March 2004 Archives
March 31
The Googlunaplex
Google on the Moon: "This unique opportunity is available only to highly-qualified individuals who are willing to relocate for an extended period of time, are in top physical condition and are capable of surviving with limited access to such modern conveniences as soy low-fat lattes, The Sopranos and a steady supply of oxygen." Google hits outer space to conduct "high-density high-delivery hosting (HiDeHiDeHo)" and "de-oxygenated cubicle dwelling." Better than April Fool's at Fark? Via Monkeyfilter.
How India is saving capitalism
How India is saving capitalism. "For one Silicon Valley company, hiring Indian programmers wasn't about greed, it was about survival. A special report from Chennai, globalization's ground zero."
Fark Hacked
Newtonian
Vortical interfaces between immiscible fluids - a slow-motion video of various vortexes of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids, set to Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun, with explanatory captions. Pleasing to the eyes.
Hork. Mix. Burn. (Strange Brew? Anyone? Anyone?)
So, when did Canada become the globe's official Progressive Society Laboratory? They've got the health care, they've got the gay marriage, and now, they've got 100% legal file-sharing -- a judge has ruled that not only is downloading copyrighted material legal, but sharing it is as well. Um, whoa? How long can this stand on appeal? Is anyone here a Canadian legal expert who can tell us about how Canadian copyright law differs from our own? (Tall order, I know...)
Russian Vodka
And Here's A Bottle Of Vodka For The Translator: The English may be hilariously garbled but its flavour is definitely strong and the author, V.V. Pokhlebkin, is vodka's leading historian, although he's quite severe and nationalistic: no vodka without (certain) food(s); no cocktails; no foreign muck. If you can't find his book, this is the next best thing. ( Additional advice for businessmen here.)
Preserving Life and Liberty
Preserving Life and Liberty - The Department of Justice’s first priority is to prevent future terrorist attacks. Since its passage following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Patriot Act has played a key part - and often the leading role - in a number of successful operations to protect innocent Americans from the deadly plans of terrorists dedicated to destroying America and our way of life. Is this a legitimate way for the government to keep citizens informed, or merely a propaganda tool?
gmail!
Gmail: Google's newest service. They're claiming 1Gb of free email, killer spam filters, and a great new webmail interface. They'll likely have Google ads attached to your messages, but I can't wait to see it tomorrow (hopefully it's not just an April Fools prank).
Dishonest Dubya
Dishonest Dubya. Lying Action Figure!
Lies, Lies, Damn Lies and Profit
Apophenia, pareidolia and type II statistical error are the product. People looking for signs, visions, miracles and portents are the market.
Actual products can get you in trouble, but offering your services as a psychic or spiritualist seems to be safe. You will need a good memory and some public speaking ability. If you're good you can even try to tell the target audience what you're really doing and they'll do their best to convince you that your powers are real. Good luck.
Iraqi intellectuals flee 'death squads'
8% of Iraqi academics have Fled, 1000 Professionals Assassinated in past Year - ''
In recent months assassinations have targeted engineers, pharmacologists, officers, and lawyers. More than 1000 leading Iraqi professionals and intellectuals have been assassinated since last April, among them such prominent figures as Dr Muhammad al-Rawi, the president of Baghdad University. The identity of the assailants remains a mystery and none have been caught. But families and colleagues of victims believe that Iraqi parties with foreign affiliations have an interest in wiping out Iraq's intellectual elite...'' From Juan Cole, who notes, in relation to Chalabi's control of de-Baathification, ''It can't be good for the future of Iraq to lose nearly 10% of its academics. Some of those may have been involved in Baath Party dirty tricks, but were all? And, the campaign of assassination makes a mockery of the rhetoric about democratization."
Sail Trek
What happens when you mix Star Trek fan with webblogging yachtsman? You get Starship Enterprise: sailing stories blogged as Star Trek adventures. I sure like the cut of his jib. Engage.
George W. Bush Invigorating Ameria's Youth
George W. Bush Invigorating Ameria's Youth On Monday David Letterman aired video footage [Real] of an "obviously bored silly" 14-year-old kid goofing off while standing on stage behind the president during a speech. [more inside]
Ethics Filter
Richard Clarke asks MoveOn to remove his name and recordings of his voice from their new advert. MoveOn refuses.
You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em ....
In February 2003 Jeremy Shafer, BARF leader, performance artist, smartass, and all-around Origami Wunderkind was invited to participate in a competitive Origami championship on the Japanese reality television show TV Champion - here is his story [.pdf file].
I just want what's mine!
The file-sharing fight continues.
Recording industry associations in Denmark, Germany, Italy and Canada have filed lawsuits or taken other legal action, aiming mainly at heavy users accused of offering a large number of songs online.
In other news, A study of file-sharing's effects on music sales says online music trading appears to have had little part in the recent slide in CD sales.
Recording industry associations in Denmark, Germany, Italy and Canada have filed lawsuits or taken other legal action, aiming mainly at heavy users accused of offering a large number of songs online.
In other news, A study of file-sharing's effects on music sales says online music trading appears to have had little part in the recent slide in CD sales.
Democracy at work?
Washington cuts Serbia Aid, due to Serbian intransigence in cooperating with the Hague war crimes tribunal to extradite key war crimes suspects. Recently, the Serbian Parliament passed a controversial bill which gives taxpayers money to war crimes suspects for "legal and other expenses".
In December Serbia elected a new parliament with nationalist sympathies.
Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has said extraditing war crimes suspects to The Hague is not one of his government's priorities. Is this the kind of democracy the US wanted?
Lonely, Hateful, Bitter, Insane? or Defendable?
The Dave Sim Misogyny Page - and a recent Onion interview.
I find Dave Sim (comic book artist, notable for long-running, multiplevolume Cerebus) to have deeply troubling, almost poisoned ideas about women.(despite his efforts, these bitter screeds are almost unexplainable,unless someone here can explain them, that is - please!)Beware if you've never read them. And laugh with me, an apparentlyweak male-feminist (and lovin it!) if you have. Viva la Void.
The Pentagon Papers: The First Time as Tragedy, the Second Time As Farce
Pentagon Flunky Misplaces 9/11 Talking Points at Starbucks A Pentagon employee left documents with talking points to help Donald Rumsfeld deal with questions about 9/11 on Sunday political chat shows. The employee is almost certainly due to get fired, because the documents even included a hand-drawn map to Donald Rumsfeld's house! (Note: documents in pdf file.)
Dorifto!
Car Surfing! A sort of X-Games for cars, drifting is a steadily growing japanese sport that is just now making its way stateside, first via Hawaii and California, and now all the way to the east coast through grassroots groups like the NJ-based DGTrials. "Drifting, in the simplest sense, is the use of an intentional controlled slide to navigate around a turn. ...it can ultimately lead to complex strings of multi-directional slides that use a variety of techniques to maintain extreme oversteer. The pure essence of drifting is to never appear to have control of the vehicle, while always having complete control over the vehicle!" Contestants favor lightweight rear-drive cars that are often the polar opposite of the traditional bling-bling import showcar aesthetic. Lap times are unimportant - competition is style based, much like actual surfing or snowboarding competitions. Though the attitude tends to be somewhat goofy, the results can be dramatic [WMV].
Rice. Rice, Rice, Rice. RICE!
Looks like Rice will testify before the 9-11 Commission after all. In a letter sent by White House counsel Alberto Gonzales to the Sept. 11 commission, Gonzales notes:
Furthermore, we have now received assurances from the speaker of the House and the majority leader of the Senate that, in their view, Dr. Rice's public testimony in connection with the extraordinary events of September 11, 2001, does not set, and should not be cited as, a precedent for future requests for a national security adviser or any other White House official to testify before a legislative body.Separation of powers question: If the institution of the separation of powers is a set of informal arrangements between the branches, which continually look to previous practice, how can this not be a precendent? Various blawgs weigh in.
old school
Travis Hallenbeck's website is an awesome collection of links about lo-fi music and art, retro-computing, cheap children's synths, and more. Some gems: CompactFlash for Apple II, Iconolog, The Audio Playground Keyboard Museum (with vintage drum machines reworked in flash). Look around!
April is the cruelest month
A mob attacked a group of foreign contractors, shooting four people to death, burning their two vehicles, dragging their bodies through the streets and hanging the charred corpses from a bridge. Another day in the American occupation of Iraq.
Dirty Money
"The "Brief Safe" is an innovative new diversion safe that can secure your cash, documents, and other small valuables from inquisitive eyes and thieving hands, both at home and when you're traveling. Items can be hidden right under their noses..." [via Aces]
Air America Goes Live
Today's the Day. Air America, the liberal talk radio network, goes live today with "The O' Franken Factor" at noon (first link is currently a splash page--the real site is here). Though the network is only available in a handful of markets, all the network's programming will be available online, and on XM.
Oh, Yes, Wyoming!
"Why don't you reverse the rotation of the Earth, go back in time and read the directions?" Jerry Seinfeld, Superman and a stolen DVD player. Yeah, it's part of an American Express promotion, but it's cleverly done.
U.S. to defend Muslim girl wearing scarf in school
U.S. to defend Muslim girl wearing scarf in school. In its complaint, the government said the school district violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, which it said bars states from applying dress codes in a discriminatory manner.
March 30
Bugger to push-start.
The Biggest Engine in the World. It's freakin' enormous. 100 000hp... yet more fuel efficient than your car. This contrasts with the smallest Wankel rotary, smallest diesels, and the smallest gas turbine engines.
GFXartist.com: The Digitial Art Community
For the Digital Art lovers out there, GFXartist.com is a gem with Elite Nominations and Elite Galleries to get a first-time visitors started on some of the more popular artwork the site offers.
Gross International Happiness
The Gross International Happiness Project. An idea inspired by Gross National Happiness, the Kingdom of Bhutan's alternative to GDP.
Beggars Into Businessmen
Turning Bangladesh's Beggars Into Businessmen. One of Bangladesh's leading micro-credit groups has launched an initiative to lend money to beggars at easy repayment rates, to wean them off the streets and into small scale ventures.
Welcome to Finland
Feminism Schizm
Women Lose When Feminists Bash "Men generally don't like to complain. A man will endure ridicule and abuse, and then move on with his life. But abuse him once too often, and he will vote with his feet.
And one day, men woke up to the fact that marriage was a losing proposition. The math was hard to refute: Half of all marriages wind up in divorce. In 85% of cases, mothers gained custody of the children. And sometimes, bitter ex-wives would try to turn the children against their father, what psychologists call Parental Alienation Syndrome.
In the face of such dismal odds, men decided to go on a Marriage Strike. "
title
US-made ultrasonic gun uses baby's scream The gun is capable of causing permanent ear damage, even death.
Makes me want to scream.
Makes me want to scream.
One two three four three four threeeeee
The Sound of Mathematics Mathematical functions whose output have been jammed into MIDI files. The results are disturbingly musical.
New ideas through your headphones
The IT Conversations motto is "New ideas through your headphones" and offers audio interviews with well-known technology personalities. Ever wonder what Craig Newmark's or Bram Cohen's voices sound like?
And the sun rises in the morning...
Watch Small Creatures Breed and Die
A few years ago a life simulation game called Creatures was released. I recently discovered that there was also a free version called Docking Station which is still available in PC and Linux versions and includes an optional on-line component which allows you to chat, send messages and share creatures with other players. And if the goodies and breeds of creatures that come with the free version aren't enough for you, there are oodles of web sites still offering free downloads to expand on the game. Or if you gain some joy from hexidecimal programming, you can even play around with their genetic coding or learn to create your own goodies.
Treemaps for the news day
NewsFilter. I'm a sucker for treemap applications. This one is pretty neat - it gives you a good visual overview of the days' news, with a handful of filtering options, and live updating. I've had this running full-screen on a second monitor all day, and I'm digging it. (First link requires Flash.)
Tropical Canada?
Canadian expansionism: there's a plan afoot for Canada to annex the beautifully sunny Turks and Caicos islands. Why? "Turks and Caicos would give Canada a warm, friendly 11th province - a southern destination where the Loonie could land without breaking a wing."
Declaring the Era of the Peace Kingdom
Declaring the Era of the Peace Kingdom "They have declared to all Heaven and Earth that Reverend Sun Myung Moon is none other than humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent. This resolution has been announced on every corner of the globe. Respected guests, it is now only a matter of time. Look at the world. Do you see anything that gives you real hope for the future? Sooner or later, we have to give what we have to our descendants and leave this world. What gift could be more precious than that of completing the family ideal in your family, so as to guarantee eternal peace and happiness for your children? Surely no one who has such an opportunity should hesitate to take up the task of building the peace kingdom on earth, for which God has waited thousands of years."
--Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Address to the United States Congress, March 23, 2004
via Atrios
You will NOT criticize the Great Leader!
The Republican National Committee is demanding that the Federal Election Commission issue new rules that would shut down groups that are in any way critical of President Bush or members of Congress. Under the proposed rules, nonprofit organizations that advocate for cancer research, gun and abortion restrictions or rights, fiscal discipline, tax reform, poverty issues, immigration reform, the environment, or civil rights or liberties - all these organizations could be transformed into political committees if they criticize or commend members of Congress or the President based on their official actions or policy positions.
Incredible, unstoppable titan of terror!
Technomorality
Technomorality: Are there more examples of this, or are the Japanese just better than us? As the potential of technology increases, isn't it just possible that the world really could become a better place?
somebody had to post it!
Time for Rice The fact and figures. It appears there is no connection to Iraq. Well, I still like Rice anyway. How 'bout you?
How to...
How to Drive Fast on Drugs While Getting Your Wing-Wang Squeezed and not Spill Your Drink (perhaps NSFW, some Robert Williams-ish illustrations)
So What are you doing on April 25th?
March For Women - because America is not a great place to be a woman. The time is right for a public demonstration of historic size in support of reproductive freedom and justice for all women. Threats to these rights have never been so systematic and coordinated, and the lives and health of women have never faced such peril.
See ya there! I will be the woman in the embroidered denim jacket - the one my mom wore when she marched for the exact same rights, 40-odd years ago. sigh.
Grass Greener, People Meaner?
While the world has been “getting greener” during the past 25 yrs, human courtesy and civility have been “changing for the worse.”
Average American vs European Height
Those towering Dutchmen The height of the average American is roughly the same as it was during the Revolutionary war. The heights of many northwestern Europeans continue to shoot up. Is this simply genetics at work, or could Bush and the Republicans possibly be at fault here?
Chuck Palahniuk's writers' workshop
Chuck Palahniuk (the author of such brawny reads as Choke and Fight Club) has an online writers' workshop that has monthly assignments subject to peer review, essays on writing by Chucky P., and a real smoove interface. I'm not a big fan of the guy or his work, but his "distinction essays", which are only posted to the site for a limited time, do contain the kind of solid instruction you'd hafta pay money for at a real writers workshop. The quality of the submissions varies, but seems to me to be a bit better than most online freebie writers-circle-jerk sites. Just don't choke on the ego.
thecycles.com
Thecycles.com is evil and must be stopped. The proper comeuppance for a bogus content aggregator which inflates its own pagerank while spamming referrer logs? It shoots itself in the foot with its own aggregator.
Boing-Boom-Tschak!
Music Non Stop Create your own version of the Kraftwerk classic. Or make those silly robots dance. Lots of cute little 80s retro flash stuff.
Carpool Cheats
CarpoolCheats.org If you don't want your picture taken while you're doing something illegal, don't do it in public!. I'm not sure about the ethics (or legality) of putting pictures of license plates online, but the thrust of the site is pretty cool.
Simplicity's design for better or for worse?
Google redesigns.
Got rid of their colored tabs, added Froogle and lost DMOZ on the front page, and tweaked the search result pages with a new layout (sans colored boxes) for Google's AdWords. Still using font tags and with minimal use of internal CSS.
To top it all off, Google Labs adds personalized Web search and Web alerts. Wow.
Got rid of their colored tabs, added Froogle and lost DMOZ on the front page, and tweaked the search result pages with a new layout (sans colored boxes) for Google's AdWords. Still using font tags and with minimal use of internal CSS.
To top it all off, Google Labs adds personalized Web search and Web alerts. Wow.
The Untitled Project
The Untitled Project is a series of photographs of urban settings accompanied by a graphical text layout. The photographs have been digitally stripped of all traces of textual information. The text pieces show the removed text in the approximate location and font as it was found in the photograph.
Kashmir
Has the US promised Kashmir to Pakistan? During his recent visit, Colin Powell named Pakistan a US ally. This move has people in India concerned about what the US is willing to give Pakistan to fight Al-Qaeda. [The site has pop-ups. Sorry.]
Alistair Cooke dead at 95
Alistair Cooke dead at 95
in this age of savagely polluted airwaves, Cooke as still a beacon from another age - and a helluva of class act. he'll be missed.
in this age of savagely polluted airwaves, Cooke as still a beacon from another age - and a helluva of class act. he'll be missed.
Make that frostbite count.
The Harbin Snow and Ice Festival The temperature in Harbin, China reaches forty below zero, both Fahrenheit and centigrade, and stays below freezing nearly half the year. The city is actually further north than notoriously cold Vladivostok, Russia, just 300 miles away. Rather than suffer the cold, the residents of Harbin celebrate it, with an annual festival of snow and ice sculptures and competitions. The main link actually shows the 2003 sculptures; here are some from this year.
patents gone wild
Which abuse of the patent system are you? Take this test to find out. Now that they got it, they're beating distance learning colleges over the head with it, for money. Another obvious bit of programming turns lucrative for one company.
The funniest and most disgusting story ever.
The funniest and most disgusting story ever. This personal story on the forums of a bodybuilding website looks like it is on the way to becoming an Internet classic (warning... SFW, but scatological).
Snopes doesn't have this one... the nearest we get is this.
March 29
Ahmad Chalabi - It's All Bad News
Ahmad Chalabi, the Pentagon's heartthrob and the State Department's and CIA's heartbreak, has taken the lead in a yearlong political marathon. Temporary constitutional arrangements are structured to give the future prime minister more power than the president... Chalabi holds the ultimate weapons -- several dozen tons of documents and individual files seized by his Iraqi National Congress from Saddam Hussein's secret security apparatus. Coupled with his position as head of the de-Baathification commission, Chalabi, barely a year since he returned to his homeland after 45 years of exile, has emerged as the power behind a vacant throne... All the bases are loaded for a home run by MVP Chalabi. If successful, it will be an additional campaign issue president Bush could have done without. Saddam was good riddance. But was Chalabi a worthy democratic trade?
The Alexandria Declaration
The Alexandria Declaration. Between March 14 and 17, 2004, intellectuals, scholars, economists and activists from around the Arab world met at the new Alexandria Library in Egypt for the Arab Reform Conference. Among the recommendations of the conference was that all Arab governments should ratify "all international conventions on the rights of women providing for the abolition of all forms of discrimination against them."
Deez nuts!
"My hobby? It's funny you should ask... I make erotic carvings out of coconut shells..."
Work Less Party
The Work Less Party of Vancouver seeks to regain a little sanity for the North American employee. A 32-hour work week is not a very realistic fantasy for the information age. But at least someone is standing up for the right to go home earlier.
The droning engine throbs in time with your beating heart
Guernica. Take a stroll through some famous works of art (larger version here.) More Pocket Movies. [Via The Cartoonist.]
accoutrements
The Great Citizens Campaign to Lose Three Kilograms. Okinawans have closely adopted the U.S. lifestyle of cars, suburban malls and fast food, and have become Japan's fattest people?
Camera Obscura, making history hideous
Camera Obscura trolls the attics and abandoned dressers of the world, finding the great lost portraits of the past, then burying them and posting these laughable ones instead. Develop Dutchophobia and learn to fear the Irma!
CSI helped him get away with murder ... but The Passion of the Christ made him confess.
CSI helped him get away with murder ... but The Passion of the Christ made him confess. When did real life jump the shark and become a bad postmodern novel?
Budapest Digitalized
Looking Offshore
Looking Offshore How one offshore worker sent tremor through medical system
In an ongoing Chronicle series on the ramifications of shifting U.S. jobs and services overseas, this installment focuses on the threat to individual privacy when companies send sensitive financial and personal data offshore.
The Ivory Coast is falling down
The peace process in the Ivory Coast has collapsed (again). I haven't seen it reported yet but have it first hand from an official stationed there that the UN is evacuating all personnel. The evacuations in 2002 were limited compared to this. How could the Ivory Coast have come to this point? What does this mean for the rest of the region? sigh
New Elements: Uut and Uup
Time to replace your old Periodic Table. ...a joint American-Russian team has found two new elements—numbers 113 and 115 on the periodic table—hinting at an impending breakthrough in creating novel forms of matter that will test our understanding of atomic behavior.
Practical Origami for the Creative Correspondent
Creative Envelope and Letter Folding
"...hand folding letters and envelopes is one of those rare intersections of decoration and practicality, where paper folding produces the satisfaction of making something useful and novel...."
"...hand folding letters and envelopes is one of those rare intersections of decoration and practicality, where paper folding produces the satisfaction of making something useful and novel...."
Child witches in Africa
Things fall apart Stressed societies move in strange directions. In Angola, shattered by a decades-long civil war, children and even infants are accused of being witches. Burkina Faso is also having a witchcraft epidemic. Are there parallels with conditions in Salem and Early Modern Europe?
Why are we conservative or liberal?
George Lakoff writes in his book Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think that the book began with a conversation about a single question that might be used to tell liberals from conservatives. His friend offered the question: "If your baby cries at night, do you pick him up?"
Is there a basic belief that underlies all conservative and liberal positions? Lakoff's answer, that our politics are connected to how we view family, is summarized in this interview. Is he right? What about you, what makes you a conservative or a liberal?
Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy
The Kaceesque story of a woman in prison for faking her daughter's leukemia to gain thousands of dollars in donations, now says she concocted the scheme to keep her husband from leaving. Teresa Milbrandt said she regrets what she did, which included shaving her daughter Hannah's head and giving her sleeping pills to make it look like she was undergoing chemotherapy. The husband went to Prison As Well.
Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is a parenting disorder where parents, usually the mother, fabricate symptoms in their children, thus subjecting the child to unnecessary medical tests and/or surgical procedures, though It is a highly controversial condition, which some doubt even exists.
Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is a parenting disorder where parents, usually the mother, fabricate symptoms in their children, thus subjecting the child to unnecessary medical tests and/or surgical procedures, though It is a highly controversial condition, which some doubt even exists.
Bye Bye 4th Ammendment
Are we witnessing the end of the 4th Ammendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure? The United States 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled (parts 1 and 2) that police in Louisiana no longer need a search or arrest warrant to conduct a brief search of your home or business.
God Took My Co-Pilot
The Evil of Banality. "You should never, ever get on a plane with a born-again pilot." Recent entries in Slactivist's excellent line-by-line Christian deconstruction of a best-selling series that MeFi has discussed before. But this time it's really the end. Jesus is coming back, and it's front page news.
