"I remember one particularly insane argument that Ira and Rick had when Nog was injured and ended up losing a leg, there was this ridiculous extended argument that I was in a room while Ira was on the phone. We had written the draft where he had lost both his legs, and Rick was just appalled. "We can't lose the character's legs!" And we were like, "No, we've got to. We've got to have somebody who's injured in this war who's not just a guest star in the background." It was a very important point. And the argument got to the point where they were arguing about, "Well, does it have to be one leg or two? And is it above the knee or below the knee?" It was just, like, they were negotiating over where Nog was to lose his leg. It was just absurd."Some pretty interesting things from an interview with Ron Moore, Galactica writer/producer and Trek veteran. Some pretty interesting things about the whole development of the modern Trek franchise.
 Britney's 'hubby' gutted THE ex-girlfriend of Britney Spears' husband for a day tells Inside Edition that despite his claim that it was a mutual decision to seek an annulment, he may actually be broken-hearted his marriage to the pop star ended so quickly.  Alchemy of a Supermetal Serendipity delivers a process that may cut the cost of a high-tech material Review: Athlon 64 3400+  Space station air purifier may be leaking Flight controllers suspect an air purifier may be leaking aboard the international space station and causing the biggest prolonged loss of pressure ever seen at the 5-year-old orbital complex. How the Army used tech to nab Saddam When American troops conducted a night raid that led to the capture of Saddam Hussein in December, digital technology allowed Army commanders miles away to watch virtually every move. Cash-strapped Germany building $285,200 frog tunnel Germany's cash-strapped government is paying 225,000 euros (U.S. $285,200) to build a tunnel to help frogs avoid the perils of a busy road, officials said Monday.  Frozen Stars. Black holes may not be bottomless pits after all Demolishing stars, powering blasts of high-energy radiation, rending the fabric of spacetime: it is not hard to see the allure of black holes. They light up the same parts of the brain as monster trucks and battlebots do. They explain violent celestial phenomena that no other body can. They are so extreme, in fact, that no one really knows what they are. NASA Looks for an Emergency Exit Not since the Apollo moon shots have astronauts had an escape pod in case of an emergency during launch, but that safety measure will be central to NASA's next generation of spacecraft. Microsoft Ads Called Bogus Open-source advocates are crying foul over a new ad campaign from Microsoft that claims that Windows-based systems cost less in the long run than Linux-based systems. Aussie guide to another Earth IF there is life on other planets, an Australian team of astronomers has just found the region in our Milky Way galaxy where it is most likely to exist. Astronomers find sun's 'twin' Astronomers say the sun has a twin in the left claw of Scorpio. The solar twin is 18 Scorpii, located in the constellation Scorpio, a mere 46 light years from earth. Open-Source Community Defends GPL Against SCO Attack The open-source community is rallying against comments made by The SCO Group CEO Darl McBride late last month that the GPL, under which Linux and open-source software is distributed, violates the U.S. Constitution as well as copyright and patent laws. Drunk driver wrecks 11 parked cars FEAR neighbours might damage his precious Range Rover overnight prompted the vehicle's owner to move it while three times over the alcohol limit, but instead he rammed it into a total of 11 cars, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported today. Get The FUD Microsoft is calling its new anti-Linux ad campaign "Get the Facts," but I call it "Get the FUD." 
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Britney Spears' two-day-old marriage to a childhood friend was dissolved Monday shortly after the pop superstar filed for an annulment, claiming she didn't fully understand what she was doing when she got hitched on the spur of the moment.....The bride wore a baseball cap and torn jeans down the aisle and was escorted by a Palms limousine driver, the source told the AP. more here
I predicted that Microsoft's Palladium security plan, now called Trustworthy Computing, would be distrusted and stall. That looks right to me.
...correctly predicted that V.92 modem development would stall, but that nobody would care.
6) As for SCO, they'll continue to make noise until the middle of the year, at which point the legal case will implode and the company will give up. By that time, the company executives, insiders, and major investors will have all sold their positions at a handsome profit. This was never more than a stock scam, pushing the price of SCO shares up by more than 15 times. The clever part is how they used a legal case to make public claims that would have caused serious regulatory problems in any other context. We'll see more of this ploy in the future.
15) Microsoft will open its wallet here and in Europe, settling a ton of lawsuits, paying billions of dollars, but though the money will flow, no lessons will be learned on any side. Nor will Bill Gates achieve this year his dream of winning a Nobel Peace Prize. I am not making this up.
Waugh's farewell has thus far consisted of diving stops, futile chases to the fence, and the furrowed brow. The only bowler exempt from criticism was Jason Gillespie, as magnificent in patches today as he was in another futile burst, at Chennai in the deciding Test of 2001. Sadly, he was backed up by some who would struggle to get into an England side, and for Australians, there can be no greater insult.
Brett Lee pumped his fists and celebrated as though the score was 5 for 70, rather than 5 for 570, when he dismissed Sourav Ganguly. If he paid as much attention to bowling a decent line and length as he does to theatrics, he'd be one of the greats, a worthy foil for Gillespie. As it is, he's not even close. Gillespie's tremendous opening burst in the morning – when Tendulkar was feeling his way back into the game – was utterly negated by Lee's dross, which Laxman creamed through cover and midwicket with disdain.
