There will be minimal downtime in connectivity while the internet connection is moved. Fortunately the move is happening after the current semester so the students should have no interruptions to their studies.

Defenses have already been installed at the new location, as have the outdoor training facilities. Although there will be new equipment arriving tonight. With a little bit of luck, this will be the last temporary location before the final home of the Academy is constructed.

The economy is a complete shambles and I blame the democrats. Despite that, the Overlord Family was able to take a few vacations this past year. There was the standard week at Trial Lake. There was much fishing, game playing and overall merry making. There is a huge vacation planned for this coming year. The minions are all looking forward to that one! Their reward for not offing me.

The minions are all growing at an alarming rate. Of the four, I believe it is the youngest which will actually become a threat. Already he is destroying the Seat of Power. Captain Destructo is what we call him.

Mrs. Overlord is modifying her alter ego slightly, and is giving up her external job. Lets just say that the minions are becoming too large of a threat! Hopefully she will be able to reign in the destruction.

Tank One has had a few breathing problems this past year, but is extremely healthy in spite of his down time. He is the comedian here at the Academy. Every school must have one I guess.

The Princess seems to be on top of everything. She will be tested in the next few months for advanced placement. You always worry about these types of tests, but I’m not that concerned, she is a dead ringer for every one of the requirements.

Mini-Me is just cruising along. Oddly enough he is captain of the Academy’s track team. He being one of the only members of the staff who enjoys running. He spends a lot of time in front of the computer as well though.

The media player has been upgraded, the firewall has been strengthened and the media server is in the process of being moved to a beefier machine. There has been talk of switching out the internet provider to one which is slightly more stable, quicker, but no static IP. Meaning safegaurds will have to be implemented in order to ensure that this site remains available. More headaches for the IT department I am sure. But still just in the discussion phase.

This has been a tremendous year for the Academy, and this coming year looks to only improve. And hopefully, updates will become more frequent.

Doomsday device plans are beginning to come together, supplies may be purchased in the next couple of months to begin construction. Then again, probably not.

Yes, Health Care Reform is important. Yes, everyone should have easy access to Health Care. Healthy individuals are more productive than unhealthy ones. How can our empire thrive on sickness? It is important however, to first analyze and determine what exactly is wrong with the current health care system. It is obviously the cost. Why is it so expensive? Several reasons, but most stem back to personal greed.

The average American is now considered to be obese. In other words, the average American has accumulated enough fat as to be detrimental to their personal health. Obesity has been directly linked to all sorts of diseases and medical problems. Taking care of these problems is very costly. Since health insurance is a shared plan between a large group of people, everyone’s rates go up in an effort for the insurance companies to make money. I have to pay more money to keep the fat slob, three cubicles over, alive and functioning. Shared costs is understandable, and actually can be beneficial. But when an entire nation is big and fat, us skinny guys are paying way more than we should!

The first change that the Overlord Health Plan will include is that your rates will be partially based on how much fat you are carrying around. The more you have, the more you pay. The less you have, the less you pay. It is only fair that you pay your fair share. Maybe then some of you fat people will actually stop stuffing your faces with those cream filled doughnuts, get off your lazy butt and exercise!

The other price driving factor is the malpractice insurance that doctors are forced to pay. Frivolous lawsuits are costing us billions! As malpractice costs go up, so do the doctor’s standard rates. Malpractice insurance is important but the monetary compensation needs to be brought back down to reality. As well as making the doctors responsible for their mistakes. They should be required to go back to school, or temporary license revocation. They should learn from their mistakes not move on to do it again.

Finally, health care should cover our health. It should not cover frivolous things such as breast enlargements, gender switching and a whole list of other personal greed like and controversial topics. Health care should either be to keep me healthy or to get me healthy again. Keep productivity up from everyone’s benefit. Child production, weight loss, longevity, all covered. Planned parenthood covered. Abortion, unless medically unsafe for the mother, not covered. Dumbest idea I have ever heard of, reducing future workforce because it would be inconvenient for a few people. What do you think parenthood is? A walk in the park?

