Ninja Space Monkeys

Valentiny

2012-02-15T10:55:00.001-08:00

This is a little late, I guess. A Valentine's poem forwarded via Erik.

Feeling happy?

2012-02-15T06:48:00.000-08:00

Just in case things are going too well for you in life, here's a bit of news: apparently four in every thousand public keys protecting stuff like your online banking, email, and all that fun stuff is utter crap and provides no security.

Go to ARS Technica if you're curious about some of the depressing details.

Too bright and cheery for you? How about an offshore boot camp to indoctorinate kids into some kind of extreme Christianity?

I wonder what the original Jesus would have thought of that?

Good times!

I need to build a bunker...

News

2012-02-14T08:29:00.000-08:00

Apparently it's a bad thing to pay cash for coffee.

This news brought to you by the geniuses of the FBI. The same idi... um... folks who think using TOR equates to being a criminal.

Keep in mind these geniuses also failed to catch the 9-11 criminals, so their crime-fighting tactics might not be up to snuff. Just sayin'.

---
In other news, a chart:

Now, I don't really give a rat's ass about who marries whom and all that stuff. Seems to me this is pretty clear. People just need to shut the fuck up and let folks get married.

Grass of Mardi

2012-02-14T07:30:00.000-08:00

It's Mardi Gras in a week. It's halfway through February today. It's pretty crazy how time is flying.

It's winter-ish again in the Bay Area, but I expect it to shift back to faux-Spring by lunchtime.

My office software is inspiring thoughts of softwarecide in me.

Yes, I made that word up. Unless someone else beat me to it and I didn't know. The Google did not find an example.

If I'm the first, it's mine. All mine. You must pay me to use it.

You can pay me in happy thoughts. Or gold. Or beer.

Though only good beer.

Actually, money is probably best.

Howl, baby, howl!

2012-02-14T06:16:00.000-08:00

Apparently it's Werewolf Orgy Day or somesuch.

There might be some Hallmark interpretation of it going on today under a different name.

Don't really know. I try to avoid that kind of crazy stuff.

If you're into this sort of thing, I won't judge. Really.

DANGER 5

2012-02-10T08:25:00.000-08:00

HITLER'S DOG!!!

Can this get more awesome?

Going Solo

2012-02-10T06:36:00.000-08:00

Han shot first.

There. I said it. I saw "Star Wars IV: A New Hope" back in 1977 when it was just "Star Wars". As an eager-eyed child, I saw spaceships, robots, lightsabers, and this badass rogue in a black vest who took no shit from anyone (except some brassy woman in a white dress with a cinnamon-bun hairdo...) blasted the crap out of some pucker-faced alien who sought to do him wrong.

Apparently that was never George Lucas's intention. I find that hard to believe.

No. Wait. I do believe that. I want to not believe it.

George Lucas did a marvellous thing by creating the "Star Wars" universe. He had an inestimable impact on American culture. Oh hell, world-culture. Who would have thought "Jedi" would become a religion?

Since then he's sort of gotten obsessive over his navel-gazing and continually polishes stuff that doesn't need polish and fixing things that, frankly speaking, 'ain't broke.

He seems to find a strangely-overwhelming need to make all of his characters, hero or villain, exceptionally stupid.

Luke Skywalker was kind of a whiny dork. Sure, he was a naive farmboy and all that, but he just never seemed all that bright. The poor dude was kind of doomed. I mean he grew up raised by his "uncle" and "aunt" on a desert planet. A couple of people, I might add, who were not all that savvy about the dangers of raising a kid who has the last name of a famous Jedi. You know, the same famous Jedi who helped slaghter the rest.

Good times there.

At least Princess Leia's parents had the good sense to change her last name. Too bad they didn't think to fortify their planet with a battlefleet in case of giant killer space stations. Oh well.

But this is about Han Solo.

So poor Han is a smuggler. He's an every-man kinda fellow. Walks the fine line of the law (okay, he breaks the law... whatever). He doesn't have the Force. He doesn't play with laser swords. He's got a blaster and he owes money to giant space slugs.

Thanks to his choice of drinking establishments, Han gets cornered by Greedo, an alien thug working for space slug Jabba the Hutt. Greedo's going to blast a hole in Han from across a table.

Unless you're an Imperial Stormtrooper, let's face it. You really can't miss from across a table. If the shooter can miss, then really you're in no danger.

So, in the original, Han sneaks his blaster out of its holster while chatting up Greedo. When it's clear in conversation that Greedo's going to kill him, Han gets the drop on the scrawny thug and blasts him in the nethers.

Self-defense. Case closed. This was obvious even to my eyes as a child.

Fast forward to the "updated" trilogy. Lucas has Lucasfilm and ILM update all the special effects. And for some incomprehensible reason, has Greedo shoot first.

And Greedo, of course, misses. Having him hit Han would sort of remove a hero pretty quickly.

Han then goes forward and blasts Greedo under the table as we remember.

What comes out of this? Well, Lucas feels this vindicates Han and doesn't make him a murderer. Lucas apparently is a bit autistic and doesn't seem to understand situational violence and threats.

Scenario: I have a gun. A thug is holding a gun of his own on me. My gun is tucked in my waistband or whatever. The guy with the drawn and aimed gun is going to win 99.99999% of the time. I'm in mortal jeopardy here. If I somehow manage to get the drop on the thug and shoot him first, alone or with witnesses, it's a pretty clear-cut case of self-defense.

It's not like Han waved his blaster around after greasing Greedo and hosed the rest of the room. He surgically and carefully offed the one guy who presented a life-threat to him.

If Han had waited until Greedo had fired a freakin' laser beam at him, well... how smart would that make Han? About as smart as a prequel Jedi. That is to say, pretty freakin' stupid.

Tweaks like this lessen the intelligence and capability of the heroes in Star Wars. And this is why there's such a "Han shot first" outcry. The fans don't want their childhood heroes to be punk'd and made into fools.

It's bad enough Han accidentally took down Boba Fett by spearing Fett's rocket packe. It's bad enough Fett went down like a punk. It's ridiculous that Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker was somehow forgiven for murdering children by tossing the Emperor down a hole.

There's no need to make Han more of a moron. And that's why Han shot first.

Wow. What an incoherent ramble on my part! I blame Nyquil. Oh, and George Lucas.

[Edit]Proof that Lucas is full of shit.[/Edit]

Observation

2012-02-10T05:32:00.001-08:00

Those who say that drugs are not the answer have not tried the proper combination.

Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist. I'm talking about legal stuff. Sheesh.

Last night's Nyquil dose did not do what it should have done against this vile cold against which I struggle.

Breakfast therefore included Black Blood of the Earth for my coffee supplemented with some Dayquil and a couple of Advil for good measure.

Now I feel almost human. Almost.

Nerd Power

2012-02-10T05:31:00.001-08:00

Saw this on rpg.net and had to repost.

Glorious. Simply glorious.

oy

2012-02-09T06:34:00.000-08:00

Yeah. Full-blown cold has set in.

So far it feels reasonably-mild. After 9+ hours of Nyquil-supported slumber (not including naps yesterday afternoon) I feel... crappy but not as bad as yesterday.

And it's started to settle into a light chest cough.

I'd be home in bed right now if I didn't have training today. Argh.

bleah

2012-02-08T07:26:00.001-08:00

I think I jinxed myself. Feeling rapidly crappy. I'll have to see if coffee can revive. Otherwise, it's a half-day for this little worker-bee.

Ugh.

Guilty pleasure

2012-02-08T06:48:00.000-08:00

I saw G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra on TV the other day.

After I wiped the blood out of my eyes and forced my brain back into my skull, I pondered how someone could make such a horrible movie. I mean, c'mon! It's G.I. Joe! What kind of dumbass do you have to be to screw that up? I mean, lips on Snake Eyes' mask? WHAT. THE. HELL????

They made Scarlett a whiny wimp and kind of watered down the evil of the Baroness. Made me sad.

That said, I loved the rest of the Cobra villains. They made the movie almost watchable.

I chalked that up to more of my life that I'll never recover.

Then I saw:

I've had this on loop for a while. The "7 Nation Army" remix they're using as the music is freakin' AWESOME!

Plus, ninjas fighting on a mountainside? Sold.

I don't give a rat's ass about the rest of the movie. I will watch this for that scene alone.

Make no mistake here. This film will suck ass. I expect the acting, dialog, and plot to be ridiculous and ludicrous.

It'll still be worth it if they do two things:

1) Give Snake Eyes a proper baklava mask WITHOUT LIPS
2) Have a lot of ninja fights

Hopefully they'll have the "7 Nation Army" remix in the soundtrack, too.

Nerdy but awesome

2012-02-08T06:40:00.000-08:00

I'm going to indulge in a bit of nerdy. Feel free to go get a coffee or something.

I was sent a site with an RFC of updated HTTP status codes.

These are brilliant and awesome. I am currently suffering from code 763.

Yeah, these probably don't apply exactly the way I'm using them, but being adaptable is an essential part of being human.

Hump Day

2012-02-08T05:29:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling cautiously-optimistic that I'm keeping illness at bay.

I think that phrasing should help me dodge a jinx.

In other news, want carbon fiber mini-pen! WANT! (via The Gadgeteer) However, for $75 I think I will stick to what I've got.

Pictures of Stuff

2012-02-07T19:19:00.000-08:00

Word has it that a picture is worth a thousand words.

As a professional writer, I get a wee-bit defensive that these damn photographers can upstage me. That said, there's some truth to the saying.

Anyway... stuff!

I talked about the Iain Sinclair CardSharp before (and got mention on Apocalypse Equipped! Woot!). I wanted to share pics of the CardSharp 1.0 and 2.0.

Below you'll see a pic of the two knives all folded up. The one on the right with the little bit of green is the 2.0. It's got a better locking mechanism that actually has to rotate to free the blade.

