The best bowl games still have not been played, and I was going to wait until January 2 to post the next top 25 list, but after 10 games since the last update and with another 10 to be played before the next one (and with California's loss yesterday!), the changes in the top 25 are worth sharing with the three of you that might actually care. Here's where the top 25 stand going into Friday's bowl games:

(Top 25 at Regular Season's End)

Jeopardy and/or Ken Jennings fans rejoice, or cringe, or just keep reading: Jennings will be back to take on two finalists in a super-tournament for a $2 million prize! 'Nuff said.

I typed these up a couple weeks ago, and upon looking to see how I was doing so far, I noticed that they weren't actually on the web. Luckily I had decided on them in a series of emails that I hadn't deleted, so I can show you what I had predicted and where I was wrong. FYI, trying to guess point totals is silly. I just like to guess who's going to win. (Updated as more games are played.)

12/14 New Orleans Bowl: Southern Miss over North Texas right
12/21 Champ Sports Bowl: Georgia Tech over Syracuse right
12/22 GMAC Bowl: Memphis over Bowling Green wrong
12/23 Fort Worth Bowl: Marshall over Cincinnati wrong
12/23 Las Vegas Bowl: UCLA over Wyoming wrong
12/24 Hawaii Bowl: UAB over Hawaii wrong
12/27 MPC Computers Bowl: Virginia over Fresno State wrong
12/27 Motor City Bowl: Connecticut over Toledo right
12/28 Independence Bowl: Miami Ohio over Iowa State wrong
12/28 Insight Bowl: Notre Dame over Oregon State wrong
12/29 Houston Bowl: UTEP over Colorado wrong
12/29 Alamo Bowl: Ohio State over Oklahoma State right
12/30 Continental Tire Bowl: North Carolina over Boston College wrong
12/30 Emerald Bowl: Navy over New Mexico right
12/30 Holiday Bowl: California over Texas Tech wrong
12/30 Silicon Valley Classic: Troy over Northern Illinois wrong
12/31 Music City Bowl: Alabama over Minnesota wrong
12/31 Purdue over Arizona State wrong
12/31 Liberty Bowl: Louisville over Boise State right
12/31 Peach Bowl: Florida over Miami wrong
1/1 Outback Bowl: Georgia over Wisconsin right
1/1 Cotton Bowl: Tennessee over Texas A&M right
1/1 Gator Bowl: Florida State over West Virginia right
1/1 Capitol One Bowl: LSU over Iowa wrong
1/1 Rose Bowl: Texas over Michigan right
1/1 Fiesta Bowl: Utah over Pittsburgh right
1/3 Sugar Bowl: Auburn over Virginia Tech right
1/4 Orange Bowl: Oklahoma over USC wrong

As you might have guessed, I'm a pretty big college football fan. I don't watch the games religiously or anything, but I am fanatical enough to actually calculate my own rankings. That said, I plan on watching those last two games on the 3rd and 4th of January, Auburn being my favorite team and the USC/Oklahoma game being the supposed national championship.

For those wondering why my top albums of 2004 number to 22 instead of something more superficially pleasing like 20 or 25, I'll explain. I originally had a few albums in my top 40 that had been released before 2004, and three of them that I didn't catch were originally in my top 25. Such albums have no place on this list, so they were removed. But I do have a little something extra for you, a list just for them and other albums I've missed in previous years but didn't discover until this year: The Top Missed Albums of 2001-2003! Only the best of the best (or my favorites of favorites) make this short list, which means I think you should check them out.

Darkness, The: Permission To Land (2003)
An album that reminds us that rock music is meant to be fun! Eccentric vocals and a heavy guitar make for an amusing, if not amazing, mix. Favorite tracks: "Black Shuck" and "I Believe In A Thing Called Love".

Frou Frou: Details (2002)
Imogen Heap's amazing vocals and lyrics drive an emotional album. Just incredible. Favorite tracks: "Let Go" and "Psychobabble".

Jet: Get Born (2003)
Was my favorite album of 2004 until I found out it was released in 2003. An awesome blend of classic and modern, acoustic and hard styles of rock. Favorite tracks: "Cold Hard Bitch" and "Move On".

Mew: Frengers (2003)
An awesome Danish band with an intriguingly different rock sound. Vocals are definitely unique too. Favorite tracks: "Am I Wry? No" and "Shespider".

Ours: Distorted Lullabies (2001)
Driven almost entirely by Jimmy Gnecco's guitar and amazing vocals (Jeff Buckley, anyone?), ranging from soul to rock. An instant favorite when I first heard it. Favorite tracks: "Fallen Souls" and "Medication".

Postal Service, The: Give Up (2002)
Jimmy Tamberello on electronics and Ben Gibbard on vocals/guitar. Poptronica? New wave synth pop? Happy but not too happy, one of the best indie albums ever. Favorite tracks: "This Place Is A Prison" and "Brand New Colony".

Yellowcard: Ocean Avenue (2003)
Emo-rock with a uniquely pleasing sound thanks to their electric guitar... and a violin! Favorite tracks: "Way Away" and "Back Home".

The quality of the music, vocals, or lyrics is not how I determine these rankings; I only consider how much I enjoy the music. To the extent that a songwriting and musical talent determine how much I like it, they will have have their effect. But my goal is not to reward the talented artists who make music I can't stand: lord knows there are tons of talented musicians I can't stand listening to. But this list is about the stuff I can stand listening to, even if they're talentless hacks who rely on commercialism and selling their souls for airplay. These ratings are based purely on how much I like the sound and how likely I am to want the CD in my collection.

