moonbuggy

Lots of videos of things being put into industrial shredders.

`The spyware that Sony installs on the computers of music fans does not even seem to be correct in terms of copyright law.

It turns out that the rootkit contains pieces of code that are identical to LAME, an open source mp3-encoder, and thereby breach the license.

This software is licensed under the so called Lesser Gnu Public License (LGPL). According to this license Sony must comply with a couple of demands. Amongst others, they have to indicate in a copyright notice that they make use of the software. The company must also deliver the source code to the open-source libraries or otherwise make these available. And finally, they must deliver or otherwise make available the in between form between source code and executable code, the so called objectfiles, with which others can make comparable software.’

This is hilarious. 🙂 Sony breaching other peoples copyright to protect their own. We should send cease and desist letters to the grandmothers of all the Sony executives. 🙂

`Up to 3000 schools have been targeted in a DVD blitz aimed at challenging Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in favour of an “intelligent designer”.

The right to teach intelligent design in science classes is being tested in US courts and a fiery debate has erupted in Australia that has pitted scientists against advocates for the “alternative theory” to evolution. [..]

The Minister for Education, Carmel Tebbutt, said intelligent design “can’t be taught as part of the NSW school science curriculum” because it was not scientific or based on evidence.

More than 100 schools are already teaching intelligent design as science, alongside the mandatory curriculum requirement to study evolution. These schools include Christian community, Seventh Day Adventist, and a small number of Anglican schools.’

I don’t think it’s the bird flu coming out of Asia that everyone should be worrying about. It’s the pandemic of stupid originating in the southern states of America that we should be concerned about.

`The Thames Estuary Army Forts were constructed in 1942 to a design by Guy Maunsell, following the successful construction and deployment of the Naval Sea Forts. Their purpose was to provide anti-aircraft fire within the Thames Estuary area. Each fort consisted of a group of seven towers with a walkway connecting them all to the central control tower. The fort, when viewed as a whole, comprised one Bofors tower, a control tower, four gun towers and a searchlight tower. They were arranged in a very specific way, with the control tower at the centre, the Bofors and gun towers arranged in a semi-circular fashion around it and the searchlight tower positioned further away, but still linked directly to the control tower via a walkway. All the forts followed this plan and, in order of grounding, were called the Nore Army Fort, the Red Sands Army Fort and finally the Shivering Sands Army Fort. All three forts were in place by late 1943, but Nore is no longer standing. Construction of the towers was relatively quick, and they were easily floated out to sea and grounded in water no more than 30m (100ft) deep.’

`In typical fashion, the daily Spanish newspaper Diario Extra published on the front page of today’s edition, gruesome photos of the remains of the man attacked by two rottweilers Thursday morning.

The graphic photos are, according to the newspaper editor, published as a reminder of what a mortal danger of a rottweiler attack.

Meanwhile, the Nicaraguan government, is asking Costa Rican authorities for a complete investigation into the death of 25 year old Nicaraguan, Leopoldo Natividad, who was illegal in Costa Rica and was attacked while attempting to rob, along with two other thieves, the installations of Taller Zuñiga, located in Cartago.’

With the images in question. I think the fact that these sorts of photos end up in the newspaper at all, let alone on the front page, is more interesting that the story itself. I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing. There’d probably be less debate and more action about allowing people to have dangerous dogs if more pictures like this were published. [shrug]

`A top White House official today refused to rule out the use of torture in an effort to prevent a major terrorist attack, arguing the war on terror could present a “difficult dilemma” and the US administration was duty-bound to protect the American people. [..]

“The president has said that we are going to do whatever we do in accordance with the law,” the national security adviser said.

“But… you see the dilemma. What happens if on September 7th of 2001, we had gotten one of the hijackers and based on information associated with that arrest, believed that within four days, there’s going to be a devastating attack on the United States?”

He insisted that it was “a difficult dilemma to know what to do in that circumstance to both discharge our responsibility to protect the American people from terrorist attack, and follow the president’s guidance of staying within the confines of law”.’

Fucking bullshit. Motherfucking hypocrite cunts!

How not to winch your 4WD.

