Walmart strikes

Florida teen finds rocks in Nintendo DS box.The troubling discovery prompted the Florida woman to contact the local Wal-Mart where she bought the curious box and complain, but reportedly workers there told her it wasn't their problem and that she should contact Nintendo instead. Of course, Nintendo told her roughly the same thing, leaving mother and son with a $138 box of rocks. "They don't want to do nothing. They want me to keep the box of rocks. I'm not buying a box of rocks for $138," she said. Walmart gave in and refunded money when another customer had box with rocks in it as well. Anyone surprised to hear them say (yet again) not our problem?

Microholographic

General Electric said:they have developed a new CD-ROM, it will not be cheap more than 10 cents / 1GB, but a great amount of storage capacity equivalent to 100 DVD.

my best friends died tonight

one of my best friends died tonight. aaron huffstetler. we've been friends for about 16 years, and we shared a lot of memories and a lot of life together. he was a good man and a good husband and a good father. and he was the kind of man who just knew when to show up. he knew how to laugh, he knew how to open up his home, he knew how to be generous, and he knew how to be a good friend. he carried me in those quiet ways that only those who have logged a lot of years with you know how to do. he loved my music and came out to hear me play every time I had a gig. he came to my birthday parties. he had every record I've ever made, and he would talk to me about them. he had beautiful children, and I told him that every time I saw him.I've lost a few best friends now, I really have, and to be honest, I'm really angry about it. and I'm really sad about it, too. I held aaron's widow, ashleigh, tonight, for a really long time. I told her I was so sorry. and I just stood there with her for a really long time as her body heaved in grief. I hugged aaron's parents and I told them I was sorry, too. I hugged my friend frank and I told him that if he dies that I am going to fucking lose it. and then I told him that I loved him. and then I went home and drank a bottle of wine and sat with my dogs and I've been playing piano (as frank predicted) for several hours now. brooke has been good to me. she has been quietly staying with me, even though I've been angry and upset and unkind to her.tonight is a dark night. and I'm tired of people telling me that they are praying for me. aaron was my friend, and he never fed me any bullshit like that. thinking about that, and missing aaron, and weeping as I type.and missing my friend.

Bosnia's future

Could fighting resume?A JOKE doing the rounds has it that nothing can succeed in Bosnia, not even a crisis. Pessimists note that Yugoslavs used to tell a similar joke in the 1980s. One diplomat believes that Bosnias gridlock has got so bad, and the political atmosphere so poisonous, that for the first time since 1995 the unthinkable of renewed fighting is thinkable once again. This does not mean a new war is imminent. But conflict is now a distinct possibility. On March 27th Miroslav Lajcak, the new Slovak foreign minister, held a party for Valentin Inzko, his Austrian successor as the international high representative in Bosnia. He is the fourth man who is due to be the last in his job. Yet at least until the end of the year, his powerful office will stay open. After that Mr Inzko is meant to remain only in his capacity as the European Unions special representative, with no legal powers.

An Open Letter

Dear Senator Obama,When I received an email from you (yes, from you directly, not from "The Obama Campaign" or anything like that) inviting me to apply for an Obama Organizing Fellowship, I was thrilled.First of all, I was thrilled that you had even thought to ask me to apply in the first place. Secondly, I was very excited about the opportunity to potentially work on your campaign, thanks to the generosity of your Fellowship Program.I'll tell you; I seriously considered applying, even though I knew that fellowships didn't tend to pay much and that it would mean living in penury a while longer. I would continue eating cheese-and-mustard sandwiches if it meant I got to work for you.Then I clicked on the link and discovered that your fellowships were, in fact, unpaid. They also required a minimum of 30 hours/week time commitment. Senator Obama, you do realize that asking the young people of this country (as I assumed your fellowship was intended for students, since it was a summer program only) -- you do realize that asking the young people of this country to apply for unpaid, nearly full-time positions on your campaign will only appeal to a particular subset of applicants, don't you?Your Organizing Fellows will be a collection of the well-heeled, with a few kids here or there who are practically going bankrupt doing this and trying to hide it. The fact that you didn't at least offer minimum wage, that you didn't at all try to make this opportunity possible for the students who have to work through the summers, who can't make it on a full-time volunteer gig, breaks my heart.The fact that you are offering "fellowships" that in truth must be paid out by either the parents of these students or by the students' own credit cards and loans, astounds me.No doubt this kind of thing happens all the time; asking for campaign volunteers is no big deal, in fact, and I've got no problem with that.But you called it a fellowship, and insisted it be a full-time commitment. Next time, just call it an unpaid internship and have done with it. At least the poor students of America won't get their hopes up.Yours sincerely,Blue

