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What’s this song about? Other than my ringtone? Ali Spagnola wrote it, and 59 other 59-second songs. Why? Her concerts are a one-hour drinking game, and she spent over $30k in court, so that you could play it. I can’t make this stuff up.
I am reasonably certain that these instructions will work for Windows 7/8 32-bit. Unfortunately, I have Windows 8 64-bit, and there is no way to get those old 32-bit drivers to work with it.
My solution? Run Windows XP Mode on a Windows 7 netbook via a Remote Desktop Connection; it saves the scans on my Windows 8 desktop because that folder is shared. Windows 8 is a no-16-bit-drivers world, and no, you can’t do it via VirtualBox either; most non-Virtual-PC virtual machines require that the drivers work on the host operating system.
Here’s how to install drivers for the Fujitsu fi-4120C, and other fi Series scanners. As mentioned above: 32-bit OS only! These instructions can be adapted for most driver installs that give you the ”The hash for the file is not present in the specified catalog file. The file is likely corrupt or the victim of tampering,” error message. The root cause of this error message is Windows 8′s driver signature enforcement feature; older drivers are not digitally signed. Download Fujitsu’s fi Series ISIS and TWAIN driver installation programs from here: http://www.fujitsu.com/global/support/computing/peripheral/scanners/drivers/index.html I required the WIA drivers. Fujitsu bundles them with its TWAIN drivers. This next set of steps chooses one option, and reboots the PC.
Install Fujitsu’s drivers:
What do you do if you have a device other than the Fujitsu fi-4120C? Choose one of these two choices:
Know we know which Unknown device we were looking for. So we can install the driver for that device.
You should now be able to choose your scanner in your scanning software.
I have a contrasting opinion about this “SCREW YOU CO2″ bicycle t-shirt. Riding bikes increases the air’s carbon dioxide. More than a car? I highly doubt it, but certainly enough that riding a bike does not go as far as to say “screw you”.
Telling people to stop raising animals, to have smaller families, and that they must plant trees on their own property, are all non-starters politically, but those are the best answers.
I added new ones on 2010-08-18 thanks to suggestions by the SV\DL Riders Google list, Kay Kile, and an episode of Top Gear. So far I have avoided punny hair salon names such as “Sheer Perfection“, “A Cut Above“, “US Hair Force“, and “Curl Up And Dye“, but they do deserve a special place. ” (Yes, I know “Curl Up And Dye” is from the Blues Brothers, but folks have used it for real salons too.) I added RePOOPulate on 2013-02-22. My medical-doctor spouse told me about the name, but she doesn’t agree that it belongs here.
There are so many poorly-named cars, that they get their own section.
Thumper Ray suggested this one: “How about a drug pronounced ‘ass effects’ that has flatulence listed as the third most common side effect and constipation as number five. Ass effects indeed.” I was actually able to Google the correct spelling of AcipHex by typing it in phonetically: not a good sign.
I can’t make this stuff up. Kay actually brought a box back from Azerbaijan.
The photo is by Flickr user almada, and is licensed under Creative Commons.
Apogee Software (a/k/a 3D Realms) released the Duke Nukem video game in 1991, Duke Nukem II in 1993, and Duke Nukem 3D in 1996. The name “Duke Nukem 3D” is a pun; it’s the 3d version of the game, and it’s played in 3D. How will come up with a pun for version Duke 4? How about “Duke Nukem Forever” (4-ever, Duke 4, get it)? …only, it’s been over 13 years since the last version of the game was released. It really is taking them “forever” to complete it.
GoLYTELY is a polyethylene-glycol-electrolyte-solution that makes everything in your digestive system come out really, really fast: “go lightly” indeed. Yes. Polyethylene-glycol is also the stuff in Miralax: which does work mildly, but the same cannot be said for GoLYTELY.
On another note: the word polyethylene-glycol-electrolyte-solution sounds to me like something that you could make by melting a full bottle of Gatorade.
John suggested Hydrox: a cookie that sounds like a chemical. Donlon McGovern added: “Yeah, and with all that sodium they could call them Sodium Hydroxides but then that would be a little caustic.”
There is a new cancer drug called Nanotax: as if they combined the words “nano” and “tax“, and no, that’s not a mistake. NanoTax is a contraction of the words “nano”, and “paclitaxel“, but who can hear the name of this product without thinking of being taxed for every little thing?
I know how vitally important it is to let your patients know that you are a fan of the geographically local sports team. Who would go to an orthodontist that wasn’t? That said, getting braces is bad enough, without getting razorbraces in your mouth.
Antibiotics can kill your normal gut bacteria, when this happens, a “bad” bacteria named Clostridium difficile can take over and cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life-threatening inflammation of the colon.
What’s a hospital to do when this happens? So far they repopulate the normal gut bacteria by implanting a healthy-person’s stool in the patient. I can’t make this stuff up. University of Guelph microbiologist Emma Allen-Vercoe developed a new product to replace the poop, and what did they name it? So far it’s called RePOOPulate. That’s right, even if you use the product that isn’t real poop, every time that you hear-or-read its name you will think of nothing but implanted poop.
