Warning: New Copy Protected Audio CD's
The new Kasabian CD and other's from Sony/BMG install software without your knowledge or permission. As soon as you insert the CD it installs a driver even before it displays a license agreement that it asks you to accept. This driver garbles the audio when you try to play it, rip it, or copy it. The easiest way around it is to hold Shift when you insert the CD and as it loads up. This prevents it from autorunning software. I unfortunetly didn't know this when I put the Kasabian CD in my computer to rip it tonight. But thankfully, I found a website that has instructions on how to remove the driver. Thanks to this guy...
http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~jhalderm/cd3/P.S. Thanks Chris for offering to let me rip this CD on your Mac (which doesn't have this problem). The CD rips fine now with that driver removed.
Now that's just sad
Gary Coleman is on my tv advertising a phone number to call if I need cash.
All Hail The Technocratic Society
Those crazy Brits are thinking about doing away with juries in trials that rely heavily on scientific evidence. Apparently some think that trials should be decided by people who understand the evidence. [
more]
Grenade Totin' Robots
Robots, robots, everywhere. And everywhere they're getting more lethal. [
whoa]
Liver, kidney found on sidewalk
Police found a bizarre sight on a sidewalk in New Haven Wednesday night... what appeared to be a human liver and kidney. The two organs were not in any kind of container, and so far, police don't know where they came from and how they ended up on the street... Police said they believe the organs are human, though that has yet to be confirmed... The spot is about equidistant from [Yale-New Haven] hospital and the Yale University Medical School, which may be a key in the case. [
more]
Monterey Aquarium Releases White Shark
SALINAS, Calif. - A great white shark that survived far longer than any other in captivity was returned to the wild Thursday because it was growing too large and had begun preying on other fish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. [
more]
Rad
So the last photo was one I took from my phone and MMS messaged to an email adress. It not only posted it to my flickr account, but also posted it to the blog. That is very cool. Yes, they are crappy phone pics, but still, I can post pictures of things wherever I am and that just rocks.
I am such a nerd for this stuff.
Who needs a bomb squad? Hire monkeys.
According to UPI, Morocco has offered the United States 2,000 monkeys, "...trained in detonating land mines," for the war in Iraq. [
whoa]
Top 10 Useless Limbs (and Other Vestigial Organs)
Letterman should use this one. Science is fun. [
learn]
Boy Scout executive charged with child porn
A former top official of the Boy Scouts of America faces federal Internet child pornography charges and is expected to plead guilty Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office said. Douglas S. Smith Jr. faces a single count of receiving and distributing child pornography... The U.S. attorney's office in Fort Worth, Texas, filed the charges after federal investigators found images of children engaging in sex acts on Smith's computer... Smith retired from the Boy Scouts in February after a 39-year career with the youth organization, based in suburban Dallas... Smith, a former Eagle Scout, previously served as the Boy Scouts' director of programming. [
more]
Barcode Yourself
From the land that takes business cards far too seriously comes personalized 2D bar codes for use with your cameraphone. [
more]
Leviticus ironically spares murderer's life
The Colorado Supreme Court threw out the death sentence Monday of a man convicted of raping and killing a cocktail waitress because jurors consulted the Bible during deliberations. The court said Bible passages, including the verse that commands 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,' could lead jurors to vote for death. The justices ordered Robert Harlan to serve life in prison without parole for the 1994 slaying of Rhonda Maloney. Harlan's attorneys challenged the sentence after discovering five jurors had looked up Bible verses, copied some of them down and then talked about them behind closed doors. [
more]
White supremacist seeks al Qaeda partnership
A couple of hours up the road from where some September 11 hijackers learned to fly, the new head of Aryan Nation is praising them - and trying to create an unholy alliance between his white supremacist group and al Qaeda. 'You say they're terrorists, I say they're freedom fighters.' ... 'I don't believe that they were the ones that attacked us,' [August Kreis] said. 'And even if they did, even if you say they did, I don't care!' Kreis wants to make common cause with al Qaeda because, he says, they share the same enemies: Jews and the American government. [
more]
D&D implicated in stabbing death
The supermarket clerk charged with killing two sisters and a 3-year-old child in a King of Prussia home Friday has confessed to a fourth killing, the fatal stabbing of a Bridgeport woman in 1999, Montgomery County prosecutors said yesterday. John Charles Eichinger, 33, of Somers Point, Atlantic County, has admitted that he slashed the throat of Jennifer Still, 20, in July 1999, District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. said... Many of Still's friends, including Eichinger, were also involved in 'role-playing games' that are like the Dungeons & Dragons game. 'We are looking into whether that's part of it,' Castor said. 'They have many, many stab wounds. Those Dungeons & Dragons fantasy games involve swords, and knives and daggers.'
Barcode That Baby, Maybe Says Embryology Body
ONDON (Reuters) - Sperm and eggs from couples trying for a test-tube baby could in future be barcoded to avoid emotionally devastating mix-ups, according to Britain's human fertility watchdog. [
more]
TMNT News
Kevin Munroe will write and direct a new computer-animated feature-length Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, targeted for U.S. release in spring 2007, the Gamerz-Edge Web site reported.
Never Underestimate the Dark Side of the M&M's
The Chocolate M-pire Arrives April 1st [
Join the Dark Side]
HA!!!! The peanut M&M wookie RULES!!!!
New Foamy
"
The Hatta" MY GOD. That's funny. They made Kyle a squirrel ('sept Kyle is white... on the outside)
re: Random Link of the Day
WOW - thos rooms rule!!! I wanna stay there!!!
