31 January 2008

To the editors of the NYRB

Grammar, logic, compassion and research skills fail Sarah Boxer simultaneously when she writes that my website is "full of writings about James Joyce, artificial intelligence, and Judaism as racism [...]".

Wouldn't you guys rather be heroes than villains?

Jorn Barger
Robot Wisdom auxiliary
robotwisdom2.blogspot.com

Jan 2008 links

The God of the Old Testament is the depiction of evil-- JoniM


BradPitt weighing NOLA mayoral run? (Yeeah)

Some chronic diseases that may be microbial (sciBlog-short)

Election2008 baseball cards (9of12pg)

Alternate state-of-the-union rant (medMon-longish)

Salvaging hope from hopeless 2008 race (Sam)

How LoC tags its flickr pix (blog)

'gotcha capitalism' = hidden fees (cPunch-bkrev)

Gloomy analysis of Fed missteps (cPunch-arcane)

Recycled-bikes 'carousel' (pix via Make)

$6 cheeseburger-in-a-can (Germany w/pic)
(48)
Provo sculptor working on bust of Hillary (yTube-9min via Vh1)

jEdwards and the decline of liberalism (Sam-longish)

Various robots inspired by animal locomotion (yTube-2min)

Fim's rave for Waxy's blog-jornalism (short w/links)

Wouldn't you guys rather be heroes than villains? (RWx-vshort)


...anonymous love poems... (PostSecret-temp?)

Voice-of-Bart gives $10M to Scientology (nyPost -statsvia wSmirch)

Cereal mascots almost all male? (friv via Jez)

'sleepwork' = working in dreams (dTongue)

New MST3K dvd $16 (yTube-90sec w/link)

Pop songs ?about insanity (21mp3s)

Steve Martin on his early experiments (1pg -loongw/8min vid via tElb)

Oscar-song-lyrics tagcloud (Flash via Vh1)

O'Reilly-book-cover generator (html form via Make)
(400)
Sundance comedy about UK boy filmmaker (Flash-3min via Fim)

Arlo endorses Ron Paul (proJo)

'meth bugs' = hallucinations (dTongue)

Scarf resembles 4' pencil (Uk via Make)

"I dreamed that I stopped doing your laundry" (cBank-tsia)


Touchscreen guitar-synth on iPhone (yTube-60sec)

Visualising Mercury with naked eye (AstroPic)

Free movie-subtitles downloads (eg via wWig)

'drunkalog' = 12step history/confession (dTongue)

Marcion rejected OldTestament c140AD (relAM-longish)

Free pdf of Alan Moore's SwampThing #1 (pdf via l4Nxt)

'container syndrome' = babies slowed by strap-in carriers (dTongue)

Original 1907 'Blue Lagoon' novel (pGut-1pg)

Leeks by Zsaj (flickr-new)

New online GTxA book about game AI (eg-chapter)

Dogme95-for-games 2.0 (GTxA)

"I try to love you... I really do" (oDvrwhr)

Genetic origins of housecats (sciBlog)

How the stimulus plan shafts the poor (pKrug-table)

Iraq war stimulates US economy (alas) (pKrug-short)

Britney-gossip-mania stats (Jez w/links)

UK travel-times map-experiments (1pg w/maps)
(450)
Stats on tReznor music giveaway (short via angus)

Theories used in info-systems research (multipage-arcane via del)
(120)
Marking up WordNet for the semantic web (arcane via del)

That pretty song from 'Once' (yTube-5min via Cinem)

Belated review of PoseidonAdventure remake (Vh1-friv)

New NYRB incl sBoxer on blogging (toc)

Vsimple diy veg-oil lamp (1pg via Make)

?Free wakeupcall service (cEmpt via lf)

Movie-bodycount website (eg-bestlist via lf)

World suiciderate map (svg via lf)

$300 flashlight so bright it starts fires (blog w/vid via /.)

Ha'aretz ranks 2008 candidates by ziophilia (antiWar via wakeUp)

Obama in neocon doghouse? (mWeiss-2posts)

Whitbread winner blames fumes for sophomore slump (UkTms w/popup via Anrchia)

XML maniac loses faith? (sMcG-arcane via Anrchia)

Vreadable vvtiny font (free via Anrchia)

Publicdomain anon celeb spokesmodel (1pg w/pix via Anrchia)

EustaceTilly 2.0 (flickr-6pg-multi via Waxy)

Fimoculous blog is hot (aka Fim)

Economics of online Scientology flap (stats via Fim)

Cloverfield soundtrack tunes (16mp3s via Fim)

Rambo kill-stats (table via Fim)

Gaza update/overview (yTube-3min via gRm)