Here’s the word on my family’s opinion about this name. Dr. Kay Ann Kile M.D., “I think it’s perfect. I don’t even think that it falls under the category of poorly-named. It’s medical humor.” Gershwin: “if Cassidy was here and she [heard you read that], I would be scarred for life.”
There are so many poorly-named cars, that they get their own section.
Gremlin is also another name for a mechanical problem. This was like naming your Operating System “Buggy”.
Does it aspire to be: a car?
Nova: a star that suddenly increases its light output tremendously and then fades away to its former obscurity in a few months or years.
I never believed the other explanation. Folks would say, “No va means doesn’t go in Spanish!” and I would say, “The word nova means the same thing to Spanish-speaking people as it does to English-speaking people. It’s a scientific term.”
The word charade means a piece of ridiculous pretence which is so obvious that it does not deceive anyone. Was this meant to be a parody of a car? Because it only had 3-cylinders? Americans weren’t buying 3-cylinder cars back then (’88-’92). Daihatsus are no longer sold in the US.
This photo by is by WikiMedia Commons user Tennen-Gas, and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
“I know! Let’s name our vehicle after a story about a trip… a trip that takes many years… and takes the lives of many sailors. Yeah that’s a great idea.”
Remember: the prelude introduces what comes later. OK, then that’s the car I want.
Lancing what? Lancing boils? Lancing people on horseback?
It’s not real. It’s only a mirage.
Is it just barely a car?
I believe that Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear described an Urban Cruiser as “someone that you don’t want around a school with children in it”. That sounds about right. It’s not available in the US, but it is very similar to a Scion xD, which is.
This photo by is by WikiMedia Commons user Matthias93, and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
This is a Honda Odyssey. These little guys were sold from 1977 until sometime in the 1980′s It was a very popular product, but who today thinks about anything, except minivans when they hear the name “Honda Odyssey”? I really envied the people that drove these when I was a teenager. I lived in the Adirondack area, and folks would ride these on the frozen ice. This video is by alicecooper2009 (if that is his real name):
The original Honda Pilot was not an SUV. It was a miniature dune buggy, just like the Honda Odyssey. Bad Honda. No bisquit. This video is by StonerLouie:
Microsoft Access isn’t a very good name for a DBMS. When I mention that folks usually say, “But it helps you to ‘access’ data”, but all programs help you to access data. Being able to use a computer, when you cannot even get to a physical console? Now, that would be a good product for the name Access to belong to, and it did. Microsoft Access was originally the name of a Terminal Emulator.
It was the best of car names, it was the worst of car names. This is the tale of two car names.
When Mitsubishi first chose to sell the Mitsubishi Lancer in the US, they called it the “Mitsubishi Mirage”, because Chrysler used to sell a car called the “Dodge Lancer” in the US. Eventually Chrysler gave Mitsubishi permission to sell a car named “Lancer” in the US, so they eventually renamed the US Mirage the “Mitsubishi Lancer”.
At this point you are probably thinking, “OK Paul, but Mitsubishi sold a car in the US called the ‘Mitsubishi Mirage’ at the same time that they were calling the Mitsubishi Lancer the ‘Mitsubishi Lancer’ in the US,” and if that’s what you are thinking, then you are correct. The Great Mistubishi Mirage/Lancer Naming Disaster has additional chapters.
I hope that you like this image as much as I do.
This is my daughter Gershwin. She is in-line for something-or-other at Walt Disney World. Gershwin is originally from Azerbaijan. Coincidentally, the woman in back looks like her.
Here are my first two homemade CAT Scans. Impressive?
Cliff Bleszinski used to have a site called catscan.com. His fans would send him cat scanography, and he would post in on the site.
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See and print my photos at RedBubble.com (click).
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www.bodykits.com
This vehicle customization article is by our guest: Robert Lobitz.
When it comes to beautiful things on this amazing planet, there is nothing quite like an attractive and well-defined automobile. It can be just as seductive and exotic as any creature can be, and if it is captured correctly it can inspire instant emotions that no words can fully express. What makes some of these amazing vehicles so incredible is the fact that they have been reshaped to look even better utilizing a little trick called body kits.
Body kits in general are a way for automobile enthusiasts to have control over the appearance of their car or truck and with them they can transform it from its original appearance and help it to take on a new and more luxurious form. You can do this fairly simply on your own with minimal know how, and the result will largely depend upon what you are wanting to do and what you are willing to spend on it.
For example, there are many fantastic body kits that you can purchase that are very inexpensive and can completely transform the way your automobile looks. The drawback is that if it is built out of fiberglass there are some limitations to it. The plus side is that fiberglass is actually quite light, so if weight is a concern then this is a good match for you. The negative is that it is also not very strong. It is sufficient to withstand the vibrations and drag that typical driving will inflict, however if you have any kind of impact at all you might as well not have it in the first place.
A step up, and quite possibly the most popular material used in body kits, is polyurethane. This is a type of material that will withstand a significant amount of impact, and like fiberglass is also relatively inexpensive; the major problem with this kind of compound is the fact that it is so much heavier than any of the other materials.
