titty knitting

Oh, hell, words can't explain it.

http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTbits.html

The end of Skype

Skype, currently the easiest way to have encrypted phone calls with your terror^H^H^H^H^H^Hpolitically active friends is now owned by Ebay. Why? Who the hell knows, but it's a sad story that the product is now under the influence of the Justice Department, who will undoubtedly try to force Ebay to give them access to people's private conversations.

Because it's easier than doing honest police work. Lazy cowards.

Scotty to be beamed up.

Scotty's remains to be blasted into space. Not a bad way to go, I guess.

First extinct species to be recreated: Tasmanian Tiger

If this catches on, the entire argument of the endangered species act is on thin ice. If 70 year old pickled tissue samples can be cloned, then wholesale tissue banking of endangered species around the world can begin, along with hundreds of stalled public works and development projects.

In fact this could spell the doom of the environmental protection movement altogether -- after all, if we can recreate it at will, why go to great effort to preserve it in-situ?

Tissue banking can be categorized as a "safety net"; demise of the environmental protection movement can be categorized as " moral hazard" or "unintended consequence".

People not meant to live in space: proof.

Evidence of Intelligent Design, anyway. It seems that God put in safeguards to keep us from leaving the planet until we understood genetic engineering inside out.

By implication, it seems that God is giving us permission to genetically engineer (and by implication clone) ourselves, otherwise why would he invent rocket ships through our scientists? Too cool.

Stand Your Ground

I heard on the radio (NPR) that Florida has finally had the common sense to remove the "first you have to try to run away" requirement from personal self-defense. They're calling it the "Stand Your Ground" law. The Brady Bunch (a term used on the air no less) are mounting a crybaby campaign to "warn" tourists that Floridians are inherrently dangerous and should always be treated politely because this law plus the governor encouraging everyone who qualifies to get a concealed carry permit makes it likely you'll get shot if you speak loudly and stuff.

Just hilarious. In the midst of their whining about the "undue" influence of the NRA, they are literally making the NRA's point for them. Or was it Heinlein's point? (sometimes i forget)

In any case, from a practical point of view, it is counterproductive to require that you display a prey behavior (running away/escaping) to your preditor before you're allowed to defend yourself -- it only cements the the nature of the nacent preditor/prey relationship making it far more likely that the would-be preditor become one for real. The idea is to present a strong enough return threat to make the would-be preditor look for other prey as early into the relationship as possible.

Duh.

Cool LCD tech

Sharp announced a new LCD technology. I've never seen it, nor in fact do I know anything at all about it, but I figure that anything that is "premium", "advanced", "super", and "mega" all at the same time has got to be worth every penny.

"Mega-Contrast" Advanced Super View Premium LCD