I got yer blog right here!

I may be a bit late to this party, but...

2008-06-05T16:22:00.001-07:00

it's so fun:

Simply add "butt" to the name of any and all Ford vehicle models, and hilarity ensues (sometimes more than other times):
Butt Fiesta
Butt Ranger
Butt Explorer
Butt Probe
Butt Escort
Butt Expedition
Butt Flex
Butt Country Squire
Butt Territory
Butt Pilot
Butt Popular
Butt Squire
Butt Thunderbird
Butt Bronco
Butt Falcon
Butt Maverick
Butt Pinto
Butt Windstar
Butt Freestyle
Butt Focus
Butt Ranchero

Thanks, McH!

He's got mad skillz!

2008-04-25T15:58:00.001-07:00

Reuters photo editors have a rough job. Not only do they have to pick a bunch of pictures to feature in their Editor's Choice slideshow, they have to come up with appropriate captions, too. I guess the photographers come up with captions and the editors edit them, but they must be busy. Here's two examples from the last 48 hours:

I sent this to a bunch of friends with the following note: Yes, Reuters editors, Kanye West is TOTALLY the most eye-catching element in this photograph.

Singer Kanye West (C) sits courtside as he watches the Los Angeles Lakers play the Denver Nuggets during Game 2 of their NBA basketball playoff series in Los Angeles, April 23, 2008.

Then in today's slideshow, there's this:

A new police graduate lies on the ground and plays dead during a demonstration of skills by new police graduates in Najaf, 160 km (99 miles) south of Baghdad April 24, 2008. Some 425 police cadets graduated on Thursday after three months of training at a police academy in Najaf.

Well, looks like those three months of training really paid off! He's got the "playing dead" skill down cold.

Snark Gone Wild

2008-04-25T15:56:00.000-07:00

I need a place to post things that I don't think are apt for my regular blog, so here it is. Perhaps it won't always be snark, but the thing that prompted this is, so the name stays. At least on this post.

Graphic adaptation of the 9/11 report

2006-08-22T16:25:00.000-07:00

Slate Magazine excerpts the work. Fascinating and important.

Giant Wave Surfing video

2006-07-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

Andrew Sullivan is an excellent, insightful columnist in Time magazine and other media. This does not mean he doesn't like a diversion now and then: Andrew Sullivan | The Daily Dish: YouTube for the Day: "http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/5472465"

The danger of letting machines think for us

2006-06-12T08:56:00.000-07:00

Besides The Terminator, I mean.

In an article on Yahoo news about Robert Scoble's leaving MS to move to PodTech, I found (in addition to a bunch of typos, including a consistent misspelling of Scoble's blog name) the following paragraph (copied with link intact):

***Outside, he became known for his commentary on Internet industry trends through his blog, Scobilizer, and via a book he co-wrote with Shel
Israel titled: "Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers."***

Notice the link to a Yahoo news search for "Israel" - the country - as the last name of Israel, the person. Do they even HAVE human editors over there?

My favorite goof of the day

2006-04-03T14:44:00.000-07:00

Doh, The Humanity!: Broken web pages, but in a funny way

JDate. Porn Stars. 'Nuff said.

2006-02-20T11:56:00.000-08:00

This is old news, but I just found out about it via Alien Loves Predator: JDate banners feature pictures of porn models

Garden State - Zach Braff Blog

2006-01-27T12:25:00.000-08:00

I've pointed to Zach Braff's blog before, I think. But, while procrastinating today, I read a few of the comments responding to his latest post, and came upon what has to be one of the funniest things I've ever seen on the Net:

I've always thought of myself as the really cool guy who has such great amount of pride that he wouldn't even consider writing a letter explaining that he loves this person who he'd never met. Especially not to a man from the U.S. because it's such a long travel to the U.S. from Sweden, and up till I saw the first episode of Scrubs I've always thought that I was straight. But hell, what can a poor boy do? 'Cause it is in fact the truth that I'm startin' to fall in love with you. May I say that all my lumberjack-friends are very chocked about the fact that I, Jens Zakrisson, is fallin' for a guy. They all thought (including me) that I would fall for a girl with blonde hair and big tits, but instead I fell for a Jewish man with brown hair and, if I may say, a quite mediocre pair of tits. But that's love, right? However, now there's two men that I would like to be in a bathtub with; that's you and Bruce Springsteen. But my feelings towards Bruce are more in a father-son kind of way. With you it's just plain love. Well, with this info in your hands you can do whatever you'd like to, and if it's meant to be the two of us, you'll find me. I'm in the book (in the Swedish version, that is).

Posted by: Jens | Jan 24, 2006 5:09:42 PM

Anyway, Scrub IS the funniest show on TV right now, Garden State IS a brilliant motion picture, and Zach Braff IS a dreamboat.

