So, the latest gossip story is all about U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, and his apparent use of a “marijuana pipe” at a party last November. I’ll admit, I had to look up what a “marijuana pipe” was, and quickly found out it is commonly referred to as a “bong”, which is essentially what I’ve always known it to be. But I digress…

If you haven’t heard about this yet (which would completely surprise the hell out of me), here are some links to various media sources I read daily for fun, and to keep up upon what is going on in the world, and what people are bitching about:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympic_games/7873669.stm

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/05/kellogg.phelps/index.html

http://www.thestar.com/article/580780

Knowing what I know about the whole story, where Phelps was at a party, smoked some weed, someone took a snap and leaked it to a British newspaper, and we now have Phelps suspended for three months, and Kellogg deciding not to renew their contact with him, etc etc etc, all I have to say is this:

SO WHAT?!

The only people that would have an issue with this are the ultra-conservative, generally right-wing, highly-religious, socially-inept dweebs that are usually not very fun at parties anyway. It’s not like Phelps was snorting coke or shooting heroin, as that would be pretty fucked, but taking a bong hit? How is that morally wrong? A common thought as to why marijuana is illegal is because it was a threat to cigarette companies back in the 1920s – 1930s, and we all know how Big Tobacco, along with Big Oil, control the world. Hell, the income generated from taxing cigarettes alone is huge.

Still, I can see how a family company like Kellogg would want to distance themselves from Phelps as they want to maintain their “wholesome image”, and that’s their right, as they’re in business and have to cater to everyone, including the dweebs that are no fun at parties. But for the media to hammer Phelps’ image about how he has disappointed everyone, brought shame to the U.S. swimming team, the nature of the Olympics, etc, well… that’s just a crock of shit.

I doubt it will occur in my lifetime where people will wake up and realise that marijuana is hardly a drug at all and generally better for society than cigarettes and booze (people would certainly be a lot calmer), and a stoner is leaps and bounds better than a crack/coke/heroin addict (when was the last time you’ve heard of a stoner holding up a store… even if he DID have the munchies?!)… but one can hope.

Hey ultra-conservative right-wing highly-religious dweebs! You know this is just a plant, right, and that God apparently created it, right? So… what’s the big frikkin’ deal?

I’m sure some of you have wondered if it might be possible to change the message on those portable construction warning signs. Turns out, some dudes in Austin, Texas did just that. Personally, I think it’s awesome, but some people are just prudes and focus on the “safety issues” with doing such a thing. Generally, thoses signs don’t really broadcast anything that someone with half a brain couldn’t figure out, especially considering that the construction site is usually littered with pylons marking off the new route… but then again, we have to cater to the idiots to ensure they don’t kill themselves… or others.

Austin drivers making their morning commute were in for a surprise when two road signs on a busy stretch of road were taken over by hackers. The signs near the intersection of Lamar and Martin Luther King boulevards usually warn drivers about upcoming construction, but Monday morning they warned of  “zombies ahead.”

“I thought it was pretty funny,” said University of Texas sophomore Jane Shin, who saw the signs while driving down Lamar Bouelvard with friends Sunday night. “We wondered who did it.”

The City of Austin does not own the signs, but they are responsible for the message. The contractor on the construction project owns the signs. A city spokesperson said the hacked messages were only up for a few hours, until the construction project manager saw them during his morning commute and immediately ordered them to be changed back.

“Even though this may seem amusing to a lot of people, this is really serious, and it is a crime,” said Austin Public Works spokesperson Sara Hartley. “And you can be indicted for it, and we want to make sure our traffic on the roadways stays safe.”

Hartley said though it was a locked sign, the padlock for it was cut. Signs such as these have a computer inside that is password-protected.

“And so they had to break in and hack into the computer to do it, so they were pretty determined,” said Hartley.

This crime is a class C misdemeanor in Texas, and Hartley said it endangers the public.

“The big problem is public safety,” said Hartley. “Those signs are out there to help our traffic on the roadway to stay safe and to know what’s coming up.”

KXAN Austin News cameras caught many drivers slowing down to read the signs as they approached. Some read, “Zombies ahead! Run for your lives!”

Hartley said the city will discuss more secure safety measures with the manufacturer of the signs.

