Links posted in July 2005
July 31, 2005
Curious Itchy Red Patches George: Eczema. Can anyone recommend a treatment that works, or indicate what hasn't worked? [more inside]
Colored Smoke Art. by Graham Jeffery. A short description of the method he uses. And another smoke artist, Mark Primavera.
Citizenspook on TreasonGate:
'The controlling law for Treasongate has been greatly ignored by the main stream media and the blogosphere. This article seeks to clarify the controlling law...
The complicated "Intelligence Identities Protection Act" of 1982 which has been exclusively discussed by the media is not controlling. Rove and company may be guilty of violating that act, but prior United States Code statutory law and Federal case law, specifically 18 USC 793 as interpreted by United States v. Morison (and related cases) has been breached and should lead to convictions under the facts known to the public at large. 18 USC 793 provides for a maximum of ten years in prison to those convicted under this statute.'
[more inside]
Natural History Illustrations :::Bibliomaniac is as best I can tell, a Japanese site devoted to displaying 19th century natural history book illustrations. The site includes modest collections of insects, animals, flowers, birds and sea creatures among others. They range from the beautiful to the freaky. There are a couple of pages of not quite so natural histories as well.
English as She is Spoke. By far the worst phrasebook in the world.
July 30, 2005
http://www.stackopolis.com/play/ Build your monuments before the time runs down. Addictive.
The World's Most Efficient Refridgerator? Not sure how practical it is, but it's a cool idea and a great example of the DIY side of energy conservation.
How to make an Ocarina from card
- You will need a sheet of card, a pair of scissors, craft knife or such-like, glue, straight edge or steel ruler, something to cut on, and opposable thumbs. Then you can blow on it and go blooble bloople oopleoooh etc, and annoy everyone for hours on end.
Short-notice NYC MoFi meetup? August 1? [more inside]
Understanding pop music OC Weekly has a helpful critical analysis of “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani. [more inside]
Seductive cow! Bovines envious of all the action the horses have been getting? Here's some ungulate lingerie!
Professed love simultaneously mixed with utter condemnation. Fundamentalism explained by an ex-fundamentalist. [more inside]
Planet X Found! Get the facts and begin saucer boarding procedures. And whatever did happen to good old Niburu?
July 29, 2005
Filthy, funny, flawed, gorgeous Blog made up of brilliant little short short short stories.
"It was a call from her best friend that woke her up. ‘Quick, turn on the telly! There’ve been explosions all over London'. She watched in horror as her beloved city was plunged into chaos. Bodies were retrieved, places cordoned off and a deep sense of shock had taken over.[more inside]
Beans, beans, the musical fruit. At least they are in this DIY instrument. Best appreciated in a work environment with volume to the max.
Happy 6th Annual System Administrator Appreciation Day. "Gift ideas - What to avoid: Promotional marketing gifts (known as "Swag" or "Schwag") with your OWN company's corporate logo on it. I've already got it. When I signed for the box, I opened it and helped myself. I've got plenty of [ CoffeeCups | MousePads | Pens | SweatShirts | NylonJackets | GolfBalls | MemoPads | TeeShirts ] for my whole family."
Adopt a penguin. Since you can't actually buy a penguin, this is the next best thing. You can name your own Magellanic penguin, and have a sign displayed over its burrow. They are not the most threatened species of penguin, but they do face some challenges. [more inside]
Passenger exposes himself on commuter flight. The stewardess offerred him a drink. He showed her he already had nuts. (Via obscurestore) [more inside]
Our blurry Capitol: I was showing my brother-in-law the fly-by coolness of Google Earth when we noticed that the Capitol looked a little pixelated. Took a stroll over to the White House and saw what looks like a really bad photoshopping job. [more inside]
Turnabout is the GreasemonkIE for Internet Explorer I use firefox so I don't care but if you want to remix websites and you cling to Microsoft browsing then there's a way to catch up with the cool kids.
Sheath Cleaning: Have you done your gelding/stallions lately? Check to make sure there are no prospective boyfriends, elderly neighbors, or Brownie troops with a line of sight to the proceedings. Though of course they're probably going to show up unexpectedly ANYWAY once you're in the middle of things. Prepare a good explanation.
Commonplace Books Yale's Beinicke Library has a nice collection of digital images of commonplace books. [more inside]
Curious George - Whom/What do you trust?
I tell friends that there are only a couple of things that I completely trust.
The first being my swiss army knife, the second being the triple AAA (American Automobile Club) and the last being my family. Each of these have never failed me.
There have been a few others that have come close (a 1983 BMW 323i that never seemed to break down, Sony TVs that seemed to last forever, an old mac laptop that wouldn't die, several close friends/girlfriends that haven't been completely honest but whom I love nonetheless) but few that I could put in the pantheon.
Whom or what can you trust, absolutely, without reservation?
The strange story of Napolean's Wallpaper. A curious theory for the source of the arsenic which was later detected in a sample of his hair. [more inside]
July 28, 2005
Blissful Monkey Yoga Our minds are like a wild horse, and the intellect is like a monkey.
CAFTA: The controversial CAFTA passes by two votes. STOP CAFTA! Dr Greger explains CAFTA, world government by global corporations, and its effect on animal welfare, from CAFTA's roots in NAFTA, Fast Track, etc., in 54 minutes of brilliant audio clips.
Curious, George: Good Colocation Host I've been tasked with finding a good colocation host to use as a backup to our web servers... [more inside]
The Pending Banana Apocalypse. Frankenfruit battles The Fungus as traditional banana scientists look on helplessly. Action-packed collectors' first issue!
Home/Life was a project that culminated in a website, book and an exhibition. 121 children (most of them homeless) in eleven cities around the world were given cameras to document the environment in which they live. [more inside]
Worde Up. Trying to make the Canterbury Tales more accesible to schoolchildren, Baba Brinkman has translated them into Hip-Hop. I'm reminded of the South Park episode with the inspirational group "Butt Out." I'd love the see the kid's reactions.
Zombie 4 It's a infection sim/shooter.
Live Journal: The Latest 50 images uploaded & refreshed every minute. Somehow hypnotic, voyeuristic, addictive. Let's just assume that some/all/occasionally these images will be NSFW. Is 1 minute enough?
Speculation is rife that the IRA are due to make a statement winding up their existence as an armed force. The release of Seán Kelly seems to point to an announcement tomorrow. This momentous news may also serve to intoroduce the excellent Slugger O'Toole, a blog on Northern Ireland's politics and culture.
The Massacre of the Cathars at Montsegur. In 1244 a few hundred Cathars held out for 10 months in their mountain fortress against 10,000 soldiers. It was a pretty interesting period in church history. Rome started the Medieval Inquisition in response to the Cathars. And the direct cause of the massacre at Montsegur was the assassination of some Inquisitors at Avignonet by Pierre-Roger de Mirepoix, a dispossessed lord and Cathar who was sort of the main military guy at Montsegur. Although the current ruins on top of Montsegur are from a later period, they are still a striking sight on the granite pog on which they stand. Lots more info about the Cathars here. [more inside]
July 27, 2005
The most passionate dance! Of all the ballroom dances, Argentine Tango may be the most passionate and elegant. (The possible exception being the waltz) Learn a few steps from the rich vocabulary of movement in Tango, and you may never turn back. [more inside]
Maakies, by Tony Millionaire (comic strips)
Limerick
Contest! Fed up with the stories of equine shenaningans? Feast on the delight of bawdy rhyme.
a.k.a. "Hey everybody! Let's put on a show!"
[more inside]
An Unusual Japanese Monastery
"The Jingu is rebuilt every 20 years. This ceremony is called the Shikinensenngu. All the shrines in the Jingu, including the Goshoden, are rebuilt. In other words, the gods can live comfortably in newly built shrines (animation) at a cycle of 20 years."
