So, a bunch of men from church got together Saturday to bitterly cling to God, guns, and religion. Since I haven't shot anything since my teen years I figured I'd go along and try out some various guns. I'm interested in picking up a handgun at the moment, since our president elect is likely to try to make getting them more difficult. My personal hunch is we'll see another "assault weapon" bill within the first few months, because scary looking weapons are bad. Then we'll see something for handguns, cause they only serve one purpose, which is to kill people. Finally, if it makes it that far, we'll see hunting weapons targeted.

There were two stations setup, a shotgun/skeet station and a rifle/handgun station. Before we split up one of the men explained the rules and safety pointers. Once we were familiarized with the rules we broke up into groups to head to the respective stations. I went to the rifle/handgun station as I've shot shotguns before and am in the market for a handgun. We were setup across a pond from the targets, at a range of about 50 yards. Certainly longer than I would consider for a handgun distance.

We pulled out the rifles first, which were only 22s. Because of the cold they were not loading well at all from the clips. It took some playing with before I got my first shot off, but I pinged the 4" target from about 50 yards. Of course that was beginners luck as I was only about 75% after that. I might consider picking up a 22 rifle at some point for my rabbit issues, but certainly not any time soon. Over all, very uninteresting.

The pastor's son brought a 9mm. It was about a 4 inch barrel, which seemed pretty short. I'm not sure if he has a CWW or not, but that seems to be more the size I'd expect for carrying. He put in the clip and shot off at the target 2' x 3'. I'm pretty sure he didn't hit the target once, and sunk a handful in the pond. One of the professors tried next. He was a bit more accurate, actually hitting the target a couple times. I loaded up a clip to try it out and put most of them at the foot of the target. The issue was that the sight was low, so I couldn't actually see the target when it would have been centered. I found it was pretty nice, with not a lot of recoil. But I'm not sure my wife would feel comfortable with it, but there are some things you can do for limiting the recoil. This was the gun I shot the most, as it is probably what I would be looking for as a hand gun. I might consider something with a longer barrel around the house, as I'm not sure that carrying about town is really a
concern.

The second handgun I tried was a 45. Thise one certainly had a bit more recoil, and definitely would no be suggested for the wife. It would take a lot of concentration to use this in a defensive situation and be able to hit your target even if they were not moving, at least for a second shot be be any accurate. The trigger on this one was very sensitive. The professor who tried this one accidently shot off twice while only intending one shot because of the recoil and light trigger.

I also tried out a 22 handgun, which was equally unintereting as the 22 rifle. I don't really see the purpose of a 22 handgun as you are not going to be shooting small game with it, nor using it defensively. So it seems more like a toy rather than a useful weapon. I suppose you could use it to put down a rabid racoon, but that seems kinda a niche use.

While I'm not a huge gun buff, I do figure I ought to exercise my right. First, living out in the country I don't expect a cop to be around to help. And relying on a neighbor who wouldn't be able to hear a yell in the first case is no help. I don't expect to ever even need a weapon around the home, but I don't ever expect to need a cell phone to call for a tow truck either, but we keep one around just in case. We even use it for calling other folks once in a while too. Just as I'm sure when we pick up a gun we'll shoot off a few rounds every now and then too.

I had this come to me today.

Is this legit? A well crafted spam/mining operation? Sent to zillions of /.ers?

My tinfoil hat is buzzing, probably for no reason as is the norm.

Dear grub: My name is Lily Liu. I am a PhD student carrying our a project with my supervisor Christian Wagner (iscw@cityu.edu.hk) who is a professor at City University of Hong Kong. We are trying to understand the popularity of Slashdot to its active contributor, such as you. We hope you might be able to help us in our effort by answering three questions.

*Question 1:*
In your opinion, what (if so) makes Slashdot special among online discussion sites? Is it the content, the group of people it draws in, the discussion engine (e.g., content rating and filters), or possibly other factors?

*Question 2: *
Compared with other discussion sites you know or/and have used, do you consider Slashdot's technology platform to be better? In other words, does it encourage (a) more sense of community or (b) more active participation?
(In answering please also feel free to mention the other discussion site or sites you might be comparing to)

*Question 3:*
As a unique user in Slashdot, could you please rate your own reciprocity by assessing what you get from the community compared with what you contribute to it?(you can give an answer such as: i think i get more or i contribute more,of course we would be very appreciative for your explanation of detail)
**

Please let us know at your earliest convenience. We will quickly summarize results and gladly send you a summary, if you are interested (and sufficient replies are received to create a meaningful summary).