Everybody, go check them out!
re: PEEPS!!!!
Images below are fixed now taht I can get blogger to let me do stuff!
A secret thing about me
When Blogger doesn't work all day, I get kind of sad and don't have as good of a day as I could...
Supreme Court Hears File-Sharing Case
WASHINGTON - The mostly silver-haired Supreme Court debated the file-swapping, instant-messaging world of the justices' grandchildren Tuesday, openly worrying that allowing lawsuits to protect Internet movie and music rights could stunt development of the next iPod or other cool high-tech gadget. [
more]
PEEPS!!!!
The Passion of the Peeps
Sermon on the Mount
Queer Peep for the straight Peep
St. John the Baptist, beheaded and presented to the Queen on a silver platter
South Peeps
From Neil's Blog
Bob Morales feels this is the most inappropriate logo he's seen in a long time:
Sex-Deprived Wife Wins Divorce Case
ROME (Reuters) - An Italian woman whose angry husband refused for seven years to have sex with her was awarded divorce damages by Italy's high court. [
more]
Alaska Zoo to Install Elephant Treadmill
Everyone — from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to the U.S. Department of Agriculture — seems to weigh in with opinions on trimming Maggie the elephant's waistline or suggestions for putting extra energy in her heavy step.
But soon Maggie may become a bit less massive. Keepers at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, where Maggie lives, are preparing to install the world's first elephant exercise treadmill. [
more]
Pentagon Invests in Unmanned 'Trauma Pod'
SAN FRANCISCO - The Pentagon is awarding $12 million in grants on Monday to develop an unmanned "trauma pod" designed to use robots to perform full scalpel-and-stitch surgeries on wounded soldiers in battlefield conditions. [
more]
And so it begins...
Strong Quake Hits Off Indonesia Island
BANGKOK, Thailand - A large earthquake struck off the west coast of Indonesia's Sumatra Island late Monday, and the U.S. Geological Survey said it was a major quake measuring a magnitude of 8.2. [
more]
There's already another Tsunami warning...
YAY!!! VPN!!!
Ater much mesing with router settings,I have VPN! WhooHoo! At least now I can get stuff done at home rather than staying at work so late. And I dont have to frak out if I get sick!
I LOVE MY LAPTOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This toy isso cool!!!! I spent last night hanging out with friends while I made tons of money doing freelance work! This rules!!!
Now to see if I can get VPN to work on this machine since it doesn't like the desktops...
13 things that do not make sense
WOW - This article is pretty cool - scsience stuff nobody understands really. [
more]
OK, so now the NRA is advocating arming teachers
'cuz that's really going to instill trust and a sense of safety in students. Jesus Christ, if I was a kid, I'd drop out - at least then I would have a hope of not becomming another fucked up, crazy human. [
Here's the skinny]
Everyone's a Programmer!!!
Although it's a long way from giving non-programmers the ability to write code, Metafor, an application that turns English into application code "skeletons" has already demonstrated the ability to speed up application development for beginning and intermediate programmers. [
more]
RFID Starter Kit
For the control freak/NSA employee in your home, pick up the HomeSeer RFID Starter Kit and start tagging everything you own. [
RFID Your Life]
GPS.pi For Stalkers And Jealous Lovers
Combine GPS and SMS and you get GPS.pi an application that constantly updates you on your friends' current wherabouts. Sounds like a perfect stalker toy to me. [
Check it Out]
Lyrics: Walking Dead (DJ Z-Trip feat. Chester Bennington)
In the chill of the night
I can feel my heart racing
As I run towards the light that seems so far away
Wondering forever
In the darkest of shadows
Wondering if I will ever see you again
Wondering if I will ever see you again
I'll take your love(I'll take your love)
I'll take your hate(take your hate)
I'll take you're desire
I'll take the world
when it turns on you(when it turns on you)
I'll set it on fire
W-the-w-th-th-the walking dead
The walking dead (walking dead)
Digging in the dirt
I can feel you getting closer
Steadying my hands through the blistering pain
Anxiously awaiting for the earth to reveal you
Wondering if I will ever see you again (see you again)
Wondering if I will ever see you again
I'll take your love (I'll take your love)
I'll take your hate(take your hate)
I'll take you're desire
I'll take your heart
I'll take your pain(I'll take your pain)
I'll bring you to life
I'll bring you to life
W-the-w-th-th-the walking dead
The walking dead (walking dead)
I'll bring you to life
I'll take your love(I'll take your love)
I'll take your hate(take your hate)
I'll take you're desire
I'll take the world
when it turns on you(it turns on you)
W-the-w-th-th-the walking dead
I'll take your love(I'll take your love)
I'll take your hate(take your hate)
I'll take you're desire
I'll take your heart
I'll take your pain(I'll take your pain)
I'll bring you to life
 | |
*677 makes you safer
I got an email from Coalee telling me about *677 from cell phones - it is a line to the dispatch office of your local police station to let you know ifthe vehicle pulling you over is a legitimate cop - apparently people have been getting pulled over by "unmarked police cars" and they have been rapists or whatever. Anyway, you can dial this number just to check that the cop is for real.
Apparently police have to respect your right to keep going to a safe & quiet place. You obviously need to make some signals that you acknowledge them (I.e. put on
your hazard lights) or call *677.
*Speaking to a service representative at **Bell** Mobility confirmed that
*677 was a direct link to OPP Dispatch.
