Next! The Soup Nazi is still going strong.

Amazing Video Watch this fish score himself a fly for dinner.

How to Deal with 'Idiots' How to Deal with (ahem) 'Idiots' - This is an interesting read. I like the 12 behaviors of 'jerks'.

Photo

Waterboarding Video In recent weeks, no doubt you've heard the term "waterboarding" in the news. Here's a video of waterboarding. Kaj Larsen is the gentleman undergoing the procedure in this video. He is a volunteer. He is ex-military and was subjected to waterboarding as a part of his formal military training in the past, and for this video, he recreates it.

"Fundamentalist" Kirsten Powers: "It is a common criticism today that if you divine your truth from the Bible, that is unacceptable. But if you divine your truth from your own internal dialogue or from talking to friends or from a philosophy other than that which is found in the Bible, then that truth is okay. The criticism of devout Christians is founded on a faulty premise: that non-Christians come to conclusions about what they believe without the influence of some sort of philosophical teaching. Even atheism is in itself a philosophy. It's based on the premise that humans are random occurrences and that there is no higher moral power. But since that doesn't come from the Bible, it's considered "objective" and developing public policy based on that view is acceptable. Or Sullivan's brand of Christianity -- that interprets the Bible in a looser fashion -- is held up as being "objective" which of course it is not. Sullivan is just as fundamentalist in his view of the world as any fundamentalist Christian. They just have different conclusions."

On a related subject, a reader sent me this link: The Church of Non-Believers.

2007 Altima: Made in MS The local Nissan plant is now manufacturing the 2007 Altima.

Olivia Wells Broome: 11 Months Old


New baby photos here, and a new video here.

Commando 450 I just want to let everyone know that one of the bathrooms in our new house has an incredible shower head. That's right, people, it's essentially the Commando 450, the celebrated shower head from that Seinfeld episode. You must hold onto something before you turn it on. This puppy - no doubt - is in serious violation of all Federal water conservation standards. It's real, and it's magnificent!

Black and White Twins Snopes: Black and White Fraternal Twin Girls. True!

Vox Vox - This officially marks my departure from MySpace.

Vista Upgrade Coupons CNET: "Computer buyers who pick up a new PC this holiday season won't get the latest version of Windows or Office, but they can score a discount if they decide to upgrade later. Those who buy a system with Windows XP or Office 2003 between Thursday and March 15 will be eligible to move up to Windows Vista or Office 2007. The terms of the Vista "Express Upgrade" offer will vary from one PC maker to another, Microsoft said Tuesday. In some cases, the upgrades will be free, while in some other cases, they may require the customer to pay up to half the price of the updated software." Well, this is nice and all, but users will still have to INSTALL the beast, which is not exactly a task for beginners.

Great Photo Flickr: Kitties.

Spanking Hogwash. I'm thankful for every single spanking I received as a child. The popular "rods" of discipline in my youth were: palm of a hand, fly-flaps, switches, house shoes and a leather belt. Never on the face or torso. Rear-end and upper legs were the choice targets. (Of course, switches worked well on lower legs and ankles.) I needed every single one of them - and probably more. I can personally testify that most young boys DO NOT understand anything other than corporal punishment when they have foolishness on their minds. Giving a kid a "time out" is handing the kid a victory. A leather strap or switch will instantly bring a young man's attention onto what mommy or daddy is trying to communicate.

Further, when the discipline is consistent and fair, a child becomes a fast learner and will receive fewer and fewer spankings as he begins to 'regulate' his own behavior, so as to avoid displeasing his parents.

I will concede that all children are different, and therefore discipline can come in many different, yet effective, forms. Further, corporal punishment administered harshly or inconsistently (where children don't know what the 'rules' are ahead of time) can be ineffective and will only irritate the child, making the matter worse.

However, for me personally, a good "spanking" or "whipping" was the right thing. One lash spoke volumes, thereby not wasting my time or my parents' time 'explaining' things to me.

PS: I see kids in department stores (between the ages of 6 and 10) throwing fits, screaming and rolling around of the floor, talking disrespectfully to their parents. I wonder which method of discipline their parents are using?

PSS: This subject need not by gloomy. Listen to Bill Cosby's 'Himself' album, particularly the piece called Same Thing Happens Every Night. He explains that his children simply won't sleep at night until they've had their 'beating'. It's quite funny.

Noodle 'Torture' Great video of noodle 'torture', over at Dooce.com.

'24' Season 6 Trailer Coming Soon: '24' Season 6 Trailer. UPDATE: Awesome!

Band Sticks it to RIAA Good. For. Them. They're selling their new album on their website - in unprotected MP3 format for less than $10. I really hope this is the future of music sales.

