What are our national priorities (pdf file). Put it another way, what could we buy if we weren't dumping our national economy down the toilet that is Iraq.

Forget Spell Check

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it

deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig!

A few years ago, just before I left The Capital Group to move to Vegas, I wrote down some ideas on Mass Transit. I had planned to turn these into a whitepaper of sorts. I still might, but I haven't yet so it's probably best that I just hang them out to the world for consideration. Anyway, as we move toward a working monorail system and a potential high speed railway here in Vegas, let me present the...

Ten Unspoken Rules of Mass Transit

10. Mass Transit must move people from one place (entertainment, commercial, or residential) to another (entertainment, commercial, or residential) of a differing type.
9. Mass Transit is a web, not a straight line.
8. Monthly passes must be cheap. Daily transport must be affordable
7. Mass Transit must be accessible
6. Mass Transit must be clean and safe
5. The average transfer rate per trip should be within .25 of 1
4. Zoning laws surrounding stations must maximize pedestrian/carpool access to station
3. Transit corridors should, whenever possible, be established years before actual construction begins.
2. Pedestrian/Bikepaths feed -> Busses feed light rail loop -> light rail feeds intra-city/county lines.
1. Mass Transit must be exciting.

To #2 I'd add Segway to the Pedestrian/Bikepath bit. Obviously this needs to be expanded upon. Meanwhile check out monorails.org for great pictures of the Las Vegas monorail in its testing phase.

All writers of Fan Fiction need to read this. Just a small subsection of a very helpful website. It's amazing what is going on behind the public's back in the name of the DCMA and 'Copyright protection.'

Okay. Big news. Now that I've been cleared to go back to work (with limited lifting) by my doctor, I have an announcement to make. I'm employed again. I'm working as a Marketing and Internet/Ebay Salesperson for a Las Vegas company called "Front Row Sports." Most of FRSs sales are through their six local brick and mortar stores. They started their Ebay store 6 months ago and it is already outpacing their best selling B&M store. So, I've been hired to help out with the volume, try to increase sales, and do a little marketing work for the company as a whole. I'm excited to get back to work and have been thinking about ways to make their ebay store perform better all week. So, more on this later, of course.

I'm also excited because my cousin Kelly Doherty and her family will be in town. Haven't seen her since her wedding, I think.

Five Second Rule? Think again. It's amazing how large an impact science can have on our everyday life.

Apparently, I share my birthday with these celebs... funny that Ione Skye bit.

Beyonce Knowles 1981 Houston, Texas
Damon Wayans 1960 New York, New York
Dick York 1928 Ft. Wayne, IN
Ione Skye 1970
Judith Ivey 1951 El Paso, TX
Mitzi Gaynor 1930
Wes Bentley 1978 Jonesboro, Arkansas

Oh. I'm so happy. I got my first Zimbabwe scam email. I'll post it here in all its glory for your edification.


FROM:MRS,XXX XXXXX
E-MAIL:XXXXXXXXXXXXXX@yahoo.com
PHONE:NN-NN-NNN-7008.

DEAR SKYE,


MY NAME IS MRS, XXX XXXXX THE WIFE OF KENNEDY XXXXX WHO WAS
RECENTLY MURDERED IN THE LAND DISPUTE IN ZIMBABWE.YOU MIGHT
BE A SURPRISE TO YOU ABOUT WHERE I GOT YOUR CONTACT
ADDRESS.I GOT YOUR ADDRESS FROM THE AFRICAN CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE IN JOHANNESBURG,SOUTH AFRICA.

DURING THE CURRENT WAR AGAINST THE FARMERS IN ZIMBABWE
FROM THE SUPPORT MUGABE"S IDEAS, MUGABE SUPPOTERS
INVADED MY HUSBAND FARM AND BURNT EVERYTHING IN THE
FARM,KILLING MY HUSBAND AND MADE AWAY WITH A LOT OF
COSTLY FARM EQUIPMENTS IN MY HUSBAND FARM.

DURING THE CRISES AND BEFORE MY HUSBAND DEATH HE HAD
TAKEN ME AND MY ONLY SON TO DEPOSITED WITH ONE OF THE
FINANCE AND SECURITY COMPANY IN JOHANNESBURG,SOUTH AFRICA
THE SUM OF US$ 15 MILLION DOLLARS AS IF HE FORESAW THE
LOOMING DANGER IN ZIMBABWE.THIS AMOUNT WAS MENT FOR THE
PURCHASE OF NEW MACHINES AND CHEAMICAL FOR THE FARMS AND TO
ESTABLISHED OF NEW FARMS IN SWAZILAND.


WE THEN DECIDED TO LOOK FOR AN OVERSEAS FIRM AND
COMPANIES THAT WOULD BE OF ASSISTANCE TO MOVE THIS
FUND OUT OF SOUTH AFRICA BECAUSE AS ASYLUM SEEKERS WE
ARE NOT ALLOWED TO OPERATE ANY BANK ACCOUNT OR BUSINESS
WITHIN SOUTH AFRICA BASED ON THEY LAW.

WE HAVE AGREED TO OFFER YOU 20%OF THE TOTAL SUM FOR YOUR
KIND ASSISTANCE,10%WILL BE MAPPED OUT FOR ANY EXPENSES THAT
MAY BE INCURED IN THE COURSE OF THIS TRANSACTION AND
70%WILL BE FOR ME AND MY FAMILY TO INVEST IN YOUR
COUNTRY-UNDER YOU SUPERVISSION.

