Nice Work.
Mr. Bush, don't let New Orleans become another Iraq.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
I saw one of the Averatec laptops at CompUSA. It looks really nice, and note the internal CD drive for that small of a machine - very Apple of them. Now if they can just make it in a black or metal casing...
Averatec 3700 12-inch notebook under $1000: "
Averatec is expanding its ‘thin-and-light’ notebook line with the 3700 laptop model, designed with a sleek new look
at 1-inch thick and 4.2 pounds. Standard configurations will have 512MB base memory, a 60 or 80GB hard drive,
integrated media reader, 802.11b/g, and a built-in DVD burner or combo DVD+CD-RW optical drive, and will start under
$1,000.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
© 2005 Weblogs, Inc.
"(Via engadget.com.)
Charlie Stross on Katrina economic impact questions: "Xeni Jardin:
Snip:The actual estimates for insured structural damage caused by Hurricane Katrina are currently around US $25-30Bn. The current loss of life estimates are in the hundreds (although I'd be unsurprised if the eventual death toll does not eventually top 9/11 by quite a margin). But the economic damage from closing the Port of Southern Louisiana for up to three months is huge -- plausibly equal to 5% of the US balance of trade with the rest of the world. I can't put a figure on that total, but I'd be surprised if it isn't an order of magnitude more than the $25-30Bn insurance costs, and possibly even higher than the cost to date of the Iraq war and occupation ($200Bn). A couple of hundred billion here, a couple of hundred billion there -- pretty soon we're talking real money.LinkWhat are the likely consequences (locally and globally) of blowing a 5% of GDP sized hole under the waterline of the US economy?
"
(Via Boing Boing.)
The age of prosthetics solely to replace lost limbs and organs is fast coming to an end...
Alcoholics will much appreciate this.
How much do you want to bet this involved research with fetal tissue?
Alcoholics will much appreciate this.
How much do you want to bet this involved research with fetal tissue?
Science: Australian Science Makes the Regenerating Mouse: "FruFox writes 'Australiam scientists have created mice which can regenerate absolutely any tissue excpet for the tissues of the brain. Heart, lungs, entire limbs, you name it. This is the first time this has been seen in mammals. The potential implications are positively mammoth. I thought this warranted attention. :)'"
(Via MirrorDot.)
Orhan Pamuk may go to jail in Turkey over comments about the Armenian Genocide.
His My Name is Red is one of the best books I have read in the last decade (there were four).
Damn you Turkey...
His My Name is Red is one of the best books I have read in the last decade (there were four).
Damn you Turkey...
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Monday, August 29, 2005
The Chinese finally understand democracy in their version of American Idol.
CULTURE: Pop Idol - Vulgar, Also Democratic: "The Chinese version of Pop Idol has a great name - Super Girl 2005, which just gets better when you hear the full version - Mongolian Cow Sour Yoghurt Super Girl Contest 2005. It's popular with the people, but not so much with some factions of state media.
snip
The China Daily asked: ‘How come an imitation of a democratic system ends up selecting the singer who has the least ability to carry a tune?’
(Written by: dem_z)
"(Via SuicideGirls: News Wire.)
Sunday, August 28, 2005
WTC Memories
I found this at a store in Chinatown this afternoon. A perfect combination of tastelessness and the American Dream.
New Orleans via the NYT:
"The real issue - that I don't think the nation is paying attention to - is that through the city of New Orleans, through the Gulf of Mexico, we probably deal with almost a third of the nation's domestic oil that is produced. And that will most likely be shut down," Mr. Nagin said.
"So, this can have a significant impact on oil prices going forward," he added.
Here's some info I discovered on the sub $40 Desay 501 DVD players:
These players would be even cheaper, but the IP licensing fees for the player products are in excess of $30.
Which gives you some idea of the margins in this business.
Also this on the Desay web site:
I do respect their refreshing honesty.
Reply to John Mark on Desay 501 - if you mean the DS 5701 desay I recently bought this from Radio Shack on a trip to the States. Tried it out over there and seemed to work fine on R1&2 discs but got it home and didnt like R2 so assume it somehow reset itself!?
Have found the hack and have tried it and works fine
1. Open tray
2. Press setup
2. Go across to 'preferences'
3. key in 1, 3, 8 then 9
4. Choose your code using arrow keys (up/down) - choose '0' for multi region.
Hope this works if you have the 5701 desay
These players would be even cheaper, but the IP licensing fees for the player products are in excess of $30.
Which gives you some idea of the margins in this business.
Also this on the Desay web site:
Reply: Lost DS 501 Remote Poster: Dr. Nagasaki Portubi support_usa@desaygroup.net www.desay.com 4059684782
Hi, I'm an admin for DESAY website.
Your claim is important to us!
however, our DS-501 dvd players are the cheapest pieces of crap that we make, and there is no support available for them whatsoever. You received an instruction manual with the player, so be thankful for that.
kind words always,
DESAY group
dijxhou row
12d1 bejing
I do respect their refreshing honesty.
POLITICS: The Flying Spaghetti Monster Deserves Equal Time: "Earlier this month, President Bush ignited a flurry of debate and eye rolling when he announced that 'intelligent design' should be taught in schools alongside the 'theory' of evolution. 'Intelligent design' proponents essentially state that life is simply too complex to be explained by evolution.
Biological marvels like the optical precision of an eye, the little spinning motors that propel bacteria and the cascade of proteins that cause blood to clot, they say, point to the hand of a higher being at work in the world.
In one often-cited argument, Michael J. Behe, a professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University and a leading design theorist, compares complex biological phenomena like blood clotting to a mousetrap: Take away any one piece - the spring, the baseboard, the metal piece that snags the mouse - and the mousetrap stops being able to catch mice.
Similarly, Dr. Behe argues, if any one of the more than 20 proteins involved in blood clotting is missing or deficient, as happens in hemophilia, for instance, clots will not form properly.
Such all-or-none systems, Dr. Behe and other design proponents say, could not have arisen through the incremental changes that evolution says allowed life to progress to the big brains and the sophisticated abilities of humans from primitive bacteria.
Not surprisingly, the vast majority of scientists are perplexed that such a theory could hold any weight with anyone at all, or that its presence in public schools is even being considered. But the Kansas Board of Education, in a move widely believed to facilitate the teaching of 'intelligent design,' has decided to eliminate the requirement of teaching of evolution altogether. While this decision doesn't mandate the teaching of intelligent design or creationism either, it does leave the curriculum choices to each local school board, and it does confuse the hell out of teachers.
'Do we touch on those areas? What about students who do not want to hear this viewpoint?' says Tammy Stauber, an eighth-grade science teacher. 'Should they be allowed to leave the classroom, or is it mandatory that they have to listen to the teacher?'
The board's decision means students will no longer face questions on state tests about evolution
Other states, including Texas, California, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Nebraska and New Hampshire, have witnessed battles between evolutionists and creationists in the last several years.
But the Kansas decision seems to be a major victory for those who believe that the Bible's book of Genesis, not the theory of evolution, explains the origin of man.
'You can't apply the scientific method to evolution,' says Gary Demar of the group American Vision. 'It's never been observed. You can't repeat the experiment. And so what's being sold as science, in terms of evolution, really isn't science in terms of the way they define it.'
