Depleted Uranium suspected in Iraq merc's death: "Depleted Uranium suspected in Iraq merc's death - The death of a Peruvian security guard who had worked in Iraq may have been caused by exposure to depleted uranium.From Nony"

(Via Codewolf DOT Com.)

Historians rate the Bush Presidency: "Historians rate the Bush Presidency - Although his approval ratings have slipped somewhat in recent weeks, President George W. Bush still enjoys the overall support of nearly half of the American people. Read this post to see how he fared with historians...From Apzrick"

(Via Codewolf DOT Com.)

Cha-Ching!: "The truth about shopper-saver cardsDo you use those shopper saver cards, like the ones at the grocery store?Guess what! Statistically, the stores with no cards cost less for the same products. When ..."

(Via SHOCK & AWE.)

HOWTO: Be more productive: "'With all the time you spend watching TV,' he tells me, 'you could have written a novel by now.' Sadly, that's just not the case...."

Holiday Music: "

The above photo is a water crystal that formed while listening to ‘O Holy Night’. You can get your own microscopic particles in the holiday spirit with SomaFM’s 24/7 ‘Xmas in Frisko’ streaming internet broadcast.

And happy Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanzaa/Winter Solstice/Festivus/etc.!

LINK/IMAGE [water crystal]
AUDIO [Xmas in Frisko 128 kbps stream]

"

(Via Centripetal Notion.)

NY Times reports NSA is "data mining" domestic telecommunications: "The New York Times (reg required) is reporting that the National Security Agency has eavesdropped on far more domestic telecommunications at the directive of President Bush than has been previously admitted. 'The N.S.A. has gained the cooperation of American telecommunications companies to obtain backdoor access to streams of domestic and international communications... N.S.A. technicians, besides actually eavesdropping on specific conversations, have combed through large volumes of phone and Internet traffic in search of patterns that might point to terrorism suspects. Some officials describe the program as a large data-mining operation.'"

(Via MetaFilter.)

Hey Kids! Be A Snitch!: "CryptoKids Hey Kids! Want to learn about how to spy on your friends? Do you like to snitch on your siblings? Here's a fun site for you where the U.S. Government can start to let you know about the fun world of cryptography and violating the Fourth Amendment rights of your fellow citizens.

For you parents, check out the NSA's Responsible Citizen page! Note the funny ellipses after the references to the Fourth Amendment and Government Oversight. Your tax dollars at work."

(Via MetaFilter.)

Morons in the News: Republican Party Official Convicted of Phone Jamming: "A former Republican Party official who interfered with a
Democratic 'get out the vote' phone campaign has been convicted
of telephone harassment...

Although he was acquitted of conspiring to violate voters'
rights, former GOP official James Tobin has been convicted of
telephone harassment for his part in a plot to jam Democrats'
phone lines on election day in 2002. Tobin was President George
W."

(Via Morons Dot Org.)

Facts About Voting: "Facts About Voting - 20 Amazing Facts About Voting In The United StatesFrom cw"

(Via Codewolf DOT Com.)

AIDS vaccine dealyed? Drug Companies see no incentive to release it.

Greed, that sums up the Drug Companies pretty well.

read more | digg story

CIA Arrest warrants: "At last, someone is going to take the legal route. Italian authorities have issued arrest warrants for 22 CIA Agents suspected of involvement in the US kidnap/torture policy. 'The new warrants allow for the suspects' detention anywhere in the 25-nation EU, a prosecutor said.' That's more lost clients for the European tourist industry."

(Via MetaFilter.)

THE SAUCY SECRETS OF NO.1 YULETIDE CAROL: "THE SAUCY SECRETS OF NO.1 YULETIDE CAROL - An author who claims to have found the real meaning behind one of Britain's most famous carols says it isn't about Christmas at all - it's about sex. Writer Ray Wright, a grandfather-ofthree, said The Twelve Days Of Christmas was changed by the Catholic Church tomask its mysterious origins in pagan mating rituals."

Power We Didn't Grant: "Power We Didn't Grant - In the face of mounting questions about news stories saying that President Bush approved a program to wiretap American citizens without getting warrants, the White House argues that Congress granted it authority for such surveillance in the 2001 legislation authorizing the use of force against al Qaeda. On Tuesday, Vice President Cheney said the president 'was granted authority by the Congress to use all means necessary to take on the terrorists, and that's what we've done.'As Senate majority leader at the time, I helped negotiate that law with the White House counsel's office over two harried days. I can state categorically that the subject of warrantless wiretaps of American citizens never came up. I did not and never would have supported giving authority to the president for such wiretaps. I am also confident that the 98 senators who voted in favor of authorization of force against al Qaeda did not believe that they were also voting for warrantless domestic surveillance.From Juniper"

(Via Codewolf DOT Com.)

The strange case of the 9/11 cell phone calls: "The strange case of the 9/11 cell phone calls - According to the press release, it is currently impossible to connect by cell phone in a plane that is above 4,000 feet.From Roddy"

(Via Codewolf DOT Com.)

Dienststelle: "

Dienststelle is a label for the video/art works of Karl Kliem. I especially like the music videos done in partnership with Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto: ‘Berlin’ and ‘Trioon I’. ‘The Lightening’ with Photek and ‘FBAS Furniture’ are also very good.

LINK/VIDEOS

"

(Via Centripetal Notion.)

