...more recent posts
from a europe contact (skinny)
Man peed way out of avalanche
A Slovak man trapped in his car under an avalanche freed himself by drinking 60 bottles of beer and urinating on the snow to melt it.
Rescue teams found Richard Kral drunk and staggering along a mountain path four days after his Audi car was buried in the Slovak Tatra mountains.
He told them that after the avalanche, he had opened his car window and tried to dig his way out.
But as he dug with his hands, he realised the snow would fill his car before he managed to break through.
He had 60 half-litre bottles of beer in his car as he was going on holiday, and after cracking one open to think about the problem he realised he could urinate on the snow to melt it, local media reported.
He said: "I was scooping the snow from above me and packing it down below the window, and then I peed on it to melt it. It was hard and now my kidneys and liver hurt. But I'm glad the beer I took on holiday turned out to be useful and I managed to get out of there."
Parts of Europe have this week been hit by the heaviest snowfalls since 1941, with some places registering more than ten feet of snow in 24 hours.
Does anyone have photo editing software recommendations? I introduced D to MS Paint, because it's free, simple as dirt, and a fall-back for any Windows environment. But at some point she needs to step up to something with a bit more power. Has any one tried Photoshop Elements 3.0?
Apparently bloggers can make permanent, no login required, links to NYTimes articles. Aaron Swartz has a handy link generator (copy the regular NYTimes link into Aaron's form and it spits out the blogger permanent link.)
Strangely, this seems to have been in place since 2003. How did I miss this? Or am I just forgetting? I haven't tried it so maybe I am misunderstanding. People should give it a shot when linking to the Times and we'll see what happens.
Also, possibly I could automate this so the system here will translate regular NYT links into their permanent blogger format.
[edit: added the link to Aaron's link generator.]
From Spaceflightnow.com: "The European Space Agency's ambitious Huygens probe descended to Saturn's moon Titan today, becoming the first spacecraft to touch the mysterious world's surface."
For a more interesting inside look, Emily Lakdawalla of the Planetary Society is running a blog from Huygens mission control in Darmstadt, Germany. The blog is being updated as events happen.
Here's the wikipedia page for the Huygens Probe.
im just going to throw this out there. my old 1997 jvc fs-d88 (cd/cassette/radio tuner) micro audio system is crapping out. the goal in replacement would be to find a hot system that could really pump it out (when needed) that you could play your airport express delivered wireless lap through and that you could also run dvds and cable tv audio through. im crazy about those KLH kloss designed stereos but they supposedly dont have aux input for your i.pod (and therefore laptop?) im thinking about staying with jvc and this looks close to what im looking for in my price range. trying to stay very simple but take advantage of the airport express (steaming internet radio) laptop-mp3's (ipod) dvd/cd digital-cable-tv stuff. cassettes ha ha ha. i would keep the vhs player but it wouldnt need to stay permanently hooked up. then again dave would ad tivo too but ill have to wait on that.
go nancy
ok one more time. there were no wmd
madc0w pr0d
While both of the terrorist pilots who crashed into the World Trade Center were students at Venice Florida’s Huffman Aviation, the flight school's owner Wallace J. Hilliard, 72, of Naples, FL., was simultaneously pursuing a diplomatic opening to Fidel Castro’s Cuba.
But it's Hilliard’s involvement with ADNAN KHASHOGGI, arms merchant and international fugitive, which we find most intriguing. The SAUDI BILLIONAIRE’s name has now surfaced in connection with the ownership of two of the election service companies whose performance in the 2004 Presidential contest has inspired heated controversy.
Glad to have Randy Johnson as a Yankee (better he were 10 years younger) but he’d better adjust to the big city. He’s on Letterman tonight, and this incident prompts me to predict an item:
Top 10 ways for a sportswriter to get punched out:
#1: Ask Randy Johnson why they call him “the Big Eunuch”
You come up with the other 9.
"WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration paid a prominent black journalist to promote President Bush's education law and give Education Secretary Rod Paige media time, records show.
Armstrong Williams, a nationally syndicated radio, print and television personality, was paid $240,000 by the Education Department to promote the No Child Left Behind Act."
[just add the sound of a democracy swirling down the tube]
(gifs in kind)
miscellaneous parking lot theory links
Kennedy Fried Chicken, JFK Fried Chicken, JF Kennedy Fried Chicken, etc (cory always finds the best stuff)
Tennessee Fried Chicken, Arizona Fried Chicken, etc.
"Security by Microsoft" -- Hole in MS Media DRM allows rogue media files to trigger the download of popups, installation of adware, etc.
something for backyard birdwatching, doctor?
Mr. Wilson, your skills might be needed in the war on terror:
German authorities thought they heard a bird chirping in one of Bin Laden's audiotapes this year, and brought in ornithologists to identify the species — and its habitat — according to reports in the German media."And I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you meddling ornithologists!"
CA to dmt: Happy Holidays
u.s. to world : fuck you