Ilustris - whimsical illustrations
Ilustris - delightful and whimsical works from a Polish illustrator. (flash)
March 28
Life On Mars's Meethane Traces Thought To Be Detected
Life on Mars? Methane has been found in the Martian atmosphere which scientists say could be a sign of present-day life on Mars. It was detected by telescopes on Earth and has recently been confirmed by instruments onboard the European Space Agency's orbiting Mars Express craft. Methane lives for a short time in the Martian atmosphere so it must be being constantly replenished. There are two possible ways to do this. Either active volcanoes, but none have yet been found on Mars, or microbes. The Independent has it as Methane find on Mars may be sign of life. The second group to detect signals of methane in the Martian atmosphere is led by Michael Mumma of Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, who used powerful spectroscopic telescopes based on Earth. This team is even believed to have detected variations in the concentrations of methane, with a peak coming from the ancient Martian seabed of Meridiani Planum, which is being explored by a Nasa rover. This could indicate a subterranean source of methane which is pumping out the gas, either due to some residual geological activity or because of the presence of living organisms producing it as a waste gas. Asked whether the continual production of methane is strong evidence of a biological origin of the gas, Dr Mumma said: "I think it is, myself personally." As to how...
California Doesn't Even Have To Fall Into The Ocean To Get In Trouble
California's Tsunami Risk. " In the open ocean, tsunami waves travel at speeds of up to 600 miles per hour... As the waves enter shallow water, they may rise rapidly. Typical peak wave heights from large tsunamis in the Pacific Ocean over the last 80 years have been between 21 and 45 feet at the shoreline... If a large earthquake displaces the sea floor near the coast, the first waves may reach the shore minutes after the ground stops shaking. There is no time for authorities to issue a warning."
40 years ago this weekend the Alaskan Prince William Sound earthquake and its ensuing tsunami killed over 120 people -- 12 as far South as California. Nothing compared to the thousands hit in the 1998 Papua New Guinea tsunami disaster, but still it's worth keeping an eye on California's tsunami risks. Or the entire West Coast's activity.
just the facts, ma'am.
factcheck.org -- a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics.
Great American Songwriters
The Song Is You: and, as if that weren't enough, the melody lingers on! The Songwriters' Hall of Fame is a magnificent resource (look for the almost-complete song lists) and a reminder of how one single country (The U.S.A.) produced a hugely disproportionate quantity of the great popular songwriters. It could arguably be said: almost all of them. How many of the "Rock Era" composers, though, have written standards that will still be as widely sung worldwide, in every conceivable dive or circumstance, in 50 years' time as the songs of Arlen, Porter, Gershwin, Berlin, Kern, Rodgers, Carmichael, Youmans, Warren, Ellington, Loesser, Loewe, Coleman and so many others still are today?
Coffee and Cigarettes, anybody?
"What did you think of Seabiscuit?" the young man added helpfully. Even the deadpan Jarmusch laughed.
Jim Jarmusch's new movie (the first feature-lenght after 1999's Ghost Dog), "Coffee And Cigarettes", is "a droll, ironic look at two of our favorite addictions". The black and white movie (trailer here) has a strange (or Stranger than Paradise?) cast: Roberto Benigni, Steven Wright, Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits, Cate Blanchett, Meg White, Jack White, Alfred Molina, Steve Coogan, GZA, RZA, Bill Murray, ... Jarmusch's philosophy: "When you're watching movies, the guy's girlfriend calls him, she's having something bad happening, and he says, 'I'll take a cab. I'll be right over.' Cut to him getting out of the cab. And my brain always says, what about the cab ride? The incidental thing, the thing that's not the destination?". (more inside)
The Science of Happiness
Lenses explained
Camera Lenses are something i've never really understood, but should. This was the best stab at explaining I've ever read.
Sam's Toybox - The Coolest Toys Ever Made
Zakaria on putting antiterrorism above politics
The danger is less that a state will sponsor a terror group and more that a terror group will sponsor a state—as happened in Afghanistan Zakaria: Stepping away from the partisan screaming going on these days, the 9/11 commission hearings and—far more revealing—the panel's staff reports paint a fascinating picture of the rise of a new phenomenon in global politics: terrorism that is not state-sponsored but society-sponsored. Few in the American government fully grasped that a group of people without a state's support could pose a mortal threat. The mistake looks obvious in hindsight, but was, sadly, understandable at the time of 9/11. What is less understandable is that this same error persists even today.
Bind. Torture. Kill.
100 Movies That Deserve More Love
100 Movies That Deserve More Love "we've rolled up our sleeves to retrieve some unloved and under-appreciated gems from the dustbin of history...You'll find great movies that you were sure only you knew about, and you'll find movies that you've never heard of."
Kerry Calls on Rice to Testify
Kerry Calls on Rice to Testify "John Kerry said Saturday the White House is committing character assassination with its treatment of former counterterror chief Richard Clarke to avoid responding to questions about national security. Kerry also said Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security adviser, should testify in public before the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
"If Condoleezza Rice can find time to do '60 Minutes' on television before the American people, she ought to find 60 minutes to speak to the commission under oath," Kerry told reporters. "We're talking about the security of our country."...
Everyone uses it. It must be all right.
A dose of denial. Cold remedies with PPA caused strokes; drug companies kept them on store shelves for years. Similar to Lariam, which may be causing the suicide of many U.S. troops in Iraq.
Australian Travel Posters
Follow the Sun: Australian Travel Posters 1930s - 1960s.
Astronomy in Japan
Astronomy in Japan by Steve Renshaw and Saori Ihara, describes the cultural history of astronomy in Japan, including lunar and solar New Year festivals, the star lore of Orion and other constellations, star festivals, shrines to meteorites, 17th century observations of a comet, celestial alignments in the urban fabric of early Kyoto, and much else besides.
Dictatorship.com
The web won't topple tyranny. "The myth that the Internet will utterly transform capitalism has died. The myth that the Web will destroy tyranny should perish as well." [Via /.]
March 27
The Art of Wayne Boring
The other guy who drew Superman, Wayne Boring. Boring's style defined Superman in the fifties, and still looks nice today.
free for da peeples.
Speaking of free audio books, Project Gutenberg is currently working on releasing about 500 free, public domain audio books in mp3 format. Among the titles included are Melville's Typee, A Midsummer Night's Dream,A Modest Proposal, Huck Finn, and many, many more.
I have some Great Expectations for this one...
Better than Lojack.
TrunkMonkey. Because sometimes, just getting your car back isn't enough. (Flash with embedded movies)
Hear Free Culture
A free, blogger-read version of Lawrence Lessig's new book, Free Culture is being produced. The book is released under a Creative Commons license which allows non-commercial derivative works to be created from it. (Some chapters are already available.) This is great - I think it would be a fine thing if more people produced audio versions of open-licensed or public domain works in this manner. (From boingboing)
YouSendIt.com
YouSendIt.com With Google-like simplicity, the free service allows you to email up to 1 GB to anyone without flooding their mailbox. 1 GB... that's a whole lotta pr0n.
Conservatives Win Big With Fetus Bill
The Jean Sheperd Archives
10:15 P.M. The WOR news and weather are out of the way. A bugle sounds, and a sprightly theme song comes trotting on the air. The theme has a double meaning: it is the one that calls the horses to the gate at Aqueduct, and it is the Bahnfrei Overture, composed for an operetta by Eduard Strauss, the only member of the Strauss family who did not make good. Presently, Shepherd's clear, rowdy voice intrudes. "Okay, gang are you ready to play radio? Are you ready to shuffle off the mortal coil of mediocrity? I am if you are." There is a noise like a mechanized Bronx cheer (Brrapp!)- it is Shepherd blowing his kazoo. At other times he twangs his Jew's-harp (Brroing!). "Yes, you fatheads out there in the darkness, you losers in the Sargasso Sea of existence, take heart, because WOR, in its never ending crusade of public service, is once again proud to bring you--(Erocia Symphony Up)-- The Jean Shepherd Program!"
A man no longer known for much besides A Christmas Story, Jean Sheperd was the greatest radio raconteur ever. Here is the greatest Jean Sheperd fansite so far--Flick Lives and, treasure of treasures, here are The Shep Archives--oh, you'll have to spend a minute or two to register to hear them but what the hey?--with hundreds of Sheperd broadcasts and records in streaming mp3s.
But Wait! There's More!
A man no longer known for much besides A Christmas Story, Jean Sheperd was the greatest radio raconteur ever. Here is the greatest Jean Sheperd fansite so far--Flick Lives and, treasure of treasures, here are The Shep Archives--oh, you'll have to spend a minute or two to register to hear them but what the hey?--with hundreds of Sheperd broadcasts and records in streaming mp3s.
But Wait! There's More!
Not quite a flying car, but we're getting there
X-43A Flight. "The unpiloted 12-foot-long X-43A vehicle, part aircraft and part spacecraft, will be dropped from the wing of a B-52 aircraft, lofted to nearly 100,000 feet by a booster rocket and released over the Pacific Ocean to briefly fly under its own power at seven times the speed of sound." Watch (RealPlayer) it live.
The Cutting Edge of Dog Safety
Marine Corps Dogs and Police K-9 Dogs are suiting up in kevlar vests. And in Sante Fe, New Mexico dogs may soon be wearing mandatory dog seat belts.
Here's Jonny.
Still looking for Rosebud. Nine Years after sending a copy of a radio programme he made to Stanley Kubrick, Jon Ronson, is invited to the late Kubrick's "secret lair". You drive through rural Hertfordshire, passing ordinary-sized postwar houses and opticians and vets. Then you turn right at an electric gate with a "Do Not Trespass" sign. Drive through that, and through some woods, and past a long, white fence with the paint peeling off, and then another electric gate, and then another electric gate, and then another electric gate, and you're in the middle of an estate full of boxes. [...] Tony takes me into a large room painted blue and filled with books. "This used to be the cinema," he says. "Is it the library now?" I ask. "Look closer at the books," says Tony. I do. "Bloody hell," I say.
GUI icons, ads, and historical miscellanea
guidebook is chock full of interesting historical GUI miscellanea, including a chart depicting the evolution of component icons in various operating systems from 1984 to the present, a 39-page 1984 Apple ad, and a 1981 article on the Xerox Alto Computer. (via Buzz).
The Panda's Thumb
The Panda's Thumb is a multi-authored blog "dedicated to explaining the theory of evolution, critiquing the claims of the anti-evolution movement, and defending the integrity of science and science education in America and around the world." [Via The Loom.]
March 26
Costco slammed for wages and benefits
Costco draws criticism from Wall Street for paying decent wages. One analyst complains that "Costco runs its business like it is a private company." The Teamsters think otherwise, claiming Costco is the only company Wal-Mart fears. [via Obscure Store]
Fo4r of Se7en
I thought this was an interesting review of this series from the New York Public Library. And here is some background information.
But did he scream out his own name??
Go screw yourself! One man takes up the challenge. For...um...science and the betterment of something or other.
Living Dead enters the public domain
Night of the Living Dead in 95 minutes with bunnies. I lied about the bunnies.
He can't be any worse...
Ralph Nader: The Unchallenged Hero of Muslims
Ralph Nader: The Unchallenged Hero of Muslims Before you jump to note that the magazine this appears in is Right of Center, what you need to ask is how well documented is the case being made. For me, what is of interest is that if Nader is in fact liked by Muslims, as this suggests, then Muslims may vote for him and take votes away from Bush or would they take votes from Democrats?
[...]Nader must have made quite an impression, because the next year, ICNA's former president invited him to headline an Islamic conference in Florida with none other than Shaikh Abdur-Rahman Al-Sudais, a top Saudi cleric who has called on Allah to "terminate" Jews -- "the scum of humanity" and "grandsons of monkeys and pigs" -- while urging Muslims to shun peace with Israel.[...]
Osama vs Gandhi
Osama vs Gandhi. Alas not Celebrity Deathmatch but an interesting discussion of worldviews from the latest Prospect.
Best. Baby. Site. Ever.
Best. Baby. Site. Ever. A huge reason: Trixie is cute. Other reasons: TPOD and the telemetry, oh the telemetry! The charts are amazingly thorough, and funny. Definitely part of what makes this site such a delight is Trixie's dad, whose entries are witty and thoughtful. As a new dad myself, with my own baby page, I'm impressed, but I imagine this'll be good readin' for all, parents or no.
German Propaganda Archive
political friendster
political friendster
an offspring of theyrule.net after a one night stand with disinfopedia? via k10k
an offspring of theyrule.net after a one night stand with disinfopedia? via k10k
Vintage resonator instruments.
Notecannons. An online pictorial history of National brand stringed instruments from 1920 - present.
bass from space?
revelation 13 !!! six six si...
A Microchip Makes Its Mark: VeriChip & the Beast - Broadening the discussion on technology into absurdist thoughts on the end of times, courtesy the always amusing Christian Broadcasting Network.
POVRay Short Code Contest #3
POVRay Short Code Contest 3 - Surprisingly complex (though not necessarily pretty) images created with scene files of no more than 256 characters. I like the recursive trees.
Via abcde.
Dig In, the Doc Says it Good for You
Digging for Nasal Gold with a Doc's Blessing
An Austrian doctor is proposing that children be encouraged to pick their nose and to eat their boogers. "Dr Bischinger said: 'With the finger you can get to places you just can't reach with a handkerchief, keeping your nose far cleaner.'"
And ".....people who pick their nose and eat it get a natural boost to their immune system for free."
Who knew that the dirty kid in your grade school class who picked his nose all the time and ate it would have a stronger immune system?
Do kids really need to be encouraged to go mining in their faces at every opportunity?
An Austrian doctor is proposing that children be encouraged to pick their nose and to eat their boogers. "Dr Bischinger said: 'With the finger you can get to places you just can't reach with a handkerchief, keeping your nose far cleaner.'"
And ".....people who pick their nose and eat it get a natural boost to their immune system for free."
Who knew that the dirty kid in your grade school class who picked his nose all the time and ate it would have a stronger immune system?
Do kids really need to be encouraged to go mining in their faces at every opportunity?
The Coolest Book You Didn't Know You Needed.
The Coolest Book You Didn't Know You Needed. Do you have one?
Politics for men with active glands and short attentions spans
Babes Against Bush "It's no secret that a lot of Americans, and particularly American men, don't pay much attention to politics, and don't seem to notice when their leaders are ruining the country they live in. We wanted to find an interesting and attention-getting way to spur at least some people to sit up and take notice of a some basic facts.....
Bush got into office by virtue of a complacent supreme court-and only 537 votes in the state of Florida.
We think we can convince 538 people to vote against him." And if not, they can at least have make some money for some good causes with their calendar and have a good laugh at some of their hate mail.
Capturing the Friedmans
Jesse Friedman's Web Site from the incredibly powerful and amazing documentary Capturing the Friedmans. A "documentary on the Friedmans, a seemingly typical, upper-middle-class Jewish family whose world is instantly transformed when the father and his youngest son are arrested and charged with shocking and horrible crimes." When watching the film from start to finish I went back and forth on their guilt or innocence and when the film was over I'm still not sure. In the time of the mass media hysteria and questionable police tactics what would you have done?
lights out
Fun with optics. [flash]
War Rationale: Version 10.0
War Rationale: Version 10.0 In the year since the invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration has repeatedly shifted its justification for going to war and constantly changed its story on intelligence, the United Nations, reconstruction, political transition and the cost to the American taxpayer. We all know (almost) everything about it by now, but this account is hilarious.
Ogg hungry. Feed Ogg.
Burn some time. But first, you'll have to find the flint, the rock, and the tinder, then combine the three. Think like a caveman. And watch out for the sabretooth tiger. (Friday Flash Shockwave Fun)
Friday Flash Fun
Friday Flash Shockwave Spy Bot. "You work by fighting DataBattles, in which you deploy and maneuver programs to defeat opposing software on the memory grid." Good wholesome fun, and highly addictive.
McDuds
McDonald's to start hawking kid's clothes. Will they make super sizes? (Don't miss the classic file photo of "children in a McDonald's restaurant.")
Air Soy
New biofuel would combine jet fuel and soya oil to slash consumption of fossil fuel, and help slow the rise in greenhouse gas levels...
Ezra Pound Finally Makes The Library of America
Some Of Our Best Poets Are Fascists: An interesting article by Guy Davenport. My own theory is that an inordinate percentage of great (and minor) Modernist writers were, politically speaking, bonkers. Ezra Pound, Fernando Pessoa and T.S.Eliot were all distastefully authoritarian, anti-semitic and, in general, rancorous old farts. Why is this, if anyone still cares? [Via Arts and Letters Daily.]
KITTENS 4 FRIDAY!!!!!11
The case of the four eared kitten. Let's all say it together now: AWWWWWWW!
Visually stunning
Stumbling around today I found this nice convergence of art + font + music. (This is the main site)
Dylan
Nirvana
Lennon
It's very reminiscent of this software from Synthetik
A still from Studio Artist
Studio Artist sample movies from Invisible Mountains
Dylan
Nirvana
Lennon
It's very reminiscent of this software from Synthetik
A still from Studio Artist
Studio Artist sample movies from Invisible Mountains
F-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-GHT!!!
"Conflict is an important social force among online communities, as it assists in the construction of hierarchies and social orders without the need for prior knowledge of individual participants or other forms of verification or trust in relation to the claimed identity of others."
Literary Labors of Love and Linkage
What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.
Holden Caulfield in Catcher In The Rye
J.D. Salinger did not quite agree but then, if you can't hang out with his secretive self, or any other chosen literary icon, you can build her or him a fitting shrine or two or three. It's not quite Smoking Dope with Thomas Pynchon but...
Holden Caulfield in Catcher In The Rye
J.D. Salinger did not quite agree but then, if you can't hang out with his secretive self, or any other chosen literary icon, you can build her or him a fitting shrine or two or three. It's not quite Smoking Dope with Thomas Pynchon but...
fat america
March 25
Sounds familiar?
With several anti-Semitic incidents in the past week or two in Toronto, why would Toronto's York University suspend its local Hillel due to clashes over Israeli-Palestinian conflict debates in a hypocritical move that fails to address demonstration and violence-related offenses by Muslim groups? Sure it's Canada and no one cares, but should Canadian Jews start being afraid? (The second article may be one-sided, but the last line presents an ominous fact.)
Exorabbit
The Exorcist in 30 seconds with bunnies. Happy almost Flash Friday.
Tastes good with chocolate syrup
How to fold clothes
Lunatic Links
Fun for lunatics:
It shows the phases of the Moon [scroll down] for each day of a selected month.You can set the calendar to any date from 3999 BC to 3999 AD. Clicking any day cell on the calendar will take you to a screen presenting a more detailed view of the moon on that day...
Current Moon:
Waxing Crescent
38.5% of Full
Thu 25 Mar, 2004
These "Virtual Reality Moon Phases" were created by R. Schmidt from ray-traced images of the Moon. A Clementine spacecraft mosaic of the lunar surface was mapped onto a sphere, and scenes were rendered as a virtual Sun "orbited" the Moon.
In addition to the Earth, you can also view the Moon from the Earth, Sun, night side, above named formations on the lunar surface, or as a map showing day and night. You can also make images of the Moon.
Or just check out some photos of the moon taken from the spaceships that have been there.
It shows the phases of the Moon [scroll down] for each day of a selected month.You can set the calendar to any date from 3999 BC to 3999 AD. Clicking any day cell on the calendar will take you to a screen presenting a more detailed view of the moon on that day...
Current Moon:
Waxing Crescent
38.5% of Full
Thu 25 Mar, 2004
These "Virtual Reality Moon Phases" were created by R. Schmidt from ray-traced images of the Moon. A Clementine spacecraft mosaic of the lunar surface was mapped onto a sphere, and scenes were rendered as a virtual Sun "orbited" the Moon.
In addition to the Earth, you can also view the Moon from the Earth, Sun, night side, above named formations on the lunar surface, or as a map showing day and night. You can also make images of the Moon.
Or just check out some photos of the moon taken from the spaceships that have been there.
Battle of The Bulges
The Three Sisters have developed a bulge in recent years. Earthquake
activity has increased significantly in recent days. The
level of activity doesn't approach that of Mount St. Helens. Yet.
Just don't be tapin' MY traps!
I want my LTV, brothuh! Interesting research in the field of trapping lobsters from the University of New Hampshire. Like so many people, I learned about lobsters on the street, so it's nice to see some hard science.
Turning the Tide
Turning the Tide If Kerry and his friends are not far enough from the political center, you might try this, Noam Chomsky's new blog. I would call it "No lefty left behind" But, hey, whatever packs your suitcase.
Suffer not a witch to live.
You dangle in agony. You clutch your faith. You fight for breath. You surrender your spirit. Nineteen “witches” were hanged at Gallows Hill in 1692, and one defendant, Giles Cory, was tortured to death for refusing to enter a plea at his trial. Five others, including an infant, died in prison.
Dead Uncle Henry Coming Back to Get You
Research on civil war era embalming techniques up until the 1900's shows that arsenic, a primary component of embalming solutions, is leaching into our groundwater. Do you live near a cemetery?
Be thankful for law and order.
Rusty gets it right
K5 membership willl now require new users to be sponsered by current users. Rusty's implementing this system as a way to deal with trolls and crap flooders who have taken over K5 in recent months.
It's the pig! -- Les Nessman
Mascots and other characters, many of which are as famous as this guy. (Flash on intro page. Previous discussion here. Please disinfect and air-dry after use.)
Statistics, Damn Lies or a Damn Shame?
How Rich am I? Heard a talk today from the founder of Gapminder, a non-profit company that creates Flash and shockwave pieces that are somewhere between information visualization, socially motivated art, and interactive educational pieces. Be sure to check out the Human Development Trends, and the Dollar Street (photos of real homes of real people who live on $1-2 per day, $2-5 per day, to $100 per day). See also: Understanding USA for more nice pictures of statistics.
The Sayings of Eugene Ormandy
"The poor guy's dead now. Play it legato." Quotable quotes from the late, great maestro Eugene Ormandy.
Japanese Old Photographs
Bachelors
The Joe Bug Bachelor might not be as handsome as the real Bachelor but he has a much better selection of women (well .. other thank Jacko).
March 24
No stem cell research
Thou shalt not make scientific progress. "Medical research is poised to make a quantum leap that will benefit sufferers from Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, muscular dystrophy, diabetes and other diseases. But George W. Bush's religious convictions stand in its way."
Secondhand Suicide
Secondhand Suicide: An entirely true story, as told by the Widow. A young woman blogs her experience dealing with the suicide of her husband.
The dulcet tones of Tulsa Drone
The dulcet tones of Tulsa Drone were a growing presence on the Richmond scene when I lived there...their new album is fantastic. They've been described as cinematic and noir-ish by everyone that's heard them. Make your own decisions, but I'll be listening to them on my iPod when I dump bodies in the lake under cover of midmorning fog from now on.
smoking gun anyone?
DOJ Asked FBI Translator To Change Pre 9-11 Intercepts --- FBI translator Sibel Edmonds, was offered a substantial raise and a full time job in order to not go public that she had been asked by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to retranslate and adjust the translations of [terrorist] subject intercepts that had been received before September 11, 2001 by the FBI and CIA.
