Bitterman's Rants

Down Under?

2008-04-24T22:51:00.001-04:00

LOL!!!

Holy crap, a painting elephant!

2008-04-02T00:23:00.003-04:00

As I was evading RickRolls today on YouTube, I found this painting elephant.

I saw some other painting animal on tv a while back, an ape of some kind I think? It was pretty cool, it painted a picture of a black and white spotted dog if I remember, I will have to look for that one.

Just doing a little testing

2008-04-01T23:14:00.001-04:00

I have been messing around with some settings and whated to see if I messed anything up

Save the Planet?

2007-07-22T16:48:00.000-04:00

I am no sandal wearing hippie but I like to do my part to save the planet. Little things like turning off lights, using CFL bulbs, opening a window instead of AC, etc. I have started doing some renovations around the house so I thought I could get some more modern efficient items, things like a tankless water heater or maybe even some solar panels so I started looking online. I quickly found out why no one is interested in conservation. For example, the tankless water heater I would need for my house will cost about $600 MORE than the largest tank heater I can buy, plus the install costs almost twice as much. A typical summer gas bill for me is $20 (which includes clothes dryer, stove, oven, hot water, etc) but for easy math lets assume all $20 is from hot water. Now lets also assume a new tankless heater will use $0 per month in gas. That would be 2 and a half years just to break even on the hardware. Realistically, its probably $10-15, I'll use $10. SO the tank will use $10 gas per month and the tankless will use, maybe $2 (the are more efficient) so that is $8 savings a month which means in 6 and a quarter years I will break even on the hardware and I can start in on the extra install costs. I thought maybe that was a bad example so I looked at solar power. I dug up an old electric bill to see how much I used and what it cost. For some reason I have 2 meters so I will just use the main one that seems to be hooked up to everything but the AC. This month I used 932 KWH, costs including service charges and taxes were $105.64 so that is 11.3 cents per KWH. My daily average is 30 KWH a day. To give you an idea how bad AC is I used 10 KWH per day on AC and it was only running for maybe 2 weeks out of the month. OK so I looked up some solar panels and realized the price varies wildly so I settled on an inexpensive unit for my example. This setup makes up to 7.7 KW per day and costs $10,000 (plus installation). First lets assume we will always get the full 7.7 (which wouldn't happen due to clouds, rain, snow, etc.) in fact, lets round it to 8KW a day. 8x11.3 cents is a whopping 90 cents a day savings, that will take a little over 30 YEARS just to break on the hardware and that is under perfect conditions, I doubt the panels would even last that long. Just about everything I looked at was the same way. Wind power, extra insulation, high efficiency appliances, LED lights, hybrid cars, the list goes on and on. I am happy to do my part but there is no way I am going to spend $100 to save $5, that is just stupid. I would even be willing to spend $60 to save $50 because there are other benefits like less pollution, less fossil fuels used etc. but. . .

To be fair to the hippies, there are tax credits on some items to make the cost a little easier but still no where near enough to make it worthwhile to the average Joe. Also, there are a few things we can all do to help out like turning off lights, turning off water (fixing drips), making your heat maybe 1 degree colder in the winter, carpooling. But as for the big things, I think I'll pass.

Judge to rule on landmark Internet porn law

2006-11-21T12:21:00.000-05:00

The ACLU and others sued the U.S. government, claiming the Child Online Protection Act of 1998 violates the Constitution, and they argued on Monday that filtering was a more effective tool that does not curtail free speech.

But attorneys for the U.S. government called the law necessary to protect young people from sexually explicit material and said Internet filtering technology was not good enough to block offending Web sites from personal computers.

"Evidence shows that many parents do not actively use the filters," said Joel McElvain, an attorney for the U.S. Justice Department.

I can't believe I agree with the ACLU but THIS is exactly why calling someone an American has become an insult to me. The story is about COPA, which I don't really care about one way or the other, but we feel the need to protect people from themselves. Evidence shows that many parents do not actively use the filters So, who's fault is that??? Mine? Because there are lots of shitty parents that don't care about their kids, I don't get to see boobs online? That is bullshit! Once again, I am punished for other peoples choices. I don't have kids for a reason, no the reason isn't so I can look at porn but that is a nice side benefit of them not being around. I can also play violent video games, keep guns in the house, drink, stay up all night, do coke off a dead hookers ass, etc. My point is, I chose to not have kids because I wanted to do other things, I am giving up on all the good stuff parents get to do with their kids, but that is MY CHOICE. If you have children, there is some responsibility and some sacrifice (like monitoring them online), that is just how it is, you don't get to have it both ways. Don't inflict your damn kids on me!

