Pain_Man

It's a good point, Ken. A co-worker of my wife has an acquaintance who's married to someone who in Vegas slang is sometimes called a "runner." He places cash bets at different casinos for rich people who, for whatever reason (they maybe in the Black Book, inclusion within which bars you for LIFE from setting foot in a NV casino) don't want to do it themselves. This dude lost $200,000+ in cash. He parked and went into a convenience store to get beer or whatever and when he came back, the money was gone. I thought to myself, if I saw a bag sitting on the ground and picked it up, with no one around to see me, opened it and found it had $200K in cash, what would I do? Keep every fucking cent!!! That's what. But that's completely different than taking bribes. That's just God making a donation to me (and He's in the major minus column with moi). And I wouldn't even lose sleep about it. (The next day I'd have one of those 500lb safes delivered to the house...) The Germans have a saying: Opportunity makes thieves." But again, gettin' lucky is entirely different than stealing or selling your friggin' vote.

Shamus -- listen to Shamus. He knows what he be talking about. Speedy, at least you have our help. I had to figure out much of this stuff on my own, stumbling about "like a drunk Indian in the dark." The day I stumbled across THAT WHICH SHALL NOT BE MENTIONED which led me to THE FORUM WHICH SHALL NOT BE MENTIONED was a beautiful day. Keep pluggin' away. You'll figure it out. You'll burn some coasters, accidentally burn the same home DVD of your Uncle Jean-Luc's 98th birthday twice; as the saying goes, failure teaches more than success. (Funny how only rich people say that...) One suggestion, if it's not a budget buster, buy a new set-top DVD player. Very good ones can be had for less $200. Just got myself a new Phillips 1000W surround sound system (finally! something that makes MORE noise than my six yr old daughter!). The DVD player that came with it plays DivX, MPEG2, MPEG1 files, MP3s, WMAs; and also has a USB port and can play media straight from a jump drive or external hdd. It also reads DVD-ROMs (finally I can't use my DVDs with a thousand MP3s on them again!). All of this cost me less than $200 American at Wal-Mart.

There's a line in Revenge of the Sith spoken by Padme, when Palpatine's announcing the creation of the First Galactic Empire "So this is how liberty dies...with thunderous applause." Sorry, George, but ya got that wrong. Liberty dies to the sound of...snores. People don't give a damn. And that's exactly the way the lawyers and government bureaucracies who rule our lives want us: ignorant, lazy and apathetic. To paraphrase, slightly, something Edward Albee once said, In a democracy, we get exactly the kind of government we deserve. After the "Mariel Boat-lift" in 82 (date?) when Castro empited out all his prisons and nut houses and sent them to Florida there was bumper sticker that was quite popular in South Florida: THE LAST AMERICAN TAKE THE FLAG DOWN ON THE WAY OUT OF TOWN __________________ On this very subject, I saw a story, AP I think, about a restaurant owner in Philadelphia who's put up a sign in his place of business that reads: THIS IS AMERICA WHEN ORDERING PLEASE SPEAK ENGLISH Some choad-swallowing city commission is busting his balls claiming his sign is "racist." Gee, when did language become a racial characteristic? Race is a bullshit concept anyway. I love the way Liberal nimrods use a concept invented by 19th century racists to further their America- and European-American hating agenda. And it's not just "people of color" who hate "white" people. In fact, I'd be willing to wager that in both the US and UK (sorry, Ken, don't know enough about Austrailia to make a judgment) there are more "white" people who hate "white" people than "people of color." There was a story when the former Perjurer-in-Chief was disgracing the White House about the school Chelsea Clinton was attending. She was required to write an essay on the theme: "Why I feel guilty about being an American." I would have told the teacher to stick that one right up her ass! (In the US, 80% of teacher are "white" female extreme leftists--and we wonder why are kids can't learn to read, write or do 'rithmetic!) A bit of both I think bill.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but when the World Cup was held here (US), didn't a Colombian player "own-goal" in a game against the American team thereby causing his team to lose? (Not that it did the American team any good, I'm certain we were defeated ignominiously in the game after that... We suck at soccer...and we don't give a rat's ass.) And, wasn't he murdered when he went back Colombia? "Own-goal" I love that term. The Royal Army used to label IRA guys who blew themselves up as "own-goals" didn't they? The question is? Did the term originate from the game or from the Royal Army? (I know, 99% chance it comes from the game, but my sick sense of humor's hoping for the alternative... )

