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Boo! Wednesday, October 31, 2001  Geek Halloween, post 9/11. The Invisible Library: Books which exist only within other books. [via Memepool] The Third Annual Nethack tourney starts tonight, at midnight of course. [via /.] The state of GCC 3.0 [via Lambda the Ultimate] RIAA wants background checks on CD-RW buyers
Gaelic Music An audio interview with Alyth McCormack, who does some nice arrangements of traditional Gaelic music. On the threat of Pakistani nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands and an audio interview with the author, Seymour Hersh. [via Follow Me Here] An Italian team has combined previously untranslated eyewitness interviews and an analysis of 60,000 trees to conclude that the Tunguska explosion in 1908 was caused by a low-density asteroid, like Mathilde, and have calculated the area of the sky the asteroid came from. The preprint of the upcoming Astronomy and Astrophysics paper is here. [via BBC News (story)] A detailed list of sites wrongly blocked by internet filters. [via Interesting People]
Playing in the mud I never knew mud volcanoes existed: one erupted in Azerbaijan on Thursday. The Ecole Initiative: An encyclopedia of early Christian and Islamic history. [via somewhereIforget] The unrest in Georgia (No, not that Georgia) and the anti-terror campaign in Central Asia is giving Russia an opportunity to squeeze a bigger chunk of the world oil market. Two profiles of bin Laden: One from a respected U.S. news source, one from a respected foreign news source. The one glaring difference? BBC's mentions the training and support the U.S. gave to bin Laden and his Afghan resistance during the Russian/Afghanistan war, but CNN's does not. Yes, we have to take this guy out, but if we don't acknowledge our past mistakes we're liable to make them all over again. Don't Ask, Don't Tell... Why: An essay by Chris Wright originally posted to the allsorts mailing list. [via Undernews] Privacy is Just So Suspicious: An editorial by Robyn Blummer, originally published in the St. Petersburg Times. [via Undernews]
Do we recommend that? Let me check with accounting... On cash-for-recommendations in British bookstores (including Amazon). Marcus Chown on why NASA is so excited about the Odyssey's success: This time they expect to find life. On how Wall Street firms created Panama. Pirates in Hong Kong are offering XP for a steep discount: HK$50 versus HK$2,330. (HK$1 is about 13 U.S. cents). Landing sites for the Mars Exploration Rovers have been selected. EFF's collection of sites which have been shut down or edited due to anti-terrorism concerns. [via the null device] Gagpipe: Gathers satire from around the world. [via The Fruitlog] The Adventures of Spyke Johnson: ASCII Archaeologist - a guided tour of NetHack. Microsoft and Apple unveil new error codes for 2002. Frederich Engels' view of Afghanistan in 1857. [via Metafilter] Lehman Brothers and the Eurasia Group have started a joint venture to rate the political risk of emerging market countries through the Lehman Eurasia Group Stability Index (LEGSI), similar to what is already being done with financial stability ratings by Moody and S&P. Currently, LEGSI covers ten countries: Azerbaijan (49), Bulgaria (72), Croatia (62), Hungary (79), Indonesia (53), Poland (74), Russia (66), Thailand (66), Turkey (53), and Ukraine (57). All of these fall into the moderate (40-60) or high (60-80) stability range. Stories at Forbes and Moscow Times.
Aurora The Polar satellite has, for the first time, captured images containing both the Southern and Northern lights at the same time. The Library of Babel, a short story by Jorge Luis Borges. [via Meatball (entry)]
We'll just call this one Icarus This week SOHO captured footage of a comet falling into the sun. Scientists are measuring climate change though the Nenana Ice Classic. Since 1917, Alaskans have been betting on the exact date and time that a tower placed on the frozen Nenana River will break through the ice. It seems that, on average, this is happening 5.5 days earlier than it did at the beginning of the tradition.
