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  • Don’t Be a Victim!

    From my good friend Emilily: The Childhood Goat Trauma Foundation

    The Childhood Goat Trauma Foundation was created in 1982 by a small group that originally came together as a an informal support group for problems that were the result of traumatic experiences at petting zoos as children. This group realized that there were many others out there who were afraid to come forward with their horrific stories and wanted to find some way to help as many people as they could. The Childhood Goat Trauma Foundation is the result of their dream.

    Through its programs and workshops, individuals from all walks of life have been able to live happier and more fulfilling lives, without the ever-present ghosts of their personal goat traumas. Some have even made such progress that they have been able to put their traumas completely behind them and rejoin mainstream society.

    No matter what the effects of your trauma, we can help you. The effects of a childhood goat trauma vary widely from person to person, depending on the severity of their trauma. Such problems as irrational fears, unexplained twitching, and insomnia could all have origin in a goat trauma. [The Childhood Goat Trauma Foundation]

    Goats never really bothered me much. Hamsters though, I still twitch when I think about that one time…

    For bonus points: What childhood experience traumatized you? For me it was my uncle making me go to The Haunted Mansion at Disneyworld when I was like three or four. My face was hidden almost the whole time, and the one time I look out a skeleton pops up from behind a gravestone.

  • Coolness

    I sent a question in to Neil Gaiman the other day asking about an audiobook version of Good Omens, and he posted it to his blog. Pretty cool. Though I personally think it should be done as a podcast first, a chapter a week.

    I just recently finished listening to American Gods and really enjoyed it. This made me wonder if there is a chance we might see an audiobook of Good Omens. I’ve read it a number of times and think it would be quite fun to have an audio version of. Are there any chances of this ever existing? Thanks,Gregory Blake https://ezoons.com/wp-content/uploads/imported-legacy/

    I know that Harper Collins very much want to do one. And Terry and I would both very much like to hear it. So I think the odds are pretty good one will happen. [Neil Gaiman]

    Hmm, anyone wanna ask him if he’s read Move Under Ground and what he thinks of it?

  • Podcasting Idea

    One of the things I’ve been watching lately is the growth of Podcasting. The idea is that various audio broadcasts online would be available for download, with RSS feeds being used to announce when new broadcasts are available. Adam Curry is the one who really gave this a kick-start with his Daily Source Code.

    The other part of this is the iPod. There are a number of programs out there for watching the RSS feeds for these broadcasts. When a new show is posted, they automaticly download it and put it into a playlist in iTunes so that you can sync it to your iPod. It’s all pretty slick.

    My idea is kind of an expansion of an idea I’ve been playing with for a bit: Audiobooks. I could record an chapter at a time, and as I finish post it so that people can download. In the end I’d love to expand this to having a resource for various kinds of storytelling. Maybe do a book reading with a few people, each taking various parts. Or provide a directory for other people doing the same thing. As usual, the big issue is resources. I’ll think about this a bit more after I get a bit more sleep.

  • OS X mySQL tools

    I have a few different tools I use for managing MySQL on my OS X server. I’ve always been a fan of phpMyAdmin and have also used something called CocoaMySQL. But I was recently in a situation where I didn’t have those available and needed something quick. After searching around some I discovered dbSuite Admin Tools X, a very nice piece of donationware for OS X and Windows for working with your MySQL server. The big bonus it has over CocoaMySQL is that it has user management built in (something I’m sure it will have eventually). These folks will be getting a little bit of a donation from me on my next round of payments.

  • Paper CD Cases

    This is quite cool. I wish they had one that was blank with spaces to fill in stuff.

    Make a paper CD case

    Make a paper CD case
    This site will create a PDF file which can be printed and folded to create a paper CD case. There’s an advanced form that allows you to add more tracks, and even graphics, and even let you add your creation to their cover database. Neat.
    [Incoming Signals] [via lonita.links.log]

  • More Wario Insanity!

    Yay! It looks like there is a new version of Wario Ware in the works. That game drove me absolutely insane and I keep thinking about giving it a replay. [via Waxy.org Links]

  • Cats Regarding Cats Regarding Cats in an Electronic Melieu

    From my friend Greg: The Infinite Cat Project. Pictures of cats, looking at pictures of cats, looking at pictures of cats, looking at pictures of cats, looking at pictures of cats, looking at pictures of cats, looking at pictures of cats, looking at pictures of cats, looking at pictures of cats, looking at pictures of cats, looking at pictures of cats, looking at pictures of cats (help me! I’m stuck!)…

  • More Pulmonary Fibrosis News

    Here’s an interesting article from a few days ago:

    Adult Stem Cells Migrate to Lung, Contribute to Pulmonary Fibrosis

    09 Aug 2004

    UCLA researchers for the first time identified and then stopped a type of adult stem cell from migrating to the lung and contributing to pulmonary fibrosis in an animal model. Pulmonary fibrosis (i.e, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis) in humans is a devastating terminal disorder that causes an overabundance of scar tissue to form in the lung.

    IMPACT: The new study may offer novel therapies to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis– currently there are no effective treatments and the mortality rate is approximately 70 percent within five years of diagnosis. Over 80,000 individuals in the United States suffer from the disease. [medicalnewstoday.com]

  • Wikipedia Hits One Million

    From Joi Ito’s Web:

    Wikipedia reaches one million articles

    Wikipedia has just announced that it has reached one million articles. Congratulations Wikipedians! Wikipedia is in more than 100 languages with 14 currently having over 10,000 articles. It is ranked one of the ten most popular reference sites on the Internet according to Alexa.com (trumping Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and the LA Times). At the current rate of growth, Wikipedia will double in size again by next spring. [Joi Ito’s Web]

    Pretty cool. I keep thinking I should work on contributing more, especially in the anime section.

  • SHOW TUNES 1, FUNDAMENTALISTS 0

    From a few sources, but I just had to share this for my friends who might not have seen it yet. Behold, the power of show tunes:

    This morning I had the most bizarre subway ride. I board the Number 3 train at Grand Army Plaza after 9 a.m. Find a seat, then settle into reading Henry James for class. I hear a woman’s voice gradually rising in volume. She is preaching the “Lord’s” word to the train car’s sleepy riders. Of course, I had forgotten the headphones for my subway evil sounds blocking device. The train stops and starts.
    The words denigrating “gay devils” reach my ears. I stand up.

    Me: “Excuse me, but do you mind keeping your voice down, I am trying to read.”

    Preacher Lady: (screams) “I got to testify.”

    Preacher lady hitches up her skirts and tells me that I am going to hell for interrupting you-know-who’s word. Two or three OTHER Christian ladies on the train start shouting at me and discussing my prospects as the Devil’s prison bitch. The last straw was a 50 something red faced man in a suit slamming his Bible towards my face.
    There was only one thing I could do.

    Me: “If you all don’t lower your voices and cease calling me Satan, I will have to sing show tunes.”

    The other straphangers look at me with stony faces.
    I begin to sing.
    “Its very clear, our love is here to stay. Not for a year, but forever and a day…” [read on…] [Livejournal: Koaloha]