Nerds Rule

Other cool stuff from Johnny Lee.

Whopper Freakout

And now for something completely different...

Very interesting video about certain aspects of the human brain.

posting on behalf of our jew

Did I mention that I love everything Japan?

the funniest shit i've ever seen

it just keeps going.. perfectly!!

For all you mac lovers...

Best Windows Error Ever May Rip Time-Space Continuum, Destroy Reality



In what computer analysts and physicists all over the world have classified as "a clear and present danger to the survivability of the Human Race and the Universe as we know it," LA area-man and Gizmodo reader Kevin Barbee reports that his Windows Vista Problem Reporting has reported that it has stopped reporting. Read More

How Is This Possible?

Tim and Eric : Spagett!

Farley and Sandler

I think someone brought this scene up recently...

Long, but worth it. (That's what she said).

Great Onion Video

Country Music Stars Challenge Al-Qaeda With Patriotic New Song �Bomb New York�

Our Present and Future Leaders

Meanest. Grandson. Ever.

Hipsters Unite

Maybe it's being home for the last 24 hours that's made me feel a little angsty, but anyway, this rocks (contrary to some people on this blog's opinion).

For the KGW fans

After trawling YouTube for a while...

Reason, applied

The Original, Tripped Out Sesame Street

Here's a great article on the first season of Sesame Street being released on DVD... and how it's meant for adults, not kids.

i've never seen a more computer-like human

This is kind of unprecedented...

http://mysite.verizon.net/nathanielyao/USA_Today_Ad.html

A private citizen took out a full page ad set to appear in USA Today on November 21st called "An Open Letter to the American People..."

The ad also describes another one day "money bomb" for Ron Paul's campaign planned for December 16th, the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.

Kick ass.

To Catch a Predator Live

View More Videos

Ron Paul supporters know that Cash Rules Everything Around This Motherfucka

What better supporters could a Presidential candidate ask for than really, really smart people?

dolla dolla bill ya'll

Also, through a grassroots, separate from the campaign effort, more than 30,000 people donated more than 4 million to his campaign...on Guy Fawkes day.

Drum Hero

For you Guitar Hero fanatics, here's a drum version of the game I saw in Japan last year. And some crazy drumming.

Ninja Parade Slips Through Town Undetected

Ninja Parade Slips Through Town Unnoticed Once Again

Tractor Square Dancing

Whoa, Nellie!

This is probably a prank, but I don't care....it's brilliant.

The "Law of Evolution"

What do you think of this idea to thwart bible-thumping creationists?

And here's a random video of some pandas...

This makes it that much sweeter

Apparently Griese's audio communication went out before the awesome 97-yard drive to win the game. He owned that drive calling his own plays, except the last TD through to Moose (audio was back by then).

For Horse in particular...but anyone who's undecided about Ron Paul...you are now SOLD!

Perfection: 'Star Wars Trumpet'

Do you realize that this actually happened? ...on planet Earth? Speakers required:

Carmen Sandeigo FOUND

More Government Bullshit

If you've never read any of my posts, or read some of them partially and found their content to be objectionable or "loony" and then proceeded to ignore the rest of them, just do me this one favor and read the information that this post links to. I think it speaks very loudly to the sort of behind the scenes orchestration (involving the same key people over and over again...the Rockefeller family, I'm looking in your general direction, though I'm blinded by the foggy aura of faux charitability that emanates from the family compound like the sickening stench of an open landfill in Mexico City) that I've been decrying for the past two years, largely as a result of learning that there was and is a 9/11 cover-up.

The words of a filthy, dovish, unhinged Far-Leftist...according to Bill O'Reilly

Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it? . . . . .

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave.

It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests.

The nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject; at other times it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations, has been the victim.

So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification.

It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public council? Such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.

The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none; or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.

George Washington, from his Farewell Address, 1796

USS Liberty: Attacked by Israel in 1967 during the Six Day War

This article in the Chicago Tribune on Oct. 2 is by John Crewdson, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter. He's uncovered new information and interviewed witnesses, some of whom for the first time.

I would like to know if his reporting on this event changes your perspective on any other "terrorist attacks." There's really just one question that needs to be answered: Did they cover it up because they were embarrased at the depths of their incompetence, or did they cover it up because "they" were involved in making it happen to begin with?

