Fall down. Go Boom.

Generally speaking, how can you blow up a building... and NOT have it fall down?

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The Blog

Mike told me tonight that according to the statistics portion of our server, I'm getting about 150 hits per day, 110 of which are unique. However, it seems as though a proportionally small number of comments are left... Regardless, I'm quite happy with the growing success of my blog.

Old Lady vs. Mercedes

This video clip is hilarious. What a delightful form of justice, don't you think?

Behold the Cuteness

There is a blog out there completely devoted to displaying cuteness. The page, aptly named, Cute Overload features loads of pictures of adorable animals. Check it out and count how many times you say aww or you giggle. Enjoy.

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Magnetic Mirth

BoingBoing carried a post about HUGE neodymium magnets. However, these babies can apparently pack a magnetic and physical punch. The following is the warning that accompanies their listing on the website.

If carrying one into another room, carefully plan the route you will be taking. Computers & monitors will be affected in an entire room. Loose metallic objects and other magnets may become airborne and fly considerable distances - and at great speed - to attach themselves to this magnet. If you get caught in between the two, you can get injured.

Two of these magnets close together can create an almost unbelievable magnetic field that can be very dangerous. Of all the unique items we offer for sale, we consider these two items the most dangerous of all. Our normal packing & shipping personnel refuse to package these magnets - our engineers have to do it. This is no joke and we cannot stress it strongly enough - that you must be extremely careful - and know what you're doing with these magnets. Take Note: Two of the 3" x 1" disc magnets can very easily break your arm if they get out of control.

We can only ship these magnets by ground UPS - they cannot be shipped via air as it will interfere with the aircraft's navigational equipment.

I want one so bad. However, I’m terrified of owning one. I have way too many electronics in my vicinity. Perhaps if I was in a field in the middle of nowhere it would be fun. I think Padge should buy a few for… “demonstrations.”

Circuit Training for.. Grovers

Rather than do anything that is actually productive, I opted to spend an hour or so designing this cover for my FitWell project. It was fun and wonderfully relaxing. From there, we went on to win the final game for volleyball and become reigning champions of the school (C League, but we still have bragging rights).

Kalashnikov Clutching Kitty

This makes me smile.

Necks of the Turtle Variety

This is awesome. You should go look at it. You should learn from it. You should obey the precepts put forth in it. I'll rant more about clothes in the near future.

MPAA - More Propaganda Against America

I really hate that “trailer” of sorts that precedes the majority of DVDs and Films these days. You know the one, the epileptic one (Low, High). The one where the MPAA tries to convince us that downloading movies is “stealing”. It flashes the following words across the screen (subliminal messages are their best hope).

YOU WOULDN'T STEAL A CAR – It is known as grand theft auto. However, people disagreed 1,237,114 times in 2004 (according to the FBI's website anyway). But, ok, we get it.

YOU WOULDN'T STEAL A HANDBAG – Yes, purse-snatching is bad. However, people disagreed 41686 times in 2004. (.6% of the 6,947,685 reported incidences of Larceny-theft in 2004)

YOU WOULDN'T STEAL A TELEVISION – They’re big and heavy and generally inside someone’s house. That's just too inconvienent for the majority of the population.

YOU WOULDN'T STEAL A DVD – Ok, disk, nice box, and handy RFID tags that make lots of noise when you try and walk out of the store with one.

DOWNLOADING PIRATED FILMS IS STEALING – This is where I whip out my can of-legal-knowledge-whoop… Anyway, by “stealing” they are referring to that magical concept known as theft. Yes, that’s the legal term for “the wrongful taking of someone else's property without that person's willful consent" (thanks Wikipedia). However, they’re wrong. DOWNLOADING PIRATED FILMS IS COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT.

Since the true crime just doesn’t have the same ring as “stealing” they switched it. However, the detail that remains is that the two are completely different concepts. One is reserved for physical property and the other governs intellectual property. But this phrase “copyright infringement” is just a nice concise way of saying “violating the rights secured by a copyright,” whatever that means.

According to Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act there are two specific "rights" that they have are being infringed:

Section 106:
"(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;"
"(3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;"

It is not “stealing”, no matter how much they want it to be.