MetaFilter

Mark Pilgrim and Dave Winer are fighting, again. It started over a remark Dave made about various blogging services. Mark turned around and created a bot that reads Dave's RSS feed every 5 minutes and spits out the text, annotated to show what's been added/deleted/changed since the last time it ran. Dave's claiming copyright infringement, Mark's claiming fair use. Okay MeFi folks, which side are you on, and why?
comment posted at 2:59 PM on Jul-11-03

Comeuppance is served: Blair Hornstine, the litigious valedictorian MeFi loves to hate, has been dropped from the Harvard class of '07 for her adventures in plagiarism. Quoting Nelson Munz here would be superfluous.
comment posted at 2:43 PM on Jul-11-03

A little coffee shop in a little North Carolina town closes. When I worked in Fuquay-Varina, N.C., the opening of the Hyphen (get it? get it? the Hyphen in Fuquay-Varina?) was a miracle. There, in the midst of antique stores, clothiers, and the Bob Barker Co., was this hip, unique eatery owned and operated by two local artists. Owner Nina Fortmeyer partially cites that the little tobacco town has simply become "Wal-Mart-ized" in its growth, leading to a loss in downtown foot traffic, leading to lost business. This, methinks, is the greatest and most obvious consequence of globalization, the mom-and-pops being run out of town. If this is happening in Fuquay-Varina, it is absolutely happening everywhere. Very sad.
comment posted at 10:15 AM on Jul-8-03

Creatures from Waaay Down Under. Things you won't find in your average bathtub. Things that did not appear in the Little Mermaid. And believe it or not, the web design is pretty good, and it's a public institution. Strange indeed. [via slashdot]
comment posted at 11:43 AM on Jul-7-03
comment posted at 6:59 PM on Jul-7-03

Unidentified marine blob stages first beach landing assault of unidentified marine blob species! Can't survive in air! Dies. I for one welcome our new blob... Aw, sorry, guys, it's a reflex.
comment posted at 7:23 PM on Jul-2-03

The United States is cutting off military aid to 35 countries, including Colombia and six east European nations, because they back the International Criminal Court and have not exempted Americans from possible prosecution.
"...the Bush administration is afraid the tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, backed by most European countries, might hear politically motivated prosecutions of U.S. military and civilian leaders."
comment posted at 11:46 AM on Jul-2-03

Walking Things is an environment that generates small, walking computational organisms. "Each walking thing is built up from totally random conditions. Appearance, behavior, and walking characteristics are all assigned from a range enabling effective, functional mobility. Click on a walking thing to permutate its characteristics".

Just one of the very many wonderful (open source) creations at levitated.net (more bugs with bling here). Kick off your shoes, fill your coffee cup or wine glass, and dip in.
comment posted at 11:58 AM on Jul-2-03

Getting The Hell Out Of Africa: An excellent article by R.W. Johnson describes the forces now driving out many African whites and quietly despairs. Post-colonial blues are sad and riddled with guilt and lost hopes. How far does collective guilt impinge on the individual? What if there is no guilt at all? What is the white man and woman's place in 21st Century Africa? I wonder whether it isn't still too early to think clearly about the many delicate issues involved. But then an all-black Africa wouldn't be Africa. Would it?
comment posted at 12:25 PM on Jun-25-03

RAVE Act Passes Congress and Senate. Sensible control or a new reefer madness? Previously discussed here and here .
comment posted at 11:39 AM on Jun-13-03
comment posted at 12:13 PM on Jun-13-03

Best song of the last quarter century? Ok, I liked the song when it came out,(Nirvana Smells Like Teen Spirit) and can still listen to it today. But, VH1 is saying it is the best song for the last quarter century. That, I have a problem with. It is going to take me some time to reflect on this and come up with some alternates. I thought you folks may have your own opinions as well. So, lets hear it, what do you think is the best song of the last quarter century?
comment posted at 10:45 AM on Jun-11-03

"Fo shizzle ma nizzle" versus Her Majesty's Justice.
comment posted at 9:43 AM on Jun-6-03

You've seen Pomo tarot, you've let the wisdom of spock guide you using the Star Trek Tarot, and in an act of desperation, you even tried getting down with the Vampire deck. Still haven't found the deck that's right for you?