Sounds ordinary until you find out they've been doing this for 2000 years. And that up to 173,000 people participate.
[more inside]
Robotic hand made from a bit of PVC pipe The owner/creator is a friend of mine and has asked for advice on his new product. I figured my monkey army could help out. Throw some advice this way.
Ogias and the Dragon he Slew
- From the Manichean version of the Book of the Giants, a largely fragmentary book that has been omitted from all editions of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha.
Via Dr Cathey's Blog
[more inside]
Blame Canada!!! Tired of being called "polite" and "boring," Canada starts international incident with Denmark...
Grow RPG. Another cute little game from the people that did Grow. (via dalryaug)
Dark Alliance The late Gary Webb's classic series of articles written in the mid-90s for the San Jose Mercury News, detailing the links between the CIA, crack cocaine and the 'contra' campaign against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua, are now available in full on line again, with added background and documentation.
Tea Culture
Lately I've been spending a lot of time buying and drinking tea. I like both Chinese and Japanese varieties. Here is a pictorial archive of 19th Century Chinese tea production. Japanese tea ceremony instructions and information.
[more inside]
GSAVE! God save us all.
"True story about my bitch wife" ("Jitsuroku Oni-yome Nikki") is one of the most popular blogs in Japan. It is written by a 30-something salaryman under the pseudonym "Kazuma" who documents the minutiae of his hen-pecked life. "His blog is a haven for thousands of male readers who write in to say their lives are just like his. More incredibly, he has many female fans who aspire to be just like his wife." Life may sound tough for this poor fellow, but he's making some serious yen off his blog ... and now book. Another Japanese blogger, who blogs in English, has written a little more about poor Kazuma in an entry here.
July 26, 2005
Curious George: I'm hungry, dammit. What's your favourite sandwich? I feel my sandwich-making skills are lacking.
Desperate George - What the hell happened to my mac? I have a dual 2gig G5 with 1.5 gigs of RAM and two 250gig internal hard drives running 10.4. I was asked to bring it into work since my partner whom I work with doing video graphics for a television show had his laptop crash. He was using the dual G5 while I was using my iBook. Then suddenly the maching that he was working on started to speak announcing every click of the mouse, every keyboard stroke. [more inside]
People and travel. [more inside]
Microsoft has a google-style map site too. The only difference is that in Bill's world, Apple doesn't exist. Dun dun dunnnnnn...
Canadian feds investigating links between Viagara and blindness. Whaddaya know -- your mother was right. You WILL go blind. [more inside]
Dance Dance Immolation Straight outta Black Rock City!
When Microsoft Flight Simulator's not enough. Some guys in L.A. built a 737 simulator in a home garage. Scroll from bottom to top on the updates page to watch three years of progress as panels, avionics, visual collimators, and other gadgets get added.
The kittens have returned. Along with the Spongmonkeys. Joel Veitch's video for the song "I'm Gonna Flip Out Like A Ninja" by 7 Seconds of Love, containing a flashback through other familiar clips. Really... the only thing better than Viking Kittens must be Ninja Kittens. Appropriately silly flash, SFW. (via Screenhead.) [more inside]
I am the Walrus Coo-coo-catchoo! [more inside]
Truthmapping. If you've been active in any of the political (or other) threads that attempt debate around here with varying degrees of success - perhaps this format is for you. via
Classical Midi Archives is a repository of 34,000+ free classical MIDI files. It rocks, so to speak. [more inside]
World Jump Day is less than a year away, and they don't have nearly enough people signed up yet! [more inside]
This Dream Dictionary
may help you work out what your dreams mean.
[more inside]
Curious George: Tell me something I don't know. [more inside]
Jihadi's guide to sneaking into Iraq
- a new guide posted on the net tells would-be terrorists the best way into the Land of Two Rivers. It establishes much of the truth of strategies used by jihadis in their mission to make Iraq a never-ending war for the US military and Iraqi civilians. "Indeed, dozens of the suicide bombers have been identified as having come from foreign countries -- most of them from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria -- and the number of foreign fighters in Iraq may number in the thousands."
Via Robot Wisdom
Elena Filatova update
You probably know Elena Filatova from her purported motorcycle trip, "Ghost Town", in the area around Chernobyl, Ukraine. You may know of her revisit and her follow up to that story, "Chernobyl - Land of the Wolves". But, she also has newer* entries online.
*It's hard to determine the chronology since most of the journaling is done sans date stamps.
[more inside]
The Differences Slavery Made A comparison of two communities near the Mason-Dixon Line "designed to isolate the role of slavery in shaping societies of similar location and histories", "an applied experiment in digital scholarship".
Perhaps the greatest disaster in the history of rocketry occurred in 1960, at Baikonur Cosmodrome, during the test of a new ICBM, the R16, when the second stage accidentally ignited while sitting on the launch pad, rupturing the fuel tank of the 1st stage below it and causing a huge fireball that incinerated about 100 personnel who were on the launch pad. The Western world would not learn of this incident until James Oberg, an expert on the Soviet space program, pieced it together from various stories and rumors he heard coming out of the USSR in the early 80s. More here.
July 25, 2005
Images from Iceland contains some nice pictures of Iceland [more inside]
Overheard in Dublin Current favourite
Scientists have found the world's oldest dildo. Proof that women have had trouble finding an adequate man for 28,000 years.
Wow! As in Wow Cards From the fertile mind of Ian Rowland comes these amazing topographic/artistic curiosities. [more inside]
[insert enemy target here]
Why bother getting real quotes from real Iraqis when you can just make one up, even though it's in pure military jargon, and attribute it repeatedly to "an unidentified Iraqi?"
Also spotted on the blue, but posted here in the hopes of engendering less sniping and snark and encouraging intelligent discourse.
[more inside]
A cell phone just for her.
"At Samsung, we acknowledge the unique individuality of every modern woman in this society and have thus created the Egèo that will meet her every needs.... Just for the Ladies - Pink Schedule, Calories Calculator, Bio Rhythm, Fatness Indicator".
Cadillac Man
is "homeless." He had 10 pages of his writing recently featured in Esquire magazine. Sometimes you never know where life will take you...
[Second link has the entire Esquire piece for free]
[more inside]
Whale eats squid! In puppet form! [more inside]
The Family Guy Movie - Stewie: The Untold Story
won't be out til September 27th, on DVD.
But you can watch it in a few hours, if you have BitTorrent. :)
TorrentSpy link.
The Pirate Bay tracker link.
I would go with TPB because the first one might get taken down. :)
Gentlemen, start your engines.
GM crops created superweed, say scientists - the stupid fucking assholes.
Curious George
I'm running a day camp all this week. It's french immersion, and is centered around doing activities and arts and crafts which educate and inform the participants about a local endangered species. Hopefully in the end, we'll create a great big hand painted sign to be installed near this animal's habitat.
One of the kids is blind, and has limited motor function. I'm bad enough around kids as it is...how can I make this a fun camp for him, without insulting his intelligence or making him feel left out? (He's roughly 13 or so.)
Nicholas Murray Butler is a Horses Ass.
(The good part starts at the 6th paragraph, that begins: One of his former students ...). More info here.
July 24, 2005
Interesting noises from your head
Various free teach-yourself links to making odd noises. Teach yourself Tuvan throat-singing!
Learn to yodel.
Put your lips together and blow!
Try a little scat.
Dabble in ventriloquism.
Try your hand at the finger flute.
Apologies to librarians everywhere.