Here they are folded and "ready for action". They're essentially the same folded open. Sharp little buggers.

If you opt to purchase one of these beauties, I highly recommend going for the package deal and getting an Eon Classic with it.

It's gonna take about a month before it ships. You may as well get it with an extra shiny thing. And my whining aside, it's worth the wait.

Here's a photo of both the CardSharp 2.0 and the Eon Classic. Sorry for the funny angle. The flash was necessary in the dark confines of my man-cave and it caught the metal of the Eon flashlight oddly.

As a segue to another thing I've mentioned, I keep a CardSharp (or sometimes an Eon light) in my TMT Wallet.

Isn't it purdy?

I'm not much of a photographer (unlike some people) but this isn't a bad pic. I tried to get some close-ups of parts, like the glass-breaker, but my skills are lacking and I had trouble getting a non-blurry pic.

The only other photo that looks even halfway good, is a shot of the opened TMT wallet with a CardSharp in one of the sections.

The two inserts have been removed in this pic. They'd normally hold credit cards, ID, and the like. Maybe cash as well, though I tend to keep my cash separate from my cards. Gotta have a use for the money clip after all.

I think I like sharp things a little too much.

For irony, I'm typing this post with a bandage on one finger. Got a paper cut from a cardboard box, of all things, after I'd cut it open with a knife and safely put the knife away.

Yeah. I'm macho.

Hmm....

2012-02-07T12:13:00.000-08:00

Honestly, I don't see the point to a reboot of the Spider Man franchise.

It's too soon. It's too much. It's too...

...oooh... Spider Man has mechanical web-shooters? Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy?

Okay, sold. You win this round, people-who-do-Marvel Comics-movies.

blargh...

2012-02-07T06:13:00.000-08:00

It's been an open question as to whether I've been suffering an attack of allergies due to the unseasonably warm and dry weather California's been experiencing or if I've managed to catch the cold that various friends and family have enjoyed in my presence.

Or both. Could be both.

Yesterday I was really feeling something creep up on me. Constant headache (magnified by the fluorescent hell-bringers that pass for lighting in my building), mild-but-increasing congestion, light-headedness, and a general feeling of fatigue.

I tried a P90-X workout that didn't help an awful lot after work.

I decided to bite the Nyquil bullet. After a shot of the unnatural green sludge, I was done and out like a light.

Nine-ish hours of Nyquil-induced dreams later, I woke feeling very groggy, but better.

After 100 ml of Black Blood of the Earth rejuvenated me with its magical powers, I braved the wet roads (we've finally gotten a little rain) and... yeah. I'm still feeling on the cusp of something.

I hate this.

And that's it

2012-02-07T05:41:00.000-08:00

If all goes as it should, my Facebook account has officially been staked, set on fire, and laid to rest.

I haven't missed it, so I'm convinced it was the right decision. So time to par-tay!

The Internet

2012-02-07T05:36:00.001-08:00

(acquired from RPG.net)

We have a Hulk

2012-02-06T07:20:00.001-08:00

I cannot express how excited I am to see this movie.

Consequences

2012-02-06T05:40:00.001-08:00

In other news: ew.

And it's not really all that difficult.

Today's moments of weird brought to you by my Facebook account deathwatch countdown. Seems appropriate it's going to allegedly get final deletion during a full moon.

And LO! It was Friday! And it was GOOD!

2012-02-03T05:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm not very good at doing mock-Biblical-speak.

The only things I learned in Sunday School were lockpicking (a skill mostly-forgotten) and how to make paper airplanes with pins and razor blades in the wings.

Important skills to be sure.

Wait. I think I got sidetracked.

Oh! Yes. Friday! Friday is here! What does that mean?

* It means I have a new episode of "Fringe" to enjoy tonight. Hopefully I'll enjoy it. This season has been a lot of weak tea.

* Beer. I take some folks to a local, semi-famous beer place after work today. I regret I'll be the driver and must restrain myself, but such is the way of things.

* Sleeping in tomorrow. Oh yes...

Got a little lesson in humility yesterday when I tried to help a friend change out her flat tire for her spare. I couldn't un-do the bolts on the flat tire (or really figure out the bizarre jack her car comes with).

This has cast doubts in my mind on my preparedness for any crises in the future. I think I've been focusing too much on stuff (though I am still loving my so-comfortable boots) and not enough on training myself. I've gotten lazy since injury made me have to shelve martial arts.

Gotta get my lazy butt back in shape and get my learn on (as they say in Hollywood portrayals of rural America).

Important to know

2012-02-03T05:47:00.001-08:00

(xkcd)

Gettin' the Boot(s)

2012-02-02T06:11:00.000-08:00

It's not what you think.

A little while back, I discovered a cool blog called ApocalypseEquipped.

I think I found an idol in this guy. He sounds like a bit of a laid-back survialist-ish person, much like a few of my friends (and, I suppose, me). What drew me to his blog was his review of some really neat gear.

I loves me the gear stuff as demonstrated by the numerous posts of my own mentioning things that caught my ever-acquisitive eye.

Okay, got the intro out of the way.

Earlier in the week, I read a review on ApocalypseEquipped of the Bates Delta 8 Boots.

I was fascinated, mainly because he reviewed side-zip waterproof boots.

I've wanted good side-zip boots ever since my trips to Japan. When I travel I try to wear sturdy footwear. My Japan trips were in winter, so I went with a pair of very comfortable Ecco short boots. As footwear goes, they were (and are) unmatched in terms of comfort.

Alas, they also require lacing action to take off or put on. And in Japan, you're taking off and putting on your shoes a lot. Most folks there have simple, slip-on shoes. Logical, given the situation.

My choice of footwear caused more than a few delays (and some entertaining jokes) for my trips, making me wonder if there was a compromise out there.

I tried a few side-zip "police-style" boots. I got some Converse police boots, but the soles were crap and wore out quickly. Others I tried simply weren't comfortable.

I recently tried Blundstones (and have raved about them earlier). My first pair is mostly-comfortable, but sized a bit oddly so it gives me a blister on one toe if I wear it a long time (yes, this is TMI. Deal with it.) I tried larger sizes but the Blundstones just seem oddly-constructed and give me trouble over the course of the day.

That brings me back to the Bates Delta 8 boots. I liked the review on ApocalypseEquipped and did a little more reserach.

There's some love out there for the Bates boots. There's a fair amount of love. I looked on Zappos, Amazon, and other places. Some whining, but overall folks seemed to like these. Plus the boots have an interesting construction that allows the wearer to adjust the firmness of the heel padding. Read the linked review above for details. He covers it better than I ever could.

So I found a pair in the correct size on Amazon, which turned out to be the least-expensive offering Google could find for me.

The Amazon seller was ridiculously-fast. I mean it was unbelievable. I somehow got upgraded to overnight shipping, but not charged for it. And they shipped it within a couple of hours of my order.

The boots arrived yesterday. I spent the day wearing them about the office to break them in.

They don't seem to require much breaking-in. They're ridiculously-comfortable. They seem very well-constructed as well. They claim to be waterproof. Given the dry winter California's seeing, I don't expect to test that too soon, but such is life.

And they fit perfectly on my apparently-mutant feet.

I have happy mutant feet now. And happy feet are good for the sole.

Yes, I went there.

You're welcome.

Obligatory Random Mutterings

2012-01-31T07:17:00.000-08:00

Ah, what a difference a new DSL modem makes.

---

I find it weird sometimes how different people in my life - people who are unlikely to be chatting with one another - can suddenly sync up and ping me over the exact same topic.

Makes me almost believe in telepathy.

That's creepy. More likely just a giant coincidence or I just know a lot of nosy people.

---

I'm now on... what? The fourth episode of "Alcatraz"?

Why am I still watching this show? I mean... seriously? Who thought this would make it as a series?

---

My rent's getting jacked up for the first time since I moved to my apartment some... six or eight years ago.

The funny thing is that I really can't complain. The rent increase is surprisingly-modest and I still get a pretty good deal, all things considered.

I'm kind of surprised this didn't happen years ago.

Hope I didn't just jinx myself.

---

I'm a week into my Facebook account deletion. Another 7 days and they formally nuke that sucker.

I have to admit, it's a weird feeling to not go to the site constantly. I've described it as an itch I can't scratch and it's much that same sort of sensation.

That said, I'm finding myself much more productive, both at work and elsewhere.

I regret nothing.

---

Sweet Captain Mosey, but how did January blaze by so FSM-damned fast?

A knife and a light

2012-01-30T07:08:00.000-08:00

I have a love-hate relationship with Iain Sinclair and their wonderful things.

They have marvelous creations, but their distribution sucks on a level that boggles the imagination.

Some time back I had temporary amnesia and forgot how frustrated they made me with my efforts to get another Eon Extreme Floodlight. I saw they had a bundle deal for their upgraded knife and their Eon Classic flashlight.

I promptly gave in to my lack of any kind of self-control and submitted an order.

An eon or two (pun sort-of-intended) passed (see above re: complaint about their distribution process) and finally the snail on the slow boat from China (literally) made it through customs and deposited the order on my desk before vanishing in a puff of pixie dust.

I really like the Eon Classic flashlight. It's simple as simple can be. It's actually a bit more rugged-seeming than the Eon Extreme Floodlight, though it's really pretty much the same thing. The only differences between the "Classic" and the "Extreme" are the switch controls, the casing, and the ability to recharge.

The classic has a simple control. You push down on the activation button (ensconced beneath the aluminum shell) and the bright light comes on. Lift your thumb and the light goes off.

The classic doesn't have any kind of recharge plug and the battery (said to last for 10 years) isn't replaceable.

