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Look what gay marriage hath wrought! (SLYT)
comment posted at 8:48 PM on Jul-8-09

MMORPG Griefing ... for Science! Twixt fought his fellow players in City Of Heroes to win. But he used methods that, despite being legal within the rules of the game, the rest of the community hated. Then the player behind the hero unmasked as Loyola University media professor David Myers, author of "The Sad & Curious Tale of Twixt" (.doc), a sociological study of the unwritten rules in MMORPG's. Not entirely unlike the epic tale of Fansy The Famous Bard.
comment posted at 1:08 PM on Jul-8-09

Canada's Tourism Minister, Diane Ablonczy, was stripped of responsibility for a Marquee Tourism Events Program budget of $100 million, after she gave $397,500 to Toronto's Pride Week festival, which attracts a million tourists to Toronto every June. The story was broken by backbench Conservative MP Brad Trost in the blog LifeSiteNews.com, who stated that most of the Conservative cauacus was shocked at the award, and that Ms. Ablonczy was stripped of the budget as punishment. Pride Toronto's response. The Tories run damage control.
comment posted at 9:47 AM on Jul-8-09

Google Chrome OS: Google says it will release a new operating system, built around its Chrome browser, which will be open source and will initially be targeted at netbooks. Shipment is expected second half of 2010. No response yet from Microsoft.
comment posted at 10:40 PM on Jul-7-09

Sometimes music really is a weapon. Big surprise, United Airlines messed up some luggage and refused to do anything about it. But I have to give props to this guy for taking a bad situation and making something positive out of it. Bonus points for the song being pretty catchy. I wonder what would happen if that song was so popular that the record label wanted it on the in flight music station...
comment posted at 10:43 AM on Jul-7-09

A well-designed flag The US flag is made up of two distinct elements: Stars and Stripes. On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passed its Flag Resolution which described the flag only in general terms. "Resolved that the flag of the United States be 13 stripes alternate red and white, that the union be 13 stars white in a blue field representing a new constellation." Nothing in the resolution dictated how the stars and stripes were to be arranged, resulting in some interesting designs.
comment posted at 9:41 AM on Jul-5-09

Sarah Palin will resign from her position as Alaska Governor. ;-)
comment posted at 1:22 PM on Jul-3-09

Rest Stops, R.I.P.
comment posted at 8:46 AM on Jul-3-09

When Money Buys Happiness. List the ten most expensive things (products, services or experiences) that you have ever paid for (including houses, cars, university degrees, marriage ceremonies, divorce settlements and taxes). Then, list the ten items that you have ever bought that gave you the most happiness. Count how many items appear on both lists.
comment posted at 4:00 PM on Jul-2-09

The Death of Macho - "The axis of global conflict in this century will not be warring ideologies, or competing geopolitics, or clashing civilizations. It won’t be race or ethnicity. It will be gender. We have no precedent for a world after the death of macho. But we can expect the transition to be wrenching, uneven, and possibly very violent."
comment posted at 5:17 PM on Jul-2-09

Moon Landing Tapes Found!
comment posted at 1:06 PM on Jul-2-09

Leah Ward Sears, former Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, on the destruction of fatherhood in Western society. This may sound like heresy, but I believe the United States and a host of Western democracies are engaged in an unintended campaign to diminish the importance of marriage and fatherhood. By refusing to do everything we can to stem the rising rate of divorce and unwed childbearing, our country often isolates fathers (and sometimes mothers) from their children and their families.
comment posted at 9:14 AM on Jul-2-09

You may know it as acetaminophen, paracetamol, APAP, or ... Tylenol. Today an FDA advisory panel recommended banning prescription drugs that contain acetaminophen, such as vicodin and percocet. The panel of experts also voted to give acetaminophen a black box warning, and reduce the maximum dosage of over-the-counter formulations. Acetaminophen is a popular painkiller by itself and, in combination with opiates, is the most commonly prescribed medication in the US.
comment posted at 3:38 PM on Jun-30-09

