Ripping Yarns

2006-02-15T10:01:00.000Z

PBWiki

I've been using Peanut Butter Wiki (www.pbwiki.com) to keep notes and some work-related bookm arks that have no place on del.icio.us. Best use of it so far has been to use as a notepad while taking an MCSE course where we we kindly provided witInternet access. That way I didn't have to lug a notepad around with me and I could easily share the notes with colleagues.

2005-03-24T17:34:00.000Z

RollingStone.com: The End of Oil
The Long Emergency is going to be a tremendous trauma for the human race. We will not believe that this is happening to us, that 200 years of modernity can be brought to its knees by a world-wide power shortage. The survivors will have to cultivate a religion of hope -- that is, a deep and comprehensive belief that humanity is worth carrying on. If there is any positive side to stark changes coming our way, it may be in the benefits of close communal relations, of having to really work intimately (and physically) with our neighbors, to be part of an enterprise that really matters and to be fully engaged in meaningful social enactments instead of being merely entertained to avoid boredom. Years from now, when we hear singing at all, we will hear ourselves, and we will sing with our whole hearts.

2005-03-23T12:39:00.000Z

Project Delphis: Mystery of the Silver Rings

Some dolphins can create vortices in water that form helixes and 'silver rings' and can teach each other how to do the same trick. Does this fulfill the criteria of art?

2005-03-11T16:52:00.000Z

Beijing hackers attack e-Tibet via trojan horse/a>

Offices of the Tibetan exile administration have recently started receiving emails disguised as originating from Sonam N. Dagpo, "Additional Secretary" (sic) of the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR) in Dharamsala, and purportedly carrying the text of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's 10 March statement as an attached file.

Promptly denying authorship of the insidious emails, Dagpo, Secretary (no longer additional secretary), warned us that the attachment was actually a virus.

2005-02-23T16:06:00.000Z

Hunter S. Thompson 'to be fired from cannon'

Friends of journalist Hunter S. Thompson say they want to blast his cremated remains out of a cannon in a final salute to the gun-loving writer who committed suicide last weekend.

"If it can be done, we will do it," said Boston attorney George Tobia Jr., who represented Thompson for about 15 years. "Maybe it will be part of a public thing or maybe one night a shot will ring out and people will know."

It's what he would've wanted.

2005-02-10T15:43:00.000Z

C4 Guantanamo reality show

This could be both timely and brilliant. Channel 4 has filmed a documentary which places volunteers into a simulated Gitmo (based on declassified documents and testimonys) to explore the use of torture in the War on Some Terror.

2005-02-10T14:55:00.000Z

What's In Popeye's Pipe?

During the 1920s and '30s, the era when Popeye was created, "spinach" was a very common code word for marijuana. One classic example is "The Spinach Song," recorded in 1938 by the popular jazz band Julia Lee and Her Boyfriends. Performed for years in clubs thick with cannabis smoke, along with other Julia Lee hits like "Sweet Marijuana," the popular song used spinach as an obvious metaphor for pot.

In addition, anti-marijuana propaganda of the time claimed that marijuana use induced super-strength. Overblown media reports proclaimed that pot smokers became extraordinarily strong, and even immune to bullets. So tying in Popeye's mighty strength with his sucking back some spinach would have seemed like an obvious cannabis connection at the time.

2005-02-10T10:39:00.000Z

Watchmen movie in '06

I can only assume that they were waiting until after Constantine so it will appear to suck less in comparison.

2005-02-03T17:15:00.000Z

Stewart Lee interviews Alan Moore

Transcript from the Radio 4 'Chain Reaction' series.

2005-01-13T10:28:00.000Z

Blood Music

Biotech resaerchers in the UK have discovered that cells in the human body may use 'morse code'-like patterns of signals to activate and deactivate genes.

2005-01-12T15:56:00.000Z

MP3 Pocket Watch

You can keep yuor iPod Shuffle, I want some retro geekery.

2005-01-11T14:21:00.000Z

Prostitutes BBS

Someone found this internal bulletin board system from a Florida-based 'escort service' on Google. It's fascinating stuff.

"The Musical note next to the girls mean that they are on 'THAT TIME OF THE MONTH'"

2005-01-04T16:26:00.000Z

Will Eisner, RIP

Will Eisner passed away on January 3rd, 2005 at the age of 87 following quadruple bypass heart surgery.

Well, that's 2005 off to a fucking brilliant start, I don't think. Eisner was a genius who wrote and illustrated some of the most human comic strips in the canon - he also pretty much invented the concept of the Graphic Novel and played a big role in the late '80s realisaztion that comics were art in more than just the obvious sense.

