I think if we just start using it that way as often as we can, it'll take off. Smart idea, Daniel! No wonder Google hired ya!
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Monday, May 31, 2010
From @dsandler "I'd like to see "top kill" enter the lexicon as any impressive Trust-Me-This-Will-Work..."
#LightsaberBattle in #SoHo Picture set #6: Better Sabers than Mine Part 2
Pic #1: me in semi-cool lightsaber pose #3
Pic #2: This is what REALLY happens when Jedi and Sith get together--they all stand around comparing their sabers. It's kinda sad, really.
Pic #3: Here's a woman who I thought looked pretty bad-ass (in a kawaii kinda way) holding the lightstaff created by the same guy who created the lightsaber I'm holding in the first pic.
Pic #4: The funny thing is that I couldn't quite get a good shot of her, each time I tried.
Pic #5: See? Still fuzzy. Are you that kawaii jedi/sith woman that I saw at lightsaber battle in SoHo? Let me know. I just wanted to tell you that I thought you looked pretty cool.
Pic #2: This is what REALLY happens when Jedi and Sith get together--they all stand around comparing their sabers. It's kinda sad, really.
Pic #3: Here's a woman who I thought looked pretty bad-ass (in a kawaii kinda way) holding the lightstaff created by the same guy who created the lightsaber I'm holding in the first pic.
Pic #4: The funny thing is that I couldn't quite get a good shot of her, each time I tried.
Pic #5: See? Still fuzzy. Are you that kawaii jedi/sith woman that I saw at lightsaber battle in SoHo? Let me know. I just wanted to tell you that I thought you looked pretty cool.
#LightsaberBattle in #SoHo Picture set #5: Better Sabers than Mine :(
More pics from the lightsaber battle in SoHo! Pic #1: This is a dude who makes lightsabers--combat ready lightsabers! Siskita got a bit of footage of him explaining how the blade is made of bullet-proof glass, so you can actually spar with it. Bad-ass!! He gave us his card, but at some point during the night (during a saber mob, I bet) we managed to lose the card. So, awesome dude who made the combat-ready lightsaber--what's your name? Please let me know!
Pic #2: Yes, it's true--I let my wife ogle another man's saber. What? I was ogling it, too!
Pic #3: Here's me holding the way cooler saber than mine.
Pic #4: me in semi-cool lightsaber pose #1
Pic #5: me in semi-cool lightsaber pose #2
Pic #2: Yes, it's true--I let my wife ogle another man's saber. What? I was ogling it, too!
Pic #3: Here's me holding the way cooler saber than mine.
Pic #4: me in semi-cool lightsaber pose #1
Pic #5: me in semi-cool lightsaber pose #2
#LightsaberBattle in #SoHo Picture set #4: Sabers Sabers every where and not a...hey, how come my blade is so dark?
Brand new batteries in a brand new "Force-Action" Darth Vader lightsaber and it barely shows up on camera. You can see it in the HD video, but it just didn't seem worth it to try to take cool pics with it. I'm going to hack a better light source into it--maybe solder in a high-intensity LED... or FIVE. In the meantime, here are some cool pics of other people's much brighter light sabers: Pic 1: Sea of Sabers!
Pic 2: Sierra with my old Rubies-brand Darth Maul, double-bladed light saber.
Pic 3: Another shot of Sierra with my old Maul saber. While it's double-bladed and the blades *fully* retract, sadly, it makes no sound and one of the lightbulbs burned out. Yes, it's that old--no LED inside. I tried to crack it open, but couldn't work out how to do it without breaking the thing :(
Pic 4: a final shot of Siskita with my Maul saber grinning for the camera.
Pic 5: Siskita with an awesome neon saber she borrowed from the other guy in the pic. He was kind enough to pretend that the Maul Saber was still cool (despite having had one "when he was a kid" crap, I'm old! I bought that thing in my late 20s!). That said, I didn't get his name. :(
Hey, if you're that dude, let me know what your name is so I can properly credit you as the guy who loaned my wife his saber for a bit! Thanks!!
Pic 2: Sierra with my old Rubies-brand Darth Maul, double-bladed light saber.
Pic 3: Another shot of Sierra with my old Maul saber. While it's double-bladed and the blades *fully* retract, sadly, it makes no sound and one of the lightbulbs burned out. Yes, it's that old--no LED inside. I tried to crack it open, but couldn't work out how to do it without breaking the thing :(
Pic 4: a final shot of Siskita with my Maul saber grinning for the camera.
