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Every brewer has the passion for a good beer. I’m attempting to pose as a brewer, so why not take on some accoutrement? With that, I begin the Beer of the Moment segment (with a Beer category), wherein I gush about the beer that I have currently fallen for and avoid committments to some “of the $TIMESEGMENT” titling.

This edition of Beer of the Moment (or BotM, since everything deserves an acronym) is Great Lakes Brewing Company’s Dortmunder Gold. Dortmunder is a Golden Lager (according to the label) brewed in the style of the town of Dortmund, Germany.

Vitals

• ABV: 5.8%
• ABW: 4.3%
• IBU: 30

(Ratebeer page)

Reading the Ratebeer page makes you think you have try to like this beer, which is like saying you need to work up to sweet chocolate. Sure, you might have to if you come from the dark chocolate world, but most don’t. The beer is a dark straw color; it reminds me of a dark Scotch. There is very little head, but a medium body. I expected something much heavier.

It smells slightly fruity, but I don’t detect the cinnamon that some claim to smell. It’s medium thickness in the mouth lingers after you swallow, but not in an unpleasant way. This is currently my favorite lager and something I have already bought two 6-packs of, which is saying something. I like IPAs, so this lager was a refreshing change. I highly recommend this beer.

Side note, on the same trip I also got a single (thankfully) of Founder’s Devil Dancer IPA. Wow. Way over the top. 13% ABV, 200+ IBUs, thick as soup. I love Founder’s Red’s Rye, I’ll even drink a Dirty Bastard now and then, but I couldn’t like this one. Sometimes I think they make this kind of thing just so people can brag that they like it.

Anyway, go get the Dotmunder and have some chicken wings; I personally vouch for the combo.

Not quite, but this guy did it for $126. Not bad

Link [via digg]

It took about 2 days, but Engaget has alread posted a HOWTO on how to your movies onto an iPod with video.

Link

For those that don’t know, Jack Thompson (notice the subtle URL) is the lawyer-cum-vigilante who is trying to make himself the face of the anti-video game movement. He gushes over these idiot laws over video games passed all over the country. (Side note to our Governor, Jennifer Granholm; you lost my vote.) He’s basically the latest incarnation of the hysterical crowd that first blamed music, then blamed movies, and are now blaming video games for people’s lack of responsibility. His equation usually goes like this: innocent child (think teddy bears and butterflies) plays big, bad video game, the goes on a Natural Born Killers-style rampage, slaughtering person, beast, and plant.

According to his website (see subtle URL above), he’s also a psychic. He predicted “…in an interview by Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today show three weeks before the Beltway Snipers were apprehended, that one of the snipers “might very well be a video gamer as young as 15 trained on a game switched to sniper-mode or God-mode.” Nevermind that he says this about every crime spree to anyone who will listen; luck often favors the undeserving. Hell, even John Edwards gets one right once in a while.

The fact is Jack Thompson is not a psychologist, he’s not a doctor, he’s a lawyer and has much to gain from his notoriety. He conveniently ignores statistics that refute his claims and uses straw man tactics in his attempt to make a point. Oh, by the way, good luck to Mr. Thompson on his case in the Grand Theft Auto murder case; that guy got convicted because he’s a murderer, not mentally deficient.

Which brings us to Penny Arcade. Gabe and Tycho, the two proprietors of Penny Arcade, are about the most generous gamers you can find. They have donated about half a million dollars through their charity, all raised through grassroots efforts among gamers. Jack Thompson, as far as I know, has offered ten grand and donated none. They sent him an email (scroll down) with their phone number on it. Jack called them (article). I’m not exactly sure what law you sue someone under for emailing you, but if Jack can figure it out, I have about (counting…. ) 45 spammers I’d like to contact.

Jack Thomson is so bad at spreading the word about violent video games, even the people he’s quoting are asking him to stop using their names. As the Dutch would say: Als alle gekken konden vliegen hadden we een permanente zonsverduistering – If all fools could fly, the sun would be eclipsed forever.

May Jack drift into irrelevance as quickly as New Coke.

Once again, comment/trackback spammers have blasted this site. It’s taken me the better part of an hour to change the settings for Movable Type.

For the foreseeable future, comments are for registered commenters only and trackbacks are off. If you have a comment and don’t want to register, email me.

Some interesting results and good tools.

PC Maintenance > Langa Letter: Testing 10 Windows ‘Registry Cleaning’ Software Packs > October 10, 2005″ href=”http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=171203805″>Link

I’m sitting in a training session right now (thank God for WiFi and Bloglines).

Can I just say that I almost bought a video iPod while someone was droning on about sub-contracts? I’m not a fanboy or anything (see previous posts), but iPod + video + ability to buy TV shows to watch on iPod? Wow… nice work Apple.

BTW, the Apple site is at a crawl, but go check out the new stuff… very cool.

Apple

Hot on the heals of chocolate’s positive effects on your heart, a new study confirms a bit of folk wisdom: dark chocolate helps with diarrhea.

What can’t that stuff do?

That title sounds like I’ll do that every week, which I won’t. I should, but I won’t.

Anyway, Harvey Danger has released their latest album via bittorrent on their site. I haven’t heard it yet, so no comment on quality.

You may not have to. It may soon be part of the NBA draft if the Chicago Bulls get their way.

Eddy Curry, the 22-year old forward for the Bulls is being required by the Bulls to submit to a DNA test prior being allowed to play in the upcoming season. Curry has been diagnosed with benign arrhythmia, a heart condition where abnormal heart rhythms are disrupted. Curry had a few incidents that led to his diagnosis and I can only assume treatment.

The Bulls now want Curry to submit to a DNA test to verify that he doesn’t have cardiomyopathy, which when paired with the already-diagnosed benign arrhythmia could be fatal.

And that’s where this becomes about more than basketball. Curry is an employee of the Bulls and disclosed his condition. The Bulls are now requiring that he prove he doesn’t have other diseases in order to continue his employment. The slippery slope should be obvious.

The Bulls (who are becoming more appropriately named as I read through the quotes on this ESPN article) claim this is for the player’s well-being. Which is entirely true, except that the employer doesn’t get to make that call. Or shouldn’t.

Mark this as the first of many such battles to come. And while the rules may seem different for employees such as pro athletes, the implications are far reaching.