Hey 2004 election voters, whats up with this?: "Hey 2004 election voters, whats up with this?To some this is old news, but to the majority of the people stuck in TV land, this is surreal:======================================Bipartisan Bonesmen..."

(Via SHOCK & AWE.)

Halo 3 On Sale Now! (Photo)

Now stores in the US are already taking orders for what is no doubt the Xbox 360 release of 2006, Halo 3.

read more | digg story

Fish with two mouths

Fish with two mouths

2000 Soldiers KIA: "http://www.turnto10.com/news/5178964/detail.html A terrible milestone, may all those who lost their lives as a result of the invasion find the peace in death, George Bush denied them in life...."

(Via billmaher - MySpace Blog.)

The Transperformance self-tuning guitar: "December 22, 2005 For most people, tuning a guitar takes three to five minutes and when they have finished, the final result is not very good. These people will love the Transperformance self-tuning guitar which takes less than a second to lock into perfect tune. While most guitars will only ever see standard tuning (EADGBE), a goodly proportion of popular music is played with alternate tunings. Just as each guitar sounds different, musicians will change the tune of a guitar to create the sound they require and that’s one of the reasons you often see a dozen or more guitars on stage at a rock concert. This single guitar can now replace all of those guitars as it can transform into any one of them at the touch of a button. The Transperformance guitar has the additional advantage of being able to change from one custom tuning to another (it holds 240 custom tunings) which can be selected from the face of the guitar or toggled with a foot pedal. As Jimmy Page (the man who wrote and played ‘Stairway to Heaven’) says of the Performer, ‘you've just got to witness what it is ... it's accurate, it's fast and it makes people's eyes pop out.'
.."

(Via Gizmo Emerging Technology Magazine.)

Natures Rubik Cube - worlds oldest puzzle?

This amazing seed pod comes from the cannon ball mangrove in east africa and southeast asia, the puzzle balls consist of up to 16 seeds that interlock like a puzzle and could possibly have been around 2 million years ago!

read more | digg story

Cynic's Guide to Life...

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a squeaking fan belt and a leaky tire.

I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows. And a foundation leaks and a ball game gets rained out and a car rusts and...

Follow your dream. Unless it's the one where you're at work in your underwear during a fire drill.

Always take time to stop and smell the roses... and sooner or later you'll inhale a bee.

Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either, just leave me alone.

If you don't like my driving, don't call anyone. Just take another road. That's why the highway department made so many of them.

If a motorists cuts you off, just turn the other cheek. Nothings gets the message across like a good mooning.

When I'm feeling down, I like to whistle. It makes the neighbor's dog run to the end of his chain and gag himself.

It's always darkest before the dawn. So if you're going to steal the neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.

Each day I try to enjoy something from each of the four food groups: the bon bon group, the salty-snack group, the caffeine group, and the 'thing-in-the-tinfoil-in-the-back-of-the-fridge' group.

Just remember... You gotta break some eggs to make a real mess on the neighbor's car.

When you find yourself getting irritated with someone, try to remember that all men are brothers... and just give them a noogie or an Indian burn.

This morning I woke up to the unmistakable scent of pigs in a blanket. That's the price you pay for letting the relatives say over.

Love is like a roller coaster. If you like it, you don't want to get off, and when you don't... you can't wait to throw up.

accidentally draw neat pictures with your mouse

you can make some very neat images here....

read more | digg story

Space photos - landmarks

Amazing space photos of landmarks and buildings.

read more | digg story

Not Seen On TV: The Afghan Massacre: "Not Seen On TV: The Afghan MassacreIn Afghanistan, filmmaker Jamie Doran has uncovered evidence of a massacre: Taliban prisoners of war suffocated in containers, shot in the desert under the wat..."

(Via SHOCK & AWE.)

How to setup a Website.: "A really good website for knowing all the steps to setup a Website. Very helpful for people who don't know what some of the language that is used when it comes to building one. Any other guides out there like this one?"

(Via digg.)

A beautiful 360 Panaroma of:

Check out this panoramic view of Paris at night.

read more | digg story

Drunken Santas run riot in Auckland: "Drunken Santas run riot in Auckland - A group of 40 people dressed in Santa Claus outfits, many of them drunk, went on a rampage through Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, robbing stores, assaulting security guards and urinating from highway overpasses, police said Sunday.From cw"

(Via Codewolf DOT Com.)

Why Not a Wind-up Car?: "Many hybrid cars use an interesting system called 'regenerative braking' to recapture some of the energy which is wasted with conventional braking systems. On a typical car, each wheel has a rotor disk, and braking is accomplished by causing the brake pads to squeeze the rotor and create friction which slows the car, converting the forward momentum into waste heat. But a hybrid doesn't use the brake pads at all unless you hit the brakes hard… Instead, the car's momentum is used to crank its electric motors in reverse, which slows the car while recharging the onboard batteries.
This brilliantly simple system is part of why hybrid cars are so fuel efficient in stop-and-go traffic. But hybrids have their downsides… For one, a modern hybrid's batteries only last 8-10 years on average, and they are extremely expensive to replace, on the order of $3000-7000. Battery disposal... (More Inside)"

(Via Damn Interesting.)

