One man's dream is eyesore to his neighbors

Go renegade architects!

Here's an interesting historical footnote: Eisenhower Whitehouse suspected Phobos was hoolw

"The Eisenhower White House spoke quite frankly and calmly about the existence of UFO's in private, but like every other White House before and since, they kept a public polite and disinterested smile facing forward."

Here are some more "hollow Phobos" links, some slightly less restrained in their claims:
Hollow Phobos!

The Mystery of Phobos

Phobos and Deimos at UFOs-aliens

and just for a little variety... hollow earth

So for all of you who are gearing up for the first episode of Survivor 4 tomorrow, here's a little something to whet your apetite.

Ethics Test

I usually shy away from blogging these online "what kind of philosophy do you espouse" tests but Philos insisted! This test is actually much better than some of the other ones I've taken. There's an "I don't like any of these choices" choice for each question, and it doesn't seem too badly slanted. There's also a mildly interesting belief quiz a beliefnet which will tell you which religions your beliefs follow. Or you could zip over to the World's Smallest Political Quiz which will tell you that you should be a libertarian no matter which answers you give. There are also a host of ethics and philosophy quizes that will tell you where you've made a logical error if you don't agree with their own philosophical system. Not worth bothering.

Coyote Rummy

While reporters are denied access to new sources in the war on terrorism, the military invited ABC's entertainment division in to take their place.

They would rather make troops available as props in gung-ho videos than available to explain how the commanders let Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda leaders escape or targeted the wrong villages. Mr. Bruckheimer said his program would not usurp reporters' access. "Reporters are after breaking news," he said. "We're doing profiles." He said the Pentagon would check the show before it aired, as it did with "Black Hawk Down": "It's not censorship, but we do have a conversation."

High Strangeness: Virus 2: The Real Story of the 'Mir' Threat

Not really scientific, with its talk of "radioactive space rays" and dangerous "mutes" (mutants, that is), yet interesting.

Shattered Galaxy is the best RTS to come out in a very, very long time. It gets the highest recommendation. Think of it as StarCraft that never gets dull. Best of all, it's currently being offered as a FREE 14 day trial.

After Y2K ... the new millennium is a laugh!

Yes, After Y2K, the classic web comic, is still going strong! The Geek is still geeky, and the techno-talking babes are, well, still babes. Woot!

Show #1: The Science-Fiction Series.

"Because even Hollywood is having a problem trying to prevent advanced information about their programs from leaking out to the Internet, I am very cautious about what I post up on my program until it gets further along. Currently, more than 1,200 pages are written, including nearly a dozen complete scripts and another dozen incomplete scripts."

US Will not Promise not to use Nukes on Non-nulcelar Nations

"We would do whatever is necessary to defend America's innocent civilian population"

Salon.com Technology | Enron used federal loans to finance growth

"Enron's relationship with the government is part of a two-pronged business strategy. Inside the United States, Enron has sought to free energy companies from government regulation. Internationally, Enron has embraced Washington's help in the form of federally backed loans and insurance protection.The irony is not lost on congressional critics."

Click2Houston - Report: Enron Designed Fake Trading Floor

"It was an elaborate Hollywood production that we went through every year when the analysts were going to be there to be impress them to make our stock go up."

Reality check foils Spider-Man

Spanish scientists discover that the characters in Marvel comics are not real. Duh.

Salon.com People | Too Bizzaro for words

"Regardless of how disruptive or obnoxious Bizzaro was or wasn't, his account suggests he was doing exactly what all airplane passengers have been instructed to do since Sept. 11: be vigilant."

Is it possible that our new commitment to security at any cost is at odds with the long-standing American Values of independence and individualism?

Neuroscience Art Gallery: Art by Psychotics. Louis Wain

"The progressive escape of reality towards delusion is expressed in the pictures below."

Again and again I am astounded by the cleverness of the puppetmasters.

Pravda.RU A Moscow band hunting for heads. For scientists’ heads

"It was already third death of a scientist, that witnessed it hardly could be a coincidence. Only within this January, Russian Academy of Science lost two scientists with world name – academician I.Glebov (who died as a result of a bandit attack in St Petersburg) and Corresponding Member of the Academy of Science A.Brushlinski (who was killed in Moscow)."

