Serenity Rocked I'll write more later. Just go see it. You'll like it.

RIAA Trying to Ruin XM Radio Greed, greed and more greed. Full Disclosure: I pay a monthly fee for Napster. I'm not opposed to paying for music. I've also purchased hundreds of CD's over the years. I am concerned the RIAA would like to charge you for every single note of music your precious little ears might hear or overhear. Some of these efforts seem like Bizarro World to me. I envision getting fined for having my radio turned up loud enough for the car next to me to hear it. "You can't do that! The person next to you didn't pay for that XM radio stream. Either turn down your radio or pay up!" Give me a break. Has it ever ocurred to the RIAA that people like XM create demand for the RIAA's clients' work?

Go Yankees! It's neck and neck, but the Yankees are ahead by one game!

NY Times Reviews 'Serenity' I would like to share a quote with you from the NY Times' review of Serenity: "It probably isn't fair to Joss Whedon's "Serenity" to say that this unassuming science-fiction adventure is superior in almost every respect to George Lucas's aggressively more ambitious "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith." But who cares about fair when there is fun to be had? Scene for scene, "Serenity" is more engaging and certainly better written and acted than any of Mr. Lucas's recent screen entertainments." Enough. Go see it.

'Serenity' Getting Good Reviews The reviews for Serenity coming in at MetaCritic are positive, including a thumbs up by Roger Ebert. I'm getting mixed reports on whether or not persons who haven't seen the Firefly series will enjoy the film. My prediction is this: If you liked the character Han Solo, from Star Wars, you'll enjoy Serenity, even if you've never seen a single episode of Firefly. Additionally, I predict that this film will boost the already phenomenal Firefly DVD sales.

Teamspeak Server Rental If anyone needs a Teamspeak server, a coworker of mine is offering them for ten dollars per month: Teamspeak Rental.

Borders Coupons These are good through October 2nd.

25% Off One Book

25% Off One DVD

25% Off One CD

Napoleon Dynamite Ads Utah State Fair Ads Featuring Napoleon Dynamite - "Do you see any flippin' Sasquatches around?" (via Waxy.org/Links)

Whedon Credits Fans for Getting 'Serenity' Off Ground ""Probably more than any project that I can think of, the fans made their voices heard," Whedon said. "For a major motion picture, that's a little bit unprecedented. I give them giant props because they have earned them." After Fox yanked the show, the loyal fans launched Web sites and bought more than a million copies of the DVD (which featured extra episodes). It was enough to convince Universal in 2004 that the story of the ragtag crew of the starship Serenity was worth telling."

Office 2003 SP2 Microsoft has released Office 2003 Service Pack 2.

Hurricane Rita Satellite Images NOAA: Hurricane Rita Satellite Images.

Apple Faces Quality Problems iPod Nano: Lemon? Some people are beginning to think so, due to cracked screens. One guy has setup this website to detail the problems: FlawedMusicPlayer.com. I'm certain Apple will resolve this very quickly. They definitely intend to remain the number one portable music retailer.

RIAA Loses Case Court Forces RIAA to Dismiss Case Against Mother & Child - A score against the greedy record companies!

Fiona Apple's New Record Listen for free! Fiona Apple: Extraordinary Machine.

Reports of Anarchy at Superdome Overstated - I'm relieved that it wasn't as bad as they said it was. Still, what a mess.

Broomeman.com Archive New Location: Broomeman.com Archive.

FEMA Website Requires IE 6 and Windows Computer World: "Hurricane Katrina survivors looking to apply online to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance better make sure they're running Microsoft's Windows operating system and using Internet Explorer Version 6 or higher. Internet Explorer 6 is required for the aid applications, according to information on FEMA's Web site. That means people using Macintosh or Linux computers are unable to file a claim online -- although they can do so by calling the emergency agency by phone." This story is sort of interesting, but not very surprising. The same thing can be said of most popular video games. They won't run on Mac or Linux. The same thing can be said of over 90% of all software titles sold at Wal-Mart. They won't run on Mac or Linux. This being said, it wouldn't have been very difficult for FEMA to design a site that is friendly to all browsers and operating systems. Lazy programming to blame, I'd say.

Survivor Blog Survivor Blog - What's different about this one? Former Survivor contestants are writing the posts! Cool.

The Incredibles The Incredibles - Best animated movie that I've seen, since Shrek (the original). The graphics were amazing and the movie was funny.

Serenity Countdown Serenity - Only five more days. Still don't know what Serenity is? SciFi is having a Firefly marathon on Tuesday.

Napoleon Dynamite Soundboard Napoleon Dynamite Soundboard - This is the best one that I've seen.

10-Minute Clip from 'Elizabethtown' 10-Minute Clip from Elizabethtown - This is a 10-minute segment from the new film by writer-director Cameron Crowe. I like several of his films, and this one looks pretty good. (via Whitney Matheson)

New Orleans Live TV You can watch New Orleans TV station WDSU live here.