22. Survival Of The Sickest (Saliva)
Pure hard rock. Actually it's probably a bit less pure than other rock I've listened to. Their last two albums were much better, I think, but then again I've never liked Saliva for sheer talent; I just love their sound. That said, I agree with one Amazon reviewer on two points: the title of this CD is stupid, and it does sound like they ignored what talent they do have just to sound angry. Favorite track: "Survival Of The Sickest".

21. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (U2)
Ever since they released Pop in the mid-90s, I've loved newer U2 more and more. I was never a big fan of their '80s sound as much, except for "One", "Where The Streets Have No Name", and other anthemic songs along those lines. This album isn't nearly as good as "All That You Can't Leave Behind" or "Pop", and I've had a problem since I first saw those iPod commercials with Bono singing the Spanish equivalent of "one, two, three, fourteen" from the song "Vertigo". That said, U2 is still an incredible band and I still love their post-Pop sound. Maybe we can use that album to coin the term "post-pop". Favorite track: "City of Blinding Lights".

20. More Adventurous (Rilo Kiley)
This was a late entry to the list of contenders (thanks for the reminder, Dave). I have their previous album, Execution of All Things, and while I especially enjoy the lyrics, I only occasionally enjoy the music itself. In most cases I don't even give music a chance if the music behind it isn't to my liking, but Rilo Kiley's stuff is different in that the lyrics seem to be more at the forefront. Most of the album is too mellow for me to listen to it regularly, but I love Jenny Lewis's vocals even if the lyrics occasionally seem contrived for the music, and it's an incredibly soothing album if the lyrics don't throw you off. Favorite track: "Portions for Foxes".

19. Summer In Abaddon (Pinback)
I'm not sure how to describe their sound, but I'm going to go with "solid, mild rock". I remember how much I enjoyed this album the very first time I heard it; few bands have the strong first impression on me as Pinback has. I also won't be surprised if in upcoming weeks this album is much higher on my list than it currently is. Upbeat guitar strokes disguise a melancholic tone that I can't help liking. The second half of the album hasn't grown on me yet, but I can live on the first five tracks for now. Favorite track: "Fortress".

18. Good News For People Who Love Bad News (Modest Mouse)
I could never like Modest Mouse before; it just didn't seem like music to me! So when I picked up this album for the first time I was skeptical, but I have been pleasantly surprised since. It it just me, or does it sound something like a mix between today's indie rock and 1970's Pink Floyd (probably just me). Either way, this album has grown on me and so has the band, as I'm now going back to all their old albums to find the songs that remind me of the new stuff. I especially like "Black Cadillacs", but I only say that because I can't bring myself to like it more than the album's first single. Favorite track: "Float On".

17. Over The Counter Culture (Ordinary Boys)
One of the best debut albums of the year! The Ordinary Boys blended modern indie rock with a variety of sounds to produce fun album that reminds me of the '80s for some reason -- and I wasn't even all that conscious during the 1980s. The sound isn't as raw or emotional as some of the other indie bands I'm into lately, but instead they're very positive and upbeat, which is probably why I like them so much. Fun lyrics and horns help, too! If you're into the indie sound and haven't given the Ordinary Boys a try yet, maybe you should. Favorite track: "Week In, Week Out".

16. Sex, Love and Rock'n'Roll (Social Distortion)
Is there such a thing as country punk rock? My first impression of this album was, "this is pure noise!" I discarded it. But then it accidentally made it back onto my playlist, and upon hearing it the second time without realizing it, I loved it all the way through. It's noise rock at its finest, a mature effort rumored to be Social Distortion's last. My only complaint is that the songs occasionally sound repetitive and/or like they're lacking imagination. Still a solid album and one of the best of the year. Favorite track: "Reach For The Sky".

15. We Are Not Alone (Breaking Benjamin)
A solid hard rock album, similar to stuff by Nickelback or Default but much better. Even the calmer tracks ("Forget It" and "Rain") are decent songs. This album would probably rank higher for me if they experimented a little with more anthemic sounds and pushed the album to over 40 minutes. But I hesitate to say that the album is too short, because I wonder if the sound would get old if it lasted much longer. It's one of the best rock albums of the year, anyway. Favorite track: "So Cold".

14. Final Straw (Snow Patrol)
A 46-minute story of loves lost and leaving, this album is an excellent example of indie emo-rock done well. The entire album sounds could be a soundtrack for good love that isn't quite good enough. Ranging from melancholic and soothing to aggressive when it needs to be, I keep expecting to grow tired of it but instead I'm growing more and more fond of it. Anyone who has experienced love, even in its most immature forms, can relate to this album. Favorite track: "Run".

13. Send Us A Signal (Brandtson)
This album marks a new beginning for the band, with a distinctive new sound for their debut with the Militia Group record label. An indie rock band the masters the art of transiting from soft to heavy without disrupting the listener; it's just a solid emo-rock album. This band has left the same impression on me as the Juliana Theory did about five years ago. Wonderful stuff. It was tough choosing a favorite, and the rest of the album is so good that my selection probably won't hold. Favorite track: "Drawing A Line In The Sand".

