I received my first computer back in 1994 when I was a senior in High School. It was a Packard Bell Legend 1956 Supreme, 486/DX2 50 MHz. Although advertised as 50 MHz, it was actually 25 MHz with DX2 technology, effectively doubling the processor speed with some type of voodoo.

That Packard Bell was running Windows for Workgroups 3.11. At a cost of around $2,200.00, it was the best model Sears had at the time, with a whopping 400 MB of HD space and a punchy 4MB of RAM. Jumper settings, IRQ and DMA settings were horrible. It would sometimes take a half-hour of trial and error to find the right settings for your sound card when installing a game. The good old days.

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The NFL football season is fast approaching. Fans are eagerly awaiting Kickoff 2005. The players are drowning in anticipation. Then there’s Terrell Owens.

Owens, upset that the Philadelphia Eagles won’t re-negotiate his recently negotiated contract, is pulling every stunt to try to get the Eagles to give in. He threatened not to show up to training camp. Then, when he did show up to camp, he conveniently injured his groin, and has been sitting out the last several practices.

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Well, the mouse is in, and so is the verdict.

Overall, I found the mouse to be incredible. It’s definitely a step in the right direction, and I’m pretty sure other manufacturers are looking at the Mighty Mouse and wondering how they can implement the various technologies into their own product.

As you’d expect with Apple products, the mouse was packaged nicely, only containing the mouse, driver disc, warranty guide, and manual. The mouse itself is very light, and ergonomically elegant. This mouse is much lighter than the Bluetooth mouse I’ve been using for the last several months.

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The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) must take another look at how they rate games, and how ratings should be applied to games. Thus far, it’s not working at all.

For one, I’m all for lowering the ratings for all games that are rated ‘M’ for mature gamers of 17 years or older. Obviously, the ESRB has gotten it wrong.

Hell No, We Won’t Go

Parents groups of the 1980s and 1990s lobbied everyone from Congress to the Pope to stop the video game industry from corrupting the minds of America’s youth. They argued that video games with excess violence, sex, and vulgarity were a bad influence on their kids, and if played too much, could even teach kids to become serial killers and murderers. What, were the kids going to pull the trigger with their thumb? And if they did, wouldn’t they just be shooting themselves, and not hurting any innocent victims, thus not adding to the murder rate?

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I don’t know if I should file this article under Religion or Stupidity, but certainly not Science. The previous sentence will give you a good idea where I’m going with this one, so please, bare with me.

Before I continue, I would just like to say that I am an atheist, but I respect a person’s right to worship and believe in any god they see fit. Religion, the bible, and faith can help one lead a very happy and productive life. Having said that, religion has no place in science. You will read why in the next few moments.

The Eureka Springs, Arkansas Museum of Earth History is attracting some attention. The museum opened in April and is quite different from most museums you may visit. This museum utilizes the bible, rather than science for fact, essentially burning and throwing out all data and information we have gathered over the last several hundred years.

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Well, after nearly 21 years and many, many incarnations of the Mac, Apple Computer finally has released a multi-button mouse. In Apple fashion, this isn’t just another computer mouse– it’s a giant leap in mouse innovation.

When Steve Jobs first saw the mouse and GUI in action at Xerox PARC, Jobs knew he wanted this for his new baby, Lisa. However, history will remember Lisa as but a footnote in the computer industry.

With he introduction of the Apple Macintosh in 1984, and with the release of Lisa before it, Apple scaled down the mouse to include only one button. Jobs figured that anyone only needed one button. He may have been right, since that philosophy lasted nearly 21 years.

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With the latest reports of Rafael Palmeiro testing positive for banned substances (steroids), I wasn’t surprised.

Am I surprised that smoking kills hundreds of thousands of people each year, yet more people start smoking? No. And I’m not surprised major league players continue to destroy themselves, and the game of baseball by cheating.

I’m also not surprised to hear Palmeiro make the claim that so many other MLB notables have made — “I didn’t knowingly take steroids.” That excuse and $40.00 might buy you a ticket to see this cheater take the field.

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland has agreed to pay $56 million to settle lawsuits filed by 56 alleged victims of priest sexual abuse.

I think we are at the point at which the federal government has to crack it’s whip and work out an arrangement so the Roman Catholic church can settle all outstanding claims, and claims yet to be made, in a class-action manner.

I am no fan of the Roman Catholic church. Raised as a Catholic, even going to a private Catholic school, I have since parted ways with their doctrine and teaching. However, at some point this madness has to come to an end.

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