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H U B B L E - S H M U B B L E Here's something for you astronomic hobbyists to chew on. Just recently, the Hubble Telescope in space detected a 12 billion year old galaxy. Count 'em! 12 billion years! 1..2..3..4..5...... Anyways, I find that quite remarkable. I believe our space age began in the 60s or 70s, and in merely 30 years, we're able to send people on the moon, launch digital satelites to allow worldwide global communication, and of course, view 12 billion year old galaxies like re-runs of Saturday Night Live. =) No, seriously though, I think what we have done as humanity in general is quite remarkable, especially in the 20th century alone. With this new discovery, it gives us room to ponder really how insignificant man-kind is. 12 billion light years away... that number just staggers the imagination. To people who still do not believe in other living organisms beyond the realm of earth, I suggest a wake up call. There is statistically no way (or nearly no way) that no living organisms is around somewhere in this vast universe. If there are galaxies 12 billion light years away, what's stopping future telescopes in detecting other galaxies 12 trillion light years away? That, my friends, is a very long walk. As a side note, I'm pretty sure most of you understand the concept of light years, but just in case... light years measures the total amount of time it would take light to travel that distance. For example, a particular star 10 light years away would mean it would take a ray of light 10 years to get from that star to our earth. 12 billion light years away means it would take a ray of light 12 billion years to get from that galaxy to earth. Jeezuz H. Louizuh! And light is so fast that it can circle the globe 8 times in one blink of an eye (literally!). I N D U S T R Y --H A P P E N
I N G S Usually when I say "Industry" I mean the computer industry, so with that clarification out of the way... Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday to yooouuu... Happy 4th Biiiirrrthday dear Doom II: Hell on Earth... Haaaapppppppppyyy Biiirrthhday to yooooooouuuuuu! Starcraft (if you don't know what this game is, go stick your head in a tub of water) patch v1.03 has been let loose from the vault o' Blizzard. I dunno what it fixes, some minor shmuck, I'd imagine. But this is probably one of those compatibility issues, so if you're expecting to play someone else with a 1.03 version, you're going to need it too. Click! M O N I C A --L E W I N S
K Y ' S --V O I C E I just had a funny thought, and I've decided I'll post it before I lose it. Monica Lewinsky has got to be the most popular female in America right now. Well, maybe popular's the wrong word, try infamous. You've all seen her on magazines, newspapers, and T.V. shots. Many of you agree that President Clinton's taste in women have left little to be desired (Paula Jones is one of the ugliest women I have ever seen). Anyways, I digress. My point here is that although everyone has seen what Lewinsky looks like, have you ever... heard what she sounded like? Think hard... you may be able to piece a sound or a voice to her face, but have you actually heard her speak? Personally I've never heard her speak before... Bet you're thinking, "Yeah, Rice, so what's the point?". Well... no point. Just an interesting thought that crossed my mind while slurping at my noodles I had for my dinner. =) B U S Y --W E E K What can I say fella's... I've had a real busy week so far. SAT (Scholastic Apitude Test) is tomorrow!!!!!! I gotta study!! Plus school is also getting in full gear at UCLA, so the expect Gerry's articles / Reviews to slow down a bit. Thanks for continuing to visit Rice World occationally, and please post on the message board to discuss your opinions, etc... N E W --M E N U --B A R --L O G O ! Check it out! What used to be a Rice-a-Roni box has now been replaced by... "Got Rice?". You gotta love it. Cheers to Kansur for sending it my way. Quick! Everybody bomb him with e-mails to say thanks!!! Then his computer will crash from all the mail overload on the server! =) A R O U N D --T H E --R I C E Video pick of this week has been posted, thanks to Gerry. So has the NFL week 6 preview. Go indulge in the "Articles" section. =) More Fortune City woes, gotta be that damn Year 2000 bug acting early just to spite me. This is the 4th time out of the course of 2 weeks I've lost hair due to their server problems. At this rate my hair's either going to be snow white by age 40 or bald as our national eagle. Bad news. Looks like I'm going to have to cancel the Eastern Sierra article. It's taking so much more time than I anticipated for it to take. Perhaps I'll take time during Thanksgiving to finish it off, but don't hold your breath. Sorry fella's, this blame's on me. N B A --P R E S E A
S O N --W I P E D --O U T Nooooo! I can't believe this is happening!!! Bull! To hell with the greedy owners and managers of the NBA! Fans like me just want to see the game! Cancellation of regular season will be announced next week. If they do happen to cancel any regular season games, I think I will march to New York and bomb the World Trade Center all over again. This lockout is most displeasing news to us fans. I only hope this will not turn into another strike a la the 1994 baseball season. If so, the huge success that the NBA franchise has been experiencing will come to a crashing halt. NBA TEAM OWNERS!!! PLEASE STOP YOUR BICKERING AND START THE BASKETBALL SEASON!!!!!!!! V I K I N G S --I N V A D E
--G R E E N --B A Y ... and come out victorious! With a 37-24 beat down against the Packers, which featured an arial showcase between Randall Cunningham and Randy Moss, the Vikings handed the Packers their first loss at home since 1995. That's a 25 game straight home-winning streak. Big congrats to the Minnesota Vikings... #1 in the NFC Central "Norris" division. Actually, I chose to bring this subject up because of Randy Moss & Randall Cunningham. Randy Moss is now being hailed as Jerry Rice part deux. First of all I want to come straight out and say Randy Moss is freaking good. Now with that out of the way, I'd also like to say he's not yet ready for the title of "Jerry Rice II". He's a rookie, for pete's sake! He shows tremendous talent, but then again, so did many who eventually dropped out of the scene due to problems. Give Moss two or three more years, and if he continues to produce the way he is right now, the succession wars to the next Jerry Rice should settle with this receiving sensation. Randall Cunningham... 35 years old, ex-starter for the Philadelphia Eagles where he made a name for himself, was the Kordell "Slash" Stewart of his time. Being one of the few black quarterbacks (along with Warren Moon) he was a dangerous opposition because of his physical ability to throw far and QB rush. Since then, he's been fired by the Eagles, after they deemed him "out of his prime". Cunningham dropped out of football for a couple of years, and finally signed on with Minnesota to provide backup to awesome Brad Johnson. Thanks to the injury (no cruelty intended in the phrase) of Johnson, Cunningham was given the chance to prove himself worthy of his backup contract, and after providing a thriller 442 yards of air attack, I think he has more than succeeded. I see a proud veteren in Randall Cunningham, acknowledging he is no longer the physical youth that he used to be, but knowing with age comes with wisdom. He knows his role on the team, and he's shown he can still play the game as well as any other quarterback in the league. I M P E A C H M E N T --H E A R I N
G S For only the 3rd time in our history, impeachment hearings have started in Congress for President Clinton. The other two were Andrew Johnson (who didn't deserve to be impeached anyways) and Richard Nixon (who definitely deserved to be impeached). I'm sure you'd rather not have a history lesson, so I'll shut up now and let you ponder the fact that Al Gore may be our substitute leader in the near future. =) W I N Z I P --V 7 . 0 Winzip v7.0 has been unleashed! As much as I hate unzipping in windows, o' hateful long-file names require a 32-bit zip program... and there are none other in the business better than Winzip. You must download it! Your inner spirit cannot be denied! Click! |