But perhaps I've said too much...
Zach Braff Blog

That rare forward...

2006-01-24T09:01:00.000-08:00

That actually has some entertainment value (thanks to Lloyd):

The intro was something about retirement, but it's funny as is:

You can live in Phoenix, Arizona where.....
1. You are willing to park 3 blocks away because you found shade.
2. You can open and drive your car without touching the car door or
the steering wheel.
3. You've experienced condensation on your butt from the hot water
in the toilet bowl.
4. You would give anything to be able to splash cold water on your
face.
5. You can attend any function wearing shorts and a tank top.
6. "Dress Code" is meaningless at high schools and universities.
Picture lingerie ads.
7. You can drive for 4 hours in one direction and never leave town.
8. You have over 100 recipes for Mexican food.
9. The 4 seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and ARE YOU
KIDDING ME??!!
10. You know that "dry heat" is comparable to what hits you in the
face when you open your oven door.

You can Live in California where...
1. You make over $250,000 and you still can't afford to buy a house.
2 The high school quarterback calls a time-out to answer his cell
phone.
3. The fastest part of your commute is going down your driveway.
4. You know how to eat an artichoke.
5. You drive your rented Mercedes to your neighborhood block party.
6. When someone asks you how far something is, you tell them how
long it will take to get there rather than how many miles away it
is.

You can Live in New York City where...
1. You say "the city" and expect everyone to know you mean Manhattan.
2. You have never been to the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State
Building.
3. You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from
Columbus Circle to Battery Park, but can't find Wisconsin on a map.
4 You think Central Park is "nature."
5. You believe that being able to swear at people in their own
language makes you multi-lingual.
6. You've worn out a car horn.
7. You think eye contact is an act of aggression.

You can Live in Maine where...
1. You only have four spices: salt, pepper, ketchup, and Tabasco.
2. Halloween costumes fit over parkas.
3. You have more than one recipe for moose.
4. Sexy lingerie is anything flannel with less than eight buttons.
5. The four seasons are: winter, still winter, almost winter, and
construction.

You can Live in the Deep South where...
1. You can rent a movie and buy bait in the same store.
2."y'all" is singular and "all y'all" is plural.
3. After five years you still hear, "You ain't from 'round here, are
Ya?"
4. "He needed killin' " is a valid defense.
5. Everyone has 2 first names: Billy Bob, Jimmy Bob, Mary Sue, Betty
Jean, etc.

You can live in Colorado where...
1. You carry your $3,000 mountain bike atop your $500 car.
2. You tell your husband to pick up Granola on his way home and he
stops at the day care center.
3. A pass does not involve a football or dating.
4. The top of your head is bald, but you still have a pony tail.

You can live in the Midwest where...
1. You've never meet any celebrities, but the mayor knows your name.
2. Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor.
3. You have had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" on the same day.
4. You end sentences with a preposition: "Where's my coat at?"
5. When asked how your trip was to any exotic place, you say, "It
was different!"

AND You can live in Florida where...
1. You eat dinner at 3:15 in the afternoon.
2. All purchases include a coupon of some kind -- even houses and
cars.
3. Everyone can recommend an excellent dermatologist.
4. Road construction never ends anywhere in the state.
5. Cars in front of you are often driven by headless people

Every OS Sucks

2006-01-09T15:46:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Fred Langa (and his brother-in-law John): Every OS Sucks (Quicktime movie)

Good news from Israel

2006-01-04T09:08:00.000-08:00

What connects an American lottery, a mortar and pestle, and Hanukkah? Jawdat Ibrahim believes the connection is clear: Since the owner of the Abu Ghosh Restaurant won the Illinois State Lottery in 1990, he has been holding conferences and workshops in his restaurant and initiating and supporting joint activities for Arabs and Jews.

Mmmm... Old Onion

2005-11-23T10:42:00.000-08:00

Israel's West Bank Wall. Nothing like nearly two-year-old news to distract us from the current interesting times we're living in.

Share a beer with your best friend!

2005-11-16T15:48:00.000-08:00

Tip of the hat to Dave Barry: Beer For Dogs

Booms Over Gaza

2005-11-10T11:09:00.000-08:00

I can't write a letter about every one of these cases, but I can disseminate them more widely. Read and respond, please: Booms Over Gaza

This is SO 12th century!

2005-11-10T11:02:00.000-08:00

Upside down Christmas Trees?!

Another poetic entry in Steve, Don't Eat It!

2005-10-06T15:25:00.000-07:00

Silkworm Pupas

Fart on rats to kill them

2005-10-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

Were the world only so simple! From the always tasteful Australian Broadcasting Corporation comes Tilde's Fart Game

2005-09-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

I'm not full of myself, I'm only full of life-saving bone marrow (hence the M).

