These are quite the Beards. They'd beat even the best porno moustache.

Some more obscure histories of the USPO thanks to Rodin.

A man left a Lava lamp left on hot stovetop and it exploded. the authorities are wondering

Why on earth he was heating a lava lamp on the stove

I can tell you why. Lava lamps are only really cool when the wax inside is warm--they get the cool rising blobby effect. This is usually done by the bulb that is inside the lamp, but it takes a while for the lamp to reach a point where it is warm enough for the cool effect. I have a feeling he was trying to accellerate the process. I am curious as to what, exactly, caused it to explode.

A collection mechanical musical instruments at the Morris Museum in NJ. The movements are pretty amazing.

Very cool.

Aw. Aren't they cute.

Mr. President, you should be careful. I know Clinton laid the ground work for such fraternization, but he did get in a little trouble. Remember, she is only your work-wife.

I have a problem.

When I have my headphones on at work (noise canceling, by maxell), I often don't hear my phone ring.

It would be great if I could port the sound of my phone into my computer so I heard it when it rang.

I did a cursorary search on Google and found that software exists that will allow your computer to answer your phone and be your answering machine. That is in the right line, but not quite what I am looking for, as I already have voice-mail on my work number.

Any ideas? Remember, they can't be too hardcore (ie taking apart my computer, phone, etc.) as everything I am dealing with is not owned by me.

I didn't realize this until today. Each of the little bits on Fingertips on They Might Be Giants Apollo 18 is on a separate track. That's cool.

Hey, don't get on my case; I just got the CD version of this album. I've been stuck in the 80s listening to my cassette version since the mid-90s.

Boy, everyone has food with a devine tint these days.

From Slate: an Explainer oh just how that grill cheese stayed mold-free. My earlier comment was correct, though only part of the story.

From the The Onion A.V. Club's review of the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie:

It's all innocuous, forgettable fun, but it's firmly aimed at those who find underwear endlessly funny.

I think I might enjoy that. Heh--underwear--heh.

I know a few people who will be happy to hear this news. Mmmm. Chocolate.

This is why people who play D&D intensely creep me out--you never know if they can truly separate LARPs and reality.

Dude.

I saw this on a sign on my way to work:

What if God is waiting for a sign from us?

I almost had to pull over, I was laughing so hard. Is that irony?

I apologize for not posting this earlier. It is currently at $7,000. A far cry from the 16 grand listed in the article.

...made on plain white bread with American cheese. It was cooked with no oil or butter.

Huh. Not a bit of mold on dry bread made with American cheese? Such a surprise!

Interesting article on workplace relationships referenced in a Slate article about Condoleezza Rice and President Bush's relationship.

I came up with this list to amuse myself in class. Comments welcome.

How to be an Engineer in Ten Easy Steps

1. Learn math
   
2. Desire improvement
   
3. Learn to work with a team
   
4. Enjoy problem solving
   
5. Embrace technology
   
6. Take good notes
   
7. Think critically
   
8. Listen carefully
   
9. Ask questions
   
10. Build a model

After watching Super Size Me last night, this headline: Playboy.com launches "Women of McDonald's" feature put a much different image in my head than was intended.

The Poppy Coin is the world's first colored coin that will be in circulation.

Guess what? It will be available exclusively at Tim Horton's.

Hey, I've got 1540 lbs of cocaine that I need to sneak into the US. How should I do it? I know! I'll stuff it inside a giant, frozen squid!

Dude. This has to be one of the best Strong Bad e-mails *ever.*

It's in a better place, Strong Bad. Rather, it's in the same place but now its got a big hole through it.

Um...what? So is the point that cities have a lot of people who tend to vote liberaly? I hadn't heard that--ever.

I have an idea. How about all of those states that have one of these 11 big cities break into two states--the big city (blue) part and the rural (red) part. Then those red voters in those states can have thier voices heard. We can do the same in states where the red voters overwhelmed those blue voters. We'll have to make the flag bigger to fit all the stars.

Also:

Kerry won just eight states (Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont) with balanced votes, and only two of these (Delaware and Hawaii) are outside of New England.

What the hell does that mean? These states, if I know my geography reasonably well, have a much more even population density over their area than, say, oh, IL and WA. So, if we put a more uniform population distribution over state, like say OH, it would have been won for Kerry, based on the model above.

Damn the countryside!

Oh, and thanks to Wally for the link.

You see, isn't this much more impressive? She even had her tubes tied. Talk about overcoming the odds.

I have to vent this somewhere, and since no one sits near me, the web gets it.

I hate the fucking vending machine in my building!

