sudoku (060131)

sudoku (060131)

I hope your Monday wasn't too harsh. If it was, then cheer up, for today is Tuesday; the weekend is that much closer. Also, Tuesdays are the days that I publish an easy sudoku.

The rules of sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided up into nine 3 by 3 blocks. In each row, column, and 3x3 block, the numbers 1 through 9 each get written exactly once. The puzzle board generally starts with 18 to 36 of the cells in the grid already filled in. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

You can either solve this on paper (by printing out the GIF or copying it by hand) or solve it on your computer. If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. I will be posting the solution in a few days.

If you want more sudokus, you can find them here.

Update: Sandlady posted the correct solution here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

One Hundred

One Hundred

Today, I added the one hundredth blog to the Space Blogroll: Orlando Sentinel staffer Michael Cabbage's The Write Stuff.

I'm pretty sure there are more space blogs out there, so if anyone knows of any that I have missed, please post a link in the comments.

Technorati Tags: Space, Blog

20 years ago

20 years ago

I was spending my lunch hour in the school's computer lab, happily programming away on a shiny new Apple IIe. I vaguely recall a ghetto blaster playing some music, probably something from John Cougar or The Cars or The Police. It was a typical winter lunch hour for me in high school. Around me in the computer lab were a half dozen or so other computer geeks, each of us programming or playing Zork or some other activity that computer geeks did in January of 86.

And then a buddy of mine came into the computer lab, and said, "Hey! the Shuttle just blew up".

I remember my words: "Yeah right, fuck you, you're so full of shit." It was a joke; it had to be. But, he protested: no really, it's all over the news, there's video of it on CNN.
And we all just sat there, kind of stunned. The Shuttle blew up? How could this be? This was NASA we were talking about here: this was NASA, who had put men on the moon when myself and the kids around me had been in diapers. This was a space shuttle, the most advanced machine ever assembled.

How could it all go so wrong?

There was an inquiry, of course; it turned out that there were no lessons learned from the shuttle disaster that were not already known beforehand. Seventeen years later, NASA would have to be subjected to those exact same painful lessons all over again when the Columbia disintegrated over Texas.

That painful lesson will be repeated over and over again, until NASA figures it out: that just because they have many smart people working there, they are not so smart that they cannot learn from others, nor are they so smart that they can fool the harsh realities of engineering into succumbing to the cleverness of management.

Update: more from Astroprof, Brian Dunbar, Tales of the Heliosphere, Rand Simberg, and a twofer from Mark Whittington here and here.

Technorati Tags: NASA, Space Shuttle, History

no kidding

no kidding

Yay, yet another quiz. I remember taking a quiz like this in grade 12, and it didn't really help out all that much. Looking back, this one actually would have helped a lot. What is your perfect university major?

You scored as Mathematics. You should be a Math major! Like Pythagoras, you are analytical, rational, and when are always ready to tackle the problem head-on! Mathematics 100% Engineering 100% Philosophy 100% Chemistry 92% Psychology 92% Theater 75% English 75% Art 75% Journalism 67% Linguistics 67% Biology 58% Dance 42% Sociology 33% Anthropology 33% What is your Perfect Major? (PLEASE RATE ME!!<3) created with QuizFarm.com

sudoku (060128)

sudoku (060128)

Here we go again, another Saturday, another Monster Sudoku. I have noticed that nobody ever posts a solution to one of my monster sudokus, so this time instead of posting the solution on Tuesday, I will hold off on posting the solution; if nobody gets it by next Saturday, then that's when I will post the solution.

The rules of Monster Sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 16 by 16 grid, which is further divided up into sixteen 4 by 4 blocks. In each row, column, and 4x4 block, the letters A through P each get written exactly once. There is only one solution. If the letters are a little too small for you, click on the image to bring up a large version. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

To solve this puzzle, I suggest first saving the GIF on your computer. Then print it out (or copy it out on graph paper) and solve it in pencil (or in pen if you're feeling bold). If you don't feel like using paper, then solve it using a graphics editor such as Microsoft Paint.

If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. The first person who posts the correct solution wins a prize: a permalink on my blogroll and a graphic declaring him or her to be the Monster Sudoku Champion, which can be displayed on their own blog.

Update: Ashley (Matt of BoyRUAGeek's daughter) got this one; the solution is posted here (and it looks like she did it in pen, brave girl!). Matt, does Ashley have a blog? If so, then I will send her a graphic declaring her Monster Sudoku Champion and add her to my blogroll; otherwise Matt, I'll send you a graphic that you can put on your blog saying "My daughter is the Monster Sudoku Champion!" or something like that.

Previous monster sudokus can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

the New Voyages

the New Voyages

My mom is going to love this.

Fans of the original Star Trek TV series are rabid. If you haven't been living under a rock for the last 35 years, then you already know of the progression of Star Trek from cult following, to conventions, to comic books and animated series, to a string of movies starring the original cast, and then the Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager series, and then yet more movies.

Then in 2003 James Marshall and James Cawley, obviously rabid fans themselves, along with a whole bunch of other Trekkers decided to bring the original series back to life, and started production of the New Voyages of Star Trek. This is what the original series would have looked like, had there been a fourth and/or fifth season.

They have recreated many of the sets, and reprised the characters. All of the characters we know so well from the original series are here, played by different actors. Cawley himself plays Captain James T. Kirk, and he captures Shatner's characteristic swagger, facial expressions, and mannerisms remarkably well (he's a little over the top sometimes, but then so was Shatner). Jeff Quinn is totally believable as Spock. Although some of the rest of the cast have a few rough edges, it looks like they all took the challenge of reprising these roles seriously, and poured their hearts into making it work.

This is a loving homage to the original series. The stories are compelling, comparable in quality to those of the original series. They've also extended the character arcs somewhat - for instance, Yeoman Rand is now Lieutenant Rand. The special effects are much better. The direction, makeup, camera work, and in particular the editing are top-notch. They've even kept many of the same sound effects and the background music, which fans of the original series will appreciate, and have stayed true to the original series in other ways as well - the Klingons look exactly as they did in the original series, rather than the lumpy-headed guys from subsequent series.

