Make Love Not Spam

My dad sent me an interesting article about Lycos Europe coming up with a way to strike back at spammers. You can download it here.

There are some lines you shouldn't cross

In all the discussions about Friday's Pacers-Pistons-punk-ass Detroit fans brawl and resulting suspensions, there's been a lot of talk about lines that shouldn't be crossed (in this case, players entering the stands).

Well, here's another line that didn't need to be crossed. Traffic Games of Scotland has created a video game that puts you Lee Harvey Oswald's shoes, making you the shooter in a recreation of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. No matter how much the people at Traffic insist they have the utmost respect for JFK, I find it hard to believe that the world just couldn't live without this game. Knowing how deeply JFK's death affected my parents' generation, I'm sure they'd be disgusted by this game. And so am I.

Break up the champions

Take a good look at this photo because sadly, this will be the last time many of these players wear a DC United uniform. MLS is expanding for the 2005 season, and tomorrow the expansion teams get a chance to pick through the rosters of the existing teams to start building their squads. Also, United is losing Earnie Stewart to Holland and Ryan Nelsen, the linchpin of their defense to England, so they will have some building of their own to do before beginning the defense of their title next April. Sad.

On the other hand, I'm having fun with the newly-discovered ability to link photos into my blog posts. :)

United from L to R: Ryan Nelsen, Eliseo Quintinilla, Mike Petke, Ben Olsen, Tim Lawson, Jaime Moreno, Freddy Adu, Earnie Stewart

An excellent book

I don't get to read as often as I used to, but it's rare lately that any book interests me enough to make me want to stop the rest of my life to read it. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is such a book. It's well-written, fresh and interesting, and keeps the reader involved throughout its close to 800 pages. Susannah Clarke has the rare gift of making her reader believe that they are reading a history of something that really happened. There is a richness and depth to her story that makes it both believable and interesting, as well as easily accessible. For a first novel, that is quite an achievement, and one that I highly recommend.

Also, as a design nerd, I was particularly happy to see that this book was released with two covers, one as you see at left, and the second, which I own, that has the black & white reversed. In an age where multiple covers are usually part of some cheap marketing campaign to sell more copies to collectors, it's nice to see something like this done because it relates to the story (I won't spoil the reason for any potential readers).

Back where it belongs

The Alan I. Rothenberg trophy, that is. DC United are champions of MLS once again, beating the Kansas City Wizards 3-2 yesterday to win their fourth title in nine years. The Washington Post has some excellent coverage here and here and here. MLSNet.com has even more coverage here and here and here and here. The world feels a little more normal today.

Want to be REALLY scared about the next four years?

Read Bob Jones III's congratulatory letter to President Bush.

Here's an influential voice from Bush's strongest group of supporters. I'm not getting much in the way of Christian tolerance and charity from this letter. Instead, there's sentiments like this one:

"Pull out all the stops and make a difference. If you have weaklings around you who do not share your biblical values, shed yourself of them. Conservative Americans would love to see one president who doesn't care whether he is liked, but cares infinitely that he does right."

Great idea. Let's get rid of all those "weaklings". If we had followed that line of thinking, the world would still be stuck in the Dark Ages, since most of the greatest people of the past 500 years probably wouldn't have "shared biblical values" with W. And if there's anything Bush has shown in his first term, it's that he doesn't care about being liked. After all, why should it matter what anybody else thinks? We're America, dammit!!!

I hope God has a particularly nasty section of Hell set aside for those people who use their "Christian faith" as an excuse to push their agenda of closed-mindedness and intolerance.

So much better than the squeaky bone

Are you a dog owner? Got an axe to grind with a particular politician or world leader? Then the folks over at Political Pet Toys have just the thing for you. For the price of a CD, you can watch your dog gnaw on Saddam's head (or, at least, a rubber chew toy that marginally resembles him). Just in case you've got nothing better to do with your money.

Damn you, George Lucas!