Google's Online Books starting to show up
The first fruits of Google's ambitious effort to make digital copies of some of the world's largest university library collections available online began to crop up in the company's search results this morning. Searches for "Merchant of Venice" and
"Huckleberry Finn," among other tomes, return the classic texts.
Zak Nelson's Female Evil Twn
When I got the UCSC Review - I did a double take - the new chancellor looks like a female Zak Nelson! I thought it was just me, until Zac Heyer sent me this:
Posted from: bed
The BloodMobile
TMBG Video by Dave Logan, a high school senior. I love science songs! [
watch]
Misc crossover news
The HellmouthCentral.com Web site reported a rumor that Emma Caulfield (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) may be joining the cast of ABC's hit SF series Lost, on which former Buffy writer David Fury is one of the producers.
And Just when you thought that we had seen the last of Weta and thier LOTR empire
The bring you the
Narnia collection to support the upcomming movie. BTW, the book is very fun, I am sad that I miswsed it as a kid.
New Laptop!
Well, thanks to an old client from Mranet who hates Bill calling up and asking if I would like to do freelance work for them, I am now posting to you on my beautiful new Toshiba laptop which I got for pretty cheap thanks to
a deal at CompUsa. Anyway, I have been wanting one for some time now and I can finally justify and pay for it without adversley effecting my debt re-payment (YAY No interest for 12 months!)
Ok, more later when I get used to this thing...
Fileshare With Your Skin
Giving P2P a whole new meaning, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation claims development of a viable
Human Area Network that can transmit data at 2Mbps over the surface of the skin. Among other potential benefits is security, because the effective transmission range is only about 20 cm. "If you can't pick up [the signal] it can't be cracked." [
press release]
Sumo World Says 'No Thanks' to Pants
TOKYO (Reuters) - A tussle has broken out in Japan's tradition-bound sumo world over the right to wear pants in the ring. [
more]
Finally, something worth arguing about.
Kung Fu Hustle
From the Mkaers of Shao Lin Soocer, comes
Kung Fu Hustle. Will brought it over last Friday and a bunch of us watched it. OMG - HYSTERICAL. WAY better than SLS! Anyway, if you get a chance - go see it - it's a silly, silly movie - try and see it subtitled though - that's just the best.
New Shelby Mustang unveiled
Runway Scarecrow Machine Lost in Translation
BEIJING (Reuters) - China imported a U.S.-made scream machine to scare away the birds at Beijing airport -- except they didn't recognize the noises and refused to budge.
The bird-dispersing equipment had recorded the screams of American birds or the sounds of the birds' natural enemies, the Beijing Evening News said.
"Local birds did not understand the foreign language," the newspaper said.
So Chinese experts "translated" the U.S. bird noises into those of their Chinese counterparts.
"The workers have already recorded six or seven bird screams which are common in Beijing," it said, adding that the new scare tactics were undergoing tests.
BTW
For those of you who don't know - I am officialy re-upped through June 30...
How Computers Make Kids Dumb
...A study of 100,000 pupils in 31 countries around the world has concluded that using computers makes kids dumb. Avoiding PCs in the classroom and at home improved the literacy and numeracy of the children studied. The UK's Royal Economic Society finds no ground for the correlation that politicans make between IT use and education... [
more]
Nearby evidence for dark energy
(SPACE.com) -- New research suggests evidence of dark energy in our cosmic backyard, but theorists are still divided on explanations for the ever-increasing speed with which the universe is expanding.
Until now, evidence for dark energy, a mysterious antigravity force apparently pushing galaxies outward at an accelerating pace, has only been found in the farthest reaches of the universe.
But an international team of researchers has used computer models supported by observations from the Hubble Space Telescope to find hints of dark energy closer by. [
more]
RFID embedded in the fabric of a city?
Wow. That's cool.The core idea of YRP Uniquitous Networking Laboratory's new project is to embed a number of RFID tags in public venues and use them to help people get around in a city.
Pedestrians use handheld devices that gets information from RFID tags and say things like "You are at XXX in YYY town" "If you turn right, there'll be a train station" [
more]
Star Wars Website Update
The official
Star Wars Web site has been relaunched to promote Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith, with multimedia content previously available only to paying Hyperspace members.
Machu Picchu Belongs to Us, Peruvian Family Says
LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - Peru's poor Zavaleta family has only one thing to say to the thousands of tourists who trek along the Inca trail to the renowned citadel Machu Picchu every year: "Hey you, get off our land!"
The family says it is the lawful owner of a large part of the Machu Picchu sanctuary, Peru's most famous national treasure, and will start proceedings next week to sue the state for recognition of its ownership rights. [
more]
Today's Mash Up
"Down in a Hole" - Alice in Chains and "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" - U2.
Odd combination...
Something to think about...
Random Links to Brighten your Monday
Bubble popping madness.Test to determine whether you think more like a typical man or woman. (I got a 0, which means I think somewhere in between, although I didn't do the finger measurement part...)
An
article from SF Gate about the above test
Hitchhiker's News
The new
Web site for the upcoming Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy went live 42 days before the movie's April 29 premiere.
Maggots: Coming to a Hospital Near You
LONDON (Reuters) - Phyllis Hulme's family and friends were aghast when she told them doctors planned to put maggots on her leg ulcer.
It may sound gruesome, but it turns out that maggots are remarkably efficient at cleaning up infected wounds by eating dead tissue and killing off bacteria that could block the healing process. [
more]
Ew.
The flower is just awesome....
