50 Dumbest Things Bush Ever Said
Friday, December 29, 2006
Science as art
In the spring of 2006 we again asked the Princeton University community to submit images—and, for the first time, videos and sounds—produced in the course of research or incorporating tools and concepts from science. Out of nearly 150 entries from 16 departments, we selected 56 works to appear in the 2006 Art of Science exhibition.
The practices of science and art both involve the single-minded pursuit of those moments of discovery when what one perceives suddenly becomes more than the sum of its parts. Each piece in this exhibition is, in its own way, a record of such a moment. They range from the image that validates years of research, to the epiphany of beauty in the trash after a long day at the lab, to a painter's meditation on the meaning of biological life.
We thank all those who submitted their work to this year's competition. By sharing their imagination, as well as the fruits of their research, they have reaffirmed the deep links between art and science.
Cool Stuff from Uncrate
Another game goes 'real world'
Perplex City Game Cards
GEAR | GAMING | 
If you've got some free time and want to be playing a game that's a
little more real than hitting buttons on a controller, check out the
Perplex City Game Cards ($5 each, 4 for $10). Each pack contains six
puzzle cards that feature optical illusions, riddles, mazes, codes,
pop culture trivia, and more. When you have found solutions to the
codes, go to the game's website and enter the solutions to earn
points that move you up a worldwide leaderboard and help you on your
way to finding $200,000 that is buried somewhere in the world — and
$200,000 sounds pretty real to us.
http://tinyurl.com/yx4jzq
Linear Custom Cabinets
HOME | FURNITURE | 
Sometimes to find the right piece of furniture, you just have to
design it yourself. Room & Board is letting you do just that with
their Linear Custom Series 5 Cabinets ($700-$2900). Available in
sizes ranging from 26 inches wide and 32 inches high all the way to a
74x80, each provides slots that let you choose from a wide range of
inserts to make sure you get what you want.
http://tinyurl.com/y8j52y
Handyman In-Your-Pocket
ENTERTAINMENT | BOOKS | 
Handyman In-Your-Pocket ($10) is the ultimate reference guide for the
do-it-yourself home owner. While some might need a magnifying glass
to read it, this back-pocket book packs in 768 pages with essential
info on carpentry, roofing, rope, pipes, pumps, bolts, lumber,
welding, tools, electrical, conversion factors, and tons more. It's
used by professional contractors, builders and handymen across the
nation, so you can be sure the guide is full of valuable details.
http://tinyurl.com/y3nm7c
Ice-Qube
HOME | STORAGE | 
There's nothing like the holiday season to remind you that it's
simply impossible for people to get along. With that in mind, it's
best to be prepared for whatever might come your way — and this is a
great way to do it. The Ice-Qube ($850) is jam-packed with all sorts
of things to keep you and your loved ones alive in an emergency.
There's too much included to list it all here, but its slogan is
"Everything you never want to need in case of emergency," and it's
spot on.
http://tinyurl.com/wvlwg
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Trends to watch in the energy world
Lots of data out there, so little time.
Several groups are counting on algae as the next big source of energy. If you play with its genes, you can get it to belch out more hydrogen at cheaper prices than just about anything else (no one has actually made this trick work reliably yet), which means that algae farms could be a source of 'cheap' hydrogen. Algae also grows damn fast which means you could use it as bio-mass for a bio-mass reactor making both energy and bio-diesel.
Here is an article on one viewpoint:
Want alternative energy? Try pond scum To the growing industry of biodiesel and ethanol refiners with their eyes on biomass, algae looks like green gold.
TheDeal.com
Published: December 27, 2006, 4:00 AM PST
Mounting concern about U.S. dependence on foreign oil and about global warming is causing a surge of interest and investment in biomass, hydrogen, solar power and other alternative energy sources. But bubbling beneath the surface of this wave--in more ways than one--is a technology that, while lacking an existing market or powerful lobby to advance its profile, may soon emerge as the most promising source of portable liquid fuels and that can offer unique environmental benefits to the electrical generation industry.
