Friday, April 29, 2005
The world is safer and the economy expands...
The NTSA, National Transportation Safety Administration, has been scouring airport passengers since 2002 and collecting over 18 million items that risk security. It's a lot more than the ubiquitous toenail clippers and Leatherman pocket tools:
- two and half gallon jug of corn oil
- three-foot long black wooden salamander
- furry bondage-type cuffs
- and a purple sombrero
And if cuffs are not allowed, what about duct tape and nylon cable ties used by security forces?
BTW, I applaud safety but question inconsistancy. I travel a lot and have seen the inspectors/airlines allow:
- gallons of greasy makeup and hair oil
- three foot long skateboards and tennis racquets
- whip/riding crop
- turbans
Manufacturers and retailers are booming with travelers having to re-buy the confiscated goods. All these items have to be removed from the airports, so the shipping business is expanding. I wonder if any of it is air freighted? The State Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is all business, allowing contraband to be sorted (labor) and auctioned on eBay.
 
12:24 PM
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Thursday, April 28, 2005
What is "Alka Seltzer", Alex
The AP reports:
BERLIN - More than 1,000 toads have puffed up and exploded in a
Hamburg pond in recent weeks, and scientists still have no
explanation for what's causing the combustion.
That's right, drunken midgets (credit: Don P) have plagerized a torture previously reserved for seagulls.
8:28 AM
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Saturday, April 23, 2005
After today, I'm feeling a bit like Tom Cruise
I had my fill of Penelope Cruz in Sahara and Nicole Kidman in The Interpreter. For laughs and a Chinese lesson that Prince Roy would love, I added Kung Fu Hustle and topped everything with a jumbo popcorn. Wait a minute, Tom Cruise ain't got nuttin' on me!
Sacre bleu, I get home to find the Bravo Network showing a 3-day "Cirque-a-thon". Merde, if you've never seen Cirque du Soleil, it's a buzz, merci to our neighbors in the Great White North ;^)
11:31 PM
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Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Such law-abiding citizens
Ten or about 1/8 of Kribs Krowd responded to the previous poll as having legitimate inspections on their vehicles. NOBODY paid a few rupees under the counter or got their inspection from a friend of a friend of a friend ;^)
6:03 PM
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Monday, April 11, 2005
Kindly vote, there are just a few hours left for the poll
Inquiring minds want to know your opinion, don't be a stinker. Don't flush this opportunity down the drain, the butt you save may be your own!
That reminds me: don't you hate the way the beginning of Indian TP is held togetber with cellophane tape? It's not much better in the US where glue is used. I think the manufacturers calculate the waste of starting a roll into their profit margin. Is nothing sacred?
***** CLOSING UPDATE *****
Well, the TP Poll ended with a majority of 13 total votes favoring "quilted" toilet paper. "Cheap" ran second. Just so happens, I've got Doller Store (Canada), 2-ply TP in my loo. I'm a little discouraged by the light turn out of the Indian hygine crowd. If this Plog isn't fun for you, then it isn't for me. I'm all about you getting off, and if you're not, then I should. Thanks, see you on the next adventure.
11:03 AM
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Sunday, April 10, 2005
What are friends for anyway!
I'd like to help a leading blogger get some data collection out of the way. I realize this may generate a lot of traffic and slow down the blogosphere, so please be patient (no kribbing). Your input is valuable and appreciated.
8:21 AM
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Saturday, April 09, 2005
Home Opener, Red Wings beat the Skychiefs, 2-1
Notice that the Syracuse "Chiefs" have renamed themselves in an attempt at political correctness. This in a game where grown men frequently spit, scratch their balls and pat each other on the ass. I digress.
The fifth largest crowd ever (13,158) basked in the sun (57°F), quaffed sparkling beer, and munched a few tons of Italian sausage, burgers, etc. And I suppose it's good that the Rochester team won. I introduced friends Mujeeb, Ravi, and Suresh to "America's National Pastime". I've previously taken Suresh to see Rochester's professional ice hockey team and at that arena, he learned about Red Osier Prime Rib Sandwiches. When we got to Frontier Field today, he didn't hesitate to enjoy another "sammy"...with horseradish! It was a great day:
- they saw a fine pitcher (bowler) who was promoted to the Major League team after the game
- they witnessed a booming 400 foot home run (boundary)
- they did great business with "ConeHead", a legendary beer man
- and I don't think they overlooked the hotties.
 
