Fun With Latin

Here are a few fun phrases in Latin.

Vescere bracis meis - Eat my shorts.

Re vera, potas bene - Say, you sure are drinking a lot.

Noli me vocare. Ego te vocabo - Don't call me. I'll call you.

Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione - I'm not interested in your dopy religious cult.

Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabris, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam. - I have a catapult. Unless you give me all of your money, I will fling an enormous rock at your head.

Balaenae nobis conservandae sunt - Save the whales.

Sic hoc adfixum in obice legere potes, et liberaliter educatus et nimis propinquus ades - If you can read this bumper sticker, you are both very well educated, and much too close.

Re vera, cara mea, mea nil refert - Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.

Diabolus fecit, ut id facerem! - The devil made me do it!

Credidi me felem vidisse! - I tought I taw a puddy tat!

Si fallatis officium, quaestor infitias eat se quicquam scire de factis vestris - If you fail, the secretary will disavow all knowledge of your activities.

Te capiam, cunicule sceleste! - I'll get you, you wascally wabbit!

Certe, toto, sentio nos in kansate non iam adesse - You know, Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.

Me transmitte sursum, caledoni - Beam me up, Scotty .

Oprah Helps Tornado Victim

This is about one of the funniest Oprah skits I have ever seen. Coleton, please to be mad because we are making fun or your hero.

Wii Does It Again!

I read this online and thought I would stick a copy of it here...It will make David and Lucas happy...

From PC Magazine Online.

Nintendo's Wii Is the Best Product Ever

By Lance Ulanoff

Nintendo's Wii gaming console, not yet one year old, could be the best consumer electronics product—ever. In contrast, the Sony PlayStation 3 is shaping up as one of the industry's biggest flops.

Rarely have I seen such extremes in product development and delivery. Nintendo, in my estimation, did everything right. Sony, on the other hand, managed to screw up a decent product in every imaginable way.

I consider myself a Nintendo Wii convert. When I first read Jim Louderback's hands-on review, I was skeptical of the motion-sensitive controllers (the remote and nunchuck) and the wand that you had to place in front or on top of your TV screen. What's more, its graphics sounded awful. How would the Wii compete in a world where, if you're playing NBA 07 on, say a PS3, you could count the sweat droplets on Dwyane Wade's virtual face?

Then the Wii arrived in PC Magazine Labs, and I, along with much of the staff, started playing some of the Wii Sports games bundled with the console. I tried bowling, tennis, boxing, and baseball, and each time, I was surprised by how caught up I got in the whole experience. When it came time to buy a birthday gift for my daughter (one that she'd share with the whole family), the choice was obvious.

To understand why the Wii is outselling the PS3 (and the Microsoft Xbox 360), we need to break down Nintendo's game plan. And, for contrast, we'll examine what Sony did (or should I say didn't do) with the PS3.

Let Go and Think Big: There's a scene in Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope (originally released as Star Wars in 1977), when Luke Skywalker is being trained by Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi to use a lightsaber. Ben tells Luke to "use the force" and "let go of your conscious self and act on instinct." This is what Nintendo obviously did with the Wii. Instead of trying to one-up the competition, it took a moment to imagine a console system that would appeal to everyone.

Sony, on the other hand, seems to have learned nothing from the popularity of the PlayStation 2. Instead, it created a gaming-console monster that has all the elegance and appeal of a coffee enema.

Design: The Wii is small and quiet and fits almost anywhere. The PS3 is huge and is harder to keep out of sight. It looks like a cross between a bug's carapace and a black Volkswagen Beetle. And what's with the logo? The original PS1 and PS2 had, I would say, rather iconic typography. It was cool and instantly recognizable. So what does Sony do? It swaps it out for the Spider-Man movie font. Talk about a sycophantic attempt to cash in. I wonder if Spider-Man 3's somewhat disappointing summer is in any way furthering the PS3's woes.

Keep It Simple: Despite my hesitation about the Wii wand/remote, there's nothing difficult or confusing about it. The remote and nunchuck controllers are intuitive, and the Wii offers tons of on-screen guidance in case you ever get confused. The PS3 offers no comparable controller or innovative ease of use.

