As a native Missourian here are some pros and cons mostly focusing on my native St. Louis.
Pros Low cost of living Lots of cool stuff in KC and 'tha Lou' Branson (depends on your opinion) Lake of the Ozarks spring and fall weather Canoeing in the rivers St. Louis Cardinals KC Barbeque Blues, Jazz and Ragtime The U City Loop (St. Louis) St. Louis Hip Hop scene (if you're into that) Short commutes Great Italian and Vietnamese restaurants (St. Louis) The Arch Really cheap parking Really cheap (and many free) events Chuck Berry lives and performs regularly in St. Louis!! Plentiful tech jobs
Cons summer humidity Lots of rednecks outstate Lots of meth labs outstate Branson (depends on your opinion) winters not quite cold enough for regular winter sports John Ashcroft Lousy public transportation (St. Louis) No more airline hub (St. Louis) No real mountains (Ozark hills aren't mountains) No ocean nearby Urban sprawl
I consider myself to be fairly moderate politically but I think nuclear power is short-sighted.
I also question how the parent poster (and people in general) seem to assume that anyone who is interested in protecting the environment is some kind of wacko.
Businesses are successful when they're profitable. Many times it's more profitable to say, dump your companies waste in the river than to dispose of it safely.
Now certainly there are environmentalists that would rather save one little fish than build a sub-division. Those people are extremists.
But it's a fact that power and money are corrupting influences. And we absolutely need people and organizations to work to make sure that our paint isn't filled with lead, our water isn't contaminated by waste from hog farms and our beaches don't have medical trash washing up on them.
The media likes to paint anyone interested in the environment as a wacko as that gets viewers to tune in.
The US has become a country where people think you have to be THIS or THAT. You're either conservative or liberal. You're either an environmental nutcase or you're pro-business.
There are many shades of grey. I want a positive business environment so I and my children have stable jobs AND I want it with clean air. You can have both.
I guess it depends on how much you trust an authoritarian government with very few checks and balances.
A government like that is certainly more efficient but what happens when the people in charge aren't benevolent and decide that their first priority is something other than keeping the trains running on time. For example say you get some folks in power that are like the Taliban and want to impose their morality and views on the populace because they're serving what they consider a higher cause.
Give me the checks and balances and flaws of a democracy any day. There are more important things than efficiency.
I'd say that in the last 6 months 1 out of every 5 DVDs we've rented has had some sort of skip or scratch, some that we haven't been able to get rid of by cleaning.
Alternately, when we rent VHS tapes, which are cheaper to rent, we don't seem to have that problem.
Also there's a wider selection of movies on VHS at the library to be checked out for free.
Love DVDs but there are still some benefits to VHS.
I'm not the parent's poster but just a guy from the midwest who went to New York expecting the cliche that New Yorkers are rude.
To the contrary, people came up to us asking if we needed help with directions when we were looking at a street map on the corner.
Only once did someone push ahead of us in line (coffee shop) and on a different visit I think we were overcharged by a street vendor.
But for the most part people there were like people anywhere.
I did have a realization while sitting in a SOHO cafe that color didn't seem to matter there. This might be different if I were in some snooty part of NYC or in Harlem or something but in SOHO it didn't seem to matter what race you were. People fit in or not based on fashion sense. And I was a hayseed from the sticks. Fun times though. I liked NY.
And with this attitude in the US that scholars/tech people being a bunch of dorks (but that we should all emulate meathead sports figures) is it surprising at all to see headlines like this on CNN?
Cranium is a fun party game but not really the tabletop board game that the original post was requesting.
There's no real strategy involved for example.
Don't get me wrong, I love playing this game with wifey and her friends but I don't think da boyz and I will bypass Puerto Rico to try to guess a song that someone's humming in Cranium.
Uh, isn't that quote in your sig from Yoda not Spock?
And wasn't he 'Mr.' Spock? Doctor Spock wrote books about babies.
So you can't get the content of your post OR your sig right.
Jeez.
Not sure that this qualifies as retro but it's one of my favorite cult sci-fi films.
It stars a young Don Johnson
This from IMDB...
A post-apocalyptic tale based on a novella by Harlan Ellison. A boy communicates telepathically with his dog as they scavenge for food and sex..
Go to http://www.facets.org. I'd recommend calling their 1-800 number as their website blows Tribbles.
Re:I WANT TO CAST A MAGIC MISSILE!
on
D&D Is 30
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· Score: 2, Informative
Ok, as soon as I post this I find it myself.
http://www.ifilm.com/filmdetail?ifilmid=220487
Warning, it's so funny you may wet your pants.
