Friday, June 30, 2006

Our Everglades holdings

CHAPTER XVII—FRANCES ESTABLISHES A SCHOOL. SEA-SICKNESS NEARING HAVANA

Upon landing at the Everglades, we went afoot over a plank walk to the observatory. This we climbed, and had a fine view of the country for miles around. We were informed that a western syndicate had made a deal of a million and a half dollars in those Everglades lands.

The full work is here.
Fifty Years on the Rail

And be sure to read the Suggestions to Beginners.  There is an entire art of steam locomotives, much of which you can imagine was captured only in oral history, and is almost entirely lost now.  We will be saying the same of much of today's technology in 100 years -- even though we think that we have enormous amounts of written documentation on the Internet sufficient to explain to some future observer every detail of what we do, the fact is that often the most interesting parts are the ones that aren't written down anywhere.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

I blame the internets for these lies!

The Episcopal Information Ministry

Wireless tricks

I went through another one of those experiences trying to configure something (in this case an Atheros-based wireless ethernet card on a FreeBSD laptop) and couldn't really locate the information I needed in any detail on the Internet. Anyway, I got it working and wrote up a quick article about it. This isn't comprehensive but may provide some additional hints to people who are having trouble figuring it out (and these steps did work for me.)

I'm rich!

Print your own Monopoly money. Legally.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Land O Links

Gathered a lot of links today and thought I would do them all at once.

Kibo sends along this latest "research" project from Microsoft.  I can't figure out what they're thinking, but maybe you can.  Ask it about something popular, say, http://www.google.com.

JCP sends along why flag burning is fun.  When I read this, I originally went off on a tangent about Bram's reply, and starting thinking about whether we should reestablish the Federalist party.  Then I thought a bit harder and realized that a) I'm actually a bit more of an anti-Federalist myself, and b) I'm not sure that he thinks Federalist means what it actually means.

Neighbors discover 4-foot shark while on daily desert walk.

Here is something for you to think about if you believe as I do that education in America is beyond saving.  John Taylor Gatto is an advocate of radical education reform and a former New York "teacher of the year".  Here is a collection of his articles include a link to his web site.

Here is the latest bit of saber rattling from Israel.  As saber rattling goes, I have to admit this one is pretty good.

Monday, June 26, 2006

Household savings tip of the week

1. Buy deep freezer. Stick it in the garage.
2. Wait for local supermarket to shut down in supermarket wars. Purchase as much inventory as you want at 30-50% off. Store in freezer.
3. Wait for next supermarket to shut down and repeat.

Getting ahead

Ben Stein's words of wisdom about how to get ahead at work.

  • Stay in the Game
  • Don't Work for Insane People
  • Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
  • Don't Talk Endlessly About Yourself
  • Get a Rabbi
  • Look the Part, and Look Good
  • Stand Out for the Excellence of Your Work

The full article is here. (Yahoo).

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Flies in school lunch debate

Ah, when I see "flies in school lunch debate" in a headline, it just reminds me of my school days.

"Fluff" flies in school lunch debate
Thu Jun 22, 2006 5:16pm ET

By Scott Malone

BOSTON (Reuters) - When it comes to food, Boston is best known for baked beans and clam chowder. But this week, state legislators have engaged in robust debate on Marshmallow Fluff -- a locally made, sugary spread.

State Sen. Jarrett Barrios started the tempest in a lunch box when he learned that his son's Cambridge grammar school cafeteria offered Fluff-and-peanut butter sandwiches daily.

Supply-Side University

Supply-Side University gives the best exposition of supply-side economics anywhere. Don't knock it until you try it. This week's article is about the Laffer Curve -- what it really is, and what it isn't. You might be surprised.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

A memory, or something

Favorite blog quote of the day.:
I looooove carbon taxes. I think I've even said so in print, somewhere. It's just that I have a memory like a . . . like a . . . like one of those things, you know, with the holes in it that you use to drain pasta? I have a memory like a whaddayacallit.

Hmm, am I supposed to add my two cents worth? I don't think I have an opinion about carbon taxes...

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Airplane... or missile?

