Continuing the trend of delays, now some Nooks won't even arrive before Christmas. Barnes & Noble is sending a $100 gift card to pre-orderers who aren't scheduled to get one before December 24. A small consolation for ruining Christmas. [Consumerist]
The Ghost 180 reminds me of the war ships from the beginning of the 20th century. Paint it black, and Darth Vader would spend his holidays there, cruising from Málaga to the Adriatic. And splitting other yachts in two.
The 180-foot three-deck ship can fit an helicopter, and would be completed in 2010 for you and I not to enjoy. [Super Yacht Design via Born Rich]
I feel like a broken record writing about these guys week after week, but they just won't go away. Even after this week's ruling that Psystar must cease operations, their attorney is saying the company will be back.
Last week one of Psystar's lawyers said that the company is shutting down for good, but now another lawyer is refuting that claim by saying "Psystar does not intend to shut down permanently."
Apple's injunction against Psystar is permanent, so whatever they do after recovering from this legal firestorm won't involve reselling Apple software. If they're smart, that is. One thing's for sure: It's looking more and more like all this legal action was nothing but an expensive attention grab. [PC World]
The U.S. Droid doesn't feature multitouch, but the European version does. The Milestone's magical multitouch ROM is up for grabs now. If you're willing to risk a bricked phone, head here for the download and instructions. [Redmond Pie, Thanks Taimur]
Statement by Texas Governor Rick Perry Regarding State’s Unemployment Rate Decreasing
Press Release
Friday, December 18th, 2009
AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement regarding the state’s November unemployment rate of 8.0 percent, a decrease from 8.3 percent in October:
“A decrease in our unemployment rate, which is a full two percentage points below the national average is a pretty strong validation of the approach we take here in Texas and bears out what employers and national business publications have been saying about our state. Over the past two months while the nation as a whole lost 122,000 jobs, Texas gained nearly 70,000 jobs, which is promising news for those Texans who are seeking employment.
“Unemployment is still an issue for too many families, but our state will keep working to cultivate a job-friendly business climate until every Texan who wants a job can have one.”
From the office of the Governor
Saturday Evening Rock 'n Roll
Featuring "Republitarian" Punk Artist Michael W. Dean of Casper, Wyoming - Gun enthusiast, Constitutionalist, and Cowboy State Freedom Fighter.
LR EXCLUSIVE
BUY A GUN, LOSE ALL YOUR FRIENDS. (A true story of Republitarian redemption.)
Copyright 2009, Michael W. Dean
I’m a peace lovin’ guy. I’d never hurt anyone who did not try to hurt me.
Though I used to vote Democrat. But couldn’t really tell you why. I hated authority and I hated big government. I guess I just wasn’t paying attention. I was one of those folks who thought that following the issues was too much work. So I voted by clipping out the little voting guide from the leftie City Paper.
That’s how, many years ago, I ended up voting for Feinstein and Pelosi. (Don’t tell my friends at the NRA, the GOA and the JPFO. I’m now a card-carryin’ member of all three.)
A couple years ago I was awake late one night in my home in Los Angeles when someone outside tried to pry open our bedroom window. The guy wasn’t very badass. Unarmed, I chased him away just by going outside and confronting him.
But we were shaken. The next day I told my wife, Debra Jean, “Baby, we’re buying a shotgun.” She was very against it. She said, “Buying a gun is admitting that the world is a horrible place.” I said, “Baby, sometimes the world is a horrible place, and I love you, and we’re buying a gun.”
And being the one California Democrat with his balls intact, I bought a shotgun anyway, even though my wife hated the idea.
Turns out, we both really liked guns, and we loved our dates to the range. We soon added his ‘n’ hers 9mm pistols and a couple .22 rifles to our collection. Debra Jean became a good shot in weeks. Took me a little longer.
All of our friends were lefties, and most of them were concerned about the “new us.” But they still kept talking to us, and we even took one of them to the range. Once.
I started reading up on California and Federal gun laws. I’ve never been arrested and intended to keep it that way. Debra Jean (a paralegal) and I decided that the laws seemed designed not to protect people from violence, but rather they were structured to make honest folks into criminals.
Our new view of nanny-state gun laws made us look at California (and the USA) in a whole new way. And that made us both start paying attention to government and politics.
We became Republitarians almost overnight.
I got there from “punk rock anarchist” on one end and apolitical Democrat on the other. I loved the process, but it kinda hurt. Debra Jean didn’t have as far to go…..Turns out she was registered Republican. Which if I’d known years earlier, I probably wouldn’t have married her. But it never actually came up, which shows you how much attention I paid to politics, and shows you how much she loved me to marry me even though I’d made it clear I was “a compassionate liberal, not one of those stuffy old selfish Republicans like my dad.”
