When I look around me, I see everyone going through so much shit to build and maintain their romantic relationships. Then, they go through even more shit when they break up. I'm baffled by why people feel the need for constant romance. I ask myself, "Don't these people know how much easier their lives would be if they were single?" Of course, they're all thinking, "That little prude doesn't know what he's missing."

You too can be a part of everyone's favorite fake cult.

The Church of the SubGenius

An interesting article that compares The Smurfs to a Marxist Utopia, points out some issues of sexism, and suggests that most Smurfs are homosexuals. It's funny and thought provoking.

Socio-political Smurfs

] Even though roads were clear of snow, sleet and ice
] Friday, schools around Georgia closed because of brutal
] cold.

Southerners are WEAK!!!

Georgia schools closed because its too cold...

The latest figures about the earth and it's population, updated in real-time. The numbers mean so much more when you see them change.

Worldometers

"Drinking is an odd thing. I mean, you go out, get shitfaced, have a great time, and party all night. Then you wake up, sore, tired, and wondering how you got home and where your clothes are. And you ask yourself with that little voice upstairs 'Goddamn, was it really worth it?'. Well, it must have been, dumbass, bceause we all know that you are just going to go out and do it again next weekend. And as you pick up that glass, that little voice in the back of your head is going to say 'Yeah, it was.'"
- Dale J. Clark, II

©2003 Dale J. Clark, II - Used with permission.

Here's another absolutely hilarious Strongbad email.
So cool an email, I thought you would enjoy it.

Strongbad's Email: Japanese Cartoon

From John Watkinson, The Art of Digital Audio, 2nd edition, pg. 104:

In the early days of digital audio research, the necessary bandwidth of about 1 Mbps per audio channel was difficult to store. Disk drives had the bandwidth but not the capacity for long recording time, so attention turned to video recorders. These were adapted to store audio samples by creating a pseudo-video waveform which would convey binary as black and white levels. The sampling rate of such a system is constrained to relate simply to the field rate and field structure of the television standard used, so that an integer number of samples can be stored on each usable TV line in the field. Such a recording can be made on a monochrome recorder, and these recording are made in two standards, 525 lines at 60 Hz and 625 lines at 50 Hz. Thus it is possible to find a frequency which is a common multiple of the two and is also suitable for use as a sampling rate.

The allowable sampling rates in a pseudo-video system can be deduced by multiplying the field rate by the number of active lines in a field (blanking lines cannot be used) and again by the number of samples in a line. By careful choice of parameters it is possible to use either 525/60 or 625/50 video with a sampling rate of 44.1KHz.

In 60 Hz video, there are 35 blanked lines, leaving 490 lines per frame or 245 lines per field, so the sampling rate is given by :

60 X 245 X 3 = 44.1 KHz

In 50 Hz video, there are 37 lines of blanking, leaving 588 active lines per frame, or 294 per field, so the same sampling rate is given by

50 X 294 X3 = 44.1 Khz.

The sampling rate of 44.1 KHz came to be that of the Compact Disc. Even though CD has no video circuitry, the equipment used to make CD masters is video based and determines the sampling rate.
--
Just in case you actually wanted to know. Right. Didn't think so.

44100 Explained

Here's a twisted little something for all you Lord of the Rings fans.

~*~ Secret Diaries ~*~

Hey all you phone phreaks, here's a great way to track down the location of central offices. Just punch in the area code and exchange and get a map. (OK, it may be off by a block or two.)

MapQuest: Maps: Area Code