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January 31, 2005
T-shirts are the New Bumper Stickers I suppose
We're all savy enough to know to which bygone net fad this pertains to, yes?
Posted by Nick at 11:50 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Surveyed US Students Think the Press has too Much Freedom
One in three U.S. high school students say the press ought to be more restricted, and even more say the government should approve newspaper stories before readers see them, according to a survey being released today.
What??
Posted by Nick at 01:05 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
What's life got to do, got to do with it
Well in this case everything.
Carl Zimmer, a science writer, has written the cover story in Discover this month. This article on digital life is one of those truely fascinating pieces that shows just how cool some of the experimental science work being done today really is.
It's a fairly indepth look at a free software program called Avida which "...allows researchers to track the birth, life, and death of generation after generation of the digital organisms".
Via: Smart Mobs
Posted by Nathan at 09:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Free email with a heart
Ippimail.com, self styled "email for the good guys" aims to offer the user a
free email account where all the money raised will go to charity.
It's stuff like this that restores my faith in humanity. As a concept this totally kicks butt. It provides the user with free email like so many other people, but instead of the profits lining the pockets of corporate America, the money goes to good causes.
Posted by Nathan at 08:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
It's not all tulips and chocolate
Nor pot for that matter. The Dutch town of Almere is setting up the worlds first citywide computer grid. Apparently much of the town is connected via 100MB capable fibre.
And I think this proves it's not all sex and violence from me. There's also a good healthy helping of geek in there as well.
Posted by Nathan at 07:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 30, 2005
The beer saved my life
It's not every day you are trapped in an avalanche with sixty bottles of beer and no way out. Of course you may not have come to the same conclusion that this guy did.
Posted by Nathan at 08:26 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 29, 2005
List of Band Names Origins and Meanings
BEASTIE BOYS - 'Beastie' is an acronym for 'Boys Entering Anarchistic States Toward Internal Excellence'.
RADIOHEAD - Named after a Talking Heads song called "Radio Head".
PEARL JAM - Pearl Jam = Sperm
Posted by Nick at 03:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Global Environmental Study Puts Finland on Top
Finland is the world leader in pursuing environmentally friendly policies, according to a study of 146 countries for a global index Friday that ranks North Korea, Iraq and Taiwan at the bottom.
The United States is 45th.
Yahoo News Story (1 page)
Posted by Nick at 03:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 28, 2005
State of the Blog
I'm back!
Not that I was ever entirely absent. But I've had guest-bloggers for three months now to suppliment my very speratic activity on here, and that is finally coming to an end.
So thanks a lot you guys!
In particular, Nate and David, who did the lion's share of the posting for the last two months. David is starting his own blog (I'll post the link whenever it officially opens), and Nate has had his own site for a long while, which he says he'll now be adding a blog to.
Hopefully they, and you, will keep coming back here, even with only little old me posting.
Now as far as the general state of the blog is concerned:
-I just recently restricted commenting to a Type Key login only, because I was just getting tired of all the comment spam. I was having, on some days, to delete up to fifty or more spam comments. What a pain!
-This has also screwed up my stats. A ton of my hits now come from Russia and various advertisement sites (viagra, poker, porn... the standards). Though my hits are higher than they've ever been, I don't think I'm getting many legit links in. Probably because I haven't been doing any publicity for the last three months.
-I appreciate Nate's various attempts at getting conversation started around here, I have found that getting people to participate, has been an uphill battle.
-I still have never gotten a TrackBack. :-( And this makes me sad. I don't even know if it works!
-I changed my default site email address from "mail@hoplit.net" to "mail2@hoplit.net". Also because of spam.
-This place could probably use a bit of a redesign. Let's see if I get to that.
-Oh, and I'll probably be closing the guest log-in accounts in a couple days.
Peace,
Nick
Posted by Nick at 07:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
New Fiction Finally
I just put up a new story.
It's been a while since I've done so.
Posted by Nick at 07:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Two Interesting Trailers
Interesting 3D hand-drawn hybrid anime movie: Appleseed
And super funky, martial arts action/comedy/western: Kung Fu Hustle
Posted by Nick at 06:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Well if i didn't get flamed for the last one
I bet The Suicide Bomber Game ought to do it.
Posted by Nathan at 10:58 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Charting sexuality
Those crazy boffins have done it again! They've managed to chart the sexual network of a highschool, over the period of 18 months. The results may surprise you.