Madeley

Arrived in Melbourne around midday.Things (in this case car hire) are always more expensive than you expect. Not to worry, this trip is on Kevin Rudd. We're helping to support the Australian economy!The Coles and the IGA we stopped at were both closed (public holidays!), thankfully a Subway and a Baker's Delight were both open, otherwise we would not have eaten since breakfast.The gig was pretty awesome. One of the support acts (Skipping Girl Vinegar) were fun, we bought their album. Tim Freedman turned up with secret Whitlams (he ran into enough people who'd toured with the Whitlams previously in a pub last night, and convinced them to come and play, that he could have a whole band). Missy Higgins was really super awesome (and played quite a long set). Unfortunately we froze through, so skipped out on the Cat Empire (sad, but we were completely unprepared for that much cold — coats and a blanket would have been the right choice). Turns out it gets colder in the Yarra Valley than Melbourne-town. BOM tells me it was about 12C. Really we needed Melbourne friends who wanted to come as well, who could have provided the picnic and the blankets.We had 30 minutes of pretty intense country driving to get to where we're staying tonight. I think I'm out of practice driving country, but I've never enjoyed it at night or in an unfamiliar car in an unfamiliar location. Why someone feels the need to tailgate at 85kph through winding valley roads escapes me (sorry, I just wasn't willing to do 100kph when I couldn't see).Anyway, curled up now with a cup of tea and clean hair. Will probably crash soon, since we've been up forever.

Love and Judgment

I do not consider myself a Christian, but I know many do. I did grow up attending Christian Churches from time to time; therefore, I am aware of the Christian teachings. I think many Republicans that consider themselves Christians could stand to reread the Bible and it's teachings. I also think our "so called" Christian SPAMMER could benefit from reading these two verses from the Bible. Romans 14:10 Book of Romans Chapter 14 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat your brother or sister with contempt? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. (NIV) Why do you criticize and pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you look down upon or despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. (AMP) But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. (KJV) Leviticus 19:18 Book of Leviticus Chapter 19 "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD." (NIV) You shall not take revenge or bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. [Matt. 5:43-46; Rom. 12:17, 19.] (AMP) Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD. (KJV)

better to die for something than to live for nothing!

life is really not about achieving your lifelong dreams to be somebody, to make lots of money and to live comfortably with friends in high places. That life is more about making the most of what you have been blessed with, making a difference in the lives of others, and even dying for a cause that is for the greater good of mankind.

An Inconvenient Truthiness

For those of us who chortled at the credits of Al Gore's documentary, a book like David MacKay's Sustainable Energy - without the hot air is welcome reading. Gore undermines his urgency with all those pithy suggestions during the credits such as turning down your thermostat and replacing your light bulbs with CFL's. (Let me get this straight: I put on a sweater around the house, and New York City doesn't get submerged in water?) But the problem with mocking Gore's alarmist film, which won an Oscar and helped him win a Nobel Peace Prize, is that you can't help but get lumped in with the reactionaries who think global warming is a hoax. It's difficult to hold Gore to account (which he richly deserves) without being counterproductive. For stoic centrists, the problem isn't with the notion that the environment is imperiled, it's with the essential truthiness of Gore's pitch. It just rings false that the terrible danger of the world's oceans 'dying' could be averted by buying carbon offsets. What MacKay does is approach the problem with common sense and a calculator. For instance, while wind energy is a fantastic alternative to CO2-emitting power plants, he calculates that there simply isn't enough landmass in a country like the UK to make even a dent in consumption through a switch to wind power. His typical approach is to take the surface area available for offshore wind turbines, calculate the maximum number of turbines that could be squeezed into that area, and total the amount of power those turbines would generate: 120 GW, or 48 kWh/d. That's not even half of the 125 kWh/d consumed by the average European. McKay continues to eviscerate by subtracting from that total area the space you'd need for fishing and shipping lanes, whittling the figure down to 16 kWh/d. Not a very impressive number, considering that you'd still have to cover an area twice the size of Wales with wind turbines to achieve it.As the title implies, McKay's goal is not merely to poke holes in conventional wisdom, but to offer practical solutions. He settles on the following:First, we electrify transport. Electrification both gets transport off fossil fuels, and makes transport more energy-efficient. Second, to supplement solar-thermal heating, we electrify most heating of air and water in buildings using heat pumps, which are four times more efficient than ordinary electrical heaters. Third, we get all the green electricity from a mix of four sources: from our own renewables; perhaps from “clean coal;” perhaps from nuclear; and finally, and with great politeness, from other countries’ renewables.If you like to look at charts and tables and have always found the prevailing eco-math somewhat fuzzy, this book is for you, and in a truly sustainable vein, it's available for free as a pdf. Maybe the ardor of the radicals and the reason of centrists like MacKay will marry, and we'll end up with some genuinely practical solutions for our environmental problems.