Just switched to OS X? Here�s a list of stuff you might want

A discussion on useful OS X applications for users that have just switched over from Windows. Includes office suites, networking, blogging, graphics, programming and other, with emphasis on free, open source and shareware apps over comercial products.

read more | digg story

A Photoshopped Magazine Cover

This demo goes through all the steps and shows you before and after changes of a girl on the front of a magazine. Its amazing what you can do with photoshop. By the way this is not just the usual before and after pictures it shows you how things changed, how they did it, and what it naturally should look like

read more | digg story

ROTTENTOMATOES' Worst Movies of 2005!

dont worry guys, Doom is included in here.

read more | digg story

In-Game Footage of Unreal Tournament 2007!

Those pictures were amazing...now check out the sights and sounds.

read more | digg story

Robotic drummer: "

Haile is robotic percussionist that uses computational power and numerical algorithms to listen to live players, analyze their music in real-time, and play with them in an improvisational manner.

By Director of Music Technology Gil Weinberg and graduate student Scott Driscoll, Music Department, Georgia Institute of Technology.

Don't miss the video.

Related: P.E.A.R.T. - The Robotic Drum Machine.

"

(Via we make money not art.)

Monkey See …: "

Just in time for King Kong:

Natasha, the 5-year-old macaque pictured on the left, was in critical condition two summers ago at the Safari Park zoo in Israel for severe stomach flu.

I was sure that she was going to die. She could hardly breathe and her heart was not functioning properly.

Igal Horowitz, veterinarian

She recovered, however, and upon leaving the clinic began walking upright exclusively. Macaques and other primates are known to do this on occasion, but it would seem Natasha swore off quadrupedal movement altogether. Perhaps simplifying her life in retrospect after a near-death experience?

LINK [article] (MSNBC)

Oliver the ‘humanzee’, on the right, is a chimpanzee, famous in the 1970s, who also favored walking upright. He used and flushed a toilet, mixed drinks, and enjoyed watching television, drinking coffee, beer, and his favorite cocktail, Seven-Up and whiskey. He was acquired as a baby from the Congo and sold to animal trainers Frank and Janet Burger where he worked in the circus.

According to media accounts, Oliver had never been accepted by Burger’s other chimps and could not be trained to perform with them in their stage act. Instead, he preferred to walk on his hind legs, sit crosslegged on a chair, and help Burger’s wife, Janet, with the chores around the house. Oliver also made it clear that he fancied her. Not surprisingly, Janet issued her husband with an adamant proclamation concerning her pesky paramour: ‘I’m not putting up with this. He’s going or I’m going.’ So Oliver went […]

Fortean Times

He passed from owner to owner, being exhibited in various capacities, and was eventually sold to Buckshire Corporation, a labratory that used animals for scientific and cosmetic testing. Although he was never used in experiements, he was kept in a 5x7′ cage for seven years, to the point where his muscles atrophied and trembled from lack of activity. Eventually Oliver was given to Primarily Primates, a sanctuary where he now lives in a spacious, open-air cage. In 1996 his DNA was tested to reveal 48 chromosomes like all other chimpanzees, despite previous claims that he only had 47. Humans have 46.

LINK [article] (Wikipedia)
LINK [article] (Fortean Times)
IMAGE [Oliver at Buckshire in 1994, taken by PETA] (via SEEC)
IMAGE [Oliver standing upright] (via UFL)

"

(Via Centripetal Notion.)

A qoui ça sert l’amour?: "

Stick figures in the heat of love. By Louis Clichy of Cube.

VIDEO (via Core77)

"

(Via Centripetal Notion.)

Food ad tricks: "Food ad tricks - What does a glop of Vaseline have to do with a burger commercial?From cw"

Trippy Time Lapse Video: "Trippy Time Lapse Video"

Man eats underwear to beat breathalyzer: "Man eats underwear to beat breathalyzer - From Juniper"

Senate Blocks Extension of Patriot Act: "good news"

(Via digg.)

Dr. Hwang Dropped from Scientific American 50 for Faking Research: "'With considerable disappointment, the editors of Scientific American are immediately removing Dr. Woo Suk Hwang from his honored position as Research Leader of the Year on the 2005 Scientific American 50 list.'"

(Via digg.)

MAN DATES GIRL ON NET FOR 6 MONTHS AND TURNS OUT TO BE MUM: "Skirt-chasing playboy Daniel Anceneaux spent weeks talking with a sensual woman on the Internet before arranging a romantic rendezvous at a remote beach -- and discovering that his on-line sweetie of six months was his own mother!"

(Via digg.)

The mysterious Bimini Road

Curiously, in 1968 pilots photograhed from the air structures that looked like buildings, walls and roads under the waters off of Bimini island. Others have claimed to have seen pyramids and stone circles on the sea bed, but the only thing that has been confirmed for sure is what has become to be known as the
Bimini Road.

What The Bleep Do We Know!?: "

A documentary/story hybrid that follows a female photographer (played by Marlee Matlin) as mysteries of quantum physics and neuroscience unravel before her, forcing her to re-evaluate the fundamental premises of her life. Already available on DVD, it opens in theaters this February with new information, footage, special effecs, and over an hour and a half of new interviews.

LINK [website]
VIDEOS [various teasers and trailers]
BUY [DVD] (Amazon)

One of the main brains behind this project is Dr. Fred Alan Wolf, a theoretical physicist and author of nine books, including Taking the Quantum Leap and the Dr. Quantum series.

LINK [Dr. Wolf’s website]
BUY [Dr. Wolf’s work] (Amazon)

"

(Via Centripetal Notion.)

