For some amazing astronomical images, check out NASA’s JPL 2005 Year In Images.
JPL 2005 Year In Images
Jayisgames’ Best Web Games of 2005
Jayisgames’ Best Web Games of 2005 has a really nice roundup of online games. For an even more exhaustive (but less selective) list, check out over 3,000 flash and java games.
FARK’s best Photoshops of 2005
The thread FARK’s best Photoshops of 2005 has some really funny stuff…
Extratasty
Extratasty is a very cool site for drink recipes, allowing you to input all of the ingredients in your bar and listing recipes that you can make with those items. This isn’t new, but the submission and rating options make this site a cut above other similar bartending sites. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that the cool folks that came up with Threadless created this site… 😉
retrievr
DRM (Still) Sucks
Just when you thought that Sony’s rootkit fiasco had demonstrated how asinine the music industry’s attempts at DRM are, along comes something at least as egregious. Check out the disclaimer inserted inside the newest Coldplay album, X&Y.
As the Boing Boing post where I found this points out, I too wonder whether Coldplay is aware of the presence of this disclaimer. If I were in their shoes, I certainly wouldn’t be happy with something like this being foisted on my fans without my knowledge.
Go ahead and read the fine print; I guarantee you’ll be as dumbfounded as I was. All of this “in order for you to enjoy a high quality music experience.” My ass…
Isuzu Gemini Ads
Go check out this amazing video compilation of TV ads for the Isuzu Gemini (18MB direct link to Windows Media Video). According to several commentors in the MetaFilter thread where I found this, and from the general look of the model, this was probably shot sometime in the 1980s (ignoring the obviously dubbed-in somewhat recent soundtrack). Supposedly no special effects were used, which if true makes these maneuvers particularly amazing.
U.S. Troops Draw Up Own Exit Strategy
The Nation gives props to a recent story in The Onion entitled “U.S. troops draw up own exit strategy,” asserting that “Sometimes, only The Onion gets it right.”
I’m not all that sure that an immediate withdrawal is the answer any more than a detailed time table is, but unfortunately that is now the nature of this quagmire that W has gotten us into. And judging by the tepid response of troops during Dick Cheney’s surprise visit to Iraq before Christmas, many seem to question whether the White House has any clear exit strategy:
Cheney’s cheerleading during a whirlwind trip through the battlezone was challenged by men who are actually doing the fighting.
The first words Cheney heard during a roundtable discussion with several dozen troops were those of Marine Cpl. Bradley Warren, who said, “From our perspective, we don’t see much as far as gains. We’re looking at small-picture stuff, not many gains.”
Cheney responded with warmed-over rhetoric about how the media is not showing the true picture of what is going on in Iraq. “I think when we look back from 10 years hence, we’ll see that the year ‘05 was in fact a watershed year here in Iraq. We’re getting the job done,” claimed the vice president, who was making his first visit to the warzone. “It’s hard to tell that from watching the news. But I guess we don’t pay that much attention to the news.”
The vice president did not seem to recognize the irony of complaining about media coverage presenting the war as something less than a success when he was responding to the concerns of a Marine – who is actually serving on the ground in Iraq – about the fact that he and his fellow troops “don’t see much as far as gains.”
Cheney’s attempt to put a positive spin on the occupation does not appear to have found many takers among those who are dodging the bullets and bombs in a war that has killed more than 2,100 of their comrades and maimed tens of thousands more.
According to an Associated Press report, “When (Cheney) delivered the applause line, ‘We’re in this fight to win. These colors don’t run,’ the only sound was a lone whistle.”
Quite a telling (lack of) response.
Lazy Sunday Available For Free Download
For those of you who enjoyed the skit Lazy Sunday (AKA The Chronicles Of Narnia Rap) I posted about several weeks ago, I thought I should mention that Apple has made it available for free download at iTunes.
Cheney <3's His iPod
This is somewhat old news now, but I couldn’t resist. 😉 Before Christmas, Dick Cheney made a surprise visit to Iraq, flying aboard a C-17 cargo plane rather than his usual luxurious Air Force II digs. But don’t worry, he didn’t suffer, as he got his own mobile home strapped down inside the cargo area to ensure that he at least got to relax.
Later in that article, an even more unusual item was brought to light:
[Cheney] is an iPod fan, and keeping it charged is a priority for his staff. Normally that isn’t an issue, even when he’s flying around the world. Air Force II is equipped with outlets in each row of seats. But when Dick Cheney was traveling home overnight Wednesday from his diplomatic mission, most of the outlets went on the fritz.
Working passengers began lining up their laptops to share the power from a couple of working outlets — particularly the reporters who urgently needed to prepare their articles to transmit during a quick refueling stop in England.
But when Cheney said his iPod needed to be recharged, it took precedent above all else and dominated one precious outlet for several hours. The vice president’s press staff intervened so a reporter could use the outlet for 15 minutes to charge a dead laptop, but then the digital music device was plugged back in. That way, Cheney got his press coverage and his music, too.
Sounds like Dick more than W does… 😉
