Archive for September, 2008

Spacewarp, that brings back memories…

By happenstance I received the new Think Geek catalog in the mail yesterday.  Flipping through I stumbled upon a beloved toy from childhood, Spacewarp.  The light bulb went off and this instantly became the gift that I must give my son for Christmas.

Years ago I had given up hope of ever finding this toy on store shelves, figuring it had passed into forgotten toy history.  As it turns out Ban Dai stopped making them in the late 1980′s and only recently brought it back, twenty years later, in Japan.  Think Geek is one of a few America companies now importing them state-side.

I spent, who knows? Perhaps one hundred, two hundred hours playing with Spacewarp in my preteen years.  Making roller coasters and then tinkering with the physics of the ride is just too fun to put into words.

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What a surprise, he is a politican after all

The “agent of change” and “messenger of hope” is a politician after all.  On the stump he has turned to the same old sharp-tongued political rhetoric that every politician who has ever run for president has used since the dawn of the Republic. Who would have thought?

On the stump, Obama moves past hope
Barack Obama sounds more like a man trying to shake a rain cloud these days, dispensing a teeth-clenching, I-get-your-pain stump speech in town after town that offers only snippets of the unbridled optimism that long permeated his campaign pitch.

Beginning in the days before his party’s convention, the inspirational has given way to the traditional: attacks on John McCain, a register of policy prescriptions and partisan language with the sting of a needle.
Politico.com

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Surprising to say the least…

I have been a Sid Meier fan for years, I’ve loved his games dating back to the very first Civilization on the Mac, played the whole series, Alpha Centauri, all of em…  Never in a million years would I have expected the quintessential PC game to translate well to video game consoles and a controller.  The thought of controlling Civilization with anything other than a mouse and keyboard seemed like a pipe dream.  I picked up Civilization Revolution on the Xbox 360 today and was very impressed.  David Matthew and I (he serves as my military advisor :o ) ) have sunk about four hours so far into this…. I am sure there are dozens more to come.  Very highly recommended.

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An HP operating system, a good idea

This is actually a good idea that makes a lot of sense.  HP has a lot of R&D money and is in the midst of a massive turn-around.  The company has a “soul” again and if anyone could try this and make it work, it would be HP.

Report: HP trying for ‘end-run’ around Windows
An article appearing in BusinessWeek this week cites anonymous sources who say Hewlett-Packard is at least looking into it. “Sources say employees in HP’s PC division are exploring the possibility of building a mass-market operating system,” the article states.

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My guess is no…

3:1 odds against this happening…

An October surprise: Can the U.S. get Bin Laden by election day? – Los Angeles Times
With barely seven weeks to go until election day, and four months left in office, the Bush administration has launched a three-phase plan intended “to strike at Osama bin Laden and top Al Qaeda leadership,” NPR is reporting tonight.

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My gut tells me he is dead and in the ground

I tend to trust my gut in my day to day life, and I have a strong feeling that Kim Jong Il is no longer among the living.

A few days back there was speculation that Kim died, now come more editorial that the regime is weakening.  Regardless, things are changing in North Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il‘s grip on power may be weakened by ill health and the communist regime will go through a period of “transition” as he recovers over the coming months, a South Korean government official said.
Bloomberg.com

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First day of school

David Matthew started second grade this morning.  To say he was excited about a return to school would be an understatement.

Rhonda and I have both been struck with how fast children grow up.

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The return…

After a long time, far too long, I have returned to the notion of a personal website.  For many years I maintained a personal site, posting and pontificating.  Then day to day life got in the way, I wandered in the wilderness, but have now come full circle.

Don’t expect the return of webcams, lots of video and other flash… but I will do my best to keep a steady flow of news, photos and pontification on topics…

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