Pseudo-random notes

First of all, there is no grand conspiracy to remove Christmas from our culture, despite what the Fox News jackasses would have you think. The linked article does a wonderful job of explaining why. And as somewhat of a secular humanist myself, let me go on record as saying no religious holidays bother me one bit. Don't make me celebrate them, but other than that I couldn't care less.

The simple reason that many stores and businesses advertise "holiday greetings" and the like? It's good for business and more inclusive - after all, most businesses don't just cater to evangelical Christians. They also sell to Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and members of all sorts of faiths (or none at all) who don't celebrate Christmas. It's really a no-brainer, which is exactly what most of the conspiracy theorists suffer from.

So after this week's Skins Game (one of the only two golf events I watch each year, including the Masters), there is officially no sporting event worth watching on TV other than football. The winter Olympics won't do too much for me, and given the disarray in Fenway, I'm not exactly waiting eagerly for Spring Training. Even NASCAR, my TV sport to watch when there's nothing else to watch, is now over for the year until Daytona - I think that's some time in February. By the way, Tony Stewart won the points title and the race today was pretty dull until the final two laps. Great finish, though, with Greg Biffle winning by a hood length over Mark Martin.

Actually, a slight addendum - I'll probably watch the BCS bowl games.

Day 2 A.N. (After Nixon) had some moments of promise, but was overall disappointing. I won't give details.

A new Treo firmware update is due RSN, according to the TreoCentral boards. I may not wait for the Cingular-sanctioned version and go straight to the ROW (Rest Of World) image when it's released - after unlocking my Treo a couple of weeks ago it shouldn't be an issue.

Finally for now - the new driveway was finished this morning and looks fantastic.