The "Extreme" has a more sophisticated control that offers variable beams and sustained light. Two clicks activates the low beam. Three clicks activates the blindingly-bright beam. One click deactivates. And this one is rechargeable with the mini-USB cable that's included. My main complaint about the "Extreme" (mentioned in a prior post sometime past) is that the frame isn't sealed very well. Mine came loose and I had to use super-glue and gaffer's tape to re-seal it. The loose frame may have been why the switch seemed wonky too. Thus my seemingly-vain efforts to get a new one. *sigh*

What really interested me was the upgraded knife. Sinclair upgraded the safety catch holding the knife in-place in its sheath-body. It's far superior to the first version of this little doodad. On top of it, they include a little booklet that's quite clear on how to open the sharp little bugger.

Sinclair's distribution may suck ass, but the production values for the knife continue to improve impressively and I must say I love the Eon Classic flashlight.

I just wish they'd get their production squared away for the Extreme and ship the damn things in my lifetime.

Would be nice to see their advertised camera actually go on sale as well. That looks fascinating.

Oh well.

Beer

2012-01-30T06:28:00.000-08:00

I spent the weekend (and some time leading up to the weekend) enjoying more than a little beer.

It's what I do.

As part of being social, I left my local watering hole and journeyed to distant lands (okay, a few train stops away) to try new and interesting beer locales (and, in some ill-advised behavior, cocktail locales).

One beer stuck out in my frazzled memory more than the others: Brewdog Paradox Smokehead a "whiskey cask aged imperial stout".

The charming bartender lady advised me that other patrons described it as "drinking liquid smoke".

They were correct. It tastes exactly like that.

The black-as-sin brew conjured up memories of my uncle and aunt, both heavy smokers and their smoke-saturated home.

And it wasn't a weak brew at all.

It wasn't the Bavarian smoked beer taste I was seeking, but it sure satisfied. Might have been a smidge better, actually.

Miscellanea for Friday

2012-01-27T06:37:00.000-08:00

Per the EFF, Hawai'i has tabled their ill-advised data retention scheme.

I'm somewhat-surprised that Hawai'i legislators really thought that was a good idea, but I guess it takes all kinds. Nice to know the outrage shut this down fast.

---

Friday has yet-again graced us with its magnificent Friday-ness. I suppose I shouldn't have had a three-pint dinner last night, as this morning is not the most fun I've had for the week. And the plan is to repeat at a different location after work today.

I suppose this constitutes a problem.

---

The fog is in today. It's so thick this morning that I actually had trouble seeing across the street when I left home.

It's deerstalker hat weather, let me tell you.

Way to be creepy Hawai'i

2012-01-26T13:36:00.001-08:00

Per Gizmodo: Hawai'i wants to track all the websites you visit

Yeah, that's going to do wonders for the tourist industry there.

ow

2012-01-26T07:12:00.001-08:00

This makes my brain hurt.

WALLET STUFF

2012-01-26T06:31:00.000-08:00

Some time back, when I was flush with cash (we're talking almost a year ago), I went a little nuts on buying stuff for myself.

2011 was a depressing, ugly year and we all have our little ways of dealing with depression. One of my ways is buying stuff that catches my eye.

Somewhere on the Internet, I saw the Toner Machine Technologies wallet reviewed.

It came in aluminum or delrin plastic. It purported to block RFID signals (not really something I need, but I like to honor the gods of paranoia, where possible) and had all kinds of neat extras. It advertised a compass in the middle, a glass-breaker on one end, some tweezers, a toothpick, and a little pen. Further it advertised a sharp-ish striking edge for "those situations".

My inner-geek howled "I WANT ONE!"

Their site seems a bit wonky for taking orders so I actually mailed in a check. After a while, I called them up to follow-up and make sure they got my old-fashioned order. The very pleasant customer service rep advised me they hit a bit of a production snag and their wallets were delayed.

Long story short, I cancelled the order and checked in with them from time-to-time to see if they were back in production. When they had a shipping ETA, I renewed the order.

I'm guessing I made some kind of impression with my persistence. By this point, I really couldn't afford the wallet purchase as I was prepping for the holidaze and I really didn't need it, but I was somewhat obsessed. This was my Holy Grail for 2011. It became that itch I couldn't scratch. I was determined to see if I could get such a creature.

Wait, I promised to make the long story short, didn't I? Bah. Okay. By this point they were/are only selling the delrin wallets (I'd originally wanted an aluminum one, but they were not available for order at the time). There was another unforeseen delay in the delrin wallet order so they upgraded me to an aluminum one and it arrived shortly thereafter (I guess there were a few left in stock).

After all this time, I'd sort of forgotten why I was so determined to get the thing. I'd gone with CountyComm's Traveler RFID wallet for my needs.

Then I got the TMT Wallet and I remembered.

Oh this thing is a joy!

It's a solid little thing. It's like a Swiss Army Wallet! I ought to include pictures someday. It feels like it's going to outlast civilization and I believe the claims that it's water-tight. It comes with all kinds of specification information and has a fair amount of storage space for cards, cash, and what-have-you.

My Traveler RFID wallet has more storage space, but that's only because the thing is made of ripstop nylon that has a bit of stretch-and-give.

The TMT wallet feels like it could stop a bullet (I will never test this theory willingly). It's got removable clips within for cards and cash storage in addition to the other advertised features.

I stick with the Traveler wallet for EDC, simply because it holds the ridiculous number of cards and crap I stuff in my wallet as well as my little Eon Extreme Floodlight.

I like to switch to the TMT when I go out and don't need all the cards related to driving (insurance, AAA, etc.). Plus I just like the variety, 'cause I'm a dork.

But I'm a dork with cool stuff.

The TMT wallet is pretty bulky for "normal" people, but EDC types might find it holds appeal. I'm certainly glad I went through all the trouble to get one.

STUFF!!!

2012-01-26T06:08:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit political of late. That's getting kinda boring, so back to the nice, fluffy stuff.

I got a new jacket the other day: the Duluth Trading Company Fire Hose Field Coat

In a nutshell, it's a faux-military coat complete with all the lovely, large-capacity pockets that make such attire popular. Like much of Duluth's wares, it's crafted of the same kind of material that fire hoses are made from.

Don't laugh. This stuff is awesome!

I've patronized Duluth Trading Company for a while (I believe I have many prior gushing posts preaching my love for their attire). I find their customer service to be top notch and their garments to be both comfortable and quite durable.

This jacket is exactly the sort of thing that makes me happy. It's got four outer pockets of varying capacity and the two lower pockets have hand-warmer pockets behind them. The lower pockets have enough capacity that I can shove my Kobo reader, carry case and all, into it and have room to spare. There's two inner pockets with capacity for a wallet or what-have-you. There's an elastic draw-cord on the inside to tighten it about the waist if that's needed and the elbows are reinforced.

If I scrape together the cash, I might get one in the other color (I got the "vintage olive" one).

While I'm pimping Duluth Trading Co., I may as well sing the praises of their Flex Ballroom Jeans.

And by "ballroom", they're not talking about formal dancing. Just sayin'.

The flex jeans have a bit of spandex in the mix to let 'em stretch a bit. Gives them a loose, comfortable fit and the stretch was certainly nice around the Holidaze (what with all that eating and such).

One of the things I love most about Duluth Trading jeans are that they make the jeans' pockets with tough material (in this case, that fire hose material). Most jeans I've gotten from other sources (Levi's, etc.) have weak material for the pockets and the various things I carry in my pockets (*cough*Leatherman*cough*keys*cough*other sharp things*cough*) contribute terrible wear-and-tear, causing them to rip quickly.

To date, none of my Duluth jeans have torn. I probably can't get away with wearing them to a club in the City or something, but I'm not really a clubber, so it doesn't matter.

SOPA, PIPA, and before them ACTA

2012-01-26T05:28:00.000-08:00

It was lovely to see SOPA and PIPA go up in flames as the Internet vented its outrage on the greedy bastards that tried to put the 'net in a gimp suit then break its knees.

Yes, my imagination has problems. Let's move on, shall we?

So, before those, there was (and still is) ACTA. The "Anti-Counterfitting Trade Agreement" is a secret treaty being arranged between all nations that's essentially a worldwide SOPA/PIPA.

Why is it secret? Oh because the sponsors realize if the details of ACTA were public, people would demand blood.

It's not really all that secret, though. It just hasn't hit the mainstream news yet.

There's a site: Stop ACTA.

Hopefully there will be lots more. BoingBoing, EFF, and similar groups have been warning of ACTA for some time. Check it out, then complain to your representative, as suits your level of interest.

Facebook-free - day one

2012-01-25T18:31:00.000-08:00

I've decided Facebook is a bit like a substance addiction. I find myself looking for my Facebook bookmark then remembering I deleted it in order to not accidentally nullify my cancellation (if you log in during the 14 day period after you request deletion, you account is automatically reinstated).

I asked a friend what she saw. She said my posts all vanished. Another said I'm still listed in her friend list, but my profile page can't be accessed.

Interesting but now I feel a bit like a high school grad who can't help but drive by his old school.

Kinda weird.

In other news, my DSL modem is dying. Good times.

Jeez

2012-01-25T07:26:00.000-08:00

First Facebook bugs the shit out of me with their constant jiggling with my account (thus prompting my deletion of said account).

Now Google is fucking around.

I have a G+ account. Looks like I'll probably nuke that as well, though I'm still undecided.

I don't really use many of Google's services, save for some gaming stuff I do with a small circle of friends, so the impact is minimal and I wind up using separate accounts for my gaming stuff.

Meh. Maybe it's all much ado about nothing. I mean, any and all privacy on the Web is more-or-less an illusion.

Still, I like my illusions.

Alcatraz

2012-01-25T07:06:00.000-08:00

The latest J.J. Abrams story is about a series of prisoners and guards who vanish from Alcatraz prison in 1963, when the prison closed, and mysteriously wind up in modern-day San Francisco (which looks suspiciously like Vancouver). A team works to try to re-capture the prisoners and solve the mystery.