Personally though, I am betting this too shall pass. My reasons? Over the past twelve months we have seen everything from soybeans to corn to sugar cane touted as the best choice as alternative fuel source of the next decade/century/millennia!
I think that, unless you have time to check it out carefully and money to burn doing it, hold your investments (mental and monetary) until some clear fore-runners break from the pack. When someone opens an algae farm and starts selling the hydrogen..... when someone figures out how to cheaply and reliably transport the hydrogen..... When someone figures out how to grow fuel crops without impinging the world food supply..... When Ford/GM/Chrysler/Toyota/Mazda starts selling a bio-diesel family car as a standard item instead of a special retrofit......
Of course, I am not a pundit and I talk from a minimal amount of research, but that my opinion.
Games, Riddles and the like
So first i read this article:
December 26, 2006 Tags: free game kidsafe macpclinux puzzle riddle
Lateral thinking is not something I have always excelled at. Some would even say you could remove "lateral" from the previous sentence and it would remain just as true. I have noticed in fact a general decline in my reasoning prowess, and I'm choosing to blame the lack of sleep as a result of having a baby... 14 months ago. To fight my general stupidification I've been flexing my lateral thinking muscles lately with Riddles of Riddles 100. These lateral thinking web games are the work of one apparently psychotic mind, Mark Lautman. They aren't as slick or polished as God Tower or Dumb: The Game, but what they lack in graphics they make up for in deviousness and variety. In the first 16 puzzles alone, I came across binary code, a crossword puzzle, a word scramble, and a quote from... nevermind, that would give the answer away. When you discover the answer to a puzzle you enter it directly in the URL in your browser's address bar. I was originally a little annoyed at that, but the manual entry actually sets Mark up to hand you some pretty clever wordplay based on the address bar itself. There are also occasional hints in the source code of the document itself. Shoot, I hope that didn't spoil anything. It's so hard reviewing these kinds of games without giving too much away. In any event, if you like feeling stupid for not finding the answer that's right in front of your nose, get ready to enjoy. Click. Be sure to check out the other flavors of the Riddles of Riddles games as well. Thanks to Xyz for sending this one in!
Which led me on to find these riddle/puzzle games (have not tried any of it yet):
RIddle of Riddles: http://tinyurl.com/yjqyps
Clever Waste of Time: http://tinyurl.com/ydcgtt
God Tower: http://tinyurl.com/dodbp
My Diamond Baby: http://tinyurl.com/ya9cr9
All of it came through reviews on Casual Gameplay which is exactly the kind of gamer I have become. I have no time for involved, long, complicated games anymore.
I suggest a look to one and all.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
On security
Quoted in whole from Bruce Schneier Blog:
December 22, 2006
Not Paying Attention at the Virginia DMV
Two men have been issued Virginia drivers' licenses even though they were wearing outlandish disguises when they had their pictures taken at the Department of Motor Vehicles:
Will Carsola and Dave Stewart posted Internet videos of their pranks, which included scenes of Carsola spray-painting his face and neck bright red and Stewart painting the top of his head black and sticking a row of fake buckteeth in his mouth in an Asian caricature. They each enter the DMV office and return with real licenses with photos of their new likenesses.
In another video, a shaved-headed Carsola comes out of the DMV with a photo of his eyes crossed, and another friend obtains a license after spray-painting on a thick, black beard and monobrow.
The Virginia DMV is now demanding that the two come back and get real pictures taken.
These guys have done the Virginia DMV--and the nation-- a big favor. Many of us have tried to argue how much of a joke these agencies and our homeland security remain after 9/11--particularly the issuance of driver's licenses (it was the Virginia DMV that issued state photo ID to several 9/11 hijackers who were aided by illegal aliens).
But few dissertations and policy analyses drive the message home more effectively than these two damning videos.
Thanks, guys.
