I was informed by Ty and Ryon (both friends of mine) that Corel has a kickass Linux distribution that easily rivals Windows. I'll have to check it out sometime. Soon. :)

I was at a junk yard getting some parts for my truck today, and I had my arm inside a door trying to pull a clip off the lock mechanism. Well, the clip broke and my arm jerked backwards really hard, and I cut the hell out of myself. It was bleeding so bad I couldn't see how bad the cut was. I dripped blood all the way to the main office while carrying my toolbox with my good arm and the parts with my bad arm. After I got the wound cleaned up and sorta stopped the bleeding, I realized how bad it was. It's one of those "shoulda gone to the hospital but couldn't afford it" cuts. I just put three bandaids on it and I hope it doesn't get gangrenous. :)

Oh, and check the new link, Clockwork.

I ran across this article that talks about RedHat taking aim at Microsoft, investing tons of money (from their recent IPO) in Microsoft's competitors (namely Netscape and Sendmail). I'm sure most computer savvy people would like to see some real competition for Microsoft, especially in the OS market. And while RedHat isn't doing a lot to dominate that market yet, it certainly seems like they're positioning themselves to do so.

I ran RedHat Linux on my machine for a while, and it wasn't extremely difficult to use, but it was more work than the masses are used to. I would like to see a Linux distribution that even my mom could use, something that could possibly gain a large share of the OS market, and RedHat is probably the only company that has a chance.

I had a pretty uneventful Thanksgiving weekend, thankfully. :) I ate at my in-laws' house, then ate with my immediate family six hours later. Friday, I went 4-wheeling in my truck, and this time I managed not to break anything (last time the brakes went out). I didn't do much the rest of the weekend, but I still managed to have fun.

My wife and I and a bunch of friends tried to see Toy Story 2 last night, but it was sold out when we got there (the theaters in this town don't have advance ticket sales). There was a huge line of parents with tons of little kids. I think the theater was closed Thursday and Friday, and they didn't open the movie on Wednesday when it was released, so last night was really opening night here. I guess that explains the huge crowd.

I normally like Thanksgiving a lot, but this year's gonna kinda suck. I have to eat at my in-law's at noon, then return to my mom's and eat there at 6:00 p.m. Ugh. I think it's crap like this that prepares people for political careers. :)

Anyone catch Puff Daddy on Leno last night? Boy, does he suck. In his song, he mentioned that the Notorious B.I.G. has been dead for 2½ years. How much longer can he possibly capitalize on his friend's death?! The same goes for whoever is releasing 2Pac's poetry. When will these sheep learn that it's not all about paying your respects? Rather, it's all about the Benjamins.

Ok, so I signed up and called a friend who lives about 70 miles away, but something's wrong with my sound settings. He answered the phone and I could hear him fine, but he couldn't hear me at all (probably thought I was a prank caller or something). When I speak into the mic, I can hear myself just fine through the computer speakers, but no sound is actually being sent (or something). I've tried everything to get it working, but haven't had any luck, so I guess I'm just screwed.

A friend of mine pointed me to Dialpad.com, which supposedly lets you make free long distance calls over the net. I haven't had time to try it yet, but it looks legit. And who knows, this might be old news and I just haven't heard about it yet... Thanks to Keith for the link.

I installed RealPlayer 7 last night so I could listen to the Atroxi.com Radio Show, and while installing, it asked me if I want a shortcut on my desktop and in the system tray. I told it "hell no," but when I got done installing, there were RealJukebox shortcuts on my desktop and the system tray. I don't know why they bother having options in the install if they don't actually work! :( Jackholes.

I added a link to The Head of a Scared Red. It's definitely different than any e/n site I've seen, and well worth reading.

A couple weeks or so ago, I dropped the music reviews section of this site, but I didn't really want to not talk about music. So I put a new music section up, but it doesn't contain any reviews. It's really just a bunch of crap I spewed out for no reason in particular, and probably not worth reading now. But hopefully soon, I'll add some worthwile stuff. :)

I added a new rant to the rants section, this time about Ford Motor Company and the exorbitant prices they charge for parts.

In related news, I was checking out Blue Oval News, a website with news from Ford insiders, and all the latest gossip about Ford Motor Company. It seems that Ford sued Blue Oval News for not kissing their asses, much like most of the news media does. Ford ended up losing, with Blue Oval News citing freedom of speech as their defense. I thought it was a cut-and-dried case, since Blue Oval News didn't post any libelous information on their website.

Jeez, I just can't go more than a few weeks (if that) without screwing my site all up. And this blue background is a first for me. Usually, I only go with black, and once I went with white. Anyway, I hope this design sticks around for awhile. :) Crap, I guess I'll have to make a new link button now too...

Oh yeah, I added Solosier to the links in the right column.

I just spent a lot of time re-doing all the daily (who am I kidding...I mean "sporadic") news post headings. I figured they didn't stand out enough, so I put them in a table with a cute striped background.

I also removed the Ham Radio page from this site. I don't really have much interest in ham radio anymore, and although I've promised to add more content to that page, I'll never get around to it. What's really dumb is that earlier this year, I paid over $400 for some new radio equipment and have hardly used it since. :( How dumb is that?

forgo daily. Now in the links column.

