Links posted in August 2004
August 31, 2004
This is what happens when you Fight a Stranger in the Alps [12MB mpg] - The most ludicrous safe-for-TV-dubbing EVAR, as captured by FLIVO(tm). (more info in response)
Using functional MRI on two patients simultaneously, researchers have created the first live two-player game controlled entirely by your mind. The game is, fittingly, Pong. A musician player, for instance, imagines a crescendo or more instruments in an orchestra to make the paddle move up. To lower the paddle, just quiet the music in your head. As Nintendo once said, Now You're Playing with Power.
You've seen, I hope, the bracket-style Showdown of Simpsons Minor Characters (final results and analysis here)... Now find out, as in the Conan O'Brien gag, what would happen If They Mated!
I woke up this morning to 101X discussing the pending lawsuit between Best Brains Inc. (aka Mystery Science Theater 3000) and Alamo Drafthouse/Mr. Sinus. (statesman reg. required, avoid reg with bugmenot). Notables include:
- the lawsuit concerns the format of their show as much as or more than simply the name similarity
- the vulgarity and nudity at Mr. Sinus shows is particularly targeted as degrading the MST3K brand name
- Alamo was actually approached by Best Brains to screen old MST3K episodes (which would have been AWESOME), but they claim Alamo said no and then turned around and hired out the Mr. Sinus gang to rip the idea off
- Best Brains says they denied them a "license" to the idea and told them to knock it off and change the name, but they didn't
- Alamo's corporate entity is listed as Alamo South Lamar, LP which is both weird and lends evidence to the hearsay that the downtown drafthouse will soon be re-located to the old site of Fiesta groceries on S. Lamar (I first overheard that many months ago).
August 30, 2004
[clickable link]
Sorry, have to cut and paste above address...but it seems like a pretty good commercial to me...wish Kerry had kept it on air...but too much integrity
Because we can't say goodbye without doing it like seven times spread out over half a week....
- Lunch tomorrow (8/31) at Kerbey Lane; meet 4th floor RLM at 11:45am.
- Happy Hour tomorrow (8/31) at Scholz Garten (1607 San Jacinto Blvd)
So I bought the CD by that band "Nomo" that was posted about earlier. Let me just say that I think it is, well, totally awesome. If you liked the MP3s on their website, you'll like the rest of the disk. <blink>Noodles.</blink>
Brittons waiting for Thatcher to die. As someone once said:
"Every decent person should be able to live their life without having an animated gif of someone peeing on their head posted to the top of a website."
Marathon world records on a big chart - It's got a kind of funny shape that I wouldn't expect, like a staircase. Any theories about that?
If you're an asshat priest that decides to run out and accost the olympic marathon leader (and drop him to bronze), be smart about it and don't forget to also write the name of your website on your back. Otherwise, people will get your crazy-guy message but they won't be able to find your magnum opus Christ Will Soon Take Power From All Governments on the internet.
August 27, 2004
Bose (of wave-radio fame) makes active vehiclesuspension
(About half-way down the page; "Daily in Depth")
"To drive home the system's capability, the Bose car literally crouched and leapt across a piece of lumber blocking its path on a parking lot course."
Doctors grow new jaw in man's back A German who had his lower jaw cut out because of cancer has enjoyed his first meal in nine years -- a bratwurst sandwich -- after surgeons grew a new jaw bone in his back muscle and transplanted it to his mouth in what experts call an "ambitious'' experiment. Fuckin' crazy shit. Complete with a pretty gross CT scan of the new jaw in place.
Real Ultimate Power in a book. Sales rank: 1,785.
Hey, there's a new Stretch Mini Cooper Limo. I wish I had one to drive to work everyday.
SomethingAwful Improves the Olympics. (SFW thru p.5).
If you missed ExMFC last Monday, you missed viewing the Red vs. Blue Guide to the Internet, which explains in humorous detail all the ways that the Internet is different from Real Life.
August 26, 2004
Maybe you've wanted to write a letter to the editor in support of your favorite president-to-be, but just couldn't get out the words. The Kerry-Edwards style guide is there to help with a list of positive words like "warmth" and a list of negative words like "them" (and so much more!). If you'd prefer something even more point and click than that, the Bush-Cheney automated letter generator is there to serve your needs. Best of all, it stops that pesky "individuality" problem by allowing the same letter to the editor to be printed coast to coast. (via Memepool)
Lots of Halo 2 footage for Becky, Ned and Carl. I suppose other people might look at it too, but yeah.