Thank You for Your Time and Valuable Feedback!

Sincerely,
Lily

Rock Out video from the great new disc Motorizer.

They had to change "Rock out, with your cock out, impress your lady friends" to just "Rock out, rock out, impress your lady friends"

Ah well, all is great. Hope they make it back here, you feel like you've been through 10 rounds with Mike Tyson after a show.

As of now, the Sarah Palin article on wikipedia has 2000 revisions since 09:50, 28 August 2008. The Joe Biden article on the other hand 2000th revision would place it 01:27, 29 July 2006.

Interesting. I am sure some of it comes from Biden being more of a known quantity for a longer period of time. But a lot of the revisions I see are fairly minor and often repeated, such as one that changes the heading "Public Safety Commissioner dismissal" to "Abuse of power" and back again, and "Pro-Life" to "Anti-Abortion" and back again.

I did find one revision which was pretty chuckle worthy. Look at the previous revision for the picture of the moose.

[update]
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/30/1858240

It seems I am not the only one who found this interesting. I haven't read the story, but it looks related to what I was observing.

+ Friend jmorris42 - I've noticed his comments regularly while browsing stories. While agnostic, he is rational and seems to call people on their foaming at the mouth Atheism. This fellow also seems to be a voice of reason when it comes to the Left, socialist, globalwarming, hate Bush crowd here on slashdot.

+Friend GeckoFood - This fellow marked me as a friend a while ago. I've been looking at his journal entries every now. He covers a range of interesting topics.

+Friend RailGunner is no more. Long live RailGunner^WNaqamel. Which I always wind up translating in my mind to Gargamel, which is funny since it is his band's name. I get a mental picture of RailGunner dressed up as a cartoon wizard and all sorts of smurfs on the stage with him.

As usual, when I add or remove friends or set foes, I remind folks that a friend gets +1 to their comments, which is often needed to counteract the group think around these parts. And foes get +0. Just because I don't like you doesn't mean I always avoid you comments. Mainly I mark foes so if I ever sustain I nasty crack to the head I've got a good reference point to say, "Don't think like that."

Just over a minute, you have time to check out this great ad spoof.

Some time ago I asked for virtual machine advice. Having read the comments and other stuff on various blogs and sites I opted to try VMWare, VirtualIron and VirtualBox.

Here we are nearly a year later and I have to say that (IMHO) Bang for the Buck goes to...drum roll VirtualBox!

The basic edition is open source, well supported and just plain works. A small download of less than 30 MB will get you running.

It isn't a bare metal install, but on my testing with Linux as a host OS it screams running XP and OpenSolaris. I have an OpenBSD VM set up but haven't gotten X to work yet. Installing the guest extensions gives you all sorts of cool stuff.

Eleventy thumbs up!

The last month and half has been pretty exciting with the little guy. He has been learning so many new things, some good and others are a bit naughty. It is great to see him playing new games and have fun each day.

One of his new games is to roll a ball back and forth. I am trying to get him to learn that daddy and mommy refer to people. So I will roll the ball to him and when he is about to roll it back say, "Roll the ball to daddy!" I haven't gotten mommy to play the game with him, but hopefully I'll get her to sit down with him and do that for a while. Hopefully while playing these games we'll help him figure out a number of words.

A couple weeks a really icky illness hit both the little guy and my wife. They could barely hold anything down and what they could came out the other end shortly afterwards taking the express route. I took a couple half days at work to help nurse them back to health. The little guy lost about 3/4 to 1 pound during that time though.

He was really picky eating after he started feeling better though. The day he started being able to hold things down about all he would eat was chocolate chip cookies. He would just scream and holler at us if we even tried to set him in his high chair or tried to give him anything else. But since he lost so much weight and was drained in energy we let him have his way that day. It was probably about 3 days before we had him eating normal meals.

He is learning a number of ways to communicate with us, some of which do not require crying or yelling. We have a bag of crackers and other munchies which we leave on the table. He will now bring that or his sippy cup when he gets hungry and set it in our hands or at our feet. We'll then get him something to eat or drink. He knows where we keep his videos and will go turn on the TV or start reaching up for the videos if he wants to watch one.

This last weekend we had a picnic after church down at a park. He thought this was great. He would run around like a little wild man exploring. He also got to spend a fair bit of time on the playground. He did get a little bit red from the sun, but he isn't doing too bad. We put some lotion on his arms afterwards and that seemed to help him cope a little better.

