I believe all code is dead unless executing within the computer. For this reason I distribute the source code of my programs in modifiable form to encourage life and spread love. Opening one's code is a beneficial practice that both helps the community and grows the strength of the programmer.

[ This is some really good stuff. I want a 30 x 50 quality print of "subtrate" to put on my wall. Alas, the work he's chosen to offer for sale is not his best, in my opinion. Still, all very cool. -k]

Gallery of Computation | generative artifacts

] So, by all means let's pander till we can't stand up.
] We'll all pretend to be duly chastised by our libertine
] ways and pay obeisance to those good heartland values
] that neither they nor we actually live by. Whatever. But,
] don't expect me to actually believe that George W. Bush's
] majority represents those things any more than we
] depraved liberals do. Politicians and preachers lie.
] Neilson ratings and product sales don't.

[ Hear hear, digby. -k]

Pandering To Hypocrisy Pandering To Hypocrisy Pandering to Hypocrisy

] The shooting started when two hunters returning to their
] rural cabin saw the suspect in one of their hunting
] platforms in a tree, Sawyer County Chief Deputy Tim
] Zeigle said. The platforms or "tree stands" allow hunters
] to see deer without being easily seen themselves.
]
] Both of those hunters were wounded and one of them
] radioed friends at the cabin a quarter-mile away. Other
] members of their group responded and they also were shot,
] he said.
]
] "It's absolutely nuts. Why? Over sitting in a tree
] stand?" asked Zeigle.
]
] Zeigle said the suspect was "chasing after them and
] killing them," with a SKS 7.62 mm semiautomatic rifle, a
] common hunting weapon. Wisconsin's statewide deer gun
] hunting season started Saturday and lasts for nine days.

[ Wow. That's awesome.

The article indicates that the SKS is a "common" gun for hunting, but perhaps someone who knows more about hunting can enlighten me... is it a rapid firing weapon? How much ammo? In other words, is it really ideal for deer, or is it better suited for what happened here?

Sounds like someone never should have gotten a permit to me. -k]

ABC News: 5 Killed, 3 Hurt in Wis. Hunting Dispute

] Fly from space to your home town. Visit exotic
] locales such as Maui, Tokyo, Rome and Paris.
] Satellite imagery makes it real. Explore restaurants,
] hotels, parks and schools. Think magic carpet ride!

Indeed. This is one of Google's new aquisitions, and it is hella cool. You start out floating over a picture of the earth built with satellite images. You can tilt and rotate. You can zoom in. In urban areas you can typically zoom in close enough to see cars. You can type in a street address and it will fly you there with a very smooth animation. You can also tilt your camera when you are close in and see topographical features in 3d. The grand canyon is particularly interesting in this regard, especially if you tell it to exaggerate heights. All the images come from the net so they'll be updated over time. Wow.

This is the map of the future.

[ Pretty neat. I used to play with TerraServer a lot... this is a cool (major) evolution of that. Of course, there is no Mac client yet... which sucks.

By the way, anyone notice that Cambridge, MA has a resolution of 3 inches? There's a lot of 1 ft. res areas, but it would seem the collegians in Cambridge may have required better pix for something or other.... i'm curious as to why now. -k]

Keyhole

] The Transportation Security Administration this week
] invited airports to apply to leave the federal security
] screener system and return to private screeners. The
] government took over airport screening after the Sept.
] 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and is planning a transition
] for approved airports by spring or summer 2005.
]
] ...
]
] A spokesman for BWI said the airport needs more information
] about a shift to private screeners. Like many major airports,
] BWI said it wants to learn more about liability in the event
] of another terrorist attack.
]
] The TSA suggested in its announcement this week that
] airports would be protected by federal laws that limit
] tort liability in case of terrorist attack, but it did
] not specify the exact terms. Airport officials are
] concerned about what would be covered, said James McNeil,
] chief executive of McNeil Technologies Inc., a security
] firm that employs screeners at the Rochester, N.Y.,
] airport. "If they can get some indemnification, that will
] play a huge role" in decision making, he said.

[ So we bust our asses to create what is supposed to be a superior force for handling airport security in the wake of a very clear failure of the existing system and only 3 years later we're looking to toss that out and go back to contractors.

Because the lines are so long. And of course, the primary concern for airports? Liability. Not safety. Liability. It is a business after all. The administration should come out strongly against this move, or, at least, not offer *any* incentive for hiring private security contractors that can't prove their staff is at least as competent as the TSA. No limitations on liability, no cop-out.

I'm not saying the TSA is the greatest shit on earth, but this just seems like a huge and dangerous step backwards. -k]

Dulles, BWI Consider Security Shift (washingtonpost.com)

]SPURGER, Texas -- Boys in the Spurger, Texas, school district
]won't be wearing dresses Wednesday and girls aren't going to be
]putting on men's suits.

]That after a parent complained about a dress-like-the-opposite-
]sex day -- an annual Homecoming week tradition.

]...The Liberty Legal Institute came to the aid of parent Delana
]Davies, who was concerned about officially sanctioned cross-
]dressing. Davies said having boys dress like girls is part of an
]effort to push a homosexual agenda in public schools.

When will this insanity end? *head explodes*

[ Leaving out the double standard for a minute, isn't it funny how fundies seem to believe that the main goal of gay people is to convert straights to their way of life. Like, the gay people I've known are constantly telling me how awesome gay sex is and how i really need to try it. Maybe it's all the evangelism that puts people in the thought mode that anyone with a strongly definitional lifestyle will naturally try to convince others of it. So silly.

I might add, that last sentence is so ironic, i thought for a second the whole thing must be a hoax... "camo day". Godforbid Joe should wear a skirt... much better to dress all our kids up like soldiers... I guess that shows our values. Anything fun is to be subjugated in favor of pressing the twin virtues of militarism and nationalism. Scary. -k]

Beware the homogenda!

] Google Scholar enables you to search specifically for
] scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers,
] theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports
] from all broad areas of research. Use Google Scholar to
] find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers,
] professional societies, preprint repositories and
] universities, as well as scholarly articles available
] across the web.

Excellent!

Google Scholar

[ This is a really fascinating brief on the rise of the EU as a power balance for the united states, and outlines a number of things that I think have been floating around this space for a while. The arguments dealing with quality of life are particularly compelling to me. -k]

Welcome to the new cold war...

] Judge Cassell said that sentencing Mr. Angelos to prison
] until he is 70 years old was "unjust, cruel and even
] irrational," but that the law that forced him to do so
] had not proved to be unconstitutional and thus had to
] stand. The sentence was all the more ironic, he said,
] because only two hours earlier he had been legally able
] to impose a sentence of 22 years on a man convicted of
] aggravated second-degree murder for beating an elderly
] woman to death with a log. That crime, he argued, was far
] more serious.

[ Hear hear. Mandatory minimums are completely atrocious. -k]

Judge Questions Long Sentence in Drug Case

] House Republicans proposed changing their rules last
] night to allow members indicted by state grand juries to
] remain in a leadership post, a move that would benefit
] Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in case he is charged
] by a Texas grand jury that has indicted three of his
] political associates, according to GOP leaders.
]
]
] The proposed rule change, which several leaders predicted
] would win approval at a closed meeting today, comes as
] House Republicans return to Washington feeling indebted
] to DeLay for the slightly enhanced majority they won in
] this month's elections. DeLay led an aggressive
] redistricting effort in Texas last year that resulted in
] five Democratic House members retiring or losing
] reelection. It also triggered a grand jury inquiry into
] fundraising efforts related to the state legislature's
] redistricting actions.

GOP Pushes Rule Change to Protect DeLay's Post (washingtonpost.com)