Free Sex with coupon!!! A German magazine has sold out all its copies after advertising a free sex session at a brothel in Austria. A little one-off newsfiltery thing, but irrestible nonethless. via Huffpo
Alpha Mom (The Martha Stewart of Parenting). With the right planning, resources, and work ethic, you can, too, be a perfect and fulfilled woman, raising a perfect and happy child. "It’s not like everyone doesn’t want the best for their child, but to me, it seems people these days have a more professional attitude toward raising their children. A lot of it is very intellectually thought-out and very scheduled, almost like they have a business plan for their children.” Isabel.... would later describe the typical member of this breed as, “you know, the maven of mommyhood, the leader of the pack.... Definitely dominant." (via a little pregnant)
The History of the Fashion Bathing Suit
Bathing is a sport
Enjoyed by great and small
In suits of any sort
Though better none at all
[Anonymous, 19th-century poem]
The most psychedelic car brochure ever created was for the 1968 Mazda 110S, otherwise known as the Cosmo Sport. The graphic artist was apparently Tadanori Yokoo before he moved into fine art. Sgt Pepper meets Top Gear. This is a keeper.
Retiring Chimps (NYT-reg.)
Curious George: Remembering the dotcom era. What are your memories of the dotcom era? Did the boom of those years affect you directly? Was life better for you back then? Did the times seem more optimistic? (granted, there wasn't all this 9/11 stuff) [more inside]
Peter Maxwell Davies
is one of our most prolific contemporary composers and he has a pretty good website to boot.
[more inside]
Catholic dissent over mystery of the pregnant Madonnas - Italian architect and author Renzo Manetti has a theory connecting a mysterious symbolic theme in western art to the suppression of the secretive Knights Templar order, the implications stirring criticism from a sensitive Roman Catholic church.
Some proposed Space Rescue systems.
My favorite system is the
MOOSE, which allows a single astronaut to bail out in space, fire a rocket to head towards Earth, and survive re-entry in a foam cocoon!
[more inside]
July 23, 2005
More than just eye candy. The exhibition has been in Birmingham a while now, and includes a tactile display for the blind as well. Each photograph is coupled with some information on the plight of the abjectly poor in Third World countries.
The next fifteen minutes will destroy you. That's how long it takes to complete this game. But it will utterly destroy the rest of your life. Kinda like Borges' Zahir. Now don't say I never do anything for you.
"As we may think" This has not been a scientist's war; it has been a war in which all have had a part. The scientists, burying their old professional competition in the demand of a common cause, have shared greatly and learned much. It has been exhilarating to work in effective partnership. Now, for many, this appears to be approaching an end. What are the scientists to do next? [more inside]
Mr. Floaty, the seven-foot-tall poo, wants to educate us about sewage treatment. -- via BoingBoing
Patent Pending
Not everyone is :).
Some people are :-(.
Personally, I am >:|
Himmler's Fortress of Fear - Rumours of prominent Nazis' involvement with the occult have persisted for decades. Fortean Times unearths the truth behind SS-Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler's vision of an ancient and noble Aryan prehistory that verified the superiority of the Master Race.
The Chatterbot collection contains links to hundreds of chat bots available on the internet [more inside]
Imaging the French Revolution. Seven scholars present essays analysing images of the crowd and violence in revolutionary France. via AHR. Flash required for image comparison tool.
EVERYONE POOPS is a kid's book that demonstrates a fact of life and a true Zen saying.
The White Hawk was a jet-powered hydrofoil built in the early fifties by Frank and Stella Hanning-Lee to beat the world speed record on water. It had a Rolls Royce Derwent jet engine capable of producing 6000 horsepower, which was possibly enough to get the relatively small aluminum boat airborne. Yet, as far as we know, the boat never actually went faster than 70-80mph. Simon Lewis (author of the above link) thinks he knows why: cavitation off the foils. As you read the story, you wonder how much the Hanning-Lee's knew of their boat's flaw as they were starting to get desperate to raise money to continue their quest for the record. [more inside]
July 22, 2005
Jose Francisco Borges (he signs his work as J. Borges)is an artist from northeastern Brazil who makes woodcut prints and publishes cordels (a local type of chapbook). His work has been displayed in many places, and at the age of 70 has recently started dabbling in sculpture. [more inside]
CIA Gains Powers In Ireland
US INVESTIGATORS, including CIA agents, will be allowed interrogate Irish citizens on Irish soil in total secrecy, under an agreement signed between Ireland and the US last week.
Suspects will also have to give testimony and allow property to be searched and seized even if what the suspect is accused of is not a crime in Ireland.
[more inside]
Curious Monkey: The Pain and Suffering of Garnishment My paycheck is being garnished. What are my options? What are your experiences? Any recommendations?
Inaugural edition of our new time, effort and money-saving exposé on DVDs!
"[I]f you bought a movie upon its initial release only to discover that another tricked-out version was scheduled for distribution, we're going to save you the time, trouble and most importantly expense of finding out the hard way which set is better."
from ign.com
For when you absolutely, positively must dress up as Indiana Jones
The evil deeds of the Queen's favorite. Is this the first example of a (political) blog/character assassination? [more inside]
Early Stuart Libels is a web-based collection of early 17th century satirical poems such as The Parliament Fart. Navigation and search facilities leave something to be desired, I'm afraid. Try 'Quick Contents'.
Trash Talkin' at the Aquarium. An offering from the Science Creative Quarterly. Many pieces including Asperagus, Stinky Pee, and Scientific Curiosity and African Lion Family Objects to Their Portrayal in Recent Discovery Channel Documentary.
The Ryugyong "Hotel" in Pyongyang, North Korea is 330 meters (1,083 ft) tall. It has lain empty and unfinished since 1992, just a big ugly crumbling concrete hulk with no windows. No matter where you are in Pyongyang, you can't miss it, it bestrides the city like a colossus. [more inside]
Rock Gods of Rock! ^_^ (via) generally SFW until the ending rock song [more inside]
July 21, 2005
Ferrari
= Red car with a horse
(silly link of the day)
The Forgotten Technology Could this be how the Pyramids were built? Perhaps the key to Coral Castle? A fun read, either way.
Architect Studio 3D
from the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust allows you to design your own house, and view/comment on other people's designs.
Intro (skippable) requires Flash.'The Design Studio and Design Gallery require a fairly fast computer (preferably 1 Ghz or faster processor)' as well as Shockwave, and 'will look and perform much better if you have a 64MB or better graphics card'.
Hillary Clinton You F&^^%$ing Idiot With the war in Iraq, terrorists attacking London, Rove under fire, etc etc etc, the Democrat with the biggest name recognition in the Senate has decided to focus her attention on... Grand Theft Auto sex mods. [more inside]
Death to all pitt bulls! Denver is taking any dog that looks like a pit bull away from its owners and euthanizing it. While I am horrified by the terrible mauling stories that are in the news, I have also known several pit bulls who were wonderful dogs, great fun to be around, and never once made me feel unsafe. [more inside]
Red Gold: the epic story of blood
We have pissed in our beds.
And more bawdy graffiti from Pompeii. Some things never change. Caveat lector :)
TV Tropes & Idioms - Frequently used plots and devices.
Canada has the Royal Assent. Gay marriage is now the law. [more inside]
July 20, 2005
Sexy Robots... yet another boring self post from sexyrobot.
He's dead, Jim R.I.P. Scotty
Coloribus Stock of Durex Condom Adverts
I suppose these are somewhat NSFW. Nothing overt though. More the thinking person's free association filth, if anything.
Only once in every 18.6 years, the northernmost moon rise of its cycle lines up with the axis of the earthen mounds in southern Ohio.
2000 years ago, Native Americans constructed circular and octagonal mounds, or earthworks, near what is now Newark Ohio. Astronomer Ray Hively and philosopher Robert Horn looked for reasons why the mounds and walls were built and oriented in this way.
