One of the reasons sited for termination was:

"Rick falls behind in responding to customer e-mails because he spends too much time watching youtube videos"

I was very offended so I made myself clear.

I said: "Scott (my boss), I haven't gone to youtube even once since I started working here. Go ahead and check the log."

Didn't want to work for them anyway. Pricks...

The Zombie Preparedness Initiative is a knowledge base provided by a community of citizens concerned about the impending zombie invasion and the imminent disaster that is sure to follow. We are not claiming to be experts on anything, we are merely doing what we can to gather knowledge and share the acquired information with the public. By doing this, we hope to help people prepare for the very real threat that we shall face when zombies show up and governments have not taken the time to prepare. We are working to do what we can to help people find others in their area that are interested in fighting against the zombies so that when the time comes there can be safe locations all around the world. We have recently moved to a new content management system, so if there are any problems with anything, please report it to the Site Admin.

At the Zombie Preparedness Initiative, we have a number of online items that can help you to communicate about surviving the zombie apocalypse. We have a full featured forum that you can visit where people can discuss ideas they have or ask questions of others about things they were wondering about. We have a number of articles and various special features, arranged by category, which you can view by clicking the categories up above to view the articles or features in each category. Some of the features include a group listing, where people can create groups and choose a "fallout" location to go to in case of a zombie invasion and some fiction that our members have written which can be viewed by going to the Community tab.

http://ww2.zombieinitiative.org

Once again, I forgot that it was my favorite time of year; which is the way I like it.

The winners of the Bulwer-Lytton and Lyttle-Lytton contests were announced again last month. This really is something I look forward to all year long.

Explanation from Wikipedia:

"The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest (BLFC) is a tongue-in-cheek contest that takes place annually and is sponsored by the English Department of San José State University in San Jose, California. Entrants are invited "to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels" — that is, deliberately bad. A prize of US$250 is awarded."


If you haven't seen these but like a good, obscure, and funny read, check them out.

http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/2009.htm or go here to read up first http://www.bulwer-lytton.com

This is the Lyttle: http://adamcadre.ac/lyttle.html

Call me crazy/disturbed but I like these so much that I'm not going to read them now. I'll actually print them off and wait until tonight when I can find a nice solitary spot to have a cup of coffee and a cigarette to read them.

It looks like it's going to be the perfect "dark and stormy night" here too.

He was a really great guy and I miss his witty, insightful commentary. I know that a few users had a problem with him but it was only the really crazy left-wacko liberals that were ever offended by any of his posts.

Besides, I really miss seeing that attractive picture of Rod Blagojavich everywhere.

I can't believe this has been going on my whole life and I'm only now waking up.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/09/19/ED7B19P06H.DTL

Let's be honest: work is boring. I need some flash games to get me through the conference calls.

I know the concept of a game section on The Sift has come up before but until that happens: what are YOUR favorite games?

Could this be the start of the X-Men?

Associated Press:

ROOSEVELT PARK, Mich. -- Liam Hoekstra was hanging upside down by his feet when he performed an inverted sit-up, his shirt falling away to expose rippled abdominal muscles.

It was a display of raw power one might expect to see from an Olympic gymnast.

Liam is 19 months old.

But this precocious, 22-pound boy with coffee-colored skin, curly hair and washboard abs is far from a typical toddler.

"He could do the iron cross when he was 5 months old," said his adoptive mother, Dana Hoekstra of Roosevelt Park. She was referring to a difficult gymnastics move in which a male athlete suspends himself by his arms between two hanging rings, forming the shape of a cross.

"I would hold him up by his hands and he would lift himself into an iron cross. That's when we were like, 'Whoa, this is weird,'" Hoekstra said.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070530/strong_toddler_070530?hub

I have to admit that although this whole thing scares me a little bit, at the same time I'm kind of excited to see what happens. I really hope that years from now we'll be looking back at this and saying: "you kids have no idea what the sift was like in my day. You're lucky you weren't around for the great siftacolypse!"

Incidentally: I just got my gold 100 in the middle of this mess. I'm logging off for the night but I'm definitely gonna be back to help sort this shit out in the morning. And I'm definitely going to become a paying member ASAP. Maybe it will help prevent this sort of shit from happening.

I love you all.

Sorry Lucky

Or even support a boycott in some cases?

I'm not sure what to make of this but it's pretty bizarre to read.

http://www.bis.doc.gov/complianceandenforcement/antiboycottcompliance.htm

And speaking of bizarre... try this one:

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=RYZK4P4SLMSIKQSNDLRSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=212700457&_requestid=138419

Remember this classic?:
http://www.videosift.com/video/NYPD-Ravages-Cyclist-in-Time-Square

A rookie cop has been indicted on charges of viciously knocking a cyclist off his bike during a Times Square demonstration last July, law enforcement sources said today.

Patrick Pogan, 22, the son of a highly respected New York City detective, was indicted last week on charges of assault and filing a false report in the July 25 attack on Christopher Long, 29, of Bloomfield, N.J., the sources said.

Pogan, who had been on the force only three weeks when the incident occurred, is expected to surrender today in Manhattan Criminal Court.

His lawyer, Stuart London, declined to comment.

Long's attorney, David Rankin, confirmed the indictment.

"We're obviously very excited that the district attorney has taken this matter seriously and chosen this course of action," he said.

Asked if Long planned to sue the NYPD or the city, the lawyer would only say, "We're anticipating doing further legal action," but did not elaborate.

Rankin said his client was on a bike trip from Florida to New Orleans and unavailable for comment.

Long was riding in the monthly "cyclist rights" protest held by the group Critical Mass when he was shoulder-tackled by Pogan, 22, who claimed the bicyclist was recklessly weaving in and out of traffic and creating a dangerous situation.