Some of the main people behind the original series have also chipped in on the effort, notably Walter Koenig (Chekov) and writer D.C. Fontana, and Gene Roddenberry Jr. has signed on as a Consulting Producer. William Windom reprised his role as Admiral Decker, bringing some closure to that character's storyline, and there have also been appearances by Barbara Luna and Malachi Throne. Apparently they have also brought George Takei (Sulu), Grace Lee Whitney (Rand) and original series writer David Gerrold on board.

It is amazing what this group has been able to put together on a shoestring budget; they're not even getting any money for it, but it looks like they had a ball doing it. They produce about two of the New Voyages episodes per year. The first two episodes can be found on Google Video, here:

Come What May (pilot): teaser(part 0) part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4

In Harm's Way (episode 1): part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5

Apparently the D.C. Fontana-written "To Serve All My Days" episode starring Walter Koenig will be released on the web in March, 2006. I'm looking forward to it.

Technorati Tags: Science Fiction, Video

a new moon race

a new moon race

Russia is looking to establish a moon base by 2015 and to begin industrial-scale mining operations for Helium-3 by 2020.

Technorati Tags: Space, Moon

sudoku (060126)

sudoku (060126)

Welcome to Thursday, and this week's medium-hard sudoku.

The rules of sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided up into nine 3 by 3 blocks. In each row, column, and 3x3 block, the numbers 1 through 9 each get written exactly once. The puzzle board generally starts with 18 to 30 of the cells in the grid already filled in. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

You can either solve this on paper (by printing out the GIF or copying it by hand) or solve it on your computer. If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. I will be posting the solution in a few days.

If you are yearning for more sudokus, you can find them here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

which sports car are you?

which sports car are you?

I'm a Chevrolet Corvette!

You're a classic - powerful, athletic, and competitive. You're all about winning the race and getting the job done. While you have a practical everyday side, you get wild when anyone pushes your pedal. You hate to lose, but you hardly ever do.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Update: So is Mark Whittington.

dusk for Dawn

dusk for Dawn

The Dawn mission to Ceres and Vesta was supposed to cost only $300 million when it was approved back in December of 2001. Since then, launch costs have risen, and NASA had approved an additional $71 million as a hard upper limit. Now, with word that some problems may force the cost to be another $40 million more, the Dawn mission is in danger of being cancelled altogether.

As NASA is a government operation, all that will come of this is "oops - sorry". If NASA was a private corporation, then several hundred people would be fired and some of them would be facing criminal prosecution for fraud.

There is only one way to prevent this sort of cost overrun from happening. If NASA wants a mission to Ceres and Vesta, then they should put out a list of mission parameters (such as the resolution of images and resolution of laser altimeter data), figure out how much they are willing to spend for that data, and then offer that money as a prize to the first company that can deliver. NASA would pay the $300 million only on delivery of the data. There would be no cost overrun; private companies would either deliver the data or they would get nothing. If NASA wanted a resolution of 1 pixel = 50 meters and a company delivered a resolution of 1 pixel = 60 meters, then they would get nothing. The total prize could even be broken up: $50 million for 1 pixel = 50 meter resolution pictures of Ceres, $50 million for 1 pixel = 50 meter resolution for Vesta, $50 million for 1 meter resolution laser altimeter readings of Ceres and so on.

Instead, NASA has spent their whole budget for the Dawn mission and achieved nothing.

Technorati Tags: Space, Asteroids, NASA

sudoku (060124)

sudoku (060124)

Welcome to Tuesday, and this week's easy sudoku.

The rules of sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided up into nine 3 by 3 blocks. In each row, column, and 3x3 block, the numbers 1 through 9 each get written exactly once. The puzzle board generally starts with 18 to 30 of the cells in the grid already filled in. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

You can either solve this on paper (by printing out the GIF or copying it by hand) or solve it on your computer. If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. I will be posting the solution in a few days.

If you are yearning for more sudoku-y puzzlification, you can find it here.

Update: Bonfire posted the correct solution, here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

gag this

gag this

Andrew Coyne has decided to shut down the comments on his blog from 7pm to 10pm EST so that he doesn't run afoul of Canadian election gag laws.

Me, I don't give a damn. If anyone wants to post early returns in the comments, go right ahead. Ed Morrisey of Captain's Quarters will also be posting results throughout the night.

Update 920pm EST: Sailor Republica reports the results so far: Nfld L4, C3; NB L5, C4, N1; PEI L4; NS L4, 2C, 2N, 3 Undecided.

Also, it looks like Surly Beaver and Captain's Quarters are overloaded and down for the count.

News blackouts lift for most of the country in about 40 minutes

Update 2, 10pm EST: The news blackouts have started to lift. CPAC is carrying streaming coverage.

Technorati Tags: Politics, Canada

pre-mortem

pre-mortem

The Canadian election campaign is all over but for the voting, which is going on right now. If the polls are to be believed (and I for one do not believe them), then the Conservative party is on its way to forming a minority government, with an outside chance at a majority.

If the polls are right, then when historians look back on the 2005/06 campaign, they will see several events that changed the course of the campaign; all of these were negatives for the Liberals. First, there was Prime Ministerial aide Scott Reid's comments about the Conservative plan to give $1200 per year to parents for every child under the age of six, to assist with childcare. Reid mocked the plan, saying Canadian parents would waste the money on beer and popcorn. Reid has been curiously absent from the remainder of the campaign.

The next major event was in late December, when the RCMP announced an investigation into the Finance department over a series of large trades immediately prior to Finance Minister Ralph Goodale's announcement on income trusts. This reinforced the image of corruption within the Liberal party.

The third major event, and probably the one which did the most harm to the Liberals, was a series of 12 ads attacking the Conservative party. Had there only been 11 of the ads, which focused on painting Conservative leader Stephen Harper as a scary, extreme, right-wing ideologue beholden to George Bush, then they might have worked. It was the 12th ad however, which suggested that a Prime Minister Harper would impose martial law in Canadian cities, that may have been the final nail in the coffin for the Liberals. Average Canadians hold the understaffed, underequipped military in high esteem, and this ad was so over-the-top that when it appeared on the Liberal party website it caused an uproar across the country, largely due to the efforts of the blogosphere and later CTV, which kept all the ads on their own webpage. To make matters worse, the ads were all done in the same style, with a picture of Harper slowly coming into focus, accompanied by ominous drum music and stilted sentence fragments; the Soldiers ad ended with a sentence that is ripe for mockery, straight out of Dave Barry: "We are not making this up". As a result, the other 11 ads reminded everyone of the 12th ad. These ads were also ripe for parody.

