Turns out that the chubby little kid seen by millions of downloaders doing his best rendition of a Jedi Knight is going to sue those who leaked the video. As a side effect the campaign to buy the kid an iPod that raised $4000 will now accept and honor requests for refunds! Further, the kid's lawyer made an accusation that the parties behind the fundraiser had dishonest intentions because the kid hasn't seen a dime yet. Since the organizers were still receiving donations they had not planned to ship the gifts until this weekend.

Go figure, the little bastard has already learned about greed and self-preservation. If you donated cash or gifts take it back! In fact give it to breast cancer research and do some good!

Original story at Jish.nu

Karen Marcelo while guestblogging at BoingBoing has signed up for the 3rd Annual Nigerian Email Conference. I hope to meet Dr. John Cabora of Gabon who has agreed to meet me there to complete our transfer.

Write better emails. Make more moneys

Damn I'm gonna get rich. Since we're on the subject of our favorite scam, here are some linky-loos to help you gain $41.7 million if you'll only give us your bank routing number:
Captain Kirk Saves Nigeria
Scammers actually caught
Americans Loiter Hotel London Lobbies

Mark Frauenfelder of BoingBoing, Wired, and Apple commercial fame is moving his family from Los Angeles to the South Pacific for the next year. They will be moving from island to island every few months and documenting each step as they retreat from the comforts of typical American life for something more simple. He will continue writing for his normal outlets but has also added The Island Chronicles so we may follow his adventure.

Mark is a fantastic writer and illustrator not to mention an avid fan of the ukulele. Best wishes to Mark and his family...can't wait to hear about the trip.

Novell apparently owns some patents on Unix and as such may challenge SCO in court over its attack on Linux. Novell gained the patents when AT&T, the creator of Unix, sold them to Novell who in turned sold some rights to SCO. As such, Novell also insists that they will not use their patents against any Linux effort. SCO claims they own the right to use those patents as well as all copyrights, thus nullifying Novell's claims. Currently, SCO is set to revoke IBM's AIX license on June 13, 2003.

For a bit of history I read the original complaint SCO has made against IBM. It seems that SCO feels that "prior to IBM’s involvement, Linux was the software equivalent of a bicycle. UNIX was the software equivalent of a luxury car...It is not possible for Linux to rapidly reach UNIX performance standards for complete enterprise functionality without the misappropriation of UNIX code, methods or concepts to achieve such performance, and coordination by a larger developer, such as IBM." Then came Project Monterey, a SCO/IBM effort to develop 64-bit UNIX. SCO claims specifically that IBM used the code from that project as well as AIX to help RedHat after reaching an agreement in 2000 to resell its software.

That brings us to today where SCO (formerly Caldera) has ceased selling their Linux versions due to this lawsuit. Since their intellectual property was embedded in the OS and released under the GPL it would seem they had opened their source.

Original story at news.com.com.com.com.

SCO's Complaint Against IBM.

SCO's Linux product sales suspended.

Pal Mickey is a new interactive toy available for purchase or rent at Disney theme parks. Mickey is a small stuffed Mickey Mouse that plays games, tells jokes, and inside Disney parks lets you in on park information such as wait times, parade times, and restaurant information.

My wife and I just returned from MGM Studios where we rented the new Pal Mickey for $8. It began with the Cast Member explaining that if we liked Mickey we could just take him home and the $50 deposit would not be refunded. Then, Mickey was activated using a wireless Compaq iPaq that was bolted to a drawer under the counter. I should note that the wireless network username and password was taped to the drawer but I didn't bother collecting the information because I wasn't in a warchalking sorta mood. Anyway, they activated Mickey and told us that Mickey's nose was his receiver and to keep it pointed away from us. So we picked up Mickey and got our first surprise: he's a little heavy. He probably weighs 3 to 4 pounds but has a belt clip. He's not exactly an easy travel companion so if you like to hit the parks light like we do, this isn't for you.

As we walked out the camera shop Mickey giggled, vibrated and let us know that he was ready to help out. This is how Mickey tells you he as info to share after which you may push a button in either hand or his belly and he'll tell you what he knows. Mickey then imparts his wisdom in perfect Mickey tone but at a volume so low that you'll find yourself putting your ear to his belly to hear. His little voice is forced to compete with the louder soundtrack of the park as well as guests.

