paskino.com Here to make the world a little better - maybe

NYT: Throwing exit-row seats into the ‘for sale’ bin -

Evacuation is the sole purpose of the exit rows, which abut emergency doors. So in selling exit-row seats to all comers, airlines may raise concerns about who is sitting in those seats.

Having traveled quite a bit and have been in just about every type of plane, I really do not care who they sell the seats to or how they appropriate them.  My main concern is being comfortable, something that has become harder and harder to do on just about all the American airlines.  

The airlines seem to be gouging and the service is actually becoming worse.  Unfortunately, most of the airlines are doing this, so there is really no way to avoid this problem.  I really wish one of the bigger airlines would understand that service does matter and people will pay for good service.

House Democrats seek to limit earmarks to show commitment to ethics - Seeking to reclaim the reform mantle amid a series of scandals, House Democratic leaders are advocating a move that would shake up the multibillion-dollar practice of awarding no-bid contracts known as congressional earmarks. [Washington Post - Politics]

This is laughable.  In every country I lived, no matter the form of government, there has always been corruption.  The problem is the same everywhere, just to varying degrees.  There are even scandals in the Holy See.  

The problem is power and who is vying for that power.  As long as human nature dictates our lives, this will always be a problem.  Some people may be more moral than others, but the overriding factor is always power.

NYC chef creates breast milk cheese - Breast milk cheese, anyone? A Manhattan chef has posted a recipe on his blog for what he calls "My spouse's mommy milk cheese." Daniel Angerer co-owns Klee Brasserie with his wife Lori Mason. A photo on his blog features the cheese encrusted with maple caramelized pumpkin and Concord grapes. They had an overabundance of milk for their newborn, Arabella Caroline. ... [Boston.com - Odds and Ends]

I guess if it is for a family's child to eat, then it might be fine, even though it is a little strange.  I sincerely hope that the chef is not trying to sell someone else's breast milk in the form of cheese to others in the future.  I just cannot place my finger on it, but it is a little odd.

McConnell: GOP may support slimmed down jobs bill (AP) - AP - The Senate's Republican leader says GOP senators may support a slimmed down jobs bill in a key test vote on Monday. [Yahoo News - Politics]

If the lawmakers want to create jobs in America, then manufacturing needs to come back and companies need to stop outsourcing or offshoring their work to countries in Asia and South America.  That is the only way for real jobs to come back.  Giving tax breaks to hire Americans is fair, but how about charging companies a penalty for offshoring work?  And isn't it time to close the loophole that is allowing companies to hide their money?

Lawmakers to press military on gay ban (AP) -

AP - Lawmakers this week will press the military's top uniformed officers for the first time on whether they think repealing "don't ask, don't tell" makes sense or would be too disruptive.

They were for it before they were against it.  Knowing that President Bush would never overturn the ban, many of the lawmakers said they would allow the military make the decision.  Now that the military has made the decision the same lawmakers do not want to follow what they original said years ago.

The military has lowered it standards since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has started.  Even foreign nationals are allowed to serve, as long as they did not serve in a foreign military.  However, these old white men in the Senate are too scared to allow gay people to serve in the military.  I really wonder how many of these same lawmakers would vote to end segregation today if it were up for a vote.  My guess is not many of them.

One of the very nice features of my LG BD-390 Blu-Ray player is that it can play video and audio files from the network.  While the player does support many video formats, it does not support all of them, but enough to keep me happy.  My media is kept on a Linux server and I originally shared my directory using Samba so that the player and other computers could read the content.  This worked well for some of my content, but not all.  The player cou

In a few short hours we say goodbye to the 10th Doctor played by David Tennant.  While the actor might be saying goodbye, the role will be passed on to Matt Smith.  Back in 1966 to continue Doctor Who from the ailing William Hartnell, the story writers wrote about changing one's appearance when the Doctor's body was damaged beyond normal healing.  They used the term "renewal" for this process until the 3rd Doctor, played by Jon Pertwee, transformed into the 4th Doctor, played by Tom Baker.  At that time they called it "regeneration."  

IO9 has a great write up on all the regenerations of the Doctor, including videos of the change.

 The Italian Cultural Ministry and Google have partnered and now offer a Google Street view of Pompeii.  It is not the same as visiting, but it is a very good start.

Click here to get started on your tour!

Today's television market can be very tough to get a tv show produced, let alone a pilot ordered.  Mike Sizemore decided to make a trailer for the Pilot of his show "Slingers" and it is one of the best trailers I have ever seen, even if the show does not really exist.  It is very high tech and looks fun.  Maybe he will be able to get his Pilot made after studio execs see this short trailer he made.

More info at Scifi Wire.