At 8am today, Brandon and I packed up our armies and went down to the 40k Rogue Trader Tournament in Lakewood. It wasn't the best tournament I've ever been too. The dice were against me, my head was pounding. Despite the fact that it was well run and there were some great players and some great models, it wasn't my best ever. I'm going to bed now. My head hurts.

High seas cause new delay in lifting Kursk

This page has a cool animated bit about how they're planning to raise the Kursk.

Apple - Trailers - Fellowship of The Ring

'nuff said. Thanks to Conrad for bringing this to my attention.

ZDNet is hopping mad...

Commentary: Time to stand up to Microsoft

"There are alternatives, which in a healthy capitalistic marketplace deserve exploration. A consortium of companies who pay most to Microsoft could fund an open-source development project to take Linux and turn it and its applications into a true replacement for Windows and Office. "

Oh yeah, and Enterprise premiers tonite at 8pm.

Stratfor: Analysis of the War on Terrorism Series:
Part 1 | Part II | UPDATE:Part III

"Al-Qa'ida does not expect to destroy the United States directly. It fully understands the severe limits on its resources. Rather, bin Laden's strategy is to force the United States into a series of actions that will destabilize the governments of Washington's Islamic partners and lead to their collapse. For instance, such an outcome could occur for Islamic countries that cooperate -- due to pressure by Washington -- with the U.S. campaign against terrorism."

A site called Starfor has started an ongoing series about the War on Terrorism. It's a rather chilling, but very sharp strategic analysis. Part II goes into detail about the options open to the US, and the risks of each one. It shows pretty clearly why the White House has taken the approach it has. This is a highly recommended article!

Thanks to Metafilter for the link.

In the beginning there was Ultracorps Ultracorps was an online game introduced by VR1 a few years ago. I played in the origonal beta test. It was the first (and STILL one of the best) browser based space conquest games ever. Sure, the game was horribly unbalanced after the first few turns, but I loved it. When Ultracorps moved to the Internet Gaming Zone, it was a pay-to-play game. Unsurprisingly, no one wanted to. Ultracorps disappeared from the universe, though VR1 went on to make the successful Fighter Ace and is working on a new project for Xbox, which looks like it might be cool. Anyway, to make a long story short, Ultracorps is back! It's hidden away on VR1's web site and listed as a "beta test". I don't know if this means they're going to patch it up and try and make something of it, or if there's just a community of old-timers who still want to play. Check it out!

The green skinned women of Star Trek.

"They're like animals. Vicious. Seductive. They say no human male can resist them."

Industry!!

Some more amazing abandoned buildings, ruins and the like. I know Philos will love this site!

Infiltration: the zine about going places you're not supposed to go

The name says it all. Pistil books on our street used to carry it, before they closed down. Speakeing of closing down. ANOTHER CAP HILL BREAKFAST AND DINER JOINT CLOSES. Yep, Cafe Minnies is closing.

The Nation

"SAS troopers, together with members of the British intelligence service, are working with the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance in Afghanistan in the search for Osama Bin Laden, according to the Sunday Times."

BBC online reported this as a rumor earlier today. Pakistan news reports a minor skirmish between Taliban troops and UK SAS special forces near Kabul.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Eyewitness: Taleban in crisis

"The smugglers insisted that the cameraman and I should wear burqas - the traditional full-length garment of Pathan women - which covers the entire figure and face and is compulsory for all women living in Taleban-controlled Afghanistan."

This fascinating account was written by BBC reporters who smuggled their way into Afghanistan disguised as women.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness... For Some

In response to the hate-crimes and prejudices carried out against Americans of Arabic descent (evocative of the actions taken against Japanese-Americans during WWII), most of us would say, "Of course it's wrong to discriminate, of course we would not want to place Arab-Americans in internment camps." But what do we do when airlines remove people from planes because they bear a slight resemblance to the terrorists of Sept. 11 and the passengers feel "uncomfortable" as a result? Even though we are in the middle of a traumatic time, even though it is understandable to be cautious, when our fellow human beings face discrimination, we must not be guilty of silent complicity. Search our bags, ask us questions, but when we step through the metal detector, let us relinquish the prejudices along with the nail clippers and fold-up scissors. And if the airlines order Arab-Americans off the planes, let us all walk off with them. (By the by, many Americans of Arabic descent have pale skin and don't wear turbans. My great-grandparents were Jews from Syria and Egypt. Often, people think the name "Farida" is Italian. It is actually Arabic, and means "unique.")

