13 Nov 2006
Shaggy protesters baaaa-ttle urban sprawl

Yeah, I suppose food is "offbeat" news. I mean, why don't these people join the 21st century, lock the sheep in feedlots, transport them by rail or truck and force feed them expensive grain rather than letting them roam free on pasture?

Besides, people in the cities don't need to see these disgusting creatures - except prepackaged as lamb chops in the freezer case of the local supermarket. That's where food comes from, after all.

(Please allow me to sincerely apologize if any of the sarcasm in this post dripped off of the screen and gummed up your keyboard.)

On a weekend of street rallies in Spain -- Basques demanding independence, right-wingers nostalgic for the late Francisco Franco, pyramid-scheme investors who lost bundles -- on Sunday it was time for sheep to come forward and bleat.

(link) [CNN.com - Offbeat]

21:54 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

Gracenote Defends Its Evolution

Interesting tech history - surely the rumors abounded after the sale of CDDB, but Scherf does have a point. All the code and data generated when the product was under the GPL is still available if you're willing to go get it, and anyone could and use it to build a business.

In the beginning was a music recognition database called CDDB, and it was good. Now, people accuse Gracenote of stealing its success. CDDB and Gracenote architect Steve Scherf sets the record straight. Commentary by Eliot Van Buskirk.

(link) [Wired News: Top Stories]

12:35 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Fresh Off the Farm in Montana, a Senator-to-Be

And if the Democrats can keep electing the kind of folks our grandfathers elected they'll keep control of Congress.

Jon Tester truly is your grandfather’s Democrat: a pro-gun, anti-big-business pragmatist.

(link) [New York Times]

12:19 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link