Pic 5: Siskita with an awesome neon saber she borrowed from the other guy in the pic. He was kind enough to pretend that the Maul Saber was still cool (despite having had one "when he was a kid" crap, I'm old! I bought that thing in my late 20s!). That said, I didn't get his name. :(
Hey, if you're that dude, let me know what your name is so I can properly credit you as the guy who loaned my wife his saber for a bit! Thanks!! Partaking in my NYC Memorial Day tradition... Visiting the Ft. Washington monument in North Manhattan.
It's where American soldiers *literally* fought for our country.
I was glad to see the graffiti from last year has been cleaned off.
I'm so respectful with my hat off but my earbuds in >_
Someone left flowers this year.
This monument has been there for 109 years!
Turns out it was a red minivan and here it is getting impounded again.
Not sure why it took 5 cop cars and a police van...
5 cop cars and a police van swarm a red SUV on 181st & Ft. Washington--not sure what's up
You can't see all the cop cars but you can see some of the police lights.
From the Starbucks I'm in it looks like the SUV has grease pencil writing on the windshield which suggests it's recently been impounded. When the cops opened the driver side door no one got out. Not sure what's up.
They're letting traffic go by now...Japan Day NYC: June 6, 2010—やった！わたしのたんじょうび です！(Yay! It’s my birthday!) seriously! http://tumblr.com/xp2aromf4
via j.thepete.com
Check out my jBlog for more about Japan Day NYC!
Suffice it to say, いくよ！(I'm going!!)
Ever wonder what the deal is with Japan and blood types? I have--but it all makes sense thanks to this chart!
via j.thepete.com
I've seen models, movie stars, even fictional characters with their blood types mentioned in bios and in articles.
An absolute tragedy.
A young heron sits dying amidst oil splattering underneath mangrove on an island impacted by oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Barataria Bay, along the the coast of Louisiana on Sunday, May 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
via boston.com
Here's the introduction to the gallery the above pic came from:
via boston.comOil reaches Louisiana shores
Over one month after the initial explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, crude oil continues to flow into the Gulf of Mexico, and oil slicks have slowly reached as far as 12 miles into Louisiana's marshes. According to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, more than 65 miles of Louisiana's shoreline has now been oiled. BP said it will be at least Wednesday before they will try using heavy mud and cement to plug the leak, a maneuver called a "top kill" that represents their best hope of stopping the oil after several failed attempts. Based on low estimates, at least 6 million gallons of crude have spewed into the Gulf so far - though some scientists have said they believe the spill already surpasses the 11 million-gallon 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska as the worst in U.S. history. (39 photos total)
The pics are absolutely tragic. But you really need to look at them. We all do. This is just a tiny part of the cost of our lifestyle.
Read books? Wondering if book piracy is a real industry concern? Take part in Joe Konrath's experiment!
The below comes from a post on author Joe Konrath's website, jakonrath.blogspot.com:
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Steal This Ebook
Let's run an experiment and see if piracy is harmful to sales.
I'm currently selling my ebook JACK DANIELS STORIES for $1.99 on Kindle and Barnes and Noble.
...
Currently, on May 30 at 7:00pm, this ebook is ranked at #2009 on Amazon. It sold about 315 copies in the month of May.
It is ranked at #44,480 on Barnes & Noble.
So let's try an experiment. Here are some ways for you to obtain a copy of this ebook.
He then includes a bunch of different ways to get a hold of his book, ranging from free to $1.99 for the Kindle or Nook, along with a Paypal link if you want to get it for free but pay through Paypal. Check out the original post to find the links (I don't want to screw up his experiment or I'd include the links here).
He then goes on to explain that he'll track all the clicks/sales/downloads for the next 30 days. What's amazing is that he encourages everyone to pirate away, asking that folks link to where the pirated copies are found in the comments of the post.
Finally, he says:
Will giving the ebook away for free hurt sales? Will it help sales? Will I gain readers? Will people donate money? Will people who take the free ebook buy my other ebooks?What do you think will happen?
Should be interesting.
Once again, this is via jakonrath.blogspot.com
Check out the post and take part in the experiment!
As someone who is interested in publishing myself, I'm very curious to see how this works out. My guess is that it helps sales. Especially since I've never heard of Joe Konrath but now I have.
