As I've probably mentioned, for her birthday this year I got Jen an Xbox 360 with Rock Band, and if you know me in real life, you've probably heard me talking about Rock Band, maybe watched a video on my phone or Nintendo DS showing the game in action.
Well, now you can follow my future progress on the game through ScoreHero. This site lets you record your score data for any song at any difficulty level with any number of players. 1-player means I got the score all on my own. 2-player (and up) would mean I had help, and the scoring doesn't tell who carried who and who stood on their own, so the data is not as revealing as to any one person's true skill.
That's not to say I'm good, by any means. Rock Band is clearly Jen's game, and she can whip my ass at it on any instrument. I can give her a run for her money on bass, but only because that's what I do. She can do all four - bass, lead guitar, drums, and vocals, and she's good at all four. My best song, by far - Say it Ain't So by Weezer. I am very close to getting... Well, I'd better explain Rock Band scoring.
Rock Band actually has four scores. First, a numeric score as any puzzle game does, usually this gets up in the thousands. The note highway has five tracks, each represented by a color. Green, red, yellow, blue, orange. Each track can contain a short note, just a light brick in the color of the track, or a long note, the same but with a glowing tail behind it (the tail can be real short or it can be a few screens long). I don't know the scoring of each brick, or if they're even worth the same amounts. Every ten, you get a higher multiplier. 2X means you get double the points, and it goes up to 4X for the vocalist, the drummer, and the lead guitarist - and 6X for the bassist. This means the bassist (that's me) can make each brick worth six times its normal value if I don't miss any. Sometimes, to throw you off a little, they'll give you a sequence of white bricks. You still hit them based on the road they're in and they give you Energy - but only if you hit every single one. The amount of Energy you get from a sequence depends, on both the song and the length of the sequence. Once you fill your energy tank up to half, you can deploy "Star Power" which doubles your multiplier. So a bassist can go up to 12X multiplier. Every 100 points becomes worth 1200 points. That's the points.
The second score is far simpler. It's a rating, five stars total. You start at zero and your points directly influence the rising through the ranks. If you do exceptionally well (99% and up) you can get five gold stars, often referred to as the six star rating. The third score is the percentage of notes you hit. A 100% score is referred to as a FC (Full Combo). In perspective, I can get the gold stars playing with a much better drummer (Jen, or her brother) but not on my own. My highest score at the time of this writing is 99%, on "Say it Ain't So". And the fourth score is the number of notes you hit in a row (your longest streak).
That said, here are JEN's ScoreHero songs...
The link will take you to her vocal solo career on Expert. If you look at the choices at the top, you can get it to show her other accomplishments. She has some of her drumming up there, and maybe one song on lead guitar. She mostly documents her vocalist stuff though.
Now here is MY ScoreHero page.
And this is me, on bass, on Expert. I only have Expert bass songs on ScoreHero for now. I'm only really interested in playing the bass, though I might try lead guitar. The drums are fun, but they're not really for me, and I'm worse than a cheap hack when it comes to the mic.
"Graciously documenting our future arthritis" is ScoreHero's motto, which is where I got the article title. Yeah, it's about right - after doing six or seven songs on bass, man, my wrist hurts.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Say what you will about Walmart, but...
Jen left me $10 and (later) told me I was to get milk, butter, cat food, and TP. I knew it wasn't enough, but I went to Walmart, and got all of it for $9.77.
While you can get some things on sale cheaper, overall I know it would have been more. For example, a 4-pack of Angel Soft single-roll. $1.18 at Walmart. At Food Lion, it's $1.49 and you can't get plain, it's only the kind with girly prints. (Which I don't mind, but it's rather silly they don't have plain.) Harris-Teeter, $1.79 (and I think they have plain).
I'm usually among the first to criticize Walmart for certain things, but when you're in a bind, they can be really helpful. (Granted, I may have actually spent more considering gas prices, but I don't have to fill up until we get paid again. None of the groceries could really be put off until we get paid.)