Rita Blog The Houston Chronicle has a Hurricane Rita Blog.

Hurricane Rita Maps National Hurricane Center: Hurricane Rita Maps.

Bambino Would Be Happy The Yankees have pulled ahead of Boston.

Find-a-Human Find-a-Human - Tired of listening to a computer when you call your bank/cell phone/insurance company? Find a human!

Houston TV Live You can watch Houston's Channel 2 Live here.

Storm 2K Rita Data Storm2K has informative maps and charts of Hurricane Rita.

Rita: Category 5 Storm This is the real deal, folks. If you live within the possible strike areas, it's time to EVACUATE. If you live further inland, stock up on gasoline, drinking water and non-perishable food items. You could be without electricity and running water for days. Most Texans are fleeing the coast, which is very good news.

National Hurricane Center National Hurricane Center - Get the latest Hurricane Rita tracking maps here.

Opera Browser Now Free Opera is now totally free! Back in my Windows 95/98 days, I used Opera. I could run circles around IE 4/5. I honestly haven't used it in years, but I'd be willing to give it a try and compare it to Firefox.

Hurricane Rita Strengthening Hurricane Rita is expected to become a Category 4 hurricane by tomorrow afternoon. Scary stuff. FEMA is already stretched awfully thin.

IE Runtime Error If you're getting a Runtime Error when try to start Internet Explorer, visit this recently authored page of mine: How to Fix IE Runtime Error. Why do I mention it? A friend of mine had this problem on his PC. Additionally, the Microsoft public newsgroups are full of reports of the same problem.

AutoPatcher XP September 2005 "AutoPatcher XP is an installation package designed to get your Windows XP system up to date quick and easily. This update package features a slick looking GUI and and can be customized to install as much or as little as you please." More.

Hurricane Katrina Aftermath Photos My younger brother took a few photos of the Mississippi Gulf Coast on Saturday. I've posted a few of them here: MS Gulf Coast Katrina Aftermath Photos. He assures me that these photos do not capture the true extent of the damage.

2005 Emmy Winners CNN: 2005 Emmy Winners. James Spader! Lost wins Best Drama Series! Giddy-Up!

Tropical Storm Rita Say hello to Tropical Storm Rita.

Netvibes Netvibes - Is this cool or what?

New Vonnegut Book Finished reading the new Kurt Vonnegut book today. A Man Without a Country provided me with quite a few good laughs.

'Serenity' Opens on September 30th Go to the official site and watch the new videos, including an inside look at the film.

Oktoberfest Oktoberfest begins today in Germany! The beer price will range between 6.65 and 7.10 Euros per liter. ($8.50) A small price to pay for some real Bavarian goodness!

Go Yankees! The Yankees are now within two games of catching Boston. Keep it up!

BellSouth DSL Special Offer BellSouth FastAccess DSL Special Offer - This looks like a pretty good deal. Free modem, free shipping and a free MP3 player with 3 months of Napster included. A 12-month committment is required.

Freevo Why TiVo, when you can Freevo?

Analysts Debate U.S. Debt In the Red: "Low interest rates, especially since the 2001 recession, have allowed Americans to accumulate nearly $11 trillion in debt as they buy more homes, cars, clothes and dinners out. Outstanding balances on credit cards have risen to more than $800 billion, about $7,200 per U.S. household. That's more than double the indebtedness of a decade ago and doesn't include an additional $1.3 trillion in debt for cars, appliances and personal loans." If you'd like to evaluate your own debt situation, MSN has a free Debt Evaluator and a free Debt Consolidation Calculator that can assist you with your financial planning.

Survivor: Guatemala Season 11, Episode 1
My Rating: A-

The new season of Survivor kicked off last night. As a new twist, the tribes were divided in advance, and then each tribe was given a tribe member from the previous season. Yep, Bobby Jon and Stephenie have returned. The very first challenge was a grueling race to a camp, eleven miles away, through dense jungle.

MS Sues 5 Insurance Firms Mississippi Attorney General Sues 5 Insurance Firms - As you can imagine, this is a big topic for discussion, here in MS. Apparently, some persons with damaged/destroyed homes are being told that their 'hurricane' insurance does not cover flooding caused by the hurricane. I can only imagine how infuriating this must be to people who were paying hurricane insurance premiums. Why would a person buy hurricane insurance? To cover them during a hurricane! If these policies did not cover damage caused by a storm surge, insurance agents should have been under obligation to make this huge point painfully clear to the customer before asking them to sign the dotted line. As you may know, MS is a veritable lawsuit paradise. (Asbestos Cancer, Tobacco, Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice, You Name It) What the AG doesn't accomplish with his suit, the citizens of MS, armed with some of the most experienced trial lawyers in the country, surely will. Should be a bloodbath.

XHTML Character Entity Reference XHTML Character Entity Reference - If you do any HTML programming, be sure to bookmark this link.

Google Blog Search Google Blog Search - Excellent!

