Tuesday, November 14, 2006

All Flocked Up


I just downloaded Flock on my Fedora Core 6 box. Ran like a charm with absolutely no problems at all. It has some seriously nifty features which really make it a bit of a competitor to using something like Stumbleupon -- in terms of how fast you can save / blog something and move on to the next.

Only problem so far is that I can't get it to work with my Shadows account or my Blogger beta account (i.e. THIS blog). This was the blog I wanted to use for such, so it makes it a bit difficult. Unfortunately I then need to divert this to some other blogging program. It's got some promise though!

Re-Usable Rockets


After seeing a CNN Article on Jeff Bezos's company, which is apparently bankrolling a whole re-usable rocket program for the purposes of space tourism, I decided to search around a bit.
I ended up running across a whole website on various private, reusable launch vehicle programs (RLV), done by all sorts of people, companies and countries. Even John Carmack (the Doom/Quake programmer guy) has his own space ship.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Incredible Adverts Put Out by Amnesty International


Just "stumbled" on an incredible set of advertisements when stumbling around on stumbleupon. Amnesty International is putting out this ad campaign to let people know that "it may not be happening in front of you, but it's happening."

I think it's a fantastic stab at the problem of raising public awareness on the subject of Human Rights violations, which many people don't even know are happening.

Awareness is only the first step though - as one needs to know what Human Rights are in the first place, so one can know if they're being violated. Which is why the Human Rights campaign that Youth for Human Rights is doing and the Human Rights campaign from the Church of Scientology International is so important -- as it briefs people, and especially children, on what Human Rights are so they can stand up for their rights when violated. Clearly any religion such as Scientology will have an impossible time trying to reach any manner of improvement in the life of its parishioners if human rights violations are happening all over.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Things That Only Happen in the Movies, but Not Real Life

Okay, I found this one on another fellow's stumbleupon page, and found it too good to resist reposting:

From the page: "Did you ever notice that certain things only happen in the movies, but never happen in real life? For example:

1. It is always possible to find a parking spot directly outside or opposite the building you are visiting.
2. When paying for a taxi, don%u2019t look at your wallet as you take out a note. Just grab one out at random and hand it over. It will always be the exact fare.
3. Television news bulletins usually contain a story that affects you personally at the precise moment it%u2019s aired.
4. Creepy music (or satanic chanting) coming from a graveyard should always be closely investigated.
5. Any lock can be picked with a credit card or paperclip in seconds. UNLESS it%u2019s the door to a burning building with a child inside.
6. If you decide to start dancing in the street, everyone you bump into will know all the steps.
7. All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red digital displays so you know exactly when they are going to explode.
8. Should you wish to pass yourself off as a German officer, it will not be necessary to learn to speak German. Simply speaking English with a German accent will do. Similarly, when they are alone, all German soldiers prefer to speak English to each other.
9. Once applied, lipstick will never rub off. Even while scuba diving.
10. The Eiffel Tower can be seen from any window of any building in Paris.
11. Any police officer about to retire from the force will more often than not die on their last day (especially if their family have planned a party). (Caveat: Detectives can only solve a case after they have been suspended from duty).
12. Getaway cars never start first go. But all cop cars do. (They will also slide to a dramatic stop in the midst of a crime scene).
13. If staying in a haunted house, women should investigate any strange noises wearing their most revealing underwear.
14. On a police stake-out, the action will only ever take place when food is being consumed and scalding hot coffees are perched precariously on the dashboard%u2026
15. All grocery shopping involves the purchase of French loaves which will be placed in open brown paper bags (Caveat: when said bags break, only fruit will spill out).
16. Cars never need fuel (unless they%u2019re involved in a pursuit).
17. If you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts, your opponents will wait patiently to attack you one by one by dancing around you in a threatening manner until you have defeated their predecessor.
18. If a microphone is turned on it will immediately feedback.
19. Guns are like disposable razors. If you run out of bullets, just throw the gun away. you will always find another one.
20. All single women have a cat.
21. Cars will explode instantly when struck by a single bullet.
22. No matter how savagely a spaceship is attacked, its internal gravity system is never damaged.
23. If being chased through a city you can usually take cover in a passing St Patrick%u2019s Day parade - at any time of the year.
24. The ventilation system of any building is the perfect hiding place. Nobody will ever think of looking for you in there and you can travel to any other part of the building undetected.
25. You will survive any battle in any war UNLESS you show someone a picture of your sweetheart back home.
26. Prostitutes always look like Julia Roberts or Jamie Lee Curtis. They have expensive clothes and nice apartments but no pimps. They are friendly with the shopkeepers in their neighbourhood who don%u2019t mind at all what the girl does for a living.
27. A single match is usually sufficient to light up a room the size of a football stadium.
28. It is not necessary to say %u201CHello%u201D or %u201CGoodbye%u201D when beginning a telephone conversation. A disconnected call can always be restored by frantically beating the cradle and saying %u201CHello? Hello?%u201D repeatedly.
29. One man shooting at 20 men has a better chance of killing them all than 20 men firing at once (this is known as Stallone%u2019s Law).
30. When you turn out the light to go to bed, everything in you room will still be visible, just slightly bluish.
31. Plain or even ugly girls can become movie star pretty simply by removing their glasses and rearranging their hair.
32. Rather than wasting bullets, megalomaniacs prefer to kill their enemies with complicated devices incorporating fuses, pulleys, deadly gases, lasers and man-eating sharks.
33. All beds have special L-shaped sheets that reach to armpit level on a woman but only up to the waist of the man lying beside her.
34. Anyone can land a 747 as long as there is someone in the control tower to talk you down.
35. During all police investigations it will be necessary to visit a strip club at least once.
36. You can always find a chainsaw when you need one.
37. Most musical instruments (especially wind instruments and accordions) can be played without moving your fingers.

Friday, November 10, 2006

That Bike Racing Photo

Well, I did end up finding a way to get this mountain biker photo uploaded. It's a little low-res, but fine -- you get the idea.

I used to be totally in to the whole mountain bike racer thing, actually was fairly good at it for a while, despite mediocre equipment. Found that it was a great way to get out and fill my lungs with some air, and also promote Scientology and Dianetics at the same time.

Scientology Racing Team

I just found an old photo of my friends and I when I was on a Scientology bike racing team on the east coast. Stopped when I moved out here. Wish I could upload this thing...it's a nice photo. I get an error, however, every time I attempt to upload it. Firewall issues? Not sure. You'd think a network engineer would be able to work out how to upload a photo to a blog. I used to have a whole site I kept updated with photos and such. Oh, well.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Scientology Mission in Aurora, Colorado

The Church of Scientology Mission of Aurora, who recently posted a website and a blog, is yet another mission which is popping up around the Church of Scientology of Denver in Colorado. It joins the Scientology Mission of Englewood and another one Scientology Mission in Boulder to add to the growing Scientology population in the mountain states.