Weird 60s superhippie comix (multimulti via iJunk)

Interesting China-debt insight (dBaker-short)

Return of product-placement on network teevee (2006 w/popup)

Wild couture shoes (Jez w/pix)


'page 75' = dark night of soul (Hollywoodese) (dTongue)

Hacking the Wii for pseudo-VR 3D (yTube-5min via dY)
(400)
Lieberman backs McCain for Israel's sake (mWeiss)

NPR stations atop GgMaps (dense)

rFisk on Islam's view of dreaming (UkInd via mjb)

Graph of fave-books vs SAT-scores (png via lf)
(600)
Cheap-jigsaw-puzzle mashup idea (Make)

Instant-classic live birdpoop gag (yTube-20sec)

Old PaulSimon vid I missed (lipsynching ChevyChase) (yTube-5min)

Fan-related Beatles obscurities incl SissySpacek (FMU w/mp3s, yTube)

Obama's much-praised victory speech (yTube-17min via Steve)

wBu's fave painting actually shows horsethief (Magpie w/pic)

Switchplate w/songlyrics (flickr)

Collage for Jodorowsky (flickr)


gGalloway goes off on neocon dFrum (yTube-8min via i38)

BradPitt gambles $5M on wild NOLA-recovery ideas (short w/pix via i38)

pWeiss reviews history of neocons (long via iSteve)

How neocons parse the primaries (Xym-short)

100yr table of minimum wage (California via iJunk)

Deep foam blankets Oz coast (pix via iJunk)

Which world markets slipped most this week (table-longish)

Amazon tops Google on revenue-per-employee (table)

All-time widest daily WallSt 'bounces' (iGreed w/tables)

'rain garden' = lo-tech depression holds water (dTongue)

'winter legs' = unshaved (dTongue)

RSS 'bestpractices' (1pg-looong)
(100)
Botox kills 16 (Reuters via lf)

1st known accidental immune-system transplant (Oz-short via /.)

Longer 'Get Smart' trailer (yTube-2min via Cinem)

2008 Oscar-nominated shorts viewable online (links via cMonk)

MikeLeigh ponders Judaism (review via mWeiss)

Charming JohnEdwards on Letterman (yTube-9min via Sam)

Depressing JosePadilla update (Antiwar via gpost)

yTube of dLynch dissing iPhone in yTube on iPhone (yTube-45sec via gpost)

100 best books for kids (UkTel-7pg)

Astonishing comparison of Clinton/Bush stats (gif-table via angus)
(85)
What-if the Beatles had kept touring (NPR-etext w/7min audio)

Don't-invite-Morrissey-to-your-birthday-party.jpg (nDee-jpeg)


Diverse experimental viola music (8mp3s-arcane)

Classic art/scifi short 'La Jetee' (yTube-30min via tOccult)

Extracts from KathleenTurner autobiog (longish via wSmirch)

Big huge thesaurus 2.0 (eg)

Free online classic text adventures (html w/forms)

US girls reaching puberty much earlier (laTms-long via Jez)

Explan/critique of Gg's map-reduce paradigm (long-arcane via angus)
(90)

Profile of wBu hidden in 1972 album cover? (flickr)

Arab press chooses Iran over wBu/USA (aAard-longish)

Rave for ?new Beatles bio (dY-longish)

"You can't get out. Mickey Mouse will eat you" (oDvrwhr)

Video downloads should work for 27hrs, not 24 (short via iGreed)

People want more govt regulation of business (stats via Sam)


NataliePortman designs pricey vegan highheels (Jez w/pix)

Latest map, graph confirm gWarming (sciBlog)

?Neural-net correctly analyses dogbarks (sciBlog-vshort)

Jewish racism is incompatible with democracy (mWeiss-long)

"You can't plead cute" (cBank-tsia?)

GetYrWarOn back in top form (new page)

DunkinDonuts spokes-celeb disses product offcamera (Jez)

China's 200k new books per year invisible to West (UkG-longish)

Your initials have subconscious influence? (cool via pGen)

Easily done (oDchgo)

Handknit 'dissected frog' (Etsy via Make)

HaroldBloom horrified by 21stC USA (longish via gpost)

A kind word for Google Reader (RWx-short)

'TenCommandments' trailer mashup/rescript (yTube-80sec-dontmiss)

RosieO sees Diana/Britney parallel (shortish via Jez)

Hoaxtop-generator expected price range $17-$100 (GgW-random)

Hoaxtop falls way short of hype (longish w/pix)

Unix Y2K38 bug may kick in vsoon? (/.-vvshort)

Why hoaxtop's 'mesh' can't work (Sept07)


