Posted 1:50 AM by Mike Skallas
Winged cats owners take note: [link via fark]

If you have a winged cat, rather than exhibiting it, you will need to modify its lifestyle and environment to minimise the damage its fragile skin suffers. Cats with Feline Cutaneous Asthenia can live a full life if the owner is careful and not squeamish about dealing with the inevitable lacerations and possible infections. Activities likely to cause mild trauma must be avoided; this includes playing with other cats, climbing trees, going through undergrowth or any activity which could bring it into contact with rough surfaces or sharp objects.

Blah I say. Mine would be up for exhibit in a minute. Well two minutes, the glue needs to set first.

Is the noosphere concept becoming fashionable again? I know the link directly to the Global Consciousness Project was passed around shortly after 9/11, but there was very little background on how or why it might work. [link]

Submerged city on Cuban coast could be 6,000 years old! Wow. Can't wait to hear from the researchers when they go back next month. [link]

Comic book dictionary. Hilarious excerpt from the E section: [link]

EEEAGGHHHH [Venom: The Enemy Within vol.1 #1, 1994] A ghostly wailing sound
EEEE [Mantra vol.1 #7, 1994] A cry of pain
EEEECCCHH [The Adventures of Bayou Billy #4, 1990] A screeching sound, as of brakes: [Mantra vol.1 #7, 1994] A cry of pain
EEEEE [2099 Unlimited vol.1 #3, 1993] A cry of terror

Science teachers can't get enough of these high quality owl pellets. Its a little odd to see letters like this. It makes me wonder if there are other letters about equally disgusting things. "Hey Jane, these dog carcasses are the best!" "Have you seen the new shipment of cat vomit? Top notch stuff." [scanned from the educational innovations catalog] You would expect a science teacher to at least use a word processer. The hand written letter looks so anachronistic and quaint today.

Two Philip K. Dick movies next year? I linked to Impostor a short while ago and just found out that Minority Report is another PKD story turned to movie. Its a Spielberg production starring Tom Cruise. From the trailer it looks like a plain-jane action movie that does without the thought-provoking themes of dystopias and paranoia that PKD actually writes about. [link] I'd kill to see a low budgeted movie based on a PKD story. With names like Spielberg and Cruise we know pretty much to expect to pay their incredible salaries. For some reason Canadian filmmakers have had success with mind-bending low budget sci-fi movies like eXistenze, the Cube, and Xchange. Give them a PKD license and let Cruise make another sequel to Mission Impossible and Spielberg play Kubrick's apprentice someplace else.

Posted 1:47 AM by Mike Skallas
Unclear on the concept of protest. An Austrian snowboarder couldn't find sponsorship so she's competing in her underwear. Okay, so she's mostly naked and... this is a punishment of some sort? An incentive for mostly male run companies to clothe her? I can feel the frostbite from here. [link]





I just got back from a charity gig. The Haymarket Riot was headlining at the Empty Bottle and they must have played a thirty minute set. A lackluster thirty minute set. The songs felt forced, were sloppy, and sounded little like their recorded stuff. My only solace is that my seven dollars went to charity and the beer went into my belly. [link]


Realtime human transparency. Looks like X-ray specs have become a reality with the added bonus of not dealing with X-rays. Its actually a complex optical illusion, but its accurate and very very cool. I hope to get hurt near a hospital with one of those. [link] Maybe not, health insurance would be nice too.






How to act at Medieval Times. I was there Saturday with a bunch of old friends and I realized its just a corny place and if you want to have a good time you really need to go 'superfan' and treat it like professional wrestling. Of course, I'm following my own advice and one of the wenches trying to sell glow sticks walks by and asks if I want to buy one. Note: she was one of the few people there not using a fake english accent. I don't know if thats good or bad.

