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18 Oct 2000
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Famous Left-Handers
Saturday, October 21, 2000
Did you know that the last three U.S. presidents were lefties?
Gore is left handed. Bush is not.
I haven't been able to find out the handedness of Nader.
Let me know if you know.
I reckon I ain't nothin' special
Saturday, October 21, 2000
Thought for the day:
I wonder how many weblogs only exist to suck up to other, more popular weblogs. Lots and lots, apparently. How come none of these folks are sucking up to me? [sniff] Why some royally mediocre weblogs are popular and some positively brilliant ones aren't baffles me.
Must be my mediocre HTML skills. . .
Internet Mental Health - Diagnosis
Saturday, October 21, 2000
Ever feel like you're going crrrrazy?
Well now you can diagnose those mental disorders online!
Consult a psychiatrist for serious afflictions.
It won't do you any good though. You'll have to live with it.
No, I'm not going to tell you which ones apply to me!
Loose and Sketchy Rendering
Saturday, October 21, 2000
It's 3-D Squigglevision baby!
Climate of 2000 - September in Historical Perspective
Saturday, October 21, 2000
U.S. mean temperature from January through September highest ever recorded.
Flatland
Saturday, October 21, 2000
A two dimensional world is sometimes more interesting than our own. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a online version of A.K. Dewney's The Planiverse, which is more fun.
Dewdney does have a completely out of date homepage.
Good for him.
Anyone who thinks that hippies are idiots and likes cat tesselations gets a thumbs up from me!
Yeah, I'm back, as if you cared.
Thanks, Abuddhas Memes :)
XERO Interview - John Varley
Sunday, October 15, 2000
There are several possible responses to a hopeless situation:
Despair and lethargy.
Eat-drink-and-be-merry.
Suicide. . .
Suicide was popular. In the springtime you didn't walk the streets for being squished by a falling body. They jumped singly, in pairs, in great giggling parties. The Skydivers at the End of Time.
But the favorite anodyne was to live it up.
John Varley - Millennium
I've always lived my life according to option one. It doesn't work, because it is self defeating and increases one's suffering. Time to consider options two and three.
I grow increasingly bored and frustrated with weblogging, as well as with the internet in general. Screaming into the void when no one is listening gets tiresome. Waking the dead is a pointless task with no reward. It is the fundamental nature of sentient life to destroy itself, yes? I fear the end is near.
Life goes on or it doesn't.
As brother prophet Jim said so well:
I called you up to anoint the earth
I called you to announce sadness
Falling like burned skin
I called you to wish you well
To glory in self like a new monster
And now I call on you to pray
Bring on the cold. Bring on the dark.
Element Zero Portal
Sunday, October 15, 2000
Wicked cool Flash animation.
Check out the Giger inspired Soldiers of Chaos.
The Praeser Game is fun and educational, but totally unrelated.
Make your kids play it.
ColdMarble Musings
Sunday, October 15, 2000
A weblog that embraces two of my loves: cemeteries and photography. Outstanding!
Staying In and Tuning Out
Friday, October 13, 2000
Do I know one of these people?
I am one of these people!
I love the fact that the media considers those of us who want nothing more from the world but to be left the hell alone are all considered ticking time bombs who are going to go berzerk and shoot up a Walmart (like that would be a bad thing). Maybe we don't want to adapt to your bullshit. Maybe we don't want to fit into a world with no intelligence or values.
Some of us choose to be antisocial.
Contrary to popular opinion, it is neither unusual or a crime.
make or break time for dream of fusion power
Friday, October 13, 2000
It figures the that the U.S. would pull out of this project. After all, we don't want to reduce our short sighted dependence on fossil fuels do we?
Space capsule relations studied
Friday, October 13, 2000
Will psychologists and psychotropic drugs be needed on long duration space missions?
