ZabBlog

Why You Should Shoplift

2005-02-22T05:12:00.000-06:00

We've all been there. You see that nifty little doodad, so small, so easily pocketed, and the inevitable morality crisis begins. "I couldn't do that" you think "It would be wrong of me to just slip it into my coat and walk out."

But then again... maybe it wouldn't. These big faceless corporations (no, I am not talking about the independant little mom & pop stores) actually account for shoplifting, labeled under the interesting euphemism of "shrinkage".

Every time you legitimately buy something, anywhere between 3-10% of the price you pay is simply to cover shoplifting (yes I did pull those numbers out of my ass, shut up, I'm making a point). So in a way, if you've already shopped there a few times, well, hell, in a way, you've already paid for it.

Just keep in mind, while this may be a way to justify it for yourself, it's highly doubtful that the store dick, the manager, the cops and the courts will see it this way. But hey, fuck them.

*Disclaimer - Don't do this. If you actually follow this advice and get nicked, I will be the first person to laugh at your stupid ass.

KEANU REEVES WILL DEFEND MATRIX FILMS TO THE DEATH

2005-02-21T16:42:00.000-06:00

KEANU REEVES has staunchly defended the poorly-received sequels to THE MATRIX, insisting he'll praise them until he dies.

Although THE MATRIX RELOADED and THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS were unpopular with critics, who deemed them feeble follow-ups to the 1999 original, Reeves is sure the trilogy as a whole will become a must-have collection in years to come.

He says, 'I think that they're wonderful films and I'll speak about them until I croak.

'When the first Matrix came out, it took a while to take off. It was an underground cult film that gradually became popular.

'I think Reloaded and Revolutions will continue on in that kind of tradition.

'Critically they were not embraced, but when you spend some time with the films you feel differently.'"

----

I can attest to this - Me, Reloaded and Revolutions went on a road trip together to Las Vegas and I have to tell you they were great to hang out with, they didn't even give me a hassle about chipping in for gas money.

THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE WHO SHOULD BE VERY GLAD THAT IS ISN"T LEGAL TO EUTHANIZE THE ETHICALLY CRIPPLED

2005-02-18T07:39:00.000-06:00

Nurses Assert Terri Schiavo, Set To Have Feeding Stopped, Has Spoken Words Such As 'Hi', 'Momma', And 'Help Me'

Nurses who tended to Terri Schiavo -- the Florida woman whose feeding and water tubes may soon be removed -- have stated in affidavits provided by her family that the 41-year-old has exhibited clear-cut behavior indicating she is conscious and aware of her surroundings.

In stunning testimony, one nurse, Heidi Law, a certified nursing assistant who took care of Terri when she was at Palm Gardens Nursing Home in Largo, Florida, in 1997, said that the severely disabled woman formed words such as "mommy, "momma," and most hauntingly, "help me."

"While it is true that those patients will flinch or make sounds occasionally, they don't do it as a reaction to someone on a constant basis who is taking care of them, the way I saw Terri do," claimed Law in a formal deposition. "I witnessed a priest visiting Terri a couple of times. Terri would become quiet when he prayed with her. She couldn't bow her head because of her stiff neck, but she would still try. During the prayer, she would keep her eyes closed, opening them afterward. She laughed at jokes he told her. I definitely know that Terri 'is in there.'"

The testimony, contained in affidavits provided to Spirit Daily by her family, the Schindlers, who are desperately attempting to prevent her death, contradicts widespread perceptions that Terri is a nearly brain-dead or comatose woman living in a vegetative state. In fact, by some indications the woman may have greatly improved had she been provided adequate therapy.

"I have heard her say 'mommy' from time to time, and 'momma,' and she also said 'help me' a number of times. She would frequently make noises like she was trying to talk," said Law.

YOU CAN HELP - GO HERE TO HELP IF YOU HAVE A BLOG AND HERE TO HELP BY EMAIL

Peanut Butter and Pickle Sandwich

2005-02-14T03:05:00.000-06:00

OK, here's the real secrets from the self-proclaimed Grandmaster of the PB&P sandwich (aka ME)
1) Toast the bread, white, wheat or a soft light rye. Remember to spread the peanut butter while the toast is still hot because you don't want it to be too thick. If you want to be a big fatty fatty fat fat, fine go ahead, but please, by all means do it by making more sandwiches rather than making big sloppy gross messy sandwiches. The sandwich does not have to be eaten while still warm, it's just for the crispiness.
2) Crunchy peanut butter CAN be used but I avoid it myself as it elimates some the constrast between the textures of the peanut butter and the texture of the
3) CUT THE STEM BIT OFF OF THE PICKLES AND RUB CLEAN WITH A PAPER TOWEL! Regular sized pickles have more dirt stuck to them than any vegetable I've ever seen.
4) Slice the pickles, don't chop. Half of the joy of the PB&P is the snap of biting through the pickle.
5) Fill an envelope with cash and your credit cards and mail it to me.
6) Ignore that last step, I've been awake for 36 hours straight eating my way through a stack of 96 Peanut Butter & Pickle sandwiches. Hope this helps you all in your wonderful adventures in the magical realm of kind of weird food.
-----
MMmmMmMMMmMMMmMmmmmmm
yum!

PS: I almost forgot - this sandwich is best served with tomato soup (milk or water diluted as per your preference.)

Dateline: North Korea

2005-02-13T23:21:00.000-06:00

North Korea's declaration that it possesses nuclear weapons does not make it a nuclear weapons state, South Korea's minister of the fucking retarded said on Monday.

Truck runs over firefighter after dispute; driver arrested

2005-02-13T21:47:00.000-06:00

Aurora - An off-duty firefighter was crushed to death under the wheels of a tractor-trailer near his home Friday night after he confronted the driver for parking with the engine running, police said.

As word of Aberkalns' death spread, people who knew him stopped by his house and placed a cross, flowers and personal notes on a memorial.

"You watched over us on Earth, now you will watch over us from heaven," one note said.

Nevertheless, I wouldn't get too dependant on him as far as watching out for trucks.

actual conversation I had today...

2005-02-10T10:27:00.000-06:00

Me - "What time are you open until?"
Subway Retard "What?"
Me "What time are you open until?"
Subway Retard "This store?"
Me "..."

icNewcastle - Scientist gassed making preserve

2005-02-06T07:27:00.000-06:00

Newcastle - Scientist gassed making preserve
Apr 6 2004
By The Journal

A scientist died from carbon monoxide poisoning as he stirred home-made marmalade over a stove, it has emerged.

Biochemist and former teacher Keith Turnbull, 61, collapsed in his isolated home by the Pennine Way just before Christmas as he made a large batch of the preserve, his brother said yesterday.

His dog Cleugh also died in the accident in the kitchen of his home near Walk, Northumberland.

An inquest in Hexham last week recorded a verdict of accidental death.

His brother Roy, also a former chemistry teacher, said carbon monoxide levels increased in the room as the gas stove was not burning efficiently. He said his brother would have been unaware of what was happening.

Mr Turnbull won a scholarship to the University of London where he completed a PhD in biochemistry.

----------------------------------------------------------

Georgia Stunned By Top Politicians' Deaths
The Scotsman - UK
2-5-5

Georgia was yesterday plunged into crisis after it was revealed a political associate of dead prime minister Zurab Zhvania had apparently committed suicide.

There were fears of a return to the old Soviet ways of dispensing with political foes by alleged accident or suicide after the third death in the government in as many days.

Zhvania, a moderating force in the Georgian government, and a colleague died apparently of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a faulty heater last week.

----------------------------------------------------------

The Chronology Of A Slaughter

Thursday night, Jan. 10 - Dalia and Nimrod Eyal die embracing in their bed.
Friday morning - Jan. 11 - Assaf, 22, dies sitting upright in a salon
chair. According to the Jerusalem Post (15/1/2002): "Police theorize that
Assaf came home and found his family dead. Failing to detect the presence
of the odorless, colorless gas, he too, passed out and died."
Saturday, Jan. 12 - Yona Eliad, Nimrod's brother-in-law, discovers the
bodies, as well as the family cats, very much alive.. Police announce that
it was an apparent family suicide. Friends and relatives of the Eyals
vigorously deny the possibility.
Sunday, Jan. 13 - Police reinvestigate and come up with the answer within a
day. From the Jerusalem Post: "They died as a result of inhaling carbon
monoxide fumes leaked from the water heater in their closed luxury
apartment, after a bird's nest blocked the exhaust pipe." The Post reports
that about 100 victims a winter, "are overcome by gas from home heaters,"
though only one hospital in the country is equipped to revive carbon
monoxide poisoning victims.

