http://photography.si.edu/ _'invites you to explore the world of Smithsonian photography'_ by creating sequences of user-tagged images and sharing them with others. Of the hundreds of available photographs to manipulate, order, and play with, I couldn't find one that wasn't absolutely beautiful. This site is worth visiting just for the great pictures, but the very interactive way in which the photos are presented makes it even more fun, transforming a traditionally passively-enjoyed art form into something more communicative.
Creationist group fundraises with Alaskan cruise
http://www.answersingenesis.org is set to open their "Creationist Museum":http://www.answersingenesis.org/museum/ recently "profiled":http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6549595.stm by the BBC in less than 2 months. If you'd heard about it before and wondered what exactly is going to make such a place (or a "creationist cruise":http://www.answersingenesis.org/events/details.aspx?Event_ID=5256) all that different, I've done the research.
From their website:
*What is so different about this museum?*
??Almost all natural history museums proclaim an evolutionary, humanistic worldview. For example, they will typically place dinosaurs on an evolutionary timeline millions of years before man. AiG’s museum will proclaim the authority and accuracy of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and will show that there is a Creator, and that this Creator is Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:15-20), who is our Savior.??
That's right, dinosaurs existed concurrently with humans, in fact the predatory ones were even vegetarians because "before the sin of Adam, the world was perfect. All creatures were vegetarian."
Too much creationism around for your taste? Enjoy some secular science at the "National Center for Science Education":http://www.ncseweb.org/default.asp.
Killer Apps for Mac – Disk Inventory X
If you ever wonder what your hard drive looks like, this is your chance to find out. “Disk Inventory X”:http://www.derlien.com/ analyzes your hard drive and creates an interactive graphical representation of all the information stored on it. I’ve used this program for a long time to figure out how to create more space on my iBook’s 80 gb hard drive, pictured below. It’s fun to see how your computer works, and with the great price (free) there’s no excuse to not try it out.
http://windirstat.info/ and "Linux":http://kdirstat.sourceforge.net/.
For dog owners, poop may be a thing of the past
New research from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands suggests that Dutch dog food company “Energique”:http://www.energique.nl/content/index_act_en.asp?lang=en has eliminated the waste from dog food. Apparently the all-meat diet is absorbed almost completely by the dog, leaving a “a smell-free dry pellet that can be picked up by hand in a tissue” and little more. As if it couldn’t get any more unnatural, Enerqigue will also reduce the amount of times a dog has to drop one from three times a day to once a week.
Thanks to Regina’s “del.icio.us feed”:http://del.icio.us/regine#2007-04-13 once again for another intriguing story.
Maryland leads the charge for electoral college reform
In an historical decision, the state of Maryland may be changing the criteria for how their electors would vote for the president. Instead of representing the popular vote in Maryland itself, MD electors would vote for which ever candidate won the _national_ popular vote. The condition? Maryland’s revision will only go into effect if enough states pass similar legislation as to represent an electoral majority, or 270 votes. So far the only other state considering the move is Hawaii, making the count–combined with Maryland’s 10–a total of 14 votes. Before you write the whole thing off as a populist pipe-dream, California (55 electoral votes) legislators voted for a similar resolution last year only to see it vetoed by Governator Schwarzenegger.
A “CNN article”:http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/10/schneider.electoral/index.html and a New York Times “op-ed”:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/14/opinion/14sat3.html?ex=1334203200&en=758bba2672dc1257&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss about the change.
Iraq: the pay-off
“2/27/2005 Taji, Iraq Claim on behalf of Iraqi [Redacted] by father. Father was driving his family towards Taji. Near a gas station, a US convoy pulled up beside him and behind him. A convoy shot into the car, killing his daughter and wounding his wife and other daughter. The car was also damaged. Finding: lack of evidence of US involvement. Claim denied for lack of evidence despite the presence of three eyewitnesses (father, wife, and daughter).”
The above excerpt comes from “records”:http://www.aclu.org/natsec/foia/log.html obtained by the “ACLU”:http://www.aclu.org/ relating claims of compensation by civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan who have been in some way injured by the armed forces in their countries. With all the bombing, convoying and raiding we do over there, it’s no surprise that civilian property gets destroyed or even that people are occasionally killed. What I didn’t count on is that we have a system for dealing with that. It’s called the Foreign Claims Act and so far the United States has awarded over $32 million to Iraqi and Afghani civilians for injuries, wrongful death, and damage to property.
The above picture by New York Times photographer Joao Silva shows just how cruel the idea of monetary compensation for life is. This “New York Times report”:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/world/middleeast/12abuse.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin details in full the way in which civilians can file a claim and provides a number of examples of just how much an Iraqi life is officially worth to the United States, sometimes as little as $500. It’s well worth reading, as well as looking over some of the claims at the ACLU “website”:http://www.aclu.org/natsec/foia/log.html/.
Betting on global warming
If there’s something out there to bet on, people will. That seems to be the principle behind the latest round of bets being taken at gambling site, “BetUS.com”:http://www.betus.com/. It seems that online gamblers have taken to betting on what the effects of global warming will be. The consensus: Manhattan will be underwater by 2012. Other interesting stats to note: BetUS gives the odds of Capes Henry and Hatteras being part of the ocean floor by 2015 at 200- and 300-to-1 respectively.
Go on and place a bet, global warming might just be good for someone yet. Thanks to “Yahoo! News”:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070413/ap_on_fe_st/odds_global_warming_bets for the lead on the story. The picture is from “The Day After Tomorrow”:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319262/.
Couple document their sexplorations
http://www.katieanderic.com/ are a young couple from Columbus, Ohio who are branching out. Neither of them had been all that sexually experienced before they got married three years ago but through each other discovered that they both had a lot more exploring to do. So, together, they're doing it. Like a lot of couples all over the world, Katie and Eric are trying out an open marriage based on complete honesty and to make it even more open, they're letting all of us watch. Well, not exactly like that. What they are doing is keeping an open blog at "katieanderic.com":http://www.katieanderic.com/ where they both talk about their fantasies, their experimentations, and their relationship in general. I come from a far less open place in terms of sex and relationships so to me this experiment is both thrilling and a little scary. I look forward to reading more about their experiences with polyamory as it goes on and hope at least some of you find it as interesting as I do.
How hot CAN the universe get?
Ever since learning about absolute zero (the temperature at which no heat remains in a substance), I always was curious as to whether there was an analogue on the toasty end of the spectrum. Is there a limit to how hot a temperature can exist? I never had a physics teacher who could answer that question, but the internet today “has done it”:http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_347.html:
“The highest possible temperature, called the Planck temperature, is equal to 10^32 degrees Kelvin. For comparison, the center of the sun bubbles along at 15 million degrees K (15 x 10^6); silicon can be created by fusion at 1 billion K (10^9).”
Thanks to “The Straight Dope”:http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_347.html for finally answering this question that has bothered me for years!
Damn Interesting Stuff
Need a first-rate site to distract yourself at work and/or to make yourself sound smarter? Try “this”:http://www.damninteresting.com/ intriguingly addictive website that’ll get you absolutely hooked. Their talented writers compile fantastic articles on topics that tip the scales of reality. I suggest starting at the “Greatest hits”:http://www.damninteresting.com/?cat=18 sections and continuing from there. Do you know any other site that tells you how to “survive in space with out a suit?”:http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=741