August 25, 2004
It's Left Bracket <blink>blink</blink> Right Bracket Words Left Bracket <blink>Forward Slash blink</blink> Right Bracket.
The band: NOMO. You have never heard it. <blink>You</blink> want to hear of it. Other people have heard of it.
We need more posts. Why are <blink>YOU</blink> not posting??
While looking at other student organizations, I stumbled across the I love Mike Litt fan club. Now, say that 10 times fast and you'll understand why I was amazed that UT allows it. On the other hand, look at the president of the club and you'll be hard pressed to turn it down. Click on his name to see his email address; really, you'd do it too if you had his name.
Speaking of, the conditions for official officership in the ExMFC are that you are a registered (and fully paid) UT student, that you email me your UTEID, and that you tell me the office you would like to hold. Flip (at Carl's urging) has kindly generated many posts that need filling. I have reproduced the list in the comments thread.
The idiots at BadGas (who previously brought you the Downtrodden Fried Chicken Shops of England Gallery) are trying to propagate a new meme: Doing a Lynndie. Next time some unsuspecting friend passes out after dancing, or when you next pass a bum, put a cig or a pen in your mouth and strike a pose! Man, this concept has incredible comic potential!
Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival this Sunday - if you're not too hung over from saturday night, you should make it out to Waterloo Park at 11 or so on Sunday to experience the many hot sauces at the festival. If you are too hung over, you should make it out at 2 or 3 to burn the remnants of alcohol right out of you. Admission is 2 non-perishable items for the food bank, although if you're a tightass I'm positive that you can get in for nothing.
As we discovered last year, if you stick it out until the amateur sauce judging ends, they just hand out tub after tub of chips and funky salsa. Our krew that went last year probably walked off with 8-10 pints of hot sauce that ranged from traditional tomato to sour-cream-ranchy-flavor to blueberry (that one was just weird). It was badass. In the meantime, there are plenty of free samples of commercial brands...
August 24, 2004
This Adventure Race around Austin looks like a lot of fun. Click on "2003 Results/Austin 2003" to see the checkpoints from last year.
Is it common knowledge that Dolph Lundgren holds a master's degree in chemical engineering? I thought this week's Onion could not possibly be serious, but other internet sites verify that fact and that he was offered a Fulbright Scholarship to attend MIT. Frickin' He-Man, people! Has achieved a higher level of education than me!
Why stop at Alien vs. Predator or Kramer vs. Kramer or Bea Arthur vs. Velociraptor? Why not try your hand at this bracket-style showdown of all cinematic villains?
Project Steve
- The National Center for Science Education got tired of seeing creationists publish lists of "scientists who dissent with Darwinism." This misleads the public into thinking that the vast majority of scientists don't believe evolution is real. To counteract that, they formed a list of their own (with Weinberg's stated caveat that science isn't decided by manifesto, so it is intended as a bit of humor). It has more signatures than any of the creation lists, yet they only collected signatures from scientists named Steve, Steven, Stephen, Esteban, and Stephanie.
In 4 to 6 weeks, you'll be seeing me sporting my fashionable new Project Steve T-shirt.
Tricks of the Trade : people from various professions share their trade secrets.
Auto Mechanic:
Always put copper grease on the battery terminals after servicing a car. The performance benefit is negligible, but when customers look under the hood they will immediately see that something’s changed and thus feel happy to pay you.
Forester
The senior forester will be the one either driving the truck or sitting in the middle seat; it’s the guy who riding “shotgun” who has to get out to open and close every gate they encounter.
August 23, 2004
Buy my Bike Stuff off of Craig's List!!!
Online remote machine shop - Why didn't I think of this first?
wha
In recent years, Malaysians have displayed a growing penchant for offbeat records -- like the highest backward climb up a staircase, the largest number of old people at a circus and the greatest number of heads shampooed in one day at a shopping mall.
Beginning with this post, the time given will be in 24-hour Texas time (i.e. central daylight time, at the moment). This is a nuisance, since the label next to the time will still read "GMT". Flip is helping me work out the subleties of changing that, but at least the number is right.
Also: if you were one of the people with Mozilla that are having text overlay problems, you should hit reload to force your browser to get the new stylesheet. That should fix the problem.
