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How to help someone use a computer Thursday, January 18, 2001
I've read this before, but I needed reminding. Recommended for anyone who is the local guru, whatever the system.
Peacefire: Bait and Switch Wednesday, January 17, 2001
Peacefire takes quotes off well-known conservative web pages and puts them on personal web sites. They then ask censorware designers if the personal web sites count as censorable hate speech. If it's on a nobody's site, yes, if it's on a famous conservative's site, no.
Energy drain from the Net Wednesday, January 17, 2001
Remember the grand claim that the Net was drinking up a huge portion of the US's electricity? This Berkeley Lab group says that the original estimates were off by a factor of eight.
Carter wouldn't monitor Florida elections Wednesday, January 17, 2001
All the cartoons were right. "I was really taken aback and embarrassed by what happened in Florida," Jimmy Carter said in an interview aired Tuesday on National Public Radio. "If we were invited to go into a foreign country to monitor the election, and they had similar election standards and procedures, we would refuse to participate at all."
Companies Retooling for a Ginger-Based Economy Tuesday, January 16, 2001
Influenza should travel as well as this Ginger meme. This is one of many satires. There's even a portal. P.J. Mark, who wrote the original Inside article that started this whole craze, must be standing back in awe now, like a skier triggering an avalanche that sweeps away entire forests below. (I wrote "villages below" but changed it. Aren't I merciful? Well, not to forest animals, I guess.)
Worst of the Internet - 2000 edition Monday, January 15, 2001
More from Modern Humorist. My favourite is actually the search term section, but no way am I putting those terms on my site. I get enough weirdos. And yes, this means you, Graham Hudson of London, Ontario.
I used to say that I would link to all of Modern Humorist's pieces from Mooselessness, but now that Plastic.com is actually doing that as part of their mission, I would like to point out that it was just a joke and it's actually a pretty lame thing to do.
Greymatter Saturday, January 13, 2001
A free offline program for updating journals and news pages. I only have my ISP's creaky webspace right now, so I'm unlikely to use it, but the page is gorgeous and the author, Noah Grey, sounds like geek's superhero, doing good and then vanishing into the sky.
James Lileks alone Friday, January 12, 2001
Any stopping place at Lilek's site is wonderful. This page is about being on his own while his wife and daughter are away. "I’m out from under her thumb now! I’m ordering MY pizza, and if she doesn’t like it, well, then she shouldn’t go to France!" Start here and travel in any direction.
DVD rental by mail Friday, January 12, 2001
Interesting business plan: DVD rental by mail. US$20/month. No limit on how long you can have them. You can have up to 3 at a time. Return mail is prepaid. If this came to Canada, I'd definitely consider it, perhaps using my cable money for this instead. That's assuming you buy me a DVD player, which you would, right? Found on Haughey.com.
Ginger Friday, January 12, 2001
You've seen a hundred links about Ginger, Dean Kamen's mysterious invention which Steve Jobs says will change the way cities are designed. This Washington Post story has the best coverage I've seen. The writing is playful and contains a compelling description of Ginger. (I won't spoil it, but it's paragraph eight.) I also like this quote: "Dean is a genuine Gyro Gearloose -- one of the best we have in this generation." From Boing Boing.
Hit Me, My Lovely Friday, January 12, 2001
Modern Humorist writes a hardboiled detective story, incorporating all 50 of Lycos's most-searched terms. "Apprehensively nursing her Gibson, Britney spears a cocktail onion with a toothpick."
Sid Meier's Civilization III Monday, January 8, 2001
Just a web site for now. I'm still waiting for the dinosaur game. Nonetheless, a Civ game with the gameplay of Alpha Centauri would be worth buying, unlike say, Civ: Call to Power (which was made by a different company).
Reinventing Comics Monday, January 8, 2001
I landed in the middle of this one, but Scott McCloud is writing a series about the way that the web changes the way comics are presented. The essay is itself a comic.
George W. Bush busts a rhyme Friday, January 5, 2001
Not a parody, just a great photo. Followed up by this one too. There's a hampsterdance in here somewhere. Found on Haughey.
