Build Date: Fri Sep 18 06:32:26 2026 UTC
I hate this keyboard...as soon as I send this message - one piece becomes many.
-- Johnnie Royale
War on Terror produces excess inventory of doomsday ready laptops
2006-08-08 11:23:05
The War on Terror has resulted in a rush of new technology useful to the general population.
Technologically, the War on Terror has been a blessing. I'm not talking about the new high-tech methods of heroin smuggling. I'm talking about about the technology developed for 21st century guerilla warfare.
Take the Roomba for example. There is no way in hell that anyone would have taken the time to develop a robot that motors along while remembering where it has already been without the War on Terror. If it hadn't been for Bin Laden, my carpet would still be a disaster and my dog would be chasing his own tail instead of his Roomba. Thank you, terrorists.
Another technological advance I credit to the War on Terror is the rise of cheap digital cameras. Before the toppling of Saddam Hussein, digital cameras were still more expensive than conventional film cameras. However, the demand for digital images of terrorists beheading journalists and soldiers dragging Abu-Ghraib prisoners through dog doo-doo has drastically driven the digicam market.
Let us not forget the Hummer, whose popularity jumped enormously due to people being afraid of terrorists. Long gone are the days in which a gallon per mile city mileage rating coupled with $3/gallon gas is scarier than a downtown rocket-propelled grenade attack. As an added bonus, GPS systems are pre-installed so that civilians will never have to worry about accidentally driving through a bad neighborhood.
The only technological advance that has personally helped me is the indestructible laptop. Itronix sent thousands of these to the Gulf and now they are coming back and showing themselves on eBay. I paid a shade over $200 for one and let me tell you, it is very hard to break. I tried throwing it out of a moving car and it still kept playing Seven Samurais. Can I use it in the bathtub? No problem, although it doesn't exactly float. It's also great for breaking down stubborn doors, as a garden tool, and can be conveniently put away in the freezer.
Now I just need to wait it out until the Hummer laptops start showing up on ebay.

T O P S T O R I E S
John Dvorak has passed. I’m of mixed emotions. First off I’m more positive about his contribution to the overall technology journalism of the early PC days through the 90s, despite how many things he got wrong. He was a firebrand and commanded attention. (More...)
America's National Recording Registry Inducts Culturally Significant Artist - Weezer!
America's Library of Congress calls them "defining sounds of history and culture" and "audio treasures worthy of preservation for all time based on their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage." Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... Weezer! (More...)
The Crossroads are real and The Blues is a place; The enduring myth of Robert Johnson (More...)
California Glory Hole attracts huge crowds
A glory hole at Napa's Lake Berryessa is drawing huge crowds. According to Chris Lee, the general manager for the Solano County Water Agency, the glory hole hasn't been active since 2019, and only restarted operations on Feb 4. (More...)
Republican State Senator busted after soliciting a teenage girl
Republican State Senator Justin Eichorn of Minnesota was arrested for soliciting a teen girl on Monday just hours after he introduced a bill proposing "Trump derangement syndrome" (TDS) as a form of mental illness. (More...)
Parents claim measles is not that bad after having only one child die
The parents of a Texas girl who died from the measles are defending their decision not to vaccinate their daughter. "She says they would still say 'Don't do the shots,'" an unidentified translator for the parents said. "They think it’s not as bad as the media is making it out to be." (More...)
C L A S S I C P I G D O G
Johnnie Royale's Guide to Wakes
Wakes can present problems for Bad People of the Future. (If you don't know what a BPotF is, you need to read more of the PDJ.) Sure, your friend is gone and you miss him and that really sucks; it does, I know. But all Bad People of the Future are gonna die, and they have all accepted that fact. They do deserve, however, to have one final kickass party to celebrate all the bad things they've done in the past, present and future. And you, as a friend, have to make sure that their desire for a final send off is well executed (sorry for the pun). That's just the way of BPotFdom. (More...)
There are two kinds of Assmen in this world. Wild, hairy assmen, who put stickers that say things like "Why Be Normal?" all over their trucks and drink Corona beer and wear fezzes at parties for attention; these are the Assman Desperados. Our job is to ferret them out and expose them. (More...)
Skunk School -- Learn Why Not To Keep Skunks As Pets
There is an alarming trend in pet purchasing habits this fall. People inspired by the WWII film, "Life is Beautiful" -- the one with that annoying Italian guy -- are buying descented skunks by the millions. (More...)
The Ancient and Correct Sake Ceremony
Many Americans have learned to appreciate the delicate, sophisticated flavors of Japanese food and drink, along with the beautifully refined rituals of Japanese dining. San Francisco, as a gateway between East and West, has especially benefited from the flowering of Eastern consciousness in America. It is hardly possible to walk down the street without stepping on somebody's sushi. (More...)
Patient Joab's scientifick editorial discusses aspect of the space-time-beer continuum never before processed by sub-bush-robot minds!!! Too fabulantastic to contempulate! (More...)
Songs Of Love And Special Things
Well, dear reader, there's no denying it: Spring has sprung. The air is pungent with the fertile aroma of Romance. And you know what goes with Romance, don't you? That's right, Lover, porn. And not just any porn, but the kind you can sing along to. (More...)