Apparently I’m still an idiot and hosed comments yet again. Apparently MT Blacklist wasn’t playing nice with something, but it should be fixed now.
I still have comment moderation on, so you won’t see your comments right away, but they will show up–eventually.
Sweeeeet. Comcast is going to bump up their download speed to 3 Mbps and upload to 384 kbps. Now, if we could only get that to 1 Mbps upload.
I love sushi; I think I’ve mentioned that before. Grand Rapids had one fairly decent place to go for sushi–Shogun. The Alpine Teriyaki & Sushi wasn’t bad, it was just easy to get to for us when we lived there, hence the frequecy of visiting (two days in a row sometimes).
Here in the alternate reality of Ann Arbor, there’s only one place to go (well, so far); Godaiko. They have really good rolls (tight and not too big) and the sashimi is usually pretty good, as long as you stay away from the whitefish. (That’s not a dig at Godaiko, it’s just a mid-range sushi restaurant issue all around.) Miki is ok, but it’s overpriced for the quality you get and, well, it’s downtown so you have to deal with that if you want to go on a weekend. Saica, on Plymouth, had potential, but we just keep going back to Godaiko.
Of course, that’s all well and fine. But now I have a new bend on the whole sushi-love: making it myself! J– got me a bunch of stuff for Christmas and we’ve made it for ourselves twice now. I’m finally getting the hang of rolling, although my sushi rice skills leave a little to be desired. But, the best part is we can make so much more of the kinds we like, such as Tempura Shrimp Rolls.
Oh, Tempura Shrimp Rolls, how we love you! Even with the big PITA that you are to deep fry and remove from skewers, your flavor and texture makes up for it in the first bite. And yes, to make you we even move towards the redneck sushi by mixing spicy chili sauce with mayonnaise, spreading the sauce over the rice, adding scallions and then rolling with the tempura shrimp, but your so good that way, we can’t help ourselves.
So, with a little up front investment (a good knife, a bamboo rolling mat, and a rice cooker), you really can do well making this stuff. For about the price of going out once, we made enough sushi for 2 meals, if not more. Plus, it’s one more thing you get to tell people about that they likely haven’t done.
I’ve been using Thunderbird for a while, but I’m seriously considering moving back to Outlook. Calendering, while not big, is becoming bigger. I have my planner, but it’s got one huge downfall: I actually have to read it. Outlook will actively tell me “you’re missing something”.
Plus, I now have a license for Office 2003 (legally, believe it or not; perks of working for the University) and it’s possible to go back Outlook. Yes, yes, I know, Evil Empire, Neo-Commies and all that, but the damn application works like I want it to (well, almost. When can I display my tasks along with my Inbox?)
Anyway, this post details one persons attempt to get his mail from Thunderbird to Outlook and I’m linking so I don’t loose the resource. Just in case.
You always know it’s going to be bad when Fark picks up a story from the Grand Rapids Press.
Kidnap suspects, victim all land in jail
Ah yes.
A kidnapping and beating were bad enough for a 20-year-old Grand Rapids man, who Sunday night was eating at McDonald’s with his girlfriend when three captors took him away.
Next came the ransom demand — a paltry $800.
Five hours later, the victim was rescued by police — and then thrown in jail along with his kidnappers. He had an outstanding charge, police said.
Here’s a shocker; police “believe” it was drug related.
Fark has a “Florida” tag for weird stories like this that come out of The Sunshine State. It’s already been proposed in the forums that Michgian get one as well. Articles like this aren’t helping prevent that tag from appearing. *sigh*
Just what the title says, free encryption software for home users. The web site claims that it’s easy to use and works with pretty much any mail application you might have (Thunderbird, Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora..)
Grab a copy before Slashdot posts a link. I also have it housed on my Comcast site (Right-click, download)
In my constant surprise that there are people who not only don’t get it, but openly and adamently opposed those who do get it, I have yet to see the old and new clash in full view of the public, and not just the blogosphere.
Case in point, Wiley, the guy who writes Non Sequitur, one of those comics you used to read but don’t anymore because the characters long ago ceased being actual characters and started being mouthpieces for the artist. (Yes, I had that attitude before the events to-be-commented-upon.)
In short, Wiley doesn’t like web comics, specifically PvP, which I mentioned before. He doesn’t like the fact that Scott Kurtz is giving away his product for advertising revenue. And now he’s taking public pot shots at Scott and web comics in general in his strip.
Penny Arcade has a great rebuttal. Warning: They like to swear, but they make a great point.
I don’t usually go too far with Joi Ito’s politics or POV, but he’s coined my new favorite phrase… “ignorance creep”.”
I’m from a fairly conservative background and even I don’t get this one.
A Virginia state representative, John Cosgrove, has introduced legislation that would require women to report all miscarriages within 12 hours. ALL miscarriages…within TWELVE hours. Link
or, the actual text of the bill
When a fetal death occurs without medical attendance, it shall be the woman’s responsibility to report the death to the law-enforcement agency in the jurisdiction of which the delivery occurs within 12 hours after the delivery. A violation of this section shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. [Emphasis NOT mine]
What is the purpose of this? I get the on-our-way-to-banning-abortion tack to the Bill, but the Bill itself is a bit… uhm.. retarded. Natural miscarriages are, unfortunately, not that uncommon. They’re also damned traumatic. Why anyone sees the need to add more trauma by requiring a legal requirement to report it is bordering on insane. And not hyperbolic insanity either; there is a serious disconnect in this requirement, or even coming to this conclusion.
It does open up the possibility of lots of other mandatory reporting, though. Ah, the comedy gold-mine that could becoming. Class A felony for not reporting a cut made by knife (don’t skip in the kitchen!), 90 days for failing to report a nosebleed (hey, you could be on cocaine), make sure you go to gesundheit.gov every time you sneeze (their traffic exceeds even Slashot).
Apparently Fark needs a “Virginia” tag.
NR’s 50th Anniversary: Whittaker Chambers on Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged on National Review Online
Ayn Rand is, well, whatever you think of her, she’s rich. Which is pretty much what she set out to be. She’s rich in that Scientology kind of way, with an “institute” and a pseudo-philosophy. She’s also celebrating 50 years of living with Whittaker Chambers’ too-long lost review of Atlas Shrugged, 1,110+ pages of, well, I’ll let Mr. Chambers describe it:
Out of a lifetime of reading, I can recall no other book in which a tone of overriding arrogance was so implacably sustained. Its shrillness is without reprieve. Its dogmatism is without appeal.
And that’s not even the good part. National Review has posted this landmark book review (?) on it’s website to commemorate the 50th anniversary of it’s publication.
Of course, not everyone agrees with Mr. Chambers. Someone on Blogcritics, who classified his post (amoung other things) as being about Books:Spirituality, post this excuse-laden article in defense of the book and of Rand. The post is a classic believers rebuttal-all bluster and no meat. After getting done attacking Chambers, the author raises the party lines:
This infamous money quote of the piece has been quite justifiably cited for years by Rand supporters as the textbook example of the dishonesty of her critics.
Ok, tell me about that. Explain to me why it’s “textbook example of… dishonesty”. The author doesn’t. I suspect because he can’t.
Anyway, read the two articles. I’m sure most people already have an opinion about Rand so rehashing 50-year-old arguements won’t change many minds.