We're looking at implementing a new system that would be searchable and keep archives by month. Apparently, there is a fairly painless way to move the database from our current system (freefilter) to the alternative monkeyfilter/metaphilter system (which also keeps a dev page on sourceforge.) That would be sweet ass, but I'm going to make sure that nothing gets lost in the transition if that's at all possible so it might take time.
We hear so much about the winners of these Olympic games, but what about the people who come in last place? Besides (apparently) having outrageous amounts of sex, they come to compete and go home disappointed. Now, there is a website dedicated to honoring them, because without losers there can be no winners. In the words of this site, "Celebrating last-place finishes at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Because they're there, and you're not." The CBC has also posted an article exploring why India, with the second largest population on Earth, has never won a gold medal in an individual event and furthermore only won a single bronze medal at each of the olympics in Sydney and Atlanta.
On a random walk through the internet today, I found a blog known as The Religious Policeman. It's a fantastic analysis of events in Saudi Arabia as described by a guy that doesn't often agree with the oppressive atmosphere. On the other hand, he's also not much of a US supporter. And, as usual, it wouldn't be able to hold my attention unless it was freakin' hilarious to boot. Even if you're not that interested, you should go just to see the stray kitty pictures in the second post.
Moose are big. It is advised to not hit them with your car (caution: dead stuff)
August 21, 2004
Plasma
Sorry if y'all have seen this, but I figured I owed a link to the community...
Check out Music Plasma for eye candy and a game of musical 6 degrees of separation.
No link yet, but I had an idea for a new game. I like to call it "The Fox Hunt." No scoring, no rules, but lots of competition, probably some risk, and mega one-upsmanship. There's only one potential prize awarded, but all participants would get to enjoy it. The idea is to chase Fox News reporters and interfere with their ability to present the news in their "Fair and Balanced" manner. I'm not talking about anything illegal, injurious, or otherwise sinful, but rather the practice of peaceful resistance.
Hopefully in the next few days I'll be able to post a link to a digitized video clip of some juvenile delinquent shouting an anti-fox slogan at the recent Marcia Ball performance at Blues on the Green during the live weather report...
August 20, 2004
Check out these crazy fighting robots!
If you are as geeky as I am, this Technology Briefing from Rockwell Automation the funniest thing EVAR. Watch it, or stay forever behind the times.
This has no link but I had to tell everyone. Well you know "bad comb over guy" who asks terrible questions at any kind of talk? He lives next door to us.
He cornered me on my own from step and told me all about how he was good friends with Weinburg. He is also taking one of the classes I am in the fall. I have no doubt that he will knock on my door and ask ME if I need help. He is like that. This as got to be one of the greatest "my first apartment" stories we will tell our children.
Wired magazine investigates freeipods.com - and finds that they seem to be legitimate. You have to cancel all of the offers after the free trial, and you have to wait for probably a few months, but you do get the free iPod if you stick it out. Further in the story are links to freevideogames.com and freecondoms.com....
August 19, 2004
Happy Birthday, Reid!
Happy Birthday, Melanie!
August 18, 2004
News Quiz!
The U.S. Forest Service has reversed long-standing policy to protect New Mexico's "Valley of Life" despite opposition from local ranchers, state officials, vacationers, environmentalists and the Boy Scouts of America, due to pressure brought to bear by:
A ) Scientists responding to conclusions presented in independent research.
B ) Native American shamans responding to the spirits of elk herds and animal deities.
C ) The White House, responding to campaign contributions from the El Paso Corporation.
(from The Ironic Times)
Some physics people had the great idea to have a "light ring around the world" to celebrate the World Year of Physics (a century after Einstein's great works). Of course, some astronomy bastards had to take issue with it, saying that the light pollution is unacceptable. I can understand their position, but can't they compromise and turn it on for, like, a day or something?
The best part about the story is the last paragraph, which is so damned American that it made me a little teary. Yeah, screw Canada, know what I'm sayin'?
The olympics and double dave's got me wondering why we use the word "heat" to indicate a race that converts participants into finalists. The OED provides a subtle clue as to the progression from "hot" to "competition" via the usage of "heat" to mean pressure (i.e. competitive pressure, "to put the heat on"). See definitions 8, 9, and 10.