In the 1.5 years I have encountered this machine I have had a myriad of problems with it. The problems include, but aren't limited to:

• Not taking nickels. (What kind of messed up vending machine doesn't take nickels?!)
  
• Refusing to dispense Peanut M&Ms
  
• Giving change in nickels when it won't accept nickels
  
• Being "temporarily out of service" when I am jonesing for a snack
  
• Having only Cheddar Chex Mix when I want plain (Okay, I know that isn't really the machine's fault, but I still hit it and swear at it.)

Sure, I could just go to the cafeteria when the vending machine is being a bitch, but they only have King size candy, and I would have to interact with a person when I was planning on interacting with a machine. That could just ruin my day.

A bear that, um, expells, prime numbers. Thanks to Slashdot and Jason.

Virgin Digital amuses me:

Virgin Digital requires a computer running Windows 2000 or XP, Internet Explorer 5.5 and up, an internet connection, a soundcard, ears, and a small talking loaf of cheese.

Okay--these are the least polished sex toys I have ever seen. NOT SAFE FOR WORK. Thanks to Dan Savages's collumn from two weeks ago.

From an engineering perspective, many of them are very uncreative. Like in the vein of: "what can I find around the house that oscillates, thrusts or vibrates and how can I put a dildo on it." There is generally a lack of mechanical eligence in the majority of the models.

Some good advice from Dan Savage on how to survive the next 4 years:

Provided we don't all leave, here's how we get through a second Bush term: For at least the next four years, American lefties, artists, and queers should not consider this land our land. It is not a land of opportunity that spreads from sea to shining sea. No, we live on a chain of islands, an archipelago, not a continent. Sane people live on our islands--New York, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Portland, Madison, Austin, Boston, and on and on; basically all the cities, in red states and blue, that voted for Kerry--and we may not be the majority right now, and it may feel like sea levels are rising. But, hey, we own all the best real estate. We've got the cities, the Northeast, the Midwest, and the West Coast. And what have they got? The Wal-Marts, the West Virginias, the Alabamas, the McMansions, and the mega-churches. Fuck 'em. Let 'em have that crap. We'll fight the fuckers in two years during the midterm elections and take back Congress. And we'll take 'em on again in four years and take back the White House. In the meantime, enjoy island life.

And a good point I have seen elsewhere, but is well expressed by Savage:

...the only consoling argument out there now is that the Dems dodged a bullet by losing this election. Iraq is a mess, the economy is a mess, and the next four years are going to be an ugly shit storm. If Kerry had been in the White House, the Republicans and their media attack dogs would have pinned it all on the Dems. With Bush in the White House and the Rs still in control of Congress, they have no one to blame but themselves.

Very cool method for keeping track of all your books and videos. I had discussed the idea of being able to easily catalog all of the item you own with Dave a while back. It is a start. Now, they need to do it for baseball cards.

Is a Dutch standoff anything like a Mexican standoff?

This is hardly impressive. She had in-vitro fertilization and used doner eggs.

I remember reading somewhere about a woman who was in the 50s concieving naturally. Now, that is impressive.

Cool letter animation by Dave. Check it.

I've wanted to address the issue I mentioned in this post last week, about the difference between so-called red and blue states, but the point seems pretty moot, and, according to Jeff the bitching is pretty useless (I now agree--now that my passions about the election are a bit lower).

Be assured, that any act I may complete in protest of our current administration won't be nearly as drastic as the that of the man who I posted about earlier today. Maybe I'll just keep my Kerry sticker on my car for another week.

This is a sad story. If you are so pissed off about the election, wouldn't you do something a little more constructive than killing yourself? I definately understand the frustration, but I have a feeling he would have been more useful alive.

I like the puzzlement of the NYPD:

Police were investigating how Veal entered the former World Trade Center site, which is protected by high fences

Oooooh! High fences! Damn, I wish I had something, like maybe a rope, or a ladder or some one's shoulders to stand on so I could get over a high fence. Too bad those things are so hard to get.

We are going to have the most confused scientists 10-15 years from now.

The science curriculum "should not be totally inclusive of just one scientific theory," said Joni Burgin, superintendent of the district of 1,000 students in northwest Wisconsin.

That's fine, but creationism is NOT an accepted scientific theory. There is NO evidence that supports it beyond the Bible. Maybe a book written 2000+ years ago knows better than today's scientists, but I doubt it.

I'm not sure if this would be preferable, but it is an idea.

I really didn't like Weinberg when I took 7.012. In fact, I skipped all but one of his lectures. (He's not that good.) But, I do like the sentement he is expressing to his students. I don't know if it is correct to say what he did to his class (at least MIT isn't a public University), but I commend him for it.