Iran's debate over theocracy took an interesting turn when Ayatollah Sistani the preeminent Shi'a cleric in Iraq made a recent visit. Sistani has stated that in order to be legitimate a ruler should win acceptance from a majority of believers. Threats Watch has analysis on this as the so called Battle for Iran shifts from the streets to the heart of power. How Iran is ruled is both different and complicated. The crisis is far from over; we are now probably at the end of the beginning. Here is a round up of analysis from dianaswednesday.
comment posted at 9:56 PM on Jun-28-09

Could Transformers:ROTF(L) be one of the greatest achievements in the history of cinema, if not the greatest? This reviewer argues that it just might be.
comment posted at 12:41 PM on Jun-26-09

My dad saved me, and I killed him...
comment posted at 11:42 AM on Jun-21-09

Following a 30-year trend, bear sightings and human encounters in certain US cities seem to be on the rise. But when Cleveland's Fox Channel 8 (WJW) needed to report about recent black bear sightings in a NE Ohio neighborhood, they had to get a stand-in. Perhaps the bear refused to sit for an interview with intrepid reporter Todd Meany?
comment posted at 7:59 AM on Jun-19-09

Michigan Congressman @petehoekstra: "Iranian twitter activity similar to what we did in House last year when Republicans were shut down in the House." The response, from the series of tubes? 21st century sarcasm mixed with a hint of cyberwarfare.
comment posted at 8:18 PM on Jun-18-09

We've discussed trepanation, the boring of holes in the head as practiced in antiquity and by a fringe do it yourself-ers, before. There now seems to be research indicating that the procedure may have medical merit, and even help stave off age related cognitive decline. This curious research brought to you by the Beckly Foundation which "promotes the investigation of consciousness and its modulation from a multidisciplinary perspective" and has a sweet logo.
comment posted at 1:03 PM on Jun-18-09

Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire owner of Chelsea Football Club, has launched his 557-foot yacht, Eclipse.
comment posted at 9:32 AM on Jun-17-09

They were in the stairwell that led down to the commode, a dangerous place in its time, the Grand Central Station Men’s, but for different reasons. I saw the dirt tracks leading there, and I left the monkeys in the chandelier and followed them. I kept to the tracks careful as I could. There were pits and corrugations everywhere in the old tile, any one of which could hide a man killing gob of explosive. At my back I heard Spot complain: “Leave ‘em be, Blacks. We’ve warned ‘em, ain’t we? If they blow themselves up, it ain’t on us.”

UXO, BOMB DOG by Eliot Fintushel (single-link short fiction)
comment posted at 2:11 PM on Jun-15-09

Ahmedinejad is declared victor in Iran presidential race. In spite of skepticism on the behalf of (among others) the Obama Administration, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday told all Iranians to respect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory.
comment posted at 10:22 AM on Jun-13-09
comment posted at 3:02 PM on Jun-13-09

Robot penguins of the water and air are manufactured by German robotics manufacturer Festo, as well as aquatic and airborn rays (as in the fish). Here's another aquapenguin video from Festo's YouTube channel. These videos are so futuristic they don't seem real. [via, fittingly enough, William Gibson's Twitterfeed]
comment posted at 7:58 PM on Jun-10-09
comment posted at 9:12 PM on Jun-10-09
comment posted at 10:55 PM on Jun-10-09

White-power gunman opens fire at Holocaust Museum.
comment posted at 4:41 PM on Jun-10-09
comment posted at 5:56 PM on Jun-11-09
comment posted at 5:50 PM on Jun-12-09

