Links posted in September 2004
September 30, 2004
frog
Well I finally got my frogpad one handed keyboard today after waiting a month and a half... which is also about as long as its taken me to write this sentance. check it out sometime (mine's a lefty so I can mouse at the same time).
Machinima fans may be interested that the people behind Red vs. Blue are producing a new series based on The Sims 2.
Has anybody ever heard about this place? Apparently, the people who caused the mutiny on the ship HMS Bounty (chronicled, appropriately enough, in Mutiny on the Bounty) all settled on Pitcairn Island in 1790. Fast forward to today, and there are still only 17 families living there, all descendents of the original mutineers. They speak their own language, a mix of Tahitian and 18th century English. Apparently, they have their own sort of laws and customs that put one in a mind of pirate ethics, if recent charges of rape and sexual contact with 12 year old girls are correct. I had no idea that there were still places in this world so remote that you have to take a 36 hour boat ride from the nearest airport (itself in outlying Tahiti). Stories like this make me realize that the world is fucking big. It must be trippy to live your life in a tropical paradise and only really contact 46 other people (if you don't count occasional cruise ships).
Greatest News Story Image Evar. I'd like to think that an intern on his/her first day got assigned the task to produce a graphic for this story and the deadline was looming.
September 29, 2004
Just FYI, the HEB on 183 near the cinema has 20 cent Nestle chocolate bars (butterfinger, babyruth, and nestle crunch). Mmmmm.....
My Elvish Fighting Style is Uniquely Unstoppable - so geeky, so awesome, I can barely contain myself.
Hyper Cow
Hyper Dog
Hyppur Cat
HyperFuries (eewww!)
But no Hyper Lemur.
Gotta get on it before someone else does!
my god Get ready for 0.85" hard drives about the size of SD/MMC flash cards.
Has anyone else heard of the Jeep King of the Mountain (mtn. bike) event happening this Sunday? It's free and actually looks interesting enough to attend...
Milestones are passed: Computer Geek - Rocket Geek - Food Geek (all NYT, FRR, YYY)
How Do Porcupines Make Love? - "Males did not grasp the female in any way. Mating continued until the male was exhausted. Each time he broke away from the female she would re-establish contact. One younger female made grunting and whining sounds throughout. If males refused to co-operate, the female approached a nearby male and acted out the male role in coition with the uninvolved male. Females only remained sexually receptive for a few hours and then rejected males. "
We are living in an age where speed and efficiency are very important to us.
Check out "figure 1", too....
Extreme Walking - Fake? Maybe. Awesome? Emineminently So.
September 28, 2004
especially funny photoshop contest
It's been a while since a fark photoshop thread made me laugh out loud and so I was pleasantly surprised to LOL several times on this thread. There's something about penguins.
Oh, and yes I have already looked into getting one as a pet but apparently they haven't caught on in the states yet. No offense to Andrew Jackson...
Since I have no other life I was able to whip up a fun little Guide to AEthermix, for those of you that wanted to participate. If anyone has questions that should go into the AAQ (Actually Asked Questions), get all up in the comments here. If you need to get on the list, email (points thumbs to himself) this guy.
My parents are coming to Austin on Thursday for the first time ever (not counting that one time my mom helped me move here). What should we do? Any suggestions? Things to consider: they aren't terribly "active", so anything that doesn't take much more physical stamina than walking at the mall would be great.
Cooking for Engineers. Now there are no excuses!
Is Rall okay? His recent column endorses a "political literacy test" as a prerequisite for voting. Sound like he's looking for a solution.
Guess whose audience is more educated, The Daily Show with Jon Stuart, or O'Reilley Factor?
You know the answer, but read it here.
" Waters is generally characterized as an exploitation filmmaker, a gleeful button-pusher who'll do anything for shock value."
"Waters cares less about the plot than he does about decorating it with gags (most significantly, a scene in which Sylvia visits a nursing home and performs a hootchie-cootchie dance with a water bottle clenched in her, as the movie tastefully refers to it, cooter)."