Banks are tops at 'privatising gains and socialising losses' (FT via iGreed)

'floppies' = vsoftcover publications (dTongue)

Synopsis of new Einstein bio (PhilG-longish)

MacBook 'Air' $1800 3# 3/4"thick laptop (Gz-phat)

DianeKeaton slips f-word onto network teevee (Flash-30sec)

Pinker on ethical instincts (NyT-long via Steve)

Syphilis genetics suggest NewWorld origin (sciBlog-short)

Yogurt-like drinks look helpful (sciBlog-short)

"incredibly irresponsible... incredibly negligent... ungodly incompetence" (dBaker-vshort)

Glossary for tCruise Scientology rap (below) (comment via wSmirch)

Oft-suppressed vid of TomCruise on Scientology (new-host-10min via wSmirch)

nFinkelstein in the doghouse (nyMag-short via Sam)

Jesus must have been a saint, I said to myself, looking for my lost car (NYer)

23 XML fallacies (sMcG)


Tee i'd like to see (pic)

Technoccult is on a roll too (blog)

Nanotubes form blackest surface ever (hChron via pGen)

Junk-DNA-theories reality-check (sciBlog-arcane)

mWeiss is on a roll (blog-dontmiss)

Mute the sound on this fine ?political prank (yTube-90sec via vBoat)

Is evolution still making women prettier? (iSteve)

Opinions, now in convenient sandwich form (oDvrwhr)

'Google Office' milking iPhone leverage (iGreed-short)

Google bandwidth stats (stats-short) (160)

Critics tepid toward PBS's latest JaneAusten (Jez w/links)

UN's abortive 2003 Iraq mission (NYer-looong)

My new flickrfavesblog (rss-able, still empty)


Flickr finally adds rss-feeds for faves (eg-MeLovesCookies)

Hit the 'shuffle' button for my personal pop station (iMeem-reg-req)

HowardDean's 2003 'misstep' on Israel (mWeiss)

'One Missed Call' worst-rated ever (rTom-0% via Vh1)

Disney's Mermaid lays egg on Bway (Jez)

Synopsis of Arabic press on wBu's visit (aAard)

Film-literacy newyears resolution (dYeti w/list)

U.S. Dollar to Chinese Yuan Exchange Rate (5yr-graph)

Elvis kissed my sister (pic)

Meta-meta best-ever list (McSwnys)

Odd origin of poverty calcs (dTongue)

'BOPSA' = dull teevee (bunchofpeoplesittingaround)(dTongue)

Vsimple pyro's delite (Flash-4min)

Superfluous surrealism makes bestdancingever better (Flash-4min via Make)

Sudoku and group theory (Wiki)

Alexa-rankings of top digg-like sites (list via angus)


Utopian low-income housing in Vienna (pix via vBoat)

US media priorities: snafu (iSteve-vshort)

'rescript' = rewriting comix' dialog balloons (dTongue)

'trees' = pot? (dTongue)

Top archeological discoveries of 2007 (19pg-toc)

Madonna spends $10k/month on 'kabbalah water' (Jez-passim)

Cute comic, Cul de Sac (Sunday)


Walt-Mearsheimer pen editorial (laTms)

Rave for AlanMoore's 'Lost Girls' (UkG)

Fake-moustache party (flickr w/set)

Skincolor worldmap (sciBlog)

2yrs of spin from Natl Assoc of Realtors (iGreed-quotes)

Vivid graphic of financial-sector collapse (iGreed)

'lagom' = appropriate technology (dTongue)

50 historic lost movies/scenes (1pg via Cinem)


Czech hackers fake atom blast during weather report (Flash-60sec w/ad via Make)

Lucid exploration of financial derivatives (LRB-longish)

Sympathetic bio of CondiRice (LRB-review)

Baghdad embassy megafubar (itTms-loong)

'optics' = spin (euph) (dTongue)

19 movies anchored by a single artist's songs (OnionAV-3pg w/yTubes)

Snarky DanielDayLewis rave (Esq-shortish)

Thought-provoking computer math (vvvarcane)

Melodic political punk from TwoTonBoa (yTube-4min via wakeUp)

JackNicholson cites Krishnamurti (nyNews-passim)

Search all pages linked from an URL (Gg via GgOS)
(45)
4yo: "Mommy, I really think you're over-analyzing this" (oDvrwhr-tsia)

NataliePortman co-authors brain-science paper (blog w/pdf-link via Fim)

500yr graph of gold prices (gif via iGreed)

HannahMontana concert uses dancing-double (yTube-3min via wSmirch)