Another cool Google Maps hack

2005-09-29T08:50:00.000-07:00

Map a ZIP Code

So Jews really DO control the world...

2005-09-29T08:15:00.000-07:00

Or at least they have a bit of influence in Brooklyn: 'Oy Vey' Traffic Sign Goes Up in Brooklyn

The beer sucks, but...

2005-09-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

the game is funny. The "winning" cheer is worth going for it.

Sean Gleeson » The Unmonumental Crescent

2005-09-09T16:14:00.000-07:00

We live in sad, pathetic, absurd times. Truly.

Discovery Channel has produced a movie about Flight 93. The NYTimes has this to say.

One man on a mission

2005-08-31T13:41:00.000-07:00

Scott Harrison is a young photojournalist who left the lucrative NYC event promotion scene to make a difference on a Mercy Ship, a hospital ship anchored off West Africa. His site tells powerful stories.

Death by Caffeine

2005-08-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

Death by Caffeine. Apparently, it would take a little over 341 cans of Coke to kill me (that's about 32 gallons). Who knew?

Twisted Photoshop work with a literary, um, twist

2005-08-30T13:01:00.000-07:00

Telltale Signs

Learn to love Opera

2005-08-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

Not what my father had in mind, I'm sure, but this is still cool: Opera 10-year online anniversary party, where you can get free registration codes for every OS's version of Opera.

I live for news like this

2005-08-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

Camera Phone Has Life After Theft

Visit the articles they reference (Wash Post and NY Daily News)

Is it just me, or are these things really as useless as they look?

2005-08-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

What with my contact lenses and all, I am much more comfortable wearing sunglasses in the typical Southern California daytime than not. SunBlades look like they wouldn't be any use at all, but maybe they'll send me a free pair to try so I can be convinced.

All over the place...

2005-08-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

Maybe that should be the name of my blog from now on.

Click on Kisses! urinal

(thanks to Langalister Callie. (Fred Langa))

Refreshing

2005-08-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

Why oh why are there not more sane, moderating voices like this in Islam?

Essay (from July 25, 2005 issue of Time Magazine)
When Denial Can Kill
We Muslims must admit that our religion might be motivating the bombers
By IRSHAD MANJI

Sunday, Jul. 17, 2005
I was surprised last week to learn how easily some Westerners believe terrorism can be explained. The realization unfolded as I looked into the sad face of a student at Oxford University. After giving a speech about Islam, I met this young magazine editor to talk about Islam's lost tradition of critical thinking and reasoned debate. But we never got to that topic. Instead, we got stuck on the July 7 bombings in London and what might have compelled four young, British-raised, observant Muslim men to blow themselves up while taking innocent others with them.

She emphasized their "relative economic deprivation." I answered that the lads had immigrant parents who had worked hard to make something of themselves. I reminded her that several of the 9/11 hijackers came from wealthy families, and it's not as if they left the boys out of the will. Finally, I told her about my conversation three years ago with the political leader of Islamic Jihad in Gaza. "What's the difference between suicide, which the Koran condemns, and martyrdom?" I asked. "Suicide," he replied, "is done out of despair. But remember: most of our martyrs today were very successful in their earthly lives." In short, there was a future to live for--and they detonated it anyway.

By this time, the Oxford student had grown somber. It was clear I had let her down. I had failed to appreciate that the London bombers were victims of British society. To be fair to her, she is right that marginalization, real or perceived, diminishes self-esteem. Which, in turn, can make young people vulnerable to those peddling a radical message of instant belonging. But suppose the messages being peddled are marinated in religious rhetoric. Then wouldn't you say religion plays some role in motivating these atrocities?

The student shifted uncomfortably. She just couldn't bring herself to examine my suggestion seriously. And I suppose I couldn't expect her to. Not when Muslim leaders themselves won't go there. Iqbal Sacranie, secretary-general for the Muslim Council of Britain, is an example. In the midst of a debate with me, he listed potential incentives to bomb, including "alienation" and "segregation." But Islam? God forbid that the possibility even be entertained.

That is the dangerous denial from which mainstream Muslims need to emerge. While our spokesmen assure us that Islam is an innocent bystander in today's terrorism, those who commit terrorist acts often tell us otherwise. Mohammed Atta, ringleader of the Sept. 11 hijackers, left behind a note asserting that "it is enough for us to know that the Koran's verses are the words of the Creator of the Earth and all the planets." Atta highlighted the Koran's description of heaven. In 2004 the executioners of Nick Berg, an American contractor in Iraq, alluded on tape to a different Koranic passage: "Whoever kills a human being, except as punishment for murder or other villainy in the land, shall be regarded as having killed all mankind." The spirit of that verse forbids aggressive warfare, but the clause beginning with except is readily deployed by militant Muslims as a loophole. If you want murder and villainy in the land, they say, look no further than U.S. bootprints in Arab soil.