2006-11-03T01:02:00.001-05:00

Technorati Profile

Keep clear of gangs rappers warn

2006-10-08T13:47:00.000-04:00

LOL rappers, who's whole culture revolves around guns, drugs, and violence are giving advice on not being in a gang? Personally, I blame hippies and rappers for the decline of western civilization and they are out making a token effort at public service? What a joke!

After 19 years of silence, fans roar with playoff pride

2006-10-08T00:00:00.000-04:00

People disgust me. First, it's just sports, so who cares. Second, the Tigers have sucked for years and no one gave a crap about them. I can see the new multi-million dollar stadium out my window at work and for years you couldn't even tell when there was a game because the place was always empty but now that they are good, suddenly the place is packed and people talk about how they love the Tigers. How pathetic! If you are were a true fan, for the past several years, fine, but the vast majority paid no attention AT ALL until the Tigers started winning. Now "fans" are coming out of the woodwork. The same thing happened with the Red Wings, they sucked for years and there wasn't a peep about them, then they won a few games and Detroit became "Hockeytown" Is there even a hockey team in Detroit now? Who knows, now that they are an average team and you never hear a peep about them. Part of me wants the Tigers to win so I can laugh as I watch the cars burn in the riot that is sure to follow a victory and part of me wants them to lose just so people will shut the hell up about it. Either way, I'll be much happier when it's over, the traffic has been horrible for each of the 264 million home games. I swear if there is another god damn victory parade, you will see me in a bell tower with a rifle. The last fucking Red Wing parade added over 4 hours to my commute, and I live less than 20 miles from work. There was over a million giant foam finger waving retards wandering around the city and 2/3 of the roads were closed, it was a nightmare! It really burns me up that I will have to take the day off or turn a 10 hour day into a 14+ hour day just so a bunch of fair weather fans can have a party. Don't even get me started on the fat idiot in the picture who looks like a reject from Cats, where was he 3 years ago?

Hollywood Says Piracy Has Ripple Effect

2006-09-29T18:42:00.000-04:00

I would have to agree, it does have a ripple effect. That $20 CD (that I wasn't going to buy anyway) I instead downloaded. I pay $60 a month for a fast connection to DL with. I bought a better computer to DL with, I bought a better soundcard and speakers to listen on. I also bought a bigger HDD to hold all my downloads, then I bought a faster CD burner and a stack of blank CDs. Not to mention all the money spent by the sites for hosting and advertising and such. So it does have an effect, yeah it took $20 away from the music industry but put $2500 into the tech industry.

I do agree the RIAA/MPAA have a right to protect their investments but it seems to me that rather than spending billions trying to defend a dying business model that money would be better spent embracing a new model. It's obviously over simplified but basically suing me costs you more than I could steal in 5 years so why not just make it more attractive for me to buy instead of steal it. There will always be some piracy, but if you make it faster, cheaper, and/or easier for me to simply buy it, I will. It is simply not worth it to spend the time and effort downloading, converting, and burning a CD if I could go to the store and pick it up for $5, but it is worth it for $22? To put it another way, I wouldn't walk a mile for $5, but I would for $1000, get it?

Another thing I find funny is how they are crying how sales are down and its the apocalypse and it is all due to piracy, isn't it possible that its also because most music sucks? There has not been a band, or even a song I have liked on regular radio for years, I don't buy music anymore because it's crap, not because I am downloading it. I had to get XM, and pay $15 a month, just to find anything decent to listen to in the car on the way to work. Ohhh, another ripple, XM radio cost me $500 and $15/mo for the service. Sure I could download songs and play them in my car but paying 15 bucks is a lot less hassle than finding and downloading enough music to listen to for 5 hours a week, hell it would cost me 5 hours a week to do that, I'll just pay the $15 and be done with it.

2006-09-21T22:57:00.000-04:00

Test Post

I'm just fooling around with Linux and want to see how the blog poster app works.

An Electric Vehicle's Shocking Problem

2006-08-26T23:53:00.000-04:00

An Electric Vehicle's Shocking Problem

More examples of "legacy cost" and "unfair Yen manipulation"!!!

Inside Higher Ed :: Throwing in the Towel

2006-08-26T23:35:00.000-04:00

Inside Higher Ed :: Throwing in the Towel

Fucking hippies!!!!

Welcome to Tesla Motors

2006-07-20T00:20:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Tesla Motors

How is it that a few computer nerds can start a company in 2002 and have a car on the road in 4 years while it takes the big car companies several years just to redesign a current vehicle?

Here is a story from Wired.

0-60-0 in 9 seconds
248 horsepower
$80 grand

Which would you rather have; a Tesla supercar or a 15-MPG, E85 capable (if you can actually find it anywhere), $50,000 SUV - tough call!