And the world just keeps on getting more fun...
To kick off the 2006 Commonwealth games a GPS-enabled, video camera-equipped baton will be making the journey from London to Melbourne. [
learn about it]
Techno-nerds RULE: I give you... The Bike Tree
A solar-powered bike locker that lifts bikes into an artificial canopy far above the heads of would-be thieves [
check it]
What a cool idea.
Carl needs this: Clocky
Clocky is a clock for people who have trouble getting out of bed. When the snooze bar is pressed, Clocky rolls off the table and finds a hiding spot, a new one every day. [
more]
Cement That Eats Global Warming Gases
Eco-cement sucks carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere when it sets. It's judo environmentalism: redirect your opponent's energy in the direction that most benefits you. [
more]
YAY!
Traffic School is done - eBay auctions are doing well, and more are being posted now (waiting for files to upload). At least I am making some headway this weekend!
Oh Boy I love traffic school
*sigh* at least it's better than sitting in the classroom for 8 hours - I can do it at home in bursts...
The Ring II
Not nearly as tight as the first one, but pretty OK for a sequil.
More on Joss and Wonder Woman
Connery Takes Call to Return as Bond!
Word is going around that none other than Sean Connery has agreed to provide the voice of Bond in Electronic Arts' James Bond 007: From Russia With Love. Connery will apparently be "recording the full voice track in the Caribbean during the next few weeks."
EA is using Connery's likeness for Bond in the game, and the story will follow the film's plot fairly closely.
The game will ship in either late 2005 or early 2006 on Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube.
Ready for some stellar news?
Lab fireball 'may be black hole'
A fireball created in a US particle accelerator has the characteristics of a black hole, a physicist has said. [
more]
Lucas: Star Wars Due In 3-D
George Lucas told ShoWest that he is planning to remaster all of the Star Wars films for rerelease in 3-D as a way to promote the technology, according to The Hollywood Reporter. [
more]
Quick! Post Now!!!
Wow. I'm getting completley stellar performance from Blogger this morning. If you've got something to post - now's the time!!!
New Wonka Website
And as it actually opens things, it will be very cool. [
Wonkafy]
Bebop Remixed
Bandai Entertainment has announced July 25, 2005 as the release date for Volume 1 of their special edition DVD series COWBOY BEBOP REMIX. [
more]
And the "how our government continues to screw the planet" of the day
Senate Backs Opening New Alaska Oil Spigot
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As U.S. oil prices soared to a record high on Wednesday, the Senate gave President Bush's energy plan a major boost by voting to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling. [
more]
WTF of the day.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A Belgian man on trial for having sex with dogs claims he did it out of compassion for man's best friend, a Belgian paper said on Friday.
Daily Gazet Van Antwerpen said the 36-year old in the eastern Belgian town of Genk told the court he had sex with dogs "out of love for animals," since a lot of them can't have sex, especially those locked up in refuges.
The man, only identified by his initials, could face six months in jail if convicted.
He had worked in an animal refuge before and had also posted thousands of pictures on the Internet of himself having sex with dogs, the paper said.
Re: Sex Doll Sparks Bomb Alert at Postoffice
Sex Doll Sparks Bomb Alert at Postoffice
BERLIN (Reuters) - A blow-up sex doll sparked a bomb alert in a German post office after it started to vibrate inside a package awaiting delivery, police said Wednesday.
"Workers were unsettled when it began vibrating and made strange noises," a spokesman for police in the eastern city of Chemnitz said. "They were worried the package might be a bomb."
Officers brought the sender to the scene and discovered the source of alarm was an electrical device inside a life-size female sex doll. The man told police he had wanted to return the doll because it kept turning itself on at the wrong moment.
Order was restored after the sender removed the doll's batteries so the defective product could be returned. [
more]
E.T. No Phone
(in E.T. voice) "OOOoooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww"
I had to bring in my computer today so VPN could get installed (why - I do not know - new security crap). Anyway, this item filled me "I need to bring this with me tomorrow" slot in my head so I left my phone at home. Anyone who normally calls me durring the day should resort to calling the office number or email.
"Hhhhhhhhhhhhooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeee"
Peeps Research
As we plunge into the 21st century, it is time we take a closer look at the technological wonders we create. Here, we try to discover just a little bit more about the world around us through the miracles of science, technology, and preservatives. [
laugh]
ZoomQuilt
Amber sent this over to me - it's pretty neat. If they could make it go in any direction, that would be even neater.... [
zoom]
Today was nuts
Crazy amount of work this week as the new catalog came out... **sigh**
ALIAS!
INTERNET SITES BRING OBSERVATORIES TO ASTRONOMY FANS'
In a world so brightly lit, few of us ever see the full glory of the night sky. Fewer still have the time and patience to buy a telescope, learn how to use it
and drive far enough to find skies dark enough to offer a good view.
But what if you could do all that from the comfort of your computer for $50 a year?
Subscribers to
Slooh.com can look through professional-grade telescopes that are 6,000 miles away, on Mount Teide in the Canary Islands. They can watch pre-programmed group missions or, for 15 minutes each year, point the scope wherever they please.
With a click of a mouse, they can zoom in, zoom out, listen to online radio commentary from the likes of comet hunter David Levy or hear audio clips from ``storytellers'' that explain what they're seeing.
I checked it out - looks pretty cool - you can even sign up for a 7 day trial...
Have a blog, lose your job?
