Though it may not be recognized by the American Medical Association (yet!), frigidamanus supermus is a serious medical affliction which is estimated to affect over two hundred thousand Americans every year.  It is common among individuals who spend much of their time operating computers; particularly vulnerable are employees at workplaces that maintain a low temperature due to an abundance of heat-generating computer hardware.  Deriving from the Latin for “cold hand above mouse,” the condition is marked by a significant temperature gradient between the hand which operates the mouse (typically the right hand) and the other hand, with the mouse-operating hand being colder.  This is caused by the tendency of the computer operator to use the mouse more frequently than the keyboard, while keeping the other hand close to the warmth of the face and/or abdomen.  The outlook is grim: a staggering 98 percent of FS sufferers will survive for no more than 85 years after symptoms are first experienced.

Does it make me a terrible person if I feel almost no sympathy for this guy, who was sent to prison for getting three DUI’s, getting raped in prison? (SFW, unless the words “rape” or “sodomy” get flagged by a filter or something.  In which case, I guess this page is NSFW).  I know it’s not how I should feel, as a Christian or as a civilized person or as a nice guy or for whatever reason.  But I mean, really, three DUI’s?  That should carry at least the same prison sentence as attempted murder, since that’s pretty much what it is.  Anyone who’s been to middle school has heard what goes on in prisons.  If this guy were imprisoned for something basically victimless, I would feel bad.  If he were falsely convicted of something, I would feel bad.  And sure, I don’t think it’s good that this happens in prisons.  But as for feeling sorry for this guy?  He is where he is as a result of his own actions and choices, and if he did not have an idea of what he was in for that is more than just ignorance.  The Human Rights Watch should have used someone else’s letter to make me feel sympathy.  In fact, the only part of that whole article that really made me feel sympathetic was the statement that he probably has AIDS now.

Go directly to jail.  Do not pass Go.  Do not collect $200.

The top ten best-selling video games of 2006 (as reported by NextGen):

10. Need For Speed Carbon
9. Fight Night Round 3
8. Call Of Duty 3
7. Kingdom Hearts II
6. Gears Of War
5. New Super Mario Bros.
4. NCAA Football 07
3. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
2. Cars
1. Madden NFL 07

Cars was the 2nd best selling game in North America of 2006.  Seriously.  I was surprised too.  But Madden is no surprise, selling two-and-a-half times more copies than Cars.  I don’t understand the drive to play the same game over and over again every year.  I know someone who didn’t get a new system last time around until they stopped making Madden on the N64, at which point he bought a GameCube (as it was the cheapest).  He will probably buy his next system when they stop making Madden for the Cube.  That makes no sense to me.  I’m also kind of surprised to see Gears Of War in the top ten, not that I’m implying it is a bad game, I just didn’t realize there were enough 360’s for it to be a top-ten game.  The full article is interesting but kind of long (16 pages long), so if you’re bored you should check it out.

On a side note, why do online news article insist on using “pages” anyway?  Nine out of ten dentists agree that webpages can now scroll vertically without negatively affecting their usability.

I think this is pretty cool:  Microsoft got some of the wallpaper images for Vista from amateurs they found by searching Flickr.  Read more here or maybe over here.

Something weird I do:  when I cook something in the microwave I input the time as an improper fraction whenever possible.  For example, instead of punching in 1:30, I’ll punch in :90 [obviously, the colons are just here for readability].  I could pretend I’m doing that to save the exhaustive effort required to push a third button, but then that argument is shot when I cook something for 1:60.  I think the first time I just did it to “hack” the microwave, to see if it would make it explode (since, you know, that’s what they do when they malfunction).  So far I’ve never found a microwave that can’t handle it.  Now it’s just a way of reminding the microwave that I am the sentient being that makes the decisions, and it is the dumb machine that follows instructions blindly.  Of course, this is just making the machines more and more angry, so when there is a robot uprising, I think my microwave will go after me first.  I am willing to take that risk.

I don’t understand why WarioWare: Smooth Moves costs the same as Twilight Princess.  WarioWare is kinda fun when you have people over or something, but not fifty dollars worth of fun.  Plus, have you seen the graphics?  Seriously that game couldn’t have taken more than two months for a team of like two programmers an artist and a helper monkey to create, whereas Twilight Princess had a three year development cycle or something.  Why do the casual games cost the same as the serious games?

I may pick up WarioWare used in a year, when it’s like fifteen bucks.  But not new for fifty.  At least Wii Play is only ten dollars (kind of).