stray bullets

Foreign Policy: The Top 10 Stories You Missed in 2008 Don't miss them this time.

Briton saved dozens in hotel A millionaire private equity broker from London has emerged as a hero who stopped Islamic terrorists from massacring Britons and Americans in their attack on Mumbai.

LAX Tops Nation In Stolen, Missing Luggage Items "Easy pickings?" "Easy pickings." "I wouldn't put anything valuable in LAX" These two LAX employees would only talk if we concealed their identities. "I saw thefts within the first few weeks of working there." They both say there are organized rings of thieves, who identify valuables in your checked luggage by looking at the TSA x-ray screens, then communicate with baggage handlers by text or cell phone, telling them exactly what to look for. (via)

What is truth serum? Indian officials plan to inject captured Mumbai terrorist with the "truth serum," sodium pentothal, but history tells us that the technique isn't up to the task

Particulate Emissions From Laser Printers Do laser printers emit pathogenic toner particles into the air? Some people are convinced that they do. As a result, this topic is the subject of public controversy. Researchers have now investigated what particles the printers really do release into the air.

Black Garlic Introducing a simple food with a wonderfully complex flavor. Black garlic is sweet meets savory, a perfect mix of molasses-like richness and tangy garlic undertones. It has a tender, almost jelly-like texture with a melt-in-your-mouth consistency similar to a soft dried fruit. Hard to believe, but true. It’s as delicious as it is unique. (via)

also:
Two cases of compulsive swearing - in sign language
A Fragment Theory Of Deja Vu
Academics invent a mathematical equation for why people procrastinate (when they were supposed to be writing papers)
Ancient city discovered deep in Amazonian rainforest linked to the legendary white-skinned Cloud People of Peru
Prized sculpture destroyed on trip to Art Basel Miami
How to Stretch a Canvas

don't miss:
The ultimate fate of Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs (via)

viddy:
William Eggleston: I am at war with the obvious

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)

TSA deploys airport behavior screeners

From the AP story:

NEW YORK (AP) -- To the untrained eye, the man looked like any other traveler as he waited in line at Kennedy Airport. But something about the way he was acting caught the attention of two security screeners.

For 16 minutes, they questioned him, scanned every inch of his body twice with a metal-detecting wand and emptied his carry-on bag onto a table. Out came a car stereo with wires dangling from it.

The man was eventually found to have done nothing wrong - he said he had pulled the stereo out of his car because he was afraid it would get stolen - and he was sent on his way.

But it's the type of scene that has been unfolding on a regular basis over the past four years at the nation's major airports under a rapidly expanding "behavior detection" program set up by the Transportation Security Administration to spot terrorists or other dangerous air travelers by way of subtle clues in the way they act.

So, in other words, they're failing miserably.

Sunday Excursions: The Rites of Spring

Spring in Savannah means that the heat will be back sooner than we might like. the girls are wearing a lot less and the pollen is so thick it covers everything in a yellow film... oh yeah, and thunderstorms and tornadoes.













Mike Hollingshead has a great job. He's a storm chaser and and his website, Extreme Instability, is loaded with stunning photos, chronicling his dangerous journeys throughout the American Heartland.

I'm one of those people that gets high on thunderstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes, all of which, I've experienced a number. Some like porn, some drool over pictures of kind-bud in High Times, I get off on extreme weather, real or recorded.

via A Moment of Awesome
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From The Lives They Left Behind:

When Willard Psychiatric Center closed in 1995, staff members Beverly Courtwright and Lisa Hoffman, along with Craig Williams, a New York State Museum curator, worked to save historical artifacts there. Beverly found a door tucked under the pigeon-infested rafters of an attic. Prying it open, they found rows of wooden racks, packed with almost 400 suitcases of all shapes and types – men’s on the left, women’s on the right, alphabetized, labeled, and covered by bird droppings, seemingly untouched for years. Realizing they had stumbled across unique and valuable artifacts, Craig had the suitcases moved to the Museum’s warehouse near Albany.

This is where Darby Penney and Peter Stastny encountered the luggage in 1999, wrapped in dusty plastic sheets. Working with a list of names and hospital identification numbers, they went through the suitcases to choose a smaller number of individuals and identify their belongings for closer study.

This online exhibit preserves the forgotten memories of these people, long since passed away. The site also has a great deal of information about the hospital itself, audio recordings of memories of the institution and more information about the book and touring exhibition.

via Mind Hacks
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There were a number of remarkable stories this past week. Here's a small sampling:

This kind of thing usually only happens in movies: A Victim Treats His Mugger Right.

Bra-freaking-vo. I wish I had the balls (and the heart) to do that when I was mugged. Granted, his guy had a knife and my guy had a .38, but still.

via kottke.org
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People move like predators.

News Flash: We are predators. Sorry, George.

via Complexity Digest
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Threat Level goes off on gate-rape and its apologists in TSA Defends Nipple Ring Removal Order, Should Apologize.

I loved this bit:

Two suggestions:

1) apologize publicly to Hamlin today, saying the officers were not following common sense procedures and

2) stop referring to the United States as the Homeland.

Every time you say that word in reference to the United States, you sound like a buffoonish bureaucrat from the Soviet Union. Your underlings won't tell you so, but that's what THREAT LEVEL is here for.

No, really you do. Stop it. And apologize to Hamlin already.

Expletive deleted-ay!
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I saw this story floating about last week. Bruce Schneier brought it back to my attention.

Red light cameras are working so well that cities are shutting them down. Revenues generated by fines are disappearing. Seems that crime does pay...
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Mac Tonnies added a new installment on the Seti.com blog. In fact, read them all.

In my book, Mac is right up there with Richard Dolan and Timothy Good in providing a balanced and rational look into the world of Ufology.

If you try to tell me that there's no evidence, I'll know that you really haven't looked.
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Now to wrap up with a few odd nugs:


Send emails into the future with Time Machiner

via Vitamin Briefcase
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Bootstrapper's 100 Best DIY Sites on the Web

Should keep you DIYing for a while.

via linkfilter.net
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The Presurfer dropped this oddity: Thriving Office.

Instant credibility for home businesses... or, if you business is tanking, it doesn't have to sound like it.

Do people actually use this?
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In memory and honor of the great Arthur C. Clarke, this page of HAL9000 .wavs.

via Contrary Brin
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Have a Sunday Excursion and a great week ahead.