Gmail is coming. 1 gig of storage. Email will never be the same.
Goodbye, hotmail.
Visit the Sloganator Memorial for a heartwarming tribute to the Bush Cheney Slogan generator.
This is a really profound statement, I know, but I'm gonna throw it out anyway: The Mongols did some serious killing and pillaging. They just killed and killed. They killed all the way through eastern Europe before the death of Genghis Khan's son caused the horde to pull back to the steppes to appoint a new leader.
On a related topic:
I always thought that koans were kind of pointless. It wasn't until I read Ancient China: The Mongolian Empire: The Yuan Dynasty, 1279-1368 that I came to the conclusion that they were designed to be pointless. They were invented to give some kind of written form to the meditative school of Buddhism and as a result there was really no point to them, I decided. I'll be the first to admit I don't know if this is true but it's an interesting point.
Curiously, the Mongols, though Buddhist, did not really support or patronize Buddhism, which was largely left to its own devices. They favored Tibetan Buddhism but really did not financially support the monasteries. When the Mongol rulers decided that too many Buddhists were escaping military service, they instituted a literacy test on Buddhist scriptures. Anyone who couldn't demonstrate literacy in the scriptures lost their military exemption. This put the Mongol rulers in direct conflict with the major Buddhist masters; the central school of Buddhism was Ch'an, or "Meditation" Buddhism. It stressed the primacy of the master over scripture and the silent transmission of religious truth. For that reason, Ch'an Buddhism had no written doctrine. Under pressure from the Mongols, the Ch'an Buddhists began to record their doctrine in a series formulations called kung-an or, in Japanese, the koan.
When you're hungry for obsessively documented news of Portland's politics, check out The One True b!X's PORTLAND COMMUNIQUE.
This is going to replace my link to google news: the flash-base NewsMap. Witness the outstandingness for yourself.
The Columbia River Gorge is my next target for destruction. I'm looking forward to the domination that is going to be inflicted. Have no fear, it will be brutal and induce the production of adrenaline like no human being has ever experienced. Learn more so when the time comes you'll be prepared, physically and emotionally, to ride with me.
Check out Oregon Kayaking for lots of information about riding Oregon's rivers. It looks really interesting, and as soon as I get out of my four week class I'm going to tear up the Class IV rapids on the Clackamas.
Once you're completely pumped up on Kayaking, check out PDXKayaker for more shots of the epic whitewater Oregon offers. Then go to Oregon State University's Rivers page for a list of river statistics.
Oh, the bitterness that pervades the Dreamhost Forums. Downtime is very much the enemy of some domain owners, myself included, and Dreamhost hasn't exactly had the best success in keeping themselves up and running. I wonder if this incident will turn into free service or lower rates; lord knows they've got customers fleeing in droves today.
I'm one out of 100 by owning a computer, and I'm also special because I'm a college graduate.
I was exposed to baby art org and I'm not going to look at the world the same way.
Just read How to be a Programmer: A Short, Comprehensive, and Personal Summary and you'll be cracking out code in no time!
America's cunning linguist, Noam Chomsky has a weblog where he picks apart the socio-political machine in real time. Chomsky is a respected expert on linguistics at MIT, and in his spare time writes about politics and more. Read and learn.
You can use this neat tool to see how my colorblind roomate views the world! It's great. There are several colorblindness configurations. The most common is aberration is Deuteranolmaly but there are several others. Check it out for yourself.
Scandal after scandal after scandal: some hated Clinton and complained that we needed a break from all his philandering. Why aren't those same people freaking out over the non-stop insanity coming out of Washington now that Bush is in office? For examples:
- Cheney's secretive Energy Task Force was investigated by the GAO and the case is currently pending at the Supreme Court.
- The Plame Game is under investigation by the Justice Department.
- Bush's Medicare scam and the circumstances that led the administration to lie to Congress about the cost of the legislation is under investigation by the HHS inspector general's office.
- The massive intelligence failure that led Bush to lie to the world about the Iraqi threat is under investigation by a congressionally-authorized independent commission (which Bush fought the creation of).