The Mighty Organ online magazine| Travel writing | Tanna

"First came 'cargo belief': the apocalyptic conviction that the world was about to turn upside down, the islanders finally receiving the material rewards of the white planters and administrators who were currently enjoying the fruits of the black man's labours. Then, even more puzzling, came 'cargo ritual': new religious practices designed to reel in the cargo by magical repetition of the acts which were currently bringing it to the white man. All over, islanders were downing tools, clearing airstrips in the jungle, building imitation radio masts out of bamboo, scouring their bibles for hidden messages, even sitting around politely drinking afternoon tea. If it worked for the white man, so the theory went, it would work for them."

Defense Dept. Divided Over Propaganda Plan (washingtonpost.com)

"At the center of the controversy is a new Office of Strategic Influence, created in recent months to more directly influence foreign public opinion about U.S. military operations. Just what the new office will do remains unclear, and its tentative plans have not been approved by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, said one Pentagon official. 'There are some proposals, suggestions and ideas being talked about,' he said."

I, Cringely | The Pulpit

"What is needed is competition for the desktop, and for that, there is really only one other game in town. I think Apple should market a version of OS X for Intel computers."

Chicago Tribune | Nader: 2000 run was a building block

[Book of Pages] about the book

"One ancient truth which technology has always been unable to allow for is the incalculable ineptitude of some of its users. Take, for example, a simple device like a hammer -- no complicated user interface there, no abstract conceptual model of its operation, no instruction manual to ignore -- and think 'thumb'. "

Planetarium is an online puzzle game that I don't have nearly enough time for right now.

CNN.com - British troops 'invade' Spain - February 19, 2002

Check out the Shack NewsDoom 3 Screenshot contets!

Elusive Heroine of the Baroque

Farida and I saw an exhibit of Artemisia Gentelleschi's paintings in Rome. She really is an astouding artist, and much better than her father. The exhibit gave a very different version of Artemesia's story than the book about her life, but still fascinating.

I finally got around to pulling down the pics I took last week when Loxser_John and his wife went to see Money and Run with us.

Welcome to NoPayPal, where you will learn the evil behind their system!

US planes rain dollars on Afghanistan - The Times of India

"HAMAN, Pakistan: US aircraft over southern Afghanistan have scattered $100 bills tucked into envelopes bearing a picture of President George W. Bush, witnesses said on Thursday. Some of the envelopes were carried by the wind and fluttered to earth over the Pakistan border town of Chaman, sending people scrambling for the cash."

This just CAN'T be true, and if it is, i don't EVER want to hear the Bush administration whine about how so much money is being wasted again!

A Clergy Ill-Prepared to Deal With Scandal

"Let me suggest a Lenten exercise that may help our church's leaders appreciate the magnitude of feeling of those whose children have been abused and the public outrage over the failure of accountability. Let Cardinal Law contact the mothers and fathers of the victims. Let him speak to them face to face, as an equal, not as a pastor. He should not defend the actions of the archdiocese as a litigant; his lawyers can do that. Instead, he should meet these families, in their own homes and in groups small enough for conversation, to learn how others see what he has done and failed to do."

Secrets Confided to the Clergy Are Getting Harder to Keep

"But even if they worry that some of the state laws may be unconstitutional, legal scholars acknowledge that they have broad public support. As Paul Rothstein, a professor of evidence law at Georgetown University Law Center, put it, 'There's a societal trend against child abusers,' and, along with it, 'a reaction against hiding harmful conduct behind privilege.'"

Are people bound to bow their religious princiles to societal trend? To quote Judge De Witt Clinton: "The sinner will not confess, nor will the priest receive his confession, if the veil of secrecy is removed."

Atlas Games -- Product AG1001

"Once Upon A Time is a game in which the players create a story together, using cards that show typical elements from fairy tales. One player is the Storyteller, and creates a story using the ingredients on her cards. She tries to guide the plot towards her own ending. The other players try to use cards to interrupt her and become the new Storyteller. The winner is the first player to play out all her cards and end with her Happy Ever After card."