Hurricane Ophelia Hurricane Ophelia is crawling northward toward the North Carolina Coast. Bands of heavy rain and gusty winds are moving inland and affecting cities like Myrtle Beach and Wilmington. There could be rainfall totals over the next couple of days in northeast South Carolina and eastern North Carolina of 5 to 10 inches.

Microsoft Max Microsoft Max - "With just a few clicks, you can create lists of your favorite photos, arrange them in the layout of your choice, and express them in beautiful views. Preview your photo lists as you build them until your presentation is perfect." Proceed with caution, it's a beta product.

New McCartney Album I wish I could tell you to run out and buy the new McCartney album. I cannot. Far from great, the new album has four decent tracks: 5, 7, 10 and 12. I believe his very first solo album, McCartney, and Band on the Run, are his greatest post-Beatles efforts. Similar to his first album, McCartney plays all of the instruments on his new album. I should note that mainstream critics have better things to say about Chaos And Creation In The Backyard than I do.

Satellite/Aerial Photos of Katrina Damage Rafe Colburn has compiled this collection of links to Satellite/Aerial Photos of Katrina Damage.

Joke 1st Man: I've got some good news and I've got some bad news.

2nd Man: Well, give me the bad news.

1st Man: Martians have landed on Earth!

2nd Man: Uh, OK. What's the good news???

1st Man: The Martians pee gasoline!

Real Donuts I live near a mom and pop donut shop. They make the best donuts in the world. Allow me to elaborate. If you like Krispy Kreme donuts, then you've never had a real donut. Krispy Kreme sucks. If you like Dunkin Donuts, then you've never had a real donut. Dunkin Donuts sucks. Real donuts are fresh, light, perfectly glazed and still warm. Real donuts are made by people who wake up at 4 AM to begin working on little masterpieces that will be sold to men, women and children from all walks of life. I like to wash real donuts down with either fresh hot coffee or ice cold Borden's Dutch Chocolate Milk.

Install and Configure Mac OS X x86 How to Install and Configure Mac OS X x86 - Lots of details!

Hurricane Katrina Base Map Images Hurricane Katrina Base Map Images - A great collection of images from NOAA.

iPod Nano Great, but why not support WMA? (I know the answer, please don't email me.)

QuickTime 7 for Windows QuickTime 7 for Windows is finally available. The link I've used here is to the Standalone Installer, not to the iTunes bundle that Apple would have you install.

Can't Find a James Bond Clive Owen was offered the role of James Bond, but turned down the offer. The studio is having a difficult time finding a new Bond. They rejected Brosnan (?) and now he says he feels liberated, not having to reprise the role. That's a shame, as he was the best Bond since Connery.

Stephen King Challenges 'Lost' Execs He does so in this article in Entertainment Weekly: Lost's Soul. I think most fans of the show will agree with his sentiments. Kill the show while it's still good. Don't keep milking it for cash.

Bill Whittle: 'Tribes' Bill Whittle has penned an interesting essay, entitled 'Tribes'. (Strong Language Warning)

Sean Penn's Rescue Bid Sinks Via Drudge: Sean Penn's Rescue Bid Sinks. Photo

Damage to Superdome Here's a new Google Earth photo of the Superdome in New Orleans.

144 Dead in MS There are now 144 people confirmed dead in Mississippi, as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

All Utilities Restored I'm happy to report that ALL of our utilities have been restored. Cell phone, landline phone, electricity, natural gas and water are all working. There are reports that the gas supply will shortly be back to normal. I cannot confirm this report firsthand. Thanks for the many emails and telephone calls expressing concern and offering help. On a related note, I would like to let everyone know that Courtney's parents, her little brother and her older brother and his family are all doing fine.

"I'm OK" Registry Hurricane Katrina "I'm OK" Registry - Go here to let others know you're OK, by entering your primary phone number. You can also search for ones who have already entered their numbers.

Gas! I finally found some gas! An Exxon station was filling tanks for medical center personnel.

O, Gas, Where Art Thou? Gas lines are more than two hours. Jackson is being used as a staging area for relief efforts headed into South MS and Louisiana. Additionally, Jackson is a stopping point for persons leaving the storm areas. Therefore, we're inundated with people that need gas and supplies. While holding down a job, I don't have four hours to wait in a line. Our roundtrip commute each day is 36 miles, or 1.5 gallons of fuel. Our car holds 11 gallons of fuel.

Can it Get Worse? It's hard to watch the TV reports from New Orleans without breaking into tears.

'Extreme' Hurricane Video Footage MSNBC: Extreme Hurricane Video - The link is at the top right. You'll have to click the 'Launch' button. As most people were heading out of Katrina's path, a pair of photographers were going in. They taped this footage and then discussed it with Matt Lauer.

No Power: Day 4 We're alive and well, but very hot. Still no power at home. The night-time temperature is slowly falling, as we enter September. However, the 95+ degree daytime temps keep the house hot through about 2 or 3 AM.