Talk about wrong

If this poor woman spends even one day in jail, then not only is severe, grave misjustice being done, but it will be seen to be done.

This points yet again to the stupidity, idiocy, and... heck, just use any word you can dream up that indicates total and complete retardedness... of our country's jury system. With all due respect, this case should not even have appeared in court. A professional jury would never, EVER have convicted this woman. No chance in hell. But in our lovely little system, because a bunch of random morons in Stupid County, Connecticut, were called upon to be part of a jury, this substitute teacher is going to spend most of the rest of her life in jail. And for what? not knowing how to fix a spyware-infected computer with an outdated operating system, expired anti-virus software, that was completely unprotected but still connected to the internet and was supposed to be used as a teaching tool?

Without even thinking I can name two people that, in this case, should be better suited to go to jail: the headmaster and the head of the local board of education, both of which are DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for CHOOSING not to pay the license fees for anti-virus and anti-spyware software, not renewing the firewall's filtering subscription, and keeping an operating system that is KNOWN to be insecure and insecurable, DIRECTLY LEADING to the computer in question (and a few others in that school) becoming infected. Of course, they washed their hands off it immediately; it was the teacher's fault, yes, after all she happened to be the one standing in the classroom when the spyware happened to be doing its nasty job.

I can't tell you how enraged I am about this. I truly hope the governor of the state at least has some sense in him and pardons her immediately.

What a bunch of fucking morons, the lot of them - and yes, that includes the bloody parents, the idiot prosecutor who is probably patting himself on the back right about now, and pretty much anyone else involved in this case. And to Ms. Amero - try to stay strong. I don't know how it will get solved, but get solved it will. I just can't imagine otherwise.

And in another example of how screwed up this country can be...

I'm sure you've heard by now about the idiot drinking herself to death trying to win a Wii (Wiin?).

Now, here's the thing: sure, the DJ's were a little irresponsible, but not any more so than most anyone else (go ahead, find someone who hasn't of this story and ask them if they seriously believe someone could die from drinking too much mineral water). It's highly unlikely that there was any malicious intent - does anyone really believe that? I mean, does anyone really believe these guys set this up just so they could see someone die? I hope not.

Alright. Assuming that is not the case, then let's talk a little bit about personal responsibility. The lady KNEW she wasn't doing very well. She felt bad, her head hurt, she felt like she was going to burst, like she was going to puke. Go ahead, read the accounts.

Hello? HELLO?

Every other contestant who was feeling bad stopped competing. It makes sense, after all; if you don't feel well, you stop doing the thing that makes you ill. That's the SENSIBLE action. But no. Our little miss "oh I will do ANYTHING to get a $250 freaking video game console for free" decided that what the heck, I'm already feeling really bad, what will a little bit more of the substance that is making me feel bad going to do?

In other words, she was knowingly drinking poison, then figured smartly that drinking just a little bit more can surely do no more harm than what's already in her system. What is this, some sort of diminishing return on investment?

She was - supposedly - a responsible adult. Well, not a responsible one, but at least an adult. A sane one by all accounts. She was right there when all those jokes were flying around, which she heard - just like every other contestant heard them. But out of all contestants, she alone chose to continue on her path to self-destruction even when she became painfully aware of her deteriorating condition.

You know? That's the definition of suicide. She killed herself, on public radio. Tragic, surely. But a lawsuit? The really sad part is that I am absolutely certain they will win the suit and get a hefty settlement. Why? because our culture is so fucked up that we seem to believe that we should take no accountability for our own actions, that if we do something stupid and hurt ourselves, some "evil corporation" has to pay for it.

Speaking of the radio station, the only thing I think they really did wrong is not have an ambulance ready to take them to a nearby hospital if needed. When she reported feeling this badly, they should have forced her to go to ER, where they could have kept her alive. But why the HELL didn't she go there herself when the show was over? She has several HOURS in which she could have saved her own life.

Personally I think she deserves a Darwin award. Big time.

Hillary

Well, she's got my vote.

Now just let her bring Obama in as VP... one can dream, right?

I love this lady

Really worth watching her speech (note that there are multiple parts to this, I'm just linking to the first one).

Building an initial boardgame library

As anyone who knows me knows (mangling English is so much FUN!), designer board games (or eurogames, or german games) are my biggest hobby. I am also a reasonably good teacher, and combining these elements means that I introduce people to the hobby quite often.

As a result, I am frequently asked what an ideal "introductory" game library would look like. In other words, which games would I suggest people buy once they have tried eurogames and caught the bug, as most people do, because it's such a wonderful hobby. Oh, and of course where the heck to buy them. Considering that there are thousands to choose from, and that they are impossible to find in typical toy stores here in the US, these are important questions.

Over time I have come up with a more or less "staple list" that I suggest in response. At the same time, I also send people to my favorite website. I have finally decided to combine these two elements and create a list of games on the site that I can point people to. Here is the result.

As for where to buy them; my favorite online store for large orders (for example, if one should buy all games on my list) would be Thoughthammer, which not only knocks 35% off the retail prices, but will send the games to you free if you order more than $125 worth. Buying the full list will cost about $170; buying it minus the last game, which is a "second phase" game and therefore can wait, will run about $140, still allowing free shipping.

Another good store is Boardsandbits, which at the time I write this actually has all these games in stock. Prices are similar to Thoughthammer, although they will charge you shipping (a flat $10, $6 if are in WA, and I believe they will deliver free if you're in Seattle) regardless of order size.

Cardhaus has recently begun to cater to hobbyist boardgamers, and also offer free shipping with large orders; I hear good things about their service.

Lastly, if you happen to live near Broomfield, CO, my friends there tell me no one can beat Timewellspent, who will also allow you to come and pick up your games from their warehouse in person, circumventing shipping charges.

I also feel I should mention Funagain, as they are rather the 800-pound-gorilla or online game retailers, but note that they prices tend to be higher than (or not as severely discounted as) the others. However, their site is more than worth a visit, and they are much bigger than the rest, which may be a deciding factor for some. They are also a major supporter of Boardgamegeek, and if you do choose to buy from them, make sure you do it by clicking on the Boardgamegeek advertisement to get there.

About PS3...

I know this is old news, but I was asked for some links to those articles about the PS3 disaster:

PS3 grey market
Best Buy stats
A personal account

There are tons more, not tough to find. Kotaku is a good source for information.

Fly an F-15 with one wing?

One of the craziest things I have ever seen...