I WANT TO CAST A MAGIC MISSILE!
on
D&D Is 30
·
· Score: 1
Speaking of D&D, there's a hilarious audio file out there on the web somewhere which is some teens (or pre-teens) playing D&D and someone keeps yelling something like "I want to cast a magic missile".
I think someone even made a flash animation to accompany this audio where goblins trolls and dragons were the players.
I've searched the web and can't find this sound file. Is anyone familiar with it? Would you know where I could go download it?
Just because they chose names that are based on things from history/religion doesn't make the Matrix more meaningful, more sophisticated or a better movie.
Face it, The Wack-off-skis took a good thing and cr@pped on it. Just like George Lucas.
Where's the filthy critic when you need him?
The Simpsons jumped the shark long ago...
Really,
The Simpsons used to be one of the best shows on television ever. I have been watching it since episode one. Now it is an embarrassment with new episodes that just don't generate many laughs (at least in our household.)
I heard an interview with one of the shows producers awhile back when he said "we'll need to quit before the show gets stale" or something to that effect. EARTH TO TV EXEC. YOU'RE THERE ALREADY.
Here are reasons the Simpons is waaaaay past it's prime.
1. Using celebrity guests as a crutch. (Hey, celebrity guests were funny at first but just about every freakin' week? Come ON!)
2. Plotlines that are way far out. (The Simpons was great in the early years because you could relate to it. Bart getting beat up by the bully, Homer joining the stonecutters etc. Jokes about Otto 'I like to get blotto' busdriver. But now, jeez, they're such a stretch.)
3. Almost every week the plotline involves someone getting into physical danger and then someone saving their butt. BORING!
4. Stupid un-funny things like Homer swordfighting with a motorcycle. Who thought THAT was a good idea.
The Simpsons went out with a wimper. There was some point when I just stopped paying attention to whether this week's episode was new or a rerun and stopped caring what time it was on anymore.
Apparently it's better to fade away (and milk the product tie-ins) that to burn out.
I want a PDA that externally looks EXACTLY like a Trek TOS communicator, makes the same noise when flipped open (which you could turn off) and is a cell phone hybrid.
As far as other features...
On the inside it would have a blackberry-like keyboard.
A color screen that can be set to BW/Greyscale to save battery power.
Under $400
Rechargeable batteries
Can dial in to existing ISP.
Decent choice of cell plan options.
Built-in digital camera
Built-in voice recorder
Lots of memory for those MP3s and digital pix.
Headphone jack for playing mp3's or hands-free cellular
While I probably fall into the "gee-whiz technogeek" category I would think that there is a 4th category: A person who needs or wants both a cell-phone and a pda yet doesn't want to carry more than one device around. I always chuckle when I see a person with a pda, pager and cell phone strapped to their waist. What a pain!.
I carry my still-working PalmIII constantly mostly for the calendar, contact and to do list. Sometimes I find myself in need of a cell phone, but not often enough that I want to carry *another* device around. When my PalmIII finally dies on me I just hope there are even more options for a multi-purpose device and that the price has come down.
I'd like to see something along these lines...
Standard handheld functions(Open mind on the OS)
Synchs with Linux and Windoze
Mini Keyboard a la Blackberry
Graffiti-type input also
Cell Phone
Can run Java Apps
Internet Access through my EXISTING ISP (Earthink through cable company at home. Don't want to pay multiple times for Internet Access and don't need 'always on')
Decent range of choices for cell plan
Battery life that doesn't suck
Non-proprietary memory card options
Less than $350
Heck, shape it like a Star Trek TOS communicator and have it make the same sound when you flip it open and I'll buy it today!-- guess that proves the "geek" part of "techno-geek"
A company in Denver has announced the first 802.11 wireless bathroom. Now people can IM others if they're out of toilet paper, can hold "urinal cigarette butt destruction" competitions and discuss the best graffiti in the stalls with each other!
This seems to rank right up there with the internet-enabled toaster for me. Sounds like a solution in search of a problem.
I own tons of books, both hardcover and paperback and even have a dream of quitting IT, opening a used book store and wallowing in happy poverty. Aaaaaah. One of my favorite smells in the entire world is "old book smell".
That said, I always have an e-book on my Pilot.
Waiting in line to return something at a store? I've got a book to read. Bored at lunch? I've got a book to read. You get the picture. Will it replace paper books for me... never. Does it have it's place... absolutely.
And now the recommendations. You know the "Wizard of Oz." There are actually 40 books in that series (from 1900 - 1965) and many of them are available free on-line in English, Japanese and Esperanto. Legal to download AFAIK as the oldest aren't restricted by copyright laws anymore. The only drawback is that the Illustrations in the dead tree versions are half the fun and the English e-versions are simple txt files.