Me: "What kind of enchantment is this? They glow in the darkness! I'll have none of it. Is this magic?"
Her: "Yeah, If I was drunk I'd think they were magic too."
Me: [grabbing at chest as if stabbed] "I'm hurt Milady!"
Her: "Err, Umm I didn't mean to say that. Its just that you're drinking..."
Me: "Yes, the King's finest mead!"
Her: "Okay then what's this?" [points to the pepsi, just like in the cable guy]
Me: "I haven't the faintest, this vile substance was here when I sat down. Like I said, just the mead for me."
Her: [grumbles and walks off in frustration]

The sad part is even if you win against the teenagers at Medieval Times you're still a loser. Its ok, I was surrounded by a lot of losers I went to high school with. Yeah, you heard me! Send your hatemail! The best part is that all the knights looked like 80's heavy metal rejects. "Dude the band is going nowhere, I hear MT is hiring. You get to wear chainmail and everything!"

Photo of the day. I love Kofi's expression, he must be thinking something like, "Americans actually like these creepy-ass things" or "Hey buddy watch the crotch." [link] Take a close look at the bottom right hand corner, you'll see the head of one of the puppeteers.

Posted 9:25 PM by Mike Skallas
McDonalds has drive-throughs for a reason. An Indiana McDonalds is going upscale! Wood grain tables and wall to wall books in a McDonalds. I don't know how badly you need you need to suffer to cognitive dissonance to think junk food will be better in a different environment, but someone just invested a lot of money into that idea. Just don't ditch the drive-thru, when people need cheap food fast they know exactly where to go. [link]

Ashcroft claims his critics are helping the enemy. This guy has done nothing but drop the ball since Sept 11th. Its not too surprising, take a fortunate son who embraces far-right politics and ultra-conservative christianity and give him a country demanding revenge and you get a largely clueless individual chopping away at civil liberties and not comprehending or caring about his responsibility to uphold the constitution. He's pushed and gotten computer crimes turned into acts of terrorism, secret military tribunals for civilians, and thousands of detainees guilty of nothing but 'suspicious' colored skin and names. Now he wants to believe he's above criticism. This guy should really just be out of a job. [link]

Some of us like the idea of a free society and the ability to criticize those in power. Yeah, I know I'm old fashioned.

Rare white hummingbird found. Apparently, someone managed to snap a photo of it hitting the bong. The sad thing is if someone would have pointed that bird out to me I would have probably said something like, "Put the camera away, they come in white you know. Christ, I must have seen a dozen last year alone." [link] I admit my ignorance.

Great little intro into the Mothman mystery. Which is worth reading just to get that odd sense of fortean phenomenon or just to be up one on your friends when the movie comes out. [link]

Myrrh of biblical fame potential anti-cancer drug. [link]

Ozzy videogame cancelled. Sadly, it was based around his life. So you start off as a nobody, pick up a horror-genre gimmick for your band, and work your way through the game until you eventually balloon out and do 80's revival tours every summer. What kid wouldn't want that? [link]

Japan's Prime Minister's son busy promoting beer. Wow, that diet beer must really work, he's thin as a rail. Here in the states we call that kind of beer "lite." Yet, the japanese manage to spell diet correctly. [link] Some of the comments are pretty funny. Yes, I avoided any easy reference to Billy Beer.

Posted 8:25 PM by Mike Skallas
Bad Sex in Fiction award announced. Its bad and naughty at the same time. Get it? The scary part is there exists a legion of bookworms that get together to discuss sex scenes in fiction. I'm kind of curious who these perverts are. [link]



``Her hand is moving away from my knee and heading north. Heading unnervingly and with a steely will toward the pole... Ever northward moves her hand, while she smiles languorously at my right ear. And when she reaches the north pole, I think in wonder and terror -- she will surely want to pitch her tent.''

Benetton hits an all new low. You know me, when I see institutionalized mentally ill patients I think fashion. This ad campaign is just pathetic. I don't know what they were aiming for but this comes off as tasteless and very exploitative. [link]

Great This Modern World. Reminds me of the now-fashionable Chomsky bashing by those who never cared or thought about foreign policy until a few days after Sept 11. Good thing Fox news is here to provide conservative pundits 24 hours a day. [link]

Frank Miller interview at the Onion. Looks like he's working on a sequel to the Dark Knight Returns, but even more exciting is that he's working with Darren Aronofsky on a Batman Year One screenplay. Personally, I'm a lot more interested in Darren's work and hoping that Frank won't help turn this movie into another Robocop 2. Man, was that awful. [link]


O: Do you think someone like Batman could actually function in the real world?