So that's where I left it Edward Keller, a geologist with UCSB, has found a lost island, Isla Calafia, off Santa Barbara. Tejal Desai is working on ways to implant microelectomechanical systems (MEMS) into people for timed drug release: BioMEMs. On the history of the factor 2 in fundamental physics, arguing that in all significant cases the same physical operation is taking place. How much computation can have taken place in the history of the universe? This paper argues it's no more than 10120 operations on 1090 bits. SSSCA hearings cancelled among anthrax threat and resistance from tech industry. [via rc3] The Thermodynamics of Terrorism: favoring high entropy, resiliant systems as a means of defense. [via rc3] Objects in mirror are closer than they appear Energy has been observed by the ESA's XMM-Newton satellite flowing out of a black hole for the first time. [via bottomquark] Nature is making available an archive of research on anthrax and other potential bioweapons. [via Interesting People] Globalsecurity.org's section on the war. [via net.narrative environments] Can't remember where I found the link, but the World Press Review has a good section on current events, with links to reporting around the world. The political leaning of each source is noted. A couple of recent stories from NPR on Mars Odyssey MSN shuts out non-Microsoft browsers. I don't use Microsoft browsers, but I still can't bring myself to care.
Bullseye Odyssey is in orbit around Mars. To explore: Patternlanguage.com
Just a little to the left Mars Odyssey reaches Mars tonight at 10:30 Eastern. An article by Richard Stallman on the USA act, versions of which have passed the House and the Senate. [via rc3] In search of an answer to a question today: Where the hell is Peter Arnett? His homepage says he's at Foreigntv.com, which is now Medium4, which doesn't seem his style. He seems to be active with the Committee to Protect Journalists, but no recent reporting with his name on it that I can find. Brand management for the U.S. [via Undernews] Berkeley is under threat of economic boycott because of city council's stance on war. [via Metafilter] Condaleezza Rice, possibly the first National Security Advisor with an oil tanker named after her? [via Metafilter] Putting Britney's music to use: feral pig repellant. [via somewhereIforget] UC Berkeley library's section on Afghanistan, the Taliban, and the US. MERP: The Middle East Research and Information Project
That's right, it's the poets' fault The Sunday Times points out an editorial in the Lebanese Daily Star blaming hero worship of bin Laden on Western media's portrayal of "repulsive characters" as celebrities and traces the trend to the likes of Percy Shelley's assessment of Satan in Paradise Lost. New United We Stand stamp produced in record time. The Economist on the Taliban's heroin trade: street prices in Afghanistan have dropped from $700/kilo to $100 since 9/11. Microsoft: Extending its tenacles
Magna what? The National Coalition against Censorship has issued a survey of internet filters, which have been mandated in Federally funded schools and libraries. The report discusses both over-blocking and missed blocks. My favorite is the blocking of biographies of members of the Commission on Online Child Protection who graduated magna cum laude. [via Alternet (story)]
Tbere's an article
on Newsforge saying that Hollings will testify to
the Senate Commerce
Committee on his Security Systems Standards and
Certification Act on Oct 25. [via dangerousmeta]
Images of Afghanistan from 1976 to 1978. [via {@bushwhacker}] The Literature of Intelligence by J. Ransom Clark. [via Memepool]
Autonomic Computing IBM Research has started an initiative to solve the shortage of trained I.T. workers by adding more autonomous control to computer systems. [via BBC News (story)] This coming Sunday morning about 3a the Orionids, leftovers of Halley's Comet, will peak. Folks in the north may get quite a show, as a massive solar flare which exploded this morning will hit the Earth's magnetosphere about the same time, possibly triggering the Northern Lights. To explore: Global Grid Forum [via BBC News]
NASA NASA's chief, Dan Goldin, is stepping down. A recommendation for a successor is supposed to have gone to Bush yesterday. NASA Watch reports Thomas Moorman one of the leading candidates. [via cnn (story)] CNet is running a series on XP. [via rc3] Space.com has an article on recent studies on Space Solar Power (SSP): collecting power from the sun in orbit and transferring to Earth with laser or microwave. [via /.] Early draft of Eric Raymond's new book: The Art of Unix Programming [via fozbaca] Why birds fly in a V formation. A team is using ultralights are helping whooping cranes migrate from Wisconsin to Florida as part of a reintroduction project. [via NPR (story - RealAudio)] Now this is a reason to get DVD. [via Metafilter] Talk about poor timing: Publishers Clearinghouse is mailing out packages of powdered detergent. [via Follow Me Here]
