CharmingGeek.net Funness

I’m finally back online. Long story.
I am increasingly convinced that I didn’t learn nearly enough in my history classes. For example, how come I had never heard of the Tunguska Event. At least one scientist is saying that this massive, unexplained explosion is the cause behind global warming. The Tunguska event occurred on June 30, 1908 over an uninhabited area of Russia and was probably caused by the explosion of a very large meteoroid above the earth’s surface. It created a destructive force equal to that of 10 and 20 megatons of TNT, or one really big atomic bomb. (The largest bomb ever tested by the US was 15 megatons. It pretty much leveled a forest and was blamed for an outbreak of smallpox. Oh, and it was also thought to signal the start of the end of the world.
Pretty cool, huh?

I talked about it here, but it took me a while to finally get one, thanks to the Mom and Dad. I had been holding out for the Sansa e280, with 8GB of flash storage to go along with that video playback capability and FM tuner in a tiny package. I’ve got nearly 2000 songs loaded on my Lil’ Monsta. Now I’m thinking about grabbing a 2GB MicroSD card to make room for another 500 songs, but mostly so I can brag that I have the largest-capacity flash player around.

Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, vowed to humiliate the U.S. today. Clearly he doesn’t know about YouTube. His task is futile.

After reporting doom and gloom in Iraq throughout the entire election season, MSNBC/Newsweek is reporting that Iraq’s Economy is booming. Despite high unemployment, private enterprise is on a roll. Salaries have gone up by 100 percent since the fall of Saddam while income taxes have fallen by 66 percent. There are five times as many cars on the road in Iraq now compared to before the war. Real estate prices are skyrocketing as construction companies find success. Iraqis are now spending money they hoarded under the dictatorship on the flood of foreign goods that are now flowing tariff-free into their neighborhoods.
I’ve listened to the Iraq Study Group report (thanks to Reformed Chicks Blabbing) and I know things aren’t going swimmingly in Iraq. We all know that. The security situation is a mess, and the sectarian violence is enough to keep anybody from taking risks in business. But now that it’s safe to admit it, the mainstream media is reporting that political and economic freedom may bring prosperity to Iraq long before it can settle racial and religious differences.
via Hang Right Politics

You are the person of the year!

Try the Mercedes Winter Drift game. It’s a great way to waste time and get ready for that winter driving.

On an unrelated note, one in eighteen people has a third nipple.

Go visit Reformed Chicks Blabbing and vote for it in the Weblog Awards.

What a disaster! For this year’s Kennedy Center Honors reception a the White House, three other women showed up wearing the exact same Oscar de la Renta gown as first lady Laura Bush. For some reason, WCBS in New York is being particularly not nice about this, calling it the first lady’s “faux pas”, and saying “Laura Bush can’t compete.” USA Today points out that, not to make her guests feel more uncomfortable “The first lady, gracious as always, ran upstairs to change.”