`It has proved one of the most radical yet popular ideas of the internet age: a free online encyclopedia that anybody can contribute to and edit. But is Wikipedia a reliable source of information, or is it filled with inaccuracy and hoaxes?
According to a study by journal Nature, Wikipedia stuff-ups — such as this week’s one on President Kennedy’s assassination — are “the exception rather than the rule”, and the resource is almost as accurate as the online Encyclopaedia Britannica, at least when it comes to science.’
`A “dead zone” devoid of life has been discovered at the epicentre of last year’s tsunami four kilometres beneath the surface of the Indian Ocean.
Scientists taking part in a worldwide marine survey made an 11-hour dive at the site five months after the disaster.
They were shocked to find no sign of life around the epicentre, which opened up a 1000-metre chasm on the ocean floor.
Instead, there was nothing but eerie emptiness. The powerful lights of the scientists’ submersible vehicle, piercing through the darkness, showed no trace of anything living.’
`Christopher Lemay, 18, is accused of paying a 16-year-old-girl to perform the act on another boy at Sandalwood High. Those two are under-age, so First Coast News is not releasing their identities.
Sandalwood administrators say the act happened under a table in a large class full of students, so the teacher had limited visibility.’
`Italy’s cash-strapped government has decided to hike taxes on one of the country’s few vibrant industries, pornography, to help rein in the burgeoning budget deficit, government sources told Reuters Tuesday.
The “porno-tax,” which imposes an additional levy of 25 percent on all income from pornography, is contained in a package of amendments to the 2006 budget to presented in the Chamber of Deputies Tuesday or Wednesday, the sources said.
Under the amendment, subscribers to hard core television channels must also pay additional value-added tax of 10 percent. Altogether, the tougher tax-treatment of porn should bring the government some 300 million euros next year.’
`Technonerds go to movies strictly for entertainment, and of course, the most entertaining part comes after the movie when they can dissect, criticize, and argue the merits of every detail. However, when supposedly serious scenes totally disregard the laws of physics in blatantly obvious ways it’s enough to make us retch. The motion picture industry has failed to police itself against the evils of bad physics. This page is provided as a public service in hopes of improving this deplorable matter. The minds of our children and their ability to master vectors are (shudder) at stake.’
`The Bible tells us that God created Adam and Eve just a few thousand years ago, by some fundamentalist interpretations. Science informs us that this is mere fiction and that man is a few million years old, and that civilization just tens of thousands of years old. Could it be, however, that conventional science is just as mistaken as the Bible stories? There is a great deal of archeological evidence that the history of life on earth might be far different than what current geological and anthropological texts tell us.’
`A large percentage of the energy released when petroleum is burned disappears out the exhaust system as heat. This has always been the case but the amount of energy released looks set to be cut by more than 80% thanks to a new system devised by BMW. BMW’s announcement of the new technology is somewhat of a technological bombshell as it adds yet another form of hybrid automobile – a turbosteamer. The concept uses energy from the exhaust gasses of the traditional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) to power a steam engine which also contributes power to the automobile – an overall 15 per cent improvement for the combined drive system. Even bigger news is that the drive has been designed so that it can be installed in existing model series – meaning that every model in the BMW range could become 15% more efficient overnight if the company chose to make the reduced consumption accessible to as many people as possible.’
`After writing my posts about the casts of Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, I thought for a while of other movies that prove influential during my formative years, and realized that to complete the quartet, I also needed to cover Debbie Does Dallas. Aside from Deep Throat, DDD is possibly the most successful adult movie ever made, and hails from the “golden age” when an adult film director still regarded a “plot” as a necessity rather than baggage. [..]
And so come with us now, as YesButNoButYes answers the all important question about the stellar cast of Debbie Does Dallas – “Where are they now?” (Viewer discretion advised)’
`Skirt-chasing playboy Daniel Anceneaux spent weeks talking with a sensual woman on the Internet before arranging a romantic rendezvous at a remote beach — and discovering that his on-line sweetie of six months was his own mother!
“I walked out on that dark beach thinking I was going to hook up with the girl of my dreams,” the rattled bachelor later admitted. “And there she was, wearing white shorts and a pink tank top, just like she’d said she would.
“But when I got close, she turned around — and we both got the shock of our lives. I mean, I didn’t know what to say. All I could think was, ‘Oh my God! it’s Mama!’ “‘
`”Hiya,” says an email we received a couple of hours ago. We don’t usually open emails that start with Hiya. But this one looked a little different and, “I’m an open source developer and I’ve just finished a project I thought you might be interested in writing about,” it said —– a php script that, “generates fake apache directory indexes for the purpose of slowing, and overloading with false positives the RIAA/MPAA’s spider bots.”
