imagine that DW, a born muchacake, knows more about the foods of Trinidad than that big twit. Sigh. We chatted for a good while (lots of my nephew's Java classes and my brother's ill-fated linux dual-boot install attempt) before it was time to carry the troops home.

My nephew had gone downstairs to his cousin's room to wake her; it is a pig sty apparently. She simply yelled at him to get out of the room. Uhm, you have not seen the boy in how long and he comes up to see you and you cannot get off your ass to see him or your uncle's family? I see. Nice. I'm done with her now (lest I go on about her missing our wedding now too). My other neice was fast asleep and no one bothered to try to wake her so I do not know what reaction we would have gotten. All in all, it was more than a little disappointing. This is not how faimly is supposed to be. I guess we really are different. I drove our different selves home, the nephew and his girlfriend took off to join her family, and mine tumbled into bed for a few hours of shuteye before our Christmas Day guests arrived.

Well, I won't be going out of my way to reach Barrie any time soon again; at least not on the East side, as we have good friends just past them on the West side near the water tower. We also have our good friends in Everett (yes, no longer BF as we spend more time in that area than most) so the trip would not be a lost in any regard. There are many things to be uncovered here as I say again, this is the year of change.

Peace.
Did I mention that LB convinced me to go see our mother together for Easter? Stay tuned (or just be on the lookout for a mushroom cloud appearing above Milton).

It's a fine line...

The old saying goes that it is a fine line between love and hate. Trust me when I say that this is a very true saying. It does not take as much as it should to move from one to the other. Obviously, it is harder in one direction than the other.

I would submit that it is also a fine line between positive and negative. One can be genuinely honest but put a positive spin on it or one can work the opposite side of the coin and see only the negative side of a situation. People react to you according to how you present the opposing sides of the same situation. For example, I could say to someone at work that the meeting we were just in was a complete waste of time. Or, I could say that we should narrow the focus to get a better result from having the meeting. Both address the fault of the meeting not fulfilling expectations, but only one provides a solution and suggestion to the problem; the other one simply bitches about what it does not have.

I think we see these examples in the various facets of our lives and maybe we could take an extra moment or two to decide which path we want to take and which one would yield a better result in the long run.

Peace.

I'll take two please!

Get ready for some more bloatware!

Will you be among the first to scrap your current hardware, buy new systems and give up your digital rights in order to play in the "Vista"?

Technology News Article | Reuters.com

Monday, January 02, 2006

Welcome to the New Year

Happy New Year everyone. I hope that you and your family made it safely into 2006. Ours did so and we are taking the view that this is the year of change. This will be in many ways; health, attitude, commitment. We need to change how we have been doing thing in order to get more and to enjoy more out of life. Specific to me, I finally understand how someone becomes obese and I am scared that I am on that track so I am making the commitment to take my baby steps to change my habits of eating, change my sedentary lifestyle and to be a better example for TC to follow. DW is very unhappy with her current state and I will help her in every way that I can. TC is not happy herself either but is being destructive in her endeavour to change so we must show her the road is possible. We watch NBC's The Biggest Loser and it hits home that we want to be around to see TC's family grow up so we need to get healthier now.

On the work front, I am not sure what DW can do because her environement is a bit more static than most. On my side, however, I can basically veer off in many directions and a colleague and friend would very much like me to join her team because she a) believes that I can do the job and b) knows that she would be able to trust me to do it and c) I have a sense of humour that is twisted enough for that group. So, I am going to start my studying in earnest of the various networking technologies and the world of Cisco and shadow apprentcing with this group so that I can move from yelling at stupid people to cutting off, er, I mean providing access for these stupid people. :)

Anyhow, this is going to be an interesting year because we intend to make it one. See you int he funny pages. :)

Peace.