] Scientists have set a new internet speed record by
] transferring 6.7 gigabytes of data across 10,978
] kilometres (6,800 miles), from Sunnyvale in the US to
] Amsterdam in Holland, in less than one minute

BBC NEWS | Technology | Net speed record smashed

] It's not that I'm bitter. Oh alright then, I am. When I
] was doing a weekly round-up of interesting web links in
] 1996 (still the top search result for the phrase "GLR
] jokes", if you'd like to check), I found myself using
] something very similar to what experts now call the
] weblog format. And was I hailed as the pioneer of a brave
] new form of distributed grassroots journalism? No, I was
] not.
]
] I was regarded - quite rightly, as it turned out - as
] some sort of nut who re-used the same HTML to update his
] home page every now and again. Don't get me wrong: I'm a
] huge fan of fanzines, home pages, and the whole
] do-it-yourself attitude. But because publishing one of
] these usually requires some element of effort, sometimes
] that's reflected in their contents.
]
] On the other hand, it's getting so easy to update a
] weblog that some users seem to type in their thoughts
] willy-nilly, posting unimaginable banalities, like a
] nation of Alan Partridges trying to fill an internet's
] worth of dead air: CDs they're listening to,
] scintillating accounts of their day at work, URLs of
] sites they feel they should acknowledge, despite having
] nothing new to say about them. It is like one of those
] terrible Christmas family newsletters for every single
] day of the year.

I love the conclusion of this article. It's so true:
"People used to worry about the government compiling a database of everything they knew about you and everything you did. But who'd have thought we'd be so keen to keep updating our own entries?"

Guardian Unlimited | Online | A blogger is a stalker's dream

] ROSEVILLE -- Michigan's Adopt-A-Highway program has a new
] partner: the National Organization for the Reform of
] Marijuana Laws.

That is, if thy can get off the couch long enough.

Holy smokes! Pot fans take high road - 03/05/03

] NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union is
] under fire for making the very same privacy gaffe it has
] lambasted other groups and companies for: Revealing
] personal e-mail addresses to everyone on a mailing list.
]
] The advocacy organization that crusades for the
] protection of privacy rights sent its online "Safe and
] Free Newsletter" out to about 860 people last week but
] mistakenly made every recipient%u2019s e-mail address
] available to everyone else.
]
] The ACLU sharply criticized pharmaceutical giant Eli
] Lilly for making a similar error two years ago. Last May,
] Eli Lilly agreed with the Federal Trade Commission to
] submit to audits and upgrade its privacy and security
] practices, among other orders, after sending out a mass
] e-mail with the personal information of every subscriber
] to its Prozac information service.

FOXNews.com

] An on-ice hockey fight could end up in criminal court. It
] all started as a rec league hockey game in Franklin, but
] detectives say it quickly escalated, and now there are
] assault charges against a player.

I have a few things to say about this:

1) I know both players and I'm shocked.
2) I know both referees and they are extraordinary
3) Southern Ice is usually considered a creme puff league compared to Sportsplex, so this is also surprising
4) Considering some of the stuff that's gone on at Sportsplex, I'm surprised that this made the news and that someone is pressing charges
5) I'm REALLY glad I wasn't there, either playing or ref'ing!

Ice Hockey Fight Could End Up in Criminal Court

For those who can't get away from the Windblows world, a place to check on that new software you just installed.

Spychecker - Whats in your wallet, er, pc?!

] GRAYLING, Mich. (AP) -- A former middle school math
] teacher who phoned in a bomb threat because she wanted
] the day off has pleaded guilty to a felony charge

Ex-teacher pleads guilty in bomb threat case

] LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Embattled pop star
] Michael Jackson wears a prosthetic nose and once paid
] $150,000 for a "voodoo curse" to kill director Steven
] Spielberg despite being deep in debt, Vanity Fair
] magazine reported on Monday.

Next time he wants to spend $150k on a voodoo curse, he should call me.

CNN.com - Report: Jackson put 'curse' on Spielberg - Mar. 4, 2003

] A teenager's in trouble after writing her entire English
] essay in text messages.
]
] The 13-year-old's teacher said she couldn't understand a
] word of what the girl had written.
]
] Her essay started:
]
] "My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his
] GF & thr 3 :- kids FTF. ILNY, it's a gr8 plc."

CBBC Newsround | WORLD | Girl writes essay in text message talk

cyantist wrote:
] ] BLOOMINGTON, Illinois (AP) -- State Farm Insurance Co.,
] ] the nation's largest auto insurer, is mailing notices to
] ] its 40 million policyholders informing them they are not
] ] covered against nuclear blasts and radiation damage.
]
] WE BRING YOU THE TERROR!!!!

[sing]
and like a good neighbor...
State Farm is scared!

RE: CNN.com - Insurer excludes nuclear damage from coverage - Feb. 26, 2003