SATURDAY, 12/30/2000, 12:58pm HST by Penfold
The "Slackin Hard" Edition

No content for 2 day and Raul is getting all over my case already. Makes me want to put all my graphics at the end of my content.

Realdoll.com is selling what they describe as the world's best love dolls. For almost $6k, it better be damm good. Check out their FAQ. For the women, the company also sells the RealCock. The RealDoll was officially endorced by Howard Stern and has spun off other projects such a real doll pr0n site and a pr0n video featuring Ron "The Hedgehog" Jeremy.

Temu Selseannie pointed this out to me (because I would have never had listened to it otherwise). 93.1 KQMQ has changed formats recently to a 70s-90s dance music. Unfortunately, it still sucks. Seems like New Wave (the owner of the station) is having a hard time finding a format that will make money. I'll clue you in, to make a successful radio station, try playing good music. The 80s was full of cheesy music, but music that people will listen to. I actually listened to the station and tried to like it, but it really sucked.

Gamespot UK has a list of the top 15 most influential games here. Though their selections are decent, I would have moved #2 to #1 and included Starcraft and Tribes in the list. And maybe that infamous of games, Hunt the Wumpus.

With all the Israel vs. Palestine hacks, someone has taken up the Puerto Rico Vieques Island issue to hacktivism. Check out the defacement here. The only reason I'm actually posting it is because the hacker is named Sabu.

Now that I'm employed fully again, I can feel impending yuppiness creeping up on me. Ask Raul. I am now looking more seriously at getting a mp3 player in the car. This, the Neo35, might be the proper answer, though I am still researching it.

FRIDAY, 12/29/2000, 1:30pm HST by Raul
3 days till 2001

This guy and his buddy go around sticking these bumper stickers on SUVs because they are trying to make a statement that the proliferation of SUVs is bad for the environment. I may have mixed feelings about the issue (heck, if you drive a car with a 7.5 liter engine, you have to) but one thing's for sure -- if I saw this fool sticking that shit on my car, I'd slap his head.

Don't fly coach

TOKYO (Reuters) -- Japan's first survey of "economy class syndrome" found Thursday that 25 passengers have died of the condition at Tokyo's Narita airport in the past eight years, a figure likely to put pressure on airlines to tackle the issue.

Is it just me, or is George W. Bush's daughter kinda hot? At the very least, she blows Chelsea out of the water. Oh the reason Jenna Bush was in the news was that she had her appendix removed on Christmas day. What a lousy way to spend the holiday.

Well, I looked through my stash of Pitt-Toronto pictures and realized that they all contain Mario Lemieux, and they have all been used by other print or online media outlets. All except this one, that is, which may be the only picture of the game in existence that did NOT contain Mario. It's Jan Hrdina scoring off a rebound. Okay, so Mario centered the pass to him, but give Hrdina some credit!

I only picked this one out, of a beef between Edmonton Oilers center Doug Weight, right, and San Jose Sharks defenseman Bryan Marchment during the first period Thursday, because Weight drew nine penalty minutes for it. Oh, I'm sorry, make that THIRTY-NINE.

Like, oh my god, it is like, so tragic

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- Actress Shannen Doherty, star of the WB network television hit "Charmed," was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after officers saw her black pickup truck weaving on a California freeway, police said

Kids r smart

A 17-year-old student on a two-week placement has saved a printing company from bankruptcy after his Internet prowess secured contracts worth up to $1 million.

THURSDAY, 12/28/2000, 11:45am HST by Raul

Well the "curves" thing has not been missed in Japan ... this site seems to sell a similar product. The pictorial is funny (can anyone read what it says?), complete with anonymous groping hand and anime-doll model.

Well it only took Mario Lemieux 33 seconds to score the first point of his comeback, on a pass to Jaromir Jagr. The Pens whipped Toronto 5-0 at home. I have pictures, but they'll have to go up tomorrow. See the NHL.com Lemieux index here. Most of the pictures I collected are used there. Here's the Iwon/Reuters take on the game.

A big feh goes out to those who have couches and TVs, but did not make the proper preparations. Your insolence will be remembered.

In other NHL news, the St. Louis Blues are looking to beat their 12-game unbeaten streak record.

Well before there was the Erection Collection, there was this. Apparently, the producers were sued into making it less beanie-like.