The list:

1. Sand is cool. Tough to walk in.

2. Rumor weeds are funny. Desparados are scary and should come to their senses.

3. Clackity clack clack clack goes the clacker. And then it clacks some more.

4. Petting cats is for chumps. Grabbing cats is for men! Chumps spend more time with cats.

5. It is funny to shut daddy into a room. No so funny when daddy shuts himself into a room.

6. Sometimes daddy praying at night is funny.

7. Book spines are weak and must be punished for their frailty.

8. Toys are exciting when thumping and rolling down the stairs.

9. Late to bed and early to rise makes mommy and daddy with bleary eyes.

10. Who knew that sippy techonology would ever advance in your child's lifetime? Old and Busted meet New Hotness which doesn't leek like a sieve.

all right... went to the smartcar website and played around for a few minutes. What I came up with was this little baby;

fortwo passion cabriolet, 1.0 L, 71 HP, 3 cylinder engine

Base price

$ 16,590.00

body panels in deep black

N/C

Black leather seats

tridion safety cell, black

N/C

Standard equipment

smart premium sound system

smart premium radio (AM/FM, mp3-compatible 6 disc CD changer; incl. 2 speakers, Aux input jack for MP3 device)

smart sound system (2 tweeters, 2 mid range, subwoofer)

Engine/drivetrain

1.0 L, 71 HP, 3 cylinder engine

5 speed automated manual transmission

Paddle shifters

Wheels/tyres

9-spokes alloy wheels (15") with front tires: 155/60 R15; rear tires 175/55 R15

Tire pressure control system

Exterior

body panels in deep black

Fully automatic convertible top with glass rear window

Projector beam halogen headlights

Side indicators in yellow

Exterior mirror cap in tridion color

Interior

3-spoke leather sports steering wheel with steering wheel shift paddles (incl. leather gear knob)

Basic seat with weight detection and seatbelt recognition

Flat folding passenger seat with backrest adjustment

Storage areas beside the steering wheel and in both doors

Coin holder

Dome light

Mirror in passenger sun visor

Storage

Lockable glove compartment

Safety

Hydraulic dual-circuit brake system

Tire repair kit

Top Tether for child restraint system

Panic button on key

esp - electronic stability program with hill start assist

Anti-lock braking system (abs) with electronic brake force distribution

Full-size driver and passenger airbags

Head/Thorax-Side Airbags

Integral safety seats

Seat belts with belt tensioner and belt-force limiter

Drive lock - auto-activation of the central locking when driving

Functional/electrical equipment

Air conditioning with automatic temperature control (incl. dust, pollen filter)

Power windows with one-touch lowering function

Electronic and heated side mirrors

Central locking system with remote control

Instrument cluster with multifunctional display (fuel-level indicator, coolant-level indicator, residual fuel indicator, service interval indicator, trip mileage indicator, clock)

Outside temperature indicator

Indicators with lane changer function

Front windshield wiper with speed-dependent interval wiping and wiper-/wash function

Electric rear window defroster

Electric tailgate release

Locking gas cap

12-volt socket, with cover

Special equipment

Comfort Package - includes the following features

$ 850.00

Black leather seats

Heated seats

Electric power steering (eps)

Rain sensing windshield wipers

Light sensor (autolight)

Auto-off headlamps with exit delay

Extras

Fog lamps

$ 110.00

Additional instruments (analog clock and rev counter)

$ 120.00

Anti-theft alarm system

$ 160.00

Total price[*]:

$ 17,830.00

All in all a neat little car for the money. Perhaps one of these is in my future... Considering its almost time for a new ride and something less fuel intensive than what I have.

The rumours are true, someone is making a documentary about Lemmy! Check out the trailer.

If you don't know who Lemmy is... for shame.

Man I remember when I first spun the Ace of Spades LP. That opening bass riff of the title track was something that sent a chill down my spine. "What the hell is this?!" my 14-15 year old mind thought. Yeah, I was hooked. Other Motorhead LPs, mostly imports, soon came home to be played endless times. I'm sure my parents loved it.

It seems a fan of Star Wars (a fan with 2 years of free time!) took the Special Edition release of Episode IV and edited the hell out of it.

I'll paste the changes from the post I was pointed to ( post can be found here) I like #70 (HAN SHOOTS FIRST) etc.