In the process, I also discovered that flip is more than just a person: it's also a slimy scum, a sugar 'n' beer concoction (OED quote: "The Gypsie With Flip and Geneve got most Damnably Typsie (tipsy)"), a sudden jerk, and a smart stroke. Combining all those definitions, we see that flip is a dirty drunkard who jerks and strokes. Fabulous.
happy birthday GMcD
August 17, 2004
Adipocere
- A site about the substance many of us will one day become.
"Hmm, I wonder what do people know about adipocere? Maybe I, Adipocere, known to my friends as Adi, should create a website about my passion for adipocere."
WARNING! This web site contains information and images of a graphic nature. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.
Can Fu - A Pepsi commercial from Japan, reminescent of Japanese Ping Pong.
August 16, 2004
The most bling bling spinner of them all.
Breaking into a house and eating a fridgeful of food in 15 minutes: Good Times. Flirting your way backstage: Good Times. Going on a boatride and getting more than you bargained for: Very, Very Bad Times (reg req.).
Remember the sex scandal of the hobag blogger (not the sex scandal of the douchebag trekkie senator or the sex scandal of the closeted governor)? Read about the aftermath.
Does your name affect your attractiveness? - MIT scientist posts pics on hotornot.com (where, by the way, I also spent a lot of my time as a graduate student) with a name in the corner of the picture. Women with long round vowel sounds scored well while men with shorter vowels and harsher consonants scored highest. As a result, Ben, Michael, and Laura get big ups (no surprises there). However, Paul gets a dis. I think that our Paul alone overthrows the entire study.
Many of you have undoubtedly run across the disturbing religious tracts by Jack Chick at one time or another. They've often got the best plots and dialogue if you're looking for a true wingnut's viewpoints on why you should love the Jews (and hate the Catholics) and whether every Muslim will burn in hell.
For an alternative take on Chick tracts, might I suggest Modern Drunkard's hilarious take on why the ban on "drunk driving" is a sham.
August 15, 2004
August 13, 2004
OUTFOXED! Ohhhhh! We should go see this next Tuesday...as if we need anymore convincing though.
Do you know Larsson? If so, you might enjoy these pix of his trip to Thailand.
"I can always tell your thoughts by your winsome smile."
"That's funny. What does winsome mean?"
"Actually, right after I said it, I started to wonder myself."
August 12, 2004
Fun word puzzle from the New York Times in honor of the Olympics (reg req., acrobat req.).
Well, I just signed up online to be ordained as a minister (two of my best friends from back home are getting married). The Universal Life Church is the original and doesn't require adherence to any faith, simply to the credo "Do only that which is right." One of their competitors has a nice Online Ordination FAQ; I also found a slightly Jesus-flavored guide to Marriage Ministry. I'll let y'all know how the rest of the adventure turns out. In short: God Bless the Internet!
SE Fuck Bed
by Jucci Contemporary Leather Furniture.
"Better Than The Ghey Pillow For Hot Throbbing Anal Leakage."
What kind of description is that?
Here is a fascinating pictorial collection of old physics demonstration apparatus. The archive maintainer has dug through the closets of universities that he visits to get more material for the site. It appears that he visited UT in January 2003 (scroll to bottom 4 pictures). Think you might have seen some old stuff around the department? Check here to see if it has been immortalized on the web.
The Theory of Everything Don't bother wasting your time in grad school. This guy has got it down. I especially liked his treatment of the wave equation.
August 11, 2004
Massage ok just scroll down until you see the picture of what looks like a rear end and read the caption...... I know it is 4th grade humor but......
I wish we all had an Invisible Hand. Then it would be so much easier to get 'Vital Information About Euro-snobbery, Islamofascism, and Lousy Modern Architecture'..... or something.
Bush speaks against letting in Wait a second! George W. "There is no way i got into yale of my own talent" Bush??? indeed, he will say anything to get minority votes.
August 10, 2004
Writer for Popular Science goes cold turkey For 10 days, he only uses technology available in 1954. Pretty amazing to see how far we've come.
Straight Talk from White House West in Crawford, TX featuring Will Ferrell. Presented by A.C.T. (America Coming Together).
"So, stick with Bushie. And don't vote, don't listen to liberals or Democrats or other Republicans that make fun of me or read the news or watch the news, except for FOX. Thank you and God Bless."
Danny Bot - A Short Film by Frank Lesser.
