The Google Oracle

I imagine everyone has seen the "Google will stand up to anyone or anything EXCEPT Islam." meme that is making the rounds...

I was monkeying about with Google this morning and made some interesting observations concerning Google and it's predictive query line...

Here's the meme that I referenced above:
Type in "Catholicism is  " and you get:


No surprise, eh?

But if you type "Islam is " you get:

So Google will self-censor, to avoid pissin' off the Muslims.

Do they give a rat's ass about anyone else?
Let's have a look...

Buddhists playing bagpipes in the bathroom?

No problem.

Scientologists shattering sheetglass in the shithouse?

Nope. Not scared of L. Ron or Tom Cruise.

How about our friends in Tel Aviv?

Now, I'd be concerned about getting a visit from the Mossad, but the boys and girls in Mountain View ain't.

Oh well...

The Google Oracle works on people too...

What do you think it says about George W?

No shocker there, eh?

Well.. Guess what?
Urkel gets the same treatment:

Equal treatment from The Goog. I loves it.

Now, this is interesting:

A surprising result when you key in Laura Bush:


...Versus the same query on the current First Lady:


There are some really whacked-out people with access to the Intarwebz...
Scary, actually.

Other people get the full treatment too...

The chief of staff? Rahm (rhymes with bomb) Emanuel...

You'd never know they used to call him "Twinkletoes"...

Then we have Dead Ted...

Brevity is the soul of wit.

But what does the Oracle think of itself?

No smoking gun there...

It does make you wonder what the definition of "is" is...

If you were thinking of one of the Clintons or of Monica, you can go Google it yourself...

Other entities with interesting results...


Wow. I always thought that it was the happiest place on Earth. Who knew?

One of The Woman and The Perfect Child's favorites:

Hmmmm. Wonder what it would say about "Twilight"?

Another organization close to my heart...

I'm surprised the popular acronym didn't come up...

Perhaps Islamofacists aren't the only thing Googlites are a-skeered of...


Happy Googling!

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Sunday Matinee (No spoilers here)

I made my monthly foray to contribute to the Entertainment Industry's bottom line by taking in a movie.
I had originally planned on seeing Avatar, but after recent revelations regarding Cameron's script notes, I decided to say FTMF and go see something a little more apocalyptic - The Book of Eli.



Just a couple things -

- I loves the Sunday Matinee at Regal- all movies are 5 bucks.
Awesome.

- They are obviously making their dough at the concession counter.
12 bucks for a medium drink and a medium popcorn?
Let me do the ROI on the fountain drink, cup, popcorn and paper bag they serve it in... Add that, multiply those, carry the seven...
11.97 profit on a 12 dollar sale.
Hmmm.
FTMF too.

- 7, count 'em- 7 previews.
26 minutes of coming attractions.
And only one of which I'd probably see.
(Shutter Island)

And finally-

In regards to The Book of Eli-
GO SEE THIS MOVIE.


TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Cats R teh Evil...

The Woman Who Knows Most Things and Yours  Truly were discussing the Gold Old Days when we were owned by a cat.
(As opposed to nowadays where we are slaves to a couple democrats dogs.)

Apparently The Bozi was listening as we regaled ourselves with fond reminiscences of our days with Sebastian, our Russian Blue.
This morning I found a helpful pamphlet sitting next to my laptop when I woke up...


See the full pamphlet after the fold...

TWSS

From SpongeMark SquareHands
PAUL: You made me miss my mouth.
SMSH: That's what she said.

Dude, you need to find a better class of people to hang with...

TBG

Traveling Music

A little mood music for your enjoyment.


(Click to hear song.)
It might be nice to have this playing in a continuous loop at all US Airports.


TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

The GPS Jihad

Testing GPS units out at Ponte Vedra...
It's 31 degrees out here...
Think there will be any 911 calls to the St. Johns SO?
TBG - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

NE Winter Blogmeet

Well...
My trip to the Frozen North is complete...
The Event went well... Stats were kept, scores were made, obstacles were encountered and overcome.
Went to dinner with Dan and JR and no one ordered dessert. Wait- what?

