Moving right along...

"Footloose and Fancy Free!" Come on, you know the words!

Anyhoooo!

A lot of moving going on in the last year or so. Last August my company moved from one part of Westchester County to another which made my commute just SUCK!!! but hey, they pay me well, so I deal. I take the bus anyway so no biggie.

5 months ago, right after Christmas, I became a New Yorker. It's hard for me to fathom that concept, being a born and bred Jersey Boy my whole 30+ years. But it's cool, having our own place and a nice yard for the kids to play in. I'm also closer to bus routes for getting to and from work, so we got rid of one car which makes things easier on the wallet.

My online photo album has moved. Textamerica basically told us all to take a hike, so here's a big old FUCK YOU to Textamerica. I liked some of their features, but I'm not going to pay for a site like there's when there's plenty of free ones. I could write my own too, but I'm too lazy and have no time. So fuck you TA, Hello Flickr.

I've switched a few domains from one registrar to another to consolidate them into one place, and even dumped a few domains I decided not to use.

I'm also moving this blog, well, sort of. I have another blog here on blogger, sillywampa.blogspot.com . I'll still post here from time to time, but most new stuff will be there.

So, that's it for now.

Poker, hardly know her

Poker, a game I really was oblivious too.
About 7 months ago my company moved offices. During the cold months, my co-workers decided to play poker during lunch and I picked up texas hold'em. I'm pretty good against them, when it's not real money. I was just catching good hands. So good, I didn't always know they were good. Now I've learned the game pretty well and the only problem I have is with the whole gambling part. I've been playing online (free, I'm not about to lose all my dough online), and I run into a lot of donkers. I've been able to win some big hands and lose some big hands. I just need to figure out the best ones to play.

Now I'm hooked and watch whenever it's on tv. I love to see how they play their hands when all that money's at stake. I played in a money game with co-workers a few weeks ago, totally blew it. 6 hands and out. I had a pair of jacks, no flush or straight on the table so I figured I was in good shape. another guy raised me to force me all in and I bought it. He finished the hand with trip Aces, 2 in his pocket. DOH!

I learned my lesson. Thought he was trying to buy the pot, but should have been more cautious that early on. Only lost $20 so no biggie, just sucked being first one out.

Blog blog blog

Haven't posted in quite a while. I moved recently, my son had a birthday and work has been CRAZY busy. On top of that, I've got several projects I'm working on and just can't seem to find the time to post. I also have other blogs, I'll mention those some other time.

Stanley Cup Playoffs coming up soon, I'm Psyched for that. Just before that though, the NCAA Frozen Four. The usual suspects are in this year, Boston College, Maine, Michigan and North Dakota. Should be good.

Frozen Four Brackets

I have another blog which I'll use for different posts than the type of stuff I'll post here.
sillywampa, Whosonthelist

and there's also my web sites:
JustAnotherWebSite.com, WhosOnTheList.net

I'll be posting more soon.

Gay Marriage ban would violate 9th Amendment

Bush is at it again. Making something out of nothing. In 2004 he made a big deal of an issue that has no relevance in political campaigning, Gay Marriages. With the mid-term elections in Senate and Congress coming up, he's at it again. What he is proposing is not only stupid, but it would be illegal. He wants a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages. He's trying to enact his religious views and homophobia as law. This is the very essence of discrimination and intolerance, two things that the Constitution is supposed to counter. The Constitution is inteded to protect rights, not take them away. It even says so in the 9th Amendment.

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

What this translates too is that there are rights not specifically mentioned in the Bill of Rights but they do still exist and the government can not take them away. It doesn't matter how many people vote for such bans that are being proposed in many states. Mob rule is not enough to justify the oppression of a minority of people. It wasn't that long ago that some states had bans against inter-racial marriages but those were struck down. How is this any different? It's discrimination derived from intolerance and homophobia.

Sources:
usconstitution.net
FindLaw
News Article at MyWay
News Article from CNN

Video Game Controversies

I keep seeing this scenario and it's really pissing me off. So many people are up in arms (pun intended) about Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and the hidden sex scene. I just don't get these people. Hillary Clinton wants to waste taxpayer money and the time of our elected officials having hearings about this. Various state governments have either taken or discussed taking civil or legal action against Take-Two Interactive. Individuals who bought the game for kids or grand-kids have come out to try and sue or just to publicly chastise the company and anyone who sells the game.

