Thank Goodness It's A Linkdump

The AQ Test tries to determine if you are on the Autism-Spectrum. I scored 42 the first time I took it, and 43 the second.

Someone recently gave me some rationing coins as seen at Boing Boing here, and I wasn't sure what they were. Now I know.

Oh no! Phables is over. One of my favorite webcomics (I just wish someone would do the same with Seattle). I wish I had money to pre-order the book and make sure it happens.

Monty Python's YouTube Channel Boosted DVD Sales. Putting up free content helps sales.

Steampunk Cyclon Contest. Cylons are cool again!

Wow, a Warren Ellis entry I'm not afraid to link to. These are incredible photographs that combine WWII photos with modern photos of the same place.

Obama Inauguration Headlines.

Speaking of, I almost want the Obama action figure. But frankly, I'd rather have something tasteful and yet in my realm of "things I already collect". I need a LEGO Obama.

The Whitehouse has a blog. With RSS feeds (summary feed, not full-text like I prefer). This is a good way to keep up with the government, along with Obama's weekly "fireside" chats (which are nicely short yet still informative).

Scientists suddenly figure out that three fish are the same species! They wondered why they never saw mature examples of one type of fish, or males of another, or females of a third... well, now they know. All the same fish, but with remarkable differences in gender once they mature.

Ah, wartime urban legends are very Fortean. Investigations have sometimes revealed little pockets of truth in the tales, others (like perhaps the Angel of Mons) seem to be based on old fiction misremembered.

A Comcast repairman broke the power pole. He said Comcast would fix it. Another Comcast repairman said, no, it's owned by Commonwealth Edison, they have to fix it. The ComEd employee said, no, it's owned by the landowner, fix it yourself. Oh, and if you don't fix it in 30 days, we'll shut off your power. Homeowner tries to find a contractor to fix it, but the ground it too cold to put in a new pole. Burying the wires would cost $6000 that the homeowner doesn't have. Homeowner's insurance refuses to pay. In desperation, the homeowner contacts the Chicago Tribune Problem Solver who got Comcast to do the right thing, and ComEd to promise not to turn off the poor lady's power in the middle of winter. But good grief! Why does a person have to contact the media before a corporation will be responsible?

Pug for the in-laws.

And lastly, Coraline:

Anti-Virus Software and Mail Order Comics

Chances are we will not have Comcast when we move. And thus I will not get the free anti-virus software that comes with Comcast service. I know there are a handful of open source (ie free) anti-virus programs out there, do any of my readers use them, and does anyone have any suggestions of what to get or what to avoid? I've tried both McAfee and Norton in the past, and I dislike both of them. If they really are the best, I'll get 'em, but I wouldn't mind trying something else.

On the same note, does anyone know of any good mail order comic book services? I've heard of DCBS, and at the moment it's the front-runner. Anyone know of anything better?

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "Real Deal Fast Food" - We should've seen this last week, but thanks to Comcast's stupid digital cable box that hates our TiVo, we missed it. As with all the episodes of this show, I tried to decide which place I wanted to visit most. Unlike most episodes, I couldn't decide between the first and third spots.
• Classic Doctor Who: "Invasion of Time" Parts 3 & 4 - I really like Leela in this story. Confident, strong, cunning, and intelligent. And her faith in the Doctor is good to see.
• American Gladiator - I hope I wasn't the only person creeped out by the woman who was competing "for her husband" while he looked on in apparent disapproval. Very creepy. I really liked Brick... he made Toa take a dunk. I hope Brick goes all the way.
• Have I Got News For You: "Lee Mack, Shami Chakrabarti, and John O'Farrell" - Celery and Moobs! Still not as great as the Brian Blessed episode, but this one had lots of laughs. The "artist impressions" were a lovely touch, particularly "Ian hunting Methodists".
• Iron Chef America: "Flay vs Iacovone" - This is a good one to play the drinking game with. As usual with Flay, I rooted for the challenger. As is often the case, I wasn't much interested in trying any of the dishes.
• Ghost Hunters: "House of Spirits" - Well, the first location was goofy, but the second had some good solid debunking happening. The "eat that dead moth" bet was predictably silly, and I'm really glad he didn't do it.
• Dinner: Impossible: "Firehouse Fiasco" - That was a nightmare meal. I'm surprised he was able to pull the food/equipment in as quickly as he did. It was a miracle that meal turned out at all.
• Supernanny: "Doyle Family" - Not a bad episode. The reinforcement of the "naughty chair" technique is important in this one. It seems like most parents are inclined to give up too quickly. Again, I wish I could see follow-ups that are years later instead of weeks or months.
• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "The Memphis Barbecue Tour" - I'm really not into barbecue, so this was just mildly interesting to me instead of hunger-inducing.
• Doctor Who: "Silence in the Library" - Um. Wow? Creepy, and yet touching in parts. Appropriate that this follows the Agatha Christie episode. I'm waiting to see how the girl fits into the whole thing. And I like River Song.