"My translations of the pre 9-11 intercepts included [terrorist] money laundering, detailed and date specific information enough to alert the American people, and other issues dating back to 1999 which I won't go into right now."
Incredibly, Edmonds said "The senate Judiciary Committee, and the 911 Commission have heard me testify for lengthy periods of time time (3 hours) about very specific plots, dates, airplanes used as weopons, and specific idividuals and activities."
Is this true? and OMFG
Wow - 17 bids so far!
In This Week's Episode of "When Good eBayers Go Bad"... If you're in the market for a really bad outfielder and you've got cash to spare - or you just want to do your duty to help the New York Mets get rid of one of their overrated players, then join the bidding for Roger Cedeno!
if it's worth doing it once...
Remember the Dihydrogen Monoxide parody from a few years ago?
lethal if inhaled, causes severe burns in its gaseous state, and is the major component in acid rain...
Snopes does. Mefi does too.
In a reworking of a classic story, City Councillors in Orange County were about to debate the pressing issue of Dihydrogen Monoxide before realising that the dangerous chemical was, in fact, water.
lethal if inhaled, causes severe burns in its gaseous state, and is the major component in acid rain...
Snopes does. Mefi does too.
In a reworking of a classic story, City Councillors in Orange County were about to debate the pressing issue of Dihydrogen Monoxide before realising that the dangerous chemical was, in fact, water.
May be locally applicable.
Your Body, Our Legislation.
Getting Pierced Privately in Georgia? Female? Go to Jail. In a stunning case of "And Another Thing" gone horribly wrong, the Georgia House of Representatives passed a bill today that was meant to criminalize a range of notorious mutilations, especially in cases where defendants have cited ritual tradition. The primary benefactors of this bill are female victims of such crimes under the age of 18, though the bill will extend to include women of all ages. This was all well and good, until someone apparently muttered the word "piercing." The very thought left Rep Bill Heath "slack-jawed" and so an amendment was tacked on to the existing bill. With the amendment added, the bill passed with a vote of 160-0.
The newly amended bill, if passed by the Georgia Senate, will make female genital piercing as much of a crime as the far more heinous mutilations in the original bill.
The newly amended bill, if passed by the Georgia Senate, will make female genital piercing as much of a crime as the far more heinous mutilations in the original bill.
Otis White's Urban Notebook.
Otis White's Urban Notebook. Weekdaily columns on odd happenings in State and Local politics. Good for the policy wonk in your life.
One World, One Wheel
Kris Holm: Evolution of Balance
Certainly one of the most talented (and well travelled) unicyclists of all time. Kris rides stuff on his one wheel that I wouldn't touch on either of my bikes.
Certainly one of the most talented (and well travelled) unicyclists of all time. Kris rides stuff on his one wheel that I wouldn't touch on either of my bikes.
djseafood
This is Olympian Shadow Farm! Ever heard of the Merrick Foundation? How about Bigfoot Lives? Cougar? Are these guys the hardest working musicians in Portland, Oregon? A bunch of lunatics? And how do you explain this?
thieves crash party, steal id, get blogged
danah boyd hosted a party at SXSW in Austin two weeks ago. Six thieves crashed the party and made off with her phone, id and credit cards. Fortunately, she has pictures of the perps. Can the MeFi folks catch a(nother) thief?
the love that dare not bark its name
The Great American Man-Dog Marriage Panic. Muttrimonial bliss could be yours, now that the gates of hell are opening!
New E-Book Reader
E-paper to make its consumer debut. A little Cambridge, MA firm called E-Ink is teaming up with 2 global partners (Philips and Sony) to introduce next month "the world's first consumer application of an electronic paper display module." The size of a paperback book, it will allow storage of the equivalent of 500 books, and display of up to 10,000 pages on a single set of batteries. The display technology comes closer to the appearance of a printed page than any previous electronic display. The future of this technology: "'expressive surfaces'-intelligent displays that are built right into everyday products." At the research level it is already capable of displaying color video.
We Are All Individuals! (I'm not.)
Classic films being re-released aren't normally news. Except, of course, when you are referring to films that were controversial when they were initially released. As a counterpoint to Mel Gibson's box-office smash, The Passion of the Christ, Monty Python will re-release The Life of Brian on Good Friday. This is more fun than a box of Peeps any day. Don't like CNN? Try the BBC or CBC coverage
Authenticode dialog as it always should have been
Do not install software from "GAIN" - and never ask me again Microsoft's Internet Explorer team is actually churning out some improvements - the authenticode dialog "Do you want to install this?" in their latest SP Preview Release now functions like it should have from the start, a more usable (understandable) set of choices, and the option to say "No, never ask again". Also, pop-up-blocker apparently quite functional, is set to 'on' by default. Glad to see at least a little progress being made (still no word on PNG or CSS support changes, nor plans for a 7.x version, afaik).
the haiku postcard foundation owns you
The Haiku Postcard Foundation exhibits a collection of anonymous hand-created postcards sent in from people around the world. It boasts a long and varied history and many interesting submissions.
I'm Mad As Hell
Why is C-Span downplaying the 9/11 Hearings? I don't even get C-Span 3 with my cable company. Is this a pattern?
Like father, like son
The Outsourcing Bogeyman
The Outsourcing Bogeyman by economics professor Daniel Drezner describes the myths, facts and economics behind offshore outsourcing.
There is also a
critique and
rebuttal
on
Drezner's blog. (via kuro5hin).
March 23
Busy busy busy, like bees
major ongoing scandals - a list "there have been an amazing number of investigations of Republicans since Bush took office, some of which directly involve the White House." Is this, in fact, an unusually long roster of scandals as compared to the scandal tallies of past presidential administrations?
the future of metafilter?
From the White House to the Big Brother House
Political Survivor? The Candidate's Apprentice? Who Wants to Be a President? Yep, it's a new "Reality" show: American Candidate (from the people who brought you "The Reagans" when CBS wouldn't).
It's a golden opportunity for anyone who missed the deadline to get on the New Hampshire Primary ballot... I think every politically-minded MeFite should apply to be a contestant/candidate. (And meet the candidates who've made the first cut so far.) I'm gonna do it, and I intend to elevate the level of rhetoric by calling my opponents dandiprat dogberries, slubberdegallions, doddypolls, fop doodles and flibbertigibbets.
It's a golden opportunity for anyone who missed the deadline to get on the New Hampshire Primary ballot... I think every politically-minded MeFite should apply to be a contestant/candidate. (And meet the candidates who've made the first cut so far.) I'm gonna do it, and I intend to elevate the level of rhetoric by calling my opponents dandiprat dogberries, slubberdegallions, doddypolls, fop doodles and flibbertigibbets.
You just got served by David Elsewhere.
Hey everybody, it's that guy. Doing that thing he does again. [8 Meg wmv] Look at him go, he sure does that thing well, that guy. Remember when he did his thing in that orange shirt?
County in Oregon bans ALL marriages
Benton County bans ALL marriages. In a move to elicit legislative action, Benton County in Oregon has halted all marriages until the issue of who can and cannot marry is decided.
This gets more interesting every day.
88 cents? A song for a song.
11 cents cheaper than iTunes, WalMart enters the music download business.
Another voucher for Clarke
Another voucher for Clarke [...]And like Josh Marshall, Kevin Drum, and myself, Mr. Kaplan thinks the allegations are true because the White House has focused its counter-battery fire on Mr. Clarke's credibility -- not the substance of his assertions[...]
Chilling your food.
Non-electrical refrigerator. This stove is cool for the single person on the go type.
"The History of the Refrigerator and Freezers."
ChatNannies fools New Scientist and others
ChatNannies: the first real AI bot, or a hoax? Cameron Marlow's private interview with the ChatNannie bot (which was recently reported by New Scientist) reveals that it has perhaps one of the most sophisticated artificial intelligence engines ever devised. So far neither New Scientist nor any of the other media outlets that posted the story have shown the slightest hint of skepticism about its authenticity. Andy Baio's additional research digs up some information that further places ChatNannie's existence in doubt, but how does one conclusively prove that Jim Wightman's bot isn't for real? If it is for real, the New Scientist probably has a much bigger story to report--AI has been solved!
Bob Edwards
Bob Edwards gets the boot! The host of National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" since its inception in 1979 has been forced out of that job. What's next to go? Susan Stamberg's cranberry relish?
Life at the end of the world
Stories from the end of the world. There were so many drugs. The best drug story comes with the last [winter] airdrop [in 1996]. Cocaine came down. Hash oil came down. Really good weed came down. Acid came down. Everything. This and other tales of one of the weirdest places on the planet to work by way of Big Dead Place.
Women and Dogs
Da da da!
Remember Tunak Tunak Tan? Here's footage of a bunch of people (the University of Buffalo Pep Band) dancing to Tunak Tunak Tan. The original video was previously discussed on MeFi here.
Martian Sea
Old Mars and the Sea. A salty sea may once have covered the Opportunity rover's landing site on Mars, boosting the possibility that the planet may once have evolved life. (Of course, there are those who believe NASA has been conspiring to cover it all up, but the Bad Astronomer has words on that. Bunnies and faces, my foot.)
The Passion of the Heist
'The Passion of the Heist'. This short spoof on Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of the Christ' was shot in 30 minutes and cost 20 dollars to make. Bret Carr, the young film maker - who has won previous awards - is now getting calls from Hollywood bigwigs because of it. 'The Passion of the Heist' took an hour to shoot and put on the web - however, it took five years to make Carr's previous film 'LOU', a feature film from the writer of 'The Deer Hunter'.
Fojba 2000
The fojbas are basins near Trieste and the Adriatic Sea, which served as mass graves during the massacres that followed World War 2. Those accused of collaborating with the fascists, or of opposing the communists, or who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, were killed and then deposed there.
In 2000, the Slovenian magazine Mladina, known for its irreverence, put a Tetris-style game called Fojba 2000(flash req'd) on its site. In the game, you drop the bodies of either partizani (partisans) or domobranci (fascist Slovenes) into a pit, while jolly oompah music plays in the background. (More Inside) (Shamelessly ripped verbatim from The Glory of Carniola)
but mommy SAID i could!!!!!
Microsoft Corp. accused the European Union on Tuesday of going too far in seeking a record fine of about $615 million against the software giant for alleged antitrust abuses, saying it was being penalized for behavior permitted in the United States.
Himmler had something sim'lar...
The Atlas of Congenital Anomalies of the External Genitalia. Though the site is selling the atlas, you don't have to buy it to peruse the examples of each anomaly in living, leg-crossing, full-color glory. You know you're not going to make it through the day unless you find out what a hypospadias cripple is. (NSFW; physicians' offices exempt.)
March 22
The Marvel Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name
"We know one another, we Marvel boys." Jonathan Lethem, author of DC-referencing "Fortress of Solitude" ponders recent novels inspired by comic books and notes more allusions to the "iconographic" superheroes of DC even though Marvel, with its messy, never-ending, teen angst plots and imperfect schlub heroes, was always somehow cooler. Why? [Thx to Not the Beastmaster]
Pre-First Album Jitters And Keane
Are You Ready To Be Heart-Broken? Sounding like the sprightly spawn of Radiohead, Coldplay and (yes) Queen, Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know" is, imho, an enchantingly romantic song, lovely and over-ambitious in the tradition of, say, very early Aztec Camera, Ash or Travis. Thing is: their first album, "Fears and Hopes" (so appropriately named for those inured to pre-first-album-jitters) will be released in May and already I dread the disappointment I just know awaits me. Early promises in Pop music have so often been cruelly broken by follow-ups, "sloppy seconds", maturity, whatever, that I put to you that musical competence, technique and general "production savvy" are inimicable to good, dirty teenage songs such as Keane's. [Be sure to listen to the other three songs on the web site, although only the gist of the wonderful "Somewhere Only We Know" is offered. They're quite good!]
How you doin'?
Known by the ladies as The Kingpin. Thorne Peters is a Prophet, Author, Publisher, Composer, Troubadour, Producer, Provocateur, Pontificator, Raconteur, Hedonist. He is the Poet Laureate of Planet Earth. He truly lives a life to be envied (galleries showing his hedonism are NSFW).
West Virginia: no, we actually don't hook up with our relatives
West Virginia: it's all relative: or is it? Looks like those hucksters of overpriced clothing at Abercrombie & Fitch have done it again. The spokesman for A & F claims to "love West Virginia". Oh well, it's not like they have much of a presence there anyway.
Or maybe it would be better to not ...
Listen To The Future. We hope you like his new music. It's hard to believe, but every note, every instrument, EVEN EVERY SINGING VOICE on Brandon's new CD was played on a keyboard by just one person...Brandon Trinity.
Being Charlie Kaufman
Being Charlie Kaufman : Screenplays, Articles written for National Lampoon, Unproduced TV Scripts, and Discussions of his Films.
The Grace Of Wrath
"The people of Dogville are proud, hypocritical and never more dangerous than when they are convinced of the righteousness of their actions" (NYT link) "The movie is, of course, an attack on America—its innocence, its conformity, its savagery—though von Trier is interested not in the life of this country (he’s never been here) but in the ways he can exploit European disdain for it." (The New Yorker). Lars Von Trier's new movie, Dogville, is under attack from critics who consider it anti-American. Von Trier, of course, has never been to the US but he counters that he knows more about U.S. culture through modern media than, say, the makers of "Casablanca' knew about Morocco. Kafka hadn't been to Amerika either.
Should non US-ian artists leave America alone if they've never been there? Von Trier says that "in my own country, I'm considered anti-Danish - again, that's more about politics than issues of nationality."
(more inside)
Danfur crisis
The world's greatest humanitarian crisis is happening in the Darfur region of Sudan. The US special envoy, John Danforth, asks, "Is the US engagement in Sudan worthwhile? There are so many issues in the world that need out attention."
Maybe he should ask some of the refugees.
Maybe he should ask some of the refugees.
Show me the money?
How We Got Homeland Security Wrong -- If all the federal homeland-security grants from last year are added together, Wyoming received $61 a person while California got just $14, according to data gathered at TIME's request by the Public Policy Institute of California, an independent, nonprofit research organization. Alaska received an impressive $58 a resident, while New York got less than $25. On and on goes the upside-down math of the new homeland-security funding. The TIME article uses AIR Worldwide Corp.'s Terrorism Loss Estimation Model.
Buy His Future
Buy His Future $59,965.90 owed, $245.75 donated.
"In exchange for your donation, I will from time to time write to you about what I've done with the life you've made possible. Make a gift, and free me to do good things with my life for this world."
It struck me as funny: have we come to a point in society where a man's future is worth the amount of his student loans?
"In exchange for your donation, I will from time to time write to you about what I've done with the life you've made possible. Make a gift, and free me to do good things with my life for this world."
It struck me as funny: have we come to a point in society where a man's future is worth the amount of his student loans?
eat his skin and drink his blood
Review of the weekends two top Zombie flicks "Now it’s thousands of years later and the being-a-zombie thing that Jesus started has caught on."
baby birds looking for worms
Donors Choose "Public school teachers use Donors Choose to propose resources for their students. Concerned individuals like you can then select a proposal to fund."
Confessions of a semi-successful author
Anonymous midlist author tells horror story (Salon: viewing of annoying ad required, but it's well worth it) "In the 10 years since I signed my first book contract, the publishing industry has changed in ways that are devastating [...] to midlist authors like me. [...] What once was about literature is now about return on investment. What once was hand-sold one by one by well-read, book-loving booksellers now moves by the pallet-load at Wal-Mart and Borders -- or doesn't move at all." (more inside)
OED new words
F-word now a word, as well as : twelve-incher, sheepshagger, and old man of the woods! The newest real English words now in the OED.
Gotta love the drawn from memory globe
Oh so cute products you wish you'd invented. From the Niff Institute comes a limited range of now sold-out products. Sorry.
Worldbuilder
Worldbuilder (no relation to the old Mac adventure game toolkit) is an excellent way to start off the week by completely crippling productivity. I've played many games from these guys before, and they're always great. I envy the independent game designer that gets to work with Lego so often. Via GTA.
March 21
Margot Quan Knight Photography
Hello, VanDeLay Industries, how can I direct your call?
Jack Kelley makes Jayson Blair and Stephen Glass look like amateurs. So how come this story isn't getting more play?
Practice makes perfetta
gates of hell
Hamas said, "... Sharon has opened the gates of hell and nothing will stop us from cutting off his head.''
a. is assassination of political/spiritual leaders justified?
b. how much of setback to peace in israel/palestine, is this move?
c. did the whitehouse pre-approve this arguably major expansion in israel's war against palestinian "militants"?
ny times link
a. is assassination of political/spiritual leaders justified?
b. how much of setback to peace in israel/palestine, is this move?
c. did the whitehouse pre-approve this arguably major expansion in israel's war against palestinian "militants"?
ny times link
Zork over AIM!
Play Zork directly in IM. Send an instant message to InfoComBot and choose from a list of available text-based games. You can even save games and return to them later. One thing's for sure: I'm not getting any work done this week.
The Great Alice Waters
Go Ask Alice When She's Ten Feet Tall: Alice Waters's extraordinary influence on the way we shop, cook and eat makes her one of the great American heroes (and European too, check out the Larousse Gastronomique), mostly to those of us who have never been (and will never be) lucky enought to eat at Chez Panisse. [More inside.]
The Musical Saw and Theremin Page
Join me
Join Me "It's not a cult - it's a collective"
Tunnel Under Stonehenge?
Archaeologists are denouncing plans for a tunnel under Stonehenge.
It's not the idea of the tunnel itself that is drawing fire, so much as the execution. The govt seems to be doing it on the cheap, in a way that won't solve the problem of the modern world intruding on the prehistoric megalith.
The new Atkins?
MMMMMMMMMmmmmmm,
Banana Worm Bread....... Most of us would cringe at the thought of eating our six legged friends, but many cultures eat insects as a standard practice. Perhaps we should lighten up and give it a shot ourselves! If one is so inclined there are
clubs to join and
resources available.
Chocolate Chirpie Cookies, anyone?
Philosophical counseling
The Socratic Shrink. This is an interesting article on philosophical counseling, and the rivalry between Lou Marinoff's American Philosophical Practitioners Association and the
American Society for Philosophy Counseling and Psychotherapy.
A vote for Bush is a vote for terrorism
More Foreign (Terrorist) Leaders Want Bush Reelected A statement sent to the Arabic language daily al-Hayat by the terrorist group Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades said it supported President Bush in his reelection campaign, and would prefer him to win in November rather than the Democratic candidate John Kerry, as it was not possible to find a leader "more foolish than you (Bush), who deals with matters by force rather than with wisdom."
The
Prague's latest attraction - the Museum of Communism : it's interesting how the times have changed in eastern Europe...
Neighbors
Wanna know what your neigbors gave, and to whom? Fascinating site although I'm not too sure whether its a good idea.
FreakyFace
One Year Later...
One Year Later... "In truth, most things have gone well... All in all, a good year's work."
Cinema Redux
Cinema Redux creates a single, complete image of a film, second by second, minute for minute, producing a "fingerprint" or a "sort of movie DNA showing the colour hues as well as the rhythm of the editing process."
Observing the five planets
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, the five planets visible to the naked eye, can all be seen simultaneously after sunset over the next few weeks. Viewing details. The next opportunity will be in 2036.
March 20
servicemen Iraq
One year later "It's easy to send soldiers off to war. It's a lot harder to face them when they come home"
Bayes' Theory applied; 67% chance God exists
Odds are, God exists. So says Dr. Stephen Unwin, a risk assessor in Ohio who applied Bayes' Theory to the question and determined there's a 67% likelihood of ... you-have-to-buy-the-book-to-find-out. Ah, the Devil is in the retail -- er, I mean, the details.
As a scientist and a Christian, I'm embarrassed by this junk. His book "includes a spreadsheet of the data used so that anyone can make the calculation themselves should they doubt its validity."
I can hardly wait.
Typekey
Typekey. Centralized weblog comment identity authentication system. By Six Apart. Coming soon. [Is this good?]
100 Most Mispronounced Words
Coke pulls Dasani from UK shelves
Coca Cola pulls Dasani from UK shelves after it is found to contain Bromate, a highly carcinogenic derivative of Bromide. The US formula isn't wildly different. What's in your water?
"So cheap"
"You've admitted what you are Fat Tony, now you're just haggling over the price." Thanks for the Churchill whore meme to RogerAiles, who flagged this comment by
Justice Scalia: "If it is reasonable to think that a Supreme Court justice can be bought so cheap, the nation is in deeper trouble than I had imagined." So, what is the going rate?
Hardcore Dharma
This is not a joke. We are alone and constantly battling for our lives.
Trapped by undead, need help. This is our situation. We are trapped. We are currently located in the main building of a summer camp called New Life Ranch on the northwest outskirts of King's Canyon National Park. [via *.*]
Why waste time with all that silly getting-to-know-someone?
The Internet's Little Black Book. HowWasShe.com "[provides] a fun way for you to get information about the sexual tendencies of your potential partners, comment on your own experiences, and other future services rendered." Areas of rating include hotness, easiness, and quality of blowjobs. (Probably NSFW)
t'ien ming
China's Building Blitz. In scale and pace, the building boom currently sweeping over China has no precedent in human history. China is spending about $375 billion each year on construction, nearly 16 percent its gross domestic product. In the process, it is using 54.7 percent of the world's production of concrete, 36.1 percent of the world's steel, and 30.4 percent of the world's coal.
Illegal operation THIS, mechafecha!
You are getting sleepy
SBaGen is software (Windows, Mac and Linux) that generates binaural beats - interactions between sound waves that mess with your brain, to induce sleep, relaxation, activity, and allegedly even hallucinogenic states. SBaGen relies on text-file presets (although it comes with dozens of files to experiment with) but if you want a "quick start", there's also the Windows-based Brain Wave Generator.
The Dark Materials Debate
Following the Archbishop of Canterbury's recent description of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy as 'a near-miraculous triumph', it's hardly surprising that a conversation between the two at the National Theatre was more of a love-in rather than a debate. The transcript is still a great read though, and contains gems like:
PP: Which leads us to Mel Gibson. Have you seen that film?
RW: I haven't seen it.
PP: Nor have I, so we can talk about it! That's all right.
RW: We're allowed opinions without the constraints of reality!
PP: Which leads us to Mel Gibson. Have you seen that film?
RW: I haven't seen it.
PP: Nor have I, so we can talk about it! That's all right.
RW: We're allowed opinions without the constraints of reality!
Thank God for the camera, for the testimony of the light itself, which no mere man can contradict
The Kodak vs. the King . Images of the the Belgian Congo (aka the Congo Free State) from it's heyday under the personal rule of the very evil King Leopold. The contrast between the photographs used by Leopolds apologists and those used by his enemies (lead by the remorseless E.D. Morel) is probably unsurprising but interesting as evidence of perhaps the first propaganda war to be dominated by photography. Also, the first genocidal atrocity to be, very partially, documented photographically.
