Archive for November, 2004
Thus spake Ennui
November 30, 2004 at 12:50 pm
I must come across at least four or five new designer sites a week. I am usually quite impressed with the many different ways that designers come up with to showcase their portfolios. But I have to say that Trey Hoyumpa has, by far, the most original and clever site of a single designer that I have seen yet. Even if fantastic web design isn’t your thing, you should visit Trey’s site. I promise that you will be amused. Check out her awesome illustration portfolio while you are there.
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Thus spake Evil Overload
at 12:37 pm
Fusion Research Facility |
In other energy-related news, the European Union is moving ahead with plans to build a fusion reactor for the purpose of testing the feasibility of fusion power for commercial use. The reactor, pictured to the left, uses powerful magnetic fields to suspend a superheated plasma in which the fusion reaction takes place. If the new facility is able to produce stable and sustainable fusion, the EU has plans to begin building reactors for commercial power production, in hopes that these reactors will replace coal and oil-burning power plants. The type of fusion that will be sustained by this reactor is held to be safer than fission (used in currently operating nuclear power plants) and to produce far less hazardous waste products. Link |
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Thus spake Evil Overload
at 12:22 pm
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Oh, the irony. Research teams drilling in the arctic ice fields for sample cores from the sea floor have discovered deep layers of sediment dating back 55 million years to a time when the planetary temperature was at a maximum, and the arctic region was warm and full of plant life. Layers of sediment such as this tend to house oil deposits which develop from the biomass of yesteryear. Amid concerns of dwindling oil supplies, global warming research may have extended the lifespan of the petroleum economy by decades. While the scientists reportedly had some difficulty drilling through the ice to obtain the core samples, this is not expected to be a problem in the future. Link (username:cannedasparagus, password:password) |
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Thus spake Evil Overload
at 12:11 pm
Thus spake Sheni
November 29, 2004 at 11:51 am
Thus spake Joanne
at 11:09 am
Thus spake H
November 27, 2004 at 4:20 pm
Thus spake Antropologo
November 26, 2004 at 11:43 pm
Thus spake Edwin
November 24, 2004 at 3:29 pm
Thus spake Evil Overload
at 11:29 am
According to Stephen Roach, the chief economist at Morgan Stanley, we’re headed for tough(er) economic times ahead:
In a nutshell, Roach’s argument is that America’s record trade deficit means the dollar will keep falling. To keep foreigners buying T-bills and prevent a resulting rise in inflation, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan will be forced to raise interest rates further and faster than he wants.
The result: U.S. consumers, who are in debt up to their eyeballs, will get pounded.
To finance its current account deficit with the rest of the world, he said, America has to import $2.6 billion in cash. Every working day.
That is an amazing 80 percent of the entire world’s net savings.
Sustainable? Hardly.
Meanwhile, he notes that household debt is at record levels.
Twenty years ago the total debt of U.S. households was equal to half the size of the economy.
Today the figure is 85 percent.
But hey, look on the bright side: Smilin’ George W. has promised bigger tax breaks, and gays still can’t get married! Godfuckingdammit. Link
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Thus spake Evil Overload
at 9:55 am
In the name of Pure Science, the intrepid souls at Oh My God It Burns! have conducted, and thoroughly documented, a practical experiment in alchoholichemy (alchoholic alchemy), demonstrating that running cheap vodka through a BRITA filter removes the impurities that separate good liquor from bad. With pictures. Link
(Stolen from the fine folks at The Day Jobs.)
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Thus spake Evil Overload
at 9:51 am
This wind keeps threatening to blow out the windows. Mabye global warming will result in Athens having a tropical climate, rainy season and all.
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Thus spake Evil Overload
at 6:28 am
In the village of Seemahi-Kari-Raat, the buildings have no doors, by decree of Sheo Baba, the patron saint of the village. Interestingly, they have not one robbery in the local police records, which go back to 1906.
Lal Mani Tewari, a villager in his 80s, says: “Whenever someone made an attempt at building doors, some calamity befell them.
“It was through such coincidences that we realised the holy man did not approve of doors.”
Huh. Link
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Thus spake Antropologo
November 23, 2004 at 8:06 am
Thus spake Evil Overload
at 6:56 am
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Chocolate, or cocoa specifically, contains a compound that supresses coughing. This compound apparently outdid codeine (as well as the placebo drug) in clinical tests, but fell far short of codeine in the area of inducing halucinations legally. The researchers presenting the findings recommend consulting a physician before attempting to treat a persistent cough with chocolate, but later admitted they were just saying that. Link |
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Thus spake Evil Overload
November 22, 2004 at 1:14 pm
Thus spake Evil Overload
at 8:06 am
Ernest Istook, R-Oklahoma, introduced a provision into the recent 3,000 page omnibus spending bill that would allow the heads of the House and Senate appropriations committees to view the tax records of any American. The effect of this would be the politicization of tax statements, allowing them to be used as ammuntion against opposing candidates, activists, and leaders of grassroots initiatives. Istook, who was apparently assuming that no one would actually read the bill in its entirety, backpedaled furiously:
Istook, chairman of the House Appropriations transportation subcommittee, said in a statement Sunday that the Internal Revenue Service drafted the language, which would not have allowed any inspections of tax returns. “Nobody’s privacy was ever jeopardized,” the statement said.