Satisfying Game Play: These controls are also at the core of the Wii's success. The motion sensitivity and tactile feedback make this an unprecedented game-playing experience. Everything works as expected. I will never forget playing Wii baseball for the first time. I intuitively picked up the remote and held it like the neck of a bat. My on-screen me (or "Mii") immediately held the bat in a similar position. When I wiggled the bat—à la Gary Sheffield—the Mii did the same. I was in the zone.

I've never been crazy about the game controllers for the GameCube, the Xbox, and the PlayStation. My thumbs always end up hurting, and there are just too many damn buttons. Still, I've gotten used to them. Yet, even here, Sony managed to mess things up. It delivered the PS3 controllers without the vibration in the controller. Thanks to a licensing dispute with Immersion Corp., PS3 controllers now have all the action of the Book Club on C-Span. The dust-up has since been resolved and future controllers could have some sort of vibrotactile feedback, but still, what loon would deliver a 21st-century game system without it?

Don't Overreach: Contrary to popular opinion, the Wii's graphics are not that bad. Many people have formed their opinions based on Wii Sports. This collection of games uses Wii "Mii" characters that feature floating heads, fingerless hands and stick-like legs. Still, you really don't need more, because Wii Sports graphics and virtual physics are quite good when it comes to, say, how the bowling ball and pins interact and how the yellow tennis ball moves on the court. Even so, if you play Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 on the Wii, you'll see graphics almost as rich as you'd find on competing consoles.

Sony seemed to bet everything on integrating a bleeding-edge Blu-ray drive in the PS3, and to what end? I know, it wanted to force-feed the format to what it thought would be millions of PS3 buyers. Instead, it just made the console bigger, heavier, and more expensive than it should have been. Sony reached too far and nearly got its hands chopped off.

Cross-Generational: My children could play video games on the Xbox and GameCube for hours, but while I've played my share of games, I'm no gamer. Honestly, I get bored with all of the constant thumb-pressing. Wii is a different story. I find it thoroughly engaging and have even sneaked in games of Wii Golf when my daughter was asleep. I can actually work up a sweat playing 18 holes on Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, yet I don't worry about suffering thumb cramps. Even my wife, who never plays video games, enjoys Wii bowling. Nintendo figured out how to turn gaming into a family and communal experience.

Backward-Compatible: Bravo to Nintendo for introducing a sub-$300 console that doesn't leave an entire user base in the dust. The Wii comes ready to play all GameCube games and has hidden ports for GameCube controllers. Want to know why I won't buy an Xbox 360? It's not 100-percent backwards compatible, and I worry about how many of my Xbox games would be obsolete on the new console. At least Sony didn't make this blunder with the PS3.

The list of differences goes on, and it's not just me. Look at the recent headlines. The Wii is on track to sell 35 million units by 2012. The PS3, which rolled out days before the Wii, has sold a paltry 1.3 million units in the U.S., and now Sony is laying off workers. Nintendo, on the other hand, can scarcely keep up with demand.

The Wii is penetrating our culture, but few people are talking about the PS3. Look at all the stories about the Wii injuries, which seem to have done nothing to hurt the console's appeal. And the game system is even becoming synonymous with "easy." I'm tempted to call the Wii's public reception almost "Apple iPod-like." We all know Apple's success in launching new brands and product lines. I'd put Nintendo up there, too. Just look at its track record: GameBoy, GameBoy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS Lite.

Heady stuff, but you have to admit the Nintendo Wii is the best product ever, seriously.

iGasm, uGasm, We all Gasm for iGasm

I stole this from cnet.com (I couldn't resist!)

Apple's legal team appears to have its panties in a twist over an unusual subject: sex toys. We all know that there are a few things that Apple likes to keep to itself. Its name, for example--remember that little Beatles spat?

Now, Macworld is reporting that Apple's not, shall we say, excited about an ad campaign for the "iGasm" from naughty-appliance manufacturer Ann Summers. (WARNING: You might not want to click on that link at the office.) It's a little $60 gadget that encourages open-minded consumers to "take your appreciation of music to a whole new level" through a vibrating add-on; we'll leave the rest up to your imagination.