I honestly don't know if she realizes that REAL ID won't solve this kind of problem, though. Nor will it solve the problem of people getting legitimate IDs in the names of people whose identity they stole, or real IDs in fake names by bribing DMV employees. (Several of the 9/11 hijackers did this, in Virginia.)
AND
Sneaking into Airports
The stories keep getting better. Here's someone who climbs a fence at the Raleigh-Durham Airport, boards a Delta plane, and hangs out for a bunch of hours.
Best line of the article:
"It blows my mind that you can't get 3.5 ounces of toothpaste on a plane," he said, "yet somebody can sneak on a plane and take a nap."
Exactly. We're spending millions enhancing passenger screening -- new backscatter X-ray machines, confiscating liquids -- and we ignore the other, less secure, paths onto airplanes. It's idiotic, that's what it is.
AND
Airline Security a Waste of Cash
Gauss Pistol - TinFoilHat - HUD - WebOS - Etc...
Silly jokes and one liners aside, this is actually really cool. Its a simple and cheap answer to a serious problem, and it works.
Tin foil hats finally find a purpose: Cool-Cap baby cooling
Posted Dec 24th 2006 5:09AM by Paul Miller Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Wearables The FDA has just lent its stamp of approval to the new Olympic Cool-Cap from Olympic Medical of Seattle. The shiny little hat is designed to help treat hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE -- yeah, we never heard of it either) in newborn infants. It's a potentially fatal injury to the brain caused by low levels of oxygen, and kills 20-25 percent of its victims, with 25 percent suffering permanent disabilities. The Cool-Cap is designed to combat the condition by creating a steady flow of water in the cap to cool the baby's head. It's not as simple as it sounds, with a whole control system involved to monitor the kid, and a solid-state water cooler to deliver uber-precise temperatures to the cap. The foil of the cap is designed to minimize heat, which is great, since it turns out those tin foil hats of ours were never doing much good after all.
VERY COOL TECH, IF A BIT DANGEROUS!
Gauss' GP-219 electromagnetic pistol fires steel projectiles silently
Posted Dec 23rd 2006 10:13PM by Darren Murph Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Handhelds Sure, mechanical sentries and AirSoft turrets are novel, but there's nothing like whipping out an electromagnetic pistol to show folks you mean business. The Gauss GP-219 looks like it came straight from level 5 of Duke Nukem 3D, and rocks a PIC microcontroller, dual coils with "precision pulsing" to fire steel projectiles, twin infrared sensors to assist in positioning, and even a laser sight to keep your enemies pegged. Powered by an NiCd battery pack, this bad boy also features a bar display to track "capacitor bank charge progress," battery and fault LED indicators, and is "completely silent" when fired. The wildest part about this science-fiction dream come true is how effective it actually is, so be sure to click on for a few more pictures, and hit the read links for all the nitty gritty and even a few live action videos. Read - Gauss Pistol GP-219Read - Pistol whipping in action, Nukem-style
AND
Once you have a look at this EM Pistol, and watch the video you will probably want to get in line to buy your own!
“# Two coils are precisely pulsed in sequence
(350 Amp peak) to fire a steel projectile
# Two infrared sensors detect the projectile
position within the firing tube
# Controlled by a PIC microcontroller
# Powered by 8 AA NiCd battery pack
# Built-in battery-charger
# Bar display tracks capacitor bank charge
progress
# Battery and Fault LED indicators
# Laser targeting sight
# Makes no sound when fired”
“# Two coils are precisely pulsed in sequence
(350 Amp peak) to fire a steel projectile
# Two infrared sensors detect the projectile
position within the firing tube
# Controlled by a PIC microcontroller
# Powered by 8 AA NiCd battery pack
# Built-in battery-charger
# Bar display tracks capacitor bank charge
progress
# Battery and Fault LED indicators
# Laser targeting sight
# Makes no sound when fired”
Unfortunately I can't see any of the videos from here.... all blocked!
