From a committee at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie.
12.31.2004
100 things (the UK) didn't know this time last year
Although some of this stuff is overly British and undecipherable, there are some gems - BBC NEWS | Magazine.
12.30.2004
12.29.2004
Google Search a Specific Website
This is probably not new, but I've learned how to search a specific site with Google.
In the search box type: site:webaddress searchterm. For example: site:mikeray.blogspot.com president will pull up all posts containing the word "president". I may be late coming to this, but I'm fired up.
The BitTorrent Effect
I've mentioned BitTorrent to several of my friends & discussed it with some of my students. This article is about the guy, Bram Cohen, who wrote the program - Wired 13.01.
12.27.2004
Colorado Man Says His Internet Christmas Lights Were Faked
Talk about a great hoax, this guy was everywhere. I went & "controlled" the lights myself - TheDenverChannel.com.
12.26.2004
12.25.2004
12.23.2004
Festivus celebrated in public display
In one of those "open forums" on public property, this one in Lakeland, Florida, someone finally erected a sign celebrating Festivus - The Ledger.
12.22.2004
New German 30-acre Solar Power Facility
I know I'm a solar power nut.
I know that this is one thing that really puts me in with the hippies. I don't care!
I don't want solar power because I'm worried about burning fossil fuels.
I want solar power because it's FREE!
There is a power source blasting the earth constantly and we don't use it!
People are stupid. - Link
12.21.2004
AP removes its poll from BCS ratings
One step towards returning to a (slightly modified) world where USC would be playing Michigan in the Rose, Auburn would be playing in the Sugar, Oklahoma would be playing in the Fiesta, and Va Tech would be playing in the Orange. Cal & Texas would be desirable opponents and Utah, Louisville & Boise would probably get stiffed. The voters would decise, just as it should be...Did I say that out loud? - CBS SportsLine.com - more info.
Washington Nationals back on.
The city council reversed itself after some wrangling. I understand the desire not to spend public funds on something like this. But don't say you will, say you won't, then have to say you will.
Oh yeah, it is D.C. - Link
Smith bicentennial renewing debate over Mormon founder
What? Joseph Smith was just making it up? You're kidding. Link
12.19.2004
Giant Sinkhole Devours Florida Boulevard
We thought we had a problem here at the GateTree - Yahoo! News.
12.18.2004
The Urban Legends Top 25
It covers all the current wackiness people accept as fact.
Reinforces Rule #1: People are Stupid - Link
12.17.2004
A different sort of hero
Neighbors complained about this man's diesel truck being in the driveway, so he moved the truck and he painted his house a brilliant shade of fluorescent green.
12.16.2004
A hero remembers the Battle of the Bulge
This hero & his platoon of 18 held off several hundred Germans and delayed the offensive by 24 hours. Leaves me speechless. CNN.com
12.14.2004
Alek's Christmas Lights Webcam
When it's not 'slash-dotted' you can control the thousands of xmas lights at a home in Lafayette, CO - Link.
A Nation of Wimps
We're weak because most kids never have it hard or are allowed to fail - imagine that - Psychology Today.
12.13.2004
12.12.2004
Ukrainian Update
Pro-western, pro-reform candidate Viktor Yushchenko was indeed poisoned , with Dioxin. The new Ukrainian presidential election has been set for December 26th.
12.11.2004
From the Pantheon:
Chef Alton Brown of Good Eats
in an automotive mag, of all things. Excellent article.
12.09.2004
12.06.2004
HG Wells & Scifi
A book reviewer who admits what we already know, scifi is often much better than 'fiction'. New Statesman - Books
The Freedom Haters
A Wash. Post note by your average columnist. But even she is appalled by leftists who think the freedom movement in Ukraine (where blue meets green on the Risk board) is some CIA plot. That gives the CIA too much credit and is insulting to people struggling to avoid a return to Russian (Soviet) domination. (washingtonpost.com)
12.05.2004
IBM to Quit Making PCs
I guess people will really look at me weird when I accidentally say, "IBM-compatible", just like the other day when I said "record store" - Wired News.