Health care reform is important, but let us make sure we are aiming for the right target. Fix the problem not bandage it.

When it comes time to issue the killing blow or statement, it is best done in such a way that everything that they thought was their best chance for recognition or salvation, is dragged through the proverbial mud. This will signify to the worthless peon that no matter how hard they work, how valuable they thought they were, despite their best efforts, they are still worthless. Their net contribution value is negative.

After doing this, your would-be opponent has nothing to stand on. They will have nothing to attack you with for you will have removed everything. If done properly, they will never recover and will never be able to challenge you again. I

f you are going to all the effort required to humiliate someone, go all the way. It only requires a little extra effort on your part, and oh so worth it when you see that special look on their face when they realize that there is no washing that mud off their face!

Update: WebSense tells me there is malicious code. Has yet to give me a copy of the malicious code found. They are very slow in responding. The Academy may have to take on a change of format temporarily.

Update: Crisis is over. The Academy is no longer blocked.

It was an absolute gas shooting the weapons, feeling the testosterone coursing through our veins… But I was sorely disappointed in his shooting skills. I am not saying that he could not practice and become the greatest marksman the world has ever seen. In all actuality, I would not put it past him. What I am saying, is that until he does go through all that practice, I will do the defending. Twenty-Five rounds and only one of them hit the clay pigeon. In his defense, he was using his brothers shot-gun. He probably had not developed the feel for it yet.

You know, I do not think he would make a good Minister of Defense. He would make a great candidate for Minister of Education though. Now that is a thought. And he does show the proper desire of wanting to use a firearm. And he can, after all, survive the fall of a crashing helicopter. Definitely someone to keep around.

You have the job… Question is, which job do I give you? I will have my people call your people.

Enjoy!

…There was this one ignoramus who insisted on driving five feet behind me. I left plenty of room between me and the guy in front of me, which was fortunate because he slid off the road several times which showed me where the really icy bits were. The dork behind me almost slid into me several times. To be honest, I do not know why he did not.

After World Domination is achieved, I am going to create a new task force. This task force, comprised of volunteers and a few government paid administrators, will have the ability to shoot and destroy those idiots who tailgate in dangerous conditions. Similar to what today was. Capture and torture will not be discouraged.

Every position in the corporate world is given a particular segment of work to accomplish. As work is being accomplished and pushed out of the queue, new work is being pushed in. Your finished work is becoming new work for someone else, and so on. As this process continues, it becomes obvious rather quickly, that there needs to be some sort of organization as well as a great deal of communication.

Usually, organization will work itself out, sometimes requiring a push here and there, but communication never seems to be handled properly. There are many different forms of communication, in person, email, IM, forms, software and even the ever so helpful documentation. Every one of these forms has inherent flaws. Either you cannot be spread out, or not enough detail, or too tedious. The list can really go on and on.

As the Evil Overlord you need to always know what is going on with your organization. You do not always need to know the nitty-gritty details, although sometimes you might. Meaning, of course, that you need information reported to you in a dynamic fashion. How do we do this?

First and foremost, you need to establish a procedure. Each level in the organization needs to report specific information in specific directions. Sometimes this information is identical, sometimes it is tailored, but it should all be entered into the same ultimate system to allow for your audit drill downs, and quick summaries. Multiple systems become unwanted baggage, and will quickly become ignored by your subordinates.

For team communications, in person, email, IM, and simple documentation all can work. Simply make sure this information is captured and entered (email and IM can be connected to a system and automated.) Moving from one team to another may require documentation but should happen in the same system. As each task, project and bug is finished, the single application is noted. Making it simple for anyone at anytime to quickly see what is being worked on, how much has been completed, where hang-ups are occurring, who to get rid of, who to keep, and most importantly for you the Evil Overlord, who are your potential back-stabbers.

Communication is critical. Your success or failure is tightly coupled with this simple, yet crucial, concept.