My wife really liked my political “spiritual transformation.” (Her dad, by the way, had given her Heinlein books to read as a child, and he’d stumped door to door for Goldwater.)
Debra Jean and I got itchy. Being around leftists suddenly gave us hives. So it was clear what we had to do: GET OUT OF CALIFORNIA AND MOVE TO WYOMING.
Our leftist friends got really worried. The “hipper” ones said, “OK, I guess I can “get” having a shotgun for protection, if you must. But I really don’t feel comfortable coming to a house with handguns in it, and…WAIT….YOU DON’T HAVE THEM WITH YOU NOW, in MY house, do you?!!...”
Or, “Who is this ‘Bob Barr’ person you say you’re voting for? Libertarian? What’s a ‘libertarian’?” And “Obama is so cool and hip and…Wait, WHAT? YOU’RE SELLING YOUR HOUSE AND MOVING TO WYOMING? And you wanna buy a BATTLE RIFLE? What the hell is a BATTLE RIFLE?!”
Let me just say this: our outgoing Christmas card list was a lot shorter this year. And I doubt we’ll get any cards from California, but if we do, the card will not likely have the word “Christmas” on it. And it will probably be colored green and say “Reduce! Reuse! Rejoice!”
I will promptly take that “Seasonal Holiday Greeting Card” at its word and toss it in the recycling bin. (See? We did import ONE of our hippie ways from California. But we would never in a billion years try to force our new friends and neighbors to do the same, out of respect for their liberty. And we love that our new friends and neighbors are far less “in other people’s business” than most everyone we met in California. Which is partly because our new friends and neighbors are nicer people, and partly because most of them own and carry guns, too. “An armed society is a polite society.”)
We’ve lived in Wyoming for almost six months and WE LOVE IT. The air is clean, the people are sweet and we can open carry a pistol, or have our loaded battle rifle on the car seat next to us. Talk about “breathing in the sweet air of liberty”!
Carrying a gun could literally get you killed by SWAT in California. Here, people just say, “Oh, my husband has that one! Is that the .357 or the .38 special?” or “Nice rifle! Getting in practice for antelope season?”
We feel like we left California and moved to AMERICA.
Our few remaining California leftie friends who still talked to us followed this ongoing transformation in words and pictures on my blog. One by one they STOPPED BEING OUR FRIENDS. Their comments ranged from a good friend of eight years saying “Michael, I love you, but I’m really worried about you” to a good friend of 23 years (a guy I was in a band with) saying, “Michael…..Once someone gets talked into these right-wing ideas very rarely can they be talked back…..This new-found cocky way of life is very wrong, very immoral and very dangerous. I’m older than you so consider my opinion, if you still can…I doubt you will. This makes me very sad. Good luck, dumb fuck.”
Another “friend” actually talked about organizing an intervention and driving out here to “save us.” Didn’t happen though. I guess it’s easier to take the bottle out of a passed-out drunk’s hand than it is to take guns away from people who are more awake and alive than they’ve ever been.
Even strangers chimed in. Typical of the many slams I received was a fan of my older books and music who said “I can’t believe how quickly you went from being a hip, artistic guy to being a fat WalMart redneck Red Lobster-eating NRA asshole.”
The comments from strangers made me laugh, in a dropped-jaw kind of way. The comments from the actual friends hurt. But I remembered what my dear sweet mother would have said: “If they say things like that sweetie, they’re not really your friends.” And my dad told me, “Better to find out now than further down the road.”
I do not cling to my “victimhood” and you’ll never catch me at a support group or on Oprah bitching about this, (nor would she likely have me). All in all it has really just reinforced my resolve to reject idiocy in all its forms.
I just cannot wrap my head around the fact that so many people, including ones I thought were “cool”, cannot wrap THEIR heads around the fact that “social justice” is always accomplished by muggery and thuggery. And they get freaked out if I say “Guns aren’t bad, guns are good….And guns make it harder to be a victim of muggery and thuggery.”
I now have a lot more to talk about with my dad and my father-in-law. I no longer think they’re “square”, and I really love yakking with them now. They “get it.” They get liberty.
Those other folks can just stay in California, me and my wife will be in AMERICA. If you need us, we’re probably on a date to the rifle range. After that we’ll be at Red Lobster, then WalMart.
Michael W. Dean sings in the “feisty libertarian punk rock band” RIGHT ARM OF WYOMING LibertarianPunk.com
His blog is Stink Fight
He writes books and makes documentary films for a living, they are listed here: oreillynet.com
Crispian Jago may be our single greatest weapon against nonsense that exists when it comes to the public. Why would I say that? Just go and read his brilliant satirical page, "The Ladybird Book of Chiropractic Treatment and English Libel Law".