If the decision stands, some Kansas students will continue to learn about evolution, while others may learn about creationism. But the courts could intervene and rule that the school board's decision violates the separation of church and state.
In response to this open-ended approach to the last several billion years of life (or thousands, depending on your viewpoint), a group of citizens proclaiming themselves to belong to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster have written an open letter to the Kansas School Board requesting, logically, that their viewpoint is just as valid as any other and thus should be given a chance to be taught in public schools.
Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him.
It is for this reason that I’m writing you today, to formally request that this alternative theory be taught in your schools, along with the other two theories. In fact, I will go so far as to say, if you do not agree to do this, we will be forced to proceed with legal action. I’m sure you see where we are coming from. If the Intelligent Design theory is not based on faith, but instead another scientific theory, as is claimed, then you must also allow our theory to be taught, as it is also based on science, not on faith.
Some find that hard to believe, so it may be helpful to tell you a little more about our beliefs. We have evidence that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe. None of us, of course, were around to see it, but we have written accounts of it. We have several lengthy volumes explaining all details of His power. Also, you may be surprised to hear that there are over 10 million of us, and growing. We tend to be very secretive, as many people claim our beliefs are not substantiated by observable evidence. What these people don’t understand is that He built the world to make us think the earth is older than it really is. For example, a scientist may perform a carbon-dating process on an artifact. He finds that approximately 75% of the Carbon-14 has decayed by electron emission to Nitrogen-14, and infers that this artifact is approximately 10,000 years old, as the half-life of Carbon-14 appears to be 5,730 years. But what our scientist does not realize is that every time he makes a measurement, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage. We have numerous texts that describe in detail how this can be possible and the reasons why He does this. He is of course invisible and can pass through normal matter with ease.
The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster additionally believes that, in order to be fully respectful to their being, this theory should be taught wearing full pirate regalia. This makes perfect sense, of course, given that pirates are true chosen ones and their decline has angered the Flying Spaghetti Monster so much that he has responded with climactic rage. 
Bobby Henderson - a science geek who has represented the voice of FSM supporters - has received several responses from the Kansas School Board in response to his demands, though (not surprisingly) solely from those board members who have fought for actual science:
Response from Mrs. Carol Rupe - District 8 - Received 8/16/05
From: Carol Rupe
To: bobby.henderson@gmail.com
Date: Aug 16, 2005 8:19 AM
Subject: Kansas State Board of Education
Dear Mr. Henderson,
In the midst of the sad circumstances of having our science standards lowered, you and your legion of fellow FSM followers have offered wonderful comic relief. Rather than the form letters which we often receive on other topics, each FSM letter has been clever and unique. I responded to several at first, but now there have just been too many. I am a member of the Kansas State Board of Education and have voted repeatedly to maintain excellent science standards. Last week was the vote to send a new draft (written by the 6 conservative members) out for external review. The four of us on the board who are moderates were in the minority on the vote. The group of science teachers and university professors who had written the original standards (before they were changed) have now asked that their names be withdrawn from the document. The new version changes the very definition of science from 'seeking natural explanations' to 'seeking logical explanations'. That is why I think FSMism is able to be included. It is as 'logical' as any other theory.
The final vote on the standards will be in October. We will be in Lawrence, Kansas for that meeting. Those of us who are moderates on the board are trying to have the meeting in the Natural History Museum at the University of Kansas. We think that would be an appropriate setting for the occasion. We welcome you to be in attendance.
We have received thousands of emails from scientists around the world. At first, they all tried to explain good science to us. After the vote last week, however, they have resorted to calling us hillbillies and morons. And those are the nice letters!
Thank you for adding levity to this situation. You have developed quite a following. I was wondering if we could reverse the effects of global warming if we started breeding pirates.
Sincerely,
Carol Rupe
P.S. I ordered a Kansas Museum of Science t-shirt. I may just have to wear it to a board meeting.
I say all hail the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Because, come on, we all know that pirates rule and this nation's children should be forced to know that too.
(Written by: MissTyrios)
"(Via SuicideGirls: News Wire.)
Saturday, August 27, 2005
The Rumors are True
I have a serious Herring problem.
Pickled Herring in sour cream, with white vinegar, onions and sugar
that is.
Somebody stop me.
spikes! spikes for everybody!: "
The Anti-Sit Archives is a gallery of photos of pigeon spikes for humans: steel teeth to make it impossible for you to sit on anything. Those things really make me sad.
They're even worse than pigeon spikes, and those are pretty awful, too. It's so pathetic when you see a building that at one time had some attention paid to its architecure -- that looks like someone might have cared about it, by adding some ornate detail or other -- and then someone glued a thousand wire scrub-brushes to it. Am I the only one who thinks that those are far, far uglier than pigeon shit?
Even worse is when there is an overhead alcove with a statue in it... with chain-link fence closing the hole. Why not just use plywood! Turn the building into a cube, stucco for everyone! Gaaahh.
There's a church in North Beach that has some large statues on the building, halfassedly crowned with pigeon-thorns. There's an eagle that looks like it has an aluminum mohawk. It's kind of funny, but mostly just sad.
Skateboarders routinely conduct guerrilla missions to remove what they call 'Nazi knobs' from their favorite skate spots. They use saws and power tools, and sometimes cellular phones to connect the demolisher to the lookout.'One dude cuts and one dude's watching and one dude is ready to run with the generator,' said Rob Dyrdek, a professional skateboarder who admits to removing Skatestoppers. 'It's pretty ridiculous.'
Once, while Loarie was installing Skatestoppers at a school in Orange County, a young skateboarder walked up to say he'd be back to tear them out over the weekend. Later, Loarie said, the Skatestoppers had been hacked off and human feces smeared across the wall.
On a computer screen in his office, Loarie showed off a forthcoming Skatestopper he calls the 'future of skate deterrents.' The piece, made from aircraft-grade aluminum, looks like a mooring with deep anchors and can be installed directly into wet concrete, making it impossible to remove without destroying the bench or curb in which it is imbedded.
This all reminds me of one of my favorite visual gags in Transmetropolitan: all of the park benches had signs on them that said, 'WARNING: this bench becomes red hot between 2 AM and 6 AM.'
But you can tell that was science fiction, because the park had grass in it, unlike the concrete Soviet monstrosity of the reconstructed Union Square.
"
(Via jwz.)
Thursday, August 25, 2005
The funniest thing I've seen today.
English selected as the official language of the European Union over German: "The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5-year phase-in..."
(Via vowe dot net.)
FW: [IP] OT: The 2007 Beloit College Mindset List
Who is Greg Gumble?
-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
Date: Wednesday, Aug 24, 2005 4:43 pm
Subject: [IP] OT: The 2007 Beloit College Mindset List
Begin forwarded message:
From: Richard Forno <rforno@infowarrior.org>
Date: August 24, 2005 4:38:06 PM EDT
To: Infowarrior List <infowarrior@g2-forward.org>
Cc: Dave Farber <dave@farber.net>
Subject: OT: The 2007 Beloit College Mindset List
http://www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset/
In the coming weeks, millions of students will be entering college for the
first time. On average, these members of the Class of 2009 will be 18 years
old, which means they were born in 1987. Starbucks, souped-up car stereos,
telephone voicemail systems, and Bill Gates have always been a part of their
lives.
