I have not yet seen the movie, but it's difficult to avoid the excitement and rattled nerves of all the people who have. On Sunday, this story was posted on /., and (assuming you're interested in the movie itself, the issues, the lies, the truth, etc.) you may find the various posts interesting as well.

What I find interesting about the whole Michael Moore phenomenon is that people keep bashing him on the grounds that CNN or Newsweek published a different version of something he said, and that therefore he is wrong because clearly they (CNN and Newsweek) are right. I find that really sad, not because people disbelieve Michael Moore (I don't really care about that), but that people do believe everything the major news corporations tell us.

I'm waiting for the day (and I probably won't have to wait too long) when people say you're a bad American if you don't blindly trust the gigantic media mega-corps...

A 15-year old girl with a previously unknown heart condition had a heart attack while playing Dance Dance Revolution at a video game arcade. "Heart Condition Strikes Girl Down At Arcade" has more details, saying she fell to the floor while playing DDR with her friend, and while still lying on the arcade floor, paramedics zapped her with a defibrillator to get her heart going again.

No need to stop playing DDR yourself, unless you too have been diagnosed with hypertrophy cardiomyopathy.

There have been countless small-time cyclists busted for using performance enhancing drugs. But today, the word is out that one of the best time trialists in the world, current World Time Trial Champion David Millar, confessed to using EPO (specifically, Eprex). This is pretty bad, considering that he's one of the best riders in today's peloton.

This is the original article from L'Equipe, along with the English translation from babelfish.

Here's what Cycling News had to say about it:

According to Friday's edition of L'Equipe, World Time Trial Champion David Millar (Cofidis) has allegedly confessed to taking EPO. Millar allegedly made the confession to French police while he spent 48 hours in custody in Biarritz this week.

L'Equipe reported that empty ampoules of Eprex (EPO) were found by French police in Millar's house whilst he was being detained, writing "Millar has recognised that he used Eprex (erythropoetin) in the practice of his profession which puts him in the same position as a positive rider in the eyes of the UCI."

If this is the case, Millar will likely be charged by Nanterre judge Richard Pallain, who is heading the investigation into the Cofidis team, with illegal possession and use of toxic substances. So far, eight others have been charged in the affair which began early this year: Cédric Vasseur, Philippe Gaumont, Robert Sassone, Médéric Clain, Marek Rutkiewicz and Daniel Majewski (all riders), Boguslaw Madejak (ex-Cofidis physiotherapist), Oleg Kozlitine (former directeur sportif of Oktos).

Velonews posted a frontpage story on the David Millar affair. According to their article, the director of the Tour de France, Jean Marie Leblanc, has announced that Millar will not be allowed to compete in the 2004 Tour. I'm wondering if Millar might lose the title of World Time Trial Champion, too. However you look at it, this will be a huge blow to his cycling career.

This is just what we all need, another fricking tax. For people and businesses in the state of Florida, the proposed tax would affect them if they have more than one computer in use. Specifically, Florida law states that tax can be collected on "any system that is used for voice or data that connects multiple users with the use of switching or routing technology". So if you have a hub or router at home, you'd get taxed. This is still pretty early on, and it's already uncovered some heated opponents, but who knows, maybe we'll start to see things like this in the future.

Florida to Tax Home Networks

Florida state officials are considering taxing home networks that have more than one computer, under a modified 1985 state law that was intended to tax the few businesses that used internal communication networks instead of the local telephone company.

Here's a Wired Interview with Will Smith. Not a whole lot of deep stuff, but I found it amusing that he used to fix grocery store refrigerators, and has over 52,000 songs spread across every model of iPod made thus far.

Cyclingnews.com has the details of Tinker Juarez, a living mountain biking legend, being robbed at gunpoint in Long Beach. Tinker was training on his road bike at the time, and the thief stole his bike. The thief probably has no idea that Tinker's Six13 road bike is among the most expensive production bike models currently produced. Oh well. Good thing Tinker didn't get shot.

Mountain bike endurance specialist Tinker Juarez was robbed at gunpoint of his road bike and cell phone a couple of weeks ago, according to sources at his sponsor Cannondale.

Juarez, 43, the reigning US 24 Hours of Adrenalin champion and one of the most popular riders on the cross-country circuit for his longevity as a pro and friendliness, was riding one of his usual training loops from his Downey, California home. His route included a stretch of the bike path alongside the concrete-paved Los Angeles River. "A work-crew was re-paving a section and had put a detour that sent you on to the city streets," Juarez explained. Unfortunately, those city streets were in one of the roughest areas of North Long Beach. "I had stopped at this park for minute to get water, figure out how to continue my ride, and to change the music in my Walkman, when I felt a tap on my shoulder." Juarez turned to see a gun pointed at his face. The gunman demanded Juarez's Cannondale Six13road bike and his cell phone.

"I don't think the guy has any idea of what he has," Juarez observed, "When he rode off you could see he didn't know how to ride it - he wobbled off with it still in a big gear." Juarez surmises that his $5800 bike was "probably traded for a $50 bag of whatever."

