Sony Sucks Pacman Turnip

Here's another reason that Sony sucks so bad - they're screwing the artists out of their rightful money. Boycott Sony, people - for the good of the planet!

I really enjoyed consuming the best turnip (Brassica rapa rapa) yesterday. Every once in awhile, you just need a really good turnip, ya know?! Mmmmm. Oil Fight update: I'm now in the top 20 (#19), and Dave has progressed to #28. And Oil Fight also has a free Pacman game, too. Did ya know?

Blackjack Munk Oil Sketch

I have just three trivialities to share this morning. First off, I'm now ranked #21 in Oil Fight, with only a month left. I'd like to break into the top 10, but that should be really hard - we'll see, though.

Secondly, I've been enjoying listening to some great [munk] tunes on the ol' iPod lately. Great stuff!

Lastly, Google announced another free software offering - this time a 3-D modeling package for home improvements! Check out Google SketchUp.

MyTunes Red Vicious Salad Fiesta Cruise

I learned a new trick last night: just replace any podcast feed's "http://" with "itpc://", and it'll instantly work in iTunes. Crazy. I've read that it wasn't always so easy. I have to now smirk at the variety of methods I've seen people try to figure out a way to get podcasts to be subscribable in iTunes:

itpc://
http://...?format=pcast (with an external ######.pcast file)
pcast://
Super long phobos/webobject/store URL

Such confusion! For more info, see the iTunes Podcast Specs. Obviously, this is only for iTunes users - everyone else can continue to subscribe the normal way using regular, more accepted, standard podcast feeds. Why does Apple have to make it so hard??

Scott, J.P., Will, and I had lunch yesterday at Red Robin. I immensely enjoyed the Fajita Fiesta Pollo Salad. Mmmmmm. I highly recommend it!

It's funny how some people register for online accounts using fake email addresses, because I've had several registration confirmation emails sent to me recently that I didn't sign up for, containing complete login information (name and password). (I do have to admit that I used to use a fake address for registering RealPlayer back in the day, but since they now allow you to skip the registration, there's no need.) I've received other people's passwords for MySpace accounts, and even one this morning for the Australian Fantasy Football League. There have been others in the past, as well. Bizarre.

I just learned that Mrs. Harridan's name in "Daddy Day Care" is quite fitting because "harridan" isn't just a name, it's a word which has its own meaning: "a scolding, vicious woman". It's today's word of the day!

Apparently, there is some debate on what Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' baby girl's name means. "Suri", her name, might mean "red" or "party" or "red rose" or "princess or noblewoman" or "beautiful red rose" or "mirth". It's believed to be Hebrew or Persian in origin, but people in those areas of the world have apparently never heard of the word... Funny.

Krusteaz Loves Judas Fight

I received this email a couple of days ago, in answer to one of my previous posts (from 4 years ago):

"Hi Richard,

I am the son of the owner of Krusteaz (Continental Mills, Inc.) Krusteaz is pronounced Crust (as in pie "crust") and ease (for easy) - Krusteaz. Hope this helps.

pheily@conifer-inc.com"

Well, I don't know if it's fake or not, but the explanation should help those who've been mispronouncing it. (Looks like I was one of them!) Thanks, son of the owner! Here's an interesting article about the "recently discovered" Gospel of Judas.

Tyler at work and I spoke briefly with Brother Love on the phone last week. Does that make me famous?  =)  In game news, Dave finally broke the 30 barrier this morning by hitting the #29 spot, while I finally broke into the #23 spot in Oil Fight! Go us, it's our birthdays! (No, not really.)

SSS (Submerged Subway Snake)

We spent a few hours in Oregon yesterday (just over the line in Ontario). Bizarre little town, with a definite old side and new side. It's cool that the speed limit is 75 m.p.h. all the way there, though. It looked like the Snake River is flooding in parts, as we saw a submerged rest stop from the freeway!

After catching ½ hour or so of "Spice World" (1997; Elvis Costello, Geri Halliwell) on T.V., we left and enjoyed some wonderful sandwiches at Subway. Of course, I didn't know that "everything on it" included cucumbers - yucka!

Mac, Linux, Mac

It's been confirmed: Mac's are not secure. Tom Ferris just revealed 7 highly critical security holes in Mac OS X - for which there are no patches or workarounds yet available. Ouch. Maybe it's time to run Linux on your Mac!

Chinese Easter Oil Icefox Gas War Linux Virus

We've spent a wonderful Easter holiday with family, and we've also been enjoying some wonderful meals, to boot. These include a great Easter ham dinner on Sunday night by Misti, and also some yummy non-MSG-laden chinese food at Confucius in west Boise.

The kids went and saw "Ice Age 2: The Meltdown" in Nampa. Apparently, it was better than the first one, which is good because I wasn't impressed by the first one... Well, well - so much for Firefox being more secure - 21 Firefox security holes have been discovered in Firefox 1.5.0.1 (and earlier) versions. Looks like version 1.5.0.2 came out just in time...