Each August, as students start to arrive, Beloit College releases the Beloit
College Mindset List, which offers a world view of today's entering college
students. It is the creation of Beloit�s Keefer Professor of the Humanities
Tom McBride and Director of Public Affairs Ron Nief.
McBride, who directs Beloit�s First Year Initiatives (FYI) program for entering students, notes that "This year�s entering students have grown up
in a country where the main business has become business, and where
terrorism, from obscure beginnings, has built up slowly but surely to become
the threat it is today. Cable channels have become as mainstream as the 'Big
3' used to be, formality in dress has become more quaint than ever, and Aretha Franklin, Kermit the Frog and Jimmy Carter have become old-timers."
�Each year,� according to Nief, �When Beloit releases the Mindset List, it
is the birth year of the entering students that is the most disturbing fact
for most readers. This year will come as no exception and, once again, the
faculty will remain the same age as the students get younger.�
The list is distributed to faculty on campus during the New Students Days
orientation. According to McBride, �It is an important reminder, as faculty
start to show signs of �hardening of the references,� that we think about
the touchstones and benchmarks of a generation that has grown up with CNN,
home computers, AIDS awareness, digital cameras and the Bush political dynasty. We should also keep in mind that these students missed out on the
pleasures of being tossed in the back of a station wagon with a bunch of friends and told to keep the noise down, walking in the woods without fearing Lyme Disease, or setting out to try all of the 28 ice cream flavors
at Howard Johnson�s.�
According to Nief, �This is not serious in-depth research. It is meant to be
thought-provoking and fun, yet accurate. It is as relevant as possible, given the broad social and geographic diversity of our students, who are drawn from every state and 50 countries. It is always open to challenge, which has an additional benefit in that it reminds us of students� varied
backgrounds. It is still a good reflection of the attitudes and experiences
of the young people that we must be aware of from the first day of their college experience.�
BELOIT COLLEGE'S MINDSET LIST�
FOR THE CLASS OF 2009
Most students entering college this fall were born in 1987.
1. Andy Warhol, Liberace, Jackie Gleason, and Lee Marvin have always been dead.
2. They don't remember when "cut and paste" involved scissors.
3. Heart-lung transplants have always been possible.
4. Wayne Gretzky never played for Edmonton.
5. Boston has been working on the "The Big Dig" all their lives.
6. With little need to practice, most of them do not know how to tie a
tie.
7. Pay-Per-View television has always been an option.
8. They never had the fun of being thrown into the back of a station wagon with six others.
9. Iran and Iraq have never been at war with each other.
10. They are more familiar with Greg Gumbel than with Bryant Gumbel.
11. Philip Morris has always owned Kraft Foods.
12. Al-Qaida has always existed with Osama bin Laden at its head.
13. They learned to count with Lotus 1-2-3.
14. Car stereos have always rivaled home component systems.
15. Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker have never preached on television.
16. Voice mail has always been available.
17. "Whatever" is not part of a question but an expression of sullen rebuke.
18. The federal budget has always been more than a trillion dollars.
19. Condoms have always been advertised on television.
20. They may have fallen asleep playing with their Gameboys in the crib.
21. They have always had the right to burn the flag.
22. For daily caffeine emergencies, Starbucks has always been around the
corner.
23. Ferdinand Marcos has never been in charge of the Philippines.
24. Money put in their savings account the year they were born earned
almost 7% interest.
25. Bill Gates has always been worth at least a billion dollars.
26. Dirty dancing has always been acceptable.
27. Southern fried chicken, prepared with a blend of 11 herbs and spices, has always been available in China.
28. Michael Jackson has always been bad, and greed has always been good.
29. The Starship Enterprise has always looked dated.
30. Pixar has always existed.
31. There has never been a "fairness doctrine" at the FCC.
32. Judicial appointments routinely have been "Borked."
33. Aretha Franklin has always been in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
34. There have always been zebra mussels in the Great Lakes.
35. Police have always been able to search garbage without a search warrant.
36. It has always been possible to walk from England to mainland Europe
on dry land.
37. They have grown up in a single superpower world.
38. They missed the oat bran diet craze.
39. American Motors has never existed.
40. Scientists have always been able to see supernovas.
41. Les Miserables has always been on stage.
42. Halogen lights have always been available at home, with a warning.
43. "Baby M" may be a classmate, and contracts with surrogate mothers
have always been legal.
44. RU486, the "morning after pill," has always been on the market.
45. There has always been a pyramid in front of the Louvre in Paris.
46. British Airways has always been privately owned.
47. Irradiated food has always been available but controversial.
48. Snowboarding has always been a popular winter pastime.
49. Libraries have always been the best centers for computer technology
and access to good software.
50. Biosphere 2 has always been trying to create a revolution in the life sciences.
51. The Hubble Telescope has always been focused on new frontiers.
52. Researchers have always been looking for stem cells.
53. They do not remember "a kinder and gentler nation."
54. They never saw the shuttle Challenger fly.
55. The TV networks have always had cable partners.
56. Airports have always had upscale shops and restaurants.
57. Black Americans have always been known as African-Americans.
58. They never saw Pat Sajak or Arsenio Hall host a late night
television show.
59. Matt Groening has always had a Life in Hell.
60. Salman Rushdie has always been watching over his shoulder.
61. Digital cameras have always existed.
62. Tom Landry never coached the Cowboys.
63. Time Life and Warner Communications have always been joined.
64. CNBC has always been on the air.
65. The Field of Dreams has always been drawing people to Iowa.
66. They never saw a Howard Johnson's with 28 ice cream flavors.
67. Reindeer at Christmas have always distinguished between secular and
religious decorations.
68. Entertainment Weekly has always been on the newsstand.
69. Lyme Disease has always been a ticking concern in the woods.
70. Jimmy Carter has always been an elder statesman.
71. Miss Piggy and Kermit have always dwelt in Disneyland.
72. America's Funniest Home Videos has always been on television.
73. Their nervous new parents heard C. Everett Koop proclaim nicotine as
addictive as heroin.
74. Lever has always been looking for 2000 parts to clean.
75. They have always been challenged to distinguish between news and entertainment on cable TV.
-------------------------------------http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
False or True...:
Is this true? (from http://www.houseoftomorrow.com/):April 30, 2005 > Work on Coraline Begins
Stephin Merritt has started work on a musical adaptation of the children's book Coraline by Neil Gaiman. The projected finish date for this is fall 2006. It will be presented at St. Ann's Warehouse, in Brooklyn, New York, as well as several other theaters around the country.Posted by CG
It's completely true. I'm a huge fan of Stephin Merritt's work, so I'm really excited. (And Stephin's Coraline play will be a completely different entity to the Henry Selick Coraline movie.)
...
"
(Via Neil Gaiman's Journal.)
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
algorithmic ring tones
The GTK2 rendering engine Cairo has the option to use algorithmic rendering for the pictures that are the backgrounds for buttons. The idea is that you rapidly get bored of the same background on all the buttons in an interface, thus leading to a paucity of button decoration.
With algorithmic rendering, each background is generated on the fly, thus creating different backgrounds for each button.
