December 2003 Archives

China Daily reports that Anita Mui has died

Hong Kong pop queen Anita Mui dies

Hong Kong pop star and actress Anita Mui, well known in Chinese communities the world over, died early on Tuesday less than four months after revealing that she had cervical cancer. She was 40.

She died at Hong Kong's Sanitorium Hospital at 2.50am (1850 GMT), according to her friends, including action film legend Jackie Chan and fellow singer Alan Tam, who were keeping vigil at the hospital.

Earlier reports said that she had been admitted to hospital after slipping into a coma.

Other reports said Mui died of lung failure due to the side effects of the drugs she was taking to fight the cancer. [China Daily]

I think the first thing I saw her in was The Heroic Trio. She's also been in a few Jackie Chan movies over the years.

So I've decided that this year I'm going to stay at home for NYE. Mostly because it feels like too much of a hassle to go out anywhere. So instead, I'm inviting all my friends to stop by as they head out to whatever party they are going to and drink some of the various alcohol I have sitting around. I'll be home, watching movies, eating popcorn, and drinking. Just let me know beforehand if you'll be swinging by.

There's a certain kind of game that I tend to avoid because I can so easily just lose hours and hours playing them without blinking an eye. Unfortunately I just got one of those games recently. Harvest Moon:Friends of Mineral Town is an .. uh... farming game. You inherit a farm and have to build it up and raise animals, find a girlfriend, it's like sim farm. Between that and Final Fantasy Advance Tactics, this little system is rocking.

For some reason this year it just isn't as easy to do. Things are starting to look up a little bit, but some of it feels like too little too late. I'm sure that once I get down to my parent's place things will be better. I'll be surrounded by things of xmas, family will be there, I'll get to see my nephew. But for now it is just run around in a mad panic and hope I can get on the road by the time I want to. Oh yeah, and I need to stop at RMV and pay off a ticket that I don't have money to pay so my license won't be suspended.

Thank god I can listen to David Sedaris' Holidays on Ice while I'm going insane.

Because penguins rock. Penguin Shuffling. [via Boing Boing]

I'm trying to decide what to do for New Years Eve and coming up blank. I'm thinking I may just say anyone who wants to come by and visit is welcome to. I've got alcohol people can help me finish off, movies that I'll be watching, etc. There's a part of me that just feels very very lazy and wants to just stay home.

Via Ellen and LockerGnome, a law student looks at LotR.

"As a small token of your friendship Sauron asks this," he said: "that you should find this thief," such was his word, "and get from him, willing or no, a little ring, the least of rings, that once he stole. It is but a trifle that Sauron fancies, and an earnest of your good will. Find it, and three rings that the Dwarf-sires possessed of old shall be returned to you, and the realm of Moria shall be yours for ever. Find only news of the thief, whether he still lives and where, and you shall have great reward and lasting friendship from the Lord. Refuse, and things will not seem so well. Do you refuse?"
--The Fellowship of the Ring, in "The Council of Elrond"

It seems to me that's really two, maybe three separate offers. The first seems to be unambiguously an offer for a unilateral contract (to find the supposedly piddling ring for three of the Dwarf rings of power plus the estate of Moria), to be completed by performance. Dáin wouldn't want to bind himself to produce a ring; it's too risky. This seems like the straight-forward reward scenario envisioned as a prototypical offer for a unilateral contract.

A few comments on material facts: You might say that Sauron should have disclosed the Balrog living in the deeps of Moria. But the Dwarves had ancient records of Moria which probably mention this, and Sauron is old enough to imagine that the Dwarves knew. It seems silly to require disclosure of a fact which, though admittedly material, is known to both parties, even though they never actually mention it to each other. The same sort of reasoning applies to the fact that the Dwarven rings are actually tainted (although Dwarves tend to resist his power a little better than men). [Letters of Marque]

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Do we really need a remake of Walking Tall? The next question of course is, do they plan to remake the other two?

Or any other firewire camera. Freeverse now has announced Toysight, which is a way to play certain games using your camera. I tried out the demo and it is pretty cool (though I'd think you look pretty stupid playing them). I was kind of amazed at how well some of the things worked. First you start up the game and it scans what it can see, then you step in front of the camera and as you move your hands a cursor will follow it. They've got a few kinds of controls you can use on the screen, like a slider bar. They even have a movie of it in action. Pretty keen.

Though I think it would be harder to sneak in a quick game of Marble Factory while at work.

A while back Leo Laporte posted about making a new Dial-A-Song for They Might Be Giants. Yesterday he posted that it is just about done and that he hopes to be able to deliver it in time for Christmas. Rock! It sounds like a pretty neat setup.

