http://www.techcentralstation.com/083105JKG.html
Read it, and enjoy.
Out.
Archive for August, 2005
So, I’m watching the news and the person being interviewed is the editor of the London Times. The discussion is the outpouring of sympathy after the destruction meted out by Hurricane Katrina. Already, Germany and Great Britain have offered assistance, as has France. On many websites people from all around the world are showing their sympathies, and expressing respect and grief for the loss of life and livelihood for so many tens of thousands.
Many… but not everyone.
See, already it’s started. The sniping, the potshots. The snide little postings barely concealing the glee that so many Americans are either suffering or dead. In fact, some are blaming the US for the disaster in LA, MS and AL. The argument goes that because the USA is responsible for global warming (and only the US, if you listen to these arguments) that global warming caused the hurricane that destroyed so much this week. (It should be noted that there is no real scientific data linking hurricane formation to global warming. In fact, scientists have said there is NO link.) Also, it’s been said that no one should offer help because if the US didn’t spend so much fighting in Iraq, we could afford to cover this. Then, there are the arguments that since everyone in the US is rich, that we should take care of this ourselves.
I have learned to take many ridiculous statements made by ignorant jackasses with a grain of salt. Responding to such arguments has a habit of making the arguments valid, if not the belief behind it. But this?
Screw it.
You arrogant, unbelievable sons of bitches. You actually believe that this is something that the US should be blamed for? Have you EVER studied weather in school, or were you too busy being envious of us to study that day? Are you that hateful towards this country that you’re going to make that argument?
Fine. Make that argument.
Remember though, that we have been VERY generous in our aid and support for you for decades now. See, you’re right- this kind of rebuilding effort will take untold amounts of money. So, I think it’s only fair that all those loans we’ve made to your nation be collected. Hey, it’s only a few billion dollars, right? SURE, we have been lenient. But, times are tough. Oh, and we’re also going to need our soldiers back now too. You know, the ones that protect your asses from the next tincup dictator wannabe who wants to take over your country. Oh, and we’re going to need replacement technology too. Hope you don’t mind if we cut off all devlopment for your energy production and such so we can have those minds devoted on helping rebuild the 5th largest port in the world, along with a few hundred square miles’ worth of devastation.
Just remember, we’re one of the first to really get behind that whole idea of free speech that you’re embracing with such vigor. So, feel free to say whatever you want. Oh, and let us know where you are, too. That way, the next time your country suffers some unimaginably horrific disaster we’ll know just who we can point to when we say that you can all kiss our fucking ASSES.
Out.
Ok, so this statement is a falicy. No you haven’t. Original Windows 1.0 , which I know you did not use was released 20 years ago. It wasn’t until 1990 when Microsoft released Windows 3.0 that windows really became into full use. And even then I bet you really didn’t know what you were doing then.
What should you have been doing 20 years ago?
and
The first Amiga computer, simply called the Amiga, was released in 1985 by Commodore, who marketed it both as their intended successor to the Commodore 64 and as their competitor against the Atari ST range. It was later renamed the Amiga 1000 (or A1000 for short).
Amigas up until the PowerG5’s etc still could hold their own, although slowly for doing professional video editing. Remeber Terminator 2? How about SeaQuest? All of those advanced CGI graphics were done on an Amiga.
As I type this, CNN is reporting that the roof of the Louisiana Superdome has been compromised. The roof has been leaking for a while, and at this time a section of the roof is starting to tear away. According to the reporter onsite, the section is about 1/12 the size of the entire roof. Further, New Orleans has not yet been hit with the hardest part of the storm that will hit the city. More will be posted as this develops.
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Urgent Weather Message from NWS New Orleans
WWUS74 KLIX 281550NPWLIXURGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005
DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED
HURRICANE KATRINAA MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH…RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969. MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS…PERHAPS LONGER. ATLEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL…LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL.PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED.
CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE…INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE. HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY…A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT. AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD…AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATEADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS…PETS…AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK. POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS…AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING… BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEWCROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BEKILLED.AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEARHURRICANE FORCE…OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE..
.ARECERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET…DO NOT VENTUREOUTSIDE!LAZ038-040-050-056>070-282100-ASSUMPTION-LIVINGSTON-LOWER JEFFERSON-LOWER LAFOURCHE-LOWER PLAQUEMINES-LOWER ST. BERNARD-LOWER TERREBONNE-ORLEANS-ST. CHARLES-ST. JAMES-ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST-ST. TAMMANY-TANGIPAHOA-UPPER JEFFERSON-UPPER LAFOURCHE-UPPER PLAQUEMINES-UPPER ST. BERNARD-UPPER TERREBONNE-1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005
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For those who do not know, there is a Category 5 Hurricane named Katrina heading in the path to New Orleans and Louisiana. Good websites are http://www.weather.com and http://www.noaa.gov if you are interested with that bitch in the gulf.