Wow, it's been almost 5 weeks since I've wrote anything up here. Damn... I'm gonna have to work on that.
While you can get some things on sale cheaper, overall I know it would have been more. For example, a 4-pack of Angel Soft single-roll. $1.18 at Walmart. At Food Lion, it's $1.49 and you can't get plain, it's only the kind with girly prints. (Which I don't mind, but it's rather silly they don't have plain.) Harris-Teeter, $1.79 (and I think they have plain).
I'm usually among the first to criticize Walmart for certain things, but when you're in a bind, they can be really helpful. (Granted, I may have actually spent more considering gas prices, but I don't have to fill up until we get paid again. None of the groceries could really be put off until we get paid.)
Wow, it's been almost 5 weeks since I've wrote anything up here. Damn... I'm gonna have to work on that.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Tips for happy living, June 2008
At work, there's this calendar with all these neat little "tips" for happier living for each month. I don't know if the calendar is put out by the Church (or which one, if so) but they're good tips, and I thought I'd share. If you do just one of these things, you'll probably be happier in general.
1. Don't stop the parade to pick up a dime.
2. Fill out customer comment cards.
3. Never miss an opportunity to go fishing with your father.
4. When a friend is in need, help him without him having to ask.
5. This year, visit two or three of your state parks.
6. Include a recent family photo when writing to a loved one.
7. Hold a child's hand when crossing the street.
8. When in doubt, smile.
I don't agree with some of these. The first one was obviously coined (pun fully intended) before gas prices quadrupled since Mr. Bush took office. As for the third one, I can't - my father passed away six years ago, but when we have kids, I'd love to take them fishing.
But some are good. I love filling out those customer comment cards. I figure if a business cares enough to want to know what their customers think, the customers ought to tell them what they think (good or bad). If you have something bad to say, use constructive criticism - if you just cuss them out on the card, they'll just toss it. And then what good did you do? As for family photos, I'm big on that. Holding a kid's hand as they cross the street? Usually kids don't like that (I remember, I didn't) but when crossing a street, it does wonders for their self-confidence. (So does darting out in traffic, and surviving - I remember that too - but also cars stopping for pedestrians and walking in front of them, it does do wonders, and it helps them to trust their parent, aunt/uncle, or guardian.)
1. Don't stop the parade to pick up a dime.
2. Fill out customer comment cards.
3. Never miss an opportunity to go fishing with your father.
4. When a friend is in need, help him without him having to ask.
5. This year, visit two or three of your state parks.
6. Include a recent family photo when writing to a loved one.
7. Hold a child's hand when crossing the street.
8. When in doubt, smile.
I don't agree with some of these. The first one was obviously coined (pun fully intended) before gas prices quadrupled since Mr. Bush took office. As for the third one, I can't - my father passed away six years ago, but when we have kids, I'd love to take them fishing.
But some are good. I love filling out those customer comment cards. I figure if a business cares enough to want to know what their customers think, the customers ought to tell them what they think (good or bad). If you have something bad to say, use constructive criticism - if you just cuss them out on the card, they'll just toss it. And then what good did you do? As for family photos, I'm big on that. Holding a kid's hand as they cross the street? Usually kids don't like that (I remember, I didn't) but when crossing a street, it does wonders for their self-confidence. (So does darting out in traffic, and surviving - I remember that too - but also cars stopping for pedestrians and walking in front of them, it does do wonders, and it helps them to trust their parent, aunt/uncle, or guardian.)
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Bad water leads to panic, charity
As you all know by now, I sleep all day, so if something "major" happens during the day, I don't usually hear about it until much later, which makes for some really interesting surprises.
So Wednesday night, I go grocery shopping, and I think I noticed the increased traffic. Not sure on that - Greenville can be pretty funny at times. But then I got to the supermarket, and that's when I noticed it. I like to shop at night on weeknights, because usually it's not as busy, but this Wednesday night might as well have been a Friday or Saturday night, or hell, a weekday around 6pm. It was slam packed.