For too long, we Muslims have been sticking fingers in our ears and chanting "Islam means peace" to drown out the negative noise from our holy book. Far better to own up to it. Not erase or revise, just recognize it and thereby join moderate Jews and Christians in confessing "sins of Scripture," as an American bishop says about the Bible. In doing so, Muslims would show a thoughtful side that builds trust with the wider communities of the West.

We could then cultivate the support to inspire cross-cultural understanding. For instance, schools throughout the West should teach how Islamic civilization helped give birth to the European Renaissance. Some of the first universities in recorded history sprang up in 3rd century Iran, 9th century Baghdad and 10th century Cairo. The Muslim world gave us mocha coffee, the guitar and even the Spanish expression olé! (which has its root in the Arabic word Allah). Muslim students would learn there is no shame in defending the values of pluralism. Non-Muslim students would learn that those values took great inspiration from Islamic culture. All would learn that Islam and the West are more interdependent than divided.

Still, as long as Muslims live in pretense, we will be affirming that we have something to hide. It's not enough for us to protest that radicals are exploiting Islam as a sword. Of course they are. Now, moderate Muslims must stop exploiting Islam as a shield--one that protects us from authentic introspection and our neighbors from genuine understanding.

Copyright © 2005 Time Inc. All rights reserved.
This article reprinted in full without permission for the purposes of education and research, as permitted by Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976.

Back to blogging for THIS?!

2005-08-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

Well, yes. We'll see how well I can maintain the habit THIS time. Help me out: Read and respond.

Thanks to Dave Barry, who thanked James Lileks for pointing us to the "MOST FASCINATING OPENING SENTENCE OF A NEWS STORY YOU ARE LIKELY TO READ TODAY" (caps are Dave's).

Oh my God, they stole a Torah! You bastards!

2005-06-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

Wired News reports on a couple of methods used to try and protect Torahs from theft and recover them if they are stolen. While I'm boggled that people steal Torahs in the first place, I love this subheading in the middle of the story:

Building a Safer Torah

Do you think they did that on purpose?

Health-conscious nerds with too much time on their hands #4

2005-05-20T08:43:00.000-07:00

Grocery Store Wars is a Star Wars spoof with a purpose other than making you laugh, which it does quite frequently. Watch till the end and spread it around.

The Periodic Table, reexamined

2005-05-13T11:15:00.000-07:00

This annotated periodic table is related to The reDiscovery Instiute, which I'm pretty sure is satirical.

Creepy birthday coincidence

2005-05-10T10:17:00.000-07:00

I'm a little disturbed by the fact that today is the borthday of not one, not two, but three notorious assassins: John Wilkes Booth, James Earl Ray, and Mark David Chapman. I'm thankful to Answers.com for pointing out this creepy convergence, and even more thankful to my parents for not giving me a middle name.

Nice Jewish boy with too much time on his hands #18

2005-05-09T15:56:00.000-07:00

Cyranet Greeting Cards | Saying what you think, with the wit you don't have is by the same guy who brings us the Overheard sites mentioned previously.

I particularly like "Of all the seders I've been to, yours seemed the least like a sad mockery of Jewish tradition." There's some zingers for Yom Kippur, too.

Eavesdropping, part deux!

2005-05-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

Overheard in the Office is just as good.

Eavesdropping is fun!

2005-05-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

Overheard in New York may have some made-up stuff, but I doubt it. It IS New York, after all. Beautiful portrait of life.

People with too much time on their hands #26

2005-05-09T13:05:00.000-07:00

Just Letters is a multi-user browser-based Flash game. It's basically a magnetic board with letters you, and potentially a couple of dozen others, drag around to make words. Go check it out, it's fun.

The Onion takes aim...

2005-05-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

I Can't Stand It When Jews Talk During Movies

Dan with too much time on his hands

2005-05-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

The name of the site really says it all, doesn't it?
Dan’s Horrendous Waste of Bandwidth

Maccabi does it again!

2005-05-09T09:30:00.000-07:00

Maccabi Tel Aviv just won the European basketball championship for the 2nd straight year. JPost report

What were they smoking? #50

2005-05-06T16:31:00.000-07:00

Single Gourmet Hawaii has a very, um, interesting logo. Remind you of anything?

Sith lords with too much time on their hands #3

2005-05-06T16:28:00.000-07:00

The Darth Side: Memoirs of a Monster is an excellent read. No one made me say that.

