DEAL OF THE DAY! N800 for $180 (Expires Today)

That’s right. This deal is even sweeter than the “Black Friday” ($199 and free s&h) and “Cyber Monday” ($199.99 and free s&h) deal. The retail price for this baby swings from $230-$255 and that’s not including tax and/or shipping fees. Right now over at BUY.com, there are NO shipping fees and NO taxes. WYSIWYG! (or what you see is what you get for those who don’t know) $179.99 is the new price for the Nokia N800 and the price could not be right(er).

Oh and one more thing. The deal ends today! (Sorry. OUT OF STOCK) So what’re you waiting for? Get your Santa hats on and buy one of those awesome “internet tablets” from those Finnish masters. And I just read an article about Nokia allowing you to upgrade the OS on the N800 to the new Maemo OS2008 found on the newer N810.

EDIT: 12:15PM OUT OF STOCK!

:’(

Firefox really does get you in detention …

… if you go to school in Big Spring High School in Newville, Pennsylvania. If all that was altered was “Firefox.exe” changed to “Foxfire.exe”, that has gotta be either a Gestapo gussied up as a teacher or a prankster trying to go another round.

Teacher’s Warning: Using Firefox may lead to detention!

Obviously, this was a big internet hoax by some students over at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pennsylvania. The reasoning for detention seemed too dumb (hint: using Firefox instead of Internet Explorer in class) to be coming from a teacher in 11th grade to be true. Luckily, Patricia Bealmear, the villian in the faked detention card (A4 sheet in this case) put on her macho-mullet and got out on Digg to quell the internet Quarterbacks out there who were launching hate emails at her.

Click here for an image of the fake detention card posting along with the article on Digg.

And now for the new posting at Digg stating it was a hoax. Here’s the proof that the detention card was fake. All in under 24 HOURS! They could make a show out of it and star Keifer Sutherland and call it “24” and oh and have it broadcasted on Fox because the whole issue came from using Firefox or “Foxfire.exe” as mentioned in that fake letter. And Jack Bauer sounds like the perfect name for the main character for that show too. Somehow I have the sinking feeling that someone’s already come up with that idea. Hate it when that happens.

Provided below, if the link on the school district’s website goes inactive:

Response to Internet Hoax
December 17, 2007
Recently, a file was uploaded to the Internet purporting to be a copy of a letter from Big Spring High School to a student regarding a two hour detention. The uploaded letter was an altered version of a detention letter sent to a student. Unfortunately, privacy concerns prevent the School District from giving a full explanation of the nature and source of the letter’s alteration at this time. The Big Spring School District does have confirmation that the discipline letter was altered.

The reports, blogs and other sources on the Internet indicating that a Big Spring student was assigned detention for using the Firefox internet browser instead of Internet Explorer are untrue and were based on the fake letter. Detention is assigned in our schools after appropriate warnings are given. If students continue to engage in non-academic activities or fail to follow a teacher’s directive during class time, discipline can and will be assigned.

Sincerely yours,

John C. Scudder

High School Principal

Lying Cops and the Driver Awareness Program

So sometime early December, I had to drive 2 hours south west of my location to the “City of Clara City” to attend a “Driver Awareness Program” which should effectively cancel the $142 speeding ticket of going 14-15 MPH over the speed limit.

My previous argument was that I was lied to by a law-abiding police officer and because it would be my first speeding infraction, I should be given a verbal or a written warning with no fines involved. The 40MPH to 30MPH signs were 1 small-town block apart giving most drivers almost no room to slow down unless he/she knows the placement of the signs or is an overly restrictive driver.

So drove down to the same town and I was RIGHT again! This is the 2nd time I checked to verify and there was only ONE sign that said 30MPH. That cop who pulled me over said I blew past 3 signs proclaiming the 30 mile speed limit. What a fat liar and he still had the cheek to write me a ticket at the maximum value.

The driving awareness instructor was a pretty cool person. Mid-50’s and older and teaching over at SouthWest State University, we went through a lot of the basic stuff in driving and half the crowd I was in was clueless about those rules. After the lengthy course, I spoke to him about my ticket and even he was surprised by the actions of the cop. Nuff said. I drove home and took a picture of the road. Came out looking kinda cool. At the bottom, you can see the red LCD screen of my radar detector.

Next time a cop pulls me over for speeding and issues me a full ticket, I’m going to quip out something like “How were the doughnuts?” to which he might say “Say again?” and I’d be like “You took an awful long time. Thought you were having a full course police meal.” Cops like that only create more animosity with the people which makes it a bitter sweet moment for people like myself when we hear tragedy striking cops on duty. You’re supposed to feel sorry and get all sad or something but idiotic police habits have eroded most of my trust in them over the years.