In a similar vein, I have noticed how tired I get of mobile phone ring tones. There are very few rings that I mind hearing over and over again. But what if something similar could be applied here?
The problem is that we won't notice our phones ringing unless we notice the pattern in the ring. But I wonder what kinds of patterns are needed for recognition.
Could the pitch and ring tone be varied every time the pohone rings? How far can we go?
I even wonder if a ring tone could just be a silence mask imposed on an arbitrary sound segment.
Would we recognize a pattern of pauses in arbitrary music?
I'm sure somebody has already researched this...
Here are the rankings.
As journalism grows ever more...: "
As journalism grows ever more fractured and shallow, The Washington Monthly remains one of the industry's truly noble institutions. Its sense of public service and the national welfare isn't often rewarded with the kind of 'buzz' that magazine editors obsessively pursue -- to the detriment of our collective IQs. Which is why it's great to see the Monthly's ingenious and inspiring take on the silly ritual of college rankings rewarded with a big Washington Post write-up. (You can thank the magazine's visionary founder, Charlie Peters, by checking out his well-received new book.)
"(Via Talking Points Memo.)
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Danger in Bangladesh: "On August 17, there were 459 bomb blasts all across Bangladesh, in 63 of the 64 districts, within a space of 30 minutes. In the leaflets, in Bangla and Arabic, found with the bomb devices, Jama'atul Mujahideen, Bangladesh, which was banned on February 23 this year, said: 'It is time to implement Islamic law in Bangladesh. There is no future with man-made law.' (from the Daily Star)In the 64th district, Munshiganj, where there were no bomb blasts, 120 bombs were seized by the police on the next day ((source)
The bombs injured around 150 people and killed two; their intention seems to have been not to kill but a show of strength.
This map makes the point quite clear.
Meanwhile, Taliban-like forces terrorize the country-side. (e.g., this The young man's feet were tied to a tree, his head dangling inches above the ground. A microphone was held to his mouth while he was tortured so that the villagers who were not present to witness the 'trial' could hear his screams.
The first to hear them were the men in uniform who did not stir from the police station, not far from the tree. The screams rose and fell till the man was dead.
Their mission accomplished, the killers issued fresh warnings to villagers against straying from the Islamic way, swore their loyalty to Bangla Bhai and left the scene.
The incident is one of about 500 cases of killing and torture by Bangla Bhai's armed Islamic bands that were documented by Taskforce Against Torture, a human rights group founded in Bangladesh three years ago.
Indian retired police officer,now commentator KPS Gill writes:
Today, the Islamists, led by the Jamaat-e-Islami, who collaborated with Pakistan in the atrocities of 1971, as well as Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence, are again firmly entrenched in the country's politics, its Government, and crucially in its institutions of education and mass culture.
The coordinated series of 459 explosions within a single hour across 63 of Bangladesh's 64 districts on August 18, 2005, was little more than the visible tip of the menacing iceberg that threatens this luckless country. All societies that foster terrorism have eventually themselves fallen prey to this scourge.
Bangladesh cannot be an exception, though the country's political leadership has sought to cover up the realities of state complicity with flat denials of state support to extremism and terror, even as they have sought to mask the steady spiral towards thuggish Islamist extremism, lawlessness and disorder.
Indeed, the falsification has gone well beyond the state. A wide range of international institutions and foreign Governments have contributed directly to the deception, speaking in glowing terms of Bangladesh's arguable 'successes' in development, in health sector reforms, in population control, and in non-governmental sector operations, all of which have been projected as examples for other developing countries to follow.
The truth of the comprehensive political mischief and administrative mismanagement in Bangladesh has systematically been brushed under the carpet.
This truth is now becoming increasingly difficult to conceal, even in the most prejudiced circles, and despite the state's relentless policy of suppression of the national Press and of denial of access to the international media.
It is significant in this context that an independent study carried out by Foreign Policy and the Fund for Peace, which drew up a listing of 60 of the world's failed and failing states on the basis of twelve specific 'indicators of instability', placed Bangladesh at the 17th position, among the 20 'critical' states that are most at risk.
There is, unfortunately, no evidence of any visible transformation in the trajectory of politics or of the orientation of the state in Bangladesh, despite the country's growing difficulties.
A vigorous American response is necessary to keep Bangladesh from becoming another jihad factory."
(Via TPMCafe - main.)
Writing in Legal Affairs, Douglas R. Burgess looks to the history of European piracy as a possible precedent for containing latter-day Islamist terrorists. Burgess admits that the analogy 'seems like a stretch' at first, but points out that England's Queen Elizbeth initially abetted the country's later pirate tormentors by recrtuiting them as adjunct forces to the Royal Navy--much as 'the United States is credited with manufacturing its own enemy by training, funding, and outfitting terrorist groups in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Central America during the cold war.' It's unclear how pirates came by the whole blowing-themselves-up-to-achieve-eternal-reward-in-Paradise M.O., but we at Wonkette HQ are admittedly derelict in our studies of Elizabethan naval law. Actually, Burgess's argument is a thoughtful and suggestive one, noting that international jurists managed to strip pirates of most political sponsors by declaring them 'scorners of the law of nations [who] hence . . . find no protection in that law.' He also notes that any such consensus is 'very far away' in the present war on terror.
Still, as we ponder such measures, Wonkette would like to take the opportunity to plead for much greater complements of parrots, rum, and buggery in the war on terror. Also more thigh-high boots, sashes, and eyepatches; never forget this is a clash of civilizations, people.
The Dread Pirate Bin Laden [Legal Affairs]
"(Via Wonkette.)
Notional list of Klingon fairy tales: "Cory Doctorow:
This McSweeney's list of Klingon fairy tale titles is fantastic:
Link
'Little Red Riding Hood Strays Into the Neutral Zone and Is Never Heard From Again, Although There Are Rumors ... Awful, Awful Rumors'
'Hansel and Gretel Offend Vlad the Impaler'
'The Hare Foolishly Lowers His Guard and Is Devastated by the Tortoise, Whose Prowess in Battle Attracts Many Desirable Mates'
(via Kottke)
(Via Boing Boing.)
Monday, August 22, 2005
Crazed Otter Bites Stupid-Looking Dog To Death, Makes Warren’s Day: "
YOUR LITTLE DOG IS DEAD
Heather Davis thought the dark brown otter was just playing with her dog Mike.
Then the 4-foot-long otter seized Mike’s snout with its teeth and started to drag the fluffy, white dog into the lake.
Heather screamed for help. As the otter pulled the dog under, a family friend grabbed a pole, jumped into a small boat and tried to rescue Mike. But the dog already was limp and floating away. ‘The otter went under water,’ said Rick Wolf, 19. ‘Then it jumped on the back of the boat and started attacking my foot.’
‘The otter had his whole mouth around (Wolf’s) shoe,’ said Heather. Wolf, whose shoe was not penetrated by the otter’s teeth, kicked and jabbed it with the stick. The otter swam over to Mike, grabbed the dog and glided off.
The body of the dog, an American Eskimo, was found on the shore of the lake on Wednesday, a day after the attack…
(Via Warrenellis.com.)
