CYN.ICAL.US

"One of the reasons for conspiracy theories is an assumption that people in high places always know what they are doing. When they do something that makes no sense, devious reasons are imagined by conspiracy theorists, when in fact it may be due to plain old ignorance and incompetence."

-Thomas Sowell
(1930- ) Writer and economist

It seems that eggs do indeed freeze. I had been wondering about that.

*Note to self: collect eggs earlier in the day, most especially during periods of subzero temperatures.

It's quite a different experience to crack open a semi-solid egg and have to scoop it out of the shell. Or to have a solid egg, like a hardboiled egg, yet still raw.

I fried them up. They came out fairly close to normal. There was a different texture in parts... especially the yolk, more of a quiche or scrambled egg texture. But it tasted about the same.

Ok, well it's time to post another one of these... they're fun. There's also a feedback loop here that I find amusing. Google must love me. Oh, and my apologies, if you just searched Google and came here expecting to get a real answer. You should realize that someone else did the same thing at some point in the past and now we're laughing at them. And, now that you're here, in the future, we could be laughing at you!

*Note that any spelling errors, punctuation errors, or general stupidity in these search terms is the fault of someone else, and not me.

gluteus maximus pain after sitting in car a long time

Would this be from something kinda kewl like a stakeout, or were you just stalking your ex-girlfriend again?

WHAT DOES YOUR gluteus maximus look like

Hah! Wouldn't you like to know! Freak.

can i disable a speaker in the mall where i work 
quickly

You sound suspicious. Actually, you sound kinda fun too.

how to grow a bigger gluteus maximus

Don't they have a pill for that?

rants about jury duty and serving hassles

Hey! Go make your own, buddy! Don't be trying to steal them from others!

too stupid to avoid jury duty

Was that a self-description? This isn't a self-help site, dude.

gluteous men exercise (videos)

I'm sorry. You need professional help. And, thanks to you, there are many people on the internets who now also need help because they saw this and had many disturbing images flash through their minds.

what can i say to make sure i don't get chosen for 
jury duty

Anything at least semi-crazy ought to work just fine. Can you drool creatively? Can you constantly keep brushing those freaking feathers off yourself while looking to see where they are coming from? How about lashing out violently at the spirits that constantly mock you?

excused from jury duty for depression

I'm sorry... they obviously thought that you needed to go home and close all the curtains and contemplate your sad life while surfing the internet.

jury duty how many times can miss 

You can miss 17 times, but whooooo!, on the 18th, you're going to jail, buddy! What? Isn't that what you discovered by googling this phrase?

consequences for not going to jury duty 

Finally! A practical use for the internet! Finding out first what the consequences are for not going. Way to use the internet, dude!

how to disqualify yourself from jury duty

Try to wet yourself in the first 10 minutes and leave a rather large puddle... and then wet yourself again in 30 minutes. That should do it. (Remember to drink lots of water.)

avoiding jury duty

There we go, right to the point. Next time, put '[Your Name] is avoiding jury duty', so we can tell who you are. And maybe we'll also call you up and shout 'JUROR DODGEE!' when we're bored.

how to use jury nullification to get out of jury duty

*smack* Bad! Now, go sit next to the lawyers!

what does a gluteus maximus do for us

Apparently nothing! Who would have thought! You can just amputate yours. It'll save you some weight too.

pain in my Gluteus maximus

You should work harder to avoid the person causing this.

gluteus maximus seizure

Hint: Don't do this to that pretty woman you just met... they hate that.

gluteus maximus wifi

Wow... sitting at the Starbucks takes on a whole new meaning!

product to get a big gluteus

I recommend: Dastardly Dan's Miracle Grow Tonic. Only $29.95 for a three month supply!

definition of the gluteus maximus in turms kids would
understand

Oh, I assure you. The kids already understand it. But, apparently, there seems to be something that you're not quite grasping...

jury duty a duty or pain

Oh! Wow! A multiple choice question in a search term! ... Oh boy, this is a hard one!

gluteus pain at night

Let me spell it out for you... try to remember to put all your Hot Wheels cars away before you go to bed.

So, I'm sure that everyone is familiar with the fiasco known as "Indiana Jones: The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", so this shouldn't result in any spoilers.

We watched the film a number of weeks ago and were aghast at the goofs that made it impossible to suspend belief enough to really enjoy the movie. George Lucas has definitely lost whatever storytelling ability that he might have had. And, from the interviews on the DVD, it seems that Steven Spielberg was apparently the lone voice of reason and helped tone down some of the more ridiculous aspects of the film, but couldn't kill off every stupid Lucas idea.

Now it's not just the Nuking of the Fridge that was the problem. I had to pause the movie and rant for a few minutes very early into the movie when they were using 'magnetic' gun powder and "magnetic" lead shot to find the chest in the warehouse. I don't know if the problem is that Hollywood movie people are just so disconnected from the scary guns that they fear, that they just have no idea how they work in the real world, or, if they think that Americans just won't notice or care? I lean toward the former option.