Wally pointed in the direction of this Salon section. He tells us to read one comment in particular, which I have pasted below:

Many of my liberal friends are seriously discussing leaving the country, for Canada or Europe or New Zealand. It is, of course, tempting. How could we not feel a violent disillusionment and disconnect when we discovered this morning that the majority of voters in the country have a worldview we cannot comprehend? That hate and fear and ignorance can run a successful presidental campaign; that people will respond to these things with eager glee?
And if I wasn't tempted before leaving the house, one look at my car with its Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker -- the only car with such a sticker in the lot -- and how overnight it suddenly acquired a political statement consisting of eggs and shaving cream -- the only car in the lot so decorated -- certainly pushed me in that direction. I imagine the decorators (or their parents) voted on 'moral values,' as so many Bush supporters did.

But I'm not going to leave, and I made a list of reasons why.

Because this is my country.

Because I'm not letting them have New England autumns, New Mexico sunsets, the Grand Canyon, or Revere Beach.

Because Barack Obama, Ted Kennedy, Barney Frank and a few other stalwarts are isolated enough in a Capitol gone mad without their supporters pulling up and getting out.

Because over a million people voted for Alan Keyes, and that means even in Illinois we can't relax.

Because Massachusetts elected a far-right religious zealot in a gubernatorial race no one bothered to vote in.

Because I do, honestly, want my kids to be American citizens.

Because 200 years ago Americans believed in a separation of church and state, and if there's one thing we seem to be good at, it's regression.

Because we have to speak up even if they're not coming for us personally yet. We're educated and energized and relatively financially secure, and there are a lot of people out there who are none of those things and are at least initially going to suffer far more than we are. We have to speak for them if they can't speak for themselves.

Because this is still my country, and being female and pro-choice and pro-gay rights and an environmentalist and a pacifist and a believer in intelligent leaders and an atheist does not make me un-American or unpatriotic -- and that needs to be screamed from the fucking rooftops.

Because they vandalized my fucking car, and that is their level of discourse.

Because I am not afraid anymore. I am angry.


-- Mary Meiklejohn

I wanted to reproduce it here, because I really like what it is saying. Moving out of a country whose constitutional values you love and respect, that could, at some point, remake itself to reflect once again the image of the framers means just giving up. True Americans don't give up. Historically, we are a nation of fighters--whether on the moral, political or military front. We've gone through some very hard times--The Depression, Prohibition and the Nixon administration come to mind--but have managed to make it through with our country intact and cooler heads prevailing.

The country will make it through this. Those of us who are mad enough will fight. I'm not sure how yet, but we will fight. Cooler heads will eventially prevail, and I won't feel that my geography defines my values (I have more to say on this--hopefully I can get to it later).

I am just glad I live in a state where I have Ted Kennedy and John Kerry looking out for me.

Found this thanks to an individual at work. Man, I don't even know what to say, esp. after reading this.

Damn it.

Damn it. We should have let the South secede when we had the chance. Spending 4 more years being governed by a Republican, evangelical Southerner is not my idea of fun. He may represent a lot of American, but he doesn't represent me.

Maybe I should give up my secular liberalism. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? Oh, I could beat 'em. Just give me a stick.

Boy, you know the election is close when the vote inHart's Location is a tie. Bush and Kerry each got 15 votes. When a little community in NH is tied, there is no way to tell where the rest of the chips (or should I say chads?) will fall.

An op-ed in Boston.com thanks to Jason. It turns out that:

The state with the lowest divorce rate in the nation is Massachusetts. At latest count it had a divorce rate of 2.4 per 1,000 population, while the rate for Texas was 4.1.

and

For all the Bible Belt talk about family values, it is the people from Kerry's home state, along with their neighbors in the Northeast corridor, who live these values. Indeed, it is the "blue" states, led led by Massachusetts and Connecticut, that have been willing to invest more money over time to foster the reality of what it means to leave no children behind. And they have been among the nation's leaders in promoting a living wage as their goal in public employment. The money they have invested in their future is known more popularly as taxes; these so-called liberal people see that money is their investment to help insure a compassionate, humane society.

Ah, so poetic.

Eminem's newest video. I'm not a huge eminem fan, but the video is stylistically interesting, and, hell, he is pissed at the Bush administration. I'm cool with that.

Slate has a review on it.

This is kinda freaky. But at least they are starting

with a fairly simple procedure that would not involve transplanting muscles that shape the face. By starting off with transplanting only the skin and underlying fat the patient would not take on the appearance of the donor.

It still creeps me out.