It didn't take long to figure out what was going on. The first clue I got was, I overheard another customer asking an employee if they were giving away any more water. Giving away water? Indeed, the water shelves looked pretty bare - see the pic below - and the store had what looked like at least a dozen pallets of Deer Park 24-packs. What the hell?
Turns out E.Coli was found in the water, and all of Greenville was "infected" with this "bad water". Greenville Utilities has since rescinded their "boil water" alert as of this evening, which was a pretty quick cleanup if you ask me, but if they say the water is now safe, I believe them. (They're in enough hot water (if not legally, in public opinion) as it is, so rushing and botching the cleanup would be even worse.)
Water is all sold out at the 14th St. Harris-Teeter in Greenville, NC.
What I thought was more amazing, though, was that the same grocery store, local to North Carolina, shipped out two truckloads of water within an hour or so of the "epidemic" breaking out. Better yet, the water was to be given away, free of charge, to Greenville residents for whom tap water all of a sudden became unsafe. Read the press release here. Now of course, there are a few cynical ways to spin that, but it's much easier to assume that every now and then, a company does what seems to be the right thing as opposed to just looking at the bottom line. (Of course, they had a killer sale on those Deer Park 24-packs, $3.99 each, and they were flying off the shelves. But still.) I didn't even know they sent out a second load, but there it is on their website.
I don't know if any other stores gave away any water. I didn't even hear about this on the news (the local news only reported the bad water) so naturally I had to come up here and share the good news, since it's bad news that tends to get reported (and read) more.
So Wednesday night, I go grocery shopping, and I think I noticed the increased traffic. Not sure on that - Greenville can be pretty funny at times. But then I got to the supermarket, and that's when I noticed it. I like to shop at night on weeknights, because usually it's not as busy, but this Wednesday night might as well have been a Friday or Saturday night, or hell, a weekday around 6pm. It was slam packed.
It didn't take long to figure out what was going on. The first clue I got was, I overheard another customer asking an employee if they were giving away any more water. Giving away water? Indeed, the water shelves looked pretty bare - see the pic below - and the store had what looked like at least a dozen pallets of Deer Park 24-packs. What the hell?
Turns out E.Coli was found in the water, and all of Greenville was "infected" with this "bad water". Greenville Utilities has since rescinded their "boil water" alert as of this evening, which was a pretty quick cleanup if you ask me, but if they say the water is now safe, I believe them. (They're in enough hot water (if not legally, in public opinion) as it is, so rushing and botching the cleanup would be even worse.)
Water is all sold out at the 14th St. Harris-Teeter in Greenville, NC.
What I thought was more amazing, though, was that the same grocery store, local to North Carolina, shipped out two truckloads of water within an hour or so of the "epidemic" breaking out. Better yet, the water was to be given away, free of charge, to Greenville residents for whom tap water all of a sudden became unsafe. Read the press release here. Now of course, there are a few cynical ways to spin that, but it's much easier to assume that every now and then, a company does what seems to be the right thing as opposed to just looking at the bottom line. (Of course, they had a killer sale on those Deer Park 24-packs, $3.99 each, and they were flying off the shelves. But still.) I didn't even know they sent out a second load, but there it is on their website.
I don't know if any other stores gave away any water. I didn't even hear about this on the news (the local news only reported the bad water) so naturally I had to come up here and share the good news, since it's bad news that tends to get reported (and read) more.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Wired wirelessly with Bluetooth
I've always had a little bit of spite for those Bluetooth headsets I see everyone and their brother using, but I finally got one.
I remember our last vacation, in the Atlanta airport, this guy was looking right at me and talking. I answered back, but then realized he was on the phone. He wasn't holding a phone - in fact, I couldn't even see his phone. But he had a little contraption on his ear which blinked every few seconds, which was connected wirelessly via the Bluetooth technology, to his cell phone.
It wasn't the first time I'd seen one, of course, but it annoyed the hell out of me. I thought I would never own one. Part of the reason, though, was the cost. I'd looked at them at the US Cellular store (my wireless carrier), even Walmart, and you can't get one for less than $50. They used to be around $75, so they have come down... but a guy I work with said he got one for about $30, shipped.
