Sun-Jul 31 2005
Geeking Out
The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy had a reference to
the Gom Jabbar.
Which led me to this quote from Grim's creator:
"Apparently the Cartoon Network really took notice of me when I did the storyboard for "The Magnificent Motorbikini", which I pretty much made up off the top of my head. That?s the one where Weasel develops a superfast bikini and takes Babboon into a dimension ruled by intelligent hams."
Industrial
Garage Aluminum Foundry
Via hackaday
P.S. the heck with tags. I don't even use Technorati.
Thu-Jul 28 2005
First One's Free
"Sleep addicts claim that sleep refreshes their bodies and clears the mind. However, sleep has been conclusively linked to the lost time phenomenon, a harmful side-affect that serves as a gateway to dangerous conditions such as lack of study and sleeping through class. Sleep has been clinically-observed to slow heart rate, decrease blood pressure and breathing to levels well below those of a non-sleeping human being, and is thus perceived as highly dangerous.
Sleep is highly addictive; addicts regularly indulge in doses exceeding eight hours. When deprived of this drug, addicts become grumpy, disheveled and anti-social. Disorientation and dark circles underneath the eyes are also common symptoms associated with sleep withdrawal.
Sleep's short-term effects wear off within sixteen hours, leaving users experiencing the full affects of withdrawal. Some users have developed such a high tolerance for sleep that they experience withdrawal symptoms such as yawning and foggy minds within hours of their last dose of sleep."
The Dangers Of Sleep
Via linkfilter
Technorati Tags: humor,
satire,
sleep ,
Bread Crumbs
I start out reading about the New Battlestar Galactica (NYT)
and end up with obtuse literary theory
"For de Man, literature or texts--works or configurations that as signifying structures require reading--undo claims of authority, claims based on assumptions of the continuity of form with meaning and the possibility of totalizing a structure and, in a dominant philosophical tradition, on the category of the aesthetic or the continuity between perception and knowledge supposed to be guaranteed and exemplified by works of art."
Whatever you say, buddy
Via linkfilter
Technorati Tags: battlestar+galactica ,
literary+theory
Tue-Jul 26 2005
Mon-Jul 25 2005
Sun-Jul 24 2005
Wed-Jul 20 2005
About Time
I had this idea too.
"This is a technical companion to Charlie Stross's latest novel, Accelerando.
Stross's book can be quite dense in unusual technical terms and
concepts, which can sometimes be quite confusing to readers unfamiliar
with them. The purpose of this companion is to help alleviate any
confusions the reader may have, as well as to introduce new confusions
by giving the reader an idea of the current state and expected future
of the technologies described in the novel. Wherever possible, brief
information on relevant research papers is provided.
The novel is available as a free download from the official site, and will also be available for purchase in bookstores on July 1, 2005."
Technical Companion to "Accelerando"
Via Accelerando!
Technorati Tags: science+fiction,
accelerando,
charles+stross,
singularity
Mon-Jul 18 2005
Sun-Jul 17 2005
Fri-Jul 15 2005
More Than Giant Robots
Wikipedia tries to explain the anime Paranoia Agent.
Warning: Spoilers
-Which led me to the Superflat art movement,
and the supremely creepy anime Alien 9.
While In at it, I also recommend FLCL
Technorati Tags: paranoia+agent ,
superflat ,
alien+9 ,
anime ,
creepy ,
flcl
Sun-Jul 10 2005
We Live In Science Fiction
I haven't thought this all the way through, but if the economies of Massive-Multiplayer-Online-Games
are interacting with the "real-world" economy, then wouldn't it be possible for a virtual
currency to function like a real one?
"Farming" MMORPGs for real-world money
Technorati Tags: MMORPG
Skiffy On The Telly
This fall has a far number of new science-fiction/horror shows.
Surface (previously named Fathom): Sea monsters. The trailer
I saw looked good.
Invasion: Aliens among us.
The Night Stalker
Supernatural
Threshold: More aliens
I'm only going to flip by "The Ghost Whisperer" to see what Jennifer Love Hewitt
is wearing.
