Lot of buzz this week about a compound found in Serbia that matches a description of kryptonite (http://tinyurl.com/2ohfnr) seen in the movie, Superman Returns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_Returns). Very cool, except the description was not of kryptonite.
First, in the movie, the kryptonite was clearly inside the meteorite on display, but did not form the entirety of the meteorite. Lex Luthor used special optics to spot the green k inside the rock, and his boy Kumar cracked the rock open to get at the deadly center. The chemical description was of the rock that surrounded the kryptonite, not the kryptonite itself.
Second, Lex Luthor can read. If that compound really was kryptonite, he wouldn't need special equipment to spot it; he could've just used his eyes.
I know I told people not to waste their time on Superman Returns (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2006/07/back-from-superman-returns.html), but maybe some of you should so you can stop wasting everyone else's time with uninformed topics of interest.
It certainly looks that way. Check out all that delicious looking sushi, and believe me, it is delicious. But surprise, it's not sushi! Nope, it's actually cookies and candies shaped and decorated as sushi (http://www.kookisushi.com/) the only thing authentic about these snacks is the rice. Not as succulent as the real deal, but plenty sweet and good. Thanks mom!
She pushed me (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2006/03/links-in-ink-ii.html) to create Links in Ink (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/search?q=%22links+in+ink%22) before jumping on the ink blog bandwagon herself. And now Cheryl "Jezlyn" Lindo's (http://jezlyn.wordpress.com/) recent gadget blogging rampage has earned her some link love from Gizmodo (http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/feature/frankenreview-ten-takes-on-the-sandisk-sansa-connect-253147.php) for her review of the Sandisk Sansa Connect (http://jezlyn.wordpress.com/2007/04/12/sansa-connect-review-mind-map-version/), alongside the likes of CNet, Wired and LAPTOP. Here's hoping the link leads to further exposure of ink blogging (a few more ink entries would help Ms. Jezlyn.)
A very nice lady at work informed me that today, April 17, is the actual birthday of Jesus. No, not my friend from Puerto Rico (actually he's from El Salvador), but the big guy for whom he is named.
According to astronomer Michael Molnar (http://www.eclipse.net/~molnar/), the Star of Bethlehem may have been a rare double eclipse of Jupiter. The second of the two occurred on April 17, 6 B.C. Per Roman astrology, the event would be interpreted to signal the birth of a great king, perhaps a king of kings.
At any rate, this possibly makes this an auspicious day to have been born. Good to know.
[photo] Actually, it looks closer to an eighth, but where's the poetry with that title? Anyway, a very thoughtful co-worker brought in a poundcake (Quarter Poundcake) to celebrate someone's birthday after reading on his blog that he liked poundcake. Normally, this photo would be of an empty pan, but there were also brownies, a birthday cake and a coinciding spring luncheon. Still, I'm not one to let poundcake go to waste, so say "good-bye" to this quarter-pounder.
That's right, people - my seafood avoidance crusade has just surpassed the one-year mark. Only 49 more years to go, barring advancements in sustainable aquaculture that substantially lift the burden from our overtaxed oceans.
I've tutored quite a few high schoolers the past few years, at least two who have gone on to Virginia Tech (http://tinyurl.com/2to9tf). I can only hope they were not among the unfortunates lost to a gunman today. It's tragic that such violence occurs anywhere, but the pain is extra sharp when it unfolds around young minds working for a better future.
I admit I don't know much about Paul Wolfowitz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Wolfowitz), but I do know it's bad timing that the same week he, as president of the World Bank (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank), announced that aid to poor nations would be down (http://tinyurl.com/2r5yfq), it was revealed that he arranged for a 30% pay raise for his girlfriend (http://tinyurl.com/38ofwq), tax-exempt. When asked if he would resign, he stated "This is important work and I intend to continue it.", also ill-timed when your work includes announcing less aid for poor nations.
In a report (http://securityandclimate.cna.org/) from a national security think-tank, The CNA Corporation (http://www.cna.org/), several top ex-military leaders claim climate change is detrimental to our national security. It seems they recognize our dependence on fossil fuels and the negative effects of climate change in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East run against our national interest. I think it states the obvious, but then again, I always thought unnatural warming and oxygen depletion were bad.
Bees are disappearing across the U.S. and Europe, which is bad news for those of who eat food. Without bees to pollinate crops, our food production levels are in danger of serious decline. Scientists believe radiation from cell phones (http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/wildlife/article2449968.ece) may be to blame for the unexplained disappearances. Sounds like another strike against mobile phones to me.
"We embrace the art of blogging in our own handwriting as a personalized form of expression unhindered by prosaic fonts and fixed keyboards. We present this code of conduct in hopes it will encourage others to embrace the virtues of truly personal expression and open conversation.
1. Our words our hands: We are responsible for our own words for they are written by our own hands. We cannot hide behind the anonymity of text.
2. We will write whatever we please: Handwriting is as personal as speech and even more thoughtful.
3. We respond as we deem fit: As our blog commenting systems are rarely our own to program, we are free to respond to comments in rigid text or in freshly inked entries.
4. We must be benevolent to the inkless masses: Those who cannot put pen to screen deserve our compassion. Those who do not understand it deserve education. Those who choose to remain ignorant deserve ignorance.
5. We do not respect anonymous comments: Comments left without identity are words without life. They may sit to encourage new life or be excised to prevent further decay.
6. We laugh at the trolls: Never encourage them. Feel free to ignore them. But if you have the time, go ahead and mock them. They're stupid and lazy, so it's easy to make fun of them, so long as it's fun for you.
Look, I find death threats (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6499095.stm) as abhorrent as the next guy does (assuming the next guy is not Osama bin Laden), but all this noise about blog etiquette and a code of conduct (http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/04/draft_bloggers_1.html) for blogging makes me wonder if the guys backing these ideas have forgotten that blogs exist on the INTERNET!!! (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2006/10/blogs-and-integrity.html)
Like a tasty breakfast, the information superhighway is artery-clogged with porn and spam. Either accept it or get off the road, but don't add to the mess with your delusions of grandeur, thinking you can purify the virtual world like cyber-saviors handing down rules of the road from Mount Sinai. You want to hand out badges? Forget that -- I don't need no stinking badges!
What? Too many mixed metaphors? Okay, bottom line: a blog is just an easily updated website; a blogger is a dude or chick who maintains such a site; the title of "blogger" is nothing special. Get over yourselves.
By contrast, the title of "ink blogger" (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/search?q=%22ink+blogger%22) is very special because A) few individuals have earned this distinction and B) we post in our own handwriting, ensuring our blogs are uniquely our own. Perhaps we should have our own code... yes, an ink blogger's code of conduct... (http://tinyurl.com/2382s9)
"I know you don't prep your emergency ship unless there's a f-----n' emergency"-Riddick from Pitch Black (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0134847/quotes)
Likewise, you don't extend standard tours to 15 months (http://tinyurl.com/2up2xp) to ensure 12 month breaks between tours unless you plan on maintaining current troop deployment levels for more than 27 months. Well, as the President said, success will take months. He just forgot to specify he meant dozens and dozens of months.
