] And now, the news that every parent dreads. Researchers
] are reporting today that first-person-shooter video games
] -the kind that require players to kill or maim
] enemies or monsters that pop out of nowhere -
] sharply improve visual attention skills.

Video-Game Killing Builds Visual Skills, Researchers Report

Come see something that few individuals ever get to see!

NHL Draft ticket!

A nice little piece by Cory Doctorow, even if it is
archival and a littledated. Here's an excerpt which --while not really representative-- I found to be keenly observant.

,----
| Take eBay: every seller there has a damned good reason for
| double-checking their listings for typos and misspellings. Try
| searching for "plam" on eBay. Right now, that turns up nine typoed
| listings for "Plam Pilots." Misspelled listings don't show up in
| correctly-spelled searches and hence garner fewer bids and lower
| sale-prices. You can almost always get a bargain on a Plam Pilot at
| eBay.
`----

Metacrap

] MAY 22--Meet Steve McNair. The Tennessee Titans
] quarterback was arrested this morning for drunk driving
] after a cop spotted the 30-year-old football star's SUV
] weaving erratically through the streets of downtown
] Nashville. A bleary-eyed McNair, who smelled of alcohol,
] agreed to a Breathalyzer test and registered a .18,
] nearly twice the state's .10 blood alcohol limit. A
] search of McNair's 1999 Lincoln Navigator also turned up
] a 9mm pistol. But while the QB holds a valid permit to
] carry the gat, it is illegal to possess a firearm while
] under the influence. Charged with DUI and the gun rap,
] McNair was released from a Music City lockup after
] posting a $3000 bond. (3 pages)

The Smoking Gun: Archive

] HONG KONG (Reuters) - A top Hong Kong scientist said on
] Friday it was likely the deadly SARS virus that has
] killed almost 700 people worldwide jumped to humans from
] civet cats, which are considered a delicacy by many
] people in southern China.

I've always known cats were evil. Long live dogs!

ABCNEWS.com : SARS Virus Likely Came from Civet Cats-Scientists

I just discovered a rather interesting tool. This appears to be a site devoted to allowing wireless carriers the ability to colocate equipment at existing cell tower sites. But it's also a handy tool for locating the towers and mapping out coverage.

http://www.sprintsites.com/?

Not only will the database give you lat and long for each tower, but there are actually pictures of both the tower and the enclosures. That's pretty kick ass if you ask me.

Find your cell tower

] The Oracle of Starbucks
]
] Behold the Oracle of StarbucksAstrology is lame and
] Myers-Briggs is for losers. The omniscient Oracle of
] Starbucks can tell you everything about your personality
] by what you drink at Starbucks. Simply enter your full
] drink order -- including size -- into the field below and
] the all-knowing Oracle will tell you everything about
] your personality. Better yet, input your friends' orders
] to find out what they're really like.
]
] Unlike other imitations, the Oracle is 100% accurate.

Buttafly's Oracle of Starbucks

] MAY 19--Meet Brenda Orme and John Meyers. The Louisiana
] couple got nabbed last Friday when they tried to have sex
] atop a water tower more than 200 feet above the ground.
] Meyers, 44, told Slidell cops that he and Orme, 45,
] wanted to get busy "on top of the world." We know this
] thanks to the amusing press release work of Lt. Rob
] Callahan, whose handiwork can be found on the following
] pages. Along with his initial report on the bust, we've
] included Callahan's entertaining update, which includes a
] quip from his boss, Chief Freddy Drennan: "I guess this
] is the poor man's version of the 'mile high club.'"
] Meyers and Orme each face criminal trespass and
] disturbing the peace charges. (3 pages)

The pictures are the best part!

They needed a change of scenery. Trailer too boring.

] It's nice down here, 220 feet below ground. It's dry and
] cool -- a springlike 60 degrees Fahrenheit. There is a
] breeze coming through the tunnels that smells like dust
] and something older than dust, the souls of the limestone
] miners, maybe, who began dynamiting this catacomb into
] existence 101 years ago.
]
] The only sound is a constant low thrumming, like the din
] of a ship's engine. There is a narrow roadway no wider
] than a country lane. A service van drives by, and then an
] electric golf cart. There are security guards, too,
] around every corner.
]
] "Keep it with you at all times," the guard at the gate
] had said, passing a fire extinguisher into the car as
] he'd waved me ahead toward a dim gray plaza, from which a
] maze of identical-looking gray tunnels snaked off in
] every direction.
]
] A fire extinguisher?
]
] Welcome to Iron Mountain, the largest commercially owned
] underground storage facility in the world. This is where
] Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, has deposited his huge
] and growing collection of historical photographs --
] approximately 11 million negatives, prints, slides -- a
] cache that represents a culturally significant chunk of
] the visual history of the 20th century.

Buried Treasure (washingtonpost.com)

] A set of four glass ramps positioned in a square clearly
] show water travelling up each of them before it pours off
] the top, only to start again at the bottom of the next
] ramp.
]
] It is a sight which defies logic, and has become probably
] the most memorable image of this year's show.
]
] Mr Dyson says his inspiration was a drawing by the Dutch
] artist MC Escher (he of Gothic palaces where soldiers are
] eternally walking upstairs, and of patterns where birds
] turn into fish).

BBC NEWS | UK | How does Dyson make water go uphill?