If it is both light weight, and durability that you are looking for then carbon fiber is the perfect match for you. This is a material that is often used in automobile racing and of all the types it is by far the most attractive to look at, even when it is not painted. In fact, there are some show cars that will use this material for their hoods and will actually leave it unpainted. This is also the most expensive of all the compounds.
Click here to visit www.bodykits.com for the best pricing body kits you can find. This is a perfect way for you to give your automobile a new and exciting look, without having to go out and buy a brand new vehicle.
In 1984 I got to see these guys open for AC/DC.
Unfortunately the video’s audio quality is not best, but you can still get the idea of what this was like.
Almost everyone came for AC/DC, and AC/DC brought everything they had:
Yngwie Malmsteen’s band’s props? They have long hair, and he has a piece of tape on his guitar that says “PLAY LOUD” on it.
Something really weird happened; after each AC/DC song there were fewer people in the stadium. The place was almost empty by the time Angus played his solo.
This was a time when Heavy Metal wasn’t played on much of the radio. In my town, major bands played shows at a loss (according to a local union roady). The shows existed to sell records; these days the records exist to sell concert tickets.
Note: there are some guesses here. If you know more details, then please comment below.
Yeah, but here we can see that he is actually using hammer-ons. There were no teeth harmed in the making of that solo.
There appeared to be a standing wave that moved through the crowd from the front of the stage to the back, slowly. In the video, during that sound, the camera focused on the keyboard player. He was slowly twisting a potentiometer. A synthesizer can slowly change the pitch, in a more consistent way, than a guitar player can, but we were all looking at the guitar! (Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!)
This part is a guess. I can’t tell the difference between a mode, where a standing wave creates more volume, and someone cranking up the volume when a specific note plays. One would need to make measurements in different places.
In this video, Malmsteen holds up the guitar, then looks at the audience, then looks at the guitar. While we are all looking that the guitar (see 55:49), he tweaks a potentiometer on a piece of equipment (see 55:53). Maybe he was tweaking a digital delay.
We can see Moog Taurus Bass Pedals at the edge of the stage, but I didn’t see him play them during this video, or during the other concert. A Taurus-like analog synthesizer would make an awesome guitar effects device, but they can’t do that out-of-the-box, because they don’t have a place to plug-in a replacement oscillator.
Since the 1980s, I wondered why guitar synths were designed as (mistakenly) glitchy MIDI controllers, when the guitar itself could replace the oscillator, in an analog synth, or a digital representation of one, and that would have no tracking problems at all. I thought that this was my idea, but Wikipedia now tells me that these existed in the 1070′s. They are coming back in style in recent days: the guitar gets digitized, and that gets sent to a digital emulation of an analog-synth.
States That I Have Lived:
States Where I Have Worked:
States Where I Rode Motorcycles (Florida was a scooter):
States That I Have Traveled-to:
Countries? I’ve only been to the USA, Canada, and Mexico.
Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas [Traveled] [Lived] [Worked] [Rode] California [Traveled] [Worked] Colorado Connecticut [Traveled] [Worked] Delaware [Traveled] Florida [Traveled] [Lived] [Worked] [Rode] (scooter) Georgia [Traveled] Hawaii Idaho Illinois [Traveled] [Worked] [Rode]
Indiana [Traveled] [Rode]
Iowa [Traveled] Kansas [Traveled] [Lived] [Worked] [Rode]
Kentucky [Traveled] Louisiana [Traveled] Maine [Traveled] [Lived] [Worked] Maryland [Traveled] Massachusetts [Traveled] [Worked] Michigan [Traveled] [Lived] [Worked] Minnesota [Traveled] [Worked] Mississippi Missouri [Traveled] [Rode] Montana Nebraska [Traveled] New Hampshire [Traveled] [Lived] [Worked] New Jersey [Traveled] [Worked] New Mexico [Traveled] New York [Traveled] [Lived] [Worked] North Carolina [Traveled] North Dakota Ohio [Traveled] [Worked] Oklahoma [Traveled] [Lived] [Worked] [Rode] Oregon Pennsylvania [Traveled] Rhode Island [Traveled] South Carolina [Traveled] South Dakota Tennessee [Traveled] [Worked] [Rode] Texas [Traveled] [Lived] [Worked] [Rode] Utah Vermont [Traveled] Virginia [Traveled] West Virginia [Traveled] Wisconsin [Traveled] Wyoming Washington Washington D.C. [Traveled]
We hear things from fundamentalists like:
When creationists say things like that they are using the words “theory”, “law”, and “fact” in a completely different way than how scientists use those words.
Here’s how Ramon Bautista explains the meaning of the scientific words:
“Laws tell you what’s happening… Theory is telling you, or at least trying to tell you, why something happens.
Example:
- law of gravity=what goes up, must come down
- theory of gravity=graviton
For scientists theories are always theories. They can never become laws, and they never become facts. That said, there has never been a single piece of evidence against the theory of evolution; and there has never been a single piece of evidence for creationism. These are very different uses of the word theory.
I discovered Frank Steiger’s website only after I wrote my essay. Mr. Steiger covers the same issues— in more depth.