Mostly his little tidbits were not really helpful as the information he share was extremely general in nature. In fact, the only helpful information he provided was that a parade would start in 30 minutes. When he told us about restaurants he told us what kind of food there was which we easily could get from the posted menus. He never told us how long the wait was at attractions or restaurants. He did however tell jokes that were relevant to where we were. For instance, when walking by Star Tours he told space jokes. Another nice feature was that Mickey wouldn't talk while we were inside an attraction with the exception of the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. Otherwise, he didn't interrupt and we couldn't force him to tell a joke or play a game which you can do by pressing one of his buttons at any time. Speaking of jokes, if you request a joke by pressing either hand or belly at a time when he's not given you the new information signal, he will not tell a new joke for 15 seconds. If you request a new joke within 15 seconds he'll simply tell the same joke again.

Overall, his speaker was too soft, he was heavier than he should be, and didn't give that much useful information. He was however very amusing and quite well suited for small children.

As a Hoosier native and open-wheel racer, no day is bigger to me than race day in Indianapolis. Every year as a child my family would spend weekends pasted to the radio listening to practice and qualifications at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Excitement would build each time a track record was posted and any time Al Unser took the track. We would listen anxiously as our favorite drivers took the track in their bid to join the lineup for the greatest race in the world. The day of the race was reserved for picnics. We would feast outside while listening on the radio counting the laps until next year's hero would take the ceremonial slug of milk and kiss the Borg Warner trophy.

Few things have changed over the years. Now the race proceedings are televised and I've spent quite a bit of time at the Speedway witnessing firsthand the herculean efforts to make the race, but the pomp and circumstance are as large as they were during my childhood. I still get up early on race day and go outside to see if it is going to be a nice day even though I'm in Florida and the hallowed Brickyard is not going to be affected by my weather. The feast is being prepared in the kitchen and the parade is on the TV. I'm feverishly reading up on this year's field in my attempt to determine who I'll put my $5 on. The race can't come soon enough but it wouldn't be the same without Jim Nabors or the the other pre-race activities.

So I hope my dad is doing the same thing this morning just like when we were kids.

Professor Roger Bullis of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point analyzes Disney's cartoons to develop his own cynical take on the Ten Commandments. It's clear that Bullis is not a fan of Disney but his critique is quite interesting:

So how come all the so-called good animals have light colored skin and most of the dark-colored animals are evil?

Bullis analyzes various films, songs, and marketing campaigns and basically indicts Disney as a sexist, racist, shallow company with little on its mind that does not involve world domination.

There is One and Only One Romantic Love For Most Everyone, Waiting to Be Found
Bullis cites just about every Disney love story written as a statement that "to be single is to be lonely and unfulfilled." While I admit that many Disney movies do feature love stories that portray the newfound love as the missing piece in the protagonist's life, there are a large number of characters not in love even if they are supporting characters. It seems to me that the values of love and friendship are generally positively represented which isn't a bad thing. Further, there aren't a great deal of movie themes that don't involve romance of some kind and those that do aren't films I'd take my kids to see. Further, he ignores the ending of Pocahontas, which for all its inaccuracies and troubles shows a young girl choosing her family and responsibilities over love.

I could go on forever with this debate but you should really read his critique yourself and develop your own opinion. He sounds like a overzealous academic with little or no ability to get past practicality and enjoy a little whimsy.

Read The Disney Doctrine: The Ten Commandments of Childhood (via MeFi)

Annika missed the cut at the Colonial with a two day total of 5 over par. Her second day ended in disappointment when she shot 4 over for the day. She finished tied for 96th ahead of 11 others in an intense media festival that made her chances of making the cut even more remote.

I for one believe that not only should she have competed but that she should play in more traditionally all-male tournaments because with a little acclimation she has a chance to improve dramatically and to improve the state of the game.

Her efforts this weekend are very reminiscent of Janet Gutherie, the first woman to compete in the Indy 500. Gutherie was a fine racer who given the support a male driver with her ability would normally receive would have been a winner at the highest levels of motorsports. Sorenstam faces similar barriers of entry to a sport she loves and at which she excels. Gutherie never won a major race but opened the doors for some of today's most exciting racers such as Sarah Fisher, Danica Patrick, and Angelle Savoie. Likewise, Sorenstam may never win a men's major but she may very well open the door for other athletes to do just that.

While most of America watched American Idol some people caught three episodes of the greatest show on TV: Law and Order. I'm easily addicted to the show and love TNT for the reruns nearly every night. I'm not so fond of the early ones with Stone but will watch anything with Sam Waterston--what a great actor. I also prefer Jesse Martin and Jerry Orbach over just about any of the other combinations of detectives. Loved Steven Hill as Adam Schiff and Elisabeth Rohm as the lovely Serena Southerlyn. We also watch Criminal Intent but not SVU. Another interesting note is that the list of guest stars reads like a who's who of the acting world including Sam Jackson, Julia Roberts, and half the cast of Oz. Little know facts: Alec Baldwin is actually credited as a screenwriter for one episode and S. Epatha Merkerson, better known as Lt. Van Buren, was once Reba the Mail Lady on Pee Wee's Playhouse

Go read the Gothamist's Law And Order feature which covers the show and it's historical 300th episode.