2004-12-16T17:32:00.000Z

My Own Private Tokyo - By William Gibson

Gibson revisits Tokyo, hangs out with Douglas Coupland & Michael Stipe, observes teenage manga nurses in Harajuku and generally blisses out.

2004-12-14T11:39:00.000Z

New Disney ride-based flick prompts amusing Conrad comparison

On the proposed movie version of the 'Jungle Cruise' ride (think Haunted Mansion, on a boat) a spokesman for Mouse-subsidiary Mandeville Films came out with this gem:

[the film is..] "an adventure film with comedic elements, but its core is almost a family version of Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness,' [...]" (emphasis added)

Tee hee.

2004-11-30T17:12:00.000Z

BandAidDilemma.net - Your conscience is clear

* Buy as many copies of Do They Know It's Christmas by Band Aid 20 as you can afford.
* Destroy them in amusing ways, on camera.
* Send us the pictures.

2004-11-22T17:05:00.000Z

Hitherby Dragons

Rebecca Borgstrom & her wonderful, deranged stories.

2004-11-18T16:17:00.000Z

The persuaders

Interview with Clotaire Rapaille, a psychiatrist turned marketeer who looks for 'codes' in the human brain that advertisers can exploit.

And the campaign for the Hummer -- the Hummer is a car with a strong identity. It's a car in a uniform. I told them, put four stars on the shoulder of the Hummer, you will sell better. If you look at the campaign, brilliant. I have no credit for it, just so you know, but brilliant. They say, "You give us the money, we give you the car, nobody gets hurt." I love it! It's like the mafia speaking to you. For women, they say it's a new way to scare men. Wow. And women love the Hummer. They're not telling you, "Buy a Hummer because you get better gas mileage." You don't. This is cortex things. They address your reptilian brain.

2004-11-15T11:35:00.000Z

The Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn

When memes collide...

2004-11-02T10:59:00.000Z

The Great Old Pumpkin, by John Aegard

Peanuts vs Lovecraft.

As you are no doubt aware, I am the issue of solid Dutch stock—the prosperous Van Pelt family of St. Paul. Mine was a comfortable and happy childhood, and I spent much of it in the devoted service of the Great Old Pumpkin.

2004-11-01T15:18:00.000Z

Human Universals

A list of attributes shared by all human cultures.

2004-10-26T14:24:00.000+01:00

John Peel is dead, alas

Fuck. This is bad.

2004-10-22T14:53:00.000+01:00

The Doctor Is In

Dr Hunter S Thompson returns with his take on Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, 2004.

Richard Nixon looks like a flaming liberal today, compared to a golem like George Bush. Indeed. Where is Richard Nixon now that we finally need him?

If Nixon were running for president today, he would be seen as a "liberal" candidate, and he would probably win. He was a crook and a bungler, but what the hell? Nixon was a barrel of laughs compared to this gang of thugs from the Halliburton petroleum organization who are running the White House today -- and who will be running it this time next year, if we (the once-proud, once-loved and widely respected "American people") don't rise up like wounded warriors and whack those lying petroleum pimps out of the White House on November 2nd.

Nixon hated running for president during football season, but he did it anyway. Nixon was a professional politician, and I despised everything he stood for -- but if he were running for president this year against the evil Bush-Cheney gang, I would happily vote for him.

You bet. Richard Nixon would be my Man. He was a crook and a creep and a gin-sot, but on some nights, when he would get hammered and wander around in the streets, he was fun to hang out with. He would wear a silk sweat suit and pull a stocking down over his face so nobody could recognize him. Then we would get in a cab and cruise down to the Watergate Hotel, just for laughs.

2004-10-20T10:14:00.000+01:00

MirrorDot - Solving the Slashdot Effect

When a site gets slashdotted, it can really spoil your groove. MirrorDot keeps the party going! When Slashdot posts a new story, MirrorDot automagically parses the story and mirrors any linked pages. Do not let the Slashdot effect kill your buzz. Yeah baby!

2004-10-20T09:56:00.000+01:00

Creative Commons

The Creative Commons site hosts lots of information about open licensing models for artistic works plus a search engine for CC licensed works themselves.

2004-10-12T12:22:00.000+01:00

Prescription Drug Database

RxList is a pretty comprehensive-looking prescription meds database.

2004-10-07T17:25:00.000+01:00

PDA-sized Translator

A handheld device that enables a user to chat in another language - without having to learn any words or phrases for themselves - has been developed by Japanese electronics firm NEC.

The system is about the size of a handheld PDA and converts spoken Japanese to English and vice versa. It is planned for launch in Japan in the next few months.