Are we surprised yet? It seems that Microsoft's online customer service database has been wide open for at least a month. [via Red Rock Eater] The Leonids should put on a good show on the morning of 11/18. [via missingmatter] More dangers from cell phones: They're killing ghosts, says a researcher associated with the Society for Psychical Research. [via Interesting People] I want one. [via jerrykindall] Militant moderates stage massive lack of protests The Wayback Machine: Explore the history of the net. [via Metafilter] PalmWiki: allows hyper linking between Palm documents using WikiWords. [via AbbeNormal] Dispair has the new 2002 Demotivators available. [via Borklog] What's left to do for Mozilla 1.0 [via /.] TopCoder: Coding tourney's for cash. [via Hack the Planet] How to find Osama, the geek way. To read and explore:
One way to commercialize space The military has purchased exclusive access to commercial satellite photos from Space Imaging's Ikonos over the war zone, essentially locking out all other customers from access to the best commercially available photos of the area. Stephen Hawking is warning us again about the human race's future. He says we must colonize space within 1000 years to survive. Not everyone agrees.
Hmm Musharraf suggested over the weekend that the U.S. take out the Taliban leader. Or did he? Eight new planets outside the solar system have been found as part of an ongoing project. [via BBC News (story)] Bob Dylan was stopped by security while trying to go backstage at his own concert. [via The Obscure Store] Who said it? Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, or Usama bin Laden? [via Bifurcated Rivets] A Google search, reposted without comment from Bifurcated Rivets. I mean really, what can you say?
Seventeenth Century Diary The diary of Roger Morrice, a 17th century puritan, has been found and is currently being deciphered by a Cambridge team. BBC has stories on 17th century British diaries and the most famous of them, Samuel Pepys', an abridged version of which is available online. Other British diaries of that time are also online, including excerpts from the diaries of William Honeywell, an early 17th century yeoman; and John Evelyn, a writer and one of the founders of the Royal Society. Evelyn's diaries are said to contain the first recorded instance of coffee in England. More complete is the journal that Sir Joseph Banks maintained on Cook's first Pacific expedition on the HMS Endeavour. Photo of an Afghan woman picking up air-dropped food in northern Afghanistan. The Enigma of Dark Matter: a review of the current candidates for the stuff out there we can't see. The Future of Game Design [via anfin] The Tourist Guy has two more galleries now. [via CamWorld] Furbeowulf Cluster Computing [via Memepool] An expert on Central Asia and band leader of the Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble is interviewed on his competing interests. (RealAudio)
Odyssey NASA has tweaked the Mars Odyssey's path for its arrival in orbit on October 23. Stories at CNN and space.com. Meanwhile, the Global Surveyor and the Hubble are continuing to track a dust storm that has covered the entire planet. Polaroid appears close to going under. How China got to where it is today, and what it has to do to become a world leader. Worse Is Better in software development, a series of essays by Richard Gabriel. Dali worked with Disney on a short piece, of which only 15 seconds were made. [via Metafilter] KPFA: Listener supported radio since 1949. [via Metafilter] Oh, bother. Winnie's 75. [via Follow Me Here] Skotos: text-based multiplayer games in the tradition of Infocom. [via The Laboratorium]
More maps Globalsecurity.org has a good section on the Afghanistan military, including maps and satellite photos. [via rc3]
Gravity still has a hold on us NASA researchers report that they have not been able to duplicate the gravity shield results I linked to on 9/4 and 9/6. But they're going to try again. Story at space.com. [via bottomquark] It took me a while to see it, but Bert is pictured in Osama posters being carried by protesters in Bangladesh. Look just to the left (his left) of the big Osama head, just under ear level. Alternet tells how. [via wood s lot] Anthrax Outbreak Spawns Reports of Megadeth, Pantera
Door to door The Times describes the manhunt that is about to take place in Afghanistan and some of the tools to be used. Freedom of Speech in the Ear of the Listener: an Asia Times article on the Qatar based TV station that's been broadcasting bin Laden's statements and U.S. efforts to control it. I heard about this for the first time on NPR this morning. Three chemists split the Nobel Prize for chemistry for their work on chiral molecules. These molecules have two different forms, mirror images of each other. The forms usually appear in roughly even amounts in a substance. William S. Knowles, K. Barry Sharpless, and Ryoji Noyori worked out ways to make it easier to separate the different configurations of the same molecule. In medicine this is important because often only one of the two configurations is useful, the other is sometimes toxic. Thalidomide is probably the worst scenario: one form was useful as a sedative, the other caused horrible birth defects. A benign example is limonene: one form smells like oranges, the other like lemons or turpentine. Summaries of the work from the Nobel Institute are here and here. Stories from Morning Edition (RealAudio), BBC, and STL Today.