Attn Rush fans (of whom there are not a few amongst our fraternity/sorority--I for one think we need more "sorors"...no, not Dark Wizard Catchers!) Yesterday, Mercury release three older Rush concerts in a great three DVD/1 CD package ($28 US on Amazon.com). I got mine today (one day early in fact). The concerts: Exist Stage Left Grace Under Pressure A Show of Hands The CD is the GUP concert. I actually have the GUP concert on a 20+ (!) yr old VHS tape. Which isn't in stereo. Anyway, these have long been out of print, so here's one to Mercury to releasing them all in one, low-priced package. Also included are mini-reproductions of the Tour Guides in full four-color. I've got A Show of Hands in the player as I write this. The video is, frankly, not so hot. Probably a C+ considering the stunning clarity of Rush in Rio (it also lacks the 10,000 luscious Brazilian babes) and R30. The sound, in contrast to the video, kicks ass. It comes in three (!) formats, PCM, Dolby 5.1 and DTS. The PCM sounds best, followed by the DTS... Anyway, if like me, you've been wishing for these to appear on DVD the wish has finally come true. And, unlike a lot of bands, the record company didn't charge us $100 for them. Here's the Amazon URL: Rush Replay X3 And, it seems they've lowered the price by $2 to $26US. Just out of curiosity, let's see what Amazon UK's charging... 18.74 Pounds Sterling (sorry, mes cousins anglais but our 'puter kb's unlike our old typewriters, don't have a pound sterling symbol anymore..., hey wait...) ?18.74 ?18.74 (MS Word had it!)

Just gotta unplug it before it shorts...

Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birth dear Grain **** * fat *** for ** Happy birthday to you.

Sorry for the double reply. When I hit "post" it slowed to a crawl (Firefox that is) but posted it in anyway--twice. Oops!

I was just about to bring this up when Grain beat me to it. It on the Season 6 set. At first I thought they were being a little too hard Lucas. Not on Spielberg though. Replacing guns with walkie-talkies was just gay (and I don't mean anything homophobic by that). And, actually, I'm with crule in that I too prefer the "final" versions. I really like the way Lucas replaced the original actor with Hayden Christiansen at the end of Jedi. The six movies are really the story of Anakin, not Luke, not Leia, not Han, not the Republic, the Emperor. But Anakin. So, once he redeems himself by fulfilling the prophecy that Yoda makes to the Emperor in their smackdown at the end of Sith, "Too much trust in your apprentice you have placed you may find" or some variation on Yoda-syntax. It was thus only fitting that Anakin should be restored to what he was before he became Darth Vader. And seriously, does ANYONE miss the fucking Ewoks' song????

I was just about to bring this up when Grain beat me to it. It on the Season 6 set. At first I thought they were being a little too hard Lucas. Not on Spielberg though. Replacing guns with walkie-talkies was just gay (and I don't mean anything homophobic by that). And, actually, I'm with crule in that I too prefer the "final" versions. I really like the way Lucas replaced the original actor with Hayden Christiansen at the end of Jedi. The six movies are really the story of Anakin, not Luke, not Leia, not Han, not the Republic, the Emperor. But Anakin. So, once he redeems himself by fulfilling the prophecy that Yoda makes to the Emperor in their smackdown at the end of Sith, "Too much trust in your apprentice you have placed you may find" or some variation on Yoda-syntax. It was thus only fitting that Anakin should be restored to what he was before he became Darth Vader. And seriously, does ANYONE miss the fucking Ewoks' song????

Happy Birthday!