The Espresso PC brings an entirely new meaning to "pocket PC" with real industry-standard chipsets and processors in a package that you could easily take anywhere. The S-video out might make this the "TV b0x" that could compete with consoles, if only the price was right.

THURSDAY, 12/28/2000, 12:01am HST by Penfold
The "Can't Sleep Yet" Edition

After watching tonight's Pitt-Toronto game, I can say that Toronto got ownedz hard core. And Mario can play center on the first line with the best of them.

Dropping the Dirties

ALBANY, N.Y. (Reuters) -- As Pataki, who flew to Florida to defend Bush in the election recount impasse earlier this month, appointed Raymond Martinez as Department of Motor Vehicle Commissioner, a reporter asked if his choice ever had been ticketed for speeding or drunk driving.

Martinez replied, "Yes, I have a DWI from 1989, and also a speeding ticket from 1997." DWI is shorthand for a "driving while intoxicated" offense.

"I guess that qualifies you to be President of the United States then," Pataki said Wednesday.

I guess it's still open season for Bush jokes. Hit up the full story here.

WEDNESDAY, 12/27/2000, 9:58pm HST by Penfold
The "Two Scoops of Fuddyness" Edition

Only one bit of content today. I promise to get more sleep and be more on it tomorrow.

Carl Sagan's, the world famous toker, magnum opus is being released again. Previously only available on very hard to find VHS tape, it is being released in all its DVD glory. Check out the story here. If you feel inspired to get a copy, you can get it here.

WEDNESDAY, 12/27/2000, 11:45am HST by Raul

LEFT: This place has been around for years. Maybe it has something to do with the name.

RIGHT: The funniest part is -- it's on Republican Street.

A couple of items you might want to take a look at over at 3Dfiles.com:

• Clusterball, an "online sport" concept. A pure multiplayer game based on collecting balls up and flying them through a goal. But your opponents will be looking to interfere with your plans.
• Aces High, a stunning flight simulator which supposedly models flight as realistically as possible through lots of detail.
• Doom legacy, apparently, patches and graphics updates if you own the original Doom. Interesting idea, if you try it, let us know how it is.

Got a computer that doesn't like to shut down properly? Got a Palm cradle attached to it? Well, that could be the culprit. Apparently, certain Palm cradles do not interface properly with the ACPI system on newer mainboards. Check this Palm website page for identification and a fix. They'll mail you an adaptor to fix the problem.

I may have this problem and will be calling them for an adaptor soon. I'll post what happens.

Fishin' for a metaphor

BOCA GRANDE, Fla. (Reuters) -- A vacationing President-elect George W. Bush fished the waters of Florida's Gulf Coast on Wednesday but also reeled in more Cabinet members and hinted that he might announce "a couple" later this week.

Running to WIPO

When chocolate giant Ferrero came up with the Kinder Surprise egg, they were on to a winner. The combination of cocoa powder and plastic toy is guaranteed to sent any child running uncontrollably around the living room with excitement.

It's unsurprising, then, that Ferrero wants to protect its brand in cyberspace, as Austrian kids' charity kinder.at recently discovered.

Sir Mix A Lot caught her

HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) -- A woman smuggling marijuana to London was arrested at Zimbabwe's international airport after curiosity was aroused by her suspiciously large posterior, the police said Wednesday.

TUESDAY, 12/26/2000, 7:58pm HST by Penfold
The "Slow News" Edition

Not too much new news today, everyone is still recovering from Christmas.

Yes, tomorrow, Mario Lemieux will be returning to the ice against the Toronto Maple Leaves. NHL Hockey ESPN-22 Wed, Dec 27, 2000 2:30 PM and 10:00 PM "Toronto Maple Leafs at Pittsburgh Penguins"

Happy Cash Machine

PARIS (Reuters) -- A cash dispenser went awry in a supermarket in the Riviera town of Antibes over the weekend, giving double the amount requested but registering only the amount asked for, the daily Le Figaro said.

Fox News is reporting that women can not drink as much alcohol as men. As if there was any doubt to the contrary. Investigate why here.

TUESDAY, 12/26/2000, 1:00am HST by Raul

WIPO'd out

Madonna, Sting, Microsoft, William Hague - they've all had brushes with "cybersquatters" this year and survived.