Just know that if Israel had been successful in sinking this ship, there would have been no survivors and there would have been no obstacles to the dissemination of the fabricated story that the Liberty was attacked by Arab enemies of Israel and the US in order to be used as justification for a wider Middle East war.

Sound familiar?

In Rainbows....

....could be one of Radiohead's finest pieces of work. In short, oh God, it's soooo good.

These are the kind of people who run the world

Learn more of them and who their friends and associates are here.

An X-Wing Academy is next

Dancin' Machine!

This kid's awesome... Crank Dat, Soulja Boy!

Coolest Cake Ever

TMDGAF Live with different techno intro

Wish it were longer (that's what she said)

I Wish I Could Do This....

New Radiohead?!

Boers and Bernstein were talking about this today...

...so I checked out the article here. Read below for the teaser.

But his smile would go south in 2001 during spring training. Rapid skull growth, another indicator of heavy steroids use, had placed undue strain on the slugger's neck, resulting in hairline fractures in three upper vertebrae. According to Leftwich, Anderson disclosed that, as a remedy, doctors implanted a small titanium brace at the base of Bonds' skull to keep his abnormally large head upright. The procedure was an unqualified success: He hit 73 home runs that season, breaking McGwire's record by three.

This Ain't Not Bad

funny

Little Girl Vs Soccer Ball - Watch more free videos

You're A Jerk!

Tom Cruise Furious With Gassy Crew Member

Tom Cruise was left furious after a crew member on his latest film set passed wind during a minute's silence.

The Hollywood actor - who is currently shooting World War II drama Valkyrie in Berlin - had paused filming to honour the anti-Nazi heroes portrayed in the movie when one employee decided to use the tribute to break wind.

Fellow star Christian Berkel - who plays anti-Hitler plotter Albrecht Mertz von Quirbheim - said, "The film's director Bryan Singer, the screenplay writer Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise asked us all to observe a moment's silence shortly before we started filming."

A source on the set told Britain's Daily Star newspaper, "Fortunately the mystery gassy man didn't completely ruin the touching gesture.

"Quite rightly, Tom is furious. We were filming at the Bendler Block in Germany where the anti-Nazis were executed."

The source said Cruise decided to ask for the minute's silence to show respect for the deceased and appease the German government, who only allowed the movie to be filmed if post-war Germany was shown in a positive light.

The source added, "So for somebody to pass wind in a situation like that is unforgivable."

The silence was filmed and now Cruise and the producers will go through the footage to identify the culprit, who is likely to be fired.

There is such a thing as too much money.

For more than a century ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents, such as my encounter with Castro, to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as 'internationalists' and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure -- one world, if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.

-David Rockefeller, from his memoirs

Brown and Dvoracek done for the season

totally sucks if this is true.

The Onion Video

The Onion has videos of fake news now, this one is hilarious, but totally NSFW unless you have headphones.

cool sequencer

my questions are to bale...
when will you buy it and when can i play with it? :)

I like

link

POL (Puke Out Loud)

To quote Moe Szyslak, "Man, you go through life, you try to be nice to people, you struggle to resist the urge to punch 'em in the face, and for what?" This story makes me want to start gouging eyeballs and kicking throats.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070829/helmsley_s_pooch.html?.v=1

LOL

R. I. P.

To The Antiwar Left

What is your opinion of this essay?

The Bourne Ultimatum Sucked

The Islamists are coming

On a different note, is the curriculum for history classes in some American states restricted to learning about Hitler and the Nazis and 1938 and Hitler and Germany? It must be, because there are many right-wing fanatics whose entire understanding of the world is reduced in every instance to that sole historical event -- as though the world began in 1937, ended in 1945, and we just re-live that moment in time over and over and over:

Love war? You are Churchill, a noble warrior. Oppose war? You're Chamberlain, a vile appeaser. And everyone else is Hitler. That, more or less, composes the full scope of "thought" among this strain on the right.

