Omphaloskepsis 16

Who is the lucky person that puts out the thin ice signs?
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Makes me Appreciate...Does it you?

Let's all remember, support and appreciate our brave troops!

You stay up for 16 hours
He stays up for days on end.

You take a warm shower to help you wake up.
He goes days or weeks without running water.

You complain of a 'headache', and call in sick.
He gets shot at as others are hit, and keeps moving forward.

You put on your anti war/don't support the troops shirt, and go meet up with your friends.
He still fights for your right to wear that shirt.

You make sure you're cell phone is in your pocket.
He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to his dog tags.

You talk trash about your 'buddies' that aren't with you.
He knows he may not see some of his buddies again.

You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls.
He patrols the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists.

You complain about how hot it is.
He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his brow.

You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong.
He doesn't get to eat today.

Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes.

He wears the same things for weeks, but makes sure his weapons are clean.

You go to the mall and get your hair redone.
He doesn't have time to brush his teeth today.

You're angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.

He's told he will be held over an extra 2 months.

You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight.
He waits for the mail to see if there is a letter from home.

You hug and kiss your girlfriend, like you do everyday.
He holds his letter close and smells his love's perfume.

You roll your eyes as a baby cries.
He gets a letter with pictures of his new child, and wonders if they'll ever meet.

You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything.
He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own people and remembers why he is fighting.

You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of men like him.
He hears the gunfire, bombs and screams of the wounded.

You see only what the media wants you to see.
He sees the broken bodies lying around him.

You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don't.
He does exactly what he is told even if it puts his life in danger.

You stay at home and watch TV.
He takes whatever time he is given to call, write home, sleep, and eat.

You crawl into your soft bed, with down pillows, and get comfortable.
He tries to sleep but gets woken by mortars and helicopters all night long.

In light of every thing going on in our lives this makes most things seem pretty minimal.

sent to me by a great friend and guardsman Highpower

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Sony A700 Conclusions - From Imaging Resource

Here is the final analysis from Imaging Resource on the Sony Alpha A700.

With Sony's new Alpha A700, the digital SLR camera market just got even hotter. Sony and Minolta fans have needed this camera, and Sony has delivered. The Maxxum 7D was a great design worth upgrading to keep up with advancing technology, and it seems the Sony A700 will be a more than competent contender in the market. Better, our experience says it should help photographers make great images, which is more what a camera is about than doing well in some spec comparison table.

Great control placement, a good fit, new lenses and accessories combine with improvements in the AF system, noise performance, image stabilization, and overall speed to create what should be an easy choice for enthusiasts.

We're excited to get a production version so we can see what this mature design from two of the biggest names in electronics and photography can produce.

Bean-Laden

Osama bin Laden the militant Islamist and reported founder of the terrorist group called al-Qaeda has proven to be quite elusive. His ability to alter his appearance has served him well, in this regard. Remember, he is reported, by the FBI, to be between 6'4" and 6'6" in height and weighing about 165 pounds. Some who have actually interviewed him, however, describe him as "quite slender, but not particularly tall". His complexion is olive and he is left-handed. He usually uses a cane when walking. He is said to wear a plain turban and no longer dons the traditional Saudi male headdress, generally white. As a reminder, the U.S. government is offering a $50 million bounty for information leading to his capture or death and the Airline Pilots Association and the Air Transport Association are offering an additional $2 million reward.

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Music Trivia 26

Today's mystery song first came out in 1972. It is over 7 minutes long with later live versions going past 10 minutes. It starts off as an instrumental with an organ and guitars. The vocals come later and a harmonica is even added.

Here are some of the vocals . . .

"If you're drowning you dont clutch no straw
If you're drowning you dont clutch no straw
You don't want to live you dont want to cry no more"
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Al-Qaeda's New Plan

Al-Qaeda has a brilliant new plan of attack. Anthrax sent through faxes and emails! Look out.

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Convert any photo into a talking character!

Hillarious Spoof of '24'

This spoof is quite funny. If you are familiar with the series '24', you should appreciate this. It shows how this program might have been written 13 years ago. Remember how computers and the internet ran back then? Do you remember pay phones and being tethered to a phone with a 'phone cord'? Technology sure has changed things.

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Affect or Effect

Hey, my previous post gave me pause. I almost didn't hit the submit button. You will notice I had the word 'affect' in the title and the word 'effect' in the actual post. These two words have given me a great deal of trouble. Does any one know the correct usage for these two words. I sure don't. Perhaps one of you great writers out there know the proper use of these words. I sure would like to hear from someone with knowledge in this area.

Machinery Can Affect Negative Outcomes

Machinery and automation can and sometimes do effect outcomes negatively. Paying attention to what we are doing and doing quality work is an important attribute. These qualities are missing here due to the numbness of automation perhaps. If this was done by hand this most likely would not have occurred.