I, like many people who didn’t flee Baton Rouge, will be staying in town. For those who do not know this area of Louisiana, let me break down Baton Rouge and our relationship to New Orleans.
1. Baton Rouge is the official home of the 2003 College Football National Champions, the LSU Tigers. Get over it USC, you are NOT the two time national champs. FUSC!!
2. We are about 70 miles away from the best place on Earth, New Orleans. Checkout the interstates here in Baton Rouge: http://www.wafb.com/Global/category.asp?C=26677
The city had a voluntary evacuation yesterday and as of this morning a mandatory evacuation. The Interstates, gas stations, Walmarts, and other places have been slammed. Some places only have 89 Premium gas and people are buying it all up.
If this hurricane hits as hard as predicted, New Orleans will not be the same. Mardi Gras, Bourbon Street, Voodoo Festival, and gentlemen clubs will be wiped out. That will be all water and well, might be gone. New Orleans and the US hasn’t been hit by a hurricane like Katrina and New Orleans is under the biggest threat.
Thanks for the wonderful memories and fun New Orleans.
I’m not trying to start a huge scare or anything about New Orleans, it’s just something Louisiana has been waiting (and not wanting) for something as bad as this. It’s just going to be a sight to see on the news and hopefully the damage will not be as bad.
I will keep things posted as much as I can online while in Baton Rouge. I’ll be in the forums and on AIM. ImMistahMagik is my screenname. Take care!
Inbreeding happens alot up here. And no, I’m not making a joke, I’m serious. At least the place I’ve been, a town/city with a population of about 10,000.
You can always tell when the person next to you has worked in the resturant industry. I was sitting near this lady and co-worker. The co-worker got up to walk outside after paying the bill and the lady put all the bottles back and then sorted all the silverware and plates so that her waitress wouldn’t have to clean up.
Missouri is a fairly quiet and rural place. Not only that the drive was very nice lots of hill country much like Austin.
People in Missouri have bad teeth. As I was driving out of the airport gates the guy that opened the gate smiled and said “have a good ‘en” with his only teeth. his two, very brown front teeth.
People in Missouri really like tits. And this was a doctors office.
Now, due to lame comment spam I’ve turned on the email validation so you’ll have to leave a real email addy in order to comment now.
If you’ve seen the movie Closer staring Jude Law, Julie Roberts, Clive Owen and Natalie Portman then you’ve most likely wanted to get the music that was in it as well. Unfortunatly if you go out to Amazon and do a search, all you will find is the movie. For some reason they found it not nessecary to put out a soundtrack at this time.
As you know most films release soundtracks to get a little bit extra after the film has hit. But this one, which has some really memorable tracks did not. Never fear, below is the list of all the songs used in the film:
“The Blower’s Daughter”
Written and Performed by Damien Rice
Under license to Vector Recordings, LLC/Warner Bros. Records Inc. and 14th Floor Records
By Arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing US and Warner Strategic Marketing UK
“Cold Water”
Written by Damien Rice
Arranged and Performed by Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan featuring Vyvienne Long
“Oh, Dei, come veloce se ne va quella barca!”
from “Cos
Curtosey of Rob, I found out that Google is now releasing its own chat program. Google Talk. The nice thing is that it does pull all of your contacts from your gmail account - if you have other people in your gmail address book etc. and you must have a gmail account in order to use this.
Those who know me best (including several members of this site) know that this time of year is particularly tricky for me. As I’ve documented in the past, the month before my birthday is often spent by me taking stock of my life at this point, seeing how I have spent the last year and being introspective about my current state. Beerslinger, being the one person around here who knows me best, knows that this tends to put me into a funk while I sort things out.
This year, shockingly, is no different.
I believe I started this behavior pattern right out of high school, and it’s something of a tradition for me. Usually I come out of this around my birthday, but until then I tend to wonder how well I’m doing personally. Am I happy? How am I personally, financially, socially, etc.
As I get older, most things take up my thoughts. I begin to wonder about whether or not I’m ready to reach out in the romantic sense again. It’s been a couple of years since my last serious romantic pursuit, and several months since my last date. Py and I were discussing this the other day, and I told him then that while I’m not averse to a romantic relationship, I don’t know that I’m seriously interested in pursuing that. Honestly, I’m not even looking right now.
With the passage of time also comes those first inklings of knowledge that I am not going to live forever, that it’s time to consider what I want to do with the rest of my life. I’ve settled here in Austin permanently, in all likelyhood. I’ve got to start planting firmer roots here- at least, that’s one of the thoughts I have right now.
This year, I’m considering more aspects of my life. I know I’ll be bitchy for a while, before coming out of it for better or for worse. Until then, if you see me around and I’m not exactly looking like I’m in the best of moods, don’t worry. I’m brooding for now, but I’ll be back to my cynical, smart-ass self at some point.
Out.