My attitude on file sharing is that it always helps sales and never hurts. Perhaps in some cases there are a few lost sales, but not enough to ruin a company--certainly not a major company that can afford to prosecute individuals. I say that as a content creator, btw. Though I should say that all us little guys need WAY more help than we're getting. If you can afford to, buy Konrath's book--or my buy my book (or just click on one of my Google ads).
The big guys can survive just fine without every last sale. Us little guys can't. But hey, if more people read my stuff, that's probably more important than if I go hungry once in a while.
NEW Ballpoint Adventures for May 31, 2010: Billy Ballpoint goes on location with the help of a black Sharpie
Visit http://thepete.com/ics for more Ballpoint Adventures comics! Freshly drawn strips every Monday with classic Ballpoints Tuesday through Friday.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
#LightsaberBattle in #SoHo Picture set #4: Sabers Sabers every where and not a...hey, how come my blade is so dark?
Brand new batteries in a brand new "Force-Action" Darth Vader lightsaber and it barely shows up on camera. You can see it in the HD video, but it just didn't seem worth it to try to take cool pics with it. I'm going to hack a better light source into it--maybe solder in a high-intensity LED... or FIVE. In the meantime, here are some cool pics of other people's much brighter light sabers:Pic 1: Sea of Sabers!
Pic 2: Sierra with my old Rubies-brand Darth Maul, double-bladed light saber.
Pic 3: Another shot of Sierra with my old Maul saber. While it's double-bladed and the blades *fully* retract, sadly, it makes no sound and one of the lightbulbs burned out. Yes, it's that old--no LED inside. I tried to crack it open, but couldn't work out how to do it without breaking the thing :(
Pic 4: a final shot of Siskita with my Maul saber grinning for the camera.
Pic 5: Siskita with an awesome neon saber she borrowed from the other guy in the pic. He was kind enough to pretend that the Maul Saber was still cool (despite having had one "when he was a kid" crap, I'm old! I bought that thing in my late 20s!). That said, I didn't get his name. :(
Hey, if you're that dude, let me know what your name is so I can properly credit you as the guy who loaned my wife his saber for a bit! Thanks!!
Pic 2: Sierra with my old Rubies-brand Darth Maul, double-bladed light saber.
Pic 4: a final shot of Siskita with my Maul saber grinning for the camera.Yeah, there's plenty of oil reaching the shore... just look at this sad pic (via http://ninoo.posterous.com @ninoo)
oil in louisiana - manfred's posterous
Even a dragonfly's wings aren't safe from that oil. :(
NYC's MTA updates their subway map for the first time in ten years--was Manhattan always so, uh, voluptuous?
The New Map
The new subway map makes Manhattan even bigger, reduces Staten Island and continues to buck the trend of the angular maps once used here and still preferred in many other major cities. Detailed information on bus connections that was added in 1998 has been considerably shortened.
via nytimes.com
Would you look at how FAT Manhattan is?? At first I thought it was just the MTA getting MORE accurate, but really, it's that they are intentionally getting it wrong. Turns out they've been getting it wrong for a long time. Check out what the NYT tells us:
The Shape of Manhattan in Subway Maps
Manhattan dominates in the new design, its girth growing by 31 percent over the current map. The island is depicted 83 percent wider than its actual proportions.
They also include this handy comparison chart: 
Note to self: stop using the subway map as a size reference in all future works of fiction... >_<
Oh and I should probably go back and rewrite huge swaths of my last novel, too. :(
Dr. Petrolove or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Oil Part 4: Looking at an August End for the Oil
Yep, that's about when they're thinking the hole in the Gulf will get plugged--August.
Check out this cutting from a CSMonitor.com article that went up today:
With the failure of the BP “top kill” maneuver, the effort to combat the BP oil spill is increasingly becoming an attempt to manage expectations.A month ago, when the spill was barely a week old, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told CNN that the “ultimate relief” – drilling a relief well – was still “90 days out.”
Now, that pronouncement is looking like the most realistic target. BP managing director Bob Dudley said Sunday that the the company's best hope was not in capping the well but in containing and collecting the oil at the source until a relief well is ready in August.
So, the plan now is to drill (baby, drill) another hole in the Gulf in (I guess) the hope that it will relieve pressure on the first hole in the Gulf.
So, that's where we stand. Seems pretty damn pitiful, to this observer, that BP didn't have a plan for dealing with an accident like this.
I'm just glad we have strong leaders who can guide us through this--OH WAIT...