Shhh, don't tell anyone, or they'll throw me out of the Republican Party and take away my NRA card, but the comments about and article in the Guardian (yes difficult not to :& when reading the Guardian) on the World Cup are hilarious. Since I'm told that the Guardian's readership is largely teachers and social workers (i.e. what y'all call the "Looney Left"--great term btw), and few of the members of this board are one or the other, I post them here. As a concession to my British cousins I'll call it football/soccer. The article, case you're interested (and it's actually not too bad, the rabid anti-American hatred is toned down) although it does start with one of the most ridiculous sentences ever written: The United States always feels challenged by the World Cup. Ehhhnt!!! Wrong answer. 99% of Americans couldn't tell you what the World Cup is, let alone who the contenders are. I know what it is, but could tell you who the favorite is if a gun were to my head. We simply do NOT care about football/soccer. http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup200...rticle_continue Here's the comments (naturally I must comment upon the comments ): Best comment of all: hawkeyepierce June 7, 2006 05:31 AM Why is the US a benchmark anyway for football? The beauty of the game is in its universality. Do we always have to ask the question whether "America cares?" --- just goes to show how much we care they dont. Why does some much of the rest of the world get their undies in a knot over American indifference to football/soccer? I've never understood it myself. After all, we don't give a rat's ass about curling and that doesn't seem to bother anyone. But football/soccer? Why does it matter if it's not popular here? Why should anyone care that we don't care? It's like there's this sense that we can be browbeaten or guilted into becoming football/soccer fans. Ain't gonna happen. It just doesn't suit our national character. I'm not sure why we find it so deadly dull but we do. I've tried to find it interesting but it still leaves me drowsy. I'd much rather watch a baseball came in late September between to teams out of playoff contention where nothing's at stake than the World Cup Final. FareWhetherPhan June 7, 2006 03:11 AM "The United States always feels challenged by the World Cup." - No. Echoing the comments of others before me, not many people even know what it is. Let's think about this...it starts in the middle of the NBA finals, the Stanley Cup finals (for those in the North), and continues through the middle of baseball season. Quite simply, there isn't much time to watch it. Plus, rightly or wrongly, it's seen as a girl's sport once past the age of around 12. Well, at least the games will broadcast on the Spanish speaking channels in the US. Right on the money. There are just too many other sports going on for people to make room for the World Cup even if more than 12 Americans actually cared. (That's not an insult, just a fact.) June 7, 2006 02:10 AM The US doesn't feel challenged by the World Cup. I am willing to bet that if you polled America, the majority would not even know what the "World Cup" is. There is nothing shocking to Americans about the historal failure of the Unites States in the World Cup. The fact is, AMERICAN DOES NOT CARE. Play your game. Exactly! Why worry about what we don't care about? Enjoy your World Cup. When the Olympics roll around again, then we'll all care together. FareWhetherPhan June 7, 2006 03:11 AM "The United States always feels challenged by the World Cup." - No. Echoing the comments of others before me, not many people even know what it is. Let's think about this...it starts in the middle of the NBA finals, the Stanley Cup finals (for those in the North), and continues through the middle of baseball season. Quite simply, there isn't much time to watch it. Plus, rightly or wrongly, it's seen as a girl's sport once past the age of around 12. Well, at least the games will broadcast on the Spanish speaking channels in the US. Clinton June 7, 2006 03:44 AM As a "yank", leave it the Guardian to be the most off-balanced commentary in what is otherwise a fabulous British press. A number of us DO care, not a lot of us for sure, but the numbers of viewers on ESPN for everyone of the games shown live, will run in the tens of millions. Not a lot but not a little either. All you people at the Guardian must give the world at least something to laugh at with your always trying to find some whacky off base article to publish.[/i] Ol' Clint here's way off base. The audience will be nowhere near "tens of millions." I doubt it'll even hit the millions, except possibly for the final. Even then, the time difference, like the last Olympics, means we here in the Colonies know the results long before we can see the game(s). That's would doom the World Cup to ratings limbo even if it were popular here. Why do you think Olympics ratings have been falling off; the further away from N. America they get, the fewer people who are interested in watching events the results of which they already know. Grantchstr June 7, 2006 04:27 AM ....Soccer in the US has grown/is growing by leaps and bounds - and the author has also missed a crucial point, the economics of football. Nike as just one example is a US company and a significant player in football - even Coke sponsors football. And there is a dark rumor that Manchester United is American owned! Heaven forbid! If memory serves, and correct me if I'm wrong my cousins, but one of Rupert Murdoch's companies owns Manchester United and he is now an American citizen (tho' of course born in Australia). thank your lucky stars that the US doesn't care about football. If our very best athletes were devoted to the sport, you would see something that would make the Brazilian juggernaut pale. Imagine the the speed and grace of Brazil (American football wide receivers) the organization of Germany (afterall, Germans are the largest American ethnic group), the innovation of the dread Argies (they are a second rate new world power; imagine what would happen if the American improvisors, the creators of jazz gave a damn about your sport) all wrapped into one team. What would be the result? Perennial US dominance. Please keep bitching about our indifference to "soccer." It's a secret form of prayer, a way of saying, "Thank god the Yanks don't care. Imagine having to carry their water on the pitch the way we do in Basra." Yes, this one I particularly like. There are people from every country on the planet in this country. And if football/soccer were suddenly to become wildly popular, then our economic might would buy all the best players for American teams. And suddenly, as the poster writers, we'd own football/soccer the way we own basketball, football and baseball. And you can read the rest, if you want, following the article.

Thanks, Rush. Just took a bit of mental vacation. Now it's over (my beautiful six yr old daughter is currently asking for pop...vacation over... )

Thanx for the reply. Tres cool on the almost marginal use of clock cycles. I've been told that progs have to be written to take advantage of HT and with some apps I've seen activity on only one of the CPU graphs (CPU1 naturally enough). So I figured IB did support it. But I wanted to be sure. Slowly, but surely, I'm edjamacatin' myself.