Now let's start thinking clearly:

The Bird's Nest - Birds do not nest in Israel in January. They do not put
up a nest overnight anywhere in any season. They do not put up a nest on a
pipe venting carbon monoxide. If they tried, they would not finish the nest.

The weather - It has been cold and rainy for most of the winter. The water
heater was not turned on for the first time that night. If a summer nest
had blocked the exhaust vent, the Eyals would have discovered it or
suffocated by the cold November past.

The cats - The bodies were discovered 48 hours after they had succumbed.
The apartment was sealed. The cats should have died as well by then.

The son - Assaf comes home, discovers his dead parents and instead of
immediately calling an ambulance, sits down on a comfy chair and dies.

Ichilov Hospital - Every doctor and nurse who tended Rabin on Nov. 4/1995
has received written and verbal death threats. Two of the doctors, Kluger
and Gutman, suffered unexplainable and almost fatal disorders. They learned
to be silent afterward. Dr. Eyal, it seems, had not properly learned the
lesson...

--------------------------------------------------------

The Very Mysterious Deaths Of Five Microbiologists

By murdering Dr. Dalia Eyal, one ticking bomb was neutralized but
there are many more. So, expect many more murders. The Eyal family was
poisoned, maybe with CO, maybe with another asphyxiating substance. And it
wasn't a little birdie that did it.

----------------------------------------------------------

Israel is Developing 'Ethnic Bomb' - Biological Weapon

Israel is working on an "ethnically targeted" biological weapon that would kill or harm Arabs but not Jews, according to Israeli military and western intelligence sources cited in a front-page report in the London Sunday Times, November 15, 1998 ("Israel Planning 'Ethnic' Bomb as Saddam Caves In," by Uzi Mahnaimi and Marie Colvin).

Amazon Shoots the Streets

2005-02-06T03:01:00.000-06:00

This is pretty amazing: You know how Amazon's A9 search engine has a Yellow Pages system, where you can look up a businesss addresses and phone numbers, but also photos of the address in question. And you can scroll through photos along the same street as though you were walking down it! Check out the little movie that shows how they made it.

Sometimes the initial photo you get for a query (like, say, the Angelika Film Center) will be one or two frames off, but you'll see the actual correct building if you a couple clicks to the left or right.

The Times wrote about this feature last week. And check this out: theres actually a gallery of frames from these photos showing the serendipitous appearance of interesting people, scenes and phenomena that happened to be snapped by the A9 film trucks cameras.

Just eat the fucking cookies and shut up bitch!

2005-02-04T17:40:00.000-06:00

Teens' cookie deliveries crumble into $900 lawsuit
A neighbor says an anxiety attack sent her to the hospital after two girls dropped treats on her porch.
By Electa Draper
The Denver Post

Durango, Colo. -- Two teenage girls trying to perform an act of kindness for their neighbors ended up being slapped with a medical bill for $900 after one neighbor suffered an anxiety attack when they knocked on her door at 10:30 p.m. delivering homemade cookies.

The incident began July 31, 2004, when the girls, Taylor Ostergaard, 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitti, 18, decided to skip a dance and stay home and bake cookies for their neighbors.

Big mistake.

They were successfully sued for an unauthorized cookie drop on one porch. The deliveries consisted of half a dozen chocolate chip and sugar cookies accompanied by big hearts cut out of red or pink construction paper with the message: "Have a great night." The notes were signed, "Love, The T and L Club," code for Taylor and Lindsey.

Warren Ellis on Eterprise's cancellation

2005-02-04T07:53:00.000-06:00

From his BAD SIGNAL mailing list today (subscribe at warrenellis.com): "Those who've been following my occasional pieces on genre TV might be interested to learn that ENTERPRISE was finally cancelled today. Story's on AICN right now. I hope that the people involved with the show who I occasionally heard from find new work soon. And so another Star Trek show descends into TV Hell. I met someone last year who'd been brought in to pitch a new Trek show: but, more than half a year down the line, I haven't heard anything else. So my suspicion is that Star Trek is gone from our screens for a comfortingly long time. And, with the final Star Wars film on the way, it seems that by the end of the year the culture will feel peculiarly cleansed. As if the shackles were released from us in our cultural basement, and we can finally take from our mouths the shattered antique underpants used as gags and wash old men's semen out of our bum crevices."

WILL - MESSING WANTS TO KEEP BIGGER BREASTS

2005-02-02T01:58:00.000-06:00

WILL GRACE star DEBRA MESSING is desperate to preserve the large breasts she developed during her pregnancy.

Although the American TV actress, who gave birth to a baby boy on 8 April (04), is hoping to shed the weight she gained during her pregnancy - but would be devastated if she lost her ample bust.

A close source says, 'She's been talking about getting implants.

'She's determined to hang on to her new breasts.'"

---

Well, she ain't the only one.

AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAaaaaaaa.....

* cough *

haaaaaa......

Above Top Secret - Website-Related Discussion - marijuana

2005-02-01T18:12:00.000-06:00

Contrary to a 1987 television commercial sponsored by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA), marijuana does not "flatten" brain waves either. In the commercial, a normal human brain wave was compared to what was supposedly the (much flatter) brain wave of a 14-year-old high on marijuana. It was actually the brain wave of a coma patient [2]. PDFA lied about the data, and had to pull the commercial off of the air when researchers complained to the television networks [62, p. 74].

In reality, marijuana has the effect of slightly increasing alpha-wave activity. Alpha waves are generally associated with meditative and relaxed states which are, in turn, often associated with human creativity [13].

More facts aplenty there

We Demand Your Allegiance To Our Faction Due To Your Arbitrarily Determined Physical Location at the Time at Which You Were Squeezed Out of a Vagina!!

2005-01-31T16:56:00.000-06:00

We Must Keep Going In The Direction We Are Going, For It Is The Direction We Are Going In.

Millarworld -> They hate Warren Ellis...

2005-01-31T12:17:00.000-06:00

I take excption to some of the neagtive reviews listed here, as some sound very anti-american in their reviews. We being good Americans are intelligent enough to read good books and tell what stories make good patriotism and what does not. We do not have to justify this to anyone who lives outside of the American experience for that. If you do not understand this, TNEN BE QUIET ABOUT THINGS YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND.

Hey, Fuck You Deanna.

2005-01-31T07:59:00.000-06:00

Basmati Rice Recipe
by Deanna F. Cook

Delicate in flavor, this narrow, long-grain rice is a wonderful accompaniment to curries. You can buy a box in the international section of your grocery store or in a health food store.

Prepare it according to the directions on the package.

Artist in Howell faces adversity with a smile - 01/20/05

2005-01-31T05:52:00.000-06:00

Bill Messner-Loebs is hit a bad streak.

The Future Is Open: What OpenDocument Is And Why You Should Care

2005-01-30T23:44:00.000-06:00

~ by Daniel Carrera

Sunday, January 30 2005 @ 05:00 AM EST

I asked Daniel Carrera, an OpenOffice.org volunteer, if he'd please explain to us the OpenDocument format. How does a format get chosen? And is OpenDocument on the list when governments like the State of Massachusetts make up such lists of acceptable formats for governmental use? If not, what can be done to change that? He graciously agreed. Because we are all concerned about proprietary formats and standards, and more and more governments are adopting policies requiring open standards, it's a very important subject.

Daniel calls OpenDocument "our best chance to fight vendor lock-in associated with proprietary formats." It's currently being considered by the EU Commission as a candidate for an official format. Note that you can also download this article in various formats, including, naturally, OpenDocument, from links at the end of the article. In some browsers, you may need to Save As, instead of just clicking on the links.