12. Panopticon (Isis)
The proper way to listen to this album is at high volume for maximum destruction. It isn't fair to classify them as metal or hard rock in the same way that Tool cannot be classified that way: their sound is much more ambient than that. This album is mostly instrumental with some hardcore grumbling; the few vocals are played behind the music, and it's meant to be that way. All seven tracks are epic length and hypnotically beautiful. Without question, this is the most soothing hardcore album I've ever heard. Favorite track: "Grinning Mouths".

11. Always Leave The Ground (This Day And Age)
Driving guitars, beautiful piano, and a positive tone make Always Leave The Ground one of the best albums by "some band I've never heard of" this year. I've tried to classify this album several times, and the best I can do is indie pop rock, but that doesn't give it justice. The music is definitely of a higher quality than most in the genre, and it sounds like something we should be hearing on the radio. Don't be surprised if it breaks through sometime soon. Favorite track: "History Is Falling For Science".

10. Hopes And Fears (Keane)
This may be the most relaxed album in my countdown. It wasn't upbeat enough for me the first time or two I heard it, but I couldn't help going back to it because the music was just relaxing, focusing on piano rather than guitar. In fact, I can't recall actually hearing any guitar on this album. But I did figure out why I couldn't resist this album: it reminds me of the softer sides of Coldplay and Radiohead, both being among my favorites for this style of music. This is definitely one of the best debut albums of the year (but several more remain in the top nine!), and it makes for a great naptime companion. Favorite track: "Bedshaped".

9. A Crow Left Of The Murder (Incubus)
This album has taken a long time to grow on me, but it finally has. I had convinced myself upon first hearing it that their previous two albums were vastly better, and I still believe they'll never top 1999's Make Yourself, but after careful reconsideration and actually listening to all 14 tracks, I've decided that the best parts of the album is just as good as their earlier works, but other parts of the album are a bit more raw; it actually sounds like they've returned to the jazz rock sound from which they got their start. Overall it's a very good album that I won't listen to as much as their previous two. Favorite track: "Here In My Room".

8. Lick Your Ticket (Chikinki)
I had never even heard of them nor did I have any idea what the rest of their album would sound like when I fell in love with the first track. Upon hearing it I immediately listened to the rest and found that, despite being entirely different from everything else I've listened to, I loved every second. The most similar band that I can recall listening to is The Faint, another British synth-pop act that blurs the line between rock and techno. "To Sacrifice A Child" is just fun to listen to! Favorite track: "Assassinator 13".

7. These Are The Days (Saybia)
One of my two favorite Danish bands (Mew is the other). Although I wouldn't classify Saybia with bands like Radiohead or Coldplay, I'm guessing fans of those bands will love Saybia. Light-hearted, deep-meaning, steady rock with hints of soulful emotion, backed by beautiful vocals and clever instrumentation that make this an incredibly soothing album. Those who can't get into Saybia will complain that it sounds like any other pop-rock act with an acoustic guitar occasionally backed by electric. But I can't help loving this album. Favorite tracks: "Brilliant Sky" and "Soul United".

6. This Type Of Thinking (Could Do Us In) (Chevelle)
Chevelle is probably my favorite hard rock act in the industry today. The album ranges from heavy, loud, and aggressive to incredibly, eerily smooth and calm. The group is a trio of brothers: Pete's voice and guitar drive the album, reeling you in and setting the tone. Joe's bass and Sam's drums set the rhythm, keeping you captivated despite. If hard rock can be soothing, Chevelle is among the best at making it so. Favorite tracks: "The Clincher" and "Vitamin R (Leading Us Along)".

5. The Invitation (Thirteen Senses)
This one caught my ear upon first listen and I couldn't turn it off; I've felt the same way every time I've played it since. They remind me somewhat of Keane and Snow Patrol, although neither of those bands' albums made good first impressions on me. This whole album feels positive and upbeat, and is exactly the type of music I could never have listened to in high school. Once again, it's that steady indie pop rock sound that has me addicted. Favorite tracks: "Into The Fire" and "Thru The Glass".

4. One Day Remains (Alter Bridge)
Creed was one of my favorite bands for years. The music was incredible, the lyrics were thoughtful, and the vocals were, well, okay. Subtract Scott Stapp from the lead vocalist and songwriting positions and insert Myles Kennedy (formerly of the Mayfield Four), and you've got Alter Bridge -- a better-sounding and less-preachy version of Creed! A significant upgrade from the original, anyway. This album has everything I liked about Creed (great music) and nothing I didn't like (Scott Stapp and heavy Christian overtones). If you like hard rock, give it a try. Favorite tracks: "One Day Remains" and "The End Is Here".

3. Franz Ferdinand (Franz Ferdinand)
Indie pop rock at its best. Guitar-heavy, upbeat and fun, great hooks, and almost too catchy to be this good. I like to compare music to other stuff I've heard, so I like to think of Franz Ferdinand as what the Strokes would sound like if they had good vocals and knew how to play their instruments. I listened to this album a few times after first acquiring it not quite understanding why I was repeating it, and yet I was, over and over, in favor of all of my other so-called favorites. Favorite tracks: "Take Me Out" and "Come On Home".

2. Hot Fuss (The Killers)
A wonderfully catchy blend of indie rock, '80s-style new wave, and storytelling genius bordering on self-destructive jealous paranoia. To make a point about this album: one line is repeated 12 times consecutively at one point, and the words themselves sound incredibly contrived, and yet it still sounds so good that I enjoy hearing it, a horrible line repeated 12 times! If you hear it, perhaps you'll agree. One reviewer has commented that the Killers are "just updated '80s dance/rock that would make Billy Idol and The Cars proud, but would sound just as good right next to Franz Ferdinand". So it isn't just me, then. Also, I couldn't keep my favorite tracks down to just two, so deal with three. Favorite tracks: "Mr. Brightside", "Somebody Told Me", and "On Top".