More Fun with the Lattice of Coincidence: "
Two days ago I suggested that the Abramoff case might be the uber-scandal, rather like the BCCI case in the mid-1990s, tying together all the other threads of corruption and dishonesty of the last few years.
But here's another: Last night I saw that the former publisher of the Chicago Sun-times, F. David Radler, had been indicted on many counts of fraud in the Hollinger/Conrad Black case. Hollinger has owned the Sun-Times since 1994.
Who is the most prominent employee of the Chicago Sun-Times?
That would be Robert Novak.
Who were some people on the board of Hollinger Corp., suspected of abetting the fraud?
The best description of the board: 'the roster of independent directors reads like the politically plugged-in guest list at an American Enterprise Institute dinner' There was Henry Kissinger, former Illinois governor James Thompson, and most notably Richard Perle. Perle was a member of the executive committee, profited handsomely himself through a Hollinger investment fund he was put in charge of, and by his own admission exercised very little oversight.
What's the relationship between Robert Novak and Richard Perle?
It's not just that both have proudly worn the nickname, 'Prince of Darkness.' They are bound by their stock in trade: leaking and receiving leaks of classified information. In 1975, Perle leaked classified information to Novak with the purpose of scuttling the SALT II treaty.
Who is the prosecutor who indicted the former publisher of Novak's paper?
Patrick Fitzgerald.
"(Via The Decembrist.)
Robot News:
"
R Daneel: the robot that picks itself back up again: "
We’re pretty sure the last thing any robot-humanoid researcher wants to do fifteen times a day is pick up and
reorient a 150 pound machine every time it falls, but the R. Daneel Study 1 (whose name is not only an Asimov
reference, but means Responsive Dexterous Actions aNd Embodiment ELucidation) developed by the University of Tokyo is
officially in the running for our robot of the year award. Long gone are the days when you could disable a robot by
pushing it on its back like a turtle—looks like we’ll have to come up with a new weakness to exploit in the
future.
[Via New Scientist]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
© 2005 Weblogs, Inc.
"
(Via engadget.com.)
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Thursday, August 18, 2005
LifeStraw purifies water instantly for under $2 a year: "
There are gadgets that make life more fun, and then there are
gadgets that make life possible. The LifeStraw from Denmark’s Vestergaard Frandsen Group has the potential to fall into
the latter category. A device about the size of a large pen or drinking straw, the LifeStraw is a complete water
purification kit that draws its power from the person sucking down the water. The LifeStraw is the product of ten years
of development work, based on the goal of creating an efficient, affordable water-purification system for the
developing world, where water-borne illnesses are a major killer. When produced in quantity, each LifeStraw — which
uses a combination of mesh filters, iodine-impregnated beads and active carbon to remove particulate matter and
bacteria — is expected to cost under $2 and be able to provide a year’s worth of pure drinking water. When and if this
hits the market, we hope to see some worthy charity distributing them by the millions (you listening, Bill and
Melinda?).
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
© 2005 Weblogs, Inc.
(Via engadget.com.)
My mind's voice automatically reads these with the voice of Jon Stewart now.
The Daily Show needs too hire these people. Seriously.
lulululululululululululululu
The Daily Show needs too hire these people. Seriously.
lulululululululululululululu
The Power of Imagination
Giblets will never under...: "
The Power of Imagination
Giblets will never understand these Iraqis. You invade them, flatten their cities, lock up and torture their relatives and what thanks do you get? Either a lot of explosives or the lamest candy-and-flowers display Giblets has ever seen. Weak, Iraqis. Very weak.
Well Giblets can end it all, and pretty damn fast. He has all he needs to end the war right now: an extra hundred thousand troops or so he intends to send to win the war. Where did he get them, you ask? Simple - for Giblets, at least. He got them with the power of imagination.
Yes, even now Giblets is searching his mighty mind for imaginary recruits and within one week expects to crush the insurgency with two thousand armored leprechauns, eight battalions of snuffalupagi, six divisions of heffalumps and the 101st Airborne Oozle Brigade! Guided by the unmatched tactical genius of Mr. Squigglesworth, Giblets's six-armed tap-dancing purple space squid and Secretary of Pretense, Operation: Wishful Thinking cannot fail! And if it does, Giblets will merely declare an Opposite Day. Losing IS winning in pretend!
Do you doubt the genius of Giblets? That is because you are made of stupid! Pretend troops are just what we need to fight for a pretend cause! Only Giblets's imaginary army will finally manage to locate Saddam's hidden stash of nukes buried deep within Fairyland! Only Giblets's fictional fighting men can spread democracy by discovering the long-lost Fountain of Freedom under Baghdad, whose magical waters turn everyone who drinks them into a fully-functioning republic! Only Giblets's dream draftees can end terror forever by assassinating the boogeyman! Everyone join hands and believe - or you stab our glorious playtime in the back! Onward, make-believe soldiers!
"(Via Fafblog.)
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
How Not to Run a Company
From: "David Koretz" <david@bluetie.com>
Date: August 12, 2005 3:45:11 PM EDT
To: <david@bluetie.com>
Subject: Full Report on BlueTie Mail Store & Backup
BlueTie Customer,
I know it has been a challenging week with the email problems that
you encountered, and I want to update you on the history and current
status of the email problems you have experienced this week.
This email is being sent now that service has been completely
restored, and all necessary information on the occurrence was
gathered, as that was our first priority.
I would like to personally apologize for any issues this may have
caused you, and assure you that we have made significant changes and
will continue to make changes to ensure that this can never happen
again.
What happened?
On Thursday August 4 the MCI hosting facility in Elmsford NY lost
both primary and backup HVAC, causing the ambient temperature to rise
to 112 degrees Fahrenheit. Had we been made aware of the condition,
we would have immediately shut down our servers to prevent
overheating. We were not notified by MCI due to a failure in their
process and therefore our servers continued to run and the redundant
RAID array on one Mail Store was damaged. Only customers on this one
Mail Store have been affected.
MCI is producing an RFO (Reason for Outage) document on Friday August
12 that will document the causes, immediate resolution, and long term
prevention of future occurrences of this outage. I will be glad to
share the document with you once we have it.
As a result, on Monday August 8th BlueTie experienced intermittent
delays and two temporary outages affecting only the BlueTie customers
housed on that particular mailstore, which includes your company.
The first was a result of a single drive in the RAID array failing at
approximately 11:45AM EST. After running diagnostics and recovery,
the RAID array was fixed and put back in service at 1:00PM EST and
service was restored to all users.
The second occurred at about 4:00PM EST when 3 drives in the same
RAID array failed simultaneously. Important points about this outage:
All mail received while the mailstore was down was queued. None of it
was lost, and it was delivered when your new mailstore came online.
We worked all through the night to recreate all of your accounts on a
new mailstore. By Tuesday morning, all users were able to login and
send and receive email. All accounts were functioning normally. This
was our highest priority.
The next step was to recover your mail from the backup system and
insert it into your new account. This was completed on Wednesday,
August 10 at approximately 4:00PM EST.
Then we merged the new email (sent or received since 4:00 PM EST
Monday August 8) with the recovered mail. This was started at 8:30PM
EST on Wednesday and was completed at 2AM EST Thursday morning. In
order to preserve data integrity we had to once again queue mail,
meaning that incoming mail would not be delivered to your new account
until the rest of the process was completed.