The Texas Department of Transportation is seeking bids to add free wireless access connectivity to all Texas highway rest stops. The idea is that people will be more inclined to take driving breaks if they can pull over and surf the web or read email. I think it's a pretty cool idea, and might encourage me to tote my laptop along on future road trips, just to keep in touch with friends and read news. What will be really cool is when free wireless access is the norm, no matter where you are, so that people will be able to interact with their computers with total freedom, as cell phones did for regular telephone lines.

Texas Using Wi-Fi to Encourage Motorists

To encourage drivers to take more frequent breaks, the Texas Department of Transportation wants to set up free wireless Internet access at rest stops and travel information centers.

The department is accepting bids until next week and plans to choose a vendor in July. The chosen company won't be paid, however, to provide the free access.

TxDOT, which says Texas is the first state to provide such free access at rest areas, began experimenting with Wi-Fi hotspots last fall.

"The feedback we've received so far has been very positive," said Andy Keith, manager of TxDOT's maintenance division. "Texas' highways are seeing an increasing number of business travelers, truckers and RVers and access to e-mail is important to them."

Keith said there are also plans to install special kiosks where motorists can access Internet-enabled computers with the swipe of a credit card. A price hasn't been set.

Keith said the state hopes to reduce fatigue-related accidents by encouraging drivers to stop more often. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (news - web sites), about 1,500 people die annually in fatigue-related crashes in United States.

Holy crap, if this isn't a cry for help, I don't know what is. From Madonna reinvents herself as Esther:

"I did spend, you know, at least a decade taking my clothes off and being photographed, saying bad words on TV, and, you know, that sort of thing," she told ABC's Cynthia McFadden. "I don't regret it, but it's just ... I mean everybody takes their clothes off now. And then what? You know? And -- and then what?"

"I wanted to attach myself to another name ... I wanted to attach myself to the energy of a different name."

"And one more thing, I am totally losing my mind."

Ok, she didn't make that last comment, but dammit wouldn't it have been funny if she had?

Whether you surf the web using Windows, Linux, or OS X, you can do so in style with the latest release of Firefox. I'd say it's especially worth using if you're on a Windows machine, since Internet Explorer seems filled with an endless supply of security holes. The only Windows-based computer I use these days is for work, and I've had nothing but good experiences using Firefox as my primary web browser. But I still need to use Internet Explorer once in a while, like when I have to go to windowsupdate.com to install the latest round of security patches for Windows, and the only browser that "works" is IE...

We're less than one month away from what promises to be an unforgettable Tour de France, and lots of things have been changing. Jan Ullrich has had his first good results this year, doing well in the Tour de Suisse. And Iban Mayo and Tyler Hamiton proved that they were among the best when they were the only riders who could beat Lance Armstrong in both time trials of the Dauphine Libere last week. Then Alexandre Vinokourov, third overall in last year's Tour de France, crashed a few days ago during the Tour de Suisse, and won't be on a bike at all for the next three weeks, which means he's out of the Tour altogether. Finally, I read in the news today that Joseba Beloki has quit riding with his team, and due to contractual details he cannot ride in this year's Tour on any other team. And even if he were able to land himself a spot on another team's Tour roster, his current form is questionable at best, as he hasn't shown that he's recovered fully from his horrible crash last July.

We'll surely miss Vinokourov and Beloki in this year's Tour, but Hamilton, Mayo and the ever consistent Ullrich will keep things exciting. And even though he's been hiding from the spotlight this season, Haimar Zubeldia might be a player, as well as Bobby Julich. When all is said and done after this year's Tour de France, I'd like to see Hamilton win the overall, and Bobby Julich take a stage. I can barely stand the wait to find out what happens.

Somebody forwarded this to me by email today.

"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

The Register posted an article ("Zombie PCs spew out 80% of spam") that says Windows-based system are responsible for about 80% of all junk email.

"Four-fifths of spam now emanates from computers contaminated with Trojan horse infections, according to a study by network management firm Sandvine out this week. Trojans and worms with backdoor components such as Migmaf and SoBig have turned infected Windows PCs into drones in vast networks of compromised zombie PCs."

This makes me wonder how long Microsoft will set the public's expectations for software. As things are today, a good number of people think it's completely normal for a personal computer to regularly freak out, crash, lose files, etc., yet they fail to realize that there are alternatives to Windows (and no, I'm not trying to be a Mac zealot... any Linux would be better than Windows, as would OS X; BeOS would be cool). As somebody who writes software for a living, I look forward to the day when Microsoft is no longer the reference point in people's minds.

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When I was at Interbike last year, I remember seeing thousands of carbon bike components from nearly every vendor present. To nobody's suprise, the trend continues, with several companies pushing carbon component design. "Taking a first Look" reveals the details on Look's new all-carbon fork - carbon steerer, carbon legs, even carbon dropouts. There is no aluminum anywhere on the fork. Not only that, it's designed to work without a lower headset race. The fork weighs a mere 295 grams (10.4 ounces) and will sell for $500.

