December 2007
68 posts
How to Lose Your Job on Your Own Time →
Many companies are using the Internet to snoop on their employees. If you fail to maintain amorphous âprofessionalâ standards of conduct in your free time, you could lose your job.
According to Huckabee, Homosexual behavior 'is a... →
“We may have certain tendencies, but [we choose] how we behave and how we carry out our behavior,” Huckabee said in an interview Sunday with Tim Russert of MSNBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Mapping Slavery in America →
James Akerman and Robert Karrow’s collection of unusual maps includes slavery maps of the US from the 19th Century.
No American Has Died from "Homegrown Terrorism"... →
Congress is perched to enact the “Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007,” probably the greatest assault on free speech and association in the United States since the 1938 creation of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Since September 11, 2001 no American has died from homegrown terrorism.
Quoted in the News? Post a Comment, Please →
Google News has a feature called âComments From People in the News.â The idea is simple: if you have been quoted in an article that appears on Google News, which presents links and summaries from 4,500 news sources, including the familiar big players,
The Afterlife Is Expensive for Digital Movies →
A new study shows that storing the digital master record of a film costs much more than storing archival prints.
Fox News, Please Don't Steal My Personal Photos →
Have a look: This was aired multiple times on air without permission.
Lawsuit Promised in Transplant Case →
The family of a 17-year-old girl who died hours after her health insurer reversed a decision and said it would pay for a liver transplant plans to sue the company, their attorney said.
How a Linux Download Topped YouTube's Hit List →
The hottest thing on YouTube this month is a video of somebody downloading a copy of Ubuntu, a Linux-based operating system.
Tunnel Loses Backers as Landowners Unite for... →
Tysons Corner property owners along the route of the long-sought extension of Metrorail to Dulles International Airport have created a coalition to launch a public campaign to secure federal funding for the project and increase development in the area.
Putting Very Little Weight in Calorie Counting... →
Exercise physiologists say there is little in the world of exercise as wildly exaggerated as peopleâs estimates of the number of calories they burn.
Descendants of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse break... →
“We are no longer citizens of the United States of America” - Native American state of 72,000 people declares independence from the US - ‘claim legal under treaties with Government’. The new country would issue its own passports and driving licenses, and living there would be tax-free — provided residents renounce their US citizenship
IE8 goes on an Acid2 trip; beta due in first half... →
An internal build of Internet Explorer 8 has passed Acid2, a test of a browser’s compliance with the HTML and CSS standards. The first public beta will be available during the first half of 2008.
New Google Talk bots bring real-time translation... →
New chat bots can be added to translate Google Talk chats in real time. As we expected, Google’s automated translation yields mixed results, but it’s a big step in the right direction.
Watching The Office in the office.
At $1 per Watt, the iTunes of Solar Energy Has... →
A Silicon Valley start-up called Nanosolar shipped its first solar panels — priced at $1 a watt. That’s the price at which solar energy gets cheaper than coal. Curious that this story is not on every front page…
13-Year-Old Girl Charged as Sex Offender AND... →
“Salt Lake City - Utah Supreme Court justices acknowledged Tuesday that they were struggling to wrap their minds around the concept that a 13-year-old girl could be both an offender and a victim for the same act - in this case, having consensual sex with her 12-year-old boyfriend.” This story only gets stranger …
FBI: Torturing Gave Us Nothing But "Crap" →
The former CIA agent, John Kiriakou, who launched something like a PR blitz last week telling ABC News, Zubaydah held out until waterboarded; after only 35 seconds of that, he gave in and “from that day on, he answered every question” is not quite right. According to the F.B.I, much of the threat information he provided was “crap.”
Was this review helpful to you? →
One dedicated online shopper explains why she’s having a hard time making purchases this holiday season. It’s not the prices. It’s all those pesky customer reviews.
“Instant noodle is mainly made of wheat. However, if using wheat only, the...”
– Nongshim’s “Ramyun Info” (FAQ: How Come Noodle Gets Cooked Without Being Boiled?) [all sic, but emphasis mine]
Heathrow gets world's first Personal Rapid... →
Driverless pods will ferry business class passengers from car to check-in beginning by the end of 2009. Could this be a new model for public transport the world over?
WatchViolinist plays in hip hop style with DJ.
Waterboarding Historically Controversial: In 1947,... →
Key senators say Congress has outlawed one of the most notorious detainee interrogation techniques — ‘waterboarding,’ in which a prisoner feels near drowning. But the White House will not go that far, saying it would be wrong to tell terrorists which practices they might face.
Brasso does indeed smooth out the hopelessly scratched discs from the library.