`Enrique Iglesias has shocked his female admirers – by announcing he wants to release his own range of extra-small condoms.

The Latin heartthrob admitted he can’t find sheaths to fit the smaller man, and wants to save people who aren’t well-endowed any embarrassment.

The 30-year-old, who is dating stunning tennis pin-up Anna Kournikova, is quoted in America’s Houston Press newspaper as saying: “The next product I’m gonna put my name on is extra-small condoms.

“I can never find extra-small condoms, and I know it’s really embarrassing for people – you know, from experience.

“Hopefully people won’t be ashamed when I step forward.”‘

`The London Cage was used partly as a torture centre, inside which large numbers of German officers and soldiers were subjected to systematic ill-treatment. In total 3,573 men passed through the Cage, and more than 1,000 were persuaded to give statements about war crimes. The brutality did not end with the war, moreover: a number of German civilians joined the servicemen who were interrogated there up to 1948.

Knoechlein [a prisoner] alleges that because he was “unable to make the desired confession” he was stripped, given only a pair of pyjama trousers, deprived of sleep for four days and nights, and starved.

The guards kicked him each time he passed, he alleges, while his interrogators boasted that they were “much better” than the “Gestapo in Alexanderplatz”. After being forced to perform rigorous exercises until he collapsed, he says he was compelled to walk in a tight circle for four hours. On complaining to Scotland that he was being kicked even “by ordinary soldiers without a rank”, Knoechlein alleges that he was doused in cold water, pushed down stairs, and beaten with a cudgel. Later, he says, he was forced to stand beside a large gas stove with all its rings lit before being confined in a shower which sprayed extremely cold water from the sides as well as from above. Finally, the SS man says, he and another prisoner were taken into the gardens behind the mansions, where they were forced to run in circles while carrying heavy logs.

“Since these tortures were the consequences of my personal complaint, any further complaint would have been senseless,” Knoechlein wrote. “One of the guards who had a somewhat humane feeling advised me not to make any more complaints, otherwise things would turn worse for me.” Other prisoners, he alleged, were beaten until they begged to be killed, while some were told that they could be made to disappear.’

A fairly short clip showing a few features of Windows Vista. It actually looks kinda nice.

Still, doesn’t change the fact that Microsoft sucks. 🙂

(1.8meg Windows Media)

`Feathers fly and teddies soar as you converge on Dundas Square for a giant urban pillow fight! Swing and whack as you evade pillow-wielding assailants. Join us for this London-style silliness: bring a soft pillow to the middle of the square at 2 PM and wait for the signal. Pillow fight! [..]

Rules:
Soft pillows only! Do not hit anyone who does not have a pillow. Do not hit people who are holding cameras. Swing lightly, there will be many people swinging at once! Remove expensive glasses beforehand. Extra pillows may come in handy. Feather pillows are even more fun. Do not begin until the signal (a referee whistle.) Forward this to fun people!

Pyjamas optional.’

`The picture is of a fixed-head disk, very similar to a Borroughs unit I had the pleasure of disassembling (in 1975) after a catastrophic head crash (I got authorization from Gordon Bell himself to do it). It took me 3 days to whittle it down to nuts and bolts, and the platter weighed 18 pounds. The hub upon which the platter was mounted was phosphor bronze, and weighed an additional 17 pounds. So imagine the inertia of 35 pounds spinning at 3600 RPM. It had electric brakes, because if you just switched off the power, it would spin for a loooong time. There is an (apocryphal) story of movers just hitting the circuit breaker (not the off switch that engaged the brakes), and after waiting the requisite 5 minutes for spindown, loaded the drive into a truck. All the moves and hallways were right angles, of course. Since brakes had not been engaged, it was still spinning at 2000 RPM or so by the time it was loaded. When the truck turned a corner, the drive precessed right out through the side of the truck.’

There’s a slightly clearer picture of the giant hard drive of doom [as I have dubbed it :)] at Flickr.

`As for this Plamodel camera, while really you assembling one one part by your, it is possible to make the compact which really can photograph & the camera which it is the kit.

