Not to be outdone, our other loyal reader pointed us at Something Awful, with special emphasis on Movie Prequels.
A loyal reader brought 1000 Ridiculous Tragedies to our attention. I can't say I'm especially impressed with the web design, but some of the content (especially the Pie chart of empty supervillain threats) is pretty entertaining.
Since we're getting so many hits from iPod users (sucks about those batteries, eh?), here's another cool iPod add-on. My favorite part of this short-range FM transmitter is that you can set it to any FM-band frequency you want. It advertises a range of 10-30 feet, which is just enough to screw with the heads of the drivers around you on your commute. Pick a popular station's frequency, and briefly own those airwaves all the way home. I mean, don't do that. I'm sure the FCC wouldn't approve, and I would never advocate law-breaking. Not me. Nope.
We'd heard it from a number of cast members, and now we've heard it from one more: SMG says Buffy won't be back after this season. She makes mention of a possible spin-off (Ripper, anyone?), but this does seem to be it for BtVS.
Also, it looks like Firefly will stay dead.
Coming soon to your inbox: "This must be handled in the utmost confidence. I have recently been given control of a certain asset, and need your assistance to get it out of the country. In return for the use of your account, you will retain 50% of the asset. Please forward your lead vault details."
This also reminds me of the "Lost" posters I used to see at my old workplace. Once, somebody had mis-laid a forklift, but it was usually a 10-foot long crate weighing half a ton or so, containing some vital airplane part. "I know it was here someplace..."
My co-blogger showed these to me last night, and I'm surprised she didn't put them up here. Killer parodies of the Ready.gov pages regarding nuclear, biological, chemical (also above), explosion, and radiation threats.
Update: as of 17 Nov 05, the idlewords site doesn't seem to have any content older than August of 2003, and the posters are not available.
A big deal in Japan is now available in the US, called an "enzyme bath" - it seems to involve being buried, heated, and relaxed in gently fermenting rice bran and other enzymes. I wonder how much my mom would charge me to bury me up to my neck in the compost heap?
Apparently you can find out what D&D character you are through a short survey. A, uh, friend of mine tried it and said it was impressively accurate. I have no idea what he's talking about. (yes, I know this is old news; I found it in the "One year ago" section of blogdex).
Rather than changing the address in my Author information every time I get spam, I think I'll just take it out. I will continue to be reachable at blogger at forcedperspective dot org (until I get spam there, too), as well as a number of other obvious addresses.
Based on the popularity of Why Nerds Are Unpopular among bloggers, I predict that Caring for Your Introvert will soon rocket to the top of the chart. And since I had to go there to find the link for the nerd article, I can tell you that the introvert thing is certainly climbing. That Readiness site is still firmly planted at the top of the list, though.
"A nuclear blast is an explosion with intense light and heat, a damaging pressure wave and widespread radioactive material that can contaminate the air, water and ground surfaces for miles around." The Homeland security apparatus suggests taking cover in the event of a nuclear blast, assessing the situation, and taking appropriate action. I hate to be alarmist or anything, but I'm pretty sure I'll just die and get it over with.
Strikingly weird: "If there is a significant radiation threat, health care authorities may or may not advise you to take potassium iodide." May or may not? Whatever.
Extreme sports aficionados (and fans of tidiness) will be thrilled to see this new entry in the games.
Is your WiFi LAN here? Mine isn't. Yet. I'm sure it's only a matter of time, though. There are several wide-open LANs walking distance away, if I ever decide I need one.
Here's the homepage of the clever fella behind infobreakfast, Ronan Cremin. Take a look at NewsQuakes, the site that makes it look as though all United Statesians live in San Francisco.
If I watched more British courtroom dramas, this accusation from a British court might sound less strange and stilted: "The same day while on a British registered aircraft you had in your possession a dangerous article. That was a hand grenade" I can almost make it into a Canadianism with appropriate punctuation- "The same day? While on a British registered aircraft? You had in your possession a dangerous article? That was a hand grenade."
I saw this courtesy of infobreakfast, as mentioned by the lovely Bruce Sterling. Though I may need a long vacation before I can get back to his new book, Tomorrow Now. I really liked what I've read so far, but I'm totally losing my ability to concentrate.
Always on the lookout for kissing-related research, we here at FP Labs were pleased to find this piece on head-tilt orientation. Researchers wanting to apply for grants to further study the phenomenon are welcome to submit applications. Please include photos.
It looks like there will be lots of Text Valentines sent this year. From what I see, volume is about 25% higher than a typical weekday; all the more impressive, given that Fridays are usually relatively light.
BBC piece on Picture messaging. Vodafone is suggesting various "creative" ways to use everyday objects to convey messages. Based on what I know of the text messages people send each other on their phones, I predict there will be (or already are) a lot of pictures of genitalia flying across the network, meaning everything from "I'm looking forward to seeing you" to "Here's what you're not getting any of."
