] Gallup doesn't release any new horse race numbers
] today, but publishes a statistical pre-debate analysis.
] One prominent conclusion is that Bush's performance
] in the first two debates hasn't left voters
] expecting too much for the third: Kerry is expected to
] win by a 54-36 margin.

Salon.com Politics

] OCTOBER 12, 2004 (MACCENTRAL) - Hopinkton, Mass.-based
] EMC Corp. announced today that it has acquired Retrospect
] backup software maker Dantz Development Corp. The deal
] closed on Friday and was done as a cash transaction
] valued at less than $50 million. Dantz is EMC's 15th
] software acquisition since 2000, according to the
] company.

EMC acquires Retrospect maker Dantz - Computerworld

] A global map of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere has
] revealed the most precise view yet of pollution hotspots
] around the world.
]
] The map, based on 18 months%u2019 worth of satellite
] data, shows very high levels of NO2 above major European
] and North American cities and across much of north-east
] China. South-east Asia and Africa also have raised
] concentrations of the gas due to their burning of
] vegetation.

Check out China, even compared to Gary Indiana.

Article: World's pollution hotspots revealed from space�| New Scientist

] %u201CWe think of it as genes for %u2018male
] homosexuality%u2019, but it might really be genes for
] sexual attraction to men. These could predispose men
] towards homosexuality and women towards
] %u2018hyper-heterosexuality%u2019, causing women to have
] more sex with men and thus have more offspring.%u201D

Article: Survival of genetic homosexual traits explained�| New Scientist

] For the first time, plastic surgeons have reconstructed a
] burn victim%u2019s entire face using a single sheet of
] thick skin harvested from his back. Unlike after
] conventional multiple grafts, the patient's lips and
] eyes opened and closed properly and his skin looked
] smoother and more natural.

Article: Man's face rebuilt with single skin graft�| New Scientist

] A partial solar eclipse will take place next week, oddly
] ending the day before it begins.

Solar Eclipse to Start Thursday, End Wednesday!

] Friday night may be "Bareoke" Night at Tennyson Lodge,
] but don't fret: You can keep your clothes on. The gimmick
] is that the club's dancers serve as near-naked backup
] while intrepid civilians take the stage, resulting in
] something resembling an unrehearsed Las Vegas lounge act.

Combining two of my least favorite crowds and environments. Almost sounds bad enough to check it out.

AOL CityGuide: Pittsburgh - What's Going On - Bareoke Night - Overview

] Adam Kalsey has created an RSS file for the stream of
] spam sent to his mailbox.

Wow. That's... very clever. Very very clever. I rarely check my spam traps, but could imagine it as an RSS feed -- perhaps like memestreams, with simple buttons to trigger a delete or recategorize functionality.

Spam-stream syndication @ Radio Free Blogistan

] After examining numerous frames of video footage [C-SPAN
] 30 Sept 04] I have come to the professional opinion that
] either George Bush was wearing a wireless
] prompter/queuing system on the night of the debates, or
] our president is growing some kind of mutant dorsal fin.
] By very carefully examining the movement of his body and
] how it interacts with his suit jacket it is easy to rule
] out the possibility "the bulge" is simply a wrinkle in
] his clothing or a problem with bad lighting.

The thing is -- it doesn't matter.

By the time this is resolved, if it is resolved, it will either be academic or suppressed. It didn't help his performance, or if it did... damn. They've got great deniability -- he lost anyway. If we want to be really conspiratorial, we can imagine it was a test run for the third and most painful debate...

Eh. I'd like to know.

Bush's mystery bulge

] The ''shock and awe" attack that toppled Saddam Hussein
] in three weeks is often touted as a brilliant strategy
] that defeated Iraq with relatively few US casualties. But
] new information suggests that the United States may have
] played into Hussein's plans for a quick war followed by a
] long guerrilla insurgency.

If I didn't call this then, I should have. There were two ways Saddam could have played an invasion by the US. Neither was a conventional military victory.

Boston.com / News / World / Study ties Hussein, guerrilla strategy