Daniel Carrera is a mathematics PhD student at the University of Maryland, as well as an active OpenOffice.org volunteer. He serves in the OOo community council as the "community representative". Daniel also facilitates the OOoAuthors project, where most English documentation is developed. He will be speaking at the OOoRegiCon in San Diego on Feb 9, the day before and leading into the " Desktop Summit 2005", a conference about the present and future of open source and desktop Linux technologies being held in San Diego, CA February 9-11. He is speaking opening day on the subject, "INREACH, Building an Active Community."

The complete list of speakers is here, and I must say, it sounds like fun. Mitch Kapor and Doc Searls are two of the keynote speakers at the Desktop conference. Sun's Simon Phipps kicks off OOoRegicon, and I've heard he is an excellent speaker. You can find out more here. It's limited seating, and the page says the price goes up after February 5.

Internet Archive

2005-01-30T21:19:00.000-06:00

The PSP Starter Bundle - Engadget - www.engadget.com

2005-01-30T20:42:00.000-06:00

The PSP Starter Bundle - Engadget - www.engadget.com

Scoop: Consortium attracts techno-experts from around the world

2005-01-30T20:41:00.000-06:00

More than 200 scientists and educationalists in human-computer interface research have registered for next month’s Human Interface Technology Laboratory New Zealand’s (HIT Lab NZ) international Virtual Worlds Consortium in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The consortium, on February 10 and 11, will be opened by New Zealand's Minister for Economic Development the Hon Jim Anderton who will give one of the keynote addresses.

The event is themed Industry Creativity Research: Partners in Innovation. Delegates from New Zealand and around the globe will be exploring how to create partnerships between the essential elements of successful collaboration . . . creativity, research and industry.

Topics for discussion include how academics can help industry invent the future, mixed reality gaming, artists and technologies in collaboration, and the next generation Internet and enhanced applications.

Latest technologies and applications being developed at the HIT Lab will be showcased during the consortium. The Lab’s post graduates students, who come from around the world to study at the internationally-acclaimed facility, will be on hand to demonstrate and explain..

He uses robots to divide and conquer

2005-01-30T20:34:00.000-06:00

He uses robots to divide and conquer

By Chris Berdik, Globe Correspondent | January 25, 2005

A handful of small, boxy robots scurried across the floor in a row, their red, blue and green lights blinking. Suddenly they broke into song -- "Hi ho, hi ho. It's off to work we go" -- and then scattered in all directions.

This "swarm" of simple robots are James McLurkin's contribution to cutting-edge robotics. McLurkin, a PhD candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said his computer programming can save lives, time and money by teaching dozens of small robots to clear land mines or explore the surface of Mars, for instance.

"The field is very new, and what I've been doing is creating a toolbox of behaviors," said McLurkin, 32, who works among the odd angles and slopes of MIT's new Stata Center. "I'm looking for insights on how simple robots can get together and do very complex tasks."

In 2003, McLurkin won the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for inventiveness, and took his robots to a Virginia military base to put them through their paces for the Army's research and development wing, DARPA.

"It was robotics research the likes of which I'd never seen before," said Colin Angle, CEO of iRobot, the Burlington company with which McLurkin conducted the DARPA research. "Creating a programming language for more than 100 robots, an ecology of small robots, there were a number of little challenges James was taking on, all of them very cool."

ZabBlog Test

2005-01-30T19:39:00.000-06:00

Face of Mankind - The new multiplayer experience

2005-01-30T18:42:00.000-06:00

Face of Mankind is an MMORPG set in the 24th century. You are invited to play out the ageless battle of good vs. evil, and witness all shades of gray in between. Role-playing and your real-life skills are the raw ingredients of game play.

HubWeb v4

2005-01-29T23:21:00.000-06:00

HubWeb v4

'Comedy is hard,'

2004-07-17T19:32:00.000-05:00

bemoaned Matt Solo, the head of television development at the International Creative Management talent agency, whose job includes packaging prospective new sitcoms. 'As the old adage has it, nobody knows anything. Brilliance in television is always in hindsight. You never know going in what you are going to come out with. Nobody's sitting at a network with a brilliant failsafe strategy.'"

GameSpy.com - Article

2004-07-17T19:31:00.000-05:00

GameSpy.com - Article: "Blackley is currently vice president of Capital Entertainment Group, a game production company that aims to produce and finance games in partnership with game developers and publishers. His experience in the industry is quite diverse and has exposed him to practically every facet of game publishing. He was the obvious choice for the DICE session that examined the flaws in the relationships between developers, publishers, and their audience. As expected, he pulled no punches and really laid into several industry dilemmas. "

2004-07-17T19:30:00.000-05:00

Wired News: Second Life Intrudes on First One: "Ostensibly a game, its players control avatars in a world with few overriding rules, and where almost nothing was pre-planned. In short, play in Second Life is a perfect example of emergence, where things evolve not by design but by happenstance, and where a never-ending stream of the unexpected is the rationale for shelling out $15 a month.
'It's the same reason kids play together on a playground ... because a playful environment is set up to give you the flexibility to do different things,' said Amy Jo Kim, the author of Community Building on the Web, about online universes like Second Life, also called metaverses. 'One of the notable things is that you don't actually win the game. And that means, since humans tend to be goal-oriented, that people come up with their own goals, such as building the biggest building on the block.'
Indeed, for Second Life's designers at San Francisco's Linden Lab, players' eagerness to use the many building tools -- often collaboratively -- to exploit the emergent nature of the game was a key element of the company's business model.
Philip Rosedale, Linden Lab's CEO, said that the art costs alone of many popular 3-D online worlds can reach upwards of $10 million. 'Second Life did it on an order of magnitude less, by creating an infrastructure that enables people playing to do it themselves.' "

Hollywoodreporter.com

2004-05-10T23:46:00.000-05:00

Hollywoodreporter.com: "Anderson takes on F-word

Rainstorm Entertainment and helmer Steve Anderson are teaming on the feature-length project 'Fuck,' an examination of the four-letter word. According to the filmmakers, Robert Altman, Paul Mazursky, Sandra Tsing Loh and First Amendment attorney Robert Corn-Revere will be interviewed for the film. 'This film will be an honest look at the word and will make room for all opinions to be heard,' said Anderson, who is producing for his Mudflap Films banner. The film is being executive produced by Gregg Daniel and Richard Katz of Rainstorm Entertainment and co-produced by Bruce Leiserowitz in association with North by Northwest Entertainment. "

Testing the Fantastic NEw Blogger Email Bloggedy Blog

2004-05-10T23:38:00.000-05:00

Testing this mother is good fun.

The Revenge of the Return of Japanese Gadgets

2004-02-16T13:02:00.000-06:00

Technology on the other side of the world is so far ahead of us, we�re practically cavemen. And that�s not a bad thing, considering most recent Japanese inventions are specially designed for the coming robopocalypse.
By Seanbaby

FilePlanet - Ultimate Matrix 2.0

2004-01-21T08:27:00.000-06:00

FilePlanet - Ultimate Matrix 2.0: "Ultimate Matrix 2.0
Filename:ultimate_matrix_final.zipAuthor:BreakerSize:75.2 MBReader Rating:Date:12/15/2003(3.1/5.0 - 51 votes)Downloads:4,635
DownloadDescription
The newest version of Ultimate Matrix. With compleatly new maps, animations, sounds, effects! "

FilePlanet - Matrix Pack Ed. 1

2004-01-21T08:26:00.000-06:00

FilePlanet - Matrix Pack Ed. 1: "Matrix Pack Ed. 1
Filename:Martix%20Pack%20ED.%201.zipAuthor:Chris M.Size:910.9 KBReader Rating:Date:6/5/2002(2.7/5.0 - 49 votes)Downloads:11,359
Download CDDescription
The Matrix Pack Ed 1. has a set of matrix changes for unreal tournament "

FilePlanet - True Matrix Total Conversion

2004-01-21T08:25:00.000-06:00

FilePlanet - True Matrix Total Conversion: "True Matrix Total Conversion
Filename:truematrixmod2.zipAuthor:EvilMonkeySize:82.8 MBReader Rating:Date:6/27/2002(3.5/5.0 - 282 votes)Downloads:73,408
Download CDDescription
The True Matrix TC for Max Payne converts this popular game into The Matrix, complete with new weapons, characters, and music from the hit film. "

Open Sourcery

2003-11-04T09:58:00.000-06:00

Disinformation :: The gateway to the underground - news, politics, conspiracy and weirdness

Jean Poole examines the impact of Open Source and Open Content paradigms upon online publishing. Poole focuses on Wikipedia, which has become more popular than Encyclopedia Britannica. The Creative Commons license offers an alternative to intellectual property paradigms. Other sites profiled include Open Cola, the browser Mozilla, the Discogs electronic music database, and the Nothing So Strange film project (article)."

