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From the "I Thought Of This 2 Years Ago!" Department

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It finally has happened and truly, it was only a matter of time: someone has made a “Knight Rider” themed GPS device. As the Gray Lady puts it, Generation X nostalgia and modern technology have come together like peanut butter and jelly. I for one cannot believe that two years have passed since I thought of the idea and it is only now coming to market.
I spent the first week of July, 2006 on the West Coast and borrowed a TomTom GPS device to get myself, my friends and my rental car around. On July 1, I flew to San Diego, watched England lose in penalty kicks to Portugal in the quarterfinals of the World Cup at the San Diego airport while waiting for my friend Steve’s flight to arrive from Las Vegas, and then spent 4 days in S.D. before driving up the coast to spend 3 days in La-La Land before heading home on the July 8.
While down South, I drove to the border but not across (we parked in a motel’s parking lot and walked into Mexico for tacos in Tijuana), tooled around many different parts of Diego and while in LA I drove from one theme park to the next, mixing in a Dodger game and the Getty museum in between, while making my base at a family residence in Brentwood (near the Ralph’s off of Wilshire for those that care). I hit up In-and-Out Burger. I hit up The Cat and the Fiddle. It was tons of fun and I got around flawlessly.
While the device had a number of different voices that could bark out lefts and rights, none of them satisfied me. I was in a car, a computer was giving me directions and that could mean only one thing: I was Michael Knight and the GPS was KITT. The closest that TomTom came was an Englishman’s voice which while being sort of close was sincerely no cigar.
I used to spend lazy Saturday afternoons (like today) watching “Knight Rider” at 3 and “The A-Team” at 4 on On WWOR Channel 9. For a time they replace “Knight Rider” with “Airwolf” which sucked – a super charged talking car was one thing but a dudeflying around in his own attack helicoptor? Someone can only suspend disbelief so far!
Anyway, during the CA vacation, I talked endlessly about how they should have a “Knight Rider” voice option and sure enough, now Mio has made my dream come true. In case you were wondering, MythBusters proved that you really could drive up the ramp of a Knight Foundation big rig.
Two last closing points just for shits and giggles. One is that I spent many a Friday night at the Harvest Diner while in Junior and Senior High School performing the “Knight Rider” theme acapella in 4 parts with my friends. The way to perform it is you have one person go “DUH duh, DUH duh, DUH duh Duh duh, Duh duh.” Another goes “Shwoo shwoo, shwoo shwoo.” The third person goes “munnah munnah munnah munnah, munnah munnah munnah munnah, munnah munnah munnah munnah, munnah munnah munnah munnah” and the last then goes “Dum dah dah dum….dum dah dah dum….dum dah dah dum dum Dum!” Try it sometime. Its hard to do.
Second, below is a clip I found on YouTube of Regis introducing a Knight Rider themed act on America’s Got Talent. Watch and enjoy!

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Snake vs. Gator – Who Wins?

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The answer is “alligator” but only because the python which ate it exploded which enabled the gator to get vengeance from beyond the grave: truly a no-joke ass kicking maneuver.
The quote I love is from Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife professor, who said, “Clearly, if they can kill an alligator they can kill other species.” I avoid swamps (other than the Meadowlands of course for Jets games) for this very reason.
Via Neu

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Life from a Mainframe

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There was a joke about how soon a computer will boot up a web browser, not a desktop, and it was noted that my yearly internet access costs more then what I spent on my whole computer.
A co-worker then said, “And to get even more tangential, this makes me think of a computing model based on leasing vs. owning. Will I soon be able to get a free laptop after I sign a two year internet contract with T-Mobile? A connectionless computer seems pretty useless to most people nowadays.”
As more software moves online – see Adobe’s announcement its online Photoshop Express product, we are definitely moving towards a day, joke or no joke, when the only thing we may need is in fact a browser.

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How To Redo 1978

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I just received an email which could be considered one of the greatest ways that Microsoft products have ever been utilized in daily life. The simple and complete email, minus signature, is as follows:
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‘Nuff said.
Via Herzy

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Web Crash 2007

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I had no clue the Onion is doing video until I saw the clip below and after watching it, I for one am going to start watching more of their Onion News Network. Prepare to laugh – alot – so get your beverage away from the keyboard. Sometimes I feel like control-alt-deleting myself too…

Via Chris

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NeuCom: The Not-So-Daily Show

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From Neu:

Crossfire had Jon Stewart on last week while his TDS was running re-runs for the week. They expected him to come on the show and add some comic relief while plugging “America (The Book). Boy did they get more than they bargained for.

Of course, as a result, the blogs of the world are on fire criticizing him as a hidden leftist (insert “commie pinko” if you so desire) who disguises himself as a centrist / apolitical comedian. This is because it was Tucker Carlson (from the right) that took most of his flak. However, if you really watch it, Stewart is indicting neither the left not right, but (rightfully so) the media for just being so damn stupid.

It kept coming back to “do shows like crossfire asks the tough questions,” but I think the point Stewart was trying to make was that, regardless of the questions asked, no one presses on the answers anymore. The hard question can be asked but when it is skirted or responded to with campaign talking point fluff no one ever presses the guest / spinner (see also Chris Matthew’s grilling of Republican S. Carolin Senate candidate Jim DeMint this Sunday – here is someone who actually WON’T let the squirmer off the hook. Too bad it’s just the S.C. Senate race and a rare moment). In all honesty, Sterwart looked a bit haggard, which is probably why he was off his game, but also why he was so brutally pissed and honest to begin with that we get this golden TV moment.

Highlights include when Jon Stewart tells Tucker Carlson that he won’t “be his monkey” and when he calls Carlson a dick on live TV.

Thanks to Stewart for another shining moment of public service, and I am sorry he is getting skewered for taking off the satire suit for a moment and making a real point on the state of affairs in the modern American political machine. I am also sorry that the most lucid popular voice in American politics has a lead-in show where puppets make prank phone calls.

The link

I was also lucky enough to see Jon Stewart’s follow-up on TDS last night (now that they are back), although I did not at the time have any idea what he was referring to. He was pretty brutal there as well, and I am trying to find a link.