A 22-year-old student at Stockholm University, Elin Oxenhielm, may have cracked part of one of mathematics' greatest unsolved problems.

Hilbert's Problem 16 Cracked!

A nice little article on building BSD ports for the Outguess and Steghide utilities.

Hiding Secrets with Steganography [Dec. 04, 2003]

] A tiny fossil of a creature that lived some 425 million
] years ago has entered the record books as the oldest
] unequivocally male animal. The organism, which resembles
] a cross between a shrimp and a clam, sports a large penis
] which has been perfectly preserved in three dimensions.

"Large" is relative here, since the entire organism is only 5 mm across. ;)

Recordbreakers -- World's oldest known penis

] "The West Wing" UNofficial Continuity Guide is a tribute
] to NBC's award winning TV show, (Wednesdays 9 pm ET, 8 pm
] Central); especially to the writing of Aaron Sorkin. Our
] only connection to this television series is our
] irreverent reverence.

I got hooked on the show over Thanksgiving while watching the Bravo "West Wing" marathon (I was home sick with the flu). The marathon ended with the Season 1 cliffhanger, which drove me nuts since there were no plans to show Season 2 anywhere (the show is currently in season 5).

This site though has satisfied my cravings. It's got a ton of info on the show. Episode lists, synopses, character backstories, a history timeline, and lots of other great info for the truly addicted. :)

TV: 'West Wing' Continuity Guide

] Judging from a recent NEWSWEEK screening in New
] Zealand, "The Return of the King" is a sure
] contender for best picture. More than that, it could be
] the first franchise ever that didn't, at the end of
] the day, let audiences down -- either because of
] laziness, pretension, greed or other phantom menaces.
] This is an especially poignant possibility at a time when
] we can all still smell the smoke from the wreckage of
] "The Matrix."

I still thought that "Return of the Jedi" was good, but I agree, after having seen how embarrassingly bad that Matrix 3 was, and how much I disliked "The Two Towers," my hopes were not as high for "Return of the King." This review gives me hope that it may still be worth seeing!

Newsweek: 'Return of the King' Doesn't Suck

In a highly unusual maneuver, Bush slipped away from his Texas ranch Wednesday night, arrived in Iraq Thursday and spent 2-1/2 hours with the troops, making him the first US president ever to visit Iraq.

I think this was pretty cool of him to do. :)

Bush Makes Surprise Thanksgiving Visit to Iraq

] Cones, signs, and other strange photos, from our original
] research as well as the work of thousands of interested
] parties from around the world.

A collection of pictures showing how orange cones have a thriving subculture right under our noses . . .

The Cone Epicentre

I saw this film at the recent St. Louis International Film Festival, and give it a big thumbs up. The movie is comprised of four short stories, not so much about robots, as about the way that humans interact emotionally with machines and technology. For example, one is about a futuristic couple that's required to take care of a robot baby to show that they have the mettle to take care of a real baby. Another is a very touching story about a mother who painstakingly restores each of her comatose son's robot toys, as her way of trying to cope with his illness.

This feature film is a wonderful debut for the tech- and blogosphere-literate Greg Pak (whose name may also be recognized from the very funny short films at atomfilms.com, "All Amateur Ecstasy" and "Asian Pride Porn.")

I look forward to seeing other projects of his in the future!

Movie: Robot Stories

] In research described in the journal Science last month,
] the team looked at footnotes from scientific articles in
] three major journals -- the New England Journal of
] Medicine, Science and Nature -- at three months, 15
] months and 27 months after publication. The prevalence of
] inactive Internet references grew during those intervals
] from 3.8 percent to 10 percent to 13 percent.

They cite the average half-life of a particular webpage as about 100 days.

In compiling my Kryptos site, I run into this all the time. I find really awesome information and pictures and link to them, but then within a few months, those valuable pictures are gone. So now, I find myself archiving/mirroring anything I find, so that I can re-post it if it vanishes. Does this mean I'm violating copyright? Or saving sometimes irreplaceable information for future researchers? I say the latter, but the time that I spend in conserving other people's work does feel awkward to me at times ...

On the Web, Research Work Proves Ephemeral (washingtonpost.com)

This is the complete text of Bush's speech today. It's an excellent summary of his international priorities and policy.

I don't always agree with everything Bush says, but I'm 100% in agreement with some of it:

] On September the 11th, 2001, the terrorists left their
] mark of murder on my country and took the lives of 67
] British citizens. With the passing of months and years,
] it is the natural human desire to resume a quiet life and
] to put that day behind us as if waking from a dark dream.
] The hope that danger has passed is comforting, is
] understanding and it is false.
]
] The attacks that followed in Bali, Jakarta, Casablanca,
] Bombay, Mombasa, Najaf, Jerusalem, Riyadh, Baghdad and
] Istanbul were not dreams. They're part of a global
] campaign by terrorist networks to intimidate and
] demoralize all who oppose them.
]
] These terrorists target the innocent and they kill by the
] thousands. And they would, if they gain the weapons they
] seek, kill by the millions and not be finished.
]
] The greatest threat of our age is nuclear, chemical or
] biological weapons in the hands of terrorists and the
] dictators who aid them.
]
] The evil is in plain sight. The danger only increases
] with denial. Great responsibilities fall once again to
] the great democracies. We will face these threats with
] open eyes and we will defeat them.

Bush's Speech in London - 11/19/2003