Random thoughts

[yendi]

Call it a linkdump, if you must. :-) Our net connection was down for most of the day yesterday, so these tabs have been hanging around for a while, in some cases.

1. Damned happy about California's recent Supreme Court decision. It's always extra fun to watch a wanker like Glen Levy whine that the gays are stealing our jobs ruining marriage for folks like him (because, you know, if gays get married, they'll magically stop bigoted assholes from finding each other with their Ultra Leet Gay Marriage-Disruption Rays).

2. I'm also happy that CA filed charges against Lori Drew, who deserves whatever bad crap comes her way.

3. I think that the new Youtube Mac app from Google, Vidnik, has some nifty potential.

4. Even if it's been linked to a million times, Roger Ebert's piece on fanzines is great. As is tnh's amplification.

5. I'm happy that Chicago came to its senses about foie gras.

6. Charlie Stross has some good points on the onslaught of bloated web pages.

7. WIkileaks has some simply fascinating reading material.

8. This article about contemporary pirates is fascinating.

9. The first trailer for Dollhouse is out! Watch it before Fox cancels it!

10. The World Science Festival is at the end of the month, for anyone in or near New York City!

Comments

[emilytheslayer.livejournal.com]

because, you know, if gays get married, they'll magically stop bigoted assholes from finding each other with their Ultra Leet Gay Marriage-Disruption Rays)

Man if only.

[litch.livejournal.com]

naw, having them meet is slightly desirable from a grand scheme of human suffering point of view, imagine the miserable souses they'd acquire otherwise

Chicago

[dindin.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I'm not normally a fan of unnecessary consumer protectionism/business regulation, but the way Foie Grois is made is just so despicable and inhumane. I really don't know why it doesn't qualify as animal cruelty just because it's putting (luxury) food in our mouths.

Re: Chicago

[yendi]

Except force-feeding isn't a requirement (unless you're in France, where they have laws saying you can't call it Foie Gras unless you use forced feeding).

Pirates

[kenakeri.livejournal.com]

Gentleman of opportunity? What nonsense. I wish they'd stop the romantic allusions. Their victims aren't always rich shipping companies. Pirates have no qualms about killing fishermen for their catch or their boat engines.

Re: Pirates

[yendi]

Very true.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Re the Ebert article: Man, I wish they had done something for the 1992 HAL 9000 anniversary, when I was still living in Shampoo-Banana Champaign-Urbana. Interesting thing that Ebert didn't mention, though, is that while HAL (to the best of our knowledge) was not actually born in Urbana, Illinois in 1992, what was happening in 1992 in the upstairs smoking section of the Urbana Espresso Royale was Marc Andreessen slamming caffeine into the wee hours and laying out Mosaic, the first commercial World Wide Web browser. *cue Creepy Coincidence music*

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

They missed TWO chances to mark it: in the book, didn't HAL go online in 1997? (It's 1992 in the film, when his instructor was Mr. Langley, not Dr. Chandra, but I digress...)

Marc Andreessen and Mosaic in 1992

Oh, neat. And thank goodness the internet is too diffuse to be a HAL-like threat!

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Oh, no, they did celebrate in 1997, with Ebert present in person and Clarke present via weblink. I, however, was long gone by then, hence the miserable sighing.

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

Forgive me for my talking-out-my-ass-ness causing you to relive an unpleasant memory...

(But think of it this way: Dr. Chandra wasn't there either.)

OT: Mal/Wash '08!

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you've seen the "Reynolds/Washburne '08" T-shirt. I liked this reaction to it: Firefly fan Caitlin R. Kiernan (greygirlbeast) linked to it (she's had a T-shirt made by the same company) and said "Shiny! You must have one. You must. And right now, they're on sale for only $12.99 (through Monday, when the price goes back to $16.99). Though, I will say that I think "No Power in the 'Verse" would be a better campaign slogan. Maybe we can use those on the bumper stickers and yard signs."

Her friend scarletboi said "I would TOTALLY vote for them. If only to hear Mal's state of the union addresses."

Caitlin said "I may now have to write that..."

Re: OT: Mal/Wash '08!

[yendi]

The shirt is nifty, but I refuse to buy anything that has the tagline for the awful, awful movie. Joss on TV=awesome. On the big screen=suck.

Re: OT: Mal/Wash '08!

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

Then this shirt may divert you and make you feel better: this is the shirt that Ziraxia made for Caitlin (partly based on her partner humglum's design), for a band she invented for Caitlin's novel Silk. ('Song might like it, too.)

[badlittlemonkey.livejournal.com]

I shoulda checked my LJ earlier today... the Dollhouse promo has already been pulled. Dammit.

[voltbang.livejournal.com]

I'm also happy that CA filed charges against Lori Drew, who deserves whatever bad crap comes her way.

If it had been my kid, I would have killed the adult who did that. Knocked on her door, said hello, and shot her until she was dead.

[modpixie.livejournal.com]

oh man, the myspace suicide.

i'm not denying that lori drew is a terrible, terrible person who deserves anything that comes her way...but if the case gets tried, and if she's found guilty, this has some major repercussions for everyone.

i do think that the meiers have a case. this could be tried as fraud, and given the sexual innuendo in some of the messages (such as "josh" telling megan to "touch ['his'] snake", that could have also been reason to go after lori drew. but charging her in a federal court for violating myspace's TOS is not a good precedent.