Whedon News
Ain't It Cool News reported that producer Joel Silver may make an announcement concerning his proposed Wonder Woman film in two days, possibly announcing the hiring of Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon to write and direct. [
more]
The Future has always been here
Nanobacteria (or calcifying self-propagating nanoparticles, if you accept their discoverers preferred label) may, or may not, be life, but they share a lot of characteristics of other self-propagating entities. They may also be the source of a host of medical problems, from kidney stones to ovarian cancers. [
more]
Pi Day Gives Math Mavens Something to Celebrate
NEW YORK (Reuters) - For math nerds, Monday was a day when they could have their Pi and eat it, too.
"It's Pi Day because the date is 3/14 -- the first three digits of Pi," said Howard Greenspan, who oversaw a Pi Day Party online with a Pi drop at MathematiciansPictures.com, a Web site that sells Pi paraphernalia.
"This is the perfect holiday to celebrate in cyberspace," Greenspan told Reuters in a telephone interview from Toronto.
"We dropped the giant Pi online at 1:59 p.m. Eastern time," Greenspan said, noting that "3.14159 are the first six digits of Pi." [
more]
Judge Says Calif. Can't Ban Gay Marriage
SAN FRANCISCO - A judge ruled Monday that California's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional — a legal milestone that, if upheld on appeal, would open the way for the most populous state to follow Massachusetts in allowing same-sex couples to wed. [
more]
I really think most humans are sad and pathetic. Even animals know enough not to give a shit about who mates with who. These people clearly need more joy in their lives, if not simply something better to do than argue about this. People should be able to love and marry whoever they want. It doesn't hurt ANYONE for them to get a peice of paper and to file jointly once a year on their taxes.
Spend more money and time on educating children to be good humans and less of it on invading people's lives with useless nonsense, or worse, teaching children to be awful humans like this.
Changing the ::Watch:: Links
To what I am watching on TV and what people have loaned me, as you can see what else I am watching through the Netflix links below it.
Kinda sad to see it go
Watched the last of DS9 tonight. Yep - kinda sad to see it go. It got very good in season 5 and stayed solid until the end.
It's odd how I get a little bit of seperation anxiety when a show ends like that and I know that I won't see those folks again. As I joke with Nathan, "It's NOT REAL!!!!", but I still will miss those characters in my own way. Buffy was odd because I let go around season 6, so when it wa sover, I kept telling people taht it was about time, but when a show starts to grip you toward the end, it's like loosing a friend when there is no more.
Ok 1) I am pathetic. 2) I need more of a life clearly. 3) I need to cancel Netflix.(but there's 500 discs in the Queue, and that's only because they won't let me add anymore!!")
Hm, well, off to watch some Stargate - that's been on 8 years now, I wonder how I am going to feel when that one is over...
| | |
RE: Wow - the future is here; Paying by Fingerprint at the Supermarket
I predict the occurance of finger theft in Germany to rise...
Earth 911: recycling centers, water pollution and conservation, Earth Day
This is a very cool resource for all of your environmentally helpful needs! Just enter your Zip Code for close facilities, etc. [
be good to your planet]
Episode III Trailer Online for All
Wow - the future is here; Paying by Fingerprint at the Supermarket
BERLIN (Reuters) - Customers of a German supermarket chain will soon be able to pay for their shopping by placing their finger on a scanner at the check-out, saving the time spent scrabbling for coins or cards. [
more]
Rice Says She Won't Run for President
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday ruled out running for president, responding to speculation fueled by a recent poll showing support for a Rice candidacy. [
more]
Wow. And I didn't think anybody could be worse than Bush... getting out of debt is now an even bigger priority (cuz you know she's gonna run after this).
Hopefully, if it does happen, it will be a Gorgonzola (my personal name for Condoleezza) vs Hillary Showdown.
Bill Gates Tops Forbes List of Billionaires for 11th Year
March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Bill Gates, founder and chairman of Microsoft Corp., is the world's richest person for the 11th consecutive year, even as his net worth fell slightly to $46.5 billion, according to Forbes magazine's annual survey. [
more]
WTF of the day: Look Who's Talking at the Drive-Through
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp. wants to outsource your neighborhood drive-through. The world's largest fast-food chain said on Thursday it is looking into using remote call centers to take customer orders in an effort to improve service at its drive-throughs.
"If you're in L.A.... and you hear a person with a North Dakota accent taking your order, you'll know what we're up to," McDonald's Chief Executive Jim Skinner told analysts at the Bear Stearns Retail, Restaurants & Apparel Conference in New York. Call center professionals with "very strong communication skills" could help boost order accuracy and ultimately speed up the time it takes customers to get in and out of the drive-throughs, the company said.
Oh Blog, how I Missed You
I think I need counseling.
I am the only person I know that gets blogsick the way a person gets lovesick.
Pay Your Taxes, Pa-Rum-Pum-Pum-Pum....
HYDERABAD, India (Reuters) - Tax defaulters in southern India are being forced to face the music after city authorities hired drummers to play non-stop outside their homes until they pay up. [
more]
Pleasantly Surprised by Shrub's Peeps: Federal Rule Resets Soot and Smog Limits
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on Thursday ordered reductions in smog and soot pollution across 28 states in the East, South and Midwest with the goal of making the air cleaner to breathe for people downwind of coal-burning power plants. [
more]
Hanover Tech Fair Reveals Tomorrow's Hit Gadgets
HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - The most expensive flat-screen TV. The smallest hard drive. The most powerful camera phone. The first intelligent shoe. [
more]
Wow. I can't wait for most of that!
| | |
PodCasting
So I spent a bunch of time looking up stuff about PodCasting. I can see enormous potential in this for news sources, Authors, upcomming artists, etc. Right now, it's like the very early days of blogging and of the internet for that matter, where it's sort of crude and all of the big names haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet, but it could really go places if the right people start getting on it.
