See that "2996" over on the left? That's a link to a tribute to everyone who died on 9/11, and leads to a page where each individual was assigned to a volunteer blogger who will post a memorial to that person on the fifth anniversary of that sad day.

Every. Single. One.

The goal has been reached (thanks to everyone who's signed up), and they've started around again so if you haven't volunteered yet, you still can.

Posted by: Ted at 06:49 PM | category: Links
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This is so cool.

Colony: Alchibah.

From the FAQ:

In the middle of the 21st century, a ship of dissidents seeking freedom from the oppressive world government of Earth land on a planet circling the star Alchibah. There, these colonists begin a new life, a new world, a place where the limited government is subordinate to the citizens. First they had to create that government and the documents that would constrain it. Actually, first they had to escape Earth! As in any sci-fi story, there are plenty of other problems as well...

I highly recommend reading through the FAQ before exploring the rest of the site, because this isn't simply a story to read. For the right kinds of people, with imagination and passion, you can become characters in the story and affect events. Beneath the veneer of SciFi fiction, this is actually a nicely conceived simulation of building a government from scratch. You can argue your points and sway opinions of other colonists as you all work together (or work against each other) to create a future.

Jeff Soyer, proprietor of Alphecca, is the mind behind this stunning concept. I'll be following their progress, and enjoying every step of the journey.

Posted by: Ted at 12:48 PM | category: Links
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Jerry Rice signed a one-day contract with the San Francisco 49'ers so that he could officially retire with the team.

Twenty years, most every receiving record in the books, and the man did it with style and class.

A lot of athletes should learn that lesson.

Posted by: Ted at 05:33 AM | category: Links
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Links to the Silent Universe and Second Shift podcasts are now on my sidebar.

Posted by: Ted at 05:13 AM | category: Links
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I always find that the hardest thing about making a web page is finding/making/picking a back ground that will satisfy several criteria. The criteria include (A) that it not suck, (B) that is is fairly unobtrusive and not eye watering ugly, and (C) that to take into account the variety of monitor display settings it should either tile well or have a solid back ground color [note, these are just my personal rules of thumbs). This nifty little website allows you to make tile-able back grounds quickly and easily... and I like to play with it even if I don't need a new background.

I also have an appreciation for well done drawings and paintings that have a bit of humor in them of some sort. I don't usually go for the more traditional "Art" stuff. This website has some interesting pictures that defiantly make me giggle and is worth checking out. Hm... I wonder if my roommate would like them... we need to decorate our dorm room...

Posted by: Mookie at 11:22 AM | category: Links
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I've always had permission to Post on Rocket Jones, but Dad just gave me the official word "Go"; so of course the spelling and grammar quality of this site just went down the crapper, but thatÂ’s no matter.

Almost every day I send Dad links to random sites I find online via a firefox extension called StumbleUpon, yet dad rarely has time/remembers to link to them, so now I'll do it. The best description of StumbleUpon came from this site where they say "[StumbleUpon] is a software implementation of Attention Deficit Disorder" and how true it is. I do actually waste hours upon hours each day (when I have internet) stumbling around to amuse myself.

So the first weird link of the day will be an optical illusion thatÂ’s really quite freaky, but entertaining. And then there is a website that shows you how to harvest stools. Finally, here's a place with some T-shirts called Cute Dead Things... I really want the Skull one, it so cute! and dead!

Posted by: Mookie at 06:54 PM | category: Links
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Check out this little beauty:

click the picture for Dirty Harry size

Even better, it's fully functional.

This firearm is a scaled-down model of the much acclaimed and mystical Colt Python with all the same features as are found on the real size gun.

They advertise it as "the smallest revolver and ammunition in the world."

Thanks to Rodger for the pointer.

Posted by: Ted at 08:35 PM | category: Links
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Not as in "decorative", as in "I was eating a piece of chicken when I read something so funny I snorted food."

Oh, how I wish I were drinking a glass of milk at the time.

No matter. Put down the fork and glass and go read this.

You've been warned.

