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Trusted Computing. Microsoft and friends are proposing some major alterations to the way that computers work, the ostensible goal being to increase security. But others say that the real goals are much more insidious.
posted by bingo at 11:08 PM PST - 15 comments

You've probably seen Modern Ruins, Forgotten New York, and even Lost America... but have you seen the abandoned island of Gunkanjima? [via Boing Boing]
posted by keswick at 9:23 PM PST - 18 comments

Sorry Is The New Screw You: Whatever happened to "Never explain, never apologize"? Apparently, it went the way of Mrs Thatcher's state banquets...
posted by MiguelCardoso at 8:11 PM PST - 10 comments

I'll raise you 5 bananas. What do Primate Programmers do in their off hours? Using David Sklansky's theorys to play Texas Hold'em online. As a poker-playing, programming, primate myself, I can relate.
posted by bashos_frog at 6:10 PM PST - 2 comments

the rebirth of concept Mike Skinner aka The Streets is back with a new album that have critics comparing it to the best of Mike Leigh and Pulp's Different Class. A Grand Don't Come for Free. Now Mr. Skinner is touring North America with apparent heir Dizzee Rascal. A new british invasion. Coming soon to a town near you. and a call out to the blue and green in the track Blinded by the Light.
posted by grimley at 4:03 PM PST - 39 comments

Shrek 2: The First Five Minutes. Forget trailers; this is the future.
posted by reklaw at 3:44 PM PST - 47 comments

Festival de Cannes update: The new Michael Moore movie received a 18 minutes long standing ovation , a couple of days ago, which was already meaningful to him and his film crew. Tonight Moore also received the prestigious Palme D'Or prize, making sure the film will receive an adequate distribution in the United States. His speech was quite powerful, beginning with him visibly stunned, looking at Quentin Tarantino (who was in tears) in disbelief, saying “What have you done? I’m completely overwhelmed by this. Merci”.
posted by Sijeka at 3:34 PM PST - 69 comments

Blunt Talk by General Anthony Zinni

Whose foresight was 20/20.
posted by y2karl at 3:08 PM PST - 16 comments

Washington's Farewell Address, from The Papers of George Washington.
posted by hama7 at 2:59 PM PST - 4 comments

Impossible Objects
via del.icio.us
posted by thatwhichfalls at 1:48 PM PST - 20 comments

Attacked By Thugs! - Maciej Ceglowski is accosted by young, dorky thugs in Warsaw. After flagging down a van full of police to report the incident, frenzied pursuit-driven hijinks ensue. Almost makes me want to move to Poland and become a cop. Anyone have any sort of similar, amusing, crazed police experience? (I realise there are plenty of non-amusing, crazed police stories out there too, unfortunately.)
posted by DyRE at 1:01 PM PST - 7 comments

Why $2 Gas Is Amazing Gasoline is now selling at more than $2 a gallon, which, after inflation, is higher than it's been since 1981. But that's not the amazing part. Actually, there are three amazing parts.
posted by Postroad at 12:27 PM PST - 99 comments

At last, "THX-1138" with green-glowing, computer-generated robot factories! George Lucas's first movie, the namesake of his sound system, is coming to a theater near you, with a new 3D effects facelift, and a chilly, incomprehensible Flash site. Will his "original vision" of this 1971 dystopia be realized at last, or will his additions clash with the stark San Francisco subway tunnels, like so much Yes music in a "Metropolis" re-release?
posted by inksyndicate at 11:44 AM PST - 27 comments

Box of Snakes 'Linked to Death' Little Rock, Ark. Police are investigating a link between a mysterious box of venomous snakes and the death of a business traveler whose body was found in a rental car last week.
posted by mcgraw at 10:47 AM PST - 10 comments

Was Bush duped into war by Iran? "Iranian intelligence has been manipulating the United States through Chalabi by furnishing...information to provoke the United States into getting rid of Saddam Hussein," said an intelligence source.
posted by CunningLinguist at 9:52 AM PST - 56 comments

The Rejection Hotline is a number you can give out to somebody who asks for your phone number if you just don't want to give out your real number. Located in over 30 cities nationwide, and with people having cell phone numbers from all over the place, you never have to deal with telling someone no again. Get your number before you head out tonight.
posted by thebwit at 9:14 AM PST - 21 comments

US demands war crimes immunity But human rights campaigners said the Iraq prison abuse scandal proves that the US needs to be held to account. "Given the recent revelations... the US has picked one hell of a moment to ask for special treatment," said Richard Dicker of Human Rights Watch. -- the annual renewal of US protection from international prosecution for war crimes when serving under UN auspices comes to a vote on Monday.
posted by amberglow at 6:58 AM PST - 34 comments

She arranged the flowers, which were grown in radioactive soil in an experimental greenhouse.. Photographs of Chernobyl 1994-1998.
posted by pieoverdone at 6:43 AM PST - 17 comments

Kinsley goes Zola on Brooks "In his writing and on television, he actually seems reasonable. More than that, he seems cuddly. He gives the impression of being open to persuasion. Like the elderly Jewish lady who thinks someone must be Jewish because ''he's so nice,'' liberals suspect that a writer as amiable as Brooks must be a liberal at heart. Some conservatives think so too." via A&L Daily
posted by leotrotsky at 6:07 AM PST - 6 comments