So, I had a dream last night that involved a bit of gaming. Surprise, surprise 😉 Me and some new friends, Ron and Mark, were playing a new RTS of some kind on PC. It seemed suspiciously “Star Wars”-like, but was called something completely different. The characters on the cover were suspiciously familiar, with a large and furry creature who wore a bandoleer that looked a lot like Chewbacca’s except that it crossed his chest twice.

My folks were there for a while, so was my bro and, of course, the lovely hapflygirl.

After it was all said and done, I headed over towards Ruthie’s pad. For some reason I just had to stop at the store. I don’t remember what I got. While in the checkout line, though, a girl in front of me who must have been in her teens touches my leg. She’s short and slender, with shoulder-length hair that’s down and quite drenched with sweat. She says, “Yup, you must have it.”

I say, “What?”

She replies, “The virus that’s going around.”

I have an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach as I ask, “What virus?”

At this point, she’s sitting in her mom’s cart, like a wee lil lass. I don’t know how she got there. She describes to me the symptoms: profuse sweat because of high fever and internal bleeding. Sounds like an extremely nasty and possibly deadly virus, almost like Ebola or something.

So, I get worried. I check out, pondering how sweaty I am and how I suddenly have an urgent need to see a doctor. Is that awful feeling in my stomach the result of bleeding? After checking out, I look behind me to find the girl standing behind me in line. She’s no longer sweaty, and her hair is up in a pony tail.

I disregard this oddity (it’s a dream, of course) and get into a van. I don’t know whose it is, but I have the keys so I start it up and head down the road. I notice that my clothes are drenched so I uncharacteristically change in the car en route to Ruthie’s 😮

It is at this point that I wake up to the clock radio and NPR.

Weird.

Would you pay $499 for Cat-5 RJ-45 cable?

http://www.usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/3429.asp

I emailed them and they confirmed the price, saying it’s a “very high end DL cable”.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

So, I totally got an iPod Touch today with my gov’t handout (tax rebate). ZOMG!! It’s totally running Darwin (Unix). I’ve already hacked it, put OpenSSH on it, and I’m cruising around the filesystem like it’s nobody’s business. It’s crazy-go-nuts!

I’ve, of course, installed some new applications in conjunction with my hacking efforts. I’ve put pool on here, soduku, Apollo (AIM/ICQ, etc), a PDF viewer, Chess (a must for any geek), mahjong…I guess I’ve put mostly fun stuff on there. hehe.

The fact that I can SSH into my iPod, though…

…ZOMG!!

Senate to Debate Windfall Profits Tax on Big Oil

They just don’t get it. This country is so stupid, when it comes to corporate taxes. They want to really stick it to those evil rich people, the ones who afford jobs to the lower- and middle-class people and also the ones who furnish us with products.

They’ve engaged in a crusade against Big-*. Any commodity out there that sells in large volume, they’re against–particularly Big-Oil. There’re too many profits there, in their opinions. They get to decide how much profit is too much. They, people who on average make in the 6 figures in tax-paid salary, get to determine how rich is too rich.

Nevermind the fact that we’re pretty much the worst nation in the world when it comes to taxing corporations. And they all wonder why corporations are flocking overseas in droves.

Assuming that they would put this tax into place, do they really believe that “Big-Oil” is going to let it take a bite out of their profits? Do they not realize who’s going to pay for this in the end? The consumer! The very people they’re “out to protect.” “Big-Oil” isn’t going to sit idly by and let their money go out the window into their grubby little fists. They’ll pass prices on to the consumer, thereby causing higher oil prices and, ultimately, higher gas prices.

Ugh.