] The St. Louis-based appeals court said an injunction
] benefiting Steve Warnock, an art teacher and school bus
] driver, should have been granted because the DeValls
] Bluff School District endorsed a religion -- not just
] because Warnock was offended
]
] "We believe that prayers at mandatory teacher meetings
] and in-service training conveys ... a decisive
] endorsement," the appeals court wrote

Excellent. Now if they'd only get rid of that Moment of Silence bullshit. My high school defended it saying its not a religious moment, but a chance to reflect on the day ahead. Reflect on the day ahead? How the hell can I reflect on something that hasn't happened yet.

School loses prayer appeal

] ] "If you're listening to a rock star in order to get your
] ] information on who to vote for, you're a bigger moron
] ] than they are.

This is the only thing Alice Cooper says that I agree with. He's assertion that musicians have no right to discuss politics is beyond stupid.

Politics are one of the most important forces in music. CCR, Bob Dylan, the entrie Punk movement, The Doors Janis Joplin, Rage Against the Machine, Eminem, the list goes on and on. Now I agree a song entitled "Vote for Kerry" whose lyrics are nothing but "Vote for Kerry" is retarded.

In this day and age of 15 sec attention spans, music and song are a perfect medium for imforming the public about political issues.

Alice slams anti-Bush rockers

] Anyone who adds the screen name "MillionaireIM" to their
] AOL Instant Messenger Buddy List feature can receive
] actual game questions via instant message (or mobile
] instant message, for those appropriately equipped). Fans
] who aren't America Online members or AIM users can visit
] http://www.millionairetv.com to learn more and to
] download AIM for free.
]
] Then when contestants opt to "Ask the Audience" for
] assistance, the studio audience's answers will be added
] in with those sent by text-ers. More than 36 million
] people are active users of the AOL Instant Messenger
] service.

Interesting, and some cool hacks are possible.

Someone should tie this to the AI programs that use AIM. The AI uses the logic it already has to parse the question(the questions on millionaire are the type of questions that an AI can easily parse and find answers for), have a table of open sources (ie IMDB, Wikipedia, hell even google), and IMs the answer back. Client software could be run by any AIM/GAIM user, which accepts a multicast response from the AI with the answer, and auto-IMs millionaire that answer in under your Screen name. Get enough people running this client (which doesn't effect their IM experience at all), and you could tip the results in any direction you wanted, even the wrong way!

AOL IM becomes 'Millionaire' friend

A photo of a hand made origami dragon!

Origami Dragon

] OSLO, Norway (CNN) -- Armed robbers Sunday stole two
] paintings by Edvard Munch, including "The Scream," as
] aghast museum-goers watched.
]
] Authorities found the getaway car and the frames that the
] paintings had been held in, and are using video footage
] of the robbery in an effort to track down the thieves,
] police said.

While I truly hate this painting, it sucks for the museum to lose such a large exibit.

Armed robbers steal 'The Scream'

] The U.S. men's basketball team endured another brutal
] loss. But because Angola is playing even worse than the
] Americans, they're in the quarterfinals of the Athens
] Games.

It's fun to pull for the little guy, even when the little guy is over 6'7".

Yahoo! News - Dream Team Loses Again, but Still Advances

] The International Olympic Committee is barring
] competitors, as well as coaches, support personnel and
] other officials, from writing firsthand accounts for news
] and other Web sites.
]
] To protect lucrative broadcast contracts, athletes and
] other participants are also prohibited from posting any
] video, audio or still photos they take themselves, even
] after the games, unless they get permission ahead of
] time. (Photos taken by accredited journalists are allowed
] on the personal sites.)

Now this is a little scary. I mean, sure it stupid, and destroys an avenue that could get more people interested in the games. However, they did agree to those terms to compete in the olympics.

What is interesting is how this could apply to spectators of events. The MPAA citied the increased use of technology to spread bad news reviews about a movie as a reason for decline in movie sales. How soon before the fine print on the back of a ticket (you know the stuff that says you are taking your life in your own hands, and if a hockey puck hits you in the mouth you're hosed?) includes a ban on reporting for X number of hours? Not that anyone would respect it, but its a thought.

Olympians largely barred from blogging

] First Strike at Pearl
] The Making Of A Graphic Image
]
] By N.B. (beliaev@utu.fi) and Glenn McCarter
] (gmccarter@hotmail.com)
]
] * Take a visual tour of the image as it was being
] developed
] * Learn the special techniques used to create the
] image
] * Get the POV-Ray source files for the image

Awesome tour about how a POV Image from the Hall of Fame was made. Very cool for those of us who have never done 3d modeling.

Making of POVRAY Hall of Fame Image

] Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy said Thursday that he was
] stopped and questioned at airports on the East Coast five
] times in March because his name appeared on the
] government's secret "no-fly" list.

HA!

Senator was stopped 5 times at airports for No-Fly List

] The images presented on this page show a selection of the
] types of art that can be created using POV-Ray. To a new
] user the concept of creating such images may seem
] daunting, but remember - all of the artists featured here
] were one day new users themselves.

POVCOMP 2004: Hall of Fame