SINCE,I GOT THIS ADDRESS IS TRUE THAT I DID NOT KNOW
YOU IN PERSON,I DONT KNOW WHY I HAVE SUCH INTEREST IN
YOU.I STILL THANK GOD BECAUSE I WILL LIKE TO HAVE YOU
AS MY EVER PARTNER IN LIFE,WHEN I COME TO YOUR COUNTRY
TO INVEST.

I MRS,XXX AND MY SON (XXXXXX XXXXX)HAVE MUCH TO
DISCUSS WITH YOU BUT IT WILL BE WHEN YOU COME TO SOUTH
AFRICA TO HELP US FOR THE TRANSFER OF THIS FUND AND FOR
THE RELEASE OF THE FUND FROM THE SECURITY COMPANY.

ALL I WANT YOU TO DO IS TO FURNISH ME WITH YOUR ENTIRE
PERSONAL PHONE AND FAX NUMBERS FOR EASY COMMUNICATION.

NOTE THAT THIS TRANSACTION IS 100%RISK FREE AND
ABSOLUTELY CONFIDENTAIL-SINCE ALL THE VITAL DOCUMENTS
REGARDS TO RELEASE OF THIS FUND IS WITH MY SON BILLS
HERE IN JOHANNESBUERG,AND IF YOU ARE INTRESTED TO HELP US
PLEASE CONTACT MY SON XXXXXX THROUGH HIS E-MAIL OR
PHONE(E-MAIL:(XXXXXXXXXXXX@hotmail.com)PH:NN-NN-NN-7008.WHILEI
IMPLORE YOU TO MAINTAIN THE ABSOLUTE SECRECY REQUIRED IN
THIS TRANSACTION.

BEST REGARDS

MRS,XXX XXX,
UNBEHALF OF MY SON.


I feel like my life is complete now.

Heya,

It's been a busy 11 days since Indigo was born. He's a great kid, sleeps a lot and is only really fussy when he has gas troubles. I've promised you more details, but those will have to wait a bit.

Stacey's mom, Rhoda, was here until yesterday and my mom, Patricia, is coming in today. It's nice to have an extra pair of hands around the house to help us take care of the little things (like cooking, sweeping, etc.) and let us concentrate on Indigo's needs.

Meanwhile, I've started to list some stuff on ebay again. Check it out if you're interested.

Guess What?!?!?! I'm a papa! Here's proof:



Ma and child are home and doing well. More deets later. I promise.

This is either a very good idea, or a recipe for mass murder. We report. You decide.

Another reason why Texas should be quarantined.

PlayTarot, taking child toys to new levels. Everyonce and a while a website makes me say, "Now why didn't I think of that." This is one of those.

Announcing the return of one Hunter S. Thompson. Was he ever really gone? See him predict of 'Big Darkness" to come and believe!

I find this a frighteningly real possibility. In the modern age of information running everything. Those who have the information will remain in control.

Rebecca Blood makes a few interesting points about the direction cultural literacy is taking. In one phrase, "Pattern Recognition." (see William Gibson's same titled book.)

Spam attacks Spam. Film at Eleven. Hormel should just give up and save itself the lawyer fees. The funny thing about this article is they got the origin of the slang use wrong. It actually began on MUDs, Multi-User Domains/Dungeons, where are interacting text based environments where users can roleplay or chat. The term Spam was coined when a newbie, or a user with malicious intent, would log on and start to post large volumes of text just to get attention. So the important dialogue would get 'Spammed' off the screen. This was a real problem as most people were on 2400 baud modems or slower at the time. Eventaully the offender would get @toad'd (turned into a toad) and forced to behave or be kicked off the MUD.

Thus endeth the history lesson for today.

Webcasters fight back. The internet offers many new exciting technologies. Among those are the ability to provide mini-radio stations where content can be tailored to micro-audiences (around 100 to 1000 listeners at time). Something I would love to do. However, with the way royalties are set up now, the cost would be prohibitive even though the technology is dirt simple.

The old saying on the internet is "Information wants to be free." Free as in free from constraints, one of which is high prices. If prices are high enough to be considered censorship (by the owner of the information of the gov't) then the internet will consider that as damage and route around it. The information will then be made available in some other manner.

In this case, I think it behoves the recording industry to practically pay people to set up these micro internet stations. It's free publicity of the good kind. Right now all they're getting is bad press and they're not winning over any new customers that way.

Posit for the day. Are the Harry Potter books an allegory for the publishing world? Do the forces of Dumbledore the JK Rowling's of the world represent the people who write for the masses? How about Voldemort's group? Are they the high-falutin writers penning for the elite readers? And the muggles? The general audience for whom the fight for control over.

I don't know. But it's an interesting reading of the texts.

You Are A Pirate!


What Type Of Swashbuckler Are You?
brought to you by Maddog Varuka & Dawg Brown

Falling Angels Art: Air Force 1st Lt. Tamara Long Archuleta was killed on Sunday March 23, on a Mercy mission in Afganistan when the helicopter she was co-piloting crashed. This site has been left up as a tribute to her.