According to this article at the NYT Americans don’t get some basic science concepts. I can believe a lot of them, for instance I only vaguely understand that radiation is caused by electrons releasing energy as they move orbital levels around a neucleus — is that even close? — but I find it really hard to believe that One adult American in five thinks the Sun revolves around the Earth. Seriously?

Funny in the Onion.

I added Brevity to my daily online comics list.

My newest most favorite thing, OpenSource, is looking to do a show on one of my oldest most favorite things, fishing.

One of the things I’ve been struggling with (and their promo touches on it, indirectly) is the ethics of catch-and-release fishing. Or, as some would have it, torturing small animals for sport.

You know how everyone gripes about newspapers and local news following the “If it bleeds, it leads” policy?

Well, the folks over at Happy News have turned it on its head. Kind of interesting.

(From On The Media thanks to their podcast)

After Google updated their desktop search with a cool toolbar, all the cool geeks are speculating about Google Chat. Dig. I’m up as billjank(at)gmail(d0t)com.

Either that, or this is a pretty cool phishing experiment for gmail addresses…

I can’t believe I bought a new rice cooker and video card within a couple weekends of each other. I guess it was poor planning on my part.

Pat Robertson on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez:

You know, I don’t know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don’t think any oil shipments will stop. But this man is a terrific danger and the United … This is in our sphere of influence, so we can’t let this happen. We have the Monroe Doctrine, we have other doctrines that we have announced. And without question, this is a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that could hurt us very badly. We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don’t need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It’s a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.

The steering wheels in Formula 1 cars are hella complex.

The steering wheel is one of the most complex and high-tech parts of a Formula 1 car, with a typical wheel controlling at least 12 further functions in addition to actually steering the wheels. Nowadays, such a high tech wheel can easily be estimated at € 23.000.

via Core77

This weekend we relocated 19 copies of George Orwell’s 1984 in four different bookstores in Palo Alto, San Francisco, and Berkeley. It was high stealth adventure.

…from this website.

<sigh> Yes, I so completely am losing my geek mojo that I don’t get the joke here.

What?!?

Willie Nelson is hosting a fundraising lunch for Kinky Friedman at his ranch. Do you think they’d let 10 people buy one ticket? Because I don’t have a grand to spend on bar-b-que, even if Willie is hosting.

So it’s been a while since i’ve pimped the Oxford American. They’ve gone out of business and come back recently, and are offering another of their southern Music Issues. Obviously, I whipped out the plastic and threw another Jackson down the black hole of American Fiction; I eagerly await the CD. Will update as magazines come in.

Well, I suppose we oughtta make a note of it here …

Cyn and I are moving to Austin.

OK, now They are after me.

H. R. 3525

“To redesignate the street in the District of Columbia known as 16th Street Northwest as ‘Ronald Reagan Boulevard’.”

This is quite literally hitting too close to home.