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"I don't think the report is true, but these crises work for those who want to make fights between people." Kulam Dastagir, 28, a bird seller in Afghanistan
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Topic: Arts |
12:50 pm EST, Jan 18, 2004 |
] Doug Z's Art is a mixture of thought, creativity, spray ] cans and imaginations. His work is unusual, ethereal and ] even mind warping. One of Rattle's friends does interesting things with krylon... Doug Z Art Gallery |
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Sunshine Flipside Last Show |
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Topic: Arts |
8:33 pm EST, Jan 16, 2004 |
Here it is, as promised, the video of the last Flipside gig. I have the feeling that the site is slammed. I was unable to download it for awhile. (Could someone please recommend a reliable public tracker? I can generate a torrent..) Sunshine Flipside Last Show |
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The RIAA makes everyone a cypherpunk |
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Topic: Miscellaneous |
1:01 am EST, Dec 19, 2003 |
In response to the RIAA's suits, users who want to share music files are adopting tools like WINW and BadBlue, that allow them to create encrypted spaces where they can share files and converse with one another. As a result, all their communications in these spaces, even messages with no more commercial content than "BRITN3Y SUX!!!1!" are hidden from prying eyes. This is not because such messages are sensitive, but rather because once a user starts encrypting messages and files, it's often easier to encrypt everything than to pick and choose. Note that the broadening adoption of encryption is not because users have become libertarians, but because they have become criminals; to a first approximation, every PC owner under the age of 35 is now a felon. The RIAA makes everyone a cypherpunk |
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Photo of Fiery Object Mystifies Scientists |
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Topic: Miscellaneous |
1:07 am EDT, Oct 24, 2003 |
" A digital picture of a spectacular and apparently explosive event in the sky fooled a pair of seasoned NASA scientists, has other researchers around the globe mystified, and made a minor celebrity of a teenage photographer. Jonathan Burnett, 15, was photographing his friends skateboarding in Pencoed, Wales when one of them noticed a colorful fireball in the sky. Burnett snapped a picture, then sent it to NASA scientists and asked if they knew what it was. Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell, who run NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD), posted the photograph on Oct. 1 and wrote that "a sofa-sized rock came hurtling into the nearby atmosphere of planet Earth and disintegrated." They called the picture "one of the more spectacular meteor images yet recorded." Images The Picture: Jonathan Burnett's photograph, which has scientists baffled. A photo taken from about 10 miles away, by Julian Heywood, confirmed that Burnett's photo was legitimate and helped scientists decide the event had something to do with a jet contrail Problem is, it turns out, there was no meteor." Photo of Fiery Object Mystifies Scientists |
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Regrow Your Own Broken heart? No problem. New liver? Coming right up. The road to regeneration starts here. |
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Topic: Science |
9:19 am EDT, Oct 21, 2003 |
] Why? It's an evolutionary mystery. The ability to regrow ] legs and eyes seems like a clear Darwinian advantage - ] one that surviving generations would have retained. But a ] paradox of regeneration is that the higher you move up ] the evolutionary chain, the less likely you'll have the ] ability to regrow limbs or organs. Keating's mission: ] figure out the cause of this paradox - and reverse it. I wonder if giving the cells in a complex organism this kind of regenerative power makes them more likely to become cancerous, and so complex organisms with this feature died out from that. U: This is what I get for not finishing the article before memeing... They discuss this possibility... Regrow Your Own Broken heart? No problem. New liver? Coming right up. The road to regeneration starts here. |
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Topic: Miscellaneous |
9:50 pm EDT, Oct 16, 2003 |
