L u k e n . o r g

Well, it’s off to Teched once again, this time in sunny (and humid) Orlando. Should be good again this year. Look for this blog entry to be continued throughout the week.

Lion Mutilates 42 Midgets in Cambodian Ring-Fight. From the BBC News UK Edition ….

BBC NEWS | World | Lion Mutilates 42 Midgets in Cambodian Ring-Fight

Spectators cheered as entire Cambodian Midget Fighting League squared off against African Lion

Tickets had been sold-out three weeks before the much anticipated fight, which took place in the city of Kâmpóng Chhnãng.

The fight was slated when an angry fan contested Yang Sihamoni, President of the CMFL, claiming that one lion could defeat his entire league of 42 fighters.

Sihamoni takes great pride in the league he helped create, as was conveyed in his recent advertising campaign for the CMFL that stated his midgets will “… take on anything; man, beast, or machine.”

This campaign is believed to be what sparked the undisclosed fan to challenge the entire league to fight a lion; a challenge that Sihamoni readily accepted.

An African Lion (Panthera Leo) was shipped to centrally located Kâmpóng Chhnãng especially for the event, which took place last Saturday, April 30, 2005 in the city’s coliseum.

The Cambodian Government allowed the fight to take place, under the condition that they receive a 50% commission on each ticket sold, and that no cameras would be allowed in the arena.

The fight was called in only 12 minutes, after which 28 fighters were declared dead, while the other 14 suffered severe injuries including broken bones and lost limbs, rendering them unable to fight back.

Sihamoni was quoted before the fight stating that he felt since his fighters out-numbered the lion 42 to 1, that they “… could out-wit and out-muscle [it].”

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

Aren’ they a little too close to making a disaster? UTARC UX-1 Balloon Launch
UX-1 Balloon Flight Mission

Forwarded from a friend.

After every flight, Qantas pilots fill out a form, called a “gripe sheet,” which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems; document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor.

Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas’ pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers.
By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never had an accident..

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200
feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That’s what they’re for.

P: IFF inoperative.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you’re right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief
search.
P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!)
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and
be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

And the best one for last………………

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds
like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.

I received this in an email from a friend. While the numbers look frightening, I’m pretty sure it’s accurate, sadly to say ….

Can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 500 employees and has the following statistics:

* 29 have been accused of spousal abuse
* 7 have been arrested for fraud
* 19 have been accused of writing bad checks
* 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
* 3 have done time for assault
* 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
* 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
* 8 have been arrested for shoplifting
* 21 are currently defendants in lawsuits
* 84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year

Can you guess which organization this is? Give up yet?

It’s the 535 members of the United States Congress. The same group of “ethical” people that crank out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line.

I’m black (African American, Afro-American, Negro…whatever the label is for this decade).
I’m a republican,
I have an above average income,
I think I’m educated (my friends would differ with that)

Holy crap, I just realized I’m Token from Southpark …. Damnit !!!!

So Self Irresponsibility takes another twist. Sesame Street has totally gone to left field. Cookie Monster will no longer dive into his delicious continuous munchings of cookies, but instead will perform a disclaimer that cookies are a “sometimes food”. He may occasonally eat one ….

So. I had a Giganews news server account and one day I was having problems retreiving headers. It would start, and midway through the header refresh, it would just stop. I’d disconnect and reconnect and it did the same thing, even on different groups. So I decided to open a support case from their website. Bad idea. After opening the ticket, I get this email:

Mr. Nelson,

We have researched this issue and can not find anything wrong with your unlimited account. It does not appear that we can resolve this issue to your satisfaction. I have instructed the billing department to cancel your account and issue you a refund to your credit card. We regret that we could not reach a better conclusion to this situation.

Thank you.
Sincerely
Jonathan
Giganews Support Manager

Did I just get blown off and they canceled my account? Can’t be. I didn’t ask for my account to be cancelled, I just wanted an answer to the problem and if there was a temporary network issue. And actually, that evening the problem went away, then later that night I couldn’t connect at all. So I responded to “Jonathan”.

Jonathan, whatever the problem was seems to have gone away as headers retreive fine now. Also, who said anything about cancelling my account? Is that why I can no longer connect?

Still waiting for a response from Giganews support. Now I use UseNetServer.com. It’s $10 less and just as reliable.

A new technology expected to launch in April promises to turn cellular phones into mobile blogging tools.
Mobile phones as blog tools

Have you ever noticed just how many taxes are added to your phone bill? I use The Neighborhood, Built By MCI. I get all my local, toll local and long distance bundled in one package for one flat price. That cost is $49.99, let’s just say $50. And then an additional $16.94 for various federal, state and local taxes, and to include this Federal Universal Service Fee (a subsidy program the rural carriers now make a killing off of), and a Network Access Surcharge. That’s roughly a 34% tax for having a telephone.

Then I look at my wireless bill from Cingular. On my total combined plan rate for all my minutes and features, I’m paying $89 per month while the taxes are $8.45, which equates to less than 10%. What gives?