BrianAndPamela.com

There's been something on my mind recently. I've been seeing a growing number of stories in magazines and websites I frequent (Wired magazine, digg.com, Slashdot, Boing Boing, among others) that I find really amazing. It seems there's a growing movement that I can't really find a better word for than Fundamentalist Atheism. How can I use those two words in the same sentence? Atheists have been around for as long as there have been theists, it's nothing new. What is fairly recent is the attitude (and emotion) behind the recent resurgence in atheistic dogma. Strangely, the more aggressive adherents have begun to sound like the thing they vilify the most: fundamentalist Christians. So come on in, brother and listen while I preach to you about the evangelical Fundamentalist Atheistic Revival Church of Earth! (Hmmm… I just noticed that's FARCE. What a coincidence.) (more…)

 Ho Ho Ho… Santa Brian has come to town and is giving you software…

Lately, several people have asked me about PDF software for their computers. Most people think that Adobe Acrobat is required to read and create PDF format documents. That's simply not true, and given that Acrobat Pro is several hundred dollars and has many more features than most of us need, let me try to simplify things and offer you alternatives. (more…)

Link to YouTube - Ocean's 13 Trailer.

June 8, 2007… Clooney's back.  So are Pitt, Damon, Cheadle, etc… etc… Look, if I named them all I'd have carpal tunnel by the time I got to the end… either way, Ocean's Thirteen is scheduled for release this June.  Watch the trailer after the jump. (more…)

Sproose home page

What do you get when you combine Digg.com, Del.icio.us, and Google? Sproose.com, as it turns out.

Sproose.com (currently in beta) combines the searches one expects from Yahoo! or Google with tagging and social voting. The theory is that the more who people "vote" for a site, the more likely the site is to be the result you were looking for. As Sproose gets up and running, it could be exactly that.

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 Link to Kilmer plans Genius return - Movie news - Movies - Virgin.net

"Something strange happened to me this morning."
"Was it a dream where you see yourself standing in sort of sun-god robes on a pyramid with a thousand naked women screaming and throwing little pickles at you?"
"No."
"Why am I the only person that has that dream?"

 Now… it's just a rumor, but Virgin.net (a British ISP, NOT a news source, mind you) is reporting that Val Kilmer has agreed to appear in a sequel to the 1985 movie "Real Genuis", which was perhaps one of the best movies of that era.  Certainly one of the funniest and most quotable.

A sequel after 22 years?  I mean, I'm very hopeful, but "This is water, it's what happens to ice when it gets too cold. This is Val Kilmer, this is what happens to actors when they long to return to their glory days." 

 Link to Trucker Gets $17,000 Ticket - Local News

So here's a trucker, right?  And he gets bad directions from the people he's hauling for.  He misses a turn and then misses a sign prohibiting trucks over 3000 pounds.  He winds up in a residential area where a cop pulls him over and tickets him for $150 plus $150 for each quarter ton he's over the 3000 pound limit. 

"Carry the 1 … divide by… Alright that's $17,751 and fifty cents.  Cash or charge?" 

I admit it… I am a well of useless information.

Because of that I'm often answering questions. Sometimes, that's because someone sought my advice or knowledge of something. Often, it's because I have a pathological need to explain things.  More after the jump. (more…)

 Link to Triple "A" Battery Hack

Found on Digg: Ever needed a "normal" battery cell but you can only find a 9volt?  Have no fear… pull that 9volt apart to reveal six 1.5 volt cells that are a little smaller than AAA cells (they are, in fact AAAA size…).  With a little aluminum foil padding, you can make them work in a pinch. 

There's nothing special about batteries, you know, only the sizes.  In fact, if you have an adapter (or make one) you can substitute among the "common" sizes, they are all just 1.5 volts.  Now the life of a smaller battery will be reduced in a system with a larger power draw (Interesting link on the mAh ratings for each standard cell size) but it should work in a pinch.

So there you go.

Yes, I'm that much of a geek… pausing amidst the children opening gifts and the other traditions of the day to blog our best wishes and blessings for you and yours.  Merry Christmas, and a very happy New Year.  

 I'll go back to being cynical later today (and boy am I working on a doozy) but right now, I'm adequately sedated by the armo of little smokies and crescent rolls. 

Link to Snowstorm on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

If only… Anyway, the above link is a flickr photo of Denver's International airport buried under 2 and a half feet of snow earlier this week.  The visual's pretty impressive, but I bet the tens of thousands of travelers who had to deal with the initial or cascading snarls don't really care how cool it looks.

Meanwhile it's going to be 45 and raining here in Fred's-burg.  Bah…