So I did some research online. I started with Amazon.com, because if you spend $25 or more on certain items, the shipping is free. However, I couldn't find one under $30 I liked. They all had some problem or other. So I went to Newegg.com, where I've spent close to $3,000 over the years in computer hardware. That's no exxageration, either, and I'm almost ashamed of the total. (I spent just under $1,000 at one time buying the parts for this computer when I first built it, and I've probably dumped another $500-$750 into more parts for this computer. The rest must just be miscellaneous purchases.) Anyway, Newegg didn't really impress me with its sub-$30 earpieces. (For the record, Newegg has the least expensive one, at $13.) So I looked a little higher.
Plantronics is a name I know and respect from a few jobs, I know they make corporate-level headsets and speakerphones, but most of their products are too expensive for the casual consumer to own. So I was surprised when I found a Plantronics earpiece for about $25. I wasn't interested though, because it got mostly bad reviews. So when I started looking at slightly more expensive Bluetooth earpieces, their Plantronics Explorer 370 caught my eye. It looked better than their entry-level unit, and only had one review, and it was good. So I Google'd the name, and found more positive reviews on various blogs. I decided to go for it.
$41.98 shipped - it was a little more than I wanted to spend, but still less than the cheapest one at Walmart. And I have the confidence of knowing that I did my homework and found one that is generally well reviewed.
Now that I have it, I have a few complaints, but overall I'm satisfied. It's not a very good fit, for example. It has a molded piece which fits inside the ear, and it's tricky to insert. Once it's set up, it's not entirely comfortable. It's not bad, but I feel it could fit better. By contrast, my coworker's earpiece doesn't have the molded piece, just a speaker, and he says he can't really feel his on his ear. And his is a Motorola, which as he points out, you really can't go wrong with. I've never had a bad experience with Motorola technology, but the Motorola earpieces I researched were of low quality (and I could not find the one he has). Also, the instructions say that if you receive a call and press the "call control" button on the unit, it will accept the call. I tried that when Jen called, and it instead rejected the call. So I have yet to learn all its features.
As you can see, it's kinda discreet, but not as discreet as perhaps some of them. It's also kinda neat-looking, dark blue with a rugged black rubber grip. I had selected the basic 370, which was black and silver, but for some reason Newegg.com upgraded me to the Sport version, which I considered but did not choose because I didn't like the look. Still, I'm not going to complain about the swap - at least it's not yellow and black like some of those "Sport" electronics. (If it were, it would have been sent back unopened.)
Overall I'm happy with the unit, though. I talked to my mother for about 5 minutes, and she hates when I put her on speaker or use a handsfree solution (wired). She claims it sounds bad and complains until I "take her off the speaker". Well, after 5 minutes of talking I finally said "you don't even know I'm using a handsfree do you?". She admitted that I sounded a little different, but she said it wasn't enough to complain about. Also, when Jen called me, I left my phone on the desk and did the Verizon-patented "Can you hear me now?" test. Even in the bedroom, about 30 feet away, she could still hear me fine. But when I laid on the bed, she said I was starting to break up, but it got fine as I got off the bed. So if my phone is in the bathroom or something (where I have the charger) it should be fine. At work I carry my phone in my chest pocket and the Bluetooth in another pocket, and when I take calls I take them on the Bluetooth, so it's within a foot of the phone - shouldn't be a problem then.
Next step - to pair my Bluetooth with my PC and use it as a microphone, e.g. for voice chat.
I remember our last vacation, in the Atlanta airport, this guy was looking right at me and talking. I answered back, but then realized he was on the phone. He wasn't holding a phone - in fact, I couldn't even see his phone. But he had a little contraption on his ear which blinked every few seconds, which was connected wirelessly via the Bluetooth technology, to his cell phone.