The Times

"Nobody thought it suspicious at the time that there were no photographs left of the victims nor books with their names inscribed on the cover."

If this is true, it's pretty incredible. Terrorist agents apparently systematically killed a number of students in western schools, erased evidence of their identities and then assumed them, according to an article in the New Republic.

Osama bin Ladin's Fatwah

This is the full text.

BBC News | ASIA-PACIFIC | Pope brings message of peace

"Conflicts must be resolved not by force but by peaceful negotiation and dialogue"

The Pope is in Kazakhstan today.

The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood took inspiration from newspaper articles published around the world to create this dystopian novel. After the events of September 11th, the novel bears re-reading: "They shot the President and machine-gunned the Congress," the main character says, explaining the takeover of the United States. The laws that prohibit women from being seen, from obtaining an education, plus the brutal public punishments for any offense against the state of Gilead (the former US), all find eerie parallels in Afghanistan today.

Rush denounces Falwell and Robertson

"All I can say is I was profoundly embarrassed and disappointed by their comments. They can try to take them back all they want, but the bottom line is that their words are indefensible."

You know your stock as a conservative is in trouble when Rush calls you a bigoted, sexist, homophobic racist.

Sci Fi Wire -- The News Service of the Sci Fi Channel

"A live-action feature film based on Norton Juster's popular children's fantasy book The Phantom Tollbooth is in development."

There's not much there except the name of the director and the movie company. I'm a big fan of the book. I've always found that most people were either raised on the Chronicles of Narnia or The Phantom Tollbooth. Being from a Narnia family myself, I was pleased to discover Tollbooth last year, thanks to my wife, who is a wise and witty children's librarian.

Thanks to Philos for the link.

CBC News: 'Mr. Dressup', Ernie Coombs, dies after stroke

"Along with TV pals Casey and Finnigan, the kindly Mr. Dressup was a staple of morning television, entertaining generations of Canadian children with simple crafts, sing-alongs and trips to the "tickle trunk" for costumes."

Nellie was kind enough to point me to this site with some cool deskptop wallpaper. I'm usually skeptical of such things, but this one's pretty nice: MikeBonnell.com - Computer Wallpaper, Free Backgrounds, Free Computer Wallpaper, Windows Wallpaper

I also strongly recommend Desktop Starships for some really kickin' science-fiction wallpaper.

Salon.com News | The dig

"But missing from the scene is any talk of how it got like this, why it came down, what should be done about it. Nothing, not a peep."

I can hardly bear to read this.

Dilbert.com | Ideo Cube

"Scott Adams has partnered with IDEO, the company that designed the Palm V, the first Apple computer mouse, the original laptop computer and Crest's Neat Squeeze stand-up toothpaste tube, to create the ultimate cubicle. The "kit of parts" allows employees to customize their workspaces according to their needs."

Look, I'm only going to say this once: censorship undertaken out of motives of niceness, out of the emotional tenor of the moment, or out of simple stupidity, is still censorship. Here's a story about how Clear Channel, who own over 1000 US Radio Stations, created a ridiculous list of songs to avoid in the wake of September 11, then made a lame attempt to weasel out of taking responsibility.



"It's the End of the World as Clear Channel Knows It by Eliza Truitt Large stretches of the list reveal a grisly perspective on the part of the authors: Boston's "Smokin," Springsteen's "I'm on Fire," Blue Oyster Cult's "Burnin' for You," Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire," Judas Priest's "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll," and the Dave Clark Five's "Bits and Pieces." Several pro-peace songs made it onto the list: Cat Stevens' "Morning Has Broken" and "Peace Train," presumably because Stevens is now Muslim and goes by the name Yusuf Islam. The oddest inclusion has to be John Lennon's explicitly pacifist anthem "Imagine," unless Clear Channel is pushing a pro-war agenda."

And it's also an arguement against the consolidation of the airwaves.

The International Toll. September 11 was a truly international disaster.

Black Dragon is a way better game than Project 146.

Ever find yourself wondering "When is NASA going to own up to the face on Mars"? Are you intrigued that Arthur C. Clark claims there are fields of vegetation and glass tubes on the Red Planet? Looking for a scientific examination of the Lunar Mission Hoax? (Here's a clue: it wasn't a hoax, but NASA's not telling all they know, either). Check out The Enterprise Mission.