Do intestinal worms prevent allergies? (Boston w/popup via lf)
(34)
New Radiohead ?documentary (yTube-50min via angus)

'wide VGA' = 800*480 sweet spot (blog via angus)

Lurid Britney gossip (nyPost w/popup via Jez)


Random snapshot i like (flickr)

Chris Matthews as crypto Lobby-critic (mWeiss)

C64 mp3s (FMU w/145449mp3s)

Helium supply: gone in 8yrs? (sciBlog)

RNA-protein complex hints at earliest-life missing-link (sciBlog)

'damselling' = male writers inhabiting female characters (dTongue)

$8 saddle-stapler (Make-Az)

Chicago7 movie gossip (Cinem)

Day-of-week calculation trick (5arcane via gpost)
(170)
New host for weekly Lynda Barry toon (D&Q via Marlys)


DickClark encapsulated video-biography (9yTubes)

Detailed HalfLife2 walkthru (20pg-vphat via sValues)
(45)
Respectful mashup of 2007's top25 (mp3-5min via Waxy)
(75)
Year-end economic reviews give false picture (dBaker-multi)

AdSense optimisation tips (Blgscpd)
(250)
'googlechains' = search timewaster (Blgscpd-friv)

GrouchoMarx documentary (GgV-60min via iGreed)

Anthropologists critique JaredDiamond (NyT-geoJohnson)

?Undocumented 'keyword browser' (eg)

Book-vs-movie 'Golden Compass' (OnionAV w/spoilers, popup)

101 Ways to Monetize Your Blog Without Irritating Your Readers (1pg-tsia)
(500)
Optical illusion screws w/yr vision (Flash-yikes)
(150)
Bethlehem's a concentration camp (McCltchy)

Sage-smoking vids (13yTubes)

Microformats w/o *ML, using ReStructured (IBM)

'ReStructured' = plain etext markup conventions (quickstart)
(400?)
'co-sleeping' = safely sharing bed w/baby (academic)

Grisly narrated slideshow of Bhutto assassination (NyT-Flash-3min)

The evolution of 'Mario' (jpeg)

2008 candidates' 'vocabulary clouds' (NyT-ajax via angus)

Bait'n'Switch (cBank-toon)

'valley fever' = nasty prison plague (NyT-shortish via gpost)

Jew-on-Jew genocide in 1950s (grim via gpost)

Educational Jargon Generator (ajax via gpost)
(80)
Energy-efficient gourmet cooking (NyT via gpost)

LOLVogue (Jez-pix-friv)


50 emotions cartooned (1pg via cShirk)
(540)
NyT spins Hebron shootings (mWeiss-badfont)

Five game-industry-pundit cliches (short via Waxy)

sColbert/iSteve parallels? (short)

Long vrave for Depp-Burton 'Sweeney' (UkG via eAard)

Preview of Gaiman's animated 'Coraline' (yTube-40sec via lf)

MS-DOS needlepoint (pic via Make)

Laser-engrave on yr fingernails (Make w/Flash-4min)

i want to be a horse (nDee-jpeg)

"what there is to conquer... has already been discovered" (tDunc-posth via jg)

Backstory on mp3 overcompressed lofi-loudness (rStone-longish via Sam)
(360)


2007: Dec Nov Oct Sep1 Aug2 Aug1 July June May April2 April March Feb

16 January 2008

A kind word for Google Reader

i've never been a fan of rss
because it's always seemed redundant to me

why should authors host two copies of the same content
one plain, one fancy?

i thought users should skip the fancy part
and blog in vsimple html
that browsers can parse like rss

but i've grown dependent on 'sage' in firefox
for most of my own browsing
(plus 'update scanner'
for pages w/o rss)

and now i find myself moving more and more feeds
onto google reader
because it actually archives all blogposts
into a single stream (no paging)

which is economically absurd
but very handy

and now you can consolidate many feeds into one 'folder'
that you can read as a single feed



del.icio.us also lets you consolidate feeds
(though you quickly lose track of
sources for 'via' attribution)

and i guess twitter makes this the central principle
but i have no confidence
that twitter's archives will endure
and no social network to start from...






.

02 January 2008

Dec 2007 links




More beauties from Zsaj (flickr)

Sondheim for dummies (OnionAV w/yTubes)

vFair on tDunc (long via ciara)

Cell-division asymmetry: old parent/young child (sciBlog-short)

China's CO2 emissions approaching US levels (pKrug-graph)

Landscapes built from food (1pg via projo)

Don't-miss friv ontologies (McSwnys-short)

Laser pranks vvillegal? (news via /.)