Via: Smart Mobs
Posted by Nathan at 08:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
I know, lets all get naked and wrap ourself in technology!
Strange naked Czeck geeks are most definitely among us.
Via: Gizmodo
Posted by Nathan at 08:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 26, 2005
Holy cow
Actually, I meant cock.
Posted by Nathan at 02:48 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Those crazy pentagon kids
Watch out for the smelly gay men who like to hide from the sun and attract wasps and rats. Apparently they're all enemys of the state.
Posted by Nathan at 02:45 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Britian Perhaps Not Quite The Liberal Paradise My Ex-pat Friends Would Like to Believe
Yahoo! News - Britain Announces Sweeping New Anti-Terrorism Powers
Posted by Nick at 01:55 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Hey everyone, stop having sex
Or at least stop having babies. Luckily for us it appear that is exactly what is happening. The BBC reports that the birth rate has fallen below the sustaining level in an 20 developing countries.
If you ask me, the only way we're going to save the world is by creating less people.
Posted by Nathan at 10:26 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
January 25, 2005
You inbred!
It appears we're all a little inbred. Boffins have discovered that most of the genetic diseases that we suffer as a species are a direct result of us not having enough diversity in our early history.
Posted by Nathan at 08:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sometimes I think the world is so fucked up right now, but then I remember it's always been so
Yahoo! News - Torture Still Routine in Iraqi Jails, Report Says
Yahoo! News - 23 at Guantanamo Tried Mass Suicide in '03
Yahoo! News - Bush to Seek About $80 Billion for Military Operations
A cute excerpt from that last one:
At nearly $105 billion, total funding for military operations in 2005 would be more than 13 times larger than Bush's budget for the Environmental Protection Agency
As the world spirals continually out of control, I'm getting another glass of wine.
Addendum: White House Says Deficit Will Hit Record $427B
Posted by Nick at 12:19 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 24, 2005
Sushi Made From Twinkies
Ahhh, AHHHHHHH! Very Scary.
Boing Boing: Twinkie Sushi Party, Yay
Posted by Nick at 04:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Professor's Saturn Experiment Forgotten [AP].
Ladies and gentleman, may we all learn to be as gracious in the face of ignominious human error as David Atkinson.
Posted by David at 10:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Don't cross me again or I'll kill ...
Posted by David at 05:30 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 22, 2005
I'd like to play with her theremin
I'm not exactly sure what it is about theremins that are so cool, but they definitely seem to be one of the more interesting things going round the audio world these days.
If you don't know what a theremin is I'm not sure if this video will be of any help, but it's still worth a viewing.
If you are still interested in knowing what sort of musical instrament could possibly be developed by a Russian physicist Check this link.
Posted by Nathan at 03:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Who says evolution is dead
A recent study show a definitive link between intelligence and suicide.
Posted by Nathan at 01:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 21, 2005
You may not be able to have you cake and eat it too...
But how about a little Pi?
Posted by Nathan at 08:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Well I'll be damned
I bet you never expected to see this:
Posted by Nathan at 05:22 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 20, 2005
eBay auction fun
Well it's not quite owning a piece of history, but you might get piece of her.
Of course if you don't like blonds, there are always other options.
Posted by Nathan at 10:29 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
From the Because-we-can File:
Our most glorious and exaulted leader has provided yet another insanely great opportunity to bask in His wonder.
There's just so many *possibilities*!
Posted by David at 02:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 19, 2005
Hey kids, let's play the Tsunami game
Yep, gotta give credit to the US government. They've even managed to make a fun excitingtsunami game for kids.
Posted by Nathan at 06:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Ever heard of Aubrey de Grey?
Well if you hope to live forever you'd better pay attention to what he has to say.
In short de Gray believes that within the next twenty years we could be on the path towards extending life nearly indefinitely. He believes that people born in the year 2100 should have a life expectancy of 5000 years.
Here's a trio of links on the subject of extending life. First an article on de Grey, second a rebuttal by the man himself, and finally, a link to his site.
Posted by Nathan at 02:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Biometrics and your government
Sure you can call me a commie pinko bastard, and you wouldn't be too far off the mark, but that doesn't have anything to do with my real discomfort at the continuing speed with which the government is moving to use biometric data.