Tomacco

2003-11-03T22:46:00.000-06:00

Search: "'Tomacco' proves a success
PLANT.. ((show 17:23:29 that s odd.. the outside looks like a tomato .. with tobacco seeds)) HOMER DID IT - WHY CAN T HE? WELL HE DID - ROB BAUR, WHO S A HUGE SIMPSON S FAN.. GRAFTED A TOMATO PLANT TO A TOBACCO PLANT.. GREW IT.. AND TONIGHT....."

Ain't It Cool News - THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT

2003-10-31T17:54:00.000-06:00

Ain't It Cool News - THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT: "Ashton Kutcher is my hero
Comment:Ashton Kutcher isn't a moron, he just plays one on TV. Ashton has a fraternal twin brother, Michael, who had a heart transplant at age 13. Hoping to find a cure for his brother's heart condition, Ashton studied biochemical engineering at the University of Iowa. To finance the cost of his education in bio-chemical engineering at the University of Iowa, Kutcher worked as a cereal dust sweeper at the General Mills plant in Cedar Rapids. After being discovered by a local model/talent scout, he moved to New York to pursue acting. I wonder if Don Johnson realized when he was having his ego party at Ashton's restaurant that he was pissed because they weren't using the profits from the restaurant to mollify the bruised ego of some fading former star of cheesy cop shows instead of using them to fund research into a deadly medical condition. Oops, I take that back, I wouldn't want to piss off Nash Crockett's powerful hollywood friends, oh shit! Do I hear it coming in the air tonight??? Oh, Lord!!!! Edward James Olmos & Philip Michael Thomas are in my back yard with baseball bats, it's like an angry wall of moustache, acne scar and jerry curl!!! Arrrrrghhhh!!!"

Grateful for army robot contest, entrants give tanks | CNET News.com

2003-10-30T20:40:00.000-06:00

Grateful for army robot contest, entrants give tanks | CNET News.com: "More than 100 teams have applied to enter a robotic-car contest sponsored by the research wing of the Defense Department, prompting the agency to extend some deadlines.
The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency said Thursday that 106 teams have applied to participate in the Grand Challenge, an off-road race for unmanned vehicles slated to take place in March 2004, and that 86 teams have submitted technical papers describing their proposed robots.
Researchers and designers have to review submissions to determine if proposed vehicles are technically feasible and conform to contest rules. In May, only 34 teams had signaled their interest in participating, and DARPA had hoped to finalize the roster of participants toward the end of October. Some teams were expected to drop out by the time the actual application was due.
The unexpected number of applicants has prompted the agency to recalibrate some deadlines. Colonel Jose Negron of the agency will hold a press conference Nov. 6 to describe the selection process more fully. "

BMX stunt goes bad

2003-10-27T02:28:00.000-06:00

A Sydney man suffered serious burns after setting himself alight before attempting to jump a BMX bike off a toilet block into a pile of mattresses, police said.

Police believe the incident was part of a bizarre stunt that went horribly wrong.

- How exactly was this stunt supposed to go right?

ICv2 News - Fox News Threatened to Sue The Simpsons

2003-10-25T02:56:00.000-05:00

ICv2 News - Fox News Threatened to Sue The Simpsons: "Fox News Threatened to Sue The Simpsons
Over a Parody Segment

October 24, 2003
During an interview broadcast today on NPR's Fresh Air, Simpsons creator Matt Groening revealed that the Fox News Network had threatened to sue The Simpsons over a parody of the right-leaning news channel. The highly sensitive news organization, which is headed by Roger Ailes, made headlines this summer with an ill-starred lawsuit against humorist Al Franken's book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. The Fox suit was thrown out in court and only succeeded in making Franken's book a bestseller. According to Groening, the Simpsons team refused to cut out the segment, which Groening told Fresh Air he 'really liked,' figuring that Rupert Murdoch wouldn't allow the Fox News cable network to sue the Fox Broadcast Network, which carries The Simpsons. The Fox News Network did back down on its threat, although it has told The Simpsons creators that in the future, cartoon series will not be allowed to include a 'news crawl' along the bottom of the screen, which might 'confuse the viewers.'"

SPIDER-MAN/DOCTOR OCTOPUS: NEGATIVE EXPOSURE #1 (of 5)

2003-10-14T09:21:00.000-05:00

There�s like this weird dynamic going on between Spidey & Ock, where Ock�s playing the Peter Parker role and Spidey�s playing the Flash Thompson role, and we can see that Ock sees Spidey as the same sort of bully that Spidey hates. So it�s like, they�re the same, but they�re different, and we get into Ock�s head a little bit and see his angst, and we get into Spidey�s head and see how he�s able to use his understanding of Ock/Himself in order to get the advantage, and�it�s like all happening during a fight scene, and�

FEC Disclosure Reports - Filer ID P00003392

2003-10-07T01:38:00.000-05:00

Presented by the Federal Election Commission
CLINTON, HILLARY RODHAMID: P00003392

Office Sought: President
Election Year: 2004
State: Presidential Candidate
District: 03
Party: DEM (Democratic Party)

The Wave Magazine - The Bay Area's Best Entertainment Magazine... Ever.

2003-10-03T14:08:00.000-05:00

The Wave Magazine - The Bay Area's Best Entertainment Magazine... Ever.

MapMixer at www.unrealtournament.com.au

2003-09-27T10:08:00.000-05:00

MapMixer at www.unrealtournament.com.au: "MapMixer started off as a small project to incorporate list shuffling and navigation into UT2003 but it ended up with a few more things along the way. When UT2004 is released, I imagine that mapmixer will need to be altered to take into account the new systems. So, I suppose you could say the design goals for mapmixer aren't written in stone.
Features
Custom Map Lists
Map List Shuffling
Key Assignable Map List Navigation
Game Type Switching
Map Player Count Matching
Custom Mutator Lists
Per Game Type Custom Mutator Lists
Per Map Custom Mutator Lists
Enable and Disable Mutators
Abort Match Start Countdown
Client and Admin in-game Interfaces
Client Configurable Show Scoreboard at Match End with Customisable Countdown
End Game Map Switch On or Off with Customisable Countdown
Auto Client Administrator Server Logins
Mutator Configuration Interface
Console Commands "

Eschaton

2003-09-27T09:16:00.000-05:00

Eschaton: "Eschaton

Middle 'C' on the Mighty Casio... "

You might as well face it, Robert Palmer is dead.

2003-09-26T14:57:00.000-05:00

Yahoo! News - Rock Singer Robert Palmer Dies at Age 54: "Rock Singer Robert Palmer Dies at Age 54 "

Sex, pot and comic books

2003-09-24T08:20:00.000-05:00

Sex, pot and comic books: "In 1938, one year after US pot prohibition, the famous jazz band Julia Lee and her Boyfriends recorded The Spinach Song, which was regularly performed in clubs thick with cannabis smoke. The Spinach Song contains lyrics that likely fed Anslinger's suspicions. Especially the chorus 'I didn't like it the first time, but oh how it grew on me,' and lines like 'now somehow I can't get enough.' That same year, Elzie Segar, Popeye's creator, suddenly died.

