"[A]sk for me to-morrow, and you shall find me a grave man."

Look for me tonight and you shall find me either: (a) at a party, drinking rather heavily, or (b) passed out in my apartment somewhere. I would say "passed out in my bed" except there's no guarantee I'll make it that far, especially since my couch and floor are both quite comfortable. (Though one is certainly cleaner than the other. The couch, damnit!)

Happy New Year's!!!

Sexy Beverage Container Designs

CNN: So much for the school milk carton -- Children drink more out of bottles, so schools switching. The punchline?

Several years ago the milk industry decided its boxes were not visually competitive when sold alongside the relatively sexy bottles of juice and soda increasingly common in schools.

I think the writer or editor who chose that adjective should be fired. Or lauded. It's an even split. (A sexy split!)

Rest in Peace Detective Briscoe

Actor Jerry Orbach, best known for his long-running role as New York police detective Lennie Briscoe on "Law & Order," died of prostate cancer Tuesday night. (Excellent CNN article.)

I'm not a huge L&O fan but Orbach was a good actor. As the CNN piece so aptly explained:

"Law & Order" and its spinoffs are all filmed in New York, and Orbach was so identified with the city that he was declared a "living landmark" by the New York Landmark Conservancy in 2002.

Farewell Detective Briscoe, and may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

Quick WoW Note

That's World of Warcraft for the absent-minded.

My character is now up to level 39.3 and 210 Blacksmithing. This means in approximately 0.7 levels (or 55k exp) he will get a horse, a host of upgrades to his spells and abilities, the chance to select either Weaponcrafting or Armorcrafting and the ability to wear plate armor. Truly exciting.

For the record, whatever record or phonograph that may be, I'm reporting my character's (or characters') progression more for myself than anyone else. It's kind of neat to be able to look back and say, gee, he rose 10 levels in the past 8 days.

Ciabata, ciabata everywhere and not a drop to drink!

Lunch today: Bologna on Ciabata vs. Smoked Turkey on Baguette. In my opinion, smoked turkey beats out bologna any day of the week. Even Mondays. However, ciabata beats out baguette likewise. So the question comes down to which is more important, the meat or the bread? Which will be the deciding factor that dictates which sandwich I consume?

Today, the ciabata won. That's not to say it will always win in such circumstances, though I give it the odds-on favorite over the meat distinction. Rather, I found I would willingly suffer the bologna since it came with the ciabata which in and of itself would be quite tasty and scrumptious. 'Lo and behold, the ciabata lived up to its name and provided a tasty counterpoint to the mildly-nauseating bologna. In fact, it performed so well that at some point I opted to finish the bread while leaving the remaining meat, lettuce and tomato uneaten. In an interesting twist, the bottom piece of bread, the one upon which the bologna had been directly resting, retained a hint of the bologna flavor. While I did not enjoy the hint of a taste, even finding it disconcerting at first, I appreciated its presence and wondered if there might not be a market for meat-flavored bread products. Nothing too strong or overwhelming, just a mild hint of a suggestion of a certain noteable meat-flavor. (But preferably not bologna.)

Also, I wonder what the etymology of the the word "bologna" is. After consulting a "knowledgeable dictionary," I learned a few things. "Bologna" is pronounced similar to "baloney" and the latter may be considered a variation on the former. In addition, apparently there is a city in Italy named "Bologna" and apparently pronounced similarly. (Though foreign pronounciation, at least of Italian words, is beyond my knowledge and honest capability.) Curious. I wonder if the meat "bologna" isn't originally from Bologna, Italy or tied to it in some manner. Also, I wonder where "bologna" devolved to the "slang" term "baloney." I assume it occurred on this side of the Atlantic as part of some ritualistic American bastardization ceremony. So many questions and so few answers, especially as I am currently reluctant to troll the internet and Google for information.

Still, it was one tasty sandwich largely due to the ciabata. When in doubt, I say go for the ciabata and never look back.