Hollywood Movie Director: "And so, the bad guys here just start firing with their AKs, as the good guys come running by to get the girls."

Outside Consultant (former soldier): "So the good guys are moving from cover to cover as the bad guys are reloading?"

Movie Director: "What?! No! An AK is an assault weapon! It's a machine gun! You don't have to reload them."


So while that and the fridge nuking were bad enough, the main thing that totally ruined the movie for me, besides the aliens, was just that it wasn't actually an Indiana Jones movie - sure it had Harrison Ford, and the whip, but all the cool archeology stuff and traps and puzzles and all that which makes Indiana Jones different from the latest action flick, weren't there. It seems that in order to do all the kewl action scenes, they had to cut more of the slow, suspenseful, dashing archeology stuff. In one scene, Indy holds back Mutt with a warning as they are inside a tomb looking for stuff... but then nothing actually happens and they solve the puzzle in 30 seconds, and are in and out in under 2 minutes.

So my conclusion is... this supposed Indiana Jones IV is definitely not part of the canon. Obviously, some people got a bit mixed up in the studio's labeling department. This movie was supposed to be something like Firewall 2. With aliens. Or something. Ok, maybe we'll go with "Shanghai Conquistadores", but bad, without Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson.

"I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain." --John Adams, Letter to Abigail Adams, May 12, 1780.

But, yes... I'm posting an LOL Cat.

Hey now! Is the floor that your jaw is scraping, actually clean?

Anyways I thought it was rather funny... and oddly appropriate for today too. heh heh heh.

So when reading through old books and documents in pursuit of your genealogical data, you can come across some interesting things. For instance, recently, I learned that George Washington had "a prodigious temper", like his mother. (Read back a page for the context). That's just fascinating. And a valuable bit of genealogical information that you don't often find. In genealogy, you can usually find the names, dates, and places. Sometimes you can find stories in old letters and newspaper articles. But you don't really know exactly what kind of man your ancestor was. Was he funny and witty, or loud and boorish, or quiet and bookish? What was important to him and why? Those questions can very rarely be answered for your average, common man ancestors.

Here's something else I found fascinating... glimpses into a few morbid little sagas in some small towns in Texas during one month in 1904. Even though they are obituaries, you can still get an idea of the lives of the people mentioned.

Something else interesting that I turned up... The Crash at Crush. Wow. They sure know how to do a spectacle right in Texas! Yee-haw!

Many of you will find this hard to believe, but there was a time – long, long ago – when people would get things and then use those items exactly as they got them! That’s right: no customization, no “tricking out,” no modding, no skinning, no nothing. You just took the thing out of the box and used it the way nature – and the manufacturer – intended.

Yes, we know: barbaric.

Today, of course, things are very different. No one would ever dream of using an off-the-shelf item in this day and age; instead, everything needs to be personalized.***

And as a civilized person, and not one of those Macarbarians, Windows XP needs to be customized and personalized for me, before it's fit to use in my daily life. I had wished that there was a guide, a manual so to speak, that would tell me what changes I would need to make to a vanilla-fresh Windows XP install in order to make it useful to me. This is that guide. Now I need no longer fear the dark and unknown of the reformat and reinstall, the horrible vanillaness of starting from scratch. I have The Guide!!!

I can still do more work with organizing and formatting this Guide, but Jason wanted to see it sometime before Windows 7 comes out, I expect. So it's a work in progress that I'll keep updating... and I know I missed documenting many little tweaks and changes that I've done. So maybe I can catch those sometime - or maybe they're so minor as not to matter much.

(Note: Bother. My careful text file formatting and tab-based trees aren't coming through here. Well, eventually I'll format it in HTML)

Windows Classic Style for All
You can disable all of XPs visual effects by right-clicking the Desktop and selecting the "Properties" menu item, select the "Appearance" tab. In the dropdown box under "Windows and buttons", choose Windows Classic style.

Start Menu Properties
Use Classic Start Menu

Initial Configurations
* Under User Accounts, change the way users log on or off, untick use welcome screen
* Disable HelpAssistant
* Start Menu Properties
o Classic Start Menu
o Display Administrative Tools
o Scroll Programs Menu
o Expand Control Panel
o Untick Hide inactive icons
o Untick Use Personalized Menus
* Display Properties
o Windows Classic Theme
o Screen Saver - blank
o Effects - No fade transitions
o Use ClearType
o No Shadows under menus
o Unhide underlined letters
* Automatic Updates on Notify but don't download or install them

Install Hardware
* Install XP SP2
o Disable Windows Security Center - Turn off All Alert Settings Under "Change the Way That Security Center Alerts Me"
* Get all remaining windows updates
* Install all custom DELL drivers