I am inclined to agree with the sentiment of this post, being an opponent of the war in Serbia back in the 90's. However, that being said, I don't think it makes the point it's trying to make.

So, against that country, the US gov't unleashed a campaign of savage bombing,
including bombing the private residence of that country's leader. And, one
faithful day, some remote-controlled little planes, carrying thousands of
pounds of high explosives, flew through the windows of the local TV station and
exploded inside killing lots of totally innocent civilians, including men,
women and children too.

Every reference I can find to the attack on the TV station (which has been questioned internationally as to whether it was a war crime) says that the building was hit with missiles, not airplanes.

Now if there is new evidence that I haven't seen before that the attack was actually carried out with airplanes, then a link would be nice, because that's truly news.

If the claim is that "missiles are just little airplanes, after all, and attacking people is evil no matter how you do it", then the claim that this was "the first experiment of airplanes flying into buildings" is nonsensical. Clearly missiles have been used to attack buildings before.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

I feel so lame now

Just got this in a spam.

You've probably heard of the term "blog" or "weblog". It's a page that displays (in chronological order) a series of writings on whatever the author wants to write about. While a normal blog also allows others to add their comments to yours, you don't have to offer that functionality.

Set up a page where you regularly add your thoughts on all sorts of issues - or just one issue - with the most recent post at the top of the page. Include these items in an RSS feed, and you've got a whole new audience for your pearls of wisdom.

I stand out in a crowd

Men Are Better Than Women at Ferreting Out That Angry Face in a Crowd

Trying to get someone's attention? Looking angry may be the key. The face most likely to stand out in a crowd is an irate one, according to a new study, and men are better than women at picking up the anger that a face conveys.

On the other hand, women are more adept at detecting more socially relevant expressions that communicate happiness, sadness, surprise and disgust.


What's interesting to me is that anger is not a socially relevant emotion. Could have fooled me. Jerk.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Obviously it's not working

It would be trite to say I've gotta try this, but I've gotta try this.

The Department of Homeland Security allowed a man to enter its headquarters last week using a fake Matricula Consular card as identification, despite federal rules that say the Mexican-issued card is not valid ID at government buildings.

Bruce DeCell, a retired New York City police officer, used his phony card -- which lists his place of birth as "Tijuana, B.C." and his address as "123 Fraud Blvd." on an incorrectly spelled "Staton Island, N.Y." -- to enter the building Wednesday for a meeting with DHS officials.

Mr. DeCell said he has had the card for four years and has used it again and again to board airliners and enter government buildings, without being turned down once. But he said he was surprised that DHS, the agency in charge of determining secure IDs, accepted it.

"Obviously, it's not working," Mr. DeCell said.


(Thanks Kibo.)

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Better than Godzilla vs. Frontrow

Kitten vs Frontrow

Everyone go back to school and relearn history

Minoan civilization was more important than you thought. 

The new results suggest that the sophisticated and powerful Minoan civilization (featured in the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur) and several other pre-Homeric civilizations arose about a century earlier and lasted for longer than previously thought.

The new timeframe also downplays Egypt’s role in the region, suggesting that the cultures of the Levant, the stretch of land that includes Syria, Israel and Palestine, may have been a more important outside influence.

Attention readers who are running VoIP servers

Hacker Said to Resell Internet Phone Service

Instead of buying access to other networks to connect his clients' calls, Mr. Pena paid about $20,000 to Robert Moore, the man arrested in Spokane, to create "what amounted to 'free' routes by surreptitiously hacking into the computer networks" of unwitting Internet phone providers, and then routing his customers' calls over those providers' systems, according to the federal complaint.

...
Mr. Pena, however, appears to have used the money he received from his customers to go on a spending spree, buying real estate in south Florida, a 40-foot Sea Ray Mercruiser motor boat, and luxury cars including a BMW and a Cadillac Escalade.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Will he... or won't he?

Geronimo's family call on Bush to help return his skeleton

The great grandson of the Apache leader Geronimo has appealed to the big chief in the White House to help recover the remains of his famous relative - purportedly stolen more than 90 years ago by a group of students - including the President's grandfather.