Yes, a rare Saturday post!

The other day I got a strange SMS message on my phone from AT&T Wireless - we're sending you a free upgrade! Being a skeptic I figured it was some kind of scam or shafting. I was right.

First, let me say that I love my T68i phone. I use my T68i all the time, and it is a great phone. I was an early adopter and paid about $200 for it, for two reasons. First, it has Bluetooth and I have a Mac, so I can update all my contacts to the phone wirelessly, and the updates go right back to my computer too. Great feature (actually two features: Bluetooth and computer syncing). Number two, it is a "world" phone. Of course, it doesn't actually WORK outside of the US, but it can "see" the networks out there. The phone is locked, though, so it won't connect to other services - at least, not in Thailand where I tried it. But reason #1 is enough. Plus, it looks sweet and brings all the girls to the yard.

Well, today I got my free downgrade in the mail. Not upgrade. Downgrade. The new T226 phone - which AT&T gives away for free (with $20 rebate), does not have any of the important features - no Bluetooth, no syncing with my Mac (even with wire), and no "world" service.

Being that it arrived without my acknowledgement, I'll be pretty pissed if they try charge me for this piece of crap. I thought about selling on eBay until I realized they are basically giving these away anyway. I might try to get another SIM card and let my wife use it. The new box says that it contains a SIM card, however it does not.

The biggest annoyance is that AT&T must think I am pretty stupid to drop my $200 phone (to me at least) in the mail in exchange for a phone they are rebating for free. Come on, be serious here. And if my current phone stops working, they WILL be upgrading my phone to an EQUIVALENT or I'll sign up for the first class action that comes along. I am not a big lawsuit guy, but I really don't think they can sell you a phone for $200 and then "turn it off" in less that two years.

Of course maybe that's the plan. If they get half the T68i people to downgrade, then when they have to give out real phones later they'll only have to give away half as many. Not a bad plan but insulting. For more information, check out this message board or the actual AT&T Wireless Upgrade site.

I had a very pleasant experience at our corporate annual meeting yesterday - after the speech ended, the clapping went on for some time, so on the spur of the moment I led a standing ovation of several hundred people. I certainly didn't intend to make any impression, but several of my cow-orkers complimented me on the gesture. This is the sort of thing one can only do once within a given group, and I'm happy to have done so today. Good way to start the day.

A nice way to end the work day was jump-starting a friend's car, saving him from being towed by the 4 pm traffic rottweilers. And it wasn't just any jump start - I faced my maneuverable little car the wrong way down K street, and also figured out how to disengage the Lojack so that the car would start. Huzzah, what a hero!

Our LG full-size combo washer/dryer also arrived today -250 lbs of mechanical genius. Dirty clothes go in, clean, dry clothes come out. No transfer of laundry. Why they don't sell these in Sears or Best Buy or Lowe's I have no idea. I'll have a further review after we actually use this one (we have an under-counter one now that works pretty well).

But the biggest laugh of the day? "Hands down" it's John Kerry - SHOW ME A MAN OUT THERE JOHNNY! I think the first JFK was a little smoother...

Classic expression, and still no forehead wrinkles! Take that, Botox boy! Have a great weekend!

We have an official move-in date: March 13. Hopefully all the little stuff will be moved in before that, but the few large items we have will go that day. If you want to come carry a couple things in exchange for some grub and grog, let me know and I'll send you the time and place.

Alright, let's hit a couple links. First, the editor of Gizmodo has moved on, creating his own new tech-mology (what's it all about?) blog called Engadget. Enjoy!

Here's a short piece on gay marriage from Nicholas Kristof.

Here's a cute little movie about the wonders of Nutrigrain.

This went around a while ago, but if you missed it, be sure to check out the Rumsfeld Hand-Fu.

Finally, these videos of waterballoons in zero gravity are pretty cool.

Strange "religious" experience today. I was walking to my car, ready to drive home. It was a beautiful day, so I was lowering the top. This older black woman comes up to, speaking in a Jamaican accent. I'll paraphrase: "My son, my son, God bless you. Can you take me there [pointing up the street], I have a meeting with my Lord." She opened the door to my car, and since she looked pretty harmless I decided not to protest. Just look at the light, darling. Anyway, as we drove off, she continued "Oh Jesus, my brother, my husband, we will be married, and I invite you and your family to join me. No more sickness or death in your family, thank you, it is Revelations verse 9, no more sickness."

Now, as I wrote earier, I don't argue religion, and I don't pick arguments. At the time, I was referring to people one can actually converse with. I would have been insane to even respond to this woman - and besides, I didn't have a chance. She went on and on in this vein for the entire, um, 8 minute drive. It seemed like 20. On and on, the same words over and over. No more sickness, marrying my lord, your family is invited, God bless you - OK, I get it. You are religious. You are Christian. CONGRATULATIONS. Now, do you have any other thought in your brain?