It consists of three components - a speech recognition engine, translation software and a voice generator. Spoken English or Japanese is recognised and converted into text by the speech recognition engine. The text is then converted from Japanese to English or the other way by translation software and the resulting text is vocalised by a voice synthesiser. The entire process takes about one second.

This sounds great, but I have a nagging suspscon that it will talk like one of the appalling actors who dub low-budget anime andtrytofitintooMANYWORDS!!atonceWITHappARREntlyRANDOMVOCALINFLECTION!

2004-10-06T14:53:00.000+01:00

Schneier on Security

Bruce Schneier has a weblog full of his wisodm.

2004-09-30T10:21:00.000+01:00

Cooking For Engineers

A cooking site geared towards geeks - I particularly like the little flow diagrams that make up the recipes. So... elegant.

2004-09-28T13:17:00.000+01:00

Interesting files, collected by Stig Hackvan

Does what it says on the tin - most of these files are, as reported, interesting.

2004-09-24T16:53:00.000+01:00

Installing Linux on a dead badger

Step 2: Once you have obtained a dead badger, check it carefully for structural damage, particularly in the spine, skull, and legs. Dead badgers do not heal, and a badger with broken legs will display limited mobility. Brain and spinal cord damage is likely to interfere with the Linux installation and render any successfully-installed system unstable, as well as voiding all explicit and implicit warranties according to the laws of any and every state, country, or alternate dimension, present or future.

2004-09-22T09:37:00.000+01:00

Space Food Sticks and Astronaut Food

This company seems to be selling proper astronaut food!

2004-09-21T10:16:00.000+01:00

FrontPage - Mentat Wiki

A WikiWeb devoted to methods of improving thought and mental skills. Only slightly let down by being designed in Frontpage.

2004-09-20T16:22:00.000+01:00

Philip K. Dick - How To Build A Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later:

"One day a girl college student in Canada asked me to define reality for her, for a paper she was writing for her philosophy class. She wanted a one-sentence answer. I thought about it and finally said, 'Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.' That's all I could come up with. That was back in 1972. Since then I haven't been able to define reality any more lucidly."

2004-09-20T10:08:00.000+01:00

The Complete Calvin & Hobbes

There is a hardcover slipcase box-set thing of the complete Calvin & Hobbes due out soon.

Let this be a formal statement of Xmas desire.

2004-09-16T16:38:00.000+01:00

Emmanuel Goldstein on RNC 'little Gitmo'

Emmanuel Goldstein (of 2600 magazine) was one of hundreds of protestors arrested during peaceful demonstrations during the 2004 Republican National Convention in NYC. He, and most of the others, were held for over 24 hours in 'Little Gitmo' - the Pier 57 holding facility, also known as 'The Tombs'.

It seemed obvious to us all that the inefficiency of their system was being used as an excuse to keep us locked away for as long as they wanted. If only Kafka had been around to appreciate this.

2004-09-15T16:05:00.000+01:00

Lovecraftian Fonts

Lots of cool fonts (several available free) based on HP Lovecraft miscellany.

2004-09-13T15:14:00.000+01:00

Like a magesterial William Burroughs coruscating on acid, his fluent prose was divided like the state of India itself.

A summary of book review cliche.

tour de force (of literary scholarship) – the minimum length for a tour de force, not including notes, bibliographies and appendices, is 400 pages

2004-09-08T10:25:00.000+01:00

Underground cinema discovered under Paris

Police have discovered a fully equipped cinema and restaurant in a hidden cavern beneath Paris.

Cool.

2004-09-02T16:29:00.000+01:00

Nanokabbalah!

Doubtless fascinating article on the similar-ish philiosophical underpinnings of Kabbalah and Nanotechnology that I will almost certainly make the time to read at some point.

2004-09-02T16:05:00.000+01:00

Freddie's Blog: Ruff ruff ruff ruff ruff ruff ruff ruff!

Had to include this to balance the previous post.

Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Ruff ruff ruff?

Ruff.

posted by Freddie @ 9:29 AM

2004-09-02T16:01:00.000+01:00

Olivia the Cat's weblog

Friday, February 06, 2004
"Meow! Meow, meow… meow.
M30W M30W M30W M30W!!!!!!!!!111 Meow, meow, meow meow? Meow! Meow, meow… meow.
Meow, meow, meow meow? Meow, meow, meow meow? Meow… meow. M30W M30W M30W M30W!!!!!!!!!111 Meow meow meow meow meow : meow. Meow, meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow. Meow! Meow, meow… meow.
Meow! Meow, meow… meow.
Meow… meow."

2004-09-02T15:17:00.000+01:00

Possible Alien broadcast found by SETI?