I lovethat they have the director of Battlestar Galactice doing one about the show and that Sci-Fi has one with their weekly news update. I wish they had one on CNN.com so I could leave the iPod hooked up at night and have it there for my drive into work. Someday. I tell you. Someday.
Kevin is
jumping on the bandwagon. I am trying to decide if I would ever actually cast out to the world. I think of my blog as my way to talk to the world, not sure they all need to hear my annoying voice on top of it. It's be like Foamy's Rants.
Speaking of...
Typing Error Causes Nuclear Scare
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A stenographer for the U.S. Congress generated alarming headlines in the Sudanese press this week by giving the mistaken impression the United States conducted nuclear tests in the African country in 1962 and 1970. [
more]
I hate my radio
Why is it that after listening to "boulevard of Broken Dreams" today for the 3rd time, I turned to another radio station and it was on, and i turned to *ANOTHER* radio station and it was on?
Look people, it's good. Please don't make me hate it.
Flickr
Kevin told me about
Flickr - a very cool photo sharing tool taht lets you email your blog and Flickr at the same time, post pretty much anywhere and leave really cool notes on your pics that work like mouseover sticky notes. Best of all, there's a function in there to add random rotating pictures to another website (like this one) so we now have "gallery" on the sidebar!
I still love Yahoo photos (I'm kinda married to them now with 30 some-odd photo albums!) so I think I will use the Flickr accout primarily to post to the blog. Between this, Yahoo, and Hello, Man, I am set!
Oh sweet lordy, I can post again
I don't know what's up with Blogger, but I have had a hell of a time posting to the blog during the day - it throws 500's at me all over the place. Anyway, yay - postability - I feel sort of naked without my blog.
Typing Error Causes Nuclear Scare
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A stenographer for the U.S. Congress generated alarming headlines in the Sudanese press this week by giving the mistaken impression the United States conducted nuclear tests in the African country in 1962 and 1970. [
more]
Some pics from Colorado posted
Derek's Birthday Pics are up
And Carl was the only one that was stoned.
Kevin's Birthday Pics are up
Amber's Birthday pics are up
in the photos section - apparently we were all stoned...
Man Loses Fingers in Quest for Girlfriend
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - A Los Angeles man who sneaked into Canada in February to see his Internet girlfriend will be deported -- minus all his fingers and some of his toes, the Winnipeg Sun newspaper reported Tuesday.
Charles Gonsoulin, 41, will have the fingers and toes amputated because of severe frostbite suffered during a 100-hour trek from Pembina, North Dakota, across the border to Emerson, Manitoba, where he was found wandering on a golf course on Feb. 23, suffering from hypothermia. [
more]
Sexy Moans for Mobile Phones
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Adult film company New Frontier Media has something new for cell phones: ring moans.
Wireless content company Brickhouse Mobile on Tuesday said that under an agreement with New Frontier it would begin offering ring tones for mobile phone users featuring porn stars making groaning and moaning noises from the suggestive to the positively tantalizing. [
more]
Rad.
I got my yahoo mail working on my phone. POP3 rules.
Oh man.... Tarantino Mulls Friday The 13th?
New Line has contacted director Quentin Tarantino about helming what would be the "ultimate" Friday the 13th movie in the wake of the success of 2003's Jason vs. Freddy, and Tarantino is reportedly interested enough to take an initial meeting, Variety reported. The director of Kill Bill is being asked to write a script for the latest incarnation of the 25-year-old slasher franchise, which features the antics of hockey-masked Jason Voorhees, the trade paper reported.
Tarantino's representatives at William Morris confirmed to Variety that a meeting with New Line is on the books, but also cautioned that Tarantino frequently takes off months, if not years, between projects.
Let's Leave Some Little Hamster Magazines, Too...
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German man who went on holiday left his stereo and lights on so that his pet hamster would not feel lonely in the empty apartment, a police spokesman said on Monday after breaking into it over fears the man may have died. [
more]
Tests Show King Tut Was Not Murdered
CAIRO, Egypt - The results of a CT scan done on King Tut's mummy indicate the boy king was not murdered, but may have suffered a badly broken leg shortly before his death at age 19 — a wound that could have become infected, Egypt's top archaeologist said Tuesday. [
more]
<Butthead>Technology is cool.</Butthead>
Phone rules
Data Cable is the shizzle-nit. Ringtone is now Depeche Mode "World in my Eyes" intro as created by me, my mp3 and SoundForge. Rad.
Wireless Vineyards
California wine growers are so bleeding edge they've got grape cams and wirelessly networked vineyards. I refuse to be impressed until there's an RFID tag on every grape. [
more]
More on the ray gun: Ray gun can drop rioters from 2km
A RAY gun which can deliver a bout of excruciating pain to rioters from a distance of more than two kilometres is being developed by weapons experts in the United States.