Will these things be enough to put the Liberals out to pasture? I'd like to think so, but I doubt it. We'll find out tonight when the polls close.

Technorati Tags: Politics, Canada

paul martin looks for a new career

paul martin looks for a new career

Found in the bargain bin at WalMart:


Technorati Tags: Politics, Canada, Humor

with enemies like these...

with enemies like these...

Canada's most prolific mass-murderer of all time, Dr. Henry Morgentaler, urged Canadians to vote against the Conservative Party.

Dr. Morgentaler and his supporters say they are not endorsing a party. "The New Democratic Party is about 95 per cent pro-choice," Dr. Morgentaler said. "So it would be terrible if out of disgruntlement with the Liberal Party people voted . . . for a reactionary party."

Dr. Morgentaler personally performed thousands of abortions, including 5000 before 1973. He currently makes about 11 million dollars a year from his abortion clinics.

It is due in large part to the efforts of Morgentaler, in particular the 1988 supreme court case Morgentaler versus Her Majesty The Queen, that Canada has no abortion law. None at all. If a woman is due for a ceasarian section tomorrow, she can have an abortion today. As long as a child still has one toe in the birth canal, it may be murdered with no legal repercussions.

Technorati Tags: Politics, Canada, Abortion

sudoku (060121)

sudoku (060121)

It's Saturday, so it's time for this week's hard sudoku.

The rules of sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided up into nine 3 by 3 blocks. In each row, column, and 3x3 block, the numbers 1 through 9 each get written exactly once. The puzzle board generally starts with 18 to 30 of the cells in the grid already filled in. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

You can either solve this on paper (by printing out the GIF or copying it by hand) or solve it on your computer. If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. I will be posting the solution in a few days.

If you are yearning for more sudoku-y puzzlification, you can find it here.

Update: Bonfire posted the correct solution, here.

Also, I realize that I had said I'd be doing 16x16 monster sudokus on Saturdays, but I got lazy last night. Next Saturday I will post another 16x16 sudoku.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

what's next?

what's next?

Maybe this is why the Liberals think they have a chance in this election.

Technorati Tags: Politics, Canada

Be careful what you wish for

Be careful what you wish for

Canadian Auto Worker's president Buzz Hargrove has been accompanying Liberal Leader Paul Martin around the country, striking fear into the hearts of Canadian voters with the spectre of the scary Albertans:

"His sense," said Hargrove about Harper, "is about Alberta, where the wealth in Alberta, everyone recognizes, is much greater than it is anywhere in Canada," he said.

"The principles that (Harper's) brought up with, and believes in coming out of there, don't sit well with the rest of Canada."

The Halifax Chronicle-Herald is afraid of a party whose leader is from Alberta:

Nova Scotians can’t trust Peter MacKay to look after their interests in a Conservative government, says Paul Martin, because scary right-wing Albertans will be running the show.

You think we're scary now? Just wait and see what happens if Ontario leads the Liberal party to victory. From M.K.Braaten:

...if central Canadians vote this Liberal government back into power, notwitsthanding their blatant corruption and abuse of power, not because of their disastrous campaign or lack of coherent policies, but because the baseless smears thought up by the Liberal campaign, then my faith in this country will be greatly diminished. Monday could turn out to be a divisive day for many Canadians, including myself.

And this from Colby Cosh:

Stephen Harper's recent career has been, among other things, a desperate act of faith in national politics on behalf of Albertans. The Buzz Hargroves of the world have spawned an incalculable amount of pub-stool separatism here. It would be the work of an afternoon to find ten men with eight- and nine-figure fortunes who were willing to back an earnest separatist movement with a dynamic leader. Unlike Quebeckers, who dream poetically of unmaking Confederation but perhaps recognize the impracticality of the final step, we are people who want to stay put but realize that all the logic and incentives are increasingly on the other side. We grow frustrated when we seek for the exact moment that our individualist, democratic, pro-enterprise principles became un-Canadian. We ignore an ever-growing tide of insults and caricatures. Those of us who still fly the Maple Leaf, or indulge in other gestures of love for country, try not to feel stupid for doing so.

Ontario, choose your Canada: either one with the Liberals in power or one with Alberta as a province. I'm confident that Ontarians will panic and flee to the bosom of the Liberal party, and that the Liberal sweep of Ontario will give the Liberals a majority government.

If not, then the Conservatives will form the next government of Canada. Either way, Albertans will be engaged in the process of nation-building; which nation is built is now up to Ontario.

Update: more from seanblog, Waking Up on Planet X, Catprint in the Mash, and (holy cow!) from Calgary Grit.

Technorati Tags: Politics, Canada

eminent domain outrage

eminent domain outrage

If you thought the Kelo decision was bad, get a load of this. $1 for 105 acres. This is obscene.

(h/t Rhymes With Right)

Technorati Tags: Politics, Kelo, Law, Eminent Domain

Dear Abby:

Dear Abby:

(found in the comments at andrewcoyne.com):

I am a crack dealer in East Vancouver who has recently been diagnosed as a carrier of the HIV virus. One of my sisters, who lives in Cloverdale, is married to a transvestite.

My father and mother have recently been arrested for growing and selling marijuana and are currently dependent on my other two sisters who are prostitutes in Surrey.

I have two brothers. One is currently serving a non-parole life sentence in Kingston for murder of a teenage boy in 1994. My younger brother is currently being held in the Wellington Remand Center on charges of neglecting his three children.

I have recently become engaged to a former Thai prostitute who is still a part-time "working girl." Her time there is limited, however, as we are working to open our own brothel with her as the manager.

My problem, of course, is this: I love my fiancee and want to be totally honest with her. But should I tell her about my cousin who voted Liberal?

Sincerely,
Ashamed in East Van

Technorati Tags: Politics, Canada, Humor

sudoku (060119)

sudoku (060119)

Well, it's Thursday once again, so it's time for a medium-difficulty sudoku.

