31 Aug 2003
Out of the Catalog

What a marvelous bit of insanity! Like the Slashdot poster asks, "How long will it be before libraries can't catalog books?" The DMCA has got to go!

Google Removes Links in Response to DMCA Complaint [Slashdot]

00:00 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link

Last Fart in Stockholm

I was amazed to find the story (below) about the lemonade stand in St. Paul, Minnesota, already on Secular Blasphemy when I checked my Blogroll - but even worse was the link he had to this:

Last Fart at the Swedish National Bank

Aren't a lot of Minnesotans ethnic Swedes?

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

River People

Here is a very nice feature from The Washington Post ( I found the link on My Apple Menu):

River People

00:00 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

Licensed Lemonade

Kris and I escaped from The People's Republic of Minnesota in 2000, back to our Indiana homeland in the United States. I still (technically) work in Minnesota: I telecommute as a programmer and systems analyst from my home in the Hoosier Heartland to a suburb of the Twin Cities. Several folks (who have vacationed "up North") have asked us why we would leave such a beautiful place, especially as we're not particularly adverse to winter weather.

This article (from the Minneapolis Red Star Tribune) explains it all perfectly:

No License? No Pop Stand!

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

30 Aug 2003
Suffolk Fleece Doesn't Suck

Busy, busy, busy! We finally got around to posting our fleece for sale ad on a couple of fibre specific lists, and have sold 5 fleeces in the last hour.

This is really unbelieveable. All the farmers around here told us "You can't sell fleece - there's no market for wool!". They've been composting their fleeces after shearing!

This is perfectly good wool, too. The staple length is reasonable (3 or four inches) and ther's some nifty colorations. I can't believe folks were throwing them away before they even tried to sell them! Oh well. Looks like Hammerstead Farms will make a bit of money this month after all!

00:00 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

The Right to Keep and Arm Bears

Well, this is the first time in a long time that I've actually wished I lived in California. You see, there's a new candidate in the recall election for Governor - and this is a man whose positions actually make sense!

States Rights: Get those pointy-headed Washinton bureaucrats off our backs and off our fronts too!

Dignity in the Legislature - replace 33% of the Assembly with ostriches!

Animal protection - full support for the right to keep and arm bears!

Robert Anton Wilson for Governor

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

29 Aug 2003
Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics

Well, I was wondering what I was going to post about today: slow news day, and I've been very busy with work. Not to mention that we've sold quite a bit of farm produce in the last week, I've been hopping.

Well, Secular Blasphemy to the rescue! They pointed out one of the funniest sites I've seen since "Dr. Froggy's Home Hemmoroid Removal Kit". Check out Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics. Here's a sample about machine guns and action heros:

First, let us point out that the thirty-round magazine in a Mac 10 will be expended in a mere 1.8 seconds of sustained fire! If our shooter blazes away steadily for a total of only 3 minutes, his or her Mac 10 will spit out around 3000 chunks of lead at roughly 15 grams a piece. This amounts to 45 kilograms or a little less than 100 pounds of lead. And that doesn't account for the weight of the 3000 cartridge cases or 100 empty magazines scattered on the ground.
...
Yes, 9 mm submachine guns with slower firing rates would reduce weight problems, but it seems that real action heroes use Mac 10s, preferably one in each hand. We can't help asking where the sidekicks are with wheelbarrows to carry the ammo, let alone the cooling systems.

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

Fare thee well, Hestia

Well, Hestia is calling it quits. Because of her professional obligations she's found it necessary to discontinue her personal blog, although her professional blog will carry on. I will miss it: Hestia was the first blog I blogrolled and one of the first personal blogs I ever started reading on a daily basis. I actually went so far as to gift Hestia with a key for her scavanger hunt, which turned out to be somewhat valuable. But alas, all is indeed change, much as we would like it otherwise.

So in honor of the blog, and of Hestia (the goddess), and of course my bloggng friend Kathryn and her new blog A Mindful Life, here's the banner and prayer that so moved me:

Hail Hestia

Blessed be the Goddess of Faith
Hestia, Constant One,
Goddess of hearth and temple.
Teach me the lessons of commitment
And contentment,
Service and celebration.
Warm me within and without.
I light this candle
In fiery offering to you,
Hestia, Goddess of Fire.

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

27 Aug 2003
Beyond Binary Computing

Now this is an interesting thought. Gonna hafta think about this for a bit - or four!

Beyond Binary Computing? [Slashdot]

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

26 Aug 2003
ESR Pours SCO a cop of Kool-Aid

They said he was "drinking the Kool-Aid". Now he answers ...

Eric Raymond's Homebrew SCO Poison [Slashdot]

00:00 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link

Are The Internet And Government Incompatible?

A fine editorial from Dana Blackthorn:

Are The Internet And Government Incompatible?

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

LAN Tax

Well, I know one state I'll never relocate my business to ...

Florida Proposes Taxing Local LANs [Slashdot]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

22

How far can the madness go? This far ...

22

00:00 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link

ESR Pours SCO a cop of Kool-Aid

They said he was "drinking the Kool-Aid". Now he answers ...

Eric Raymond's Homebrew SCO Poison [Slashdot]

00:00 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link

Big Company on Campus

Who needs to learn to write code when we can just use Power Point?

Big Company on Campus [Slashdot]

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link