Links
Catholics observe Ash Wednesday today. The holiday is marked by a fast, abstinence and repentance and is also the first day of Lent.
Miscellaneous
Rob Lowe, Mary Louise Parker, Marlee Matlin and Emily Procter will return for the West Wing’s final two episodes.
Eight years ago, author Octavia Butler participated in a series of discussions at MIT about science fiction, media and imagination. Transcripts have been posted at the MIT communications forum Her NY Times obituary is especially good.
There’s an interesting discussion of “The Singularity” here, on matociquala’s journal. Lots of thought-provoking comments, including one I especially liked by dsgood
deepbluze has two columns posted at Cemetary Dance Publications, including this one: “Where Do You Get Your Ideas? A Cautionary Guide”
Showtime may revive Arrested Development
Yale biomedical engineers have created an implantable system that can form and stabilize a functional network of fine blood vessels critical for supporting tissues in the body. (link from oletheros)
The Seven Deadly Sins of Bad Writing
Slate: How To Steal Wi-Fi and keep the neighbors from stealing yours
From windswept: How to stop direct marketers
The YouTube/Google/IFilm Video Ripper
Encyclopodia: Put wikipedia on your iPod.
AOL and Yahoo plan to offer a “certified” email service, for which the sender will be charged. The protests have already started.
Politics
A Mississippi House committee approved a ban on abortions yesterday, which (unlike the bill being worked on in South Dakota,) would only allow an exception in cases where the mother’s health is endangered. The Mississippi bill will now head to the full House for a vote.
Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that over 1300 people have been killed in sectarian violence in Iraq. These numbers are far higher than those reported by other mainstream media outlets, including the NY Times. The numbers have been challenged as inaccurate by the Iraqi Prime Minister and the White House.
Unverified blog report: A polling CD-ROM being sent to people’s homes by the Minnesota Republican party contains spyware that will send the user’s personal information back to party headquarters. The CD packaging apparently does not include a disclaimer that it does this. This is not illegal, (it might be soon -- if the Spy Block Act passes,) and after all, folks are filling out a poll. But since the vast majority of political polls allow respondents to remain anonymous, it’s worth mentioning.
Miscellaneous
Rob Lowe, Mary Louise Parker, Marlee Matlin and Emily Procter will return for the West Wing’s final two episodes.
Eight years ago, author Octavia Butler participated in a series of discussions at MIT about science fiction, media and imagination. Transcripts have been posted at the MIT communications forum Her NY Times obituary is especially good.
There’s an interesting discussion of “The Singularity” here, on matociquala’s journal. Lots of thought-provoking comments, including one I especially liked by dsgood
deepbluze has two columns posted at Cemetary Dance Publications, including this one: “Where Do You Get Your Ideas? A Cautionary Guide”
Showtime may revive Arrested Development
Yale biomedical engineers have created an implantable system that can form and stabilize a functional network of fine blood vessels critical for supporting tissues in the body. (link from oletheros)
The Seven Deadly Sins of Bad Writing
Slate: How To Steal Wi-Fi and keep the neighbors from stealing yours
From windswept: How to stop direct marketers
The YouTube/Google/IFilm Video Ripper
Encyclopodia: Put wikipedia on your iPod.
AOL and Yahoo plan to offer a “certified” email service, for which the sender will be charged. The protests have already started.
Politics
A Mississippi House committee approved a ban on abortions yesterday, which (unlike the bill being worked on in South Dakota,) would only allow an exception in cases where the mother’s health is endangered. The Mississippi bill will now head to the full House for a vote.
Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that over 1300 people have been killed in sectarian violence in Iraq. These numbers are far higher than those reported by other mainstream media outlets, including the NY Times. The numbers have been challenged as inaccurate by the Iraqi Prime Minister and the White House.
Unverified blog report: A polling CD-ROM being sent to people’s homes by the Minnesota Republican party contains spyware that will send the user’s personal information back to party headquarters. The CD packaging apparently does not include a disclaimer that it does this. This is not illegal, (it might be soon -- if the Spy Block Act passes,) and after all, folks are filling out a poll. But since the vast majority of political polls allow respondents to remain anonymous, it’s worth mentioning.