Elegant, yet… stupid.

If you’re fortunate enough to live by a theatre that is running it don’t miss the one night engagement of War Games 25th anniversary. It’s this Thursday, July 24th. I can’t wait!!

Here’s a nice article remembering the movie

I regard bike geeks in this town with great suspicion and disdain. They are lemurs with bad attitudes. But at the same time I love bikes.

I’ve reluctantly found myself bashfully intrigued by this idiotic fixed gear fad that is going on. And in the name of tinkering, I may convert a bike to a fixed gear. Dear god I never thought it would come to this.

To aid me in this quest I found this handy blog post on converting old road bikes to fixies.

Here is one of the best articles I’ve come across about the implications of the mortgage crisis, including some interesting insights on what the bailouts may mean and some advice for managing through an increasingly probable collapse (buy gold and silver, STAT).

“Are things really this bad? Well, let me ask you which do you think is more likely?

Scenario one: The U.S. government recognizes its severe financial mismanagement. It allows Fannie and Freddie to collapse completely and does not assume their liabilities. Mortgage investors take huge losses. Mortgage rates soar to more than 10%. Housing prices fall 75% – which makes housing affordable for millions of Americans previously priced out of the market.

In the meantime, the government cuts spending by 30% and reduces taxes radically to encourage economic growth (which, ironically, increases tax receipts, leading to a balanced budget). It restructures Social Security, moving the age of retirement to 75. And most importantly, the government gets out of health care completely, renouncing all of its Medicare obligations. Hospitals and doctors immediately drop their fees to meet the affordability requirements of a free market.

Scenario two: The U.S. government refuses to take responsibility for causing a bubble in mortgage finance. Rather than allow the bubble to deflate quickly, it bails out Fannie and Freddie. Mortgage losses build for five years, reaching more than $1 trillion. Housing prices stabilize in good neighborhoods, but risk-averse lending practices result in ghetto-like conditions and widespread vacancy across broad swaths of America.

Refusing to substantially raise taxes, annual deficits surpass $1 trillion in 2010. Total government debt begins to spiral out of control as our interest costs mount. Our foreign creditors lose confidence in the dollar and begin dumping it on the world market. Inflation surpasses 20% annually and prices for energy soar. Oil reaches $250 per barrel. The president alleges an international conspiracy to destroy America and threatens to attack China if it continues to sell the dollar. Price controls are instituted.

No paper currency regime has ever lasted. No government in history has ever repaid debts as large as those already assumed by our government (in terms of GDP). A default is not likely - it is inevitable.”

Read the full article

I saved a couple remaining bits of seratonin especially for these sick motherfuckers!

In my on-going attempts to properly undress stoner rock and bring it backwards into my bedroom, i have stumbled upon perhaps her finest maiden yet. I’m talking buckets of goat blood upon the inner sanctum of that which is most unholy kind of shit. This is it, folks. Behold, Earthless!

I was reluctant to post any Batman related posts (well, until after I see it and will be most certainly compelled to get my digital fawning into overdrive), but I came across this article on Fandango that was just too cool not to pass along. It takes you on a short tour through the different spots that were used in Chicago and tells what they converted them to for the Dark Knight. As a lifelong Chicago native it was quite a treat to read and has kept my fanboy nipples properly tweaked for tomorrow’s screening.

Batman!!

Read “Good Knight Chicago“

A few security holes in Mac OS X are already known, such as the unpatched ARDAgent vulnerability. But that’s not where the principal Mac security threat lies. From interviews with security experts and corporate IT managers, it’s clear that security concerns and potential risks are much more quotidian — exactly the kind of bread-and-butter stuff that is easy to ignore, especially for Macs, where IT’s familiarity with the Mac is slight because users have typically managed the computers themselves.

It’s time for IT to figure out where the Mac’s security holes are so that you can plug them before your corporate knowledge starts bubbling out. Here are the six main flaws you should focus on.

Read the rest

Check out Cap’n Fatty Goodlander, the salt stained sea gypsy. He’s a natural born world shaker, hell bent on freedom. A nautical Whitman methinks, a beautiful man and a true libertarian.

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God Bless you Marvin Gaye for freaking out all us ignorant white folk on a Sunday afternoon in Ronald Reagan’s America. May you rest in peace.

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