I've been wonder if IB supports HT? Taking a look at this screenshot I took of the Performance Tab of Tsk Mgr whilst IB was running--I also launched Word as a place to temporarily park the image while IB burned its disk--IB seemed to take no notice at all of the other apps launching or operating. CPU and memory useage hardly increased at all. Here's the graph, which, it seems to me, says that yes, IB supports Hyperthreading (I'm running a P4 HT 2.8GHz, 800MB FSB, 1.5GB DDR 2700). So, if Lightning happens to read this post, or the other IB Gods know, pls, do tell... This second example is, I believe (I forgot to record which app this was) from Divx Converter 6.2 which, again in my "lay" opinion, looks definintely to support HT. It was converting one of my English cousin Eddie's stand-up DVDs to High Def divx format (which for 25% of the size of the original, looks really good on my HDTV). Cousin Eddie really knows how to dress to kill. Apologies that the images aren't all sharp and professional looking. My wife's the graphics professional, not me. Besides, I used MS Photo Editor, not the most robust application. Guess I'm going to have to install Photoshop CS 2 or 9.0 or whatever the hell version it is. (Kid's on school vacation and my Mom's had her since Tuesday night. Been kidless for three days. Ahhhh. Ends tomorrow. But it's been great while it lasted. After resolving a bunch of health insurance bullshit, I'm now back...just took a little vacation myself.)

I like cats actually...except for the litter boxes, the hairballs, the scratching shit, the hair...because of Mrs. PM's allergies cats are out. I find I don't miss them. We've got our rats and they're just fine. One of them even runs about the house. She follows us about and comes when we call her--which gives her one up on friggin' cats.

"Bath her and bring her to me." It's a different experience with the animations working.

What will my Canadian cousins think of next?

I was sure I was going to buy them before I read this. Now? I'm probably not going to. I just can't believe anything in this letter. It's simply bullshit. The masters weren't kept in pristine condition? They "permanently altered" them? Bulshit. Bullshit. BULLSHIT! And insulting. My parents bought me every action figure, I had the X-Wing and Tie Fighter (the big ones) and the Death Star (the original ones). I've bought all the movies. And this is what we fans get? Christ, George. At first I was sure this was simply a money grab. Instead he's flipping us the bird. Well, Georgie-Porgie, we don't need to give you money.

That only matters if there are women in the house. That's why I ban all females from the Sanctum's Throne Room. Es verboten! Defense d'entrer I told my daughter if she used my toilet it would suck her into the sewer to be eaten by alligators. Sadly, she just laughed at me. I can't scare her at six. It makes me wonder how puberty's going to be if it's this bad already....

Symantec cover up a flaw in its AV app? Shocking. Absolutely shocking. I can't believe it.

Here's one of two links (Lost the other.) I've found on the story. http://www.courttv.com/news/2006/0524/lewis_ap.html All I have to say is that this would be one dead goddamn cat. He'd get one shot at me and then I break his goddamn neck and not even feel bad about it. Besides that, "victims" don't control the decisions of prosecutors. DAs have absolute discretion whether to press charges. Only a state's Attorney General has rank over a DA.

Australia man, Australia. (Close enough to Siberia I suppose) Ironically, I just thought of that. But I thought you guys were further ahead--i.e. further East--of that than us. Goddamn Mercator projection makes it hard to tell exactly where places are. On the map, Vegas is actually further west than LA! Ate at Outback this weekend--why do I have this feeling everytime I'm in there that Outback is about as Austrailian as Taco Bell is Mexican. The food's good & the beer's cold. But the Aussie schtick is more Crocodile Dundee than reality. BTW, is Paul Hogan still "Mr. TV" Down Under?

Like this man, I can always learn. (how to be corrupt) Normally, the shennigans of politicos don't bother me much. But I really admired this guy. A genuine hero. And he trashes his whole life for fucking money. It makes me want to puke. I wish he taken out his medals before he took the money. Perhaps it would have reminded him that he did NOT fight over there, like you, so he could later abuse the position given him by the people. 58,000 Americans (and others) didn't die so he could take bribes.

You wanna know what's next? Civil rights for pedophiles. That's what's coming. I have nothing against homosexuals but the laws that have been written protecting "sexual orientation" have been written so broadly they can easily be interpreted as covering pedophiles and rapists. Some pedophiles and rapists are already making this claim. It's only a matter of time before some idiot ass judge in California or Vermont, or one of our other looney bins loosely designated as "states", hands down a ruling calling child molesting and serial rape "disabilities." Or flat out says they're being "persecuted" because of their "sexual orientation." The laws should have been written: "Their shalt be no harassing consenting adults in sexual matters." That would have been a much better way of writing it. The way they're written now, it's just a matter of time before this shit happens. Mark my words.