Dews Happy Hump day

So, yea, maybe its been a while, but at least I have the excuse of a very demanding job full of plenty of high maintenance people working there (this thankfully is balanced by not having any high maintenance folks to deal with AFTER work though, I must admit).

Anyway, without further adieu, lets take a peak at the news shall we?

First off, in what is quite possibly the most useless scientific use of stem cells since throwing them away went out of style:

A team of British scientists claimed Wednesday to have created human sperm using embryonic stem cells, in a medical first that they say will lead to a better understanding of fertility.

Seriously? We can't just find sperm somewhere? We need to now create it?

The best part about this useless discovery (spare me the male infertility "need" with the thousands of children still very much available via adoption), is that the sperm created (if used for fertility) would develop abnormalities (and be very illegal to boot!) and is at best 10 years away from being a "viable" treatment for male infertility.

I can think of at least 5 diseases off the top of my head that are better suited for Stem cells to be devoted to and creating something that thousands of guys donate on a regular basis is DEFINITELY not one of the things that needs "solving".

More happy news about my daily commute...

Apparently even with the worst Washington DC Metro disaster ever still fresh in our minds, Metrorail operators are being caught on video texting while driving...

There's more bad publicity for Metro after a YouTube video surfaces of a Metro train operator apparently texting while on the job.

Just amazing to me that its probably so much a part of this persons day-to-day activities that human nature dictates he just continue doing it...

Finally, Google is making its final push for World Dominance with the announcement that it will soon compete with the hapless Microsoft Corporation in the Operating Systems market.

Google Inc., owner of the most- visited Internet search engine, is developing a computer operating system based on its Chrome Web browser, taking aim at Microsoft Corp. in its strongest market.

Now, I'm a fan of all things Google, so I'm obviously excited to see what kind of product they can put forward, but the expectations are going to be astronomically high on this one.

Not that Microsoft has had a decent offering in this field since Windows XP was the standard, but if they really want to deal the death blow to the powerful Microsoft empire, then they really need to release a solid product that will truly allow users the ability to do everything they are accustomed to doing (which includes gaming, which Steve Jobs has yet to hammer home on Macs yet).

I'm hopefully optimistic about it, as its release will probably coincide with my retiring from the IT world altogether to run away to a tropical island and bartend, so I could care less where Microsoft products go at that point!

That is all...

Wednesday Randomness

Lot of stuff to catch up on, as its been a while since I've been posting on a regular basis (my company is in the middle of a move to a new location, so thats keeping me extremely busy during the day).

First off, in a move that Yahoo's stock-holders will one day regret, Microsoft has decided to go "an independent route" then that of Yahoo and has withdrawn their bid to buy the second largest search engine company (behind of course the God-like Google).

Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer had orally offered to pay $33 per share, or $47.5 billion, for Yahoo, up from an initial bid valued at $44.6 billion, or $31 per share. At the time the negotiations collapsed, the value of Microsoft's original offer had fallen to $42.3 billion, or $29.40 per share, because half the deal was supposed to be financed with Microsoft's declining stock.

Yahoo's board wanted $37 per share - a price that the company's stock hasn't reached in more than two years.

Look, I don't begrudge Yahoo for trying to avoid becoming part of the monster that is Microsoft, but lets be honest with ourselves here, the job of a company's board is to look out for their stockholder's best interests and in this situation they have clearly failed in that regard.

I've never been a fan of Microsoft, but I would challenge anyone to admit they don't run a pretty tight ship as far as profits and market share go. I can't imagine many of their stockholders being upset with the way they've run the ship so far...

Oil prices continue to skyrocket out of control, as the price of a barrel of crude has now gotten to $123 a barrel...

Just wanna read that one more time... $123 a barrel!

What happened to all those economists dire warnings that the entire American economy would cease to exist after it got over 100 dollars? Just unreal man, unreal...

Finally, still more horrible news out of Myanmar about the over 23,000 dead so far in the deadly cyclone that hit yesterday...