- source -

I also found a YouTube upload of the Austin News (KXAN) story which shows images of the prank:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVK33H85GGI

I wonder if we use the same sort of road signs up here in Canada…? I should look into that.  

Thanks to my brother for thinking that I’d get a kick out of that story. You were right.

Update (2009-01-29): …and thanks to McLeody for finding this little gem which explains how to (very simply) perform this little hack:

http://www.i-hacked.com/content/view/274/48/

Why am I not surprised that the default password is rarely changed, and even if it is, there is a dead-simple way to reset it? I hardly doubt that this little incident will prompt anyone to quickly make firmware updates to all the road signs out there, or for that matter, change all the passwords… it would take too long to retrain the workers.  

When I have kids (yes, I warn you now, it WILL happen), and if I decide to grow some weed in my house (well, I don’t know if THAT will happen), the last thing I will ever do is give my child a phone to play with. Hello!? That’s what baby toys are for. Spend $20 and give baby a Sesame Street phone or something. Perhaps this dude was too stoned to even think that:

A B.C. man probably wishes he had given his 11-month-old son a set of keys to play with instead of a phone, after the infant accidentally dialled 9-1-1 and brought police to dad’s marijuana grow operation.

Mounties say a 9-1-1 call came in from a White Rock, B.C. residence Friday morning but whoever was on the other end of the line hung up.

Officers arrived at the residence and after numerous knocks on the door went unanswered, they entered the home.

“The gentleman was quite surprised,” said White Rock RCMP Const. Janelle Canning.

She said the 29-year-old male, startled by the sudden sight of police, insisted he hadn’t made the call.

When it was suggested a child might have dialled, the father objected and said his son was far too young.

That’s when police spotted the baby boy, phone in hand.

“We saw him playing with the cordless phone and just pressing all the buttons, so evidently he had called 9-1-1,” Canning said.

With that mystery solved, officers began inspecting the residence and soon discovered a 500-plant marijuana grow operation.

The father was arrested and will appear in court in early April on charges of production of a controlled substance and mischief.

The boy was removed from the home by the Ministry of Children and Family Development, though he was later released into his mother’s custody.

The mother does not live in the residence and Canning says she had no idea what was going on at the home.

- source -

500 plants. Wow. I bet that kid is going to hear this story over and over again when he grows up… busted Daddy before even turning one. That’s impressive.

So, last night over western Canada, a meteor light up the sky in a blaze of light as it streaked down towards our planet. Thankfully, our atmosphere did it’s job, and provided quite a show, along with saving us from a monumental impact.

Jared passed me along a YouTube video taken from a police car’s dashboard camera in Edmonton, which so far seems to have the best view of the entire event. Quite cool. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_2aX-784sw

Naturally, the Canadian media is all over it:

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/11/20/alberta-meteor.html

I wish I saw this with my own eyes. I love stellar phenomena.

Still, kinda makes you wonder about how NASA says it is trying to keep an eye on potentially Earth-shattering (huh huh) chunks of rock. Did they see this one? Perhaps they did, and thought “Well, it’s only going to hit Canada… in the prairies… which is basically just a mix of farmland and snow-covered wasteland anyway…”

Jerks.  

Seeing as how I don’t have cable any more (didn’t watch it lots, yet it cost lots), I didn’t see this Saturday Night Live episode, but this opening is just awesome. Tina Fey as Sarah Palin (and she NAILS IT!), and Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton, stand together for a “nonpartisan message” for the United States. Check it out:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/13/tina-fey-as-sarah-palin-o_n_126249.html

I always thought Sarah Palin looked like a celebrity, but I couldn’t recall whom. Don’t know why I didn’t even think of Tina Fey… she totally does.

Seems that Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and one of John McCain’s advisors, didn’t see the humour in the sketch:

“The portrait was very dismissive of the substance of Sarah Palin, and so in that sense, they were defining Hillary Clinton as very substantive, and Sarah Palin as totally superficial,” McCain advisor Carly Fiorina told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Monday. “I think that continues the line of argument that is disrespectful in the extreme, and yes I would say sexist.”

The Fey/Poehler sketch satirized such topics as Palin’s religious beliefs and foreign policy.

“Just because Sarah Palin has different views than Hillary Clinton does not mean that she lacks substance. She has a lot of substance,” Fiorina said.

- source -

Good lord, Carly. Take a pill.