More info on the OZ series and links to the downloads are available at http://www.welcometooz.net
And of course Project Gutenberg has plenty of free e-texts available for download. http://www.gutenberg.org
Slashdot Mirror
...that's smudging the keys on the keyboard
"Ooooh and I'll bet you have a huge hard drive." she says as she slips her hand inside my pants...
As a native Missourian here are some pros and cons mostly focusing on my native St. Louis.
Pros
Low cost of living
Lots of cool stuff in KC and 'tha Lou'
Branson (depends on your opinion)
Lake of the Ozarks
spring and fall weather
Canoeing in the rivers
St. Louis Cardinals
KC Barbeque
Blues, Jazz and Ragtime
The U City Loop (St. Louis)
St. Louis Hip Hop scene (if you're into that)
Short commutes
Great Italian and Vietnamese restaurants (St. Louis)
The Arch
Really cheap parking
Really cheap (and many free) events
Chuck Berry lives and performs regularly in St. Louis!!
Plentiful tech jobs
Cons
summer humidity
Lots of rednecks outstate
Lots of meth labs outstate
Branson (depends on your opinion)
winters not quite cold enough for regular winter sports
John Ashcroft
Lousy public transportation (St. Louis)
No more airline hub (St. Louis)
No real mountains (Ozark hills aren't mountains)
No ocean nearby
Urban sprawl
Here are some St. Louis links...
Lowlife Guide to St. Louis http://www.garagepunk.com/lowlifeguide
Built St. Louis (architecture)
http://www.builtstlouis.net/
Riverfront Times (news weekly)
http://riverfronttimes.com/
Playback St. Louis (music scene)
http://playbackstl.com/
St. Louis Gateway Arts (arts and culture)
http://gatewayarts.net/
The Commonspace (all things urban)
http://thecommonspace.org/
St. Louis Restaurants
http://www.saucecafe.com/
I don't know much about Bulgaria. But I'll bet it has lots of unique and interesting things to do as well.
I also question how the parent poster (and people in general) seem to assume that anyone who is interested in protecting the environment is some kind of wacko.
Businesses are successful when they're profitable. Many times it's more profitable to say, dump your companies waste in the river than to dispose of it safely.
Now certainly there are environmentalists that would rather save one little fish than build a sub-division. Those people are extremists.
But it's a fact that power and money are corrupting influences. And we absolutely need people and organizations to work to make sure that our paint isn't filled with lead, our water isn't contaminated by waste from hog farms and our beaches don't have medical trash washing up on them.
The media likes to paint anyone interested in the environment as a wacko as that gets viewers to tune in.
The US has become a country where people think you have to be THIS or THAT. You're either conservative or liberal. You're either an environmental nutcase or you're pro-business.
There are many shades of grey. I want a positive business environment so I and my children have stable jobs AND I want it with clean air. You can have both.
A government like that is certainly more efficient but what happens when the people in charge aren't benevolent and decide that their first priority is something other than keeping the trains running on time. For example say you get some folks in power that are like the Taliban and want to impose their morality and views on the populace because they're serving what they consider a higher cause.
Give me the checks and balances and flaws of a democracy any day. There are more important things than efficiency.
I'd say that in the last 6 months 1 out of every 5 DVDs we've rented has had some sort of skip or scratch, some that we haven't been able to get rid of by cleaning.
Alternately, when we rent VHS tapes, which are cheaper to rent, we don't seem to have that problem.
Also there's a wider selection of movies on VHS at the library to be checked out for free.
Love DVDs but there are still some benefits to VHS.
I'm not the parent's poster but just a guy from the midwest who went to New York expecting the cliche that New Yorkers are rude.
To the contrary, people came up to us asking if we needed help with directions when we were looking at a street map on the corner.
Only once did someone push ahead of us in line (coffee shop) and on a different visit I think we were overcharged by a street vendor.
But for the most part people there were like people anywhere.
I did have a realization while sitting in a SOHO cafe that color didn't seem to matter there. This might be different if I were in some snooty part of NYC or in Harlem or something but in SOHO it didn't seem to matter what race you were. People fit in or not based on fashion sense. And I was a hayseed from the sticks. Fun times though. I liked NY.
U.S. losing competitive edge
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/03/10/hightech.us.ap/ index.html
http://dragontalongames.com/
Cranium is a fun party game but not really the tabletop board game that the original post was requesting. There's no real strategy involved for example. Don't get me wrong, I love playing this game with wifey and her friends but I don't think da boyz and I will bypass Puerto Rico to try to guess a song that someone's humming in Cranium.