Maybe it's time you tried the 80s tarot deck. (And before you ruin the surprise, try to guess which Major Arcana they pegged Morrisey for...)
comment posted at 9:56 AM on Jun-4-03

His Turgid Member, Her Heaving Bosoms, My Gag Reflex: There's nothing like really bad erotica to take your mind off sex. There's no sentence like "Brooke ripped off Randy's mesh jersey. His abs were undulating hills, with heavy underbrush around his navel." to make you think of lint and tumbleweed. For our undelectation, Nerve.com's readers have chosen the very worst examples of lurid chastity-inspiring unsexiness. [Safe for work and Viagra-proof thanks only to downright descriptive incompetence. If you're excited by any of this, seek psychiatric assistance immediately.]
comment posted at 11:30 AM on May-26-03

Hooters is coming to San Francisco Oh My, Hooters, The ultimate in crass disgusting guy-ness and un-PC-ness is finally coming to San Francisco-the utlimate in PC-ness and "new-age-king-of-guy-ness." Will San Francisco be able to handle it? Granted the self-professed "slightly tacky yet unrefined" Hooters IS going into Fisherman's Wharf, which is tacky tourist-central. But, "it's about so much more than...that..." you know.
comment posted at 10:18 AM on May-20-03

The Soulmate Calculator tells you how many men or women you'll have to meet to find your soulmate, based on U.S. census figures and some weird theories. That's a lot of frogs to kiss...(via Salon)
comment posted at 10:59 AM on May-14-03

De Niro non disputandis est or, in English, don't fuck with Bobby De Niro. Which is what the English have been doing recently, naming Al Pacino as the greatest movie star of all time. Askmen.com is a little more appreciative but also brackets Pacino with De Niro. The American Film Institute [pdf format] will be giving De Niro their 31st Lifetime Achievement Award on June 12 but - there they go again - he's merely described as "widely regarded as one of the most skillful actors of the last three decades". Is nothing sacred anymore? Who's the man [read "of a certain age, experience and cojones"], after all? I mean, after Jack Nicholson, of course. Now I'm all confused!
comment posted at 12:23 PM on May-8-03

Sure I'm insensitive, but you're fat. This jabeep may be on to something -- has our hot-or-not culture done away with all pretense of looking further than skin deep? fat may not be a "moral failing" anymore, but our growing national waistline doesn't seem to slow continued mockery of the non-slim...can't we be gorgeous ingenue hotties too, not just funny sidekicks? (via Bifurcated Rivets)
comment posted at 11:32 AM on May-1-03

Industrious caddisfly larvae live within odd protective cases that they painstakingly craft from bits of twigs, stones, gravel, sand, and leaf fragments. They drag the case around, much like a snail or a hermit crab carries their shell. Artist Hubert Duprat, being well aware of the caddisfly larvae's reputation for resourcefulness and adaptablity, decided to see what would happen if he replaced the usual case building materials with precious gems, gold, turquoise, pearls, lapis lazuli and coral.
comment posted at 11:55 AM on Apr-9-03

"Now America is reappraising the battlefield, delaying the war, maybe a week and rewriting the war plan. The first plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance. Now they are trying to write another plan." Seems patently obvious, no? But tell Iraqi state television that and suddenly you're speaking from "a position of complete ignorance," according to the White House.

Peter Arnett, highly respected, Pulitzer Prize winner and the first journalist to interview Osama Bin Laden on film, wouldn't back down the last time a network caved into craven submission at hands of the American military, and he's been sacked by NBC/MSNBC for again refusing to do so. There's no First Amendment case, obviously, and no real surprise that the military would be exerting pressure to maintain control over information, but does the firing of high-profile Arnett for the repeating the obvious increase anybody's confidence that we're hearing anything resembling the truth?
comment posted at 11:38 AM on Mar-31-03

Space-time continuum abused for financial gain Federal investigators have arrested a Wall Street whizz who made $350 million from an initial investment of just $800 in two weeks. The man has confessed to insider dealing, explaining that he travelled back from the year 2256 in his 'time craft' specifically to make a killing on recorded past stock plunges. The kicker? There's no record of the man's existence prior to December 2002.
comment posted at 10:03 AM on Mar-28-03

The Bacteria Whisperer
“Bonnie Bassler discovered a secret about microbes that the science world has missed for centuries. The bugs are talking to each other. And plotting against us.”
comment posted at 10:22 AM on Mar-21-03

The Call to Peace. An astrological analysis of the September 11th attacks and their aftermath. Saddam Hussein, a Muslim despot who 51% of Americans think was personally involved in the September 11th terrorist attacks, is charted.
comment posted at 11:04 AM on Mar-20-03

Just Nuisance, Able Seaman. The only canine enlisted in the Royal Navy, Just Nuisance served from 1939 to 1944 in Simon's Town, South Africa (on his papers his occupation was listed as 'Bone Crusher' and his religion 'Canine Divinity League [Anti-Vivisection]'). Providing a great source of morale to sailors stationed there he would escort them on train trips and make sure they made it back to base after a night on the town. Of course being a sailor himself he was privy to a few brushes with the law as well by traveling on the railways without a pass (punishment: Confined to the banks of Froggy Pond, Lily Pool, with all lamp posts removed) or sleeping on an Officer's bed (punishment: Deprived of bones for seven days.). Married, and survived by five children, on his death he was afforded a funeral with full military colours. You can read his biography (which spawned a television series), or merely pay respects at his statue next time you're in Simon's Town.
comment posted at 10:34 AM on Mar-19-03