Look also revealed a new carbon frame, the 585, which weighs an impressive 990 grams (just shy of 35 ounces). The new frame should be standard equipment for the Credit Agricole team during this year's Tour de France.

Carbon is a great material for building high-end bike components, but I'm wary of using carbon on any of my bikes. Not only is the initial cost higher (which is kinda dumb, since it's pretty inexpensive to make carbon components), but your chances of equipment damage are a lot higher than with aluminum, steel or titanium, and the replacement cost is higher. I guess I might be in the target market if I were a serious racer, or had lots of money to burn.

Thought I'd take a minute to point out one of many examples of misinformation and falsification from mainstream media in our country. Sure, there are all kinds of theories about media sources mangling factual information, but a lot of the time it's about something controversial that cannot be proven easily.

But today, one of the major news stations in Austin, News 8 Austin, published the following story on their website ("Hotels already booked for upcoming events"):

"If you think it's hard to get a room in Austin with the Republic of Texas bike rally in town right now, it's going to be even harder in September.

On the week of Sept. 15 - 19 three big events will be happening in the city.

The Austin City Limits Music Festival, the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Conference, and the World Mountain Biking Championships will bring a combined 50,000 people looking for a hotel room. "

Who knows how many Austin residents (even cyclists) are expecting the World Championships to take place in Austin later this year. But it's not going to be in Austin, or even in this country. If you want to be anywhere near the actual World Mountain Bike Championship in 2004, you'll need to get yourself to France (see the full UCI race schedule for September).

I expect that somebody will tip off the local news station to inform them of their factual butchering, which is why I copied the relevant portion of their news story above. I'd like to think that someday people in this country might question the media a little more often, maybe even think for themselves, rather than believing every single thing the tv stations and newspapers try to cram down our throats.

Update: I checked the link at the end of the day today, and see that they edited the story to remove any mention of the World Mountain Biking Championships happening in Austin.

I'm usually one of the last people to arrive at the office in the morning (and also one of the last to leave at the end of the day). On the random days when somebody brings in a box or two of donuts for communal consumption, it's a rare occasion for me to find any donuts left. But not today! To my suprise, I entered the kitchen late in the morning and found donuts everywhere, various shapes, numerous varieties, even from different vendors. It was truly a donut-licious experience.

Apparently, it's National Donut Day. Sure, it sounds like a silly holiday, but silly or not, our kitchen is full of donuts and there's nothing silly about that. I don't know or care who started the holiday, or if anyone else is observing it besides our office. But I do know that this is one of the best holidays on the calendar. I mean, seriously, we need more yummy snack holidays between Easter and Christmas, and National Donut Day fills that need.

Do your part. Eat a donut today.

This is beautiful. "Microsoft's Sacred Cash Cow" by Jeff Reifman

"I began using Microsoft products 23 years ago, at age 11, and I worked for Microsoft from 1991 to 1999 as a technology manager. For many years, I was a Microsoft loyalist. While aware of Microsoft's shortcomings, I always believed that the Soft did its best to improve products over time, as it did with Windows XP. But recently, I've had a crisis of faith. Perhaps I've rebooted Windows one too many times.

I've had a crisis of faith. Last month I went out and bought a Macintosh G5 and began using the new Mac operating system, OS X. It has been a breath of badly needed fresh air after Windows.

Over the past year, my frustration with Windows grew, as did my envy of Apple's cool new products. Finally, last month I went out and bought an Apple Macintosh G5 and began using the new Mac operating system, OS X. It had been years since I'd used a Macintosh. Until recently, I dismissed those who did as impractical, elitist hipsters, and I mocked the Mac 'switch' ads on TV.

But in the first five minutes on my new Mac, I was surfing the Internet, sending e-mail, and ripping a CD. OS X has been a breath of badly needed fresh air after Windows."

Got into a conversation today at work about dns and address translation, and we started messing around with ways to create strangely formed urls. Among our discoveries, we learned that you can specify a url as a hexadecimal number. The behavior works correctly in Mozilla Firefox, as well as some versions of Internet Explorer. To see if your browser works, try going to 0xd86d764d (you should see the Yahoo home page).

The breakdown is that the destination ip address is represented in the above hex number ("0x" denotes "hexadecimal number"), where each class of the ip is represented by a pair of hex digits. So 0xd86d764d is broken down as a hex ip address, namely d8.6d.76.4d. If you convert those individual hex numbers into decimal, you get 216.109.117.204 which resolves to www.yahoo.com.

You can also insert any other valid hex digits immediately after the initial "0x" and they will be ignored. Said another way, the last 8 hex digits are parsed as the address, and everything else is ignored. So 0xd86d764d should resolve to the same destination ip as 0x00099909adff8dd9d97900000000000d86d764d.

This brought up a silly discussion of hunting for web hosting providers by the coolness of the hex converted ip address. For instance, 0xdeadbeef (which translates to 222.173.190.239) would be ultra cool. You wouldn't even need a domain name anymore, you could just share your site location as the hex coded value. Think about it, no more domain registration fees!

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If Hokey Spokes didn't cost so fricking much, I think it would be ultra-cool to get some for my bike.