One by One: "

Well I love animation, well i love good animation. One short that I've been wanting to see is this Disney short that I heard about called One by One! I don't know why they didn't promote this short better. It was suppose to be on the new Fantasia 2006 DVD but Disney cut that DVD all together. So They stuck it on Lion King 2 which was dumb. Now I have to go rent Lion King 2 just so i can see this 6 min short.

"

(Via Andre Moore.)

Polarity - Hovering Magnetic Disc Boardgame: "Tired of playing video games all day like a zombie? Why not go old school and pull out a boardgame? Check out this cool new magnetic hovering disc game called Polarity. Everyone knows how two magnets..."

(Via The Green Head - The Cool Stuff.)

Gabriele

Gabriele

DEMOCRACY FLASHBACK

Just in case you've forgotten what accountability is supposed to look like...

March 24, 2005

Rumsfeld gets his teeth kicked in during an all too rare example of checks and balances.
Video
Imagine 200 or even just 50 Democrats in the house with half the courage as the gentlelady from Georgia, Cynthia McKinney.

We all could learn a lot from the Congressional Black Caucus.

Oil Change!

A campaign to reduce our dependence on oilInspired by the film Syriana Oil addiction. It saps America's economic strength, pollutes our environment, and jeopardizes national security. Breaking that addiction begins with the choices we make as individuals. Instead of oil dependence, let’s choose Oil Change!
Learn more...

File-sharing Is Good For Music Industry -Study

File-sharing Is Good For Music Industry -Study: "'The record industry has long considered online file-sharing a serious threat to its livelihood. But a new study released Tuesday suggests that consumer-to-consumer music recommendations a growing feature of online music stores and Web sites will benefit the industry, artists and fans alike.'"

Photographer's account of Katrina: "When the levees broke, he looked for was his camera and a boat. This Times-Picayune photographer tells his story of what happened next."

(Via MetaFilter.)

America is caught in a conflict between science and God: "It isn't very often that a mere visit to an
exhibition counts as a political act, but that's
certainly how it feels these days as you mount the
steps of the American Museum of Natural History,
overlooking Central Park."

(Via leve1.)

God Complex: "

Spore is a new type of game from the creator of The Sims, Will Wright.

It begins with a single celled organism, which you design and control, guiding it’s evolution into more advanced creatures, then into a society, and so on, until reaching a galactic scale. You control the characters through each order of life, facing unique challenges that range from avoiding being eaten before the next generation is born, to controlling a multi-planet space-faring race. Says Wright:

One of my goals for this whole thing has been to give somebody an awe-inspiring global view of reality, almost like a drug-induced epiphany with a computer. The kind of, ‘Oh, man, what if we were a molecule inside of a galaxy?’ type thing. Can we transfer that experience — that, I don’t want to say drug-induced, but I guess it is, or almost theological meaning-of-life-type experience — into an interactive computer game?

Can a computer game bring you to theological discussions, or philosophy, but at the same time remain eminently whimsical and playful and approachable? That’s an interesting balance to strike. I like the idea of an extremely whimsical toy that has deep philosophical implications.

Introduced during this year’s E3, Spore represents a new way of making games, using what Wright calls procedural animation, saving production costs in an industry of ever-increasing expenses, and enabling a game of this magnitude to exist in the first place. Much of the animation is decided by the code: instead of a large team animating each type of organism, the code analyzes the shape of the characters, what resources they have available, and decides how they should move and behave. Thus, using the game’s logic, the player designs their own experience completely, leaving traditional character development out of the loop.

Spore should be released in the Fall of 2006.

LINK [official website]

LINK [GameSpy preview]
LINK [GameSpot preview]
LINK [1up preview]
LINK [Wired News interview w/ Will Wright]

Here’s a video with Wright discussing the new game, along with shots of gameplay. Find/Scroll to ‘Spore’. You’ll need to register, but it’s free, and only takes a second.

VIDEO

"

(Via Centripetal Notion.)

BassDrive: "

BassDrive is an internet radio station and record label, playing drum and bass music 24/7, with regular live shows, guest DJs, and broadcasts from venues all over the world. They stream at 128 kbps, which sounds as good as anything you’d purchase from most online music stores. And they kick ass. I’m just saying…

LINK [website]
LINK [BassDrive artists & DJs]
AUDIO [128 kbps stream]

"

(Via Centripetal Notion.)

Secret Prisons Closed When Word Leaked Out...: "

A European investigator said Tuesday he has found mounting indications the United States illegally held detainees in Europe but then hurriedly shipped out the last ones to North Africa a month ago when word leaked out.

Dick Marty, a Swiss senator looking into claims the

CIA operated secret prisons in Europe, said an ongoing, monthlong investigation unearthed 'clues' that Poland and Romania were implicated — perhaps unwittingly.

"

(Via The Huffington Post | Raw Feed.)

Sin City 2 Plot Revealed!

Sin City 2 Plot Revealed: "It's one of those hot nights, dry and windless. The kind that makes people do sweaty, secret things... Nancy wants to avenge Hartigan's death by going after the Roarks...
I can't wait for this movie to hit torrents... I mean... theaters..."

The 10 Most Puzzling Ancient Artifacts

The 10 Most Puzzling Ancient Artifacts: "Over the last few hundred years, many perplexing artifacts have been unearthed that do not fit the currently excepted theories of geology and the history of man. Put your tin foil hats on, we are so not alone."