The rules of sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided up into nine 3 by 3 blocks. In each row, column, and 3x3 block, the numbers 1 through 9 each get written exactly once. The puzzle board generally starts with 18 to 30 of the cells in the grid already filled in. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

You can either solve this on paper (by printing out the GIF or copying it by hand) or solve it on your computer. If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. I will be posting the solution in a few days.

If you are yearning for more sudoku-y puzzlification, you can find it here.

Update: Eddie's girl has the correct solution, here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

bloggers under attack

bloggers under attack

The Blogging Tories have been placed under the eye of the Canadian Chief Electoral Officer. The reason for this is that Carol Jamieson, a disaffected Toronto Tory, is mad that Stephen Harper is leading the Conservative Party (she was at the head of the 5-person Dump Harper "movement"), and so she is now seeking to silence Conservative supporters, using the Canada Elections Act as a cudgel.

This Act states that no third-party organization can spend more than $150000 nationally or $3000 in a single constituency in order to attempt to affect the outcome of the election.

To this, I call Bullshit. (sorry for the blue language, mom) None of the Blogging Tories are paid by the Conservative party to run their blogs. There's this little thing called Google, see, which lets anyone run blogs for free.

I am not a member of the Blogging Tories, though not due to a lack of interest on my part. The Blogging Tories are in the main a link-fest between like-minded bloggers, much like the Life Liberty Property group or Red Ensign group or Space Bloggers group which adorn my sidebar. The only reason that the Blogging Tories do not also adorn my sidebar is that my political philosophy does not mesh with theirs completely, due to my support for Alberta separatism.

It is because I am an Alberta separatist that I have been urging Ontario voters to vote Liberal, as a way of strengthening the separatist movement. If Elections Canada decides to go after the Blogging Tories, then they damn well better come after me as well. And the Progressive Bloggers and the Liblogs while they're at it.

You can have my keyboard when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

There is more reaction from Conservative Canadienne, Rootleweb, Angry in the Great White North, and small dead animals.

Update: here's more reaction straight from the horse's mouth, from Stephen Taylor.

Technorati Tags: Politics, Canada, Blog

Ann Coulter nude photos

Ann Coulter nude photos

Looking for nude pictures of that conservative vixen Ann Coulter? Want to see Ann Coulter naked?

Well, I don't have any nude photos of Ann Coulter. I just posted this so that I can use Extreme Tracker to find out how many people come to my site looking for nude photos of Ann Coulter. You sick puppies.

Update, January 19th, 1030pm: I had 94 hits so far today. Check this out (click on the image for a larger version):

Technorati Tags: Humor

sudoku (060117)

sudoku (060117)

Welcome to Tuesday, and time once again for another nice, easy sudoku.

The rules of sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided up into nine 3 by 3 blocks. In each row, column, and 3x3 block, the numbers 1 through 9 each get written exactly once. The puzzle board generally starts with 18 to 30 of the cells in the grid already filled in. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

You can either solve this on paper (by printing out the GIF or copying it by hand) or solve it on your computer. If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. I will be posting the solution in a few days.

Update: dreamlover posted the solution here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

a very special birthday

a very special birthday

... and I missed it. The December 15th, 2005 marked the 50th anniversary of the first artificial intelligence program. Owing to the rarity of computers back in the mid-50s, it was not until eight months later that the program was successfully run on a computer, the JOHNNIAC belonging to the Rand Corporation.

Although they are both gone now, I owe a debt of gratitude to Herbert A. Simon and Allen Newell for writing the Logic Theorist program. A third of my life has been devoted to expanding on the knowledge in the field they created over the Christmas holidays of 1955. Thanks, guys.

Technorati Tags: History, Computers

stardust

stardust

I just watched the Stardust mission reenter the earth's atmosphere and land in Utah, listening to the commentary and watching NASA TV for the last hour or so. Why is it that whenever NASA has one of these triumphs, that it is always JPL and not NASA as a whole? And it was a triumph for Lockheed Martin, which built the capsule (imagine a parachute that works perfectly seven years after being packed, on a spacecraft that reentered the earth's atmosphere at 48 thousand miles an hour).

I swear, if NASA was reduced to the guys who run the Hubble, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, JPL, and NASA's web presence, and all the rest of NASA was shut down, nobody would be able to tell the difference. Sure, they wouldn't have a manned capability into space, but that's been the case since February 2003 except for a two week period last year anyhow.

Technorati Tags: Space, JPL, NASA

sudoku (060114)

sudoku (060114)

Well, it's Saturday once again, so it's time for another tough sudoku. Today's sudoku is a 16 by 16 monster sudoku. It's been a while since I put one of these together; I had forgotten how long these take to make up. I will probably only do one of these monsters per week.

The rules of Monster Sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 16 by 16 grid, which is further divided up into sixteen 4 by 4 blocks. In each row, column, and 4x4 block, the letters A through P each get written exactly once. There is only one solution. If the letters are a little too small for you, click on the image to bring up a large version. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

To solve this puzzle, I suggest first saving the GIF on your computer. Then print it out (or copy it out on graph paper) and solve it in pencil (or in pen if you're feeling bold). If you don't feel like using paper, then solve it using a graphics editor such as Microsoft Paint.

If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. I will post the solution in two or three days.

Update: the solution is here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

Elementary

Elementary

Celestial Junk Blog channels Arthur Conan Doyle: what if Sherlock Holmes visited Canada during this election?

Technorati Tags: Politics, Canada, Humor

sliding down the slippery slope

sliding down the slippery slope

When bill C-38 was passed into law, allowing same-sex marriage in Canada, I asked around at several blogs: now that the definition of marriage had changed from "... two people of opposite gender..." to just "...two people..." what was to prevent any of the other words from being changed? Why only two people? Why just people? How about siblings? How about with little children?

I summarized this set of questions at this post back in July. I did get one response that would seem to prevent bestiality and pedophilia, the issue of consent (children and animals cannot legally give consent to marriage), but the arguments against allowing polygamy boiled down to this comment:

As for polygamy, I think there are a whole host of legal complications involved in making the marriage contract extend to more than two people that just make it impractical; not to mention the problem of all those underage Mormon fundamentalist brides (see informed consent above).