It wasn't the first time I'd seen one, of course, but it annoyed the hell out of me. I thought I would never own one. Part of the reason, though, was the cost. I'd looked at them at the US Cellular store (my wireless carrier), even Walmart, and you can't get one for less than $50. They used to be around $75, so they have come down... but a guy I work with said he got one for about $30, shipped.
So I did some research online. I started with Amazon.com, because if you spend $25 or more on certain items, the shipping is free. However, I couldn't find one under $30 I liked. They all had some problem or other. So I went to Newegg.com, where I've spent close to $3,000 over the years in computer hardware. That's no exxageration, either, and I'm almost ashamed of the total. (I spent just under $1,000 at one time buying the parts for this computer when I first built it, and I've probably dumped another $500-$750 into more parts for this computer. The rest must just be miscellaneous purchases.) Anyway, Newegg didn't really impress me with its sub-$30 earpieces. (For the record, Newegg has the least expensive one, at $13.) So I looked a little higher.
Plantronics is a name I know and respect from a few jobs, I know they make corporate-level headsets and speakerphones, but most of their products are too expensive for the casual consumer to own. So I was surprised when I found a Plantronics earpiece for about $25. I wasn't interested though, because it got mostly bad reviews. So when I started looking at slightly more expensive Bluetooth earpieces, their Plantronics Explorer 370 caught my eye. It looked better than their entry-level unit, and only had one review, and it was good. So I Google'd the name, and found more positive reviews on various blogs. I decided to go for it.
$41.98 shipped - it was a little more than I wanted to spend, but still less than the cheapest one at Walmart. And I have the confidence of knowing that I did my homework and found one that is generally well reviewed.
Now that I have it, I have a few complaints, but overall I'm satisfied. It's not a very good fit, for example. It has a molded piece which fits inside the ear, and it's tricky to insert. Once it's set up, it's not entirely comfortable. It's not bad, but I feel it could fit better. By contrast, my coworker's earpiece doesn't have the molded piece, just a speaker, and he says he can't really feel his on his ear. And his is a Motorola, which as he points out, you really can't go wrong with. I've never had a bad experience with Motorola technology, but the Motorola earpieces I researched were of low quality (and I could not find the one he has). Also, the instructions say that if you receive a call and press the "call control" button on the unit, it will accept the call. I tried that when Jen called, and it instead rejected the call. So I have yet to learn all its features.
As you can see, it's kinda discreet, but not as discreet as perhaps some of them. It's also kinda neat-looking, dark blue with a rugged black rubber grip. I had selected the basic 370, which was black and silver, but for some reason Newegg.com upgraded me to the Sport version, which I considered but did not choose because I didn't like the look. Still, I'm not going to complain about the swap - at least it's not yellow and black like some of those "Sport" electronics. (If it were, it would have been sent back unopened.)
Overall I'm happy with the unit, though. I talked to my mother for about 5 minutes, and she hates when I put her on speaker or use a handsfree solution (wired). She claims it sounds bad and complains until I "take her off the speaker". Well, after 5 minutes of talking I finally said "you don't even know I'm using a handsfree do you?". She admitted that I sounded a little different, but she said it wasn't enough to complain about. Also, when Jen called me, I left my phone on the desk and did the Verizon-patented "Can you hear me now?" test. Even in the bedroom, about 30 feet away, she could still hear me fine. But when I laid on the bed, she said I was starting to break up, but it got fine as I got off the bed. So if my phone is in the bathroom or something (where I have the charger) it should be fine. At work I carry my phone in my chest pocket and the Bluetooth in another pocket, and when I take calls I take them on the Bluetooth, so it's within a foot of the phone - shouldn't be a problem then.
Next step - to pair my Bluetooth with my PC and use it as a microphone, e.g. for voice chat.
Monday, May 26, 2008
No longer supporting terrorism
It was perhaps too harsh, an ad which ran shortly after the 9/11 attacks; I don't know who sponsored the ad, but it basically said that buying gasoline was the direct equivalent of supporting terrorism. The backlash was huge, the ad got pulled - but dammit, it had a point. We have to buy gas - unless you live in Chicago or New York City or a few other cities where public transportation can be a viable alternative to driving, you must use a car to get to and from work, to do so many things that have become a part of our daily lives. And the gas, of course, comes from the Middle East. Or... does it?
