So Ted Kennedy has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, and all the newscasts can talk about concerning this is “Oh those poor Kennedy’s”. However the Kennedy’s are anything but poor and this country has treated them very well. All these so called tragedies with the exception of JFK’s assassination, Bobby Kennedy’s assassination, and the death of Jackie Kennedy were all brought on the Kennedy’s by the Kennedy’s! Like Teds infamous Chappaquiddick incident. They call this a tragedy, it wasn’t. Could it have been a accident, perhaps however the way Ted handled it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Also let’s not forget the tragedy that was John Jr’s plane crash. HA! This was simply a stupid move by a overconfident under experienced pilot. Plus the very way the Kennedy’s originally got there money has been covertly “swept under the rug”. I guess prohibition profiter doesn’t look that great to the American people when running for public office. These events are not tragedies they are just the continuing story that is the Kennedy family.

Yes it appears that a Brit has taken up the ever popular “sport” of studing the effect of violent video games on the human mind, and guess what… Nope he didn’t find that violent video games create violent people. Quite the contrary. However as it has been said in the forums associated with this story this study will probably just be “swept under the rug.” However, maybe this is the start of a turn in the thinking of the scientific community towards violent video games.

It appears that a struggle is occurring between two major computer parts manufactures. Intel and Nvidia are bickering over what is more important the CPU (Intel) Or the GPU (Nvidia). For my money I think a combination of the two are a good way to go, Intel says the same. However Nvidia’s new push is to drop the overall quality of you CPU and put a nicer GPU in you system. They say that this is because today’s modern user uses more graphically intensive applications, and the overall raw processing power of a CPU is wasted. Making the more finite power of a GPU a better choice. (My Interpretation)  I am going to have to disagree with this statement. The modern average user is really not that to dissimilar to users of the past. Most of them use there computers to create various documents to include text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, “research” on the internet, (hint, hint) check there e-mail, etc.. Now perhaps the “research”, and presentation portion could benefit from a more powerful GPU, but overall my money is still on a middle of the road processor respective to when you buy the computer. Now the match-up proposed by Nvidia would probably work good for a mid line gaming system. Why not a top of the line? Because top of the line systems are generally bought by top of the line users, and as such they are going to do more with the system than game. So they will want the raw power provided both a good GPU and CPU.
Just so it is clear I like Nividia cards as a matter of fact my gaming machine at home is currently running Dual GeForce 8800 Ultras in SLI mode. However my processor’s are Twin Dual Core AMD’s running at 2.8 Ghz a piece. So in conclusion I think that Nvidia is trying to be a little elitist with this move. As I stated above you need moderation when it comes to choosing a processor and a GPU.

OK so the EMI music group says that online MP3 file storage is illegal. They have even gone as far as filling a lawsuit against MP3tunes. This is yet another step by corporate interests to limit our digital rights. It is not the fault of MP3Tunes if some users upload illegal MP3′s. I believe that if a person buys a CD (and converts CD to a digital format) or digital file then they have rights to upload this media however they see fit. EMI should go to the source the users who are uploading illegal files. (Not that I agree with the statement that MP3 sharing is illegal) It is much like the current situation with firearms in this country. Those who are against guns want to shutdown the manufactures. NO! Go after the people using the guns in inappropriate ways.

I realize I am behind the news with this one but I recently heard Baracks latest comment about America.

“People in the country hold on to their guns, because they are bitter.”

This is the kind of un-educated bable that splits this country into separate parts. If he wanted to speak of country people and their guns it should have gone somthing like this.

“People in the country hold on to their guns, because there are bears in the county.”

Granted people in the country are shot, however the purpose of guns in the country is not for killing people. Self-defense yes, hunting and subsistence yes, but not for the purpose of killing people. And if Barack Obama spent some legitimate time in the country he might come to understand this, and who knows he might even gain a few votes.

