Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Tuesday, December 30, 2003
FBI urges police to watch for people carrying almanacs: "The FBI is warning police nationwide to be alert for people carrying almanacs, cautioning that the popular reference books covering everything from abbreviations to weather trends could be used for terrorist planning. "
Monday, December 29, 2003
Japan's Empire of Cool (washingtonpost.com): "Even as this country of 127 million has lost its status as a global economic superpower and the national confidence has been sapped by a 13-year economic slump, Japan is reinventing itself -- this time as the coolest nation on Earth.
Analysts are marveling at the breadth of a recent explosion in cultural exports, and many argue that the international embrace of Japan's pop culture, film, food, style and arts is second only to that of the United States. Business leaders and government officials are now referring to Japan's 'gross national cool' as a new engine for economic growth and societal buoyancy. "
Saturday, December 27, 2003
The whispering wheel: "And that's what makes ‘the whisperer´revolutionary; a ring functioning as a wheel. By just putting a tire on it you can drive a bus, a car, anything with it. Since the wheel is in fact the engine, no axles or any other friction-producing and therefore energy-wasting mechanical parts are needed. "
ajc.com | Living | Brand babies: "Anitria Akins of Atlanta had always wanted a Lexus, and now she'll always have one. She named her 9-year-old daughter A'lexus after the popular car.
'There were so many 'Alexises' out there, and I wanted something different,' says Akins, a U.S. Postal Service supervisor. 'I thought about naming her just 'Lexus,' but I wanted something that started with an A.'
Plenty of other people have been having the same idea. In 2000, there were 1,263 girls named Alexus whose parents registered them for Social Security numbers. There were also 553 girls named Lexus, Lexxus, Lexis or Lexxis.
They're part of a growing trend toward naming children after products -- brand-name babies."
San Antonio Current: "On December 13, when U.S. forces captured Saddam Hussein, President George W. Bush not only celebrated with his national security team, but also pulled out his pen and signed into law a bill that grants the FBI sweeping new powers. A White House spokesperson explained the curious timing of the signing - on a Saturday - as 'the President signs bills seven days a week.' But the last time Bush signed a bill into law on a Saturday happened more than a year ago - on a spending bill that the President needed to sign, to prevent shuttng down the federal government the following Monday.
By signing the bill on the day of Hussein's capture, Bush effectively consigned a dramatic expansion of the USA Patriot Act to a mere footnote. Consequently, while most Americans watched as Hussein was probed for head lice, few were aware that the FBI had just obtained the power to probe their financial records, even if the feds don't suspect their involvement in crime or terrorism. "
Friday, December 26, 2003
Dallas Voice - The Community Newspaper for Gay & Lesbian Dallas: "While her work deals with women and fetish, she strives for universal allure. “I want my work to appeal to everyone, not just those in the [S&M] scene. My ideas of fetish will differ from the ideas others may have. I like that my art is different.”"
Japan: Christmas: "The Japanese have no spiritual or religious basis for Christmas. While in the west there is a slight (though increasingly inscrutable) pretense towards a celebration of the birth of Christ, and years of tradition of families gathering, here in Japan the holiday is completely imported, and largely market driven."
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
velociraptorsteve's Xanga Site - 10/16/2003 10:46:44 PM: "so then that was all today. me and appoooooova did our presentation on jews and it was um.. fun. i put a picture of kyle broflofski in our power point so everyone giggled.
then we learned about satanism and rastafarianism. its totally crazy like.. in satanism.. if you're stupid, you dont deserve to live and in rastafarianism, if you're white you dont deserve to live."
velociraptorsteve's Xanga Site - 11/18/2003 11:05:15 PM: "and now i'm off because Karl Marx and his Communist Manifesto are begging me to study them for a test tomorrow."
Monday, December 22, 2003
HoustonChronicle.com: "Better not mess with Clark
Associated Press
DERRY, N.H. -- Moments after praising his opponents in the Democratic presidential race as worthy running mates, Wesley Clark said, in no uncertain terms, how he would respond if they or anyone else criticized his patriotism or military record.
'I'll beat the s--- out of them,' Clark told a questioner as he walked through the crowd after a town hall meeting Saturday. 'I hope that's not on television,' he added.
It was, live, on C-SPAN.
The campaign's traveling press secretary, Jamal Simmons, was with Clark at the time.
'If anyone tries to question Wes Clark's character, integrity or his commitment to this country or its security, they're going to be in the biggest fight they've ever had,' Simmons said. "
Friday, December 19, 2003
Blind + Linux = BLINUX: "Blind + Linux = BLINUX
'The purpose of BLINUX project
is to improve usability of the LINUX operating system
for the user who is blind'"
Thursday, December 18, 2003
The Problem With Presentations: "Which brings me to PowerPoint.
First, I've got to say I love PowerPoint, just like I used to love Persuasion, and before that I loved MORE, which was the original presentation program. In fact, I'm one of those guys for whom no software ever got in the way of anything other than the time I should spend away from the computer.