Yu.m.my? Tas.ty? No - del.icio.us

2005-05-06T16:22:00.000-07:00

I just got a del.icio.us account. It's a social bookmarking engine/website. I'm still getting the hang of it, so my tags may not make a lot of sense yet, but explore my and others' collections and tell me what you think.

Resistance is futile

2005-05-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

Excellent parody of a children's book about "God."

Yom HaShoah

2005-05-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

I happened to catch this on NBC Nightly News the other day: Personal story of Holocaust survival

Just what I needed...

2005-05-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

A form for generating Random passwords, CRC, Crypt, MD5 and Blowfish. I needed a 128-bit hex key - I got it. You need a 6-character alphanumeric password? No problem? Any other straightforward cryptographic needs? They got you covered. Very useful.

Ken Burns missed this story

2005-05-03T15:37:00.000-07:00

I haven't yet gotten a chance to watch the multiple award winning The Old Negro Space Program, but the multiple awards it's won and the recommendation from the USA Today Hot Sites section (pretty much the only good thing about that paper) are good enough for me.

Proof that we still have a sense of humor

2005-05-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

There are many signs to the contrary, but Support Our Ribbons proves that there are still at least a few people out there who see the status quo and say, "Ha! You're not wearing any pants, Status! Hey, look, everybody! Status is nekkid!" In this case, the person doing the pointing and laughing is Veronique's friend Jeff. Thanks, V! I'll be purchasing the four-pack.

Thumbs up...right up your ass, that is!

2005-05-02T15:12:00.000-07:00

The very same dack.com has taken the time to gather some of the greatest skewers of cinema the press has ever seen on the savage critics page.

Bovine feces!

2005-05-02T15:09:00.000-07:00

A website with a lot of serious things to say about web design and other issues gives us this classic look back with the web economy bullshit generator

"Oooh, that's gonna leave mark!" on a whole new level

2005-04-29T15:00:00.000-07:00

How the Earthquake affected Earth: The Dec. 26th Indonesian megathrust earthquake quickened Earth's rotation and changed our planet's shape.

Click. Read. Be awed.

Things blowing up.. er, down

2005-04-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

ImplosionWorld.com is blastastic! Cinema Explosif is where the videos are.

the other WaSP (the good kind)

2005-04-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

The Web Standards Project. Think about that.

Web. Standards.

Interesting buzz, and more.

More Pesach silliness

2005-04-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

On the heels of my noting JibJab's entry, I would be remiss if I failed to mention ShaBot 6000, home of an often on-target comic strip and a very good parody of 50 Cent's In Da Club.

Jews with Pods

2005-04-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

ShasPods.com is the coolest thing to happen to Daf Yomi in a couple of thousand years, I think.

Ask and ye shall receive

2005-04-22T16:25:00.000-07:00

I just wondered aloud when JibJab were gonna come up with a new animation, and Lo! Matzah!

I can see the Tom Clancy-esque plotline from here

2005-04-21T15:47:00.000-07:00

Computerworld: "NYSE plans merger with Archipelago
The Big Board merger follows reports that Nasdaq will buy Instinet"

Olde English Sketch Comedy

2005-04-20T15:32:00.000-07:00

Olde English Sketch Comedy includes the exceedingly silly Waiters who are Nauseated by Food (Quicktime .mov), which seems to star Stephen Colbert and Steve Carrell, even though they're not currently in the OE Troupe... Not sure what's up with that, but I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation I don't have time to find right now seeing as how I'm at work.

Homeland Security, SNL style

2005-04-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

I had not heard of JengaJam before (they are definitely not to be confused with JibJab.com, who've been suspiciously quiet for the last several months), and RObert DeNiro on SNL is not original work of theirs, but it's damn funny, and going around. It's a Windows Media video direct link; if you have the player installed, it'll start playing automatically. If not, you're out of luck.

Chris Barr Is Available On Thursday

2005-04-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

Grad student Chris Barr made himself available for, well, anything (within reason), on Thursdays in March and April, as part of a "collaborative live art and documentary project." I submitted a request for him to buy some deserving Jew's chametz on the 21st. Check the calendar to see if the request was approved, and see some of the stuff he's already done.

Jews with too much time on their hands #10

2005-04-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

ShaBot 6000: Seda' Club is a clever parody of 50 Cent's In Da Club in Flash. Lyrics & MP3 here. Thanks, Keith!

Good news from Israel

2005-04-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

My Uncle Issy sent around a notice that two of the top three Wall Street Journal's 2004 Technology Innovation Awards went to Israeli companies. Sababa!

Can't decide? Yagoohoogle!

2005-04-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

YaGoohoo!gle

Simply brilliant, brilliantly simple.