Brooklyn Photographer Don Wiss Told to Leave the Country or Be Killed

I received a troubling email earlier today from Don Wiss saying that he received a phone call today from someone telling him that if he didn't leave the country he would be killed. Don Wiss is a Brooklyn photographer that I have mentioned previously in my posts about sleazy New York bait and switch camera operators operating out of Brooklyn.

read more

Vertical Xbox 360s Scratch Discs?: "

Could positioning the Xbox 360 vertically—the way it's shown in almost all its ads—actually scratch game and movie discs? That's the explanation offered by one Microsoft customer service rep, who went on to explain that Microsoft would not be replacing discs scratched due to using to the Xbox in the 'improper' position.

We've already established that the Xbox 360 will scratch discs if you move it while it's turned on, which is bummer, but a pretty common issue for all disc drives. We hope this vertical nonsense is the byproduct of one CSR's laziness. Indeed, many responders in the 360Insider.net article have used a vertically-oriented Xbox 360 with no scratches at all. Keep an eye on it, we say.

"

(Via Consumerist.)

Cartoonists are revolting: "100 Cartoons to celebrate Black Ink Monday 'Over the last 20 years, the number of cartoonists on the staff of daily newspapers nationwide has been cut in half.' Today, the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists protests 'newspapers everywhere who have lost sight of the value of having a staff editorial cartoonist.'"

(Via MetaFilter.)

Best Buy Faces Discrimination Suit: "

Poor Best Buy. Just after their president was forced to eat crow about forced bundling of Xbox 360 accessories, they must now face down allegations of discrimination by current and former employees. They allege that women and minorities were excluded from the good jobs in a corporate culture that catered to pasty, white men.

'I was told by several managers that I didn't need to be on the sales floor. I was told females can't sell,' Chappel, 48, told reporters at a news conference.

When we were young and worked for Best Buy one cold holiday season, our store manager (in fact, much of the upper management) was a mix of mostly minorities and women.

(Actually, we just realized that sentence, parsed correctly, makes no sense. But we like the crazy Frankenstein Carmen Miranda picture it paints, so it stays.)

That's not to say these allegations are unfounded, but simply that complaints at this level are usually a store- or district-level issue, not necessarily something endemic to the company as a whole.

Unless you're talking about discrimination of women and minorities in executive positions. But come on, everybody does that.

"

(Via Consumerist.)

Amazon/Toys R Us Unable to Fulfill Xbox 360 Orders: "

The Xbox 360 shortage is getting extremely out of hand. According to this post at gaming web site WorthPlaying, Amazon is canceling orders for the impossible-to-find console.

Though we had expected to be able to send this item to you, we've since found that it is not available from any of our sources at this time. We realize this is disappointing news to hear, and we apologize

for the inconvenience we have caused you.

Some folks have asked us if we think this is an engineered shortage on the part of Microsoft. We feel it is safe to say that it is not. (Thanks, J. Nelson!)

"

(Via Consumerist.)

Fucking Crooks: "Fucking Crooks - Yankee Gas customers have apparently done too good a job with conservation, because the company is now asking for a rate hike based, in part, on a drop in use.From cw"

(Via Codewolf DOT Com.)

Time to reduce world population by two thirds: "

Time to reduce world populatio..."

(Via SHOCK & AWE.)

The Road to Tyranny: "

(Via SHOCK & AWE.)

Richard Pryor has died: "According to his official website, comedian Richard Pryor has died at the age of 65. More coverage at Fark and updates at Wikipedia."

(Via MetaFilter.)

CIA SABOTAGE MANUAL - a photoset on Flickr: "CIA SABOTAGE MANUAL - a photoset on Flickr - In the 1980s the CIA produced a small illustrated booklet in both spanish and english designed to destabilise the nicaraguan government and economic system.From cw"

(Via Codewolf DOT Com.)

Ancient legends give an early warning of modern disasters: "Ancient legends give an early warning of modern disasters - On the banks of Siletz Bay in Lincoln City, Oregon, officials dedicated a memorial last week to one of America's worst calamities: a huge earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands of Native Americans 300 years ago.But the memorial's main job is not to commemorate the disaster, which has only just come to light, but to warn local people that similar devastation could strike at any time.From Nony"

(Via Codewolf DOT Com.)

Random Event Generators Predict the Future: "For the past seven years, random number generators have been running all over the world, electronically flipping 200 coins each second, with the intention of measuring a global consciousness. The Global Consciousness Project (GCP), originating from Princeton, have named these random event generators Electrogaiagrams (EGGs) and are using them to test whether a human consciousness extends a field around the earth which can change the results of random events. They claim that when an important event occurs, such as the 9/11 terrorist attack or the Indian Ocean tsunami, the random event generators start to display patterns that should not exist in truly random sequences.
Not only does the GCP detect spikes of less-than-random activity around some important events, but according to the project it actually predicts them, too. In the aforementioned 9/11 attack there was a bizarre spike of non-random activity four hours before the attacks; as for... (More Inside)"

(Via Damn Interesting.)

Bush on the Constitution: 'It's just a goddamned piece of paper': "

(Via SHOCK & AWE.)

Marijuana May Grow Neurons in the Brain: "

Marijua..."

(Via SHOCK & AWE.)

iPhoto Facial Recognition: "

Well, not really, but it seems like it!

Have you ever wanted to see how many photos of someone you have? Now it's a breeze, thanks to keywords. Wait! You're probably thinking 'This is dumb, I'm not going to type in all the names of everyone in my whole library over and over!' This is a common misconception. You do not have to type their names repeatedly! Keywording may be something you overlooked

"

(Via Random Tech.)