I rode with pilot Pat Cannon during the 2001 Highland Village Balloon Festival. Mr. Cannon won the Balloon Federation of America National Championship a number of times, so this was an incredible opportunity to see just how precise balloon piloting can be.
The challenge was to fly a minimum distance, and put a bean bag on a target.
We met at the event’s location for the pre-flight pilot meeting. Balloons are best-piloted during early morning or early evening (the Trey Ratcliff hours), so this was very early in the day.
We participated in the First Flight Ceremony. In my case this involved the pilot saying some words, and pouring champagne on my hair, but I observed other folks participating in another secret version.
We drove to the location, unfolded the balloon, and filled it with hot air (see image above). A number of other pilots followed our chase vehicle, and began their flights from nearby (see image below), but there was nothing special about that location piloting-accuracy-wise. Mr. Cannon chose that location because that’s where he wanted to land at the end of the event. The location chosen was a new development under-construction. The roads where there, and were free of debris, but construction had not yet begun on any of the homes. We used one of the roads like a heliport.
Before preparing to take off, the pilot launched a small black helium balloon called a pie-ball. He used a sextant to follow the pie-ball, and estimated the wind’s speed and direction at various altitudes. (My Google-fu tells me that “pie-ball” is short for “pilot-balloon”.)
The pilot steers the balloon by choosing a direction, and then going to the altitude who’s wind is blowing in that direction. The balloon requires a certain amount of time to get to any chosen altitude, so the pilot needs to plan for that, and the intervening wind vectors, at each step.
Before leaving the pilot told me that we were going to:
That’s exactly what he did:
My legs were shaking uncontrollably during the first half of the trip. I have an extreme fear of heights. Motorcycle riding in bad weather has helped me cure much of that since then, but I don’t avoid an activity just because it makes me uncomfortable. That’s core to who I am.
One amazing thing about ballooning is that you can hear everything on the ground. Your vehicle is travelling at exactly the speed of the wind. Sound is as clear as if their were no wind at all.
People run out of their houses to see the balloon. This is early morning, so they are half-dressed. They notice that the pilot can see them in their night-wear and then run back into their houses.
Boaters were also on the lake to see the balloons. Pat Cannon brought his basket down to visit some boaters. He was able to have the bottom of the basket skim the water, but our feet never got wet, and I never saw any water on the basket floor. Another balloonist attempted to do that too, and his basket immediately laid-down on its side in the water; he, and his passengers did get wet. 
Are angry landowners a risk when landing? Yes. Pat Cannon told me about a landowner that started shooting his balloon as he flew over the shooter’s property. He was not even trying to land there. Mr. Cannon was well-prepared with the two-way radios that pilot’s use, a GPS, and even a mobile phone. The shooter was surprised when the police arrived at the scene. (Robert Munafo told me that people like to shoot trains too.)
Pilot Pat Cannon is an extremely skilled pilot. He has most of the existing pilot endorsements. He flew helicopters for the US Army during the Vietnam War. He is a FAA safety examiner, and he regularly flies Mitsubishi MU-2s for Turbine Aircraft Services, Inc. where he is a Principal.
I used to live in the-middle-of-nowhere: no electricity, no running water, no phone, no mobile service, no sewer, etc. The house was built in the 1800s. We lived on the porch, used unleaded-fuel in our Coleman lanterns, flushed the toilet by poring buckets-of-rainwater in, showered on the back porch over a rattlesnake’s home. I showered fast.
I actually attempted to order phone service from the phone company. They told me that they would provide it, if I would pay them to install the telephone poles. Riiiight.
Some animals lived in the walls of the main house, we stayed on the porch, The critters in the walls of the main house were mostly mice, birds, and raccoons: although a black bear did hibernate in the basement the previous Winter: Grizzly-trucking-Adams.
Someone shot a raccoon near the house. It managed to climb into a second-story window, and drag its sorry-self all the way down to the first floor hallway with its intestines trailing behind. Where it died. Bastard.
Our friends from college would spend the weekends out there at the house, and there was so-little light polution, that we would lie on the cars and see man-made satellites with the naked eye.
What can I tell you about roughing it? Peanut butter does not need to be refrigerated.
I would put our trash into a 55 gallon drum, and burn it to make it smaller (yeah, yeah, global warming). There was no trash collection service available. One time I was getting aggressive with the trash tamping, and there were some fuel-filled rags down low, and I was tamping some other trash on top and BOOOOOM! The damned-thing shot raining-fire all over the place! Like the Trash Cannon From Hell. Trash falling here: sidestep. Trash falling there: sidestep.
I had one coworker once, that misjudged the fuse-length on a home-made explosive that he and his buddy were shooting out of their cannon. They wanted it to explode in the sky. It blew a hole in the Post Office. The FBI came to visit, and it was a bad-scene all around.
Heifer: a female bovine too-young to give birth.
Bullock: a male circumcised bovine, AKA, a steer.
We had heifers living on the land. 50% of the dairy farmers that visited said, “if one cow learns to jump the fence, then all the others will follow her”, and 50% said, “Cows don’t jump fences” I imagined the latter folks wasting a lot of time looking for holes in fences. The heifers at our house would jump, oh yes, and in the morning I would look out at the just-jumped bovines, and say, “Them’s some real heifers.” The heifer owning people? There last name was… wait for it… let the comic-timing be right… Remember the definitions up above? Bullock.