Twins Geek Out in Observe and Report

John, left, and Matt Yuan make a curtain call after the March premiere of Observe and Report in Austin, Texas. The twins play security guards in Jody Hill's twisted comedy, which stars Seth Rogen. Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com From now on, let no one question the benefit of having a solid plan for surviving a zombie apocalypse. Aside from the obvious — keeping your brains from becoming finger-food for the undead — a good zombie-fighting plan can also land you a spot in a movie. See also: Review: Observe and Report Delights and Disturbs Seth Rogen Goes From Geeky Comic Hero to 'Super Antihero' That's the way things panned out for John and Matt Yuan, a pair of gun-loving, zombie-hating actors who provide backup to Seth Rogen's bipolar security guard in the brutally funny Observe and Report, which opens Friday. The Yuans basically play themselves in the dark comedy: twin Chinese security guards with a fondness for firepower. The twins had previously worked as security guards for Motorola in Austin, Texas. Director Jody Hill, who knew them from when they logged tapes for a reality TV show he was working on, wrote the part for the Yuans when he realized his movie needed a couple of gun experts. "What's weird is they are expert marksmen, like they're into collecting guns and everything," Hill told Wired.com. "I love 'em. They're great." John and Matt Yuan spoke with Wired.com in an e-mail interview, discussing their love of guns, movies and Dungeons & Dragons, and their simple plan for surviving the zombie apocalypse. Acting was never this easy. John and Matt Yuan play John and Matt Yuen in Observe and Report. Photo: Peter Sorel/Warner Bros. Wired.com: After the Observe and Report premiere in Austin during South by Southwest, there was some awestruck talk about your zombie-fighting plan. What is the plan, and what part did it play in your getting hired for the roles? John Yuan: The plan is to make it to a hardware store near our home. It's a fort, but not an obvious choice like a mall or police station. It has everything we need for short-term survival as well as the tools we'll need to carry the seeds of civilization out of the hellhole that L.A. is going to turn into. Matt Yuan: We hate to say this, because it's kind of our trump card, but yes — Jody did hire us because of our zombie-survival plan. In fact, our plan has gotten us hired dozens of times. John Yuan: Well, that and our Adonis-like physiques. Wired.com: Are you guys widely known as anti-zombie experts? Do you share tactics online, use Twitter to disseminate zombie-fighting tips or anything like that? Are you part of the larger anti-zombie community? Matt Yuan: Our friends and family know us as anti-zombie experts, but we tend not to talk about it too much online. John Yuan: When the dead rise, the power's going out. A plan on the internet doesn't do you much good then. Matt Yuan: So we spread our plan verbally, face-to-face, with people we know we can trust. John Yuan: Sort of like Johnny Appleseed, but with shotguns. Wired.com: Did you ever think your knowledge of firearms and zombies would land you a spot in a major movie? John Yuan: We didn't think so, but we certainly hoped so since yelling, "I told you so!" to the few survivors of the [zombie] aftermath seemed kind of a petty way to get recognition for all of this hard work. Wired.com: What's in your arsenal? How many weapons do you have, and what's best for killing zombies? Matt Yuan: We go for practical over tactical, so our arsenal looks like the props room for Escape From New York. John Yuan: Pipes, chains, bats with rusty nails, mini-chandeliers. Matt Yuan: As far as what's best for killing zombies, you're never going to get them all. It's just not possible. So the best alternative, really, is just to make friends with really slow, clumsy people. Wired.com: Why are you so concerned about zombies? John Yuan: 'Cause we're kind of phobic about being eaten alive? Wired.com: What was the coolest part about working as actual security guards at Motorola? What was the worst part? John Yuan: The coolest part was the people. We worked with a great bunch of people at Motorola who knew how ridiculous the whole job was. Matt Yuan: It was more M*A*S*H than Paul Blart. John Yuan: And the worst part? The raccoons. If we tried to give them warning tickets, they'd give us rabies. So they got to do whatever they wanted. Wired.com: How old are you two? Are you identical twins? Matt Yuan: We're 35 and we've been told we're fraternal twins, but we're only taking the doctor's word for it. Wired.com: Observe and Report was your first big picture, but you guys ended up lighting up the scenes you're in. Is acting a full-time job for you? John Yuan: Thanks for the kind words. We actually think Aziz