November 25, 2005
Asterix vs President Moron
Asterix gets political. After over four decades of defending his lone holdout village from Roman attack, French children's book icon Asterix is taking on America in the latest novel. The village is besieged by an alien army whose leader is named Hubs, (a thinly veiled anagram of the U.S. President). The aliens invade seeking non-existent weapons of mass destruction.
Passion of the chef
À la carte explores French cookery in just about every angle one can imagine. Featuring an extensive list of recipes, suggested menus, and in-depth articles ranging from how to plan a meal, to what tools to use, including everything one needs to know about knives. Like Strawberries, & crêpes? Want to know more about ice creams & sorbets? Obsessive is an understatement.
Not so intelligent design?
Deep Time. “Once we realize that Deep Time can never support narratives of evolution, we are forced to accept that virtually everything we thought we knew about evolution is wrong.”
It’s not the latest salvo from the proponents of intelligent design... [more inside]
It’s not the latest salvo from the proponents of intelligent design... [more inside]
The Modern Compendium of Miniature Automata
The Modern Compendium of Miniature Automata - Discover, identify and create your own Steam Age nanobot. Requires Flash. [MI]
Bike the Pike
Pike 2 Bike! You've done rails to trails, how about a bike ride on an abandoned section of the PA Turnpike?
It’s kind of a radar for gayness, or a gay radar. It’s called… a homometer
Is Jesus a solution or an excuse?
Faith based prisons... Can Gov. Jeb Bush's new drive to introduce God to the inmates make a difference, or was Jesus 'dying for our sins' not enough already? Is Jesus a solution or an excuse?
"Night has fallen. He has died now. A fly crawls over the still flesh. Of what use is it to me that this man suffered, If I am suffering now?" - Jorge Luis Borges
"Night has fallen. He has died now. A fly crawls over the still flesh. Of what use is it to me that this man suffered, If I am suffering now?" - Jorge Luis Borges
Transit in Detroit
Transit in Detroit details an urban planner's initiative to cut the costs of the city's traffic congestion-relieving highway expansion by proposing a transit system combining light rail and bus-rapid-transit. [More Inside]
Gov Approved Prison Tats
The Canadian government has come up with a novel approach to stemming the tide of disease in prisons. They're paying for clean needles. For those who wonder what it all means. Great photos of this subculture and the tattoo as a mark of rebellion.
Map Out Of Hell
Fed up with navigating badly set up voice mail systems, Paul English has posted a voice mail cheat sheet to help you cut through to a real human. Which is just as well because most companies seem to set up their voice mail systems like this.
What's this button do?
Enter the Dark Complex (A very late flash friday) The triple-sized sequel to the devious, but fair Dark Room, this puzzle should kill a lot of time this holiday weekend. via
If only all Politicians were this honest!
Finally, The Bush vs. Blair debate that we've all waited to see. Silly Friday-Flash. [Warning, contains profanity]
Inky milk ?
Possible "contamination" of some baby milk-based products 30 million liters of big-brand name milk were recalled in Italy and other EU countries because of contamination by traces of ITX (ISOPROPYLTHIOXANTHONE) which is a product used in
packaging printing.Tetrapack issued a press release (Italian language) in which
they declare they are not going to use ITX for printing anymore as a precautionary measure. According to a memo sent to an italian consumer-oriented tv show(italian), Tetrapack acknowledges that 1200 more products use packaging with the same printing technology. What about their recall and is it happening worldwide ? [Google News query]
They come in peace.
I, for one, welcome our...
Oh, the hell with it. Canadians want to start diplomatic relations with aliens.
[Ugarte gives exit visas to Rick for safe keeping]
First they take Ugarte and then she walks in. On the 9th of December 2005, Deborah Davis will be arraigned in U.S. District Court in a case that will determine whether people must show "papers" whenever police demand them. Unlike Dudley Hiibel (discussed on mefi last year) who had (arguably) caused a disturbance meriting police attention, Deb was just riding the bus when she was "welcomed" to the Denver Federal Center.