By the time The Spinach Song was released, 'spinach' was already a jazz-industry code-word for 'cannabis.' So it seems likely that Segar intended his readers to know that Popeye the Sailor Man gained his super-human strength from tooting back more than just a mere garden vegetable."

humancompetitive

2003-09-04T04:58:00.000-05:00

humancompetitive: "There are now 36 instances where genetic programming has produced a human-competitive result. These examples come from the fields of computational molecular biology, cellular automata, sorting networks, and the synthesis of the design of both the topology and component sizing for complex structures, such as analog electrical circuits and controllers.
What do we mean when we say that an automatically created solution to a problem is competitive with human-produced results?
In attempting to evaluate an automated problem-solving method, the question arises as to whether there is any real substance to the demonstrative problems that are published in connection with the method. Demonstrative problems in the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning are often contrived toy problems that circulate exclusively inside academic groups that study a particular methodology. These problems typically have little relevance to any issues pursued by any scientist or engineer outside the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning. "

ALERT: SUPERWORM TO STORM THE INTERNET ON 9/11 PIC

2003-09-02T18:29:00.000-05:00

ALERT: SUPERWORM TO STORM THE INTERNET ON 9/11 *PIC*: "Our analysis of Internet virus activity, shows that on September 11th next, an advanced worm attack is set to infiltrate the Internet and could potentially halt email traffic worldwide. We need to act now.
The worm invasion will feature distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against Microsoft's website and those of anti-virus software vendors or spam prevention websites. This will hinder distribution of removal tools and prevent detection of worm spam. "

New Scientist | Guide to the Quantum World |

2003-09-02T02:24:00.000-05:00

New Scientist | Guide to the Quantum World |: "

Quantum computing making 'tremendous progress'

The first element of a device that many believe holds the best hope for quantum information processing has been completed by Australian researchers, while an Austrian team has reported the first truly quantum calculation. The achievements go some way to dispelling the widely-held idea that doing anything useful with quantum computing is decades or even centuries away.
The strange properties of the quantum world should allow a quantum computer to outperform any existing computer. While classical computers process binary digits (bits) of information, quantum processors use quantum bits, or qubits, encoded in the quantum states of particles such as atoms, photons and electrons. Since such particles can be in several states at once, qubits would allow huge numbers of computations to be carried out simultaneously."

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage

2003-08-23T06:50:00.000-05:00

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage: "Police hunt for 'Batman'
Mon 18 August, 2003 18:36 BST

LONDON (Reuters) - Police have launched a manhunt for Batman, after a man dressed as the superhero beat another man unconscious outside of a cafe over the weekend.
'Police are hunting a man dressed as Batman who was involved in an assault in the early hours of Sunday morning,' Thames Valley Police said in a statement on Monday.
Police rushed to the scene after the assault and the unconscious victim was whisked to the hospital. But the masked offender had already made his escape.
'The offender is thought to be white, but officers do not have any further description of him,' the statement said."

Judging Amy

2003-08-13T00:16:00.000-05:00

EPISODE: Just Say Oops
CATEGORY: Drama
SYNOPSIS: Amy must make a custody decision after a child brings marijuana to school for show and tell. "

Amy is interviewed by a blogger.

For Us, the Living

2003-08-07T07:57:00.000-05:00

For Us, the Living, the first novel Robert A. Heinlein wrote, has been sold to Scribner's and Pocket Books. All copies of the novel, which is believed to have been written between late 1938 and April 1939, were thought to have been lost or destroyed, but a copy was located recently and passed on to the Heinlein Society, which turned it over to Heinlein's literary estate, and which subsequently sold at auction. No publication date has yet been announced.

Welcome to Vancouver, Try to Resist the Urge to Lick the Strippers

2003-08-03T14:50:00.000-05:00

The National Enquirer: Enquirer challenges Ben Affleck to take lie detector test!: "Will Ben Affleck take The ENQUIRER lie detector challenge?
The National ENQUIRER stunned the entertainment world this week by publishing a world exclusive blockbuster article revealing that Ben Affleck cheated on his fianc�, Jennifer Lopez.
The ENQUIRER story -- on sale now -- describes how, during a wild night cavorting with strippers in Vancouver, Canada, Affleck performed oral sex on at least two nude dancers.
The ENQUIRER's sources for this shocking story were given lie-detector tests by a top independent polygrapher -- and the sources passed the test!"

Pac Bell's Internet arm sues music industry over file-sharer IDs

2003-07-31T03:21:00.000-05:00

Pac Bell's Internet arm sues music industry over file-sharer IDs: "Pac Bell's Internet arm sues music industry over file-sharer IDs

RON HARRIS
Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO - SBC Communications Inc. is joining a legal battle with the recording industry with a lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of the industry's effort to track down online music swappers.
In a complaint filed late Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, SBC unit Pacific Bell Internet Services alleges that many of the subpoenas served against it by the Recording Industry Association of America were done so improperly.
The suit also called to question some sections of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the federal law the RIAA contends supports its latest legal actions. A spokesman for SBC said the RIAA's use of the DMCA in its legal quest for online song-sharers interferes with customer privacy."

Yahoo! Groups : RUMORMILLNEWS Messages : Message 8850 of 8854

2003-07-29T12:12:00.000-05:00

Yahoo! Groups : RUMORMILLNEWS Messages : Message 8850 of 8854: "The more fiscally conservative former Finance Minister Paul Martin has a
virtual lock on the race to succeed Prime Minister Jean Chretien, but Copps
declared her intention to fight to the bitter end to push forward her
left-leaning agenda.

'I am not a quitter,' she declared.

Her platform would add C$6 billion ($4.3 billion) in spending in the fiscal
year beginning next April. "

Comic Book Resources - CBR News - Comics2Film

2003-07-23T23:53:00.000-05:00

Comic Book Resources - CBR News - Comics2Film: "WATCHMEN
Producer Lloyd Levin ('Tomb Raider 2: Cradle of Life') told IGN FilmForce.
Levin reports that they have a completed script from David Hayter ('X-Men'), 'that absolutely celebrates the book. It's a great adaptation of it. It's very faithful.'
Levin said that they have no intention of trying to dumb-down the material, but rather 'approach whatever you do with as much seriousness as possible and give it as much dignity as it deserves.'
Hayter is still a contender to direct but there is no timetable for starting pre-production of 'Watchmen.' "

Big Trouble in Little China - The Wing Kong Exchange

2003-07-22T14:09:00.000-05:00

Big Trouble in Little China - The Wing Kong Exchange: "Update from screenwriter Corey Mitchel - Corey reports that he spoke with producer Debra Hill and director John Carpenter last week, and John is 'totally on board' for a Big Trouble sequel, provided that Corey can get it set up. Kurt Russell is similarly interested, and work is underway in getting in touch with Jackie Chan regarding the project!"

Google as Big Brother

2003-07-21T15:06:00.000-05:00

Google as Big Brother: "And then there were four:
Why we target Google

Google is one of about four search engines that matter. There are many more than four engines, but only about four have the technology to crawl most of the web on a regular basis. Alltheweb, Google, and Inktomi do the best overall crawling. As of July 2003, Yahoo owns Overture, Fast/Alltheweb, AltaVista, and Inktomi, and is expected to dump its relationship with Google. Everything needed to turn Yahoo into a major search engine and pay-for-placement ad agency, at a level that can compete with Google, is under Yahoo's roof. That doesn't mean that Yahoo won't shoot themselves in the foot with all of this firepower. "

Is the Computer Desktop an Antique? - Soon, Apple and Microsoft will need new metaphors for their operating systems. By Steven?Johnson

2003-07-21T13:54:00.000-05:00

Is the Computer Desktop an Antique? - Soon, Apple and Microsoft will need new metaphors for their operating systems. By Steven?Johnson: "Is the Computer Desktop an Antique?
Soon, Apple and Microsoft will need new metaphors for their operating systems."

The Wave Magazine - The Bay Area's Best Entertainment Magazine... Ever.

