jury duty bullet dodged again

Apparently there were a few trials that got cancelled at the last minute (presumably out-of-court settlements or something), so right at noon today I (and a few dozen other people) was released.

In a way it's kind of a shame, since I've been curious about what it's like to be on an actual jury, and so far I'm o/2 (the last time the defense attorney used one of his challenges up on me; still not sure why). But with my advancement coming up in about a month, not getting stuck with a 3-week trial (they assigned jurors for one today) is appreciated.

link roundup

Make your Own Flamethrower

Like any red-blooded, masculine man of the male gender, I love PVC weaponry. You should too. If the concept of heading on down to the local Home Depot and transforming $100 worth of random pipe bits into a killing machine doesn’t appeal to you, you’re a frikkin' pansy. Also, you’re probably sane and will live significantly longer than I will. Nonetheless you disgust me, and I take comfort in the knowledge that your obituary will be nowhere near as humorous as mine. For those of you who laugh in the face of hypersonic shards of plastic puncturing your spleen, here’s an intimate look at how I’ve kept myself busy for the past week: building a PVC flamethrower.

fdmts, this one is totally for you.

Arnold's Neighborhood

A somewhat strained but mostly amusing Sesame-Street-themed take on California's current Gubernator. (Courtesy of one of the Democratic candidates for governor.)

The Holodeck Scenario: Part I
The Holodeck Scenario: Part II

David Brin's tongue-in-cheek defense of the notion that we're all living in a simulation...centered on Bush. This one's for any MMM folks that miss our discussions on this topic.

Telemarketer counterscript (PDF)

Brilliant: a script for handling telemarketers. Presumably much like the one they have for handling you. Let the script duels begin!