Follow the link for more scandals.
Scientists have found evidence that smaller jaws helped humans grow bigger brains. I take this seriously because I have a markedly smaller mouth than the average person, and I have a drastically larger brain.
I decided to balance the previous post with this one:
First, let's watch a couple movies. Watch this one first, then this classic film. Now keep in mind that these are some side effects.
- Tightened jaw muscles, grinding teeth (trismus and bruxia)
- excessive talking
- weight loss
- stroke
- sweating
- visual & auditory hallucinations (hearing voices)
- disturbed sleep patterns
- false sense of confidence and power (delusions of grandeur)
- involuntary body movements (uncontrollable movement and/or twitches of fingers, facial & body muscles, lip-smaking, tongue protrusion, grimacing, etc.)
- loss of appetite (anorexia), leading to poor nutrition and weight loss with heavy use
- Reduced enjoyment of eating
- Loss of interest in sex, over time
- itching, welts on skin
- nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
- excessive excitation, hyperactivity
- shortness of breath
- moodiness & irritability
- anxiousness & nervousness
- aggressiveness
- panic, suspiciousness & paranoia
- aggressive and violent behavior
- severe depression, suicidal tendencies
- fatal kidney and lung disorders
- possible brain damage
- permanent psychological problems
- lowered resistance to illnesses
- liver damage
The Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics (CCLE) is a nonprofit research and policy center devoted to protecting freedom of thought. Our mission is to develop and enhance social policies that preserve and enhance freedom of thought into the 21st century.
An interesting website, made more interesting by the fact that is is the host of Ask Dr. Shulgin, a Q&A forum with the chemist and author of Pihkal and Tihkal.
I had no idea that Hunter S. Thompson has a regular column and it completely dominates the columns of his rivals. I am thoroughly impressed.
I was disturbed to discover the number of housewives who made political contributions of $2000 in my nieghborhood. Fundrace.org hosts a web app which helps you find out where the money is coming from. It's neat.
This is typical of the Bush campaign: Selling 'Bush Cheney 04' gear made in Burma. The only problem is the fact that he banned imports from Burma due to human rights violations.
So, let's review: Burma is a bad place that violates the most basic human rights of its citizens. The president said,
"The United States will not waver from its commitment to the cause of democracy and human rights in Burma."
Except when campaign time rolls around. Cheap fleece jackets are more important than keeping children out of combat.
I received a reply from Comcast. However, their signature line contains a notice claiming the email is confidential, and I suspect I'd make myself prone to a lawsuit if I reprinted the contents. The general tone of the message was apologetic and indicated the email would be forwarded to higher-ups. I doubt I will recieve any further attention. I find it to be highly unlikely, and I doubt anyone will be disciplined. It's really a sad tale, and I won't be surprised if the event occurs again. The company is publicly traded and must answer to a group of shareholders who expect ever-increasing returns on their investment.
I really just want the six months of standard cable for free as a goodwill gesture.
Michael McKenna is the man who makes me want to visit Japan to take insane pictures like his.
Only one friend of mine would be offended by this completely blasphemous website, and only because he at one time believed he was Jesus.
My roomate and occasional author of Brewblog is planning to engage in the insanity known as Cycle Oregon, a seven day, four hundred mile marathon through scenic southern oregon. I've been browsing the forums. I found a great list of Northwest bike rides for the year. People are crazy about this stuff, especially in Portland which is known as "The best bicycling city in North America". Eugene and Corvallis are also high on the list of bike-centric cities. I'm a little nervous about athletic events which encourage me to use my own physical strength to transport me over a hundred miles in a single day. I fear I would wind up looking like the kid in The Triplets of Belleville. If you've seen this movie you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.