One night: SLAM!!! “WHEEEEEE! WHEEEE! WHEEEE!” SLAM!!! “WHEEEEEE! WHEEEE! WHEEEE!” I say to my (now-ex) wife: “You open the door, and wait behind it. I’ll hit that thing over the head with this log splitter.” SLAM!!! “WHEEEEEE! WHEEEE! WHEEEE!” She opens the door, and there waits a pet racoon. It just kinda stands there for a minute, and then gets cosy in our bed. Great. OK. The racoon can stay for a little while: the alternative is door slamming, and racoon screaming. This did not last long. Raccoons like to rock-and-roll all night, and sleep every day, and you know what? I had a job to go-to.
There was only one solution; wrap “Rascal” in a blanket, and drive him far enough, that he can’t find his way back. I drove home imaging the little guy going to the very first door that he could find. SLAM!!! “WHEEEEEE! WHEEEE! WHEEEE!” BOOOM!: he then manages to climb into someone’s window, and drag his sorry-self all the way down to the first floor hallway with its intestines trailing behind him.
Let’s take a step back in this story. Our house had no neighbors since the beginning of time. What happens as soon as we move in? An 18-wheeler mother-trucking-flatbed pulls up with a huntin’ cabin on back, and drops said huntin’ cabin directly across the street, fucking-up my pristine view of our 100% Maple Syrup producing Maple trees. Why? Mr. Bullock got a two-for-one deal on used huntin’ cabins, and really only needed the one.
A few weeks later a family of three moves in. My new neighbor wants to provide for his family: in a place with zero jobs. So, he made a deal with Mr. Bullock: “I fix your fences. You let me live in your extra huntin’ cabin.”
Our neighbors also lacked the comforts-of-home. They did however, have a Honda hooked-up to the TV.
So, the new neighbor tells me how racoon mommas yell bloody murder, but they won’t… actually… attack. He tells me how this momma racoon chose the huntin’ cabin for birthing her babies. So he removed each of the baby racoons one at a time, and then he removed the momma racoon, but he kept one baby there. This baby grew up to be Rascal. I believe that Rascal had a doggy-door that he, and the dog, could use to go in-and-out. He also had a buddy to play with: the dog.
We went camping for our summer vacation. The woman from across the street came to visit:
“Where did you go last week?”
“Camping.”
“Us too.”
“Our cabin had running water and electricity!”
“Us too.”
Momma neighbor gets sick of pretending that “our life is fun just like camping”, and says, “I am going to move in with my parents. You can stay, or you can come”, and that’s how Rascal ended up with no home.
Imagine a world where where:
Now replace “M$” with “Apple” and “computer” with “device” and you have exactly where Apple started-out with the iPhone. This behavior would be illegal if Apple dominated a market: they don’t. Microsoft got in trouble for giving volume discounts to computer-manufacturers, and bundling IE with Windows. Compare that to Apple’s list above. (Still not sure about the above? Read Daniel Lyons’ Newsweek.com article for more information.)
I don’t know where this image comes from, but it says Gizmodo on it, so I it is linked to Gizmodo.com Hopefully Gizmodo won’t mind.”
For-sure my problem here is 100% with the actions of the company, and not with the product itself. My friend brought an iPod with him when he came to visit us a few years ago. We watched TV shows on it, and it was really cool. I asked my manager (at my-last-position) for an Apple OSX box if one was available, because putting that UI on a *NIX machine is really cool, and I worked at a Mac lab while in college, and I ran a Mac emulator on my Amiga, and, I think that the iPad is a good choice for non-technical folks. My problem is not with the product itself.
But Apple’s choices are an attack on computer programmers. In some cases programmers spent incredible time-and-money creating products, only to have Apple say, “no you cannot sell your product for use on our handheld computer.”
In the video below, the folks from AllThingsD.com, a site that is associated with The Wall Street Journal, interview Andy Rubin, the father of Android, about Apple, sort-of. Would they expect Steve Jobs to defend Android? Of course not.
It’s otherwise a great video, that shows-off some of Google’s future products, including:
Etc.
2010-08-15
Italians are mad at Ducati when Casey Stoner wins (because he beat Rossi), and they are mad at Ducati when Rossi wins (because the Italian bike lost). This will apparently fix that.
Or maybe not: “…if he comes here and he’s not winning, [then] the Italians are going to burn the factory down!” (Nicky Hayden, September 2010 Roadracing World, page 50)
Valentino Rossi in Qatar 2010: image by ScottJones.net/MotoRaceReports. This file was licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
I really didn’t believe that this was going to happen during the 2010 silly season. On the one hand: the rumor has been going-around for quite some time. On the other hand: Rossi recently announced that he would retire with Yamaha.
It reminds me of an interview with former NY Governor Mario Cuomo (I don’t remember the source). The interviewer kept pressing Governor Cuomo to announce his candidacy for President of the United States. Governor Cuomo said that he had absolutely no intention of running. The interviewer then told Governor Cuomo that we would hold him to that. Governor Cuomo reminded the interviewer that there is a difference between lying and changing your mind.