HEADS-UP-DISPLAY, ONE OF MY FAVORITE VAPORWARE ITEMS:
Arisawa Teleglass: Getting CloserJust last weekend we were writhing over the potential of a video headset that wouldn't get your butt kicked, and we are already a step closer. The Arisawa Teleglass is a mobile video headset solution that is not a headset at all, but a clip on LCD display that can hook to your coolest pair of wrap around glasses. The .24 inch LCD display simulates a 21 inch display from 1 meter. So while the viewing area isn't huge, one of your eyes can monitor for incoming punches to the face. We're not entirely certain of what sort of video inputs will work, but the Teleglass does require you to carry an iPod-sized box to function. At about $429, we'll wait until this technology is flat and integrated into the lens. (Sorry manufacturers, nothing else will do for the mass public.) – MARK WILSON Product Page (Japanese) [via i4u]
10 Web Operating Systems Reviewed
from the best-not-go-with-the-cheapy-isp dept.
Stan Schroeder writes "Waiting for GoogleOS? Why not try some of the WebOS applications that are already available? Believe it or not, there's already over 15 of them, and here you can find a review of the 10 most promising WebOSes. Most of them might not make you want to ditch your desktop OS just yet, but some are very good and can be used on a day-to-day basis. Highlights include DesktopTwo, Goowy, YouOS, EyeOS and Glide. You can find the whole bunch here." Note: for the purposes of this article, "WebOS" is defined as "a set of applications running in a web browser that together mimic, replace or largely supplement a desktop OS environment."
How To Get Bumped Off Your Flight On Purpose Sometimes you feel lucky if the flight is overbooked and you are bumped to next available flight. Why? Usually you will get a free hotel or free flight voucher to compensate for the inconvenience.
Warren Ellis to write weekly SL column for Reuters Oh, man, this is the coolest news ever. Reuters announces: "Writer Warren Ellis, author of comic books, graphic novels, and two forthcoming novels, is bringing his 'Second Life Sketches' to the Reuters Second Life News Center as a weekly column beginning next month." Link. Warren says, "I’m actually getting paid to write about the future in relation to the Second Life system. I tell you, this has been a weird month for me..." Link.
1-800-FREE-411
I don't like advertising for other people, but this is cool:
1-800-FREE-411
Search by Phone Simply dial 1-800-FREE411 and get the listing you need for free. It’s just like 411, only better because it doesn’t cost anything. So who pays, you ask? Our advertisers do. And should you be interested in one of their great offers, we’ll connect you free of charge. Search by Internet Want to look online? No problem. At Free411.com, you’ll get the most accurate residential and business listings on the Web. That’s because we use the same real-time data as the phone companies.
MORE ON 1-800-FREE-411
23 October Nik Cubrilovic Michael Arrington interviews Jingle Networks CEO George Garrick and investor Josh Kopelman about today’s big financing news as well as the history and future of their free, ad supported 411 service called 1-800-Free-411. Key facts from the discussion: Jingle currently has costs of around $0.25 per call, and revenue of $0.20, although Garrick feels that potential revenue per call will approach $0.50 as the market matures. Garrick and Kopelman also discuss upcoming potential competition from Google and other search players, and how Jingle will compete in that market. The service, which is growing rapidly, now claims 3% of the total U.S. 411 calls, a roughly $8 billion market.
Time: 31:39 Minutes Size: 7.24 MB
Book Ends
I saw this on UnCrate and thought it was awesome, it got me thinking
and today is slow so I went a-looking for more:

Mos Eisley Cantina Bookend Set
HOME | ART & DECOR | 
If you're a reader and a Star Wars fan, there's no doubt you'll flat
out love this as much as we do. The Star Wars Mos Eisley Cantina
Bookend Set ($115) depicts Han Solo, blaster in hand, facing off
against Greedo. The set is six inches tall and ten inches wide when
pushed together, and captures very fine details of both the scene and
the characters, but there's still no word on whether Greedo shoots
first or not.
http://tinyurl.com/yndef2
To my GREAT surprise (though why I am surprised I do not know, the
net was built for Niche-Marketing) I found a web-shop that is
Just BookEnds and of course Amazon has their selection.