[more inside]
Curious, George: Embed flash file How do I embed a flash flip book into a blog? [more inside]
Studies: Most foreign fighters didn't wage terror before Iraq war. New investigations by the Saudi Arabian government and an Israeli think tank — both of which painstakingly analyzed the backgrounds and motivations of hundreds of foreigners entering Iraq to fight the United States — have found that the vast majority of them are not former terrorists and became radicalized by the war. [more inside]
Glossary of medieval art and architecture. Click on each word to see illustrative graphic. There are more images here, and a Gothic glossary with more stuff here.
Google Moon I dare you to zoom all the way in.
Man dies from injuries incurred from sex with horse
Worse, it's not an isolated incident. Not even close.
The "40-acre farm where investigators found hundreds of hours of videotape depicting men, including the one who died, having sex with horses" in Enumclaw, Washington where this took place will probably not even be charged with anything, even though they dropped the dead man off at the local hospital post-mortem.
Not that I don't think this guy didn't have it coming.
[more inside]
23 Questions with Robert Anton Wilson
- No wife, no horse, no mustache.
Via Everything isn't Under Control
Lebowski Fest this weekend.
I've been informed a handful of Metafiltristes are showing up here in Louisville for the real original Lebowskifest this weekend; the Metatalk thread with contact info is here, just in case some Monkeys didn't read it. Maybe y'all can do a joint Mofi/Mefi meetup around it, at which I might show up.
The Ballad of Polly and Wally A brilliant mock-up of current polyamory trends. Embedded QT movie. NSFW!!!!!! [more inside]
Emily was a Donut Dolly with the Red Cross in Vietnam. A Donut Dollies' job was to organize and provide recreation for the soldiers. They played games, sang songs, and sat and talked to the soldiers. Emily shares some of her pictures and writings about her experience there: The time the VC landed a direct hit on the Dong Tam ammo dump, a fatigued soldier, flying around by helicopter, the architecture, and kids. [more inside]
July 19, 2005
The Onion-O-Matic Courtesy the now-defunct but still quite funny website, Humor Is Dead.
Fashion Design: Have you ever thought that fashion design has got stuck in a rut? Architecture, Industrial Design and the car industry combine new materials and technologies with aesthetics to create objects with form and function, while fashion apes the designs of the past or creates baroque monstrosities
Curious George - Supreme Contest
Who will George pick tonight as the next supreme court justice?
Winner will receive a box of wonderment as a prize. If multiple monkeys pick the same winner, a run-off will be held to determine the ultimate winner. Good Luck!
Make my PC and MAC love War3 together My powerbook won't play Warcraft III with my friend's PC on a wireless LAN. Anyone?
Seems like a slow day, so I'll post this.
"The Options Institute provides training on how to manage risk in an increasingly complex marketplace through the use of effective options strategies.", provided by the CBOE, in addition to quotes, research, a glossary, etc. Included are Online Tutorials and Online Courses.
[more inside]
That New, Old Interface Every once in a while, designers turn back the clock and give something another try. Exhibit A: the Fold n' Drop interface for sorting through computer files. Exhibit B: the book radio, which is exactly what it sounds like. Are these paper metaphors suitable for what they've been used for? Could or should they be extended into other areas?
Curious George: Computer security. Can anyone point me to a geeky resource that shows all the points to hit for hardenening a personal Windows 2000 computer from exploits? [more inside]
The hunt for #928.
In 1967, an A-12 blackbird crashed in the Nevada desert on its return to the Groom Lake airbase. Almost 30 years later, Tom Mahood set out to find the crash site. It's a story of modern archaeology that has top secret black titanium spy-planes, codenamed compatriots, CIA coverup stories, FOIA requests, and some great detectiving. Plus, he sinks his truck.
[more inside]
Odiferous George: The smell of rot wafts from my neighbor's woodshed... [more inside]
Strange, Beautiful Little Ballad This is a bit overly gothed out for me... but I like the idea of a long running internet comic, and the simple art blows me away.
July 18, 2005
Conquerous George Okay, so I've decided to take over my back garden and declare it as an independent state. I haven't decided on the name yet; Finnegestan, maybe, or Piss Off. Anyhoo, I was wondering how I'd go about getting my country internationally recognised. I want the whole shebang: tea with Chirac, talks late into the night about drilling rights, discussion about the fishing boundaries in that little pond at the end. Is there someone I need to talk to about this? Some list I need to add my name onto? How do I go about joining the UN? And do I get any additional rights in England as a sovereign of another country, should I decide to sometimes leave mine to get some groceries or something?
Flash Flipbook Fun DIY flash based flip books to share. [more inside]
MoFi meetup weekend party It's a house-party meetup in Southern Ontario, the weekend of August 5th through 7th. [more inside]
Teletext porn For those times that C64 porn just isn't lo-fi enough [more inside]
As you are aware, catching birds is our highest priority. Monday Flash fun - two cats discover flight to pursue their interest in ornithology. The instructions made me laugh.
The die is cast, you will cut the mustard or face the music
.
What say you?
The story of a Cambodian girl named S'kun (a/k/a Srei Kor, "deaf mute woman" in Khmer). She is a girl who was sniffing glue and living on the streets of Phnom Penh, when she was noticed by an expat American photographer. I think the five part story he wrote about her is very much well worth the read. (As is the rest of his site: Tales of Asia). [more inside]
July 17, 2005
This is the strangest example of internet collaboration. You visit the site. You 'get' it. You submit your own oo. It goes on and on.
Bjork at 40
Some Bjork videos & interviews.
This is the dumbest, most pretentious thing I have ever seen.
Curious George
My Google-fu has failed me. I have a bunch of mp3s on my harddrive that I want to burn on cd, and I want the cd to play on regular players. I find all sorts of programs to do this on a PC, but none for my 10.2.8 OSX ass...
Help?
The Pre-Raphaelites, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Frederick Sandys and Ford Madox Brown, among others. Their beginnings, and their varied faces. [more inside]
J. Ralph: Ad Tune Master Millions of people listen to J. Ralph's music, yet he's far from a household name. (Link goes to "All Things Considered" interview, with other good stuff, like three full-length songs from his new CD, and links to his website) [more inside]
The Forgery Indictments and Biblical Archaeology Review
- Learning from Hindsight.
Via Ralph the Sacred River
The tragic story of the Lady Be Good. This WWII B24 bomber was lost in 1943 over the harsh Libyan desert hundreds of miles south of its base, due to a simple navigational error. As their plane ran out of fuel, believing they were still over the Mediterranean, the nine crewmen bailed out wearing their Mae West life preservers ...
Do a search on eBay for "monkeyfilter" [more inside]
July 16, 2005
40 things that only happen in the movies. I'd like to add one more: many, if not most of the people in many movies smoke cigarettes and no one ever notices, or objects. The smokers never ask permission either.
Stratellite blimp, floating at 65,000 ft, may allow WiFi in cars and in rural areas that DSL doesn't reach. The first airship underwent trials a few months ago, according to press releases. Whether Sanswire can field the blimps remains sketchy, but with crowding and latency problems on satellites and telcos doing little to reach the boonies, this technology may hold promise.
Fantastic, Mysterious, and Adventurous Victoriana - Fiction and stuff from the Victorian Era. Sort of links with this MoFi post. [more inside]
The Desert and I: A Study in Affinity. The geographer Yi-Fu Tuan explains why "Of all the places I have lived in, without doubt the one for which I have the greatest affinity is the desert." (This is for desert-lovin' un- and comes to you courtesy of wood s lot.)
middleclas tool is making a movie and blogging the process. [more inside]
Digital George: Help with hard drives. I have ~100 GB of music to transfer from a Windows computer to an orphaned 160 GB HD. I want to get an enclosure for the 160 GB hard drive and use it as an external drive on an iBook that I plan to buy next time Apple updates the line. What are my options? [more inside]
Lost in the Sahara , the story of Captain Bill Lancaster. In 1933, Lancaster set out to make a record breaking solo flight from England to South Africa in a very small plane, his Avro Avian. Twenty-nine years later his journal of his last 8 days alive was found by a French army motorized desert patrol in an area of the Sahara the Bedouins call The Land of Thirst. [more inside]
Lost in Translation: a journey to Yezdinar village in Iraq.
