“The combination of a ban on a year-ending tradition, a rough game called “jock ball”, an injured student and a few firecrackers has brought Xavier College to its knees.

The result – quasi-street warfare… “

Cool. It seems Mogadishu is now a suburb in the north east of Melbourne. Anyone happen to spot a downed Blackhawk somewhere near the intersection of Cotham Rd and Burke Rd? Perhaps the police might like to look for these guys for some answers:

I reckon the guy down the bottom might just be the “King of Xavier”…

A bit late I know, but still valid.Via

That said, if I hear Oz crap on one more time about how hot Sarah Palin is, I’m liable to bear arms. I mean dude, if you dig chicks with guns then check out ActionGirls, or failing that, do a search on GooTube.

Which brings me to the SNL skit featuring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Now I know that Oz has the hots for Tina Fey, but hey, who doesn’t. This is political satire at its most brilliant! Check it out…

If you are keen on getting a Palin into the White House, then you may want to check this out as well. Michael Palin (yes he of Monty Python) for President!!!

Kane Kramer, took out a worldwide patent in 1979 when he was in his late 20’s for a media player that looked (at a stretch) similar to today’s iPod. Kramer theorised that the concept player could store only 3.5 minutes of music using the day’s technology. He dubbed it the IXI and planned to expand its capacity as technology advanced.

Jobs and Co have acknowledged Kramer’s achievement only in that they used him as a witness and consultant after patent holding company Burst sued Apple, claiming the iPod infringed on its own patents. As Kramer registered the original patent in 1979 he was proved to be the iPod’s inventor and Burst’s case was found to be groundless.

To date Kramer has only been paid for his consultancy fees during the Burst court case. As he allowed the patent to expire in the 80s due to his lack of funds to renew it, Kramer now has no legal claim over the iPod patent.

Lets not forget that Leonardo Da Vinci invented the tank, the mechanical clock, the helicopter and the aeroplane long before the Wrights got fixed wing flying machines off the ground. The man was thinking way beyond his time, and there is no doubting that he was extraordinarily talented, but he didn’t build these contraptions. The technology of the time wasn’t as advanced as his ideas.

Taking something from a concept and making it real is the big achievement. I wonder who it was that said, if the technology isn’t there yet, perhaps we need to get it there.

Who builds the building blocks so that people can not just conceive these ideas, but actually realise them?

For example, who invented flash memory or the hard drive? These are the real pioneers.

- Steve Ballmer, CEO Microsoft

That was one month ago and I thought just maybe, 90% of the world’s computer users might have the chance of having a similar computer experience to my own. Three weeks later, $300mil to convince everyone that “Vista is cool” with the help of New York’s favourite Jew just doesn’t seem to instill a sense of hope.

“1. Invest in the right opportunities;”

- Steve Ballmer

Dear Steve,

Please go back and read the first point in your FY09 ‘Strategic Update’ then look at how much money you’re going to piss away. Be bold. Save your money and put it towards development for Windows 7, or whatever you want to call it. Let people know it will probably take a couple of years to develop. Ask them to be patient (like they haven’t already). Create just one complete user experience.

When you release your new OS, and here’s where you have to be brave, give each paid Vista user a free copy. A small token of appreciation for your users’ patience through difficult times. And then keep making it better. Perhaps then you can take the fight back to Apple in terms of quality, rather than brute weight of poor choice no choice numbers.

Think about it.

Yours sincerely,

Oz, GOD Landofoz

56%How Addicted to Apple Are You?

Funes, appointed by Benedidct XVI in 2006, said that the search for forms of extraterrestrial life does not contradict belief in God. “How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?” Funes said. “Just as we consider earthly creatures as ‘a brother,’ and ’sister,’ why should we not talk about an ‘extraterrestrial brother’? It would still be part of creation”. Funes said that such a notion “doesn’t contradict our faith” because aliens would still be God’s creatures. Ruling out the existence of aliens would be like “putting limits” on God’s creative freedom, he said. The Bible “is not a science book,” Funes said, adding that he believes the Big Bang theory is the most “reasonable” explanation for the creation of the universe. The theory says the universe began billions of years ago in the explosion of a single, super-dense point that contained all matter. He did say however, he continues to believe that “God is the creator of the universe and that we are not the result of chance”.

That said, as one blogger wrote, if extraterrestrials did in fact exist, they had better not be homosexual, or practice abortion.

Fr. José Gabriel Funes is Director of the Vatican Observatory, which has sites in Rome and in Arizona. Funes obtained his doctorate in Astronomy with the study of the kinematics of the ionized gas in the inner regions of 25 disk galaxies. Funes specializes in extragalactic astronomy. His field of research includes the kinematics and dynamics of disk galaxies, the star formation in the local universe, the relationship between gravitational interaction and galactic activity. I have no idea what any of that means, but it sounds bloody impressive.

Sources: BBC News, Shakesville, Catholic News Agency

To read the full interview/article in English, click here.

As you can see from the screenshots, the layout and interface are just awesome. What I love is the menu. A completely customised view of your Twitterverse is only a click away. And now, all happily located on my desktop for when I can’t be bothered dealing with the Touch’s smaller screen.

The thing that gets me is the highlighted disclaimer (I know you can’t read it, that’s why there’s a larger image). As if Starbucks are going to run out of coffee. ‘While stocks last’?