In Valentino Rossi‘s first year of GP500/MotoGP (2000) racing, the race announcers always talked as if Rossi were the underdog. He would start out by not getting the holeshot and the experts would assume that he was going to have quite the challenge. He was #2 in championship points that year.
2001 was similar: Rossi won his first GP500 Championship that year.
This “he can’t win” story occurred again when Rossi left Honda in 2004. Everyone believed the Yamaha YZR-M1 to be slow. Rossi, Jeremy Burgess, and Yamaha worked to fit the bike to the rider. He was once again the assumed underdog. Rooting for his team when all the experts said that he could not win, was fun. He won the championship that year also.
The past few years the experts have assumed that the Yamaha is the best bike. Not enough credit has been given to Valentino Rossi’s and Jorge Lorenzo‘s skill in that regard. Also: nobody assumes that Rossi is going to lose these days.
Rossi is currently the underdog again in 2010, due to his leg breaking. That’s not how we like the story to go though: yes to underdog, no to injuries.
The Ducati is believed to be only-ridable by Casey Stoner. For sure, Nicky Hayden (Rossi’s former teammate at Honda!) has made some progress, but this is still believed to be the underdog bike. Valentino Rossi’s story just became interesting again…
I do not know Italian. I will put a translation here when I find one: assuming that I have permission to do so.
from Ducati’s Official Press 2010-08-15
The 31 year-old will complete an Italian link-up with the Bologna factory next season having agreed a two-year deal.
Ducati and Valentino Rossi have signed a two-year agreement for the nine-time World Champion to race with the “Rossa” of Borgo Panigale in the Ducati Team from 2011.
The arrival of Valentino in Ducati opens a new and exciting chapter in the Italian factory’s sporting history and, indeed, of the whole MotoGP Championship. The opportunity of lining up such an extraordinary rider and character is considered by Ducati to be of huge value to the whole Ducati MotoGP project.
“We are delighted to announce that Valentino Rossi will be with us from 2011,” commented Gabriele Del Torchio, president of Ducati Motor Holding. “He is a paragon of excellence in the world of motorcycling, coherent with our Italian company which is a standard bearer for ‘made in Italy’ excellence. These are key values for success in technology, design and sportsmanship. In addition to the strong and passionate intent of both parties, this agreement has been made possible by the committed support of our shareholder Investindustrial and all the sponsors associated with the Ducati Team, sponsors which have believed in this opportunity and share and support our choices.”
Filippo Preziosi, Ducati Corse General Director, said: “Firstly, Valentino is a great fan of motorcycles and so it has always been a pleasure for me to listen to his opinions. Until the Valencia GP he will remain a competitor, one so great that he has always given a special value to our victories, but as soon as he rides the Ducati for the first time we will work together on every single detail that will develop a bike capable of showing his huge talent. Working with Valentino is one of the most exciting things for every engineer, and it’s good to know we will have this great opportunity next season.”
from Yamaha’s Official Press 2010-08-15
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. would like to announce that the partnership between Valentino Rossi and Yamaha will come to an end at the close of the season, when Valentino will move on to new challenges.
Yamaha and Valentino have enjoyed seven fantastic seasons of racing, during which time they have won four MotoGP World Championships together.
Valentino has played a huge part in the history of Yamaha and he will always remain an important part of Yamaha’s heritage. Yamaha is extremely grateful for Valentino’s contributions to its racing successes over the past seven years and it would like to wish him the very best in his future racing endeavours.
Yamaha will be putting all its efforts into ensuring a successful and happy end to the partnership over the remaining races.
Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing, said “On behalf of the Yamaha Motor Group, I would like to express our sincere gratitude for the amazing seven years that we have spent together. Valentino joined Yamaha in 2004 at a moment when Yamaha was struggling in road racing after eleven seasons without a championship victory. Valentino’s victory at his first GP race for Yamaha in South Africa in 2004 was an incredible moment and was just the first of many more race wins that have thrilled MotoGP fans and Yamaha fans around the world. His unsurpassed skills as a racer and a development rider enabled him to win four MotoGP world titles to date with us and helped Yamaha develop the YZR-M1 into the ‘the bike of reference’ for the MotoGP class.”
“There have been so many wonderful experiences and victories and we are very proud to have been able to make history together. Whilst we regret Vale’s decision to move on, at the same time we fully respect his decision to search for a new challenge and we wish him the very best for 2011 and beyond.
“For the remaining eight races of 2010 Valentino will remain a Yamaha Factory rider. As such he will continue to benefit from our full support and we hope and expect to see some more race wins with him ‘in blue’ before the season is over!”
Rossi stated: “It is very difficult to explain in just a few words what my relationship with Yamaha has been in these past seven years.”
“Many things have changed since that far-off time in 2004, but especially ‘she’, my M1, has changed. At that time she was a poor middle-grid position MotoGP bike, derided by most of the riders and the MotoGP workers. Now, after having helped her to grow and improve, you can see her smiling in her garage, courted and admired, treated as the ‘top of the class’.”