Long spent 26 hours behind bars on charges of attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct before a YouTube video showed Pogan viciously attacking the cyclist.

The cop was stripped of his badge and gun and placed on desk duty while Internal Affairs investigated charges of assault and filing a false report.

From the New York Post
By LARRY CELONA and ANDY GELLER

Guys (Americans, Whatever),

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the day prohibition was repealed here in America and I have to say that I'm shocked that a quick search of "repeal day" reveals only 3 videos on the subject. Of these videos, only two are about prohibition and neither has been voted up.

Judging from the past discussions I've seen here, there are at least a few of us here who appreciate our right to drink and I think we should all celebrate. Starting with this video that vinovin has so graciously and intelligently posted:

http://www.videosift.com/video/A-Toast-to-Repeal-Day-coming-this-Friday

... and ending by having at least one drink in the name of freedom. I for one am going to use this as an excuse to go out and get TANKED!

Cheers!

OK, correct me if I'm wrong. I don't have much time before my internet cuts out:

Aren't some same sex couples in California already married? Are their marriages just undone now that prop 8 has passed?

If that's the case and marriage is indeed sacred, doesn't that mean that people are saying that California's state laws are higher than gods laws? We can undo a sacred ritual cause we passed a law?

No, not that one.

I'm talking about the one that eat's REALLY SPICY food just to show how tough he is? As if not tasting your food at all is something to be aspired to?

Did you ever secretly wish it would be too much for him?

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/chef-dies-after-eating-super-hot-chilli/2008/09/30/1222651028585.html

I just want some opinions about this:

I've noticed a lot of comments with the election coming up in regard to "taxing the top 10%" and "the rich" getting "picked on" for one reason or another. Many people seem to think that wherever you are in life, in regard to your financial standing, that that's exactly where you put yourself. And that we should all pay the same amount to our government.

I see the reasoning behind that thinking. Don't get me wrong. To use a simple example: I don't want to work all day and think that the person next to me who is screwing off all the time is going to get the same thing I do on payday.

Still though, I have a problem with this opinion that everything we obtain in our lives is somehow based on our own skill and nothing else. A lot of the good and bad things in my life have seemingly come about by random chance. Call it the will of god if you want.

My questions (and I'll try to put them as simply as possible) are these:

Did the guy who made $10 million last year really do it because he worked one-thousand times times harder than the guy who only made $10 thousand? Is he really one-thousand times smarter? Is that even possible?

By that rationale, it stands to reason that if we were all born with the same IQ and the same physical capabilities, we would all make the exact same amount of money.

Look, I don't want to live in a Marxist society. But I do work my ass off and I'm smarter than the average bear. I think the people that made something of themselves by using the system in place should be giving something back. And I don't they're giving enough. At least, not here in America.

Do you? Any thoughts?

Try the Sarah Palin baby name generator and find out!

http://politsk.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah_13.html

Okay, I just updated flash player 9 from the Adobe site an hour ago and now no YouTube videos will play from The Sift. They play fine on YouTube and any other player works just fine here.

Is anyone else having this problem?

I've done everything I know how to do at this point to try and fix it.

It's not that I need VideoSift. I could stop coming here any time I want. I just like to watch YouTube embeds... from here...

SHUT UP!

I just realized that the Bulwer-Lytton contest winners were announced last month, along with the Lyttle Lyttons.

Explanation from Wikipedia:

"The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest (BLFC) is a tongue-in-cheek contest that takes place annually and is sponsored by the English Department of San José State University in San Jose, California. Entrants are invited "to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels" — that is, deliberately bad. A prize of US$250 is awarded."


If you haven't seen these but like a good, obscure, and funny read, check them out. I think I like the Lyttle Lytton even better than the original.

http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/
http://adamcadre.ac/lyttle.html

I had no idea.

This is a link to Orson Scott Card's latest rant about gay marriage and the supreme court. Feelings which I was blissfully ignorant of until this morning.

http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2004-02-15-1.html

I knew that Mr. Card is a Mormon. I have no problem with that. I respect his feelings on the constitution and the supreme court.

What's giving me chills is a response that is pretty much taking the words right out of my own head:

http://www.geekinthecity.com/rants/you_overthrow_t.php

"Ender's Game" was the first novel that I ever read. I read it when I was 9 years old and I've read it several times since. Whenever I get into a discussion with someone who hasn't read it but expresses an interest, I always go out and buy them a fresh copy.

Maybe I'm overeacting, I know. I think my favorite geek Rick Emerson said it best:

"Chills.
"When heroes go down," sang Suzanne Vega, "they go down fast."
Aaron "Geek in the City" Duran weighs in on the recent anti-gay-marriage comments made by celebrated author Orson Scott Card. Rarely have I seen a sense of deep betrayal put in such stark, emotional terms."

How did your Neat-o-Rama links not pick this up!?!

From the page linked below:
This machine, "Robokiyu the Rescue Robot," was originally designed to help remove rubble and trapped people from disaster zones. Until, that is, it was realized that the thing might be better suited to removing (and swallowing) those unfortunate people who had already died. So now if you get stuck in an earthquake in Japan, consider that not only may you die, but you may spend your last few minutes being eaten by this thing.

http://www.asylum.com/2008/07/30/weirdest-robots-ever-corpse-eater-bot/

OK, I know that not everybody is into him but I would like to hear some favorite George Carlin quotes. I'm not saying you have to pick your #1 of all time, that would be impossible for me but I've been sharing some with friends over e-mail and I'd like to hear yours.

Here's mine:

"The very existence of flamethrowers proves that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves, “You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done.”"