Although the gun is meant to leave the victims unharmed, the development has aroused fury among pain researchers, who claim their work to limit and control pain has been hijacked to create a weapon. [
more]
HOLY CRAP!!!!!! Thieves take brain remote control
A medical device which allows a woman to sleep by switching off an implant in her brain has been stolen. [
more]
OMG, so funny: Fun with Photoshop
I think my favorite has to be the WWII one.... [
laugh]
Automating the collection of chickens
World's oldest biped skeleton unearthed
The fossilised skeleton of a four million-year-old human ancestor able to walk on two legs could provide clues as to how humans' upright walk evolved. The remains, found in north-east Ethiopia, are the oldest yet discovered of an upright hominid, scientists told a press conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Saturday. [
more]
What obsolete skill are you?
You are 'juggling'. Jugglers, tumblers, and other street performers were a very popular sort of entertainment once, before movies and talkies and online quizzes supplanted them.
You like to put on a show for people, and they like to watch. You are friendly and well-liked, particularly for your sense of humor, although you sometimes play with people's heads. You are frequently the center of attention, and you like it that way. However, you have to realize that the world does not revolve around you. Furthermore, you have to learn that your light-hearted antics are not appropriate to all situations. Your problem is that juggling has been obsolete for a long time.
What obsolete skill are you? brought to you by Quizilla
Camera phones recognise their owner
Software that lets a camera phone recognise its owner's face could provide a handy new security measure, according to a Japanese company. [
more]
Weekend Report
Well, I was both productive and not. I got a bunch of stuff done - feel better about my apartment's state of grossness, clients are happy, etc - but I managed to not get a bunch of stuff done too, which I think was based on unrealistic expectations of my ability to not watch 12 episodes of DS9 in one weekend. :-)
Hopefully this week will go smoothly at work (HA!) and I can get traffic school over with before next weekend.
Hope you all had a great weekend!
Amber's Birthday
When: Monday March 7 at 8:00 p.m.
Where: Olive Garden on Blossom Hill
RSVP: Call Amber or Morgan to let them know that you are coming by Monday AM - if you need the #, call or email me.
She wants: GIFT CARDS
*Overstock.com* (*has good deals on all kinds of great stuff with good
shipping prices!)
Micheals Crafts (or like)
Jo Anne Fabrics (or like)
Barnes & Nobles
Name a cruise ship in Neil's next book
As posted on his
site:
I've got to name a currently unnamed cruise ship in Anansi Boys. I have no idea what to call it, and, a couple of days ago, realised that my utter lack of inspiration could do good things for the CBLDF: later in the week, the CBLDF will do an eBay auction where, if you wish, you can bid to have the ship named after you, your loved one, your dog, or even your favourite word. It's not a particularly exceptional cruise ship, nothing much happens on it, and it will only get mentioned by name a handful of times in the book. I'll announce it and link to it here when Charles Brownstein gets the auction up.
More on BioJewlery
Here's a website about how you can have jewlery made out of cultured tissues from your own body!
Tim Burton is having a garage sale
Oh how I wish I could go see that!
Friday, March 11, Saturday, March 12 and Sunday, March 13, 2005
207 North Aspan Avenue Azusa, CA 91702
9:00am - 4:00pm
(Absolutely No Early Previews or Early Sales)
Previously owned items by director Tim Burton and his actress wife former girlfriend Lisa Marie. Designer furniture (Herman Miller, Noguchi, Knoll, Ashland & Hill), clothing (Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, YSL), lamps, ceramic kiln, fine crystal, make-up, electronics, Tiffany & Co. Sterling Silver, movie memorabilia, props from movie sets and tons more. This sale will be held in a warehouse in Azusa, CA, a 45 minute drive from Studio City.
New Phone
so far - Bitchin'.
Totally dig it.
Today's Mash Up
Snap - "I Got the Power" with Beastie Boys "Brass Monkey"
Good stuff.
It's Here! It's Here!!
New toy is here!!! Now I have to wait for it to charge and then go to someone's house to actiavte it (both it and my old phone have to be off when it happens). But it is very cute and light and looks like a lot of fun! :-)
Korn Guitarist Leaves Band For Religion
Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch has parted ways with the hard rock band, according to a report by Reuters. Welch broke the news last week on a Bakersfield, California, radio station, citing that he had had a religious awakening. [
more]
Woman Impaled in Tub for Six Hours
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A 92-year-old Harlem woman who fell in her bathtub became impaled on the cold water tap and screamed for help for more than six hours before she was rescued, the fire department said. [
more]
Miss Congeniality 2
Does anyone else think that this is totally unnecessary?
The Good Samaritan, 2005
BERLIN (Reuters) - An apparently friendly motorist in Germany stopped to tow a broken-down car, stranded the owners as he sped away, crashed their car into a gas station and then drove off, police said Thursday. [
more]
Martha Stewart Is Freed From Prison
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Martha Stewart, released after five months in a West Virginia prison, landed at Westchester County Airport shortly after 2 a.m. Friday and was whisked away by a motorcade of two cars bound for her estate in Katonah. [
more]
When it's time to change....
New phone on the way. My old one is still very cool and I will keep it for a backup, but it has started to glitch here and there and Cingular wanted to give me a very cool one for really cheap, so I said ok!
I got a
Sony Ercsson Z500a so now I will be able to get my email on my phone, have mobile AIM, be able to surf the web, and take pictures. Tae only feature that It doens't have that I would ever want is GPS! (It has mapping features, so I wish it would tell me where I was and then map me. I give it two more years before that is built in.)
Anyway... neat, new toy and something for me to play with all weekend.
Re: Duran Duran
And Kenny G did a good job playing the sax on a few songs. Bout time he cut his hair...