Friday, December 22, 2006
kitchen knives
So amazon is having a sale on cuisanart knives.
I own one such knife (deb, the dairy good knife) and had at one time
wanted to buy a set for my sister who has no good knives,
Amazon has the set at 200 dollars off including a very nice hide-away
knife block (keeps the dust out).
http://tinyurl.com/yylqvk
they are also selling the chefs knife alone for 40 bucks which is
good but not great as prices go.
http://tinyurl.com/y2k922
stuff 12-22-06
Shop Smart Ever been in a store and seen an item, and it suddenly occured to you that it might be cheaper on the Internet? Who do you call? GHOST....sorry, that's not it....you call Frucall (1-888-DO-FRUCALL). Frucall's free phone-based service automatically finds the current, best online price for any product and instantly lets consumers hear it from any phone, anytime, anywhere. Frucall empowers consumers to shop smart and take advantage of both online and in-store shopping experiences at the same time.
COOLLIGHT Recently, designboom had a "house party" design competition, and after looking at 3070 designers from 89 different countries, they decided on the top 3. Wen-Haur Yen from Taiwan took first place and in his own words describes his invention: COOLIGHT combines a handle and a steel cylinder filled with cryogen. When you need an ice beer, just put the COOLIGHT into the beer bottle. It would help you to cool down the beer as soon as possible. On the top of the handle , there is a cork made by rubber would fix the hole device and the bottle close together, and you can drink the beer through the hole on the top of it. COOLIGHT has another convenient device on its body, LED. LED would display the information of time and temperature in order that you could know what time it is or what the temperature of the beer.I'm sold. I just love the ideas of all these different colored lights dancing around at my next house party. Unfortunately, Wen-Haur Yen 's design is not yet in production; but we'll be the first to alert you when it is.
VERY COOL:
Brinker hopes to bring leak-fixing artificial platelets to water pipes Posted Dec 21st 2006 10:28PM by Donald Melanson Filed under: Misc. Gadgets U.K.-based Brinker Technology has been fine tuning its artificial platelet technology for oil pipelines for a while now, but it looks like the company's now looking to bring the leak-sealing solution to a water pipe near your. Unfortunately, the technology doesn't involve nanobots crawling though the pipes and fixing leaks with their pint-sized blowtorches (yet), with Brinker's solution instead relying on "squishy blobs" that flow through the pipes and attach themselves to leaks, forming a temporary "scab" that'll keep the fluids contained until the pipe can be permanently fixed. While the company apparently thinks that the blobs will be just at home in water pipes as they are in oil pipelines, they're currently stuck waiting for the necessary approval to put 'em to the test.
Researchers develop backpack to ease heavy loads Posted Dec 21st 2006 7:07PM by Donald Melanson Filed under: Wearables Those crack backpack researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are at it again, New Scientist reports, following up their power-generating backpack with one designed simply to lighten the load on the wearer, apparently re-purposing some of the same technology from their earlier model. As with that backpack, the person wears a metal frame with the cargo suspend from it, in this case using elastic cords instead of springs. But instead of generating power from the resulting bouncing motion, the backpack simply takes advantage of the natural action to keep the load at a constant height as the person walks, supposedly reducing the energy required to carry a heavy load by up to 40%. Unlike wth the power-generating backpack, however (which was developed at the behest of the US Office of Naval Research) Larry Rome, the creator of this new bouncy backpack, looks to be thinking commercially from the get go, founding the "Lighting Packs" company with the full intention of taking 'em to market.