There's been an email going around, also as a bulletin on MySpace and other social networking sites, and other blogs have posted it as well. It claims to be from a petroleum-industry insider who's "fed up" with high gas prices and sits down to share some tips to save money at the pump. Sounds too good to be true... well, it is. It's chock full of lies. What's true and what's not I don't know, but when it said who buys their gas from the Middle East and who does not, I found an error. I can't remember exactly what it was, but it prompted me to head over to the Department of Energy's website. That site is a bloody mess, but after about 30 minutes of research, I found the list the email promised I'd find: A list of all the major oil companies, and how much (if any) oil they buy from the Middle East. That proved the email a hoax, because many gas companies (like Hess - what we call "Trade Mart" here in the South) were listed in the email as not buying gas from the Middle East, while the Department of Energy clearly states that they do.
There are two gas companies around here which, according to the Department of Energy, do not buy any gas from the Middle East: Shell and BP. So, as of a month or so ago, I decided to buy my gas exclusively from Shell and BP whenever possible. (When you're on the road, sometimes your choices are limited.) I've found that there are Shell stations right on my way to and from work.
Now, whether buying gas from the Middle East constitutes supporting terrorism is highly debatable - and I'm certainly not saying that everyone who does get their gas from a station that buys from the Middle East is supporting terrorism, I'm just saying that I'm now sure that I'm not supporting terrorism. I spend about $200 a month on gas, that's about $2400 a year, and I've decided to take that $2400 away from the Middle East and give it to, well, I don't know who, I just know it's not who we're currently at war with. It might be a country that doesn't like the US much, whatever, but it's not from a region in which American troops are being killed or injured on a daily basis.
Some would argue that most of the Middle East gas comes from Saudi Arabia, and that the Saudis are our friends. They may be on good terms with us, but just last week President Bush went to the Saudi king and told him how gas prices are hurting the American people, and asked if he could please take action to get the prices lowered. The Saudi king politely told Bush "no". Again, I'm not entirely sure and I'm not saying that the Saudis are supporting terrorism - I don't know nearly enough about the region and its politics to make that kind of call. (And for the record, I harbour no ill will towards Arabs, living here or over there - unless, of course, they're fighting American troops.) I'm just making a safety call and buying gas elsewhere.
And some would argue that the high gas prices are not a result of the Gulf War II aka the War on Terror, but look - gas was under $1 a gallon before 9/11. I can understand inflation - $2 a gallon is fair, I suppose. But nearly $4 is ridiculous, and anyone saying the prices more than doubling in the last 12-24 months is not a result of our country's actions overseas is overlooking something. I know there's a lot about the fuel industry I don't know, but I know gas prices have doubled as the War on Terror has (more or less) turned in our favour. Call it coincidence - I sure don't.
I don't urge my readers to buy from Shell. That would put me in the same boat as the con artist who wrote the email forward. Rather, I urge you to hit up the Department of Energy's website and find that list yourself, and make a list of gas stations who don't buy from the Middle East, and then strike out gas stations which aren't in your area, and then only buy from those gas stations. In World War II, women back home (this was, of course, before women were allowed to serve in the Armed Forces) supported the war effort by, among other things, taking up their husbands', brothers', and fathers' jobs back home, kept the economy going. Nowadays, those of us (of either gender) who aren't serving in the Armed Forces can support the war effort, by buying gas that doesn't come from the Middle East.
There's been an email going around, also as a bulletin on MySpace and other social networking sites, and other blogs have posted it as well. It claims to be from a petroleum-industry insider who's "fed up" with high gas prices and sits down to share some tips to save money at the pump. Sounds too good to be true... well, it is. It's chock full of lies. What's true and what's not I don't know, but when it said who buys their gas from the Middle East and who does not, I found an error. I can't remember exactly what it was, but it prompted me to head over to the Department of Energy's website. That site is a bloody mess, but after about 30 minutes of research, I found the list the email promised I'd find: A list of all the major oil companies, and how much (if any) oil they buy from the Middle East. That proved the email a hoax, because many gas companies (like Hess - what we call "Trade Mart" here in the South) were listed in the email as not buying gas from the Middle East, while the Department of Energy clearly states that they do.