But I do hate how it gets in the way, because it has this fascist wrongheadedness about what a presentation is supposed to be. To me the PowerPoint 'Wizard' is this Nazi interrogator who says 'Vee haff vays uff making you talk.'
Of course, PowerPoint is a little more West Coast than that: its wizard is like a tour guide on a magic bus: 'Your presentation is already well underway,' it says, two mouse clicks into your creative process. 'Click 'finish' to complete your presentation.' But it's not your presentation. It's your version of a PowerPoint presentation, which is not about what you want to say, but about how you say it. To quote the manual, 'To create presentations, you write and design slides.'
Wrong. Presentations are as much about slides as poetry is about handwriting. Again, David Ogilvy: 'What you say is more important than how you say it.'"
Shirky: The RIAA Succeeds Where the Cypherpunks Failed: "In response to the RIAA's suits, users who want to share music files are adopting tools like WINW and BadBlue, that allow them to create encrypted spaces where they can share files and converse with one another. As a result, all their communications in these spaces, even messages with no more commercial content than 'BRITN3Y SUX!!!1!' are hidden from prying eyes. This is not because such messages are sensitive, but rather because once a user starts encrypting messages and files, it's often easier to encrypt everything than to pick and choose. Note that the broadening adoption of encryption is not because users have become libertarians, but because they have become criminals; to a first approximation, every PC owner under the age of 35 is now a felon. "
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | The best of British blogging: "These have not been easy awards to judge. Deciding whether one blog is 'better' than another is never straightforward, but as both the quality and diversity in the blogging universe increases, that decision is only getting harder. In almost every category, the judges were divided.
All the blogs mentioned here are exceptional. They are a testament to the growing richness of British blogging. They demonstrate great design, good writing and smart use of links to provide a series of windows on worlds we would otherwise never know about. This was exactly the intention of the awards when we first began them in 2002."
Yahoo! News - World Photos - AP: "An Israeli, holds a firing mechanism, fitted with a pistol that sits over a color mini-camera with zoom, located at the front end and the back section which consists of the stock, trigger and a monitor, that allows the shooter to fire at his target from around the corner, during a shooting session in a fire range in the central Israeli town of Shoham, Monday Dec. 15, 2003. The system developed by the U.S.-Israeli company Corner Shot is beeing tested by armies from 15 countries and Israeli combat units and forces will begin using the device next week, a former deputy commander of Israel's anti-terror unit and founder of the company said. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
DallasNews.com | Dallas-Fort Worth | Local News: Collin County: "The Plano Independent School District could be facing another free speech lawsuit, just a month after settling one with parents for $400,000.
This time, a candy cane pen with a religious message might take the district back to court.
Attorneys for a Plano-based religious rights organization said they plan to file a lawsuit Thursday unless district officials change their minds about what a Plano student can pass out at his class's holiday party on Friday. "
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
FUH2 | Fuck You And Your H2: "Welcome to FUH2.com, home of the official Hummer H2 salute. So...why all the fuss?"
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage: "However, employers in sectors such as construction, finance and manufacturing said they intend to hire more people in the first quarter. Public administration was the only sector where employers were planning to add fewer jobs than the fourth quarter. "
Thursday, December 11, 2003
New Scientist: "Psychologists in Canada have finally proved what women have long suspected - men really are irrational enough to risk entire kingdoms to catch sight of a beautiful face. "
New Scientist: "Pretty women scramble men's ability to assess the future
00:01 10 December 03
NewScientist.com news service
Psychologists in Canada have finally proved what women have long suspected - men really are irrational enough to risk entire kingdoms to catch sight of a beautiful face.
Biologists have long known that animals prefer immediate rewards to greater ones in the future. This process, known as 'discounting the future', is found in humans too and is fundamental to many economic models.
Resources have a value to individuals that changes through time. For example, immediately available cash is generally worth more than the same amount would be in the future. But greater amounts of money in the future would be worth waiting for under so-called 'rational' discounting.
But some people, such as drug addicts, show 'irrational' discounting. For example, preferring a small amount of heroin today rather than a greater amount in the future."
Geek Tattoos: " Geek Tattoos "
Sony Global - CX-NEWS Vol.34: "Full-Circle 360° Camera Module
Camera Module Adopts Full-Circle 360° Lens to Open New Markets"
Ask MetaFilter | Community Weblog: "December 10, 2003
How and when did you first learn about Discordianism?
posted by oissubke at 9:18 PM PST "
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Groundhog Almighty: "Since its debut a decade ago, the film has become a curious favorite of religious leaders of many faiths, who all see in 'Groundhog Day' a reflection of their own spiritual messages. Curators of the series, polling some 35 critics in the literary, religious and film worlds to suggest films with religious interpretations, found that 'Groundhog Day' came up so many times that there was actually a squabble over who would write about it in the retrospective's catalog."
