RIP Tommy Burns – “Legend is a word that is used quite a lot these days but he was. He was a great player with Celtic first and foremost.”

“…a system which depends on one man ain’t a system, so Cuba will become ever-more vulnerable to the revenge of the exiled community in Miami who hate him so.”

Keep up to date with global earthquake activity.

Researchers at UC Davis have discovered microbes that can quite literally help the process of rock forming by converting lose sediment into the hard stuff. Although only tested on a lab scale, Bacillus Pasteurii, could be the answer to soil liquefaction caused my earthquakes.

It is suggested that the majority of the destruction from a Vancouver Earthquake could come in the form of mass movement or soil/earth liquefaction, a process where soft deposits such as clay, are converted to a jellylike state by severe shaking causing a situation where structures (buildings) could sink and collapse. Eeeeek!

Check out the other articles about a potential Vancouver earthquake here:

• Vancouver earthquake update
• Vancouver Earthquake
• Vancouver Earthquake and Plate Tectonics

Keep up to date with global earthquake activity.

A quake registering 7.3 on the Richter scale was last experienced way back in 1946. A quake of 7.3 is classified as “major” on the Richter scale and can cause serious damage over larger areas. One thing we have to remember is that construction and infrastructure standards have come a long way so I wonder if these scales of magnitude (like Richter or Mercalli) actually take into consideration these new developments? The Richer scale was developed in 1935 and Mercalli in 1902, surely this needs updated? Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I wish a scientist or geologist would comment on this blog because a lot of people have emailed me and asked me about this. Read the other article.

Keep up to date with global earthquake activity.

A: Because I’m English!

Sidenote: I am still ruling at foosball in the office. We are currently interviewing for two positions here and any newcomers are going to be looked upon as potential rivals. I am worried because I am only defeated reliably by Quebecer’s. Luckily we’re based in BC, however we do risk being hit by earthquakes.

I think I should buy everyone at work a copy of Zen and the Art of Foosball: A Beginner’s Guide to Table Soccer from Amazon. Oh yeah, check the lil picture to the left :) I really am a previous foosball champion (thanks to Andy for the scan). Don’t hate me because I am good at foosball.

The Juan de Fuca plate is being forced under the North American plate creating a “subduction zone”. This subduction has formed a lot of magnificent mountain areas in the Cascade Volcanic Belt (where volcanic mountains have formed that are not all within the Cascade Range). The movement of one plate beneath each other is never a smooth process and they tend to lock up until it reaches a point where there is so much pressure and stress that it violently moves. It is this mass movement that causes an earthquake.

I can see Mount Baker from my window but there are many other mountains that you may have heard about in and around Vancouver, BC such as:

• Mount Silverthrone
• Devastator Peak
• Mount Fee
• Black Tusk
• Cinder Cone
• Opal Cone
• Mount Garibaldi
• Watts Point

Baker incidentally still shows steam/fume activity from it’s crate but is considered dormant, but wait, didn’t they say that about Mount St. Helens which erupted famously in 1980?

I don’t think we’re going to die but if we were living on Vancouver Island I would be worried, as Vancouver Island is a direct formation resulting from plate tectonic activity. Stop worrying Alyssa! Good reads for this include Global Tectonics and Earth as an Evolving Planetary System. (I believe the latter was on my course reading list at school).

Keep up to date with global earthquake activity.

1. I have FireFox overburdened with a billion tabs of useful information and I don’t trust that if it crashes (be nice FireFox) it will resotre the session (it’s happened a few times)
2. I want to come back to these webpages and investigate them further
3. I want to get some company work done ASAP

Okay, now you know why I am posting (it’s always good to know why people write crap on the internet) I shall proceed. WAKE UP!

Top Ten Ways To Hinder Market Adoption
I will go through this with a fine tooth comb and make sure I have all bases covered.

Digital MBA: America’s Best Business Schools on Your iPod
Harvard’s now “on iTunes”, let’s face it, I’m never going to get into an Ivy League school like Harvard (or one of the many others) so this represents a good opportunityfor me to learn from the best.

MLB’s attempt to grab fantasy fees is back
Stats should be public domain. I can go to a ball game and record stats so why should MLB Advanced Media claim a fee for this. Bad MLB, really bad. Thanks to Alyssa for the link.

Oh wow, thats it. I thought there were more but still 2tabs killed from FireFox really gets me excited and hopefully you can get some useful information from it. Enjoy!

Roddy Piper (the wrestler) hails from Glasgow, Scotland and you know damn right he’s a Celtic fan. Piper was born Roderick George Toombs in Winnipeg, Manitoba and is a Canadian with Scottish heritage, henge the Glaswegian alter-ego.
He’s famous for his quick wit and thus had his own segment on WWF known as the Piper’s Pit. He also applied this quick with a very dirty wrestling style and with trademark moves like the eye poke and the low blow and the sleeper as his finishing move, he quickly became a popular wrestler.

I am very disappointed with this. I don’t think this will be popular, why pay for a free browser and browse on a tiny screen when you can use other means that are free, more accessible and offer a better user experience. I am stoked on my PSP, no need for me to upgrade to the DS lite handheld console.

Touchgenerations.com for more, you’re not getting an easy link for pissing me off Nintendo :(

Matt, how the fucking hell did you manage that?! Props to you if you ever read this. Ok, what else is new? Dear diary I will get back to you :)

PS. New Robin Williams movie “Man of the Year“. It’s a stinker, if you’ve seen the trailer then that’s all you need to see. He is a comedian, he gets elected, the voting system is screwed, the woman who discovers the bug contacts Robin, he steps down and becomes a comedian. And of course they fall in love en route. What a farce!