Say no more : )’
`There’s no more room to bury the dead, they can’t be cremated, and laws forbid a new cemetery. So the mayor of this Brazilian farm town has proposed a solution: Outlaw death.
Mayor Roberto Pereira da Silva’s proposal to the town council asks residents to “take good care of your health in order not to die” and warns that “infractors will be held responsible for their acts.”’
`Like football and hockey players, soccer players would have to don helmets on the field to protect their heads, under a new legislative proposal.
The measure, scheduled for a hearing today on Beacon Hill, would cover peewee leagues to college teams.’
Americans are pussies.
`A doujin soft group calling themselves “Game Programming Study Club” has created the most Japanese fighting game EVER. ??! Spirits (”Line-Kill Spirits”) is a 3D fighting game that features little girls beating up on each other; nothing new there. The kicker, however, is that any damage you do to your opponent will slowly regenerate unless… wait for it… you take a picture of her panties. Yes. A fighting game where panty-shots are the core mechanic.’
with video. (9meg Windows Media)
`Move over, Ben Franklin. Todd Livingstone has a plan to solve the energy crisis by capturing huge amounts of energy from lightning. [..]
Livingstone isn’t the only person with a scheme to save the world through hydrogen. The last two years has seen a boom in hydrogen investment. In 2003, President Bush announced that the federal government would invest $1.2 billion into hydrogen over the next five years. General Motors has said it is spending at least a billion dollars on hydrogen and fuel-cell technologies, and companies like BP, Chevron and Shell are also making significant investments.’
`Dottie Neeley, 87, was fingerprinted, photographed and thrown in jail, imprisoned as much by the tubing from her oxygen tank as by the concrete and steel around her.
The woman – who spent two days in jail after her arrest last December — is among a growing number of Kentucky senior citizens charged in a crackdown on a crime authorities say is rampant in Appalachia: Elderly people are reselling their painkillers and other medications to addicts.
“When a person is on Social Security, drawing $500 a month, and they can sell their pain pills for $10 apiece, they’ll take half of them for themselves and sell the other half to pay their electric bills or buy groceries,” Floyd County jailer Roger Webb said.’
When people are forced to choose between pain medication and food, maybe instead of sending them to jail you could increase their social security benifits? Fucken stupid.
`The last man who made eye contact with Mr. T was Ray Charles. [..]
Every time a church bell rings, Mr. T pities a fool. [..]
When Mr. T folds his arms, the U.S. Terror Alert Level is raised to gold.’
`ESA has confirmed the principle of a new space thruster that may ultimately give much more thrust than today’s electric propulsion techniques. The concept is an ingenious one, inspired by the northern and southern aurorae, the glows in the sky that signal increased solar activity. [..]
Researchers Christine Charles and Rod Boswell at the Australian National University in Canberra, first created plasma double layers in their laboratory in 2003 and realised their accelerating properties could enable new spacecraft thrusters. This led the group to develop a prototype called the Helicon Double Layer Thruster.
The new ESA study, performed as part of ESA’s Ariadna academic research programme in association with Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, confirms the Australian findings by showing that under carefully controlled conditions, the double layer could be formed and remains stable, allowing the constant acceleration of charged particles in a beam. The study also confirmed that stable double layers could be created with different propellant gas mixtures.’
`A pit bull that killed a 64-year-old man in late November is now the focus of a legal battle over whether the animal should live or die.
Roberto Aguilera was found dead in the front yard of his son-in-law’s home on Spanish Grant Drive on Thanksgiving Day. He had been bitten by the dog more than 20 times. The Bexar County Medical Examiner ruled last week that Aguilera died from the attack.
Animal Cruelty investigators want the pit bull put to sleep, but said Aguilera’s son-in-law has threatened legal action if the dog is not returned to him.’
`11. ARGUMENT FROM CREATION
(1) If evolution is false, then creationism is true, and therefore God exists.
(2) Evolution can’t be true, since I lack the mental capacity to understand it; moreover, to accept its truth would cause me to be uncomfortable
(3) Therefore, God exists. [..]
13. ARGUMENT FROM THE BIBLE
(1) [arbitrary passage from OT]
(2) [arbitrary passage from NT]
(3) Therefore, God exists. [..]
14. ARGUMENT FROM INTELLIGENCE
(1) Look, there’s really no point in me trying to explain the whole thing to you stupid Atheists — it’s too complicated for you to understand. God exists whether you like it or not.
(2) Therefore, God exists. [..]
17. ARGUMENT FROM INTIMIDATION
(1) See this bonfire?
(2) Therefore, God exists. [..]