“The list of the people that made this transformation possible is very long, but I would like to thank anyway Masao Furusawa, Masahiko Nakajima and ‘my’ Hiroya Atsumi, as representatives of all the engineers that worked hard to change the face of our M1. Then Jeremy Burgess and all my guys in the garage, who took care of her with love on all the tracks of the world and also all the men and women that have worked in the Yamaha team during these years.”
“Now the moment has come to look for new challenges; my work here at Yamaha is finished. Unfortunately even the most beautiful love stories finish, but they leave a lot of wonderful memories, like when my M1 and I kissed for the first time on the grass at Welkom, when she looked straight in my eyes and told me ‘I love you!’”
This is what happens when the editor chooses to go off topic! This essay existed before this Web page became devoted to motorcycles. The current publish-date represents the latest edits.
If you are interested in The World’s Smallest Political Quiz, but not in my own results, and explanation, then go directly to The World’s Smallest Political Quiz.
Third-parties will always be a losing-proposition in this country. It is simply easier to collect the magic-number of votes if there are only two large parties. (The magic-number of votes is one-more than 50%.)
According to the Advocates for Self Government: a multi-dimensional model is needed as a replacement for the left-to-right-wing straight-line continuum.
Traditionally Libertarians are thought to be right-wing, but there are many Republican party values that aren’t Libertarian. David Nolan realized that a better model would show how much government control a person wanted over personal issues, and how much government control that same person wanted over economic issues. If we map these two dimensions, then we will have four quadrants.
(The block-quotes are from the “Advocates for Self Government’s World’s Smallest Political Quiz FAQ”. It is no longer available at its URL, so some links have been removed from this page.):
Conservatives tend to favor economic freedom, but frequently support laws to restrict personal behavior that violates “traditional values.” They oppose excessive government control of business, while endorsing government action to defend morality and the traditional family structure. Conservatives usually support a strong military, oppose bureaucracy and high taxes, favor a free-market economy, and endorse strong law enforcement.
Liberals usually embrace freedom of choice in personal matters, but tend to support significant government control of the economy. They generally support a government-funded “safety net” to help the disadvantaged, and advocate strict regulation of business. Liberals tend to favor environmental regulations, defend civil liberties and free expression, support government action to promote equality, and tolerate diverse lifestyles.
Libertarians support maximum liberty in both personal and economic matters. They advocate a much smaller government; one that is limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence. Libertarians tend to embrace individual responsibility, oppose government bureaucracy and taxes, promote private charity, tolerate diverse lifestyles, support the free market, and defend civil liberties.
Statists want government to have a great deal of power over the economy and individual behavior. They frequently doubt whether economic liberty and individual freedom are practical options in today’s world. Statists tend to distrust the free market, support high taxes and centralized planning of the economy, oppose diverse lifestyles, and question the importance of civil liberties.
The Advocates for Self-government have a Web application called The World’s Smallest Political Quiz. (Mark Shroyer: do you remember telling me about this quiz!?) Here are my results:
The red dot shows where Paul is on the Nolan political chart.
I am on the intersection of Liberal (considered to be left wing), Libertarian (considered to be right wing), and Centrist. Really. I am not a Democrat, and I am not a Republican, and neither of those parties will ever accurately represent me.
Ben Spies, Tom Houseman (Crew Chief), and team, win Yamaha’s first World Superbike World Championship in 2009! This post includes an exclusive interview by OnTheThrottleTV, quotes from Yamaha Racing Europe, Ducati, and more.
I don’t understand how Suzuki could have possibly let Ben get away. The critics talked of “Ben isn’t ready for MotoGP” last year. Not ready? He came in fifth during the Indy GP. Fifth in MotoGP… On an unfamiliar bike… in severe weather…
During Valentino’s second 500cc year they kept talking about how he met his match during each race, because he would start out behind, but by the end of the race he was always in front. I decided that year that Valentino must be the greatest rider to ever live, and that panned-out. Same with Ben Spies.
Ben once-again downplays his chances of winning the MotoGP championship next year. He shouldn’t do that. Rossi began 2000 with similar goals, and rode more defensively in order to meet those goals. Rossi finished 2000 in 2nd but admitted that he might have finished in 1st had he set that for his goal. Ben, please stop saying “Top 10″. You did top 6 in MotoGP, on a Suzuki, in the worse weather (Hurricane Ike “remnants”) of any GP in history. Go for #1 in 2010!
Notice in the video below how even Ducati is celebrating Ben’s Championship on the podium, even Noriyuki Haga— the man who had the next-best chance of being World Champion this year— is celebrating Ben’s championship on the podium. An awesome show of sportsmanship from those Ducati guys. (See the manufacturer’s standings below to see how both Yamaha and Ducati can celebrate this year…)
Rookie Ben Spies wins the World Superbike Championship, becoming the first American to do so since fellow Texan Colin Edwards in 2002. SpeedGreen was on location to capture the emotions as Yamaha celebrated their first World Championship.