". . . space missions already routinely carry certain types of psychiatric medicine, such as antidepressants, tranquilizers and sleeping pills. An example is haloperidol, 'a major tranquilizer (that is) used mainly for people with some kind of psychotic reaction, like hearing voices'"
Life in the Outside
Friday, October 13, 2000
I hate the term 'outsider art'. It is a term of condescension that implies that only a professional can only create true art, which is nonsense.
I'm a lot like the artist described in the article. Just stick me out in a shack in the middle of nowhere, far, far away from people and let me create already!
Thanks, Subterranean Notes :)
Fireball ignites scientific curiosity
Friday, October 13, 2000
Scientists have recovered a rare kind meteorite that left a trail trail of fire over western Canada earlier this year.
Drug War Politics
Thursday, October 12, 2000
"Bush, by his own admission, was a heavy drinker until 1988. In a classic Clintonian nondenial denial, he has claimed that any illegal drugs he did or didn't do he stopped doing if he was doing them 25 years ago, when he was 28 years old. "Young and irresponsible," maybe, as he has said, but certainly not a minor. People doing the same things that he was possibly doing back then can get thrown in prison today -- and particularly if they live in Bush's home state. Gore claims to have smoked pot only occasionally while at Harvard, in Vietnam and during graduate school. But a few friends' recollections suggest his use may have exceeded the once-in-a-while toke. Jerry Roberts, managing editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and a dorm-mate of Al Gore and actor Tommy Lee Jones at Harvard in the late 1960s, jokingly told a group of journalists attending a conference last month that when Jones told the Democratic Convention about how he and Al would watch 'Star Trek,' it was a 'euphemism' for smoking dope."
Bush and Gore drug war hypocrites? Say it isn't so!
Human Cloning's 'Numbers Game'
Thursday, October 12, 2000
Raelian UFO cult wants to clone humans.
See Clonaid.com and the Rael home page for additional info.
I dig the flash animation. Neat.
S.F. Bar's Patrons Pay For Air to Breathe
Thursday, October 12, 2000
Care for a hit of oxygen? Only a dollar a minute.
This is yet more evidence that people these days have too much money and not enough sense.
Thanks, squidfactory :)
"Upside Down" by Eduardo Galeano
Thursday, October 12, 2000
"But the United States assumes no responsibility for the environmental disasters wrought by all that consumption. "Explaining why the United States refused to sign the Convention on Biodiversity at the Rio summit in 1992," Galeano writes, "President George Bush was unequivocal: 'It is important to protect our rights, our business rights.'" In short, Galeano asserts with fitting exasperation, the chemical companies, oil companies and car companies dictate U.S. environmental policy. Of course, this is a truism that remains too subtle for the American masses, like the notion that wrecking nature is not just an accidental side effect of these industries but central to their interdependent existences."
I can sum up the American masses in three words:
Apathy. Greed. Indifference.
This will be our undoing. The Roman Empire fell, didn't it?
Oops, I forgot that most Americans don't know anything about history.
Thanks, NewPages :)
US preacher finds demon-possessed PCs
Thursday, October 12, 2000
Satan wants your soul, netsurfer!
Brief History of the Lobotomy
Thursday, October 12, 2000
If i got a frontal lobotomy, I think I'd better fit into society at large.
When they were bad
Wednesday, October 11, 2000
Lord, deliver us from the evil of grade school cliques.
Thanks, the null device :)
DNA clues to Neanderthals
Wednesday, October 11, 2000
DNA analysis of Neandertal man indicates they expanded from a small number of individuals and that they didn't interbreed with modern humans.
This is interesting:
"He (Professor Chris Stringer, Head of Human Origins at the Natural History Museum) said the genetic diversity of Neanderthals suggested that they declined in numbers at some point in history, perhaps because of climatic change. But unlike modern humans, they never recovered fully."
Hmmmmmmmm, again!
Duke 2000
Wednesday, October 11, 2000
If I had to vote for a fictional presidential candidate, I'd vote for Duke!