Unconvinced, the House and Senate are in the process of nullifying that section of the bill. Since when does the IRS get to draft tax legislation anyway? Whose idea was it to let the fox legislate itself a key to the henhouse? Link
(Thanks, Jason!)
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Thus spake Sheni
at 7:10 am
Get ready, my fellow geeks, for the annual tech-support orgy that is Thanksgiving. This post on Boing Boing refers to a thread on Slashdot that discusses the phenomenon of technically adept children making their annual pilgrimage home to spend their Thanksgiving fixing their parents’ and family members’ computers. It even contains a list of patches and fixes to make sure you get the job done right. Actually, when you think about it, this works out pretty well. If you start downloading Service Pack II when mom starts cooking the turkey, they should both be finished at about the same time.
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Thus spake Evil Overload
at 6:47 am
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John McCain, the Republican Senator from Arizona whose bi-partisan appeal led John Kerry to offer him the VP candidacy, appears to be considering a presidential run in 2008:
A decision to run, if one should come, would not be made for at least two years, said McCain, speaking only a few weeks after the 2004 campaign ended with President Bush (news - web sites) winning a second term.
“Look, I’m not running for president,” McCain told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” and added: “I do not foreclose the option.”
“There will be plenty of time to consider whether to run for president again, but certainly I don’t think it’s in any way appropriate for me to speculate on that at this time,” McCain said on NBC.
I’m encouraged by this possibility. While McCain is more socially conservative than I feel is necesary, he strikes me as a good politician and an honest man, and a far better leader than either Bush or Kerry. Link |
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Thus spake Evil Overload
at 6:29 am
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Scientists have found fossil remains of an early primate that may be the fabled missing link between modern apes and humans:
Scientists think the creature lived after the lesser apes went their own evolutionary way, but before the great apes began their own diversification into different forms such as orang-utans, gorillas, chimps and, of course, humans.
“Pierolapithecus probably is, or is very close to, the last common ancestor of great apes and humans,” said Professor Moyà-Solà.
Link (hehehe) |
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Thus spake Antropologo
November 21, 2004 at 5:15 pm
Thus spake Edwin
November 20, 2004 at 1:15 pm
If you haven’t already, join yourself up to the World Community Grid.
What you do is, download a program which downloads data to your PC and processes it while your computer is idle and then when you connect to the internet, it sends the data back. the idea is that thousands of computers around the world link up to create a super computer (like what the Playstation 3 is supposed to like to help with graphics and things).
Here is a BBC Link about it
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Thus spake Edwin
November 19, 2004 at 1:55 pm
Thus spake Ennui
at 1:34 pm
Thus spake Bailywolf
at 12:42 pm
Remember Stair Dismount?
Remember Truck Dismount?
I give your Dismount Levels
You can sort of… toss the pathetic rag-doll man around.
Sick. Sick and wonderful. The height of badwrongfun.
Watch your productivity swirl the bowl…
Dismount
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Thus spake Sheni
at 12:14 pm
You know. That big, ugly, pink ass helicopter from that show in the 80s where the guys lived on the boat and fought crime. Do you remember the name of that song? You can find out here The awesome 80’s has TV guide style listings for the major networks, broken down by year, for the entire 80s. I’m talking Mr. Belvedere and Doogie Howser and shit.
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Thus spake Evil Overload
at 7:04 am
Researchers have discovered through a series of experiments that fans of Superman, or those primed with thoughts of Superman, are less likely to attempt good deeds. Apparently the knowledge that you can’t measure up interferes with motivation. Maybe this is part of why so many members of my generation, which grew up watching Superfriends, are both incredibly well-intentioned and incredibly lazy. From New Scientist:
Superman is too good a role model. Fans of the man from Krypton unwittingly compare themselves to the superhero, and realise they do not measure up. And as a result, they are less likely to help other people.
The reason, believes Nelson, is that asking people to compare themselves to an exceptional individual makes them realise their shortcomings. Whereas thinking about a general category encourages people to identify the strengths they have in common.
(via diepunyhumans)
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Thus spake Edwin
at 5:31 am
Thus spake Antropologo
November 18, 2004 at 11:01 pm
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