Graphic Design from the 1920s and 1930s in Travel Ephemera . Amazing collection of posters, road maps, steamship and airline timetables, (more timetables here), post cards, luggage labels (more labels here and here), brochures and more. Seeing this stuff makes me wish I had been born seventy-five years earlier (and with an obscene amount of money.) (Warning: the site is seriously painful to look at, but the content's good. Link via Coudal.)
comment posted at 11:09 AM on Mar-19-03
comment posted at 1:04 PM on Mar-19-03

2003 Oscar Schwag
comment posted at 9:54 AM on Mar-18-03

You'd better come home, Speedy Gonzalez! Just make sure you never drive through New Rome, the fascist little village Car and Driver said was too far-fetched even for Hollywood. [Via Linkfilter.]
comment posted at 10:14 AM on Mar-14-03

What About Three-Strikes-and-You're-Out for Corporate Criminals? California State Senator Gloria Romero recently introduced a bill that would hold California's law-breaking corporations to the same standard to which the state holds its law-breaking citizens. Three strikes and you're out. (original link from Robotwisdom)
comment posted at 12:50 PM on Mar-8-03

Do you know these men? Recently, the Saint Paul Police Department released a picture online of two suspects who are wanted for an unsolved aggrevated assault case which occurred in December. Nobody who was at the party knew the men. It's fascinating seeing police departments use the Net for modern-day wanted posters. Incidentally, the Saint Paul Police Department also runs the infamous prositution arrest mugshots page.
comment posted at 12:32 PM on Feb-25-03

Korean pop group has "Seoul". Covered in greasepaint and sticking their lips out in exaggerated fashion, Korean girl group, the Bubble Sisters, sing and dance to teenybopper pop in blackface. In homogenous countries, racism seems to play out differently than in diverse countries such as the United States. In Asia, putting on blackface may be seen as a way to pay homage to artists of African ethnicity, but in the U.S. it makes most people cringe and recoil in horror much like hearing someone say the "N" word. The Bubble Sisters profess a love for black music and seek to emulate it, but in their “Bubble Song” video, the group wears blackface while lamenting they are ugly and praying to be pretty for their true loves. Is this an earnest homage to African-American musicians, blatantly offensive Sambo-esque imagery or a cultural misinterpretation of flattery?
comment posted at 3:28 PM on Feb-24-03

Latest musings from Laci Peterson's family: "He's just not around, he's not participating, he's not working together with us." Hmmm. Wonder why. That whole "Somebody hurt Laci. Scott's somebody. Therefore..." thing might have something to do with it. Even if you think he was involved, you've got to admit there's something creepy about accusing a guy of killing his wife and child simply because nobody else has shown up to take the blame.
comment posted at 10:30 AM on Feb-13-03

Bush orders guidelines for cyber-war Is it my old age that makes me wonder what else might be in this secret directive as regards computers and the Net? "First set of rules for attacking enemy computers studied." Perhaps you support the president or you are the enemy (recall: you are with us or against us)....
comment posted at 10:54 AM on Feb-7-03

Do Dogs Have History? For those of you who participated in this discussion a while back (I linked here to the discussion, but be warned the FPP link from that discussion is to a gruesome, sad picture), the author of this book review elucidates many of the reasons why some of us love dogs as much (if not more than?) people. via Robot Wisdom
comment posted at 10:20 AM on Jan-30-03
comment posted at 6:51 PM on Jan-30-03

Japanese Emoticons (*^_^*)
comment posted at 2:00 PM on Jan-29-03

US income distribution moves towards 3rd world profile? - US Census Bureau data on growing family income inequality, 1947 to 2001. Also see: The "L Curve" (for a graphic depiction of current US wealth distribution). "The most egalitarian countries have a Gini index in the 20s. European countries like Germany, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Poland, Norway, and Sweden all fall in that range, according to World Bank figures. Canada and Australia are just over 30. The United States is around 40...Once inequality reaches 50 percent, disparities become glaringly obvious, to the point where they undermine a society's sense of unity and common purpose....Sierra Leone takes the prize. At 63 percent, it offers the world's most extreme example of inequality." By multiple measures, income inequality in the US is rapidly increasing, and a substantial percentage of middle class Americans may be gradually sliding into poverty..
comment posted at 12:02 PM on Jan-15-03