August 23, 2001

I think I just melted my irony meter.

I think I just melted my irony meter. The radically innovative new plan at VA Linux is to reach profitability by selling proprietary software. (Larry Augustin has invented Microsoft!) But not just any software; they're going to sell the software which operates SourceForge, one of the largest repositories of open source software in the world. And this is now going to become the core business; they may even change the company name. I can't wait to see what the folks on SlashDot think of this! (VA Linux also operates SlashDot.)
posted by Steven Den Beste at 10:38 PM PST - 18 comments

Just FYI, it's entirely possible for a human to survive exposure to the vacuum of space for a limited time without any permanent damage -- as long as you expel all the breath from your lungs to avoid an embolism. Horrifying scenes of sudden explosive decompression or immediate freezing are, as far as I can tell, a myth. (In other words, Mission to Mars got it wrong, 2001 got it mostly right. But that's no surprise now, is it?) Link via BadAstronomy. Love that site.
posted by brownpau at 8:27 PM PST - 16 comments

Ramon's 'LetMeStayForADay' Project Going Well.

Ramon's 'LetMeStayForADay' Project Going Well. Wired presents a nice article covering Ramon's progress so far. Currently in Norway, he is anxious to find places to 'stay for a day' in Norway, Sweden and Finland. Can you help?
 
And will anyone sponsor him for a flight to the US? We shall see.
posted by wackybrit at 7:52 PM PST - 3 comments

Fakeintosh

Fakeintosh - Have you ever wanted to run Mac OS 8 on your PC, but couldn't? Well now you can with this flash animation. I'm amazed at how detailed it is.
posted by bytecode at 6:29 PM PST - 14 comments

JKF didn't give a damn about the moon, just wanted to beat the Soviets.

JKF didn't give a damn about the moon, just wanted to beat the Soviets. Newly released tapes reveal that President Kennedy didn't really have 2001 – A Space Odyssey in mind when he pushed for the Apollo program. "The President wanted it made clear that it (Apollo) was 'the' priority program — not only for NASA but for the entire government — with the desired result being that the United States would beat the Russians to the moon."
posted by Brilliantcrank at 4:52 PM PST - 20 comments

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Haikux

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Haikux “When you have non-text ¶ Provide text equivalents: ¶ Text repurposes” | “Give user control ¶ For changing views of pages ¶ The user laughs last”
posted by joeclark at 4:19 PM PST - 7 comments

Air rage terrorist in the waiting,

Air rage terrorist in the waiting, or cranky old man? I can understand flight crews taking every caution with their captive audience, but will the new "zero tolerance" policies make for an airline police state, where shoddy treatment is the norm, and passengers dare not speak out Or Else?
posted by Oriole Adams at 3:57 PM PST - 27 comments

Stile has managed to finally offend the world

Stile has managed to finally offend the world Now, I like odd things, but this was the last straw. For those who haven't seem it, it is an mpeg of a man cutting the head off of a live kitten and then eating it. The best part of this link ( I couldn't watch the vid all the way through ), are the e-mail responses. Anyway, we all seem openminded here, was he in the wrong to post the vid? (Link not safe for work)
posted by remlapm at 2:00 PM PST - 157 comments

Windows RG (really good edition)

Windows RG (really good edition)
posted by quonsar at 1:52 PM PST - 9 comments

Amazing

Amazing stuff in glass artist Dale Chihuly's latest installation at the V&A Museum in London. He continues to amaze me. I envy those who can experience it in person.
posted by abosio at 1:34 PM PST - 28 comments

"Protrude, Flow"

"Protrude, Flow" A most amazing artistic endeavor - metallic filings dumped in oil to make magnetic liquid, and the fun that ensued afterwards. Make sure to check out the video as well! (from memepool)
posted by skinjob at 1:21 PM PST - 11 comments

More Elvis Goodness

More Elvis Goodness from Japanese PM Junichiro Koizumi, who recently released a CD of his favorite Elvis tunes. What's next, a collection of Dubya's favorite Garth Brooks tracks?
posted by dogmatic at 1:17 PM PST - 3 comments

Oops, I guess we missed Elvis' return (and so did everyone else). This guy claims to have met the ghost of Elvis, and that 'The King' wrote songs for him from the grave. Need a bigger laugh? Then check out the audio clips on the home page.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Elvis has most definitely left this universe!"
posted by Sal Amander at 12:56 PM PST - 6 comments

"Jesus and Sports

"Jesus and Sports go together like peanut butter and jelly." But remember, once you apply elephant dung it becomes sacreligious. (via Dr. Boom)
posted by black8 at 12:47 PM PST - 20 comments

Yahoo slideshows.

