Bombardier

I'm doing ok, I guess. After graduating college, a new reality took control of my life (or it may have been reality itself, taking hold). Whatever is was, is it what I am 100% involved with. After trying to land a job in my career field (IT) right out of college, I found it to be much, much harder than I expected it to be. Being unemployed seems to really takes its toll financially (as well as psychologically) sometimes, so I decided to dedicate my post-college life to further education and skill development. (As well as a personal journey to find myself.) No, I have not enrolled in graduate school, but I am very focused on my education and my future. I have had to make sacrifices for my future like everyone else does. I don't download music even half as much as I used to. I also have stopped heavy participation in online forums (such as this one) for the time being. Once I find more of a 'balance' in my life and can have a solid piece of mind about my future, I may return as an active member of this forum. I don't know when (or if) it will be, but I always believe there is hope for the future. Take care, -Bombardier

Thanks

Yes, that's right. I'm taking a leave-of-absense from the forum. I've got some priorities in my life that require my upmost attention. After graduating college, my ever evolving priority list has changed as my time has got to be devoted elsewhere. This is not necessarily a final goodbye. i may return someday when I find myself and am certain that I am on top of my priorities (and not vice versa ;) ) I want to thank the BeatKing community for taking me in and I have enjoyed being here. Thanks, -Bombardier

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Some of the world's largest record companies are testing a new music format in Europe known as the pocket CD to spin new life into faltering music singles. At three inches in diameter -- or roughly half the size of a conventional compact disc -- the pocket CD carries a selection of music tracks and mobile phone ring tones from a host of artists ranging from 50 Cent to Black Eyed Peas. The technology made its debut in Germany last summer with Universal Music, Sony Music and later EMI and BMG, all selling a limited number of the CDs to test the public's appetite. http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/06/21/europe....reut/index.html

Welcome to BeatKing!! :scratchin: :strumma:

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled Monday that people do not have a constitutional right to refuse to tell police their names. The 5-4 decision frees the government to arrest and punish people who won't cooperate by revealing their identity. The decision was a defeat for privacy rights advocates who argued that the government could use this power to force people who have done nothing wrong, other than catch the attention of police, to divulge information that may be used for broad data base searches. Police, meanwhile, had argued that identification requests are a routine part of detective work, including efforts to get information about terrorists. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/a..._identification

SAN FRANCISCO June 21, 2004 — Brian Muller, an Army bomb squad team leader who served on a security detail for President Bush, said he was dismissed from duty after deciding to tell his commander he's gay. "I didn't do it to get out of a war I already served in a war," Muller, 25, said in an interview. "After putting my life on the line in the war, the idea that I was fighting for the freedoms of so many other people that I couldn't myself enjoy was almost unbearable." The exodus of soldiers like Muller continues even as concerns grow about military troop strength, according to a new study. Some 770 people were discharged for homosexuality last year under the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040621_104.html

Much, much, worse than you could ever be thumbsdown

Yep. Sad. isn't it? :( Big money is trying to win out over fair use.

I guess you shouldn't waste the paper giving me a redneck application I'd probably not get in anyways with my like for the Clintons ;) If Hillary Clinton ever runs for president, you can bet that she will get my vote :good job:

A video? Ugh :sick: thumbsdown

This just plain sucks! :angry:

Again we see someone who was working for a company and not a military soldier When will people learn that the Middle East is a very dangerous place to be right now; and if you are not heavily armed and capable of defending yourself, you will be captured. As has been done with other hostages, the Militants have proven that they will always honor their threats to murder their captives. I hope this act of terrorism does not influence South Korea to pull their troops out of the Middle East. :reallymad:

I will get a hold of and read Clinton's book. As I've said, I've always been a big fan of former President Clinton and this book ought to be a good read :good job:

:good job:

Al-Qaida may have reached into Silicon Valley's back yard and webjacked a company's computer to show off the hostage it had taken. Hackers distributed video of American contractor Paul Johnson by breaking into the back pages of a digital mapping company in San Jose. Silicon Valley Land Surveying, a mapping and surveying firm, was the unwitting host for the video. A company official refused comment but had the page shut down. "It certainly is an in-your-face situation if al-Qaida is using an American company to distribute its propaganda," said CBS Technology Consultant Larry Magid. Al-Qaida is regarded as an extremely sophisticated Internet user, publishing a biweekly newsletter, and feeding regular updates to sympathetic websites and blogs. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/k...8/lo_kpix/10428

CAIRO, Egypt - The head of the al-Qaida cell that killed Paul M. Johnson Jr. justified targeting the American engineer in a message written before he himself was killed in a gunbattle with Saudi security forces. In an article posted Sunday on a Web site used by Islamic radicals, Abdulaziz al-Moqrin called Johnson "an infidel, a warrior of the military." Johnson, who had worked on Apache helicopters for Lockheed Martin in Saudi Arabia, "works for military aviation and he belongs to the American army, which kills, tortures and harms Muslims everywhere, which supports enemies (of Islam) in Palestine, Philippines, Kashmir (news - web sites)," al-Moqrin wrote. The article, posted on the Web site "Sout al-Jihad," or "Voice of Holy War," was written after the kidnapping but apparently before Johnson was killed on Friday. Al-Moqrin replied to critics urging the release of Johnson, saying: "Do those people want to see this infidel carry on the killing of the children and the raping of the women in Baghdad and Kabul? http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/a...qaida_message_1

:good job:

BERLIN (Reuters) - A camouflage-clad German man wielding a samurai sword attacked at least seven hikers in forests west of Berlin, performing sword tricks before ordering them to leave the woods, police said Friday. They suspect a 46-year-old local man who trained in martial arts and survival skills in camps in Papua New Guinea and Vietnam to be the attacker. "He's dangerous and has been hard to find because he wears camouflage," said Catrin Feistauer, spokeswoman for the Nauen police department. Police have used infrared cameras mounted on helicopters to try and track him down. The man pushed two elderly people off their bikes and, flashing his sword, shouted at them to leave the forest. He later tried to drive a young couple out of the woods. No one was seriously hurt. "It's frightening because the violence level has increased each time," Feistauer said. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...many_samurai_dc

I'm sure Lenny was impressed

From the but-the-beastie-boys-are-so-countercultural dept. nfsilkey writes "After more than five years, the Beastie Boys have released a new album. It seems that the retail disc is bundled with a copy protection autoinstaller which silently silently puts itself onto the listener's computer. Many listeners are up in arms and some are venting their frustrations on the band's website." http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/04/06/20/00342...&tid=201&tid=99

NEW YORK - The entertainment industry tagged along when police raided a self-storage warehouse in Manhattan last year. Private investigators hired by movie and recording industry groups had helped link a space in the warehouse to an alleged criminal operation pirating DVDs and compact discs. They were there when the officers moved in. The teamwork might have gone unnoticed, if not for the raid's deadly outcome. Undercover Officer Bryan Conroy was charged last week with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Ousmane Zongo, an unarmed African immigrant working inside the warehouse who was not involved in the alleged pirating scheme. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/a...ooting_piracy_3

I've noticed while I've posted here that I sometimes don't get accurate word and line spacing when posting. What I mean by this is when I post new topics and indent my sentences I end up with no indenting and up to five additional blank lines in my post. I've noticed the indenting often doesn't want to indent at all. Is this a forum bug or something?

(CNN) -- Former President Clinton has revealed that he continues to support President Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq but chastised the administration over the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison. "I have repeatedly defended President Bush against the left on Iraq, even though I think he should have waited until the U.N. inspections were over," Clinton said in a Time magazine interview that will hit newsstands Monday, a day before the publication of his book "My Life." Clinton, who was interviewed Thursday, said he did not believe that Bush went to war in Iraq over oil or for imperialist reasons but out of a genuine belief that large quantities of weapons of mass destruction remained unaccounted for. http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/06/19/clinton.iraq/index.html