had the best scene in the film, but it's nice to know folks enjoyed our presence. Although acting is great, we are primarily writers — mainly because we're funny-looking, can't sing and can only dance a little. Wired.com: Please tell me a little about your personal lives. I think Jody said you guys live together. Matt Yuan: We do live together — rent's cheaper that way. John Yuan: We're also the only roommates we can trust not to butcher us in our sleep for our kidneys and retinas. Wired.com: Are either of you married? Matt Yuan: Hmm.... Let's think about this.... We read comic books, obsess over zombies, and still know the THAC0 of a Level 4 thief from D&D (the first version).... Surprise, surprise! We're still single, ladies! Wired.com: Do you guys go everywhere together? Any special twin bonding or anything? Matt Yuan: Everywhere except where pants come off. John Yuan: That's the line. As far as the twin bonding thing, we don't have telepathy or anything. Just an unspoken language that travels through mind waves alone. Wired.com: Do you guys do any social networking online? Do you have Facebook, Twitter or MySpace accounts, for instance? John Yuan: Facebook. We still use dialup, so MySpace crashes us like a drunken NASCAR driver and Twitter sounds like some sort of meth-head thing. Wired.com: Did you enjoy working with Jody, Seth Rogen and the rest of the Observe and Report cast and crew? John Yuan: Absolutely. Everyone was so great during those nine weeks in Albuquerque we still can't believe they paid us to do it. Matt Yuan: Everyone from the PAs to the producers were an absolute joy to be around. We probably made pests of ourselves, but they were too polite to mention it. Wired.com: You guys looked quite at ease firing rounds into targets on the shooting range in the movie. Did you feel like you were basically playing yourselves? Matt Yuan: That's what Jody wanted. John Yuan: Thank God we were able to give it to him. It'd be pretty damn embarrassing for us to screw that acting job up. Matt Yuan: So yeah, that's basically us. Wired.com: Are you guys total movie geeks? What's your favorite kind of movie? Matt Yuan: Everyone in our family is a film geek, kind of. Our mom brought us to watch all the horror movies. Our dad brought us to watch anything where shit blew up. And our brother got us to watch everything else. So we don't have a favorite type of movie, just favorite examples of particular genres. Wired.com: You mentioned writing and shooting your own movie. Can you give me some details on that? What was it about? What did each of you do? Was it released theatrically? Where can Wired.com readers get a copy? John Yuan: We wrote something previously, but someone else footed the bill for it. It was a microbudget (make that "no-budget") straight-to-video zombie flick that was pretty awful, but only because they made us take all the humor out of it and replace it with stuff like killing and blood and gore. We suppose it was pretty naive of us to think that people would rent a zombie flick for the jokes. Wired.com: Anything exciting happen in the weeks after the premiere? Job opportunities, marriage proposals, etc.? Matt Yuan: We've had a lot of interest in our screenplays since the premiere, which is nice. Oh, and Wired interviewed us! John Yuan: And no marriage proposals yet, but I'm pretty sure Cameron Diaz will figure out that neither one of us will stay single forever, so she'd better hurry up and grab one of us while she can! Wired.com: What's next for you two? John Yuan: We have a few screenplays out there and maybe there will be some more acting. We're certainly niche actors, but hey, if near-sighted, machine-gun-shooting Chinese twins are the next big thing, we're set!

Reflections on Virginia Tech

A senseless massacre that teaches us nothingA YOUNG man comes into Lucinda Roys office. She is the head of English at Virginia Tech, a university. He is a student whose bloodthirsty creative writing has set off alarm bells. He insists that his teacher is over-reacting. He is not really angry, he says. His poetry is satirical; it is supposed to make people laugh. His sunglasses and cap half-hide his face. He speaks in the softest voice I have ever heard coming from a full-grown man, says Ms Roy, so soft in fact that I have to lean forward to hear him.That was in October 2005. Eighteen months later the young man shot and killed 32 people, mostly fellow students, without uttering a word. Then he killed himself. As the second anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre approaches, crazed gunmen are in the news again. A jobless man in New York state murdered 13 people on April 3rd. A jilted husband shot up a nursing home in North Carolina on March 29th. Why do such horrors happen? Some people are turning to Ms Roys new memoir to find out.

