December 10, 2002
Mefi Friend
youaremyfriend.com presents an entertaining way of using dynamic DNS and shockwave put together! Turn your sound on and Enjoy!
Scraping the bottom of the culture of celebrity
More fallout from the Winona trial: Dr Jules Lusman, a 'celebrity doctor' who (over)prescribed painkillers to Winona Ryder, has had his California medical license revoked. 'The Medical Board said Dr Lusman became known in celebrity circles for his willingness to make out-of-hours calls at homes and hotels and write prescriptions for opiates and hypnotic drugs, as well as syringes...'
The Smoking Gun has also posted the entire Ryder probation report, which details more sad, depressing facts which surfaced during the trial, including these about celebrity basket case Courtney Love.
slugs invade new york
Prepare for the worst... says Mayor Mike, as NYC faces down a crippling transit strike. For starters, cars carrying fewer than four people could not enter or leave Manhattan over any bridge or through any tunnel on weekdays, 24 hours a day. Commuters wishing to get into the city by car would need to pick up strangers -- and the city will facilitate this with staging areas. Unflappable New Yorkers are at least a little flapped. But the practice of strangers hitching rides with lone drivers isn't new to NoVa: There, they are called slugs and body snatchers. [more inside]
Nobel Price for Literature
Ruby: Galactic Gumshoe
Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe is a funny and inventive science-fiction series that originally aired in three-minute segments on NPR back in the 1980s. I remember listening to my dad's tapes of it when I was a kid. It's a great combination of absurdist humor and classic cyberpunk, and eminently enjoyable for anyone who likes radio drama.
I was delighted recently discover that not only is it available to buy on CD, but the entire thing is online in streaming quicktime to listen to!
I was delighted recently discover that not only is it available to buy on CD, but the entire thing is online in streaming quicktime to listen to!
Ecopsychology
Ecopsychology may be the answer for those driven to distraction by their cubicle-ruled lives. This field of study aims to investigate the relationship between the human mind and our environment. Interacting with nature obviously has positive effects on our happiness, so maybe we just need some more potted plants around the office? How about office wilderness hikes instead of Christmas parties?
Ship intercepted carrying missiles
Ship intercepted carrying missiles North Korea truly is a part of the "Axis of Evil." Question: who was to get the missles in Yemen, and what was to be done with them?
Same sex union
DC church approves same sex union. From the article:
The unanimous decision on Saturday by its board of elders places the 159-year-old congregation, where U.S. presidents James A. Garfield and Lyndon B. Johnson once worshiped, among a small number of D.C. area churches that permit such services, often called "covenant ceremonies."
No leading questions this time, (see saturday's "gun post") just curious if this is happening elsewhere in the U.S.
The History of the Cubicle
Mommy, where do cubicles come from? Ever watch old movies, and feel a deep pang of resentment and envy at the open, spacious offices depicted therein? What ever happened to the human workplace? The ugly truth is finally revealed: it's all Herman Miller's fault. The introduction of their Action Office system in the late 1950s was largely responsible for the office cubicle as we know it today. While things are obviously not as bad as they could be, people could at least learn how to behave themselves in the modern cube-farm.
Canada Ratifies Kyoto
Canadian Paliament ratifies the Kyoto Accord. Someone on this continent had to do it.
Turkish Star Trek
Xmas as a Jewish holiday
Have you ever wondered what Xmas would be like if it were a Jewish Holiday? Precisely defined rules for preparing for the holiday, procuring and decorating the tree, cooking the festive meal, giving gifts, and all other seasonal celebrations. With footnotes! Songs! More footnotes! Riddles! Even more footnotes! [via Making Light] (This is a Geocities site, so don't all rush there at once and overload it, OK?)
Captcha
CAPTCHA is the Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart. The test promises to keep online polls honest, block search engine bots, and end spam as we know it. The program generates and grades tests that (1) most humans can pass and (2) current computer programs can't pass. For example, humans can read distorted text but current computer programs can't. To see if you're human or not, take a Captcha test yourself here. To read more check out this nytimes article.
17 million Latin American people out of work
17 million Latin American people out of work Claimed to be the highest level since 1980. How much longer, or how many more, until nations revert to Che Guevarra or Pinochet and the US to the CIA and intervention? Will history repeat itself, or has history paved the way for an alternative outcome?
Damn you mail tub theives!!
So that's why the economy is so bad. The USPS is looking for $65 million dollars worth of white mail postal tubs. If you work in an office or deal with a mailroom, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The penalty for not coughing them up? 3 years imprisonment and a $1000 fine. (I read it on the side of one of the boxes I have by my desk).
