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mefi
My very elegant mother just sat upon ninjas
... the textbooks, mnemonic devices and more will have to be changed today. Pluto has been demoted from its status as planet to a
dwarf planet. We now have 8 in our solar system. The debate is
not at all new, and its apparent resolution may not matter to our everyday lives, but it's just a little weird to think of all of the things that will have to be retroactively edited or amended as a result.
posted to MetaFilter by twiggy
at 6:47 AM on August 24, 2006
(96 comments)
Another wifi-related arrest
was publicized today. In the past, the only case readily available to researchers involved
additional seedy activities that are what really drew the arrest. The coffeeshop and other open hotspots show up on several sites such as
jiwire and
wifinder which are devoted to helping people find wireless hotspots.
In this case, a coffeeshop noticed someone leeching their WiFi parked in his truck -- over the course of 3 months, without ever entering the coffeehouse and making a purchase. While not yet convicted of anything, he has been arrested for "theft of services," and this could mean the first precedent set for whether or not "wireless piggybacking" is illegal. The case becomes especially interesting for both sides of the ethical debate on "borrowing" wireless. One one side of the judge's opinion will be the fact that the coffeehouse is a public place, not a private home. On the other side, it turns out the man who was arrested just so happens to be a registered sex offender, though this coincidental fact is not technically relevant to the case.
posted to MetaFilter by twiggy
at 7:01 AM on June 22, 2006
(263 comments)
Save Disney
- in a followup to a previous and informative and link-filled
MeFi post, a friend sent me a link to
savedisney.com today which has three interesting documents: Roy Disney's resignation letter, Stanley Gold's resignation letter, and a letter from Roy Disney to all cast members. There's also links to email and show support, as well as links to all sorts of related informational sites. Is this ingenius guerilla PR from upset employees, or is there something deeper here?
posted to MetaFilter by twiggy
at 2:59 PM on December 11, 2003
(21 comments)
Fan and ball
[flash] is an addictive and fun little game. It may not be friday yet, but it was such a neat little idea that I couldn't resist posting it here. [via
b3ta]
posted to MetaFilter by twiggy
at 2:16 PM on December 9, 2003
(12 comments)
Searching MSN for the phrase "Linux"
yields some pretty amusing (but yes, unsurprising) results. The first site seems moderately legit - Amazon stuff related to linux. The second one - MSN has a tech section about Linux? Not exactly. It doesn't really have much linux content at first glance. The third link is most amusing - see for yourself.
Comparatively, a
google search for "linux" yields much more useful results.
This makes me wonder: should ethics be taken into consideration on search engines? MS has every right to have whatever they want come up when you type in "linux" - but they are willfully contaminating search results, which makes one wonder what
other search terms Microsoft might want to rig the output of, and also, which they might have
overlooked...
posted to MetaFilter by twiggy
at 8:39 AM on June 30, 2003
(44 comments)
"I poisoned P2P networks for the RIAA"
, a whistleblower from the
IFPI (the global version of the
RIAA) has said. Someone else actually
claimed this a few days ago but it was admitted to be a hoax. Now, a fellow by the name of Matt Warne comes forward with a new claim.
While I'm sure many MeFi'ers disagree about the ethics of music piracy (which it is, whether or not you think it should be okay) - I think we can all agree that two wrongs don't make a right, can we not? Can the RIAA be sued for this, or will it be an invincible body, impervious to injury just like a certain
other huge body that has problems
getting hacked all the time, and simply has to repeatedly
settle in court rather than admitting true wrongdoing?
posted to MetaFilter by twiggy
at 8:40 AM on January 17, 2003
(57 comments)
Man films himself eating dead baby and calls it "art"
this calls to question many things. Such as cultural taboos and the importance of accepting the factor of
"moral relativity". While I may find cannibalism to be sickening - some societies, such as the
Anasazi apparently did not. Of course, even some in our culture can sympathize with the events that involved the
Donner Party - but of course, eating a dead baby in the name of art is not a matter of survival, now is it? Can this be called art? Is doing something solely for the sake of shock value truly art?
At least there's always the
humorous side of things [site appears down for now?], I suppose, even if some people
don't get it.
posted to MetaFilter by twiggy
at 11:55 PM on January 1, 2003
(33 comments)
One of the teams in the Mexico vs. USA World Cup game
made history. As of before the game, the USA has never won a knockout game of the World Cup - Mexico had never won a knockout game of the World Cup when not in Mexico. Click the article to see which team made history - or if you don't want it spoiled, don't click at all!
posted to MetaFilter by twiggy
at 1:33 AM on June 17, 2002
(28 comments)
Finally
some more news about
Orson Scott Card's book Ender's Game, and the plans to make it into a movie. Obviously I do have the fear that they'll make it suck - but if they do a good job with this, I'll be more excited about it than any movie I've seen in years!
posted to MetaFilter by twiggy
at 4:55 PM on May 23, 2002
(42 comments)
Dibblez
is a really cute and fun game. Yeah, it's not time for Friday Time-waste, probably, but I love when people create amusing stuff like this. If only someone would do a (better than
scorch2000) networked version of Scorched Earth...
posted to MetaFilter by twiggy
at 1:13 PM on May 22, 2002
(19 comments)
Hate mobile phones?
Man... this site both makes me laugh, and makes me furious in anger.. because it's so damn hilarious, but I imagine if this happened to me I'd be horribly upset and angry... I hate the misuse of mobile phones, but I do USE one...
posted to MetaFilter by twiggy
at 2:37 PM on February 6, 2002
(33 comments)
Payola exposed
- for those not "in the know" - if you're wondering why radio sucks so much, this LA Times article is the answer. The concept of
Payola is nothing new - it's a long-talked about means of record companies getting radio stations to shove their chosen music down our throats twenty times in the course of a day. It was reported recently, however, that some incriminating documents were uncovered, finally confirming that ALL of the major record company conglomerates are involved in this scam!
posted to MetaFilter by twiggy
at 5:22 PM on May 29, 2001
(9 comments)
Football is killing our children -
this site is just a riot.. definitely a hearty laugh, and a great parody (ack did I just ruin it for some of you? I mean um... it's serious!)...
posted to MetaFilter by twiggy
at 2:12 PM on May 27, 2001
(3 comments)