It's pretty standard Abrams fare. You have the mysterious, secret-keeping, asshole-ish leader character played by the ever-awesome Sam Neil. You have the perky blonde protagonist lady played by the very cute Sarah Jones (who looks more like a cheerleader than a cop, but whatever). Oh and you have Hurley. Oh, he's not Hurley from Lost. He's some kind of Alcatraz-expert who runs a comic shop. Don't ask. It's Hurley. Move on.

The characters are okay. There's a few underlying mysteries and some serious weirdness. I have no idea who the good guys are and I'm fairly confident Sam Neil's character isn't one of them, and that's fine with me. I'll still root for him.

The concept is weird. I think this could do well as a mini-series or movie, but as a syndicated series, this is going to get tired fast. It's too one-shot to sustain itself as things stand.

And as a native of the Bay Area, I'm finding myself very amused to see locations getting called out that look nothing like their real-world counterparts.

Example: in Monday's episode "Kit Nelson", a child-kidnapper strikes in Walnut Creek, California, then goes fishing in Lafayette Recreational Park (presumably at the resevoir there).

For the uninformed, Walnut Creek and Lafayette are a couple of bedroom communities in the greater Bay Area. They aren't even all that close to the Bay itself, so they're really more just inland suburbs.

And they're very dry areas.

So when I'm looking at a rain-rotted house purported to be in Walnut Creek, I have to laugh. When I see mist rising off of what is ostensibly the Lafayette resevoir and some grungy guy selling worms out of a trailer, I remember a community that is so whitebread and clean that they pull people over for busted signal lights and I laugh even more.

I don't think the hills around the Lafayette resevoir are populated by evergreens and they are certainly more dry-gold than green.

Still, I appreciated a shout-out to some of the little-known communities of the greater San Francisco Bay Area. I can't wait to see if Newark or Antioch make an appearance. Would be a hoot to see Novato show up as well. I'll enjoy seeing the parched hills of those communities looking suspiciously well-watered and Canadian.

And it's done

2012-01-24T15:19:00.001-08:00

I took the plunge and deleted my Facebook account.

If all goes well, in 14 days all that crap I had in there will be permanently gone.

I'll miss keeping in touch with a few people, but I've come to realize that if I'm only keeping in touch through Facebook, that doesn't speak highly of the relationships in question.

Bring on the Dragons, baby!

2012-01-23T08:57:00.001-08:00

新年快樂

Or, "Happy New Year", as I'm told these characters roughly translate as.

It's the Year of the Dragon now. Time to get scaly!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

2012-01-23T07:57:00.000-08:00

There are no spoilers in this. It's just a brilliant, BRILLIANT montage!

[EDIT: That's not really correct. There's one giant spoiler at the end only if you have not seen "The Wedding of River Song"]

Wikileaking

2012-01-20T08:26:00.000-08:00

Like him or hate him, one has to admire Julian Assange for his guts.

He gave an interview to Rolling Stone that you can read here.

It's worth a read. This guy is hard-core, no matter what you think of him as a personality.

Sing it Jon!

2012-01-19T06:34:00.001-08:00

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Blackouts and SOPA/PIPA

2012-01-18T05:47:00.000-08:00

Today's the day a whole bunch of sites (Google, Wikipedia, etc.) go on blackout to protest the ridiculous bullshit of SOPA ("Stop Online Piracy Act") and PIPA ("Protect Intellectual Property Act").

I must admit I'm curious to see if all this protesting will actually make headway against the seemingly-inpenetrable bubble of stupidity that is Congress.

I hope so.

Pet Peeves

2012-01-18T05:29:00.000-08:00

A few things in the long list of stuff that bugs me:

* Websites that don't have a prominent sign out or log off button or link. I'm lookin' at you eBay. And Amazon? You could stand to fix that as well.

* People who cut you off in the far left lane of the freeway, then slow down so traffic on the right passes them. WTF people? It's the passing lane! Don't get into the goddamn lane if you're not planning on moving quickly!

* People who don't put their trash in the trash bins. They should be made to sleep in a bed made of their trash for a full night for each time they do this.

* Looking at package tracking and knowing my shipment is just sitting on a shelf for an arbitrary delivery schedule.

I share 'cause I care.

No, that's not true.

Rage

2012-01-13T08:12:00.000-08:00

There's a lot of things in the world right now that make me really, really angry:

* PG&E stuffing the pockets of their executives with money intended for safety. (One might recall a little problem a couple of years ago...)

* Banks getting rich by fraudulent business practices, getting bailed out by tax money, then giving themselves bonuses.

* Indefinite detention powers claimed by the U.S. government (essentially pissing on the corpse of the Bill of Rights).

* Opt-out options.

Wait. Opt-out? Why would I by angry about those?

I'm angry that I have to opt-out of anything. I have the ability to opt-out of businesses sharing my personal info with every dickhead in the world. I have the ability to opt-out of Google's G+ integration feature. I have the ability to opt-out of getting called by telemarkers via the "Do Not Call" database.

Why the hell should I have to be the one to initate an action to undo unwanted intrusions in my life?

Why the hell should phone companies be selling my (UNLISTED) number without my permission? Why the hell are ANY companies sharing my personal information with ANYONE without my express permission?

Hell, I don't even care about the Google thing. I just don't conduct searches on Google while logged-in to my account. Problem solved there.

I find the intrusiveness of the world increasingly abhorrent. I don't agree with the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world who claim that we "don't want" privacy.

I find it mind-boggling that our elected government cannot, for the life of them, do their goddamn jobs and protect the public from all the abuse of these corporations.

I really find it mind-boggling that we can't elect people who can do these jobs.

I can't say I'd do better, but I'm obviously no politican...

Today is a day when I do believe I will require a few drinks... after work, of course.

Doctor Who

2012-01-10T08:01:00.000-08:00

I have been remiss in my commentary on the latest "Doctor Who" Xmas special: "The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe".

Once again, Moffatt's team pulls off a satisfying Xmas storyline. It wasn't (in my opinion) as solid as the "Christmas Carol" one from last year, but it was still entertaining. I liked Claire Skinner as the unflappable Madge Arwell and I found myself enjoying the kids as well.

The story itself was excessive in sentimental drivel, but I'm willing to cut them slack for Xmas specials.

I really wish Moffatt would include more actual villains in his stories. Aside from The Silence and one blissfully-brief pass with the Daleks, we haven't had any really solid bad guys for Matt Smith to counter. Most of the time he's dealing with purely-misunderstood threats.

That kind of moral ambiguity is all fine-and-well in stories from time-to-time, but I want more Harrison Chases in the Who-niverse and fewer River Songs.

Sherlocking

2012-01-10T07:54:00.000-08:00

I've seen "The Hounds of Baskerville", episode 2 of "Sherlock".

I refuse to discuss it in any detail out of deference to those who hate spoilers, save that I will say I loved it about as much as I loved "A Scandal in Belgravia".

Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffatt do it right.

Gatiss apparently wrote "Hounds" and co-wrote "Scandal" with Moffatt.

I've decided Gatiss is a god of awesome.

Jon Stewart helps explain Congress

2012-01-06T09:30:00.001-08:00

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Goals and Stuff

2012-01-04T07:23:00.000-08:00

It's pretty much the expected behavior to have resolutions and life-plans in a new year.

I figured I ought to give it a try again, if only to see how fast I drop these little resolutions:

1) Exercise more.

I got a used copy of P90X from Amazon. I've actually started the program. I can't get through some of the DVDs, mainly due to lingering injuries and/or joint issues. Otherwise, I'm finding them a surprisingly-fun workout.

Painful, too. Goddamn painful.

2) Give more money to causes I support and dump less money into shiny junk.

In the wake of the reprehensible indefinite detention legislation, SOPA, and similarly un-American legislative developments that are cropping up, I'm going to try to shift more cash into ACLU, EFF, and Amnesty International.

We'll see how long that little bit of altruistic fever stays with me.

3) Get my bike fixed before the end of March.

A nice, simple goal. Given my tendency to procrastinate, I stand a 50-50 chance of actually meeting this goal.

4) Delete my Facebook account if they force that stupid Timeline thing on me.

I've had a love-hate relationship with Facebook since I joined it. I keep my account locked-down. I think I have a smidge over 50 friends. I share practically nothing of substance.

I really only use it to stay in touch with a few friends whom I'd otherwise never hear from. Some of my friends post some really funny stuff. It's got some solid entertainment value.

That said, I find myself constantly annoyed by Facebook's arbitrary behavior and their abhorrent privacy policies. I find myself often trying my best to kill tags people assign me and try to filter out as much of the chaff as possible to just see the stuff I care about.

Their new "Timeline" layout is annoying, intrusive, and spastic to look at. So they're obviously planning on forcibly-converting everyone to this new format.

I'm finding that these headaches are increasingly not worth the hassle. If this is the only way I can stay in touch with some friends, then they're probably not really all that good of friends to begin with.

There's also G+, but overall I'm finding myself disenchanted with these social media sites. They're increasingly not being worth the hassle.

Good times.

I've considered other resolutions. Maybe eat healthier. Work on projects that are a bit more worthwhile than my usual stuff. Websurf less.

I'm not going to kid myself. I wouldn't follow any of those resolutions worth a damn, so there's no point putting them on the list.

Maybe I'll just resolve to remain fickle. That's a resolution I can stick with... until I decide not to.

Sherlock

2012-01-03T08:05:00.000-08:00

I've had the distinct pleasure of being able to see "A Scandal in Belgravia", the season-opener for series two of "Sherlock".

Wow. Just... Wow.

This is A game stuff here.

The twists. The turns. Right up to the last moment, I was just dizzy with loving the story.

