poem

To be alive

To be alive: not just the carcass
But the spark.
That's crudely put, but...

If we're not supposed to dance,
Why all this music?

- Gregory Orr

splash

Have you ever looked at a Jackson Pollock painting and said to yourself. "Heck, I could do that"? Well, now you can.

program of the day

I've recently found a very useful virtual desktop utility, Dexpot. It takes a little getting used to, but it allows you to work with multiple desktops at once, and easily manages all of them so you always have an uncluttered workspace. Here's a screenshot showing one of the modes:

Check it out.

Good will hunting, indeed

Snopes verifies the truth behind this incredible story:

A young college student was working hard in an upper-level math course, for fear that he would be unable to pass. On the night before the final, he studied so long that he overslept the morning of the test.

When he ran into the classroom several minutes late, he found three equations written on the blackboard. The first two went rather easily, but the third one seemed impossible. He worked frantically on it until — just ten minutes short of the deadline — he found a method that worked, and he finished the problems just as time was called.

The student turned in his test paper and left. That evening he received a phone call from his professor. "Do you realize what you did on the test today?" he shouted at the student.

"Oh, no," thought the student. "I must not have gotten the problems right after all."

"You were only supposed to do the first two problems," the professor explained. "That last one was an example of an equation that mathematicians since Einstein have been trying to solve without success. I discussed it with the class before starting the test. And you just solved it!"

oh dear

We've seen some of these before, but here is a fascinating list of the 50 Dumbest Things Bush Ever Said. The scariest, in my opinion:

"I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what's moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves."
—Washington, D.C., Sept. 21, 2003

quote of the day

"Human beings never think for themselves, they find it too uncomfortable. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told--and become upset if they are exposed to any different view. The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their 'beliefs.' The reason is that beliefs guide behavior, which has evolutionary importance among human beings. But at a time when our behavior may well lead us to extinction, I see no reason to assume we have any awareness at all. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is just a self-congratulatory delusion."

- Michael Crichton, The Lost World

"why my favorite professor was a chronic liar"

Interesting story of a professor who would introduce one false statement into each of his lectures to see if the students would catch it. Of course, the students began actually paying attention to the lectures. Fantastic idea.

you know you need one

Get yours here.

i bought a new lens

cool, if true

St Paul's tomb (possibly) unearthed in Rome.

diamonds: the price of being forever

Amazing photo essay on the diamond market, from the toiling miners in Africa to the bedazzled brides in America.

why you should avoid being an English major

Stupid yet hilarious essays.

quote of the day

"Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority."

-- Thomas H. Huxley

hahaha

wayback, in color

Check out these early Kodachrome images of "America before Pearl Harbor."

I need a Rotary Reading Desk

From this odd site, I learned that in 1588, the Italian Engineer Agostino Ramelli described a novel invention to facilitate the reading of multiple books at once:

A beautiful and ingenious machine, which is very useful and convenient to every person who takes pleasure in study, especially those who are suffering from indisposition or are subject to gout: for with this sort of machine a man can see and read a great quantity of books, without moving his place: besides, it has this fine convenience, which is, of occupying a little space in the place where it is set, as any person of understanding can appreciate from the drawing.

nice

these are keepers.

nice

found here.

old school

Interesting list of the 50 greatest cartoons as voted on by the animation industry in 1994. Warning: cool youtube footage--this will waste your time if you happen to be at work.

best video all year

wonderful.

great idea

"These pay-as-you-can cafes have missions that are unapologetically altruistic—call it serving up fare Robin Hood style. "Our philosophy is that everyone, regardless of economic status, deserves the chance to eat healthy, organic food while being treated with dignity," explains Brad Birky, who opened SAME (So All Might Eat) Cafe in Denver.

go get 'em, sister

How to fight.

hahahahaha

buying a new house? BEWARE ENCROACHMENT

more McSweeney's hilarity

Bean and Nothingness, by John Fitch

"Hi, and welcome to Bean and Nothingness, New York's first truly holistic coffee bar. My name is Harmony and I'll be your beverage liaison this morning. Since this is your first time with us, why don't you sit in one of our Epiphany Chairs while I give you a quick orientation? Feel free to self-reflect, write poetry, or juggle if the mood strikes.

"Here at Bean and Nothingness, our aim is not just to provide you with the sheer tranquillity and utter transcendence that only the best coffee and coffee-related products can achieve but also to help you reach complete spiritual self-actualization during your time here. From our socially conscious beverages to our community-oriented pastries and our globally sensitive condiments, Bean and Nothingness is committed to making this a better world one customer at a time, just like it says on the door, and the counter, and the wall. It's not just a slogan, either. No, every staff member here at Bean and Nothingness truly believes that we're making a better world one customer at a time and has sworn it, in blood, under the influence of sodium pentothal. I should also tell you that our coffee pickers are the happiest in the world. While other companies exploit their Third World employees, we at Bean and Nothingness ensure that our field workers are given a constant intravenous drip of MDMA and opiates. Sure, it slows down production and, sure, they spend a lot of time hugging, but, in the end, it's worth it. You can practically taste the love in the beans..."

oh really?

Reading Shakespeare has a dramatic effect on the human brain.

great music: Fujiya & Miyagi

Dig it.

possibly useless: whale’s pearl

"Ambergris has been a valued commodity for centuries, used in perfume because of its strangely alluring aroma as well as its ability to retain other fine-fragrance ingredients and “fix” a scent so it does not evaporate quickly. Its name is derived from the French “ambre gris,” or gray amber. During the Renaissance, ambergris was molded, dried, decorated and worn as jewelry. It has been an aphrodisiac, a restorative balm, and a spice for food and wine. Arabs used it as heart and brain medicine. The Chinese called it lung sien hiang, or “dragon’s spittle fragrance.” It has been the object of high-seas treachery and caused countries to enact maritime possession laws and laws banning whale hunting. Madame du Barry supposedly washed herself with it to make herself irresistible to Louis XV.

In "Paradise Regained," Milton describes Satan tempting Christ with meat pastries steamed in ambergris. In “Moby-Dick,” Melville called it the “essence found in the inglorious bowels of a sick whale.” Old newspapers show clippings every few years describing some whaling crew coming upon a hunk, or some vacationing family finding it on the beach and either cashing in — or discovering it was just ocean detritus."

oh dear

This ball may unfortunately prove why the universe will expand forever, whatever that means. Apparently "evidence is accumulating that most of the energy density in the universe is in an unknown form dubbed dark energy."