Ain't Too Proud Too Blog asks the question we can "raise only $1251.00 for breast cancer -- but bloggers can raise over $4000 for a high school doofus embarrassed that his light sabre choreography video circled the 'net without his knowledge?"

I have to admit the chubby little guy was cute but not $4000 cute.

Poetry is decidedly the territory of wussies and those who can actually write. Not that I'm bitter or anything. I read some poetry about whiskey once that was pretty good but mostly it just didn't make sense. I suppose it is some sign of my intellectual inadequacies but that doesn't matter because I know my meat. I also know that buying my wife poetry generally is a good thing or so she pretends. I buy a book, put some post-its in at random spots to make it look like I've read it for favorite passages, and move on to watch sports on TV. Yeah, poetry is for wimps...or those who can actually write.

Meat Stocks Try to Recover while Coke fends off a lawsuit in Moscow over a meat slogan. The Herald reminds you to let your meat rest following a roast.

Finally, my favorite source of reliable news, The Weekly World News, has two meat stories: the meat tree and cornish game cows.

May the meat be with you...

The BBC reports that heavy metal music from Sesame Street and Barney is being used to break the will of imprisoned Iraqi POWs.

"They can't take it. If you play it for 24 hours, your brain and body functions start to slide, your train of thought slows down and your will is broken. That's when we come in and talk to them."
"In training, they forced me to listen to the Barney "I Love You" song for 45 minutes. I never want to go through that again," one US operative told the magazine.

Amnesty International is looking into the reports in fear that such tactics constitute torture. Lord knows it's not healthy for anyone to listen to Barney.

In a unique bit of spam I received today was an ad for the "Deck of Weasels" which features "America's Worst." Included are the King of Hearts-Michael Moore and 4 of Clubs-Jane Fonda. When did my spam get political? If I wanted weasels by mail I would sign up at Weasel.com for the weasel of the month. But these guys are far from weasel-wonder material.

The Pentagon's Iraqi Most Wanted "Deck of Death" playing cards was a huge hit with Americans. Now, NewsMax.com is raising the ante - with the Deck of Weasels, depicting the 54 worst leaders and celebrities who opposed America and were key members of "The United Nations of Weasels."

the weasel images

My pal Paully built his kids a mini half-pipe in the backyard and has some groovy pics of the construction process. He is one of those ambitious types that gets obsessed with something and can't sleep until he's perfected it. As always, he's perfected a mini mini ramp and cemented his "Wonder Dad" trophy. Now if he'd get off the ramp so his kids could use it...

Paul's Mini Mini Ramp

The Lemon has a wonderful history of the internet in which we start with Al Gore jokes and end with the word "asshat." My personal favorite being the historic moment that the <BLINK> tag made it's debut.

Thinking back about the history of the Internet makes me long for the days when I didn't know what would happen before I saw a movie or TV show...and Al Gore's fancy beard. If only I should have a beard so fine.

Go read History of the Internet at thelemon.net or GOOGLE me some asshat!

ABC is running a story that details the movement toward buying your produce from local growers via small markets and farmers markets.

Romaine lettuce typically travels 2,055 miles from farm to store. The figure is 1,788 miles for celery, and 1,675 miles for onions. Tomatoes are grown 1,369 miles from where they're sold at a retail market.

We shop at a little grocery store that has a real butcher, fresh local produce, and locally made goods. I can honestly say that we are reminded why fresh is better every time we're forced to eat hothouse tomatoes.

Further, the story points out that if we were to truck produce within our own states instead of across country we would save a great deal of money in fuel and reduce emissions.

Support your local farmers, enjoy fresh produce, and go read In Search of Ripe Stuff at abcnews.com.

My wife and I were talking about The Matrix Reloaded this weekend and my lack of interest in seeing the film. It wasn't that I've read a bazillion bad reviews from people I trust--it was that after the first film I knew they had exhausted the thing that made me such a fan.

The first film certainly was a take on religion as many have pointed out. The special effects were cool, the cinematography was great, and the action was mind-blowing. However, what made me watch the film repeatedly was the quasi-religious story-line that seemed to step right out of a Philip K. Dick novel. Intertwining the sci-fi theme with our hero, Neo's, quest to understand the Oracle made the film something to chew on after you watched it.

The previews I've seen and reviews I've read basically lead me to believeThe Matrix Reloaded is an action film and not much more. Where did the philosophy go? Can anyone tell me I'm wrong? Is there any reason to see this film?