The latest is a law suit by the City Attorney's Office of Los Angeles, CA.

Here's my take on this. Others have made mention of the same ideas and I'm in no way the first to see things this way.

The game has a rating of M for MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY. defined as "suitable for ages 17 and older. May contain acts of violence, blood and gore, sexual content and strong language" Doesn't that describe this game. There is violence, blood, strong language and oh yeah, sexual content. So has a rating that suggests you should NOT buy this for your child. Don't buy it for your 13 year old then get all high-and-mighty when you learn it's not suitable for your child.

I worked in a video store in the 90s, we used to rent Genesis, SNES and later Playstation games. I would often be shocked when a parent would rent rated R movies or games that were deemed too old for their kids and just shrug it off when one of us brought to their attention that they may not realize the game or movie is too mature for their child. They didnt usually care.

Was Rockstar Games and Take-two interactive wrong for their failure to disclose this sex scene. Yes? Should it matter considering the game was full of violence anyway? Not really. The Adults Only rating for video games only ups the age to 18 from 17. Not like that would be that different. Some stores wont sell games with that rating but that still seems irrelevant. Why is it 1 year different. like a 17 year old and an 18 year old are that far apart in their understanding of sexual content.

The kicker here is I've never even seen the game. Never played it. The last console I bought was Sega Genesis. I do my gaming on my pc. I just hate it when the Moral Hypocrisy of this country tries to tell us they know whats best and wastes government time and taxpayer money over something like this.

just my buck-twenty-five.

USB cable not included??

So, today was black friday. The day where insane people line up outside stores at 5am to get insane deals on anything from toys to electronics. My wife got her wake-up call from Kermit the frog this morning and hurried on down to Target where they had various sales including inkjet printers. She found the Lexmark Z517 for around $16. It's for her mother, not as a christmas gift, but just because she needs one. So, like the good son-in-law that I am, I head on over to my mother-in-law's to hook this thing up to her PC.

I get it out of the box, untwist the cable tie on the power cord. get the CD out and reach into the box to get the USB cable. It's not in the bag, not in the box. There' s no hidden compartments in there or anything. I even checked inside the printer. No USB cable at all.

My first thought is WTF?? They forgot the cable. I look on the box where it says "Contained in this box"
- Power Cord: check
- printer: check
- software: check

Wait, no USB cable?
I call the 800 #, wait about 5 minutes and finally get some guy on the phone. English was obviously not his first language. He tells me, "yes, that model does not include the USB cable." "Why?", I ask. "Because you have to buy one." was his response.

I asked him why is it that this box did not have a notation on it anywhere that says USB cable not included. I asked, "why is this essential piece of equipment not included when the printer needs it to operate?" There was dead silence on the other end for a good 20 seconds while I waited. I realized I had stumped him. He said he'd escalate the issue so that it doesnt happen to anyone else. Yeah right, what a load of crap. I told him not to bother because nobody at Lexmark will care.

So, when you buy something that needs batteries, most times the box sayd "batteries not included". I think that if something is necessary for the product to be able to be used, it should be in the box, or at least tell you on the box that you need to get one.

Now, some folks may tell me that this is not uncommon with printers. It's news to me because I've only owned 2 inkjets in the last 5 years. they both came with a USB cable. I've never even considered that they wouldnt come with one. Lexmark probably determined that they'll save 25 cents on each unit if they don't include a USB cable. I'm fine with that. PUT IT ON THE BOX!!!!

So, What's this blog thing all about?

Everyone's got one, except me, until now that is.

So, what's it all about? I login, I post something that's on my mind. While you're reading it you're wondering, why am I reading this crap? Yet somehow, you find yourself reading, and reading, keep going, it's going to get better, oh wait, no, same old crap as every other blog. Don't try to understand my mind. That's impossible. Only try to realize the truth, I have no mind.

So this whole blogging thing is really just a way for me to be self-indulgent and feel some sense of worth. If people read my blog, I feel all warm and fuzzy. If not, I feel shame.

Pick a topic, any topic, and someone will have a blog about it.

So here we are, in the 21st Century, and everyone's blogging. You don't have one, you are so lame.

So enjoy, or not, my miscellaneous ramblings and brain farts. If you find something useful, shit, you're taking it too seriously.