Read some things today that praised Ad-aware, software that scans and removes unwanted spyware. One thing though, their tagline—"the morning after pill for the internet"—is insulting. It could be paraphrased to read, "If you downloaded a bunch of nasty pron, don't worry, our software deletes your sin so you can still lust without consequences." Bleech.

Googlism and GooglePeople let you use the Google API to learn some interesting things. Try them out. Enter your own name for example. Then learn if the "world" loves you or hates you.

Why would it surprise anyone to learn that Iraq probably killed its own people. They've done it before and now they've got more to gain by trying to guilt the American people into pressing leaders to end the war.

In related news, certain Muslim high clerics recently finished a period of fasting have said that they received a message from Allah that "all Muslim nations should get nuclear weapons to fight the Christians." Hey, wait a second... America is removing dictator Hussein so that Muslim nation Iraq can experience freedom and for that, we've got 20-odd new enemy nations? What kind of deal is that? In the words of Robert Plant, "Communication breakdown, it's always the same. I'm having a nervous breakdown, drive me insane."

Flash is a tricky technology. In the right hands, it's amazing. Done poorly, it's at best a bad experience and at worst, negative PR. Now, Macromedia wants to take Flash out of the browser. I feel the idea has benefits but again, only if the hands building the application understand the right way to build interactive applications. Flash for the sake of sizzle is wrong.

Apparently, in Canada this Don Cherry guy is some sort of hockey-god. I don't know about all that but he's right about Canada's recent decision to sit this one out saying it shows a "lack of support to our American friends." It all started when some Canadians booed the American anthem. Here's the 7-minute Real Audio clip of Cherry standing up for what he believes is right despite the fact that his country went the other way. After watching that, I consider myself a Don Cherry fan. Even Canadian Gretzky supports the President. Maybe hockey players aren't as dumb as we all thought?

When is terrorism not terrorism? When it's sacrificing your soul for freedoom. I'm glad that's clear now. ;^)

In case I didn't mention this earlier, France and Russia are Iraq's #1 and #2 creditors. Just thought that was slightly relevant since they are the biggest objectors to this war on Hussein.

DePaepe claims he can quote 37 complete movies... male geekdom rejoices!

If your argument is weak, personal attacks might work.

I'm up on the 23rd floor and a window washer is working on a nearby window. I just have to wonder how much money do these guys make for their seemingly dangerous job? But is it really dangerous? Or would it really be fun? What are the best jobs? Hmmm...

Ever wondered what those coalition leaflets looked like?

From the frontlines comes Lt Smash. Let's roll!

Being in Iraq, we're getting an up-close view of the weapons that Russia has been selling to Iraq. No one should be surprised, right? Of course, Russia denies it.

I love March Madness. This year in particular, we need some worthwhile diversions from the pain and suffering of war. It's especially meaningful with Kentucky being a serious contender for the title. Go Cats! Win one for the gipper.

Does it really matter what the polls say about the war? It's a proven fact that people are highly effected by images of pain and suffering that naturally go hand-in-hand with war. This is especially true in our day and age where technology makes it possible to learn about each causaulty, their background, their family and hundreds of other personal details that makes each loss of life all the more painful.

But does that this war shouldn't happen? The reasons we began the war are just as valid and significant today with about 20 American deaths as they were before the first missle was launched. We need to make the world a safer place. And it will be safer, when this military action is complete.

I found this piece on Slate titled, How To Tell If We're Winning in Iraq, insightful and balanced. Interesting stuff as more and more Americans look to see how the war is going.

The war on Iraq to remove the Hussein regime began last night. Don't how long this endeavor should take, but I do know that this is not the real Saddam. It's like that game show, To Tell the Truth. Will the real Saddam now stand up! Forget it, he won't because he's already hiding under a rock in some sympathetic neighboring country.

Are you a smoker? Do you find yourself scrapping through your couch cushions for some extra change just to pay for your 4 minute fix? Consider this: More than half of all smokers smoke 3.5 packs a week. At an average price of $1.96 a pack, that's $5.88 a week, $305.76 a year. If your my age (33) and you live another 43 years to a ripe old age of 76, you'd spend $13,147.68 on cigarettes. And this doesn't factor in the extra money you pay for health and medical insurance. Now, if you quit, and put that same amount of money in a Roth IRA ($25.50 a month), and invested it in an stock index fund which, historically, have averaged 10% per year, you'd have $218,000 bucks! That's a few weeks in the Caymans, a new Porsche, a few hundred trips to the movie theater to see whatever Matrix sequels is out at the time, and all the Twizzlers you want to eat while your there. A nice reward for giving up a nasty habit. Puff on that one for a while...

Almost done with System Shock 2 and I'm wondering what comes next? Some of the same guys who worked on this game also did Deus Ex. The sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War is in development and won't be ready for some time... what to do, what to do. Guess I could buy Operation Flashpoint: GotY Edition? Any recommendations?

