Archive for the 'Is this a great country, or what?' Category
9th October 2007
Read it. I still want the system where the chimp comes out of the trunk, clocks the guy on the back of the head, dumps the body in the river, and buttons back up. That would be worth paying for. Not worth buying a GM car to get, of course, but surely somebody else will provide a comparable system soon enough.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on OnStar Stolen Vehicle Slowdown hits the brakes on jacked cars
9th October 2007
Read it. The future of computing. And you saw it happen.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on DeviceVM’s SplashTop: more info about the five second Linux system
9th October 2007
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Dragonfly or Insect Spy? Scientists at Work on Robobugs
9th October 2007
Read it. Encouraging news.
We’ve never denied being members of the vast right-wing conspiracy; we just wish it were a little vaster.
And you can’t say any fairer than that.
I look forward to perhaps one day getting at least an Honorable Mention in one of these conspiracy theories. My family would be very proud.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on A Conspiracy So Vast…
9th October 2007
Read it. If that headline doesn’t wake you up, you’re dead.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Next-gen killbots boast enhanced friendly fire avoidance
7th October 2007
Read it. Hah! You think that those blister-pacs were impossible to open now? Just wait!
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Researchers tout super-strong transparent plastic
7th October 2007
Read it. It’s not your daddy’s Army any more.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Army Enlists Anthropology in War Zones
7th October 2007
Read it. My, what a surprise. Aren’t you surprised? I’m sure surprised.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on More Doctors in Texas After Malpractice Caps
4th October 2007
Read it. SteamPunk for the masses. Just add some brass fittings, and you’re all set.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on DIY wooden keyboard kit brings out the carpenter in you
4th October 2007
Read it. Sure, it’s primitive, but so was the telephone and the radio when they started.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on US physicists build teensy 2D cloaking device
3rd October 2007
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Women Have Gotten Less Happy, I’ll Take My Graphing Calculator Out And Prove It
2nd October 2007
Watch it. Say what you will about Apple, they do a dynamite commercial.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on ’00s Nostalgia
2nd October 2007
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Pinker’s almer mater
30th September 2007
Read it. Well, this is America — suing people is a legitimate leisure time activity when there’s nothing on TV and you’ve seen all the movies at the mall.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Handwritten Lawsuit Accuses Google Having A Name Similar To Accuser’s Social Security Number
30th September 2007
Read it. Many years, kid, many years.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Religious “items” in a locker
30th September 2007
Read it. Let’s hear it for sprawl.
Have you noticed how progs always make up derogatory names for people doing what they want to rather than what the progs want?
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on 1st U.S. suburb marks 60 years
28th September 2007
Read it. In case you were wondering. I know I was.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on How to build a toilet-flushing Lego robot
28th September 2007
Read it. Now you can know faster than ever that you’re abnormal. Enjoy.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on New Technology Detects Human Genetic Structural Variations Faster
27th September 2007
Read it. Insight into the souls of those who read the New York Times.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Behind a Mysterious Balm, a Self-Made Pharaoh
11th September 2007
Read it. This is kinda cool. YUCK YUCK YUCK
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Cooltone mini fridge keeps tunes, beverages on tap
11th September 2007
Read it. I have this book, and I highly recommend it.
Although rather dated by now, it still has a great deal of cultural relevance.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on The Nine Nations of North America
10th September 2007
Read it. Sports gets more and more serious.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Detained, not arrested
8th September 2007
Read it. Not only funny but it expresses a very serious truth.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Whom was that masked man?
5th September 2007
Read it. Oh, I like this one.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on A Texan’s Map of the United States
5th September 2007
Read it. This is fascinating. Even with a tofu-brained beauty contestant, we have the technology.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Parsing Miss Upton
5th September 2007
Read it. I’ll bet you didn’t know that there were “ketchup economists”.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Ketchup Economics
4th September 2007
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Chicago cop chases down gunman on Segway
3rd September 2007
Read it. Now this is downright clever.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Transparent Toaster gives you clear view of bread’s crispiness
2nd September 2007
Read it. I can see multiple garage-studio versions of “Lord of the Rings” in my future.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Calvin College duo creates cheap, portable supercomputer
2nd September 2007
Read it. Be prepared to laugh.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Greatest Classical CD covers EVER?
2nd September 2007
Read it. I can see AlGore as an “early adopter” of this technology.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Fleethorse’s Naturcar: sometimes one horsepower is all you need
31st August 2007
Read it. The hits just keep on comin’.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Neurons Grown In Microfluidic Chambers
29th August 2007
Read it. Wait until they get sued because it isn’t organic and causes ADHD in laboratory rats. Oh, and it probably causes global warming, too. If we can only connect it to the Iraq war, we’ll be home free.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Edible Films With Superpowers
29th August 2007
Read it. Canadians would be all right if they just got in touch with their inner American.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Bartering Up to a Better Life
26th August 2007
Read it. Irony comes to the immigration situation.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on As Test Scores Fall Virginia Counties Move Against Illegal Aliens
26th August 2007
Read it. Reminds me of an old filk — “You can make a mainframe from the things you find at home.”
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Calisthenics for the Older Mind, on the Home Computer
25th August 2007
Read it. And try to think of another country’s army in which this could possibly take place.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Challenging the Generals
24th August 2007
Read it. And the hits just keep on comin’….
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Second iPhone software unlock promised tomorrow
17th August 2007
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on This is very strange.
17th August 2007
Engadget. Now, this is just cool.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on RC Pterosaur lets you terrorize the neighborhood prehistoric-style
17th August 2007
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Scientists Use Accelerated Evolution To Develop New Enzyme
13th August 2007
This book was originally published by Wiley and then “depublished” when they caved to political pressure. Unfortunately for the People of the Crust, it’s now available for free on the web. Jerry Pournelle points out that, with the Internet, the “gatekeepers” now have a gate to a hunk of Swiss cheese. This is a great time to be alive.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Depublishing
8th August 2007
I have in front of me a 2-pound bag of Peanut M&Ms. On the back of the bag is a panel labelled “Nutrition Facts”. Can you imagine a more useless thing to have on the back of a 2-pound bag of Peanut M&Ms than “Nutrition Facts”? I can’t.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Weird-assed Wednesday
7th August 2007
NYT. Unfortunately, it’s more difficult to update a bridge than a software package.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on From Fresh Ideas and Better Steel, Safer Bridges
6th August 2007
Engadget. This is way cool.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Panasonic’s Oxyride vehicle breaks 65mph on AA batteries
6th August 2007
LanguageLog. I swear, these guys have more fun than a human being should be allowed to have.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on The Gray Lady discovers the Search box
6th August 2007
NYT. I don’t know, I find this charming and silly at the same time. But it certainly fits my preconceived notions about Italians. Is that a bad thing? Hard to say.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on In Rome, a New Ritual on an Old Bridge
6th August 2007
NYT. Of course, being an author has always been more about ego than money.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on The Highs and the Lows of Rankings on Amazon
5th August 2007
LanguageLog. The new hero’s journey: A tale of curse and recurse.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Emotional code
4th August 2007
NYT. I have a hard time feeling sympathetic.
“I know people looking in from the outside will ask why someone like me keeps working so hard,” Mr. Steger says. “But a few million doesn’t go as far as it used to.
I guess not.
Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on In Silicon Valley, Millionaires Who Don’t Feel Rich