Perfidy by peeping

Occasionally, the world is a fantastic place!

The sheer volume of these stories coming to light is getting to be ridiculous!

I reject the oft-repeated maxims that security vs liberty must be a tradeoff, and that it's worth trampling a few rights if it makes Law Enforcement's job easier.

I don't care if their job is hard. I want it to be hard! And if it's too hard for a few individual LEOs then we'll have to get some others -- others who are proud to do a difficult job and walk a thin line protecting citizens and the Constitution.

What?! No listing for the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator? Hmmm. . . must not have been an Acme product.

Well, ok, so I tried it. It was a beautiful, mild spring afternoon. I grabbed my old Sony Vaio laptop, borrowed a beret from my accross-the-hall neighbor (hat person), and sauntered down to the local sidewalk bistro to settle in for some gaming.

No sooner had I connected to an open WiFi and fired up my favorite MMORPG than a man came sauntering down the sidewalk. His exuded a personal quality expressive of lighthearted unconcern. In his hand, he had an Asus Eee PC, on his head, a beret.

He flopped into a seat at the next table, beret askew, legs akimbo, place-setting asunder -- the very image of blithe indifference.

With a nonchalant air I said "I don't like your more-insouciant-than-thou attitude."

He said "I don't care."

Damn!

Margaret Atwood, called. She wants her vocabulary back.

"insouciant"?

What, do they game from some sidewalk bistro while wearing matching berets?

Love the Sharpie!

Great. Now my life is ruined for the next three weeks.

Don't fall for it!

After multiple experiences with AT&T, I vowed I would never let pass an opportunity to steer people away from these crooks and liars! They are evil incarnate. Do business with AT&T and you will be sorry! You are better off building your own damn phone company than trying to get a fair shake our of AT&T.

Don't believe me? Check the web.

(There, I've done my good deed for the day!)

Excellent! A friend gave me "The Spondyloscope" ages ago when I hurt my back -- invaluable! Thanks, for reminding me of Petit's work, and for pointing out the link to the site.

Heh heh! I can tell the photo was taken not far from what was the infamous PepperMill restaurant, whose parking lot is adjacent the Apple campus.

PepperMill was a transplant from Las Vegas, and the waitress' outfits demonstrated it!

So what's there now? A place called BJ's!

Look, owning a gun, learning to use it well, and importantly when to use it involves the zen of personal responsibility. And with a gun, the stakes can be high, so the zen value is high.

Being responsible enough to own a gun affirms you have a level of discipline. You might even be disciplined enough for self determination.

What's not to be happy about?

lorem ipsum, Xeni. lorem ipsum . . .

;-)

Whippersnappers! Why, when I was your age, we blogged on paper tape by punching the holes with our teeth.

Just FYI: ManyBooks.net has pretty much the complete Burroughs works, including the Mars (or is it Barsoom?) series, Tarzan, Lost Continent, The Land that Time Forgot, and more.

http://manybooks.net/datesort/burroughse.html

If you've an interest in science fiction (or science, or fiction), allow yourself a few afternoons with Edgar.

I love that the lightsabers have power cords!

I wonder if they're interchangeable, or if it's the same situation we have with cell-phone chargers today?

From TFA:
"If forced to choose between your business and your family, which would it be? Of the respondents, 60 percent chose business, and 20 percent chose family. The other 20 percent couldn't make up their minds."

So just imagine where customers and the rest of the world fall on that particular continuum.

Having watched this develop over the last few years, I've just realized that I've been through 'Denial', 'Anger', 'Bargaining', and 'Depression.

(sigh) I guess Acceptance is next.

I may be from The States, but Foyle's War has become my guilty pleasure since a Canadian cousin clued me in. I'm hoping this new policy will, eventually, be extended.

I can stare at Mead's work over and over again, discovering some new engineering-inspired detail each time. Look at the 'knee' joints with the large-diameter, open-center bearings and some kind of circumferential drive. Fantastic!

My parents took me to the Seattle World's Fair when it opened. It was an incredible place for a 5-year-old (which I was at the time).

I still remember going up in the Space Needle and, with immense trepidation, walking to the edge of the observation platform. Below were the International Fountains, lit with colored lights timed to brilliant, moving orchestral music. I knew then the world was a fantastic place!

Hmm. . . is that blue thing a security camera? So is there, somewhere, a picture of Cory taking a picture of a picture? Cool.

(Count me in for a copy or two of the coffee table book.)

All it needs are little Lego Huey, Dewey and Louie drones.

Yup, definitely reminiscent of the forest domes on the spaceships in Silent Running.

Yah, sad to watch a whole industry commit suicide by stupidity.

I just happened to be at Landmark Mall (near Washington DC) for lunch, so I stopped in the Sears store there. Not all of the computers on display had a live net connection, but some of the laptops did (unsecured WiFi near by) -- so I signed them up!

Hmm. . . map left out the little blank spot that is me.

Hmm. I've always assumed that mp3 was just a passing phase, and that, as storage and processing hardware got cheaper we'd all move to some as-yet-unknown lossless format.

Anybody want to clue us about the in-jokes? I'm feeling left out.

Cool! Can I automate this with a pre-recorded outgoing message? (After all, it only seems fair given the number of hucksterish recordings _THEY_ pelt _MY_ phone with every election season.)

Seriously, though, you get a gold star! Not only for the concept, but for seeing it through.

Well, I guess what they say about art is true: if you don't have half the audience hating it, you're not edgy enough.

Attractive?! Dunno about that. But, I wouldn't try to board an airplane in the US wearing it!

There's plenty of blame to go around for this one. Sad.

Does it have its own little Swiss Army Knife?

I used to fly so much that the airlines gave me a Companion Pass (whenever I flew, I could take a second person for free).

Because of the increasing level of "security Theater" nonsense, I haven't flown in going-on five years now.

Come to think of it, now that I don't have to put up with these TSA shenanigans, I do feel much safer!

Citizen,

Thank you for requesting a copy of your Traveler File from the Department of Homeland Security.

Now that we have flagged your entry in our database, we see that your name has not been added to 'The List'. We find this, in and of itself, suspicious.

Due to heightend security concerns, we will be adding your name to 'The List', along with all the personal information you have so thoughtfully provided on your request forms.

Thank you for stepping up and volunteering to participate in our new Closer Look program.

Sincerely
DHS

TSA and the rest of the "Security Theater" Players have taken the completely wrong approach.

I admit that it's tough to preserve liberty while providing security. It's a hard job. That doesn't mean we need to make their jobs easier. In fact, I want Law Enforcement and security personnel who are PROUD of how hard their job is! Too hard? Fine, we'll get someone else.

(I thought changing our principles and way of life was the goal of the terrorists.)