1. Antics (Interpol)
If you haven't caught the theme by now, maybe the top three finally nails it down for you: I can't explain why, but my taste in music has taken me to retro indie rock, particularly the new wave, synth-pop sounds reminiscent of '80s glam rock. Interpol's particular brand infuses brooding emotion with subtle optimism that allow the music to feel refreshingly dark. This is probably why I like them so much: I've come to realize that my eccentric optimism and my desire to surround myself with positive people contrasts wildly with my taste for dark, melancholy themes in the arts (music, movies, etc.), so it's acts like Interpol and The Killers who mix an incredibly fun sound with unsettling lyrics that really catch my ear, in much the same way that I enjoy hearing happy elevator music in an explosive scene from a darkly violent film. But back to Interpol: their particular brand alternative rock is creative, inspiring, and straightforward, yet occasionally deep and vague enough to confuse. Don't ask me how they pulled that off. FYI, even with only 10 tracks, it was incredibly difficult to pick three favorites. The first two just hit me, but at least three others really grabbed me and I didn't want to list half the album, but rest assured that I can listen to Interpol all day long. Favorite tracks: "Evil" and "Take You On A Cruise".

I've updated the first three sections of my me page. If you find anything else that's out of date, please inform me. Thanks. :)

Only six bowl games have been played so far, so only twelve teams have had the chance to be directly affected. However, schedule and conference rankings are affected by those games too, so the numbers have jumped around a little. Other than a couple teams swapping places due to their previous opponents' performances, the major changes are at the bottom of the list, since the best bowl games have not yet been played. Here's where the top 25 stand going into Monday's bowl games:

(Top 25 at Regular Season's End)

So I was just checking the Drudge Report for a quick glimpse at the holiday headlines, and I was shocked: a massive earthquake centered near Sumatra, Indonesia, has sent tidal waves sprawling across the Indian Ocean, killing more than 10,000 people in coastal Asia and even as far away as the eastern coast of Africa. That's 3000 miles away! UPDATE: I keep checking the latest headlines on the earthquake/tsunami toll, and it's up to about 24,000 with diminishing hopes for thousands more.

Oh, and former NFL great Reggie White is dead of a massive heart attack at age 43. I remember him as one of the great defensive players of all time vicariously through all those Campbell's Soup commercials. I'm less concerned about him directly (I never cared for pro football anyway) as I am about world class athletes dying of heart attacks in their early 40s.

O' where far art thou Christmas tree? (Click it to see the full image.)

I know, it's a few days late, but I figured I snapped the picture so I might as well show everyone what it looked like. I actually took one with the flash and one without, but the lit up picture is all blurry and silly-looking, and maybe this image is brighter on non-LCD screens:

This is the first tree in recent memory that I wasn't home to help decorate. I don't remember if it was the weekend I was in Chattanooga or not when our tree went up, but I'm guessing Mom probably does. Because it either seemed like a good excuse or a bad excuse for missing out at the time. But I did help her pull all the boxes of stuff down from the attic! (Which makes me think it was when I was out of town for that weekend.)

Anyway, I really liked our tree this year. I didn't stop and examine it like I used to -- I guess I wasn't as much in the "Christmas mood" as I had been as a child -- but it was still a very nicely decorated tree, without the excessively colorfulness that we enjoyed as kids. White lights are definitely best for the tree; colorful lights go outside!

This post has been updated here.

This has been the best Christmas ever, or else if it hasn't been, it's the best one I can remember. I feel bad because my mom had a fever tonight, but I can't help but feel happy about everything that's going well for me. First thing's first: the obligatory list of my new stuff. For my convenience, I'm combining everything I've received from everyone in the month of December for graduation or Christmas, because it's all jumbled up in my mind right now.

My first reaction: holy crap that's a lot! But then I figured lots of family and friends pitched in for that list of stuff, and some portions of it were also part congratulations for graduating from college.

But that's just the material stuff, and while I love it all, the best gift of all this year was something I could never have planned or asked for in the same way that I asked for all that other stuff. As of Christmas night, Jen and I are together, a couple (or if you have a better way of saying it, go with that).

She makes me happy. The idea of being with her makes me happy. I don't know what else to say about it now. I'm just... happy. :)

I opened my eyes at about 4:50am and my laptop was still next to me (as it usually is, since no one else sleeps here), so I checked a few IM's and livejournal posts before rolling back over to go to sleep. You know how I've told you before how I'm really good at just going to sleep at will any time I'm tired enough? Well it didn't work this time. Maybe something I read in those few moments jerked my emotions around, but the adrenaline pumped and I lay here awake (listening to an awesome CD, Distorted Lullabies by Ours, that I borrowed from Jen) for a while. When I noticed that the CD had ended 50 minutes later, I realized that resistance was futile: so I actually pulled the laptop back onto my lap and turned on my light around 6am. Craziness!

So with all this extra time on my hands, I was casually checking the local weather outlook for the next week or so when I noticed -- OMGLOLWTF!?? -- SNOW ON CHRISTMAS! Okay it's really not that big of a deal, but girls who like things especially Christmasy might get a thrill out of it. I only hope we don't get our hopes up and then not see any snow.