Only Ramtha heard confession sought in sex case
Wednesday, October 11, 2000
Channeler claims she can't take the stand in Washington sexual misconduct case since only the channeled being 'Ramtha' heard the confession:
"Knight - born Judith Hampton of Roswell, N.M. - has said Ramtha first appeared in her Tacoma kitchen 20 years ago. She has parleyed the experience into a multimillion-dollar business including a publishing company, bookstore, clothing store and catalog operation."
Hmmmmmmmmmm! Yes, Ramtha has got a website.
‘The Simpsons’ has lost its cool
Tuesday, October 10, 2000
Alas, Babylon, I fear it is true. Last season was almost unwatchable and I feel certain this season will be even worse.
Producer Ian Maxtone-Graham has destroyed the show:
"Ian Maxtone-Graham is the perfect poster child for the new breed of Simpsonator. One of the show’s current senior writers and producers, Maxtone-Graham made his stand during a 1998 interview with The Independent, in which he admitted he had almost never watched “The Simpsons” — or any TV, in fact — before he wrote for the show. It was a clear indication that the show had acquired a new sensibility, one that wasn’t beholden to — wasn’t respectful of, old-school fans would say — the show’s original sensibilities"
That explains why the show has been reduced to nothing more than a bunch of cruel sight gags. If you don't know your subject matter, don't bother writing about it. Thanks a lot, asshole.
Here's more evidence that this guy is an idiot:
"'Oh sure,' agrees Maxtone-Graham with a patronizing smile. 'The Lisa shows are great, you get the nice, sweet, observant stuff with her. Really there are two kinds of episodes, one with Homer playing the hilarious buffoon, the other softer thing with Marge and Lisa.' I'm beginning to grind my teeth, here. No wonder women find it so hard work on The Simpsons - such a perception of the gender divide harks back to the last century. Maxtone-Graham insists it gets uncomfortable when there are female writers in the room: 'We make awful scatological, sexual jokes. It's not like we sit around the table with our dicks out, but having a woman in the room... I think it changes the tenor.'"
Thanks for ruining the greatest TV show of the 1990's. Time to bury 'The Simpsons' next to Maude Flanders.
This article sums up my feelings nicely.
Thanks, Kestrel's Nest :)
20 Ways the World Could End
Tuesday, October 10, 2000
Numbers eight, nine, ten, eleven and fourteen are a given within the next hundred years (more like fifty, probably)
Number fifteen and seventeen are likely in the same time frame.
Number thirteen is possible within the same time frame.
The probability of all of the other possibilities put together are nil.
No future for you.
This is the way the world ends.
Thanks, Jaffo :)
Reward for tiger poachers' arrest
Tuesday, October 10, 2000
If I got hold of the people that committed this crime they would suffer.
I think I would very slowly skin them alive.
Does that seem a little bit harsh to you? Not to me.
Lest any of you think I'm some kind of nut, I'm not. I am a omnivore. I loathe hunting, but I see the need for it now that we have killed off all of the predatory species. I find someone slaughtering a tiger in a zoo just as disgusting as if someone broke into your house and slit the throats of your entire family. The big cats are quite intelligent and it is a tragedy and a travesty that they will soon be extinct in the wild. Do you want this tragic loss to future generations on your head and in your soul? I don't.
If the world is full of people this evil, what chance do any of the rest of us have?
Chilean alert over ozone danger
Tuesday, October 10, 2000
Citizens of Puenta Arenas, Chile are being fried by ultraviolet rays due to ozone depletion:
"Health officials said that the radiation levels were currently so high that unprotected skin would burn after just seven minutes in the sun. "
Hmm, I wonder if my environmental gloom and doom is turning off readers. Someone has to do it. I can't sell out my beliefs in the name of popularity. That would be mediocre, wouldn't it? Unfortunately, I'm learning that mediocrity sells.
I can't compete with any of these people now can I?
Am I wasting my time?
Should I quit the weblog thing?
The Earth is at stake isn't it?
Is it already too late, like a cartoon character that's gone off the cliff but hasn't looked down yet?