I was checkin' out the Salt Lake Tribune and ran across this article about a dumbass Utah Representative, David Zolman, who is demanding a public apology to polygamist communities who were raided by the po' po' several decades ago. He also tried removing the ban on polygamy from Utah's constitution. In March, Zolman said, "I don't want to legalize polygamy but I want polygamists in the mainstream. They need to become part of what makes Utah great." Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but does anybody think polygamy could be a part of what makes their state great? What a joke.

In another story, Utah County Commissioner David Gardner was let off the hook for his recent DUI (or DWI) charge. The article explains that Gardner first said he had two ounces of vodka with his lunch, then later changed his story and claims to have taken a swig of vodka from the cup of a hitchhiker whom he had picked up. Police say he lost control of his car, swerved off the road, and ruptured his gas tank, causing a brush fire. Gardner claims that he saw a brush fire and tried to use his car as a firebreak. I don't know of anyone stupid enough to take a drink out of a hitchhiker's cup, and who on earth would use their car as a firebreak?! They oughta just give this guy the electric chair for being such a jackass.

Or is that supposed to be "fire?" Anyway, I've been checking out Schlyer's site, Absurdities Observed, and I am starting to love it (it's now in the left links column). :) It's better than your average e/n site (if you would even classify it as such), but it's smarter than the average bear (heh, I said "bear"). He and his staff speak about interesting issues, and usually important ones, and give readers a more intellectual view of current events. It's a lot better than crap like the "You won't believe what happened at school today" stuff you see on many sites (wait, my site isn't as bad as all those, is it?).

He linked to this article about polygamy in Utah, which I read last week in the Salt Lake Weekly (which, btw, is a must-read for non-Mormon Utahns because it covers news from your point of view). I also saw the special on A&E, which the article's writer did some research for. It made me cringe to know how many crazies there are just over the mountains from where I live. It's like finding out you live two doors down from the Heaven's Gate cult. And it really is that serious. Here is their website (the crazies', that is), decide for yourself. Unfortunately, there isn't really any information on their site except for a bunch of scripture quotes, but you still get the idea they're a bunch of crazies. I almost wish I didn't know they were there. :)

Only an hour until Sam Jackson day, but I doubt I'll be able to update my page tomorrow. The damn brakes went out on my truck today, and it will probably take me all day tomorrow to fix them. And boy, it sure was a fun drive home with no brakes. :) Anyway, I leave you with this, which pretty much sums up the Man:

Looks like some kickass movies will be coming out soon. Sharkey pointed out the sequel to Friday, called Next Friday. The first time I saw Friday, me and a bunch of friends (many of whom were under the influence) had rented it and laughed the whole way through, so we just had to watch it again. I hope Next Friday is the same way, but who knows how it will be without Chris Tucker.

End of Days looks pretty good, too. It's been a while since Arnold has been in a good action flick. I think it went all downhill since Last Action Hero.

And finally, Dogma is the latest from Kevin Smith, and I haven't seen a Kevin Smith film that I didn't love. Jay and Silent Bob are funny as hell, and with Alanis Morissette as god, who couldn't like this movie? I think this will be the best comedy of the year.

Toysrus.com went down (and is still down now) today because of extremely heavy traffic (story). I actually thought about doing a lot of Christmas shopping online this year, but I would have gone to kbkids.com (which is also extremely busy right now) instead of Toys 'R' Us, though I guess both probably carry the same merchandise. I decided against online shopping just so I wouldn't rack up too much debt on my credit card. I tend to forget about credit card purchases and spend more cash than I would normally.

By the way, I was checking out some toys online today and couldn't believe the astronomical prices they're charging for Legos. I used to have a ton of Legos when I was a kid, and I wish I hadn't given them to my little sister, who lost all of them. Anyway, it seems like anything with more than 20 pieces costs over $30. They do have a lot of cheap sets, but you can only build one or two stupid things with them.

It seems everyone got the email from Mike at the-element.net about Samuel L. Jackson day on November 10th. Hence the new logo. :)

A Philadelphia police group numbering about 900 officers plans on picketing a Sting concert on November 14^th due to his opposition to the death penalty for Mumia Abu-Jamal. Mumia was convicted of killing a police officer back in 1981, though many people believe he is innocent, including Sting, Rage, and the Beasties. This is the first I've heard about this Abu-Jamal guy, but the story sure is ironic. :) Here's the story.

I added Hear Ye! to the links in the left column...I don't know why I didn't have it there before. The news there is pretty good, and Inferno is a pretty funny guy sometimes. :) It's also THE place to find links to other similar sites.

For you Netscape users, the horizontal line image that separates news posts isn't showing up properly, and I haven't yet figured out why. The image has three horizontal lines of two different colors, but for some reason, only one of the lines in the image is showing up. It's like displaying a picture with three people in it, and all three faces show up in Internet Explorer, but only one shows up in Netscape. It almost defies logic, but I guess when you're using Netscape, anything can go wrong. I haven't tried it on any computer other than my own yet, but I assume it'll manifest itself on any machine. If anyone has any suggestions about how to fix it, please let me know. Oh yeah, if you are using Netscape, get IE! :)

Update: I found my problem...I thought I had left one pixel between each line, leaving the image height at 5 pixels, but the image height was actually 7 pixels, so it was just a stupid mistake on my part. :)

I archived October's news and I did a little site redesign (couldn't you tell?). :)

I also added a new link to the "E/N Links" section in the left column. Brain Damage is a pretty good site, with one of the best layouts in the kommunity. Check it out. :)