I've been in a tired and cranky mood for the last few days. Last night I finally decided to go to sleep early and see if I could sleep off the cranky. First, at around 1:30 the power went out. How do I know this? Because there's a box out in the hall that starts beeping when the power goes out and it woke me up (normally the UPS would wake me up, but I need to get a new battery for it). Luckily the power came back on in a few minutes. But then it took me forever to fall back asleep again, only to be woken up at 5:20 by bright lights flashing from the fire truck that pulled up outside. This seems to happen every month or so. I'm not sure what building they are going to, but I've seen it very often. So, in the end I haven't gotten enough sleep, and think I may and try for a 45 minute catnap right now. Bah.

Via Adam Curry, Jamie Oliver has got a blog now too, I think I'll be subscribing to this one (there's an RSS feed too).

Tenessee Williams: "A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with." [Quotes of the Day]

A month or so ago I was trying to figure out how to have OS X automatically mount a share. I asked a bunch of Mac geeks I know and nobody knew if it was possible. Today I was talking with Ellen and she provided the answer. First mount the share you want to automount. Then fire up System Preferences and go to Accounts. Select your account and click on the 'Startup Items' tab. It will list programs to run when you log in. If you click '+' you can also add in a mounted share. That's it! Next time you log in it will mount that share. Woohoo!

I love Lenore. It is such a wonderfully twisted comic book. And thanks to gregory07 over on LJ I found a whole bunch of Lenore flash animations. And the first one is possibly my favorite Lenore comic too! (Broken!)

"All I'm asking for you to do,
is live by this simple creed I give to you.
Just take five minutes out of your day,
and rub somebody the right way."
- The Rugburns, Rub Somebody (the Right Way)

A comic interlude. Stupid people run for your lives.. [stolen from special_pete].

People in Seattle are in for a treat.

Seattle OKs Elvis Impersonator Cabbies

Tue Dec 9, 6:57 AM ET
By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

SEATTLE - The King could be your cabbie under the city's new taxi driver dress code.

The City Council voted Monday to approve legislation that would allow drivers to sport rhinestone capes, blue suede shoes or whatever other appropriate costume they wish.

"Uh, a-thank you verrah much," cabbie Dave Groh, an Elvis Presley impersonator, said after the vote. [Yahoo! News] [Via Dispatches from Revland]

James Thurber: "There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else." [Quotes of the Day]

The Universal Church of Cosmic Uncertainty has some things to say about Soble's '10 things advanced users need in Longhorn'.

Telling picture of
Advanced users? Like what? People who know most of their letters?

10 things advanced users need in Longhorn.

My Longhorn Blog: The 10 things advanced users need in Longhorn.

A bit controversial, perhaps, but I want a better experience for advanced users (and beginners too!) What do you think?

By the way, if you are an advanced user using Windows XP, this list (and instructions for turning on these features) might prove useful.

[The Scobleizer Weblog]

[The Universal Church of Cosmic Uncertainty]

I have to agree here. First off, all of the items on the Scoble's list are personal preference type things. Not everyone wants things at the highest resolution. Screen saver? I want it on by default and requiring a password. And changing the filesystem so that you only need a single click instead of a double is horrible. I played around with that option in Windows at one point and it just did not make things easier. Also, double-clicking helps ensure that you run what you want to. It's very easy to just click someplace wrong and suddenly be running something you didn't intend to.

This sounds kind of cool. I wonder if it could be used to repair scarred lung tissue. If their technique actually works, that is.

Blood could generate body repair kit

A small company in London, UK, claims to have developed a technique that overturns scientific dogma and could revolutionise medicine. It says it can turn ordinary blood into cells capable of regenerating damaged or diseased tissues. This could transform the treatment of everything from heart disease to Parkinson's.

If the company, TriStem, really can do what it says, there would be no need to bother with conventional stem cells, currently one of the hottest fields of research. But its astounding claims have been met with bemusement and disbelief by mainstream researchers.[NewScientist.com]

[Thanks to Selma for the link]

I was looking at the interview with Steve Jobs on the Rolling Stone website and noticed there was a little 'xml' button up at the top. Hoping it meant there was an RSS feed I clicked on it and got a window listing a number of feeds. Coolness. One problem though. None of them have been updated since Oct 31st. Come on folks, there has to have been some music news since then. Oh, and here's their page on XML/RSS.

To any of my local friends who are car enabled. I'm looking for a lift to the drug store to refill a couple of things, but I don't want to move my car (since I have a spot currently). Soo, if you're gonna be anywhere in the area and don't mind taking a minor detour drop me an email or IM. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

Parking Bans. I'm in Cambridge right now, outside my apartment, finding that I can get net access from the street. Of course my cell phone battery is almost dead too. So, I'm off to find some lunch and try and figure out what to do. Bah.

From The Howard Hallis Archive, A wonderful comic that asks the question 'Who will be eaten first?' The Beyond the Valley of the Dolls Tarot Desk is pretty crazy too.