The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities
The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities There are a lot of great freeware products out there. Many are as good or even better than their commercial alternatives. This list features my personal pick of the "best of the best."
If it ain't red hot or nailed down
Baltimore Officials Puzzled By Stolen Light Poles. Thieves, apparently sometimes disguising themselves as utility workers, have stolen 130+ aluminum light poles in Baltimore. How is it that no one has seen the thieves making off with a 30' pole? On the other hand, maybe this will help the city find its new slogan (I like "Baltimore: Leading the Fight Against Light Pollution").
Vintage postcards
Vintage postcards are pretty neat. They show us the history of local areas, the growth of nations and they provide the briefest of glimpses into the lives of the past. Oh, they even brought porn to the masses.
"We're going to the Emerald City by a difficult road..."
We all know the story: little Elli, a girl living in the steppes of Kanzas with her dog Totoshka, is blown by a hurricane (stirred up by the wicked witch Gingema) all the way to Magic Land, where she meets the Cowardly Lion, the Iron Woodman, and the scarecrow Strashila and has to make her way to the Emerald City to find the magician Gudvin so she can get back home... What, you don't remember it that way? Didn't you read The Wizard of the Emerald City and its much-loved sequels Urfin Jus and his Wooden Soldiers, The Seven Underground Kings, The Fiery God of the Marrans, The Yellow Fog, and The Mystery of the Deserted Castle? Ah, you're not Russian! Listen [RealAudio] to a five-minute description (on Studio 360) of Alexander Volkov's Russified versions of Baum (with illustrations by Leonid Vladimirsky) and how they captivated children and adults in the Soviet Union (you even get a bit of the famous song Мы в город Изумрудный/ Идем дорогой трудной ["We're going to the Emerald City by a difficult road..."]); visit the Emerald City website (Russian version, where all the links work); and see the wonderful illustrations at this site, which links to the texts of all six novels (click on Читать...)—in Russian, but the images need no explanation. (Fun fact: the word "Oz" doesn't occur anywhere in the Russian versions.) And if you're interested in other alternate versions, go to Oz Outside the Famous Forty. (Via P. Kerim Friedman.)
Video Games & Education
What can video games teach us about learning and literacy? A lot, says James Paul Gee whose recent book approaches the question armed with three different discourses (situated cognition, new literacy studies, and connectionism). [mi]
Welcome our Sylph Overlords!
Chemtrails "are" the linear clouds formed by condensation behind high-altitude airliners. Sylphs "are" fourth-dimensional beings that are here to save us from the chemtrails. Check Sylphs Over Brea for photos, and Sylphs Battle Chemtrail Spew Planes Over Orange County for a quick view of this lunacy.
Borat Strikes Back
Borat Strikes back after being threatened by the Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry. I like his website? Do you like his website? Previously mentioned in this post.
Words fail me
Friday flash fun. I have no clue how to finish this one...
Brownout
Michael Brown starts Disaster Planning Firm After doing a "heck of a job", the former Commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association teaches others how to avoid stepping in shit.
Pentagon FOIA Logs
FOIA'd again Mike Petrelis from 2000 through 2005 and found that major media have used the law on the DoD less than 50 times each in five years. E&P asks if reporters are using the law enough and some think that points to the media's laziness, others think they're missing the point.
loopy lenticulars
Lenticulars - fun 3-d art from Howard Hallis, the guy who did the the picture of everything. For the graphic designer, here's more info on the art of lenticulars.
RIP Pat Morita
scarry 2.0
Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever then & now (1963 - 1991). Pretty Stewardess -> Flight Attendant, etc.
Rest in peace Besty
George Best dies at 59. Footballer George Best has died today from an infection after a protracted iillness due to ill health following his battles with alcoholism.
A great talent he was famous for his good looks, ability and love of the ladies.
"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars - the rest I just squandered."
Rest in peace Besty.
"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars - the rest I just squandered."
Rest in peace Besty.
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