The Fox Blog

Just to make it clear from the start, a domain name is an internet URL address such as: www.google.com or www.google.net or else…

I’ve recently renewed some of the several domain names I own and/or manage. My domains registrar is GoDaddy.com, the best in the business if you ask me. They offer the most competitive prices on the market, one of the lowest, and their service is just great. They also are very reliable: I’ve been with Go Daddy for a couple of years now and never had any problems related to hardware failure, I also never received from them a single spam email – they have a very strict policy regarding spam, a part of their site is just dedicated for reporting abuses by Go Daddy domain owners. Another product sold is web hosting packages, inexpensive compared to other hosting companies who charge you $20 a month for a 50 Mb package.

You sometimes even get surprised by free stuff they are willing to give away to you just for being a customer. Some time ago, they offered 100 free email forwarding for each domain name owned by customers; I was surprised to get a couple of hundreds of these just for free without buying anything, I was actually being rewarded for purchasing a product a couple of month earlier. More recently, they added a free pop3 account with each domain name registration or renewal (a feature they used to sell for $9.95). Another amazing offer is the sale of domain names for $3.99 with every non-domain purchase you make; you could thus get a domain name and 1 month hosting for the price of only the domain name (even lower actually).

Another issue GoDaddy.com is getting known for is Radio Go Daddy, an internet radio station that broadcasts once a week during two hours. The show is strictly domain-related and hosted by Bob Parsons (check his blog), founder and president of Go Daddy. I’ve been a listener of the show for some time now, I must admit it’s pretty good; guests are brought to the show (a porn star once, a weird guy another time…) to talk about their domains.

You can get $1 off any purchase at GoDaddy.com by entering “david” as a coupon code. Enjoy!

This is probably the most famous strategy game known among gamers (and non-gamers!). Ever since Command & Conquer (“The Original”), the game has come a long way with Red Alert, Red Alert 2 and Generals – which is relatively old compared to other current hits since it’s already 2 years old. Well, you never forget some old games (some of which are even classified as abandon ware). The story is that I’ve started playing Generals a couple of days ago. The game was sitting on my desk for almost a year now and time was not a luxury during that period so all it did is eat dust.

I’ve already finished the campaigns missions which I must admit, although boring a bit, extensively explore all the units, buildings and other issues the game can offer. So if you’re still new to Generals, you should start with playing the campaigns missions, they’ve been a great help for me in order to know what are the strong points and weaknesses of each nation. Talking about the nations let me talk about what the game is about. Well first of all it’s a strategy game (you should at least know that, the game was voted the best 2003 strategy game). Another famous game you could compare it too is Warcraft III.

Three nations (countries, territories, clans… call them whatever you want) face each other in the game:
- U.S.A.: this nation exists in the Command and Conquer series ever since it was created. Let’s face it, the U.S. army has the strongest weaponry in the world, no doubt they should play a big part in the game.
Units: The U.S.A. has a very strong air force (some of the planes available: Raptor, Stealth Fighter) and a powerful ground and tank army.
Special Weapon: Practical Uplink Cannon.

- China: the second greatest nation, in my opinion, today. Ten years ago, the cold war was opposing the western world (headed by the U.S.A.) and the eastern world (headed by the U.S.S.R.). Today, the most notable division we could talk about is between China and the U.S.A. (economically rather than military-related).
Units: China has powerful but slow and expensive tanks; its ground force is acceptable. As for its air force, it’s less sophisticated than the U.S.A.’s one.
Special Weapon: Nuclear Missile.

- GLA (Global Liberation Army): the nearest similar country that could be considered to be represented by the GLA is Iraq and more generally Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Iran…).
Units: The ground troops of the GLA are the most powerful, their tanks are very cheap and the least powerful but very strong if used efficiently. As for the air force, well GLA doesn’t have any.
Special Weapon: Scud Storm.