Sarah Lane of TechTV's The Screen Savers has a new weblog that let's her readers peek into her world. Much like Wil Wheaton's website she mixes her personal life with her professional life in little ditties that are fun to read. In Friday's entry Sarah describes her recent early viewing of Pixar's new movie Finding Nemo then promptly moves onto her favorite breakfast foods at various points in her life.

Anyway, it's relatively new so go visit Sarah and wish her well.

Visit SarahLane.com.

Cory Doctorow, author of Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, has posted a link at BoingBoing on the BBC's recent report on Celebration, the city that Disney built.

My wife and I live about two hours from the Mouse House and actually love the Disney experience. After we discovered Celebration, where homes are surprisingly affordable, we decided to stay at the local hotel to get a taste of the local lifestyle. While the town is utterly charming and the hotel is fantastic, we soon discovered life in Celebration isn't what it seems.

First, there is no local bookstore, music store, or any other sign of intellectual pursuits. Talking to some Celebration residents while at dinner we found this to be their major complaint as well. Also, no local grocery that can serve all your needs. There is a little market but it very much is a place for specialty foods and snacks and not your primary market. The choice of food is quite limited at the restaurants as well. I know I like good food, but a greasy McHeartAttack is good from time-to-time. Once again, no fast food. Want to see a gritty bar band and throw peanuts on the floor? Not in Celebration. It's upscale bars with no sense of history or local flavor.

After our little trip we realized that living in the dream isn't as good as simply having a dream.

Celebration Story @ BoingBoing.

Sarah Hepola's To Tell The Truth is a fantastic piece in The Morning News today that addresses a night she spent drinking with Jayson Blair, the former NY Times writer dismissed for false reporting. In her description of the night she addresses motivation for lying in the journalism world and how she herself struggles with the truth:

See, it’s my belief that drinking, like lying, is about trying to bridge the gap between the person you are and the person you want to be. Sometimes it’s innocuous, but pushed to extremes, it can erode what you hold most dear.

It's a beautiful and insightful look at a woman's realization that her own flaws may explain what to many is a horrible act.

Lawrence Lessig Needs You! He supports a proposal that states copyrighted work should be protected for 50 years. After 50 years the copyright owner must pay $1 each year to continually protect that copyright. If they miss a payment, the work reverts to the public domain.

It's a pretty simple solution to long-term copyright issues and provides copyright owners adequate protection at a very reasonable price. The beauty of the solution is that it also would allow 98% of the work just 50 years old to revert to public domain for free use in schools, libraries, and research. Older texts could become available online and continue to enhance our society.

Here's your chance to keep major corporations and media outlets from holding all the knowledge: visit the Eric Eldred Act for read about the proposal today and write your Congressman and Senator to let them know you want change!

Notker Wolf, a Benedictine abbott of 25,000 monks and nuns has a side gig. When he's not in Rome doing the Lord's work he's a guitarist for the hard rock band Feedback in Germany.

No plans have been announced for a tour but I'm hoping to see them at OzzFest...

Story at Ananova.

Gary Turner has a great innovation called "Web Fire Escape" which has been implemented here on the site. Each article now has a link which will take you to a site that appears to be business related. The default site is Google but you may change your settings by visiting Web Fire Escape and changing your settings.

So if you're reading at work or home and want an easy escape click the little green button at the bottom of each story.

Rogers Cadenhead dropped me a line to let me know that Saddam's art wasn't rejected D&D covers but is awfully close. It turns out that an artist named "Rowena" of Albany, NY painted the dictator's favorite pieces for two fantasy novels titled King Dragon and Shadows Out of Hell. Rowena would like to have the paintings back now the dictator has abandoned the works.

Original story here.
(Thanks Rogers!)

The BBC has a gallery of Saddam Hussein's art which looks like D&D cover rejects. I would bet he has some velvet dark light paintings somewhere too.

The Wall Street Journal is detailing some work stories that may help slackers appear to be working.

It has never been easier to be a white-collar slacker. While the uninitiated are still grousing about how mobile technology has created a 24/7 work culture and sabotaged their private time, a savvier crowd has moved on to a more rewarding pursuit: using technology to make it look like you're working when you're not .

They offer tips on how to use technology and what to do since you're not working! (Courtesy of Mefi)

While researching the discussion regarding social software, I stumbled across PlasticBag.org's The excess of social software. It's an interesting take on how social software is fulfilling or failing to fulfill needs in the communities they serve.

the innovation must come with the realisation of how to fulfil a need - and to do that we have to look at how those needs have been met to date and where there's scope to bring our insights to bear

I think this is a must read for authors who are seeking an audience. In order to find a community of readers you must fulfill a need--that includes your content, technology and features of your site, and communication offerings for members. Any author will fail if they don't use all these tools to present a compelling reason to participate in the community.

