What are you gonna do, play with your prick for another 30 years? ... George Carlin
TED | Talks | Hans Rosling: Debunking third-world myths with the best stats you’ve ever seen (video)
Topic: Miscellaneous
1:11 pm EDT, Apr 18, 2007
You’ve never seen data presented like this. With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, Hans Rosling debunks myths about the so-called “developing world” using extraordinary animation software developed by his Gapminder Foundation. The Trendalyzer software (recently acquired by Google) turns complex global trends into lively animations, making decades of data pop. Asian countries, as colorful bubbles, float across the grid -- toward better national health and wealth. Animated bell curves representing national income distribution squish and flatten. In Rosling’s hands, global trends — life expectancy, child mortality, poverty rates — become clear, intuitive and even playful.
Crocodile severs zoo worker's arm on Yahoo! News Photos
Topic: Miscellaneous
2:57 pm EDT, Apr 12, 2007
The severed lower left arm of a Taiwanese veterinarian is seen in the jaws of a crocodile, Wednesday, April 11, 2007, at the Shoushan Zoo in Kaohsiung, 350 kilometers (217 miles) south west of Taipei, Taiwan. Chang Po-yu's lower left arm was bitten off by the crocodile when he tried to pull a tranquilizer dart from the reptile's body. Two bullets were shot at the crocodile but it was unharmed. Chang went through emergency surgery to have his limb reattached. (AP Photo/Steve Chen)
The preliminary findings were alarming. Morgellons Disease appears to be a communicable nanotechnology invasion of human tissue in the form of self-assembling, self-replicating nanotubes, nanowires, and nanoarrays with sensors. Other nanoconfigurations associated with Morgellons Disease carry genetically-altered and spliced DNA or RNA. The nanomachines which precipitate Morgellons Disease use the human host's bio-electric energy as one of their power sources. There is evidence that certain of the tiny machines possess their own internal batteries as well. The Morgellons Disease nanomachines are configured to receive specific tuned microwave, EMF and ELF signals and radio data.
I know this is probably a tinfoil disease, but even still, I think it has horror/disaster story potential.
Online Video Watch » Blog Archive » Web 2.0 in Perspective
Topic: Society
1:51 pm EDT, Apr 12, 2007
For an quick overview of web 2.0, check out this video by Michael Wesch. It is the best explanation I have come across of the ways web 2.0 is changing communication. Thanks to Sean Bohan for the pointer. But now that we’re there, let’s take a step back. The nightly network news has a viewership of about 26 million people according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism. That number has declined steadily over the past 25 years as cable and the internet became more prevalent news sources.
Invention: All-knowing browser - tech - 10 April 2007 - New Scientist Tech
Topic: Technology
1:34 pm EDT, Apr 12, 2007
All-knowing browser
Ever given false information when prompted for personal details by a website? Don't worry, the US copying and computing company Xerox hopes to eliminate that kind of questioning because it believes it can get the information without even asking.
Even if you choose not to reveal who you are, Xerox says it can determine demographic information such as your age, sex and perhaps even your income by analysing the pattern of pages you choose to access on the web and comparing them to a database of surfing patterns from other users with a known background.
Xerox suggests that the idea could be used by online merchants and advertisers who want to identify the types of users visiting their websites.
Of course, the approach will only work so long as different people do not use the same browser profile. And, unfortunately, the patent application does not address possible privacy concerns.
Read the full all-knowing browser patent application.
Johnny Cash's longtime lakeside home, a showcase where he wrote much of his famous music and entertained U.S. presidents, music royalty and visiting fans, was destroyed by fire on Tuesday.
Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, lived in the 13,880-square-foot (1,289-square-meter) home from the late 1960s until their deaths in 2003.
"So many prominent things and prominent people in American history took place in that house -- everyone from Billy Graham to Bob Dylan went into that house," said singer Marty Stuart, who lives next door and was married to Cash's daughter, Cindy, in the 1980s.
Stuart said the man who designed the house, Nashville builder Braxton Dixon, was "the closest thing this part of the country had to Frank Lloyd Wright."
When Cash moved there, the road was a quiet country lane that skirts Old Hickory Lake. Kris Kristofferson, then an aspiring songwriter, once landed a helicopter on Cash's lawn to pitch him a song. Roy Orbison was his next-door neighbor for a while.
The landmark video for Cash's song "Hurt" was shot inside the house.
"It was a sanctuary and a fortress for him," Stuart said. "There was a lot of writing that took place there."
Richard Sterban of the Oak Ridge Boys lives on the same road as Cash. "Maybe it's the good Lord's way to make sure that it was only Johnny's house," Sterban said.
I fell in to a burning ring of fire I went down,down,down and the flames went higher. And it burns,burns,burns the ring of fire the ring of fire.
a blaze in the northern sky - Ahhh, Taiwanese products
Topic: Health and Wellness
10:36 am EDT, Apr 11, 2007
So very wrong on all levels. Apparently the entire family can enjoy Family Condoms together (as the illustration clearly shows). The implications of the illustration, and indeed, the whole concept, become more horrendous the more you think about it (and look at it). Also, condoms are supposed to prevent kids from manifesting, ne?