Smile: 8.6 ounce newborn goes home healthy.

Frown: conservative students sue for academic freedom.

Congratulations and I'm sorry: $38 million bank robbery.

Who cares: diet soda catching up to regular soda.

This post has been updated here.

Ted, Jacob, and I took "Short Bus" to the Georgia All-Star Trivia Championship tonight, and we ran all over the competition! After 13 hard-as-hell questions (plus a super-easy bonus), we had racked up 487 of 583 possible points -- miles ahead of the competition! We were so far ahead that they offered us $200 just to to leave early and not answer the final question. So we did. We liked the idea of going home with $50 each more than risking it and ending up with either $150 each or $0. (If you're wondering about the math, Jacob had a friend from Atlanta join us, and he was a perfect fit on our team, knowing exactly the stuff we didn't and choosing the correct answers when the rest of us couldn't decide.)

I wrote a lot more, including the actual questions, on my livejournal. Comment on the story using livejournal's comment feature if you like; you can post anonymously if you don't have and don't want a livejournal account.

Wow. Bit torrent carries roughly 53% of all file-sharing traffic, which equates to about 35% of all internet traffic. Imagine how fast the internet would be without it!

p.s.-- My amended thoughts on file-sharing: until/unless malicious adware and viruses are under control, the burden of file-sharing is something the internet gurus are just going to have to deal with. Maybe if the RIAA and MPAA got involved in the fight against malware, many of us would be just confused enough to sympathize with them and... maybe that would turn the tide and make the fight against illegal file-sharing winnable.

This was a real question on a real chemistry exam given by a real chemistry professor, supposedly at the University of Washington, followed by a real answer given by a real student -- the answer being so profound that the professor felt compelled to share it with colleagues, who shared with their colleagues, and so on and so forth. (Rumor has it that this student received the only A on the exam.) And by the power of the internet, it came to me, and so I deliver to you the greatest science joke ever in the form of an answer on a chemistry exam:

Q: Is Hell exothermic or endothermic?

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time, so we need to know the rates at which souls are entering and leaving Hell. I think we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it does not leave. And since nearly every religion states that non-followers of that religion will go to Hell, and since no one follows every religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. (We can ignore the negligible number of those who might actually get into heaven.) Therefore, the number of souls in Hell is constantly increasing. Furthermore, with birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.

Next, we need to know the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell must expand proportionately as souls are added. This leaves two possible solutions:

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you", and take into account that I slept with her last night, then the second scenario must be true, and thus Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over.

And since Hell has frozen over, it follows that Hell is no longer accepting souls and is therefore extinct, leaving only Heaven and thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God!"

Does it bother you when people write "Xmas" instead of "Christmas"?

(comment or read other comments here)

Most anti-Christian Americans use it as an excuse to remove Christ's name from a holiday that they'd rather celebrate for commercial self-indulgence without associating it with the religious figure we have to thank for the celebration. But recognizing that a holiday spawned from tribute to a religious figure does not mean you worship the figure or believe in his divinity; it simply means you have some respect for the idea behind the holiday.

Did you know the "X" is actually even more religious, and even closer to representing Christ's name than the English "Christ" is? Of course you didn't. Most people are ignorant to the fact that the "X" is not an X at all but the Greek letter X ("chi"), which is the abbreviation for Christ's name as written in Greek. It has been used for several centuries in religious writing to represent Christ.

I never abbreviated it that way before because I thought it was just a stupid practice. Well, oops! I still won't because I still think it's silly; writing English words with Greek letters just doesn't seem practical to me. Of course, since we look at "Xmas" and think "Christmas" (although as a child I thought it was "ecks-mas"), it doesn't matter much, especially when a retailer wants to save space on their precious advertising signs. Everything retailers do with these holidays is a bastardization of their meaning anyway, so I wouldn't expect any less.

A few more random points:

Of course, since the countless divisions of the various faiths of the world that believe in this God can't agree on what God is, knows, does, or intends, then it also stands to reason that anything anyone believes about God (including the idea that God does not exist) is entirely unreasonable -- you can't prove it, you can't even support it with real evidence, and you're wasting your time trying. Just live life according to the morals we've generally agreed on.

Don't just let the time pass you by; use your time.

Happy Holidays! :)

I have narrowed down the top albums of 2004 to a list of 36, from which my top 10-15 will be selected. This list is alphabetical by artist, so no prioritization has yet taken place (at least not where you can see). They will be arranged and sorted, and some sort of review will be written for the top few and published here and on my livejournal on or around December 31.

If you think I left anything out, or if you want to share some favorite tracks to help boost your favorite album listed below to the top, then post a comment here (post anonymously and sign your name if you don't have a livejournal account). Keep in mind that for an album to be considered, I have to be familiar with it. There's still time for that, albeit not much, between now and the end of the year. So please keep everything but the mostly highly recommended albums to yourself! (Or, well, I'll only get to what I have time for anyway, so just priortize any suggestions.)

Also, if you've been paying attention, some of these have already been eliminated and didn't even make my top 30. But you'll know more about that later.

The 2004 Weblog Awards are final. I recommend checking out that link. It includes links to the winners, categories, and the 14 other blogs in each category. Even if most of the categories are rubbish to you, there's bound to be a useful category full of blogs that you'd love to add to your favorites. And where better to find them than on a yearly awards list?