Rep Coble, Howard - 3/9/2004 [NC-6] Rep Collins, Mac - 3/9/2004 [GA-8] Rep DeMint, Jim - 3/9/2004 [SC-4] Rep Doolittle, John T. - 3/9/2004 [CA-4] Rep Everett, Terry - 3/9/2004 [AL-2] Rep Franks, Trent - 3/9/2004 [AZ-2] Rep Goode, Virgil H., Jr. - 3/9/2004 [VA-5] Rep Hefley, Joel - 3/9/2004 [CO-5] Rep Kingston, Jack - 3/9/2004 [GA-1] Rep Pitts, Joseph R. - 3/9/2004 [PA-16] Rep Pombo, Richard W. - 3/9/2004 [CA-11]
Take note of these names everyone. They are cosponsors of H.R.3920. What's the purpose of this bill?
To allow Congress to reverse the judgments of the United States Supreme Court.
Words fail me. What were they smoking? What was going through their heads? "Dang it, being in politics would be great if it weren't for that stupid constitution thing gettin' in the way.
Read it for yourself so you'll understand I didn't just make this all up.
It's been revealed that the White House lied to congress about the medicare package numbers last November. Frankly, I'm shocked. It's inconceivable for a president with such integrity, such high ethical standards, to be involved in something like this. Before this story came out, his reputation for honesty and integrity rivaled that of George Washington. Again, just to reiterate, shocking.
There are things that will make Windows XP run like buttah. Do yourself a favor and learn all the best reader-submitted WinXP tips!
Give yourself a Mathematical Background by reading this huge web page. When you have a working knowledge of the 14 topics you can successfully bullshit with Ph. Ds, engineers, and other members of the smarty-pants set.
Check out Weebls Stuff for important information about badgers. I particularly recommend the Two Towers trailer.
Watch a trio of sheeps get their grooves on. You can even help them come up with new material. C'est mangifique.
Go blind watching the goodness that is albino black sheep.
Michael Jackson is a famous singer and lover of children. Did you know that he is also the author of the epic Scotch Whiskey tome, Scotland and Its Whiskies: The Great Whiskies and Their Landscapes? It's true.
Blogdex led me to this neat typing game where you have to type as if your life depended on it. Go play The Game.
Salon.com Books has a great writeup about Craig Unger's book, "House of Bush, House of Saud". It details the manner in which the Bush family is tied to the Bin Laden family and how the government let the Bin Laden family flee the country without questioning in the days following 9/11. Not really surprising, given the fact that capturing Osama hasn't been a priority in the Bush administration for a couple of years now.
we hates software! Stupid, stupid software...always trying to steal our precious...
I was reading Boing Boing and found this particularly interesting:
Bush is against campaign finance reform; then he's for it.Bush is against a Homeland Security Department; then he's for it.
Bush is against a 9/11 commission; then he's for it.
Bush is against an Iraq WMD investigation; then he's for it.
Bush is against nation building; then he's for it.
Bush is against deficits; then he's for them.
Bush is for free trade; then he's for tariffs on steel; then he's against them again.
Bush is against the U.S. taking a role in the Israeli Palestinian conflict; then he pushes for a "road map" and a Palestinian State.
Bush is for states right to decide on gay marriage, then he is for changing the constitution.
Bush first says he'll provide money for first responders (fire, police, emergency), then he doesn't.
Bush first says that 'help is on the way' to the military ... then he cuts benefits
Bush-"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. Bush-"I don't know where he is. I have no idea and I really don't care.
Bush claims to be in favor of the environment and then secretly starts drilling on Padre Island.
Bush talks about helping education and increases mandates while cutting funding.
Bush first says the U.S. won't negotiate with North Korea. Now he will
Bush goes to Bob Jones University. Then say's he shouldn't have.
Bush said he would demand a U.N. Security Council vote on whether to sanction military action against Iraq. Later Bush announced he would not call for a vote
Bush said the "mission accomplished" banner was put up by the sailors. Bush later admits it was his advance team.
Bush was for fingerprinting and photographing Mexicans who enter the US. Bush after meeting with Pres. Fox, he's against it.
I live in Portland, Oregon, which warns drivers of photo radar usage within city limits. That's why I'm seriously considering getting a PhotoShield Cover. It claims to thwart laser speed readings as well. Good times.