Makin' Bones About Bones
Atapuerca (in Spanish, with incomplete English translation) is the site of the earliest European hominid ancestors yet found in Europe. Two of the most stunning finds are Gran Dolina, where the first Homo antecessor fossils were found, and Sima de los Huesos, site of the most complete Homo heidelbergensis fossils ever excavated. And soon: an exhibit at the Museum of Natural History in New York. I know my plans for January 11th.
Island
Island... Get Your Island Here! This is the sale of the century - everything must go! (and if you believe that's possible, then i've got a bridge to sell you...)
The Letter Project
Fast Food Fever
Thesis - Antithesis - Synthesis. The "You got your ______ in my ______!" concept is taken to new heights, or at least to McDonald's, at Fast Food Fever.
Corporate Freeloader Chief is Bush's Choice to Head Treasury
Corporate Freeloader Chief is Bush's Choice to Head Treasury John W. Snow, President Bush's choice to replace the fired Paul O'Neill as Secretary of the Treasury, is the CEO of CSX.
In three of the past four years, CSX Corporation, paid no federal income tax at all. Instead of paying taxes, CSX supplemented its $934 million in pretax U.S. profits over the four years with a total of $164 million in tax rebate checks from the federal government.
"If the President's goal is to encourage even more corporate tax sheltering, then Mr. Snow looks like a fine choice to help him do so," said Robert S. McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice.
In three of the past four years, CSX Corporation, paid no federal income tax at all. Instead of paying taxes, CSX supplemented its $934 million in pretax U.S. profits over the four years with a total of $164 million in tax rebate checks from the federal government.
"If the President's goal is to encourage even more corporate tax sheltering, then Mr. Snow looks like a fine choice to help him do so," said Robert S. McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice.
Fire and art
Should art be destroyed? Burned, perhaps? David Mach sculpts heads from live matches of different colors, then burns the matchhead. Fascinating movies included. (via SeattleFools newsletter)
Elf, Elf, Baby.
I know I shouldn't, but I can't help it:
I know I shouldn't, but I can't help it: If Ann Coulter published children's literature. There's nothing to discuss here, but the article (from Salon, please don't hate me) provided a good laugh.
The New River. Which isn't either...
When the Romans ran out of fresh water, they built aqueducts. When C17 Londoners ran out, they built The New River. Snaking from Chadwell and Amwell springs to the New River Head, it's not new, it's not a river, but it is the largest body of non-tidal flowing water in Europe and one of few local habitats for dragonflies [geocities].
Over 40 miles in length, and taking just 4 years to complete, the river was opened in 1613. But it ran over budget and didn't make a profit until 1633, two years after it's designer and chief financier, Hugh Myddelton, had died.
Over 40 miles in length, and taking just 4 years to complete, the river was opened in 1613. But it ran over budget and didn't make a profit until 1633, two years after it's designer and chief financier, Hugh Myddelton, had died.
Talking someone down from a bad trip
Playing cards from around the world
Playing cards from around the world. Spanish cards, Swiss cards, Finnish cards, Israeli cards and Japanese cards, for example. Just a small part of the collection at the Elliot Avedon Museum and Archive of Games at the University of Waterloo, Ontario.
Spindizzy?
'At 52x CD-ROM speeds (27,500rpm) disks shatter in a "rain of plastic particles". Is technology spinning out of control?
"I haven't experienced an exploding CD but did have my copy of Neverwinter Nights somehow levitate out of the CD holder and bury itself in the nether parts of my machine with a nasty metallic thunk"
Are these violent video games a danger to society?
Reading, Writing and Speaking Skills
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah: The decline of literacy essay has been a cyclical product since the ancient Greeks. Isn't it funny contemporary doomsayers never mention that reading and writing medium. hot on the heels of text-destroying television, that is the Internet? Or doesn't it count? Hands up those who wish the good Marshall was still around to put us right.
It's just a bunch of squares
I hope you find these abstract mosaics as stimulating as I do. But are they NSFW?
The Illustrated Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
The Illustrated Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. An exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art. Stunning illustrations of world-class poetry. 'nuff said.
Defamation on the Internet
The High Court of Australia has decided that you can defame someone in Australia by posting an article on a website hosted outside Australia, if that article is read by people inside Australia. I suppose this means that anyone posting on the internet is subject to Australian defamation law. (Unless you decide to block requests from Australian browsers.)
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