Additional Configurations
* Move Windows Update to programs menu, delete Windows Catalog shortcuts
* On Properties of X: change AutoPlay setting to your prefered settings (click Apply each time)
* Use Windows classic folders, List Details, show hidden, show extensions, untick Use simple file sharing, Disable Offline Files
* Change Long Date format to 'ddd, dd MMM yyyy'
* IE unlock toolbars, hide links toolbar, move toolbars to one, small icons, no text, close browser, open again, lock toolbars again
* Browser Settings: Use Blank, Check for new every visit, Dont show friendly HTTP errors, Dont show Go button, Use inline AutoComplete, Dont use smooth scrolling
* Windows Inverted (extra large), disable pointer shadow, put pointer speed to 60%
* Turn off System Restore from the System Restore Tab in My Computer->Properties
* Power Options
o On Battery: Turn off monitor after 15 mins, hard disks after 30mins, standby after 20 mins
o Enable hibernation
o Low battery alarm 10%, critical battery alarm 8% and action as Hibernate
o Prompt for password when resume from standby
o When close lid Do Nothing, When press button Hibernate
* Console Window Properties: Buffer Size 500, QuickEdit Mode, Lucida Console, Window Height 55, save to all future windows
* Sounds Device Volume High, Place volume icon on taskbar, all volume controls to max
* Laptop stereo speakers, No Sound Scheme
* Task Manager - Hide when minimized, Select columns - CPU Time
* TweakUI:
o no beep on error
o no menu fading
o no tooltip fade
o menu fast
o no Help or Logoff on startmenu
o no recent docs
o no desktop web content
o no maintain doc history
o no manipulate connected files as unit
o use Classic search in Explorer
o no prefix shortcut to
o no show my docs
o no show my pics
o no tooltip balloons
o Set special folders
o no warn on low diskspace
o Remove all document templates except Text Document
o Turn off Autoplay for all Drives and Types
* Add fax, Add PDF printer drivers, remove indexing, disable all performance counters
* Disable following services (See blackviper.com for info):
o Alerter
o Background Intelligent Transfer Service (Change to Manual)
o Computer Browser
o Distributed Link Tracking Client
o Error Reporting Service
o Fast User Switching Compatibility
o Help and Support
o Indexing Service
o Infrared Monitor
o IPSEC Services
o Messenger
o NTLM Security Support
o Net Logon
o Network Location Awareness
o Performance logs and alerts
o Portable media serial number
o QOS RSVP
o Remote Registry
o Remote desktop help session manager
o Security Center
o SSDP Discovery
o Secondary Logon
o Smart Card
o System Restore Service
o TCPIP NetBIOS Helper
o Terminal Services
o Themes
o UPS
o Universal PnP Device Host
o WMI Performance adapter
o Web Client
* Disable Error Reporting
* Startup and Recovery - Untick time to display list of operating systems
* Do not allow users to connect remotely
* Install and use LClock (Longhorn Clock)

Disable Web Services prompt
To disable the prompt, navigate to the following folder in RegEdit (create it, if necessary):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Then create a new 32-bit DWORD value, title it "NoInternetOpenWith," and give it a value of 1.

Search All files (not just text files)
To do this, set the FilterFilesWithUnknownExtensions DWORD value to 1 in the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ContentIndex

Disable Zip Folders:
regsvr32 /u %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll

Windows Explorer Tweaks
Windows Explorer --> Tools --> Folder Options --> View
Uncheck
Display simple folder view in Explorer's Folders list
Hide extensions for known files types
Hide protected operating system files
Check
Show Hidden Files and Folders

Make Windows Explorer start in the C: Drive (add to the Target Properties of your shortcut)
C:\windows\explorer.exe /n,/e,c:\

Replace default Notepad with Notepad++
* Copy notepad.exe which comes with this package into 3 directories (in given order) Backup the old files. :
1. c:\windows\system32\dllcache
2. c:\windows\system32
3. c:\windows
When you replace notepad.exe in c:\windows\system32 and c:\windows, a "Windows File Protection" message box appears, click Cancel. Then another message box appears, click OK.

Disable Disk Performance Counters:
diskperf -n

To disable all performance counters, run regedit and navigate to this registry key:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Perflib
Add a new DWORD Value named DisablePerformanceCounters. Set the value of DisablePerformanceCounters to 1 and either reboot or restart the registry service.

Disable Last Access Timestamp for NTFS
FSUTIL behavior set disablelastaccess 1

Cleartype Tuner
http://www.microsoft.com/typography/cleartype/tuner/Step1.aspx
Use Cleartype Powertoy

TweakUI Powertoy

Media Player 9 Powertoy
(Change Full Screen Settings)

Copy over my HOSTS file

Drivers:
Use Intel Chipset Drivers for 865G Chipset Family

Delete Windows Media DRM DLLs from Firefox
npwmsdrm.dll
npdrmv2.dll

***Paragraph shamelessly stolen from Microsoft. No, I don't know where they stole it from originally.

We usually see those teeny tiny hailstones, the pea gravel sized, sometimes slightly larger. But they don't do much.

This time we had nickel sized hailstones, and there were a few bursts of large quarter sized stones and even larger. They beat needles and branches off the trees... all the air is heavily pine and fir scented now because of the beating that the trees just had. It's actually quite pleasant. So many melting hailstones are on the ground (it's been between 65 and 75 through this), that it's rather slippery to walk around outside. Then there was this eerie ground fog rising up everywhere, I suppose because of the volume of frozen hailstones and the fairly warm, moist air.

