bradm

Yeah, often it doesn't explain (the differences between) problems and situations properly. The thing is, the technology to locate lost stuff exists now: GM's OnStar uses a combination of cellular phone and GPS technologies to, among other things, easily determine the location of a car. There are a couple of problems with making that work for (small) people, though: it takes power (in particular, the cell phone part has to be on, to answer the call; how long does your cell phone battery last even when you're not making calls?), and more than just a microchip (more like a deck of cards or pack of cigarettes in volume). It'll probably be possible to squeeze that down to, say, a wristwatch in a couple of years, but even then, all an abductor would have to do is remove the watch, and the locator goes away. Aloha, Brad

Not really. Remember, the microchips (as used in pets) are passive devices, and can't be used to locate children (or pets). When a stray is found, the chip can be used to identify the pet (or child), and that identity can then be used to get in contact with the owner/parent. The problem with children isn't finding the parents of found (stray) children, it's locating children who have vanished. (There's also the same problem with pets, too.) If you're talking about a technology that can be used to locate somebody, that's a whole other problem. If it broadcasts continuously (as a cell phone does), it'll need to be recharged, and would be so big and obvious (and un-implantable) that anyone could easily just remove it. If it is to be "turned on" (from a central location) once it's realized the child is missing, it means the child/device will have to be within range of the central location (you then have the problem of locating the child before the battery wears down). Aloha, Brad

I wonder if they specified "No ice" for their drinks? Aloha, Brad

OK, I can't figure it out right now, because I can't even get to the site. I'll try later if nobody else can make it work. Aloha, Brad

Go to YouTube, do a search on "robot chicken", and watch a few clips. Each full episode is about 10 minutes long, with about the first half being composed of very short (seconds-long) bits, and the rest a longer sketch. It's claymation, rude, crude, obscene, and insanely funny (as in, "They didn't just do that, did they?"). If you find YouTube clips which are about 10 minutes long and with titles that include phrases like "101" and "209", those are full episodes, with the first digit indicating the season (season 1 and season 2, in those examples), and the last two digits indicating which episode within that season (episode 1 and episode 9, in those examples). Robot Chicken was co-created by Seth Green, who also does some of the voices, and even appears (in claymation form, often addressing the audience) in some episodes. I think it airs weeknights at 10pm on Teletoon, followed by the (also hilarious and in-bad-taste) "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" (at 10:15pm). Aloha, Brad

I know there's a photo before the red text, but I'm blocked from seeing it at the office. The URL is http://www.freakingnews.com/entries/19500/19608-Grateful-Dead-Keyboardist-Dies_w.jpg Aloha, Brad

I got home late (early?) from a show one night (morning?), and channel surfed into the middle of one of them on Teletoon. In my, uh, "tired" state of mind at the time, it was a pretty intense experience...funnily enough, that's also the way I started watching Samurai Jack. I've since watched all/most of the episodes that are available on YouTube (there's a guy who's uploading them sequentially, in a very organized way ). Aloha, Brad

I suspect it has a lot to do with dogs, which are descended from wolves, being pack animals. Consider that you can take a dog for a walk, but generally can't with a cat; this is because, to a dog, its owner is really just the "leader of the pack", and it'll follow the leader pretty much wherever. As an example, a friend of mine used to have a dog, Barney, which was half black lab / half Newfoundland (yeah, Barney was huge). One day, my Dad looked out our front window and saw him walking along the street, alone, trailing a leash. Thinking something wrong, my Dad went out into the street, said, "Come here, Barney," and patted his leg. Barney stopped, looked back at him, but didn't move. My Dad then said, "C'mon, boy, let's go home," and started back towards my buddy's house. Barney then adopted an, "Oh, OK!" posture and followed him the block or so to my buddy's place. It turned out he had been hitched up to a clothesline in the back yard, had got loose, and just wandered off; there was nobody home. The interesting thing is that, as far as I know, my Dad had never spent much (if any) time with Barney, but because he had taken the position/attitude of Leader Of The Pack, Barney's "pack" nature kicked in and he happily followed him home. (Cats, on the other hand, are descended from "lone hunter" animals, with the exception of species like lions.) Aloha, Brad

How do you I haven't had (at least) one implanted already? Aloha, Brad

Velvet, I understand your concerns. They're entirely valid, but there's a way around them: have your pet implanted with an ID tag. When the Humane Society receives a stray, they check for the tag, and if they find one, they look up the ID, and are then able to contact the owner. Within Ottawa, go to http://www.ottawahumane.ca/microchip.html for info. Aloha, Brad

I think for a beginner, this'd be an ideal project, especially if you stick to smaller/kids' stuff, as you can finish a small pair of mitts quickly, and it's not a big deal if the colours don't match, or if the knitting is "off" or misaligned here and there. And if you're short on wool, you might try knitting headbands instead of full toques, as they're almost as useful, but use a lot less wool. Aloha, Brad

No sweat, Mavericks posted about the MM/K show, and I asked the same question. It turns out the Chris Koster show is upstairs at Cafe Dekcuf. Aloha, Brad

They're also at The Rainbow in Ottawa on Friday, Nov. 24 (which is where I think I'll be). Aloha, Brad

My Mom is pretty heavy knitter: hats, scarves, afghans, etc. A couple of years ago, she started knitting kids' mittens and toques, as there were a lot of needy families moving to her neck of the woods (Scarborough), especially from much warmer climates (e.g., the Caribbean), and often, the families had small children who didn't have (and either couldn't afford or didn't know where to get) winter wear. Seeing as I can barely tie my shoelaces, this isn't something I can do, but if anybody can knit, I'm sure it'd be helpful. Aloha, Brad

I can't remember the exact quote, but I think it's from one of the gospels: "What you do to the least of my creatures, you do to me." I figure it works both ways. One has to wonder if there's a song in somewhere. Aloha, Brad