I've often wondered how free agency, arbitration, the Rule 5 draft, and 40-man-roster rules worked. I'm not sure how official this explanation is, but it does a damn good job of clearing a few things up. Now if only someone could explain waivers and the trading deadlines, I'll feel even better!

The popular meaning of "offensive" (something causing anger or resentment) is a bastardized derivation from its real definition (designed for or making an attack). That is, people tend to use defensive reactions to define what is offensive -- this is absurd. This is very similar to the legal definition of obscenity, but the word "offensive" is grossly misused here.

To be offensive is to intend insult or attack. To be offended is to be attacked intentionally. But we use the words "offensive" or "offended" to label something that provokes a defensive response. It's not the same. If someone insults you unintentionally, they are not being offensive.

Since there is no universal guidebook for what provokes these defensive reactions, then the idea that simply causing feelings to be hurt is offensive is asinine. It's the intentional hurting of feelings that is offensive, not the unintentional.

Chase and I debated at some length who should win this year's Heisman trophy. He sees more of the games so he had a better idea of how they performed on the field. I analyze the numbers more so I had a better idea of who looked better statistically. That combination allowed us to agree that Matt Leinart was going to win although he probably didn't deserve to. I just think most of the college football media feels guilty over last year's national championship snub and so they're giving Southern California every benefit of every doubt. I don't want to take anything away from Leinart; he's one of the best. I just don't think he was the best this year. I don't even think he was the best quarterback.

I thought the award should go to Adrian Peterson, the Oklahoma freshman running back who clobbered a few records and allowed Jason White, last year's Heisman winner, to look even better than last year. Chase thought Reggie Bush, USC's running back, deserved the award. I thought Auburn quarterback Jason Campbell deserved a lot more credit for his team leadership and ability to call the right plays; he didn't have near as many passing yards as Leinart or White, but I think that's because he was more comfortable reading a defense and calling a play to beat them, rather than just running them over like USC's and Oklahoma's killer offenses did. Auburn also plays in a much better defensive conference than either of those teams, so it makes sense that Campbell's and Cadillac Williams' numbers didn't look as impressive on paper as Leinart's and Bush's or White's and Peterson's. But perhaps that's also why Campbell and Williams didn't get much consideration for the Heisman.

Well, the results are in, and Leinart won the trophy with only 46 of 175 total points. Peterson was just behind him with 44, then White with 28 and Bush with 26, which means USC and Oklahoma players tied with a combined 72 votes per team. I still say Leinart is overrated, but then the players that win the highest awards often are, because it usually requires being overrated to get the ratings.

The press is floating around an AP report on Bram Cohen's BitTorrent, a file-sharing application with that makes sharing so efficient that it has already become responsible for roughly half of all internet file-sharing occurring at any given time.

The first generation of file-sharing clients was led by Shawn Fanning's Napster, which relied on central servers to connect users to the files they wanted. The next generation, arguably led by Kazaa, was only a slight improvement, with users relying on decentralized servers and more direct connections to those sharing and being shared with. But Napster, Kazaa, and all their contemporaries had one thing in common: the more people connected to a file, the slower the transfer, because the original source could only upload it at one speed. That there was only one original source for each file also made it very easy for record companies and others sympathetic to their cause to bastardize the process by sharing fake files.

Enter Cohen's BitTorrent, a new protocol which allows users to begin uploading bits of the file almost immmediately after they begin downloading. The first downloader will connect at first only to the original source, called a torrent or a seed, and subsequent downloaders will connect to both the source and the downloader, and that downloader will connect to them, and so on.

As more and more people connect to a single torrent, the transfer gets faster because there are multiple users connected to several other users pushing only bits of it around from several internet connections, sharing different parts of the file with their upload speeds combined. That is, instead of sending the entire file over a single connection, a torrent sends only parts of the file at a time and keeps track of who has which parts. So the torrent itself actually serves as a traffic cop.

Corrupting the process by sharing fake files is also much more difficult, since that requires a bad seed and several downloaders, and as soon as its found out someone would generally let the server operators know to remove the seed.

While the majority of BitTorrent's users probably use it to share copyrighted material (music, video, software, etc.), that was not the software's original purpose.

Cohen created BitTorrent in 2001 as a hobby after the dot-com crash left him unemployed. He says the aim was to enable computer users to easily distribute content online -- not specifically copyrighted content. "It seems pretty clear that a lot of people are actively interested in engaging in wanton piracy. As far as I'm concerned, they're just pushing around bits, and what bits it is they're pushing around is not really a concern of mine. There's not much I can do about it."

For his part, Cohen said he has received just one legal warning, over a computer game that was being distributed using BitTorrent. "Someone else was doing something with BitTorrent that I had no knowledge of," Cohen said. "It's not being done on any machines I have any control over... What do you want me to do?"

But BitTorrent and its offshoots are more than just a tool for file-sharing. Used properly, the BitTorrent protocol helps web servers avoid overwhelming bandwidth costs by allowing their users to help distribute their content via torrent sharing. Such a tool would be most useful for web sites that share very large files of any kind. A torrent is only a few kilobytes, and it can direct users to gargantuan files.

Those who choose to use BitTorrent to download copyrighted content should know that the new best file-sharing protocol is no more immune to legal action than the old ones were: users can still be identified every time they connect to a share, and rumors are circulating that the RIAA or MPAA may file suit against Cohen and torrent users.