I don't think they were quite big enough to damage the truck, and other vehicles, but I haven't checked it out yet... it could have knocked some paint off though.

UPDATE: Hmm... hailstones up to one and one quarter inches is what they were saying here. That's probably about right, they sure did look big!

I didn't duck out to grab some when the really big ones were coming down.

So nowadays we have armies of bureaucrats supposedly looking out for us by examining our food before it gets to us; as it's grown, processed, and even prepared, cooked, and served. This is supposed to make us safer, but like all large bureaucracies, it's terribly inefficient, and imposes large costs on everyone, and likely isn't even as effective as is claimed.

As I've considered living overseas, in second world countries without the bureaucracy at all levels that we're used to in the United States, I've wondered how proper food handling in restaurants might be addressed without government interference. While demanding that you be allowed to inspect the kitchen before sitting down is probably wise in such cases, not everyone has the knowledge of what to look for, nor perhaps the wherewithal to make such demands. Further, examining the kitchen of every restaurant you wish to patronize is quite an inconvenience. Is it possible to make this easier?

I think that this is an excellent opportunity for the internet. While customer review sites abound for customers to rate their experiences at restaurants, I think there might be a market for private organizations to hire inspectors and act as a trusted intermediary for both customers and restaurant owners. Restaurant owners, as private property owners, are free to allow the private inspectors to inspect their kitchens and food handling areas, or not. And the restaurant patrons, as individuals capable of choice, can make their own decisions of where they wish to eat based on the amount of risk that they are willing to accept, being that eating at a restaurant that submits to regular inspections and scores highly is of lower risk than eating at Joe's Hole-In-The-Wall that doesn't allow inspectors. It's a free market-based solution that should ensure that restaurants that adhere to the food handling standards and have the extra work and cost of training employees, equipment are rewarded with more customers, while those who don't will get fewer customers. Caveat Emptor.

I think a similar system, using private certifying organizations, could be workable for food all along the production line as well. It seemed to work well enough for organic foods, before the government tentacles started squeezing in, muddying the waters with exceptions, misleading terms, and regulation that cuts out the small producers.

These private certifying organizations could oversee and certify the proper growing of food, the slaughter or harvest of food, and the packaging and processing of food. They could also certify product labels, and ingredient lists. I expect there would be several large regional, or even national, competing organizations, with many many local regions and city organizations. Perhaps the larger ones will be subscription-based, rather like Consumer Reports. Or perhaps, the initial cost would be borne by the companies reviewed, the be added as part of their costs of doing business. I'm sure there would be "open-source", freeware, and community-driven organizations as well, also providing the certifying services. Consumers can choose which one(s) to trust, and buy products bearing those labels or certifying marks. This seems like it would be very similar to how Kosher food is handled, or marked, or chosen.

I would hope that in a Libertarian world, food production would be more local, and done by more, and smaller, companies as there would be far less regulation to hinder them and drive them out of business, so the problems that huge food processing corporations and giant agricultural farms bring with them could be largely eliminated.

Now, what about tort claims for damages caused by tainted food? Well, it's my observation that, for food, it seems that somewhere, sometime, there is going to be contaminated food and someone is going to get sick from it, and maybe even die. Huge Government can't even prevent it... or maybe I should say, 'especially can't prevent it'. It seems impossible to 100 percent prevent food poisoning or contamination, as contamination can be extremely difficult or even impossible to detect, and the chances of accidental contamination are high. That said, there should probably be a further financial incentive for cleanliness and safety, other than just increased sales. So I think I would agree with damages provided to an injured party as adjudicated by a court. A defense to such a claim might be the voluntary inspections done by a private labeling organization, and the accompanying history of cleanliness. There is a fine line between the producer's responsibility for a damaged/tainted product, and the responsibility of the "consumer's" decisions. The court would have to consider it carefully, to avoid bankrupting the producer or imposing too high of a cost that would deter other producers from the market. There should be no verdicts that bankrupt the defendant and make the plaintiff wealthy. It's quite likely to be a small amount to pay only a part of the plaintiff's medical bills. (Perhaps private insurers would see an opportunity here for an insurance product aimed at the producers. Or for the "consumers" too, for that matter.)

My questions... do you think this is a workable plan that could be put into effect today*? Does it need more? Do you have a better idea that would replace everything?

* Meaning the current era, not the literal date of 'today'.

I've been wondering, more often lately, how certain things that we're all used to government monopolizing today would work in a practical Libertarian world using the free market. I've decided to start a series with this. I suspect that some of the issues I plan to bring up will probably be because I haven't yet read the right books by Hayek and Mises and others, and all the other issues will likely devolve into a perpetual debate of 'public goods'. But still, I'd like to attempt to get some discussion and debate of these topics, if only for my own edification.

I'm trying to layout the scope of these topics, and I think I'm going to specify a 'practical' Libertarian State, rather than a perfect Libertarian State... though I'm not all clear on the exact differences between the two. Oh, and yes, I know the series is named "In a Libertarian World...", as it just a has a better ring to it than "In a Hypothetically Practical Tiny Libertarian State-that-is-so-tiny-it-can-hardly-even-be-called-a-state...". And my title is shorter too.