There are two gas companies around here which, according to the Department of Energy, do not buy any gas from the Middle East: Shell and BP. So, as of a month or so ago, I decided to buy my gas exclusively from Shell and BP whenever possible. (When you're on the road, sometimes your choices are limited.) I've found that there are Shell stations right on my way to and from work.
Now, whether buying gas from the Middle East constitutes supporting terrorism is highly debatable - and I'm certainly not saying that everyone who does get their gas from a station that buys from the Middle East is supporting terrorism, I'm just saying that I'm now sure that I'm not supporting terrorism. I spend about $200 a month on gas, that's about $2400 a year, and I've decided to take that $2400 away from the Middle East and give it to, well, I don't know who, I just know it's not who we're currently at war with. It might be a country that doesn't like the US much, whatever, but it's not from a region in which American troops are being killed or injured on a daily basis.
Some would argue that most of the Middle East gas comes from Saudi Arabia, and that the Saudis are our friends. They may be on good terms with us, but just last week President Bush went to the Saudi king and told him how gas prices are hurting the American people, and asked if he could please take action to get the prices lowered. The Saudi king politely told Bush "no". Again, I'm not entirely sure and I'm not saying that the Saudis are supporting terrorism - I don't know nearly enough about the region and its politics to make that kind of call. (And for the record, I harbour no ill will towards Arabs, living here or over there - unless, of course, they're fighting American troops.) I'm just making a safety call and buying gas elsewhere.
And some would argue that the high gas prices are not a result of the Gulf War II aka the War on Terror, but look - gas was under $1 a gallon before 9/11. I can understand inflation - $2 a gallon is fair, I suppose. But nearly $4 is ridiculous, and anyone saying the prices more than doubling in the last 12-24 months is not a result of our country's actions overseas is overlooking something. I know there's a lot about the fuel industry I don't know, but I know gas prices have doubled as the War on Terror has (more or less) turned in our favour. Call it coincidence - I sure don't.
I don't urge my readers to buy from Shell. That would put me in the same boat as the con artist who wrote the email forward. Rather, I urge you to hit up the Department of Energy's website and find that list yourself, and make a list of gas stations who don't buy from the Middle East, and then strike out gas stations which aren't in your area, and then only buy from those gas stations. In World War II, women back home (this was, of course, before women were allowed to serve in the Armed Forces) supported the war effort by, among other things, taking up their husbands', brothers', and fathers' jobs back home, kept the economy going. Nowadays, those of us (of either gender) who aren't serving in the Armed Forces can support the war effort, by buying gas that doesn't come from the Middle East.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Know your rights during a police encounter
Hey all, I know it's been a long time, but I've been busy. This month marks one year this blog has been up, and I'd like to get into posting more stuff. Natually a lot of it will involve video, whether created by me or found online, as online video is one of the best perks of having broadband (overlooking the world of BitTorrent, that is).
This video falls into the latter category, found online. Not sure how I found it - one minute I was looking at Deus Ex videos, next thing I know I came across this - and watched all 45 minutes of it. (I thought YouTube videos could only be 10 minutes, guess I was wrong.)
Watch and enjoy... and pass the link along to your friends and family. Also remember what the video says: laws vary from place to place, so make sure you know your local laws as well.
This video falls into the latter category, found online. Not sure how I found it - one minute I was looking at Deus Ex videos, next thing I know I came across this - and watched all 45 minutes of it. (I thought YouTube videos could only be 10 minutes, guess I was wrong.)
Watch and enjoy... and pass the link along to your friends and family. Also remember what the video says: laws vary from place to place, so make sure you know your local laws as well.
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