Comics this week:

• Final Crisis #1 - I can hear the complaints already. With my lack of interest in the new gods, this is going to be a boring mini for me.
• Batman #677 - Still not sure what's going on, still don't care. Bruce Wayne examines his inner soul. Yawn.
• Action Comics #865 - Nice little side story on the Toyman. Not great, but not bad either.
• Green Lantern #31 - More origin. I really don't like galactic DCU, so this did nothing for me.
• JSA: Classified #38 - And more Wildcat. Nice detective work there, and a decent cliffhanger.
• Northlanders #6 - Ah, what a lovely twist at the end! I'm liking this book more and more.
• Rogue Angel #4 - Hmm. I'm getting into this one again. I like the main hero, and the plotline with Mark Twain is very nice.
• Usagi Yojimbo #112 - Every once in awhile I feel like going back and re-reading all of Usagi Yojimbo for clues to what's happening in the current story. This is one of those times.
• Heroes - Very nice collection of the on-line comics. I've read most of them, but I'll be re-reading as soon as I have a chance to sit down with it.
• DC Super Friends Young Readers Volume 1: "Heroes United/Attack of the Robot" - Glee!!!! This is a really cute book. It's for young readers, but the punch out heroes in the center are very nice, and the story is surprisingly solid. "Heroes United" is just an introduction to the characters, the five male members of the Super Friends (no Wonder Woman). "Attack of the Robot" puts them up against Lex Luthor. The only problem I have with the book is the lack of Wonder Woman, otherwise it's very cute and sweet.
• DC Super Friends Young Readers Volume 2: "Flying High" - Again, no Wonder Woman. Aquaman doesn't appear on the cover, but is in the book. This one is at the youngest reading level, while the other book was at a slightly older level. The story involves the Penguin, but naturally hasn't got much detail. Still, it's fun. Just not as fun as the first one.

This week's library movie was Stardust. I've read the original, and I must admit it was slightly better than the movie. Of course. But the real fun was seeing where the movie veers away from the book, and what bits are different completely. The scenes from the book are wonderfully realized. The changes were mostly for the best and worked very well. Overall, this is just a great movie to see for a light evening's entertainment. But read the book first. It's even more fun that way.

My library book this week was Orphans of Chaos by John C. Wright. It was recommended by an Androgum at our last Doctor Who party, so I figured I'd give it a chance. It is very strange. The orphans live in a school in which they are outnumbered by the staff, and each of the children seems to have abilities beyond normal humans. Not to mention a great deal of intelligence. The story veered off into high concepts at times, which made for an odd read. Overall, though, it was an enjoyable read and a nice contrast to my usual fare.

Another Agatha Christie book this week, The Secret Adversary, her second published novel. This one features Tommy and Tuppence, a young couple seeking money and adventure who get caught up in a mystery involving a missing girl. I was cursing myself at the end of the book, when I realized that I'd half-missed the vital clue. Yeah, I caught the clue itself, but missed the full meaning. Argh! So... I liked this one a lot.

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

Thursday Night Already?

Whenever hubby-Eric and I want a pizza, we get on-line and order from Papa John's. Apparently we aren't the only ones. I prefer PJ's easy ordering system to trying to order via phone.

Send your name to the moon. I've already added Laura Gjovaag. Add your own.

MetaFilter takes on Dave Sim.