If you have suggestions for new topics in this series, I'd love to hear them. Post them in the comments.

So, on to the first topic: Food Safety and Handling

Well, I've resigned myself to paying $3 per half gallon for decent (not from concentrate) orange juice - which is my morning wakeup call. Even so it's still not common for it to be on sale, 2 for $6, so gotta grab it when it is. No more 2 for $5, or especially not 2 for $4. Those days are gone!

Ahh, I can reminisce about the old price of fuel too... I clearly remember, with my first car, getting diesel for 99 cents a gallon. I'm sure I was getting it for less, around 85 cents I think, before that... but the 99 cent price I can clearly remember. It's now $4.69 per watered-down, environmentally friendly, gallon in our hometown.

I'm sure you've seen them. I'm speaking of those people walking by with a metallic, silver colored device attached to their ear, and which is usually blinking with a cool, futuristic looking blue LED light. Presumably, the light is to reassure passersby that the human in question is really not the host for a small metallic colored parasite (mind controlling probably, considering many of the infested hosts that I've seen), that lives in the ears of humanoid species. It doesn't fool me at all. Those parasites could have evolved blinking blue lights too. However, I'm told that the package these ear parasites come in are actually labeled with "Bluetooth Headset - NOW WITH BLINKING BLUE LIGHT THAT ANNOYS EVERYONE EXCEPT YOU!"

Now, sure - I can certainly understand using a hands free device when driving or otherwise using your hands... but I don't see why you need to wear a headset constantly, and apparently while not actually expecting it to be used immediately, in the grocery store, in the mall, and other public places. I feel that you have no excuse, unless you work in telemarketing or otherwise have a lot of calls coming in, or you're expecting a priority communication from the Enterprise at any moment, or you're a Navy SEAL and could be assigned, or are assigned, to a covert mission at any moment (HINT: skip the blue LED for that one). Otherwise, I seriously wonder if that unnatural thing in your ear didn't crawl up your pillow and implant itself in your ear while you were sleeping, and you just haven't seen it yet, (and with the mind-control it's likely doing, you would never notice it anyways), so then it makes me think that I should politely inform you of the apparently hostile lifeform that has taken up residence in your ear.

But then, I am informed that Bluetooth headsets are not parasitic lifeforms, (presumably, they've been tested for this), and that people are voluntarily wearing them everywhere, whether they use them or not. This just gives me an odd desire to staple the headset to your ear and turn you into a real cyborg. That would certainly let you get used to it to the point where you don't even notice it ever again. But perhaps you'd rather have your doctor properly implant it for you, instead. Would you like one of those neat eyeballs that do all the targeting and zooming stuff too?

Not too surprisingly, (after allowing time for sufficient retrospection), I find that I am not alone in this opinion. Matt at 37signals also notices how human anatomy precludes the blue LED light from being seen by the wearer, and so its intended purpose MUST be to annoy everyone else. Richard Sheffield has further comments (and he managed to fit in TWO Star Trek references too!). Lastly, if you're someone who wears a Bluetooth headset everywhere for no particular reason, (wow, you managed to read down this far! Congratulations!), then you really need puppets to take you aside and explain things to you. (This is also the obligatory Youtube link too).

WOW-O-WOW-UPDATE: Check this out. Whoa, it gives me geeky shivers. I need to cook up some equipment to hack around with a project like this. It would be a lot of geeky fun, very entertaining, and is probably not too terribly illegal.

So I don't know what all has been happening lately, but there's something happening with Youtube. Nearly everyone I meet is talking about it. This buzz has just been growing in the last 6 months or so. It's been like the buzz that eBay had back in the heyday of online auctions.

Right now, I'm just cringing. I'm seriously expecting an email from one of my grandparents at any moment, telling me about Youtube and how great it is, and how I've got to see this latest funny video for myself.

Seriously, by my observation, the Youtube buzz has moved up into the fifties age group already. These are people whom I would certainly not expect to say 'Youtube', but somehow they are, and frequently too. It's like the new watercooler discussion topic. "Hey! Have you seen the latest video on Youtube yet?"

I'm thinking that it's already too late to buy Youtube stock at this point. Bummer.

Anyways, the particular videos that confirmed this trend for me, were the Scott Macartney skier crash videos. Here it is: Scott Mcartney - Skier crash. Here's another view.

From a client:

We need to make a couple changes, however, to better accommodate journalists with attention spans of ferrets.

This blog ranks fairly highly on Google for certain obscure and weird keywords. This provides me much amusement, and I thought I'd share some of them with you. If this entry is met with adulation from the hoi polloi, I have some more oldies stored up and of course, these things will always be pouring out of the internet tubes - so I should have a long-term supply.

And yes... I'm quite beginning to regret my choice of words for a certain article title.