Two families move from Pakistan to Australia. When they arrive the two fathers make a bet. In a year's time whichever family has become more Australian will win.From Right-Thinking
A year later they meet again. The first man says, "I have changed my name to Trevor, my son is playing AFL, I had a meat pie with sauce for breakfast and I'm just about to jump in my Commodore and go to the pub to pick up a slab of VB, how about you?"
The second man replies...
"Fuck off, towelhead."
You may be wondering whether or not this is a good movie. You want to know if the hopes you have invested in it will be dashed, your good heart trampled as it was when you left Episode One - gasping at the naked contempt displayed by George Lucas.
I predict that you will be knocked clean on your ass, in the absence of mercy, pounded by raw craft and quality for the film's over three hour duration. I liked Two Towers well enough, preferred Fellowship, you know, but it'll do. It was better than jabbing your hand into a box of used medical sharps. Return of the King, by comparison, is every element executed with laser-guided precision. At one point, I covered my gaping mouth with the Hordes of the Underdark manual. Yes, I brought it. I'm sort of a big dork, maybe nobody told you.
"Second, the right to flee persecution does not entitle a refugee to choose his country of asylum freely. Once a refugee has reached safety, further movement to other countries is no longer covered under the asylum umbrella. If such movement occurs, it is defined as "secondary movement", that is to say, movement for the sake of convenience and not to flee persecution. In other words, it is the movement of refugees who already have asylum and are thus in no danger from persecution, as opposed to the flight of those for whom it is an imperative necessity."Wow. And I always thought it was just pure luck that meant that those boat people arriving in Australia from the middle east got here by pure luck rather than by bypassing the thirty-odd countries that lie between their homeland and here.
"Thus Australian law provides for automatic detention for anyone entering the country illegally. On an annual basis, Australia has a quota of some 12.000 resettlement slots for refugees, divided into "offshore" and "inshore". "Offshore" includes refugees who are accepted from abroad, namely either from refugee camps or people in pressing need of asylum. "Inshore" includes two categories; the first is composed of people who have entered Australia legally and who have made an asylum request during the validity of their visa. Such cases are generally given bridging visas while their application is being assessed and are accepted for resettlement if recognized as refugees.So...does that mean that for every queue jumper that is allowed to stay in Australia, a genuine refugee who wasn't able to pay the $5 000 per person to people smugglers to get them to Australia is forced to miss out? That sucks. But then again, those people waiting in refugee camps somewhere overseas, don't provide anywhere near as good a photo opportunity or political mileage as those who are detained attempting to illegally enter Australia do they?
The second includes people who have arrived illegally, are consequently detained, and have made an asylum request while in detention. Such cases, if recognized as refugees needing asylum, are subsequently released and accepted for resettlement.
The system hinges on the fact that for every "inshore" case accepted, there is, within the annual quota, one "offshore" slot less for a refugee in dire need of assistance. "
The Intelligence Community is guided by the definition of terrorism contained in Title 22 of the US Code, Section 2656f(d):Food for thought isn't it...
—The term “terrorism” means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.
—The term “international terrorism” means terrorism involving the territory or the citizens of more than one country.
—The term “terrorist group” means any group that practices, or has significant subgroups that practice, international terrorism.
Trapped in a cellar, Saddam dug a hole and buried himself as U.S. soldiers moved into the house where he was hiding, an Iraqi official said Sunday.
"The American soldiers had to use shovels to dig him out," Entifadh Qanbar, spokesman for Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi, told The Associated Press.
Qanbar, basing his account on reports from members of the U.S.-led occupation authority, said Saddam had a salt-and-pepper beard when he was captured. Soldiers photographed him, shaved the beard and photographed him again before running DNA tests, he said.
"The DNA test confirmed 100 percent Saddam Hussein's identity," he said.
More here
| Your Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Score | ||
| Category | Your Score | Average |
| Hacklust | 37.74% Has conversations in between massacres | 53.3% |
| Sensitive Roleplaying | 63.29% Will talk after everyone important's been killed | 54% |
| GM Experience | 71.01% Ran a module once or twice | 69.1% |
| Systems Knowledge | 90.25% Played in a couple of campaigns | 90.1% |
| Livin' La Vida Dorka | 40.23% Has interesting conversations in public | 62.8% |
| You are 64.07% pure Average Score: 68.4% | ||
| Your Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Score | ||
| Category | Your Score | Average |
| Hacklust | 44.34% Will kill for XP | 53.3% |
| Sensitive Roleplaying | 50.63% "But what's my motivation for this scene?" | 54% |
| GM Experience | 56.52% Puts the players through the wringer | 69.1% |
| Systems Knowledge | 82.49% Played in a couple of campaigns | 90.1% |
| Livin' La Vida Dorka | 49.43% Has interesting conversations in public | 62.8% |
| You are 59.35% pure Average Score: 68.4% | ||
James A: yep - this is Boxing Day release - am thinking we have to make it third year in a row :)
also - are you interested in trying to find out if/where the Extended Editions are being shown on the big screen?
Josh: Uh.... mildly... but I don't fancy spending eight hours watching them all in a cinema....