The final steps were to update the attributes on the mails in the
accounts on the new Mail Store (attributes are used to make email
fast and searchable) and release the queue, allowing mails received
since 8:30PM EST Wednesday to flow into your account.
We expected the entire process to be completed by 9AM EST Thursday
morning.
Between 10am and 1pm, users began to see emails restored into their
accounts. At 1:10pm we released the queue, and now all queued mail
has been delivered.
Further Complications
As we worked through the recovery process, it became increasingly
apparent that there were problems with our current backup process:
Incremental backups were not being successfully created on a nightly
basis
The full weekly backup did not backup email audit and messages more
than 100 days old
The full weekly backup retained items that users had marked as
deleted or as junk.
The full weekly backups after July 20 did not include some of the
most recent messages.
What we restored into your account is much less than perfect.
Because there are no incremental backups, emails sent or received
between the evening of August 3 and 4pm August 8 can not be
recovered. They simply do not exist anywhere.
Significant numbers of emails that should have been on the backup
were not, and therefore they are also lost. Specifically, non-POP3
users will be missing messages more than 100 days old and may be
missing messages sent or received after July 20.
Large numbers of deleted and junk mails were put back into your mailbox.
What is in your account now is all the mail that we were able to
retrieve. There is no other resource or archive that might contain
the data.
What about email audit files?
All customers using email audit should have received their CD/DVD for
the month of May. Because June, July and August through the 8th were
on the failed mailstore and were not backed up, that data is lost.
Can anything be retrieved from the damaged RAID array?
There is less than a 1% chance that data can be recovered based on
what we know about what happened to the drives. However, we have
contracted a data recovery specialist firm to try everything possible
to get information from the drives. I will send you another update
as the work progresses.
What is BlueTie doing to prevent this problem from recurring?
Installing temperature sensing equipment in the MCI facility and
connecting it to our monitoring applications so we can independently
monitor them
Completely reworking the backup policy and process to give you full
real-time replication across multiple boxes, in addition to full
daily backups of your entire mailbox
Improving our disaster recovery process and conducting quarterly
disaster recovery exercises to verify the process
Moving to geographically distributed mirror servers for all
components in the BlueTie architecture. One set will remain in the
MCI facility; the other will be in our data center at our corporate
headquarters in Rochester, NY. These servers are architected to fail
over in less than four seconds in the event of an outage.
A low level device monitoring has been implemented. This will report
disk drive deterioration so preventative action can be taken before a
drive fails.
Adding checksum verification to the backup process to validate that
the backup and mailbox are identical.
Audit data will be backed up until it is burned onto CD or DVD for
delivery to you.
BlueTie is Issuing a Service Credit
BlueTie will be crediting you for the entire month of August. You
will receive a bill marked Paid In Full for the month, along with
another letter from me that outlines the completed improvements we
have made to give you confidence that we have permanently resolved
the problem.
We are also going to have a technical auditor come in and evaluate
our new backup process and redundancy and give us an independent
verification and appraisal to give you further confidence. I am happy
to share this verification with you once we have completed the process.
I appreciate your patience and understanding during this situation,
and am totally committed to ensuring we deliver an incredibly
reliable solution that you are thrilled with.
Best regards,
David Koretz
President & CEO
BlueTie Inc.
This message is intended solely for the individual(s) to whom it is
addressed.
If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination or copying
is strictly
prohibited. If you believe you received this message in error, please
notify
the sender and delete from your system. Thank you.
Does exposure to the Phishers of the internets translate into to "Verify, then Trust" in the real world?
I don't think so, but I'm not so sure it would be a bad thing.
I don't think so, but I'm not so sure it would be a bad thing.
IT: Anti-Phishers Pose as Phishers to Make Point: "Carl Bialik from the WSJ writes 'This article notices a new trend in efforts to fight phishing: Anti-fraudsters are posing as phishers to 'to train users to be more careful about sharing sensitive information online.' Or, as the Wall Street Journal puts it, 'To fight computer crime, the good guys are masquerading as bad guys pretending to be good guys.' West Point cadets were among those who got fake phishing emails -- in their case, from Aaron Ferguson, a teacher at the academy. 'The gullible cadets received a 'gotcha' email, alerting them they could easily have downloaded spyware, 'Trojans' or other malicious programs and suggesting they be more careful in the future. ... Nonetheless, he says the exercise upset some cadets, who felt it exploited their inclination to follow an order from a colonel, no questions asked. He says the new edict is, 'Ask questions first, then execute.' ''"
(Via MirrorDot.)
We can call this Best Economist Job Evah!
Besides filming the new Robert DeNiro-directed The Good Shepherd in New York City and becoming an honorary Cambodian citizen, and besides shtupping America's Favorite Friend's husband and being hotter than hell, Angelina Jolie is making news with the announcement that MTV will air a 'video diary' of her trip to Africa. Jolie and Jeffrey Sachs - yes, that Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, the noted economist who works for Columbia's Earth Institute and advice UN Secretary General Kofi Annan - traveled to Africa with Sachs' team that is trying to stop poverty and hunger. Though Angelina gets top billing, we love how the name of the show actually is 'The Diary of Angelina Jolie & Dr Jeffrey Sachs in Africa.' Way to go, MTV, for trying to give world economists a higher profile - even though your audience wants to know whether Stephen will chose Kristin or LC more.
More information about Sachs' UN Millennium Project. And Sachs does have a wife, so Angelina is not always a homewrecker. Yet.
"(Via Gothamist.)
In the midst of reading business news, sometimes you come across a gem, like this comment from Linspire/Lindows/MP3.com's Michael Robertson:
We were sorry to lose him, but love is thicker then VOIP.
We were sorry to lose him, but love is thicker then VOIP.
My colleague, Erick Schonfeld reports that Jeff Bonforte, president of SIPphone and the man spear-heading the Gizmo Project has jumped ship and joined Yahoo. Yahoo’s aggressiveness in the VoIP space is no surprise, but I wonder if Jeff’s departure leaves the two companies in a bit of a limbo.
‘I have to figure out how to integrate voice everywhere it should be—and to beat Skype,’ he tells Business 2.0. Jeff will report to Brad Garlinghouse, and will try and figure out ways to take Yahoo’s VoIP beyond just a ‘VoIP+IM’ client. Bonforte assured me that it was more of a personal decision and things are going well at SIPphone, and The Gizmo Project.
Michael Robertson wrote back in an email: ‘Jeff’s move was planned for some time because his fiance lives in San Jose. We were sorry to lose him, but love is thicker then VOIP. Jason Droege is now President.’ Robertson says there have been some improvements in the software. ‘We’ve implemented new firewall penetrating code that is very effective at getting past troublesome routers and firewalls which is a big deal for SIP software,’ he says. So far, there have been 100,000 downloads of the Gizmo software.
(Why do I feel it in my bones, that something is going to happen at Gizmo/SIPphone very soon? Maybe I am looking for shapes in shadows….)
"(Via Om Malik on Broadband.)
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Great Lines
The unidirectional nature of the time continuum makes that an unlikely possibility.
A great line from Ronald Moore written for Data in Season 4.
A great line from Ronald Moore written for Data in Season 4.