The SETI project has found a weird signal originating from somewhere between Pisces & Aries that looks like the best candidate yet for being of artficial origin.

Named SHGb02+14a, the signal has a frequency of about 1420 megahertz. This happens to be one of the main frequencies at which hydrogen, the most common element in the universe, readily absorbs and emits energy.

Some astronomers have argued that extraterrestrials trying to advertise their presence would be likely to transmit at this frequency, and SETI researchers conventionally scan this part of the radio spectrum.

2004-08-30T19:25:00.000+01:00

Green Arrow's journal of crime fighting and goatee maintenance.

A weblog by Oliver Queen, AKA Green Arrow.

"so, aquaman has been hinting that i might need to change up the goatee a little. he says that goatees are out of style and i look a bond villain or a registered sex offender with it. i told him that i kept quiet while he went through that whole hulk hogan-mullet-thing a while back, and that he lives under the ocean and consequently does not have his finger on pulse of metro fashion.

i did a little research and discovered that my signature goat is not, in fact, called the 'arrow swerve,' but rather the 'van dyke,' which is a silly name for the arrow swerve. so i'm thinking of making a change. at the moment, it's a toss up between the soul patch and the isaac asimov chinstrap.
"

2004-08-26T12:28:00.000+01:00

Bloomsbury.com - Writer's almanac

Guides for unpublished writers, reading courses, and more.

2004-08-25T16:20:00.000+01:00

War without end

The Pentagon wants congress to authorise 500 million dollars to fund a network of militia forces around the world to fight terrorism.

The fact that this will potentially create 500 million dollars worth of militias that could turn against the US a la Al Qaeda has either escaped the Pentagon completeley or, indeed, is the whole point.

2004-08-25T14:53:00.000+01:00

Ftagn! Cthulhu Slippers! Ia! Ia!

OMG! Want!

Based on H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu stories. The Cthulhu Plush Slippers are made of quality fabric and your feet will never be warmer than when they're tucked cozily inside a cute pair of demons. Fits shoe size 6-12.

2004-08-25T12:08:00.000+01:00

What do you do when your soul has a cold?

Fascinating New York Times article (free reg. required) about the way depression has been 'marketed' in Japan - specifically the kind of chronic depression treated by SSRI antidepressants.

..in Japanese, the word for depression (utsubyo) traditionally referred only to major or manic depressive disorders and was seldom heard outside psychiatric circles. To talk about feelings, people relied on the word ki or ''vital energy.'' A literal translation of Japanese synonyms for sorrow reads, to Westerners, like the kind of emotional troubles that might befall a kitchen sink: ki ga fusagu, sadness because your ki is blocked; ki ga omoi, sadness because your ki is sluggish; ki ga meiru, sadness because your ki is leaking.

Inside every neologism lies a compact history of cultural change -- think McJobs, metrosexuals, the blogosphere. In Japan, the coining of kokoro no kaze marked a sea change in people's thinking about depression. That transformation was triggered by the pharmaceutical industry's other contribution to Japan in 1999: along with providing a catchy slogan for mild depression, the industry provided a cure: modern antidepressants. More than a decade ago, Peter Kramer chronicled the capacity of those drugs to reshape the cultural landscape in ''Listening to Prozac.'' But back then the culture they reshaped was the culture that had shaped them. Now, a huge campaign by the pharmaceutical industry is publicizing mild depression, which most Japanese didn't realize existed until recently. Japan has become a proving ground for what we stand to gain and lose by the global expansion of Western psychopharmacology.

2004-08-23T17:19:00.000+01:00

Best. Garden Gnome. EVAR.

Admit it. You've always wanted a giant Cthulhu statue. Now you can have it. Nethercraft's interpretation of H.P. Lovecraft's Great Old One is perfect for home or office, and makes a thoughtful gift... just imagine their faces! When placed in the front yard of your home, it also does a great job of deterring door-to-door solicitors, and, well, almost everyone else too.

Only $3900 - cheap!

2004-08-23T14:54:00.000+01:00

The Coincidence Theorist's Guide to 9/11

A list of interesting coincidences (AND THAT IS ALL THEY ARE, CITIZEN. REMAIN CALM AND AWAIT THE SOMA. FNORD) to do with the day we brits call '11/9'.

It's true that George HW Bush and Dick Cheney spent the evening of September 10 alone in the Oval Office, but what's wrong with old colleagues catching up? And it's true that George HW Bush and Shafig bin Laden, Osama's brother, spent the morning of September 11 together at a board meeting of the Carlyle Group, but the bin Ladens are a big family.