Clementine

"The Pentagon announced on December 3, 1996 that data acquired by the Clementine spacecraft indicates that there is ice in the bottom of a crater on the Moon."

Why wasn't I told?

THE IRANIAN: Opinion, Afghanistan, Mohsen Makhmalbaf

"Add to all of that the destruction of the largest known statue of Buddha that recently spurred the sympathy of the entire world and led all supporters of art and culture to defend the doomed statue. But why didn't anybody except UN High Commissioner Ogata express grief over the pending death of one million Afghans as a result of severe famine? Why doesn't anybody speak of the reasons for this mortality? Why is everyone crying aloud over the demolition of the Buddha statue while nothing is heard about preventing the death of hungry Afghans? Are statues more cherished than humans in the modern-day world?"

This is from an editorian in The Iranian, which John pointed out in one of his comments, below.

Project 156 is a fun little game.

I've noticed an off phenomenon. It seems that the bulk of search engine hits on my site are searched for Tim Kingman and Manhunt, but mostly Tim Kingman. Tim Kingman has probably led to more hits on my site than any other topic, term or referrer, even though I've only mentioned Tim Kingman on this site once, and that was well over a month ago. I guess if you want hits, you should mention Tim Kingman on your site. I don't know anything about Tim Kingman, other than the fact that he was on Manhunt, but I would guess Tim Kingman is a pretty popular guy with web surfers. I wish Tim Kingman all the best luck. Though Manunt was a bit of bust, IMHO, I look for Tim Kingman action movies, talk shows and action figures to appear any day now.

PS. Tim Kingman.

I've been digging around for more detailed information about Afghanistan and neighboring countries. Afghanistan is basically buried in countries with whom our relations are not great and all of whom have human rights and national stability problems to some degree or another. It's not a pretty region. Afghanistan has basically been under invasion from one quarter or another for the bulk of human history. Alexander the great and Ghenghis Kahn both conquored it (at great human cost to the inhabitants). The British Empire also fought battles there and the Russians fought their equivalent of Vient Nam there. There's a lot of great info about Afghanistan, world terrorism, and the US terrorism readiness here: Terrorism Project - Center for Defense Information. Also, a good map of Arghanistan.

PCWorld.com - Carnivore Dispatched to Sniff Out Terrorists In response to Tuesday's terrorist attacks, the U.S. Senate has approved the FBI's use of the Carnivore e-mail surveillance system to investigate acts of terrorism and computer crimes. It also approved broader "wiretapping" of the Internet by law enforcement, and urges the government to "make better use of its considerable accomplishments in science and technology" to combat terrorism.

Reactions from a number of people, including Orson Scott Card, Ken Keasy, and Charleton Heston.

Musician Moby, who lives in lower Manhattan, has posted several personal notes on his weblog: Moby Tour Diary

murder in small town x winner missing in world trade center

I didn't watch the show, but I thought I'd link this for friends of mine who did.

Here's a link to an interesting discussion about rescue dogs. Thanks to Arial for the link.

Metafilter | Comments on 10289

"I've worked with some of these dogs before when I was in the military in Alaska. It's heartbreaking at times. These dogs work amazingly hard. You can see it get to them when they find somebody who didn't make it. After spending about 8 hours going through an avalanche area, we were all exhausted, but a couple of the dogs were still trying to find anybody they could. Once we had accounted for everybody, a couple trainers asked some of us to partly bury ourselves so that the dogs could end their day finding a live body. The dog that found me was ecstatic that it had finally found somebody to save."

Here's another very good link debunking some of the myths that have already arisen around the crisis. Of note, the footage you may have seen of Palestinians celebrating is actually Gulf War footage. I'm looking for a better source on this. Also, the Nostradamus quatrain is a fake, and Gordon Sinclair's speech was written during (or perhaps at the end of) the Vietnam war.

Here's the link: LiveJournal, thanks to Zannah

E-Poll: Are you convinced by the US evidence of Osama bin Laden's involvement in the WTC/Pentagon attacks?

This is an E-Poll with a difference. It is a Pakistani poll run out of The Nation, the online edition of a Pakistani newspaper.

