I have to believe that this was an appallingly stupid thing for Friendster to do.
I have not yet cancelled my account, though (especially since I haven't used it all that much lately) I may very well do that.
Update 10 Sep: No more Friendster for me.
Unfortunately, I've pretty much missed my chance to see the exhibition, but wow, knitted superhero costumes!
From the body of a message we think might be spam:
HellSoBayes-based filters have done some wonderful things. I don't know whether this is wonderful or not.
doear home ozw[ner,
We haEcve been notiXfiepe[d tThat yoMZu{r
m{ortgaM6ge rate is fixe+d aZGt a verkky
hilzgh iCnteresvOt r"at!e. T/here;for2e you are
Pictoplasma's archive is a way to see a whole lot of examples of what it is that makes a cartoonish character.
The modern master of horror tells you, in about ten minutes, everything you need to do to be a successful writer. I like it so much I've squirrelled a copy away. I find the comments at the end especially telling, though: the person hosting the page demonstrates, with his words and his meaning, that he has entirely missed at least two of the points of King's treatise.
Tired of checking your gmail several times a day, especially if you have to go clear out the google cookies so they don't tie your searching behavior to your mail? The Gmail Notifier will make your life a little easier, then.
So far, it's Windows (2k/XP) only, but they say Mac and Linux versions are on the way.
Unfortunately, it uses the system "New Mail" sound, so there's no way to have it unambiguously audibly inform me of my gmail.
There was a fairly shifty guy in the library today asking what companies in the US manufactured certain chemicals, and asked that I help him find a company that made, oh just for example, hydrochloric acid. As an upstanding patriotic American, I feel I must arm non-shifty types with the same information. (Don't you wish other patriotic [or at least patriotism-claimants] felt the same way about information?)
and just because I like them, I'll add IMEX- Mister Shifto was not interested after I got him one listing. Bah.
Yes, the shiny gadgets are quite nice, but I especially like the writing on Gizmodo. Extra points for Zombie Thoreau.
I'm not totally sure I understand how to read these lovely burr-like maps, but they sure are entrancing.
Yesterknits is a pretty neat repository of old knitting patterns, but darn it, as a thrifter, I just can't see paying $5-10 for reproductions of single patterns when I could spend years of my life trying to track down the original booklet! OK, maybe I should just cough up, but not yet.
This actually happened yesterday, but one of the friends to whom I sent the story recommended I share it with the world, so here it is:
So, the receptionist comes into my office (actually, she stood in the window beside the door to my office) and asks "Are you squeamish?" I suggest that's too broad a question, and she asks me to come with her to look at something, and says something about "fish". So I follow her, and outside the lunchroom door there's a fish on the floor. The only fish tank in the office is a couple doors down, but on closer examination there are little droplets on the carpet. The fish is looking very departed, but I'm sure that if I touch it, it'll twitch, and I'll jump and/or scream. So she finds me the dustpan and some napkins, and I slide it onto the one using the other, and it doesn't twitch as violently as I expected, but there is some movement, so I drop it into the fish tank, and it just hangs there, but then it moves a little, and looking closely I can see some gill movement. But still, it's just hanging there, not moving other than the breathing. But when I close the lid, it flips into action, swimming around briefly for real. I don't think it really wants to live (it did, after all, push open the lid to escape), but at least I've given it the opportunity if it changes its mind.
Rather than having to carry your SecurID around, why not put it on the web? As security god Bruce Schneier says in this week's Crypto-Gram, "Here's the strange thing: unless you know who the webpage belongs to, it's still good security." Coming soon to a site near you?
Ever wonder what you'd look like if you were dead, embalmed, frozen, and then neatly sliced with a bandsaw? No? Well, it's a good way to visualize anatomy, anyway.
The other examples in the Hall of Technical Documentation Weirdness are amusing, but this one should be a puzzle: what did the makers intend to say? Prythee, get out your thesaurus!
I am reading (and quite enjoying) the book Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants by Robert Sullivan. He has useful non-rat related information in his book about Milwaukee (a town that has historically been ahead of the rat-control curve).
"a great old hotel, the Pfister"
"the Milwaukee Public Library, where I looked at beautiful Audubon prints and read about Milwaukee's rat control history, noting, for example, the numerous 'Starve a Rat' campaigns, the free rat films the city showed in rat-infested neighborhoods (titles included Listen to the Rat Man, Professor Rat, and the Rat King)" He does not make it entirely clear if you can actually watch these movies at the library. More detail is needed.
"Maeders, an old German restaurant" where he has assorted amazing food, including "what was billed as 'Germany's favorite soup,' a soup made with duck and liver pate." The restaurant also featured written testimonials from various "overweight, dead celebrities."
Also he mentions "a sausage place (where I ate some of the best sausage I've ever tasted)" Details, mister Sullivan, we want the details!
OK, it's a book about rats, not a travel guide, but boy, I want to go to Milwaukee and New York now!
Update: I just finished the book, and I highly recommend it. He makes up for the lack of restaurant detail in his Notes section with great notes about his sources and great anecdotes he came across on the way. Hurrah!
I don't know if any of these outfits would actually solve the problem of people looking at your chest instead of your face, but it is sort of fun to see the different fashion options.
The Perseids are expected to be extra good this year. Just right for setting up a hammock in the back yard and watching the fireworks.
Here's the official list of the sorts of people New Zealand wants- do you have what it takes to be a Kiwi?
In a reversal from an earlier announcement, there will be Daleks in the new Dr Who series. I hope the Nation estate lightened up, since I'm more interested in seeing something new out of them than the same old thing. I mean, gee, maybe we'll learn about the terrible loneliness of the cyborgs.
Menus through history from the Puget Sound region in Washington State, collected at the University of Washington.