(most links go to the excellent boondocksnet site which takes as its starting point Mark Twain and his anti-imperialist campaigns and branches out most impressively from there)
The kodak has been a sore calamity to us. The most powerful enemy that has confronted us, indeed.... Every Yankee missionary and every interrupted trader sent home and got one; and now -- oh, well, the pictures get sneaked around everywhere, in spite of all we can do to ferret them out and suppress them.Mark Twain, King Leopold's Soliloquy
(most links go to the excellent boondocksnet site which takes as its starting point Mark Twain and his anti-imperialist campaigns and branches out most impressively from there)
New Doctor Who announced
Christopher Ecclestone is The Doctor. The BBC have announced it on the tv news and everything. It's just like the old days.
March 19
Biography And Literary Worth
Philip Larkin: Great Poet, Shame About The Man? When is an excess of biography, i.e. high-minded, clumsily-disguised gossip, an impediment to literary appreciation? Nowadays, it seems always. [More inside.]
Topple Dr. Strangefeld in Taos!
Topple Dr. Strangefeld in Taos! Some of Mr. Rumsfeld's Taos neighbors are celebrating the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by toppling him in effigy. The twenty-foot statue of Rummy riding a missile recalls the final scene of Dr. Strangelove. I cannot wait for pictures!
Overpaid and juiced
Why I stopped going to baseball games. I was there for McGwire's 62nd homer, hugging my son afterwards and glad-handing everyone in sight. Although it was a special moment for us both, the luster is now gone, and we don't go to the ballpark anymore. Donald Fehr is one reason, who refuses budge from his latest contract to effectively address the steroid issue. Count me gone... but perhaps it's always been a dying sport.
Spark
Spark is a new magazine about the good things that are going on all over the world, and the people working to create a brighter future for us all. (via WorldChanging)
Dora Dare, Blake Somerset, Olive, Exor....
Daring Planet --retrofuturistic online space serial (most of it to come, but a teaser, and tons of clickable cool), by Paul Corrigan.
adipose lullaby
All This Progress Is Killing Us. "Increasingly, Western life is afflicted by the paradoxes of progress. Material circumstances keep improving, yet our quality of life may be no better as a result - especially in those cases, like food, where enough becomes too much."
FORMER WHITE HOUSE TERRORISM ADVISOR: BUSH ADMIN WAS DISCUSSING BOMBING IRAQ FOR 9/11 DESPITE KNOWING AL QAEDA WAS TO BLAME
FORMER WHITE HOUSE TERRORISM ADVISOR: BUSH ADMIN WAS DISCUSSING BOMBING IRAQ FOR 9/11 DESPITE KNOWING AL QAEDA WAS TO BLAME Former White House terrorism advisor Richard Clarke tells Lesley Stahl that on September 11, 2001 and the day after - when it was clear Al Qaeda had carried out the terrorist attacks - the Bush administration was considering bombing Iraq in retaliation. Clarke's exclusive interview will be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday March 21 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
Clarke was surprised that the attention of administration officials was turning toward Iraq when he expected the focus to be on Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. "They were talking about Iraq on 9/11. They were talking about it on 9/12," says Clarke
She collects Ruscha, you know.
Britney Says... Pop Superstar Discusses Her High-Brow Faves
Britney writes about her exposure to high art and literature. The gallery is meant to help her grow as an artist, and expose her to new audiences. She doesn't want to perform for teenagers all her life, she's getting older after all. Features pictures of Britney reciting lyrics and poems. She wants to be taken seriously as a PERSON.
Britney writes about her exposure to high art and literature. The gallery is meant to help her grow as an artist, and expose her to new audiences. She doesn't want to perform for teenagers all her life, she's getting older after all. Features pictures of Britney reciting lyrics and poems. She wants to be taken seriously as a PERSON.
Animal Yawns
... BEEEP!
At the tone, please leave your snark... This is a pretty cool application of technology. We all have heard of the slow rise of the audioblog (indeed, it was discussed here!): people posting to their blogs or journals or whatever via their phone. Eric Rice of Slack Street (previously discussed here) has taken things one step further, and added the ability to call a toll-free number and have your audio comments strung together with others, and put on his audioblog site. Still kind of wonky (gotta listen to every recorded item, instead of being able to cue between tracks, looks like comments have to be approved first using some interface, etc.), but neat! Now, instead of bitching about people's poor grammar and spelling, we can rant about crappy pronunciations and accents! And for IraqFilter fans, his newest entry is actually begging people to leave him messages on the one year anniversary. Obviously he has no idea what he's getting into. Hurrah for tech-nol-o-gee!
1980s Vinyl Multimedia
1980s Vinyl Multimedia In the 1980s UK, artists were busy embedding multimedia-enabling compiled computer code into the locked grooves of their vinyl releases (and some cassette tapes). Who knew?
The Apparat
The Apparat: George W. Bush's back-door political machine -- "It's anti-democratic, anti-Constitutional, and is working to create a one-party America"
Consider this article from Media Transparency regarding how "hundreds of tax-exempt organizations of the far right have been exploiting the twilight zone of campaign and IRS regulations for three decades -- receiving billions of dollars in grants and contributions to wage ideo-political warfare for far-right ideas, causes, and Republican candidates."
Might it already be too late to stop this juggernaut?
Consider this article from Media Transparency regarding how "hundreds of tax-exempt organizations of the far right have been exploiting the twilight zone of campaign and IRS regulations for three decades -- receiving billions of dollars in grants and contributions to wage ideo-political warfare for far-right ideas, causes, and Republican candidates."
Might it already be too late to stop this juggernaut?
Sorry, I can't hear you, I have a banana in my ear.
Noiseways. Listen to New York City and Portland Oregon.
"The negative effects of noise—stress and the disruption of work, sleep, learning and other activities—are well established by scientific research. And of course it comes as no surprise that there is a lot of noise in New York City. The Noiseways Project intends to complement this knowledge by letting visitors to this Internet site experience the effects of noise through the use of pictures and sound recordings. Instead of presenting data, Noiseways engages the senses."
ChristBot
Anyone up for Water Sports?
For Children of Gays, Marriage Brings Joy
It was so cool, I always accepted that "Yeah, they're my moms," but they were actually getting married. I felt thick inside with happiness. Just thick.
Gabriel Damast, 13
It is something I always wanted. I've always been around people saying, `Oh, my parents anniversary is this week.' It's always been the sight of two parents, married, with rings. And knowing I'd probably never experience it ever. The atmosphere was just springing with life, I just couldn't hold myself in. It was oh my god oh my god oh my god. I felt so happy I wanted to scream.
Alex Morris, 11
For Children of Gays, Marriage Brings Joy
Won't somebody PLEASE think about the children?!? from the children's point-of-view.
Gabriel Damast, 13
It is something I always wanted. I've always been around people saying, `Oh, my parents anniversary is this week.' It's always been the sight of two parents, married, with rings. And knowing I'd probably never experience it ever. The atmosphere was just springing with life, I just couldn't hold myself in. It was oh my god oh my god oh my god. I felt so happy I wanted to scream.
Alex Morris, 11
For Children of Gays, Marriage Brings Joy
Won't somebody PLEASE think about the children?!? from the children's point-of-view.
Don't Tell Chicken Little
Earth Woes The Earth may be on the brink of a sixth mass extinction on a par with the five others that have punctuated its history, suggests the strongest evidence yet. More here.
I can smell your brain
I can smell your brain Strange Kitty Flash
Veterans Implosion.
Another stadium bites the dust. Make sure to avoid the Veterans stadium, South Philly area Sunday, unless you would like to witness the destruction first hand. Next on the chopping block? (Insert desired stadium demolition). But coming new in 2004, Petco and Veterans replacement Citizens Bank Park.
Al Qaeda's #2 Man
Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri -- Al Qaeda's #2 man, may be soon be captured or killed. This New Yorker profile from 2002 is the most extensive I've found.
Mysterious Fax Adds to Intrigue Over the Medicare Bill's Cost
Mysterious Fax Adds to Intrigue Over the Medicare Bill's Cost
"Late one Friday afternoon in January, after the House of Representatives had adjourned for the week, Cybele Bjorklund, a House Democratic health policy aide, heard the buzz of the fax machine at her desk. Coming over the transom, with no hint of the sender, was a document she had been seeking for months: an estimate by Medicare's chief actuary showing the cost of prescription drug benefits for the elderly....
"Ms. Bjorklund had been pressing Mr. Foster for his numbers since June. When he refused, telling her he could be fired, she said, she confronted his boss, Thomas A. Scully, then the Medicare administrator. 'If Rick Foster gives that to you," Ms. Bjorklund remembered Mr. Scully telling her, "I'll fire him so fast his head will spin.'"
(NYTimes.com, reg req)
"Late one Friday afternoon in January, after the House of Representatives had adjourned for the week, Cybele Bjorklund, a House Democratic health policy aide, heard the buzz of the fax machine at her desk. Coming over the transom, with no hint of the sender, was a document she had been seeking for months: an estimate by Medicare's chief actuary showing the cost of prescription drug benefits for the elderly....
"Ms. Bjorklund had been pressing Mr. Foster for his numbers since June. When he refused, telling her he could be fired, she said, she confronted his boss, Thomas A. Scully, then the Medicare administrator. 'If Rick Foster gives that to you," Ms. Bjorklund remembered Mr. Scully telling her, "I'll fire him so fast his head will spin.'"
(NYTimes.com, reg req)
Near misses in Taiwan
President and Vice President of Taiwan survive assasination attempt.
The wounds were minor, and they are now both out of hospital.
The wounds were minor, and they are now both out of hospital.
Air from water?
This company has released a device which claims to provide water "anytime, anywhere" (No Goodies jokes,please) - from the humidity in the air. With two other companies selling these machines in Australia and prices ranging from AUD1,000 to AUD2,300, is this a viable solution to the massive water shortages around the world, or just something else to talk about around the water cooler?
March 18
Perverted Justice
Vigilantes troll for pedophiles in chat rooms, set up meetings and videotape them. Then they out them at Perverted-Justice.com. The ensnared men sometimes exercise their "right of reply" to explain their actions. Huh.
Shockwave.com & Awe
Drawn in the style of a pre-school children's cartoon. But from the sick & twisted minds of the guys from Southpark.
Princess, A lap dog who observes the very adult world around her. The sexual content was so extreme shockwave.com halted development of the "webisodes" only after seeing the first 2 of 39 episodes that were contracted.
Now you can watch these shorts & judge for yourself. Thanks to the folks at Trio.
(username/password required... mefi/mefi)
What's next? Banning gays from TN?
''Complaints should no longer be denied because of a lack of tape, transcript or significant excerpt''. Evidence? We don't need no evidence. Indecent use or not, the FCC will now crack down on all uses of the F-word. I can only assume this will give Stern even more fodder for his new liberal radio show.
Blog survey results
MIT's blog survey results are in.
Some highlights: 55% of respondents use their real names on their blog, 63% of respondents are male, 36% of respondents have gotten in trouble because of things they've written, and almost no one has a good idea of who's reading their blog.
Naturalists' Field Trip Reports
Country Life: Wildlife Reports From Around The World. Here's a generous helping of trip reports from a group of dedicated naturalists who manage to be thorough and entertaining at the same time. It's part of a travel agency's web site, but not so as you'd notice it. Reading through them, one feels quietly (perhaps dangerously?) optimistic at the astonishing variety of all things bright and beautiful in this grossly over-exploited world of ours. (Well, there may be too many birds in the fauna/flora mix, if you're not a certified ornithologist. Oh - and not enough detail on the local gastronomical delights!)
Use your head!
Headvertisement. I'm sure you're asking yourself, 'What kind of modification are we talking about?' Well, simply put, it is not a permanent change, but something that will get you individually noticed in any crowd. What we do is supply you a temporary tattoo, which will be placed on your forehead, by our regional representatives.
Gee, I need a drink (alcoholic of course)
This just in: Sun rises in East Also, the WHO found that "dependence on alcohol and cigarettes has a much greater cost for societies than illegal drugs like cocaine and crack."
Michael Kenna Photographs
Michael Kenna: Photographs
Jesus as dogcatcher, ballerina, SATAN!
Religious right fights "Dress-up Jesus" refrigerator magnets "...Urban Outfitters is offering a refrigerator magnet set depicting Jesus on the cross. A variety of clothes for "Jesus Dress Up" include a Satan mask and tights, ballerina, and dogcatcher outfit. The sign above the cross reads, "Hang in there baby!"....A variety of clothes for "Jesus Dress Up" include a Satan mask and tights, ballerina, and dogcatcher outfit....and a Dr. Seuss hat." - So reads an Action Alert sent to the several million members of the Reverend Donald Wildmon's American Family Association which urges concerned christians to bombard Urban Outfitters with letters condemning the allegedly blasphemous magnets. But there is no need to even buy them when you can play "Dress up Jesus" online! - "Dress up Jesus by dragging the items to him with your mouse.", reads the offending website. From the AFA's suggested letter text : "While you may think it is "cute," your decision shows a great disrespect toward people of faith everywhere." - To say that I dislike the AFA would be to put it mildly, but are the refrigerator magnets indeed disrespectful ?
The Lizard of Blog
Third World Transition Program
Third World Transition Program. It's not a relief effort for resettled refugees - it's Brown University's pre-orientation forum "primarily for students of color." Brown President Ruth Simmons will apparently order TWTP to desegregate, but the organization will continue to invite only "students of color" - apparently self-identified from application forms - to participate. According to one student, the admittance of whites to TWTP "would change the level of comfort that's established." Another argued that whites would "compromise the program's integrity and mission." "I can't help laughing when a white person tells me that they understand and experience racism," adds a Brown Daily Herald columnist. But many TWTP alumni are also its harshest critics. "We were given advice on how to 'deal' with a white roommate," writes one student. "It fostered an 'us vs. them' mentality with white students on campus and directly and indirectly encouraged minority students to seek out friendships with students of color before white students arrived on campus." Another reports that him TWTP peers shunned him when he began reaching out to other campus groups because he "found people who I had more in common with than an ethnic background." When TWTP was founded 30 years ago, it certainly served a valuable purpose in a tumultuous and changing social environment. But how do mainstream folks wrest the debate from both the far left and far right, convince the organization that its harm outweighs its good, and urge it to reform itself from within and help unify rather than segregate the student body?
Aunt Jemima does the
The strange synchronicity of The Last Breakfast. Two paintings, created by two different artists, in two different countries, four years apart, but with striking similarities. (via sdw)
Is it real or infoganda?
Fake news. How is it legal to present a commercial as real news, without any indication that it is a commercial? And when did it become legal to use government money (i.e. *my taxes*) to push partisan issues, as well as try to influence election politics?
Batten down the mosquito netting
Batten down the mosquito netting In Iraq: "Now a new wave of unexpected horror, leishmaniasis, is arriving at WRAMC – which has the only accredited leishmaniasis lab in the United States – and its dedicated docs are burning the midnight oil to find a treatment. A model predicts that 1 percent to 4 percent of our soldiers in Iraq can expect to be hit by this potentially deadly parasite, delivered by the bite of infected sand flies as common in the Middle East as fleas on a wild dog. "
Sudden Oak Death
Sudden Oak Death is caused by a fungus-like organism called Phytophthora ramorum and it has been discovered at Monrovia and other nurseries in California. Georgia officials have banned all sales of plants from California for the time being. SOD is frequently compared to Chestnut Blight, which killed 3.5 billion trees in about fifty years and almost wiped out the entire species. There is a different mating type of the microbe in Europe and it is believed that if the two were to come together this could potentially result in a much more devastating form of SOD.
Fart in a jar
Fart in a jar. Don't worry there are a few varieties to choose from. Even Butternut Chicken. Will anyone buy these?
Gay Princes, Spiritual Weakness
Gay Princes defeat NC Parents. Parents object to library book about two gay princes, concerned because being gay "is not part of their beliefs." Presumably books which discuss other things not part of their beliefs could also be an issue. Is this a basic confusion about the purpose of a library, or is any temptation just too much temptation?
The modern-day Venus de Milo
This seems quite a positive thing. Weird what some people have to say about it though.
Shakespeare's Will
William Shakespeare's will (PDF) is just one of over a million historical wills that are now available to the public over the Internet thanks to Britain's National Archives. Among the 100 famous wills available (for small fees) are Captain James Cook, Sir Francis Bacon, William Wordsworth, and Napoleon Bonaparte. An interesting little development in scholarship for the people.
Monster Can't Fool Me
Humans are Stupid when Fireworks are involved
Fireworks and Stupid People [ 3.5 MB Windows Media ]
March 17
Cell phone spermicide
Are cell phones the next sexual revolution? The Nippit 3000 chip — although barely a micron in diameter — projects a high-intensity ultra-sonic electromagnetic "sound cone" that is inaudible to the human ear but fatal to any sperm cell within a range of six meters, or about 18 feet.
Can this be real? When can I get one? (via SND)
Yakka Dakka Oof
The people at goopymart lead a better, more fulfilling life than mine.
speaking of Hunting Season...
Every gay and lesbian federal employee has just lost their protection from discrimination. Gay and lesbians in the entire federal workforce have had their job protections officially removed by the office of Special Counsel. The new Special Counsel, Scott Bloch, says his interpretation of a 1978 law intended to protect employees and job applicants from adverse personnel actions is that gay and lesbian workers are not covered.
Bloch said that the while a gay employee would have no recourse for being fired or demoted for being gay, that same worker could not be fired for attending a gay Pride event.
The Apology Line
The Apology Line was an art project by Allan Bridge. For 15 years, anonymous confessions were collected by an answering machine. Covered by
This American Life, and an early Wired Magazine article, The Apology Line predated online confessionals like grouphug.us by over 20 years.
The resulting messages were compiled into tapes. The long out-of-print cassette The Apology Line: Uncut Gems From Year Zero (1980-1981) is available in mp3 form: Side A. Side B. Fascinating, funny, and disturbing, all at once.
[via Fluxblog]
Fourth Wall
Creative Commons: now for movies.
Next step: Hunting Season!
"We need to keep them out of here," said Commissioner J.C. Fugate, who introduced the motion.
Rhea County, Tennessee commissioners have voted 8-0 to ask state lawmakers to introduce legislation amending Tennessee's criminal code so the county can charge homosexuals with crimes against nature. If Rhea County sounds familiar, it may be because it was the setting for the Scopes Monkey Trial.
Rhea County, Tennessee commissioners have voted 8-0 to ask state lawmakers to introduce legislation amending Tennessee's criminal code so the county can charge homosexuals with crimes against nature. If Rhea County sounds familiar, it may be because it was the setting for the Scopes Monkey Trial.
213 Things
The 213 things Skippy is no longer allowed to do in the US Army are outlined here for all the world to enjoy... I just wish that I understood all the lingo. Still funny as hell, though.
[Via Airbag]
Taking the Same Amount of Shirt Off of Everybody's Back
Ahh, the Flat Tax. The utopian vision of Steve Forbes, Dick Armey, and anybody swimming in 1099-INT forms is now a reality in Iraq (Wash. Post link). It sounds ideal in a lot of ways; everybody pays a similar amount, people save lots of time, and IRS workers are put out of a job. But the downsides are plenty; higher deficit, no write-offs for charitable donations, and more chances that people that earn their money through labor rather than stock trading will be left holding the bag.
Innocent: Don't pass go, but you still owe.
Blunkett charges miscarriage of justice victims ‘food and lodgings’ We locked you up in jail for 25 years and you were innocent all along? That’ll be £80,000 please.
The Mass Graves of the Betrayed
African AIDS Drug Plan Faces Collapse. The World Health Organization's Three by Five programme seeks to supply 3 million Africans with anti-HIV drugs by 2005. But it's in danger, due to lack of cash... and opposition from special interests who seem to be exerting influence over the U.S. government. According to Stephen Lewis, U.N. Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, 'If Three by Five fails, as it surely will without the dollars, then there are no excuses left, no rationalisations to hide behind. There will only be the mass graves of the betrayed.'
GUIdebook: Graphical User Interface gallery
GUIdebook: Graphical User Interface gallery. Welcome to guidebook, a website dedicated to preserving and showcasing as many Graphical User Interfaces as possible.
America's Funniest Senators
Ted L. Nancy (or is it really Jerry Seinfeld?) has a lock on the "send a seemingly serious letter to someone and see if they write back" genre, but this ploy to get unwitting United States Senators to send in their favorite jokes is amusing too. Even Santorum chimed in.
Vehicle to autonomous biped robot conversion.
Vehicle to autonomous biped robot conversion for the Mini Cooper r50. I have no idea what this is all about but that doesn't bother me in the least. Amazing.
One million booze hounds can't be wrong.
Scientific proof that guiness bubbles really do fall, and it doesn't violate the laws of physics.
Tired of Iraq?
Tired of Iraq? Pick your own alternative history - or future, for that matter. Just be careful, okay?
March 16
Say goodbye to more jobs
Say goodbye to more jobs? This is an interesting research report from the Gartner Group on the future of banking, money and economic transition. One of the participants at a conference that Gartner cites is Bernard Leitaer, who is interviewed here. Leitaer is the author of the book The Future of Money. He argues " the malaise Japan has suffered since the early 1990s reflects an economic challenge the whole developed world has begun to face. Today, European and U.S. factories, too, suffer from overcapacity. The vaunted productivity growth spurred by the digital revolution has raised the economy’s stall speed. If the natural growth rate of the U.S. economy has risen to 4% annually, anything less than that rate will cause firms to trim capacity. A firm’s revenue growth often must come at the expense of competitors as well as its own profits because companies have trouble raising prices. In response, companies cut costs any way they can, usually by laying off employees and squeezing suppliers, which causes further layoffs. For developed countries, the safety valves that limited damage during contractions in manufacturing may not work. In past recessions, laid-off factory workers in the Great Lakes states, for example, could migrate to the growing Sun Belt to find new jobs. In the present transition, areas with job growth may lie overseas." The long heralded rise of the information economy, the death of distance and the rise of the
global knowledge workers is paradigm shift that our goverment leader's seem ill equiped to handle.
Shot through the heart of rock'n'roll
Rippin' And Scrappin'
Tivo for Webcomics? Found by way of Comixpedia, this Sun-Times article finds shareware that rips comic files off the web to be something of a God-send. As a web-comic creator, I have no problem with my readers writing personal scripts that pull the .pngs from my front page. But when the rippers begin asking for money for their app that distributes someone else's content (without asking the creators' permission), it seems as though somewhere, there are some enormous balls just a'swingin' in the breeze.
careful man, there's a beverage here!
De Hermitage Amsterdam
De Hermitage Amsterdam. In the early 1990s Professor Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of The State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg was considering the possibility of having satellites of the museum in the West. The Nieuwe Kerk and the Hermitage had already established a strong relationship through the organisation of major exhibitions, and Ernst Veen, director of the Nieuwe Kerk, suggested that Amsterdam would be the ideal location for a branch of the Russian museum, given the historical links between the two cities over the past 300 years.
