drat fink
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group ugh
not nearly as important or deserved as jims blastoff into the bloggerati, dratfink is less than ashamed to reveal his acceptance into the reprobates club of america (and associated colonies). now if only the link actually pointed to my page, im sure a flood of traffic would come my way and then recede with even greater haste.
the eyes have it
"What that means, basically, is that it's hard to speak and think at the same time. Shneiderman says researchers in his computer science lab discovered through controlled experiments that when you tell your computer to "page down" or "italicize that word" by speaking aloud, you're gobbling up precious chunks of memory -- leaving you with little brainpower to focus on the task at hand. It's easier to type or click a mouse while thinking about something else because hand-eye coordination uses a different part of the brain, the researchers concluded."
live evil
"The uncovering of these proposals for an offensive biological weapons program comes at a critical political juncture. The US has rejected a legally-binding system of United Nations inspections of suspected biological weapons facilities. At the same time, the Bush administration is aggressively accusing other countries of developing biological weapons and expanding its so-called "Axis of Evil" based in large part on allegations of foreign biological weapons development."
wailing wall
"Building a fence to keep out Palestinian terrorists: It's a beguilingly simple idea that continues to gain currency in an Israel tormented by Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Indeed, as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon hastens back from Washington after yet another suicide bombing, his government is already starting to demarcate land for barriers and quietly thinking through what's euphemistically known in Israel as "separation." But a fence is a counsel of despair. While the idea has clear appeal for Israeli politicians, it's dubious security policy and rash diplomacy."
smells like destiny
"Songs like this one, which combine different hits without adding any original music, may represent the first significant new musical genre to be lifted out of the underground, developed and then spread, mostly via the Web. The songs, called mash-ups or bootlegs, typically match the rhythm, melody and underlying spirit of the instrumentals of one song with the a cappella vocals of another. And the more odd the pairing the better."
learning curve
"We insist that Palestinians and Israelis are equally precious in God's eyes and that the loss of life on both sides is equally tragic and unnecessary. The Planetary Consciousness which we proclaim recognizes that the well-being of each of us depends on the well-being of all of us. These themes, developed more fully in the State of the Spirit address (in this issue of Tikkun on p. 33), must be applied to the crisis in the Middle East. In doing so, we approach both sides in a spirit of compassion for the terrible pain that both have suffered, and a passionate commitment to alleviate that suffering. Yet compassion requires speaking with honesty and integrity, even when that forces us to confront difficult truths. This is what we mean by Prophetic Witness."
cold cache
"A huge diamond discovery has turned a remote corner of the Canadian tundra into a modern-day Sutter’s Mill, where prospectors rush to stake their claims."
new dawn
"Martin and Brigitte also make a claim about one of the most famous discoveries of all time: "Lucy," a hominid from just over 3 million years ago in Ethiopia. Donald Johanson, who discovered her in 1974, claimed her to be our direct ancestor."
"The fossils from Orrorin have led Martin and Brigitte to the revolutionary conclusion that Lucy and her type, the australopithicines, were not our direct ancestors: rather, they were a branch that became extinct."