E.S. Drower traveled and wrote about Yezidi customs in 1941, producing the book Peacock Angel.
Yezidis, worshippers of Melek Ta'us The Peacock Angel, have been persecuted as "satanists" because of the parallel between the fall of Melek Ta'us from grace and the fall of Lucifer. To the Yezidis Melek Ta'us repaired relations with God long ago, and is probably best described as a benevolent demiurge.
[more inside]
July 15, 2005
Fragrance for your belly button.
Jessica Simpson is concerned about how your navel smells.
-- via Pop Culture Junk Mail
[more inside]
All your parrot news in one place. Covering news on endangered, threatened, and feral parrots. [more inside]
Don't they teach kids ethics anymore? When I went through school, they taught us a little something about ethics. Between Tom Delay Jr here and our own experience with moooshy I'm starting to wonder if this was the exception rather than the rule.
Two TVs for the price of two.
What a breakthrough.
"Sharp Corp. has developed a liquid-crystal display that shows totally different images to people viewing the screen from the left and the right."
[more inside]
Musical Beans on a grid with insturments... Friday flash fun. Warning, the whole point is to make musical noise. Kinda like the old pipe game where you had to guide water around a grid with pipes you can move and turn, but with pipes, musical colored beans, and instruments instead.
Pooooooofs! After such an exhausting week, here's a soft-and-fluffy visit with more of MoFi's favorite animal mascots. Apologies ahead of time for annoying Geocities URL
The zombie dots have evolved!
"You're a citizen of Malton, a city that's in the process of being evacuated and quarantined to contain an unspecified contagion..." Like you don't already know that means 'brains on toast' is the hip new breakfast trend. (via robotwisdom.)
[more inside]
Unborn babies carry pollutants Unborn babies in the United States are soaking in a stew of chemicals, including mercury, gasoline byproducts and pesticides, according to a report released yesterday. . . "If ever we had proof that our nation's pollution laws aren't working, it's reading the list of industrial chemicals in the bodies of babies who have not yet lived outside the womb". . . [more inside]
Curious George: Traffic Tickets and Points
I received two different traffic violations last year when I lived in NY and had a NY license. I live in CT and have a CT license now. If a NY driver gets a traffic ticket in other states and pleads guilty, the points that would go on an in-state license don't transfer. The driver can plead guilty, pay the fee, and go back home to NY. Since CT DMV is difficult to navigate, here are my questions:
Does CT have a point penalty system for their in-state drivers?
If so, what is CT's policy on transfer of points?
How would the monkeys here approach this problem?
Thanks in advance for any info!
Artefacts
from the ancient kingdoms of Qataban, Himya, and Saba (biblical Sheba)
Flash: click the picture on the right
After a tough week, heres some Friday Fun Launch gonzo from the cannon into the bucket o'water. 'tis fun me hearties!
Mashups! Something over 700 mashups available for your listening pleasure at goodblimey.com. Unfortunately, you can't leech 'em anymore, since the bandwidth was exceeded in a matter of days when they were available for download. Lots of good stuff here for a wide variety of tastes. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go dance around to Rockafeller Rocket Shack.
The Power of Nightmares , by Adam Curtis, is now available online. [more inside]
When it comes to winning or even making the shortlist of prizes in fiction, poetry, art, architecture and music, women fare poorly. Why? Are professional women artists less talented than their male colleagues or are women simply being denied equal opportunity? [more inside]
Picture Australia
A vast repository of digital images from a large number of libraries, archives, museums, galleries & universities. There are more than a million images accessible.
It all started with some spiderwebs. [more inside]
Database of inflight incidents (via FAA/NASDAC). Pilots and flight attendents can get immunity from FAA sanctions by filing an report. Colorful searching shows not just technical reports that help improve safety, but bizarre incidents involving nude sunbathers, drunk passengers, and crew falling asleep. (more) [more inside]
In 1895, Sven Hedin
, a Swedish explorer inspired by tales of lost cities under the sand, trekked across China's forbidding Takla-makan desert (meaning Place Of No Return). He barely survived, and over half of his party perished, including his problematic guide, nicknamed Yollchi, the pointer of the way. The Takla-makan is the second largest desert in the world, but it may still be hard to find.
Marathon's Story. Huge, aging Mac nerds need only click on this link. Wow. "In addition to these questions is the question - who is communicating this message to us? The first line is typical of Leela "Your last mission was a success, but I have terrible news". The reference to your last mission is presumably the clearing of the Engineering Section of Pfhor to prevent them from detonating a bomb (Shake Before Using...). If you had successfully completed the earlier level "Bob-B-Q" you would have received the following message from Leela..."
Magical Musical Mayhem A delighfully whimsical interactive Flash program that invites you to create your own ambient music contraption. Addictive and enchanting. Via Waxy
Curious, But Not For Long
Monkey-Bashi, Ma'am:
One of the things they teach you in Tech Writing School is that as soon as you tell a user how to get into the application, it's manners to tell the user how to get out of the application.
So, where in the so numerous and far-flung MonkeyFilter instructions do you explain how to unsubscribe from MinkeyFilter?
And while you are poking about in there, you might have a go at reading your own instructions. It seems you haven't visited them for awhile.
Don't mention it, Augh and smallishbear. Glad to oblige you.
Curious George, Undergrad Edition: So, on July 31st, I'm breaking my piggy banks and heading up to the University of Montreal for a certain physics conference. It's my first academic conference and I've never been up to Uni of Montreal, so I've got some questions. [more inside]
July 14, 2005
Spaceweather PHONE is an astronomy alert service from the creators of Spaceweather.com. When auroras appear over your hometown, your phone will ring. When the space station is about to fly over your back yard, your phone will ring. When planets align ... you get the idea. Costs money. But could be useful.
Curious George: My grandfather, who hates most everything, turns 80 this week and I have no idea what to get him. [more inside]
Daily Jigsaw I have no idea how many of you already know about this, but the puzzles are decent, and you can adjust the difficulty level. They amuse me, thought I'd share.
Jei Atacama, Healer, and Doctor of Oriental Medicine brings you Atacama Healing Water! That's right, for a mere US $64, you too can imbibe 16 ounces of water that has been spiritually empowered. [more inside]
WockyJivvy encourages attempts to get truly bad poetry published in anthologies. An excerpt from one selected as a finalist for publication in the National Library of Poetry: "My cat is chewing on her butt;/It makes me think she is a nut./I try to drown the fleas in spray;/They jump and shout and just yell "Hey!"
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) , adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women. Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination. [more inside]
Happy Birthday Blue! As mentioned here, here, here, here, sort of here, kinda here, here, here, [more inside]
Apparently Karl Rove talked to more than just Time and New York Times reporters
This guy reckons the 'gas model' of the Sun is wrong and that it has a 'hard and rigid ferrite surface' below the photosphere. Whaaaaaaat??
Allons enfants de la Patrie, Le jour de Gloire est arrivé. Words, sheet music, history of La Marseillaise. [more inside]
Biting the hand that feeds you. Not for the faint of heart.
July 13, 2005
A pictorial survey of uniforms worn by British schoolboys over the years
Zoroastrians in Iran A BBC pictorial around the Zoroastrian community of Iran.