Independence Space station residents make their first space walk without a shuttle present. This was the 100th spacewalk by Russians. Stories at CNN and space.com. space.com reports that the DoD's Quadrennial Defense Review calls for control of space by the U.S. and its allies. Four workers for Afghan Technical Consultants, a demining group, were killed in last night's bombing. BBC reports they were Afghan guards. Dilbert: Who to educate for a better tomorrow? The Proof They Did Not Reveal. A Sunday Times article discussing intercepted phone calls, emails, and web postings about the attacks. [via Red Rock Eater] How Jimmy Carter and I Started the Mujahideen: an interview with Zbigniew Brezezinski. The original French version is here. [via Ethel The Blog]
Round two Pakistan's President removes pro-Taliban military officers. IRNA reports that two high level Taliban commanders were killed last night. Vibrations may help reduce bone loss in space. Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years. [via Bifurcated Rivets] A column in the National Review explaining the 80 year reference in bin Laden's speech released after the bombing started. [via rc3] Borderless Network of Terror: bin Laden Followers Reach Across Globe Anthrax information from DoD, served up with over the top Flash. [via Metafilter] Translations of bin Laden's speech: CNN, BBC, The Times.
The number you have called is not in service The guy who runs textfiles.com is working on a documentary on the BBSes that preceded wide availability of home internet connections. Updates to the list of BBSes are being collected. NASA is looking at more ways to commercialize space. (Update 10/18/2001: Spaceref has the draft of the space commerce plan available). Stories at CNN, The Houston Chronicle, and Space.com. At the same time, Russia has turned down Mark Shuttleworth's bid to be the second space tourist because of "unreasonable demands". The Terascale Computing System has been installed at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center. For now it's the largest unclassified research computer. Stories at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Wired. Even before 9/11, video surveillance of public areas was growing in the U.S. England is way ahead of us in this area. The New York Times Magazine looks at what that's bought them. [via /.] The Alaska pipeline leak has been plugged, after 285,600 gallons leaked out of the bullet hole. Samuel P. Huntington's The Clash of Civilzations, originally published in Foreign Affairs, Summer 1993. Also, a review of his 1996 book of the same title, published in The Journal of World-Systems Research. [via Alamut] Haiku Movie Reviews [via Metafilter] Asia Times reviews a 1999 book by two Chinese Colonels, War Beyond Limits (or Unrestricted Warfare), which forecast the war against terrorism. (Update: Here's the second part of this article). A summary translation in four parts (1, 2, 3, 4) was prepared by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and archived by FAS. There is also a translation available in PDF from C4I. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists ran an article on the book in its Nov/Dec 1999 issue, focusing on the implication that China would not consider itself bound by conventional rules of war, but would focus on asymmetric warfare: terrorism, guerilla war, and cyber war. [via Interesting People] OMB Watch lists information which has been removed from government sites in the wake of 9/11. [via net.narrative environments] The public case that Blair laid out against bin Laden. [via wood s lot] Did the White House Give the Taliban $43 Million? This article, reprinted from the Boston Phoenix, asserts that it didn't happen: that in fact the grant was set up to bypass the Taliban by distributing it through UN international agencies and NGOs. Here is Powell's statement at the time and the Q&A that followed. [via wood s lot] An American military operation name generator. [via wood s lot] Photos from Afghanistan, December 1978. [via kottke.org] A new location for Stratfor's Situation Reports. [via Bushwacker] Florida's continued alert status critized. [via Bushwacker]