“There is no greater sorrow than to recall a time of happiness when in misery.”
– Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Italian poet
The medical term for an alcohol-induced hangover is veisalgia.
Sea Lice From Fish Farms May Wipe Out Wild Salmon →
According to a data-driven model, the current rate of decline due to lethal sea lice infestations will drive wild salmon to extinction in eight years.
Congressman Hollywood: It's time to revisit the... →
Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) used a House subcommittee meeting on the PRO-IP Act to call for some revisions to the DMCA. Unfortunately, they’re exactly the wrong kind of revisions.
Opera tries to force IE into W3C compliance with... →
Opera has filed a complaint with the European Union, accusing Microsoft of violating EU antitrust law by bundling IE with Windows. The browser maker wants Microsoft forced to release a fully standards-compliant version of IE.
The Final Whisper in "Lost in Translation"... →
When Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, one of the big topics of conversation revolved around what Bill Murray’s character whispered in Scarlett Johansson’s ear at the conclusion of the film. YouTube user Vid22 used digital processing to clear up the audio and finally reveal the answer.
California Wins Legal Battle to Make Cars Cleaner →
The automobile industry’s challenge to California’s Clean Car law was rejected by a federal court.
Tensions Could Hurt Majority in Va. Senate: Rural... →
The power shift in the Virginia state Senate to Democrats from suburban and urban areas is causing tension with their rural colleagues and raising fresh questions about the party’s health in south-central and southwestern Virginia.
Study: Why pregnant women don't topple →
Scientists think they have figured out why pregnant women don’t lose their balance and topple over despite ever-growing weight up front.
College kid caucus stuffing in Iowa? →
A debate rages in the first voting state about whether college students should exercise their legal rights.
Thinking the “use it or lose it” element of medical accounts is really irritating.
Clinton rolls a sizable pork barrel →
The senator embraces ‘earmarks’ as a way to help N.Y. She’s received campaign funds from project beneficiaries.
The green philosophy of Dennis Kucinich →
Democratic candidate calls for a new energy paradigm. But are Americans ready to be “in harmony with nature”?
RIAA: Those CD rips of yours are still... →
All of that music you’ve copied from your CDs to your PC and iPod are “unauthorized,” according to a court brief filed by the RIAA. It’s not surprising, given the testimony from one music industry executive that making copies of your own music is stealing
WatchWhen young scholars compete in a national quiz bowl, a dead language is very much alive.
Hesitant to think things couldn’t be any worse.
Nobel winner blames cultural decline on "blogging... →
Doris Lessing’s acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize in Literature gave her the chance to reflect on the perceived decline of book reading in the Western world. The problem: computers, TV, and the Internet.
“She [carries on], asking the team a question about the word ‘res,’...”
– Price, Catherine. “The Passion of Latin Lovers.” Washington Post 6 Dec. 2007: W19.
The Lies of John McCain and Mike Huckabee →
America was founded by men of the Enlightenment: a movement which emphasized reason, rationality, liberalism, anti-authoritarianism and political equality. The founders were revolutionary liberals who believed strongly in secular government. This is nowhere near “right of center” or indicative of a Judeo-Christian Nation.
Feeling like I have to throw up.
Ron Paul Blimp Headed to D.C. Monday →
Libertarian-leaning Republican presidential candidate and hero of the Internets Ron Paul has gotten himself a blimp, and it’s headed to Washington.
"inquiry" (Wiktionary)
According to Fowler’s Modern English Usage (1926), inquiry should be used in relation to a formal inquest, and enquiry to the act of questioning. Many (though not all) British writers maintain this distinction; the Oxford English Dictionary, on the other hand, lists inquiry and enquiry as equal alternatives, in that order. Some British dictionaries, such as Chambers 21st Century Dictionary...
Why the Ron Paul Campaign is Dangerous →
Paul supporters have worked diligently to convince voters that their candidate is the “real deal” constitutionalist conservative in the ‘08 presidential race and that he has a real chance of winning. But the facts simply don’t support either of these claims and pointing this reality out seems to drive Paul supporters into a fit of unbridled rage.
Your Sex Drive is Killing the Planet →
As if heartbreak, scandal, and STDs weren’t bad enough, now we have to worry about sex wrecking the whole planet.
German politician sues, unsues Wikipedia over Nazi... →
The deputy chairman of a German political party filed a criminal complaint against Wikipedia over its inclusion of Nazi symbols, then realized the error of her ways and pulled the suit. Still, she wants to see an online “honor code” that would eliminate anti-Semitic, racist, sexist, and extreme right comments and symbols.