The fourth amendments has been chipped away for a number of years. Supreme court rulings that any passenger in a vehicle can be searched without probable cause for example. Probable cause simply means that there is some indication that a person has violated some law. It shouldn’t mean that just because a passenger is occupying a vehicle of someone who is being investigated means that they lose their rights. Click the link for more detail in the issue.
Tomorrow, July 8th, Congress is about to vote on a FISA bill, which essentially upturns the very fundamental requirement that requires a warrant according to our constitution.
Back in the day when I walked two miles to school in the snow, uphill, both ways, year round– the game of choice, late Friday every night, was quarters. A simple game, a hard top table, a cup or glass and beer. Shot glasses and Tequila for the adventurous. It was quite popular, supplanting the older games of loser drinks, insert activity here, or winner chooses who drinks, insert activity here. The equipment was simple every day objects and a lack of imagination. Perfect for college in other words. In high school the game of choice was called buying beer, which for those keeping track, er, never mind.
It seems I’m not the only one who enjoys a good drive through Norwalk, and I like the cheesy brakes sound effect, especially over the speed bumps. This youtube clip is form a regular reader, enjoy.
It seems I’m not alone in loathing voicemail. For many of the same reasons listed in a techie blog article excerpted below:
But now an increasing number of people are just plain avoiding voicemail (for my impromptu and unscientific survey, see the comments here, which are predominantly anti-voicemail). It takes much longer to listen to a message than read it. And voicemail is usually outside of our typical workflow, making it hard to forward or reply to easily.
Today I have carefully selected clips from and you get to match the clip to the post they most represent. Using wonder twin powers, the posts will be listed in the form of multiple choice to make it easier, and thus raise test scores, but feel free to insert your own.
It’s not just species of plants and animals that are on their way to extinction. According to Armin Reller, a materials chemist from the University of Augsbirg, gallium is on its way to extinction in a few years. Not just gallium, hafnium is predicted to be all gone by 2017, indium couild be gone in less than a decade. Obscure elements yes, but zinc, used widely in cars and computers looks threatened by 2037.
Lately I’ve been noticing more innocent comments being tagged as spam in the spam filter queue. This site, like most blogs, recieves a heady amount of spam attacks because the comments are open. As a result, comments that should automatically appear are being lost due to the fact that I don’t read the spam queue. Today it wasn’t too bad so I did glance through the spam queue, caught a couple of comments and moved them over. But then I sort of was amazed at what some of the spam was targeting.
Whilst the Common Council was busy hearing about the afflicted quality of life living next to industrial neighborhoods, I was traveling north to Boston. In the old days, along the Eisenhower Interstate, big signs would welcome you to the next state, often the only discernible way to figure you crossed state lines. Yesterday I didn’t need the sign, the road noise, rattle and jolts of driving through Connecticut immediately stopped, and smooth pothole and rut free lanes of highway beckoned. Connecticut is such a backwater of transportation infrastructure. The high tech companies that line I-495 all have easy access to the commuter rail that carries people from and to Boston. All that talk about “taxachusetts”, and it turns out the we in Connecticut pay more and get less.
Over at Washington Monthly, a great blog btw, for the national poltics/ LA / California somewhat lefty-centrist slant, a post about people making sh*t up. Ah, yes, perhaps the blogsphere is on the same page as I am today. Here’s what prompted the post:
Michael Bloomberg did a remarkable thing last Friday; he went to Florida and told Jewish voters that people frequently make sh*t up. His statement was blindingly obvious, yet truly remarkable; given the history of the past twenty years, it’s amazing how rarely voters are given similar warnings. People will lie to you, Bloomberg said.
Ever wonder where you federal tax dollars are really spent? Updated for 2009.
The 2009 version is worlds apart from the 2006 version which may still linger in your neurons. There is so much more in the six square feet of paper this time. Over 500 line items of federal budget awesomeness. Increased accuracy and aesthetics as well. I am really trying to educate the populace on their investment in the government. Especially since the actual numbers differ so much from the rhetoric. Renewable energy spending cut 27% next year! This is important information, and responsible citizens need to know it. It’s my experiment in DIY government over-site.