Dr. Petrolove or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Oil Part 3: BP: Destined for an Oil Disaster
Back on May 27, 2010, the Wall Street Journal reported on a number of decisions made by BP before the disaster that should have served as red flags but for whatever reason weren't. These include:
1) cutting short a safety procedure designed to detect natural gas leaking into the oil
2) skipping a cement quality test
3) the BP manager overseeing final well tests admitted to investigators that he was on the rig to "learn about deep water,"
4) they swapped out heavy drilling "mud" and replaced it with lighter salt water
A day before that WSJ story posted, I wrote about AP reporting that cited a statement from Truitt Crawford, a roustabout for drilling rig owner Transocean Ltd. who told the Coast Guard "I overheard upper management talking saying that BP was taking shortcuts by displacing the well with saltwater instead of mud without sealing the well with cement plugs, this is why it blew out..."
So it wasn't like #4, above, wasn't known to be dangerous.
And, just today, the NYT reported on internal BP documents that seemed to point to early worries that the rig wasn't safe:
Internal documents from BP show that there were serious problems and safety concerns with the Deepwater Horizon rig far earlier than those the company described to Congress last week....
The documents show that in March, after several weeks of problems on the rig, BP was struggling with a loss of “well control.” And as far back as 11 months ago, it was concerned about the well casing and the blowout preventer.
On June 22, for example, BP engineers expressed concerns that the metal casing the company wanted to use might collapse under high pressure.
“This would certainly be a worst-case scenario,” Mark E. Hafle, a senior drilling engineer at BP, warned in an internal report. “However, I have seen it happen so know it can occur.”
The company went ahead with the casing, but only after getting special permission from BP colleagues because it violated the company’s safety policies and design standards.
Sure wish we had some regulation for this here oil company!! OH WAIT, we DO and it was ignored by all parties involved.
Dr. Petrolove or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Oil Part 2: OBAMA'S KATRINA: I say it isn't...
In an op-ed today, Frank Rich plays apologist for President Obama and gives us a much needed reminder of the shitfest that was the Bush Regime. Rich seems to suggest that Obama's presidency is at risk and seems to put that on the same importance-level as the BP oil disaster. Rich also claims the Obama administration "was way too trusting of BP but was never AWOL."
Yeah right. Is that why the USG didn't make sure BP had the proper safety reviews done before drilling commenced? Is that why they didn't issue the proper permits to BP before they started drilling? Is that why 5 new drilling permits were issued for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after USG Interior Sec, Ken Salazar, declared a moratorium on offshore drilling? Of course, it was Interior Sec Ken Salazar who apparently said that the moratorium only concerned current drilling.
Wha?
But don't forget that "A new report describes inappropriate behavior by the staff at the Minerals Management Service, including ethical lapses, illegal drug use and falsified reports." Yeah, the MMS is part of the department Salazar runs. And since Salazar was appointed by Obama, it comes back to the President's front door.
How ironic that back in March we read the headline: "Obama to Open Offshore Areas to Oil Drilling for First Time."
Oh yeah, Frank, the Obama admin hasn't been AWOL. They've been in the middle of it--fucking everything up right along with BP. This is how the BP Oil Disaster isn't Obama's Katrina--it's more like Obama's 911 because so much of what happened could have been prevented if only the USG's own rules had been followed.
Dr. Petrolove or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Oil Part 1: OIL: Underwater is where it's At
Back on May 16, 2010, I posted about how the NYTimes was reporting on scientists finding huge oil plums under the Gulf of Mexico. Nearly two weeks later, on May 28, the NYT followed up with an article entitled "Scientists Build Case for Undersea Plumes." I'm not sure how the Times reconciles this chronology--back on the 16th, scientists were finding underwater plumes of oil, 12 days later, it seems the case for the plumes was still being put together. The article is even more frustrating to read because it spends all this time establishing the process the scientists went through to investigate these plumes only to admit "It will take weeks of laboratory work to confirm with certainty that the plumes are made of oil droplets..."
SIGH. NYT: STOP WASTING OUR TIME.
It doesn't take an environmental scientist or an oil expert to understand the basic physics going on here. The oil is spewing forth from a hole in the ground. Water currents are going to hit the oil stream and churn it up. Some of it will reach the surface, some of it won't. THIS IS LOGIC. It's not about IF the plumes exist, it's measuring how big they are.