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Music Trivia 26

No one had an answer to last weeks trivia . . . yet!

We will, however, try a new question for this week.


What song of over 10 minutes length begins -

"Love comes to you and you follow
Lose one on to the . . . "

and who recorded it in 1972?

Afghan Spice Girls

Some sexy babes!
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Walking On Water

Wow, if the situation is dire enough, I guess, anyone can suddenly walk on water!
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Add A Caption 41

Who has a caption for this pick?
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I Love 'What The Duck'

Music Trivia 25

Last week HighPower correctly said...

Eric Clapton, not always known for his blue as much as his other style of music....

Although, I must disagree with the later part of his answer. Eric Clapton's musical style has varied greatly throughout his career but, it has always remained rooted in the blues.

Now for this weeks trivia -

In 1979 Whitesnake did their first live album which included the song "Mistreated".

Ive been mistreated, Ive been abused.
Ive been struck downhearted, baby, Ive been confused
cause I know, yes, I know Ive been mistreated.
Since my baby left me Ive been losing my mind, you know I have.

Ive been lonely, Ive been cold.
Ive been looking for a woman to have and hold
cause I know, yes, I know Ive been mistreated.
Since my baby left me Ive been losing, Ive been losing,
Ive been losing my mind, baby baby babe.

Ive been mistreated, Ive been abused.
Ive been looking for a woman, yeh, Ive been confused
cause I know, yes, I know Ive been mistreated, ooh o-o-oh.
Since my baby left me Ive been losing, losing,
Ive been losing my mind, baby baby babe.
Oh oh oh, oh woman, oh woman, oh woman.

Ive been losing my mind.

Who was the lead singer and from what English hard rock band (who first recorded "Mistreated") did he come from?

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Omphaloskepis 15

Who was the first person to say, "See that turkey there? I think I'll eat it after giving thanks for having the opportunity to to stuff it's butt with dried bread and such."

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Tragic Internet Deception

A very, sad story today has touched my emotions and peaked my anger. Please, guide your children but, don't live for them.

Web Hoax Victim's Family Seeks Reforms
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 at 7:21am ST. CHARLES, Mo.

An Internet hoax that ended with the suicide of a 13-year-old has led to calls from her family for better protections against online harassment, though any solution may run afoul of the First Amendment.

Megan Meier, 13, hanged herself Oct. 16, 2006, just minutes after receiving mean messages on the social networking Web site MySpace. She died the next day.

Megan's parents learned about six weeks after her death that their daughter, who thought she was communicating online with a 16-year-old boy, was being deceived. The boy was created by a mother down the street who wanted to know what Megan was saying about her own daughter, who had had a falling out with Megan.

Lt. Craig McGuire of the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department said authorities could not find a crime to charge anyone with in Megan's case.

"How do you legislate bad behavior?" he asked.

Megan's family wants reforms that would make it illegal for adults to misrepresent themselves to children online and make it illegal to harass or bully online.

Aldermen in Dardenne Prairie, the Meiers' hometown of about 7,000 residents about 35 miles from St. Louis, have proposed a new ordinance related to child endangerment and Internet harassment. And Republican Rep. Cynthia Davis, a state lawmaker who represents the area, said she is trying to see if existing Missouri laws can be improved.

But, she noted, any legal reforms must protect freedom of speech rights. And federal reform might be more appropriate since someone from outside the state could interact with Missouri children online, she said.

Even so, it's hard to know what would work as a response to Megan's situation, Davis said. "This girl was not threatened on the Internet. Somebody said some things that were extremely horrid," she said.

What happened to Megan isn't just awful, it ought to be criminal, her mother, Tina Meier, said Monday.

"You cannot, absolutely cannot, as an adult, pose as a 16-year-old boy on a computer and play games with someone," Meier, 37, told The Associated Press.

"If there's not a law out there to punish someone for that, that's despicable," she said.

Tina Meier, who acknowledges she let her daughter open a MySpace account before she was 14 as the Web site requires, said she monitored her daughter's activities, logging on for her daughter and using software that was designed to capture Megan's communications online.

MySpace did not comment specifically on Meier's case, but an employee said the site does have information about keeping teens safe online, with guidelines for what people can do if they feel they are being bullied.

Meier said more needs to be done to protect children.

"We want the law to change so this doesn't happen again," she said.

My question is this - what is an adult doing on MySpace playing games like this. Perhaps her mental and/or emotional development is equivalent to these early-teen children she is playing mental games with. I guess some adults never grow up. Some parents don't know the difference between supervising their children's activity during their growing years and meddling or living their lives for them, or even sometimes through them. This woman now has to live with the consequences of her actions and with her arrested mental development I hope she can handle it.

In the end, my prayers go out to the Meier family.

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Concern For Prison Morale

Scenes From A Redneck County

Prepping for the winter season

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