January 23, 2002
Think you're dedicated?
Think you're dedicated? Aussie football player has a finger chopped off at the first joint because it was affecting his ability to catch the ball.
You've helped crack mathematical games, you've searched for aliens, the cure for cancer, cure for AIDS and even tried to calculate pi. What's left to do in distributed computing? How about helping the fight against anthrax? Remember, if you don't download the screensaver, the terrorists have won.
The Perfect Rock 'n Roll Photo
The Perfect Rock 'n Roll Photo A photo of The Clash bassist Paul Simonon smashing his guitar on stage has been picked as the perfect rock 'n' roll photo of all time. It's a great picture, summing up violence, anger, frustration and an adandonment of common-sense. But do you agree?
The most sensible take I've seen on Enron and Bush. Once all the fuss has died down—Congress is currently planning ten separate inquiries—two good things will probably have come out of the Enron mess. Companies will no longer be allowed to use their pension programs to treat their employees as an especially loyal and malleable class of shareholder; instead, pension funds will have to be diversified. And accounting firms will no longer be allowed to act as paid consultants to the companies they audit, as Arthur Andersen did with Enron. New Yorker link, no registration required.
What sort of salesman can't sell TV ad during the Super Bowl?
What sort of salesman can't sell TV ad during the Super Bowl? Even after taking a 25% discoount off the $2 million 30-second spots from last year's game, FOX is still having troubles getting advertisers. See what happens when you cool off the economy, Mr. Greenspan?
Last week, the WTO ruled against a corporate welfare program for US exporters (again). This week, a Canadian hemp company claims the US owes them US$20m under NAFTA for harrassment and impinging on future returns.
Bush Proposes to Add $48 Billion to Pentagon's Budget Next Year.
Bush Proposes to Add $48 Billion to Pentagon's Budget Next Year. Is this where all of this money should be going? Personally, I would have liked to have seen Bush make good on his promise to help New York. Besides, I've already lived through the Eighties.
In Greece, a military officer decapitates (article in greek - english) 5 puppies, using an axe. Just like that. The jury reached a verdict, yesterday: he will face imprisonment for up to 6 months, while the two soldiers who tried to stop him may go to jail for 5 years! I'm just wondering, what would the verdict be if this happened in the US? And how solid is the legislation regarding animal abusement, in general?
Convert your pictures to HTML.
Qutoes from Correctional Institutions Offered Guide To Islamic Practices
"It just hit me... they won't be contributing any more money, will they?"
"It just hit me... they won't be contributing any more money, will they?" Abruptly changing his tone about a company that heavily contributed to his political campaigns, President George W. Bush now says that he was "outraged" that Enron Corp. misled its employees and investors, including his mother-in-law, who he said lost more than $8,000 when the energy firm's stock collapsed.
Stanley Marcus Dies at 96
Stanley Marcus Dies at 96 We've all heard corporate propaganda about "customer service." He really practiced it. Neiman's has really been expanding their online shopping services. Can Web retailers in the 21st century learn anything from such old-skool customer service?
(NYT password link obituary is here)
Evan Williams says an interim version of Blogger Pro will be launched this week, and last night he demoed it for the Weblogger Interest Group in Mountain View. New stuff: automatic weblogs.com ping, image posting, draft posting, and post to the past.
Evidence that gin is indeed good for you.
Evidence that gin is indeed good for you. If a little bit of it is good, lots of it must be great!
The Federal Trade Commission is seeking to curtail the activities of telemarketers through the creation of a national 'do-not-call' registry. But the telemarketing industry says the FTC's plan would violate their First Amendment rights.
Attack of the Luddites?
Attack of the Luddites? A group from my high school visited Mendocino High School in the early 1990's to see how they were implementing internet access, as we were getting ready to do the same. We were, frankly, jealous of their "fat pipe," their all-wired classrooms and their much-vaunted community support. Things are apparently much different now. "Wireless Free Mendocino has been instrumental in defeating attempts to bring cell phone and a high-speed Internet service to the town's 1,000-odd residents. Now the group is trying to force the high school radio station to remove its antenna from the school roof -- a move that could sound the death knell for the struggling student outfit."
CNN gets Chung. Beefs up roster.
CNN gets Chung. Beefs up roster. Their continued battle with Fox News heats up with their hiring of Connie Chung. All this sounds a lot more exciting than it really is.
Hold on, Mr. President - you forgot your makeup!
Hold on, Mr. President - you forgot your makeup! NBC is showing this special tonight about the "real" West Wing, but of course the President's handlers have manipulated the day so it looks good on tv. But it's not just Bush - theatrics in the same vein of "Look, he's being presidential" have been going on a long time in Washington. Is it good, bad, or just the nature of the beast? Who's your favorite "The Real World: Pennsylvania Ave." cast member?
Are you insane?
Are you insane? a quick easy test to see whether you are insane. Looks like I am insane, what about yourself.
érrorplan
érrorplan is a web site apparently set up by unhappy top-tier Aeroplan members documenting Air Canada's poor service and diminishing benefits to their best customers. Air Canada, as you might imagine, is none too happy about it — especially since thousands of érrorplan brochures have been found in their airplanes and airport lounges around the world. (Frequent fliers indeed.) The airline is trying to track them down and stop them — on the grounds that érrorplan is using their intellectual property. Bye bye, air miles.
The real culprit behind the 9/11 attack.
It looks like a Radio Shack exploded inside...
It looks like a Radio Shack exploded inside... possibly one of the most astonishing cars I've ever seen. Just wait until you find out what it started its life as.
6 degrees of email.
6 degrees of email. A project is going on to test the 6 degrees theory. And it occured to me that something like this could be done on the web. Is it possible to go from any web site to any other in 6 links? (More inside)
Bad Poetry.
Bad Poetry. There is a huge amount of bad poetry in the world. Although new bad poems are being written by the hundreds every day ... most bad poetry is simply weak and ineffectual and lacking in interest and (fortunately) is soon forgotten. ... To achieve memorable badness is not so easy.
Pong and the Universe
Pong and the Universe A cool little shockwave video about Pong, Life, Death, and the Universe. I hope this is not a double post.
All that glitters ain't gold.
All that glitters ain't gold. Or is it? Mariah Carey's last record sold 2 million copies. Not good enough! The solution? Pay her $28 million to walk away. I wish my career failures paid so well.
Dress code for female troops in Saudi Arabia changed.
Dress code for female troops in Saudi Arabia changed. An update to this thread. They don't have to wear abayas any more, but they still can't drive cars.
Fed Up? Happy? Excited?
Fed Up? Happy? Excited? Step right up and add your comments to the Microsoft Antitrust Trial. Due to the Tunney Act, all of us have the right to comment on the proceedings. The comment period closes Monday morning (the 28th) so if you have an opinion, and we know everyone here does, email/snail mail/call the DOJ.
For the person who has everything...
For the person who has everything... No diamonds on these little gems, as suggested in a previous thread, but for $21,240 a pop, you could be chatting on a solid gold or platinum Vertu phone by mid-2002. Bargain, eh?
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