So, I turned up the music on my iPod, I believe it was Stereolab, and let her babbling compete with vague French lyrics and synth beats.

I was quite annoyed and didn't bother hiding it - peeved not because she was relgious, but because she bummed a ride in such a rude manner and wouldn't shut up the entire time. I could have refused her, but that's just not my style - ever since I got a car I've hooked people up with rides, and I wasn't going to be rude just to save 10 minutes. Probably some psychic remnant of having to jog to my friends' houses for upwards of 5 miles in my mid teens for lack of a ride.

I know some people are very convincing scammers, so I didn't take her all the way to her destination. I dropped her off about a block away, where I knew I couldn't get mugged or anything. She didn't try to take my roll of quarters or iPod so I figure she was legit. Legitimately mental. There's just a lot of religion in the air this past week or so, so I'll roll with it. The weather is beautiful, and once the thongs and stretch pants come out, these religious overtones don't stand a chance.

OK, we have the new photos showing the weekend progress. First is the home office - newly painted green and carpeted, with the desk I had to drive all around town to acquire. Baby Artemis likes playing on the carpet, and she's great at finding and disposing of the old paint chips.

The second room has the before and in-progress shots - that's Artemis' new room. We used the same color light purple as we used in her first room because we liked it so much. You can see the horrible paneling that we painted. The hardwood floor was OK but we are going with carpet for the entire upstairs.

We're using this Milligan Legato carpet, which is plush and comes in approximate squares. Once they hit the floor they don't slide at all, and they have built-in padding so they are pretty soft. Installing a small room takes about an hour - mostly planning to make sure you don't screw up the cuts. Aside from the easy installation, tiles can easily be removed and replaced or rearranged if they are damaged - great for a little baby who is sure to make a mess from time to time. They're not that cheap - about $70 for 35 square feet (1 box). But I got an insane deal for only $10 per box for some special order tiles that were returned, so Artemis' room was pretty inexpensive.

It's amazing what a difference a couple hours of work can make - her room went from an ugly, lifeless echo chamber into a cozy, refreshing little personal space in an afternoon. The upstairs rooms are going a lot faster than the downstairs - I also did the home office in one evening, although there are still a couple small things to do.

Enjoy the photos and I'll write at you tomorrow.

I learned long ago, in high school, that picking religious arguments is a waste of time. As Neitsche wrote in Anti-Christ, Christians fall back on Faith and there is no further argument. In my experience, that was exactly true and so I gave up even trying. I'm not religious, or spiritual, but I make no bones about others being so. Today, it's easy to ignore religion - aside from the occasional God reference in music or introduction, there really is very little religion in our culture. I sometimes even side with religious folks, when they are forced by the ACLU further into the margins of society.

But, it's all center stage again with The Passion of the Christ. And it comes back to me, how silly it all seems. But it's not silly - a large, overwhelming majority of Americans believe that Jesus really was the son of God. They believe that facts are being depicted in the film. Personally, I am debating whether to see the film - violent images stay with me a long time, and I don't really want to be bothered for a month or more remembering torture. A movie of major cultural significance shouldn't be ignored, but I'm not sure it's worth the cost of the violent impressions.

But, again, what's bewildering to me is how people take this seriously. I rank Jesus right up there with Muhammad, Buddha, and Zeus among religious figures. Interesting examples of what people want in their dieties. But, for me at least, there is no difference between the ancient myths of Hera, Mercury, Athena, Apollo, and Zeus and the Christian beliefs of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and God. Sure, Christianity might have had a more believable story line (Athena being born full grown from Zeus' head is a bit ridiculous), but none of these histories is especially believable. In terms of morality, the Bible makes John Kerry look consistent, so its interpretation is more of a reflection of the interpreter than an reflection of consistent philosophy. So, it surprises me how seriously people take this stuff. Yet, people devote their lives to their faith, or use it to guide their decisions.

And I'm fine with that, but only because our government is separate from faith, and people can't force their convictions upon me. But, woe to those without religious freedom. Woe to those of independent minds forced into religous observance, or obedience. Perhaps my lack of religion is why I feel freedom is so important. In any case, it's interstesting that this be brought up by Mel Gibson via his film, and lots of people are now publicly giving their opinions. I still don't know if I should see it. But if I do, I should be aware that I have a different worldview than 95% of the other viewers. And that's a little weird.

OK, I denied you linky love last week. So, here are some still warm leftovers that you are sure to enjoy:

First, the perfect day. Thanks to CapLion for that one.

These lucky bags sound fun.

Finally, if you have some bandwidth, these Mario Brothers dramatised stories are great: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 (thanks BoingBoing!).