"On January 22, 1879 -- the legendary "Day of the Zulu," when more than twenty thousand Zulu warriors nearly wiped out the forces of the invading British army -- even the sun was on the side of the Zulu Nation. A partial solar eclipse during the battle obscured the view of the redcoats, making it difficult for them to see the attacking Zulu warriors. But the Zulu triumph on that day was no freak victory: it came about through a combination of superior battle strategy and fierce weapons, aided by potent traditional medicine. ... Download Screensaver Of course, the Zulu might never have vanquished the British at Isandlwana without the help of traditional Zulu medicines. Some scholars have suggested that Zulu pharmacopoeia provided more of a psychological boost than any real physiological effect. But recent scientific studies show that the medicines contained some very potent drugs. For example, warriors were given a cannabis (marijuana)-based snuff to take during battle. Analysis of the snuff has revealed that it contained extremely high levels of THC, a powerful hallucinogen, and yet no detectable levels of the chemicals that cause the sedative effects of marijuana. Also in the Zulu war medicine chest: the bulb of a flower in the Amaryllis family, called Boophane disticha, or the Bushman Poison Bulb. Studies have shown that the bulb -- which was also used by southern Africans to help mummify bodies -- contains buphanidrine, an alkaloid, like codeine and morphine (although it is not related to them) with hallucinogenic and pain-killing properties. According to botanist Ben-Erik van Wyk of Rand Afrikaans University in Johannesburg, South Africa, the dosage of buphanidrine necessary to reduce pain is very close to the toxic dose, "but in a very experienced traditional healer's hands it should be safe. They usually assess the strength of a bulb by testing it on themselves." In addition, warriors sometimes ingested a hallucinogenic mushroom containing a toxin called muscimol. The chemical, present in fly agaric -- a mushroom that can attract and kill flies -- is said to induce a state of expanded perception in those who ingest it. Warriors who consumed those mushrooms, researchers speculate, might have been utterly without fear, believing themselves impervious to British bullets. " I saw this last night. Fuck amsterdam, go to africa and become a zulu warrior. Day of the zulu |
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For better or worse, archaeology is opening the lid on American massacres |
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Topic: Society |
8:46 am EDT, Sep 28, 2003 |
"Battlefield sites are considered noble places in the landscape of American history. Gettysburg, Bunker Hill, and Normandy stand as monuments honoring the people who fought and died there. Massacre sites, no less a part of our history, are often hidden. Vaguely worded road signs might give some indication of the tragedy, but visitors are not greeted by museums as they are at battlefield sites, and there are no official cemeteries in which the victims lie. Because they are shameful episodes in our past, massacres are not commemorated and the innocent dead are not honored. The Mountain Meadows Massacre, Sand Creek Massacre, and Tulsa Race Riot do not usually come up in history class, but over 500 people were brutally killed in these events. Although they took place long ago, they exemplify the impact--emotional, legal, and political--that the past can have on our own society today." For better or worse, archaeology is opening the lid on American massacres |
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Look Ma, No Projection Screen |
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Topic: Technology |
10:57 am EDT, Sep 19, 2003 |
"If two companies get their way, pretty soon you'll walk through virtual advertisements in the mall or view television programs the same way Luke Skywalker watched R2D2's playback of Princess Leia's distress message in the first Star Wars movie. The images would float off your TV screen and into thin air, allowing you to interact with virtual characters right in the middle of your living room. " Look Ma, No Projection Screen |
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Disney Animates Dalí's Flick |
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Topic: Arts |
10:36 am EDT, Sep 19, 2003 |
"In 1946, Walt Disney and Salvador Dalí, in one of cinema's oddest collaborations, teamed up on a short film called Destino. But Disney's studio ran into financial trouble and put the unfinished film on the shelf. Now, 57 years later, a team of Disney animators has finished what Dalí started. The six-minute film, spearheaded by Walt's nephew Roy E. Disney and producer Baker Bloodworth (Dinosaur), premiered at the Annecy Animation Festival in June and is currently touring festivals worldwide. Recent stops include the Telluride, Montreal and Venice festivals, along with the Melbourne International Film Festival, where it won the grand prize for best short film. " Disney Animates Dalí's Flick |
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