They chose...

...poorly. Unlucky teen thieves crack open a van full of SAS.

Via Fate of Legions

Stream of Consciousness Art Discovery

I saw the Mario images below on ENDO and that lead me to Fro Design Co. Fro has a lot of great stuff on his site - especially some Lost themes and the fake business cards from TV, movies, etc.

That reminded me of the Samurai Pac-Man that I had seen in the past. (I may have found that on ENDO, too.) A quick google search lead me to the Pop Monkey blog where I found the Pac-Man image. Turns out that Pop Monkey has become Beast Pop.

Ultimately, that led to this gem... ZOBAMA!

When I win the lottery and build my ultimate man cave, I will plaster the walls with these sorts of prints.

Cheese & Onion

Speaking of the UK, I love Walkers Cheese and Onion Potato Crisps. When I was in London, I'd often enjoy a pint or two of Carling accompanied by these crisps/chips. The only time I can get them now is when we go to Atlanta and stop by Harry's. Since Walker's is owned by Frito-Lay, I'd like to see them sell some of the UK flavors here.

Slippery Slope

I hope my iPad won't be a gateway drug to liberalism. Slim was warning me of the dangers of the Mac Cult this morning. And now I see this neat chart. The key: 58% of self-described Mac users are liberal. Hopefully, managing hundreds of Windows boxes will offset my experimentation.

Via Slashdot.org

Jobs.gov

"Government doesn't exist to be an employment agency."

Exactly.

Via No Silence Here.

Shootout in the Lake District

How's that for a sensational headline? Second runner-up, was "size matters."

The story in question is actually about a comparison of various antennas for the 2 meter band. The author lives in Cumbria, the Lake District in the UK. (My in-laws lived there and I managed to visit once. It is a very beautiful place.)

What I found most interesting is how poorly some of the antennas performed. You never want an "upgrade" that moves you in the wrong direction. G4ILO says the telescoping antennas are inexpensive. Sounds like they'd be worth having around for a doubling of effective power and their convenient form factor. It is amazing how the last three antennas can really make a huge difference in your performance. Hams always talk about investing in antennas over everything else and this really drives that lesson home.

Here is a summary... measurements are relative to the stock antenna and I've done some rounding.

- 2in. 144MHz stubby ................................................................. -5dB
- A-137 dual band stubby ............................................................ -5dB
- 2m Stubby Duck from Smiley Antenna ................................... -2dB
- 6in. 2m helical antenna (from a TH-205E HT) ......................... -1dB
- Nagoya NA-701 dual band BNC antenna ................................... +0dB
- 8in. 2m helical antenna ............................................................ +0dB
- Standard Yaesu VX-8GR antenna ............................................. +0dB
- Yaesu FT-817ND standard antenna ........................................ +1dB
- A quarter wave telescopic BNC whip (19in) .............................. +3dB
- Nagoya NA-767 (38in) ............................................................ +9dB
- Sharman RH-770 dual band antenna (Diamond RH-770 clone) ..... +10dB
- 45.5inch Black Whip (5/8 wave single band) .............................. +11dB

Public Service Announcement

We take a break from our normally scheduled programming for this PSA.

Dealing with Protected Protesters at a Serviceman's Funeral

As I said before, I understand the First Amendment cuts both ways and I am okay with that.

Sounds like some folks took matters in to their own hands to prevent the protesters from showing up to a Marine's funeral.

Most of the morons never made it out of their hotel parking lot. It seems that certain Rankin county pickup trucks were parked directly behind any car that had Kansas plates in the hotel parking lot and the drivers mysteriously disappeared until after the funeral was over.

Via Blackfive

Zebra Barcodes

Yawn. Scientists figure out Zebra barcodes.

They could have asked us. We've been doing it for years.

Via Slashdot.org

Christ’s Commando Raid on Hell

What are you doing this holiday week-end between Good Friday and Easter Day? I'm sure it cannot compare to what Christ did. I had not really thought about the time between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, but I saw this interesting article from the UMC.

There are several guesses about what may have happened - including Jesus going to hell as part of His whole earthly experience. If you believe He went to hell, then you might wonder what He did there... which leads us to Christ’s commando raid on hell:

"A whole mythology arose about Jesus rescuing people from the netherworld after the crucifixion. The Gospel of Nicodemus, which dates to the third century and did not make the Bible cut, offers a narrative of Jesus retrieving Adam and other Old Testament figures from Satan’s clutches."

One more mystery of faith. Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

Happy Easter!