Geeks everywhere and cool people in Oshkosh, Wisconsin agree that Wil Wheaton's new book, Dancing Barefoot, is bound to be worth a read. Wil is best known for his role as Wesley Crusher on the geek-loved Star Trek TNG but happens to be an uber-geek as well. He built and runs his own website that attracts hordes of readers.

Anyway, his book is a collection of stories about his life some of which have been featured on his website. His writing is an unusually frank and open look at the life of a celebrity and the person behind that image. He presents a funny, yet vulnerable look at himself that is quite refreshing to read.

Go buy a book!

The Reverse Cowgirl, Susannah Breslin, is penning a new book of stories that feature some ordinary people living in "a world in which sex reigns supreme." It's not porn or erotica in her description, but sounds more like a fun work of fiction that just happens to center on some screwball sexual situations. She needs $1200 to get it to print so go donate a few clams and support the arts.

The Gothamist reports what might be the most earthbreaking discovery by highly-acclaimed but yet-to-be published Class of 2003: "Dude, the economy blows."

Citing the NY Times (free reg req'd), recent University of North Carolina college graduates who once shunned Rubbermaid as a less-attractive alternative to the racy image of getting rich on soon-to-be worthless dot.com stock options are now "minor celebrities" for just securing a job prior to graduation. Instead enrollment in medical schools and graduates doing public service in Americorps or teaching has increased.

My view on the matter is that the market has corrected itself and rid many fields of unqualified people. I know IT has certainly run out all the jokers who got a quick certificate but didn't understand the practice as a whole. Some really qualified people lost their jobs too unfortunately. So the market actually has good people available and experience speaks in a market like this. I'd much rather hire an experienced applicant over a recent grad with no experience provided I know the extra money spent on experience will return an investment.

So kids, if you're looking for a job you'd better be darn good, have experience, good communication skills, be a shameless self-marketer, and be willing to do something below you to prove yourself.

Tony Pierce has convinced his good friend and personal protege, Keanu Reeves, to answer a few questions from people needing advice. Reeves, best known for his work in the band Dogstar, often helps less-fortunate millionaires bag babes by pretending to love chick flicks like "A Walk In The Clouds."

Keanu's excellent advice can be found here.

I've been getting a great deal of spam inviting to buy me lunch at Burger King. Oddly enough, the message clearly indicates that Burger King isn't affiliated with the offer which lead me to wonder why they would pick Burger King. I also was confused as to what exactly I would have to do for my free lunch.

After I visited the site I recognized I would have to submit every piece of personal information I would never give anyone for a ransom let alone a Whopper despite my love of meat. Further reading indicated I would receive some high-quality email newsletters, opportunities to sell herbal supplements, complete instructions on home businesses, and a hilarious joke of the day. Now we're talking! I'm certainly receiving not-so-funny jokes daily from my friends. A hilarious joke would certainly be worthy of my birth date, home address and phone number, and my real email address.

Still unsure of the offer, I decided to read the privacy policy. That sealed the deal. They will only sell my information to "selected" partners with valuable offers for me.

So I, Joe Jones of 123 Main Street, have signed up for my free Whopper with a brand new email address. I chose to receive no additional newsletters or email.

After registering, I was taken to the American Homeowners Association site where it prompted me for a credit card for my "free" lunch. In my mail were contradictory instructions on how to claim my lunch that didn't require a credit card but instead a futher registration with another website.

Check back tomorrow to see how many "selected" opportunities I receive.

Social software is defined as software that facilitates discussion among a group with common interests. Some good examples include email, email lists, BBS, instant messaging, mult-user online games, and weblogs. It has existed in many forms since the inception of personal online access but only recently has it gained mass adoption. Only recently it should be noted has social software focused on one-to-many communication--in the past the predominant forms focused largely on one-to-one, or simplex (one communicator at a time) communcations. Modern social software enables group communication via a variety of methods.

Social software has become an oft-discussed topic among computer scientists, sociologists, language scientists, and other academians because the social impact is redefining the terms community and society. News is delivered and edited by a large variety of outlets from CNN to webloggers like myself in their living room. Commenting on said news is now a discussion open to members of the community with rights to publish. Students are writing classwork in the dialect most commonly used in instant messaging. People are seeking professional help from practioners offering help online in addion to traditional training methods like books, classes, and tutorials. People often participage in a variety of newsgroups, weblogs, email, and instant messaging groups. Collaboration and innovation among these communities are forcing those interested in the academic pursuits related to communities to take a hard look into the impact.