University of Tokyo develops expansive plastic power sheet Posted Dec 21st 2006 1:52PM by Darren Murph Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Wireless It seems this whole "wireless power" phenomenon is just getting warmed up, as we've got yet another creation that promises to rejuvenate our gadgetry without forcing us to hunt for those easy-to-misplace AC adapters. Researchers at the University of Tokyo have demonstrated a prototype which consists of "plastic and flexible electronics" that can wirelessly provide power to "any device that touches its surface." Of course, gadgets would need to be equipped with "a coil and special power-harvesting circuitry" to receive the energy, but it still beats lugging around half a dozen adapters on every outing. While this flexible sheet still relies on electromagnetic induction like the one's that have come before it, this particular rendition features a dual-sheet design that allows it to intelligently divert power to objects touching any part of the sheet, while not wasting energy on parts not being occupied. Takao Someya, professor of engineering, estimates that there's still "about five years" before the sheet will overcome the current "reliability issues," but hopes to one day "power flat-screen panels without ever needing an electrical outlet."
Teens Build Fully-Functional LEGO Record Player Mark and Ralph built this fully-functional record player using only LEGO pieces — aside from the “paper cone, tin foil in the cone, and the straight pin that rides the record.” Though not very practical, it would make a great conversation piece. Video after the jump. Yep, you read it right! Everything is on this is made of LEGO, even the small motor is from a robotics invertion system
AutoDesk gives Students free software Posted Dec 22nd 2006 8:00AM by Ryan Carter Filed under: Design, Internet, Utilities, Productivity, Commercial, Freeware The makers of AutoCAD are giving away their software to students. If you have a university-issued email address, you can register with the AutoDesk student site, which gains you access to free downloads of AutoDesk software, as a student. Also on the site is a job search to help students find good gigs. When I tried to sign up with my university email, my school was apparently not a big enough school to be listed in their database, so they will get back to me within 3 business days. Fine, but my school is a fairly well recognized one. Anyway, the rumor is that there are many titles you can get as a student from the site as well as self-paced tutorials. Sounds good, if I could only get into it. Ho-hum.
Old Country Roofing: The Mainstreaming Of Roof-Top Solar Power by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 12.22.06 DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE Beyond basics like remembering inspection dates, oil change, and tire-fill intervals, most of us don’t know, nor do we care, about how to fully maintain our own cars. Similarly, when the furnace needs a tune up, we rely on a contractor. Turnkey installation and service “bundling” is needed for residential solar power to become common and reliable, to become something we take for granted in other words. Here’s a current example of how such services are evolving. “BP and Old Country Roofing (OCR) have signed an agreement to offer turnkey solar roofing solutions to more than 100 homebuilding companies and homeowners”. OCR installed more than 12,000 roofs in 2005, and will work with BP Solar's EnergyTile product, a roof-tile design that blends seamlessly into the design of the roof (pictured). The new solar roofing package, which includes design, installation, warranty and customer service, will be available beginning in January 2007".How often do you scrutinize your roof? Brag to your friends and neighbors about it?Think about SPVs in the bundled service context: we should not care as much about who made the actual SPV modules as we do about how the system integrates into our home and lifestyle.Next up: ‘Pre-Fab Solar Roof Systems.’
Kitchen Design: Cycle of Water by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.22.06 DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE (kitchen)DesignBoom runs wonderful competitions, but you have to look at all of the entries. I missed this kitchen called Cylce of Water earlier. Designed by French team daeron isabelle + Flavie Papin + Marine Rouit + Isabelle Daëron, it integrates a water cycle into your kitchen, with the water starting as steam and ending up in the garden. "Water, necessary to all aspects of life, will soon become a rare element. "Cuisine à l'eau", is a kitchen designed around the use of water in all its different states."
CREATED BY A SCHOOL TEACHER!!!!!
Like many governments, the US tries to protect its citizens from quackery and scam. We license medical service providers, regulate clinical drug testing, and enforce disclosures of medical risks. Indeed, societies need these processes to properly assess the efficacy and dangers of new medical technologies. But when the vast majority of our population lacks a basic understanding of scientific principles, the medical safeguards fail. Con men exploit the scientifically illiterate by appealling to their hope for miracle cures, while overcoming their skepticism with confusing and intimidating jargon. Today's blog post is inspired by one particularly egregious example of highly scalable theft -- a phenomenally successful product called Airborne, that is the number one selling cold and flu remedy in many large drug retailers. Allegedly, sales have topped $100 million after several consecutive years of doubling revenues. The pill itself is nothing but some vitamins, some commercially tired herbs and the electrolytes you get from a swish of Gatorade. But Airborne's success springs from a remarkably shrewd and sinister campaign that employs a number of diversions to mislead the public without blatantly violating any laws. Essentially, the clever marketing messages and packaging suggest that Airborne cures the common cold, without ever actually saying so.