I know that some of you disagree with me on this. But the point this article leads to is simply this; a biometric database is only as good as the data behind it. And you’d be lying to yourself if you believed that it’s impossible for a terrorist to break, bribe, or otherwise gain access to one of our "secure" national databases.
And boy will you be hating life if you happen to be the bastard they switch places with. Try explaining that after you've been arrested and put away without access to a lawyer.
Posted by Nathan at 09:58 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 18, 2005
I'm not spying. It says so here on my dog tags.
The New Yorker has a fabulously interesting article on what Bush, Rumsfeld , and Wolfowitz are doing to the the intelligence services and how that effects our relationship with Iran.
Smart stuff by Seymour M. Hersh.
Posted by Nathan at 02:09 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 17, 2005
A painful Gate
Actually I meant a painful Gates. Check out how badly Bill did when his presentation failed him at CES.
Not to be out done, watch Craig Barrett rock out with Aerosmith.
Which is the most painful?
Posted by Nathan at 05:40 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
For those of you who like a good song
It's probably not of too much interest to most of the people in the States reading this, but for us living in london this song could become the next London anthem.
A little song about much we love the tube.
Posted by Nathan at 07:28 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 15, 2005
The perfect desert vehicle
This has got to be the coolest, craziest car on the planet. Not sure that it's probably road worthy, but still the JL421 Badonkadonk is probably worth a look.
Posted by Nathan at 08:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 14, 2005
Disney is Remaking Tron
I hope they don't fuck it up. But they probably will.
Boing Boing: Tron 2: this time, it's personal
Posted by Nick at 01:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Watch the ball
Well you may not have to watch if much longer, as the German's want to put a chip in it.
It really can't be too long before it comes to American football? Actually it would probably be a really good thing, and could help speed up the American football games.
Posted by Nathan at 07:41 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Questioning The Cost of Inauguration
President Bush's second inauguration will cost tens of millions of dollars — $40 million alone in private donations for the balls, parade and other invitation-only parties. With that kind of money, what could you buy?-200 armored Humvees with the best armor for troops in Iraq.
-Vaccinations and preventive health care for 22 million children in regions devastated by the tsunami.
Posted by Nick at 12:19 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 13, 2005
Canadian Researcher Invents New Solar Cell
Researchers at the University of Toronto have invented a flexible plastic solar cell that is said to be five times more efficient than current methods in converting energy from the sun into electrical energy.
Posted by Nick at 03:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Welcome to ipod land
Weird "ipod world" film.
Posted by Nathan at 02:52 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Do you Yahoo? Do you?
Apparently this kid does. After all his parents named him Yahoo.
Posted by Nathan at 02:02 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Without a hint of irony ....
Jan. 12, 2005 | Washington (AP) -- The White House acknowledged Wednesday that its hunt for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction -- a two-year search costing millions of dollars -- has closed down without finding the stockpiles that President Bush cited as a justification for overthrowing Saddam Hussein.
Bush's spokesman said the president had no regrets about invading Iraq.
Posted by David at 06:23 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Subconsciously, in the blink of an eye.
It is well known that people don't always 'speak their minds', and it is suspected that people don't always 'know their minds'. Understanding such divergences is important to scientific psychology.
This web site presents a method that demonstrates the conscious-unconscious divergences much more convincingly than has been possible with previous methods. This new method is called the Implicit Association Test, or IAT for short.
Posted by David at 03:51 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 11, 2005
Floating Logos
Posted by Nick at 04:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Fred, stop playing with your mother's brain!
I'm sure it's a very sad situation, but if you can't laugh at someone's lost brain remote control what the hell can you laugh at?
Posted by Nathan at 01:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Out of gas?
Why do we care one little tiny bit about the middle east? Let's be honest with, it's got nothing to do with spreading democracy and everything to do with oil. It's probably the biggest singular issue that effected the twentith century, but wouldn't the lack of oil effect the twenty-first century just as dramatically?
Posted by Nathan at 05:08 AM | TrackBack
January 10, 2005
The naked human body = porn
I love this country... Mississippi libraries ban 'Daily Show' book.
Since when does a naked human body equal porn?
Posted by Tim at 02:14 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Video iPod
Jobs may not think that video on the iPod is a good idea. But someone else most certainly does.