Apple does have a point. The salacious "iGasm" advertisement does look more or less exactly like its easily recognized iPod ads, except that, well, there's something resembling a white earbud cord meandering down to the scantily clad nether regions of the female silhouette depicted.

The promotions, consequently, are rubbing Apple's lawyers the wrong way. They're allegedly demanding that Ann Summers strip down all ads for the iGasm or face legal action.

According to the Brit tabloid News of the World, Ann Summers CEO Jacqueline Gold's response was, "Perhaps I can send them an iGasm to put a smile back on their faces!" CNET News.com has been unable to verify that statement.

A Moment On Earth

This mosaic was created using thousands of images from the different moments that were captured for the first film in the A Moment on Earth™ series. The larger picture it creates shows images from the first moments in Iraq and the Pacific Ocean. You can 'fly' your mouse over the moment and click to see larger images and read about the individual moments.

http://www.momentonearth.com/mosaic/

Las Vegas Adventure

Well, David and I have return from our Las Vegas trip! It was great fun, even though neither of us returned with money busting out of pockets! Here are a few pics from the trip…

And so it begins, the first beer of the trip, 6am Thursday morning!

Black Jack Dave at The Four Queens (I know, I know...)

David and the Neon Blue Shirt at the Golden Nugget .

David on the Plane heading back to OKC.

Star Trek XI Casting Scoop!

From IGN.com

February 26, 2007 - IGN Movies has learned from studio sources which actors may play the Big Three in Paramount's Star Trek XI. By the "Big Three," we mean, of course, Captain James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy.

Confirming rumors that have been making the rounds for some months now, IGN has learned that Oscar winner Matt Damon is indeed in talks with Paramount about playing the role of Jim Kirk, previously immortalized onscreen by Emmy winner William Shatner.

Damon brings star power and an acting pedigree to the role that should convince audiences that this is a serious reboot of the beloved franchise.

For the part of Kirk's Vulcan first officer Mr. Spock, IGN has been told that none other than Oscar winner Adrien Brody (King Kong, The Pianist) is in talks with Paramount to play the role. If cast, Brody would succeed Leonard Nimoy in a role that forever marked Nimoy's career. But with a Best Actor award already under his belt and an eclectic mix of films on his resume, Brody wouldn't have as much to lose by taking on the iconic role as Nimoy had.

IGN has also been told that Oscar nominee Gary Sinise -- currently seen on the small screen in CSI: NY -- is in talks for the role of Dr. McCoy, the ornery and politically incorrect ship's physician aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. McCoy's prickly relationship with Spock was the basis of much of the humor and humanity of the original 1960s series. The late DeForrest Kelley played "Bones" on TV.

Matt Damon, Adrien Brody and Gary Sinise.Golden Globe and Emmy winner Sinise is no stranger to films about space flight, having previously appeared in Apollo 13 and Mission to Mars.

Those are the three actors that our studio insider advised us were the closest to being cast, with Damon's talks said to be further along than the rest. We have also heard of an actor being eyed for the role of Enterprise helmsman Lt. Sulu: Daniel Dae Kim ("Jin Kwon" on Lost). Sulu was played on the classic TV series by George Takei, who can now be seen on Heroes. We should stress, however, that Kim's possible casting is at a far earlier stage than that of the aforementioned three.

Lost, of course, was created and is executive produced by J.J. Abrams, who has just signed on to direct and produce Star Trek XI.Sources also advised IGN that Scottish thesp James McAvoy may indeed be in the mix to play chief engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the film.

Neither Damon's reps at Endeavor nor Brody and Sinise's respective reps at CAA had responded to our inquiries for comment at time of publish.

Don't Eat The Nuggets!

I found this article on www.alnyethelawyerguy.com. Any igredient that is described as a quasiedible substance can't be good for you! It really makes you think twice about eating prepared foods anywhere!!!!

So What Really Is In A McDonald's Chicken McNugget?

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan is a fascinating book that details the changing eating habits of Americans. I can't recommend it highly enough. It explains how, over the last 30 years, we have become a nation that eats vast quantities of corn – much more so than Mexicans, the original "corn people."

