Here's the thing

I've actually been looking forward to watching this film moreso than any Star Trek film, which is kinda weird for me. I'm still not going to camp out, like the Star Wars fans dare prone to do--I can't see myself going down that avenue.

But I will leave work early to meet my friend in line--a few hours early won't be that geeky, will it?

Anyway, whilst you're reading this on a Friday evening, I'm watching what many consider to be the greatest science fiction movie of this generation.

I'll let you know how much I liked it.

Eric Lindros

I'm not much of a hockey fan--the fan that was within me was beaten out of me before I turned 8 years old.

That said, I know of hockey and I know of the Toronto Maple Leafs. I also know a few other miscellaneous things that I'll talk about here.

So to start--everyone lay off Eric and the people who signed him up!

Seriously--get over it!

Here's the thing--I can almost guarantee that 30ish years ago, little Eric fell in love with Hockey. I bet his parents took him to the arena for practice at 6 in the morning, and drove all over ther greater southern Ontario area when he was playing in the minors.

Here's a guy who has lived hockey for most of his life--And now, finally, probably at the end of his career, he gets to wear a Leaf jersey.

There is more to sports than the almighty dollar, or at least there should be. And we're always told that there's more to sports than winning at any cost--well folks, my papa used to say--'Put up or shut up!'

I'll be at the season opener, and, if he's all healed up, my eyes'll be a little misty when I see #88 hit the ice for the first time in regular season play wearing Leaf colours. He's worked hard his entire life for this sport, and all he ever wanted to be was a Toronto Maple Leaf.

And I couldn't be happier for him right now.

And so it begins...

    The RCX LDCC Controllers.

I scaled my layout down a bit 'cause it was taking up most of the basement. I tried to keep all the elements I wanted, like the train yard and track loops that don't just run around the perimeter, so this is what I came up with.

I'm running Mark Riley's LDCC. Since I'm running 3 locomotives, I thought I'd be nice to my RCX and use Mark's LACC DCC booster as well, so that helps.

So here's the plan--

The little raised loop is around 19 bricks high--it's going to be a mountain area with a little waterfall and stream. The little loop has two wyes on it--the inside one is going to go into a 'mining tunnel' where a hopper car will have half bushings dumped into it. Then the train will drive around to the other wye. The other wye will have a mining building capable of 'processing' the half bushings down to a storage container.

On the ground level, a train will sporadically go to the storage container and take the half bushings to another area, presumably for 'further processing'--basically I wnat to build a GBC but with half bushings.

Anyway, that's the tentative plan. We shall see what transpires.

Here's the Track Designer layour as it stands now--

The layout.

Ideas, suggestions or whatever you wanna say, comment below!

In the continuing battle against spam

There'll be sometimes when you're winning, sometimes when you're losing.

After my continuous research project, however, I have implemented the mod-security module for my Apache web server (as I think I stated earlier). I won't go into specifics of how to install it--check out their website for that.

However, I will put down here my configuration of mod_security, for those that may be interested.

So after you've installed mod_security and made sure it's all working loverly with Apache, here's the configuration for the http.conf file--

# mod_security

SecFilterEngine On
#SecFilterEngine DynamicOnly
SecFilterDefaultAction "deny,log,status:403"
SecFilterScanPOST On
SecFilterCheckURLEncoding On
SecFilterCheckCookieFormat On
SecFilterCheckUnicodeEncoding Off
SecServerResponseToken Off
SecFilterForceByteRange 1 255
SecServerSignature "Sparky'S Server"
SecAuditEngine RelevantOnly
SecAuditLog e:/www/logs/audit.log
SecFilterDebugLevel 0
SecFilterDebugLog e:/www/logs/modsec_debug.log
Include conf/blacklist_rules.conf
Include conf/sparky_rules.conf

Few things--I changed my Server Signature to 'Sparky'S Server' to hopefully thwart any automated hacking scripts--if they think it's not an Apache web server, they may ignore it. Then again, any hacker worth anything can quickly realize that I'm runing Apache, but eh...

As well, you can see that the default action is to serve up a '403' page. I have quite the nice 403 page if I do say so myself...

Further, I have 2 configuration files that I'm using for my 'ban list'. One is the latest master blacklist file taken from MT-Blacklist/Comment Spam Clearinghouse and run through the blacklist to modsec perl program as snivved from World Wide Wood.

The second configuration list I'm using is one I created and maintain myself--'sparky_rules.conf'

Yeah, my list has quite the harsh language in it. Alas, to keep the spammers and at bay, this is what I had to resort to.

I keep updating my list everytime a spammer succeeds in posting something, or when I notice someone blatantly posting my images on their websites.

Now some folks who happen to know how all this stuff works together are probably cringing at my list--I mean, my list contains words--not even proper web site addresses--just words. My reply is that if anyone is trying to visit this site from any website containing any of those words, I don't want them here anyway. As well, if anyone is trying to post to my blog using any of those words, I probably wouldn't want to read what they had to say.

So if you're wondering why you got my '403' page at any point in the future, you probably have one of those words in the list in either your domain name, or in what you're trying to post.