NWA is having a mechanic strike after talks failed. The airline carrier is trying to cut a large amount of money off its budget to keep from filing for bankruptcy. The pilots agreed to cutting their salaries, but the mechanics refused. What about the corporate management? Whose taking a cut there?
Here is the big problem with corporate America today, and rather CEO’s of today. They are like high priced quarterbacks. They go to which ever company pays the most, or which ever they feel they can revive and then reap the benefits. No one in the higher corporate world ever cares about the worker. The true companies that last in this world are the ones that the original owner of the company is the CEO. Its someone who put his blood, sweat, and tears into building the company. Its someone that when they have to cut pay, he takes a large pay cut too because he realizes that the people who need to take a cut in pay are the ones with over-inflated budgets. True, honest, hard working people. Today that type of thing is rare. In the airline industry I can only think of one man that has the vision to keep a float. Gary Kelly.
Southwest CEO lays on the charm as carrier starts Pittsburgh service
Airlines offering 10 flights daily here
Wednesday, May 04, 2005By Dan Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Southwest Airlines chief executive officer Gary Kelly, a 6-foot-3-inch Texan who speaks with a drawl, ambled into The Rivers Club, Downtown, last night and told an adoring crowd that “I feel like we are all friends already.”
Pittsburgh “is our kind of place.”
Kelly is laying on his best Southern charm as Southwest, the nation’s largest and most profitable low-fare airline, prepares to start Pittsburgh service this morning with a 6:35 a.m. flight to Philadelphia. Southwest begins with 10 flights a day — four to Philadelphia, four to Chicago’s Midway Airport, one to Orlando and one to Las Vegas. It offers no reserved seats but fares are as low as $29 each way, providing an immediate threat to US Airways, the region’s dominant air carrier despite cutting back hundreds of flights in recent years.
If local passengers fly Southwest in large numbers, Kelly said, the Dallas carrier will add more flights and more destinations.
“Please fly us,” he told the Rivers Club crowd last night.
Southwest proved it can move into US Airways’ turf quickly when it launched service last May from Philadelphia with 13 flights a day to six cities. A year later, it is up to 41 flights a day to 14 cities and looking for more gate space. Because of Southwest, ticket prices in Philadelphia, a US Airways hub, dropped 27 percent in the third quarter of 2004, and airport traffic increased 15 percent for the year.
The choice of Pittsburgh was Kelly’s first new city as CEO, and he appeared to be enjoying the attention surrounding today’s launch. The 50-year-old executive who once dressed up as Kiss rocker Gene Simmons promised a “roaring start,” beginning with a mock “training video” featuring Kelly pumping iron in preparation for his trip to tough, gritty Pittsburgh. A former high school quarterback who idealized Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Roger Staubach growing up, Kelly also agreed to toss a football around today with Steelers running back Jerome Bettis and then, in an act of humility typical of Southwest, will have peanuts dumped over his head by Bettis and Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield.
But do not be fooled by Kelly’s aw-shucks approach.
Under Kelly, Southwest is more aggressive than ever, locking up Chicago’s Midway Airport last year with a $117 million bid for gates and assets of bankrupt ATA Airlines. Kelly negotiated much of the deal himself. He also began campaigning for the end of a federal law that limits flying from Southwest’s base at Dallas’ Love Field, in the process making enemies with Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport officials, Texas politicians and the nation’s No. 1 carrier, Dallas-based American Airlines.
Southwest remains one of the few profitable carriers in an industry ravaged by high fuel prices, low fares and an oversupply of seats, especially on the East Coast. Kelly believes that consolidation among competing carriers would alleviate some industry problems, but the proposed union between US Airways and America West, he said, faces a number of obstacles, including the integration of employee groups, the high price of oil and weak balance sheets at both carriers.
“Simply taking one struggling airline and adding it to second struggling airline, I don’t see [how] that accomplishes a whole lot,” he said.
But a merger, he added, is not the only path to industry consolidation. If a struggling carrier were to liquidate assets, that would also alleviate seat overcapacity. Kelly said he would consider bidding for US Airways’ assets but “they are not up for sale.”
“For us to bid, someone has to be willing to sell.”
Southwest, which recently reported a $76 million first-quarter profit while the rest of the industry lost more than $2 billion, continues to make money because its costs are low, it is efficient in its use of aircraft and it has enough cash to buy fuel in advance, at cheaper prices. Kelly, asked how the industry can slip out of its funk, said airlines should not assume record-high fuel prices will drop. They may not. Instead, he said, carriers need to reduce their energy consumption and hold the line on costs while boosting revenues.
“That’s why it is so important that the airline industry consolidate,” he said.
Last night, though, the crowd of economic development officials at the Rivers Club cared little about the money problems of US Airways or the larger airline industry. They wanted to celebrate Southwest — and get close to Kelly, the man in charge of it all. As people, reporters and cameras pressed in toward the tall executive, Southwest spokeswoman Linda Rutherford stated the obvious: “Gary, you are in high demand.”
I think that it is impossible to have the conversation we
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