Wednesday
Today was pretty lax. Except for the stress. Well, it was not really “stress.” It was more along the lines of “frustration.” I spent a few more hours trying to figure out why ‘Nine wouldn’t accept the printer installation when Defiant would. Even after flashing the BIOS and updating the chipset drivers, it wouldn’t work. So, I started looking for differences in the two systems’ configurations.

And found nothing.

So, I tried the installation.
Again.
It stalled.
Again.

I went to the Task Manager to kill the installation. That’s when I noticed that the “Audio HQ” program for my sound card was running. And it shouldn’t have been. So I killed it first. And that closed the printer installation.

*boggle*

Could it really be that easy?
Yep. It could.

I ran the installer again. Lo and behold, it ran. Without stalling. So, for the past two days, I’ve been fighting a rogue sound card problem. *sigh* But, the printer works. Beautifully.

This makes for a happy Rob.

News
Morning Edition: Heard Any Good Books Lately? An Industry Booms
Morning Edition: StoryCorps: A Father’s Memories of Auschwitz
Morning Edition: Evidence of Sex in Single-Celled Organism
Morning Edition: Razzies Fete Film’s Worst
Talk of the Nation: Spy and Tell: Ex-CIA Agents Write What They Know
Day to Day: Arranged Marriages Vie with Love in Modern India
Day to Day: Slate’s Examiner: ‘Dot Net’ Domain Up For Sale
All Things Considered: Roberto Juan Rodriguez Fuses Jewish, Afro-Cuban Music
Fresh Air: Classical Music: Dueling Handel Arias
Lost and Found Sound: Liberace and the Trinidad Tripoli Steelband

Stray Toasters

  • We received a “Thank you” card from Rana and John today. I called home to let the ‘rents know that it arrived. They had apparently spoken with the newlyweds yesterday; all seems to be well with them.
  • An asteroid has been named for the late Douglas Adams. Details here.
  • I watched Challenge of the Superfriends on Boomerang this afternoon. It was an episode with Solomon Grundy… and he spoke. He sounded like a backwoods hick. Straight out of Deliverance. And not a dead hick, either. Yep. Like he was just sitting on the Barcalounger with his 12-pack of Natty Light, waiting for the next NASCAR race to start. Hell, I half expected to hear the late Jackie Gleason pop in and reprise his role as Sheriff Buford T. Justice. Chalk this up as another reason that I appreciate Justice League Unlimited.
  • By way of : Asshats.
  • From Comics2Film’s DCG: Wonder Woman. Check out the rest of Albea’s work on his site.
  • From ThinkGeek comes… HTTPanties and ThinkGeek Monkey
  • Comic book legend Stan Lee did an interview on Fanboy Radio this weekend. If you’re interested in listening to it, just click here
  • Slashdot Poll: Video game you had the most dreams about?
  • According to National Geographic, scientists have created a chimera: part human, part animal. And, thank Heaven, Rob Schneider was nowhere near the lab.
  • High-Tech Spacesuits Eyed for ‘Extreme Exploration’
  • I’ve got a pocket full of Kryptonite a bag full of Peanut M&M’s.
    That’s right: “Pure milk chocolate joy in a candy shell.”

  • From the “Now, I think I’ve seen everything” file: Cum Kleen Personal Wipes
  • Celebriducks
  • Do you collect anything? It’s pretty well-know that I collect comic books and LEGO® (and Heroclix and Ravens paraphenalia and…). This lady collects swizzle sticks.
  • I didn’t know that Dr. Seuss had a nearly-banned book? It wasn’t actually banned, but this and I Was Kissed by a Seal at the Zoo have been taken out of print.
  • Death Jr’s Grim Future
  • From boingboing.net: How To: Kick someone’s ass with an umbrella
  • Even if you aren’a comics fan, you should take a look at this preview of The New Avengers. The writing on the last two pages – and the art on the last page’s inset – make it all worthwhile.
  • “You just need to come to grips with the fact that I’m one smooth operator.”

  • What’s the problem with laser swords? Ask these folks:

Quote of the Day
I taped last weekend’s episode of Teen Titans and JLU (that’s “Justice League Unlimited”, …), but I hadn’t gotten around to watching them until this evening. I don’t know what the problem was, but the feed to the VCR was horrid. Atrocious. Just plain bad. But, still watchable. I watched ‘Titans. I had noted earlier that someone had posted a copy of “The Once and Future Thing (Part One: Weird Western Tales),” last weekend’s episode, on Usenet. So, I downloaded and watched that.

In it, Wonder Woman, Batman and Green Lantern are swept into the animated DCU’s Wild West. They met up with old DC heroes Bat Lash, El Diablo (not the same gimp as on Superfriends), Ohiyesa “Pow Wow” Smith and Jonah Hex. It was fun. At the end of the episode, they wound up in the Batman Beyond timeline where they met up with members of that time period’s JLU: Batman (Terry McGuiness, from Batman Beyond), and older Static and Warhawk, that time’s “Hawkman.”

After Wonder Woman, GL and Batman arrive in the past, they are held up by three outlaws. After handily taking care of them, they realize that they can’t just walk around in 19th Century Oklahoma in their costumes:

Batman: We can’t go anywhere dressed like this.
Wonder Woman: No, we can’t.
They stare at the unconscious outlaws.
::: cut :::
Wonder Woman: These shoes are killing me.
Batman: You fight crime in high heels.
Wonder Woman: High heels that fit!
Green Lantern walks up, holding the third outlaw’s clothes.
Wonder Woman: Are you going to put those on, John?
Green Lantern: *sniffs at the clothes* Has the shower been invented yet? Somebody should tell this guy. *uses his ring to create suitable clothes*

While riding in search of the man who took over the town, using future technology:

Jonah Hex Fancy gun belt you got there. I’m thinkin’ you folks are time-travellers.
Batman: Where would you get a crazy idea like that?
Jonah Hex: Experience. I’ve had an interesting life.
Ohiyesa Smith: We’re getting close. I want to warn you: There some downright unusual activity going on here’bouts. Don’t let it throw you.
Green Lantern: Don’t worry about it. We’ve got plenty of experience with unusual…
A gunman flies overhead… riding a pteranodon.
Green Lantern: I’m sorry… you were saying?

And, the best quote of the night came just after the trio arrived in the future. They were met by Jokerz, a gang whose members dress up like The Joker… and the new JLU showed up to head off the gang:

Jokerz member: We’ve been expecting you.
Static: But I bet you weren’t expecting us.
Green Lantern: *recognizing the older Static* Static?! What’s going on?!
Warhawk: *looks at GL* Dad…?!
Green Lantern: *shock*
::: fade to black :::
To Be Continued.

Given the fact that Shayera Hol (Hawkgirl) has just come back to the Justice League (and to a good bit of hostility, to boot) and that GL is now dating Vixen, I can’t wait for this weekend’s episode to see how this turns out.

And with that…

Namaste.