 
6:24 PM
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Thursday, April 07, 2005
Spring has sprung
The snow has completely melted from my yard. One has to look hard to find the remnents of a snowpile anywhere, e.g. in the shade of a building where a snowplow had pushed the vestiges from the last storm of the season.
Last week, I sent a meeting invitation to Indian co-workers here in our Rochester, NY office to discuss the differences between "bowling and pitching". Venue: Frontier Field, Saturday, 1PM. Little do they know, the meeting will also include Cross-Culturalization, Accent-Neutralization, and Process training, particularly with respect to the phrase "Yo, beer dude". Yesterday, I received confirmation from four ambitious men willing to work the unpaid overtime. Now knowing the headcount, I went to the stadium to purchase the best seats possible. Afterwards, I noticed the gates to the field were open, so I wandered in. A few laborers were putting the finishing touches on the field and a handful of players were loosening up for today's opener in Syracuse, NY. I took a seat down near the dugout, chatted with a few of the future stars, and soaked up some brilliant sunshine. There's just something about the natural contrasts of the green grassy outfield and the reddish clay/sand infield. Play ball!
10:44 AM
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Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Have we been "Kribbed"© (hoaxed) again?
"Indian pilots chosen for US hall of fame":
"...into the aviation hall of fame at the prestigious Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum"
"...will receive the Laureates trophy at the museum"
"...chosen during the museum's Aviation Week and Space Technology"
"...other Indians to be inducted as laureates in this hall of fame are President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and J.R.D. Tata"
When I saw the President's name, alarms went off. I was immediately reminded of the February hoax involving a boy from Northern India supposedly outscoring the President on a mythical NASA International Scientist Discovery exam.
Check out the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum website, its Search function and Site Map:
- Can you find Kalam's name anywhere or the pilots Sharma and Dhanake?
- Is there a Laureate event on the Museum calendar?
- Why does the Museum not publish Aviation Week and Space Technology Laureates Awards after 2001?
Here's my best research:
-The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum houses many collections including awards and medals, one of which is the Aviation Week and Space Technology Laureates Awards.
-J.R.D. Tata won a different award, the Guggenheim Medal in 1988.
-These Laurates Awards are given by Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine from publishing giant McGraw-Hill. Nominations come from staff editors. In 1997, the magazine created the Hall of Fame. Advertising sales closed yesterday for the 25 April issue containing this year's honorees.
BTW, the two Indian pilots were involved in a helicopter rescue that saved three mountain climbers at high altitude. Interestingly, Straight Up! Helicopters in Action is showing at the Museum's IMAX theater and the film includes some helicopter rescues ;^)
2:18 PM
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Monday, April 04, 2005
From the ashes of an ISP HelpDesk rises the Phoenix, "Dr. SPAM"
And the good doctor reminds us that the never ending battle for truth, justice, and a relatively clean InBox usually requires a little "D" (defense). We need to protect ourselves with some kind of antivirus software, some firewall, and with Ganesha's guidence, we hopefully undertake frequent updates. The problem lies in the foibles of frequency. For those of us that are diligent about virus definitions, there's my mother and friends who aren't. Imagine a defense where the onus didn't sit so heavy on our shoulders, a defense that focused less on up-to-date content filtering and more on WHO is sending the crap.
IBM is promoting FairUCE for the Java and Linux platforms. "FairUCE tries to find a relationship between the envelope sender's domain and the IP address of the client delivering the mail, using a series of cached DNS look-ups... It virtually eliminates spoofed addresses, phishing, and even many viruses... The author of this technology went from over 400 spams a day to just one or two."
For you Windoze freaks, Infoworld reports that Symantec re-routes SPAM from blacklisted domains into a holding queue that would ultimately slow down the spammer's servers. I like fighting fire with fire ;^)
9:24 AM
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Sunday, April 03, 2005
Cold, rainy weekend leads to...
steaming German food and microbrewed beer at Rohrbachs. I washed down Onion Hoops, schnitzel, saurkraut and German potato salad with two X-Ales (nicely hopped). Dessert was at my house with espresso brewed from my new Gaggia Tebe.
Sunday brought the angio-breakfast at Sullys Charbroil with morning newspaper followed by a movie marathon:
Sin City - dark with a perfect cast, but too much skin for India. Check the trivia.
Upside of Anger - ex-baseball star Kevin Costner understands women.
The second season of Deadwood on HBO is continuing its greatness and wrapped up the weekend. BTW, the series stars a shady Powers Boothe who had a similar role in Sin City.
 
11:38 PM
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Saturday, April 02, 2005
From the land of junk food, disrespectful youth, Terri Schiavo and missionaries...
not far from Little India in the windy city of Chicago, comes NARC. Midway Games Inc. has stepped over the line with this dark, role-playing release for PS2 and Xbox. For the price of two "dime" bags AKA "twenty dollah", gamers get to control cops who can be made dirtier than the south-end of a north-bound cow. Players have a choice whether their characters uphold the law or make their living from 50 rupee bribes and dealing brown sugar. In gaming history, this would be the second title to emulate actual drug useage. Who remembered Super Mario Brothers (1985) eating magic mushrooms? In NARC, cops toking ganja will slow the game down. A hit of Ecstasy calms down the bad guys. And basing crack makes a shooter more accurate. But then there's also blackouts, addiction, and police Internal Affairs. Maxim rates the game 4 out of 5 stars while noting "Play dirty and you may lose your badge, proving the long arm of the law isn’t above reaching into anybody’s trousers and squeezing hard"
BTW, whatever happened to "nickel" bags ;^)
5:39 PM
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Friday, April 01, 2005
The man who cried wolf
Kribs = fool
5:58 PM
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