The new phenomenon, known as Ransomware, means victims cannot access any of the files stored in their My Documents folder.
I have files stored in the My Documents folder? Oh.
Month: May 2006
Jetsicles In The News
Imagine my surprise at seeing a jetsicle take such an important place in a moment in Canadian political history. Sadly, NB Premier Mr. Lord did not reference it in his press conference statement:
Mr. Lord warned that “when you put an obstacle like the passport between Canada and the United States, and you start thickening the border between Canada and the United States, you’re hurting our prosperity.”
These are the times in which we need to call on our jetsicle legacy. More on Canada’s jetsicle heritage here.
Men In Big Hats
Some great pictures at the BBC from the time of the building of the Great Eastern in 1858 taken from a new exhibit at the Science Museum in London.
Note to file: Victorian industrialists slouched and wore funny big hats. I think the combination of the slouch and the tall headpieces speaks to their versatility.
The Senate
Do you want to talk about the Senate? I don’t really want to talk about the Senate. But we may end up talking about the Senate soon. I am all for abolishing the thing myself. Any move to give it more power is a move away from popular representative democracy to something like a council of elders. Why bother?
And why open up a constitutional debate? I’d rather go through testing for matters of prostate – which I have by the way and which you all should have. You all do not need a council of elders but you all should have a reasonable sense of the state of your nether regions. Say it. Your bum. There. Said it. That is clear enough.
I’m So Lucky
I caught Franz Ferdinand on Austin City Limits last night. They are still the band of the 21st century.
Baseball In Kingston
This year I am going to take in some local baseball. The Kingston Loyalist Farms Ponies play in the EOBA senior league with teams from Ottawa to Markham. Here is the schedule. Double header tomorrow.
Good hat.
Do We Work Too Hard?
An interesting article in this morning’s Toronto Star on Canada’s combination of relative low productivity and low levels of time off compared to Europe:
Sweden’s very high productivity levels — it boasts the highest ratio of industrial robots in the world — allow the society to value leisure time, Schonning said. Based on total economic output, adjusted by population and purchasing power, Canada’s gross domestic product is very similar to that of many European countries, and below some. The Irish, for example, work 6 per cent fewer hours, on average, yet the economic output per person beats ours by 14 per cent. Most Canadian provinces require employers to provide only two weeks of vacation per year.
While we know that Europe is a fraud, a liar and evil and stuff…they sure do make good wages, get sweet vacations and drive nice cars. Maybe we have it all wrong.
Thinking About Stuff As I Wait
I try to organize my life so as to not think about stuff too much. Ben is in that unhappy phase of life when he has to think too much and such consequences resulted that I felt compelled to give the advice that Oldie Olsons always give. But here in the moment when there are ribs basted enough for now, one kid having the nap he needed and the other of to learn another smidge about the piano there is that moment to think. And what do I think about? The high cost of banjos, that’s what. I go looking for a decent one to buy for a fella and we are looking at $600 price tags. Dear oh dear. How is the world going to be moved to take on the plunkity-plunk as its own universal voice of peace if we are looking at $600 bucks a pop when there are decent enough $125 start-up models to be had for the wise internationalist shopper. So I will defer again and buy south. And why not when the currency exchange is going in the right direction.
After I thought about that for a while, I realized I have mislaid my copy of Lew Bryson’s New York Breweries. I hate that, not having a work of that importance right at hand just when I was going to make a pithy observation about it in my review of A Good Beer Guide To New England, as important a work of art as I have come across in these few years the Lord has spared for me. Worst of all, Lew knows I have read it so I can’t hit him up for a review copy. Dang nab it. Cornered myself. By the way, each of you really ought to go buy these books.
So then I was done thinking about that and had a nap and then basted the ribs again and I was pretty much done thinking and I was checking out blogs I like and I noted that Junk Store Cowgirl, my favorite Rochesterian read, is truly down for the count – sad I thought…unless it is not sad, unless packing it in was good. Maybe she was able to see something ahead that Ben can’t yet see for him. And then I thought about the ribs again. Fine looking ribs.
So what do you do with all this? I say build upon it. I’ve been in places where you find an end or a corner but I much prefer the times I find a foundation of the next thing. Something is going to come of those ribs and something is going to come of that beer review. I’ll likely find that copy of Lew’s book as well. Maybe even something’ll come of the banjo. Yesterday or the day before, driving in rain and listening to American Routes I heard a jug band recording that featured not only a banjo but a trombone and banjo – maybe it was “Bring It With You When You Come” by Cannon’s Jug Stompers now that I check the playlist. Worse ways to head towards the mid-forties as we pass on though the mid-decade than to build on those two new things plus the ribs and the beer…though a mute for the trombone might be in order.
More from Cooperstown
Ok, Ok. More from Cooperstown. I really only took photos of the crowd as the Canon PowerShot A410 is not exactly a big lense job but it did a pretty good job picking out Bucky Dent. For the record, while I remember, two cool things were watching Adam Dunn jack the ball over our heads as opposed to the left field fence and also watching two Pirates outfielders warm up by playing a game of catch from the corner of left field all the way to the corner of right. I wouldn’t have been able to through half the distance when I was that age. And it would have landed twelve feet to the right and Fish would have said “man, you suck.” And I would have sucked.
Wow, those pixels make a funny noise when you squeeze them down like that.
Thinking About Stuff As I Wait
I try to organize my life so as to not think about stuff too much. Ben is in that unhappy phase of life when he has to think too much and such consequences resulted that I felt compelled to give the advice that Oldie Olsons always give. But here in the moment when there are ribs basted enough for now, one kid having the nap he needed and the other of to learn another smidge about the piano there is that moment to think. And what do I think about? The high cost of banjos, that’s what. I go looking for a decent one to buy for a fella and we are looking at $600 price tags. Dear oh dear. How is the world going to be moved to take on the plunkity-plunk as its own universal voice of peace if we are looking at $600 bucks a pop when there are decent enough $125 start-up models to be had for the wise internationalist shopper. So I will defer again and buy south. And why not when the currency exchange is going in the right direction.
After I thought about that for a while, I realized I have mislaid my copy of Lew Bryson’s New York Breweries. I hate that, not having a work of that importance right at hand just when I was going to make a pithy observation about it in my review of A Good Beer Guide To New England, as important a work of art as I have come across in these few years the Lord has spared for me. Worst of all, Lew knows I have read it so I can’t hit him up for a review copy. Dang nab it. Cornered myself. By the way, each of you really ought to go buy these books.
So then I was done thinking about that and had a nap and then basted the ribs again and I was pretty much done thinking and I was checking out blogs I like and I noted that Junk Store Cowgirl, my favorite Rochesterian read, is truly down for the count – sad I thought…unless it is not sad, unless packing it in was good. Maybe she was able to see something ahead that Ben can’t yet see for him. And then I thought about the ribs again. Fine looking ribs.
So what do you do with all this? I say build upon it. I’ve been in places where you find an end or a corner but I much prefer the times I find a foundation of the next thing. Something is going to come of those ribs and something is going to come of that beer review. I’ll likely find that copy of Lew’s book as well. Maybe even something’ll come of the banjo. Yesterday or the day before, driving in rain and listening to American Routes I heard a jug band recording that featured not only a banjo but a trombone and banjo – maybe it was “Bring It With You When You Come” by Cannon’s Jug Stompers now that I check the playlist. Worse ways to head towards the mid-forties as we pass on though the mid-decade than to build on those two new things plus the ribs and the beer…though a mute for the trombone might be in order.