Regular readers please forgive me as I use this space to promote one of my few fanaticisms.

I wish that I could buy the entire series of Northern Exposure on DVD (or at all). A few select episodes are available on VHS, but nothing close to the complete series sets available for other shows (The Sopranos, The Simpsons, Sex and the City, Star Trek TNG, X-Files, even Buffy the Vampire Slayer!).

The customer base is certainly there (unless I have the economics of DVD production completely wrong). We will buy it!

So, I would like to start a petition to Universal Playback:

We, the undersigned, kindly request the release of a complete Northern Exposure series DVD box set. Thanks.

View the current signatures and Sign up (way at the bottom of this page).

Update: The petition is closed – thanks for all of the signatures. I don’t think it had anything to do with us, but there is news that NX may eventually be released on DVD.

Five long years after the release of Netscape 4, it has finally arrived: Mozilla 1.0.

A few videos of Triumph the insult comic dog from Conan O’Brien found on MetaFilter:

• Triumph on Hollywood Squares
• New Jersey Fans of Bon Jovi Mocked by Triumph the Sock Dog
• Truimp mocks Star Wars fans

Some people might find these somewhat offensive, but they are remarkably funny.

In the last month, I’ve seen both Cuba and Iraq criticised on American television news for their state-sponsored celebrations of their government and leaders. The term state-sponsored is used as an insult – you know, those backwards countries where the government throws parties for themselves?

Then, this week, the CBC is all over the Golden Jubilee, which is, as far as I can gather, a state-sponsored celebration of the Queen in England. Every country does this.

I realize there is a big difference between England’s celebrations and those in Cuba and Iraq (and I’m not suggesting that Cuba and Iraq are similar either – except maybe in the eyes of the U.S. administration). The most obvious example of this difference is that those who criticise the British Monarchy aren’t thrown in jail. Also, there is a fundamental difference when a democratic government celebrates itself – since a democratic government represents the people, in theory, the people are then celebrating their own government.

Still, I find it remarkable how we in the west (and I include myself in this) are able to hold such obvious double standards.

Thank you for reading my amateurish political opinions.

I asked Google’s new Glossary for the definition of god (an appropriate question). The first response:

Obviously, this is an impossible word to define. After all, to “define” a thing means putting boundaries around it, and God is Infinity, the very absence of boundaries.

See other cool rumblings at Google Labs.

Today, for the third time in my life, my bicycle was stolen. It wasn’t an expensive bike, and I hadn’t been using it much, but it was mine.

People seem to think it’s your fault if something is stolen from you and you hadn’t protected yourself from theft. If your bike or car is stolen, but wasn’t locked, it’s your fault. Bullshit. I should be able to leave the keys in my unlocked Jaguar if I want. It doesn’t make it any less of a crime to steal it. My unlocked or unprotected item is no less mine.

This might sounds like a naïve rant rather the usual smart and insightful thoughts you find here on aov. Fair enough, I’m just mad because someone stole my bike. However, the way that a small minority of deviants can hold the rest of us hostage relates to technology in an important way. Think of the resources that are spent (or wasted) on security – entire industries are built around it. Working with software developers, I see features and capabilities of software greatly limited by security concerns every day.

Even now, Bill Gates has ordered his company to shift the focus from new features to better security. Of course, because there are those who exploit any potential flaws, we welcome better security in our software – we all lock up our bikes. However, we shouldn’t accept this as inevitable, even thought it is exactly that. It should sadden us every time we go out of our way to protect ourselves from those who would exploit our weaknesses.

To the person who stole my bike, I hope you rot it hell.

Pardon my anger. Thanks for humouring me. If I bummed you out or annoyed you, check out the classic Kids in the Hall skit, Open Letter to the Guy Who Stole Bruce’s Bike Wheel – of the funniest things ever on television.