Single and frum? Not for long, my friends!

2005-04-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

Greatest. Orthodox dating website. Ever. The name is my favorite. דוסידייט - הכרויות לפנויים ופנויות דתיים (DosiDate)

Google Maps, Mark Morford-style

2005-04-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

In his write-up of Google Maps' satellite feature at I Can See Your House From Here / Google's close-up satellite photo maps are way creepy, but in a very cool way, Mark Morford from the SF Chronicle let loose this gem: "Go ahead. Poke around. Check your home address. Your parents' address. Your sister's. Grandparents. Your first apartment. The address where you lost your virginity. Your childhood home. (Hopefully, these are all different addresses. If not, seek help.)"

Wiki travel guide

2005-04-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

World66 is a user-fueled travel guide, created by people for whom English is not a first language, and it's in beta, but it's a great idea and deserves to be looked at.

Bastard got off easy

2005-04-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

MARCH 31, 2005 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - The teen convicted of creating a variant of the Blaster worm won't have to pay Microsoft Corp. $497,546 in restitution. He can instead work it off by doing community service.

Microsoft has agreed to forgo the cash and convert the punishment into 225 hours of community service, according to a court document filed late Tuesday. Jeffrey Lee Parson, a 19-year-old from Hopkins, Minn., will have to work 75 hours per year over a three-year period with less fortunate members of his community. The work cannot involve computers or the Internet, according to the document.
more

Not that I don't have some admiration for his hacking abilities. Then again, he lost a lot of points for making it so easy for Da Man to find his ass.
But 225 hours of community service instead of nearly half a million bucks? That works out to more than $2200 an hour for his time! Even Johnny Cochran (RIP) wasn't worth that!

Geeks with too much time on their hands #128^2

2005-04-07T11:26:00.000-07:00

MIT engineering students built the 1E Disco Dance Floor. The Design page has the story behind it all.

It was a dark and stormy night...

2005-04-03T14:45:00.000-07:00

2004 Bulwer-Lytton Contest Results

Chinese people with too much time on their hands #34

2005-04-02T15:56:00.000-08:00

Chinese Watermelon Art/Sculpture

Oh, the refreshing hypoc...I mean consistency of the "religious" right

2005-03-30T12:41:00.000-08:00

DeLay Let Brain-Damaged Father Die

People with too much time on their hands #1957

2005-03-30T12:25:00.000-08:00

THE WORLD'S UGLIEST CAR IS RESTORED BY MECHANIC ANDY SAUNDERS, DORSET, BRITAIN

People with too much time on their hands #217

2005-03-30T12:07:00.000-08:00

Solar Death Ray

Israeli therapy uses adult stem cells to treat Parkinson's Disease

2005-03-28T12:35:00.000-08:00

Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics has developed a novel stem cell therapy to treat Parkinson's Disease - using a patient's own bone marrow stem cells to produce the missing chemical that enables restoration of motor movement. (click and keep reading, it's awesome!)

DVD Rot, or Not?

2005-03-18T10:55:00.000-08:00

Interesting article about DVD handling (as opposed to CDs) from PCMag.com

Answers.com

2005-03-18T08:54:00.000-08:00

Did I mention how ridiculously cool Answers.com is? And that it's an Israeli company?

I had never heard of Thomas Noon Talfourd before today. Had you? But I thought ALT-clicking might help. Here's my Answer. That's how simple it is: you hold down ALT and click on any word on your computer, in any program. Yes, it doesn't have to be in a browser; I clicked out of an email message in Eudora, and I've done the same out of a Word doc. ALT-click ANYWHERE on your computer and get a definition or answer to something. That's what the Net is all about.

Hendecasyllabic

2005-03-18T08:45:00.000-08:00

Today's AWAD word means having eleven syllables. This page displays the brilliant hendecasyllabic work of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, channeling the Roman poet Catullus, who was a master of the form.

The Joy of Marmite

2005-03-17T15:21:00.000-08:00

This FARK forum covers the gamut of feelings about the inexplicably popular spread from down under. And by gamut I mean 99.9% deep, intense hatred.

Bart Simpson, Philosopher

2005-03-17T14:48:00.000-08:00

Here's an allegedly complete list of Bart's Chalkboard Gags from the title sequence of every episode of the Simpsons through all 11 seasons. What's your favorite?

Exploring Emergence

2005-03-16T09:53:00.000-08:00

An active essay by a couple of guys at MIT, Exploring Emergence. If I didn't have work to do, I'd be in trouble with this.

[evil finder]

2005-03-16T09:40:00.000-08:00

Enter any name or word or short phrase into the [evil finder] and it'll figure out a way to prove that thing is evil.

