The day in posts: 12/30/2004

Sodis.ch is a Swiss group which has conducted low cost water treatment research in areas of the world currently affected by the tsunami. There are immediate concerns with waterbourne microbial diseases. The entire region is receiving rainfall at the moment. Shipping in massive amounts of plastic bottles to sanitize that falling water may be a viable immediate fix for water sanitation.
posted by elle at 9:02 PM PST - 6 comments

Einstein's miraculous centenary - "A century after Einstein's miracle year, most people still do not understand exactly what it was he did. Here, we attempt to elucidate." [oh and, also see :]
posted by kliuless at 8:36 PM PST - 68 comments

Spain to legalize Same Sex Marriages. Fulfilling a campaign promise, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's socialist government is on the verge of making Spain only the third country in Europe to legalize same sex marriages after the Netherlands and Belgium. This and other progressive legislation has led angry bishops of the Spanish Church and other religious groups to start a campaign against Zapatero's “social revolution” that is converting Spain into one of the most liberal countries in all of Europe. [more inside]
posted by sic at 6:17 PM PST - 61 comments

Indeed.com is what a job search aggregator was meant to be. I stumbled across it and have found it immensely helpful. It indexes every job site that I’m aware of, corporate employment pages, newspapers and craigslist then makes the jobs searchable based on keyword(s) and (optionally) location. Searches can be made into RSS feeds, e-mail alerts, etc. Current beta only work for jobs in U.S.
posted by jperkins at 6:05 PM PST - 24 comments

Methuselah is 4,767 years of age. The Bristlecone Pines began life during the Third Dynasty in Egypt.
posted by arse_hat at 5:44 PM PST - 27 comments

Channel 101 - Democratic "television" on the web. Shows include The 'Bu (first episode in 3-D!!!), the bizarre Ringwald and Molly, Laser Fart, the much downloaded Kicked in the Nuts!, and many more. Some shows may be NSFW.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 3:15 PM PST - 11 comments

Why Does Archbishop Desmond Tutu Hate Our Christian Moral Values? In an interview with MSNBC, the nobel prize winner slams George Bush. "I had naively believed all these many years that Americans genuinely believed in freedom of speech. [But I] discovered there that when you made an utterance that was remotely contrary to what the White House was saying, then they attacked you. For a South African the déjà vu was frightening. They behaved exactly the same way that used to happen here [during apartheid]—vilifying those who are putting forward a slightly different view."
posted by expriest at 3:03 PM PST - 95 comments

10 years of freedom. This past year marked a full decade since South Africa held true elections. The CBC held interviews with four prominent S. Africans. Writer Zakes Mda, Leader of the Independent Democrats Patricia de Lille, Albie Sachs - judge on the Constitutional Court of South Africa, and Bulelani Ngcuka - The National Director of Public Prosecutions.
There are problems (of course), first hand reports still indicate rampant racism (As mentioned from Wired to AllAfrica.com) Some serious corruption charges have been leveled against members of the ANC. Poverty and AIDS both remain high. Despite these issues I cannot but have hope, and believe that this was the way a people should seek liberation. Congrats S.A. I hope the future continues to improve for you.
posted by edgeways at 1:30 PM PST - 5 comments

The Beagle Bros Software Online Museum - "a tribute to the coolest software company of the 80's." These guys made my Apple II childhood just a little more magical. The museum includes their ever-informative diskette care warning labels and a less-than-useful but inside joke-filled FAQ. The Beagle Bros Wikipedia entry also has a lot of fun tidbits.

They also had very funny and clever ads (found on this great Apple II history page). The ads always contained these amazing little 2-liners, Applesoft BASIC programs that made my 11 year-old head spin trying to figure out the PEEKs and POKEs that turned Applesoft BASIC from a toy into a pretty powerful tool.

This bout of nostalgia started when I discovered, via this boingboing post, that you could play I/O Silver online (ActiveX)! (only the greatest puzzle game I've ever owned. And hard as heck, too.)
posted by Space Coyote at 12:37 PM PST - 18 comments

AARP Says No To Bush ... The AARP is coming out strong against private Social security investment accounts, saying they "will actually make the problem worse, not better." In January they plan to spend $50 million on an ad campaign opposing privatization. Kevin Drum of The Washington Monthly has also been awesome in pointing out that the common wisdom that Social Security is in trouble is just not true.
posted by nathanrudy at 11:04 AM PST - 116 comments

"Massive misinformation" from Arab news networks such as Al-Jazeera is hampering the US effort in Iraq, Rumsfeld told the troops during his Christmas Eve visit to Mosul: "Everything we do here is harder because of television stations like Al Jazeera and Al Arabiyah." In remarks that were not quoted in the American press, the defense secretary went on to tell the troops, "We don't go out and hire journalists and propagandize and lie and put people on payroll so that they'll say what you want. We just don't do that and they do and that's happening" (which is itself meta-misinformation.) Meanwhile, the Pentagon's multimillion-dollar solution -- the CIA-funded Iraqi news network, Al-Iraqiya (featuring "Iraqi programs that make you laugh, cry, and learn") -- has become "an irrelevant mouthpiece for [coalition] propaganda" according to one of its own former correspondents, veteran news reporter Don North.
posted by digaman at 10:24 AM PST - 21 comments

Before, during and after. DigitalGlobe's QuickBird satellite imaged the coast of Sri Lanka at precisely the time the tidal wave hit the beaches. It was pure coincidence.
posted by OpinioNate at 10:13 AM PST - 57 comments

An unholy union of fitness and fast food: Bally Total Fitness teams up with Yum Brands to offer free four-month gym memberships to people who eat at Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, Long John Silver's or A&W restaurants.
posted by me3dia at 9:03 AM PST - 51 comments

Twisting Tongues in Other Tongues
This page was originally created to give a good group of tongue twisters to people in speech therapy, to people who want to work on getting rid of an accent, or to people who just plain like tongue twisters. I hope you enjoy them.
posted by miss lynnster at 8:17 AM PST - 32 comments

Bubbles the Artist! If you've been looking for a Pee Wee Herman dinner plate, a greeting card featuring Paul Lynde, or a painting of John Belushi drinking himself to death, then look no further. (If you love crappy disco midi files, you'll want to keep your speakers turned up.)
posted by ba at 7:22 AM PST - 11 comments