"It's the time of the season..."

"...for loving." While that has nothing to do with the topic of this post, it came to mind.

I like winter. I'm not such a huge fan of "the holiday season." Why? Well for one, I'm Jewish. That is, I don't celebrate Christmas. Never have. So "everyone" getting in a tense uproar about the upcoming long weekend and Christmas shopping and the like means absolutely nothing to me (other than possibly the long weekend). In addition, though I often don't mind Christmas songs, they do tend to grate on me after a while. As does the impression that I dare not set foot within a few miles of any mall since they are bound to be overwhelmed and utterly obnoxious. It all combines into one mishmash of loathing. I don't get togther with relatives. I don't sit around a Christmas tree opening presents. I don't enjoy a huge, family-based Christmas dinner. I don't roast chestnuts by the warmth of an open fire. I also don't resent any of that but if that's what the holiday season means to the majority of Chirstmas-observers, understand that it means absolutely none of that to me.

Channukah (my preferred spelling) was always a fun time at home. Since the time I went to college, though, it's become less-observed as finals tend to inevitable run into the observance/celebration, meaning I almost never observe or celebrate it. Again, I don't resent that, it just translates to the month of December holding less meaning for me other than the end of the semester.

Likewise for New Years. Like Valentine's Day, I can't think of a single New Years in which I actually and thoroughly celebrated and enjoyed the holiday. Very few of them have I drunk much if at all. Very few of them have I spent in the company of people other than family members. Very few of them have I actually enjoyed. The vast majority of the time, it's been something like "okay, yay, it's the next year. I saw the ball drop, guess I can go to sleep sometime in the next hour or so." Seriously. Hell, one of the few I remember is the one from 2001 --> 2002 and that's because I spent it playing Dark Age of Camelot (an MMORPG) on my computer! And the reason I remember it is because a box popped up wishing me a happy New Year from the game operators! If that's my most memorable New Years, you can tell I haven't truly been celebrating them.

Yes, I know I could probably really celebrate New Years if I wanted to. Go out and find a party, have a party, hit a bar, do something. But I've never truly felt the push to do so. Bars generally aren't my scene as I'd prefer being with friends and people I know. And then, most of them have their own plans for New Years that generally don't include me. To quote Calvin & Hobbes: "It's a vicious cycle that took years to perfect."

All of the above is also not to say that I get depressed or down-trodden this time of year. I don't. It's nice to have a festive atmosphere on the air and people generally happy and/or content for a while. Both are rare occasions and I appreciate the generally positive sensation that overrides most things. It's nice. It's also infectious. And that's probably why I don't get depressed or despondent. I mean it's Christmas time and New Years and all that. How could anyone get too upset? (Especially since the semester is over and we have at least 3 weeks until the next begins.)

So in this festive time and merry atmosphere..

I wish everyone a very merry and happy holidays!

Judge Halts Guilty Plea in Anti-Spam Law Case

Judge questions anti-spam law:

Judge halts guilty plea by ex-AOL employee who sold e-mail addresses, questions new anti-spam law.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge has refused to accept a guilty plea from a former America Online employee accused of selling the Internet provider's customer list to a "spammer," saying he was unsure a crime had been committed.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein stopped a Tuesday hearing at which Jason Smathers was to plead guilty to conspiracy and interstate trafficking of stolen property, saying he had a "technical question" about the alleged crime.

At issue, the judge said, is whether the actions rose to the level required by a new anti-spam law, which states that spam must be not only annoying but deceptive.
...
The case by federal prosecutors charges that Smathers, of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, stole a list of 92 million customer screen names from AOL, a unit of Time Warner Inc. (Research), and sold it to an Internet marketer. CNN/Money also is a unit of Time Warner.

The marketer then allegedly used the list to promote his online gambling operation and sold the names to other spammers, according to prosecutors.