Am I just rambling?
Grapple, grapple grapple, grapple, grapple!!!
Screw it, time to go eat some Moo Shu which is best eaten cold.
Is This a Drug War or a Witch-Hunt?
Tuesday, October 10, 2000
"In July 1999, following an 18-month undercover sting operation, 43 residents of Tulia (Texas) were arrested in an early-morning drug raid. Forty of them were black -- an astounding 17 percent of the town's entire African-American population of 232. Almost all were charged with selling small of amounts of cocaine -- worth less than $200. But as the cases went to trial -- most without a single black on the jury -- and the convictions mounted, the sentences looked like something out of the Gulag-era Soviet Union. First-time offenders with no prior convictions -- which could have made them eligible for probation -- were locked away for more than 20 years. One man with a previous drug conviction was given 435 years in prison; another got 99 years. By the end, Tulia had become a crucible for the drug war. These were clearly not big-time drug dealers. In fact, when they were arrested, no drugs, drug paraphernalia, guns or caches of money were found. Only a few could afford to make bail; none was able to hire a lawyer."
Institutionalized racism or drug war hysteria? Doesn't really matter if you end up in prison for decades on trumped up charges.
Businesses get break on employee stock options
Tuesday, October 10, 2000
Thanks to a stock option loophole, giant high tech corporations like Cisco and Microsoft pay little to no income tax:
"In Cisco's case, this benefit wiped out $1.8 billion in federal taxes, and probably more than twice that for Microsoft."
I thought corporate welfare was bad. This is worse.
Some members of Congress are trying to expand the tax dodge.
Any of you shocked by that? I didn't think so.
Techno Greeks
Monday, October 9, 2000
Yet another in a seemingly endless series of weblog bashing pieces. I probably shouldn't link too it since it's probably someone trying to get some cheap hits by being a nuisance:
"So, is this revolution a real solution, or is it simply a software template packaged up into a cult of celebrity? Rather than being a revolution, blogging as practiced seems to resemble a fraternity: lots of people dressing alike, banding together for comfort against outsiders, and preaching lofty goals of brotherhood while practicing digital toga parties.
This is proof positive that the author has absolutely no idea what's going on. I've never heard anyone call weblogging a 'revolution' except for a few shameless self promoters like Dave Winer (and no one takes him seriously anyway). I weblog because I feel the need to express myself, not the need to belong to some pointless clique. I'm not popular, probably never will be. That's just fine with me. I take pride in that. The beautiful thing about weblogging is that every weblog is different and each weblogger has their own individual voice.
"Revolution? Solution? Blogs let everybody get their Warholian 15 nanoseconds of fame, but to call this a revolution takes attention away from the real revolution: reaching out to build sites that matter."
This is the kind of elitist bullshit that really pisses me off. I guess that 'professional' web designers are afraid of losing their overpaid jobs to software that will let anyone create a decent website. What are sites that matter? Porno? Portals? E-commerce ripoffs? Endless sites about people's pets? Wall to wall half finished Geocities stuff?
The author of this article can feel free to bite me!
Thanks, Xplane :)
Tory U-turn on cannabis
Monday, October 9, 2000
British Conservative Party hypocrites back down on their zero tolerance cannabis policy after seven members admitted they smoked marijuana in their youth.
If the U.S. enforced drug laws without regard to race or class (as opposed to just locking up the poor and minorities) both Dubya and Al Bore would both be in jail!!!
Freedom Ship: City at Sea
Monday, October 9, 2000
Someone float me a few hundred grand so I can buy a berth. I admire the dream even if it is unfeasible.
Unfortuately, arcology projects haven't exactly been a raging success. I think suburbanization is to blame. We're all indoctrinated in the house, garage, fenced in backyard, two cars, two and one-half kid lifestyle, at least here in the U.S, but this will not work in the long term.
