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The end of March - 31 March 2008
Apr. 1st, 2008 12:53 amAnd there’s a lot to be done before we get to bed. So let’s get to it.
International matters: al-Sadr pulls troops, al-Maliki happy, but they’re still pointing guns at each other and waiting for the other to start firing again.
The United States has requested to review a Swiss contract for Iranian natural gas, to see whether the contract violates U.S. sanctions. The Swiss, so far, have told the Americans to buzz off.
North Korea has decided to freeze out South Korean government officials and military personnel. Worse, the posturing seems to be scaling up toward wanting to renew the conflict.
There may be a vaccine created for the Ebola virus soon. Primate tests looking promising, which means that it’s time for some human-type tests to get going.
Universities in the United Kingdom are trying to figure out how to deal with new students under 18. The concern is about the parental role that universities might have to take on, and probably some concern about making sure that the prodigy children are properly socialized to the rest of the world.
As the climate changes, a staple crop of much of the world may find its yields reduced. If the warming goes beyond certain temperatures, then rice crops start dying off.
Domestic matters: The Attorney General of the United States tries to convince people that warrantless wiretapping is good, while also freely admitting that the intelligence apparatus, the same one that he has now, missed an apparently crucial call over a terror attack. If anything, having to sift through the entirety of telephone logs might very well mean that the next few calls are missed because they were buried in the data dump and no algorithm picked them up. Although, several of the servers have Google algorithms working for them, so they might have a decent return rate sifting through all of that extra data. But why tax the servers like that? Plus, they’ll also put into question the whole “Don’t be evil” thing that Google has going for it.
Wisconsin upholds sanctions against pharmacist who refused to do job. Hooray for sanity! The pharmacist didn’t even tell the woman where she could get her prescription filled, just that he opposed contraception and wouldn’t be filling it for her. Which is what he got nailed on. Although, really, if you’re going to object to that kind of duty, why not select another job? Really. It makes for easier times all around.
Guess the state. Attorney General prosecutes for voter fraud in distinctly Democratic-leaning demographics while ignoring strong evidence of Republican ballot-box stuffing.
General Election Candidate Matters: Senator Obama singles out two executives that are getting big bonuses tied to the performance of their subprime lender. While the economy struggles, the people at the top get paid... more? At least the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is resigning over the housing crisis. Austin Hill tries to provide counterpoint to Senator Obama by pointing out that his rhetoric changed as he thought through possible tax increases. Again, there’s nothing really too wrong about a politician changing his or her mind on an issue when presented with a consequence not necessarily foreseen. We’ve seen what eight years of inflexibility are getting us - a candidate that can change when something shows up as not working or having unintended consequences would be welcome, I think.
Last out of this, though, I can’t resist poking fun at Bill O'Really salivating over Democratic infighting, believing in a mainstream media cover-up of the fighting going on so as not to fracture the party. Uh, Bill, the fighting between the candidates is mentioned. Often repeatedly, and in relation to how it makes the Republican candidate have to do less work.
Other materials: When it comes to making a poorly-worded barely-lukewarm insult email look stupid, look no further than THE.... Sodomite Hal Duncan. It’s long, but worthwhile. On similar sorts of matters, 36 ecstasy tablets of various denominations, and a billboard that says all religions are fairy tales.
Definite WTF: Man arrested, is charged with public indecency for using a table as a sex partner.
Austin Cline at The General’s goes into greater depth about how white men like Pat Buchanan have come to expect groveling and gratitude from those they help.
In technology news, a Bluetooth microphone that goes in a hole in your teeth to pick up sounds. And what happens if/when it falls out? Speaking of taking an idea a bit too far, the Quantum Sleeper, which purports to be a bed that doubles as a safe room. Or would be good for vampires so that they don’t have to see sun accidentally. Also disturbing is the presence of no mobile phobia, where people have become afraid of being out of contact with the cell towers.
In the “too-good-to-be-true” department, Sony BMG has been sued for carrying pirated copies of software. After unleashing rootkits on the people, taking a suit for pirating software seems to be fairly poetic justice. After all, it's not like there's a lot of difference between groups these days. Unless you happen to like Swedish SID-rock bands. Also hitting hard, but not necessarily as delicious, IBM has been banned from engaging in federal contracts, and members of the corporation will be receiving subpoenas about IBM apparently improperly getting information about an EPA contract it was bidding on.
Getting our Listmania out of the way, Dezeen's Top Ten Skyscrapers for February, and we’ll throw in one more for good measure. Then, io9 looks at Six Earth Cities that will provide blueprints for Martian settlers.
Last for tonight, an old xkcd, but a very good one - remember that everyone is a world-builder. On that note, look at the Futurama Lego set, and the Yin-Yang of a fried egg, and try guessing the AD&D 2ed statistics of famous people.
