Searching for Tao, 7573 Kilometres from Home

March 25, 2004 06:07 +0000 | Nifty Links 1

i went sifting through geourl today and found this guy's very well designed blog. but aside from the nice layout, this post is pretty damn funny. worth the read if you're in a good mood, but if you're squimish about anything concerning nipples, nevermind.

March 24, 2004 00:50 +0000 | Personal Life 0

this is my official "happy birthday" message for margaret since i was such a putz and forgot to even mention it over msn. so yeah, happy birthday margaret! margaret's an aries and actually quite fun, but in need of a cheering up today 'cause her radiator broke.

so everyone give margaret a big hug if you see her today ;-)

March 22, 2004 06:48 +0000 | Nifty Links Society & Culture 0

those of you who watched the show know it was possibly the best show to ever see the the silver screen. sometimes, i find myself daydreaming about scenes from it, smiling subconsciously at the brilliant and witty writing. so one day, i decided that i'd make a collection to use with fortune, a really nifty linux program that grabs random quotes from a text file... and here it is: in bz2 format. and for you poor windows folk, here's just a text file.

March 20, 2004 18:13 +0000 | Personal Life 2

big day eh? new moon, first day of spring. new blogger theme and... o yeah, angela's initiation as an official witch. (yay!) for those of you who don't know, i'm probably not the best person to ask, but for a watered-down definition, an initiation is sorta like a baptism for witches. it's a personal commitment to the faith, and a sort of acceptance by others into the craft. many pagans (yours truly included) never go through the whole process of an initiation, but for some, this sort of commitment is the logical next step, and a very big deal indeed.

like a baptism though, congratulations aren't exactly the right sentiment, but i'm not sure what exactly is... maybe just a gesture of pride and awe. so yeah, congratulations ($pride++, $awe++) wyrd. i hope this next fold in your life is full of all sorts of really good things.

March 19, 2004 14:39 +0000 | Nifty Links 0

didn't i say that the monday report was hillarious?

check out this link. (realplayer required.)

March 19, 2004 02:45 +0000 | Society & Culture 1

every once in a while you meet a "smart person". and you know that they're a smart person because you get that enlightening feeling when the enter the room -- like the collective iq of this little space just jumped. i got that feeling tonight, when i met cory doctorow.

i mentioned him a while back. shift.com had done a piece on him and his then new book entitled down and out in the magic kingdom and how he'd not just released a paperback version, but also an e-book version as well. he has since re-licenced the book under an even less-restrictive banner and out of all of this we're seeing russian and japanese translations cropping up from around the world. some diehard perl geek even wrote some nifty code to "remix" the entire novel. after downloading and reading it months ago, i bought a copy tonight at the launch of his new book called eastern standard tribe.

he's got some really interesting views on everything ranging from copyright, to terrorism, to globalisation, and agree with him or not, you can't deny that he's well read in all of the above. a toronto native and living these past few years in san francisco, he's moving to the uk to help the electronic frontier foundation fight some potentially damaging copyright laws being generated in the european union. his books are intelligent, eloquent and funny. i highly reccomend the read... and you can read it all for free.

March 18, 2004 19:10 +0000 | Miscellaneous 3

i finally got my tshirt from diesel sweeties, an online comic angela introduced me to a while back. some time ago, they released a pretty cool comic that i read over and over again and i sent an email to the creator suggesting he make a tshirt out of it. i promised a purchase on my behalf.

apparently, i wasn't the only one who asked, and so he put it up for sale and i orded one a few weeks ago. the internet is just so damn cool.

March 17, 2004 16:04 +0000 | Nifty Links Society & Culture 0

i found this really great article on why the "war on terrorism" is a Bad Idea. published on counterpunch a really excellent source for essays written by noted authors and intellectuals, i highly recommend the read:

So far, all military measures in the "war on terrorism" have strengthened the emerging archipelago of Islamist terrorist organizations. Weakening it requires taking away the political ground on which they stand. That ground is not the virtually nihilistic domestic political programs of these groups. It is their opposition to U.S. imperial control of the Islamic world, a grievance that most Muslims share.

March 17, 2004 12:48 +0000 | Miscellaneous 0

"and the rest of the day to yerself" -- that's how you're supposed to respond to the above line in case anyone cares on this st. patricks day. so celebrate your irish-ness and wear yourself some green.

and in additional happy news, spacecast.com reports:

Angel Fans take note: rumours are circulating on the WB bulletin board that network execs are watching the ratings closely, considering a sixth season (after saying this would be the last season)

so regardless of the fact that it's likely to be a rerun tonight, WATCH THE FRICKIN' SHOW.

March 17, 2004 00:40 +0000 | Nifty Links Society & Culture 1

and i thought styrofoam was wasteful. according to a new United nations study, "the construction of an average 24 kilogram computer and 27 centimetre monitor requires at least 240 kilograms of fossil fuel, 22 kilograms of chemicals and 1,500 kilograms of water - or 1.8 tons in total". that's obscene.

some have suggested that a possible way to slow down this process is to "repeal moore's law" (a currently working theroy that states (roughly) that computer speeds will double every six months) by way of legislation. presonally, i think that's the dumbest thing i've ever heard. yes the computers are wasteful, but you can't go around making laws that they should be intentionally slower. industry and the consumer base won't stand for it.

personally i'd suggest the following:

legislation to reduce the number of harmful chemicals used in these things
increasing the cost of energy to it's real levels
persuing more viable forms of energy production in the areas of solar, wind, biomass and geothermal energy

but that's just me on my soapbox.