Osama bin Laden: missed opportunities
Osama bin Laden: missed opportunities The question for the 9/11 commission: If the CIA was able to get that close to bin Laden before 9/11, why wasn’t he captured or killed? The videotape has remained secret until now.
Warning - rocking will not give you free product and could result in death!
Having difficulty with payroll? Even temp agencies can end up giving you too many or too few employees. Vend-A-Temp has the answer! Major credit cards accepted.
Sims President
RIP
Gone too soon
Bob Zangas killed in ambush in Iraq. Bob was a Public Affairs officer with the CPA in Iraq and a pretty good blogger. After spending 6 months in Iraq as a Marine he returned as a civilian to do what he could to help the Iraqi people rebuild their nation. His blog posts were sometimes funny, sometimes sad but always told from the point of view of someone who wanted nothing more than to help. Link goes to the last post before his death.
Did I stutter?
Rumsfeld waffles on Face the Nation when asked about the "immediate threat" argument in favor of war with Iraq. Link is Windows Media video.
This to me is a gregarious example of how semantics and linguistic framing has been used to manipulate the American public, and one clear moment of this questionable tactic breaking down.
Interesting how he tries to blame it on the media and "folklore", and then segues right into noncommittal doublespeak.
Via Joi Ito (text available), via Center for American Progress.
This to me is a gregarious example of how semantics and linguistic framing has been used to manipulate the American public, and one clear moment of this questionable tactic breaking down.
Interesting how he tries to blame it on the media and "folklore", and then segues right into noncommittal doublespeak.
Via Joi Ito (text available), via Center for American Progress.
temporary temples
A Quiz For You
Finally, an Internet "really short quiz with astonishing results" that is 100% accurate.
Iraq on the Record
Iraq on the Record A full compilation of the Bush administration's misleading statements on Iraq was comissioned by rep. Henry Waxman. It is now available as a pdf report and as a database searchable by name of speaker or keyword. Did this sort of framework for accountability exist before the Web, and can it be effective now?
Theory fun
Depressing Times we live in.
This
is
a
very
depressing
time to exist, it seems. Watching the country you love (or hate) slowly disintegrate makes me wonder about how it
all
felt
before.
Gas Price Social Networking
Gas prices are out of control and will continue to rise
[NY Times]. However, I was looking at Matt H's Social Software ideas and decided check out one that already exists - gas prices. GasPriceWatch.com is a site that hosts gasoline prices from around the country. But the problem is, despite it's request for "non-commercial" use of the data, it relies on users to enter that information.I'm about to have my first child so I've been looking at ways to save money -I figured finding the cheapest place to get gas would be a great way to start but quickly found that my price entries were the only ones within a 10 mile radius of my house. Spread the word.
First-Person
Tales of academe Newly-minted Ph.D.s describe their varied experiences on the academic job market. Most use pseudonyms. Many writers are remarkably bitter; some are not. Notable essays: the adjunct professorship as a career; teaching at a county jail; racism on the tenure track; and a series of columns by "Thomas H. Benton," who desperately tries to talk students out of entering graduate school, and then gives helpful advice to those who want to go anyway.
Greenspan does a 180.
Originally, Greenspan was in favor of cutting future Social Security benefits to help ease the current budget deficit. Now, he suggests: that household balance sheets are "in good shape," and perhaps stronger than ever, because the value of people's homes and stock portfolios have risen faster than their debts.
Do geeks deserve hazard pay?
"Office workers are exposed to more germs from their phones and keyboards than toilet seats."
Do geeks deserve hazard pay?
Do geeks deserve hazard pay?
La la la laaaaa
What does a scale in dorian modesound like? How about a dominant one-tension chord? Find out. Or maybe you'd just like to hear some intervals.
fun, fun, fun...
MenOpop Fun with menopause.
I'm at a loss on this one...
Is this shite? Another [Estrogen] risk factor appears to be something that researchers call overthinking, a tendency to dwell on petty slights, to mentally replay testy encounters and to wallow in sad feelings. Studies show that this type of negative thinking is far more common in women than in men, and that it can be a harbinger of clinical depression.
NYTimes article (registration req'd) about depression called "New Clues to Women Veiled in Black".
Bitter Division for Sierra Club on Immigration
Bitter Division for Sierra Club on Immigration [NY Times]. An anti-immigration slate battles the old guard in an attempt to take control of the Sierra Club's board.
The battle is fierce, and accusations of racism, treason, moral corruption, and bigotry color their annual election.
Create Your Own Industrial Contamination
There's Gold in Them Thar PCs. If you're worried about the growing problem of e-waste, if you don't want to ship your toxins overseas, you now have another option. You can recover heavy metals (precious and otherwise) in the privacy and comfort of your own home. Just make sure you leave a window open so you have some fresh air.
Refusal of Caesarean=murder?
Refusal of Caesarean=murder? Anyone seen/heard this? [Search didn't turn up anything, spare me if I overlooked.]
Supreme Court to be overruled by Act of Congress?
Supreme Court to be overruled by Act of Congress? H.R.3920 Title: To allow Congress to reverse the judgments of the United States Supreme Court.
There's a bad moon risin', folks. I want to move to Canada.
Trains Of Thought
The A-Train For Armchair Travellers The Man in Seat 61, a train-mad Brit called Mark Smith, provides a wonderful guide, with lots of useful information, to train travel in Europe - though obviously catering mostly to British passengers. Choo Choo!
March 15
Mao must be spinning...
Chinese Communism comes to a (seemingly) screeching halt. Lost in the brouha over Spain was the report that the Chinese National People's Congress voted yesterday to protect private property rights. Some regard this as more symbolic than actually guaranteeing any concrete rights while others believe it is indicative of the growing importance of private business currently fueling the Chinese economy. The words 'Human Rights' were also put into the constitution for the first time.
Government owned by corporations
Vans Stevenson, senior lobbyist for MPAA (the Motion Picture Association of America), was the last to revise a letter California State Attorney General Bill Lockyer is to distribute to other attorney generals. Lockyer is the president of the National Association of Attorneys General. - is your government owned? Lockyer receives thousands in campaign contributions from MPAA, RIAA, and '[via: The Register]..corporate and private donations from the major studios, including The Paramount Pictures Group, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Warner Bros PAC, AOL Time Warner. Senior executives, such as Alan Horn and Howard Welinsky, respectively CEO and senior VP at Warner Brothers..." Adam Eisgrau of P2P United said that "the draft attributed to the attorney general's office contains many significant factual errors, eyebrow-raising metadata, and articulates a very broad expansion in several important respects of product liability and consumer protection law that would have enormous effects..' It's in The NY Times. Slyck has the original document.
Metafilter wins!
Hey, remember, back in January, when Metafilter got nominated for best community weblog? Well, we won.
.
They only way they could get the care their child needed. "Nobody should have to make this decision"
Paris not in Paris
Paris is not actually in Paris according to French archaeologists last month. It appears that the ancient capital of Gaul, named after the Celtic tribe Parissi, is not buried under modern-day Paris but under its unremarkable neighbor Nanterre. "It's an unprecedented attack on the French national identity and the greater glory of Paris by a group of dirty-fingernailed parvenus." Spare the dirty archaeologists and blame it on Julius Caesar who gave inaccurate descriptions of the location, returning from the grave causing fresh Parisian identity consternations.
GLOBE REPORTER CLAIMS TAPE RECORDED KERRY 'MORE' LEADERS NOT 'FOREIGN' LEADERS; TRANSCRIPTION 'SCREW-UP'
GLOBE REPORTER CLAIMS TAPE RECORDED KERRY 'MORE' LEADERS NOT 'FOREIGN' LEADERS; TRANSCRIPTION 'SCREW-UP' A BOSTON GLOBE reporter at the center of a growing controversy over comments made by John Kerry last week in Florida now claims he "screwed-up" -- and John Kerry never bragged how "foreign leaders" privately backed his presidential bid!
ShiaChat.com reports from the holy city of Karbala, Iraq
After about 8.30am, we decided to try to make our way back to the shrine of Imam Al-Hussain (S) so that we could hear the Maqtal (story of his death) being read out. On our way there, as we were opposite the shrine of Al-Abbas (S) coming from the Baghdad Road, a loud explosion went off. It came from the direction of the Imam Al-Hussain (S) shrine. Suddenly the crowd of people started running and were coming towards us. We had no option but to turn back with them, or be trampled on. After about 2 minutes, another explosion went off, it seemed closer. We had stopped by now to see what was happening and after about 3 minutes, we started moving forward again. A few seconds later another bomb went off, this was the closest yet. We walked into one of the hotel lobbies, fearing anything could go off next to us. It was like an air raid, you thought bombs were being dropped. There was smoking rising above both shrines and there was a lot of shouting and screaming. People were running in all directions, desperately clinging on to each other. We stepped out to see what had happended but then another bomb went off. This was the biggest one and it shook us. Glass from the nearby buildings started raining down and we ran for cover. A lot of smoke and dust clouded over the area and we done a head count to make sure we were all together.
Shiite Account of Visitation ('pilgrimage') to Holy Shrines of Iraq is how Juan Cole titled this first person account.
Shiite Account of Visitation ('pilgrimage') to Holy Shrines of Iraq is how Juan Cole titled this first person account.
No Such Agency...
Interviewing with an Intelligence Agency (or, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Fort Meade) is a really fascinating read of one fellows experience while attempting to pass a security clearance for employment with the National Security Agency. Ironically enough I have to wonder if perhaps you need to be just a little bit crazy to do it. But of course crazy in a NSA/DOD friendly way, as opposed to standing on a table clucking like a chicken...
Jay-Z + Weezer = Jay-Zeezer
Jay-Z + Weezer = Jay-Zeezer. I then read a New York Times article about a web site called "The Jay-Z Construction Set" which compiled all of the materials you needed to remix your own version of Jay-Z. It had the acappella version of the Black album, Dangermouse's Grey Album, sample beats, and various remixes that other DJ's had already made. I fired up Shareaza, my file-sharing weapon of choice, and dreamed of internet stardom. [via mymarkup.net - webblogg] [more inside]
The Man Who Loves Spam.
The Man Who Loves Spam "[Orlando] Soto routinely comes home to some 150 e-mail pitches, and he loves getting them all. The 45-year-old grandfather opens most of them. He answers spam questionnaires. And he buys stuff pitched in spam e-mail -- again and again." Ugh. Thanks a lot, Mr. Soto. You're keeping this industry alive. (WSJ link, via Obscure Store.)
High Tech Tagger Terminator
Police using aerosol can's distinct audio signature to bust graffiti artists. An Escondido, CA company, Traptech, offers an area monitoring system, Taggertrap, to law enforcement that allegedly distinguishes the sound of an aerosol can in the act of spraying. How soon before someone builds an aerosol audio signature cancellation device to fight back?
if a reddish-white sore appears on the scalp or forehead ...
Does it float?
Some pig! In September, a Cincinnati artist carved a pig with wings...out of 7,000 pounds of Ivory soap. (It was commissioned by the chamber of commerce for an economic conference.) Now "Sudsie" is being sent on tour to Nicaragua to promote a kids' handwashing campaign.
Built to Fail
Every Child Left Behind: "The federal No Child Left Behind law is threatening to wreck public education in Minnesota and elsewhere."
"That's what it was designed to do."
Focuses on my home state Minnesota, but the point is relevant to every state in the USA. What do we do to change it?
"That's what it was designed to do."
Focuses on my home state Minnesota, but the point is relevant to every state in the USA. What do we do to change it?
Dramatic Climate Change
Dramatic Climate Change. The director who brought us aliens blowing up the White House has now turned his sights on climate change. In a very dramatic way. Will this highly sensationalized and unrealistic presentation of global warming have any impact on public attitudes? Are we looking at a possible a tipping point, or is director Roland Emmerich jumping the shark?
Misleader
Bush administration pays actors to pose as TV journalists praising the benefits of the new Medicare law.
I can't believe this has never been posted!
Police Shooting Adds to Tension
A police shooting in País Basquo led to rioting and rubber bullets on Saturday just hours before the Spanish elections. Reports say that Angel Berroeta was shot for not placing a sign in his shop window that read, "ETA NO."
FBI adds to wiretap wish list
Proposal to have companies rewire their networks to support easy wiretapping by police "A far-reaching proposal from the FBI, made public Friday, would require all broadband Internet providers, including cable modem and DSL companies, to rewire their networks to support easy wiretapping by police. The FBI's request to the Federal Communications Commission aims to give police ready access to any form of Internet-based communications. If approved as drafted, the proposal could dramatically expand the scope of the agency's wiretap powers, raise costs for cable broadband companies and complicate Internet product development." Read more about the FBI's proposal at Cnet.com.
or MSNBC. But where is the actual proposal?
Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?
Lego goes to Hollywood
March 14
Spoilt For Choice
Choosers Can Be Beggars: Can Too Much Choice Be A Bad Thing? So many options, so little time to choose! So many potential mistakes to be made. Here's a good set of relevant links, for those who'd like to read more. [More inside.]
At last!
Someone finally has the guts to save the environment. The dangers of using harmful chemicals can easily outweight the benefits. Use your head!
100 years
The Best Educational Film...Period!
The revolution will be blogged
Riots in Iran have started, apparently over the recent elections. The revolution, it seems, will be blogged (with pictures). But not televised? Has anyone seen anything on CBSNBCBBCABCFOXESPN about this? If the riots are over the election, why are we hearing from the BBC (and others, presumably) that the election went smoothly? Does anyone have more information about what's happening with these pro-democracy riots? (Via Roger L. Simon).
Robots Everywhere
Now Toyota enters the robot race. Honda's humanoid robot, ASIMO, is such a splash, Toyota is entering the race, making robots designed to assist the elderly and incapacitated, and play trumpet with artificial lips.
Shouldn't the US be making humanoid robots too?
What do you really want your robot to do?
Passion as a Roman Ritual Sacrifice
Planet X?
An unusual solar object is the subject of a NASA news conference on Monday. The mothership? Or a 10th planet? Thanks to MemeFirst. (Related reading: Is Pluto really a planet?)
Al-Qaeda behind Madrid massacre?
Al-Qaeda behind Madrid massacre? One piece of evidence I've only seen mentioned in Norway is a document a terrorist research group at the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment found on an Islamist website. The document surveys strategies for forcing the coalition out of Iraq. It mentions Spain as a convenient target, and the election this week as a convenient time to carry it out
bingo
opposition party wins spanish elections. democracy can be somewhat irritating when decisions made against the will of the majority come back to haunt you. especially when trying to fool your people with baseless arguments, such as moral convictions that eta were behind the attacks. ever more curious about those wmd, or imminent threats, or, er, the intent of developing nuclear capabilities, in november.
Do you feel a draft in the air?
Do you have special skills? If so, Uncle Sam may want to speak with you. "The government is taking the first steps toward a targeted military draft of Americans with special skills in computers and foreign languages." Nobody sees a need for a large scale draft like Vietnam, "But they thought that if we have any kind of a draft, it will probably be a special skills draft." The folks at SSS stress that this possibility is likely far off. It could take about two years to "to have all the kinks worked out." Is the draft in our future?
Christian Slave, Muslim Master
Christian Slave, Muslim Master: A new book claims over 1 million white Europeans where enslaved by North Africans between 1500 and 1800. Entire villages de-populated and pressed into slavery from Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Britain, Ireland and Iceland. While the numbers are smaller than the 10 to 12 million Africans sent to North America it is a little known tragic story of Africans subjugating Europeans.
Black ships and Samurai: Japan and the US, 1853
Black ships and samurai In 1853 four ships under Commodore Perry anchored off the coast of Japan against the wishes of the Japanese. According to historian John Dower, "This initial encounter between the United States and Japan was eye-opening for all concerned, involving a dramatic confrontation between peoples of different racial, cultural, and historical backgrounds. We can literally see this encounter of "East" and "West" unfold through the splendid, yet little known, artwork produced by each side at the time." This beautiful exhibition includes many examples of this artwork, juxtaposing scenes of the encounter from Japanese and American artists' points of view. (Part of MIT's open courseware initiative.)
Bastards... simply bastards...
"You love life and we love death" Al Qaeda video found in Spain claims responsibility for Madrid bombings. (NY Times on first link.) How can we tell if a group claiming a terror act actually were the bastards who did it?
It's naht zo bad
The Story of a Czech SuperStar Contestant. The Czech version of Pop Idol (or American Idol, if you prefer) is finally starting to get good. But it may not be for the reasons the show's creators wanted. Anna, known also by her SuperStar number 3469 or better yet as "Dajdou," has become the most famous of all the contestants so far, precisely because she is what the Czechs refer to as an "antitalent." (via Living in Europe)
Betrayed by Europe: An Expatriate’s Lament
Betrayed by Europe: An Expatriate’s Lament Journalist, novelist, and translator Nidra Poller, an American ex-pat who has been living in Paris with her family since 1972, writes in the latest issue of Commentary about her painful decision to leave her adopted homeland for the US. The main reason? Poller and her family are Jewish and scared for their lives. Her poignant essay is not just another report on the disturbing levels of anti-semitism in France or yet another French Jew abandoning the country for safer turf, but an examination of the power of hope (and inertia) in our lives, even when intellectually one sees no reason for hope: I'm being treated to a poignant lesson in European and Jewish history. The 30's: why did they stay? Why didn’t they run for their lives? Couldn’t they see what was happening? I see before me a vivid demonstration of the deep roots we dig to make our lives bloom, the intricate biology of a human life, irrigated with the lifeblood of a community, inextricably connected to a society, born of life to give life to keep life alive. Leaving is not packing up and tipping your hat goodbye. It is tearing live flesh out of a living matrix. A powerful and disturbing testimony.
March 13
Easter Island, Earth Island
Twilight at Easter by Jared Diamond, offers us a clear summary of "Easter's settlement and subsequent history, its statues, the frightening collapse of its society, and its broader significance in our world beset with similar environmental problems." [via JBD's SDJ]
American Straight Whiskey
I Have Seen The Future And It's American Straight Whiskey: How many things do you know that get not only better but more numerous with every passing year? You could call it Bourbon, of course, it you wished to exclude the superb Tennessee products of Jack Daniel's and George Dickel (just because they charcoal-filter their otherwise equally impeccable straight whiskey), but you should know that this is only the result of a strictly commercial rivalry between the two main producers: Brown-Forman (who own Jack Daniel's in Tennessee) and Jim Beam (who make only Kentucky straight whiskies, i.e. Bourbons). Call it American straight whiskey and be proud! [More inside.]
North Korea Tour
Democrat Kerry Challenges Bush to Monthly Debates
Democrat Kerry Challenges Bush to Monthly Debates Kerry, already engaged in a running exchange of negative ads with Bush eight months before the November election, planned to deliver the challenge at the site of the historic Abraham Lincoln-Stephen Douglas debates in Quincy, Illinois.
A frontrunner, way ahead, would naturally turn down this "invitation," but at this point, Bush is not way ahead, and to turn down debates would give Kerry a fine focus to play over and over in ads and speeches. How will Bush (ie Rove) react to this challenge? (go on tour of duty with National Guard perhaps.)
Edurance
Endurance - "During the performance of Endurance, 26 participants took a one our turn standing motionless on the same square foot of sidewalk. Challenging Seattles' vagrancy laws, which prohibit loitering, each participant dedicated their stand to the memory of a friend whose death resulted from a life lived on the streets." (flash)
spanish police arrest muslim suspects
spokesman of spanish police announces muslim men of moroccan, indian and spanish nationality were arrested this evening. goodbye and thank you, jose maria aznar.
Debbie Does Jesus
The Gospel of Debbie. Paul Rudnick in The New Yorker: "Recent works like “The Passion of the Christ” and “The Da Vinci Code” seek to illuminate the life of Jesus. Not long ago, an additional text was discovered in an ancient linen backpack found in a cave outside Jerusalem, surrounded by what appeared to be early Roman candy wrappers and covered with stickers reading “I [heart] All Faiths” and “Ask Me About Hell.” A parchment diary found inside the backpack appears to contain the musings of one Debbie of Galilee."
Your call is important to us
The DOJ wants to tap your IMs, your email, your VOIP calls, and your Web browsing -- and they want you to pay for it. The Justice Department is seeking to expand its ability to monitor online traffic by forcing broadband providers to make their services "wiretap-friendly," and a petition filed with the FCC this week says you will foot the bill. Get ready for CALEA 2.0. "As a means of espionage, writs of assistance and general warrants are but puny instruments of tyranny and oppression when compared with wire tapping," the prescient Justice Brandeis observed in 1928.
Pink Floyd and Indecency
Crap - now they FCC Thought Police are going after Pink Floyd. Is nothing sacred?! WNCX, a local Cleveland "Classic rock" station (who just happens to be the same station that airs The Howard Stern Show in the area) is unable to play Pink Floyd's "Money" because of the use of the word "bullshit" within the song. To be honest, until this was brought to my attention, I had completely overlooked that lyric in the song. But thanks to the FCC War Against Indency, I'm now fully aware of it! What other cases of 'indecency' would you have overlooked had the authorities not brought it to your attention?
The ultimate censorship: journalist deaths in 2003
Journalism is an increasingly deadly profession. Statistics vary. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports 36 deaths in 2003 while the International Press Institute documents 64 deaths. Iraq was the most life-threatening country, but the Philippines and Columbia remain some of of the most dangerous places to be a reporter. Four media deaths at the hands of US military in Iraq continue to spark controversy, and a Global Day of Mourning and Protest over the U.S. "abject failure" to probe the Palestinian Hotel deaths is scheduled for April 8. This year, Haiti appears to be another hotspot. The International News Safety Institute offers safety tips and member advice on how to stay alive.
Ya'll want a single? **** That!
A Korn video that definately gets the message across about the music industry. (direct link to windows media, nsfw i believe)
March 12
from kibbutz to
Private kibbutzim? The kibbutz, unique and successful socialist experiments in communal living, helped build a country. Has their time passed? Different wages for different jobs, deeding property to individual members, and privatization of production are being instituted at 100 of them, out of an estimated 270 total. In a world where selfishness and capitalism seem to rule, is there hope for communal living?
Confuse-a-cat Ltd.
Confuse-A-Cat Ltd. "Have you confused your cat recently? Chances are you have not. Most people don't realise that they must confuse their cats regularly."
The Nile Basin Initiative
A precious, limited resource. 10 African countries want more water from the Nile. The Nile just doesn't have enough to satisfy their wants and needs. Can there be a solution to this problem short of war?
Ricky Jay Online
Kevin Shields interview
The seminal shoegazing band My Bloody Valentine hasn't released a record since its ground-breaking 1991 release Loveless (Amazon samples). MBV's primary voice and reclusive in-general genius Kevin Shields finally gives an interview to The Guardian after 12 years of silence.