At the bottom of this JE you'll find the link to the DVD5 on TPB. I hope to see more people in the swarm by morning :)

original film name: Star Wars IV: A New Hope
new film name: STAR WARS: EP IV 2004 Special edition REVISITED
film studio name: Lucasfilm
Date Original Film Was Released: 25 MAY 77
Date Edit Was Released: 19 JAN 2008
Original Runtime: 121 minutes
New Runtime: 127 minutes
Amount of time Cut/Added: a lot added/a lot cut
Cuts removed/added/extended: way to many (see list of changes)

List of changes:
VIDEO

1 - Star Wars Logo: originally it receded way too quickly so this has been slowed down to match the speed in the rest of the saga.
2 - The crawl appears slightly earlier now, as it did pre ANH, so it appears at the correct music cue that Williams� intended, and how I remember it.
3 - As the camera pans down to Tatooine you now see the 3 moons instead of just 2
4 - Tatooine now rotates slightly as the ships fly overhead
5 - Re-coloured all lasers
6 - Removed the horrible blue hazing as the stardestroyers engine come into view
7 - Changed the explosion as the Tantive IV is hit to remove a lot of the smoke.
8 - Added a jerk to the motion of the Tantive IV as it is hit
9 - Speeded up the star field in that shot so the Tantive IV seems to be moving as fast as it did in previous shots.
10 - Colour correction of the whole film to remove the blue tint. The Tantive IV�s walls are now white.
11 - Re-coloured R2�s dome lights throughout the movie so they match closer to the rest of the saga. The front light now blinks from red to blue.
12 - Re-edited the Tantive IV corridor battle to fix continuity issues where troopers die more than once.
13- Added blaster flashes to all blasters that have them missing as they fire.
14 - Added blast flashes to the troopers where they are hit
15 - Corrected issues where the blasters flash as if they were fired on set but no laser bolts were present. Added the lasers to fix this throughout.
16 - Fixed the jump cut where 3PO & R2 cross the corridor on the Tantive IV & the doorway explodes.
17 - When Vader enters the Tantive IV a Stormtrooper lets go of the head of a dead trooper but that you can see that the actor slowly lowers his head. This has been fixed and the troopers head now drops at speed more like a dead body.
18 - Added blinking lights to Vader�s chest plate
19 - Vader�s eyes re-coloured to remove the red tint.
20 - When 3PO is looking for R2 a trooper falls to the floor behind him as if he has been shot but there is no laser fire. Added some lasers & a flash as the trooper is hit.
21 - Smoothed / fixed the jump cut as R2 extends his third leg and heads for 3PO & the one where he leaves 3PO
22 - Fixed the error in the scene where Vader is strangling Antilles the trooper in the background changes position in one shot. Originally his legs are closed and his blaster is in a totally different position.
23 - Fixed an FX issue when Leia is hit by the stun blaster the glow effect is missing on part of her dress.
24 - In the scene where R2 presses the button to open the pod door you now see his arm retract
25 - Re-coloured the interior of the escape pod to blue due to continuity issues in this scene.
26 - As the escape pod blasts off it now begins to rotate as it does in the rest of the shots
27 - When the imperial commander says �hold your fire� the trajectory of the escape pod has been changed so it is heading downwards and away from the ship instead or just heading straight which caused a continuity error in the next shot as we see the underbelly of the stardestroyer , which means it was heading downwards.
28 - Changed the stars & stardestroyer view from inside the pod so the ship & stars now recede at different rates
29 - You now see the escape pod enter the atmosphere of Tatooine.
30 - Every FX shot has been either touched up or redone in some form or another, but too many to mention every one.
31 - On Tatooine the escape pod canopy has been re-coloured to remove the odd blue colour
32 - In the some scenes the sky has been changed to match other shots.
33 - Added the sandcrawler from the OUT to replace the static shots when 3P0 thinks he is rescued
34 - Completely new canyon wipe so the rocky surroundings that R2 travels through matches closer to what Tatooine looks like in the PT. Also brightened the scene slightly
35 - Fixed a shot of R2 after he is captured where you see the mark of a restraining bolt before it is attached. In some previous shots it is also somewhat visible but I was unable to fix this.
36 - Fixed a placement continuity error with the restraining bolt that the Jawas fix to R2
37 - Added a battle droid to the scrap inside the Sandcrawler. Also brightened up the inside scenes Fixed
38 - Fixed R2�s eye dome in the shot inside the sandcrawler where it looks like you can see Kenny Baker inside.
39 - Inside the sandcrawler 3PO�s eyes blink as he stands. Fixed
40 - Re-coloured the sky in the SE shots of the sandtroopers & Sandcrawler so the colour the sky is less saturated and closer matches the sky we see at the homestead.
41 - When Beru calls to Luke as they are about to inspect the droids, bushes appear & disappear from shot to shot. Removed the bushes from the shots of Luke to fix this error.
42 - Removed a wire visible coming out of 3PO�s neck while Owen talks to him at the sale
43 - Removed the repeated shot of R2 & the red R5 unit to fix a continuity error. Replaced with a new shot.
44 - Fixed the pink sky effect just before this scene fades out.
45 - Added the missing glow from R2�s holo light in the garage.
46 - Brightened & desiderated the sunset scene.
47 - Fixed the colour problem in the shot where 3PO jumps as Luke activates the restraining bolt in the garage. In the 2004 DVDs this shot was sepia. An example of some very bad colour problems with these DVDs.