The Nation also reports that there were 650 Pakistanis working in the World Trade Center. There's lots of other interesting stuff here, including a resolution to make it easier to prosecute terrorists in Pakistani courts, and a lot of stuff about Bin Laden. The Pakistani's seem to be very concerned with the question of Bin Laden's guilt. All the stories emphasize that the US is still calling him a suspect. The tenor of the stories is generally sympathetic to the US and anti-terrorist, but cautious, I think, in regards to Bin Laden.

Ann Coulter on Barbara Olson on National Review Online

"This is no time to be precious about locating the exact individuals directly involved in this particular terrorist attack. Those responsible include anyone anywhere in the world who smiled in response to the annihilation of patriots like Barbara Olson."

We must not let our rage blind us.

Like an Orb is a weblog with eyewitness account and pictures.

Calamitous Perspective is Noam Chomsky's response to Sept. 11 (thanks for the link, John). I think we need to better than just pointing out that the United States, also, shares blame in creating a world where terrorism exists. The correct response is to pledge that terrorism, in all its forms, must be ended. We must not become instruments of terror in our effort to remove terror. There must be no more civilian casualties.

Chomsky warns that we must not let our freedoms be reduced in the name of security. I agree, but where he goes on to say "In short, the crime is a gift to the hard jingoist right, those who hope to use force to control their domains" I have to take issue. I hope that in the face of a disaster this great, we don't have to resort to name calling and finger pointing. Is it beyond possibility that in a situation this grave, people might act for the good of the nation, rather than to advance their own interests?

WTC Terrorism Experience

"I am an employee of Lehman Brothers in NYC and my office is located at 1 World Trade Center (the one with the antenna) on the 38th floor. I had been at the office since 6:45am because of meetings, and yes, I was in the building when it all happened."

jish.nu | weblog
"God dammit, I'm Canadian
I was doing better today, until a short while ago when I was at a cafe for breakfast. As I stood in line, someone (very loudly and in a very accusing tone) asked: "Are you from Afghanistan??" All eyes turned upon me, burning, each one accompanied with accusatory frowns. Needless to say, I very sheepishly said: "I am not from Afghanistan.", then I quietly left ... with an empty stomach and almost crying."

The Fine Line

"People were shouting at us: Get out of the station! Get off the trains! There's been a terrorist attack! Two planes crashed into the World Trade Centers! One was a 737 or some passenger plane! Yeah, right. Everything up to the passenger plane bit was plausible, even believable, but hey, we had to get to work."

Salon.com News | Giuliani's moment

"One leader has risen to the awful occasion -- and, so far, it hasn't been President Bush."

Watching the first moments on television, I kept hoping for someone to step forward and speak clearly. I was heartened by the images of New York City emergency workers taking action, but the talking heads on the networks were surprisingly hollow, reduced at times to mere babbling. Giuliani is the only leader so far who has shown himself up to the horror. Let's hope we find some more.

I feel I must blog this: The William Shatner Connection Web Page

Comments are back!

I, Cringely | The Pulpit

The big news this week is, of course, the surprise purchase of Compaq Computer by Hewlett-Packard. The deal, with its nominal value of $25 billion, is being touted by management of both companies as the usual mix of synergies and cost savings that are used to justify nearly every big merger. In this case, sadly, the big bosses are wrong. This mess of a merger seems to be taking place primarily because neither party can think of anything better to do.
Cringely doesn't think this is going to save HP, and it may finally sink Compaq. Here's what he says about HP/Compaq market synergy:

These products, unlike the prospect of moving a customer up from a Chrysler to a Mercedes Benz, are more like moving that customer from a Chrysler to a dirigible to a submarine. Each computer line has unique and very different hardware, software, applications, and support organizations. They have almost no customers in common. Hence, no synergy.

BTW, does anybody know the truth to the identity tangle of Neal Stephenson and Robert X Cringely? It seems clear that Neal Stephenson, author, was also once Robert X Cringely, Infoweek columnist. What is unclear, is wether Neal Stephenson is the Cringely writing for PBS. Farida and I have been trying to resolve this mystery, but it seems that there's been a puposeful effort to muddy the facts on this one.

What is your D&D alignment?

Alignment CGI Quiz

I kill everyone and take the loot.

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | Brando booed at bizarre Michael Jackson concert

"But only moments later, it took a bizarre turn when Marlon Brando appeared onstage sitting on a couch. He rambled for a couple minutes about child abuse, starvation and disease."

It took a bizarre turn? Everything about this concert is bizarre. It's bizarreness in its extreme. Do you know anyone, anyone at all who admits to having bought Thriller?