"I've got hot nuts, 10 cents a bag!"
A Dirty Shame
September 27, 2004
sG and becky's posts today remind me of an idea I had been cultivating. I was just thinking the other day about how everyone has such different musical tastes (and this is borne out in that worst CD thread, certainly). I've discovered a lot of interesting and cool things from the music that others have suggested. I resurrected a memory of the mefiswap (where metafilter members trade mix CDs with each other) and wondered if we couldn't also do that here? Call it AEthermix. The idea: you make a CD and distribute it to others, and you get a CD from everyone else in return. Maybe you'd like to show people what cool new (or old!) stuff they've never heard of. Maybe you'd like to spend that 75 minutes playing OMD's "How Bizarre" and Supertramp's "The Logical Song" over and over until the disc ends. Does this capture anyone else's interest? (the overall idea, not the description of that last disc)
more reasoned persuasion in the comments.
How about Flip or someone getting us setup with a physics p-2-p network so we can all profit on each other's wealth of media? You know, a network free from all of the other crap you have to deal with and one that RIAA cant see...
just a thought
Worst songs of all time I was watching bad tv last night and wanted to ask all of you for some information: what is the worst or most embarrasing cd in your cd collection? Free downloads don't count, you have to have PAID for this one.
September 26, 2004
WTF!? Yo, anyone wanna loan me some money? You know I'm good for it.
September 24, 2004
not that you need it A little somethin' for the gentlemen out there... some great pickup lines
- 1) Obtain blank floppy disk and extract the source code to the disk
- 2) Drive to nearest electronics store and put floppy in prominently displayed computer (endcap, perhaps?)
- 3) "Accidentally" restart the computer
- 4) Hilarity ensues
The Key To The Sex Question
- Japanese sex catalog by the Arita Drugs & Rubber Goods Company.
"If try a lady who does not feel better when unite with a man use this then happiness will recover as her young age it was.
Age lady who has too big organ must use this then she will become of condition of virgin.
Pasts the cream to a female vagina."
September 23, 2004
I'll be back For those of you that missed all the hype of the Ivan tour of destruction, there's an encore presentation coming to a coast near you.
ultimate nerds This one's for you...
"Knowing that no self-respecting man smokes Parliament Lights, the officer opened the box to reveal it was stuffed with marijuana"
What a fark headline...
Nutrition information for anything you've ever so much as dreamed of eating
yeah.
September 22, 2004
finally, an answer to the question we have all been wondering! and, an issue of debate for newton and huygens also. AND from nature.com, so you know it's safe.
Two can play that game! This is also a good use for the JavelinaAtYahooDotCom address.
the clip
the objective and balanced outcry:
http://www.etherzone.com/2002/mako123102.shtml
hmmm how to get back at your ex wife.
What makes a really bad movie? Would you like to see a list of those considered "worst of all time"? Wikipedia is there for you, man.
Finally, we know what Reid is up to in Germany.... building a mechanical version of Pong!
UT Thesis Template for LaTeX -- since we'll all need this someday. This page reference's the LaTeX macro package by Craig McClusky, but these seem to have been removed from the web during a recent purge. Anyone have these? Are they any good?
September 21, 2004
It was only a matter of time...turns out Hasbro isn't too keen on the following things:
- body massage
- pork chop sandwiches
- DON'T GIVE HIM THE STICK, and
- hey kid, I'm a computer....help computer....
The Wicker Man marches on...
Those of you that sat near me at the movie probably noticed that I was quite tortured during our vixen's little dance scene. Of course, all the males probably were, but I was especially "rack"ing my brain because I knew I had heard that music (named "Willow's Song" on the soundtrack) somewhere before. I wasn't the only one. It definitely wasn't Iron Maiden's "The Wicker Man" (with a strangely similar though more abstruse storyline). It was in fact a song named How Do by the Sneaker Pimps(MP3 from an album I actually own!) See if this techno-fied version riles up that lusty feeling in you as it did for Britt.
nostalgia For those of you who didn't spend your formative years watching your friends light farts, this link's for you!