48 - As Luke races out of the Garage to use his macrobinoculars I have added 3PO running out of the doorway to fix an error that he suddenly appears out of nowhere.
49 - New macrobinocular graphics that add in 3PO. All other macrobinocular graphics changed too.
50 - Removed the droids tracks from a previous take make it look like it is being pulled along by a cord.
51 - When Owen shouts Luke the Treadwell droid is in a totally different place than the previous shot and a fly lands on the camera lens. Fixed both issues.
52 - In the shot where the Tusken raiders see Luke�s speeder travelling through the canyon the speeder suddenly seems to speed up towards the end and looks unnatural. Recomposited the speeder to fix this.
53 - Re-coloured the sky in some shots when Ben rescues Luke so it is more blue instead of very grey/ white, which it isn�t in the shot where Ben scares the Tusken raiders.
54 - Smoothed the jump cut where Luke ignites the sabre in Obi-Wan�s hut
55 - Added the missing ornament on Ben�s table in the shot of Leia�s hologram.
56 -Added the missing cloak on the wall behind Luke as he ignites the sabre.
57 - Re-edited the whole �Ben�s Home� not only to fix the continuity errors but also because the conversation about the force and Luke�s father is now all together and flows better instead of being split into 2 separate conversations. It now starts off with the viewing of the hologram and fixes the continuity problems.
58 - Added a new death Star sequence prior to the conference room scene to give the death star a better reveal. It now orbits a planet in all shots up until it is reported that it is fully operational.
59 - Changed the torture droids syringe arm. Removed the writings and added a laser effect.
60 - Mos Eisley approach re-edited. Removed some of the creatures on the first shot & extended the path of the landspeeder so it now fully enters the town.
61 - Completely removed the Ronto/ Jawa sequence.
62 - Removed the probe droid hit but the worker droid.
63 - Removed both Rontos from the checkpoint scene.
64 - Removed the probe droid from this scene also
65 - Fixed the ship that flies in front of the vaporator making it look tiny.
66 - When Luke looks over to the cantina it is heavily cast in shadow but as they approach there are no shadows. This has been fixed.
67 - Added facial movements to some cantina creatures.
68 - In the shot where you see Ponda Babba�s severed arm I have removed the blood & replaced the hand with the hoof like one we see him with in other shots.
69 -More facial movements & blinks for Greedo
70 -HAN SHOOTS FIRST!! Greedo no longer shoots either.
71 - Removed the Jabba scene
72 - As they approach docking bay 94 you see R2 at the side of 3PO but as the camera pans and he goes out of shot you suddenly see him appear again from a different direction, which would be impossible for him to appear so quickly. Fixed this error
73 - Re-added the fade wipe as they approach the falcon.
74 - Added the falcons dish in the docking bay shot and expanded the docking bay.
75 � Slightly re-edited the docking bay shootout to fix some continuity issues
76 - Fixed the issues with Hans �wobbly� wrist as he fires
77 - Added the missing middle strut to all the Falcons cockpit window scenes.
78 - Added the blue glow back to the Falcons engines.
79 - As the falcon escapes Tatooine it now actually does some manoeuvres instead of �listing lazily to the left�
80 - New Alderaan for all the viewscreen shots
81 - New Alderaan explosion
82 - Re-rotoscoped all lightsabres and fixed Luke�s green & wobbly sabre during the training session.
83 - Re-composited the holo chess character so they look more like holograms now.
84 - In close-up shots of R2 the background has the control light from the Death Star interior. These shots now have the correct background.
85 - Fixed the jump cut as Luke turns off his sabre.
86 - Added the colour to the remotes laser that was missing from the 2004 DVD�s
87 - In the scene where Vader says �I told you she would never�.� he gestures after he has stopped talking. This has been fixed.
88 - More asteroids when the Falcon reaches the Alderaan system
89 - New docking bays for exterior shots to match the new interior ones.
90 - Removed the blue screen pole that is visible as the Falcon enters the docking bay and the girder crane in the top left which isn�t there when you see the interior of the docking bay
91 - Added a glow to the shield light to all shots of the docking bay interior.
92 - Added the censored shot of the officer being hit as they break into the control room.
93 - Re-coloured the displays in the control room so they are no longer black & white
94 - The Death Star�s interiors are now metallic grey instead of the horrible blue.
95 - When Han, Luke & chewy wait at the elevator a trooper walks past them wearing a light coloured uniform but in the next shot it is a dark uniform. Re-coloured the light uniform to fix this.
96 - Added the censored shot of the officer being hit in the detention cell shootout.
97 - In the final shots of this sequence a trooper falls down the stairs but only the scenery was hit. The trooper now gets hit.
98 - In the scene where the stormtroopers are about to blast their way into the detention cell, the elevator door has visible signs that it has been rigged for to blast apart and looks a mess. Fixed this issue.
99 - New tractor beam matte shots.
100 - Recomposited the SE shot of the many stormtroopers as Han chases them to look more natural
101 - New wider shot of Luke & Leia as they swing across the chasm. They now look to be a lot higher up.
102 - Re-edited the lightsabre duel to give it a faster pace
103 - The lightsabre impact flashes cover both characters even though it should only be visible in front of the character closest to the camera. This has been fixed
104 - Removed the visible power cable from the lightsabre up Ben�s sleeve