Being a relatively new media for communities to use, the lack of maturity has lead to undesired consequences. In normal communities for example, there are standards that members uphold to remain in good standing. Online communities have traditionally struggled to enforce fairly standards of membership. Clay Shirky, an NYU professor studying the social politics and impacts of social software, notes that a well-known newsgroup, soc.culture.african.american, broke down " under the weight of user hostile to the conversation" ("Social Software and the Politics of Groups"). Maturity may lead to better community governance but at the current time those challenges still exist.

It's an interesting topic from my seat. I hope more people begin to understand, discuss, and work to improve their growing communities.

Rogers Cadenhead points out on his website that a shooting at Case Western University was motivated by negative comments left on the shooter's website.

The shooter, Biswanath Halder, had filed a lawsuit against the deceased, Shawn Miller claiming that the negative comments had "impaired (his) ability to do his work, maintain, run and keep all his personal, educational, financial and work related records, including a substantial and valuable mailing list. "

Obviously not all people maintaining websites possess the capability to commit such a terrible act but it certainly provokes thought prior to leaving a comment on someone's site.

Original story here.

Some Yale teams apparently have adopted nudity orientation program to help incoming freshmen adapt to the sudden nudity that occurs in the locker rooms:

"Everyone looks at everyone once in awhile. It's a big locker room, it's not like you can't see what some other guy looks like," he said. Another athlete said some team members were more curious about their teammates' medical health and said, "Guys will check out each other for STDs."

OK...there's such a thing as being too comfortable. My philosophy has been stare at the wall or ceiling, wash quickly, assume no one is looking at you, and certainly don't look down.

Anyway, here it is. (Courtesy of Fark.com)

Karen Marcelo, while guestblogging over at BoingBoing, points out that mullets may go the way of the wookie. The up-and-coming hairstyle to ridicule is now the w00k which you can find at every Phish concert, head shop, and every corner in Portland. What's next...Bill Walton's whitefro? Check it out here.

While I love meat, this girl has a car that reeks of meat which in turn merged with her clothing leading to her being fired.

Actually the author is Frayn Masters and is part of a performance group and Pindeldyboz, the publisher, is known for collections of confusing stories. If you like the meat story you'll enjoy the rest of their stuff.

Learn your lessons kiddies...meat must be treated with respect.

Now when it comes to houses I can honestly say I'd be better off buying rather than designing and building. Glen and Joanne at the Straw House Blog are taking a more friendly approach and building a house from straw bales and living entirely off the grid.

You can follow along as they build the home, check out the plans, and hopefully get a bit inspired as they work toward finishing a labor of love and ambition.

Mark points out over at BoingBoing that "Operation Strangelove" is promoting showing Kubrick's classic on May 14 to promote dissent. Various showings will take place across the country including one in NYC overlooking Ground Zero. Proceeds from showings will benefit five charities including Doctors Without Borders, Madre, RAWA, Voice in the Wilderness, and United for Peace and Justice.

On a side note, Slim Pickens, despite being a product of the state of California was once the highest paid rodeo clown prior to numerous appearances in a variety of films in the role of "Sherriff..." He of course is best known for riding the bomb in this Kubrick masterpiece.

Peace is our profession!

So I've shamelessly plugged Todd Snider's website and music here frequently and today should be no different. Today my mailman stuck my copy of Snider's newest disc "Near Truths and Hotel Rooms" in my mailbox. If you've been to a Snider show you know that nothing compares to that experience. If you haven't been to a live show or even heard of Todd Snider here's the skinny: he's a funny, poignant songwriter drenched in the styles of Jimmy Buffett, Jerry Jeff Walker, Gamble Rogers, and John Prine. His live shows are often highlighted by Todd's often insecure stories as to the origin of the next tune. If that's what you like, this CD is going to be your best purchase all year.

Aside from the always hilarious stories, this CD features all your Snider favorites. In my opinion the most recent R.S. Fields produced album "New Connection" is Snider's finest musical endeavor while this is by far the most fun. One musical highlight is the strikingly sincere "I Spoke As A Child" which may be my favorite ever Snider recording.

If you buy the CD make sure to read the liner notes which feature interesting little tidbits about the songs and little paintings by Snider's wife Melita who is a fabulous painter in her own right.

A well educated Colin sat off on a course to get the absolute lowest score possible on the SAT and nearly accomplished said goal. Answering two questions correctly but unintentionally he scored the bare minimum of 400 and documented the entire process with a wink and a nod.

He notes to high school students *NOT* to replicate his feat because " The Man has many glorious gifts stored up for you in the System, and he desperately wants to give them to you, but when you stop conforming, The Man feels great sorrow, and may even have to punish you..."

Courtesy of that gaggle of geese and the barrel of monkeys over at Slashdot.