I was interested to note that the Terrorism Preparedness stuff is really good advice for going on a date, too: 1) Be aware of your surroundings; 2) Be aware of conspicuous or unusual behavior; 3) Do not be afraid to move or leave if you feel uncomfortable or if something does not seem right; 4) Learn where emergency exits are located; 5) Assemble a disaster supply kit; 6) Be familiar with different types of fire extinguishers, and know where to find them (and hard hats). Okay, so the last one's just generally good advice, but you never know when familiarity with fire extinguishers and hard hats will be useful on a date.
On a semi-related note, I never really took the airplane emergency briefing seriously until I was flying on an AWACS and got the real briefing: "The lights on the floor won't work; count the number of seats between you and the exit, and feel your way by seat back, because you won't be able to see through the smoke. Better yet, just follow one of us; but don't be slow, because we won't wait." I still mostly ignore the flight attendants' spiel, but I do note far more carefully where the nearest exit is now.
Are you prepared? Are you really prepared? Learn how to totally freak yourself out with FEMA's guidebook, Are You Ready?
Those of you who don't work in a school, don't work in a library, or don't have a child in school, probably haven't heard about the Accelerated Reader program. It involves students being allowed to pick a recreational reading book from a list of pre-approved books that match their assessed reading level and then being tested on their comprehension in order to gain a certain number of points that often apply to their final grade. I can think of few ways to better make children hate reading. The vendors of this program charge for each test purchased, so schools can purchase only a limited number of tests. Meaning that there are many fewer books to choose from than is really good for a growing mind, and there is a huge disincentive for schools to buy tests for books that have a higher reading level than the grade levels they teach, so the better readers are required to read books that are far too easy for them. That pretty much sums up why I don't think that the AR program is great. Unfortunately, it's really popular and easy to use.
The measurement of reading level for the tests (and for most reading-level assignments by almost anyone) is done with a formula that only takes into account the difficulty of the words and sentences, not the complexity of thought or age-appropriateness of the ideas raised. The Color Purple, therefore, has a fourth grade reading level. Look up the reading level of your favorite books at AR's sales web site.
Michael Jackson's rebuttal will be airing on Fox opposite NBC's Must-See Thursday line-up next week. Why Fox? "because they 'packaged it with the best sensitivity to Michael Jackson', according to Jackson's spokesman Stuart Backerman." Er, yeah. Sensitivity is the watch-word over at Fox. I only hope it gets fed to Canada, so I have a chance of seeing it.
Yes, this is another rerun from the Smelltone blog, but it may be going away at any moment, and I'd hate for our readers to miss out on the opportunity to say "soft and gently stretched."
A list of the top 5 most popular ringtones got passed around my office recently. It came from Modtones, and turns out to be Verizon-specific. My ringtone is not available at Modtones, but I also don't have a Verizon phone. As you might expect, a google search turns up a lot of matches, many of them from the UK, where ringtone commerce is more firmly established. Drawing conclusions based on what appears on these lists is left as an exercise.
This is so cool: take a quick look at today's front page-- of 159 different newspapers!!!! Take the pulse of the world, and forgive my use of multi-bangs.
Large-brained ex-Python Terry Jones wants to preemptively defend himself against his neighbors, under the Bush "Doctrine."
More loyal reader contributions for the knittingly inclined: Knitter's Review, Knitty, and Dangerous Chunky.
I googled my cousin-in-law the other day, and ran across this mp3 of one of her songs. Perhaps because I have trouble writing anything that's not transparently autobiographical, it strikes me as an interesting choice of theme for somebody who to all appearances is blissfully married.
Michael Jackson is shocked, shocked, I tell you, that he comes off as a complete freak in a new documentary about him that involved following him around for months. He can't understand how it happened. And his pal, the spoonbending jerk, Uri Geller, didn't see it coming.
I was listening to a song where the singer was saying how you hurt those who love you, my little polecat. Polecat? Actually the song was called "Coquette".
Brought to my attention by a loyal reader: People don't pay attention. 17% of Americans surveyed knew that none of the hijackers was Iraqi, while 44% believed some or most of them were.
Two books of the day today, both lavishly illustrated coffee table books. The Art of the Airways by Geza Szurow features beautiful reproductions of vintage airline posters, from the days when air travel was romantic. Pacific Legacy: Image and Memory from World War II in the Pacific by Rex Alan Smith and Gerald A. Meehl shows the physical remnants of WWII in the Pacific. From memorials and monuments (on both sides) to rusted-out airplanes crashed in the jungle and helmeted skeletons that turned up in someone's back garden. Lots of history is given to link these islands of memory to the events that caused them.
The Disgruntled Housewife webpage is prettier and maybe funnier and more informative than my website. But I don't resent her for it. No.