Technology

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OK Go

OK Go rocks! I found this band through a post on NRO’s the Corner and they are awesome. The first video is from their first album, Oh No, which is a pretty straightforward power-pop record (for an interesting story about the group’s videos and the music biz in general check out this Op-Ed NY Times piece by the lead singer). The second is from their latest effort released this year, Of the Blue Colour of the Sky, which is very eclectic, very cool and completely different from the previous album. Anyway, I’ve been listening to both albums non-stop for the last two weeks. Enjoy.

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Obama Vs Obama

I love it when politicians get caught in the stupid s— they say

And as an extra added bonus, here’s some Star Wars/Obama humor for you today:

debt star 2

debt-star

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Amazing!

I’ve seen several posts lately displaying things that seemingly took Herculean amounts of patience to accomplish. This one takes the cake – a paper castle complete with electric lights, monorail system and Ferris wheel (more pictures at the link).

paper_craft_castle_1

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The Myth of Impartiality

I wrote a post yesterday saying that I didn’t really agree with the whole “Tea Party” protest. I think protests of any kind rarely accomplish anything other than making the participants look stupid or crazy. Yesterday evening I ran across this post on Big Hollywood. The embedded video shows a CNN “reporter” at one of the tea parties. Watch the video and let me know if the “reporter” went in with an agenda and preconceived notion of what was going on, or if she was “unbiased” like reporters and newsmen purport themselves to be. If you think the latter, I’ve got a great deal for you on a certain west coast bridge I recently acquired at a discount price.

As a side note –  the guy that she interviews is the perfect example of why I don’t like protests and marches. You don’t want him representing your cause.

Now the Big Hollywood post does call the “reporter” the devil which is perhaps going a bit overboard. But her performance is disgusting. I do agree with the last bit in the post that laments how during the last administration, dissent was considered “patriotic” by the left and their ilk. Now…not so much.

**Update 04/17/09** Here’s another video from YouTube with the same “reporter” apparently not taking issue with a guy dressed in a bush mask sprouting horns and sporting a Hitler mustache. Then the video cuts to more of the tea party footage where she berates a man for calling the president a fascist asking him if he knows how offensive that is. She really needs to get a new job. Actually with her level of hypocrisy, perhaps she should run for office.

**Another Update 04/19/2009** Here’s a video report about the Roesgen incident with more commentary from Pajamas TV. It’s about 8 minutes long and well worth your time.

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C’Mon Baby Light My (Dark) Fire

The new Gibson Dark Fire is making my musician pants go crazy. The robotic tuning is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen on a guitar. When I was in my band we did a Keith Richards cover song. Since the guitar part was in Open G tuning, I always had to take an extra guitar tuned to Open G to the gig. With the Dark Fire you can go from standard concert tuning to Open G to Drop D all with the turn of a knob. Not to mention the electronics that allow you to store amp simulations in the built-in preamp.

That…is…awesome!

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Magnificent Monday Quotes – Finance and Industry Edition

Since it looks like the government is going to force GM into bankruptcy (only after giving them billions in taxpayers $), and rightly so, I thought today’s quote page would focus on finance and industry.

“Give me control of a nation’s money supply and I care not who makes its laws.” – Mayer Amschel Rothschild

“I am indeed rich, since my income is superior to my expense, and my expense is equal to my wishes.” – Edward Gibbon

“Ask five economists and you’ll get five different answers (six if one went to Harvard).” – Edgar R. Fiedler”

“Finance is the art of passing currency from hand to hand until it finally disappears.” – Robert W. Sarnoff

“Literature was formerly an art and finance a trade; today it is the reverse” – Joseph Roux

This one’s for C: “The moral and constitutional obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people.” – Ron Paul

“I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.” – John D. Rockefeller

“I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity.” – John D. Rockefeller

“A business absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large.” – Henry Ford

“And while the law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department.” – Andrew Carnegie

“What do I care about law? Ain’t I got the power?” – Cornelius Vanderbilt

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Dim Bulbs

Hot on the heals of Earth Hour, George Will and the New York Times (isn’t it a sign of the Apocalypse when Will and the Times are on the same page about anything?) bring you an inconvenient truth: Those fluorescent bulbs you’ve been buying to save the planet might not be all they’ve been built up to be. Ah…the greatness of unintended consequences.

Mercury water anyone?

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UN Credibility With Fat Nerds Skyrockets!

Well, the UN’s street-cred with fat nerds that live in their mother’s basement just went way up. Yes, it’s easy to take an international political organization seriously when they are holding such important meetings. It seems like the two lead actors (Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell) from the new Battlestar Galactica show and two of its producers will be meeting with representatives from the UN to discuss “…issues such as human rights, children and armed conflict, and terrorism. Also on the agenda: dialogue among different civilizations and faiths.”

But wait! It gets better: “Whoopi Goldberg, purportedly a big fan, will moderate this historic meeting of minds.” I’m not sure from that sentence if Whoopi is a big fan of the UN, Battlestar Galactica or both but who really cares?

What this does for me, is further solidify my belief that the UN is a joke (and an expensive one a that: US contributions to the UN in 2006 totaled over $2.6 billion) that ceased to be funny long ago.