It helps that it introduced Irene Adler, "The Woman" from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original series. The modern reimagining of her was pretty entertaining and watching her fence with Holmes was awesome.

A good way to start a new year.

2012: Day Three

2012-01-03T07:57:00.000-08:00

Second goal of 2012 accomplished: obtained a copy of Beachbum Berry's "Beachbum Berry Remixed" which includes Beachbum Berry's "Intoxica" and "Grog a Log".

What does this mean? I do believe this means I will try my hand at tiki drink mixing this spring/summer.

My first goal was exercise. After jogging some thirty minutes or so yesterday, I made an attempt to try P90X.

So... yeah.

I have a minor shoulder injury. It's pretty much healed, but still gives me the occasional twinge. Despite this, I tried the chest-and-back P90X exercise. I couldn't make it through the first twenty minutes of the hour-ish workout before I realized I was experiencing pain that fits in the "bad" category.

I did step up and try the "Ab Ripper X" workout. Ouch. For what that's worth, I did manage to finish it.

I went to bed early last night and I slept like a baby.

I only hurt a little bit this morning and my shoulder doesn't hurt more than usual, so that's promising.

Not bad for three days into the year.

2012

2012-01-01T11:56:00.000-08:00

Aaaah. First day of a new year. No hangover. Tasty breakfast with Black Blood of the Earth included.

Okay, Mayan doomsday myth, take your best shot.

Countdowns

2011-12-30T21:04:00.001-08:00

Yeah, yeah. It's almost 2012.

I'm personally thrilled to see 2011 go. It was a shitty, shitty year.

Oh, some good stuff happened. A couple of kids were born to friends of mine. Other miscellaneous stuff.

Overall, it was otherwise shit and I'm glad to see this goddamn year end.

Happy F***ing New Year.

The Spirit of the Holidaze

2011-12-22T08:59:00.001-08:00

Ninja Skillz - Rope vs Sword

2011-12-21T07:32:00.001-08:00

I'm sure some pervert out there is thinking this is hentai. Sickos.

This is pretty awesome. Appropriately-enough, seen on the Awesomer blog.

Wow

2011-12-19T10:50:00.001-08:00

Watch to the end. It's like these guys understand....

Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead

2011-12-19T05:25:00.000-08:00

Well, Kim Il Jong is dead, anyway.

I guess that can go into the "good" column for 2011.

Will be interesting to see what happens next in North Korea. Will Kim Il Jong's son be just as batshit crazy?

Will Kim Il Jong rise from the dead and start snacking on the brains of the living?

Will the zombie meme ever die?

I need more coffee...

[Edit] So I guess I have his name wrong. It's Kim Jong Il? How embarrassing. [/Edit]

Balls of the Week

2011-12-15T08:08:00.001-08:00

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... WHAT???

"It Can't Happen Here"

2011-12-15T06:49:00.000-08:00

Some years back, my father gave me a book to read: "It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis.

It was topical enough. The crimes of 9-11 were fresh in everyone's mind and mob mentality was sweeping the nation. Peopl wanted blood for the crimes committed by a small group of homicidal lunatics and they didn't care what price had to be paid.

The book was a pretty scary read. It was published in 1935 and satirized Hitler's rise to power by writing how a similar fascist movement rises to power in a mythical America.

Not quite seventy years later, the myth seemed to be getting closer to reality.

It's now 2011. We've had "Change" thanks to a compelling political campaign put on by Barak Obama back in 2004. I have to admit, I didn't think we - as a country - could do worse than Bush and Cheney. I still think Obama is better than those two douchebags, but the Dumbocrats are proving that the difference between them and the Repugnicans is barely-measurable.

If you haven't heard of the Indefinite Detention bill, you haven't been paying attention. Can't really blame you, given the Holidaze madness and all that.

No wait, I really can. We should all be paying attention to the actions of those in power, especially in this era of Occupy politics.

Anyway, the bill reinforcing the government's power to toss the 14th Amendment (that whole bit about due process) and indefinitely-detain anyone labelled a "terrorist" without hearing or trial just passed the House and is going to get signed into law by the President.

To say this is utter and complete bullshit doesn't quite cover it.

This country has stumbled in our history when it comes to civil rights. The internment camps for Japanese Americans during World War II was - simply put - an abomination. The "red-baiting" powers grabbed by Congress under Truman in the 1950's were disgusting.

This sort of legislation is as un-American as one can get. It's more than a mere mockery of our Constitution. It's a systematic torture and murder of the civil rights granted in our nation and a rape of the foundations of our culture.

We need to toss both the Repugnicans and Dumbocrats out of office and power altogether. They've proven time and time again that they're just tools for making this country into the sort of fascist powers our parents' and grandparents' generations fought against in the 20th century.

This shit is just sick.

It may be Quixotic, but I'm going to focus my personal efforts into contributing more to the causes I know will put up a fight against this utter and complete nonsense:

* The ACLU
* Amnesty International
* The Electronic Frontier Foundation

We can do better than the status-quo of greed and fear-driven leadership. We have to.

Argh. I hate being serious.

Tipping Point

2011-12-14T20:20:00.000-08:00

Just about halfway through December. Xmas is nearly upon us. 2011 is almost over.

Can't wait for that last bit.

Now I just get to hope that all the remaining Xmas orders arrive before Xmas. Actually, I'd prefer they arrived before my office closes, as I had 'em shipped there.

Whee.

After that, it's a matter of laying low, watching people transform into crazed lunatics, and drink enough that I don't notice if I'm one of them.

I've noticed people get really, really weird in December. I can't tell if it's some sort of Holidaze loneliness thing or if it's an avoidance tactic for holiday stresses or something else. Seems to manifest in an awful lot of people, though.

I cannot wait for this year to end. I know I've said it a lot, but I pretty much loathe 2011. The only thing that could have made it worse would have been if it were an election year.

You know, like 2012... oh shit.

Gah!

The Eight "Rather You Didn'ts"

2011-12-14T06:09:00.000-08:00

The Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) is pretty flexible, as creators go. I attribute this to being largely a mass of cooked pasta noodles and meatballs. Even partially-cooked pasta is pretty flexible.

Anyways...

So there's not really commandments in the Pastafarian faith. There are some "Rather You Didn'ts" given to the pirate Captain Mosey on Mount Salsa. There were originally ten, but Mosey was apparently a bit of a butterfinger and dropped a couple.

So with that, I give you the Eight "Rather You Didn'ts":

---
1. I'd really rather you didn't act like a sanctimonious holier-than-thou ass when describing my noodly goodness. If some people don't believe in me, that's okay. Really, I'm not that vain. Besides, this isn't about them so don't change the subject.

2. I'd really rather you didn't use my existence as a means to oppress, subjugate, punish, eviscerate, and/or, you know, be mean to others. I don't require sacrifices, and purity is for drinking water, not people.

3. I'd really rather you didn't judge people for the way they look, or how they dress, or the way they talk, or, well, just play nice, okay? Oh, and get this into your thick heads: woman = person. man = person. Samey = Samey. One is not better than the other, unless we're talking about fashion and I'm sorry, but I gave that to women and some guys who know the difference between teal and fuchsia.

4. I'd really rather you didn't indulge in conduct that offends yourself, or your willing, consenting partner of legal age AND mental maturity. As for anyone who might object, I think the expression is "go fuck yourself," unless they find that offensive in which case they can turn off the TV for once and go for a walk for a change.

5. I'd really rather you didn't challenge the bigoted, misogynistic, hateful ideas of others on an empty stomach. Eat, then go after the bitches.

6. I'd really rather you didn't build multi million-dollar synagogues / churches / temples / mosques / shrines to my noodly goodness when the money could be better spent (take your pick):
I. Ending poverty
II. Curing diseases
III. Living in peace, loving with passion, and lowering the cost of cable
I might be a complex-carbohydrate omniscient being, but I enjoy the simple things in life. I ought to know. I AM the creator.

7. I'd really rather you didn't go around telling people I talk to you. You're not that interesting. Get over yourself. And I told you to love your fellow man, can't you take a hint?

8. I'd really rather you didn't do unto others as you would have them do unto you if you are into, um, stuff that uses a lot of leather/lubricant/vaseline. If the other person is into it, however (pursuant to #4), then have at it, take pictures, and for the love of Mike, wear a CONDOM! Honestly, it's a piece of rubber. If I didn't want it to feel good when you did it I would have added spikes, or something.
---

So now you know some of the core tenants to the Pastafarian faith. Try not to get too excited.

Carbs of the Soul

2011-12-14T06:04:00.000-08:00

I'll admit I've been thinking about it for a while.

I finally bit the linguini and became an ordained Pastafarian minister. The certificate arrived yesterday in a plain white cardboard envelope.

I was overwhelmed with joy and shared this with a number of friends whom I'm confident would not immediately attempt to burn me at the stake.

My original excuse was that I thought it would be funny to be able to officiate marriages. A little research revealed that it's pretty easy to do that in my county-of-residence and California as a whole, so it wasn't really necessary.

It added a certain gravitas (gravy-tas?) to the idea, though.

I celebrated the occasion by hitting Pasta Pomodoro for lunch then purchasing a frame for my certificate. It now proudly adorns a wall in my apartment next to an old photo of dogs playing poker.

Yeah. I live life with class, style, and panache.

That's one goal for 2011 down. About a week and a half left in the year to look at the rest of the list...

Oh Happy Day!

2011-12-12T06:10:00.001-08:00

I never thought Mondays would ever be good.

And then Danger 5 came into my life.

New episode up. Oh the joy!

Best video(s) of 2011

2011-12-09T09:22:00.001-08:00

and

Jon Stewart sings it

2011-12-08T06:51:00.000-08:00

Jon Stewart covers the utter and complete bullshit that is the National Defense Authorization act.