Just in case you didn't know, a majority of the nuclear materials used in building weapons comes from Russia. No real surprise, but it explains why Russia isn't so hot on confronting Hussein.

Hockey fans liked Bush's announcement. Not enough of these stories being reported around the country. Is it ironic that the losing team is called the Devils?

Bush has given Hussein 48 hours to leave the country. It's about time. All this talk of action becomes less and less believable as time goes on without said action. No one wants war for war's sake, but the benefit of this war will be a safer world for all of us to live in.

The NCAA Tournament brackets were announced yesterday. And I've already got my top-secret, boyseniffic spreadsheet in full effect. Want to take a look at it? It's more highly sought after than Colonel Sanders chicken recipe so I can only give you a small peek.

Trees, not cars, cause more pollution. Well? No duh.

Guess when I slam the networks for bad programming, I've got to compliment them on the good, right?

ABC aired Profiles last evening and it was an honest look at some of the kids (man, I'm getting old) serving our country in the military. I expected the show to only display the horrors of war but it covered the many facets (good and bad) of military life, one soldier at a time. Real reality TV. Good job ABC, keep it up!

In an earlier post about 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed being captured is now thought to be a hoax. At the very least there are some major contridictions.

Solar power is a no-brainer. So why haven't we seen consumer solutions? I don't know. But here's one of them straight from the man himself, Bob Vila.

In case you were wondering what our country's celebrity class thought about war with Iraq (it's not like movie stars are being quoted on TV, radio, Internet, no wait... yes they are) then you can find it all in one easy-to-find spot, Hollywood Halfwits. I just keep coming back to: "Why is a celebrities opinion worth more than ours?" The truth? It doesn't. The outspoken anti-war celebrities wouldn't show up for a debate on the issue. Bark, no bite?

Still on mobile phones... if adding PDA functionality to your phone isn't enough, Nokia and others are betting that you'd like to use your phone to play games. Not just games like Minesweeper or Bejeweled, but competing online much like with the new game consoles. Now, I don't know about you, but playing online games on a computer with a 19" monitor is one thing. Moving to a console with its limited input devices is a step down. So then with a mobile phone, you got an even smaller monitor and a bunch of tiny buttons. Yeah, that screams gaming excitement!

Like gadgets? Yes? Like blogs? Yes? Then Gizmodo.com is for you! Fan of The Matrix? Gizmodo led me to the new Matrix phone by Samsung.

Speaking of paranoia.... Sinclair Broadcast Group is becoming the back-end system to many local TV news shops. Economies of scale and all that. But at what price? Is it still local news when it's being trucked down I-64 from St. Louis?

Can we trust Google? I didn't have a problem with their site until I learned about all the ways they're saving your personal information and mine. But wait... we're talking cookies here, don't accept them, delete them, no big deal. Paranoia is rampant on the Web today. Reminds me of this and this. [thanks MeFi]

Search your 20GB hard drive for a file and it takes minutes. Search literally millions of pages on Google and it takes a couple of seconds. Why is that?

Serbian premier assassinated. He was a democratic reformer who's voice was silenced by the status quo of communism most recently championed by Slobodan Milosevic. It's truly a sad day for Serbia.

90% of 800 abortion clinics questioned would not report sexual exploitation of minors in exchange for the opportunity to abort the callers baby. The report by Life Dynamics tells the whole story, but don't you think this would be worth a mention on the nightly news? Ahh, I see. ABC and the rest only report stories that further their agenda. Now it's clear. Lime 5 is the book no abortionist wants you to read.

Macromedia redesigned their site. Stylish, clean, fresh with a slight hint of basil.... I like it!

Today I came across The Comic Characters Database. Flash had always been one of my favorite characters. But I always wondered why he was ever defeated? I mean really, as fast as he is, he should be able to sidestep most attacks. Am I crazy here or what?

Someone asked me the other day what video game I was playing. I told them Unreal II. Finished it up, and it was pretty fun, but by no means innovative, just more of the same.

Which reminded me... remember how cool System Shock was? Well, I didn't want to go back that far, so I loaded up Irrational's System Shock 2 and have been playing it for the last week. It's incredible. I have to say it's the best video game I've ever played in terms of how much thought and attention to detail went into this game. Do yourself a favor and buy it. As a bonus, since it's quite old (1998) your current machine should be able to run it with all the graphics maxed. Beware the screaming monkeys!

Saddam wants us to think his country is united in their nationalistic efforts. But ask the average man on the street and they'll tell you they want somebody to get rid of Hussein. Even his troops are already trying to surrender.

More evidence that Iraq has been lying came out today. Even with this information in the Blix report, Blix himself made little mention of their existence in his speech. Perhaps is this because Blix has been instructed by his country that Germany does not want Saddam out of power.