Posted by: Ted at 07:47 PM | category: Links
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It is also *not* the answer to any of the "25 Most Important Questions in the History of the Universe".

Thanks to Wizbang! for the pointer.

Posted by: Ted at 05:53 AM | category: Links
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I briefly mentioned it a couple of days ago, and I'm pleased to announce that I have 8-bit nostalgia up and running.

M.U.L.E., Blue Max, Encounter, various Infocom text adventures and early Electronic Arts offerings, bringing back memories of my earliest days of home computing.

I haven't gotten the configuration exactly right, because the emulator won't read the virtual cassette drive yet, and there are a couple of early war games I hope to resurrect that were only available on tape. More tinkering to do.

If you don't see the attraction, then you have no soul. It's that simple.

Oh, and for those asking, I've been playing with two emulators: Atari800 and Atari800Win Plus. Win Plus has been easier to work with, but doesn't offer the flexibility that Atari800 does. I may very well end up using both for different situations.

Posted by: Ted at 05:27 AM | category: Links
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Dustbury notes an odd little item:

...the C64 Orchestra is a real live band that, for the moment anyway, plays music from Commodore 64 games.

If you feel so inclined, follow that link for details and more links.

It especially caught my eye because I've been toying with a couple of Atari 800 emulators, with the aim of being able to play some of my favorite 8-bit games of old on today's Windows PC. I've even found a couple of emulators designed to run under WinCE for my PDA.

Feel free to google 'em up. There are plenty of open source emulators out there (Intellivision anyone?), and I see no need to open your wallet.

Posted by: Ted at 09:55 PM | category: Links
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The original article is titled "101 ways to massacre Shakespeare".

The Edinburgh Fringe richly deserves its reputation for artistic anarchy and every year The Bard is the target of bizarre adaptations at the world's largest arts festival.

The festival director's all-time favorite? A Midsummer's Night Disco. The bard done on roller skates. Boy howdy.

As The Fringe celebrates its 60th birthday, the prize for zaniest 2006 production goes to Hamlet set in a bouncy castle.

To see the Prince of Denmark in laddered tights bounding around declaiming "To Be or Not To Be" is a truly surreal experience.

Surreal is one word to describe it, but not the first that comes to mind.

One never knows where inspiration will come:

Seward had his eureka moment when attending a children's birthday party in Argentina. "I saw the children playing on a bouncy castle and that is when the idea came to me.

One never knows when the meds wear off.

Other interpretations seen over the years include:

"Macbeth -- That Old Black Magic" boasts a Frank Sinatra soundtrack and you can see "The Tempest" with acrobats, puppets and circus tricks.

In "Corleone: The Godfather," the American High School Theater Festival troupe asks "What if Shakespeare had written the Godfather?"

Alas, poor yorick, I must go make sick. I'd still love to go.

Posted by: Ted at 11:27 AM | category: Links
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The Smithsonian is 160 years old today.

Posted by: Ted at 05:06 AM | category: Links
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A disturbing, albeit very funny video, courtesy of Curmudgeonly and Skeptical.

I may have to send these to several blog buddies as Christmas presents (anonymously of course).

Thanks to Minister Buckethead for the link to "those".

Posted by: Ted at 05:51 AM | category: Links
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I stumbled across this while looking for something else (not safe for work).

Mookie sent this link since it reminded her of the infamous Barbies in Bondage post.

From Dick's Rocket Dungeon, a link to a week's worth of pictures from the National Association of Rocketry's Annual Meet (NARAM).

Wow. Zombies, bondage, and rockets all in one post. If Rocket Jones had a nutrition pyramid this would be like a balanced meal.

Posted by: Ted at 05:29 AM | category: Links
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Whatever the editorial equivalent of that is, it really needs doing.

I've been following with some interest the Reuters photography story (lots of links here). If you're unfamiliar with it, read the box.