WOO HOO! Philos is moving to Seattle! More news later.

Home

"Since it is documented that no one ever witnessed Ed's labor in building his rock gate park, some say he had supernatural powers. Ed would only say that he knew the secrets used to build the ancient pyramids and if he could learn them, you could too!"

Salon.com People | Tariq Ramadan: The Muslim Martin Luther?

"{Tariq Ramadan is not a household name in the United States, but the Swiss professor could be one of the most important intellectuals in the world. Ramadan's thinking, his methods and his personal history are all connected to the same question: Islam's encounter with the modern world. Can the youngest of the world's three great monotheisms co-exist harmoniously with the Western world and its Enlightenment legacy? Or is it fated to be reactionary, closed off from the world, an excuse for terrorism and failure?"

This is a fascinating interview. It starts off in the misguided direction of presenting Tariz Ramadan as the "Muslim Martin Luther", which is utterly ridiculous. As Ramadan makes very clear, Islam is not at all like European Christianity at the time of the Reformation (no Pope, duh). It's even more important that Ramadan isn't looking at Islam as a sort of "underdeveloped" version of Christianity that just needs some time to sort it out. Islam has it's own unique culture, and if it can resolve its current crisis, it's quite likely that the resultant will be something new and very different from Christian culture.

index.html

We live in an age of continuous partial attention.

Neal Stephenson has a web page. Who knew?

Salon.com News | Muslim pilgrims kill Afghan aviation minister

"Afghanistan's civil aviation and tourism minister was attacked and killed Thursday at the Kabul airport by Muslim pilgrims angry over flight delays to the Islamic holy city of Mecca, government officials said."

By pilgrims. People going on a religious journey. Religious people. Last I checked, killing an unarmed man in anger was a crime under Islam.

New York Daily News Online | News and Views | Beyond the City | Insider Book on W: Hail to the Cheez Doodles

"Bruni writes that Bush often lifted his pinkie to the corner of his mouth to mimic the Dr. Evil character in the Powers flicks."

The Official Ninja Homepage: REAL Ultimate Power!!!!!!!!!

"Ninjas can kill anyone they want! Ninjas cut off heads ALL the time and don't even think twice about it. These guys are so crazy and awesome that they flip out ALL the time. I heard that there was this ninja who was eating at a diner. And when some dude dropped a spoon the ninja killed the whole town. My friend Mark said that he saw a ninja totally uppercut some kid just because the kid opened a window."

////LARRYCARLSON.COM\\\\____***MULTIMEDIA***__

Wow.

Salon.com Books | Big Brother is watching you read

The case has attracted nationwide media attention and the support of dozens of civil liberties groups and a phalanx of writers. On Jan. 11, at San Francisco's A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books bookstore, over 500 people attended a benefit to help defray legal costs that have arisen from the case. Daniel Handler, author of the Lemony Snicket series, helped organize the event, attended by other literary luminaries such as Pulitzer prizewinner Michael Chabon, McSweeney's editor Dave Eggers and novelist Dorothy Allison. "It's startling and disappointing to me," Handler said about the case. "There are so few countries where you can't get in trouble for what you read, and the U.S. appears to be falling from that short list."

What Where You in a Past Life?

Enron? Nader Is Glad You Asked (1)

"Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Joel Connelly--an unusually harsh critic of Nader as a self-absorbed political dilettante--welcomed the consumer activist with an admission that "just as this column was ready to get rough on Ralph Nader, who hits town today to promote a self-celebratory book on his 2000 presidential campaign, along came twin reminders of why America needs a burr-in-the-saddle corporate critic." After reflecting on how Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill described the Enron mess as an example of "the genius of capitalism" and George W. Bush referred to Enron's CEO as "Kenny Boy," Connelly acknowledged the unavoidable reality that "Enron's collapse has renewed Nader.'"

Lost Continents MMPOG Interview

"The way we look at it, you’re a hero and heroes don’t worry about such trivialities as shopping for ammo! They just pull out that rifle and start blasting away. So, in Lost Continents, you won’t need to worry about purchasing, carrying, and storing ammo. Instead, firing a gun will take the ammo cost directly from your cash reserves. Different weapons will cost different amounts to fire, so in addition to reducing the tedium, it also gives us another balancing factor when designing weapons. Your derringer may be weak, but it also costs nearly nothing to use. That gatling gun, on the other hand, is incredibly powerful but tears through your bank account nearly as quickly as it tears through opponents."

Being a fan of the 1930's pulp genre, I'm looking forward to this game enormously.

Life is pretty rad stuff.

Tom Tomorrow may be a lilly-livered pinko liberal and a penguin-lover to boot, but I happen to think that his cartoon strip's pretty damn funny. Well it turns out that he has a blog! Who knew? And you know what? I think he's a way more intriguing a personality than Wil Wheaton (no offense, Wil).

Swashbuckling and Sea Fights in a Video Game at last!

Guardian Unlimited | Archive Search

"Hancock is not crowing just yet, because it has not so far been possible for divers to investigate the Cambay site. But even his adversaries now accept that if this is a 7,000-year-old city (the area was flooded at least 7,000 years ago), they will have to tear up their textbooks."

The great thing about the lunatic fringe is that inevitably, they turn out ot be right every now and then. The case against mainstream archaeology might turn out to be one of those areas. I'll be honest, I'm no archaeologist, I just happen to think that sunken cities are cool, nevertheless, "Go lunatics! WOOT!"

CardHaus - In Store

"In February of 2001, a gaming legacy closed down in Seattle. The Wizards of the Coast Game Center shut its doors. Now, one year later, several employees from the former WotC Game Center have decided to continue where Hasbro left off."

ESPN.com - Page2 - Braced for the last football game

There are many cruel Rooms in the mansion, and many deep holes in the Road. Keep alert or be stabbed. Of all the shocks and pains that every football season brings, the worst of all is the ending of it. And that is what we face now -- this coming Sunday night, in fact, before the midnight bell. There will be no appeal, no extension, no replay. That will be the end of the football season, no matter who complains.

This is just a little reminder for y'all that Hunter S Thompson can still write helluva good.

OMGF

Fairvue Central >> Features >> Second Annual Weblog Awards

Wil Wheaton Dot Net swept this years bloggies, winning "best tagline", "best Amerian", "most humerous" and "best new". What is the blogging world coming to?! In all fairness, Wil's blog has it all: he talks the LINUX talk, he's got Trek gossip, he's got the blogger tone down pat, and it's all got a faint scent of irony.

Of course, there's always F...ed Weblog.

Chilli Man - Guess the Beer Label

A great beer knowledge quiz. Check it out!

The Hacker FAQ

"2.0: My hacker plays video games on company time.

Hackers, writers, and painters all need some amount of time to spend 'percolating' -- doing something else to let their subconscious work on a problem. Your hacker is probably stuck on something difficult. Don't worry about it."

Siu lam juk kau (2001)

"A shaolin kung-fu practitioner is seeking a way to spread the word about his chosen art. He meets a down-on-his-luck lame ex-football player who trains him and his five brothers to play football. They form a team, and are soon entered in a prestigious tournament with a 1 million dollar prize. "

Just so you know I'm still blogging!

CardHaus: Seattle's newest gaming store.

In a bizarre couter-intuitive twist of fate, Salon chrages for web content and lives to tell the tale!

"As it turns out, putting out a daily web magazine costs money! The people who produce the journalism and essays you enjoy actually want to be compensated for their work! It's outrageous, but true!"

Yes, I am a subscriber.

EQ Legends - Sign Up

Wow, EverQuest is now offering all the amazing features we've all been waiting for, and they are amazing: character homepage, interactive map, ability to track friends and guild members, it goes on and on. And for "just" $39.95 a month. Just?

 

It's official. Farida and I are now homeowners. Today our real estate agent took some pictures of us in our new home. The avacado wood floor will be gone and replaced with a brand new maple floor by the time we move it. It's got 2 bedrooms (one of which will be an office), and a partially finished basement with a combination guest room/ gaming room (WOO HOO!).

Q209354 - HOWTO

Warning! Adult Humor!