To wit:
**** THE PROOF THAT homphobia IS EVIL ****

H O M P H O B I A
8 15 13 16 8 15 2 9 1 - as numbers
8 6 4 7 8 6 2 9 1 - digits added
\_____/ \_____/ \_____/ \_____/ \_/
5 2 5 2 1 - digits added

Thus, "homphobia" is 52521.

Subtract 1876, the year first crematorium in the United States opened. The result will be 50645.

Divide by 7, the sacred number of Illuminati - the result is 7235.

Add 6891 to it - this is the year of the Chernobyl "incident", written backwards - you will get 14126.

Add 1995, the year O J Simpson was acquitted for double murder - the result is 16121.

Subtract 1591 from the number - this is the year the Rosenbergs were sentenced to death for spying by the US, written backwards. It gives 14530.

This, when read backwards, gives 03541. This is 1889 in octal, the year Adolf Hitler was born...

Evil, QED.

Go on, try it. You know you want to.

Concrete Canvas

2005-03-16T09:32:00.000-08:00

Exceedingly cool British invention: Wired News: Need a Building? Just Add Water

The Gift of a Lifetime

2005-03-16T08:55:00.000-08:00

Organ Donation, Tissue Donation, Organ Transplants are a topic that's particularly close to my heart these days, as I've been found to be a bone marrow match for someone. I'll probably be donating in early May. I'll be sure to comment on the procedure.

Sign up to do it. Donate blood, get on the National Marrow Registry, sign the little card that goes with your driver's license, whatever. Just do it.

Study Abroad in Israel

2005-03-13T00:24:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the anonymous commentator from the UCSD sex tape entry for reminding me of the system-wide suspension in both California state university systems of sponsored study abroad in Israel:

UC EAP page
Cal State International Programs page

The CSU page dopes not explicitly state that the program is suspended, but it is. I recently signed the petition that will be delivered to the President of SDSU and hopefully to the Chancellor of CSU in the coming weeks. For information on getting your name on there too, contact SDSU Hillel at 619-583-6080 or email Josh at jklemons@hillelsd.org.

NY Public Library online

2005-03-11T13:23:00.000-08:00

The NYPL Digital Gallery is another example of what the Internet is supposed to be all about: Free and open access to information, knowledge, and resources.

Drawing from scratch

2005-03-10T15:15:00.000-08:00

Art from the ground up, as it were.

EEGAH!

2005-03-10T11:46:00.000-08:00

Mark Longmire, he of the Romance Novel covers I mentioned a few days ago, has another site, this one entirely dedicated to the, um, classic 1962 opus EEGAH!, starring Richard Kiel and a bunch of other people. Rather than spend 90 minutes on the actual film, go through this inspired multimedia synopsis.

Radio gaga

2005-03-09T16:32:00.000-08:00

Mark Morford is a bloody gorgeous sexycuteawesome columnist at the SF Chronicle (just ask him). Recently he ranted about the death of radio, so his readers obliged with ringing endorsements of still-kicking indie stations all over the place. He gathered the raves into And Now For Some *Real* Radio - Listen up!

Why our empire will fall

2005-03-09T13:28:00.000-08:00

If we don't root people like the ones on this school board out of our society, we are doomed. The Board Member in charge of the school in question is Carol Vallencourt, CVallencourt@mail.clay.k12.fl.us, telephone (904)264-1589, fax (904)291-4922. You can get the contact info for the other board members here

School Board Bans Photo Of Girl Wearing Tux

Don't want to click on that link? Fine:
GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. -- After a spirited discussion over a photo of a girl wearing a tuxedo at Thursday's Clay County School Board meeting, the principal's decision to ban the picture from the Fleming Island High School yearbook stands.
Kelli Davis, 18, had her senior class photo taken in a tuxedo top and bow-tie outfit provided for boys rather than the gown-like drape and pearls provided for girls. The school's principal decided it could not appear in the yearbook because she didn't follow the dress code.

Kelli, a straight-A student with no discipline problems, is a self-proclaimed lesbian. She said she was uncomfortable to have her chest exposed in the photo.

"Because that's me, you know. That represents me. The drape does not," Davis said. "They're not accepting me, that's the whole reason we're here."

Davis denies it's about her sexual orientation, just about a student not following the rules.
"There's a dress code to follow -- a dress code expected for senior pictures in the yearbook, and she chose not to follow them. It's just that simple," Clay School Superintendent David Owens said.

More than half of the 24 people who addressed the controversy supported using Davis' picture in the yearbook, some applauding after Cindi Davis, the teen's mother, asked the board "What is so offensive about this tiny picture?"

Cindi Davis asked the school board not only to reverse the principal's decision on the photo, but to apologize for firing the yearbook editor, who voiced her support of publishing the photo.