2003-07-20T07:28:00.000-05:00

The Wave Magazine - The Bay Area's Best Entertainment Magazine... Ever.: "

Digital Jesus
Videogames have finally found their way into religion. Or vice versa.
By Seanbaby

Send this Article to a friend! Printer Friendly
Jesus is the original crossover artist. After a brief period of childhood fame, he went on to redefine himself as one of history?s most famous social critics. He is the co-author and star of the best selling book of all time. He?s inspired countless musical groups, none of them good, and has an entire television network featuring giant-haired beast women asking viewers to mail him money. Jesus has appeared in film, musical theatre, tortillas, assorted paint stains, cartoons and has a recurring role in festive lawn decorations. Only model-author-actor-martial artist Antonio Sabato Jr. has had a comparable impact on the media. "

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Animals sprayed by graffiti artist

2003-07-19T08:05:00.000-05:00

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Animals sprayed by graffiti artist: "Animals sprayed by graffiti artist

The use of the animals has been approved by the RSPCA
One of the UK's most feted underground artists, Banksy, has launched a rare exhibition featuring live cows, sheep and pigs.
Celebrities including Jamie Oliver, Sara Cox and Jarvis Cocker attended Thursday's launch - but Banksy himself left before the party to avoid the spotlight.
Banksy, from Bristol, real name Robin Banks, has been hailed as 'Britain's most celebrated graffiti artist' and designed Blur's latest album cover.
He avoids exhibiting in galleries - but his latest show, Turf War, has taken over a warehouse in east London for five days.
The exhibition includes pigs painted in police colours, sheep painted in concentration camp stripes and a cow covered in images of Andy Warhol's face. "

Ain't It Cool News - View Article

2003-07-18T09:29:00.000-05:00

Ain't It Cool News - View Article: "Fantastic Four #500 marks the conclusion of the 4 part ?Unthinkable? storyline. Dr. Doom has his longtime nemesis, Reed Richards, right where he wants him. Reed?s son is trapped in the pits of Hell, being tormented by demons, and his infant daughter is being used as Doom?s medium. Reed?s family is being tortured in the bowels of Doom?s castle. And Reed himself has been locked in Doom?s library, told that the only way out of this predicament is to learn enough magic to confront Doom on his own terms."

Gladiator robot looks to join Marine Corps - The Honolulu Advertiser - Hawaii's Newspaper

2003-07-18T07:08:00.000-05:00

Gladiator robot looks to join Marine Corps - The Honolulu Advertiser - Hawaii's Newspaper: "Gladiator robot looks to join Marine Corps

Marines at Camp Smith demonstrate the crowd-control capabilities of the Gladiator Tactical Unmanned Ground Vehicle.
U.S. Marine Corps photo

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
CAMP SMITH ? It looks like something out of Robocop, a mini tank-treaded terror bristling with so many cannon and guns that only a Hollywood screenwriter could have dreamed it up.
It's designed to be RoboMarine ? technically the Gladiator Tactical Unmanned Ground Vehicle ? and proponents say it would have come in handy in trouble spots ranging from Somalia, Kosovo and Bosnia to Afghanistan and Iraq."

New Scientist

2003-07-17T21:40:00.000-05:00

New Scientist: "Nanotechnology may create new organs

18:30 08 July 03

NewScientist.com news service

Scientists have built a minute, functioning vascular system - the branching network of blood vessels which supply nutrients and oxygen to tissues - in a significant step towards building whole organs.
Conventional tissue engineering methods have successfully grown structural tissues such as skin and cartilage in the lab. But not being able to create the supporting vascular system has proved a major stumbling block preventing scientists from creating large functioning organs such as liver or kidneys.
Now, researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School have used computers to design branching networks of venous and arterial capillaries, which start at three millimetres wide and reach a fineness of just 10 microns.
'We used living vessels as a guide to model factors such as the angle and size ratio between branching vessels. But we optimised our design to improve it,' said lead researcher Mohammad Kaazempur-Mofrad, from MIT?s department of mechanical engineering and division of biological engineering."

KurzweilAI.net

2003-07-17T21:24:00.000-05:00

KurzweilAI.net: "The Ray Kurzweil Reader
by Ray Kurzweil

The Ray Kurzweil Reader is a collection of essays by Ray Kurzweil on virtual reality, artificial intelligence, radical life extension, conscious machines, the promise and peril of technology, and other aspects of our future world. These essays, all published on KurzweilAI.net from 2001 to 2003, are now available as a PDF document for convenient downloading and offline reading. The 30 essays, organized in seven memes (such as 'How to Build a Brain'), cover subjects ranging from a review of Matrix Reloaded to 'The Coming Merging of Mind and Machine' and 'Human Body Version 2.0.'

Click here to download The Ray Kurzweil Reader (Acrobat Reader 5.0 or later required; PDF file, 4.4 MB). "

Give 'Terminator' a shot at White House?

2003-07-17T11:22:00.000-05:00

Give 'Terminator' a shot at White House?: "Give 'Terminator' a shot at White House?

Hatch is pushing amendment to lift Oval Office limit
By Lee Davidson
Deseret Morning News
WASHINGTON ? Sen. Orrin Hatch is pushing a constitutional amendment that could allow his pal, fund-raising helper and potential California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger, to also run for U.S. president someday.

Orrin Hatch

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Hatch, R-Utah, introduced without fanfare last week an amendment to allow foreign-born people who have been naturalized U.S. citizens for at least 20 years to run for president. Currently, only native-born citizens may run for president."

Softimage Behavior

2003-07-16T20:25:00.000-05:00

You've got a tough shot - thousands of visibly alien creatures battle with hordes of thin, elfin warriors - and it all takes place under water. With traditional techniques it's out of the question, requiring either months of animation, or hundreds of extras and a huge (water filled) set. It'll go way over budget.

The solution: SOFTIMAGE|BEHAVIOR. Behavior is the first scalable, fully programmable crowd simulation and behavioral animation system, incorporating a complete Integrated Development Environment (IDE), with visual state-graph editing, and an embedded debugger.

Using Behavior, tens of thousands of characters can be imbued with intelligence, choreographed and coordinated with precise high-level control. A single technical artist or developer, using characters created in XSI, can turn around a completed crowd simulation in a fraction of the time traditional methods require."

Cool Japanimation Chick Casemode

2003-07-16T14:43:00.000-05:00

Watchmen the Movie

2003-07-16T09:14:00.000-05:00

WATCHMEN Producer Lloyd Levin reports that they have a completed script from David Hayter ('X-Men'), 'that absolutely celebrates the book. It's a great adaptation of it. It's very faithful.'
Levin said that they have no intention of trying to dumb-down the material, but rather 'approach whatever you do with as much seriousness as possible and give it as much dignity as it deserves.'
Hayter is still a contender to direct but there is no timetable for starting pre-production of 'Watchmen.' "

poplab

2003-07-16T01:34:00.001-05:00

esm-artificial

2003-07-16T01:34:00.000-05:00

2003 Dodge Tomahawk TRON-esque concept motorcycle

2003-07-16T01:33:00.000-05:00

The Tomahawk is likely to see the light of day, according to #2 exec Wolfgang Bernhard, who said we'd know by summer 2003. It's a Viper V-10 based motorcycle, a 500 horsepower engine sitting out in the elements with some wheels beneath it. The price would be at least $250,000, and there would be only a few hundred made. Frankly, we suspect the Tomahawk will be built, due to a huge amount of public interest.
The Dodge Tomahawk can reach 60 miles an hour in about 2.5 seconds, and has a theoretical top speed of nearly 400 mph. Each pair of wheels is separated by a few inches and each wheel has an independent suspension. Bernhard said four wheels were necessary to handle the power from the engine.
The Tomahawk remains on display at auto shows - though well out of reach of the general public, elevated on a special display.

RETINA / _ SUK & KOCH _

2003-07-16T01:30:00.000-05:00

Running Men

2003-07-15T07:30:00.000-05:00

It's amusing to think that in a year or two (I have no idea when the elections are) I may be able to pop in The Running Man and watch a former Governor of Minnesota and the current Governor of California pretending to beat the living hell out of each other.

Aging Researchers Find Evidence for Self-destruct Signal

2003-07-14T12:14:00.000-05:00

Combining the circulatory systems of old and young mice has provided evidence that aging begins when the body receives a command to self-destruct.
Researchers who study life extension are interested in the causes of senescence.
'Some believe that this is a natural process, caused by accumulation of wastes of vital functions and by insult to cells due to environmental influence. Others assume that self-repairing and self-purification capabilities of a human organism are quite high and are far from exhausted within the 85 years assigned for a life of an individual,' says Gennady Boutenko, a member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. 'It means that at some point, a command is turned on to slow down the recovery process, and this is when the old age begins."

Grim Tidings

2003-07-14T07:43:00.000-05:00

The Franklin Mint - Ghoulish Scumbags? You decide!

2003-07-14T01:53:00.000-05:00

Princess Diana Memorial Fund frozen as law suit looms

Charities say they will suffer 'devastating' losses after the Princess Diana Memorial Fund announced it will freeze its grants.

