June 30th, 2008 by mrshl
Yes, yes, ya’ll. Today a dude ran a red light at the corner of 610/Fannin and smashed my car as it was turning left. It doesn’t appear as though he ever saw me or even slowed down. Because I was driving to work, I was alone in the car, which is a good thing. Because the passenger side is wrecked. This is what’s left of our brand new Honda CR-V.
In this last photo you can see the other dude’s busted vehicle, a 2008 Nissan Versa. His car was a rental vehicle. Which means the dude probably had another accident not too long ago, and he just destroyed his temporary vehicle. We’re dealing with an expert driver here.
Was anyone hurt? Not too bad. I went to the emergency room at Methodist Hospital with Jordan (I refused ambulance transport). I’ve got a couple of banged up knees, but I’m otherwise fine. I imagine I will be quite sore in the morning. The other driver was transported to Methodist by ambulance. Jordan and I actually saw him being wheeled out as we went into the ER. He looked okay.
Who was at fault? The other dude ran the light, and a witness named Mani (an MD Anderson employee) saw the accident and gave the officer his statement. The officer told me the other guy would be found at fault.
Dude, is your car, like, totaled? It could be. We’ll have to see how bad the frame is bent. Plus the air-bags deployed on the right side. The other driver has insurance, but probably not enough to cover both the rental car he was driving and my car. The good news is: the rental car carrier probably has secondary liability coverage for my vehicle. If so, we shouldn’t be out much cash once everything gets straightened out.
For now, I’m chillaxing with an unexpected day off. Props to Jordan for taking care of me this morning, She made lunch for me and we watched Wipeout before she left to get some work done.
Now I’m here alone, mourning a car that hadn’t yet reached 6,000 miles.
June 17th, 2008 by mrshl
I’ll let Duncan Riley explain:
Users who type the word “gay” into Google are being presented with a little extra in their search results: a rainbow flag between the results and ads.
The rainbow flag (also known as a gay pride flag) represents an open statement of support for the LGBT community, and can commonly be seen in businesses or on vehicles of members of the LGBT community or by those who support this community. By display the flag, Google is sending a message that it supports gay rights.
Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with Google’s stand, and credit to them for making it, but gay rights and the religious right in America don’t make great bedfellows. Google is making overtly political statements in its key search area, a stand that for Google is actually unprecedented as far as I can recall. When the right wing media and blogosphere find out that Google is making these statements, it’s only a matter of time until someone calls for a boycott.
Wait, you think the same right-wing nut jobs who mistook Rachel Ray and her scarf as apologia for Islamic extremism might have a problem with Google expressing clear support for gays and lesbians?
Google has already been getting flack for not being patriotic enough to honor certain holidays with one of their famous doodles:
Perhaps the most extreme condemnations come from the editors of the populist WorldNetDaily.com, who have all but accused Google of advancing the cause of godless communism. "Google consistently ignores patriotic American holidays such as Memorial Day and Veterans Day," WorldNetDaily’s editors wrote last October, "but today it acknowledged an accomplishment of the communist Soviet Union, which launched the Sputnik satellite fifty years ago." The news site, which has also complained that Google’s search rankings keep its stories in the basement, even ominously reported that the company misspelled its logo when commemorating Valentine’s Day last year. "Previous Valentine’s Day logos for Google, obtained by WND, have no such possible confusion for spelling," the site noted. Could Google even have it in for love?
If these dorks can’t get over Sputnik, they’re going to have a really hard time tasting the rainbow. Wake me when it’s over.
June 17th, 2008 by mrshl
As Thurston Moore gets older, he’s starting to look a lot like George Plimpton.
Just sayin’.
June 17th, 2008 by mrshl
Today the Mozilla foundation is releasing the third iteration of their popular Firefox browser. Only “release” doesn’t quite capture the hype they’re generating. No, they’re trying to set a world record. You can help them by downloading a copy today beginning at 10 AM. If it’s still too early when you read this, you can “pledge” to download it once they turn on the spigot. Seriously.
But why should you download it? Because it’s the best. browser. ever according to the Chronicle’s Dwight Silverman. Walt Mossberg agrees.
My opinion? The singular “awesome bar” is reason enough to give it a chance. Your new address bar does so much more than auto-complete. It learns your preferences as you browse. Sort of like Tivo for the Web. Just start typing in the address bar, and you’ll quickly find what you need. You won’t need bookmarks anymore. It’s that good. Remember when the first Firefox browser added tabs? This new location bar is a similar leap forward.
But there are lots of other reasons you should download Firefox. That is, if setting a record doesn’t interest you.
UPDATE: Turns out the 10 AM start time is Pacific. You central timers can start downloading at noon.
June 16th, 2008 by mrshl
Over on Life is a Thrill, I regularly share posts from Mental Floss, a superb “all things considered” kind of blog that regularly includes interesting links, lunchtime quizzes, and engaging trivia. All in the name of edu-tainment.
Today they had a couple of quick hitters that I thought I’d share, one of which is a 10% off sale featuring their wise-ass tee shirts. Here are a couple of my fave MF tees.
Thankfully, they do more than just hawk shirts. Today’s posts also included an updated list of the top-10 selling albums of all time:
1. Thriller, Michael Jackson - 108 million copies*
2. Back in Black, AC/DC - 42 million copies*
3. The Bodyguard soundtrack, Whitney Houston/Various artists - 42 million
4. Their Greatest Hits, the Eagles*
5. Saturday Night Fever, the Bee Gees/Various Artists - 40 million copies*
6. Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd - 40 million copies
7. Bat Out of Hell, Meat Loaf - 37 million copies*
8. Come on Over, Shania Twain - 36 million copies
9. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles - 32 million copies*
10. Falling Into You, Celine Dion - 32 million copies
If you’re like me, you had no idea Back in Black had sold that many copies. Also, if you’re like me, you’re sadly unsurprised about the some of the choices mankind makes when it comes to buying records.
*Records I own or have owned at some point. I probably bought all these through BMG or Columbia House. Back when I still bought CDs.
