D.I.Y. Coca-Cola

The Guardian has a great article up right now detailing the tale of two women out to create their own Coca-Cola.

The result is, allegedly, very VERY close to Coke (a hint that perhaps it's even better?). One of the most-curious things about this D.I.Y. recipe is that it uses vodka (in extremely small quantities, but vodka nonetheless).

So for those of you with the time and resources... do try to make a batch and let me know how it turns out. Now, who wants to work on Mt. Dew next?...


-- Primis.

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Dead Poetic's Brandon Rike Speaks

HM Magazine (yes I know that's redundant) has a really, really good interview with Brandon Rike, the lead singer of Dead Poetic, in their current issue.

It's a good read. Brandon is an interesting guy and it's... well, interesting... to see him speak so frankly about his band, music in general, and what he sees going on in the music world. He seems to actually have a better understanding of rock fans (and his band's own fans) than most musicians out there. I also don't know that anyone really knew or realized that the band basically completely broke up at one point, but that's touche don in the interview as well...

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Microsoft's WGA Nightmare

MS's Most Not-Excellent WGA Adventure appears to be getting worse. Windows Genuine Advantage is making enemies at every turn, and it's getting tougher and tougher for MS to hjide the fiasco.

alexkoc over on the MSDN site tried to defend WGA and even added that the reports of more than a handful of false positives were simply a bunch of indefensible lies and statistics.

Well... two users then posted very specific details about them, in fact, getting a false positive from WGA... to which alex basically has no real reply or even words of encouragement. Oops. Guess you spoke too soon there, alex.

As if that weren't enough, now it's biting well-known Microsoft backers as well. Noted MS advocate Paul Thurrott has now posted that he too has a system giving off a false positive (a system, mind you, apparently running MS' own TechNet version of Windows XP MCE 2005).

Oops again.

At this point MS just has to stop pretending they can somehow salvage this all, and simply remove all traces of WGA ever existing. It's the only way. It has to be 100% removed. There are too many suspcious users, too many hurt feelings, and way too much at stake for them to continue.

When you're going out and dropping $150 on a new OS license, only to install it and be told that it's invalid and you'd better buy another license *now* or face the consequences... well, people understandably don't take too kindly to that and are goign to ditch you and your products. And if MS wants to try and continue playing this game they're going to lose out in the market in an enormous way they cannot even fathom (we're literally talking "Linux and Macs take over as dominant desktop market share" here).

Users will *not* accept this if it continues.


-- Primis.

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Because Edmonton is Still Edmonton

Interesting link found off Kuklas' Korner. It's a candid look in the U. of Alberta school paper as to just why it is most players flee the Edmonton Oilers at the first opportunity.

"It’s really time for a reaction besides 'Holy Sh*t! How can you not love Edmonton? You’re a God when you play here!' when someone leaves town or doesn’t sign here as a free agent. There’s a reason that the biggest acquisitions this off-season have been Daniel Tjarnqvist and Marty Reasoner: guys don’t want to come to Edmonton. The pay is too low, the weather too bad and the fans too deluded. The ’80s are over with, and the sooner Edmonton fans stop expecting Ales Hemsky to be the next Jari Kurri and Ryan Smyth to be the next Messier, the sooner players will realize that the fan support in Edmonton is a blessing, instead of the curse it is now."

Funny how they say they treat their players like 'gods', but in reality treat them like dirt. Oiler fans, by and large, truly don't get this. They think it's their manifest destiny that their team every year is exactly like those 1980's dynasty teams. They also turn a blind eye to the fact that new CBA or not, there's still little to no appeal to playing in Edmonton.

Need convincing? The Oilers were only one game away from winning the Stanley Cup this year. And what have fans and management done?

They ran Sergei Samsonov (who they traded for this past season) out of town, calling him a slacker. They ran Michael Peca out of town, jeering "We didn't want you anyways!". They muttered every dark profanity about Chris Pronger after annointing him Jesus, Part II just days earlier. And they've called Radek Dvorak a "waste of a roster spot".