Evidence of Sad Reality #1: Financial "reform" bill is just a shell game--it SEEMS like things are being done
3,000 Pages of Financial Reform, but Still Not Enough
By GRETCHEN MORGENSON
Published: May 28, 2010FOR decades, until Congress did away with it 11 years ago, a Depression-era law known as Glass-Steagall ably protected bank customers, individual investors and the financial system as a whole from the kind of outright destruction we’ve witnessed over the last few years.
Glass-Steagall was a 34-page document.
The two bills that the Senate and the House are currently chewing over as part of what may be a momentous financial reordering weigh in at a whopping 3,000 pages, combined.
Yet despite all that verbiage, there are flaws in both bills that would let Wall Street continue devising financial black boxes that have the potential to go nuclear. And even if the best of both bills becomes law, investors, taxpayers and the economy will remain vulnerable to banking crises.
via nytimes.com
This is JUST what I was talking about in my "Sad Reality #1" post over on Website666.com. It's also what I hinted at in my post about the new and the old "V" series--what made the original "V" work better was the casting of the aliens as people who looked like us--our politicians pull the same trick. They make us think they are us, even though they are definitely not. And like the aliens on "V" our politicians have an evil secret--they're not really in it for us--they're in it for the cash and the job security, regardless of which side of the revolving door--whether they're in government or the private sector--it's all about self-preservation and self-indulgence.
Oil Primer chart: Where It Comes From, Where It Goes
via awesome.good.is and pdviz.com
Nice to have a better understanding of the Big Oil picture. Armed with these numbers, I think it's possible to move forward with a clearer picture of what numbers need to go down and what numbers are going to keep going down (like how much oil we have).
#LightsaberBattle in #SoHo Picture Set #3! Meet the NYJD: The New York Jedi Department
I thought about calling this set "Meet New York's Finest (Jedi)". What surpised me the most about the lightsaber battle was that there were cops there. Not a riot squad dressed in full SWAT gear or anything, but maybe ten or so beat cops. I was worried at first but after they saw we were just having fun they stood back and let us. One even joined in, well, a little. Pic #1 is a cop with a gorgeous saber replica. It's hard to see in the pic but it's an incredible piece.
Here's the same cop checking out a lightstaff the same guy who design the saber made.
Pic 3 and 4 are the same cop getting all Karate Kid on us! :)
Note his right foot in the air :)
All in all, he seemed like a pretty good sport. I hope I run into him if I ever go to another protest :)
OK! More pics tomorrow!#LightsaberBattle in #SoHo picture set #2! The Blue and the Red Sabers!
Pics 1 & 2 are two people that showed up in costume. They looked pretty cool in person though I couldn't quite get as good a shot as I wanted.
There weren't that many cosplayers, actually.
The two in pics 3, 4 & 5, I believe, are members of NY Jedi--a group of people who train using both traditional sword fighting skills along with lightsaber techniques.
Lookit tha purtty streeks!
Ooooooo!
One more set tonight and then, tomorrow, I'll post the pics and vids I took withmy Zi8 HD pocketcam!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
I take part in a saber mob!! Fanboy geek overdrive!! #lightsaberbattle #soho #nyc (nice bug @Qik! ARG!)
This was CRAZY FUN!! But alas, a bug in Qik.com's video app captured the volume indicator while I accidentally hit it while trying to join in the fun. THANKS, QIK.
Ah, well. The wonderful chaos is still pretty evident!
via flickr.com
OK, note to fricken QIK.com: FIX YOUR APP. I SHOULD NOT SEE THE ON SCREEN VOLUME INDICATOR WHILE RECORDING.
Gah! Nice bug, Qik!!
The good news is, I took part in another saber mob but with my Zi8 HD pocket cam in my hand instead! I'll post that tomorrow....
Live(ish) from the lightsaber battle in SoHo NYC (well, it was live-ish when I posted it to Flickr :)
Just a quick clip of random duels going on at that moment in SoHo:
via flickr.com
Trying out THE COOLEST LIGHTSABER I'VE EVER OWNED...I think I wet myself a little... (video--not of me wetting myself, tho)
I shot this before we got to the Lightsaber Battle in SoHo, NYC:
via flickr.com
This is just the toy from Hasbro, but for $23 I have a spring-action lightsaber--sorry--a Force-Action Lightsaber that "ignites" without me having to flick my wrist or pretend it isn't a long piece of plastic that just lights up.
It's a fun little fanboy dream come true!
#LightsaberBattle in #SoHo picture set #1!
Pics 1-4 are some random shots.
In pic #4 we see a young jedi who doesn't know that she's holding her blade wrong. :\
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