Most folks assume that a chicken nugget is just a piece of fried chicken, right? Wrong! Did you know, for example, that a McDonald’s Chicken McNugget is 56% corn?

What else is in a McDonald's Chicken McNugget? Besides corn, and to a lesser extent, chicken, The Omnivore's Dilemma describes all of the thirty-eight ingredients that make up a McNugget – one of which I'll bet you'll never guess. During this part of the book, the author has just ordered a meal from McDonald’s with his family and taken one of the flyers available at McDonald’s called "A Full Serving of Nutrition Facts: Choose the Best Meal for You." These two paragraphs are taken directly from The Omnivore’s Dilemma:

“The ingredients listed in the flyer suggest a lot of thought goes into a nugget, that and a lot of corn. Of the thirty-eight ingredients it takes to make a McNugget, I counted thirteen that can be derived from corn: the corn-fed chicken itself; modified cornstarch (to bind the pulverized chicken meat); mono-, tri-, and diglycerides (emulsifiers, which keep the fats and water from separating); dextrose; lecithin (another emulsifier); chicken broth (to restore some of the flavor that processing leeches out); yellow corn flour and more modified cornstarch (for the batter); cornstarch (a filler); vegetable shortening; partially hydrogenated corn oil; and citric acid as a preservative. A couple of other plants take part in the nugget: There's some wheat in the batter, and on any given day the hydrogenated oil could come from soybeans, canola, or cotton rather than corn, depending on the market price and availability.

According to the handout, McNuggets also contain several completely synthetic ingredients, quasiedible substances that ultimately come not from a corn or soybean field but form a petroleum refinery or chemical plant. These chemicals are what make modern processed food possible, by keeping the organic materials in them from going bad or looking strange after months in the freezer or on the road. Listed first are the "leavening agents": sodium aluminum phosphate, mono-calcium phosphate, sodium acid pyrophosphate, and calcium lactate. These are antioxidants added to keep the various animal and vegetable fats involved in a nugget from turning rancid. Then there are "anti-foaming agents" like dimethylpolysiloxene, added to the cooking oil to keep the starches from binding to air molecules, so as to produce foam during the fry. The problem is evidently grave enough to warrant adding a toxic chemical to the food: According to the Handbook of Food Additives, dimethylpolysiloxene is a suspected carcinogen and an established mutagen, tumorigen, and reproductive effector; it's also flammable. But perhaps the most alarming ingredient in a Chicken McNugget is tertiary butylhydroquinone, or TBHQ, an antioxidant derived from petroleum that is either sprayed directly on the nugget or the inside of the box it comes in to "help preserve freshness." According to A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives, TBHQ is a form of butane (i.e. lighter fluid) the FDA allows processors to use sparingly in our food: It can comprise no more than 0.02 percent of the oil in a nugget. Which is probably just as well, considering that ingesting a single gram of TBHQ can cause "nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse." Ingesting five grams of TBHQ can kill.”

Bet you never thought that was in your chicken McNuggets!

Comic Book Fun

Bruce (I would have put a link to his blog here, but the silly biatch took it down) sent me this link. Even though I am not a big comic book fan, I spent a great deal of time looking and laughing at the content here. The “Seduction of the Innocent” section is the most entertaining!

Mayans to 'cleanse' Bush site

From cnn.com

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (CNN) -- Mayan Indian leaders have vowed to "spiritually cleanse" an ancient site in Guatemala after U.S. President George W. Bush visits during his seven-day, five-nation tour of Latin America.

Bush's visit to the ruins at Iximche, a one-time capital of a Mayan group, is part of an effort to show the administration is interested in all its neighbors in the hemisphere.

But many Mayans are angry that Bush is visiting Iximche, founded as the capital of the Kaqchiqueles kingdom before the Spanish conquest in 1524.

Mayan priests say they will purify the sacred archaeological site to rid it of any "bad spirits" after Bush is there.