2004-08-20T14:00:00.000+01:00

Jaws in 30 second (reenacted by bunnies)

More genius animation from Angry Alien productions. Love the Richard Dreyfuss bunny & his fuzzy beard :-)

2004-08-17T17:52:00.000+01:00

What Is Conservatism and What Is Wrong with It?

Interesting, thought provoking and something I wish I could memorise for future arguments.

Q: What is conservatism?
A: Conservatism is the domination of society by an aristocracy.

Q: What is wrong with conservatism?
A: Conservatism is incompatible with democracy, prosperity, and civilization in general. It is a destructive system of inequality and prejudice that is founded on deception and has no place in the modern world.

2004-08-16T17:03:00.000+01:00

Top 10 Most Ridiculous Black Metal Pics of All Time

Does what it says on the tin.

Dani from Cradle of Filth comes in 4th only because he is so incredibly gay. First of all, there is no black metal band that has sold out quite like Cradle of Filth. Secondly, there is no other black metal band that loves to have pictures taken of them as much as Cradle of Filth. And lastly, Dani always has to be doing something stupid and/or gay in virtually all of the band photos. Why? Well, he's obviously watched Interview With a Vampire one too many times.

2004-08-16T15:16:00.000+01:00

A is for Amy who fell down the stairs...

The Gashlycrumb Tinies, by Edward Gorey - reinterpreted as photographs.

2004-08-11T16:02:00.000+01:00

The Shining named perfect scary movie

Scientists have taken time off from curing cancer and developing rocket car technology to develop a formula for the perfect horror film, thus:

(es+u+cs+t) squared +s+ (tl+f)/2 + (a+dr+fs)/n + sin x - 1.

Where:
es = escalating music u = the unknown cs = chase scenes t = sense of being trapped s = shock tl = true life f = fantasy a = character is alone dr = in the dark fs = film setting n = number of people sin = blood and guts 1 = stereotypes

Using this forlmula reveals The Shining to be the scariest film ever.. which we all knew anyway.

2004-08-10T13:29:00.000+01:00

GMail Apps

I always thought it would be a good idea to grab a couple of GMail accounts as spare for when someone figured out a really cool hack that (ab)used the technolgy. Looks like the process has begun...

2004-08-10T10:59:00.000+01:00

Compayny Name Etymologies

Huge Wikipedia entry that explains the (often esoteric) reasons behind company names.

KFC - short for Kentucky Fried Chicken, the company adopted the abbreviated form of its name in 1991 to avoid the unhealthy connotations of the word 'fried'. Recent commercials have tried to imply that the abbreviation stands for "Kitchen Fresh Chicken".

2004-08-09T10:37:00.000+01:00

Barbelith Underground > Comic Books > If Superman can fight for the south or be a communist, why can't he be gay?

Great Barbelith thread on gay superheroes...

Ok, if Superman is going to be gay, I think Captain Marvel should be his boyfriend. They're both big superstrong hunks who would look great laying around bed in their four-color nakedness, and think of the scandal and melodrama when Clark discovers that Cap is really a thirteen year old boy impersonating an adult!

2004-08-06T13:57:00.000+01:00

The Mongoose and The Weasel

A moving fable for our times.

There once was a mongoose
who fell in love with a weasel...

2004-08-05T11:17:00.000+01:00

The Prior-Art-O-Matic

A surrealist definition generator.

ripping yarns is a first-aid kit that can cook small meals, can be used on the move and has no sharp edges.

2004-08-02T14:46:00.000+01:00

The Discordian I Ching

- -
---
- -48. Bureaucracy
---
---
- -
An Age of Bureaucracy is an Imperial Age in which Things Mature, in which Confusion becomes entrenched and during which Balanced Balance, or Stagnation, is attained.

This hexagram represents the inexhaustible and the unchanging. It can mean stagnation, but also a comforting routine, depending upon how you look at it. Since this IS the DISCORDIAN E-Jing-A-Ling Thing, the implication is that you are stuck in a rut and you need to do something to get out of it.

2004-08-02T11:28:00.000+01:00

RedFlame - a Thelemic Research Site

Much info on Aleister Crowley, Thelema, O.T.O, etc.

2004-07-30T16:39:00.000+01:00

I, Republican: The Three Laws

Billmon from Whiskey Bar offers us:

1. A Republican may not injure a corporation, or, through inaction, allow a corporation to come to harm.

2. A Republican must obey the orders given it by corporations except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A Republican must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

2004-07-29T15:13:00.000+01:00

David Owen on diseased heads of state

Interesting paper by Dr David Owen about the various ailments suffered by heads of state.

2004-07-29T10:33:00.000+01:00

Belief in Hell Boosts Growth

A report by the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis claims that there is a correlation between a widespread belief in hell or eternal damnation in a country and lower levels of corruption and higher standards of living.