Smathers, 24, faces up to 15 years in prison on charges of conspiracy and interstate trafficking of stolen property, but was expected to receive a sentence closer to 18 to 24 months.

After the hearing was unexpectedly cut short, an attorney for Smathers said "everything has been thrown open now" by the judge's refusal to accept his client's plea.

"This is a new statute," the attorney, Jay Goldberg, said. "He is questioning whether the conduct here met the standard of deception."

I iwsh had time right now to research this case a bit more. I'd like to know what exactly the statute says, especially with regards to deception. If the anti-spam law only tackles deceptive spam, in my opinion that ignores the vast majority of spam, which is not deceptive in its subject line. If I did explore and learn a bit more, I could comment on the Judge's position because, based on this unsupported article, it seems a bit fishy.

Chia-Lawyer

Chia: The ultimate cult holiday gift.

Over the past two decades, the Chia Pet has grown beyond its marketer's expectations to become a classic kitsch gift.

The company began marketing Chia Pets -- the Chia Ram was the first -- around Christmas 1982 after purchasing a variation from a man who happened upon the idea in Mexico, said Michael Hirsch, vice president of Joseph Enterprises Inc.

The company kept the trademark name, but revamped the product and packaging and began advertising on television. The hokey "Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia" spot shows children applying the seed mixture to the terra cotta planter.
...
"I can remember specifically when Chia Pets came out on the market," he said. "We thought they were so cheesy that they were cool," he said.

New Chia products are added every couple of years and there are about a dozen varieties, including Shrek, Scooby-Doo, an assortment of animals and an herb garden.

This article actually made me want to run out and find a chia-thing of my own. I can't grow anything. At the moment, I inherently dislike anything which would require attention and time on my part in order to grow or live. This includes but is not limited to: plant life, fish and other animal life. Seriously. If its life is dependent on me providing it something on a regular basis, no thank you. But a chia-something could work. I could probably handle watering it and watching it sprout growth-like green things. Heck, I have old bread products and old oranges that have sprouted green growths, why not do it deliberately?

So maybe I'll look around online and order one online. Sit it on the ledge over my couch maybe. Who knows, the possibilities are endless!

Also, I was contemplating chia-things one may not expect to hit the market any time soon. After discarding the first few which were far too uncouth to put into print, I put the list on hold pending some time to sit and thing about it at greater length. There may be a follow-up post involved at some near time in the future.

Gilligan Strikes Again!

I'm watching the season finale of The Real Gilligan's Island on TBS while I wait for the WoW Update download to finish. (Only 2% more to go!) This reality show is like a train wreck. You know it's going to be bad and you know you shouldn't be watching yet you can't seem to peel your eyes off it. I'd say the only redeeming feature of the show is Mary Anne Kate. (And that's because Movie Star Rachel Hunter was voted off last episode. By the way, what the Hell was Rachel Hunter doing on a reality show?!? She's a model/movie actress for cryin' out loud! Then again, the same could be said for Movie Star Nicole Eggert.)

Anyways, the WoW download will hopefully finish soon. It's only been downloading for 2.5 hours now.

WoW Patched

After surfacing from my brief nap, I learned that WoW has been patched. (Patch notes here.) I know this probably doesn't mean too much to any of you but from my perspective it's nice to see. A little over one month since release and Blizzard is obviously hard at work fixing broken things and balancing others. Rather encouraging. The one item notably missing, however, is a fix to the 20th level Paladin quest. (One of the early NPCs doesn't, or didn't, respawn when a Paladin strayed too far from the NPC.) Anyways, hopefully Blizzard fixes (or has fixed) that particular bug.

Btw, I'm downloading this 39.31 MB patch at record-breaking speed: 6-8 k/s. Note that I have a cable modem capable of speeds up to at least 360 k/s. Yeah, I'll be downloading this patch for the next.. few hours or so. ::sigh::

The Aftermath

Well, that's it! Crim. Pro. is over. The final felt easy which means one of two things: (1) It was easy. (2) It wasn't easy and I missed the parts that weren't. Only grades will tell.

