Some kind person in Norway has done us all the service of collecting all that crap that people send you. I was surprised how entertaining I found it to browse. Some of them are too, too cute.

News to me: it’s not the flu that makes you feel like shit (and sometimes kills you); it’s the immune response. Researchers at Imperial College London think they may have found a way to moderate that response.

I tried (not all that hard) to find more recent status for Chess in the States, but I ended up finding (again) only this cache of a page that indicates that the only version of the show that can legally be performed in the States is the horrible Broadway re-write. The Yahoo discussion group seems to be members-only, and I don’t quite feel energetic enough to sign up and see what more recent info might be available. Bad blogger, I am. No biscuit.
I was able to see a "concert" of the show, wherein talented people sang the songs and discussed the action between the songs, but no actual acting took place. The flow and music were clearly not from the horrible Broadway re-write, and it was a good show (I believe they said in the Q&A afterwards it was a mélange of the West End, US, and Australian versions). I did hate my fellow east-siders, though, for their audible consternation when the word "fuck" was uttered. Not quite as much as I hated the Seattleites at ACT when several of them said a line in the play along with the actor. And no, it wasn’t a production of The Rocky Horror Show.

According to this article, "Having regular and enthusiastic sex … confers a host of measurable physiological advantages, be you male or female." This seems similar to the earlier results that show frequent orgasms are helpful. Another tidbit: "Seminal plasma contains zinc, calcium and other minerals shown to retard tooth decay." Forbes declined to elaborate on the delivery mechanism.

The latest letter from ICANN telling VeriSign to cut that shit out.

When composing my earlier remarks regarding the Dr Who revival, I neglected to notice that Russell Davies, who will be writing the new series, was responsible for the excellent BBC movie The Second Coming, which you really must see (ideally unspoiled).
And yes, I’m exactly narcissistic enough to link to my own blog entry. Apparently.
Breaking addition: Holy shit! If true, they better hit DVD fast.

This strikes me as the kind of thing a friend of mine would enjoy. Next time I have several hours to burn, I’ll see if it’s actually all that entertaining.

An Air Force Academy cadet pled guilty to charges of running what is billed as a porn site, but actually sounds more like a "party" arranging site. In a separate story (which I can’t recommend, due to obnoxious pop-ups), the charges are detailed:

• Using a government computer to advertise and sell pornography for commercial gain.

Yeah, okay, that seems inappropriate.

• Storing and displaying pornography on a government computer.

Again, not what we probably want as taxpayers.

• Engaging in sexual intercourse and sodomy with women while other men were present, a conduct disgracing the armed forces.

Huh? Don’t we want our military men to be strong, virile, and confident enough to get it on, even with a crowd around?

• Wrongfully arranging for more than one man other than himself to engage in sexual intercourse with a woman.

Again, huh? Wrongfully arranging for only one man other than himself is okay? Rightfully arranging for more than one man other than himself is okay? Even the most likely arranging for one man other than himself? You’re only allowed to get one of your buddies laid? Ever? Or are we supposed to infer “with the same woman at the same time”?
And what about women arranging for other women to have sex with men? Or having sex with a man with other women present?

After 14 years, the Doctor is on his way back. Few details, except that Russell Davies, who will be writing it, says “The new series will be fun, exciting, contemporary and scary.” I’m happy to see “campy” is absent from the list.

Lest anybody think that OCLC suing the Library Hotel is silly, keep in mind that it’s a trademark issue, and if they don’t sue, they lose the trademark. Also, the story linked above gives a mistaken impression: OCLC wasn’t looking for money from the hotel; they just needed a licensing agreement in hand to protect their trademark. Now that lawyers are involved, who knows what it will take to make it stop. I couldn’t find a link to the LJ Academic Newswire release below, so here’s the text:

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