The Treasures of the Library at NOAA The Treasures of the Library album and collection has been developed to share images from rare and unusual books that reside within the NOAA Central Library. [more inside]
Abused children of Angola - Exorcisms carried out to rid children of Kindoki. A BBC report, sparked by a recent case in London. [more inside]
Ride to Work Day
All you Momo riding monkeys, July 20th is the 14th Annual Ride Your Bike to Work Day! At least if you're not hardcore like the rest of us and ride at least 10 months out of the year.
[more inside]
Fabio After Dark! Listen up men, and listen up good. If you want to score with the ladies, the special ladies, there's only one way to go about it... if you want to open the lock to their hearts, then consider Fabio to be the key. Fabio is a muscular man of mystery. . . Sure, you could pick up one of the many, many, many romance novels that he's appeared on the cover of... But if you really want to get into the mind of this Italian inamorato, you need to hear his thoughts on love straight from his pulpy lips. Yes, Fabio recorded an album called "After Dark," and while you may not see it on TRL anytime soon, it boggles my mind why it hasn't become the #1 selling album in the history of the world . . . via Linkfilter
MYPETCAMS is the world’s first website that lets you use your webcam to watch your pet from any computer in the world for FREE! Which, of course, begs the question: Do you really want to know what your pets do while you're at work?
WorldCom's Ebbers Gets 25 Years in Prison
Bernard Ebbers, who as the once-swaggering CEO of WorldCom oversaw the largest corporate fraud in U.S. history, wept in court Wednesday after a judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison — the toughest sentence yet in the string of recent corporate scandals.
[Yahoo!News] I know it's newsfilter, but I couldn't find an appropriate thread to post it to.
Interview with Frank Herbert from 1969 - Long, but for me at least, rather interesting. Subject: the novels Dune and Dune Messiah. Vous l'apprécierez, ou vous ne pouvez pas.
How to trim squirrel's teeth
.
"If you have a wild squirrel that comes in with overgrown teeth, here is one way to trim them without anesthesia with simple at home tools." Complete with some sample before and after shots.
[more inside]
James Jean (might be NSFW) is an artist whose work I really enjoy. [more inside]
July 12, 2005
Seriously Curious (or Curiously Serious) Where does one post recipes and such if one can't self-link? The raw material is in season, and now's the time to make it if you're going to.
Beginner's Guide to Podcast Creation You'll need a small combination of hardware and software in order to create your own recordings, and in this iPod 101 tutorial, we'll walk through the different elements you need to create a simple podcast, from computer and microphone through to the finished product. [more inside]
First action-adventure for your cell phone. "Go underground with Jenny Jet as she investigates the truth about the alien/government conspiracy. Featuring alien Greys, Reptoids, the Feds, and other unsavory characters. Get text alerts from Jenny as she uncovers extraterrestrial installations, biogentic labs, and the coming alien conflict. Invading your cell phone this Fall!"
Whitehouse Press Corps grilling McClellan Yesterday, Scott McClellan held a press conference at the Whithouse. The Press grilled that SOB on the recent reveleation that Karl Rove is most likely the person who leaked to the press that Joe Wilson's wife was a CIA agent. Not surprisingly, McClellan said nothing.
"SCIENTISTS have been warned that their latest experiments may accidently produce monkeys with brains more human than animal."
" In cutting-edge experiments, scientists have injected human brain cells into monkey fetuses to study the effects. Critics argue that if these fetuses are allowed to develop into self-aware subjects, science will be thrown into an ethical nightmare."
[more inside]
Using a cell phone — even a hands-free one — while driving
quadruples the risk of getting into a crash with serious injuries, a study finds.
[more inside]
The power of this guy's dad impels you ... [more inside]
Archaelogical finds at Jinsha in China provide more evidence about the sophisticated but previously unknown culture revealed by earlier discoveries at Sanxingdui.
Lego Turing Machine. You know, that thing. Principles. The Turing machine was an abstract machine devised in 1936 by Alan Turing to give a mathematically precise definition of an algorithm or 'mechanical procedure'. In other words he formalised the concept of the algorithm. He was also dead sexy.
Did you know that Republicans were the party of troop withdrawal? Neither did I. Good for President Bush to do the right thing by removing our troops from harm's way. It shows true leadership and courage to stand up to those damn warmongering Democrats, who ought to be taught a lesson in the 2006 midterm elections if you ask me. If they didn't want the blood of eighteen hundred of our brave sons and daughters on their pretty little hands, didn't want to butcher them in a foreign desolate land, didn't want them to die for obscure reasons and an ill-defined end, didn't want to commit treason in other words... well, they should have voted against the Iraq War Resolution. But they didn't. They are the reason your friends and relatives are dying in that quagmire, and by God they will regret that resolution. I say, in 2006, vote for the party that wants our troops to return home safely. Vote for the party that will get them out of this misbegotten war. Vote for the true patriots. Vote Republican!
Better than Berlinner The Germans have a sense of humor. I think. [more inside]
July 11, 2005
Vietnamese Writer Won't Be Silenced Ms. Huong's novels are not openly political, but their leitmotif is the disillusionment of people trapped by a fate beyond their control.
Scientific Study of Consciousness-Influence on Random Physical Events.
Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research.
'The observed effects are usually quite small, of the order of a few parts in ten thousand on average, but they are statistically repeatable and compound to highly significant deviations from chance expectations.'
On the quantum level, a small effect can have dramatic overall consequences. Interesting.
"Moving Mannequins was established to fulfill the demand for an extremely lifelike display mannequin, which when coupled with movement, stimulates emotion and draws excited attention to the display." Eeeerie.
Space Shuttle Discovery is set to launch Wednesday. If all goes well, the shuttle should launch at 3:51 ET. [more inside]
Curious George: Alternative Singapore Tour. Off to Singapore on Thursday. 2nd trip there. First one bog standard touristy. However I make a lousy tourist. Guidebooks have been reread and Google links pursued. Am I destined to sit by a pool for a week? Or are there some quirky places/things to see? [more inside]
The Neanderthal genome
is to be reconstructed. They have already had some success at sequencing Neanderthal proteins: John Hawks reckons they most probably have DNA sequences already.
Incidentally, we have a better idea of what the Neanderthals looked like thanks to a 'Frankenstein' reconstruction.
July 10, 2005
Have you ever played Tom Baker or Normal? Give it a go. I particularly enjoy the extended version of Tom Baker, Steptoe, Blakey or Normal, which I play against my wife and cat, neither of whom know wtf I'm on about. Gleefully, I laugh, as my Steptoe is unsurpassable.
Zoho Mechanical Man: 920 handmade bronze & stainless steel parts, 85 of which are moveable. 43cm high weighing 6kg with a magnetic base. I want one!! (flash)
Curious George: International calls
My boyfriend is in Argentina for a couple months. What's the best way of calling him? Calling cards? my own cell phone? my land line?
He is purchasing a temporary cell phone for use while he's down there, if that has any bearing on your response.
July 09, 2005
Curious Flats: as the dust settles in London, where can my friend? [more inside]
Jumping the Wall Danny Way jumped over the Great Wall of China 4 times on his skateboard, becoming the first person to jump the wall without a motorized vehicle. While I agree this is not really worthy of a FPP, I think the fact that the article mentions that China has a Minister of Extreme Sports does. I wonder how you say "Dude!" in Chinese?
Make the Web Mobile With IYHY Because the vast majority of companies and sites will never take the time or spend the money to make their sites "mobile friendly".
The Ultimate 78 Collector - 'The very term "folk music" rankles him: The music he worships was made by professionals -- backwoods or no -- and released on commercial records that were revolutionary in their day. He dismisses Dylan as "shit," but then again he despises all forms of rock 'n' roll, which to him is no more than the cuss-word verb of its original meaning, a blues double-entendre for fucking... [more inside]
-
It's a weekend. MoFi addicts need a fix. How about a THEME? Lost and Found: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5*
*Site mentioned previously (briefly) discussed here.
