August 6, 2004
X Prize and and Aces full of eights
Canada's first manned space launch is to be sponsored by an online casino. The Canadian Da Vinci team who is vying for the X-prize gets a surprising boost by an online casino known for their creative marketing strategies. In exchange for the sponsorship, the casino asks that the astronaut-to-be play a game while in mid-flight. Jokes aside, this looks like the perfect partnering of marketing and private space exploration.
Getting fired for blogging
Another person gets fired for their blog. This is a strange story, the blog is here, and her former employer is here. According to the story, she was fired due to a complaint from a local, but it sounds like another factor was the blog outdoing the main site in Google searches. Of course it's only half the story, but this seems weirder than any previous occurrence.
hilarity ensues
Followup: Wired runs an article called "Fark Sells Out, France Surrenders". Drew Curtis writes a response (note the sycophantic totalfarkers and more annoyed normal-farkers) -- but, as the article says, "when pressed on the issue, Curtis refused to deny that Fark accepts payment for placement of links". Was this really a case of one sales rep getting "a little overenthusiastic"? Is Drew ever actually going to deny selling Fark out, or will he just keep writing non-responses detailing his plans for selling it out even more in the future?
Baghdad Journal
Baghdad Journal An eyewitness artist's report from the Iraqi capital. Amazing watercolors.
Er ... what?
Because you never know when you might need to purchase some historic(al) hair
Should Apple be forced to open up iPod and iTunes?
Real and France's Virgin claim that they deserve to be able to sell their music on Apple's iPod. To prove they're serious, Virgin Mega has filed a complaint against Apple to do so. Perhaps I'm missing something here, but last I checked it wasn't anybody's responsibility to open up their product or service to purposely allow the competition in. That is, of course, unless the government steps in. Are Real and Virgin Mega just being whiny little brats, angered that they're not invited to the party? What are legitimate reasons for the legal system to get involved and to rule in favor of such plaintiffs? While the obvious Microsoft may come to mind, are there other examples you can think of? As for me, I'd like to hand out copies of "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead" to both Real and Virgin Mega...
The Shark in the Free Care Pool
The Freeloader Registry. When an employer pays low wages and doesn't provide health care benefits, its employees often end up getting free care through state and federal programs. How much does this cost you, and which companies benefit from the practice? A new Massachusetts state law will provide detailed information about top corporate welchers. (This follows recent discussion of the topic in the context of Wal-Mart.)
Via Good Jobs First.
Google = Munson
A new meaning for the expression: to google? In a stunning revelation, Internet search engine king Google reported it had neglected to register 28.8 million shares and stock options issued to employees and consultants between September 2001 and June 2004 in violation of state and federal securities laws. The regulatory fiasco was revealed in the company's S-1 filing with the SEC on Tuesday, and it has imperiled Google's much-ballyhooed IPO.
People hurting other people for fun.
Is phonebooking illegal? No. Well...yes. Assault is assault. Just don't get caught.
Heading into faggotland...
Babyface: A Times Square Odyssey "This interactive web piece about the Babyfaces of Times Square takes place in the past, when the center city was a clash of classes rather than today's funeral of a theme park controlled by middle class undertakers." This is definitely not safe for work (drugs, porn, men in bathroom stalls), but if you want to remember the seedier side of NYC, this is one way to do it.
Rick James dead.
Fiction
This changes everything!
Um...I'll just have the salad, thanks.
The HIV virus has jumped from primates to people on at least seven separate occasions in recent history, not twice as is commonly thought. And people in Cameroon are showing up with symptoms of HIV, but are testing negative for both the virus and its primate equivalent SIV, the virus from which HIV is thought to have evolved. That suggests that new strains of an HIV-like virus are circulating in wild animals and infecting people who eat them, sparking fears that such strains could fuel an already disastrous global HIV pandemic.
Don't talk to strangers, remember what happened to Sarah Cherry....
On July 6th, 1988 Dennis Dechaine of Bowdinham, Maine came home from work (transporting frozen chickens from a slaughterhouse) and planned to work on constructing a greenhouse. However, that project hit a glitch and sometime that afternoon he decided instead to take some amphetamines and go exploring in the woods near his home. When he emerged from the woods, lost and looking for his truck, about 8:30 pm that night he was questioned by the police who were looking for a missing 12 year old girl named Sarah Cherry. Two days later, Sarah's body was found and Dennis Dechainewas charged with the girl's murder. He was convicted in March of 1989 to life in prison without parole and an entire generation of Maine girls were told to 'remember Sarah Cherry' as a caution to not talk to strangers.
The question before us now, is, of course, did he do it?
The question before us now, is, of course, did he do it?
mail room veterans
Mail Room Veterans for Bush
Not exactly your Swift Boat Veterans, but staunch defenders of all things holy and honorable and patriotic just the same. Submitted for your Friday fun.
Not exactly your Swift Boat Veterans, but staunch defenders of all things holy and honorable and patriotic just the same. Submitted for your Friday fun.
Paranoia XP goes gold
Attention Alpha Complex troubleshooters of blue clearance or higher, good news!
The open source version of Paranoia has gone gold.
Just in time for GenCon.
The happiness control officer will be around soon, to check on your compliance.
Have a nice day!
Yugop Relaunches
Flash guru Yugo Nakamura relaunches his site.
Stephen Galton is a big baby!
Lawyer files class action lawsuit after being flamed by message board users on Yahoo. Message Board users over-react, and then Slashdot gets hold of the story. Let the emailing, telephoning and name calling begin. (via slashdot)
The Thin Red Line
The guys who brought you the timeline of terror alerts have been at it again. This time they made a chart comparing Bush's approval rating and the terror alerts. It's getting harder to believe this isn't s big slight of hand going on. Follow the ! icons and the thin red line.
I don't belong here...
Old school radiohead. Ah grade 9! An early start on Friday Flash Fun.
The only version available is Flash. I've linked to the menu.
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