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Wii Win, Wii Win, Wii Win, Wii Win, Wii Win

In news that will make David happy, Yahoo is reporting:

Nintendo's Wii game console outsold its competitors in January, keeping its lead against rivals Sony and Microsoft, according to new sales figures from analyst firm NPD.

Nintendo sold 436,000 units during the month, with Sony's previous iteration of its console, the PlayStation 2 coming in second place. Microsoft's Xbox 360 was third, followed by the PlayStation 3.

Nintendo has maintained its lead primarily through ease-of-use, a lower price, and strong game titles at launch time, analysts have said. Sony and Microsoft, in contrast, have tried to develop consoles that are cutting edge, which has increased the price of the units.

Down Not Out

But just because Nintendo is ahead does not mean that its rivals have thrown in the towel. Sony has announced that it is giving away freebies in an attempt to win users to the PlayStation 3 platform. In March, the company will give a Blu-ray Disc version of the movie "Casino Royale" to the first 30,000 Australian PS3 buyers.

It is likely that Sony is attempting to demonstrate why the PlayStation 3 is worth the higher price by showcasing the quality of Blu-ray movies on the console. It remains to be seen, though, whether Australians will agree. Although the device is $600 in the United States, gamers down under will end up paying closer to $750.

In a recent report, TheStreet.com analyst Michael Comeau predicted that Nintendo's momentum should have Microsoft thinking about a price cut for the Xbox 360. But he expects that move could be delayed until 2008, when "surefire hardware mover" Halo 3 is released.

Console Wars

As the console wars rage, it is likely that over the next year, the major manufacturers will keep stressing their benefits over the competition and adding more services and functions. Nintendo, for example, could take advantage of the amusing and anecdotal stories of weight loss as a result of using its Wii controller, noted Forrester Research analyst Paul Jackson.

"Instead of going to the gym, you can just play a game, like boxing or tennis," he said. "There are people who have blogs about losing weight with these games and are proud of how they break a sweat and get their heart rates up."

Could the Wii replace Jared and the Subway sandwich phenomenon as an easy-to-follow, non-gym weight loss plan? Time will tell, but Jackson added that if there is a perceived benefit, Nintendo will likely tout it before long.

"Nintendo already has an excellent start in the marketplace, and has sold a great deal of hardware," he noted. "But to maintain a lead in this industry, you can't rest on your success."

Inconvenient Truth Convenient Location

Transcript Staff Reports
The Norman Transcript

Al Gore, the bestselling author of An Inconvenient Truth and the 45th vice president of the United States, will deliver a presentation on global warming to University of Oklahoma students Thursday, March 1, in Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall of Catlett Music Center, 500 W. Boyd St. Doors will open at 3 p.m. Gore’s presentation will be part of a campus discussion of different points of view on global warming.

Devoting much of his political career to the topic of global warming, Gore in recent years has intensified his efforts both nationally and internationally on environmental protection. He is the author of the bestselling book, An Inconvenient Truth, upon which the major motion picture of the same name was based. The book claimed the No. 1 spot on the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Denver Post and Washington Post bestsellers’ lists. The film based on his book is nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. In addition, Gore talks about what he refers to as our “planetary emergency” or “climate crisis” as a frequent featured guest on some of television’s most watched programs.

“Clearly, the issue of global warming is of major importance to our society and it is appropriate to have an understanding and broad-ranging discussion of the subject on the campus. The view of Vice President Gore will allow our university community to hear first hand from one of the most prominent and active leaders in the entire nation in this field,” OU President David L. Boren said.

The day’s activities will begin with a free, public forum on global warming featuring two OU faculty members with different points of view. The forum, featuring David Deming, associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, and David Karoly, Williams Chair and professor of meteorology, is slated for 1:30 p.m. in Meacham Auditorium of Oklahoma Memorial Union, 900 Asp Ave. Additionally, a President’s Associates dinner and dialogue, featuring Gore, is scheduled for that evening.

Gore’s political career began in 1976 when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984 and was inaugurated as the 45th vice president of the United States in 1993.

Environmental issues have been at the forefront of Gore’s efforts since his days in the House and Senate. He authored an earlier, also bestselling, work on the environment titled Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit (1992); it became the first book written by a sitting senator to make The New York Times bestseller list since John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage. Gore also led the Clinton administration’s efforts to protect the environment. He lectures widely on the topic of global warming.

