Step outside any evening at sunset and look around. You'll see a giant moon rising in the east. It looks like Earth's moon, round and cratered; the Man in the Moon is in his usual place. But something's wrong. This full moon is strangely inflated. It's huge!

You've just experienced the Moon Illusion.

This week's full moon hangs lower in the sky than any full moon since June 1987, so the Moon Illusion is going to be extra strong.

Summer Moon Illusion

When the housing boom ends, what is the possible impact on the US economy? This is a broad brush look at three major potential problems:

1) Increased Unemployment.
2) Loss of mortgage equity withdrawal on consumer spending.
3) Financial distress.

Angry Bear - When the Bubble Pops...

"A Web forum where cryptographers collaborate on the puzzle went from attracting about 50 hits a day to thousands of hits a day, according to its moderator Elonka Dunin."

Way to go Elonka! :)

Elonka on CNN.com!!!

There is ample reason for Amnesty to be critical of certain U.S. actions. But by using hyperbole and muddling the difference between repressive regimes and the imperfections of democracy, Amnesty's spokesmen put its authority at risk.
When Amnesty spokesmen use the word "gulag" to describe U.S. human rights violations, they allow the Bush administration to dismiss justified criticism and undermine Amnesty's credibility. Amnesty International is too valuable to let it be hijacked by politically biased leaders.

I've been ignoring this article all weekend mostly because its popular with the same people who are calling for Dick Durbin's censure. However, its actually the most balanced and reasonable piece on this Amnesty situation I've yet read.

No American 'Gulag'

1. There will be a site update in 24 to 72 hours that will change the way MemeStreams handles cookies. The end result of this will be that everyone will be logged out of the site and will have to log back in. Your old cookie will be bunk. We apologize for the inconvenience but we think its a minor hassle versus the amout of trouble associated with having to handle the old cookies in the code.

2. There will be a second site update some number of days after the first in which the little recommend bookmarklet will be disabled. We have decided that the little bookmarklet is inefficient and does not have enough room to display the user interface elements we want to display properly. Furthermore, it is much easier to edit a significant amount of text in a bigger window. We suggest that if you are using the little bookmarklet, you ough to upgrade to the big bookmarklet. You'll find it much nicer.

Thank you for your kind attention. We will now return to your regularly scheduled memes....

In a new article in the Atlantic Monthly magazine, writer James Fallows examines America's economic strength and stability from the vantage point of the year 2016.Hindsight is 20/20 but the author wonders how warning signs that seem to be so clear in the present day are continually ignored. Hear a conversation with Fallows about "America's coming economic crisis."

This is worth a listen. Noteworthy linked this but I think it deserves its own meme. Often this kind of myopic scenario is tacked onto a political perscription in which the speaker has particular interests. This is no exception. However, a number of the things this guy worries about are things that I also worry about. There is something compelling about this scenario regardless of what you think of his politics.

On Point : America's Coming Economic Crisis

"I don't think the public knows what it wants Congress to do, but it wants Congress to do something," said Dan Burton, senior lobbyist, "They don't have a lot of confidence that Congress will do the right thing."

Best Quote Ever.

CNN.com - Poll: Americans are completely confused

This is an experiment in using wiki, a relatively new form of Internet interactivity, to bring readers into the process of forming and expressing editorial opinions. "Public Beta" is just a euphemism for "We're just trying this out. Please forgive any problems and give us suggestions for improvement."

I really don't think this is going to work. This is an idea whose time hasn't come.

Welcome to the Los Angeles Times Wikitorial Page (Public Beta)

The random chatter of several hundred Microsoft engineers filled the cavernous executive briefing center recently at the company's sprawling campus outside Seattle.

Within minutes after their meeting was convened, however, the hall became hushed. Hackers had successfully lured a Windows laptop onto a malicious wireless network.

"It was just silent," said Stephen Toulouse, a program manager in Microsoft's security unit. "You couldn't hear anybody breathe."

Matt Thomlinson, whose job it is to help make Microsoft engineers create more secure code, noticed that some of the engineers were turning red, becoming obviously angry at the demo hacking incident. Yet as painful as the lesson was, he was glad to see the crowd of engineers taking things personally.

Lots of links to interesting stories here...

Microsoft meets the hackers | CNET News.com

Read your Neal, you geek!

It's not every day that Neal Stephenson writes an op-ed.

In the spring of 1977, "Star Wars" wasn't famous yet. The only people who had heard about it were what are now called geeks.

Turn On, Tune In, Veg Out