It’s Thanksgiving. Y’all go out and be ye thankful.

So, after reading JT.Net’s post about U2, I’m trying to figure out something. U2 used to be cool, but I think everyone can agree that at some point they sold out.

So, when, exactly did U2 jump the shark? I’d like your opinion.

Happy Virtual Friday, everyone!!!!!1!111!

I’m lying alone with my head on the phone
Thinking of you till it hurts
I know you hurt too but what else can we do
Tormented and torn apart
I wish I could carry your smile in my heart
For times when my life feels so low
It would make me believe what tomorrow could bring
When today doesn’t really know, doesn’t really know
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I was wrong. Yep, wrong.

Grier Martin, the guy I campaigned for for a seat in the N.C. House, is not a registered Republican after all. He’s a Democrat and always has been.

Grier sent me a note this morning setting me straight. Turns out his former neighbor on his street is listed as David G. Martin and is a lawyer, too. I neglected to check the address properly and jumped to conclusions. Grier’s actual voting record is here.

We at MT.Net are just making this stuff up. Sorry, Grier!

I was happy to see Clemson and South Carolina took a firm stand in response to the appalling fight during the two rivals’ annual football game. Both teams were bowl-eligible but are staying home this year – an unprecedented move.

I was shocked at the intensity of the fight. The picture in the paper of a Clemson player kicking an unhelmeted South Carolina player in the head was just sickening. Just when I thought the thugs were all in the pro leagues, this sets me straight.

Bowl games are very lucrative to schools. Teams work hard to get there. Deciding to skip their bowls shows that the schools take sportsmanship very seriously. I applaud their decision, and I hope its message is received loud and clear.

Most of my music collection has been encoded in OGG Vorbis because Oggs are patent-free, are smaller, and – most importantly – they sound better. I was thinking I was stuck with using my Zaurus PDA for taking my music with me, since there aren’t many portable Ogg players out there.

Then I found the iRiver, a 40GB portable player, with MP3 and Ogg support and an integrated FM transmitter.

Oh, and it runs Linux, too. Pretty cool.
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My buddy Mike sent me a good article on technologies that printer and copier companies use to watermark every color print you make. While I’ve known for a while that such counterfeiting countermeasures were there, this PC World article is the first I’ve read which tells how to find the countermeasures (use a blue LED light and magnifying glass).

It also warns that there is no easy way of disabling the electronics which print the encoded serial numbers. Not that it won’t stop people from trying.

The companies have been very helpful to law enforcement, and that is a good thing. Counterfeiting is a serious crime. But some companies added the features at the request of foreign governments in order to sell their products in those countries. Thus, this criminal-catching measure could easily be used to track down dissidents in unfriendly countries such as China (or is China our friend now? I lose track).

Here are a few more links to sites describing printer watermarking.

Travis had his four-week checkup this morning and I had the privilege of tagging along. Turns out Travis has been a very productive eater. He weighed in at 9 pounds, four ounces, measured 22 inches, and has a head circumference of 37.5 (sorry, I’m not sure what the units are).

Anyway, he’s in the 50% percentile for everything but height, where he’s 75%. His weight gain amounts to over an ounce a day. Pretty impressive!

A few more ounces might get him to the point where he sleeps through the night.

I completed an interesting experiement today. Well, its interesting if you’re a total dork like me, that is. But then again, you’re actually choosing to read this cruft, so what does that say about you?

Anyway, back to my experiement. I had read an article about Amar Bose. Bose, genius inventor of Bose speaker fame, is in his mid-70’s and has great eyesight, which he credits to eye exercises he does each day. Eyes are muscles like any other muscles, I suppose, so why couldn’t you strengthen them with exercise? Just for fun, then, I thought I’d see how long I could go without wearing my glasses or contacts.

Last I had my vision tested, it showed 20/60 or so, uncorrected. So I’m not blind without glasses, but my vision isn’t perfect, either. But its tolerable.

I didn’t begin my day thinking today was the start of my experiment. I think sleeping on the couch last night put me away from my habit of unthinkingly grabbing my glasses upon waking. Thus, I began my day away from my glasses and really didn’t think about them until later.

I read the paper just fine and saw what I needed to in the room without much strain. In fact, the thought of not seeing well really didn’t cross my mind. It was kind of neat. And empowering.

After our morning walk was the first time I “rememhered” that I wasn’t wearing my glasses. By that time, though, I was thoroughly enjoying seeing out of my own, unaided eyes. My goal of a full day of seeing with my own eyes was a sure thing from that point on.

Tomorrow I’ll have to drive to work, and because the law says I have to wear glasses when driving, I’ll have them on. I’ll wear them throughout work, too, more than likely.