Oh yeah, I almost forgot: I got laid off last week. So, currently I'm working on learning ASP, which I figure will help me get a job that paid better than the one I got laid off from. For the record, the lay-off had nothing to do with me; Element K lost 2/3 of its contract with Cisco (its largest customer by far), and I happened to be working on the Cisco contract. They laid off about a quarter of the people in my building... about 80 total over the course of a couple of weeks.

Democrat & Chronicle: Van wins Great Ferry Race - That's right, a canuck in a minivan raced the ferry from Toronto to Rochester, and won.

MSNBC - Kidnapped Marine's father pleads for release - If news organizations didn't give kidnappers international attention by airing their videotapes, a significant portion of the incentive to kidnap and kill innocent people would be gone. I'm not saying the murders would stop, but nothing makes a terrorist happier than to see himself on TV, so denying them that privilege could make a difference. By failing to do so, Al-Jazeera is indirectly yet significantly responsible for the deaths of innocent people in Iraq.

The Official Countdown Site to Hermione's 18th Birthday - If this site is for real, then it might as well be www.heyguesswhatimapedophile.com . It was funny for the Olsen twins and Britney Spears. It's not so funny when the girl looks like she's 11. (From fark.com)

CNN.com - Toxic pollution rose in 2002, reversing trend - Jun 23, 2004 - There is no one that can claim responsibility for this other than Bush. During his tenure as governor of Texas, the EXACT SAME THING happened, and if he gets four more years in office, we'll be in deep shit.

MSNBC - Kerry: Bush puts politics before science: "Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry on Monday criticized President Bush for relying on ideology rather than fact in the pursuit of science and repeated his pledge to overturn the ban on federal funding of research on new stem cell lines."

The longer we go without research into stem cells, the more people that will continue to suffer and die from curable diseases.

MSNBC - American hostage's body found, Saudis say - These hostage stories just aren't going to stop, are they?

A song by "Lost Horizon" came on Yahoo radio just now, and I was intrigued because it was classic hair metal, but the album was released in 2003. So, I went on the band's web site and hit the "Biography" link to see if I could find out something useful about them. Instead, I got this:

"The old Millennium reaches it's end. The year is 1998. A sudden mighty gust of the Metal wind fills up the hearts of the three pure ones. Wojtek, Martin and Christian are their names.

That sacred call, that final cry, breeds a spiritual aspiration, which leads to the great gathering of the three.

Under a prodigious influence of the same, shared flame, baptised in Metal and the restored will, they interlace their faiths and conclude their goals. Transcendental Protagonist, Cosmic Antagonist and Preternatural Transmogrifyer are born.

During two years, the reunited companions consequently prepare a great manifestation for the world - their first album of power. About a year later, when the adjusting of the thoughts is almost finished, another shape turns up on the horizon. The singer Daniel joins the brave ones, embellishing the music by his divine voice. Shortly thereafter, two demonstration songs are recorded. Also he, listening to his deepest ego, finds his real identity. The new, fourth warrior is born. His name is Ethereal Magnanimus.

In June 1999, the demonstration CDs are sent out to several record labels. By the end of the summer, the formation receives very positive feedback and interest from most of them. Yet, only one of them proves itself worthy enough. It's Music For Nations. In March 17th, 2000, both parties finally signs a covenant, and the collaboration begins. Shortly after, a music studio is entered and the recording begins. Like in a trance, with no rest and no mercy, from late March through mid August, the album "Awakening The World" is being created. Only the walls of the several studios know the pain and the suffering that is being experienced. But nothing can stop this enterprise.

And now the work is finished. The first ritual is over. The second begins. And out of nowhere the fifth and the sixth warrior are on their way to take their place at the round table, where two of the thrones that surround it have been waiting to be ascended. The new dawn is born and is here to stay. Once lost. Now brought back.

The LOST HORIZON."

Maddox's site - "In June of 2003, O'Reilly attacked the only form of media he was powerless in: the Internet. In his "Talking Points Memo" segment, he whined that "nearly everyday, there's something written on the Internet about me that's flat out untrue," continuing with his theory that "the reason these net people get away with all kinds of stuff is that they work for no one. They put stuff up with no restraints. This, of course, is dangerous..." Yeah, real dangerous Bill. Next thing you know, people will get the crazy idea that they have the right to express their opinions as they see fit. Who knows? Maybe this idea will catch on and they'll add it to the Constitution of the United States, giving it a catchy title like "freedom of speech." What do you think of that you sock-sniffing bog trotter?"

Check out the rest of Maddox's site while you're at it, it's funny if nothing else.

CNN.com - Truck hauling bees crashes in Montana - Jun 16, 2004 - "A tractor-trailer overturned on a curve on a highway, spilling its load of hundreds of bee hives and unleashing some nine million angry honey bees."

MSNBC - Cheney: Saddam had strong al-Qaida ties: "The vice president offered no details backing up his claim of a link between Saddam and al-Qaida."

So wait... we're supposed to believe you... why?

CNN.com - Mind over video game - Jun 15, 2004 - Using thought alone and with some electrodes placed on the surface of the brain, four volunteers were able to control a video game, U.S. researchers reported Monday.

Simply by thinking the word "move", the volunteers played the simple video game, the researchers reported.

"We are using pure imagination. These people are not moving their limbs," said Dr. Eric Leuthardt, a neurosurgeon at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis who worked on the study.

Their findings add to work being done at several centers and are aimed at finding ways to help people control computers or machines using brainpower alone. Potentially, people paralyzed by disease or accidents could use such devices to work, read, write and even possibly to move around.

MSNBC - Lakers are better off without Kobe: "For a year now, the phrase that has struck terror into the hearts of Los Angeles Lakers fans has been, "Kobe might leave." But going on Kobe Bryant's performance in the NBA Finals, the more frightening question may now be, 'He might stay.'"

I love when the Lakers get bad press. Can't wait to see the Pistons win the trophy tonight.

Kobe, stay in LA, you arrogant prick. I would honestly have trouble remaining a Knicks fan if Kobe came to NY so he could pick up the endorsement deals he lost this year.

MSNBC - Sharp divisions marked Reagan tenure - Before you let the mass media convince you that Reagan was a saint and we should mourn his passing or even make a big deal out of it, read this. Reagan was a Republican before all else, in the worst sense of the word.

...but last night, I actually agreed with Bush, almost whole-heartedly. I don't remember everything he said, but it was his interview with Tom Brokaw after the D-day anniversary speech. He actually sounded coherent and rational for once, and defended his reasons for invading Iraq with logic, rather than his usual canned rhetoric and catch phrases. I still don't agree with the decision to invade, and am also still outraged that he was willing to deceive the American public (not to mention the other two branches of government) to get what he wanted, but now I have at least some modicum of hope that there's some strategy behind his actions.

MSNBC - The Last Roll Call: "The United States entered World War II, as it had entered World War I, to defeat a proven aggressor and bring the war to an end. The Bush administration actually won its righteous war, in Afghanistan after the aggression of September 11, 2001. But that victory came too quickly, it seems, for our leaders to get much satisfaction from it. So they sent our kids to Iraq. And what is the goal there today, now that the reasons we were given at first have proved to be grand delusions? To spread democracy? To extirpate the very idea of terrorism? To work the will of God? Sixty years ago, those who thought they could teach the world how to live the only right way, which was their way, and launched unprovoked wars claiming this was the only thing could do to defend their values - those were the people we called the enemy."