September 20, 2004
The greatest fizzisits project post fell off the front page, yet some of you haven't sent in your nominations. So I'm starting a new thread. If I don't see some posts I'll just start pasting in versions of my 127-physicist list...
I do not want one of these retro items.
This is a site for a fake KFC-esque restaurant from the upcoming installment of the Grand Theft Auto series. The legal disclaimer is my favorite.
This new article on SlashDot totally justifies my existance. Now I just need a woman to justify my love.
Death Clock . Calculate how long you will live.
Send JSK! - not because I don't love her, of course. She could use the time, though.
adolf hitler's original watercolor artworks.
Yale takes a shot at a PhysOlympics. It's pretty well organized, but very dissapointing.
For instance: 2003, they have a "Fun Physics Lecture", which is apparently fun becauses it features the cliche of old guy with a t-shirt on trying to make funny faces.
Well, at least they got cute undergrads to show up.
September 18, 2004
Look, just write out the entire phrase, ok? Your mommy isn't nearby to slap you about it.
HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!
Ok, there it is. Whoop. Much better than the pretend "sanitized" version.
holy flurking shnit We all new it was coming, but who knew it would be so gruesome?
September 17, 2004
Once upon a time, Ebay didn't require you to have performed a transaction with someone before you could leave them feedback. andy46477 knew this, and decided to leave feedback anyway:
- for becky2: "Do you know what part of a dog needs scratchin'? Do ya? It's their BRISKET."
- for zipnsmack: "Remember when you spit in my mouth when I was sleeping? Well, I was awake. A+"
- for bishop2: "Pornography is bad because God will kill you and eat your bones. TERIFFIC SALE!"
Reply by bishop2: I have not dealt with this person. Do not understand the "feedback."
September 16, 2004
So this is no link, but I am wondering if any of you guys have one to that movie of the guys playing ping pong that looked really amazing because some other people dressed all in black were carrying them around. There is a commercial here in the Netherlands for an internet service that uses the same trick, but the person I stayed with in Amsterdam had never seen it before. I told him I would find the movie and send it to him. If you guys could help out, since I figure Flip probably has it on one of his harddrives anyways, that would be great. Thanks!
On a slightly less horrifying note... check out Google's lego-powered hardware circa 1999.
union of concerned scientists
For those of you who aren't members of UCS this is a link to the action network they've setup. I highly recommend joining this organization because I think it represents us well.
ps- don't open those two links I posted below. Really, it was super mean of me to play a joke like that and those pictures are terrible. Ned can attest to the terrible stuff I've gotten into in the past and totally regretted it.
did i see this right??? hey, i know the weather channel is sketch, but are my parents really going to have to evacuate from hurricane Ivan??? crazy.
I'd like to point your attention to two new t-shirts for the t-shirt and gamer friendly among us designed by Aaron Williams of Nodwick and Full Frontal Nerdity, both quality comics if you ask me.
September 15, 2004
greatest_physicists@yahoo.com On the way back from bowling, the Strangers in the Alps discussed the topic of "greatest physicists of all time." No 10 minute journey from the Union to RLM could do this discussion justice. Only the brutal subjugation to a 65 member tournament could really separate the Kepler's from the Brahe's, the Heisenberg's from the Schrodinger's, or Daniel Bernoulli from the rest of his family. Other polls have been done, but to my knowledge, no 65 team bracket has ever been created.
A nomination process of 1 week begins Thursday at 12:00 am. Send your nominations to greatest_physicists@yahoo.com. Feel free to rank your nominations, classify them into groups, and/or give reasons for your nominations. The Strangers in the Alps will use all of this information to create the most awesomest tourney ever!
To prevent bias we request that you not post your nominations on AE. However, if you want to link to them that's great. Also be mindful that most people will nominate a top ten that is very similar, so feel free to suggest some other "you might have missed" physicists. Pass the address on to your friends, colleagues, and advisors. Only with large $N$ does the mean $ar{x}$ approach the ideal value $mu$.
