Linux workaround for iTunes. Probably old (red) hat for you guys.

Stefano Raffaele's Fragile isn't perfect, but for a long-time zombie horror fan like myself, there's something very refreshing and earnest about this story. This is an author who "gets" the zombie mythos and it's staying power.

Tom Delay goes on record, complaining for being under attack by "do-gooders" ... I wonder if he was twisting his moustache as he said that? Yeah, he would've gotten away with the campaign finance thing too if it wasn't for those meddlesome kids.

The EPA Chokes on Mercury.

I'm think of adding Google Ads to this blog, not because I think anybody actually reads it, but because I'm curious to see how this whole AdSense thing works. Maybe I'll start using it on some other websites I contribute to. Opinions or objections?

I don't really care if he's a Jewish politician. Lieberman has to go. He's been undermining the democratic agenda for too long. His pre-emptive concession speech is what put Mr. Bush in the white house in the first place. He's got a primary race coming up -- which is the best challenger for me to funnel my donations to?

Reminiscent of Minski's "Society of Mind".

Wouldn't it be great to have the job of racing around the world at light-speed, telling each new arrival: "Welcome!" "Welcome!" "Welcome to planet Earth!"

craigslist single-handedly exterminates any chance of an extraterrestrial race choosing to contact humanity. "We come in peace. Take us to your meet-market."

And I thought all American Passports only list the City (not country) of foreign born. But it's only Jerusalem. Ironically, legislation was passed by congress in 1997 recognizing Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel; I guess the State Department just did not recognize it as a part of Israel. This just showed up because Canada apparently started to list "Jerusalem, Israel", then recalled all 150 passports to retract the change because a lawsuit brought by the carrier of a "Jerusalem"-only passport used them as a precdence.

Google AJAX?

Thank you V-Rambo, the bullet came a-whistling, and your LCD shattered, but my wrist remained intact.

NYT: Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged TV News. Who's to blame? The cynical politicians spending taxpayers dollars to produce propaganda, or the spineless media for broadcasting it without attribution or caveat?

Bit the bullet and subscribed to eMusic: works out to something like $0.25/song, plus the music is delivered in glorious, portable, DRM-free MP3 format. Hallelujah! Also, they've got that catchy single from M.I.A..

But although Vice-Admiral Albert Church reported no blood on the hands of the U.S. high command. What unfortunate phrase. Did you know that the Inquisition started burning people because they did not want to literally shed blood (as was prohibited in the Bible)? The Inquisition sourced it on the Hebrew Temple. Solomon (rather than David) got to build the Temple in Jerusalem, because David had "blood on his hands", and hence was not worthy.

Showdown at the Supremes (medium vs content)

baby tortoise, for your viewing pleasure. hello!

From CNET's Molly Wood re Tobacco/Cellphone industries parallels: "Unfortunately, studies start to appear showing that the product might be harmful to its users--even cancer-causing. The product's manufacturers deny the presence of any danger and even spend millions of dollars trying to discredit the research that points to problems. Then, an insider emerges, seemingly with proof that the product could be dangerous. The industry agrees to publish warning data about the product, but continues to maintain that the product itself is safe for use. Lawsuits against the product's manufacturers are filed, but all are dismissed. Industry analysts know that any case that does succeed could start a domino effect of future lawsuits, which keeps the industry determined to maintain that the product is harmless, despite increasing evidence to the contrary." See radiation measurements for each cellphone.

Come Here Watson, I need you; do not have a baby with that woman.

Plus, I also discovered this Chinatown Kite Shop on Grant St and bought myself a beautiful nylon octopus kite for only $4. Score!

RSVP for a free screening of KUNG FU HUSTLE. I caught about 30 minutes of this film at a pirate video shop in Chinatown on Sunday, and it's everything I always dreamed a kung-fu action movie could be. Don't miss it!

For those confused by my earlier Jello Biafra channeling: Homeland Security is requiring immigrants in 8 cities who are in the process of applying for residency to wear electronic monitoring ankle bracelets 24/7.

On the unusual connection between Roman Edemskoi and Ivan Feduleyev.

Attention women: Obey the machine.

Treo 650 has built-in GPS, replaceable batteries.

On the ascendancy of location-tracking ankle bracelets:

"We want a national law
Establishing children's bedtimes.
Bedtime Patrol, We'll check up on you...
Bedtime Patrol, Make sure that your bracelet is on.
The nanny state: To reach down your pants and check to see if you've been
Moistening yourself with any unauthorised substance without permission"

- Jello Biafra and Coldcut, "Every Home a Prison"

Ok, I was watching TV in the gym this morning, and I watched this guy nearly wash out of "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire" because he couldn't figure out how to multiply 8.5 times 11. The problem with TV is that it's not sufficiently interactive: you can reach into the box and smack people.

From an interview with Danny Boyle, direction of two of my all-time favorite films: Trainspotting and 28 Days Later:
What about your next film?

It's called "Sunshine," and it's about the sun. It's written by Alex Garland. There's a mission called Icarus 2 that is taking a bomb to the sun to try and reignite a section of it. The bomb is the size of Vancouver and it's been built in space. There's been an earlier mission, Icarus 1, which has failed. And what's happened to it is a mystery. There's a religious element to the film -- the sun is God, really.

Looking at the new pre-release Open Office 2.0, I found this awesome feature: Calculating and Pasting the Result of a Formula in a Text Document If your text already contains a formula, for example "12+24*2", OpenOffice.org can calculate, and then paste the result of the formula in your document, without using the Formula Bar.

1. Select the formula in the text. The formula can only contain numbers and operators and cannot contain spaces.
2. Choose Tools - Calculate, or press Ctrl+Plus Sign (+).
3. Place the cursor where you want to insert the result of the formula, and then choose Edit - Paste, or press Ctrl+V. If the formula is selected, it is replaced by the result.

Taking the plunge: Fujitsu N6010 Laptop Pentium 4 3.2Ghz, 1.25GB Ram on ebay.