Well, I got an email chain letter today about rising gas prices, and instead of inflicting more spam upon other email recipients, I thought I'd just post an excerpt here for your reading pleasure, since it's closely related to my favorite online game, Oil Fight, and then include some links as to why this chain letter is a hoax:

"GAS WAR - an idea that WILL work:

This was originally sent by a retired Coca Cola executive. It came from one of his engineer buddies who retired from Halliburton. It's worth your consideration.

Join the resistance! I hear we are going to hit close to $4.00 a gallon by this summer and it might go higher! Want gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action. Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea.

...

By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $2.79 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace..... not sellers.

...

For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit." [Note: ExxonMobil is now one company.]

Here's why this chain letter is a hoax:

• Urban Legends
• Break the Chain
• Rumor Mill

In hilarious news, Linux was patched to enable a virus to run. Good times.

2006 Lawn Sizzle Masters Rally

So, I ended up mowing the lawn (for real this time) with our new Electrolux Rally lawn mower. As it turns out, the weedwhacker is great for what it's designed for; and between the two, the yard is looking quite nice again.   =)

We watched parts of the 2006 IFBB Masters Pro World Championships in New York via webcast tonight. Very cool. Congrats to Bob for the win!

We had a wonderful dinner tonight at Sizzler, and now it's just about time to journey off to the Land of Nod.

Buggy Apple Lion, Fox & Salmon Calendar Wacker

Well, well... Apple has buggy software. I think it's rather ironic that Mac users are switching to Windows - without even knowing it!   =)

We watched "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" (2005; Liam Neeson, Rupert Everett, Tilda Swinton) last night on fullscreen DVD. Not bad. Also, the next film in the series, "Prince Caspian", is in pre-production. Cool.

In other random happenings, Firefox 1.5.0.2 has now been released, Misti cooked us up some wonderful lemon pepper salmon for dinner last night (Mmmmmmm!), and I mowed the lawn last night with our new Black & Decker Grasshog GH600 14" Automatic Feed Trimmer/Edger (yeah, basically it's just a weedwacker). Fun stuff, Maynard. Oh, and Google has also come out with Google Calendar. Sweet.

Bodybuilding Oil Patch #77

Well, the long-awaited MS patch tuesday has come and gone, and Windows and IE are all safely patched up and secure again for awhile.

In other news, we've now surpassed 77,000 miles on the car. In OilFight, I've now edged into the #27 spot, while Dave is back up to #34. Good times.

My 2006 Boise Fitness Expo video is being featured on Bodybuilding.com. I'm famous!

Hamburger Video Clip Pedestrian Oil Fight

Here's my video from the 2006 Boise Fitness Expo that I promised:


In other news, we finally found the "Canyon Cache F - Pedestrian" cache yesterday evening. Third time's a charm... Pretty sneaky, sis.

We had some wonderful grub at Hamburger Connection in Caldwell yesterday as well. Mmmmm, tasty. We then did some browsing and purchasing at Walgreens (they have pretty unique inventory here), and then we came home. Exciting, huh?

I've been battling my way up recently to rank #29 in OilFight. Dave somehow slipped back to #37, so I don't know what's happening with him... I've been trying to break into the top 30 seemingly forever now, and the next 10 will be ever more difficult...

Fit Expo Jay Fire Transcript Date Yosemite

We attended the latter part of the Bodybuilding.com 2006 Boise Fitness Expo last night at The Big Easy Concert House downtown. It was fairly warm and pungent inside, wow! I snagged some video, which I'll post tomorrow night.

At the expo, we got to see IFBB pros Jay Cutler and Bob Cicherillo in a posedown, which was cool, as well as the karate demonstration, The Fire Kittens (Becky's favorite), the belly dancer, and the live music performed by The SuperVapors (an awesome local band, featuring Dan DeLuca). Very cool.

General Conference transcripts are now available online. Get 'em while they're hot.   =)

I know this is dumb, but I just thought I'd mention that a couple of days ago a unique point in time passed: 01:02:03 - 04/05/06. That won't happen again for another century.

We watched a cool VHS video on Yosemite national park yesterday, entitled "Yosemite: A Gift of Creation". Very pretty. Great landmarks, including Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, Half Dome, and Mariposa Grove and its giant sequoias. Sounds like a great vacation...

Iron Bull Fitness Jerky Hail AppleXP

I've been sampling some Iron Bull Peppered Beef Jerky ("America's Fitness Jerky") over the last couple of days. Pretty good stuff. Mmmm.

It was really hailing hard last night outside - it woke us up from a sound slumber in the middle of the night. Hail on a skylight is LOUD!

Apple wants you to switch from OS X back to Windows XP (run WinXP on a Mac)! Ah, think differently.

Brad Cache Miguel Conference Atomic Visit

This past weekend has seen a few great events. We watched the 176th Annual General Conference on TV, attended Miguel's birthday party, and had Brad come over for dinner, a little caching, and to jinx our atomic clock.