This Image featured in a front-page story of this week's The Onion is actually the Kraus Natural Science Building at UMich. (scroll down in the blog -- the building on the left).
If you were worried that you might not be able to look at pr0n in the gradlab, let your mind be at ease as the UTSystem decided not to institute a network-wide filter.
Fun with learning: Africa Geography Quiz; Consul the Educated Monkey; Cliff's Notes Online.
There was an ad for this site on The Onion this morning. I guess some politically motivated person followed the first rule of advertizing and decided that a new method was need to get people to vote. (These methods have been tried before to increase voter turnout, as I'm sure we all know.)
speaking of missing claudia and andy... i believe that this is the link to andy's blog thingy. turns out it is a good way to catch up on politics, as well...
September 14, 2004
Busted! Gumball Rally!
Dick Cheney's baby In case you suffer from excessively low bloodpressure I submit to you this exceptional site for keeping track of the daily trials and tribulations of Halliburton.
Slacker DVD Released Today on Criterion Richard Linklater's Slacker was released today on the Criterion Collection DVD series. Sweeeeet! Also, the Statesman has a crappy little interview with Linklater. How cool would it be to see this movie with on like a Monday night? Especially if there are people who haven't seen it.
check it: easy way to get any bike you want with a ball point pen.
Electoral College meta-analysis : what was called "your daily heart attack" at metafilter.com brings you day-by-day updates of who is projected to win. I especially like the funhouse mirror picture of the US which reflects each state's importance in the electoral college.
In an effort to revive the "post your senior picture" theme that was discussed recently, along comes Planet Dan's senior photo gallery. Black bars are to protect the innocent. I, personally, wish I'd thought of the "knee deep in water" look for mine.
Here's a map of Springfield from Alkali Flats to the dog track. Finally, some payoff from the "GPS satellite" project from which Mayor Quimby has been misappropriating funds
September 13, 2004
rental cars So I was curious what it would cost to rent a ferrari for a day or maybe even a Lamborghini. Have a peek at some of the rentals you can find in beverly hills and note the "hot deals"!
So it turns out that you can invite your GMail account to GMail. Also, maybe Flip will post a link to the McSweeney's "List of Most Annoying Email Addresses to Read to Other People".
Sorry, no link here, but I recently was reminded of the civil engineer who committed suicide because I-35 sucks. Now, is this really true? can anyone show me proof?
Does this Time magazine cover remind you of some other image? One that really got your goat? Made you see excess?
Chocopalypse Now - Apocalypse Now meets Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in comic book form.
I've seen candies, candies of such infinite terror it shivers the soul. But none like the Gobstopper. Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. A sweet that never vanishes...
It's Bollywood Night tonight!
Long time listener, first time caller..
Do you like to see stuff blow up? As you may know, video game geek extraordianire John Carmack (Doom, Quake, Doom 3 et. al.) has formed a team to go after the X Prize. Turns out they are learning a lot. Check the MPEG at the bottom of the page for the gory details.
The mailing list of Despair, Inc. (an Austin company) let me know that there is a sale Tuesday (user:BOSS pwd: DAY) to let you get your orders in for National Boss Day (October 14). Some of you might recognize the Bittersweets candy hearts that I get at Valentine's Day every year. There are lots of specials including a free Dreams litho with any other litho purchase.
I always assumed that this was a company started by some wanker smartass college dropouts, but after reading an article from the Harvard Business Review, I find that the company head is a former communications professor and that he is quite well versed in the psychology of corporate optimism.
September 11, 2004
To help you better enjoy your weekend, I present The Calvacade of Television Schadenfreude. Even though jenn may not understand the thrill (quote: "I don't understand it"), that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it! The best part is the anticipation because you can tell in the first second of the clip what is inevitably going to happen.
- Schadenfreude with TechTV and irreplaceable antiques!
- Schadenfreude with QVC and home maintenance!
- Schadenfreude with Shop@home and...well, I don't want to spoil this one.
September 10, 2004
It's me.
Hey guys, how's it going? Jenny S. told me about this place. Pretty cool. I miss you guys.