Slashdot | Cutting Off an Over-Demanding End-User?

2006-05-09T01:02:00.000-04:00

Slashdot | Cutting Off an Over-Demanding End-User?

I feel sorry for this guy, I get stuck "fixing" everyones PC too. I really don't mind helping people out, that is what friends do, and I don't really expect most people to be able to configure a linux cluster or set up a DNS server but you can run your own damn scandisk, anti-virus, windows updates, patches, etc., I have better things to do. If you can't figure out how to do it, you have no business owning a computer anyway. Hell, I'll even show you how to do it once. If I can learn how to make an atomic bomb online, you certainly can learn how to defrag your hard drive once a year. I wonder why people think nothing of asking for free PC support, do they go to a lawyer and ask for a free will or to a Dr. for a free appendectomy? I know how to cut crass and wash dishes, do you expect me to come do that too?

Read the comments, they are priceless.

WSJ.com - Studios See Big Rise In Estimates of Losses To Movie Piracy

2006-05-04T01:06:00.000-04:00

WSJ.com - Studios See Big Rise In Estimates of Losses To Movie Piracy:

"An additional $529 million in losses came from consumers making copies of legitimate films they bought on DVD or VHS."

I stopped reading right there, they count legally protected "fair use" back-up copies as being a loss due to pirates? How do you figure that? Did you think I was going to buy 2 copies just in case 1 got scratched? I quit going to movies and only watch them on HBO, why don't you count that as a loss too?

Southfield To Host Scaled-Down Fireworks Show - ClickonDetroit.com - MSNBC.com

2006-04-27T18:34:00.000-04:00

Southfield To Host Scaled-Down Fireworks Show - ClickonDetroit.com - MSNBC.com

Glad we could skimp on our nations bitrhday festival for a party for a bunch of over-paid, retards who chase a ball.

Although anyone that has ever been to Southfield knows the place isn't exactly Beverly Hills, so that 70 grand would probably be better spent paying for 2 more cops.

Congress readies broad new digital copyright bill | CNET News.com

2006-04-24T10:02:00.000-04:00

Congress readies broad new digital copyright bill | CNET News.com

Conqueress: Bigger Penis + New Hair = Hot Latinas

2006-04-14T12:19:00.000-04:00

Conqueress: Bigger Penis + New Hair = Hot Latinas

Although I love the sarcasm, if you skip to the 3rd paragraph this blogger talks about some nobody that is selling dates with himself for thousands of dollars, I thought it had to be a joke but clicked the link anyway. Sure enough, it's real. We have a new winner in the self-importance category, the award goes to Vincent Gallo (I never heard of him either). I am uniquely qualified to pass out such an award because I work with people who think it's OK to demand that Canada not use cell phones because they interfere with Blackberry messages. I doubt there are many (if any) women that would pay for Tom Cruise or Mel Gibson, much less this idiot, but I guess you have to admire his confidence? Maybe I should do the same thing, although, since I am slightly less famous I would probably have to charge a little less. Maybe not, after all I DO know an extra from Beverly Hills Cop!

From the archives: Thanks for all your comments!

2006-04-09T00:49:00.000-04:00

From the archives: Thanks for all your comments!

After being treated like a disease by women for most of my adult life I should be happy that a hot chick is complaining that she can't get a man but, unfortunately for me, I am cursed with being a nice guy and can't help but feel bad for her.

I am guessing there are 2 possibilities here. 1. She is fooling herself and isn't really attracted to the nerdy, nice guy she thinks she wants. Or 2. She really does like geeks but doesn't understand them. From the bolg on MR it seems like she expects that doing a little hair flip or a casual glance is enough to attract a nerd, that is more than enough for a frosted-tipped, shiny shirt wearing, "player" but never a geek. She doesn't seem to get that a nice guy has been shunned by women, only being noticed when a favor is needed, never for a romantic interest so a subtle glance is NEVER going to be enough to get his attention.

Maybe even a third option is her friends and/or where she looks for guys. Neither myself, nor any of my nerd friends would EVER go up to a table of women at a bar to try to hit on one of them, nor do we go to trendy places like coffee shops or dance clubs. It didn't take us long to figure out that since we had no chance with the women at those places there was no point in going just for the cheap, watered down drinks and crappy music.