Yahoo slideshows. These showed up during MeFi's absence. I personally favor them over the "Most Viewed Images" list. Workers beware, it's effortless to blow an hour or so checking out all of the neatly organized topics.
posted by winterdrm at 11:58 AM PST - 10 comments

Brooklyn Tenant Is Charged With Murdering City Marshal

Brooklyn Tenant Is Charged With Murdering City Marshal "As the marshal, Erskine G. Bryce, lay injured and disoriented, the police said, Ms. Jones bounded down the steps, beat him with an aluminum rod and stripped him of his .380-caliber pistol. The attack ended, the police said, only after she splashed him with a flammable liquid, took out a cigarette lighter and set him afire." (Free NY Times registration required)
posted by dayvin at 11:18 AM PST - 29 comments

Nano-art.

Nano-art. Japanese artist builds a sculpture of a bull that can only be seen with an electron microscope. It's the size of a single red blood cell. Next? Christo will wrap the head of a pin in pink tissue paper, I assume.
posted by rev- at 9:27 AM PST - 12 comments

Nintendo delays U.S. launch of GameCube

Nintendo delays U.S. launch of GameCube Nintendo has pushed back the U.S. arrival of its new GameCube video game console by nearly two weeks, with executives saying they intend to avoid the shortages and frustrated consumers that marked the debut of Sony's PlayStation 2 last fall.
posted by Brilliantcrank at 9:17 AM PST - 21 comments

New Calvin and Hobbes book!

New Calvin and Hobbes book! "Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995" will reprint the 35 sunday strips that are being featured at the 2001 Festival Of Cartoon Art at the Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library. While not really a 'new' book, it will include "an essay by Mr. Watterson about his work on the strip, plus his comments on each of the strips in the display." This is a treat for fans because Mr. Watterson is an extremely private individual, and has given no interviews or produced any new work since Calvin and Hobbes left us, December 31, 1995.
posted by o2b at 9:09 AM PST - 11 comments

Yucca Mountain Can Meet EPA Radiation Standards, DOE Reports - But there's more to the story

Yucca Mountain Can Meet EPA Radiation Standards, DOE Reports - But there's more to the story WASHINGTON, DC, August 22, 2001 (ENS) - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has a new report assessing the performance of the proposed high level nuclear waste disposal site at Yucca Mountain against strict safety standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The report concludes that the Yucca Mountain site "would likely meet" the agency's radiation protection standards.
posted by Wicker at 8:57 AM PST - 4 comments

Microsoft support letters from dead people :

Microsoft support letters from dead people : Bill, "I can see dead people, and they all seem to like me"
posted by tomplus2 at 8:18 AM PST - 6 comments

Has anyone seen this hosting company before? They seem very cheap but I have no idea whether they are reliable.
posted by ecvgi at 6:50 AM PST - 17 comments

In defense of flamewars

In defense of flamewars Bravest thing I’ve read all year. ‘Rules against all flaming favor politicians and passive-aggressives. These people are experts at sticking the knife in subtly. When the victim yells out in pain, the politician/passive-aggressive feigns innocence and claims he/she is the victim and the true victim is the aggressor.... ¶ Rules against all flaming discriminate against those whose communication skills are less developed. A brilliant writer can pillory an opponent without seeming to. A less-skilled victim of such an assault knows that he/she is being attacked, but can’t muster the same subtlety in response.... ¶ The worst thing you can do is to post something like “Please take your flames off list”... People flame on list because they feel that their reputations have been sullied publicly. Telling them to take it off list is just like telling them to shut up and take it’
posted by joeclark at 6:38 AM PST - 23 comments

More google ???: phone/address listings (with a map right to your house!), and (useless) news headlines which contain search terms (some screenshots in case they are just testing).
posted by sylloge at 4:45 AM PST - 13 comments

General Zod's homepage

General Zod's homepage "You are very wise to visit my web page and pay tribute. You may not be aware of this but the Bush monarchy is no longer in office. They have been replaced with my new order. Read on and you'll discover that I am a peerless master of politics, spearheading a generous and benevolent administration (meaning, of course, that you are allowed to live)."
posted by allaboutgeorge at 2:07 AM PST - 10 comments

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