12.03.2004
Italian doctor who fooled Nazis
The trick of prescribing Jews with a mysterious illness terrified the Nazis and saved 45 Roman Jews - BBC NEWS .
11.29.2004
Kellogg CEO chosen for Commerce post
I do not want to hear that anyone does not have an opportunity to better themselves in America. This guy's family fled Cuba & he began with Kellog as a delivery driver - USATODAY.com.
11.28.2004
Sports Fans of America Association
College Football Playoff Proposals
I voted for #4. Which one do y'all like?
11.27.2004
11.25.2004
Taking separation of church & state a little too far
The Declaration of Independence was banned at San Francisco Bay-area school because it mentions god.
11.18.2004
FCC Crackdown Could Spread
This is why grandstanding conservatives drive me crazy. Fortunately we live by the rule of law & the Supreme Court has routinely ruled in favor of freedom of speech. Wired News.
11.16.2004
How 'Dungeons' changed the world
"I didn't play Dungeons & Dragons all those years without learning a little something about courage. D&D article
11.14.2004
11.11.2004
11.10.2004
11.09.2004
My favorite agnostic & former leftist rips the liberals yeat again
Bush's Secularist Triumph The left apologizes for religious fanatics. The president fights them. By Christopher Hitchens
11.08.2004
A US Soldier on FoxNews
"They have been hitting at us and hitting at us for a year. They don't know what's coming...Hell's coming." Not a good time to an islamo-fascist terrorist in Fallujah if you ask me.
11.07.2004
Why Bush Won.
As fine an explanation as I have read - A Coalition of Conviction by Kate O'Beirne at washingtonpost.com
Ivory Coast
France doesn't think that a country should occupy a nation that produces a rare commodity, even when it is violation of UN decisions - Unless it is a cocoa-producing, former French Colony - the Ivory Coast.
11.06.2004
11.04.2004
USATODAY.com
Really love the county map of the Presidential election - a lot of those blue states are actually quite red - USATODAY.com.
11.03.2004
CNN.com Election 2004
I'm sure we all understand the questionable accuracy of this by now - CNN Poll - there are some really interesting demographic breakdowns nonetheless.
10.31.2004
10.30.2004
Hewn and Hammered
A weblog edicated to any and all aspects of Craftsman, Mission, Prairie and related architectural and design styles.
10.28.2004
Dynamist Blog: What Will the Election "Prove"?
Virginia Postrel is a fine woman. With whom I've actually exchanged e-mails.
10.24.2004
From Arts & Letters daily: The Guardian has launched a project that has Brits writing to Ohio voters urging them to ... to what? Ohio voters are now writing back... more(hilarious)» ... Guardian in hasty retreat.
10.21.2004
Real men still exst:
I've always liked Curt Schilling, he's an Everquest geek, but this is the best: Cadaver Used to Help Fix Schilling's Ankle - they stitched his tendon in place & he pitched with a bloody sock. Right up there with Byron Leftwich.
10.20.2004
Jimmy Carter is the most pathetic 'president' ever:
The littlest ex-president said,"I think another parallel is that in some ways the Revolutionary War could have been avoided. It was an unnecessary war." Oh. My. god.
10.19.2004
10.15.2004
From the Man-Machine Interface Dept.:
Paralysed man sends e-mail by thought through electrodes connected to his brain. Yes!
10.12.2004
10.11.2004
OK. I admit it. Drugs are bad.
MM called to console me because my long-lost twin brother,Ken Caminiti, 1996 NL MVP, steroid user, cocaine consumer is dead at age 41.
10.09.2004
Give 'em hell boys:
WorldNetDaily: Libertarian and Green Party Presidential Candidates arrested at debate for crossing the police line and serve the debate commission with a show cause order.
