Neutral Ground

I've posted before on the topic of 'Net neutrality. There have been some interesting developments recently, including an op/ed piece from The Seattle Times that not only describes the situation at hand in the current telecom bill, but also shows exactly what's at stake.

Luckily there has been some good news. While a U.S. Senate committee may have shot down an amendment to the telecom bill, we can all thank Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon for wishing to put a hold on the bill until it has some strong net neutrality requirements. A number of Republicans want to let the big telecoms control the Internet here in the U.S., claiming they built it.

Bullshit. As Al Gore is fond of saying, he "invented" the Internet. While that's not exactly true, it is true that he played a role in the development of ARPAnet, the DOD's network that gave rise to the modern Internet. Take ARPAnet and add some participation by not only major telecoms, but public and private colleges and universities of all sizes all over the country, and that is where the Internet came from.

So in my opinion the bullies like AT&T and Comcast can go to hell. In a country that prides itself on freedom, this argument should be cut and dried. If the telecoms have their way, you'll only be able to see what they decide you can see, and how fast they say you can see it.

So what can you do about it? Start here. Google, who offers their services to the average person free of charge, paid for by sponsors, has a lot at stake here, and so do you.

Mood: Hopeful
Music: Shannon Curfman: "True Friends"

Useless

Here's a list of hundreds of useless facts. Of course, this begs the question, if they're so useless, why did someone take the time to type them?

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band: "Travelin' Man/Beautiful Loser"

Dreams

I had another bizarre dream this morning. In this dream Amy owned a hardware store and I went to work for her. A customer came in looking for a part for a Plymouth Roadrunner, and I was able to find it for him. Near the end of the dream Maryanne showed up, but I had some kind of terrible secret I was afraid to tell her.

And then I woke up.

Mood: Confused
Music: Dave Edmunds: "Summertime"

Drool Machine

A shame I didn't find out about this sooner... Automobili Lamborghini (yes, that Lamborghini) trotted out a concept car around the New Year, resurrecting the legendary Miura. It's smooth, it's sleek, it's yellow, it's beautiful.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: Collective Soul: "Why, Pt. 2"

Destruction

The cost of hurricane damage keeps rising. Is it because of global warming? Or is it because there's simply more to destroy?

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Boston: "Peace of Mind"

Good Girl

Maryanne and I finally got a chance to go to Door County this past weekend. The drive up wasn't too bad, all things considered. Sarah was a relative non-factor. We did encounter some heavy traffic around Oshkosh, though, and some slowdowns around Green Bay. Over all it wasn't a terrible drive, though I decided I did need a beer once we got to my mom's house.

Sarah was pretty good the entire weekend, actually. It was a pretty good experience over all, and makes us pretty hopeful about our planned trip to Minnesota at the end of July.

Mood: Pleased
Music: Blind Faith: "Presence of the Lord"

"It's my birthday too"

Today is my friend Adam's birthday. Happy 29th to Adam!

Mood: Cordial
Music: Rockapella: "Zombie Jamboree"

Felicitations

Today is my sister's birthday. Happy birthday, Caly!

Mood: Cordial
Music: Vanilla Fudge: "All In Your Mind"

Hybrid

You may have heard of some of them before, but this list of hybrid animals is pretty interesting reading.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: Deep Purple: "Space Truckin'"

Loss of Productivity

I got out of work early yesterday in compensation for working Saturday. I thought I would use the afternoon productively, with my activities depending on the weather. I first stopped at J.C. Penney to look for new slacks for work. Did you know it's nearly impossible to find size 36-31 slacks to begin with, much less in flat/plain front in a color I like? I only bought one pair, and it wasn't even in the color I was looking for. I'll have to try the west-side store.

Since I was in the neighborhood anyway I decided to stop at Jiffy Lube for an oil change. Apparently so had everyone else because it took almost thirty minutes for me to get in. They managed to talk me into getting the differentials and transfer case serviced, but that's OK.