Circumcision Can Prevent HIV

Of all the advances in medical science, for the year ending 2007, Times magazine announced a list of the TOP 10 MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS and topping the chart was – you guessed it, the title of this post.

Read the article below and see if there’s anything wrong or downright foolish in the way they got to their answer.

Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
By Catherine Guthrie

#1. Circumcision Can Prevent HIV
In December 2006, the National Institutes of Health halted two clinical trials of male circumcision after an early review of the data showed that the procedure dramatically reduced transmission of HIV. Early this year, the details of those studies were published in the Lancet: In the two randomized trials, which included 7,780 HIV-negative men in Rakai, Uganda, and Kisumu, Kenya, researchers found that medically circumcised men were at least 51% less likely than uncircumcised men to acquire HIV during sex with women. The editors of the Lancet called the discovery “a new era for HIV prevention.” Scientists don’t know yet whether male circumcision can also provide protection for female partners — a new study on the hypothesis is forthcoming next year.

So they halted clinical trials after an early review based on adulterated stats. Big deal.

No data on circumcised women and their resistance to HIV. Sure. It’s always the guys.

So they found out medically circumcised men were 51% less likely than their uncircumcised counterparts to acquire HIV during sex with women. Alright.

Wait. Sex with women? What kind of women are we talking about? The ones with HIV or the ones WITHOUT HIV?

If this is a medical breakthrough, why don’t they have any data on circumcised men having sex with women who have HIV. It would really put the report to test and actually make it a breakthrough if they could replicate the result. Any kid who can read that report can tell that it only shows circumcised men are less likely to have sex with women with HIV. Cuz when you decide to make sweet love to someone who has the virus, you ARE going to get well acquainted with mister HIV unless you put on some form of protection which should dramatically reduce the risk.

To be honest here and speaking out of common sense, this is more of a report on SOCIAL LIFESTYLES and CULTURE than medical science. The stats could mean that circumcised men are richer and more likely to get it on with a virgin than some poor uncircumcised sap who has no other alternative than to do it with a used bag. Or it could mean anything else as well.

This is definitely worse than the David Beckham report by Sports Illustrated. Someone over at Time magazine needs to get fired for lazy/false reporting and by someone, I mean Catherine Gutherie.

DoorPal might prevent door dings on your cars

And only covers cars in garages that can hold 2 or more vehicles. What you need to do is hang this water-bed floatation like contraption from the ceiling between your cars. That way you can swing open your door as hard as you want and not damage the other car. Can’t wait to have a garage that can house more than 1 automobile for the moment. Maybe I’ll think about dropping $79.99 for this but man. That’s kinda excessive for what it is but then again, it’s supposed to withstand extreme temperatures so it could be worth the money. We’ll all have to wait and see if it’s as good as the dude claims it is using a shovel against his Honda/Acura NSX.

The funny thing is Mr DoorPal posted the below video after getting a lot of criticism from the internet army of commenters for his original product video on YouTube. Watch him take out his frustration on the “DoorPal” and the wall and an innocent tomato later. But just when you think he’s about to lose it all, the “DoorPal” (logo screen) saves him.

This product will not work if you own Lamborghinis or have scissor-style doors that go up instead of swing out.

Go Speed Racer Go!!!

Wachowski Brothers of “The Matrix” fame are hard at work on completing the upcoming “Speed Racer” movie which is expected to debut on May 9th, 2008. They’re already into 6 months of shooting in Germany with an actual physical MACH 5″ fictional race car. This is the movie version of the classic Japanese animated show “Mach Go Go Go” which was later exported to the rest of the world as the one and only “Speed Racer.” If you’ve seen the show, you’ll know what to expect or hope to expect. I mean how much different can it get?

Looking at the trailer and stills, we’re going to see Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch – The Girl Next Door) hook up with Trixie (Christina Ricci – Casper, Adams Family). Also, the mysterious “Racer X” (Speed Racer’s older brother who ran away from home) is cast and there’s a pic of him blocking a punch from Taejo Togokhan played by South Korean sensation (I’ve never heard of him), Rain (real name – Jung Ji-hoon) while Speed Racer looks on.

So Rain plays the role of a Japanese race driver looking to avenge the death of his father in a race involving the dorky “Speed Racer” and is rumored to have 50 minutes of acting time. Seems like all the Korean actors are playing Japanese these days with the sole exception of Masi Oka (Heroes – Hiro Nakamura) but then his side kick Ando Masahashi (James Kyson Lee) is Korean. Remember “Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift”? The Asian dude, Han, who befriends the main character. Yea he’s Korean as well. Real name – Sung Kang.