Hopefully all of you know that tax season is upon us again. Oh and just a heads up tax paperwork needs to be filed or at least mailed by tomorrow. Now to the penalty session of this post. It has come to my attention that those of us (myself included) who decide to e-file will receive our tax rebate sooner than those who do not. Perhaps this is because all the data entering has already been done with the e-file and IRS agents don’t need to do as much work. However personally I really don’t like this. As connected as this country is there are still some people who do not have access to the internet. Even with open library access, and internet “cafes”. I don’t believe that these people should be punished simple because the don’t have access to the internet. Now I realize that this issue isn’t as simple as this post makes it to be, but this country is experiencing yet another split in it’s people. Those who have access to the internet and the newest technology, and those who don’t.
Actually I have an Alaska specific example. Here in Alaska Residents receive the Permanent Fund Dividend (Wikipedia). If you file for the PFD online you will receive it a good month or more before those who didn’t. Many less than fortunate persons use the PFD to buy food and supplies for the winter. So you would think that these people should get the Dividend first, but chance are that these same people are those who have limited or no access to the servers in order to submit the electronic paper work to receive the funds.
Now reading this you may say that I am just complaining and quite frankly you would be right. However the first step in solving a problem is identifying the problem. As the saying goes “The squeaky wheel always gets the grease“.

TOO MUCH! Yes that is right I said it. There is to much tech floating around the world today. Man, five years ago I thought I would never say this, but as I see it there is in fact too much tech. When you can plug devices into a USB slot and power a small robot with it, it is time to step back and reassess. When you can have a “war” between media formats (Blu-ray and HD-DVD), and when you can plug just about anything into your iPod and let the device “shack, rattle and roll” there is something wrong. Now I realize with the speed of evolution that technology is at the market may be artificially inflated. With old and new tech on the shelves at the same time, but come on. There has to be some order in this chaos. Plus I believe that part of this new tech craze is simply a ploy to get consumers to go out and buy the hottest accessory this week.

I was reading a story about interesting uses of Wireless chips from the CNET crave. (read the story here.) This article was basically describing the new uses that professors and such are finding fore these useful chips. So I was reading through and got to the end were I found this tantalizing excerpt.

“The group also is experimenting with a sensor pill that patients could swallow and that would then relay information to a doctor.”

This got my conspiracy juices flowing. Now just follow me here. How hard would it be for engineers to take this experimental chip and “mod” it to were it would contain a GPS transceiver. Now perhaps it could be said that this chip would be passed by the bodies digestive system so quickly that the chip would be virtually unusable. However the next step would be to design it to get past the digestive processes of the body. Once again I realize that this sounds like conspiracy banter, but the also said the the computer would never be but into a home because of size constraints and look where that prophecy has gone. So just think about what exactly you are swallowing the next time you take a medication.

Well it seems like MMO’s are becoming the next “.com” craze. In a story by CNET crave Hello Kitty’ MMO goes into beta. For those of you who have never heard of an MMORPG is stands for M.assively M.ultilayer O.nline R.ole P.laying G.ame. (Wikipedia) Ok there are some good MMO’s out there to include

1. World of Warcraft
2. Everquest 2
3. Vanguard – Saga Of Heros
4. and my personal favorite Earth and Beyond (no longer playable ): ).

But not everything can cross the MMO lines. For a while there (and maybe still) there was a craze to speculate that every successful entertainment venture should be made into an MMO. I even heard rumors about a Brothers Grimm MMO, this is ridiculous. This is my predication for this MMO, when it launches there will be a huge player base however in a few months the players will realize that MMO’s are notorious for “grinding”. (a term used to describe the long amounts of time it takes to level in a MMO) I believe that this less than instant gratification will turn many of these players away, and ultimately the game will fail. However I am male which means that I am prone to being wrong.

CNN did a story about Minnesota recently and how is was soooo cold there in a direct quote form the article:The temperature in International Falls, Minnesota, fell to a record 40 below zero Monday, just a few days after the town won a federal trademark officially making it the “Icebox of the Nation”. Nation’s ‘Icebox’ hits record 40 below zero. Quite frankly I am offended by this claim. Why just last week there were places in my own Copper River Basin where the temperature hit 48 below if not colder. There is a reason when William Seward purchased Alaska from the Russians that the American public dubbed it the “Great Icebox”. Once again America forgets about Alaska. Furthermore there are many senators who are talking about the “bridge to nowhere”. That bridge was meant to be built here in Alaska. So if they can remember that fiasco why can’t they remember that 40 below and colder temperatures are very common in many parts of Alaska?

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