Fall 2005 TV Season
Sat-Jul 09 2005
Self-Referential
It would seem that my hit-counter/referrer log provider, Hit-O-Meter
has gone belly-up. I really can't expect much from a free service, but a warning e-mail would have
been nice. Now I'm trying out WebStat.
Maybe they can explain why I've turned into "Gert Johnnys" central.
I also signed up with Technorati. Now if I can just
figure out what it's good for.
Technorati: Technorati
Fri-Jul 08 2005
CCTV
"The British capital has more surveillance cameras monitoring its citizens than any other major city in the world. The highly visible gadgets are posted on the corners of many buildings, on new buses and in every subway station. Since 2003, the license plate of every car driving into central London during weekdays is filmed as part of a program to reduce traffic congestion. London charges a fee to cars and also uses the films to catch and fine cheats. In all, there are at least 500,000 cameras in the city, and one study showed that in a single day a person could expect to be filmed 300 times."
And a fat lot of good this system does preventing subway bombings.
London surveillance cameras
Via Boing Boing-
Good Overview/Links of London Bombings
Mon-Jul 04 2005
Bees, Bees, and More Bees
Everybody has a dream. Some people dream of being covered in bees.
Irish Man Fails To Set Bee Record
Via Metafilter
Desserts
"Justice Souter's vote in the "Kelo vs. City of New London" decision allows city governments to take land from one private owner and give it to another if the government will generate greater tax revenue or other economic benefits when the land is developed by the new owner.
On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter's home.
Clements, CEO of Freestar Media, LLC, points out that the City of Weare will certainly gain greater tax revenue and economic benefits with a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road than allowing Mr. Souter to own the land."
Group proposes to build hotel on Justice Souter's house property
Via Boing Boing
Google News Search-'Logan Darrow Clements Souter'
Sun-Jul 03 2005
Sat-Jul 02 2005
Impeachment
"In a sign of the continuing partisan division of the nation, more than two-in-five (42%) voters say that, if it is found that President Bush did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq, Congress should hold him accountable through impeachment. While half (50%) of respondents do not hold this view, supporters of impeachment outweigh opponents in some parts of the country.
Among those living in the Western states, a 52% majority favors Congress using the impeachment mechanism while just 41% are opposed; in Eastern states, 49% are in favor and 45% opposed. In the South, meanwhile, impeachment is opposed by three-in-five voters (60%) and supported by just one-in-three (34%); in the Central/Great Lakes region, 52% are opposed and 38% in favor.
Impeachment is overwhelmingly rejected in the Red States?just 36% say they agree Congress should use it if the President is found to have lied on Iraq, while 55% reject this view; in the ?Blue States? that voted for Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry in 2004, meanwhile, a plurality of 48% favors such proceedings while 45% are opposed.
A large majority of Democrats (59%) say they agree that the President should be impeached if he lied about Iraq, while just three-in-ten (30%) disagree. Among President Bush?s fellow Republicans, a full one-in-four (25%) indicate they would favor impeaching the President under these circumstances, while seven-in-ten (70%) do not. Independents are more closely divided, with 43% favoring impeachment and 49% opposed."
42% nationwide is no small percentage. I bet it gets larger.
Zogby Polls
Via Eschaton
Cool As Carbonite
"Wanting do a Star Wars model, and also wanting to do something never been done before (to my knowledge), I decided to make Han Solo frozen in carbonite. Life size. It took about 10,000 bricks, almost all dark gray, and about three months of on and off building. I built the sculpture so it can break down easily into smaller parts, thus making it mobile. Because, like most people, I like to take large sculptures of people frozen in carbonite with me whenever I travel."
Lego Frozen Han Solo
Via Make Blog
Fri-Jul 01 2005
It Just Doesn't Get Any Better Than This
"Experiments in Galvanism is the culmination of
studio and gallery experiments in which a miniature computer is
implanted into the dead body of a frog specimen. Akin to Damien Hirst's
bodies in formaldehyde, the frog is suspended in clear liquid contained
in a glass cube, with a blue ethernet cable leading into its splayed
abdomen. The computer stores a website that enables users to trigger
physical movement in the corpse: the resulting movement can be seen in
gallery, and through a live streaming webcamera."
Frog With Imbedded Webserver
Via Linkfilter
|