Free Spyware Removal I've updated my Free Spyware Removal page, adding a link to both Windows Defender (Final Version) and AVG Anti-Spyware.

Battlestar Galactica: Season 3 The new season of BSG has been impressive. Much better than the last half of season 2.

Firefox 2.0 Available Firefox 2.0 is now available. Read more about it here.

Install IE7, Bypassing WGA How to Install IE 7 and Bypass WGA - I have not personally tested this.

vNES vNES - Virtual NES. Java required. This page will allow you play dozens of NES games right within your browser. Zelda and Super Mario Brothers are there!

Heather Mills McCartney "Now I aint sayin she a gold digger
But she ain't messin wit no broke..."

Note to Heather: Sir Paul's a lover, not a fighter. Everyone knows that.

World Series Both NY teams are out. Guess what? The Mets lost millions of temporary fans last night. You see, most New Yorkers are Yankees fans, with one exception: when the Yankees have been eliminated and the Mets are still in the running. At that point, not only people in Queens (where Shea Stadium is located) are Mets fans - most of NY pulls for the Mets. Now that the Mets have lost, the temporary Mets fans can return to being diehard Yankees fans that hate the Mets. Gotta love NY.

Meeeeoooooowww Funny Video: Steve Carell puts out a plea to all the cats out there who have inherited fortunes from their whacked out "cat-lady" owners. Gold!

AVG Anti-Virus Free 7.5 AVG Anti-Virus Free 7.5 - This new version of AVG fully supports Vista!

IE7 If you're brave, go ahead and install Internet Explorer 7. I'm going to wait a few weeks. UPDATE: I did install it on one machine. The install worked perfectly.

Trevor Joshua Clayton Congratulations to Zeb and Cara Clayton, on the birth of their first child, a son: Trevor Joshua Clayton. He was born at 10:25 AM on Tuesday, October 17, 2006. He weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces and was 19 inches long.

Photoshop Do you believe everything you see on the Internet?

Click Click - I wanted to write an intelligent review of this film, giving the details of my opinions and how I formed them. It's not freaking worth it! A two-word review will suffice: It sucked. Big time. Don't bother. May I have my 90 minutes back? If you've seen the trailer for this film, you've seen EVERY single funny part.

Sacramento Brew Pubs


While I was in Sacramento last week, Jeremy Blonde and his lovely wife Shannon took me to three different brewpubs.

Rivery City Brewing - I had an excellent pale ale here, called Woodenhead Ale. The main attraction at this brewpub is the fresh beer and sports-friendly environment.

Pyramid Alehouse - I had a sampler of five different beers at Pyramid. The Thunderhead IPA was the one that stood out among the group. We had already eaten at Zelda's Pizza, so I cannot comment on the food. I highly recommend Zelda's. (Thanks, Derek)

BJ's Brewery & Restaurant - Excellent food and several good beers, including the Piranha Pale Ale, my favorite. BJ's also features a great selection of bottled Belgian beers, including Duvel.

Honorable mention goes to an excellent bottled beer I had: Sacramento Brewing Company IPA.

New Mac Ad I love the new Mac ad: Better Results, featuring Gisele Bündchen, the Brazilian supermodel.

Detroit Tigers World Series winners? I'm thinking so, at this point.

Lost: Season 3, Episode 2 Last night's episode was FAR better than the season premiere. Is there hope, yet?

The Raconteurs Thanks to Jeremy Blonde for introducing me to The Raconteurs.

Congrats to Lazy Magnolia Brewing! 2006 Brewers Association World Beer Cup Winners - Lazy Magnolia, Mississippi's only brewery, took home two awards this year: Bronze for Rye Beer (Amberjaque, Category 6) and Bronze for Specialty Beer (Southern Pecan Ale, Category 10). Congratulations! Keep up the good work, and keep the Party Pigs coming! (I'd also like to mention Shiner, as they took home a few awards.)

Yankees Further evidence the Yankees are in a league of their own? Their coach was almost fired because the team didn't win the World Series. Talk about expectations! Yes, I realize the Tigers mopped the floor with them, but they're still the Yankees, darnit!

Ian Thomas Solloway Congratulations to Jason and April Solloway, on the arrival of their second son, Ian Thomas Solloway! (Photo used without permission, but it was too cute to suppress.)

Unify NXJ I was out of town last week for a little work-related training. It was a one-week class on Unify NXJ, a powerful web application development tool.

Jacktoberfest Jacktoberfest - I'm waiting to see how this local event shapes up. Details are still sketchy, but it sounds promising.