I have been a Rams fan for years. Most of that time has been spent watching them wallow in various degrees of ineptitude, though "The Greatest Show on Turf" years were pretty fun. As I told Luke727 earlier in the week, I had no doubts that the Rams would be able to find a way to lose tonight. In all honesty, they have been playing over their level all season. They were, after all, 1-15 last year!

But I'm not disappointed. To be disappointed means to have your expectations dashed. I had no serious hope for the Rams this year, especially not with a rookie QB. What I did see, however, was a team that is more respectable. No longer a doormat, the Rams now have to actually be played. Their defense has improved and become stronger, their offense has a franchise QB now, and even their special teams are improving.

I knew that this was not going to be their year, but I have hope that next year will. The difference of course is that, even though I say that every year, I don't think it's sheer Homerism this time around.

It turned here 20 minutes ago, yet the fireworks are only just starting now.

Odd that. (And the dogs aren't particularly pleased either...)

Since it is also a time for personal inventory and a bit more navel gazing than usual, just remember to give yourself as much credit as you do debt.

Happy New Year!

Finally saw it. I've never been much of a Taratino fan and I think I finally know why. Half an hour of substance, two hours of style. With movies as storytelling, Taratino's style seems to be, "Hey, look at how I'm telling this story!" Personally, I'd rather he just told the story.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and all that junk!

Saw the trailer during the game. I kept waiting for it to be some parody for some other product. Axe, Old SPice, Budweiser, Lexus: anything.

Alas, no. It is a live action 3D with CGI Yogi and Boo-Boo.

It really is.

And the TSA trifecta is unexpectedly completed through none other than Mythbuster's Adam Savage! Since w00tstock Seattle was in May this year, his anecdote predates the current outcry, but is still humorous. In a nutshell, even though he went through the full body scanner, they missed the two, foot long razor blades he left on himself after filming an episode.

WTF TSA indeed...

Those familair with texting know T9's predictive capabilities. I was texting a friend about the TSA and started texting screener (7 2 7 3 3). Raped came up as one of the predictive options before screen. Maybe it knows?

And, just in case one of you actually remember this, I have indeed changed my way of thinking...

Personal TSA trifecta now in play, too...

But leaves them with their rifles, pistols, and the odd machine gun.

The soldiers were on a charter returning from Iraq. They and their things were inspected by US Customs before flying back into the country. On return to Indianapolis, to drop off a third of the flight, they were ALL removed from the plane and searched again whilst the plane refueled. That's when the dangerous nail clippers were removed: because they could've been used as a weapon.

When real life events make your agency sound more like a joke from The Onion than a legitimate organization, maybe it's time to rethink your operation?

One of my favorite comis these days is Pearls before Swine. It is the closest to the big three of my childhood: Cavlin & Hobbes, The Far Side, and of course Bloom County. One of my favorite things he does is the ocassional Sunday pun.

Enjoy!

How awesome would it be if The Vikes and Cowboys finish tied? 1-4-1 for both :-)

Thanks for the comments in the previous JE, too. I went through each and every preference setting and noticed that there now appears to be a preference for Discussions. I went into the "Viewing" link and saw that D2 had been checked there in 2 places. I did it last night, and then this morning when I went to write this JE I tried to go back to it and both the "Comment" link and "Viewing" link went only to the "Comment" link.

So, my best guess is they rolled out new preferences that superceded the old ones and automatically enabled D2. And now you can't get to it at all. But it's working, and in today's slashdot, that's everything.

Well, that went from informative to ranting pretty quickly...

I have my options set to use Classic Index under both the Classic Index tab and also under the Dynamic Index tab. Yet, I'm getting the Dynamic Index. I'm running FF3 on an Ubuntu install (which has got to compromise a huge chunk of the the /. populace), and instead of being able to simply change the threshold as in days of yore, I have this ugly-ass, stupid slide that FALLS OFF THE BOTTOM OF THE F'N SCREEN!

Seriously slashdot, you are supposed to be a den of nerds. A place where geeks congregate to commiserate about the poor decisions made by their Pointy Haired Overlords that lead to a crappy product. So HOW CAN YOU JUSTIFY PROVIDING SUCH A CRAPPY PRODUCT!

I've been here 9 years now and seen a robust community decimated by crappy "improvements." Some of the improvements have been really good. The Classic Index is a fantastic example of that. And yet, instead of doing tweaks here and there, you roll out the crappy, unnecessary kludge called D2. In all seriousness, who was actually clamoring for this? Seriously, who?

Frankly if, the good index is truly gone, then there's a damn good chance I am, too.

Boise St. is one step closer to a National Championship appearance. Assuming they win out, which has been their "thing" after all, they'll be a single loss by either Ohio St. or Oregon away. Not that a it would surprise me that a 1 loss Alabama would eventually get ranked above Boise St., even though Alabama could've easily lost to Arkansas, too.

The important thing is making the BCS all the more ridiculous so we can finally get a playoff.

They fixed it almost as soon as I saw it, but I managed to get a screenshot of what some would argue is the epitome of a Slashdot story these days :-)

And I'm back. Did a 3 week road trip, touching as far South as Carlsbad. I reconnected with a lot of friends and family and am now home with the puppy dogs (back to work tomorrow). I would also add that Medicine Lake, by Mt. Shasta, is stunning beautiful.