Wacky WIPO kicked off the new year with its first ruling, and has hardly taken time to draw breath since - dishing out domain name decisions willy nilly, and normally not in favour of the little guy.

Coca farmers throw cocaine leaves in the air as a sign of protest in Chimore, Bolivia, on Dec. 19. Cocaine farmers held a demonstration to show that coca cultivation still exists on the same day the Bolivian government was holding a ceremony to claim victory in its campaign to rid the nation of drug-growing plantations.

If there was any doubt that Mario Lemieux' return is the biggest thing to happen to hockey in recent years, ESPN is going to televise his comeback game tomorrow, and ESPN2 will televise his next four games. Did you hear that, people with TV's and couches? Better plan for it.

Ain't takin' no more shit

BEIJING (Reuters) -- Ending a century-old tradition, nightsoil collectors have cleared the last lavatory in Beijing by hand, another milestone in what has been dubbed the "toilet revolution" sweeping China.

An uncharacteristically late Register has finally chimed in on the Egghead.com hacking fiasco.

MONDAY, 12/25/2000, 4:58pm HST by Penfold
The "Christmas Day" Edition

I haven't even gotten around to opening my presents, mostly because I know what everyone gave me already. Alas, very few new stories worthy of consumption.

I guess it really is happy hour for someone.

Forgotten Sex? At Legal Aid, we had a caller who claimed this even though the genetic tests showed him to be the father. You'd think this is the kind of thing you'd remember. We were amused by his answer, but I guess it is possible.

Could Santa exist. Here is a scientific look at that quandary. Not bad, but they made no mention of FTL travel, which could explain the whole thing.

Much truer to the original Dr. Seuss story than that crass commercialization of a movie we have in the theaters. This has become the antithesis of the whole Grinch story.

MONDAY, 12/25/2000, 2:00am HST by Raul

I hope everyone got what they wanted for Xmas ...

Wow, an actual submission. And I even like the message. Thanks M.G.

The party went fairly smoothly. Here's some of what you missed. But after all was said and done, our food predictions were pretty on.

As I was gathering the controllers up, I realized that Weid's computer is a mere 350mhz P2 that would probably be hard-pressed to manage the havoc three human players can cause in NHL2001. The simple solution? BYOP.

Everything went well even though we never did get the fourth player in the hockey game, which would have been a milestone. Much more interesting diversions were at hand. Thanks too all who came, and better luck next year to those that didn't.

Well for those that are following the potentially landmark Lance Larsen vs. the Hawaiian Kingdom case, the transcript of the oral hearings are available online.

If you've never heard of it, it's a case that could provide legal recognition of the Hawaiian kingdom as a sovereign entity, albeit occupied.

Christmas terror

JAKARTA (Reuters) -- Indonesia warned Monday there could be more bomb attacks after a spate of explosions near churches on Christmas Eve killed at least 13 people.

"Information from police intelligence indicates that there could be similar bombings at other places of worship and at other public facilities," Chief Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters.

Hideously slow news day today. Everyone must be laying low for Christmas.

SUNDAY, 12/24/2000, 1:58pm HST by Penfold
The "Night After" Edition

The party is over and now onto the recovery phase. Pretty much went through all 20# of crab and 20# of beef. Full report coming up soon.

The top 20 things you don't want to see on Christmas from a gamer's point of view.

Evil Emperor Bill has already pledged 1.4 billion dollars and is promising to hand out an extra billion per year. Read the whole story here. What Emperor Bill should do is start buying up nations already.

Life is Hard

"The United States has moved the goal posts so many times in the past, and if it does so again, there will be tremendous disappointment," said Singapore Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani

China's U.N. ambassador Wang Yingfan reminded the United States that having received concessions it should now show the political will to pay its arrears "in full, on time and without conditions."

In a reference to 79-year-old Helms, Cuban ambassador Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said the U.S. government "has taken on the disguise of a lamb and blamed the undemocratic Congress, where a senile senator, who has managed to impose his own will, has decided to set conditions and pay less than what the prosperous U.S. economy should pay."

For all those people who said Al lost fair and square, read this. Al may have been right after all. This does bode poorly for the nations. Get the whole Miami Herald version here.

Back to the recovery.