Confession time: I am a Queensryche fan.  Not a huge, die hard type of fan, though I do have just about every one of their albums and have been listening to them since their album "Empire".  But I do enjoy some of their music a lot.  They have been very influential on a lot of bands, and have had some truly great albums. But they have also had music that far transcends the qualification of great.  Case in point: "Operation: Mindcrime".  This stands, to this day so...

It seems to come and go in fits and spurts.  For two weeks I hovered at about a 20 lbs. weight loss.  No change, just sort of sat there.  Then, suddenly, take a few days off from checking and *BAM*, another 5 are gone. So, now I am up to 25 lbs gone.  More encouraging even is the fact that I could do up a pair of pants that are 6 inches smaller in the waist than those I was wearing 2 months ago.  Now, they aren't still quite what I would want to wear out in public, bu...

Every once in a while you have an experience that can profoundly touch your life.  It leaves an indelible mark upon your being, causing ripples that extend throughout your life.  Often, these moments involve others.  But what is most interesting is that, not infrequently, those others are unaware of the part they played in that life-altering moment.   So it is in medicine.  Every once in a while I am truly aware of and overwhelmed by the trust and confidence that pati...

The internet is a treasure trove of written material.  With the increased penetration of broadband internet service, video and audio are now gaining a significant foothold.  However, written communication remains the real backbone of the internet. This certainly has its share of disadvantages.  It can, at times, be difficult to pick up on sarcasm, when someone is joking or not, and other facets of communication that become much more evident when the actual words are coupled wit...

Well, the year 2005 is over. Yeah, yeah, it has been a couple of months now, but better late than never! San Chonino and I have been fighting disparate schedules, sketchy internet access, and busy lives to hammer out what we agree is our top ten albums of 2005. So, sit back, grab a cup of your favorite reading beverage, and check out the music that got our motors running this last year. Top 10 albums of 2005 10. Demons and Wizards : Touched by the Crimson King BlueDev : This fi...

Because of my chosen profession, I have to be pretty tolerant of many things that most people think are disgusting.  Blood, body parts, organs, and with my chosen specialty, even pee.  I can handle them just fine.  In fact, there is nothing I find more fascinating than having my hands down inside a human body, working on making it better. That really gets my motor running. You would think that, having become immune to being grossed out by that sort of thing, that I would be ...

I quite vividly recall the movie "Mr. Mom".  I don't know what it was about it, but I really liked that movie when I was a kid.  I am sure there were things about it I just didn't get, but I thought the scenes of this poor dad trying to figure out how to actually raise his children were hilarious. Interestingly, in many ways I have become a Mr. Mom. It isn't because of anything my father did.  Don't take that the wrong way, please.  My dad is amazing, and he was (and co...

Well, with the downtime last week, along with not getting an article written early enough, I figured I would just combine the last couple of weeks. I think one word best describes the past couple of weeks: Frustration. I wrote about a week and a half ago that I was done 20 lbs since the beginning of the year. Still true. But still just 20 lbs. I have sort of plateaued there and am having a hard time breaking through that. Again, as I can feel my clothes still getting more loose, as ...

Whew, almost a week without JoeUser, thanks to that darn Galactic Civilizations II game. (said in jest!) It was interesting just how much I missed the interaction here. When I have the time, I really enjoy stopping by and reading the thoughts of others. I found myself, in my spare time, trying to figure out where I should go and read. Did plenty of lurking and reading on the WC forums, and lots of reading on the Gal Civ II forums (trying to figure out things I am still learning), and...

A while ago I wrote an article about how I actually pre-ordered a game, in that case it was UT2004. I never had pre-ordered a game before, and figured I probably never would. I was not disappointed at all with UT2004, but have lately played games less and less. Well, I have had a second first. I went ahead and just pre-ordered Galactic Civilizations II. Yeah, yeah, I know it isn't much of a pre-order (only one day!), but I did it anyway. I suppose that, given Stardock's track record...

Here you go. Now, whenever you want to, you can pull my finger. Well, er, not mine exactly. But you get the idea. I am a disgusting boy, but I found this hilarious.

Religious groups (and their followers) often get blasted by people for trying to 'force' their beliefs down other's throats. And, often they deserve it. I, too, have had the opportunity to share my beliefs with other people. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon Church), I served a two year mission, during which my main duty was sharing our beliefs with others. Some may think we are trying to force our beliefs on others. Perhaps some have that sort of a...

Piracy is a problem. I understand that, and am sympathetic with software developers whose livelihoods depend on the number of units of their software being sold. I really am. They have a right to protect their intellectual property as best they see fit. And, as a consumer, I have the right to tell some of them to stick it. It seems to me that many software companies are stuck back in the 80s and early 90s when it comes to software protection. And game developers and publishers are t...

What happened to fortune cookies? When I think of a fortune I think of some lame, generic, often undecipherable sentence that portended future happenings. You know, something about money, love, life, etc. Like a horoscope. Only shorter. And more vague. But lately I haven't gotten any fortunes. It seems every time my wife or children and I get fortune cookies someone forgot to include the fortune. I get some oh-so-sage bit of advice or a wonderful "Confucius Say" tidbit of eternal ...

Throw away your iPod. Toss out the Zen. Nuke your Nomad. Apparently the RIAA no longer thinks that ripping your CDs to put on a portable music player is covered under "fair use". And don't you dare back up those CDs either, you miserable little thief. Even though, for a while now, they have been telling us it was okay to rip our CDs to put on a computer or portable music device, they have changed their minds. Now we need to get individual permission from whoever holds the copyright....