No Marigolds in the Promised Land
Monday, October 9, 2000
"Steely Dan's songs are mostly about addictive behavior - drinking, drugging, gambling, prostitution, and jazz. As a rule, I don't enjoy depressing music, but I'll take ironic realism over unfounded optimism any day. And when it comes to irony, Steely Dan delivers. These lyrics should be circulating in political pamphlets, or at least set to some sort of angst-ridden noise. Instead, they are couched in infective jazz pop tunes, many of which evince such a sparkling transcendent lightness as to be almost unbearable. These tunes are themselves a drug. Such musical eloquence coupled with such scalding cultural criticism and unapologetic narrative obscurity makes for one danged subversive listening experience."
As Filbert the Turtle would say: 'You got it, fuzzy!'
Interesting that I refered to this article title way back in July.
Synchronicity, eh?
I heard it was you
Talkin' 'bout a world
Where all is free
It just couldn't be
And only a fool would say that
An excellent Steely Dan lyric interpretation site can be found here.
Scientists close to first successful cloning of extinct animal
Sunday, October 8, 2000
Some hope, if only a slim one, for helping to save endangered species:
". . .animal preservationists fear the public will prefer the less-costly cloning techniques and pull funding for expensive breeding and habitat protection programs already in place."
This is not a long term solution for endangered species since a loss of genetic diversity in a species will lead to it's eventual extinction anyway, but it does give me a little bit of hope.
Ghosts may be just sore eyes
Sunday, October 8, 2000
Could eye deterioration and ocular diseases be responsible for ghost sightings? I'm not convinced since plenty of people who have sightings don't have such eye problems.
I'm Changing The Climate!
Sunday, October 8, 2000
Once again, someone on the internet has stolen an idea right out of my brain. Hee hee! I guess there are a few people in the world who think like I do. . .
Thanks, Jill Matrix :)
Culture Vultures
Saturday, October 7, 2000
"Whenever a distinctive look, attitude, culture, or type of music becomes marketed on a mass level, it loses its impact. By its very nature, mass marketing mutes complexities and contradictions. When we appropriate the styles of classes or cultures other than our own, respect and understanding are rarely part of the exchange. We can dress up like part of a rebellious group without taking any of the risks or truly understanding its mindset. Short of ignoring the trends, there's no easy way around this."
'Fashion' is something I truly loathe. If you have a sense of style; they don't follow trends. Unfortunately, it seems that these people are more and more rare these days. I think this country is going through a thoughtless and conformist phase like I've never seen before. Maybe there's no escape from zombie consumerism anymore.
The drowning wave
Saturday, October 7, 2000
A massive landslide in the Canary Islands could trigger disasterous tsunami that would swamp the east coast of the U.S. and the Caribbean.
CARA continues steep climb in Congress
Saturday, October 7, 2000
The fight continues against attempts by the U.S. congress to water down the Conservation and Reinvestment Act.
"The National Wildlife Federation and the Teaming With Wildlife coalition, among others, continue to push the CARA legislation in the waning days of the current legislative session. CARA supporters include more than 5,000 conservation, civic, religious and business organizations, all 50 state governors, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 62 U.S. senators."
Government 'by the people, for the people', my ass!
You can find the government index of CARA documents here.
Political Rantings: Is this what's wrong?
Saturday, October 7, 2000
Man, I wish I had written this! It's a brilliant rant that makes perfect sense to me.
As I type this, I'm forced to listen to my neighbors slaving away on their yards and spewing noise and air pollution into the environment. It's a beautiful October day and their wasting their lives on a bunch of sod! So sad, that people feel waste their time on such nonsense. I think life should spent in one of two ways: improving the world or at least apperciating the wonders of the world. Otherwise, life is meaningless. I say down with yard work! Go take a walk through the woods or play with your pets or something!
Mystery of free-floating 'planets'
Saturday, October 7, 2000
Astronomers are baffled by giant planet like objects floating through the constelation of Orion.
Here's another article.
Hitching a Ride on a Magnetic Bubble
Saturday, October 7, 2000
Mini Magnetospheric Planetary Propulsion may allow future space craft to surf on the solar winds.
