Kimputer's Weblog

The design is back to the style it was before…more or less. Let me know if it still looks like shit. That way, I know my reluctance to change anything has a more profound reason.

As a Thanksgiving gift thingy, and also as a morale booster, mr. President Bush paid a surprise visit to Iraq, and had dinner with some 600 stunned troops. Kept secret until he was actually safe and sound in Bagdad was the prime directive. Had it been leaked out, he would’ve cancelled the trip, which nobody would’ve expected in the first place.
Anywayz, if he stays longer (and paint a bullseye on his forehead), maybe he can lure Saddam Hussein out of hiding. Heck, maybe even the whole Al-Queda network will come out of their holes. Now, THAT would be a marvelous plan.

Just updated the blogging software, so, had to backup a bit, reconfigure a few and that leaves me with a very plain uncolored weblog for tha moment. It’s 3 AM, so bear with me for a few days.

It’s that time again. Time to speculate. Did he, or did he not ? 3 million dollars further down the road, and finally in January it will appear in court. Till then, the Michael Jackson specials will grow like mushrooms on the TV again. Note that the last run of specials were during the February sweeps, and with these new allegations conveniently in the November sweeps, one can only wonder. If there’s smoke, there must be a fire ? A magnificent trick of some kids’ parents ? Maybe it’s Sony holding a grudge (His “new” Number Ones album was after all, released only last week) ? Some other conspiracy ? What do you think ?

Not a wrinkle on his face (well, he had one facelift though) and only 75 years old. Congratz to Mickey Mouse (and thereby, also Minnie Mouse, as she’s the same age, appearing in the same movie). Over 140 movies, and still no performance issues (if you see how hard Marlon Brando has to try to act a bit, you finally understand). Next year will mark his jump to 3D, so many many more year to you Mickey !

The Harry Potter series of books reached the 250 million mark this week. This includes all 200 countries it has been released in (and just 60 languages in which it has been translated in).
This, of course, makes J.K. Rowling the best paid author of this side of the world. With £125m earned this year, it kind of calculates to £388 for every word of her most recent book. Hah, I would not mind being paid uhmm……*count*…*remove contractions*.. £35696 for this piece l just wrote. Would you ?

BBC reports:
“Playing simple computer games at the office could improve productivity and job satisfaction, research suggests”. This research originating from the University of Utrecht, I can only concur.
Do you ?

Yupz, had to buy a new pair of gloves again, because it’s getting really cold. The problem is that I lose the right hand one every year. So even if I buy the same color every year, it won’t help. After so many years, you’d hope the left-glove-curse would be over, but I guess only time will tell.

Yupz, the Dutch team (most notably from the University of Delft) won this year’s World Solar Challenge in Australia. The vehicle named Nuna II finished the 3010 km race in under 31 hours. That means it’s also a world record. Average speed is about 97 km/h (almost my running speed).
So, can y’all say it with me ? “WE BEAT EM AI TEE !!!” (MIT finished third)

David Blaine made it through the 44 days without food, dangling above the Thames. Lost a few pounds, gained a few (UK) pounds, as he delivered Sky One’s most solid ratings ever. No McDonald’s or something like that anytime soon though, as solid food would kill him after such a long time of fasting.

BBC reports, Aaron Caffrey, aged 19, has been cleared of trying to bring one of the US’s biggest ports to a standstill by hacking into its computer systems.
The reason ? A stupid jury. It happens more and more, hackers convincing the jury that it was actually their own computer that was hacked, and then later used to control other thousands of hacked machines. Not only was there no evidence supporting this theory, the kid in question actually admitted he was a hacker himself. A hacker wouldn’t be stupid enough to let someone else try those tricks on his own system, but with so many cases already thrown out, it’s a proven method to evade jail time.
I’d better practice a sad face, and maybe a tear here and there, as that’s more worth to a jury than the actual evidence, which are just zeros and ones they don’t understand.

Wired News reports that already 3 Nokia phones have blown up. All victims suffering from burns. Last case is Vietnam, with 2 previous back here in Holland.
Don’t worry just yet though (coz I know just about 40% of you readers are using a Nokia), current investigations show in the previous 2 cases, counterfeit batteries werre used. Nokia assures us this will NOT happen with the original (much more expensive) batteries, as a safety mechanism prevent it from heating up after a short-circuit (from a drop to the ground, for instance) (assuming that the safety mechanism still works, that is {:) ).
So, just continue using it, and _when_ it blows up _with_ the original battery, THEN you can sue Nokia’s ass off. Howzdat ?

Oh yeah, no surprise there. He got to be governor till at least 2006 (the rest of the term Davis was originally to be serving). Polls were showing nearly 40% in favor of Arnold before the vote, so it was as exciting as seeing some metal revealed in any random Terminator movie. I would have believed his political ambitions more so if only he didn’t utter his acceptance speech like he was acting.
So, what’s next ? Probably a book entitled “How to become a governor in just 2 months”.

BBC reports:
“Scientists have developed a male contraceptive which was 100% effective and side-effect free in trials.”
This is a progestin based solution (a very female hormone) with injections needed every 3 or 4 months. This temporarily stops the brain from sending the normal signal to produce sperm.
The side-effect is a lowered sex-drive (and probably a higher pitched voice). This will be counter-acted by shots of testosterone.
As with most hormone treatments, when stopped, everything will return to normal after a few months (or so they say).
Is this totally out of control, or what ?
Can all the guys say it with me: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah !!!

Yupz, a second batch just came in, only 2 months overdue, “Magnolia” Special Edition, and “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” Special Edition. That leaves only one lawsuit pending.