You know, the little bit of Senate-approved legislation that pretty much rapes the Fourth Amendment and then beats it to death with a shovel and dumps it in a ditch.

That legislation.

Anyways, clips:

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2011

2011-12-06T06:32:00.000-08:00

In about 26 days, the year 2011 will end.

I won't be sorry to see it go.

Every year has its good and its bad. In my personal ledger, 2011 has had an extraordinary amount of entries in the "bad" column.

The latest is discovering my bank account may be compromised by some skimmers. I don't see any activity that's inappropriate on my account, but I'm in one of those lovely risk zones.

So I have to weigh whether or not I should close my account and open a new one right around the holidaze.

I really didn't need this little bit of drama right now.

Could be worse, I suppose.

Still, I'm ready for 2011 and all its baggage to go fuck off somewhere.

A happy Monday?

2011-12-05T06:33:00.000-08:00

Danger 5 released a new episode today (yesterday? Whenever).

If you ever watched the cheesy '60's spy shows ("The Man from U.N.C.L.E.", "The Avengers", or even "The Prisoner"), you need to be watching "Danger 5".

If you don't get it, well... that makes me sad for you.

Brothers. The Big Ones.

2011-12-02T05:32:00.001-08:00

While reading BoingBoing, I found this amidst their usual selection of fascinating offerings: Spy Files.

It's a WikiLeaks associated project showing surveillance by nation.

Creepy stuff.

Realization

2011-12-01T08:18:00.000-08:00

It's freakin' DECEMBER.

How the hell did this month sneak up on me like that?

December isn't exactly a ninja month. Bloody hell.

2012 is just around the corner. While watching time fly isn't necessarily something I want, I've pretty much loathed the majority of 2011, so I won't be sorry to see this fucking year go.

Just have to somehow survive Xmas...

And I need to get ordained in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Urgh. My "to do" list is pretty long...

More Danger 5

2011-11-29T06:39:00.001-08:00

So there's only been two episodes of Danger 5 released thus far, not including the spectacular trailer.

I guess I don't feel quite so bad about not knowing it existed until recently.

The flipside is that I now have to wait for more episodes.

I WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANTSSSSS MORE!!!

Danger Will Robinson!

2011-11-28T06:51:00.000-08:00

I don't know why it's taken me so long to discover Danger 5.

I caught a snippet on YouTube and am hooked. I plan to watch the rest of everything this week.

Entertainment needs more of this. Now. Right. Now.

The Holidaze Begin

2011-11-27T10:29:00.000-08:00

Ah, Thanksgiving (aka "Turkey Day"). A time of sanctioned gluttony.

Oh, and there's some "giving thanks" thoughts in the stew somewhere. Or is it in the mashed potatoes.

Mmm... mashed potatoes...

I'm personally giving thanks to the fact that I can now move my arm with a minimum of pain. The ligament damage is healing nicely. I can't use my arm for any heavy lifting, but such is the nature of soft-tissue injuries.

And now the countdown begins to Xmas. Ye gods.

I got some Xmas shopping done yesterday. It's going to be a light holiday. Money is tighter than usual. *sigh*

SyFy channel pleasantly surprised me by airing re-runs of the new show "Grimm". I recorded the four eps and watched 'em back-to-back.

Not bad. The story is intriguing. The main characters are kind of bland, but it's better than I expected. Too bad it airs opposite "Fringe". Though given how this season of "Fringe" is going, I can't say either show is better than the other.

I think I'm mentally-ready for the holidaze madness. Helps to have a local brewery.

Mmm... beer.

Bill O'Reilly is a jackass

2011-11-22T07:21:00.000-08:00

Reference: http://www.salon.com/2011/11/22/oreilly_no_right_to_second_guess_the_police/

Specifically (lifted from this article):

I don’t think we have the right to Monday-morning quarterback the police. Particularly at a place like U.C. Davis, which is, you know, a fairly liberal campus, and they’re not running around. They camp to the point where … the Chancellor said “Look, you gotta get them out of there. We can’t operate a college like this.”

"Particularly at a place like U.C. Davis"? Dude, have you ever BEEN to U.C. Davis? It's not exactly a hotbed of revolution and those kids were just SITTING there. So because it's a "liberal campus" it's okay for cops to dose kids who are just SITTING there with military-grade pepper spray at point-blank range?

Seriously?

I'd like someone to demonstrate to O'Reilly what that feels like. Maybe they can wash the pepper spray off with some nice waterboarding.

What an asshole.

It's not Democracy, it's DiGiorno

2011-11-17T06:29:00.000-08:00

The Daily Show
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I'm in favor of voting everyone out of Congress and starting fresh at this point.

An Open Letter to Apple

2011-11-15T06:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Apple,

Thank you so much for the iOS 5.0.1 update that has utterly obliterated the battery life on my iTouch. The device was working perfectly and without any issues (rare for the electronics in my life) until yesterday's update.

And your update has fucked that utterly. Thanks so very much.

May pestilence infest every aspect of your lives and fire burn the rest, you miserable, ratfuck bastards.

Why, no. I'm not bitter. Why do you ask?

Assholes.

Sincerely,

Me.

Colbert nudges the story

2011-11-11T06:44:00.001-08:00

The Colbert Report
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The Thick of It

2011-11-10T06:50:00.000-08:00

I was recently loaned "The Thick of It", a particularly foul-mouthed British comedy about the inner-workings of government.

I love it.

I absolutely love it.

It's a profanity-laced extravaganza of government-dysfunction and horrible human beings. I'm now on the third season and can't stop watching the horror.

Good times.

At this point, I may finish today, as I've got to take time off to see the doctor over my mangled shoulder. Good for what ails ya...

Ah life

2011-11-10T05:51:00.000-08:00

I find it funny how things go sometimes.

I've been wrestling with the idea of taking some time off from one of my hobbies. The one that hurts me. That one.

Then, last night, I took a bad fall. By "bad" I mean "I can't properly use a limb now and am going to see a physician today".

And just like that, life took care of that little decision.

In the meantime, I ponder if I have a soft-tissue injury or my first fracture that I'm aware of.

Excitement abounds.

Good timing for my "Dr. Who Series Six, Part Two" and Big Trouble in Little China DVDs to arrive.

Oh My God

2011-11-04T06:54:00.000-07:00

The Daily Show
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After having seen this segment, anarchy's lookin' awful purdy...

Japanese Little Girl Death-ish Metal

2011-10-28T09:26:00.000-07:00

At first I wasn't sure if I considered this an abomination or not.

I've since decided that this is just goddamn hysterical. Thank the gods for Japan and its endless font of weird.

(via The Daily What)

Sonic Screwdrivers and Action Movies

2011-10-28T09:09:00.001-07:00

(via Topless Robot)

Genki Sudo

2011-10-28T06:35:00.000-07:00

I first saw videos of these guys on the glorious WTF Japan, Seriously? website.

Then I saw another. Then another.

These guys are something else. The music is okay, but the choreography is unbelievable. It's just unreal. The level of muscle control these guys have boggles the mind.

And the expressions of people in the background of their videos is priceless.

Farcebook

2011-10-27T14:02:00.000-07:00

I'm one step closer (or one step away, I guess) from deleting my Facebook account.

To be honest, I've been thinking about this for a while now. I resisted Facebook for a long time. I wound up establishing a Facebook account reluctantly and for stupid reasons. I kept it under tight rein for a long time, adding friends slowly and carefully, and taking advantage of as much of Facebook's inadequate privacy settings as I could.

I put up with Facebook's constant fucking around with their UI and their meddling with their settings. I put up with their crappy interface. I did all this mainly to converse with a few people with whom I can't otherwise interact normally.

I've been wondering if it's been worth the effort, really.

Today I just found out that another of Facebook's crappy privacy settings hiccuped and started exposing stuff I usually have on lockdown. I'm pretty good about not posting very private stuff. My account info is mostly a tissue of lies and I do my best to nuke any photos of myself.

That said, I get pissed when photo albums I have, regardless of how private they are, somehow slip past the net of security settings I have.

And they did.

I reset the settings. I have no idea if the setting is holding. I'm going to sleep on this. Odds are I'm going to nuke the account tomorrow. I may change my mind. We'll see.

Fucking Facebook.

Getting Belted

2011-10-25T05:41:00.000-07:00

I own an 686 Tool Belt, despite never having snowboarded in my life.

Why?

I like having tools handy and like clever gadgets. I'll admit that I like the idea of wearing something like this when I fly. The screwdrivers that make up the belt are generally under the length that makes the TSA twitch and only a crazy person would ever think this could be a "weapon".

Then I read Cory Doctorow's experience wearing such a belt in a UK airport.

Jeez.

The UK is the only country I've ever flown through that's even more batshit crazy with their security measures than the TSA. I'm sure someone thought they were logical at one point, but they've just devolved into utter madness.

Last year I few out to Europe and had a brief stopover in Heathrow. My TSA-approved bottle of contact lens solution was too big for Heathrow's security people and they made me toss it. This was after they scanned everything with some sci-fi device to confirm the rest of my liquids were not dangerous.

Why? Blind adherence to a stupid rule. The container fit in the supplied plastic bag Heathrow's security wonks provided me. It was just arbitrarily "too big" for one of the security wonks to let me carry without harassment.

I guess they were afraid of me cleaning my contacts.

Could be worse. Their security didn't otherwise hassle me (I can be a fantastic liar and I faked sympathy and understanding to just get through the herd of crazy). Others I traveled with got patted-down, while I was physically-unmolested.

I even saw Heathrow's security wonks pat down a five-year-old.

A five-year-old. Dangerous looking five-year-old. Terrifying romper the little demon was wearing. Could've been worse, I suppose. He could have been armed with a teddy bear or some such.

I bet they would have confiscated it, too.