Researchers have found a fossil with the oldest penis on record.

Fossilised crustacean boasts oldest penis

15:20 05 December 03

A newly discovered 425 million-year-old fossil boasts a lurid claim to fame - it has the oldest penis on record.

The five millimetre long crustacean, discovered by UK and US researchers, has been named Colymbosathon ecplecticos - derived from the Greek for "astounding swimmer with a large penis".

The well-endowed creature is surprisingly similar to modern relatives, despite being entombed nearly half a billion years ago, says the team.

David Siveter, a paleontologist at the University of Leicester, and colleagues unearthed the clamlike species in a rock formation in Herefordshire, UK. The creature possesses a hard shell, an organ for grabbing prey, six gills, as well as a "copulatory organ [that] is large and stout", says the team. [NewScientist.com]

Because you really can never have too many Badgers, here are the LOTR Badgers and the Bad Trip Badgers. [via machinegirl]

Okay, maybe there is such a thing as too many badgers.

So here's the recipe for the Apple Pie from my mom. I typed it out as they were making it, so It is a bit long so I'll put it behind a more. Enjoy!

I'm at my parent's place at the moment, sitting in the kitchen, watching her teach some friends how to make an apple pie. I'm taking down the recipe and I'll post it here later. But it's nice being able to be a geek and be social at the same time.

Two nights in a row my power went out. It seems to have happened sometime around 4:45 (based on the time my clock read when I woke up). But now I feel all out of sorts because I'm supposed to be at rehab right now. Grrr. I hope this doesn't become a regular thing.

From Caffeina's LiveJournal, Alcohoroscopes. Here's mine:

Scorpio

Drinking style
Don't ever tell Scorpios they've had enough, for they'll smirk at you and quietly but intentionally keep tippling till they're hog-whimpering drunk, out of 100-proof spite. Scorpios like to drink, and screw you if you have a problem with that. Most of them see the sauce as something to savor in itself, and not as a personality-altering tool -- though if depressed, self-loathing Scorps seek total obliteration. But generally, they're fascinating drinking pals, brilliant conversationalists and dizzying flirts. They also remember everything -- especially what you did when you were blitzed. Only drink with a Scorpio who likes you.

Trademark cocktails
Just as a Scorpio can look you in the eye and smile while secretly plotting your demise, so does the brandy-laced stinger's sweet taste hide a potent amount of alcohol. If you want to get literal, serve them a scorpion -- they may not love tropical drinks, but it shows you're paying attention. Scorpio rules watermelon, so break out the blender and fix a pitcher of watermelon margaritas to seduce 'em -- though red wine will do the trick just as well.

Drinking buddies
Truman Capote, Hillary Clinton, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jodie Foster, Bill Gates, k.d. lang, Megan Mullally, Demi Moore, Sylvia Plath, RuPaul

From my friend Jeff comes this link. Be sure to view the Flash version. Not for the faint of heart.

I kept expecting to see a flaming logo in there though.

C. E. Montague: "To be amused by what you read--that is the great spring of happy quotations." [Quotes of the Day]

I can go anywhere. [via web zen]

In yet another chapter of things that make me go 'Buh?'

Boy Punished for Talking About Gay Mom

LAFAYETTE, La. - A 7-year-old boy was scolded and forced to write "I will never use the word `gay' in school again" after he told a classmate about his lesbian mother, the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) alleged Monday.

Second-grader Marcus McLaurin was waiting for recess Nov. 11 at Ernest Gallet Elementary School when a classmate asked about Marcus' mother and father, the ACLU said in a complaint.

Marcus responded he had two mothers because his mother is gay. When the other child asked for explanation, Marcus told him: "Gay is when a girl likes another girl," according to the complaint.

A teacher who heard the remark scolded Marcus, telling him "gay" was a "bad word" and sending him to the principal's office. The following week, Marcus had to come to school early and repeatedly write: "I will never use the word `gay' in school again." [Yahoo! News]

Also, here's a link to the ACLU's page on this matter.

Blaise Pascal: "We are generally the better persuaded by the reasons we discover ourselves than by those given to us by others." [Quotes of the Day]

Link via Ellen:

No Volunteers for Orgasm Implant

A scientist claiming to have invented a device which produces orgasms at the touch of a button can't find women to help him conduct trials into it. [BBC.com]

I'm thinking maybe he was asking people the wrong way. Maybe he was just walking up to women on the street asking them if they wanted him to give them an orgasm implant. Sounds pretty dirty to me.

One of the current Best Buy commercials right now is this one where it flashes back to the 80s and you see some guy being psyched about having a VCR (with a wired REMOTE even!). In a wonderful bit of viral marketing they've created a web site for those guys, The Mint Brothers. It includes some more video of two of the characters in the commercial and is one of those reminders of the scary parts of the 80s (remember the whole two shirt thing?).