2004-07-27T15:25:00.000+01:00

Street Fighter clone based on Les Miserables

Blogged mainly for the amusingly Engrish translation on the site.

"He enjoyed the miserable so much that he decided to make a game out of it"

2004-07-27T13:56:00.000+01:00

Chitosan - wound-sealing bandage derived from shrimp shells

Cool new medical tech - chitosan is currently being used in Iraq and Afghanistan and is capable of sealing wounds in under 30 seconds. The material carries a positive charge and bonds easily with (negatively charged) blood cells to form an artifical clot.

2004-07-27T13:03:00.000+01:00

Voyage to Our Hollow Earth

Would you be interested in a once-in-a-lifetime chance to discover Our Hollow Earth first hand? If so, we invite you to join us for an expedition to the North Pole with Steve Currey, one of the leading river explorers in the world!

2004-07-26T16:51:00.000+01:00

The Annotated Alan Moore

Annotations for Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Promethea and others.

I've been waiting for a couple of years now for someone to ask me how on earth we did Promethea #12, just so that I could be knowing and mysterious about it, rather in the style of David Blaine.
--Alan Moore

2004-07-26T10:17:00.000+01:00

Lots of bootlegs

Live bootlegs of many, many artists.

2004-07-21T17:14:00.000+01:00

Snowmail

Sign up to get a daily email from John Snow (or Krishnan Guru-Murthy or Alex Thomson) giving his take on today's news. I have been reading this for about a week & it's pretty cool.

2004-07-20T15:11:00.000+01:00

419 scammers going off the rails

The Register has a story about the latest email scam from those lovable rogues in Nigeria :

From: Secretary Towogbola [secretary_in_chargeeeee@hotmail.com]
Subject: TREAT AS URGENT {THIS IS NO JUNK MAIL}

"EXECUTION"EXECUTION"EXECUTION"'
NATIONAL CORPORATION HEADQUATERS LAGOS.

PRIVACY. we wish to introduce our company/ourselves as a subsidiary of INTERNATIONAL ASSASINATORS AND WORLD SECURITY ORGANISATIONS,with branches in one hundred and two {102}countires.

we have received a fax message from our headquaters,new york,this morning to inform you to produce a mandatory sum of US$40,000.00 {FOURTHY THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS} only,into our account given below in nigeria within ninety six hours{96},alternatively you will be SNIPPED and GUNNED down during the period of our oncoming anniversary of fifty years.

2004-07-19T15:48:00.000+01:00

Amazon reviews of My Pet Goat

"A real page-turner! When you pick this one up, you'll wish you never had to put it down!" George W. Bush

2004-07-19T15:36:00.000+01:00

Eyewitness accounts of the Trinity nuclear tests

"I was looking through crossed polaroid glasses directly at the site. My first sensation was one of intense light covering my whole field of vision. This seemed to last for about 1/2 second after which I noted an intense orange red glow through the clouds. Several seconds later it appeared that a second spherical red ball appeared but it is probable that this apparent phenomenon was caused by the motion of the airplane bringing us to a position where we could see through the cloud directly at the ball of fire which had been developing for the past few seconds. This fire ball seemed to have a rough texture with irregular black lines dividing the surface of the sphere into a large number of small patches of reddish orange. This thing disappeared a few seconds later and what seemed to be a third ball of fire appeared again and I am now convinced that this was all the same fire ball which I saw on two separate occasions through a new hole in the undercast."

2004-07-19T13:31:00.000+01:00

Free Shell Accounts

Huge list of free UNIX (mostly - some are VMS, etc) shell accounts.

2004-07-15T14:52:00.000+01:00

Making Light: Prophetable colors

Teresa Nielsen Hayden has a great post on Making Light about the strange process of deciding what colours will be fashionable.

Who does this to us? An outfit, founded in 1962, called the Color Marketing Group. These are the people who wished avocado green and harvest gold kitchen appliances on America, and put the 1980s into those mauve-pink shades that looked so peculiarly horrible on so many of us.

Basically, the CMG is a trade organization, with 1,500 members drawn from a bunch of different industries. Twice a year they get together in Alexandria, VA, to come up with long-term and short-term color predictions. The long-term prediction is a set of sixteen colors that will be profitably marketable two years hence. That is, the 2003 palette was distributed to manufacturers in 2001. The short-term prediction is a palette of colors declared to be currently the thing.

2004-07-14T16:18:00.000+01:00

Japanese Govt. white-paper to be released as Manga

Oddly, not an Onion headline - the Japanese government want more young people to take an interest in it's policies and have decided to release their upcoming white paper on defense in comic book format.