Ben Spies and Yamaha made history today, claiming the first ever Word Superbike title for the Yamaha World Superbike Team. In yet another Ben Spies Masterclass of riding, The American rookie sensation took a race win and a well executed fifth place finish to lift the title for Yamaha for the first time. Race one saw a textbook performance from Spies, taking the holeshot on the first corner and leading from the first lap. Perfectly executed lines and smooth riding saw him cross the line nearly two seconds ahead of a determined Biaggi who had stalked him for the entire race. Championship rival Noriyuki Haga crashed out six laps into the race, leaving Spies some breathing room for race two.
With the extra points behind him and less pressure for an outright race win Spies kept himself in check for race two, monitoring Haga’s position and keeping a steady race pace as he counted the laps down to victory. The American let a couple of riders passed then tucked in behind Biaggi for a number of laps. After the Italian rider ran wide a couple of times, Spies turned on some extra speed to pass him and brought his championship winning Yamaha R1 home in fifth place to take victory.
Spies can now claim 14 Superbike race wins and 11 pole position race starts in his rookie year, breaking all records since the championship began. He leads the standings with 462 points, six clear of rival Haga.
On the first race: “It was actually a really tough race. At first I was just going for the win, getting to the front and not worrying about anything. Then when Haga was out I had to win to get as many points as possible for race two. Once you have a gap, you don’t want to be stupid and throw it all away.”
” I’ve got to thank Yamaha for giving me the bike I need to win. We had a really good first race, in the second we did what we had to do to win. It was quite difficult to keep it in check as the pace was pretty fast, I saw I had a couple of people behind me and I knew that if Nori won I had to be in sixth and that’s where I was so I tried to get a bit of a gap on them and stay out of trouble. Max came through the inside of me and ran off a couple of times which really freaked me out so I went to get past him and then settled in for some nice fast laps to the end. It’s been a spectacular day and I can’t thank those people enough that have been behind me. It’s been incredible to do it for Yamaha, and especially in my first year here. I don’t think I really realize what’s happening right now but I’m sure it’s going to hit me in a couple of days!”
“I feel great! This is the first time I’ve had this victory feeling. I was so nervous for this whole weekend. Ben showed us that the speed he had was ok but I know Nori very well and Ducati as well so I was always worried that something was going to come. Fortunately we finished very well. I want to thank everyone, not just the people here in the team and Yamaha but the people at home, mine and the team’s families, they give us a lot of support and are patient, I think it is hard for them to so thank you to my wife!”
“A fantastic day for Yamaha! Today was the crown of a year’s hard work for Ben and the team. From the first moment we started to work with Ben it was clear he was something special. He did an amazing job in his rookie season, not knowing many of the circuits in Europe. This victory is also very well deserved for the team who have given 100%. I know how hard we have all been trying and coming close for such a long time. This championship success is a clear testimonial of the competitiveness of the new R1 and a validation of Yamaha’s vision of production bike development and so is also shared with the engineers in Japan.”
“All weekend I have had problems with the set up of the bike, mainly with the tyres that didn’t give me total confidence. Usually we have a package that works well at every track and here too we didn’t change so much with regard to the setting, only really tyres. In Race 1 we mounted two hard tyres and they didn’t perform as we’d hoped, they didn’t give me the necessary grip so it was hard to brake and unfortunately I fell even though I wasn’t pushing so hard. We changed bikes for Race 2, just to be sure, as well as changing tyres of course. This time I had more grip and was able to make a good race. Unfortunately second in the race was not enough to take the title and it’s a real pity, but I must say that I have had a great first year with this fantastic team that always provides me with a good bike. I thank my whole technical team, Ducati, the sponsors and the Clinica Mobile who have taken good care of me throughout the season. My compliments go to Ben who has been such a strong rival this year and even though he is going to MotoGP next year, I am sure we will remain friends. This week we’ll start testing in preparation for next year. This year was a new adventure with Ducati and we’ll continue to give 100% in 2010.”
1. B. Spies (Yamaha WSB)
2. J. Rea (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda)
3. M. Biaggi (Aprilia Racing)
4. S. Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati)
5. M. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox Team)
6. L. Camier (Aprilia Racing)
7. C. Checa (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda)
8. R. Xaus (BMW Motorrad Motorsport)
9. M. Lagrive (Honda Althea Racing)
10. M. Baiocco (Guandalini Racing)
1. M. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox Team)
2. N. Haga (Ducati Xerox Team)
3. J. Rea (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda)
4. S. Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati)
5. B. Spies (Yamaha WSB)
6. M. Biaggi (Aprilia Racing)
7. L. Camier (Aprilia Racing)
8. J. Smrz (Guandalini Racing)
9. T. Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport)
10. S. Guintoli (Team Suzuki Alstare)
1. Spies 462
2. Haga 456
3. Fabrizio 382
4.Biaggi 319
5.Rea 315
6. Haslam 241
7.Checa 209
8. Byrne 192
9. Sykes 176
10. Smrz 169.
Yamaha wins the championship, but Ducati wins the most points…
1. Ducati 572
2. Yamaha 505
3. Honda 431
4. Aprilia 329
5. Suzuki 173
6. Bmw 141
7. Kawasaki 76