stray bullets

Pirates die strangely after taking Iranian ship A tense standoff has developed in waters off Somalia over an Iranian merchant ship laden with a mysterious cargo that was hijacked by pirates. Somali pirates suffered skin burns, lost hair and fell gravely ill “within days” of boarding the MV Iran Deyanat. Some of them died. Andrew Mwangura, the director of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, told the Sunday Times: “We don’t know exactly how many, but the information that I am getting is that some of them had died. There is something very wrong about that ship.” (via)

also:
Interview: Matthew Herbert (via)
The International Dialects of English Archive (via)
Carny Lingo (via)

viddy:
Ken Adam talking about the war room set he designed for Dr. Strangelove (via)
Knots - How To Tie A Monkey’s Fist And Heave A Line
Global Air Traffic Simulation (.wmv download; very cool, much better than the YouTube version)
Fridge Monster

blog of the moment: Great Map (always a fun and fascinating journey)

stray bullets

Nukes Are Not the Best Way to Stop an Asteroid Although Schweickart has a great deal of faith in the agency, enough to risk his life piloting their lunar lander, he feels that they issued the misleading statement -- under immense political pressure. It was a nefarious excuse to put nuclear weapons in space.

Adventurer Steve Fossett 'may have faked his own death' "I've been doing this search and rescue for 14 years. Fossett should have been found.... "It's not like we didn't have our eyes open. We found six other planes while we were looking for him. We're pretty good at what we do." (via)

Headline of the Day: Human sperm from dental pulp via mouse testicles

Despite pain, woman believes in better days thanks to 'X-Files' Rock on, Kathy Green. (via)

Her Own Society A new reading of Emily Dickinson.

also:
"Comments on Comments" (a must)
Does everyone have claustrophobia?
Schneier Interviewed by RU Sirius (transcript) (via)
RU Sirius banned from Facebook for using a pseudonym (via)
Tomb reveals ancient trade network (via)
Smithsonian Podcasts (wow) (via)
Medpedia (via) (via)
Twitter me Ishmael Starting today, this Twitter account will post one paragraph from Moby-Dick every hour from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

viddy:
Last.fm + YouTube = music tv goodness (via)
Joel Hodgson's Jollyfilter Test Video proof of concept is sound (via) (via)
Hans Richter - Vormittagsspuk (1928) The nazis destroyed the sound version of this film as "degenerate art".

Of course unmoderated anonymous comments on the internet can be incomprehensibly awful and frustratingly stupid. They can also be heartbreakingly sincere and shatteringly honest. That’s because they’re written by real people, and real people are complicated, messy, and weird. -- Derek Powazek (via) (good one, Guy)

stray bullets

Marines in Afghanistan Weigh In on a Life at War They live in crude mud-wall compounds. There are no sewage system, no telephones, no electricity — these young men have been sleeping in the dirt for weeks. But the Marines have come up with a trick to beat the Afghan heat. Lance Cpl. Brian Archer sticks water bottles in a wet cotton sock. "Piece of cloth, wrap up a hot drink in it, well water over it, let the wind hit it. Be like an hour or two. And it feels like you just pulled it out of the fridge. It's great," he explains.

Online service lets blind surf the Internet from any computer, anywhere New software, called WebAnywhere lets blind and visually impaired people surf the Web on the go. The tool developed at the University of Washington turns screen-reading into an Internet service that reads aloud Web text on any computer with speakers or a headphone connection.

Stoners, Like, Totally Solve Nation's Air Travel Problems Air travel is a total hassle, man, and marijuana advocates in Denver say everyone would find the normally excruciating process a lot more pleasant if they could enjoy a few bong hits before boarding. It might even help solve a few of the problems that airlines have been experiencing lately. The way they see it, if people can knock a few back before a flight, they should be able to spark one up. They're calling on airports nationwide to install marijuana lounges. Not sure where they're going with this by the end, but if it helps alleviate the humiliation of gate-rape, I'm, like, all for it. Seems like they should focus their energy on the legal issues first, man.

How Can I Free My Home of Pests without Harming My Family? I'm fully behind all-natural pesticides. Those chemicals make me feel sick. If I even walk by a house that had been recently sprayed it gives me a headache.

I never knew Google was THIS massive! If you only read one of these, read this one. It will blow your mind. (via)

Exploring John Travolta's Airport Home

Telstar Logistics:

John Travolta's home near Ocala, Florida is part house and part airport terminal — literally. Travolta is an avid aviator, and his aircraft collection includes a pristine Boeing 707 that he's restored in the livery of a vintage Quantas Airliner...

"Wow, I went nowhere there for a while"

I suppose this qualifies as fun.

What I want to know is, how much training does it take for fighter pilots to stop passing out?

via Bits and Pieces