DJA: "The Japanese Language Advancement School of Dallas (JLAS) was established in June 1970 as an after-school class with 15 students. Since then this school has been growing steadily and now we have more than 324 children and 24 classes from Pre-Kinder to 12th grade.
The curriculum of this school is designed in accord with the Japanese school system, so that each child can maintain Japanese language and mathematics at an appropriate level and adapt Japanese society easily when he or she goes back to Japan. In order to understand our curriculum, students are required to have basic communication skills in Japanese.
The nickname of this school, YU-AI GAKUEN, means “School with Friendship and Love” which is a principle of the school and is also a double-meaning in English “You (&) I”.
As this school is characterized as the after-school “Japanese Class” in US, the purposes of our school are to educate children so that each child can;
Maintain an identity as Japanese
Be an international person
Understand different cultures"
Monday, December 08, 2003
FAQ: "How do I make the output of a command in ircII pause after each screenful? How do I 'cancel' further output from a command?
To make your output pause in screenfuls, use the following command:
/set hold_mode on
To cancel further output from a command (for instance if you accidentally did a /names when you hadn't intended to) use
/flush
* Warning: /flush flushes all output sent to the client so far from the server. This means that you may end up losing some public/private messages too."
Sunday, December 07, 2003
SRT Enterprises - Trooper, Taglinator, and EdIt!: "This page describes the ringtone format used by the C331t and compatible phones. Please note Motorola has several different formats which it uses, so if your phone is not listed on the main converter page it probably uses a different format (read the top of that page for another converter to try). Of course Motorola can introduce new phones at any time, so yours may be compatible and we don't know about it yet. Check the manual for your phone below and see if the format matches."
Linux Tips - Linux, Clocks, and Time: "This document explains how to set your computer's clock from Linux, how to set your timezone, and other stuff related to Linux and how it does its time-keeping."
Quick HOWTO: Configuring Linux NTP Servers: "You can keep accurate time under Linux by synchronizing your system clock with a Network Time Protocol (NTP) Server. A list of available servers may be found at:
http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~mills/ntp/servers.html"
Saturday, December 06, 2003
Blog Tools: "You can choose from an assortment of tools that can host your blog for you; we tested the best of the bunch. In addition, we looked at one application for those who prefer to host their own. Read on to see what we think."
Friday, December 05, 2003
A way to post to blogger without using blogger?: "Let's say my computer does something. When my computer does this thing, I want it to send a 'post' to my blog. Anyone know how I can make it post to my blog without having to post manually? "
DyNS Forum: "I wrote a bash script that update's my account with the external IP of my router. (network = cable -> US Robotics router -> workstations)
This will only work with US robotics router or similar routers which show the external IP on a unsecured html page."
Google Groups: View Thread "ez-ipupdate, DSL router, how do I get IP address?": "If you send your ip address in ez-ipupdate as 1.1.1.1 then we
will use the address we see the connection coming from. This
should appear to us to be your rouuter's IP and not your
local private one."
ez-ipupdate User Docs: "Now that we know it works, we can start it in daemon mode so
that it will run in the background and check the IP peridically.
Open the file /etc/ez-ipupdate.conf and uncomment the line:
#cache-file=/etc/ez-ipupdate.cache.eth0
then change it to:
cache-file=/etc/ez-ipupdate.cache.tun0 (or your interface)
then uncomment this line
#daemon"
Thursday, December 04, 2003
Broadband: Web server inaccessible behind XRouter Pro MIH-130: "Port 80 is NOT blocked by the ISP (TZO's Port Detective software can successfully connect to the port)."
Lovers Under the Skin: "Yet surprisingly few readers raised the most obvious question: if homosexuality is partly genetic, why are there so many gays?"
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Dynamic DNS, Static DNS for Your Dynamic IP: "No-IP.com is a leading dynamic DNS service provider. We offer a wide range of services pertaining to your internet presence, from that pesky dynamic IP problem to getting around ISPs who block port 25. All of our services take advantage of our global network of redundant DNS and mail servers peered with tier-1 data centers."
DynDNS.org -- Services -- Dynamic DNS: "The Dynamic DNS service is ideal for a home website, file server, or just to keep a pointer back to your home PC so you can access those important documents while you're at work. Using one of the available third-party update clients you can keep your hostname always pointing to your IP address, no matter how often your ISP changes it. No more fumbling to find that piece of paper where you wrote down your IP address, or e-mailing all your friends every time it changes. Just tell them to visit yourname.dyndns.org instead!"
Tuesday, December 02, 2003
New York Post Online Edition: news: "At least a dozen of New York's Bravest - some of them assigned to look after Sept. 11 widows - have left their wives for the spouses of their comrades killed in the terror attacks, sources told The Post. "
Monday, December 01, 2003
LotFinder®: "A ROMAN GLASS GAMING DIE
Circa 2nd Century A.D.
Deep blue-green in color, the large twenty-sided die incised with a distinct symbol on each of its faces
2 1/16 in. (5.2 cm.) wide "
