Day: March 3, 2008

The light-emitting diodes are coming!

At one point, it was the tallest building in the Greater Boston are, but now, the Old North Church is a historic structure. Best known as where the lanterns were held so Paul Revere could notify minutemen if the British were coming by land or sea, now the Old North Church is going green.

They are installing LEDs to light sections of the building. Yes, the building that once used candles to help change the course of American history is going for a more energy-efficient lighting method. The change is part of a series of upgrades to the facility, including Paul Revere will now ride through towns shouting “The British are coming!” while on a Segway.

This is the end … this is the end, my dial-up friend

Netscape Navigator, that 28.8 and 56K champion, died a sad and quiet death this past Saturday. It was unloved and unused for most of the past five years.

In its prime, Netscape was a browser chosen not for its proven ability and power, but for its visual design, making it the aesthetic winner of the mid-1990s, or as I like to call it, Web 0.7. If you ask them, many will remark that they haven’t used Netscape since their days in high school, running on that new Pentium-powered edition of Windows 95. I know that I can. A moment of silence, if you please …

… Now, if you’re not using Firefox, you’re a dummy. Get off of Internet Explorer already and get with the program, dumb-face.

Shot through the shoulder, and you’re to blame

Whatever happened to the old days of faking a sickness or saying a relative had died? Modern jobs apparently call for modern solutions when it comes to getting a day off. That’s why Daniel Kuch told his work that he had been shot in a drive-by shooting in order to avoid work.

The Guys encourage using these as excuses not to work:

  • Attacked by a polar bear. (This ties in well with the War on Animals and is a viable excuse.)
  • Dayquil fueled coma.
  • Had to travel across the country for a family emergency.

Cuddly? We’re afraid Knut

This blog has covered the ongoing saga of Knut, the bear cub that was raised by Berlin zookeepers after his mother decided it would be better if he died.

One year later, and his feeding habits have changed as evidenced by this new photo.  (We’re guessing this child’s mother reached the same conclusion about her own offspring that Knut’s mother did.)

What’s interesting is that animal rights activists finally agree with us: “it would be better for him to die.” (Note: this quote is completely in context.)

The McBournie Minute: I am past my prime

There was a time when I was a U.S. Olympic hopeful, my event: drinking. I would practice for hours and hours on an almost daily basis. I was good–really good. It didn’t matter if I practiced at home or at a bar. Often it was sometimes both. Nor did it matter what I and my teammates drank because we were pretty diverse in our tastes.

However, those days are over. Continue reading The McBournie Minute: I am past my prime