See also: Object Not Found. (Feel free to add links to your "lost and found" related sites.) Discuss.
Planarity. (flash) Move the circles so the lines don't cross. [more inside]
July 08, 2005
China invades! Anyone else paying attention to Chinese National Offshore Oil Company's bid to take over U.S. energy giant UNOCAL? [more inside]
Cot death warning Is it just me, or is this a flawed article? The study reveals that infants that die of crib death tend to have slept in the same bed as their parent on the night they died. Is it possible that they slept with their parents because the child was fussy because they were sick in some way! There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding of correlation and causality here.
Can you build an 'ancient death ray' ? "We're looking for viewers to participate in an upcoming special episode of MythBusters. All you need to do is construct and test an experiment you've designed and send it to us on videotape. ... Category 2: To build a full-scale replica of Archimedes' mirror capable of igniting the target at a minimum distance of 100 feet." [more inside]
Live8 Concert videos. Friday video goodness. If you missed it, here it is: video footage of all of the concerts broken down by artist. Click, enjoy.
Bacteria
from deep sediments and at pressures greater than 1,000 atmospheres produce a super-concentrated methane ice containing huge reserves of energy. When this becomes unstable in the Bermuda Triangle area it causes an explosive mixture of air and methane above. Ships or planes sink or catch fire.
Seriously.
This Player Sucks! "We are SICK of overpaid athletes giving poor efforts during the game, and acting like idiots outside the game. We're giving fans a voice: if you're tired of a crummy player, start a petition to have that player traded. If we get enough signatures, we'll send the petition directly to the owners and GM of his team explaining why fans think that player needs to go."
Ms Carey Celeb news: Maria Carey's sister is HIV positive, yet still works as a prostitute. The short article contains two classic quotes. One by the reporter: "She was arrested and charged with a penal violation." And one by Ms Carey herself: "The police have it in for me in Suffolk County."
Marijuana smoking -"even heavy longterm use"- does not cause cancer of the lung
says a report at this year's International Cannabinoid Research Society.
SO THERE, MUM.
Incandescent Proposal. About 100 people gathered to watch Todd Grannis perform the flaming stunt on Monday, which involved wearing a cape soaked in gasoline.
The Aquabats are Seriously the Best Band in the World
July 07, 2005
Curious George: Universal Remote Codes I just bought a new TV, and I'm having trouble finding the universal remote codes for it. [more inside]
OHHHHHHHHH CANADA! A recent survey shows that 39% of Canadians, both male and female, report already owning a vibrator. The ownership rate throughout the rest of the world is 27%. Discuss.
Snow Falls in Western Australia
'Snowfall has been reported in the Goldfields region of Western Australia, with overnight temperatures plunging to leave Perth residents shivering.'
& yes, I can assure you it is très frais in Perth right now.
[more inside]
3eyes
“3eyes is interested in people and the way that they interact with stuff, things and each other…”
To lighten the mood a bit today, I thought a post with a lapjuicer might do the trick [possibly NSFW].
[more inside]
Blasts in the London Underground
I love you, fully poseable metal person
Curious, George: Agedashi Tofu -
I, the Tofu Stupid, would like to know how to replicate the tender goodness of agedashi tofu at home.
[more inside]
Curious George - Us Against Them I'm looking for stories (films/books/short stories) where two seeming absolute adversaries start as enemies and in the course of the story have to work together against a common foe. I know I've seen seen some things like this before, but can't for the life of me remember. Any thoughts my lovely monos?
Where's the money gone? Auditing the Iraqi reconstruction.
Monkey Mini Golf! South Korea's major amusement park Everland launched a new animal show on July to attract more guests. [more inside]
Curious, Amy: This young lady needs a middle name. Okay, I'm asking more for entertainment purposes but it's been over a week and we've run the gamut trying to choose Amy Hope's middle name. We want something classic, probably three or more syllables since her first and last names are short. Suggestions? [more inside]
July 06, 2005
Ernest Lehman, RIP. Famed screenwriter and novelist, Ernest Lehman, K6DXK, has died at 89. [more inside]
Sin City Comic-to-Screen Comparisons I just rewatched Sin City last night and it reminded me of this site I saw before I was all mofiably enabled. [more inside]
Horrendous X-Ray of Snapped Spine
- a miracle that the man survived to walk again. I promise you that this is not for the weak. This is why YOU WEAR A SEATBELT. BBC article, no gore, just concept.
seen at Robot Wisdom
People Like Us at Optronica, National Film Theatre London, 22 July, 2005. PEOPLE LIKE US, aka Vicki Bennett, premieres her new show recontextualising sounds and images into a humorous yet sinister parody of Western culture. PLU MP3 downloads here and biography here. [more inside]
Curious George: Remote Calendar App? I'm looking for some kind of easily updatable, customizable, internet-based calendar to help with daily operations of a family-run resort. [more inside]
The primeTime sublime Community Orchestra (pTsCO): "It sounds like someone crammed a blender full of rabid dogs, distempered cats, lab-tested rats and shrieking women climbing high on chairs to avoid the conflagration at their feet; pushed the button for 'puree'; forgot to put the lid on; then sat down in front of the television, flipping through all the stations available from the best satellite dish as fast as their remote would allow with the volume turned up on their Dolby Surround Sound system while it all mixed together. And then recorded the entire fiasco and played it backwards, just for good measure." Yeah, that's it!
Imagine Casting How many times have you read an excellent novel or seen a great play, only to see it made into a film with some horrible actor portraying the main character? Or maybe even a great actor who was just "all wrong" for the part? Imagine Casting is your chance to choose the actors you think would be best in your favorite story and a forum for others to "cast" their votes. [more inside]
A real James Bond calls it quits. Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale - Decorated vet, POW, Perot VP candidate, Epictetus scholar, Illinois native and all around tough motherfucker, died yesterday from complications related to Alzheimers. He was 81. [more inside]
News Just in! Bad luck Paris - London is the home of the 2012 Olympics!
Misery Children. [more inside]
Curious Editorial George: Help with business name! [more inside]
Curious George: Nutritional Supplements Hey all. I'm trying to gain a little weight right now. I am as Huey Lewis put it "I'm working out 'most everyday and watching what I eat". Anyway, the obvious need in this situation is to eat 2-3000 more calories/week to gain about a pound a week (of muscle, hopefully). I love cooking but I obviously need to exercise my smoothie skills (smoothie recipes within) to do this. Can anyone recommend a good shake/powder/protein substance? I've had some that taste great and others which taste horrible ands gummy. PLZ HELP! Whole foods staff are useless. [more inside]
Invisible Breed Products: Doggies in disguise!
July 05, 2005
Curious George: Hosting comparison I need some tech advice. I can usually work this stuff out, but in this case there are just to many variables, and I need youse monkeys bad! I've been working like a beast on all my projects of late, and my hosting service has ticked me off. [more inside]
Live 8: Discuss Everyone generally seems to assume it won't have any real effect on the G8. But then I thought, what if it does?
Ghillie suits. The cheaper burlap suits, sold by others, sell for $550 up to $1140! And burlap sheds ... jute doesn't! These can be worn over ANYTHING, even a T-Shirt! This could be crucial in hot climates.
No Child Left Behind, exactly! [more inside]
The question on all of our minds: Martha Stewart's prison nickname revealed... [more inside]
Do you lose time from work due to drinking?
Is drinking making your homelife unhappy?
Do you drink because you are shy with other people?
Is drinking affecting your reputation?
Have you ever felt remorse after drinking?