And I bring you now to the search terms!

mentally retarded and called for jury duty new york

Well, if getting online and using Google wasn't an insurmountable hurdle for you, then you shouldn't have any trouble with jury duty.

things to make the gluteus maximus bigger 

See below. Oh, and you're a nut!

Unless you're female.

And hot. Very very HOT.

falling on your glutius maximus

Not a good idea. Try to avoid.

gluteus maximus pain

See above

"we are at heart so profoundly" explain

What?! Oh. Are you not a native English speaker? Dang Canadians.

minimum rest before jury duty

I'm sorry... but nothing is really going to help you there. A good book will be your best friend however.

jury duty dire "New york"

So, is that a threat or something? Or is it that you just can't spell voir?

pictures of gluteus for IM?

You're sick. Just sick.

right gluteus pain what can ease the pain? 

I would suggest amputation. But you won't listen to me, I know.

how does the gluteus maximus grow 

Well, it begins when a man and a woman love each other very much... oh wait...

if you fall on the gluteus maximus

Is this one of those hypothetical questions, or did you expect an answer?

where can I get a Gluteus Maximus books

Butts & Noble... or Assazon.

Heheh, I couldn't resist. Sorry.

lolcats links

You have a sickness. An incurable sickness.

Well, it seems that in Utah, they have a bit of smarts, apparently more so than the rest of the nation. Some students at campuses there are determined not to be victims, and they carry concealed guns to help ensure that they don't die like frightened sheep, huddled under a desk and waiting for death to come to them.

I'm quite willing to predict that there will be no campus shootings in Utah, as long as the concealed carry law there remains in effect. But should some disturbed person try to rampage anyways, it will be stopped within about 5-10 seconds of starting. It doesn't take much longer than that to draw your pistol, acquire your target, and fire a few rounds.

But oh! Some weak-minded individuals get the vapors at the thought of a regular citizen carrying a concealed pistol. He could be sitting right next to them with that gun and they wouldn't even know it! How FREAKY!

Nick says his gun doesn't make him feel immune from attack. "But I feel that I will be able to protect myself, and I'm confident in my training and my ability," he said.

His confidence is not shared by fellow student Griselda Espinoza, who recently transferred to the university. Some 28,000 students attend the school, as of the latest enrollment figures.

"I feel less safe knowing that a stranger sitting beside me in class may have a gun in his or her backpack," she said.

"The only people that should carry guns are trained officials."

Foolish female. I'm sure she felt very safe before the shootings too, right up until, of course, she wasn't safe. Never mind that she isn't, and wasn't, actually safe, all that matters to her is that she only has to feel like she's safe. This sort of overwhelming feminine desire for security, and self-delusion, is a large part of why we have such security theater today. And security theater is nearly all that can be managed on campus, except for Utah and a couple other states that allow students to participate in their own (non-imaginary) security.

Note also the authoritarian view that the only people who should carry guns are those R-E-S-P-O-N-S-I-B-L-E and mentally competent government 'protectors'.

Here's another quote:

Freshman Monica DeFrancesco initially thought about heading home to her parents' house after the shooting, but decided to stay in her dorm room in Douglas Hall, a 10-minute walk from Cole Hall.

"There's a lot of security," said DeFrancesco, who didn't see the shootings or know anyone involved. "They're checking your bags and your IDs ... I feel very comfortable."

Another emotional feminine embrace of security theater. These sorts of quotes are very easy to find, and its nearly always women making them. However, with the way that the American Male has been feminized, I wouldn't be particularly surprised to hear indoctrinated males spouting the same foolishness.

Now, I don't know about you, but as a liberty-loving male, I don't feel at all safe when I see heavily armed soldiers standing guard in airports (with no bullets in their guns - or maybe that should be despite no bullets in their guns), or careful inspections of ID cards, or repeated announcements over PA systems about the necessity of keeping watch for, and the reporting of, any suspicious behavior. What does comfort me, is having, strapped to my hip, the reassuring weight and bulk of a hunk of finely machined metal that has a .45 caliber opening at one end. While carrying a .45 loaded with hollow-points doesn't automatically ensure my safety, the pursuit of which is pointless anyways, it does go a long way towards protecting my life, my liberty, and my own pursuit of happiness.

As you might suspect, carrying a .45, or similar, is not particularly comfortable. Nor is it an easy burden to bear, what with the time involved in the appropriate training and practice for proficiency in its use, the cost of the ammunition and training and other associated costs - such as legal fees and licensing, and the mental work of remaining alert and looking for threats and ensuring that the firearm remains secured at all times so that children or the incompetent do not injure themselves or others. However, if this be the cost for liberty, then I am willing to pay it.

You know what to do to stop it, but you don't do it.

From what I've observed since hearing the theory, I'm quite inclined to believe that the evidence seems to support the view that women's suffrage is a bad thing and should be ended. It seems that far too many women have fascist tendencies, which largely stem from the female emotional response of desiring security and protection from dangers, real or perceived. If "The Patriarchy" is no longer providing security and protection for women, then they must find it in "Daddy Government", to the severe detriment of the liberty of the entire country.