For every game, take your turn, turn, turn
Pastimes and Paradigms: Games We Play from Cornell's Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections. Fascinating (if overly alliterative) collection of an incredible array of antique and contemporary boardgames and related materials. Hey, hey, hey, it's fun to play! (via Monkeyfilter)
Rising Up and Rising Down
When is violence justified? I am now the proud owner of one of 3,500 copies of William T. Vollmann's 3,299-page study of violence, Rising Up and Rising Down, published by McSweeney's. The book (if you can call something that's seven volumes a "book") has gotten mixed reviews that lean toward positive: Scott McLemee, writing in the New York Times Book Review (reg. req.), called it a "flood of logorrhea," while Steven Moore (a literary critic notable for his work on another long-winded writer, William Gaddis) wrote in the Washington Post that it is an "achievement beyond the realm of mere mortals," comparing it to Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough.
This oral history tells the story behind how the book came to be published at McSweeney's, and is an interesting look at what needs to happen for a difficult-to-market work to make its way from its author to the general reading public, in a publishing industry that's unfriendly to this kind of thing, to say the least.
The Difference Between Male and Female Orgasms
The Decline of the Hand Job
Stairway to Gilligan
Stairway To Gilligan by Little Roger And The Goosebumps. The legendary classic resurfaces on the net. Hat tip to Altercation as the ax grinding continues...
The Old Telephone Company
The Old Telephone Company, Essex, England
Finding art in the oddest places : genius
The poetry of Donald Rumsfeld, set to music
The Unknown
"As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know."
[Department of Defense news briefing Feb. 12, 2002] : Now, imagine it set to music and sung aloud by a classically trained female singer with a beautiful voice. [ Mp3 clips available at main link ] Some conservatives consider it a homage, while I find it beautiful, compelling, and disorienting.
The Unknown
"As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know."
[Department of Defense news briefing Feb. 12, 2002] : Now, imagine it set to music and sung aloud by a classically trained female singer with a beautiful voice. [ Mp3 clips available at main link ] Some conservatives consider it a homage, while I find it beautiful, compelling, and disorienting.
Where's Snopes when we need it?
MisconceptionFilter: Apparently, you can't see the Great Wall while orbiting the earth, according to Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut.
Joey Buttafuoco of Journalism
"The problem with this book is not that Jayson Blair told lies at the Times, but that his lies continue in this book. The book is a collection of patently ridiculous made-up fakery, with sexual escapades and other stuff that smacks of total fabrication. They are as absurd as the bogus positive reviews that Jayson slapped on a couple of days ago," an Amazon reviewer writes. After a grotesque publicity tour, with fawning interviews by Katie, Larry, Bill and Chris, war breaks out among average readers. Meanwhile, a new plagiarism charge, about the book itself.
Kennedy's other speach.
Senator Edward Kennedy gave two magnificent speeches last week, but only one received the attention it deserved. While his blistering attack on the Bush Administration for manipulating and distorting intelligence to justify attacking Iraq was noted in the Washington Post and other papers, the Senator's fiery progressive manifesto--delivered at a New York conference called Re-Imagining the Welfare State--went virtually unreported. "For them the law of the jungle is the best economic policy for America--not equal opportunity, not fairness, not the American dream. Their ideas will inevitably result in a lesser America, and have already meant a growing gulf between rich and poor." (From The Nation)
Movie Poster Paintings
National Corndog Day
National Corndog Day: A Great American Holiday. NCD 2004 is on Saturday, March 20th. Party locations are still being determined; if you haven't yet been invited, host your own. Here's how you can participate. (NCD blogging here.)
Flickr!
Flickr! First launched during the week of no-metafilter, Flickr is a new kind of social software application (in the tradition of Friendster or Orkut) - but, after making friends and forming groups, it actually gives you something to do! Created by a team led by Mefi's own sylloge, Flickr is also a collaboration focused Flash-based application that allows you to share picture files with friends, comment on them and post them directly to your weblog. An exposed set of services is also leading to a host of interesting ideas.
Rauschpfeife!
Musica Antiqua: A Guide to Medieval and Renaissance Instruments. Complete with both .wav and .mp3 samples.
Lovely
A beautiful photograph of Earth Some eye candy to cheer up your Friday
Briscoe and Curtis go fishing
The Howard Stern Show
The Howard Stern Show was Howard-free the first hour and a half this morning while they played soundbites and songs about their current battle with the FCC, CC, and GWB. Howard threatens a revolutionizing move to satellite radio. Petitions circulate, some articles written but surprisingly minimal public outcry thus far.
Deep Sea Critters
The National Enquirer (Oceanic Edition): Redefining seafood for the masses, Underwatertimes.com catches the news at its raunchiest and most macho, with lots of nice pictures to soften the blow. [More inside.]
My Hell in Camp X-ray
My Hell in Camp X-ray. The five British detainees released from Camp X-ray are back in the UK and have talked to the press. They allege physical and mental abuse in exclusive interviews with British tabloid, 'The Mirror' and ITV news channel.
*Beeeeeep*
The UK's Channel 4 is to court controversy with a provocative advert littered with swear words in which the word "c**t" is heard nine times in the space of just 90 seconds. Watch it here (NSFW with speakers on!)
March 11
Is Mozilla's Download Manager Flipping You Off?
Mozilla Bug 233525 - Background of Download Manager looks like one-finger-salute Summary: Background of Download Manager looks like one-finger-salute. [Via blogzilla]
No Bush in these links ?
"An inspirational list of creativity and innovation resources" Linky, Brainy goodness, yum.
Free Liars
Free LIARS - LIARS post MP3s of the the entirety of their most recent release, They Were Wrong So We Drowned. Of course, if you dig it, see 'em live or pick up a CD. Not for everyone, but for those with taste... they rock!
A Light at Bonneville
Meanwhile, on Mars, The Spirit rover has reached Bonneville Crater, a primary mission objective, and snapped photos of the far side of the crater rim with its navcam. But what is that glint to the left side? (more within)
Just in time for the end of Friends
TV Tropes Catalogued: like the As You Know, "Character A explains to Character B something that they both know, but the audience doesn't. "As you know, Simon, Jennifer has never been the same since the tragic codfish incident." "As you know, Jennifer, my Death Ray depends on codfish balls."
Boing-Boing Filter
Be Bopst
The Bopst Show is a local independent radio broadcast featuring everything from local salsa to Swedish heavy metal to "exceedingly anomalous music from Laos." Instead of just complaining about the sad state of radio today, host Chris Bopst has created a show admired by both music lovers and casual radio listeners. Available online from 6pm to 9pm EST Thurs & Fri.
Fundy Invasion
"There is no separation of church and state," she said. The Boston Statehouse and surrounding area is crawling with fundamentalist Christians who have come from all over the country to push for a constitutional amendment in our state. You can read minute-by-minute updates on the debate in the Statehouse at Boston.com.
You’re going to lose more people this summer than you did last year, I guarantee it.
You’re going to lose more people this summer than you did last year, I guarantee it.
Do you feel it is possible for American citizens to support the troops without supporting the policies under which the troops are acting?
Yes. Most definitely.
Do you feel it is possible for American citizens to support the troops without supporting the policies under which the troops are acting?
Yes. Most definitely.
Is it still a good thing?
Here's a dainty can of pastel worms: The Democracy Now! show on Pacifica Radio is asking this question: "Was Martha Stewart Targeted Because She is a Major Democratic Contributor and a Woman? Where is Ken Lay?"
Article here, or watch the stream for low or high bandwidth.
Is it still a good thing?
Article here, or watch the stream for low or high bandwidth.
Is it still a good thing?
Tom Friedman's T-shirt employment guru
Tom Friedman, well meaning NYT columnnist lunkhead, gets job outsourced In a stunning development, Tom Friedman - until recently the famous NYT op-ed columnist who has downplayed the outsourcing of American jobs, finds his job has been outsourced due to an egregious factual error concerning T-shirts. "[ BANGALORE, India ] I am delighted to write to you today as the new foreign-affairs columnist for the New York Times . My name is Tam Veeraraghavan. Ah, you say, you've never heard of Tam Veeraraghavan, but the name sounds vaguely Indian. Well, I am an Indian. I live in Bangalore. And I'm now the pundit you read in this newspaper. Now some of you might think that I'm an example of how outsourcing is hurting American workers. Well let me introduce you to Yamini Narayanan, an Indian-born 35-year-old with a Ph.D. in economics....."
Could Robotic Assistance for the Physically Impaired Be Next?
US Military Develops Robotic Exoskeleton. The Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton, or Bleex, is powered by an internal combustion engine, and can allow soldiers or rescue workers to carry heavy loads over long distances. Article is a follow-up to this story. Perhaps this is the first step towards robotic assistance for the physically impaired. (Aside: a thank you to Soyjoy, who is a good man indeed!)
Le Guin on Taoism, Utopia, and Feminism
The Guardian has a nice interview with Ursula
K. Le Guin about utopian science fiction, anthropology, ethnicity in Earthsea and the
differences between her two Earthsea trilogies. She also comments on the upcoming miniseries.
The Lathe of Heaven is a taoist novel, not a utopian or dystopian one.... There is an old American saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The novel extends that a bit - "Even if it's broke, if you don't know how to fix it, don't."
No blood for Oil!
Political life in the Western world has become so infantilised that even eight-year-olds can share its brilliant insights... It appears that how you feel, rather than what you believe in, has become the defining feature of political protest. Via Arts&Letters Daily.
not again...
More bad news. A post this morning on the Dead Milkmen messageboard, coming from Dave Blood's sister, says that the bassist killed himself last night. It's not been a very good week for my high school heroes.
In the world of design, we use color quite often
Extremely funny Quicktime interview with the designer who invented the Homeland Security Advisory System, "to let the general public know how close they were to dying".
who is watching the watchers of the watchers?
Docusearch settles claim for 75K with family whose daughter was killed by a stalker who purchased her personal information from them -- a killer whose intentions were described on a Googleable website. The NH Supreme Court determined last year that Docusearch, the company who sold Amy Boyer's work address and SSN to her killer could be held liable for her death, even though some of that information was publicly available. An "Amy Boyer's Law" intended to increase privacy by restricting the display, sale or use of SSNs received negative reviews by privacy organizations and ultimately was removed from an appropriations bill. In a statement, Amy's parents encourage others to use the Internet to keep track of who may be keeping track of their kids. "If only we had typed our daughter's name into any search engine, the Amy Boyer Web site that was posted by her killer would have come up, and we could have called the police...This may never have happened."
The next best thing to apathy
Props to the 1st amendment This election year, the impact of grassroots organizing on the internet is pricking up some ears in Washington. Here's something to add to the chorus.
House of Bush, House of Saud
The great escape - Immediately after 9/11, dozens of Saudi royals and members of the bin Laden family fled the U.S. in a secret airlift authorized by the Bush White House. One passenger was an alleged al-Qaida go-between, who may have known about the terror attacks in advance. Salon's first excerpt from Craig Unger's House of Bush, House of Saud. You'll watch an ad for Schindler's List on DVD and then...
Cyber Sex of the future?
Sooner or later, it was bound to happen. (reg. req. for full story, sorry) Consider this just a bit of levity in the whole gay marriage debate. No, this isn't the next step on the slippery slope, it's just what happens when a lunatic looks for publicity. This actually made the front page of my local paper, which makes me question the sanity of their editors. [more inside]
Earth Erotica
Earth Erotica. "Explore the Sensual Contours of the Earth's Body"
garfield schmarfield
The Exorcist in 30 seconds, re-enacted by bunnies. (Flash)
Mathematicians go to the garden gate but they never venture through to appreciate the delights within. -- M.C.Escher
Tessellations :: the intersection between symmetry, mathematics, and art.
Scores die in Madrid bomb carnage.
Scores die in Madrid bomb carnage. A string of deadly blasts has hit three Madrid train stations during the rush hour with latest reports speaking of at least 131 people killed.
Put it on my tabby.
Garfield: The Movie: The Novelization Experience the pending awfulness first hand, then the relief of knowing you didn't have to write it. So far, this forthcoming movie is to be considered the Worst Film of 2004, until an upstart comes along.
March 10
The Leak About the Leak
Pickle's pickle. "The sergeant at arms is facing the oddly postmodern task of investigating a Senate leak of a report on the investigation of a Senate leak."
It's A Small World
Nice Whisk(e)y: Shame About The Size! Behold a wonderful, almost infinitely explorable repository of miniature bottles of whisk(e)y; a Japanese one-guy Smithsonian that's quite probably the only resort for those looking for labels of ancient and/or abandoned delights. American straight whiskey fanatics (like me) will be specially surprised. Worth exploring, though exploration isn't easy: it's full of unexpected riches, but never easily had. [Previously offered in the course of a classic languagehat post.]
Frankenpop
You know how some songs are really catchy and you wonder if the hooks could be engineered to make people like the song? A company called Polyphonic HMI has created software they call "Hit Song Science" which is supposed to contain algorithms that determine if a song is likely to be a hit. The company is touting their first attempt at using HSS in the marketplace as a success. [via furdlog]
We'Wha: The Zuni Man-Woman
Poppin' Fresh from the newly launched QueerMeta community weblog: We'Wha: The Zuni Man-Woman. How could a six-foot tall Indian man be mistaken for a "maiden" and a "princess"?
This was no Pocahontas! Even more intriguing is the relationship
between Stevenson and We'wha. According to one gossip, "she" regularly
entered the ladies rooms and boudoirs of Washington. How could
Stevenson not know that her intelligent Zuni informant was really, in
the words of one gossip, a "bold, bad man"? More about the 'berdaches' of the Zuni [ 1, 2, 3]. Google cache of last (Geocities) link here.
A Bigger Fuller Soap Dispenser
German Shower Radio w/Soap Dispenser (maybe NSFW)
I know, what's the big deal about a shower radio with a soap dispenser built in? Check it out. Or check out the Google Translation, I'm still wondering what an insertable antenna is? And where does the soap come out?
Any chance this could be marketed in the States? Or would the Sex-is-Baaaaaaad people have conniptions? Wouldn't it be worth it to watch?
I know, what's the big deal about a shower radio with a soap dispenser built in? Check it out. Or check out the Google Translation, I'm still wondering what an insertable antenna is? And where does the soap come out?
Any chance this could be marketed in the States? Or would the Sex-is-Baaaaaaad people have conniptions? Wouldn't it be worth it to watch?
youth vote
Should 14 year olds have the right to vote? A new amendment is in the works in California:
The measure, introduced Monday, would give 14- and 15-year-olds a quarter-vote and 16- and 17-year-olds a half-vote beginning in 2006.
California is literally going to hell in a handbasket.
Libraries? Sports? Music Programs? Guidance Counselors? Not on my bill, buddy! That crap is for nerds and jocks. It's all good here in sunny California.
Come here boy, and let me rub your head.
Charges of racism have been leveled against this president in the past. But this stunt even surprised me. Then I remembered a similar scene on the Capital steps. There hasn't been much media about it, so I'm wondering...is this a regional racism, such that it slid under the radar of the east and west coast news machines, or has the myth of rubbing the head of a black man for luck thankfully faded from the cultural unconscious?
Raster up yourself
Kerry McCain ticket
John McCain is open to running with Kerry. Is a Kerry and McCain a ticket combination that keeps President Bush up at night? McCain could help Kerry and the Democrats bring in a sizeable chunk of the important "Nascar Dad" vote that is key to this election.
Expect big overtures from the Bush team towards McCain including the possibility of a Bush and McCain ticket. McCain's decision may rest on any lingering resentment over the 2000 Republican presidentialcampaign, particularly the dirty tricks the Bush campaign pulled in South Carolina. Stay tuned.
Sphere Roundup
Harvard Does Something Amazing
Harvard Eliminates Tuition for Some. Harvard will no longer be charging tuition for students whose families make less than $40,000 a year. I'm speechless.
Bush/Cheney Poster Creator
Bush/Cheney Poster Creator
Best use of web resources to reach the masses, or easiest.culture-jam.ever? You be the judge.
Best use of web resources to reach the masses, or easiest.culture-jam.ever? You be the judge.
a corpulent reaper
Neuroethics
Whose life would you save? Carl Zimmer takes a look at the work of philospher-neuroscientist Joshua Greene in the emerging field of the neuroscience of ethics and morality (Leon Kass, take note.) [Via Dynamist Blog.]
Consumerist concern or jibber-jabberwocky?
... A creature with a huge mouth and an enormous gut, no brain and no soul...... How does one get past the firewall that ensures the consumers never actually talk to a grocery-store manager?...
This article from the Globe and Mail struck a chord in me. Decline of the empire or simplistic disavowal of the grease that runs the machinery?
This article from the Globe and Mail struck a chord in me. Decline of the empire or simplistic disavowal of the grease that runs the machinery?
The Pledge of Diseases?
Bad news for American Taliban abstinence supporters... A survey commissioned by the CDC (I'm surprised the admin didn't bury this one) shows that "The Virginity Pledge" has an 88 percent failure rate. On average, pledgers do delay sex longer and have 'less' partners, and have 'statistically-insignificent' lower STD rate. Choose among Reuters story, New York Times story, Miami Herald, AP via MSNBC (can't find it at FoxNews or the New York Post yet). Let the spin begin: sex education advocates say: "See?", radio talk show host cries BS.
Recharge Your Ovaries
Recharge Your Ovaries? Would it be better to have babies in our 60's? What if we could eliminate menopause? Is this just another instance of the dawn of agelessness?
rest in peace...
John McGeogh dead at 48. A founding member of Magazine, guitarist for "Kaleidoscope"-era Siouxsie and the Banshees and Public Image Ltd in the late '80s, McGeogh died in his sleep last night.
First Anti-Spam Lawsuits filed by 4 Net Bigs
Microsoft, AOL, Earthlink, Yahoo sue hundreds in six lawsuits More here (registration req'd). Nation's largest spammers targeted in first lawsuits under Congressional Anti-Spam Legislation.
House Gymnastics.
House Gymnastics. "The greater the height or danger, the better the move. Maneuvers must be held in position for 3 seconds to be valid." In the words of one critic: "Empowering banality with new meaning... "
American Taliban, sans condoms, extra brimstone
American Taliban plans theocracy - soon Theocracy Watch reports on the religious right's takeover of the Republican Party. The Bush Administration's proposed Federal Marriage Amendment is but one ploy of the new American Taliban : "with one amendment the religious right could wipe out access to birth control, abortion, and even non-procreative sex" ["...behind this amendment: Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Gary Bauer, Robert Bork, Rick Santorum" - via Andrew Sullivan]. Maureen Farrell chronicles the power centers of the newly powerful religious right. Tim LaHaye, author of the Left Behind series, has the President's ear and this concerns more than jamming Creationism into your school's curriculum.
On the agenda - "The civil government of our nation, its laws, institutions, and practices must therefore be conformed to the principles of Biblical law as revealed in the Old and New Testaments." Writes Farrell - "How did this happen? - Voter apathy is the key to the phenomenal ascent of the Religious Right in the U.S. government." Pat Robertson, 1990 : "With the apathy that exists today, a small, well-organized minority can influence the selection of candidates to an astonishing degree."
On the agenda - "The civil government of our nation, its laws, institutions, and practices must therefore be conformed to the principles of Biblical law as revealed in the Old and New Testaments." Writes Farrell - "How did this happen? - Voter apathy is the key to the phenomenal ascent of the Religious Right in the U.S. government." Pat Robertson, 1990 : "With the apathy that exists today, a small, well-organized minority can influence the selection of candidates to an astonishing degree."
Yumbo!!!!
The writers at The Onion A.V. Club recently emptied their coin purses and embarked on a quest for budget-friendly snacks. Would you eat something called Treet? Let the buyer beware.
Busk, Buskers and Busking
Busking around the world in 80 days. Wait a minute... busking? Can you really make a living off of playing music in the street? Yup. Well, maybe not.
WebWoman
WebWoman is a global, on-line community designed to promote professional development of Afghani and Iranian women.
Library and Archival Exhibitions on the Web
Library and Archival Exhibitions on the Web. Many links to interesting sites - African liberation movement posters, Charles Babbage, Braniff Airways history, daily life in Sierra Leone 1936-37, the photography of Eamon Melaugh, Frank & Marshall College from the air, all the way through to ZYX: a selection of ABC books. Via thinking while typing.
Scary Commercial
Texas Dept. of Transportation is running one of the most graphic commercials (3mb mpeg) I have ever seen, relating to drunk driving or anything else. The general campaign page has more information about the girl. I don't know how to feel about this.
March 9
John Coltrane's Home
John Coltrane composed many of his later works, including A Love Supreme in this house. Now local preservationists are battling to save the home from demolition.
If you want to see this home preserved just send them an email to show your support.
Destroy those old love letters (emails) to your ex
Destroy those old love letters (emails) to your ex Big String is a new service that use HTML email to allow you to delete, alter or recall sent emails. Amazing that it took this long for someone to come up with this. Which email do you wish you could have recalled?
Bet this kid wishes he had something like this.
Fuck Cancer
Fuck Cancer. Win Prizes. [possibly nsfw. photo has the word fuck in it.]
Pre-9/11, Bush Deprioritized Counter-terrorism and Targeted It For Cuts
Pre-9/11, Bush Deprioritized Counter-terrorism and Targeted It For Cuts The Bush handlers would try to paint Kerry as weak on defense and intelligence, yet it was the GOP that in fact cut budgets for intelligence.
'reconnaisance' from the culture war
How the Left views the Right, as viewed by the Southern Baptist Press. “I don't get it,” said the movie critic, “the people aren't listening to us... don't all those unwashed cretins out there in flyover country understand that we're the ones who tell them what they can watch?”
METABLAST
movies movies movies, etc.
NOT COMING TO A THEATER NEAR YOU - Great film site. Best part is the review section with pages of commentary on all sorts of splendid, taboo, controversial, or plainly difficult to discuss, and potentially unwatchable yet ambitious cinema. And also some others (with, of course, the usual suspects) My only complaint is some of the reviews spoil the actual ending of the films instead of discuss them very objectively, but that's the Internet for you. Still a fine fine site, I say. More reviews from the site found here.
Bypass registrations
A useful service has been provided for those annoying registration websites (ie NyTimes). I'm sure many of you will appreciate it. (my first post, dont hurt me)
One wheel, one goal: chaos
Just when you've rid your neighborhood of Jets and Sharks, a new gang is on the horizon: the Thunderwheels. Yep, it's a biker gang, and not just any biker gang, but the worst possible kind: a unicycle biker gang. This is the kind of havoc they wreak.
Colonel Angus Chicken!
News 14 in North Carolina had an online system where people could post school closings, etc that would scroll on the screen. The postings all got reviewed before they went live, but after they’d been reviewed/approved, the system was open for the original poster to go back and change the copy, so you could essentially submit something benign, then go back and monkey with it. Screen shots of the results.
Bug Portraits
Bug Portraits by Frank Phillips. ". . .I always keep in mind the goal of capturing the bug from an angle that we humans don't normally see...and I believe that it shows in my work."
Dish Network drops Viacom
Dish Network drops Viacom. Dish Network dropped Viacom-distributed channels last night, and CBS channels in 16 metropolitan areas. I can't see how alienating 1.6 million subscribers is going to be good for business, no matter what it does to their bottom line.