After finding Charles Kaufman's "Robots Love Meat" painting I was reminded of an article in Omni many years ago about some aliens who discover Earth is inhabited by what in their estimation is "sentient meat." Quite a funny story:

"Yes, thinking meat! Conscious meat! Loving meat. Dreaming meat. The meat is the whole deal!  Are you beginning to get the picture or do I have to start all over?"
"Omigod. You're serious then. They're made out of meat."
"Thank you. Finally. Yes. They are indeed made out of meat. And they've been trying to get in touch with us for almost a hundred of their years."

Anyway, it was written by Terry Bisson and is found on his website here

Sound odd? Well it is and it is the art of Charles Kaufman. Not only do robots love meat in Kaufman's world but they're fond of coffee and bread. Kaufman's paintings range from the edgy and bright, to retro and campy. While I dig the robot series, the series of painting depicting toasters shooting bread are my favorites...most likely because they remind me of the great Heywood Banks' Toast song.

Courtesy of my pal, Gin Joint Johnny, and The Onion: "Dozens Dead in Chicago-Area Meatwave".

"The excessively high level of pork loins, sirloin tips, bratwurst, and other meats was indisputably the number-one factor in these deaths," said Chicago mayor Richard Daley, speaking from his temporary command center at Ruth's Chris Steak House on North Dearborn Street.

Priceless...

It appears that the Pope will name St. Isidore of Seville the protector of the internet according to Christianity Today. Isidore was born in the middle 6th century and had compiled an encyclopedia that was the forerunner of the modern database.

So who is the saint of potholders?

CNN reports that Wal-Mart is taking Maxim, Stuff and FHM off its shelves due to their racy material.

That being said, on their website they offer other lovely replacements such as Handgunner, Shooting and the favorite of militia everywhere, Blade.

Now it strikes me as odd that they would make potentially dangerous goods such as the hunting products they carry available with magazines to help learn to use them but not do the same for sex related items. They carry condoms, books about condoms, KY, and vibrators the last I knew. So why not a few pictures to help the kids out?

When I read other people's writing online these days I'm struck by how everyone seems to only have extreme situations. People think everything is really funny or really stupid. People are very angry or utterly depressed. People are incredibly busy or bored to tears. It's as if everyone is living what they believe is the most extreme situation when in fact they are experiencing very normal lives. Yet, the online community runs rampant with outbursts of emotion and opinion which seemingly are all in sharp contrast with one another.

Normalcy isn't something I've come to expect from online authors. After all, who would really want to read about the normal doings of an average person? Then again, it was this voyeuristic nature of blogging that drew the crowds. It turns out that we were all seeking those fatal flaws, the peaks in personality, and contrasting views that used to be hidden in everyone. Now those tendencies are proudly on display in each author's website with the hopes it will bring readers. No, normalcy cannot be expected online anymore.

So why am I rambling about the long list of authors screaming "I'm crazy!", "I'm depressed!", "I'm funny!", or "I'm pissed off!" instead of tending to my own obsessions? I guess like all of you I just can't turn away knowing that a train wreck may occur at any second. In the end, it's still that voyeuristic nature of waiting to see someone honestly just give up a slice of the normal life and not that of their online persona.

This afternoon I'm attending some kind of press event/party thing for the mayor whom I really don't know but shall drink with regardless. I anticipate it will be a great circus of schmoozing with little or no substance as these things usually are. When attending these things people, including myself, get out their alter-ego "networking" identity and typically say things they don't really understand. I'm not accusing the mayor of this mind you, but myself and most people I know. Perhaps the mayor is the same way--he is a politician--but I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt.

What perplexes me is how do you really schooze when you obsess about meat, guitars, race cars, computers, and not politics or business? Certainly, I'm no stranger to the business world but I don't know diddly about most of these people and I'm not about to show my hand. I'd rather find out where to get good pancetta than find out that the port is working on a new marketing plan which with lead to economic gains. Acting interested will be hard...

Damn the iTunes Music Store is addictive. I've bought three albums on the service already and it has forced me to take some extreme measures I didn't think possible. Three albums doesn't seem like much considering I buy lots of music but the interesting part is it is like I'm standing at the candy display in the checkout line 24x7. It literally is so damn easy to buy things I can't resist buying all the gum on the rack.

Further, as I previously commented, I went to the Gamble Rogers Folk Fest for some live tunes this weekend and bought more music there. I knew the artists wouldn't be in the store yet so I figured that I'd better get the music now rather than wait for it. In other words, the convenience didn't deter me from buying a real CD but actually helped me remember the independent artists I see are the only people worth spending the extra cash to hear--and they're signed CDs!