In a related topic, isn't it telling that interesting that CNN, NY Times or other news outlets don't cover this highly important detail? Perhaps they've modified the slogan to, "All the news that's fit to print and goes along with our left-wing agenda."

Leave it to the ACLU to make it easier for porn peddlers to target children. I still don't know what's wrong with the suggestion made back in the late 90s for cash-for-porn people to use the .sex extension? The first time COPA came before the Supreme Court, only liberal John Paul Stevens dissented with an obviously extreme to state his case. Boy, President Ford really screwed up that appointment.

Bush had a news conference last night. His most vital response was to this question.

Question:
And as you prepare the American people for the possibility of military conflict, could you share with us any of the scenarios your advisers have shared with you about worst-case scenarios, in terms of the potential cost of American lives, the potential cost to the American economy and the potential risks of retaliatory terrorist strikes here at home?

Bush:
The price of doing nothing exceeds the price of taking action if we have to.

Sure, he could have been more eloquent but he couldn't have been more right.

Picking up Butch is not what you think. It's probably the best tradition in sports today. Just ask Butch.

I really don't know what all the fuss is about. Isn't the Augusta National a private club? Can't they set it up to run the way the members want it to run? If they want to have Lime Jell-O Fridays and an annual Chimp Caddy 72-Hole Match Play Tourney this April, isn't that their choice? I thought America was big on freedom?

Not according to Martha Burk, the new face of modern feminism. Rather that focusing her efforts on improving a true injustice to women today, perhaps an issue like pay inequality in the workplace, she'd rather hold a protest during The Masters golf tournament. Way to go Martha. Looks like you got your priorities straight.

Only 3 days left. 'Til what you ask? Not St. Patrick's day, that's on the 17th. Ash Wednesday? Nope, just had that. Well what then? National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers. Send flowers. Send cards. Heck, step in a give them a day off.

Scrolling down their list of sponsors, I found it odd that Ms. magazine was in the mix. I expected radical-left groups like the ACLU and People for the American Way (what a misnomer), but I thought Ms. was like another Cosmo. Guess Ms. is more concerned with terminating an unwanted pregancy than things like this month's Comsmo advice question: "Should I have a one-night stand to lose my virginity?"

Maybe Cosmo and Ms. are more similar than I thought.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) made this cool applet that let's you visualize of brilliant color just how tragic our physical condition seems to be. And the winner is? Chlamydia! Yay! With 55.1% of all diseases, "the clap" routed long-time rival Gonorrhea who only had 26.8%. AIDS came in a disappointing third.

Big Sci-Fi fan so I was interested in looking at this list of Top 50 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books. I probably should redirect some of my quilting time towards checking off a few more of these that I haven't read.

ACLU=hypocrits. Yeah, tell me something I don't know.

If you're even stuck in Greenland and freezing to death, you might take this guy's advice and use the ice to start a fire.

Man donates some change to his church. Sure, that's not big news until you learn that it was about 75 grand! Ever heard of a savings account? I think he'd been planning for that photo op for years now.

Apparently Mr. Mohammed has been talking about bin Laden's whereabouts. The story also raises the question about Pakistani intelligence groups and their loyalties. Could they be playing both sides of the fence?

Saw this March of Dimes poster in our breakroom and thought, "The only different is the location of the baby." So, I believe the same poster could be used by other groups for the exact same purpose. What do you think?

Didn't know this before but the Scients are agressively litigating anything remotely disparaging to their "cause." You can learn more at this site. Is it just me or did some people just take Hubbard's fictional work and make a cult out of it? [thanks MeFi]

In an earlier post I told about the WTC winning design, now the Pentagon has a new memorial too.

It won't come out for a couple of weeks, but Operation Flashpoint: Game of the Year Edition bundles three FPS games for $30 and received great reviews from Gamespy and the like. Big bang for your buck!

STDs are at epidemic level and condoms aren't the answer. This is Russian Roulette of a different kind but the goverment still won't acknowledge condoms' ineffectiveness. Now why is that?

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Osama bin Laden's "most senior and significant lieutenant" is now in America's hands. Would torture to learn the location of bin Laden be appropriate in this situation? He is linked to other terrorist acts in '95, '96, '98 and 2000. He also happens to be the uncle of Ramzi Ahmed Yousef who is serving a life term for the '93 World Trade Center bombings. Sure, torture sounds appropriate, don't you think?

"Now, being a human shield is going to be dangerous?!? Oh, nevermind." And people say America's schools are poor.

Just days ago I posted about fake job postings. Now Monster wants you to be safe. Or be smart. Or both. Oh whatever.

Did you know that Microsoft is working on an enterprise IM server? Can you say, "Uh oh."

Al Qaeda is still about and they've been targeting a bit of American history.