Let's try this again...

Ok, I posted all of this earlier, and then violated my own rule on spell checking -- always cut and paste the HTML into notepad before letting Blogger do anything. Here's another attempt at boring you all with the crap I've been wasting time with on the Internet lately.

• 50's and 60's style comics PSA comics -- These cover a very wide subject area, from heroin addiction to dairy farming. This is the same site Mikey linked to earlier with the A.A. comics. The link originally came from IN4MADOR, a delightful little site which periodically posts interesting things and has a web address which reads like a personalized license plate. I love the prevailing message of a lot of the A.A. comics: just pretend like nothing's wrong, and you'll be fine! No, Billy...Daddy drinks because he's sick. He doesn't get help for his sickness because he doesn't love you.
  
• Drive on the Dulles Toll Road for free -- You probably think there's some kind of scam contained in that link. No, it's just an article about how the only way to get busted for running a toll is to do it in front of a cop. Or to have a toll booth operator take down your plate info and turn you in. Assuming they even see you do it. Not likely. Looks like it's back into the static bag for my EZ-Pass. Thanks to Fark for the non Washington Post link.
  
• Illegal immigrants get in-state California tuition -- This article is about a class action lawsuit being brought against CA by out of state students. Apparently you're better off not being a citizen (or a resident, even) of the country than you are being from any of the other 49 states. I find this absolutely absurd, and I hope these guys win. Thanks again to Fark for the link.
  
• A great way to waste time and drive yourself nuts -- This picture apparently has 74 band names represented one way or another. Mat and I managed to come up with 74 names, but when we submitted our answers it said we only got 52 right. Not sure what that's about. Either way, it's a pretty cool pic. Sorry for the adds and the really slow site (on my machine, anyway). Direct link to most of the pic here. Unfortunately, part of it is cut off on the left.
  
• Speaking of wasting time, Samorost and Samorost2 -- Save gnome guy from certain death, then help him get his dog back from aliens. A Myst type puzzle game with great graphics and sound. Too bad you have to pay for the second chapter of the second game.
• Childsplay approaches half a million dollars -- The boys over at Penny Arcade have outdone themselves this year. Some people love them, some people hate them, some people just don't get any of their jokes. No matter which of those categories you fit into, it's hard to argue with giving a ton of money and toys to sick kids.
  

There you have it. Enjoy, rinse, repeat.

ANGER

Turns out Blogger's auto-save feature is just as useless as its spell check. That was a good post, too. Maybe I'll resurrect it later if I'm feeling ambitious.

For Tourists!

I was in my car the other day, and a thought randomly popped into my head: what would I do if Simon Gruber called and told me that if I didn't put exactly 4 gallons of water into a jug and put it on a scale within a predetermined amount of time, a bomb would go off and innocent people would die? Mr. Gruber has been kind enough to leave me with a 3 gallon jug, a 5 gallon jug and a limitless supply of water. This is a question which torments my very soul me every time I see Die Hard: With a Vengeance. Every time I see that movie, I have to figure out again how Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson solve that problem. Even as they're doing it right in front of me, I have to pause the DVD and figure it out for myself. So I'm doing myself the service if writing it down here, for the whole world to see. You're welcome.

1. Fill the 5 gallon jug exactly to the top
2. Fill the 3 gallon jug exactly to the top, using the water you just put into the 5 gallon jug.
3. Dump the water out of the 3 gallon jug, leaving exactly 2 gallons in the 5 gallon jug.
4. Pour the 2 gallons from the 5 gallon jug to the 3 gallon jug, leaving exactly 1 gallon of air in the 3 gallon jug.
5. Fill the 5 gallon jug exactly to the top.
6. Fill the 3 gallon jug the rest of the way to the top using water from the 5 gallon jug. This will leave exactly 4 gallons in the 5 gallon jug.
7. With less than 3 seconds left on the timer (for dramatic effect) place the jug on the scale. You've stopped the bomb and saved countless lives.
8. Consider yourself a hero.