Seth MacFarlane is making a new show!

"Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane is venturing into live-action comedy series.

read more | digg story

The darker side of Christmas...: "Who travels with St. Nicholas? Most of us didn't learn about Krampus in elementary school, but apparently Santa Claus doesn't just rely on positive reinforcement. Gather the kiddies around and teach them about the 'Christmas Devil.'"

(Via MetaFilter.)

Solar-powered traffic signs: "

Lintec is marketing in Japan solar-powered traffic signs that have no electric wiring and consume no electricity. The sign stores solar energy in the daytime and automatically illuminates when it gets dark, remaining lit until dawn.

Using a white LED as a lighting source, the product can be used for 10 years, company officials said.

Lintec expects the product to be in demand for use in rural areas where power-supply services are not available, such as in the mountains.

Via Nikkei.

Related: Sun to light bus stops at night in London.

"

(Via we make money not art.)

The Satan Loosed in Salem?: "The Satan Loosed in Salem? - Numerous hypotheses have been devised to explain the occurrence of the Salem witchcraft trials in 1692, yet a sense of bewilderment and doubt pervades most of the historical perspectives on the subject. The physical afflictions of the accusing girls and the imagery of the testimony, therefore, is dismissed as imaginary in foundation. One avenue of understanding that has yet to be sufficiently explored is that a physiological condition, unrecognized at the time, may have been a factor in the Salem incident. Assuming that the content of the court records is basically an honest account of the deponents' experiences, the evidence suggests that convulsive ergotism, a disorder resulting from the ingestion of grain contaminated with ergot, may have initiated the witchcraft delusion. From cw"

(Via Codewolf DOT Com.)

The republicans have nothing better to do: "The republicans have nothing better to do - Having solved the national debt, located the WMDs, curtailed the terrorists, and restored harmony to the United States. They now have a new cause, going after those who don't say Merry Christmas including the president. Please disreguard any other holy days that are practiced by any other religions around the same time.
Happy Festivus everyone!From Understudy"

(Via Codewolf DOT Com.)

OOPs: "OOPs - From Nony"

(Via Codewolf DOT Com.)

CIA Sabotage Manual

A pretty awesome FLICKR Photoset
"In the 1980s the CIA produced a small illustrated booklet in both spanish and english designed to destabilise the nicaraguan government and economic system."

read more | digg story

Abusive New York Camera Store Threatens to Break Customer's Neck

Thomas Hawk reports again:
"You better not pick up, bitch. I�m gonna to come down there and break your #$@#$@#%$ neck..."

read more | 

Kong, Peter Jackson, Jack Black on Dateline: "

VIDEO (via The Last Minute Blog, ~120MB)

Kong opens next Wednesday, the 14th of December. On a side note, if you didn’t see Stone Phillips in the premiere episode of The Colbert Report (unlikely, but alas, a real possibility), then by all means.

"

(Via Centripetal Notion.)

I think I'm gonna hurl...: "Catapult Kits. Big or small, classic or modern, no matter their taste, you'll find something to drive everyone on your holiday shopping list ballistic. It's all fun and games (audio), but be sure to plan ahead so no one gets hurt."

(Via MetaFilter.)

Sounds of NYC.: "For those who have moved away and miss the sounds, or for those who have never been and wonder what it sounds like, listen to Folk Songs for the Five Points, from New York's Tenement Museum. Dissonance in all it's aural beauty."

(Via MetaFilter.)

Bush is talking to Hu?

Read this out loud:

Yesterday Hu Jintao was named chief of the Communist Party in China.

SCENE: The Oval Office.

George: Condi! Nice to see you. What's happening?
Condi: Sir, I have the report about the new leader of China
George: Great. Let's hear it.
Condi: Hu is the new leader of China.
George: That's what I want to know.
Condi: That's what I'm telling you.
George: That's what I'm asking you. Who is the new leader of China?
Condi: Yes.
George: I mean the fellow's name.
Condi: Hu.
George: The guy in China.
Condi: Hu.
George: The new leader of China.
Condi: Hu.
George: The Chinaman!
Condi: Hu is leading China.
George: Now whaddya' asking me for?
Condi: I'm telling you Hu is leading China.
George: Well, I'm asking you. Who is leading China?
Condi: That's the man's name.
George: That's whose name?
Condi: Yes.
George: Will you or will you not tell me the name of the new leader
of China?
Condi: Yes sir.
George: Yassir? You mean Arafat is in China? I thought he was in the
Middle East.
Condi: That's correct.
George: Then who is in China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir is in China?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Then who is?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Look, Condi. I need to know the name of the new leader of
China. Get me the Secretary General of the U.N. on the phone. I bet
he knows.
Condi: Kofi?
George: No, thanks.
Condi: You want Kofi?
George: No.
Condi: You don't want Kofi.
George: No. But now that you mention it, I could use a glass of milk.
And then get me the U.N.
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Not Yassir! The guy at the U.N.
Condi: Kofi?
George: No, milk! Will you please make the call?
Condi: Call who?
George: Who is the guy at the U.N?
Condi: Hu is the guy in China.
George: Will you stay out of China?!
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: And stay out of the Middle East! Just get me the guy at the
U.N!
Condi: Kofi?
George: All right! Light with sugar. Now get on the phone.
(Condi picks up the phone.) Condi: Rice here.
George: Rice? Good idea. And a couple of egg rolls, too.

rigging a presidential election .... and then publish the voting data

This is the software that was distributed showing who voted for who in the RIGGED Venezuelan election. This is being used by the government to fire workers that voted against the government.

