Paladin Family Hits the Beach

KRAMER: Up here, I’m already gone.

That’s how I feel about our vacation. Be back in a week. You guys be good!

(I know, I know, I couldn’t find the right picture of Kramer. And they say the Internet has everything…)

Dojo Info 5/26/06

Extra long Dojo for your surfing pleasure. Have a great week!

1. So I nearly got killed today…
   And some people think playing video games keep them safe.
2. Francios Zanella
   If you’ve ever been bored, you have to respect someone who actually got off his bum and did something. He built a 33 meter replica of the Royal Carribbean International in his backyard.
3. Girlfriend 6.0 vs. Wife 1.0
   “Some have tried to install Girlfriend 7.0 or Wife 2.0 but end up with more problems than the original system. Look in your manual under “Warnings – Alimony/Child support”. I recommend you keep Wife 1.0 and deal with the situation.” Makes good sense. (via kottke)
4. Draft Express Analyzes the NBA Draft
   Good stuff, but beware the incessant popups. I’ve always wanted to type ‘incessant.’
5. Microsoft Shows Off JPEG Rival
   Take the proprietary sounding ‘Microsoft’ out of the name and perhaps it’ll succeed. No?
6. Video games can help cut surgical errors
   No doi. And yes, Super Monkey Ball is a gas.
7. Galloway says murder of Blair would be ‘justified’
   Um… uh… I guess the wackos have officially blasted through the middle tier to the governing class. Scary bad.
8. Sinfully Pure
   Victoria’s Secret sexpot Adriana Lima on the cover of GQ, which dubs her, “The World’s Most Voluptuous Virgin.” Lima says, “Sex is for after marriage. [Men] have to respect that this is my choice. If there’s no respect, that means they don’t want me.” Smart and sexy, there ya go fellas.
9. All-Weather Foosball Table
   Speaking of sense, this thing makes too much. (via Coudal)

Lego Master 2006

Each year Lego holds a competition to determine their park’s next master builder. This year’s winner was Jason Poland of Houston, TX. Now that the competition is over, Mr. Poland can now resume his cartoon watching and video game playing.

‘Click to Activate’ IE Workaround

I’m giving this eDIY workaround a try. Let me know how it appears to you. The goal is to remove that additional click that IE is now forcing users to perform before they are able to interact with a Flash (or other) object. (see banner above)

Microsoft has their own workaround, but it’s more time consuming and I’m lazy, thus the easy decision.

Update: Hmm… seems to be forcing the Flash file to try loading once it’s already loaded. I took it out for the time being.

Ford Promotes Gay Polygamy

It’s rather amazing to see. A company, who’s primary goal is to earn money for it’s shareholders, take such a radical tact. As you can see below, Ford chose to be a major advertiser in the homosexual publication called The Advocate. The June issue promotes polygamy.

Ford doing so despite receiving a large number of letters asking them not to promote the homosexual lifestyle and even being faced with a boycott from millions of Americans. Letters back from Ford touted their support of homosexual marriage as a “strong commitment we intend to carry forward with no exception.” Since the boycott began, Ford’s stock price is down 13% but they continue their marketing advances towards the gay community. (Obviously, there are far more factors than one at work on their stock price.)

I would never buy a Ford because I believe them to be inferior machines. This kind of PR certainly doesn’t warm up the average American family to Ford’s products. I wonder how low the stock price would need to fall before Ford would back-off this strategy?

Interesting related note: If Ford truly believes in homosexual marriage, isn’t gay polygamy counter-productive?

Interactive Communication at T-Mobile

It’s not stunning or even all that remarkable. But what it is, is good communication. As more and more people are taught to scan out text, pictures need to communicate. Interactive pictures are even better!

So instead of blocks of text, or even simplified charts, T-Mobile creates a little do-hicky that engages the visitor to learn about their phone plans. While not perfect, (I would make the links blue rather than pink, or at least underline them) the concept is simple and straight-forward. If price is your primary concern, use the slider. If minutes, click the up/down buttons. My hat is off to the visual designer who created it… great job!

Dojo Info 5/25/06

1. Mel Gibson Slams ‘Da Vinci Code’
   The real-life person that the fictional book’s main character was (partially?) based on says, “In an ideal world I’d quite like to have been played by Mel Gibson.” Meanwhile, Gibson doesn’t have anything nice to say about the film.
2. Jimmy Carter Is Right
   Forgot to post on this when I heard it before but, “Yeah!” How can the Democrats defend the position that having no ID is perfectly acceptable for something as historically vital as our country’s elections? I’m baffled.
3. Political Compass
   It’s been around for a while but I just now came across it. Give it a shot. For what it’s worth, I score:
   Economic Left/Right: 4.13
   Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 2.05
4. Desert pinup ogled by Google Earth
   Some ideas just make too much sense.
5. PG Moment
   Flash game where you throw tea bags around the kitchen. I’m not kidding.