By the way, ever feel like you're in a zombie movie? No, not as the gun-wielding hero but.. as a zombie? I feel rather like a zombie today. Usually such sensations stem from a lack of sleep the previous night. Today is no different. After lunch at The Half Door with a friend, I believe I shall retire to my apartment and hibernate a bit.

The Morning

I read (perused?) the entire Crim. Pro. E&E (Examples & Explanations book, for the laymen) in about 2.5 hours (including two 5-10 min. breaks to pause and watch brief portions of The Chronicles of Riddick).

I currently have a mild cold/the flu. This is to be easily distinguished from my previous bout with a viral infection. Nonetheless, this morning I feel like crap warmed over. Not death, just crap. This does not bode well for my exam though I am hopeful.

'Lo and behold, I have the book (Laurell K. Hamilton's Blue Moon) I was seeking. Considering the current disorganized state of my apartment, it's a minor miracle that I found the book before purchasing a second copy of it.

I go now to watch more Riddick, eat breakfast, shower, shave and pray (not necessarily in that order).

More Ideas

Bad Idea: Not studying more for my Crim. Pro. Final which, as is ever the case, is tomorrow morning at 9am. Should be fun. Fortunately it's my last exam for the semester though I still have 1-2 papers outstanding.

Bad Idea: Not wearing gloves or a hat when I went out in the afternoon. My car said it was 12 degrees outside but I'm sure the +10 mph wind brought that number to single digits if not lower. Oh joy for a winterous wonderland. But only if I don't have to drive in it.

Bad Idea: Finishing my book instead of studying more for Crim. Pro. I'm hooked on Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series. Just finished Burnt Offerings only to learn I'm missing the next in the series (but not the three after that). Guess I'll be hitting a bookstore tomorrow.

It's a bit chilly outside.

Bad Idea: Clearing the two inches of snow off my car while wearing boat shoes.

Of Bus. Org. and Cars

Just got back from the exam. Wasn't too bad. I'm pretty sure I did okay on it.

Excellent! 'Wayne's World' car for sale.

The Volo Auto Museum in Volo, Ill., is auctioning off about 100 items, including 25 to 30 cars, from its collection in order to make room for new exhibits.

Apparently there are some other, actually decent cars for sale too:

Besides the robin's-egg blue Pacer with a "flame job" on the front fenders, the museum will also be selling a 1951 Studebaker painted to portray a Gotham City police car for the "Batman" movie series, the Gadget Mobile from the movie "Inspector Gadget" and a wrecked 1970 Dodge Charger used in 2001's "The Fast and the Furious."
...
The most valuable item to be auctioned is a prototype Shelby GT-500 convertible Mustang once owned by race driver and engineer Carroll Shelby. The museum is asking $1.2 million for that car.

::Sigh:: If only my bank account could withstand the hit...

"Where we're going, we don't need roads."

Rather quickly because I'm so far out of time that it's like I've gone back to the future.

Business Organizations Final in about an hour. Am I prepared? Hehe. Yeah, that's all you get as an answer to that one.

My Criminal Procedure Final is next Tuesday morning. My plan is to read the relevant portions of Examples & Explanation. If I can do that, I may be able to handle that final.

Fortunately there are no other finals for me. Unfortunately, I have a long-term paper for Forensics to deal with. (Not to mention the unfinished Special Research Project that never quite got off the ground.)

But enough. Time to study for 20 more minutes then go face an exam that will be slightly less than fun.

Oh yeah, my WoW Paladin is now at level 31 with 160 Blacksmithing. Whoo boy.

Acht! It's cold!

Yesterday: Low 40's.

Today: Mid-20's but with wind it feels like mid-teens.

Can anyone explain this to me?

Browser Security Article

Who Profits from Security Holes? -- an article from Benjamin Edelman. Worth a quick read, as is his site.