While the board's ruling will keep the photo from appearing with other senior pictures, it will appear in the yearbook. Kelli's parents bought a two-page ad in the back of the book for $700, which will feature the picture.

This article reprinted in full without permission for the purposes of discussion and review, as permitted by Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976.

Ready, or not.

2005-03-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

This went around as an email forward shortly after the Ready.gov site went up. Thanks to Veronique for reminding me of its goodness.

Also available: the aptly titled Yet Another Redy.gov Parody

And thanks to a Google search for terrorism preparedness parody, enjoy this ribald retelling of Snow White from the other side of the pond. This is not for the faint of heart or weak of humor.

Our awesome cross-town colleagues

2005-03-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

UCSD Student's Porn Video Airs On Campus TV

I know better than to think this'll make any difference in this country's prudishness and ass-backwards attitude towards sex, but it's nice to see this sort of subversiveness still alive on the campus, and even nicer to see the hands-off attitude the administration is taking.

More L&O fun

2005-03-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

The Law & Order Cycle: A Haiku Epic in Seventeen Parts is part of alltooflat.com.

Disturbing Auctions

2005-03-07T12:26:00.000-08:00

Disturbing Auctions has been around since 2000, but I don't think I've pointed it out yet. It is exactly what it says.

Samorost

2005-03-07T10:37:00.000-08:00

An oldie but goodie Flash puzzle game.. Samorost by Jakub Dvorsky

Greatest. Spam. Ever.

2005-03-04T16:13:00.000-08:00

This is very personal, touching, moving, and hilarious. I want to shout from the rooftops, "I'm rich! Rich, you hear me?! RICH!!!!"

From: suhaarafat7@walla.com
Subject: YASSER ARAFAT WILL

Body: YASSER ARAFAT WILL
Dear Friend,

I am Mrs. SUHA ARAFAT, the wife of YASSER ARAFAT, the
Palestinian leader who died recently in Paris. Since his
death and even prior to the announcement,I have been
thrown into a state of antagonism,
confusion,humiliation,frustration and hopelessness by
thepresent leadership of the Palestinian Liberation
Organization and the new Prime Minister. I have even been
subjected to physical and psychological torture.

As a widow that is so traumatized, I have lost confidence
with everybody in the country at the moment.You view this
website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3965541.stm
You must have heard over the media reports and the Internet
on the discovery of some fund in my husband secret bank
account and companies and the allegationsof some huge sums
of money deposited by my husband in my name of which I have
refuses to disclose or give up to the corrupt Palestine
Government.

In fact the total sum allegedly discovered by the
Government so faris in the tune of about $6.5 Billion
Dollars. And they are not relenting on their effort to make
me poor for life. As you know, the Moslem community has no
regards for woman, more importantly when the woman is from
a christian background, hence my desire for a foreign
assistance.

I have deposited the sum of 21 million dollars with a
Financial firm in Europe whose name is withheld for now
until we open communication.I shall be grateful if you
could receive this fund into your bank account for safe
keeping and any Investment opportunity. This arrangement
will be known to you and I alone and all our
correspondence shouldbe strictly on email
alone because our government has tapped all my lines and
are monitoring all my moves.
In view of the above, if you are willing to assist for our
mutual benefits, we will have to negotiate on your
Percentage share of the $21,000,000 that will be kept in
your position for a while and invested in your name for my
trust pending when my Daughter,
Zahwa, will come off age and take full responsibility of
her Family
Estate/inheritance.

Please note that this is a golden opportunity that comes
once in life time and more so, if you are honest, I am
going to entrust more funds in your care as this is one of
the legacy we keep for our children.

In case you don't accept please do not let me out to the
security and international media as I am giving you this
information in total trust and confidence
I will greatly appreciate if you accept my proposal in good
faith.
Please expedite action.

Yours sincerely,
Suha Arafat

Cinemanow

2005-03-04T09:34:00.000-08:00

Cinemanow is an awesome source of LEGAL movie downloads at reasonable prices. Because really, the "free" part of P2P downloading is misleading, considering the risk of both legal action and craptastic quality.

Cinemanow is still working on their marketing, but I happen to know that you don't have to subscribe in order to download movies, you can just do PPV. The categorization is sensible, and the selection is excellent and growing all the time. Really excellent stash of indie, foreign, and otherwise hard-to-find films, besides the major releases.

Simpson's Contemporary Quotations

2005-03-04T09:12:00.000-08:00

When I saw the title of this work, I was sure it'd be things like "D'OH!" and "Mmmmmm.... beer.." But no, it's a legitimate collection, similar to Bartlett's, compiled by James, not Homer. Another reason Bartleby is a great resource.