-- Glenn Greenwald

for the entire article: www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald

Read

My Thoughts on The Simpsons Movie

It is totally worth seeing in the theater. It's just awesome to see the Simpsons on the big screen. There was a fair smattering of "new-Simpsons" humor in it, of which I'm not a huge fan. But, there was also classic Simpsons humor and some in-jokes for nerds like us. Speaking of which, the two guys sitting next to me were huge dorks. And I mean huge whale penises. They were doing the "Hey, ghuhhhh, look, it's the ambulance from when Homer first tried to jump the gorge in episode AF-203, guhoy!" Wait, that was me to Annie.

First Trailer for the New Wes Anderson Movie

The Darjeeling Limited - In Theaters September 29

At least 90% of people on mac forums are retarded

and i read them :)

anyway, look at the original question in this thread. pretty straightforward. now check out the response in post #4. (begins with 'when you think about it')

he kind of starts with an answer, then gets a little off track.. then gets WAY off track.. awesomely cringe-inducing. the last sentence is the best part.

Thriller (Alternate Versions)

International Philosophy - Germany v. Greece

Make sure you don't have any liquid in your mouth when you watch this.. you're going to ruin your monitor if you do.

Tom DeLay Should Write For Lost..

With connection finding skillz like this:

"I contend [abortion] affects you in immigration. If we had those 40 million children that were killed over the last 30 years, we wouldn't need the illegal immigrants to fill the jobs that they are doing today. Think about it."

It's at 3:45 in this video.

In Defense of Witchcraft

Imagine that the year is 1507, and life is difficult. Crops fail, good people suffer instantaneous and horrifying turns of bad luck, and even the children of royalty regularly die before they have taken their first steps. As it turns out, everyone understands the cause of these calamities: it is witchcraft. Not all witchcraft is at fault, of course -- there are "white" witches who use their powers to heal -- but there is no question that some witches have formed an alliance with the Devil. Happily, the Church has produced many learned and energetic men who are equal to this challenge, and each year hundreds of women are put to death for casting spells upon their innocent neighbors.

Imagine being among the tiny percentage of people -- the 5 percent, or 10 percent at most -- who think that a belief in witchcraft is nothing more than a malignant fantasy. Imagine writing a book arguing that magic spells do no real work in the world, that the confessions of bad witches are delusional or coerced, that the claims of good witches are self-serving and unempirical. You argue further that a belief in magic offers false hope of benefits that are best sought elsewhere, like from scientific medicine, and lays the ground for false accusations of imaginary crimes, leading to the misery and death of innocent people.

What sort of criticism would these misguided authors likely encounter? In the following essay, I present excerpts from actual reviews of recent atheist bestsellers, replacing terms like "religion," "God," and "atheist" with terms like "witchcraft," "the Devil," and "skeptic." Observe how much intellectual progress we have made in the last five hundred years:

"[None of these authors] takes time to consider contemporary [witchcraft] in the light of some of its most sophisticated and heroic practitioners.... Moreover, none of them ever put their weak, confused, and unplumbed ideas about [the Devil] under scrutiny. Their natural habit of mind is anthropomorphic. They tend to think of [the Devil] as if He were a human being, bound to human limitations... [These] authors pride themselves on how science advances in understanding over time, and also on how moral thinking becomes in some ways deeper and more demanding. They do not give any attention to the ways in which [magical] understanding also grows, develops, and evolves... It hardly dawns upon them that [witches and warlocks] have been, from the very beginning, in constant--and mutually enriching--dialogue with [skeptics]... The path of modern science was made straight and smooth by deep convictions that every stray element in the world of human experience--from the number of hairs on one's head to the lonely lily in the meadow--is thoroughly known to [the Devil and his familiars] and, therefore, lies within a field of intelligibility, mutual connection, and multiple logics. All these odd and angular levels of reality, given arduous, disciplined, and cooperative effort, are in principle penetrable by the human mind... [Skepticism] cannot be true, because it is self-contradictory. Moreover, this self-contradiction is willful, and its latent purpose is pathetically transparent. [Skeptics] want all the comforts of the rationality that emanates from rational [sorcery], but without personal indebtedness to [the supernatural]. That is why they allow themselves to be rationalists only part of the way down. The alternative makes them very nervous." --Michael Novak, National Review