Conservatives lose on this issue because they really just don't get it. Stupid "slippery slope" arguments about bestiality and paedophilia just prove that point.

Well, so much for that idea.

Now, can someone please explain to me why the slippery slope argument is "stupid"? Because it looks to me like it is, in fact, correct.

(hat tip to Kate at small dead animals)

Technorati Tags: Politics, Canada, Law, Same-sex Marriage

sudoku (060112)

sudoku (060112)

I decided to do one more 9 by 9 sudoku before I switch over to creating only 16 by 16 monster sudokus.

The rules of sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided up into nine 3 by 3 blocks. In each row, column, and 3x3 block, the numbers 1 through 9 each get written exactly once. The puzzle board generally starts with 18 to 30 of the cells in the grid already filled in. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

You can either solve this on paper (by printing out the GIF or copying it by hand) or solve it on your computer. If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. I will be posting the solution in a few days.

If you are yearning for more sudoku-y puzzlification, you can find it here.

Update: the solution is here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

going negative

going negative

Yesterday, the Liberal Party of Canada released a series of twelve ads on their website, designed to frighten voters away from the Conservative party. One of the ads in particular brought a lot of negative attention to the Liberal Party: an ad that while trying to scare Canadians about the Conservatives' plan for the military managed to paint the Canadian Armed Forces as a bunch of jackbooted thugs straight out of Pinochet's Chile.

Here's the text of the ad (to see it for yourself, click on the link and scroll down to "Liberal attack ad about Harper and military presence 0:30"):

Stephen Harper actually announced he wants to increase military presence in our cities.

Canadian cities.

Soldiers with guns.

In our cities.

In Canada.

We did not make this up.

Choose your Canada.

- This message has been authorized by the registered agent for the Federal Liberal Party of Canada.

The ad has since been pulled from the Liberal Party website, but not before it received plenty of attention on the internet. Because of the uproar, it will be the one ad that gets the most play, and all the other 11 attack ads will be grouped in with that ad. Kinda makes one wonder how Liberal party strategists manage to breathe, what with their heads firmly jammed in their nether regions.

I spotted this comment on small dead animals, and since I can't put it any better than Warrant Officer Martin Gasser, I'm reproducing his statement here in full:

In the latest round of Liberal attack ads there is one which is nothing more than an insult to the proud men and women of the Canadian Forces.

The ad which talks about the Conservative plan to place military units closer to major cities, insinuates that the Canadian public should fear their very own military. The ad is designed to attack the conservative plan but is nothing less than an affront to every single man and woman who has ever served this country.

The point of this blatant Liberal smear appears to be that the Canadian military can not be trusted, that Canadian Soldiers, Sailors and Air Force personnel are jack-booted, sub-human slime that must be kept, at all costs, from the company of respectable civilians. Do the Liberals honestly believe that average Canadians have something to fear from their Canadian Forces?

The government of this country owes the people of its armed forces a debt of gratitude, not insults and slander. These Canadians which Mr. Martin and his Liberal Party have seen fit to vilify are the same people who traveled thousands of miles to shore up the Red River. They left their own loved ones without power and heat in Petawawa during the Ice Storm to provide aid and comfort to average citizens in Ottawa. They regularly leave their families for months at a time in the service of peace at the request of the same government which now insults them.

The serving members of the Canadian Forces both Regular and Reserve are the inheritors of a proud history of self sacrifice. We serve this nation both at home and abroad without regret, without hesitation and sometimes without recognition. It is this ad’s betrayal of our legacy of service which makes the implicit threat of it so revolting, so demeaning and so disheartening.

This ad is a nauseating attack on the pride, dedication, compassion and integrity of all who have ever worn the uniform of this great nation.

Warrant Officer Martin Gasser,
Petawawa Ontario.

When the Red River flooded southern Manitoba, who was there to sandbag homes and entire towns? The Canadian Armed Forces. When Toronto was hit with a major snowstorm that shut down the city, who was there to dig them out? The Canadian Armed Forces. When the forests of BC were burning, who was there to help put out the fires? The Canadian Armed Forces. When ice storms ravaged Quebec, who was there to help? The Canadian Armed Forces.

Who was sent by the Liberal government to the arid mountains of Afghanistan wearing jungle camoflage and poorly equipped? The Canadian Armed Forces. Who are the people dying in helicopters older than their parents? Members of the Canadian Armed Forces. Who are the people dying in beat-up, second hand British subs? Members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Which party has presided over the downgrading and indeed decimation of the military? The Liberal Party of Canada.

Choose your Canada.

Technorati Tags: Politics, Canada

now that's a screamer

now that's a screamer

I love bikes. Love 'em. And rockets, too. That's why this video, of a rocket-powered bike, caught my eye. Here are some stills:

Just before the test. Note the protective suit of the guy standing next to the bike - that's some serious explosives there.

The bike during testing:


Here's the pilot (I guess he'd have to be called a pilot) after the test. That scoreboard behind him was hooked up to a radar gun; the bike hit a top speed of 236 km/h (147mph). Wanna bet this guy clangs when he walks?


Technorati Tags: Rocket, Bicycle, Video

attack of the killer robots

attack of the killer robots

I bet you all thought this book was all in jest, right? Well guess again, bucko:

Exhibit A: The FA1 Fighting Android, a robotic sparring partner.

Exhibit B: The robotic sentry gun, which acquires and tracks targets using a simple webcam.

Exhibit C: Robot Arm Kills Plant Manager

The revolution will be in silico.

Technorati Tags: Robots, Warfare

sudoku (060110)

sudoku (060110)

It's Tuesday, so time once again for an easy sudoku. This will probably be the last 9 by 9 sudoku I publish on this blog. Instead of 9 by 9 sudokus, I think I will be publishing 16 by 16 sudokus. They take a little longer to put together, but I don't mind a bit of a challenge.

The rules of sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided up into nine 3 by 3 blocks. In each row, column, and 3x3 block, the numbers 1 through 9 each get written exactly once. The puzzle board generally starts with 18 to 30 of the cells in the grid already filled in. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

You can either solve this on paper (by printing out the GIF or copying it by hand) or solve it on your computer. If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. I will be posting the solution in a few days. If you are yearning for more sudoku-y puzzlification, you can find it here.

