August 1, 2001

House of Representatives approves drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

House of Representatives approves drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
posted by solistrato at 10:25 PM PST - 85 comments

I don't get it. I have AT&T@home, but this still loads as fast as on my dialup.

I don't get it. I have AT&T@home, but this still loads as fast as on my dialup. Are you too displeased with your cable modem connection? Do you think there is anyone out there who has actually called tech support about this? Or other ad's like it. "You have new mail" masquerading as a real window etc. This is a very stupid thread I'm starting. Be advised
posted by crasspastor at 10:23 PM PST - 13 comments

Call the Vatican. Or Boston Public Library. Or Grand Central Station.

Call the Vatican. Or Boston Public Library. Or Grand Central Station. A few friends of mine used to use this tactic to see what the weather is like. This is a database of public pay-phone numbers, along with location and occasional sundry information. Read, call, and contribute!
posted by atfrost at 8:11 PM PST - 14 comments

FDA approves camera pill

FDA approves camera pill that takes pictures of your gastrointestinal system as it "glides through the small intestine." For anyone who has ever endured an endoscopy.
posted by thescoop at 7:47 PM PST - 10 comments

And now, your celebrity trend for the week: pop singers having nervous breakdowns.
posted by solistrato at 6:51 PM PST - 14 comments

It's probably old news to most of you that Skybiz (which I am deliberately not linking) recently came under FTC scrutiny for being a pyramid scheme. What I'm wondering is: why is the original news article about it no longer on CNET News, and why can't I seem to find any more news about this scam? (Here's the cached Google copy of the news item.)

Coverup? Or just an "expired" article? (While we're here, anyone with firsthand feedback on Skybiz?)
posted by brownpau at 6:44 PM PST - 1 comments


Boston Boy Scouts allow gay leaders

Boston Boy Scouts allow gay leaders
I have many friends who were Eagle Scouts. They all say that there were many openly gay scouts during their time. This whole issue strikes me as purely technical.

What do other Scouts at Metafilter think?
posted by awcole72 at 4:58 PM PST - 20 comments

Distributed computing = 30 year sentance?

Distributed computing = 30 year sentance?
DeKalb Technical College in Georgia seeks a grand jury indictment against a former admin who installed Distributed.net software on school computers without permisson.

While he may not have had permisson and that in itself may have been wrong, does that really warrant the threat of 30 years in prison for "computer theft and trespassing"? Not only does that seem needlessly extreme, but there seems to be a witch-hunt like atmosphere these days about computer crimes in general, no matter how small. What gives?
posted by Hackworth at 4:30 PM PST - 10 comments


"If we had realized someone might have wanted to have them, we would have backed them up. Hindsight is 20/20."

"If we had realized someone might have wanted to have them, we would have backed them up. Hindsight is 20/20." Did anybody think that the election board in Palm Beach County did everything they could to make themselves look like idiots? Think again. In preparation for spring primaries they've erased all of the machine counts from the 2000 elections. I think the above quote by Jeff Darter, information technology manager in Election Supervisor Theresa LePore's office, just goes that extra mile to show how completely out of touch and incompetent these people are...
posted by RevGreg at 4:13 PM PST - 27 comments

Ain't nuthin' but a Khai thing, baby.

Ain't nuthin' but a Khai thing, baby.
posted by Mark at 4:03 PM PST - 10 comments

An inventive way to get cybersquatter off your domain.

An inventive way to get cybersquatter off your domain. [page 3 & 4] Anyone have any great domain theft/squatting stories? My office just won a domain battle, and was served papers for another soon after. Life Goes on...[also tidbits on the motivations of congress in passing domain-use laws.]
posted by th3ph17 at 3:54 PM PST - 7 comments

Jon Voight needs new management.

Jon Voight needs new management. Or maybe he just needs the money.
posted by donkeyschlong at 3:53 PM PST - 10 comments

World's numbers may peek by 2100

World's numbers may peek by 2100 Implications ? Parking going to be easier? Should we do more to stop decline or tapering off?
posted by Postroad at 3:39 PM PST - 26 comments

Debunking the Myth of a Desperate Software Labor Shortage.

Debunking the Myth of a Desperate Software Labor Shortage. This recently updated and very extensive study by a member of the CS department at UC Davis CS outlines the issues involved for new and old programmers, including how there isn't really a shortage of programmers in the US, employers are just extremely picky. Also provides suggestions for programmers wanting to keep up with their skills to stay in the industry.
posted by valerie at 2:44 PM PST - 9 comments

Word of the day: onomasticon.
posted by jammer at 1:32 PM PST - 1 comments

Cancel the Paper.

Cancel the Paper. Do you subscribe your local daily paper? (If it's not NY or DC or LA.) If so, do you actually read it? Did you ever subscribe? If so, why did you quit? What about the local alternative (weekly or otherwise)?
posted by jdbanks at 12:14 PM PST - 37 comments

The Sigmund Typeface Utility

The Sigmund Typeface Utility allows you to generate dynamic images of text via a query string. There are options for the font style, color, and kerning. And the best part? Its all open source so it seems like someone could come up with a generator for things like Silkscreen, Mini7 or whatever else one might find useful.
posted by bshort at 11:31 AM PST - 10 comments

Anti-rip CD system bypassed.

Anti-rip CD system bypassed. heh. nice try, boyos. i've never understood how people can believe something digitized can possibly be protected in such a manner as to be foolproof. what one process can scramble, another can undo. [via /.]
posted by fuzzygeek at 11:16 AM PST - 5 comments

Canada strongly considering decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana

Canada strongly considering decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana
posted by 4midori at 11:13 AM PST - 20 comments

GLAAD is about to boycott Keven Smith's new movie.

GLAAD is about to boycott Keven Smith's new movie. For basically using the too many "gay" slurs. I seem to be getting flash backs to when the Catholic League boycotted his Dogma film. I wonder what group is going to ban his next film?
posted by Qambient at 10:54 AM PST - 29 comments

Hi! Monkey!

Hi! Monkey! is one of the funniest, cutest sites I've seen in a long time. I was really surprised it hadn't been 'filtered before (correct me if I'm wrong). If you need a little break in your day for something goofy, it's a good place to turn. Personal fave: the pictures of him going Trick-or-Treating...
posted by bcwinters at 10:25 AM PST - 10 comments

An Orgy of Abstinence.

An Orgy of Abstinence. "Questions plant ideas," warns Peter Brandt, director of issues-response for the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family. Well we wouldn't want things like questions or ideas in our schools, now would we?
posted by MarkO at 10:20 AM PST - 23 comments

Cool collective art.

Cool collective art. This project takes blank slate real-world media (journals, t-shirts, books, etc..) and snail mails it around to participants who add to the work creating a collective piece of art. It aims to replicate what happens on-line, MeFi for example, but using real-world objects and postal mail.
posted by stbalbach at 9:51 AM PST - 8 comments

Graphical User Interface Timeline

Graphical User Interface Timeline showcases the road to Aqua and it's clone XP. [via Plasticbag.org]
posted by riffola at 8:44 AM PST - 24 comments

Whither the Dollar? Too Strong for Its Own Good?

Whither the Dollar? Too Strong for Its Own Good? and what's the alternative? I wonder how long we'll have different currencies for different countries... 20 years? 100? forever?
posted by christina at 8:22 AM PST - 12 comments

Darwin Visits the Ukraine...

Darwin Visits the Ukraine...
"The girl...was messing around outside the fence and then decided, for some reason, to go and play and swim with the hippopotamus''
Why? Because lack of common sense is a global, and playing with exotic animals is fun and trendy. No word on whether they had to kill the hippo and test it's brain for rabies.
posted by hotdoughnutsnow at 8:03 AM PST - 12 comments

Whose Domain is it?

Whose Domain is it? (via Fark) Good question. When does the Government cross the line in practicing Imminent Domain? How can we, the people prevent this? Is it time for a new Amendment to the constitution?
posted by da5id at 7:56 AM PST - 7 comments

After the recent race riot troubles we have had here in England (bradford and oldham), was this really a good idea to allow Louis Farrakhan into the country. A sentance taken from one of the realated articles sum's it up pretty well "freedom of speech does not allow the right to shout "Fire" in a crowded theatre"
posted by monkeyJuice at 7:30 AM PST - 6 comments

20 years ago today, the Buggles started it all off. Love it or hate it now, MTV has had a big impact on our culture, and most of us at some time in our lives have watched it. Anyone want to share what they used to like about MTV back when it was cool?
posted by quirked at 7:27 AM PST - 69 comments

Vikings' Stringer dead after being stricken with heat stroke.

Vikings' Stringer dead after being stricken with heat stroke. For much of Monday and Tuesday just about every Twin Cities media outlet was warning people to stay inside and take it easy. The Vikings decided to go ahead with their summer training anyway.
posted by mrbula at 7:15 AM PST - 15 comments

A web buck!

A web buck! We got a web buck the other day! No, it's not some kind of ecommerce thing. It's a good ole' dollar bill doing something of a Johnny Appleseed -- traveling around the country like an adventurer. And we get to vicariously watch its progress. Today, we're throwing our where'sgeorge dollar into a lottery fund at work. Where will it go next? Toll booths, bars, and Florida amusement parks seem like popular destinations, but at least one bill's been passed via a stripper! Have you seen a where'sgeorge bill yet?
posted by debrahyde at 4:20 AM PST - 11 comments

We've got a good old fashioned battle a' brewin'.

We've got a good old fashioned battle a' brewin'. Endangered wildlife acts have placed American heroes in danger and now have killed them. Would the young smoke jumping "forest savers" agree? Or are they now turning over in their graves that republicans have leeched themselves onto personal tragedy to make rightist inroads on ecological conservation?
posted by crasspastor at 3:08 AM PST - 13 comments

When LPs Roamed The Earth:

When LPs Roamed The Earth: classic album covers for records you have almost certainly never heard of.
posted by pascal at 12:06 AM PST - 21 comments

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