Dubai – ous
I’m not entirely sure where I stand on the whole UAE port thing, but I find it interesting that some who oppose racial profiling have no problem profiling in this case. I think some people’s motivation for opposing issues is basically ‘the opposite of what the other guy says’. Basically, they are letting their political opposition define them, which can’t be a good strategy.
Vivendi releasing old Sierra games
My favorite games of all time are the legendary Sierra adventure games of the 80s and 90s: King’s Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, Quest for Glory. Adventure gaming has a genre has faded considerably, but these games still stand the test of time. Vivendi is releasing collections of each series for Windows XP. I will not be purchasing any of them, since I have played all of these games to death, but I heartily recommend the following games:
A simple AJAX example
AJAX is a programming concept that is pretty simple, but varies widely from ‘normal’ web programming, so it takes a little bit of getting used to.
Based on Rasmus’s 30 second AJAX tutorial, I’ve cobbled together a very rudimentary example of one approach to AJAX programming. A “Hello, World” AJAX program, if you will. You can view the demo here on my site, and download the source code (document attachment at the bottom of this article).
Ban Allah
Based on Yahoo’s apparent policy, I will now be banning certain usernames or comments that contain the following words:
- orphan
- rapeismyhobby
- musicismyaeroplane
- shizzle
- killallmuslimsandarabs
- killhasselhoff
- raghead
- ragweed
- sesamestreet
- pedophilepriest
- 1800ilovebrandnewcarpet
Additionally, instead of typing in your username, I will now ask you for a DNA sample, from which I can extract your surname. I think this is an authentication ‘best practice’. However, I’m limited in database size, so you will likely be found to have one of the following last names:
- Goldbergstein
- Whitey
- O’McMurphy
- Di Napoli Verrecchia
- Rodriguez
- Khrushchev
- Brown
- ibn Il-Abdul Salaam
- Wong
$32,000 for a table and chairs
I’m not sure I’d pay $32,000 for a brand new car, much less a table and chairs. I understand that it’s imported from Spain, and that the wood might be hand carved by island virgins or something, but…32 grand? For a table and chairs? I could buy a decent new set of chairs and table twice a year for 16 years for that same money.
Malcolm X in the Middle
That zany Spike Lee is at it again, spewing some racially charged nonsense. At least it’s at a good target this time–the enemy of my enemy is my friend? Not when he says crap this this:
“They’ll make a movie with DENZEL (WASHINGTON) and JAMIE (FOXX) and EDDIE (MURPHY), but only because they can make money off them.
I’m sure their box office draw has nothing to do with their talent. What other reason is there to put ANYONE in a movie? Movies get made to make money. Period.
8-bit gets blockier
I’m not a fan of the Lego video games, but I think I’m a fan of video games in Legos.
Denying the holocaust is a crime
This is something I never understood: denying the holocaust, or expressing any kind of Nazi sympathy is illegal in many parts of Europe. Of course, if I lived in one of those countries during and after WW2, I might feel differently. I’m certainly ashamed of the U.S.’s history of slavery, but I have no desire to prosecute KKK members for expressing their stupid beliefs (unless they ‘express’ them through damage to life or property).
Therefore, I don’t think prosecuting Nazi sympathizers is a good idea. This guy didn’t kill millions of Jews, didn’t invade most of Europe, and putting him in jail isn’t going to undo anything. Some might argue that it sends a strong message to other Nazi sympathizers. I say, if they haven’t got the message yet, they never will. Why limit the freedom of speech?
For whatever reason, I’m reminding of this old joke: An American tourist was bragging about his freedom of speech to a Soviet Russian in the 80s or something. “I can say anything I want. Why, I can even call the President of the United States a bastard.” “I also have freedom of speech,” replied the Russian. “I can also call the President of the United States a bastard.” Not sure that joke is applicable here in any way, but it came to mind for some reason.
On a side note, I think the term “Jewry” is a silly word. It sounds like a weird dialect of “jewelry,” and I’ve never seen it outside of crazy conspiracy sites.
Legends of the Magi: Death of a Hero
Here’s a game from a friend of mine from IRC. It’s a combination of Zelda, Ys, Diablo, and Final Fantasy. It’s still in development, but it’s fun to play. This is a game that he’s been working on for some time now, and it’s a very impressive work, considering that it’s just one guy. There’s lots of neat graphics effects and details, and it also uses DivX video and MP3 music.
You can download the latest version. Keep in mind that’s it not a finished work yet.
Update: I just attached a video demo of the game. Check it out.
Endless Love by ‘Lionel’ Bush and ‘Diana’ Blair
Bush: My love, there’s only you in my life / The only thing that’s right
Blair: My first love
Bush: Yeah
Blair: You’re every breath that I take / You’re every step I make
Blair: And I
Bush: And I
Both: I want to share All my love with you
Bush: No one else will do…
Blair: Hummm
Bush: You know it
Blair: And your eyes
Bush: Your eyes, your eyes
Both: They tell me how much you care…Ooh
No one can ever accuse me of not having a sense of humor about the politicians I support 
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