Allies of convenience
A statement claimed to be from RAWA on putting the Northern Alliance into power. [via NewsTrolls] On human rights in Uzbekistan. [via Ethel The Blog] Postcards From Hell: die-hard photojournalism has an extensive Afghanistan section. War scare reverses New Zealand brain drain as people flock home. Amnesty International is speaking out about the backlash from the attacks. [via NewsTrolls] 80,000 Microsoft servers disappear from the net during Code Red. And this is a bad thing? [via Red Rock Eater] House staff analysis of the PATRIOT bill (previously known as ATA). [via Red Rock Eater] Current draft of PATRIOT. The official court jester of Tonga has disappeared, along with 26 million dollars. Two hundred year old box dug up in Dublin. Folks at the local museum are speculating it's a time capsule. There was a monument on the site, but the IRA blew it up in 1966. [via dangerousmeta] Two rare white lions are born in Germany. [via dangerousmeta] Underwater Rugby? [via Metafilter] Idiot with rifle causes 70,000 gallon crude spill and shuts down Alaskan North Slope oil production. [via Metafilter] The military is having to use safecrackers to get into damaged safes in the Pentagon. [via Cipherwar] The Encyclopedia of Arda: An Interactive Guide to the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien. [via ResearchBuzz]
Your tax dollars at work Tampa loses fight against Voyeur Dorm on appeal. [via NY Times (story)] A book, Revelation$, published in Europe last year alleges there's another secret money transfer system, this one set up as part of a legitimate company. An English translation of the first chapter is here. [via Alternet (story)] Russian plane crash: Terrorism, military accident, or just another Russian plane crash? The new State Department list of foreign terrorist groups. Bushism of the day: "And there is no doubt in my mind, not one doubt in my mind, that we will fail." The full text of the speech is here. OS News has a list of projects under active development. [via /.]
How to you make this thing work? A scrapbook of bad designs: things that violate human factors principles (and common sense). [via Nooface] Third World Traveler: articles and excerpts with an alternative view. This one in particular seems recently relevant: Blowback - The Costs and Consequences of American Empire. [via Ethel The Blog] Powell asked Qatar to rein in an anti-American independent TV station. use Lovecraft qw(cthulhu);: the horrifying story of a young man seduced by the hidden knowledge of Un*x. [via fozbaca] Ancient Secret System Moves Money Globally [via lgf]
30 million lightyears The new Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph at The Gemini Observatory has taken a beautiful picture of a near perfect spiral galaxy. (Updated: Here's the APOD entry.) [via BBC News: (story)] Measure your Bartle-quotient. I'm an AKE. [via Borklog]
Oookay Senator Kay O'Connor, a Kansas republican, says women's suffrage was a mistake: "The 19th Amendment is around because men weren't doing their jobs, and I think that's sad." [via blog.org] Nooface: In Search of the Post-PC Interface. [via jerrykindall] Textmode Quake, complete with screenshots. [via Nooface] To read later: The Tao of Topic Maps. [via jerrykindall] The Afghanistan report of the Reporters Without Borders. [via BBC News]
Dangerous with tools The next shuttle launch, sending Endeavour to the space station with a new station crew, is not till November 29, but deformed bolt holes found on Columbia could delay it. The CNN article has a misleading headline: "Holes found in shuttle engine compartment". The holes are supposed to be there, but they're supposed to be round. "Armed youths" blew up a Shell oil plant in Nigeria, apparently as part of a dispute of the use of local labor. "Even at Walden, everything's changed." The 20 most critical Internet security holes. [via rc3] The FTC is shutting down pop-up trap sites. [via /.]
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