Digg for the hope of giving visibility to what is happenning in Venezuela !!!!!!!!!!

read more | digg story

See Someone Go Crazy In Front Of Your Eyes

Every one has seen one of those crazy people walking down the street in New York. Louis Wain was a calendar artist who went crazy in the late 1800's. He continued to paint as he went schizophrenic, and you can literally see him go nuts in front of your eyes as you look at his work over time.

Really Interesting stuff.

read more | 

A better OS X screensaver than Flurry?

A very cool looking screensaver that resembles Flurry and reacts to sounds picked up through your computer's mic.

read more | digg story

Uncle Sam Image Gallery: "Uncle Sam Image Gallery - Pictures and historical information about an American legend.From Juniper"

(Via Codewolf DOT Com.)

Girls fart more than guys: "Girls fart more than guys - and other gross factsFrom Juniper"

(Via Codewolf DOT Com.)

They Never knew – The Victims of Fallout Testing: "

They Never Knew

(Via SHOCK & AWE.)

Ferrofluid: "

Words … should have sent … a poet.

Seriously though, check out these amazing video clips of ferrofluid, a solution containing nanoscale particles that respond to a magnetic field.

VIDEO [1] (via wohba! > kottke.org)
VIDEO [2] (via wohba! > kottke.org)
VIDEO [3] (via wohba! > kottke.org)

LINK/IMAGES [find/scroll to ferrofluid] (Dan’s Data)
IMAGES (credit: Minako Takeno)
IMAGE (credit: Felice Frankel, National Geographic)
LINK [Wikipedia article]

You can buy this from a number of places online, but Dan from Dan’s Data (above) recommends Educational Innovations, ‘who sell all sorts of things that science teachers need. Or don’t need, but want anyway, because if you’re going to have to deal with annoying teenagers all day for not enough money, you might as well play with some cool toys by way of compensation.’ Makes me want to be a teacher all over again.

BUY [100ml = $30]

"

(Via Centripetal Notion.)

Take a screenshot of your favorite flick in the DVD Player: "I always love reading about ingenious methods to accomplished hobbled tasks. If you've ever tried to take a screenshot (Command-Shift-3 or Command-Shift-4) when you have the Mac OS X DVD Player...


[[ This is just a taste, visit MacMerc.com for the full story! ]]"

(Via MacMerc.)

Dave's Guitar and Bass Resource Pages: "

posted by motiy to music bass reference... bookmark this"

(Via del.icio.us/tag/reference.)

Find gas prices near you w/ Map Gas Prices: "

Map Gas Prices is a new service which combines gas price data with a Google Maps interface so that you can easily find out how much gas is going for near your area, and maybe help you find the cheapest gas stations. Gas prices have gone down quite a bit recently, but this is definitely very useful. You can also sign up for e-mail updates on gas prices if you want as well.

[Thanks, Richard!]

"

(Via Firefox.)

Neuro-Semantic Political Illusion Complex: "

Neuro-Semantic Political Illusion Complex

(Via SHOCK & AWE.)

First X-Men 3 Photos Revealed!

USA Today has your first look at photos from 20th Century Fox's X-Men 3, coming to theaters on May 26, 2006.

read more | digg story

Turn left in 500 feet... fool!: "Take a ride with Mr. T as your guide. (December 1)"

(Via CNN.com - Video.)

Electronic Voting Examined; Deadline Nears

Even in this election off-year, the potential perils of electronic voting systems are bedeviling state officials as a Jan. 1 deadline approaches for complying with standards for the machines' reliability.

read more | digg story

CLIPS: Robertson: "Black folks aren't going to vote" for a Democratic nominee not nicknamed "Bubba": "

During a November 30 discussion about politics and religion on Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club, which featured Fox News' John Gibson, host Pat Robertson stated: '[I]f you haven't got a Democratic nominee who can be called 'Bubba' [an apparent reference to former President Bill Clinton], you're not going to get him in office. You're not going to get a New England liberal, no way! Black folks aren't going to vote for people like that.'

In fact, exit polling data for the 2004 presidential election indicated that of the African Americans who voted, 88 percent cast their ballots for Democratic candidate Sen. John F. Kerry (D-MA).

From the November 30 edition of Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club:

GIBSON: I have said it before, so I don't think I'm getting into any trouble for saying it today. I think one of the reasons Kerry lost is that Christian liberals felt that the hostility expressed by the Democratic Party toward Christians made them uncomfortable. African-Americans did not turn out to vote for Kerry as they were expected to. Christian liberals of the Eastern seaboard didn't turn out as they were expected to, and I've always said, look, if you got [Democratic National Committee chairman] Howard Dean going around complaining about right-wing evangelicals, other Christians are going to say, hmmm, this makes me a little uncomfortable to hear that kind of talk.

ROBERTSON: Well, I just think it's really -- if you haven't got a Democratic nominee who can be called 'Bubba,' you're not going to get him in office.

[laughter]

ROBERTSON: You're not going to get a New England liberal, no way!

GIBSON: Well --

ROBERTSON: Black folks aren't going to vote for people like that. They're just not going to do it!

"

(Via Media Matters for America.)