Incredible. He sets the bar pretty high for himself — he did the Skeptics playing cards (he even made one for me), a homeopathic urine video, and much more. He’s hysterically funny, with a laser-sharp wit. When most of us are grinding our teeth and fuming, he is responding with humor that cuts right through the garbage and exposes the fetid underbelly of antiscience nonsense like chiropractic.
If you liked his Young Readers book, then please Digg it! Help spread the word, and show the world that science cannot be silenced.
When someone's spending $300 million on the most technically ambitious film ever, you'd think some of that money would go towards making a custom font. Apparently James had other stuff to worry about, though, because Avatar's subtitles are in Papyrus.
According to the countless tweets on the subject, what may be the second most hated font of all time (because nothing is worse than Comic Sans) spends some considerable time up on the screen. According to this post, it's been the font used in all of the promotional materials up until this point.
So, is it actually Papyrus, or a custom-built font that just happens to look exactly like Papyrus? Here's a sample:
You decide. [Twitter, Thanks Michael]
Enter to behold our vast collection of this week's best material. The Avatar review, a story of the Apple Gestapo, an interview with Rainn Wilson and more! Quality weekend reading awaits!
Features
• Orson Welles and His Brief Passionate Betacam Love Affair
• 10 Strange Gadget Situations Caught on Camera
• Avatar Review: Yes, It Changed Everything After All
• This Week's Best iPhone Apps
• It's OK. I Love My Old Gear, Too
• Rainn Wilson on His Nikon DSLR Short Film, and Why Dwight Would Taste Banhammer
• The Physics of Space Battles
• Apple Gestapo: How Apple Hunts Down Leaks
• A Century of Great Gadget Design: Phaidon's Design Classics
• What We Still Need on Blu-ray (And What Should Never Go HD)
Top Stories
• Ultimate Christmas 2009 Shopping Deadline List
• The Economics of a Free Google Phone
• Swedes Camping Outside Apple HQ Asking Steve Jobs to Approve Their App
• The Iron Man 2 Trailer Is Online and My Jaw Is on the Floor
• How Carriers and Phone Makers Are Strangling Android (And How Google Could Save It)
• I Spoke Too Soon, My iMac Is &#;$@ed, Too
• I'm Sorry, But We Blew Up Your Laptop'
• The Graphics Cards You Should Buy at Every Price
• Why We All Need to Calm Down About the Google Phone
Big News
• Google's Hype Generator, The Nexus One, Does Not Have Multitouch (In Browser and Maps)
• Ravaging the Nook, Part II: We Have Apps!
• First Video of the Google Nexus One
• Apple Nemesis Psystar Permanently Banned From Selling Mac Clones
• More Photos of the Google Nexus One
Popular
• You Have Nothing to Apologize For, Panera Bread iMac Man
• The De-evolution of Playstation Gaming Controllers
• Google Street View Spots One Chunky Man's Funky Truck Party
• Prepare to Have Your Brain Exploded by This Known Universe Video
• Canon DSLR Suffers 3000-Foot Fall, Camera and Lens Still Work
• Beautiful Lego in Hoth Photos Have Me in Total Awe
• Google Street View Captures Guy Getting Ready To Do Something Disgusting on a DC Street
• This Naughty Online Clock Has a Girl for Every Minute (NSFW)
• The Master Diagram of Geek Culture
Are you overwhelmed by the Internet? I sure was in 2000. Hell, I still am. But I think I'd be able to navigate everything in a more manageable way if only I had the right... mouse pad.
Last time I used a mouse pad was when I was when I couldn't find my dog's frisbee. But if I had this little wonder, I'd create a little shrine to it and would bow down to its excellence. No doggy teeth marks on this one please! The MySmart, which was made by Keytronic and aimed at novice Web users, was a $20 device with buttons and input ports a go go.
This decade has seen a shift on the button issue: lots of tactile things to press used to signify that something was high tech. Now, anything with lots of buttons just looks like it is trying hard to not look like an iPhone. This thing's buttons could bring you straight to CompUSA! Online, that is. It could also store passwords and bookmarks. On the site was the explanation:
We believe that the Internet experience shouldn't be confusing. So we developed a simple and secure way to access, surf and shop the Internet.
See, I agree. But the Internet is confusing. To use the vocabulary of 2000, it's a network of a billion million interconnected tunnels to computers. A super highway, if you will. I think that if it weren't confusing, I'd be confused.
The MySmart didn't last, even though its site promised that the first 100,000 would be given away for free (shipping not included). [Archived site from 2000]
Anna Jane Grossman will be with us for the next few weeks, documenting life in the early aughts, and how it differs from today. The author of Obsolete: An Encyclopedia of Once-Common Things Passing Us By (Abrams Image) and the creator of iamobsolete.net, she has also written for dozens of publications, including the New York Times, Salon.com, the Associated Press, Elle and the Huffington Post, as well as Gizmodo. She has a complicated relationship with technology, but she does have an eponymous website: AnnaJane.net. Follow her on Twitter at @AnnaJane.