As for the adhesive being unnecessary, using the clock driver which belongs lastly combining the part of the plastic which consists of 33 points, just sets the screw, the camera completes. The Japanese explanation book has belonged, it just assembles in sort of illustration. If direction above elementary school high grade being single, it is possible to make, probably is.’

All Engrish aside, it’s an interesting concept – a working camera you build yourself with parts that snap out of a plastic frame. Much like those model cars and aeroplanes and such that used to be so cool when I was a kid.

`UC Berkeley physics professor, Raphael Bousso, is trying to break down the mysteries of the universe with a concept called the holographic principle. Physicists stumbled on the idea while studying black holes. It is a concept, which ultimately questions whether the third dimension exists. [..]

The discovery ultimately says the concept shows the third dimension could be an illusion because complex calculations can’t prove it exists. The recognition is a step of progress, but Bousso doesn’t know where it will ultimately lead.’

So, because physicists cannot find a mathematical model for the reality we all experience, rather than doubt their mathematical skills, they begin to doubt our reality. Clever. 🙂

`Criticizing a ballot measure passed by 60 percent of San Francisco voters urging public high schools and colleges to prohibit on-campus military recruiting, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly declared on the November 8 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, “[I]f Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we’re not going to do anything about it. We’re going to say, look, every other place in America is off-limits to you, except San Francisco.”‘

`I write computer programs to create graphic images.

With an algorithmic goal in mind, I manipulate the work by finely crafting the semantics of each program. Specific results are pursued, although occasionally surprising discoveries are made.

I believe all code is dead unless executing within the computer. For this reason I distribute the source code of my programs in modifiable form to encourage life and spread love. Opening one’s code is a beneficial practice for both the programmer and the community. I appreciate modifications and extensions of these algorithms. Please send me your experiences.’

There’s some nice looking images here. The tree garden is pretty cool for something spat out of an algorithm.

`13 Good Reasons To Switch From Internet Explorer To Firefox’

Includes:

• You’ll only see porn when you want to.
  `Sick of seeing pornographic pop-ups all over your computer while you’re helping your daughter with a research project? Since Firefox blocks pop-ups, you won’t get tons of porn in your face when you’re least expecting it. On the flip side, since Firefox stops spyware from taking over your computer, there will be nothing to slow you down when you go and look for porn.’
• Your kids will only see porn when they want to.
  `Sorry, buddy… the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.’

`Apacer has released a high-capacity DDR333 4GB ECC Registered DIMM memory module specially designed for AMD Socket 940 high-end servers and workstations. [..]

Grace Lo, Senior Director of Apacer’s DRAM Department, mentions that this DDR333 4GB ECC Registered DIMM uses chip stacking technology, which gives each module a 4GB size for the high-capacity memory needs of servers and workstations.’

This is a _big_ stick of RAM, both capacity-wise and physically.

`So legendary are the load-carrying abilities of the Nepalese that the word Sherpa, a term for one of the country’s ethnic groups, has become synonymous with “porter.”

A typical Nepalese porter carries a load nearly as heavy as he is. When he does, the porter burns less energy per pound than a backpacker would need to shoulder about half the same weight, Heglund and his colleagues found. [..]

Around the world, many people use their heads to bear burdens, said Rodger Kram, an expert on human and animal locomotion at the University of Colorado in Boulder. “It’s amazing how universal carrying loads on the head is—except in Western Europe and North America,” he said.

But their “enormous loads” set the Nepalese apart, Kram added. “It’s a good scientific puzzle, how they [conserve] energy when walking.”‘

A quick tour of an old, abandoned missile lauch site. With pictures.

`A team of doctors in South Florida are prepared to help a young girl who has a rare 16-pound tumor growing on her face if enough money is raised to help the child, according to a Local 6 News report. [..]

The painful tumor now engulfs her face and is endangering her life, according to the report.

A team of doctors in Miami are ready to help the 14-year-old girl but they have to wait until enough money is raised to pay for her hospital stay.

The family is asking people to donate to Marlie’s cause by donating to the International Kids Fund.’

