- I am thoroughly enjoying the Olympics. It makes for great late-night viewing. The Americans are expected to win more medals than any other country, and they better! If they dont come back with the most medals, and the most gold medals, I say we ship our American athletes to Najaf! Here is a link to the current medal count:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/medals/index.html?qs=1

- Here is a silly, unprovable, yet intriguing question. It's the kind of question Cliff might have asked Norm. What if Bruce Wayne, Indiana Jones, John McClane, and James Bond all fought each other, naked in a caged deathmatch! Only one person comes out alive. Who would win? I think Bruce Wayne would be the winner, followed by James Bond, Indiana Jones, and John McClane, in that order. Use the comment section to post your own opinion on the topic.

- I am not a big Star Trek fan, but Captain Kirk is, by far, my favorite ST character. His death in Star Trek Generations was a huge disappointment. Not only was it downright silly, but in Star Trek 5, Kirk said that he "would die alone." Well, Kirk didnt die alone! He had that absurd french-man sitting right next to him. Here is a website that is dedicated to bringing Kirk back:
http://www.bringbackkirk.com/

- On a related note...any article that mentions anti-matter, in relation to a current NASA project, gets my attention. Here is an article describing the latest propulsion techniques being designed by NASA:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/08/12/space.propulsion/index.html

- Microsoft is about to release Service pack 2 for their Windows XP operating system. This huge update will fix major holes in the OS, thus preventing hackers from doing all those dastardly things to your computer. The update has leaked onto the internet, so you can download the update before Microsoft actually puts it on the website. Here is a link to the update. I highly recommend that anyone who uses Windows XP download this update, and install it as soon as possible:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=846

- The democratic convention is over. John "my wife is going to cost me the election" Kerry received little, or no bounce. In fact, the Gallup poll, which is the oldest and one of the most respected polls in the country, has George Bush receiving a bounce during the convention, instead of Kerry! Here are links to several polls taken during and after the convention. When reading polls, there are two very important things to consider:

1. Who is being polled? Most polls sample likely voters, registered voters, or adults. The polls that sample likely voters tend to be the most accurate. The polls that sample adults tend to be the least accurate, and the polls that sample registered voters are in the middle.

2. The numerical break-down of the sample. Polls that sample too many Democrats can be biased towards Democrats, and vise-versa for Republicans. In the 2000 election, 34% of people who actually voted proclaimed themselves Democrats, 33% Republican, and the rest were independent. These are the type of numbers that the legitimate polls try to accomplish.

Before the convention, John Kerry was in a better position to win than any other modern candidate. Now the opposite is true. No challenger, who has gone on to become president, has been in such a bad position immediately after his convention.
http://www.gallup.com/content/?ci=12565
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/Vote2004/kerry_bounce_poll_040802.html
http://www.americanresearchgroup.com/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5568072/site/newsweek/
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/08/02/opinion/polls/main633546.shtml

- How fast can you read? Here is a website that will test you. I clocked in at 300wpm.
http://mindbluff.com/askread.htm

- Is the old cliche "some records are made to be broken" true? Why do we have such a fascination with sports records? Which records are truly remarkable, and which ones are merely mediocre? Here is an article all about sports records, and why we love them. My brother originally found this article:
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/Columns/?Article=sportsrecordsmain

- Humanity gets closer and closer to the sci-fi movies we love. Here is an article about how the military will soon use lasers in all kinds of combat situations:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/08/02/directedenergyweapons.ap/

- This is slightly old news, but I wanted to comment on it anyhow. The name of the new Star Wars movie has been revealed. It is "Revenge of the Sith." My favorite title rumor was Rise of the Empire, but the real title is my 2nd favorite. I think it's nearly perfect. After all, uncle George wanted to use the title Revenge of the Jedi for Episode 6, but thought it was too dark and violent. Now uncle George can use the word "Revenge" since it is clearly appropriate for the new movie. Remember, Darth Maul said in episode 1, "at last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi...at last we will have revenge." Well, now those wacky Sith Lords will get their revenge. For all the latest episode 3 news (including spoilers), follow this link:
http://www.theforce.net/episode3