2004-07-13T16:22:00.000+01:00

Right-Wing Ketchup

First Reagan declared ketchup to be a vegetable, now W Ketchup has come forward to ensure that proud Republicans can apply the correct condiment to their freedom fries while showing support for the freedom-hating, constitution-despising scum in the Whitehouse.

2004-07-12T10:51:00.000+01:00

Police unveil HERF gun

Police plan to stop car chases by using beams of EM radiation to knock out the internal electronics of modern cars.

"When the radio waves hit the targeted car, they induce surges of electricity in its electronics, upsetting the fuel injection and engine firing signals. 'It works on most cars built in the past 10 years, because their engines are controlled by computer chips,' said Dr Giri. 'If we can disrupt the computer, we can stop the car.' A prototype is due to be ready by next summer."

What I find interesting here is the unstated assumption that once a car has it's chips fried it is ust going to glide safely to a halt - as opposed to , say, spinning out of control in a flaming ball of automotive death.

2004-07-08T00:08:00.000+01:00

SmartKlamp: the fine art of male circumcision.

An automatic circumcision device. Yes. An automatic circumcision device.

Placing of the SmartKlamp®

* The foreskin is completely rolled back
* Then the tube of the SmartKlamp is placed on the top of the penis
* The foreskin will be rolled over the tube
* The clamping mechanism is placed over the tube and the skin and the foreskin is trapped.
* The trapped foreskin is being cut by a scalpel and removed; very little blood is visible
* The circumcision is ready!

2004-07-07T11:54:00.000+01:00

Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby

Ruby looks like an interesting language - even more so now I have seen this poignant guide.

I’ll be straight with you. I want you to cry. To weep. To whimper sweetly. This book is a poignant guide to Ruby. That means code so beautiful that tears are shed. That means gallant tales and somber truths that have you waking up the next morning in the arms of this book. Hugging it tightly to you all the day long. If necessary, fashion a makeshift hip holster for Why’s (Poignant) Guide to Ruby, so you can always have this book’s tender companionship.

2004-07-07T11:49:00.000+01:00

Meat Filter

Meat Filter has the latest news on all things vegan and vegetarian. I have no idea if that will turn out to be a lot of news or not, to be honest.

2004-07-06T00:55:00.000+01:00

Software: Spyware/Adware/Hijackware Tools

Someone (Jim?) asked me for some Spyware removal help. This is a pretty comprehensive list.

2004-07-05T15:25:00.000+01:00

Air America Place - Air America Radio mp3 Archive

Get your fresh Garofalo here. Liberal talk radio from the uSofA - interesting to hear the alternative leftpondian spin.

2004-07-04T17:27:00.000+01:00

News Skim Comics

Really rather funny photostory comic.

2004-07-02T16:56:00.000+01:00

Rock Paper Saddam

Phto cut-up of Saddam trial.

2004-07-02T12:49:00.000+01:00

Man writes down his every thought

26 year old Lion Kimbro decided to write down every thought he had for three months.

Why would anyone in their right mind want to do this? "Because of the incredibly clarity that comes with it," Lion says. "It may feel that for the first time in your life, you really have a clear idea of what kinds of thoughts are going through your head.

"You can think about hidden subjects - things that are really important, but that people don't have the time to think about, such as: 'How do we communicate?' 'How is thinking structured?' 'What am I doing?'

"And you find answers. Basically, it feels like watching Atlantis come up."

If you fancy trying out Lion's technique, he has written a free-to-download book explaining his technique.

2004-07-02T11:40:00.000+01:00

Danny O'Brien fights to keep fingernail grip on reality

Amusing ramble on Oblomovka as Danny tries to keep his brains inside his head after a few too many keynote speeches.

My notes are full of this crap. Everyone else in the journalist's compound was clattering into outliners about the H.264 and personal iChat servers and how it all interrelates with current market conditions. My notes say "iChat AV, 3 other people. OMG they ARE trapped like General Zod! Is woman he talking to wife? Wrong kind of flirty. Forced bonhomie. Are you killed if you fuckup Jobs demos? Maybe they have gunmen off unseen, off webcam. "But, darling, it was my net connection it was bursty I couldn't hear what BLAM BLAM BLAMBLAM".

2004-07-01T13:40:00.000+01:00

Ask the Tech Girl

If you like sexy, smart, strong and sarcastic girls with superior tech skills, you are in luck.

"Ask The Tech Girl" gives you the rare opportunity to talk live to a super smart, sometimes snarky and always super sexy tech girl, geek chick or network ops cutie.

Currently being parodied on the always wonderful Something Positive.