Mac OS X Services (the menu you never go to): "(Note: Numbers 1 through 3 require WordService -- read the article to understand)

There's a whole hidden side of text modification that is stashed away, yet right at your fingertips. If you go to the Application menu (if you're in Safari, click the menu 'Safari') -> Services, a whole list pops down. You've probably disregarded this in the past (if you've ever seen it) because most of the options are grayed out, or unclickable. All you need to do is highlight some text. Go back to the menu and there are so many to choose from! Here are my favorites:

1) Have you ever typed something and then realized you were in caps lock? You probably deleted it and typed it again all in lowercase. You could be more efficient. If you go to Services -> Convert -> Lowercase, it solves the problem without you having to type it all again! You could even do Convert -> Initial Caps of Sentences to have every letter lowercase except the first letter of the first word in a sentence. Nifty!

2) Are you space bar trigger happy? Ever typed more than 1 space in between words? Services -> Format -> Remove Multiple Spaces takes care of that.

3) This one's really helpful. Have you ever needed a long list to be alphabetized? Maybe not even just words, but how about lines of text? At Services -> Format -> Sort Lines Ascending, your entire selection becomes alphabetized. No shareware programs necessary!

4) Don't feel like reading this whole article, but you still want to get an idea of what it's about? Perfect! Select all of it and go to Services -> Summarize. Works well with reviews and book reports!

And this doesn't only work with Safari - it works with every application on your Mac! There are several you can download from the internet. They're called Services and you put them in your home folder -> Library -> Services, if they don't get installed there already.

What are some of your favorites?

digg story"

(Via Random Tech.)

Top 10 HD myths, in full resolution.

A 1080p view on myths about HDTV.

read more | digg story

HOW TO: Connect Your Home Theater

So you've got your HDTV, Windows Media Center PC, a digital media adapter, a set-top box, a DVD player, and a game console. How do you connect them all up into a coherent whole?

read more | digg story

Depressed? Swim with dolphins: "Depressed? Swim with dolphins - Swimming with dolphins reduces depression, calories.From Surfer"

Media: Ray Patin Collection Continued: "

Today, Dan Goodsell of Tick Tock Toys provided more incredible artwork from Ray Patin Studios to be digitized... This batch includes some wonderful model sheets and publicity setups.

























To see more Ray Patin Studios artwork, click on MEDIA in the header at the top of this page.

Dan's book, titled Krazy Kids' Food!, is an incredible visual guide to 1950s and 60s food graphics. If you don't have it in your library, it's worth picking up.

More material will be digitized on Tuesday. If you would like to help out, drop me an email at sworth@animationarchive.org'. We will be open from 1pm to 9pm. If you can stop by, please do.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive"

(Via ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog.)

Are You Addicted to Blogging?: "Discussions about witch is the normal level of blogging"

(Via CommonTimes feed for popular stories.)

Télépopmusik: "

Two albums and one Mitsubishi commerical strong, featuring the vocal stylings of such artists as Angela McCluskey (a direct descendant of Billie Holiday (yes, the)), Télépopmusik offers a fresh, groovy, jazzy, electronic sound received worldwide with favorable reviews. The French group’s core membership consists of three musicians: Fabrice Dumont, Stephan Haeri, and Christophe Hetier, who met in 1997 after playing separately.

LINK [website]
LINK [website @ Capitol Records]
LINK [Wikipedia article, bio]

Their first CD, Genetic World, generated a lot of attention for the leading track, ‘Breathe’, and ‘Love Can Damage Your Health’.

AUDIO / VIDEO [Télépopmusik - ‘Breathe’]
VIDEO [Télépopmusik - ‘Love Can Damage Your Health’]
BUY/PREVIEW (iTunes) / BUY/PREVIEW (Amazon) [Genetic World]
LINK [Metacritic review]

Angel Milk, their latest and very appropriately-named album, has a lot of good songs — my only criticism would be how it seems to feather out a bit in the middle. I like ‘Don’t Look Back’, ‘Stop Running Away’, ‘Love’s Amighty’, and ‘Tuesday’ in particular.

AUDIO [Télépopmusik - ‘Don’t Look Back’]
AUDIO [Télépopmusik - ‘Stop Running Away’]
VIDEO [Télépopmusik - ‘Into Everything’]
BUY/PREVIEW (iTunes) / BUY/PREVIEW (Amazon) [Angel Milk]
LINK [Metacritic review]

Update: Michael F. Gill from Stylus Magazine kindly sent me a back issue of his Groovin’ With The Millimeters podcast, featuring a very popular remix of ‘Into Everything’ by The MFA. Groovin’ is actually more of a show, inasmuch as it appears regularly with other shows on Stylus’s daily music podcast, Stycast. If you’re the fast-forwarding type, ‘Into Everything’ is at 14:38.

AUDIO [Stycast #013: Groovin’ With The Millimeters 002]
LINK [tracklist]
LINK / SUBSCRIBE [The Stycast]
LINK / SUBSCRIBE [Groovin’ With The Millimeters]

"

(Via Centripetal Notion.)

Iraq: Rumsfeld Bans the Word 'insurgents': "'The US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld has banned the use of the word 'insurgents' when referring to the militants operating in Iraq. 'Over the weekend I thought to myself. 'You know, that gives them a greater legitimacy than they seem to merit,' he told journalists during a Pentagon briefing on Tuesday. 'It was an epiphany,' he said, throwing his hands in the air.'"

(Via CommonTimes feed for popular stories.)