Boston shutdown

One of the more astonishing things to come out of the "Aqua Teen" promotion in Boston was the complete lack of awareness of the officials. As a Slashdot poster commented, how can someone confuse an IED with an LED? You could hand that to a first year electrical engineering student and he could make the determination immediately that this was not a bomb.

There are two forces at work:

1.) Newly formed security teams want to demonstrate how responsive they are.
2.) The local government is now embarrassed.

One of the prosecutors indicated that having batteries made this suspicious.

I think I recall that ... you know... um.. Energy is CONSERVED. I would be much more suspicious of a device that was providing light without being powered...perpetual motion here I come.

How the hell do you think it can light up!? It has to have power supplied. Of course, if you aren't thinking then I guess it makes sense.

You see mayor fat tongue/other drooling idiots of Boston, voltage is a measure of electric potential, and when there is path by which current can flow between the two potentials, we call this electric power. When the voltage applied to a Light Emitting Diode sufficient to overcome the forward voltage threshold, current flows and it, as its name suggest, emits light!

This is a perfect example of "Security Theater". The citizens have a right to be angry at the city shutdown, except it should not be directed at the two guys who hung these up, but at the staggering incompetence of their elected officials.

--Joey

Beer taste evolution

I was looking back over an old blog post before I started my JIRH blog:

Guess who got a letter read on Phil Hendrie Show? Yup you guessed it, me!

If you get a chance and are a backstage pass member check out the 3rd hour on Nov 11 2003 at the 20 minute mark. Or you can click here You could always IM me (aim) and I'll give you a copy.
If you want a transcript...

I sent the following letter to phs@philhendrieshow.com:

I heard you saying that dollar for dollar Heineken is the best beer you can get. I disagree, try Yuengling Traditional Lager. This stuff is bitchin and it's cheap. It is like Bud Light in terms of drinkability, but still has some flavor and it is smooth.

Great show!

--Joe

So anyway, he responds...

That's not what I call a recommendation man...it's like Bud Light in terms of drinkability...in other words its like water?...but still has some flavor? OH WOW! What your saying, basically, is that Heineken is expensive, I GET IT! I understand! It is worth it to me to pay the extra dollar. Why do you want to drink crap you guys? I have been telling you guys as long as you have been listening to this show about don't drink crap. Some of you cats are sinking your hard earned money into piss, excuse my language. Some body has got to tell you...

If you are going to pay the money man, don't let someone tell you something is quality when it ain't! Blah Blah Blah (blahs inserted by me)

-----------------

My response:

I was trying to make a comment about Bud Light being flavorless, thinking that would better my chances of getting the letter read. Yuengling is actually a fantastic beer. It is only 3.5% abv which allows you to have several without getting drunk. It also is flavorful but it isn't bitter unless it is badly skunked. This is the beer you should give to people that never have had beer before. On top of everything it is cheap! 8 bucks for a 12 pack is quite affordable for college students like myself :)

This is interesting for a number of reasons. One, Phil Hendrie is no longer on the air (he is still doing radio via a podcast. Two, Yuengling is not a fantastic beer, it is an acceptable beer. Three, the 3.5Abv is more like 5%. Four, now love "bitter" beers (iow, hoppy) but I thought I was liking hoppy beers almost immediately (let's put it this way, three months after that post I discovered Celebration and loved it) but I may have written that in the "this is what most people think" mindset. Not sure. Anyway...

--Joey