Month: March 2003

The Beastie Boys have come out with a song protesting U.S. war efforts on Iraq.  (MP3 link) I may not totally agree with their cause, but you’ve gots to give props to some of the mad lyrics:

Mirrors, smokescreens and lies

It’s not the politicians but their actions I despise

You and Saddam should kick it like back in the day

With the cocaine and Courvoisier…

Well I’m not pro Bush and I’m not pro Saddam

We need these fools to remain calm

George Bush you’re looking like Zoolander

Trying to play tough for the camera

Word. Peaceindamiddleeast.

Remember that great Miller Lite commercial where the two hot women were arguing and got into a mudfight? Well, I present to you: the uncensored version of the commercial. Enjoy.

“Dentist on probation for calming his patient with beer” If that’s wrong, I don’t wanna be right.

A young German woman in a coma for six years apparently showed signs of life when taken to see her idol Bryan Adams in concert. Once I had a pimple that went away after listening to Reckless three times in a row. Coincidence? I think not.

Arab News reports “In a bid to salvage its business interest in the Middle East, McDonald’s has introduced a new sandwich for the Arab consumer: McArabia…made of Arab bread, grilled chicken, lettuce, tomatoes and Arab sauce.” Arab sauce?! I’m not sure I want to know…

The days of Maryland state budget cuts to education have returned, and so must the days of activism to minimize them. I’m sure I don’t need to explain the benefits of education to the readers of this blog. So, if you’d care to take 60 seconds to fill in your name, contact info, and a few other bits of information to this petition, hopefully you can help make a difference without having to hold a sign on Rt. 1. The site promises that your information will only be sent to the General Assembly, not used for other purposes. Obviously, this is mainly directed to those with Maryland addresses, but I encourage our other readers to be similarly involved in your own communities. Remember, education builds the future of society.

CBS reports that on Tuesday W “signed legislation creating a national ‘do-not-call’ list intended to help consumers block unwanted telemarketing calls. The bill allows the Federal Trade Commission to collect fees from telemarketers to fund the registry, which will cost about $16 million in its first year. The do-not-call program should begin operation by summer.” It’s about time! I just hope that it works as intended, because the telemarketing industry has always found ways to ply its unwanted wares in the past despite similar measures.

NASA has released a highly detailed map of North America from a recent Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, showing the North American continent in great detail, but more interestingly depicting the remnants of an impact crater on the Yucatan Peninsula that is suspected to have caused “the sudden extinction of the dinosaurs as well as the majority of life then on Earth.” The maps are very detailed, showing subtle topographic features in vivid color as well as a “subtle, but unmistakable, indication of the Chicxulub impact crater.” Very nice…

Follow-Up: As an update to my previous post about the government threatening to regulate all model rocketry, apparently this regulation will only affect engines of 62.5 grams or larger, well above the size of A to D engines, the most popular for hobbyists. This “will make it more difficult to obtain and use the motors needed to make the more high-powered rockets fly,” but at least most casual hobbyists won’t be affected. The largest engine I ever used was a D engine, and that was to propel a six-foot (!) rocket, so I guess I can’t bitch about this too much now that it has been clarified.

The ActionScript Laboratory features a new, sometimes interactive, fractal every day. Pretty cool…