"What's really bothersome is the suggestion that [witches] rarely question themselves while [skeptics] ask all the hard questions.... The [great warlock] Michael Novak's book "Belief and Unbelief" is a classic in self-interrogation. "How does one know that one's belief is truly in [Beelzebub]," he asks at one point, "not merely in some habitual emotion or pattern of response?" The problem with the neo-[skeptics] is that they seem as dogmatic as the dogmatists they condemn... But as Novak argued--in one of the best critiques of neo-[skepticism]--in the March 19 issue of National Review, "Questions have been the heart and soul of [conjuring] and [divination] for millennia."
--E.J. Dionne, The Washington Post

"The danger is that the aggression and hostility to [magic] in all its forms... deters engagement with the really interesting questions that have emerged recently in the science/[necromancy] debate. The durability and near universality of [witchcraft] is one of the most enduring conundrums of evolutionary thinking... Does [spell-casting] still have an important role in human wellbeing? ... If [sorcery] declines, what gaps does it leave in the functioning of individuals and social groups?... I suspect the New [Skeptics] are in danger of a spectacular failure. With little understanding and even less sympathy of why people increasingly use [the evil eye] in political contexts, they've missed the proverbial elephant in the room. These increasingly hysterical books may boost the pension... but one suspects that they are going to do very little to challenge the appeal of a phenomenon they loathe too much to understand."
--Madeleine Bunting, The Guardian

"If [magic], by definition, exceeds human measure, the demand that the existence of [the Great Horned One] be proven makes no sense because the machinery of proof, whatever it was, could not extend itself far enough to apprehend him. Proving the existence of [the Devil] would be possible only if [he]... were the kind of object that could be brought into view by a very large telescope or an incredibly powerful microscope. [The Devil], however--again if there is a [Devil]--is not in the world; the world is in him; and therefore there is no perspective, however technologically sophisticated, from which he could be spied. As that which encompasses everything, he cannot be discerned by anything or anyone because there is no possibility of achieving the requisite distance from his presence that discerning him would require. The criticism made by [skeptics] that the existence of [Satan] cannot be demonstrated is no criticism at all; for a [Devil] whose existence could be demonstrated wouldn't be a [Devil]; he would just be another object in the field of human vision. This does not mean that my arguments constitute a proof of the truth of [witchcraft]; for if I were to claim that I would be making the [skeptics'] mistake from the other direction. Nor are they arguments in which I have a personal investment. Their purpose and function is simply to show how the [skeptics'] arguments miss their mark and, indeed, could not possibly hit it."
--Stanley Fish, The New York Times

the above is from Sam Harris via the Huffington Post

The iPhone Is A Piece of Shit, And So Is Your Face

4 turntables and no microphone

NEW ELEMENT "Du" DISCOVERED

(...wish I could take credit for writing this, but it was a comment on MediaMatters that I pasted...enjoy)

A major research institution (probably funded by a government subsidy) has just announced the discovery of the densest element yet known to science. The new element has been named "Bushcronium". Bushcronium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 311.

These particles are held together by dark forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. The symbol for Bushcronium is "Du", as the symbol "W" was already taken by Tungsten.

Bushcronium' s mass actually increases over time, as morons randomly interact with various elements in the atmosphere and become assistant deputy neutrons in a Bushcronium molecule, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to believe that Bushcronium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "Critical Morass".

When catalyzed with money, Bushcronium activates Foxnewsium, an element that radiates orders of magnitude more energy, albeit as incoherent noise, since it has 1/2 as many peons but twice as many morons.

The "nucular" reaction alluded to below where Du combines with Foxnewsium (Fx) when bombarded by a moron beam yields: Du + m (morons) + Fx = DumFx which is sometimes phonetically pronounced to describe the nature of the isodope produced.

Although Faux Noise is the only “news” element mentioned in the formula, any other “news” element, i.e., CNN, ABC, CBS, WoPo, WSJ, etc., could be used just as well and get the same isodope.

CNN's Cafferty on Bush's Document Problem

I've posted a bunch of Glenn Greenwald stuff before. Here's a short CNN vid using a Greenwald post to ask an actually legitimate question.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFVNv-S21II

Friday Moment of Zen

...click image to play

Aliens

Hey, I've been watching a lot of X-Files lately, and I'm thinking about getting one of these.

http://www.stopabductions.com/

My Workplace

I saw this the other day at someone's desk and had to do a double take. Also, I'm as mature as a twelve year old.

