Letter Never Sent

Japan developing remote control for humans “I felt a mysterious, irresistible urge to start walking to the right whenever the researcher turned the switch to the right. I was convinced — mistakenly — that this was the only way to maintain my balance.”

The Gospel According to Anne Rice “I was ready to do violence to my career.” But she sees a continuity with her old books, whose compulsive, conscience-stricken evildoers reflect her long spiritual unease. “I mean, I was in despair.” In that afterword she calls Christ “the ultimate supernatural hero … the ultimate immortal of them all.”

Label your books with call numbers I need to do this, although I doubt I would remember what each category stood for.

Cool optical illusion. Wow.

Quiz: Which Fantasy/SciFi Character Are You? My results: “Kosh – A reclusive seer shrouded in riddles, you reveal very little and only what is deemed congruent with your plans. “Understanding is a three edged sword. Your side, their side, and the truth.” Kosh is a character in the Babylon 5 universe.” Kosh is a Vorlon, a race that has never been seen. I like that. I also agree with the quotation about understanding.

Rumor: Cheney to Resign; Rice as V.P. 2008, the year of the XX chromosome? “Some observers are whispering that the driving force behind the Rice-for-Cheney scenario is political pundit Dick Morris’ new book “Condi vs. Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race.” In the book, Morris and co-author Eileen McGann warn that Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the U.S., unless she can be stopped.”

NBA Institutes Dress Code “”When you are selling a sport overwhelmingly populated by young black males to an older white audience, the reality is that impressions, first or otherwise, often determine your product’s success,” Smith wrote. ” … Indeed, there’s a racial element here. But since there are 60-year-old black parents and grandparents just as appalled by some players’ attire, there is a generational element too,” he added. “

How the snail cross the ‘bridge’ Looks like it rests the shell on one side of the divide, stretches the anterior end to the other side then pulls the shell and tail across. Via

Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes

Recent example of “open source warfare” “He revealed that one trigger used in a recent Iraqi bombing was a three-way device, combining a command wire, a radio signal and an infra-red beam – a technique perfected by the IRA.” I’m curious how infrared signalling can be jammed since it is directional, unlike radio. Via

Bittorrent: The Great Disrupter “I didn’t have any clear plans when I first started,” he says. “I wasn’t worried, partially because what I was doing was really cool, and partially because I’m broken and can’t feel anxiety.”

Spielberg teams up with EA. “The acclaimed film director and producer has agreed to develop three new games under a long-term exclusive deal with video game maker Electronic Arts Inc. The deal to be announced Friday reflects the increasingly intertwined interests of Hollywood and the video game industry.” Looks like the LA studio is finally showing its value, ie. close relationships with Hollywood. Courtesy of linkbunnies.

Hanlon’s Razor “Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.” Courtesy of Jeremy Zawodny’s linkblog. Paranoid types should bear this in mind.

I noticed an unknown (to me) salacious rap euphemism while driving around today: “beat it up” For example lyrics: petey pablo, Young Jeezy (NSFW), Pretty Ricky, OutKast,
David Banner (NSFW), Missy Elliot (NSFW), Ying Yang Twins, 2Pac (NSFW).

The Lorem Ipsum generator. Generate the traditional dummy text. “Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.”

THE NAMES OF THE PRESIDENT AND THE MEMBERS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL CABINET ACCORDING TO THE ETYMOLOGICAL BACKGROUNDS OF THEIR FIRST AND LAST NAMES, AND OF THEIR MIDDLE NAMES WHEN AVAILABLE.*

Pizazz. If you’ve been to the Alamo Drafthouse recently, you’ve probably seen this. Quicktime.

Astroventure lets you Search, Design, and Build your very own planet…then test if it can support life! Courtesy of digg.

Bittorrent supernova.org clone for those that miss that format. New nova. Warning: piratical (piradical?) link ahoy.

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret Disorganized twenty-something writer interviews a very
patient Margaret Atwood. “I’m now the home for other people. That’s how it works.”

The World According to Kurt Vonnegut “Where is home? I’ve wondered where home is, and I realized, it’s not Mars or someplace like that, it’s Indianapolis when I was nine years old. I had a brother and a sister, a cat and a dog, and a mother and a father and uncles and aunts. And there’s no way I can get there again.” I just remembered that I had the pleasure of seeing him speak several years ago at Trinity University in San Antonio.

Exercise amount more important than intensity “In journal CHEST, researchers from North Carolina report that people who walk briskly for 12 miles per week or for about 125 to 200 minutes per week will significantly improve their aerobic fitness and lower their risk of developing heart disease.”

Addicts’ own stories confirm neuroscience “Research has shown that stress is a major contributor to addiction. People who repeatedly take drugs may end up with an exaggerated response to stress, so minor stressors become major ones, says Frank Vocci, director of NIDA’s Division of Pharmacotherapies and Medical Consequences of Drug Abuse.” Great article.

Never Get Involved in a Land War in Asia (or Build a Website for No Reason)