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September 27, 2006
http://www.itpro.co.uk/blogs/categories/security/589/remember-the-forgotten-hero-who-saved-the-world.thtml, today, is the 23rd
Today is the 23rd anniversary of the day Colonel Stanislav Yegrafovich Petrov saved the world.
The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment starts its mission today to provide us with the best imaging of the Red Planet ever taken. Cool.
Posted by Hamish at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2006
Ontario Government looks to ban
Ontario Government looks to ban expiration dates on 'gift cards'. Now there's an idea whose time has come. Seriously, I can't believe it's taken this long for lawmakers to go after this particular problem. Expiring money! Who'd've thought! It's a masterpiece of hubris on the part of retailers. I once asked a GAP clerkbot why their gift cards 'expired' - she explained, rather meekly, that it's to excourage people to use the gift card. But, why do you care? I asked. The money's in the bank, your company is making interest on it as we speak, and with inflation, the longer the customer hangs on to it, the less it's worth. So who cares if they keep a gift card for two or three years? Something about keeping track of the cards in their computers is difficult. B.S. again! Data retention is nothing to a big company. It's just numbers in a file. It's a cash-grab, pure and simple. Good that we're going to outlaw it.
For photographers interested in capturing the wonderful fall colours that are bursting out all over this fine province, or for people who just want to go for a nice drive in the country, here's Ontario Tourism's "Weather" page - the top item in the "Seasonal Weather" section is the Fall Colour report. It's a PDF file, updated regularly until the end of October, detailing where the best fall colours are.
Posted by Hamish at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)
September 19, 2006
thebudgetgraph.com "has a visual representation
thebudgetgraph.com "has a visual representation of how the US federal government spends income taxes." Shocking but not surprising.
newsbiscuit is like The Onion, only British.
Posted by Hamish at 01:20 PM | Comments (0)
September 18, 2006
Play me Spanish Techno
A subject near and dear to my heart (ha!): A Collection of Vintage Supermarket Photos. Love it.
On that note, here's an A-to-Z of Retail Tricks to Make You Shop. Just a note: the page includes "Go to the back" - placing essentials like bread and milk at the back of the store, meaning they are the furthest from the front door and coincidentally, the items people most want. Idea being that you have to walk past everything else, and be tempted, before you get what you really need. I once asked a merchandiser who works for a large grocery company exactly why it is that stuff like milk and soft drinks and bread, etc are at the back of the store. His answer was much more practical and made a lot of sense to me. From a logistical standpoint, the heaviest items are merchandised in positions closest to the loading dock, which is always at the back of the store. Also items that require refrigeration/freezing are in positions nearest the dock to reduce travel time in open air during stocking. Lightest items, like chips and produce, are at the front of the store. Concerns about temptation and impulse are secondary to the concerns of time, energy and spoilage - bread, for instance, is replenished several times daily and it doesn't make sense to have your stocking staff running all over the store with skids of bread, blocking customers.
Posted by Hamish at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2006
Some fool condo company (maybe
Some fool condo company (maybe they're not so foolish, considering how Queen St. West is now) is erecting "The Bohemian Embassy". Good lord. Margaret Atwood must be rolling in her grave. (kidding). Of course, the remnants of Toronto's artistic community have responded: http://www.bohemianembarassment.ca. Go check it and watch the whole video - it's hilarious.
Gamedesign.jp is an awesome online flash game site.
Posted by Hamish at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)
September 12, 2006
How Hollywood's MP in Canada
How Hollywood's MP in Canada financed her campaign - copyfight lawyer Michael Geist has been investigating the campaign financing of Sarmite Bulte, the MP who lost her seat largely due to evidence that she had been bought by the recording industry.
Wikipedia article of the day: Pinkerton's National Detective Agency. Watching the HBO series "Deadwood", the agency plays a significant role in aiding George Herst's takeover of the gold mining operations in town. I wasn't clear on exactly who or what the Pinkertons were, aside from being a bunch of goons who all wear the same kind of sinister-yet-dapper clothes.
Posted by Hamish at 02:24 PM | Comments (0)
September 11, 2006
What We Said - (the
What We Said - (the morning news) "Amid the chaos of Sept. 11, 2001, we sought human contact—to speak and to listen. Five years later, we remember what we said."
One of the places I spent a lot of time on 9/11 was Fark.com, actually - the thread there was incredible during that fateful morning.
An account by comedian Doug Hecox about his going on stage on September 14, 2001.
Helen Mirren has handed in an amazing performance (from all accounts) in her role as Queen Elizabeth II in Stephen Frears' "The Queen", a film about how Queen Elizabeth reacted to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in the days immediately following that event. A trailer has been posted at trailers.apple.com.
Posted by Hamish at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)
September 07, 2006
TRAC Reports has an amazing
TRAC Reports has an amazing webpage on "Criminal Terrorism Enforcement in the United States During the Five Years Since the 9/11/01 Attacks". In minute detail the report reveals findings on how the war on terror has been litigated, and how successful (or unsuccessful) the Americans' efforts have been.
In honour of the start this week of the Toronto International Film Festival: The Art of Sneaking Around Movie Theatres.
Travelling by Train in North America.
A page devoted to Wikipedia's Lamest Edit Wars. This sort of thing must have gone on behind closed doors at Britannica, mustn't it?
Posted by Hamish at 09:43 AM | Comments (0)
September 05, 2006
London's Tate Modern Gallery, which
London's Tate Modern Gallery, which is awesome(!), has a website with lots of useful information, including its visiting hours and directions, etc. But I think they're going a bit too far when they include RealPlayer American Sign Language translations of the Gallery Hours. I mean, are they assuming that AMSLANers can't read? Is there some data to back this up? Makes no sense to me.
I was disappointed to learn yesterday of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin's sudden death, the result of an unfortunate encounter with a stingray. The Ray stabbed Irwin's chest with its barbed tail, piercing his heart and killing him instantly. Of course, the attack was caught on video - which will no doubt find its way to the morbid internet. Irwin died doing what he loved - communing with the animal kingdom. His full-on, in-your-face methods were shocking to some and more than a little bit embarrassing to his Australian countrymen, who regarded him in the same light as Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee), a stereotype they would like to slough off. I myself saw him as a cross between Mutual of Omaha's Marlon Perkins and Tom Green. I can only imagine what Irwin's wife must have felt when she found out (after the media) about Steve's death. Sigh. RIP Steve Irwin.
Torrents, Piracy and Beyond: will the film industry survive? Very good article.
If Marvel's Stan Lee styled Alan Moore's "The Watchmen" graphic novel. *Shudder*.
Posted by Hamish at 09:23 AM | Comments (0)
September 01, 2006
When the Levees Broke...
My copy of Joel Meyerowitz's AFTERMATH book arrived yesterday. It's awesome. Meyerowitz was the only photographer able to gain access to the WTC "pile" after 9/11 while the cleanup progressed. He used large format camera equipment to record the operations of the recovery and removal of the mountains of debris at the site. His work was shown during the CONTACT festival this year and I was amazed by it. So glad it's been published in a big coffee-table book form. Guardian UK review
Why Fight Club Was Really A Film About Calvin and Hobbes
Kuro5hin's take on Hurricane Katrina: One Year Later.
Posted by Hamish at 03:01 PM | Comments (0)