FM: Hmm. No, I think he'd get killed pretty quick.

Amusing ending. The Metafilter thread about Robert Anton Wilson stalled at 23 comments. Feel free to post and ruin it.

War Powers Act need not apply. [slate article]

Posted 11:19 PM by Mike Skallas
Yuki Terai is a busty 17 year old model. Kinda. She's completely CG just like Ananova except she's a lot sexier, is a minor, makes music, and promotes products. Normally, there would be an obligatory generalization on the wackiness/horniness of the Japanese, but I have yet to see a western celebrity who isn't almost as much a carefully generated product as Yuki. I can't imagine a better fit than fake persons for our carefully controlled, edited, and sometimes fabricated media. Don't I sound bitter today? [yuki's site] I can just picture the chubby IT guy that replies to all of Yuki's fan email. "My secret? Lots of emoticons."






The ultra-cool Hubble Space Telescope is officially obsolete. [link]

Threatening note found in laundry room. This reminds me of the time some bastard stole my shampoo from the dorm bathroom way back when. Instead of being diplomatic and posting notes, I just got some Pantene and mixed it half and half with rubber cement and left it there. I also did the same thing with my detergent. I mixed some bleach in there and left it. I was hoping to catch the thief wandering on campus wearing his or her tell-tale discolored clothing. [note via found magazine]

Your son may already be a hacker!
6. Does your son use Quake?

Quake is an online virtual reality used by hackers. It is a popular meeting place and training ground, where they discuss hacking and train in the use of various firearms. Many hackers develop anti-social tendencies due to the use of this virtual world, and it may cause erratic behaviour at home and at school. [link]


Quote of the day. "It only takes 20 years for a liberal to become a conservative without changing a single idea. In an evolving universe, who stands still moves backwards." Robert Anton Wilson

Wow. My Segway parody went over pretty well. 2200 hits today and counting. Thanks to boingboing, metafilter, and others for linking here. In case you were wondering some people didn't figure out it was a parody and assumed I have a Segway, a wife, and a 14 year old who plays Lacrosse. [you can read my real opinion on the segway here]

Tolkien's grandson disowned for liking movie. This is especially weird. According to director John Boorman in the director's commentary of Excalibur, Tolkien sold the movie rights so his grandchildren could go to college. After a [now broken] promise about not turning his books into animation he semi-reluctantly sold out. Tolkien gets his wish while his estate's controllers become a bunch of whining millionares. [via fark]

Posted 12:17 AM by Mike Skallas
Diary of the first Segway owner. You know, IT/Ginger. [segway site]

8:30am

I checked the voltmeter and it looks like it charged up nicely overnight. I haven't worn kneepads or a helmet in ages, they make me feel kind of awkward. After waving goodbye to my wife I'm off to work which is about six miles from here. I can't wait, this thing is so cool. I feel ten years younger.

8:45am

Holy shit, where did all these kids come from? I thought the district bussed them to school. I can't ride on the street because everyone keeps yelling for me to go faster and I can barely maneuver the sidewalk with all these kids. Someone just called me "Spaceman." I thought kids loved technology. Sorry to the girl I knocked over, but in all fairness I did yell, "heads up!"

9:08am

Okay I'm officially late for work now, but I did find a bike lane. What's with this town? I thought all the granola-loving bikers forced the city to put bike lanes on every street. There's maybe a mile's worth from my place to downtown. The bikers were pretty nice. One man said to the rest, "Let the dude on the rascal get through." I don't know what a rascal is, but they did let me get through.

9:19am

Holy fuck is downtown packed and no one is letting me through. The way I tip cabs around here you'd think they would let ride on the side of the lane. The doorman at my building yelled at the crowd to let the "handicapped guy" through. I was going to correct him, but they were already letting me past. I did get to ride up the handicap ramp and park in the building. Now I need an AC outlet. This trip nearly drained the battery.