The game graphics are great, could be better of course (well today, graphics are more real than reality). The music in the game is also superb. Briefly, the game play is just great, assuming you have the right hardware equipment (1.5 Ghz, 256 Mb Ram and 32 Mb Graphic card should be more than enough).

Download Command & Conquers Generals Demo
Command & Conquers Generals Official Web Site

I’ve spent almost two month reading this book bite by bite, page by page. “American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush” is a 400-page bestseller book written by Kevin Phillips, also known for other political-related books such as Wealth and Democracy. The book covers everything there is to know about the Bush family, their history, their administration and how they reached the top of the political ladder. Phillips talks about an “American dynasty” starting from the late 19th century up till nowadays. He even compares the Bushes to the Stuarts in Great Britain and the Bourbons in France, focusing on how the power is transferred from father to son. The book is both historical and documentary as it also exposes numerous conspiracy theories.

Some of the conspiracies I particularly appreciated reading:
- Prescott Bush (governor and father of the 41st president and grandfather of the 43rd president) being a commercial partner to Nazi Germany. According to the author and based on reliable documents, a big part of Nazi Germany’s military arsenal was American made. Up to the beginning of World War II, Prescott Bush and his partners at W.I. Harriman ran several offshore corporations in Europe and mainly in Germany (where the economical development more remarkable than anywhere else in Europe). During WWII, the same Prescott Bush was working for the American government on the Armament Board in order to provide heavy armory to American soldiers fighting against the Nazi occupation in Europe.

- “Iran-Contra” and “October Surprise” during the George H.W. Bush (the 41st president) C.I.A. directorship. The Iran hostage crisis in 1979 is believed to be the crucial element that caused Democrat President Candidate Jimmy Carter to lose the elections against Republican Candidate Ronald Reagan. It is mentioned that the democrats struck a deal with the Iranians, during a meeting in Paris in October 1979, in order for them not to release the hostages before the end of the presidential elections. The multiple hostage rescue missions are also though to have been sabotaged in order for the mission to fail and consequently the popularity of Jimmy Carter to stay low is the polls.

- George W. Bush’s (the 43rd president) privileged relation with Texan oil corporations such as Exxon and Enron preceding and during his presidency. This matter is related to the different wars on Iraq conducted by the Bushes and how the oil corporation were made entire partner to the military industry in the U.S.A. and privileged businesses in America and “colonized” countries such as Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries.

Another interesting part of the book, which Kevin Phillips himself was surprised in writing, is the political relation of George W. Bush with religion. Bush is described as being though by himself and his supporters as a savior coming to deliver the world from the famous “Axis of Evil” he talks about. A notable religious figure the author talks about is Billy Graham.

American Dynasty is a good book; you should read it – if you like reading that is. I must admit that at some point, the book started getting boring just stating facts, dates and names that didn’t seem to have any relation with each other, too many details. This is what probably makes the book a bestseller: no side stories or exempted passages, you’ll find everything related to the Bushes in it, and not just everything you need to know about.

American Dynasty Official Web Site

Not long ago, I had fried eggs for breakfast (typical isn’t it? I was probably short of breakfast ideas that day). Well the cooking went ok and everything, but a big problem occurred afterwards, when I moved the tray – with the fried eggs on it - from the kitchen to the dining room: the fried eggs were looking at me! Well actually, the yellow part of the two eggs when fried happened to stand symmetrically in the upper white part. In English, it was a face-like fried eggs meal.

A dialogue that might have occurred if the fried eggs could talk:
EGG: Why did you fry me Human, who will feed my family now?
ME: Shut up egg, you don’t have any final words to say, this is not a western.
EGG: Can I have a last cigarette though?
ME: No.
EGG: Bouhouhouhouhouhouhou….
Then the egg stopped crying and looked at me fearlessly.
EGG: I’m going to kill you, freakin’ Human.
ME: How are going to do that, you don’t have the balls (see the analogy ).
EGG: Just try to eat me.
ME: Hmm, maybe someone poisoned you, I think I’ll pass.
EGG: Eat me, eat me, eat me, eat me…

The egg didn’t seem to want to shut up, so I grabbed the bread and started by tearing his right eye, then his left eye and then the rest of it. I noticed I was taking a big risk eating this egg. A couple of days later, I started feeling… well nothing special, I had probably digested the egg already!