I've had my eyes on this for a while. I do need living room speakers...
Yamaha rolls out YSP-800 Digital Sound Projector: "
As previously noted, Yamaha has been working on a more affordable successor to its $1,300 YSP-1
Digital Sound Projector, and it looks like it’s about to land in Europe. The new YSP-800 is a similar compact system
that simulates 5.1 surround sound without requiring you to set up speakers all over a room. The newer model has a
somewhat lower output, at 82 watts instead of 120, which should still fill most home theaters or living rooms. Other
features include an automatic sweet-spot setup and ‘Night Listening Enhancer,’ which automatically lowers the volume
and enhances speech, so that you can keep Jerry Bruckheimer’s explosions from waking the kids, but not miss any of the
gripping dialogue. The YSP-800 is expected to be out in Europe this month for €699 ($866).
[Thanks, K.Y.]Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
© 2005 Weblogs, Inc.
"(Via engadget.com.)
I remember the framed Playboy bunny symbol that was over my bed when I was a child. My parents really didn't know about the symbol's pedigree, and had put it up on purely aesthetic grounds.
In retrospect, quite amusing.
In retrospect, quite amusing.
CULTURE: Playboy for Schools: "One of Britain's leading stationary retailers top selling brands is its Playboy themed range.
'Playboy is probably one of the most popular ranges we've ever sold,' says head of media relations for WHSmith, Louise Evans. 'It outsells all the other big brands in stationery, like Withit [a range of cute cartoon animals], by a staggering amount. That should give you an idea of how popular the brand is. We offer customers choice. We're not here to act as a moral censor.'
Several protest groups are up in arms about the use of Hefner's logo on stationary aimed at children. Eleanor Kirwan of Coloma Convent Girl's School has organised numerous protests outside WHSmith's Croydon, London branch.The pressure group Object, which is also campaigning against WHSmith's promotion of the Playboy brand to children, says: 'Playboy's logo clearly represents pornography. The magazine routinely features sexualised and full-frontal images of naked young women. It also promotes pornographic videos and strip shows. Playboy is about men buying women and presents this as natural and normal male behaviour, together with fast cars, football and male role models (not shown naked). WHSmith is therefore endorsing pornography to young, impressionable and possibly underage girls.'
Kirwan says the teenage girls in her school 'are aware of what the Playboy icon is' and 'were saying that, even though the pencil cases feature no blatant pornographic images, the bunny symbol represents pornographic images. The girls are able to acknowledge that symbols have a deeper significance than that which is on the surface. For stockists and manufacturers to deny this is shockingly disingenuous.'
But for WHSmith it's a style choice. 'We believe it is a fashion range,' says Evans. 'There's no inappropriate imagery. It's just the bunny. It's a bit of fun, popular and fashionable.'
While some will always defend the media being saturated with images of women as sex objects and the mainstreaming of porn as 'a bit of fun', others are deeply concerned about the damaging effects it is having on the perception of women. Kirwan's class debates confirm that children do not always understand that media representations of women are not real. 'The girls do not yet have the mental sophistication to recognise that the Playmates are not real. They don't realise that the image of female beauty that they see in the media is staged and not something they can expect to emulate. They really didn't know about the amount of styling that someone like Posh [Victoria Beckham] has. I do recognise an attitude among the older ones that it's not a problem to be a glamour girl or a playgirl. '
Talking about any kind of sex, particularly in school, is excruciating for some children. 'One 12-year-old told me,' says Kirwan, 'that since we had started discussing the stationery, she had thrown her Playboy pencil case away. 'It's gross. I don't want that on my stuff,' she said. These are girls of the age where even using the words sex or pornography can be embarrassing. Lots of the 11- and 12-year-olds hadn't even heard of pornography and yet had the porn king's logo on their school equipment and plastered across their chests at weekends.'
Considering the age of the children buying this range, what do you think?(Written by: SomeOneUK)
"(Via SuicideGirls: News Wire.)
Women in Science.
1. Greenlighted Fark headline:
(Some Nervous TFette)
TFette's satellite is finally launching today at 6:32 EST. Come in and give some support. Yes, she's even TFing on launch day. (Link goes to satellite's NASA page)
(177)
2. A Register article points to a very simply way to increase the number of women majoring in Computer Science:
1. Greenlighted Fark headline:
2. A Register article points to a very simply way to increase the number of women majoring in Computer Science:
... it seems that restricting the choices available to adolescents, and making it mandatory for all pupils to study maths and science subjects throughout their secondary education, correlates with a higher proportion of women going on to study computer science at university.
"The principle of being free to pursue your preferences is compatible and coexists quite comfortably with a belief in essential gender differences. This essentialist notion, which helps to create what it seeks to explain, affects girls’ views of what they're good at and can shape what they like," said Charles.
Monday, August 15, 2005
I'm seriously considering this...
Build your own Mac for $199US: "
Filed under: Hacks, Cult of Mac
While this may not be the first time we've seen a homebrewed x86 Mac, it just may be the cheapest. This post at the OSx86 project website lists exactly the parts used to create a functioning Mactel:
Ok, so this machine won't be winning any design or speed awards, but I think this falls more under the 'because I can' category than anything else. If you need more information than just a hardware shopping list, check out this very detailed tutorial.
- Case - $9.95
- Motherboard - $52.99
- Processor - $60.77
- 2x 256 RAM - $38.00
- 20 Gigabyte HD - $25.95
- DVD Drive - $12.00
- Grand total: $199.66US
The whole idea is interesting, and I'm sure it's inevitable that we'll see more and more basement solutions as time goes on, but I've still got to agree with C.K. on this: while this may be a fun weekend project, I'm still content to have OS X running beautifully on Apple hardware.
[Via Make:Blog]
Read Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
"(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog.)
More Umich Library love.
UMich Archives Old New York: "
From bridges to pandas, Gothamist loves a lot of things (what can we say, we're passionate people) but if there is one thing we have an undying love for its the history of our fine city. Which is why it was with great pleasure that we found the lead article in the Times City section today on the University of Michigan's Making of America digital archive. Sponsored by Lawrence J. Portnoy, a Manhattan lawyer, the archive currently include over 300 books from the turn of the century on the state of New York City. We're talking about titles like 'The nether side of New York; or, The vice, crime and poverty of the great Metropolis' from 1872, 'Who's who of the Chinese in New York' from 1918 and 'Working girls in evening schools: a statistical study' from 1914. The Times selections from the archive include such juicy tidbits as what a 20s 'shop-girl' ate to stay on her feet (gumdrops and éclairs), the best way for a prostitute to rob her john blind (have a co-conspirator hidden in the walls of her bedroom) and how much it cost to live in luxury while incarcerated in the Ludlow Street Jail (anywhere from $15 to $100 a week depending on how much luxury one wanted).
The complete UMich collection on New York can be found here. You can print out and keep as much of it as you want, or you can have Michigan print a book out and send it to you for a variable fee.
Still want more? You can always check out the New York Public Library's increasingly awesome Digital Library.
Photograph by Fabrizio Constantini for the Times
"(Via Gothamist.)
Sunday, August 14, 2005
The Database of North Korean Propaganda.
Relive the twentieth century, as North Korea thinks it is living it now.
Also, note this giant penis in North Korea.
