Thursday, April 08, 2004
Outpost Of Intelligence Under Attack!
Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL is on the Pentagon's wish list for military base closings in 2005. Full story It's still early, and these lists usually change as various members of Congress (like I'm going to get away with the term "Congressmen" with Jessica reading) throw their clout around in committee meetings, but there is certainly some significance to what bases made this list.
I took a day or two to decide whether or not to post this, given its political nature and the idea of avoiding inflammatory subjects (but not titles, of course), but I think it definately counts as regional news. If Redstone closes, Huntsville could be in some serious trouble.
On a personal note, Hanscom AFB in Lexington, MA, where my dad worked for the entire time I lived in MA, is also on the list. It's a tad odd to think about.
EDIT - I just remembered who the other admin here is, so I removed a purely speculative comment to avoid trouble.
I took a day or two to decide whether or not to post this, given its political nature and the idea of avoiding inflammatory subjects (but not titles, of course), but I think it definately counts as regional news. If Redstone closes, Huntsville could be in some serious trouble.
On a personal note, Hanscom AFB in Lexington, MA, where my dad worked for the entire time I lived in MA, is also on the list. It's a tad odd to think about.
EDIT - I just remembered who the other admin here is, so I removed a purely speculative comment to avoid trouble.
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Grant Shaw, Superstar
I was informed this morning as I got to work that I have been selected to be in a recruitment video. So I get to be on screen and chase away recruits all over the country now. This sounds like the start of a new career. Maybe I should go to the try outs for the next installment for "The Bachelor" that they are having in Pensecola on April 23rd. What do y'all think?
Retro Game Boy Games and Lazy Journalism.
The Birmingham News reports that Nintendo is releasing eight retro games for the Game Boy Advance and a GBA that is styled after the controller for the 8-bit NES system.
The article claims that the Classic NES Series includes "all the hottest retro games," but that's simply not true: no Ms. Pac-Man, no Frogger, no Galaga. And the MSRP of $20 per game seems a bit high for a simple port of twenty-year-old games.
That said, the series includes the original Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros., and The Legend of Zelda.
Nintendo.com has an image of the retro GBA:
Cute, but not worth getting if you already have a GBA.
Further, its press release proves that the Birmingham News did a mere cut-and-paste job for the story. That's no big deal for such an insignificant story, but the truth is that newspapers rely too heavily on press releases to do their work for them.
The article claims that the Classic NES Series includes "all the hottest retro games," but that's simply not true: no Ms. Pac-Man, no Frogger, no Galaga. And the MSRP of $20 per game seems a bit high for a simple port of twenty-year-old games.
That said, the series includes the original Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros., and The Legend of Zelda.
Nintendo.com has an image of the retro GBA:
Cute, but not worth getting if you already have a GBA.
Further, its press release proves that the Birmingham News did a mere cut-and-paste job for the story. That's no big deal for such an insignificant story, but the truth is that newspapers rely too heavily on press releases to do their work for them.
Monday, April 05, 2004
A True Lego Maniac.
The Plainsman has a story about Auburn alum and Lego sculptor Eric Harshbarger, whose 5-by-6-foot Lego replica of the Mona Lisa is on display at Auburn's Gnu Room, near the corner of Samford Avenue and Gay Street.
Glad to see his bachelor's and master's degrees from COSAM are being put to such good use.
In all seriousness, he seems like a fairly gifted individual; he creates his sculptures and murals despite being partially color blind.
According to the story, his "Lego exhibit will be featured at Gnu's Room until April 17 and can be seen every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m." Thanks to the Plainsman's unique lack of clarity, it is unclear whether that exhibit features works other than the Mona Lisa replica, but it may be worth checking out, either way.
Glad to see his bachelor's and master's degrees from COSAM are being put to such good use.
In all seriousness, he seems like a fairly gifted individual; he creates his sculptures and murals despite being partially color blind.
According to the story, his "Lego exhibit will be featured at Gnu's Room until April 17 and can be seen every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m." Thanks to the Plainsman's unique lack of clarity, it is unclear whether that exhibit features works other than the Mona Lisa replica, but it may be worth checking out, either way.
Auburn Baseball Update
No. 8 Auburn Drops Series to No. 2 LSU With 3-2 Loss
AUBURN - Second-ranked LSU broke a scoreless game with a run in the eighth, two unearned runs in the ninth and held off an Auburn rally to defeat the No. 8 Tigers, 3-2, at Plainsman Park Sunday for the series win. LSU improved to 24-5 and 6-3 in SEC play, while Auburn fell to 21-9 and 4-5. Full Story
So Auburn took the 1st game, then dropped the next 2. That makes for a 1-3 week when you factor in the loss to Georgia Tech. At least this was to the #2 team in the country. Sadly, the lowly scum of LSU have something new to enjoy today. I wonder if they'll call this a "series sweep!!!"? It seems to work for them in football.
AUBURN - Second-ranked LSU broke a scoreless game with a run in the eighth, two unearned runs in the ninth and held off an Auburn rally to defeat the No. 8 Tigers, 3-2, at Plainsman Park Sunday for the series win. LSU improved to 24-5 and 6-3 in SEC play, while Auburn fell to 21-9 and 4-5. Full Story
So Auburn took the 1st game, then dropped the next 2. That makes for a 1-3 week when you factor in the loss to Georgia Tech. At least this was to the #2 team in the country. Sadly, the lowly scum of LSU have something new to enjoy today. I wonder if they'll call this a "series sweep!!!"? It seems to work for them in football.
Iraq Update
For those who follow what is happening in Iraq, go check out this blog by an Iraqi Dentist.
All times Central. War Damn Eagle.