August 09, 2004
Sunshine (the one without the upraised finger) suggests a send-off drank fest for Reid and Bunny. It is my understanding that they are quite busy packing and such (in Reid-speak, they're "blowin' up"), but it is also important that they not embarrass us as Texans when they show up at Oktoberfest and can't hang. Name the place and time, future Germanites. If you don't respond, we'll just go drinking in your memory and pour one or two pitchers out to represent what you would have drunk.
In case you missed it at movie night, or don't live in Austin, you might (unreasonably) be interested in the fake movie trailer that I made to celebrate Michael's bulging muscles. It can be found here (6MB). If that link breaks from traffic, post a comment and I'll put it up on AE as well.
The Straight Dope...Fighting Ignorance Since 1973... The rest of that line is-It's taking longer than we thought. Classic.
And just in case all you zombie lovers wanted to know:
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mzombiepower.html
Read Jon Stewart and Ted Koppel's fractious discusson about the present and future of TV news, one of the more interesting convention sideshows. Stewart scores several points before Koppel frostily dismisses him: "I've had enough of you... You're finished. (Smiles) [end]." Koppel and Stewart have some history on the matter.
Google Local Search I don't know if I'm behind the times by just finding out about this service from Google, but since the webpage says 'beta' on it maybe only a few lucky souls know about it yet. I used it to find a veterinarian near our new place. It even has a map with all of them on it so you don't have to look them up individually on mapquest.
DevirginizeMarc.com - "My name is Marc, and I'm a virgin..."
August 06, 2004
A Tale from the Dartmouth Library - "Don't yuck someone else's yum"
August 05, 2004
low morale
- by monkeehub.
low morale is a series of animations portraying one man's struggle to cope with the soul-sapping, will-to-live draining, life-force mugging, morale crushing experiences of work. any correlation between events showed and real-life have been personally researched.
fark photoshop contest - theme: geek tattoos.
Build A Better Bush
- This November, we Americans pick our President, but until then, lets pick on our President. Use the pop-up menues to change Mr. Bush's face.
Parallel Park - For the ladies.... Yes, I said it. Have you seen yourself trying to parallel park?
August 04, 2004
White House Gift List for 2003
- compliments of The Smoking Gun
"It will probably come as no surprise that the most valuable gift came from Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdallah, who gave First Lady Laura Bush a matching set of diamond and sapphire jewelry valued by U.S. officials at $95,500."
I like how "Non-acceptance would cause embarrassment to donor and U.S. Government". I don't know...if you guys ever feel inclined to...I don't know...give me a gift, well...I will just have to accept it because non-acceptance would cause embarrassment to donor and U.S. Government.
List of Company Name Etymologies - This is a list of company names with their name origins explained. Some origins are disputed.
And another thing - the crotch, down where your nuts hang - is always a little too tight, so when you make them up, give me an inch that I can let out there, uh because they cut me, it's just like riding a wire fence. -President Lyndon B. Johnson, ordering custom Haggar slacks. President Johnson often had his office bugged and his conversations recorded.
Let the Games Begin - About the nightlife in the Olympic village. There are so many great quotes from this article I can't pick just one.
Students charged with Hate Crime I mean, what fucking year is it? and why, again, are we not allowed to teach tolerance/alternative viewpoints in classrooms? holy hell, next time that effing contumacy group protests "liberal teaching" i will crucify them.
August 03, 2004
A scientist has published an analysis of what makes Kopi Luwak (AKA butt-nugget brew) so darn tasty. Turns out that having a civet pre-digest your coffee beans can really enhance the chocolately flavor. (I am not making that up).
August 02, 2004
I don't care how much you do in the name of activism; you're sure as hell not beating these two (er, not so safe for work). That goes for you, too, naked PETA ladies.
Viewmaster for the thinking person - Thanks to a young lady named Vladimir, you can (cheaply!) learn of the parables of Kafka or Invisible Cities with a handmade Viewmaster reel. Hell, these are hand-crafted more than handmade (did you see the packaging?) And if you look at the samples from the reels (products page) you'll notice that they're done in that very distinctive 3-D still Viewmaster style.
August 01, 2004
Can you find me?
Hint: I was at the Tiki Bar.
Too bad I never drink that beer... But, not bad for my first advertising job.
The best selling musicians of all time collected in an unassuming chart on the RIAA page. There's some surprises in there to be sure. For example, would you expect Journey to be number 30? You can also try your hand at the top 100 selling albums of all time. If anyone can correctly guess numbers three and four before you go to the site, you get some kind of psychic medal or something.