Survivor The new season of Survivor is causing controversy. GM is pulling out as a sponsor. My guess is that this will be one of the most watched seasons ever. This controversy is providing tons of free advertising. It will attract viewers that have lost interest in the show, as well as new viewers.

Big Jim Signs Off Say it ain't so, Jim? UPDATE: Slimeball lives on! Thanks.

Vista Pricing Windows Vista Pricing Revealed: Start saving now, it ain't cheap.

Visited States Map Click here to view a map of the states that I have visited. As you can see, the Rocky Mountains are on my 'To-Do' list.

DNA Does Not Match Big surprise, here. My suspicions may have been right.

FairUse4WM 1.1 BetaNews: "FairUse4WM will extract the personally identifiable information (description keys) from Media Player for the purpose of allowing the user to improve the interoperability of legitimately acquired media files. At least one file with an active license is necessary." Translation: This tool will strip the protection from Napster wma files, allowing you to burn them to CD or play them on PCs not authorized by Napster. I'm sure it won't take long for Mircosoft to plug this gaping hole in their DRM system.

Sweet Misery If you drink diet soda, please do yourself a favor and spend 90 minutes watching this video: Sweet Misery. This documentary is completely one-sided. However, there are enough questions raised to at least make you reconsider aspartame as your sweetener of choice.

Dave Ramsey Interview Check out this interview with Dave Ramsey at realVerse.

Tea: It's Good for You! I usually drink three to four cups of hot tea every day. According to this new report, it's good for me. I mostly drink black and orange teas, but I occasionally drink green tea.

Engineer "Yesterday, I couldn't even spell Engineer. Today, I am one!"

"Boy, step away from that wheelbarrow, you don't know anything about 'chinery!"

Weihenstephaner Korbinian Weihenstephaner Korbinian - An excellent double bock, crafted according to the Bavarian purity law.

Thank You, Bob Dylan


Today, Bob Dylan pointed out how awful most modern RECORDINGS sound. Notice the all-caps on the word recordings. This is because many news outlets have headlined the story to insinuate that Dylan thinks most modern music sucks. This is not what he said. Rather, he laments the way the music on the CDs sounds. The recorded music sounds bad. Here is a great blog post on the subject. It discusses what Dylan most likely meant by his statements, as well as some of the more technical aspects of why CDs sound so awful. (The author of the post is known simply as Sundog, so I cannot credit him using his actual name.) Dylan even says that his own new studio recordings sound great in the studio (where they're being played from master recordings on a high-quality sound system, before being "compressed"), but the CDs sound dreadful.

I own dozens of vinyl 33 RPM records. (I've got Donna Summer, War, The Isley Brothers, Johnny Cash and Percy Sledge, to name a few.) Some of them are very dear to me, particularly the ones from the 70's. It's hard to explain, but beyond the hiss of the stylus (needle), the actual sound (audio) is much richer and fuller than what you'll hear from most CDs. Listening to disco/funk/soul tunes from vinyl is a wonderful experience.

I suppose now would be a good time to apologize to several of my past roommates for playing my 33s so darn loud on a few Saturdays each year. Sorry, guys, I couldn't help myself. That stuff sounds so darn good!

Quality Beer If there are beers in this photo that you don't recognize, then you have a lot to look forward to as you encounter them. Keep an open mind. Some European-style ales are an acquired taste.

Snakes in a Theater 'On a plane' and in the theater. Yikes!

Middle East Geography Take the test. I got more than half on the first try. Unfortunately, it doesn't give you a score, so I can't compare my mad geography skills with yours.

Yankees Sweep Boston


Sports Illustrated: Boston Massacre II

Rubik's Cube in 20 Seconds This guy can solve the Rubik's Cube in 20 seconds - with one hand!

Dear Bill Gates More sour grapes from the technically inept. Repeat after me boys and girls: always save your data, then back it up. UPDATE: Comments at Digg are similar to mine. 'Would you like some cheese with that whine?'

Your Browser What Does Your Browser Reveal About You? - Funny stuff, if you're a geek.

Yankees Beat BoSox Whipped them three games in a row!

'Lost' Season 3 No more reruns! Only new episodes, with more emphasis on 'The Others'.

The Linux Desktop Myth The Linux Desktop Myth - This is a great article, covering some of the main arguments quite well. Here's a good quote: "In order to understand what's stopping masses of people migrating from Windows to Linux, we need to examine what makes people go to Windows in the first place, and also debunk some of the "Linux isn't ready" propaganda that could just as easily apply to Mac as well... after all, no one says Mac isn't ready for the desktop."

FlickrStorm FlickrStorm - Neato.

Ethiopia Sidamo Ethiopia Sidamo by Starbucks is one fine coffee bean. Give it a try.

My Two Girls


(Click for larger view. More photos here.)

Online Word Processor Google has relased an online word processor, named Writely.

Yankees! Go Yankees! You're on top of the AL East - so stay there.

TrueCredit.com TrueCredit.com - For an initial $25, then $15 per month, you get unlimited access to all three of your credit reports. (This is the offer on the right-hand side of their main page.) You can refresh this data once every 24 hours. Why would you need this data? If you're considering a large purchase (car loan or mortgage), having this data could save you thousands of dollars in interest. If you're score is above 680, you should qualify for a competitive interest rate. If you don't know what your score is, you're at the mercy of a banker or finance manager that may not be looking out for you. Another benefit of seeing this data is the ability to detect possible identity theft or unauthorized charges to your accounts.

'Confession' Something is not right with this suspect. At this point, I think he's making his story up, seeking attention. We certainly haven't heard the full story. It will be interesting to see how this will evolve. I am not, however, looking forward to the 24/7 media circus that this story will evoke.

Speed Test at Home My BellSouth DSL Extreme connection at home is not too shabby.

Future of Air Travel? Marshall Ramsey Cartoon: The Future of Air Travel?

Speed Test My Internet connection at work is lightning fast (as shown below). I'll test my home connection tonight and post the results later. You may click on the graphic below to test your connection speed.

Bear Alert The Alaska State Department of Fish and Wildlife is advising hikers, hunters, fishermen, and golfers to take extra precautions and be on the alert for bears while in the area. They advise people to wear noise-producing devices such as little bells on their clothing to alert but not startle the bears unexpectedly.

They also advise you to carry pepper spray in case of an encounter with a bear. It is also a good idea to watch for signs of bear activity. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear droppings:

- Black bear droppings are smaller and contain berries and possibly squirrel fur.

- Grizzly bear droppings are large, have bells in them and smell like pepper spray.

Traffice Pole vs. Truck Amazing Video: Traffic Pole vs. Truck.

Tonsillolith Tonsillolith - A new (gross) word for your vocabulary.

Kayak.com Kayak.com - A good tool for finding a cheap airline ticket.

Webpage with Your PIN Number Your PIN number is revealed on this page. Mine is there, too.

Leopard Video Google Video: How NOT To Release a Leopard

CardRatings.com CardRatings.com - "Your source for credit card information." Lots of info here.

Mars If you've gotten the chain email about Mars, be advised that it's not true. To be more specific, it's already happened - back in 2003.