With pictures of the girl/tumor. What sorta fucked up health system makes a girl suffering like this have to wait until she can raise the money to have surgery?

`With so many fantastically stupid hairstyles floating around MySpace, I’ve found myself adding the best of the worst to my favorites list over the past few months, compiling a sort of “Hall Of Shame” which I knew, one day, needed to be presented to the masses.

So now I bring you the super heroes of bad style. The hipsters, the goths, the just-plain-confused… They are:

The MySpace Legion Of Extraordinary Stupid Hair Super Heroes!’

`Serving The Paranoid Since 1997′

With many useful articles, including:

• Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie
  `Protect yourself from mind-control with an AFDB!’
• Belgium Doesn’t Exist!
  `Land of sprouts and chocolate, I think not’

You can buy shirts and stickers and things aswell. I’m actually tempted to get a shirt that says “The Belgian… He thinks he is superior to you.” on it. 🙂

I’m still trying to figure out if this site is serious or an extremely elabortate joke. Are people really this crazy? Really?

`US President George W Bush has said too much is at stake in Iraq for politicians to make “false charges” about the reasons for going to war. [..]

Mr Bush said he was open to criticism for his policies but it was “deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how the war began”.

“Some Democrats and anti-war critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people about why we went to war,” he said.

“The stakes in the global war on terror are too high and the national interest is too important for politicians to throw out false charges.”

[Also..] Mr Bush had strong words for Syria, saying it should “stop exporting violence and start importing democracy”.

He called on Damascus to “stop trying to intimidate and destabilise” Lebanon, and to co-operate fully with the UN inquiry into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.’

`RAMCO Productions proudly presents “Pornomedy” – our own wacky marriage of COMEDY and PORN.

Let us take you on a journey through the strange and funny sex life of Clowns! It’s hot, it’s zany – it’s like a train wreck that you just can’t pry your eyes away from…

But What the Hell is it?’

`On an August morning in 1978, French filmmaker Claude Lelouch mounted a gyro-stabilized camera to the bumper of a Ferrari 275 GTB and had a friend, a professional Formula 1 racer, drive at breakneck speed through the heart of Paris. The film was limited for technical reasons to 10 minutes; the course was from Porte Dauphine, through the Louvre, to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur.

No streets were closed, for Lelouch was unable to obtain a permit.

The driver completed the course in about 9 minutes, reaching nearly 140 MPH in some stretches. The footage reveals him running real red lights, nearly hitting real pedestrians, and driving the wrong way up real one-way streets.’

(35meg Quicktime)

This is a pretty cool illusion..

(7.4meg Windows Media)

`The color-matching scale is graduated from yellow to green to dark blue. Unless you’re an alien, every subject’s natural urine will move the marker past green, which is a positive result in and of itself, and right on to dark blue, which is the “WARNING ZONE” indicating such a strong positive that other anomalies may also be present. When the subject’s pee turns the marker dark blue, the instructions advise to freeze the specimen in the freezer (a freezer-acceptable container is provided), then consult a doctor ASAP for further testing. It’s up to you to stop them before they make a rush appointment, then spend $75 at the doctor. Or not. Either way, you’ll laugh yourself into a gut-ache, watching them jump through the hoops.’

`A mythical monster, believed by some to have lived for hundreds of years in the murky depths of a Swedish lake, is now fair game for hunters if they can find it. Authorities have agreed to lift its endangered species protection.

Hundreds of people claim to have spotted a large serpent-like creature in Lake Storsjon in the northwestern province of Jamtland, and in 1986 the regional council put it on a list of endangered animals. [..]

“It exists, inasmuch as it lives in the minds of people,” the council’s chief legal adviser Peter Lif said about the purported beast. “But I guess we’ll have to agree that it cannot be proved scientifically, and then it should not be listed as an endangered species.”‘

`On 11/7/05 at approximately 3:28AM in northeastern Michigan, a fellow police officer and I witnessed a large meteor entering the atmosphere, initially exploding, lighting up the night sky then trailing some distance before it disintegrated.

Although I witnessed the spectacle at the same time but at a different location as a fellow officer, the other officer caught it on his in car video camera.’