PawSense
Saturday, October 7, 2000
Are you terrified by the thought that your cat may walk across your keyboard and delete valuable data? PawSense puts an end to your cat and keyboard worries!
You can't make this stuff up. Since I haven't owned a cat in about twenty-five years, perhaps I don't understand the scope of the problem!
astro(b)logy
Saturday, October 7, 2000
I'm a Aquarius/Pisces/Virgo in case you were wondering.
You probably weren't.
I'm repeating this link because I just accidentally deleted the older entry. Darn! Darn! Darn the luck!
Thanks, webmistress :)
Funnyfarm (A Visual Alphabet of Mental Disorders)
Saturday, October 7, 2000
This and this is me.
So is this and this.
No future? Am i too grim for you?
Thanks, Subterranean Notes :)
Leaders in the field
Wednesday, October 4, 2000
An interview with British crop circle creators:
"The crop circle phenomenon is like a strange sociological equation, with a number of key components. Somewhere in that equation sits a viral structure that encourages the idea of circlemaking to be replicated by different, disparate groups. In that respect nobody controls the genre of circlemaking. This is clearly evident in the 'evolution' of the designs of crop formations over the last decade - from simple circles to designs that reference non-linear mathematics and fractals. No one individual group is responsible for that development. Nor do any groups sit down and compare notes. Each development is expanded and improved by another circlemaking group once they have seen it sitting in a field. That circles appear in Russia with exactly the same sort of media reaction that the circles received here ten years ago seems to me to be a clear demonstration of this same mechanism."
So I guess the crop circle phenomenon is a self perpetuating meme. Interesting.
Climate Change News
Tuesday, October 3, 2000
Just when I thought I was going to have to break down and start a weblog on the pending global climate change disaster, I find that someone has beat me to the punch. Hooray for the internet!
God bless the Environmental Defence Society, please keep up the good work!
Banned Books Week
Tuesday, October 3, 2000
O.K., I missed the actual date, which was last week. I thought this was important after seeing some right wing nut on Book TV say that Burrough's Naked Lunch was the most offensive and disgusting book ever written, which made me immediately go out and find a copy.
Read a book on this list, if for no other reason than to fight those who would eliminate your right to think for yourself!
Thanks, Looka! :)
Opensecrets.org
Tuesday, October 3, 2000
"Your guide to the money in American elections"
A.K.A. "How soft money destroys so called democracy".
Thanks, Abuddhas Memes :)
Space Fungus: A Menace to Orbital Habitats
Tuesday, October 3, 2000
Fungus and bacterial strains thrive in orbit and can damage space station components. Plus, they mutate rapidly from the high radiation levels:
"If you take a space-grown microorganism which used metal as a part of its habitat and keep cultivating it by increasing the content of metal in its habitat, you can potentially get a destructive biological weapon which will literally ‘eat’ arms"
U.S. dioxin ends up in remote Arctic villages
Tuesday, October 3, 2000
U.S. dioxin contamination is turning up thousands of miles away in the Canadian Arctic:
"For example, during the one-year study a single municipal waste incinerator in Harrisburg, Pa., accounted for nearly 5 percent of the dioxin reaching Broughton Island, just north of the Arctic Circle on Baffin Bay."
Another article here.
Molecular Expressions
Tuesday, October 3, 2000
A massive, detailed site on molecular microscopy, including an amazing photo gallery.
Thanks, Found :)
Save the Mars Lander
Tuesday, October 3, 2000
NASA plans to scrap a perfectly good Mars Lander project because of their recent Mars missions failures. It's very dissapoining to me (but not surprising) to see NASA lose all nerve when it comes to space exploration. Why waste a probe that has already had hundreds of millions of dollars spent on it? Check out this site and sign the petition.
Computing and the Counterculture
Sunday, October 1, 2000
An interesting subset of Stanford's Making the Macintosh online project.
September entries are here, the entire archives are here.
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