My gut feeling is that Motorola might score if they aim higher next time. The same Engadget fanboys who booed the ROKR would probably part with a few extra bucks for a pricier model with a head-turning design and a USB 2.0 jack. But I still think marketing execs overestimate the appeal of music phones. In Cingular's ads for the ROKR, hot young urbanites multitask between dancing and dating as calls come into their beat-blasting headphones. "I associate my BlackBerry with work," a friend retorted to me. "I use my iPod to forget about work. I don't want it to fucking ring."

While I agree the ROKR sucks (100 songs on a phone that doesn't flip??), I don't agree with the above sentiment. A multitasking phone/music/internet/data storage thing totally appeals to me. I fast run out of pocket space around campus with my car keys, phone, iRiver, memory stick, and money. Hell, I don't even see why we can't combine all 5. Yada yada security, yada yada separation of work and play, whatever the hang-ups, I still think we should try.

-janelane, tech savvy by proxy

NEW YORK (AP) -- Jessica Biel has been proclaimed "the sexiest woman alive" by Esquire magazine.

HAHAHAHAHAH!!!! That's right...move over Cindy Crawford, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, and Elizabeth Hurley....Jessica Biel can out-sex any of you!!!!

I've never, EVER met a guy who thought Jessica Biel was even remotely attractive, much less "sexy" before or AFTER her move from 7th Heaven to pornography. This seems like a case of "Hi, Esquire, my name is Jessica and these are my millions."

-janelane, "I voted for Hurley"

CNN.com - Jessica Biel named sexiest woman alive - Oct 7, 2005

Microsoft will introduce a set of corporate products today that will move it more fully into competition with the leading makers of security software for Windows computers.

The company will outline plans for a package of corporate security software and services called client protection technology, along with software for identity management and access for corporate customers. The services will go into limited testing later this year; Microsoft would not give details on general availability or pricing.

This year Microsoft has announced a series of initiatives in security products for home users. In January it began testing an antispyware product, and it has announced a subscription antivirus and antispyware service called Windows OneCare.

Those products and the company's declaration that it plans to offer a wide range of products in the security field pose new competition to established security software makers like McAfee, Symantec and Trend Micro.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Yeah, I'm sure all those people over at McAfee are shaking in their boots!!!

Also, what's up with "remedial training program" for their programmers?

-janelane, suspiciously

Microsoft to Introduce New Security Software for Windows - New York Times

Nearly three decades after PCB's were discovered in the upper Hudson River, General Electric made a binding agreement yesterday to dredge the dangerous chemicals from the river in one of the largest and most expensive industrial cleanups in history.

Whoa! I wonder how many bodies they'll find!

-janelane, pro-fish

G.E. Commits to Dredging 43 Miles of Hudson River - New York Times

WITH the confirmation last week of John G. Roberts Jr. as chief justice of the United States, eyes turned to President Bush's next judicial nominee, who, on a closely divided court, may determine the fate of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that recognized a woman's right to an abortion. But such speculation overlooks a paradox in the abortion wars: while combatants focus on the law, technology is already changing the future of abortion, with or without the Supreme Court.

Even if the court restricts or eliminates the right to an abortion, the often-raised specter of a return to back-alley abortions is not likely to be realized, said Dr. Beverly Winikoff, president of Gynuity Health Services, a nonprofit group that supports access to abortion. "The conditions that existed before 1973 were much different than what they are in 2005," she said. "We have better antibiotics now and better surgical treatments."

But no change is bigger than the advent of an inexpensive drug called misoprostol, which the federal Food and Drug Administration approved for treatment of ulcers in 1988, but which has been used in millions of self-administered abortions worldwide. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, freeing states to ban abortion, this common prescription drug, often known by the brand name Cytotec, could emerge as a cheap, relatively safe alternative to the practices that proliferated before Roe.

"We won't go back to the days of coat hangers and knitting needles," said Dr. Jerry Edwards, an abortion provider in Little Rock, Ark. "Rich women will fly to California; poor women will use Cytotec."

Because it was never intended for use in abortions, it has not been widely tested for safety and effectiveness.

Really interested NYT article on the fate of abortions after Roe V Wade. Abortions might not switch back to alleys and coathangers, but using untested drugs is just as dangerous. The whole subject cries out for government regulation, oversight and consideration of children under 18.

-janelane, pro-bodies

Abortion Might Outgrow Its Need for Roe v. Wade - New York Times

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- A new Colombian law would allow married couples to untie the knot in as little as one hour and for a mere $15, bypassing costly lawyer fees, legal hurdles and the prolonged delays most unhappy couples can expect before a divorce.

Sanctity of marriage THIS, G.W.!

-janelane, sanctified

CNN.com - Colombia to offer one-hour divorces - Sep 27, 2005

In my "Engineering Design" class, we have to figure out what the world of 2020 will be like. Specifically, we are figuring out design processes for globally distributed design and marketing environments. I am curious what you all think of how 2020 will turn out, and the professor encourages us to ask people with opinions varying from our own. I can think of no greater variety than the Memestreams readership. What do you think? What issues (either same or different) are we likely to face? What will drive the above environments?

Some of the ones I have so far include:
communication
information availability
geographic location
government structure
language
outsourcing

I am interested to know what you have to say.

-janelane, obliged

Why is it when I search for "k" to add to my friends circle that it doesn't bring up k? It brings up all other names with a k in them, yet none with just k.

This is the first time I've tried to use this feature since joining memestreams and it's broken. D'oh!

-janelane, exterminator

Update: As of 9/18, this bug is history!

peekay wrote:
Caption: "Question: How geeky is a sword stand made of Lego? Answer: Very."

I can't believe he did this. I want one for my Conan sword now. -Pk

Christmas has come early for Kerry, too, I'm sure.

-janelane, lego-master

RE: Lego Katanakake (Sword Stand).

From form DS-11 for my U.S. passport renewal:

Early in 2005, the U.S. Department of State will begin issuing a new type of passport containing an embedded electronic chip and called an "Electronic Passport".

Issuance of this new passport will be phased in during an 18-month period. It is expected that by mid-2006 nearly all U.S. passports will be issued in this new format. The new passport will not require special handling or treatment, but like previous versions should be protected from extreme bending and from immersion in water. The electronic chip must be read using specially formatted readers, and is not susceptible to unauthorized reading.

Well, if the government says so, then it must be true. :-S Any ideas on safeguarding the illicit chip once I've received my passport?

-janelane, warily

Inconceivable!