The fund is being sued by an American firm that makes Diana memorabilia - it faces costs that could run into tens of millions of pounds.

For �150, a 10-inch-high doll can be yours. The prized collectible - says the Franklin Mint website - captures the princess's unassuming grace - her inner and outer beauty. Her memorial fund spent �4m of charity money failing to prevent the company from using Diana's image in its souvenirs. Franklin Mint retaliated with an �18m counter lawsuit.

Movie Poop Shoot - Forest of Dead Trees

2003-07-13T20:16:00.000-05:00

Movie Poop Shoot - Forest of Dead Trees: "As I wrote last column, I?ve officially declared July Retro Sci-Fi Novel Month here in the Forest of Dead Trees and what better way to start off than to look at Mr. Robot (not to be confused with Mr. Roboto), Isaac Asimov.
Asimov was born in Petrovichi, Russia in 1920 but his family moved to the United States in 1923 where his Father bought a candy store in Brooklyn. Young Isaac?s first published story was called MAROONED OFF VESTA and appeared in the March 1939 edition of ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION which means, if you do the math, Asimov was only 19 when he was on his way to becoming one of the most prolific and influential writers of his time. He also at that tender age graduated from Columbia with a B.S. in Chemistry. He continued on in this field obtaining a M.A. and a Ph.D. and later went on to become Associate Professor of biochemistry at the Boston University School of Medicine before he quit to focus full-time on his writing in 1958. "

Ain't It Cool News - View Article

2003-07-12T17:54:00.001-05:00

Ain't It Cool News - View Article: "* As AICN-D reported, like, a gazillion years before anyone else did, the big-screen adaptation of UK sf-comedy RED DWARF will lens in Australia. Co-creator Doug Naylor is currently in Queensland scouting for locations. (Oy, Doug! Shoot at Pacific Fair! They?ve got this place that sells apple flavoured Chupa Chups! No shiznit!) "

Ain't It Cool News - View Article

2003-07-12T17:54:00.000-05:00

New Memory That Doesn't Forget

2003-07-10T13:04:00.000-05:00

Wired News - Unlike conventional high-speed memory devices, MRAM uses magnetism instead of electrical charges to store data -- making it, in a sense, a back-to-the-future technology based on the same laws of physics that enabled the creation of audio and videotape recorders as well as hard drives.

Alberta Premier Ralph Klein got a pie square in the face Monday during his annual Stampede breakfast

2003-07-10T12:38:00.000-05:00

TheStar.com

Alberta premier intends to press charges

by JUDY MONCHUK / CANADIAN PRESS / CALGARY - Klein had just started to address the crowd and was commenting on what a great job Agriculture Minister Shirley McClellan was doing with the mad cow crisis when a man, who appeared to be in his 20s, hit Klein hard with a banana cream pie.
As several breakfast-goers screamed, the man was tackled by provincial security officers as he tried to get away and was taken into police custody.
The Conservative premier who is more used to being accepted by the public because of his Every Man image, did not look shaken, although he did appear somewhat irritated. He then smiled as he tried to wipe away the pie remnants with his fingers before being handed a towel.

'It tastes not bad,' he said.

Middle Aged Crooks, Nerds, Just Doing It For The Ladies

2003-07-10T12:36:00.000-05:00

New Scientist
Geniuses, criminals do best work in their 30s

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Geniuses and criminals may not seem to have much in common but they both do their best work in their 30s -- and mainly to impress the opposite sex.
When Satoshi Kanazawa, of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, studied biographies of prominent, mostly male scientists he discovered that they made their key discovery before their mid 30s, around the same age that criminal behavior peaks.
He believes the male competitive urge to attract females is a driving force for the scientific and criminal achievements, according to New Scientist magazine.
'They do whatever they do' in order to win the sexual attention of women, Kanazawa said.
He added that the competitive drive decreases with age and as men's priority shifts from competing for women to taking care of their offspring.
'Kanazawa also found that marriage dampens the drive in both arenas,' the magazine added. "

Bruce Dickinson Says 'We Are Not Like Metallica'

2003-07-10T12:33:00.000-05:00

blabbermouth.net

Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson wants to make it clear that he does not share Metallica's attitude with respect to illegal music downloading.

While performing with Iron Maiden at the Oslo Spectrum last Wednesday (July 2), Dickinson made a deal with the 17,000 Norwegian Maiden fans in attendance before he sang the as-yet-unreleased song 'Wildest Dreams' from the group's upcoming CD, 'Dance of Death' (due on Sept. 9), reports Jan Thoresen of the Oslo newspaper Dagbladet.

'The album is not out yet, but please pull out your small digital recorders, MP3 players, cell phones or whatever you have. Put it on the Internet, spread it all over the world. But on one condition: When you hear the new album, if you like it, pay the equivalent of three beers to buy the record in the store. That is what keeps us alive. If you don't like the album, just forget it,' Dickinson said, and the crowd went wild. 'We are not like Metallica,' he added."

science fiction, fantasy and horror from infinity plus

2003-07-10T12:22:00.000-05:00

science fiction, fantasy and horror from infinity plus: "on the infinity plus website: science fiction, fantasy and horror by
~ Patricia Anthony ~ Kage Baker ~ Neal Barrett, Jr ~ Stephen Baxter ~ Bruce Bethke ~ Michael Bishop ~ Terry Bisson ~ Keith Brooke ~ Eric Brown ~ Ted Chiang ~ John Christopher ~ John Clute ~ Tony Daniel ~ Paul Di Filippo ~ Greg Egan ~ Suzette Haden Elgin ~ Mary Gentle ~ Nick Gevers ~ Lisa Goldstein ~ John Grant ~ Peter F Hamilton ~ M John Harrison ~ Gwyneth Jones ~ James Patrick Kelly ~ Garry Kilworth ~ Geoffrey A Landis ~ David Langford ~ Paul J McAuley ~ Ian McDonald ~ Vonda N McIntyre ~ Michael Moorcock ~ Kim Newman ~ Paul Park ~ Kit Reed ~ Kim Stanley Robinson ~ Richard Paul Russo ~ Lucius Shepard ~ Brian Stableford ~ Charles Stross ~ Tricia Sullivan ~ Jack Vance ~ Jeff VanderMeer ~ Ian Watson ~ Connie Willis ~ George Zebrowski ~ David Zindell ~
~ and many more ~ "

2003-07-10T12:21:00.000-05:00

: "--

Bruce Mehlman:

The Internet is more valuable with more users. But if everyone is
on, and using MSFT email, there's a serious security risk if MSFT
mail is targeted by a worm.

Growing and maintaining the best and brightest is a major
challenge.

On the one hand, the Internet is global medium and 27K taxing
juridisctions will break it, but there's local control needed,
'cause I don't want porn for my kids (but China wants to keep
democracy off its network).

The Founders created intellectural property not to enrich
inventors but to enrich society -- so follow-ons could stand on
their shoulders."

Vancouver Webloggers

2003-07-10T12:19:00.000-05:00

Vancouver Webloggers: "Volunteering for a Vancouver Environmental Organization �
I recently decided to volunteer for a few hours a week at an enivronmental organization in Vancouver. I selected the David Suzuki Foundation as my first choice. I'd grown up watching Dr. Suzuki, and I liked the organization's broad mandate and managable size. I applied to volunteer, and then harried the poor volunteer coordinator, but it was all to no effect. They apparently have more volunteers than they need. It's been two months, and I haven't saved a single tree.
Coincidentally, my friend tried to volunteer for the SPCA and had a similar result. It's not like we're 16-year-old students or octogenarians, either. We've got applicable skills and a pretty altruistic attitude. But regardless...
So, I'm looking for a similar organization in the city--broad mandate, well-run and medium size. I don't want to be Envelope Stuffer #64 for the rest of my days. I don't mind starting out that way, but I imagine it's tricky to climb the volunteer org chart at, say, Greenpeace. Any suggestions?
posted by Darren at 4:14 PM | Comments (12)"

Vancouver Webloggers

2003-07-10T12:18:00.000-05:00

Vancouver Webloggers

Canadian Government To Sell Pot For Medical Use

2003-07-10T10:50:00.000-05:00

Canadian Government To Sell Pot For Medical Use: "Health Canada is charging $20 for 20 seeds or $150 for a 30-gram bag of dried grass. The product is grown by Prairie Plant Systems at a mine in Flin Flon, Man.