Drop me a line if you have questions or tips about this stuff--I'm pretty new at it myself, but got it pretty much working for me.

No one was hurt

I noticed my website wasn't working around 4:30 yesterday afternoon.

Sandy called me at around 5 p.m. stating that she heard on the radio that there was a traffic accident near our abode.

These two things are directly linked. Turns out that vehicle(s) involved in the accidnt took out a telephone pole. That telephone pole, coincidentally, happened to be carrying the cable wire for probably most of our street.

Yep, our cable was out the entire evening.

I just reviewed my log files on my web server, and it looks as if the cable connection was restored around 1:30 a.m.

That must've been some accident.

First, I want to thank the cable guys for putting in the effort to restore cable service to our area. It wasn't 'life or death', but having Sparky's and Sandy's Space unaccessible doesn't sit quite right with me.

Secondly, I'm unsure as to the cause of the accident, but it's quite the coincidence that I mentioned bad drivers yesterday in a blog entry right before a driver hopped the curb near our house, drove across quite the extensive grassy area, and took out a telephone pole.

A little information about this exact area of the road where this accident took place--

Going southbound, it's a single lane road that widens into two lanes. The dashed white line starts a little ways up, but until that dashed line starts, the road is technically a single lane.

I've driven down that stretch for two and a half years now, doing (sometimes a little over) 50 km/h--the speed limit. Drivers behind me, I guess knowing that there are two lanes ahead instead of just one, will pass me. What some of these drivers fail to take into consideration (and I haven't told you yet) is that there's a curve in the road where the one lane turns into 2--you can't see the oncoming traffic very well right there.

So here's my surmised summarization as to what probably happened yesterday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. (during a busy time of traffic, btw)--

A driver was proceeding south on the road. Another impatient driver was also proceeding up the road, and didn't feel like slowing down until the road turned into two lanes, so he proceeded to pass the slower driver on a 'blind curve'. Vehicles coming the other way forced Mr. Speedypants to cut back into the lane, causing either himself or the other slower car to careen off the road, across the grass, and into the telephone pole.

That's what probably happened.

Thankfully it happened where it did, because, again something else that I didn't mention this round (but previously mentioned with the talk about owls), there's a ravine on both sides of the road right before where this accident took place. Had it happened 20 feet earlier, instead of taking out a telephone pole, the accident more than likely would have severly injured or killed people.

So, my dear friends, my point (and I do have one if you can't really see it) is that 'Speed kills'--Zipping along and cutting in and out of traffic to get home 2 minutes quicker isn't at all worth the potential cost--lives can be lost for those two extra minutes.

It really isn't worth it. Not even close.

Sparky's Space was never about generating revenue

I was pretty excited about adding Google Ads and Paypal Donates to this website at one time.

Well, after a half a year has gone past and these generated 12 whole dollars... not so much with the enthusiasm.

So they're gone--at least from the blog portion. Maybe I'll get around to removing the Google Ads and the PayPal donates from the other pages, but the laziness is getting the better part of me at this time.

Anyway, Sparky's and Sandy's Space is advert free, at least where the blogs are concerned.

'Cause it's never been about the money.

My good friend Calum

He's on a trip!

I know I already have a link to the right, but I think that most of you would be interested in my friend's trip--

Calum's Trip

In which Calum takes pictures and adds a running journal of his trip to Japan.

He told me once that when he takes pictures, he has the theme to 'National Geographic' going thru his head--He says it helps to take better pictures.

Have a boo! I think it works!

From the 'If I were in charge' dept.

A few things happened recently...

I'm on a 'more Zen' kick where traffic is concerned. I'm refusing to get upset by the shenanigans of other drivers because, well, life is just too short.

Of course, after making this brilliant edict, Sandy and I are driving somewhere--there's a car in front of me, there's a car behind me, and there's a car to the left of me. Some 'other driver' is coming up fast on the on ramp and I'm past the point where the lanes merge. This guy has the gall to pull up beside me (now he's driving on the shoulder of the highway) and blasts his horn at me. I guess he wanted me to let him in 'cause the fence along the highway is cutting in towards the actual road and he's running out of room.

Now normally when you're on a highway in the slow lane, you don't expect people to pass you on the right because, and here's some information if you already didn't know it--that's the shoulder!! It's bad enough when people are using on and off ramps as passing lanes, but now they're using the shoulder of the highway as well.

As Maxwell Q. Klinger used to say, 'May a thousand camel fleas infest your armpits!'

But that was a 'walk in the park' compared to yesterday.

Yesterday, Sandy and I were driving to the mall to open a joint bank account (yep--we're at that stage of our relationship ). The traffic light is green, and I want to make a left-hand turn, so I'm sitting in the left hand turn lane. Actually, since I was the only vehicle in the left hand turn lane at the time, I was closer to the middle of the intersection. My left flasher was on, and I was just waiting for traffic to clear.

Knowing Centennial Parkway as I do, I knew it was a slim chance for me to actually make the turn before the light turned yellow, so I just waited patiently for the lights to change, having a conversation with Sandy during this brief pause in our travels.

The light turns yellow. I wait some more 'cause, again, I know that people 'run the yellow', and sure enough, the people didn't disappoint me.

I might add that by the time the red light showed up, I was getting the feeling that I wanted to get out of the intersection. I can't see that far down the road 'cause of all the SUV's and such, but the light's going to be red and the vehicles are stopping in the lanes we were facing. So I start to move.

I might add right here that the cars were stopping in the lanes we were facing except this guy in a Jetta--he thought it would be a good idea to 'run the red' at approximately 80 kilometers per hour. Sandy sees him flying towards the intersection. Had I been a little quicker to jump on the gas (something I'm not prone to do) this idiot would have t-boned us. Thankfully my cat-like reflexes kicked in and I stopped our car. The breeze from his passing shook the car as he careened down Centennial.

I'm not prone to use profanity, but the word 'Jackass!' excaped my lips.

Sandy, understandably, was white as a ghost (the idiot driver would have plowed into her side of the car) and she couldn't speak until we pulled into the parking lot.

Now I say all of this to make a point (and yes, a point will be made).

Listening to Q107 this morning, John Derringer's 'Tools of the day' were idiot drivers. When he was going on about people backing up on the 404 or doing other outrageious things, and yet the cops seem only interested in sitting in one spot with the radar guns to catch the pople doing 25 over the speed limit, I wanted to remind him that many many people here in Ontario were against photo radar.

See, photo radar, to the unbelievers, is the bane of traffic. I take a different tact. Photo Radar replaces the cop just sitting there, witing for a speeding motorist.

People complain because it's a 'money grab' for the government. K, if you obey the traffic laws, how can it be a 'money grab'?

As well, 'What if I lend my car to someone and they get the ticket? I'd be responsible!!' Well, yes you would for lending your car to someone who goes out and breaks the law. Besides, the sheer volume of people driving their own cars by far outweighs the people driving borrowed cars at a tune of 99.9 percent to .1 percent. You're telling me we shouldn't do something because .1 percent of the people are driving borrowed cars?

I'm willing to state that demerit points will not be a factor using photo radar--just money.

And I'm also willing to reinvestigate the speed limits--if the MTO runs the tests and finds out that 120 is a reasonably safe limit of speed on the 400 series of highways, then so be it--as long as all drivers obey the speed limit.

So that's what it comes down to--obey the traffic laws and you won't have to contribute to the 'money grab'. Photo Radar also 'frees up' police officers to do other things.

(I will also stipulate that police oficers have to obey the traffic laws as wee--Hey Cops!! You're suppose to be the ones setting the example but I can't tell you how many times I've been driving home from work and (since I live near a police station) I see your cruisers passing me, doing around 70 in a 50 zone so you can get back to the precinct at the end of your shift. Obey the Law!!

So to start, I'd ask for about 10 grand to set up 1 or two photo radar cameras strategically placed around the highway ssytem. The 'revenue' generated from these cameras would in turn be used to set up other cameras.

Privacy? These cameras are taking pics of licence plates of people who are breaking the law. No publishing of people's faces in the local paper or whathaveyou. Licence plates and the speed the vehicle was pegged at.

In the future I'd like to see this expanded to take pics of vehicles using on and off ramps as passing lanes, as well as cature other traffic violations.

Look people, I'm not one to say 'all laws are right'--if there are bad laws, then we have to work at changing them. That's a big discussion for another time. Saying that the Highway Traffic Act is all bad is absolutely ludicrous--you want to know why we have traffic issues? Sure the infrastructure needs improving, sure we need more money for fixing things up. Does that give a valid reason for using the shoulders of highways as passing lanes? Does that give drivers the 'right' to run red lights? Of course it doesn't.

We get the cameras in place to stop the law breakers. That's all they're for. If you don't break the law, then why are you worried about the cameras?

I've also noticed that people who whine and complain about how bad traffic is are the same people that whined and complained about the photo radar. That's brilliant...

Anyway, probably lost many votes on this one.

Star Trek and the Emmy's

Whilst watching a portion of the Emmy's the other night, I saw William Shatner and an opera singer doing the theme to Star Trek: The Original Series.

Now leading up to it, I thought it would be a little hokey, but truth be told, I actually liked it. I know that Shatner was too 'Shatner' with his clipping of 'Space! ... The Final Frontier' and I would have appreciated it more if he elocuted it the way he did back in '66, but you take what you can get.

As well, I've never been much into opera--classical yes--opera... not so much. That said, I really liked that bit as well (I'll have to do some Googling to find out who she was)

But what really moved me was the actual video clip playing in the background--the 'video clippers' used the first bit from the opening credits of Star Trek, with the Constitution class starship zipping through space and orbiting planets. There's always something about seeing the red and gold emblem on the secondary hull as well as the nacelles (with the NCC-1701) flowing across the screen that brings me back to so many memories...

Boy I love Star Trek

Anyway, where the 'star list' would usually be in the opening credits, the 'video clippers' put a montage of clips from the episodes. More than a few of these clips were taken from 'Gamesters of Triskelion'. Coincidentally, my good friend Craig and I were discussing episodes that we'd have a tough time sitting throughthis past Saturday--pretty much 'Gamesters' was ranking up there (not even the scantily silver clad women with the Sailor Saturn killing poles could redeem that one...)

But the really nice thing the montage people did was focus on Bones and Scotty--DeForest Kelley and James Doohan--that made my eyes a little misty, let me tell you.

The Shatner/Opera singer rendition should have won for best song, but alas, like many things, it came down to a popularity contest instead of a talent contest.

Eh, I still really liked it, and that's good enough for me.

A healthy baby girl

Baby Alivia (yes, Alivia not Olivia) entered the world at 2:21am on September 20, 2006. She weighed in at 6lbs, 12.5oz. She is as beautiful as an angel.

Wow, what an experience! To be there through the entire event is beyond words. The miracle of a new life. The bond between mother and baby. I'm in complete awe.

I cried many tears of joy when I held Alivia for the first time. All the emotions of the past 9 months hit me hard at that moment. I cannot put in to words what I felt as I held the new life in my arms.

Lynda, all I can say is that you are my hero. You were a trooper through everything. You are going to be the best mommy. Alivia is blessed to have you as her mother.

Thank you for the honour of allowing me to be with you from start to finish. I'll never forget a single second of it.

Deb, (Lynda's other coach) you were amazing. I'm glad you were there in the room with Lynda too.

Dave, thank you for coming to the hosipital and spending hours in the waiting room. You are truly the best. I am so lucky to be spending the rest of my life with someone as amazing as you.

Oh yeah, I think my mind is made up.

a baby is being born

Sandy is in the delivery room. Her friend, Linda, a single mom, is giving birth to a baby (probably not named 'David Jonathan', but whatrya gonna do?).

I'm actually pretty excited. Change that to I'm actually very excited. I mean, I've visited recently born babies of friends and family in the past, but really didn't feel like an integral part of 'the event'.

However, living with Sandy over the last 6 months--since she's so much part of this birthing experience--there's been books and research on the baby-entering-the-world event that we've been looking at and talking about, that I'm genuinely wow'ed by the whole thing.

(I won't mention the discussion about how pregnancies last 10 months instead of 9 just because the books say 40 weeks... it's still 9 months! )

Anyway, I'm picturing Sandy in the delivery room right now, a la Bill Cosby, as the 'cheering squad'--'Push it out! Shove it out! Waaaay out!'

Dunno if that works, but Bill says it does so we'll go with that.

Well Linda, when all is said and done, I hope for a healthy baby (whatever the name)--as President Bartlett stated--'you pray for 10 fingers and 10 toes. Beyond that...'

You're going to be an awesome mom. Let us know if there's anything you need or want us to do for you. You're not alone in this and you'll never be alone.

Exchanging 'the building blocks of life'

A moc-up of the event

The actual blocks

In what could be arguably the most interesting rtl Toronto robot event, we're playing 'The Mating Game'.

The goal--your robot must give blocks of a specific colour to as many other robots as it possibly can during the allotted time. As well, your robot should be able to receive as many blocks as possible.

That's the gist.

The specifics, subject to change without notice, is that your robot starts off with 10 blocks of a specific colour. Each robot has a different block colour at the start of the match. At the word 'Go!', your robot must find other robots and drop a block into the hoppers of the other robots.

At the end of 5 minutes, all robots are stopped and the blocks counted. One point is awarded for each block of a different colour in your hopper. As well, one point is awarded for each different robot you put one of your blocks in.

Specifics about your robot--

At the start of the competition, your robot has to be follow the 1 foot max rule--less than 1 foot long, less than 1 foot wide, and less than 1 foot high.

The hopper on your robot cannot be higher than 10 bricks from the play surface.

That's about it, really, besides standart rtl rules and regs.

Remember that this competition won't be a one-on-one event--there could be up to 10 robots in the arena at once, vieing for giving and receiving blocks--build and program accordingly.

Comments below if you so desire

is the memory...

So my papa used to tell me.

We ordered a home alarm system a ffew days ago and the installer showed up last night to do the actual installation.

Well, for this alarm company, there's a monitoring fee--you give 'em a void cheque and they take 25 bucks out of your bank account every month. I was upstairs before dinner, and thought that I'd save myself a trip back up the stairs later in the evening if I just grabbed my cheque book and put it in my pocket for later that evening.

Which is what I did.

Between the time I put the thing in my pocket and the guy actually showing up to do the work was a few hours. When it came time to cut the cheque, I reached into my pocket and was surprised that the cheque book wasn't there! Knowing me, I placed it somewhere during those few hours--some place I probably thought was rather smart and that I could find it easily when I needed it later.

Well, no such luck. We had absolutely no luck finding the thing. SInce I didn't leave the premises, it's somewhere in our house.

Here's the thing--we'll find it a week from now, sitting right out in the open.

But for now, my memory cannot recall at all where I put it.

Eh, it's the second thing that goes...

and Canada's Wonderland

Notice anything with the way I named those two locales in the Greater Toronto area?

Right! I didn't call them by their 'proper' names.

I'm stating emphatically right now that I'm going to work extra hard over the rest of my life to not call them by their corporate names, either.

I think it's absolutely outrageous, well beyond just corporate conceit, that a company comes along and buys a landmark and tells us, the masses, that we have to start calling 'em differently.

At least Paramount kept 'Canada's Wonderland' in the name. I will still avoid calling it 'Paramount Canada's Wonderland', mostly because it takes too long to say--I'd be finished one of the rides before I finish saying the name of the park.

But 'Rogers Centre'?? Give me a break. I don't see any part of 'sky' or 'dome' in there.

It's the Skydome. It will always be the Skydome. When I saw Billy Graham with 70,000 of my closest friends, I went to the Skydome. When we watched Carter hit hte ball out of the park in the '90's, it happened in the Skydome. When they built the thing, and they had the 'Name the new building' competition, and out of the thousands of entries, they chose 'The Skydome'. A corporation comes along, buys the building and, for the sake of the marketing department, renames it?

Not in this person's book.

I know--let's go buy Mount Rushmore and rename it to 'McDonald's Faces on the Hill'.

Some used the idea that the tallest free-standing structure in the world is named the 'CN Tower'. Well, for those that might have forgotten, the CN company built the thing back in '76. It wasn't build as 'The Trump Tower' and then CN came along and renamed it. They built it, they named it. I beleive that right now the CN company really doesn't have much to do with it and yet it's still called the CN tower.

So Rogers Corporation--put a sock in it. Get off your presumptive arrogant heinies and restore the rightful name of the building. I'll even state it here for all to see--

The Skydome.

Who knows--the animosity you generated by renaming a Canadian landmark might go away.

throwing it out there

Someone I know is looking for work in the Greater Hamilton area.

She's a pharmacy technician and has all papers stating same. She's been working in the pharmacutical area for many years and has lots of experience.

She'd rather work at a hospital as a pharmacy tech, but will also seriously consider working as a tech in retail (at a drug store).

She's personable, friendly, professional and, so I'm told, very good at what she does.

Drop me an e-mail if you can help, or if you know of a good lead to look for a job as a pharmacy technician.

Thanks!

Do you get it now???

For anyone who thought over the past 5 years that George W. Bush was good for anyone besides himself and his cronies, do you get it now???

It boggles my mind how anyone who paid any attention to the news over the past month still believes that Dubya is doing a 'good job' for 'his fellow Americans'. Sure he has the lowest approval rating in American history, but the idea that 40ish percent of the people think he's still doing a 'bang up job'... hey! Get your heads out of your collective heinies and pay attention! People are dead, both in Iraq and at home due to his lies and negligence.

The 'spinners' are spinning, but I hope we've learned over this administrations tenure that it's all fingerpointing--when you're in charge, the buck stops with you.

I heard some Republican 'apologist' the other day on the radio. He was confronted with a document prepared a few years ago stating that the levee in New Orleans couldn't withstand a force 4 hurricane, and should be upgraded to withstand that type of hurricane. He replied that had the hurricane been a force 43, then someone somewhere would have dug up a document stating that the levee wouldn't withstand a force 43 hurricane--'how can this administration be responsible for a natural disaster! We can't do everything!' he argued--This is what is known as making a ridiculous point to belittle the issue.

The fact of the matter is, as we may recall from last year in Florida, and almost every year in the Carolinas, force 3 and 4 hurricanes are not unknown to hit the costal areas of our continent--force 43 hurricanes, however, are not.

Dubya's administration knew of the report, and took the financing for the upgrade of the levee and 'reinvested it' into homeland security, thus leaving the city vulnerable.

For the best 'commentary' on this situation, read the Plaid Adder, as posted on the Democratic Underground website. I know that the site is pretty much 'so far to the left' as far as websites go, but there's sometimes some pretty good reading, so I'll just add this little quotation from the article linked above--

"I accuse George W. Bush, along with every high-ranking member of his administration, of parlaying the tragedy of September 11 into a massive con game whereby, over the course of four years, they robbed us of our freedoms, our money, and our soliders in the name of security, without doing a single thing that would actually make us safer."

If you still believe that Dubya is a good leader, ask yourself just one question--"since 9/11, are you any safer?"

I don't think the people in New Orleans and the surrounding areas feel any safer, nor should the rest of us.

Just stop it.

I was listening to Q107 en route to work this morning, and John Derringer had the folks from the Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness on his show.

Turns out that Rona Building Supplies and IBM Canada (I guess) (and many other companies) got together to do something good at the local Women's shelter. The IBM employees donated their time, and Rona donated all the materials, and they gave the shelter a makeover--with painting and fixing-ups and the like.

Listening the the people on Q talking about what they're doing and who they're doing it for, made my eyes a little misty (as if last night's special on Terry Fox wasn't doing it for me...)

I started thinking of a few experiences in the past regarding abuse and the impact on people's lives.

I was all of 17 when I had to go to the local women's shelter in Hamilton to visit a friend. Well, for obvious reasons, the shelter does not let men beyond a certain point--basically the reception area and that's about it. Whilst sitting there waiting to see my friend, other people were coming and going. The reaction of some women coming into the building and seeing me just sitting there was almost abject terror. Here I am, all of 17 and a bit of a geek, and mature women were scared of me.

I wanted to assure them that I was, in no way, shape or form, a threat to them, or anyone else. However, I was pre-warned not to outwardly react at all to anyone that was petrified of me being in their proximity.

How someone could do things to another person to the point where they're petrified of a 17 year old is beyond my comprehension. I, along with many others (at least form what I hear and read) wholeheartedly believe that the criminal justice system in this country is completely lacking. Anyone who abuses somone else, whether it be physical, emotional or sexual, should have the ability to 'reabuse' taken away permanently. Whether that's incarceration or restraining orders, we'll discuss the best method.

The other issue I hear about is how the abusee cannot live without the abuser and falls right back into the abusive situation (or finds another abusive person to be with). For whatever reason, whether it be because they don't know any different, or they have a sense of low self-esteem, it doesn't matter--we have laws in this country--laws are there to protect people. Anyone who has been, or continues to be abused needs protection.

We, as a society, also have the onus of stepping up and speaking out against abuse. There was that commercial a few years ago with a couple in bed, teying to go to sleep, when they hear the shouting and the hitting from the apartment above them. It is up to us to report abuse when we see it. This sin't someone else's problem--it is each and every one of us. If we ignore it, we empower the abuser to continue the bad treatment of another individual.

Another thing that opened my eyes to the power of abuse--I was standing in line to buy some stamps a year or two ago at one of those postal outlets at the drug store. Pretty much oblivious to what was going on around me 'cause I had my book with me and I was reading it (it's what I do--always carry a book), so I wasn't paying much attention to the people around me.

The guy in front of me finally had his turn at the counter. I was reading my book so didn't hear the entire conversation, but subconsiously, I realized that the guy and the woman behind the counter weren't talking about stamps.

I closed my book and started paying attention. The guy was saying things like, "You need to come with me" and she was looking absolutely terrified. I was almost ready to ask what the issue was when the store manager showed up and firmly asked the guy to leave. After he was esorted to the door, with a few choice words spewing form his mouth, the woman was in tears and shaking uncontrollably. Turns out the guy has a restraining order against him and the manager called the police. Beyond that, I have no idea what the fallout was on that one.

Again, how things get to this point is inconceivable to me.

I think that's the exact issue--'normal', law abiding citizens who respect the rights of others cannot grasp the 'darkness', the maliciousness, of the abuser, nor do we want to expose ourselves to it.

However, not confronting the abuser just emboldens the abuser. Not having laws that deny rights to the abuser also empowers them to abuse more--why stop when you can get away with it?

Not that these similies haven't been used before, but we're like the ostrich with the head in the sand, or bear that covers its eyes--if we can't see the danger, it doesn't exist. But, at least from the two incidents that happened in my life, and the incidents that happen all the time, the danger is there--it's real and we have to do something about it. It does require a political backbone--heck, it requires any backbone, to stand up to the abusers and say, 'No more! We will no longer tolerate your abusive behaviour! You will not be allowed to abuse again!' We, as the society, as 'everyday people' have to want it, have to say it, have to make people aware of it, have to hold those that can affect change accountable so that they will change it.

Wishful thinking? I hope not.

Anyway, things I've thought about today.

The wise one

En route to the rtl competition in Toronto on Saturday, Sandy noticed something very peculiar.

See, we live pretty much in the Niagara escarpmet so there's ravines all over the place. Roads built across these ravines are set up with those little aluminum rail fences that are attached to those solid-looking 8 x 8 wodden posts. These fences aren't usually more than 2-3 feet above the ground.

What Sandy noticed wasn't the fence, but what was sitting atop one of the 8x8 wooden posts.

There, at about 9 a.m., was an owl, Just sitting on the fence.

I was stunned.

People were walking along the sidewalk, within a few feet of the thing and it ignored them--just continued to sit there, looking around.

It was a pretty big owl as well--probably about a foot to a foot and a half from the post to the top of its head.

I'm not great with colours, but I think it was brown and dark grey with very light grey spots (Sandy'll do better with the colours).

Anyway, it was just very odd that the owl was there. Usually, if you actually do get to see an owl, it's in some lofty perch way far away--you never get to see one up close. Unfortunately for us, the camera wasn't handy (and we were late for the competitoin, though if the camera was handy we would have stopped).

The owl was gone when we came home that evening. Eh, c'est la vie!

On a tangent, I was on my way to work this very morning at around 8 a.m. and was right beside where we spotted the owl the other day--I noticed a very dark blue van was going in the other direction. The label on the side of the van read 'Night Owl'.

Hmmmm....

Bad Wolf perhaps?

(that's for those that may get the reference)

Runamok Design Team's entry

On September 10th, 10 people showed up at the Oakwood Library in the greater metropolis of Toronto to enter in what people euphimistically called 'Sumo on a stick'.

The LEGO robot contest is as follows--you have this 2x4, about 8 feet long. It's pivoted right in the middle (so it looks like a teeter-totter). Your robot starts at one side, your competitors 'bot starts at the other side. When the 2x4 beam is perfectly balanced, someone says go! At the end of 3 minutes, whoever has the higher end of the 2x4 wins the round.

Official rules and description
Calum's pictures from the event
Rob A's pictures from the event

I took Friday off of work to build a 'bot for this competition. I decided to go for brute power and weight--the rationale is that if I get my heavy 'bot to the other side of the stick, it really won't matter what kind of 'bot the other person has, all weight will be on one side of the stick.

Turns out, however, that gravity isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

Anyway, here's some pics that Sandy took at the event (I was too busy entering my 'bot into the competition, and keeping score)

Me setting my 'bots up for the first competition

Yes I said 'bots above--I came with two robots--one was the ultra-brute force 'bot, the other was a tower 'bot. The tower 'bot was basically a big LEGO stick that went down to the floor, and at the word 'go' was suppose to push my end of the beam up whilst my brute force 'bot made its way along the beam to the other side.

Here's what happened--

The carnage on the floor

My tower 'bot just disintegrated. There are actually two tower 'bots in this picture--the mostly blue one was my competitors--you can barely see mine in the lower right hand corner--the gray and black pieces. My brute 'bot was trying to make its way up the beam but, if I recall, was damaged in the whole carnage of tower 'bots falling everywhere, so it didn't make it to the other side--I lost this one.

Ron's 'bot and Runamok 'bot going head to head

A brand new competitor to rtl events, Ron showed up with a very small designed battery 'bot. Unfortunately, the little 'bot was pushed up by brute 'bot.

Trevyn's 'bot (no Duplo this time)

I think this carnage at the end of brute 'bot was once Trevyn's entry. I also think Trevyn won this match 'cause his many parts 'n pieces confounded my 'bot.

Trevyn's (rebuilt) 'bot against Calum's 'bot

There were competitions going on that didn't include my 'bot. Actually, at the end of the day, there was 9 'bots competing for a grand total of 45 competitions.

 Me against Calum! (round 2)

Calum pulled a 'Hassenplug' by putting rubber treads on the wood to stop any 'bot from getting near his 'bot. We tried again, this time without the treads.

Runamok 'bot going up (again)

My 'bot spent an inordinate amount of time moving vertically up the beam.

 This one was fun...

I didn't know we had a catapult competition...

Chris's 'bot and my 'bot--at 'go', my bot slinged his end right around and his 'bot went flying--Mass destruction...

 Ahhh, Janey's 'bot.

In the supreme upset of the century, (and physics be darned!! Darn you friction!!! (picture me shaking my fist at friction))

So here's my 'bot going against Janey's little 'bot. By all rights I should have won every competition. The first time, at 'go' my end swung down and my 'bot crashed into the support beam, causing my 'bot to, well, not move.

The second time (the rematch), my 'bot swings down, didn't crash, and proceeds to climb up the beam. It got all the way to the top where it stops (I made a little switch to stop the 'bot when it reaches the end of hte beam). Then it just hung there, at hte top of the beam!! The beam was perfectly vertical with all the weight at the top! I was admonished by friends for making a perfectly symetrical 'bot. So we did it again, this time I added some pretty heavy weight to one side of the 'bot and we did it again--exactly the same result--my 'bot stuck at the top of the beam! Grr!!

Rob A>'s 'bot and my 'bot

In the closest competition of the day, Rob A>'s 'bot had some programming that, when the robot doesn't move for half a second, it backs up a few inches and goes forward again. Every time it backed up from my 'bot, my 'bot would drive forward, only to be stopped when his bot came back down. So this little 'cat 'n mosue' game went on for basically the entire beam, and it was about the 2 minute 55 second mark when the beam swung over. That was a nail biter to be sure.

In the end, this was the most destructive rtl competition we've ever had, and it was great!

Thanks to Chris and Calum for running yet another fine LEGO competition.

Thanks to all the competitors for having fun and not worrying too much about the rules.

Thanks to Sandy for taking all these pics.

Comments below if you so desire.

And what it does...

See, cookie dough is meant to expand when heated. That's what happens.

Here I am, making a robot for tomorrows rtlToronto competition (and doing a fair job if I do say so myself) and Sandy comes downstairs.

She had mentioned earlier that she was going to make cookies for all the guys at the event, which is very sweet of her and just makes me love her all the more--being considerate like that--but I remember from times past that she has a tendancy to eat the cookie dough before it becomes cookies.

So when she comes downstairs, I must've given a look like 'You've been eating cookie dough' for, without me saying a word, she pipes in, 'I haven't been eating the cookie dough!'

K, we smooch for a second and I go back to my 'bot building.

Somehow, my subconscious picks up that she didn't walk up the stairs, so I get up to go have a look.

There she is, sitting on the stairs looking a little uncomfortable and rubbing her tummy--'I ate too much cookie dough...'

Now how can I not laugh.

Seriously.

I tell her, 'That's what cookie dough is suppose to do--expand when heated. Right now your tummy's all nice and hot and the cookie dough's expanding', I try to explain.

Eh, I'm sure we'll be right here the next time she bakes cookies.

And I love her all the more for it.

39 years ago tonight, Star Trek premiered on NBC.

With 'The Man Trap', if I recall, but that's just a little trivia for ya...

Lately, Gene Roddenberry's 'vision of the future' has been getting some bad press. Whether it be the 'early retirement' of 'Star Trek: Enterprise' or the idea that every other sci-fi show since 1966 has to be a 'StarTrek' look-a-like or it doesn't work and therefore people complain, or the idea that, since 1987, there has been some form of Star Trek on the tube until this season and people were just getting sick of it, Star Trek has been the punching bag of many folks out there.

Well, I don't care.

I think of it this way--when you're successful, you become the 'punching boy' for anything that goes wrong, even if it's completely unrelated to you.

Sure Star Trek stumbled a few times--One only has to watch almost any season 2 episode of TNG to realize that.

That said, the sheer volume of, well, all things Star Trek, really should speak for the success of Gene's 'Wagon train to the stars'. Sometimes I shudder at the thought that I own 400+ Star Trek books, and I stopped buying them in 1990. When I check out a bookstore and see all the new volumes of books for the various franchises, as well as books that take place in 'the Star Trek Universe' but aren't directly related to one of the shows, I'm glad I stopped buying them--I'd be broke!

Gene isn't here to defend himself from the Star Trek naysayers. He passed away in 1991 at the age of 70. I think, however, that the longevity of his creation should at least give pause for consideration--39 years and there's no end in sight.

I personally have no problem with that.

'Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning'

If you book it, they will come...

Well, Sandy's getting married! We're not sure to whom yet, but that'll come later.

Yep, the hall is officially booked so everyone out there--mark on your calendars--

September 30th, 2006!

Get your cars all tuned up for you'll all be making the excursion to Westfield Heritage Village in the beautiful metropolis of Flamborough (if you've ever been to the African Lion Safari, it's on the same road--hopefully the cages will be secure so no lions, tigers or bears will be attending our service and dinner...)

To end the anticipation as to who Sandy's marrying, well, surprise, it's me!

Pretty happy about that.

I'm getting a taste of things to come in this blog writing endeavour...

I write, she agrees to it...

I wonder what would happen if I wrote something she didn't agree to, like moving the date to aorund 2009....

Nope, she didn't agree to that--quote 'That wouldn't go over well...'

So we're all smiles--pretty excited about our future together.

We'll keep y'all posted!

From the desk of Sandy and Sparky.

The view

After seeing Journey in Orillia, we scooted over to Runamok. Here's a few pics from that little excursion

'Runamok Rapids'

      

Another shot of the view

Paddlin' into the sunset (sorta...)

  

Once more with the view

As usual, time spent at Runamok was great! The weather--fantastic! We just 'lazed' around for a few days--did some 'lilly-dipping' with the canoe and played in the rapids.

Thanks to Henny for letting us crash at the cottage for these few days--it was definitely appreciated!

Also thanks to Sandy for reminding me that we did actually take pictures of the trip to use for a 'blog entry.

So there you are.

and the phone rings.

It's a telemarketer.

'You've got to be kidding!' I state emphatically into the phone.

Turns out that it's a computerized telemarketer and the message starts fromthe beginning anytime I try to say something.

So I just hang up the phone.

It rings again 10 seconds later. Same spiel. This time I just hang up without saying anything.

10 seconds later--Ring.

I click the phone off.

And wait.

And wait.

Nada.

K, try to fall back to sleep.

Not happening 'cause I think that the phone'll ring sometime before the sun rises. The mind kinda sticks to that point and won't let it go.

So that puts me right smack dab into a blog entry. 'Cause well, you know what I always said--"if you can't sleep, you might as well ramble incoherently for all the world to see..."

That is the question.

We have to make the decision soon on whether to get married (hypothetically speaking of course) in April or September/October 2006?

There are pros and cons to both.

The pros for April - spring is a beautiful season, Tulips can be used as our flowers, spring is light and fresh, we'll be married sooner.

The cons for April - April showers bring May flowers (I know - rain on your wedding is good luck), not many (if any) leaves on the tress, not as much time to save for the big event

The pros for September/October - fall is beautiful, the leaves will be in full colour, the decorating possibilities are endless, more time to plan and save for the big event and the pictures will look spectacular.

The cons for September/October - we won't be married as soon as we want and tulips aren't in season.

If anyone has any thoughts, advice or words of wisdom, we're all ears.

Came to Sparky's Space

Have a look at this link--

August Stats

and scroll right down to the bottom--89 different countries visited my website during the month of August.

I'm absolutely wow'ed by that!

I mean I think it's pretty neat that I get, on the average, 550ish visitors a day checking out Sparky's Space, but I know that most of those visits are just friends keeping tabs on me and what I'm doing (and some are just moron referrers padding their referrals), but to know that out of, what are we at now--150ish countries, over half have visited my website.

It truly is a new world, where you can, without doing really much of anything, have the world come to you.