Why, why, why can't you make a movie like The Incredibles? A seamless blend of CGI, adrenaline-heavy action sequences, and (most importantly) a great story. What a fantastic movie! I went in not expecting much, and was blown away by what turned out to be the best action movie I've seen in years. The second act of the film had supervillains and secret hideaways as good as any of the Connery-era James Bond flicks, and the climactic battle was action-packed without containing too many obvious cliches. Another home run from Pixar (a company which Lucas used to own at one point).

And getting back to old George, the teaser trailer for Star Wars: Episode III ran before The Incredibles. After being so disappointed by Episodes I and II, I promised myself I wasn't going to get excited about this one. But when the theme music kicks in, the screen goes black and the ominous mechanical breathing starts, it's impossible not to go all fanboy. Follow that up with rapid fire cuts to lightsaber duels, the dulcet tones of James Earl Jones, Natalie Portman looking lovely as ever, and more Wookies than you can shake a stick at, and it's a done deal that Lucasfilm is getting my money again. Check it out the trailer at starwars.com

Ending the week on a better note

Well, I've recovered enough from the election to be able to look back and get some perspective, and I've decided I'm not as mad that Bush won as I am mad at both parties for not giving us better candidates to vote for. There's so much wrong with the system that the really good people will never run, and there's plenty that needs fixing. Jason Kottke has managed to already put a lot of my thoughts into words, so see what he has to say. I wish somebody like Karl Rove didn't have to exist, but since he does, I sure wish the Democrats had somebody like him. And speaking of spin, I love how much we've heard in recent days that Bush winning 51% of the vote is an "overwhelming mandate", and "unquestionable mandate", and a "resounding victory". Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but 51% is not a resounding victory any way you cut it. That means just slightly less than half of the people voted against you. It was a victory no doubt, but he squeaked through. Hardly the landslide you'd think it was from reading the papers. Well, Greg Mitchell at Editor & Publisher agrees with me, and he's taken the media to task for allowing the Republican spin-meisters to force-feed them this line.

Meanwhile, back in real life, exciting things are happening in the sports world. DC United is going to the MLS Cup Final, next Sunday at 3:30 on ABC. After beating New England last night in a 6-goal thriller that needed 30 minutes of overtime and 6 rounds of penalty kicks to decide a winner, United advances to meet the Kansas City Wizards for the title. Freddy Adu could get a championship ring in his first season.

And speaking of championships, is it too soon to start talking about the Steelers? Ben Roethlisberger (a fellow alum of Miami University) has led them to 6 straight wins as a starter, including beating the Patriots and Eagles, the top two teams in the NFL, in the last two weeks. With a good running game and a strong defense, Big Ben may be the final piece the Steelers need to be a contender.

The Day After (is hi-larious)

Except when it's not. I'm still sick to my stomach, angry, sad, digusted, depressed, and alternately feel like breaking things and curling into a fetal ball. Luckily, I've been numbing the pain with sugary snacks and mindless consumerism just like any good American (nothing like the healing power of a trip to the mall), so I've begun to adjust to the idea of four more years of Bush. But just because slightly more than half of this country has decided to live up to the global stereotype of Americans and give the collective finger to the rest of the world, that doesn't mean I have to like it. Therefore, I am hereby announcing my half-assed intention to become a protest singer. Stay tuned for lots of anti-administration power ballads. I'm already growing my Neil Young-style muttonchops.

Election Day fun

If you're like me and plan on being totally worthless at work tomorrow while you try to predict the outcome by staring at a bunch of brightly colored maps of electoral vote scenarios, MSNBC has put together a fun site just for you, The Horserace. It's like 7th grade Social Studies online! You have to suffer through a video clip of Chris Matthews to get to the good stuff, but the maps and political cartoons are fun, and you can customize each panel to get the information you're looking for. You can even play a pick game, where you predict how the undecided states will go. See kids? Politics CAN be fun!

Almost there

On the eve of Election Day, there's plenty to talk about. So many things are already happening, both exciting and disheartening, but most importantly, for the first time in my lifetime, I think we may see more than 60% of the population show up to vote. No matter who you cast your ballot for, please make sure your voice is heard. I'm afraid we won't know a clear-cut winner for several days or even weeks, but it's good to know that so many Americans are invested in this election.