The Truth About Nintendo

Interesting read regarding market share and financials...pretty much what everyone thinks is wrong (this is part one, part two is also out)

read more | digg story

Intellectual Friday

Well it's coming fast....so called "Black Friday" because this is the day that many retailers accounting figures go from Red to Black. In other words from unprofitable to profitable. But wait...this term Black Friday is a negative sounding word. Fun Friday, or Holiday Friday...anything but BLACK Friday. Intellectual Friday would describe the group of Holiday shoppers that opt to not jump into the crowded stores and streets in search of a bargain. Instead this group will go to their keyboards and casually shop on the web. Last year my wife purchased her long list of gifts from predominantly Amazon.com. Everything arrived in plenty of time, there were no problems with the items or the money transfers. Again this year we will persue an Intellectual Friday and shop at home. Call it what you prefer, it's definitely convenience afforded by the web.

Pirates on the High Seas

Cruise ship attacked by pirates off Somalia used sonic weapon

MIAMI - The crew of a luxury cruise ship used a sonic weapon that blasts earsplitting noise in a directed beam while being attacked by a gang of pirates off Africa this weekend, the cruise line said Monday.

The Seabourn Spirit had a Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD, installed as a part of its defense systems, said Bruce Good, a spokesman for Miami-based Seabourn Cruise Line. The Spirit was about 100 miles off Somalia when pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns as they tried to get onboard.

The subsidiary of Carnival Corp. was investigating whether the weapon was successful in warding off the pirates, he said. The ship's captain also changed its course, shifted into high speed and headed out into the open sea to elude the pirates, who were in two small boats, he said. He had no further details.

The LRAD is a so-called "non-lethal weapon" developed for the U.S. military after the 2000 attack on the USS Cole off Yemen as a way to keep operators of small boats from approaching U.S. warships.

The military version is a 45-pound, dish-shaped device that can direct a high-pitched, piercing tone with a tight beam. Neither the LRAD's operators or others in the immediate area are affected.

The device's makers compares its shrill tone to that of smoke detectors, only much louder. It can be as loud as about 150 decibels, while smoke alarms are about 80 to 90 decibels

UnAmerican Politics

It's no secret that Democrats are using Extremely dirty tricks and tactics in an attempt to make themselves look inviting at next election time. Unfortunately this only makes them look "UnAmerican" in many eyes. I don't feel they are pulling any new votes across the aisle. Taking dirty shots at everything possible never wins in a "look at me, how great I am" contest. Fortunately for Republicans this is a win/win situation. Republicans obliviously have the majority of votes, Dirty tricks on the Democrats part will not get them enough of these votes to win any campaign.