Cool Daft Punk Home Video

This gives new meaning to the admonition: No PDA

Don't touch me! We'll get in trouble...

Pictures from the fishing trip

http://web.mac.com/basaltcat/iWeb/Site/Warrington.html

Minus the rap song....

this is an amazing clip.

How ridiculous is my dad?

Say it ain't so...

Check out "Dog" on this website....

http://www.abovetheinfluence.com/the-ads/

I really want to get a dog, but I'm not sure if I'm up for these chats.

Superb Lyrebird

BBC Special clip about a bird that can mimic sounds, like other bird calls and much more...clip here

Crazy Mario Bros. Level (w running commentary)

It gets old after a little while, but it's still pretty hilarious.

Hi.

I like this blog. And, I like this clip.

Jobs and Gates : Together Again

From the D: All Things Digital tech conference last week, an awesome conversation with the Bill and the Steve, moderated by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher of the Wall Street Journal. This was the first time in while the two have shared the stage together for an extended period. If you want, you can watch and/or listen in iTunes right over here.

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Part 4:


Part 5:


Part 6:


Part 7:

Aaaaaaaand they're back..

Traveling Wilburys: June 12: Both Alubms, plus a DVD with Videos and a Band Documentary

Amazon Link

After all we did for them

Please read this. Glenn Greenwald with some good reporting and, as is almost always the case, analysis you can sharpen an axe on.

Music Made From Genetic Patterns

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/05/24/proteinmusic_tec.html?category=technology&guid=20070524093000

Good Headline

MySpace "fingers" website's sex offenders

...From Xinhua news agency

...

Wolf Blitzer has a short interview with Ron Paul about his "gaffe" at the most recent GOP presidential debate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMMjJzOwmKI

Fox GOP Debate

Ron Paul almost mobbed by the debate audience lead by Rudy for having the gall to claim that the main reason "terrorists hate us" is not our freedom, but our foreign policy.

Half Man Half Amazing is on offense

Synthesizers on 3-2-1 Contact!

More info on this video here

R.I.P.

Bill O'Reilly Really F'n Pissed About His Portrayal in Moyers Documentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeGk9CJRRjM

Moyers...from DownTown! (swish)

*in Marv Albert's voice*

Anyway, please watch this. I must paste the link because I have no discernible options other than spellcheck and "add image" as edit tools on my blog interface.

Does anyone know how to add more buttons to your "New Post" window, maybe someone with a Mac, ummm.... Horse I'm looking in your general direction...?

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/btw/watch.html

Chewie training for the Kashyyyk Marathon

I Have My Ticket.

Lollapalloza 2007

Pearl Jam, Daft Punk, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Muse, Iggy & the Stooges, Modest Mouse, Interpol, My Morning Jacket, Satellite Party, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Snow Patrol, the Roots, Patti Smith, Kings of Leon, the Black Keys, Regina Spektor, Spoon, Lupe Fiasco, TV on the Radio, Pete Yorn, G. Love & Special Sauce, Paolo Nutini, Amy Winehouse, LCD Soundsystem, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Silverchair, Femi Kuti, Yo La Tengo, the Hold Steady, Jack's Mannequin, Stephen Marley, Sound Tribe Sector 9, M.I.A., Slightly Stoopid, Blonde Redhead, Sparklehorse, Sean Lennon, !!!, Blue October, Son Volt, Motion City Soundtrack, Polyphonic Spree, Peter Bjorn & John, Silversun Pickups, CSS, the Rapture, the Wailers, Roky Erickson, Tapes n Tapes, Heartless Bastards, the View, the Cribs, the Fratellis, Ghostland Observatory, Tokyo Police Club, Rhymefest, Soulive, Cold War Kids, Annuals, Fields, Electric Six, Jim Noir, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Sam Roberts Band, Black Angels, Charlie Musselwhite, Aqueduct, Juliette & the Licks, Dios, Viva Voce, David Vandervelde, Los Campesinos!, Chin Up Chin Up, Ryan Shaw, Colour Revolt, Satin Peaches, Illinois, Arckid, Mickey Avalon, The 1900s, Bang Bang Bang, Bound Stems, High Class Elite, Carey Ott, Matt Roan

Go Bulls!