Zero tolerance for junk food at schools? - 04/07/06 - The Detroit News

2006-04-07T14:06:00.000-04:00

Zero tolerance for junk food at schools? - 04/07/06 - The Detroit News

Is this really what we want from our government? Are people so irresponsible they need to be protected from themselves? Yes, there a ton of fat kids (LOL!) and yes, it is cause for concern but isn't this something the parents, or the child, should be doing? Kids, are getting fat, lazy and stupid, but is banning french fries really the answer? Wouldn't we be better served by spending money on teachers or books. IMO people should be able to eat (or do) whatever they want BUT they should have to suffer the consequences of their choices. If that means stuffing your face with junk and getting fat, so be it but, expect to be treated differently by people and expect to pay more for health insurance. Go ahead, eat yourself to death, I don't care. To me, eating crap is no different than smoking, drinking, or using drugs. Smokers are shunned, charged more for insurance, and even fired from their jobs. Druggies are the same way, most jobs require drug testing before they will even hire you. Some companies even use your credit rating to decide if they will hire you. The reason they do this is to determine your character, eating habits should be no different.

My point is, people shouldn't be penalized because other people can't control themselves. If I want a Coke and a pizza, I should be able to get it, don't take it away from me because the fat slob next to me can't control himself.

Boy's 911 Call Considered Prank; Mother Dies - ClickonDetroit.com - MSNBC.com

2006-04-07T11:43:00.000-04:00

Boy's 911 Call Considered Prank; Mother Dies - ClickonDetroit.com - MSNBC.com

Here comes yet another lawsuit!

Don't get me wrong, this IS tragic but it was an accident. 1 in 4 calls to 911 is a prank, how are people to know which is real? I am glad the operator will not lose her job, she shouldn't, she made a mistake. I work in Detroit, it is practically a war zone, there are nowhere near enough cops/EMS to keep up with all the real emergencies, much less screw around with fake ones. I am not sure who is at fault, society maybe? People are not willing to pay for police/fire but will wait in line for months even years to spend thousands on season tickets for sports. People have $50,000 SUVs and half-million dollar houses but bitch when taxes go up 2%. Shaq is worth $20 million a year to chase a ball around but a cop, who risks his life daily, is only worth $28 grand? No wonder the cops don't come running for every call! And what kind of human filth pranks 911, that should be a capitol offense.

Class-action suit claims faulty wipers on GM vehicles - 04/04/06 - The Detroit News

2006-04-05T01:48:00.000-04:00

Class-action suit claims faulty wipers on GM vehicles - 04/04/06 - The Detroit News: "The lawsuit claims a federal investigation "

LOL more health care issues hurting GM. Although it is unacceptable to sell cars like this, I think people are making a bigger deal out of this than it is. Come on, if your wipers quit wiping, slow down and pull over, it's not like your windscreen instantly goes black and you are blind. Yes, it should have been made right, or at least fixed but give me a break, another lawsuit?

Broken promise, fatal end - 04/04/06 - The Detroit News

2006-04-05T01:24:00.000-04:00

Broken promise, fatal end - 04/04/06 - The Detroit News: "The utility acknowledged those delays in written testimony filed to the commission "

Here is an idea, PAY YOUR BILLS!

If this guy had paid his bill on time, this would never have happened. It sucks that this happened and maybe the power company should have been more on the ball but this is not their fault. It's not like they pull the plug on you for being a few days late. My bill is like $50 a month so to get a bill up to $667 would take a while. The $667 was just the past due amount, they sent in $200 "every few weeks" so my guess is the past due bill was more like $1000. DTE is not in the charity business, they didn't get the money they were owed for several months but are expected to have everything back to normal the second they get their money? If you read the whole story you will notice they had a history of not paying the bills and once even tried to steal electricity, but the company has to rush right over and fix everything for a bad customer.

Kavanaugh, who is examining the possibility of a lawsuit against DTE or the generator manufacturer, notes that there was no warning on the generator itself, which wasn't brand new but appeared to be in good condition.

Still, this fact remains: If DTE had restored Williams' service when it said it would, he wouldn't have needed the generator. Had this guy paid his bills and/or used a little common sense he would still be alive too! But hey, lets blame the deep pockets and try to cash in. It is silly to sue the electric company but beyond absurd to sue the generator maker. He opened the windows, obviously he knew there was danger. Why not sue the mortgage company for loaning him money to buy the house? Or the company that laid off his wife? Maybe the guy that gave him the generator of death?

Once again someone makes a poor choice and we get to pay for it. Even if the lawsuits don't win, Craftsman and DTE will have to spend money defending themselves and those costs will get passed along to all of us. Not to mention the wasted tax dollars for the court, jury, judge, etc.

Text of remarks by Delphi's Steve Miller - 10/29/05

2006-04-04T13:10:00.000-04:00

Text of remarks by Delphi's Steve Miller - 10/29/05: "Unlike pensions, which are pre-funde"

Wow, well said.

GM plans assembly plant in Mexico

2006-03-31T16:28:00.000-05:00

GM plans assembly plant in Mexico

But I am supposed to be a "loyal American" and buy their product?