Things are good in Northern Cali. The weather is great. Andy is good. He's still enjoying his post-graduation vacation, but has started looking for a job. Work is good. I LOVE having a 9-5 job. No more guilt about enjoying my evenings and weekends and not being in the lab. Y'all should come out for a visit.
Puppy power! "Pup shoots man, saves litter mates". If anyone is considering cruelty to animals, they may think twice after hearing about this. Payback is a bitch.
September 09, 2004
Has anyone else seen this billboard above wheatsville? {first 10-digit prime found in consecutive digits e}.com
whos on the trail.
*Spoiler* news on how goes the winning streak of Ken Jennings, zillion time Jeopardy! champion. If you choose not to click, you won't be able to ostrich on this for too long as apparently major news outlets are reporting it.
Child Ho Costume - "Due to overwhelming demand, our child ho costume is currently sold out. However, we are currently accepting preorders which will be delivered in time for Halloween 2004."
Remember Tron Guy? Well, he's in Austin this weekend at the Drafthous. He's hosting a special showing of Tron.
September 08, 2004
www.JustVote.org Courtesy of my brother I used this site to get an application for an absentee ballot, all from the convenience of my computer. You all know how important it is that you vote and this should make it that much easier. VOTE!!
The Smoking Gun has more whistle-blowers who don't like the obscene vanity license plates on others' cars. Also included are several defenses from owners of plates, among them this impassioned plea: "In this war on terror, USKIXBUT is needed now."
MP3 of George Bush singing U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" [if you're a doubter, let me proclaim that this is teh best thing evar. absolute must hear.]
Hooray for the theory of intelligent design! They managed to get an article in a peer-reviewed publication! (Nature link)
So yesterday walking across campus I saw two Nintendo "1Up" t-shirts and one "1Up" patch on a backpack. Is the Nintendo 1Up mushroom the new black?
September 07, 2004
Vegan father threatens to kill child. I guess this moron REALLY doesn't want his kid to eat meat. What a douche nozzle.
Save Bernd! - "I swear by God, I will have this lovely rabbit for New Year's Eve Dinner if my account doesn't show a balance of at least 1'000'000 € by latest 31st Dec 2004!"
This weekend is the Austin Public Library Monster Book Sale. Other than the hot sauce festival, this is pretty much the only thing that can force me out of the house before noon on a weekend. The trick is to arrive at the right time: too early and you'll be steamrollered by all the bargain hunters throwin' 'bows, too late and you'll walk away with the rattiest of what were originally seven copies of Wuthering Heights and 1975's scintillating Introduction to Fortran. Actually, they bring more supplies out to replenish as time wears on, but you'll get better stuff on Saturday than Sunday for sure.
September 06, 2004
Tired of cleaning out the cooler? Next time buy cans with the I.C. Technology in them. Using vacuum tech, they can drop the temperature of liquid in a can by 30 degF in 3 minutes.
September 05, 2004
Dude! You've been kicked in the nuts! - your personality type is determined by whether this is screamingly funny or utterly unwatchable to you. It will be one or the other, surely.
=================================================
I cannot satisfy myself whether she told me that Mr Micawber had be-en an
officer in the Marines or whether I have imagined it I only kn.ow that I
believe to this hour that he WAS in the Marines once u-pon a time without
knowing why He was a sort of to'wn traveller for a number of miscellaneous
houses n.ow but made little or noth'ing of it I am afraid If Mr Micawbers
creditors will not give him ti~me said Mrs Micawber they must take the
consequences and the soo-ner they bring it to an issue the better Blood
cannot be obtained from a sto'ne neither can anyth`ing on account be
obtained at present not to mention law expenses from Mr Micawber
=================================================
<blink>WTF?!?!</blink> I got this spam in my mailbox. Do you know what it means? Am I supposed to buy something? Or send someone money to help them? Or contact space aliens for this guy???