You can see below the original picture of the EGG and some pictures modified with a basic editing software.

If you think that only blockbuster movies are worth seeing, then think again. A couple of days ago, while zapping on my 250 channels – well only about 20 channels are plausible to be seen – TV, I got to Cine Cinema, a French channel, on which a movie called “Fucking Amal” was just starting.

It’s a Swedish movie directed by Lukas Moodysson. Although it was produced on a small budget, about 22,000 dollars, it reached record attendance in Sweden – more viewers than the “Titanic” movie - and was distributed and appreciated worldwide. The English title for the movie is “Show me Love”, so if you were waiting for a teenage porn movie, sorry to disappoint you. What makes “Fucking Amal” so special is that its structure is similar to a documentary with such a realistic attitude, simultaneously a magnificent storyline is evolving with every minute that passes. The movie deals with teenagers relations among each other and with their environment (their parents, town, and society in general); it has a lesbian theme in it but it’s not exclusive. The action takes place in a small town in Sweden called Amal (that’s where the title comes from).

The plot: The least popular girl in school, Agnes (Rebecca Liljeberg), falls in love with the most popular girl in school, Elin (Alexandra Dahlström) practically waited in line by boys. Both characters suffer from several problems mainly related to their psyche: Agnes is so lonely, almost no one joins her in her anniversary party, and she even tries to get over with life at some point. Elin on the other hand, is very popular but she’s bored with life, boys and the lost hole she lives in, that is her town Amal, where popular trends become unpopular by the time they reaches the town trends (according to her words); she wants to fully enjoy her life. On one night, they exchange a kiss and this is where the feelings each other have become complementary…

I won’t say anymore about the story, but what I can assure is that it’s really an excellent cult movie. Don’t know how I didn’t notice it earlier (movie was released in 1998) on some channel or in a DVD store. In a nut shell, “Fucking Amal” is a must see-movie, you might just love it the way I did. In the mean time, you should probably watch the movie trailer or content yourself with the screenshots below.

Fucking Amal Fan Site

The series of explosions hitting Lebanon for the last couple of month doesn’t seem to be nearing its end.

At 11 pm local time, an explosion rocked in Zalka, a northern suburb of Beirut mainly but not exclusively inhabited by the Christian community. According to local TV, 30 kgs of TNT were placed in la Cité Moussa, a highly frequented commercial space. Five people were wounded and no casualties were reported by the media or the security forces. Some people believe that the bomb was placed in a way not to cause heavy casualties - should we feel secure now? -, it could have killed hundreds if it detonated a couple of meters away.

Witnesses talked about the earth shaking and lot of glass breaking. The material damages were rather big compared to other explosions in Lebanon lately, two buildings partly collapsed and lots of shops were affected including Starbucks Coffee Shop and a nearby a hotel called Promenade.

Other minor stuff related to the explosion: the PM and several politicians condemned the “acts of terror” that have been shaking Lebanon and the Lebanese people, but seriously who give a shit about what the politicians have to say, the damage was already caused!

Almost everyone knows Star Trek, the famous television series, where humans and extraterrestrial creatures – other humans wearing funny looking costumes - face each other with laser swords and ultra sophisticated space ships. The several movies were a huge success in Cinemas and the series continues endlessly to broadcast on our TV screens. When I say “almost everyone”, you probably understood that some people know nothing about the subject, among those you find me, or should I rather say “found me”.

Until yesterday, I wasn’t aware what Star Trek was all about, the few little things I knew about Star Trek was that it was a science fiction series - well you don’t need to be a wise guy to guess it – and that there’s a weird-looking guy with night-elves ears (Warcraft style) – he turned out to be the so-called Captain Spock - on board of a space ship exploring space and kicking some alien butt.