I just participated in the American Family Association (of previous gay marriage poll fame) poll and cast my vote for "not George Bush". It looks like Dubya is getting a serious pounding, even on a socially backward website like this one. Let's all be sure to go there and vote away! Vote early and often. Go here to vote.
I just installed MT-blacklist, so for all you potential spammers: go back to your pathetic (and perhaps non-existent) day jobs. You'll never succeed. Even if you do manage to spam my blog you're going to get your posts removed by one quick well-formed SQL statement. So get a life.
I'd just like to take this moment to point out that spammers are all fat ugly pedophiles who have serve no purpose on this planet and should be lined up and shot. Especially those people who spam my blog's comments with offers for cheap Tramadol and online gambling. If I wasn't resourceful with SQL and phpMyAdmin my blog would still by vulnerable to junk. I hope that, in the future, spammers are caught and sent to federal ass-raping prison for the rest of their lives.
I'm going to install MT-blacklist later today to cut down on the comments spam. In the meantime I've shut down comments to prevent another 37 ads for cheap Tramadol from being stuck into my site.
I invite you all to make anonymous online confessions to get those lingering regrets off your chest.
I live with three other girls. I like one of them and want the other two to die. I dream of axe murderers breaking down the door and them dying. They are fat slobs who just eat bacon and sound like elephants.
It's along the same lines as lowbrow. Good times for the whole family.
Of course, you're all invited to post anonymously in the comments section of my site.
I just got back from seeing The Triplets of Belleville. It kicks ass. Go see it. It's the French answer to anime, in a good way. Watch the preview if you don't believe me.
del.icio.us managed to deliver me the Linux shell scripting tutorial which also makes a handy reference.
I'm going to deploy some of the CSS technology I found on Max Design in some future rendition of Mulling It Over. Get ready.
Read this internal memo on opensorce.org, purportedly written to SCO VP Chris Sontag which details the SCO's payoffs from Microsoft. It turns out the sums may be approching nine figures. Shocking, I know, coming from companies known for their absurdly high business ethics practices. The document describes plans to funnel money through third parties to dodge the attention of the Justice Department (not that Ashcroft is going to pursue MS anyway).
Just when you thought I wasn't going to post again today, I'm right back at you! It's been a great day; Portland is all up in arms, one way or another, about the new same sex marriages going down. Meanwhile, I busted out with a new stye for my site so click 'dark red' and make sure you sitting down so you don't get knocked off your feet by the 31337ness of my new design.
About the same sex marriage: I realized today that the whole issue is really just a backlash against conservatives. It's revenge for pushing the invasion of Iraq on a group of people who saw the truth and wouldn't support the war. We saw the president's motives and didn't buy the propoganda. What did we get for it? Ignored at best, and maced, spied on, arrested fingerprinted, and subjected to knee-jerk legislation at worst. So I say this is sweet revenge and give props to the people who went to Portland's city hall today and tied the knot and said, "Fuck you, Dubya and Cheney, you so-called supporters of states rights, fuck you and your fascist homophobic plans to deface the constitution."
/rant. Heh.
The Calvin & Hobbes Extensive Strip Search (C.H.E.S.S.) may or may not be legit, so get the most of it while it's around! It's amazing, with the ability to provide search by text and display the book and page it the strip came from. You can even view strips by the date they were published!
This will let you make neat faces in your spare time with the magic of flash.
Reason brings us news of the stupid like this:
Preventive Measures (2/26)
Weather forecasters weren't yet sure whether a snowstorm was coming, but Somerville, Massachusetts, Mayor Joseph A Curtatone wasn't taking any chances. Though not a flake of snow was in sight, he declared a snow emergency. The next day, citizens of the city awoke to find little snow. But some 3,000 of them found $50 tickets on their cars for parking on a snow emergency street. They were the lucky ones. Another 200 had their cars towed. The mayor says he has no plans to forgive the tickets or to cancel the towing charges, which could net the city some $179,000. Neither the state nor any other city in the area declared a snow emergency.
Why did I make such delicious food? I was just really very hungry.