Hubble Ultra Deep Field Images
Hubble's Deepest View Ever of the Universe Unveils Earliest Galaxies. The deepest portrait of the visible universe yet taken -- 400 million years after the Big Bang. Mirrors here and here.
Don't even tinkaboutit...
"Just consider what you're doing now. You don't want to have the freakin' president of the United States mad at you for the rest of your life...If you step off this cliff, gravity never goes up, it goes down." Those were the words of, Larry Telford, of the National Republican Congressional Committee threatening a Texas citizen who dared to run in the Republican primary for the US House of Representatives.
March 8
RNC moves to stop Bush In 30 Seconds Ad Campaign
The Republican National Committee is warning television stations across the country not to run ads from the MoveOn.org Voter Fund that criticize President Bush, charging that the left-leaning political group is paying for them with money raised in violation of the new campaign-finance law.
Images of Iranian actresses say a lot about the social changes
Iranian actress, Hedieh Tehrani, is one of the most popular stars who, unlike the previous actresses, usually portrays a strong and independent women in her works (See more). On the other side is Niki Karimi who once was the hottest actress in the country, showing a rather traditional image of the Iranian women. What is this change of taste telling about the Iranian society? See more stills from Iranian movies.
Botanical illustrations
Smithsonian Catalog of Botanical Illustrations Feel the need for a touch of spring? The Smithsonian offers five hundred images (created by eleven artists) from its vast collection of botanical illustrations. Check out the images in the Curtis Botanical Magazine (1787-1807). For more wide-ranging overviews, try the Scientific Illustrators (1600-present); the Missouri Botanical Garden Library (digitized copies of 46 rare books); this special exhibition at the University of Delaware (general survey); and Haley & Steele (women artists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries). Julene Sodt provides an extensive bibliography.
Frog March, Ho! Plame-gate Heats Up
President Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove, told the FBI in an interview last October that he circulated and discussed damaging information regarding CIA operative Valerie Plame with others in the White House, outside political consultants, and journalists, according to a government official and an attorney familiar with the ongoing special counsel's investigation of the matter. Also: A transcript subpoenaed in the CIA leak probe reveals the White House press operation began efforts to personally discredit former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV days before a columnist blew the cover of his CIA-officer wife. From TPM
Save.Overtime.Pay.Org
Save Overtime Pay
Warning: AFL-CIOfilter
From the site: "Under a proposal by President Bush, more than 8 million workers might not be paid extra for the overtime hours they work."
Yeah, I saw the "might" in there too.
They do have a summary page of Bush's proposal and hey, here's a little cartoon to help explain things.
And this article in today's Miami Herald helps explain the issue a little better than this one from the National Center for Public Policy Research which quotes The Heritage Foundation and Secretary of Labor Elaine Choe.
As I understand it, they want to move the level of mandatory overtime pay from about $8000 a year to $22K but there's so much double speak and rhetoric that my head's only just stopped spinning.
Warning: AFL-CIOfilter
From the site: "Under a proposal by President Bush, more than 8 million workers might not be paid extra for the overtime hours they work."
Yeah, I saw the "might" in there too.
They do have a summary page of Bush's proposal and hey, here's a little cartoon to help explain things.
And this article in today's Miami Herald helps explain the issue a little better than this one from the National Center for Public Policy Research which quotes The Heritage Foundation and Secretary of Labor Elaine Choe.
As I understand it, they want to move the level of mandatory overtime pay from about $8000 a year to $22K but there's so much double speak and rhetoric that my head's only just stopped spinning.
World Ice Art Championships, Fairbanks, Alaska
Soap Carving
What ever happened to soap carving? Soap carving has been around a long time, and is often quite beautiful, detailed or arresting. Still, it's surprising how often it's still suggested as a fun activity for kids, despite the involvement of sharp utensils. For more than 25 years, Ivory soap ran a national soap-carving contest as a public relations stunt created by the father of PR, Edward L. Bernays.
Carl De Keyzer Photographs
Carl De Keyzer: Photographs
Spaulding Gray's body found
World Heritage Digitzation projects
Ben Kacyras is the inventor of the portable Cyrax 3D scanning camera traditionally used by surveyors for quickly creating "surgical exact" 3D models of large structures. Ben has set a goal to scan every World Heritage Site on Earth and make it available online so that if anything were to happen to a site, an exact replica could be re-built. Example Cyrax pictures. More 3D Camera links and other World Heritage Digitization efforts.
Warren Buffett's Annual Letter
Warren Buffett's annual letter to his shareholders is worth a read.
Psilocybertastic!
Whoah. I accidentally typed our favorite blog's URL minus a period, and stumbled upon this educational reference site. Those devious hippies have gone too far....
Touring the Dead Zone
"People had to leave everything, from photos of their grandparents to cars." One brave (or foolish, depending on your view) girl, and her Kawasaki motorcycle take a tour through the Chernobyl "dead zone". An astounding an eyewitness photo-essay of chernobyl today. (Note that the first link is a google cache, but subsequent pages are available from the site when you click the "next page" link...Angelfire, go figure.)
Five Free Calc Texts
Comparing Amazon international prices..
Pricenoia compares prices at every Amazon store available, adding shipping costs to your country..
It's not just the usefulness of the tool (specially for those that live somewhere different than the US and are used to check every price at least at a couple of Amazon stores), but what it means for the global commerce and how the net helps to raise worldwide prices..
Do you buy at your local amazon? Or do you check prices everywhere? Amazon offers confidence to its users, once you buy there you don't try any other online bookseller, anywhere.. Is it going to be the bigger global bookstore, online or offline? Sure.. It's the beginning of the dot.com takeover!!!
You can't handle the truth!
"These people always complain," said Graham Thorn, a psychiatrist, in a Chicago Tribune article about racial tensions in Australia. "They want it both ways--their way and our way. They want to live in our society and be respected, yet they won't work. They steal, they rob and they get drunk. And they don't respect the laws." The problem isn't that Graham Thorn didn't say that; as blogger Tim Blair uncovered, the problem is that Graham Thorn never existed. [more inside]
AuroraWebcam
AuroraWebcam run by 21 Troy Birdsall of Fairbanks, Alaska. Gorgeous video and photographs of the Northern Lights.
Darned if eye ain't ugly!
School Bans Common Sense
Bellevue school bans hats, hoods... In order to curtail unproven gang activity, Interlake High School has banned baseball caps, and the wearing of hoods, stemming from alleged gang involvement on the part of a few students. The faculty "believes" there to be gang actvity, and we all know that gangs require hooded-sweatshirt / ballcap uniforms, or you're out... Gang members can usually be singled out due to their poor fashion taste, but it has nothing to do with how they joined. This must be more of that freedom we North Americans seems to endorse so much...
Masters of Cinema
Masters of Cinema is a film blog 'for discerning cineastes the world over,' with news on directors, films, dvd releases, aspect ratio controversies, and many links to director tribute sites. They also have sites dedicated to Robert Bresson, Carl Dreyer, Ozu Yasujiro, and Andrei Tarkovsky. (The last two previously posted by hama7 and I, but it's nice to see everything together)
Damnit, I left my PC in my other pair of pants...
Pen Drive: The Road Warrior's Guide - carry a word processor, spreadsheet, email client and more, all in your pocket.
No two moments are any more alike than two snowflakes. -- Zora Neale Hurston
Bush's flip flops
Bush's flip flops Bad mouth Kerry? Look who truly speaks out of both sides of his smirking head. Compare and contrast in 500 words. Spelling counts.
Get Paid to Listen to Telemarketers
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. A company named AdNoodle is letting you waive your rights under the Do Not Call list in exchange for cold hard cash. You decide how much it's worth to you - 50 cents, $1, $2 per minute - to have a friendly chat with your local telemarketing concern and answer a "listening comprehension" quiz afterwards. What's your conventional wisdom on this one: Are we bargaining ourselves into a win-win situation? Or are we becoming low-priced callgirls for the bottom-feeders of corporate America? We report, you decide. (via Fark)
American tarditional music streaming video!
Streaming video documentary films about American traditional music. Great American roots music films for free! Click and watch full length documentaries about the Popovich Brothers Tamburitza band of South Bend Indiana, Louisiana creole fiddler Canray Fontenot, the last Black medicine-show performer, sacred harp singing and much more. An amazing collaboration between folklorists and indie film makers.
if you like a ukulele lady, ukulele lady like a'you...
All songs sound better when performed on a ukulele.
March 7
Ribbit?
First it was purple frogs that consorted with known dinosaurs, and now they've been joined by their three-headed brethren [warning: gratuitous frogs].
Nobody's allowed to question the masks
The Official Rules of Calvinball "Any player may declare a new rule at any point in the game. The player may do this audibly or silently depending on what zone the player is in. " It's so clear now. (via linkfilter)
Swedish town all buys volvos on the same day...coincidence?
Swedish town all buys volvos on the same day...coincidence?
This car was bought by the same town on the same day. Watch the cool (but large) flash video documentary. Or download it here: Quicktime or Windows Media.
Is it collective unconscious? Yeah, I know, I'm buying into the merchandising wagon. But it's an interesting documentary -- if it's true.
This car was bought by the same town on the same day. Watch the cool (but large) flash video documentary. Or download it here: Quicktime or Windows Media.
Is it collective unconscious? Yeah, I know, I'm buying into the merchandising wagon. But it's an interesting documentary -- if it's true.
bipolar?
Are You Bipolar? Mild bipolar disorder may be to this decade what depression was to the nineties, thanks to a new drug and an expanding definition. But when do ordinary peaks and valleys become pathological?
Johnny was a.. republican??
Grand Old Punks The Sunday Times reported on Johnny Ramone's conservative beliefs today As he grew up he realised that for all his guitar thrashing, he was a conservative at heart. He opposes abortion and gay marriage and thinks welfare benefits are too generous. “Everyone in America can succeed to at least the middle-class level if they work hard enough,” he said.
Do these people have a point or do they just not get it?
Intruders in the House of Saud, Part I: The Jihadi Who Kept Asking Why
The Jihadi Who Kept Asking Why - An unlikely group of onetime religious jihadists have recently stepped into the midst of the debate on Saudi Arabia's future. They belong to a larger circle of liberals, intellectuals, professors, former Wahhabi scholars, judges and even women who are discussing subjects in the media that were taboo before 9/11 -- questions about terrorism, about Wahhabi discrimination toward Muslims of the Shiite and Sufi sects (whom they consider apostates), about alcohol, about AIDS, about the rights of women to drive and work. The ex-jihadists are fluent in Islam and, more important, in the lingo of the underground terrorists, and they've surfaced from the extremist subculture with a message for the Wahhabi official clerics, the royal family and even their complicit American allies: Wake up. It's you who created us. We are not an aberration.
From The Agonist--where the editorial comment this is an absolutely excellent article and a must read is quite indisputable. From entering Salafiyya in Google comes the fascinating polemic The Salafi Cult. better known as the Khawarij.
From The Agonist--where the editorial comment this is an absolutely excellent article and a must read is quite indisputable. From entering Salafiyya in Google comes the fascinating polemic The Salafi Cult. better known as the Khawarij.
Dear Penthouse, I never thought this kind of thing actually happened, but...
Pornography. [SFW]
O'Leary's cow, or comet?
Physicist Robert Wood is reviving a 120 year old theory that the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was started by cometary debris from Beila's comet that had previously been observed to fragment after a close encounter with Jupiter. Wood's orbital analysis puts a fragment of Beila near Earth at the time of the fires. The theory would explain a number of previously unexplained events like multiple eyewitness accounts of fire falling from the sky, and how a single-source blaze from a barn spread to include a large portion of the city. Perhaps most importantly, the Great Peshtigo Fire in Wisconsin that killed 1,200 people ignighted on the some night. However the comet theory has been discarded by Peshtigoand Chicago Fire historians who note that the upper midwest was dry with a multitude of smaller fires in the same season. The truth may never be known but the speculation is interesting.
Photographs of Tibetans
Cat and Bunny
Cat and Bunny [caution: shockwave]: a hare-raising tail of love in the face of all common sense.
It's the 'Showgirls' home game
Pole dancing? It's the new Yoga. Just ask the people behind PoleTricks 101: "Women all around the country are finding out that pole dancing is a sexy way to entertain your man (or men!) Not only that, it's good exercise and just plain fun. PoleTricks 101 is dedicated to bring you the training, the equipment, and the satisfaction of dancing with the sexiest of all props... the pole!" Just $549.00... [via linkdump]
Punitive shoes - cruel beauty
Punitive shoes - cruel shoes are nothing new. From 1000 years of lily-footed Chinese concubines to Renaissance Venetian courtesans, footwear has migrated from the sex trade to more popular and mainstream culture. Foot fetishists throughout the centuries have endured painful training and disfigurement for notions of eroticism and sexy feet. For those who want the sex without the pain, there's always some rather delightfully erotic socks.
A pleasant excreting experience
The joys of being free from constipation. Cartoon maggots singing and dancing around yummy piles of human excrement. [In Korean. Flash.]
Morrice Web
Morrice Web: Photography from Scotland.
Nostalghia: The work of Andrei Tarkovsky
Nostalghia : a site devoted to the work of the Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky.
I, Mel, absolve your bloody entrails
Mel Gibson wanted Frank Rich's bloody entrails on a stick, wanted to kill Rich's dog. But now... In the buildup to his new film, Mel Gibson said, about Frank Rich, "I want to kill him. I want his entrails on a stick I want to kill his dog" (The New Yorker, September 15) . Any american non-celebrity teenager who uttered such threats would have been immediately arrested, interrogated, and forced to submit to lengthy counseling. Yet to right wing US press media, it seems, the "entrails" threat was immaterial. Indeed, chirps WorldNet's Barbara Simpson, "Gibson is the bravest man in Hollywood. Perhaps, he's the bravest in the country....Gibson's hell has been very public. " Now, on Leno, Mel has granted Rich forgiveness and absolution for Rich's sin of criticizing "The Passion" : "You try to perform an act of love even for those who persecute you", said Gibson to Leno.
to blathe, or not to blathe
Part dictionary, part literature. Often intensely personal, sometimes quite creepy. Not quite Wiki, and not wholly a forum. Must be Blather.
Cowgirl Pinups
March 6
Crazy, Random "Chris Rock Thing"
Chris-calls! What if you received Chris Rock's old cell phone number and his celebrity friends kept on calling you? "amazing entertainment" :D [via Gulfstream]
Europe and John Kerry
Europe Is Deeply In Love With John Kerry. How Will America React? He's liberal but not an outright socialist; he has Polish origins and an Irish surname; he's better connected to the British Royal Family than that embarrassing proto-prole Bush; he was educated in Switzerland; he speaks French beautifully and, above all, he's married to a spirited Portuguese woman who watches his every step... [More inside.]
Tattoo Coo
Don't leave home without it
Taste ... priceless Is everything fair game to eventually become a commodity in America?
Girl Watching
The Girl Watcher Whether your scene is the kitten type, stalking the girl, or just straight-up girl collecting - this is the publication for you. Bail not included. (via filepile)
The Sadhus
The lives of the Sadhus of India, an interview with a boy ascetic, and the passionate feats which express their devotion. [pictures 1, 2]
Nuance, what don't Republicans get it?
He couldn't stand the complexity of the facts or the ambiguity of intelligence. William Saletan of Slate suggests an interesting strategy to oust Bush. Will it work? Should John Kerry take Saletan's advice? Republicans, what say you?
Two communities in the American Civil War
The Valley of the Shadow.
Description: "The Valley of the Shadow is a digital archive of primary sources that document the lives of people in Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania, during the era of the American Civil War...
...The Valley of the Shadow is different than many other history websites. It is more like a library than a single book. There is no "one" story in the Valley Project. Rather, what you'll find are thousands of letters and diaries, census and government records, newspapers and speeches, all of which record different aspects of daily life in these two counties at the time of the Civil War. As you explore the extensive archive and you'll find that you can flip through a Valley resident's Civil War diary, read what the county newspapers reported about the battle of Gettysburg, or even search the census records to see how much the average citizen owned in 1860 or 1870..."
A very interesting way of presenting history and an impressive testament to the web's potential as an educational tool.
Description: "The Valley of the Shadow is a digital archive of primary sources that document the lives of people in Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania, during the era of the American Civil War...
...The Valley of the Shadow is different than many other history websites. It is more like a library than a single book. There is no "one" story in the Valley Project. Rather, what you'll find are thousands of letters and diaries, census and government records, newspapers and speeches, all of which record different aspects of daily life in these two counties at the time of the Civil War. As you explore the extensive archive and you'll find that you can flip through a Valley resident's Civil War diary, read what the county newspapers reported about the battle of Gettysburg, or even search the census records to see how much the average citizen owned in 1860 or 1870..."
A very interesting way of presenting history and an impressive testament to the web's potential as an educational tool.
George before...Georgina after
March 5
McDonald's Screwed Up Giveaway
McDdonald's gives away $15,000,000 after previous giveaways found fixed. Better get 'em while they're hot!
Way down in the hole
John Debney fought with Satan to score "The Passion of the Christ." Literally: "I had all these computers and synthesizers in my studio and the hard drives would go down and the digital picture that lives on the computer with the music would just freeze on his [Satan's] face... and I was verbalizing and saying to Satan, 'Manifest yourself right now...'"
The Agonist has a new sponsor
The Mars Bunny
NASA and the Mars Bunny. I first heard about it from our own kokogiak. Then the conspiracy theorists: "They're destroying the evidence!" But now NASA has come out to tell us, "It's probably just airbag material."
Who speaks for you America?
The American People. Greg Knauss' latest offering let's the Americans know who is speaking on their behalf. Nifty use of RSS technology. [via msippey]
Martha Stewart Guilty.
Puzzle games are eeeeeevil.
The Mystery of Time and Space! [note: Flash]
Rather involving game, if puzzlers like Myst are your bag, baby.
a savage drunken pinball high on black-tar heroin
Where is my gay apocalypse?
I have been waiting patiently. I have been staring with great anticipation out the window of my flat here in the heart of San Francisco, sighing heavily, waiting for the riots and the plagues and the screaming monkeys and the blistering rain of inescapable hellfire. I have my camera all ready and everything.
I have been waiting patiently. I have been staring with great anticipation out the window of my flat here in the heart of San Francisco, sighing heavily, waiting for the riots and the plagues and the screaming monkeys and the blistering rain of inescapable hellfire. I have my camera all ready and everything.
No more free email?!
Bill Gates proposes an end to free email
If the U.S. Postal Service delivered mail for free, our mailboxes would surely runneth over with more credit-card offers, sweepstakes entries, and supermarket fliers. That's why we get so much junk e-mail: It's essentially free to send. So Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates, among others, is now suggesting that we start buying "stamps" for e-mail.
If the U.S. Postal Service delivered mail for free, our mailboxes would surely runneth over with more credit-card offers, sweepstakes entries, and supermarket fliers. That's why we get so much junk e-mail: It's essentially free to send. So Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates, among others, is now suggesting that we start buying "stamps" for e-mail.
Toho Tokusatsu Movie Poster Gallery
Danny's Land
Danny's Land: a blog of amusement park, ride theory and oddball transportation links.
Big heads wobbling on wee necks?....
Nootropics ("smart" drugs) - all wish to be smarter, correct ? And - while exercise, nutrition, learning, travel, and social interaction (the last 3 via release of neurotrophins) effectively do this, Nootropic drugs have been researched since the 1950's and have been shown to cause at least short term cognitive function enhancement. Piracetam, the first of this drugs, shows promise in the treatment of Alzheimer's and Attention deficit Disorder. Alas, as with poor little Algernon, the effect seems temporary. Nootropics can be a little difficult to acquire in the US. Beer is not a nootropic, but sex on the other hand.....
Its a victim-less crime, Bobby!
A good amount of bloggers are outright thieves. Researchers at Hewlett-Packard Labs found that a vast amount of popular bloggers stole ideas, topics, and content from lesser-known weblogs without any sort of attribution or crediting. The researchers created a new ranking algorithm called iRank to track the source of new ideas and topics, which you can play around with here.
F-Worded on the Radio
Screw Howard Stern. But Save Sandra Tsing Loh!
The radio culture wars have claimed an unlikely victim, and an unlikely victimizer (America's favorite NPR station, KCRW).
The radio culture wars have claimed an unlikely victim, and an unlikely victimizer (America's favorite NPR station, KCRW).
a modern classic
airstream.com
the idea of motorhomes is a little strange, but wouldn't one of these be fun? via a new favorite: http://mocoloco.com/ via the always excellent: caterina.net
the idea of motorhomes is a little strange, but wouldn't one of these be fun? via a new favorite: http://mocoloco.com/ via the always excellent: caterina.net
The End of an Era!
Goodbye Gojira Toho decides to retire our favorite radioactive green dinosaur. Sure there were some crappy ones, but even the crappy ones were great in their own way. And if you've never seen Godzilla Raids Again or the uncut remake of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah you owe it to yourself to get watching.
Bye-Bye old Friend (snif).
A Matter of Taste
Bush's campaign commercials feature footage from 9/11, but anger firefighters and families of victims. Is it disingenuous to defend the ads when you claimed just nineteen weeks after the tragedy that you would not use the disaster for politcal gain? If anyone should be able to use the event for political purposes, it would be Giuliani, who defends Bush's actions.
Survey of design salaries 2003
Survey of design salaries 2003 - how do you compare? The American Institute of Graphic Arts and Communication Arts team up to offer a white paper summary of national and regional salaries and benefits for web designers and developers, copywriters, art directors, print production managers, freelancers, and related positions. The survey is based on responses from 3,184 people in 17 job categories. (28 page PDF)
March 4
Radio Vox Populi
This is Radio Vox Populi "We are entering an age where every citizen will have the means to speak her mind in a public venue. Weblogs are the voice of the people, connecting millions of individuals to their own audience on a daily basis. But what does this communication sound like?"
Disposable Phone
The Disposable Phone. With 60 minutes of calling time and a hands free attachment, it's the thickness of three credit cards and made from recycled paper products. Bizarre.
The Greatest $199 you'll ever spend.
Have a spare $199 lying around? Steel Battalion Central is your one-stop Steel Battalion source. For those of you not in the know, SB is the $199 Xbox game with it's own custom 40-Button controller. It's also one of the most intense hardcore Video Game experiances of the last few years.
Motorcycling through the Chernobyl Dead Zone
Motorcycling through Pripyat and the Chernobyl Dead Zone: A Photojournal of Elena and her Kawasaki ZZR 1100 travelling in the desolate area around Chernobyl and Pripyat.
Smittens
FoodExpert-ID Chip
"A single test can now reveal the presence of meat from any of 32 different species in food samples, enabling a wide range of important questions to be answered. These include whether chicken has been bulked up with beef or pork extracts; whether expensive albacore tuna is really cheap skipjack tuna; whether rats, mice or even bits of people fell into the mincer when your burger was being made..."
