@toddsingleton.net
This is a funny thread! Slashdot article on a bunch of geeks running off to “own a 128-bit integer”! Wait until you get to the reply on “RE: Eat it”.
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/08/2114238&from=rss
“hex(“natalie portman”) = 6e 61 74 61 6c 69 65 20 70 6f 72 74 6d 61 6e 00
Now she’s mine! Those of you who invoke hot grits will be hearing from my lawyer.”
Here’s an article on Digg regarding this rumor and a quote of one guys extreme reaction to the news: IBM Layoff
People here in the States aren’t going to wake up to what is happening until THEIR job is taken. The middle class is being systematically dismantled.
We’ve pretty much lost most of our manufacturing base. Very little is still “made in the USA”. We’ve gone from a self-sufficient country that could make anything it needs to one that imports damn near everything. Hell, many of the parts required for some of our more sophisticated military weapons are made in China. Hmm, wonder what happens if China decides to stop making them?
One thing we still make and make well are firearms. I’d suggest you buy a few and get ready for the coming maelstrom.
Yesterday, during a noon news conference, a reporter asked Virginia Tech President Charles Steger and the Blacksburg Police Chief if they were at all emotionally affected by the shooting tragedy that occurred yesterday morning. I can understand the point of his question. I’m afraid the whole time I watched Charles Steger I thought the man was trying to surpress a grin. I tried to dismiss it as an unintented reaction to all the attention from all the media, but I’m sorry to say it looked more like he was basking in the attention this brought to him.
Not only did his administration and the police department most likely fumble the response and investigation at the initial shooting (from what we know at this point). But his attitude could potentially fuel the outrage that is building in those who feel the second series of deaths could have been prevented.
Virginia Tech would do well to find themselves another spokesperson/PR Rep immediately to handle this issue. A few more days of Charles Seger on camera could be enough to fuel lawsuits from many directions against the Virginia Tech.
And the last full week I took off work was the day Connor was born. But at least I won’t finish this year with 105 accrued hours of unused vacation time like last year. And it didin’t roll over. Anyway Connor loves spending time with the baby. We have to be careful because he’s a little rough when he’s being playful. So far I’ve spent more time with him in the last few days than I have in the last month. I’m surprised every day by something he says. It’s hard to beleive I have a three year old that’s reminding me of things I’ve forgotten or overlooked. “Daddy you forgot your glasses” was the most recent as I pulled out of my parents driveway the other day.
Today he got to give his little brother his first bath at home. It was the cutest thing that’s ever happened at our house. Our next door neightbor “Mrs. Pat” came by to watch. She’s one of the best neighbors we’ve ever had. And Connor’s pre-school director from the church came by to bring us dinner. More of the congregation is scheduled to do the same for the rest of the week from what I understand. Which is good because Amy’s pretty tired as she tries to get adjusted to the babies schedule.
On Good Friday, April 6th 2007 Logan Rider Singleton arrived. Amy did great. After just four hours of labor he was born weighing 9 lbs. 5 ozs. It started out rough because Amy went into labor fast and hard while walking around Shelly Lake with her mom. We weren’t sure if she was going to have the baby before having time to get an epidural. Once she got it everything was smooth sailing just like Connor’s delivery.
I don’t know if there was another baby at Rex Healthcare with a bigger fan base in the lobby. Hannah and Skylar got to see their new cousin get his first bath at about 9:30 pm. Connor was already asleep so he got to meet his little brother today. The rest of the day he kept telling me how much he loves baby Logan. We’re bringing him home on Easter Sunday.
Unless Amy goes into labor tonight. So far it looks like she’s on track for Tuesday April 3rd which is the second due date we were given. Then again it could happen any time now. She’s been having some minor cramping. Little false alarms but nothing worth getting packed for.
Today Logan hit his first due date given to Amy. Later another doctor said April 3rd. She’ll probably land right in the middle. We’re just waiting patiently. Amy’s being good but she’s eager. I still have a boogie board to paint for the nursery.
I finally got my bonus today. Now I get to give it all to the hospital.
I pulled a muscle in my back getting off the sofa this morning (where I sleep every night since Connor kicked me out of the bed) and then proceeded to check my bank account for my bonus I was told should be in the bank. Huh? No bonus? In furry I almost quit my job. Then I found out I received bad information from the rumor mill that is my workpalce and that my bonus was approved, plus a raise, just not in time for this payroll deposit.
So the rest of the day was busier than any on record and in the middle of it I proceeded with the final interview for the newest Junior Sys. Admin position I’m hiring for. At least I didn’t have to pay for lunch.
So on the way home, down the country back roads, my back still in pain, plus I was hungy, and out of no where a loud explosion occurred on the right side of my truck. Did someone shoot it? That was my first thought but no. I ran over some piece of plastic that fell off the top of the work van full of illegal aliens in front of me. My back right tire was flat. But I was about a mile from home so I hobbled to the driveway.
A few minutes later I got out the jack and surprise, the portion of the jack handle that’s suppose to fit in the jack itself to crank it doesn’t fit. Not even close. I even read the instructions. Not something I’m known for. Ford obviously put their best Engineers on jack handles. Therefore I was off to Advanced Auto.
The clerk roaming the isles asked what I was going to lift. I said “my F-150”. To which he replied “this is the kit you need”. It was a 2-ton Hydraulic floor lift and two jack stands for $27. I’ll take it.
Well I shouldn’t have. I got under the rear end of the truck, positioned the jack to the axel and pumped it to it’s maximum height of thirteen inches. Which is about two inches too low for an F-150. So now I’ve got a jack to return, blown rear tire, my back still hurts and it hasn’t rained in two months but it’s going to pour tomorrow. Okay, the gods have spoken.
All this on a day I was excited about. I was expecting lots of money in the bank and steaks for dinner. Instead I got microwave soup and a flat.
What a letdown. I ran it during beta testing and found nothing special about it. I though Microsoft would certainly add something to it that would entice me to have it on a system once the retail release came around. We got a few copies of Vista Business at work this week. Here are the differences I found between XP and Vista with an explanation as to why none of these features are new, exciting, or even worth a d@#!.
Once again Microsoft has proven they are not innovative. Just like when the announced Active Directory with a thousand trumpets and anyone who ever used Novell NDS, or directory services on NFS said “oh look, it’s LDAP 10 years late”.
Needless to say I haven’t found one technical reason to go out and put Vista on any machine I own permanently. Now if you’re a gamer who just “must have” DirectX 10 by all means, do your worst. But for those of us who check email, write documents, script, or use remote administration utilities there is little this operating system offers past transparent task bars. Just like the ones I had when I was running the Blackbox windows manager on BSD eight years ago.
How come Microsoft didn’t sit down and try to come up with something that would actually entice a few Apple or Linux fans to give Vista a day in court? It’s almost as if they are so arrogant about their market share that they’ve decided not to try anymore. They’ll just roll with the existing user base and try not to lose anyone by throwing a bone in the form of a lousy graphical interface change every once and a while. A copied, un-innovative, bloated interface at that.
I really was hoping for more and stood ready to give Vista my endorsement in the shadow of ridicule from the Apple and Linux promoters. But I cannot. All I can think is, the hype lasted 5 years for what?
I learned today…
“In a recent Institute for Traffic Safety study, listening to right-wing talk radio was found to be nearly twice as distracting while driving as listening to NPR.”
Hmmm…. Nothing bad can come from this. Attention Neocons: Please enjoy more right-wing ranting. You can thank Rush for the higher insurance rates.