Prior to the Cup run, some Oiler fans were ready to lynch head coach Craig MacTavish, prompting angry and deluded forum threads with titles like "MacTavish is a Coke-Headed Retard Who Makes Me Crave Death". A few weeks later, and they're hailing him once again as a Greek god as if nothing ever happened.

Edmonton is the Philadelphia of the hockey world. The fans suck. The media sucks. The town sucks. And there's no counter-balancing *good* elements to even it out. Is it any wonder most players get out of town ASAP if they know what's good for them?

And until Edmonton media and fans get a clue, it's going to remain this way.


-- Primis.

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FLoyd Landis Is One Bad Man

...and I mean that as a compliment.

I don't normally follow the Tour de France, and to be honest wasn't following much until yesterday, when American Floyd Landis fell off the pace from 1st Overall on a brutal hill climb, and dropped an astounding 8 minutes off the lead -- a collapse that caused the media and fellow riders to call him "done".

So I checked today, just out of curiousity, to see if he'd managed to even dent that. I mean, who knows? Maybe he could whittle it down to 5:00 behind today, and only a couple minutes in the end and still finish in the top 10?

Ummm, yeah. How about after today's stage he's now only :30 off the lead and in 3rd place, lurking to regain the overall lead?

All on a bum, arthritic hip he's put off getting surgery for and is currently causing pain. To give perspective on that injury... his surgery (once he has it) may end his cycling career.

Bobby Julich called Lanids' stage today "One of the most amazing rides I've seen in my life". Frenchmen Cryil Dessel said, "He reacted like a great champion". Another Frenchman, Bernard Hinault, said, "I'm a big fan of Floyd today ... He's got an aggressive streak".

Tour de France race director Jean-Marie LeBlanc even called it "the best performance in the modern history of the Tour".

Landis may not win overall. Or maybe he will, who knows? Either way... the guy gets *mad* props and respect after today's stage. Today's stage alone will go into the history books as one of the guttiest performances of all-time, period. It's a shame that after so much hype about him in earlier stages, his mythic performance today goes largely unnnoticed by the media.

No guts, no glory. How's that for bringing a little X Games to the Tour (since Landis is a former mountain biker)?


-- Primis.

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'As the Isle Burns', Pt. II

After firing a veteran, Cup-winning GM in Neil Smith and replacing him with the teams' backup goalie.. a lot of folks seem to think Islanders owner Charles Wang is crazy. They'd probably be right. Because he clearly is.

Lost in the shuffle of all of this though is new head coach Ted Nolan, who already had a reputation as a guy who gets GM's fired and is power-hungry. Funny how his new GM gets fired only a month into the new tenure...

You can bet that regardless of how this all turns out, Ted Nolan will never, *ever* coach anywhere else in the NHL again after this gig. If you thought he was blacklisted before... well, you should see him *now*.

Not that I'll ever cry for Nolan anyways.


-- Primis.

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Next On... 'As the Isle Burns!'...

The New York Islanders have fired GM Neil Smith (who was GM all of a little over a month for them... all offseason time), and replaced him with.... former backup goalie who just retirted, Garth Snow.

Yes, Garth Snow.

Yes, that same Garth Snow.

You know, the one that sucked as a backup goalie everywhere he played in his entire career and yet ran his mouth constantly. And has 0 qualifications for a front office job.

Yup, that's the one.

To think, they could have hired me instead...


-- Primis.

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Slashfood to the Rescue

One might think a blog about foods that includes categories called "Food Porn", "Grilled Cheese Day", and "Hacking Food" might appeal to someone like me.

That person would be correct.

So go and enjoy Slashfood, a site whose existence I would not be aware of without a heads-up from Salinn. I'm just happy to know I'm not the only person with a developing unhealthy obsession with the Food Network and recipes.


-- Primis.