New Nickels
New Nickels On The Way! My metafilter loving friend Jeff says, "Why bother." I'm excited about it though. I've got lots of change from everywhere. Am I barely qualified to do laundry around the world, or is it pretty neat that foreign money looks fake? Is Jeff right? Is small change a waste of time? Can you judge a state by its quarter?
Go To School, Do Nothing.
Go to school and do nothing. The Sudbury approach to learning is one in which the kids can do whatever they want. Literally. Want to play games all day? Fine. Want to read comics all day? Fine. Want to watch movies? Fine.
From the FAQ:
What happens if a student doesn't do anything?
It is actually impossible to do nothing. I think what most people are concerned about is students doing what looks like nothing; for example playing video games, playing magic cards, reading all day, etc. The truth is that everything the students do has value. Take video games for example; this "teaches" reading skills, social skills, the ability to concentrate and focus, and, depending on the game, history, strategy, math or science.
Is this a good way to educate kids?
Is Fake The New Real??
subway systems of the world presented on a scale of 1 mile = 2 pixels.
Just one of the cool things found at fake is the new real
:: via the always excellent Satan's Laundromat ::
Just one of the cool things found at fake is the new real
:: via the always excellent Satan's Laundromat ::
The 100 Best Football Players According To Pel?
"And The 100 Best Ever Football Players Are..." The great Pele, himself one of Time's 100 List, has just presented his very own list, not entirely as diplomatic and Kofi Annan-like as FIFA would perhaps have wished, as it includes, imo, some quirky and interesting choices. It was announced today, so there's time to bitch about unacceptable omissions and incomprehensible inclusions before the print mob get their dirty little hands on it and tell us all what to think.
missy aggravation, some sacred questions
Gouge away / you can gouge away / stay all day / if you want to / chained to the pillars / a 3-day party / i break the walls / and kill us all / with holy fingers
The Blackmun Papers
"Dear Harry, I need to see you as soon as you have a few free moments. I want to tell you about some developments in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and at least part of what I say should come as welcome news." And with that handwritten memo from Justice Anthony Kennedy in 1992, Roe v. Wade was saved from the brink of extinction.
Five years after Harry A. Blackmun's death, the Supreme Court justice's papers have been made public. Although the LOC hasn't made images available on the Internet, the New York Times and NPR are publishing features and presentations over the next several days. They provide a fascinating view into the justices' deliberative and decisionmaking process, something that we rarely get to see.
Five years after Harry A. Blackmun's death, the Supreme Court justice's papers have been made public. Although the LOC hasn't made images available on the Internet, the New York Times and NPR are publishing features and presentations over the next several days. They provide a fascinating view into the justices' deliberative and decisionmaking process, something that we rarely get to see.
Background noise for your cellphone
SounderCover Are you the type who likes to call in sick to work... from the beach? This might just be for you. Seems like phonecams aren't the only cellphone app that raises some issues. (via cacheop)
Move towards the light, Ralph, the light!.....
Ralph Nader's Dark Alliance - (LA Weekly) In search of support for his candidacy, "...Nader has now jumped into bed with the ultrasectarian cult-racket formerly known as the New Alliance Party and its guru, Fred Newman" who "recruits and controls his followers through a brainwashing scheme baptized "social therapy," designed to create blind allegiance to Newman", and who has "dipped his rhetoric in the poisonous blood-libel of anti-Semitism, denouncing Jews as "storm troopers of decadent capitalism."". More on this right wing cult ( via Orcinus)
Hitler... Hitler... Hitler...
A vote against Bush is a vote for Hitler. Previously it was suggested that a vote for Bush was a vote FOR Hitler. What is with all the darn Hitler talk this election season?
Diaries of a Working Man
Eurodocs
Eurodocs: Primary Historical Documents from Western Europe.
Digital Utopia and its Flaws
Digital Utopia and its Flaws
Cory Doctorow In Conversation With R.U. Sirius
"Every other media revolution that we've had from Gutenberg to the radio to recorded music and so on, ended up with an industry that's a thousand times larger, that makes a thousand times more money, and makes available a thousand times more work. That happens every single time! If you go back far enough, you will find the guild of clavichord makers decrying the advent of the lute."
Cory Doctorow In Conversation With R.U. Sirius
"Every other media revolution that we've had from Gutenberg to the radio to recorded music and so on, ended up with an industry that's a thousand times larger, that makes a thousand times more money, and makes available a thousand times more work. That happens every single time! If you go back far enough, you will find the guild of clavichord makers decrying the advent of the lute."
MS + SCO + Linux...oh my...
Wait till one breaks a record ...
March 3
Eternal Egypt
A result of three years of cooperation between I.B.M. and Egypt's government and major museums, the country's considerable museum collections were digitized and loaded onto www.eternalegypt.org - Thousands more artifacts are to be added over time. I.B.M. expects the concept and the scanning and database technologies developed for the project to be applied at other museums and cultural collections worldwide.
Tinfoil wallet.
Planning to blackmail a government and ask for the ransom in unmarked bills? Make sure you don't get the new US $20 bills.
Bomb plot threatens rail system in France
Bomb plot threatens rail system in France Give us money ($5M) or we blow up your tracks! And the threat contained hints on where authorities could find samples. Is this the start of a new trend, will the French Gov pay, and why France?
Fensler/Lussenhop Umphrey's McGee Videos
You may remember Eric Fensler from his audio overdubs of old G.I. Joe PSAs. Now he and Doug Lussenhop, hired by a band to shoot some DVD extras, apply the same approach to raw video footage of slackers hanging out backstage, cops breaking up a post-gig crowd, etc.
Bubba for VP
Could former President Clinton become vice president? After all it is the next best thing to being President.
Naval contemplation
Haze Gray is a sort of "all things naval", or at least comes pretty close to it. Browse through the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, check out the status of the Russian Navy (or perhaps you're more interested in Myanmar's), have a look at the photo gallery or read the log of the USS Denver, a World War II cruiser. And that's not even the half of it.
Insurance Co. Warns on Global Warming
DIY Black Album Remix
The Jay-Z Construction Set : Make your own Black Album remix.
NY City Lights Competition
Wanted: New New York Street Lights. NYC organizes an international competition for new streetlight designs. (Those of you wishing to skip the Flash title and the framed navigation, go straight to the meat.) I have a request: lights that help minimize light pollution. (NYC Competition link via Veer Ideas.)
Movies and fonts: together at last!
The Movie Alphabet Game is harder than it looks. I'm stuck on C, O, U, and X. When you're through with that, try the second one.
The Workhouse
The Workhouse 'is an institution that often evokes the harsh and squalid world of Oliver Twist, but its story is also a fascinating mixture of social history, politics, economics and architecture.'
Free Stem Cells
Free stem cells! A Harvard scientist using private money has developed 17 new batches of human embryonic stem cells, which he's offering to any researcher who needs them for the cost of shipping. Perhaps this will help American scientists from losing the edge (unless, as some speculate, Bush is preparing to outlaw it.) Harvard is also developing a multimillion-dollar center to grow and study stem cells.
Cash for Killer Asteroids
The Charles "Pete" Conrad Astronomy Awards Act , passed by the House today, authorizes NASA to award $3,000 to amateur astronomers who locate asteroids that may possibly crash into the Earth and destroy life as we know it. Good to know that $3,000 is the going rate for saving the planet.
Portland Joins SanFran
Portland joins other cities in offering gay marriages. Multnomah County didn't consult the state Attorney General before they started issuing licenses, though, which is a bit unusual. Forgiveness easier than permission? There's also a Unitarian Church in downtown Portland that is performing same-sex marriage ceremonies, if you're interested in a church wedding.
Participate in your own manipulation
You can start a Synergistic Stress-Reduction/Transformation group : "participants arrange their chairs in a circle once a week in a group setting to perform a self-assessment of their biosystemic stress and do a routine of nonaerobic exercise, stretching, breathing and mental conditioning. In addition, participants will do one-minute relaxing, refreshing stretches and mental exercises several times daily at their desks or work stations".
This game is so damn hard!
Been sharing username/passwords lately?
Ping Pong Pang Pong!
Ping Pong Pang Pong ... (MIDI file). Archives of public transport departure chimes and announcements. From Japan, MIDI files [+] [+] (via Boingboing) and live recordings [+] [+] of various elaborate tunes (no I don't speak Japanese, just keep clicking the blue links until you hit an MP3!). European recordings [+]. The very excellent Shonen Knife used a sample of the Osaka subway chimes in their rockin' cover version of the Carpenter's 'Top of the World.' (WFMU archive here, click "Hear the show", song starts with Osaka chimes at approximately 15:23)
Office Supply Geeks Unite!
The Early Office Museum :: check out communications technologies used by our Grandparents, as well as Punched Card Tabulating Machines and much, much more!
GamesBids.com - City Versus City
GamesBids.com - City Versus City. With the Athens Olympic Games less than six months away, the competition is heating up...to host the 2012 Summer Games. Follow the political jockeying here. Will it be one of the powerhouses (New York, Paris, London), or does anyone think that Moscow or Havana have any chance at all? Also nice to look at are each city's "bid books" which are available in PDF format.
Forget The Simpons - Meet The Singhsons
Forget The Simpons - Meet The Singhsons 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and begin rants.
Exam Fun
Sorry, you've flunked. This gave me the best laugh I've had all week. I love the way you can tell the teacher marking the paper is getting more and more pissed off by the increasing ferocity of the red pen strokes. Heheheh. Give the kid an A.
The Second Civil War
Children Still Read ... Don't They?
10 Books to Feed the Imagination. Just in time for World Book Day, Lady Georgia Byng offers her favorite tomes for sparking a child's fancy. The usual suspects are here (Roald Dahl, J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman) with a couple of welcome surprises (Yann Martel and Jostein Gaarder). But tell me, MeFites ... which others did she miss?
Harry Potter : RIP
Harry Potter: RIP Private Harry Potter from the Worcestershire Regiment was killed in action at Hebron on 22/7/1939 aged 19 years, 10 months old.
This is a genuine photo of the grave of a British soldier that died during the time of the “Arab Rebellion” and is buried in the British military cemetery in Ramla Israel.
And a little shrimp shall lead the way....
New validation of desktop fusion claims - far from hating the small crustaceans, God has a plan for shrimp : to point scientists towards the secret - tiny bubbles! God also has a pan for shrimp, and some cajun blackening spices too...
Engadget
How I Lost the Big One
How I Lost the Big One Lawrence Lessig on losing Eldred v. Ashcroft: "We had in our Constitution a commitment to free culture. In the case that I fathered, the Supreme Court effectively renounced that commitment. A better lawyer would have made them see differently."
March 2
Duck Hunt, Simon, Pong, and more!
Top 10 satellite images
Transmogrify
The Calvin & Hobbes Extensive Strip Search (C.H.E.S.S.) is a wonderfully obsessive database of every Watterson strip indexed by keyword & description, with each strip scanned, as well as a book & page # listing of which collection the stip appears in (and original newspaper publication date). It's wildly in violation of copywrite, but it's also very cool. and the geek in me wonders how they do the cool right-mousebutton trick when you click on the strips
"Where did I put the remote control?"
What do you get when you give university students 48 hours to complete a short film that must included a briefcase, the phrase "Where did I put that remote control" and has to be a musical? 'Detonate'. (Click the 'detonate' link in the features section, movie plays in a pop up)
Hey Joe
Hey Joe! Jimi Hendrix, right? Unless it's one of the 599 others. Do we have any idea of what the real standards are; i.e., the truly most-covered and most-coveted songs? [Via LinkFilter.]
Decisive Super Tuesday
Buyer's Remorse? Mickey Kaus of Slate raises questions about Kerry as president, though as it looks like the Mass. senator has the nomination locked up. CNN reports that Edwards is dropping out tomorrow. And the polls aren't even closed yet in most states. CNN says the two men had a good talk by phone. Is this the Dems dream ticket? Meanwhile, Vermont screams for Dean.
Mining the Deep Web
Mining the Deep Web. Google indexes 4 billion pages, but there are hundreds of billions of documents out there in the Deep Web that are effectively unreachable by search engines because they are locked in databases or are unsearchable media. It looks like Yahoo is going to start giving us a peek by providing unified access to a wide variety of sites that are ordinarily only searchable by their own custom search engines.
Ashoura Day: Get Bloody People!
Ashoura Day
(warning, the image in the link is graphic and disturbing and is from Yahoo News, sorry about the lameness of the source) Ashoura Day is a Shiite Muslim holiday that commemorates the 7th century death of Saint Imam Hussein.
Its "celebrated" by cutting oneself or others with swords and knives and is primarily aimed at children though many adults get into it as well. I'm all for cultural tolerance but this strikes me as pretty blatant child abuse.
For an in depth examination of what the Ashoura commemoration means, check out The Connotations of Ashoura.
(warning, the image in the link is graphic and disturbing and is from Yahoo News, sorry about the lameness of the source) Ashoura Day is a Shiite Muslim holiday that commemorates the 7th century death of Saint Imam Hussein.
Its "celebrated" by cutting oneself or others with swords and knives and is primarily aimed at children though many adults get into it as well. I'm all for cultural tolerance but this strikes me as pretty blatant child abuse.
For an in depth examination of what the Ashoura commemoration means, check out The Connotations of Ashoura.
Wave Power Generation
Ocean Power Technologies is one of the leading Ocean Wave Power alternative energy companies. The technology is simple to understand, easy to deploy and costs about the same as fossil fuel power 3 to 4 cents. OPT just signed a deal for a 1M farm off the coast of Spain with a 100M farm by 2006, a major step forward for wave power generation.
Air Raid Sirens
Koo koo kids lookin' for koo koo kicks
Local Kid Show Hosts. For many of us kids from the 70s, national shows like Sesame Street, The Electric Company, and Zoom! were staples of our "boob tube" saturated lives. But what about the local kids shows? In Seattle, we had some amazing local kiddie shows, from the delightfully subversive JP Patches who lived in the city dump with his transvestite pal Gertrude, to the sugary sweet "Boomerang" hosted by Marni "The Voice of Hollywood" Nixon. Going even further back, we had Stan Boreson, "The King of Scandahoovian Humor" hosting the loopy "King's Klubhouse" in the 50s, the eerie "Wunda Wunda Show" hosted by Ruth Prins (not much out there about her), and Captain Puget with his sidekick Salty, played by local eccentric businessman Ivar Haglund. Who were your local kids show hosts and how whacked out were they?
Better Orgasms Now -- Ask Me How
Gay sex -- so good, it just might destroy the planet. Family Research Council founder Paul Cameron is frequently cited as an authority on sexuality by the religious right. In his view, "lesbians are particularly good seducers" and the thrill of gay sex is like "pure heroin" -- which is why homosexuality must be stopped before we all suffer gay-orgasm death, apparently. (I don't know about you, but after reading Cameron, I could sure use a... something in my mouth.) [via TBogg.]
i hate taxes.
Ever hear of a "tangible tax law"? Chances are, you haven't. Florida doesn't have an income tax, so it makes up for it by having something called a tangible tax. The state of Florida taxes businesses for property they ALREADY OWN that could be used to generate income...on top of a 5.5% corporate tax rate. Many Floridians own their own businesses, a percentage of which are sole proprietorships (like me doing freelance work) and so won't owe state or corporate income taxes, yet will have to pay because of this law. Many of you have experience with property taxes, which are the most common form of Ad Valorem tax, but if you own a business or do freelance work, I suggest you educate yourself.
Reverse revisionism?
How bad was the bombing of Dresden? It seems there is a veritable industry dedicated to debunking the various and sundry historical accounts different groups hold sacred. I was raised by pacifists and was made very familiar with the stories of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Dresden, in particular. According to this man's new book, the firebombing of Dresden wasn't quite as bad as it has been made out to be. In fact, much of the evidence for the numbers of dead come from an historian who has since been discredited as a holocaust denier. Others would argue that a war crime is a war crime is a war crime.
In the end, do the specific numbers really matter? How less evil is 25,000 dead than 135,000?
ye shall have their carcases in abomination!
James Rosenquist
Entertainment Industry Efforts Bad for Economy
The New York Times reports: The entertainment industry's pursuit of tough new laws to protect copyrighted materials from online piracy is bad for business and for the economy, according to a report [pdf] being released today by the Committee for Economic Development, a Washington policy group that has its roots in the business world. Finally, some corporate and economic policy recognition that big media's antiquated distribution models cannot and should not be protected with government regulations or government-mandated DRM. Read a summary of the report and its recommendations here [pdf].
The Agenda Laid Bare
Culture War a-brewin' ...git yer ammo here. As territory is staked out in this nascent national struggle, the Independent Gay Forum has a number of articles that provide a more-than-cursory glimpse of the manner in which one side hopes to frame the debate, and a likely response to the frames already in place. Especially notable is John Corvin's Homosexuality and Morality. It appears as if the newest round of the culture wars may be unique in that two sides will be fighting them.
D'oh! Simpsons Movie coming eventually
Yep, it's true, a Simpsons movie is being worked on. Target release date is sometime in 2006, though there's nothing in IMDB about it yet.
Kamagasaki
The Kamagasaki Gallery. Background to and photographs of a Japanese slum.
Not your average cuppa
The Russian cup of tea is a marvelous triumph of quality over schedule. It is also remarkably similar to the way the Turks make tea.
"When I See the Blood..."
"Urban Armor," or "kickass alternative menstrual gear." Project of a "fight the power" type activist-feminist movement against industrial distortions of menstrual culture. (No surprise, I suppose, that I saw links to this on flyers at an art college.) Previous MeFi discussion on "menstrual culture" here. And when the monthly flow has ceased, other forms of kickass alternative gear are available.
Too much testosterone = autism?
A New Chronology?
The mathematician Anatoly Fomenko is one of a number of Russian academics advancing revisionist chronologies which portray a greatly foreshortened view of European history. He argues that mediaeval and classical histories as we know them today were fabricated in Renaissance times. In his book 'History: Fiction or Science', he 'proves' that Jesus Christ was born in 1053 and crucified in 1086, and that the Old Testament refers to mediaeval events... Fomenko's theories have been debunked, but his ideas have nevertheless gained some currency in Russia: among his supporters is the former chess champion Garry Kasparov. Of course, Fomenko is by no means the first mathematician to grapple with the subject of chronology: indeed, any history must be founded in part on a calculus of dates... Are there any parallels, I wonder, between the spread of theories like Fomenko's and the renewed prevalence of Biblical chronologies in the US, for example: is there some kind of psychological solace in perceiving history on a smaller scale than current academic orthodoxy allows? (more inside).
March 1
Sculptor Christina Bothwell
"Swept Off My Feet" is a current wonder by Sculptor Christina Bothwell, who works primarily in kiln cast glass, often with raku ceramic or mixed-media. Examples of her beautiful yet strange, compelling work can be found on her site, as well as on various galleries and the Web.
That's so feuj, Cartman.
Flies, Spiders and Pillbugs, oh my!
The Insectlopedia has proven to be a fun distraction from human-based work today. Not too many places keep so much info on bugs handy and updated. Mostly a page of links to off-site content, yet it keeps drawing me back for more. Everything from the Social Wasps of Siberia to Live Beecams can be found here.
MyPetFat
Aristide Says He Was Kidnapped
Aristide Says He Was Kidnapped From Democracy Now: Aristide says he was "kidnapped" and taken by force to the Central African Republic. Congressmember Maxine Waters said she received a call from Aristide at 9am EST. "He's surrounded by military. It's like he is in jail, he said. He says he was kidnapped," said Waters. "He did not resign.... He was abducted by the United States in the commission of a coup." Robinson says he spoke to Aristide on a cell phone that was smuggled to the Haitian president. Will this revolution be televised? (Accounts in ogg and mp3)
The Deal
The Deal. Why is Washington going easy on Pakistan's nuclear black marketers and supporting the pardon of Abdul Qadeer Khan? According to Seymour Hersh, it's in exchange for Pervez Musharraf allowing U.S. troops into Pakistan to hunt for Osama bin Laden. [Via The Argus.]
Cruelest Farmer Gets Two Years for Vet Attack
'Cruelest Farmer' Jailed for Vet Attack
Roger Baker, dubbed Britain's "cruelest" farmer, has just gotten a two year sentence for attacking a vet and pushing her into "a mire of manure and cow urine." He then held her down in the nasty muck.
Given his history of violence and cruelty, doesn't two years seem a little light?
Roger Baker, dubbed Britain's "cruelest" farmer, has just gotten a two year sentence for attacking a vet and pushing her into "a mire of manure and cow urine." He then held her down in the nasty muck.
Given his history of violence and cruelty, doesn't two years seem a little light?
Terrifying Fish
Terrifying gallery of fish from the deep, DEEP seas.
In the eye of the beholder, or a bar of soap?
Beyond Compare: Women Photographers On Beauty "An international photography exhibit from Dove that aims to inspire dialogue, move beyond stereotypes and challenge women to question their definition of beauty."
(Flash, mostly safe for work)
(Flash, mostly safe for work)
SuperSize Me.
SuperSize Me. NYT Link reports that the average person in the USA is getting bigger. But, we aren't the only ones.
Prunella Clough
Seeing the World Sideways: Prunella Clough. 'A private individual who chose to remain out of the limelight and yet was admired so highly by her peers, Prunella Clough, like Edward Burra, lived to paint. Her technique is masterly, her subject matter everyday in origin, her method idiosyncratic, the results atmospheric. She worked with her skill, not her ego, saying: "I like to
paint a small thing edgily." '
Online gallery here.
Online gallery here.
When Neutrality Is Bad
Derailing The Friedmans. An interesting Slate piece on the neutrality of the Oscar-nominated documentary "Capturing The Friedmans." It starts: "When a documentary filmmaker uncovers overwhelming evidence that the subject of his film was wrongly convicted, shouldn't he take a stand on the man's innocence?"
rodents b gone
If you have a gopher problem that rivals caddyshack, and you like to blow shit up, the rodenator is probably the tool you need. Check out the videos to see the cutting edge technology that rivals a 12 year old bully with too many firecrackers. I'd feign PETA-style shock and horror but it's almost comical how this tool does its job.
Endangered Species: Human Languages Are Becoming Extinct
Imagine how different politics would be if debates were conducted in Tariana, an Amazonian language in which it is a grammatical error to report something without saying how you found it out. Say No More. Some call it Murder that is a threat to survival. On Saving Dying Languages. A sample project: Iquito Language Documentation Project (PDF) Here are some Endangered language Resources. Here is a booklist by Andrew Dalby on lost and threatened languages and here you can put your money where your mouth is: Endangered Language Fund.
Getting away from it all
There go my dreams of retireing in Ouagadougou or Baghdad but Vancouver, B.C. and mmmmmmAmsterdam are still in the running.
A little help, please?
Matrix Essays.
The Matrix Explained. Here are a couple of essays on the Matrix Sequels. Does anyone besides me actually like these movies?
Furious Bear
Clothes by bloggers, for bloggers. Two blogger girls make blogger-related stuff. Stock up in time for the next Juliana Theory concert. Some of their stuff is pretty funny.