Borg sphere

Is it just me, or does this thing strike anyone else as looking like a Borg sphere.

New dog photos

With all the snow the last few days, I've been catching up on posting for Andy the pocket shepherd blog. So if you like to see some new dog photos head on over.

The myth of cell phone popcorn

In an earlier post, I blogged about how cell phones had enough energy to pop pop-corn. Turns out to my disappointment, that this was a con perpetuated by a Bluetooth headset company. Thanks to Dr. Z for pointing this out.

Merry Christmas

To those of you who partake, Merry Christmas. For all the rest, happy holidays. There was a lot of talk last night about the true meaning of Christmas, but what really strikes me today is the quiet. Its the one true day of rest. In a culture that goes full tilt 7/24, today is a day without gladiatorial bowl games, and even Walmart employees get a day off to spend with family and friends. That in itself is something to be very thankful for!

Snow Day

The view from work today. Its coming down at a steady clip, we've got over 5 inches of fresh power just outside the door.

Why dogs don't drive

Myth of Global Cooling

Global warming deniers need a history lesson.

Diversify your Portfolio

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Prescott Financial Sells Gold, Women & Sheep
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor U.S. Speedskating

Prescott Financial starts at 4:15.

Jack Bauer Interrogates Santa Claus

A geek's delight

SurfaceScapes Gameplay Session from Surfacescapes on Vimeo.

O what we could have done with this....

Tyrone the Repo Elf

Tyrone the Repo Elf a new Christmas tradition.

Cell Phone Popcorn

Ok, this suggests that a quartet of cell phones has enough energy to pop corn, yet these phones are supposed to be safe to put next you head or in your pocket?

Why there are only ten dimensions

Priceless

Master thespian William Shatner reads excerpts of Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue." and Sarah Palin reads excerpt of Shatner's autobiography, "Up Till Now."

How many dogs does it take to change a light bulb

1. Golden Retriever: The sun is shining, the day is young, we've got our whole lives ahead of us, and you're inside worrying about a stupid burned out bulb?

2. Border Collie: Just one. And then I'll replace any wiring that's not up to code.

3. Dachshund: You know I can't reach that stupid lamp!

4. Rottweiler: Make me.

5. Boxer: Who cares? I can still play with my squeaky toys in the dark.

6. Lab: Oh, me, me!!!!! Pleeeeeeeeeze let me change the light bulb! Can I? Can I? Huh? Huh? Huh? Can I? Pleeeeeeeeeze, please, please, please!

7. German Shepherd: I'll change it as soon as I've led these people from the dark, check to make sure I haven't missed any, and make just one more perimeter patrol to see that no one has tried to take advantage of the situation.

8. Jack Russell Terrier: I'll just pop it in while I'm bouncing off the walls and furniture.

9. Old English Sheep Dog: Light bulb? I'm sorry, but I don't see a light bulb!

10. Cocker Spaniel: Why change it? I can still pee on the carpet in the dark.

11. Chihuahua : Yo quiero Taco Bulb. Or 'We don't need no stinking light bulb.'

12. Greyhound: It isn't moving. Who cares?

13. Australian Shepherd: First, I'll put all the light bulbs in a little circle...

How many cats does it take to change a light bulb?

Cats do not change light bulbs. People change light bulbs. So, the real question is:

'How long will it be before I can expect some light, some dinner, and a massage?'

The modern plague

let sleeping dogs ...

Winter

Gizmodo has been hosting a themed photographic challenge on soulful shots of winter. These are a few of my favorites.

Best Blog name ever!

Fried Green al-Qaedas

CatCam

What does your cat do all day while you are away? An animal-behavior scientist by the name of Jill Villarreal answered this question by giving 50 house cats collar mounted cameras that took a photo every 15 minutes. Common wisdom assumed that cats spent most of their time sleeping. The results showed a different picture:

• 22 percent of their time looking out of windows
• 12 percent interacting with other family pets
• 8 percent climbing on chairs or kitty condos
• 6 percent looking at a TV, computer or other media
• 6 percent of the time and hiding under tables
  
• 6 percent of their hours were spent sleeping
• 5 percent of the time was spent playing with toys
• 4 percent eating or looking at food

The reminder of their time was spent plotting to take over the world.

Update: The Cameras are available here.

A space Shuttle launch

The GOP's great green hope!

Zombie Reagan Raised From Grave To Lead GOP

How to tell the difference between a black bear and a Grizzly

(Source Alphaville)

Dog Obsessions

The Xmas spirit

Seems this video from 2000 foresaw Palin.

