Friday, June 30, 2006

John Stewart: Chicago Terrorists? Not.



The Guys Who Do Simpsons: Conan

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Dust Art

No doubt all drivers have seen interesting words finger'd into dust and grime on the back of large trucks and cars. But how about this... real art in the dust of rear windows of cars?
L.A. police turn to adhesive GPS darts

A Virginia-based company StarChase has proposed a safer way to catch fast-moving crooks—shoot GPS homing devices like darts and stick them to the back of fleeing vehicles. Instead of a frantic pursuit, an officer eases off the chase and lets police headquarters track the suspect by computer. Police can then move in for a calmer arrest.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Fighting Microsoft's piracy check

The company is forging ahead with a program, Windows Genuine Advantage, tied to its free software downloads and updates, that checks whether the Windows installation on a PC is pirated. But some people, including some who say they own a legitimately acquired copy of Windows, have challenged the need for such validation. Most of their criticism is directed at the way Microsoft's antipiracy technology, Windows Genuine Advantage, interacts with a PC.

Also, Microsoft has now posted approved ways to remove WGA from your Windows XP system. Get to it people!

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

High Schoolers Pick Web Yearbook

A Tuckahoe High School (NY) student is trying to persuade as many as his friends as possible to sign up at MyYearbook.com -- and save some money, too. "I'm going to bring everyone who matters to me to MyYearbook," said John, who attends school in Eastchester, a suburb just north of New York City. "I'm confident in that, and besides, they're like $70." But skeptics wonder if the free website can ever truly replace the traditional printed chronicle of high-school memories -- even for the generation that's grown up with the internet.

Friday, June 23, 2006

Earth 'likely' hottest in 2,000 years

Plus, this new research shows that global warming produced about half of the extra hurricane-fueled warmth in the North Atlantic in 2005, and natural cycles were a minor factor, according to Kevin Trenberth and Dennis Shea of the National Center for Atmospheric Research... The Bush administration has maintained that the threat is not severe enough to warrant new pollution controls that the White House says would have cost 5 million Americans their jobs.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

WiFi freeloader arrested in Washington

...20-year-old Alexander Eric Smith was arrested after a three-month stretch where he periodically parked in front of a coffee shop off-and-on with a laptop and used its WAP. The kicker? He never bought so much as a small latte.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Pixar 1.0: John Lasseter College Movie

Want to see where Pixar's main creative genius got his start? Here's the ultra-rare student film he made during this college days...

Real-Time Earth Views

Views are calculated every handful of minutes with cloud cover updated eight times a day, all thanks to the power of Xplanet. The daylight background map is the Blue Marble monthly map, automatically rotated in place the first day of each month. Enjoy the changing vegetation and snow cover and the views from different points in space.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Why Yahoo Can't Deliver Email

I'd been wondering about this. In recent months, I've tried to get email into or out of my Yahoo! Mailbox many times, without success: "The web is alive with complaints from Yahoo Mail account holders who didn't get mail, and legitimate senders whose mail never was delivered. Everybody seems to know it happens, but nobody ever figured out why... until now. After Email Battles mapped, analyzed and charted Yahoo Mail's mail servers, it's easy to see why the wealthy company wants to charge for certified sender services. It apparently needs the money for a new mail server."

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Why fast foods are bad, even in moderation

Eating a diet consisting largely of fast food could cause your waistline to bulge more than eating the same amount of fat from healthier sources. Monkeys fed a diet rich in trans-fats – commonly found in fast foods – grew bigger bellies than those fed a diet rich in unsaturated fats, but containing the same overall number of calories. They also developed signs of insulin resistance, which is an early indicator of diabetes...

After six years on the diet, the trans-fat-fed monkeys had gained 7.2% of their body weight, compared to just 1.8% in the unsaturated group. CT scans also revealed that the trans-fat monkeys carried 30% more abdominal fat, which is risk factor for diabetes and heart disease.
Hurricane Season 2006

Check out this multimedia demo -- prepare to be amazed, and a little scared. Honest.
Wikipedia Founder Discourages Academic Use of His Creation

Finally some clarity on the Wiki effect on learning: "Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia compiled by a distributed network of volunteers, has often come under attack by academics as being shoddy and full of inaccuracies. Even Wikipedia’s founder, Jimmy Wales, says he wants to get the message out to college students that they shouldn’t use it for class projects or serious research." Duh.
Apple Sweatshop Charge

A report in the middlebrow Mail on Sunday entitled "iPod City" features photos and first-hand accounts from inside factories operated by Foxconn, a company contracted by Apple to assemble millions of iPods by hand. According to the report, Foxconn's giant Longhua plant employs 200,000 workers, who work 15-hour days but are paid just $50 a month -- miserable even by China's standards. It claims they work and live in the plant, in dormitories housing 100 people, and outside visitors are forbidden.

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Top 10 Strangest Desks and Tables

Our editors have compiled a list of the Top 10 Strangest Desks and Tables for your weekend enjoyment. Which ones are your favorites?
Operation Take Down Blog

A blogg about the Swedish governments attempt to take down the Swedish torrenttracker The Piratebay and the political and international reasons behind the take down...
Index of 300 Full Length TV Shows

There’s no garbage clips to weed through, just 300 full length episodes organized alphabetically: Doctor Who, Get Smart, Lost, Quantum Leap, Seinfeld, The Screen Savers, The Wonder Years, and more.