The day pain died. "The date of the first operation under anesthetic, Oct. 16, 1846, ranks among the most iconic in the history of medicine. It was the moment when Boston, and indeed the United States, first emerged as a world-class center of medical innovation. The room at the heart of Massachusetts General Hospital where the operation took place has been known ever since as the Ether Dome, and the word 'anesthesia' itself was coined by the Boston physician and poet Oliver Wendell Holmes to denote the strange new state of suspended consciousness that the city's physicians had witnessed. The news from Boston swept around the world, and it was recognized within weeks as a moment that had changed medicine forever." [Via]
comment posted at 6:17 PM on Jun-9-09
comment posted at 7:51 PM on Jun-9-09

"Bring An End To This False Prophet Obama"

Jon Voight speaks at Annual GOP Fund-Raiser
comment posted at 6:11 PM on Jun-9-09

As expected new iPhones were announced yesterday, taking a bit of wind out of the Palm Pre's excellent sales, pissing off some current iPhone users over upgrade fees, and leaving several gadget makers wondering if they have a future.
comment posted at 1:14 PM on Jun-9-09
comment posted at 1:20 PM on Jun-9-09
comment posted at 2:07 PM on Jun-9-09

The far-right, whites-only British National Party (BNP) has won two seats (Andrew Brons, Nick Griffin) in the European Parliament.
comment posted at 9:02 AM on Jun-8-09

Max Blumenthal is Feeling the Hate In Jerusalem on Eve of Obama's Cairo Address (SLYT).
comment posted at 8:45 AM on Jun-6-09

Barak Hussein Obama: anti-Semitic Jew Hater. Some 130 protesters gathered in front of the American Consulate in Jerusalem Wednesday afternoon to rally against U.S. President Barack Obama, who had just launched his Middle East tour, during which he is expected to reach out in friendship to the Muslim world. [...] As more than a dozen local and international journalists looked on, the protesters chanted "No, You Can't" and waved posters saying "20 new 'settlements' by 2010 - Yes We Can!"
comment posted at 5:47 PM on Jun-4-09

Fourteen years ago I was stabbed in the throat.
comment posted at 11:45 AM on Jun-3-09

The Cloud Appreciation Society is trying to get the Royal Meteorological Society to recognize a new form of cloud (pix). More about how cloud naming got started and more cloud photos. [previous clouds, via]
comment posted at 9:32 AM on Jun-3-09

Electronic Evolution: Research Show Robots Forming Human-like Societies
comment posted at 7:15 AM on Jun-2-09
comment posted at 7:30 AM on Jun-2-09
comment posted at 7:36 AM on Jun-2-09
comment posted at 12:12 PM on Jun-2-09

Some common solecisms (grammatical absurdities) from the Style Guide of The Economist
comment posted at 5:04 PM on Jun-1-09

The Seasteading Institute (previously) is the brain-child of former Google engineer Patri Friedman , and seeks to set up independent governments in international waters. In April 2009, the institute received $500,000 of seed funding from PayPal founder Peter Thiel. After reading it's revised manifesto, Brad Reed (of Sadly, No) remains unimpressed.
comment posted at 1:18 PM on May-31-09

Ok, stop me if you’ve heard this one: an ex-cop accused of killing his fourth wife gets engaged a fifth time and tries to get a job in a brothel on a reality t.v. show (video), but before he can, he's arrested today for killing his third wife.
comment posted at 6:38 PM on May-7-09

Did Gauguin Cut Off van Gogh's Ear? According to a new book by two German art historians, van Gogh did not slice off his left ear in a fit of madness and drunkenness in Arles in December 1888. His ear was severed by a sword wielded by his friend, the painter, Paul Gauguin, in a drunken row over a woman called Rachel and the true nature of art.
comment posted at 8:56 AM on May-5-09

I came across this at youtube while looking for a visual to illustrate "strong teeth" in an e-mail. Just had to share: Woman crosses Time Square by her teeth, circa 1932.
comment posted at 4:25 PM on May-1-09

EA games releases a new adaptation of the epic Italian poem The Divine Comedy that casts the player as Dante - a crusade veteran - who journeys through the Nine Circles of Hell to save his beloved Beatrice.
comment posted at 7:33 PM on Apr-30-09