(Source This Modern World)

Sometimes the old ways are the best ways.

Money from the internet

The curse of social media

Obama's trip to China.

We were warned!

Colorado fire ants

This lovely billboard, insinuating that President Obama is somehow tied to Jihadists and the Fort Hood shootings, can be found on the outskirts of Denver. The picaninny graphic representing Obama is a particularly Neanderthal touch. The hysteria just never ceases to amaze me. I keep hearing the claim that racism has no part in this, but I don't recall the same folks trying to associate Bush 43 with terrorists when he was photographed holding hands and kissing a Saudi prince.Then again consistency was never a strong point for these idiots.

Cats: Jumping machines

Things your pet should avoid this holiday

Dogster has a top ten list of things for your dog to avoid this holiday season.

Channeling Glen Beck 2

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The 11/3 Project
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Stewart is absolutely brilliant!

Glen Beck - shit throwing monkey? We're just asking.

Dog Walk

Even God uses Microsoft XP?

Well I suppose that explains a lot! Or perhaps not.

Snow in Colorado

A great satellite image of the last big snow storm.

It came from here.

Eric Cartman Channels Glen Beck

via videosift.com

Once again South Park has provided us with some brilliant satire.

Here's some more. Just asking questions!

Veteran's Day

My Vintage Cameras has a Veteran's Day post about her father's service in WW II.

And so it begins ....

( Jasen D. "Shit for brains" Bruce, Marine reservist charged with aggravated battery for striking a Greek Orthodox priest on the head with a tire iron. SFB struck the priest because he thought he was a Muslim. The priest, who was visiting the US, was lost and asking for directions.)

This nimrod, who doesn't know the difference between a Greek Orthodox priest and a Muslim, disgraced himself and the Marines by his racist behavior.

Read the tragic story here.

The plague of social media

Who says it runs your life.

The World according to FOX news

Fox reports and Rupert Murdoch decides.

Dog day dreams

I was involved in the autumn ritual of raking leaves this weekend. The trees live in our neighbor's yard, but the foliage falls in our yard. Kelly had a different idea of what the piles of leaves should be used for. At first I thought she was digging after some sort of vermin scurrying through the leaves. But once she dug the depression, she did that spinning in a circle maneuver all dogs do right before forming a nest. She sat quite comfortably for some time watching what I was doing.

Tonight's Sunset

The sunset here on the front range tonight was quite spectacular. Typically being so close to the front range, our sunsets aren't like this one.

Does Dog = SUV?

Does a dog's carbon foot print equal that of a large SUV? Well this is the thesis of the recent book Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living. They provide a back of the envelope calculation showing that the resources for Fido's food result in a carbon foot print equal to that of driving a large SUV. When I first read this, I was highly skeptical of their numbers, but didn't know where to start. Well Clark Williams-Derry, over at at Sightline Daily provides a simple back of the envelope debunking of this thesis. Simply put, Time to eat the dog argues that it takes .84 hectares to meet a pooch's food needs for a year. This translates into needing a third of all US cropland to feed our nation's dogs. Yet pet food sales only accounts for 1% of the total food economy. So the numbers just don't add up!

Autumn Sun

Its that time of year when a dog's thoughts turn to maximizing their solar absorption.

(cartoon taken from Overboard)

Stanley Hotel

Spent the last couple of days at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park CO attending a conference. The Stanley provided the inspiration for the Stephen King novel the shining. While the Stanley hotel is not the location used in the Stanley Kubrick film of the same name, that is a combination of set interiors and exteriors at the Mt. Hood resort in Oregon, it was used in the King's miniseries of the shining. The story goes that when King spent some time there early in his career, his ghostly encounters there lead to the book. It was also a time in his life when he was suffering from a serious alcohol problem. So one has to wonder if the spirits he saw came from the bottom of a bottle.



Once the family had died, the Stanley hotel had passed from owner to owner and had fallen into serious disrepair. Ironically the interest in filming the shining miniseries lead to its restoration. Today it's one of many historic hotels. The year 2009 marks its 100 anniversary.



Despite the family's fame for Steam powered automobiles, the Stanley fortune actually came from photography. My Vintage Camera has a post about the Stanley brothers. The brothers were responsible for developing the dry plate photographic process that lead to modern photography. They sold their patent to Eastman Kodak company in 1905, becoming quite wealthy, and turned their interest towards steam powered automobiles.