2004-06-30T11:19:00.000+01:00

The first rule of label club...

One of the packaging designers at printer label manufacturers Avery is keeping the Project Mayhem flag flying. The sample address on Avery High Visibility Labels reads:

Tyler Durden
420 Paper Street
Wilmington, DE 19886

UPDATE: Apparently, its the other way around - Chuck Pahlaniuk got the name & address from a pack of Avery Labels. There is clearly some slight subversion going on at Avery, though. I mean '420, Paper Street' has got to be some kind of marijuana reference.

2004-06-29T15:23:00.000+01:00

BBC Charter Review

The BBC's new charter review outlines some of the plans for their Creative Archive - they seem to be committed to using open standards, which is good news for anyone who can't or won't run RealPlayer or Windows Media Player.

They also reckon that there will be a move to get rid of 'derivative' or 'cynical' programmes. Does this include the National Lottery show? I honestly can't think of a reason why the BBC should show it at all - it is the worst kind of sub-Noel Edmonds rubbish, adds nothing to the 'experience' of playing the Lottery and just seems like a way of wasting half an hour of airtime.

Is it for the ratings? If so, why should the beeb be arsed? Its not as if they have advertisers to placate.

2004-06-29T11:01:00.000+01:00

Creator of Jennings dies at 92

Anthony Buckeridge, creator of the prep school boy whose rudest curse was "Fossilised fish-hooks!", died yesterday at his home in Sussex at the age of 92.

Last night, David Rudd, an expert on children's literature, suggested Buckeridge's work should be reassessed. "I think he is extremely underrated," said Mr Rudd, who lectures at Bolton Institute, Greater Manchester. "He is like a children's Wodehouse. He created excellent characters, brilliant dialogue and inventive slang."

2004-06-28T12:09:00.000+01:00

Guide to Lock Picking

The theory of lock picking is the theory of exploiting mechanical defects. There are a few basic concepts and definitions but the bulk of the material consists of tricks for opening locks with particular defects or characteristics. The organization of this manual reflects this structure.

2004-06-24T15:14:00.000+01:00

Japanese Electronic Music

Fan site listing various bands and artists that I will probably check out at some point.

2004-06-23T16:53:00.000+01:00

Thirty-eight dishonest tricks

A list of 38 tricks people try to pull in arguments, and how to deal with them.

(8) The argument that we should not make efforts against X which is admittedly evil because there is a worse evil Y against which our efforts should be directed (pp 50-52)
Dealt with by pointing out that this is a reason for making efforts to abolish Y, but no reason for not also making efforts to get rid of X.
(9) The recommendation of a position because it is a mean between two extremes (pp 52-54)
Dealt with by denying the usefulness of the principle as a method of discovering the truth. In practice, this can most easily be done by showing that our own view also can be represented as a mean between two extremes.
(10) Pointing out the logical correctness of the form of an argument whose premisses contain doubtful or untrue statements of fact (p 58)
Dealt with by refusing to discuss the logic of the argument but pointing out the defects of its presentations of alleged fact.

2004-06-22T14:45:00.000+01:00

The LiveJournal of Zachary Marsh

Amusing Lovecraftiana.

It's 3:00 in the morning, and I guess those people out of the reef are having another party because I can see fires out there and I keep hearing drums and whooping and hollering (some of it even sounds like screaming -- must be pretty wild). Anyway, they woke me up and I can't get back to sleep, so I guess I'll just surf the web for a while. BTW, Elliot and Chris aren't back yet -- they must be on a bender. I hope they're not out at that reef party without me, that would be totally lame.

2004-06-22T10:22:00.000+01:00

Homebrew Retro Bluetooth handset

You are bidding on a one of a kind hand set that has bee modified to house a bluetooth headset. It works fine and you'll get loads of looks! there is an access hole to charge and operation is via a single rocker at the base (see picture) this enables volume up and down for the ear piece aswell as for the ringer volume. I will include the manual for operation.

2004-06-17T15:16:00.000+01:00

CyberD-SignClan

Hott, bleeding edge web design company-no, wait-COLLECTIVE. Cyber D-Sign Clan will design your cardz.

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING ELITIST AND BEING ELITE.

WE ARE BOTH

2004-06-14T15:37:00.000+01:00

History News Network

The History News Network is run on a non-profit basis by a groups of journalists, academics and historians and aims

"To expose politicians who misrepresent history. To point out bogus analogies. To deflate beguiling myths. To remind Americans of the irony of history. To put events in context. To remind us all of the complexity of history."

2004-06-14T14:24:00.000+01:00

The most useful website yet!

If someone asks you a stupid or obvious question, direct them to this site - it's the best favour you could possible do them.