To recap: iTunes good because it's easy, bad because it's like crack, good because it helps you appreciate live artists. iTunes goooood.

It appears that the Bush administration is conceding that they have not nor do they expect to find the weapons of mass destruction that they claimed forced their hand. Donald Rumsfeld stated to CNN that he was "not frustrated" at the lack of evidence of Hussein's stockpile but instead that he expected Iraqis to come forward to help locate the potential weapons.

So to recap the war to this point, we claimed Iraq had ties to terrorists and changed our mind, claimed they had nuclear and biological weapons and found none, and then claimed to be freeing an oppressed people who march against our presence on a daily basis. We've needlessly put our valuable fighting forces in harm's way for an apparently foundless war. We've endangered our international and economic relationships for nothing. We destroyed Iraq's infrastructure, killed many civilians, demolished schools but we saved the oil fields. As as nation we've accomplished nothing during this presidency that will be recalled as progress.

If we ever choose to put our troops in harm's way again I hope that it's for something more important than this.

Having just returned from the Gamble Rogers Folk Festival I have to tell you that folk is alive and well. We met Gove Scrivenor, Jack Williams, and the up-and-coming Bill Hilly Band. While all acts were fantastic, the Bill Hilly Band stood out.

The five eclectic musicians from Victoria, British Columbia took the crowd by storm with a bizarre blend of Candian-Celtic-country-bluegrass-folk-something-or-other that was as ear-pleasing as anything on the radio while obscure enough for the snobby music listener. Individually these guys could be stars because they each possess a mastery of their instruments and voices. Collectively they could be the next Nickle Creek or the Barenaked Ladies of folk. While characterizing them as if they are a step below those two bands is unfair, it would be a safe bet to believe they have as much potential as either of those band in the early days.

Run out and buy music...it's good for your soul!

Last night my wife and I had a night out on our town which sort of surprised us. First we went for dinner and found quite a number of new restaurants have popped up in the last month or so. We also came across a digital camera shop in the heart of the historic district and met a guy who owns one of my favorite stores. After dinner we went to a gallery for the opening of Matthew Bennett's Calendar Girls. We ran into some friends who we caught up with and bought one of Matt's calendars--autographed of course. At this little pawn shop I've always passed by without noticing there was live blues--good blues. We stopped in and browsed and shoved a dollar in the tip jar. We settled on the evening after a little ice cream at the NYC Cafe.

The interesting thing about the evening is that we could accomplish all of this within about four blocks of our apartment. In city with only 15,000 people you can't have a better location or a larger range of entertainment options. We've really got it made.

It gets better. Today we'll drive a whopping 2 miles over to the beach for a few hours then head to the Gamble Rogers Folk Festival to hear some of the best folk music anywhere. Oh yes, we've got it made.

Tony Pierce has a plan for his term in office that includes:

• legalize some drugs and abolish the designated hitter
  
• put ticketmaster out of business, if not jail
  
• duck into mtv all the time and tell the kids that they aren't rocking hard enough
  
• tear down the lights in wrigley
  

Sounds like a good platform to me...

It seems that some churches are making between $1,000 and $3,000 a month to hose cellular or wifi antennae in their steeples and crosses. The NYTimes [free reg req'd] reports that although fewer than 1% of all antennae are housed in church buildings they are popping up in historic communities who will not approve traditional towers to sour their skyline.

So if you're attending mass in Ipswich, MA bring your wireless PDA!

Sydney is getting a new attraction but the theme will be anything but childish. The Daily Planet, Ltd. has become the first brothel to be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and has raised $3.5 million during its IPO. The company plans on tripling the size of its current establishment in Sydney, which has legalized prostitution. To create an adult theme park they are seeking a 200 to 300 room hotel with a cinema and plenty of adult shopping. They also have plans to expand to other Australian cities and are planning their foray into the United States with a Nevada location.

The original story is here.

Wired is reporting that the management of Los Alamos National Laboratory is up for competitive bidding. Currently managed by the University of California, the facility has been at the epicenter of both financial and nuclear security scandals in the past year.

Today's management may be poor put I'm not sure that giving this to the lowest bidder is exactly the right approach. I've had contractors who were hired as the lowest bidder and I can tell you they've almost always been horrible in respect to quality. Picture those guys running the Energy Deparment's most important scientific endeavor...

Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins has a funny headline found in The Decatur Daily that reads: "Hartselle woman fingers mother, younger sister, in Ohio slaying." Obviously its a serious story with serious implications but it doesn't take a Pulitzer-winning author to know this headline would be misconstrued by most of us. Then again, its a story from Alabama so perhaps its right on the money. Maybe I'll read the article again to check...

Check it out here.