Well, this past weekend I had a chance to go see Van Helsing (imdb) (trailer). I think it was meant to be titled the “Van Helsing Picture Show,” as it so remarkably resembles our favorite Rocky Horror Picture Show. How? Why? Start with the characters …
Archives for 2004
free toys
April 20, 2004 by Leave a Comment
It appears that Microsoft is giving away its Visual C++ Toolkit 2003 compiler for free — probably as a move to get deeper penetration of its .NET amongst the free and open source community, sniping at Java as well as projects out to displace Microsoft such as DotGNU. All Microsoft would have to do at this point is port the VC++ Toolkit 2003 to Linux and release a free CLR for Linux, and DotGNU is as good as dead, and Java could be in deep trouble.
nostalgia of youth past
April 16, 2004 by 1 Comment
Every so often, I get the yen to locate people from my past. My former grammar school, Midland School in Rochelle Park, NJ, now has a website. Unfortunately, there’s no searchable alumni section, so we turn to Google — nothing of interest. However, since Midland School graduates (who didn’t go to a private school like I did) end up going to the local sending school, Hackensack High School which does have a page with links to some alumnus/alumnae web pages. Yay!
logical conclusion?
April 12, 2004 by Leave a Comment
darkness
duality
seven
sins
learn
love
hate
anger
kill
Jesus
death
rebirth
happy
Easter
chocolates?
crack and stun guns don’t mix
February 27, 2004 by 1 Comment
Normally, this kind of news is just plain shocking (*) (pun intended) but what makes it even more so is that it happened in the parking lot at the building where I work.
Police said they recovered the stun gun, several knives, a face mask, camera, gloves, condoms, alcohol wipes, a crack pipe, a DVD player and a number of X-rated DVDs.
Damn. How do you respond to that kind of incriminating evidence? (In an Austin Powers-like voice:) “Honestly, it’s not mine!”
jack’s magic beans were probably soy …
February 11, 2004 by Leave a Comment
A few days ago, the family came down with some kind of tummy bug. I had a strange craving for natto, a Japanese food made by fermenting cooked soybeans with the Bacillus natto bacteria, yielding a stinky and slimy but tasty and extraordinarily healthy product.
Dr. Hiroyuki Sumi seems to have done a lot of research into natto from what Google tells me. Here’s one of the better written articles that talk about its many beneficial properties. Among them, natto has antibacterial properties, contains nattokinase which lyses thrombosis in the blood, contains K2 which prevents osteoporosis and breast cancer, improves digestion and prevents intestinal disorders, and probably a whole slew of things that aren’t even attributed to natto-consumption yet.
Justin Hall wrote a really good experience report from a Western perspective of being introduced to and eating natto. Made me chuckle to read it, figured I’d share the link for anyone who has never heard of or eaten natto before.
Programmer, husband, father, singer, guitarist, tinkerer, reverse engineer, strange, and living in New Jersey. 
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