Gore is a visiting professor at Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, and Fisk University, Nashville, where he teaches courses on family-centered community building.

Gore earned a bachelor of arts degree in government with honors from Harvard University in 1969 and also attended Vanderbilt University’s Divinity School and then law school at Vanderbilt. After graduation, he volunteered for enlistment in the U.S. Army and served in the Vietnam War.

The lecture is open to OU faculty, staff and students, with overflow seating available to the public. For more information and accommodations on the basis of disability, please call OU Special Events at 325-3784.

Yet Another St. Valentine's Day Massacre

Last year for this “special” day, I posted my contemptuous view of this “holiday”. Being somewhat tired today and frankly, since my opinion has not changed, I am just going to reposted it again….

Valentine’s Day has a lengthy history dating back to 500 AD when Pope Gelasius I declared a feast in Saint Valentine’s honor. It didn’t take on its current form until the American marketing engine got a hold of the idea. It has now become synonymous with candy, greeting cards, roses, diamonds, and the clogging of restaurant arteries with happy couples. It will be virtually impossible to dine out tonight without witnessing a barrage of couples starring wide-eyed into one another’s eyes while they sip champagne and share desserts, most likely forgetting that a part of the cost of their meal should include a proper tip for the waiter serving them. This day has become quite the profit center for chocolatiers, florists and other purveyors off love the world over. I however, take a more cynical view of this “Holiday”. I believe this day was created by happy couples with the sole purpose of making those of us who are single feel bad. It is a chance for the joyful couple to rub it in our faces as if to say “See how happy we are and how miserable you are?”

Beer Goggles

Many of us have heard of the so-called "beer goggle" effect. It's the phenomenon that occurs when someone's had a few alcoholic drinks and suddenly, all of those people who looked semi-attractive on entering the bar look really, really appealing. Scientists have shown that it's not just a lowering of standards -- alcohol actually stimulates the part of the brain that judges facial attractiveness.

In 2002, researchers at St. Andrews University and Glasgow University in Scotland took 80 college students and had half of them drink a "moderate" amount of alcohol -- between one and four servings, depending on gender and body weight. The other half, the control group, remained sober. Scientists showed each subject pictures of people of the opposite sex. In all cases -- male and female alike -- the experimental (tipsy) group rated each picture an average of 25 percent more attractive than the sober group did.

The effect can reportedly be traced to the nucleus accumbens. When you're looking at another human being, the nucleus accumbens is the area of the brain that decides how attractive that human being's face is. If you look at, say, George Clooney or Angelina Jolie, this area of your brain probably experiences increased neural firing. In other words, it's stimulated. As it turns out, alcohol, all by itself, stimulates the nucleus accumbens. So when you've have a few drinks, and you look at a face you may have judged as unattractive when you were sober, your brain, under the influence of alcohol, tells you that this face is in fact somewhat attractive. And the increase in perceived attractive seems to be directly proportional to the amount of alcohol consumed.

In a more recent study, this one conducted by researchers at England's Manchester University in 2005, scientists actually came up with a mathematical formula to calculate the extent of the "beer goggle" effect on a given individual in a given situation. Their reasoning for creating this formula is that alcohol is not really the only factor affecting the drunken perception of beauty. Other factors, according to their research, include:

How brightly lit the area is
The observer's eye-sight quality
The amount of smoke in the air
The distance of the observer from the observed

The formula goes like this:

where:

An is the number of servings of alcohol
S is the smokiness of the area on a scale of 0 - 10
L is the lighting level of the area, measured in candelas per square meter, in which 150 is normal room lightning
Vo is Snellen visual acuity, in which 6/6 is normal and 6/12 is the lower limit at which someone is able to drive
d is the distance between the observer and the observed, measured in meters

The formula works out a "beer goggle" score ranging from 1 to 100+. When β = 1, the observer is perceiving the same degree of beauty he or she would perceive in a sober state. At 100+, everybody in the room is a perfect 10

source: BBC News via howstuffworks.com