I use BitSpirit, a BitTorrent client with more options and a better interface, and I rarely use it to download copyrighted material. I don't download movies at all, and I rarely download music. What I use it for most is when I miss a television show that won't be aired again until next year's reruns, but I want to be up-to-speed before next week's episode airs. Or I'll download a particular news report or interview that I know will never be on sale.

Sure, I download a few things here and there that are copyrighted (I think almost everyone does), but I keep it to a minimum and I either delete the stuff I don't like or go out and buy the stuff I do like -- because keeping it on a computer with very limited disk space is just impractical.

Aww, aren't they cute?! Err, um, that was my first thought too. Cute...

The latest count shows that at least 119.8 million people voted, with at least 60.9 million (50.9%) voting for Bush and 57.8 million people (48.2%) voting for Kerry. Congratulations on both candidates for receiving the most and second-most votes any individual candidates have ever received in a single election. Also, it looks like the final official results may show that more than 120 million votes were cast in this November's election! Good for us!

(REPOST -- A few errors were corrected, including adding in some results I had left out, and marking some opponents that I hadn't previously marked. There are still some data missing, because the sum total of the wins and losses of all Division I-A matches are not equal. This means I'm missing data on a small number of games versus Division I-AA or II teams.)

Since conference championship games are bonus games, I have two sets of final rankings below: one that doesn't count conference championship games, and one that does. The difference is only three games: the Mid-American championship (Toledo beat Miami Ohio), the SEC championship (Auburn beat Tennessee), and the Big 12 championship (Oklahoma beat Colorado).

Those three games only have significant impact on the six participating teams, and a very minor effect on those teams' opponents. The teams that lose the championship games are actually helped more than those that win, because I don't count the loss against them (since it is an extra game), while an extra win usually doesn't help teams near the top of my ratings, since a close score still hurts their rating. I won't go into the math, but the result is evident on the lists below: Auburn's victory over Tennessee wasn't a strong victory, and it was enough to drop Auburn to #2 -- mainly because an already perfect winning percentage can't get any higher.

(Last week's Top 25)

Isn't that interesting? The top six forms two groups of three, and the next ten forms five pairs of closely-ranked teams. But never mind that -- if you take all sixteen of those teams and pair them off any way you want (as long as conference rivals play each other as early as possible), you've got the perfect setup for a championship tournament. Start it in mid-December (two weeks after the last regular season game), and it will only take four Saturdays (three weeks) to crown a champion. Why can't the NCAA see this?

Many AIM users were locked out of their accounts when a routine purge of inactive screen names inadvertently included several active screen names by mistake. (Can anyone spot the grammatical error in the previous sentence?) AIM says it hopes to have the erroneously deactivated screen names reactivated by Monday. So if one of your screen names was affected, be patient.

Some users are legitimately concerned about losing buddy list information. Hint: Backup your buddy list! I have three lists saved permanently: the list for my old screen name that includes about 150 of my friends from my high school days, the list for my secondary screen name that I give out freely that includes about 150 friends I still occasionally IM, and the list for my primary screen name that only six people currently have. Backing up the lists is easy: use AIM's menu option to "Save Buddy List", and uncheck all the options except the buddy list. If ever AIM loses your list, all you have to do is reload it from the backup saved on your computer... or else ask everyone for their screen names.

The translation of the opening of the Jewish Torah and the Christian Bible that we are most familiar with opens with these words:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

A literal, more accurate translation of the opening, as determined by experts who have studied the ancient texts and languages for countless years, begins with these words:

In the beginning the Gods created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of the Gods was moving over the face of the waters.

Discuss.

I have one more class this morning at 11am. After that, I have three final exams some time next week, and then I receive my bachelor's degree in information technology in the mail some time after that. So just for your information, my last class before earning my first bachelor's degree will take place at 11am on December 9, 2004, and will involve a test over chapters 16-20 of the textbook in a criminal law class.

(This post contained an error and was fixed on December 10.)

My neighbor Chase responded to an earlier post with a few points about parenting. I basically agreed with him, and this is an expanded part of what I wrote in response:

As the early gifts continue to slowly trickle in, I have acquired another item from my Christmas List, so if you were shopping for Jon Stewart's book America just for me, I already own it. But anyone with a PayPal account (or any other means of payment for this site) should feel free to get me the two Neurotically Yours DVDs from this web site! Or since that's online, I'm not expecting them, so I may find my own way to get them in January.

What's so wrong with society that allows people like this to adulthood? Witnesses say a couple of teens bouncing a golf ball in a parking lot accidentally bounced it into an SUV, doing no damage. The driver of the SUV -- after driving away for several moments -- pulled a U-turn and drove after them, running over one of them (inflicting serious injuries) and attempting to chase down the other before running into a ditch (doing a lot more damage to her vehicle than one golf ball could have done). The kicker: she got out, lit a cigarette, and made a phone call immediately afterward as coolly and calmly as if the incident were nothing out of the ordinary. Double-you tee eff?

I probably just spent my last weekend in Chattanooga as a student member of the Macon State College quiz bowl team. We lost in our usual fashion -- gracefully and humorously -- and even though our bye round was round 13 and we got through 12 rounds on Saturday, we still showed up Sunday for the various end-of-tournament announcements and activities. We're good sports because we enjoy the people and the environment; we're not interested in making it an intellectual pissing contest like some other teams out there (not that there's anything wrong with that).