Update: the sandlady posted the solution here. Thanks, Sandlady ;)

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

it flies again

it flies again

Shane at The High Places has hoisted the 34th edition of the Red Ensign Standard. Enjoy.

Technorati Tags: Red Ensign

sudoku (060107)

sudoku (060107)

Whoops - I was going to post this last night just before I went to sleep, but I forgot. Here's this week's tough sudoku.

The rules of sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided up into nine 3 by 3 blocks. In each row, column, and 3x3 block, the numbers 1 through 9 each get written exactly once. The puzzle board generally starts with 18 to 30 of the cells in the grid already filled in. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

To solve this puzzle, I suggest first saving the GIF on your computer. Then print it out (or copy it onto some graph paper) and solve it in pencil (or in pen if you're feeling bold); or, if you don't feel like using paper, then solve it using a graphics editor such as Microsoft Paint.

If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments.

Update: the solution is here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

run along, children, so the adults can talk about grown-up stuff

run along, children, so the adults can talk about grown-up stuff

Via Space.com, I see there is a protest planned against the nuclear-powered New Horizons Pluto mission.

Note to innumerate, scientifically-challenged members of the general public: not everything that has the name "nuclear" is a bomb. And we are all already exposed to small quantities of radiation all the time, both from the earth beneath our feet and from the sun above our heads.

Technorati Tags: Space, NASA, Pluto

ROTFL

ROTFL

This is the best blonde joke of all time. (hat tip: Phil Bowermaster)

Technorati Tags: Humor

sudoku (060105)

sudoku (060105)

It's Thursday, so it's time once again for a medium-difficulty sudoku.

The rules of sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided up into nine 3 by 3 blocks. In each row, column, and 3x3 block, the numbers 1 through 9 each get written exactly once. The puzzle board generally starts with 18 to 30 of the cells in the grid already filled in. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

To solve this puzzle, I suggest first saving the GIF on your computer. Then print it out (or copy it onto some graph paper) and solve it in pencil (or in pen if you're feeling bold); or, if you don't feel like using paper, then solve it using a graphics editor such as Microsoft Paint.

If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments.

Update: the solution is here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

damn big word

damn big word

A recent post on Angry in the Great White North triggered a spate of enormous words in the comments, such as floccinaucinihilipilification and antidisestablishmentarianism and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. Apparently all one has to do is state that a word is the biggest to make someone else come up with a bigger one. In the comments, Dr. Dawg came up with a word that was the biggest one I had ever seen to that point, 1185 letters long:

ACETYLSERYLTYROSYLSERYLISOLEUCYLTHREONYL-SERYLPROLYLSERYLGLUTAMINYLPHENYLALANYLVALYL-PHENYLALANYLLEUCYLSERYLSERYLVALYLTRYPTOPHYL-ALANYLASPARTYLPROLYLISOLEUCYLGLUTAMYLLEUCYL-LEUCYLASPARAGINYLVALYLCYSTEINYLTHREONYLSERYL-SERYLLEUCYLGLYCYLASPARAGINYLGLUTAMINYLPHENYL-ALANYLGLUTAMINYLTHREONYLGLUTAMINYLGLUTAMINYL-ALANYLARGINYLTHREONYLTHREONYLGLUTAMINYLVALYL-GLUTAMINYLGLUTAMINYLPHENYLALANYLSERYLGLUTAMINYL-VALYLTRYPTOPHYLLYSYLPROLYLPHENYLALANYLPROLYL-GLUTAMINYLSERYLTHREONYLVALYLARGINYLPHENYL-ALANYLPROLYLGLYCYLASPARTYLVALYLTYROSYLLYSYL-VALYLTYROSYLARGINYLTYROSYLASPARAGINYLALANYL-VALYLLEUCYLASPARTYLPROLYLLEUCYLISOLEUCYL-THREONYLALANYLLEUCYLLEUCYLGLYCYLTHREONYLPHENYL-ALANYLASPARTYLTHREONYLARGINYLASPARAGINYLARGINYL-ISOLEUCYLISOLEUCYLGLUTAMYLVALYLGLUTAMYL-ASPARAGINYLGLUTAMINYLGLUTAMINYLSERYLPROLYL-THREONYLTHREONYLALANYLGLUTAMYLTHREONYLLEUCYL-ASPARTYLALANYLTHREONYLARGINYLARGINYLVALYL-ASPARTYLASPARTYLALANYLTHREONYLVALYLALANYL-ISOLEUCYLARGINYLSERYLALANYLASPARAGINYL-ISOLEUCYLASPARAGINYLLEUCYLVALYLASPARAGINYL-GLUTAMYLLEUCYLVALYLARGINYLGLYCYLTHREONYL-GLYCYLLEUCYLTYROSYLASPARAGINYLGLUTAMINYL-ASPARAGINYLTHREONYLPHENYLALANYLGLUTAMYL-SERYLMETHIONYLSERYLGLYCYLLEUCYLVALYLTRYPTOPHYL-THREONYLSERYLALANYLPROLYLALANYLSERINE

I just couldn't believe it when I saw that word. So, I googled up the first few dozen letters, and sure enough, I found that word mentioned somewhere else. What I did not expect to find was an even bigger word:

methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosylglutamyl-serylleucylphenylalanylalanylglutaminylleucyl-lysylglutamylarginyllysylglutamylglycylalanyl-phenylalanylvalylprolylphenylalanylvalylthreonyl-leucylglycylaspartylprolylglycylisoleucylglutamyl-glutaminylserylleucyllysylisoleucylaspartyl-threonylleucylisoleucylglutamylalanylglycyl-alanylaspartylalanylleucylglutamylleucylglycyl-isoleucylprolylphenylalanylserylaspartylprolyl-leucylalanylaspartylglycylprolylthreonylisoleucyl-glutaminylasparaginylalanylthreonylleucylarginyl-alanylphenylalanylalanylalanylglycylvalylthreonyl-prolylalanylglutaminylcysteinylphenylalanyl-glutamylmethionylleucylalanylleucylisoleucyl-arginylglutaminyllysylhistidylprolylthreonyl-isoleucylprolylisoleucylglycylleucylleucyl-methionyltyrosylalanylasparaginylleucylvalyl-phenylalanylasparaginyllysylglycylisoleucyl-aspartylglutamylphenylalanyltyrosylalanyl-glutaminylcysteinylglutamyllysylvalylglycyl-valylaspartylserylvalylleucylvalylalanyl-aspartylvalylprolylvalylglutaminylglutamyl-serylalanylprolylphenylalanylarginylglutaminyl-alanylalanylleucylarginylhistidylasparaginyl-valylalanylprolylisoleucylphenylalanylisoleucyl-cysteinylprolylprolylaspartylalanylaspartyl-aspartylaspartylleucylleucylarginylglutaminyl-isoleucylalanylseryltyrosylglycylarginylglycyl-tyrosylthreonyltyrosylleucylleucylserylarginyl-alanylglycylvalylthreonylglycylalanylglutamyl-asparaginylarginylalanylalanylleucylprolyl-leucylasparaginylhistidylleucylvalylalanyl-lysylleucyllysylglutamyltyrosylasparaginyl-alanylalanylprolylprolylleucylglutaminylglycyl-phenylalanylglycylisoleucylserylalanylprolyl-aspartylglutaminylvalyllysylalanylalanyl-isoleucylaspartylalanylglycylalanylalanyl-glycylalanylisoleucylserylglycylserylalanyl-isoleucylvalyllysylisoleucylisoleucylglutamyl-glutaminylhistidylasparaginylisoleucylglutamyl-prolylglutamyllysylmethionylleucylalanylalanyl-leucyllysylvalylphenylalanylvalylglutaminyl-prolylmethionyllysylalanylalanylthreonylarginylserine

This 1913-letter behemoth is the chemical name for the tryptophan synthetase A protein. I recorded myself pronouncing the word; saying it takes me 2 minutes and 45 seconds.

Is there an even bigger word out there?

Technorati Tags: Linguistics

sudoku (060103)

sudoku (060103)

It's Tuesday again, so you know what that means: time for another nice, easy sudoku.

The rules of sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided up into nine 3 by 3 blocks. In each row, column, and 3x3 block, the numbers 1 through 9 each get written exactly once. The puzzle board generally starts with 18 to 30 of the cells in the grid already filled in. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

To solve this puzzle, I suggest first saving the GIF on your computer. Then print it out (or copy it onto some graph paper) and solve it in pencil (or in pen if you're feeling bold); or, if you don't feel like using paper, then solve it using a graphics editor such as Microsoft Paint.

If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments.

Update: My girlfriend solved this one.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

how much of a space geek are you?

how much of a space geek are you?

Do you suspect that you are a space geek? Want to find out for certain? Just take the little quiz below. If none of the answers to a question apply to you, just skip it. You can also choose multiple answers to a question.

1. my bedroom:
a) has little glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling
b) has those stars arranged in the actual constellations
c) has a Zeiss ZKP4 Planetarium projector installed to give a realistic-looking night sky
d) bedroom? what's that? I sleep during the day on a cot in the Observatory.
e) sleep? what's that?

2. my vehicle is a:
a) Mercury
b) Saturn
c) Nova
d) Galaxy
e) SpaceX Falcon IX

3. my home:
a) is in the middle of a big city with lots of streetlights
b) is out in the countryside
c) is on the top of a mountain over 10000 feet
d) orbits the earth
e) is in a Rebel Alliance base on a forested moon orbiting the gas giant planet Yavin

4. my favorite pickup line is:
a) nice parallax
b) your observatory or mine?
c) what a lovely night... what say we have a look at the rings around Uranus?
d) OBAFGKM
e) And now, your highness, we will discuss the location of your hidden rebel base...

5. my idea of a realistic space movie is:
a) Plan 9 From Outer Space
b) The Wrath of Khan
c) Destination Moon
d) 2001: a Space Odyssey
e) Apollo 13

6. It's Friday, on a clear, moonless night. You:
a) drink yourself into a stupor
b) take Ecstasy and dance the night away
c) take your sweetheart up to Makeout Point
d) some combination of the above
e) spend the night in the company of your Schmidt-Cassegrain

7. your hero is:
a) a close relative or friend
b) a sports or entertainment figure
c) Robert Goddard
d) Wernher Von Braun
e) Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

8. blogs I visit regularly include:
a) Instapundit, Michelle Malkin, Power Line
b) Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, Wonkette
c) Feministe, Democratic Underground
d) Protein Wisdom, IMAO, Cox and Forkum
e) Transterrestrial Musings, Bad Astronomy, NASA Watch, Curmudgeon's Corner, Space Politics


Scoring: award yourself points according to the key below.
1:a1,b3,c5,d5,e5; 2:a0,b0,c0,d0,e5; 3:a0,b1,c5,d5,e5; 4:a5,b5,c5,d5,e5; 5:a0,b0,c2,d3,e5; 6:a0,b0,c0,d0,e5; 7:a0,b0,c5,d5,e5; 8:a0,b0,c0,d0,e5

Total up your points. If you scored:
0: You're probably not even on this blog.
1 to 9: You've heard of outer space, but don't really believe it exists.
10 to 19: You have a passing interest in space. Unless there's something better on TV.
20 to 29: Space enthusiast. When the shuttle launches, you wish you were on it.
30 to 49: You really don't get out much, do you?
50 to 79: Major space geek. Can calculate Hohmann Transfer Orbits in your head.
80 to 100: Your family hides you away in the attic when respectable people visit.
more than 100: you can't add.

Technorati Tags: Space, Humor

Physicists' Bill of Rights

Physicists' Bill of Rights

(Found at Rebirth of Reason)

We hold these postulates to be intuitively obvious, that all physicists are born equal, to a first approximation, and are endowed by their creator with certain discrete privileges, among them a mean rest life, n degrees of freedom, and the following rights which are invariant under all linear transformations:

1. To approximate all problems to ideal cases.
2. To use order of magnitude calculations whenever deemed necessary (i.e. whenever one can get away with it).
3. To use the rigorous method of "squinting" for solving problems more complex than the addition of positive real integers.
4. To dismiss all functions which diverge as "nasty" and "unphysical."
5. To invoke the uncertainty principle when confronted by confused mathematicians, chemists, engineers, psychologists, dramatists, und andere schweinhunde.
6. When pressed by non-physicists for an explanation of (4) to mumble in a sneering tone of voice something about physically naive mathematicians.
7. To equate two sides of an equation which are dimensionally inconsistent, with a suitable comment to the effect of, "Well, we are interested in the order of magnitude anyway."
8. To the extensive use of "bastard notations" where conventional mathematics will not work.
9. To invent fictitious forces to delude the general public.
10. To justify shaky reasoning on the basis that it gives the right answer.
11. To cleverly choose convenient initial conditions, using the principle of general triviality.
12. To use plausible arguments in place of proofs, and thenceforth refer to these arguments as proofs.