So back to Speed Racer. Yea it looks cool and will obviously have cheesy lines at a premium but something tells me it’s going to stink. Oh well definitely would be worth watching it on DVD but they did find the right actor to play Speed Racer. Oh and Chim-Chim (the monkey) and Speed Racer’s comical younger bro Spirtle are poised to get back hiding in the trunk. Where’s Chim-Chim’s hat??? And don’t forget to watch the trailer!

 

[Official Website] [Pictures - Jalopnik]

Writers Guild Strike strikes hard

So we’ve been having a late night show black-out since November 5th cuz of the Writers Guild strike against unfair commission options by the big dogs. This means shows like Jay Leno and Conan are basically re-runs if you’re watching em on TV with the exception of the no-talent upper-management ass-kisser, Carson Daly. So media powerhouses, get your greedy hands off the money and share a little with the people who make em all possible – the writers. Let the writers get a small portion from the sale of electronic distributions and by Thor, END this MADNESS!

I miss my daily dose of Leno and Conan. Bionic Woman can do what she wants. Same goes to the worthless Carson Daly. I WANT MY SHOW BACK! MONEY TO THE WRITERS!!!

How to drag the wheels of your car and look stupid

Was parked talking on the phone in a parking lot earlier in the evening when I heard this loud scraping sound getting closer and closer. Looked out the window and saw an older Buick driven by some college student passing by. Ice and snow had formed around his front left wheel making it immobile meaning that it was dragged from wherever he came from. All the other wheels were rolling except for that one side and since it was a FWD (front-wheel drive), only the front-right wheel was moving his metal bucket. A ONE wheel powered car. That was quite a sight. Wanted to take a picture but didn’t have my camera handy so you’ll have to stay content with a depressing view from one of my windows.

You know it’s cold when your freezer is warmer than the air outside. Long icicles had formed outside my windows and a couple pushed their way into this picture. We had a snowstorm the other day and had over a foot of snow out here. This was taken prior to the storm.

Liberals are Hippies and Conservatives are Terrorists

That’s the general consensus I get when I think about broad stereotypes in the grand American political spectrum. Conservatives (or Republican supporters) usually taunt libs (aka liberals) as “hippies” which is true in some sense but the most liberals can do is call conservatives “greedy” or something childish. In essence, very poor attempts by the hapless libs is all I can think of.

To tackle on my title, there’s a disturbing trend I’ve noticed with conservatives and that is their weird fascination with a love for weapons and killing living creatures. Of course, we are talking about very broad generalizations in both liberals and conservatives. Not all liberals are hippies and not all conservatives like to kill things. It’s jus the extreme left and right which seem to bring out all the negatives in either ideology.

There are quite a few left-leaning famous personalities assassinated by right-wing zealots. As far as I can remember, it goes back to the days of Abe Lincoln and on with the Kennedy’s and on and on and now recently, the lunatic who placed explosives in Hillary Clinton’s campaign offices and unsuccessfully tried to lure Hillary there. There was that gun-control US Attorney also. Then how about the homegrown “white” terrorist – Ryan Anderson – who is a Bush supporter and was getting deployed to Iraq but at the same time, was plotting to spill military tactics to the enemy. The strong destructive element in right-wing zealots needs to be kept in check. Send them to mental asylums or Guantanamo Bay or some boot camp. Boot Camp would be perfect since most of them like to picture themselves as soldiers but when it comes to the real stuff, they back out of it instead putting up yellow ribbon or stars n stripes stickers made in Communistic China. Very patriotic but clearly not in their right minds.

So what is it really with conservatives and weapons and all that crap? Is it fine to assume that most politically conservative leaning folks out here have some sort of mental imbalance that makes them want to prefer violence measures over peace? Anything to do with helping the community is looked upon with deep suspicion. There’s an old saying that the guy who farts usually is the first one to smell it. If you’re knee deep in corrupt behavior, you’re most likely to assume that everybody else’s intentions are similar to yours.

Now with all the scary shit that cops and the government does, I’m feeling more pro-gun than ever but then the thought of actual psychos or conservatives owning guns makes me queasy and go back into the gun-control faction. I’d like to see sensible and caring people owning guns. Lack of gun control is why idiots keep popping innocent people around this nation. It’s like handing over WMDs to the Iranian President, Ahmenadijad (sic). Sorry. Just a rant.

One more question. Why do conservatives always look like the typical schmuck? I (and most of my friends) can usually spot them a mile away even if we’ve never met them before. Strange how that works out.