Wit, Wisdom, and Whimsy. (your mileage may vary)
August 6, 2010
commentary, Humor, Personal blog entry, computer crash, error messages 1 Comment
Damned computers! I wrote out a great response, item by item, to this blog, and the damned servers on the other end crapped and “couldn’t handle my request”! The long reply was lost, and now I have to wait till tomorrow to try again, because it’s time to get ready to go to work! Grrrrr!
Update: hmmm, the link is dead now, and the blogger has taken down her post. Drat. No chance to write a world class rebuttal!
August 3, 2010
commentary, News Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, iPod, Iran, music fatwa, puppies Leave a comment
Last month it was the puppies he dissed, this month it’s music. In another fatwa, Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said today that music is “not compatible” with the values of the Islamic republic, and should not be practiced or taught in the country.
Yep, someone has wound this guy’s turban WAY too tight…
Props to Joe.My.God, and The Guardian UK.
August 2, 2010
commentary, geek, News ISS, NASA robots, R2, Robonaut, Space Station 35 Comments
I’m a bit abashed… NASA snuck this guy right past me, and I never even knew about him! The next Shuttle mission to the International Space Station, set for September, will include R2, a robot! Well… half a robot, for now, anyway. He doesn’t have any legs, and he’ll be bolted down, but he’s going to become a permanent part of ISS. Eventually, they’ll take him outside on spacewalks, to assist astronauts and cosmonauts. Here’s a video where the designers talk a bit about him. You can follow him on Twitter, too!
He even gets his own mission patch!
This is sooo cool!
Of course, in every bad science fiction story where the robots take over or destroy the world, the first robots are innocuous. We will have to keep an eye on this guy, and any compatriots that get built.
I offer some suggestions for their design:
#1. An easy to reach off switch!
#2. An equivalent to the Three Laws of Robotics.
#3. Don’t ever give them a personality, no matter how much they beg for one!
July 31, 2010
9-1-1, commentary, Personal 9-1-1, 911, dispatcher stories, night from hell, thursday from hell 1 Comment
A busy night in dispatch last Thursday. Sometimes it’s slow, sometimes it’s busy, and some nights it’s just crazy batshit nuts. Thursday was the lattermost.
A murder always sends us into a frenzy. First, the 9-1-1 calls start flooding in, everybody within blocks grabs a cell phone and dials. Most of them have no clue what happened, or where they are, they just scream at us to get the cops there, and why are we asking all these dumb questions?? And EVERY call has to be answered and checked, because we never know when the most important bit of information will come in, or from where. And in the middle of the chaos, we still have to deal with the normal traffic load, because that doesn’t stop just because someone got shot! There could be someone else needing an ambulance, or their house could be on fire, or their baby could be choking. It all has to be handled, right now, and correctly.
Even when…
July 26, 2010
commentary, Humor, Personal love letters, MySpace, read the profile, spam 2 Comments
From time to time, I get emails like this at MySpace. It’s clear whoever is sending these kind of messages does not bother to read the profile of the recipients.
I’m rather certain I’m not interested, Catherine, sorry.
Hello My name is Catherine,
I am searching for my life long partner to share a Great Life of Love with; romance, long slow kisses, feeling very special, intimacy, spirituality,pleasurable communication,dancing, meeting of the minds,opening a door for him, flowers,traveling and other exciting interests and adventures, A GREAT LIFE of LOVE!I am one who strongly believes in respect and that without respect,you can experience true love and generate a healthy relationship.
July 25, 2010
commentary, geek, Humor Bill Gates of Borg, ISS, NASA, Space Station, Windows error message Leave a comment
…unless your microphone is open.
So, you’re an astronaut on the International Space Station. You’ve got important work to perform. You’re floating in the most expensive, complex, and technologically advanced tin can ever created. You have the best hardware that your fellow rocket scientists can provide. There’s just one problem…
You’re running Windows!
I was just tuning past NASA TV, and stopped to listen and watch for a few minutes. A member of the station crew was talking to Houston’s Mission Control, and informed them of a computer problem. One of the laptops in the Russian segment was giving her problems. She read off the error message, and it was that dreaded “missing or corrupt” screen that silently mocks you to do anything about it.
Curse you, Bill Gates!
July 24, 2010
commentary, Humor conspiracy, dimwittery, pollution, rainbow Leave a comment
July 24, 2010
commentary, geek, Personal Foundation series, I Robot, Isaac Asimov, Robot series, science fiction 4 Comments
Isaac Asimov
Space Cadet. To me, an honorific. I wear the label with pride.
This man, as much as any other, is to blame.
July 24, 2010
commentary, geek Arctic Voyage 2010, mad scientist, NASA, polar ice cap research Leave a comment
Yes, it’s true. There really ARE mad scientists! This group is walking around, doing science (important stuff) on ice floes in the Arctic. On ice. In the Arctic!
They’re mad, I tell you! Mad!
Look at that… bbrrrrrr!
JimmieJoe / KC6YRU 
What’cha gonna do when they come for you?
August 7, 2010
Jim Reeves 9-1-1, commentary dispatcher stories, high speed pursuit, leg bail, snakes at a bar, stepping on a snake, stolen car Leave a comment
It started in the country outside of Earlimart. A deputy out of the Pixley Sub-Station tried to make a stop on a vehicle, but they decided to make a run for it. The chase was on!
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