A game of Asshole broke out and I didn't fall over in my chair, JR didn't throw up as I was talking to the police, and we did not wind up 50' yards offshore in our underwear at 1:00am.
Yay.

I visited a shooting range (Manchester Firing Line) and punched holes in some paper with a rented 92F,
and got to fire a Steyr M9, provided by a generous blogger that was on-hand...


(pretty sure this is the model...)


Melikes the M9... Nice (unique) sights, smooth firing, minimal recoil... Very nice gun.
If I wasn't so damned biased against Glocks and all things Glock-like I'd be shopping on GunBroker right now...

Next stop- Food and friends...
I met up with the Famous JayG, (again) and a group of pistol-packing Yankees at local pool hall...

After the Northeast Bloggers arrived and introductions were made, fun conversation was had, and a bit later food, drink and more shooting (shooting pool and the bull, so to speak. As a rule, most of us don't imbibe and discharge projectile weapons).

The Peeps:
Lissa and her husband Mike, whom I had met at The Firing Line...
JD and his (much) better half Terry (Terrie?) sat at the table across from me and did their best to pretend that I wasn't embarrassing them too much.
Bruce was on my left for a bit, and it was he who had (IMHO) the quote of the night: As the topic of conversation was O-(FTMF)-Bama, Bruce uttered the famous line - "That guy is as useful as a volume control knob on a head of lettuce."
Awesome, Bruce. Made my night.

Marko the Munchkin Wrangler was on hand, both at Jillians and at MFL- he was the proud owner of the Styer M9. (Thanks for letting me fire it, Marko. Again, very cool weapon.)

I also met Scotaku at the Firing Line and at Jillians; Scotaku has excellent taste in reading material, and wants to go back to Japan sometime soon....

Other victims included Zeeke42, Doubletrouble, Too Old To Work, Too Young To Retire (TOTWTYTR)
Mopar & Mrs Mopar, SciFi and his Pool-Shark Better Half, Libertyman and The Borepatches (Mr & Mrs) who were also at the Firing Line, and I watched Mrs Borepatch fire a .38 revolver with great accuracy... Better keep an eye on her, man.

Topics of conversation ranged from politics to recipes to blogging editors; we also covered Firefly/Serenity, 2nd Amendment topics, our kids and our dogs.
We moved to the are of the bar where the pool tables lived and we proceeded to abuse the felt on a couple tables for an extended visit...Witty banter ensued, and non-alcoholic beverages were imbibed.
There was an offer to display a tramp stamp, and the usage of the term ButterFace was discussed and applied to a nearby pool player. A very excellent time was had by all...

Now, this is my third official blogmeet-
There was a mini-meet in June in Orlando that I referenced earlier in this post, (my first run-in with JayG and Robb [NoPants] Allen and some Florida Bloggers), and then the October Hoosier Blogmeet in Broad Ripple Indiana...
Blogmeets (especially gunbloggers) are a blast, heh, and you meet some awesome people.

Here's the thing:
(And this is assuming that some of these people actually visit my little slice of the interweb once in a while and read this hunk of foolscap)
Is there any way to schedule one of these shindigs at a good half-way point between Indy and Yankee-land?
Maybe in the Pittsburgh area?
Hell, I'd make the trip up from North Florida South Georgia to visit with y'all. I have to believe some others would too.

No doubt some other entities would be interested if we were to get JayG, Tam, RobertaX, Caleb, Breda, and the rest of the Gunblog Conspiracy folks in the same geographical location....
The BATF, for instance.
There'd be a few Black Helicopters, The Cigarette Smoking Man, some executives from Blue Sun, maybe The Tenth Doctor... most likely some research agents from Weyland-Yutani, Yoyodyne, and Umbrella Corp would show up too.

Hmmm... Maybe it's not such a good idea to get The Brain Trust in a localized area.

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Odds?

Things are looking a little sketchy for an on-time departure...
And since I'm on SouthwestFistFight Airlines, its BOS, BWI, NOR, JAX.
4 chances for delays and missed flights.
My life's a *#@+&ing carnival.
TBG - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Wait, what?

Him: "You're leaving?"
Her: "Uh, yeah. I just put my jacket on inside out, and it fit better.
I think its time to go."