Have you had financial difficulties as a result of drinking?
Do you turn to inferior companions and environments when drinking?
Does your drinking make you careless of your family's welfare?
Has your ambition decreased since drinking?
Do you crave a drink at a definite time daily?
Do you want a drink the next morning?
Does drinking cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
Has your efficiency decreased since drinking?
Is drinking jeopardizing your job or business?
Do you drink to escape from worries or trouble?
Do you drink alone?
Have you ever had a loss of memory as a result of drinking?
Has you physician ever treated you for drinking?
Do you drink to build up your self-confidence?
Have you ever been to a hospital or institution on account of drinking?
[more inside]
Tynwald Day today celebrates the ancient Parliament with various ceremonies. It is the national day of the Isle of Man, and a celebration of its unique heritage. [more inside]
How to make a perfick cup of tea. Also, a thorough guide to making Pizza. And something about how coffee works, which does not, unfortunately, have a charming picture of a rat.
Daft Punk's "Technologic" performed by robot dogs
Mo Kin (short quicktime movie)
Inebriated George: Decanter Resurrection Mrs. Tool and I bought a sweet vintage mahogany mini-bar, complete with (nearly) complete glassware set a few months ago at an estate sale. Got it for a song. I've spruced up the cabinet's finish and cleaned all the glassware. The decanter, however, has some light moldy spots on the inside. I wish to fill it with Kentucky's finest, and am eager to get it done. [more inside]
July 04, 2005
All cereal, all the time! [more inside]
Happy birthday, Koko! Koko the signing gorilla turns 34 today. Apparently she's spending the day shopping for a new kitten.
Sokath! His eyes open!
And Jalad. At Tanagra. Darmok and Jalad on the ocean.
Immortal Technique Bringing Truth in the Form of Hip-Hop [more inside]
Toronto MeFi/MoFi meetup! Friday night, July 15th. Any Monkeys interested? [more inside]
And then this. Any Monkeys get to see it? My island was fogged in, and I am nowhere near the right time or place.
A set of notes on alchemy by Isaac Newton has been rediscovered. Newton was a dedicated alchemist. These people and these should be excited. A short biography is here. [more inside]
America! FUCK YEAH!
The US Rocks, so suck on my balls!
America! FUCK YEAH!
It's your independence day, so blow some shit up!
TerraGalleria
Thousands & thousands of beautiful photographs.
US National Parks, North America, Europe, Israel, Asia, Oceania, Mountain Adventure.
"The Tofu Hut isn't a building, and it's got nothing to do with soy protein." MoFi's beloved forksclovetofu and his cute little Tofu Hut get a big shoutout in the first paragraph of an L.A. Times article about MP3 blogs.
July 03, 2005
Curious George - Sleep Apnea Followup Questions
I wasn't sure this would get the proper attention if I posted to my previous querie, so I FFP'd.
I met with the doctor who told me that I have a rather high ratio of waking (92 times) per hour and now I am going to get surgery for a deviated septum, tonsillectomy as well as removing some of my soft palate, all in one fell swoop in early August. I’m also going to get a cpap machine in the next few days and have a few questions for the folks who have experience with them.
[more inside]
PasswordMaker is a small, lightweight, free, extension for Firefox, Mozilla, and Netscape (IE support coming soon) which creates unique, secure passwords that are very easy to retrieve. Nothing is stored anywhere, anytime, so there's nothing to be hacked, lost, or stolen.
didn't take long. Ah. That's better. Development was stuck on that thorny 5th amendment thingie for awhile, but we've moved beyond such archaic priciples.
Why, it's Hamsterific!
A gallery of user submitted hamster pictures. (Warning: camera shutter imitation sound!) Read it for the user comments!
Here is a recipe for Hamster Meat Loaf, although it does not contain hamster meat itself. Learn how to care for a pregnant mother and witness the miracle of hamster birth (WARNING: GRAPHIC!)
However, make sure your hamster is actually pregnant before offering unsolicited aid.
Lastly, a quick guide on how to train a hamster
Construction Equipment Theme Park ...I really haven't even read this article fully. I just posted it because it had nothing to do with sexual inuendo, unlike this recent mess.
The anti-porn. Community blog taking an "unwholesome" direction? Here's the cure.
MILF — "longest and bloodiest in the entire history of mankind", OH MY GOD!!!!
Behold! A beaver! A real, honest-to-god beaver shot. Apropos of whatever you think it is apropos of.
The tattoed lady with some scarification. Not safe for work.
July 02, 2005
Mr. T's Be Somebody, or Be Somebody's Fool
Part of the Mr. T Webring
Made in 1984, this "educational" video teaches kids such great things as "use anger, don't lose it!"; if you're walking down the street and you fall down, just start break dancing so no one will know you fell; one great way to get in shape is to run into the Pacific ocean while fully dressed.
[more inside]
War of the Worlds Retrospective
War of the Worlds Book Covers
Book Illustrations
Orson Welles Radio Play, Script (& its sale).
The Huns & the Fall of the Roman Empire
'In 1984 a German scholar worked out that 210 reasons had been advocated for the fall of the Roman empire. Peter Jones enjoys a "fine narrative history" that concentrates on just one.' The Huns.
Reviews of The Fall of the Roman Empire by Peter Heather and The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization by Bryan Ward-Perkins, from the Telegraph.
Curious, George. My fiancee needs a g-mail invite. [more inside]
Animal Wierdness du jour starts with an ancient mystery about Pygmy Elephants now solved (they're their own subspecies). On a smaller scale, Sri Lankan eggheads found dozens of new tree frog species, but realise many known species are either extinct or on the verge. Even smaller: male and female fire ants have independent gene pools, almost as if each gender is its own species. [more inside]
They weren't all peaceful easy feelings. Her biography is hard to piece together (details such as where exactly she was when she died of a heroin overdose are unclear), but while she was alive, 70's era singer-songwriter Judee Sill made some amazing music. NPR reviewed a recent release of her music and I was reminded of just how great it sounds. [more inside]
July 01, 2005
Hail the Emperor! "Perpetuation of the Byzantine Idea incarnated in a Dynasty . . . living evidence spanning some 350 years." But some disagree.
Curious George - The Occult in Islam
Quid's post below reminded me that I could go here with a question I have been having trouble with.
I am in the middle of the research phase of writing a screenplay that takes place in Iraq. Since the theme of the story has at least partially to do with the occult and demon possession, I've been reading all kinds of stuff on the history of Mesopotamia and Babylonian religion and the occult in that tradition as well as the history of Satan, demons, possession and the occult in Christianity and Judaism.
Now I want to find out about the history of the occult, demonology and possession in Islam and am finding very few sources at my library as well as online. Does anyone in monkeyland have ideas about info resources on this admittedly fringe topic?
Muslim Heritage. [more inside]
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor calls it quits. Let the political fun begin! [more inside]
Needed: Protestant Latinists The vast majority of the church fathers and the Reformation’s writers have not been translated into English. Most of the history of the church remains a closed book to the modern world because that book is in Latin or Greek. There is a solution. The question is: Will anyone adopt the solution?
Do you want to be ugly and/or impotent? If so, consider taking up smoking. So says a new anti-smoking advertisement campaign from the NHS (various media), targeted at males who might worry about staying hard (flash) and females who might worry about losing their looks. We all know that smoking is carcinogenic to humans, but is the risk of cancer no longer a sufficient (de)motivator? [more inside]
Brown Fido. "Yes, after years and years of cleaning up after our own dogs and then seeing what was available in the form of FAKE DOG POOP, we discovered that most FAKE DOG POOP doesn't really look like what we were cleaning up. SO, about 10 years ago we set on a quest to make the best FAKE DOG POOP ever!"