Stein of Science Hack

2011-10-24T08:24:00.000-07:00

I love, love, love my Stein of Science.

Strictly-speaking, I should say STEINS (plural) of SCIENCE, as I own more than one.

That's how much I love them.

If I had anything that might, in the right light, at a distance, remotely be considered an issue, it might be how the upper-part of the grip for the stein can dig into my fingers, especially when the stein is full of liquid (such as beer).

With the weight of the ruggedized stein, it can leave a bit of a dent in my finger. This is hardly an Earth-shattering issue, but it's something I think about from time-to-time.

Then, one day, I discovered a possible modification: sugru.

Sugru is a kind of putty that hardens in a few hours in whatever shape you've molded it. I saw some on the crack purveyors of ThinkGeek and thought "hey, maybe I can modify my Stein(s)".

My sugru shipment came in Friday. I took my steins aside, applied some sugru, and now have a soft, colorful, moulding on the inside of my stein's grip.

I wish I had more artistic skill. I just glommed on some sugru on the inner grip, but in retrospect, I bet I could have done something fancy. *sigh*

Of course, now I have fewer excuses to put the blessed thing down...

[Edit] I've been told by a friend that my artistic skills are somewhat lacking. Specifically I was told that my application of sugru on my Stein of Science looks like used chewing gum applied to the handle.

Hm.

Lovecraftian Anime Music Video (NSFW)

2011-10-21T06:44:00.000-07:00

Full disclosure: This is NOT SAFE FOR WORK!

That said, this is an amusing hybrid between really disturbing hentai and Lovecraftian brain-melting awesome.

In brief: this is deeply fucked up. You're welcome.

Quakin' in our booties

2011-10-21T05:27:00.000-07:00

If you're anywhere near a media source of any kind and live anywhere near the San Francisco Bay Area, you probably heard we had a couple of mild quakes yesterday.

Per the USGS, there was a 4.0 around 2:40pm followed by a 3.8 about 8:16 pm or so.

It's my first, second, and third instincts to mock the hullabaloo over this. Anything under a 5.0 is pretty minor and yawn-worthy. I honestly thought the 4.0 was construction work taking place in my office building. I largely-ignored the 3.8.

In retrospect, I think I was entirely too blase about this. If either quake had been stronger, I wouldn't have taken precautions for any kind of cover and that might have sucked.

The quakes hit along the Hayward Fault. For non-Bay Area people, that fault is probably the worst fault for the Bay Area to have issues with. When that bad boy snaps on a 5+ level, things are not going to go well for this area. I've looked up the likely spots I'll be should a major (say a 7.0) quake hit on the Hayward Fault.

Odds look pretty grim that any area I'll be in will be even remotely safe.

*sigh*

I've got all the requisite disaster kits. The joy of being a paranoid is that the Voices prompt you to be ready for earthquakes as well as comets, Men in Black, cyborgs from the future, and all that.

My plan for the cyborgs from the future is to trip the nearest person to me and run like hell. Just so you know.

But back to the quakes... yeah, they were a bit startling, but I can't help feeling a bit amused by all the attention paid them. A 4.0 is a bit startling, but it's not like anything was... oh wait. I haven't checked my desk.

OH MY GOD! MY UNDEAD NINJA FIGURE FELL OVER! IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE QUAKE!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I'm done. Happy Friday.

Wallet Time

2011-10-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

I just acquired CountyComm's Traveler RFID Wallet.

I'm very pleased with this purchase.

In a nutshell, the wallet uses mylar lining to block RFID signals. This pleases my paranoid side. It's also made of ripstop nylon, so it's supposed to be hard to tear or damage.

Time will tell if that's the truth.

What really sold me on it was the number of pockets and the durable zipper to seal the whole thing. I sometimes have a lot of random cards and crap in my wallet. It's nice to be able to seal the damn thing up.

Too bad I don't have room for cash. Heh.

Spewing of Data: 10-18-2011

2011-10-18T05:39:00.000-07:00

So those three hikers who got jailed by Iran? They're getting a headline for supporting Occupy Wall Street.

It's nice they're keeping busy and all. I'm all for supporting the OWS folks, but these hikers don't - in my opinion - need any more media coverage.

---

I'm on an Irish/Gaelic/Celtic music kick again. Bwah. I've just listened to Gaelic Storm and Wicked Tinkers music since I woke up this morning. I'm slightly-addicted to "Nil S'en La" (a track from yet another album I can't recall the title of). I'm a sucker for a group of lady singers doing the Irish music.

---

Yet another year and I can't think of a Halloween costume.

No that's not true. I'm not inspired to put in any effort to come up with a Halloween costume.

---

'Nuff said.

(xkcd)

---

Jumping back on to the topic of the OWS protestors, the EFF has advice what to do with your phone in protests.

Good times.

Cool Bike Bag

2011-10-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

Saw this Bike "Blacksmith tool case" on The Gadgeteer.

I find myself drooling slightly at the thought of having this to adorn my worn, but much-loved, bicycle. That said, I'm not sure I'd actually get it. I'm already twitchy about leaving my bike locked up in random places. I'd be constantly-freaking out over the thought that some asshole would steal this glorious-looking piece of leather awesome.

*sigh*

Salon, the CIA, and 9-11

2011-10-14T06:41:00.000-07:00

In case you thought all the news over the famous intelligence failure that led to the 9-11 attacks was over...

Salon has a good article on the FBI vs CIA in-fighting that led to law enforcement dropping the ball and the 9-11 attacks taking place.

If this article is any guide, sounds like George Tenent really fucked up.

Of course, Tenent gave us the whole "weapons of mass destruction" bullshit that justified the invasion of Iraq, so there's that.

Sing it, Jon!

2011-10-12T05:39:00.001-07:00

The Daily Show
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The Wedding of River Song - redux

2011-10-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

So my last post was more spoiler-y recap and less personal reactions.

I needed to sleep on this and digest my thoughts.

Spoilers...

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Likes:
* The Doctor's overall reactions. Playing everyone nicely. Never showing excessive sentiment towards River (despite the marriage). The great bluff.
* Amy as a secret agent.
* Rory. He just exudes badass.
* Dorium as a head.
* Live chess.
* Faking the Doctor's death.
* Amy Pond realizing she's a mother-in-law. Expression: priceless.
* Amy and River having wine and comparing notes. It was a cute moment.
* Amy's final words to Madam eyepatch.

On-The-Fence:
* Using the Tesselecta to impersonate the Doctor. It was a clever cheat, but a bit forced and contrived.
* The big time mash-up. It was fun, but too implausible and weird.
* The big question. Really?

Dislikes:
* The "SOS" to the Universe. Okay, that's been done to death. And it was a ridiculous, pointless, stupid plot element.
* The "wedding" of the Doctor and River. There didn't appear to be any point for that. It was so utterly random that it was like having a safety-pin jabbed into your side.
* The undefined scale of power of the Silence. If they can affect any living thing, including Time Lords, why didn't they take over Gallifrey?
* The excessive, mawkish sentimental bullshit.

Overall, I liked the episode. It was satisfying provided I stop picking at the plot holes. Unfortunately, my OCD prevents me from leaving it alone, so it will continue to bug me.

Still, it was far better than I expected, given the lackluster performance of the episodes that followed "A Good Man Goes to War".

A Grand Wedding Song

2011-10-01T23:00:00.000-07:00

And just like that, I've seen "The Wedding of River Song".

Twice.

Spoilers.

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The Doctor is going to his melodramatic appointment with death that's been the theme of this season.

There's something a bit amiss, though. Time is mashed together with Winston Churchill as the Holy Roman Emperor in a world of skyscrapers, steam engines, and balloon-suspended cars while pterodactyls torment parks and the Pyramids have been inducted into the military's service.

The Doctor (known as Churchill's "soothsayer") is dragged by Roman Centurions to explain to Churchill why it's always 5:02 pm on a specific date.

And the Doctor begins his recap...

The Doctor, after the last episode, tracks down information on the Silence by picking the ruins of a Dalek (it's implied the Doctor took out said Dalek, but never stated). The Doctor crosses path with the Tesselecta, the humanoid, shapeshifting, time-travel vehicle crewed by miniaturized people. They, too, are investigating the Silence.

The Doctor's path takes him to a space viking who leads him to a gruesome storage area where the head of Dorium Maldovar (decapitated by the Headless Monks in "A Good Man Goes to War") is stored.

Dorium explains that the Silence want to kill the Doctor so he can't go to some place and be forced to answer the "first question". Answering that question means the Silence must fall.

Flip back to the present. It turns out the Silence are back and trying to kill the Doctor and Churchill. The Doctor realizes this as marks start to appear on his arm... a running tally of the Silence he's seeing and then forgetting.

The Doctor then reveals that he went to his appointment with death after talking to Maldovar. He sends out his invitations and walks right up to the space-suited River Song. He tells River he forgives her and waits for her to shoot him. She doesn't. Time starts to disintegrate...

Flip back to the present again. The Doctor and Churchill are surrounded by Silence. The pair are rescued by mysterious soldiers led by a familiar redhead with an eyepatch: Amelia Pond.

Amy is now some kind of spook who remembers the two timelines. With Rory as her faithful captain, she is working with River Song to use technology stolen from the captive Madam Kovarian so they can see, and capture, Silence.

A number of things unfold:

* If the Doctor and River touch, time restarts and goes back to the moment when River is being forced by the weird spacesuit to kill the Doctor. The Doctor wants this. River can't live with it.

* The eyepatches worn by Amy's people, are copies of those worn by the agents of the Silence. They let someone see a Silent and remember doing so. They are, unfortunately, also booby-trapped...

* The Silence are not prisoners... they were waiting to kill the Doctor.

Long-story short:

* Amy leaves Madam Kevorian to die from the treachery of the Silence, essentially killing Kevorian.