105 - As Han & chewy reach the docking bay you can see the shadows of Luke & Leia awaiting their cue. Removed the shadows.
106 - Replaced the dummy of Ben as Vader kills him. You now see his face and Vader actually slices through him and you see him disappear.
107 � Removed the bar holding R2�s legs in place when the droids head for the falcon
108 - When Luke blasts the control panel the door blast door closes, but in the next shot it closes again. This has been fixed.
109 - As the Falcon leaves the docking bay it originally left very slowly even though the engines ignite and it should have accelerated faster. It does now.
110 - Fixed the wobbly holotable as Luke gets up to head to the gun port.
111 - Removed the horribly bad motion blur from the shots of Luke & Han in the gun port as the TIEs approach
112 - Redone the TIE battle sequence so the falcon no longer appears to be just sitting there and added a few new shots.
113 - Brand new explosions for TIES in this sequence
114 - Added a faster moving star field to all interior window shots of the gun port including shots that were missing a star field.
115 - When 3PO is entangled in the wires after the battle, again the close up of R2 has the death star interior background. It now has the correct Falcon corridor background.
116 - After the battle you now see the falcon enter hyperspace.
117 - Added the Hyperspace wormhole to the cockpit sequence.
118 - The Falcon now can be seen exiting hyperspace as it approaches Yavin.
119 - In the shot of the Falcon as it flies over the trees on Yavin IV the clouds have been changed to matched the rest of the sequence. I�ve also added the falcons shadow on the trees as it flies over.
120 - New interior shot of the Hanger bay. Removed the cardboard fighters and given the hanger greater depth.
121 - Fixed the following flip shots as they step off the transport vehicle.
122 - New Death Star schematics.
123 - Darkened the rebel briefing scene and once it is over the lighting becomes brighter.
124 - New up to date briefing room graphics for the display.
125 - A lot of the Rebel pilots have Blue insignias on their helmets but there is no blue squadron in the final draft. Re-coloured all blue insignias to red.
126 - The shot of Yavin & the Death star following the briefing room scene has been changed so that Yavin matches the SE Yavin
127 - When we see Han loading up his reward the Y-wing in the background is missing one of its engines because only half the ship was built. This has been fixed.
128 - Fixed the horrible jump cut of R2 as he is loaded into the X-Wing while Luke talks to Biggs & Red Leader.
129 - Added an extra stripe to one of the high view X-Wing shots to remove the repeated red leader X-Wing shots
130 - As the X-wing lifts off it now flies forward and not just straight up.
131 - As Luke leaves the temple you can now see the exterior of the temple from the rear cockpit window.
132 - Re-edited all Rebel command centre shots to fix issues where the image has been flipped (you can tell because 3PO�s dent on his head keeps swapping sides) Also Leia keeps changing position.
133 - Added Yavin to the rear cockpit windows of the fighters as they report in and to various shots throughout the battle.
134 - Ships engines are now again red and not pink.
135 - Re-coloured R2 so his dome is now blue and not black in all space shots.
136 - Fixed few flip shots of various pilots during the battle (the microphone keeps swapping sides)
137 - Added new shots throughout the sequence including a whole new TIE battle sequence
138 - The rebel command centre table now includes holograms
139 - The death star countdown clock & viewscreen is also a brand new updated display.
140 - The window at the back of Vader�s cockpit has been blacked out because there should be no window.
141 - Fixed issues where ships were missing in numerous scenes in the trench run when they should be in view. This includes both TIES & X-wings
142 - Fixed the issue with the Trench approach where the shots clearly change from a flat matte to a model shot after the flash and really jumps out at you. It flows together between both sources better now. Also both times we see it they used the same shot. Each one now has slight differences to them.
143 - When Vader fires at Luke and hits R2 he is actually firing beneath the X-wing but then next shot he hits R2 which would have been impossible. This issue has been fixed
144 - When R2 Is hit the next shot you can see no smoke or damage through Luke�s cockpit window. This has been fixed
145 - Added damage to R2s body to match the shot where he is unloaded from the X-Wing later.
146 - Re-coloured bit X-wing & TIE targeting displays
147 - A lot of shots throughout the Death Star battle the cockpit shots just have a plain black background. All cockpit shots now show what should be visible outside.
148 - When Red Leader is killed I�ve you see an explosion but nothing makes it. I�ve added the x-wing hitting the surface.
149 - Removed all of the �swinging TIES2 seen in the rear cockpit windows. The TIEs now more naturally according to the scene
150 - A very slight edit to the Biggs death scene. Luke now reacts better to the death of his friend.
151 - When the Falcon comes to the rescue and hits the left hand TIE fighter the laser both never actually hits the TIE fighter. This has been fixed
152 - You now see the death star begin to fire as it explodes
153 - New death Star explosion shot that integrates brand new footage and OUT and removed the shock wave ring.
154 - When Vader spins out of control you can now see stars through his cockpit windows.
155 - Chewie now gets a medal
156 - Brand new end credits that include the Revisited credits and also every member of OT.com that contributed in the forums up until the second week in November 2007