September 04, 2004
No link, and I'm too lazy to find the post about the Michael Litt fan club. I did however just find a reference to him (and picture?!) on page 13 of the May 2004 Travesty that can be picked up in Jamba Juice on Guad
g
September 03, 2004
More Fun with FLIVO(tm)! The Red Sox won their tenth in a row last night, which, sad to say, most of you don't care about. But if you carefully watch the stands directly behind home plate during the game's final out [20MB xVid avi], you'll be rewarded with a Red Sox Fan Goes Wild moment. Wicked Pissah!
A higher resolution image
of the space message linked to by Pablo. I would have posted this in the comments, but Ziggy put a spoiler there.
I gave up on the image and read the spoiler, and I think that the resolution of the previously posted image was insufficient to glean a pattern, much less deduce the whole message. So I encourage you to have a go at it with this image.
If you didnt know it already, and without searching. using only your brain, could you figure out what the f- the message we sent into space means? yes, one 'idea' per number.
Should we make wagers on PJ's next purchase. BTW - www.therealcockpit.com is safe for work.
Baby Brrr's Adult Baby Nursery
- Hmm.... Okay.
See comment for more information.
The Blue Chamber - by Toshimitsu Takagi, creator of The Crimson Room.
Ghetto Wedding - "Halfway through the wedding processions, the theme of the wedding finally hit me full force in the face: Fat black women and the skinny black guys who love them.... You have to admire the courage of these men to attempt to please these monsters, however. Can you imagine disagreeing with one of them? She'd beat the living snot out of you, and then at night you wouldn't make love, you wouldn't both have sex, no. At night, she would fuck you."
I want to come up with a more examples and a better phrase for what I'm calling "self-falsifying statements:" propositions whose very utterance betrays their falsehood. I'm thinking of posters that say "Physics is Phun," politicians that are "Compassionate Conservatives," and personal ad-vertisers that have "a few extra pounds." In each case, the very statement that "noun X has property Y" makes its exact opposite abundantly clear.
Iraq Coalition Casualties - More than 1,100 coalition troops have died in Iraq, and thousands more have been wounded. If you are looking for a more detailed breakdown of these numbers, this website provides data based on official death counts from coalition countries, including each soldier's name, hometown, unit, and date of death. The names of the deceased can be viewed by time period and type of accident. (from Time)
Anti-Bush Protesters Held, NY Courts Clogged - "The incident pushed to 1,796 the people arrested in a week of demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience against the U.S.-led war in Iraq and other Bush administration policies (a record for a U.S. political convention), according to police figures."
September 02, 2004
On PTI the other day, they debated the question "Which is the bigger bummer, getting attacked by a defrocked Irish priest while leading the Olympic marathon, or getting doused by the liquid human waste of the Dave Matthews Band while taking a sightseeing tour?" I just thought I'd throw the question out there, to see what all your thoughts were on this cromulent issue.
One more Wash. scandal: Rep. Shrock of Virginia will not seek re-election because of allegations that he had some gay sex on the side. Normally maybe not so interesting, and in fact we've seen it before with the governor of NJ. The difference is that this Republican was a co-sponsor of the Defense of Marriage Amendment to the Constitution and an outspoken anti-gay advocate. See more from the blog that broke the news (including MP3's of (nsfw?) phone conversations) in this thread from Metafilter.
September 01, 2004
Just working, neglecting e-mails, eating Japanese food, masturbating less frequently, working out, and neglecting Alkaline Earth.
Trying to be an actuary, looking forward to the football season (more people, more tips), going to the Cravey lake house (jet skiing and riding four wheelers), possibly going to Urban Aphrodite, looking foward to a new season at The Alley Theatre, and camping out for the weekend inside a medieval tent during the Texas Renaissance Festival.
Need to get drunk but can't afford either the calories or the carbs? Thankfully, somebody else apparently had your problem first and decided that who needs all the other crap when you could just be inhaling the alcohol molecules. Not to be used more than twice a day, which I'm sure will be as strictly enforced as the Trudy's Mexican Martini policy. I've sure never seen anybody manage to get more than two of those. *cough* michael *cough*