* River and Amy have cobbled together some kind of nonsensical time-transmitter-thing to ask the Universe to help the Doctor. Don't ask. It doesn't even try to make sense.

* The Doctor marries River. Why? Not really clear, but roll with it. The Doctor appears to tell River his "real name".

* The Doctor and River kiss. Time restarts with the Doctor slain.

The scene shifts to Amy getting slowly drunk. The Doctor is gone and she is devastated. River appears, having just finished the adventure with the Weeping Angels at the Byzantium. Amy bemoans wanting to talk to the Doctor...

And River reveals to Amy (and, a few moments later, Rory) that the Doctor, while present for his "death", was not slain. The Doctor who was shot and "killed" was the Tesselecta with the Doctor on-board.

The Doctor has faked his death and decided to start operating from the shadows. He returns Maldovar's head to its place in the tombs and the two talk. Maldovar then shouts to the departing Doctor the question that must never be answered:

Again. Spoilers.

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Doctor who?

Nightmare Fodder

2011-09-30T13:07:00.000-07:00

via WTF Japan, Seriously?

Fringe 4.1

2011-09-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

"Neither Here nor There"

That was the fourth season opener for "Fringe" on Friday night. Why am I posting this Monday?

In a word: beer.

Never mind that. Let's get to the episode.

So... if you haven't finished Season Three, there's spoilers.

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Warning taken care of. Moving on.

At the end of Season Three, Peter Bishop (aka The Character The Writers Don't Have A Clue What To Do With) merged a portion of the two warring universes then was apparently erased from history.

Just roll with it.

Season Four begins with "our" Universe's version of Lincoln Lee, the awesome leader of the "Over There" team getting enmeshed in a Fringe-style investigation that results in the death of his partner.

Olivia is back to her Terminator-esque personality. Walter is reanimating birds with milk. Broyles is still Broyles. Astrid is a bit more frantic, but still Astrid.

There's weirdness. There's gruesome deaths. There's Observers. There's flickers of Peter, who I guess has not been completely erased from existence. The Observers seem keen to correct that and completely erase him, but then our favorite Observer (I think his "name" is September?) has second thoughts.

Oh, and there's a new batch of villainous, homicidal shapeshifters who appear to have an agenda that may be unrelated to either "our" universe or "Over There".

Overall, it was a nice intro. Adding Lincoln Lee to the main cast gives another much-needed sympathetic character, especially given that Astrid will never get the spotlight at this point. He's a welcome change from the bland and undefined Peter Bishop and the emotionless Olivia Dunham.

I have high hopes for this season.

Foolish me.

Closing Time

2011-09-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

Yeah... I'm not even going to bother with an intro.

Spoilers.

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"Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All."

Love it.

Yeah... so "Closing Time".

Cybermats! Cybermen!

Craig! Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All!

Craziness in a shop!

There was baby stuff. Comedy. Sonic Screwdriver shooting sonic bolts of green.

"Don't worry, I have an app for that."

"Come on, Bitey."

It was a clever little one-shot. Very good stuff.

Have a problem with Cybermen being "centuries old". Continuity... is it really that hard?

The episode was heavy-handed, ridiculous, fluffy sentimental bullshit.

For all that, it was entertaining, but it might have been all the beer I've had to drink this evening.

And so it begins...

2011-09-21T21:13:00.001-07:00

Seven blissful days of slacking.

I start it with a tweaked neck from a bad fall (literally landing on my head).

More reason to drink.

Complex Gods

2011-09-18T10:09:00.000-07:00

Saw "The God Complex" yesterday.

Spoilers follow.

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The prologue has a policewoman walking through a maze that looks like an 80's style hotel. In each room she enters, there's something creepy.

Like clowns.

She's keeping a running diary and finally has some kind of mental breakdown. With a blissful look on her face she's snagged by something that sounds bestial and hungry.

Enter the Doctor, Amy, and Rory. They landed randomly and start exploring. While there, they encounter four people: a medic of some sort, a paranoiac blogger, a cowardly alien, and a crazy dude tied to a chair.

The crazy dude is in a room of ventriloquist dummies. Oh but that's creepy. Crazy dude says that he's ready to be snacked up by the thing behind it all and advises everyone that there's a "room for each of them".

Cue the creepy encounters. Crazy guy gets snacked on by the creature. It doesn't physically harm him. It just takes out his life somehow.

One-by-one the blogger and the medic also fall to the creature. The alien dude, a member of "the most conquered race in the universe" manages to stay alive. Rory seems unaffected while Amy winds up in the creature's sights.

The creature is essentially a minotaur (old-timers of the show will catch the reference to the Nimon of the old Tom Baker era episode "The Horns of Nimon"). It snacks on the faith of those who wind up in its prison/lair.

The episode devolves a bit into clumsy storytelling. The Doctor seems unaffected by the creature's lure. Rory isn't affected for reasons very unclear to me, but in order to save Amy, the Doctor gives some kind of bullshit-ish story to make Amy lose faith in him.

'Cause the creature wanted to eat Amy's faith.

The defeat of the creature was weird and a bit nonsensical.

The alien guy from the most-conquered world survived and remained intensely-annoying.

The episode ended with the Doctor parting ways with Amy and Rory (after giving Rory a nice, red sports car). The parting was awkward and weird. It wasn't terribly well-done in my opinion.

In a nutshell, "The God Complex" was pretty typical fare for the Smith era offerings. It had a great setup but crapped out on delivery. As a horror-ish episode, it's weak tea next to the Tom Baker era horror fare or even the McCoy era stuff.

Two more episodes left before the end of series six.

Sing it!

2011-09-14T07:37:00.001-07:00

The Daily Show
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It really does call out what a bunch of assholes came out of the woodwork a mere two days after the terrorist attack.

9/11 Merlot? Seriously?

Alpha bits

2011-09-14T06:06:00.000-07:00

I've been watching SyFy's "Alphas".

There. I said it.

It's sad that I feel embarrassed by watching anything on SyFy these days. All the same, I felt intrigued by the concept and have been watching it continually since the show started.

There's a few spoilers contained below. If this show even remotely interests you, you should be aware of that.

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Okay, moving on.

The show is a tepid, weak-tea attempt at doing "Heroes" and "X-Men". I think I posted on this a few months back. It's not a great show by any means, but it has promise.

Monday night it realized some of that promise.

The premise is pretty straightforward: there's people in the world who have special abilities. These abilities are often offset with some kind of psychological or physiological issue.

Example:

Bill Harken (Malik Yoba): an ex-FBI agent who can jack up his adrenal glands to give himself super-strength and an inability to feel pain. As a result, he's got rage issues and is a bit of an aggressive dickhead. If he uses his super-strength too often, he gets all woozy and light-headed.

Gary Bell (Ryan Cartwright): A mildly-autistic guy who can "see" radio/cellular signals (except Nokia phone signals... gotta love that). He's easily the most interesting character of the lot.

Rachel Pirzad (Azita Ghanizada): A former FBI forensics student (maybe former agent? I'm unclear on this) who can jack up any of her senses at the expense of the others. So she can smell what you had for breakfast this morning or when you bathed last, but she couldn't hear you talking right next to her. Or she could see the details of carpet impressions at the cost of similar senses. She's actually starting to grow on me.

Nina Theroux (Laura Mennell): A woman who can make you do whatever she says provided you can see and hear her. *Yawn* Boring character.

Cameron Hicks (Warren Christie): A former Army sniper with perfect coordination and a number of substance abuse issues. *Yawn* Boring character. Oh, and he has a very uninteresting fling-thing going on with Nina.

As super-powers go, the good guys don't have much in the way of flashy abilities. They're a mix of dysfunctional, issue-driven nuts who work for the Department of Defense in a vaguely brownshirt capacity as enforcers.

Am I the only person disturbed by the trend of TV shows in which the "heroes" completely ignore the Bill of Rights?

Anyway, this team is led by Doctor Lee Rosen (David Strathairn), a hippy-dippy, and vaguely sinister, psychologist who has no superpowers but understands them pretty well. Actually, Rosen may well be the most interesting character in the lot.

They fight "monsters of the week" in the form of people with superpowers.

Last week they started to move out of the bush leagues. The guest stars were Brent Spiner ("Data" of "Star Trek: The Next Generation") and Rebecca Mader (one of the many walk-on roles in "Lost"). Spiner played a blind guy with the bat-like ability of echolocation. He can apparently amp up his sonar powers over time and eventually bring down buildings. Pretty badass, really.

Mader played a mercenary who can hide in the "blind spot" of the eye through some pseudo-scientific method. It was kind of cool, really.

What started as a clear contest between the so-called "heroes" and Spiner's character (a representative of the so-called villain group "Red Flag", a group who feel a need to sound like an insecticide) turned into a three-way throwdown as Mader's character "Griffin" (loved the Invisible Man reference) entered the fray and expanded the mythology a bit.

It's sad that the walk-on characters are generally more interesting than the main cast.

The show does have promise. There's a vague sense of moral ambiguity as some of the characters (specifically the otherwise-uninteresting Hicks and Nina) have doubts about working for the DOD to take down people with similar abilities and talents.

The show would benefit immensely by ditching Hicks as a character. His backstory is tired and cumbersome. His relationship with Nina feels contrived. The character's abilities are cool, but sadly-underused.

Similarly, the writers should either make Nina less of a vamp-like character or ditch the character altogether.

Certainly both characters could benefit from having their backstories spiced up a bit. Maybe make Hicks a "Red Flag" mole or something.

And "Red Flag"? Really? That's the name of the bad guys? Seriously?

Ye gods.

It would also be nice if the show could figure out if they're going the route of "Heroes" and introducing superpowers where people can read minds, throw lightning and all that or staying low-key (and thus low-budget).