The family came to Colorado for reasons of health, but found the air of Denver too dirty to provide any relief. At the suggestion of a Doctor, they traveled from Denver to stay in a cabin located in Estes Park. And the rest is history.

Happy Halloween

Republican iPhone Reps

Republican iPhone Reps taken from Yikes!

What religion should you choose?

This religion flow chart comes from Mock, Paper, Scissors.

Snow Day

Well a big storm has hit the Colorado front range. We woke up to somewhere around 3" of fresh white stuff and we're forecast to get between 10" and 18" for the rest of the day.

More traitorous rantings from the right

There is an interesting post over at Little Green Footballs surveying the secessionist sentiment over at Hot Air. A few select gems are posted below.

The severity of these traitorous rantings from the right never ceases to surprise. I'm reminded of the left's threat to leave the country over the second election of King George the Second (Bush 43), with one important difference. The left accepted the legitimacy of the election and wanted to protest it with their feet. They were taking their ball and going home. In contract, the far right, in the current case, refuses to acknowledge the legitimacy of the last election and responds with threats of violence. They seem completely incapable of accepting that they lost, and respond with violence to anyone who points out that they did. Not the most adult response out of the two.

One side note. I'm always amused by these sort of secessionist sentiments. The red states most likely to secede receive far more Federal tax money then they collect. They complain about taxes, yet they spend more than their share. I've said it before and I'll say it again, good riddance to them!

[…]

And if this thing passes, it’s on Mr. Rightisleft.
Millions feel just like me, and I’d sooner die a patriot, than a slave. And even if every one of us is killed… I will have considered it an honor to be dead amongst other like minded [sic] heros.

Secession and civil war are alternatives to this, and by god if those are the only options left… so be it, the democrats forced our hand.

[…]

The parasitic blue states will elect the public option and the red states will opt out. The left has now achieved exactly what it set out to do. They will reward their nanny state Marxist/leftist constituents and the parasitic underclass for faithfully voting for Democrats. We should take it one step further and completely redistribute the land mass and other resources so the two different and irreconcilable ideologies can go their separate ways never again to meet. The left can then build their ideal Marxist state and the rest of us can rebuild the greatest democracy and free market system ever known … and the sooner the better.

And haven't these idiots heard of spell checkers!

Dr. Z has reached a million served!

Dr Z has reached a million visitors. A major milestone indeed. You can go congratulate him at Zaius Nation.

Yet another Mac parody ad

Thanks to Mock, Paper, Scissors for pointing this out.

Drive like a drunk day

I've heard of talk like a pirate day, but who declared it drive like a drunk day and forgot to tell me? Coming in to work today I was continuously behind vehicles determined to touch the lane lines on both sides. Even more surprising, not one of those drivers had a cell phone. A first for Boulder drivers, who have them surgically implanted at birth.

Republicans vote for gang-rape

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Rape-Nuts
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

One would think that legislation that punishes US contractors who protect employees who rape other employees would be a no brainer. Yet somehow the Republican members of congress voted unamiously to reject the proposal.

It's not the heat, it's the stupidity

It's not the heat, it's the stupidity was one of my favorite bumper stickers from New Orleans. But as the cartoon states, it's actually ignorance that is the problem. Poobah has a nice post about how willful ignorance (in the form of California state proposition 13) is bringing the Great State of California to its knees. Ironically, despite California's budget woes, other states insist on stumbling down the same path. The piped piper of lower taxes is just too strong.

Collect the Money!

Ever wonder what its like to be a member of congress and take lobbyists money? Well just check out Dr. Z's new game Collect the Money and you can find out. But watch out, don't collect the health care reform bill!

Tricker Treats!

Costumes and paper cut-out witches are all well and good, but if you want to legitimately scare trick-or-treaters, why not surprise them with a pumpkin that moves around under its own volition?

Here's another great Halloween decoration idea.

First Snow Day of the season

We got a dusting of snow last night - about a half an inch accumulation. With the thin coating its not too picturesque, but My Vintage Cameras has some nice photos of the Flat Irons after a similar storm.

Friday Cat Humor

Posting will be light the next few weeks

As with a number of the blogs I've been following, my posting will be light the next few weeks since I've started a new job this week.

Most common passwords

Recently 10,000 Windows Live Hotmail accounts were cracked through phishing. What's most disturbing is that the most common password captured is the numerical string "123456". The second most common password is "123456789". I do wonder if this sample is significantly biased since it reflects the password choices of people who were successfully phished.

Kelly's Kenyan birth certificate