Technorati Tags: Science, Humor

five weird things

five weird things

Robert Bidinotto tagged me with the latest "tag" meme: list five weird things about yourself, then tag five others to do the same.

I'm plenty weird; I hardly know where to start. Here goes:

1) I should have died many times already. I must have nine lives, in which case I only have three left.

2) I am a voice mimic. When I was a little kid, my heros were Mel Blanc and Rich Little. I once recorded myself doing the entire Disney movie Robin Hood, from memory, in all the weird voices (Excerpt: <ustinov>Taxes, TAXes! Beautiful, lovely TAXES! Ah-hah, AH-hah</ustinov> <terry-thomas>sssSire, you have an absolute skill for encouraging contributions from the poor</terry-thomas> Thanks, you've been a lovely audience, I'll be here all week, try the veal, tip your waitress). I can do dozens of Looney Tunes voices, lots of Muppets, and a few politicians.

3) I didn't learn to sing until I was 35. Now, if you put a microphone in front of me, you can't shut me up. And since I sing bass, for which there aren't a lot of songs, if you go to Karaoke with me you hear a lot of Johnny Cash.

4) I ride bicycles a lot... I mean, a LOT. Over the last 20 years, I have ridden bicycles as my main mode of transportation for 17 years. This past year I haven't been riding bikes very much at all, and have gone from 165 to 195 pounds. Time to get another bike!

5) I learned the Greek alphabet while I was still a kid, so when I joined a fraternity (???) and all the other pledges were learning the Greek alphabet for the first time, I learned to say it backwards. Now I can hold a burning match and say the Greek alphabet both forwards and backwards before it burns down to my fingers.

OK, that wasn't too bad. Weird, but not particularly embarrassing. Now, to find five victims other bloggers to tag:

Candace of Waking Up on Planet X
Aizlynne of Exposed Agenda
Becky of Lone Pony
Steve of Angry in the Great White North
Kate of Small Dead Animals

They'll all be receiving a message from me over the next couple of minutes.

predictions for 2006

predictions for 2006

Yes, it is that time of year; the time when everybody and his dog looks back at the last year, comes up with top-ten lists, and makes predictions for the new year, most of which will be completely wrong. In the interests of making an utter fool of myself, I submit to you, dear readers, my list of predictions for Canadian politics for the coming year. Sometime in late December of 2006, I will look back on my predictions and we can all have a hearty laugh.

January 2-22: The Canadian federal election campaign shifts into high gear. Look for lots of negative attack ads, outrageous accusations, and numerous "the-Conservatives-are-going-to-bring-Canada-back-to-the-dark-ages-(circa 1985)" scare stories in the mainstream media. Watch as Steve Janke, Kate McMillan, Warren Kinsella, Paul Wells, Colby Cosh and Stephen Taylor change forever the battleground of Canadian politics from the mainstream media to the blogs.

January 23rd: Ontario voters, having swallowed the Liberal party line, hook, sinker, and pole, vote overwhelmingly for the Liberals, giving that party a clean sweep of the province. A few other seats here and there across the country also go to the Liberals, giving the party a majority government. Quebec is divided, with Montreal going all Liberal and the rest of the province voting for the Bloc Quebecois. The NDP gets a huge surge in seats, taking big chunks of Atlantic Canada and the Left Coast. The Conservatives sweep Alberta and much of Saskatchewan (with a few seats going to the NDP) and parts of Manitoba (which otherwise votes Liberal) and BC (which otherwise goes for the NDP and the Liberals). Final seat count: Liberals 160, BQ 57, Conservative 54, NDP 37, a Liberal majority government.

January 25th: the RCMP releases the results of their investigation into the insider trading scandal and charges Ralph Goodale and other key members of the Liberal party. The Liberal party sues the RCMP.

January 29th: Liberal MPs vote themselves a pay raise.

February 1st: Ralph Klein retires as leader of the Alberta PC party, triggering a leadership race.

March: Jim Dinning wins the leadership race for the Progressive Conservative party of Alberta, and calls a provincial election. Justice John Gomery releases the results of his inquiry into AdScam, implicating former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Alphonso Gagliano, and several other key members of the federal Liberal party.

April: Amid a growing uproar in Quebec media over the AdScam sponsorship scandal, the Quebec Liberal government calls an election a mere two years after the last one.

May: the Alberta government, eager to have new leader Jim Dinning take his place in the Legislature as Premier, calls an election.

Late May: severely wounded by the revelations of the Gomery inquiry, Quebec punts the provincial Liberals to the wilderness. Final seat count: Parti Quebecois 70, Action Democratique 45, Quebec Liberal party 10.

June: In a surprise to everyone not living in Alberta, the Progressive Conservative party is soundly beaten by the Alberta Alliance party, which wins a landslide victory. Final seat count: AAP 49, Separation Party of Alberta 15, NDP 14, PC 5, Lib 0.

July: Alberta Alliance party begins to institute the firewall around Alberta, putting into place an Alberta police force, and collecting all taxes.

Late July: The federal Liberal government institutes a new National Energy Program, nationalizing the entire country's oil industry.

August: A motion to separate from Canada is tabled in the Alberta legislature, triggering a province-wide referendum.

September: the province of Quebec launches a similar separation referendum.

October 1st: Albertans vote to separate from Canada, giving me a wonderful birthday present.

November: Quebecers vote to separate from Canada.

December: Paul Martin resigns in disgrace (or is forced out by his MPs); he leaves office with "Prime Minister who broke up Canada" as his legacy.

Technorati Tags: Politics, Canada