Vox says, "Women's suffrage is completely incompatible with human liberty or a republic as described in the U.S. Constitution. The two cannot co-exist. One cannot defend freedom on the basis of emotion, as fear always runs to promises of security, however nebulous."

And speaking of the Constitution, he brings up another good point: "Some people think the Founding Fathers had never even considered the thought of allowing women to vote, that it was just a historical oversight on the part of some unconsciously sexist men. I suspect that they knew perfectly well what they were doing, given the obvious connection between the female franchise and the West's continental drift into socialism."

After all, there is good reason why Benito Mussolini wrote the Fascist Manifesto to have, as its very first plank, universal suffrage "with proportional representation and voting and electoral office eligibility for women".

Now, this isn't a screed against women simply for the sake of it. I would happily support further restrictions on voting that would result in dis-enfranchising myself, perhaps with something along the lines of going back to the old custom of only allowing property owners to vote, on the theory that they have the most vested interests in the election and would therefore act responsibly with their vote. (To clarify, note that the term "property owners" would not include those in the situation where a bank actually owns the property). As I said above, if this be the cost of liberty, then so be it. I will pay it.

UPDATED: A 'push poll' is a political campaign ad masquerading as a poll that attempts to push the 'pollee' towards the preferred candidate by using leading questions coupled with biased 'facts' to show him as the only obvious choice.

The one I got was done by a group called "Common Sense Issues", according to the quickly delivered credit at the end of the call, and the number they gave started with '719' I'm fairly sure. And I think that the prefix set of numbers was '746'. So 719 is a Colorado area code. I wish I had my setup going to record phone calls. I'll need to work on that and get something setup. On a tangent, something I ran across while doing the search on the area code, was this interesting series of articles about mysterious phone numbers popping up on Craigslist, which when called, played a recording of a long series of numbers.

Anyways, this push poll robo-call was heavily skewed towards, and actually actively promoting, Mike Huckabee, while painting Romney and McCain in a negative light. Such is the push poll. However, I think I answered the questions in the correct way to let them know that none of the so-called 'major' Republicans were acceptable to me. It'll be only Ron Paul for me.

It seems that the group, Common Sense Issues, has another group called ccAdvertising actually doing the robo-calls, and this group has a rather questionable legal history.

There are other articles discussing these calls: Newsweek, and the Washington Post, as well as Talking Points Muckraker.

I'll try to record one if I should get another (though the caucus is over, but the primary election ends on Feb 19th).

Why is this useful?

I saw that my wife had piles of kid's DVD's stacked around her computer, and was having to shuffle through them to find the particular one that the kids wanted to watch, and then get it out of the pile, take the disc out of the case and insert it into the DVD drive. This was rather annoying for her, and doubly so if there was already a movie in the drive. It also carried with it a much higher chance of scratching the DVD discs - which quite annoys me. (I am convinced that one of the first levels of Hell involves watching movies on badly scratched discs... for eternity. The very thought makes me shudder.) Since I had just setup a Linux machine for my experimentation and gotten Samba up and running on it to share the printer, and also the family photos storage directory, and other such useful things, I thought that it would be quite useful to use it as a DVD media server as well. After some research and experimentation, the method detailed in this guide appears to work best. (Leave me a note if you have a method that you prefer better). Now, my wife has the kid's (and her's as well) most frequently watched DVD movies at her fingertips and can switch between movies quickly and easily, without the possibility of scratching the discs.

Preliminary setup

The setup and configuration of Samba is beyond this guide (as is the setup and configuration of a Linux machine). But I do have a couple of tips and suggestions. First, it's very worthwhile to get the generally recommended user-level security working properly, instead of turning to share or server security because you don't think that user-level security will do what you want, (in all likelihood it will). I went through that with regards to sharing the printer using a guest account, so no need to login in order to print. (Perhaps with sufficient interest, I can write a how-to for that, as it took me a while to find and experiment with the correct combination of settings to get that to work properly.) Two, Samba has a large number of config options available, so it behooves you to read much documentation and many internet searches in order to get the results you want.

What you'll need:

• DVD player software that can play from a folder. Intervideo WinDVD version 5 and higher has this capability and that is what I use. I haven't bothered to see what other DVD player software works for this. Though I know that my Cyberlink PowerDVD version 4 does not. If you do this with different software, shoot me an email and let me know what software and version you're using.
• A DVD or HD drive on the ripping computer only. You will not need DVD/HD drives on other computers in your local network that wish to access the movies.
• DVD or HD movie discs to rip.
• The freeware DVDfab HD Decrypter software.

Instructions

Install the DVDfab HD Decrypter software. Insert into the appropriate drive the movie disc that you wish to rip. The software will detect and open the disc. You should choose a location where you want to store the ripped movie. You can also rip directly to your networked samba shares. Ensure that the location you choose has sufficient disk space to store the entire movie, usually 6-8 GB per DVD disc for full length movies. Click 'Start' and the movie will be decrypted and copied to your chosen location. This will take between 20 to 40 minutes for DVDs, depending on the size (compression) of the movie, the speed of your hard drive, and the speed of your DVD drive. The transfer rate will gradually speed up as it progresses because the outer edge of the disc spins faster than the center does.

