User: Nova Express

Irony: Tulane Eliminating Civil Engineering

On: Tulane University to Reduce Engineering School

I understand the need of a university to cut programs to balance their budget, but am I the only one that sees rather bitter irony in eliminating the Civil Engineering department in the wake of the Katrina levee collapse? Don't you think you'd maybe want to expand it, and maybe focus on levee construction, hyrodlogy, and related topics so that such a disaster doesn't happen again? I know there are other schools who cover it, but don't you think there will be a fair number of young, native New Orleaneans (?) who lived through the flood, and want to major in civil engineering to ensure something like that never happens again?

"Changing color due to humidity"

On: Car Paint Changes With Temperature

Cars can already change color due to humidity. It's called "rust". Look for this amazing shade in the 1974 Ford Pinto, or the 1989 Yugo.

Wake me when it plays WMV3 on the Mac

On: VLC Media Player 0.8.4 is out

That, to my mind, is the huge, gaping hole in VLC. And the latest version doesn't solve the problem, as WMV3 isn't supported on any now-Windows platform. I would think that somebody would have reversed engineered the codec by now. It's hard to be the Swiss Army CanOpener of video formats when it doesn't open half of all the cans coming off the line...

Missing: Egan, Stross, Sterling

On: Top 20 Geek Novels

Two notable absences are Greg Egan's Permutation City (among others) and Charles Stross' The Atrocity Archive and the stories in Accelerando (among others), and Bruce Sterling's Holy Fire and Distraction (among others). All are hardcore Geek works of real brilliance. Permutation City in particular was published about the same time as Snow Crash, and is both a better and more important novel.

http://home.austin.rr.com/lperson/lame.html

Does that include sanctions against CNN?

On: Shareholders Pressure Internet Companies on Rights

Given that "CNN's chief news executive Eason Jordan [admitted] that for the past decade the network [systematically] covered up stories of Iraqi atrocities" prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in order to maintain access to Saddam's government, it would seem that CNN and TimeWarner would be prime candidates for sanctions/and or boycotts. Of course, the question now is: What crimes are CNN and their MSM brethern covering up to maintain access in countries like Cuba, Syria and Communist China to "maintain access" even now?

Finally, the Nightmare Comes True!

On: Watching All Six Star Wars Movies Simultaneously

Jar-Jar Binks: Luke, I am your father!

What Happened to "Fair Use"?

On: Using Copyrights To Fight Intelligent Design

Isn't this the sort of copyright abuse that would have all of Slashdot up in arms yelling "Fair use! Fair use!" if it were being employed in any other context?

I happen to think that Intelligent Design is stupid (albeit considerably less stupid than the "scientific creatonism" it replaced). But I fail to see it as so incredibly heinous that it requires Slashdot to abandon its previous principled stance on the abuse of copyright and the right of fair use. How can you wail loud and long about Microsoft, The Church of Scientology, etc. to abuse their copyrights, but when The National Academies' National Research Council and the National Science Teachers Association do the same thing, then the ends justify the means? Fair use for me, but not for thee?

Evidently any principle can be compromised if you hate your enemies enough.

I Hope They Bring Back Johnny Nuance

On: Can iTunes Resurrect Old Time TV?

Johnny Nuance, a little-seen but well regarded CBS Western from 1958, sounds like a great candidate for the iPod:

"Although it ran a scant 13 episodes, the western series 'Johnny Nuance' still prompts fond memories among baby boomers who followed the exciting weekly adventures of the treaty-slinging frontier diplomat.

Johnny Nuance! Johnny Nuance!
From the shores of Martha's Vineyard he rode his horse out West,
With a treaty in his holster and a medal on his chest,
Bringing law and justice to a wild and violent land,
Talking was his creed and sanctions were his brand!
Johnny Nuance! Johnny Nuance! (Hyahhh!)
Outlaws feared his blazing pen!"

Doing Without the UN's Vaunted Integrity

On: Lawmakers Support U.S. Control Of The Internet

How will we ever do without the UN's vaunted, impeccable integrity running the Internet? You know, that vaunted UN integrity displayed by their flawless management of Iraq's oil for food program. Or the great work they've done defending defenseless Africans in their care. Or the work of the UN Human Rights commission. Or their work preventing genocide in Sudan and Rwanda.

How can we possibly be safe without the UN controlling the Internet?

For the confused, they just changed the headline

On: Novell Layoffs Coming This Month?

Naturally, right after I posted, they stripped out the "Your Rights Online" in the headline. As Emily Latella used to say, "Never mind."

Why is this "Your Rights Online"?

On: Novell Layoffs Coming This Month?

Is every time a company lays off its employees a civil rights issue? Maybe (as the cliche goes) in Soviet Russia. Or in an EU country like France or Germany, where workers get to enjoy lifetime employment (if they're able to get a job; given their high rate of unemployment, that's no sure thing) in exchange for a stagnant economy and a crushing tax burden. Here in our still-mostly-free capitalist economy, companies can hire and fire based on economic need rather than being stuck with bloated payroll that make them uncompetative in the global economy.