Calling a Spade

I just read where Ann Coulter, in her new book Godless, The Church of Liberalism describes liberals’ theology in the following terms:

1. Saints (JFK)
2. Holy documents (Roe v. Wade)
3. Martyrs (Soviet spy Alger Hiss)
4. Churches (public schools, where prayer is banned)
5. Clergy (teachers in public schools)
6. Sacraments (abortion)
7. Cosmology (mankind is an accident)
8. Creation myth (Darwin’s theory of evolution)

Ouch. I know that Coulter is purposefully working towards shock value, but addressing her points, how do liberals respond? Other than calling her names. History has shown that liberal thinking is opposed to Judeo-Christian beliefs on so many fronts.

Giving In To Temptation

Usually it’s my brother who’s out nabbing up the latest and greatest technological marvels. (He got the gene from my Dad.) But today, wonder of wonders, my current cellphone’s battery suddenly stopped holding its charge. Hmmm…. and this right after I saw that new cellphone commercial too…

So I HAD to get a new phone, right? And why shouldn’t I get one that’s so bloody freakin’ stellar I shouldn’t be allowed within 10 feet of one, much less owning one? No reason really. Thus behold, the wonder that is the Samsung t509.

If you tell my wife, I’ll hunt you down.

History’s 100 Most Infuential People

I don’t know how a list like this can be made. I mean, how is he measuring influence? Who is Michael Hart anyway? Where’s the scoreboard?!? All I know is, if the Son of God comes in 3rd, somethings wrong with your: Religious Affiliation of History’s 100 Most Influential People.

And truthfully, isn’t 98th a bit low for Homer? I thought everyone loved The Simpsons?!?

Water Powered Car, Mostly

Very interesting story from a local station here in Louisville, about a Florida inventor who’s fine-tuning his Ford Escort powered mostly from water. It seems Mr. Denny Klein has done something once thought impossible—break H²O down into HHO gas. Now, the car is far from perfected but it seems the most difficult hurdle has been passed.

My first thought is that government needs to restructure our current tax system so that small business owners and entrepreneurs can be free to create and develop. These breakthroughs are ultimately what drive our economy.

9/11 Light Memorial

It looks unreal, doesn’t it? At first glance I thought it was an ad for some new video game that touts enhanced graphics. But it’s actually a test run of the light memorial for the 9/11 World Trade Center. Pretty freakin’ cool.

Dojo Info 5/23/06

1. Apple Store, Fifth Avenue
   Apple’s opening a new store in NYC. Ok, that’s fine. But what’s with the plexiglass cube? It’s cool and all, but I bet it was expensive to put up.
2. Dog Rescues Boy, 9, From Colorado River
   I love stories like these.
3. We’re Running Out of IP Addresses
   Non-geeks look away!
4. Lileks Buys a Car
   I don’t know why I link to him since I read his Bleat nearly every day and I’ve already told all of you that, so now those who like him say, “I know it already!” and those who don’t say, “Stop with the Lileks already!” Here I sit befuddled and still I link it up.
5. Welcome To the Traveler & Consumer Center
   With our annual vacation rapidly approaching I thought, “Hey, let’s see what the ole Internet has to say about ‘travel tips’.” Imagine my suprise when the abysmally dry and bland TSA site came up so high in the Google results. And here they are supposedly technology experts?!? I wonder.

Evolution of Dance Video

Need a laugh? (And who doesn’t?) Go here now. $20 says you’ll be leaving with a smile on your face.

Pistons Get Past LeBron’s Cavs

It was much tougher than anyone thought. The Pistons advancing, that is. The truly memorable thing about this series was just how amazing LeBron James is, this early in his career.

1. Cleveland has the weakest supporting cast of any NBA superstar whose team made the playoffs.
2. Like Jordan before him, other teams focus on James first with double-teams and more.
3. And LeBron gets 31/8/6 even still.

I’m very interested to see what Cleveland does in the off-season to get James some help. Hughes, Ilgauskas and Marshall just isn’t enough.

For the Pistons, Kentucky grad Tayshuan Prince went 18/5/3 in the series with the most minutes of any Piston. All while drawing the toughest defensive responsibility—guarding LeBron James. Way to go Tay!