Relive the twentieth century, as North Korea thinks it is living it now.
Also, note this giant penis in North Korea.
fried turnip cake
Ready to go to the table on a Dim Sum sunday at 103 Mott.
Yes of course there is pork in there.
Yes of course there is pork in there.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Read the absolutely fascinating article on vacuum packed food in Sunday's Times.
Seminarians turned scientist, the phrase "completely undisciplined", and the supposedly perfect temperature to cook eggs, 64.5°C.
Seminarians turned scientist, the phrase "completely undisciplined", and the supposedly perfect temperature to cook eggs, 64.5°C.
FW: [IP] A New (London) Low
Craziness. But five years of this case must traverse several election cycles.
Clearly this country ain't about life, liberty & property...
-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
Date: Saturday, Aug 13, 2005 4:38 pm
Subject: [IP] A New (London) Low
Begin forwarded message:
From: EEkid@aol.com
Date: August 13, 2005 4:08:27 PM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Subject: A New (London) Low
A New (London) Low
A refrigerator box under the bridge: The Kelo Seven prepares for the worst
by Jonathan O'Connell - July 14, 2005
Those who believe in the adage "when it rains, it pours" might take the tale of the plaintiffs in Kelo v. New London as a cue to buy two of every animal and a load of wood from Home Depot. The U.S. Supreme Court recently found that the city's original seizure of private property was constitutional under the principal of eminent domain, and now New London is claiming that the affected homeowners were living on city land for the duration of the lawsuit and owe back rent. It's a new definition of chutzpah: Confiscate land and charge back rent for the years the owners fought confiscation.
In some cases, their debt could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Moreover, the homeowners are being offered buyouts based on the market rate as it was in 2000 .
The hard rains started falling that year, when Matt Dery and his neighbors in Fort Trumbull learned that the city planned to replace their homes with a hotel, a conference center, offices and upscale housing that would complement the adjoining Pfizer Inc. research facility.
The city, citing eminent domain, condemned their homes, told them to move and began leveling surrounding houses. Dery and six of his neighbors fought the takeover, but five years later, on June 23, the downpour of misfortune continued as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the city could claim the property for economic development.
Dery owns four buildings on the project site, including his home and the birthplace and lifelong home of his 87-year-old mother, Wilhelmina. Dery plans to make every remaining effort to keep his land, but with few legal options remaining, he's planning for the worst.
And for good reason. It's reasonable to think that people who purchased property years ago (in some cases, decades ago) would be in a position to cash in, especially since they're being forced from their homes. But that's not the case.
The New London Development Corp., the semi-public organization hired by the city to facilitate the deal, is offering residents the market rate as it was in 2000, as state law requires. That rate pales in comparison to what the units are now worth, owing largely to the relentless housing bubble that has yet to burst.
"I can't replace what I have in this market for three times [the 2000 assessment]," says Dery, 48, who works as a home delivery sales manager for the New London Day . He soothes himself with humor: "It's a lot like what I like to do in the stock market: buy high and sell low."
And there are more storms on the horizon. In June 2004, NLDC sent the seven affected residents a letter indicating that after the completion of the case, the city would expect to receive retroactive "use and occupancy" payments (also known as "rent") from the residents.
In the letter, lawyers argued that because the takeover took place in 2000, the residents had been living on city property for nearly five years, and would therefore owe rent for the duration of their stay at the close of the trial. Any money made from tenantssome residents' only form of incomewould also have to be paid to the city.
With language seemingly lifted straight from The Goonies , NLDC's lawyers wrote, "We know your clients did not expect to live in city- owned property for free, or rent out that property and pocket the profits, if they ultimately lost the case." They warned that "this problem will only get worse with the passage of time," and that the city was prepared to sue for the money if need be.
A lawyer for the residents, Scott Bullock, responded to the letter on July 8, 2004, asserting that the NLDC had agreed to forgo rents as part of a pretrial agreement in which the residents in turn agreed to a hastened trial schedule. Bullock called the NLDC's effort at obtaining back rent "a new low."
"It seems like it is simply a desperate attempt by a nearly broke organization to try to come up with more funds to perpetuate its own existence," Bullock wrote. He vowed to respond to any lawsuit with another.
With the case nearly closed, the NLDC may soon make good on its promise to sue. Jeremy Paul, an associate UConn law dean who teaches property law, says it's not clear who might prevail in a legal battle over rent. "From a political standpoint, the city might be better off trying to reach some settlement with the homeowners," he says.
An NLDC estimate assessed Dery for $6,100 per month since the takeover, a debt of more than $300K. One of his neighbors, case namesake Susette Kelo, who owns a single-family house with her husband, learned she would owe in the ballpark of 57 grand. "I'd leave here broke," says Kelo. "I wouldn't have a home or any money to get one. I could probably get a large-size refrigerator box and live under the bridge."
That's one way to get out of the rain.
http://fairfieldweekly.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid:119000
-------------------------------------
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Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
Friday, August 12, 2005
Cadilac Desert Midwestern Style
So Wisconsin is now running out of ground water and wants to raid Lake Michigan.
Tears can't express the feelings...
Tears can't express the feelings...
Thursday, August 11, 2005
I'm in the shopping for a suit, and I'm perusing the Men's Wearhouse web site, and I can't read anything on their web site without hearing the voice of George Zimmer in my head.
Also, is it bad that the first thing I noticed on their site is the link to corporate governance information?
Any other recommendations for places to get suits?
Also, is it bad that the first thing I noticed on their site is the link to corporate governance information?
Any other recommendations for places to get suits?
Still don't make you kosher...
Similar tests on primates have proved ‘astonishingly successful’ in treating the degenerative brain disease, according to researchers who carried out the work at Living Cell Technologies (LCT) in Auckland, New Zealand.
The injection of live animal cells into human brains is likely to raise ethical concerns and fears of pig viruses being transmitted to humans. But researchers say the benefits of a cure outweigh such concerns. ‘Yes, we have created a chimera, but one that is tolerated and beneficial,’ says Bob Elliott, LCT’s medical director…
"(Via Warrenellis.com.)
Fracking hilarious.
"Sean Hannity (631) 673-8003": "
Indie rockers force Hannity to change number
A few weeks ago, we introduced you to Brooklyn indie agit-popsters Kids Against Combs, who'd just finished an album that used the private phone number of Fox News loudmouth Sean Hannity as its title.
Sean Hannity (631) 673-8003 was set to be released on July 21 by 10-34 Records. But, according to a press release sent out last week by the band, Kids Against Combs and 10-34 were issued papers on July 15 from Hannity's attorneys, 'threatening to sue both parties if they proceeded with releasing an album named after Hannity's home phone number and containing the political pundit's home address in the CD's liner notes.' (The digits, meanwhile, are now disconnected; 'changed to an unlisted number,' says the recording.)
[...] Luckily, the band had freshly printed copies of the album for sale, sans home address and retitled The Album Formerly Known As Sean Hannity's Phone Number ... Currently Sean Hannity Is a Democracy Subverting Douche Bag.
Despite the fact that 66 percent of our Style and Usage Panel prefer that 'douchebag' be written as a compound word, they're in unanimous agreement that the new title works just as well.
"(Via jwz.)
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