Placebo Walk Buttons. Query: do you hit the walk button once, or multiple times? If you hit it multiple times, why? (I hit it lots, because it's something I'm allowed to hit and never screams when I hit it).

Things Carol Channing Should Never Do.

The ultimate article about what Net Neutrality is: namely infrastructure.

"The obvious answer is for regular folks like you and me to own our own last mile Internet connection. ... The idea is simple: run Fiber To The Home (FTTH) and pay for it as a community of customers -- a cooperative. The cost per fiber drop, according to Bill's estimate, is $1,000-$1,500 if 40 percent of homes participate. Using the higher $1,500 figure, the cost to finance the system over 10 years at today's prime rate would be $17.42 per month.

What we'd get for our $17.42 per month is a gigabit-capable circuit with no bits inside - just a really fast connection to some local point of presence where you could connect to ANY ISP wanting to operate in your city."

Striped Icebergs.

Comcast wants heavy users to pay more. As I don't think I could download that much on my currently often very slow Comcast connection, I'm not yet annoyed at them. At least, not for this particular reason.

This is NOT the way to respond to traffic cameras (may be Not Safe For Work if your eyes are very sensitive). They're going to charge him with not having a safety belt on. heh.

As I recall, when this now-resolved story hit the local news, it was kind of in the form of, "er, we're sorry, but we tried to look for these guys quietly but couldn't find any sign of them. Anyone know who they are? They were acting slightly suspicious and we want to make sure they weren't up to no good." The local media had debates on whether or not it was proper to show their image, and there was a bit of healthy debate. There was certainly never any panic. I'm glad the guys stepped forward and cleared up the concern.

Missing Child Experiment. How useful are those "Have You Seen Me?" ads?

On a very serious note: A Lost Story of the Holocaust. Pass it on. Via Dave's Rantlets.

For the in-laws: Don't Make Hulk Pug Angry.

Monday Thoughts

Numb3rs goes graphic... I heard about it first from Colleen Doran, then Wil Wheaton reported that he will have a part in the episode. Wil then reported from the set, which Colleen blogged. And of course, Warren Ellis also put in a thought.

Wake Up Call (for the one or two people who haven't seen this yet):

Via Cute Overload, the full history of Winston, in blog entries.

Haunted Houses on the real estate market... do realtors have to disclose that information?

Kitten Lasers Charging.

Comcast Block Bible Downloads. Yeah, yeah, they are really blocking BitTorrent traffic, but it makes for an impressive headline, doesn't it?

Do you eat your breakfast cereal so slowly that it gets soggy before you finish? Boing Boing has a bowl for you.

The days of BBS and yore, when 9600 baud was fast.

Mmmmmm, Pumpkin Pocky.

And a book to definitely see: 900 pages of Hembeck. Me want.

Doctor Who: Ghost Light in LOLspeak.

Not Safe For Work - Comic on Cancer Awareness is shut down on a university campus.

For the in-laws: Pug Paw Power! and Baroo?

Network Problems

Either the local area is having nasty outages (which is the story Comcast told me yesterday afternoon) or my modem is dying (which is the story Comcast told me this morning). Either way, we've had limited 'net access since about noon yesterday. If I don't post for a bit, that's why.

Digital Cable

Comcast is trying to update all its subscribers to digital one way or another. For us, they offered a "free for one year" deal that upgrades us to digital for a year, with digital music channels and on demand, but none of the other channels. I bit. I mean, it's a decent enough deal, and the small print said that the cost after one year would be $1 more than we are currently paying. I'm willing to accept the risk, especially as I'm keeping all the paperwork.

The digital cable boxes arrived today. The extra TV was easy to hook up. No bizarre extras, nothing special. But the main TV has a TiVo hooked to it, and it was a bit of nightmare to hook it up originally. I had to pull out the TiVo hook-up directions and mess with them for a LONG time to figure out what needed to be done to add a digital box to the set-up. Of particular interest was the need to add IR emitters from the TiVo to the digital box, so the TiVo can control the digital box. I hope. I'm still waiting for the cable to become active so I can test the whole system.

And that's not the only tech fun I'm having today. I also learned how to do the GIMP scripting that I've been whining about. A long post on that subject is coming soon, so I can remember what I did next time I need to try it.