Hungry crowds of survivors stormed the few shops that opened in Myanmar's stricken Irrawaddy delta, where food and international aid has been scarce since a devastating cyclone killed more than 22,000 people, the U.N. said Wednesday.

Corpses floated in salty flood waters and witnesses said survivors tried desperately to reach dry ground on boats using blankets as sails. The U.N. said some 1 million people were homeless in the Southeast Asian country, also known as Burma.

Really feel like there should be more attention given this situation especially with the excessive loss of life here. We seem so insulated in this country when a few thousand people die it becomes a national day of reflection, but when 23,000 people die somewhere else from an "act of God", we just kinda yawn and go back to checking Facebook all day.

Five for Friday

I have been scouring the interwebs for literally minutes, and I've come up with five blog-worthy things to share with you. In no particular order:

First, my boy Krugman at the NYT writes about the effect John Edwards had on this campaign. Without Edwards, and I think everyone who writes for the blog hit on this in one way or another, the Democrats would not be talking about actual ideas and concrete policy initiatives. Instead, the nominee would John Kerry version 2.0. So, if you see him, thank John Edwards.

Second, Gene Upshaw is prepared for an NFL players strike if the owners decide to opt out of the current contract after the Super Bowl. Owners say they're broke, but Upshaw isn't buying what they're selling.

Third, we've all heard by now that Microsoft has made a bid to buy Yahoo!. The bid, however, is likely to go hostile. Here's some more on the could-be takeover. If there's a request, I'll post a blog soon explaining the mechanics of a hostile takeover. Question is, can Microsoft make my Yahoo! mail suck more? I'm betting on yes.

Fourth, in news from my hometown of Barre, Vermont, it looks like a property management company has taken a bunch of its tenants for a ride. Why is this news? Well, it's looking like I'm one of them (maybe, I must throw in the allegedly cause I don't know all the facts).

Fifth, and finally, in a sign that Hillary cannot, and should not, under any circumstances, be allowed to win the Democratic nomination, there's news that she's earned Ann Coulter's endorsement (and probably the endorsement of the Horsefaced Women's Alliance - HWA for those of you not in the know).

That's it. Have fun in Vegas, WTFers.

Dews End of week issues

Ya ya, I know, I've been gone most the week doing this that and the other thing... Trust me, this blog is not the only thing I've been neglecting because of my lack of internet access at home. I still have another website to be brought online for a certain organization in the area that I haven't been able to get up yet and will be feeling the wrath for soonish :)

No matter, lets deal with the issues at hand, live for the moment, seize the day, ra ra all that good stuff right?

Leading off is a great little story of how Microsoft managed to pervert Christmas!

An artificial-intelligence Santa bot operated by Microsoft to talk to
children wavered off topic saying: “It’s fun to talk about oral sex, but I want to
chat about something else....”

Honestly, I really only felt compelled to post about this because I am usually the anti-mac crusader, so I feel I have to prove that I'm equally down on microsoft. That and its about a robotic santa toy talking about oral sex... Really, do I need any other reasons?

Governor Mitt Romney gave his "JFK, don't hate the catholics" speech, though just substituted catholicism for those wacky mormons.

Immediate reaction from the pool of other GOP candidates was basically none at all, except for a LSWTF favorite, Governor Mike Huckabee that rather sensibly was quoted as:

"I think (discussing faith) is an important part of helping people get to
know the candidates," Huckabee said Friday morning after a breakfast fundraiser
in Charlotte. "(But) sometimes the questions get a little laborious when they
start asking you about intricate, nit- picky things of church doctrine that's
probably not all that relevant to being president."

Fair enough to me.

Lastly, I only have a certain amount of time here at the coffee shop before I need to get all pretty for Tacos tonight, but I shall be back in force very soon!

PS: Any LSWTF staff wanna join me for tacos? :)
PPS: Steely McBeam is NOT that hairy...