10.04.2004
10.03.2004
10.02.2004
Christopher Hitchens vs. the Islamofascists
"He (an Irish Socialist Hitchens was debating) said these Islamic fascists are doing this because they have deep-seated grievances. And I said, 'Ah yes, they have many grievances. They are aggrieved when they see unveiled woman. And they are aggrieved that we tolerate homosexuals and Jews and free speech and the reading of literature.'" An interview with Hitchens by a leftist who's sad to see him go.
10.01.2004
9.29.2004
9.28.2004
9.26.2004
9.25.2004
9.21.2004
9.20.2004
9.19.2004
9.18.2004
9.17.2004
Hammy
We had Dr. McDonald for class and learned about "Hammy" many years ago - USNews.com: Long obscured by the shadow of his rival Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton is proving to be a 21st-century hero.
9.15.2004
9.14.2004
9.09.2004
9.08.2004
Wired News: Slide Rule Still Rules
I must admit I have an attachment to slide rules. My dad was an engineer for years & I remember having a contest with a friend's older brother between his slide rule & my new-fangled TI calculator that my dad ordered for me once I had saved $26 dollars, so I could do stats for the baseball game I made up & my various football board games - Wired News: Slide Rule Still Rules and here & here.
Visible Earth Browse: Sensors > Terra > MODIS Page 1
Pictures of Earth from satilites: Visible Earth Browse: Sensors > Terra > MODISH Page 1 scary good.
9.06.2004
Alright my close friends, you've been warned. Don't let this happen to you - Indiana University study: having children significantly lowers parents’ IQs.
9.02.2004
9.01.2004
8.30.2004
8.29.2004
JOHN KERRY'S THE NEW SOLDIER
A website devoted to the book Kerry wrote against Vietnams that he has tried to suppress - JOHN KERRY'S THE NEW SOLDIER.
8.28.2004
8.27.2004
NEWS.com.au | Gator bites dog, man stabs gator (August 27, 2004)
I feel better about being alive: Gator grabs dog, man jumps in pond and stabs gator - Don't mess with my dog.
8.26.2004
8.24.2004
8.23.2004
BLABBERMOUTH.NET - ALICE COOPER: Anti-BUSH Rockers Are Guilty Of Treason
ALICE COOPER: Anti-BUSH Rockers Are Guilty Of Treason Against Rock and Roll - "If you're listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you're a bigger moron than they are."
8.22.2004
8.21.2004
Great Colunm from the WSJ about all the Olympic athletes from countries liberated by the U.S. since WWII.
8.20.2004
8.19.2004
8.18.2004
8.16.2004
Women's road cycling silver medalist Judith Arndt made an obscene gesture as she crossed the finish line. She was upset because they didn't put her close friend Petra Rossner on the Olympic team.
8.15.2004
8.14.2004
8.11.2004
8.10.2004
8.09.2004
CL & I went to Nashville yesterday to visit Paul and Ferlie. We visited the Bicentennial Mall, checking out the Tennessee Wall of History (including James K. Polk) and the WWII Memorial that had a huge granite globe floating in a fountain. We also went to a fine barbeque place, Jack's, and to the Mexican Restaurant & Ice Cream joint that Paul touted recently. All lived up to expectations. We had a great time. Fine conversation and a late drive home.
8.08.2004
DeHaye For Mayor Blog
An old friend, Mike DeHaye, is running for mayor of Huntsville - DeHaye For Mayor Blog - We were baseball stats nuts & wargames players together. Also - MichaelDehaye.com.
8.07.2004
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Book extract: How To Be Idle by Tom Hodgkinson
Guardian Unlimited | Book extract: How To Be Idle by Tom Hodgkinson - great quote: "I would question the sanity of a religion that holds up the ant as an example of how to live. The ant system is an exploitative aristocracy based on the unthinking toil of millions of workers and the complete inactivity of a single queen and a handful of drones."
8.04.2004
A Post for Emily
Emily McMackin, who is the Current Page Editor for the Decatur Daily, contacted me for an article she's writing on blogging, probably vastly overestimating my usefulness.
A little Googling indicates that she's an award-winning journalist & a fellow Alabama grad who has a a number of her articles posted at other sites, including: MOVE International, Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform, and a mental retardation textbook.
Cool.
Here is the list of prominent blog's I said I would post:
Politics:
Instapundit, Andrew Sullivan, Dynamist Blog,
Geek Culture: boingboing, slashdot,
Gadgets: Gizmodo & Engadget, Moblogs: textamerica, and The linkblog: FARK.
I think she's actually more interested in "people blogs" than this stuff, but I said I would, so I have. Good luck Emily, please e-mail if the article materializes in print or online. -mr
8.03.2004
8.01.2004
The boys who made South Park are after liberal-scmiberals and terrorists, with a true Thunderbirds motif:TEAM AMERICA.
7.31.2004
So much for religious toleration & separation of church & state: Three Tampa city council members walk out during atheist's invocation.
The truth about the lazy (cowardly, lying, collaborating) French is out & they're ticked - Secret of working without working revealed!
7.25.2004
7.20.2004
7.18.2004
Come & get me! - "Lance Armstrong cleared his path to a record sixth straight Tour de France crown, overpowering rivals to win the 13th stage Saturday. His two-day display of dominant mountain riding has all but decided cycling's showcase event even before it veers into the Alps next week." - Yahoo News
Ban on violent videos struck down - Best decision quote: "Would a game built around The Simpsons or the Looney Tunes characters be "realistic" enough to trigger the Act? Is the level of conflict represented in spoofs like the Dukes of Hazard sufficiently "aggressive?" Do the Roman centurions of Age of Empires, the enemy officers depicted in Splinter Cell, or the conquering forces of Freedom Fighters qualify as "public law enforcement officers?" (from boing boing
7.12.2004
7.11.2004
"In certain parts of the country this will get you shot.":
Bay Minette mayor charged after uninvited entrance.
I think Bay Minette is one of those parts of the country.
7.07.2004
7.05.2004
7.04.2004
Leonardo made plans for a self-propelled car - L'automobile di Leonardo da Vinci - Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza and here.
6.28.2004
From the People should not be able to regulate what they don't understand Dept. - Wired News: Congress Looks Out for Hollywood.
6.27.2004
6.25.2004
6.21.2004
Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski told fans on a B5 Usenet group that he and Dark Skies creator Bryce Zabel have put together an idea for a new Star Trek series - Sci Fi Wire -- The News Service of the Sci Fi Channel.
6.20.2004
The sort of thing we would do if we'd written DOOM: Armadillo Scores Test Liftoff Success In Bid For X Prize.
6.19.2004
Despite what history's footnote said last week - Black Males More Likely to Hit the Books than the Cellblocks - Newswise.
6.16.2004
6.12.2004
Fred Barnes reviews a book that examines sports as a reflection of society - OpinionJournal - Leisure & Arts
6.09.2004
6.06.2004
6.03.2004
The great Carey Snowden sent me this one from Strategypage.com: THE WAY THINGS REALLY WORK: More Atheists in Foxholes.
I just started Gene Wolfe's new book - The Knight (The Wizard Knight, Book 1). It looks to be good. I really enjoyed Shadow & Claw and Sword & Citadel. They are part of a larger cycle of books I haven't attacked yet : Books of the New Sun.
6.02.2004
6.01.2004
The first electronic computer, Colussus, built by the first cybergeeks at Bletchly Park to outsmart the Nazis, is back - BBC NEWS - Return of Colossus marks D-Day.
America, Recuse Thyself!
So the world's mad at us? Maybe we should just say goodbye.
BY P.J. O'Rourke OpinionJournal - Extra.
5.30.2004
5.25.2004
5.22.2004
Cyberpunk is now: TheFeature :: RFID Chips for VIPs in Barcelona nightclub - run a tab with chip implanted in your shoulder.
5.20.2004
5.18.2004
5.16.2004
5.15.2004
5.14.2004
5.10.2004
5.09.2004
4.26.2004
Now this is science - Electricity produced from human waste - Power from the bottom line - SpecialsScience - www.smh.com.au
4.24.2004
4.22.2004
4.20.2004
4.19.2004
4.14.2004
4.09.2004
4.08.2004
4.07.2004
local6.com - News - Alabama Lawmakers Designate An Official State Whiskey, but you still can't buy it on Sunday in most of the state.
4.05.2004
4.03.2004
4.01.2004
My favorite columnist hits another one out of the park with his analysis of the death throes of al QaedaVictor Davis Hanson on al Qaeda and America's mission.
3.28.2004
3.26.2004
We met some guys working with this for Stardust ay Marshall Space Flight Center a few years ago - Hinterlands.cc -> 03/26/04: Aerogel.
3.25.2004
3.22.2004
THIS is what's wrong with the world and socialized medicine - ThisisLondon: Brain surgeon suspended for 'taking bowl of soup' .
3.20.2004
Are some pigs more equal than others? Is that why people are harrassing these guys? Newsday.com: Whites-Only Scholarship Stirs R.I. College.
3.15.2004
3.14.2004
3.13.2004
3.10.2004
3.07.2004
3.06.2004
3.05.2004
3.03.2004
All of Calvin & Hobbes in online - Calvin and Hobbes at Martijn's - Calvin and Hobbes Extensive Strip Search.
3.02.2004
3.01.2004
Stalinist Red Crabs taking over Barents Sea - Stalin's last army - hordes of gigantic crabs on their way to invade Europe.
My mother's people have come to their senses after a century of temperence foolishness - Wales - Whisky launch revives tradition.
Fianlly a sci-fi/fantasy movie brings it home - OSCAR.com - 76th Annual Academy Awards - Winners List - Lord of the Rings brings home 11.
2.28.2004
Not surprising, but the anticipated next step - NASA Ponders Signs of Water-Bearing Mineral on Mars.
2.27.2004
2.26.2004
2.23.2004
This is what I love about technology. Take something mundane - a computer - and replace it with something compact, portable, and really cool - A computer made up of 5 'pens'. At Wave Report.
2.21.2004
This man is the best columnist writing today. Period. Victor Davis Hanson on National Review Online.
Run Ralph Run! Less than Pleased with Bush, but this ought to seal the deal for him - Nader to Jump in Presidential Race.
2.20.2004
I have made this argument myself recently - Martha McCarthyism - Stewart is on trial for who she is, not what she did.
2.19.2004
Scientists have revived eight million year old bacteria. I'm a pro-scientific reaearch man, but it is a little spooky.
One of the best Flash games I've seen: GROW move items to the middle to build rubegoldbergesque devices.
2.18.2004
This is the best way to get my kids interested in The Battle of New Orleans RevMen Movies. Scroll down past the bikini babe & click on BONO Realplayer. Worth it.
I enjoyed this - The Chronicle: 2/20/2004: The Adjective -- So Ludic, So Minatory, So Twee. I found it edifying.
2.15.2004
I found a lot of information at this site. Kerry appears to be even worse than advertised - Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry.
2.14.2004
2.13.2004
2.11.2004
2.10.2004
2.09.2004
It's finally happened - I've started by own country in the Pacific: Jennifer Government: NationStates.
2.06.2004
2.03.2004
2.02.2004
A Denis Dutton book review of DOUBT: A History -The Great Doubters and Their Legacy From Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson - (washingtonpost.com).
1.31.2004
Thank the Law of Averages (our household god) for Georgia making "idiot fundamentalist redneck" news instead of Alabama for once
- CNN.com - Georgia considers banning 'evolution'.
1.29.2004
1.28.2004
Now just aggravating & usually wrong, but hard to ignore - OSCAR.com - 76th Annual Academy Awards - Nominees.
1.27.2004
A great column summing up the evil of banning DDT - The Australian: Christopher Pearson: Green errors began with DDT.
1.26.2004
I always like Dennis Miller, even when he was a little leftist. Now that he's playing for the home team, I might even tune in: My Way News.
1.25.2004
Rover News:
Opportunity lands while Spirit sleeps
Opportunity is already taking pictures
JPL for the latest
1.24.2004
Fill out the questionaire & it let's you know which candidate has the most similar views - AOL Presidential Match Main - Maybe we should make everyone vote this way...
The World's Most Dangerous Geek - Justin Frankel, who invented WinAmp & Gnutella and then went to work for the man - AOL. An actual interesting article from - RollingStone.com.
The Second Mars Rover on this mission, Opportunity, is about to land and the software problems with its twin, Spirit, are being worked on. European orbiter, Mars Express, has found the best evidence yet of the existence of Martian water. (mercurynews.com)
It'd be nice to have somebody there to hit Ctrl-Alt-Del.
1.23.2004
One of our favorites, John Stossel, has a new book out this week: Give Me a Break : How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media.
1.20.2004
From the Sad but True Department: Republican Congress spending like 'drunken sailors' - OpinionJourna.
This may have decided the title of toughest South Korean ever - a POW returns home after 50 years - The Washington Times.
The Weekly Standard: Nine reasons why we never sent our Special Operations Forces after al Qaeda before 9/11.
1.19.2004
There are several gems in this AP article: Space Race vs. China, space-based weapons & missle defense, and did anyone know that the moon is a source of potentially unlimited energy in the form of the helium 3 isotope -- a near perfect fuel source: potent, nonpolluting and causing virtually no radioactive byproduct in a fusion reactor?
1.18.2004
The Editor of the skeptic argues that Mr. Christian and the other Bounty mutineers were driven by their evolutionary desire to return to their Tahhitian women:A Bounty of Science.
This will cut into my free time: Five million World War II aerial photographs to be posted on the Internet.
From the Decline and Fall Department: Move over, Hello Kitty: New characters are taking over the kingdom of cute.
1.17.2004
1.16.2004
Admittedly I am a proponent for chaos. So it's no surprise that I'm entertained by the endless parade of unintended consequences that Sims Online has become. People played The Sims because they could control their world and build up an entertaining fantasy self, much as we geeks have been doing for years. By making it an online world with few controls, they allowed the adolescent in everyone to run wild and unleashed the tyrrany of those with too much time on their hands. Chaos indeed. I'm entertained.
1.15.2004
1.14.2004
A kid in Fort Worth was suspended for accidentally sending the message HEY! to all the computers in his school. Some 'educators' are stupid.
Been waiting for this one - Mars Fullscreen panoramic image in Quicktime VR - QTVR from panoramas.dk.
1.13.2004
The New York Yankees
Circle I Limbo
Militant Vegans
Circle II Whirling in a Dark & Stormy Wind
Scientologists
Circle III Mud, Rain, Cold, Hail & Snow
Parents who bring squalling brats to R-rated movies
Circle IV Rolling Weights
Bill Clinton
Circle V Stuck in Mud, Mangled
River Styx
PETA Members
Circle VI Buried for Eternity
River Phlegyas
Osama bin Laden
Circle VII Burning Sands
Creationists
Circle IIX Immersed in Excrement
Greens
Circle IX Frozen in Ice
1.11.2004
1.10.2004
This article reminded me that "The Bear" by Faulkner had more effect on me when I was 17 than perhaps anything I've ever read - Jonathan Yardley at washingtonpost.com.
VDH's latest column demonstrates that little has changed in U.S.-European-Middle Eastern relationships in the last 30 years - until the current efforts of the U.S. & Israel.
1.04.2004
1.03.2004
Brit govt. asked the people to come up with a bill;The people want to be able to legally shoot burglars;MP calls Brits bastards;Govts. don't really want to know what people think. - Independent.co.uk.
Love gadgets, love calculators (bought one through the mail from TI in 1974 to do stats for a homemade baseball game). So I found this one interesting:
The CURTA Calculator Page
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
