Octavia Butler, R.I.P (Link Roundup)

[winterkoninkje]

It's time once again for a list of some recent interesting reads. I'm debating moving the link roundups off to their own newsfeed, but that'll have to wait until I've free time. Now, in mostly-devoid-of-pithy-retorts format:

Octavia Butler, R.I.P

I'm sure you've already heard, but in case you haven't...

Gulf War vet supports veterans traumatized by war

Regarding an ongoing project by one of the PIGies.

New Kids on the Block

Pinball is all about a spherical object rolling around on a smooth surface, so the thought of building a pinball game from Lego doesn't immediately seem like one of the better ideas. But that's exactly what Gerrit Bronsveld & Martijn Boogaarts from The Netherlands have achieved.

The Ugly Face of Crime

Not only are physically unattractive teenagers likely to be stay-at-homes on prom night, they're also more likely to grow up to be criminals, say two economists who tracked the life course of young people from high school through early adulthood.

The Long March to Nerd Prom Begins

Warren Ellis v. Joss Whedon. Y'know y'wanna.

Demon face in Aphex Twin spectrogram?

Is AT pure evil, or is there a niftier story?

The Perl Shell (psh)

Have you ever wished you could Perl on the commandline instead of being forced to use that nasty Bash language? Well now you can.

Zoidberg — a modular perl shell

What, you don't like that Perl shell? Well I have more, lots more!

New Body Armor Technology Aids Athletes

Slalom racing suits provided to the U.S. and Canadian Olympic teams by ski wear maker Spyder, for example, contain pads from the British firm, d3o, that contain a fluid that hardens when struck, said Spyder spokeswoman Laura Wisner. [...] "It's very soft and pliable when you just manipulate it in your hand. However, when you hit it with a hammer or some kind of impact, it instantly becomes hard."

What are the lessons of MMORPGs today?

This gleaned from the Daily Illuminator, and yes, it's a lament.

Man raped his dying stepdaughter (this from lolitron)

A man who raped his unconscious teenage stepdaughter as she lay dying from a head injury has been jailed for nine years at the High Court in Glasgow. Sentencing Judge Lord Philip told George McKee, 50, he had committed an "appalling crime" which filled members of the public with "horror".

Cooking for Engineers

Have an analytical mind? Like to cook?

fuck.com

When I first started the Domain Name Game in 1994, securing fuck.com seemed a distinct possibility. If christian.org had been secured by out and out blasphemers, why couldn't I get a simple swear word? (And in the decade since, it looks like noone cares, but only if you're a sex site.)

Hubble Confirms Two New Moons of Pluto

The confirmation [of the moons] reinforces the emerging view that the Kuiper Belt, a swarm of icy bodies encircling the solar system beyond Neptune, may be more complex and dynamic than astronomers once thought. Pluto resides inside the Kuiper Belt and is about 3 billion miles from the Sun. Pluto was discovered in 1930.

Stealth sharks to patrol the high seas

More controversially, the Pentagon hopes to exploit sharks' natural ability to glide quietly through the water, sense delicate electrical gradients and follow chemical trails. By remotely guiding the sharks' movements, they hope to transform the animals into stealth spies, perhaps capable of following vessels without being spotted.

Editing tips from the NSA (I forget if I've posted this)

Hiding confidential information with black marks works on printed copy, but not with electronic documents, the National Security Agency has warned government officials

Brokeback of the Dead

Who says goths can't take their music unseriously?

Who Subs What: Spring 2006 version

I gocher fansub ri~ght here.

Gedo Senki

The latest from Studio Ghibli, based on Ursula K. Le Guin's Tales of Earthsea, directed by Miyazaki Hayao's son Goro. (See also nausicaa.net

Love Yourself and Your Blog

Some tips (and links to more tips) on how to blog well. Tips of which I'm flagrantly ignoring for the moment due to time constraints. But this quote bears repeating: "If you start thinking you're a big star just because a lot of other nerds read your online diary, you need to aim higher. Go outside."

canadians confuse anime with pr0n... again

And now for the Macworld roundup:

MPAA suits expand war on illegal file-trading

Widening its legal assault on copyright infringement, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has filed seven lawsuits in U.S. federal courts against search engines and news groups affiliated with P-to-P (peer-to-peer) networks.

The suits are the first that the MPAA has filed against these kinds of sites, which may not store copyright films but contain instructions on how to download them, the industry group said on Thursday. The sites are "sophisticated enterprises" that encourage people to download content illegally, according to the MPAA.

Political rivals unite against AOL, Yahoo e-mail plan

Both sides of the U.S. political spectrum have found an issue to unite them: Free e-mail. Next Tuesday, a group of nonprofit organizations and small businesses will announce the formation of a coalition aimed at putting a stop to America Online Inc. (AOL) and Yahoo Inc.'s plans to charge fees to mass e-mailers. The coalition, expected to be launched at a press event in New York, will be sponsored by digital rights advocacy group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and it will include two political adversaries: the liberal MoveOn.org and the conservative RightMarch.com political action committees.

[...] Yahoo and AOL first signed on to use Goodmail's CertifiedEmail service last October, but the service has come under scrutiny as the two companies have come closer to deploying it. With CertifiedEmail, senders agree not to send unsolicited e-mail. They pay a fee of between one-fourth of a U.S. cent and one cent in order for their messages to receive preferential treatment in AOL and Yahoo in-boxes.

Germany joins calls to end Google's "free lunch"

The chief executive of Deutsche Telekom AG became the latest head of a major telco to call for Web companies, such as Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., to help pay for the billions of dollars required to build and maintain high-speed Internet infrastructure. "Customers should not be the only ones to pay for this new world,"

RIM to judge: BlackBerry too important to shut

A judge should not shut down Research in Motion (RIM) Ltd.'s BlackBerry mobile e-mail service in the U.S., even though a jury ruled that it infringes another company's patent, because BlackBerry devices play a "crucial role" in important industries such as hospitals, utilities and banks, RIM's lawyers argued in court Friday. [...] Spencer noted that RIM has told investors it has a workaround for the technology that NTP claims. He expressed surprise that, despite the workaround, the company argued in court that the "foundations of Western civilization will be shaken" if he approves an injunction against the company selling its products in the U.S. [...] "I'm surprised, absolutely surprised, that you'd leave this ... incredibly important decision to the court," he said.

Li verdict shows Yahoo played key role, group says

Yahoo Inc. played an important role in the Chinese government's prosecution of Li Zhi, Reporters Without Borders said Wednesday, citing a copy of the court's verdict to back up its claims.

And now that you've been amazed by what the future promises, mourned the loss of the past, been enraged by human actions, witnessed the attempted mockery making of the judicial system, and more it is now time for me to retire. And so, I bid you adieu.