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Summing Up the Israel/Lebanon/Palestine Situation.

For those of you wondering why Israel is again acting as an aggressor against Lebanon and Palestine and things have heated up, Zibblsnrt pointed out a great blog post that bluntly sums up the Why and How.

"And yet Hezbollah insists, mostly based on their party's revolutionary government in nearby Iran, on their right to be called a political party despite a platform that openly calls for the extermination of every Jew in the middle east. And by comparison, they're the moderates. Hamas's leadership routinely and openly calls for the extermination of every Jew in the world. And these, people, are the people that the world is asking Israel to negotiate with...

...now that Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese government, when Hezbollah attacks across the border from Lebanon into Israel it is one government making war on another. And when Hamas, having won their election, attacks from Gaza into Israel, it is one government making war on another. And that's a different thing altogether...

...By asking that Israel "show moderation" we're legitimizing genocide as a political opinion. We're being asked to treat two political parties whose genocidal agenda is indistinguishable from that of the Nazis as if they were ordinary political parties, as partners for negotiation."

Well said.

Sometimes it really is just black and white, right and wrong...


-- Primis.

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Note to Scotland

If you're going to send one of your premiere soccer teams over to the U.S. for a friendly or two to "show up your American cousins", it might be best if you yourself actually showed up.

I only know a little bit about soccer, but I know enough to realize that this was a supposedly-elite and storied club getting their *afts* handed to them by an American MLS club, fer' crying out loud.

My favorite part comes from Off Wing Opinion, where Eric McErlain quotes his dad (who was at the match with him) as saying that the pro-DC United crowd began chanting "We Want the Rangers!" during the second half. As I said, I only know a little about soccer but I know enough to realize that it's by far the biggest insult they could have thrown at Celtic (these Rangers would be the Glasgow kind), and it must have absolutely burned them to hear it from the American crowd.

That's like whomping on Duke and then chating "We Want the Tarheels" at them. Or pounding the Yankees in and then chanting that you want the Red Sox. Only also with handy decades of religious hatred built-in.


At any rate, I doubt Celtic will be scheduling any more friendlies in the States anytime soon...


-- Primis.

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Michelle Wie Is a Joke

I'm sick to death of Michelle Wie.

I'm sick of her pretending she can play on the PGA tour when she hasn't even done anything on the LPGA yet. I'm sick of the media buying into her despite this. I'm sick of her gravy train parents milking it for all it's worth when it's clear their daughter is 100% out of her league. And I'm sick of the PGA regulars biting their tongue and not coming out and publicly admitting she's not good enough to be on the tour (where's Vijay Singh when we NEED him?!).

Michelle.... you're a sideshow. A joke. And you're making a mockery of both your gender and your sport in the process.

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O Jogo Feio / El Juego Feo

The 2006 World Cup ended today with a total and complete whimper. In case anyone cared.

It was ITA vs FRA in the final game. And after an absolutely miserable disaster of a tournament, the legacy of World Cup 2006 now gets to be this.

Congratulations, FIFA. You, in one small tournament, have harmed your own sport more than you can possibly imagine. Your sport is apparently comprised of people to stomp on opponent's crotches, pansy divers and floppers, people who bust opponents' faces open with elbows, Italians who fix matches, and aging veterans in their final go who headbutt opponents in the chest during the World Cup championship game... in overtime.

Oh yeah, and your officiating sucks more than the NBA and NFL combined. And FIFA publicly admitted so.

Basically... take every deplorable, stupid, selfish, subhuman moment of the past year in all of North American sports and roll them into one tournament... and you have World Cup of Soccer 2006.

Thank god this stupid sport is never ever going to go anywhere here in America. It's a total joke. Please, don't anyone ever bring this garbage onto our American airwaves again.

We already have WWE and ECW, thanks...


-- Primis.

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NASCAR To Be Invaded

Big news of the day is that Juan Pablo Montoya is coming back over to North America next season, from F1, to race for Chip Ganassi in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series.