DORE’S ARGUMENT
(1) I forgot to take my meds.
(2) Therefore, I AM CHRIST!!
(3) Therefore, God exists.’
‘At last the definitive collection of Alan Jones blooper tapes. These insights in Alan’s workplace behaviour are taken from his time working at Sydney radio station 2UE in the 1990s. They were leaked to us by an anonymous source.
They show a side of Alan you don’t normally see in public life. He swears. He chucks tantrums. He reviews films. He complains about dust in the studios.’
If you don’t know who Alan Jones is, this photo will help:
A funny little cartoon following the adventures of “George” as he learns how to defend himself.
‘George is an ordinary guy, he has a wife and a job and a house and a maid, just like you and me. Yes, the Lord has truly blessed George..’
(various formats)
see it here »
`A police marksman has shot dead a dog after reports its owner was encouraging it to attack members of the public.
Police were called to King Street in Thetford, Norfolk on Monday where they found the German Shepherd and its owner, who was armed with a hammer.
The dog was “a threat to the safety of officers and the public” and was shot dead, Norfolk Police said.
A man, 20, was later arrested and sectioned under the Mental Health Act, a spokesperson confirmed.’
`A mother and daughter were arrested Monday for allegedly running a brothel out of their home, authorities said.
The San Antonio Police Department vice unit broke the case in the 3600 block of San Luis on the city’s west side.
Vangie Fuentes, 22, was arrested and charged with prostitution, possession of cocaine and not having a massage permit.
Her mother, Delia Fuentes, 53, was charged with promotion of prostitution.’
`By themselves, communion wafers are pretty vile. That would explain why they have to “sell” them with a free sip of wine.
So the purpose of this experiment is to find out just what it takes to turn the communion experience from “ow!” to “wow!” We* went to the supermarket and we selected a range of toppings and condiments to serve eucharists with. [..]
*”We” = me and my partner in crime, Gary. Gary hesitantly tried the first few combinations, but after I inflicted the Cheddar ‘n Bacon Cheeze-Whiz ‘n Eucharists combo on him, he resolutely refused to participate further, even after I explained that it was for science. Did Pierre & Marie Curie quit after the first melanoma? No! They forged ahead for science. Sure, they died of cancer, but they did it together.’
If this is the current state of technology, we can do away with all those stupidly overpaid actors and actresses. Pretty impressive.
`The enclosed images are from 11×14 pencil drawings that are the result of an undertaking that began on Thanksgiving Day, 1987. I was awakened in the middle of the night with a clear, vivid impression that the Lord wanted me to do some special drawings — drawings depicting ordinary people in their everyday environment . . . . with one important addition: the presence of Jesus Christ and His involvement in those routine activities.’
`These dim-wit joyriders smile for a speed camera as they race past in a car they’ve just pinched.
The photograph clearly shows the teenage louts – nicknamed Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest by cops – turning round to make sure it gets their best side.
The lad at the wheel does a toothy pose while his jeering mate hangs out of the window.
Another of the baseball cap-wearing yobs is grinning from ear to ear in the backseat.
But the fourth lad does not manage to twist round in time for the camera’s flash.’
with image.
`Images from the battle for Monrovia, Liberia, where use of iron sights is known to be strictly prohibited. Also prohibited are aiming, assuming a supported firing stance, and any common practice of marksmanship whatsoever. Hip-Hop/Rapper/Gangsta shooting stances are mandatory, the “Glock Foh-Tay” hold being the most popular. lethality is acheived by subjecting the target to a wide swathe of area fire, simliar to unaimed indirect artillery, or scaring the enemy away with gesturing and aggressive hip-hop style dancing while firing. Points are awarded for artistic effort, style, fearsome facial expression/vocalizations and blue duct tape.’
Flash version of Command and Conquer. Fully working multiplayer real time strategy game, apparently.
`They were jetting off for a holiday in Kingston, Jamaica, and the drinks flowed freely during the ten-hour flight.
Intoxicated, the couple, who were seated in business class, decided to submit their membership for the ‘mile-high club’ in one of the toilets.
But the British Airways flight staff became suspicious after hearing cries of passion from the loo, and the randy couple was ordered to stop and return to their seats.
Randy quickly turned into angry.
Stunned passengers watched in horror as the couple fought with flight staff.’
More sex rage:
`A couple who forced a Jamaica-bound plane to land in Bermuda are facing a J$3.8 million bill.
The pair had attacked cabin crew who stopped them having sex, and now run the risk of national shame back in England after United Kingdom tabloid The Sun ran the story with an appeal for the public to name and shame them.’
Altho, J$3.8mil ~ US$58,950.