The Reuters news agency has fired freelance photographer Adnan Hajj for photoshopping photographs. The first conclusive example had dark smoke added to a scene overlooking Beirut. At this point Reuters suspended Hajj. When a second photograph was discovered of an aircraft with additional "missiles" and bombs copy-and-pasted in, they fired him and pulled from their database almost 1,000 pictures that he'd provided them over the course of ten years. Since then, additional photographs have been discovered where he would submit the same scene, shot from different perspectives, as evidence of overnight airstrike damage dated weeks apart. Some of these photos feature the exact same people in them.

From the story:

"It's hard to imagine how someone sitting in an air-conditioned office or broadcast studio many thousands of miles from the scene can decide what occurred on the ground with any degree of accuracy," said Kathleen Carroll, AP's senior vice president and executive editor.

Which is exactly the criticism that many people have with the news coverage in the middle east. The reporters sit safely inside their "Green Zone" hotels and have paid local stringers bring them the news. They're not covering the stories, they merely collate what is delivered to them before passing it along as fact.

Yet when the public makes this argument, it's disregarded by the media because they're "professionals". There have been a lot of arrogant bastards over the years working to turn journalism into a cult, and if you're not in the cult then you cannot criticize. The sad thing is, they've largely succeeded.

Senior editor Carroll then goes on with this:

Photographers are experienced in recognizing when someone is trying to stage something for their benefit, she said.

So, in other words, they see it often enough to know it when it happens. And maybe, like in Hajj's case, they're ok with staging the scene because it fits their agenda. Good thing the news agencies have layers of professional editorial staffing to keep this from happening... but, aren't all the editors "sitting in an air-conditioned office or broadcast studio many thousands of miles from the scene"? I thought that made it difficult or impossible to "decide what occurred on the ground with any degree of accuracy".

Then we get this "professional" opinion:

"Do you really think these people would risk their lives under Israeli shelling to set up a digging ceremony for dead Lebanese kids?" asked Patrick Baz, Mideast photo director for AFP.

More and more, I believe that the weather forecast is the most accurate part of any news program.

Posted by: Ted at 06:07 AM | category: Links
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The company that is acting as general contractor for our kitchen remodeling project is also doing this memorial.

Posted by: Ted at 05:27 AM | category: Links
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That be Talk Like A Pirate Day, me hearties.

And for those blogging that day, there be this.

Posted by: Ted at 07:23 PM | category: Links
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MyKnobs.com.

I've been spending some time at that site. One of the things that's been taking up major chunks of life lately is that we're having our kitchen, dining room and adjacent bathroom remodelled. Final plans are due next week and then I'll have a few weeks to get "our" portion of tasks done before construction begins. Yes, construction. There will be walls removed and things rearranged. We've been planning this for years in our mind, and now we've finally taken the plunge.

I told everyone we've sat down with the same thing: We're not doing this to sell the place, because if we were then I'd go cheap. The budget's not unlimited, but we're not going bottom-of-the-line either, because this is for *us*.

We've already picked flooring and carpet. Cabinets and countertops have been selected. All new appliances have been chosen and are being held until needed, and we sat down last night and picked the exact colors for paint (we've collected literally hundreds of paint cards and chips).

This is going to be a huge mess. The end result is going to be beautiful.

Posted by: Ted at 07:27 AM | category: Links
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As if that's news to anyone with more imagination than an amoeba.

For instance, The Steely Dan Dictionary.

The creative genii behind Steely Dan (Walter Becker and Donald Fagen) have long been fond of peppering their lyrics with arcane literary and cultural references, the meaning of which can be murky at best (given the duo's legendary reticence). After searching in vain for an explanatory lexicon, I decided to create my own.

I found that via a link from Tuning, which is infrequently updated but always interesting.

And the link for that came from Owlish, who is no longer posting. I miss him. who (holy crap!) just started posting again. Yay!

I would've known that if trackbacks were working, but Mu.Nu has shut them off for good until we migrate to Minx. Lousy spammers. Which makes me wonder how everyone is doing in TTLB's ecosystem. I haven't looked at it in months, but one of the measurements is trackbacks, so I wonder what kind of hit Munuvians are taking.

Posted by: Ted at 09:46 AM | category: Links
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