Airborne Baloney
The latest fad in cold remedies is full of hot air
By Michael Shermer
December 20 2006 Blizzard
KNIVES:
Confessions of a Quackbuster
This blog deals with healthcare consumer protection, and is therefore about quackery, healthfraud, chiropractic, and other forms of so-Called "Alternative" Medicine (sCAM).
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
A B. Sterling speech, a free book, new WarGames movie, FM Comic collection....
Absolute Dark Knight by Frank Miller ENTERTAINMENT | BOOKS |  If
you're not really that in to comic books, you'll probably recognize
the name Frank Miller from the recent movie adaptation of his graphic
novel Sin City. Fortunately for us, his talents have extended well
beyond that realm. Frank Miller's Absolute Dark Knight ($100)
includes two graphic novels, The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark
Knight Strikes Again, the former being a groundbreaking work that
infused Batman's beloved Gotham with a darkness that only Miller
could realize. Along with other plotlines, sketchbook material, and
more, this is a must have for any superhero aficionado.
http://tinyurl.com/yfjxu3
Craigsnumber: Free, automatically expiring phone numbers Posted Dec
19th 2006 1:10PM by Jordan Running Filed under: Security, Web
services Craigsnumber's tagline is simple and to the point: "Listing
online? Protect your privacy." And that's all there is to it.
Craigsnumber is a dead simple online service that will give you a
disposable phone number for conducting business online. Want to
provide a phone number on your eBay auction, but don't want your real
number out there forever? Just go to Craigsnumber, enter your real
number and when you want the disposable number to expire (one hour,
one day, or one week), and you'll be assigned a Craigsnumber (which
is an ordinary phone number and extension) that will forward calls to
you only until it expires. When someone calls your Craigsnumber,
they'll be prompted to record a greeting before they're connected,
which allows you to screen incoming calls. If you want the number to
be in a particular area code, you can choose from between San
Francisco, Dallas, and Washington, D.C. One feature that would be
nice to have is finer-grained control over expiration times. Being
able to set it to 10 days or two weeks would be very welcome. So,
where's the business model? I have no idea, but it's a neat service
that doesn't require any registration, another big plus for the
privacy-conscious. As a big minus, however, the site doesn't appear
to have any privacy policy. I've put in a query to the site's
creators about that, and will update this post if they reply.
http://tinyurl.com/yflp6x
WarGames Sequel Now Filming
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday December 19, @04:11PM
from the lights-camera-domain-grab dept.
iluvcapra writes "This news is a little late, but on November 20th
WarGames 2: The Dead Code began filming in Montreal. (I only became
aware of the new production when I read that MGM is suing the
rightful owner of WarGames.com for his domain name.) The film will be
produced and distributed by MGM — distributor of the original
WarGames — and directed by Stewart Gillard, director of such gems as
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3. Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes,
the team behind the original film, are not involved. The plot
revolves around a hacker breaking into a terrorism-simulation computer."
http://tinyurl.com/ttpa7
How Do You Woo the Muse?
http://tinyurl.com/y9hb6o
How to estimate FSA expenses: Cafeteria Plans can save you a lot of
dough
http://tinyurl.com/yltrh5
The Areas of My Expertise free audiobook

Brian says: "Holy crap! Did you see that The Areas of My Expertise,
read by John Hodgman, is FREE on iTunes right now?!?!?" Link
http://tinyurl.com/uluro
Bruce Sterling. The Wonderful Power of Storytelling
http://tinyurl.com/yzy5ud
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