I'm sure plenty of you have seen the amazing "Ataque de Panico!" video from Fede Alvarez by now, but here's how it paid off. His $300 video landed him a $30 million contract with Ghost House Pictures.
That (understatement)very lucrative(/understatement) contract is with Sam Raimi's studio. That's right, a $300 video on youtube and a boatload of talent can score you a job in Spidey's house. So next time anyone tells you that uploading your filmed-off-the-mirror practice videos for the next American Idol audition isn't worth the time or embarrassment, show them this story.
And congrats to Fede. Work this great deserves it. [Yahoo! Movies, Thanks jesuswhammy]
As host to nearly 14 million visitors per year, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is one of the most popular tourists destinations in the U.S. Developers have sought to capitalize on that tourist trade by building new attractions such as Broadway at the Beach, Barefoot Landing, performance theaters, Ripley’s Aquarium, and more than 100 golf courses. Amenities have been constructed to the north, south and west, but not in the downtown, leaving it to decline as fewer and fewer people visit the city center.
To remedy the situation, the city and the Downtown Redevelopment Corporation designed a plan to stop the decline and return the downtown to the focal center of Myrtle Beach. The centerpiece of the plan is a $16 million, 1.2-mile raised wooden boardwalk along the oceanfront between 2nd and 14th Avenues North.
Central section of boardwalk
Three different sections are planned. The center section, running from Plyler Park to the former Pavilion Amusement Park site at Eighth Avenue North, will be the widest section and will feature oceanfront dining, shops, and businesses. Both the northern and southern portions will be traditional narrow boardwalks through the natural environment, connecting to beach accesses. The South Promenade will also have an oceanfront park.
Northern section of boardwalk
Southern section of boardwalk with oceanfront park
The project broke ground on September 9, 2009 and is expected to be completed by spring of 2010, in time for the spring tourist season.
Renderings courtesy of the City of Myrtle Beach
Article by Barbara Weibel at Hole In The Donut Travels
Posted by David McRee at BlogTheBeach.com
Long before the European explorers first set foot on Florida’s Atlantic beaches, the Timucua were well established inhabitants of this windswept coast. They are gone now, largely victims of diseases brought over by sailors from far off lands. But they’ve left behind many traces of their existence, including more than [...]
Nicaragua is a prime destination for prospective island owner’s along with countries like Belize Nicaragua offers Caribbean like islands without Caribbean prices. A perfect example of this is Isla Iguana a beautiful five acre island located in Bluefields on the East Coast of Nicaragua.
Cayo Iguana (Guano Island) is lush green tropical paradise surrounded by clear blue waters, with hundreds of coconut trees, banana trees, amazing snorkeling and scuba diving! On this island, you will find all the amenities you need for total relaxation, including a large 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house with kitchen, dining room, bar and living room, accommodations for island staff and management, a boardwalk around the entire island, a 28 foot high observation tower and experienced caretakers and management, who will tend to your every need.
Until five years ago the island was uninhabited, all amenities were developed by the current owners within the last five years. For more information on this property including listing price visit Private Islands Online.
Why choose us Are you looking for a sports equipment manufacturer who can understand your needs without you having to break your head trying to explain your requirements Then you have come to the right place. Donrsquot worry any need to learn any sophisticated words just leave us a message and wersquoll have an experienced staff member get in touch with you at a convenient time. We take grea
Yo peepsI arrived back in Bangkok yesterday morning after an overnight bus from Chiang Mai which was after a 4 hour trip from Pai along the windiest road you've ever seen. Was very very tired. Also thanks to the people who wrote comments I only just noticed them. Pai is an awesome place. Except for the hairdressers. OK so I've developed a fondness for getting a wash and blowdry for 150 baht
After one night clubbing in Brisbane we were quite hangover the next day. As we didnrsquot get further away from the hostel as the next supermarket we didnrsquot see much of Brisbane. We checked out the next morning but left the car at the hostel and spend one more day in Brissie as an ossie would say. I must say we are still proud about us as we went to the art gallery AND the modern art ga
Hello againWe are now in Hoi An in Central Vietnam having caught the overnight train from Mui Ne. The train trip was fun with five of us in a six berth cabin three bunks on each side. Gabe wanted to sleep on the top bunk but the trainman said little people had to be lower down fortunately Dom was not too little so he scored the top. We had dinner and breakfast in the restaurant car and
Thursday December 17thWe realized that wersquove not given much detail about John and Margaret from the Karamea Holiday Park. Well John is about 64 years old and Margaret seems to be in her late 50rsquos. Theyrsquove run the entire park on their own for the last eighteen years. About three years ago John suffered a heart attack. Luckily he was at the medical centre when it happened otherw