TBG: Wow.

TBG - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Shocker

Here's a shocker...
A spirited game of asshole during the wrap party...
So painful....
So dangerous....
TBG - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

First Sunrise

Sunrise over the Winter Classic in Boston.


(Click for bigness)

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Pest Control

Fair warning:
JR Fester is having a bowl of chili for dinner at 11:30pm tonight...
Everyone better steer clear of him tomorrow morning.

TBG - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

And the Snow Starts Falling...

(Click pic for bigness.)

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Fenway TWSS

There are people standing near me looking at the rink from the press box

Man to woman: "I thought it would be larger."
Woman: "That's what I thought."
TBG: "Wow." (Supressing the urge to make a cold weather/shrinkage joke.)

TBG - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Blue Moon for New Year's Eve

There will be a blue moon for New Year's Eve...

Most Constant Readers will probably already know that a Blue Moon is when there is 2 full moons in the same month...
It happens fairly rarely, hence the expression "Once in a Blue Moon..."


(Click for full size view.)

I missed the optimum moment for tonight's moonrise, but still got a good shot thanks to JR Uncle Fester alerting me to the spectacle...
Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to get a better shot.

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Another New Year...

...Another Winter Classic.
Fenway Park is the venue this year.
1:00pm New Years Day...
This is going to be interesting.
TBG - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Defense Condition: Jumpy

Is this how things are going to be for the next few months?

Boy, I can't wait for the big overhaul/review of TSA/DHS process and procedures commanded by Nobel Peace Prize winning apology-monger B. Hussein Obummer.

We pulled out of the gate on time this morning to the strains of the mid-cabin flight attendant yammering at the I-only-fly-once-every-two-years yokels back in steerage as the pre-flight briefing played.
Something was amiss back near the over-wing emergency exit.
The plane stopped out near the taxiway and waited while all three FAs wrestled with the Serious Problem.

I could hear several voices in the fray, seems like someone a few rows back didn't shut off some device in their carry-on and said device was beeping.
(Beeping! On an airplane! Heaven forbid!)

15 minutes of accusations and threats later, the captain informed us of the situation over the loudspeaker.

"Uhhh...From the flight deck, this is uhhhhh the captain. Uhhhh... There seems to be some kinda device in someone's bag in the overhead, and uhhhh.... In an abundance of caution, uhhhhhh we're gonna wait until the flight attendants find uhhhhh the device and turn it off so there won't be any uhhhh danger to the aircraft's operation. Uhhh thanks and we'll be on our way shortly."

Another 5 minutes goes by and the accusations are flying hard and fast.
"Whose bag is that? Do you have a cell phone?"
"Is there some kind of game in this bag? Please open it so we can see the contents!"

One of the FAs finally went up and called the flight deck. After a moment he got on the overhead.
"Well, we can't find it so were going back to the gate." he announced to a chorus of groans.
We hear another FA call up to him: "Wait a second..."
She comes up and they get on the phone with the flight deck.
After a short chat she looks back to mid cabin and gets a thumbs up.
She whispers into the phone again...
Another thumbs up.
They hang up.

"From uhhhhh the flight deck..we uhhhh got our issues resolved. We're good to go. Uhhh...thanks for your cooperation."

The solution slowly creeps forward by word of mouth.
One of the passengers by the window noted that the beeping was coming from the cabin speaker and was in synch with a flash he could see outside. Seems that there is a noisy relay on either the dorsal or belly strobe on the plane and when they shut off the light, the beeping stopped.

Lovely. Shrimply lovely.
Update:
We've just landed, 25 mins late.
I have 10 minutes to get to my next gate.
Next time I'm driving.

TBG - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Please, Sir...

5:01 AM - JAX TSA Security Checkpoint is packed.

At Mag and Bag:

XRay-Girl and TSA Guy look at the pic of my bag after it passes through the XRay machine.

TSA: "You gotta lotta electronics in your bag..."
TBG: (No answer...There wasn't a question proffered.)
TSA: "We're gonna re-scan yer bag."
TBG: (No answer... Again, no question.)
TSA: Rescan bag.
TSA: "We're gonna swab yer bag fer explosives and stuff..."
TBG: ...
(TSA Guy looks at me for a measured second or two, then looks around for a higher level bag-poker I guess, and gives the old raised eyebrow.)
TBG, TSA1 and TSA2 adjourn to the mass spectrometer/gas chromatograph.