Second in the east baby!

YELLING!!!!!!!!!!

cuteness of the day

Zack Morris and his Cell Phone Dethroned

Ms. "Web Reporter", you are now the reigning Queen of using "Overeager Future Devices".

The 20 Worst Lyrics In History

"Time is like a clock in my heart"

Blow Up

Some very cool footage of a virtual experiment done by the University of Chicago this week. (Warning: Movie is processor intensive)

Story from the Sun-Times below, a more detailed explanation can be found here:

Star 'blown up' by U. of C. team

March 23, 2007

BY DAVE NEWBART Staff Reporter

As bright orange and red flames engulf a star in outer space, it looks like something out of the movie "Star Wars.''

But it's in fact a complicated research project unveiled Thursday by researchers at the University of Chicago. Instead of blowing up the Death Star, these scientists "blew up'' a so-called White Dwarf Star -- on a computer -- to help learn more about a mysterious force known as "dark energy.''

The mystery of dark energy

The project, presented at a conference in California of the world's top space physicists, is the first ever to simulate in 3-D how a star explodes in graphic detail. It took software running on two powerful supercomputers -- operating for the equivalent of 58,000 hours on a desktop computer -- to produce the virtual explosion.

The explosion, scientists hope, could shed light on dark energy, which is what researchers have called the force behind the universe's continued expansion. So far, scientists don't know why the universe is not only getting bigger but at a faster and faster pace. But they believe the energy produced when stars explode at the end of their lifetimes -- which can last tens of billions of years -- has something to do with it.

Scientists have been trying to use computers to simulate the natural explosion process of stars for years. But they haven't been entirely successful because no one has ever seen inside the stars, which are light years away in distant galaxies.

Harvard astronomist Robert Kirshner, who wrote a book on using the explosions to measure dark energy, wants to see U. of C.'s model developed more fully, but said so far their work "looks very promising.''

Beyond the Big Bang

Exploding stars are also believed to have created elements in the universe not created by the Big Bang, such as iron and carbon. The virtual explosions will help scientists learn more about that process, said Robert Fisher, a research scientist at the U. of C.'s Center for Astrophysical Thermonuclear Flashes.

In addition to the science, Fisher admits it's fun to work on blowing something up that in real life is the size of the Earth and which would reach temperatures in the billions of degrees.

"It's like when you were a little kid, you want to know what happens when you set off a firecracker,'' he said. "This is just really a big firecracker.''

He's Still Just A Rat In A Cage

The torch-bearer for teenage angst is back... officially.

Thom Yorke - The Clock

He might be playing an acoustic guitar, but this performance (from the henry rollins show on IFC) is straight electric. Awesome.

Brawndo: It's Got Electrolytes

From the Chicago Tribune:

March 15, 2007

Q. On its label, Gatorade A.M., a new sports drink, says it "helps put back the fluids and energy you lose during a full night's sleep." Should we lie awake and fret about sleep draining our reserves?

A. Craig Horswill, principal scientist at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute in Barrington, says people lose, on average, about 2 pounds overnight, thanks to urine production, water vapor lost while breathing and sweating, and the liver also loses some of its energy reserves. People regain it all quickly by taking fluids and food, he adds. Despite what the label says, Gatorade's new "thirst quencher" is not meant to be an eye-opener for layabeds, but a pick-me-up for those exercisers who hit the gym, pool or track soon after rising. Of those early birds, "nearly 50 percent of exercisers aren't fully hydrated before their workout," the company claims on Gatorade.com. Horswill says the drink's breakfasty flavors -- orange-strawberry and tropical-mango -- may get people to replenish themselves fully. The Gatorade formula's electrolytes help the body retain the drink longer than plain water, and carbohydrates in the drink provide energy, he says.

Jason Conviser, an exercise physiologist at the Center for Partnership Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, agrees that the body is dehydrated after a night's sleep. "But hydration in the morning can be achieved by drinking a glass of water," he says, and the overnight loss of electrolytes or energy typically is not significant.

