WOR-World Of Rigg

This little beauty might not be the fastest laptop on the block (or even in this house), but you can't beat 2 lbs. for portability.  Taking the Powerscore online LSAT course is at least 100 times better on my Aspire One than my desktop, even though my desktop has dual monitors, and the Aspire Screen is 8.9".

Sitting on the couch with the One in my lap and my textbook on the next cushion is infinitely preferable to my admittedly comfy desk chair.  Plus, when I want to go to the fridge and get a drink, or make a sandwich I don't even miss a minute of class, I just take the classroom with me into the kitchen.  And, no, I don't take it into the bathroom in-class, that's where I draw the line.

That said, since my class only allows the instructor's mic to be heard, no one could hear you even if you were so inclined as to pee in-class. Which begs the question: Can the world of Idiocracy really be 500 years away?  I'm thinking no. Hell, BRAWNDO's already here.  Look out for OW! My Balls, it should be coming to a TV near you soon.

I thought for sure that prop 8 would be overturned soon after the November election, but I didn't count on the CA Supreme Court ruling in favor of the measure's legality, whatever the pretext being used as the challenge, but obviously I was wrong:

In ruling that Prop 8 is an amendment and not a revision to the California Constitution, they are basically saying that marriage isn't a fundamental right.  This quote from the CNN story linked above, pretty much sums up the decision:

"while not otherwise affecting the fundamental constitutional rights of same-sex couples."
-Chief Justice Ronald George

If Prop 8 restricted a fundamental right solely on the basis of social class, it should violate the equal protection clause of that Constitution, right?  At the least, it would be a revision to the Constitution, and as such, it should need to be approved by 2/3 of the legislature, if not stricken down right on the spot.

But, we'll see what happens in January, when the case start to make its way through the federal court system.  Who knows, we could be hearing about Prop 8. court cases for years to come.

...Or does huffingtonpost.com go a little overboard on the numbers of tags they use for a story.

So, California's ban on gay marriage was passed last night by a pretty narrow margin, and there are a couple of things no one seems to be talking about:

1.  The shocking irony that those groups who have been discriminated against the most (blacks and hispanics) are the same groups that got this measure passed.  Whites voted against 8 by a pretty good margin, and while latinos were split, blacks overwhelmingly voted for the measure. Whatever the reasoning is for these results, they seem counter-intuitive to me.  Aren't whites supposed to be the discriminators in our society? It seems we've come far enough in America that now other groups are doing the discriminating.  Now that's what I call progress.

2. Only the LA Examiner seems to have talked about this 2nd angle so far:  The California State Supreme Court made their feelings on banning gay marriage pretty clear earlier this year when they struck down prop 22 (passed in 2000).  It seems to me that the yes on 8 groups spent $70 million dollars to get a Constitutional amendment passed which won't even survive the first lawsuit brought against it. 

America, what a place.  The same night we show the world that we are the land of unlimited opportunity, we show ourelves that we are still divided by petty inconsequestial social differences, and we repeat the same mistakes ( like discrimination) over and over again.

UPDATE:  According to SFGate, the ACLU has sued over prop 8.  Last time it took 8 years to overturn, what will it be this time, 8 weeks?

As the charts below illustrate the other top consoles don't even rate on the list at all.

Console Sales for March, 2008 (in # of units):

Operating System Market Share September, 2008 (in %):

Windows: 90.29% (of course)
Mac: 8.23% (climbing)
Linux: .91%
iPhone (.32%)
Playstation (.03%) (.02% PS3 .01% PSP)
Sun OS (.01%)
Nintendo Wii (.01%)
Free BSD (.01)
Open BSD (.01)

So, even though it's only the 5th best selling console, the PS3 appears to also be the 5th most found Operating System online, double the % OF Wiis, despite 1/2 the install base. 

As a PS3 and a Wii owner, the reason for that is clear to me:  The PS3 has a good browser that looks good on my HDTV.  Meanwhile, the Wii has a good browser that looks like crap on my HDTV and has to be navigated with the Wii Remote.  Since PS3 uses regular USB, I was able to purchase a cheapo $39 wireless keyboard/mouse combo from Fry's, which allows me to surf with the PS3 pretty conveniently.

But, the recent 2.5 PS3 firmware is the killer update, as it finally brings flash support.  That, of course, means Hulu in HD on my HDTV.

What really came as a suprise to me was not seeing the XBOX  360 on this OS list.  Then I remembered the 360 doesn't have a browser... even though Micrsoft makes a pretty well-known browser themselves.  Weird. 

The PS3 and XBOX are both awesome game consoles, and the XBOX Live service blows the pants off the Playstation Network.  But, the PS3 really has a lot more going for it lke integrated WiFi, Bluetooth, and the ability to install other Linux Based Operating Systems.  Now, if only they could get tht price down, they might really have something. 

It seems to me that the statement:

I thought Gates was retired, what's he doing in these new Microsoft ads?

Is easily countered with:

"Well, since he's retired, now he has time to do commercials."

Gates will never leave Microsoft, and everyone knows that.  Doing commercials is the kind of stuff you have time for when your a rich dude on the board of one of the best known companies in the entire world and your main occupation is giving away your billions of dollars to fight disease.

The ads themselves were meh (the second was better than the first), but I still felt that it might go somewhere, thus validating the time I just spent watching the fourth 4 minute long ad in the internet.

Instead, they decided to go all *Brisco County Jr. on me and end it with a weird cliffhanger.

I wonder if I'm the only one that is irritated more by that than a stupid ad campaign.

*Reading up on Brisco to make the link, I discovered that the cliffhanger that ended the series ( as originally aired) was actually resolved in much of the country with the airing of the final episode as  shot, but this conclusion episode was never aired on my local FOX channel.  WTF is that about FOX?
 
rant> That network has always been shockingly prolific at green-lighting brilliant and innovative shows, only to cancel them after one season. 
As if every brilliant idea would instantly catch-on everytime.  Some shows take a little while to become popular, especially when you give them the friday 8pm time-slot. /rant

Remember the greatest xmas tree ever?  Well, I forgot to post the good pics I promised... until now.

Enjoy

I'm getting ready to write up a long term review of the E61, and so plugged my e61i into my PC the other day to finally clean off some of the pics I had taken since I got the thing in June. 

To my suprise, some of the pictures weren't half bad, and some even turned out pretty cool with a little photoshopping.

Here are some of the better ones

They make a huge sign that says Fairview, only to put another sign right in front of it so you can't read fairview. That's your tax dollars at work, wasting money 1 project at a time

Is in my living room. I've never had, or even seen, a tree this nice. More (and better) pics to follow