So again, why is Novell laying off people "Your Rights Online"?

Brian Eno Did an Album for This

On: A Clock That Runs for 10,000 Years

Brian Eno did an album for this project: January 07003 | Bell Studies For The Clock Of The Long Now. I heard this at Bruce Sterling's house a couple of years ago, then went out and bought a copy. It's interesting in the usual, low-key Brian Eno way. And the proceeds benefit the project.

The same reason I don't drive nails into my penis

On: Why Do You Block Ads?

Because I really, really, really don't like it.

The Liberal Bias Remains

On: Nitpicking Wikipedia's Vulnerabilities

"Earlier on, we had a systemic bias toward liberal issues. However, as Wikipedia has grown, and become more mainstream, the liberal contingent has declined as a proportion of Wikipedia in general."

Notice that they don't say that the liberal bias has disappeared. In fact, it has become rather distinctly entrenched at the administrator level.

Notice how Accuracy in Media is called a conservative organization (which it is) time and time again, but the analagous organization on thee left is described thusly: "Media Matters monitors for and refutes identified and materially substantiated conservative misinformation found in media news reports, public affairs and talk radio shows from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and others."

So, in short your bias is "identified and materially substantiated misinformation," my bias is truth.

You can find about a hudnred other examples, for example the breaking up of the article on Communism into theory and practice to avoid having to mention any of that nasty genocide in the main article.

"Failsafe Security"

On: Universal to Offer its Movies Online

By "Failsafe Security" they mean the 1950s meaning of the word. Each copy of the movie comes with a nuclear warhead. If your copy of the movie every ends up on the Internet, Universal detonates the warhead, killing you, your family, and everyone else in a quarter-mile radius.

This will be known as Mutual Assured DRM.

Geeeth's with bwaceees rejoice!

On: The Tongue Twisting Tooth Microphone

Now rugged, he-men, special forces guys will lisp when they talk as well!

Remember the original "Lame Boy Advance"?

On: GBA SP Updated with Brighter Backlit Screen

Is not, thus may help refresh your memory.

I Doubt Microsoft's Commitment to Sparkle Motion

On: Microsoft Unveils New Design Studio

Sorry. Had to be said. ;-)

And for the confused, read this.

Remember Kelo

On: Chief Justice Rehnquist Dies at 80

Remember that Rehnquist, along with Scalia, Thomas, and O'Conner, was one of the votes who opposed the Kelo "government land grab to giuve to private businesses" decision. Lets hope Bush nominates someone in that vein who continues to oppose Kelo, not to mention other expansions of government power.

I Have an Imagewriter II Bag

On: What's In Your Laptop Bag?

Back in the dim, misty days of 1991, I got a job in the Washington DC area, which was going to require me to move there from Austin on quick notice. Since it was going to be a month before I could fly back and load up the rest of my stuff on a truck, I bought two Targus nylon bags: one for my Mac Plus, and one for my Imagewriter II. I thought the Imagewriter II bag was going to be a one-time use so I could fit it relatively compactly in my car for the drive up. In fact, the Imagewriter II bag turned out to serve as my primary bag for carrying things to and from work (not to mention overseas) for over 14 years, even though I retured the Imagewriter many years ago.

So my hat's off to Targus: You guys make great bags.

Mother Nature Needs a Blog

On: Weather Service Becoming More Tech Friendly

Maybe what the National Weather Service neds to do to make themselves more techn friendly is give Mother Nature Herself a blog:

Mood: Sunny.

Can't wait until the fall harvest season arrives; all this grain makes me feel hot and a trim will be great!

I hate those new sat photos they released yesterday. They make me look fat.

I wonder what Mars is doing. We were, like, so totally close during perihelion, but then he drifted away. Men.

Bush Derangement Syndrome

On: Strong Emotions May Cause Temporary Blindness

Perhaps this is part of the explanation for Bush Derangement Syndrome. President Bush comes on TV, and some of his more radical opponents are so blinded with rage that they become immune to logic...

They SAY it looks like the G5 case...

On: High-End Aluminum PC Cases Make A Comeback

...right there on page 2. Unfortunately, they fail to mention that they took a G5, and then bashed it with the Ugly Stick.

This sounds like the Forbidden Planet Soundtrack

On: Eerie Sounds from Saturn

This really, really sounds a whole lot like the opening music of Forbidden Planet, only over a much smaller and more uniform tonal range.

Well, I know what I'm playing out my darkened windows to Trick-or-Treaters come Halloween!

Office Work != Creative State

On: Driven to Distraction by Technology

This somehow assumes that modern business offices want you to be in a "creative state." Alas, I can tell that for some of them, this just ain't the case...