And now, sleep. Just as soon as I throw my laundry over into the dryer.
International matters: al-Sadr pulls troops, al-Maliki happy, but they’re still pointing guns at each other and waiting for the other to start firing again.
The United States has requested to review a Swiss contract for Iranian natural gas, to see whether the contract violates U.S. sanctions. The Swiss, so far, have told the Americans to buzz off.
North Korea has decided to freeze out South Korean government officials and military personnel. Worse, the posturing seems to be scaling up toward wanting to renew the conflict.
There may be a vaccine created for the Ebola virus soon. Primate tests looking promising, which means that it’s time for some human-type tests to get going.
Universities in the United Kingdom are trying to figure out how to deal with new students under 18. The concern is about the parental role that universities might have to take on, and probably some concern about making sure that the prodigy children are properly socialized to the rest of the world.
As the climate changes, a staple crop of much of the world may find its yields reduced. If the warming goes beyond certain temperatures, then rice crops start dying off.
Domestic matters: The Attorney General of the United States tries to convince people that warrantless wiretapping is good, while also freely admitting that the intelligence apparatus, the same one that he has now, missed an apparently crucial call over a terror attack. If anything, having to sift through the entirety of telephone logs might very well mean that the next few calls are missed because they were buried in the data dump and no algorithm picked them up. Although, several of the servers have Google algorithms working for them, so they might have a decent return rate sifting through all of that extra data. But why tax the servers like that? Plus, they’ll also put into question the whole “Don’t be evil” thing that Google has going for it.
Wisconsin upholds sanctions against pharmacist who refused to do job. Hooray for sanity! The pharmacist didn’t even tell the woman where she could get her prescription filled, just that he opposed contraception and wouldn’t be filling it for her. Which is what he got nailed on. Although, really, if you’re going to object to that kind of duty, why not select another job? Really. It makes for easier times all around.
Guess the state. Attorney General prosecutes for voter fraud in distinctly Democratic-leaning demographics while ignoring strong evidence of Republican ballot-box stuffing.
General Election Candidate Matters: Senator Obama singles out two executives that are getting big bonuses tied to the performance of their subprime lender. While the economy struggles, the people at the top get paid... more? At least the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is resigning over the housing crisis. Austin Hill tries to provide counterpoint to Senator Obama by pointing out that his rhetoric changed as he thought through possible tax increases. Again, there’s nothing really too wrong about a politician changing his or her mind on an issue when presented with a consequence not necessarily foreseen. We’ve seen what eight years of inflexibility are getting us - a candidate that can change when something shows up as not working or having unintended consequences would be welcome, I think.
Last out of this, though, I can’t resist poking fun at Bill O'Really salivating over Democratic infighting, believing in a mainstream media cover-up of the fighting going on so as not to fracture the party. Uh, Bill, the fighting between the candidates is mentioned. Often repeatedly, and in relation to how it makes the Republican candidate have to do less work.
Other materials: When it comes to making a poorly-worded barely-lukewarm insult email look stupid, look no further than THE.... Sodomite Hal Duncan. It’s long, but worthwhile. On similar sorts of matters, 36 ecstasy tablets of various denominations, and a billboard that says all religions are fairy tales.
Definite WTF: Man arrested, is charged with public indecency for using a table as a sex partner.
Austin Cline at The General’s goes into greater depth about how white men like Pat Buchanan have come to expect groveling and gratitude from those they help.
In technology news, a Bluetooth microphone that goes in a hole in your teeth to pick up sounds. And what happens if/when it falls out? Speaking of taking an idea a bit too far, the Quantum Sleeper, which purports to be a bed that doubles as a safe room. Or would be good for vampires so that they don’t have to see sun accidentally. Also disturbing is the presence of no mobile phobia, where people have become afraid of being out of contact with the cell towers.
In the “too-good-to-be-true” department, Sony BMG has been sued for carrying pirated copies of software. After unleashing rootkits on the people, taking a suit for pirating software seems to be fairly poetic justice. After all, it's not like there's a lot of difference between groups these days. Unless you happen to like Swedish SID-rock bands. Also hitting hard, but not necessarily as delicious, IBM has been banned from engaging in federal contracts, and members of the corporation will be receiving subpoenas about IBM apparently improperly getting information about an EPA contract it was bidding on.
Getting our Listmania out of the way, Dezeen's Top Ten Skyscrapers for February, and we’ll throw in one more for good measure. Then, io9 looks at Six Earth Cities that will provide blueprints for Martian settlers.
Last for tonight, an old xkcd, but a very good one - remember that everyone is a world-builder. On that note, look at the Futurama Lego set, and the Yin-Yang of a fried egg, and try guessing the AD&D 2ed statistics of famous people.
And now, sleep. Just as soon as I throw my laundry over into the dryer.