Go See A Star War (on the local street corner)

They might as well just make a Star Wars national holiday with the amount of marketing that goes on, seemingly every year, to promote this, this... *disgust fading with reminiscences of original trilogy*... this beautiful, timeless movie:

By Associated Press

March 15, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Thirty years ago, in theaters near and far, far away, a movie opened the imaginations of millions, combining the magic of mythology and special effects to launch the "Star Wars" phenomenon.

A star of those films -- the brave little robot R2-D2 -- is about to take a turn collecting mail as the Postal Service and Lucasfilm Ltd. commemorate that movie launch.

The post office is wrapping mail collection boxes in some 200 cities nationwide in a special covering to look like R2-D2.

It's part of a promotion for a new stamp to be announced March 28, said Anita T. Bizzotto, the post office's chief marketing officer.

"It's a little teaser for the upcoming announcement and we decided to have a little fun with it," she said.

About 400 mailboxes will be covered to look like the stout droid. "When you look at a mailbox, the resemblance to R2-D2 is too good to pass up," Bizzotto said.

While postal officials would like people to look for these mailboxes and maybe even drop in a letter, Bizzotto urged people not to tamper with them, noting that's a crime.

R.O.F.L

This piece makes me think there should be some sort of hall of fame for comedy editing. Definitely a clip to watch all the way.

Breakup Letter YTMND

Funny reading of a breakup letter on YTMND.

Apple Unveils New Product-Unveiling Product

"Today, Apple is releasing a piece of innovative new technology that will forever change the way innovative new technology is released."

The iLaunch, as the new product is called, was then raised up from below the stage, prompting the audience of technology journalists, developers, and self-professed "Apple fanatics" to burst into a five-minute standing ovation.

Link to The Onion

Gotchyerass, Motherfucker

"Scooter" Libby, one of the most prominent neoconservatives in the administration, is now a convicted felon. There's already reports that, given the evidence that emerged during the trial directly implicating Rove, Armitage, and Cheney, that if prosecutor Fitzgerald doesn't seek indictments, he could have charges of prosecutorial malfeasance leveled against him, and he would not stand for that.

Here's hoping he goes for the jugular. I don't want to wait til 08 for Bush to be out of there.

Top heavy Jones traded to Jets

To NY: Jones, 2007 second round pick
To Chicago: 37th pick in this year's draft

I think Jones was worth more than that.

Click here.

tyrus dunk

Coke

Also...I went to see Pan's Labyrinth this weekend and this was in the pre-preview-commercial section of ads they feed down your throat:

http://motionographer.com/media/coke_nexus.mov

It made me smile pretty big.

Traffic on the Information Superhighway

I don't know how long it's been out...I might be behind the times...but Google Traffic looks about as badass as everything Google does. Hopefully it's accurate.

U-P-G-R-A-Y-E-D-D!

Hi Grouputers. So, I believe I have successfully converted the blog to the new format, as required by 'the google' (which owns and runs blogger). Apparently, you now have to sign in to blogger using a google account. So if you don't have one, you'll have to make one. I think it should be a pretty straightfoward process. Just sign in to blogger as you normally would, and follow the directions. Leave a comment in this post if things get screwed up.

Now let's get back to postin, crew!

whoa

wish i owned money.

new pictures up!

Was anybody else under the impression that America had a different relationship with Anna Nicole Smith?

Namely that she was a scumbag?

go devin go

as sad as I am with losing the superbowl, I could watch this replay over and over again and it will never cease to make me smile.

Four Years Ago Today

"It could last, you know, six days, six weeks. I doubt six months. "

-U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, one month before the invasion of Iraq

me n' mark anderson

civic embarrassment time

did i say that sign two posts ago was in bad taste? .. it's got nothing on this:


also, the middle finger moment, in slow-mo. at first it's just plain eerie. but then wait for it.. wait for it.. bam!

civic pride time..

this (i believe) is the first episode of bill swerski's superfans

on the subject of tasteless new orleans jokes..

from the trib's photos of the game..

Lou's + Bears = crazy delicious

Hi all. want to come to my house on sunday? im thinking of ordering lou's. staley said he's sorry he can't be there, but that he'll wave to us from Soldier Field.