I still haven't decided whether I want to register for a single night class next semester just to keep my mind in academic mode and keep my eligibility for academic quiz bowl tournaments alive for one more semester. I could also remain student government vice president instead of leaving them without one for a semester, and I could maintain my position on two important Academic Council committees that need student input. But do I really want to shell out the $300 or so for that? Maybe I could register for a second-session class and just never pay, so they erase me from the roll by mid-March but I'm still an active student until then, which covers most of the important stuff.

Then again, if I get a full-time job worth hanging onto, this will no longer be under consideration.

The other purpose of this post is to explain the quote. Ordinarily it isn't good for an educator and employee of the state (Tennessee in this case) to tell you that she'll get what you're shaking when you've finished shaking it, "baby". But when it's a parmesan cheese shaker, it's generally okay.

I added a few stocking stuffer items to the list, and I rearranged the DVDs into an order that made more sense. Keep shopping!

News statement: Cell phone numbers will be released to the public in a few weeks. Impact statement: Cell phone numbers will be released to telemarketing companies in a few weeks. In order to prevent your phone number from being subjected to annoying sales calls, visit DoNotCall.gov and register your phone number with the federal do-not-call list.

What's the average life expectancy for people in your area? 60? 70? 80? How about 1000? No that's not a typo; I meant all three zeros. "The first person to live to be 1000 may be 60 already"! Before you dismiss the idea as ludicrous (geez, I almost spelled that "ludacris"), read up consider the possibility. An excerpt:

It is not just an idea: it's a very detailed plan to repair all the types of molecular and cellular damage that happen to us over time. And each method to do this is either already working in a preliminary form (in clinical trials) or is based on technologies that already exist and just need to be combined.... When we get these therapies, we will no longer all get frail and decrepit and dependent as we get older, and eventually succumb to the innumerable ghastly progressive diseases of old age.

Enter a new enemy of religion. I imagine the opposition to this will be just as strong as the opposition to cloning. After all, wouldn't the social impact similarly encourage humanity to consciously observe the laws of natural selection and passively leave behind the genetically disadvantaged? After all, if one argument against cloning is that it would require us to qualify certain types of individuals as superior over others, then couldn't similar arguments be made about curbing the aging process: wouldn't the goal be to eliminate recessive genes that prevent certain people from reaching such old age? And therefore wouldn't it be the same thing: determining some people to be more superior than others?

Not to mention the potential overpopulation issues; people would eventually be discouraged and/or prohibited from procreating, and perhaps punished for doing so. Abortion would no longer be taboo; it would be policy. Can you imagine it?

Is it worth it not to? Someone's always going to complain, someone's always going to be left behind, and someone's always going to take advantage of certain benefits they shouldn't rightfully enjoy. That's human nature, but we can't stall our progress just because we understand it. We should instead take the good with the bad and try to minimize the bad. After all, isn't the the goal of humanity? Or isn't there a double standard... such as when the "bad" is recessive genes?

So now I've got you thinking...

The Political State Report is nominated for a 2004 Weblog Award for Best Election Coverage. After 7000 votes, Polstate is in dead last (0.3% so far! yeah!) and probably unfortunately deservedly so (too many adverbs?). So do me a favor and vote for Polstate as often as you can! You can vote once per day from each IP address, meaning you can vote from different computers at work and home once per day... So do us a favor and vote repeatedly! The voting ends December 12, so it's only nine days...

Most of the country watched Nancy Zerg defeat Ken Jennings to become the first new "Jeopardy" champion since June 2 -- that's 15 "Jeopardy" weeks or 75 games, not counting breaks for various tournaments and holidays. Almost every news report out there is incorrectly reporting Ken Jennings' winnings to be $2,520,700 over 74 games, but he actually won $2,522,700 over 75 games -- he won an additional $2,000 for earning second place in his last game.

Meanwhile, viewers of WMAZ (like me!) in Macon, Georgia, and surrounding areas watched Ken Jennings lose last Friday, because someone at the station "accidentally aired the wrong tape out of sequence". Don McGouirk, WMAZ's general manager, had a telephone conversation with Sony Pictures, which distributes "Jeopardy", but he had no further comment about it. A media spokeswoman for "Jeopardy" said Tuesday that the show's producers would not allow her to comment on the situation, so no word yet on whether the station will suffer any repercussions for airing the show early.

On the night he lost, which was actually taped September 7, he twice answered wrong on Daily Double questions, which helped Zerg to be within striking range at $10,000 (compared to Jennings' $14,400) when this Final Jeopardy clue was given: "Most of this firm's 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year." The champion had to think, but he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Zerg had quickly written her reply. "I was pretty sure before the music ended that was the ballgame," he said.

The correct reply: "What is H&R Block?" Zerg smiled and Jennings grimmaced ever so slightly as Alex Trebek revealed her correct answer, then her wager of $4,401, bringing her to $14,401. But Jennings guessed "What is Fed Ex", and his wager of $5,601 brought him to $8,799, good for the $2,000 second-place consolation prize.

Nancy Zerg is a 47-year-old real estate agent and former actress from Ventura, California. Ken Jennings has now signed with talent agency UTA, which indicated that it hopes to develop him into a game show host.

Looking at ESPN's bowl schedule, I see that the Cotton Bowl's matchup (Big 12 versus SEC) has yet to be selected. You know what that means: the losers of those conferences championship games will face off in the Cotton Bowl, and the winners will get a piece of the BCS. This all assumes, of course, that USC beats UCLA. Here's how it breaks down:

Don't worry, football season is almost over...