I'm having a lot of fun with Orkut, myself.

Today I went through my address book and invited a bunch of people who I thought might be interested (if I missed you, please accept my apologies and drop me a line, and I'll get you invited).

Oh, and one of my friends lives in Finland. When he got my invite, he got a hearty laugh out of it. Evidently in Finnish, the word "orkut" means "orgasms"! :)

He said:

I can hardly wait for the proper launch of orkut in Finland. I could pay something to be able to make the commercials.

About orkut:
"Orgasm is an online community website designed for friends. The main goal of our service is to make your social life, and that of your friends, more active and stimulating. orgasm's social network can help you both maintain existing relationships and establish new ones by reaching out to people you've never met before. Who you interact with is entirely up to you. Before getting to know an orgasm member, you can even see how they're connecting to you through the friends network.

orgasm makes it easy to find people who share your hobbies and interests, look for romantic connections or establish new business contacts. You can also create and join a wide variety of online communities to discuss current events, reconnect with old college buddies or even exchange cookies recipes.

To join orgasm, simply click on the link in the email you received and follow the instructions for creating a user name and password. If orgasm doesn't sound like it's for you, feel free to delete your invitation. If you change your mind in the future, don't worry! We'll still be here.

If you haven't yet received an invitation to join, please be patient. We'd love to immediately include everyone who wants to participate; however, we're also trying to ensure that orgasm remains a close-knit community. Over the next few weeks, hopefully, the network will grow to a point where everyone who wants to join has the opportunity to do so.

It is our mission to help you create a closer, more intimate network of friends. We hope to put you on the path to social bliss soon.

Orkut

Thrynn writes:

Ok. I haven't talked about Iraq in a while so here's some interesting data to chew on:

Murder numbers:

] [Chicago] ended 2002 with 646 murders, second to Los
] Angeles, which had 653. New York was third with 580.

According to: http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx

The total number of U.S. soldier fatalities stands at 512. This is 11 months of data.

512 killed in a WAR, compared to a 643 in L.A.

Just some food for thought.

Deaths in Iraq., vs Deaths in Los Angeles

Excellent collection of several free translation utilities. Translate a phrase, a webpage, or insert some unidentified text and it'll give you a best guess as to which language it is.

Free Automatic Website Translation

] PILOT MOUNTAIN, North Carolina (AP) -- As soon as a group
] of fellow bikers pulled the handlebars out of his abdomen
] after his motorcycle crash, Brian Shipwash wanted to do
] one more thing in case he died.
]
] So he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box,
] broken and blood-spattered, with a ring inside and asked
] Shandra Miller to marry him.
 . . .
] "I said something like, 'I know this is not the best time
] in the world, but will you marry me?"'

She said yes. :)

Impaled biker pops the question

Well, Gallup didn't call me personally, but if they would have on this one, this is how I would have answered. Caveat: Just because I say "I approve" doesn't necessarily mean "I approve strongly."

Do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. has handled the situation with Iraq since the major fighting ended?

- I approve.

Do you think the Bush administration does -- or does not -- have a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq?

- I do.

All in all, do you think the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over, or not?

- I think it was worth it.

Do you approve or disapprove of the United States' decision to go to war with Iraq in March of this year?

- I approve.

What Should the U.S. Do About the Number of U.S. Troops in Iraq?

- Keep as now.

Was Hussein Personally Involved in the Sept. 11 Terrorist Attacks?

- No.

Do you think the war with Iraq has made the U.S. safer -- or less safe -- from terrorism?

- Safer. (I feel this one very strongly)

Gallup Poll on Iraq

Decius wrote:
] Campaign finance reform attacks the symptom and not the
] disease. We don't need campaign finance reform, we need voter
] clue reform. As long as so many people remain completely
] incapable of independent thought they will always be the
] victims of big marketing budgets.

Well, yes, but I think it'll be easier to get campaign finance reform. :)

Remember, most of the people in the world are just plain not as bright as most of the people in our little community here. This doesn't mean that most of the people in the world are stupid. This means that they are average in intelligence, and that we are the odd ones, by being *above* average. And as the higher IQ ones, I believe that we have a responsibility to the others of our species. It falls to us to some degree to come up with *systems* that work, not to sit around whining that other people aren't as smart as we are.

It's my belief that it's the human condition for some to lead and to push for change, and for most others to follow. For most people, they naturally follow along with the systems that others have established. Which, again, doesn't make them stupid -- it makes them human.

So, fwiw, I'll keep pushing for campaign finance reform.

RE: Gallup Poll Analyses

] The Court of Appeal in The Hague today rejected all of
] Scientology's claims in appeal in Scientology's action
] against XS4ALL, Karin Spaink and ten other internet
] providers.
]
] The practical upshot of this is that Karin Spaink's
] website, which Scientology sought to remove from the
] Internet based on copyright claims, is entirely legal in
] the Netherlands.

Good news for web-linking, bad news for the Church of Scientology. Sounds like a win-win. :)

ScientologyWatch.org - Scientology's copyright appeal rejected

] Items in this Dictionary have been researched by
] anthropologists, archaeologists, biologists, linguists,
] psychiatrists, psychologists, semioticians, and others who have
] studied human communication from a scientific point of view.

Very cool.

The NONVERBAL DICTIONARY

] Thanks to everyone who has contributed to it, this is the largest
] resource of foreign languages swear words and phrases and their
] English translations ever compiled. Here, you will learn how to
] insult, swear, cuss and curse in 108 languages.

Heh. It's always been one of my goals to be able to swear for 5-minutes straight, and never repeat myself once. This site looks like a great resource to help achieve that goal!

SWEARSAURUS ::: How to swear in 108 languages!

] TROIS-RIVIERES, Que. -- Four high school students and
] their parents are being sued for $225,000, for allegedly
] mocking another child who did a video project depicting
] himself acting like a Star Wars character.

Revenge of the Jedi?