Hampton To Adapt Strange
New Line Cinema has set Oscar winner Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons) to adapt Susanna Clarke's best-selling supernatural novel Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell for the big screen, Variety reported. The book concerns a magician and his apprentice who use their powers in the war against Napoleon, but are eventually pitted against each other.
New Line is also developing a movie based on The Golden Compass, the first installment of Philip Pullman's fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials. A director will be named soon to replace Chris Weitz, who wrote the last draft of the script.
Stripper Selling Infamous Breast Implant on EBay
MIAMI (Reuters) - A former topless dancer who was famously cleared of battering a Florida nightclub patron with her "crazy big" breasts has shed her oversized silicone implants and put one of them up for auction on eBay. [
more]
Amber's Birthday
Amber is having some sort of Birthday Dinner thing on Monday the 7th for anyone who wants to come. The location is still TBD - will post as soon as I know.
Her gift certificate needs are as follows:
*Overstock.com* (*has good deals on all kinds of great stuff with good shipping prices!)
Micheals Crafts (or like)
Jo Anne Fabrics (or like)
Barnes & Nobles
Duran Duran
The show last nigt was awesome! The chick that they had doing backup vocals did an amazing job on "Come Undone", which is by far my favorite song by them. They still have it, even if they are in their mid-to-late-40's (like Morgan).
Today's Mash Up
"I'm the only one" (Melissa Ethridge) "Blvd. of Broken Dreams" (Green day)
Somehow appropriate.
Added Netflix RSS to the sidebar
So you can see what I have and what I am about to get!
BATMAN BEGINS Big
The Imax Corp. announced that it will release "Batman Begins" on its giant screen theaters the same day as the film hits regular theaters. This will be the eighth Warner Bros. film to be digitally remastered and released in Imax theaters.
'Star Wars' trailer to premiere on 'O.C.'
NEW YORK (AP) -- Darth Vader is coming to "The O.C."
The trailer for "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" will premiere during the March 10 episode of the Fox show.
The final installment of the "Star Wars" saga will open in theaters on May 19. The new trailer will be released in movie theaters beginning March 11.
"Revenge of the Sith" is the third prequel to the original "Star Wars" trilogy. It continues the chronicle of young Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), who eventually turns to the dark side and becomes Darth Vader.
As an avid superhero fan, Seth Cohen, the main character of "The O.C." played by Adam Brody, would likely relish the event.
"The O.C." airs Thursdays (8 p.m. EST).
Jeff's Gone
And I am all alone in my whole section of cubes...
For you nerds out there: iPod 'squeaks' betray software secrets
Computer enthusiasts have worked out how to reprogram Apple's iPod music player with their own code using an ingenious acoustic trick.
They adapted the component that generates clicks - or "squeaks" - as a user scrolls through the on-screen menu in order to extract vital information from the latest generation of the device. This allowed them to install an alternative operating system and make their iPods run games and other new programs. [
more]
Maximum pain is aim of new US weapon
The US military is funding development of a weapon that delivers a bout of excruciating pain from up to 2 kilometres away. Intended for use against rioters, it is meant to leave victims unharmed. But pain researchers are furious that work aimed at controlling pain has been used to develop a weapon. And they fear that the technology will be used for torture. [
more]
Jackson Sues Studio Over Rings
Peter Jackson's production company, Wingnut Films Ltd., sued New Line Cinema for allegedly withholding profits, including home-video revenue, from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the first film in the trilogy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. [
more]
Something Doesn't Smell Right About This Marriage
TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian woman has requested a divorce from her husband on the grounds that he has not washed for more than a year. [
more]
Happy Birthday Yahoo!
If you go to
Yahoo.com today, in the flash thing in the middle of the page is a coupon to go get some Baskin Robin's on them today!
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3 Million Dollar Donation to the Save Enterprise campaign
hi all,
i don't know who all here (if any) are Star Trek fans, but i just wanted to share that the Save Enterprise campaign got a huge shot in the arm today with the announcement of a 3M donation from the people involved in SpaceShipOne, the first ever commercial spacecraft that recently claimed the X Prize. here is the link to the announcement: http://www.saveenterprise.com/3m_contribution.htm
reading the statement from the benefactors literally made me cry. some might argue that such a sum would be better spent towards tsunami relief or other worthy causes, but i'm personally glad that there are rich people who believe enough about the inspiring quality of this show to give it to TrekUnited.com.
on a negative note, the TrekUnited.com site was hacked today shortly after the announcement, possibly by a denial of service attack. i recall a quote from gandhi that someone posted early on in the campaign:" first they ignore us. then they laugh at us. then they fight us. then we win." i guess we are now in stage 3.
pardon my ranting if nobody actually cares here, but this donation just made my week in a very very major way. thanks for listening. :)
--nancy
Mash up
So right near my work, there's a mile or so where the radio stations overlap. They don't have very much static, but they go back and forth between what is playing on one to the other. sometimes it's interesting to hear the mash-up that it creates.
Today's Mash up: "Insaine in the Membrain" with "Here Without You"
Women Adopt Frozen Embryos, Save Them from Science
MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish clinic that allows women to adopt frozen embryos to save them from scientific research said Monday 14 women were pregnant with adopted embryos. [
more]
German courts go techno
The German Courts have finally entered the Internet Age. The lower Chamber of Germany's Federal Parliament on Friday passed the German Electronic File Management Act, which will enable the German judiciary to process legal files and documents electronically. [
more]
The Germans are screwing up the whole concept of the legal system. I mean if lawsuits don't require reams of paper, then what can you count on any more?