Fantasy Baseball

I know there has to be legions of folks out there that share Stan's and my pain when it comes to fantasy sports. Fantasy Football is life. We talk about it constantly and try to make it relevant year round. Does it really matter how playoff performances will impact next season's draft or how the combine ups rookies chances of getting first year playing time? Not really, but it doesn't mean it's not worth droning on about it. We love it.Unfortunately, we split views on the rest of the fantasy sports. Stan doesn't bother to trudge through half-assed efforts in fantasy hoops and baseball. I on the other hand tend to waver back and forth. Typically, it seems much better to play something than nothing at all. The big problem is, it just isn't that fun. The daily games are super annoying, because you constantly have to fill the roster with whatever burlap bags of heavy sand you carry on your bloated roster. In fantasy football, you get to ponder over matchups all week to tweak it for the perfect balance of your best guys. Basketball and baseball involve braindead clicking all the fucking time and it's so unbearably monotonous. Sure, you can make a big trade here and there and pick up a semi-fun gamble like a Devin Harris as the Nets' fill-in for Jason Kidd at the point, but it doesn't change the fact tht you're starting dead weight on a nightly basis.Anyway, what is the longwinded point of all this? Well, it's time to gear up for fantasy baseball and we can only assume some of you out there can't decide if you want to invest in 5 months of tedious roster filling and laying in the lowly 10-12th place puddle like a bum drunk on Prestone. So, we have a couple of suggestions of ways to make your season somewhat more interesting, particularly if you don't really know shit about playing fantasy baseball. There's the obvious, but always fun strategies like the regional approach (i.e., all Asians), the all-whites, the jaded pasts, and so on, but here's a couple new ones. Keep in mind, it won't be easy to draft all these guys, so you might need to muscle your into these teams. Here we go...The Van HalensWhat you give up in creativity here, you make up in leather pants and sick finger tapping guitar solos. Plus, this one gives you a strong theme and a good team. The rules are simple; you can use any instance of the names David Lee Roth, Eddie or Alex Van Halen, Mark Stone, or Michael Anthony. It's that easy. You're looking at a contender here.Potential Quality Players: Alex Rodiriguez, David Wright, Derek Lee, Alex Rios, David Ortiz, Carlos Lee and so on. It's not hard to pull a contender out of this strategy. If you're are overwhelmed by the legions of marginal MLB talent, this is not all that bad of a strategy to weed out the universe a bit.You can actually employ this approach to a countless number of your favorite themes. Let's try one more.The Island Made Me Do ItYou had to see this one coming. This is the exact same idea, but involves the characters from Lost. Unfortunately, there aren't many guys in the league named Sayid, but you can still come out just fine here.This is a little less interesting, but there's a shitload of characters in Lost, so you'll be just fine. Unfortunately, you're forgoing most of the chicks here as Kate and Claire aren't gonna do much for you in fantasy seamball. Nevertheless, here's some of your options.Potential Quality Players: Jose Reyes (Hurley Reyes), Michael Young (Michael), Ben Sheets (Ben), Aaron Harang (Claire's stupid baby), and John Lackey (Locke)The Lovely LadiesThis gives you a little creativity bonus for the throwback reference to Baseball Stars and you have some decent options to field a good team. With this one you are forced to stick with names that can be used for women. You can do quite well here.Potential Quality Players: Corey Hart, Torii Hunter, Prince Fielder (Prince is ambiguous and also a symbol), Hunter Pence, Adrian Gonzalez, Chris Young, Hanley RamirezThe Little LeaguersThis one is more dumberer, but also fun. You are restricted to soley utilizing players who still retain their 8 year-old names. I always find it somewhat endearing when people never give up on the "y" or the "ie" version of their names, but some people find it appalling. Either way, this is another moderately entertaining option and another potential winner.Potential Quality Players: Chipper Jones, Manny Ramirez, J.J. Putz, Rickie Weeks, Kenji Johjima, Billy Wagner, and Chone Figgins. OK, so Chone Figgins doesn't really belong, but it's a marvelous name, so it had to go somewhere.So, there you have it. Thesse methods provide you with a little entertainment value and more importantly, they provide an excuse as to why you suck so bad. Subscribe to us