Posted by Nathan at 01:03 PM | TrackBack
I wonder what I'm worth on the friend market
Seeing as I currently work in the semi ethical world of marketing, and I'm not certain whether or not I've sold my soul to the devil, I like to keep drop the occassional line about what's going on with marketing and ethics.
Here's a little drop in the ocean of relationship marketing debate.
Thoughts?
Posted by Nathan at 11:31 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 09, 2005
Death squads, the winning strategy...for losers
According to Newsweek, the Pentagon is pondering the training of death squards in Iraq, called "The Salvadoran Option", to more effectively combat the Sunni insurgency. (That John Negroponte is the U.S. embassador to Iraq, and was formerly the ambassador to El Salvador, indicates foresight on someone's part.)
Let us not forget that we went into Iraq under the banner of liberation, promising freedom from tyranny and the prospect of hope. It was the combination of our fear of WMD and terrorism, our love for democracy, and our disdain for Saddam Hussein's barbarism that supposedly propelled our forces into Iraq.
WMD in Iraq was a myth, and seems to be a decade's-long scare tactic; American-style democracy has become a punch line; And Saddam doesn't have a lock on cruelty (Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, Fallujah, etc.), but the Oil Ministry was well-guarded!
And now the Pentagon is considering death squads?
WTF?
Just the other day, I heard President Bush reiterate his resolve to promote democracy in rogue states. He said that if democracy does not prevail, we will never address the underlying causes of terrorism. To Bush, the underlying causes of terror are “political and economic problems.”
(This maybe true, and a healthy democracy might address these issues, however, as we saw in Oklahoma City, there will still be angry, violent people among us.)
It seems that introducing death squads is not promoting a healthy political or economic environment. The article from Newsweek suggests using "hand-picked Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Shiite militiamen, to target Sunni insurgents and their sympathizers, even across the border into Syria..." To me, that sounds like a recipe for a civil war and a war with Syria, not democracy.
Posted by Tim at 06:48 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
My next set of headphones.
Finally! These are what I've been looking for!
Here's my next set of headphones, to replace my current ones after they (eventually) die.
Posted by David at 05:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 08, 2005
Seattle Named the Fittest City in the United States
Nice job!
It's all that extra caffeine that everyone has to run off.
Here's a list of the rest.
Posted by Nick at 01:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 06, 2005
Holographic storage promises 1TB per disc
Plenty of room for the White album.
Posted by David at 12:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 05, 2005
Is There No Such Thing As Truly Clean Energy?
Yahoo! News - Wind turbines taking toll on birds of prey
Posted by Nick at 02:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
To flash mob...
I know that people in the UK are probably aware of
flash mobbing, but how about our American friends?
Regardless, what do people really think of it? Is it really a '"random and obscure act" of "non-violent surrealism"' or rather something silly for people with too much free time on their hands?
Posted by Nathan at 01:18 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 04, 2005
Robots and Gecko Feet
My friend Jed recently sent me two science articles of note, though I hadn't gotten around to posting them. Now I am:
How gecko feet stay clean and why that will help us.
Honda's Asimo robot learns to run. (with video)
Posted by Nick at 07:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 03, 2005
Tsunami Science
Check out this article if you are interested in learing just a bit more about what exactly a Tsunami is.
And if that isn't interesting enough then take a look at this article on how technology has helped us to be more caring of events like the Tsunami.
Posted by Nathan at 01:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 02, 2005
A good idea from Mr. Howard.
Several conversations this week swirling around politics have me reflecting on the meaning of the term 'liberal'.
Amongst its many definitions, open-mindedness is the facet I find most distinct; a liberal mind is free to receive new ideas, new experiences and, most importantly, consider combinations of the two which may be in direct contradiction to previously accepted, and even espoused, values.
In that spirit, Britain's Tory leader Michael Howard -- with whom I otherwise seldom agree in political thought -- has written a strong piece in today's Guardian.
He writes:
"If you want to help the poor, then the path is clear - establish independent courts, protect private property, constrain the power of politicians and encourage free enterprise."
He's never going to get my vote -- we differ wildly on taxes and immigration, amongst other issues -- but in this case he's absolutely correct. And it's exactly the same words we should be hearing from the next generation of Democratic leadership, a position made significantly easier by the courage of President Clinton a decade ago.
These are the real issues to debate and discuss, with everyone, liberal or otherwise.
Posted by David at 05:10 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack