mjm wired ;)  

I copied the title of this post directly from the CNN news article. To me, I find it very misleading. My first impression to "nonwhite" is that they were trying to say "black" as in African American, but did not want to use those words. After reading the article however, you find that they are referring to an American born Indian: Bobby Jindal.

I actually find the set of circumstances a little unique. Apparently he's a Republican Indian who was born Hindu but converted to Catholicism ... to become a Governor in the United States? What are the chances?

I've been juggling quite a few different tasks and projects over the past few weeks. Some technical but most are just random personal things. I haven't had much time for blogging or even maintaining my website due to other priorities. But what adds insult to injury is having to keep up with the idiots on the internet.

In the past few weeks I've been slammed with spam email, spam blog comments, bot attacks, script kiddies and just plain stupid wannabe hackers. Someone used my private paid email address (which very few know) as the return address on some spam system. As a result I was getting hundreds of bounces and rejects from mail servers all across the world every flippin hour. Just a week ago some asian (I won't name the country, though you probably can guess) did some type of lame denial of service or bandwidth drain attempt and sucked up a few gigabytes of paid bandwidth in less than 24 hours before I noticed it. Then there are the idiot comment spammers. You know I might understand if they kept posting about Viagra and their useless stocks, but I have one who scripted some sort of scheduled junk comments. So I get crap like "ozdhs vksaznopm qbuap qujscawyr jegucfs dy" every couple of minutes. What purpose could that possibly serve other than just to annoy me? People need to get better hobbies.

And I feel bad for all the people emailing me asking for help and other requests. Often I can barely keep up with cleaning the above garbage, that I miss quite a few emails. People will never realize how much work it can be to run a simple website. And I regret I have not run a backup in a long time. My computer will be temporary without internet for the next few days.

So if you email PLEASE NOTE that I am unable to respond in a timely manner. I am doing my best.

It just occurred to me that I started using email almost exactly 10 yrs ago. Being the compulsive weirdo that I am, I actually have them all saved. Why? I have no clue. I guess I'm prepared for when my (future) child will ask me one day: "Dad when did you first have email?" ... Wow 10 yrs. Man have things ever changed.

Once upon a time, I would sit and wonder: "How come no one emails me?". That stage did not take long to pass.

Then some years later, I thought: "People sure rely on this email waaayyy too much. How annoying! Can't you just call me?". That took a little while longer to pass.

Then came the SPAM. And it came. And it hasn't stopped. So I started thinking: "Wow, how is it possible that this many super hot girls get my email???". Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have opened some of those. Goodbye "guaranteed organ growth", hello BULK MAIL folder!

Then came the goodies included in the mails. ... "I Love You?" - umm, not really ... "Code Red?" - should I be scared? ... Anna Kournikova - hmm, tempting, but I'll pass. I wish the rest of the computer users of the world passed too.

Then came the technical emails, the professional emails -- the important stuff. Sending stuff to people higher than you can be intimidating - and worse yet, they take forever to reply or sometimes never. Yeah, well, if they took forever to reply and demanded a quick response from me. Well, you know what I did, I ... well, I responded right away. And at the end of the day I could keep those emails somewhere and not have to mix them with my personal emails.

Which brings me back to all my personal emails. Thousands saved, none of them new. I can't help thinking - how come no one emails me anymore?.

Back when the whole "Metro" craze was going on (it did end right?), I remember being told that having a nice watch on your wrist was a "requirement". Of course the implication was that women would be looking out for that. I really did not pay attention back then.

Later I remember someone showing me their imitation Rolex they bought for a couple hundred bucks (I think it was $1200?). Of course the real watch would be in the ten's of thousands (40 grand?), so it was a deal? Even then I didn't pay attention.

Eventually I got a nice time piece of my own, and suddenly I had the uncontrollable urge to look at everyone's wrist. I had to know what brand or style of watch they were wearing. Whether it suited them, whether it was pricey, did it match their style? But the worst habit I developed was that I would try to analyze to see if it showed something about their character.

So I was in New York last year. Everyone who's walked through the streets near Time Square has seen all the peddlers selling their bootleg DVD's, their glamorous purses or best: their luxury watches. I would hope most people know that they're knock-offs. Anyways I did approach one such fellow and gazed into his suitcase on a stand. There were all sorts of imitation Rolex's, Citizen's, Movado's and Breitling's - terrible looking in my opinion and obviously fake. But the best part of it was that I really got to see what type of watch the peddler was wearing: a $15 Casio plastic LCD watch.

I wonder what that shows?

Let's see. I need to get from here to there.

Well I'm pretty sure I need to go. But I really don't know how to get there. It's pretty far from here. I guess I could use a map. Perhaps? Yeah, that would help. Well the map ... the maps seems to be a bit old. Not sure if I'm making an informed decision to travel that distance based on outdated information. Well it appears as though the route to get there involves some travel on unfamiliar roads. Look at that, it requires the freeway. Hmmm, freeway always has plenty of issues. There might be lots of traffic ... for all I know there could be construction ... or worse I might have to go through some less-than-friendly neighborhoods. Better check the tires, don't want to get a flat. While I'm at, should also check the oil and transmission. Driving with a full tank is also safer. It could rain or worse it could snow, should err on the side of caution. Right? Probably a good idea to give myself some extra time so I don't feel rushed. But that means getting out a little earlier. That can be rather inconvenient. But coming home could be just as bad, better try to return while its still bright outside. Don't want to be on the road with drunk drivers. Looks good, nothing to worry about, I think I should get there just fine.

Hmmm, well it is a bit far and I guess I really didn't have to go. Probably shouldn't bother. Probably better to stay home.

Yeah, sounds like the right decision.

Well as most science fiction fans know last friday was the series finale for Stargate: SG-1, ending the longest running sci-fi series ever. (Yes, longer than the X-Files - which was very lame to begin with) In any event, it was incredibly disappointing. On so many levels.

First of all let's ignore the issue that the series should have culminated at the end of season 8 when all the "bad guys" were defeated and every unique plot line and character seemed to have some closure. But NO, they introduced a new villian in season 9, bumped off several main characters, added new ones and just dragged it on.

Back to the point. The biggest issue is that the finale did not really finalize anything at all. Several big plot changes occured in the second half of this season alone. IMDB tells me that 2 straight to DVD movies will be made for Stargate. The first of which will conclude the plotline and after that who knows? Am I really anxious? No. But I would still like to know how it all ends. And if they were going to make 2 movies anyways, why not just end the show and create some cool movies that potentially newcomers could watch (perhaps something like Serenity)?

And how did it all end? ... The problem with many science fiction storylines is their over-dependence on time travel. Stargate ended (I don't care if I spoil it) with a scenario playing out where every main character ran the full extent of their lives. Probably something like the finale of Six Feet Under but with less satisfaction. Well here they were "trapped" but of course it "didn't happen" because they can go back in time and fix it! Yeah, how convenient.

Well anyways, I'm glad the show is over now. Once upon a time friday night could mean 3 or 4 different sci-fi shows to catch up on. Tough life for a geek. I'm glad there's one less. So now, I'll wait for the DVD's.

In all fairness, Stargate: SG-1 was a great show in its prime with the original cast. Highly entertaining, not too much mumbo-jumbo and great characters. Next to ST:TNG, it was probably one of the best sci-fi shows ever. I'll miss it. But after 10 years, its time to move onto something else.

Several years ago I was in the basement watching my two cousins playing during some family function. It was just the three of us, most likely during some sort of summer party. Well, both of my young cousins were pretty mischievous and they decided to play on this old spinning couch/lounge chair. They started spinning faster and faster, until one of them flew straight off and hit the basement floor, luckily it was carpeted. I just stood by and did nothing till it happened. After making sure he wasn't hurt, I couldn't stop laughing. The image of my "launched" cousin is glued in my mind and still cracks me up. Of course I had to share, I told my siblings about it some time afterwards.

The best part of the story came several years later, when my youngest brother decides to narrate the story with him in my spot. How that's possible I don't know, but he was convinced he was the one who was there, not me. I think I straightened him out. I guess I could excuse it to something childish.

The interesting thing I see more frequently among a more professional environment is when people take other people's ideas. I want to say its unintentional, but I'm not sure. They either lack the precision in their memory or they simply recall their thoughts in their own voice making it effectively their own. I often don't correct this when I see it, lest I look like an attention-seeker or ego-deflater. Either way its one of the most annoying things.

In a "geeky" way I have pretty detailed recollection when it comes to past events and conversations. And I do accept that the people can unwittingly confuse their own memories, but it can be pretty funny to tell someone that they said something shocking or hilarious that they can't remember. It can be powerful to contradict someone with their own words. I guess, however, I should be careful, I don't want to abuse my powers.

I saw this in the newspaper and I thought it was pretty funny. Go to Google Maps and get directions for 2 major cities that are separated by an ocean. Say for example New York and London.

Try it for yourself.

Pay close attention to how Google recommends you cross that ocean. And of course don't forget the disclaimer:

These directions are for planning purposes only. You may find that construction projects, traffic, or other events may cause road conditions to differ from the map results.

In this case you might be missing your road.