July 31, 2006
Awful videos
You know, they can be almost like, well, watching a car crash...
Never get out of the car while it's still going.
BBC news interview in Iraq. Oddly enough, I had just been asking this question about subtitles a few days ago.
For the hottest day in Minneapolis...
Let's read HST's classic, "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved." Enjoy!
July 29, 2006
Great success stories in Iraq
Even recovering bodies from the morgue has become life-threatening.
The US aid agencies in Iraq deliberately hid the real costs of their programs.
July 28, 2006
"Against the day"
Pynchon's latest (992 pages it is claimed) will be out in December. I think it would probably be the perfect Chanukah, Christmas, or Saturnalia gift for, well, for many people for whom it would be a good gift. From the claimed author's notes on amazon... Ouch! It's a reminder that Pynchon's last book appeared during the Clinton administration. Do we dare remember our crazy optimism at the time? A leader we disagreed with and even seemed foolish at times, but one you would be thrilled to have at your dinner party. We might press him on single payer healthcare, but at least we would be confident that he knew where Russia and China were. There were jobs, there was no war save for the occasional cruise missile blowing up aspirin factories or laser guided bombs hitting bridges in Serbia. But the book, yup, you can preorder it at amazon and surely at plenty of other book providers. Just like twelve year olds the day after a Harry Potter release, the Pynchon readership is likely to be out "sick" on the 5th of December. I will have to see if the convenience store in McMurdo, Antarctica will be able to get copies...
What other books are out there around a 1000 pages? Webster's 1867 dictionary to be sure, and there is Newfoundland from last summer. Oh heck, Clinton's My Life and many software manuals have gotten that long. For fiction, there's an online listing of novels longer than 1000 pages. Not sure one wants to be added to that list.
And in Las Vegas...
you need to have money in order to be invited to a picnic. Yup, feeding the homeless in a park is illegal.
From a slashdot discussion of research outside of academia
> Defense Labs and National Labs: the political forces are too strong for blue-sky research to happen there.
Definately take the politics out - I once worked in defence research lab, specialising in weapons technology. My pet area is killing groups of people as quickly as possible (outdoor specialist). My team came up with some breakthrough ideas, but the g-men said it was too abstract, too blue sky, too arty-farty.
It pretty much came down to "it can kill lots of people, but unless it can start production in my state next quarter and be killing brown people within the year, it's a no-go.", my favourite excuse (shot down because the office favourite's conventional design had a cool looking model): "Your laser is great, the people are out of the way, but now the oil fields on fire.".
Get politics out of war!
I laughed, I cried, and I closed the webpage.
July 27, 2006
July 26, 2006
The Lebanon online
Is a portal that seems to allow one to send information on Hizbollah to Israeli intelligence! It's a site called "All 4 Lebanon." Similar language has appeared on air-dropped pamphlets.
As the US continues to lose out in bandwidth...
As consumers we gave the telecoms the money to do this during the Clinton years. They pocketed the money, told the FCC to get lost, and give us DSL. The French are doing something rather different. And everyone else gets the cool cell phones too!
Public opinion now and during the Second War
I had no idea, but FDR conducted secret polling of the American public during the war. What does it show? People knew what the war was about, setbacks had little affect on their views, and support was high. Compare and contrast... It's also interesting seeing that the public correctly saw Stalingrad and the other coincident events as the turning point. I hadn't realized that it was obvious at the time.
July 25, 2006
For some reason these two articles worked well together
Okay, maybe it seems weird, but here goes:
- How Jell-O(R) killed the dinosaurs.
- Body parts found in nude dancer's apartment.
- And I'm going to go ahead and add in one additional link. Hypoxic devices may be restricted in sports.
Nuclear explosion expected at the UN
At least according to the folks at True Bible Code.com. In the next couple of days. And they even told the FBI, via a webpage link.
Google Earth Intel
I've been greatly enjoying finding the hotels and campsites that I've stayed at across Africa, South America, and Europe using Google Earth. (The Namibian coast is especially well imaged in my opinion.) After spotting some interesting military items I also found this amusing page from the Register from last year. Finding the B-1s, B-2s, and missile silos were interesting, but the earthen Bismarck in the desert? That's weird. In Minneapolis, I found my car parked at the old Tandem labs. I think we might put out month markers there to see when the next set of images are taken.
More Google Earth thoughts later...
July 24, 2006
July 21, 2006
Perfect tacos!
I'd pass on the cow eyeball ones, but otherwise... Driving up the California coast eating tacos!
Nasrallah's Game
From the Nation article of the same name. I feel a little uncomfortable not seeing much to surprise me in Israel's reactions. What are they going to do? Rolling over doesn't work. Negotiating doesn't work. I'd like to support peace (as a good liberal) but find room for last resorts when needed.
July 19, 2006
The iPod's iOddities
I think we've all heard about the iPod-connected vibrator.
Business week has a whole batch of odd iPod accessories. Actually, some aren't terribly odd in my opinion.
Other interesting/odd items include the Tune Buckle, Goatse.cx skin, and there are probably plenty of others to find, but I need to get back to work.
July 18, 2006
July 17, 2006
Bad things
- I just happened to find the website of the Lebanese Company for the Reconstruction of Beirut's Central District. Lovely site.
- Take a look at the bizarre occupations you can get "Kiss me I'm a..." (and MANY other) t-shirts for. I want a "KISS ME , I'M AN ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER COMMUNITY LIAISON OFFICER" shirt. It's too weird.
- Take a look for their "I only sleep with Kuwaiti women" ones as well.
- Abortion counseling centers give false information to patients. These are the ones that got federal funding, so they should provide accurate information. Instead they parroted the right wing canards of "psychological trauma, increased breast cancer risk, and infertility."
- Let's all remember the first rule of the lebanon.
Metal detector recommendation for kids?
My little ones, aged seven, have gotten fascinated by metal detectors. They saw some people in the park using one. As they consider almost any small found item to be "treasure" I thought that they might enjoy it. Am looking for recommendations on what to get. I know next to nothing about using metal detectors for anything other than looking for landmines...
The Real Bushite Agenda
"One result has been a frayed democratic fabric in a country founded on a constitutional system of checks and balances. Another has been a less effective war on terror."
July 16, 2006
July 11, 2006
Set the controls for the heart of the sun
Syd Barrett, certainly the source of anything interesting in the whole Pink Floyd universe, died a couple of days ago. The news was just reported.
July 09, 2006
July 07, 2006
Power saw assault on the subway
Yowza! Someone was watching too many Texas Power-tool Massacre films.
Physics and comics
Though it has seemed to me to be inherently a silly topic, this article at least has fun with it. And the Superman movie? I thought it was incoherent with just a few good visuals. Though the drive-in experience is always good. Without a few beers, I suspect the movie would have been duller.
July 06, 2006
Rennie and Brett in the Minneapolis paper
My old friends Rennie and Brett Sparks have a little band called the Handsome Family. And they're doing pretty well with it.