Propp's (1927) 31 story-elements (site via del)

UncannyValley tech update (4pg-no-vids via ehein)

MPAA censors Gitmo poster (short via gpost)

vRedgrave bails out aQ suspects from Gitmo (UkTel via Jez)


PHB's reptilian instincts (Dilbert)

Nasa spooked by possible day366 glitch (Risks#short)

Animated gif of 200milehigh space volcano (short via cMonk)

Lo-tech ?$20 ebook design (OLPC)

What 'confusing patchwork of state rules'? (dBaker-vshort)

Cf sales of RockBand/GuitarHero Xbox/PS2/3 (stats via Ktku)

Vvvprecise date for birth of Solar System (short via /.)

200kW nuke reactor fits in basement (vshort via /.)
(78)
Short arty early aJo (2yTubes-3min via Cinem)

Nice design for Chgo-neighborhoods map (sMaps)

Lynda Barry news (Marlys)


Tributes to RobertAntonWilson (yTube-140min via tOccult)

AnaVoog retiring from Net? (blog-arcane)

eTufte on YouTube (8vids)

World lifespans map (jpeg)

Colorful-pattern generator (cLovers)

ADL's holocaust hypocrisy (mWatch)

How liberal Jews enable neocons (mWeiss-stats)

Dream impersonation of Jenna Bush (McSwnys)

Physics co-processors down to $50 (short via Ktku)

Magazine perfume ads stink (short via Jez)

All of VDP's SongCycle as jukebox (iMeem-reg-req?)

Cheap w/free-shpg knockoff electronics (cEmpt via jm)

Billboard's 25 fave rock posters (Flash-25pg)


'Bonfire of the Vanities' as prescient (iSteve)

Jigsawpuzzle rug (pic via Make)

PattonOswalt disses awards shows etc (blog via Ktku)

Giant Rat of Sumatra discovered (pic via lf)

Generate your own semanticweb-ified resume (html form)
(280)
Useful tag: contrarian (delicious)

(NotVery)DaringBookForGirls backstory (long via Jez)

Why men lose interest in their partners (Jez-stats)

CIA rendition-plane found w/tons of cocaine (dKos via Sam)

Botanist's critique of LotR et al (dYeti-short)


Lofi mp3s of VanDykeParks' Songcycle (70Mb download)

Inconclusive inquiry into origins of 'w00t' (dTongue-long)

JodieFoster emerges from closet (pic via wSmirch)

14kyo toolkit found in Jordan (text via lf) [pic]

Topical index of online ontologies (table-long)

Info-design classics as $30 posters (1pg via jGerm)
(44)
Free virtual-Lego app (Win/Mac-30Mb via trench)
(600)
HomerSimpson timelapse autobiography (yTube-60sec via gpost)

Over-the-top bEhrenreich on Disney's 'princess' meme (Nation-shortish)

Cute CyndiLauper pic (Jez)

Sheila Nicholls on iMeem (iMeem-8hits)

My don't-miss nominee as new KateBush, Sheila Nicholls (yTube-4min-Feb07)

New tDunc/Beck rumors (nyMag w/links)

Sweet rotoscoped lovesong from Kim Richey (yTube-3min)

AmyWinehouse (eg) paperdoll (Flash via Jez)


Flaubert's 'Sentimental Education' in English (multiformat)

Where the blondes are (Europe only) (sMaps)

Autumn mist (flickr-Zsaj)

Courageous cover article on IsraelLobby book (AmCon-long)

Triangular fractals made w/modeling clay (1pg-long via Make)


Zero-G makes all but 4 sex-positions impossible (2000-short via angusf)

Parking garage looks like giant bookshelf (flickr via wdiKnow)

Archeology shows OldTestament wholly fraudulent (cPunch via Xym)

Music instruments made from veggies (yTube-6min w/links via Make)

1st 5min of pPullman flick (Flash via Cinem)

Gorgeous 3D miniature of yr WoW avatar, $100+ (pix via ntendo)

Web2.0 tags on delicious (RWx-ongoing)

Making-of video for pPullman-movie game (Flash-3min via Ktku)

Game-physics demo using crates as particles (yTube-5min via Ktku)


Hi-res Euro Mars pix (pix)

New Mars orbiter images rover from 168mi up (blurry pic)

Urban-rail worldmap (sMaps)

Memoir/rave for Barbara Pym (UkTel-5arcane)

Progressive domino-theory of healthcare (pKrug-short)

aGreenspan started all the fires he put out (pKrug-short)

Tallying racial diversity in fashion mags (Jez-stats)

New NYRB incl Picasso, Iraq, jcOates (toc)


2007: Nov Oct Sep1 Aug2 Aug1 July June May April2 April March Feb