How to: get Free Audiobooks Illegally!
Yes we all know that you can get lots of audio books legally from sites like iTunes and Audible.com, but it can be expensive and dealing with DRM can be a real problem if you use Linux or other equally awesome operating systems. Until there is a way for Linux users to download audio books, there is only one good way to get them, and so I feel no guilt (maybe a little) about posting a quick how-to for all those who enjoy curling up an listening to a good audio book on their iPod.
The key to getting audio books painlessly is to use one of the oldest Internet traditions, the newsgroup. Long ago news groups were really cool, and many of the great Internet sites got their starts their (including cool sites like imdb.com). Now-a-days they are plagued by huge amounts of crap and Spam, some of which is very, very work “unsafe”. But as news groups have become a thing of the past many use them to anonymously post all sorts of good stuff, from video games to full length moves. The best thing in my opinion is the audio books, which have a very lively community of posters. Here is what you need to start bookin’ it…
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How To Detect A Cylon
This will appeal to very few people outside of Battlestar Galactica fans, but I’m halfway through season 2 and have figured out a very simple way to detect a Cylon. As fans will know, the new versions of Cylons can now present themselves in human form, as you’ll see above. These Cylons think, act, and communicate like humans, and some of them don’t even realize that they’re Cylons (they’re sleepers, you see).
Throughout the series, the humans have been working on a Cylon detection tool. Dr. Gaius is the one that has been given this job, and although we don’t know exactly what his detection tool requires, I think I have it figured out. See, the one thing that all of these humanoid cylons have in common is that their spines light up like Christmas trees when they’re having sex. It’s basically the same idea as shining a flashlight through your cheek, but on your spine. After some contemplation, it became obvious that the only way to detect Cylons is to do ‘em doggy-style. As a follow-up, by process of simple deduction, it turns out that the Liberator is the best way to detect Cylons. Who knew?
Walkin’ and Rollin’ All Night!
In December of 2001, long before eBay thought of using a this phrase as a marketing tool, news of a revolution in technology was sweeping the world of dorkdom. People were asking “What is IT?”
Originally, IT was somehow seized by the media and became a weird code-name for Project Ginger. (Not THAT Project Ginger!!)
Four years after the IT buzz, we know the commercial name for IT and Project Ginger as the Segway HT. Segways are popping up around the world. Like all new technologies, there are those who are opposed to the adoption of this new mode of transportation and early adopters who have trouble with the locals.
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Minneapolis Bar Review
I implemented a traditional 5-star rating system of my personal favorite Minneapolis bars. Many places on this list have a pool table or two. Williams and Old Chicago (downtown) have three or more.
If I was only going to three bars and traveling and parking is not an issue, I would start at Glueck’s, go to Nye’s, and then go to Brit’s or The Local. If my third choice was to head to Uptown, then I would go to Williams (unless my wife let me pick the C.C. Club which is a dive that only I love.)
If I was going to only three bars and would be walking in the Downtown Area only, I would go to Rosen’s, Glueck’s and O’Donovan’s (not necessarily in that order).
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DVD Review: Dario Argento’s Trauma
I cannot begin a review of a Dario Argento movie without saying that I am not a huge fan of the widely acknowledged Master of horror. I am, however, a huge fan of horror, and I have seen many of Mr. Argento’s films. Most of his films that I’ve seen take place in a remote girl’s boarding school that is home to a very sinister plot to assassinate all of the prettiest residents (you gotta admit, there’s a certain charm in that), but certain other films break out of the mold and take on knockoffs of Stephen King stories.
Still, there’s a certain magic to Mr. Argento’s films - they are filmed beautifully, often with the most dramatically ludicrous lighting. Most of the time his movies are set in Rome, and he captures the city magnificently. The settings are breathtaking, oftentimes having characters walk through or be killed in locations you may have only seen in textbooks. The stories he takes on are often ridiculous, and often re-tread his earlier films. Many of his movies are, for lack of a better word, retarded (though some are actually very good - Suspiria and Tenebre, for example), but they are all endlessly watchable. Which is why I watch every single one that comes out on DVD.
UMM National Championship
The University of Minnesota, Morris has never been known as a hotbed of athletic achievement. In the 70s and 80s, the school had some success in athletics. Its most recent success came in wrestling, but that sport has been canceled (I am not bitter or anything). Anyway, UMM made a positive step in its athletic progress when it admitted it was not a Div. II school and moved to Div. III competition in the UMAC Conference.
However, there was one team that no one expected to win a national championship. This team beat the odds and advanced to the Nationals in Las Vegas. Facing tough odds and competition — not to mention the desires and debauchery of Sin City — this band of world beaters found the courage to win in one of the hardest sports around. The sport? Dodge ball.
Chess Boxers of the World!
Chess-boxing is forming up in Europe and there is even an official sanctioning by the World Chess Boxing Organization. Since we do not host a “sports†category, this one has been filed under “pop-cultureâ€. I am not sure if the arrival of this hybrid “sport†will herald any nascent sentiment for sports combining both brawn and brains, or if it will simply go the way of Roller Derbys, American Gladiator, and the Dodo.
Quite fittingly, the CNN article notes that the idea of chess-boxing grew from a comic book. Most likely, someone figured it might be a way to make a quick buck – and since setting up a web page has become a pretty simple maneuver nowadays it was very easy to whip up a cyber-home to formalize the appearance of a legitimate business.
Will Chess-boxing catch on and take the world by storm? Let’s hope not. We already have enough GoldenPalace.com streakers running around…but since the gimmicks are here to stay we’re probably going to see more of the ‘boxers before they go away.
Church America!
A lot of church-going folks have consistently told me over the past few years that this country needs stronger values, or that our leader needs to be a devout Christian. More often than not, they will declare that one of the very tenets of the American system of Democracy is that it is reliant on Christianity and that our founding fathers intended for the good ‘ol U.S.A. to be a hotbed of Christians.
Of course, this is all bogus.
All Americans should know that our forefathers were fleeing religious persecution. They did not want to be subjected to any King’s religious beliefs. They were seeking religious freedom and they did NOT want religion of any kind forced upon them.
For some theological reading on which Christianity is based, the King James Bible is available via a free download from Winsite.com. Additional creation beliefs are available here.