Moving into the NSA's digs Friday, January 5, 2001
Continuing "Spy Day" here on Mooselessness, it's an immensely cool story about astronomers who bought an abandoned NSA facility and are finding that even the agency's oddments are mysterious, amusing, and valuable.
Canada shops for a Squall Friday, January 5, 2001
Canada has been trying to buy a high-speed Russian torpedo, a torpedo it couldn't actually use with its current fleet. The technology is one of the few things that the Russians have that the Americans don't. The Squall is the same torpedo that US businessman Pope got arrested over. Some speculate it's also what destroyed the Kurst. Cue the Bond theme!
Sound Barrier photo Thursday, January 4, 2001
Jaw-dropping photo of the sound barrier being broken, complete with an egg-shaped cloud created by the plane's passing. Link nicked from Follow Me Here who nicked it from someone else. Three cheers for the gingerbread man of free information.
Bonobo society Thursday, January 4, 2001
An introduction to the role of sex in bonobo society. Sex among these apes is widespread and varied, and even includes French kissing. "Sex is there, it's pervasive, it's critical, and bonobo society would collapse without it," one scientist writes. Rogers Cadenhead encapsulates the story this way: "Bonobo ape females are the dominant sex, but the males don't mind because 'the females have sex with them all the time.'"
The article uses the term PDA for public display of affection, just like my wife's private school used to do.
Catching up to the story Wednesday, January 3, 2001
An excellent essay about how untrue stories can become legend and affect politics. The focus is Al Gore and the Internet, but the title I've used above is from a comment about Bush Sr. and a supermarket scanner. I swear that if this more risque legend about Gore had become monologue-fodder instead of the Internet, he would have won. First Monday, the magazine that published this essay, is peer-reviewed and looks like something I want to return to.
Black-Market-Babies.com Sunday, December 31, 2000
Okay, so $14,000 can buy a school in Cambodia, but $50,000 can buy a fun new baby! All the sections are worth visiting, especially the customization section. Also check the seasonal e-commerce notice: "We have received several complaints from customers complaining that they ordered babies for Christmas and were accidentally shipped monkeys instead."
OMM review of Freedom Friday, December 29, 2000
Old Man Murray's normally savage reviews are made even more savage by a game that actually destroyed their hardware. One of the funniest reviews I've ever read. Contains swearing, so if you have teenagers have one of them read it to you. They're used to that sort of thing.
Almost Everything We Thought About the Florida Recount Is Wrong! Thursday, December 28, 2000
A don't-miss article for election junkies. Mickey Kaus argues that the Lake County overvotes, ignored by most everyone, may have held the key for an unambiguous Gore victory. The Lake County overvotes were counted by the Orlando Sentinel. Many overzealous voters both checked off and wrote in their candidate's name, and as a result, the computers tossed the votes. (Check the Sentinel story for a picture.) It's very obvious who the voter wanted to pick though -- the name is right there, twice. Democrats made this mistake more often, even though Lake County is conservative, presumably because more new voters are Democrats. If this pattern held in other areas, it would be the people who wrote "I want Gore" on their ballots that decided the election, not the mysterious chad.
Victorian Sex Cry Generator Wednesday, December 27, 2000
"My life! My soul! The springs of pleasure are wound to such a pitch that I cannot help but succumb to ecstasy!" Found at Backup Brain. Avoid the generator's home page at work. In fact, avoid the whole thing at work, you lout. How is this country going to become great with you squandering your productivity?
Search Requests Wednesday, December 27, 2000
Wow! It's a weblog comprised entirely of weird referral requests. I love collecting the odd search engine referrals that bring people to Mooselessness (check the bottom of the page for recent archives). Recently almost all my traffic has come straight from BoingBoing: A Directory of Wonderful Things. It's true -- more people visit me as an after-BoingBoing mint than come here directly. Fine by me. Eventually I'll just steal all BoingBoing's links allowing readers to more efficiently use their time.
Then there's the neverending march of these damnable Pokemon Gold ROMs searches. I'm not even sure what they are, except that people want them to be 100% English. I never even said the phrase! At least, not until I started repeating it in outrage every few months.
Previously on Mooselessness Wednesday, December 27, 2000
The last entry was about how Bush might have won more honestly under a proportional electoral system. You can also visit the full archives.
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