News: Oh, the hilarity...

So, I just glance over at my Google Sidebar (a wonderful device, by the way), and see "Saudi men who got on school bus excused" in the news section. Of course, it seemed really odd, so I go to the link...

"Mana Saleh Almanajam, 23, and Shaker Mohsen Alsidran, 20, were charged with misdemeanor trespassing after boarding the bus bound for Wharton High School on May 19. They told investigators they got on the bus because they wanted to visit the school and didn't know it was just for students.

"At the time, the men gave conflicting reasons why they boarded the bus and were kept in jail for the weekend, police said. They were released after detectives determined they meant no harm, and immigration agents found that they were here legally."



And then, this morning on the way back from biking, I was listening to the news and heard that some really rich guy (whose name escapes me at the moment) is giving $55 million to Bill Gates for his charity foundation thing. So, the second richest man in the world is giving a bunch of his money to the richest man in the world. Ironic, isn't it?

They were also talking about all these clothing factory workers who live in Jordan. Apparently, since they're so desparate for jobs, they go pay some agent person to find them a job in a factory somewhere. Then they go work at the factory, where they work terrible hours in terrible conditions, getting very little pay, if any at all. So then they have to pay the job-finding person back, but they can't because they're trying to support their family with about $1/week. So, some agency went in to investigate and found out about it, and they're going to prosecute. But the factory managers were complaining about it, saying that it's not really their fault, it's because of all the American importers who insist on the lowest possible prices so they can make more of a profit. It's like, how can people really go to clothing stores and pay ridiculously low prices for stuff when they know how it's made? I thought it was pretty disturbing.

Visit This: What OS are you?

Which OS are You?
If I had any idea what it was, I might be happier. Maybe I should investigate.



Which File Extension are You?

Dear Blog: Cars, cars, cars.

So, in my continuing obsession with pretending I'm shopping for a car, I went to investigate the Scion tC. All I can say is: Wow. The thing has two sunroofs, the rear seat reclines, it has 160 hp, and all the other features one would want. But it's only like $16,000. That's still way out of my price range, but next year maybe I can find one for closer to $10,000.

So, this means I'm no longer dreaming about a Subaru Impreza. And then there's Honda Civic, but if I can find a car like the tC for the same price... yeah.

So, this week I've just been doing ... hmm ... school! (Or things that distract me so I procrastinate, or something.) I hope to be done on Saturday, though. So with that, I guess I should probably get to work.

Dear Blog: Random Stuff

So, this week wasn't too bad. I receieved a preview of Vista when Brian came over with his computer last night... and then we played Mario Kart while Windows was destroying his computer. (And I did beat Michelle.) :P

And today I had my last meeting as a youth group president. I won't miss it too much, heh. It was fun enough, I just wasn't able to devote enough time to it. Then I went to a game/swimming thing and got all exhausted.

I've decided to take up bike riding. There's a nice trail in Clinton, and as long as you go before it's 80 degrees, it's nice. And not too crowded, either. Maybe I'll actually get some exercise this summer. But I'll have to do it strategically, as our water heater broke today and taking a shower after biking would be a tad chilly until the new one is running.

So, that's what's going on, just in case you wanted to know. I know, it's so terribly dramatic, and your life will be forever changed due to this knowledge.

News: Google's Greatness

Google is making three buildings, each as large as a football field, in Oregon with the sole purpose of housing servers. Granted, Microsoft and Yahoo are both doing the same thing, though perhaps on a slightly smaller scale.

Just for background, in March, 2001, Google had 8,000 servers running. In 2003, it was around 100,000.

"Today even the closest Google watchers have lost precise count of how big the system is. The best guess is that Google now has more than 450,000 servers spread over at least 25 locations around the world. The company has major operations in Ireland, and a big computing center has recently been completed in Atlanta. Connecting these centers is a high-capacity fiber optic network that the company has assembled over the last few years."

"Google is like the Borg," said Milo Medin, a computer networking expert who was a founder of the 1990's online service @Home, referring to the robotic species on "Star Trek" that was forcibly assembled from millions of species and computer components. "I know of no other carrier or enterprise that distributes applications on top of their computing resource as effectively as Google."

Google = Borg. I love it! You will be assimilated!

Read complete article here

Dear Blog: Car talk!

I'm listening to Car Talk. Which is, unfortunately, a special rare treat now that I work on Saturday mornings, when it is usually on. But in between laughing fits, I guess I can go update this again.

So, let's see... I'm too distracted to remember what happened on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. And then on Sunday/yesterday, I played badminton (why do they spell it that way, anyway?) for like 6 hours at Brian's graduation party. And we blew up diet Coke/Pepsi and mint Mentos. Very fun. But then today I had to work from 8 AM to 6:30 PM. And my legs were completely dead after running all over the place at the party. Every time I sit down, it takes me about 30 minutes to collect the willpower to stand up. Sigh. But I can sit around and do absolutely nothing (except school) tomorrow.

Back to laughing my head off...

Dear Blog: Cedar Point #2

Once again, Cedar Point was nicely uncrowded. Even more so than last week, I think. Maybe because the Millenium Force was open and everyone went to that... but anyway.

We got back at 1:00 AM... much better than the 7:00 of last week. And my first and last ride there was the Top Thrill Dragster... as it should be.

But, my internet access was removed for a period of time, so I've got some catching up to do, I suppose.
Went to see X-Men 3 on Saturday with Mike, Brian, and Ben... Excellent movie. Don't mind all the stupid critics. And I've been told (though I didn't know this when we saw the movie) that there is some nifty little clip after the credits. Just FYI.

Then on Sunday was a fun little picnic event at church, after which we went bowling and saw Over the Hedge, which is also a good movie, but a bit slow after X-Men. But that's just because I prefer action/sci-fi to comedy.

And the "Summer Sub Time" started this week, with me working pretty much all day on Monday. I also had to run to the doctor, where I narrowly avoided getting part of my toenail cut out. Stupid infected ingrown toenail.

And I also found out at work today that one of the other pages has to leave because the director won't let him take a month off. Which means that he can't sub for me when I go on vacation, and since four other people will already be gone that week, I may not get a vacation at all. Which will be terribly frustrating, especially considering that I'm working for another person for two weeks so she can go on a vacation. But oh well, I'll just have to wait and see.