This friday at Yaletown brew pub I’ll be in my ninja suit. Word.

Friday, October 13 – 8pm
Yaletown Brewpub
1111 Mainland

Oh oh oh oh – Alyssa now lives right here in Vancouver with little old me, that awesome :) :) :) :)

And now I am going to get one of the four sleeps out of the way. I bid thee all goodnight!

First post in a while but it makes me happy to announce that Celtic have signed the wee wim Derek Riordan from Hibs! He’s under contract with hibs until October 2006 and will not be eligible to play until the start of January 2007.

I can’t wait to see him smash the back of the net for us :)

Incidentally, I played golf today with Stammler (Gangbang) and there was a canadian kid wearing a R*ngers shirt. Little hun, I wanted to slap him silly. Anyway, he didn’t know what it was like to be in the presence of a true opposing supporter so this one time I let it go. Bad idea to be wearing Glasgow R*angers shirts anywhere near me. NOTE TO YOUR SELF.

Violence is one of the main concerns of this initiative. However, what the Helen of Troy is going to stop a john from smackin’ up a ho. Nada. Zip. However the GPS in their shoe will keep track of these ladies of the night.

I am also concerned that they can only incorporate these into platforms. What if these johns have a foot/shoe fetish? Or if they break their ankle? Each sandal will have an audible alarm system, which emits a piercing noise to scare off attackers.

More info here at the aphrodite project website.

To say that I am anti-smoking is a huge understatement. ALYSSA THIS IS NOT AIMED AT YOU BUT PLEASE STOP SMOKING!!!

So I am reading an article that the guys circulate around the office mailing list, it’s regarding a recent marketing campaign run by M-a-r-l-b0r0. I am not going to publicize these asshole companies. I get traffic to this website and I do not want these guys to benefit of my legitimate traffic. Hence the obfuscation of the brand names.

Anyway, Phi11ip M0rri5 internati0na1 – you go to hell with your (shameless promotions).

Read the comments at the bottom of the page of this article. The person nicknamed “Tobacco Control RN” brings up the valid cost of healthcare directly related to caring for patients with smoking/tobacco related illnesses.

The nickname “KatyDid” justifies her possession of 1 stock in A1tria, so that she “can go to the stockholders meeting in NJ once a year and voice my total and vehement opposition to any and all dealings of A1tria”. Well done madam. “KatyDid” also brought to my attention the brands/trademarks that A1tria also own/market. FYI you nice guys at A1tria, you have just lost my custom for the following products:

Kr/\ft foods (North America/International)

• Kr/\ft
• J/\cobs
• M/\xwell House
• Mi1k/\
• N/\bisc0
• 0re0
• 0scar M/\yer
• Phi1/\delphia
• Po5t
• T/\ng

Phi1ip M0rri5 (USA/International)

• M/\rlb0r0
• Ba5ic
• Che5terfie1d
• L/\rk
• 1&/\/\
• P/\r1i/\ment
• Virgini/\ S1ims

PS. /\ = A, /\/\ = M. I felt the need to obfuscate.

I will not fund your shameless promotions so that more people can die. You are evil. You destroy people and their families.

DIE DIE DIE. YOU ARE OFF MY CONSUMER PURCHASE LIST YOU EVIL BASTARDS.

As well as this our favourite hockey team back in the East lose 4-3 to the New Jersey Devils after being 3-0 up!!! Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals makes sure the Habs stay in the playoffs with a win over 2004 Stanley Cup champions Tampa Bay Lightning.

Habs play the Carolina Hurricanes on saturday night (April 22) at my house, bring beers!

Well done to Cristobal Huet for the Molson player of the month award, but unlucky for those four goals against the smokin’ red hot Devils last night.

Scientist predict that the next big shake will come within the next 20 years and will register a magnitude of 6.7 or larger, something greater than the catastrophic shake of 1906.

A sidenote on that one though – in 1906, when 3000 people died:

• building standards weren’t as strict as they are these days
• Earthquake eduction and damage limitation measures were not standard practice
• There was no real knowledge of geological “science”, plate tectonics, geoactivity or mass movement.

Here is an estimate of the loss. Keep up to date with global earthquake activity.

The meaning of life? I am sure people think about this everyday, like me right not coming close to 4am. I know I have work in a few hours so I should be asleep and not thinking about this.

Of this kids 6 years of life he probably did not travel on this same road the same number of times I did. Probability suggests that I would have been more likely to have died than him. So when I question the meaning of life it’s not for some philosophical reason, it’s because I am interested.

Ok, thanks for listening. Any thoughts? Anyone?

The dead bird will be shipped down south to the European Union’s bird flu lab in Surrey to run som more tests to determine whether or not this is the first case in a wild bird of the H5N1 strain that is known to have caused human death!

Very scary indeed, especially after seeing what the BSE (“Mad Cow”) and CJD livestock infection scare did to the UK and not to mention the Pultry Salmonella epidemic. I don’t want to see this happen again, it seems like its been one thing after another recently which will culminate in mass slaughter of poultry in the UK as a safeguard. Stop eating chicken, turkey and poultry already!

Better get the Ikea.com hookup happening!

* I’ve moved in to this place – check the photos of the view from my new pad. It’s a pretty cool apartment and all I need to get now is a couch and a coffee table and some other nick nacks. Not a lot to go it’s pretty much done. I like the way there is a cinema in the building :) It also has it’s own gym and a movie room as well as a pool, hot tub, sauna/steam room, pool table, you name it. Not a bad pad at all.

I will put some photo’s on my flickr soon.