Since Steve seems to be talking about doing Buffy in the pooper all the time recently, here's something which should make him happy, she probably wouldn't refuse. Don't worry Steve (and you Germans), we feel for you. Btw I would categorize this wack-link, so know what to expect from the content. Thanks sufood.

Well here's the answer in yet another strange story. CNN.COM reports Nintendo handing out protective gloves in settlement. That's right, it seems that all the people playing Mario Party are getting blisters and cuts on their hands. I don't think it's from the game, though :) Irregardless, Nintendo now has to give each household with Mario Party up to four protective gloves! Yep, that's right.

God bless America.

Here you go, the evening what the hell is going on in this world story. Everyone is in a union now days, just take a look at this story. Here ya go:

Prostitutes in London's Soho red light district went on strike Wednesday to mark international women's day and fight attempts to evict them from the area, a prostitutes collective said. ...
``We refuse to be divided into ``good'' and ``bad'' girls,'' the group said in a statement.

Here's a really weird story (haven't done one in awhile). Apparently Germany has these little government sponsored dumpster type things that mothers can put unwanted babies into. Don't believe me, it's right here. I would think of a joke to put here, but this is just way too strange.

Here's another one. Britain's had quarantine laws that required pets to be in kennels for a year after entering the country. This was to prevent rabies like 100 years ago. Instead of abolishing that backwards law, they decide to instead give out pet passports. Gotta love them Europeans :)

Anyone want to send me a "courrier electronique" ? Seems the French government has banned all English business words from French civil service according to a UPI News Article. E-Mail is now "courrier electronique" and start-up is "jeune pousse", which actually means a young plant. What it's all about? Resisting the US of course!

Of course it is not possible for the State to dictate phrases for other persons. But, for the entire nation, it is important everyone should talk the same language

C'est merde, for those of you who do speak French ;)

In case you didnt have enough stuff to worry about downloading off the internet. Virus scanners just might not be enough, According to this article about 10% of all computers are now posessed by demons. I'm gonna be setting up one of those liquid cooled CPU deals and busting out with holy water though. Seems reasonable.

Rev. Peasboro advises that if you suspect your computer is possessed, you consult a clergyman or, if the computer is still under warranty, take it in for servicing. He says, "Technicians can replace the hard drive and reinstall the software, getting rid of the wicked spirit permanently."

update Jack - Looks like someone's watching too much Buffy.

(insert porn here)

Maarten mentioned this in the morning but apparently 50 of you who emailed it in didnt see it. :) It looks like all your prayers as a gamer have been answered. According to this article study of gaming in college courses just may become a reality. Check out 'How about a B.A. in Quake?' on Excite.(Thanks MaxFPS and Geoff Day among others)

Games' impact on society As a gesture of support for the UC program, game-maker Alias/Wavefront has donated $1 million in software. Alias founder Mark Sylvester said he chose to make the donation because it's important to begin studying gaming and its impact on society. "With the students being exposed to these ideas, they're thinking about this as a whole experience," Sylvester said.

Late evening story for you guys. Remember that whole DoS attack stuff going on taking down Yahoo, Amazon, etc? Well this bit on CNN looks like they finally tracked down someone who was involved in the stuff.

The home of a 17-year-old boy in New Hampshire was recently raided by the FBI in its investigation of last month's attacks on major Web sites such as Amazon and Yahoo!, sources familiar with the case said Thursday

All of you aspiring and current game designers out there should find this Newsweek article interesting. The gist of it is that game design is apparently not art according to this guy. The best part is when he makes a comparison to movies, I love that stuff. Of course, I can cover my ass with paint and fart on a white sheet of paper calling it art. If you uh.. get the picture, and you probably dont want to. Thanks poke.

Something for your late evening reading pleasure. This story about a man taking some particular measures to win FAT $245 wad of cash is pretty impressive stuff. Thats how people make their dreams come true guys, hard work and dedication and... something else.

Got a few emails about this one and it's not good news. (Thanks JayZee) "Clinton Backs Web Sales Tax" is the headline of the story and I already started to cringe. I havent been following this stuff much, but I recall something about this not being possible for a few years since congress passed a moratorium on internet taxes a while back. It looks like it's getting close to expiring though, and we the tax payers are gonna take it in the pooper.

President Clinton told the nation's governors yesterday that states should be allowed to tax the sales of items bought via the Internet
...
Further complicating the issue is the existence of more than 6,000 sales tax jurisdictions nationwide, with widely varying rules.

I hate to do this to you guys, but this cant be passed up. Those Europeans may be able to beat Americans in Quake, but guess what. I dont make this stuff up guys, I just uh.. bring it to your attention.

ZDNet is carrying a story about the Hollywood vs Open Source battles that have been going on lately. As we all know the recording industry hates MP3 audio as they feel it's costing them money (sales went up 6% last year btw). Well with the release of DeCSS the Hollywood folks are getting all bent out of shape about the DVD industry now. Hollywood has a history of this stuff, hell they even fought against the VHS tape being released.

The DVD CCA, which is targeting Pavlovich and at least 70 other defendants, alleges that simply linking to DeCSS code amounts to trade-secret theft. The MPAA, meanwhile, is wielding the DMCA, accusing, in two federal lawsuits filed in Connecticut and New York, four people of using DeCSS to circumvent its copyrights.

Yeah, don't worry, I won't be updating this section too often, just wanted to be the one to post about Zoid's departure. :-)

Here's some advice... Go see Pitch Black, it was fun. See Boiler Room too... Watch more Buffy... Whole Nine Yards wasn't that great... Cringe at Steve talking about anal sex with Faith... Get a realtor to help with renting houses... Ummm, ok, I'm dead tired, time to sleep now.

Just because this is some of the funniest stuff I've seen in a while. Check out what our good friend Tonya Harding has been up to recently. Having reached the pinacle of success in ice skating, she's now workng on becoming an olympic disc thrower and boxer. Thanks Matthew Rorie.

Former Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding was ordered to appear in municipal court after being arrested for throwing a hubcap at her boyfriend and punching him in the face.

Damn, well it looks like that marry a millionaire marriage thing didnt work out. The chosen wife is asking for a divorce already. She is still scoring like $100,000 worth of goods for strutting her stuff on TV though. That's the American dream right there.

Just putting this little post here so that the poll stuff isn't all covered up. Yes, Steve knows the headline thing for yesterday is messing up the table on the right, no need to email him.

Holesinswiss spotted this news bit on CNet which quote Bill Gates as saying he would consider open-sourcing the Windows operating system as part of a possible settlement in anti-trust cases they are involved in with the government right now. The change to the industry that would cause is just incredible, not to mention as Jack mentioned the number of Linux guys who would tear through the code simply to make fun of it...

Gates said he would agree to open the source code for the company's Windows operating system as part of a settlement, a move that would allow competitors to create and sell their own modified versions of Windows.

Update by Maarten at 11am. Apparently Microsoft is now denying the possible open sourcing as part of the settlement, according to this story on Yahoo News. The news source where the original report came from, Bloomberg News, is stickin to the story though. They say:

After the on-camera portion of the interview was completed, Gates was asked whether the company would be willing to open the Windows source code in order to settle the case, and Gates said ``yes.'' He then added, smiling, ``if that's all it took.''

As we all found out a little while ago during that Simpsons 10year anniversary thread, there are quite a few Simpsons fans who read the page here. Well guess what, it looks like we might just be seeing a big-screen movie featuring our beloved Simpsons family. Keep in mind this was just said in passing by cast members so who knows if it will actually happen or not. It's fun to ponder though. Think they will make it rated R? :) Thanks Billy Rosewood.