This is pretty odd. Link thanks to Conrad.

Plan To Get Laid At DragonCon 2001 Fails

CALHOUN FALLS, SC—Garry Melcher's plans to have sexual intercourse at last weekend's DragonCon 2001 were unsuccessful, the 27-year-old comic-book collector and science-fiction fan conceded Tuesday.

I've long known that somewhere out there is another Tony Dowler. Today in my referrer log I found a search request for "Pictures of Tony Dowler". I traced it back and found that the other results were very interesting. So, without further ado, I give you The Tony Dowler Band:



BTW, whoever you are, here's a picture of the real Tony Dowler:



On a side note, last night I saw a few minutes of an interesting little documentary called The Sweetest Sound. Documentary filmaker Alan Berliner hunted down as many other Alan Berliners as he could find and invited them to a dinner party. Sort of documentary film meet reality TV.

Salon just added Norah Vincent as their newest columnist. Norah is a gay conservative columnist who got her start, and was later villified by, the Village Voice. She has the unmitigated gaul to note that "ours is a country in which you are ill-advised to be a fetus" and to attack the gay community for failure to take responsibility for AIDS. She also notes that Ronald Reagan may have been smarter than we think and hints the same may be true of George W. She compares the "Culture War" that conservatives have been pushing for the last decade to the 30 years war which exhausted the resources of Europe. I think Norah's stuff (what little I've been able to find) is sensational. It's about time someone showed up with the will to tell it to both sides, and the talent to do it with style!

Coffee Messiah standing its grounds against big chain

"Several months ago, Bialik said, Seattle police asked a Coffee Messiah barista to erase its sidewalk chalkboard. The board blared hand scrawled messages saying, 'Friends don't let friends buy corporate coffee,' and admonished people to not drink corporate."

The neighborhoods need their independent businesses, their venues for art and music. The people who run these businesses are part of the community. That and Starbucks coffee sucks anyway. SO GO OUT AND GET SOME COFFEE MESSIAH!

NetSlaves -- Is FuckedCompany.com Fucked?,

Well, unlike Salon's management, he's made a profit since day one, so it really doesn't matter. Maybe Kevin Smith can play him in the movie.

Update! New Wave has updated their Dragoncon Coverage with pics of the customer contest and a bunch of cool minis.

The Seattle Times: Local News: Mark Sidran: Not your Seattle stereotype

"I remember thinking, `Some day, this kid is going to grow up to be either a clown or a mayor, [...] I never realized one could be both."

This is an interesting article, the latest in the "Rehabilitate Mark Sidran" series. I have to agree that he is the one of the three frontrunners who least resembles his opponents. The most interesting assertion in this article is that Seattle liberals will secretly pull the lever for ol' law-and-order when the time comes (yeah, right).

New Wave Mail Order posted up their coverage of DragonCon, including some great costume shots. Mind you, the photographers seem to have forgotten to take any pictures of males in costume (except be they standing next to a female).

Today's news: Ninjaburger is still funny.

Locus Online News September 2001: Hugo Awards Winners

"The 2001 Hugo Awards, voted by members of the 2001 World Science Fiction Convention, were announced Sunday evening, September 2, 2001, at the Millennium Philcon in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."

I don't really follow science-fiction and fantasy the way I used to, but here are the Hugo winners for this year. JK Rowling got one for Goblet of Fire, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon also picked one up.

Gratiutous Timothy Leary Story

Johnny Brewton, the publisher of a zine called X-Ray wanted to see if he could get Timothy Leary to write something for his zine. He contacted Leary, who was very excited about the project, and sent him a copy of the zine. But Leary's secretary called back a while later to tell him that "Mr. Leary charges $1.00 a word to be published." Brewton answered that the price would be no problem, and would fit right in his budget. Could he please have 1 word. In the background he heard Leary burst into laughter. After some thought, Leary submitted the word "Chaos". The next issue of X-ray advertised "A one-word dose of Timothy Leary", and enclosed a small card with the word "Chaos" written on it.

Property Search
"Originally built in 1909 by architects Hornblower and Marshall, this Beaux Arts style landmark was remodeled significantly in 1937 by noted J. Lister Holmes, and again, including substantial updates, in 1998. The 30’s remodel gave the interior a noticeably Art Deco character, and the recent changes by celebrated architect Roy McMakin give it a current European style."
I finally found the perfect house to buy on Cap Hill.