TSA1 and TSA2 hold a short confab and begin rifling through my backpack-carry-on bag.

Everything is in smaller bags inside... All my headphones, adapters, power cords, USB cables, etc are in a pouch. A handful of flash drives and memory cards are in another small pouch.
There is a bag with my backup external hard disk too. Another has asprin, Ambien, wetnaps, contact lenses, and various OTC meds. Yet another has pens, Sharpies, a laser pointer and a couple Atwood tools.

They take out my EEE and swab it, feeding the swatch into the Magic Machine, the swab the inside of the all the bags, putting each swab into the mass-spec in turn.

TSA2: "You got quite a bit of stuff in there."
TBG: ...
TSA2: "Y'know, this might go a little faster if you'd cooperate."

Really? Look, I've got time. I know exactly what's in my bag, and I came prepared for delays... I just want to see how much additional foolishness is going to foisted upon us Poor Traveling Bastards.

I know this is going to light a fuse, but I'll do it anyway...

TBG: "Y'know, this might go a little faster if you actually asked a question."
TSA2 gives TSA1 a WTF look.
TSA2: "Acting odd?"
TSA1: Shrugs shoulders.
TSA2, looks at TSA1 as one would examine a bad cheese, then slides my half-unpacked bag over to me.
TSA2: "Have a good day sir..."
TBG: "You too sir."

Assholes.

TBG - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Thank You, CrotchBomber

Lovely- as I'm off to my next several destinations *I* get to be subjected to a few more pokes, prods and cavity searches because YOU couldn't keep it in your pants.

Off to BeanTown...

TBG - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Non-Threatening Seasonal Greetings

To All of my Liberal Friends:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. 
I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. 
(Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country, nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.)


To All of my Conservative Friends:
Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year! May God Bless You and Your Families and May God Bless America.

Sincerely,








(Thanks to ZC at TWW for this one. I think I'm going to use it for next year's Christmas card... )


TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Merry Christmas

To all my Constant Readers and Friends-

From Maggie, Jennifer, The Big Guy, Hunter and Bozie, we wish all of you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Happy Solstice!

(Photo- The globe in the lobby of the Vancouver Convention Center, home of the Vancouver Olympics IBC a/k/a Hell with a Data Feed.)

I woke up and saw my shadow...
That means we're in for another 13 weeks of winter.
(Although with my luck it probably means another 52 weeks of rain, snow, sleet, and glowbull warmening.)
TBG - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

"Dad, you're gonna walk funny..."

"...when I take your Crackberry and insert it where it will do the most good."
The Perfect Child working on her intimidation techniques...
Needs work, Sugar.
TBG - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Thought of the Day

(From The Globe and Mail, Vancouver)
Be not afraid of going slowly, but only afraid of standing still.
-Chinese Proverb
TBG

More Random Vancouver

Inukshuk, English Bay- Vancouver


They're burnin' the midnight oil up at Cypress tonight.


I'm glad you find all this amusing...

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Puzzler

Constant Readers...Help me out here.

Inside the NBC Network Ops Center at the IBC in Vancouver there is a ladder...
For use in all tasks that would be considered "Ladder Intensive".


Exhibit A: Ladder

What is this?
Some kind if organic growth on the ladder?

Exhibit B: Ladder detail

Seems to be...
Barnacles.

Balanus balanoides

The puzzler-
Why would a ladder in a network operations center be encrusted with barnacles?

Anyone got any ideas?

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Tiger Trysts

Oh they aare just crawlin' outta the woodwork now...

What the hell was that boy thinking?...

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

If the Shoe was on the Other Foot...

Could you imagine if the male counterparts of these women were hanging
out at the stage exit at a Miley Cyrus concert?


TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Traveling Muzic

English Bay to The Field Shop...
Traffic, traffic, traffic
Grrrrr.

On the XM now...Channel 55
Radio Margaritaville is keeping me from going road rage on these Canucks...