What I’m getting to is that I watched a Star Trek movie (Star Trek VI – The Undiscovered Country) and I was the least surprised about how good it was. Although you might get lost at first, especially if you’re a Star Trek illiterate, you’ll soon see that the story is coherent and that the movie is not just about superb special effects (well superb for the year the movie was produced in, 1991 that is).

The plot, shortly: After a rough explosion on a moon belonging to the Klingons (the other side), the United Federation of Planets (the side on which the Star Trek heroes are) decide to finally put in place a peace process with the Klingons. The U.S.S. enterprise, an incredible federation spaceship, is commanded by James T. Kirk (William Shatner), a highly decorated officer of the federation haunted by a hatred of the Klingons ever since his son was killed on their hands. He is assisted by his side-kick Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy), a Vulcan (not a human), supporting the establishment of piece between the two parties. The ship’s misson is to escort the spaceship of the Klingon’s chief, Chancellor Gorkon, to the place where the peace process is too be decided and signed. During the escort period, an incident occurs on the Klingon spaceship and the Chancellor is killed. Every proof seems to be accusing the Federation of betrayal thus threatening the upcoming planned peace. Kirk finds himself in the hand of the Klingons and this is where all the problems start: Traitors are to be discovered on both sides!!

Read the full plot of the movie

In 1991, the U.S.S.R. has just collapsed and the world was living in a new era where some people were afraid of change, moving from the cold war to a peaceful period. Analyzing the movie, you would come to compare Chancellor Gorkon, the leader killed by the supporters of a continuing war, to Mikhail Gorbachev who sacrificed his presidency, his vast territory and his diplomatic influence in order to make the world a better place to live in.

Tried a couple of days (rather weeks) ago Google Earth. I must say it’s the best free piece of software available today on the internet. If you didn’t have the opportunity or the time to try it yet and have no clue about what Google Earth is here’s a little extract from their web site:

The idea is simple. It’s a globe that sits inside your PC. You point and zoom to anyplace on the planet that you want to explore. Satellite images and local facts zoom into view. Tap into Google search to show local points of interest and facts. Zoom to a specific address to check out an apartment or hotel. View driving directions and even fly along your route. We invite you to try it now.

Using it was lot of fun, seeing the entire planet on my PC screen, zooming in and out on familiar locations… The resolution on some locations in amazing (using the Free version!!). The features of Google Earth seemed unlimited since there’s so much to see on old planet earth.
Two upgrades are available: Google Earth Plus (20$ / year) which offers a greater resolution and some other special options, Google Earth Pro (400$ / year) which is probably an enterprise version of the software.

Seeing the world from your computer screen is awesome, but when you think about it twice, it’s kind of scary. ANYONE in the world can use Google Earth, ANYONE can see all those amazing locations and let’s be obvious some people might use it to plan tactical missions and stuff (let’s not talk more about that, shall we?).
Another think I though about is the ability of governmental agency to spy on you wherever you are, they probably use a similar technology (or even more developed) that can zoom up to the millimeter maybe more (who knows?!).

Google Earth Web Site

I’ve been away for a week or so and haven’t checked the progression of one of the site during the time. I remember having in the guestbook something like 15 messages. When I just checked it up today, I got over 70. Wow what a success I told myself… After reading some of the messages, it turned out to be just spam. Check it here.

All the messages include a small word about the site and a link to a web page, the subjects vary, the most common I’ve been seeing on my sites are about selling valium, phentermine or other drugs. Also got some bunch of poker sites spammers.

Ever since some site unleashed the so-called “secrets” of Google ranking, spam messages in forums, guestbooks and more generally the entire web has been increasing dramatically. It is believed that the more sites link to your web page, the better it is ranked on Google, the better it is rank the more traffic you get, the more money you make (you probably already know the story). Google is really great but success has its price, lots of people are abusing from Google services, not just when it comes to page ranking, AdSense as well is an obvious target.