There are also some other minor fixes that aren�t listed, mainly because i have lost track of exactly how much has been done.

AUDIO

New 5.1 audio mix track with reversed surround channels fixed & a greater surround experience. The imperial march has now been added in places. Includes mainly a remixed 2004 DVD 5.1 audio track with elements of the Belbucus� restored monomix (many thanks Belbucus), laserdisc 5.1 audio, german 2004 5.1 mix, on set audio and new elements

There are quite a few differences in this mix but too many to mention so heres a few minor changes:

The alarm heard aboard the Tantive IV has reverted back to the original alarm that could be heard in the Mono mix.

When Luke first see�s the holo message in the garage scene Leia�s �help me obi-wan..� lines have now been synced to what you see on screen. It can also be heard throughout this scene and not just when we see the hologram as originally.

New music mix when we first see the Sandpeople to fix the horrible music cut in the original

When Obi-Wan scares off the Sandpeople, the Krayt dragon call has been reinserted.

Original Beru�s voice dub from the monomix . Now sounds more natural than the one we have become use to.

The fanfare has been reinserted when the x-wings begin their dive to the death star.

The lightsabres now have a subwoofer channel to give extra depth

A few alternate dialogue changes taken from both the mono mix and on set audio

As Luke and leia reach the chasm there is a shot of the stormtroopers as they follow them and you can hear a laser blast but no one has fired. this has been removed.

During the falcon / TIE dogfight there are a couple of instances where you can hear the sound of an X-Wing. these have been removed and the correct TIE engine sound can now be heard

Fanedit Details for the DVD-5 version:

* ReLeaSe DaTe 01.03.2008
* ViDeo
* auDio AC3 448kbps 5.1 DOLBY DIGITAL
* CoDeC MPEG2
* FRaMe RaTe 29fps
* ReSoLuTioN 720 X 480
* Subtitles ENGLISH
* SPANISH

NTSC DVD-5 with extras

* EXTRAS: �Changes & Fixes� subtitle trivia track
* �Revisited� first look trailer
* Trailer # 1
* Final Trailer
* Deleted Scene - Jabba The Hutt
* Deleted Scene - Jabba The Hutt in 3D
* �The Empire Strikes Back Revisited� Teaser Trailer

Faneditor�s comment:

I have to admit that i have always liked the special editions of the original trilogy, with a few minor niggles of course, so i was so excited when the 2004 DVD release was announced. I waited in line at midnight, got my box set and raced home to watch them. switched on my cinema system (luckily the neighbours were away) , loaded the DVD and prepared to be blown away. Then the film started and my face dropped. What the hell have they done to the surround mix? OMG Luke�s saber is green & Darth�s is pink. I thought these editions would have been better than my old VHS ones. Yes the picture quality is far superior but the new faults just plain ruined them for me. So I decided that the original trilogy DVD�s need fixing but just never got round to doing it until i was amazed by the ADigitalMan/ Darth Editous Hybrid DVD . I loved it so much i wanted to make my own

Additional comment:

Star Wars for the 21st Century. Two years in the making, this fan edit was created by a fan for the fans.
�Star Wars: Revisited represents perhaps the boldest and most sophisticated of any of the fan edits of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Inspired by the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition, fan editor Adywan has created a breathtaking and powerful version of the film. Star Wars: Revisited not only fixes errors and technical limitations to the film that should have been made in the first Special Edition, but gives us a whole new vision for the movie, tying it to the rest of the Star Wars saga while correcting many of the excesses of the original Special Edition. Shots are re-mastered and restored, special effect shots are re-composited and whole new sequences are created, giving the viewer a taste of what the Special Edition could have been. Accompanied by a new Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, Star Wars: Revisited provides an exciting new visit to a galaxy far, far away.� synopsis by Sluggo - Originaltrilogy.com

External discussion links:
Originaltrilogy.com

Trailer:

Time needed for the edition: 2 years

Persons involved: Adywan

The DVD5 can be found on PirateBay

A lot of Lefties think Fox is Right wing for new reporting. Well, I have found an even better source of news over on youtube. Check out News Busted for some really Right wing news.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,353758,00.html

Anyone want to bet that the conspiracy theory Bush Derangement Syndrome folks claim Bush had her wacked because he didn't want her giving up his name as one of the Johns?

I keep a journal on my nightstand since our little guy was born. Each night I will write about a page or so of the day and interaction with my son. I consider giving him the stack of journals at some point, maybe when he turns 18, his wedding, or maybe when he has a child. He isn't likely to be able to read them as my handwriting is terrible, but after and advanced degree in hieroglyphics and chicken scratching he might be able to decipher something useful.

One of the patterns I noticed was mentioning how often he slept, such as when he woke up, took his nap and how long, and when he went to bed. I wonder if he'll think the only thing I cared about was when he went to sleep! Well, to tell the truth, on the rougher days that is a major concern. When is this little monster going to sleep so I can do something other than carry around a crabbing little punk!

For the last couple weeks I have been trying to focus more on my interactions with him, new experiences he has, or things he has learned, or at least events which happen with him. Hopefully as I record things in the journal I will be able to look back and remember how these days have gone. What sort of thoughts and ideas were going through my head, and what I thought was going through his mind.

And, of course no parenting journal is complete without the list.

1. There are very few ways to keep my little guy still.
a. If you guessed sleeping, you are wrong.
b. Bob and Larry can anchor him in front of the TV for a 1/2 hour.
c. Putting him in the center of the lawn works too (though I guess only for a short period of time).
d. Theme music for pretty much any show (tested with A-Team, Air Wolf, ST-TNG, ST-DS9, X-Files, B5).

2. Cats are now catchable. Totally unrelated, but they now sleep in higher places.

3. The occasional 3am dissertation is required to keep the mind clear and focused. At some point we are going to get rid of the monitor.

4. Typing is a full body experience. Luckly for dad he has an IBM keyboard.

5. You can never have too many baby spoons. For the feeder or feedie.

6. I don't want yogurt anymore dad! Nevermind I throw up anything with a mixed texture. Give me more crunchers!

7. A note from experience, do not set your child on your shoulders and then lean backwards unless you find scratches on your face appealing.

8. Related to 7, if you have ever seen Ratatouille.

9. Yes 8 was an incomplete sentence, but if you have seen Ratatouille you know what I am talking about and the sentence does not need to be completed.

10. While walking around the store aimlessly and grabbing pretty much anything is fun, daddy would really like to get the groceries and go home.

Well, it's official... the MPA has forced powertabs.net to shut down. This is arguably one of the worst examples of the power and abuse of the whole copyright/music industry issue. Powertabs.net was an incredible online community of musicians who were taking their time and effort to transcribe all sorts of music for the guitar, bass and keys in both traditional music notation and tabulature format. It was one of the largest sources of music transcription on the internet using the FREE & popular Power Tab Software. The community that was there was a terrific example of peer review and feedback to aspiring musicians who were learning their craft and learning how to transcribe music.