When the rip is completed, click 'Ok', and then 'Finish'. You may now exit the DVDfab Decrypter software, and start up your preferred player program. Then choose the option in your player to 'Play from Folder'. In WinDVD 5, you can right click on the movie window and select 'Source', and then the first option which is 'DVD from Folder...'. Find and select the location where you put your ripped movie. Hint, it will be in the 'FullDisc' directory below the directory you chose. You may certainly move the movie folders anywhere you like, which might simply be up one directory from the 'FullDisc' folder, and you may also rename them to something that makes more sense to you - as some movie discs are named rather oddly or obscurely.

Play and enjoy your movie as usual. You might notice that the DVD menu is far faster and more responsive now than it is on a disc. I certainly like that little perk.

Now you can rip your most frequently viewed movies, such as the kid's favorite movies, the wife's most emotional chick flicks, and your copy of Die Hard. You can even rip all of your movies, subject to your available disk storage space. (Better get that 4 terabyte RAID array up and running!) You can put the physical discs safely away and rest assured that they will remain pristine and not acquire any further scratches.

Additional ideas

If you put your ripped DVD movies into a Samba share, you can share the movie collection with all the computers on your local network. (Those other computers don't need DVD drives to watch them, of course.) The data will be streamed over your local network, for instantaneous movie watching goodness.

This method is excellent for already scratched discs too, such as the ones you borrow from that guy that has stacks of bare discs laying around and never puts them back into their cases. Yeah, I see that you know him too. If the disc is too scratched to play and watch the movie properly, because the data read (and reread, and re-reread) speed from the disc can't keep up with the playing movie speed, then simply rip the disc to a temporary folder and enjoy the movie skip and stutter-free. Delete the movie folder when you're done to free up disk space. By ripping the movie to disc first, you can eliminate all or most of the problems caused by a badly scratched disc. But one time it didn't work for me, as there were sections that couldn't be read from the disc at all and so there were about 45 seconds here and there that just couldn't be played. However, it was far easier to deal with the skips in the ripped movie. It played far smoother through the bad areas and didn't cause the player software to freeze up and stutter, which playing the scratched disc itself would. It's far less frustrating.

NOTE

Following this guide may be illegal in the U.S. The DMCA seems to prohibit ripping DVDs in this manner (or possibly even thinking about doing such). However, U.S. copyright law is generally recognized as providing consumers with the right to make a backup copy for their own use. However, IANAL. Such legal contradictions should be resolved by the legislature, preferably on the side of more rights for the users. In any case, you shouldn't find a SWAT team breaking down your door because you have ripped your own DVDs and keep them on your own internal network. (However, SWAT attacks seem to be occurring with much more frequency in the U.S., so do not take this to mean that you will never be attacked by a SWAT team).

UPDATE

For a purer approach, using Linux tools only, see this guide.

My mother sent me this little anti-milk and anti-Ron Paul article from an anti-milk crusader that she sometimes reads.

It appears that Cohen doesn't like Paul because of this quite simple bill that Ron Paul introduced allowing raw milk to be transported across state lines. (Or perhaps it simply clarifies in Federal law that interstate transportation of raw milk is legal within the framework specified in the bill. IANAL). It was already legal to produce and sell raw milk in both of the states involved. All Ron Paul did was to clarify that raw milk could be shipped across state lines (interstate commerce). That's it. But because of that bill, Cohen apparently refers to any illness caused by raw milk to be "RonPa Disease" (Ron Paul's Disease).

That is simply dishonest. It's certainly not Ron Paul's fault that people got sick from drinking the milk, anymore than it is Cohen's fault. Presumably, people who drink raw milk are aware of the risks involved and have taken the appropriate precautions with regard to how much risk they think they are exposed to. The onus is on each individual to have educated themselves regarding their consumption and make their own choices accordingly. Ironically, this seems to be the basis on which Cohen's website even exists.

Many people who drink raw milk believe that there are benefits to drinking natural raw milk. And considering all the anti-milk data and opinions that Cohen has compiled on his website, especially regarding homogenization and the ineffectiveness of pasteurization on certain bacteria, raw milk could possibly be the safest form of milk to drink.

Cohen has made his own choices with regard to consuming milk, but from his opinion of Ron Paul, I suspect that he won't be happy until he can remove these choices from everyone else and force everyone to make the same choice that he did, whether they want to or not.

UPDATE: The nuttiness gets crunchier. Yep... now it's a conspiracy. Gericide by raw milk. Now why didn't al Quaida think of that? However, I'd say that the elderly have much more to fear from their grandchildren than raw milk - or Ron Paul. It's a long rant for another time, but basically I'm sure that the generations taught to want instant gratification, cater to their own selfishness, and be cavalier with life, will early on come up with a Final Solution for those 'useless' old people (the baby boomers) that are costing younger people trillions to support. "Sorry Grandpa, but my taxes are super-high and getting higher. Time to just go into the light now".