Uh, isn't that quote in your sig from Yoda not Spock? And wasn't he 'Mr.' Spock? Doctor Spock wrote books about babies. So you can't get the content of your post OR your sig right. Jeez.
I'll never ever buy a pda without an integrated keypad.
Handwriting recognition software blows.
It stars a young Don Johnson
This from IMDB...
A post-apocalyptic tale based on a novella by Harlan Ellison. A boy communicates telepathically with his dog as they scavenge for food and sex..
Go to http://www.facets.org. I'd recommend calling their 1-800 number as their website blows Tribbles.
http://www.ifilm.com/filmdetail?ifilmid=220487
Warning, it's so funny you may wet your pants.
I think someone even made a flash animation to accompany this audio where goblins trolls and dragons were the players.
I've searched the web and can't find this sound file. Is anyone familiar with it? Would you know where I could go download it?
Just because they chose names that are based on things from history/religion doesn't make the Matrix more meaningful, more sophisticated or a better movie. Face it, The Wack-off-skis took a good thing and cr@pped on it. Just like George Lucas. Where's the filthy critic when you need him?
The babysitter bandit has been bound and gagged by the kids and is laying in front of the TV which is showing the "crappy little elves" program.
When the authorities remove the gag from her mouth she says immediately in a deadpan voice "can you please turn off the television"
The Simpsons jumped the shark long ago... Really, The Simpsons used to be one of the best shows on television ever. I have been watching it since episode one. Now it is an embarrassment with new episodes that just don't generate many laughs (at least in our household.) I heard an interview with one of the shows producers awhile back when he said "we'll need to quit before the show gets stale" or something to that effect. EARTH TO TV EXEC. YOU'RE THERE ALREADY. Here are reasons the Simpons is waaaaay past it's prime. 1. Using celebrity guests as a crutch. (Hey, celebrity guests were funny at first but just about every freakin' week? Come ON!) 2. Plotlines that are way far out. (The Simpons was great in the early years because you could relate to it. Bart getting beat up by the bully, Homer joining the stonecutters etc. Jokes about Otto 'I like to get blotto' busdriver. But now, jeez, they're such a stretch.) 3. Almost every week the plotline involves someone getting into physical danger and then someone saving their butt. BORING! 4. Stupid un-funny things like Homer swordfighting with a motorcycle. Who thought THAT was a good idea. The Simpsons went out with a wimper. There was some point when I just stopped paying attention to whether this week's episode was new or a rerun and stopped caring what time it was on anymore. Apparently it's better to fade away (and milk the product tie-ins) that to burn out.
To me that's like saying "who has the time to cook a meal when there's take-out food."
Sitting down, relaxing, reading a good book. Those are some of the best things in my day. I'm tired of being "on the go" I'd rather be "on the stop"
As to whether it's time to give up paper books for e-versions. Consider the following.
and finally
I carry my still-working PalmIII constantly mostly for the calendar, contact and to do list. Sometimes I find myself in need of a cell phone, but not often enough that I want to carry *another* device around. When my PalmIII finally dies on me I just hope there are even more options for a multi-purpose device and that the price has come down.
I'd like to see something along these lines...
Heck, shape it like a Star Trek TOS communicator and have it make the same sound when you flip it open and I'll buy it today!-- guess that proves the "geek" part of "techno-geek"
AMAZING!!
A company in Denver has announced the first 802.11 wireless bathroom. Now people can IM others if they're out of toilet paper, can hold "urinal cigarette butt destruction" competitions and discuss the best graffiti in the stalls with each other!
This seems to rank right up there with the internet-enabled toaster for me. Sounds like a solution in search of a problem.
I own tons of books, both hardcover and paperback and even have a dream of quitting IT, opening a used book store and wallowing in happy poverty. Aaaaaah. One of my favorite smells in the entire world is "old book smell".
That said, I always have an e-book on my Pilot.
Waiting in line to return something at a store? I've got a book to read. Bored at lunch? I've got a book to read. You get the picture. Will it replace paper books for me... never. Does it have it's place... absolutely.
And now the recommendations. You know the "Wizard of Oz." There are actually 40 books in that series (from 1900 - 1965) and many of them are available free on-line in English, Japanese and Esperanto. Legal to download AFAIK as the oldest aren't restricted by copyright laws anymore. The only drawback is that the Illustrations in the dead tree versions are half the fun and the English e-versions are simple txt files.
More info on the OZ series and links to the downloads are available at http://www.welcometooz.net
And of course Project Gutenberg has plenty of free e-texts available for download. http://www.gutenberg.org
Happy e-reading!