The Human Swiss Army Knife is a story about a guy who carries more than 1,000 useful objects on his person using an ingenious suit. And I think it's no coincidence that his name is Crazy Eric. [from Slashdot]

(But don't worry, he does show restraint:

"But if I don't need something, I don't bring it. I used to carry a pedometer, for example, but I've just taken it off. I never found I needed it."

12:43:42 AM  (comments [ ])   

Vandread also continue the "fine" tradition of Japanese anime having really really weird gender problems -- in this case, it's a far-flung future where a group of human colonists somehow get split into male and female societies, and because of this, their gender stereotypes get REALLY fucked up and exaggerated. Which might turn you off from the series at first, which is a shame, because it's pretty damn good. The animation quality reminds me of the quality of many animated movies -- the frame rate seems high, and the art quality is excellent. The combat sequences are all done using CG, and it's better than some CG I've seen -- but it's still not as good as Babylon 5 was, several years ago. The series is presented in widescreen, but it's not anamorphic, so that's pretty irritating if you're not using a standard-sized display.  11:39:51 AM  (comments [ ])   

America, let's review: Bush first gutted our tax structure in blatant favor of the super-wealthy; and then decided to spend that now non-existent money on a war against someone who has sort of a passing connection to Al Qaeda, but more importantly, made his daddy look bad. So why did you decide to give him more rope to hang us with? We're not talking about moderate fiscal conservative Repulicanism here -- we're talking about a scary Fundamentalist (or better yet, in the pocket of Enron, etc.) judiciary that's a hair's breadth aways from being installed.

And while we're at it, what the FUCK is up with the Democratic "leadership"? You're behaving like polls and focus groups are the only guidance that's worth a damn, which leaves you looking wishy-washy and without any clear direction. You don't seem to stand for anything, and your constituency is responding to that -- by not voting for you. It's time to get off your goddamned asses.

I thank God my wife is getting into politics, because she's going to be part of what turns this around. Mark my goddamned words.  11:29:52 AM  (comments [ ])   

I personally took advantage of Texas's surprisingly nice early voting system, and voted last Thursday. This was handy, since I ended up having to get my ass on a plane for a last minute trip to California. My lefty proclivities have been duly registered with the system, and yours should be too. :)  9:10:39 AM  (comments [ ])   

October 30, 2002
Fun with sample bugs: "I would just like to say that Programmer Longhair's attitude is quite inappropriate..."

[Joel on Software]

4:27:01 PM  (comments [ ])   

Russia: Dial 'H' for Hostage
A Russian dancer held captive in the recent standoff with Chechen rebels uses his cell phone to post a message to the world. Neither his captors nor government censors can stop him. Sergey Kuznetsov reports from Moscow. [Wired News]

3:25:29 PM  (comments [ ])   

bard (v.) 2. To cover (meat) in thin pieces of bacon or fat to preserve moisture during cooking.  3:16:25 PM  (comments [ ])