To qualify under the medical access program, people must meet detailed medical requirements and get the endorsement of a doctor. Many would-be users haven't been able to qualify. "

illegal-art.org :: a project of Stay Free!

2003-07-10T04:44:00.001-05:00

illegal-art.org :: a project of Stay Free!: "The laws governing 'intellectual property' have grown so expansive in recent years that artists need legal experts to sort them all out. Borrowing from another artwork--as jazz musicians did in the 1930s and Looney Tunes illustrators did in 1940s--will now land you in court. If the current copyright laws had been in effect back in the day, whole genres such as collage, hiphop, and Pop Art might have never have existed.
The irony here couldn't be more stark. Rooted in the U.S. Constitution, copyright was originally intended to facilitate the exchange of ideas but is now being used to stifle it.
The Illegal Art Exhibit will celebrate what is rapidly becoming the 'degenerate art' of a corporate age: art and ideas on the legal fringes of intellectual property. Some of the pieces in the show have eluded lawyers; others have had to appear in court.
Loaded with gray areas, intellectual property law inevitably has a silencing effect, discouraging the creation of new works."

illegal-art.org :: a project of Stay Free!

2003-07-10T04:44:00.000-05:00

McDonald's Tests Self-Ordering Kiosks (washingtonpost.com)

2003-07-09T13:36:00.000-05:00

McDonald's Tests Self-Ordering Kiosks (washingtonpost.com): "McDonald's Tests Self-Ordering Kiosks

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Reuters
Wednesday, July 9, 2003; 8:02 AM
By Deborah Cohen
CHICAGO (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp. is testing a system in several markets that lets customers place their own orders, a move that could eventually become standard at many of its restaurants, an executive told Reuters.
The technology, which uses electronic terminals known as kiosks, lets customers place their orders on a touch screen and either pick their food up at a separate area or wait to have it brought to their table."

Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt present: THE ANIMATION SHOW

2003-07-09T03:43:00.000-05:00

Link
Finally, there's an animation festival with the artists themselves at the helm! Kicking off in the fall of 2003 with its first North American tour, The Animation Show is a collection of the world's best animated short films, personally programmed by co-producers Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-Head, King of the Hill, Office Space) and Academy Award nominated animator Don Hertzfeldt.

This year's line-up spans eight countries and features everything from forgotten
classics to the very latest in computer animation, with a trilogy
of brand new cartoons by Don produced exclusively for the show, rare and
never-before-seen animation by Mike, six Academy Award nominees, and plenty
of surprises. The official program and tourdates for this year's show will
be revealed on July 18th and 19th at our world premiere sneak previews in
Austin, TX

As animation continues to be plagued as the single most misunderstood
film medium, the animated short film is sadly undervalued and underexposed
in American cinema, despite widespread appreciation throughout the rest of
the world. With luck, popular animated shorts may see some manner of very
limited theatrical play, but are all too often relegated to only being found
in chopped-up form on television, or worse, are only exhibited on the internet.

The
first theatrical animation festival was born in 1976 with the launch of the
Fantastic Animation Festival. This was the first show to create the now-universal
"program on a flyer" and the first to receive a first-run 35mm theatrical
release. The Fantastic Festival's popularity helped pave the way shortly
thereafter for similar programs throughout the 80s and 90s, including Spike
and Mike's Festival of Animation, the Tournee of Animation, and several others
that came and went with varying success.

Every year, The Animation Show promises to put animated short films into
more theaters than any other animation festival in American history. We aim
to finally give these filmmakers the wide exposure their work deserves and
to share these short masterpieces on the big screen, where they belong.

CHUD - Cinematic Happenings Under Development

2003-07-09T03:40:00.000-05:00

CHUD - Cinematic Happenings Under Development: "CAMERON AND MORE ALIENS!
7.8.03
By Dave Davis
Contributing sources: Dark Horizons
Normally I'd just dismiss this sort of thing as 'wishful thinking' or 'complete hooey', either of which it probably will be, but since a few people emailed me about it and there's a lengthy discussion on the message boards, I figured I should report it.
Anyway, after raking Alien 3 over some coals, Jim 'King of the World' Cameron recently spat out a blurb about possible involvement in another Alien movie. 'We're looking at doing another one. Something similiar to what we did with Aliens. A bunch of great characters, and of course Sigourney. I've even discussed the possibility of putting [Arnie] into the Alien movie.'
Awesome!
Now, the reality: A fifth Alien movie gets discussed almost as often as Tom Arnold brings up True Lies 2. Weaver has made comments that she's not especially interested in returning to the role. Schwarzenegger has the Westworld remake and third Conan movie on his slate, and that's if he doesn't just ditch film for politics. And the franchise is already active, with the Alien vs. Predator movie scheduled to go into production in a few months."

CHUD - Cinematic Happenings Under Development

2003-07-09T03:39:00.000-05:00

CHUD - Cinematic Happenings Under Development: "TELL ME A LIEFELD
7.8.03
By Dave Davis
Contributing sources: Variety
Comic creator Rob Liefeld may not be especially active in the waning comic book industry any more, but that's partially because he's slowly weaseling his way into Hollywood instead."

The Dubya Report - Dubya Talk

2003-07-09T03:38:00.000-05:00

The Dubya Report - Dubya Talk: "We're laying the groundwork for a national campaign -- a national campaign that I believe will result in a great victory in November 2002.
-- Tampa, Florida, June 30, 2003
Wait for us to succeed peace. Wait for us to have two states, side by side -- is for everybody coming together to deny the killers the opportunity to destroy.
-- Kennebunkport, Maine, June 15, 2003
I'm also not very analytical. You know I don't spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things.
-- aboard AirForce One, June 4 2003
I recently met with the finance minister of the Palestinian Authority, was very impressed by his grasp of finances.
-- Washington, DC, May 29, 2003
First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill.
-- Washington, DC, May 19, 2003
So one of my visits -- one of the reasons I'm visiting here is to ask the question to people. Because if there's -- moving too slow, or people are saying one thing and the other thing is not happening, now is the time to find out.
-- Pierce City, MO, May 13, 2003 "

Cinescape - Home - Editorial

2003-07-09T03:35:00.000-05:00

Cinescape - Home - Editorial: "Judging from the casting buzz being overheard by ourselves and Dark Horizons, it looks like the search is well underway to find the new Willie Wonka in Tim Burton's remake of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.
According to one of our scoopers, Christopher Walken (CATCH ME IF YOU CAN) is one of the leaders emerging from the acting talent pool. It wouldn't be the first time Walken's worked with Burton; the actor played the part of scheming industrialist Max Schreck in BATMAN RETURNS.
But here's where it gets stranger: yesterday Dark Horizons ran a rumor that Walken's adversary in BATMAN RETURNS, namely Michael Keaton himself, is also being considered for the role of the candy tycoon.
So is Burton looking back at the BATMAN franchise to find his Wonka? "

Peter Murphy's Panoramic VR Weblog

2003-07-09T01:40:00.000-05:00

Peter Murphy's Panoramic VR Weblog: "Last night in the inner-city suburb of Balmain there was an attempted screening of the recent film 'Ken Park' by American director Larry Clark. This film has been 'refused classification' by the censorship board here and hence is effectively banned. It was due to be shown at the recent Sydney Film Festival and since its non-appearance there the campaign to liberalise the apparently increasingly conservative film censorship regime has gathered a lot of support. Police stopped the screening last night after only a couple of minutes of the film were shown. Panorama 1. Panorama 2. Some stills: (1) four of the principal members of the Free Cinema organising group: journalist David Marr, TV presenter Margaret Pomerantz, writer Jane Mills and ABC radio critic Julie Rigg (2) 'Free Cinema' sign (3)Superintendant Katsogiannis -- chief police officer present (4) wide angle shot of the audience in the hall during the melee on the stage"

Gladiator robot looks to join Marine Corps - The Honolulu Advertiser - Hawaii's Newspaper

2003-07-09T01:38:00.000-05:00

Gladiator robot looks to join Marine Corps - The Honolulu Advertiser - Hawaii's Newspaper