After all that about all I had time for was heading home and mowing the lawn. When I was done I didn't have the energy or the motivation to do anything else, even though the garden is still in need of a lot of work. The downpour of rain we got Sunday caused some erosion, showing how badly we need to get some flowers planted, if only to help hold the soil together.

As I was returning to the house after putting the mower away in the shed I saw a couple out walking their dog, a Boston terrier. Frankly, I'd be embarrassed to be seen with a dog that small, but there they were. The dog had stopped to relieve itself, on my lawn, of course, which didn't bother me, since the owner clearly had a plastic bag in her hand with which to pick up said feces. What did bother me though is that the dog had the nerve to bark at me. It's my own lawn, and a stranger's dog is barking at me. Damn little yappy dogs. I've really come to appreciate Maryanne's term for them: "kick-me" dogs.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Billy Squier: "In the Dark"

To the Lists

It's a little late considering Father's Day was yesterday, but here's a list of things a man should know about fatherhood.

The list also reminds me that there's a lesson to be learned from Harry Chapin's "Cat's In the Cradle."

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Badfinger: "Day After Day"

Lucky Seven

I recently downloaded and installed Internet Explorer 7.0 at home. I'm quite impressed.

Mood: Pleased
Music: Derek and The Dominos: "Bell Bottom Blues"

Ratings

My life is rated R!



Your life is rated R!

What is your life rated? (MPAA Scale)

Take Other Caffeine Nebula Quizzes

Gonna have to tone that down with a kid in the house.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: The Allman Brothers Band: "Revival"

Blog, Dammit!

Nobody blogged today. Don't you people know I read those things?

Mood: Perturbed
Music: Genesis: "Misunderstanding"

Followup

Here's a followup on a story I posted about at the beginning of the month.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Lynyrd Skynyrd: "Tuesday's Gone"

Comfort

I found this on Fark today.

Mood: Moved
Music: Matthew Sweet: "Sick of Myself"

Blog, e.g., Blogger

Read this so you don't look like an idiot when you blog.

Mood: Amused
Music: The BoDeans: "Still the Night"

Ha!

Here's some good news for proponents of the Second Amendment.

Mood: Pleased
Music: Queen: "Seaside Rendezvous"

More Parking

I had another strange dream last night, though it might actually have been sometime early this morning. I dreamt that Maryanne and I threw some kind of party, but it was at my mom's house -- my mom's old house. Many of our friends were there; I recognized a lot of my friends from Carroll, with their families when applicable.

Now, not only was it weird that it was my mom's old house, which burned in 1998, but Maryanne and I decided to hold the party there because there was more room for parking.

Bizarre.

Mood: Perplexed
Music: Paul Simon: "Kodachrome"

Neutral Ground

Here's some good news on the topic of Net neutrality.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Ten Years After: "Rock and Roll Music to the World"

Dream Away

I had a strange dream last night wherein a contestant that Maryanne and I had seen on reruns of "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" started working with me at the Help Desk.

Odd.

Mood: Confused
Music: The Beatles: "Dig a Pony"

the hell...?

You Are Cherry Pie

You're the perfect combo of innocent and sexy Those who like you enjoy a contradiction

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Mood: Confused
Music: The Mavericks: "To Be With You"

Sweet Dreams

Had a pleasant dream last night that involved the model/actress Erica Campbell. If you don't know who that is, you could try a Google search, but I don't recommend doing it at work, if you catch my drift.

Mood: Amused
Music: Cream: "Sunshine of Your Love"

Underdog

In this case of David vs. Goliath, it may not be a battle worth waging.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Led Zeppelin: "Fool In the Rain"

Ignorant

This is why we should be concerned about the education of our nation's youth.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Ted Nugent: "Just What the Doctor Ordered"

Strike Three

Here is an example of how truth is stranger than fiction. It also makes one question the purpose and usefulness of the so-called "three strikes" laws.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Collective Soul: "Vent"

Influential

I found an interesting list of the religious affiliations of history's one hundred most influential people.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: Queen: "Lazing On a Sunday Afternoon"