9:22am

I'm not the fittest guy in the world but they need to make these things a little lighter. You drag a 70lbs Segway up the stairs and tell me how your back feels.

12:04pm

I'm taking my Ginger, I mean my Segway, to lunch. I tried to get a co-worker to ride with me, but we fell and nearly broke our necks. I hope no one tells my wife that my hand got caught up in Jane's skirt as we were trying to get up. She didn't say anything and I think she really didn't noticed. A guy on one of those old time italian scooters yelled, "yuppie" at me and disappeared into traffic. Real mature.

12:12pm

I had to ride all the way to that bike store in the Village to pick up an extra-long Kryptonite lock. Looks like the "no bikes" sign applies to the Segway as well in restaurants. I barely have enough time to stop and get a sandwich before getting back to work. I have to call my lunchmates and tell them I didn't get into an accident. If I keep yelling, "Beep, beep coming through" every block I can actually make some time. This thing really needs a horn.

5:15pm

A cop called me over from the bike lane and told me unless I have a handicap permit I'm going to have to get motorcycle plates and a city sticker for this. He let me go this time, but he said if he sees me again mucking up traffic on my "razor scooter" I'm going to get arrested. I ran over a really big guy's toes pulling into the bike lane. He was really pissed. Four more people called me "Spaceman" on the way home. At least the doorman didn't call me handicapped again.

5:55pm

I'm home and I came this close to hosing off the dog crap on the wheels before I saw the electric shock warning sticker. The first thing my wife told me as I pulled into the garage is that I look and smell like shit.

6:15pm

I just called and the Shaper Image won't take returns. Great. I gotta get some good pictures of this thing for ebay. My 14-year old is gonna use it to get to her Lacrosse practices until I can sell it. I overheard her call it an "electric ass-mover." Her friend responded by saying, "Oh, that geekmobile thingy your dad dropped three grand on?"

Photo of the day. Kensington, Md has somehow managed to ban Santa Claus from their town and the local Santas aren't taking it lightly. There may never be another Santa-centric protest throughout the history of mankind. Savor it. [link]

Its advertising like this that makes people get an enema. Here I am, thinking only big tobacco was this tasteless and unethical. I'm so young and foolish. [link via sharpeworld]

Posted 1:46 PM by Mike Skallas
This is the third time I've used the modem on my PC. AT&T's cable service went under and now I'm paying quite a bit for their bad investment. Dial-up for a month, installation on my new cable connection from RCN, and this webspace aren't exactly cheap. At this point I really don't care what AT&T has to offer me I just want service as quickly as possible. Which at this point looks like Tuesday or if I wanted to go the DSL route it would be a Tuesday in February.

Maybe its all for the best. The DOJ has invested quite a bit into snooping cable networks like AT&T's. [link]

"WASHINGTON -- The Department of Justice already is using its new anti-terrorism powers to monitor cable modem users without obtaining a judge's permission first."

What ever happened to judicial oversight? This seems like a sure-fire recipe to harass and profile people who do completely legal things like criticize the government. Think McCarthy and especially COINTELPRO.

Leonardo drawing erased by restorers. Oops. I'm sure restorers screw up all the time, but the before and after shots are simply funny. Not only is the drawing gone, the page has somehow turned all black. I can't say I'm too concerned about this, its one thing to lose art and artifacts today and a completely different thing to lose them before the age of photography and digital media. [link via robotwisdom]

John C. Lilly: today's Howard Hughes. Looks like everyone has the rights to his intellectual property and no one can really prove it. [link] I'm this close to declaring myself the sole owner of Metaprogramming the Human Biocomputer.

Satanists taking up hacking. At this point I'm sure everyone has tried to hack a Microsoft IIS webserver. I was expecting some juvenile and reactionary anti-religious crap, but the mirrors show something resembling existentialist thought. [link]

Photo of the day. [link]

I don't believe this is a headline. [link]

Birth of princess fails to boost Nikkei

Monday, December 3, 2001 at 09:30 JST
TOKYO — The Nikkei Stock Average fell early Monday morning despite expectations that the birth of the first child of Crown Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako would provide some boost to the market.