There is no escape from Santa #2.

You're never too big to tell Santa what you want.

In the winter it's important keep your beard properly salted.

Don't eat the red snow.

Trigger writes "At our work we were decomissioning six old HP/Compaq servers to clear up space for new servers and, naturally, each server had a fairly large raid array. Instead of formatting every hard drive (would have taken weeks performing a DoD level wipe) and disposing them all together with the servers, I decided to disassemble the hard drives and recycle them into something neat. With a lot (a lot) of patience, I made this shiny Xmas tree. In total there are around 70 old SCSI hard drives, between 9gb and 18gb in size each. They were nice and chunky, oldschool style. There were quite a few different hard drive models, which is good because they each had different bits which I could use. The Xmas tree is made with parts from hard drives only except for one nut which I had to purchase for $0.39." It's good to see that this guy has plenty to do at work.

bshell writes "With Christmas around the corner I know we are all thinking about religion, or at least maybe wondering why this one religion dominates the rest for these few weeks. A fellow named Rodrigo Braz Monteiro (amz) posted this list comparing each programming language to a religion. Guaranteed to make you chuckle and generate a good long thread here on slashdot. Great way to pass the time as work winds down this week and we relate to our own programming faiths during this very special time of year. Merry PHPmas." Fortunately Pastafarianism is referenced.

A 26-year-old man stole a small refrigerator from a probation office used to store urine samples, including his own. Police say he went to the office Sunday, shot out a window to get inside and removed the locked refrigerator. The man had tested positive for drugs and police theorize that he was attempting to get rid of the evidence as opposed to simply being very, very thirsty.

Some people believe it was the noble armadillo and not a star that lead the Three Wise Men to the baby Jesus.

She doesn't get to join in any reindeer games.

Sportsqs writes "When Nikola Tesla got creative with transformers and driver circuits at the turn of the 20th century he probably had no idea that others would have so much fun with his concepts over a hundred years later. One such guy is an Australian named Peter who runs a website called TeslaDownUnder, which showcases all his wacky Tesla ways, or rather electrickery, as Peter calls it." Very cool stuff, I wish I would have had something like this to protect my comic books from my little brother when I was a kid.

Doctors have reported the first case of someone using the internet while asleep, when a sleeping woman sent emails to people asking them over for drinks and caviar. The 44-year-old woman found out what she had done after a would be guest phoned her about it the next day. While asleep the woman turned on her computer, logged on by typing her username and password then composed and sent three emails. Each mail was in a random mix of upper and lower cases, unformatted and written in strange language. One read: "Come tomorrow and sort this hell hole out. Dinner and drinks, 4.pm,. Bring wine and caviar only." Another said simply, "What the......." If I had known that researchers were interested in unformatted, rambling email I would have let them read my inbox. They could start a whole new school of medicine.

Pfhorrest writes "The Times Online reports, "A supply teacher has been told not to return to one primary school after she told a class of seven-year-olds that Santa Claus did not exist. Children at Blackshaw Lane Primary School in Oldham were talking about Christmas when the teacher came out with the news. Father Christmas was not responsible for delivering their presents on Christmas Eve, the pupils were taught. The teacher, who had been drafted in for just the day, has now been told not to come back. Parents complained to the school after their children returned home to recount what they had learned in lessons that day." With all the contention about teaching religion (or the lack thereof) in schools these days, what do you all think about similar issues regarding more frivolous popular folklore like Santa Claus?" And what about Cthulhu? Should a 7-year-old be forewarned that he will eventually exist in a world of sublime madness at the whim of the ancient ones?

Times are hard for everyone, even machines.

We are in trouble when they learn to use guns.

An Anonymous Coward writes "China's online gaming themed service industry appears to be booming, riding China's fascination with online gaming all the way to the top is a Chinese restaurateur with his World of Warcraft inspired eatery." I would recommend the Critter Bites and the Haunted Herring, but would warn against the Carrion Surprise.

alphadogg writes "University of Utah researchers have invented technology that could come to be embraced by teenagers with the same enthusiasm they have for curfews and ID checks. And like those things, it could save their lives. Key2SafeDriving technology uses RFID or Bluetooth wireless capabilities to issue signals from car keys to cell phones to prevent drivers from talking on their phones or texting while driving. A company called Accendo LC of Kaysville, Utah has licensed the technology and is working to build it into commercial devices that could be on the market next year. The company is sorting out how to bring the technology to market, but one possibility is that it would be made available through cell phone service companies and could also be tied in with insurance companies, which might offer discounts for users."

Shaggy, a two-and-a-half-year-old reindeer who lost his horns, is still able to perform shows this year thanks to a wig made of rabbit pelts and the antlers he shed last year. His owner, Trevor Hill, said, "I used his old antlers from last year and a bit of rabbit fur we found that matched up with the colour of his fur. There is a bit of a toupee structure there so it covers up the wire underneath. As far as I know this device is totally unique." This sounds a lot more complicated than just a smudge of dirt on a red nose.

circletimessquare writes "Deep Space Communications Network has been hired by 20th Century Fox to beam the Keanu Reeves remake of 'The Day The Earth Stood Still' into outer space on its opening day. Whatever you think of the gimmick and its philosophical contradictions, rest assured that only the most important and highest minded of concerns went into the broadcast: 'Jim Lewis, Deep Space's director, said the company had to satisfy 20th Century Fox, the film's producers, that the transmission could not be intercepted and pirated on Earth or in the air.'" If only they had the technology to beam Keanu as well.

He's been sitting there for 20 years and he'll be sitting there in another 20.

Apartment complexes are different in rural areas.