Montoya, curiously, is only 6th in Points this year in F1 -- not a bad position at all (albeit an eternity behind Alonso and Schumacher, just like everyone else), so I'm stunned he's coming back over and leaving that situation. He's never broke through completely in F1, but he's always done decently since jumping the pond,

This is huge news in all of racing. Montoya is a pure, aggressive racer and he's likely going to make waves in NASCAR, especially on the road courses where he will likely be most-efefctive. He knows ovals though. Montoya was the 1999 CART champion (the youngest ever), and won the Indy 500 in 2000 as a rookie. He's formidable, his track vision is superior, and he's not a guy that makes many mistakes.

He'll also probably perform decently well from the get-go in Nextel Cup because he's a pure racer... which means NASCAR fans will absolutely hate him (mostly because he's a foreigner). It should be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Hey Montoya, if NASCAR doesn't work out, you can always hop back over to American open-wheel where you've always been adored and had your best performances.


-- Primis.

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When "Beta" Isn't

OK, let's clear this up all quick-like.

If you release beta software anyone can download, with the understanding that eventually there will be a final commercial release, then okay... go ahead and call your release "beta".

If you release beta software anyone can download, and your product line is free, it is *not* a beta. It is not even close to being a beta. What you have released is merely a poor initial final product you plan on (maybe) patching later, and are trying to cover your own butt for your own ineptitude and lack of skills and/or motivation. There is no difference between access to your "beta" and final products, so just because you call it a "beta" does not make it one.

Stop trying to pull out the magic word to try and make your crappy releases look better.

I'm talking to you Google, Yahoo!, and others... listen up.

And we wonder why software design nowadays has gone down the drain...


-- Primis.

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Prìomh Pucks: (7-06-2006) - The Disaster That Has Been UFA Season

Several people have prodded me already wondering why I haven't done a sumary/breakdown of the NHL offseason winners, losers, and whatnot.

The reason I haven't is because it's horribly-incomplete. There are lots of good players available out there that nobody is moving on (guys that could change the face and fates of teams), so what's the point of breaking anything down yet? Too much could change.

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Just How Surreal The PS3's Pricing Is

Via Slashdot.

There's a great article/post up on a blog called Brittlefish where the author explores what other gaming bundles you could get for the stated price of the PS3 at launch.

To hammer home just how stupid the pricing point is at $600, it's pointed out that a consumer instead could purchase *both* an Xbox 360 and a Nintendo Wii --and only have spent $50 more than the PS3's price.

Also for $580 ($20 less than a PS3), a consumer could buy a 360, an extra wireless controller, 1 year of XBox 360 Live, and the 360 game of their choice.

Make no mistake about it, the PS3 has already lost this generation of the console wars... I've never been a fan of Nintendo's post-NES games or their gimmicky hardware, but right now the Wii looks like a pretty good alternative if you're rnot up for a 360. The PS3 does not.


-- Primis.

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A Tearful Sendoff for Yzerman

Last night I received an IM from someone stating that the Red Wings had called a press conference for today regarding Steve Yzerman, and I knew what it meant.

It was over.

The Captain officially called it quits today after an unbelievable 22-year career -- all spent as a Detroit Red Wing.

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America's Open Wheel Racing Hope

Racing in America is dying.

That's not a popular opinion, especially amongst the NASCAR fan-folk, but the reality is that it is the truth. NASCAR's popularity has levelled off due to the interminable length of the season, the childishness of its drivers, the complete joke that is their "farm" series (The Busch series), and the reality that there are racing fans that will never, ever convert to become fans of a series that hates and avoids road courses because it would involve them having to turn a direction other than left..

However, on the weekend when the Nextel Cup (Daytona), IRL (Kansas City), and F1 (US Grand Prix in Indy) all race on American soil (ChampCar is off until next weekend), it seems like a good time to reassess the American racing scene and what comes next.

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