"Be good and you will live lonesome.
Be lonesome and you will be free,
Live a lie and you'll live to regret it,
That's what living is to me..."

Jimmy Buffet - That's what living is to me

TBG - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

But Remember To Always Call It Please "Research"...

...On a fact-finding mission mission now here in VanCoover.
Looking for various service providers and equipment sources, so when we arrive for the event we'll know where to find stuff.

I found the electronics market, a commercial hardware store, Costco, and the closest liquor store...
I was tracking down a dry-fold laundry that would pick-up and deliver to our hotel or the IBC...
Right across the street from the laundry was a big sign hanging in front of a non-descript strip-center restaurant.
"Dim Sum 2.75"

Oh. My.

Nothing like a good Sunday morning indulgence into small plates of Heart's Delight...

The Xiao Long Bao were a little disappointing- The taste and texture was very good, but the soup had leaked out of the skins. Very sad.
The shrimp and mushroom shumai were very good...
The salt-and-pepper tofu was great, as was the shrimp in rice noodle wrappers.

Golden Star Restaurant was a great find.
You can find it too, at 2163 E Hastings in Vancouver..

Ok- great meal- Back to work...

And it never fails...
When I come out, it's snowing.

Just when I have to drive up to Cypress...

Now, before Luc or some of you Yankees give me some shit like
"That's not snow, that just a flurry! It ain't snow until you can't see your car at the curb and the snowplows aren't able to get out of the garage and start workin'. That's snow!"
Remember- I'm from Down South- I go by some specific definitions and some personal interpretations...
If the water falling from the sky is liquid, it's rain.
If it's not liquid, it's snow.
If it's not liquid and I have to drive in it, it's $#@&*% snow.

So, lovely.
It's snowing.

I get on the road and head to North Vancouver where other people are having issues with the frozen water falling from the sky, and have somehow caused traffic to come to a standstill. Excellent. I need some petrol anyway. I get off the Highway.

After filling the tank I see a sign advertising a local park- Lynn Canyon Park.
I decide to take a peek while traffic clears.

It's a nice little park just over the bridge in N.Vancouver...

The visitors center and coffee shop. Very cool.

And the park is known for it picturesque suspension bridge...

It's not the Capilano Bridge, but it'll do.
No pic from ON the bridge...
I did the math...
Big ogre + new snow + ice on unstable platform=stay the Hell on Terra Firma.

I stopped by the Cleveland Dam since it was close by. Took a peek at the outflow.
Amazing...

There has to be a way to integrate this location into the Olympic events...
Perhaps the Snowcross events.
Hey- even more better! -
Maybe stock the pool with sharks or something!
Alas, the sharks would have to conform with the WorkplaceBC codes, so we'd wind up with this:

Hmmm. It really loses something in the implementation.
Never mind.


Traffic cleared and I got moving again...

The scenery is pretty nice up here.
This is a shot I got on the road about 3/4 the way up to Cypress.


Another place I have made a note to check out on my return for the actual events is this little place over on Broadway.

Death By Chocolate...
Great name for the joint. Hope it lives up to it's handle.

On the way back to my digs I got a good pic down the new Granville walking street...



Speaking of digs...
Since I'm extending my stay on my own dime, and being the cheap bastard that I am,
I'm currently ensconced at a mostly-horrific place called Seymour Cambie Hostel.

Pic stolen borrowed off Flikr since I'm afraid to show my camera on the street outside.

It's really not too bad... The bar that's attached to the hostel is called Malones, good pub grub, $5.25 for a Captain and Coke, and (even Mo Bettah) free WiFi.

I got a kick out of the display at the front desk of the Hostel...

They have all the essentials.
Deodorant, Ramen noodles, condoms and tampax... Hell, throw in one of those disposable razors and a candybar and it's a friggin' party at the Seymour.
The music coming from downstairs on Saturday night was pretty bad, but I put in my earplugs (already had some... IDS Veterans always have earplugs. You might wind up rooming with Jingles some time, and they can save your sanity) so I was out like a light.
Last night (Sunday) was quiet, and I was tired from a long day so I hit the hay early and slept like the dead...


More fun and adventure to come...

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE